Reviews

The previous Zero-One Others film is just a setup to this entire film, and once all the setup is out of the way, we are in for a treat. If REALxTIME is the series' true ending, the Zero-One Others films is the series' epilogue, and it's final statement about its message about AI & machines, and what is the true meaning of "justice".

It's bittersweet, yes, but this how they want to move forward. This is, surprisingly, one of the most mature ends the series had. Last time I experienced this kind of feeling was with the final episode of Kamen Rider Blade. Bittersweet endings are fine especially if the lesson hits close to reality. To put it simply, I really like this movie.

Read More

Such a beautiful heart moving movie

This movie was beautiful, it reminded me how God can send such blessings in your life and He will keep reminding you of your true worth. because just like a child, so honest and encouraging, he thought he was worthless but she said otherwise just like God, God looks at your heart, that why He tells us to be like children in His Word, the bible because they are so honest and look more on how you feel rather than how this world works, our Worth is God, not this judging world so anyone who needs to know I Love you, God Loves you so much he gave His only begotten son so you would not perish but have eternal life john 3:16

I really recommend this movie its really good and I cried, I really believe you will too ^^

Read More

Short & Sweet

Overall: a 20 minute movie about a mom visiting her son who is hiding something from her. Make sure to watch carefully during the closing credits until the very end. Watched on Gagaoolala.

Content Warnings: none

What I Liked
- I thought it was funny how the mom started cleaning right when she arrived as I totally relate to this
- that the mom was not stupid

Room For Improvement
- it might have been neat for the mom to realize things when she went to the coffee shop but not say anything, just smile and drink her beverage or lay in wait to see who showed up after she left, but I was okay with how it played out (watch all of the closing credits!)

Read More

Where Cinema Becomes Compassion — A Tender, Time-Bending Gem

Orange is a rare and unique cinematic experience that slips into your heart so quietly that you don’t even realize how deeply it has settled until the tears arrive. I was genuinely stunned by how beautifully this story unfolds — not with spectacle or drama, but with gentleness, patience, and a sincerity that feels almost disarming in today’s world.

What begins as a soft, nostalgic high-school tale slowly reveals itself to be something far more profound: a meditation on regret, friendship, and the fragile weight of a single life. The story never rushes. It breathes. It invites you in with small details — a glance, a hesitation, a letter written with a trembling hope — and before you know it, you’re holding your breath along with these characters, hoping desperately that time might bend just enough to save someone they all love.

The romance between Naho and Kakeru is tender and understated, but beautifully real. What moved me most is how the film honors the ordinary moments — walking home together, sharing a lunch, small kindnesses that seem insignificant at the time, yet become everything in hindsight. That is the beating heart of Orange: the truth that the tiniest choices can soften someone’s loneliness… or accidentally deepen it. And how unbearable it can feel when we realize, too late, that we could have done more.

The performances are exceptional — achingly honest without ever slipping into melodrama. The actors carry their characters’ hopes, guilt, and longing with a quiet, lived-in naturalism that gives every emotion weight. And the film’s pacing — slow, careful, beautifully restrained — mirrors the way real grief expands and contracts through memory.

What impressed me most, though, is how thoughtfully the film handles its subject matter. It approaches depression and loss with almost reverent sensitivity. There is no exploitation, no cheap emotional manipulation. Instead, we are shown how deeply a small moment of compassion can matter… and how life-changing it can be when people decide to reach toward one another rather than away.

By the time the story completes its delicate arc, you realize you’ve witnessed something more than a romance. You’ve witnessed a group of friends choosing to rewrite their own cowardice and regrets into something brave and hopeful. Choosing to love someone so fully that even time itself is asked to give him another chance.

It’s cathartic. It’s tender. It’s haunting and hopeful in the same breath.

Bring tissues — not because the film is cruel or tragic, but because it’s unforgettably human and healing. Because honesty like this always finds a way to touch the deepest parts of you.

✨ A quiet masterpiece. ✨

Read More

I am not into the Horror genre but i am currently obsessed with Kathryn & Daniel so i am literally planning to watch everything i can find with them on Netflix.I definitely enjoyed the story,which are unlike anything other i have watched.I watched it with my younger sister who also enjoyed the movie!The film was pretty much spooky but done with much feelings. Daniel portrays the rebellious teenager Cedric who meets the coffin seller Leni portrayed by Kathryn.Despite their bad start they fatefully meet again but under the circumstances where they this time will lose their beloved ones to the grip of a dead spirit that will haunt everything they hold dear.Together Cedric and Leni decides to destroy the spirit.

I found the little boy Macmac very cute and my heart broke so much for him! It was so sad seeing him having to see those dead spirits.Cedric is a very mean guy from the start who under Leni`s influence starts to soften.I thought their blooming romance in these horrifying circumstances was very well done.I mean,the chemistry is always off the charts between them,love them so much!

Read More

A mediocre introduction to computer shogi

To be honest, I don't know how to review this movie. Unlike karuta, go or chess, I know nothing about shogi and so I am sure to have missed a lot of the meaning/depth behind few scenes.

Take my review with a pinch of salt as it would be based completely on entertainment value and comparative rating with movies/shows/documentaries on chess variants.

Story:
The inspiration for the movie comes from the Denou-sen, a human versus machine battle where an ai-based computer shogi program played against a professional player, and is set in the early 2010's where computer programs were just getting developed.

Awake starts of slow, picks up in the middle but comes to a quick end. The pacing of the movie felt weird to me and I found the story quite disjointed up till the last 40 mins. After which it ended without much fanfare, leaving the feeling of an incomplete story. To me, this movie fell more under the 'slice of life' genre than anything else.

Acting:
The characters felt very one dimensional to me and I couldn't really connect with any single one.

There were some exaggerated scenes where I couldn’t understand why Eichi got so hyper but otherwise the social awkwardness and introverted nature of the main character was displayed wonderfully by Yoshizawa Ryo.

There were some beautiful instances in the movie where we were shown the dedication the secondary lead had to shogi (particularly when he is playing practice matches with the AI) but these moments were far and between.

Music:
There is very little dialogue in this movie. Music plays a huge part during the silent intervals and many times I felt I would prefer someone said something rather than hearing a tune playing in the background. Though, the melody during the game moves is good.

Overall:
I am pretty much on the fence about this movie. It lies somewhere between meh and okay. Overall, I had more fun watching the movie on AlphaGo. I knew what I was getting into with that one and it kept my interest till end unlike this movie, where I couldn't care less what happened to the characters after the match.

So in conclusion, if you aren’t aware of AI programming this isn’t a bad movie to start your journey but don't expect to be wowed. Its just about okay for a one time watch and that's pushing it.

Read More

This is the kind of world where you need dreams the most, without them, it'd be too painful

One Wonderful Sunday was a combination of hope and despair, dreams and nightmares. The story followed two impoverished lovers in post-war Japan trying to stay together even though their financial situations were dire. Moments of happiness were quickly followed by the crushing blow of a sad reality.

Yuzo and Masako meet up on Sundays, their one free day of the week. One Sunday, between the two of them they had only 35 yen, a tiny amount even in 1947. Depressed Yuzo was ready to give up on their date day, but bubbly Masako refused to lose out on their time together and pushed him into a happier mood. There were moments of levity as Yuzo played baseball with street children, as the lovers tried to buy tickets to Schubert's "'Unfinished Symphony", and finally a cup of coffee on a rainy night. All ended in disaster. And yet each time they would bolster each other into a better mood, refusing to give up on their seemingly unattainable dreams.

Masako's effervescent mood could quickly turn into nearly hysterical tears. Yuzo could go from sounding suicidal to leaping into an imaginary world as a symphony conductor. Yuzo's poverty left him feeling emasculated as he often declared his inability to provide for and protect Masako made him feel less like a man. Numasaki Isao and Nakakita Chieko gave solid performances covering a wealth of human emotions.

Post war Tokyo with ruined buildings in the background, street children, rampant black market scams, and many English signs hinted at the drastic change and upheaval the citizens were living through.

The movie alternated between a desperate realism and sweet optimism. This 'day in a life movie' focused almost entirely on the two main characters and the actors carried the story forward with strong performances. The two characters, who were often one mishap away from disaster, fought to cling to each other and their dreams.

Ultimately, for me, One Wonderful Sunday's story felt like Schubert's "Unfinished Symphony", romantic and unfinished. The audience is left wondering what will become of Yuzo and Masako, and like the young lovers, hoping for their happy ending.

Read More

A light story that carries a lot of lessons and feelings

How to Steal a Dog is a heartwarming masterpiece that is full of positivity and lessons from beginning to end. Its a light-hearted film that is truly engaging and inspiring as well. The movie is built on a very simple storyline yet it never fails to impart a very valuable lesson through simple and interesting scenes. As a whole, its a family film. Its very light approach and very creative and dynamic story-telling techniques made the movie enjoyable to watch. Aside from that, the whole plot is not that complicated at all. Despite some tendencies of being predictable, the movie stood ground by its great and realistic ending. Indeed, the movie has a pinch in the heart. I also loved the characters in the movie especially the child characters. They were just amazing and so delightful to watch.

Read More

Could be gayer?!

Warning: This movie is for 18+ viewers ONLY.
A year ago, I came across this movie but it wasn’t available anywhere so I read the summary on Wikipedia and gave up! Now about a week ago, by complete dumb luck, I found the movie on a website and thought I’ll watch it, anyway. It’s a good movie. The production, the story, the acting, etc. were all nice. On top of it all, it has a well-executed love triangle of the type I like. So it was a shoo-in for 10/10. It’s just…I liked the first two-thirds but the third act was kind of…meh? I wanna say it was a total sad surprise but I kind of could already tell I wouldn’t like the ending when I read that summary a year ago. No, it’s not negative bias that affected my judgment. Because when I started watching the movie, I expected to be underwhelmed but the movie surprised me by how good it was. Then the third act happened!
I’m really conflicted over this film. About how I felt about it and what to rate it. I said I’ll give myself some time to think it over but a week later and I’m still none the wiser.

You should check this out if you like:
1. Historical fiction
2. Tragic endings
3. Love triangles
4. Internal conflicts
5. Betrayals and moral ambiguity

Summary: The king of Goryeo is gay. He’s been sleeping with his chief of guards (whom he may or may not have groomed since childhood) for a long time. The problem is that Goryeo is now a vassal state of the Yuan dynasty and if the king can’t provide an heir, his country will basically get taken away from him. So, the king has the brilliant idea to have his queen and lover provide an heir for him…because that would still be in the family, right? Well… wrong!

Plot: Love triangles get a bad rep because these days we are sort of sick of them and also because they have turned into formulas that are uninspired, repetitive, and stale. Back in the noughties (The author of this review was on a noughties drama nostalgia bender at the time of watching this movie and reviewing it!) the trope wasn’t done to death yet and people still had the guts to go really wild with their love triangles. That’s the kind I love. Like here, where all three points of the triangle are involved with each other romantically and everyone is simultaneously in love with the others and jealous of them. It’s a MESS! And believe it or not, love triangles are only fun to watch when they are really bunkers. If you can already tell which side will end up together, then it’s not a love triangle. That’s two people in a relationship and a stalker. Anyway, this movie really impressed me because, for two-thirds of it, it delivers all the delicious, terrible feelings of being in love with your love rival and feeling hella conflicted and guilty about it. The final act though was rather tonally different. It was still great. The best of the acting happens during that time and it’s packed with plot and action but it fails to deliver the satisfying emotional punch that was building up in the first two acts, for me. Because while things seemed ambiguous and uncertain before, the last act tries to deliver fast and concrete answers to those questions and it cheapens the story that was told before.

The acting: It was great. I wasn’t super impressed with Jo In Sung here. His expression began to meld into the same two after a while. (But then I watched WHIB right after this, so I think he’s great anyway!) Joo Jin Mo was really good though. A Standout. Everyone else was fine. I wanna pour a drink out for the female lead who had to do so many explicit scenes though. Girl, I wouldn’t wanna be you. That looked so awkward.

Music: Great music elevated the emotional scenes in the film. It set the sad and somber mood perfectly and was also pleasant to listen to.

Rewatch value: Probably not. It’s a tragedy and has too many explicit scenes.

Negatives: For the record, yes, it does matter if the story has gay romance or not. The whole conflict exists because of the issue of sexuality so there’s no way to think about the plot by pretending the tension would still exist if the love triangle wasn’t set up the way that it was. Because the thing that makes this movie interesting and watch-worthy and the thing that sets it apart is the fact that it is known for the relationship between the king and the guard dude. If the guard was just a friend, the story would immediately be way less interesting. That would be something they would make nowadays. Not the noughties!!! With that said, I think the story was a bit conflicted in itself. Like they hesitated to lean into the implications. It didn’t know if it wanted to be about the tragic gay couple or the star-crossed straight couple and that hurts the last act because a lot of the nuance disappears as the king and the guard take the shape of stereotypical rivals more and more. The thing is, by modern standards, the straight part is not a love story at all. It’s just a physical relationship so there’s just no charisma to it. I couldn’t root for the guard and the queen to save my life! They have nothing in common except their physical desires. I can’t fault the story though. In a historical setting, I can understand how that was as good as either one could wish for. It’s just that their romance became the main drive of the last act and that was just not a strong enough romance to carry the plot. So it’s a bit less interesting to watch than when everyone is in love with everyone or married to them and they have all these feelings of lust and betrayal and confusion that they don’t know what to do with.
There were also way too many explicit scenes! Omg, just…so many! Why?! I fast-forwarded most of that because I just couldn’t stomach it. It almost looked clinical. Really disturbing. I felt so sorry for the actors…just YIKES!

Overall: The film has such a perfect set-up. When we meet the characters, the king and the chief guard seem to have a very good and intimate relationship. Same with the King and Queen who though obviously not romantic, still get along. The queen and the chief guard have this mellow rivalry which is very polite and respectful in appearance and the political unrest is interesting. Then the stuff happens and the conflicts are deliciously tantalizing as we see the three characters torture themselves and each other with their silences, with the things they keep from each other, and the stuff they want but can't have. It’s just such an interesting story to tell. The ending is still good even if it doesn’t live up to its potential. The beginning promises an epic fallout and we do get one. It’s just that it could have been an even BIGGER fallout. I think it’s worth a watch. It’s a very well-made movie.
Sidenote: If you think about it, all the problems would be solved if Hong Rim could just identify as a bisexual.

Read More

Like Armageddon but anciaent and bloodier

This movie kept reminding me of the Amercan Movie Armageddon from 1998 and Aerosmiths song that follows. So If Gorgyo was earth and the Tankg dynasty was an astroid, horses where space ships and... okay so maybe not many simularityes there but like Armageeddon but extraelmy different movie with a lot of blood, and not one but a bunch of so called great batles...

The movie itself is pretty well made the OST is not amazing but it fits and setts the mood well. We get to seee several sides to a sotory as well as the implications of wasr and sacrafice. Questioning who th etraitor really is. The movie also shows human relations in a nice way and has some pretty good oneliners such as" Do you only choose th ebatles you can win" (or something like that) as well as some other lines that I have already forgotten but I think they where about the value of the people and what is worth protecting.

The movie is pretty blunt letting us hear them call right out the evils of wat when the concuring armeys pepp talk includes such lovely ideas as "MAke their childern your slaves and rape all their women (luckeyly they do not show those rapes on screen) but a whooooole lot of blood.

All n all a pretty okay watch for those in to less feelings, less romance and more blood fire, blood and more blod, did I mention blood?

Oh it also has some pretty beutiful scenerey.

Read More

I'm glad that I watched High&Low S1&2 and High&Low: The Movie first because this wouldn't have made much sense to me otherwise. I loved that this movie went sideways within the franchise and that it expanded on the "universe" in which High&Low takes place because it allowed me personally to understand the geopolitical situation, so to speak.

I also loved that it expanded on the Amamiya brothers. I adored the reveal that Hiroto isn't actually blood related to Masaki or Takeru but that it doesn't matter to them at all, just like it didn't to their parents. Their family background, what happened to their parents - ouch!

It was sad that Takeru died in the end but I think that once he picked up a gun and started killing people, there was basically no way back for him without some kind of a punishment or penance because this whole franchise is founded on the idea of not killing, that this is the one boundary the "good ones" - gang members they might be - don't cross. You knock each other's teeth out but once you bring a knife or a gun to a fight, you're done, you're out.

Also, I loved that Takeru died not while taking revenge but protecting Hiroto, that thanks to his brothers and to Hiroto in particular Takeru found back before his death, that he remember what he taught them.

The moment I sniffled? When Hiroto took the girl in his arms and said the same words to her like Takeru before: I'm your wall.

Oh, I also adored the short moments when Hiroto and Masaki had to go back to S.W.O.R.D. and not just there but to Sannoh in particular! Masaki's annoyance, Yamato's annoyance, Cobra's eye-rolling - yup, they so rub each other wrong. They're allies, though reluctant, but gosh, do they rub each other wrong!

Read More

VR film

I stumbled upon through instagram that Lee Elijah is going to be a cast in this film Red Eyes along with Kim Kang Woo. I only watched this film because I'm a bias of Lee Elijah! I miss her very much! So far this is her best performance by this role where she played as a suicide mission but I'm sad because she was killed in the end by being bitten by the red eye and Kim Kang Woo only survived :'( I love it but it makes me sad. I really wish that this movie should be in at least 1hr... I think 15 minutes film is not enough for me but yeah it's okay 15 minutes is okay it is more on fight scene fighting against the red eyes which are the creatures similar to zombies that eats flesh of humans.

Read More