Reviews

Such a raw and amazingly done movie

I'm going to keep this short. When i first heard the story of this movie, I was already hooked. Cha Woo Sol's backstory was so raw and well acted, It felt like this wan't just a movie. I also liked everyone's acting because I could feel every emotion the characters were feeling. The hatred i felt for Bae Seok Chan was too much to describe. I am really impressed on how well he did to portray this character. Jung Do Hyun was seen as his cold, rude person that most people feared. Only later on did he ease up to Cha Woo Sol. This shows that he was always a good person. Anyways, if you are wondering if you should watch it or not, you definitely should. But be careful because there are quite some seems that may trigger some people.

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I would not be overstating it to say that Only Cloud Knows is overly sentimental and manipulative. I would also not be overstating it to say, if you like romantic movies that it works.

The story begins with a man who had lost his wife revisiting places she loved with her ashes. Throughout the movie as he met people, he told them about different parts of their relationship in sweeping flashback. There was nothing extraordinary about this devoted couple, but it was their devotion to each other through the years that made it meaningful.

Both characters, originally from Beijing, met in New Zealand and worked to find their way in their new country. They assimilated fairly easily, making good friends and starting their own business. However, Luo Yun, the wife, quietly struggled with their idyllic life in a remote town where they ran a small restaurant. Sui Dong Feng, the husband, was the practical sort who found the best in whatever situation he was in. Yang Cai Yu and Huang Xuan had a gentle chemistry that made something magical out of their characters' ordinary existence.

New Zealand should have been listed as a character as there were many shots of its gorgeous scenery, whether green bucolic fields, panoramic mountains, the Southern Lights or oceanic whale watching shots.

The OST was also saccharinely emotional, but fit the mood perfectly. The cinematography bestowed lush, warm shots, nestling us into the embrace of Yun and Dong Feng's life. I could almost feel the director pushing me toward tears, something I usually fight off. Instead of rolling my eyes, I found myself reaching for a tissue at several key moments. If the story was predictable, it also felt sincere in the lavish telling of this couple's love story.

Though dealing with the death of a loved one, Only Cloud Knows avoided melodrama and became a celebration of life and love instead.

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Confusing

Take Point (2018) aka PMC: The Bunker

I had to pause this movie after watching for 10 minutes because I didnt understand what was happening. So i had to search google for the plot. (I watched this mainly because Ha Jung Woo looked hot with this haircut lol)

So this movie is about a group of illegals hired by US to fake kidnap the King so that the current president will gain sympathy and the votes in the upcoming elections (or so i thought haha the plot was so confusing!). But the kidnapping failed when there was another group who set the trap and almost killed the King. Now US wants to abort and bury the mission by leaving Ahab's team to fend on their own.

With a bad leg, Ahab had to manage the whole operation in a room, instructing his team on what to do, fighting off the hostiles, while trying to revive the King. Good thing he was able to work with the NK doctor and try to get out of the place.

This action thriller felt too long, with so many things happening - elections, kidnapping, north korea, china, illegals, betrayal, manipulation etc. I was mostly curious how he will get out alive. Ahab is brave and decisive, even when it's a matter of life and death, he chose to save his team up to the last minute. Didnt expect that his parachute story will happen again in the third act, but it was impressive for Ahab to save himself, and two other people while falling down from the plane! (Just like Mission Impossible). Also liked the bromance between Ahab and the NK doctor.

The camera was shaky and made me dizzy at times, but I think it was meant as if we were there inside the room, so it wasnt such a big deal to me.

Rating: 7.5/10

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A warm and fuzzy coming out to mother short film

Been long since I watched a film regarding coming out to parents so I was really interested in watching it.

Quite a basic coming out story that contains typical elements like uncertainty of how the parent would feel, hesitation during the confession etc. Although typical, it's very well executed via the acting and the filming style.

Coming from an Asian country myself and also speaking Mandarin and Hokkien in my daily life, it really gave the "at home" feeling throughout the whole film and the conversation of the son with his mom touched me at some point in the short film.

A slight criticism I have will probably be the confession part, which was a bit abrupt and then it did not exactly showcased the mother's reaction as a result of the indirect confession. Found it slightly awkward at that part but otherwise, this film like I said in the post title, gives me a fuzzy feeling maybe because of the way they film it and familiarity of the languages.

Interesting to note that the actress for the mother has also appeared in other BL films like Your Name Engraved Herein and Be Loved (drama). The married daughter also appeared in We Best Love as Shu Yi's female crush. Happy to see familiar faces in the Taiwan BL industry :)

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This movie is the first ever movie that will make me cry. I cried for 5 straight minutes. I was soo heartbroken and wasn't expecting that ending.

This movie is one hall of a scary movie. The plot and acting was so great. Almost everyone made a sacrifice just so the other person can survive. Those scenes were really heart touching and heartbreaking. The last scene where the pregnant woman and the kid were passing through a tunnal was 😭. The little kid was singing and damn i broke down into tears. Even now that im dropping my review, im near tears.

This movie is 10/10. REALLY GREAT!!

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This movie is not meant to be a religious allegory or a faithful adaption of the book. It should be viewed as a fantasy and a potential blockbuster made for mass consumption.

As a fantasy, it failed spectacularly. It failed to be an immersive experience. The celestial palaces, the demon’s lair, and Hua Guo Mountain looked more like backdrops. You didn’t feel like to you could step through the screen and into this world. The problem was with the poor designs, not the CGIs itself. I’ve seen movies/series with low-tech effects that still managed to make it work.

They hired very capable actors, but all of the performances felt very superficial. I totally blame this on the directing. Casting Donnie Yen as Sun Wu Kong was pointless, since he didn’t really get to show off his fighting skills and choreography. Maybe this was why they replaced him with Aaron Kwok in the sequel.

I will end this review on a positive note. This was a high budget production with great looking actors.

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A short historical baihe with some plot and many cute scenes in it to keep it interesting

The acting is pretty nice and the main characters have good chemistry with each other. The romantic scenes are really nice and made my heart skips a beat.
The OST is wonderful, and I really love the historical setting, the place itself and the clothing that the characters wear are really beautiful. The story is good too for a short movie, there's some drama and twist too. There's a lot of cute scenes between the main leads, and I'm actually surprised that they put a kissing scene too in this short movie, that's nice. Overall this is a good historical baihe short movie.

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Decent horror film with a close-ended plot for beginners

I saw this movie on Netflix' Top 10 for more than a week now so I have decided to give it a try. Horror is not really a go-to on my watchlist but for a change I have picked this one.

For starters, the horror on this movie is at least 3 out of 10 so for horror seekers looking for the screams and heart racing, this might not be your cup of tea.

The story is definitely a slowburn. A lot of scenes doesn't makes sense and the way they reacted to the things happening around them. Acting is barely tolerable but still decent. If you watch it, you'll get what I mean.

What I liked on this movie though is that most of the questions about the main plot has been answered. I really like movies that gives me peace of mind after I watch them so it kind of get better for me towards the end. The revelations are just mind blowing. It was definitely unexpected.

If you just want a light horror to watch, I recommend this. This can be a good horror for a beginner. For me the story is decent enough for this to be worth the watch.

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a really good movie

This movie definitely deserves praise. I went in to watch this after finishing Police University. It was a good story, with good action and awesome acting by Seo Joon Park. Well, I wasn’t able to recognize Ha Neul Kang, he looked so slim and that military hairstyle suited him so much. The bromance was awesome.

The story felt as if the students might run away from the university as I interpreted it from the title but here the students chase after bad people to save a girl, but come across a gang and then fight with all their might risking their future as police officers. They show what they had learned in the university and also what they want to do in the future if they become police officers.

If one wants to watch some fun but with some serious story, this MIDNIGHT RUNNER is a good option.

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one hell of a tear jerker

Story: They really had me in the first half ngl. The first 30mins was like pure comedy, making me think that this was the overall tone of the story but heck i was wrong man. The next 1h30mins had alot of sad romance + jumpscares and fantasy elements involved. I cried twice during this movie and it was the first time ive cried over a movie. (ps i watched this ystd at the cinema so the scenes are still fresh in my head) However, there are a few plot holes in the movie which explains the 9/10 and not 10/10. I will not be going into detail as it would count as a spoiler. The ending was also kind of confusing to me but i understand why it was made this way.

Acting: Vivian Sung and Kai Ko, two fantastic actors placed together in a movie would definitely result in a banger. Their acting felt so genuine that during the sad scenes, i couldnt help but cry along with them. One complain i have is that despite Gingle Wang being the FL, she got less screen time than Vivian Sung who was the second FL which was quite absurd imo... They could've extended the movie abit, showing more romantic interactions between our ML and FL in their future life.

Soundtrack: Just amazing. When it started playing during one of the sad scenes in the movie, i immediately teared up. Its called Red Scarf/Ru Guo Ke Yi by WeiBird

Rewatch value: I personally dislike rewatching movies/shows but i think this show is worth rewatching after a long time.

Overall: If you are looking for a comedic/horror/thriller/fantasy + sad romance show with superb acting, you have came to the right place! As long as you ignore the few minor plot holes and illogical moments, you will be able to enjoy this masterpiece to the fullest :)

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You're kidding me right?

If you are the kind of person that feels sick when they watch "shaky" movies/shows, pass this movie up. I wish I had known how shaky the camera was... would have saved me from the massive headache I'm rocking right now.

If you get passed the shake and headache, the storyline seems pretty promising and interesting... for the most part.
But ... There are still way to many questions that need answers. I admit, I would have rated this a lot higher had it not ended the way it did. We find out what happened - sure. But we get no justice in it and honestly the ending left me completely disgusted and horrified. The fact people got away makes me sick to my stomach.
And also we never get answers for why Tang did what she did. I don't understand the ending. I wish it had explained the reason for that.
I think there is a lot more I want to touch on but I can't get the ending driver out of my head and it makes me want to vomit.

Other than all this, the "horror" part was pretty touch and go. It started out promising but by the middle, I started to speed the movie up... and by the end, it was at 2x speed. So the pace along with the shake, made it go down drastically.
Also kinda wish we knew who made the game and WHY. So yeah, there are a lot of questions I still have. lol

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Chaotic

This is a chaotic story with lot of crackhead energy, about a bunch of (I'd say virile) people. The plot is driven by bunch of misunderstandings. With an ending that I personally believe is a neatly tied up in a bow - meaning I don't have much complaints.

Story:
About a couple , just over 20 years into marriage with a passionate love life and "free" style of parenting.
Plot mainly focuses on how their lives change when the husband's childhood neighbor (who was also his ex) moves back to the house next door. The confusions and chaos, is particularly helped by the unexpectedly mature-for-her-age and imaginative youngest child.

Side plot focuses on lives of each of the couple's children - which kept the story pretty much interesting.

Acting:
Personally, liked work of all actors. Each have done their character justice.

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