Reviews

I've never seen soccer like it.

Park Seo Joon and IU - their dynamic was fun to watch. He's got a giant chip on his shoulder, and she's got a lot of heart. For the most part, they were like oil and water and that was funny. Thank you, writers, for not trying to bring a romance into this! I felt that the whole cast did a really good job. The rag tag group of soccer players, each with their own heartbreaking story, were brought together for the goal of playing soccer, and in the process, they changed themselves, they changed each other, and they definitely changed the coach.

My problem was with the soccer matches themselves. First, the field in Budapest was tiny, like a kid's soccer field. That necessitated a lot of close shots by the cameras, which I think was supposed to get us to feel like we were in the matches. But the rules of soccer apparently did not apply at all. There was pushing, there was shoving, there was holding onto players, and there were no consequences for any of this. That, do me, diminished the realism of the games.

It was an okay watch for me.

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This was well done and acted. I'm not a big fan of rip out your heart dramas. I like things more uplifting, than bawling my eyes out. I cry too easily for heartbreak. That's just personal preference though and has no bearing on my rating. The only place I low rated is the rewatch because the ending was too sad to go through again. This story is really similar to the J drama Heavenly Forest. If you really liked this you will probably like that as well. This was well casted and acted. I loved the father's character. He was so warm and funny. My only complaint is I wish that we had some time of them really being together. It kept being almost... almost... oh now he has to leave.

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Disappointing

I watched both parts back to back and when you compare this movie to the former, that seems tremendously better. No doubt, the first part was a good movie so I don't understand how they could drop the ball so badly with this one. It only gets better in the second half.

My main issues with The Witch Part 2:
1. Confusing start. We are not given any kind of explanation on the timelines of when exactly this movie takes place or what exactly is happening so I was completely lost for most of the movie.
2. Unnecessary characters. Some of the roles were probably filled just to attract the audience perhaps but there is no meaning behind those characters. There are also two groups fighting and there is no explanation as to who they are and what is going on with them. Or where/how did they get their abilities. But it doesn't matter I guess because they'll be dead anyway.
3. Poor translation. That added to the confusion though it would have not made too much of a difference since the story was so ambiguous from the start.

Somewhat entertaining:
1. The fight sequences. There are only 2 fight sequences that I really enjoyed and both involved "the girl". It's nice to see some incredible superpowers in action. The one in the van looked like terrible CGI and almost cartoonish. Plus we don't see anything happening inside.
2. The girl and the son bonding. It was cute and the floating animals was funny. Also, the part where she discovers food in the supermarket. Too bad there weren't more of such moments.
3. The ending. That's when you finally understand what is happening. It still doesn't explain who most of the characters are or who they are working for. But at least you finally understand how this movie ties in with the first.

I'll probably watch part 3 because I am curious about the third character introduced. Hopefully the directors can fix the mistakes they made with this one. I just hope it doesn't take another 3 years to release.

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One of my favorite Pinoy movies

One of my favorite Pinoy movies, it has plot, tension and it doesn't even have to be the highest rating of all to make a person, if they are tuned to such a chord, hit and remember the movie.

And even though it is a drama, the nicest feeling in the world is nicely portrayed here, nice music and it seems that this director makes above average movies in the flood of gay and bi pictures from this corner of the world.

The piece is shot with the famous light Asian naivety and that makes it more acceptable for me, I recommend it to a narrower group of those who like gay Pinoy movies.

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A Needlessly Good Two-for-One

Being two movies stitched together is usually a bad thing, but, in the case of Dream, it's actually a selling point.

With lightning-fast pacing, clever editing, and a cast of absurd everyman hard-luckers hellbent on riding the line between hilarity and pathos at every turn, what looks like it should be an interesting take on a typical sports movie quickly reveals itself to be a surprisingly delightful romp that just happens to take place primarily on a soccer field.

...until about the halfway point, when it genuinely becomes a sports movie, with as much heart as there were laughs only moments before.

Which is not to say that this change in focus feels abrupt or inconsistent or in any way a departure in quality. While it admittedly does feel like somewhat of a jump into a second movie, it's more a direct sequel to the first half than an attempt to have it's cake and eat it too, owing this seeming shift in attention as much to the movie's uncanny ability to deliver twice as much story from its first half runtime as to its narrative need to transition to the sports-centric plot they've been working towards all that time.

None of it needed to be as good as it was. And yet...

Solid. Surprising. And a heck of a good time.

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IU and Seo Joon bickering was the highlight of this movie.

Outstanding performance, I got so immersed I forgot they're actors and actresses.
The messages are nice, the backstories are detailed well, the comedy is great, and the ending is realistic and fulfilling.

There are two issues though.
Firstly, the foreign teams didn't look like homeless people at all.
And secondly, everyone played way too aggressively without any fouls or penalties, I guess they're going for amateurish rules like children, but then their opponents look like professional players.. The scenes give conflicting feelings.
On one hand they push and shove like children, and on the other, the opponents look like pro league players.

I can't say that I was disappointed since I'm here for the main cast, and the main cast DELIVERED.
I'm just sad that the screenwriter decided to go with these kind of football scenes. The movie would've been better if they didn't show the worldcup matches at all, and just did a time skip with the results of the matches, and more time to tie the ends with each plot.

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It's a really good movie. Although it's kind of confusing. It is very fast paced, which I like most of the time but here it could have a been a bit slower to understand the actual storyline. But still I sort of got the movie. The acting was really good. They portrayed their roles really well. The actress of Natsume was a really good choice for the character.

The music, I am obsessed. There is this one song that is played a few times during the movie, it's called ' Kou wo oikakete' and since I have watched the movie I can't stop listening to it. So the ost is good in my opinion.

Overal it was a pretty good movie.

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Interesting

I find that a lot of the older Korean BLs are a little tragic/sad.

I watched this a few years ago, and I was left unsatisfied with the short. It was interesting and touched on some very sensitive topics. But I enjoyed the acting and the actors. I think they did such a fantastic job. In particular I loved Han Joo Wan. It was awful to hear that he "retired" due to his drug scandal. IDK why because there are so many idols and actors who are back despite having bigger scandals with drugs. He is an incredible actor. I do hope he is able to come back. He was really the stand out factor of this short.

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A Compilation of Images Adding Up to Nothing

A movie where even the pretentiousness is unoriginal. To wit: a woman who smuggles drugs looks mysterious in a cliched trench coat and sunglasses at night. Oh, and a ludicrous blonde, bouffant wig. Why does she wear that wig? No reason. The auteur director, Wong Kar-wai, just thought it was a cool visual. Hell, at the end of this segment another woman also wears a blonde bouffant wig. Why does she wear one? Well, because the first woman wore one.

Blonde Bouffant Wig #1 kills the boyfriend of Blonde Bouffant Wig #2 who has something to do with her drug smuggling business. Why does she kill him? It seems a deal got botched, but really, who the hell knows. The movie does not trade in specifics. You see, specifics are for the vulgar, unwashed masses who want things to make sense. And our auteur director Wong Kar-wai does not make films for plebeians; he makes films for enlightened critics.

Earlier that evening Blonde Bouffant Wig #1 had bumped into a man who'd been jilted by his girlfriend, May. He eats canned pineapple with an expiration of May 1st because that's his birthday. And his girlfriend's name is May (golly, how clever of the screenwriter to have come up with this!) He eats canned pineapple every day for a month while waiting for his relationship with May to be resolved. He eats a lot of canned pineapples. He meets Blonde Bouffant Wig #1 at a bar and asks "Do you like pineapples?" as his pick up line.

This segment ends at 40 minutes. Since the director figured that was too short for a feature, he added another segment. There is certainly no organic reason for it.. The second movie is about a girl at a food stand who has a crush on a cop. He's been jilted too. She listens to the Beach Boys "California Dreaming" a lot. What is the significance of this? Nothing. But the director plays the song about a dozen times in the course of an hour (that's not hyperbole, the song literally plays every 5-10 minutes), and the excessive recurrence fools the audience into believing it's significant. Yet it's no more significant than the blonde bouffant wigs. Indeed, all that holds the movie's 2 segments together is that they both have random details posing as meaningful details. It seems to have fooled a lot of critics, who gush about this film.

It's just a compilation of images all of which add up to nothing, but empty imagery has always proven catnip for critics. You see, to use lots of nifty terminology such as "non-linear narrative." What does non-linear narrative mean, you ask? Why, it's code for "has no plot" because the director/screenwriter does not know how to construct one. Many say the movie is about loneliness, or about people getting jilted, or about modern, urban relationships. Those are pretty wide open labels that fit thousands of other films. The fact is, this auteur director has not given us any particular plot or theme. He simply knows how to shoot images. Lots and lots of images.

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Exceeded my expectation, acting-wise

Story: Set during Japanese invasion of some cities in China, around 1930's to 1940s. A Japanese head formed a group with Chinese men to discover and fight against the communists. The story was hard to follow at first as they showed different snippets from different times but they became clearer as the story progresses.

Acting: Wow. just wow. I am astonished at Wang Yibo's performance, especially his fighting scenes with the japanese soldiers and Tony Leung. I didn't expect to see him act so so good, as he filmed this first before 'Born to fly' and his acting their was okay. In this movie, i can totally feel his pain, anguish, sadness, and grief, which actually made me think that his character is bipolar. The small changes of his facial expressions was just amazing. This, by far, is the best acting that I have seen from him and it's now making me look forward to his next projects. The rest of the actors, of course, did amazingly well despite the short appearances. However, i felt quite awkward with Zhou Xun's and Tony Leung's hugging & kissing moment.

Music: Nothing special or memorable for me but the action scene sound effects were just perfect.

Rewatch Value: I don't think I will be rewatching this movie but i will definitely re-watch the action scenes, i love them so much.

Overall: 7.5-8 stars. Despite the convincing acting and good cinematography, the plot is quite predictable so it didn't leave a 'wow' impression on me but it was still a good watch.

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Another banger of an adaptation

Going into Assignment Kowloon, I was half expecting to see a campy 70s chop-socky interpretation which capitalised more on the success and fame of Sonny Chiba to earn a quick buck. But as it turns out, this is not only a damn fine representation of its source material but a damn fine movie in its own right. Golgo 13 seemingly had two of the best pieces of castings regarding live-action because Sonny Chiba is as much a dead-ringer as Ken Takakura was just for different reasons. Chiba's Golgo is much less human than Takakura's with a stone-faced expression that never leaves his face but makes exceptional use of his skills as a martial artist and stunt performer in some very grounded fight sequences and impressively daring stunt work. Director Yukio Noda makes excellent use of the film's variety of locations, from Hong Kong to Miami back to Japan, and although the film does stutter at first (most notably with some poor editing) it quickly finds its feet and maintains a very stylish atmosphere that simply oozes coolness throughout.

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Seems to be another good movie similar to Wolf Warrior 2

I didn't have great expectations at the beginning, and it turned out to be much better than I expected. The overall story is very similar to the 2017 Wolf Warrior 2, and the picture is very stylized compared with the previous war films, and it also reminds me of the color texture of Korean movies. I like it very much when I watch it as a whole. And really love Wu Jing's cut at the end, it's so funny and cute.
Under this theme, the film has met expectations, and it is a very good commercial film, watching the overall more pleasant, I don't know if you have seen it? Will u have similar feelings?

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BEWARE of SPOILER

Ruja' was on the verge of a breakdown, trying to gather money for her daughter's eye surgery. She got a visit from her estranged father's friend, telling her that he passed away and she was the sole heiress. Both Ruja and her daughter returned to Thailand. The most valuable thing in the things she inherited was two paintings by her father. However, it needed some restoration before it could be put on auction. Ruja deemed both paintings as evil and forbid her daughter to even look at them. A man saved her daughter and coincidentally was also an artist. She hired him for the restoration job. After that quarter of introduction, what we got was of course the spooky things. That alone, took almost half the movie. If you skipped to the last quarter, trust me, you won't miss a thing.

So, here are the bits with spoilers. Stop here if you do not want to know what is up with the movie. And do forgive me because I do not know how to hide them.

As mentioned above, Ruja's father was an artist. He had a muse and they form an adultery relationship. Both the muse and her son; were hidden in a house deep in the jungle behind Ruja's home. Ruja's mother knew it and told Ruja to ignore them as they were evil. So, Ruja kind of chanted herself into not seeing them.

Ruja's father lost his inspiration and the muse told him, she would do anything as long as he continue to love her. And so, when she haunted the house, I was flabbergasted. She said she would do anything. Why would her spirit be angry when the tragedy happened? She was just like Kayako Saeki that unleashed her rage on anyone that enter the house.

Truthfully speaking, the movie was assembled of plots from other horror movies. You got a bit of Shutter, a bit of The Grudge, the few I remember. Not even the acting from the three main cast can save this movie.

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Engaging but depressing.

"Dog bite dog" marks my first Hong Kong drama. (spoiler free review)

This show is for people who like psychological action movies. Its not crazy suspenseful, especially towards the middle, but I enjoyed the beginning and the end. To be honest, I expected more gore, but it was not as extreme as I expected. Now, I am not saying you should watch this if you have a light stomach. There were some pain-cringe worthy moments.

The title on the other hand is very odd, but after watching the movie, its more understandable. If you don't like sad endings, I don't recommend. At first, I didn't know how to feel after finishing the movie, but I am starting to process it more. The story is well written, but if you stop paying attention for 5 seconds, you'll be so confused, I learned from experience. The acting was great, the only problem was the amount of characters. I am still confused about who half of them were...

At first glance, the movie sounded weird and maybe even boring, but it was far from that. Recommend.

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