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Needed more character development
The movie attempter through use of flashback to show why the FL was so attached to her drama teacher. but we never understand fully what the teacher's wife did and what was his motivation/continued emotional connection to her (I was not clear whether she killed his mother or just set fire to their shed). I think she would have had deeper feeling for her boyfriend as he was so in love with her and she was supposed to be very needy. If you have something else to watch. I would not waste my time unless you like kinda dark, depressive. unclear movies to discuss later with others.Was this review helpful to you?
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The action in this movie was absolutely incredible but I missed some deeper character moments. Like...Were the Ajin truly colder than humans? What happened to Kei and Eriko's parents? Why did Izumi work for Tosaki and the department that experimented on Ajins when she was an Ajin herself, how could she have just stood by and watched them do that to people like her? Etc. etc...
I think my favorite moments were the back-n-forths between Nagai Kei and Satou because Satou was a fantastic villain, deranged, sure, but you got where he was coming from and why he was so gung-ho about killing humans. Their scenes were the best part of the movie.
And then the scene at the end, when Tosaki betrayed Kei. Did he actually feel regret? We didn't really find out anything about Tosaki's motives so it was hard to say for sure but... did he feel regret about betraying Kei after everything he had done for them? It sure looked so but, well, he was as disgusting as everyone else who participated in those experiments, Izumi included, so... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
But honestly? I was glad that both Kei and Satou escaped at the end. I usually like for the bad guys to get what they deserve but here...
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Beautifully strange
Echoing comments that I've seen about this short film : yes, it is weird. Though I believe bizarre would be a more fitting term. But what a splendid gem of a bizarrerie.Everything is meant to evoke the uncanny ; from the eerie sound design every time U moves or speak, to the unbridled, mad, incoherent editing. I was so confused on my first watch but intrigued enough to watch it a second time, paying more attention to the fine details that are easily missed in the chaos, and I can definitely say that I love it. Warmly recommended to people who love strange yet thoughtful bite sized cinema.
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Best chinese movie I have ever watched!!
Just got done watching it so everything is still fresh in my mind. The acting is great. Even when they had a blank face, you can tell exactly what they were feeling and it was enough to make me cry. This is probably the saddest movie I have ever watched. I ugly cried continuously most of the time. The storyline was so sad. Amazingly directed. I would rewatch this like 50 times straight and still not get bored. I came across this when I was looking for a similar movie to Better Days and I have to say, this is actually better. If you guys watched these and you know more movies or shows like this, PLEASE TELL ME BECAUSE I'M DYING TO FIND ANOTHER ONE. You can really feel all the emotion building up from the start of the movie to the point she killed herself. It was really realistic too. When she realized she had something against her bully who leaked her secret to everyone, she actually threatened to tell everyone. In most other movies, they would say something stupid like "Don't worry, I won't tell. I won't stoop as low as you" but this was way better. I feel like all of us would've at least scared the bully by threatening to tell everyone just like she did in the movie. This was the best thing my eyes have ever witnessed and everyone should watch it ASAP.Was this review helpful to you?
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Important Representation
I'm not gonna lie this is mainly going to be me giving opinions about the asexual rep found in this movie, since I'm an asexual myself. I'm going to try not to spoil things, but if you want to go in blind stop reading here, just go watch it becuse tl;dr this movie is good and the ace + poly rep is A+.What makes me super happy about this movie is that beyond just being excited to see myself on screen, my identity was talked about in a caring, knowledgeable manner. I was worried going into this that they'd present the "solution" to the problem in their throuple as Minho just having sex with them regardless. Thankfully that wasn't the case, and we got good discussions about his boundaries, and what he was curious about/the things he wanted to try with them and what things were most likely off the table. The power was always in Minho's hands.
Side note, the first scene where we see he likes to take pictures of his partners was actually a really nice detail! The indication that he had aesthetic attraction towards them and expressed this through photography was something I appreciated. Some people who are trying to give asexual representation sometimes don't acknowledge the split attraction model, so seeing this director understand that he can still have aesthetic attraction was really nice.
Honestly, Minho is probably one of the best aces i've seen portrayed, because while he shone a light on the asexual experience, it never felt like an "Asexual 101" that some characters devolve into. He wasn't a vague ace, but he also wasn't a "teaching prop" ace. You could see him as a proper, fleshed out person. We saw him talk about his boundaries, we saw him express his love in other ways, he talked about his curiosity, and even the moments where he hated himself rang painfully true.
To talk about his partners, there's one whose name I didn't catch but don't have much to say on. He was the calm, caring one who was attuned to the feelings of both of his partners, and was definitely the glue. As for Seongjin, his behaviour at the beginning initially bothered me, because his frustration came out in the form of slight aphobia. Not in a strong sense, he knew what asexuality was and acknowledged that was part of who Minho was and he loved him, but he was was often frustrated that there were so many things Minho didn't like him doing and verbalized it and that made Minho sad which made the other partner upset as well. The more I watched though, I could see that it was because Seongjin's love language was physical contact, and so was at a loss of how to express his love towards Minho when kissing and sex were taken off the table. That wasn't put forward like an excuse, but I did understand the reasons behind his behaviour better. This died down later anyways as they all began to strike a balance, discovering the other ways they can all express their love for one another.
Is it odd to say the ending made me tear up a bit? I just really liked the fact that Minho wanted to try something, and felt safe to ask his partners to help him explore this. It was a great moment full of so much love..
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Mei & Takumi’s acting.
I truly loved how they did their roles. I never saw Nagano Mei doing roles like this before so personally I was really excited to see how she did and I loved it. Takumi’s role is not so different from others, yet, it still had me speechless many times.I was TOTALLY crying when Mamizu passed away and Takuya didn’t even cry.... I was like, ur girl just died but u didn’t cry?!?! But I still understood his character easily. I wasn’t mad at him for not crying but I was a little surprised.
Their acting overall wasn’t perfect but it wasn’t so bad either, I think they did a good job in their own potraying such roles so, in my opinion, this movie is really worth it. You get to see a new side of Nagano Mei so you will like it definietly.
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Prepare Yourself
This movie was a lot to take in. Honestly going through the whole thing was painful because of how much emotion it was able to evoke. It was such a good movie and I don't regret watching it, but be prepared going in to deal with a lot of conflicting emotions and to walk away from watching it feeling the same way. It's an incredible watch that reflects some of the harsh realities of life as well as the impossible choices or situations people encounter,. The ending is very open ended, the way issues in real life often are, with the situation left in a messy and somewhat unresolved and conflicting state while also leaving some room for hope. Overall, great movie, but you have to be prepared to watch something that will make you mad, sad and frustrated all at once.Was this review helpful to you?
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Story & Characters (6/10) How many points does your ideal boyfriend deserve? What percentage fits him the most? In the Chinese movie: Love With Numbers, the female lead gives and deducts points to her athletic boyfriend. The female lead is trying to portray a calculative girl who demands her boyfriend to fit her ideal standards by giving and deducting points. Later she realizes that the male lead always believes she fits the 100% mark because he is satisfied with her qualities. The female lead learns to cherish her partner for who he is. Love is immeasurable.
The movie teaches us to cherish our current partners, and to be satisfied with our lovers. Also, love can not me measured as a numerical value.
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What a amazing chill movie
I loooved this movie . Josses omg her character was everything. I love how the relationship build between the two and the way this was filmed. I love chill movies like theses and I loooved the ending . Even though they didn’t end up together because she broke things off (I loved that scene by the way I felt that when he cried ugh) and yeon seok the main characters who played the guy falling for her, In my eyes he can do no wrong.And I liked how she became independent at the end. she starts off just going through life not wanting to leave the house. And the at the end she’s all out and about driving!!!! I was like ok girl!!! Get it get it!!!
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Neat Concept and Balanced Story
I really liked the concept where the lead character's opinion of the train station basically mirrors the thoughts of a viewer. In other words, he imagines how a romance could ever happen in such a location in a clever irony. The transition in his thoughts, framing of the scenes, and music all blended well together. I also like the idea of a location becoming romantic with the right person and events versus being inherently romantic. Overall, for its length, I thought the story wasn't too ambitious or too little, too sappy or too corny. It was just right for me.Was this review helpful to you?
Failed in Delivery
The storyline had potential and there was some cast that could've added to it, but the directors and writers failed. High school students that are athletes at the very least understand strategy and use the strengths of the people they have. But that was ignored. I watched the whole thing, but even the impossible odds didn't show much growth for the student characters. The action was okay, but overall was disappointing. Not worth rewatching. Even the "special effects" to show the time change, were completely lame.Was this review helpful to you?
Poly & Ace Representation!
Overall: Though there are areas they could improve on, I'm giving this a 9 because it has poly and ace representation which is rare. I really wish this was a whole series and we were able to see how their relationship started and what happens after this short film because 18 minutes was definitely not long enough. Also, the filmmaker received $638 USD to make this film as part of a Matchbox competition and I'm extra impressed with that budget. Purchased for $3.88 USD and watched on Vimeo.Content Warnings: none
What I Liked:
- they did give some information about asexuality, especially Minho's conversation with his friend (though the acting seemed a bit wooden there)
- I liked the times that they had good communication*
- the reference to Long Time No See (it was the movie that they were watching, I've watched it so many times I recognized it just by the sound lol)
- production value is good considering they had almost no budget
Room For Improvement:
- I didn't really like that quote at the beginning which makes it seem that polyamory is almost here. It's here and it's been here since the dawn of time.
- it was an odd way to start. I don't like when people take pictures of sleeping people and I wasn't sure how the two knew each other.
- *on the couch at the beginning, do the other two not know what Minho likes/dislikes/boundaries??? Why haven't they had conversations about this? Also, that conversation in the bar seemed odd. Wouldn't the two of them discussed it beforehand? (though I did like the follow up conversation they had later).
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Hilarious entertaining heist
It is great to watch when you're bored or when you just want to have fun. It was a great idea of them to use factual artifacts as it gave knowledge in a way and helped the movie to become less nonsensical.The color saturation they used wasn't much intense so it felt gloomy and of low quality. Other than that all is great. The pace was perfect, the camera angles were good, and especially the actors, they were very hilarious and all of them blended well with each other.
Side note: The moment I knew it will be about revenge I felt dismay but it did not affect the movie in a bad way.
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Unfinished
The Show Just Felt Unfinished. It Was A Good Idea And The Fact He Was A Cop Was Interesting But There Was So Much Left Unexplained. Like What Case He Was Kicked Off Of. How He Knew The Guy Was Selling Himself. Also How He Magically Became Gay Even Though He Was Disgusted At First. There Was Just So Much Detail Missing. It Kinda Felt Like The Writter Had An Idea And Never Got To Finesh It And Instead Just Released It . It Could've Been Great. It Also Felt Like A Psa That Men Can Be Raped Too Which I Loved The Message But We Didn't Get To See The Guy Arrested Or Anything. Or How The Police Found Out. Like I Said It Was Severely Unfinished.Was this review helpful to you?
