Reviews

An amazingly touching story

I did not have any idea what I would be watching when I watched this movie, but I did not expect to end up feeling the way I did at the end of it. I really liked this film and it tells its story extremely well.

This movie is based on the true life events of a couple of blind parents who decided to have a baby together and raise the baby. They have a daughter and the daughter can see just fine, but the hardships they all go through were really tangible and it constantly pulled at my heart strings. The first scene in the movie really sets the tone for the entire movie, you’ll have to watch it to understand but let’s just say I won’t be leaving my rice cooker electrical cables hanging off the side.

Kara Wai and Hugo Ng were really great in their roles as the mother and father, especially Kara as she had the mannerisms mastered in a way that had me convinced she was blind. Even the eye movements were eerily accurate. She is an over-protective mother in a time when there were no mobile phones and blind people didn’t have as many technological advancements we take for granted today, and I just loved her performance. Hugo Ng had an easier time as he had his eyes closed the entire movie, but you can see how he tries to uphold his own sense of self-worth and dignity while trying to earn money for his family. The scenes where the husband and wife interact were very touching and really felt like a couple who had been married and in love for decades.

Karena Ng plays the teenaged daughter and I thought she did a fantastic job in the role. She doesn’t want people knowing she has blind parents in fear of being bullied about it, and she cannot really mingle with her friends properly because of the responsibilities given to her as the seeing daughter of blind parents. The conflicts between these aspects of her life coupled with teenaged hormones made for some intense scenes when it all comes to a head.

Overall, this is a great movie. It won’t be for everybody that’s for sure, but I really loved the family aspect it brings and that genuinely, in the end, family really does matter.

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I think the exciting sequences of movie were very good

I think the exciting sequences of movie were very good and your adrenaline will rise ♀️ 🙆🏻
But it also had some weaknesses, such as the story of spreading smoke, which I wish would be better and stronger...

Spoiler
Or, for example, in the last sequence, I wish they would show exactly how to get to that mast

Of course, one of the things that was interesting to me was that, unlike other films of this genre (at least the ones I saw👀), it didn't have the same stereotype that the whole country and then the whole world will face this challenge...😁🙌
But overall, it became lovely with Jung Suk and Yuna's charming acting and watching it can be a good experience for you 🙂♥️

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The plot was good overall. Although not a whole lot of stuff happened in the movie it still had a decent story line. The music didn’t really stand out, honestly I couldn’t even tell if there was music or not. To say the intimate scenes were a joke is putting it mildly, they were doing a whole lot of nothing. The camera angles used to fake all the make out scenes was just stupid and they shouldn’t have bothered with it as it was super obvious.
The costume department left something to be desired. While the outfits were pretty decent it felt like they all wore the same outfits for the whole movie.
That red light crosswalk scene where he was on the phone was so damn bad, it was ridiculous. The extras were just walking in all different directions and it didn’t make any sense. I blame the director for that scene.
The acting was pretty decent but it generally wasn’t a solid movie so I won’t be rewatching this.
Overall rating 3.5/10 because I can’t forgive the bait and switch act with all the make out scenes that made it look so fake.
I do not recommend

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'김영화'는 아니고 '김용화'란 다행이군. 영화는 너무 섭섭하겠다.

I haven't seen a director with such terrible sense of space as Kim Yong Hwa in a while. On the shelf of nauseous editing, ridiculous costumes and CGI, weak world building, non-existent emotional bond with characters, another one is Choi Dong Hoon with his Alienoid.

If you show me a dude who saves someone's life and then dies and acts dumb all along just because he's "saint", I will wish for him to die again. All the trials are so dumb, the Kings don't even follow their own rules skipping the defending part. And each time the trial ends with discovering a piece of information that makes an excuse for the main character's actions. Even if it's a murder attempt. Ridiculous.

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Nice storyline and beautifully acted, with emotions I hadn't expected.

OVERVIEW
Content is the son of a film director, and Cop is a young man with a dream but with limited education, who gets a job as a security guard for the film production company. Through the medium of mobile games, the two boys gradually grow to know each other and start to enjoy spending time together. Playing and joking around together shifts to include more serious discussions once Content realises that Cop needs to be taken care of and steps naturally into that role.

As always in Wayufilm productions, the actors seemed to show just as much of the story and the feeling through their eyes, faces, and actions as through their dialogue. This is a hallmark of Wayufilm productions that I really appreciate, as I always feel like I get more of the genuine feelings from the story with the quiet moments and subtle pauses included rather than constant switches between scenes. It amazes me every time that they can create that feeling of being unhurried and realistic in such a short movie! Kudos to the Director, Editor, and others who are so good at this.

MUSIC
Personally, I found the soundtrack a little jarring and out of context, although I got used to it as the movie went on. I understand the desire to show the childlike innocence of the story and the characters, but a musical genre designed for Western pre-schoolers seemed a step too far and forced me out of the story in shock the first time.

ACTING
Night did well in portraying a more active and forward character than in his last role, while still keeping his boyish sweetness. I thought Content did a good job of bringing Cop out of his shell, and he was very quick to recognise his own privilege when he finally saw how different and difficult life was for Cop compared to his own. In a way, I felt like it was almost TOO quick and easy, since people born with such privilege usually are a bit more conflicted or shocked when that privilege recognises itself for the first time. Having said that, Content’s personality overall seems quite calm, so the moments of shock we see on his face as he processes these ideas probably cover an inner turmoil that is much deeper than we see on the surface.

Klong did an amazing job of keeping the quiet naivety and politeness of his character Cop who we assume grew up quite simply (albeit with some troubled patches that are referred to briefly), while also portraying a young man who has a strong dream and passion driving him to keep going and work hard every day, without even knowing if his dream was possible to achieve. I did not expect to get emotional in this movie, but Cop’s panic at the thought of losing his job followed by the tears of gratitude when he realises that he is one step closer to his dreams gets me literally every single time. Outstanding realism.

For Kittisak, I was glad to be able to see him in a role where he was allowed to be a nice person for a change! It was well done.

Finally, I also want to acknowledge the subs team – the English subs are consistently excellent, and capture the essence of what is happening and its impact rather than just translating word for word. That makes a huge difference to our experience of the film if we are not native Thai speakers, so thank you to the subs hero/s!

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"We'll have to fight our way out!"

Cheng Pei Pei was one of Shaw Brothers big female stars after the success of Come Drink with Me. This time instead of a sword she wielded a deadly whip in the snow for The Shadow Whip. While the film didn't break any new ground or have memorable fight choreography it was fun and stocked with plenty of familiar faces for kung fu fans.

Shadow Whip opened with stunning mountain scenery shot in the snow. It was a rare departure for SB using this kind of outdoor scenery for a big part of a movie. Pei Pei played, Miss Yun, the "niece" of a secluded inn keeper who would turn out to be the infamous Shadow Whip, Fang Cheng Tian played by Tien Feng. Ku Feng as Chief Hong, Wang Hsieh as the leader of the Serial Trio, and Yueh Hua as the earnest Wang Jian Xin all collide with Miss Yun and her comic sidekick Er (Li Kun) violently at a local inn. Later Chief Hong, the man who cast no footprints in the snow, would show up at the isolated inn owned by Miss Yun's uncle. At this point everyone believes that her "uncle" is the legendary Shadow Whip who stole 300,000 taels worth of jewelry 15 years ago, killing a respected official's family in the process. Wang's uncle had been the head of the escort service for the transport who was ruined after the theft and murders. Hong and Wang are out for revenge and a plethora of others are on the hunt for the Shadow Whip in order to steal the stolen jewels.

Miss Yun comes home at one point to find people murdered and she is surrounded by bandits led by Kao Ming. "Are you officials?" "We're the bandits of Yan Yun. I trust Fang Cheng Tian has mentioned us." She did not look frightened, more like, 'Only 16? You should have brought more men'. Her uncle showed up and the two of them made short work of the bandits with their powerful and lightning-fast whips. Later that night she takes a message to Wang and they are surrounded at the inn by what looks like all the men in the region. "We'll have to fight our way out!" It's a martial arts movie, we'd expect nothing less. Chief Hong becomes determined to kill Miss Yun when he discovers her real family name is Yang. Mmm… let's see… it's Ku Feng with a maniacal evil laugh, he's hanging out with Wang Hsieh, and keeps trying to kill the heroine. Even with Tien Feng playing the Shadow Whip it doesn't take much to connect the dots to see who the real bad guy is.

The fights were mostly with swords and the aforementioned whips. The whips were used creatively to cause much bodily harm even if it wasn't always logical or physically possible. Swords, spears, and bodies were propelled with deadly and dismembering results! The sword-fights were slightly above average for the era. And 30 years before Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, this film had a flying battle in the trees. Being a wuxia, there was quite a bit of light body flying. Despite having decent sets, you could see the wires in several scenes. Pei Pei is one of my favorite action heroines. She battles fiercely and doesn't look out of place with a weapon in her hand. Even better, she was allowed to take vengeance on her enemy instead of leaving it up to the men.

The snowy scenes were beautiful and nicely highlighted the bloody battles played out on the glittering ground. Horses were ridden through the deep snow up and down the mountains and in the forests. During one scene it was nice that the snow plow from ye olden times must have cleared off the road for the horses though it would have been nice if they'd covered the tire tracks.

Yueh Hua was less stiff than usual and quite energetic in his fights. Pei Pei was gorgeous, fluid and agile in her movements, always a delight to watch. Tien Feng, normally cast as a baddie made a sympathetic whip fighter. And I'm always happy to see Ku Feng who seemed to be having a good time with this role.

The Shadow Whip wasn't a great martial arts film but the fights and plots twists were fun and Pei Pei brought her A game as always. I grade old niche movies on a curve. This film was about average but I gave it an extra bump for the spectacular scenery and a proper ending. No frozen frame as the killing blow was landed!

4/27/23

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A second movie needed

It was really exciting to watch as a 2013 kmovie, I hope there will be a second movie of the same actors in the nearest future which obviously would be way better than this considering the year gaps and how much korea has gone forward in production, acting, makeup, storytelling and much more.
Like Imagine if this comes back in 2023 or 2024 ohh that would be amazing 😭 id definitely watch and recommend to all my friends who love mystery and these types of movies.

So CJ Entertainments and M Pictures, give us the second movie with the same casts, Kim Kang-woo, Kim Yoo-bin, Kim Bum and Esom

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A one time watch :)

Just go into knowing this is just a fun action movie. If your a fan of Jackie Chan or Yang Yang or both then yes check it out!
Definitely a one time watch for me :)

PROS:
◇Jackie Chan
◇Yang Yang
◇Some of the actions secens were cool to look at. Over the top? Yes but still fun!

CONS:
◇The main character luck 🙈
◇The CGI (especially in the 3rd act!)
◇The writting wasnt great
◇To clean of an end
◇Really need to expand your disbelief

📺:
HULU
YOUTUBE (Rent or Buy)
Google Play
Redbox
Amazon

Movie Synopsis:
"Covert security company Vanguard is the last hope of survival for an accountant after he is targeted by the world's deadliest mercenary organisation."

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Should a film be good? Can it not simply be enjoyable and fun?

Should a film be good? Can it not simply be enjoyable? This film is a true example of the answer to those questions. For one of my weekly groupwatches, we decided to watch this film in between two shows because it looked fun and like it would have good fights. And dear reader, it did deliver on both of those.

The story was difficult to follow at times, jumping around way too fast, not developing anything and just dropping exposition in a perfect example of telling instead of showing. The investigation for who killed the convoy at the beginning and where the mysterious young woman that our hero must find it gets solved very quickly. But it is after all a 70min film. The costumes looked cheap, my cheap training sword I have for taichi which I bought for 300SEK looks less cheap than some of the swords they are using. The acting is not always the best and this film sadly makes use of some tired racist stereotypes (the evil people are from the steps, you see). If you just make a list of everything that is not right, it feel like this should not be a good time.

But the fact is that it is. The fights are enjoyable to watch (we joked that they had put all of the budget into the fight). The main male character is odd and fun. The main female character appeared on screen and we instantly said at the same time that we loved her. The side kick duo of silly assistants are, for once, women, which is both enjoyable and making me want a comedy GL centred around those two.

So is this film good? No, definitely not. But I also neither regret watching it, nor would say it is not enjoyable because it very much is. And this is why this is getting a 7.
In the words of one of my friends who watched it with me: "sometimes low budget trash just hits the spot"
So find some friends, gets some popcorn and a blanket, and watch this next time you want something fun that you will forget in no time, but will have a good time watching and laugh a lot at.

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Annoyed me to death and had me pondering if someone would jump off that cliff...

Yes this review is pretty much all spoilers and me b*** about this movie, so brace yourself!


This is the story about the girl who got a heart transplant by peep hole surgery, and moved far, far away from any type of hospital to recover... Despite the surgery the girl seemed to experience shortness of breathe and had magic medicine to help her with that... Immune suppresents, foodlimitations and other stuff did not make the cut.

But not only did the girl receive a heart, she seems to have traded in half of her body as she pretty much got possessed by the ghost of her doner, became delusional and put her self in harms way making me wonder if this story was made by the anti organ donation lobbyist who would ultimately make her jump/fall/ be shoved off the cliff by her doner.

However she does seem to survive, and even though she basically ignores and pretty much cheats on her boyfriend with a ghost, nobody seems to care about that... like at all... preferably because anything goes if you have had surgery. The way she goes between the boys is almost fashinating. It was also pretty obvious that the boy was a ghost.

So yes I spent most of this movie cursing and thinking oh come on wtf... ?I(#€Q€OSF SDF


That said we do get to see some pretty great scenery, a really cute dachshund flashes by and we also get to see dolphins.

So if you shut of your brain and do not mind this type of story go for it the execution is not bad... as for me I bearly made it though.. .but do feel that seeing that dog and dolphin made up for some of the waisted time and annoyance this caused letting me give this a 6and not a 3 which it probably deserves...

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