Reviews

Watch it for the visuals

Honestly the storyline is just a simple revenge, nothing we couldn't expect so I'm not hating on it but also not loving it. For me it's the type of movie you want to watch "in the meantime" or "idk what to watch" so you just turn it on and for 1,5h you have something to do. Not a waste of time, but it definitely won't get any deeper thoughts.

However I gotta say that I really admire the visual side along with the acting. The whole vibe of Ballerina and the colour palette used for it fits the vibe so well. It's similar to for example My Name and I'm personally a big fan of this raw&gore yet somehow aesthetically pleasing atmosphere throughout the whole movie. Eye-catching and satisfying.
Plus acting was really on point and since there wasn't that much "talking", the actions and expressions made it really come through and actors did a really good job in this one.
Kind of wishing for better OST since it was alright but it could definitely be better but it's just a detail.

Summing up I don't agree with people saying "it's a waste of time" cause there's much more series/movies that will waste your time worse than this one. Ballerina is just a simple storyline with eye pleasing visuals and if you're looking for something to watch and forget about it soon after cause you have too many things going on to rethinking every single scene of a show and its meaning - it's a good choice to watch it. Acting's great, visuals even better, OST's alright, the length of the movie isn't tiring since it's only 1,5h.. it's just that the storyline is "revenge" and nothing else. Don't get why people hate on it that much lol

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Had too many loop hole

Storyline

The storyline had me hocked and when I saw the cast was like it's going to be one for the books

Well that did not happen. The moive was to short to begin with it had me guessing why she had to take the revenge for the best friend and why the best friend lived the life she did. Not to to forget the ML had to many missing parts from his character.

Character
The character had no life to them it felt like they where one dimensional

Acting
The acting was really good it did not feel forced and the fight scenes where really good so that was 100/ 10

Music
Hated the otp it did not go with the moive

Rewatch value
I would not recommend anyone who has.never watched a k moive. Would never watch it again .

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Ballerina; A Messy Pirouette Marked With Blood…

2023 has seen a great lineup of action thrillers, especially with strong heroines and Ballerina certainly tries to follow suit. However while did have some heavy action scenes and subjects, was it really a worthwhile watch?


Lee Chung Hyun directed and wrote the movie. Ok Ju ( Jeon Jong-seo) is a bodyguard who holds her own in fights. However, her life turns upside down when she discovers her friend and ballerina Min-hee (Park Yu-rim)’s fatal aftermath in the wake of being sexually assaulted by mid-level boss Choi Pro (Kim Ji-hoon).


Now seeking her revenge, she is put on a bloody path to enact vengeance on Choi Pro and his cronies by ending him once and for all.


It’s suffice to say Ballerina is very much what it says on the tin; a revenge movie where the heroine gets revenge by tracking down the big bad and leaving a wake of carnage in her way. The film is gory and filled with adrenaline, but that’s about it.

This isn’t necessarily bad. A lot of revenge and action films work on the premise of mindless violence to keep viewers engaged and it was evident to see the film’s influences from John Wick to Kill Bill. However, Ballerina never really gives us full scope that it tries to do with its characters and plot. It always tethers on potential development before tearing it away to focus on a fist fight and action scene.

The problem is that doesn’t really give the narrative or characters a lot of backbone. Even some of the most disturbing revenge Korean films over the past few decades such as Oldboy, Lady Vengeance and Burning are able to balance out their narratives with adrenaline, and tension, but equally compelling storylines and choreography. In Oldboy, we see plot twist development shock us beyond belief, Lady Vengeance is filled with complex characterisation and compelling fight scenes, while Burning explores tension and thematic issues such as capitalism in its core narrative . The problem with Ballerina is that while it doesn’t have to be a complicated movie at heart like some of its predecessors , it struggles with simple basics such as characterisation and development.


Jeon Jong-seo is a good actress but her character Ok Ju is very paper-thin. The audience never have any opportunities to warm up to her. It seems quite ridiculous when we consider the fact that we’ve seen Jong-seo lose a close friend and numerous hardships, yet we never see this develop or understand how this is such a devastating impact for her character. We do see some flashbacks to understand their relationship but this felt a little convoluted than explained or poignant, lacking a lot of potentially sincere emotional development. Sure, she’s a certified pro- fighter and brutal, but that’s pretty much in the space of this movie’s duration, all we get from our heroine’s character.


It was Kim Ji hoon’s role as Choi Pro which did shine through here. His cartoonish heinousness did help during some of the more questionable pacing and writing issues, by at least giving some appeal for the audience to root for the heroine.


The pacing is pretty variable in parts. When the action comes into force, it’s quick and adrenaline rushes. Yet in its patchy narrative and writing moments drawn out for sobs or seeming development, the gaps in writing often make these scenes drag out longer than they should.


Naturally, action choreography and actions scenes are where Ballerina excels. Lee Chung-hyun’s direction is simultaneously ultraviolent yet sleek. Its mesmerising to watch with the pure adrenaline of movements and camera angles really bringing these scenes to life.



Ballerina is a fairly mindless action movie. While probably not one of the best films released this year or winning over fans of revenge action films and cult classics, it is adrenaline infused and brutal. The writing is patchy but it’s well-directed through its camera angles and the fight scenes are well-executed also. Overall probably decent enough to watch one time when bored or killing time and that’s about it.

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BL movie too short for the romance to make sense

This short movie (about 40 minutes) showcases the meeting of a young male prostitute (quite broken due to traumatic past experiences) with an undercover cop. There are a lot of interesting elements to this story but unfortunately the movie is too short to really exploit well enough most of them.

Even if there is believable chemistry between the two male main leads and some hot moments between them, all the traumas and hardships happening to one of them, as well as the inner power imbalance in their relationship make it very difficult for me to see their story as a romance. Given the dramatic undertones and un-healthiness of the bound between the protagonists, it would have make much more sense for me for the film to take another direction for the conclusion.

Regarding the production, I overall appreciated it with its indie vibe perfectly fitting the rampant creepiness of the plot. I also enjoyed the soundtrack with the main song music video featured after the ending and the credit. It has some poetry balancing well with the story.

I would recommend this to people looking for a dark story. It is lacking in terms of storytelling to make the romance believable but it is not a boring watch for sure. The movie depicts a lot of abuses so be mindful of the tags if you have any trigger as it is pretty graphic.

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Under rated

This is a movie which is weird in a way but its fantasy, comedy and reality all together. It’s the twist and turn of life put in a nice way. The acting is good , like seeing the daily life which for sure others hasn’t seen. It puts the problem in life into a much lighter way to understand. It was a feeling of what is this story’s ending that made me keep watching. It’ s worth the while. Chen Zheyuan is only as supporting role in this film , the first of film I saw him not as the main character. Love the last music used in this film, it reminds me of the sound of Outlander in a way but its enchanting . Had to finish the end credits to finish the song.

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The boundless promise.

Feng Ren is a Gushi/骨仕, an enigmatic, lethal sworn blade whose sole reason of existence is to protect the coveted Wuliang/无量/Boundless Heart Sutra. He intercepts a blind boy Po Xiao, who may just be a decoy or may be the true custodian of the Wuliang Heart Sutra and together, they flee the city. On their perilous journey they learn each others secrets. Underneath all the half-truths and deceptions between them, an inexplicable bond, an unspoken shared understanding and trust grows between then. For such a short length story, the actors' chemistry and the depth and complexity of emotions they conveyed shook me. Every twist deepens their bond and the boundless promise they make to each other. The important message of this story is that with great power, comes great responsibility. This is dark and heartbreaking wuxia but the break of dawn that pierces the darkness is blinding and immensely powerful.

Everything about this movie smacks of Guo Jingming's fabulous taste and hallmark aesthetics. If like me, you watch this after My Journey To You, it is quite clear that the drama expands upon many ideas in terms of style, plot and character design from this 37-minute movie. Feng Ren makes me think of Han Yasi and Po Xiao of Xue Gongzi. The narrative also explores how best to deal with a weapon of unaparallelled power. Due to its short length, the plot is tight with no unnecessary digressions and everything comes to a full circle at the end. It perfectly illustrates the power of a short story in how it captures the heart and the imagination with all that is left unsaid and untold. This is a simple, well executed plot that is a must watch and one that I am happy to rate 8.5/10.

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Love with a hopping vampire!

When hopping vampires come to town, who are you going to call? Vampire Cleanup Department! This Hong Kong production starred several older actors from the golden era of fists and kicks kung fu movies as well as two younger actors. The film had a few gruesome scenes but overall was a more lighthearted romance and coming of age vampire wrangler story.

Tim witnesses a vampire attack and after being bitten by a vampire and not transforming is recruited by the Vampire Cleanup Department. On a mission outside of town he accidentally transforms a gruesome water vampire back into her original form. Summer, the young vampire woman looks normal but is unable to talk except with the help of his phone which she had swallowed and hops like the rest of the vampires. He’s tasked with cremating her back at headquarters but instead hides her nearby. From there the story becomes about him training her to be more human. At the VCD, faster than you can say “wax on, wax off!”, Tim has learned kung fu from repeatedly sweeping the floors. He runs afoul of his trainers when he wants to help the vampires instead of killing them. A competing agency causes problems for the cleanup department when they steal Summer and attempt to lure her maker, a devilishly dangerous landlord vampire, so that they can capture him for research.

I was thrilled to see Toad Venom Lo Meng as one of the fight trainers who also loved plants. Yuen Chueng Yan played the priest who provided the amulets. Aside from acting Yuen spent much of his career as a martial arts director for numerous films. Chin Siu Ho as the trainer who was toughest on Tim, started his martial arts training at the age of 10. These three alone made my geeky martial arts loving heart tremble. Richard Ng played the director in charge of tech support and cremation. Babyjohn did a good job as the naïve, bumbling, vampire cleanup trainee who falls in love with a partially transformed hopping vampire. Lin Min Chen gave Summer a kind quality as she hopped about and learned more human traits, but wasn’t asked to stretch much acting-wise.

The quality of the CGI, vampires, and fights weren’t bad for this genre of film. Thankfully, the humor wasn’t overly slapstick. Though at 90 minutes the movie tried to do too many things leaving many issues resolved thinly or not at all. Vampire Cleanup Department wasn’t a blockbuster type movie, just a nice little Hong Kong hopping vampire story with a surprisingly heartfelt center to it.

10/12/23

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"never was there a mountain with no fog"

here's what the movie did well (aka the mountain):
- capturing the rural beauty of akita prefecture. stick around for the credits, frfr
- illustrating complicated feelings about your hometown, the things it does well, and the things it lacks. i was born and raised in one of the biggest cities in america, and i still identified with the different characters' viewpoints about how great or how sucky this small town in akita is. i felt like the movie was written by someone who truly understood what 'home' meant.
- creating strong secondary characters and supporting storylines. i honestly would have watched a whole movie of nara-sensei torn between honouring her family's wishes for her that keeps her rooted in her hometown and finding/accomplishing her own dream out in tokyo; or of ryota and hideo working together to figure out how to teach farmers to become florists to save the local economy; or of the okamoto family resisting and evading debt collectors as they struggled to keep their gas station afloat and their folk heritage relevant; or of the last graduating class of an about-to-close-down school banding together to throw an epic school closing ceremony - complete with the obstructive meddling of well-meaning teachers - pulled together and led by the magnanimous empathetic and no-nonsense sayaka. (real talk, i totally fell for sayaka as a character and nakajima sena as an actress. absolute highlight of the movie for me.) these varied supporting storylines were how the movie was able to squeeze in so many repercussions of rural flight and an aging population, and they held a lot more appeal to me than the main storyline, unfortunately.

we experience the entire movie almost entirely through the lens of akira, who moved from tokyo to this rural farming town. he likes to draw, but he's otherwise a gary stu-type of character, and i actually think this was a brilliant move. he allows the audience to receive those extra storylines in a manner that isn't too emotional or overwhelming. they are simply facts as observed by a young boy who has 0 investment in the town's trajectory.

here's where the movie lost me (aka the fog):
- honestly, it's a stretch to say this movie is science fiction. the eponymous light isn't even seen by the audience - though, i also consider this a good move. this way, the focus doesn't shift from the town to the source/meaning of the light. that being said, the movie could lose this whole aspect, and it wouldn't suffer at all. the only parts that would be lost are the weakest parts of the movie anyway. namely, maki.
- i'll be straight up and say i did not understand the point of her character. the most value she brought to the story was as the daughter of the okamoto family. she really didn't need to be elevated to... what, akira's crush? i really cannot tell why they needed to have a special or significant relationship because every contribution she made to akira's character could have been satisfied, or was already being satisfied, by another character. (also, the less said about her incongruous characterisation, the better). there is a supporting storyline that offshoots from their relationship that i found superfluous in the movie, as well.

all of this being said, i mostly enjoyed myself while watching. it's a great vibes-centric movie. good views, good music, good people trying to do their best. the entire cast did a g r e a t job, especially the schoolkids. i would have liked to rate this higher, but unfortunately the parts i disliked i /really/ disliked 😞✊

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A film about losses/endings

You have to be in a certain mood to appreciate this film, where all the scenes are between our protagonist and only one other person that he's having a conversation with.

If you listen closely, you'll notice all the scenes involve talk of some kind of loss or ending - but they can be divided into chosen actions or ones that were not chosen/ involuntary/ out of one's control.

SPOILERS

Chosen actions mentioned: terminating a pregnancy, contemplating suicide, resigning from a job.
Unwanted losses revealed: death of a loved one, losing one's memory (due to dementia), end of a marriage, losing one's sanity

All melancholy topics - but I rather like how it's done. Actions or situations aren't depicted as right or wrong, they just are what they are. That's life.

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Absolut masterpiece that should've been included in the main series.

As I mentioned, it's an absolute masterpiece. As a Fanboy of fan boy (I'm so not funny) this was great!
I felt the emotions and everything.
I wasn't the biggest fan of the Nie clan leader in the series because he always felt a bit flat to me but this made everything better!
The CGI is a bit wonky and silly but it doesn't really take away.
The music was beautiful I almost cried, even though the flute playing is timing wise even worse than in the series (which I thought to be imposed).
The acting was phenomenal and I will 10 outta 10 watch it again.

It's 100 times better then it's counterpart 'The living dead'(even though I enjoyed that too).

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Fluffy, heartwarming story

This is a liveaction of a manga and light novel with the same title, but as someone who didn't read nor the manga and the light novel before, this review based entirely on my impression about this movie.

This is the best movie so far, in 2023 for me. At first, I thought this is just a romance movie, hence when I saw the grotesqueries in the beginning, I thought I've clicked on the wrong title 🤣.

This is romantasy movie. And full of fluff. Kudo acted like jerk at first, but he redeemed himself in the next day, and he apologized. He's such a green flag!

The movie is a bit fast paced, and I found that their story is a bit rushing. In a blink of an eye, Kudo already cared for her, just from her hands and tears, for me. But their chemistry is truly amazing. I loved how he just burned the house just to find Miyo, I loved how he cared for her, gave her a house she deserved, long long ago.

I didn't really satisfied with the ending. The emperor is such an evil guy, I hoped more bad ending for him, but well, he was already on his deathbed. I shed tears, also, when Kudo use his sword to his comrades. In the end, it's only his life, or his comrades. The story is beautiful, and so Kudo and Miyo's heartwarming story. In the end, Miyo got all she deserved.

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Beautiful mermaid man - YES!

I liked the premise of the plot. It promised a chinese fairy tale with boys love and I was hooked.
Long hair, fine Hanfus, wonderful places.
I really enjoyed the wuxia vibes and the acting was good, so sometimes I really forgot that I was viewing a piece of drama. The desire of Minister of Criminal Justice was clearly felt.
The red sheets.... damn, that was such a beautiful artistic representation of physical intimacy.

Cinematographic it was a joy to watch. And even if the story had it's holes, I liked it, so I could oversee them.
It's a story, finely told, between the lines. The sadness and the longing has catched me.
Okay, it's an open ending, but that will let room for fantasy.

Only one thing drove me to despair: The wig installation killed the illusion.... guys, the glue... I cried...

watched it on YouTube (no longer available)
now on GagaOOLala

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Chaotic and Fun Rom Com

I was really excited to watch this movie and was lucky that it was showing near me with eng subs and it did not disappoint. The first half of the movie you see the couple bickering and describing how much they hate each other. It was so chaotic and funny, especially the way kang ha neul and jung so min deliver their lines. Jung so min's character could be a lot harsher and at times, I was like why is she so mean, but I could also understand her character. The second half was just as enjoyable as you watch them try not to fall back in love with each other.

I think the way the story unfolded was really well done. You could see how this once happily married couple got to the point of hating each other by allowing all the bad memories overtake their good ones.

If you enjoy rom coms, you will love this one. The acting as you all already know delivered because it's kang ha neul and jung so min. Even the supporting actors were great. I thought the one who played jung so min's sister did a great job, I had only seen her in Duty After School as I think she's still a relatively new actress but she was funny. I laughed out loud so many times as did the audience in the theater. It was a rom com in it's true form.

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