Reviews

Lately, I've been feeling this urge to whittle down my material possessions. Why do I say this here? Because seeing Miso lug around her suitcases while dealing with homelessness but remaining calm and collected is making me double down on that feeling. Why do we think we need so much stuff? Miso leads an unconventional life. The rising costs has her cutting down on expenses. She needs a place to stay. She stays with friends who have normal conventional lives - marriage, family, career, nice living arrangements, money.

But as viewers we are made to question if unhappy or discontented people stuck in the conventional trappings of life are any better than people who seemingly have it worse? Why is it okay/better/smarter to choose a house over cigarettes and whisky? I mean, yes, there are going to be many arguments for a safe, secure living quarter. But I think the bigger question should be why is everything so expensive and why should people who make less money have to struggle and scrimp and save all their lives and forgo what they enjoy just to have a roof over their heads, medicine, and food? Life is hard enough as it is. I'm happy Miso enjoys her smoke and her drink of whisky.

The director did a great job with this movie. Each character was interesting to me. There's so much we can talk about, discuss, ponder over because of this movie.

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A very exciting action film. Although it is a remake of the Spanish Retribution, the director and screenwriter Kim Chang Ju still managed to add interesting additions. Each scene has its own charm, Jo Woo Jin in the lead role perfectly depicts a desperate father and husband who will do whatever is necessary for the safety of his family. Ji Chang Wook, a villain whom we first meet on the phone, can completely steal the scene with only his voice. The scene in which the main actors meet for the first time perfectly demonstrates their acting talent. The story is an engaging one with realistic dialogues. Highly recommend, probably one of the best action films from 2021!

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I was expecting it to be much better

I've watched a few of these Korean BL that have been coming out in the past couple of years. So far none of them were perfect - the plot was underutilized or full of holes, the characters weren't well built, or there wasn't chemistry, but usually there's at least one of these things that is well-made. That's not the case for Color Rush.
I'm probably biased because I've only heard good things about Color Rush, so I was looking forward to watch it, but the only merit I can give it is the fact that, somehow, I managed to watch the entire thing without quitting out of frustration.

First of all, the plot felt pretty inconsistent. I'm willing to give the unanswered questions about the Mono/Probe theme and Yeon Woo's mother the benefit of the doubt, just because the second season has already been announced, but all the other things don't work together all that much. There are characters that seem underutilized and I questioned their decisions, their words and their actions multiple times as I watched - in more than one instance I felt like the driving force behind the story was "this is being said and this other thing is happening because this is what the plot wants".

The characters were disappointing too. Yeon Woo seems to not have a life, thoughts, or a personality that doesn't revolve around being Mono: no hobbies, no dream job, no passions, nothing at all. Yoo Han is introduced as a trainee, but he's never seen during practice and seems to have a lot of time on his hands for someone who is supposed to be a trainee and to study at the same time. A big chunk of the interactions between the two are just long, uncomfortable stares. I don't get why are those supposed to be useful for the sake of the plot or even just the development of the relationship between them. The acting didn't help, especially for Yoo Han: many lines of his felt like he was just repeating his share of the script out loud.
The classmates and Yeon Woo's aunt seemed like interesting characters with a lot of potential, but they were barely utilized at all despite their potential, even when there were excellent occasions for them to get more spotlight.

I wish I could say that this story needed more time, but that would be a lie. It was 2 hours long and I believe that several scenes could have been paced much better to leave room for other things.
I'm going to watch the sequel to see if the story overall can be saved, but right now I only feel like I wasted my time.

I can only recommend it in case you're a fan of that specific "colorblind soulmate AU" kind of story, but other than that I suggest you looking for something else.

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Despite such a beautiful story, I did not find it successful due to its interrupted narration. I think it was cut short, but it didn't quite convey what was meant to be told. Despite all their good intentions and efforts, the actors seem to have failed to deliver what they wanted. It says fighting world, but we were able to watch one fight scene. He was half. Everything was half. So are transitions. I couldn't taste it. I don't understand. I wish the story had been kept longer. I wish it was a longer feature film. If more experienced players played. If only it could be diversified with a larger group of players. I wish there were more fight scenes. How nice would that be. But it didn't suit me.

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"Never Shall I Speak Of Things I Have Seen Or Heard Inside The Inner Chambers"

Alternative title: Lady Shōgun and her Men

This story revolves loosely around the Ejima-Ikushima affair of 1714, the most significant scandal in the history of Ooku, the shogun's harem, during the Edo period of the history of Japan...but with a twist!

In a 'reverse' timeline history, the Japanese Edo period is ran by powerful women instead of men.

In 1716 a contagious - for men, that is - disease hits Japan changing the ratio of men to women to 1:4 .

Women become the dominant part of society and men dress up like geishas to attract women.

With the drastic reduction of men, the gender roles have become reversed in Japan. Woman become the dominant members of society and males are sought out for the ability to produce children.

A young, handsome member of a poor family, Unoshin Mizuno (Ninomiya Kazunari) is at the age he must make major decisions about his future; he has several things going for him, but his social status presents him from taking advantage of them:

He is skilled in kendo, has a beautiful girlfriend and is 'giving' to those around him who have less.

But his girlfriend Onobu (Horikita Maki), even though they love each other, is beyond his social status and he is not interested in the marriage offers he is given through his family. He also is worried about his younger sisters marriage dowry.

He decides to join the Ooku, kept men (think of royal 'male concubines') who are at the service of the Lady Shōgun of the clan; even though the present one is only seven (7) years old at present. This decision is heartbreaking news to Onobu who longs for him and no other.

Inside the Ooku, Mizuno writes Onobu that even though the men are all handsome, their hearts are 'all dark'; this is shown through a kendo match between him and Tsuroka (Okura Tadayoshi), who loses his prominence in the ooku by being bested by Mizuno.

However, the unplanned and sudden death of the child shogun brings to the position a more mature, no-nonsense and powerful woman shogun Tokugawa Yoshimune (Shibasaki Ko) who is seen by the Ooku members as a chance for rapid promotion and fulfillment of his personal power ambitions!

Matsushima (Tamaki Hiroshi) the senior 'man' in the Ooku, elevates Mizuno above others, but not necessarily for his own good!

However, the powerful but non-traditional new Shogun has her own ideas about what should be done and how, and several plot twists leave most with a satisfactory outcome!

Some do not consider this ' Sci-Fi' for this movie: however, SciFi has to do aas much with mutant diseases as well as futuristic scenarios as anything else: why can't this be considered SciFi i that it introduces a zombie-like disease and change Japanese history? That is what this movie does!

I also love the depth to which this story for this movie is written! I also like the very colorful artistic cinematography, music and the depth of the 'detail' used to bring this scifi/historical movie to fruition!

Care was taken to make each and every passing season and scene just as colorful and brilliant as the last one shot for this movie!

And even more, the acting was superb! The main and support cast worked together as if they actually lived in such an environment with superb support from the theatrical, lighting and other unmentioned departments.

This movie was also very emotional at times witht eh cast pulling off the emotion emphatically and on cue. Personally, I think that the characters are very well developed because they are complex, deceptive and quite multi-dimensional in their basic human drives.

They make sense within the constraints in which they are cast withing the Ooku. We get the full spectrum of emotions within this movie; varied scenery and ambiance in all the right places, multiple stories occurring at the same time but not overpowering the main story at the same time; realistic characters, with a realistic society portrait of the period, and so on.

Certainly, this movie has strong characters, but like the inner chambers of any Shogun's castle, they are puppets vowing for more power. Along with intense & emotional moments, it concludes with a mind blowing twist by the female Shogun that I personally didn't see coming!

The set and costume designers should take a hell of a lot of pride in what they did with this movie!

You actually believe that you are in the Japanese "Forbidden City" and being a welcomed voyeur into the intricate machinery of its operation.

Overall, it's an entertaining movie with an understandable story and believable characters that no Asian movie lover should miss!

My only problem with this movie is that the director, after making sure that the movie was built on a firm and lasting cinematogrpahy, music and such, tended to rush the scenes and story a bit.

Had he pulled a " Kurosawa Akira" and spent a little more time on developing the characters and back story, we might just be looking about another epic movie from Japan!

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A ten episode drama, 大奥〜誕生［有功・家光篇］ aired on TBS between October 12, 2012 and December 14, 2012, starring Masato Sakai and Mikako Tabe is also available for viewers.

Ōoku: The Inner Chambers is set in an alternate Edo period of Japan, where a strange disease that only affects men has caused a massive reduction of the male population, changing the Japanese social structure as women have to fill traditionally male roles. Eighty years after the initial outbreak, with four women for every one man, Japan has become completely matriarchal with women holding important political positions and men being their consorts. The most powerful woman — the shōgun of the Tokugawa shogunate — keeps a harem of handsome yet unproductive men known as the Ōoku inside Edo Castle.

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The plot of this film is really intriguing. An innocent person is framed for a murder he/she did not commit. I could say it did resemble Hollywood's "Double Jeopardy" with Ashley Judd or the recent Korean drama "One Ordinary Day" with Kim Soo Hyun. The actors also did a good job, however, the whole relationship between Kwon Yoo and Yeo Wool felt rushed and not authentic. I could not feel the chemistry the actors were trying to portray. There were moments that felt overly dramatic - for example when Kwon Yoo is in prison and learns martial arts within weeks or during an unknown period considering his time in prison was not told. The idea of fighting in dark using rice was good but the execution and visual side of it was not so much considering the film was shot in 2017 when high-end technology was already available.

Overall, I did like the idea, the plot and the acting. Visually the fight scenes were okay but the graphics of some of the scenes were not good. In my personal opinion, this film is deserving to see at least once so give it a chance!

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funny, nice one

It was funny. Definitely worth a watch! I took some time to complete this because my experience was hampered by poor subs placement but overall, I still had an enjoyable time.

I liked the humour. The characters had this straight face while saying/doing some hilarious things which made it more enjoyable to me as a viewer. heheh...The fight scenes were great. I liked the violence that came across as effortless in many of the scenes.

The most memorable part for me was the fight at the end where the two super talented (at combat) ladies had the great showdown. Got chills for a second or two there!

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Good watch, no surprises

Good watch, solid story. It's a bit standard, with mega explosions, biased bullets and macho men and women. But there is an delicateness to the story that deals with border espionage between N-Korea and the bordering countries that I found intriguing. Everyone has their own reasons for being in the place they are, and this is mostly outside of their own doing. The catchphrase in this movie is "I had no choice!"

The actors all give a great performance, however the lead seems a bit on the autopilot at times. But its the sort of movie that doesn't really suffer from that so we'll forgive him for it. The other lead, the prosecutor, seems more invested and gives a great performance. There were some plot-lines that could have done with some more attention, but that's just me who is usually not very much into these sort of movies. There were a lot of moments where my husband and I fist-bumped when one of the bad guys got what they deserved.

It all ends well after a significant body-count and the bad guys are gone. The last scene unveils that this will be the start of a beautiful friendship. Will watch a next installment if it comes out.

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Watchable for Nanon's performance

Listen, I'm a huge fan of Thai horror films, so I went in with pretty high expectations. Overall, it's a watchable film but honestly nothing could beat Shutter in terms of delivering scary moments. It didn't help that both films use cameras to drive the plot. There were a few jump scares in SLR, but it didn't give me the lingering creepiness that Shutter did (seriously, the climax and reveal gave me nightmares for weeks!)

All the actors performed to my expectations, especially Nanon. Sadly the story itself is pretty weak. I hope he'll have a better script in the future.

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Human Lanterns was a grotesque kung fu horror movie. Two rich men in a small town vied at every chance to outdo and humiliate each other, opening a crack that let in a deadlier presence to further fuel their hatred and destroy their luxurious lives.

The opening scene laid open the conflict as Lung (Tony Liu) and Tan (Chen Kuan Tai) fought over a prostitute at a village celebration. Tan showed off the lantern he was going to use at the lantern festival and Lung determined to outshine him with an even more exquisite lantern. In order to win, Lung had to find a master lantern maker who turned out to be a rival he had humiliated years ago. Thinking money could smooth over anything Lung hired Chao (Lo Lieh) which propelled into motion deadly consequences.

The title refers to lanterns made with human skin and Chao set about using people close to the men to craft the gruesome light fixtures. Lung and Tan blamed each other for the disappearances of their loved ones while the inept police led by Sgt Poon (Sun Chien) flailed about between the two powerful men.

To be perfectly honest, I am not a horror fan and had to fast forward through some of the bloodier scenes of Chao working on his victims. Despite the age of the film, it was disturbing enough for me to try and avoid most of the scenes once he began to work. For the faint of heart, it did show flaying.

Tony Liu and Chen Kuan Tai played their roles stoically with some bravado, pretty much copy and paste from other performances. Neither Lung nor Tan would be considered heroes, more concerned about their rivalry and honor than the well-being of their missing loved ones. The real star of this movie was Lo Lieh who stole every scene he was in with his unhinged performance as the maniacal killer seeking revenge for the loss of his honor years ago. With his facial expressions and fluid body motion he dominated the screen with his malevolent presence.

The movie kept the story moving at a rapid clip, interspersing fight scenes between gore and the over-the-top squabbling between Lung and Tan. Most of the fights were more pose-fu than well-choreographed fast fights. They were slow and then even slower when slow-motion was used. The final fight was the best of the lot, destructive, deadly, and extreme. There was sword work, kung fu, and wire fu. Maybe it was because Lo Lieh was involved that I enjoyed it more, he upped the energy and stakes, regardless, the final fight was intense.

The sets and costumes were well done. The silver lame was kept to a minimum and the sets weren’t some of the cheaper ones designed for people to be thrown through the walls. The wealthy men’s homes seemed appropriately opulent while Chao’s dungeon was eerily macabre.

Unlike many Shaw Brothers films this one has a proper ending. Too often the stories end abruptly as if the crew ran out of film. For the most part, everyone got what they deserved, even if I thought one of the characters got off too lightly. I downgraded the film some due to the grisly scenes only the women had to go through. This older kung fu movie went too far in titillating the audience with female nudity and deaths.

Human Lanterns is not a film for everyone to be sure. At its heart HL was a story about the price paid for hubris and pride. The cast is what drew me to it, HL was loaded with familiar faces and stuntmen. If you enjoy old martial arts movies and/or old horror movies, this one might be of interest to you.

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"I Wish Someone Would Rob The Bank, Preferably Taking Me Hostage...A Tragic Heroine"

There is a drama series, unrelated to this movie, with the same title...hope that it was as HILARIOUS as this movie!
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This was HILARIOUS movie! From the beginning I knew that I was going to enjoy it!

Suzuki Sakiko (Nishida Naomi) is the oldest child of a middle-class family whose 'obsession' is M-O-N-E-Y!

Unfortunately, she wins no friends when she shows them her savings booklet (her prize possession!), and she would prefer money from a guy rather than him using the money to buy her snacks or a meal.

Her mother suggests that she become a bank teller since she loves money so much; this is where we find her as a couple of robbers stage a robbery and take her as a hostage!

The rest of the story follows her as she is found, goes back to work and finally starts on her quest to recover the suitcase loaded with money...somewhere in the Aokigahara mountains (near My Fuji). The movie is loaded with

I loved her tenacity in learning the skills necessary to recover the suitcase. She 'acts' as a young female who has a goal in life from recovering from the ordeal and meets every obstacle with determination, motivation and careful planning. Yet at the same time, she seems to really to get into her character, showing an adolescent playfulness that becomes light comic pleasure onscreen.

She 'makes' opportunities by applying herself and being in the right place at the right time!

The support cast, including her family college faculty and staff, add greatly to the story and allow her to reach the goals she needed at the right times. They all become her obstacle at sometime but she is able to navigate their interference.

What happens as she becomes involved with other people and learns new skills, is her moving from loving money to loving adventure for itself! When you watch the movie, you will understand what I am talking about.

The music was placed where it was needed and appropriate and the cinematography was fantastic. The site for her journey down the river was beautiful, with a return to the same lovely scenery when her actual search begins. The landscapes and atmosphere are worth watching the movie in itself!

Although this was a low budget movie and her actions were sometimes foolish (as the director wanted them to be), you cannot help but start but wanting this dreamer and her antics to win the day!

I am going to have to find more films by Nishida Naomi and this movie's director, Yaguchi Shinobu.

By the way, the reason she got into college finally is typical comical gag, but it was done superbly by the bit player that pulled it off!


RE-WATCH VALUE: Definitely, especially with friends!

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Top Tier Drama

Promised and delivered. The love of these guys is so pure and real, the way they take care of each other and their friends, the way they look at each other... Top tier BL romance. The story picks up where S1 left off, with our boys temporarily living together. They are still very much in love, but the real world is slowly working its way into their lives. Old "friends" show up, doubts arise, Covid is raging. In the end they need to make a heartbreaking choice which left me ugly crying. There are some storylines that could have used more attention, but it doesnt take away from the rest. The love and lovemaking is exactly that. Lovemaking. Not sex, not lovescene. Not often do we see switches in BL. Usually just top/bottom This gave me joy! Thankfully I know theres going to be a S2 soon. Can't wait!

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So bad

It was so bad I fast forwarded almost 45 minutes of the movie.

Story
The story doesn’t make any sense, it started well but then they chose shortcuts after shortcuts and it just doesn’t-make-sense, after 1 hour of non sense I decided to fast forward many scenes that were painful to watch
For instance, once you’re in a hospital, then you’re in a shop, then you’re in a house, without explanation what’s so ever why you’re in a place then the other then another
It’s extremely not well edited

Characters
The relationship between characters doesn’t make any sense and one relationship is creepy
Decisions taken from the main character don’t make sense as well, she keeps on blaming people around her for a decision she actually took herself

Acting
The main guys are good, Xu Kai delivers as usual and is great and basically the only thing good in this movie
The main actress is alright
Everybody else performance was poor especially one of the mother but maybe not their fault, it was not well scripted, as they spend their time crying

Overall
It’s terrible

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