Reviews

I think this was a fun movie to watch. The beginning was unclear to me at first because I watched the movie in auto-generated English subtitles, but I understood a gist of the movie. The cinematography is really different than the American comedy movies I've watched so seeing it very beautifully visualize the "comedy" and punchlines is very unique. Usually American comedy movies are jarring and very quick paced including whippans and constant zoom ins and out. However, with this film, it's slow paced and uses the cinematography well to emphasize a point. It's like you're a part of the office group. There is some plot holes here and there within its narrative, but this movie is definitely for people who want a lighthearted movie. The acting was really good as well seeing how each characters react to certain situations, so that's what makes the movie funny.

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Suprisingly Liked It Alot ...

i really loved this j - movie alot, i haven't had much luck in the past finding a j - movie that i enjoyed especially on netlfix but i'm happy to have come across this one. there was nothing wrong about this movie and i hope to come across more movies like this in the future, so if yall have anuy recommendations on any movies like this (with a bit more romance) than i would love to hear what yall have. anyways, here's my rating's for all the categories.

Story: i really liked the story, u could say it's basic but i loved how they executed it. it wasn't scary at all but the doll and the girl combining into that THING was a bit creepy but even so i watched it for the time looping and the days resetting. i LOVE concepts like that where they have to start the day over like the movie " happy death day ". i just always find it interesting the concept ... no matter what genre goes with it.

Acting/Casting: the acting was solid noting special but nothing bad either. i liked it and i loved the casting. everyone was good looking, it's important that a cast is good looking ... idk i can't get into a movie if the main casting isn't good looking but i'm happy to see that it was, especially Maeda Gordon (he's cute!!). anyways if you are looking for a movie with a good-looking cast and an interesting plot line than this is it.

Rewatch Value: I think in the future i'll watch it again, that is if i remember but i think it would be nice to watch it with someone. i think that would be fun, but i'll eventually watch it about one more time though idk when that will be haha.

THIS IS THE GO TO DRAMA FOR ANYONE INTERESTED IN TIME LOOPING AND WANTS A DRAMA WITH A GOOD VISUAL CAST !!

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Simply wonderful

Ann Hui took a subject that could have been melodramatic and maudlin and handled it with subtlety and quiet grace. A Simple Life gave a glimpse into Hong Kong nursing homes and the challenges of caring for and taking care of the elderly. Andy Lau and Deanie Ip had a beautiful chemistry as boss/surrogate son and maid/surrogate mom.

Ah Tao has been serving the Leung family for 60 years going back to the Leung grandmother matriarch. She continues to work for Roger, the Leung son residing in Hong Kong-cooking, cleaning, and even nursing him after a heart attack. Roger is a film producer who often travels for his job yet he always knows an exquisite meal and sympathetic ear will be waiting for him when he returns home. On his latest trip Ah Tao has a stroke. Unwilling to be a burden she retires and decides to enter a nursing home. Roger checks the place out and tells her he will be visiting her. Unlike the sons of other residents, he keeps his word.

Ah Tao had always taken pride in serving Roger and his family. The role of being provided for was an unfamiliar and uncomfortable one. Though she often refused money, the sight of Roger visiting caused her eyes to light up. During the first scene of the film no words passed between them as Roger ate, now when he arrived, they ate together, laughed, and enjoyed each other’s company. Never ashamed of her, he called her his aunt when she accompanied him to a movie premiere.

The view into the nursing home was difficult. Ah Tao’s room was little more than a cubicle with a curtain for a door. She was around people in varying states from vegetative, with dementia, or still quite mobile. As people came and went, she knew one day she too would leave and not come back. Death was no stranger to the home. Ah Tao was feisty and generous, not letting anyone put her down. Even as her body deteriorated, her spirit soared. Though Roger doted on her, he never fussed over her, giving her the space and dignity she required. Deannie Ip gave a wonderfully complex performance as Ah Tao dealt with her health issues, adapted to life in the nursing home, and the change in her relationship with Roger. Lau’s Roger calmly accepted his role of caregiver without complaint as his character showed how much the older woman had come to mean to him.

Director Hui could have taken the easy path and attempted to manipulate the audience’s feelings. There was no hysterical crying or deep soul wrenching conversations. Instead, she portrayed Ah Tao’s health and future matter of factly. No evil nursing home personnel or family members tried to take advantage of her or come between her and Roger. Instead, the film focused on the universal challenges of growing older-facing deteriorating health, the financial and emotional costs, and how different families reacted to those challenges. In this slice of life, Ah Tao and Roger effortlessly displayed the ease of two people who loved and respected each other. At 2 hours the slow, character driven story might have been too long in someone else’s hands, but Ann Hui allowed her actors to shine as their characters showed the importance of loyalty and devotion especially in the difficult times in this touching film.

5 August 2024

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not awful, but not good

Could've been worse, but definitely also could've been a lot better. The story wasn't terrible but it wasn't particularly engaging either. I was only moderately entertained the whole time - enough not to turn it off, but not enough to really recommend it.

The music and visuals are somewhat decent, though the effects are pretty bad. The acting is okay, not great. There isn't even much to say about this movie except that somehow, I've seen worse, so it still gets a 6.5 from me.

Needs more mermaid content though, for a movie with mermaid in the title. Now THAT was the real disappointment.

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Relates to my life experience.

I really liked this movie, most of all I can really relate to the story of this movies. I've had really similar experience as shown in the movie, the only difference is that ML and FL both got a happy ending in the movie whereas in my case well you would've already guessed it.We do still keep in touch, and she is happy with her ML so, I guess it's all good...
While watching the movie I could actually see myself in Joon soo and I felt that my feelings were being portrayed by him towards her, how hurtful it was and how much I wanted her to respond to me , recognise my efforts , see me in a different light but not everything goes like the dramas in real life.
We have been friends for about eight years now and I think I have sorted out my feelings but I don't actually know.
So, this movie showed me the happy ending that I always wanted but was never able to reach to it.

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An anti-romance between two very broken people who “complete” each other

6/10 is my rating. This is a 2020 Japanese Romantic Drama with a run time of 3 hours and 52 minutes. Known under the Japanese title "Honki no Shirushi: Geijoban". This is an adaptation of a 2000 era manga by Fukada Koji that originally aired as a 10 episode mini-series.

First I provide a unique synopsis then review.

Synopsis

Tsuji Kazumichi (Win Morisaki) is in upper management at a business that sells toys and fireworks. His daily existence is very calm, ordinary and too predictable and he has several casual relationships. His life takes a dramatic turn when he encounters a troubled woman and saves her from tragedy. While he could have turned away after his heroic act he is drawn to the little bit of chaos that surrounds the beautiful and intriguing stranger. What follows is a tumultuous, and at times dangerous, romantic interlude that leaves them both forever changed. Prior to his encounter with Hayama Ukiyo (Kaho Tsuchimura) he spiced up his existence with romantic interludes with a couple of his office co-workers. He has a flirty relationship with his 24 year old Minako (Fukunaga Akari) and allows his more steady friends with benefits co-worker, the older woman, Ms. Naoko Hosokowa (Kei Ishibashi) to play housewife.

Review

This film was ranked among the top foreign films so I thought it would be heart-warming or at least an emotionally compelling romance. But you wind up asking yourself what you just watched. Early you may form an impression of Ukiyo as a damsel in distress and Tsuji as a knight in shining armor but that does not characterize either of them well. So you start out thinking you are watching one kind of movie and, mid-way, you realize it is not what you originally thought. It is an emotional ride but not, in my opinion, in a good way. I would not watch it again nor would I recommend it to anyone that likes romances or dramas on the lighter side. It has been termed an anti-romance and I would agree with that assessment. Some people like the darker content, exploring difficult topics, and/or experiencing many different realities. If you are okay with weighty emotional content and fractured personalities, you may like it. It just wasn't for me. I avoid these types of movies when I can as I am an empath, so I absorb a lot of the emotions. Which is okay when it evokes light-hearted emotions but not so good when it elicits darker emotions.

Spoilers

From the title you might think that Tsuji is going to move from the rather shallow relationships he has been participating in, to a deeper, more genuine connection. But you would be wrong. Actually, the bond between Tsuji and Ukiyo is toxic as neither of them turn out to be as noble as they first seem. They play this long push and pull game that is often as frustrating as it is un-nurturing. There is nothing wholesome or heart warming about the two of them together. I do not like dramas or sad movies and this is very dramatic and it is actually sad to see two people who are broken in so many ways bring out some of the worst aspects of each other. The movie attempts to show that only the two can truly understand one another as they come from a similar mental place but, from a psychological perspective, that type of relationship is always unhealthy.

The portrayal is the main characters are the users, but a closer examination reveals that the other people take advantage of the vulnerability of the two. This is alluded to when others say Tsuji is "too nice" and how Ukiyo is always compliant and apologetic. Tsuji and Ukiyo are both damaged in that they do not know themselves well, allow themselves to be steered by people and events, and are not happy in their current lives.

#TheRealThing #WinMorisaki. #KahoTsuchimura #FukunagaAkari.

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it took me 2 tries to finish cuz it was so long, tho the 1st half was too much talk and 2nd half too much action

for me, I was in it for BYH, I'm glad he's winning awards and praise for this, he wasn't portrayed as an evil villain demon, his character was a strategist, war is like a game and sport, there is a thrill in mind games, tho war is pure evil with ppl who don't want it are the ones fighting it and the ones who want it are safe in their castles..
so anyway, I teared up on the battle, it was balanced well in who had the upper hand and it was always heartbreaking when the tables turned. japan is wrong for attacking 1st, but did their soldiers have a say? sure even if 50% and even 90% were psychos, is death the only option for the ones forced to continue the flame of war

that being said, I do prefer historicals like this, doesn't have to be based on real events, breaking away from palace politics is nice. which just shows, in people on the same country/side also want war to gain what they want and they drag the rest with them,,

annnyyway, BYH and his adorable cheeks had more presence and charisma than almost all of the rest ;D

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A small pebble that turned into a massive avalanche.

The story was predictable and took way too long to start the revelation. I actually hate stories that could've been solved/stopped but maybe that person wanted the avalanche to happen
The ml was stupid tho, I mean they all were

His pov never made sense cuz, he's the guy🤣 making his mistress drive, telling her he wants to quit, and she says lets cover it up?

And lawyer saying she met the dad, but he never sused there's more to it? Especially after the guy said she's a reporter not a hotel reception 🤣
I also hate the "turns out to not be dead but couldn't go back"🤡
The mood got me, 5, 4, 6, 9, 3, and a 9ish🤣 atleast I'm glad it didn't turn ugly with mass murders at the end, I actually think the villains worse punishment is getting caught

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It was a bit sad for the sake of it. I'm not cruel, it's just the pacing was convenient and he was a 70 ish year old dude there were more than 1 chance to take him down
jason was added for the youthful eye and to give freddie a bit of a soft grandpa vibe which it helped but again they just happened to work at Fridays
I wanted a bit more depth, especially with both their families. I wanted a bigger team to atleast make their schemes believable
Anyway sungmin ahjussi deserves a daesang or 10.. and the writer certainly hit the jackpot with this cute little duo. Since the story lacked relativity, the 2 actors pulled it off well
I don't like sad for the sake of tears, like sure I was heartbroken but they dragged it a bit and the ending felt empty I wish they made a bigger movement

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It was fine, basic, but suddenly near the 1 hour 20min it's getting incredibly dumb🤡
I mean the writing and dialog is so rigid, like puppets just there to say their lines, and fl, her friend and our psycho all act like dimwitted 20 year olds but as a process of "stealing infos" it is something we're actively advised to take it consideration so it could've been interesting but...

I mean it was stupid when the cop was shown to be ml's dad who suses him right away...
And like sure fl's dad has to tell her new guy is sus but dude is like og tobby Spiderman 2 when he got the black powers and started dancing but girls thought he looked weird, oily cheesy
That's how siwan was being. Over confident in a tiny geek is sus af

But at the 1h22m mark, they stop him b4 he goes into fls house. Rookie cop mistake. But he goes, I'm not him you guys are sus and walks away? A suspect of 7 murders? Walks away with a "nope you're wrong"?

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All ma dongsuk movies blur into one world🤣 mom got sulky when I said I’d watch slam dunk, and I didn’t wanna leave her for 2 hours so I chose this instead
She still sulked 🫡

It was pretty basic, madongsuk beats ppl, ppl beat ppl and madongsuk still beats ppl that beat ppl
It had a couple of funny scenes,
“-shibal bar? -No, that’s cyber bar”
And the motel scene had me laughing 😭😭🤣
The cinema was small and had a few Koreans so actually with the bad short subs, we were the only ones getting some jokes
I think they need more characters to stand by him, like it became a recurring joke that his partners came in after he beat everyone up, so it was funny but 1on1 will always have a btch slap KO from dongsuk
We laughed at ma ha cuz that’s actually a girl name here, and my uncle’s wife, and ma dongsuk was like “we share the same surname” so ppl laughed for different reasons 😂

Also lee joonhyuk is HOT, but here he felt basic, not threatening enough or as crazy as the previous two main villains, just bland, even my mom was like “all those villains feel the same”

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Heartbreaking heartwarming and devastating
The vague ending did make me lower the point

I need to add, I appreciated the, receptionist(?) the guy barely had any importance but whenever he told the mom it’s ok to talk slowly and take her time, that one move showed humanity

I don’t like open endings

Like was it all the bright side dream hope that the baby gets adopted and she lives her life again
It makes sense that her letter to her cell mates was cuz she’s not coming back anyway as her sentence ended.
And her heartbeat didn’t fade, but then again Koreans love the “it’s all a dream” so I don’t like that move

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Too over animated for a live action honestly the rainbow blood would’ve made more sense than the shark🤡

They did way too much but it was barely 18 dreams, sometimes it was more cartoonish than the anime eve tho they removed a bit from the 4eps I’ve seen
And the superhero bit also cheapened this

I hate how they whisper then suddenly scream, I’ll increase the volume and they scream… I lower it down and they whisper 😭

Anyway he’s doing more of his bucket list here which felt like a mood, they are being “itchi?” with their shots but it for sure is tuned down tho I haven’t reached “ep3” and the motel yet🤡

There’s one thing tho, Japanese ppl for sure don’t know how to style hair, the fl had a bob but this was such a mop.. not trying to be racist idk they have like soft hair but they style it so badly, idk maybe they have naturally thin hair and don’t like extensions

Also sad the rainbow blood isn’t here, for the anime I wondered if he’s imagining it, so he thinks there’s a zombie apocalypse and he goes around stealing or well killing ppl he hated🤣🤷‍♀️
And their zombies are dumb af All Of Us Are Dead is crying in a corner 🤣

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