Reviews

Eerie, dreamlike and thought-provoking.

At first this movie disconcerts, as it depicts the blurred reality of the heroine: dreams and awake moments flowing together, laced with nightmares and buried memories. The events follow a dreamer's logic: out of sequence situations, surroundings changing suddenly, people appearing and vanishing from one place to another, bits repeating, strange and surreal conversations... once it is understood, however, one appreciates how deftly this is conveyed, alternating between troubling imagery and touching instants. Wonderland, indeed.

Dark truths lies in the heroine's subconscious and cause her nightmares; yet, strikingly, the story never stoops to voyeurism. Elsewhere, it would be a straightforward and sordid affair, laid out for cheap shock value - here, it is handled with empathy and delicacy. Instead of revelling in its most controversial elements, the movie employs them as vehicles for further characterisation. From a disturbing tragedy, it achieves actual beauty.

The last point I would laud most; and I will strive to remember how moved, how inspired I was left by the end, both as the audience and a potential creator, for it is far from easy to elevate a story like so.

A few flaws have to be mentioned, though.

In order to replicate the heroine's dreamlike state, the movie sacrifices her agency and emotivity in a way that slightly hampers our connection to her. It also has her - and the handful of secondary characters, such as her aunt - meander a little too much, especially in the lengthy introduction before she finally arrives to Wonderland. I believe giving her a clearer goal, as well as stronger emotions, wouldn't have detracted too much from the narrative and could have lent a needed punch to some scenes.

Moreover, I found the secondary characters clumsily grafted to plot: the aunt is moving in her worry, yet ultimately superfluous to the heroine's journey. Similarly, the individuals involved in the backstory appear so late, they aren't as fleshed out as they could - and should - be. An unifying thread misses still: those characters, as well as the ones featuring in the introduction, fail in neatly wrapping together all of the movie's layers.

These aspects prevent it from being a complete success in my eyes, but not from being a very interesting discovery.

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It's big! It's tentacled! It's BIG OCTOPUS! Big Octopus was a Chinese attempt at Kaiju. It succeeded in some ways and failed in others.

Life for a restaurant owner was turned upside down when he hauled in a strangely cute octopus. Of course, his love interest was a scientist, and she rather ominously told him he must never sell the octopus for any price. It didn't take long for the evil biogenetic mogul to show up offering money. A camouflage wearing commando unit was shown killing off people in a compound and then headed to the restaurant. More dangerous than either gun toting group, was when Big Mama Octopus discovered her baby was with the humans. Somehow the people involved had never learned the number one rule in nature---
never mess with a baby animal because the mama might be nearby. Big Mama Octopus was not having it and tore the joint up as her tentacles rampaged across the beach and restaurant in search of her baby. Fun fact, her tentacles were extra-sensory. With one touch she could tell that a woman was pregnant and left her alone. Motherly courtesy, I guess.

Before long, everyone ended up on an island where a WWII bunker was hidden. The Big Bad Businessman's grandfather had run experiments with the Nazis back in the 1940's and Big Mama Octopus was the result. The girlfriend scientist and the hapless restaurateur ended up along for the ride as well as the Killer Commando Unit. Big Mama Octopus sent her infinitely long tentacles through the underground corridor killing bad guys left and right, at least whoever was left after the Killer Commandos did their work.

Big Octopus had more story and better acting than most kaiju films. There was romance, discussion on the ethics of bioengineering, and a little comedy. The storytelling wasn't great though, it lacked consistency and felt like certain parts had been edited out. It was also infinitely bloodier than the older kaiju movies. The Commando unit delighted in head shots. Big Mama Octopus impaled and dismembered various "red shirts". The acting was stronger, but that was a low bar to begin with. I wouldn't go so far as to say the acting was exceptional, more along the lines of adequate for the genre. The production values, with the exception of the CGI, were good, and as a 2020 movie they should have been.

The biggest problem with this movie was that it failed in the number one rule of kaiju movies---show the monster! With the exception of a couple of shots, the body of the octopus was never shown. The bad CGI tentacles received plenty of screen time. It would be like only seeing the dirty toenails of Godzilla as he stomped through town but never seeing the whole monster.

As a guilty pleasure popcorn movie, it was fine. If you enjoy kaiju movies, it's one worth trying out if you don't mind the lack of money shots for the Big Octopus.

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very cute short film

This is exactly what you think it is by reading the description. It doesn't trick you. It's a cute, simple premise, and that's what it offers for the 14 minutes that it goes.

One of the best things about this short film is the way it jumps into the friendship between the two leads without hesitation, and you can tell that the development of the romantic relationship is going to be super genuine. From their silly little montages, to their play arguing, to the immediacy with which it's clear that that Sang Min is drooling over Min Soo, it all feels good.

It ended pretty abruptly, but I couldn't be mad at it, because the rest of the short film was so cute. It's well worth a watch!

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One of the best movie that I've watched this year 2022!

I really love this movie, everything is good. The story, the actors who portrayed the characters, the ost - everything is worth to watch. Jackson yee is really one of a kind, he act so well. I can feel the emotions whenever he acts. Yi Yang Qianxi is not an idol, he's an actor. Also, the story is so relatable, I know most of the people in the world can relate to the story. There's a lot of good lessons too, bring a pile of tissues with you when you see this movie - it's a real tearjerker! The ost is also good and I love the little girl who act as Jackson yee sister, she's so cute. I will definitely watch this again in the future.

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Loved every minute of this racy movie.

Okay fair warning there is sex, vulgar language, hot kisses and nudity.

From the opening scene we are primed to be ready for the R rated content. It is a fun, sexy, romp of a movie and the FL Yoon Jung (Kim Ah Joong) totally owns this role. The comedic timing is terrific and her portrayal as a modern, sexually expressive woman is refreshing. The ML Hyun Seung (Ji Sung) is not afraid to own his emotions and vulnerability. He later displays impulsive bravado with equal verve.
For me the movie touched on; what women do to spice up a relationship, how women react when a relationship sours and the role of relationship in women's lives - and it is fun.

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A Different Type of BL

I placed potential spoilers at the end of this review.

This had a unique and beautiful storyline for a BL. The first thing you have to do is toss all the vampire lore you know out the window and just accept the movie/series version. This was not a problem for me and I liked how they didn’t play it safe with the usual vampire clichés. Yes, the script does have some weak elements. However, it did not stop me from liking this series. See spoiler alert at the end of this review if you want more info. The special effects and cinematography were wonderful. The music was also great.

Random Note: The description on Viki does not match the actual content of the series/move. However, this is an ongoing problem on Viki.




******Potential Spoiler Alert******
I know people were disappointed with the ending, but it made sense to me.

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Tbh.....absolutely hated it...... The reason being the fact that they changed the plotline so much from the original manga......The manga's plot was much more deeper and was a lot more thrilling but in this movie it just felt like they are trying to focus solely on yuuta and eiya which wasnt the case in manga...... It was like as if they r trying to make it more comedy based when it is supposed to be a suspense thriller film...... But I absolutely recommend its manga with the same title......

As I mentioned above....... The manga is a lot better and the reason being that they explained a lot of stuff which didnt made any sense in the movie.... Like wtf do you mean by a challenge in which whoever makes someone laugh first would win....... That is seriously so damn dumb ? especially for a thriller film..... I seriously wish they had followed the original plotline..... Like what the hell were they thinking when they changed the most thrilling parts of the manga...... ?

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New Concept To The Same Old Idea

I never read the manga and I'm not familiar with any of the cast, so this review is based on everything being new to me as the viewer.

LIKES:
The production and cinematography were both great. I loved the vibrancy and colour palette.
The story concept of art through fashion in a coming of age, school to work theme.
I found the acting of the FL initially a bit over the top (made me think the character was a moron) but she grew on me and I liked her more mid way.
The music was okay, nothing annoying but also nothing stood out.

DISLIKES:
The director failed during some moments with timing, having the FL taking too much time for reactions/actions.
The transformation from high school no-body to beautiful working woman, wasn't as impactful, even though the make-up was pretty.
The supporting characters storylines needed more development, I wanted more storyline from the Transgender/Cross-dresser (Isabelle?).
The high school boy love story could've been left out completely or definitely reduced, since the writer seemed to abruptly conclude it.
There were some red flag moments too, however I understood it was mostly to teach a lesson for the FL.
The family portions of the drama were very choppy, which caused them to loose their impact.
Some time should've been used for showing FL trials and becoming an adult between home and finding work. It all happened too fast.

OVERALL:
The conclusion of the movie was acceptable for the FL and ML, but not for the other supporting characters. It was an easy watch, with not much heartache or drama as the viewer. I would watch it again and recommend it.

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will probably never get over this

i watched this when it came out on netflix and its been two whole fucking years and a ton of discussions about it and a whole ass poem inspired by it on my part and still, i'm not really any close to getting over whatever this was. may be because, in some ways, i can relate to it. even a tiny bit. it makes me cry everytime. jia han and birdy make me cry everytime. i see myself in birdy the most. maybe i just projected onto him, lol. but, i could understand his whole journey: how he went from resisting and standing up for what he believed in to finally giving up and blending in. you only do that when something hits close to home and realize: fuck, things really aren't going to change, are they? the way they could've been together if they'd only been born a few decades later is so bittersweet. i love them. i love this. i want to give teenage jia han a big old hug. and i'm so thankful for the director for making this and the writer for writing those dialogues and the actors for doing the best job ever. i seriously will probably never forget this and i'm glad i won't. this doesn't deserve to be forgotten.
P.S i am superrr pissed this has lower ratings on here than bad buddy wtf???? i love bad buddy, but you know.....

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Sensitive and at the same time ruthless portrayal of child abuse and its traumatizing effect

"Miss Baek" is a KMovie about child abuse. Sensitively, cautiously and at the same time ruthlessly, it portrays the example of two 'victims' - a young girl and a grown up woman (actually also a man). It shows how the system prefers to helplessly look the other way, leaving the children alone in their family hell. It also illustrates how this traumatization affects their future lives, remaining trapped in their frightening dark history, still vividly present for the rest of their lifes.

Han Si-mi has received multiple awards for her performance as Miss Baek. But also Kim Si-a in the role of little Ji-eun is just incredible. And the rest of the cast and production, too. Also thank you for the consistently tranquil, unexcited simplicity as well as a to the point, no-frills narration.

Highly valuable. By the way, the story is based on a true event.




------------------------- SIDE NOTE: --- Child abuse in South Korea ---
The cane in schools has been officially banned in South Korea since 2010. However, thrashing at home is another issue. Among the cases of child abuse confirmed by the police, more than 80 percent can be traced back to the biological parents as the perpetrators. To this, add the dark figure. Accurate statistics on the prevalence and frequency of violence against children are difficult to obtain, since the police, ministries, child protection centres, independent agencies, etc. each compile their own statistics, which are based on estimated numbers.

Many South Korean parents grew up like that themselves ... and still belief that children are the extended selves of the parents, kind of - not individual separate beings. Social focus is not on the rights of the children, but more so on those of the parents. Upbringing is primarily the private affair of parents and not a matter of legal jurisdiction. In this context there is often talk of the "stick of love". In fact, many parents believe that thrashing strengthens their children's character while showing them how much they are loved.

In many European countries this no less than abuse. And fortunately there is a growing awareness of this in South Korea as well. In media representation again and again one encounters scenes of child abuse, e.g. in KDrama and KMovie. It is common. However, fortunately, it starts to be more and more common, too, that this kind of violence is being socially confronted as part of the storytelling... Statstically, the number of cases with serious domestic abuse being investigated by the police is increasing. Including cases in which parents abuse their children to death. This does not imply that child abuse is increasing, rather that more cases are being reported. An encouraging sign. It gives hope that the dominance of traditional (and often abusing) parenting concepts is slowly crumbling.

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It is not a fun movie, yet it is radiating truly positive energy in spite of its appalling topic

"Herstory" is an example of a highbrow KMovie, which has real life as its subject and at the same time influences real life as an impact of the movie reception.

It is about the lawsuit brought by a handful of "Comfort Women" from Busan - actual long forgotten/ignored sex slaves for the Japanese soldiers during the Second World War. The trial took place between 1992 and 1998 in Japan. This noteworthy trial set in motion the resolution of a rather dark chapter in recent Asian history.

It was about time to not look away anymore. The subject of "Comfort Women" was until then a taboo subject even in South Korea. The refered to court hearing in the 1990s was actually a milestone in the reappraisal of this chapter. Thus the KMovie "Herstory" is a poignant, publicly effective monument to this chapter in history and honoring the affected, victimized and long forgotten women (and their advocats).

"Herstory" is sensitively illustrating the painful path to this (no less painful) trial as well as its dramatic individual cases. The KMovie becomes the mouthpiecer of at least a few of those women´s fates and at the same time a touching memorial, arousing the awareness of the cruel war crimes committed against civilian women.

It is not a fun movie, yet it is radiating a tuely positive energy in spite of its appalling topic! I consider it in several respects highly valuable.

It is about empowerment and sisterhood. The cast ist outstanding.
This movie is confronting glorious ´his´stories with ´his´ rather tabooed ignominious behaviours... and thus make it ´her´stories.




---------------- SIDE NOTE --- Historical Comfort Women in World War II ---
For a long time, the fate of an estimated 200.000 Korean young women and girls, who were traumatized as sex slaves by the Japanese military during World War II, went unnoticed by the world. Until the 1990s their existence was a taboo - even in South Korea! In fact, Japan's government and military recruited (mostly) Korean young women and girls. They were used against their will in so-called "comfort stations" as "Comfort Women" for motivation of the armed forces - i.e. as sex slaves being abused by the sodliers.

Officially, this fact was (and still is to some extent) vehemently denied by the Japanese side and hasn´t been clarified for more than 5 decades, let alone talked about reparations. However, in terms of international law, what happened has to be considered war crimes, crimes against humanity, as well as slavery and trafficking in women and children - crimes they are. However, the war crimes tribunals after the end of the Second World War were more concerned with crimes against members of the Allies. So in public THOSE crimes against civilian women were forgotten.

With this particular court hearing the movie is refering to, for the first time a verdict in favor of the (comparably few) plaintiffs was at least partially reached. The ladies, who had meanwhile aged, were actually awarded a ridiculously small amount of compensation. So the verdict is still outrageous, but a verdict nonetheless. Nevertheless, as a result, the story of comfort women was publicized for the first time and an international reparation movement was launched.

Obviously the topic had appeared on the table ... but it was still not legally clarified. On the contrary. The issue as such (and its many and even more individuale cases) have still not been satisfactorily resolved ... while most of the actual victims have by now died of age.

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Thriller, perfect and Imaginary

Its like you are watching a car cash but in slow motion. You know something bad gonna happen but you can't think of not seeing it perfect piece.

If you see this movie particularly you will realize that the writer/Actors has done an extremely well job. The story depends on your thinking how you want to see it(sort of open story)
To be honest I am still confused that what happened at the end but I am sure enough that its a masterpiece.

This movie somehow trying to portray the situation of South Korea. That living alone in SK is not safe.
As its just 14 minutes short film which is pretty much perfect I will totally recommend you to watch this short film.

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Really sweet.

I found this drama realistic and really sweet. I usually prefere school romance dramas but this made my heart melt multiple times and i actually cried a lot during the movie, there is happy ending yes, but the story makes you get affecionated to the characters and personally im really empathic and even tho i personally don't relate much to the character experiences, i felt them like they were my own struggles, and i think that a story and an acting that makes you feel this way it has to be praised. So i have to give it a ten out of ten, and i highly reccommed it if you like soft romance. I also loved the characterization of the characters, they realistic feelings and realistic reactions, and that's what i appreciate in any sort of fiction.

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Silence is a virtue?

Don Wong Tao played the silent fighter seeking revenge for his father's murder. Woe to all the tributaries of the Black Dragon Gang as he rampaged his way across the evil doer's territory.

Along Comes the Tiger was a flawed but entertaining kung fu movie. With the twist of a mute hero avenging the death of his father by the infamous Black Dragon, it slightly set itself apart from the crowd. Theoretically based on Once Upon a Time in the West, which I'll have to take it on faith, because aside from a couple of scenes I didn't notice the western influences.

Miracle Man's first fight with a young Phillip Ko Fei was entertaining due to the fact that the bad guy's character was OCD. Suffice to say, Miracle Man messed him up much to the baddie's chagrin.

Doris Lung Chun Erh fought Miracle Man with her female gang, wielding fans with daggers hidden within. Stephen Tung who was the martial arts director for many movies played a government agent trying to clean up the gangs. He appeared and disappeared seemingly at random. A little boy attached himself to Miracle Man in a role meant to bring out the compassionate side of MM but instead was annoying. MM had only one goal in life and that was to take out the Black Dragon Gang's leader. When someone is rampaging in a kung fu movie, not much will stop the carnage.

Stephen Tung and Don Wong did an acceptable job with their fights and acting. One scene with a couple of minions was quite well choreographed. Director Wu Ma showed up to try and take on the MM as well, and as always, he was entertaining to watch. Gam Ming aka Tommy Lee played the dastardly Black Dragon, a humpbacked martial arts master. He also choreographed the fights for the movie. For the most part, most of them were quite well done. I only found the final one a bit of a letdown.

The acting was slightly above what you might expect from what appeared to be a low budget film. Don Wong Tao's character seemed to benefit from playing it silent. The only drawback for me was the kid, though it seemed they were trying to bring things full circle since MM had witnessed his father's death. The story had some weird lapses of logic, especially where the female characters were concerned. If you can overlook the shortcomings there was decent kung fu flick to be watched.

For martial arts movie fans, particularly older ones, this might be one to give a try sometime. It was non-stop action from beginning to end and didn't feel like each fight was a duplicate of the others.

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