Okay, so I took a gamble with this movie, it came up in my Netflix recommendations and I thought oh it'll be high school slice of life film with maybe some darker themes. However now I don't think words can describe how frustrated and angry I felt after this movie finished like watched the last 10 minutes standing up, angrily pointing at the screen and rolling my eyes because it was SO ridiculous. I would heavily recommend against watching this movie

All the male characters in the film treated women as property as if they were a prize to be won. Tachibana ended up being the lesser of 3 evils but when the other two options were her adoptive older brother and a celebrity that leaked her nudes as revenge because her dad MIGHT have cheated on his mom the standard isn't very high is it. He acted like an incel for a good bit then he seemed to cop on a little bit and genuinely care for Hatsumi but still his actions were so weird at first that I can't excuse them. I really dislike when media portrays the idea that adoptive siblings and step-siblings aren't REAL siblings, I felt so uncomfortable watching Hatsumi's own brother try to ruin her other relationships because he wants her, whatever your stance may be on the whole step-sibling thing, you cannot tell me when he spoke about watching her grow up and a few minutes later KISSED her you did not feel at least slightly creeped out. DISGUSTING. Azusa's actions are still above me I won't even start on his stupid ass. Hatsumi is possibly the worst lead I've ever seen, I will not blame her for some of the terrible things that happened to her, it was clear her kind and insecure nature was taken advantage of but girlie! do you ever think before you act?. I will not blame her for anything Azusa did he truly took advantage of her but the scene in the hotel when Tachibana shows her the sonogram and she leaves to seduce her brother ??? what was that ??? why would you even THINK ABOUT DATING YOUR BROTHER???? or when she tries to stay in contact with Azusa after the video incident??? No one is THAT naive like even some scenes in the movie portray Hatsumi as strong and willing to fend for herself so WHY would she act like that it was just so far fetched and ridiculous. Needless to say, the characterization in the movie was a headache and really really frustrated me.

From reading other reviews it seems this movie is adapted from a manga and I think it really could have benefited from being a drama series instead of being a movie cos so many things were just not explained or very rushed. Especially the side plot with Akane it was so ill-explained that I feel it was something that should be omitted altogether as it added nothing of substance to the main plot. The plot of this movie felt very hodgepodge and the pace was so strange by the last 20 minutes I was just begging for it to just END. There is also a weird promotion of early sex in the movie with one character literally towards the end saying she didn't understand why it was important until now? Some of the writing in the movie felt like it had potential like when Tachibana's universe lines but overall it was just a bunch of over-complicated drivel and added to the overall ridiculousness of this film.

The cinematography was very pretty and the editing was very unique to me which is why I'm giving this movie any credit at all, I loved the use of images and other smaller gif like clips to transition scenes that made for an interesting watch. The music was nothing special it was just appropriate for the scenes.

Overall this movie is certainly one I'll remember but for all the wrong reasons.

Read More

This is rated one of the best Korean thriller movies and after watching I can certainly see why. While all reviews and trailer highlighted the theme of class struggle the theme itself is portrayed in a very subtle way. The pace and plotline of the movie are very unique and very,, unlike other conventional movies. The characters in this movie aren't particularly interesting, however, the theme is still subtly indicated. I do find this movie to be impactful and is a must-watch in a cinematic point of view but it lacks rewatch value. It's a movie that doesn't hold any significance the second time around, knowing the plot and climax of the movie.

Overall, this movie has a unique plot and a distinctive cinematic layout.

Read More

When I was first getting into Korean pop culture back in 2014 everyone was infatuated with The Heirs, I was into the music side of things more back then and I wanted to check out some dramas and since everyone was raving about the heirs I thought I'd give it a go. I binge-watched it every day up until episode 17 and then I guess life got to me and I stopped watching, recently after watching some way better TV shows, I decided to finally finish it and not going to lie despite expecting very little I did enjoy watching the final 3 episodes.

Being South-Asian myself I was well used to dramatic plotlines that were well removed from reality but I don't think anything quite prepared me for The Heirs. Sometimes it felt like things happened just because the writer was able to write it into the script. It was so ridiculous at times I found myself having to pause the episode just to take in what was going on. I also believe the show took on a few too many sub-plots, towards the end a lot of the conclusions to these plots were incredibly rushed. However, I think The Heirs is an interesting watch if you go in knowing how legitimately ridiculous it is, its sheer madness is magnificent.

Overall I liked the acting in The Heirs and I think the casting was done quite well in some areas, for example, Tan and Won actually did look like brothers but everyone cast as teenagers looked way too old. I found Krystal's character annoying but I think that's just how she was designed (also I can't stand valley girl accents). Park Shin-Hye did her stiff rigamortis kiss thing but I've come to learn that's just how she acts in every kiss scene so minus points there too. However, as ridiculous as the show got the actors always delivered.

The music in The Heirs was well-fitting albeit a tad annoying at times its been 5 years and "LOVE IS THE MOOOOMMMEENNNTTT" still echoes in my head from time to time. Anytime anything slightly romantic happened in it would come BOOMING. Besides that one track, the rest of the soundtrack was nice and mellow.

Realistically I likely won't rewatch the heirs but a little part of me feels like I would just for the nostalgia of it all, despite its flaws there is still something very iconic about it. Love it or hate it, its impact is everlasting.

Read More

Badly Aged Poorly Made Horror

Perhaps if I watched this movie at the time of it's release I would've enjoyed it more however watching 2021 it is out of date and for lack of a better expression meh.

I am guessing but I guess for most the pull of this movie would be the plot, a cursed K-pop song sure does sound interesting however the execution was messy. Also again in 2021 the K-pop industry has changed quite a lot and while it's still if not more cutthroat, the movie feels outdated. There were a lot of plot points that were straight-up comical and made absolutely no sense. The ending was messy and I came out of the movie slightly annoyed.

The horror felt cheap, extremely low budget, most of the scares were predictable and the blood looked like raspberry syrup. The cheap white wig also made me laugh a lot, that's no lace front that's for sure.

The women in this movie were really beautiful though giving a star for that.

There is far better Korean horror out there, don't waste your time on this

Read More