Reviews

Interesting arthouse film about mindsets

I am usually not so much into the whole arthouse scene, but this film i really did enjoy. The cinematography was really beautiful, the director plays a lot with different colouring and styles to express certain moods. The music is excellent and every theme does add to the mood as well. This film got it right to bring out the inner struggles of their characters.

I agree with T-Rex, the amount of the sex scenes does not really add much to what the film tries to express, but they are also not feeling super misplaced in here.

WARNING: It is an arthouse film, you got to love the picture and the visual watching experience, and you need to be able to deal with a bit strong emotions.

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I was confused 95% of the time when watching this movie!

Before watching this movie, I've seen the male lead on kisskh voting list, as one of the most attractive Korean actors. Up until watching this movie, I hadn't watched any movie or drama that he acted in. WOW! He is VERY attractive; just seeing him in photos alone you probably will not get why a lot of people find him attractive. However, once you see in a movie/drama, you'll understand the reason why. Within the first 6 minutes of this movie, I was like, wow this man is fine! The male lead attractiveness, the visuals (shots), and the cast acting is as good as it gets (seriously). I was totally confused by 95% of this movie (mainly the script). I get the James Bond & Godfather vibes the director envisioned. However, I don't think the script held its weight. I wanted to drop this movie 3 times before reaching where I am now (the 1 hour 47 minute mark). While I am curious to know what happens in the end, I just think it'll bring more confusion.

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Make your own

I'm so glad that I ignored all the negative ratings and comments and watched this.

I don't know how so many people ignored the story when it's really touching. Everyone had their own agenda and amidst all these people, we have our protagonist Kim Min Jae who didn't realize he was being used and fell in love, his' and Kahee's love story is probably the best part of this movie, especially seeing Min Jae's devotion and care, he proved his love with not just words but with his actions as well.

Honestly, every character was important in giving the story substance. Revenge, Politics, Greed, Lust and Love all played their part in giving us a movie with a great story.

I wish people would stop focusing on the soft porn and watch it for the story and acting.

The story still might not be everyone's cup of tea but it's actually not bad as the reviews and comments would have you believe. The only reason I'm writing this review is coz there's just so many negative ones, I hope to convince a few people to watch it and like it like I do. If you still don't like it, then well we all have different tastes anyway hehe. Also, try to watch it with good subtitles, bad subtitles is probably the reason some people didn't get the story.

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What caught my intention was the female lead (she's a regular on Running Man)

I was not expecting the vivid sex scenes in this movie, and honestly it didn't bother me as much as the storyline. The story is about a selfish king (who is gay), and from a young age, he preys on the little boys who are in training to be guards. BTW, I was shocked seeing this within the first 5 minutes of the movie. One of the guards grows up and becomes close with the king. The king probably brainwashed the guard into sleeping with him, as kings in those days had authority, and probably would kill a person and their family if they rejected the king's request. The king doesn't have an heir to the throne, and instead of fulfilling his duties as king by impregnating his wife the queen, he would rather be dethroned, send his wife to basically live as an exiled queen (aka nun), or offer his wife (the queen) to sleep with his bodyguard male lover. This happens all within the first 30 minutes. Honestly, I am disgusted with the storyline. None of this screams romance.

Note: My review maybe bias, as I am not interested in BL dramas or movies.

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Moral conundrum, it's not okay to feed a worm to a baby bird to keep it alive, thus killing the worm, but it is okay to murder a despot. I wasn't the only one confused by the Shaolin ethical dilemma of killing, though it didn't take the monks long to figure out where they stood.

Jet Li played the Shaolin monk, Zhi Ming, from one of the northern schools. When he hears that the tyrant who killed his parents is having an extravagant birthday bash, he determines it's time to take a short vacation from martial arts training and meditating to kill the man. Little does he know that two members of the southern Shaolin school with a grudge against the evil Big Bad have chosen the same event for their assassination attempt. One of the southern Shaolin would be assassins was a woman dressed as a man which I've ceased to have a problem with after watching a number of kung fu movies and Cdramas. She of course, has a childhood connection to Zhi Ming. The three don costumes to perform in the lion dance spectacle only managing to get in each other's way and failing in their mission. They managed to escape together arguing and fighting until it became tedious. Fortunately, once they realized they were all part of the larger Shaolin family the bickering toned down.

The early "comedic" parts were a bit tiring for me. The plot development was also extremely sparse, leaving huge gaps in the storytelling. I wanted to tell everyone to take a deep breath as the pacing was frenetic at times as well. People ran everywhere, horses were sped up, every movement outside of the fights made it seem as if the actors' pants were on fire. Sometimes the audience needs a little "white space" to process the story and take a breath along with the actors. My other complaint with this movie is the OST. The same awful music is repeated ad nauseum until it made my ears bleed. I've truly never heard a worse soundtrack in a kung fu movie, any movie for that matter.

A favorite of mine, Lau Kar Leung, directed this Chinese movie with a Shaw Brothers crew and it showed. With the exception of the stunning mainland China outdoors scenery including the Great Wall and temples, this felt like it could be a Hong Kong production. I imagine Lau Kar Leung was thrilled to be able to choreograph fight scenes for Jet Li and the extremely capable actors/martial artists in this film. There was very little wire or trampoline work, the huge fight scenes were executed with grace and finesse. The fists, kicks, and swords were swift and accurate. The story was secondary in every way to the incredible fight choreography. Jet Li was in his prime and most likely had to slow his movements for the camera to pick them up, they were shockingly fast as it was. I loved the mantis fighting near the end of the movie.

I wouldn't recommend Martial Arts of Shaolin for the music, story, or acting, but the fight scenes and a lightning-fast Jet Li are definitely worth the price of admission for any kung fu enthusiast.

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This is also confirmed to be a great movie.

This is also confirmed to be a great movie.
The filming and editing are sublime. We could easily notice on one of the big fights, the still burning ashes floating around the scene, giving us instant flashbacks to the anime. Really nice touch.
The action is great. Himura is perfectly portrayed, with all of his goofy nuances, deep honor, shame, guilt, and killer instinct. And the same can be said of the remaining characters. Sanosuke is as lovable as ever. And Sojiro is perfectly depicted in his psychopath childish assassin persona.
We feel like we could show this movie to people that have never seen the anime, and they would still love it. Great work guys.

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Dyeing to Know You Better

The Bare-Footed Kid started off sweet enough, turning darker with each new pair of shoes the shoeless youth acquired.

Ti Lung played Tuan the noble, skilled fighter living undercover as a supervisor in a cloth dyeing shop. Maggie Cheung, Miss Ho, was the lovely owner of said shop with a secret dyeing technique and the den mother to her workers. These two had an underlying affection for each other that gradually made its way to the surface in a meaningful exchange. Tuan and Miss Ho were the heart of this film and the most compelling characters.

Aaron Kwok played Yuan, the titular character. Bare-foot, broke, and illiterate he came to town looking for his deceased father’s friend, Tuan. Yuan was naïve, but a ridiculously skilled fighter who couldn’t even write his own name which brought up some questions about how he was raised that are never answered. Enter Huang Lien as his love interest who was a teacher in her father’s school. Their budding romance had a rocky start and a rockier ending.

Yuan initially went to work for the kind Miss Ho, making missteps that landed him in the employ of the Big Bad. He earned a pair of stylish shoes, a pocketful of change and soon enough a heart full of regret.

The younger actors’ performances were fine as their characters went through life changes. Aaron Kwok made a sweet country bumpkin who was briefly led astray, his conscience weighing on him as reality sank in. Ti Lung and Maggie Cheung were a couple I never knew I needed as their subtle performances delivered an emotional impact that stayed with me.

Compared to older kung fu movies, the cinematography was excellent with beautiful scenery, lighting and colors. The score could be oddly synthetic at times but it wasn’t anything that distracted me much, I’ve heard much worse in these kinds of movies.

My biggest complaint, and what dropped the rating for me were the fight scenes. Ti Lung is a martial artist, one of those whose movements often needed to be slowed down for the camera. He also had a presence which made you believe he was nearly indestructible. I’m guessing Aaron Kwok’s skills, if he had any, were much more rudimentary, as his fight scenes included a lot of wire-work, possible doubling, speeding up, and blurry camera work, especially the huge concluding fight. One of my favorite martial arts choreographers, Lau Kar Leung, choreographed the fights. Whether he was compensating for the lead’s lack of ability, having an off day, or trying something new, I found the final fight to be hugely disappointing.

The Bare-Footed kid started out with some comedic moments ending as kung fu comedies often do, in heartbreak. Aside from the poor final fight which was brutal, this movie was entertaining. I could recommend it to kung fu enthusiasts with a few reservations.

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Instant romance between two attractive people. Little to no plot.

Overall: For a romance movie it was ....alright. :/
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Plot: I disliked the way it started out but I started to warm up to Mikami and the relationship between him and An as the story progressed. The relationship wasn't so bad but a lot of it didn't make sense to me. Mikami's behavior from the beginning is bizarre and borderline pervy. If he wasn't hot he wouldn't have gotten away with most of it basically. An's behavior was passive and frustrating to watch. Nevertheless a relationship develops between them through sudden kisses, archery, opening up to each other little by little, and some side characters that served as jealousy bait and scene filler. It was hard to feel connected to the story because it happened so abnormally and it just seemed like two, shallow attractive characters in situations that were supposed to convey closeness, without any reason for either of them to love the other. A lot of it was straight up confusing unless you're just watching for the kisses and ship. Near the end I was just like.......What??? WHY??? There's a big conflict that makes no sense at all and was so hard to watch. Pretty unsatisfying ending for me as well. I feel like it could been directed way better.
Cast/Acting: The attractive cast made up for the lackluster acting for me. And I say lackluster because sometimes they were overacting and sometimes they were underacting and rarely the acting seemed genuine. An was super pretty/cute yet annoyingly coy but still sweet, Mikami was so handsome, you could almost excuse his aloof and odd behavior, and the extras were attractive. However the characters had little development or depth mainly from lack of plot and sensible conflict.
Music: The music was pretty wack if you think about everything or anything else they could've used, however it was fitting to the scenes and wasn't to cringe if you didn't pay attention.
Rewatchablity: I WOULD WATCH/REWATCH THIS IF I WANTED TO SEE TWO ATTRACTIVE PEOPLE KISS AND MAKEUP WITH NO REAL PLOT OTHER THAN ARCHERY AND FILLER SUB CHARACTERS. THIS IS DEF SHOJO.

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Godzilla vs a Giant Rose!

Godzilla’s biggest and most terrifying opponent is---- a giant rose bush? Breaking with the formula of Big G fighting his traditional opponents, the writers took a chance and invented Bolliante, the most creative Kaiju in the Godzillaverse.

The biggest problem for me with this film was that it took a long time to gain any traction. The humans had a lot going on, dominating most of the story. One of the characters, a scientist, had fused Godzilla’s cells from a previous battle with a rose he’d already infused with his dead daughter’s DNA in hopes of keeping her soul alive, thus accidentally creating Bolliante. American terrorists and a Middle Eastern terrorist were running about killing people and trying to steal the Godzilla cells and super secrety secret nuclear energy eating microbes. In the process they free Godzilla from his volcano prison inside Mt. Mihara. Throw in a bunch of politicians who want to use all of the discoveries as weapons against Godzilla and their enemies and it’s a lot to take in. I can't forget the ESP students who can communicate with Godzilla and Bolliante. The young commander of the Super X-2 Godzilla fighting drone seemed superfluous most of the time with all the political maneuvering, scientists, terrorists, ESP folks, and agents running around.

None of the characters of this large cast were developed and the acting was lackluster at best. Without an emotional connection to the characters their deaths and decisions held little meaning. The military walking about and giving monotone orders wasn’t any more interesting than the spies chasing each other around.

What I liked about this movie---Big G looked good, I really liked this costume. Bolliante was a beautiful giant rose and then turned equally frightening. B was one of the more interesting and sympathetic antagonists for Big G. She was also the biggest and one of the most fearsome he'd ever faced. Historically speaking, Godzilla has had his hands full when facing a female opponent, Mothra for another example. This movie was darker and more violent than many other Godzilla movies. The fights were intimate and fierce, really well made using this technology.

The miniatures and pyrotechnics were spot on emphasizing the size and destructiveness of the great monsters tearing through the city. The music was best when using a few of Ifukube’s familiar Godzilla tunes.

Like a lot of Godzilla movies, this one had a moral to the story. This film focused on the hubris and greed of humanity and how man creates some of his own biggest problems. Godzilla and Bolliante weren’t the true monsters, it was the men and societies who created them. Plus, you’ll think twice the next time you walk into your garden.

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Ok, in my opinion it's a good film. Actually no, I love it.

(This is my first time writing a review so I dont know if i did well, but hopefully I got my point across)

I know the rating is high, but trust me!

The story-
A robot falls in love with a human at first sight and wants to get to know her better. As a deliverbot, U brings the human, Lin Min, packages to her and starts learning more about her. They start getting to know each other better and Lin Min falls in love with U, so they start dating because of the same feelings for each other. Unfortunately, U knows she broke an important rule for robots and starts to question if she made the right decision: being a relationship with a human and loving her.

In the beginning, "U Loves You" kinda confused me, but then I started getting it as the film progressed.

There's definitely symbolism in this movie, like the apples. When I was watching it and they showed Lin Min cutting a red apple, it looked like a heart. And I think right before that they were talking about hearts. I looked up "red apple symbolism" and it explains a lot! "The Red Apple symbolizes love, temptation, original sin and banishment from paradise." It literally explains U and Lin Min's relationship in a nutshell. You could surely get it from watching the movie, but no spoilers from me lol.

I'm a sucker for cinematography, I love all the scenery shots and all the different camera angles. It has a retro/vintage vibe because of the shots having these video effects like it's from a VHS ( eg. the scene before the credits and the song/mv after the credits) The ending is something that has happened many times in GL but that last scene hit home, I love that gift she has was given, so cute. I know it's very dear to her and she'll probably keep using it until it get worn out (i'm trying not to spoil it yall.)

The acting/cast-
I think both girls are really fit for their roles. There's nothing really else I can think to say because they were so good, but still, props to the actresses. (A little off-topic but I like the robotic sound effects when U moves)

I only remember that one song that played throughout the film and had it's own MV kinda thing at the end, it's definitely a catchy song for sure but I just can't remember the title of it since I watched it last night and it's on a membership thing now.

Nevertheless, after thinking about the title of the movie a bit, it is directed towards Lin Min and that U her. So you should just watch this film!! I encourage you to do it because I think it’s a good movie to watch in you free time.

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Watchable

First of all, I only wanted to watch this movie because of Wa Er and Liu Chang. And their acting didn't disappoint me (though Wa Er had not as much screen time as I had expected). However, the fl wasn't quite as good and there are these typical overacted characters which are either funny or just easily annoy you.
The story is definitely quite weird. However, imo it's this weirdness and partly absurdity which makes this movie an interesting watch. But you have to enjoy ancient China, Chinese Republican era and sci-fi all at the same time. Also there are some plot lines that seem dumb or not well thought out but the last big plot twist/revelation is fun - so please really watch till the end if you decide to watch this at all!
Unfortunately I can't really score the music as it was cut out in many scenes in the YouTube version I watched due to copyright issues. As for the rest of the soundtrack I can't really remember which means it was neither good nor bad.

Overall, it was an enjoyable movie. Nothing extraordinary good but nothing too bad either. You should watch it if you like Liu Chang or Wa Er and if you have 69 minutes spare time.

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one of the best live-action

From the choice of actors to the staging, Ruroni Kenshin is a great surprise and one of the best live-action adaptations of a manga. Expertly shot and critically written, the film manages to combine the best of the first four tankobons of the manga in a coherent and spectacular story. Everything is managed by dosing the best narrative and action scenes, directed and choreographed very well and able to give that grace superhuman to many of the characters involved: the killer Udo Jin-ai members of Oniwabanshu up to the same Kenshin. There is no shortage of ironic and funny moments that manage to play down the tone of the film, bringing it closer to those of the manga and anime rather than the dramatic and dark ones of the OAV. Definitely a film that does justice to the manga of Nobuhiro Watsuki and that will delight the many fans. Appreciated the choice of the ost and the song of one ok rock, the beginning, as the end title. We love One Ok Rock, and this could only make us doubly happy.

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What do you get when a sloppy kung fu fighter meets up with an OCD Big Bad? A big mess. And that about sums up this kung fu farce.

The first half is a pseudo comedy. So Chan (Gordon Liu) and Jiabao (Wong Yu) are stepbrothers who are supposed to be school age. They are devoted to each other even though the stepmother loathes Chan because he stands in the way of her taking over the successful winery his father owns. The brothers get into and out of trouble and back into it. There's a kung fu soccer match and several run ins with the law. This was the hardest part of the movie for me to sit through and it didn't help that Gordon Liu and Wong Yu were too old to buy as school boys.

When Chan's teacher (Jason Pai) reveals his secret drunken kung fu method after drinking too much, the story takes a slight up-swing. Johnny Wang also appears as the Big Bad who literally doesn't like to get his hands or clothes dirty, a bad move when he favors shiny white clothes. Now the plot begins to thicken as the stepmom hires the Big Bad to kill her stepson which he's happy to do after the stepbrothers thwart his bank robbery. The light, silly comedy of the first half quickly devolves into the Manson Family Christmas as tragedy after tragedy strikes.

All the main characters do a fine a job of acting and of course, fighting. The music is too often reminiscent of the Keystone Cops which can pop up at the weirdest times. The best part of the movie is the final fight. There's no chit-chatting, no posturing, just a vicious no holds barred pay back.

The Young Vagabond had trouble finding the right blend of comedy and tragedy which culminated in moments of inspired fights overshadowed by the tangled up mess of a storyline.

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Cinematography on a different level

I never really understood this movie, until I watched it a second time, and especially because when I watched it I was not 100 percent into it, but geez the cinematography is a whole other level, I remember my reaction at the very last moments, with my mouth wide open I was following the subtitles and at the same time the images but it was hard. the theme is so soft but at the same time terrifying the characters are so strange but again endearing, nobody in my circle liked this movie but, I strongly recommend you to watch it if you like cinematography. This movie opens your eyes to a whole new genre and I would definitely tell my film teacher about it.

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Can someone give me some tissues?

I loved this movie from the beginning to the very end. already, i was so happy that the story lasted more than 2 hours but if on top of that every part of the movie is interesting, full of emotions and captivating then what more could i ask for? The return of Gav and Cai with more love than in season 1, which i didn't think was possible, and the little development of Terrence and Wesley, which i hope will develop even more in season 2, give me goosebumps. Gavreel's story was so horrible, and I thank his grandmother so much for being there for him. Gav's trauma was so well worked out, knowing that I have a trauma I felt very emotional very quickly when Gavreel went into his own bubble and when he broke down when things changes. That Cairo was there for him, and the beautiful scenes at the beach. The best movie I've ever seen. The scene with the two lovers was so sweet and cute that I couldn't help but feel embarrassed. I had never seen a sex scene so well done to be honest. Besides the last scene with the group was way too sad, I felt like it was the end of Gameboys, but I understand why. But really what touched me the most was the fight between Gavreel and Cairo to know who loves the other more. Those two love each other and I'm waiting for the wedding!

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