Reviews

Three birds with one stone.

I am a huge fan of black comedy and throw in some gangsters and I am hooked. Chen Kuilin is an infamous hitman on the run. Diagnosed with terminal illness, he tries to turn himself in only to discover he is merely the third most wanted criminal in Taiwan. Quivering with outrage, he sets out to secure his street creed as the biggest, baddest, bad guy of them all by taking out his competitors.

Ethan Juan floored me with his complex portrayal of this brazen, brutal, narcissistic gangster with crazy but understandable motives and an odd instinct to protect the weak. His close shave with Hongkie had me on the edge of my seat and their killer vs killer fight scenes were raw and savage. His desire for redemption and salvation at the commune surprised me until it didn't. A terrible betrayal culminates in a shocking bloodbath that masterfully builds and releases tension.

This is a well paced, intense and violent action thriller with a number of unanticipated twists. The dialogue is superb and dark humor is deftly used to release tension and infuse a sense of lingering irony. It has all the elements of the good old Hong Kong gangster movies from its distinct cinematic style to the emotional depth of the characters that belies the casual onscreen violence.

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie but I must admit that the final ten minutes left a feeling of nagging disappointment. The perfect place to wrap this up would have been at the reveal of the hitman that takes out three birds with one stone. The last ten minutes embraces maudlin tropes that are characteristic of Taiwanese productions. In this case, it completely ruins the no regrets nature of the beast. I have no choice but to knock 0.5 off my rating so this is overall an 8.0/10.0 for me. I strongly recommend skipping the last ten minutes.

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Review 3

"早上好 " 破防了! 破防了! 我受不了了！

你好嘉嘉,

这次，我想尝试用中文写作，因为我刚刚看了一个中文电视节目！

别恨我，但我理解白敬亭的炒作！我已经恨我了.

感想：白敬亭好，故事好，我的mental好.

逗你玩儿! 这些日子我很心塞!! 你认为kian会成为我的新宝贝吗？呵呵呵呵. Also, woojoo让我做他的女朋友。你觉得我说了什么？呵呵呵呵. 我不要男朋友. 我要粉红色Lego 花! 你是对的...今年夏天我会 self reflect...

我很高兴我们是朋友. 没有你我会很难过. 所以让我们继续一起做所有事情! 下学期我教你下棋! 我们也可以打麻将吗? 我想和你一起做很多事情！

亲亲明天见! NAKSAN! :)
Ashley Kim

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NOT AS GOOD AS YOU THINK IT IS

AM I THE ONLY ONE THAT THINKS THIS DRAMA IS OVERRATED? i was really excited to see the chinese version but this drama is just so boring.
1) The leads romantic development is soooooo slow , they got a kiss around the ep 12-13? bear in mind this drama only has 24 ep.
2) the leads have zero chemistry like zero. It took so long for the emperor to realized the female lead is a woman lol
3) The female lead doesnt show too much emotions( the emperor displays more emotions than the female lead)
4) the plot isnt plotting lol... just kinda flat... its pretty cliche that the female lead uses her knowledge to make modern day products in ancient times...
5) unnecessary characters added around ep 14... like she is trying to find her way home and ends up in another city...

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"I had no regrets until I met you"

Happy Together was a haunting, gut-wrenching look at love and loneliness with stellar performances by the main cast. Tony Leung Chiu Wai and Leslie Cheung played an on again, off again couple who were often lonelier when they were together than when they were apart.

Ho Po Wing and Lai Yiu Fai have traveled from Hong Kong to Argentina. On a trip to see the Iguazu Falls they become hopelessly lost and Ho breaks up with Lai and not for the first time. Lai finds work as a club doorman while Ho starts turning tricks to make a living. As Lai watches Ho with other men, a deep sorrow and homesickness overtakes him. He doesn’t want to inevitably “start over” as they usually do, he wants to go home to Hong Kong. He needs to make enough money first. When Ho is beaten by one of his clients, Lai lets him in and takes care of him, but refuses to sleep with him. At a new job, Lai makes friends with Chang, a young man from Taipei, which causes friction between the two lovers.

Ho and Lai were in a “can’t live with him, can’t live without him” dynamic. Ho had a reckless streak that Lai tried to tame, but would cause Ho to chafe at the constraints. Every scene was filled with raw emotions-longing, agony, passion, and despair. While Leslie Cheung gave a wonderful performance as the erratic Ho, it was Tony Leung who captivated me with his. I’ve seen Tony in numerous films, but this was the best performance of his I’ve seen so far. He has never had a problem with the too cool for school vibe, but in this film, he tore through emotions left and right without going over the top. It was impossible to not empathize with Lai when the heartache and misery were visibly eating away at him. In a scene where Ho taught him how to dance, the desire not just for this man, but also a longing for something more, something unattainable was quite moving.

A young Chang Chen as Chang Wan brought a breath of soothing air into Lai’s life. The friendship was easy and a reminder of home. Chang had a tender scene as he tucked a sorrowful, intoxicated Lai into bed. Their friendship was a lifeline for the floundering Lai. When Chang left Buenos Aires, Lai was truly adrift and found that “lonely people are all the same.” Lai became more convinced he did not want to ever “start again” with Ho, regardless of his deep feelings for him. Ho was like the prodigal son who had to occasionally self-destruct knowing that Lai would always be there for him in some capacity.

This film had Wong Kar Wai’s trademark palette of greens, yellows, and reds along with scenes in black and white. There is no denying his aesthetic gift, but sometimes I don’t connect with the story he’s telling. Happy Together connected everything for me. The plot was thin, almost non-existent, as these men struggled to make a living and struggled to alleviate their desire to return home and to somehow survive their complex disparities. I thoroughly enjoyed the varied music, which ranged from Tango Apasionado to fittingly enough, Happy Together originally by The Turtles. The songs flowed naturally through the film as stark emotions ebbed and rose.

Happy Together’s unflinching exploration of a tempestuous relationship was hard to watch at times, but impossible to look away from. Tony Leung peeled back his stunning façade and poured out an impressive array of emotions both nuanced and heartbreakingly real. Much like the Iguazu Falls, Ho and Lai’s bond was powerful, chaotic, captivating, murky, and completely unforgettable.

8 May 2024

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Average but Enjoyable

This series is nothing to write home about but this is a light, fun, quick romance watch. Even with more than 30 eps it's a quick watch. I mostly watched b/c I really like actress Qin Lan and she is good here even if she is type cast. I have only seen her in the Rational Life and I really enjoyed her character there as well and they are definitely similiar.

I liked the friendship of the 3 FLs and I liked that there was growth in the 2FL's story arc and that her husband was supportive and they worked thru their issues. I really did like the mature cast even though some of the plot is a bit childish. I liked the ML and his bestfriend too.

If you watch be prepared for terrible subs if you're an English sub watcher. Even on Prime the subs are atrocious.

5/8/24

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Not quite there yet as a real Romcom.

If you look at the trailer or read the description you will immediately think this a great Romcom. However, this fell short in so many ways. Let me first say the highest rating I gave is for the story. The story had real potential to be a blockbuster hit. It had all the makings to start a good Romcom. It just never got there. If I had to sum it up it was just boring. It never had two parts that go together. You know, peanut butter but no jelly, bread but no butter. The title does not go with anything. So a great story but the leads were not enough to pull it off. Individually they were cute but together no chemistry. I tried to give it every chance I could. I watched objectively until the end. I gave up better dramas for this. But when you start fast-forwarding through most of the episodes, you know something is wrong.

Many of the comments ask why the ratings are so low. This has a slow pace and never really goes anywhere. It reminded me of those short dramas on YouTube that give you different versions of the same plot. I fault the director for not knowing where to go or lead this drama to make it more exciting and loveable. I fault the writers for giving the actors too much dialog that they could not pull off. Thus, making the actors look like bad actors.

On a positive note, it is a rom-com and there were some funny moments. There was a hint of romance but it was barely fulfilled because it took so long. It has a happy ending.

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Oh my my I watched half of the show for villian rest half for the ML

The main cast was amazing ...the ML FL villain vamp all of them ... And this was the show where I enjoyed watching the villian even more than the ML ... Gosh he acting and the way he delivered the script ... Mind-blowing ... The story was good ... ML is having long time crush on FL and he helps her gety ng revenge against her fiance who cheated her with her bestie ... It was so heart breaking to see how ML struggles to win her heart even after lobing and supporting her for so long ... seriously I cried everytime I watch him say " is your heart made of stone" to FL ... Poor boy ... There were practically negligible boring spots in the story it went by a consistent pace ..there were heart breaks ,romance ,fight, betrayal, office conspiracy, good girl turn bad and dynamic slap scenes ... .
I thoroughly enjoyed watching .. totally recommended..

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Cinematic Magic!

In a sense, this story is deeper than in season one. While still about Haruta, the story circumvents him to encompass more individuals around him and does so in a deeply, introspective, and immensely emotional fashion. To be sure, the keystone remains parallel to season one. The Captain, an older distinguished-looking man, falls in love with Haruta, a much younger and energetic man. Yet, in the end there is such a surprising twist that it caught me off guard. I honestly did not know what to make of it. Was it real or a profound cry out of a desperately lonely man? I cried at either prospect as Haruta, for the first time, truly seemed adrift. This is effulgent and, along with the previous “Ossan’s Love” productions, are worthy of our reverence. This is a jewel of virtuosity and therefore I would consider it a ‘Masterpiece’. They may be archival but should not be forgotten. Treat yourself to pure joy!

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Beautiful! Has fabulous & talented cast all sights for sore eyes!

This was my first time seeing Lee Seung Gi act and I was smitten. Never have I ever seen someone rock that hairstyle in the same way. No one can do it better, while Park Sae Roy in Itaewon Class came close, he still ranks second. Normally, I do not like characters who dress like Son Oh Kong, not because of the clothes but because very few can pull it off, especially as well as he did. The character was just wow!

Cha Seung Won's Ma Wang was just as incredible to watch. He is another actor that I enjoy watching. The plot was simply perfect. Since I have just watched it for 2nd time and am more happy with it this time around, I can't find fault.

During my first watch, I was frustrated with the ending, but seeing how motivated Son Oh Gong in getting Jin Seon Mi back, I'm 100% sure he succeeded. Would I love to watch a second season with him following her to netherland and rescuing her in the process? Hell yes, but I don't mind that it wont' be coming since I have gotten my closure.

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