Reviews

Microhabitat reveals the choices, sacrifices and comprises people make as they become adults.

Miso, the title character, makes a living cleaning houses and lives on the edge of homelessness. Her joys in life consist of cigarettes, a glass of Glenfiddich whiskey, and her poverty stricken boyfriend. When her rent increases and the price of cigarettes doubles she makes the decision to move out of her unfurnished room.

Miso then begins the adventure of visiting her old band mates who have moved on and become more of what society expected of them. It’s a movie divided into chapters, each with a different friend she encounters with her meager belongings on her back.

Each of her friends have changed so much she barely recognizes them. They are all tethered to their own suffering—a stressful job, a loveless marriage, unwanted motherhood, divorce, etc. Despite her situation she brings understanding and kindness to each doorstep even when she is met with a lack of understanding from her former friends.

Like a warm breeze blowing through their lives, each person’s quiet desperation is revealed and Miso’s contented nonconformist life doesn’t seem quite so absurd.

Microhabitat is more observation than strict storytelling. Esom brings a serene almost ethereal quality to the screen as she shows Miso’s quiet determination. Her friends’ “normal” lives seem almost manic in contrast.

Microhabitat touches on what we value, the compromises people make, the economic fragility of people’s situations, and the depth of friendships. It’s a slow film with moments of humor, tenderness, and biting revelation. Miso’s choices may not sit well with everyone but they raise questions about what brings us joy, what we are willing to sacrifice, and the need for safety nets we all need whether emotional or financial.

Read More

Fun on its own, not as a remake

I watched the original Hidden Fortress a few weeks ago and had way too much fun with the comedy, characters, and plot. You can't beat Mifune Toshiro as Makabe Rokurota and Uehara Misa as Yukihime.

I wasn't expecting much from the remake, I had a bad feeling when I saw Jun Matsumoto playing one of the peasants and clearly built up to be a love interest for Yukihime, but BOY was I disappointed with this one. They made so many baffling choices with the story and characters, but what annoyed me the most is how they ruined Makabe's character. Abe Hiroshi did his best to bring Mifune's character to life and I respect him a lot for that (same with Miyagawa Daisuke as the other peasant), but they basically turned him into your archetypical angry bodyguard with no charm or depth, as shallow as a puddle. Gyoe (Gyobu in this movie) was watered down into a boring one-dimensional villain and Takezo (Matsumoto Jun's character) turned into a completely different person by the second half of the film. There were too many unnecessary twists and turns that didn't make sense and ruined the message behind the story, but the final twist is probably the worst one.

The fight scenes were actually pretty fun though, the set design was great and the music by Naoki Sato is as good as always. It's a fun action-adventure flick you can check out when you're bored and don't know what to watch but as a remake? Please skip it.

Read More

A sense of pervasive restlessness, both gritty and beautiful at the same time

From the synopsis, it may sound like the film is all about how the 2 men navigate and conceal their relationship from Kyouichi’s wife, but that storyline only brushes the tip of the iceberg. It’s clear to me by the 30-minute mark that the synopsis cannot capture the ebbs and flows of the story’s turns.

The film is simultaneously mundane yet eventful at the same time.

The theme of the show revolves around the idea of third parties, with the positions of Kyouichi and Imaguchi constantly shifting in this equation.

Kyouichi flits between women like a moth drawn to a flame, but despite being constantly wanted, the audience gets the sense that these encounters are filled with a profound emptiness. Meanwhile, Imaguchi’s self-professed weakness of constantly running to the person he loves manifests in his desire to constantly be around Kyouichi, even when it tears him apart.

It almost feels like the characters are incapable of being content with their present. There’s a constant anticipation, but we’re not sure what is it they're waiting for.

The 2 hours passes much quicker than I expected, despite the film being filled with a pervasive restlessness. It is both gritty and beautiful at the same time, exposing the weaknesses and insecurities of flawed humans.

Read my review here: https://asianblreviews.wordpress.com/2022/07/01/cornered-mouse-dreams-of-cheese-review/

Read More

Good prequel but it doesn't matter If you don't watch this!

In this prequel there are 7 parts of the story where 8 actors are the main leads. Every couple of minutes, the story will only focus on one/two leads (with some supporting roles also). Mostly looks like a monologue rather than dialogue between the casts. Compared to the drama, I much prefer the cast in there also Im Siwan, he was born to play Jang Geurae!!!!! I'm quite surprised that there is Moon Seyoon here. Imo his acting in here is the most unstable(?) among the 8 leads in this prequel, I would rather to see his live acting for Comedy Big League (He was a permanent member in 2013).

Read More

"it's our duty to protect our own"

Right off the bat, I think it wasn't better than the prequel. With 12M box office and quite a lot saying it was better than the first, with those expectatuins I was a bit disappointed leaving the cinema, but don't get me wrong it was still a great film.

We follow the same police force with Ma Seok Do and the rest, this time around they try to arrest a suspect overseas, where they experience numerous struggles

No it doesn't have a mind-blowing story, it will probably go the way you expect it to be. However it does have a gripping action scenes and gore, sided with good humor.

Not sure if this is filmed overseas or not but I liked the cinematography this time around, it gave good distinction between Vietnam and Korea.

Son Sukku being the main antagonist this time around was probably a big burden, Jang Chen was an icon and it would have been hard to top it off. Still despite that he was aboe to deliver a chilling performance, big props.

It's an easy film to understand and a perfect watch with the entire family, will for sure rewatch this when it releases in streaming platforms.

Read More

It's impressive

I am not going to lie, this was a harrowing experience which I do not recommend for people that are easily triggered by body violence. But if you can stomach it, let me tell you why this is worth a try.

Let me prephase by saying that if you are one of those people that watch BL just for sexual content this review is not for you, also don't talk to me. THIS IS NOT fun, this is not BL, this is a story of guilt, grief, violence and many other emotions that come with the loss of a loved one.

The plot shows us a protagonist that when about to commit suicide is saved and kidnapped by a man that keeps him chained up and strips him of his freedom, his body autonomy and his (already damaged) mental stability. But the whole point of this literal torture is to awaken the most animalistic part of him, the survival instinct. It's only on situations that threaten our lives and our dignity that we hold on to life.

We are shown the story of our protagonist and the reason behind his suicide attempt which is the death of his parents and the guilt he felt as he thought it to be his fault, and we witness him struggle with himself as he is violated but and presented with chances to die but ends up refusing.
Then, we follow the story of the kidnapper, and we understand his grief and his reasoning for all the atrocities he comitted. We watch him lose the love of his life to suicide, explaining his obsession with convincing his victim to live through any means possible.

The parallels of both stories makes you experience stockholm syndrome along with the main character, who feels sorry for the crazy broken man before him.

It's painful to watch, but that's the point. It's a violent story of insanity and being broken, but wanting something or someone to complete you.

Both men end up saving each other.
They learn to let go.
The story goes from darkness to the light.
From fear and being used to consent and closeness.
From screaming to quiet whispers of reassurance.

Maybe I'm reading way too much into it, but maybe I'm not.

Honestly the image that will haunt me forever is one of the calmest in the movie. An open window with cherry blossom petals falling into cold skin. And comparing memories with a drug that one always carries around waiting for the perfect moment to give into them and die really took a toll on me.

Again, if you're watching this for the sex or the strong images... you'll miss the narrative. So maybe skip this one. But if you can look past that and can stomach it... I can definitely recommend it.

Also the acting is very good as well as the visual and sound resources that add another layer to the story. Thank you.

Read More

Dorian “Flash Legs” Tan and Doris Lung team up to take down the murderous Devil’s Swordsman. All they need is the Sunshine Sword and to find out the identity of the masked swordsman.

The Devil’s Swordsman was killed two decades ago but has reappeared and is assassinating the heads of the tribes who brought him down with his hypnotizing sword. Discord and distrust reign as everyone is blaming Lung’s Maple Leaf tribe. There were double crosses and hidden identities. Unfortunately, the pacing was slow and very talkie for a kung fu flick making this 90 minute movie feel more like 2 hours.

As with most of these Taiwanese martial arts movies much of it was shot outdoors from the opening fight to the ending one.

The movie would have benefited from more flash legs and less talk. Dorian and Doris delivered in their fight scenes. Lo Lieh played an ill-fated fighter. The movie could have used more of him, too. The fight scenes were passable with lots of trampoline work.

The version I watched was badly faded and cropped on the sides which cut much of the fight scenes off. Like many of these old kung fu films, when the last fight ends so does the movie.

I watched this under the title of Thunder Blade and Lightning Foot. Under any name it’s an average at best film from this era.

Read More

The Witch Without A Twist

I am a fan of the The Witch Pt. 1 so I have been waiting the sequel for years. I am happy I finally had a chance to watch it on big screen! I followed the production journey and as the team had a copyright issue with their previous film distributor ( Warner Bros. Korea ), they had to butcher up their original The Witch stories with Jayoon as main character. Hence why I lowered my expectation for this part 2.

First of all, story wise. They basically have almost showed everything in the trailer except the ending. It is those common stories of lab victim run away, find good ally, enemies catch them, but they win after their loved one got hurt. The acting wasn't my taste, instead of embracing the characters personalities- some of their acting feels staged to me. They tried so hard to look cool. There are english dialogue in it, but it sounds so awkward. I'm sorry I am not really familiar with chinese language so I couldnt judge it. Positive side, I like a lot how they open the story and I didn't expect them to start it like that. The unique "countrified" vibe is shown again in it. The opening and the ending would be a main key for the whole franchise. Please stay until after credit, because they show post credit scenes like those marvel movies!

They casted a ton of people for side characters and cameos but they are all like a copy to each other. I was thinking "Is it on purpose they look similiar as it is a cloning stories?". I also feel like there are quite a lot unnecessary scenes, with the jokes and comedic-like scenes. I wish them to show more the bonding between "The Girl" and Kyung Hee-Dae Gil sibling. That is what I have been waiting as I read the director explaining the differences between her and previous witch, Jayoon.

I have to be honest, I am kinda disappointed with the characters building for the new witch. The director went with repeated heroine route we could find in those human experiment stories. Emotionless, no personality ( yet ), fascinated to outside world like a baby bird, and once again overpowered. But after watching, I do feel curious how he would come up with the next part and how he build her character in the future. "The Girl" is still like a white paper to me.

Action Sequences. There are quite a lot of cool awesome battle scenes and it still has that anime-like battle touch in it. They definitely improved it with their big budget. There is one fight with beautiful billboard lighting, and that is my favorite one. Unfortunately, if you are a slow watcher, you would be troubled with pt 2 fighting style because all the characters are so powerful and their fighting is so fast- blip blip - shoot - blip - slash neck - that is my description. Warning, the rating is 18+ so the killing wound part is quite explicit.

Overall, I gave it a 7.5. I think new audiences would enjoy it so much, but the previous part 1 fans like me- would be in love and hate relationship with the sequel.

Read More

This J-Horror movie is from 2000. You have been warned.

Dear Nokia Brick, I miss you. Your glaring greenish screen was the star of this movie. Oh, yeah, and there were some Japanese schoolgirls doing dumb horror movie things. They could never take your place as the center of attention, Nokia. Never....

Serious review time:
Opening of movie- girl jumps off school building.
Next scene- we should totally perform that doomed love story play our un-alive friend wanted to do!
Hilarity ensues?

Because this is a Japanese horror movie, we already know the ghost rumors are true. We already know that mysterious new student in the back of the class is going to be a love interest/ plot point/ ex machina soon. And of course, we already know that the original doomed lovers were MURDERED!!! (probably) There is also almost always the one-sided schoolgirl crushing on her dashing male teacher, someone with trouble at home (dead or divorced parents) who seems to have the most time available to be haunted.

I don't know if any of this makes sense, I'm just trying my best to get through this movie. The pacing makes me feel like I could have filmed another movie in this amount of time. It's 100 minutes long, and we don't get anything spooky until the close-up of sneakers at 24 minutes. Send help.

Read More

Two young brothers have to adapt to their new surroundings and unexpected social stature in I Was Born, But…

Bullied after they move to the suburbs the brothers start ditching school only to be found out. The father gives them the age old, and what every kid knows is useless, advice when he tells them to ignore the bullies and they will leave them alone.

The two find an unexpected ally who aids them and the brothers end up the de facto leaders of the little gang. The interactions between the boys and their school mates seemed natural and believable even after nearly 100 years.

Convinced of their place in the world they declare their father the most important out of the fathers of the boys. When they find out their dad is only an office worker and one who plays the office clown for the boss’ amusement they are devastated. Even worse, the boss’ son is part of their gang. They’ve gone from feeling like kings to peasants and they take it out on their father.

Being safe and cared for they couldn’t know the world was in dangerous economic times and their father’s job was vital to their survival. Aside from the economic depression, the viewer will know war was brewing as Japan would invade Manchuria and later move on to other countries. The headstrong, cocky boys came across as ungrateful for their father’s love and sacrifices.

The boys had to learn the lesson every adult is reminded of almost daily…the world isn’t fair. Competence isn’t always rewarded. Fortunately, if they didn’t eventually learn gratitude, they learned acceptance.

This film was similar in nature to director Ozu’s film Good Morning. I found Good Morning to be the more charming film. These children could be difficult to like at times.

I watched part of an unrestored version, it was glitchy and without music. Fortunately, I found a restored version though the music was heavy handed in it and didn’t always fit the mood.

I Was Born, But was a quiet slice of life film showing the growth of two little boys and the reality of the social hierarchy. How well you like the two boys scrambling for stature and unable to see their parents’ need for acceptance, may determine how much you enjoy this film. For me, though well made, slightly missed the mark.

Read More

A kidnapper gets more than he bargained for when he lures “A Straightforward Boy” to his lair by buying him treats and toys.

This is one of director Ozu’s earliest films of which part is missing. It was still a funny film more slapstick in nature than his later films. This one played broader and more like some American silent films I’ve watched. Ozu’s silent films always struck me more as talkies but with placards.

This short film had some cute moments given the topic of kidnapping. The little boy tormented his kidnappers to the point they wanted to return him but they couldn’t seem to shake free of him.

Saito Tatsuo played one of the silly kidnappers. He was in some of Ozu’s more famous films. The actor who played the precocious little boy, Aoki Tomio, worked alongside Saito as father and son in the Ozu film “ I Was Born, But…” only three years later.

The version I watched had no music which wasn’t a problem for me. Depending on when the music was added to some of these silent films it can be more distracting than mood making.

A lighthearted quick watch, just short of 14 minutes it’s worth giving a try if you enjoy this director’s films.

Read More

Adorable!

That was adorable!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTa92oDTLqA
for anyone looking for it.

And why do I need 500 characters when I just want to say that it was adorable???

Anyhow....I loved it. It was such a cute "short." My numbers do not average a 10, but I gave it a 10 anyway, because "music" is not really much needed in something this short, and it doesn't really have much "rewatch" value, but it was worth it. And, who knows, I might actually rewatch this for the feel-good value. I loved that the actors portrayed their characters so well that there was no cringe, at least for me.

Read More

iron pussy

the adventures of iron pussy is one of the best movies if not the best movie I have ever seen
the story, acting, storytelling and the way the characters were portrayed in this film is amazing
this movie is a work of art
I hope that this movie gets more attention it is horribly underrated
my favourite movie
definitely would recommend to everyone gojnb to show it to everyone I know and rewatch it lots of times it's too good I'm literally dying
shsjsknsjshs
sjsjsbsjsisjdhwksjjssjjsjdjdjsjdj
shsbsbsh
shsbsbsh
fndnsbs.usjshshs
jshshsjs
shsbb

Read More