Reviews

Contemplative, if not everyone's cup of tea

Maybe it is best to start off with what this film is not. It is not a movie with an engaging storyline, full of suspense, twists and action. And while it may be classified as a film with LGBTQ+ themes, it is not too focused on LGBTQ+ issues either. The film may not live up to expectations because of what it is not, but it is also beautiful in its own way.

The film has quite a number of characters though the ones who take up most of the screen time are the old man and the teenager. It is just that there isn't that much of a narrative where these two characters are concerned. The old man takes buses and inexplicably spits in the buses, to the chagrin of the bus drivers and other passengers. A teenager, who is trying to record evidence of her father having an affair, sneaks into the old man's apartment without permission because it offers a good view of the adulteress' apartment. However, she accidentally leaves her phone in the old man's apartment and when she tries to retrieve it, the old man damages it, so she keeps harassing him for payment or to let her use his apartment for her self-imposed task of catching her father in bed with the woman he is having an affair with.

In many ways, the film foregrounds the distance between people in society. There is so much going on in the lives of people around us, but do we really ever stop to care? If we see the old man spitting in a bus, do we stop to wonder if he may be someone with a sad story or do we simply feel disgusted and wish that he does not bother us? The teenager does not make an effort to understand her mother; neither does the teenager's brother and father. She is feeling dissatisfied with her life, envying a friend who has some sort of a career while she only gives piano lessons to a young man hoping to be a star. On the other hand, perhaps people also prefer to keep things to themselves. The teenager's mother does try to find out what she has been doing, but she is impatient and irritated by the motherly questions. The teenager's brother and the mother's piano student are gay and in a relationship, but the mother has to find out in a most awkward way--just as she starts taking a romantic interest in the student (perhaps psychologically explainable as a sort of a bid to re-live the youth she has lost). So lonely as we might be, there are probably things that we prefer to leave unsaid. After all, we live in a society with people who can mercilessly gossip about and judge others, such as when people speculate that the teenager is an underaged prostitute who has been going to the old man's house to provide her services.

The film, nevertheless, is humane in its portrayal of the plethora of characters, showing their dark secrets without judging them. Perhaps there is a personal risk in opening up to others, but it can also forge a connection between people, as the old man does when he reveals to the teenager that he is transgender when he tries to advise her not to hurt herself more by exposing her father's adultery to the rest of the family. The film ends ambivalently, with the old man seeming to be on the verge of suicide when the teenager appears and calls out to him. She walks towards him, stops some distance away, and the film ends. Is it the connection between them that is emphasized or the distance between them that is emphasized?

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Super problematic movie!!!

I've never written reviews for dramas but this show is so messed up, it basically forced me to write one. Btw, tonnes of spoilers ahead, so beware!!!

First of all, the intent of the movie is quite clear and a lot of people will realise that what it's trying to show is that inner beauty is what matters and that even after changing your outer appearance, you cannot change yourself. But what it really shows is that no matter how talented you are, you cannot fulfill your dreams and cannot have a normal social life, unless and until you fit into the beauty standards. And the movie makes this message so prominent that the inner beauty and stuff is pushed to the back of our minds and ultimately out of it.

Throughout the movie, we are being told that confidence is what matters, as long as you have it, nothing else matters. But that is always preceded by the fact that unless you look drop dead gorgeous, you cannot have confidence. So plastic surgery is always the answer.

And then there's the lift scene, VICTIM BLAMING at its finest. When will people understand that IF A GIRL GETS ASSAULTED, IT'S NOT HER FAULT. IT'S THE CULPRIT'S FAULT. That girl is allowed to wear whatever she wants, be it a short skirt or a crop top. I know that scene was probably for purposes of hilarity, but it sends the wrong message, and people tend to adapt to those messages.

Then there's the scene with the delivery guy, where he is seen stalking the female lead, but she ends up defending him saying he doesn't have any other ways to express his feelings and all that nonsense. Seriously, what was up with that?? What was the scene even trying to tell us?? That if a weirdo ends up stalking you, it's because he has pure, unadulterated love for you and you shouldn't blame him for that?? That you're allowed to stalk people?? That scene was super creepy and I genuinely hope that nobody takes any sort of advice from it. YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO STALK ANYBODY. IF ANYBODY IS STALKING YOU, THIS PERSON DOES NOT HAVE ANY PURE INTENTIONS TOWARDS YOU AND YOU SHOULD RUN LIKE YOUR HOUSE IS ON FIRE AND REPORT THIS PERSON. This might actually be a super scary scene for someone, and this movie basically made a joke out of it by trying to show how compassionate the female lead is. There are millions of other ways in which they could have shown that.

There are a lot more problems with the movie which I would list if I wasn't so tired, frustrated and pissed off at it.

The only redeeming quality of this movie was the music. But not enough to make me entertain even the thought of re-watching it. And the music was superb, so you can only imagine how bad the movie was.

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Had the potential

As it is, the short movie is can be rather touching in how it portrays the plight of Light, the main character, who has been through a lot in life, including being abused by his stepfather and having to prostitute himself for money (which the same stepfather demands for). He longs for love, but will he get it from the person who shows him concern, and will it last?

Light is a character who is easy to sympathize with. There are some moments of overacting, but Jed Chung manages to convey the character's vulnerability and yearning. Unfortunately, while there are commendable attempts to be economical in fleshing out his back story, sometimes the character ends up incoherent. The way he taunts a customer and the fragility he displays as he gets beaten up, for instance, don't cohere very well without more shown about how he has changed over time as he has to deal with a life in the streets.

The gaps in the portrayal of the other main character, Shuo, are even more obvious. I could only make sense of what is going on because I had read the synopsis of the film, and a lot more needs to be shown about his struggles and his feelings towards Light. The film appears conspicuously incomplete when we see how there is obviously supposed to be a lot more about the Shuo that is somehow not filmed or not included in the 44-minute cut (more likely the former).

I was very much prepared for a tragic ending in this film, perhaps ending with Light's death under yet another person who is violent to him or Shuo's death as his job as a policeman puts him in danger (something which is hinted at). It was a pleasant surprise for me to see the film having a happy ending though the ending appears a little too hurried, like so many aspects of the film. This is a shame for we clearly have a team that is capable of doing more and exploring the nuances of emotions. For instance, when Light first initiates sex with Shuo, why did Shuo refuse to do it even though he was clearly aroused? Was he in denial or his own feelings or did he not want to treat Light as a prostitute by letting Light "repay" his kindness with his body?

This is a film one would love to be able to love more, but it feels incomplete, leaving one dissatisfied while craving for more.

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An Underrated Realistic Love Story.

I first came across this movie in the MDL article, Underrated Movies with Low number of Watchers. Honestly, it deserves to be on that list. I decided to give this a try because I'm watching an airing drama of the FL and wanted to see her other works. Her acting in the drama is very convincing, but in this movie, she was wonderful! And not just her, the ML too was just as wonderful! Their acting, cinematography, and direction are all really good.
The storyline might be something very usual but what makes the movie unusual is its realistic approach to the love story. While I'm not really fond of works that don't end on a happy note, this is an exception. What really caught my eye was the title. I've always heard others say, Love brings people together but here, it's the opposite.
Life isn't a bed of roses and despite the harsh work circumstances, Lu Qin Yang stays true to his values and Ling Yi Yao waits patiently for him. They love each other to the point that she is ready to leave her house for him after her mom is not quite happy about their relationship and he goes to great lengths to earn enough money just so he can give her a comfortable life. Eventually, it's the same love that drives them apart.
Although it made me bawl my eyes out, I'm not really pleased with the ending. From the comments, it seems like an open ending and that relieved me a teeny tiny bit.
But I recommend watching this if you don't mind such endings because the movie, in general, was satisfying.

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Not your typical BL, but it makes you think

This is an extremely interesting movie. Only watch if you are 18+ because there are actual sex scenes in this (No penises or anuses but naked bodies and sexual acts). Not sure if this is enjoyable for female BL fans, as a gay man I enjoyed it tho. While there are numerous sex scenes, the actual underlying theme is really interesting and also well integrated into the whole movie. This movie really caught me by surprise numerous times as the characters. did things differently than what you would expect.

The underlying theme is life and death, and how even if you have lost everything, ending your life is not the answer as it will not bring back anything you lost. I will not explain all of the ways this theme presents itself, it is quite geniusly done in the movie. I highly recommend people to watch this movie if they are comfortable with watching gay 18+ scenes, as the story and theme is fascinating. Before watching I thought this was simply some gay pornographic movie with little story, but I was very wrong about this. If compared with "Pornographer", the Japanese BL movie about an author of erotic books, this movie "Sei no Gekiyaku" is a lot more grounded and everything makes more sense than in Pornographer.

The movie is a lot to process but I am very happy I watched it.

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Dumplings anyone?

The Name is a heartwarming and bittersweet love story built on longings and lies.

Ri Ae offers Cheol Woo a small fortune for him to create 20 paintings and let her sign her name to them for an art exhibit. Living in what amounts to an artistic coffin in the park, Cheol Woo ultimately, if not reluctantly, agrees to being a ghost painter. Of course, not all is what it seems with the two characters.

The Name's plot is quite simplistic, with well used tropes and twists that can be seen from a mile/km away. The characters have some growth, but little depth. Cheol Woo's supposedly ground breaking artistic style peaked quite awhile back in the real world, but I understand they needed art for the displays.

Romantic movies whether comedy or tragedy succeed or fail on the chemistry of the leads, something The Name succeeded with for the most part. Jeon So Min gave a nice but not overly wrought performance as a woman with a complicated relationship with her mother, who was dealing with her own health concerns, and living with unrealized dreams. Choi Jung Won gave a charming turn as the down on his luck but rarely down in his mood artist whose success was just always out of reach. The remaining cast give perfunctory if not inspired performances.

If you are looking for something new and innovative, this is not it, unless you haven't watched many dramas. If you are looking for a comfortable, familiar romance with two likable actors this is just the ticket.

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In times of vulnerability

I usually do not write reviews but on Dramacool someone quoted Melissa Vice's comment from Youtube and it is so beautiful and says it all that I had to add it here as well:
"I remember this movie when it first came out in 2012. I had a different outlook on the bittersweet ending that seemed more bitter at the time than sweet. But now, almost a decade later, seeing this with older eyes and a sense of maturity, this was actually the sweetest approach that Sun-Yi could have done for Chul-Soo. And that was that, she was setting him free at long last.
When it comes to the analysis of the movie, as teenagers, they used one another as a crutch for survival. Sun-Yi to cope with her depression and illness. Chul-Soo dependent on the bestial instinct of loyalty. Realistically, there was no way she could have taken care of herself and also Chul-Soo had he left with them. She would never had gotten to do the things she did. She would never have gotten to live fully on account of her declining health, which turned around for the best for her. And ultimately, she was not in love with Chul-Soo as he was with her. Over the course of time, as the years went on, an important lesson that showed Chul-Soo's humanity was his ability to learn on his own. Learning how to write. To read. And even--as shown in the end--to be able to be on his own and stand for himself.
Sun-Yi gave him his freedom to be his own person by releasing him of the promise she made. I feel like he too needed this circle to come to a close, and only then, he could really move on despite having done so long ago. He kept his promise because it was Sun-Yi and he held his loyalty to the only person who showed him care and affection. Him playing by himself in the snow, building the snowman by himself, is a powerful metaphor of his ability to finally be human now that Sun-Yi has removed the collar and leash. But the most important aspect to gain from this, she was telling him to go and live his life to the fullest as she had done. This was not a romance story, but perhaps more of a "coming of age" of two people who helped one another in their time of vulnerability and loneliness, and pushed one another to become better versions of themselves. Chul-Soo especially. He deserves happiness, and the most Sun-Yi could do within her power was to offer him shelter and security until he found it for himself."

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Good, but a little bit confused

Love's Coming is a good movie, very funny and the cast is very likeble (maybe some Gump's friends are annoying ). We root for the discovery of their love and smile when Gump and Nai are getting closer. Tha blackout scene was one of my favorites, the way Nai looks at Gump is so sweet.

But, not everything is working out in this movie. The beginning is very confused. The storyline in the future takes too long until we start to know how Gump and Nai become friends and how their feeling between them blossom. But it's certainly worth it your time to watch, and rewatch when you have nothing else to do.

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Expected So Much, Left Disappointed

Just watched the movie with no prior info about it, just that it’s a really great film (starring Ohm too). The first half of the film was pure magic and the storytelling of Phob and Dew was amazing. Unfortunately, things started going downhill for me the moment the reincarnation concept was introduced! Still held on to the last 15 minutes hoping they would make a twist to everything and end with a life lesson but the ending was even more incredulous.

Acting was superb and cinematography was great too! Just the story that doesn’t sit well with me and also the same reason why I could not get into Until We Meet Again.

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This film might bring you to tears, when you find out what's the actual message.

As a Park Hae Joon fan I must say, this actor sure brings his best to the screens.

I wish this movie wasn't so underrated. I think it deserves far more recognition than it has.

The story is easy to follow, it has an insane amount of realism and to myself it gave plenty of material to overthink about it afterwards. I think plenty is to be learned from this masterpiece as it shows how regret can shape out a person - or how missed opportunities ruin people and why you sometimes must listen to others instead of being stubborn. - It can ruin your life. So a simple mistake.

I also think that this movie brutally shows the truth behind success and also the truth behind schooling system in Asian countries not just South Korea. So - all the violence presented and put onto children in schools (because Asians are kind of obsessed with good grades and almost always put school before children's emotional needs).

I wish many people would watch this film as it has all of it. Cinematic effect, realism and overall a simple to follow and heartbreaking story. Not to mention good acting and casting.

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Okay but not great

So I completely skipped over the part that this was a melodrama and went into this expecting it would be a cute and fluffy romcom. When the movie didn't meet my expectations, the experience was ruined for me. I don't usually enjoy melodramas and I usually skip that genre altogether to be honest. So not even my love for the cast could make up for my disappointment.

As the biggest fans of Shin Min-a and Jo Jung-suk, this has been on my list for ages and something I was most excited to watch. As quickly as I caught on that it wasn't going to be a cute romcom, I found myself struggling to finish it.

Young-min, the husband is depicted as a man who is only interested in having sex with his wife Mi-young in the begining of the film. There's an entire montage of him constantly taking off his pants to do it with her while they are in the honeymoon stage and then as the film moves pass this, he becomes weirdly obsessed with wanting to sleep with every female he sees: his ex friend, his young naive coworker and female strangers etc. He goes through this unbelievable horny phase and almost cheats on his wife. This storyline topped with little things like peeing on the toilet seat don't exactly paint him like a great husband nor make marriage look appealing. Young-min's flaw is that he insecure in his marriage, this is evident when he makes up scenarios in his head, while on a movie date with his wife when they bump into a younger co-worker of hers and he gets jealous, thinking his wife is flirting. We also see further examples of his insecurities about himself in comparison to the wife's co-worker (their height difference, his career, the fact that he and his wife rode a bus to the cinema but the co-worker drives a BMW etc)

Mi-young, the wife is pretty perfect in my opinion and too good for him, let's be honest. She works as an art teacher, cooks for her husband and when given the opportunity to continue to meet up with someone from her past (her first love and ex boyfriend) she doesn't even entertain the thought because she doesn't want to cheat. Unlike her husband, who made out with his ex-friend/ his old crush at the first opportunity that he could (while his wife was sleeping over at her mum's place) and probably would've cheated if his old crush didn't stop it. I guess the only flaw the movie paints Mi-young to have is her nagging her husband about cleaning up after himself or lifting the toilet seat up when he needs to pee, but I didn't see anything wrong with that. Most wives would do the same in this situation and her nagging didn't come across as anything overly annoying.

I guess the point of the movie is to show that these two maybe not so quite suited for each other people somehow make their marriage work in the end. The film ends with the husband unsure if he's found the meaning of love but somehow content with his life with his wife and newborn baby.

Overall, its a movie that you probably watch once but never again. It wasn't my favourite but it wasn't terrible either. It was okay but not great either.

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Perfect Execution, Great Story

When I first saw the trailer for this film, I was quite interested and finally watched it, the beginning of this film might be a little confusing because the audience is faced with 3 different perspectives and are not related to each other but in the same timeline. but mid to the end of this film it becomes clear how the influence of 2 other side characters' perspectives on the MC story. When I first realized that they were in different time frames, I was quite surprised, because this film was packaged so well that the audience could not guess how the plot of this film would go in the future, plus the ending was quite sad for the characters Shikano Nana and Kosaka Rei. Another uniqueness of this film is that the 3 perspectives displayed have their own uniqueness, each pov from Shikano Nana, Hotta Kyapiko, and Miyasada Jimiko. but in the end it turned out that the three pov had a relationship with each other in the plot of the story presented.

Then I like how they shoot the cinematic, this film have very good cinematic quality and using appropriate color grading to match the mood of high school student with the drama that occurs in it. The cast in this film is also very good with unquestionable acting skills and is very in line with the personality of the characters played.

Special mention for this film because it brings up some important issues that are happening all around us but many people turn a blind eye to seeing it. Like a high school student who is depressed and slashes his hands, with no one to care, but instead the environment bullies him. Then the relationship between high school student and adults which in the end they only become adult escapes, and also one sided love(common drama theme).

Verdict, this film has a very unique timeline and makes the audience also wonder whether the pov has anything to do with each other or not, if there is something wrong?. Then this film raises several important issues that become special mentions in my review this time, although these issues are not the main problem in this film, but when this film raises these issues, I think it is quite good to have it. The drawback of this film is the ending, not everyone likes this ending. but in my opinion the ending shown in this film is enough to bring the emotions of the audience in watching this film.

To re-watch this film, I don't think so, because in my opinion a film like this is the type of film that we should watch the first time, when we re-watch it, the feeling given to this film is not as interesting as when we first watched it.

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Funny and Meaningful

I've been stressing with work lately, so I decided to light up my mood by watching Dance with me. And it definitely doesn't disappoint :)

This movie was chosen to feature during the Japanese Film Festival in Vietnam and I can totally see why, it is light-hearted, funny and meaningful (plus great music and dancing). The ending especially made me want to quit my job and just have the freedom to do something I enjoy haha. That's why I relate so much to the main character, who was portrayed really well by Ayaka Miyoshi, who is also good at dancing and singing, whenever she performs, I just wanna get up and join her.

Overall it is a great movie that you should watch when you're feeling blue and want to release the tension!

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Perfect

First his love towards her make me so emotional especially the last time he sacrificed for her when he was on the urge of his death. That moment made me cry . And the way she felt helpless to save him and pray to God while turn the knob of the clock to bring his life back . That part was too emotional.
Story was very good . Very unique way of using time travel and happy to see that she was felt for him all the time irrespective of his age .
His never give up attitude made the story romantic as well as emotional.
It is a movie so it has to be short story but I wish this story also has a drama of some 16 episodes because I wanted to see her parts when God gives her a chance .

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Same storyline

I already watch Korean version and Japanese drama of it so nothing new in this movis bit i like the story so I decided to watch it but it just the same no change in the story .
What I don't like in the story ," in the story " it means all three include . The way she followed him . He didn't look towards her ,never talk with her nicely . In return he disrespect her . So she should stop doing her .you can't force someone to love you . I know story was like this where the girl never give up until he has girlfriend but why her character potrait as silly one . She looked silly all the time . But rest all was good . I watched all three parts . Except one thing I had no problem with the story as well any mentioned version . That one thing I have already mentioned (above)

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