Reviews

Amusing infidelity comedy with pacing issues

“It’s fine that you’re working, but you need to act more like a wife.”

"Sensei, Would You Sit Beside Me?" smartly blurs the lines between fiction and reality when manga artist Sawako decides to write a story based on her husband's suspected infidelity. When Sawako's husband Toshio finds the drafts of her new work, he realizes in shock his wife not only suspects him of cheating on her, but she is also seemingly cheating on him with her new driving instructor.

Given the subject, I didn't expect to be so amused by this story. Seeing Toshio lose his mind and second guess every word Sawako says to him, while we try to figure out who knows what and did exactly what with whom, was the most entertaining part of the movie. Kuroki Haru perfectly portrays Sawako's insecurity and sadness while delivering snarky remarks with an innocent face that would make me regret and confess no matter if I did something wrong or not. Emoto Tasuku is convincing as the fumbling, chaotic artist in a midlife crisis. Seeing him try to figure things out while trying to not give away anything himself made for some hilarious moments. The cast was good in general, and these two played off of each other really well.

The dialogues are clever, the mix of fiction and reality is creative and well done. Sadly, the plot is rather thin, so the movie would have benefitted from a shorter runtime to add more suspense. I also feel the storytelling was too timid at times, and a more daring approach would have made this one far more entertaining. Overall, I did have a good time with it and particularly enjoyed the last 20 minutes that were unexpected and satisfying.

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Non's Sophomore Effort Is Slow But Charming

This is Non's second film, and this time she "only" wrote, directed, edited and starred in it. It's an art film about art which is always dicey territory, but Non manages to keep the story from being pretentious or self-indulgent by grounding the narrative in the mundane lives of its characters while limiting her representations of the impulses of creativity to brief but necessary moments of cgi and practical images of ribbons.

Set at the beginning of the COVID pandemic, it captures the stress of the time and the way it forced us to isolate. Here the stress is compounded for Non's character Itsuka and her friend Hirai as their art school is being put on hiatus right before their graduation and their final projects and exhibitions are canceled. Itsuka shelters in her apartment alone and utterly fails to find a way to continue painting even though she routinely had done so there in the past. It is a story about reconnecting to that creative impulse through the not always welcome intrusions of friends and family.

The film has a larger budget than her first film, Get To The Punchline, and her editorial skills have improved, but the film is a bit slow and probably does not merit it's 2 hour runtime. That being said, it has some solidly funny moments, a beautifully moving climax and a satisfying denouement. The cast is solid and Non exhibits a greater range as an actress than she has in her prior roles.

All in all, it's a good journeyman effort and a surprisingly satisfying next step for this interesting young filmmaker.

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My name is Liu Chieh Lien, you killed my father, prepare to die!

Angela Mao kicked and punched her way through this movie with the grace and agility her fans have come to expect. Her character Liu Chieh Lien was merciless to her opponents and the men she had sworn vengeance against. Born with a violent rage in her heart due to her mother's dying wish after giving birth that her daughter would seek revenge for her parents' demise, Liu was too ferocious for the Buddhist temple where she grew up and just ferocious enough to be a match for the four men who determined the course of her life. Along the way, she teamed up with Bruce Leung's undercover agent. She didn't really need his help as she was more than capable of a deadly rampage all on her own.

Yuen Woo Ping with the help of Hsu Hsia choreographed the fights and it showed. A few were slightly slow but stopped short of kung fu posing. Given that many of the fights involved a large group it was understandable. Angela was quick and agile enough to keep up with every kick and step they designed for her. Her rapid-fire kicks are always a treat to watch! Baddies had better beware when she glared at them. The fighters used a variety of weapons and styles, scorpions were even featured! This movie included a long list of talented stuntmen and bit players from the era making the fights extra special. Sammo Hung even had a non-speaking role as a knife wielding baddie. Bruce Leung did a superb job in his fights, though it highlighted Michael Chan's less sophisticated fighting style when they faced off.

The story was a typical kung fu revenge trope aided by Angela's fiery presence and the cast of superlative kung fu stuntmen and supporting characters. The major flaws were that the story started slowly as the mother entered prison and slogged through the backstory. Once Angela was grownup and causing a ruckus at the temple, the story kicked into high gear. And as with many of these movies, the ending was quite abrupt. There was also a gratuitous nude scene in the flashbacks which was not warranted.

The location scenes were beautiful with sets and costumes of a higher standard than many movies from this time frame. You could tell they spent more money than usual to showcase this story, and Angela deserved it. If I sound like a fan, I am. Angela Mao was beautiful and fierce, elevating many of the mediocre movies she was in.

This movie had its flaws, but Angela and the cast were not among them. Fast paced, dark, and brutal once the rampage started, Broken Oath was an entertaining kung fu movie to experience.

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Remembering the pain of the past.

A quiet, slow and beautifully shot movie about an aspiring manga artist in search of inspiration who finds meaningful connections to the past.

Ring Wandering doesn't only explore the subject of loneliness and personal relationships, it also highlights the importance of not forgetting the past. It's a movie that slowly reveals its different layers and leaves room for interpretation. What stood out to me the most were the visuals of this movie. The gorgeous nature shots, especially at the beginning and the end of the story.

While I did appreciate the atmospheric nature shots, the narrative would have benefitted from a shorter length. Some parts are too slow without adding any value to the story. I didn't mind it as much since I enjoy slow movies, it's still something that you should be aware of going into it. In an effort to convey universal messages, it neglects the connection of the audience to its main characters, which made me feel pretty indifferent towards them.

Ring Wandering is a serene movie with gorgeous cinematography and an almost meditative atmosphere. I genuinely appreciated the different themes it explored and its subtle depiction of loneliness, showing that even the smallest connections between people can go a long way.

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Intense build-up, decent wrap-up

The first half of this movie was absolutely flawless — I was terrified (in a good way) by all the jumpscares, the mystery was extremely intriguing and I was trying desperately to figure it out myself, and the soundtrack and interactions between the characters all added to the dark vibe of the movie.

I still think the second half, after everything was revealed, was a decent watch, but I did think that it took away a lot of the things that I loved in the first half. Of course, a mystery can't go on forever, but I definitely felt like the story didn't feel as dark as it did before and there was no more anxiety-inducing tension, more just running around and fights. Those were still fun and exciting and I really enjoyed how the story was revealed, intertwining different characters, but the first half still felt more captivating to me.

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Cute, short, on point in under 12 minutes

This was a real surprise.
Normally I don't like to watch short films. The most aren't satisfying in their storytelling. I hate when the story is unsolved or cut off.
So this is a cute, little story, without long dialogues and much words.
Everything I wanted to know, I got it. Introduction, climax, conclusion, everything in just under 12 minutes
The pure setting and acting transports the story clear and direct to the viewer.
It has embarrassing moments, awkward situation, steamy scene and a heartwarming deep moment.

Watch this!!! Really, it's no waste of time imho.

(The only thing I wanted to have clarified, what about the ice cream? *lol*)


available on GagaOOlala

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A slice of a slice of life.

Try to see the whole picture from just a few puzzle pieces. That’s the essence of the movie. Figuring out the relationships and backgrounds of the characters from their short, taken out of their lives' context conversations. Why they are? Why they met? What will happen after they leave the table?

Have to say, not all the stories were equally interesting and enjoyable. Without giving any spoilers about the characters background, I’ll try to describe why they resonated with me or not.

Yoo Jin’s story - one that evokes the most emotions in me, and by emotions I mean anger and frustration. While at first I was unsure where it leads, with each new line I could sense the probable direction.

Kyung Jin’s story - the most chill and down to earth, the only one that put a smile on my face. The easiest to understand from the start too, you kind of know what you will get right away.

Eun Hui’s story - serving some unexpected twist as the conversation progressed. To some extent moving, if we try to understand the characters a little bit.

Hye Kyung’s story - the one I did not vibe with at all. Not only I couldn’t resonate with Hye Kyung, I also strongly believe Yeon Woo Jin is incapable of having chemistry with any of his female co-stars.

Overall, for a short movie like that, which tries to present 4 completely unrelated stories, it did a fairly good job. The acting was truly good, but then the characters and scenes were not exactly complex and well-developed to serve as an acting challenge. As I mentioned at the beginning, the entertainment comes from trying to understand who the characters are, even though nothing is set nor explained by narration or exposition. You are thrown into a random moment in their lives.

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A bit confusing characterization.

omeone who has not seen the original movie, nor was aware of the full story presented there, while the plot of this short gender swap version was easy to follow, the motivations of the characters were either confusing or shallow in presentation.

Instant love that seemed fabricated from the start, lady general who does not connect the facts and male lead who for some strange reasons trusts a demon? My brain hurts.

That said, for a movie that is basically shot in one location, it was visually quite well made. They truly used the limited space they had, so the plot never felt small nor insignificant.

The performance was good. He Chang Xi delivered the best in terms of conveying emotions, especially in the second half, while Ding Cheng Xin was able to combine the delicacy and destruction in his presentation of Xiao Wei.

If you want to watch it based on your good opinion about Wuliang and the Censored Romance tag, you might want to reconsider your motivation. Production and directing wise it’s not as strong as Wuliang (though still quite a good short movie), and the tag is at best baiting. It serves a vague ending that brings more questions than answers, and for me, who likes to overanalyze scenes and lines, even more confusion.

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Rather thrilling and gripping, yet quite predictable movie. I don’t think they served even one plot line that was not obvious. Even with that, I still enjoyed it quite a lot.

I think the best part of the movie is the lack of realism and sanity? These characters had issues, and I mean serious ones. The whole setup made little sense. They were committing crimes in daylight, often showing their faces, yet no one knew who they were. Sure. Suspension of belief is required to enjoy it.

Another aspect that I greatly enjoyed was the performance. Yeo Jin Goo as Hwa Yi was one of his strongest performances. The amazing on screen transformation that teen went through was just an interesting tale, with quite a satisfying conclusion.

Kim Yoon Seok as Yoon Seok Tae could be described as a cold, tamed madness - rather terrifying character. At the same time, the more I saw of him, the more pathetic he seemed. That said, I am thankful all the bad characters were truly awful, so I could watch without any sense of empathy towards them.

The movie had some unnecessary elements. While I understand why Yoo Kyung was an important person for Hwa Yi’s journey, I believe keeping her more as a symbol of normal life compared to actually getting her to interact with him would be better.

The emotional aspects of the movie depended on the well built relationship between Hwa Yi and the gang members, yet I barely felt anything. There were a few moments that showed him and Yoon Seok Tae have quite a deep, but also complicated bond, but I needed more than two or three scenes of it. Not to mention how all the rest of the characters were painfully one-dimensional.

The visuals were nice. They dive a bit into those gruesome scenes, not shying away from violence. The most powerful scenes though were the few emotional bits delivered by Yeo Jin Goo.

Overall, I would recommend watching for the performances. The cat and mouse chase between Hwa Yi and Yoon Seok Tae was exciting, and the emotional games and manipulation thrilling.

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