Reviews

A disaster movie, yet using emotional + vivid suggestive power in the tradition of anti-war-movies

"Pandora" is a disaster movie.
I don't really consider myself a fan of this genre, which focuses on mass panic and adrenaline.
However, I consider this KMovie particularly valuable.

In this case I think the makers have succeeded in doing something similar to what anti-war movies try to achieve: deterrence by vividly conveying the threatening horror. In respect to the scenario of a nuclear catastrophe the movie applies emotional and vivid suggestive power, at the same time making people think and possibly question the sense and usefulness of highly dangerous nuclear power plants.
In view of the consecutive radical change of South Korea's nuclear policy six months after "Pandora" was released, one could say: the project was worth it. (It would probably be too daring to talk about causality, but it could be considered a noticeable correlation...)

The 2016 KMovie picks up on the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster and, against this background, develops a story that is comparable by South Korean standards. South Korea is the country with the highest population density in the immediate vicinity of its nuclear power plants. However, due to its insular position, a realistic evacuation plan in the event of a disaster is a major problem. With the movie "Pandora" the lid of the legendary box is shaken. In this case, a nuclear power plant on the East Coast suffers earthquake damage and radiation leaks, similar to Fukushima 5 years earlier. The film fictionally exercises the processes in the event of such a catastrophe (or a comparable one) and comes full circle with a deliberately touching scene in which Kim Nam-gil makes an emphatic plea against nuclear power in his usual impressively passionate way.

Regarding such critically oriented material, the production obviously had difficulties with its financing - in South Korea the lobby of the nuclear industry is as powerful as anywhere else. Nevertheless, the ambitious project could be realized through crowdfunding.


------------------------ SIDE NOTE: --- Sobering facts/outlook on nuclear power plants in South Korea ---

"Pandora" was released in December 2016.
In early summer 2017, as one of the existing South Korean nuclear reactors was actually scheduled to be shut down, President Moon Jae-in announced that the country's nuclear-focused energy policy would be stopped and that the country would instead steer towards a nuclear-free era. Accordingly, plans to build new reactors or extend the life of existing ones have been abandoned. A sign of hope?

However, by the autumn of the same year already, the government's political commitment was no longer valid. The nuclear lobby has actually been able to exert such pressure (the President's faction not having a majority in Parliament....) and prevail that new power plants were going to be built again.
South Korea's nuclear companies make a lot of money by exporting their self-developed reactors. The companies want reference projects in their own country... it is as simple as that...

As far as the people are concerned: According to a survey by the polling institute Realmeter in 2018, 61 percent of adult South Koreans still firmly support their president’s original nuclear phase-out course. Another 10 percent tend to do so. Yet, the lobby as so often has more to say...


... To date, South Korea covers a third of its electricity needs with 24 nuclear reactors.

... There are always earthquakes on the peninsula...

------------------------

Read More

A meh concusion to a uneeded trilogy

“It’s as if you never existed”


So after Tubi finally gave their copy subtitles, I was finally able to complete the One Missed Call trilogy. As a fan of the first, I must say that these sequels sure are a mess. Granted this one is better than the second , but that isn't saying much.

Like this is almost a good movie. The stuff with Asuka and Emiri is very well handled and Ahn Jin-woo is a lovable character. I also love how creative and cool the kills were here and the effects for them are awesome.

Sadly, a majority of the time is spent with a bunch of completely unlikable characters that only exist to die. Not helping is the deeply convoluted explanations for things that only raise more questions than answers. It all culminates in a finale that feels straight of the Care Bears or My Little Pony, and not a horror movie meant to be taken seriously.

Overall, this third entry was a mixed bag and I doubt I will be revisiting this trilogy ever again. Definitely will rewatch the first movie, but I will gladly avoid rewatching both sequels. Like both sequels aren't terrible, but neither are good or worthy of a rewatch either.

Read More

a solid serial killer story

I'm not usually a fan of open-ended stories, but the more I watch Japanese entertainment, the more I get used to it. Because apparently the non-ending is something they love or they wouldn't create so many stories that just end abruptly with the potential for more.

Suda Masaki can be hit or miss for me, but he's definitely on point here as Yamashira Keigo. He gave a really solid performance. Oguri Shun as the primary detective was equally brilliant, if not more so. I really enjoyed his character a lot. He was designed with a lot of thought and care and Oguri Shun was up to the task of playing him. I'm not a "Hana Yori Dango" fan, so it's nice to see him in something else where I actually like him. Fukase Satoshi as our serial killer is new to me. I can't say I'll be chasing down any of his other work, if he does decide to pursue acting. That tends to happen for me when someone plays a villain so convincingly, it can ruin anything else they might do because they're just too darn scary. I like stronger females. I'm just gonna say it. So the character design and performance by Takahata Mitsuki as Yamashiro's wife didn't work for me. She was a little too prim, proper, and meek. She annoyed me.

I'm a fan of the "Red Dragon" movie in the Hannibal Lecter franchise, and this had several of the same components. So it's not very original, but it still feels like a solid addition to the serial killer genre. I wish we'd learned more about our serial killer, that would have been nice, but we can't have everything. I don't regret watching it and while it's not one I would ever go to again for warm fuzzies, I can see Sunako-chan from "Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge" loving it, so that's something.

Read More

Shaolin Hand Lock is your classic Shaw Brothers kung fu flick. There's a secret deadly kung fu move, revenge, and a Big Bad with all sorts of nasty tricks up his sleeves and shoes in this case. I bumped my rating up .5 because of some of the lovely settings for the scenes shot on location in Thailand, also there was a nice twist at the end.

David Chiang with a terrible hairdo played Li Cheng Ying and Chen Ping played his sister Li Meng Ping. Their father was murdered by an old business pal who was hiding more than secret weapons from them. Lo Lieh with a gray wig was the treacherous family friend. Michael Chan lucked out in a role that gave him slightly more to do than his usual hired hand/killer role in these movies. The cast worked hard to elevate a convoluted revenge theme even if they weren't always successful.

Li Cheng Ying traveled to Thailand to take out the assassin who killed his father but found that the man behind the killing was more formidable than he could take on face to face. He finagled his way into being hired as a guard setting himself up in a jealous rivalry for the boss' attention with Chan's Li Kun Shi. Normally, Lo Lieh played characters who were sharp, in this one he came across as fairly dense. At one point, after being attacked several times, he suspected Kun Shi attacked him wearing a bandana over his face when Michael Chan and David Chiang are not built remotely alike, and the assassin had that bad, bad haircut as well. Dude, you just hired the new guy, drew him into your confidence, and now you keep getting attacked when you are all alone? Wake up and smell the kung fu sweat.

The story was thin, but what reduced my entertainment value was Chiang's performance. He came across more as a gloaty bad guy and not an earnest son seeking revenge for the death of his father. Lo Lieh gave a performance he could give in his sleep and in a few scenes looked like he might have been sleep walking. Overall, the acting was satisfactory for this type of movie. There was the ubiquitous nude scene early in the movie, SB couldn't seem to help themselves with these. It wasn't necessary, but at least they used it to come full circle later. The women didn't have much to do, although Chen Ping did have one decent fight. Karen Yip gave an overwrought performance as a blind mother. Shum Lee Mei in her only film role had to play a character who changed sides on a dime, and holy Luke Skywalker/Princess Leia had an uncomfortable moment.

The studio settings were lackluster. What did sparkle were the walks, fights, and running through Thailand. There were also lots of boat chases in the canal. Lots. I guess they were one way to move things along even if it wasn't moving the plot along.

The fights were highly choreographed stopping short of kung fu posing with a little wire work added in. The final fight between the three men was brutal and creative.

Shaolin Hand Lock was an average kung fu movie wrapped in a beautiful Thai bow with a sharp little secret hidden beneath. If you enjoy old kung fu movies this one is watchable. As always, I grade these old niche movies on a curve.

Read More

Oh, this movie was wonderful. Truly wonderful. Sweet and touching and heartbreaking and just... so lovely. And Yokohama Ryusei as Rui simply shined here.

Rui's story was so sad. He made mistakes, terrible mistakes, and he paid for them harshly and just as he was about to start a new life, it all went to hell again, courtesy of Machida Keita's big bad, Kyosuke. Ouch.

The love story between Rui and Akari was so beautiful. Two people down on their luck finding each other and making do and becoming happy, it made my heart swell three sizes. Akari was simply amazing and her love for Rui - and his for her - was just... wow.

There weren't many people who truly loved Rui, besides Akari there were only two who wanted the best for him and who did not want to use him - the nun at the orphanage and his coach at the gym - and I loved both of them. The last time Rui and the coach saw each other broke my heart...

This movie pushed all my buttons, like all of them. It was so good!

Read More

Really great first try for this young director.

I was able to participate in a talk where the director explained the original meaning of the title. That really blows my mind.
I kinda wish the title would remain like the Korean one: "Two women wearing the same underwear". This would let people understand more about the plot from the beginning and what looks weird would just become understandable.
Slow movie but I really recommend it. Really great technique for creating tension.
The value of using silence into long scenes, or disturbing noises too, lets the watchers go into a self-discovery about their own past or present.
You can see the real struggle in a really common family relationship!

Read More

Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

I enjoyed the twisted events and the strong plot
But why this Sh**** end
Why they should kill the ML why T_T
Why I'm doing that in myself
Why I forgot that all their movies epilogues are sulk, depressing and frustrating
I almost pull my hair

Read More

Love means having to say hello and good-bye and hello and good-bye...

As young children Zhao Yongyuan (Nicholas Tse) and Anran (Gao Yuan Yuan) both suffered tragic events after an earthquake. They met as children and we in Dramaland know what this means: D-E-S-T-I-N-Y. Though they are torn apart again and again, pass just close enough to each other without seeing the other, suffer through lack of communication and noble sacrifices galore, we as the viewers know such obstacles are no match for Destiny. Or is the evil F-A-T-E in control?

Spoilery opinions will follow so reader beware...

Yongyuan lived with his grandmother as a child, barely able to afford clothes. Anran's father provided well for her. Through one act of kindness the two children become inseparable with Yongyuan always following Anran, a heavy-handed foreshadowing. Fate tears them apart for the first time. They are offered a second chance in their twenties and yet again fate thrusts them apart. Along with broken hearts, misunderstandings and noble sacrifice the two suffer alone on different continents. Amran goes to the United States as a graduate student to Columbia (daddy must have made really good money). Yongyuan goes to jail where he learns impeccable English and how to become an international trading mogul in one year. (None of which you see.) Beijing prisons must be awesome! Anran, all alone in the US, suffers a horrible tragedy that is glossed over quickly.

They collide in the United States during their 30's where the tables have been turned. Yongyuan is outrageously wealthy and Anran can't get a job anywhere with her measly graduate medical degree from Columbia. Apparently, Daddy must have spent all his money on her Columbia degree leaving her no inheritance. Oops! Spoiler! Well, the writing was on the wall when she left for the US and he gave her his watch that stopped when her mother died. That's okay because his death is dealt with in one sentence. She washes dishes as well as being a "tour guide" for a living. Her job as tour guide entails escorting wealthy clients in clothes they provide for her and going to dinner and a show. I'll stop with the spoilery plot developments except to say through minimal conversation and no honesty between the lovers they get back together and through one of the worst tropes in Dramaland and are torn apart...again. And then again...

I'll start with what I enjoyed. The first two times they were together when they were young were quite entertaining, even moving. Nicholas Tse and Gao Yuan Yuan were lovely to look at as their young adult and adult selves and the child actors who portrayed the young lovers/friends were cute as well. Veteran actor Lam Suet made a brief appearance as YY's uncle.

What didn't work for me: The tragedy upon tragedy with no time to process them, lack of any adult communication and honesty, the heavy-handed foreshadowing for just about all the tragedies, no subtlety involved including the overwrought OST, many of the tragedies and heartache happened offscreen so there was no way for me to connect or feel any empathy with their unseen pain, Yongyuan's ridiculously fast rise to super wealth, and the fact that he waits for her and follows her for over twenty years (not including all the childhood years). It was hard to feel any sympathy for characters who kept their feelings and secrets locked down tight. The love triangle with a childish and unlikeable character was unnecessary. The writer mistook characters suffering tragedies, many of which were off-screen, as character development and reasons for the viewer to feel sorry for them.

The actual camera shots of them wandering around, alone and forlorn in China and the US would have been lovely if they hadn't blown them out to the point the film looked like it was a faded forty-year-old movie. I get they might have been going for a gauzy romantic feel, but it didn't work for me, it was one more blurry barrier to connecting with these two. When the final tragedy struck, which again was foreshadowed in the opening scene, I felt nothing but relief that the film was almost over except that I had to sit through a propaganda announcement at the end.

I need somewhat coherent and consistent plot and character development and relationship development, But Always gave me none of that. This felt more like two people who wandered into each other's lives, messed everything up when Fate wasn't hurling everything she could at them from dead parents to national disaster after national disaster (think Remember Me with Rob Pattinson, if you liked this movie, you should try that one out). All the pain and angst felt manipulative by the writer and director instead of organic to the story. They could have cut the tragedies in half, developed the characters and their dialogue, given them more realistic reactions to each other and their tragic lives and the tsunami of suffering (they missed using a tsunami!) and these gorgeous cardboard characters could have come to life. I know this is an unpopular opinion on MDL because this movie hit a lot of people in the feels, but it missed the mark with me.

Read More

Supernatural thriller about human’s weak minds.

Surprisingly well crafted and presented story, that despite its simplicity, was able to keep me interested till the end.

Expecting horror from this watch would be a mistake, and for me, the poster and the title were misleading in terms of the core focus of the movie - it’s not the wacky possession scenes Emily Rose style. The plot centers around the investigation of the missing kid - So Jin. While there is a fair share of creepy supernatural elements, the more important part is the human aspect.

How much are we willing to do in a dire situation? How easily can we be influenced and believe in unbelievable things when all the other options turned out to be futile? I felt like the true horror came from people, and not from the supernatural. Rather than a critical view on religious views, for me it spoke more on the desperation people face and how they are willing to try and believe anything as long as it might produce the needed results.

That said, I’m not the biggest fan of mixing different religions and folklore in one story (unless there is clear investigation of the origin that would validate it). A little bit of christianity here, some shamanism there, and big nothing big nothing by the end, since it’s neither one or the other in the conclusion.

The acting was rather good. I was not impressed with Shim Eun Kyung as Kang So Jin. She did not really have that much screen time, but the few scenes I have seen just did not convince me at all.

The production was good. Nothing outstanding and visually over the top. It had the usual thriller aesthetics with some darker suspense moments that were supposed to bring that horror out of it.

Overall, surprisingly fun to watch for such an overdone topic. Nothing new, but presented in a decent way.

Read More

ALL’S WELL UNTIL *THAT* SCENE HAPPENED

This is from THE IDEA FIRST COMPANY, makers of GAMEBOYS, so I watched this with high expectations.

Paolo Ballesteros, Anne Curtis, Dennis Trillo, The Idea First Company. Winning combination! There’s also Sinon Loresca! Bonus, Yayo Aguila, and that drag queen role of Michael de Mesa! What’s not to love??

STORY. Nothing new but the presentation is quite fresh, so… still a winner. In the first scenes of the movie, you’ll feel that Kylie (Anne Curtis) and Diego (Dennis Trillo) are the end game here. Paolo (as Benj) is also in the main cast, but his role is more on the comedy side, and no romance angle for him, really. This Kylie-Diego pairing is reinforced at 37-minute mark (theater scene) and later in the fitting scene where the background music that played is “May Minamahal” (It means “there’s someone being loved”). And then, at the 49-minute mark, the song was sang by Kyle and Diego, so…. we know!

This singing of “May Minamahal” marks the turning point in the movie. This is the seed of realization on Kylie and Diego about their feelings for each other – though they still haven’t realized that at this point. The misunderstandings and incompatibility of Diego and Fiona are also starting to show. So, it’s really quote predictable from this point on what will happen next.

What is not believable is Diego asking Kylie to pretend to be Fiona (since Fiona is always busy) for their church interview (a requirement if one is to get married here in the Philippines) and the couples seminar (another requirement) where the two were forced to kiss each other. Wasn’t Fiona bound to find out about that?

Plus point is the inclusion of male/female/gay stereotypes (how one looks at one’s fingernails, for example). They were incorporated in very funny ways.

*****

Everything was going well until that party scene at 1:24 mark where a drunken Kylie accused everyone there of being gay (“Bakla! Bakla kayong lahat!”; or You’ll all faggots!”). It was a very awkward scene, one done without finesse, so all the sympathy that Kylie got since the beginning of this movie, was thrown out the window. To me, this was unnecessary and overdone. Being drunk is no excuse for being ill-mannered. Big minus points. She ruined the party, she ruined her friendship with Benj, she ruined their business deal with Diego and Fiona, and she ruined her reputation.

When she did this at that opening of the movie, it was fine because we were just establishing her character then. But to repeat it at THIS party, it was way over the top already.

Good thing Benj and Diego forgave her. If it were me, I won’t ever talk to her again.

*****

This is NOT a BL series because there is no M2M relationship here of any kind. Benj likes Diego, but that’s it. So, if you’re expecting a BL movie, you’ll be disappointed.

This is a 9, but because of THAT scene, it became a 7. But let’s add a half point for acting from Dennis Trillo, Anne Curtis and also Michael de Mesa (not so with Paolo medyo whose acting here is stereotypical).

*****

MISCAST

I think Alma Concepcion is miscast as Dennis Trillo’s mother. She’s 40 y/o and Dennis was 35 y/o when they made this movie.

FAMILIAR FACE

That actress who played the lady assistant at the church counseling is also the actress who played that dastard aunt of Gavreel in GAMEBOYS THE MOVIE (2021).

7.5 / 10

Read More

So first off there's just something about the background music that was kinda creepy I don't know why! It was just a little weird I guess.

So here's the low down, the main actor playing Kano was a little disappointing. That's the main reason for this not being a ten rating.

But there was something about the movie that felt very artistic and that's the part I loved. Gratefully pretty much everyone else was acting well, especially felt bad for Tojiro! But let's face it, all the sex with Kano was borderline non con or at least dub con.

It just felt like Kano let those men take advantage of him, even though he was so much more powerful than any of them ! But that's the thing I kinda loved about this story, it felt like despite being one of the best swordsmen in the school, Kano was mentally submissive - but I feel like that's also what causes his darkness.

I mean the guy basically admits that the only reason he joined the samurais was so he could kill. That means he had that darkness inside him all along, which he kept hidden underneath his beauty. I mean ffs poor Tojiro was clearly in love with him even when he finds out that Kano screwed him over, and pinned the murder on him, the second Kano said 'im sorry' he basically fell for it again and that's how Kano was able to kill him.

But then in the end, I feel like the Samurai who was telling the Captain the story of the two men, basically despite saying he was a homophobe, it was obvious he was also pretty much struggling with his own sexuality.

But what happened to Kano , they didn't show anything and it happens off screen but it's still impactful because basically Kano let the darkness take over and it drowned him too in the end.

I feel like it's also about the fact that giving anyone the power to kill is wrong because no matter how many Samurai codes you have, in the end, a person can still fool everyone and use the power of death to destroy.

And it's not really mentioned but it's obvious that Kano's story must have started from sexual abuse which turned him cold and murderous. It was like he couldn't believe that anyone could truly love him. And then he knew he was powerless to the men who were trying to get him in bed, so he wouldn't refuse them but ended up killing them after.

As for the sex scenes, they're pretty tame, but still serve the purpose to show us more about Kano and the other men.

Personally I also feel like because of whatever happened to him in the past, Kano was actually unable to feel love for anyone but kept saying things like 'i like you ' and literally even flirting with that one guy who the Captain appoints to take him to the Geisha place but Kano ends up not doing anything with the woman and instead acting like he wanted to sleep with that guy. Even though it eventually turns out that Kano doesn't have feelings for anyone, but uses these tricks to basically lure them to their deaths.

Read More

Just a Teaser

This is just a teaser and something you can watch and look for clues when watching the Triage series. This movie is probably made to test the marketability of Tae and Tee and how much interest the movie will generate. I’m glad it passed because Triage the series is fantastic and proving to be one of the best BL I’ve ever watched.
While watching the series, I catch myself reviewing Triage the movie for what may happen between the two protagonists, Dr. Tin and Tol. And this movie is consistent with it’s more substantial big sister. Watch this as a stepping board for the series.

Read More

Well written but very dark

This movie is a bit of a roller coaster that keeps you guessing until the very end. You think you know but you probably don't. You may get an idea but the detsils and the why really don't all come together until the end. It is definately worth your time to watch IF you like DARK mysteries. It is a bit soul wrenching so beware.

The acting is amazing and the story is put together well. It can get a bit confusing if you don't pay total attention to it. So be prepared to focus. It is not for doing something else while watching.

The re-watch value on this depends on how well you dont remember it. This was my 2nd time watching it. My first view was over a year ago so my brain was like I dont really remember this except for the fact that I remember it was really good.

Read More