Reviews

A typical fantasy movie with romance and magic

I'm a big fan of mermaids, fantasy and all that jazz, so when I heard about this movie, I had to give it a try. Attempting to find it with English subs was a challenge, but I was able to watch a version dubbed in my language.

Overall story was basic, easy to follow, and romance is not over the top cheesy. I liked the supernatural aspects of the story. Like the others say, it is a Beauty and the Beast retelling with a twist. It's not completely out of nowhere, but it's a little different. I don't like toxic relationships, so I was a bit turned off by the FL's husband.

Music is forgettable, unfortunately.

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What does it mean to feel?

I honestly think that the pace of this movie is slow. But you have to ride with its slow pace, if not, its soul won't open up. Skipping even a second of it makes huge of a difference. Scenes from the movie were genuine enough to seize the status of many ordinary families. Whilst watching the funeral scene, I felt I was forcing myself to cry when my eyes had gone dry. This film made me feel desolate just as A Ho felt apathetic before he had thrown a fit. A Ho did not shed a single tear for the death of his brother. For the family, A Ho was nothing but a remnant that cannot even be in comparison with his older brother A Hao. Which made sense for A Ho's rigidness. His presence was toned down after A Hao gained all the expectations of their parents.

The Chen parents' reactions state their partiality towards the kid, creating a gap between each of them. A hard-to-swallow fact, "Both of them liked one better than the other". A Hao was that 'one', and because he was, he was at the peak of the tower but it was too exhausting for him that he had to give up. Remember when he said, "Sima Guang saw a child, and it was himself." When people expect a lot from you, you live up to their expectations to the point that you lose track of yourself. Of who you really are even without them telling who you are. A Hao is in the same situation as Sima Guang. Except that depression ate him. Expectations drowned him.

While A Ho remained detached from the rest of the family. He knew he had enough of Radish's manipulative actions. And yet he was dragged into another trouble. The prison cell was his awakening of the life distant from the crimes he was brought up in. I felt blue seeing A Ho so lifeless and without dreams in life even after his release. All the brightness was seeped out of him. He didn't even bother getting released earlier.

How many joys and sorrows does life hold?
I don't know

But I could say that joys and sorrows come hand in hand
And if there's someone, who, regardless of his role, is not crying nor laughing but rather numb. I hope they can feel again.

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What a movie! Amazing action thriller movie with great performance, excellent screenplay and solid action scenes. Even though its a crime story, it'll still make you emotional thats the best part of south korean movies and dramas. The way they connect you with the character. Phenomenal! South korean movies are best in thriller genre. Bollywood movie ,Rocky Handsome was a remake of this movie but this movie is OUTSTANDING!. Thats why korean thriller movies are Top Notch! Highly recommended!!! I love how writers blended more than one genre in movie and drama to make them more interesting to watch.

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Period Movie about Love and Patriotism

This is a pretty good movie and not what i expected. It is a story of Korea's struggle for independence weaved into a love story.

The music is very nice and soothing. Although they could have showed the cabaret/moulin rouge number of Kim Hye Soo a lot longer in the beginning to establish more impact since she could actually sing and dance anyhow. It could highlight how dazzled the hero was that resulted his behaviour in the movie.

Plot is very solid and the characters well developed You will not find any behaviour or scene that would deviate from the storyline or character developement.

The love story is very realistic and you could actually sympathize with the hero who's beliefs and principles were changed by love, and the heroine who was willing to sacrifice everything for her love for her country.

The hero started off as carefree and easygoing, being affluent and on the elite side due to his family's alliance with the Japanese regime. He totally didn't expect to fall head over heels in love with a mysteriously lovely night club singer whose principles are far different from his.

She first saw him as an opportunity and means to fulfill her duty for the country that was trying to leave the Japanese regime but his continued pursuit in love and his persistence in wooing her made her fall in love with him as well.

There was a pivotal scene where she asked him what was his dream as a child and he smiled and replied to be a Japanese so he would be rich and successful like his father and uncles. You could see the pained expression in her face as she realized they were different and he would not understand her dream of indepence for Korea and so she kept trying to run away from him as she fulfills her plan to instigate a coup against the Japanese government, while he in turn kept chasing her to convince her to forget her plans and marry him and live a good, quiet life in the country.
The climax of the movie provided a good arch before the final outcome.

Good for the young generation to see a glimpse of the past.

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Good!!!

This was a good movie, i'm typically not a fan of the whole cheating/affairs trope however thats a personal preference and this was executed quite well! Overall, the movie had some amazing aspects however I felt like there were quite a few 'hole' within the storyline with somr things not mentioned or explained and sudden aspects that happen out of knowhere.

The movie was very gritty and the characters show a lot of flaws, and is very slowburn. And aside from the above points its a very good adaptation!

However, one thing I really did not like was the ending. I understand how it ends but at the same time I don't. I'm a sucker for happy endings but this one was so ambiguous I have absolutely no idea where it would go. Why are there never any super happy endings in lgbt dramas lol.

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Embrace is the story about Lee coming out to her conservative, and religious, mother. Lee has accepted her sexuality (and even has a girlfriend) but hasn't come out to her mother, out of fear. In just 14 minutes we see that Lee is in a healthy relationship but wishes to be public about, she even addresses the problem with her girlfriend. In the meanwhile we get to see her mother is prejudiced against the LGBT+ community.

I really liked this film, and sent the link to my friends so they could see it as well.
My only complain is that Lee (her actress) seems a bit old to be in college (I imagine is college).
Everyones actings is good, not impressive but better than average.

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Dong Ju: The Portrait of a Poet is an eloquent story woven around the poet's own insightful words. Shot in black and white, the monochrome film beautifully fits the quiet, intense mood of the short lives of these two young men.

I will leave the historical aspect of this film to those who have a personal stake in it or are more well versed in it than I am.

This film is as much about Yun Dong Ju's cousin and revolutionary, Song Mong Gyu, as it is the poet. Their lives are intertwined, two different ideals in how to resist during a time of hated occupation. One willing to use a gun, the other a pen though at times those lines blur. Their friendship though challenged never waivers.

The story begins and ends with the young men in prison. The present takes place during Yun's interrogation by the Japanese. As Yun is questioned, the past is revealed to show the steps they took to end up in prison. Quoting Yun's poetry to the corresponding events paints the conflicted feelings he had over his role during the dark times and his attempt to find hope in the moment. The tripod of present, past and poetry is perfectly balanced.

Kang Ha Neul gives a restrained and poignant performance as Yun's younger self and later as the tortured prisoner knowing death is imminent, reflecting on his actions and inactions. All the performances are good but his stood out as the titular character.

Dong Ju is an elegantly filmed story of an inelegant and agonizing time told through the courage, defiance and beauty of poetry and a poet.

Prelude

Wishing not to have
so much as a speck of shame

toward heaven until the day I die,
I suffered, even when the wind stirred the leaves.

With my heart singing to the stars,
I shall love all things that are dying.

And I must walk the road
that has been given to me.

Tonight, again, the stars are
brushed by the wind.

-Yun Dong Ju

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It feels WAY longer than it actually is

Story:
It's a simple story: 2 high school girls, and one (Yoo Hye) has feelings for the other (Da Joo). Da Joo is starting to text a boy and Yoo Hye gets jealous. This short film is only 19min, but I felt it lasted an hour, I kept looking at the remaining time but decided to finish it because it is short. You don't really know the characters, I neither liked nor disliked them because I didnt get to knew them. (I have seen shorter films in which you do get to know the characters).

Acting:
I don't have much to say, it was acceptable. Not awkward but not impressive.

Music:
I can't remember it, like at all

Rewatch value:
I know I wont watch it again.

Overall:
I found it boring but it has a nice cinematography and isn't awkward to watch.

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Cheating and stalking, but I'm intrigued.

I had such mixed feelings about this. I despise infidelity. It's is so overdone in BL's. You also continuously worry that they will cheat again.

I mean, Otomo was just the worst. He cheated on his wife because he apparently couldn't refuse. As if it was the other woman's fault he cheated. Ehm, no. He made that choice. His wife wasn't great either, but at least she didn't lie till the very end as he did. Then he completely disregarded the other woman's feelings and ghosted her until he needed her again. Then there was the whole thing with Natsuo. Even if he didn't actually sleep with her, he was planning on it. Lastly, there was poor Okamura. He took that one way too far. He only got together with her because he no longer had Imagase. She was the nicest of all the women, and I hated how he just cast her aside when the possibility of getting back together with Imagase arose.

About Imagase, he seemed borderline obsessed with Otomo at some points. He blackmailed Otomo into kissing him/getting sexual with him at the beginning of the movie. Otomo did treat him horribly many times, but I honestly didn't feel that bad for Imagase. He should have let go of Otomo when he found out that he was indeed a cheater. Otomo never cheated on Imagase. He did, however, cheat on others with Imagase. So maybe they did deserve each other to some degree.

I'm just so very tired of the "straight guy" being in denial. The scene with Natsou showed just how insecure Otomo was. Choosing Imagase (a man) over Natsou (a woman) didn't necessarily make him gay. He obviously enjoyed sleeping with women, so at most, he'd be bi or pan, right? Whatever he was, it definitely wasn't straight. He did go to a gay bar at one point, but I wish there had been more indication of him coming to terms with his sexuality. He never told anyone about Imagase being a man.

I think he needed to be at peace with himself. That was at least what I took away from the ending. For once, he was the one waiting for Imagase. Beforehand Imagase was the one always seeking him. We could assume Otomo loved Imagase, considering he actually left Okimura when Imagase told him to. It was probably also his first time truly loving and needing someone, which was why he was willing to do it.

The last scene of Imagase made me slightly more sympathetic. He looked so broken. And that scene of Otomo sitting in the chair Imagase always sat in, waiting for him to come back, was so beautiful in a way.

Although it was a rollercoaster of emotions, I did enjoy it. We don't know how their story ended, but I honestly would feel fine with either outcome.

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Film highlighted some flaws, over the series.

I watched and rated the series a 9.
Strangely, seeing it edited together and viewing in one sitting, made some aspects of the character's interactions a little perturbing.
I got that that Sang-ha possibly didn't want to share his troubles about the marathon with Jin-won before it, in case it affected his concentration, but directly after?...
Jin-won lacked empathy with Sang-ha and could be quite selfish, whilst the latter seemed to like him so much, he either overlooked that, or was ok with it.
The actors are very good, however, and portrayed their characters well.
Being a very light drama, the more realistic issues of their relationship, with the type of father Jin-won was intimated as having, couldn't be touched on, but it raised that question for me.
Life would be better if parents accepted their kids for who they are, but we know it's sadly not like that. Maybe one day gay relationships won't be viewed as different, lesser or wrong. We can only hope.

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"Close Range Love" have been on my to-watch list for years and i finally found time to sit down and watch it. Its a romantic drama about the introvert Kururugi Yuni who falls in love with her charming english teacher Sakurai Haruka. I am much used to the basic cheesy storylines since many of j-dramas and j-movies are based on mangas. I found this movie to be rather adorable but i would not like to re-watch it. I find Komatsu Nana a very stunning actress and she acts so well with her eyes and conveys emotions rather well despite playing such a stoic character like Yuni.

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Totally Recommend

I watched this movie because I saw it in the ‘coming soon’ section in Netflix about a week prior to release. I fell in love with this movie...and Um Tae Goo (recommend watching Save Me 2!!) Even when things seemed to not go the way viewers wanted, the plot switched and made us have a satisfying ending........................... ........................ ........................ ........................ ........................ ..filling up the 500 character minimum limit ........................ ........................ ........................ ........................ ........................ ........................... ........................ ........................ ........................ ........................

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Series also available

Kang In Soo and Lee Sang are really sweet together. Their characters are quite understated; there's no OTT melodrama or unnatural discomfort. Sang-yi's slightly shy and humble, yet supportive and positive personality sits so well against In-soo's deeper more confident one. They compliment each other well.
The 2 more intimate scenes were nicely done and the actors were believable. No wooden or uncomfortable posturing.
I liked the story, but did feel that some of the scenes in which feelings were being individually contemplated, against the fitting soundtrack, were a little lengthy. They could have been shortened and a bit more added to other parts of the story; possibly their relationship deepening, or a bigger hint of their musical success to come.
A very nice watch though.

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I loved it sooo much!! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

OMG what's happening here?! omomo
This film really can catch everyone's attention, from the very beginning. The hungarian dubbed sounds also fit to a large extent and they are not disturbing at all. It was enjoyable in both languages, with both Korean and Hungarian dubbing. The plot threads are perfectly connected and they are also remarkable. The soundtracks are dramatized at once, but still creepily cool!
The casting of the actors was also a great success! Both the main and supporting actors too. AND THE END OF THE movie wassss touched but at the same time it was great and "artistic" as well. I loved the ending scene! I know that I would defenetely watch it again and again this movie in the future! I can recommend this movie for everyone!!

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Plenty of students but no sweet boy's to be found.

At first, we were made to believe that Nack would get together with Petch. He then turned out to be an asshole. Petch just wanted some fun, meaning he wanted to try it with a guy when he already had a girlfriend. Then when Nack rejected him, he became so bitter and went for Pong instead. Pong was just a bully. I didn't get why he was so obsessed with bothering Nack.

Then we finally had some positivity incoming. Toy. He seemed to like Nack and gave a lot of mixed messages. Well, they weren't even mixed. He seemed like he was into Nack first, actually. But alas, he disappointed me. To me, it seemed like he couldn't accept that he liked Nack, or more so that Nack was a guy.

Nack's mother was terrible. Religion should not be something you use to be a hateful person. She was just homophobic. No excuses were necessary. As if your child being gay would be the end of the world, but you know, it was for Nack's happiness that she split them apart. Right?

The ending was just so disappointing. They made it seem like Nack was happy in the end. In reality, he had probably just learned to live with his unhappiness. They kept preaching that "Time heals everything" and such, which isn't always the case.

There were too many shots of young boy's crotches for comfort. It was weird.

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