Reviews

The movie that started a franchise.

A very exclusive movie not many ever get to see in their lives. In fact, I had to puzzle the story together from tags.

The story:
The character testss is a very unique person as one can tell from the tags. After first her marriage to a banker she loses her entire family. She feels lost and initially tries to come to terms with it through religion but she feels instead she needs to escape her village and decides to quit her many part time jobs to join the army. Here she has a long career and she meets a mysterious man but things don't work out as he dreams of being an opera singer instead. She decides to quit the army after an undercover mission as a dermatologist goes wrong. She is sent to prison due to being framed for an accident by a hacker who was blackmailed by a crime boss. This hacker formely worked with her in the policeforce but he went down a dark path when his voice actor career didn't work out. Eventually after her time in prison she starts to live at a farm, here the soldier she met in the army meets with her again and tells her they should get into politics to make things better. So they both get jobs in congress and pass laws protecting the rights of undercover agents and intend to marry. However, it turns out all her family is still alive but was just taken hostage all those years. Her oldest child escaped, was deemed crazy by the local village and locked up in a mental hospital for years but got out and became a radio personality. They reunite and plan to free the rest of her family. Her husband plans to go undercover as a butler and she will use her medical knowledge to pretend to be a doctor. Meanwhile her oldest child meets the blackmailed hacker and gets him a job as a manga artist. They succeed in getting the family safe. The tension when she meets her banker husband again is high but it turns out he was an alien and has to leave earth anyway. Her other 4 children succeed in diverse careers.

Acting/Cast:
tesst is a wonderful actress who really knows how to portray a woman who has had a long life with many difficult jobs. Her husband is an undercover agent with a criminal past so his character is never given a name but his acting is really welldone as well. They both understand each others difficult position and respect their hidden pasts.

Music:
Pretty unique.

Rewatch Value:
I would rewatch (the tag section) again, although the army part of the story took a bit long it was still an enjoyable experience. testss is a unique character and I don't think I've ever seen a story like it.

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Deep rooted evil extremity

Humanity's ugliest and greediest traits are all in here, spanning across the adults and their successor made out from the same mould. The evil extremity in this movie is so deep rooted and unbelievable because of how realistic and crooked it is, completely destroying any bit of morality left in their mind. The evilness that is in the gene, they're born with it and become ultimately twisted. The power, the money, the influences, continues to create rot in our society. Meanwhile the powerless will be dragged and beaten until there's nowhere out from this rotten society, and it is only a glimpse of it.

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Words are (very) unnecessary, just watch it and give voice to silence

Movie perfect in every aspects: script, acting and editing... Looks like an independence cinematography. If someone has not yet opportunity to watch and appreciated the acting skills of Yoo Ah In, then after this film there should be no doubt of talent of this young generation actor is by no means exaggerated. The children's roles also deserve to be recognition. It's hard to describe something more so as not to reveal the plot. It is just unique, touching and simply beautiful And I guess it's a shame to waste review space for unnecessary words, so you should just watch it and give voice to silence...

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An awesome, awesome movie

This is my favorite movie by one of my favorite Korean directors, Hur Jin Ho. It's also perhaps my favorite Korean movie in the love story/romance genre (although there's some stiff competition).

But beware, it's not for the typical MDL user. It's a slow, serious, realistic movie that doesn't try to manipulate your emotions and make you feel good. Because it's so realistic and truthful, I can really relate to this. If you've ever fallen head over heels in love with someone who had any kind of independent spirit or whose goal in life wasn't exactly to be your perfect love slave, then I bet you would be able to relate to this too. If that sounds good to you, then this gets my highest recommendation.

Also, I generally pay no attention to soundtracks for Korean movies and dramas, but the end credits song in this movie--A Spring Day Is Gone by Kim Yuna (no, not that Kim Yuna)--is my very favorite of any Korean movie or TV show. It actually isn't a perfect fit for the mood of this movie, but it's such a beautiful song, I don't care.

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Emotional LGBTQ+ Coming-of-Age Story

"I felt like a guest at a cult meeting"

Based on a web novel which was already adapted into a drama, "What She Likes..." is an emotional LGBTQ+ coming-of-age story about Jun, a closeted high school student struggling with his homosexuality, and Sae a BL manga obsessed classmate that develops feelings for him.

I'm a bit torn about this one. Overall, I did enjoy it and thought it was a touching story with beautiful cinematography and some heart-wrenching moments. My main issues were how unrealistically they resolved some of the conflicts they were dealing with. The way they brushed over some characters and themes lessened the impact for me. Moreover, they should have focused more on Jun as the main lead. One could argue this was about Jun and Sae which is true to a certain extent and there were aspects I really liked about these two. However, considering that this, at its core, is a queer story, I would have preferred a louder voice from the queer character instead of the BL loving classmate.

In conclusion, this was an intriguing movie that while it does have its flaws still managed to move me. I quickly have to mention Kamio Fuju's performance as Jun. I genuinely feel he's a talented guy, who's nuanced portrayal of Jun stood out to me the most.

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We really didn't need this

It's pretty boring and kind of confusing. It starts of pretty well, but loses itself the further you go. I finished the movie feeling very bored and unsatisfied. My cousin who saw it with me enjoyed the war aspect of it, but didn't understand much either, he just liked the visual and the idea of a war between kids and adults (he is a tween boy fascinated with gore and zombies, so of course he enjoyed that).

It had potential, but someone didn't pay attention to the details. They lost pretty much everything that made the first movie good and I understand now why it's yet another forgotten sequel.

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The genres that are not quite fitting.

Honestly speaking, this is far more of a comedy drama, and I don’t see many thriller elements in it. The poster presents what the mood of the movie will be far more than the genres listed, so take that into consideration when watching.

I have to say, it’s been a while since a movie made me so excited to watch. I was interested in the characters, in the court case, in the truth behind the case. Each element was so well written and constructed, and intertwined into the overall plot, there wasn’t a second wasted of the screen time.

The movie seems like a low key battlefield between the professional judge who forgot the core aspect of her work and a Juror 8, who got himself involved in the case and now simply wants to do a good job with it.

The aspect I enjoyed the most was the character development and clever ways they indicated how and when specific Juror’s started to be more engaged in the case. Especially Choi Yeong Jae, with whom they did a brilliant job.

The acting was amazing. Not surprised with a cast like that. Having great and well established actors playing supporting, and even guest roles made each scene truly enjoyable. Big props to Seo Hyun Woo, even though he did not have that much screen time, his depiction of the defendant was stellar.

Is the movie realistic? Definitely not. I do believe the comedic leaning makes it okay though. It still presents the importance of the job jury has, the potential issues in the system, but also the benefits it might bring, while adding a lot of entertainment with the exaggerated scenarios.

On the other hand, saying it’s even loosely based on the original story is nothing but misleading. The cases are nothing alike, the result is not the same, the behavior of the jury is completely different. It especially bothered me with the last narration on the screen, where they mixed the events of the show with real life statistics - it was simply confusing. Before I did some research, I was sure that part describes the real life case from 2008, which was not correct. Hence I’m not sure selling it even to that extent as being related to real events was a wise choice.

Overall, extremely exciting, interesting and engaging. Has some amazing situational comedy, but does not forget to have good content behind the jokes.

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Happy Pride! I was SO scared to watch this because I really hate sad or tragic queer stories, I just can't handle them. But I'm so glad I watched this because, while it wasn't a smooth, wholesome love story by any means, it was FASCINATING and just...life. The acting was fantastic. I loved how they jumped around a bit in time, it didn't make anything confusing. I really enjoyed this and I wasn't expecting to really. A lot about it hit home strongly and I really resonated with the struggle within them all. If I had to name something I didn't like it would probably be Father Oliver, he just didn't work for me, I didn't care for him. Also, even though this was a 2 hour movie, I really didn't mind the length, I was invested the whole time and the pacing was great!

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A Great Action Zombie Movie!

I couldn't resist, and decided to write a review on this underrated movie. Honestly I don't understand why it received so much hate; because it's actually very good.
Many people compared Peninsula to Train to Busan, meanwhile although they're slightly linked, they're completely different plot wise and cast.
Train to Busan targets more of a psychological genre, and the relations between people, whilst Peninsula is more of an action packed movie.
If you're currently in that stage, wondering whether or not you should give this movie a try, do it, watch it. Trust me, you won't be disappointed! The amount of negative reviews also put me off from watching this movie, but I'm so glad I still gave it a chance nevertheless!
Peninsula is honestly very entertaining and worth a watch. I loved the cast, the acting was outstanding, and of course the plot didn't disappoint itself.
Plus it has a more positive ending, compared with Train to Busan.
Either way, give it a go!

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i feel like the movie was good confusing made me feel like wtf am i watching
the actors did really well but i feel like it needs a pt2 on explaining properly or in depth why he kiddnaped him and decided to use him as a toy and r@pe him why he kept him in the basement of the hospital and to show how their new relashionship will progress
the whole movie is a what the fuck it kinda scared me the actors did so well thats its one of thoes that you hat the actor like they are the charecter they embraced their roles

i do hope for a movie 2 the start was confusing until the full movie pieces fit together but a second movie would finish it all

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If the Male Gaze Were a Movie

Let's be real, this film has a very specific audience, and that's cishet men. That is not to say that no one else can enjoy this film. I must say I quite enjoyed it, much to my chagrin, and the 6.5 is indicative of that.

What led me to watch this film despite the tropey romcom blurb were the three main leads, all amazing actors in their own right. Alas, the performances are what make or break a film, and in this film's case, they very much made it.

On to the story, or lack thereof, if you're interested in enjoying the film, don't think too hard about the logistics of the entire plan, because it is incredibly stupid. The writing (I'll bet my non existent million dollars is also by a dude) makes no sense even from a romcom perspective, and there's barely enough scenes with the two leads to make their love story convincing. Dong Zijian and Elaine Zhong get props for trying their best to make something out of nothing, because they did have some chemistry together.

On the other hand, what this film does have are boobs, tons of them. Also problematic dialogues like the second female lead saying that women and airplanes are one and the same, thank you for taking us back to the dark ages, madame. You have your manic pixie dream girls, your simpleton who, for some reason has two incredibly gorgeous, accomplished women fawning for him despite having the personality of wet cardboard, and two dudebros who honestly got better character development than the entire leads' arc.

So there you have it. Take it as you will. In case you're not a reader and are more of a visual learner, just check out the thumbnail of the YouTube video posted in the comments below that has the link to the entire film. It will perfectly illustrate everything this movie is about.

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Melancholic Youth Drama

Based on a novel by Katsuse Masahiko, Matsumoto Hana's “The End of the Pale Hour” follows an unnamed protagonist that just graduated from college and is about to enter the workforce. He meets a young woman, and we follow him as he falls in love, makes friends and struggles with his monotonous life.

Kitamura Takumi perfectly portrays the young man's enthusiasm, growing disappointment and apathy over the years. His portrayal feels genuine, and the male lead's relatable struggles make it easy to connect with him, even if his character is quite the passive guy. Kuroshima Yuin is excellent as his love interest, and they both had very convincing chemistry. Inoue Yuki as the Naoko, our main lead's upbeat friend, was easily my favorite character. Their friendship made for some heartwarming moments.

The End of the Pale Hour is an empathic depiction of heartbreak, growing up, and a realistic portrayal of the struggles that come with working for a big corporation and finding your place in the world. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. While the first half was light and sweet, the later half shifts in tone as our male lead has to face reality. Personally, I thought the twist was well done and gave this movie another interesting layer. Apart from the wonderful performances of the cast, I also really enjoyed the soundtrack that matched the youth theme and melancholic atmosphere of the story.

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Interesting to Speculate on

I love reading peoples thoughts and saw some here, speculating on what Sung Kyu (the adopted brother) felt especially during the ending scene where his smile disappears. So I decided to give my own two cents. In the beginning it felt like it was already shown to me that Sung Kyu was pretty apathetic and didn't necessarily feel strongly towards acting a specific way to be liked. Barely being able to choke out the words 'it's delicious......... mom'. He wasn't shown trying to connect with Sung woo other than randomly picking him up at school once either.
The first time Sung Kyu shows assertiveness is when the shower scene happens. Because of this detail I didn't feel like he tried to appease Sung woo like someone else did. (which is why I like seeing other peoples perspective since it can be so different!)
I also don't think it was suppose to be about sexuality at all and whether or not Sung Kyu is attracted to men in general. For me this was more an exploration on how Sung Kyu didn't really feel anything and therefore tried to fill the emptiness within him with a new family and the shower scene mostly to me looked like 2 very empty and emotionally tired people that desperately needed to feel 'something', just anything. But just like most one night stands, it didn't fix the initial problem, that Sung Kyu felt a loss of identity and therefore remained apathetic after not being able to find it with his new family either.

Thinking back, Everyone in this movie seemed to fill up the emptiness with something, The mother keeps filling the emptiness the loss of her son caused her, by adopting multiple people. Sung Woo seems to fill up his emptiness coming from a broken home with physical affection from a significant other. And Sung Kyu as a grown man being adopted into a new family with a new identity because he feels like a nobody.

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Wordlessness Is Not Silence

A show-stopping movie I have kept in the closet for later perusal for a long time now. We rarely see such profound acting anymore in popular cinema, and I am grateful for this website especially for the movies it recommends me and which I would never get to know about or to see in theaters in my country.

I don't know where to start praising: the cast, the music, the filming, the deceptive play of plain colors, the themes of abandonment. The fact that rather than having the two lead characters have open conversations, the dialogue is spoken over them, instead of by them, by other characters. It doesn't matter if these characters are the nice cop or the mean one, the bullies or the acquaintances, family itself. Decisions are taken over their lives in discussions they will not join, and their true feelings and wishes remain wordless—but not silent.

Facial expressions, isolated words, the ways of physical contact: those are the dialogue that the main characters engage in. And nothing is as breath-taking about it than the entirely silent exchange they have through the glass window, looking at each other with the other's reflection superposed to their face, the slightly off-tempo of the smiles and tears and begging they give.

The flash-forward at the start which becomes the time-skip of the ending is all the more poetic. This was, used to be, is, their playground: their relationship has not vanished despite the years of separation, and the revolute time can always be brought back. And here comes the play of colors: the little girl's yellow clothes and Chen Nian's yellow prison uniform, and how Chen Nian takes the shackles of those clothes off the girl as she walks her home...

In fact I would say this story is not so much preventive toward school bullying as it is a tender testimony of loneliness, although its public interest did cause significant changes in order to help victims. It is abandonment by family, friends—Chen Nian refusing to answer the dead girl's plea at the beginning,—the school system, the justice system. But it is also about bringing the lonely together and how lifestyle does not indicate the humanity in one's heart.

Dialogue crushes and avoids the scarcely-speaking main characters, but they are certainly not silent.

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