Reviews

One for the collectors

This is in the vein of the 1959 Mae Nak Phra Khanong, with the first half of focusing on their life together before Mak leaves for war. It's light, almost frivolous and overtly romantic.

The latter half was clearly and understandably made for an audience who knows the story already and skims plot detail to centre its attention on the emotions. This made for some of the most emotionally effective scenes I've seen in a Mae/Nang Nak so far. I'll likely watch it again for that but may skip through some of the first half.

I didn't make proper review notes when I saw it (it wasn't in the database then) but my recollection is that the horror element was fairly minimal and brief but not absent. MDL's very broad use of "horror" as a genre doesn't work well with Thai movies and how they approach some of their ghost stories.

If you don't know the Mae/Nang Nak legend though, the best to start with is the 1999 Nang Nak.

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Watch this for MDL 2024 Watch Challenge. Huft.... What a ride.... And wow I never read MDL summary that quite spoiler the whole plot than this one... So let me just tell it from different perspective....

Story about Tang Chuan (TC), a mathematic professor that also police consultants for their investigation. One day, police approach him again with difficult case, a man found dead but everything that can identify him being erased, his face smash beyond recognize and his finger burn until no fingerprint. But police still can identify him as Fu Jian (FJ), because they still find his rental bike with fingerprint intact nearby. So, knowing the man identity they find about his ex-wife, Chen Jing (CJ), and start investigation. Unfortunately the case not that easy to be cracked, CJ has perfect alibi for the night of FJ died. When the police hit a dead end, they turn to TC for help.

From police, TC find out CJ's neighbor non other his former classmate, another math genius & enthusiasm, Shi Hong (SH). By gut feeling, TC feel that SH is related to the crime. But how deep & what part SH was taking part of is TC hasn't got a clue. So, because MDL already wrote in the summary, how the dangerous cat-and-mouse between SH & TC ended in the end...?

Unfortunately in my opinion, if you read the summary by MDL first before watching it quite ruin the plot. Why...? Cause for me that's the suspense in this movie about. You don't know what part SH involve in the whole crime, is he the killer or just the helper to cover up the crime....

And since I didn't read the summary and just jumping to the movie. For me this one of the best crime movie. It so full of surprise and unpredictable plot. And this movie also told us about how you can't fool ur conscience, if you have pure heart, hide something dark will slowly but sure eat your heart away. Like in this how CJ feel guilty all the way about her murdering FJ, even thought by mistake.

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Feel-good romance lacks distinctive voice and a real heart

I don't have much to say about this film except that it's cute, adorable and wholesome. Conversations are mostly backed up with whimsical music. I don't have a problem with this as the dialogues felt authentic and genuine at first. However, by the time we arrived in the second half the story became dragged and lacked the specifities I was hoping for.

The shots and cinematography could have been more creative to make it memorable. The story does not try to be groundbreaking either. This is just supposed to be a feel-good movie although I would have loved if there were more touching moments to evoke emotions considering the story revolves around deaf people.

The story starts with Yong Jun unsure of what he wants to do in life. He's surrounded with philosophy books but he doesn't know what job to apply for. By the time we get to the end, nothing has changed. He's the main character but we didn't get to know much about his thoughts and background except that he instantly fell for Yeo Reum when he saw her in the swimming pool. This is the moment where the puppy love story starts to unfold. The film also noticeably shifts it focus to Yeo Reum's point of view after this part. More or less, Yeo Reum is a more developed character than Yong Jun. We digged into Yeo Reum's background and personality but only to a certain extent and here is where my main issue lies. Her character lacks a distinctive voice and is not fleshed out as I want her to be.

The storyline is fairly simple and is quite the epitome of young love. Although, one would really expect that the film could have had more earnest and compelling scenes just to fully give us that warm, fuzzy feeling inside.

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The action scenes made the plot holes fade away

New Dragon Inn 2024 is not to be mistaken for The New Dragon Inn 2024.
I watched the trailer for the latter and ended up watching this one because the latter cannot be found anywhere on this internet, and I mistook the two.
This one feels like we're missing some context that the writer doesn't seem to think is important, but aside that, the CG is actually good, the Vampires were a bit of a 'huh' moment for me and the main bad guys eyebrows were absolutely ridiculous, but the action scenes were well choreographed and very long.
I won't say I liked it but I don't dislike it either.

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WATCH IMMEDIATELY

One of the film’s most unique aspects is its use of non-verbal communication, which draws attention to the actors’ facial expressions and movements. Hong Kyung and Roh Yoon-seo deliver believable and touching performances, and their chemistry feels natural. Kim Min-ju also shines as Ga-eul, portraying the struggles and strength of someone in the deaf community with great sensitivity. The movie is visually stunning, with beautiful scenes that capture the warmth and emotions of summer. The music adds to the experience, creating a nostalgic and peaceful mood. Hear Me: Our Summer is a heartfelt film about love and connection beyond words. It’s a great choice for fans of romantic dramas and stories about meaningful human relationships.

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Not sure about the hype

Got excited to watch this movie because of the high ratings. Didnt watch any trailers or new anything about it before watching. Thought it was going to be a good horror /thriller movie. Was waiting for something to happen....


Still very confused about the high ratings or is this what Japan horror movies is about?

It was about 3 different views/stories about their lives. I dont see anything about a thriller or a horror. Maybe a psychological drama.

Still very confused here... The theme is who is fhe monster? As you watch it from 3 different perspectives and then you change your views based on them. Thats why the question is are we the monster?

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Super bizarre as a movie. Probably great for people who watched both Decade and W, but as someone watching this to round out my W experience, this was just really weird. I may be biased, but I think the W parts are more understandable even if you haven't seen W, but the Decade parts were really confusing with no knowledge of that show.

The tone shifts are really crazy, as the W section (while it has some emotion to it) is overall more lighthearted and slapstick, and the Decade section is split between edgy protagonist angst and ridiculously campy villain scenes. I want to reiterate that, at the point where the storylines converge, Decade has been going through deep discussions about his moral compass and struggle to be seen and is facing down a giant nazi airship, whereas W is chasing a character who has turned into a tire and is making onomatopeia sounds as he rolls down the highway.

Overall, though I ended up fast-forwarding through some of the Decade parts, I did enjoy the W bits, and the rating is primarily for the fact that I liked the Shoutarou/Philip backstory and that Skull is really really cool.

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"It's not up to others to decide what kind of human being you are"

Born with It was a short eye-opening film for people who live comfortably in the majority and confirmation of what people who are declared “different” already know. This film didn’t pull any punches and stripped away all the sugary, feel-good moments another film might have doled out to make people feel better and less uncomfortable with reality.

Keisuke begins school late in the year in a rural area after moving from Tokyo with his mom. Born to a Japanese mother and black father, he is in the only child of color in his class. Fellow student, Kento, can’t believe he can speak Japanese. “I am Japanese,” Keisuke tells him. In a thoroughly homogenous society Keisuke is viewed suspiciously. Kento declares that he must have AIDS for his skin to be that color and tells everyone to not associate with him.

I live in a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, multi-religious society. Bi-racial children of all sorts are nothing unusual. That doesn’t mean that they don’t face prejudice. But the level of ignorance and otherism of these children was off the charts. Unfortunately, it’s not only these Japanese students who are cruel. I watched a drama not long ago that had a Japanese actor of color named Anthony in it. I saw numerous derogatory comments about him from people not from Japan. He too, was born of a Japanese mother and African American father. His father died when he was a toddler. His mother married a Japanese man when he was five. As he said of growing up, “There were girls and boys and then there was me, this mysterious black being.” Much like this child, he was thoroughly Japanese except for his looks, and in a monoethnic society it was hard to fit in.

Keisuke’s mom did not coddle him or tell him everything was going to be okay. She told him he could not let others decide who he was, he would have to figure that out for himself and fight his own battles. A heartbreaking reality for such a beautiful, kind child. While this short film showed the ignorance some people of color face in Japan, it’s also a reminder for the rest of us to open our hearts and minds to the “others” in our own communities. Regardless of race or sex we are all humans and want to be treated with respect and to be accepted. Born with It showed how much more some people have to fight daily to achieve that baseline of humane treatment.

24 December 2024

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Poor writing choices killed what could've been a great movie

You had the cast and the budget and yet....... Project Wolf Hunting is a fun watch if you are a Seo In Guk fan but that's about it.
This movie gives you no time to know or like characters before they are killed so in this regard its somewhat like a classic slasher movie however this was clearly not the intended effect as they attempt to make an effort in the last 40 minutes of its run time to give us story and worldbuilding they honestly did not have the time or characters for. Unlike a typical slasher, there are no characters you really want to survive nor want to see die which results in a boring slaughter of sacks of meat rather than people.

Seo In Guk's character, Park Jung Du, makes for a great protagonist the audience is torn between loving or hating however his potential is almost immediately wasted to focus on a character, Lee Do Il, who has somewhat been in Jong du's shadow, this happens so abruptly that they hardly have any time to even build up who Lee Do Il is or why we should find him interesting compared to the characters we had been following. ultimately the actors did fantastic but weren't giving anything great to work with.

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Watched this for my alphabet challenge.

Story about a teacher and a student. One day, the student, shiotsu, tell his teacher he likes a boy. The teacher cheers, cause turn out he also like man. The teacher think the one shiotsu like is him, but turn out another boy name, Hatsukari. So, how their story goes from here...?

Sometimes I really don't understand Japan jokes and what they think as norm in there... Haiz...

Like this story, while we and the rest of the world condemn this as the act of pedofil or predator look for its prey, Japan still make it into short drama...

But why do I still give this quite high score...? I'll write the reason below, but that's also mean SPOILER ALERT!!! Read it at ur own risk.












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SPOILER ALERT!!!
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In the end the teacher still do the right thing

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WARM & GOOD MOVIE TAKES BACK YOU TO ERA OF NO SOCIAL MEDIA , YET HITS WITH EMOTIONAL END

Omg!!! bo ra n woon ho's story started and ended at the same time .....gosh! i aint prepared for this end...also im just happy by the fact that bo ra did get a closure and also she have come to know what has happened to Woon ho...also that video disc thing woon ho be in front her when ever she sees that...Damn!!!Joseph turned out to be an angel sent by god...
Well its not the end we want but it does justify the title of the movie though , a warm ,fluffy , innocent movie with unexpected emotional climax
that line by woon ho when he says he wanna see bo ra the "21st century BO RA" 😭😭😭

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Police? Lawyer? Why Not Have Both?

Thats it, both. An ex police officer turned lawyer is one of the most unexpected movie to end this year. I must say, I was quite entertained throughout the whole movie runtime. Witty dialogues, still remember that razor word battle scene between Donnie and Julian's character.

Speaking of Julian Cheung, seeing him taking a different character is straight up awesome. Him cursing, him swearing, awww yeaa! Beautiful. Francis Ng in this movie is like that middle man, neither good or evil.

Donnie Yen did as what Donnie Yen do, but better. I see him as a much better actor this one here. That opening scene, from him, is like wowwww...am I leaving in a gaming world?. Niceeee. Overall, he is entertaining to watch especially with his two sidekicks (one lawyer, and another police officer) Thats fresh to me.

Oh, by the way, have I touched about the crowd reaction? Wasnt expecting people to laugh so much in a serious emotional movie. Well, thats what it is. People laugh at serious jokes haha. Credits to the director Raymond Wong, I guess..

One last thing I was worry, is that if this movie will stick/follow/or have any sort of similarities to A Guilty Conscience. For me, safe to say, No. If you do...I may understand why.


8/10

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