Reviews

This is wonderful

I didn't expect this to be that good based on the rating here but this is such a beautiful and affirming story. The central love story is slow burn but there is wonderful chemistry, and the dynamic between them is quite different than we've seen in a BL before.

This is a rural setting, and while the characterization and story is more realistic than a typical BL, there is still the element of fantasy that defines the genre.

At first I didn't really find Yamato all that appealing, but it didn't take long for him to win me over. The story is about one man trying to find his place in the world, and another who has, but due to his past is too afraid of being abandoned to open himself up to love, and the resolution of this is beautiful, with an especially nice touch of it hingeing on the love and kindness of a stranger.

I really need to watch it again as there was a lot of symbolism and shading that I only half caught because too much of my attention had to go to reading subtitles, but the director's gradual ramping of the warmth of the film as it progressed was artful.

A lot of people have described this as "laid-back", but I didn't feel it that way - I thought the coiled despair and fear of all the main characters was a palpable tension that underlaid the film until its end. There is zero external drama in this - it's entirely character-driven, which is what a good drama should be.

One negative, at least for me, was the score. It wasn't just entirely Western, it was very specifically Irish, which felt out of place - especially the use of the song Oh Danny Boy and the instrumentation. It didn't have to be gagaku or all played on koto, but I didn't understand this decision and it was a bit jarring and even annoying at times.

I have the story and acting a 9.5, the music a 6, and rewatch value 10 - in fact I'm going to rewatch it right now.

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shallow story with a good cast

Okay, so i decided to watch this movie because Xiao Zhan is playing the main roll. And he plays it great!
The story is pretty shallow tho, a lot of unanswered questions are remaining in the end and the whole thing doesn't really make sense tbh. What I like about it is that Xiao Zhan is playing no hero or someone who is just naturally super talented. He's just a normal dude who happens to be caught up in this whole mess. It's no typical "the good people win and all the demons die" story, rather the opposite and that's just way more interesting in my opinion!

The cast is nice, beside Xiao Zhan we also see Li Qin, who plays the main roll in many other famous dramas!
Music is great, really can't say anything bad about it!
Visual FXs are uhm yeah really bad, but I didn't expect them to be good in the first place since this is clearly a low budget movie, so it's okay.

All in all Xiao Zhan really carries the whole movie and he looks pretty damn cool in it, especially in the end. I think it was kinda worth watching just for that lol. It's also quite funny, so i don't regret watching it :)

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first off donno who or what Nu'est r, so just by reading the comments came to know they a K-Pop group. and as didn't know any of the actors involved, didn't know if they newbies or have acted in other "stuff" (well the only one i recognized was Serizawa Tateto as seen him as a side-character in loads of stuff. Kinami Haruka also looks familiar, but for the life off me couldn't pinpoint where have seen her. as in which dramas or movies) - now that, that's off my chest i so didn't accept to enjoy this movie - heck reading some of the comments, though it would either bore or disappoint me. Not the case, this was really good and well acted, if we talking newbies - good job by all!

this the type of movie that's more mellow and snail-paced, dialogue is minimal and u have to give it - the character's time to unfold, and u little by little start to see who they r and what makes them tick. that was the case here, so if ur not into long pauses and reading facial expressions, then u might be bored - cause not much is happening on screen - or so it seems to people who enjoy fast-paced, dialogue packet movies.

loved how even though each individual that seemed like an island at the start, when the story developed u saw how they were all connected to each other - oblivious to each other's connection they still were changed and even evolved through their connections - when they got closer or further apart. its like they were all connected by an invisible string when one "pulled", each had a minor shift in their own lives . it was sweet and magical in a way. the cause and effect shown - how our actions be it a word or a look, effect others around us that we don't even know r connected to us -

for sure a rewatch as this is totally my type of movie - just sit back and watch the movie unfold - everyone takes their time - nothing rushed. clams me idk guess just my cup of tea - find these type of movies very relaxing. plus this one was sweet, funny and heartwarming - so happily recommend.

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The Chinese Boxer is widely referred to as the first "modern" weaponless kung fu movie. Kwan Tak Hing and his 100 Wong Fei Hung movies from the 50's and 60's might differ on that opinion. The Chinese Boxer, written, directed by and starring Jimmy Wang Yu did set the template for the many kung fu movies which followed and it's success led to many others like it, opening the door for Bruce Lee.

Jimmy Wang Yu played the top student at a kung fu school. A disgruntled former student returned after learning judo and roughed up a bunch of students and then was promptly dispatched when the master showed up. The master explained that while kung fu was used for sport and self defense, karate was used for killing. Later, the former student showed back up with a crew of Japanese karate experts led by Lo Lieh in a bad wig. The karate experts went on a killing and eye gouging rampage in the school only leaving a few wounded alive, including Jimmy's Lei Ming. The karate thugs seized the opportunity to take over the town and made it into an illicit gambling den.

The familiar plot ensued. After Lei Ming recovered, he secretly learned the Iron Fist technique and light body skills. Then it was his turn to to on a bloody rampage. The fights were okay, Jimmy wasn't a martial artist and it showed. Blood spurted a plenty and the movie sported a high body count. Lei Ming taking on a bunch of katana wielding samurais in the the tall grass was entertaining. Too many of the fights were chop and block and not terribly fast. Lo Lieh, as always, had great screen charisma even if he wasn't on screen much and was required to do some screaming that seemed out of place.

The sets were all very nice and most were nicely destroyed with fists, kicks, and bodies thrown through them. Fake snow and real snow abounded. It's one of the few final fight scenes I've seen where there was snow and ice on the ground which seemed hazardous for the actors and crew. You could tell where they cleared a few areas off down to the dirt to provide a better place to spar.

It was fun to see these actors when they were very young, aside from Wang Yu and Lo Lieh, Chen Sing, Yuen Woo Ping, and Chen Kuan Tai, among many well known martial artist bit players were in the background.

There was an unnecessary rape scene that took away from the movie for me. Also several birds were killed which left a bad taste as well.

Jimmy's acting wasn't as stiff in this movie as in others I've seen him in and his directing was quite good. As a first entry into the "modern" kung fu era it was a respectable entry and worth watching for the historical implications at the very least.

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Being right next to the person you genuinely love is all that matters.

i came across this on netflix and i thought it would just be like any other movie. you know, those you just watch to pass time. But it’s 2am now and i’m bawling my eyes out & my nose is blocked af. i didn’t realise i’ve been tearing up painfully while watching the movie.

As y’all know, the male lead is a gangster and i was really irritated watching his scenes at the start. He was violent, aggressive & vulgar. However, my heart softened when i realised he had a heart of gold. I wondered if he saved or harmed the universe in his past life, to be trapped with an ill-fated life & at the same time, blessed with a kind, pure & genuine soul. A guy who sacrificed without yearning for any acknowledgement or rewards. Really, the world doesn’t deserve him. Ahhhh Roy chiu acted really well and his emotions really brought me with him in the movie. He’s really really good.

The female lead expressed herself so well too, i could precisely feel the way her heart melted at every touching moment she witnessed & feel the same way her heart crashed at every painful moment she suffered. It made me feel that the female character was so strong for even….. existing. ❤️

This love between them was passionate, fiery, yet, f*king painful. It’s so beautiful, i can’t get my eyes off them. I yearn for a love as beautiful as theirs.

Anyway, y’all really need to watch to understand those feels. & will i watch again? yea, when i need a good cry.

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The exposure of something intimate

Nominated for the Palme d'Or
Won Best Director at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival

I must have watched this film at least 6 times, one of them recently in 2021 a special event on an open summer cinema in Athens. Each time is better than before.
A couple from a “private hell” traveling, living, working, loving, hating in Argentina.
A relationship in breakdown and the arise of the most human fears and inner screams over the edge of the world.
A turbulent cycle of destruction and recreation, of hope and despair, of a world falling apart again and again.
A small but yet endless world through the colors of emotions or a black and white scenery of inner fears of emptiness.
A title inspired by the Turtles' 1967 song “happy together”… a song so romantic and happy on its own but yet so dark and omnibus when it is combined within this film.
Even a political view of the world and the significant dates of Hong Kong.
This story has no spoilers because no one is capable to put in words what you will feel when you see this drop of light.

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this is a surreal mind-trip that i have to say, donno if i figured out right - as until the last moment it kept me guessing, if the conclusions i came too were right or i needed medication to "get" this movie.

ironically a while back wanted to watch this cause of the loft scene, though this was the original, to a remake i saw (The Loft 2014) made in the US. and watching this - it so isn't! it might have started out similar with the paranoid Hyun Woo, wiping down his loft that had evidence of bloody violence's on him and in that place - getting ride of evidence while the cops were at his door - but that's about it.. everything else goes off the deep end and u always wondering "is this really happening" or is everything in Hyun Woo's mind. slowly started to wonder if the original gf he couldn't get over - did she exist? did Jun Hyuk, who seemed to disappear into thin air never to be heard of again (well his body - idk just confused)¯\_(ツ)_/¯

this is ok for a one off and nobody does crazy better then Jang Hyuk - so acting was stop on by the lot. i could care less about the erotica / nudity / sex-scenes as the psychological mind-f*ck was enough to not make it even register. plus it went to further Min Suk's character and justify Su Yeon's action (which aint justifiable, but the whole group was just messed-up. and there was no real backstory offered, to explain everyone psychosis - so left confused).

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Needlessly Frustrating

This was a frustratingly stupid mess. This could have literally been solved within the first hour if it weren't for the absolutely idiotic behaviour of nearly everyone. The police were asinine and so were many of the core characters. The mother leaving out after the first encounter was face palming silly and a whole assortment of other ridiculous foolishness this movies gets up to that I'll spare you due to spoilers.
Perhaps the worst part of this movie was it's attempts at supposed messaging and social commentary. Primarily as it set up some of the silliest and most unbelievable scenarios to comment on the treatment of the disabled. A woman frantically running, screaming and being pursued by a man with blood all over him would set off literally everybody's red flags.
But oh no she can't speak so clearly she's deranged and we won't give her the time of day. THIS WOULD LITERALLY NEVER HAPPEN IN REAL LIFE.

The acting was fine, the music reasonably forgettable but I expected nothing less. This movie should have just been in the Door Lock, Blind school of inoffensive thriller that is just tightly written and done but some how they managed to make an absolute mess of it.

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lets start with the bad - and there a lot here - yeah the actors r newbies and inexperienced, but seems so is the director - writer, production etc... cause its not only the bad acting and directing - even the "plot" isn't smooth or coherent. sometimes it just felt like "we" r jumping from one scene to the next and u gotta use ur imagination as to how it fits - sometimes its logical - others not so much. and have to add maybe the subs also were done by google translate, as they didn't help easy the viewing or understanding of this ..

also getting scene after scene of topless, toned bodies without rhyme or reason (with tons of "boob" close-ups), makes me cringe considering the age of these actors, words like exploitation come to mind - like a flashing warning sign - given both these young actors no matter how good looking, haven't been in other movies or dramas (well that were noted on this site). but and *plus point here, in-spite of the amount of naked skin we got to view (thank-god) there was a lack of intimate scenes. i.e - it was clear that even when they were kissing of consummating's their love, it was sexless. and i for one am thankful - rather this then see two teens force themselves into situations they not comfortable portraying.

plot wise like mentioned it wasn't smooth, but if u ignore the majority of glitches and focus on the relationship between the guys, from the sec Chai walks into that messy room he gonna share with Aek - he is infatuated. and that's more or less how this whole story goes - Chai loves more and gives more and Aek the typical partner that loves less, takes and takes without a second thought. until Chai gets attacked and that's his turning point - its cute how the get close. but why they part is a mystery to me - cause they graduating? would think if u really loved someone u would find a way to be together - but that scene where they part, was like it was a given that when they finish their schooling their relationship will also come to an end.

their meeting where Aek is in a relationship and moved on, while Chai is alone and still yearning for his first love is indicative of their personality - same with Aek having no problem trying to "get close" to Chai, while his gf is next to him - to me it seemed more lust then love and that's why i got Chai decision to be the bigger person and walk away. i would've preferred he leave that wallet on the bed with his letter cause the dude not only needs to move on. he needs to stop yearning for something and someone that can't give him what he needs. so to me this was a good conclusion to a so so plot - a one off

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Men can never love the present

The story was completely ordinary almost everyone go through this sort of phase in their life when they can't accept the present and always do things to secure their future. Ryota was desperate to get back with his ex wife and son even though he himself was having a tough time. Kyoko was certain to not get back with him. With lot of family thingy going on the movie moves on to the storm part I was expecting a disaster sort of thing as the name suggests but it wasn't the case. Kirin kiki nailed her role as always I loved her character. The movie is extremely slow paced I fell asleep once and I watched it the next day to finish it. Thanks for reading

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this was really good(!!!) but talk about a crazy ride - from start to finish, i was on the edge of my seat, screaming at the screen and biting my nails Aish my heart - kinda knew it would be frustrating, cause in normal times most people don't have the patience or humanity to try and understand, let alone help people who r handicapped - so was sure i would go out of my mind cause of the "normies" insensitivity and lack of compassion or comprehension - wasn't wrong on either account. that's more or less why the cops in the first scene kept glossing over the hearing impaired females and always turned first to the "normal" male - maybe there was a tad of sexsisim also involved, but as the main issue was a deaf persons worse nightmare - guess i focused on that bit.

great acting by all - even the by the psychopath (seen my fair share of psycho's on screen) and this is the first one, that u could literally see that he was enjoying the hunt - is was fascinating and scary to watch.
loved the mother daughter bond/relationship - touched my heart how the mother didn't care about anything but her child, and same with the daughter (and yeah its logical) and yet seeing it in action was really heartwarming. it emphasized the evil in Do Shik, as the lack of humanity in him emphasized the warmth in Kyung Mi and her mother.

Jong Tak was an ironic character cause of his profession and the choice he had to make - it was understandable and yet it didn't paint him in a great light - cause Kyung Mi had the same choice not once but twice, and she always chose to help. that's also what i loved about this movie, cause u saw how flawed we all r - just cause every body part is in working order doesn't mean we r perfect as seen in the scene where Kyung Mi in the midst of a crowd could get help.... sad reality but great movie for sure a rewatch!

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I can see why people love this movie. It had action, comedy, and lots of special effects. I fell into the liked it, didn't love it category.

What I loved about it was the cast. It was fun to see the incognito martial arts masters come out of their humdrum lives and reveal what they were capable of. Any time I see Yuen Wah featured, I'm a happy camper.

The Roadrunner and Coyote special effects were over the top and fun for the most part. Although the funniest gag in the whole movie didn't involve any CGI. The closer they kept it to reality, the better I liked it.

The martial arts scenes were entertaining, I enjoyed the early trio's more believable fighting the most. The latter fights which relied more heavily on CGI were comic book style and entertaining in their own way, if less satisfying.

Visually it was a stunning movie, the sets, costumes, and cinematography were well above kung fu movie standards.

I wasn't as fond of the first half of the movie with the death and dismemberment scenes. The landlady's schtick wore thin pretty quickly with me although she redeemed herself in the end. Bruce Leung made for a creepy supernatural kung fu madman. I found Stephen Chow's hustler more annoying than funny for most of the film. When he finally picked a side and came out of his cocoon I could get on board with his character even if his character growth and kung fu skills weren't properly explained. This movie cried out for a hero, not a Chosen One who did nothing to earn his greatness.

Perhaps the biggest problem I had with this movie is that I didn't care about most of the kung fu misfits and the ones I did care about didn't last long. Even in a comedy I need some thread of the story to be emotionally compelling and the only one they really offered was lollipop girl and the hustler which didn't touch me at all. The juxtaposition of slapstick over-the-top humor and brutal over-the-top killings failed to resonate with me as well.

While there were parts of Kung Fu Hustle I found amusing, more often I found it borderline cruel and repetitive with flashes of humor. The trio's fights and the final fight saved this movie for me. Oh, and Yuen Wah getting to strut his badass kung fu self helped a lot, too.

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