Reviews

avoid eating while watching this

I gonna make it short.
in some words-
no one have same taste. it's completely laughter box. don't eat or else you will choke..
as for me I watch this movie for sehun N this wasn't disappointing.. sehun clearly have a best role there, "phew"

FOR ACTING
as mentioned this is a comedy movies, and their acting were truly natural.. not like others
Kang hae neul is such a good actor..
for actress she proved that captain position is just for her.. such a bravo~

and don't have any expection that this movie gonna be like pirates of the carribbean. so drop it now
it's totally different.

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i enjoyed it. ?

i went to this movie without watching any trailer reading any plot summary absolutely blind. after finishing watching the untamed 2 months ago I've been hunting xiao zhan's past work and watching them one by one. but this movie wasn't on my plan to watch list at all. then one day i was reading an article about xiao zhan where this movie was highly criticized by critics. xiao zhan even got the "most disappointing actor" award because of this movie, while meng mei qi got the "most disappointing actress" along side with jade dynasty awarded the "most disappointing film" .. and I'm like how bad this can be so i downloaded the show and watched it in my free time and..


it's not bad but it's not good either 🙂 i am a viewer who cares more about characters of a show then the story. but that doesn't mean i don't care about the story. i hate it when the story is fast paced which is exactly this movie was. nothing from the first part or the second part stood out to me except the time when xiaofan realizes that it was the sect members that killed his village that part felt the most impactful to me and the most memorable one too. the whole movie is just visually appealing but also quite forgettable. the leading ladies were great. some of the scenes between ML and the ladies were enjoyable. i watched the wolf series before and seeing Li qin in action scenes was such eye candy. overall i loved it because of the actors & visuals (especially the dragon 🐉 scene. the detailing was really well done, i was surprised. but what was the purpose of showing that dragon? guess we'll never know...)

now coming back to xz performance. his performance wasn't bad the way critics make it out to be. he managed to sell out xiaofan's character well. but I still don't feel the "connection" between him and the other characters (my google search right now: "why xiaofan saved bi yao in the end of jade dynasty?" no but seriously when did they become close? didn't he liked ling-er?? if someone know the answer let me know please. maybe it's because of the fact that the plot didn't have the time to create the lines between him or any other characters. it should have been a series. the first few minutes i felt cringe because of some actors but hey they were just doing their part i guess.


in conclusion, i felt like it's the type of movie kids would sure love to watch. i can see xiao fan is a character who can easily be a kid's favorite. so if you have a kid you can watch it with your family in your family time. it's surely enjoyable or watch it if you are a xiao zhan fan. but if you are someone who wants engaging plot, with less clique characters, with lord of the rings level visuals, with marvel-type action scenes, this movie is not for you. :)

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Action over logic?

I will start by saying action thrillers are among my favourite genres, and The Villainess is one of my favourite movies.

However, Carter was a swing and a miss for director Jung Byung Gil.

The trailer immediately caught my attention initially, and the plot, while a familiar trope, held some excitement as I was eager to see that Korean twist I have come to love. Regrettably, the execution of Carter left me sorely disappointed. Nothing about it made sense or made an effort to. At some points, I found myself laughing at the sheer ridiculousness of the fighting scenes. I don't usually watch movies for their realism; that's just not what movie magic is. But the disconnected plot and overdone fight scenes were just too hard to accept. I tried to follow the storyline to no avail, and the end left me annoyed rather than curious as I assume was its intended purpose. The foreign actors playing the CIA were frustrating as it seemed they were acting bad on purpose. Their lines felt forced and their movements robotic, like some weird caricature.

I had hoped for the best with Carter. I went in with average expectations but left feeling disappointed. Had I watched it solely for the action and had no expectations for the storyline or plot, this movie would have easily been an 8 or 9. But, I have seen far better movies and dramas with a similar premise that have both action and story to satisfy the senses. But, for lack of a better phrase, this movie was not it.

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This movie contains scenes of historical distortions in the Philippines.

I don't recommend this movie to anyone. The author of this movie did not based on what is written in history. This is a play to change the view of everyone about the plunderers of this country. Their goal is to make it look like they were the victims in the past. In Philippine history, there are evidences of photos in which the author did not based on. An example of it is the scene at Malacanang where people rushed into tha palace. There are old pictures of the real scene where you can see everyone enjoying victory because the dictatorship was ended but in those photographs, you'll never see anyone who brought flames or torches. But in this movie on that particular scene, you can see everybody holding their own torch which brings a bad publicity to those people who fought for freedom.

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All my effort is rewarded with a slap!

Director Ozu tread over common 1930's cinema ground in this film. Once again, a strong woman who sacrifices all for her family and the fear of unemployment loom during a time of economic crisis and cultural upheaval.

Woman of Tokyo managed to pack a fair amount of tragedy into its scant 47 minutes length. Chikako worked an office job during the day and told her brother, Ryoichi, she helped with translations for a professor at night. She paid all of the bills and her brother's tuition as well as giving him spending money. Ryoichi's world turned upside down when he found out that his sister was actually working as a prostitute at night leading to tragic consequences. Chikako only desired for her brother to graduate so that he would have a stronger chance of landing a job, something he was unable to appreciate.

My reaction to this film might have been better if so many of these early films didn't focus on women becoming prostitutes to provide for their men, whether husbands, children or brothers and then bearing the brunt of abuse from those men and society. In a world where male unemployment was high and job opportunities were scarce for women, the women still did what was necessary to feed and shelter their families sometimes voluntarily, sometimes not. And in the case of Woman of Tokyo, like many other cinema sisters, put their brothers through school. This film would have fared better with me if Chikako had ever set her brother down and explained the facts of life to him and the reality of their situation. He lived a carefree life going to school, hanging out with his friends and with his girlfriend while his sister worked day and night to provide for him. His pocket money for entertainment came at the sacrifice of her body and shame. The police were also investigating her as a "dangerous person". To bear his reproach and scorn and society's as well seemed absurd. Women's pride always seemed to take a backseat to providing for their fragile men. I know it was a different day and time, different culture and a time of transition but this film hit my feminist's rant button as I watched it.

As always, Ozu put together an aesthetically pleasing film. A teapot as it boiled and steamed and then calmed followed much of the mood of the film. The version I watched had no sound. Tanaka Kinuyo, as the girlfriend who spills the gossip and Egawa Ureo as the thoughtless brother have shown up in other Ozu films and always do a good job even in this film where they are given little time to develop their characters. Okada Yoshiko's performance varied as she played the sweet dutiful sister sending her brother off to school in the morning and warmly welcoming a customer in the evening. I wish Ozu would have let us see into her feelings and motivations more instead of leaving her largely silent and stalwart.

If you are a fan of Ozu's films or silent films, Woman of Tokyo is worth seeing, even if it feels the theme may be redundant to some of his and other directors' works from this time.




8/6/22

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Lisa is a sober look at how flawed humans behave in the wake of a devastating typhoon. Politics, military conflicts, and religion make allies and enemies as the people of a small farming community seek to survive when everything they have is wiped out by a cataclysmic landslide. Though the church is buried, their faith and their faith in each other is not.

The key character Ross, subtly played by Angeli Bayani, has been accused of embezzling school funds and if found guilty faces the death penalty. Her relationship with her husband has deteriorated and she is desperately seeking a new life for her and her son. The local communist rebels of which she is one is always at odds with the government's military. Despite being rebuffed by many of the villagers, she never gives up in her desire to help them. As alliances and adversaries are made, we learn more about Ross and the circumstances she has created for herself and the dangerous exit strategy she has devised.

The film follows Ross and Sister Jo as they try to bolster their people and come up with solutions to their dire situation. They are without food, shelter and medicine with no easy answers to be found. The dead need identifying and burying. Accustomed to hardships both man and nature made, the people of the village unite despite their differences to seek food and to rebuild their community. As the survivors attempts to receive aid are rebuffed by the local government because their political views are different, the residents take matters into their own hands with tragic consequences.

Filmed with mostly natural light and on a low budget, the scenes came across muted and realistic. The mountainous jungle scenery had a rough beauty of its own even with the village shattered and buried. The emotional score enhanced the scenes especially in the beginning when scarcely a word was said for the first 15 minutes.

Before watching this film, I read it is a film that has to be felt to appreciate it and I would agree with that sentiment. Lisa shows the aftermath of a natural disaster and the inadequate responses by the political and global structures in helping the people on the fringe of society. Political and military skirmishes left many trapped in the middle with few resources to find their way out. Lisa's message could be subtle and at other time's heavy handed, the pacing and narrative uneven in places but it never strayed from showing the hearts of the imperfect villagers and how they struggled together to survive and their dogged determination to rebuild.

8/6/22

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Just like the US POTUS with the same name: no good

From the beginning to the end Carter is on a killing spree in order to ensure an impossible cure for a virus, which at first hit North Korea. The cure is impossible because you can't develop a vaccine from the blood of one survivor (it only works in Hollywood), and the virus makes no sense either in terms of contamination, incubation, symptoms, recovery, etc.
The pseudo-plot relies on murdering 300-400 people (I lost count) along the way, and in the end turns out that everything was done for naught. Yet, digging a little (femtometers will suffice) under the surface of the movie, the whole thing could have ended at the beginning or at any point in the movie: the threesome Carter, a "scientist" (the actor who was great in "The plan man", and should have avoided being associated with this trash), and the latter's daughter, was needed for the killing to go on.
Pure nonsense, just like the US president with the same name.

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If you're going to be a successful thief, don't litter!

Michelle Yeoh and George Lam play a cat and mouse game of thief and insurance detective gallivanting across Hong Kong and Europe. Even Queen Elizabeth shows up!

Michelle Yeoh portrayed a bored heiress always looking for the next thrill. She assembles a diverse team who succeed in robbing an armored truck of $32 million without anyone getting hurt. Kent Cheng is the shady cop assigned to hunt down the culprits and George Lam is the debonair insurance agent also trying to get the money back. And Ku Feng plays an integral role as a hapless part of the heist team.

The movie starts in England, moves to Hong Kong, then to Switzerland, and Paris. Aside from Yeoh and Lam, much of the appeal of this movie is watching the stars ski, hang glide and race through the beautiful locations.
This was one of Michelle Yeoh's earliest movies and the last one before she took a break. She was gorgeous, even with 1980's hair, but she wasn't given much to do aside from the daredevil hobbies. Lam was suave enough, but again not fully developed. The plot was reminiscent of a more tamed down The Thomas Crown Affair.

Easy Money had trouble maintaining suspense after the heist was pulled. Though Kent Cheng foamed at the mouth and used illegal means to try and trap the adrenaline junkie I was never worried because George and Michelle never seemed to be. Their chemistry didn't exactly sizzle, the kind of heat that would cause two cool customers to take the risks they did and the romance was never developed anymore than their characters. We don't know much more about them at the end of the movie than we did at the beginning.

This was a perfectly pleasant watch but could have been a more exhilarating ride if the writers had paid as much attention to the characters as they did the scenery.

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A wonderful adaptation of a tragic story

Twenty-four Eyes is one of the great Japanese classic movies. Based on a novel, the story is very popular in Japan and the 1954 movie adaptation might be the best work of director Keisuke Kinoshita. The great Hideko Takamine plays a teacher of a rural school on Shodoshima Island from the years before World War II until the end of the war.

If you are interested into Japanase classic movies, then this one should be on the top of your list. It might start at a slow pace, but it definitely will drag you in. There are lots of memorable moments in it, like the "train" or the bicycle.

And also the other movies of Keisuke Kinoshita are worth to explore. Not all of his movies turned out great, but you should not miss 'She Was Like a Wild Chrysanthemum' despite its unusual presentation or the the somewhat horrifying tale in 'Legend of a Duel to the Death' (aka 'A Legend or was it?')

You might have watched 'Ikiru' from Akira Kurosawa. This one is in the same league.

BTW: I had to give a rating for the music, which does not make any sense for this kind of movie. I did not want to give any bad rating, so I simply gave 10/10, but please ignore this. :-)

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Bad story, bad acting, bad directing, but there’s a little kissing!

It’s unbelievable that any of the traits either of the main CP have would be attractive or healthy to another person. One petty and bratty, the other possessive, obsessive, and uncommunicative. Unless there’s something I’m missing about normal human behavior of China-Chinese men, nothing either of them do or say reads as normal to me as a 外國Chinese person.
The whole relationship turns out to be a hallucination/dream the main character has while working on some script (either for TV or film). I think there’s a concerning way to interpret this movie as being gay as a mental illness since he has to be on meds to stop imagining having a male lover.
He then kicks out someone who is in his dream as a LaLa who turns out to maybe be his wife in real life, and then he proceeds to be maybe single for the rest of the movie? The ending is unsatisfactorily rushed when it could have been interesting to explore how he could translate what he’d learn in his dream into real life action to be open with his desires and find someone he truly loves even with all the potential restrictions of why he had to live in fantasy dreams before.
One of my biggest complaints of China-made shows/films is the bad syncing and audio mixing of the voices. And this show is no exception.
Can we talk about the green splash effect as the secondary CP transport from one place to another?! This film was made in 2016! But it honestly couldn’t make the scenes with the secondary CP worse because the acting was already so bad.
I think every Chinese show about a queer relationship/person is worth watching because it’s such a limited selection. But this is not worth rewatching except to show other people a masterclass in how bad a movie can be.

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I know existing reviews have concluded many of my thoughts but I still feel like giving my own opinion on this.

Some may think Their Distance is a bit boring, even members of NU'EST outright said that the only time they got to watch it was when it got premiered and they hadn't touched on it ever since. I agree it does require your patience, but I finished in one attempt and didn't see it as a waste of time at all.

The pace of the movie is relatively slow, and there are not many lines as well. Most of the time the characters just basically stare at each other. A lot of the scenes were repetitive, as I personally would prefer a new perspective or another way to execute them to not make them feel bland whatsoever. The plot is told from the third-person pov, so they don't explore much on characters' deeper thoughts and emotions, though I would like to see more. The film focuses on an art-y vibe so the colors feel nice and warm but there is also a lack of angles, many scenes were shot quite far away from our sight while I wanted to get a closer look.

The story centers around a handful of young adults, both Koreans and Japanese dealing with their own hardships and love. It's pleasing to see how the relationships among them unfold to notice that they all are connected to one another. All the problems the characters were getting through are all resolved at the end, almost nothing was left unanswered. It's also nice to see how love can change someone.

The cast is mediocre, but the setting isn't that enormous anyway so they match well. Of course the Japanese cast was better at doing their job (since they have been actors for a while), but the NU'EST guys didn't do bad either. It was quite convincing considering that was the first time they participated in a film. I personally adores Ren's acting so I am pleased to see how far he has gone (he's doing more musicals recently and his skills are definitely improving). It was also kinda funny how Baekho and Aron were given like 5 lines each and then they just vanished from the whole movie.

The music though, it was minimal at best, almost non-existent at worst. The lack of bgm sort of resulted in the quiet atmosphere. I would like to sprinkle a track here and there to boost emotions.

In conclusion, there is not much to expect here but the movie can be considered slightly above average when it comes to quality. If you like to see NU'EST guys acting and have a good time then this could be quite enjoyable.

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Easy watch even if you're a scaredy cat

This show had a good premise. I can't watch things that are going to scare me, and I took a chance just because it was a movie. I figured, less chances to be scared. The first few minutes have some scary stuff, but after that it was fine. The concept of ghosts having unfinished business, and a person that can see and interact with ghosts, if it's done right, it can be very entertaining. I'm kind of on the fence about this one. Would it have been better as a series? I don't necessarily think so, because the story was simple and straightforward enough for it to be told in movie form.

I think where this fell short for me was the writing, the directing, the acting, and the sound quality. It felt a lot like I was watching someone's attempts to make a movie for a grade at school. The acting was stiff; however, I don't think that can necessarily be blamed entirely on the actors. The writing and the directing were clunky and didn't flow naturally. Add to that that multiple times the microphones didn't appear to be in the right spot, and this just seemed like the efforts of a beginner team.

It was an okay watch, and I was grateful that it WASN'T a series, because it didn't take up too much of my time.

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Technique over storytelling

I'll start by saying that I loved The villianess by the same director and that enjoyed the long takes it had. Carter, however, is one long take that pretend to be a movie because everything serves to keep the long take, and though it has its merits (like the flashbacks) everything else suffers, because this movie is only about make a long take. The story and the action suffer because of it and both end up being confusing and tiresome.

I wanted to watch a good action movie but I didn't find it though it could've been awesome and where I don't care about the characters or their story.

The acting is not bad though sometimes the actor's line of vision is weird (probably because of whatever they do to mask the cuts between the scenes so that it looks like one take).

Oh, it was nice to see Mike Colter even if his part was short.

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If you need some dose of motivation, you'll definitely get some from this film.

I haven't watched the original Japanese version, but I guess I could say this one is already a great film to watch.

Characters:
Each of the characters' stories is relatable especially of Zhang wei's. The passion, motivations and aspirations in life is well presented. . The development is also well-rounded.

Plot:
I don't know much about sport movie plots, but i guess this one has enough twist and the turn of events seems okay.
Well balanced comical and serious parts.

Acting/Casts:
Despite seeing new ones here, they have portrayed it very well i guess.

Music:
I definitely love the soundtracks as well as the sfx seems fitting.

Rewatch Value:
Will totally rewatch this.

Overall:
If you need some dose of motivation, you'll definitely get some from this film.

I'll edit this when I rewatched it

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I'll have the house salad, hold the radish please

Monster Hunt was a messy quilt made of a variety of genres hurriedly sewn into one piece. Though childish in nature, it had enough disturbing scenes, one should think carefully before letting small children watch it.

The lack of clear and consistent narrative troubled me about the movie. A bad monster takes over the monster world and is hunting down the good monsters. When the pregnant ex-queen and her attendants escape, the hunt is on. Monsters are hunting monsters. Humans hunt monsters. It's rough being a squishy tentacled being in this movie.

Jing Bo Ran is Song Tian Yu, the de facto mayor of a backwater town, left in charge when his monster hunting father disappears. In a reversal of gender roles, Tian Yu is meek, a seamstress, and cook. His senile aggressive grandmother scarcely remembers who is and when she does is disappointed in what she sees. Along comes the pregnant hunted queen and her two attendants in human suits. Following them is Bai Bai He as Huo Xiao Lan, a low level monster hunter. When Tian Yu becomes pregnant, hilarity ensues. Eventually, the two humans are left with the baby monster king and have to decide what to do with the little bloodsucker all the while being chased by humans and monsters.

The movie is energetic, bordering on frenetic. Some of the martial arts fights, especially with CGI monsters are creative and captivating. Creatures break into song on occasion. A romance comes out of nowhere. Monsters eat humans and humans eat monsters, it's a dog eat dog world. There are bad monsters and bad humans. While I liked the moral complexity, too often it felt like someone throwing spaghetti at the wall and seeing what sticks. The baby monster, which I did not find adorable, seemed to be used to try to manipulate the audience emotionally into caring about it and it's human caretakers. I don't mind cutesy cartoon characters, but this one bordered on nauseatingly saccharine. And aside from him being the true heir, we're never really told much about the baby king's importance or place in the world. Like Chekhov's gun on the mantle, a rusty sword foreshadows the limping, docile hero will overtake the heroic female warrior protecting him. I cannot overstate how tired I am of this trope.

I enjoyed parts of this movie. Jing Bo Ran and Bai Bai He were affable and had a nice chemistry together. They were believable when dealing with green screen images something not all actors can do. Jiang Wu as a conflicted bounty hunter was fun to watch as he battled monster and human alike. I was particularly happy seeing Elaine Jin/Kam, Sandra Ng, and Tang Wei make appearances. The theme of seeing creatures and humans for who they are and not what they look like always appeals to me even when I had to sort through a lot of other themes in the movie to latch onto this one.

A brain burrowing bug and open air exotic meat markets may not be for everyone. The movie doesn't shy away from death and oddity.

For those who like lots of random action and a plethora of strange creatures, this will be right up their alley. As much as I enjoy CGI children's movies, this one felt too much like a fever dream hopped up on sugar for me. I left it staggering from the sweetness and weirdness overload.




8/6/22

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