Reviews

"They have the strength, the brains, and the will to struggle!"

Little Toys not only told the tale of a passionate and talented young toymaker, but also used the toys she made as an analogy for the war creeping up on her doorstep. The movie was decidedly propagandistic and no wonder with the strain of civil wars being fought at home and a foreign army invading as well. Like many in their situation, movies were not only entertainment, but at times catharsis and a call to arms.

Ruan Ling Yu played Sister Ye/Xiu Xiu, a toymaker extraordinaire in an idyllic rural village, whose business kept many people fed. Married to a slovenly, but kind husband, she had two children to care for as well. A handsome engineering student in town fell hard for her, but she refused to run away with him. Always seeing the big picture, she challenged him to finish his degree overseas and return to China to improve their country's industry and help lift the poor out of poverty. Emboldened by her patriotic words he set off to do his duty.

The movie begins with numerous comedic moments, but this is a Ruan Ling Yu film so don't fall for it. She once again played the avatar for the suffering women of China, if not China herself. Despite being loyal and patriotic, not the flawed fallen women she often played, she still met with endless suffering. Along the way she dealt with the death of loved ones, the disappearance of a loved one, civil war, becoming a refugee, competing with cheap foreign goods, the Japanese invasion and the infamous January 28th incident, as well as debilitating PTSD. That was a lot of tragedy to work into one film.

At the time, China was dealing with class issues as well as political ineffectiveness and corruption. To avoid censorship, the name of the invading army was never mentioned. You didn't have to be a history major then or now to know who it was. While some of the speeches meant to inspire felt organic to the scene, some of the leftist and nationalistic speeches could be stilted and rather awkwardly wedged into conversations.

What I found interesting was the use of toys as a metaphor for the soldiers, playthings moved about during war. Scenes of toy guns, tanks, and planes were overlaid with battle scenes. Many of the weapons, planes, and tanks used in the battles resembled the toys previously shown giving the scenes a surreal feeling as toys gave way to deadly reality. Even at the end of the film, Xiu Xiu confused her toys with real soldiers and weapons, calling them to fight.

Ruan Ling Yu gave a nuanced performance exhibiting numerous emotions from gentle caring mother to a woman broken by war and tragedy. She truly was a gifted actress taken from the world too soon. Li Lili, another famous silent film actress, portrayed Xiu Xiu's teenaged daughter. Though not as subtle she also gave an impassioned and at times light-hearted performance.

While Ruan was captivating, wringing as much emotion as she could from each scene, the film felt overly long and disjointed at times. Because it covered so much ground and often glanced quickly over tragedies, I found it difficult to connect emotionally with the large cast. The film felt more important as a historical piece than as a piece of entertainment. When Ruan pierced the crowd around her with a steely gaze at the end of the film and shamed them, declaring they needed to fight for their country's survival and then stared directly into the camera challenging the audience, it crossed over from being a popcorn movie and into a call to arms. There has always been a place for these kinds of propagandistic movies, especially during times of desperate national crisis, it's just best to know what you are going into with this film as it could be heavy-handed at times. To be sure, regardless of your feelings about the subject matter, the film is worthwhile viewing if only to watch one of the few surviving Ruan Ling Yu films.

6/5/23

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"0.1% of World": A Serendipitous Telepathic Journey Filled with Comedy and Heart

"0.1% of World" is an extraordinary movie that I stumbled upon by chance, and it has now earned a permanent spot on my list of must-watch films. From the very beginning, the premise of a telepathic connection between the male lead in Germany and the female lead in China sets the stage for chaos and comedic brilliance.

The initial moments of the film are pure gold, filled with hilarious mishaps and misunderstandings as they navigate their newfound telepathic abilities. They can hear each other's thoughts, feel each other's pain, and even experience the effects of alcohol when the other is drinking. The comedic chemistry between the leads is electric, providing endless laughter and amusement.

As the story progresses, the characters realize that constant bickering and fighting won't help their situation. They slowly begin to find common ground and learn to live in this strange reality they find themselves in. However, a major fight leads to a temporary breakup, which ironically serves as a catalyst for them to discover their true feelings for each other.

Fate plays its hand, and the characters continuously miss each other in their daily lives, adding an element of longing and anticipation to the story. Fast forward a couple of years into the future, and they finally meet for the very first time, and from that point on, the story takes an unforgettable turn.

While "0.1% of World" is a captivating film that takes you on a serendipitous journey, one aspect that some viewers may long for is a definitive kiss to seal the deal and provide closure. It would have been a perfect way to conclude the journey and provide a sense of fulfillment for those who followed the characters' tumultuous path.

Despite this minor longing, "0.1% of World" remains an exceptional movie worth watching. Its blend of comedy, heart, and the unique telepathic premise make it a captivating cinematic experience. Get ready to be immersed in a world where laughter and emotions intertwine, leaving you thoroughly entertained and rooting for the characters' happiness.

Overall, "0.1% of World" is a delightful film that proves that love knows no boundaries, even in the face of extraordinary circumstances. It's a testament to the power of connection and the beauty of finding love amidst chaos.

Note: This review is written by me, edited by ChatGPT for readability.

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Great portrayal of Long’s Acting Ability

I throughly enjoyed this short and was drawn into the conversation easily. As it progressed I was impressed by the one-take quality and sense of intimacy. it seemed that I was listening in on what became a very private conversation. I have no clue what was meant by the ending, so I’m going to pretend the last few minutes did not happen. I’m coming to this after watching Long play Day in Love Syndrome lll, where his character’s conduct is largely toxic and irrational, altogether unappealing, except in terms of amazing physical appearance. What a relief to see him play a very nuanced role in which subtle shifts in body language and facial expression role are key. The startling contrast between the roles make me respect him as an actor and look forward to more.

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Degrees of love

Degrees of love

This could be an educational movie about MILK: where it comes from and what becomes of it! The story of milk is told through 4 separate GL romances of different degrees following the maturation and transformation of milk into a cheesecake! Very symbolic!


The Cheese Sisters is a cute movie, the actresses have great chemistry and the countryside is really pretty especially in the first story. Each story is about 30min long. There is not much conflict and no toxicity whatsoever. I liked how the movie was constructed with every degree of love from friendship to committed relationship. Even the titles of stories can be understood as descriptions of these relationships. You will spend a nice moment watching this and then you'll forget about it!

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Incredibly well executed sapphic love story

This was too short and I wish we got a full movie to enjoy the blossoming love of the two leads .
But what we got was incredible , this is one of the most realistic portrayals of a lesbian relationship I've ever seen.
Story:
After a granddaughter of Tsuyako's finds a box of old photos we are transported to post-war World War II Japan, where a younger Tsuyako who works in a factory and has a family meets a childhood friend Yoshie ,who is planning on moving to Tokyo. The two reminisce about the past and that leaves Tsuyako with a very important question: Does family come first before true love?
Overall everything was beautifully portrayed , the actresses did an amazing job of showing longing, pain and sorrow. It was directed and produced by a woman so the lesbian portrayal wasn't sexualized and it showed in the sexual scenes where it mattered most .
I cried like 3 times for those 20 minutes so I would say worth watching, but prepare to tear up at the gritty realism of life.

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Romcom with Realism, for good and bad

What I loved and hated most about the film is the healthy dose of realism to this romcom. From the stressful in-laws (on both sides, for different reasons) that weren't overdone, to the getting-used-to-each-other phase of being newlyweds, to the stress of living in a place that isn't your own, and more. It was real but it was funny. And the leads were so cute. And despite Angie being hot-headed and Jed being rather weak-willed, I would dare to say that they were a perfect mesh for each other. They knew how to apologize to each other after a fight, and really wanted the other to be as happy as possible.

But, we also get the other side of that realism: the likelihood of a man cheating on his spouse goes up significantly with pregnancy. For a number of reasons. Loss of attraction. Less bedroom activity. Change in the spouse's attitude. Etc. Etc. And in reality, many spouses will still forgive their partner afterwards with the reassurance that it won't happen again, after a good/sincere apology, and/or on behalf of the baby and their post-partum state.

Even when this plot element was introduced, I still really liked the movie. The way Angie handled it was spectacular. And I expected nothing less from my girl. Even when she's on her last leg of pregnancy, she handled that like a boss. And it looked like she was gonna make Jed work for her forgiveness.

But alas, the film botched the story towards the end. Jed didn't grovel as much as he deserved to. And several characters contributed to this narrative of the infidelity being an easily forgiven transgression - on behalf of him being a man and it not meaning anything. For instance, Jed's mother seemingly shocked but relatively okay when it came to light - because, I mean, what does it matter if your son went against basic loyalty morals since you hate your daughter-in-law? And then Angie's father gave this whole spiel about how "men work different" and "just because we cheat doesn't mean we don't love our wives anymore" speech while comforting her.

And then we have Angie saying she feels bad because she married Jed in the hopes of changing him? That didn't even make sense with the movie! Did me and the scriptwriter watch the same movie? At most, Angie hoped Jed would grow more of a backbone and stand up against his parents wishes/opinions. What does that have ANYTHING to do with his ongoing affair?

This could have been a great movie. And I would have loved to debate the "should she/shouldn't she forgive him" aspect of the story. But the ending just really messed that up. It made the cheating out to be much a smaller dealer than it was, and tried to paint hot-headed pregnant Angie as part of the reason it happened.

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NEVER AN OPTION

I have to say that I didn’t liked this title because, I know that there are so many things that they bring in this, but the super Stockholm syndrome is too much for me. He says he was trying to make him want to live but, hey, that’s not the way to do so. It was so so violent and sometimes (always) too much. I also have to say that I liked the final, like the very end, the two last scenes, if you forget everything that happened before, it is a beautiful scene if you focus on it. So yeah, the acting was awesome, they did so well and the production is also good, but it doesn’t compensate the rest. So yeah, i give it a 2.5 because I liked the last 2 scenes and the 0.5 for the acting itself.

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Thank you for being born

I don't think there is anything more valuable for a person than to hear that someone else is thankful for their existence.
Life can be pretty rough at times, feelings of insecurity may fill our hearts more often than not. I would dare say that every human being on this planet has gone through a rough time, full of disappointments, failures, losses and has also believed that life can just be too hard. That no one can 100% understand them.

The problem is that people don't really tend to listen to themselves, a simple "you did good" doesn't have the same impact when someone tells it to oneself. So I don't think there is a more valuable thing someone can hear from another human than a a simple thank you; ''thank you for being born, for being here''.

I think this movie is just about that. The complexity of humans and that no matter how different we may be, there is an internal need of a person listening that someone is there for them, that someone truly cares, that there is a reason that they are here and that they are loved.
Even if they feel helpless, trivial or even if they are fully satisfied with their lives, listening to such emotionally impactful words can really bring tears to everyone's eyes or at least an emotional reaction.

Koreeda, once again, deals with the theme of a found family, while also commenting on important and quite devastating social issues like human trafficking, abuse of underage children, adoptions, birth and of course with the Baby Box itself, an actual box that people abandon their children in for a variety of reasons.

This film is not perfect and I would dare say that it feels more like it has been inspired by Koreeda rather than being filmed by him, but nonetheless it is worth the watch. It is slow paced, character driven, symbolism heavy and as you have understood not for everyone, but I think it is worth a chance just for that one scene that was devastatingly beautiful.

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If I hear Groundhog Day in the same sentence as a film or a drama, I am certain I am going to watch it. And so when I saw a review for this movie, I had to watch it. Yesterday With You is a good film: it ticked all the necessary boxes for it to be a convincing time travel story!

It was a story about childhood friends who meet as adults reconnect and fall in love. But life keeps throwing them lemons until an accident happens. With the help of magic birthday candles they try to fix what went wrong!

The first 10 min is a whole romcom movie: how they meet and fall in love and fight and make up and just love each other. The montage of significant scenes from a relationship is expertly done and we do not need more in order to know what is important here.

Then the tragedy strikes in the form of a white truck of doom (what else?). I was impressed by the creative use of the said truck: he actually pulled a scaffolding down on the victim. After this accident, the time travel groundhog day style starts using some candles. The cinematography changes a bit and from warm brownish tones we get a lot of greys and cold colours as the main characters rush around trying to change the future. There was an impressive scene with a car driving through a forest of huge grey pillars (must be a highway exchange) but it conveyed well the feelings of being lost and distraught.

The film was full of usual drama tropes: the already mentioned truck, stopping in the middle of the road to think, disapproving and abusive parents, quirky best friends. The actors, completely unknown to me, were really good and had decent chemistry.
This was actually a perfect format for this story avoiding thus all the downsides of a drama like length, filler stories and chinese propaganda (see Reset).

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Film pendek yang bagus

Seperti judulnya "heart, not a reason" yang berarti : hati, bukan alasan, sangat menjelaskan latar belakang cerita pendek ini. Series ini tersedia di platform YouTube dengan subtitle bahasa Inggris sehingga bisa diterjemahkan secara mudah dengan Live CC Youtube ke banyak bahasa, benar-benar menggambarkan maksud bahwa "hati, itu seperti tanpa alasan" ; kita bisa mencintai siapapun, bahkan terkadang jika ditanya "apa alasannya" kita akan selalu bertanya-tanya mengenai jawaban yang pasti dan itu berakhir dengan "tanpa alasan". Film pendek ini sangat menggambarkan keadaan itu, walaupun filmnya punya durasi yang pendek, namun film ini bisa menyajikan scene-scene yang pas dan scematik sehingga membuat ceritanya menjadi jelas, singkat, padat, namun berkesan. Walaupun pendek namun detailnya cukup bagus, pengemasannya juga epic menurutku, dengan durasi yang pendek, film ini bisa menghadirkan cerita yang bagus.

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Ning had a condo that she rented for extra income to help Kawin who was the sole breadwinner for the family. Their real estate agent advised them to live in the condo and rented their house instead as it can bring in more cash. Kawin was against it. However, he agreed to show the house to a retired doctor and her daughter, after Ning pleaded. When they asked when can they move in, Kawin said next month which shocked both Ning and I.

Ning started getting suspicious with the new tenants and a video sent by her old neighbor, enhanced those suspicious. And then Kawin started acting strange. With the help from her friend, Ning found out that the retired doctor was not as what she portrayed.

I watched it with zero clue on everything. I didn't know the cast or plot. I was a bit disappointed. I mean, I was hoping for something along the line with the title. It's not much about the home but, more towards the obsession of the occupants.

I was angry on behalf of Ning. She and her daughter, were the collateral damage for this obsession.

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Great acting for a simple story abt marriage breaking down

Just chanced upon this short clip…was looking for something to past time.

This isn’t something exceptionally written script but the acting by both main leads were good, especially ML being a veteran together with FL they’re able to have great emotions transitions from deliriously happy to sudden skeptical of each other to anger and then return to emotionally in love. This emotion rollercoaster ride was unexpected as all taken place within just 30mins…as their stories and characters being revealed layers by layers…and at first I thot it’s one of the funniest thing (thief in their hse) didn’t appear to be funny in the end…guess the thief felt bad of causing havoc and wreaked their already-fragile-marriage…

I do feel the msg is quite good…tht in a marriage sometimes can be quite fragile and needs to handle with care, needs to continuously (probably at the beginning of the relationship something was built but along the years, with busyness of life, may have forgotten to maintain it!) build a stronger foundation of emotional supporting each other in order to withstand whatever that may come by unexpectedly such as this story…to some this story cld be exaggerating the outcome but thankfully that means it doesn’t happen within your household, but sadly this cld be happening in other people’s household for all we know marriage is a fragile thing after all!

Here goes for whoever who might wanna feel this emotionally rollercoaster for just 30mins+ to experience what’s it like:
https://youtu.be/fQ4i-a6lCmM

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"Patience is all" but might not be enough to help you enjoy this movie

The Iron Fisted Monk was Sammo Hung's first directorial endeavor. He also wrote the script with the help of Wong Fung and served as the martial arts director. I'll chalk this shaky movie up to a first-time effort.

Sammo played Hawker/Husker/Luk (depending on the version you watch), a man studying at the Shaolin temple to become skilled enough to enact his revenge. His uncle, the ever-present Hao Li Jen, was killed by a bunch of Manchus looking for trouble at his food stand. Chen Sing as San Te/Tak, the Iron Fisted Monk, sent Hawker to be trained so that he could help the common Han folk. James Tien made a brief appearance as Hawker's instructor before Hawker left on his revenge quest.

Hawker met up with Lo Hoi Pang as Ah Niu/Liang after the dye worker's sister had been raped by Fung Hak On, the Big Bad Manchu. Hawker trains the dye workers in kung fu so that they can defend themselves. Wang Hsieh later shows up as a baddie wearing what looks like a hermit's wig and beard and wielding a kung fu metal yo-yo. When Wang Hsieh and Fung Hak On make a bid to take over the dye factory it becomes apparent just how ineffectual Sammo's training was. At that point Sammo and Chen Sing decide it's time to do some tag team action on the baddies.

Truthfully, the story wasn't any more convoluted than most kung fu movie plots. What I had a problem with was the gratuitous nudity and not one, but two rape scenes. The first was one was appallingly long and graphic. Sammo wasn't known for nudity in the films he directed, maybe he needed to get it out of his system, but the scenes were not warranted in a movie that also had quite a bit of slapstick comedy.

What worked for me in this film were the fights. Sammo and Chen Sing were fun to watch fight together. Chen Sing rarely played the good guy. I almost didn't recognize him at the start of the film without his mustache. Plus, as a monk, he had his shirt on, Chen always found an opportune moment to take it off during his movies. Spoiler alert—by the final credits the shirt had come off! He also smiled and not with the "I just burned down an orphanage" smile he usually had as a baddie.

Chen Sing was still quick and performed a nice splits stunt in the final fight. Sammo showed off his acrobatic skills in an early fight, flipping and somersaulting. The fights were fairly quick and creative, Sammo is always entertaining in a throw down. Several kung fu styles were used including, mantis, snake, and tiger. There were a couple of gory scenes in the fights for those who are sensitive. The movie was populated with stuntmen and actors who would go on to star in their own movies later. Hsiao Ho played at least three different roles---in a beard or sans beard he could be seen in the background often even after one of his characters had previously been killed.

The Iron Fisted Monk was an uncomfortably uneven film. The comedy felt out of place with the numerous deaths and sexual assaults dominating the screen. The character whose sister was brutally raped and committed suicide afterwards was frolicking about with Sammo in a brothel not long after as if nothing had happened. A character would be ready for a revenge rampage and then like a dog when someone yells "Squirrel!" would become distracted and then it was all fun and games. There was little continuity of mood and action. It's too bad because the combination of Sammo and Chen was entertaining. Unless you are just really in the mood for a Sammo Hung movie you haven't watched you might be better off watching one of the others in his long list of credits.

6/3/23

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There's depth. This ain't your shallow, fluffy shoujo.

Ever grew up closely with someone in your childhood, only to drift apart once you grow older? I feel we've all had that happen.

The beginning half is rather slow and rocky. It starts off episodic, introducing the cold dynamic between Minato and Toru. But once you keep watching, it becomes a lot better. Minato basically ends up dressing as her high school self, "Mina," and bumps into Toru on the street. And from there, Toru asks her out because she looks like his first love.

The story becomes a lot deeper than your basic shoujo/josei. It's supposed to be cringey because Minato is pretending to be someone else. Once Mintato accidentally dates Toru, she learns there's more to Toru and she starts examining what she's been missing out on their relationship. They're step siblings that basically don't get along. While she's with him as Mina, she starts grieving over what she could have had with him: he could have actually been in her life instead of her pushing him away. At the beginning, she even tells Toru to not talk to her while they're attending the same college. As the story progresses, you learn that Toru is the reason why she's a germaphobe and why she incessantly cleans.

I found that to be a lot more interesting. She met Toru as a child but once they grew up, they drifted apart. She basically thinks that Toru doesn't like her, not even as a person. I can feel the deep longing Toru had for Minato. It came across as purer. My heart did skip a beat. The ending felt a lot more romantic; I was so turned off by the way the manga handled the ending.

The manga is funnier than the movie, but I'm glad the story was streamlined, without taking anything away. It takes volumes for Toru to find out she's pretending to be Minato, whereas in the movie, Toru has a brain. The love triangle didn't drag out as long as it did in the manga. And I'm glad that Minato put down a lot of boundaries while she was dating Toru as Mina. The manga was a lot more graphic in the romance scenes, and I found that to be too much to handle. Whereas the manga didn't sell me on their relationship, the movie did.

I wished there was your classic love confession. I get that Minato's been wanting to know what Toru really thinks of her. They basically apologize to one other, explaining their feelings: how they both thought they had hated each other, which makes sense. But where was the love confession? We get it on Toru's end, that he's been in love with her since they met. But we didn't really get that on Minato's end. Because that is kinda a big bomb to drop, when she's assumed he's hated her all this time! Toru assuming that she's ok with it. But what if she wasn't ok with that???

Toru's the better love rival than her "so called male friend" who forced her to go to a hotel with him.

My verdict: skip the manga and stick to the movie. The manga did better in the beginning chapters, but the movie made the story a lot more concise and tolerable.

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