Reviews

LOL I didn't expect this level of funny in this movie haha.

But first, the description of this movie was a bit off. Because the synopsis was actually from the Dream Journey 3, in which it was mislabeled as the first movie on the iQiyi site. And Xie Miao wasn't part of the DJ3.

Anyway, this movie started with a battle between Sun Wukong and White Bone Demon, before which they were suddenly sucked into a magical portal and transported into the present time. Wukong landed in the home of Tang Xiaojian, who resembled his master while White Bone Demon ended up in a nightclub. After another clash with each other, both of them decided on a truce while trying to figure out a way to head back to where they belong.

I didn't realize that Xie Miao had a few other movies where he played as Sun Wukong before Great God Monkey, so I might as well rectify that. This is a pretty interesting take on the JTTW lore, to integrate a modern retelling of the story while also including isekai. And there's also romance included in the movie, aside from comedy... and I have to say that this is the first Sun Wukong romcom I've ever seen!

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My July Recommendation movie

Watch this because recommendation challenge from 𝑵𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒆. Let’s discuss movie…

As usual Japan brings us unusual romance dramas… Haha…

The story follows Eriko Ichimura, a plain and completely ordinary high school student who fades into the background at her school. To escape her boring reality, she spends her time fantasizing about the school's most popular boy, Akira Ohmi. Her ultimate hobby is taking to Twitter under the anonymous handle "Lovesick Ellie," where she posts wild, thirsty, and deeply dramatic romantic fantasies about a boyfriend who looks exactly like Ohmi.

Her quiet life is turned upside down when she accidentally overhears a private conversation between Ohmi and teacher, Sumi Shiota. Through this, she realizes that Ohmi is not the sweet Prince Charming everyone thinks he is; he is actually a rude, bratty, and grumpy "two-faced" boy. To make matters worse, she panics and drops her phone, and Ohmi picks it up, discovering her embarrassing, secret Twitter account.

Rather than exposing each other, the two strike an uneasy compromise to keep each other's secrets safe. As they spend more time together, Ohmi becomes increasingly intrigued by Eriko's bizarre fantasies and quirky personality, while Eriko finds herself falling for the flawed, real version of the boy she only used to admire from afar.

That's pretty much the story without giving anymore spoilers.

What I like:
+ What bizarre personality Eriko has. Truly only Japan can come out with this kind of personality / behaviour.
+ How in the end Eriko is like a magnet that pulls some quirky friends too…
+ How Ohmi never belittles nor mock Eriko's bizarre fantasies and quirky personality.
+ I really love how Eriko never hides her quirky personality / behaviour in front of Ohmi, the boy she has a crush on…

Overall I’m happy I can watch this. For you who search for something quirky to watch yet not too bizarre nor cringy, this can be your choice…

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Um filme feito para sentir

Só o Japão poderia criar um filme tão sensível quanto esse, tão carregado de significado em (literalmente) tão poucas palavras. É um filme que se sente e, mesmo que de modo geral não aconteça muita ação, não cheguei a ficar entediada. A narrativa é tão suave, e até o final segue a mesma linha!

Eu amei, com certeza verei de novo, para analisar com calma os detalhes das cenas e dos diálogos, porque esse filme é sobre isso: sutis mensagens que não são percebidas no dia a dia sobre a vida em si. É um bom filme pra refletir (só não sei se conseguirei ter o mesmo sentimento que eu tive ao ver a última cena)

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One of the most beautiful queer friendship movie,

Everything about this movie was amazing. From the cinematography to the acting and story. Every scene is extremely strong. As a gay man myself I feel like Heung Su is extremely relatable and well portrayed, unlike many Korean 'bl's'. It's realistic, with actual representation and homophobia. I didn't know what to expect at first, but you know a show is good when Primary is the composer. This is my first time watching a movie that Lee Eon Hee has directed but I'm for sure tempted to watch more of her work.

The opening scene was extremely strong, just like many other scene's. Their friendships had up and downs, just like every realistic friendship. I really like how Koo Jae Hui was protective over Jang Heung and how she did not let any homophobia slide. They clearly cared about each other without romantic feelings attached. When they fight, they make up and come together again. I really need a friendship like this.

One main problem I have with Korean queer movies/series is how unrealistic it is compared to the reality in Korea. Korea is not the most LGBTQ friendly country and I liked how this movie showed the reality instead. I don't like how the homophobia topic is often ignored, and this show just showed it amazing. I also like how they made Koo Jae have realistic experiences as a female. How she is being called a sl/t for sleeping with men for example.

I'm extremely shocked by the acting. Everything feels real, relatable and I really lived along with Jang Heung. I feel like he acted amazing. Whether Steve Noh is straight or not doesn't matter. Either way he portrayed being gay extremely well. As for Kim Go Eun, she acted extremely well aswell. I love how she played the crazy friend. I'm gonna be honest but I wasn't super interested in her love life since she always ended up with red flags and honestly, I'm surprised Jang Heung was able to keep up with her, because I wouldn't. The homophobic mother being extremely absent was also a nice detail.

The whole French made my rating drop a bit because, as someone who is half French, this was extremely weird. Like sure Jae Hui has lived in Paris but the stereotypes were kinda crazy. I would've loved if they had chosen another city and less stereotypes. Also the French is a bit weird to listen to but that's okay. Calling her French because she lived in France made it confusing for me in the beginning.

I like how the movie had an open ending. You can make whatever you want to with it. I'm defiantly interested in seeing the actors and directors in/with other projects involved and I'm just extremely impressed. Just really happy about the actual representation and not just what the media shows you about Korea.

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I ended up watching this movie just because of a brief cameo of Xie Miao, who made an appearance in this movie while reprising his character Li Hongqi from the Fight Against Evil series. And I guess this was only possible due to the director also having directed the Fight Against Evil series.

So instead this time, rather than seeing the misadventures of Li Hongqi, we get served with a different police story featuring a female officer who may be as fiery and volatile as Li Hongqi.

The plot was pretty interesting, as we had a villain who was a bit too superstitious and ending up committing multiple crimes because of it. Qiu Yizhou was also an interesting character as well, who may be a bit tomboyish but still a very capable police officer who wouldn't lose against her fellow male counterparts. Though to be fair, I kinda wished that Hongqi's cameo lasted a bit longer since it would've been interesting to see Hongqi and Yizhou fight alongside each other as partners. But I guess it's not possible in this movie since Hongqi wasn't on vacation this time.

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A pair of husband-and-wife performers committed double suicide one day, leaving the man dead and the wife almost brain-dead. A month later, during one of his blind dates suggested by a colleague... Li Hongqi accidentally encountered a suspicious case after witnessing a woman he was on a blind date with being mistreated in public. And in doing so, he ended up meeting someone who may have a connection to the double suicide a month earlier, as well as an illegal business involving drugs and pornography. As usual, Officer Li Hongqi was hot on the case!

Although this movie was the second in the series, it actually served as a prequel to the previous one. So technically, this was the story of Li Hongqi before he met his girlfriend, Taozi. The movie starts with a scene from one of the blind dates Hongqi was set up with, which ended in an incident where he was almost cheated by his date and the shop owner. Since he was fresh from undercover work, he didn't have his badge on him, and he ended up in a brawl with the shop owner and some thugs. After such an experience, anyone would have wanted to swear off going on blind dates, but when you had colleagues who wouldn't stop pestering you to find a girlfriend... how can you refuse? But because of that Hongqi ended up meeting Ma Qiang, a very wealthy man, even though the man was not involved in any legal business.

This movie was a great addition to the series, as we got to find out more about who Li Hongqi was. And it did explain the reason why in the first movie, Hongqi was a bit sensitive about being filmed in plain clothes, since he often works undercover. We also got to see a glimpse of his 'family' from his orphanage and find out why, despite calling them his family, Hongqi seek to find a deeper connection through Taozi's family. But back to this movie, Li Hongqi once again gets involved in a case while he is still on leave from work. And to make it worse, the case also involved one of his brothers from his orphanage! So just like in the first movie, Hongqi had to yet bust another criminal activity while also having someone he knew be part of it.

There were quite a lot of action scenes in this movie, which was expected in this kind of genre, and viewers won't be disappointed in seeing how Xie Miao brings the role of Li Hongqi to life. If you're looking for a good police action movie with a lot of action and drama, check out this movie as well as the previous one.

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When More Story Doesn’t Mean Better Story

I honestly do not understand why they needed to make this sequel. The first movie already ended in such a good and complete way, so this one feels like something that did not really need to exist. I get that they tried to expand Joe and Anong’s love story with time travel, past lives, destiny, and all those supernatural elements, but instead of making the story deeper, it just made everything feel more complicated than necessary.

What disappointed me the most is that the charm from the first movie is not really here anymore. The first one was fun, cute, and emotional in a simple but effective way. This sequel, however, feels too forced, too melodramatic, and honestly kind of boring at some points. The pacing is also quite slow, and the story jumps between different eras so much that it starts to feel messy instead of meaningful. I was waiting for the movie to give me a strong reason why this sequel had to happen, but I never really got that answer.

However, I do not think the movie is completely terrible. There are still some cute moments, and the actors still have good chemistry. Some scenes are also visually nice, and the performances help save the movie from being worse. But overall, My Boo 2 feels like an unnecessary sequel that tries too hard to add more to a story that was already complete. Instead of making me love the first movie even more, it kind of made me wish they had just left it alone.

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just okayish watch

Well, it's a good watch, that's it.
I feel like it's based on Rusalka (a Slavic folklore figure). She's described as the spirit of a young woman who died tragically, especially by drowning. If someone follows her... she lures them into the water.

When I started watching, it just felt okay-ish, and the ending was also just okay-ish. I don't know why horror shows keep doing open endings. If they're planning a second season, then sure, it makes sense. If not, I really don't get it.

That being said, I was never actually bored. It's a pretty good watch. It has that classic horror vibe people making the dumbest decisions imaginable, creepy atmosphere, eerie background music.

Honestly, it's not that scary. Half the horror comes from the sound effects doing all the heavy lifting. 😭 I wanna know why people in these types of movies are always so dumb 😭 while the main characters are somehow both terrified but super smart.

Overall, it's a fun watch if you're into supernatural horror. Nothing groundbreaking, but I don't regret watching it.

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If you're looking for a good biopic movie centred on Ip Man, this movie is a good intro to you. Donnie Yen did do a good job in embodying the role of Ip Man and portraying the strength of the Wing Chun martial art style that may often get belittled, just because it was created by a woman. The storyline is pretty simple, as we get to see how Ip Man had been living peacefully in Foshan before his life was upended after the Japanese invaded China. While at first, he preferred to remain in passivity and refused to take in disciples despite his impressive martial arts skills, Ip Man ended up making a choice to stand up against the Japanese and help his fellow countrymen during times of need.

If you're expecting this movie to just be an impactful action movie, you may end up being disappointed since there were quite a number of slow scenes... as well as some interludes of several historical events that happened in between the story. There were some parts that weren't quite satisfying to me, as there wasn't much focus on Ip Man's relationship with his wife and son and how his status as a martial artist affects them indirectly, which made the latter scene that's supposed to be emotional, feel a bit lacking. And the movie seemed to be unable to decide between being a story about Ip Man or being a documentary about the life during the period Ip Man lived in. If you're used to high-impact action movies like those directed by Tsui Hark, you may find this movie a bit boring for most of its duration. But if you don't mind all that, you may give this movie a try.

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Came for the Action, Stayed for the Laugh

In the midst of transition between Goryeo and Joseon era, a loyalist soldier Jang Sojeong became a traitor when he went against his commander (who turned to be the future first king of joseon) and had to become a bandit in the mountains. As he led his small army of ex-loyalist bandits, they came upon the news that the Royal Seal bestowed by the Ming Dynasty was swallowed up by a whale on its way back to Joseon and that the navy is searching for it. Seeing this as an opportunity to hold the seal hostage against his ex commander now king, he led his ragtag of mountain bandits to the sea in search for the whale, clashing against the pirate Captain Yeo Wol and her shipmates in their fight against former pirate Captain Soma and the Joseon Navy.

The movie started off on a serious tone when ML had that fight against an army of soldiers during his mutiny, then that scene of Yeo Wol taking over the pirate ship after Soma decided to sell his men out to the Joseon Navy. I never thought this would turn out a comedy instead with the mountain bandits keep getting into mishaps in their efforts to hunt the whale. I laughed non stop, and the seasick pirate-turned-mountain bandit Chul-Bong who had to return to the sea when his chief decided to hunt a whale was the actual star of attraction. The mishaps that happened here looked so natural and fun. The waterwheel scene reminded me of the scene on Pirates of Caribbean though, they must have inspired by it cuz the similarity was too striking.

I love the FL Yeo Wol is such a badass that never really turn into damsel in distress for the sake of making the ML look cool. She has her own story, fights and make decisions that she doesnt falter from just because the ML hoodwinked her.

I love the ML too, he’s fun, he’s tough and he’s a gentleman enough for a bandit. Love seeing his banter with his banditmates. Psst, he’s good looking too!

The ending is somewhat depressing for the whale, but a good ending for the mainleads. Each had their revenge exacted the way they wanted it.

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