Reviews

Unexpectedly Entertaining

When giving series/movie a first watch, I don't really dive into who the actors/actresses are. So seeing Cha Tae Hyun as a main was a nice surprise. He has the perfect expressions for comedy-dramas, my favorite blend of genres.

The movie doesn't have the most complex or intricate plot but it has enough of an unpredictable essence that will keep you on your toes. Why was it unexpectedly entertaining? Because I do have a slight bias toward movies that lean too far into animated work as they tend to be poorly implemented and have even poorer dialogues. If you can stomach a few less than average actions scenes, this one was actually done pretty well. And although Cha Tae Hyun's story is a pretty basic tearjerker, it is one of those that will still jerk those tears. So if you looking for an easy watch with likeable characters that will also have you laughing out loud, definitely recommend. I'm looking forward to watching the sequel.

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After the totally depressing film Muge, which I rated very highly here yesterday, another "weird" film is on the agenda, this time a short film from Korea. I am surprised that such films are made and that it comes from a landscape that one would not expect...
The main character of the father in all three short stories is played by the Korean actor Lee Sang Woo (he was 39 years old at the time of filming in 2010, the film was presented at two festivals in the same year, it was not distributed until five years later)

1) My Father's Desire - is about a couple of young high school students who are thinking about a future together, eventually the father starts having sex with his son's friend and the son takes nasty revenge for it...
2) My Father's Truth - a young man claims that he was raped by a friend, he is upset about it, he finally comes out with the truth, he was raped by his friend's father ...
3) My Father's Secret - about a father who discovers semi-nude pictures of men and a gay magazine in his young son and physically punishes him quite indiscriminately, at the same time the father has an encoded love for men.

I considered the ratings for all the short stories together.



Po totálně-depresivním filmu Muge, který jsem zde včera hodnotil velmi vysoko, je na pořadu dne další "divný", tentokráte povídkový snímek z Koreji. Jsem zaskočen, že se takovéto filmy točí a že pochází z krajiny, ze které by to člověk nečekal ...
Hlavní postavu otce ve všech třech povídkách hraje korejský herec Lee Sang Woo (v době natáčení v r. 2010 měl 39 let, film byl v tom samém roce prezentován na dvou festivalech, distribuován byl až o pět let později)

1) My Father’s Desire - je o páru mladých středoškoláků, kteří uvažují o společné budoucnosti, nakonec začne otec sexovat s přítelem svého syna a syn se za to ošklivě pomstí ...
2) My Father’s Truth - mladík tvrdí, že ho znásilnil kamarád, má z toho depky, nakonec jde s pravdou ven, znásilnil jej kamarádův otec ...
3) My Father’s Secret - o otci, který zjistí u malého syna polonahé obrázky mužů a gay časopis a dost nevybíravě jej fyzicky trestá, přitom je v otci zakódovaná láska k mužům.

Hodnocení jsem zvážil za všechny povídky dohromady.

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A Hong Kong "festival" dealing with the not entirely common theme of two warm grandfathers certainly did not impress me for 10. Overall, the story was the weakest link for me, when the conclusion perhaps fit thirty, fifty years ago. The theme of older gentlemen keeping their mouths shut all their lives and only hungrily peeking at others in smelly public toilets and hollands will seem odd to me in the third millennium. I have the impression that this former British colony is increasingly "dissolving" into China after more than twenty years of Chinese rule" and I am not surprised that Britain is ready to take in up to one million Hong Kongers who are preparing to collapse before the rigid Chinese laws. And the topic " "gay retirement home" for gays who hid from the world all their lives under a woman's skirt didn't seem very interesting to me either. I just wouldn't want to live among gays in my old age, as it is not possible even in ordinary life, where they are all part of the majority society. At least the straight guys shut up and it's quiet, but among the gays, and I found out here, there are also vengeful envious people spitting venom, malice, resentment and treating each other's problems. The acting was professional, but the characters didn't need to be actors they also squeezed out the soul. The sound and processing are above average. I thank Ming for his other cz subtitles.


Hongkongský "festival" zabývající se ne zcela běžným tématem dvou teplých dědečků na mě za 10 určitě nezapůsobil. Celkově právě příběh byl pro mě tím nejslabším článkem, kdy ten závěr se snad hodil do doby před třiceti, padesáti lety. Téma starších pánů držet celý život hubu a krok a pouze hladově pokukovat po jiných na smrdutých veřejných záchodcích a holandách mi přijde do třetího tisícíletí lichá. Mám dojem, že se tato bývalá britská kolonie po více jak dvaceti letech čínské nadvlády stále více "rozpouští" do Číny" a nedivím se, že Británie je připravena pojmout až jeden milion Hongkongčanů, kteří se připravují zdrhnout před tuhými čínskými zákony. A téma "gay domova důchodců" pro gaye, kteří se celý život schovávali před světem pod ženskou sukni, mi nepřišel také právě moc in. Jen mezi gayi bych na stáří žít nechtěl tak, jako to nejde ani v běžném životě, kde jsou všichni součástí většinové společnosti. Heteráci si alespoň dají přes hubu a je klid, ale mezi gayi, a to jsem poznal tady, jsou i mstiví závistivci plivající kolem sebe jed, zlobu, zášť a léčící si své mindráky. Herectví bylo profi, ale postavy nepotřebovaly, aby ze sebe herci vymáčkli i duši. Zvuk a zpracování nad průměrem. Mingovi děkuji za jeho další cz titulky.

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The film, which was nominated for best short film at two film festivals in the Philippines and won the Palme d'Or for best director, is somewhat forgotten, but still has a very nice, strong message and is solidly acted. A film that makes the viewer wonder what love, friendship and "something" in between is. Nice.


Film, který v roce byl na dvou filmových festivalech na filipínách nominován na nejlepší krátký film a palmu vítězství získal za nejlepší režii, je tak trochu pozapomenutý, ale přesto má vělmi pěkné, výrazné sdělení a zahrán solidně. Film, u kterého divák může přemýšlet, co je to láska, přátelství a "něco" mezi tím. Pěkné.

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An increidbly heartwrenching watch.. Free Palestine

Watching this as there is an ongoing genocide in Gaza gave the movie an even wider depth. The movie based on a real-life event was hard to bear knowing that injustices such as those presented are unfolding everywhere around the world with no real accountability.

The law protects the rich from the poor. From global human rights being denied to people of color to labor rights being denied to workers at the bottom of the chain. All this happens while those in power don't soil their hands and give orders so that the weak, brainwashed and braindead, are punishing the weaker.

Movies are beautiful as such, they challenge you to think. At times they are entertaining but most often they are bare-boned with the purpose of evoking a human response and reaction of anyone who cares about humanity.

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." Please, if you read this, take the time to fight injustices you can change. Speak loud enough so the weak aren't silenced so that the news has no choice but to show your side too. Free Palestine.

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Hallelujah

the movie is more of the first one, but it hits stronger since the cycle of crime, double crossings and death continues and has a deeper meaning knowing the context. this movie on its own offers a look to the past movie and past events so watching the first movie is not necessary. The characters were very brutal and charismatic, they are both monsters and humans.
but i wonder about the title "Believer". yes we have one gangster who is a believer and knows his bible so that he can quote it in certain situations but that is more of an example what it means to sin against the second commandment: Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
ultimately, is there belief and God in this movie? and what is death or justice if there is no God? I would have wanted more hints at that from the movie but i did get a lot to think about. so if you want to look into the soul of some criminals, this movie is for you.

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A treat for the eyes. Not for the soul - A nice attempt to blend Indian and Thai culture

Hoooooo boy! Where do I start?

From the moment I saw the trailer I knew what to expect. I knew what kind of film it is going to be and even though I wanted to be wrong, I am not. It's a rom-com and as cringe as I thought it would be. But I am not disappointed. In fact, the minus points of this film is also the plus points.

So, Risa (Bella Ranee) finds out that she is the wedding planner of her ex boyfriend (Arun/Mahir Pandhi). Ouch! And then as if it is not hurtful enough, the emergency photographer she had to hire is actually another ex (Tim/Bright). Wowzers!

When asked how stereotypical melodramatic rom-com you want it to be ? They really said HELL YES!

From the Indian soap opera like sequences, to overly dramatic horse riding to overacting sidekicks to garbage dialogues, try-hard-to-make-people-laugh slapstick comedic moments it had everything!!!

But still I enjoyed everything. Why? It was fun to watch a nice amalgamation of the two cultures. Bright in Sherwani. I have a little crush on Anahita Bhooshan ngl. The Bollywood style dance number. And the depiction of Indian wedding ritual, well more like typical North Indian (mostly Punjabi style, although Sangeet is now almost a part of all kind of Indian weddings) upper class traditional wedding. This is Karan Johar style but minus the extreme emotional parts.

I was this close to tear my hair in the scene where Arun is riding (get your minds out of the gutter, he is literally lying akimbo on the car trying to stop it - talk about Bollywood...) the bonnet of the car but I was also snorting with laughter.

The dream sequence where Risa is getting married to Arun and Monica is slapping her repeatedly is my flashback to overtly melodramatic soap operas. As much as I was cringing hard, I was also having fun as the film is sarcastically making fun of it. I was both laughing and crying.

Honestly, there is not much story here. The only thing you see is the grandeur. Don't come here expecting much acting and plotline. And no expectations. It's a one time watch film. But I would applaud the makers of it for even bringing it to existence.
I hope we get more good stories that reflects more of the two countries and the cultures.

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Not All That It Seems

Some reviews of this film really downplay its actual meaning in my opinion. This is one of those films that you really have to watch knowing some aspects of the historical context while keeping in mind the audience this film was originally aimed at.

When I first watched the film I initially agreed with some over the absolutely misogynistic premise it seemed to set. Yet I had to take a step back and ask myself who exactly this film was aimed at. I am not a Japanese person; and I am certainly not a Japanese person that has lived through war and then occupation- in which all of my traditions are suddenly being challenged due to new ideas and even new ways of living being introduced BECAUSE of losing a war. Personally, I believe the film is not aimed to stamp down on Noriko personally. It seems the actual idea of the film was to discuss the impacts new ideas bring to different people - especially different people of different generations.

Each character of the film lives differently and embraces tradition and new ideas differently. One has to look at these contrasts - especially in the context of each character's own life versus how they want Noriko to live hers.

Some may find this film slow or ask why it was even made in the first place but... I think it's a gem. At first I was disturbed and slightly annoyed by Noriko's constant smile at the beginning of the film; but seeing how her smile changes throughout the film was actually quite sad and almost disturbing. If anyone is interested in post-war Japanese films I would really give this a try. There is a constant and tangible pull for all the main characters to embrace a new way of living while still trying to hold on to tradition. This is especially seen in how the characters push Noriko to embrace tradition while not necessarily adhering to tradition themselves. Anyway, I really recommend it.

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A Messy Love Triangle Overpowers a Love Letter to Family, Faith, and Home.

Fu Yue, Ariel Lin, is an established art director for film. While on set of her latest project, she abruptly leaves to return to her hometown of Chaiyi. Her terminally ill father has decided to stop all treatment for his disease and remain home to live out his final days. This sudden interruption of her hectic work life offers her the opportunity to reflect not only on herself, but on her Grandfather Nikko, Vic Zhou, who was instrumental in creating the woman she is today.

Be With Me tells the semi-autobiographical and deeply personal story of legendary art director and first time director Hwarng Wern Ying’s family across three eras of Taiwan: 1940s Japanese Colonization, the 1980s Economic Boom, and Present Day. Originally conceived in 2005, this passion project of Hwarng Wern Ying took nearly twenty years to complete.

In 1940s Chaiyi, Nikko must hid the family’s beloved Xuan Tian God figurine from the Japanese Government. It’s the Kominka Movement, which sought to eradicate all Chinese and Taiwanese culture, language, and religion in Taiwan. Despite this oppression from the government, Nikko is a kind and generous man who opens a Ryokan across the street from Chaiyi’s Train Station. This is where he can offers sanctuary and respite to anyone who seeks it, regardless of age, ethnicity, or financial background.

During the 1980s economic boom, Nikko is now an affluent figure in Chaiyi who has time and money to spare. He now spend his days with his favorite grandchild, Fu Yue, and spoils her rotten. Taking her to five star restaurants with his business partners, as well as private auctions of rare Chinese antiques. These experiences taught Fu Yue to appreciate the finer things in life, as well as trained her to have a discerning eye for beautiful craftsmanship. All of these precious moments with her grandfather laid the groundwork for her future career as an art director.

In the present day, Fu Yue is a contemporary woman struggling to define who she is. Though soft spoken and quiet, she is incredibly strong willed and takes pride in her work. This inexplicably leads to heated arguments with the director and producer of her current film. Her love life is equally tumultuous; pursued by a man who loves her whom she does not love in return, whilst at the same time in love with another man with a wife and child. Mr. Yu, Ethan Juan, is a shrewd businessman who always gets what he wants, and right now he wants Fu Yue. A chance encounter drew them together, and since then Mr. Yu has been chasing Fu Yue all over Taiwan. Chun Shan, also played by Vic Zhou, is a famous architect whom Fu Yue has hired to renovate her historical home in Taipei. Throughout the design process, Chun Shan’s personality and demeanor reminds Fu Yue of her Gandfather Nikko. Before she realizes it, she has fallen in love with Chun Shan and begins a passionate affair.

To capture the essence of these three distinct eras, Hwarng Wern Ying had an ace team of award winning cinematographer and composers to bring her vision to life. Cinematographer Yu Jing Ping utilized unique framing techniques, lenses, lighting, and coloring for each era. Not only did this enhance the feeling of being transported back to a specific time in history, but also to a distinct time in cinema’s history. To round out the experience of traveling back in time, composers Lim Giong, Summer Lei, and Yang Wan Chien dug deep into the music archives to find songs and pieces critical to encapsulating the feeling of living and thriving in each time period.

Ariel Lin may get top billing as the main protagonist Fu Yue, but it’s Vic Zhou who is doing all the heavy lifting here. Not only is he playing two roles, Grandfather Nikko and Chun Shan; but he also appears in all three eras speaking three languages: Japanese, Taiwanese Hokkien, and Mandarin. Hwarng Wern Ying, wrote the dual roles specifically with Vic Zhou in mind. Although Vic Zhou is not a native speaker of Japanese or Taiwanese Hokkian he whole heartily threw himself into this production. Even though he spent months working with dialect coaches to perfect his Japanese and Taiwanese Hokkien, native speakers may be a bit distracted be his pronunciations in those scenes. Still a commendable effort nonetheless.

Originally intending to only tell a story between a granddaughter and grandfather, Hwarng Wern Ying ultimately decided to add a romantic element to make the film reach a wider audience. For that part of the script she tapped in her two college roommates: Chen Hsiao Wen and Yang Yi Chien. Unfortunately, this added drama completely distracts from this touching tribute to Hwarng Wern Ying’s grandfather and Chaiyi. The plot distinctly felt like Hwarng Wern Ying wrote all the scenes about Grandfather Nikko; Chen Hsiao Wen and Yang Yi Chien then wrote all the romantic scenes; and at no point in the process did the three come together to merge the two into one cohesive story. It was like each story line was its own car driving down a road, then you as a passenger must jump back and forth between the two cars in order to get to your destination. You may have gotten to the end, but you’re completely exhausted and question if it was worth the effort to get there.

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Moments of silence

To nobody's surprise, my favorite scene is absolutely the reunion scene; it's also an amazing example of effective silence, because the film absolutely took its time and you could feel the characters' disbelief and nostalgia with every passing second. That was when the wave of emotions finally hit.

This is a warm movie (ironically) with a relatively simple plot. I don't know if it has to be as long as it was, especially since a lot of the screentime was given to the daughter and her boyfriend, who were cute but didn't really feel relevant compared to the mother-daughter relationship.

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One of the two "shining" faces of the Gameboys series, the twenty-year-old actor Elijah Canlas, plays the main role of the seventeen-year-old journalism student Martin in this film, and as Karcikarel already writes, he played it excellently (he won the Jury Award for acting performance at the PP4 Awards Night 2018 festival, where the film was also awarded for best screenplay, cinematography and feature film). The "negative" TV reporter Lawrence was played by the three-year-old handsome Filipino Enzo Pineda and was portrayed very solidly. This controversial film about sexual harassment is a glimpse into the disillusioned soul of a young student who adores his idol. I think that there are a number of people in the world who "endure" the harassment of their idol, or perhaps a producer, in order to get the role of a toadstool, they simply do not want to let go of their possible chance at any cost. Finally, the newly filmed Thai series Call It What You Want is about this, for which I wrote a review a few days ago. The English hardsubs are quite small and harder to read, and I believe that in time someone will find separate subtitles so that those who can't speak English at all can translate them. It would be a shame not to see a movie with such good acting.




Jedna ze dvou "rozzářených" tvářiček seriálu Gameboys, dvacetiletý herec Elijah Canlas, zde v tomto filmu hraje hlavní roli sedmnáctiletého studenta žurnalistiky Martina a jak už píše Karcikarel, zahrál ji výborně (získal Cenu poroty za herecký výkon na festivalu PP4 Awards Night 2018, kde snímek byl ještě oceněn za nejlepší scénář, kameru a celovečerní film). "Negativního" TV reportéra Lawrence si střihl třecetiletý sympatický Filipínec Enzo Pineda a byla ztvárněna velmi solidně. Tento kontroverzní film o sexuálním obtěžování je nahlédnutím do rozčarované duše mladého studenta, zbožňujícího svůj idol. Myslím si, že ale na světě existuje celá řada těch, kteří "přetrpí" obtěžování svého idolu, nebo třeba producenta, aby získali roli nějaké muchomůrky, prostě za žádnou cenu nechtějí pustit svou případnou šanci. Nakonec je o tom čerstvě natočený thajský seriál Call It What You Want, ke kterému jsem psal před pár dny recenzi. Anglické hardsuby jsou dosti malé a hůře čitelné a věřím, že časem někdo najde samostatné titulky, aby si je mohli přeložit ti, kteří anglicky neumí vůbec. Byla by to škoda, nevidět film s tak dobrým hereckým výkonem.

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It's 1992, and a Japanese film deals with a marriage of convenience, a marriage of convenience. I am surprised by the openness and the fact that this volume is not figuratively lynched, dishonored and offered a cinematic solution to "how it should be right". The picture is interesting, actually, if it weren't for the style, phones, cars, hairstyles, I would easily believe that it was filmed even now or just a few years ago and not almost thirty years ago. The acting is excellent, especially the characters of Shoko and Kon Fujishima, the overall impression is surprisingly very good and I also want to thank karcikarl for the cz subtitles.


Jsme v roce 1992 a v japonském filmu se řeší sňatek z rozumu, manželství ve lži. Jsem překvapen otevřeností a tím, že se tento svazek obrazně nelynčuje, nedehonestuje a nenabízí se filmové řešení, "jak by to mělo být správně". Snímek je zajímavý, vlastně nebýt toho stylu, telefonů, aut, účesů, bych klidně uvěřil, že bylo natočeno i nyní nebo jen před páry lety a ne skoro před třiceti. Herectví výborné, především postav Shoko a Kon Fujishimy, celkový dojem překvapivě velmi dobrý a ještě chci poděkovat karcikarlovi za cz titulky.

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During the viewing, the spoken word of the picture gradually slipped away, at first OK, towards the end it became more obvious, but it is nothing that should be a problem, the link to this picture cannot be simply rattled off and a non-Thai viewer must first of all crack the subtitles, so it doesn't matter that much and it's not the fault of the movie makers. I had to play the ending three times, I didn't understand it. With the open end, they left a back door for a possible sequel. It was a little difficult for me to recognize the actors at the beginning, because the age gap was not so great that they had to be replaced by other - older actors. Cus - young handsome, the older one was completely ugly, he didn't match physically, I understand that it is difficult to find different types of actors, Ball was probably the most similar to the younger-older one, Per - the younger one was already played by an older actor than the others, it was enough to age his beard, by editing. I just have to respect that the Thais wanted it that way. Overall, just slightly above average, where the story itself took it. I'm not the one who has to criticize and prove to myself how bad everything is, on the contrary, I'm always looking for the positives, whoever doesn't do anything won't spoil anything.


V průběhu sledování postupně ujíždělo mluvené slovo obrazu, zezačátku OK, ke konci už to bylo více zřejmé, ale není to nic, co by mělo vadit, odkaz na tento snímek se nedá jen tak zchrastit a jiný než thajský divák musí především louskat titulky, tak to tolik nevadí a není to chyba tvůrců filmu. Konec jsem si musel pouštět třikrát, nechápal jsem ho. Otveřeným koncem si nechali zadní vrátka na případné pokračování. Trochu mi vadilo se zezačátku vyznat v hercích, protože věkový odstup nebyl tak velký, aby se museli nahrazovat jinými - staršími herci. Cus - mladý krásný, starší byl naprosto nepěkný, neodpovídal fyzicky, chápu, že je těžké různé herecké typy najít, Ball byl asi nejvíce podobný mladší-starší, Per - mladšího už tak hrál starší herec než ostatní, stačilo ho ostaršit vousky, úpravou. Prostě musím respektovat, že to tak Thajci chtěli. Celkově jen mírný nadprůměr, kam jej vytáhl samotný příběh. Nejsem ten, který by musel jen kritizovat a dokazovat si, jak je všechno špatně, naopak, vždy hledám klady, kdo nic nedělá nic nepokazí.

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More mind games that lacks impact

Originally a remake of Johnnie To's "Drug War", now they've delved into a wider expansion in this sequel and beyond the initial plot on its own. There's even more mind games this time with new characters, but as much extended storyline was added in, it does not seem that it's posing any bigger impact as it should. There's really not enough stakes to drive the threats onto higher ground, the movie stays within its frame and that's not much different than any other standard drug crime movie, it's just ridiculous why Netflix would even cash in a sequel to a movie they do not own in the first place.

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Enjoyed the musical moments and the bright colours & costumes, disappointed by the romantic aspect

This movie has a very interesting premise with an Indian wedding being organized in Thailand with the wedding planner being the ex of the groom...This is a good set up for a lot of shenanigans and could have made a nice rom-com movie with a cultural twist, mixing both Thailand and Indian casting.

Unfortunately, I was quite disappointed by the romance aspect of the movie. I had trouble to fell empathy for the female lead and was not that convinced by the storylines with the two males protagonists. It lacked emotions and was super focused on the comical / almost satirical aspect of things that I never managed to really care about any of the relationship of the main cast. The secondary characters were a bit better in terms of likeability despite being for some very caricatural.

What I preferred from the film relates to the filmmaking of the various cultural steps of the Indian marriage as well as the musical numbers which were really nice. The soundtrack left me with a very good impression. In terms of production, I enjoyed the costumes and decors, but I remains a bit more ambivalent regarding the directing choices, especially in the more "action" driven sequences where everything felt very cheap.

I would not recommend this movie as I was disappointed by the plot and the romantic aspect of the scenario. The premise is good and there are good musical moments...but the overacting and almost parodic directing choices as well as the lack of nuance in the storytelling prevent me to recommend this.

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