Reviews

Kurosawa does Shakespeare

When you have a collaboration between Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune you know you are in for a wide-eyed visual treat, but throw in Shakespeare, and well, you have a timeless motion picture for the ages. This is perhaps the most stunning adaptation of Macbeth ever committed to the screen, taking it out of medieval Scotland and transplanting it into feudal Japan with a seamless translation proving the themes of this play are universal. If you love the story of Macbeth, you will be thoroughly engrossed in this adaptation, although, be warned, there are several changes that might leave some stuffy scholars and obsessive/compulsive purists pulling out their hair.

Do you have a deep seeded fear of Shakespeare? Never heard of the play Macbeth? No worries, this is also a terrific Samurai film complete with lots of violent sword play and gloriously choreographed battles. Toshiro Mifune gives you his all in his role, but Isuzu Yamada also delivers a standout performance as his conniving wife.

In short, whether you are a student Shakespeare, a film student, or just enjoy a good samurai movie, you will not be disappointed in investing your time in this classic.

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Umm

Well if you're looking for some Twilight Zone hot mess you've come to the right place. This has been on my PTWL for awhile and honestly I'm not even sure why I put it on here to begin with. lol I think this would've been better as a series than a movie cause I feel like there was little to no detail on the story which makes it difficult to keep my attention. The graphics (blood etc) were pretty convincing and there were some damn good MC visuals (bonus). This SHOULD'VE BEEN A BL but it's bromance af and I'm feeling some type of way about it! Overall, short, sweet, and to the point... I'm disappointed due to lack of pretty much everything to make it spicy.
Enjoy...

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A slow drama with with few events, but plenty of action - just different

I would not have chosen this drama to watch had I known what it would be like. It took me many months with it on my list before I viewed it. If I am watching an action film, I like action. This is cerebral, slow, detailed, and fascinating. It is also dark, without laying on the dark with a trowel.
This is the story of murder and murderers, staging accidents to kill their target for money. The accidents are balletic in their planning and detail, and merciless. The murderers are meticulous both in planning and execution, quietly professional, and deadly.
Most of the process is watching, thinking, planning, preparing, getting in place and waiting for the right moment. There is a sequence where night after night they are in place, poised and yet have to abort repeatedly, and you find yourself rooting for them to succeed. And when they act, it is a mess, and furious in its violence but yet unemotional in the brutality
One of the team is killed in what appears to be an accident, but the team leader is convinced it was staged, wen wrong, and the target is himself. He obsesses and quietly spirals out of his quiet mind, focussed on identifying the traitor in his team, and the person targeting him. Once he has identified the guy, he watches, listens, tracks his habits, his relationships, and picks his method and his moment.
The end is a form of justice fuelled by anger and grief, quite different from the "accidents" arranged by the hit man, but somehow even he seems to feel it is perfectly appropriate.
This is not a pretty film, it's not exotic. Settings are mostly stark, featureless, rundown and comfortless. Places you would not chose to spend time in. Locations are messy, noisy, dirty, bustling and frantic. The streets of Hong Kong where the ordinary people live and try to make a living are in themselves almost an active character in this drama, everywhere vibrating under the redevelopment which is a constant on one of the most populous islands on the planet, where each square inch is potentially golden. And everywhere, people are seemingly strangely detached from each other, watching things happen to other people, passively, perhaps not even particularly curious. So many people and events seem to be invisible yet the street is everywhere.
The acting is incredible. The cast is small, dialogue sparse and functional, and performances quiet. But I completely believed them all. The actors present in the final scene completely inhabited the shocking event, pitching their expressions perfectly to illustrate the shock, grief and release of those last moments, without any overstatement or even the slightest out of place drop of sweat.
When a film performs as perfectly as this one does, the direction is always impeccable.

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Enjoyed it

Enjoyed it despite the lack of BL, it was a fun way to numb my mind. If you haven't read the manga and don't care about the lack of BL, it's still fun to watch.

The differences between the manga and the movie did put me off a bit though. Here's where I felt off-- the manga had its fun and adorable moments between Hiyakawa and Mikado, their relationship was intense but cute and funny, but the movie ver of them lacks the mix of those qualities. Even if they didn't want to make it a BL, they could've developed their relationship a bit more.
The ghosts were much more scary and creepy in the mangas, though I will not fault them for their CGI work. The sequence of Hiyakawa remembering his past was amazing, I loved it, it was very fun and a memorable part of the movie for me. I liked the art direction of it all
The sequence in the manga where Hiyakawa binds himself to Mikado forcefully is intense and low key scary, it was the most memorable part of the manga for me because it was like "Oh shit Hiyakawa is not as innocent as he seems" moment, but it was lacking in the movie-- I wish those elements were present. I wanted to feel that "oh shit" moment, if you know what I mean hahaha. The lack of the psychic character was also disappointing, but hopefully there's a sequel and they add him.
The manga has this found family element-- missing in this movie as well.. If there's a sequel, I would like to see that too.
I think an anime adaptation of this movie would have been better..

Anyway, comparisons to the manga aside, I truly did enjoy the movie. The actors did well in their roles and I enjoyed the music as well. The actor for the younger version of Hiyakawa was brilliant, truly memorable. I wish there was more of Erika Hiura!! She is such a complicated and brilliant character and I felt bad they hadn't shown more of her. The characters were a bit underdeveloped in terms of their relationship with each other and that made it a bit dull for me. The ending was pretty cool. I didn't really expect much from a 1h45min movie, and there were many questions left unanswered and unexplored, but I liked it anyway. I truly hope that this is just a movie to develop the bases and we get to see more. If not, it was fun in its own way.

I truly suggest anyone who watched this movie and are aching for more-- please DO read the manga. It's a brilliant work of art. The author herself reconfirmed on her twitter that Hiyakawa and Mikado are in love with each other.

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Perfect Title

Yet again, Japan doesn't let me down with the detailed BL romance. lol If you're looking for something cute and fluffy you couldn't be in more of the WRONG place. This is nothing more or less than exactly what the title represents and it'll make more sense as the movie goes on. I found it very powerful, heart breaking and tragically realistic. Honestly, at no point did I feel bad for one of the MCs but all my emotions ran wild with the other. I'm not sure what I was looking for with this movie and although I wouldn't recommend to just anyone (basically hardcore BL fans ONLY!) it's worth the watch. Not for the faint heart though as it gets pretty rough at the end. Speaking of ending...I can't decide if I was satisfied or not. Leaning more toward dissatisfied, hence why my rating is what it is. I think maybe the ending is what YOU want to make it. (Did can be such a powerful word)
Enjoy...

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This movie is one of kind.

If someone asked me why I watched this movie, my answer would be that I was genuinely interested in the storyline. However, after watching it, I've realized just how degrading this movie can be to women. Han mi, one of the two main characters, in this story is naive and it shows with how much she forgives the other lead. He manipulated her, made her feel worthless, and treated her like garbage. The other women in this movie are displayed as catty and/or possessive. They are all head over heels for a man who treats them all like trash. Sometimes men characters would refer to women characters being bimbos and the movie just made it seem like all women were easy. I would hate for a little girl or little boy to watch this movie and think this behavior is normal in a relationship. The one time that Han mi pulled through for women was the time that she ignored him for a hot minute. But wait, it all goes down the drain because what felt like for the 30th time in this 1 hour and 36 minute movie, she forgave him again. After, finding him talking to, you guessed it, catty women behind her back. He runs after her and she forgives him for going on a bus, his worst fear. Uh, but other than that, I would say that it was a good movie. It made me cry twice. For her, of course. The acting was amazing and the story was actually quite nice. Hence why I gave it 8 stars. You can watch it on YouTube and read some pretty narcissistic comments on there. Thank you.

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A Perfect Conclusion

First thing to say is powerful acting like holy hell. It's no surprise the great chemistry our leads have in this like before. I liked that each character is very nuanced in their own ways. We saw bits of that in the Pornographer but in this is so powerful. We get a real deep dive into Kijima's character which is exactly what I wanted! The romance aspect is messy but love it. It's not sugar coated at all and shows the issues at hand up, close and personal. So this movie isn't exactly just a romance all the way through. Much of it is the characters needing to grow separated in order to come back together. However, Kuzumi is the only person that could handle this situation. Its game over if not. So when we get that happy ending with a legit love confession FINALLY from Kijima its intense! Dude breaks down and everything! I don't wanna spoil everything in this movie though because you really have to see it for the full experience.

The ending I think is meant to be long distance again for the time being but with trust embedded now. Technically this ends in a way where it doesn't need the final added epilogue they put out. But that's nice that they did, basically a bookmark for even more context if desired! So watch everything in sequence and experience the beautiful craziness that is this series!

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Rewatch it because you have to.

This is not my favorite movie. But it was fun. You have to watch this movie at least twice just to get all the oh okays out of the way. This movie is a lot like a nightmare or a cutscene and its supposed to be. The pace is very fast. The cast are very cute and the gore is very very plentiful. I enjoyed this mobie for what it was the idea was honestly scary which I did not expect until the end. I will not spoil this movie by telling if you are confused by this movie its okay ride it out there is a pay off. Do not watch if you are weak to gore though this has buckets. This is not a machinegun girl style movie by any chance it has a deep message just roll with it until the end if you choice to watch it. Must rewatch to understand.

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King Kong Escapes falls into the so bad it's almost good category. The James Bondish villain plot is ridiculous. The King Kong suit, while better than in King Kong vs. Godzilla, is still pretty bad. Fortunately, there is enough unintended silliness to keep the movie interesting.

The best part of this movie for me were the villains, especially the dastardly Dr. Hu and his plot to use Kong to dig Element X from under the North Pole. Given that in the dubbed version I watched the voice actor was Paul Frees who voiced many characters in Rankin Bass Christmas stop action movies (the Berger Meister Meister Berger!) I fully expected to see Santa's castle in the mythical land. Dr. Hu with his great teased white hairdo, magnificent cape and malevolent voice was easily the most entertaining part of the movie. His cohort in crime, Madame Piranha/Madame X, played by Mie Hama, a bond girl in You Only Live Twice, played a great femme fatale.

The Good Guys were a bland and mostly ineffectual lot, although I enjoyed seeing Takarada Akira who performed in several Toho productions going back to the original Godzilla. The object of Kong's affection/friendship in this movie, played by Linda Miller, isn't afraid of Kong and tries to help him out of trouble as I guess Kong speaks English or Japanese depending on the version you watched. Maybe he's multilingual?

MechaKong definitely looked cooler than King Kong although lacking in weaponry like MechaGodzilla. Kong's fights with Gorosaurus and MechaKong were okay. The fight with MK was far too short. The doll he carried around at times which was supposed to be the blonde female had red hair which was funny.

This is silly escapism that requires checking your adult brain at the door because little of it makes sense. Depending on how well you can do that will determine how much you might want to escape with Kong from this movie.

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A beautiful well written story with a twist.

Just when you think you know the whole story it morphs in front of your eyes. A twist you will never expect. This story shows us that every encounter we have in life can be a temptation that will change the course of our journey. Relationships can be fragile, only trust and a strong bond can hold them together. Add love to the mix and you have something special. When infidelity intervenes can the normal reaction be overwhelmed by a woman’s instinct to protect her unborn child when she is also abandoned? Watch this entertaining story and find out.

I loved Chae Soo Bin’s portrayal of Jeong Da Eun. She never disappoints. She showed so many different emotions in this movie that were critical to the making of this unique story. The other two leads were also great. Jang Ki Yong nailed his performance of Yang Hyuk, a young man climbing the ladder of success and facing all the things that can happen along the way. Krystal was also amazing in her portrayal of Han Bo Yeong a quirky co-worker who is also the other woman. If you want a happy ending then be prepared to understand the nuances of this movie. If you give this movie the attention it deserves it will show you a perfect ending that will leave you with a satisfying feeling. Not many movies with this type of twist at the end can do that.

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Overall, the plot was fine. Although it tried to wrestle with some deep ideas/themes such as suicide, childhood love, or the inability to achieve one's dreams, the gimmicky three day time travel and the format as a movie didn't really allow time for any development of these ideas.

That is not to say that the plot was bad. Perhaps it was a little superficial, but even so there were quite a few tear-jerker moments when I could actively empathize with the characters. This was made especially easy with the superb acting given by Jasper Liu and Vivian Sung (I honestly wish there were more movies/dramas with her in it because IMO she is a superb actress). The good acting paired with an interesting plot -- if somewhat underutilized made the movie quit enjoyable.

Thus, overall, I would say the movie, by itself, was pretty good. It had a decent combination of good plot, cinematography and actors. Yet at the same time, I was left feeling so much more. With the deeper themes presented in the movie, it left me wondering if the movie could have been more impactful if instead of using the time travel gimmick, the movie instead focused on an adult Wang Zhi Xiang aiding an adult Li En Pei in reconciling her shattered hopes and dreams with reality. With the superb acting of Jasper Liu and Vivian Sung, I'm sure this hypothetical movie would have been amazing. But, alas, what we got was just "Take Me to the Moon", which on it's own merits is still quite good.

Hence, I definitely recommend giving a watch.

(And also, to the gods of Asian dramas, please give Vivian Sung more roles!! She is too amazing to only have had so few roles in her acting career)

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Psychological drama framed though a thriller-mystery

Right off the bat, I'd like to say as a disclaimer that I just finished this film a few minutes ago, so all of my thoughts are VERY fresh:

Before watching "12 Suicidal Teens", I read several reviews warning potential viewers that the marketing for this film wrongly portrayed it as a murder-mystery thriller, when in reality, the story primarily circulates around the psychology of the situation. With these reviews in mind, I kept my expectations fairly low, unsure of what to expect both in content and quality. I had even considered skipping the film as a whole, with many other reviewers calling it boring and tonally inconsistent, but personally, I'm really glad I didn't. "12 Suicidal Teens" pleasantly surprised me in both its execution and premise, and despite some minor issues, I overall thoroughly enjoyed it!

If you're debating watching and want to remain spoiler free, (which I would recommend), I'll summarize my main opinions here: If you find the initial premise provided in the summary intriguing, don't let the reviews claiming this film lacks the mystery elements it claims to have scare you off. This movie, in my opinion, 100% delivers in its mystery elements, so long as you keep your expectations realistic. For those who are interested in the premise from a psychological standpoint, I'd encourage you even further to give "12 suicidal teens" a watch too, as the characters discussions unpacking the complexities behind suicide and their own personal reasons behind their decision to commit suicide is incredibly interesting and well written. Overall, it's an entertaining watch that will likely not be what you expect (for better or for worse lol)

Alright spoilers from here on out!:

Story: The clean cut premise was what initially drew me to this film. I thought the concept of 12 suicidal individuals having to solve the presumed murder of a stranger was incredibly fascinating, and what's more, the story takes place in a bottle setting, which is one of my favorite storytelling methods. Of course, if you've seen the film, you'll know the "murder" isn't all it's cracked up to be. I think this is where a lot of people lost interest in the film, as many had come expecting a high anxiety murder mystery thriller, when in reality, the mystery only really serves to push the theme forward. Disregarding the themes however, I personally still believe this movie presents a really fun and engaging mystery, where the more you think you know, the less you actually do. The more you learn, the more you question the rest of the characters and their trustworthiness. The final conclusion was a little anticlimactic in my opinion, but it kind of cemented the main focus of the film as the characters, not the story, which I appreciated.

Characters/cast: This is where "12 Suicidal Teens" really shines in my opinion. The characters in this film are so incredibly well written and well acted, it felt almost as though I had known them in real life! In particular, I think Furukawa Kotone, Kuroshima Yuina and Kitamura Takumi did a phenomenal job portraying their characters, with Furukawa specifically really standing out to me. Honorable mention to Hagiwara Riku, whose character was unfortunately not given much screen time in the last 2/3s of the film, but really stuck out to me in the screen time that he did have, with him having one of the more heart-wrenching stories out of the group in my opinion. This leads into the one major unfortunate problem w/ the characters in this film, which is that, due to the sheer number of characters, some characters, such as Funichino Yuto's character, fade into the background and are not given much screen time unless it's to move the plot along, which is all fine and good, but in the context of a character driven story such as this, it's a little disappointing. Again, overall though, all the actors truly hit their characters out of the park.

Rewatch value: Like I said earlier, I only finished "12 Suicidal Teens" for the first time a few minutes ago, so I have yet to rewatch it, but based on the way the mystery unfolds, I'd say it's good for one rewatch, but after that, it would start to feel a little repetitive and slow.

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Supernatural, Nothing More...

STORY: It's quite an interesting premise, one guy sees dead people and gets tangled up with another guy who can exercise ghosts, all tied together by a mysterious girl who can curse people to death. The guys develop a bond, but this wasn't even a light bromance. Absolutely nothing to see here. I thought I read somewhere that the manga had some BL elements, but NONE of that made it onto the big screen if there ever was any.

ACTING/CAST: Basically only 4 characters dominate the entire screen time, and they did a fine job. I couldn't get past how much Hiyakawa reminded me of the Grim Reaper from Goblin... maybe it was the hair...?

MUSIC: I didn't really find the music interesting or even fit this movie well... seemed out of place for such a dark movie.

REWATCH VALUE: Nah, not now that I know the ending and there is no cuteness between the guys to bring me back. Typical supernatural thriller, nothing more. Good once though.

OVERALL: Was hoping for BL, or even some bromance, but none of that was here. Moving on...

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A beautiful film about depicting confusion and joys of a teenage girl and those who are around her

''regret only comes after taking action''
The movie opens with hour female protagonist (Tsubame)dropping a letter to her neighborhood crush and waking up next morning only to regret it. While she lives with her step mother who is expecting her child and her father , they are a sweet family at first glance. But confusion soon arises around her while she feels conflicted about the new family she will have to live in with her new sibling. Then one day she meets a mysterious granny on the roof of the calligraphy class she is taking and a new part of her life begins.
from here on , the movie takes us on a feel good journey. I am always captivated for this type of element in the slice of life movies and dramas. granny and our FL goes on having journeys around the city and their conversations develop. while she asks for advises from granny about her family , crush and so on , our granny talks strange at times but her words are worth pondering upon.
the next part of the story advances when our Tsubame goes around searching for the grand kid of her mystical granny who lives in a crimson colored tiled roof house, while tsubame takes walk around the city with toru ( her crush) this part of the story is filled with her joys of being with him , in an innocent way. But in the end times of the movie when its discovered that makoto ( tsubames classmate) is actually the grand kid of the granny and after that she disappears telling her new things are coming her way she have to treasure them all ; only after that its shown that she was not alive after all . Now we may think was she the imagination of ... or is a mystical element shown in the movie ? its upto viewers interpretations
now coming into the cinematography of the movie - its excellent . with wide shots and closer shots of the characters it emphasizes the characters expressions as well the stories they are thinking and talking about. color tone of the movie enhances the impact of it. the graphics are fairly beautiful and gives you the magical vibes if not perfect. the sound track goes all well with everything.
now as a whole , this a movie you can watch if you don't want anything stressful , something light about a life of a normal teenage girl with her thoughts. It doesn't lead us to think much about anything or it doesn't make us choose between anything. it's just tsubame , her conflicts and her way of solving them and living in her time , as a normal teenager. but honestly the more i am not fascinated by its story , i am fascinated by the cinematography of this movie , its totally outstanding for me . to point out , the montage when tsubame returns from tokyo in rain and toru has an accident chasing his sisters boyfriend , this part of the movie was so subtle, i would like to watch more movies from the same director.
i read the japan times review that this movie lacks impact and sparkle and i somewhat agree with that however it doesn't make me feel like this movie could have been better. sometimes we need a movie where life is shown through someones normal eyes , general thoughts and with less conflict and average confusions. Though world is filled with so many problems , we need movies where life moves around an imaginary granny , family reconciliations after small disagreements and where joys come from writing letters to your crush ( and also i am not justifying her crush on an older boy or anything , they could be good friends and good influence on each other and she can move on when she grows up) . over all , its a very likable movie with likable characters and houses !

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