Reviews

Wonderfully Stupid

Is it a masterpiece? No.

But was it the perfect comedy to unwind on a Sunday evening? Absolutely.

I’m not a big horror person, but I love objectively silly zombie films “Shaun of the Dead” and “warm bodies”; there were parts in this movie that reminded me of both, so I was sold. If you like these movies and Korean media, I think you’ll like this one. I watched it on Amazon prime uk, which it is free on at the time of writing this, under the regional name of “zombie for sale” rather than the one listed here.

I saw a clip of it online that made me laugh, and I’m glad it made me watch. The ending was perfect. Definitely give it a chance if you’re not sure what to watch this evening.

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Pretty ocean and then ...

Well, I did not really want to watch this but it somehow popped up on my viki search so I decided to give it a go since it is so short!
I do not regret watching this though I would not go as far as recommending this either!

What I liked:
- beautiful shots of the winter sea and beaches covered in snow
- Han Gi Chan who plays Ba Da (ocean) a shy & innocent fool of a chef
- surprisingly good chemistry between the leads
- udon! I want some! Now!
- short episodes edited together into a movie (what's with Koreans and 10min episodes bls?)
- music; there are a couple of really nice songs
- the title

What I did not like:
- director who seemed to have high school level skills: it was all over the place!
- Holland who can't act (but sings beautifully)
- the annoying girl and the even more annoying kids (why do Koreans treat all the children as little emperors? Low natality issue?)
- unnecessary time skip
- ugly poster

Ba Da a skilled chef comes to a seaside town in order to recover from a bad breakup. He opens a udon restaurant on the beachfront but is unsuccessful until Tommy comes to his rescue. A month later BaDa's ex shows up creating a bit of drama.
Ocean Likes Me had a lot of potential which was not realized. The best is Han Gi Chan! He is handsome, talented and charismatic and I wish he would get bigger and better roles outside BL as well!

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One last dance <3

First of all, this movie needs to be separated from the drama. It’s not a continuation, the film’s inspired/adapted from it. Nonetheless, they managed to create another masterpiece that’ll be another great hit. When I first finished watching the series, I fell into a rabbit hole and couldn’t get out. I kept watching the bts and all the stuff I could find. It took some time to finally be able to get out lol.

I had the opportunity to see this in Taiwan hehe. It has all the surprise elements and keeps you on your toes. Although it’s a fantasy plot, the characters are extremely detailed and makes it all feel real. The story feels like you’re playing connect the dots, clues will be given, but you’ll not realize it after everything’s revealed, and your mind’s blown off to the moon lmao. All your attention is needed (like the series) and pls don’t blink as you’ll miss important stuff lol. Acting is amazing as ever as we already know :)

Don’t get me started on the music. I have downloaded every single song, it’s soo good!! It contains many that were used before but they added 3 new ones (I think) and they’re great. They’re all available on Spotify.

Now I wanna rewatch the series again though I already watched it 2 times haha. This movie is a rly good closure and the best way to say goodbye. Like the drama, it’s a film I’ll remember and cherish forever…

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What could go wrong with a movie based on an amazing book?
For those who know the book or watched the series, they can make some connections, but those who don't, see just a bunch of disconnected scenes. Obviously, it is not possible to present all the details of a book in a series, still less, in a film. The screenwriter of a film has to prioritize the best parts of the book, however, he must maintain a sequence that synthesizes the logic of the plot. The screenwriter chose random scenes and hindered the understanding of the plot.
The director started by making a mistake in choosing the female lead, as the actress has no facial expression and her voice is just the reading of a text without any feeling. He chose a sequence of scenes for editing that made the film nonsensical. The special effects are a roller coaster ride, some good and some bordering on 'special defects'.
The performances are poor. Yang Yang was all smiles and charm, but he had no one to play with. There was not the slightest chemistry between him and the female lead, so, as much as he had emotions expressed in his face, the scene was not round, as there was no cooperation from the other party.
The costumes were well crafted and pleasing to the eye.
The soundtrack chosen was well below expectations.

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The film tells the story of what happens after the death of Kung Min. To be honest, overall this film was very drastic and from my perspective it felt so real. We see what happens to students and what consequences their words and deeds have. However, even though it's not shown explicitly, the way the story is shown indicates that it's from an adult's perspective. Why do I think so? Because throughout the video, things are shown that may have influenced Kyung Min, but there is no confirmation as to what actually made her act. The adults didn't really want to listen to Young Hee who might know something about the cause of Kyung Min's death. They just made up their own narrative to what she said. They completely ignored the fact that she mentioned her suicidal thoughts.

As viewers, we don't get a clear reason for what ultimately led to Kyung Min's death. It could have been many of the situations mentioned in the movie or something that has never been revealed.

Overall it's a good movie. Unfortunately, it was boring at times. The actors did a great job and the camera work is a big advantage for this film.

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Clueless girls being oppressed, thus silenced

Started slow with steady mystery build-up that ended on an abrupt screenplay shift. This is primarily this movie's substance.

Joo-ran/Shizuko (Park Bo-young) was sent to an all-girl's boarding school outside of Seoul but was actually a sanatorium, and the sudden change of her environment made her into a quiet and shy student. Her adjustment was slow but expected, which also made the story slow. The plot really picked up its pace when mysterious events are now happening and she was always the witness and her body now somewhat feels stronger, which was unusual since she has tuberculosis when she first arrived.

The horror and thriller parts could've been made more suspenseful and even with the "terrifying" background music plus "chilling" camerawork on scenes where jumpscares were almost certain, it failed to scare me even a bit which was odd for someone that is easily spooked. Furthermore, the pacing of the story could've been made more tense by adding more scenes that would've made me anxious even at the beginning of the story, since as what I mentioned earlier, it was not really mysterious and I didn't know that this was a mystery horror movie. But still, there was a steady build-up of mystery on the unusual events that occured on said school/sanatorium.

This movie's highlight would probably be the "sismance" between Joo-ran/Shizuko and Yeon-deok/Kazue (Park So-dam). Their relationship was portrayed to be just close friends but their chemistry was too strong to think that maybe they were more than friends. It was Yeon-deok/Kazue that really helped Joo-ran/Shizuko adjust to the school life as well as rediscover her old bubbly self. I was more emotionally-invested in them than the plot itself.

The mystery itself was not a mystery anymore, as I knew already what it is based on the context clues scattered in several scenes. However, I was shocked more on the basis of said mystery which was correlated to the time setting of the movie, and I was now able to get the relevance why it was set during the Japanese occupation of Korea. This was not only really a tragedy-in-the-making for the clueless and innocent students of the school, particularly to Joo-ran who had now experienced something strange in her body but also eerie since the school's headmistress Kato Sanae (Uhm Ji-won) has no remorse on what she has done, and will do everything just to be recognized as a loyal citizen of the Japanese empire, even at the expense of her Joseon compatriots.

After watching this movie, I was confused as to why is it called "The Silenced" when it wasn't really explained throughout its run? My interpretation would be based on its premise of having clueless girls being oppressed, thus silenced.

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Just Like the Series, Very Boring

The movie/series: See my full review for the series about the storyline, script, and acting. All of it applies to the movie too.

The movie: Overall, they did a great job editing the series into a movie version. However, I wish they had fixed the weird editing choice from episode 7 because it does seem out of place and affected the mood for the next scene.

Random Notes:
You basically can skip the series and watch the movie version because there was very little that was edited out. As I stated with the series, you can wait to watch the movie until you have some time to kill and have nothing better on your must watch list.

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If you become me, who will become you?

I absolutely love this 7 minute short movie. The profound message in those 7 minutes is so relevant given the fast and furious rush we find ourselves in to 'become somebody'.

The script is tight but the way they have brought it to the screen was expertly done. The sets and music complement the tight script ... there is nothing lacking ... there are no gap fillers ... everything seen and heard has purpose and it beautifully flows from one scene to the next and the actors are just perfect for the message being conveyed. It is so rewatchable ... and I seem to get something new out of it each time.

It is called "A Better Youth", but the message is actually very 'generational'. There are 'take aways' across the generations at an individual level and at a family level. Because of this, the question becomes not so much "what is a better youth" ... but "what is a better person". If, like Wallace Chung's character, you missed out being a 'better youth', then while you still draw breath, it is never too late, and you are never too old to become a better 'you' ... you still have a future.

"What do you want to be in the future?"

"I want to be like Papa."

"If you become me, who will become you? You don't have to be someone else to be better, you just ought to be your better self."

Brilliant ... profound ... beautifully executed and so rewatchable as a good 'pick me up' when you get lost in the drama of existence \( ͡❛ ᴗ ͡❛)/

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Interesting movie

It was interesting movie.

At the beginning, I was not impressed by main protagonist, I guess we can say I had a false first impression of him.
(?Movie producers, I see what you did there?)

But after watching further as movie slowly progressed,
you get to know more of his character, how he thinks and questions things around and what makes his unique personality.
Later, after revealing his story, you find yourself feeling bad for him and also rooting for him to find some closure and move on with his life after loss of his little son.

I enjoyed the story, It was nicely done with bit of sad and sometimes funny feelings of nostalgia.

I hoped he will also help on other hand his swimming instructor, but that would be too perfect ending so I like it much better this way.?

P.S. sorry for my horrible English, I tried my best ?

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Anthology of 3 short movies, 2 of which disappoint

This movie is an anthology of 3 short movies. The first is called The Chink that talks about a pop star who moves into a new apartment as a secret love nest for her and her boyfriend slash manager. The second is called In The Mall following a KOL live streaming while walking around. The third and last movie is called The Tenement dealing with a rain soaked mysterious woman blocking the way for the residents of an apartment block.

The first two short movies are terrible and boring af, I did not care what was happening to the characters because they were all huge a**holes and deserved what they got. This is a shame because the second movie had Jerry Lamb in it, and I do enjoy watching him act but he was so unlikeable here.

Now, the last movie is the best of the bunch as it has a group of apartment block strangers working together to deal with this strange wet figure blocking the stairway that seems to be kill anybody trying to leave the block. This movie had Richie Ren in it and it was so great to see him in a cantonese acting role doing his best to speak canto, and most of the funny and scariest moments were here as well, but sadly the ending was too abrupt due to the time constraints of the anthology.

The first two movies were so bad that I cannot rate them because it would just be a zero, but the 3rd short movie on its own pulls this up to a 6. If the third movie was able to become its own feature, this score could have been higher, but the bad aftertaste of the first 2 dragged it down.

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Watch it for Kim Gun Woo

Call me superficial, but the main selling point of this movie was Kim Gun Woo. Not only physically attractive, but the character he portrayed here was just lovely. The poor guy that gets taken for granted because he's a good guy, but who you'd really want to be your boyfriend.

Jasper Cho's acting tends to be a bit "much", but here I'm not sure if it was his acting or the writing.

Fluffy, fluffy romantic comedy. It's an easy watch, I spent my time trying to guess how long it was going to take the FL to figure things out. I have to be honest, I liked her portrayal of a totally nice woman.

My complaint for this movie was the language. I realize that most people are probably not bothered by it, but the use of the "F" bomb always shows a laziness of writing for me. There are many other words that could be used.

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Extremely touching and tear-jerking

This movie is unexpectedly great in storytelling, the transition of the plot is so smooth near to a level of perfection, and it's a cute and heartwarming companion for this cold winter season. A lot of realization of life lessons has been implemented even though the story is simple, but this is exactly what makes it special, it is extremely touching and tear-jerking, which made me cried many many times in the theater. When money and fame is not everything in life, but the love and care in human bonding is what gives our life meaning, just couldn't help but to agree that this is what really is all about in the fulfillment of life.

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I had so much expectations..

I read about the concept of the movie and was immediatelly very hyped. I enjoy most of the movies containing a stalker / psycho. But this one seems like an exception..

I still got to say that the soundtrack was very great during intense scenes ; the idea of the two FL being deaf / mute was very great in the context, which made it more thrilling. The plot was simple in my opnion and I expected a more twisted ending.. I have to be frank about the fact that it was weird for me to see the actor playing ML as a psycho when I watched him playing in more cheerful roles as in "Bad and Crazy" which, in my opinion, suits him better. (But that's subjective). Overall, this movie had a lot of potential, I saw it was very well rated, but I guess it's better to watch a movie without having much expectations before.

A great movie in the concept and a great soundtrack but it's a flop for me.

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