This review may contain spoilers
The plot of this film is really intriguing. An innocent person is framed for a murder he/she did not commit. I could say it did resemble Hollywood's "Double Jeopardy" with Ashley Judd or the recent Korean drama "One Ordinary Day" with Kim Soo Hyun. The actors also did a good job, however, the whole relationship between Kwon Yoo and Yeo Wool felt rushed and not authentic. I could not feel the chemistry the actors were trying to portray. There were moments that felt overly dramatic - for example when Kwon Yoo is in prison and learns martial arts within weeks or during an unknown period considering his time in prison was not told. The idea of fighting in dark using rice was good but the execution and visual side of it was not so much considering the film was shot in 2017 when high-end technology was already available. Overall, I did like the idea, the plot and the acting. Visually the fight scenes were okay but the graphics of some of the scenes were not good. In my personal opinion, this film is deserving to see at least once so give it a chance!
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Bubblegum Cute
I have mixed feelings with Princess Jellyfish. As a fan of the anime and manga, I was excited to see this series be adapted into something more through the live action version.The concept of the movie is pretty faithful to the original but often felt a bit over the top. The acting was certainly a bit dragged out in parts and it felt as though the characters could’ve been conveyed a bit better especially the female lead’s feelings. Overall I think it’s sweet and easygoing but it could’ve been a bit better.
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Heartwarming and soothing
It was heartwarming and touching.A remainder to find yourself.Liked the plot and execution.OST is so warm and peaceful.The food gave a special touch to the visuals.Greenery gives a soothing effect.
It is a comfort for those lost midway.
The actors were so excellent in delivering their roles .The background score helped in the mood of the plot.Overall the village background and lifestyle were captured perfectly along with the past and present of the the characters.The life lessons once learnt can't be unlearnt.They will help in your whole lives.
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funny, nice one
It was funny. Definitely worth a watch! I took some time to complete this because my experience was hampered by poor subs placement but overall, I still had an enjoyable time.I liked the humour. The characters had this straight face while saying/doing some hilarious things which made it more enjoyable to me as a viewer. heheh...The fight scenes were great. I liked the violence that came across as effortless in many of the scenes.
The most memorable part for me was the fight at the end where the two super talented (at combat) ladies had the great showdown. Got chills for a second or two there!
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This review may contain spoilers
Good watch, no surprises
Good watch, solid story. It's a bit standard, with mega explosions, biased bullets and macho men and women. But there is an delicateness to the story that deals with border espionage between N-Korea and the bordering countries that I found intriguing. Everyone has their own reasons for being in the place they are, and this is mostly outside of their own doing. The catchphrase in this movie is "I had no choice!"The actors all give a great performance, however the lead seems a bit on the autopilot at times. But its the sort of movie that doesn't really suffer from that so we'll forgive him for it. The other lead, the prosecutor, seems more invested and gives a great performance. There were some plot-lines that could have done with some more attention, but that's just me who is usually not very much into these sort of movies. There were a lot of moments where my husband and I fist-bumped when one of the bad guys got what they deserved.
It all ends well after a significant body-count and the bad guys are gone. The last scene unveils that this will be the start of a beautiful friendship. Will watch a next installment if it comes out.
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Watchable for Nanon's performance
Listen, I'm a huge fan of Thai horror films, so I went in with pretty high expectations. Overall, it's a watchable film but honestly nothing could beat Shutter in terms of delivering scary moments. It didn't help that both films use cameras to drive the plot. There were a few jump scares in SLR, but it didn't give me the lingering creepiness that Shutter did (seriously, the climax and reveal gave me nightmares for weeks!)All the actors performed to my expectations, especially Nanon. Sadly the story itself is pretty weak. I hope he'll have a better script in the future.
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This review may contain spoilers
Human Lanterns was a grotesque kung fu horror movie. Two rich men in a small town vied at every chance to outdo and humiliate each other, opening a crack that let in a deadlier presence to further fuel their hatred and destroy their luxurious lives.The opening scene laid open the conflict as Lung (Tony Liu) and Tan (Chen Kuan Tai) fought over a prostitute at a village celebration. Tan showed off the lantern he was going to use at the lantern festival and Lung determined to outshine him with an even more exquisite lantern. In order to win, Lung had to find a master lantern maker who turned out to be a rival he had humiliated years ago. Thinking money could smooth over anything Lung hired Chao (Lo Lieh) which propelled into motion deadly consequences.
The title refers to lanterns made with human skin and Chao set about using people close to the men to craft the gruesome light fixtures. Lung and Tan blamed each other for the disappearances of their loved ones while the inept police led by Sgt Poon (Sun Chien) flailed about between the two powerful men.
To be perfectly honest, I am not a horror fan and had to fast forward through some of the bloodier scenes of Chao working on his victims. Despite the age of the film, it was disturbing enough for me to try and avoid most of the scenes once he began to work. For the faint of heart, it did show flaying.
Tony Liu and Chen Kuan Tai played their roles stoically with some bravado, pretty much copy and paste from other performances. Neither Lung nor Tan would be considered heroes, more concerned about their rivalry and honor than the well-being of their missing loved ones. The real star of this movie was Lo Lieh who stole every scene he was in with his unhinged performance as the maniacal killer seeking revenge for the loss of his honor years ago. With his facial expressions and fluid body motion he dominated the screen with his malevolent presence.
The movie kept the story moving at a rapid clip, interspersing fight scenes between gore and the over-the-top squabbling between Lung and Tan. Most of the fights were more pose-fu than well-choreographed fast fights. They were slow and then even slower when slow-motion was used. The final fight was the best of the lot, destructive, deadly, and extreme. There was sword work, kung fu, and wire fu. Maybe it was because Lo Lieh was involved that I enjoyed it more, he upped the energy and stakes, regardless, the final fight was intense.
The sets and costumes were well done. The silver lame was kept to a minimum and the sets weren’t some of the cheaper ones designed for people to be thrown through the walls. The wealthy men’s homes seemed appropriately opulent while Chao’s dungeon was eerily macabre.
Unlike many Shaw Brothers films this one has a proper ending. Too often the stories end abruptly as if the crew ran out of film. For the most part, everyone got what they deserved, even if I thought one of the characters got off too lightly. I downgraded the film some due to the grisly scenes only the women had to go through. This older kung fu movie went too far in titillating the audience with female nudity and deaths.
Human Lanterns is not a film for everyone to be sure. At its heart HL was a story about the price paid for hubris and pride. The cast is what drew me to it, HL was loaded with familiar faces and stuntmen. If you enjoy old martial arts movies and/or old horror movies, this one might be of interest to you.
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"I Wish Someone Would Rob The Bank, Preferably Taking Me Hostage...A Tragic Heroine"
There is a drama series, unrelated to this movie, with the same title...hope that it was as HILARIOUS as this movie!++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
This was HILARIOUS movie! From the beginning I knew that I was going to enjoy it!
Suzuki Sakiko (Nishida Naomi) is the oldest child of a middle-class family whose 'obsession' is M-O-N-E-Y!
Unfortunately, she wins no friends when she shows them her savings booklet (her prize possession!), and she would prefer money from a guy rather than him using the money to buy her snacks or a meal.
Her mother suggests that she become a bank teller since she loves money so much; this is where we find her as a couple of robbers stage a robbery and take her as a hostage!
The rest of the story follows her as she is found, goes back to work and finally starts on her quest to recover the suitcase loaded with money...somewhere in the Aokigahara mountains (near My Fuji). The movie is loaded with
I loved her tenacity in learning the skills necessary to recover the suitcase. She 'acts' as a young female who has a goal in life from recovering from the ordeal and meets every obstacle with determination, motivation and careful planning. Yet at the same time, she seems to really to get into her character, showing an adolescent playfulness that becomes light comic pleasure onscreen.
She 'makes' opportunities by applying herself and being in the right place at the right time!
The support cast, including her family college faculty and staff, add greatly to the story and allow her to reach the goals she needed at the right times. They all become her obstacle at sometime but she is able to navigate their interference.
What happens as she becomes involved with other people and learns new skills, is her moving from loving money to loving adventure for itself! When you watch the movie, you will understand what I am talking about.
The music was placed where it was needed and appropriate and the cinematography was fantastic. The site for her journey down the river was beautiful, with a return to the same lovely scenery when her actual search begins. The landscapes and atmosphere are worth watching the movie in itself!
Although this was a low budget movie and her actions were sometimes foolish (as the director wanted them to be), you cannot help but start but wanting this dreamer and her antics to win the day!
I am going to have to find more films by Nishida Naomi and this movie's director, Yaguchi Shinobu.
By the way, the reason she got into college finally is typical comical gag, but it was done superbly by the bit player that pulled it off!
RE-WATCH VALUE: Definitely, especially with friends!
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This review may contain spoilers
Top Tier Drama
Promised and delivered. The love of these guys is so pure and real, the way they take care of each other and their friends, the way they look at each other... Top tier BL romance. The story picks up where S1 left off, with our boys temporarily living together. They are still very much in love, but the real world is slowly working its way into their lives. Old "friends" show up, doubts arise, Covid is raging. In the end they need to make a heartbreaking choice which left me ugly crying. There are some storylines that could have used more attention, but it doesnt take away from the rest. The love and lovemaking is exactly that. Lovemaking. Not sex, not lovescene. Not often do we see switches in BL. Usually just top/bottom This gave me joy! Thankfully I know theres going to be a S2 soon. Can't wait!Was this review helpful to you?
So bad
It was so bad I fast forwarded almost 45 minutes of the movie.Story
The story doesn’t make any sense, it started well but then they chose shortcuts after shortcuts and it just doesn’t-make-sense, after 1 hour of non sense I decided to fast forward many scenes that were painful to watch
For instance, once you’re in a hospital, then you’re in a shop, then you’re in a house, without explanation what’s so ever why you’re in a place then the other then another
It’s extremely not well edited
Characters
The relationship between characters doesn’t make any sense and one relationship is creepy
Decisions taken from the main character don’t make sense as well, she keeps on blaming people around her for a decision she actually took herself
Acting
The main guys are good, Xu Kai delivers as usual and is great and basically the only thing good in this movie
The main actress is alright
Everybody else performance was poor especially one of the mother but maybe not their fault, it was not well scripted, as they spend their time crying
Overall
It’s terrible
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A Look Into Anti-Imperialism in Japan
This is probably one of the most interesting documentaries I have ever had the pleasure of watching. How Okuzaki Kenzo goes about his crusade is very unrestrained and outward enough to make this film something of a spectacle. Unlike other documentaries with this kind of entertainment value, all of this is 100% real with the filmmakers giving all the freedom to Kenzo himself. Some of the stuff that happens in this film almost feel unbelievable enough to feel like its satire but its not, the filmmaker is on the side of Kenzo hence why he just let him go wild, I really like that about this film. The stance the film takes with how Kenzo is portrayed creates an open interpretation on how we see him. It's like meeting the real thing beyond his death. Kenzo passed in 2005 and this film is a highlight of his very odd life.Was this review helpful to you?
A crude depiction of what being different is in our society
A society that still has to evolve, that must learn to respect who is different and doomed to be outside the social canons. The story of a Transgender who tries to affirm his own identity in a society that does not even consider her human. The reality of those who live every day the nightmare of not belonging to "normality" as if "normality" could really exist. This film shows us how transphobia and the stigma (social disapproval) of being a transgender can cause non only physical and sexual violence but also various forms of economic, professional, educational, even medical and institutional forms of discrimination. This film depicts many aspects of these constant discriminations by describing the daily of the life of a transgender woman who tries to assert her identity in a world that does everything to deny her existence.Was this review helpful to you?
The biggest problem here is the script is just not good. I have a feeling it could have been something good with better writing and direction. A lot of it came across as cheesy when it was going for dramatic, which wasn't the actors's faults.
This was one of JCW's not-so-good roles for me. He was amazing with what he was given, but he wasn't allowed the chance to shine. If the production doesn't give the actor good editing and direction choices then how the actor's performance comes across after production is affected.
Anyway, this movie was mediocre at best. Not recommended unless you're looking for a thriller with an average script or have some extra time on your hands.
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My heart beat too fast watching this
The actors themselves are amazing itself, adding such a great plot of story. The effort of the production to make such a realistic movie, I really respect that! Well, the starting maybe a bit slow, but please watch till the end, as for me, the plot twist is so great, I definitely didn't expect that..! The thriller level is high! If you love thriller, should give this a try! Feel like everyone need to watch this now! This deserve to be played at all cinemas in my opinion! The ending are so suspicious, it make it like it have another sequel but at the same time it not, like it leave to the watcher to decide what will happen next. What are you waiting for, watch it and think what will happen next!Was this review helpful to you?
Geography 101
I was wondering why Father Oliver talks about his past in Montréal because the actor is French (he says a few french words and his accent gives him away). It finally made sense to me in the credits : the film is dedicated to the memory of "Father Père Robert Massé" (since Père means Father, it's like saying "Father Padre Gonzales" for a Spanish priest). This French-Canadian priest, born in 1941, belonged to the Clerics of Saint Viator congregation and spent many years in Taiwan where he taught music (many other Viatorians taught music). He was born in Saint-Barthélémy, a small city 80 km from Montréal. He did go back to Canada later in life but probably not to live with his lover since he was active as a priest until his death in 2013. You can see a picture of him at https://viateurs.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/messe-commemorative-robert-masse.pdf(Other linguistic detail : as a French-speaking Canadian, the priest's name would be Olivier instead of Oliver. )
I smiled at some details from the Québec sequence at the end of the movie. Chang Jia-han visits a gay bar in Québec City during daytime, then visits the Niagara Falls and is back at the gay bar in the evening (OK, probably not the same evening because he's not wearing the same shirt). He must own a supersonic jet because the Niagara Falls are 900 km away from Québec City. We also see two lesbians who seem to spend all their time at that bar because we see them in both sequences. And why does the manager ask Chang Jia-han to leave because he's about to close, while other customers are still at the bar ? The last scenes were filmed at the Place Royale in Old Québec where a short scene from Steven Spielberg's Catch Me If You Can was also shot (though it is supposed to depict Montrichard in France).
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