Reviews

Perfectly imperfect.

I am blown away. I’m not sure if it was because I knew nothing about the film or didn’t know what to expect, but what I found was a true gem.

Us and Them is a bittersweet decades long romance about two people meant for each other but can’t seem to find the way to figure out how to be together and achieve their dreams at the same time. Yes, this is a story of young love but it’s also a story about family and those people who we choose to be part of our lives that changes us forever.

This film is also the directorial debut of Rene Liu, a singer-songwriter-actress from Taiwan. It’s hard to believe this is her first time behind the camera because she manages to tell a multilayered story, of everyday normal people, and the complexity of their relationships with amazing ease.

It helps that film counts with the participation of two of Asia’s raising stars, Jing Boran and Zhou Dongyu, and veteran chinese actor Tian Zhuangzhuang.

While Jing and Zhou bring out the most passionate and restlessness feelings of youth, it’s on Tian to be the steady and unyielding presence of family love. The three managed it with such a deep understating of who their characters are that you can’t help but feel connected to what they are going through.

I don’t want to tell you more because the movie is told in a way, going back and forth through time, where you are trying to figure out how this love story ends until the very last minute. I highly recommend everyone to watch this beautiful story, I promise you will enjoy every minute of it.

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This isn’t the first Korean period drama to depict a commoner with a particular set of skills gaining intimate access to the royal circle, only to become a pawn in a web of murderous court intrigue. But “The Royal Tailor” stands out with its attention to technical details, conveying beauty in an especially tactile way.

The first half to the story is light-hearted and plays fast and loose with history, devising sights gags to send up Joseon fashion crimes like shoulder pads, push-up bras and platform shoes, which are amusingly anachronistic. But the scenes also serve to paint commoner Kong-jin’s personality in vibrant strokes, such as his preference for the company of gisaeng, who model his provocative designs with sexual confidence, to his habit of hobnobbing with high-ranking snobs.

Meanwhile, Dol-suk is the hands-on artisan who excels at embroidery. He too is from humble origins but has managed through hard work to achieve the title of Royal Tailor, being in charge of making the clothes for the King and Queen, and some nobleman when their highnesses want to give them gifts. Dol-suk is also a few months away from becoming a nobleman himself, this is a very important point for what’s coming in the second half of the story.

Kong-jin, being able to work for commoners, is quickly recognized as the quintessential artist, experimenting with shapes and forms, and drawing inspiration from such mundance objects as a wine jar. His consciousness of style as an individualist statement is epitomized by his habit of burning his logo onto his costumes, the Joseon version of a fashion label.

And the rivalry between the two tailors is loaded with class implications; appalled by Kong-jin’s out-there designs, a nobleman proclaims, “A garment should reflect social status and rules,” echoing the law of the period that prescribes, legally, what each class can wear. While buttressing the hierarchical system, Dol-suk is ironically its victim, barred from donning any of the fancy clothes he makes.

A serie of events leads to Kong-jin entering the palace in order to repair his majesty’s clothes and he soon becomes enamored with the Queen, a breathtaking beauty rumored to be untouched by the king since their wedding night. Kong-jin’s intentions are pure: he wants the Queen to be happy, and she wants the King. So, he embarks in a Joseon make-over the turns more than one head and cuts some others because nothing it’s simple inside the Palace, and getting the attention of the King is of out most importance.

The complexity of the relationships between the four main characters, played effortlessly amazing by Han Suk Kyu, Go Soo, Park Shin hye and Yoo Yeon seok, is one of the many aspects of why this film is a must watch. The pretty clothes are breathtaking but the people wearing them do it in such a manner that’s impossible to take your eyes away. Each movement, color and embroidery has a meaning for the story.

I highly recommend it!

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A great romcom!

Sometimes, when I am having a bad day, I watch this film. It helps that rom-coms are my crack and I absolutely adore this cast.

Most of the story takes place in the span of one day and on the road. Bae Soo-jung (Moon Chae-won) is the team leader for a cosmetics company and in order to get a prime location at the department store display, she needs to secure basketball star Kang Jing-chul as the company’s brand ambassador. Sadly, the sportsman isn’t anywhere to be find and with his grandfather recently passing away, people are speculating he might have returned to his hometown: Busan. Soo-jung has no other option but the hop in the train and try to find him.

Kim Jae-hyun (Yoo Yeon-seok) is a successful sports agent and all around man about town. Always with a ready smile and a pretty girl at his side. Jae-hyun has spent the last few months in talks with Jing-chul, his former underclassman from school, trying to convince him to join the NBA. However, Jin-chul is not interested and time is running out for the signing of the contract, so Jae-hyun has to take the train to Busan in order to find him and convince him to sign.

As destiny will have it, Soo-jung and Jae-hyun -who are looking for the same person- end up sitting next to each other in the train. Hilarity and romance ensues.

This is a light rom-com, with some really lovely scenes and other times funny moments that will make you laugh out loud. The chemistry between Yoo Yeon-seok and Moon Chae-won is really good and I really like the way they portray their characters. At first glance, you would think they have most of their respective lives figured out but soon you see there’s more than meets the eye.

For example, Soo-jung is not so put together as she appears and I like that once she’s sure of something, she’s a woman who is not afraid to make things happen. Whatever that might be or where it might lead. On the other hand, Jae-hyun might have all the tendencies of a player but as the movie helps us get to know him, you can see that he actually takes his life and work very seriously. That he’s actually a responsible man that does the right thing when it calls for.

Some of the conversations about love, sex and relationships that the two of them have are very interesting, sometimes showing the more traditional point of views of female vs. male but other times showing something different.

We all know how the story ends, of course, it doesn’t change the fact that watching Yoo Yeon-seok as a cheeky playboy flirting with Moon Chae-won, who can win over the most cold heart, is a lot of fun.

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I highly recommend it!

Upcoming Summer is not love story but a story about love. The film touches on themes like learning to be brave by accepting life’s difficult realities. Through their friendship Chen Chen and Zheng mature and are left to explore the people they want to be as they grow into adults.

I really like this film and I recommend it. It’s fun, endearing and touching. Wu Lei and Zhang Zifeng deliver really good performances and have great chemistry with each other, and the rest of the cast. The story has a few twists that I know have caused some buzz in China but I personally found it to be beautiful.

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Mistaken identity?

What to say about this little film that has not been said many times already? It is a cute high school romcom.

Every few years these movies are made for new generations of public: a story about a mousy girl who falls for the most popular guy in school (here it is through letters in a notebook). This one has an added twist since it is obviously an adaptation of the classic Cyrano. The girl thinks that the boy had fallen for her much smarter and prettier friend but since she is not interested in him, the girl decides to continue corresponding with him while pretending to be her friend.

I liked that even though this is a film made recently, there is practically not a single phone in sight: the mobile phone interactions have been brought down to a strict minimum for a change. The communication is often verbal, written and even through songs (I loved the song they used to apologize!). In today's world, where young people seem to have their fingers glued to phone screens, this film is a refreshing change, a throwback to romcoms of about 20 years ago 'complete with an accidental school radio live confession!)

This is nothing earth shatteringly new or particularly original but it is well produced and filmed. The actors are cute and portrayed their characters well, having decent chemistry. Nice watch for a Sunday evening.

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Had Potential to be Greater

This movie was a decent watch but seemed to only scratch the surface of what could have been a really great love story. The casting choice was good. The acting was strong and kept me engaged and the plot setup was interesting but I found trouble connecting with the story. I felt as if the details of this story was missing. There were a lot of time jumps, reminiscing and bits of situations being presented but not much was being shown about their relationship except for some of the ugly moments. We didn’t see much of the build up or connection being built between the two so it left a lot to be desired. I did enjoy the literary references as it attempted to provide a deeper connection with their love story.

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Didn't blow me away

Police Story 2 brought back much of the cast from Police Story, including the divine Maggie Cheung. Even with two different sets of bad guys and some pyrotechnics, the story dragged badly in comparison to the first and third movies of the series.

Chan Ka Kui finds himself demoted to traffic cop after the destructive events of the first film. To make matters worse Chu Tao is given a compassionate care release. Chu's assistant Koo and his henchmen harass both Chan and May repeatedly. After a run in with the baddies in a restaurant and a children’s playground, Chan is called on the carpet by his bosses. This time he’s had enough and resigns. He no more than turns his badge in when blackmailing bombers threaten a company by blowing up one of their malls. His superiors talk him into coming back to work and he joins an elite surveillance team to track down the evil doers.

PS2 struggled with its identity. The murderous bad guys from the previous film were played up for comic effect in this one. Honestly, most of the scenes committed to Charlie Cho’s Koo felt more like padding and did nothing to drive the narrative forward. At 2 hours, the movie was already bloated for a 1980’s action flick. While there were a couple of good fights as was expected from a Jackie Chan movie, there wasn't the same excitement as in PS1 and 3. Given the outtakes, several people were hurt including Maggie Cheung. She endured a serious head injury, serious enough she couldn’t finish the film which was obvious because after the stunt you never see her face again. Much of Chan’s stunts in the last thirty minutes involved being set on fire. There were two impressive explosions but buildings blowing up don’t make up for terrible pacing and lackluster storytelling.

There were several interesting guest appearances. Wu Ma showed up as a mall cop. Lau Ching Wan made a brief showing as a CID officer. Charlie Cho’s main reason for being in the film seemed to be for the comic effect of having his glasses invariably broken in all of his scenes, a running gag from the first movie. Benny Lai was one of the official stuntmen from Jackie’s company and provided a sound final opponent for Chan even if his deaf-mute character pushed the limits of poor taste. Mitsubishi trucks and Canon cameras had more scenes than most of the supporting actors. Full moon alert---some of the bit players appeared to have been hired for their tight butts for a comic scene when May chased Chan through the men’s police showers.

While there were entertaining fights and moments, especially in the last thirty minutes, Police Story 2 bogged down for much of the other ninety minutes going back and forth trying to decide if Chan was a loose, reckless canon or a hero. I’m sure many Jackie Chan fans will find this film a blast. But for me, instead of a thrilling, explosive story, the bouncing around of villains and bland dialogue caused the movie to fizzle.

4 May 2024

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Rage all through the film

Trust me, you've gotta try to watch this once in awhile.. but first, I want you to open your eyes from the cruel and unfair world, and of course our every actions have consequences but what about the rich? One thing to say, EAT THE RICH!

This film has so much depth and the rawness of Kim Hyeyoon's acting here is phenomenal, no wonder this actress got a lot of mainstream acting awards from this film alone.

It talks about being oppressed, most especially by those dirty evil capitalist/politician, and making them feel the FEMALE RAGE in return.

The ending just satisfied me, true to life, painful reality, unfortunately.

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Interesting fantasy story

Ji Ze (Zhang Rou Nan) is a student who is also an internet celebrity who looks cheerful on the outside but actually feels depressed because of the trauma of her dark past.

One day Xin Tang (Sun Chen Jun), a man who comes from another planet, visits the graves of his parents and plans to return to his home planet in 100 days because the portal to return will only open once, he has the same supernatural abilities as his father, he can creates the illusion of happiness by whispering words, if the person who receives the whispered words feels happy then it will increase Xin Tang's survival by the appearance of a red life line on Xin Tang's palm.

While at the tomb he met Ji Ze who tried to record their meeting live. He didn't like being recorded and used his supernatural ability by whispering words to make Ji Ze forget about it. This supernatural ability cannot be used on the same person 3 times, if it is used 3 times on the same person it will tie their fate. This happened to Xin Tang because he accidentally saved Ji Ze several times by using his supernatural powers. Xin Tang will live as long as Ji Ze feels happy. Knowing this, Xin Tang tries to make Ji Ze happy by becoming a star on her live streaming show. Can Xin Tang succeed in making Ji Ze happy considering that the girl suffers from depression due to her past life trauma?

The premise is very good because I have never watched a fantasy film/drama with a special story like this, I really hope that it can be adapted into a drama with a longer story and it will be more satisfying.

This film is directed by director Lou Lou and also collaborates with Gou Jing Ming who is also the director of the film Cry Me A Sad River (2018) where Zhang Rou Nan also plays a supporting role

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For a second I thought this was a Korean movie even though there's a 20 episode drama out there. I thought it was the guy who played in Uncanny Counter which led me to Netflix to watch it. I had to do a double take when I heard Japanese so I went and did a little research and learned it's not the guy from Uncanny Counter but I watched it because it showed some fighting scenes.

I'm always drawn to movies and dramas that have fighting in it for some odd reason...

Anyway, this movie lacked purpose for me. I had to stop it at one point and have just now finished watching it.

It started off in the middle and stayed that way until the end. I had no idea who the City Hunter was, how he came to be, and why was he called the City Hunter.

Then there's the reason for this movie....a female is looking for her sister so I'm guessing the City Hunter was a PI with skills.

I got the gist of people getting enhanced drugs that was supposed to be banned from a certain war and a union is trying to bring it back and weaponize it but why? What's the purpose?

This was an almost 2 hour movie with so many plot holes that I'm wondering how did it make it to where it gets to be on Netflix?

The comedy was overly done. I didn't laugh at all. The sexual innuendos were unnecessary. The plot was weak...

Come on Japan...you can do better!

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Two young heterosexuals, a kiss that has the power to change lives and a rooftop

When we try to answer the question "what is the reason to love?", we will always be surprised to realize that there really is no reason at all. Through images, music, words and silences, 'Heart... Not a Reason', the 2020 Thai short film, describes this situation, while immersing us in the passionate and secret love relationship between two young heterosexuals, who fall in love after kissing as part of a card game in which they participate.
Toey and Puth, which is the name of our narrative heroes, are two strangers who meet for the first time after their respective girlfriends, May and Ploy, meet again after some time, and decide to introduce their current partners and go on dates double.
During the course of the evening, between plates of food and drinks of alcohol, the four young people agree to participate in a card game, in which the losers must comply with the punishment imposed by the winner.
With the chemical universe behind a kiss, Toey, played by Scott Pannachai Keatkaew, an actor we know for his role as Pent in the LGBT+ themed romantic series 'What the Duck' and 'What the Duck Season 2: Final Call ', and Puth, played by Book Sikaphat, an actor and singer known for appearing in the drama 'Risk Lust Love', also experienced a very deep exchange of sensations and emotions that gave way to love. In other words: knowing each other allowed them to know themselves.
The character played by Scott conveys the image of a person with a confused heart and no confidence. In truth, Toey searches for true love, and what he has searched for so long he finally finds in Puth. He likes how Puth cares about him, pays attention to him, with specific actions such as preparing dinner for him or surprising him on his birthday with a cake. And all this causes Toey to fall in love with him even more.
For his part, Puth is one of the people who gives himself over to love completely. He can't help but fall in love with Toey. While your brain asks you to get away from him, your heart takes you once again to meet him. Puth doesn't want to hurt Ploy, and that's why he hesitates whether or not to continue his secret relationship with Toey, but he can't resist the feeling that has arisen in the center of his chest. It will be very difficult for you to end the relationship with the person you love. While your mouth says one thing, your feelings say the opposite.
However, Puth's girlfriend has also fallen in love with her friend's boyfriend.
Both actors well convey anxiety, restlessness, nervousness, euphoria... all those common and frequent symptoms in people who feel in love. While I see the characters looking at their cell phones, confident that the message is from the other, or how, shyly, they avoid each other's gaze when they meet in public at the shopping center or at the door of one of their houses, I seem to see fluttering the famous butterflies in the stomach, feeling the sweat soak their hands or listening to the beating of their hearts.
The rooftop scene is memorable, as both characters are able to express their feelings and show the incredible chemistry between the two.
The viewer will be able to see how the power of an unexpected and involuntary kiss provokes in the two young people not only that desire to kiss that has a scientific name: filemamania.
The story will surprise us by discovering that nothing is what it seems: while one thinks that they have just started a flirtation, that they feel nervous being close to each other, suddenly we will understand that between the two there is already a deep loving relationship and both they have reached the point where they debate whether it would be right to continue the romance or break up.
The good production, beautiful images, delicate editing, structured script, and a credible well-told story would only be missing a tender and melancholic song. And we have that too, because the short film, in addition to provoking reflection on how no one should be blamed when you fall in love, since no one can control your feelings and your heart, seeks to convey the real story that happened and allowed Book Sikaphat to compose the song "Hua Jai", from the Sikpat Book, which tells the story of two friends who fall in love and how the feeling that arises between them causes the change of their friendly relationship into a romantic one.

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Watchable

Story - Promising premise (I like the general story and the idea of z-pen and bracelet) but it is unfortunate that they had to cramp multiple genre into one show. I'm not saying it should not be done but it is risky to do so and apparently, they ended up with half-baked everything. The romance/drama, kinda destroyed the momentum midway, honestly. I found myself fast-forwarding starting from midway 'til the end.
Editing - Passable. As an avid viewer of zombies, I can say is barely average. In the introductory scenes for instance, They could have started with the flashback instead of present > flashback > present. It would have had made a great impact if they started with the flashback and transitioned to a hardened FL after experiencing losing her SO to the zombies.
Acting - I'm sorry fans but it's not great. The FL, in particular, is not convincing as a "hardened person" after the circumstances she went through. I can think of multiple instance but case on point: Lackluster reaction upon seeing who she thought was long-dead to be alive and well. Action scene ain't that good as well.

I can't think of so many issues but they can be overlooked (believe me, I overlooked a lot because I miss my zombie shows and I wanted to enjoy this) like how stupid it is for the half-bie male lead to be wearing the same clothes after many years?

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