Love the blood splatter
The casting was great! Actors did a very good job and the executions of the action scenes were spot on. I enjoyed the fight scenes, especially the blood splatter is very convincing. As I was watching the movie, I was just going with the movie, it's just me watching a movie, no connection at all with the characters. I feel like there's something lacking about the entire movie, though I couldn't identify what was it.Also, there's a lot of things that weren't given enough attention, so I feel disconnected with the movie and the characters.
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It needed some emotion!
SPOILERS! SPOILERS!This movie felt to me like they edited out the scenes that would have made the movie make sense, any scene that included any time of emotional development between the characters.
Yamashita Tomohisa as teacher Sakurai Haruka - he kept all the crazy girls at bay, and falls in love with a girl that has no emotions whatsoever? They've never had a conversation with one another, but he loves her? He's gorgeous, that's all I got from him.
Komatsu Nana as Kururugi Yuni - she was the most immature, mature young lady ever. She hates him but she loves him? She's never shown any emotion at all, yet she's going to confess in front of the whole class? Did she love him because he talked to her about English? What's the attraction!?!? This character was the epitome of robotic. They might have been portraying her to be on the spectrum, but if so, this movie would have been so much better if they had addressed it. I think it might have been to show that only he saw her "inner emotions" because she clenched her fists. She's beautiful, that's all I got from her.
Don't even get me started about how, even though they have never been on a date, he wants to marry her.
I did like how the evil troublemaker was one of the teachers and not one of the kids, though why there always has to be an evil troublemaker, I have no idea.
I would have enjoyed it, I think, if we were given any insight into why they loved each other.
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Ambiguously queer Phantom says be queer, do crime, join the revolution.
Song at Midnight takes Gaston Leroux's Phantom of the Opera and seamlessly adapts it into a movie about political unrest, the desire for revolution, and the need to fight for freedom.This Phantom (like the original) is a victim of war and corrupt politics, in hiding from those who mean him harm, and continuously craving love he cannot hold onto, but Song Danping is depicted as a more tragic and innocent victim than the possessive and murderous Erik.
Where Erik decides to mold Christine into his eternal bride, Danping spies a young man (Sun Xiao Ou) struggling to perform and decides he has just the remedy for that - in exchange for a little comfort...for his ex-girlfriend. No strings attached, as it would turn out. Accepting no for an answer is the most chill thing I have ever seen a Phantom do and I will admit that this one has a very soft place in my heart for that reason alone. Also, it's hard not to notice that these two men have such intimate chemistry that their relationship can be contemplated further than what appears on the surface.
Rather than being raised as a murderer for hire, Danping left home to become a revolutionary fighter during the Second Chinese Revolution and later took up a new identity as a successful actor, all the while living in fear that his connections to the revolution would be discovered. Unfortunately, he is eventually caught and punished not for his connections but because he fell in love with a woman who was above his station. This poor man survived a whole revolution only to be tortured and burned with acid for the crime of falling in love.
This movie is often referred to as the first Chinese horror film and I can see why. The typical horror movie elements are definitely present here.
~ The eerie atmosphere of the rundown theater and the slow, suspenseful walk down the hallway leading up to it.
~ Women screaming in horror.
~ The overacted moment when Danping's bandages get removed and he sees his scarred face for the first time.
~ The equally overacted "woman succumbs to madness" trope.
~ The (accidentally? erotic) torture scene.
~ The tragic/forbidden love story through lines.
~ The attempted assault and subsequent murder.
~ The angry, terrified villagers wielding torches and pitchforks as they chase the "monster" through the night with intent to kill.
Parts of this movie are dark and hard to make out in its current state and the editing is noticeably choppy in places, but I have to say I can't recall ever seeing a horror movie open with a shadowy figure singing a long-winded and poetic serenade to a stone-faced lady who looks possessed before now, so I was immediately intrigued.
The opening is very slow-paced and focuses more on building the atmosphere than introducing the audience to its plot. The aforementioned artsy serenade, featuring a lot of beautiful nature shots, takes up the majority of the first 13 minutes. So, when the Angel Theatre Troupe finally shows up, the story unexpectedly continues to drag for a short time while the performers wait out in the rain, knocking on doors until they find a place to stay. Most likely in an attempt to build suspense, they eventually take a drawn out walk down the eerie theater hallway to reveal the rundown mess inside. Thankfully, the plot picks up from there and it becomes easier to follow.
The music is beautiful and Song Danping's makeup puts certain other sunburned Phantoms to shame, especially during the initial reveal where his skin almost looks like it's melting off his face.
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A strange little tail
After watching this I'm gathering that it was supposed to be the first episode of a low budget web series that didn't get off the ground. The English subtitles pretty bad and are sometimes missing(watched on IQ). The story is silly but could be cute. Cats are actually aliens whose home planet is destroyed somehow. They come to earth and are broken into 2 separate camps; cats who want to live as cats and human companions (some of which can transform into humans) and cats who want to get rid of humans and run earth themselves. The actors try, but there really isn't much of a script to go by, even taking into account the bad subtitling. There is some cute and for the most part well done animated parts. The sound is AWFUL. I assumed they didn't have lapel mics OR a boom mic because when the camera is farther away you can barely hear them, but the little BTS at the end definitely shows a boom. The "fight" scenes gave me second hand embarrassment. At least Jun Chen is cute?Was this review helpful to you?
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If I'm being nitpicky, Bob seemed like a real fuckboy. If I'm being really nitpicky, I did not like Lana calling the other girls "whores". Granted, maybe "whores" doesn't have as a bad of a connotation as in the U.S.?, but I still think that Lana is unjustified in calling other women that word. Nevertheless, I thought Dob as Bob was overall pretty good. I just didn't understand how he could pee in the toilet while looking in the mirror.
The other criticism I have is that the story was a little fast-paced and confusing at times. I didn't catch on to what people/AIs were saying, so I had to rewind at times.
Overall, if you are into AI-themed movies/dramas, this one is ok, but I would probably recommend others over this one.
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The storyline is so good and depicted smoothly
First I had no expectations then as time passed away, the movie got better. It was emotional at some points where I cried too. The actors had done pretty well job portraying the characters especially Woo Jin. The actress is my personal favourite and I liked her here too. It wasn't confusing anytime like I'd first thought by reading the synopsis. Was just accepting a cure to this at the end of the story but the twist was good if not best. A movie we can watch with family. Will definitely re-watch it after sometime.Was this review helpful to you?
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The Lie Is That There's A Story
The challenge of creating short movies such as this is having a cohesive story and being able to tell that story in such a short period of time. This short failed in that. It has potential, but it either needs to be a few minutes longer or there needs to be more dialogue. As it is, it just feels very disjointed.If you weren't aware that the character of Benz had feelings for his roommate and friend Riw going into the movie, the automatic assumption from the beginning is that both boys like Meen and are fighting over her. However, after that initial scene, it becomes clear that Benz actually has feelings for Riw. This is where things start getting disjointed. After leaving for the day and arriving in the wee hours of the morning to find Riw drunk, Benz very nearly kisses him before stopping himself. The following scene appears to be the next day, with Riw apologizing and asking why Benz is mad at him. They have a moment with Riw calling Benz cute and then insisting on feeding him some kind of snack. Meen shows up and looks upset seeing the two of them together. This then jumps to Riw and Meen apparently having a one on one study session and Benz looking on jealously. Riw walks Meen outside and Benz takes the opportunity to hit her with his car.
Again, the potential is there, but besides the disjointed story, the characters feel shallow. I know its hard to create meaningful characters in such a short time frame, but that's part of the challenge. Riw obviously likes Meen and Meen seems to like him too, but what are his feelings towards Benz? Just a roommate? Just friends? There seems like there might be more there, but its hard to tell. And Benz's reaction feels way over the top. There's no buildup to his apparently just snapping. Again, the first scene makes it seem like both he and Riw like Meen. His jealousy needed to be built up and explored a little more to make it believable he would do something so extreme.
In terms of acting, Singto is definitely the star which isn't hard since there are only three actors, but he does stand out. Kanin is pretty bland all around, not a whole lot of expression. This is his first and only acting role though, so I'm willing to cut him some slack. Ink plays a minor role, but despite her lack of screen time, she still managed to be engaging when she was on screen. And as I said, Singto was the stand out he was the most interesting to watch. Part of that is just him, he has an uncanny ability to command the screen with very little effort, but he also seemed to be the one putting in the most work. His acting was more nuanced and while not perfect, this was his first role it seems, he still made an impression, especially that smirk at the end.
The production was obviously low budget. Honestly, the most annoying aspect of it was the camera work. The in and out of focus in the middle of a scene was very distracting. The music, what little there was, was generically boring, but also not overly distracting, so a bonus there, I suppose.
I will say that it's not a waste of time solely because the short is a mere 7 minutes long. I don't regret watching it, but its certainly not what I was expecting or hoping for. As long as you don't have high expectations, it might be moderately entertaining. If nothing else, it's fun to see a young Singto before he got big with SOTUS.
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Good movie
It is a pretty good movie, had a good story, and had great acting. I was worried I was going to get bored with it, but surprisingly I was hooked right from the start. I definitely suggest this movie, it's worth the watch. I'm happy with the story, and how it progressed. Im not super into action, but this wasn't overwhelming and or underwhelming, to me it was the perfect amount of action. So that's a relief to me, and makes me happy with how the movie was. So if youre expecting an overwhelming pack of action, this isn't it, but wanting a sense of action. This is for you.Was this review helpful to you?
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chato
comecei a assistir por causa do nam joohyuk e só terminei por causa dele mesmo. um filme super melancólico e devagar. teve muitas coisas que ficaram em aberto como a história dele com a professora, simplesmente jogaram a informação que os dois transavam e ficou por isso mesmo. outra coiaa foi o final, não gostei que eles não ficaram juntos e gostei menos ainda que não explicaram o porquê disso. odeio finais abertos, sou burra demais pra enteder as coisas sozinhas. mas enfim, se vc for mais inteligente e mais empático do que eu talvez goste desse filme.Was this review helpful to you?
Pretty Decent
Pretty decent movie to me. Had very good acting, story was weird but it fit it. There was plenty of twists and turns I wasn't quite expecting. I liked it, though the female lead absolutely annoyed the heck out of me, for how manipulative and annoying she was, but that was the point. I liked the ending, and how it left it. Not to spoil anything, but some people might not of liked it because it didn't answer a simple question, but it was good, and the realization the question didn't need to be answered.Was this review helpful to you?
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Interesting premise of the plot but underdelivered
When I saw the trailer, the plot really sounds interesting but the execution of the movie overall is kind of meh. There are lots of cringey moments specially that I understand all 3 languages used in this movie. Some of the scenes felt off because of the script. Some scenes excites me but most of them felt forced. There's not enough build up to justify the story properly. Although, I must admit it's a light-hearted movie really. Just a fun watch.I don't feel any chemistry among the casts. I don't understand the actor-manager relationship in this movie. Like are they close like friends or are they just being professional among each other. It was really vague. The connection of the female and male lead wasn't established properly as well so everything feels forced just to fit the storyline.
The OSTs used was okay, not memorable though. This movie if I may say is decent enough to be watched but if you'll really get into the tiny details, a lot of things in this movie doesn't make sense or feels off somehow. I still enjoyed watching it despite the shortcomings. Do I recommend it? Yes, I still recommend it if you just want a light-hearted watch. But if you're like a movie critique and only wants to watch high quality movie, just skip this one then.
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This movies exists - That's all
Given that the cast is great and the production isn't bad for it's time, one would expect that this would at least be half-way decent movie. But no. This movie fails in terms of story and plot. The characters exist. It's like a slice of life with no interesting plot points. The only somewhat interesting plot point isn't really finished off. It's like the movie was created to fill time so it didn't matter to it's creators whether all questions were answered. Or, whether all characters completed some sort of development arc or not. I imagine that it falls off the way-side as an ending. An event that happens. Unexpected but not enough of a big deal to leave a lasting mark.Was this review helpful to you?
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Prison buddy movie missing a coherent plot
Bolo gave star and director Bolo Yeung Sze a chance to play against type. Instead of the bruisingly brutal bad guy the good guy pummels at the end of the movie to show the hero's prowess, Bolo played the big dumb ox. After watching this not once but twice now, I think I like him better as the bad guy.Aside from the synopsis that Bolo and Jason Pai were prisoners sent to be sheriffs in a lawless town where the sheriffs kept getting murdered, I'm not entirely sure what the plot was. Bolo seemed to think he was the sheriff and stumbled into helping people though the townspeople didn't support him with the exception of Lau Hok Nin. Pai spent more time in the brothel or searching for the missing gold that had landed him in jail in the first place. Then the plot tumbled off a cliff and was swept out to sea. Whether the prison buddies were working for good or evil was debatable, although they did find the mastermind behind a sex trafficking ring and the missing gold. The film had bathroom humor and sexual jokes. Most of the jokes came at Bolo's expense.
Sadly, Bolo's fights were mostly kung fu posing, emphasizing his power and size. Pai's fights were quicker and stressed his agility. I'm all for a shirtless Bolo more on the side of good than bad, I just I wish they hadn't made him quite so slow. Jason Pai was engaging as a character and fun to watch fight. The final fight was the best one when a Japanese fighter wearing a metal pan on his head took the two buddies on. When the two combined their skills, it was cute to watch, deadly, but cute.
If you love slap stick humor and don't mind an almost incoherent plot, you could try this one. I'm a big Bolo fan and enjoyed Pai's sly character, but this movie stressed my patience.
3/28/23
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A disappointing gothic horror from the Philippines
The movie reminds me of some of the old Hammer films, cheaply produced but entertaining. This production is not as entertaining but retains that same essence of gothic horror. That said it does come with some hefty warnings: Sexual violence towards women (mostly offscreen but acknowledged in the story), era-typical blackface characters (servants), and general violence towards women (mother vampire is whipped and imprisoned). If those things bother you I would avoid this film.Story (3.5/10): The story doesn't waste time with character development and instead starts on the mystery of the woman in the basement. The use of lighting as a story device is rather clever during the mother vampire's scenes but the use of red/blue lighting can be somewhat jarring to the viewer. There is a heavy emphasis on catholic imagery throughout the story that can feel a little heavy-handed at times. The story is mostly driven by bad decisions made by various characters so I would say the story can get a bit frustrating to watch and is very easy to predict.
Acting/Cast (4.5/10): There is an actor who plays a servant (during the scene where the father reveals the mother) that looks to have blackened his face for some reason. He sounds like an "Igor" character but I'm confused as to why the film found that necessary (budget constraints/cultural/era-typical racism?). It was repeated with several female servants as well. I'm new to Filipino-produced films and so I can't make any solid judgments or conclusions as to why they used blackface. So warning for potential racist blackface/racist undertones?
Many of the character's actions make them hard to like or emphasize with their struggle. In fact, the whole family dynamic is unhealthy and problematic. It made it hard to stay engaged with the movie. Their actions are sometimes for a lack of a better word, really dumb and it makes the fine irritating to watch at times.
Amalia Fuentes (Leonore) is perhaps the most interesting character to watch. I think this is mostly due to the actress being a decent acting talent. She has an emotional quality to her that makes her performances more intriguing to watch compared to several of the other main actors.
Romeo Vasquez (Daniel) is rather wooden for an actor trying to play a naive young hero type. I found his performance rather flat especially when paired with Amalia Fuentes. Eddie Garcia (Eduardo) did a decent job as a villain and his acting was more nuanced than Romeo Vasquez's but he isn't in any way likable and due to one of my prior warnings (sexual violence towards women) in the scenes with Rosario del Pilar (Christina) I was hoping he would be killed sooner than later.
Music (4/10): The music isn't awful but it is a rather large step down from the gothic horror soundtracks used by the popular horror film companies in the US during this era. This isn't surprising but I had hoped the music would help the film's pacing and tension. The dubbing is not great either. It was not synced very well to the film and some of the character's lines were hard to understand.
Rewatch Value (1/10): I had a hard enough time watching the entire film and found myself having to avoid hitting the fast-forward button several times. I doubt I will ever give this a second watch.
Overall (3.5/10): The only real part of the film that I found interesting was how the genre of gothic horror was treated in the Philippines during the 60s/70s horror movie era. It was not a very entertaining watch but it's definitely not unwatchable either. If you are determined to watch it I suggest having a remote handy or doing an additional activity like ironing or laundry.
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