Reviews

It’s divisive. It’s art-housy, raw. Not your typical teenage drama.

Sadly, I never read this manga growing up. That said, I am particularly drawn to stories told like they are being plucked straight from memory. Disjointed, discombobulating, disorientating, raw, awkward, missing pieces...
It isn’t the “shoujo” trope of first-love-meets-high school girl emotions.
This piece of work ‘feels’, not tells. And that’s not for everyone. It’s not necessarily an “easy” watch. You can’t just throw it on and have the story handed to you. The pacing will mess you up, the missing information will misguide you, our preconceived/preconditioned notions on how a coming of age story is told will leave you confused. To enjoy this kind of movie, you have to enjoy engaging in your own thought process and emotions while watching, and not everyone enjoys this. However, I do. While others have commented that they felt that the plot was flat and not well executed, my personal opinion is the exact opposite. The plot is driven by the dialogue and character interaction as much as it is by the nuisances of the cinematography, which is opposite what we are used to (often the cinematography reflects what is being told to us, rarely does it become nearly a character in-and of-itself).

It is more art-house than pop-ish drama. It is more painful and tragic reminiscence than a love story, and it is more a ‘true’ love story than the candy coated romance that we see more often. It’s like reading a classic novel that on the surface is one thing, but when you begin looking at the authors use of allegory, it reveals itself to be entirely something else.

One thing I severely did not enjoy was the use of Pachelbel Cannon in D Major as a major theme. That is 100% opinion and personal bias towards it, rather than a critical look at the meaning of such a piece in this work.

This is my first review; I felt obliged to leave a review because movies like this - major backing, stand out cast, but unconventional, tend to get pushed aside for most except the most cult-y of followers or art-ish types. Some people will not enjoy this kind of movie, some will be confused and disappointed by this kind of art, and yet others will feel the exact opposite. Obviously enough people connected enough with a mode of story telling like to, well, tell the story like this. And at the end of the day, it’s all just a matter of opinion.

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Romance on the Rocks

An attempt at a natural progression in romance that didn’t work. The story didn’t make any sense and it had no depth. You do get the impression that the “Master” has feelings for his servant. He courts her by bullying and harassing her for the first 30 minutes of the show. I’m sure this will convince her of his sincerity. Finally, he drives her out of the house. You would think that would be enough for him. Not this guy, he goes out and finds her and bullies her some more. Grabbing her and taking her into her bedroom. He won't leave and ends up sleeping in her bed while she sleeps on the floor. All against her wishes. Then he insults her by saying she jumped into bed with him. We are now one hour into the show and this guy hasn’t changed. He even takes her money. Unbelievably I think she's still drawn to him.

After a little drama in the house is settled they get drunk together and fall asleep during a snowfall, all snuggled together. Where did this come from? There was no workup or prelude to the romance of any kind. They’ve never verbally expressed any feelings. He’s hasn't said a nice word to her. She wakes up back at his house and all is roses. They are now in a committed relationship. He’s talking marriage and hasn’t even said he likes her. Maybe that's how they did things back in those days, but I doubt it.

I’m not blaming the actors I thought they were decent. The story was terrible. It felt like a Covid movie. Since it was done in 2020, it probably was. Most of the scenes had very few actors. In some scenes, they were even socially distanced from each other.

The subtitles were good and the music was great.

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Unfortunately, this movie didn't work for me. I didn't hate it, but the cuteness from the first film didn't carry over. I think I just don't like the college part of the Mischievous Kiss story. Naoki's behavior is offputting at this point, just like it was in the drama series. I'm hoping that at some point Japan will move past these almost cruel tsundere types of characters. I felt like I was watching "LDK" but without the charm of Kento Yamazaki. I feel that the actors in "Campus" weren't as well connected in the sequel as they were in the "High School" movie. Oh well, you can't win them all. I'll watch "The Proposal" but I'm not expecting much.

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Sweet

I like a good falling in love story with my Bl dramas but I really love a making the realstionship work slice of life better. Oh that's what this one was a slice of life of two young men in love facing some ups and downs of their own making. It wasn't a complicated story but it was sweet and I really like the couple and their friend was cool. This movie was very refreshing after so many I like him but I'm not gay we can't be together but we get together dramas as of late. Nothing wrong with them just sometimes watching this or the vietnamese web drama Roommates is a nice palet cleanser lol. Great movie very rewatchable very fun.

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Fans of the anime will enjoy this

This is based off the popular Boys Love manga and the anime. Love Stage is about two guys who reunite after starring in a wedding themed commercial (CM) 10 years ago. Ryoma falls for his co-star on set whom he thought was a girl when he was a child. Ryoma is now a popular actor. Izumi comes from a line of entertainers: his mom is an hallyu actress, his dad an entertainer, and his older brother the lead singer of a band. 10 years later, Ryoma requests the exact cast to be apart of the new CM. The only change I wish they didn't make was Izumi didn't wear a wedding dress. That was the best part of the anime/manga because that's the whole point. Ryoma thinks that Izumi was a girl this whole time, even when they act together in their Happy Wedding CM.

Other than that, I am thankful they kept it very PG. They removed the rapey scenes. I have seen the anime and the OVA and I am glad they removed them and kept the best parts of the plot, which is where Ryoma comes to terms that his childhood crush who encouraged him in his acting career is actually a guy. The love story is really sweet, albeit weak facial expressions from Izumi's actor. He reunites with Izumi and after making a mistake, tries to become his friend and helps him in his manga. He wants to help him like Izumi did when they were starring in that CM 10 years ago. He encourages Izumi with his manga and I found that really sweet. They turned a source material that is considered yaoi due to suggestive scenes and made it more accessible for a wider audience. I only wished it was longer and we got to see Izumi pursue acting. Believe me, it starts off really cringey but it gets much better as it goes on.

In Japan, or in Asian countries, for a popular actor to come out as gay is essentially career suicide. So for the ending to nonchalantly be accepting of that is actually revolutionary. I wished the ending went on for longer than it did. Boys Love usually caters to Fujoshis, or women, but what sets Love Stage apart is how well written its narrative is. The mangaka did write the screenplay for the movie.

I only wished that the on set architecture was better. I wished that Izumi's house looked more glamorous. I wasn't convinced that his well established family would be living in what looks like an average suburban house. It should have been tacky and adorned with tacky expensive furniture. Even Ryoma's apartment should have looked fancier if he's considered a popular actor. I don't remember the anime much, but even the settings in the anime looked more glamorous than the shoddy housing in this movie.

I enjoyed it more than the anime. The anime's art style I wasn't a fan of and I prefer that they toned down the scenes and made it more consentual. This is coming from someone who hates Jdramas. I typically gravitate more to American TV and Kdramas. Better than any of Hirokazu Kore-eda's movies. Look I'm familiar with Japanese cinema and this was a solid good movie.

The acting is Jdrama quality and the production level was slightly higher than your typical Jdrama. These guys both acted better than what you see in a Jdrama. Izumi's actor looked the part but wasn't as good as Ryoma's actor. He was hilarious.

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waste of time

I am on the verge of finishing the series of movies of this actor so here is another review, as there is no review to this movie till now. So let me express my feelings after watching this…
Story
the first scene is ML named MARK is reminiscing his first love Shanguanxue er whom he had lost few years ago. The next scene he crashes to her and to his surprise, she doesnt remember him at all. He is introduced to shanguan xue er by shanguan Bing Er, who is the younger sister. Mark thinks thats xue er is pretending that she doesnt know him. He takes up the contract of bing er to exhibit his paintings, only if xue er will be solely handling the contract. He then goes around following xue er and coming in between her current boyfriend yuan hao. Bing er comes to know that Mark is Wu tian xiang, her sisters lover and she tries to come closer to mark without hurting her sister. Later xue er has an accident and her memory recovers. She sees bing er feelings towards Mark and tries to go away but Bing er tells the truth of being manipulated by yuan hao. Xue er still leaves only to have a reunion at the exhibition of Mark.

Plot view
Storyline seems promising but it had a very bad script and screenplay. I got confused as what is present and what is past because, the clothers are same in both the times. Only if they had separated it of maybe did a black and white frame for past, it would be convincing. Mark was seriously self conceited he is meeting a girl suffering from amnesia and starts kissing her because she doesnt remember. WTF, he is self absorbent the whole time, not understanding neither investigating the situation. At least he should have a decent talk instead of forcefully kissing her. The reunion kiss was a Fake kiss, disappointing WHY? Are the director, actor only comfortable with forceful kiss?

Acting
Acting is bad by everyone. Though I liked bing er character as sister, who tries to help her sister. She doesnt seem like snatching her sisters BF.
ML is bad, it sucks to see his forceful kissing. I could only think of the actress situation. His body is so stiff and he doesnt look like a painter.
FL is beautiful but lacks expression. She need to learn acting.

Music is repetitive from the previous movies of the series.
I wont rewatch it or would recommend anyone to watch. Its only for people who like slap/kiss.

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Shu Qi and Chang Chen brought six very different characters in different eras to life in this film directed by Hou Hsiao Hsien. Three different stories, three different kinds of love, three different times all brilliantly differentiated by their costumes, hair, sets, and lighting and the inspired performance of Shu Qi and Chang Chen.

A Time for Love, is set in 1966. Shu Qi plays a young woman who works in a pool/snooker hall where she meets Chang Chen's character who is about to join the military. The Platters' Smoke Gets In Your Eyes plays in the background. The colors are warm and gauzy with a strong use of green. And these two are young, green and tentative as they give each other shy glances across the table. There is very little dialogue in this vignette, the tale told through actions, and body language. They write to each other after he leaves for the military and we see her smile as she reads his letter. Innocent and full of hope, this was easily my favorite story. "They asked me how I knew, My true love was true, I of course replied, Something here inside, cannot be denied." (Smoke Gets in Your Eyes)

A Time for Freedom is set in 1911 during the Japanese occupation of Taiwan. Shu Qi works in an upscale brothel and Chang Chen is her long time customer who comes and lives there when he is in town. Here the lighting is as subdued as the acting. The restraint is only broken when Shu Qi's character sings her sad songs. There are no spoken words in this vignette, though it is obvious much dialogue is being spoken, only a few words are shown on placards for the audience to read like in the old silent movies. I felt for Shu Qi's character, trapped in what amounted to indentured servitude with her only hope of someone making her his concubine. Chang Chen's character didn't approve of taking a concubine, but apparently staying at a brothel with girls as young as ten wasn't a problem with his ethics. Here again, there isn't much spoken conversation with some letters providing the rest. This story was sad and filled with longing as the couple and their world suffered. "Although this place has torn my heart, it is wrenching to leave it." (Liang)

A Time for Youth is set in 2005. The colors are harsh-cold grays and icy blues. Life is chaotic, fast, and real communication even with cell phones, email, and blogs is shown as being more difficult than in the past. Shu Qi plays a woman in a lesbian relationship having an affair with Chang Chen's character. He has a girlfriend who knows something is going on, just as Shu Qi's lover does. The two border on obsession as they meet in secret, creating tumult in their wake. "No past, no future, just a greedy present." (Jing)

The characters are molded by the times they live in, each one feeling authentic. Shu Qi gave brilliant performances. Her characters required a greater emotional breadth than Chang Chen's did and she absolutely nailed them. It's no wonder she won a Golden Horse for Best Actress for her work in this film.

This movie is not for everyone. It is slow and subtle, the endings not clearly written out, the characters not always likeable. If you don't mind the aforementioned you might be in for a quiet, gem of a movie.

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This is surprisingly cute.

The leads were both young enough to make the characters of Kotoko and Naoki work. Their chemistry was cute, nothing over the top, and I really liked Reina Asaki's slightly more restrained approach to her portrayal of Kotoko. Kanta Sato is a warmer Naoki in that he can actually emote and the audience sees him being more expressive when Kotoko isn't looking. It makes him much more relatable.

I've developed a serious dislike of the tsundere ML, so I wasn't expecting much from this film. So to come out of it even remotely neutral, let alone with a positive impression of the story and the characters, was a real surprise. I've never read the manga so I have no idea how accurate it is. And since I have no intention of reading the manga, accuracy really doesn't matter to me. All I know is that the performances by Kanta Sato and Reina Asaki were much more to my tastes than Yuuki Furukawa and Honoka Yahagi in the "Itazura na Kiss" drama franchise. The only actor I wish that I could have switched out in the film was Kinn-chan. I adored Yuki Yamada in the drama series and so the Kinn-chan in the film felt bland. But that's probably more me being a Yuki Yamada fan than anything else.

The casting choices for Naoki and Kotoko's families were excellent. I love the dads, and I did love them in the drama series too. Their friendship is just very fun. Naoki's mother had less time to annoy me in the film than in the drama series, so go her. Plus, she seems less affected in the movie than she was in the drama. I do wish we'd had a chance to see Kotoko's father's restaurant since that's sort of a big thing. Maybe in the next film, which I will be watching asap.

I'd say that if you're not keen on the drama series, but would like to find a version of the story that works for you, then maybe try the movies. They're still utterly ridiculous, but in a good way, the way you're expecting. And the fact that I came out of the film not hating Naoki means that Kanta Sato did his job well. And thank goodness Reina Asaki's Kotoko wasn't so stupidly absurd. It's definitely on my rewatch list, like "One Week Friends," "My Little Monster," and "High School Debut." There's just enough sparkle to make "Mischievous Kiss The Movie: High School" something cute and memorable.

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Great Chemistry, Classic Mob Ending

This is my first time watching anything mob-related. It really isn't my genre as there aren't many "happy" endings because of the "mob life." But Netflix recommended it to me, and it looked interesting enough AND I was extremely happy when one of my favorite Taiwanese actresses was the love interest of Lin Yu Qing.

I was instantly pulled in by the chemistry that Qi and Yu Qing had, regardless if it was a bit insta love on her part, but once they started their romance, they genuinely loved one another and wanted to give each other the world. Unfortunately, due to Lin Yu Qing's upbringing and his "family life," their relationship suffered in other ways.

But there was this one intense scene where Qi and Yu Qing were arguing about opening up and being there for one another in every way, even if they didn't support what they were doing, and it was raw and authentic and it showed love.

The ending broke my heart and it made it hard for me to fall asleep as I watched it before bed and was trying to wrap my head around "why" even though I knew why.

Overall, really good! The story was very interesting, and I loved the family aspect of why people did what they did, but I was heartbroken - if the South City's son-in-law decided he didn't want to cause problems for everyone, we would have gotten a completely different ending. Which overall kind of turns me off about mob dramas as one guy can mess everything up for everyone else and change their happy story to a sad one.

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oh boi i wasn't ready at all for this one
my biggest mistake was not reading the tags nor the synopsis so i wasn't aware of the infidelity. besides my carelessness, i actually found this movie to be emotion-inducing and one of the main feeling here is frustration. everyone frustrated me. i'm not kidding.

this one tells a tale of two completely questionable dudes in terms of moral compass. what i like is that this movie doesn't sugarcoat anything. we are presented what the mixture of insecurity and loneliness can do to someone. such combination can lead to desperation of returning to a situation that is not going to benefit them mentally. there is no romanticising this relationship. instead, the viewers are given both point of views with no justification of the main characters' actions.

both the main characters are awful in many ways. yet, sympathy is felt because they both have different sides and internal issues. i'm no way in support of the cheating but it's really interesting how otome is shown to have the tables turned as he was the one to wait for igisame instead of the other way around. the chair was a nice touch of symbolism for anticipation/waiting.

overall, this movie was definitely a profound take on mature topics and didn't go around in circles conveying them.

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Heartbreaking and Inspiring

I missed watching "A Taxi Driver" when it initially became popular but wanting to learn more about the Gwangju Uprising (thanks to currently watching "Youth of May") lead me back. I'm glad I learned a little more of the history before watching it blindly. If you don't know much about Korean history, like me, prepare yourself for a story that's inspiring but brutal and heartbreaking. I love when movies show history from a personal perspective, making it relatable and making me curious to learn more. That's what this movie does so well.

This movie stars Song Kang Ho as Kim Man Sup, a struggling single father and taxi driver, and his performance is brilliant. I've never seen a bad performance from him and this is no exception. It's a character similar to the one he would later play so well in "Parasite", basically a man who uses clever instincts to take advantage of an opportunity that leads him to more trouble than he bargained for. I loved seeing the change and internal struggle within his character. It also stars Thomas Kretschmann as Peter (irl Jürgen Hinzpeter) a determined reporter eager to do anything in his power to film what was really happening in Korea even if that puts him in serious danger. His performance is probably my least favorite of the cast but he still does a good job. I just think Song Kang Ho carried many of their scenes together. It's their relationship that is meant to drive the story, and it does, but I was moved even more by the rest of the cast.

This is the part of the review where I once again confess my love for Ryu Joon Yeol, and admit to being biased, but I loved him so much as Goo Jae Shik. He is so a-dork-able and his smile always automatically puts me in a good mood. Still, under all of that quirkiness is an actor with true depth and he really got me in the feels with this role. Yoo Hae Jin as Hwang Tae Sool is another everyday superhero in this movie, and I love how both actors honor the true heroism of everyday citizens.

What I liked about this movie the most is that it's story is told in a simple enough way that you can understand it all even knowing nothing previously about the real history. I also loved the idea of discovering what was happening through the main characters' eyes. I'm not sure how much of what was in this movie is based on real events or not but it immediately made me want to learn even more about real stories of Gwangju out of respect (thank you youtube lol).

Overall, this is a great film but it can be a little tough emotionally so prepare yourself for some tears to fall. Don't let the cute promotional pic fool you. I also loved the ending, and the idea of how strangers can meet briefly and not only change each others lives but the world around them.

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Ghosts won't haunt you, the lab doctors will.

How much a person can be willing to sacrifice to get a closure or to prove a point??!!??

This movie exactly delves into the above question and makes you feel heartbroken at the end.
The protagonist's sacrifice and selfish intentions will make you question "Was it all really needed?"

Talking about the story, it started off really good but seemed a bit off towards the end... Atleast for me the ending should have been something satisfying rather than a tragedy.

The concept of the story was really good and I expected too much from it therefore a bit disappointed,
otherwise the acting, plot everything was great.

There were little jump-scares here and there (powerful ones though) and the story is not exactly that terrifying but the tragic lives of the leads will definitely give you nightmares due to sadness.

All in all a good attempt to entertain for almost 2 hours.
Lastly I really want to appreciate the actor who plays Dr. Wee in this.
He can pull off any look and character, be it a stud / hero kinda look or a nerdy scaredy cat look (like in this movie)... He justifies all his roles❤️

Hope you watch this lab story without ghosts around you! Hehe ;D

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man in the mirror

overall this film is very enjoyable, and one of the better Korean films I've watched over the past 3 years. I felt I enjoyed at least half of the amount of special effects in the film. I especially enjoyed Ha Jung-woo's performance, and most of the other actors' performances are enjoyable, too.

the film begs for the audience's empathy, emotion, and attention as we, the audience, immerse ourselves with the characters, and the development of the stories.

it took me probably somewhere from the 2nd to the 4th part of the hell journey before I began to appreciate the film. there are weaker moments through the film, and at times they felt dragging or boring, but I can understand that it was not an easy film to make and story to weave. I think there are some nice moral and philosophical values in the film, too. and surprisingly, I would love to re-watch the film again some day. and that is saying a lot, because I re-watch only rarely.

i don't feel the story or theme in this film is original. in part i am slightly reminded by Dante's Inferno, and in part by numerous other older films that dwell on life after death and trials/tribulations. however, the retelling of such themes and the unique presentation in this film is partially what made it kind of unique.

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My friends and I finally got around to watching this movie last night and it was absolutely insane! It kept us hooked the entire time and we were always wondering what was going to happen next. Unfortunately, I had to mute the movie and turn away during the living room scene (if you've seen the movie, you know which scene I'm talking about) because I was embarrassed to watch that scene with my friends in the discord call, but the movie was still very enjoyable. We really loved the acting most of all.

I'm personally going to have to check out the actors' other works because I was blown away the entire time. Honestly, I'm surprised I'm giving so much praise because I'm not usually one to watch anything within the horror and thriller genres, but I really loved this movie.

This movie very much deserves the amount of rewards it received. I would definitely watch it again if someone asked.

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