I have watched LY twice. After the first watch it was in my top 7 or 8, but after the second, I dropped it a few spaces, and as I added and removed films to the list, LY kept dropping. Its gut-stomping ending out of the blue strikes me now as having that "all gays must be miserable, suffer, and die, even if we have to kill a main character off at the last second for no reason having anything to do with the plot to this point" vibe about it.
But still, overall, I think it's a great movie. It has been a couple years; it's due another watch.
As you see from the top half of my list, I adore pain, suffering, angst, murder, betrayal, infidelity, all those wonderful sort of plot-drivers in my films, but the madness needs to come organically out of the story, not just drop like a ton of bricks from nowhere at the last possible moment.
I will have to give that some thought, W. My first feeling is that there haven't been many good BLs this past year, but perhaps when I review what I saw, I'll surprise myself. Thanks for asking. I'm interested to know the answer, too. :)
Regarding MDL ratings: I don't know if you pay much attention, but few MDLers are willing to rate anything below a 6/10. For reasons beyond my comprehension, the numbers 1-5 do not exist for them. "Average" seems to lurk somewhere around 6.5-7.5, and decimals within that narrow range hold great importance to these folks. Countless times, I've come upon a show rated, say, 7.2, but sure enough, within comments, someone will exclaim how LOW the thing is rated. lol
I've given up trying to understand and just go with the flow here. My own ratings have evolved to some combination of the MDL madness and the way I rate things on IMDB, where all ten points actually count for something. :)
I agree with the positives you saw in the film, but feel they are outweighed by the negative storytelling issues, which should be the core of any movie. I have and do love many low-budget films/shorts/series that overcame their practical limitations with excellent direction and actors fully committed to their roles.
The fact that 10dance was technically beautiful made me all the more pissed off about its lack of heart.
It's just that one scene though (they could've cut it out but I'm personally not complaining)
No, I don't "have to" respect the perspective of people who think the mere sight of a human body is obscene. It's ridiculous. And far too often, those people try to censor what everyone else can see, rather than simply walking out of a film, or turning it off if watching online, and going about their business.
"...you're obsessed with me and have replied to me first on this... how sad. get a life you obsessive freak."
Let's see, I politely asked a simple question under your original comment, and you have followed that up with SIX replies to me, expressing varying amounts of hyperactive stupidity, one of which was taken down by mods because in it, you demanded that I kill myself.
You have studied my interactions on other pages, copied and pasted insults directed at me from within them (I suppose as back-up evidence of your own insight or something), called me lame names, probably scrutinized my profile with a magnifying glass, and likely attempted to ascertain my street address (it's inside your mind, where I live rent-free).
You've attempted to determine my generational status by analyzing my "dialect" (and failed miserably), hilariously mocked my supposed perpetually online state/lack of friends/neglect of family/etc., all the while demonstrating how those descriptives apply to yourself.
Then, you iced the cake by hurling the deeply original "freak" at me.
We both know who is "obsessed," child. We both know who lacks "a life." It's the derp-twerp.
It's just that one scene though (they could've cut it out but I'm personally not complaining)
How weird, and revealing, that you now snidely claim I was "expecting porn" from this film. wtf are you on about?
And so what if we also "saw a woman's butt?" Why do you think a 13-year-old can't handle the sight of a naked butt? Thirteen-year-olds have butts too, and if so-called adults didn't freak out at the sight of one, the thirteen-year-olds might take the cue that this is the human body and...so what?
Like many MDLers, you seem to have major issues regarding sex and the unclothed human body. Maybe seek counseling...?
heyy, what's ur ops on 10DANCE? did u decide to watch it?
Happy New Year, MK!
And thanks for such a thought-provoking response and argument. I will let what you've shared percolate in the old brain here, then come back later, read your words again, and respond. If I remember to! :)
I'd like to say one thing right now, though: If Suguki had no intention of engaging in sex with Suzuki, and was there to make it clear they "could never be one," then what's with bringing the bottle of wine, presumably to share? That is a gesture of friendship and/or romantic intentions, yet he quickly began to bait and refuse Suzuki.
That was maybe the second or third point in the film at which I thought, "....hmmm...perhaps he is deliberately baiting/frustrating/cock-teasing Suzuki in an effort to elicit fierce energy on the dance floor." I'm still not sure about that, but believe it's possible.
I have always planned to watch the film a second time. I don't know if I've told you, because we've been focused on this MK issue, but in every other way than the story telling itself, this movie is gorgeously filmed and the dancing is glorious to behold. Also, I believe that one hasn't really SEEN a worthy film until having watched it two or three times. I ALWAYS catch a great many nuances and even plot points, on subsequent viewings. With your input in mind, perhaps my second watch will be far richer than it otherwise would have been.
Bravo! I dropped this very early on and gave it a 1/10.Anything so bad I have to run screaming, gets a 1/10 from…
HNY again to you, JG!
Happy Birthday late, as well. How great to have NY's Eve as your birthday. :)
Alas, I chose to put down the booze for good 25 years ago. Let's just say I'd done far more than my share of partying, and it was taking a heavy toll in several ways. I do have a great many wonderful memories of booze-fueled, jovial frivolity with friends and family. Lord knows how many other wonderful memories are gone for good, due to the brain cells I lost. It was all worth it!!!
Have a hair of the dog for me, please. We say that in the US too; at least us old folks do. I used to love Bloody Marys as a hangover cure. Of course, a couple of those often led to yet another episode of perilous frivolity. With me, one never knew what the hell might happen; what great adventures or disasters might unfold. :D
Happy New Year hugs to you and the BF. Give him one for me, please, and a BJ, too.
"harassing people over Asian actors..." Pretty sure that's a one-sided take on whatever you're spewing spit about. 18 MDLers agreeing that I'm "crazy" is a badge of honor. Thanks for pinning it on me. Let me know when you hit 180 or 1,800. That'd be even better.
A sad little twerp obsessing over my comments and telling me to kill myself is also a badge of honor. Glad to wear it.
heyy, what's ur ops on 10DANCE? did u decide to watch it?
MK, seriously?
Imagine...a BL drama, whose title and story core is that the MC attains "magic" abilties because he has not lost his "cherry" (about as sex-centered a concept as one could imagine), and then loses his "cherry" to a new-found love, that barely hints at what should have been the ultimate, profound act of losing that little red fruit and, worse, doesn't even allow its main couple to touch lips in the briefest of kisses.
Keep in mind that the secondary couple kissed two or three times during the show, a choice that made the refusal of the main couple to do likewise even more of a glaring omission.
I don't mean to be confrontational, but only BL fans brainwashed into expecting next to nothing when it comes to intimacy in their live-action storytelling would twist themselves into pretzels explaining why this is not a major problem or an insult to the audience.
I am in good company in accusing MK of being the primary reason we got not even the tiniest of smooches in CM; I think you know that. He was the more well-known, up-and-coming actor with the most to lose by fully committing to a gay role in homophobic Japan. There are other reasons I think he's the problem, but I'm guessing you know what they are, so I won't beat a dead horse.
Please rewatch the train scene in 10Dance with as objective a view as you can muster (I'm asking this of a person whose screen name is literally "Machida Keita" but whatever lol). Pay attention to who is enthusiastically engaging in tongue-twisting and who very much is not. The same thing happens again when MK's character shows up at the other guy's hotel room late at night with a bottle of wine to share, then gives little pecks in response to his supposed love interest's enthusiastic attempt at lovemaking.
MK having played roles in shows in which OTHER characters are gay, means less nothing.
You seem like a decent person, so I won't belabor this, but I think you are 100% wrong. Machida Keita is a homophobe (who very well may be a homo irl) and needs to stay away from gay roles.
BTW, the improvised kiss near the end of 10Dance that you're enthusiastic about, was a blink-and-you'll-miss-it bit of business, just as one would expect from MK. I'm guessing he thinks he was very brave to do that, but we know who the actually brave actor on that set was.
heyy, what's ur ops on 10DANCE? did u decide to watch it?
I'll try to remember to look it up again. I found it yesterday, but didn't want to copy/paste, in case you were just joking about that. :) I had to scroll through about six pages of comments before I found it. I didn't really say that much, other than that it was a big fail for me, and that a lot of people in comments were primed to give it a good rating, no matter what they actually ended up seeing on the screen.
Regarding Machida, it is accurate to say I'm not "that much" of a fan, but I do think he's a good actor, and of course he is beautiful to look at. It's that this is the second time, after Cherry Magic, that I've watched him play homo-no-homo. He refused to kiss in CM, and in 10Dance, where there are supposed to have been passionate makings-out, it was obvious he was holding back.
I wish he'd stop taking gay roles he's unwilling to commit to, and I wish directors would stop casting him in such roles. It's annoying.
1 
1 
Bravo.
I have watched LY twice. After the first watch it was in my top 7 or 8, but after the second, I dropped it a few spaces, and as I added and removed films to the list, LY kept dropping. Its gut-stomping ending out of the blue strikes me now as having that "all gays must be miserable, suffer, and die, even if we have to kill a main character off at the last second for no reason having anything to do with the plot to this point" vibe about it.
But still, overall, I think it's a great movie. It has been a couple years; it's due another watch.
As you see from the top half of my list, I adore pain, suffering, angst, murder, betrayal, infidelity, all those wonderful sort of plot-drivers in my films, but the madness needs to come organically out of the story, not just drop like a ton of bricks from nowhere at the last possible moment.
My first feeling is that there haven't been many good BLs this past year, but perhaps when I review what I saw, I'll surprise myself.
Thanks for asking. I'm interested to know the answer, too. :)
I've given up trying to understand and just go with the flow here. My own ratings have evolved to some combination of the MDL madness and the way I rate things on IMDB, where all ten points actually count for something. :)
I agree with the positives you saw in the film, but feel they are outweighed by the negative storytelling issues, which should be the core of any movie. I have and do love many low-budget films/shorts/series that overcame their practical limitations with excellent direction and actors fully committed to their roles.
The fact that 10dance was technically beautiful made me all the more pissed off about its lack of heart.
Happy New Year, by the way.
Would love to see YT in more gay roles.
Let's see, I politely asked a simple question under your original comment, and you have followed that up with SIX replies to me, expressing varying amounts of hyperactive stupidity, one of which was taken down by mods because in it, you demanded that I kill myself.
You have studied my interactions on other pages, copied and pasted insults directed at me from within them (I suppose as back-up evidence of your own insight or something), called me lame names, probably scrutinized my profile with a magnifying glass, and likely attempted to ascertain my street address (it's inside your mind, where I live rent-free).
You've attempted to determine my generational status by analyzing my "dialect" (and failed miserably), hilariously mocked my supposed perpetually online state/lack of friends/neglect of family/etc., all the while demonstrating how those descriptives apply to yourself.
Then, you iced the cake by hurling the deeply original "freak" at me.
We both know who is "obsessed," child.
We both know who lacks "a life."
It's the derp-twerp.
And so what if we also "saw a woman's butt?"
Why do you think a 13-year-old can't handle the sight of a naked butt? Thirteen-year-olds have butts too, and if so-called adults didn't freak out at the sight of one, the thirteen-year-olds might take the cue that this is the human body and...so what?
Like many MDLers, you seem to have major issues regarding sex and the unclothed human body. Maybe seek counseling...?
And thanks for such a thought-provoking response and argument. I will let what you've shared percolate in the old brain here, then come back later, read your words again, and respond. If I remember to! :)
I'd like to say one thing right now, though: If Suguki had no intention of engaging in sex with Suzuki, and was there to make it clear they "could never be one," then what's with bringing the bottle of wine, presumably to share? That is a gesture of friendship and/or romantic intentions, yet he quickly began to bait and refuse Suzuki.
That was maybe the second or third point in the film at which I thought, "....hmmm...perhaps he is deliberately baiting/frustrating/cock-teasing Suzuki in an effort to elicit fierce energy on the dance floor." I'm still not sure about that, but believe it's possible.
I have always planned to watch the film a second time. I don't know if I've told you, because we've been focused on this MK issue, but in every other way than the story telling itself, this movie is gorgeously filmed and the dancing is glorious to behold. Also, I believe that one hasn't really SEEN a worthy film until having watched it two or three times. I ALWAYS catch a great many nuances and even plot points, on subsequent viewings. With your input in mind, perhaps my second watch will be far richer than it otherwise would have been.
Happy Birthday late, as well.
How great to have NY's Eve as your birthday. :)
Alas, I chose to put down the booze for good 25 years ago.
Let's just say I'd done far more than my share of partying, and it was taking a heavy toll in several ways. I do have a great many wonderful memories of booze-fueled, jovial frivolity with friends and family.
Lord knows how many other wonderful memories are gone for good, due to the brain cells I lost.
It was all worth it!!!
Have a hair of the dog for me, please. We say that in the US too; at least us old folks do. I used to love Bloody Marys as a hangover cure. Of course, a couple of those often led to yet another episode of perilous frivolity. With me, one never knew what the hell might happen; what great adventures or disasters might unfold. :D
Happy New Year hugs to you and the BF. Give him one for me, please, and a BJ, too.
"harassing people over Asian actors..."
Pretty sure that's a one-sided take on whatever you're spewing spit about.
18 MDLers agreeing that I'm "crazy" is a badge of honor. Thanks for pinning it on me.
Let me know when you hit 180 or 1,800. That'd be even better.
A sad little twerp obsessing over my comments and telling me to kill myself is also a badge of honor. Glad to wear it.
Have a derp-ish New Year.
Your commitment to the role was powerful and evident, in contrast to that of your opposite.
Well done!
Imagine...a BL drama, whose title and story core is that the MC attains "magic" abilties because he has not lost his "cherry" (about as sex-centered a concept as one could imagine), and then loses his "cherry" to a new-found love, that barely hints at what should have been the ultimate, profound act of losing that little red fruit and, worse, doesn't even allow its main couple to touch lips in the briefest of kisses.
Keep in mind that the secondary couple kissed two or three times during the show, a choice that made the refusal of the main couple to do likewise even more of a glaring omission.
I don't mean to be confrontational, but only BL fans brainwashed into expecting next to nothing when it comes to intimacy in their live-action storytelling would twist themselves into pretzels explaining why this is not a major problem or an insult to the audience.
I am in good company in accusing MK of being the primary reason we got not even the tiniest of smooches in CM; I think you know that. He was the more well-known, up-and-coming actor with the most to lose by fully committing to a gay role in homophobic Japan. There are other reasons I think he's the problem, but I'm guessing you know what they are, so I won't beat a dead horse.
Please rewatch the train scene in 10Dance with as objective a view as you can muster (I'm asking this of a person whose screen name is literally "Machida Keita" but whatever lol). Pay attention to who is enthusiastically engaging in tongue-twisting and who very much is not. The same thing happens again when MK's character shows up at the other guy's hotel room late at night with a bottle of wine to share, then gives little pecks in response to his supposed love interest's enthusiastic attempt at lovemaking.
MK having played roles in shows in which OTHER characters are gay, means less nothing.
You seem like a decent person, so I won't belabor this, but I think you are 100% wrong. Machida Keita is a homophobe (who very well may be a homo irl) and needs to stay away from gay roles.
BTW, the improvised kiss near the end of 10Dance that you're enthusiastic about, was a blink-and-you'll-miss-it bit of business, just as one would expect from MK. I'm guessing he thinks he was very brave to do that, but we know who the actually brave actor on that set was.
Regarding Machida, it is accurate to say I'm not "that much" of a fan, but I do think he's a good actor, and of course he is beautiful to look at. It's that this is the second time, after Cherry Magic, that I've watched him play homo-no-homo. He refused to kiss in CM, and in 10Dance, where there are supposed to have been passionate makings-out, it was obvious he was holding back.
I wish he'd stop taking gay roles he's unwilling to commit to, and I wish directors would stop casting him in such roles. It's annoying.