Reviews

Yet another Plotless Snore

"Are you okay with being stupid?"


With the exception of Vampire Girl vs Frankenstein Girl, every asian horror movie I have chosen for Shocktober has been rather lacking and this is no different.

It has moments of creepiness, but it is just too boring for me to full care about what is going on and the story itself just doesn't do it for me at all. It's just a draining experience that goes nowhere fast. Sure the acting is fine, but it isn't enough to really elevate this movie past it's borderline plotless nature. Too little happens here to keep my interest and it takes way too long to get anywhere.

Not really much to say here tbh.

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A Waste Of Time

Really lame. The girl starts out a strong, kick butt, take charge woman. Immediately becomes selfish, weak and useless. In the end she can't save anyone and he dies.
This show tries to be funny but is just stupid. Much of it makes no sense.
It was badly translated on iQiyi where I watched it. Did he call her a prostitute? Did she call him a prostitute or what? Sentences were incomplete. The dialogue when he was dying made no sense at all. I wondered if the translation was of the lyrics of the background song instead of the dialog itself.
I watched the first 30 and last 20 minutes. What a waste of time.

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When the writers play favorites, you get this.

I don't even know if the production team knew what they wanted to do with this? It was a bit of a hodgepodge of comedic and serious acting, scenes that had no significance, a villain that had no motive, and action sequences that contained what should have been bloopers. I seriously watched one of the MLs headbutt his opponent in the armpit. Three times actually, because I was certain that that wouldn't have made the final cut... The official subtitles (via IQIYI) were rough and delayed, and regularly translated the characters' names into their meanings. And the story itself contained problems. Xiaotu was so poorly treated by the script as a character. What was the point of bringing up that they each had their own strengths, if you aren't going to show us what they are? It seemed like the writers were right there with the other characters valuing Xiaohu higher than Xiaotu.

The highlights were when Xiaohu was guiding his brother's actions. Or when they both inhabited Xiaotu's body to accomplish impossible tasks. Those were cool to watch. The two brothers had good on-screen chemistry and really carried when they were visible together. But I can't find anything else to praise. Sorry.

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20 year old storyline with bad direction,pacing of story and cuts

The storyline is pretty similar like that of Man from Nowhere except few changes.

The movie has good starcast. Acting was good too.
Though, thanks to bad direction,you will always feel that the film lacks something. It lacks heart. The film just feel meaningless.

Except action, nothing is good. It will not touch any hearts. Plus, one doesn't connects to any scene.
About music, it is standard. It's not great.

Rewatch Value is less. Only for action sequences, one can watch some scenes. But rewatching whole movie is waste of time and mind space.

Conclusion - Ignore this. Instead watch Man fron Nowhere again. If you don't like action, go watch anything. Even staring at stars for 1 hour is better than this if you have watched assassin turn good movie before.

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'My Perfect Roommate' shows how family transcends blood ties

The elderly have been an interesting talking point for Asian cinema this year. Chie Hayakawa’s “Plan 75” surprised Cannes Film Festival with a bleak and shocking vision to solve the problem of Japan’s rapidly ageing population. Director Lee Soon-sung takes a much brighter and cheerful approach to the subject in “My Perfect Roommate”, his debut feature.

Having started in the industry as a boom operator years ago and proceeding to make a career as a real-time recordist, Lee Soon-sung makes a move behind the camera with “My Perfect Roommate”, working off his own script, which tackles a number of themes in its brisk 91 minutes runtime. Foremost, it’s an ode to the elderly and their plight, having to live alone and without much support from their busy and self-occupied families. Their friends, who find themselves in similar plights, are the closest they get to a family, probably precisely because they are in the same boat. Loneliness is a constant topic of the narrative, not limiting itself to just the elderly, with the young Ji-woong too feeling alone. Despite having friends and a healthy social life, he feels unable to open himself up to his friends, finding solace only with the people who grew up in the same circumstances as him. As a result, seeing both Geum-boon and Ji-woong warm up to each other is pleasing and almost heart-warming.

The script also touches upon the subject of the upbringing of an individual. In a filial society such as South Korea’s, where a lot of emphasis is placed on the way parents raise their children, orphans are often treated with disdain and a certain prejudice. Lee argues that it is not just to the parents’ credit how a child turns out to be as an adult. Using Ji-woong and the subplot of his friends, he shows how orphans grow up by themselves and make their own destiny, showing both sides of that coin and determines that it depends very much on the individual as well to be a better person in society. Briefly he also talks about mortality and the need to live on, alone if necessary but better if with someone, a topic that could have been done with more exposition, and on the importance of family.

This would have been a much lesser feature had it not been for the presence of loveable veteran actress Na Moon-hee, who practically carries the film on her two aged but nonetheless strong shoulders. In her capable hands, the grumpy grandma too proves to be very likeable and motherly, as Ji-woong soon finds out. Oozing pure grandma energy, you just want her to give you a hug, so when she finally does give Ji-woong one, you can’t help but feel a pang of jealousy towards Choi Woo-sung’s character. Making his first big screen appearance after taking part in a few tv dramas, Choi is adequate as the college boy, but feels a bit wet behind the ears, something that he might be able to rectify with more feature film appearances. He does play well alongside Na Moon-hee though, who takes good care of her young co-star. She has played this role of a grumpy ajhumma a few times now, but just like Ma Dong-seok’s hardman act, it is one that you cannot tire of seeing.

Keeping an equally bright and cheerful look with Choi Min-hwan’s cinematography, “My Perfect Roommate” isn’t necessarily ground-breaking cinema, but it has a clear story to tell which it manages to put across effectively, and, bolstered by a fine performance from its lead actress, ends up being a cute feature that is a pleasant watch.

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Happy ever after......NOT

The story starts off as a typical high-school drama. We have two girl best friends and two guy best friends, though not much screen time is devoted towards the later two. The main character played by Kim Yoo Jung is a happy, guy beating, food loving person which seems to have populated the recent Kdrama. But above all, she is a loyal friend who steps aside her love for her friend and who can blame her. Her friend just had a heart surgery.
Based on the synopsis, you might think how can Kim Yoo Jung character fall in love with the person her friend had already set her sight on and the thing is, she did not. Due to the mix up of name tag and no SNS to spy on the people you like, this creates the conflict inside Kim Yoo Jung character to choose between friendship and love which moves the plot forward. While watching, you might fell if they just talk it out everything can be solved (and it does, surprise Pikahu face), you need to understand that these are teenagers going through their first love so these are acceptable.
So, it is basically a cliche high-school love story with no surprises, you would think. But the thing that bugged me from the start was they showed the adult character for Kim Yoo Jung, played by the talented Han Hyo Joo, who seemed single which pointed at something dramatic will happen. The ending was not what I expected, It is not a happy ending this cliche filled story hinted at and you are filled with sadness and red eyes from all the tears that pour out your feelings.
So, if you are looking for a fluffy love story where the characters end up happy ever after, this is not it. But if you have some tears to spare, you should definitely watch this movie, with some napkins around of course.

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It's turtle vs squid!

I don't know what bills or gambling debts Gamera had to pay for him to get involved with this movie, but he should have passed and hibernated somewhere until it was safe to come out. Gamera vs Viras had an okay beginning and an okay end, but the middle was largely comprised of clips from previous Gamera movies which was a huge letdown. And the okayish parts were bad enough the giant turtle should have called his agent and fired him for signing him up for this awkward mishmash of clips. Plus, he had to take a backseat to two Boy Scouts and was only vaguely the star of his own movie. It's enough to make an amphibian rampage on Tokyo---in black and white and in color!

Aliens decided Earth was a good place to colonize only they ran afoul of Gamera in space. Long story short, they kidnap two precocious Boy Scouts so they can attach a control chip to Gamera and have him do their bidding. And thus begins the barrage of city destroying clips from previous movies, badly spliced together. Eventually, it's revealed the aliens are big squids and finally near the end of the movie Gamera is able to make fried calamari.

The Boy Scouts weren't as annoying as other kids in Kaiju movies, at least I wasn't rooting for a monster to eat them. If you want a shortcut to catch up on the previous movies, you can watch this one, otherwise, only if you are a huge Gamera fan-or maybe calamari.

10/21/22

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Cliche yet heartwarming

●FIRST IMPRESSION
I am overwhelmed and suddenly get all the memories of my school days flashing in front of my eyes. That first crush, that best friend, that picnic, those phone booth calls, and many others.
Although the memories are hazy cause we didn’t have access to the camera to click all the moments, but it still flutters my heart cause it is saved in the hard disk of my brain.

●PLOT VIEW
The movie is heartwarming with some light cliche teen story which is cute. Two girl best friend relationship becomes complicated after getting to know two boys HyunJin and WoonHo. The movie follows them falling in love and realizing what is important for them in life. Every moment needs to be cherished and do everything which doesn't make you regret it later in life.

●ENDING
The ending is bittersweet and must be seen carefully to understand why the movie is titled, 20th CENTURY GIRL. It tells us to enjoy every moment, cause many people as grownups are stressed in life and unhappy so sometimes look at the past to see how you were happy. enjoying yourself.

●ACTING
Acting is super by Kim Yoo Jung. Her long hair flying while she runs in the school uniform is breathtaking. Her eyes when she was crying made my tears fall, but she looked cute even with puffy eyes.
Yeon Du was reminding of her role from Our Blues and she is really good. I hope she gets more projects.
Woon Ho and Hyun Jin served the male charm needed in the drama. The friendship was nice as they cared for each other more than the girl.
Han Hyo Joo was a surprise and I liked her seeing, after her last work "Happiness."

●REWATCH
Yeah, it was a great watch so am gonna rewatch this.

●APPRECIATION
The cinematography is amazing, the time period when the internet had just started was not much stressful but used as some key elements were just perfect.
The lights and color usage were the visual appetizers.

●RECOMMENDATION
watch this if you want some feel good light movie.

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This movie was pretty good although the ending was a little iffy because it was not what I personally wanted, it ended perfectly. The pace is fast and quick and gets right to the relationship immediately. I will say there are a few spicy scenes and it's not mature, but it definitely is more than I have seen in most k-dramas. If you are looking for sweet romance then this is NOT for you. Would definitely rewatch for the actors and their characters together.

-- Spoilers Below --

Jae Ha is a seasoned actor who takes his job and craft seriously. He is a method actor and gets deep into his characters and who they are and literally becomes them. He is harsh and cold, openly showing his disdain towards Young Woo in the beginning of the play. Young Woo is a famous idol who is tired from his daily schedule and then adding the play on top of it. He starts out super childish and very obviously does not care about the play nor what any part of it. That all changes when he starts taking a liking to Jae Ha, wanting to be around him and wanting to take in and learn everything he can from him. Jae Ha pushes Young Woo to take the play seriously and while doing so, ends up falling for Young Woo himself.. getting caught into a whirlwind relationship between the two. It's hot and sneaky, and you can see them falling for each other more and more as they go deeper into their characters and play. Jae Ha becomes cold and angry towards his wife who begins to have doubts about Jae Ha and how he is dealing with his character Walter. She sneaks around to try to read his method acting journal, which she finds blank, and even tries to catch some practice scenes to which Jae Ha tells her to just stop. She eventually catches them kissing in the theater and stays quiet about it. After her catching them, she tries to initiate sex with Jae Ha but he refuses and shows no interest. My one downfall with the plot and storyline is, they run away and go on a day adventure out to a beach and Young Woo posts pictures to his Instagram. They find him and Young Woo cuddling together in a van sleeping and accuse him of kidnapping Young Woo. The rumors of the dynamic of their relationship and "supposed" kidnapping gets out to the news outlets and they become slightly distant. How exactly did he kidnap Young Woo if he went voluntarily with him and is an adult? - His wife finds him at the beach too and gets into an altercation with him alluding to that this isn't the first time that Jae Ha has gotten too deep into a role. Things start escalating as their home is broken into and things start getting darker between the 2. Young Woo wants to be in a relationship with Jae Ha and to be out and open with him, to tell the truth to the press and let it be known how they feel, but Jae Ha doesn't want to do that at all. He pushes his feelings for him down, so Young Woo does the same and puts on the "chains" of hiding his sexuality and never getting to be with the person he loves. During the play, Jae Ha shares a passionate kiss that wasn't in the script with Young Woo, and continues on. The play is dark, emotional, and heavy, but has a great reaction. After the play, Young Woo coldly says that he is the best Singer and Jae Ha is just Walter. It ends with him getting into his limo and driving off obviously saddened and still with his feelings for Jae Ha, while Jae Ha's wife shows up to the theater and they leave together hand in hand.

Most of the reviews I read before watching were mostly about how the ending could've been better and I want to agree because the few "love" scenes we did get between Jae Ha and Young Woo were passionate and left you yearning for more, but I can also see the realism in their love story in South Korea. Especially in the year this came out, LGBTQ+ is not totally accepted there and is looked down upon, and I can imagine that is even more-so true for idols and actors. They are left with their feelings that they both obviously fell for each other hard. The play is called unchained, which I feel hits the story in another way meaning their feelings, but in the end they are both still chained due to them.

Would 100% watch again, I loved all the actors and characters and just couldn't get enough of it in the hour that we did have.

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Atmospheric

Wuliang is a small masterpiece. From story to acting, it exceeded my expectations in so many ways, and the twist in the end, while expected, made me happy with its wholesomeness.

When I saw that this movie is only forty minutes long, I was skeptical that it would manage to develop its intriguing premise. I was pleasantly surprised – the script does not waste even a second of its screentime. The two main characters are fleshed out well, and the plot is brought to a satisfying conclusion. This movie would have been brilliant if it was longer, but it is still great the way it is. As someone who likes wuxia, but does not have the time to watch fifty episodes, I appreciate its conciseness.

In terms of chemistry between the main characters, this story is a match for The Untamed and Word of Honor. The Chinese have become masters of introducing obvious homoerotic subtexts to friendships and selling them as bromances. Po Xiao and Feng Ren are so obviously queercoded that calling what they have a bromance is difficult.

Overall, if you like wuxia and BL series without kissing, you will enjoy this movie. Uniquely atmospheric, it also has beautiful cinematography and gorgeous actors.

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CLIFFHANGER

Watching this as an American who doesn't know much about Thai Culture and Folklore, I'd have to say that this was both diappointing in that it only lasted 23 minutes and didn't have enough time to develop the whole plot and explain elaborately the whole meaning and belief behind the Folklore of Phi Ta Khon. So in that regard I was truly disapppointed that it was so brief and truly believe that it should be developed more to fill in the gaps as I personally see great potential in it being a successful movie or series cause it definitely left off on a cliffhanger that left me wanting more. As for the short movie itself I think it was very well done and although I may be biased cause I simply love him, but none of the other Thai Actors that I foullowed could have done this movie better than Krit Krittin Sosungnern. Although he's relatively new to the acting scene and hasn't done much, but with both Love By Chance 2 and now Those That Follow, it is clear and evident that IF he chooses to continue his acting career, that Krit Krittin Sosungnern will be a definite force to reckon with. Both Kritt's appearance and his acting combined gives you the sense that although he's an actor by occupation, that he's not really acting but he's bringing his character to life by completely emersing himself in the role.

Without giving any spoilers I would have to say that this short movie covers a range of topics even in that brief time. Partly about traditions, crime, consequences, personal responsibility, inner conflicts, paranoia, loyalty, family, doing things that you're neither proud of nor want to do because you think it's the right thing in the moment and much more which I why I believe that this should become a whole entire full length movie or a series rather than just leaving it as this short. After watching this, I am truly intrigued not only by Kritt's ability to convey the plot, but I am left wanting to know more about the Phi Ta Khon as I previously mentioned, I also want to know the full story of how the characters ending up in the predicament that they ultimately found themselves in and definitely a full conclusion that doesn't leave room for interpretation.

Overall, I think that it is an enjoyable short and that people should watch it and could keep rewatching it without getting bored of it cause each time they may notice something that they hadn't noticed before. Congratulations Mr. Krit Krittin Sosungnern, you definitely proved yourself in this one for sure IF anyone still doubted you after Love By Chance 2.

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