Reviews

A martial arts classic from the 1960's, this movie did not disappoint. Primitive by today's standards, it was cutting edge in its time.

I was reticent about watching this as I'm not a huge Jimmy Wang Yu fan nor Chang Cheh. To my surprise, I enjoyed this movie. Either lovingly restored or lovingly cared for it was sharp and vibrant. Those who have watched old kung fu movies know what I'm talking about. Some of them look like they've been drug over 20 miles of bad road. While most of the scenery was filmed on a lot, the sets were very nice to look at.

Most of the actors performed well for the time and genre. I was surprised to see Tien Feng and Ku Feng playing good guys, they usually played wicked men. Lisa Chiao Chiao, no stranger to holding a sword in a movie, played the gentle love interest with no desire for her man to ever pick up a sword again. Fortunately, her character just happened to have a secret book on how to fight left-handed hidden away and was able to give it to Wang's character after he lost his right arm and fell into a depression. This role fit Wang's screen personality like a glove and it made him famous.

The sword fights were typical of the time, with quite a few, uh, disarming scenes. Bloodier than movies that came before it, but not as bloody as Chang Cheh would make in the future, the fights were mostly entertaining.

The One Armed Swordsman excelled more in storyline and mood than in the actual fight scenes. The one-armed swordsman received a gift in his loss as he came to learn compassion and affection. Though he lost everything he knew, he gained a way out of the cycle of violence. For martial arts movie enthusiasts, it's a good one to watch in homage to the past and also to see how far these movies have come.

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The Korean Fast & Furious

This movie was worth watching at 3am and it kept me alert and wide awake despite the late hour. The police politics, the twist, the high speed car chase was so satisfying that I didn't even need a snack to go with the movie.

Each of the actors did an amazing job at portraying their characters. Jo Jung-suk was as charming as he always is even as an antagonist. Contrary to some comments from other viewers, Gong Hyo-jin's monotonous and expressionless acting made her role as a strong female officer appear and feel more realistic and reminds me of how Vin Diesel was in F&F, you see the emotion in their eyes, not their face. It was the first time ever that I saw Ryu Jun Yeol and he easily made it to my long list of budding actors to watch out for. Then, as the cherry on top, seeing another top favourite, KGE at the end was a pleasant surprise. I hope there'd be a sequel with her in it.

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A Short Horror BL Movie

Content Warnings: it's in the horror genre so there are a few jump scares/gory make up (as someone who doesn't like horror I found it okay to watch but not right before going to sleep)

Overall: not my favorite short from Strongberry, but an interesting entry in the horror genre

What I Liked
- tried to do something different and incorporate the horror genre
- the acting and production value was fine
- a very nice nsfw scene
- cameo from the actor in Some More

Room For Improvement
- it was rushed/choppy especially with the ending, definitely could have used a longer run time

(fyi you can purchase this on their Vimeo channel)

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sorry but i don't get anyone giving this a high rating - to each their own of course, but watching this i didn't find anything likeable in Jun - who is the MC. his attitude is reckless not rebellious, and we taking an adult here, not a teen - so rebellious really? against whom?!? his dead father or meek browbeaten mother?!? or the worse - a loving understanding partner that didn't and doesn't deserved what he got, in return for his love or trust.... so nah this not worthy of 5 stars, let alone 7 or more

if this was supposed to serve as a cautionary tale, to everyone not using condoms then good - cause the "i like to feel closer..." argument is moronic - closer to death more like - even though as the nurse pointed out, with medication nowadays u can control the disease and live a normal life - but lets face facts, if u sick no matter what u have once u have to live with it for life, it wont stay the same - it morphs and effects every aspect of ur life - let alone when u consumed medication regularly its side effects (that r usually warnings) take effect after a decade or two - that's unavoidable - so "normal" is subjective....

also i really felt sorry for the mother, who is not a mean - bad person that deserves her son disregard and disrespect - he staying with her and treating their house like a love-motel and i don't care what ur sexual orientation is, if ur not married and u bring every tom, dick and harry back to ur home to shag while ur parent's in the other room, that's down right disrespectful and deserving of u getting kicked out, let alone getting a scolding. but she did neither - just kept quite and suffered in silence, no matter what her son did. and she the bad guy?

but Jun's logic is off as he the one who went to meet his ex and then brought home trouble, making a show out of the whole family from the neighbor's to talk about (any Asian's worse nightmare), and if that's not enough he gets mad at the mother and runs off - even after the test he doesn't think it's right to contact his new bf - here Michel the one running around looking for this spoilt ass - why? heck Michel was a better son to Jun's mom then Jun and he understanding on top of it all, considering he also infected?!? this was sad, not sweet or lovely. Jun is selfish and undeserving of Michel's love.

he might hate his dead father but he off the same mold, and the mother had to suffer one when he was alive- now she got another version to take care off in her old age - donno this was kinda depressing and still can't get all the positive reviews regarding this movie.

the only positive i found - dude playing Michel - hella good looking - and i guess the acting was good. so one off

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A Quirky Short Film

Content Warnings: none

Overall: a cute short film (30min) with an art house film quirky vibe

What I Liked
- the set design is really nice
- the camerawork and lighting made it have an art film/quirky/unique tone
- I could see this being a whole series and I don't think I've seen a fortune teller reading tea leaves in BL yet...

Room For Improvement
- I think I know what happened at the end but I'm not really sure...which generally isn't how I like to feel after watching something
- the goofy sound effects were okay, I liked that they toned them/got rid of them later on

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Definitely recommendable to watch.

I Definitely liked the movie. From the Production, Cast, and the flow of the story itself. I can tell that some of the actors are like new to acting cause I haven't seen them before, but man they act so well and I'm amazed by that. The flow of the story is somehow unpredictable and that's kinda good way for the viewers to like keep on thinking that what would happen in the next seen. And I can also see some good points of this movie and I can't list them all but yeah! I enjoy watching this one. I'm a Fan of different genres of movies especially Filipino movies, and I can say that This was one of the film that will make its viewers thumbs up. Hope you guys have fun watching it.

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This was the slowest Kenshin movie. A lot less fighting (a lot), and more focused on a love story. I understand why it was more slow paced, but it didn’t make it any less enjoyable to watch. The acting, as with the other movies, was excellent. I felt it really summed it all up. It made all of the other Kenshin movies have more meaning, because you realize how he developed in to who he is in the future. Now that I’ve watched this, I’ll be watching the whole series over again. I think it will mean so much more to me now. I’m sure that everyone that has watched the other Kenshin movies will also watch this, and will understand what I mean.

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Domestic violence from a very Japanese POV....(?)

As the title of my review says, this movie is dealing with domestic violence and child abuse. The problem of this movie is that it does so from a very Japanese point of view and based on situations that either don't exist in reality or must be applicable only in Japan. In other words the weakest part of the movie is the plot. Spoilers ahead.

The mother of three adolescent children kills her extremely violent and abusive towards them husband ( and father of these children), knowing that she is going to go to jail, in order to save them and free them from his abuse. The brutality that the father has already shown to his own children, is what justifies literally and figuratively her action.

Fifteen years later she is released from jail in order to go back and find that not all of her children appreciated her sacrifice while the family's social circle is divided. Some justify the killing of the abusive husband and some others call her a murderess and have already ostracized the murderess' children.

The problem with this situation as it is presented on the film, is that the children are shown sooo brutally and so obviously abused in the first part of the film , that makes the viewers wonder why the police didn't interfere in the first place in order to arrest the father. The children are so badly beaten up and injured that I doubt that their case wouldn't have been recorded at the hospital, that provided medical help to these children. Which in its turn raises questions about why the mother was sentenced for so many years in prison, leaving as a consequence the children on their fate to grow up with a guardian blaming their mother for what happened to them.

The acting is great the music decent but the plot that deals with such a serious matter as domestic violence, exaggerates everything up to the point of not being believable.

Unless such situations do indeed happen this way in modern Japan. Do they?

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How to use your emotions constructively to change yourself and your life as a whole!

Oh boy! where should I start. The movie starts with a new aloof girl in class and foolish ,aimless, happy , tall dude who is curious about her AND ends with a girl who is warm understanding and confident and the guy matures to almost a living Sage!
I liked almost everything about this movie to the point that sometimes it gets too real to swallow to the level that if I had seen it 10 - 12 yrs ago I might have had suffered a real breakdown lol! I guess becoming adult changes things. That is why you see so contrasting ratings , anyone below 16 yr will generally give 5/6 rating and anyone above 25yr will give it 8+ rating , that is how it is!
If you haven't watch it yet , I wholeheartedly recommend it , although if you are young & emotional person and you have any exams close by then you should definitely put in on hold, till you have a whole free week to ponder!

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Story 1 > Story 2

I actually really enjoyed the first story in this movie — it was quirky but endearing and despite some questionable moments, there was a very subtle layer of comedy that actually made the characters seem like very real and relatable people.

The second story, however, just didn't click with me very much, whether it was the characters' personalities themselves or the kind of haphazard and illogical direction that the plot went in.

Overall there's still a nice nostalgic feeling to this movie, but I didn't found myself that invested in the plot developments.

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Heart warming, sweet & beautiful story

The only regret that I had was I didn't see this movie when it was showed in Singapore back in 2013. It had awesome review and I thought I didn't want to watch and cry because going to cinema is meant for fun. I was putting off to watch for long and today I watched it finally. It didn't fail me. This became one of my all time favorite movies.

The storyline is very different from any other movies as wrongly accused father and his daughter tried to meet each other again with the help of his cellmates and friends. You will just flow with this movie and forget about your surrounding. The acting is spot on and the tempo is perfect.

Highly recommend everyone to watch this and you won't regret spending 2hr of your life.

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devastating

this movie was not easy to watch , i had to pause in between scenes to stop myself from going manic. what makes me sick is that this movie is based off true events and right now i am still trying to process everything from finishing the movie less than 5 minutes ago. it was heartwrenching throughout the whole movie. it is definitely not for just anyone to watch as you need to be mentally prepared as the events are triggering.

im still super pissed at the verdict given to the culprit because what the fuck ?? only 12 years after damaging a kid physically AND mentally that is costing her her whole life yet he only gets... 12 years... of prison.. because he was intoxicated with alcohol... when he did it.. hearing the words he said during the trial made me sick to my stomach, knowing he did what he did but still claiming to be innocent MY GOD ! headache just thinking about it..

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Tissues for the Issues

Well if you're in the mood to cry and suffer emotional distress for 2 hours, LOOK NO FURTHER! I did well; I must say, I didn't cry as bad as I thought I would lmao
For starters I gotta warn that this movie is not for the faint heart. From personal experience as someone who got taken away from my family (even for just a short time) I'm fully aware of the trauma it causes at such a young age. You don't know who to trust, you begin to question why you trusted at all and everyone around you is using you as a pawn. As a child it's not so easy to comprehend. This movie is beautifully done and has all the emotions. Rage, Happiness, Fear etc. If you ever feel like you have bad luck, think again!
The ending had me feeling some type of way. It wasn't a bad ending... but wasn't a good ending either. Kind of an open ending but I'm personally dissatisfied. I'm NEVER in the mood to cry but something told me to watch this and I'm glad I did.
Enjoy...

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They Didn't Come Home for Dinner!

Bruce Lee made a big splash in Hong Kong with The Big Boss. Set in the contemporary time, bloody, more realistic, and of course centered around Bruce Lee, it was something bold and new.

The story had plot holes and was weak despite a good idea. Ice dealers were also drug dealers which put the honorable men working at the ice house and unknowingly for the syndicate in danger. They found out soon enough, as one or two at a time were called into the boss' office and disappeared. These guys were not the sharpest knives in the drawer when it came to figuring out the danger lurking behind the big boss' gated mansion complete with guard dogs and endless armed minions. The only clue friends and family had that something untoward might have happened was that they didn't come home for dinner.

Most of the fights were brawls rather than martial arts conflicts. Cheng Chiu On (Bruce Lee) had taken a vow to not fight, why we don't know, and watched most of the action until the halfway mark in the movie. When the bodies started stacking up he finally decided to enter the fray, though for many it was too little too late. Most of the extras were slow and lumbering compared to Bruce when he took center stage and showed everyone how it was done. There is no overestimating the skill, quickness, and precision he displayed. Han Ying Chieh, the Big Bad, who also choreographed the fights was at least an able opponent in the final conflict.

The fights were brutal and bloody. It was one of the few times I've seen Bruce fight with weapons, aside from nunchaku, as he did in this one. Oddly, director and writer Lo Wei, inserted weirdly comedic moments in scenes at least somewhat grounded in realism. Wuxia flying guard dogs are not to be missed! There was also more wire work than I would have expected, completely unnecessary when dealing with a fighter the caliber of Bruce Lee.

James Tien also gave a notable performance early on as Cheng's friend, Hsu Chien, who tried to stand up for the workers. He had a light and spark that was entertaining to watch. For the most part, the rest of the acting was typical of old kung fu movies, stilted and weak.

Like many kung fu movies, the story was imperfect. The early fight scenes were also flawed. Once the real Big Boss stepped up, the movie became worthwhile for me. Bruce Lee had a grace, magnetism, beauty, and fluidity that I've never seen matched. It was worth sitting through the more stagnant parts of the movie to be able to watch him work.

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