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The acting in this film was natural if a bit stiff at times, but the actors were able to convey their characters' discomfort of adjusting to each other, accepting each other, and then revealing their truths. The music fit the emotions, though at times it felt unpolished. The cinematography was appropriate for the small, almost play-like atmosphere, no beautiful grand shots.
The chestnut in it spiny bur becomes a metaphor for the protections we put around the most sensitive parts of ourselves. Each of the three characters work to peel those layers back to confront the precious secret inside of themselves.
A short, spare, film big on heart.
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This review may contain spoilers
If you are able to embrace the absurdness of a hero who is trained first by a girl and then a pot-bellied condor, you might just enjoy this movie. Leslie Cheung is beautiful and vulnerable in this role of a young man who is the son of a traitor and must overcome trials and tribulations to find his way in the world.I might have enjoyed it more if I was familiar with the source material, Jing Yong's "Return of the Condor Heroes". As it was I could tell that there were characters I should know and story lines left dangling at the end. Even though it seemed there was way too much story to tell in 90 minutes it was an entertaining and intentionally or unintentionally hilarious movie at times. Not to say there wasn't darkness woven through the tale as well. Sexual assault, buckets of blood, people and animals cleaved in half, and someone made a meal out of a family pet.
Cheung as Yang Guo and Yung Jing Jing as the titular Dragon Maiden, had good chemistry together as she taught him to fight and as they fell in love. Lo Lieh shows up briefly as a seemingly crazy kung fu master completely immersed in the Toad style of fighting. Chen Kuan Tai plays the uncle who tries initially to set the young hero on the path of righteousness but ends up unknowingly putting Guo in a sect bent on revenge for the father's actions.
The story rarely slows down with either fighting or training scenes containing lots of wire action and creative weaponry in most scenes. The Big Bad and his minions create havoc as well as other rivals for the Dragon Maiden's affection and Guo gets plenty of practice taking a beating and learning his way through the martial world.
For a 1980's kung fu movie it lived up to expectations and the production values were much higher than most of the 1970's kung fu movies I've seen. Even if the condor looked like a reject from H.R. Pufnstuf.
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Butterfly and Flowers is a heartwarming coming of age story. Huyan is a young Muslim teen struggling with poverty. His mother died and his father is a laborer. He’s an excellent student and popular with the other students. When his father chooses to pay for a school fee instead of buying rice for the family Huyan decides to drop out of school. Selling popsicles on the street he hopes to earn enough money to send his siblings to school. When an accident pushes the impoverished family closer to the edge he feels he has no other choice than to go to work for the rice smugglers so that they can survive. The question he keeps asking of himself is, “what does it take to be a good person?” The young rice smugglers hide bags of rice on trains and try to avoid the conductor checking for tickets by riding on the top of the trains. The work is dangerous and the risk of getting hurt or arrested looms over the boys every day. Far from being a gloomy story, Huyan makes friends and provides for his family. A sweet romance develops between him and Minpee, a girl he knew from school who loves flowers and butterflies.
Huyan will ultimately have to make decisions for his family’s future and his future with Minpee. Whether those decisions will lead to him being a good person of course is always the question.
The acting in this movie is very natural. I was quickly drawn into Huyan’s life and desire to take care of his family. There are no villains, only people trying to feed themselves and their families. Much of the action and conversations take place on trains. Are they moving toward something better or something worse?
Huyan’s goal for himself is familiar to many people---how to be a good person? “It’s tricky.”
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"When your dignity is trampled on, being angry is the right response"
It has been a long, long time since I’ve enjoyed a romance drama like I did Marry My Husband: Japan. I’ve not watched or read any of the other versions, so my review will be solely focused on this one. Koshiba Fuka and Satoh Takeru were delightful in the lead roles. While there was the supernatural element and business side, revenge and a modicum of suspense, the drama excelled in developing friendships and characters which I quite enjoyed.Kanbe Misa is suffering from terminal cancer and to add salt to the wound, her only family in the world turns out to be a traitorous best friend and a murderous husband. She wakes up to find herself 10 years prior, the only one aware of her time jump. In her second life, she keeps bumping into handsome “Noble Son” Suzuki Wataru. Faced with her empty life and disloyal loved ones, she has to scramble to figure out what is going on and even more, can she change her future?
Koshiba gave a wonderful performance as the doormat Misa and also as the woman whose courage and confidence begin to steadily grow. I found myself highly invested in her journey and emotions. At her core she was still the kind Misa, but also learned through Wataru that she’d been a trash magnet. It was okay to have a few thorns to ward off toxic trash. Slowly, she came to realize that there were good people around, people far more worthy of calling friends and that she was worthy of being theirs. Misa could be a dim bulb when it came to putting facts together, bless her heart. In the past her vision had been myopic. She’d not seen the gorgeous student who sat 10 feet from her every day in the park or on the many occasions at work. In the present, hints were dropped with the subtlety of a sledgehammer that she could not add up. While Misa developed a backbone and confronted problems head on, she also failed to use her words on occasion. Someone who had better communication skills…
… was the socially awkward Wataru, whose failure to be brave had led to disastrous consequences. Satoh was lovely as the secret science nerd. At first, I thought he was going to be one of those crass cold male leads, but his acerbic tongue was short-lived...thank goodness. Wataru refused to live with misunderstandings and asked the right questions to get everything out in the open. He was a bright green flag whose loyalty was unwavering. Like Misa, his brain wattage had a tendency to dim at times as well, but like her it made them relatable.
The supporting cast was a good crew. Shiraishi Sei as the sabotaging best friend and Yokoyama Yu as the useless adulterous husband were perfectly vile. Though the script tried to make them a tad sympathetic, the characters were awful in two lives which won them zero sympathy from me. They blamed all their problems on others, the opposite of Misa’s job of assuming the blame. I loved the friendships that developed between Miku, Sumiyoshi, Yotu, and Misa. They looked out for each other, comforted and bolstered each other, and celebrated the small wins in life along with the big ones. The changes in Misa’s life changed theirs for the better, too, showing that confidence and loyalty are contagious. Instead of living in misery many of the characters came to the conclusion that taking chances, even starting over when necessary, had the potential to lead to greater gains and happiness. Life is short, make the most of it!
Misa learned that not only had Reina and Tomoya been lying to her but that the far graver sin was that she had been lying to herself. The truth truly did set her free. And when changing the polarity of her magnet she became a treasure magnet, attracting love and true friendships. Not a bad thing when handsome, kind, Wataru (Satoh!) was around. The two little turtles might have been slow in the romance department but made the journey and scenery worthwhile.
29 July 2025
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"Persevere through the storm, things will get better"
Meet Yourself was a tranquil 40 episodes of slice of life in a small village where wounded people went to heal. The safest place you could ever travel to or live in, where everyone might not know your name but they were always glad you came.After the loss of her best friend, Xu Hong Dou escapes to a small village to reassess her life. In the place she is renting she is befriended by a writer, a singer, a man who meditates most of the day, a woman who runs the local café, and a man who is working diligently to put the village on the map and attract tourists. Numerous other people come into her life from all ages-from the auntie brigade to the munchkin squad. No one is allowed to hibernate, but all are encouraged to become involved in the village happenings and helping neighbors. Hong Dou is only staying for three months which becomes problematic when she and village problem solver Xie Zhi Yao begin to develop feelings for each other.
I will get what didn’t work for me out of the way. It’s a short list. I could not keep up with all of the characters in this village, especially as it seemed to grow day after day. Business bores me so I tended to check out when there were lengthy and oftentimes redundant trade talk. Singing sessions felt like filler more often than not. As in real life, there were characters I was invested in and those that I was not. That’s about it, which for me is a short list. Lol
I’m a sucker for redemption and personal growth stories and Meet Yourself had plenty of both. Nearly every character experience emotional growth except Yao’s grandmother who was practically perfect in every way. Nature was appreciated even as villagers came to realize that farming was not going to keep the young people from moving away. Traditional crafts and skills were encouraged as Yao continually fought to find markets for the locals’ produce and crafts. Beijing was praised but the drama pushed finding alternate forms of income for the village so that families could stay together and parents didn’t have to leave children behind to work in the larger cities.
No one ever went away hungry. In every episode people were cooking and eating, often in the outdoor kitchen. In this idyllic place, the open kitchen was never plagued by insects, rodents, birds, or any other multi-legged creatures attracted to the smell of food. With the exception of a few animated aunties, everyone spoke in the gentlest of whispers. Problems were solved with a can-do spirit and a little help from their friends.
Friendships old and new had unbreakable bonds of trust, loyalty, and forgiveness. Grief and tears were replaced with happy memories and smiles. There were no surprises and no real conflicts. Meet Yourself was simply 40 episodes of the nice being nice to the nice---the ultimate in soothing slice of life.
“Dark clouds are passing and the wind will always rise.”
12 June 2025
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"It's human to lie. Most of the time we can't even be honest with ourselves."
*I have updated this review and my score on a second viewing. My added thoughts follow the original review.*I'm going to post a short, heretical review of this much lauded film. Much as I wanted to love this film, it had a major stumbling block for me in the story.
That the movie is technically well made is not up for debate. It was a well made movie from 1950. I've enjoyed other Kurasawa movies. I love Mifune Toshiro. Rashomon might have been a profound movie experience for me if the story had not been told through such a narrow male lens.
The Rashomon effect is still used to describe eye witnesses giving different testimony to a single event. People do lie to each other, to the court, and to themselves because of their egos, fears, survival instincts, and inability to face the truth. The film showed this human frailty quite poignantly. The cinematography, music, and acting were exceptional for the time. Mifune's performance as the bandit tinged with madness was unexpected but quite well done although at times it did veer into Ernest T. Bass territory.
Where I diverge from the fans of this movie is in one particular aspect of the film. It repeatedly showed and told the viewer that women were not just physically, but morally weaker than men and were not to be trusted. This was even more despicable because the men were shown as being morally corrupt so the raped woman was even lower than they were. Twice we come away with the woman in the story enjoying her rape and trying to use it to her advantage. In different flashbacks she pit the two men against each other or asked the bandit to murder her husband. That she was willing to go with her rapist was beyond comprehension to me, unless she was planning on murdering him in his sleep. I understand that during the period of time the movie was set in, and even in 1950, a raped woman was looked on as damaged goods. (The Comfort Women after WWII were looked down upon and expected to commit suicide and often shunned by their families.) If the director had convinced me that she was doing what she had to do to survive I might have been able to stomach that part of the story better, but as it was shown it built a fire of anger in my chest, not at the woman but the storyteller for perpetuating some of the most dangerous myths about women and rape. Given, it was a common view of the time, but it didn't make it any less reprehensible to me.
Only in the woman's version does she not come across as a conniving "whore", perhaps only a murderous woman to save herself, but we are also told to not believe a woman's story immediately thereafter.
As much as I tried to overlook the misogynistic view of women and rape in this movie to enjoy the rest of the story, I couldn't escape it. Rashomon, despite all the glorious reviews I've read across the internet, failed to live up to them in my experience.
2 September 2021
*Update on my review:*
Having now watched all but one of Kurosawa’s films for which he was the writer/director I decided to revisit this film about the unreliability of eye witness accounts and how truth is often relative, enigmatic, and subjective. I struggled with it mightily the first time because of how women were not only looked down upon but treated with outright hostility. I wanted to see if my opinion would change on a second viewing of this famous and well-loved film.
When asked about Rashomon, Kurosawa had the following comments: “Human beings are unable to be honest with themselves without embellishing…(these characters) are the kind who cannot survive without lies to make them feel they are better people than they really are.” “The human heart is impossible to understand.”
The message that people are weak and even lie to themselves for a variety of reasons still resonates. Also, how perspective and memory are faulty witnesses still holds true. I would have to add that perhaps Kurosawa was blind to the depths of his own gender bias. Other Japanese directors from this time frame and even earlier had made films showing how the patriarchal society caused women to suffer, I guess I was just expecting more from one of my favorite directors. I’ve read interviews with him about this film and he discussed at length how they suffered from leeches while filming in the forest, but not even a brief comment about the trauma or suffering rape causes a woman or how he wanted to show the inequality women suffer from. Instead Tajomaru is romantically described as a womanizer.
Social reform, individual responsibility, and equality were important points in many of Kurosawa’s films. Apparently, just for men. Masago’s rape was only viewed as a crime against her husband, and yes, I know this would be historically accurate. I was just looking for a hint of sympathy for her from any of the male characters since she was the only woman in the film. Her testimony in court was dismissed as irrelevant immediately. When she testified, she didn’t even mention her rape because either she knew no one would care or the writers knew that. The only crime was the samurai's death. The male rape fantasy that women really like it and want to be dominated was still appalling. Just one flicker of disgust from the men telling the story to the peasant, anything to tip the hand that her treatment was inexcusable, but nothing. Because all of the voices except one telling the story or judging it were male—the witnesses, the judge, the writers, the director---Masago’s witness was all but ignored. Masago's only weapon against the dominating men was her sexuality, all she had to try and salvage her situation with and save her life. Perhaps Masago was diabolically cruel and cunning, pitting two men’s penises and swords against each other for her own pleasure, her rapist and heartless, cowardly husband, but as was pointed out, “It’s human to lie. Most of the time we can’t even be honest with ourselves,” so I’m afraid I can’t even believe the actor (character) who usually played the moral compass in Kurosawa’s films.
I did bump my score up from a 6.5 to a 7.5 because this is a culturally important film and it was well made, but honestly, and still unpopularly, I didn’t like it any better the second time around. From my own biased witness on this film, if Kurosawa had been making a culturally relevant film that also purposefully highlighted the ruthless way rape victims were treated and the stunning disregard for women instead of reinforcing dangerous beliefs, I’d have rated this much, much higher.
11 June 2024
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This review may contain spoilers
"Even though I'm no better than a beast, don't I deserve the right to live?"
Oldboy was an unflinching violent revenge film that would have made a Greek tragedy blush. I watched this film during its 20th anniversary year and the production values held up. The storytelling's misogynistic overtones dated it and didn't hold up as well. I've not mentioned any of the major plot twists in this review.Choi Min Shik as the deeply flawed Oh Dae Soo did a marvelous job transitioning from drunk, philandering husband to confused, bitter prisoner to vengeful vigilante searching for answers. Yoo Ji Tae made a decidedly creepy and vengeful Lee Woo Jin. The two men whose lives were intertwined by a careless comment were at their best when playing cat and mouse.
The action scenes showed that nearly anything can be transformed into a weapon. You may never see toothbrushes the same. A hallway fight leading to an elevator fight were truly iconic and I can see where they influenced many other fight scenes in television and film. Dae Soo's commitment verging on insanity was frighteningly powerful.
Where the film failed me were the women's roles. Their very existence seemed to be as vessels of the men's lust and "love". They played into the men's circle of vengeance with no real identities. Of course, they were necessary to have several gratuitous bare breast shots and being threatened with sexual violence. Mi Do accepted it as perfectly normal when Dae Soo attempted to rape her. And the final plot twist, sick as it was, once again left her without any choice or agency of her own.
While Woo Jin's revenge long game was vile, the film seemed determined to make Dae Soo as unsympathetic as possible from beginning to end. His one moment of empathy was cut short by self-gratification. In the end the film doubled-down on his troubling personality. There was no redemption arc, no moment of healing, no positive character growth, only primal animal instincts. As a thought exercise in tearing away the veneer of civilization, the film succeeded in a disturbing manner.
9/2/23
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And the thunder rolls...
Had I Not Seen the Sun P2 continued the story of pain and retribution which began in P1. Questions were answered, monsters were destroyed and created, and justice was once again slow and ineffectual.Li Jen Yao is out of prison and working for Big K as a cleaner amongst other jobs. More than anything he is searching for Chiang Hsiao Tung who has seemingly disappeared. One night he helps a blind woman who has Chiang’s butterfly tattoo on her hand. Is this the girl he has been searching for? How could she look so different? Somehow in this town of over 2 million people other interested parties from the past also bump into the damaged pair.
Sun P2 did some things quite well. The romantic parts sizzled and scored. Chiang’s brokenness, not only from the attack by her rapists but by society’s lurid need for despicable videos, and people’s trained response to blame the victim, resulted in her mind’s answer to an unanswerable question to her problems. Alice Ko may have been too old for her role, but I honestly enjoy her performances and was grateful for her screen time in P2. The drama highlighted how Chiang felt trapped in that one horrific moment, not only her, but the boy who loved her as well.
What didn’t work for me as much: The villains became even more cartoon-like completely going over the top, perhaps to justify their gruesome deaths more. Li sinking into monsterdom wasn’t a shock, we knew from season 1 that he would go on a killing spree, but his bloodlust spilled over onto people who didn’t deserve it. His last murder was almost comical, it felt like the old saying, “In for a penny, in for a pound.” “I’ve murdered this many people so, why not?” While Chiang’s mental state was the focus of her story, it would seem the writers underwrote Li’s. His most monstrous act didn’t seem to faze Chiang which was also problematic for me. Li was always portrayed in a simple binary. There was Chiang, his sun, and everything and everyone else in the darkness with him. While I enjoyed watching the romance blossom, it was at best a female wish fulfillment of a guy who would do anything, anytime, anyway for his girl with few thoughts and desires of his own. Finally, after all the angst and mysteries, the drama took a shortcut in the healing of a truly complex mental illness that was jarring.
There was a public service announcement with a number to call “if you need someone to talk with” at the end of the drama, not how to get justice, which just showcased that rape is a part of life for many women. Women who will never see justice. Women who must deal with a patriarchal society that blames the victim, shames the victim, and oftentimes turns on the victim. With the advent of the internet, their pain can be on full display for seemingly all time with few recourses because the silent monsters in the dark feed on it. There were so many important things this drama touched on, not least of which was how abusive parents cause terrible brokenness in their children and society. I was prepared to give Had I Not Seen the Sun P2 a higher score as I was watching it until Li went completely off the rails. A romanticized monster is still a monster.
13 December 2025
Trigger Warnings: Sexual assaults, slicey and bone crushing murders, self-harm, suicide
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"Running into a storm is actually better because no one dares follow you there"
Mad Unicorn was inspired by Thailand’s first unicorn-Flash Express in 2021. A unicorn is a startup business that achieves a valuation of at least $1 billion. The names of characters were changed as well as the business name and other conflicts were added, but the drama is said to have hit many of the main challenges Komsan Saelee faced in his rise to fame and fortune.Santi Saelee is working in a sand mine and too poor to mail his mother a tin of cookies. After being rewarded for helping his boss keep the mine afloat, Santi takes his earnings to Bangkok to make it rich. He tries different ventures and is completely undeterred from asking people for money to invest. After being taken advantage of numerous times, he finally finds the right group to work with and begins a delivery service, hoping to not only become wealthy but also to take revenge against one of the people who swindled him.
Mad Unicorn kept a frenetic pace from beginning to end, scarcely letting the viewer catch their breath. Santi had to deal with sabotage and betrayal. He was also confronted by numerous economic hardships and challenges as he tried to secure funding and not lose the majority stake in his own company. Santi not only thought outside the box, sometimes he folded the box into an origami chicken in order to push his business ideas through. Quitting was never an option for him. The wildly creative and wild CTO Rui Jie, often ran afoul of his tech crew as he worked them relentlessly. CFO Xiao Yu was usually the voice of reason and the right person to hold the purse strings. The team’s nemesis was Kanin with his deep pockets and political influence. Kanin and his son Ken were willing to play dirty in order to drive the rival delivery service out of business.
This drama was raw with even rawer emotions as Santi fought hand, tooth, and nail, willing to risk everything to succeed. Having lived on rats and whatever birds he could kill as a child, Santi refused to go back, and obsessively pushed forward even when success seemed far out of reach. Mad Unicorn was a dream fueled by desperation and desire. I’m not a big fan of business dramas, and this one could be uneven, however, it was compelling from beginning to end.
“I have a big appetite because I am poor.”
8 July 2025
Side note: Ek Thaneth Warakulnukroh was stuck in either a hideous wig or terrible hair and eyebrow powdering.
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"Gaja! Gaja!"
Aimless Bullet aka Obaltan was a relentlessly bleak look at an impoverished family in post-war Korea. While the film didn’t touch on politics, showing the hopelessness of the characters and the devastated economy got the film banned for a bit, before the censors relented and let it be released in South Korea.Song Cheol Ho leads a family that includes his pregnant wife and young daughter, his traumatized and bedridden mother who cries out, “Let’s go! Let’s go!” repeatedly, Yeong Ho-his handsome brother who cannot find a job and spends his days drinking, a younger brother who dropped out of school to sell newspapers, and a sister who has been shunned by her fiancé. Yeong can usually be found with his buddies from the military. Most of them were wounded during the war and have had no luck finding jobs two years after the war. Cheol works a dead-end job as an accountant. He barely makes enough money to feed and shelter his family. His wisdom teeth cause him constant agonizing pain but he refuses to spend money at the dentist’s when he can’t even afford shoes for his daughter. As tragedy after tragedy hits, family members begin to seek alternate forms of income that have serious consequences.
The film utilizes broken glass throughout. With the exception of the daughter, most of the characters were like broken glass with little hope of putting them back together. Cheol took a deep breath every day as he shuffled into his hovel in worn out shoes, believing he was failing his family. Yeong received opportunities and blew them, found and lost love, and eventually used up all his chances. Tragedy after tragedy struck Cheol until he was like an aimless bullet, disoriented and not knowing where to go.
Just about every problem associated with the economy was shown, even in blink and you’ll miss them moments. The sheer financial hopelessness weighed on the characters like ominous millstones around their necks. After WWII most countries were able to begin rebuilding, Korea ended up torn in two by a calamitous war further devastating their country and economy. Men who had sacrificed so much for their country came home without job possibilities. Gut wrenching loneliness compounded by PTSD and infirmities only led to further isolation and emotional desolation.
Aimless Bullet occasionally gave the characters a brief glimpse of a better future only to burn it to the ground. This film was an aggrieved cry, “Gaja! Gaja!”, “Let’s go! Let’s go!” But go where? For some characters there was only one path that led to release from their suffering, others wandered in circles, aimless bullets searching for a direction that led to sunrise instead of the eternal night.
17 June 2025
Trigger warning: suicides both alluded to and shown
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"We like to do our own thing"
I Love Filipino was a charming and informative show covering Filipino food, art, music, and architecture. The production values were not slick but that just added to the homey feel of Filipinos sharing their love for their culture, country, and people.
One-Pinoy Altanghap
Different dishes are explained and their origins. Also, how geography and history have transformed indigenous ingredients along with imports into tasty food that pleases the Filipino palate. Filipinos who left for work outside the country have also become more interested in learning traditional cooking and have brought back new takes on old recipes. As much as anything food nourishes not only the body but relationships and is a form of affection for guests and family.
Two-Himig
This episode focused on music. Foreign occupations in the past by Spain, Japan, and the United States caused musicians to express their feelings and love of country subversively. Foreigners and the diaspora still influence Filipino music but the country’s artists make everything their own. Whether its songs about love, gratefulness, or the coconut, composers stay true to their roots as they sing from their hearts and life experiences in versatile and creative ways.
Three-Juan with Art
Painting, sculpting, comic books, and making toys out of trash were highlighted. Many of the artists wish to express creatively the Filipino way of life including religion and family. Others stress sustainability with their artistic expressions. While one artist has made a name for himself with Marvel comic books, he and others in the field are working to revive and expand Filipino comic books.
Four-Sawsaw Juan
Filipinos love affair with sauces and dips was explored in this episode. Many of the sauces originated from resourceful mothers and grandmothers. In order to customize each bite and enjoy a diversity of flavors different sauces are available and the flavor combinations are constantly expanding.
Five-Bahay Kubo
The ancient and also imminently practical Bahay Kubo architecture was discussed. The basic style connects people to other people and nature. The style was described as resilient and spiritual. As one person said about sustainability in buildings and furniture, Filipinos didn’t have to relearn how to as they’ve nearly always used bamboo and local materials that are recyclable and biodegradable.
As I mentioned, the production values weren’t extremely high, but the love of the people for their country and skills shown through brightly. I enjoyed learning more about Filipino food, history, music, art, and architecture. Their devotion to preserving traditions and building on them all while trying to protect the environment was inspiring. Whether making delectable food, or creating toys from used flip-flops, or singing heartfelt music, creative artists shared their talent and affection for the place they call home. I for one, am happy I was able to briefly visit through I Love Filipino.
16 June 2025
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"It doesn't take much for friends to become foes"
The Wild trotted out every trope and plot element used in a dozen other gangster movies, offering nothing new or exciting. It’s only saving grace was that Park Sung Woong can always bring an intimidating presence to any role, even when playing an overaged boxer.Song Woo Cheol is picked up by his old friend and boss, Jang Do Shik, when he is released after 7 years in prison for accidentally killing another boxer in the ring during an illegal fight. Do Shik is ready to put Woo Cheol back to work, but the fighter wants, “to live quietly.” It takes no time for Woo Cheol to become entangled with a hooker who has a drug problem and one of her violent johns, Jo Jeong Gon, who is a detective and entangled with Do Shik and his North Korean drug supplier Ri Gak Soo. With a huge drug supply coming in, nearly everyone is double-crossing or murdering someone in order to either get hold of the drugs, the money, or both.
While I’m sure the writers thought the twists and turns would be surprising, I was calling them out before they came. It helps to have someone to be invested in, but for a solid hour, I really didn’t care about any of them. There were hints that Song Cheol regretted his part in the other fighter’s death and going to prison for Do Shik, but he didn’t exactly do anything to break away from Do Shik. I have no problem with age gaps, but a romance with someone half his age, felt more like male wish fulfillment than organic to the story.
The Wild was a wildly pessimistic and cynical gangster movie. I was deeply disappointed that Woo Cheol didn’t turn out to be as smart as I hoped he was. If you’ve never seen a Korean gangster movie or any gangster movie, The Wild might provide some twists and turns, otherwise, it was a “connect the dots” of familiar crooked games of deceit and betrayal all at the end of a knife.
26 January 2025
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"Who am I?"
Director Kim Ki Duk took the viewer to dark places with One on One. Though he highlighted how the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, the poor were shown to be just as culpable in society’s ills as those in positions of power.After a school girl was murdered, seven vigilantes stalked the killers and the ones who ordered the hit. One by one, the murderers were captured and tortured to find out all they knew about the killing. Each time they captured someone, the vigilantes changed costumes. The group began to fracture when some of the vigilantes begin to ask, when is too much violence, too much?
The contract killers were all shown to live comfortable lives with significant others. While they ate ramen as a snack, many of the vigilantes were reduced to eating it as their main meals. Most of the vigilantes were suffering social injustices from different corners. The curious thing was that Kim Young Min not only played one of the killers, but also several different characters callously interacting with the vigilantes in their daily lives. Perhaps it meant that abusive jerks are similar regardless of their station in life?
After every prisoner was captured, they all asked, “Don’t you know who I am?” Director Kim seemed to be asking the audience to ask that question of themselves as well. “I was just following orders” or even “I was doing it for the greater good” were the common answers given during the torture sessions. How many of the world’s evils have been built on those two concepts? What danger could a school girl be to society that she was brutally murdered?
The film was shot in two weeks and it looked flat and gray at times. The sound could be abysmally bad. Having seen Kim's 3-Iron which had almost no dialogue, the heavy-handed and stilted dialogue in this film was a disappointment. For those who would be bothered, there was a long sexual encounter that started with violence. Each “victim's” torture session was different, some of the methods were more gruesome than others. There were annoying lapses in logic on several occasions. Why would the school girl keep running down dark, empty alleys when there was a well-lit street with shops to dart into? Why didn’t the vigilantes have any security around their building? Despite their dangerous activities, they didn’t even lock the doors to their hideout. They were constantly followed and observed through windows yet never knew it.
Director Kim had plenty to say about human nature and its depravity. Good guys did bad things. A few of the bad guys regretted their actions. People were cruel and driven to be greedily selfish at all social levels. The utter lack of compassion for their fellow human beings went from the top to the bottom of the economic structure. Kim asked the question, “Who am I?” Perhaps more importantly, “What am I?" One on One was frustratingly inconclusive regarding answers and had an overtly pessimistic view of humanity.
11 July 2024
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Dr Storks protect and assist the miracles
Dr Storks followed the trials, joys, and frustrations of the medical personnel in the labor and delivery portion of a hospital as well as those in the NICU. Dr. Konotori worked to help mothers share the gift of life during the miracle of birth. Pregnancy is not an illness but as the drama showed, it is not without risks. The doctors and midwives fought alongside the parents and newborn infants as they dug deep to find their courage to succeed and survive.The main OB/Gyns were Drs. Konotori and Shinomiya, both devoted to their patients but as different as night and day. Friendly and talkative Konotori was willing to risk a mother’s life to save her uterus while harsh speaking and quiet Dr. Shinomiya was ready to perform a hysterectomy at the drop of a hat. Made for an interesting balance. For anyone wanting to watch the drama for Hoshino Gen, he was only in each episode for a few minutes. This was Ayano Go’s starring role and he made the most of it. I thoroughly enjoyed his piano performances in disguise as the pianist "Baby". Some doctors had character growth and others broke down. In my country the majority of OB/Gyns are women so it was odd seeing the majority of doctors as male. The female doctors weren’t very well represented. One female doctor was easily excitable and distracted while the other was a walking burnout. Both came across as fragile. The doctor I would want in my corner was the older NICU doc. He saw the big picture and was steady emotionally.
Each episode had different medical crises and subjects---teen pregnancy, adoption, abortion, Rubella, birth defects, maternal and infant deaths, IVF, smoking, preservation of the uterus, midwives, pregnancy and sexual discrimination, as well as discrimination against single parents and working women with children, postpartum depression, and more—whew! A few of the topics came across as strange to me. Adoption seemed to be a new concept and there were misconceptions about the availability of pregnancy care in Hawaii. Members of the staff also had very callous attitudes toward certain patients which seemed the opposite of how they should have approached patient care. The gut-wrenching stories involved parents and spouses faced with traumatic decisions that no one would ever want to make. Some parents handled bad news better than others. As in real life, there were parents who would do whatever was needed for their baby and others who wouldn’t visit a child fighting for its life. A few of the topics were handled with the subtlety of an afternoon school special while others were quite well done. I hate to admit that I became teary during two or three of the stories. It wasn't all tears, there were lovely heartwarming stories as well.
The cinematography and lighting were rudimentary and could be distracting. At times the music blared over the dialogue which was also distracting. What Dr. Storks had going for it were the compelling stories of life, death, and the medical personnel who fought for happy healthy outcomes for everyone even when it wasn’t possible. The doctors realized they were often powerless and that “things don’t always go as planned,” but that didn’t stop them from giving their all to the women and tiny lives entrusted to them.
4 Jan 2024
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"Pleased to eat you!"
If you decide to watch The Meg because of the tagline, "Pleased to eat you!" you probably already know to check your brain at the door because you are about to be swamped with clichéd characters and plot and ridiculous pseudo-science. Most of the CGI and cinematography were quality which helped when the dialogue tried to drown the fun of a massive Megalodon or two set loose from the Mariana Trench!Starring Jason Statham, you know he's going to have to go mano y pectoral fin with the giant 90ft/27m shark at some point in time. Jonas is the lone diver who can attempt a rescue at over 11,000ft/3300m depth and he's off in Thailand drinking his sorrows away. He'd attempted a rescue five years earlier of a sub trapped in the Trench and had to abandon some of his men when the sub was attacked by a giant creature. Even though he saved numerous lives he was branded as having had a psychological breakdown for the story he told. When his ex-wife and crew become stranded at the bottom of the Trench, an old teammate comes calling to talk him into rescuing her.
The characters were stock characters, shallow with little personality. Li Bing Bing was weighed down in the Stereotypical Headstrong Female Scientist role who thought Statham's Jonas was crazy and treated him as such until she was rescued by him numerous times as he snatched her out of the jaws of death. She had a Wise Beyond Her Years Daughter who helped to lead the two divorced people to a romance. The rest of the crew included the Egotistical Billionaire, Tough Chick, Black Guy Who Can't Swim (really?!?), Scientist Bestie, Jerk Doctor, Dad With a Target On His Back, and a couple of other scientists. Honestly, with the exception of a couple of characters, none of them were developed enough to make me care whether they lived or became chum. One of the early deaths was actually emotional and done well, after that it was bring on the shark!
The science was particularly awful without any conception of the forces at work on submersibles and the people in them at the deepest depths of the ocean. And one scene that was supposed to be frightening had me laughing until I could barely breathe. Seriously, that little boat they used was tough if they could lasso a megalodon using it! Also, every time the script called for Statham to have to dive into the water to face the big fish to show his courage was hilarious.
If you watch this movie, you need to know that there aren't any award-winning performances, in fact, some are particularly bad. The science is dreadful. The dialogue can be cringe-worthy. When numerous people are threatened the stakes don't feel very high because we don't know anyone, even the people from the main crew who fall into the water every five minutes. If you can set all that aside, it is a fun movie with the ginormous sharks seeking to turn back the clock about 10 million years when they ruled the oceans.
9/13/23
Edit--I bumped the score up .5 because I enjoyed it more than the sequel although the sequel had better acting. This one had me laughing more.
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