Reviews

what a sad lovestory

This a remake from 2014 Korean film with the same title. A story of a gangster who is a debt collector who happens to collect money from a girl who has a sick father but she accidentally fell for her. She is willing to do anything just to please the lady to get her attention. Then one day as her father pass away the girl sees the effort of the guy to console her, a person that is willing to make her happy in her darkest moment. The girl was touched by the mana gesture and she developed feelings for him. They then begun a couple, they are happy and planning to make it better. The guy decided to change his proffesion, his willing to change for he wanted to be a change man for her. One day as he ask permission to his boss he wanted to change he,asked for a different kind of a clean job. His willing to give him but he needs to do one last dirty job without him knowing that his boss is planning something foul. He fell into the trap that make her relationship also got ruin he blames himself without telling the girl the whole truth. He spent many years in jail.
When he has freedom the first thing she did was to take revenge to the person who ever done wrong to him, so that he can explain himself to the girl. But through his range he was prisoned again for many years. He was released then trying to be a changed man. He came back really sick without telling then that he suffers from Aneurysm.The girl knew it ang willing to take care of him but it still to late, the guy then dies that's makes the story sad. He has last wish, that his father must treat her as her own.

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A poignantly beautiful tale that keeps us pondering over

As many review here, I find it hard to write about the movie without spoiling the viewer and fail to describe how beautifully the movie is done.
It is best to not read any review at all before watching the movie to let your mind work the miracle.
In essence, the movie is about a tale of self-discovery of 2boys growing up being told in different perspectives of people closest to them. With each perspective being told, more details are provided for the viewers to conjugate the real story of what actually happens.
As other Koreeda's work, the movie would leave you in daze and linger for some time as viewers cant help but keep contemplating and pondering over the ending, the characters and the message of the movie.
Koreeda is truly a master of story telling and building emotion through a seemingly uneventful narration and seemingly “normal” characters. Still, one can always feel his effort in avoiding to force a conclusive ending and closing of the story, as if to maintain his neutral stand and to respect viewers’ interpretation of the tale. That is another thing I admire of Koreeda as it is incredibly hard for a director to avoid forcing his own view of the story without making it illogical and incomprehensible. One also feels his love for human as he refrains from condemning any character in the story.
By unveiling the story through different perspectives here, perhaps Koreeda wants to remind us again that there is always 2 sides of the story; and we should not jump to conclusion with our own prejudice and limited experience in this modern era where everyone is ready to attack others through the use of sns without properly contemplating over the event. How our interpretation of a story can go very wrong with misleading fabrication and gossips. And how we might have hurt others by our own prejudices and judgment built by societal norms of “normal”.
Who is the monster here but us human, flawed and frightened, traumatized by our own societal norms and interpretation.

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"This is personal" Well, of course it is...

Triple Threat had an embarrassment of martial artists riches and also embarrassingly bad dialogue, even for an action movie. The martial arts were also short shrifted in lieu of guns and things that go boom far too often.

Payu and Long Fei have been hired to help with a “humanitarian” mission that turns out to be anything but. Local security for the site, Jaka, loses his wife in the deadly firefight that erupts when the mercenaries enter the village to release Collins, a notorious terrorist. Payu, Long Fei, and Jaka develop a tenuous partnership to bring down the mercs and end up protecting a Chinese heiress/local philanthropist along the way.

The firefights were often over the top as the bad guys mowed down people throughout the small country of Maha Jaya. Things were always more interesting when the guns were down and the fists and kicks were up. Tony Jaa, Iko Uwais, and Tiger Chen all have experience with fighting on screen and choreography. The weakest of the three was Tiger as his fights often looked slow and uninspired. Tony and Iko were far more entertaining as they defied gravity with their flexibility, quickness, and strength. Bad guy, Scott Adkins, was able to keep up with the kicks as was Michael Jai White. Jeeja Yanin had what amounted to a glorified guest role and didn’t have many chances to show her skills.

The action came fast and furious with the fighters and heiress on the run. Unfortunately, some of the acting and much of the dialogue was painfully cringeworthy. Not much effort was made to create a cohesive story either. As a check your brain at the door, let’s watch Tony Jaa fly and flip, it was rudimentary martial arts action entertainment.

15 May 2024

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I didn't recognize the actor Wei Lie Jin at all, who plays one of the main roles in the tender series DNA Says Love You, which we have here translated into Czech. In this short, he plays a boy who falls in love with a lifeguard and has to deal with his feelings. I also see a Taiwanese aborigine (lifeguard Da Han) in the film for the first time. However, the sexual awakening is without romance in this short, as the lifeguard is straight and the story revolves mainly around the main character and his self-discovery of his own orientation, falling in love and how to cope with all of this under the supervision of his strict father, with whom he runs a Chinese medicine and acupuncture practice. In addition, the film ends without salt, without fat for the audience who will expect a fairy tale ending, but the very end, when Yun Wu swims away from the place where he was drowning at the beginning, symbolically meant for me that he realized his self, began to respect himself and continues strengthened into his next young life, and that's what I appreciate about the film, even if the project doesn't have a top ten rating.

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This movie is not a romance.

Although the story is engaging and the acting is decent, it is not a romance and should be categorized in a different genre. I enjoyed the male lead Johnny Huang he is an outstanding and sexy actor. Especially when he plays a bad ass with a heart. Johnny Huang is the reason I picked this to watch. He has never disappoints especially when he is a bad ass.However, this movie was listed as a romance. It gave off a much different vibe. I would recommend just not the movie if you want to chill because it pulls at your humanity at times and has you jumping from fear or excitement not at all relaxing 😌.

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Story: It's predominantly about a sheltered, young man who strives to meet his parent's expectations but also wants to live a life for himself. So when Francis reconnects with Tommy, he follows the latter around town, neglecting his studies and piano lessons.

Acting: Decent enough to portray the relationship between two boys just hanging out.

Music: Nothing to write home about.

Rewatch Value: Once is enough.

Overall Impression: When I searched for other reviews of this short to serve as comparison, there's hardly anything that could be found. Instead another HK film of the same name, the one that uses the 2019 HK protests as a backdrop, was the one usually featured. So it made sense to me, that this particular short, barely registered on the radar. And so is my opinion of the film.

The only pivotal scene that I could commend is the one where Francis finally had his outburst in the final moments. He finally snapped after being subjected to other pursuits he really does not have any interest in. For his mother to profess to care about Francis, she did not do a good job of understanding where he is coming from nor what he really wants in life.

But even with this statement, I wasn't quite sold on what the film was trying to portray, aside from the reality of gay teens living in the shadows of their true nature.

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Story: It's about a boy telling a story about two boys to another boy. In the boy's story, the two boys are best friends. But wouldn't you know it: the boy telling the story is also the best friend of the boy who is listening to this story. What a coincidence! And that the boy telling the story, is planning to do a movie about this story. Or at least, that's what he said he was doing.

Acting: Good enough for two people sitting at a coffee shop.

Music: Barely noticed.

Rewatch Value: Short and adorable enough to repeat.

Overall Impression: What an ingenious concept for a confession. At least Dong Young is self-aware enough not to expect much from his best friend aside from maintaining their friendship. And it's a healthy reaction from Jung Min, accepting his best friends feelings without indulging in it. Nobody died, it's a win for me.

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"There's no such thing as easy anywhere these days"

Dokkoi Ikiteru aka I Still Live was a painful look at the most vulnerable in Japan post WWII. Director Imai Tadashi who dove into socially conscious movies after the war, made this film outside of the major studios. I will admit to only grasping the large parts of the film as the only available copy I could find used auto-generated English subtitles which were lacking to say the least. Until such time as someone who watches this who speaks Japanese or there is an adequate translation, I’ll leave a quick review for those who might be interested in this film.

The film centers on a Japanese family of four. They initially live in a small shantytown but are forced to move out when it is torn down. The father rises early every morning to apply for day laborer jobs along with crowds of desperate people. It is a daily struggle to earn enough money to eat and supply shelter. Many of the places where the father works amongst the rubble and ruins had been hit hard by the air raids during the war. At one point in time, the mother and two children take the train out of town. At first it looks like the father may find a manufacturing job and his luck will turn for the better, but alas, not in this melodrama. Everything goes from bad to worse, some of the injuries self-inflicted, until he reaches the point when he thinks they would be better off dead. A precipitous action will determine the course he takes.

While this film highlighted a desperate time for many after the war and has value in edification of its historical setting, I found the film to be too deliberately maudlin for me. The music was heavy-handed and overwrought as the little family suffered misfortune after misfortune. Yet the performances were strong and again, it covered an important subject, though at times it did feel more educational in nature. If you enjoy older films and especially ones set in this difficult time in Japan’s recovery, this would be a film to try.

14 May 2024

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I kept praying time would go slower so it doesn't end XD

I love everything about it from the outstanding cinematography to the perfectly "balanced" plot, it doesn't bore you with giving too much information and background story just enough to understand everything, and keeps you excited throughout the whole movie. I prefer these types of horror movies with eerie and gut-churning scenes with an interesting plot over movies with repetitive jumpscares and meaningless plots. The emotions the cast conveyed with their brilliant acting made me drown in the movie as if I were watching a real-life event live.
Sadly I had to watch this at home I wish they displayed it at where I live I would 100% go watch this at a cinema.

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Truly unhinged (in a positive way).

Well, when I first started the movie, I didn't had any kind of expectations, somehow waiting to see the typical Rivals to Lovers trope, or, don't know, a "Forbidden Love" kind of thing. However, the story has the perfect pace; unfolding in such a delicious and intense way that you can't help but watch everything till the end, without wanting to miss a single detail. It leaves you empty, even lost with such an ending, but it's really worth it.

Story: The story begins in a slow motion, almost making you feel bored and annoyed for Youngwoo's attitude, but seeing little by little Jaeha's persistence, talking with (and by) his experiences, trying to make Youngwoo a better actor; letting him change the way he delivers his lines and portraits his emotions, it really makes you feel like you are right there, in the same moment and place as them. At some point things starts to get really dark and distorted with the development of their relationship, but it doesn't feel sudden, like, they're Singer and Walter after all, right? But, yeah. It engulfs you, like there is no other thing in this world except of them. It feels natural how everything happens, even the ending, as open as it was.

Acting: The acting of both leads was mesmerizing, but I definitely need to give my hat to Oh Seunghoon for delivering such a breathtaking, almost intoxicating portrayal of Singer, and, of course, Youngwoo himself. His character development is insane, and those last scenes where he actually tried to kill himself (and Jaeha) in front of the crowd... speechless. At the end, both actors knew what they needed to do, and it really shows.

Music: It's there, and you hear it, but doesn't have anything memorable about it, until it does. I think it's beautiful that just a slight change in the music, with the right lightning can immerse you even more. It's great till the end.

Rewatch value: I... would definitely think twice before doing it. It's a real rollercoaster of emotions, so, you need to prepare yourself before going in for a ride. But we as humans tend to like what's risky and exciting, so...

Overall: If you love morally gray movies and you're not picky about open endings (and a couple questions without answer), give this a shot. You're not going to find another like this in awhile.

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gag

estou fascinado com esse filme aqui. tem uma atmosfera tão hipnotizante que eu não queria saber de nada além do aconteceria nos minutos seguintes. tem algo que torna ele extremamente sensual e eu aposto na melancolia que rodeia não só os personagens mas o próprio ambiente. é muito interessante acompanhar o modo como o filme escala pois vem sempre algo de surpreendente na história, e todos personagens são tão intrigantes que você sabe que pra onde o passo andar vai ser bom de se acompanhar.

p.s. a sookhee destruindo a biblioteca foi uma das coisas mais sensuais e românticas que eu já vi.

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"Nobody in this country follows the rules"

Barking Dogs Never Bite was a dark comedy that darkly commented on social inequalities and inadequacies. While director Bong Joon Ho cast his view on numerous topics, the result was rough and flat instead of subtle and biting. More of a scattershot approach than guided missile.

Yoon Joo hears once again why he has been passed over for making professor, made worse by the barking of a dog in the background. He thinks he’s tracked down the culprit, grabs it, and ultimately locks it in a wardrobe in the basement. Hyun Nam works in the building and helps a little girl put up signs for the missing pup. At this point different characters become involved with the four-legged dwellers in the crowded apartment building, most of which have ulterior motives for the pets.

Though the movie clearly stated no animals were harmed during filming, there was some rough treatment. Dog lovers may have trouble with a few of these scenes. The antipathy Yoon Joo felt toward the pampered animals and their doting owners turned out to be more than what he observed. He thought his life was tougher than others, but as it became apparent, his actions led to agonizing pain for the pet owners with devastating consequences for one.

Billed as a dark comedy, I only found two scenes funny and both involved the talented Bae Doo Na. This story played out like a sinister slice of life with few repercussions for bad behavior. Hyun Nam’s unending search for affirmation had its own strange results. I thoroughly enjoyed the close friendship between her and Jang Mi, the complete antithesis of Yoon Joo’s toxic marriage.

The laundry list of social grievances were thrown out on the screen continuously. Suffice to say, the director had complaints he wanted to get off his chest. Class distinctions. People don’t follow the rules. People embezzle money and make shoddy, dangerous buildings. Pregnant employees are treated terribly. School deans have to be bribed for job openings. Humanities professors make the worst husbands. Women with children are vulnerable when husbands leave. For a homeless person being arrested is a blessing because at least there are regular meals. Some drinking culture situations turn deadly. Gender inequalities. Abusive, loveless relationships. Dangerous pesticides thickly sprayed in the air. Exit doors and stairwells blocked by junk creating hazardous situations. People supplementing their diets with dead pets. People fired for caring too much about others. At least later in his career, Bong would grab a singular social criticism by the neck and devour it with satire and venom.

Fans of Bong Joon Ho will most likely see deeper into this film than I did and enjoy it more. I wouldn’t want to deter anyone from trying this film by the famed director. What it boiled down to was Yoon Joo and Hyun Nam were unhappy with their situations and unsure how to make things better or even if they could, given the employment climate and chose inverse approaches. Yoon Joo took the villain role and went to the dark side. Hyun Nam desired to be a hero and though her results weren’t glorious, she and her friend chose to live in the light come what may. The majority of other characters resided somewhere in the gray areas, just trying to make it through their days.

13 May 2024

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