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If there is God...
I hope you won’t watch this movie for Christmas. The title, Christmas Carol, may mislead those searching for a film to lift up the holiday spirit. Instead, we are given a gut-wrenching story about a crime that was never properly addressed—one that becomes more and more depressing as the events unfold.I feel this movie is made for people of faith like me, to provoke our religious ideas about God’s providence, His blessings, forgiveness, and redemption. The film asks: If God is real, how can you believe and trust in Him when He allows such terrible things to happen? But I would say that the pain and anguish we feel in the face of evil are themselves proof that there must be some higher justice. In the end, I really liked this movie, even though I don’t think I will want to watch it again.
The main actor, Park Jin-young, plays both himself and his brother, and he was truly pushed to the limit to authentically express and convey the emotional reality of his characters. The other actors were good as well, but he displayed a rawness of emotion rarely seen on screen. So even if only for his performance, this movie is worth seeing.
Now, let us sing a Christmas carol. Which one is your favourite?
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Tofu and Money
What a nice movie! House of the Seasons is a slow-paced meditation on a Korean family, portraying one year (from spring to winter) and four generations of family members living together. What we see here is the bond within the family—both in good times and in bad—and the movie also gives us foreigners a glimpse into the traditional Korean way of life. It is mesmerizing to observe and reflect on the traditional rituals and the dynamics between generations. There is a lot of dialogue in the movie, but the best moments for me were the silent portraits of people and nature, filled with gentle music. The changing of the seasons corresponds to the rhythm of family life (spring brings new life and opportunities, while winter points to death and loss). But life is bigger than one year and one generation, and after winter a new spring will come.I would say that the director did a great job making this movie. It is not for everyone, but it has the potential to become a classic for future generations. The movie isn’t so much plot-driven as it is character-immersive, and the director uses the symbol of tofu to represent the building of a family. In contrast to tofu, there is also the symbol of money, which may divide the family.
I want to eat some tofu now and pray for my family.
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I understand punk now
his experimental art movie is a mix of real life and fiction, following a young punk group in a diverse city where several incidents occur, and the group members try to make sense of them. The image of Bruce Lee keeps appearing, and it seems to have something to do with the incidents — or perhaps it’s simply an attempt to find answers that ultimately can’t be found.It’s hard to talk about this movie because there is no clear plot, only images and scenes that contrast with each other. We hear a lot of punk music, and between scenes, various foreigners introduce themselves in their own languages. For me, punk as a genre is just noise — but maybe that’s the point: to make noise, to let everyone express themselves loudly, to give a voice to those on the margins of society. So this movie is a punk commentary of our society.
This movie can’t truly be described; it just has to be seen. So I don’t have anything more to add here.
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So many characters, so little story
From the start until the end of this movie, I couldn’t really understand the direction it was going in. The movie begins by introducing all the characters with short clips and then slowly tries to connect them, but it doesn’t quite work. It’s a mix of many elements that, in my opinion, don’t fit well together. It seems as if the director incorporated every idea that came to mind without considering what would actually work for the film. Watching this movie feels like scrolling through social media posts, and in the end, you’ve just lost two hours of your time.Yes, there is a romantic storyline, but it’s overshadowed by unnecessary side plots, strange behavior, and lazy comedy. Even the kiss between the two people in love feels forced and unnatural. I’d say this movie is watchable, but it’s not very romantic, and the comedy isn’t funny—so I can’t recommend it.
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Human Touch
A Day With My Son is a beautiful human story about family, relationships, and, above all, the human touch — something we have less and less of today (in 2025), when most of our interactions happen through messages and screens. That’s why family remains the greatest treasure a person can have: to have a mother and a father, a son, a daughter, and to be able to look each other in the eyes and hold each other’s hand.The protagonists in this movie don’t speak much to each other. The lack of spoken words is replaced by inner voice-over narration, through which we can hear their thoughts and feel their emotions. This approach adds an original tone to the movie, along with a few small fantastical elements involving animals. In this sense, the film is more a work for reflection than for pure entertainment.
While watching the movie, it wasn’t clear where the story was heading, and since it is quite slow, I began to feel bored in the middle. But the final act revealed what it was truly about, and the film left me with a warmth of love and faith that is hard to describe. I can only say that this movie made my heart grow an inch bigger.
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Beware of the Truth
If you liked Oldboy, you will also love this movie. It’s not an action film, but it has the same level of disturbing psychological drama that makes it suspenseful and engaging. My warning is that this movie is not for the faint-hearted.Also, this movie is weird. It has some unusual directorial choices, but as the story progressed I started to appreciate them because they make the film unique: the subtle scene transitions, the timeline shifting back and forth, actors holding straight faces without responding naturally to situations, slight image freezes on important details, and the light outfits of the main character — the mother, Yeon-hong, who behaves like a frantic woman in search of answers. All in all, this is a unique movie that thriller fans will find worth watching. A lot of effort went into making the mystery as deep and complicated as possible, and it was done in an original and satisfying way. It certainly isn’t easy to know or handle the truth.
The whole movie was captivating, but the final scene gave me goosebumps — something I haven’t experienced in a long time.
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Concert for Dogs and Cats
Let me say, the cat on the poster for this movie is a perfect representation of the documentary, which shows the care for stray cats and dogs in Baeksa, a mountain village. Both humans and their pets struggle to survive in this place, but the animals suffer even more when their owners abandon them. So, one guy came up with the idea of making a concert for the animals?!In my opinion, it is silly to prepare a concert for dogs and cats—the concert is for people. But if the concert raises awareness about treating animals better, then you could say it is also for them. The movie did that for me: it made me reflect on stray cats and dogs—or rather, wandering cats and dogs. It teaches us not to be afraid of them and to help them, which gives the movie a noble purpose. Still, I struggle to accept the idea that animals are equal to humans, as the film seems to suggest. They are, after all, still pets. If they ever made a concert for us, then I might reconsider.
As for the concert itself—it was nice, and the documentary allowed us as viewers to enjoy it. The film also includes some cute short animations and beautiful live video portraits of animals. This is where the movie works best: portraits of cats and dogs accompanied by beautiful music in the background.
Still, I can’t understand why people put clothes on animals. My dogs would never accept wearing anything, since they always look for a way to cool down.
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2035: The Green What?!
The official title of this movie is 2035: The Green Light (2035 더 그린라이트). The film is a hybrid of a “fake documentary” and a sci-fi thriller, set in the year 2035, ten years after the hypothetical unification of Korea. The plot revolves around NXN journalists who are filming a documentary about the mysterious green light that appeared in 2025, and we see everything through their camera.But I must say, I didn’t really like the movie. The first part was okay and somewhat funny, but the second part was very confusing and exhausting to watch. The two reporters just can’t stop talking—even in situations where their lives might be in danger and they should remain silent, they keep making unnecessary noise. Also, the theme of a unified Korea wasn’t explored at all, so in a sense it felt like a wasted premise. The film also fails to present anything convincingly futuristic from the year 2035; instead, the scenery looks like it’s from 2015.
Anyway, this is a somewhat unique film, and I’m glad I saw it—but I don’t think I’ll be returning to it again.
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Watching plants
This is an interesting minimalistic indie drama with a lot of space for reflection. The main character is the owner of a Cafe Bar turned into Plant Shop, who works with plants and makes tea at the same time. His character is very distant and he speaks through narration because he is not very good in communication. The narration reveals his life story and how he came to appreciate plants but I had a lot of issues with his interaction with the customers. He serves them well (even though i didn't see him washing hands between working with dirt and making tea) but he keeps them at distance from himself. He doesn't show kindness or hospitality, in fact we don't see a lot of his emotions. I would expect more from a film that has "warmth" in its title. The various plants that we see during the film are more interesting to watch than the main character.Still, if you like plants this is a nice watch. If you have a plant in your life, you might also reflect on your friendship with it. And if you don't like plants, you should force yourself to watch this film or, even better, go into the nature and hug a tree.
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Oh those evil secret agents!
My first impression when I started watching this movie is a quality of production. And really, the people who worked on the visual aspects of the movie did a great job. The scenes were often dark but still very clear and impressive. Also I was surprised to see quite a few veteran actors who bring their charisma into the movie. Sul Kyung-gu and Yang Dong-geun are my guys and Koran Cinema action heroes.So, yes, this is an action movie but the action was mostly just shooting without much sense and realism. The good guys can shoot everyone they want but the bad guys can never shoot the target. But mostly i was confused by the amount of killing, and have in mind that here we don't have assassins like in "John Wick" but government officers working as secret agents. The interest of the movie is in finding out who among the agents is a double spy (a rat). So I had a good time watching the movie, and i will remember the visuals, but the story and the action was somewhat forgettable.
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Personal Demons
Wow, this is very engaging and atmospheric movie. From the first scene where disturbing drums mix with harmonious church singing to the last scene where ... hm, i can't reveal the ending but I can say that it left me with a strong impression. The three main protagonists share the same sense of supernatural, each in their own way. They all have a gift of extraordinary guidance, which is also their curse. So the question is: do these people have true revelations, are they haunted by their evil demons or is it something else? This movie is a very good example of a psychological thriller-drama and i really liked how it all turned out. There is a message here for all of us, and maybe also some therapeutical advice.I would have to go into spoilers if i really wanted to comment my opinion on the movie. So i will skip that. The actors were okey but i needed a little more expression. The highlight is the music which sets the right tone for the whole movie. The resolution of the plot was a little bit sloppy with some sudden revelations and solutions, but the main worth of the movie is the conversation starter about faith.
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More of the same
I don't remember all of the original Hitman but this sequel gives me the exact vibe and satisfaction at the end. This is the kind of movie that you know isn’t great, but you still want to see it. The highlight is the cinematography. The webtoon animated parts of the movie are the best and there is also one very short flashback that was filmed masterfully and it is hard to believe that it is from the same movie. The action was also pretty fun, but so unrealistic so i liked the animated action more than the one acted live. Most of the movie is comedy which is purposefully put in contrast to the serious theme of the movie so the actors try their best to be funny and, unfortunately forget to be credible. I can't believe they used "where is the bathroom" gag 3 times.The premise of the movie is the connection between the webtoon and the real life, and I must admit that the producer managed to put a new twist to it and make it engaging. So in short, if you liked the original Hitman (2020) you will like this one.
PS. Is there a real webtoon based on this movie? If yes i would like to read it. I am currently reading gangster webtoon "무진".
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Drama Special Season 15: The Road in Between
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Search or Wait
When someone you love goes missing do you wait or search for them? I don't think there is one right answer, and this drama shows us a short but impactful story about what might happen when some people go away and how the providence leads us forward. All in all, I liked the theme of the story because it gave me something to think about and also reflect upon from my own life. I think everyone has someone that he doesn't have anymore. Also the actors are cute, but to me, Choi Hee Jin was much better then Jung Gun Joo who, maybe intentionally as a male, acted static and barely showed emotions.The problem for me are some illogical scenes (how can you get lost with a smart phone in a city you live in?) and some incomplete and incoherent short segments (i wonder if the kimpab was good or not). The relationship between main male protagonist and his former girlfriend wasn't developed well enough. That is why I cant give this drama a higher score even if I liked it a lot and it made me remember the people I love/loved.
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Drama Special Season 15: The History of Us
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Ministry of Truth
I like what Napoleon Bonaparte said: "What is history but a fable agreed upon?" We tend to believe that the history is our teacher but unfortunately there are many examples of deleted or rewritten history. So I appreciate this historical drama for engaging with the topic of the importance of true and honest History. This story is based on a historical note about the year 1762 in Korean history. (This is in the synopsis so it is not a spoiler.) I don't think the theme was developed well enough here, but the important thing is that the question was made and we as viewers are called to reflect about it. Is having a Ministry of Truth a good thing, and why is it bad!Drama Special format gives us only one hour of story so the producers were limited. Still they spent the first 30 minutes vaguely making us guess what is the theme of this drama. Is it maybe a hidden romance between the prince and his friend historian, or the experience of royal recorders of history? That is why, in the first half of the drama i was confused and sceptical but when the drama finally revealed the true theme, I was able to enjoy the rest. Another observation I have is that the drama has maybe 30 second of women on screen, it is heavy male centric.
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Dude, who is a gangster?
Just saw this movie for the second time and it is great to see the actors I didn't see for a long time in any project. The production is really excellent. The movie started with an impressive artistic scene with hundreds of gangsters together so i was expecting a „City of Violence“ type of movie. Then, after some jokes thrown into the story I thought maybe this is more like „The Crime City (The Roundup)“ movie series. But this is another city – City of Damnation where we have gangsters and cops but we don’t have much action, just the comedy so this movie would mostly fit the genre of comedy. The director didn’t bother much with the story but just for the visuals and the comedy. There are hundreds of gags in this 2-hour movie which is too much and so over the top that at the end I just laughed at their stupidity. I was reminded two times on the movie “Dude, where’s my car”. There is a tattoo joke and a scene where a character unsuccessfully tries to translate one English to Korean. Haha.Anyway, this could have been a great movie but it exaggerated with the jokes and missed some opportunities with the interesting premise of the story.
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