train to busan but on a plane?

Emergency Declaration is part political thriller and part disaster film, both of which are done good enough. Essentially it took it's time before moving into our main plot, which is good because it became easier seeing the different circumstances of our leads.

People in my local theater are either the most emotionless people in the world or weren't actually watching, I was jumping out my sit on the suspense scenes and crying on the sad ones.

It's a show of the human nature, how we react to situations that are life or death, and where true humanity stands out, that there are people out there willing to sacrifice themselves in the face of death. also how we should appreciate our loved ones, one moment they might be there but can be gone in an instant, we should make every moment count.

there's a whole bunch of political nonsense throughout that cuts off the suspense at times, especially prominent in the latter half of the film. it was good when we we're looking for where to land, desires of each country fighting but too much off it had me almost asleep.

this film when does good it's extremely good, but also when it does bad it's extremely bad.

This was an extremely stacked cast lineup with veterans Song Kang Ho and Lee Byung Hun to top stars Kim Nam Gil and Park Hae Joon, however nobody delivered a better performance than Im SIwan, more on this later.

(MINOR SPOILERS)
The film was a mirror of the COVID19 pandemic we are experiencing took to another, extreme level. it reflects how in the early stages, people that tested positive are divided and shunned by the mass, even blaming an entire race or continent for it, these moral ambiguities we're heavily present here.

Killing off our main antagonist less than half way into the film was gutsy but In a way made sense, but that extra angst knowing he'd still be alive along with the commotion in the latter half would have made this a much more suspenseful ride. despite the limited screen time and getting killed off, Im Siwan in his villain role was crazy good and terrifying, add that to his lovely features, it made the character soooo creepy.

Ending for me felt force and gave twists just for the sake for it, my tears during the farewell scenes felt like I was robbed off it and that cliche ending was the culprit.

(END OF SPOILER)


unfortunate how this ended so weak, could have easily been the best 2022 korean film. to answer my headline, though it has quite the similarities, I personally think the thrill and suspense of the 2 films are from different sources.

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will a better life make a person happier?

what a suspensful yet poetic ride, following Yumi from child to full grown adult was something I didn't know would be this good.

there's heavy moral ambiguity throughout the watch, to what lenght is something okay or too much? Is what Anna did acceptable? Personally she wasn't perfect, could have made better decisions but still rootable throughout.

the perfect antagonist of our story was Hyun Joo, she's neither good nor that bad but is out of touch and can be quite annoying. however she's really smart, it always seems that she says the right things, all encounters with Anna, I find myself agreeing to Hyun Joo more.

throughout I felt the heavy inspiration to Parasite 2019, cinematography points like putting characters on the dark or splitting characters with different status. another one is the use of symbols, you really had to pay attention to get some of them, so it was fascinating when I do get it. lastly is it's nuanced tone, like the film, it doesn't tells you whose wrong or right, shows a situation and lets watchers decide.

I've said this over and over again but watching Suzy act is an honor, pure perfection in giving Anna to life.

Anna despite it's flaws like it's very very slow progression or lack luster character development, is a series that us insightful and thought provoking, builds up a great suspensful story keeping viewers intrigue, highly recommended!

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"it's our duty to protect our own"

Right off the bat, I think it wasn't better than the prequel. With 12M box office and quite a lot saying it was better than the first, with those expectatuins I was a bit disappointed leaving the cinema, but don't get me wrong it was still a great film.

We follow the same police force with Ma Seok Do and the rest, this time around they try to arrest a suspect overseas, where they experience numerous struggles

No it doesn't have a mind-blowing story, it will probably go the way you expect it to be. However it does have a gripping action scenes and gore, sided with good humor.

Not sure if this is filmed overseas or not but I liked the cinematography this time around, it gave good distinction between Vietnam and Korea.

Son Sukku being the main antagonist this time around was probably a big burden, Jang Chen was an icon and it would have been hard to top it off. Still despite that he was aboe to deliver a chilling performance, big props.

It's an easy film to understand and a perfect watch with the entire family, will for sure rewatch this when it releases in streaming platforms.

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The truth always follows you around

With 20mins left I was all but ready shitting on the film, and much regret for not listening to the comments and reviews. However I'm a sucker for plot twists I don't see coming, that last last narrative change had my mouth wide open, I would recommend the suffering just for that.

Story is simple and goes on throughout the film. grandparents house; weird hole; reveals truth that has been kept hidden; the whole truth shows how the truth always has a way in revealing in finding and revealing itself. Also shows the toxic households and relationships in asian families.

CGI effects we're laughable and felt like was made for a child, I'm disrespected at the lack of effort the makers make. Music also was forgettable, either screaming or some random sound that filmmakers need to know is overused and doesn't work on horror films.

Acting was worse, they're better off stage acting with the amount of overacting they do, along with this is their awkward expressions that makes you unemotionally invested in them. I can't blame the stars too much since the script felt like equally a mess.

there's too much unnecessary characters taking screentime, to have no closure and never appear in the film again again again. We should never even have left the 2 main settings, since practically everything else was useless, would have resulted in a much more cohesive film.

It build a good atmosphere at the start just for it to fall short, because the same thing happens over and over and over and over. It makes a sound, they look at the hole, scared, decided not to look again, makes another sound, looks again. I was watching this stuck in heavy traffic and I really should have had that extra sleep instead.


Ending was puzzling more than anything, wasn't as satisfying as I expected. We're they intending to make a second film or just that? Either way not the most ideal conclusion to the film.

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a suicide in school?

we are transported into a catcholic school where a horror flick with equally scary social issues in korea occuring.

I have mixed feelings for wishing stairs, but overall was enjoyable and engaging, unlike that shithole that is voice. Throughout we follow and discover the mystery of what went down that day, how the 3 others start to hate each other as they are hunted by the ghost.

this film benefited from a short time span, it was well paced and made it engaging, anything longer would have had me bored out of my mind. Also the jumpscares were great and unexpected, just when it's about to slow down it comes at your way + the complimentary music.

one of the downfalls of the film is it's production, most of the important parts are full black and it didn't help that the site's quality is bad, we're they trying to make it more scarier? If that was the case, they failed miserably and causing viewers to unengange more than anything.

another thing I hated is too much annoying side characters, with no actual significance. some took too much screentime just to die, others had too much lines just to never appear in the film again. It didn't help that I wasn't familiar with any of the main characters so I was confused half of the time, spoiler, I had to take notes.

Eon Ju is the epitome of a friend, to have someone willing to die for you, would undoubtedly treasure her forever. Characters we're annoying and at times unrootable, but was expected since we're in a high school setting, overall potrayed well.

thought it was a satisfying ending and justice was served. at the last part it was poetic but also a statement to watchers, why suicide is a problem and how we do not know what one is going through, so it wouldn't hurt to be more kind and understanding.

This is me just nitpicking but that twist was at the very very very end was unnecessary, not needed, and no one asked for. the film despite its flaws, was entertaining and better than the whispering corridors that I've seen so far, if you like horror and the issues within teenagers it's highly recommended, also very timely even in modern korea or the world.

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hilarious and choatic

This is a journey of 7 female celebrities learning and improving their basketball skills, while giving out comedic and embarrassing antics. It was a fun ride so far, from going against elementary kids to actually being decent players, was nice seeing their improvements.

What makes this show special is the casting, all the girls we're perfect fits and showed off their comedic side in this, our managers and coaches also give off the perfect balance by being done and at a loss of words at the team.

I personally love basketball and actress Soohyang, while also having nothing to watch, so I thought it wouldn't hurt to try. I've never laugh this much in a long timeee, every single one was just effortlessly funny and a perfect team, both variety and basketball wise(MRI theee best!!).

A problem I do have with the show it's over the top slow motion and replaying of almost all scenes, even unimportant ones, which at times can be frustrating. Along with that is the long episode time, almost reaching 2 hours at some episodes, normally wouldn't sit for that long on a variety show, this is one's an exception because of it's overall great contents.

If you want to laugh and watch something without much thinking while experience the heavy training and effort put in to sports, I recommend this, personally one of the best variety shows recently.

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There's a soundtrack for every love story

Soundtrack #1 is a discovery of love and shows the boundaries of our main lead bestfriends. The show is light and will make you want to go out and and date your friend.

The chemistry between our leads we're good and I thought both fulfilled what was needed of their characters, however there were times when it just felt off at times, maybe iust me.

it's simplicity is ultimately makes this show a skippable one. There are far better shows with "friends to lovers" with more depth and character development that I would not recommend it is a must watch.

the first 3 episodes was hinting at an opposite ending through lyrics, side characters but it's good it did not, because of this I didn't regret the watch since Han So Hee's eye candy visuals kept me in it and her being in a different role, raised my ratings a bit.

The Yoon Seo Ah cameo was hilarious, her chemistry with SoHee<33 reminiscences of nevertheless. It was also a great way to eventually build our FL's confidence to tell the truth.

Accomodating to it's title and lyricist lead, the show eventually gave fantastic heaftfelt OSTs that'll be on my repeat list for a while.

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The emotions I got to know through you

Twenty-Five Twenty-One did all the right things, could have easily been the best show of the year, but unfortunately was not.

The drama is set during the times of economic crisis that hit all parts of asia, where teens and pre adults try to navigate their way through life.

It had great storytelling, hooked us right away with the usage of present reminiscing the past. Also creates a healing and light atmosphere that anyone wouldn't pass on while keeping in mind tragedies ahead of our characters.

Cinematography was everything hereee, caputres 90s korea in such a unique way. The rainbow scene with Hee Do and Yi Jin, just pure eye candy. Music was also a strong point of the show, having 2 different intros was great and wasn't done just for nothing, it creates a good atmosphere in what to expect frip the episode.

A memorable scene of mine is Hee Do trying to solve the math problem in the academy. It was not only relatable(why do academy's do this?) it also the start of the developing relationship of the leads.

I also like the character development in this show, not only was good but also felt natural, admitting past mistakes and insecurities made is believable that characters actually do want to change for the better.

Something this show loves doing is, symbolism and foreshadowing with almost everything. The most prominent ones, which led to our conflicts at the end was Heedo's mother and coach relationship was a reflection of Heedo and YijIn relationship.

It also gives us a lesson to ponder about, how we control and are responsible for everything that happens in our life. Life is the combination of good and bad, in order to reach good, we must be able to tolerate the bad.

Along with that are issues in our society, how people easily believe false rumors and turn your back at any momoent. also how your differently treated based on your wealth and prestige.

Another strong point was scriptwriting and acting, with the combination of both, we are treated with amazingly amazing dialogues that hit the heart.


Pacing was also good until the Ep13-14 where everything goes downhill. gone are the squad moments, fencinng practices, etc and we shift to a depressing repetitive series of episodes. The shift from bright and funny Heedo, to a mature serious one was hard and demotivating in a way, especially as a teen.

Ending also further emphasis on my 1st problem, and if you're reading this then you know exactly what I mean, no miracle for our main couple and the writers insisting on being realistic, smh.

It was as great as the hype it received but prepare for a hugee heartbreak. Overall a great refreshing and light show, highly recommended!

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a second chance at romance

Can two people break up and fall in love once again to create a much stronger relationship? Our Beloved summer is about friendship and family, what creates a healthy relationship that has boundaries, taking responsibility of your own values while trying to not be a savior of another's.

I hate the prolonged misunderstanding plot, so a sole plot progressing material was that, I didn't have the best expectations and thought I would dislike it so much. but as you may see, although still not the best, it was a solid slow burn, glad that I did not rush watching it.

The drama is a study on human psychology, it showed how we can interpret and misinterpret certain events from the past differently. this is executed well in the drama, using different POV's of the character's in same situations.

we have basically no plot, just daily lives of our characters and their relationships, so lets talk about them.

NJ was a favorite of mine, she truly fell in love with Ung and had amazing character development in the show, it's just sad that she had to fall in love with someone who doesn't like her back, nothing on Ung but she needed a better ending than that, also had such little screen time when categorized as a main.

Yeonsu was hard to watch at first but grows with you overtime, Kim Dami was the reason I watched, so I'm glad seeing her amazing performance here. we start off seeing the character full of entitlement, a quote from a book I am reading perfectly described her "I suck and the rest of you are all awesome, so I deserve special treatment". Because of her poor financial situation, she became lost and entitled but gets to understand and rest her insecurities before the credits roll.

Ji Ung was personally a relatable character, always on the background and could never tell what he really felt, pain in so many levels, adding to that is his horrible situation with family, it showed why noble sacrifice is terrible, we should always confront rejections and pain, not hide and cover from it.

in the show we have an artist + a producer as part of the main cast, so exceptional cinematography was expected, good techniques and uses of light, that rain kiss scene is still in my mind vividly. Music was amazing, I sooo loved "Christmas Tree" by V and "Drawer" by 10cm

during the end we are treated with a drawing of Yeon Su, which symbolizes that the loneliness and insecurity from drawing only buildings was no longer there, they were a couple the complimented each other, and made themselves a far better version. also ends with a marriage documentary, it was a clever ending after starting off in a high school documentary. I'd like to praise this show for it's uncoventional take on second chance romances, must watch!

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a lesson to not live our lives for anyone but yourself

I generally have a low standard in terms of comedy, anything that's light and funny will almost always be a 10, but this film is both good and bad at the same time.

It had good comedy and started off with an interesting light story we can follow, but it starts going downhill.

Love+Sling follows the daily lives of 2 familes experience love and friendship while trying to figure things out in the process. I'd recommend people to watch this blindly without reading the synopsis or watching the trailer, It would be more ridiculous + funnier.

the film failed miserably on pacing, 1hr 48m was too much, despite the occasional laugh out loud moments, it couldn't suffice the bad storytelling.

Acting was above average at best, the film is surely not the best performances of the actors, but I wouldn't blame them, they just sinked along with the bad script.

Unless you have a lot of time to spare or have nothing to watch, I do not recommend this. Luck-Key, Midnight Runners, or Okay! Madam are movies with better storytelling whilst having the same great comedy.

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we sometimes need to die in order to live

The Day I Died was a look at what occurs inside the mind of a suicidal person and how one act of good will can change a person. a tale of selfish grown ups that left a child alone in a island that felt so far.

it was categorized as a crime/thriller but don't expect nonstop thrill and action in your screen, I'd even label this as a melodrama honestly.

despite that it was still paced well and got my attention throughout, except towards the end but a well executed ending can make me overlook that.

Kim Hye Soo was mind blowing, I recently finished Juvenile Justice and then proceeded with this, must say that she just snatched my march star of the month. the nuances felt in her eyes, we can see how affected she was throughout.

Roh Jeon Eui did not have enough screen time which is disappointing, knowing she was categorized as a female lead. however I still do think she was amazing, hopefully her talents are shown more on future projects.\

I don't know how to even describe how good of an actress Lee Jung Eun is she stole the show here as the villager who cannot speak, her mysterious aura shined for me.

It was a great idea how production choose a island as it's setting, it fits the atmosphere the film was going for and made it felt like the detective and the girl did not belong there.

Seen clearly how they prepared for cinematography, some scenes were filmed overseas, which made it a much better watch. music was also at the right time and would hit the audiences heart.

The film did a good job diverting attention and making audiences guess, creating mystery from what really happened to the girl, some were saying it was predictable but for me it was unexpected but not far fetched, which was perfect! this is also a reason for my high re watch value, there are scenes that if you do not focus may result in you being lost and confused, I had to re watch some scenes to get what was happening.

The Day I Died is not for everyone, it can be really frustrating how barely anything happens and we follow the detective almost all the time, however this has a moving and impactful story while being simple and easy to understand, if you can sit through a slow burn melodrama with a sprinkle of mystery, then definitely check it out.

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Can we really not hear other's cry or do we choose not to listen to it?

I realised this doesn't have a review, how? Time to change that. After seeing it back when it was released, I decided to rewatch and gather my thoughts, and honestly I learned much more this time around, probably because at the time, I was basically a teen who can't comprehend.

We all cry differently shows us that people cope and deals with challenges of life, how we should understand that others also go through problems, even worse than ours, therefore being more understanding and empathic.

Follows a simple plot, nothing too mindblowing hapoens, just a common girl in a common household, experiencing grief of not having complete parents.

Despite that It was calming and better than full lenght dramas, despite the shorter budget.

Flawed characters greets us in the series, people who are struggling and can't express such frustrations. We see how looking at only a single perspective leads to miscommunication, one being right doesn't automatically make another wrong.

It wanted audiences to sympathies with our main character, played by actress Kim So Hyun, her difficulties, her sensitivity to sound, her needing to choose, etc.

wasn't as emotional as I expected, even during the first watch, sad but nothing that will put you to tears.

Still I highly recommend watching this, it is real and thought provoking, while also having a great engaging story, also to be blessed by actress KIM SO HYUN'S AGELESS BEAUTY!!

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A mother loosing her child is more painful than a internal stomach ache

I wanted to rate it higher for its unique plot focus but wasn't enough for anything higher.

Juvenile Justice was a social commentary about the broken legal system of South Korea, its clear through the cases and dialogues, but I felt like at times it was trying to push the narrative too much, ending up with unnatural dialogues that wouldn't even happen in a normal conversation.

In a brighter note, I love how is it showing the reality as it is and doesn't push and tell us to believe who and what are the right actions, this character or occurrance might be wrong, but we realise that this it was actually happens, this the law that we have right now.

Furthermore I love how cases are not sugar-coated and isn't all butterfly and rainbows at the end, there's a quote in the show that goes es "the law doesn't protect all victims" our system is based on evidences, without it, justice would also not be found. Also this builds up good unpredictability while showing reality, good job writers!

Kim Hye Soo was the light of the show, such a delight to watch, her eyes speak volumes. Other main casts where also great, can't say the same about exaggerated acting of almost a lot of the supporting cast.

Quite the filler episodes and law drama clichés, felt like it took so long, and that isn't good for a 10 ep drama, resulting in my low story rating.

I wanted to say it was a masterpiece but i just can't, quite the things that cannot be overlooked, still was a great watch and would recommend it to fans of the genre.

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Is the treasure really gold or the friendship built along the way?

I was pleasently surprised by the film, read the synopsis and meh just for the cast I'll give it a go. However it was far from that, a great adventure comedy and really engaging.

Acting was solid as expected, key reason why this film was a very funny one, facial expressions and tones were spectacular.

Kwang Soo was here so I expected this to be wayyy lighter than the original pirates, Which it does. this can be a bad or good thing but in this case it was good, if it leaned more to the serious side, It wouldn't have the same impact.

Production was an eye candy, the CGI and cinematography was well done, comparable to western pirate films.

It does get slower as it progresses, 140mins was too much.

Don't expect anything mind-blowing in terms of plot, cheesy ending, just the way you'd expect it, no plot twists or shocking revelations.

Something to take note is reading carefully the origin given at the beggining, will really come in handy as the problems start to occur.

I'm a sucker for action comedy movies, adding a pirate genre didn't hurt, overall I enjoyed the childish comedy and hunt for treasure, would have wanted to seen more Chae Soo Bin though.

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Out of all the people you know, how many do you truly understand?

It's hard to put the film into words, my review probably will not justify how good the film is, however I'll give it a go.

House of hummingbird refers to our main character Eun Hee, who we follow basically every single second of the film as a hummingbird and her search to find a house she can call home.

How much time do we spend on relationships that doesn't matter, those that doesn't enhance ourselves as a person or at the very least understand the things that are unsaid. Compared that to the time we take care of ourselves or heal wounds that are barely addressed by us.

Director and Scriptwriter Kim Bo Ra is amazing, directing, lines, and shot guides viewers to understand how ridiculous the requests of the adults were, through the lenses of our main character. That's what unique and unconventional about it, focusing on a listener's perspective for most of the time, pretty much looking forward for her next project.

Though the film focuses on teen girl Eun Hee, I thought that the main issue at hand is universal. As a teen boy I can relate to never being heard or finding our places in life, that makes it wonderful.

It was a calm subtle film, though provoking and a social commentary it was never too violent or explicit. Which is honestly good because it is able to reach much younger audiences like myself. nothing extraordinary ever happens in the 140mins runtime however you cannot take your eyes off it.

One thing I love about the film is the use of symbols, things are shown figuratively and literally, with each scene having meaning and not just randomly placed.

Despite the long screentime, it never felt like it dragged on and was paced nicely. Emotions was captured nicely without using force and was tragic and sad solely through it's contents and story.

Scenes might feel unfinished, rushed, and incoherent at times but was purposely done that way to show the psychological state of Eun Hee.

It's about imperfect people including Eun Hee, trying to find their ways in life. This is not to justify such actions but some characters might seem as bad people but underneath is earnest love, just people with flaws and unable to express.

Eun Hee went through all that pain and at the end was still standing strong. How can tell yourself that something's impossible knowing that?

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