Reviews

a really good movie

This movie definitely deserves praise. I went in to watch this after finishing Police University. It was a good story, with good action and awesome acting by Seo Joon Park. Well, I wasn’t able to recognize Ha Neul Kang, he looked so slim and that military hairstyle suited him so much. The bromance was awesome.

The story felt as if the students might run away from the university as I interpreted it from the title but here the students chase after bad people to save a girl, but come across a gang and then fight with all their might risking their future as police officers. They show what they had learned in the university and also what they want to do in the future if they become police officers.

If one wants to watch some fun but with some serious story, this MIDNIGHT RUNNER is a good option.

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one hell of a tear jerker

Story: They really had me in the first half ngl. The first 30mins was like pure comedy, making me think that this was the overall tone of the story but heck i was wrong man. The next 1h30mins had alot of sad romance + jumpscares and fantasy elements involved. I cried twice during this movie and it was the first time ive cried over a movie. (ps i watched this ystd at the cinema so the scenes are still fresh in my head) However, there are a few plot holes in the movie which explains the 9/10 and not 10/10. I will not be going into detail as it would count as a spoiler. The ending was also kind of confusing to me but i understand why it was made this way.

Acting: Vivian Sung and Kai Ko, two fantastic actors placed together in a movie would definitely result in a banger. Their acting felt so genuine that during the sad scenes, i couldnt help but cry along with them. One complain i have is that despite Gingle Wang being the FL, she got less screen time than Vivian Sung who was the second FL which was quite absurd imo... They could've extended the movie abit, showing more romantic interactions between our ML and FL in their future life.

Soundtrack: Just amazing. When it started playing during one of the sad scenes in the movie, i immediately teared up. Its called Red Scarf/Ru Guo Ke Yi by WeiBird

Rewatch value: I personally dislike rewatching movies/shows but i think this show is worth rewatching after a long time.

Overall: If you are looking for a comedic/horror/thriller/fantasy + sad romance show with superb acting, you have came to the right place! As long as you ignore the few minor plot holes and illogical moments, you will be able to enjoy this masterpiece to the fullest :)

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You're kidding me right?

If you are the kind of person that feels sick when they watch "shaky" movies/shows, pass this movie up. I wish I had known how shaky the camera was... would have saved me from the massive headache I'm rocking right now.

If you get passed the shake and headache, the storyline seems pretty promising and interesting... for the most part.
But ... There are still way to many questions that need answers. I admit, I would have rated this a lot higher had it not ended the way it did. We find out what happened - sure. But we get no justice in it and honestly the ending left me completely disgusted and horrified. The fact people got away makes me sick to my stomach.
And also we never get answers for why Tang did what she did. I don't understand the ending. I wish it had explained the reason for that.
I think there is a lot more I want to touch on but I can't get the ending driver out of my head and it makes me want to vomit.

Other than all this, the "horror" part was pretty touch and go. It started out promising but by the middle, I started to speed the movie up... and by the end, it was at 2x speed. So the pace along with the shake, made it go down drastically.
Also kinda wish we knew who made the game and WHY. So yeah, there are a lot of questions I still have. lol

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Chaotic

This is a chaotic story with lot of crackhead energy, about a bunch of (I'd say virile) people. The plot is driven by bunch of misunderstandings. With an ending that I personally believe is a neatly tied up in a bow - meaning I don't have much complaints.

Story:
About a couple , just over 20 years into marriage with a passionate love life and "free" style of parenting.
Plot mainly focuses on how their lives change when the husband's childhood neighbor (who was also his ex) moves back to the house next door. The confusions and chaos, is particularly helped by the unexpectedly mature-for-her-age and imaginative youngest child.

Side plot focuses on lives of each of the couple's children - which kept the story pretty much interesting.

Acting:
Personally, liked work of all actors. Each have done their character justice.

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Utterly disappointing

PILIkula tells a story of two best friends who lived together and sell stuff via FB live. Until a Banderswitch-esque choices were introduced to the MC and made him do something out of his will—in that scene was to kiss his best friend during a live.

Then, the MC went back to his hometown, leaving his best friend. And we're introduced to their clique which consists of a gay, a homophobic, and a spaced-out junkie (who doesn't really helps the story to progress).

Our MC is daze to label himself. Internalized homophobia crepts in, and Sotus-like bullshits about being gay is also present.

"We're not gays."

And then, back to live selling. MC's bestie and love interest received harsh and homophobic comments from the viewers, making him stop the live. MC, then confronted his bestie, clearing things about themselves. Are they gay? Confusion. Denial. Fear. Consuming our MC. (xoxad)

Another Bandersnatch moment—he chose to tell his feelings. Then, the gay bestie came to the rescue, saying it's not about labels, blah blah, with bland and underwhelming acting. Unconvincing. Cringe-worthy dialogues, and monologues of our MC telling himself he's not gay but he loves his best friend. So what should he do?

Love interest bestie cried without valid reasons, then his mother called, and finally answered it—resolving their beef.

Back to online selling again. Our MC, who lived miles away from his love interest, amid pandemic, surprises his bestie saying he knows what to call him: MINE. And so, they hug, facing the camera in front of the live viewers, they two reveals that they love each other.

The end.

I am proud of myself I finished this 30-minute film. Bold of me to continue a short film that seemed to be from the delusions of a 15 year old, novice Wattpad writer and a BL enjoyer/fetishizer. Sure, the production is okay. But that's just it: OKAY. They didn't even give the script and the story depth. It was shallow, uninspiring, and trying-hard.

They really tried to push the lecture on being GAY and how it works. It was meh. As a gay person, I wasn't even touched when they did that. I was holding back not to throw my cellphone because it was an utter BS.

Not only the acting, but the whole ass script is annoyingly cringey. My ear bleeds by listening to their arguments during the scene where their clique was playing an online game. The homophobic bestie spurts BS, and the gay bestie get mad. Long ass shallow argument follows.

There are some shows where the script is lacking but the acting and the storyline was fine. There are also with unskilled actors, but the script and storyline was interesting. But in this film everything was lacking.

OH, BUT IT WAS ONLY A SHORY FILM. WHY ARE YOU EXPECTING TOO MUCH?

Then, stop making a BL film.

Like, can we go back to the whole point of BL series (in PH context)? Isn't it for the public to finally understand the life of people who doesn't conform to the heteronormative concept of love? Isn't it about the struggles and status quo of those in the LGBTQ spectrum?

Why are we following the recipe Thailand follows? Are we producing BL contents for the sake of advocacy or for the sake of cishet gay fetishizers?

I don't know but tons of Pinoy BLs out there aren't even trying. Just put hot and handsome guys together, choose a trite story, then voila, a BL show. I don't understand when Gaya sa Pelikula and Gameboys are the forerunners of the industry yet the shows that follow them wasn't even near to their impact!

Well, the only good thing about this film is it ended.

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Amusing movie with a hilarious ending!

If you have some time to kill, try this movie!

The movie is about a group of airline stewards and stewardess who work together, a particular flight to Germany, their "down" time on layover and the "eventful" trip back home!

Beautiful scenery in Germany, by the way!

After reaching the climax near the end, I had an absolutely "Laugh Out Loud" experience...

and I am not going to tell you what it was, either!

I would have rated it higher just for the ending, but some may not have the patience to make it all the way to what happened in the end.

The supposed onboard shots looked realistic, the cast worked together well enough to make you think that they were an actual airline crew that worked together for some time, with a look at innovative ways of handling 'problem" flyers, enough to give you occasional giggles and keep you watching until the end.

I never say anything about the music or cinematography unless I feel that something didn't fit well.

As a matter of fact, what happened to the married male member of the crew after he got home may have been more fun than the midair mishap...

Asiancrush presently offers it for free online.

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Will ‘ Shoplifters’ Steal Your Heart?

Hirokazu Kore-eda’s films have long been held as masterful arts of work in themselves; profound, complex and subtly crafted-something that ‘ Shoplifters’ presented beautifully throughout its storyline.

Lily Franky takes on the role of Osamu; the head of the band-wagon group of rouges seemingly appear as a middle-aged husband alongside his middle-aged wife Shibata Nobuyu ( Ando Sakura), their two children teenager Shibata Aki ( Matsuoka Mayu) and their young son Shibata Shiota ( Jyutu Kairi) and granny Shibata Hatsue ( Kiki Kirin). However the house is filled with untold truths and secrets; Osamu gaining most of his profit from shoplifting by enlisting the help of Shiota, Nobuyu stealing things from clothes’ pockets during her laundry job, Aki being part of a peep show in order to make ends meet and Hatsue’s seperate past life and gambling addiction at the local pachinko machines in secret. Yet the family find themselves ineffably stuck in a rut when they come across Juri ( Sasaki Miyu); an abandoned and abused little girl who is quick to warm their hearts but with undeniable consequences towards their future.

The casting choices of the move were undeniably brilliant with each actor feeling masterfully placed like pieces on a chessboard by Kore-eda. Yet admittedly one of the most dynamic of the movie came through Kiki Kirin’s role as Shibata Hatsue; sadly her last role before her passing shortly afterwards.

It should come as no surprise rust Kore-da’s unlikely Palmes D’Or winner offered viewers a sociopolitical depiction upon the deep-rooted trauma of a family united under one roof, alongside the fear of poverty. The narrative of the film took no wasted-time with subtly painting the dysfunctions of modern Japanese society and hypocrisies as well as the audacious details of characters and how they’d e linked together.

Yet against the beauty of the film’s narrative there was an admitted flaw with ‘ Shoplifters’ and that came through the initial problem of pacing. The film is admittedly slow-burn and whilst necessary for building up the storyline as well as delivering its twist-ending, lacked a greater sense of momentum towards the plot and attention of viewers.

Nevertheless Ryûto Kondô’s cinematography highlights a stark depiction of more grounded issues of the film such as child abduction, abuse and abandonment against the surrealist fantasy -world of Kore-eda’s microcosm of a seemingly mysterious family. The OST is admittedly less memorable than other parts of the film but Kore-eda’s placed emphasis on visual aesthetics other auditory became evident in the final act of the film beautifully encased in snow; a final flurried blur between the fairytale and childlike world of the family’s insular bubble and the cold and harsh reality of the events that are unfolding also.

Kore-eda’s ‘ Shoplifters’ is undeniably a heartwarming, bittersweet and audacious film about family. The subtle narrative and character-build was masterfully depicted alongside the strong performances by the cast. Admittedly whilst the film could sometimes hit a rut with pacing, the movie’s themes and finale offered viewers with a deeply thoughtful and contemplative film.

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‘Whispering Corridors’? More Like Talking Corridors…

In retrospect ‘ Whispering Corridors’ is an oddly anomaly of a film. Released the same year as its more critically-successful and spine-tingling Japanese counterpart ‘Ringu’( 1998) , Screenwriter and director Park Ki-Hyung had been pushing the idea of the movie for numerous years beforehand in order to compete with the rising success of Japanese horror “Yurei “ ( ghost) movies in the Asian-film industry. However ironically whilst ‘ Whispering Corridors’ was a domestic box-office hit the film was neither truly a “terrifying” or well-executed due to a consequence of its patchwork and baffling narrative.

The premise of the film revolves around a teacher at an all-girls school who after stumbling upon the bizarre death of a pupil at the school several years ago is mysteriously found dead the next morning in a seeming act of suicide. Gossip soon begins to spread around the school towards the building being haunted by a vengeful spirit which new intern Eun-young (Lee Mi-yeon) who is, in fact, an ex-pupil and friend of Jin-ju, takes it upon herself to investigate, and comes up not only against a murderous spirit, but more importantly against the corrupt practices of the school authorities.

The acting front of the film is admittedly satisfactory to say the least- its not bad per say and certainly decent enough to watch through scenes, but poorly-paced dialogue deliverances and delayed expression reaction rarely added vivid realism to these moments either.

The horror elements of ‘ Whispering Corridors’ often felt as though there were reluctantly added by Park Ki-Hyung. Of course they exist in theory throughout the film from the presence of the ghost and the urban legends but rarely did they lack two quintessential elements for a horror film; fear and suspense due to lacking build-up or connected points in the storyline . Consequently the overture of ‘ Whispering Corridors’ felt as though it was a parody of the horror genre; over-the-top screams, dark camera angles and the classic “ blood on the wall” lacking anything but dread as further “horror” scenes also seemed to suffer from a farcical existence in the movie also.

Instead ‘ Whispering Corridors’ often felt as though it was supposed to be a social critique - a message which was surprisingly highlighted substantially in the movie. Park Ki-Hung seemed to provide an inherently strong anti-authoritarian streak; openly speaking out against corporal punishment, the impossible strive for perfection and exam results as well as notable taboos in South-Korean popular culture such as lesbianism, assault and corruption.

However sadly rather than these more profound themes helping to tie down the loose ends of ‘ Whispering Corridors’ this instead spiralled a patchwork narrative to take root frontal stage of the film with sporadic-jumps between subplots, heavy dialogues and poor-editing resulting in the film’s pacing feeling tedious. The ending did little to serve a sense of completion or spine-tingling chills for viewers with the outcome feeling more anti-climatic than satiable.

Ki-Hyung’s hand at cinematography was admittedly dated in places through low-budget camera shots and egregious editing at times, but it is praiseworthy to note that Hyung did experiment a lot with early day filming - techniques into Korean cinema such as long shots, pan shots as well as fade sequences throughout the duration of the film ( which are all still widely used today in the South-Korean film industry.)

Overall Park Ki Hyung’s ‘ Whispering Corridors’ is the movie which would’ve arguably done better as a standalone social-commentary movie, than a marketed “horror-flick”. Whilst the movie did admittedly inspire future filmmakers through its box-office success and experiment with the early days of Korean horror in the film industry, the evident comparison between the poorly-paced and mind-numbing narrative with an absent scare factor against its more spine-tingling and suspenseful Japanese counterpart cannot help but come into effect afterwards

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This one was only so-so. It really didn't click for me, not even Satoh Takeru as Koyuki could save it.

The thing is, except for Koyuki and his drummer friend, Saku, I kinda didn't like anyone in this movie much. Or not at all, really, especially the lead, Ryusuke. His arrogant behavior, his endless issues, the way he treated his band members and kept causing trouble without even apologizing, it honestly rankled. When a character gets punched and you cheer it's obvious that you and said character really didn't hit it off.

Also, I saw many people complain that Koyuki's singing voice was muted, that we never actually heard him sing, that we only ever saw people's reaction to hearing him sing but from what I understand, in the manga, his voice is mesmerizing, magical, angelic and whatnot and like the director said, no matter who would've sung the part, people would've been disappointed because the bar the manga set was so high. That's why I think it was wise to not even try to match the standard and just leave it to people's imagination.

But... yeah. Overall, I was disappointed. The movie was way too long (it's almost 2.5 hrs. long!), the writing was all over the place and the acting also left much to be desired.

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this was bitter sweet - really really wish there was more, cause this was Really good. 1st off the actress playing Hikari is just beautiful - not in the conventional way, cause her looks r totally androgynous, from head to toe and that's what makes her unique - the more i looked at her, the beautifuller she became. heck felt i could look at her for hrs. she did a great job (looks aside).

from the start, the tactlessness of people was disturbing, considering how aware we all r of the different/diverse people existing on this planet. and the fact that, cause someone is not a carbon-copy of u, doesn't make them "less" or abnormal. so an innocent trivial request to use the restroom, shouldn't make people uneasy and yet it does. always reminding her that she isn't seen as "normal". and as this is the start, the tone is set and thus i goes from one moronic encounter to the next. where curiosity get's the better of a customer asking if she really is a man "...cause she got big hands." (like seriously). but Hikari keeps rising above. so little wonder the only place she really is comfortable in her own skin, is around other trans women and "their" pub.

as the plot is Hikari reuniting with old classmate Takashi an unrequited love from high school. business takes her to her hometown and as she feels ready to face him and "come out". she decides to agree to a meet-up, ironically the one to get the surprise is Hikari. as Takashi might have made the date, but the moron invites the whole class and u can only guess at how tactless that group of moron's was (considering it was an all boy's school). and again Hikari sufferers in silence, the tactless jokes and rude remarks, always smiling and ignoring - rising above...

so i needed a 'happily ever after' for Hikari. but i guess her walking tall, not letting small minded moron's get to her, is a positive end - loved this (yet need more) for sure a rewatch.

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Short follow up to The Novelist

Overall: This is an 11 minute continuation of the story from The Novelist (aka Pornographer). Watched on Viki.

Content Warnings: none

What I Liked: (very minor spoilers)
- some sweet moments like the head on the shoulder at the end
- communication about the letters
- that kiss is no dead fish lip press haha
- the car seemed to match the pale pink of the cherry blossoms
- the ending song
- (neutral) they used the same music that is in The Novelist which is either a nice call back or recycling to save money...

Room For Improvement:
- the kick from the sister was unnecessary
- the intro music doesn't match the vibe of the show

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Beautiful and un-cliche

It's been a long time since I enjoyed a serious movie this much; going into this I had been worried that it would be pretentious and boring, but that wasn't the case at all.

In fact, I felt like the plot never stopped moving, the story's pacing was great, and the movie actually took me by surprise in many scenes. I thought that something was going to happen and the movie was going to go the cliche route, but they didn't and instead I watched something that felt much more realistic and emotionally-charged, rather than needlessly dramatic.

We're given just enough information about every character and situation to make us emotionally invested — it really feels like we're given a intimate peek into the tensions between family members.

Cinematography was beautiful as well; overall, the tone of this movie is so nostalgic and warm. I was surprised that there were some parts that were truly funny, albeit a little bittersweet. I won't lie — it stressed me out a lot in many places, but that was partly due to my misplaced expectations. Go into this without any preconceived notions and you'll find yourself in love with it, I promise.

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Slow burn, different

So this one was so different from the rest of the other Rurouni Kenshin movies; it was much more of a slow burn and less of an action flick, but it still fit perfectly into the franchise.

It was kind of odd watching this and already knowing everything because I had watched The Final before, but that didn't stop this from being any less enjoyable. I'm a sucker for these sort of tragic origin story romances, and this movie was no different.

I loved the chemistry between the two leads, and I loved how the plot played out with its small nuances and future references. There were a little less action scenes than I had wished for (the first two movies had the best fight scenes I'd ever scene) but I understand that that wasn't the focus of the movie.

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Remarkable future Classic

This is a remarkable true story of a singer who had dedicated her life in bringing happiness to others through music. Her story was sad but very touching. The cinematography brought back nostalgic moments in HK and the reproduction of ambience within the concert hall packed with fans was very realistic. One could even feel one’s heart beating when she slowly appeared on stage as the fans cheered her on. Of course, credit must be given to the young actress Louise Wong who took on this complex role . She was brilliant as Anita. Apart from having almost identical look to Anita, she was able to bring Anita’s larger than life character back to life. Every word, every tear came from her soul and touched the deepest part of the audience. Even thinking about some of her scenes in the movie will bring back misty eyes. Such a powerful remarkable movie. Should be a contender for the best actress, best movie, best production and best cinematography awards.

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Good depiction of second-chance love

This is the move version of Gu Man's book "Silent Separation".

Well acted, and well-depicted. The flashbacks to the original misunderstandings were clear and concise. The current-time situation was presented well, and ML did an outstanding job of portraying his frustration / desperation. I liked the love-rival side characters too -- both were realistic, and also stepped back when they realized they had no chance.

The movie is true to the original story (likely because Gu Man was also the screenwriter for the movie), and the movie is MUCH better than the 32-episode drama "My Sunshine" (2015). The drama was tedious, especially the over-long flashbacks, and changed important details.

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