Reviews

Loving Can Hurt But It Also Can Heal

This movie remind me of My Girl (2003) aThai movie about childhood love that doesn't love you anymore cuz u made a mistake and make her fall in love with other person XD
Although that was sad, the ending is truly the best ending so far than the other movies with the same plot story i've been watch...
I think they make it more realistic way for how to ended one sided love and i love this!
I'm glad i'm not felt hurt like when i watch My Girl and Timeline (both are Thai Movie) both ending hurt my heart so much :v

Overall this movie is enjoyable! You can rewatch it if u want, but for me, one is enough... XD

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Watch this during holiday season

The drama has an ensemble cast of actors who are not just visually pleasing but also great in emotional connection.

Although it has lots of stories going in the luxurious hotel the one that caught my attention was Kang ha Neul, who has failed in life and wants to give up on life but the hotel staff makes sure he is catered well and doesn't act wrongfully. It was also because almost all the staff were involved in his story.

Another one was the school story where four guys confess to one girl. This teen flirting was adorable to watch.

Han Ji Min as a hotel staff was efficient but lacks the courage to confess her childhood friend. HJM surely fits the role.
Kim Young Kwang playing her childhood friend was giving the feels of ‘On your Wedding day

The mother of the bride meets her first love in the hotel and gets to fulfill the long promise she made to him this story was really touching.

The blind date guy was finally able to approach his crush at the end of the year, were also so vibes of hope and I literally jumped to see them together.

Seo Kang Jun as a singer was cute, his story starts with his manager was heartwarming. the manager was so selfless and hardworking to him. this brotherly bonding was wow.
Lee Dong Wook is the CEO of the hotel but his role seemed the weakest, I was disappointed actually but was happy to see the happy ending for him.

Every story is a happy ending and sends in a message of new hope as the new year approaches and everyone looks forwards to the new opportunities. Although the movie is happy but was in a depressed mood and thought it could lift my mood up, but that didn’t happen. But if it might have been a holiday season it would have worked.

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don't think. just laugh.

despite watching this a few years back, this was still fairly entertaining. however, as this is my nth time watching it, my views on it has changed.

with no doubt, 'the dude in me' utilises its body swap theme in the most amusing way. in addition, it is action packed with satisfyingly kickass fight scenes. all in all, this combo of comedy and action sold itself well to the viewers.

when we talk about the plot, i preferred to not focus on it at all. the story was more heavily focused on jang pan soo yet it felt like it was used as a comical device rather than an important part of the movie. there were some 'emotional' scenes but it got played down by how hilarious the context is.

while i found it entertaining, some scenes leave me with a question mark. you'll have to truly turn off your brain to digest certain parts of the movie. as it is a body swap and one is a high school student, it takes some time to adjust. even then, jung jin young did well to portray his roles and i have no complaints for the rest of the cast.

overall, it was a no-brainer comedy that i don't mind rewatching again.

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If the story had more focus on the FL and her friends, I would've thoroughly enjoyed it. Maybe even made it a favorite. Instead, the large majority of the film is focused on the male lead. Who is weak-willed, easily influenced, and naive. Who takes the words of his conspiracy theorist best friend as gospel. Who very much presents all the traits of the "nice guy," as told from the perspective of someone who believes that a "nice guy" and a nice guy are the same thing. I found it relatively comedic in the beginning, but after a certain point in time, enough is enough.

And while all the actors sold their individual characters very well, the chemistry between FL and ML didn't feel consistent. I'm not sure if it was intentional or not, but I was never quite sold on their couple performances.

The things that made me keep watching (and boosted up my rating):

-The female lead's hidden past and personality was quite enjoyable to watch. Even more so when it would leak into her present life. Especially when her friends came more to the forefront. They are a HOOT when they are all together.

-That poor contract worker. He just wants to get his job done. But the ML keeps presenting him with difficult work. Making him have to keep changing his job afterwards. That made me laugh more than it probably should have.

-Also, you KNOW you're an adult when you get as excited as the FL at the prospect of winning a household appliance. I just love her expressions in these scenes. They pretty much guarantee that you're gonna like what comes next.

-THE MUSIC. You can just leave out the dialogue please - just the music and character actions are enough to please me.

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fantastic

one of the most captivating films i've seen in a while.

park seojoon and kang haneul's chemistry is incredible and rly portrayed a wholesome sense of brotherhood. there weren't any scenes with other candidates/people outside the academy which is fine tbh. i wouldve liked to see them eat steak at heeyeols fathers market tho loll that wouldve been fun

the movie started off pure and lighthearted and got dark and serious rly fast but i don't have anything wrong with that. it was a good blend of comedy and action and who doesn't love a good old training montage. their characters were passionate and hardworking and insanely driven. plot was simple and easy to follow, brought me to tears and would definitely rewatch

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Horror elements that ruined the movie.

This would be such a good thriller mystery, but the extremely cheap horror ruined it. Samara meets Sadako and the killing hair. The effects and the ghost design were so bad I honestly wanted to skip all their scenes.

That said, the story itself was quite compelling. The writer was able to form a close connection of the tragic story for the female lead and the main victim of the events from the past. The story had quite a few layers and the pacing of showing them one by one was rather well executed.

It’s for sure more of an investigation than a horror though. Majority of the movie is just the detective work and solving the murder cases happening.

Arang, by the end of the runtime, presents a good, unexpected twist (tho if it was that unexpected I am not sure, since I might have just not paid that much attention to figure out the plot for myself).

The acting was great - given for such a cast.

Overall, someone should make a cut version of this movie, removing all the cheap on budget Ring moments.

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UHMM is all that i have to say.

Reading the plot and one other review, I went in thinking that this would be a love story about a doll who came to life and would develop a loving relationship with her owner,,,, but boy was I wrong. Firstly I want to say don't be fooled this is NOT a love story but instead a film about a doll who grew a heart and who is now trying to figure out how to live daily human life while her owner is away at work. There is apparently a love story here that i read on wiki (i didn't pick up on it), while working at a movie store she meets another doll who grew a heart and spent his free time teaching her things about human life and they supposedly were in a romantic relationship but they did not come across at all tbh. they seemed like two people who worked together, while one spent his time teaching the dumb girl things. Secondly, this was extremely boring, i had to skip parts. I get the point of the whole storyline, learning what makes a human a human but it felt like everyday was the same. The idea is amazing but the way they went about it was BLEH. I wish they would've made the relationship more CLEAR, more drama, literally anything. The part where the owner finds out about his air doll coming to life, his reaction was barely. he seemed to accept it right away which is like come on... it felt like a waste of time just for the ending to be like yup im turning back into a doll now. i really wanted to like this but I cant. It made zero sense and i found myself saying "what is the point?" or "where's the drama?". this easily could've been a 10 min film tbh, def did not need to be an hour +.

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The main cast and characters SHINED without stupidity and romance, everyone else... not so much.

The casting was spectacular. This was actually my first work where I really liked Seo In Guk's character. I can definitely see why he has so many fans. And all the cast played their characters so convincingly well. The situational and relatively mild humor was great. I was really expecting more of the usual stupid-funny that comes with the action-comedy genre cross. We didn't get that here, for which I am thankful. I think my favorite instance of this was the epic getaway scenes. Perfection. This was purely a suspenseful crime movie. Comedy added rather than subtracted. There was no romance to make things messy.

My one and only problem, which is a pretty big one, is the antagonist and support cast are all idiots. There was no logic. No defense. I found myself wanting to hit them upside the head more to knock sense into them rather than because of them impeding our mains.

Also, as a fan of heist stories, I wish a tad more of the suspense was related to the heist rather than the violence.

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Aren't you tired of being stupid yet?

Director Kurosawa and Mifune Toshiro brought back the iconic samurai character, Sanjuro, for this sequel to Yojimbo. Once again turning the genre on its ear, Kurosawa questioned the violence and death of the samurai code and the genre and asked his characters to distinguish between reality and appearances, duty and wisdom.

Nine young samurai are in a quandary after the Chamberlain has rejected their report on corruption, thinking he must be the problem. The Chamberlain had warned them that appearances can be deceiving. People are not what they seem. And with that we are giving the central theme to this film. And Mifune's introduction as he walks into the temple room stretching from an undetected nap in the back. Scruffy, scratching, with a beard and unshaved head, the young stoic samurai were not impressed with the man in front of them. But this Sanjuro, more controlled in demeanor and wiser than in Yojimbo immediately sizes up the problem. The Chamberlain is unattractive, and the Superintendent looks the part, thus causing people to distrust the one and trust the other simply by appearances. He immediately grasps that the young samurai are about to be attacked and saves them.

This casual ronin has grown since his last adventure. Where he conned the locals for money in Yojimbo, here he takes only what he needs. The 9 act as one and think as one, trailing after Sanjuro like a centipede. Again and again, he has to calm their foolish headstrong ways, questioning their rules and conformity which is leading them into a dangerous pit. This Sanjuro is a mentor and altruistic, constantly putting himself in danger to keep the young ones out of it.

Whereas Yojimbo was a dirty, dilapidated town, this film is all clean with neat lines. The characters are rigid and vertical, while Sanjuro is loose and often found reclining. Not that Mifune forgot how to swagger, he still had that virile swagger set to music on several occasions. In most of the shots with The 9 he is set apart somehow, a loner who likes to be alone and doesn't play by the samurai rules.

When they rescue the Chamberlain's wife we hear the second theme of this film. The wife tells Sanjuro, "You are like a sword without a sheath. You cut well, but the best sword is kept in its sheath." While this film does have several fights and deaths, the message that violence is not always the answer comes through loud and clear. The wife's mercy for a guard they capture became one of my favorite comic parts of the film. Stashed in a closet he would come out and give words of wisdom as he discovered the Superintendent was the corrupt person and not the Chamberlain. The captured guard was a good man, saved from death and wrong living by not being cut down for honor's sake.

This was a gently comic film as Sanjuro worked to keep the young samurai alive and rescue their leader. Just as he did in Yojimbo, Nakadai Tatsuya played Mifune's nemesis. Nakadai's Muroto, like Sanjuro, was a warrior from the old school. The two recognized the tiger in each other, both unsheathed swords.

So great was the message of sheathing swords that the main climax came with cut camellias instead of pools of blood. Only at the end when the inevitable duel between Sanjuro and Muroto could no longer be avoided, did the blood fall. Kurosawa gave us 35 seconds of silence as the two samurai sized each other up. His use of silence in film is one of the things I enjoy. It builds tension and slows the action so that we have time to process what is about to happen.

My love for Kurosawa's shots is great. His frame-within-a-frame shots were stunning in this film. A night scene in gauzy smoky light wafting about Mifune and Nakadai was striking. His use of wide-angle shots, boom shots, low shots all brought this story to life in the most vivid way.

Mifune had this scratching, confident, at times vulgar, character down. With his cat-like speed he perfectly played the samurai who hated to draw his sword, but when called upon was proficient. Going against the grain, no longer a ronin because he couldn't find a master, now one by choice as he wandered alone. A rugged individual, he could not be an obedient servant confined to the rules of bushido. Though only a year had passed in the real world, Mifune's Sanjuro had matured immeasurably in film time.

There were some repetitive moments and places where the plot and action slowed uncomfortably for me, but overall, I found this film entertaining. Mifune's Sanjuro was fun to catch up with again, a samurai like no other, one that broke the mold. It was with sadness that I watched that scruffy, wiser, warrior walk off into the sunset.


10/17/22

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It reminds of the western Charlie's Angels and Elektra

Am I aware that this film was more about the attractive visuals and fancy moves than actual plot/sustenance? Absolutely. Did that keep me from enjoying every minute of it? Definitely not. The lack of plot worked with the story. For the most part, the FL just follows orders and doesn't question why. Which makes sense, considering her occupation. But we do get that why through news broadcasts scattered throughout the film that she listens to afterwards. The moments when she's not following orders are where we see her character and the sismance shine through.

It reminds of the western stories Charlie's Angels and Elektra. So I do really enjoy the film, illogical outfits and extra moves aside (or perhaps partially because of it, i'm not gonna lie). And they did a great job casting everyone - they were able to not only carry "the look" but also the characteristics and emotions of the characters they were playing.

And hey, at least the director is a woman.

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I think little kids might love this movie, actually! Very little kids, like 7-8 ?

The plot and behaviors of the characters are SO lacking it's almost funny, it's like a middle school kid's creative writing essay.
BUT, for the same reason, it's actually quite adorable? If you put away your unforgiving critical lens for a bit and watch this with the lens you'd use to read a child's earnest attempt at a fantasy story, you might like it!
Oh and, go into it expecting bad CGI and all the characters being (very obviously) dubbed.
Clearly not much refinement went into making this. But it does have heart and I think they tried their best. So I think watching it with the same mindset would help.

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They did the "lost memory" meme really well

This was a really well-done analysis of someone who has daily memory loss (no ability to store new long-term memories). They presented the story really well from the perspective of the ML who is the person with the memory issue. They capture his confusion, and all the methods he uses to keep track of his life (post it notes, videos, etc), and the little things he struggles with. They capture his emotions, angry, sad, happy, and manage somehow to convince you that he doesn't get depressed about it but instead choosing to live in the moment.... but it's realistic because there is a scene or two when he does show the anger and depression that results from the ailment. They talk through a variety of psychological / therapy approaches, and give you a justification of what works and doesn't. (No idea if any of this is medically plausible, but it's believable). Jasper Liu gives you a very believable character.

FL does a fabulous job showing how she deals with her job as therapist and finding herself falling in love with her patient. Both the ethical boundary, and how she resolves it. Then once the relationship is established, the way she protects him and supports him when other people might get angry.

The couple have great chemistry, and broadly the cast as a whole comes together nicely.

The twist could have been handled really badly. As soon as the event happened, I thought "oh dear, that's another show that will get a bad review from me," because I thought there was no way they could do a good job. But they handled it EXTREMELY well; in a genre that is done badly so often, doing it well earned them huge positive points. Watch all of the end credits to se how things progress over multiple years.

In "50 first dates," the FL is the one with the memory issue, and the story is told from the ML's point of view (i.e. we don't really see what's going on in her life). It was nice to see it done from the perspective of the person with the memory-loss.

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Completely stunned

I liked the lead actor since he was a kid, from boyhood to this movie. Really, it made me cry and I rarely cry and the only other 3 dramas were the untamed, love and redemption and love between fairy and devil. The acting and visuals were superb and is 100% worth watching.I have never seen such stunning and touching acting in movies and Ding cheng xi grew up so much. I absolutely love him. The other actor also put in tremendous effort to convey his emotions and he certainly succeeded in making me a fan of his. Over all the movie was well and I gave it 9.0 rating, the second highest one I had given, with the first one given to the untamed

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