Reviews

honestly it's not that bad.

it's not a bad movie. I enjoyed it I gave it to seven and a half if I had nothing else to watch I definitely would watch it again because it's a relatively decent movie. going through some of the other reviews here where people really bashed the movie I didn't think it was that bad there's some little things here and there that I can understand the criticisms of but other than that it's fine. I wouldn't want to label this movie one of my favorites and I'm not going to leave it one of the worst it's really a happy medium kind of movie I don't necessarily like it a lot but I don't hate it like I said decent movie.

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"Compared to the cosmos, how tiny we are!"

Two people dancing around a relationship struggle to understand each other’s feelings and even their own as the clock ticks down to the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong in Love in a Fallen City. Chow Yun Fat was sizzling as the westernized playboy who takes an interest in Cora Miao’s solemn divorcee.

Pai Liu Su is being pressured to attend the funeral of her ex-husband. She’s been living with her family the last 7 years ever since she walked away after the brute had beaten her. In an explosion of words, her family tells her what a burden she’s been and how she never should have gone through with the divorce. All this despite the fact her brother lost her fortune in bad investments. Mrs. Hsu, a family friend, takes Pai and her younger sister to meet a couple of eligible men. Pai and Fan Liu Yuen hit it off before he leaves for Hong Kong. Mrs. Hsu invites Pai to accompany her to Hong Kong and stay as her guest. Pai and Fan grow closer as they spend time together, yet neither is sure of the other’s motives. Pai fears she will be just another notch in Fan’s belt and Fan fears Pai is only using him to get of out of her toxic household. Will the coming invasion drive them further apart or into each other’s arms?

“Life, death, and parting are immense things beyond our control.”
Chow Yun Fat brought the heat as he wooed the introverted Pai. I’d seen him in a number of action movies but here he turned on the charm and romance. It was hard to understand what Fan saw in Pai who appeared sullen most of the time. He seemed to enjoy the fact she was traditional, though untraditional enough to divorce and also to spend time with him.

“Laws can change from day to day, but morals and ethics, kinship and family, these things don’t change”
I’ve seen my share of Shaw Brothers kung fu movies filmed on their studio lots and with familiar exterior shots so it was a pleasant surprise to see the care and creativity allowed in this film. Hong Kong was explored and many scenes were filmed at the Old Repulse Bay Hotel. I was also pleasantly surprised to see so many women involved in the making of this film. Ann Hui was the director, it was produced by Mona Fong, and based on Eileen Chang’s novella. Violet Lam won the Best Original Film Score at the HKFA for her work.

“If everything should burn down, blow up, collapse, perhaps this wall will be left.”
I was confused by the timing of the story. The story took place from 1939-1941 approximately. My knowledge of Chinese history is minimal at best so my concerns may be over nothing. The Japanese occupied Shanghai by 1937 where the story began and there was no mention of their presence there in this film.

“Life’s never over for the poor.”
Despite Pai’s consistently somber attitude and the impending war, the movie never devolved into melodrama. Pai and Fan gradually worked their way through the problems hurled their way. The film clocked in around 90 minutes, short enough for the story to not become too maudlin and long enough to fall in love with Chow Yun Fat’s Fan Liu Yuen.

12 April 2024

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Dont waste your time

First of all, the main character has been making me very nervous the entire movie, in a bad way, she is very pretty but she is literally the one who does the least of the six, maybe along with Rei, but all the others would have served a thousand times more as the main character, even the boy who at first does nothing then helps a lot along with the athlete that is always sacrificing himself, the boy who is bullied is the smartest with great ideas and the other girl is brave and has things clear, the protagonist always stays still crying.
Also there are a lot of plot holes and the ending doesn't make sense. They wasted all the potential of the story, at least it could have been scary.
Dont waste your time.
I give it a 5 for the photography and the acting, thats all.

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Finding joy and staying patient while living the mundane life,

as we all learn to find beauty in the tiny moments - a smile from a child, sun coming through the branches of the trees, other people’s happiness.

Perfect Days is weirdly relatable in its simplicity. Smiling because of the shadows dancing on the wall is something that happens to me often - little moments that when appreciated, can make your day better. The movie allows you to stop for a minute and take in all the everyday wonders we often miss.

Watching Hirayama enjoy his daily routines and finding things to appreciate when the known pattern is broken made me think that every situation comes with a set of things to welcome with gratitude and things to be patient about. No bad moment lasts forever, no happy moments can exist, if we don’t notice them.

Yakusho Koji’s performance alone could be seen as the 8th wonder of the world. Even with little to no dialogue, he was able to express all the depth and internal complexity. Hirayama truly is a character we could learn from - patient, kind, helpful, giving, perceptive, diligent. Someone who cherishes each and every moment finding time to note the beauty of his surroundings.

Visually speaking I was in awe when watching it in the cinema. The use of light and shadows, well crafted set designs, interesting shots and angles - while I am glad I was able to see it all on the big screen, I also wish I could take screenshot of each and every scene and be able to come back to the pictures representing the beauty of the daily life.

Inspired by the movie, let me name a few things that brought a smile on my face in recent times:

How shadows that added to the beauty of the art I was viewing, creating a unique experience for that specific moment.
A cute drawing kids made with a chalk on the pavement.
The sun making the water flicker as if the waves were carrying little diamonds.
How a dirty window on the bus stop actually made the sunset I saw look even more magical.
How I drew a smile on a mandarin and it smiled at me the whole lecture.

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Indeed, your name is engraved deep within

why am I crying?
Oh, such a sad but bittersweet end.
Would definitely rewatch it in far future (if im alive).
This film was a good memory.
................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... BIG SHOUTOUT TO THE ACTORS, DIRECTORS, PRODUCERS & TEAM.

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Hint - It's only an hour & 20 minutes LOL

Rated= 2~ 9/50 ~ 1.8
Robbed and Held Hostage by a Vampire in the Cavern Tunnels.

Do you know those really random and bizarre dreams you have after a late night curry that has you waking up at 3am in a haze wondering what happened? That's what this movie feels like.
It goes off with a bang. No warning. No introduction. No reasoning. Just bam. Demon wife. Random General clearly in love and fought for her hand but she hates him and wants the prince. Cue the shortest quest for a cure I've ever seen ending in an anti climatic big reveal that's not really reveal if you any kind of foresight. And then it just kind of ends.

I guess it's meant to follow one of those folklore style stories that always seems to have a randomly depressing ending but hey, it was Friday night and I wasn't doing anything LOL But hey, it made me laugh so sure. 10/10 LOL

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cute and happy story

poucas coisas na vida são tão homoeróticas como escola exclusiva e time de esporte e esse filme decidiu juntar o melhor dos dois mundos.

o tempo do filme é relativamente curto mas é uma história tão divertida que você não percebe que o tempo tá passando. é muito bom ver um filme que tem seus dramas mas a felicidade dos personagens é o principal foco. você vibra com os personagens e fica tão aliviado que as coisas dão certo. foi uma experiência muito legal! os personagens são uns amores e o romance entre as personagens principais é um abraço quentinho

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it's about friendship and fellings one deal with.

the goes like starting in school two girls becoming bff and later they discover and faces misunderstanding and this lead him to a part after realization they get together but the fortune has another plan by making haeun die at the age of 27 in her prime age after giving birth to her daughter. the movie is whole a emotional and has happy sad ending along with happy ending at glance it may feel like bullshit but as the story developed it becomes more intense. which make the viewer to bring watery eyes. it's sweet, dark, fun, love, hope, drama, sad, happy, delight, sorrow, thrill,

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Well choreographed fight scenes

In some scenes, I felt like I was watching through the eyes of the charcoal 😁 you have to watch to understand what I mean.

If not for the story, stay to watch the fight scenes that were excellently choreographed. The very end scene with the sword pointed at Prince Qi's neck was awesome.

The story is good too. It has a nice ending and it didn't disappoint. Production's hard work is evident in this movie from scene sets, props, lighting, and wardrobes. Everything were done well to help tell a vivid story.

One beautiful scene was the dancer performing beautifully during a siege and not stopping complete with a smile kn her face.

The synopsis made it sound simple and boring but it is far from it.

I recommend for costume and period viewers.

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Could have been edited better

Pack some patience when watching

Multiple stories of different characters wasn't shown relevance with fluidity.
There's a scene that was repeated.
The transition of scenes weren't smooth.
To surmise, it's a chaotic way of telling the story of demons who take over human bodies and are openly living in society but being hunted by demon hunters/alchemists which do not make sense to me.
A man who was saved by the cat he took care, sold her out. His reasoning was absurd and the story showed him as someone who cares for the cat, even stealing fish for her. So sending her to her death out of the blue didn't make sense.
This could have been a good fantasy movie if it was directed and edited well. Best part of the movie is the fight scene between the demon cat and alchemist.
The set scenes were great and wardrobes used were beautiful. Production did a great job in this aspect. The ending credit song is nice and sweet.

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Spoiler : + adopted from a book with same title by Zevin

Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac,” as Zevin explains on the first page/( line in case of movie) is, above all, “a love story. And like most love stories, this one involves chance, gravity, a dash of head trauma.” Naomi must choose among three guys who represent different visions of love: Ace, a handsome tennis jock who offers her a seat at the popular table; James/ Yuji , a brooding misfit who sports suicide scars and offers an alternative to the life she finds so alienating; and devoted Will/ Mirai , her best friend and fellow yearbook nerd, the one best positioned to offer her the real Naomi.

By having Naomi lose her memory all at once rather than little by little, Zevin highlights the role forgetting plays in shaping a life. “Dad nodded and patted me on the hand, and then he read my mind. ‘You forget all of it anyway. First, you forget everything you learned — the dates of the Hay-Herran Treaty and the Pythagorean theorem. You especially forget everything you didn’t really learn, but just memorized the night before. You forget the names of all but one or two of your teachers, and eventually you’ll forget those, too. You forget your junior-year class schedule and where you used to sit and your best friend’s home phone number. ... You forget all of them. Even the ones you said you loved, and even the ones you actually did. They’re the last to go. And then once you’ve forgotten enough, you love someone else.’”

PS : the ending in movie was too rushed , and Yes At last Naomi chooses to go with her bestfriend Mirai as her Lover.

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Multiverse of emotions

Another Korean movie with two titles, one in English (Virgin Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors) which makes no sense to me and the other Korean (Oh! Soo Jung) which describes much better what kind of movie this is. Despite everything, I think it's hard to have the right expectations for this movie. It is an art film with a serious mature theme, made in black and white, centered around conversations between the main protagonists and long, awkward kisses. I found the film interesting to watch due to it being arranged like a mosaic so that every 5 minutes we have a temporal or dimensional jump in the story, so in the end we get the same story told in two versions and with different conflicting emotions so that in the end we don't know what is true and what is subjective, what is true and what a lie. Are men really in love with "poor" Soo Jung, is she even honest with them a bout her virginity? What actually happened? Which version of the film, if any, reveals the truth, or is it just different subjective perceptions.

Although the film has some entertainment value, I found it uncomfortable and difficult to watch, especially because of the static and overly long kissing scenes. It was as if I had become a voyeur. It is still positive that the characters seem like real people and we can empathize with their emotions and concerns.

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Beautiful yet depressing

This is a n art film, with beautiful extremely symmetric aesthetics. Like most artistic films it has a bunch of kind of boaring moments and while there is a lot of scheeming going on it is kind of meeh, but we do get to see a young educated woman get worn down, slowly slowly she is worn down to know her place as a the fourth mistress in household where all aim to please the master as that pretty much is the only option for surviving.

A movie that shows very well how little woman where worth and how expandable they are...

While I the sound of this drama is a torchere for the ear of those who do not love Chinese opera, once things the last 10 minutes of the movie made it all worth it, yes even the opera part was put in to place and it was just a perfect ending to this beautiful yet depressing story...

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Cute and Funny but made no sense

The series is funny and light hearted. I enjoy the over the time drama at times and it does make me laugh with the things that make no sense either, but this was a bit more horrible then the first part of the series. I get they kind of wanted to give you more about the after but there was to many empty moments that made no sense and things were missing in the storyline that never explained. Sadly this was a downer and once again to many love triages that just get boring and repetitive. I go enjoy the actors but some time its way over done, and god to I hate the dumb yelling throughout the series. I love Maki and Haruta together and they have a sweet chemistry but hate the conflict what makes no sense and still never really showing the relationship love I always hope to see, always looks like bromance. Haruta is to kind with everyone where it looks like is is always flirting with everyone. Justice character made no sense but to show traits that Maki had in ways. I guess its meant to be over done but sadly fell short and lost its way. to many things made no sense even the beginning with Maki walking in on his guy in bed with another one, like really he want from straight to now trying to show him gay and sleeping with another guy. This is beyond ridicules at times. I was hoping for more with the growth of there relationship in stead got everyone playing out of character and not for the better. I do enjoy the actors and what they bring but once again felt no real love or growth of the characters instead they all make no sense and come apart.

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