Completed
Lady Ninja Kaede
0 people found this review helpful
Jul 2, 2022
Completed 0
Overall 7.5
Story 6.0
Acting/Cast 10
Music 7.0
Rewatch Value 7.0

Better movie than I anticipated!

"In Japan, during the reign of Shogun Yoshimune, it is the era of the samurai and the ninja. Many villages are outwardly peaceful, but a twisted sexual underbelly exists that affects more than just the criminals. Kaede and her sister are unfortunately victims of this when the elder is raped and commits suicide shortly thereafter. Kaede seeks vengeance, and a lady ninja nun who hears of the events aids her in the search. There is more to the story behind the rape, however, and the lies and secrets are slowly revealed behind a trail of clothing, sweat, and blood"

I don't know who wrote this main detaisl, but they never watched the movie!

This is the true outline for the movie:

"In Japan, during the reign of Shogun Yoshimune, it is the era of the samurai and the ninja.

Many villages are outwardly peaceful, but a twisted sexual underbelly exists that affects more than just the criminals. Kaede and her sister are unfortunately victims of this when the eldest sister is raped and commits suicide shortly thereafter.

Kaede seeks vengeance, and a lady ninja nun who hears of the events aids her in the search. There is more to the story behind the rape, however, and the lies and secrets are slowly revealed behind a trail of clothing, sweat, and blood"

This was a neat little movie, with just enough swordplay, suspence and action for the person who wants this out of a movie, while it also has some titillating parts for those who crave more!

There are also several twists in the movie as it progresses, with the actual rapost being taken out in a most 'unique' way!

There is comedy, satire, action, drama and plot twists here!

Luna Akatsuki aka Runa Akatsuki
as Lady Kaede

Kôji Fujiyoshi

Kazu Itsuki

Hideo Kato

Mankichi Maeda

Yuka Sakagami

Masato Takaoka

Shin Takayuki

Kagawa Tateo

Hideki Yokohori

Wakabayashi Yoshio

Director
Takayuki Kagawa

No one besides Runa appears in the MDL list of cast; and I don't have the time to try and find each and every other cast members as well.

There is a second movie, which I will add and rate as I have the time.

There was little music, but the cinematography was great, and main and support cast were well-matched and kept the story going well.

My only complaint was the death of the elder sister's boyfriend, who was assisting his beau's sister until his demise.

RE-WATCH VALUE: Yes!

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Completed
Wish You: Your Melody From My Heart (Movie)
2 people found this review helpful
Jul 2, 2022
Completed 0
Overall 1.5
Story 1.0
Acting/Cast 1.0
Music 3.5
Rewatch Value 1.0
This review may contain spoilers

this was amazingly bad

i cannot believe how horrible this was.

there is no plot. at least not a very good one. it's full of holes and nothing really makes sense, like they meet briefly for 10 seconds and then the main dude is obsessed with him and goes out of his way to become friends with him..? and then they fall asleep together and then they break up and then they kiss/?? LMFAOO????? like this was actually so bad i can't believe i watched the whole thing. there was no development or anything you would expect in a romance film it felt like it was written by a 10 year old on wattpad with bad grammar and poor punctuation

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Completed
Sympathy for Lady Vengeance
0 people found this review helpful
Jul 2, 2022
Completed 0
Overall 10
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 10

So trippy yet everything makes sense!

At first everything was confusing but when you watch and analyze everything it's so satisfying to the feels. Geumja may seem insane for what she's imagining and planning or even saying but I bet you she's one of the coolest and wisest characters I've seen. And her love for Jenny is the best thing ever, personally my most favourite scene was the translating part from Geumja to Mr. Baek. ATONEMENT, DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS?

Although how they punished Mr. Baek wasn't so satisfying and brutal unlike in Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, I guess he's better of dead.

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Completed
I Saw the Devil
1 people found this review helpful
Jul 2, 2022
Completed 0
Overall 8.5
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 8.5

Most detailed movie ever

Ok first of all how did they even filmed this? it's a masterpiece. I just couldn't feel Lee Byunghun's emotion and anger that much because he didn't showed it like how Choi Minsik did, but they both did great. Lee Byunghun's action of revenge made me feel and it showed me how great this movie is! it's shocking, everything is shocking. But the chitchatting parts with the detectives are quite boring yknow, but the action scenes and the production of this movie carried everything! and though I never expected a film would be this detailed and gory ... I loved everything! and not to mention every scene is fucking cool and iconic I swear, from the green house fight to the clinic scene LMFAO.

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Completed
Crying Fist
0 people found this review helpful
Jul 2, 2022
Completed 0
Overall 7.5
Story 7.5
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 6.0
Rewatch Value 5.0

Sad reality of surviving

This movie is more of like a heartbreaking reality of life because sometimes things you expect wouldn't always turn out as good as you imagined. I was heartbroken when Taeshik fought with his son Seojin in the streets because of how he was blaming himself because he saw himself as the poor worthless dumb father. I was so heartbroken because he was TRYING, gets beaten up every day just for 10k won and in the end everything won't be worth it because it gave him serious damage. Sadly things like these do happen in real life, I love how everything here shows the genuine side of every people. From happiness, struggles and success. And about the ending, they both deserved to win but we know there is always a winner and a loser.

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Completed
A Man's True Colors
0 people found this review helpful
Jul 2, 2022
Completed 1
Overall 1.0
Story 1.0
Acting/Cast 1.0
Music 1.0
Rewatch Value 1.0

wtf even is this?

two bestfriends simping on the same girl. one dude got touched by the girl he likes accidentally while cutting his hair and he opened up about his bff and they both started simping. they went on a boring ass quadruple date and the other one got depressed because the girl liked his friend instead of him. he started inhaling shit tons of cigarettes in no time due to depression and jealousy and the scene changes, seriously it's so random and the new character pov is a manic pervert who lives off just to fuck random girls. weird. fucking weird. please don't buy this shit on youtube this isn't even worth 1000 korean won.

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Jul 2, 2022
Completed 0
Overall 10
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 6.0
Rewatch Value 8.0
This documentary is a true gem. As a Toma Ikuta fan, it is a delight to watch it on Netflix with subs. Something I never even imagined could ever happen. As a foreign fan, I finally felt seen.
In this documentary, Toma shares his passion, love and respect for kabuki and his acting profession. We get to see him talk about his work, and his motivation but also doubts while being supported by his close friends and colleagues. Once again, it made me realise how much love Toma puts into his work and also into his relationships with others. And much more love is given to him back. During watching it I felt delighted for Toma, that his hard work paid off and his dream came true.
The documentary also provided interesting information and insight into the mysterious world of kabuki actors. As a theatre lover, I really enjoyed all the information provided. Behind the scenes from the practice realistically introduced all the hardships that kabuki actors have to face before getting on the stage. One could feel their love and pride for tradition and Japanese culture. They all put their hearts and souls into their work.
Finally, as a Toma fan, I am so proud to see him getting such an honour to be part of this stage play.
Anyone who is interested to know more about kabuki or Toma, please support this documentary on Netflix. ♥

PS: I am not the type of person who rewatches films/dramas even if I like them. Also, there was not much music to rate. And I tend to rate things quite strictly and according to whether the work has features of the particular genre.

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The New Member
4 people found this review helpful
Jul 2, 2022
Completed 0
Overall 8.0
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 2.0

BL stage play, a musical

Yes, this is a recording of a production of a live stage performance of this musical. It's done well, and professionally. I've been to plays, musicals, and opera, but I much prefer them live amd in person than watching a recording on TV. Just don't go into this thinking it will turn into a regular drama at some point. It is a musical stage performance with a live audience.

STORY: A standard BL story though it had an interesting sub plot about an older generation couple worrying about what the newer generation BL couples must suffer. I really felt for them amd what they went through, more than the young couple.

ACTING: All were good stage actors. I hope they have long and vibrant careers. Sam is HOT.

MUSIC: This is a musical, after all. I thought it was good. Some songs were hits and some were misses. It's a Tiawanese production in Mandarin, so thankful for the subtitles.

REWATCH VALUE: I gave it a go, but the format isn't my cup of tea.

OVERALL: It's much different than a regular BL. Maybe you'll dig it, maybe not. The older BL couple's storyline was more interesting than the younger. Tip: if you made it through part 1, the payoff in part 2 is worth it.

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Completed
The Warrior's Way
3 people found this review helpful
Jul 2, 2022
Completed 0
Overall 7.5
Story 6.5
Acting/Cast 8.5
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 5.5
This review may contain spoilers
Ninjas and cowboys and clowns, oh my! The Warrior’s Way is a comic book colored Western Wuxia mash up.

Jang Dong Gun is the mysterious man in black, the world’s best swordsman. After wiping out a rival clan he spares the last member, a baby girl. His clan declares him a traitor and starts hunting him down. He travels to America and settles into the nearly ghost town of Lode, a town being reclaimed day by day to the endless desert. The town is populated with an assortment of outcasts including a carnival troupe. A young woman with a past played by Kate Bosworth helps him to learn how to live an ordinary life while she has him teach her how to use a sword. She is seeking revenge against the dastardly ex-confederate colonel who killed her family.

Of course, peace doesn’t last long and eventually it’s a three-way fight between assassins, the Colonel’s gang, and the townspeople.

The movie is heavily stylized to the point it often looks artificial. The color saturation, slow-mo, and green screen effects work at times and not so much in others. You’re always aware it’s on a studio lot.

The music ranges from the Sailor’s Hornpipe ( how did they not have a Pop-Eye cameo!) to spaghetti Western inspired music to opera.

Jang had enough presence to pull off the almost silent assassin learning to acclimate to his new life. Bosworth’s Annie Get Your Gun, er, Sword felt over the top in some scenes. Geoffrey Rush as the town drunk with a secret was almost unrecognizable for much of the movie. There wasn’t much scenery left after Danny Huston finished chewing on it as the Big Bad. Old school Hong Kong kung fu star Ti Lung lent some cool cred as the head of Jang’s clan.

The action scenes were all fast and bloody. The three way fight pulled out all the stops to render a high body count. For those who are squeamish there was spurting blood and a few dismemberments.

The story is what let me down. The focus of the degenerate colonel seeking out women to rape is a trope I wish would crawl into a corner to die. Aside from that the second act felt plodding, even clumsy at times. The good hearted carnival folk with life lessons to share trope felt stale as well. The storyline was disjointed, never truly unifying into a smoothly told tale.

The Warrior’s Way was limited but entertaining. This colorful movie with stylish sword fights led by the man with “a warrior’s body and the heart of a priest” was a perfectly fine afternoon watch. But like a carnival ride it could give you whiplash as it jolted you from comedy to violent cowboy wuxia to heart warming redemption story and back again.

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Completed
Character
0 people found this review helpful
by gen
Jul 2, 2022
Completed 0
Overall 9.5
Story 9.0
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 7.0
This review may contain spoilers

i’m so impressed

i loved it. the first murder scene was perfect, the music made it so memorable and as it was the first one it had to be memorable and the producing team really did that well! the actors also did an unbelievable job, fukase satoshi in the role of morozumi shuichi was spectacular. he portrayed the character so well i was in awe. i love these types of movies, violent but realistic and a serious tone, and this one was so good. i was invested the whole way through the movie, beginning to end, as the plot kept me intrested with twists and development. i saw someone on here saying the pacing of the movie was too slow in the middle and too fast at the end but i thought it was perfect! and it left us with an ending that gives us closure and also gets us wanting more. my favourite scene was the last murder (attempt) scene, i guess i found it quite beautiful, i’m not sure why, maybe it was the change in dynamics, or how it was so realistic in that the main character was finally feeling some relief from fighting morozumi, after he had been the biggest thing in his life since the first murder. and morozumi also got to see that maybe yamashiro does enjoy killing just as he does, even if it wasn’t a family of four you could see the content-ness on morosumi’s face after seeing that he was right. i really hope there is a second part. i’m desperate to see more of how similar morozumi and yamashiro are.

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Completed
Microhabitat
9 people found this review helpful
Jul 1, 2022
Completed 0
Overall 7.5
Story 7.5
Acting/Cast 8.5
Music 7.0
Rewatch Value 3.0
This review may contain spoilers
Microhabitat reveals the choices, sacrifices and comprises people make as they become adults.

Miso, the title character, makes a living cleaning houses and lives on the edge of homelessness. Her joys in life consist of cigarettes, a glass of Glenfiddich whiskey, and her poverty stricken boyfriend. When her rent increases and the price of cigarettes doubles she makes the decision to move out of her unfurnished room.

Miso then begins the adventure of visiting her old band mates who have moved on and become more of what society expected of them. It’s a movie divided into chapters, each with a different friend she encounters with her meager belongings on her back.

Each of her friends have changed so much she barely recognizes them. They are all tethered to their own suffering—a stressful job, a loveless marriage, unwanted motherhood, divorce, etc. Despite her situation she brings understanding and kindness to each doorstep even when she is met with a lack of understanding from her former friends.

Like a warm breeze blowing through their lives, each person’s quiet desperation is revealed and Miso’s contented nonconformist life doesn’t seem quite so absurd.

Microhabitat is more observation than strict storytelling. Esom brings a serene almost ethereal quality to the screen as she shows Miso’s quiet determination. Her friends’ “normal” lives seem almost manic in contrast.

Microhabitat touches on what we value, the compromises people make, the economic fragility of people’s situations, and the depth of friendships. It’s a slow film with moments of humor, tenderness, and biting revelation. Miso’s choices may not sit well with everyone but they raise questions about what brings us joy, what we are willing to sacrifice, and the need for safety nets we all need whether emotional or financial.

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Completed
The Last Princess
0 people found this review helpful
Jul 1, 2022
Completed 0
Overall 4.0
Story 2.0
Acting/Cast 5.0
Music 5.0
Rewatch Value 4.0

Fun on its own, not as a remake

I watched the original Hidden Fortress a few weeks ago and had way too much fun with the comedy, characters, and plot. You can't beat Mifune Toshiro as Makabe Rokurota and Uehara Misa as Yukihime.

I wasn't expecting much from the remake, I had a bad feeling when I saw Jun Matsumoto playing one of the peasants and clearly built up to be a love interest for Yukihime, but BOY was I disappointed with this one. They made so many baffling choices with the story and characters, but what annoyed me the most is how they ruined Makabe's character. Abe Hiroshi did his best to bring Mifune's character to life and I respect him a lot for that (same with Miyagawa Daisuke as the other peasant), but they basically turned him into your archetypical angry bodyguard with no charm or depth, as shallow as a puddle. Gyoe (Gyobu in this movie) was watered down into a boring one-dimensional villain and Takezo (Matsumoto Jun's character) turned into a completely different person by the second half of the film. There were too many unnecessary twists and turns that didn't make sense and ruined the message behind the story, but the final twist is probably the worst one.

The fight scenes were actually pretty fun though, the set design was great and the music by Naoki Sato is as good as always. It's a fun action-adventure flick you can check out when you're bored and don't know what to watch but as a remake? Please skip it.

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From Me to You
0 people found this review helpful
Jul 1, 2022
Completed 0
Overall 9.0
Story 9.5
Acting/Cast 10
Music 8.5
Rewatch Value 8.5
This review may contain spoilers

A beautiful story wrapped with warmth

If you're not sure whether to watch this or not, just drop the hesitation and watch it. It is a feel good drama that reminds you of your highschool love. No unnecessary drama or misunderstandings that frustrates you, just simple and sweet story that makes you smile. The leads did a great job to portray their character very well and although the story doesn't only focus on romance, you'll still love it. Also the unexepected friendship is the drama is heartwarming.
And Rest in peace Miura Haruma (Kazehaya). You did well. I hope you are at peace wherever you are.
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Completed
The Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese
2 people found this review helpful
Jul 1, 2022
Completed 0
Overall 9.0
Story 9.5
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 8.5
Rewatch Value 9.0

A sense of pervasive restlessness, both gritty and beautiful at the same time

From the synopsis, it may sound like the film is all about how the 2 men navigate and conceal their relationship from Kyouichi’s wife, but that storyline only brushes the tip of the iceberg. It’s clear to me by the 30-minute mark that the synopsis cannot capture the ebbs and flows of the story’s turns.

The film is simultaneously mundane yet eventful at the same time.

The theme of the show revolves around the idea of third parties, with the positions of Kyouichi and Imaguchi constantly shifting in this equation.

Kyouichi flits between women like a moth drawn to a flame, but despite being constantly wanted, the audience gets the sense that these encounters are filled with a profound emptiness. Meanwhile, Imaguchi’s self-professed weakness of constantly running to the person he loves manifests in his desire to constantly be around Kyouichi, even when it tears him apart.

It almost feels like the characters are incapable of being content with their present. There’s a constant anticipation, but we’re not sure what is it they're waiting for.

The 2 hours passes much quicker than I expected, despite the film being filled with a pervasive restlessness. It is both gritty and beautiful at the same time, exposing the weaknesses and insecurities of flawed humans.

Read my review here: https://asianblreviews.wordpress.com/2022/07/01/cornered-mouse-dreams-of-cheese-review/

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Night in Paradise
1 people found this review helpful
Jun 30, 2022
Completed 0
Overall 10
Story 9.0
Acting/Cast 10
Music 8.5
Rewatch Value 10

Ignore the MDL rating. Some people don't know art when it's smacking them in the face.

Exceptional. Melancholic. Violent. Beautiful.

The pacing and tone of the movie made me feel like I was a buoy floating at the mercy of a violent tide, ebbing and flowing between moments of brutal violence and introspective and melancholic moments of stillness. The chemistry between each lead was palpable, as were the moments of tension that boiled just beneath the surface of every single scene.

On the same level of filmmaking to me as Parasite, Old Boy, and I Saw The Devil.

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