Reviews

Anything but swallow

If you're looking for a movie that contains a lot of love and romance, this isn't for you. You only realize after watching this movie what you have actually witnessed, regardless of what you think about it when you press play. It is a movie that tackles a lot of psychological problems and it is often misinterpreted by viewers. What makes this movie so worthwhile is often overlooked. The movie really is touching, not in a romantic way, but it will definitely capture your sympathy. If you're here for the steamy scenes, there's better movies for that. The negative aspect comes with the lack of dialogs, as I would certainly have enjoyed more backstory to the characters. However, again, it isn't a movie that's there for the romance and relationship building. Definitely worth a try, it isn't your typical lovey-dovey storyline as I personally don't think there's love involved at all.

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"I can speak" the movie initially is about the growth of friendship between an older woman and a younger man, what starts off as a sour start to their relationship turns into a sweet friendship after Park Min Jae (Lee Je Hoon) teaches Na Ok Boon (Na Moon Hee) English out of guilt, as she had asked many times and he refused. I've never watched an anti-Japan film before so I don't want to add anything to that side of the subject, as I could come off seeming offensive to some people, anyway the story was nothing too special like I said mostly about the friendship side which took a lead role in the majority of the film. Despite that it was quite an enjoyable movie to watch, especially as the movie gradually got more interesting in the second half.

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Because of the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, I could watch Parasite at the cinema on the big screen and this is one a good thing.

I do like:
1. social commentary and sarcastic portrayed contrast between the poor and the rich
2. North Korean speech
3. coherent plot and fast action of the first part of the film
4. black humor in the first part of the film
5. cast, especially Jo Yeo Jung who excellent played naive rich wife
6. motive of revenge

I do not like:
1. Director’s job because it seems like he doesn't know what direction the film must go and what it is about. Is this a sarcastic picture of society and social differences? Or is this a thriller? Or is this an illogical and untrue story, such a storytale and biblical allegory? This is too much for me.
2. oneiric elements and disconnection from reality
3. symbolic and pseudo-symbolic elements
4. unknown motivations of the characters’ action
5. stereotypical characters that thay don't seem like real persons
6. reduction of human nature to social status

I don't know what to think about it:
1. mix of black comedy, thriller and social problems
2. the ending

I watched this out of curiosity, it's not bad but there are many Korean films that I like them more. If you want watch something really good and real you can try Japanese Shoplifters. Or you can enjoy the fact that you have subbs in your language at the cinema.

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i'm a bit shocked to see the high ratings on here. i will say i was very interested in this when i realized the main character was actually transgender. thing is, you can't really portray something so serious such as gender identity when the whole story basis itself in a "cop vs. gangster" setting along with a past love interest dealing with a boy and the current love interest being the deceased boy's sister.

i'm actually very disappointed in this film. there were so many sub-plots, i think my brain swirled itself around for the duration of the movie. it's not like cha seung-won is a bad actor. he takes on the role of a cold-blooded detective like it's something he was born to do. the problem is, i didn't know what to pay attention to. is it the actual enemy that's plotting to destroy him inside out or is it ji wook's inner battle with his demons?

and the ending! ugh, there was no silver lining in this movie! i'd like to see growth and development. instead, i got a character who ran around in circles and came back to the starting point: miserable in his own skin. just not worth my time with that bad portrayal of a trans-character. i think the only reason why i even gave it a rating itself was because it redeemed itself with the action scenes. romance/plot? pure waste.

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This film is not my favourite, I only watched it because it had Lee Min Ki in it.

The storyline was solid but not amazing. It was a little slow in parts for the genre the movie is in. There were a few moments when I was intrested but for most parts its just average.

This movie is the type of movie where you need good actors or else it won't work. I mentioned before I watched this because of Lee Min Ki, he was good in it and if you like him then I definatly suggest watching this. I have also been introduced to some new actors and after watching this I will go check them out. For such a large cast, I think the variety worked well.

There wasn't much music in this movie, mostly it was instrumental so I didn't really notice it. Which is a good point because the soundtrack fitted the mood and It would have affected the veiwing if a song was out of place.

Overall I don't think I would watch this again purely because it is not my type of film. But I think someone who likes action, being trapped and realisim then this film would make a good watch.

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A very well written and impressive film ...
From narration to performance to performance to presentation: it is perfect in each and every aspect. The change in the tone of the film was extremely well brought. The screenplay is not disappointing, and the film appears as a refreshing and memorable experience. Cinematography is top notch as it does not take much time to present and configure the characters as well as the plot.
Connected  to the characters, the actors delivered extremely excellent  performances, so far as the technical aspects of the film are top notch.  The visuals are breathtaking and the story is well captured by a first-rate cinematography. The  action sequences of the film are another great highlight as they induce  a lot of emotion along with the tension as to what would happen next. The film is not extremely violent and therefore recommended in the family. There is no vulgarity or obscenity in this movie. very good.

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Head-scratcher as Japan is full of great writing - not this one

It's not feel-good, it's not cute, it's not sad, funny, mysterious, exciting, it doesn't even intend to anger although it ends up doing that. There is a toxic story that is clear on its intention, and then there is this that is lukewarm on every aspect. Just what is the purpose? It portrays yet another weak female who gets taken advantage of because she lacks opinions, and in the beginning she's encouraged to take a stand for herself only for that to later be used as the attractive point (no opinion, doesn't stand up for something = goes with anything = a guy's fantasy). With that you have the male who does with her whatever he wants from touching to kissing, while the female recoils, unsure, and most of all, he made her feel that his affection didn't belong to her. He made her a bigger liar than she already was. Did she enjoy? Yes, with pain and disgust. Did he enjoy? Yes, without realizing what he put her through, and without her realizing what he put her though.

Liars are given an easy pass. They get an ending that I don't think we need more of in fiction.

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Just No

If it weren't for Ohm and for the acting in this series I would have given it a 0 rating!

I watched this movie because some people were saying it was good and had good acting. I wanted to watch it mostly for Ohm who did an excellent job as expected. But I must applaud the entire cast who where all good actors.
However, the story and the message behind it is just terrible. We jumped back to the point in which it says that, 'if you're in a gay relationship, you'll have a bad ending. If you're in a straight relationship, whatever mess your relationship may be, it will have a good end.'

I'm sorry but I absolutely HATED the story. They could have easily made Dew reincarnate as a guy but seeing as that wouldn't convey the above message, they didn't.

To anyone who wants to watch, just watch the first half. It's not wirth it to watch the rest of the story.

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I watched Painted Skin because I found the description of the story interesting and I love Chinese fantasy films. But this film doesn't have the usual brilliant colors I have come to love in other films of the same genre. The colors were darker which led me to believe, it would probably be a great action/horror film. So, I didn't let it stop me from watching.

The very beginning was interesting, so I was already thinking I was in for a treat, but ten, possibly 15, minutes into the film, I couldn't keep my eyes open. Yes, it was THAT slow! The best part of the film are the last 30-35 minutes of it.

Story: The story was interesting, I just wish they had done more with it. Or at least, made it more interesting.

Acting/Cast: It was sort of ok, but I didn't feel connected to them or like I cared about what was happening to them.

Music: It wasn't that great. There is one song which sounds beautiful, but the rest is not memorable.

Re-watch Value: I will not be re-watching this film in the near or distant future.

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Only You is the kind of movie I would never pick had it not been my friend's strong recommendation. This falls into the kind of genre that I usually avoid, and even if do watch something similar I have had almost no instances where I ended up liking it. This can be among the ones that I didn't end up hating. So yes, this movie is good.

To be honest, this was simply another melodrama. But, in some aspects it was very different from what usually takes place in such movies. The blind girl was pretty self sufficient in it and I liked that a lot. She was neither a pushover nor dumb and the actress acted pretty well in it. I understand that playing blind characters is difficult and majority of the times, it seems fake while acting. But she did a good job of it. And the hero is the cliched tortured soul with a dark past and a dangerous life. I really don't know much about So Ji Sub but his acting was good in it. But I'd still go with the lead actress because her role was far more challenging than his.

It was pretty good when it started but it kind of fell apart about one third into the film. I was simply not interested in the boxing part nor the missions given to the hero. I also expected a few light moments but there weren't any. As I said, this is just not my genre. I cannot stay serious for too long while watching a film and a few random romantic parts don't help all that much since it is difficult to please me with just romance.

In spite of the flaws in the film, the best part of it was the cinematography. The effects used in editing were great. Mostly, it was the different kinds of lighting which were used so appropriately according to each scene that kept me hooked. Also, the outdoor locations were simply fabulous. A couple of places made me want to be there with them! I also liked the background score because it blended well with the situations.

The ending was very corny for my taste. The last 20 minutes could have been omitted and that would have been so much better. But thank goodness, it didn't end badly. The guy and the girl did love each other truly and I got that point. So far, this is the best Korean movie I have watched with pinches of originality with an attepmt to surpass the usual cliches. It is still worth a watch and a good way to spend time if you're in search for a romantic movie with a lot of sentiments.

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Lots of fun if you leave the brain out of it. Do not try to understand it or find a logic behind anything, coz it ain't there. The whole premise of the show is built on misconception about a certain topic.

That said, I had lots of fun for the majority of watch time. They committed to the gruesome and violent scenes and questionable/ evil characters. I watched it and asked - is this really Korean? Where they censor and blur knives from scenes?

Editing was spectacular, except for some special effects, but I'm picky about these. Most people would probably love them. The fighting scenes were well choreographed, but it was the editing that added that special and unique edge to them. And the violence was... well, violent. Ain't some random few punches here and there.

The acting was for sure the strongest aspect after the directing and editing. Kim Da Mi's performance truly amazed me, especially closer to the ending. She showed a lot of skills and duality in her acting. Truth to be told, the whole cast did an amazing job. I was frustrated with the random English lines here and there, especially since Netflix does not provide subs for them, and as a not native speaker, with the accent, I did have some problems with understanding some of them...

So what went wrong?
The reasoning, explanations and motivations of the characters were all over the place. I enjoyed the movie up till the moment they tried to explain what exactly is going on. Why? Coz the explanation was simply dumb. They gave the same excuse many low sci-fi movies give, which was proven false countless times. Still using it, in my eyes, means lazy and unoriginal writing.

Was it a good movie? Yes, just do NOT think as you watch.

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Judging by the extremely short synopsis of the movie, I wasn't sure what to expect at all. At first, going by the name and the first few scenes, I thought it would be a mere drugs movie. It proved to be so much more then just that, very realistic also.
To be honest, a tad more realistic then I had anticipated.

I haven't seen any of the actors in other movies or show's so I can't judge them by that, yet the overal acting was pretty good. Very realistic. I loved the music, it matched the movie splendidly in my opinion.

I watched this movie with my boyfriend, who's not a fan of Asian movies in general. And even he had to admit that it's better then expected. Overal it proved to be a fairly good movie, not one I would personally watch again any time soon. But maybe someday, I will definitely re-watch it.

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