This review may contain spoilers
good, fun, intriguing, cute & so-so xD
hur hyunjun's acting is good, the way he portrayed go yoo han's easygoing straightforward fun loving kinda impulsive personality.. i didn't think i'd like a boy with mask on throughout the half of a movie this much but his voice did the job. (i actually like him more when he's wearing the mask xD.)you'll surely learn a lot of color names watching this movie / series. also some random fun facts about colors. the story seems to have ended abruptly & i think there should be a sequel. i didn't read the book it's based on but i'm thinking i should, to know if there's more to their story.., it's a low budget movie with so-so acting and all. like most of the bls out there. but if you're into bls, i do recommend it. it's nice. the group of friends is really fun. also, for me it was intriguing and if you like thinking, or like to read between the lines, this movie / series could turn out to be more than just another romance story for you.
quick comment on the music. they're good on their own (the line "take my hand, i'll let you go" is on repeat in my head xD)
but i don't think the bgm fit in with the drama for many parts. to me, the music seemed out of place at times. the soundtrack is really important for me and i'm not so happy about this one's. will see if a rewatch can change my mind.
one last note, i read some reviews here and there that say this movie gives a wrong / problematic message & encourages unhealthy / obsessive relationship. i don't think that's the case. the protagonist is an unreliable narrator. idk if you're familiar with the notion but yeon woo thinks a lot of his feelings are due to obsession. that's because his mind is preoccupied with fear. he always presumes his feelings are rooted from the possible negative sides of the mono-probe situation. however imo he's not quite correct about this. he was unable to distinguish love from obsession due to the many common / similar aspects of these two feelings.
nevertheless, love and obsession can coexist. in reality, this story didn't really show either of them hurting the other because of that obsession nor did it encourage anything like that. it only exists in the form of fear, rationally so, which they overcome by the end of the story.
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The story involves 3 generations of women; a grandmother, mother, and daughter. There isn’t a strong plot, or conventional storytelling techniques. Instead, each scene is shown with as much realism as possible. You piece together the story yourself.
Quickly it becomes apparent that the grandmother and mother are trapped together in a relationship filled with resentment and acrimony. The husbands / fathers are gone from the scene. The women have stories they tell about the reasons why. But they are not always consistent with each other. There doesn't seen to be any easy escape. And the pattern looks destined to continue into the next generation.
Overall this is a good portrait of the life many lead , struggling day by day without sign of improvement. However at 2 hours in length, this can get too depressing and boring.
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Warm story about friendship
This movie is far from its action and romance genre. I rate the story 6 because you can't find one place where this story develops. Not at home, not at school, not a the club they went to, nowhere. Because of this, you will find that the plot is scattered and has no direction. When you think it is a romance movie, it directs to action and then turns to romance, then friendship and running in circles till the end.The acting between ML and FL was perfect. They emit the right emotions for this movie. But for me, none of the supporting actors are really supporting. It's just a snippet of all of them. You can't really remember names of them by the end of your watch.
Albeit, I enjoyed watching this movie and shed a little. I wouldn't recommend you watching but it wasn't that bad. Watch this when you are in the mood of resting not in an eager-for-action mood and you'll be just fine.
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A nugget of funniness
I saw Kim Sung Oh (Man Gil in this movie) on the cover shot for this filmand remembered him in Korean Odyssey. I thought, "I want to see this" and I'm happy I did! Very interesting and funny movie! I was not bored nor could I predict anything that was going to happen😂 XD very complete storyline/plot, you definitely have to watch it to the very end! Thanks!!Was this review helpful to you?
Good enough.
This is a comedy will make you cry as hard as it will make you laugh. It is a very personal, very moving tribute of comedian, actress, screenwriter and first time director Jia Ling to her mom, Li Huanying - factory worker, volleyball player and first person in Xiangyang to own a TV.I tried to watch this shortly after its release but dropped it within ten minutes because I was put off by the fact that Jia Ling chose to play herself, the then 18-year old Jia Xiaoling. In her late 30s at the time, she just doesn't look the part of a teenager so I abandoned it before I realised that nonetheless, she feels the part because she IS the part; every emotion is heartfelt down to the tiniest nuance. And of course she is who she is today because she is a funny lady, very, very funny with excellent comedic timing. Nonetheless, the criticism that the main role is possibly mis-cast is a valid one. There are some rough edges to the overall production that are very acceptable considering this is her directorial debut.
The main premise is simple, based on universally relatable mother daughter themes. Like many, I can vividly remember being 18, feeling awkward, unaccomplished, insecure and possibly a factory production run error of my lovely and vivacious mother. We have all been Jia Xiaoling, wanting to make our mom's proud, longing desperately to be worthy while dead set certain we are not. A freak of nature transports Xiaoling back to the past, where she meets and befriends her young mom and has a chance to be a part of all the most important events in her life. She hilariously and movingly tries to change her life for the better even if it means her mom ends up with someone else to hopefully have a more worthy daughter.. And in the process she movingly comes to the realisation that she was always already good enough. These are tried and true mother daughter themes that may seem to have been beaten to death but Hi Mom still manages to articulate a fresh, creative take and deliver a moving, heartfelt twist to this tale as old as time.
This is not perfect but I can happily give it a 9.0 and call it a masterpiece because it is an unforgettable movie that will make you call your mom or hug her if you are lucky enough to be next to her. After all, this humble, low budget production is only the highest-grossing movie of 2021, the second highest-grossing non-English film of all time, and the highest-grossing film by a solo female director. If like me, you haven't seen your mom for over a year due to covid, you may want to wait to watch this. But you must definitely watch it.
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Lee Yi Kyung acting is the best
The whole time I was thinking that the movie should be about the father and the baby, but it was actually about who is the BABY BESIDE ME let me find her mother and ask about the father of the baby.Not to say bad but I was highly disappointed by the movie. since I watched it already, it has one good thing which is the fabulous acting of Lee Yi Kyung, he just aced the role of a young father. He reminds me of Jung Hae In from One Spring Night and Jang Geun Suk from Baby And I. all these have one thing in common: a young father who thinks knows everything around him but is betrayed and left alone. While the latter two have a bit of subtle comic elements which made them light, Baby beside me deals with the harsh reality of making an immature adult into a self-discovered true adult.
Do-il had got all the suffering that life could offer when he is about to have happy married life with a wife and a kid, having the Job as a gym trainer, but it comes crashing down where he had to question the choices he had made in the past. It seems as if he knew nothing about his girlfriend's past including his mother's sickness. But this big blow subsides and he gets used to life and starts earning pennies to survive from whatever he could do.
The ending is quite surprising, as I expected it to be the answer but instead, it served the emotions of belief and forgiveness.
The subtle colours in the scene were perfect depicting the mood of the movie with Do-il suffering. Music was similarly fine and skillful maintains the tone and atmosphere.
it is a good movie with a powerful performance by Lee Yi Kyung but I won't rewatch it as it loses points in terms of story.
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The Ending is a little bit confusing
To be honest the first part of the movie was cute and really good but then as soon as they found out the truth and she went back to her real family, things started to be confusing. I like the scene where the F.L. ( Zhao Lusi) met the M.L. (Xu Kai) for the first time. I also liked how the role played out. But the big question ive had when she met her brother was, "Are they dating or what?" because if they are dating then id rate the story even lower. And if not, i dont really care.And also at the end, both men proposed to her and never answered any of them instead it cut right to the wedding scene and i dont know who the real groom is. But when it showed to the bery last scene, her brother walking alone under the bridge, i am thinking that she chose the M.L. (Xu Kai). I think this movie would he great if it was a series because of the cutscenes or the transitioning, the story became blurry and confusing. If this is remade into a series i would really look for it.
For the roles and actors and actresses, they played it all out really well. I hope when they remake this into a series, the actors and actresses would he the same because i really like Zhao Lusi and Xu Kai as for the others i dont really mind them.
Thats my review on this film i hope it is useful
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A fluffy one movie
As I watched this during a pandemic, I missed going to school and wear school uniform. I like this movie because I can relate since I also went to a public high school. A classroom without enough chairs, pushing and pulling people just to get inside a jeepney and a budget-friendly meal in a street. I experience all of this.I don't like that aside from it being full of cliche, the story is in teleserye format. Aside from the story of the main couple, there is their parent's story and the story of the second female lead. The other story was not properly told and I feel that the ending was fast-paced.
Well, if you like a fluffy movie, I think you might consider this.
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This review may contain spoilers
”The most important thing is what you have in your heart."
Just started this but seems like the contemporary modern Japan is clashing with the traditional. I’m interested in culture so this has got me hooked. Such an interesting study on what is happening to Japanese children in 2010 and now reflecting on Japan in 2021 and the Covid-19. I can see why the Japanese want the Olympics to carry on in spite of the pandemic. Have they become robots?It discusses how the calligraphy of the written letter convey feeling. I remember doing calligraphy with my class when I was teaching. Calligraphy has a freedom of expression not found so much in our cursive writing but it is possible to analyse that English text as well and get the feelings of the writer. The writing itself tells a story.
The Shodo competition is where you have to face your inner self you have to cooperate with your team mates. They want to take part in it. Their teacher gives them permission to enter. He is an out there extrovert with new and different ideas to the normal tradition Japanese. There is only three of them in the club. They need five people to be able to participate.
They go out recruiting. One a girl who wants to lose weight and a boy who like Shinko. The boy get in an accident breaks his leg and can’t participate. They need another member.These are the members of the club: Shinko Sumida, Takuya, Misato Satsukawa, Tohko Tenyru, Mimiko Iijima, Michiru Takamizawa came in at the end to make up the numbers but already a great calligraphter.
Their teacher(mr Yashiro) said”The most important thing is what you have in your heart. You can give a small light of hope for the world.”
Their first team practice is a shambles but so hilarious. Everyone has a story to tell. Shodo is a way of telling your story.
The education system has the herd mentality with no room for individuality or creativity. No wonder so many Japanese young people commit suicide when they cannot come up to the high academic standards no matter how hard they work. They say stay in the given box or you become a loser. How many times did I tell my children in my class “even if you are not clever or academic gifted, you have other talents. Pursue those. You are not a failure! You can speak two languages. You are bilingual. Bilingual speaker are divergent thinkers.” Sadly in this story in Japan. Divergent thinkers are not valued.
Get a bit sad near the end when comes the day of the Shodo Competition demonstrations. They were stunning in their creation of NO SURRENDER!
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The whole theme about money's worth/value and human dependence/absorption with it was very repetitive and seemed to a rather privileged point of view? It irritated me because even though I understand the underlying and moral aspect of what the characters and writer was trying to say, the stress Kazuo was going through is an incredibly real burden that people go through and it's not his fault or MONEY'S, it's the society we live in. The aspect on how much society creates this false financial pressure on a person was completely sidelined and even though the message of escaping from the obsession over worthless paper is a good and real one it's also theoretical or rather disconnected from reality. It was almost condescending and I lack the proper word here but something similar to the savior complex permeated the whole story and that is why I couldn't believe how chill Kazuo was with everyone basically disrespecting him. I understood his gratitude and resolve after his friend's actions were concluded, but the audacity of those actions??? Perhaps that's why Kazuo is a better person than me but.
The drawing up to the climax and Kazuo's final resolution was satisfying and well-played so it's fine but the overall message was just a turn off. Kazuo's realizations too were very emotional and delivered well by Sato's performance and the directing.
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Waiting, Longing, Friendship and may be Love?
Young Ho in the very beginning of the movie says that this is a story of waiting and it proved right till the end. If you're looking for a fluffy romantic comedy to pass the time, this may not be suited for you. I don't consider this a love story. There is very little romance, if any. Its more about friendship and how little moments in life long gone still comforts us. The story takes place over a period of 8 years and how time changes but longing remains. Its a beautifully written plot with a great twist at the end to tie everything together. The ending might leave some people unsatisfied but I enjoyed watching especially now that film makers are taking chances with alternative endings other than the usual 'happy ending/sad endings'.Acting: Very believable. All the actors did a great job in portraying their characters convincingly
Casting: Kang Ha Neul has been remarkable in every role he has played and I have been a fan of Chun Woo Hee since "Love, Lies". Main leads were one of the major reason I was looking forward to this movie. Kang So Ra was a welcome surprise. I was unaware that she was part of the cast. But now that I think about it, maybe making people in their 30s acting as high school kids wasn't the brightest idea. Supporting actors overall were great.
Music/OST: The BG music meshed well with the overall flow of the movie but did not stand out much.
Cinematography: REALLY GREAT! I think my fav scene would be the So Hee lone lunch in her book store car.
Story: Beautiful. Some parts of it did remind me of other movies I have watched like 2018 bollywood movie "October" and 2018 Chinese film"Us and Them".
Duration: Honestly, I prefer watching shorter movies. 2hr seems a bit too much to me but pacing was okay. I hate filler scenes and I don't think there were many. The back and forth narration style of the movie kept me hooked.
Overall a good watch. I'd rate it 8/10 and I may just rewatch it some other time knowing what I know now. (You'll know it too if you choose to watch the movie completely) :)
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Take a trip to a very weird place... no need to bring shrooms; they're baked into this
From the poster, you might think this is an anime version of Willy Wonka or Oz... you wouldn't be entirely far off. It's definitely on the absurdist humor end and you really need to either be in the mood for it or be like me and have it saved for over a year (I'm 95% sure Old Anime Lady's high rating is what made me add it) and come back not knowing what it is but seeing you have enough time to fit it in and just riding the wave... well, I was definitely clueless about just what I was watching in some respects-this isn't my typical movieverse, it isn't the sort of thing I would be recommended by even my most hard-core Japanese movie fans (maybe because this is not a 'safe recommendation' in terms of everyone enjoying it)...It's intentionally over the top, campy, corny, and all the while really funny in a way not unlike Kurosawa taking on Shakespeare... or Princess Bride, maybe... or the one thing I can think of that gave me weekly doses of a different-yet-similar feeling, just with way more actual story and depth even in a single hour than this, Pegasus Market, a show that is also really hard to explain but for PM's side it's because there's SO MUCH to explain I can't begin to fumble through it.
Tonde Saitama shouldn't be taken seriously, but DO let yourself get thoroughly sucked into its weird wild world which is truly like a Choose Your Own Adventure story brought to life. It doesn't always make a ton of sense, much-or most-of it is really silly, but my word, it hit the spot... was the spot my funny bone, my hypothalamus, the adrenal glands sitting atop my kidneys, or a single neuron that got to dance for 100 minutes and change? I can't say. I didn't dare analyze what it was doing to my head. I just enjoyed the mild giddy trip. If you want something really our of this world-I mean, this is some alternate version of Japan, I THINK, that these actors got roped into living in... I think. Again, not my typical movieverse and I don't quite get all the periods of time in Japan in any scholarly sense, but I'm pretty sure it's a fictional history. I think we'd know if Japanese history was NEARLY this interesting in the tiny details of it all. :P I had a happy ride. I might watch it again sometime to see if it holds up.
Oh, definitely worth rewatching (and I DID): THE CREDITS... omg the song for the credits is just too too perfect-but only as icing applied after you have licked plenty of the batter off the spatula while your cake is baking and cooling... this is definite dessert territory, not savory, just light, fluffy, and sweet. I guess I needed that very thing.
[Okay, one mild critique-I know it's kind of normal, but this is one case where a girl playing a guy really didn't work that well for me. The story made it a bit weird-to a point where only the clothing half-indiciated this was supposed to be a guy in this story taking place initially in the rich capitol of Panem in the Hunger Games-where are the whiskered animal-people among these people dressed up like they're an ensemble of heavily decorated cupcakes and birthday cakes? :P Small complaint, though-just slightly confusing since it's so clearly a female and they didn't even try to make the actress anything less dainty than the Princess who felt pain sleeping on 30 down mattresses atop a pea.]
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"The Seven Samurai" is like describing the summit of Everest, the holy grail of the seventh art
This film is one of the best I have ever seen. You don't see the time passing, so much the story takes you away and the rhythm is sustained.Kurosawa's way of shooting has inspired many westerns (including an American adaptation : the Magnificent Seven by John Sturges) and this is understandable when you look at the superb sequence shots that punctuate the film.
Kurosawa also manages to develop his characters like no other and succeeds in making them endearing and more profound than their apparent superficiality would suggest.
The actors also play their respective roles brilliantly. Toshirô Mifune, to name but one, plays his character of Kikuchiyo to perfection and manages to make him credible despite his lack of seriousness.
The music also contributes to the special atmosphere of the film and the silences are perfectly distributed.
So to conclude my review:
Arm yourself with an open mind to discover the great Japanese cinema.
Be prepared because the film lasts more than 3 hours but it will open the doors to a black and white show which will transport you into a story such as one rarely encounters in the cinema nowadays.
Quite simply a masterpiece!
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Bank of Seoul touches on the long hours salary men put into their jobs and how their lives, bodies, minds, and families suffer because of it. With the gift of not needing sleep and with the help of the Korean version of Red Bull he works around the clock to succeed and gain the promotion that had always seemed out of his grasp. Of course, the genie never gives a gift for free--what happens when the bill is due?
Most of the story centers directly on Seong Jae, played by Park Hee Soon. He gives a quiet performance of a man pushed to the edge of desperation and obsession.
The film is dark, both in mood and cinematography. Most of the shots are at night or under the cold glare of fluorescent bulbs.
Forty minutes was just about the right amount of time to tell Seong Jae's story as he and other sleep debtors strove to succeed and survive in a never ending night.
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:(((((((
This movie has a documentary feel. It's unique lens acting as social commentary on beauty, trans culture, and illegal activity has a "real" feel to it thanks to the use of hand held shaky camera work. The story is a sad tale of a crumbling sense of self worth. It makes the world feel somewhat helpless, watching cycles continue that hurt even when we know their dangers. Hiro was a sweet ray of light in the whole story, the one precious thing in the main character's life who she eventually hides from her work as she lowers her standards for herself. It was really such a sad story.I watched the movie with zero expectations, knowing barely anything about it. Somehow, its made in a way that feels both intimate and distant, somewhat like her relationship with her boyfriend, someone she lives with but who no longer loves her.
As she walks into the dark, entering the darkest moment of her life, calling for a cab to help her escape, we see the next scene continue the dangerous cycle she's running from. Who is there to help? Who is there to give drive them into a better light? Alone, she waits in the darkness of her own making, wanting a way out, but feeling trapped by these circumstances. Ah so sad. So hopeless. I hope that one day this character finds a better life somewhere. I hope she moves back to Japan with Hiro and finds someone who truly loves her. But even if she leaves, what would that mean for the women left behind who continue these dangerous practices? And now I'm crying again T_T So sad
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