Reviews

A holey drama with Zombies.

I don't think that this movie knows what it wants to be. It wants to be a zombie movie but not enough time is spent killing zombies. They are a dangerous element that exists outside but not much of a threat indoors. Although the characters are forced to go outside eventually, the build-up to that decision happens much too quickly. The whole thing just left me with more questions than anything. How do you survive 20+ days with barely a week's worth of food and no water? How does one watch the news on their television with no electricity? How do you post videos online when there's a network outage and simple messages aren't even coming through?
Anyway, as far as zombie movies go, I would say that this movie is okay.

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Stressful

This movie requires a huge leap of faith to be taken seriously. There’s just so much of illogical reasoning which made the movie seem draggy and unrealistic. To me, that is a huge flaw for a thriller/psychopath kind of movie. It could’ve been way better had the writer put more thought-out ideas in the script.

If we look past the questionable writing, the only saving point is the acting. The actors did a wonderful job, portraying their characters. I loved watching the scenes, just because of their stunning acting. The leads were perfect and I would love to see them act together again.

The direction is good too. The scenes are well-shot, creating suspense and dread within the watchers. The concept on paper seems good too but the execution was poor.

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When arms can't reach, mind can

The final installment of the Mothra Rebirth trilogy set Mothra on a collision path with King Ghidorah. The Elias-Moll, Lora, and Belvera-played a bigger and more important role while the children’s element was toned down. The Elias discovered that the Elias Triangle of courage, love, and wisdom would compel them to set aside their differences when the world was threatened by King Ghidorah.

An ominous meteor heralded the King of Terror’s return. Ghidorah wasted no time in stealing children and depositing them under a dome in the woods. One teenager was left who worked with Moll and Lora. He wasn’t the focus of the story as the children were in the two previous movies, an upgrade in storytelling for me.

As with the other two Rebirth movies, Mothra 3 was heavy with CGI and lower tech special effects which can look dated to modern eyes. Still, there was enough glitter and rainbows to make it interesting. There was time travel involved as Mothra went back to the Jurassic period in an attempt to stop Ghidorah from becoming so strong. The dinosaurs didn’t come across very well, Stephen Spielberg’s Jurassic Park had no competition from these toylike dinosaurs. It was fun to watch Ghidorah have a T-Rex for an afternoon snack though. Fortunately, there wasn’t a butterfly effect caused from Mothra going back in time as the movie had stated that Ghidorah was what had destroyed the dinosaurs.

The action was close to non-stop, using a variety of settings and timelines. Mothra developed new abilities and was back to being called a female. King Ghidorah is always a formidable and menacing opponent, and they did a good job of making him nearly invincible.

The Elias and the humans displayed courage and sacrifice as they dealt with the Dome of Children and what was required to send Mothra to the past. The Elias also found some closure to their combative relationships with each other.

Of the Mothra Rebirth movies this was probably the strongest as the children’s storyline was not the major emphasis and the childish humor was kept to a minimum. Though still obviously aimed at a younger audience, the stakes were higher, the tone a little darker, and the emotional payoffs greater. There was not the usual environmental message many Mothra movies have. This was a full-scale war against the deadliest of the Kaiju enemies. Mothra acquitted herself well in her battle with Ghidorah something that should make Godzilla think twice about taking on the beautiful Kaiju in the future.

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Lo Lieh and Carter Wong team up as the super bad guys in this tale of Born Invincible. A traditional revenge trope gets a boost from a slightly different take on the heroes training and retribution stories.

The title is somewhat erroneous. Carter Wong was the invincible Big Bad, but he wasn’t born that way, he trained from childhood in the impervious Tai Chi kung fu style (probably not really Tai Chi, but as always, we just go with these things). He had only one place on his body that was vulnerable and he could move it around depending on his mood and time of the day. For the good guys this created a deadly problem when their school let Carter’s prey, an old swords master and his daughter stay with them. Carter and Lo Lieh showed up demanding the swordsman. When the master of the school (Lung Fei playing against type) took them on and was killed it set up the revenge for the master trope. Born Invincible strayed from the typical storytelling and instead of one student training to take on the Big Bads, three different students at three different times trained to battle and find the weakness of the White Haired Invincible fighter.

Carter Wong and Lo Lieh looked like they were having fun playing the Big Bads. The good guys with their bad Bruce Lee wigs seemed rather bland in comparison.

Yuen Woo Ping was the martial arts director and he went out of his way to create inspired fight scenes. His brother, Yuen Shun Yi, played one of the minions who caused problems for the school. The fight scenes were quite good and the action and training scenes kept the story moving at lightning speed.

As always, I grade old niche movies on a curve. Born Invincible was entertaining, dared to alter a tried and true trope, and the fight scenes were good. Not much else to ask from an old kung fu movie.

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Driving through ground zero

The central moments of this story takes place in Hiroshima: and it is symbolic of the devastation that rips through the thin veneer of coping that the main character has plastered over his wounds.
Throuh the repeated readings of of dialogue of Chekhov's Uncle Vanya, the themes of infidelity, wasted lives and lost opportunity is explored. I love the way in which the play-within-a-play accents the sensitivities and the unspoken anguish of the main character.
One young girl keeps on driving .. which is an important aspect of living with grief: to go on, to do the work, and she grounds the film, hugging a dog, showing Hiroshima restored, driving west until her car packs up..
I The Chechov lines chrechendo's on a landslide scar, the resolution to the grief comes in a spetacular culmination at the end of the Uncle Vanya performance, and when you think it is over, the film (and life) goes on.

It is a masterpiece, and if you can watch sixteen hours of Kdrama, you owe it to yourself to spend the time on this.

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So worth the last effort of her.

Ok, I'll try to make this review very simple. I've been watching k-dramas and k-movies since I was in my high school. And already have seen around 80-90 of them, but I'm telling you I never ever have seen such a masterpiece. All the aspects of this movie like story, osts, acting etc. will definitely make your heart go fall in love with this movie.

I loved the way FL tried every way possible to make herself and her mom live alive. So worth the last effort taken by her. Never expected something like this, she'd come up with.

Moreover I would like to add, this movie successfully expresses the human emotions like selfishness. I detested the way police officer choose to give up on saving the FL in order to save her sister. But isn't it's the way they represent human selfishness, more and less they nailed it this time.

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The Untamed Accompaniment

A bit too late in the bandwagon, but glad nevertheless to have seen this at least once (die hard fan of the untamed here. Lol)

First of all, let me put this out here, the first scene freaking scared me out of my body! Lol. I literally need to put my hand in front of my eyes, and peek thru half of the screen from behind the fingers. Lol. Like the cinematography for the first few scenes.

And sizhuiiiiii my baby boy! How grown up you are already! Solo night hunt huh?

Wen ning is cool as usual. Very the ghost general. Lol.


I love how they incorporate the jokes on Ning shushu vs Wen qianbei in the movie. Goes to show how wei wuxian has been rubbing off on wen ning all this time. Haha

A bit sad that they cannot have WWX and LWJ cameo-ing in this, might be more natural and sweet. The fact that their little a yuan is now grown up and able to battle well already. *wipe tears

The battle scene music is quite funny though. Lol

All in all, i think, for one to truly enjoy these 2 movies (living dead and fatal journey), one needs to at least watch the untamed first. These movies are too short to build characters from zero

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Nice accompaniment to The Untamed

Just had the chance to watch these 2 accompaniments to the much loved The Untamed (too lazy to suscribe to wetv vip before. Lol).

First thing first, i think, if i havent read so many untamed fanfic before, i might be a little bit confused regarding the storyline. Lol. The saber spirit is not very well explained here (because of the timing constraint i think). But at least we can clearly see how Nie Huaisang turns from such a docile person to a manipulative director Nie in the untamed. Point is, never underestimate the sibling bond (Jin Guanyou, yes i was talking to you!)

Ji Li did a good job here. And the new character Nie Zonghui is such a nice add on. I have a sweet spot for Nie Zonghui from the fics, and it was nice to see him in flesh. Lol. And I like how he carries double saber, just convenient to hand one over to Nie Huaisang in emergency who of course very notoriously known for always leaving behind his own saber. Lol. And of course, the sibling bond between Nie Huaisang and Nie Mingjue *chef kiss

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There was a lot of confused crying, especially at the end.

Considering how slow-paced the movie was, I didn't feel bored when I was watching it. You could really tell how much affection the FL had for the ML and I attribute most of that to Park Bo Young's amazing acting. Like seriously, this actress was MADE for crying scenes, she makes me tear up every time she cries on screen. I almost didn't recognize Song Joong Ki in this because it's a complete 180 from his other roles that I had seen. To be honest, though, I couldn't understand the motivations behind the main villain's actions. He didn't seem to be gaining anything from terrorizing ML besides just being an asshole and it kind of bothered me that there was no deeper meaning to his arc. If anybody reading this ever read the Webtoon "Days of Hana" this movie kind of reminds me of that webtoon except obviously less characters/gore/fleshed out storyline. In that way, the movie felt pretty predictable and pretty similar to other movies that go along the lines of "weird uncivilized male lead with nice and normal female lead." Despite that, I couldn't help but rate this movie so high because I absolutely adored Park Bo Young and Song Joong Ki's acting. I wholeheartedly admit my bias LOL. I genuinely loved the entire atmosphere of this movie (because sometimes I just want to have a good cry and watch a sad movie) and even the music felt extremely fitting (the song that played in the credits is definitely going on my Kdrama spotify playlist) to the entire mood. This movie was so calming and yet destroyed me from the inside out at the end, and I definitely recommend it, especially if you're a fan of PBY and SJK.

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Tear-Jerker

I didn’t expect anything going into this but I was surprised to find myself so captivated into the story. The characters are simple and sweet. The actors were both amazing. Takeru’s simplicity wins his character.

I do think this could’ve been more successful and interesting though, if the director had intended on it. The scenes feel kind of scrappy? I don’t know how to explain but there’s a weird discomfort with the camera rolling. This movie could’ve worked better, had there been more effort put into dialogue and scene quality. The acting and strong storyline really saved the narrative.

Nevertheless, sobbed my heart out by the end of this movie and that itself makes it more memorable for me.

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What. Was. That.

There are people claiming it's a cinematic masterpiece. I'm sorry, swinging the camera around is not art? I do not know what was trying to be achieved. I felt violated watching this movie. I don't exactly know why

It has a strange, powerless protagonist getting played around with three different men. She doesn't even seem like a real character. The whole arc is cheap and the execution is even worse. The guys were all red flags, toxic and disturbing. The whole vibe was off. I don't even know what exactly happens in the end and I don't think I care, to be honest.

If you want to watch something which leaves you ''????" go ahead.

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A Gem Discovered

I've been telling myself it's my life movie. The name of the character, Bright, drew me in. It was unusual. Her narration in the beginning was on point. Her remarks were timely for the career-oriented and single women. Making her friend end up with the guy in the bar was just cute. The wedding came and this guy was teasing her and I'm hooked. Something about this enemy to lovers trope had me at gun point.

It just gets even funnier with the fortuneteller and the unfortunate events. Meeting her old flames was fun to see and I just knew this movie was doing something different. I just kept watching--all the while laughing and smiling at the adventures of closures. It has all the tropes of relationships not working out--moving away, family disapproves, cheating, uncertainties, unfulfilled promises, flings, and games/bets. This has shown the protagonist what made her a single but a strong woman of today. There were some regrets and how she was the "lesson" in her exes' life. Crazy how she almost got married twice! Somehow, this guy Khem (who gave an impression of a playboy at first with all his teasing) was also roped into helping her fix her exes' love lives. He was so down bad for her that he went through a lot especially with the gay ex, Pauly. Oh, that was hilarious. As my friend put it, "I feared for his life."

Khem was just on the sides most of the time, seeing Bright go through plans and conversations with her ex-loves. He didn't make a move which I found annoying all throughout. I kept controlling myself not to say, "With all those looks...gah, kiss her already!"

Needless to say, he has maintained his manner hands while accompanying Bright and it was just so endearing when they have meaningful conversations. Most of it were inaudible but the chemistry was just there. They looked meant to be.

The last ex, Tune, with his daughter moved me. It was the turning point for me. I was touched that Bright and the girl were exchanging dialogues as if they were the same age. And when Tune sang that song for Bright again, it was like he was passing the baton to Khem to pursue Bright. That's what's amazing here, this move of an ex to say: make the woman he loved happier.

When I repeated the movie, I noticed that the yacht scene was a parallel to this. The guys fell into the water and Khem said to Ken to do what he needed to do. It's what Tune said to Khem when he called him on stage to sing.

The kid approved of Khem and was teasing Bright about it. It wasn't the first time they were teased, the grandmother asked them when they will be married. It just made me laugh at how Asian this was all was. Their glances after being asked made me smile so much.

All in all, everything worked out and here was Bright telling Khem about this over a meal. They knew there were sparks flying between them but they didn't dare say it. They found out they were parting ways. It wasn't meant to be. Walking in the park where they accidentally met, I thought Khem was finally going to say, "I love/like you." He didn't and I was floored at the revelation. In Filipino, we have a word "torpe" and he was that. He didn't pursue her because he was too afraid of the repercussions. Fate finally dealt its final blow and he couldn't escape it. This man, Khem, had been there all along. He has seen Bright's love stories unfold and he couldn't do anything. She didn't know he existed and she was shocked.

It made me ponder why he did help her. He went through a lot and while she was single, he was haunted by it. When he asked her, "Do you know who suffers the most because of you?" It was him. HIM.

When he replied to her annoyed question at the park before, "What are you doing here?"

"Waiting for you, maybe?" He was! He couldn't escape his fate. When she also replied this by the seaside, "Waiting for you, maybe?" She was!

However, she's reminded of her status as a single lady icon when her fans asked for pictures. She rejected Khem but she couldn't move on from him. She saw that picture as a proof of him just staring at her by the sidelines while she fell in love. Was it meant to be? She reminisced and checked that polaroid picture being focused all throughout the movie. It contained the message "You look better with a smile" and she knew, she could be happy but love will make her happier.

Her speech was just confusing to many and it was a sign of a lovesick woman. She almost ate her fabulous single philosophy but she made it clear in the end. She went away and wanted to change flights, forgetting her purse (almost!) and her luggages.

To her surprise, Khem was around and they bantered again like the lovers they're meant to be. It just gave all the feels, the kilig of it all. She was in the arms of her soulmate (Khem thought it was a fairy tale only at the wedding), the man who was fated to be with her all this time.

No kiss, just a hug but the conclusion of the story was: she was a single lady no more.
Despite her previous stance of enjoying the single life, anyone can be like her...a "hypocrite" in the face of true love.

What a movie.

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Double meaning in Chinese; (色, sè) can be "Colour", while "caution" (戒, jiè) can be "Ring"

In my opinion, this is a better movie than Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), Ang Lee's blockbuster which he directed seven years before this one.

From Wikipedia;
The title of the work, Lust, Caution, has a double meaning in Chinese. The character for "lust" (色, sè) can be read as "colour", while "caution" (戒, jiè) can be read as "ring", therefore the title can also read as "coloured ring", an object that plays a pivotal role in the story. The two alternate readings of the title are interwoven into a cautionary tale of lust and love through the symbolic use of the ring.

This would be a better description for any preview:
"During World War II, a secret agent Wong Chia Chi, must seduce then assassinate an official, Mr. Yee, who works for the Japanese puppet government in Shanghai. Her mission becomes clouded when she finds herself falling in love with the man she is assigned to kill."

This is one of those movies where you would pee in your pants rather than take your eyes off the movie and go to the bathroom!

Year 1938: Hong Kong - college student Wong Chia Chi (Tang Wei aka Rebecca Tang) joins with a young man, Kuang Yu Min (Leehom Wang) and his college thespian group to put on patriotic plays to unite the local people against the invading Japanese military. However, Yu Min then rallies the students to attempt to assassinate a local Chinese man, Mr. Yee (Tony Leung) who works for the Japanese under the local puppet government. Chia Chi assumes the identity of Mrs. Mak, with another student assuming the role of Mr Mak, an import-export businessman and her husband.

Their plans fail as Mr. and Mrs. Yee leave for another city abruptly; however, they were able to kill another Chinese subordinate of Mr. Yee who did not accompany him abroad.

The acting troupe scatters to different places after the assassination.

Year 1942 - Shanghai - Chia Chi moves in to a house left by her father, but is forced to sell it and live on a government subsidy with her aunt; she is allowed to study with some of money from her house being sold. She runs into Yu Min, who has trained as a Chinese spy. he wants her to assume the identity of Mrs. Mak again and again try to set up Mr. Wu up to be killed again, who now sniffs out and kills Chinese operatives for the Japanese in Singapore,

The movie is so complete in everything seeming to be in the right place. The detail that they went to in order to film this movie is almost unbelievable! Everything from costumes, vehicles and such were painstakingly reproduced in order to make this film!

The cinematography is excellent, the music is the only thing that was not perfect to me; the single-stringed instruments which were common then drive me up the wall to a certain extent..Sorry!

The main cast perfectly portray falling in love over time, and seem to develop intimacy with each other, much to the detriment of the female lead, and her college friends! Rebecca Tang, even though it was her first movie, is breath-taking in the period costume, mesmerizing in the sex scenes and absolutely convincing in her transition from a student bent on revenge and assassination to a woman deeply and completely in love with the man who would order her and her colleague's death.

In my first viewing of this movie, I realized what was happening and I was wondering is the Kuomintang (KMT) was going to pull her off the assignment or not before something 'bad' happened to her.

Tony Leung, who I had never seen in a movie before, was great as a cold, calculating head of a Japanese secret service department set up to find and kill Chinese espionage unit members. Little did I know that this was probably his first time playing this type character, as I found out later.

I also cannot hardly wait, when I watch this movie, for the first-time 'love' scene between the two main characters, which he initiates!

He played the character well; however, he did show some emotion in the last scene in which he had already sealed the fate of the group.

Personally, had I been him, I would have sent "Mrs. Mak" and her fellow female colleague to the war front as "comfort women" instead of wasting them as they were!

The support cast as well played their roles well, playing their individual well, and adding to the ability of the main cast in telling the main story throughout the movie. I usually give a kudo or two to an outstanding support cast member here and to how they especially contributed to the film, but everything was so 'concentrated' on the two main male/female characters that no one really stood out.

Interestingly, Yu Min and Chia Chi gaze at each other, in what seems to be a loving glance, just before their end. I personally think that Yu Min could have contributed more to the Chinese war effort by volunteering as a soldier, rather than attempting to trick and kill a more experienced adversary such as Mr. Wu; he was outclassed at every turn by the senior spy master!

Had Yu Min been man enough to join the Chinese army rather than to convince his college friends take on someone who is superior to them in the game they played, he would not have caused so many deaths!

As with The Classic (2003), The Bow (2005) and Seven Samurai (1954), I notice something new in this movie every time I see it, which means it is a movie which you shouldn't see just once!

This is a half to three-quarters box of Kleenex movie, but only in the last third of the movie.

RE-WATCH VALUE: YES!

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Better than the average Korean BL

Completed - 3/19/2022 - 8.25

It's nice to watch a Korean BL about mature adults and not in any school setting. This is a very short series/movie and I usually prefer the movie version, as the short weekly episodes could feel disjointed at times. I find this drama/movie better than the average Korean BL I've seen. To me, it's better than "You Make Me Dance" and a LOT better than "Tasty Florida".

For a low budget web drama, the production quality appears pretty decent. Nothing feels cheap at all and all the food scenes look good and delicious. Looking at the filmography of both male leads, it's no wonder I quite enjoy their acting. Both are quite experienced with other movies/dramas under their belts, and not newbies to the industry. Most of the times, acting seems to be weakest in Korean BL dramas. Comparatively, I think the acting in "Where Your Eyes Linger" is a little better.

The story is quite simple, but I don't find it cringey or cliche. The romance progresses well and I don't feel that it happens suddenly, esp. when this is a very short drama/movie. My only major criticism is the English-speaking girl. I can understand the debt situation but who is that girl? She seems to be a very useless character and doesn't add anything to the drama/movie at all.

Overall, this is a light-hearted and easy watch and I would recommend if you needed something short to watch to kill time.

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