Reviews

"Life is nothing but tragedy."

'Redlife' centers on two storylines that later on intersect in a tragic twist. The idea is not groundbreaking, but this film doesn't shy away from portraying the harsh realities of poverty and slum life. There’s a cleverly woven underlying theme of street gang, crime, drug use, girls' love, and prostitution, making it an intriguing watch for those seeking a glimpse into the gritty side of Bangkok.

Although the actors’ performances and the character arcs are commendable, the main plot falls a bit flat. The story of Ter and Som seems unpolished, with some noticeable plot holes that hinder its impact. Though it feels more like a melodrama, it lacks those poignant moments and depth that challenge you to reflect deeply on the hardship the characters are going through. The ending is rather confusing. Despite the flaws, this film has decent cinematography, depicting the sympathetic insight into the lives of the less fortunate in good visual detail.

If you're up for a mildly thrilling cinematic experience with some tragic stories, this film might be your cup of tea. For me, it's a one-time watch. I like the bleak/dark concept, but this film fails to deliver it well and make it impressive.

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MALENA IS ICONIC

I did not expect a lot from Sine Sindak this year but the 150 pesos movie ticket is something I can really afford given the inflation rate these days.
The cinematography is top notch and the sound effect is commendable.
The story is different, something fresh, something new in the Philippines.
It only has few casts but all of them nailed their portrayals from Aubrey Caraan's toughie attitude to Heart and Xia who were cute. Andrea and Jeffrey are also convincing and they are effective as Nanay and Tatay, respectively.
I am giving this a 10 because of Elia Ilano, who is the star of this film. Malena is one of the best Pinoy horror characters (for me) because of the depth and portrayal of the character. Elia Ilano deserves more movies.
In addition, for me, this is Direk Roni's best movie to date.

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Amazingly bittersweet.

I am so glad that I clicked on this movie.

Wow, this movie was so beautiful. It genuinely left me in awe. If I didn't believe in soulmates before this, I definitely do now! The journey of these characters was such a sweet and heart-warming one. Their scenes together were touching to watch; they had great chemistry. Being such a melancholic movie only makes it more special. While watching it, I kept thinking about how I didn't want it to end. Also-- Ayakas' journey with them was a nice addition.

I really loved this movie! This has become one of my favorite movies. I 100% recommend watching it!

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T.I.L.Y. is like a Fever Dream, a colorful whirlwind of emotions

Different people in 3 different kinds of loving relationships, even presented in different genres of film one might say, all packaged in a 2 h movie. The characters don't feel particularly "Japanese", but that adds to the overall slightly fantastic character of this anthology. I don't think it's to be taken dead seriously, but like a fever dream, an a bit exaggerated version of our reality, where everything that happens is accompanied by a tad of magic.

The film made me cry and it made me laugh and it made me think about the relationships I have with the people I love. So my conclusion here is: It's definitely worth watching.
The soundtrack is beautiful too.
Ok, this is my humble opinion ~

You get the film, if you don't measure everything against the reality we live in and embrace the message.

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watch it and sob

Allergies. I’m not crying, you’re crying!

(Not the most original story but it managed to have its own identity in such a short span of minutes. It’s sad that it’s this sad, but at least I knew that going in. I could see this developed into a full picture or a miniseries, though that would be the devil’s work ‘cause imagine a full hour or MULTIPLE HOURS of enduring the pain of just knowing. Don’t anyone there! Let it rest.

Anywho, I was testing this to see if Bible and Jes were good together and it totally managed ti convince me to go watch 4 Minutes now, so that’s about what I’m gonna do now!

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After watching the Onmyoji anime on Netflix and thoroughly enjoying it, I became interested in watching Onmyoji 0. I anticipated an epic battle between the Onmyoji Abe no Seimei and demons, with the noble Minamoto no Hiromasa by his side. However, I was somewhat disappointed because the story deviated significantly from my expectations and the original concept of the anime.

Key Points:

- The film lacks demons, so there’s no battle to save the world.
- It features a conflict between good and evil.
- The movie explores Onmyoji's training, hierarchy, and power struggles for position.
- The use of magic was limited
- The movie also explored the hypnotism
- The CGI was impressive.

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this is amazing

the cast and crew did an incredible job with this movie, it’s fantastic and I will be watching it again and again for as long as I live, I loved everything about it, and the message of the movie was very well executed, you will feel immersed in the whole movie, I didn’t even realise that it was over until it was, which is hard for me to experience, because I watched so many movies and TV shows, I was scared and shocked, excited and nervous, raged and terrified, from the beginning I was hooked, I couldn’t stop watching even if I tried, I had to know what happens, I’m so impressed with this.

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I placed spoilers at the end of this review.

I love doing comparison reviews when a BL series is edited into a movie. It’s just bizarre I had to wait over 1 ½ years to do this one. What is even more bizarre is I had to use a VPN to watch the movie edit of a Viki original series on GagaOOLala. This is especially weird considering that Viki released three other Korean BL series (one of them also a Viki original) after this series which all were quickly edited into a movie within the same year of its release.

The movie/series: This had an interesting storyline. The script was simple but good. I love how they used Woo Jae’s web-based novel to mirror the main couple’s situation. This helped explained both main characters’ feelings. It had nice cinematograph but the flash back scenes in the beginning was a little confusing because it was not clearly marked. The acting was good with the usual exception often seen in Korean BL series/movies.

The movie: The movie has a different starting point because they edited out the opening credits and the first 2 minutes from the series beginning. Overall, the move version was ok. They did a great job editing it into a cohesive movie. However, they made a few poor editing choices with the scenes they cut out. I know this was probably done for timing purposes, but the storyline did not have the same pacing it had in the series. On a good note, it did not affect the relationship and story progression in anyway.

Random Notes:

I strongly recommend watching the series version (on Viki if you can) because the pacing had a nice, even flow to it. Another reason is the movie’s English subtitles were very bad (I did not take points off for this).


******Spoiler Alert******

Although it was a bit extreme, I get why Woo Jae left. However, I don’t fully understand why he showed such hostile anger towards Yeon Woo. Especially considering he is the one that left without telling Yeon Woo.

The usual exception of course were the kiss scenes. I don’t need the actors to suck each other’s faces off, but at least kiss with some emotions. if the actors are not willing to do a proper kissing scene, have them kiss each other on the check or them hugging. Again, not every BL series has to end with a big make-out/kiss session.

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Slow burn, needs a remake

Adore the manga so decided to give it a try as well.
The story focuses on their love story, it was a great idea to ,,allow,, the audience to hear what the characters are thinking. The characters fit each other so well, it was lovely seeing them slowly fall in love. It is a slow burn but it never dragged just gave them the time they needed, most of the time one of the characters falls first and pursues the other but here they both start from 0 feelings for the other.
It is an older movie and it shows from their phones, rooms, haircuts and the way it was filmed. The chemistry lacks but it is an older movie, for its time I would say they did an OK job. One of the actors did a better job then the other when it came to acting.
It was a simple, cute love story perfect to enjoy with a warm drink on a cold night and I enjoyed it, the manga is better but they did a good job.

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A beautiful paradox

At the heart of the incredibly titled Beach of the War Gods is a beautiful paradox, one built upon love and shame, it's wuxia mayhem by way of Kurosawa and Leone all filtered through the eyes of Jimmy Wang Yu. Whilst hand-to-hand combat had started to become the name of the game following the dawn of the 1970s, this film sees Wang Yu take a decisive step back from what he was more well-known for, to make a film in the genre that had previously dominated, the wuxia. Granted, it does look a little rougher around the edges than many of its contemporaries, but its ambition and scope are to be marvelled at. Wang Yu makes fabulous use of the wide frame with some brilliantly composed and thoroughly beautiful shots sprinkled throughout. It's enriched with depth, movement and a constant visual interest to keep you engrossed with wind machines regularly blasting away, waves crashing dramatically and fire adding powerful amounts of colour. And this is all before I mention the film's awe-inspiring and action-packed finale that brings 25 minutes of uninterrupted magnificence to the forefront. Yes, the characters and plot are exceptionally flimsy and the dialogue is superficial at best; yet the stripped-back approach works in Beach of the War Gods' favour, never intruding upon its gloriously bloody action and rushing towards its lengthy, epic final battle without any fat getting in the way.

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"It is an agony to live but I don't want to die".

As soon as I heard that quote from the movie, I literally opened my note app to notate it. It is so deep, meaningful , sad and quite realistic :(. I have so much to say about this movie but I dont want to spoil it and I want to give people the chance to experience it themselves. I want to thank everyone involved in this movie for making this types of movie. It matters. No wonder why this movie got so much critical acclaim and success all over the world. Now that I just finished watching it, I can understand why. It resonates with a lot of people; this is REAL. These are the types of subjects that are rarely addressed in dramas or movies, especially in a sensitive manner. I seriously want to thank the creators of this movie for this deep and meaningful movie; Mone ,Hokuto and all the veterans actors I recognized from previous Jdrama projects for taking part into this. A young woman who suffers from PMS and a young man who suffers from panic disorders and how they are attempting to navigate this life with their conditions that can be sometimes be very debilitating for them( I am not going to spoil it). Please watch this. Films like this MATTER. Stories like these are important to be told and I am so glad that it got so much deserved success worldwide. Lastly, Thank you again Mone and Hokuto for such formidable performances. I hope to see them reunite in another 3rd project in the future.

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How to survive in a heteronormative world

A poignant short film about two queer people trying to survive in this heteronormative world.

A young woman who loses her fanancial support and tries to find a way out of the situation.
A young man deep in the closet and hopelessly in love with a married man.
A married hetero man, who rather believes unsubstantiated rumours than listen to the subtle hints of his friend.

Two-and-a-half locations, minimal music, details are told with the camera, not with words.
I wonder if people who are not LGBTQ+ can easily understand this short film, but I hope they'd choose to look closely and will listen better than the straight friend here.

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Are we humans or monsters?

This movie didn't make me cry. But, it left a void in my heart. It pains and it hurts as if someone had stabbed my heart. I wish everyone in this world watches this movie irrespective of who they are. It will give a chance for us to destroy our inner demons and become more humane.
The story is told from three perspectives: Saori is a single mother who finds that her son is exhibiting strange behaviors lately. Her son Minato admits that he was beaten and abused by his teacher Hori. After this arc, we all tend to blame Hori. Then, we get Hori's perspective - he had always been kind to his students and Minato was injured by him accidentally. However, the whole school and press labels him as an abusive teacher and he is fired from his job. At this point, we audience tend to be indifferent towards Hori and think that he deserves to be hated. But, the real story is hidden behind Minato's POV. Minato has a crush on Yori, a boy in his class. Yori is often bullied by his rude classmates for his girly behavior. Minato is in denial because of the society norms and that causes him extreme stress, to the extent that he starts questioning his existence. Yori is always physically abused by his alcoholic single father, who believes that Yori has a disease and that he is a monster with pig brains. Despite all the bullying at school and the abuse from his father, Yori is very optimistic and gentle. The girls around him are always kind, but the boys give him a tough time. This factor alone shows how women are more matured, understanding and have an high degree of empathy within them. Parallel to all three arcs, we see the cold principal of the school. It is said that she killed her grandchild accidentally and let her husband take the fall, who is currently imprisoned. Whether its true or false is left to our own judgement.
I felt the movie was a huge irony in more than one way. In today's date, where social media is a rage, we don't fact-check everything before we draw conclusions. We only hear the narratives we favor. We don't want to listen to the other sides of the story. In fact, we don't even believe there are other narratives. Lets say, you come across a reel about an actor being accused of a hit-and-run. If you like the actor, you will say he's being framed. If you don't like the actor, you will say he deserves jail. And if you don't know the actor, you just ignore the reel, forgetting the reel quickly. There are many cases where innocent people commit suicide because of the hateful comments on social media. If even one life is lost because of our harsh words, aren't we monsters?
Throughout the film, rebirths are often mentioned, mostly by Minato. The ending leaves us hanging with many possibilities. Again, our perceptions come at play here. There are many hidden messages within the movie. For instance, Yori has become immune to the bullying and abuse because he is so much used to it - he doesn't feel anything anymore. This was revealed through a card game with Minato.
The entire cast were amazing, but the performance of the child actors are impeccable. That was Oscar-level acting. It is isn't easy to act in sensitive topics as a child.
Overall, this movie widened my horizons. It was thought-provoking and an eye-opener. No wonder it won so many laurels, including the Cannes festival.

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