Reviews

The world is not ruined by the truth

The King's Letters gave a fascinating glimpse into the creation of Hangul, the Korean alphabet. It was set in 1442 with King Sejong the Great determined to do something for his legacy as the sands were quickly running through the hourglass of his life and reign.

The Joseon court was largely ruled by ministers and scholars schooled in Confucianism and Chinese writing. They were not at all interested in developing easily learned phonetic letters for their language. Sejong wanted all of his people to learn to read and write which would have meant more competition and a threat to their power and positions.

King Sejong was not to be deterred. An envoy of Japanese monks arrived demanding the Tripitaka, the oldest collection of Buddhist scriptures written in Hanja on over 80,000 wooden blocks. A series of dots connected him, with some help from the Queen, to the Joseon Buddhist monk in charge of the Tripitaka. Sejong discovered the monks could chant, read and write in Sanskrit which was based on phonetic letters. His Eureka moment occurred after years of failed attempts to create an easy and useable alphabet. Promising the monks he would build a temple in the capitol if they would help him with the alphabet, an uneasy alliance was formed.

Much of the film covered the monks and king working through their language and breaking it down into a total of 28 consonants and vowels. Instead of memorizing thousands of characters, what they were developing would make it much easier to be literate. Sejong wanted the letters to be elegant and concise like geometry using only lines, dots, and “facets”. The major conflict of the story was keeping what they were doing from the Confucian court. Due to conflicts with the Buddhists during the Goryeo Dynasty, there were hard feelings on both sides. Most of the tension, however, dealt with the ailing king fearing he wouldn’t live long enough to not only create the letters but also to spread their use so that they would be protected and take root.

Spoiler alert! Of course, they succeeded as we all know. Sejong did end up giving the Confucians credit to try and gain their support. It took time for the “vulgar” or “women’s” script to be accepted. Thankfully, women and fiction writers used it as well as Buddhist monks which kept it alive until it took hold. In 1849, it was adopted as Korea’s national writing system. Even the Japanese during their occupation who outlawed it, couldn’t kill it.

The King’s Letters did tend to slow down and become repetitive in the latter part. I am enough of a documentary geek that this felt like an enjoyable one only dressed up and with excellent acting. Song Kang Ho (King Sejong) had great chemistry with both Park Hae Il (Monk Shin Mi) and the late Jeon Mi Seon (Queen So Hun). The cinematography, sets, and costumes were all lovely.

King Sejong was playing the long game, he wanted an educated people who would only make the country stronger and more enduring. His vision didn’t come to bear overnight or even in his lifetime, but he planted a seed that did take hold, blossomed, and bore fruit. Is still bearing fruit. A legacy of knowledge which can break down class lines and open communication is not such a bad legacy after all.

10/10/22

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More than Just a Comedy

What a fantastic movie! I was expecting a typical buddycop comedy, but it is so much more than this. This seemingly generic story brings attention to important social issues in such a masterful way that I cannot praise it enough. I hope that my review will give it at least some of the justice that it deserves.

Park Ki Joon and Kang Hee Yeol are two students of the Seoul Police Academy that could not be more different than they are. Ki Joon, Mr. Action, is hotheaded and way better at sports than at studying. Raised by his single mother, he comes from poverty and has decided to become a policeman because he cannot afford going elsewhere. Hee Yeol, Mr. Bookworm, is calm and excels at his studies. Unlike Ki Joon, he is well-off and has entered the Police Academy to stand out from his classmates, who have all gone to study science at prestigious universities.
Against all odds, the two become best friends and team up to solve a kidnapping case, overcoming obstacles such as indifferent policemen, bureaucracy, and their own lack of experience along the way.

Aside from entertaining the viewers with Ki Joon and Hee Yeol's bickering and mishaps, this story is a serious one. It reminds that the main objective of the police is to protect people and that excessive sticking to protocol clouds rational judgement and causes more suffering. Most importantly, it draws attention to human trafficking, one of the most difficult issues that our society faces today. Every minute one person gets trafficked, but few people talk about that. Please, check out the organization A21, whose goal is to abolish slavery everywhere. This a link to their website: https://www.a21.org/ You can educate yourself, donate, and even volunteer.

Park Seo Joon and Kang Ha Neul deliver brilliant performances. They have great comedic timing and are a really funny duo. Notably, their fighting scenes are realistic. The two main characters do not take ten men with one blow. The bad guys are actually stronger or at least as strong as them. It is their genuine desire to save the victims that gives the students the strength to prevail over the criminals.

Overall, Midnight Runners is a gem. It is hilarious and feel-good and makes a strong statement about the duty of policemen and the meaning of being a good person. I think that everyone should give it a try. The final scene, the one after the credits, alone makes it a beautiful story.

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..FRIENDSHIP. . .EFFORT. . .VICTORY..

..the three important artifacts in the world of manga to exist..
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..I already done reading the manga, and well as expected, either they will change some part or still follow the original story but with selected part. . .no wonder at all..
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..still, I do enjoy the film, a sfx are so amazing to watch, putting so much creativity to entertain me..
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..and yes compare to manga, this film gives me more appreciation and fully understand the gambling to enter in manga industry - your career, social life, and even health may affected..
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..the whole film, I enjoy it a lot, the casts, the staffs, thank you for having this adaptation..

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A nuanced take on queer intimacy

Symbolic and a macabre--exactly what we're used to from Filipino indie cinema. I liked it; it's a daring and nuanced take on the dangers that young queer people must face when navigating hook-up culture. Unlike their straight peers, who can happily frolic out in the open, the gay dating scene is shrouded in secrecy. It is in dark allies and dingy bathrooms that guys connect with the strangers they've met online-- and just like the city of Manila doesn't bat an eye at the decomposing bodies littering their streets, nobody really seems to care about these young gay men risking their lives in the pursuit of intimacy either.

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IF U STILL THING ABT "does it worth it to watch" the answer is DEFINITELY.

dont know how to write it, but i just gonna tell few things abt this movie^^

1. SO WORTH IT TO WATCH IT and its not gonna waste ur time, i promise
2. PLS PREPARE UR SELF, this one gonna mixing all of ur emotion
3. dont know if this info is spoiler or not, but the ML dan FL was married in RL the same year but i think THAT IS WHY THIS MOVIE IS PERFECT
4. because chemistry was the most important thing in this movies? i mean that is why it call romance movies.
5. THE EMOTIONS AND EVERYTHING WAS PERFECT

that is all i have to say, ak nda punya apa apa.

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Knowing all the tags like I do, I really expected this to be quite heavy and depressing. But actually I found it very cute. ALMOST fluffy-like. It only got heavy for about 10 minutes towards the end - but then resolved itself. It was a cute introvert/extrovert romance that really brought home a message of living for yourself. The smiles and laughter of the leads was truly contagious and the romance felt like it went at a natural pace for the characters in question.

However, there was a particularly annoying character that I'm still wondering what her role is. Because we see her a few times, and then she's never really brought up or addressed again. Perhaps I'm supposed to see it as someone who got the hint? But it really didnt feel like it had that finality to it. She didn't even really have much bearing on the plot. So why did I sit through her scenes to begin with?

I also think that one of the overarching topics could have been slightly more explicit during the reveal. It's the only element that made me feel like the drama might be rushing. There were also scenes related to this plot line that could have been more cleverly done, reducing it's watch value for me. But to those who may have less familiarity with it, the rewatch value may be notably higher.

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I have written and rewritten this review countless times. It's not so much that I have mixed opinions about the story, but rather that they are quite hard to articulate. Ultimately, this is a story of Wan Ting/Ting Liu experiencing first love and gender dysmorphia. It seeks to provide insight into the ways that the MC's transition influences their perception of themselves, and their ability to feel a sense of belonging again amongst their friends and in the face of romance and intimacy.

I say "they" because it is made ABUNDENTLY clear that Wan Ting did not want to physically transition and has a hard time accepting the reality of it. But, at this particular segment of their story, we can't be sure if it's mere dysmorphia because of being back amongst people they interacted with while identifying as a female, or if they still internally feel as such (although, I personally lean towards the latter based on their behaviors).

I loved how the MC is not faced with bullying because of them being intersex (the bullying tag is quite unrelated, as well as brief/mild). I loved the friendship between all of the leads, especially after the MC's return. It's so supportive, even in the face of their own troubles and their own difficulty in seeing the MC's transition. And the moments when reality hit for each of them during various moments were really poignant. I could feel my heart drop.

I know some people are upset with the ending. But personally I saw it coming from a mile away. And while it did leave us with unanswered questions that I would love to have answered - that wasn't the focus of this story. This film is solely about the MC coming to terms with being intersex, having to transition, and finding their new place amongst those who have never left their heart. Everything that comes after that is a whole other story. I'm happy with how it ended - even if I do see it as unnecessary. Who knows, perhaps they were hoping to spur enough interest to expand on this idea either as a sequel of another adaptation.

The part that I particularly dislike is the beginning. There were so many components to the beginning part of the story that had no point and with little to no follow-through. Furthermore, I really disliked the MC's best friend for quite a bit. It set a really negative tone to the character - that was inconsistent with her character throughout the rest of the film. I was so close to dropping in the beginning. If they had only kept the parts that were relevant and consistent with the rest of the film, they could have had several minutes to either explore MC's actual transition/treatment period or (as others advocated) add to the ending more.

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How did this movie happen?

This is literally the quality of writing we get from poorly done high school PSAs. The movie was confusing from start to finished, and not because of the complex plot, rather because of the unnatural, dumb decisions that characters were making.

I start with the good, because there was literally only one good thing about this movie - Lee Hak Joo’s acting A+, acting the role, 10/10 would recommend.

To the bad. Let’s start with the female lead. Even the most dumb person who always dies first in horror movies is smarter than her. And as much as I know Kang Ye Won is a lovely person, her acting here classifies as tragic. This was the worst performance I have seen in any Korean production.

Then we have the most ridiculous and random plot twists dropped left and right closer to the end, which made the movie even less realistic. I could barely take it seriously from the start, but this just made it a whole new level of clownery.

Overall, god bless Lee Hak Joo and his acting, but I would recommend everyone to stay away from this movie.

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“People forget kindness easily, but they remember cruelty.”

The movie is basically 1 hour and 20 minutes of exposition that leads to the last 25 minutes of showdown that feel heartbreaking, but somehow cathartic. It’s really slow paced, until it’s not, but the wait is worth it.

Would I call it a horror movie? No. Sure, it does have horror elements, but it’s far more psychological thriller, or even dark psychological drama. Most of the movie has this borderline silly vibe, with underlying tension caused by the Head of the village - it’s hard to predict his nature. There are quite a few comedic elements, which for me make the dark ending that much darker.

It’s a story of a normal, rather good man Woo Ryong, and how external circumstances affected him. It’s hard to talk about the plot without giving away any spoilers. Most of the movie is just him and his son slowly integrating into a village, until someone sees it as a threat.

What I really enjoyed was how many small moments, lines and actions in the first half came back closer to the end - tying everything together.

The acting was great. Ryu Seung Ryong aced both the light and darker side of Woo Ryong. I honestly wish we had seen more of the unhinged one.

Production wise, the rats could have been better. There were moments when they looked beyond fake. That said, the rest of the movie was simply beautiful.

Overall, worth pushing through, even if you feel like nothing is really happening. For some, the sudden change of tone can seem abrupt, but for me it was slowly, but meticulously crafted with many details and hints of what’s to come.

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Always Remember: To each his own

I for sure enjoyed this. I came for the actors and got sucked into the story which was actually pretty decent. I saw comments about the storyline being either awful or there was no storyline...huh? You can either watch this and take away something pretty deep, or you take it as just another kind of action, horror. It totally depends on you and how you perceive things.

The acting is 100%

The storyline: If you're someone who hates anything religious, then stay away. As the depth of this story is about someone coming to terms with his relationship with God due to an incident that happened when he was younger. Throw that in with demons and exorcisms, it definitely won't be everyone's cup of tea.

Music: The only thing it really lacked for me was a good music score, but then as a horror movie I guess that is to be expected. It was basic horror/action sounds.

Rewatch Value: I would for sure put this on rotation for horror movie nights. I suggest watching when its raining nicely and there is some thunder.

I'm very glad that I didn't pass it by due to the low reviews. Sometimes you really just have to jump in for yourself.

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A short student film stretched out to 90 aimless minutes

I found this film because I'm a fan of THE GREAT CRAFTSMAN. In that show an actress looks like Betty Boop and I wanted to see more of Jiang Hong Bo. Despite her being one of the three leads -- she spent very little time on screen.

This is because this director has no idea how to create dramatic scenes with actors. So many opportunities were missed. It was as if a cinematographer made this film instead of a dramatist.

It's not a student film. It's the 4th of 6 features by this director. But it sure feels like a student.

I know some will defend this director and say, "Not all films are action packed super hero films!" I know it. Get it. The problem is this film was the complete opposite. The premise is promising but almost nothing happened inside the film.

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