Reviews

Sensitive and at the same time ruthless portrayal of child abuse and its traumatizing effect

"Miss Baek" is a KMovie about child abuse. Sensitively, cautiously and at the same time ruthlessly, it portrays the example of two 'victims' - a young girl and a grown up woman (actually also a man). It shows how the system prefers to helplessly look the other way, leaving the children alone in their family hell. It also illustrates how this traumatization affects their future lives, remaining trapped in their frightening dark history, still vividly present for the rest of their lifes.

Han Si-mi has received multiple awards for her performance as Miss Baek. But also Kim Si-a in the role of little Ji-eun is just incredible. And the rest of the cast and production, too. Also thank you for the consistently tranquil, unexcited simplicity as well as a to the point, no-frills narration.

Highly valuable. By the way, the story is based on a true event.




------------------------- SIDE NOTE: --- Child abuse in South Korea ---
The cane in schools has been officially banned in South Korea since 2010. However, thrashing at home is another issue. Among the cases of child abuse confirmed by the police, more than 80 percent can be traced back to the biological parents as the perpetrators. To this, add the dark figure. Accurate statistics on the prevalence and frequency of violence against children are difficult to obtain, since the police, ministries, child protection centres, independent agencies, etc. each compile their own statistics, which are based on estimated numbers.

Many South Korean parents grew up like that themselves ... and still belief that children are the extended selves of the parents, kind of - not individual separate beings. Social focus is not on the rights of the children, but more so on those of the parents. Upbringing is primarily the private affair of parents and not a matter of legal jurisdiction. In this context there is often talk of the "stick of love". In fact, many parents believe that thrashing strengthens their children's character while showing them how much they are loved.

In many European countries this no less than abuse. And fortunately there is a growing awareness of this in South Korea as well. In media representation again and again one encounters scenes of child abuse, e.g. in KDrama and KMovie. It is common. However, fortunately, it starts to be more and more common, too, that this kind of violence is being socially confronted as part of the storytelling... Statstically, the number of cases with serious domestic abuse being investigated by the police is increasing. Including cases in which parents abuse their children to death. This does not imply that child abuse is increasing, rather that more cases are being reported. An encouraging sign. It gives hope that the dominance of traditional (and often abusing) parenting concepts is slowly crumbling.

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It is not a fun movie, yet it is radiating truly positive energy in spite of its appalling topic

"Herstory" is an example of a highbrow KMovie, which has real life as its subject and at the same time influences real life as an impact of the movie reception.

It is about the lawsuit brought by a handful of "Comfort Women" from Busan - actual long forgotten/ignored sex slaves for the Japanese soldiers during the Second World War. The trial took place between 1992 and 1998 in Japan. This noteworthy trial set in motion the resolution of a rather dark chapter in recent Asian history.

It was about time to not look away anymore. The subject of "Comfort Women" was until then a taboo subject even in South Korea. The refered to court hearing in the 1990s was actually a milestone in the reappraisal of this chapter. Thus the KMovie "Herstory" is a poignant, publicly effective monument to this chapter in history and honoring the affected, victimized and long forgotten women (and their advocats).

"Herstory" is sensitively illustrating the painful path to this (no less painful) trial as well as its dramatic individual cases. The KMovie becomes the mouthpiecer of at least a few of those women´s fates and at the same time a touching memorial, arousing the awareness of the cruel war crimes committed against civilian women.

It is not a fun movie, yet it is radiating a tuely positive energy in spite of its appalling topic! I consider it in several respects highly valuable.

It is about empowerment and sisterhood. The cast ist outstanding.
This movie is confronting glorious ´his´stories with ´his´ rather tabooed ignominious behaviours... and thus make it ´her´stories.




---------------- SIDE NOTE --- Historical Comfort Women in World War II ---
For a long time, the fate of an estimated 200.000 Korean young women and girls, who were traumatized as sex slaves by the Japanese military during World War II, went unnoticed by the world. Until the 1990s their existence was a taboo - even in South Korea! In fact, Japan's government and military recruited (mostly) Korean young women and girls. They were used against their will in so-called "comfort stations" as "Comfort Women" for motivation of the armed forces - i.e. as sex slaves being abused by the sodliers.

Officially, this fact was (and still is to some extent) vehemently denied by the Japanese side and hasn´t been clarified for more than 5 decades, let alone talked about reparations. However, in terms of international law, what happened has to be considered war crimes, crimes against humanity, as well as slavery and trafficking in women and children - crimes they are. However, the war crimes tribunals after the end of the Second World War were more concerned with crimes against members of the Allies. So in public THOSE crimes against civilian women were forgotten.

With this particular court hearing the movie is refering to, for the first time a verdict in favor of the (comparably few) plaintiffs was at least partially reached. The ladies, who had meanwhile aged, were actually awarded a ridiculously small amount of compensation. So the verdict is still outrageous, but a verdict nonetheless. Nevertheless, as a result, the story of comfort women was publicized for the first time and an international reparation movement was launched.

Obviously the topic had appeared on the table ... but it was still not legally clarified. On the contrary. The issue as such (and its many and even more individuale cases) have still not been satisfactorily resolved ... while most of the actual victims have by now died of age.

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Thriller, perfect and Imaginary

Its like you are watching a car cash but in slow motion. You know something bad gonna happen but you can't think of not seeing it perfect piece.

If you see this movie particularly you will realize that the writer/Actors has done an extremely well job. The story depends on your thinking how you want to see it(sort of open story)
To be honest I am still confused that what happened at the end but I am sure enough that its a masterpiece.

This movie somehow trying to portray the situation of South Korea. That living alone in SK is not safe.
As its just 14 minutes short film which is pretty much perfect I will totally recommend you to watch this short film.

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Really sweet.

I found this drama realistic and really sweet. I usually prefere school romance dramas but this made my heart melt multiple times and i actually cried a lot during the movie, there is happy ending yes, but the story makes you get affecionated to the characters and personally im really empathic and even tho i personally don't relate much to the character experiences, i felt them like they were my own struggles, and i think that a story and an acting that makes you feel this way it has to be praised. So i have to give it a ten out of ten, and i highly reccommed it if you like soft romance. I also loved the characterization of the characters, they realistic feelings and realistic reactions, and that's what i appreciate in any sort of fiction.

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Silence is a virtue?

Don Wong Tao played the silent fighter seeking revenge for his father's murder. Woe to all the tributaries of the Black Dragon Gang as he rampaged his way across the evil doer's territory.

Along Comes the Tiger was a flawed but entertaining kung fu movie. With the twist of a mute hero avenging the death of his father by the infamous Black Dragon, it slightly set itself apart from the crowd. Theoretically based on Once Upon a Time in the West, which I'll have to take it on faith, because aside from a couple of scenes I didn't notice the western influences.

Miracle Man's first fight with a young Phillip Ko Fei was entertaining due to the fact that the bad guy's character was OCD. Suffice to say, Miracle Man messed him up much to the baddie's chagrin.

Doris Lung Chun Erh fought Miracle Man with her female gang, wielding fans with daggers hidden within. Stephen Tung who was the martial arts director for many movies played a government agent trying to clean up the gangs. He appeared and disappeared seemingly at random. A little boy attached himself to Miracle Man in a role meant to bring out the compassionate side of MM but instead was annoying. MM had only one goal in life and that was to take out the Black Dragon Gang's leader. When someone is rampaging in a kung fu movie, not much will stop the carnage.

Stephen Tung and Don Wong did an acceptable job with their fights and acting. One scene with a couple of minions was quite well choreographed. Director Wu Ma showed up to try and take on the MM as well, and as always, he was entertaining to watch. Gam Ming aka Tommy Lee played the dastardly Black Dragon, a humpbacked martial arts master. He also choreographed the fights for the movie. For the most part, most of them were quite well done. I only found the final one a bit of a letdown.

The acting was slightly above what you might expect from what appeared to be a low budget film. Don Wong Tao's character seemed to benefit from playing it silent. The only drawback for me was the kid, though it seemed they were trying to bring things full circle since MM had witnessed his father's death. The story had some weird lapses of logic, especially where the female characters were concerned. If you can overlook the shortcomings there was decent kung fu flick to be watched.

For martial arts movie fans, particularly older ones, this might be one to give a try sometime. It was non-stop action from beginning to end and didn't feel like each fight was a duplicate of the others.

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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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