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Emotional detachment, tries hard but doesn't really work
kinda sweet and clean, but some things made it odd in a bad way. Leads actually looked less attractive when they were dressed up & fancy. how is that possible ? side characters were kinda ridiculous looking, which was less interesting & more distracting. some plot points were so unrealistic that it was in your face that they existed only to make the plot work. they should have made the cruise last 45 days in order to sell the idea that the leads would switch thier affection for thier significant others because how are they not the same as thier cheating boyfriend/girlfriend if they are so easily emotionally detached ? AND nice happy ending, BUT what about the fact that male lead's job is on a cruise ship ? how can he maintain any relationship with someone not also on the cruise ship ?Was this review helpful to you?
Anyway, the ML put in a lot of effort while playing this role and kudos to him. The support cast are there to move the plot along and they did it competently. There is a hint of romance but it is not a major plot point.
I'm thankful that being a movie, there is no time for long detours or side plots that are angst trains. It moves along at a good pace and most comedic moments landed, which is never a given. The 3 act play is done and dusted right on cue.
BTW, do look up Tootsie(1982) starring Dustin Hoffman. He is the OG unnie. ;)
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Watch for the action & violence if that interests you
This has alot of action/fighting/running . A good deal if not most of this of is violent. Really the death toll is staggering. It's extremely hard to see the leads as a married couple, especially the female lead, but they do fight well together against thier enemies. I was hoping for something a little more like Mr. & Mrs. Smith -But this is completely lacking in romantic chemistry.Was this review helpful to you?
Shouldn't Have Been That Good
What a beautiful movie. Every role was cast so well. And it was filmed beautifully. Regardless of the plot holes, it hits so hard you don't even notice. Full of life and heart. Just bravo. Taiwan tells such beautiful stories. Over and over I'm left feeling love and connection from the stories they tell. No small thing.Was this review helpful to you?
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Awesome action sequences. Off color humor
Trying to give a James Bond vibe with comedy thrown in, it somehow reminds me of a Charlie's Angle's movie where you have seriously good action sequences but then cheesy embarrassing moments. Alot of the laughs are not from clean humor & that's when you feel embarrassed for the actors. A wink, a nod & some innuendo would have been funny, but the randy (rude ,over sexed) girlfriends kinda ruin things with their dirty talk.Also the girls dancing in the bar scene ruins the nice girl's nice-ness.If those things weren't in the movie, I would have given it a better ratingWas this review helpful to you?
Fluffy fun with a good bit of action.
Just fluff. I watch because of the female lead is fun to watch. This is a lighter K -rom-com with a good bit of action & is nice breezy entertainment. There aren't too many cringe worthy moments in this. happily, all 3 main leads do well. The younger guy having a crush on an older woman was weird, but they explain it .Was this review helpful to you?
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Not a comedy or romance (not sure what to call it besides a dud)
Starring one of my least favorite female actresses, where do I begin to loathe ? The guys aren't good looking, infidelity, rude discussions abound. This is not only badly filmed, but it also looks like a much older film. Not a comedy, not a romance. Instead it's sad, depressing & heartbreaking.When you see the old lady talking about how the main character's married mother shook her backside at a man & went off into the tall grass with him...that's how crude this movie is. When you see the pigs mating & the villagers cheering them on...that's as light hearted as it gets.
The only single guy on the island of marriageable age is a Lothario (man who behaves selfishly & irresponsibly in his sexual relationships with women.) whose kissing scene is gross, really disgusting. ( sloppy kisser!)
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Bromance but no romance. Friendship is front & center theme.
It feels wrong to give such a low rating to a movie with 2 impressively hunky leads who spend a good deal of time barely dressed & flexing for the camera, but there were too many swimming scenes and not enough scenes with more important things that would have helped the movie feel more cohesive. Scene transitions felt chopped and it really effected the impact of the story. Bromances abound but the romance was just a tease . This is not a movie about coupling and the happy ending is all about friendship. Only watch if you are fans of Lee Jong Suk & Seo In Guk, but beware, this won't let you be biased as they both exude off the charts charismaWas this review helpful to you?
Friendship theme. Some cringe worthy humor.
There were some crude moments that I could have happily done without and some of the humor was cringy. This would have been a disaster as a series, but as a movie (& as a free movie!) it was decent entertainment. I liked how it was about inclusion & that the male rivals ended up supporting each other. I'd say that "friendship" was the theme & how people are better together than alone.Was this review helpful to you?
"When I'm cornered I tend to do some crazy things"
Snow Trail was a lot of people’s firsts. This film was Mifune Toshiro’s first film. It was Ifukube Akira’s first film to score. And it was the first of 53 films that Mifune and Shimura Takashi would make together. Kurosawa Akira wrote the screenplay marking the first, albeit minor, collaboration between he and Mifune as well.Three bank robbers flee to the mountains in Nagano with the police hot on their tails. They start out at a hot springs spa hotel before making their way deeper into the mountains where an old man, his granddaughter, and a mountaineer are staying in their rustic guest house. The robbers face the problem that there is only one road in and out of the mountains. Climbing over the mountains could be deadly as they face avalanches, blizzards, and treachery.
Let me just get this out of my system, Mifune was a sexy beast in this film and in his debut he showed the charisma that would keep him employed for many decades. But as much as a young Mifune Toshiro appealed to me, this was Shimura Takashi’s film. As the two men were cooped up in the guesthouse, Shimura’s Nojiro softened, longing for home and missing his lost daughter. Mifune’s Eijima grew more restless and dangerous by the minute like a caged panther. Kono Akitake had the pivotal role of the mountaineer coerced into leading the two criminals over the deadly mountains.
I can only imagine how beautiful this film would have been in a 1947 theater. The cinematography in the mountains was stunning even in this faded copy. I would also love to read about the making of this film as they climbed up, rolled down, and stumbled through the snow and rock.
The film showed the depravity of humanity through Eijima and the hidden humanity waiting to be restored as in Nojiro. The generous and cheerful grandfather and granddaughter elicited opposite emotional reactions in the two crooks. Shimura gave a touching performance as the crook transformed by human kindness. Mifune also gave a strong performance as Eijima’s baser instincts took over. The grandfather did not seem too concerned about the events that unfolded on the snowy peaks, “The mighty mountain will punish the bad.”
Snow Trail combined a thrilling mountain escape with a redemption story, fleshed out by two actors I enjoy watching work together. Ifukube’s music hit all the right notes as the men struggled against nature and themselves. Yeah, I enjoyed this film and could easily recommend to people who enjoy old Japanese films or want to be reminded that we are all tied together.
“Mountaineers have a code. No matter what, we don't cut the rope. The rope that ties one human life to another is not to be touched.”
19 June 2025
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Intertwined multiple stories, only one of which is appealing.
the rating is perhaps inflated due to the one (of 3 stories lines) that appealed to me.Specifically, the Cinderella storyline is sweet & really watching the lead male smile is all the reason you need to enjoy this short drama.
It took me A long time to hunt this down so that I could watch it (ended up finding it on Plex). The multiple stories were woven together well, but they tried too hard to make too many romantic happy endings. Weirdly the males here were all kind of clueless & Honestly, most the stories didn't appeal to me (not alot of warm fuzzies except from one couple). With the older couple, it was never clear to me who the father of the older woman's daughter was & it was super awkward that the older man really didn't seem to want a romance as he was still very much in love with his dead wife. The storyline of the girl who had a long time crush on one of her best friends-fell flat as her crush was (apparently accidently ?) really sending mixed signals & actually didn't seem all that interested in getting married (he also didn't seem like a "catch" ). I really cringed at the way they resolved the guy who was planning on committing suicide's story. That really felt forced. The Hotel CEO's story was cute, but I wanted to see him to follow his creative dream, so his choice was disappointing. Everyone (important) DOES get thier happy ending & overall it was an enjoyable movie.
One more candid comment:
The Christmas content that was sprinkled throughout hits differently as there is a cultural disconnect -so it doesn't evoke the same meaning as it would in the U.S.
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Violent & dark. Throws shade on legal system. Not actually very entertaining
The lead does a great job, but this was too dark & too violent for me. Any heroism is overshadowed by the sense of outrage that bubbles up out of you as it's in your face the whole time just how horrible & lacking the South Korean laws are [IF any of the content was based on reality]. It succeeded if it's goal was to expose how bad the South Korean legal system was- because there were so many ex prisoners running around free (albeit with ankle monitors on). By the end I was disturbed & wanting to fund a group of vigilantes to remove the evil repeat offenders from societies' enablement. So, sadly, not very entertaining or inspiring.Was this review helpful to you?
The best biology lesson I've gotten
Biology was one of my favorite things to learn when I was learning biology and stuff, but this may be the single best lesson in biology and the human body that I've gotten. Helps that it's a movie that's got the quirkiest anthropomorphic characters and a surprisingly emotional storyline, but it still counts.Especially since it didn't really shy away from the theory or the details, I always say this, but titles from Japan never shy away from the technicalities of it all, and while they were present here as well, it wasn't too overwhelming for a movie, nor was it glossed over considering this is a movie that's literally about "Cells at Work"!
I haven't watched either of the animes the movie is based on, but just off a general sense I could tell that a lot of hard and passionate work went into making this. Whether the storyline was true to the original or not, I can't say, and it doesn't matter much either because this one was funny, emotional and heartwarming.
All of the actors did a great job, just the right amount of quirkiness and seriousness to balance it out and bring out different sides in the characters, and the cast is filled with so many wonderful actors. The CGI was pretty good as well, and once again, while I cannot vouch that all the scientific facts were correct (it's me, I don't have all the facts and details), I can say that the facts I know were in the movie, and all of them were right! Points for technicality and research as well.
This was a fun, well made film that is definitely worth a watch, and for anyone wanting a science lesson, or looking to do some revision, it would be especially useful! Have fun watching!
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Movie version that's knock off to "Love 020" drama but this falls short in comparison
This is somehow a remake (?) movie version of Chinese drama : Love 020-with differernt actors. But this movie pales in comparison and this falls incredibly short of everything I loved about the Love 020 the series. First off the actors here are not meltingly attractive. The Love 020 series was a satisfying warm fuzzy fest with the 2 leads looking unrealistically attractive. The plot (which in the series, was pretty thin to begin with & relied heavily on the game graphics & the visuals & charm of the actors) is condensed here into a banal chopped piece meal of a story that kind of needs you to have seen Love 020 series to appreciate it at all. The series Love 020 had me smiling & riding a cloud throughout. The only thing that I liked about this movie was the graphic /animated parts. I'm sorry to say that it's just not alluring at all, but just a knock off of the series highlighting some of the memorable moments from the series & that's all.Was this review helpful to you?
Not entertaining & not funny.
Yet another waste of time. The movie is nothing like the picture. There are no sexy psies in this. This tries to be a BFF girlfriend movie but instead comes across as girl liking girl in a crossing the line kind of way. There is no romance and the comedy is thin. I was sorry to have watched it when the main character acted like a female dog flirting with a male dog (literally that's what she did). This was not entertaining & not funny.Was this review helpful to you?
