Reviews

I enjoyed this movie.

There are many negative comments for this movie, but I enjoyed this movie,
Yes, it's definitely not the best, but at least it was entertaining.

Watched this movie because of Song Ji-hyo, and clearly I wasn't disappointed by it.
The basic plot of the movie is that Ji-hyo is an assassin tasked with killing the ML. She appears to be clumsy, but is a very good killer, and thus fooled ML into thinking that she doesn't know how to do her job.

Following her are a bunch of cops, who suspected that Jackal will be in that hotel to kill a person there. They laid out a trap and waited for the moment to catch him/her.

The comedic moments are many, some forced, and some actually funny. The dynamics of the cops is what I liked the most. Oh Dal-su is a very seasoned actor and time and time again he shows why he is rated so high.
Even in this rather dull movie, he managed to leave a positive impact.

As said, I watched this movie purely because of Song Ji-hyo and the comedy it promises. I enjoyed this movie. Yes, there were many faults, but I didn't have high expectations from it.

Have fewer expectations and you will be less disappointed.

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Simply put...

I watched american remake of this, called 'The Departed', first, and I loved it (I paid to watch it in theater SEVERAL times:) I knew I am late to finally find the time to watch the original but I am glad I was able to do it. I loved it, too. It's brilliant. I love both movies, the remake has the strengths and weaknesses of a hollywood movie (love them or hate them:) the original has the strengths and weaknesses of asian movie (love them or hate them:) Both are the BEST among their kind.

As I am no stranger to hong-kong production I knew what to expect and I have zero complains. I admired and enjoyed this a lot. The cast was spot on, both Anthony Wong & Eric Tsang were perfect fit for the type of the role. As for the main two, Andy Lau is the typical attractive asian actor but Tony Leung really is no DiCaprio:) But then he smiles and you find that he has the cutest smile in the world. The characters were similar enough, I felt Andy Lau's maybe differed a little and it was hinted by the ending, but you be the judge... I appreciated the scarce and poignant use of female characters (in both versions).

I felt Scorsese made his version with great respect to this movie. It's a beautiful movie. I know, some would point out it's "depressing", because of the deaths, terror... But look at it this way. You can just as well watch a movie 'Sex and the City 2' where it's all at sunny beach and everyone is wealthy and happy. And then you might see some terror, LOL. Yes, a beautiful movie isn't about whether the characters ended up well.

Simply put, it is a movie you feel privileged you had the chance to see it.

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"You know... I always keep to the side of the road as I walk and I sit at the back end every time I take a bus. And I always choose the corner table in a restaurant because I hate making contact with people. I'm afraid of being noticed. You wanna know why? Because I'm afraid that I'd die right after I open myself up to someone."

Honestly speaking, I knew exactly how the movie was going to end from the start. It’s a story that was told one way or another countless times. Does it take away from its quality? No. This is not a mystery thriller that relies on plot twists. It’s a story that serves as a reminder to cherish what we have, seek happiness, be open to others and fight our fears.

It’s a moving tale of a boy who was so scared of dying, he willfully gave up living and settled on just existing. Then Ma Xiao Yuan, one could say, forces herself into his little bubble, slowly making it bigger to the point when it bursts, letting him see all the things he was missing out on.

Is it a sad movie? To some extent. The topic is, what it is. Unless you want an unrealistic fairytale, it will have its ups and downs. Somehow, it was still able to end on the uplifting, yet realistic note. It helps you see all the little great things you have in your life.

The acting - amazing. Both Jackson Yee and Liu Hao Cun truly aced the delivery, with the depth and emotions that would touch any viewer.

The directing was truly great. I especially enjoyed the adventures montage - it brought a smile to my face and tears in my eyes at the same time. Such a moving and uplifting moment.

Overall, it’s for sure a watch I would recommend to everyone. It speaks of a tragic topic with such a delicacy and tact it does not leave you depressed by the end.

“Everyone in life experiences losses, which we’re all afraid of. Yet when it happens, the most powerful weapon we have against it is to live each moment to the fullest. Every second counts.”

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In the first half, the KMovie is actually a one-man show. And that, I think, is the strongest part

"#Alive" is a variety on hip zombie stories. First things first: it doesn't have much new to offer in this respect - zombies as a plague that spreads fear and terror, a horde that you want to shake off or destroy, like disgusting, annoying vermin. Well, that's not why I would recommend this KMovie.

I also don't think that you have to overstrain the reference to the Covid pandemic and the sometimes grueling current lockdown experiences that come with it.

Even fans of the horror genre won't be really happy with "#Alive", because "horrifying" can surely be done even better.

So why am I mentioning the KMovie here? The script revolves around surviving in an almost hopeless situation. However, the focus is not mainly on the action, but rather on the quiet moments in which the protagonist is ruthlessly thrown back on himself. There he is alone with himself and his inability, facing his insufficient survival skills, his loneliness and hopelessness ... and finally the desire to leave this world.

Oh Joon-woo isn't a born hero - perhaps he was trying to be in the day-long, night-long computer games, with his joystick in hand. But then the Internet connection is gone, no water supply, no food, no one can be reached. The self-chosen isolation in his room with his virtual game world, which has shaped him to this day, is one thing. Real isolation with real threats and no virtual team is something completely different. It's about that juxtaposition and the painful process of waking up to a NOW that's so different from the gaming world. Ultimately, the impulse comes from outside, which helps him to venture out of his safe cocoon into the real and thus truely threatening world.

However, the movie isn´t anti-technology. On the contrary, in playful creativity technical gimmicks, old and new, give the story new impetus again and again.

In the first half, the KMovie is actually a one-man show. And that, I think, is the strongest part. It's never boring. Actor Yoo Ah-in once again uses the chance to show what he's made of. In this way, the viewers accompany him through his very personal Hall of Pain, and there he hardly omits any physical form of expression. For this he has meanwhile been awarded the Cine 21 Award for best actor. After almost half the distance he gets support from Park Shin-hye, who embodies a character who pursues a completely different survival strategy - namely, she has one, even if she also reaches her limits with it. As is well known, more than one person form a group and a group develops its own dynamics, which can do more than each individual on their own. Here too. Both of them grow together. Heroes are rarely born as such...

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I usually don't review movies. The acting was excellent by all actors and actresses. I loved the storyline and wished it was a drama than a movie. Gong Yoo who played Ki Heon, I didn't even recognize the actor until now. I love this actor. Although I did not recognize him, the makeup artist did a fantastic job. Park Bo Gum's character Seo Bok... OMG, this is the reason why I wished this was a 16-episode Korean Drama. His acting is always on point. I am never disappointed with him.

Ever since they cloned a cow for the first time in reality. In my mind, in the future mankind will try to clone a human being. Whenever I cut my hair I keep the cuttings. I believe this to be true. I don't know about Superman's abilities... but if this world doesn't end by Nuclear war. It may become a reality.

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Not quite the sequel you'd expect

Having watched the first film this one was based on, I was expecting a new adventure featuring our favourite pirates and bandits team in action again, despite the change of casts. But it turned out that this film was somewhat of a reimagination of the original Pirates 2014 movie.

Like the first movie, this one features a group of pirates led by a female captain as well as a group of bandits who were former Goryeo soldiers. But unlike the first film, this one didn't really spare some time to build up the main character's origins. Unlike Yeowol, Haerang was already a captain of her own ship without revealing much of how she ended up in that position. And as much as Haerang did have a scene where she and Muchi had been saved by a whale, Haerang's connection with the whales wasn't as deep as Yeowol's in the first film. And as much as Haerang kept referring to her crew as her family, I can't quite relate to her the way I did with Yeowol as we're never really shown much of Haerang's past to make us see as to why family was important to her.

Likewise, Wu Muchi also seemed to have some similarities with Jang Sajung, but unlike Sajung... Muchi wasn't really quite as charming and charismatic as Sajung. And similar to Haerang, Muchi's past wasn't as developed as Sajung was. The film didn't really gave impression that Muchi actually spent much time being a bandit prior to being rescued by Haerang. Unlike Sajung, Muchi felt more like a pretentious, homeless man calling himself a bandit. Even as his past as a former Goryeo soldier was revealed, his character still felt unconvincing.

That said, there are few other similar points that was similar with the first film. One, this film also had a mention of Lee Seonggye and other notable characters of the time but unlike the first film, the connection was pretty vague. There were also some parallels between Mo Honggap and Boo Heungsoo who were the sworn enemies of Sajung and Muchi respectively, but like everything else in this film it was depicted very shallow. Kwangsoo's character in the film seemed to take the role of Yoo Haejin's character in the first one, but it felt like this movie relied too much on Kwangsoo's betrayer trope from Running Man to deliver the comic relief, which doesn't really work all the time.

On its own, this film was quite enjoyable with some bit of fighting and adventures on the high seas. But if you've already seen the 2014 film, watching this one would feel a bit underwhelming. The comedic element in this film was more slapstick compared to the first one and personally, I didn't feel that the jokes to be as funny as they were in the 2014 film. The same could be said about the romance element in this movie.

Unlike the first film, this second one was quite weak in terms of story. As much as some of the visuals were quite stunning, I couldn't quite immerse myself into the story as much as I did the first. I feel like this film would've been better without the whole pirate king sequence as well as the wholw Haerang can't cook joke because it took away the opportunity to properly develop the relationship between Haerang and Muchi. Other than Muchi pestering her about liking him or scenes of Haerang cooking badly and force feeding Muchi food, we don't really see how the two ended up really liking each other. Not like how Sajung and Yeowol did because they were forced to stay together for a while due to them being chained together. In that sense, Haerang-Muchi's relationship felt shallow compared to Yeowol-Sajung's relationship.

One can say that this second film was a much sillier take of the 2014 film. And as much as the visuals and CGI was much better in this film, it end up being lacking in terms of writing.

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first off loved Sang Bae - know he a side character (that's more tapestry in such a short movie) but loved the dude from start to finish. ton's of energy and all positive. he the one noticed from the word go (what with that t-shirt with the print "Sleep With Me, Free Breakfast" like how can u not love someone with that kinda 'hutzpah'), his personality totally matched that print, and he was the life of the party what with the only other 2 being introverts

the movie itself, a lot felt rush and was rushed cause this so short - u need everything to flow rapidly, but idk IMHO it felt off and rushed and not really natural. it felt staged - and call me an ageist, but Dong Soo looks a teen (even if he in his 20's) and In Pyo looks(!) in his 40's. so that made me feel a bit uneasy. but ignored it, just to see how things would develop (like mentioned already) a lot of "oopsh" moments that lead to them "getting" together.
but it was mutual attraction/curiosity and nothing was force, so whatever.. but one up rooting one's life or deciding to up root it, on a fling? (maybe others more romantic minded will think differently, but this was nothing more then a fling to me) and to move (drastically) to the country side (a very remote isolated spot) to a city girl like me, seems so incomprehensible. i can't believe anyone would do that, not forever. oh idk i guess i'm the one at fault, for thinking in terms of forever - while this might mean they enjoy each other in the now and deal with tomorrow, tomorrow.

then yeah i guess it works (but then don't get why Dong Soo doesn't mention this when he acts like he going away for good, even if he was unsure and decided on the way back home. he could've spoken a word or two instead of that weird mute act, he put on the sec In Pyo wished time would stop) cause as this started off with "...Dong So Tired of repeated life and work takes three days off and goes on a long-distance bike ride..." what does it matter if it's 3 days, a month or more?!? he an adult and this could be a short romance or a long one, so open end - cute idea, wish the flow was better. but fine for a short movie.

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Love, Rain and a whole bunch of problems...

One of those sad stories... boy meets girl... girl meets boy... boy becomes best friends with other boy who wants to meet girl... two of the three fall in love with each other but... well the two that do are from different socioeconomic backgrounds. People get beaten up. a war breaks out... there is a lot of drama, some we have seen before some slightly new twists and some pretty odd twists of fate that do not make much sense but sure we can go with it...

A bunch of years later... Girl meets boy, girls best friend meets boy too ,girls best friend thinks boy is in love with her... boy is obviously not... oh what a hassle in deed... in what ways history may or may not have repeated itself is what you get to find out if you watch the movie.

The chemistry is decent, the acting too, the. scenery is lovely and there are some pretty great umbrella scenes including the magical yellow umbrella, "forgetting" to bring an umbrella and the getting sick from getting caught in the rain I am a sucker for... And if you are lucky you ay just see a rainbow by the end of the movie...

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I loved this movie! I have to say I didn't know much about BDSM before I started watching it, just the regular things that are pretty much well known among the public. And this movie was a great introduction to that topic!

I would like to praise the actors for doing a really great job and the filming crew for portraying BDSM in a positive light since it's really nothing to be ashamed off as long as all the parties involved consented to it. It was very interesting to see their master and "slave" relationship develop, especially the contract. It also surprised me that at first it didn't have to do much with sexual stuff, it was purely about the dominance and submission.

And wow, we got the reversed roles with the woman being the dominant one and the man the submissive one! That was a really fresh approach and probably one of the main reasons why I liked the movie a lot. And I liked how their relationship developed between the two of them.

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Emperor in August

very good historical account of the attempted coup against Japan's acceptance of terms of allied powers to end Pacific War and Showa emperor's central role in achieving it〜 the production values are good although the lighting is rather dark、 whether intended is not clear but even so maybe adds to claustrophobic atmosphere of tension as ministers argue and small group of conspirators drawn from military elite try to gather support for their ill-starred enterprise： the swan song of militarism that dominated Japanese politics and society through 1930s to 1940s〜10/10 as interesting history and likely I will watch again

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interesting stories had great potential whipped with great acting

1. Bandi - 8.5/10
the collection of Unframed movies, begins with director Choi Moon’s soft and surreal storyline of the titular character Bandi, a teen girl who lives with her mother. mother and daughter visit the grandmother. The three of them are emotionally grieving due to Bandi's father's death. The grandmother keeps seeing her son in the house, while So Yeong (wife)doesn't talk about him, Bandi had a stammering problem for which she is also bullied.
Bandi however feels solace in her father's room and tries to talk to her mother. They both visit a forest to see fireflies(Bandi) where the mother and deceased father had promised to come. This shows they had a communication gap which is minimized when they keep on talking. While returning Bandi asks for her grandmother's number to stay in touch. The end is surreal as it ends at the same place where it started with a stronger bond between So Yeong and bandi as they talk about her father.
The character Bandi also emphasizes the title Bandi (Firefly). Just like a firefly flickers, Bandi stammers in spite of that they both bring smiles.
The scenes of the forest and park give a natural feel, whereas the restaurant gives an emotional touch. it is visually emphasizing that the movie ends where it began.

2.ReRun - 7/10
It takes us on a brief journey of a failed actor with his aunt by Son Sukku.
Soo In visits his aunt to send her off to a wedding ceremony but her health deteriorates on the way. while she gets an IV, she glimpses of her daughter. Soo In gets an urgent gig but gets uncertain. When they both reach the venue late, only a few close families are there. While he is looked down on because of having no proper success, he also feels out of place. He remains calm, fills up a food plate, and presents it to his aunt, showing his care until the end When all the others were just trying to talk.
The movie shows how an unsuccessful person is looked down. While he is the most genuine person who cares for his aunt with small gestures and doesn't really talk back. Soo-In's kind personality is all we all need to see his amazing acting skills.

3. Vote for INNO - 10/10
Park Jung Min brings the third piece which is a darker tale behind the faces of innocence. It focuses on a rigged class president election in a junior high school, where a bully manipulates an unnoticed student to win against a rich kid who uses the money to lure voters.
the intense music favors the visuals that how it was rigged and who actually won the elections. It gives a highlight of the adult political world in the form of class president election, where kids do campaigns, give speeches and bully the ones below them.
I was shocked to see the environment in class. Yes, students should have competition but here it is so unhealthy focusing on the present adult political world. All the kids gave a phenomenal performance. The music and editing are equally amazing to give an uncanny joy to watch “Vote for, I don’t Know”

4. Blue Happiness - 7/10
A clear critique of the oppressive nature of youths in present-day, Lee Je Hoons gives a bitter-sweet modern couple in “Blue Happiness”. Chan Yeong is a young man who is job hunting meanwhile working as a chauffeur and is in a live-in relationship with his girlfriend. He coincidently meets his former classmate who convinces him to do stock trading. While in the beginning, he manages to make money he falls into the loop of the stock market and incurs losses both in money and relationship.
This highlights the modern youth problem of job hunting who sometimes knowingly or unknowingly fall into these gambling games. They ruin themselves while losing money, relationships, and sometimes life too. the struggles of Chan Yeong played by Jung Hae In are the only good thing about this story. He simply connects the audience with his emotions. Story TBH is nothing special.

OVERALL
It is a good watch, by the actors, turned directors it is a good effort with liking possibly two or more short of the films. The messages within were very deep and complicated.
The performances were excellent in all.
The cinematography was amazing in all of them.
I wish to see Park Jeong Min more work as a director.

REWATCH
I wouldn't rewatch it, but I'd say if you're a commuter, you just found yourself two days' worth of entertainment

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The main focus is not primarily on the action but the intervals. Intimate play. Highly committed.

The story is told quite sensitively, calmly, just a few dialogues. It is almost studio theatre that relies on the two main protagonists and thus on the haunting performance of Bae Yong-joon and Son Ye-jin.

´He' is typical male, who feels like he owns the world - and now being confronted with his pride being hurt , whereas 'she' represents everything that makes a "good" wife: devoted, caring and - in case of doubt - convinced that she herself is to blame. However, for both of them as their former worlds fall apart their encounter sets processes in motion. They start questioning their lives. Quietly the chance for new orientation, for a new self-image and changed standards when it comes to relationships open up.

The title "April Snow" refers to the fact that the two protagonists love different seasons: he loves winter and she loves spring. Snow in April thus symbolizes a bridge that leads the two together. In the original, however, the title reads something like "Excursion" and refers to 'his' wife and 'her' husband who, as part of their affair, go on a secret trip on which their serious car accident brings everything to light...

(At first the story somehow reminded me a bit of the US movie "Random Hearts" from 1999. The KMovie "April Snow" from 2005, however, is not a remake, just a similar story.)

Yes, it is not a funny movie. Yes, it is intimate play on high studio theatre level. No effects. Just intense play. The main focus is not primarily on the action but the intervals in between. It´s different. Highly committed. Intense.

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Best for horror and zombie lovers

Usually I not write revies as such but I think this time it was important because I was literally pissed.

Usually we watch K-dramas/movies so that we can feel relaxed but to be honest after this movie I have to watch some other nice loving k drama to attain mental stability. If you are not that person who can handle horror and zombie movies then I will recommend you to not watch it or at least watch Train to Busan, All of us are dead, #Alive first because this movie is somehow really sad a lot of blood, violence and will surely give you a mental unitability.

But now If only talk about actors and plot then I think its okay I can't complement them much but its not bad acting is on point its even intense then other zombie movies so its good but I guess they somehow lacked in plot which is my opinion.

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