Reviews

Dude, who is a gangster?

Just saw this movie for the second time and it is great to see the actors I didn't see for a long time in any project. The production is really excellent. The movie started with an impressive artistic scene with hundreds of gangsters together so i was expecting a „City of Violence“ type of movie. Then, after some jokes thrown into the story I thought maybe this is more like „The Crime City (The Roundup)“ movie series. But this is another city – City of Damnation where we have gangsters and cops but we don’t have much action, just the comedy so this movie would mostly fit the genre of comedy. The director didn’t bother much with the story but just for the visuals and the comedy. There are hundreds of gags in this 2-hour movie which is too much and so over the top that at the end I just laughed at their stupidity. I was reminded two times on the movie “Dude, where’s my car”. There is a tattoo joke and a scene where a character unsuccessfully tries to translate one English to Korean. Haha.

Anyway, this could have been a great movie but it exaggerated with the jokes and missed some opportunities with the interesting premise of the story.

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The story that will make you forget everything.

As a longtime fan of BL, I have to say "The Time of Fever" feels like a breath of fresh air—like rediscovering what it means to truly be alive. This film is a masterpiece that reignited a sense of being alive within me. Every element, from the storyline to the acting and the soundtrack, was perfectly executed.

The emotional depth, the chemistry between the characters, and the narrative arc drew me in from start to finish. The ending was beautifully crafted—satisfying yet still leaving me yearning for more. Though it concluded perfectly, I can't help but hope for another season. No complaints here, just pure admiration.
This is the kind of show that lingers in your mind long after it's over. This film is a gift to BL fans, and I can't thank the creators enough for delivering such a stunning piece of art.

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Great supplementary spin-off to ULS

You can feel the raw emotion almost immediately. Acting is not the best I've ever seen and there is some cheese but the EMOTION is dripping and the tension is palpable. The sexual chemistry between the two are top notch. There is indeed an intimate scene (more than one actually... we have been BLESSED) and they will leave you breathlessly clutching your heart.

You do not need to watch Unintentional Love Story to watch this but I do recommend watching ULS afterwards to help continue the story along (with the added treat of the main couple as well). If you're like me and feel this was not enough, lets rally up and PETITION for a part 2 shall we?

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Rewatching for the fourth time today

while reading the reviews, it is obvious the difference in culture and acceptance of these sorts of things. if you read what it was about, I don't know why you bothered to watch it in the first place. this is my fourth time watching this film. I love it so much and every time I get the same thrills and squeals at the beautiful quirky dynamic between them. So many men suffer from depression and feelings of worthlessness because of the types of things that they desire and they cannot tell their partners about it for fear of rejection and humiliation. Unfortunately, they can sometimes step outside of their marriage and relationship in search of this acceptance. Some are lucky and find a woman who will accept them as they are. Our sexuality is only a small part of our lives, but if we don't get to be who we are, it can become something we fixate on. I feel like the actors portrayed the awkward and clumsy first stages of relationship in such a cute way. I even like the the supporting actors. The Dog Cafe is such a great and adorable place. What a shame we don't have more cat and dog cafes in the States.

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heartwarming and heartrending

Overall: this is a prequel to Unintentional Love Story (ULS) with a focus on the side couple from ULS. Originally released as a movie and then broken into 6 episodes about 18 minutes each on iQIYI https://www.iq.com/play/the-time-of-fever-episode-1-18mbzov4oiw?lang=en_us

Content Warnings: past death, child abuse/beaten up, homophobia, punch

What I Liked
- acting/chemistry/tension
- sweet and caring moments
- cameo from Unintentional Love Story actor Gong Chan

Room For Improvement
- because it's a prequel the ending is open, I still would love to see what happened to the couple after ULS but we'll likely never get that (this is a rare time I would have been okay with a time gap in order to get closure on their story)
- too much blur filter
- I don't totally understand the actions of 1 character at the end because he must have realized what the drawings meant, maybe internalized homophobia played a part in not communicating/telling the truth

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It's a good movie!

First of all i didn't like the gruesome scenes with the animals, i dont think it was necessary to add them. Though the movie is still amazing, i was rooting the whole time for the main lead to be able to safely escape although i also didnt like how he bashed out on the younger solider and even hit him when all he wanted was to escape and go to his family as well.

For me personally it was obvious from the beginning that the younger solider would get hurt and die, its just unrealistic that both of them would make it successfully. I liked his character but not his decisions, it felt like he was holding the main lead back the whole time with his impatience. I'm sorry to say this but it was so dumb of him to get the necklace in such a risky situation and then dying because of exactly that. He should have kept hiding, he could have just got another necklace later on after escaping like even if it had some sort of special meaning to him dont put an object over your life? I dont like how he gave all the burden to the main lead by telling him to give the necklace to his family. How would he even find them? What would he say to them? "Oh yes here your son lost his life so you can have this necklace instead" just so ugh in my opinion.

Now to the main leads crazy ex, this guy seriously needs some therapy. He is so obsessed with his ex to the point he wanted to have him in a different section thingy so that he can be closer to him. He didnt accept a no either from the main lead, ge is so forceful and obsessive. It was also so unnecessary of him to shoot him so many times at the end, it actually shows that it wasnt real love but really just obsession and about power, well no wonder our main lead broke up with him. I'm just glad it was a happy end, the end almost made me cry. Definitely a movie worth watching.

I personally also find it iconic that in the song there is a line about taxi driver - which lee jehoon played in and is definitely worth watching too!

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Unrealistic and underwhelming

Just... a big no. I really liked this actor in the drama "vincenzo" so i was looking forward to his new movie but honestly? That was the most disappointing thing i saw of this actor so far. Not because of his acting, but that he would accept and play such a role in such an unrealistic anx underwhelming story. I just couldnt bring myself to finish it, every minute of it felt like 5 or 10 minutes. Dropped it around half of it. Just a no.

I thought this would be an interesting thriller, instead the focus rather became their romance which - is unrealistic as well. It wasn't love at first glance noir did they have good chemistry or enough time to bond. He would risk everything for her, even took/tried a drug asking her how she can consume it when it tastes bad, despite having enough problems of his own. The writers tried to make her an independent woman but failed big time.

The action could have been better as well, not just him getting beaten up by anyone he meets basically.

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A bit confusing

Honestly, the reason I watched this move was because Lee Know from Stray Kids mentioned in an interview it was good. I can't disagree. Althought the flow of time was hard to grasp most of the time, especially at the beginning, through the end it kinda made more sense and it was a bit easier to understand as I saw Emi's point of view.
The couple's love story was beautiful nonetheless and very sweet, but also sad as it made me think everything that happened was all in a period of just 1 month as for what I understood they could only meet for 30 days every 5 years.
I guess you just have to watch it a few more times to fully understand the time lines, but all in all I enjoied it.

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So silly

I really like Golden Bomber, and I had an hour to spare, so I thought why not watch? It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. It feels like an elongated version of one of their more dramatic music videos. I had to struggle not to laugh too much in public, I don't think there was a minute where I didn't find something funny. I think all of the audio is ADR but that's never bothered me in other movies, and the acting is ridiculous. I couldn't take it seriously the whole time and yet was entirely invested as well, so I really enjoyed myself! If you like the band, chances are that you'll like the movie!

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Adorable Watch

I was anticipating the release of this movie because I’m a huge fan of the manga. Lovesick Ellie tells a hilariously adorable story of high school love and self-discovery. Going into the movie, I knew that many parts of the manga would be cut or changed since it would be impossible to fit it all into a movie adaption. However, I was so happy seeing some of my favorite scenes portrayed in the live-action. There were several changes made in the movie that I felt were unnecessary or kinda felt unnatural to the characters in the manga, so just a warning if you’re watching it expecting it to be a direct adaption of the manga it isn’t quite that. I still really enjoyed the storyline of the movie, and I think the pacing of it was good as it stayed mostly loyal to the manga.
My favorite part of the movie was definitely the casting. I think they really nailed the casting for Ellie and Oumi. Both actors did such a good job in the acting, and I think they were really cute together! I saw some people complaining about the overacting from Ellie, but dramatic and embarrassing reactions is literally Ellie to her core. I wish we got to see more of the side characters, but they did a good job in their limited time. Overall, this was a fun and entertaining watch. It wasn’t as funny as the manga, but if you’re looking for something cute and entertaining I would highly recommend!

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Lives up to the hype

I don't know how I managed it, but I went into this with no spoilers other than knowing that everyone I know cried when they watched this. I kept thinking to myself "Oh, is this supposed to e the sad part? This doesn't seem so bad."

First I thought it was the mixup thing. Then I thought it was when the two girls fought. Then I thought it was the train station farewell. Then I thought it was when the emails stopped. Then I thought it was the exhibition. Then I thought it was the brother explaining everything. With each moment, I kept thinking that's the moment my friends had to have been talking about, and I couldn't understand why they were so upset.

Then she put that damn VHS in the VCR. Even when it started, I immediately went "Ahhh it's gotta be this!" and was still confused because I wasn't getting the sadness or tears that I was promised.

And then that last minute hit. Literally just the last minute of this 2 hour long movie. That's all it took to break my heart and leave me in sobbing shambles.

Kudos to the team that created this move and their choices with the pacing, because I have never been caught so off guard while knowing I was in for a sad ending before.

And kudos to this cast for getting me so invested in the storyline in such a limited about of time. I've watched full 20+ episode dramas that haven't had me nearly as attached to characters as this movie did. Wow.

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I watched this for a joke…

Lolita: Vibrator Torture has been the subject of a long running joke between myself and a friend, we’d constantly be recommending it to each other or saying that we’re watching it, it’s a film I didn’t think I’d ever really bring myself to watch. And yet, here I am, having watched it. Doesn’t mean the joke will end though. With a title like Lolita: Vibrator Torture, the film gives off the impressive of exploitation nastiness, yet oddly this pink film is one you can’t look away from. There’s a sledgehammer styling to Hisayasu Satô's direction, the guerilla style camerawork and almost drone-like soundscape only amplifying the effects. Yes, the fetishisitc sex acts are the main selling point of these types of films but here the film is more concerned with diving into the psychological wallows experienced by its characters, it takes the pinku genre as a whole and dilutes it down. There’s a genuinely disturbing piece of extreme cinema buried within the overbearing sexual violence, it's not one recommended for the faint of heart. Stripped down to its core, Lolita: Vibrator Torture will challenge you, one that's meant to be difficult to watch and succeeding in doing so.

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a fair watch to pass an evening

i didn’t go in expecting anything revolutionary and it’s good i didn’t. it was a fair watch. the horror parts were done well, costume-wise but theres one cgi bit that looked a bit off due to sizing issues. there are one or two jumpscares which didn’t make me jump lol.

personally i like this type of nonlinear, flashback storytelling so its always a plus for me but i know it can be confusing for some so beware to pay attention.

the storyline was interesting enough to keep me watching. acting was alright, nothing out of this world.

i would recommend it if you’re looking for a movie to take your mind off something since it requires a bit of concentration to follow the story.

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