Reality of women
This movie is abt women who had made mistakes for smth they had to exchange with. I love the storyline. I love how they capture women's prison life and how their child is important no matter what the circumstances or outcome they will always choose their child. As we all know Zhao li ying, queen herself did a rly good job at her acting i love how she portrayed a mother being herself and the hardships she endured in order to survive. I love every single one of the portray of the character. But it would've been better if they give more details on supporting women backstory. I didn't rly get to see Guo aimi backstory, neither how other ended up in jail. But overall i love this movie and I felt empathy and sympathy to all the single moms out there.Was this review helpful to you?
The girl I liked then, was our dream and youth. I am still living that dream.
As a boy who is now living a life of an adult because my age is 28 years. But still to this day I feel best when I think about my childhood love, whom I loved from class 4 till today. This movie depicts the feeling of childhood love in such a way that you will never feel empty, the ending is handled so brilliantly that you will definitely learn something after watching this and you will complete the movie with a smile on your face.Acting of the Main Leads is great and support cast did well with their part. Music and especially the songs are the cherry on cake they will mesmerize you. There are so many small small things to notice but in the end if you have loved someone and you are a fan of child hood love stories then this is a must watch.
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A delightful movie about how cinema came to China.
This movie is delightful and deservedly won praise when it was shown. Being familiar with the history of Chinese cinema and the famous 1905 early movie Dingjun Mountain, directed by Ren Qingtai (任慶泰) a.k.a. Ren Jingfeng (任景豐), who was assisted by his cinematographer Liu Zhonglun (劉仲伦), I found it endearing to see these pioneer's life and hopes be portrayed in this movie, including the photograph taking of Empress Ci Xi, and the risks of handling the earliest film strips.Writer, producer and director Ann Hu's 35mm debut Shadow Magic (2000) won both the Chinese Academy Award and Presidential Award in China for Best film among other international prizes. The film premiered at the 2000 Sundance film Festival and released by Sony Classics in 2001.
Synopsis : "Beijing, 1902: an enterprising young portrait photographer named Liu Jinglun, keen on new technology, befriends a newly-arrived Englishman who's brought projector, camera, and Lumière-brothers' shorts to open the Shadow Magic theater. Liu's work with Wallace brings him conflict with tradition and his father's authority, complicated by his falling in love with Ling, daughter of Lord Tan, star of Beijing's traditional opera. Liu sees movies as his chance to become wealthy and worthy of Ling. When the Shadow Magic pair are invited to show the films to the Empress Dowager, things look good. But, is disaster in the script? And, can movies preserve tradition even as they bring change?"
The movie has a fuller Wikipedia page : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_Magic#cite_note-1
The director also has an interesting story :
Ann Hu / Hú Ān 胡安 born 胡小平 (Hú Xiǎopíng) in 1956, grew up in Beijing. After finishing middle school, she was assigned to work as a waitress but studied by herself in view of passing college entrance examination, when those exams resumed in 1977. She next studied English at Beijing International Studies University in 1977 and came to the USA in 1979 to study at New York University as one of the earliest students to go to the United States after the Cultural Revolution. She stayed there as a businesswoman, working in an international company, shifting carer to study film making at NYU Film School after meeting Chen Kaige in 1987.
In 1992, she wrote and directed her first film, "Old Stories of Mountains and Rivers" 《山河旧话》
In 2000, her film "Shadow Magic" 《西洋镜》 was released in mainland China, and she won the 37th Taiwan Golden Horse Film Award for Best Cross-Media Adapted Screenplay.
In 2005, the film "Still Beautiful" 《美人依旧》 directed by her was released.
On December 4, 2020, the family inspirational film "Confetti" English title of 《五彩缤纷》("Colorful"), inspired by her struggle to help her dyslexic daughter, written and directed by her was released in mainland China. It was also shown abroad in 2021.
Douban page : https://www.douban.com/personage/27515319/
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This review may contain spoilers
90 minutes of nothing...
I know I am not the target audience for this kind of movies but I watch them just to get some "comprehensible input " practice for japanese cause the dialogues tend to be really easy.would I recommend this movie to anyone?
yes, probably my 13 old self.
this kind of supercial, cutesy movie would have been my shit at the age, but know as an adult I cannot overlook stuff...like acting or plot.
the story is really simple.
a girl confesses her love to a nerd who rejects her. heartbroken she talk about her struggle to the most popular guy at school and together decide to "play" a one sided love.
she basically starts a game where she stalks the popular guy for fun just to forget her previous love.
of course we all know he liked her all the way from the very beginnen and that slowly she LL fall eventually for him as well.
the plot is fine but tl what's annoying is that the movie is so mid. there is no highs ..never.
it is not particularly sweet, or funny, or cute or whatever.
the ml is also a big issue. his dead pan acting was so bad I kept laughing.
on the other hand the FL was marvelous.
would I recommend it? I mean.. this is literally a nothing burger. totally forgettable.
if you don't want have anything to watch and just want some white noise in the background give it a go
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Even if This Love Disappears from the World Tonight
1 people found this review helpful
This review may contain spoilers
really good movie but it didn't quite hit the mark for me.
if you saw that movie with Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler you more or less know what we are talking about.a guy asks a girl out, set girl Is unable to form new memory and he tries hard to make her happy every single day.
spoiler alert
unlike the Adam Sandler one we don't get a cheesy happy ending.
the first complaint is that the reason why they start dating is idiotic. in order to save a friend (a friend we won't see any more) a guy ask a girl out without really feeling it just to please some bullies. I don't know what this is all about but it sounds really dumb.
from the very get go we know he is gonna die. the film spoils it for you when the FL while cleaning her room finds out an old note book.
some people don't mind to learn these kind of info beforehand but to me it kinda ruined it all a bit.
their love story is really sweet but in the movie we don't find much out about any of the characters except for the ml family background which is there for plot reasons like bonding with Izumi over literature interest or "correct" Maori s notebook.
It also took me some minutes to get accostumed to the couple cause I saw them in a different dramas where the ml was the FL gay best friend.🤣
that aside they have good chemistry.
even though I knew he was about to die somehow, his disappearence wasn't build up
in a good way. it was to sudden. we never see him suffer or struggling.
the best and emotional part is definitely the second part of the movie when they start "erasing" the ml for all the notebooks. that was really emotional to be honest.
as I said we don't get a cheesy happy ending but somehow taoru Kun manages to keep living in Maori s "muscle" memory and notes.
definitely an enjoyable movie. sad.. but not devasting cause they missed the climax I guess.
maybe it's just me.
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I really felt the emotions the they felt. Garn not the one to speak his feelings out loud and yet his simple words and glances given.
Tul wanting a family that he loves but we know deep down he loves Garn but not as powerful as Garn or maybe he was scared to pursue what his heart told him.
This shows reality for some people who ends up in a different pathway
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Fun movie
I enjoyed this movie. It's really fun to watch all the actors play "straight man" against the comedy. They each took turns being funny. Some camp, some slapstick, this was simply an enjoyable watch. I also liked, since the movie was from a few years ago, seeing the actors that I've enjoyed in other shows.Was this review helpful to you?
It reminds me of someone I met in the past
I found it a little bit rushed at second half of the movie and towards the end, but overall, I loved this movie. It’s a beautiful story. I cried a little at the end, when Kawana read Itsuki’s letter at the hospital.Maybe I relate to the story a little bit because of some personal reasons. I did meet a guy who used to be so talented and confident until he had an accident. Before he used to be the big man in his family, then had to totally depend on his family to take care of him. His situation was worse than the female lead. He used to travel the world and did many great things and others relied on him a lot. Just like the male lead, he couldn’t accept the fact and he was very miserable. His ex-girlfriend left him to marry someone else right after that, and he held a grudge against her. I met him through my close friend and three of us hung out for a short while. I didn’t have any romantic relationship or feeling for him though, but I think he had a crush on my friend. My friend was the one who stayed in touch with him and suddenly one day they stopped contacting and we stopped visiting him. Watching this movie makes me wonder how he is doing now. I hope he’s happy, wherever he is.
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"Fish get depressed if you put them in square tanks"
Miao Miao is a 2008 Taiwanese coming of age film about two school girls who experienced both the rush of joy and the pain of first love. Not nearly as deep or devastating as it could have been Miao Miao splashed along the surface of life and relationships.Ai ignores her father and the breakfast he cooked for her like she does every morning. Once again late for school, she brings a cake she made to share with her friends. Her love for baking hasn’t transformed her very limited skills and her friends don’t exactly dig into her creation. A new foreign exchange student catches Ai’s eye. Miao Miao is studying in Taiwan for the year before returning to Japan. The two hit it off, their bond deepened by Miao Miao’s advanced baking techniques. The two girls visit the site of the bakery where Miao Miao’s grandmother met her first love, only now it’s a used CD store owned by a moody musician. Chen Fei religiously wears headphones and ignores people as much as he can. Miao Miao falls head over heels for the reclusive musician who scarcely acknowledges her existence. He is nursing his grief and broken heart over the loss of his love. Ai is discovering her own burgeoning feelings for Miao Miao. The three young people attempt to navigate the precarious path to and from love.
This film had potential as the girls’ friendship developed and then had the obstacle of Miao Miao’s crush. Not all people know how to maintain and nurture a friendship when one person’s attention becomes focused on a love interest. The stress on the friendship was increased as Ai wasn’t just jealous of the time Miao Miao spent attempting to catch Chen Fei’s attention but jealous that her friend was romantically interested in the brooding store owner. Sandrine Penna and Ko Chia Yen gave their best given the limitations of the script. The source of Chen Fei’s angst was shown in flashback with a strong performance by Chris Wu Kang Ren as the lover. Fan Chih Wei’s performance was not nearly as inspired.
The course of first love is rarely smooth or a straight line. Sometimes even admitting to feelings that might be rejected not only by another but also society can make the journey downright rocky. Though dealing with heartache and unrequited love, Miao Miao didn’t stumble by becoming melodramatic. It would have been nice if it had taken a more scenic route off of the well-trod path it insisted on keeping to. Neither groundbreaking nor overly deep, Miao Miao showed that the best remedy for a broken heart was friendship, even when that relationship caused the pain in the first place.
24 May 2025
Trigger warning: If real life scumbags are a deterrent for you, I discovered after watching this film that Fan Chih Wei has not been good to women, including assault.
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The action choreography is phenomenal—fast, clean, and brutal in the best way. But what makes this film resonate is its emotional core. Set during the Japanese occupation of China, the film uses its historical backdrop to explore themes of national pride, dignity, and survival without feeling preachy. Ip Man’s calm, unwavering presence contrasts beautifully with the chaos around him.
While some of the historical elements are simplified and the nationalistic tone may feel heavy at times, the film earns its emotional moments with sincerity and skill. It moves quickly, never drags, and balances action with character in a way that many martial arts films don’t even attempt.
Pros:
✔ Donnie Yen’s defining role—quiet but magnetic
✔ Clean, powerful fight choreography
✔ Strong emotional tone without melodrama
✔ Excellent pacing and direction
Cons:
✘ Some historical liberties taken for dramatic effect
✘ A few characters are underdeveloped
Would I rewatch?
Yes—especially for the iconic fight sequences and the grounded emotional impact that lingers afterward.
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Living Deep in the Closet
As its name suggests, 'Depth' (its pinyin is shēn chù) is a Chinese film that addresses the complexity of being gay and living deep in the closet.The 2022 short film portrays the story of Yi Ran, a gay boy played by Zeng Huaiyi. Through this character, Chinese screenwriter and director Ding Yuhan explores internalized homophobia. Yi Ran lives out his sexual identity by working in a bar and pretending to be happy with a girlfriend, played by actress Lu Meishan.
But the sudden visit of Zhou Mu (played by Shang Guolong) disrupts Yi Ran's life, and when feelings explode and he can no longer control his desire, his closely guarded secret may be exposed.
'Depth' problematizes the issue of sexual diversity and the lack of acceptance of one's own sexual orientation. Its 10-minute runtime is sufficient to expose the typical behaviors and negative emotions of closeted gay people, such as fear, shame, disgust, anxiety, low self-esteem, and avoidance or denial of everything related to their homosexual orientation due to the fear of being rejected.
Yue Zongao's beautiful cinematography and Xu Qiang's photography contribute to reflecting internalized homophobia, which is nothing more than the rejection or non-acceptance of one's own homosexuality.
The final images serve as a metaphor for the fear many homosexuals suffer from recognizing their sexual identity.
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This review may contain spoilers
not that as good as it could've been...
After seeing the rave reviews, i've decided to finally give this movie a go- but i can't help but think i've wasted my time...The premise seemed promising, but the camera work and overall editing style seemed messy and ended up throwing me off. It feels as though the director was trying too hard to make the movie seem aesthetic that the story became almost chaotic. Scenes were either abruptly cut or drawn out for far too long, making the story stagnant and disrupting the leads relationship. If the flow and pacing of the movie was much smoother, i think i wouldn't have questioned the character's relationship- and over all chemistry as much as i did.
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This review may contain spoilers
Meaningless Groundhog Day
What was that?After all that, we got that ending?
Admittedly, a two hour long film isn't enough of a runtime to actually fix all the messes the lead inevitably creates in each time loop, while also fixing the lead, who is a mess themself. Because that's the basic requirement of this genre, for the lead to either be a mess or someone who constantly creates messes even if they don't mean to. And our lead Earth? Well he is a whiny, bratty mess. His antics are funny sure, but make no mistake, he is a mess.
And because he's stuck in a loop, he obviously does what he wants to get what he wants because, no repercussions right? Because that's what usually happens, they're stuck in the day until it somehow resets to the perfect scenario. WRONG.
Earth here, gets out of the loop, and that's when all his antics come back to bite him in the behind. He's gotten every single person in his life in some sort of mess during the Groundhog Day and now it's up to him to reverse it all, or at least set everything right.
Now watch out here because I'm probably going to give away the entire plot.
He's messed up so bad that some things are just beyond repair!
That was the plot.
Earth is selfish. Earth reaps the consequences of being selfish. That was it.
I watched two hours to get this kind of plot-
Going the realistic way? Of course you can do that.
But going the realistic way in a movie about time loops? Noooooo
As much as I enjoyed the first half (great comedy and acting), the minute the loop ended, so did my enjoyment. The second half was also good objectively (great storyline and acting), but where was my feel good factor?! All that Earth did and all that he went through later, what was it for? What was that ending??
I'm torn. On one hand, it was a different take on time loop stories that I haven't seen before but on the other hand, I would've accepted the basic plot that's been done over and over, and I would've watched it happily.
Give it a try, if you're bored and would like some comedy and then maybe some hard hitting stuff about being a selfish jerk, this is the perfect movie to watch then.
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"Why is being you your weakness?"
~~Crazy bitch meets gay."REALISM AT ITS FINEST" ~as some1 here said. YES! TRULY!!! A MASTERPIECE WITHOUT A DOUBT!!!!!!
A breakdown to put SIMPLY why it's a 💎 ;
~ A FRIENDSHIP I NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD NEED AND WOULD PUT ME INTO SO MUCH WITH DEEP ADMIRATION. *spoiler ahead* the scene where they were running (JaHeui to the police station, and Heung running amidst the traffic going to JaeHui captured with such an amazing scenery is both heartwarming and breathtaking) is one thing that really sticks to my mind and is only one among my favourite scenes.
~ REALITY AT ITS FINEST! telling this for the 2nd time. I'll let you discover the reason behind this through watching the movie🤭
~PERFECT CASTING!!! I MUST SAY! 🤘
KimGoEun, as always didn't fail to display a powerful emotions with her acting, proving how promising actress she is and could really be.
SteveNoh, for my very first-time discovery of him through this, also did a really really great great job on this movie that his acting click very well along with Kim Go Eun. He really did a great job for his role with his in-depth portrayal as a gay👏 (further detailed explanation awaits you on movie😉)
& LeeSangYi of course! even given with a short screentime for his role, I knew it! the moment he appeared on my screen. I have this gut feeling that he would able portray and put such enthusiasm on his character. *another spoiler* Those stares that's still clear in my mind, that he put towards Jae-Hui (kim go-eun) in the rooftop gave me assurance that he could gave justice to his role.
~~~to be continued <📽️>
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The Sun family was broken ever since the eldest son disappeared. This short did not go into the details of how, when and why but straight to the effect of the disappearance. The mother suffers from mental health issue, the father left the family but tries to search for an adopted replacement son to fill the void. The younger son is deprived of a complete family and has to deal with 11 adopted brothers.
The adoption of the 11th brother is the center of this story. How does each family member react to him being a part of the family? Will he fit in? What does he really want? Does his action convey his true feelings? In that very last scene, I question his emotion, sincerity and approach to the younger brother. Was he desperate as well and wanted to fill the void of his loneliness? Was he being manipulative to appease the younger brother, so that he could stay longer in the family (as that's what he really wanted)? We would never know.
Rating this an 8.0 seems high but it's a low budget production, so should the rating and expectation should probably be adjusted accordingly. Besides, this short is able to tell a decent story in 21 minutes and make me think a little. I also feel that the male lead/younger brother's acting is pretty good.
Completed: 5/24/2025 - Review #580
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