Reviews

A must-watch for Tsuchiya Tao & Tanaka Kei fans

Tsuchiya Tao once again shows her versatility as an actress, she really does shine in these dark roles (action, comedy etc). I read Tao turned down the offer to act in this film three times and after having watched this movie, I can definitely see why one would want to turn down the offer after reading such script, especially the ending. Much like in Anikoma, Kasane and now Aishu Cinderella, she rejected those roles at first but has exceled portraying the characters in those too. This honestly has to be her darkest and the most heaviest role I've seen her work on (second being Kasane now) and it's kinda mind-boggling considering her real life sweet, kind personality at first seem like it wouldn't be a good fit for her to take on this kind of story but the fact that she hit it out of the park with this film speaks volumes to her versatility as an actress. Tanaka Kei was no exception as well, he's always good in these psychological genres as well.

The whole time you're watching this film. there's this feeling of ominous in every scene and sense of dread in them, it keeps the viewers on the edge of their seat anticipating for what's going to happen next because you really don't know what to expect afterwards.

The film is then backed up by the many classy music in the background which made for a more suspenseful, ominous atmosphere the entire time giving sinister vibes. I would love to listen to the soundtracks if I could find them, some of them are honestly a delight to listen to.

The cinematography in this film doesn't disappoint as well, I found myself pausing the movie to take screencap so many times lol. The scenes in the afternoon would have very vibrant visuals but gloomy, dark for scenes that screams danger.

I personally have no idea what exactly I'm supposed to be getting from this very twisted story but I find it to be one of those stories that are unapologetic and tragic and it'll leave the viewers feeling dreadful and empty after finishing the movie. Two hours flew by just like that and I wished it was longer, even when I don't know where the story was heading to. The slow-mo shots of kids enthusiastically coming to school and learning near the end and that sort of ending was just a work of Satan, straight up evil and sinister and it left me feeling dreadful. All in all, I found it to be a good watch and I would recommend it, especially for Tsuchiya Tao & Tanaka Kei fans but it's definitely not recommended for the weak-hearted.


(spoilers TW // child death, multiple children deaths)

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First Love Forever Until Eternity

●ML is a topper student but playboy whereas FL is a shy but cheerful girl. FL is named Subaki which is the same as the ML surname, and this is how their first conversation happened at the first day of high school. The story is heartwarming with two of them falling in love eventually trying to figure out the meaning of true love. The story had the elements of a cliche plot like ML action are affection deprived which FL sees. ML encourages her to find her self-esteem and dream.

●Every scene is written beautifully and gives a warm feeling. It lives up to its Title LOVE FOR BEGINNER, as this movie takes on a journey of two inexperienced people falling in love where they both come to realize what true love is.

●This movie is not about an ugly duckling turning into a beautiful swan but it's a movie about a girl with insecurities who wants to kiss a guy whom she wants to be with forever.

●Acting by everyone is amazing. Emi Takei (Subaki Hibino) is very adorable throughout. She just blended in the character with her charming face and strong-willed character. She separates self-respect and love which is admirable.
Tori Matsuzaka (Kyota Subaki) actually looked a bit older for a high schoolers but then I adjusted. He had that ruthless expression in the beginning but turns pleasant and goodish. He had portrayed the character very well

●Music is pleasant and songs amplify the mood of the scenes. It is soothing to the ears and visually appealing.

●This movie can be rewatched for it has an adorable story with excellent performance.
●Its recommended to those who love fluffy romance and believe in first love becoming forever.

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Failure of the modern lawful society

●PLOT VIEWS
OK, about one hour has passed am still not sure what's happening. Han Gong Ju is transferred, her personality seems normal but gets defensive whenever anyone clicks pics, she also is learning swimming.With past and present events, all combined it is very difficult to interpret the story.
Since there are so many good reviews am still going till the end and yes it wasn’t a bad choice. This movie is shown from Han Gong Ju's eyes, what she experiences the nightmares, the past memories, the unfair society, irresponsible parents, and untrustable police.
Within the second half, it tore to pieces that how she had still been hanging in there to just live. Whatever happens, she works hard to live, even if one day she wants to end everything she wants to live, because it's not her fault.

●ACTING
I was really moved by the exceptional range and raw emotion Han Gong Ju (CHUN WOO HEE) was able to show through this role. Her vulnerable personality is portrayed like a piece of art.
Lee Eun Hee (Jung In Sun) is a kind-hearted teenager who wants to befriend this new girl. She finally is able to make friends with her. She had that good girl-of-the-class vibe in her body language.

●MUSIC/REWATCH
The lighting and darkening were the moods of the movie showing the director's artistry. The music was subtle and clear. The movie is great but it is probably not a rewatch thingy for it has the ability to put you in depression. You can't see anyone's pain.

●AFTERTHOUGHTS
After finishing the movie I read the articles about the original case and it just shakes up the soul that how this case had been handled with victims left unprotected, harassed by families of perpetrators, and abused by the police officers. These types of cases are stark examples that our society is diseased. Adult entertainment has landed everywhere with cheap internet leading to sexual crimes. Last but not least being a teenager doesn't make the crime less guilty, but the f**king law just leaves them with juvenile punishment. If they can commit an adult crime they should be punished according to the adult punishment.

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Could have been better. It obviously lacked in budget and time.

The story has potential but the production seems to be lacking in budget and time. Also, they need to get an experienced English translator for their embedded translation or just include one and leave it to their partner streaming sites to do the English translation for them.

I hope the sequel, if there ever will be one, will have the budget and time to allow the writer and director to tell the story. A good story shouldn't be wasted like this. Make it count.

Last but not the least, the robots does not have to be "stiff". What they lack are emotions not oil. They came from a very advance universe. The virus may have had removed their emotions but it did not made their motor movements like a robot prototype of the 1900s. Make them relax. I mean, look at that female robot host to the virus, not once did she act stiff. Why are the other robots stiff? They don't need to be. Even the fighting scenes of the robots, it was like watching someone do the robot dance.

I hope this improves in the sequel.

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It's more Ordinary than Crazy

Crazy Romance (2019)

Gong Hyo Jin is the queen of romcom! 😊 Supposedly the literal translation of this movie is "The Most Ordinary Romance" and I think it is more appropriate than "Crazy".

There's nothing crazy about the movie, just 2 adults who came out of failed relationships, had misunderstandings and gradually (or grudgingly) fell in love. I like it because it felt real.

The only thing I didnt like was there were too many drunk scenes that I was also confused like them if what they were saying were sincere or it was the liquor talking. But i think from the very start they already noticed each other, and felt the same pull, that's why even heartbroken they couldnt stay away.

Rating: 8.5/10

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Feel good holiday romance

New Year Blues (2021)

This is a story of 4 different couples a week before New Year. The movie is quite long, clocking in at almost 2 hours. Halfway I was started to get a little bored because the story kept switching between the 4 couples. I think 4 was too much. This would have been better if there were only 3 couples that we needed to focus on.

My fave couple was Kim Kang Woo and Yoo Inna (or maybe I'm just biased towards Kangwoo 😊).

My fave story/ending was Lee Dong Hwi and Chen Du Ling plus Yum Hye Ran as the sister.

The most romantic setting is Lee Yeon Hee and Yoo Yeon Seok in Argentina although their story seems out of place. (Sidenote: why does Yeonhee keeps going abroad when she gets heartbroken lol) and the funny cameo of Choi Siwon

The one I was confused because I didnt know why they were fighting in the first place was Yoo Teo and Choi Soo Young

Overall it was a nice holiday film.

Rating: 8.5/10

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Terrific thriller!

The Terror, Live (2013)

A gripping thriller from start to finish!! I was so tense, i didnt know how this would end. 🥺

A guy called up Yoon Yeonghwa's radio program threatening to bomb the Mapo Bridge and he did! Instead of reporting to police, Yeonghwa instead tried to talk to the caller for an exclusive coverage. Will they be able to find the caller before he kills more people?

The whole movie takes place in Yeonghwa's radio show. Ha Jung Woo is always amazing 🥰

Of course there are a lot of unbelievable events like how the terrorist was able to plant so many bombs everywhere, and even the twist of who it was, was.. not so surprising, but more on disbelief on my side. There also wasnt enough background about the terrorist to feel sympathy for him or understand how he planned everything. The voice was so familiar that i was surprised when the real culprit was shown. Turns out #KimDaeMyung was the voice actor!!

It also makes you think if you were Yeonghwa, what would you have done? How can you resolve the terror while minimizing the damage? I still think the terrorist was wrong but i can understand why he did it. And the last thing that Yoon Yeong Hwa did 🤯

Rating: 9/10

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The Five Venoms team up again to battle each other in a twisty-turny fight over a gold shipment being escorted to famine starved villagers. When you see bare male chests and fighters in silver lamé you know you are watching a Chang Cheh extravaganza.

The Venoms are likeable enough. Sun Chien plays the inexperienced head of the escort crew. Phillip Kwok is the drunken sheriff who stumbles in and out of the fights helping the escorts. The bad guys were quite the colorful group as they dressed to match their names-Silver Spear, Iron Armor, Copper Head, and Golden Arms. Lo Meng, as the Kid with the Golden Arms, is the head bad guy with stacked golden bracelets and boots and vest to match. They may have been lethal but they were a stylish bunch.

It's a Chang Cheh movie which means there are double-crosses, big body counts, blood, and plenty of fighting. There were far fewer dismemberments and spurting arteries this time thankfully.

I had hoped I would enjoy The Kid with the Golden Arm more than I did, but for me it always comes down to the fights. I don't expect much out of the story or the acting. The fights in TKWTGA were the slow, staged, dancy, posing fights I don’t enjoy much. Sometimes Chang Cheh makes the fights so outlandish that they are entertaining in their own way in his movies. Not here. I found myself looking at my watch. Never a good sign. The movements were slow, over and under shooting their marks regularly as if they thought their opponent was taller than he was. The timing was often off in jumps and ducks. Philip Kwok and Chiang Sheng (Short Ax) are spectacularly acrobatic fighters though too often the back and front flips were pointless in the duels.

If you love The Five Venoms or Chang Cheh movies or slow stop action fighting, this is one to give a try, other-wise let the buyer beware.

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Don't Bother

The blurb for this made it sound like it could be pretty good - adult introspection, reevaluating one's life, and choosing to, or not to, make changes.

What it wound up being was a series of jarring and somewhat difficult to follow scenes that were badly patched together, combined with poorly thought out flashbacks, and often insufficiently clarified relationships. It also suffered from bad makeup/wardrobe choices, with one memorably bad FL hairdo and a particularly greasy looking ML with an inexplicable furry pink jacket. The acting was mediocre, the characters so uninteresting as to make it impossible to feel sympathy or empathy for any of them, and there was a complete lack of cohesive flow in the story line.

It was boring. Really, don't bother.

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If you are into thriller drama movies with a plot twist, this movie is for you. This movie is more of a sci-fi mixed with thriller type. I really loved this movie and I would definitely recommend it for anybody to watch it. It deserves more attention. Before you watch though BEWARE OF THE BLOOD & GORE.

The plot starts off very slow and realistic but has plot twists within the middle of the movie. After that happens, the plot picks up and that's what makes you more interested in what will happen next.

As for the soundtrack/OST, not the most memorable. It just was okay. The acting on another note was beautiful. I love Choi Woo Shik, Kim Dami, and Go Min Si in this movie. I really think the cast was well picked and the actors did an amazing job with the acting and portraying each of their characters.

I would rewatch this movie if I wanted to, and I am really hoping and excited if there is a PART 2 to this movie.

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Awful, beautiful and bizarre all in one

Huh, those were two incredibly weird hours.
I am not familiar with the source material, but I’ve had Hot Gimmick on my watchlist for ages. The preview on Netflix had me genuinely convinced that this movie would be good, but I still couldn’t get around watching it. It was a friend of mine who convinced me that I just had to sit through this, purely for how strange this film really is, so we did.
And boy was she right.

Let’s get one thing out of the way before we start: Hot Gimmick is not good. The “story” is probably up there with one of the worst I have ever seen in a romance movie. The characters were all underdeveloped, unlikable or just downright sex-offenders. The pacing and the way this is cut, was very confusing to say the least. Every single performance had me cringing hard. On almost every level Hot Gimmick is a failure. And yet there is something more to it. But let me elaborate.

One can’t critique a movie without talking about the plot but when it comes to Hot Gimmick this is kind of a hard task. I feel like this film both had too little AND too much going on, all at the same time. Like, I am having a really had time, trying to remember like a single complete arc, but at the same time, I was confused about what actually was happening through the entirety of the movie. No one really does anything, and yet there is this whole universe set up with overly convoluted dynamics and backstories. It felt like everything that actually mattered, happened off-screen. The main girl is in love with idol-boy from the beginning of the movie but we never find out why or since when. She has this really complex family story with an adopted brother that only gets explained very briefly in a throwaway line that is easy to miss. Everyone’s parents in this are actually important and a vital part of the characters’ backstories, yet we don’t see a single one of them on screen, aside from main girl’s mom (who arguably was the only parent who didn’t matter in this whole debacle). Everything resembling a plot already happened before the movie even started. The protagonist never does anything, things just happen to her. It was like the film wasn’t even about her, she’s the only one that doesn’t get a backstory, so all Hot Gimmick movie really is, is her reacting to the past of other people. And since nothing is actually actively happening, all we’re left with is a story with already set rules that never really get explained nor challenged.

The characters, and even calling them that feels like a stretch, were a nightmare. As briefly mentioned in the above paragraph, our protagonist was one of the most passive ones I have ever seen. She doesn’t really have an opinion on anything and seems to be doing things without a purpose in mind. She’s supposed to be this symbol of naivety and purity and yet whenever anyone makes a move on her, she simply goes along with it. The only bit of a personality we get to see is when she refers to herself as ugly, which she does a lot.
The only character that I can call an actual character with personality was the protagonist’s sister but she was so insignificant to the plot that there wasn’t even a real reason for her to be here. Still, I was always happy to see her, she was a breath of fresh air.
I wanted all of the love interest dead, no exaggeration. At this point, I am used to Asian dramas blurring the lines of consent, sadly, but the extent and frequency to which this happened here was one that I could no longer overlook. I was deeply uncomfortable with many scenes in this movie. The male characters were incredibly cruel to our protagonist throughout the entire runtime and no one really grew from it. I guess her big brother was kind of unproblematic, or at least he would have been, if he didn’t have the hots for his little sister, so yeah there’s that. They also don’t do much, besides being romantically interested in the female lead.
Which brings us to our next problem: there is no chemistry. And that’s like the most important thing in a love story. I am willing to forgive a romance a lot if the couple has chemistry. Well, this film had three pairings and not a single one of them had any. But how could they, no one really has a legit reason to like anyone here. The female lead has as much personality as an IKEA cardboard box that was left in the rain and all the guys do is either sexually harass the girl or victim-blame her.
There was one (1!!!) scene where I felt like a couple had chemistry, it was one where glasses man and wet-cardboard-box-girl walked home side-by-side and had pretty legit banter. In those few minutes, I was almost willing to extent my disbelief and buy that these two characters like each other. Sadly, I wasn’t able to forget their previous scene together where he blackmailed her into kissing him on a public train station so I wasn’t in a very romantic mood.

This movie is gorgeous. I am not kidding, it’s legitimately beautiful. The cinematography is outstanding and I couldn’t name a single shot that wasn’t aesthetically pleasing. But it’s beautiful without a purpose. Art isn’t supposed to just look nice; it’s supposed to make us feel something. And Hot Gimmick failed on that level. Because, while every shot in this looked beautiful, most of them failed to communicate something. There were only very few scenes where I actually understood what they were going for, why something was shown the way it was, what mood it was trying to get across.
And the cutting suffers from the very same problem. Because most of the time the cut of a film isn’t supposed to stand out UNLESS you want to communicate a certain emotion. Action scenes are quickly cut and hectic for a reason, for example. Well in Hot Gimmick everything is cut extremely quickly all the time, for absolutely no reason. Except for one scene that was entirely one-shot, again, with seemingly no particular reason in mind. This made this film extremely hard to watch. Scenes in which the characters were just standing still and calmly talking to each other felt physically exhausting because it was so difficult to keep up with what was going on.

The soundtrack is genuinely kinda nice and something I wouldn’t mind casually listening to , but also dictated the mood instead of accentuating it. However, it did help me decipher, which scenes were supposed to be romantic,
because strictly by the actions of the characters, I never would have been able to guess.

So, you might read all of this and think that I hate Hot Gimmick but you would only be half correct. I gave this 9 stars for Rewatch Value for a reason. The last, let’s say 15 minutes of the movie had me genuinely moved and I don’t even have the slightest clue why. It’s not like I suddenly was invested in the plot, it’s not like I suddenly loved the characters but out of nowhere Hot Gimmick became raw and emotional. There’s this scene, pretty close to the end of the movie, where our female and male lead just randomly run through a park and yell at each other for what felt like an eternity and I was weirdly hooked through the entirety of it. Like for almost two hours, Hot Gimmick had been trying to impress me, with its fancy shots and with its attempts at being poignant, but it needed a shaky handcam and two teenagers incoherently yelling at each other for me to feel something. For the first time in the two-hour run time, I felt like I truly got it. I got what the movie was trying to tell me, got what the characters I thought I didn’t care about were going through. The weird cutting, the cinematography, the seemingly incoherent dialogue all kind of clicked together at that moment. It was fast-paced, awkward, helpless, and clumsy like teenage love is.
It’s absurd, because I can imagine a version of this that could have worked but at the same time, a good version of Hot Gimmick would require to change pretty much everything about it. Still, there is something good in here, I’m just not sure what it is and whatever it may be, it’s very very well hidden. But it’s not just the cinematography, there is something real about this film. For a few minutes, I felt weirdly represented in how honest, how awkward, how bizarre it was. At times I thought “This should have been a three-minute music video” at other times I thought “this should have been a 16 episodes TV show”. I knew what I was watching was objectively bad and yet I couldn’t give up on it.

Sadly, the potential to be good, doesn’t make something good. So Hot Gimmick simply isn’t and I cannot recommend sitting through this madness, unless you're interested in it from a film-making perspective, which was what intrigued me when I watched it. It doesn’t really work as a “so bad it’s good”-movie, for that it simply doesn’t have enough going on and requires too much focus but there are a few unintentionally hilarious scenes (look out for the hot chocolate scene as it had my friends and me laughing out loud).
Usually, when I am talking about wasted potential in a movie or show, I’d say that the basics were there, but the execution failed. Well, Hot Gimmick is the opposite. The very foundation was missing. The plot sucks, the writing’s bad, the performances are weak. And yet it’s beautiful. It’s like a castle built on sand, the very thing Jesus said one should never do.

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Because you are you

If you need to watch something short and cute in order to cheer yourself up, this is a nice example of comfort bite size movie.

Directed by Supakhit Povarasoonthorn
Starring: Aksornkorn Jariyakhuntorn
Jaruphat Sareeniwat

Having broken up with his latest girlfriend, Two seeks comfort with his best friend Kenji and they end up spending the night together. The day after, while Kenji, at ease, enjoys their outing, Two is torn and keeps changing his mind.
This is nothing new or revolutionary. The story is as old as time: best friends who become lovers. The question is whether they are going to stay friends, as Two wishes or it is already too late since the lines have been crossed, as Kenji thinks.
The story is well written though the production looks a bit cheap, camera work is good but the sound is not. I guess they couldn't afford to record the sound after filming in a sound studio. On the other hand, the fact that they recorded sound while filming made the final scene on the highway overpass, a location extremely noisy, all the more real since the actors had to shout to be heard. This added unexpected poignancy to the events!
The acting was noticeably better as the story progresses: while at the beginning the actors were obviously uncomfortable and the dialogue delivery was stilted, as soon as they left the room, their acting skills were revealed! In the final scene on the bridge, they show a range of emotions, especially Two as he tries to figure out how important Kenji is to him. Kenji himself is very sure of his feelings and the actor manages to portray that really well.
The piano music accompanying the film was sweet and it fit the events ! They even used the piano version of My Love and..., which was part of the soundtrack to the Kdrama The King:Eternal Monarch! Nice!

I have no idea who made this film. There is a youtube channel Boom Pictures Official but it is in Thai so I could not understand anything. But this short movie is a promising effort, not too amateurish, with some good acting and writing. And at 22min, short and sweet, nothing to regret!

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Good

overall, The Final is a relatively loose adaptation of the source material. While it has the same antagonist, themes, and basic story structure, it is largely its own story—which is probably for the best. In the original Rurouni Kenshin manga, this arc took 10 full volumes to cover. (The previous arc, which got two films dedicated to it, took 11.) Trying to cram all this into a single film would have been a fool's errand
Visually, the film is wonderful. The fights are masterpieces of choreographed combat with little-to-no CG to be found. The wire-fu is used in just the right amount to make our heroes and villains seem superhuman but not cartoonish. If you enjoy practical effects, you're going to love the care and attention that went into them in this film.

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●HOW I CAME TO IT
As soon as the movie started I was jittered, as to what's gonna happen next. And everything just discloses with a subtle bang of action sequence.

●STORY
This movie is about the power struggle happening in North Korea which involves the agents working in S.Korea. After the father is killed by the S. Korean security team, his teen son Ri Myung hoon" (Seung Hyun Choi) and daughter "Ri Hye-in" (Yoo-Jeong Kim) are sent to a North Korean detention camp as punishment for their father failed mission. But in reality, Ri Myung Hoon is lured in to become voluntarily become an agent and assassinate North Korean spies working in the south. He is given the identity of a high schooler where he becomes the target of bullies and after becoming seatmates with Lee Hye In. He worries for her as she shares the same name as his sister.

●PLOT VIEW
You might want o to compare it with any other North Korean spy movie, just go ahead but what you will miss is a great action-packed performance and the emotions of the young teenage agent. The storyline is similar to many other spy movies based on North Korea but the premise of high school and the ML attachment with a classmate, and even though there's never any romance per se, there is genuine chemistry. The story keeps progressing with the involvement of his sister and gives an enormous amount of ML sentiment.
I genuinely felt bad, these spies are also serving their country but what they get I in return abandonment, why is N.Korea so cruel. I literally got tears at the scene of refugees coming to S.Korea. But on the other hand, what is more, hurtful is these refugees creating problems in the host countries.

●ACTING
T.O.P as Ri Myung hoon is an excellent choice for the role with a vibe of a ruffian, and a slender muscled build for a swift agent.
His actions were precise and emotions astute.
All the other supporting cast were outstanding as well. Lee Hye In and Ri Hye In both give strong support to the ML.

●MUSIC
The music was good as per the scenes.

●REWATCH
I would definitely rewatch this for its amazing action.

●APPRECIATION
the action sequence was done was precise. the action director definitely deserves applause for it. the whole mood of the movie, the lighting in the scenes was had a withered vibe giving the emotion of ML Indirectly.

●RECOMMENDATION
For everyone who loves actions movies. As soon as the movie started I was jittered, as to what's gonna happen next. And everything just discloses with a subtle bang of action sequence.

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