Reviews

Detective Soojin's Several Scenes Crack Me Up All Over The Cinema

Comedy genre tag should be added in the genre tag. Soyoung (played by IU) & Detective Soojin (played by Bae Doona)'s scenes are actually comic, comedic reliever. When I watched this sat beside with my muggle friend, the cinema was filled by audiences half of the cinema, when there were physical & literally tad bit funny scenes, literally funny scenes in the first half, most audiences of half of the theatre laughed because of that LITERALLY funny scene, while I did not.

I admit, I wasn't bored at that time. The movie wasn't bored me hell out. BUT! personally, this movie was vvvvvv extremely slow to me which spent the first half of movie alone. This movie had slow pace, This movie is slowburn movie has slow paced walk. I haven't watched any director's previous work either know who he is. I just know him as a smart & brilliant director. Yes. ok. Actually not that interested to know him (the director) further & farther. I don't care who he is. It doesn't matter who the director is, where the director comes from, What kind of future masterpiece he will serve to us. I am not interested, well. I am quite netral in this. This movie moved extremely slow to move & trigger the plot & hint. The slowness of the pace. I wasn't bored, but perhaps I was in the condition where I was so exhausted at that time, I watched it after work, I did fasting, thus the first half makes me feel sleepy, my eyes were heavy, and forget to add that actually this movie is 'turn on your braincell, full of concentration, full of focus to spot on the meaning, what this movie implies' type movie kinda. Heavy movie I can say + slow paced movie, thus the first half of the movie is hard to watch personally. As I have said this movie required, pulled me to force my concentration & focus in, because the first half of the movie I can say, it contained of, carried plenty of hints to move, to lead us to understand what this movie tells, implies about. plenty of hints, clues, 'why?', reasons, backgrounds, answers to answer & move to the next scene, and this movie just could answer my 'what is this movie trying to tell about?" just could answer my all of questions in the second half of the movie. I mean, I have said, this movie is slow paced, and all of those hints were existed in the first half. the first half : introduction, where the hints are put, then to answer all of those on the second half.

Not a great job tho. Yes. OK. Pretty good. Not a melodrama, why people who watched this said this is a melodrama movie??!?! *getting me eyes twitching*. Why? something missing & lacking to me :

Demonstratic, emblematic issue which this Broker movie is such a hard & heavy to understand to watch, the issue, the problem to understand, conclude, sum up what this Broker movie tells me about :

When Soyoung (played by IU) dropped off her newly born son baby at a "baby box". Yes. Soyoung left her newly born son baby at a baby box, then her newly born son baby was picked up by Sanghyun (Song Kangho) & Dongsoo (Kang Dongwon), then Dongsoo deleted the recorded surveillance cctv video the process of dropped Woosung. Then by these 2 Sanghyun & Dongsoo secretly underground-ly sold babies to several arranged adoption process, bypassed the long & bureaucratic processes of orphanages. Sanghyun, Dongsoo, & Soyoung then went on a long road-trip in process to find the new & most proper best new parents for Woosung (the name of Soyoung's newly born son). Sanghyun, Dongsoo, & Soyoung then went on a long road-trip in process to find the new & most proper best new parents for Woosung (the name of Soyoung's newly born son) to find the most suitable adopters, best parents for only beloved Woosung, while a couple of chasing detectives (Soojin (Bae Doona) & Detective Lee (Lee Jooyoung)), while the detectives eagered to press child-trafficking charged trailed them. At some point, those gangsters then appeared & has been gotten involved.

Personally, in my pov that the director, Mr. Director Kore-eda Hirokazu fails, little robbed, little failed to balance the multi-threaded plot involving multiple storylines. This factor made me so baffled, dazed, confused because too much stories happened here. He failed to balance the multi-plots involving multiple storylines. Broker movie dropped in momentum when every time it cuts to the cops, as they only served as mouthpieces weighing opinions on the situation. I almost fell asleep because too much details here. An eight years old orphan kid, Haejin (played by Im Seungsoo) joined this central characters odyssey long journey finding the most suitable, best new parents for Woosung for no reason other than to earn cute points. Failed comic reliefs, meaningless presence of gangsters.

In the first half, there were several funny scenes which most of audiences of half of the cinema giggled, laughed, but I didn't find it funny. I was so sleepy, my eyes were quite heavy to try to focus because I know, the hints, clues were put in this first half, but I was so ff sleepy, I closed my eyes for several minutes, because I felt that the first half was nothing, nothing in the first half were solved. This story felt like rough first draft. There is nothing, there are nothing exciting, attracting & amazing, nothing attract me to watch stuff to be found, whose I felt nothing, in the first half of the movie, I questioned myself"is this movie really 'not for me' movie?" Because I was excited for nothing, there is nothing exciting to be found in the first half. UNTIL....

"Then, who is Moon Sunah?" ; "She's my obnoxious neighbour in my hometown whom I used to live beside"

When none of the audiences laughed. I cracked loudest filled all over the cinema😁😁 (grinning opening largely & widely my teeth smiling). People around me then laughed because of me laughing out of nowhere, because I found that part was vvv funny & what a comedic reliever. When people remained silent & calm enjoying the movie, laughed as there were funny scenes, while I didn't laugh because I thought those scenes were not funny to me, when that Soyoung answered those, got me cracking!😆😆😆😆 (multiple plenty of laughing cracking emoticons!). Yeah, had cute moments, but not that tickling & giggling me, only 2 scenes of Soojin (played by Bae Doona) & Soyoung (played by IU) got me cracking!

Also I had been suspecting Det Soojin since the first 10 minutes film started, my hunch toward Det. Soojin turned out right that it was her! I cracked my laugh😆 (cracking emoticons), because of Det. Soojin & my bet toward her turned out to be true! Answered & Unfolded my hunch toward her just exist in the second half. The second half is quite clear to me that I can understand what this movie tells about in the second half, bec the second half unfolded, explained the hints, clues I questioned for. The second half of movie is clear, easy to follow & comprehend, personally.

As in the contrary, as the person who use to be 'decent/ 'just alright'/just ok' with 'leaves deep meaning' film/series/drama's story. Yes it is ok for me. From the summary, brief explanation of the plot summary is understand to watch. Also, nonetheless as a 'petty film/series/drama' lovers. Turned out this movie is considered contains of deep, heavy meaning which I am in contrast against it. I just can say 'OK' because this movie turned out to be hard to watch especially as I have explained above, the first half required fullest concentration & focus because the first half is actually where all the bases, clues, hints are put, are existed. Then, the second half is easy to watch, because the I can collaborate, elaborate all the hints put in the first half, thus I can watch the second half easily, without hurdle, even though in the first half it was uneasy, I thought this movie was a tough watch to solve the hints put there. Turned out this movie suits with me, even though I am not used either do like watching heavy, tough series/movie/drama-s. it just means I am not used to watch heavy watch. Broker movie suits me even though. I feel it is just an 'alright' movie. I don't find any problem with the story, the story, plot summary, the plot are all 'okay/alright/nice/fine'! Lighter tone, not really a 'melodrama' movie, the lightness is considerably accessible & emotionally rewarding experience, regardless. The movie didn't judge anyone, they got the better view who they were themselves, instead.

Feel good movie with unlike-able anti heroes, duo anti-heroes (Sanghyun (played by Song Kangho) & Dongsoo (played by Kang Dongwon)) Either I ain't found issues, anything wrong with the acting. Yes, in the first half of movie, when Soyoung (IU) scolded, mad at the aspiring adoption parent/aspiring adoption consument, I found her, I found her acting as Hotel Del-Luna resemble. I saw that Jang Manwol renaissance, nonetheless after that scene, her acting was okay. No doubting anymore with all of Broker's involved, contributed actors, actress. When Soyoung revealed she murdered Woosung's father whom also her husband with the reason why. I also considered that her reason killed her own husband in empty hands were quite reasonable, could be accepted, could be approved despite of the wrong. When Soyoung revealed, she murdered her own husband, Woosung's father and it shocked the detectives! What a stellar performance & acting performance for all Broker's actors, actresses, including the cameos/special appearances. Final saying about the acting is, I don't issue anything, there is nothing wrong with the actors, actresses, including the special appearances's acting for this masterpiece. Sensitive performances for all of the casts & the visual show setting! Sensitive performances are all contained in this movie! As Song Kangho, no need to doubt. All the casts, including the special appearances have done great & spectacular job presenting this masterpiece!👏 (hands clapping emoticon)

For Music, I liked & enjoyed it as the tension & music were harmoniously increasing & it's fun tho! When the answer, in each scenes, there are these referred answers, solved hints, the climax-es the music's volume in each scenes was increasing as the tension also was increasing! Love the background music application in this movie!

There are no winners, none of them are correct.

I won't rewatch since I have said several times, this movie is considered as a heavy to understand the content of the movie. It was just 'OK', 'Alright!' Too heavy, rough, heavy driven for my preference, whose I am used to watch petty, illogical, stupid series/movie-s. Okay movie. When I had been writing this review since this morning, today, I even forgot the detail, include Soyoung's false name, Soojin's husband Russian name (played by Lee Moosaeng), Sanghyun's vision, hunch, sense turned out to be true, Sanghyun's ephiphany & reason that so far he just knew Dongsu didn't consider him. Forgettable because too much details put here, thus made me confused & dazed, however this movie doesn't attract me to rewatch again. It's something to see on a big screen moreover the background music, really challenged me! No extra shit, solid characters. This Broker movies is quite relevant! Nonetheless, I can say this is remarkable, worth to watch, memorable, enjoyable to watch, personally🙏🙏 (hands clasping emoticons).

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Funny, fluffy, with some serious drama too...

This is such a sweet hidden gem, with drama, fluff, more drama and more fluff... Oh and some humour too.

Though the main theme is a little bit out there, taking body swap just one step longer having two people in both bodies at once. Making way for som fun, fluffy, (yes I said fluffy again), and awkward situations with a focus on time zones instead of the oh so popular over used gender. giving us a lovely bickering couple who can bicker a lot without actually meeting each other... Watching these two use all kinds of self harm to fight each other is funnier than I thought it would be, and though there may be some slight second hand embarrassment that would otherwise bother me, it could be my mood, but it did not bother me at all.

Both leads are lovable, and there are no purely annoying characters as each supporting cast seems to do their role well, all are well casted, some I would say extremely well casted (Patrick Shih) and the movie is well written with good pacing keeping me curious and interested from start to finish.

I am willing to admit that some parts of the plot are a tad predictable, however they do have their own touch as well as great visuals and again fluff, fluffily, fluff... Ok there is also a guy in a coms, loneliness, a guy who crosses the line here and there, people being treated badly, lack of privacy and death... but it is well imbedded in fluffy cover of white snow... Making you forget all that stuff and only remembering the fluff... Just kidding... the pain and struggles are very much real and are well balanced by the fluff, how well is up to you to find out if you watch this movie.

If I should complain about one thing it is the idea of you must love yourself to be loved that is repeatedly mentioned here.... I say a person who truly cares will love you no matter how much you hate yourself... So forget pressure about having to love yourself or find yourself to be loved, that you can do regardless... So just take the love stuff out of the equation.

Definitely a movie I recommend, and it is even available with subs free and legally on you tube!

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Another Nogizaka46 video centered around just a few members

I like Nogizaka46 and try to watch a lot of their videos, so I also wanted to watch a documentary to learn a little more about the group. Although the title is "How To Forget Sadness: Documentary of Nogizaka46," it seems like the vast majority of the documentary was spent showing members just crying.

If you have watched any other Nogizaka46 show/movie, you will have noticed that the entire production focuses almost entirely on just several members while everyone else is cast aside. I really don't like this system and this documentary is set up no different: just a handful of members are showcased or even shown for more than 0.5 seconds, and everybody else is completely omitted except for group shots.

If you really like the group and you have a couple of hours to kill, you can watch it.

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Really enjoyed it

The acting was excellent, in my opinion. The movie was fast-paced, especially in the second half. There was the thrill in almost every scene.

But the acting takes the prize home. I loved the female lead's acting. I look forward to more of her work. The male lead (?) of the Squid Game fame really surprised me with not just his acting but the character choice. I hope he goes on to do more such interesting and diverse roles.

The film doesn't really answer the question of why and who and how this person is the way he is but with a movie titled 'Midnight' and the story unfolding in the course of a single night, I thought it was a perfectly reasonable choice.

Looking forward to more such interesting movies.

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Time doesn't heal everything.

To be fair, I didn't have high expectations so wasn't terribly disappointed when everything went the way it did. Really not a fan of gay-shaming or the assertion that time heals everything though. Or the whole 'religious morals' thing.

There were a few sweet moments which were - imo - sadly overshadowed by the more unpleasant ones. Also, the attention paid to crotch shots was more than a bit disturbing. And not just because they didn't actually add to the movie in any discernable way...

Overall I think the actors did well despite the lacklustre story but yeah, wouldn't watch again.

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In the Japanese prefecture Koichi opens a new devision called "Hospitality devision". They are responsible to make the prefecture more admirable to visitors and should think about how to get more tourists to come to this prefecture. To make that happen, Kakemizu starts to get one famous star, who was born there, to represent the prefecture and talk good about it on TV - and who would've known that this famous guy would actually be the key to the success of the hospitality division! He somehow leads Kakemizu to a famous travel agent and with the new part time employee Myoujin they work hard for a better Koichi.

Actually, I sometimes felt like I was watching some advertisement. But it wasn't one that's boring. They really brought out the best of both, the story and Koichi. Of course I wanted to watch it because of Nishikido Ryo. His character was cute, but nothing special. Even the other characters weren't that great. But that also wasn't really the point of the story. It is a part of the story, and that's what makes me like this movie so much. It's kind of an advertisement, mixed with some real life stories. It could be some documentary on TV, just that this one is really based on a book. I won't say that this movie doesn't have flaws. It sometimes indeed is boring and in all honesty, even though the story is heartwarming, it's not all that exciting. It's one of those flowing, calm Japanese stories, that you are able to enjoy after a tough day at work.

Meaning, if you are okay with watching Horikita Maki. Her character this time was exceptionally pure. I wasn't against that, since it fit the story, but seeing her act like that again and again makes it hard to watch her after some time...

Anyway, for the acting of Ryo and the good mix of Koichi and story, I'll give this 4*. I really enjoyed watching a part of Japan that I haven't experienced myself yet - but I'll definitely go there.

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Shijikou Kyousuke is the love child of a M police officer and an S domina-gangster. But he is lucky, in his DNA are both of their parts, S and M, so one day, when his crush is kept a hostage, his hidden Hentai Kamen (=masked pervert) power awakes when he puts on a females panty on his head, thinking that it was the mask of the gangsters. And since then, he fights the evil guys with his Hentai Kamen power.

After reading the synopsis, I will suggest you one thing: Watch it with friends, who like strange movies. And if you'll watch it alone, then approach it not with the thought of "I want to watch a good movie" but more with the thought of "This is going to be so strange!".

I really have to say, I liked this movie. Even though it was strange and ridiculous, I loved how everything in the storyline still made sense. Of course the theme is a bit pervy, but thinking about how good Hentai Kamen's body looks, I am actually thankful for the pervyness of the movie. It is fun, nothing serious and still has a cute and fun story. It's like a good parody on all the superhero movies that people seem to love recently.

With that said, please only watch it if you are old enough. The Hentai Kamen fights with his crown jewels, so if you are too young to laugh about it, you might not be able to enjoy the movie.

For me, this is a masterpiece. Not for the epic storyline, but for the good balance of strangeness, story, acting and the good humor. Watch it at parties!

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Shigeyuki gets bullied in school and even though he has to decide on his high school soon, his grades are very bad and he isn't even trying to be as good as his older brother, Shinichi. In all that mess, his family only cares about telling Shigeyuki to get better grades, so they hire a home teacher for him. When the teacher comes, he doesn't end up teaching only school stuff. He turns Shigeyuki into a human being, a responsible part of society and tries to open the eyes of the rest of the family as well while doing that.

I don't know the drama yet, but I had to watch this movie for a class. Actually, half of the movie I didn't know what was going on and waited for some kind of explanation or a sign to see where this movie would lead me. In the end, I think I kind of understood the basic meaning of the movie and the symbolism. But I didn't completely understand what it wanted to tell me, and even though I could laugh at a lot of the scenes, I can't really say that I would recommend this movie to every other person I meet. There was too little time give to understand all the characters involved. I also feel like the cuts were too random, so that it was hard to understand the scenes and changing of time/place.

All in all, I am curious about the drama now. I'd also recommend this movie for some laughs and a parody on Japanese society, but not genuinely if you just want to enjoy watching something. I didn't enjoy it all the time, so only 3* from me!

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Asako is a lonely woman, who tries to forget that feeling by sleeping with various men. At some point in live, she realizes that she won't get the warmth she is looking for by doing that, so she wants to find a man who will make her pregnant. The one she decides on is the gay Katsuhiro, who just found a boyfriend, Naoya. Naoya doesn't know why the woman would want to have child by a gay guy. He also doesn't understand why Katsuhiro would want a child, since he is gay and will never have one. During the film, the three of them have to overcome some test and the opinion of society.

The story is basically about the social structure of Japan, about three people seeking warmth in that society and about intimacy. While it is a serious theme, there are many comedic elements in it. Not in the usual Japanese comedy style, but just situations that turn out funny or strange and that will make you laugh because it's genuinely funny, not because it's overacted or crazy. The whole story idea is actually cute, only the ending a bit too serious for the rest of the movie.

The characters are lovable and I really like how they portrayed the relationship to the family members or how the relationship between the gay couple and Asako develops. It was all nicely paced and I enjoyed watching the movie. They have some bed scenes in it, so the movie is not for the younger audience, but it's discretely done, so it should be fine to watch it, if you know that they are in there somewhere.

I gave this movie 4* because I wasn't too fond of the ending. But if you want to see a serious film, like gays and want to learn about Japanese society, this will be your movie!

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A mother of four children moves in to a new apartment in a very unique way. One of the children is walking with her, the other three are hidden in luggage. Only the oldest son is allowed to go out, the other three are locked up inside. And then the mother disappears. How will three children aged from 6 to 12 survive with a bit of money their mother left them?

This movie is based on a real case form Japan, where the mother abandoned her children. I wouldn't call it a bad movie, but since I am the type to watch movies to enjoy myself rather than being reminded of the cruel world, I couldn't really rate it better. It is not a bad movie, but it is saddening and depressing to watch and think how this really happened. This movie shows many of the social problems Japan had back in 2004 and still has. For example nobody seems to think they have to do something about the children who live alone. And then there is regular bullying. There is the issue of a good friend of the oldest son trying to prostitute herself to get some money for the kids and so on. There is a lot of serious stuff and even though the movie is not bad, it's not what I want to watch. So it get's 2* from, but a warm recommendation to everyone who likes realistic films that tell you the problems of a society. If you are interested in Japan, you should try and think outside of the frames while watching the movie, since it can teach you a lot about the Japanese society.

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When Shioris parents get killed in front of her eyes, she is saved by a devil and he starts to stay by her side as her butler. To take revenge, she goes back to her house as a boy, to inherit the Funtom corporation and searches for the killer. The devil beside her is always there to take her orders and does, whatever she tells him to. Until they can finally find the organization who killed her parents.

If you want to watch this movie, I suggest you bring two things with you. First of all, you should NOT think about the manga while doing so. And secondly, you should like Hiro Mizushima. I did both things and to be honest, I was able to enjoy the movie pretty well! What people will be most interested in is probably, how much the movie differs from the manga... Well, it starts with the originally tiny boy being a girl. And then there are many characters missing. Of course they couldn't fit in a long storyline, so for the most part there are no other devils (Grell) and some other side characters are missing (the cook).

If you look at it as just a movie, that by chance has similar characters like the manga, the result is actually decent! Most of the time, it's there to show how awesome Sebastian is and to be honest, I love that because Sebastian is the reason I watched it. The rest of the movie is a tiny, obvious detective story. There are only two or three things I couldn't see directly, but most of the time I got the hint immediately and with that, I wondered what the movie wants to show us, beside Sebastian.

So, in the end, I can say I enjoyed the movie. Though there were some scenes that I thought were ridiculous, I still can give this movie 4* because it showed me exactly what I wanted. A warning to those who watch it for the sake of the manga: don't. And a clear recommendation to watch it, if you love Mizushima Hiro.

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Trying to send a Great Message, but not really delivering on it

Don't bother watching it.

~~ STORY ~~

The synopsis was great, but the script fails spectacularly. The dancer is seen taking care of the swimmer, but at no point does he convince swimmer to swim again. The film ends just as the swimmer starts to feel like he can smile again. The ending where they fall into the pool and swim was quite rushed. The ending was a "What did I just watch?" type of ending because it was so rushed.

~~ ACTING ~~

The acting was great, but was wasted on a lackluster script.

This film has very little spoken words, so that should speak for how good their acting is.

~~ OVERALL ~~

Don't bother watching this. It's a waste of time.

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Old Grandpa Suzuki is lonely and wants to be needed. But his family isn't very understanding of the old man, so he goes out to find a part time job. Sadly, he is too old to take on a normal job. Until he suddenly finds the flyer of people, who look for someone to play a robot in a costume for a tiny stage play. When he gets the role on a very short notice, he becomes involved in a tiny fraud, that three workers of a household goods company planned to not get fired. Grandpa Suzuki finally is the star of the newspapers as the sensational robot "New Shiokaze", who can do stuff no other robot could to so far and who even is capable of saving lifes!

The trailer of the movie is really funny and cute, and to be honest, it represents the movie very well! Grandpa Suzuki is a very heartwarming and nice character. At some point you would just feel bad for him.

The three workers are funny and very basic, but that's what makes the movie so enjoyable. It's not really about the people who build the robot, but about the guy in the robot costume.

There is also a robot-fan who keeps getting involved with the trio and the robot, which made the movie a bit exciting. The trio always has to take care to not get found out and is always stressed. And while they do everything to keep the robot away from people, grandpa Suzuki is doing the exact opposite. It's so much fun to watch, how he just wants to feel needed and enjoys the attention and so on! To be honest, the best part was the ending. It made the movie even better and I could give the movie 5 stars without thinking a second time. I just enjoyed every minute of this comedy.

I suggest you to watch it, if you want a lighthearted comedy, that also shows a bit of the hardship that an old grandpa has to go through in Japan.

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I would recommend it!

This is not a typical romantic comedy movie, but it's something we all have seen again. I would say that it was interesting to watch and I liked it. It is a movie about two people whose exes get married together and they meet at their wedding. They get drunk and sleep together and this way they start a deal. The thing is that they get to know each other before the deal so their sleeping together deal seemed more like starting a relationship. Their chemistry was obvious and they had feelings too. After the end of their deal, they have to face the reality, which is not an easy thing to do when you fight with your self esteem. In the end, I was happy that I gave this movie a chance. So, I totally recommend this movie!

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