Reviews

Love is... Cringe... Cowerdley... .

This is a movie you watch in-between stuff to completely shut off your brain and just watch the joys and hardships of friends to lovers while being surrounded by dead people, mental illness, co dependence and living with a mentally ill parent. Some parts portrayed better than others but mostly cringe and with horrible acting from most of the side characters... 80% of this movie makes NO sense at all, dude can't to anything because he is color blind... and keeps losing his jobs... + is taught "to feel color with emotions" as if he was a 2 year old. Just got on my nerves. There is just so much cringy dialog that I almost had to throw up. While some parts were actually pretty good, reminded my of past (painful) experience that are rarely shown on film that way... Yet ruined by the poor acting, odd choices and the oh so bad acting by the side characters.

That said I love watching Belle Mariano and Donny Pangilinan (the leads) on screen together I just do! They are fun, their acting varies in quality but Belle has this thing where she can convey frustration, stubbornness, and sweetness really well. She is probably one of few people who can portray a girl throwing herself at a guy without seeming the least bit bathetic. So kudos!

So if you can shut off your brain, ignore all these annoying elements and love these leads I say go for it, have fun! If you have never seen these leads before, and want to watch something good, go watch something else.

P.S. may be a slight spoiler: I am also critical towards the messages this movie tries to convey... it over simplifies things and seems to try to tell people that they must get their s*** together on their own before they deserve to be loved. I am in no way advocating for co dependency, but there should be some thing in between, giving up on oneself just to support a person or leaving the person when they hit rock bottom so they can get their S''' together.

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Puppy Love - I’ve got my eyes on U.

I chanced upon this movie and after doing some brief research on it, I decided to watch it. No regrets. It made me relive (sort of) my teen hood and recall my own puppy love.

What I liked:
- The two leads have chemistry. The boy is tall and good-looking. I only found out belatedly that he is the son of Chen Kai Ge. I searched him up after this watching this movie. It’s a pity that he doesn’t have that many good works to his name (as yet). By good, I mean works with overall ratings of 8/10 on dramalist. The girl is quite plain but she’s okay. They are kind of cute together.
- The movie has touching moments.
- The movie has a happy ending.

It’s not a perfect movie - which one is? But, it’s fine to watch. Overall, good enough! I quite enjoyed it.

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its not for everyone

the gore in this is extreme, and most of the movie is unconfortable to watch, because of scenes like rape, murder and just general torture, but the representation of society in this movie, is pretty accurate, like the ignorence of people not taking the virus seriously, very much like what happened during the beginning of covid, and the scene in the train, before everything got brutal, represented mossogony and harrasment.
the quallity is actually pretty good, but not for everyone, if your looking for a classy typical zombie movie, this may be it, but this is more of a virus outbreak, the people are not dead, they are consciouse and living, they are just commiting brutal acts that, in a way already happen in the real world , this movie just portrays it to the extreme.

it is disturbing to watch, so viewer discretion is advised

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A fun ride, but...

Special Delivery is an action movie that is certainly not ground-breaking in any way. When I am watching action movies, my goal is to be entertained and throw my logic out of the car window. However, in this case, the movie did not offer the kind of entertainment that would make me turn away from all the ridiculous things that were happening at times.

The plot was structured like many films of the same genre, and the action sequences were definitely fun to watch and very well-made. In other words, if you are looking for some nicely shot and fun to watch action scenes, you will surely be entertained.

What ruined it for me the most was the acting. The female lead is a badass protagonist, and Park So Dam definitely didn't have a hard job, when it comes to the acting department. Her character was mostly expressionless, but in my opinion, she didn't deliver even in the scenes that she was supposed to show the slightest bit of emotion. She was very wooden. The main antagonists mostly overacted and to be frank, I couldn't take them seriously. Generally, the majority of the cast was mediocre.

It was obvious that the scriptwriter tried to make this an action film with some kind of emotional impact, taking into consideration the way the plot progressed. However, the characters were poorly developed and the acting was lacking. As a result I didn’t feel anything for any of them.

All in all, even though there are some aspects that are there in almost all action films, like people not dying, unless the script says so or individuals suddenly turning into super humans with great abilities, the acting and the way the plot was structured didn't make it entertaining enough to make me feel for the characters or ignore some of the absurd things that were happening on screen. Don't get me wrong though. This is an entertaining ride and an ideal movie to watch, when you are looking for some fun after a long and difficult day.

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Badly Aged Poorly Made Horror

Perhaps if I watched this movie at the time of it's release I would've enjoyed it more however watching 2021 it is out of date and for lack of a better expression meh.

I am guessing but I guess for most the pull of this movie would be the plot, a cursed K-pop song sure does sound interesting however the execution was messy. Also again in 2021 the K-pop industry has changed quite a lot and while it's still if not more cutthroat, the movie feels outdated. There were a lot of plot points that were straight-up comical and made absolutely no sense. The ending was messy and I came out of the movie slightly annoyed.

The horror felt cheap, extremely low budget, most of the scares were predictable and the blood looked like raspberry syrup. The cheap white wig also made me laugh a lot, that's no lace front that's for sure.

The women in this movie were really beautiful though giving a star for that.

There is far better Korean horror out there, don't waste your time on this

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Sometimes you have to risk all to have a safer and better life

When you open up your mind, you never know where you will meet your Best Friend. Set in the tumultuous 1980's in Korea, this film was very loosely based on real events and presidential candidate and activist Kim Dae Jung.

During a time of martial law, student protests, brutal interrogations and arrests, Lee Ui Sik finds himself and his family under house arrest for being in opposition to the ruling power. As the intelligence chief states, anyone not like himself is a "commie" and "commies" are detained, or deported, or killed. The chief calls upon Dae Kwon, a part-time patriotic helper, to move in next to the Presidential candidate, Lee Ui Sik and his family, who are serving under house imprisonment and surveil them. The goal is to prove Lee is a commie with ties to North Korea and finally rid themselves of him. Through a series of comic adventures, Dae Kwon and Lee meet, even ending up in a bathhouse with Lee's son. Though on opposite sides, both men are lonely and in need of friendship. The more Dae Kwon listens in on the upright Lee and the more he sees how the current government covers up its own dirty work, he slowly begins to change his mind and his ideas.

Like many Korean movies, Best Friend's mood changed on a dime and went from comedy to tragedy, back to comedy and a host of other emotions. Some of it worked and some of it didn't. It could be uneven and even jarring at times, but it was never boring. Veteran actor Kim Byung Chul as Dae Kwon's assistant was the catalyst for many of the laughs. Lee's family played it dramatically straight for much of the movie. Though a few scenes went fully into melodramatic territory, the final act revealed the dangers of attempting to change a corrupt regime.

Jung Woo gave a complex performance having to work both the comedy and melodramatic beats of the film. Dae Kwon not only dealt with spying on his neighbor, but he was also a husband and dad and not a very good one. Through his clandestine observations, Jung Woo shows Dae Kwon's epiphanies as old beliefs and habits make way for new ones. Scandal plagued Oh Dal Soo was fine as the beleaguered candidate having to make decisions even as he faced personal crises and death threats.

I have to give Korea points for being willing to look at difficult times in their history and work through them artistically. Though a fictional work, bordering on fantasy at times, Best Friend did push forth the idea that in order to change society even when it might come at great personal cost, it had to be done for the good of all and future generations.
With the themes of enemies to friendship, sacrifice for the greater good, and personal evolution, Best Friend, if not inspiring, could be funny, entertaining and even heartwarming. Not a perfect film, it was too erratic and sometimes heavy-handed, but one worth trying sometime. (7.75)



8/24/22

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Hard to Be Righteous, but Easy to Be Evil...

Ekin Cheng and Aaron Kwok returned as the characters they made famous a decade earlier in Storm Riders. Wind and Cloud were an unbeatable team who kept the bad guys at bay until The Evil Lord Godless and his son Heartless with their Japanese army kidnapped the emperor and searched for the treasure within the Dragon Tomb.

I enjoyed The Storm Riders (1998). It was cheesy and the CGI was rudimentary, but the story was coherent and the action fun. The Storm Warriors (2009) took itself way too seriously and replaced storyline with endless slow-mo action scenes. Dialogue and character development were kept to a bare minimum. If you haven't watched the first one it may not matter because the atmospheric boys were hard to distinguish with the poor writing for them.

Simon Yam as The Evil Lord Godless seemed invincible and pretty soon it was just Wind and Cloud left to fight him and save China. They didn't have long for a super charged training montage so that they could take their revenge on the over-compensating dressed warlord. Wind went to Lord Wicked and took the, well, wicked route via an evil mud bath while Cloud went the righteous way and was trained by the wounded Nameless at the same time. Before you could say Buckets O' Blood, super slow motion, comic book style fighting with plenty of dismemberments and red goo flying through the air, took place and Cloud had to try and bring Wind back to the good side.

The story was frightfully thin and convoluted. Shu Qi knew what she was doing when she passed on the sequel and left her role to Tiffany Tang. The movie could have easily been 20 minutes shorter if the fights had been shot at regular speed. By the last twenty minutes I didn't really care about the consequences or who lived or died I just wanted it to end. A few of the fights were beautifully shot and the CGI was better than the first movie, but they dragged on at a glacial speed. When CGI replaces actual story and character development I lose interest quickly. During one of the overcooked fight scenes I really thought one of them might yell out, "Kamehameha!"

The Storm Warriors had a cast I was very excited about but they were criminally underused. Ekin and Aaron had grown as actors since the time Storm Riders was filmed but it was irrelevant as most of the time they were filming fight scenes in overly dramatic slow motion. They certainly didn't have to worry about learning many lines. Simon Yam was at least properly menacing as an undefeatable warlord, a nifty trick given how little time he had on screen. Nicholas Tse as Heartless had little to do except look pretty and scowl. Charlene Choi as Dream had little to do but look pretty and worried for her few scenes. Even for comic book characters the lot of them were mostly lifeless. Ultimately, I didn't care about any of them.

The OST was nice if melodramatic at times. As with many of the movies in this genre, the costume department used a lot of leather, gold lame, and metal looking armor. There was no shortage of wind machines as Ekin and Aaron had their long layered mom hairdos seemingly always flowing in the wind.

If you enjoyed The Storm Riders, don't get your hopes too high for this sequel. Several storylines were left dangling, completely forgotten. Maybe I am truly the Heartless one because I actually laughed during the last scene which I'm sure was so supposed to be emotional but came across as absurd to me. As one of my favorite TV baking judges would say, The Storm Warriors was style over substance. It might have looked good, but it didn't taste very well going down.




8/24/22

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The first part was a bit boring, but...

The action in the first hour of the film developed very slowly. This is definitely a disadvantage for me. I watched the first part of this movie for three days because it was hard to get through it at once.

The second part was more interesting. I liked the acting and the further development of the situation. While watching, I gave up on my theory that the main character remembers her childhood, so the plot twist surprised me a bit.

The movie could have been better, but I still enjoyed it. Despite this, I cannot give a higher rating because of the first half.

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Yanno, I was kinda glad that I decided to watch this movie after I finished the Grand Invasion event in the Touran game. Because knowing the little bits of background info on some of the main events as well as some of the sortie expeditions from the game just adds to the experience in enjoying the movie. And I like the fact that this movie add the involvement of the Saniwa to the reason the Grand Invasion happen since that event was still some of my most favourite part of the game. Not to mention the fact that this movie feature two of the most well-known story set in the Sengoku era. I lost count of how many different animes and games made their own interpretations of what happened to Oda Nobunaga during the battle of Honnouji as well as Azuchi Castle.

The cast were perfect as well. And I really have to appreciate the fact that most of the Touken Danshi casts (aside from Iwanaga Hiroaki) turned out to consist of the Tousute and Toumyu casts who may have reprised their own characters or took new roles in this movie. I also love the fact that most of the main formation swords consisted of the swords I already have in game (except Nihongou). Because of that I'm mostly familiar of many of the Toudan's characters and personalities. And it's pretty nice that the movie feature Mikazuki as the main Toudan who leads the expedition and whose POV we're following. Since in Hanamaru it had been Yamatonokami Yasusada (and Kashuu Kiyomitsu) being the main, while in Katsugeki, Izuminokami Kanesada and Tsurumaru had been the main Toudan. (In both anime, Mikazuki was mostly a support character.)

That said, I appreciate the fact that the Toudan involved in this movie consisted mostly of swords that belonged to the Nobunaga, Akechi and Hideyoshi's factions. Because then we could see as well how the respective Toudan react to the things they witnessed as they fought to protect history from the History Retrograde Army. It certainly adds to the emotional impact as we see the Toudan struggled with completing their missions while also witnessing the deaths of their previous wielders/owners.

I knew Suzuki Hiroki and Shiina Taizou mostly from the Saiyuki Kagekiden. And I'm really glad to see their performance, this time as Touken Danshi. The two, as well as the rest of the cast had performed really well in this movie. I look forward to seeing the second movie next year.

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This is the best movie adaptation I could have asked for as someone who loved the manga.

This story perfectly captures what it feels like to first fall in love with all its highs and lows. The beginning premise can easily be summarized as "country girl moves to the big city and falls in love with her teacher". However, that's just the beginning. The story is about this teenage girl learning what love is. The movie is about her journey in falling in love, not specifically a love story about how a pairing gets together.

I read the manga about a year ago, so my memory of the details is a bit blurry. As far as I remember, this adaptation does a great job of retelling the original story in the form of a movie. Although some scenes and subplots had to be removed due to the runtime of the film, it really does well in capturing the essence of the story.

The casting for the film was spectacular! Each of the actors brought life to the original characters, making it feel as though they were always meant to play them. Especially Nagano Mei who played the main character Yosano Suzume. From her appearance to her acting, she was perfect for the role. Suzume is a very quirky and selfless character. She could have very easily come off as awkward or as an airhead if done poorly, but that's not the case here. She felt real and genuine, as if she jumped right out of the manga and came to life.

If you've read the manga, then consider this a live-action summary of Suzume's story.

If you haven't read the manga, consider this a cute coming-of-age story. And if you enjoyed the movie, I highly recommend reading the manga for a more fleshed out version of the story.

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great BUT...

well, it was literally amazing, i liked everything.. the story, the acting and the little girl was gorgeous, BUT.. I really hated the ending, actually the whole last 15 minutes of the movie missed up the whole experience.

i understand they wanted to add a plot twist and all, but that plot twist need more explanation like how nickhun's character is connected to his mother's ghost.

the maid asked Rachel how her grandmother died and was surprised when she knew that she died from cancer and didn't suicide by strangling herself! does that mean the ghost doesn't hunt people who runs out from the house!

the ending also needs more details.

like did nickhun's character (fake Tim) Actually died in the fire?
what is Roja and Rachel going to do after running away? they still have no money for the surgery!
also the ghost didn't disappear at the end!! does that means it's going to hunt them again!
also the ghost that visited Roja's dreams before going back! who was that!!

this movie was great but it really needs a part 2.

anyway shout out for out beloved nickhun acting skills 💜

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This one is an insane tear-jerker but also belly-acher

This movie has EVERYTHING.

It made me laugh and made me cry SO many times over just the one and a half hours. My mom cried. My brother cried. It was a crying fest in the theater I was in. No one left their seats until the ending credits were over because of how we were still reeling from our emotions.

The characters made me just fall in love with them and their story. The acting is INCREDIBLE, especially from the little girl. She’s just adorable and thinking of her makes me tear up again lol. Her precious relationship with her father teaches us so many things about what we should be grateful for in life- namely love, life itself, and each other.

Being Chinese, the English title didn’t make sense to me until I watched the movie because the direct translation of the Chinese title 人生大事 is “The Big(gest) Thing In Life.” But “Lighting Up The Stars” makes so much sense and I don’t think I could come up with a better title.

The delve into Sichuan culture specifically was also heartwarming to see on the big screen. I don’t often get to watch Chinese movies so it was really a treat to get to hear the Sichuan accent/dialect and catch a glimpse of life there.

As an ABC, this movie was everything to me. It gave me a peek into a life I would never live, but also made me reflect on the life I DO live.

10/10 on everything. Acting, music, story, production. This one gets all the stars.

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