Reviews

Weird, but funny and fast paced

This movie is really different. It's an alien apocalypse meets old school wire martial arts film meets magic and mages with some comedy and action thrown in.

Likes: It's creative and fresh. The off kilter comedy works. I didn't know Ryu Jun Yeol could be so funny. The stellar cast. The action and acting was good. It's fast paced so you don't notice how long the movie is.

Dislikes: The movie is just plain weird, but in a stylish sort of way. But it was so out there that I actually thought I would drop this a few times. It was the bits of comedy that reeled me back in. The mashup of genres took some getting used to. The CGI could have been better. All the separate subplots that set up the story took too long and was confusing at first. Once the story started connecting the dots though, it got way better and interesting.

I would say that this movie is basically setting up everything for the 2nd movie. So just when it starts to get good, it ends with a cliffhanger for part 2 which I will watch because I want to know what happens. Very curious to see people's reactions to this movie. It's one of those movies that I think people will either love or hate.

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Remarkable milestone for Korean war movie

This movie is a remarkable milestone for the most visually impressive and energy intensive Korean war movie ever focusing on naval battle in ancient warships. Although it's loosely served as the prequel of Roaring Currents and a younger Yi Sun Sin on deck, the naval battle sequences in here that lasted for almost an hour is bigger, bolder and better with enormous clashes due to cinematic advancement. The battle scenes are so realisitic it's unbelievable how they've manage to shot those scenes that contains sheer amount of power in great precision. The intense story buildups for the war campaign, the emotional acting and explosive soundtrack, this is certainly the perfect package for spectacular cinema.

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Never underestimate a kung fu zombie!

Seven Men of Kung Fu had an impressive cast stuck in an unimpressive and bizarre story. Director and writer Cheung Hang only made 4 movies and that was probably 4 too many if this movie is any indication.

Seven Men of Kung Fu was a confusing, horrendously edited movie. It's the old Mings rebelling against the Chings but with characters, plot, and motivations thrown into a blender. Characters appeared and disappeared, plot elements appeared and disappeared, and some people were at odds but their reasons were never explained. Just to make it more bonkers, Doris Lung and a kung fu zombie, presumably caught in a time loop because they came slowly over the same hill about ten times randomly during the movie with no explanation until the final scene. I cannot express how badly this story was written and filmed.

Old school Chang Yi was the Big Bad complete with a flame red wig and large white owl-like eyebrows. He was the Emperor's Supreme Constable and seemingly unstoppable, tasked with bringing in the murderers of some raping tax collectors. Chang Fu Chien starred as the Ming rebel leader. They never made it clear whether he was gathering men to fight the Chings or if they spontaneously began to gather. Often cast as baddies, Lo Lieh, Chen Sing and Phillip Ko sort of joined his ranks even though they didn't fight as a group. Characters were introduced and then never seen again or briefly during a brawl with the Prince's elite fighting corp. Random fight scenes came out of nowhere. We were shown a minion who could hang from the ceiling by his hair only to never see him again. Pretty sure one guy was killed twice.

While most of the good guys are shown suddenly fighting in town, Chen Sing is shown running and running and running. You know it was him because his shirt was open, he never missed a chance to take his shirt off in these old movies. Lo Lieh came riding into a town on a horse smaller than he was after the dust settled. All while they showed Doris and her zombie coming over that same hill-again. Have I mentioned this movie was bizarre?

The body count was high in this one. And I cannot express how weird the ending was. As of the writing of this review, I've watched over 150 kung fu movies and this had the strangest ending I've ever seen. Let's just say Doris and the zombie finally showed up and randomly figured in to it. I use the word random a lot because so much of this movie was random.

The fight scenes utilized trampolines, cartwheels, and wires quite a bit. Some of the fights bordered on kung fu posing, while others, especially the one with Chen Sing moved faster. An early fight with Lo Lieh combating a bunch of Ching policeman was amusing as he took them out and the chief officer ran a tally of his offenses and his "bill" as the fighting raged on.

This was a cheap Taiwanese movie, much of it being filmed outdoors. The film itself was badly degraded and faded. At least this version hadn't been cropped on the sides so much of the action was viewable.

Seven Men, a Couple of Women, and a Zombie is only for hard core kung fu fans as it was poorly made and at times incomprehensible. But for those few hard core fans the ending is worth watching because it was unique.


9/6/22

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Movie You Can Finish it With A Smile

Actually, I thought I'd end it after suffering with sadness and misery, but I was at fault. It shows a balanced amount of everything (graving, anger, misunderstanding, joy, love, etc...) and this is the most thing I liked about it.

The relationship growth progress between "San Mei" and "Xiao Wen" is so good and in a normal way, and of course it was funny to watch. the little "Wen Wen" just wanted to get her grandmother back, and "San Mei" just wanted to do his job and pass all the troubles he get through. Slowly they started to be the reason for healing each other wounds and feeling like a real family.

Honestly, I liked everything but I have one complaint, the ending seems rushed! it could be better if they add another 15 min and make it more satisfying. in another hand, still, everything is good and I enjoyed it.

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The first Japanese horror film I have watched on cinema, and it was good!

Knowing the urban legend of Kisaragi Station (thanks to a nameless song). I was hyped up to see this in the cinema, and after watching the movie, I was taken aback by the plot twists and the ending on which was pretty much depressing to be honest, but nevertheless a good watch!

There were some parts in the movie where I was caught off guard and felt surprised, it’s definitely scary. Cinematography wise I like it! The way some scenes were taken in First Person View is amazing and really helps alot with immersing yourself to the story! Although I can’t say the same for the VFX, it's okay I guess? Acting was good and the OST is just a LSS! The ending though... Well let's just say that it's not a happy one. (Look out for the post-credit scene!) Overall a thrilling and scary (with a dash of sadness) movie to watch!

All I can say without spoiling too much is “Always keep your guard up.” Because those who you expect to have good intentions, are the ones that really don't have one. So yeah, If you like movies about urban legends like this, you should try giving this a watch!


(This is my first review on MDL! I’m sorry if there were some mistakes made on this review, I’m still trying to learn how to write a proper review after all HAHAHAHA. Anyways I will try my best to make good reviews in the future!)

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TOO CUTE??

I Must say as a BL freak I have seen better but it was still cute !!

If I watched this as my first ever bl I would think its the best bl short film ever but since I've watched many other bl movies and bl series , I think my standards towards bl films/series excepted more. I think that's why most people look down on this film although I would also say that this is almost like what you call a typical" soft bl " and from what I experienced ,most bl fans want more then soft love and almost 70% of then wants spicy scene's. I do recommend it to people who like soft bl's .❤❤❤?
short yet made me smile and blush .I would say in my opinion it's worth the watch.?

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Short but meaningful

He is the reason I watched this film. I can't believe I sobbed while watching this movie. Ding Yu Xi deserves to appear in more roles and films. He is a superb actor. The moment with his friends at the beach telling his last instructions is my favorite. Not to spoil the movie, but it is the scene where I couldn't hold back my tears and started sobbing! This is one of the saddest movies I saw this year, yet I won't give it a perfect 10 because it made me cry ugly tears! Plot is good but the movie itself feels like it has been squeezed to 1hr and 45mins. If a lengthy movie implies that every scene will be explained, I don't mind. But that's part of the appeal of some movies—they allow the audience interpret the situations from their point of view.

Overall, the movie is brief but poignant. It encourages you to value others around you. Please all be reminded! Tell the people you care about, "I love you."

Would I recommend this movie? Yes! I don't mind having another viewer cry ugly tears :)

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Re. missing children: highly topical, soundly researched, superbly directed and masterfully acted

"Bring Me Home" is a KMovie full of raw reality and emotional impact that disturbingly brings you closer to present day human abyss.

Perhaps it would be appropriate to describe this KMovie as a fine study in the nexus between humanity and inhumanity, with the scales being tipped by human compassion. Life becomes barren, cruel, brutal and hopeless when this compassion no longer finds a place among people. But it makes a difference whether a soul has already left the human body and only a cold shell remains, which already lacks any human compassion. Or whether a soul is deeply injured and has only withdrawn far from a dazed body, but at the decisive moment, when human compassion seizes this body and reaches the soul, unexpected energies are mobilized and thus in a kind of holy anger fighting their way out of the pull of gloomy abysses. ...It is compassion that makes a difference in human dignity.

In any case, it is appropriate to describe this KMovie as a highly topical, soundly researched, superbly directed and masterfully acted study about the subject of missing children, or child abduction and child abuse in South Korea.

Howsoever I describe it, the bottom line is the same: "Bring me Back" is a thriller about (in)human abysses. The KMovie unfolds its haunting power through an almost brutal, unimpressed realism, holding up a merciless mirror to a society that seems indifferent to the disappearance of children. "Bring me Back" is a family drama. But it is also rigorous social criticism that explains the particular drama of one (of an alarmingly large number) of South Korean families as a disturbing general social disaster.

Yoo Jae-myung surpasses himself here as dishonest, repellent policeman without shame or sense of duty. Also fantastic: Lee Young-ae. She has already proven herself as an avenging angel in the KMovie "Sympathy for Lady Vengeance". At that time it was about vigilantism as a concept based on principle and planned for a long time. Here it's more of a reflex in the heat of the moment.

Heavy. Gloomy. Still recommendable.

P.S.
Actually, in 2020 (the movie is from 2019) there was a nationwide campaign in South Korea. At that time, 661 children had been missing for more than a year, 638 of them for more than five years. So that they are not forgotten, their faces have now been printed on a wide parcel tape, which is used by the South Korean Post and larger shipping services and can also be used privately. The faces were digitally edited and adjusted to look as they could possibly look today. The central information about their case was also printed on it. (However, I do not know whether this has contributed to the clarification of individual cases yet.)



---------------------------------- SIDE NOTE: --- Missing children in South Korea ---

Human trafficking is not a specifically South Korean issue. However, the continent of Asia is the undisputed leader with 7 countries among the 11 countries with the most victims worldwide. One might not expect South Korea to be at the forefront, but human trafficking is an alarmingly profitable business here, and the trend is expanding - regardless of whether it involves women and children who are exported or imported from abroad, or as Transit country for human traffickers from China or Russia. This is largely beneath the public radar. Public officials are often involved or bribed. In addition, most of the victims here are under the age of 16. This means that they are initially treated 'only' as runaways - this was the case in 80 percent of the solved cases. Thus, the police and authorities are not primarily in charge, but the parents. If the children are among the remaining 20 percent - the kidnapped or abandoned - then unfortunately they are unlucky that they are not searched for with the necessary vigor. At the same time, these minors are among the weakest and most defenseless members of society. They have neither voice, nor life experience, nor strength to really oppose the perpetrators. This makes them easy prey for a lucrative business.

In South Korea, over 99 percent of missing children are found within the first two days. That sounds like a lot. However, for the 1 percent of families who do not find their child during this time span, a nightmare begins that has already driven many parents to even commit suicide. It has been proven that the pain, the struggle with guilt and hope, does not stop in the years and decades that follow.

A figure from 2016: of around 38,000 missing persons reports, half were minors who turned up again within the famous 48 hours. 285 of these missing persons cases could not be cleared up. Among long-term missing minors (according to a 2014 case study), 65 percent were later found dead, and 46 percent of resolved child kidnapping cases revealed they were victims of physical sexual violence.

The statute of limitations marks another problem. As a result, parents often devote their lives to searching on their own, far beyond their means, since no one else will. They however can´t help but keep searching and hoping. They are more likely to lose their job, their social life, their health, or their own life. A 2006 study found that 40 percent of parents who missed their child for years or decades lost their job and spent an average total of around $500,000 in the search. (By now, that sum is likely to be a lot higher.) This includes the money that had to be paid to the number of false informants, or the travel expenses to travel to a potential location where a tip sent the parents. More than once, someone played a prank. Such cases are well documented. But there are also (fortunately) case histories of donors and supporters.

In South Korea, the legal activities relating to missing minors have been tightened again and again in recent years. But the results are still not what one might wish for. A government study from 2021 identifies acute further needs in all areas: from prevention to investigation and prosecution to officials training. Between 2015 and 2020, South Korean women and children were trafficked in increasing numbers. There are always accomplices among public officials, in particular the cooperation between human traffickers and police officers is criticized, which robs the victims of any last hope of help. By the way, in this context, fishing industry on the coasts is also expressly mentioned as a crime scene. Numerous cases of human trafficking and exploitation of workers whose working and living conditions are sometimes disastrous are documented.

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Really bad and disappointing.

My rating of this movie is 0.5/10 but when you write a review your rating must be between 1 and 10.

Before this movie was released, with each trailer for it, my expectations were getting bigger. In the end, I did not see it until 2022 and I am very disappointed.

The acting was sometimes good and sometimes average. Far too many scenes with the camera shaking. There were so many of them that I started to wonder if it was really on purpose. A lot of scenes with close-ups on the faces of the characters. Some of them looked strange. I really think there should be fewer scenes like this.

The plot idea itself was really good, but the execution was very poor. The whole thing was terribly boring and tiring for me.

The last twenty minutes is the best done part of this movie, but when you watch it you are so tired of the rest of the movie that it is not easy to appreciate it.

Rei is supposed to be in love, but since high school she has shown a great desire to have sex with Nanae. It has been mentioned too many times for me.

Some things really feel like lesbophobia.

I really didn't like this movie. I hate it.

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This is the movie that made me fall in love with Shu Qi. I have seen this movie multiples times and have loved it ever sense my first time.

The first action sequence is superb. Shu Qi hanging from a ceiling while killing the bad guys was awesome the first time I saw it and now. Really great fight choreography and action scenes. Loved the car chase thru the city and the shoot out in the car garage. It's a really good story too. The CGI doesnt hold up but eveything else is still great!

I loved this bad ass female cast too. Karen Mok and Zhao Wei round it out very nicely. I always recommend this movie to people who love actions movies and who have never seen Shu Qi.

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"If you keep on believing, the dream that you dream will come true." -Cinderella

Two of my favorite Chinese actresses, Zhou Dong Yu and Zanilia Zhao starred in The Palace. More Cinderella fairytale than actual historical tale but entertaining nonetheless.

Chen Xiang and Liu Li came to the palace as 13 year-old girls to serve as maids and became fast friends. Chen Xiang lost her earring in an abandoned garden on her first day, think Chekov's gun or Cinderella's slipper. Quickly fast forwarded 7 years, the two turned into Dong Yu and Zanilia, now twenty-year-olds still prone to giggling and screaming. Each had their dreams of winding up with a handsome prince no matter how remote the possibility. But in fairytales even remote possibilities can become reality. Chen Xiang met the 13th Prince once again in the abandoned garden only this time she wore a scarf over her face as they had a chaste memorable time. Liu Li, uh, banged into the nefarious 9th Prince. Before you could say mistaken identity the 13th Prince and Liu Li were to be married. Chen Xiang found herself becoming her friend's servant while Liu Li turned into a wicked stepsister to keep their secret.

Chen Xiang was the childlike, virginal, self-sacrificing heroine complete with a repertoire of giggles and screams. Liu Li with her lusty desires for sex and power went from fast friend to Fast Times at Ridgemont High turning evil at the drop of her clothes. There was never much of a reason for Chen Xiang to keep her secret other than to be the traditional martyr and long suffering heroine. I wasn't crazy about the portrayal of the young women. In this fairytale all women were considered pretty much alike and were designed to please men in order to have any security, which given the times probably wasn't too far off the mark. There was no shortage of examples of what happened to maids or concubines who failed to please. The fact that the 13th Prince couldn't tell them apart reinforced their interchangeable nature.

The costumes and sets were luxurious, with mood fitting lighting and exquisite cinematography. Every shot was beautifully framed. No pumpkin coach or mice, but there was a stunning CGI dragon and lots of luminescent butterflies. The actors were cornered into stereotypical roles but still managed to bring their characters to life.

Once the movie got past the giggling, so much giggling, it became more enjoyable for me, even when it dipped into melodrama and political intrigue. Being a fairytale all that mattered was the romance and Chen Xiang winning the Prince's heart through her kind and selfless acts. But it was a Chinese fairytale so that meant being able to avoid being beheaded, beaten to death or exiled in the process.


9/5/22

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I thought the story was very interesting. A King grooming young men to serve him while he falls in love with one of those young men which ultimately leads to his downfall and both of their deaths.

This is the first thing I've watched with the main cast and Joo Jin Mo was fantastic as the King. He offereed his favorite general and lover to his Queen so that she would produce an heir and this sets in motion the tragic Shakespearean aftermath that follows.

Hong Lim, the King's favorite beds the Queen at the King's request. He does so reluctantly at first but then he starts to have feeling for the Queen, be its lust or love (bad idea). The Queen being touched by a man for the first time experiences that euphoria you get from sex and intimacy which she wasn't getting from her husband falls for Hong Lim. Everyone behaves poorly and the King's jealously is his ultimate undoing.

Overall, a good movie. I gave 7/10. It was almost an 8 but while I thought the first 80 minutes were well done, the last half of the movie was a bit too sloppy.

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Not only is The Roundup a superior sequel to The Outlaws, it may be the strongest Ma Deong-seok movie yet!

PROS
+ High-energy plot pacing with many satisfying action and pursuit scenes
+ The added "globetrotting" gives the film a refreshing adventurous element
+ A sense of urgency is present adds a nice amount of tension to the thrilling plot
+ The casting and acting are top-tier (especially from the villain character)
+ MDS is as cool as ever and he has some kinetic and memorable fights
+ Even the sound direction adds to the action with each punch resonating a powerful "whoop" that shakes the room

CONS
- There is A LOT of blood and guts for an action movie with so few guns (maybe the future sequel could add more guns)
- Do not expect to be moved emotionally or anything, this is simply a highly concentrated action thriller with no drama

How many times do you get to see a movie that seems like it was made just for you? The Roundup is an excellent action/thriller that is easily recommendable to anyone that enjoys the genre.

Make sure you watch The Outlaws before The Roundup. While it is nowhere as action-packed or exciting, it does a better job establishing the characters present in this movie.

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I've come across some pretty horrible Korean movies and was trying to stay away from such but I saw a preview on top bad a** action scenes from Korean movies and seen a few snippets of this movie and it peaked my interest. I love love love action movies that involve some sort of fighting so yeah, I had to watch this.

I was a bit skittish about it but in the end I overly enjoyed the main two characters. Their chemistry was truly awesome. I think it was because there was no sappy romance in this anywhere. That usually kills the vibe for me.

There are a few take-aways from this such as how the main ML came to become a private investigator. I don't even know why they had this subject in the movie because he didn't really do any type of PI work. He just so happened to mysteriously know who to go to when he was working with who he thought was another private investigator. There was also a snippet of his life. One minute he's a PI but then we learn he had top notch skills in the military?? I wanted to see more of that.

The main female had no back story either. All we knew was that she was a sacrificial newbie for undercover work for the NSI.

There's one character who always seems useless to me whenever I see him in a drama: Kim Tae Hoon. How does this guy get cast in anything?? It's like his roles are just filler roles. It makes me think that when he auditions for something they will just put something in it for him to just fill that empty space they need to fill.

As I said, I usually try to say away from Korean movies because of how they're done but this is the second movie that I could re-watch.

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