Reviews

'DUSTING YOURSELF UP FROM THE DUST"

It's really a nice movie but my own point of concentration lies on how she fixed herself up after what happen to her and also a lesson to all those that like clubbing to be very careful while mingling and dazzling with the unknown, the issue that happened to her was on the process of trying to care for a friend and she lost concentration on her on drink.
Bear in mind that people in such spot are crafty, cunny and dubious in nature so extra vigilant is needed as not to fall a victim. I love the whole concept in general, its a nice piece of work though the action wasn't all that strong but, it worth watching. Kudos to every sector that make this possible.
In all it is a nice work well done.

Leia Mais

The harsh reality of Thailand without makeup

This audiovisual product represents the harsh social, economic and political reality experienced by the Thai population. It talks about its problems and contexts, generally adverse, and becomes a reflection of that Asian country.
The film shows topics such as illegal immigration for political, religious, ethnic or sexual orientation reasons; political, administrative and police corruption; police violence and crime, physical elimination of activists and members of the LGBT+ community, border militarization, dysfunctional families, bisexuality, racism, racial discrimination, politically motivated murders, homosexuality, economic problems, prostitution, political activism, stripper , violation of Human Rights, phenomena all reflections of Thai society. I highly doubt that for one reason or another any member of Thai society escapes seeing themselves reflected on the screen.
And facing all these problems there is Sorn (Ud Awat Ratanapintha), a Burmese refugee who, with the hope of a better life, seeks refuge and forges a new identity as a sex worker in Thailand. The protagonist will end up involved in a client's risky plan that endangers his life and that of other people. The diversity of conflicts he faces, his psychological complexity and emotional evolution, add layers to the narrative and weave an intriguing web that keeps the viewer in suspense during its hour and 36 minutes of duration.
The artistic maturity of its main performer protects a remarkable wisdom forged through the experiences lived on the film set. His ability to convey emotions, in a genuine way, cements his position as a leading actor in the Thai film and television scene. Far from seeking grandiloquence, you immerse yourself in your characters with the simplicity that characterizes those who understand that true art lies in authenticity.
From her first appearance on the big screen with the feature film 'Mary Is Happy, Mary Is Happy' (2013) or as a girl with dramas such as 'Hormones 1' (2013) and 'Hormones 2', in 2014, to her participation in television productions such as 'Cat Radio TV Season 1 and 2', '#HATETAG' (2021), 'Bad Genius' (2022), 'Quarantine Stories' (2020), of which in addition to being an actor he is the director and screenwriter; or in the 2022 documentary JMJ: Lesson 25, in which you participate as an actor and director, you have shown how versatile and capable you are of connecting with the public.
With 'Doi Boy' it is not the first time that he has faced the challenge of playing a leading character. Also in the drama ThirTEEN Terrors (2014), and the special Project S Let's Say Goodbye, from 2018, he had already been placed in front of the responsibility of leading plots. However, taking on the lead role in a film like this involved new challenges, and for the actor, it was a crucial step in his career.
Pae Arak Amornsupasiri as Ji, and Aelm Bhumibhat Thavornsiri, who plays Wuth, are the other two main characters.
The way in which social criticism, border problems and issues related to sexual orientation and male prostitution are represented in the film is not coincidental. In his first work, the documentary 'Boundary' (2013), its director, Nontawat Numbenchapol, already addressed the reality of the local population on the border between Thailand and Cambodia never before recognized in Thai cinematography.
Interested in social issues, in his second documentary, 'By The River', he visualized the situation of the villagers of Klity affected by lead water contamination. With this documentary, for the first time a film of that nationality won the Special Mention at the Locarno International Film Festival.
'Doi Boy' is not the first film with which the filmmaker analyzes issues related to sexual or gender identity. With the hybrid docu-fiction #BKKY, from 2016, this renowned documentary filmmaker and cinematographer visualizes stories of 100 teenagers interviewed in Bangkok about their loves, their dreams, and their coming of age just after graduating from high school. With it, he won the Jury Prize for best feature film at Lesbisch Schwule Filmtage Hamburg, Germany.
Despite a solid premise and good performances and general direction, the film does not reach perfection because it is based on an underdeveloped script, with aspects that deserved further exploration.
Beyond its positive aspects, Doi Boy can be perfected, like any artistic creation. The absence of unique characters like Sorn, Ji and Wuth and the practically non-existent presence of stories like this in Thai and Asian cinematography in general could work in its favor. However, these same positive qualities cause the film to be undervalued by followers of the BL genre, but as a thriller and drama it works well.
'Doi Boy' is a forceful justification to talk about Thailand far beyond the false and illusory representation, both in cinema, television and other national media, of a country as a sexual paradise and freedoms for members of the LGBT+ community and the rest of its population, equally discriminated against for political, ethnic and racial reasons. The film is a reflection of what hurts millions of human beings both in that nation and in the world. That is why I am grateful that it does not have a made-up ending and shows reality as it is until its ultimate consequences: those gray areas of the existence of the Thais shown in 'Doi Boy' are not really reflected in the BL dramas from that region of the planet.

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TR1: Off to a good start!

I've been meaning to check out this 10 movie series for quite a while now. It starts Bunta Sugawara of Battles Without Honor and Humanity fame, but in a comedic role this time. I think the worldbuilding is where this film succeeds the most, as we're introduced to a large cast of characters and primarily focus in on a circle of truck drivers and their acquaintances.

I'll be honest, the movie felt like it should have been done after the first hour, as the ending felt a bit tacked on. What I learned afterwards, however (after doing some digging online), there is a reason for it. This was meant to follow the same formula as the Tora-san films, and in that way I kind of better understand what they were going for. That said, it did feel a bit unnecessary, and it's obvious they were hoping to do a bunch of sequels.

Most of the antics are amusing, and aside from a small sidequest that seemingly comes out of nowhere (and offers absolutely nothing to the plot, in my opinion), the movie does a good job of being entertaining. I also admit, I find it hilarious that the last few minutes go out of their way to prove our protagonist is a good and decent guy, all the while as we watch him mow down police cars without a second thought to their well being. I have no idea if this was intentional, or just completely overlooked by the writer(s?)., but it got a good laugh out of me.

Curious to see how the sequels go.

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SEoD4: Not quite the bounceback I'd hoped for

This was another sort of mid entry in the series. Although, I need to say it up front, the subtitles stopped working with 20 mins left in the film, so there is a chance that there was some sort of twist I was missing all along that was revealed during a particularly long conversation. And I want to be clear, it is in regards to his past, so it is entirely possible.

I think, on the whole, this one suffers from all the same issues as the previous movie. Nemuri is a hard guy to like a lot of the time. I'm also unsure why this was titled as it was, as there doesn't seem to be a whole lot in the way of seduction happening here. I think, even more so than the first movie (but probably only because it was the first one), this has been the most forgettable instalment so far. And not only that, it felt like the storyline was almost ripped right from the third one.

This one relies less on swordfights to draw you in, but the few that are here were actually pretty cool. I think the main actor is getting more used to Nemuri's style, as you can tell he's more confident in using a few small strokes to take down crowds. I'm still holding out hope we'll get another really great entry in the next one, as it has the same creators behind my favorite one.

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no thrill in this thriller

I was really looking forward to the release of this movie since it's Theater release four months ago and watched it right away when it popped up on Netflix but I can't say I wasn't disappointed....

The first half of the movie is sprinting through the plot in a way where you think something ain't right. I never thought "thriller" and "murder" could leave me feeling so indifferent. There's barely any mystery and everything is dealt with so fast that you never get the feeling that the supposed killer could get away with it. Pairings form up unnaturally fast and confessions aren't questioned in the slightest.
The second half is where the expected happens but even that was lame. Essentially this movie had no thrill, nor were any of the characters particularly interesting. Especially the older FL, who was supposed to be this scheming killer widow, had no mysterious aura around her nor was she pissing me off (which I kinda wanted). It also gets a bit cheesy in the middle but at least everyone's pretty to look at.

I guess the only good things in this movie are 1. Rhydian looks very dashing as the prosecutor and the the final 5 minutes / the post credit scene evoked a tiny bit of excitement in me. Everything else was very bland in my opinion

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Comedy that has geographical lines

This is a comedy that nobody outside china can appreciate.

As such, the movie can become a completely waste of time to a laughing good time (depending on your sense of comedy again).

This is basically a low budget comedy that nobody outside china can appreciate due to the context of the jokes, as it's often a spoof or parody on events that has happened. And since comedy itself is subjective and everyone has a different funny bone, even people in china do not find this movie funny.

To be honest, just skip this movie unless you are dying for some wuxia, but even then there are much better movies to watch if you're okay with older movies.

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A Portrayal of the Human Struggle and Looking for Happiness

I remember seeing the trailer for this movie back in 2019 where the line “We’re both going to pay for this” that Anne Curtis says as she and Marco Gumabao’s character kiss stuck with me, and it was only a day ago that I managed to watch it.

Filipino movies have this certain vibe that screams “Filipino-made”, which doesn’t necessarily make it bad but rather that it’s tailored specifically for a Filipino audience. Duh. But in this movie, it has this quality to it that I can’t quite place—in a good way. The cinematography, the background music, the ambience, the plot—all of it is so good that I can see it being viewed by an international audience.

The plot deviates from the usual story that involves an affair between two people in relationships of their own. You usually expect a catfight and those intense confrontation scenes that Filipinos have come to love because of their exchanges. However, this doesn’t involve any such confrontation. I would say it’s a tad bit realistic in this way and made me adore it because, while I love confrontation scenes, they feel like fantasies you play out in your head (we even see a similar fantasy play out in our protagonist’s head). While there are certainly tense confrontations where you get those savage lines, what mostly happens is existing in the mundane with a stiff upper lip.

Let me preface this paragraph by saying we know all of this beforehand. Mae, played by Anne Curtis, is the movie’s main character. She is the trophy wife of her older businessman husband, Phil Pimentel, played by the ever-intimidating Edu Manzano. Mae begins an affair in Portugal with nineteen-year-old Jericho, who is played by Marco Gumabao. What surprised me a little—and this may be a fault of mine—is Anne Curtis’ acting. I’m used to seeing her be comedic, so as a result, I probably stayed away from any of her works because I thought she just wouldn’t be suitable for these dramatic roles. Boy, I was proven so wrong! She was so phenomenal in this film that I honestly was baffled. I only know Marco from one of his works, Los Bastardos, and he was good there. If I remember right, he was twenty-five when they filmed this, but he portrayed the role of a nineteen-year-old so well.

Some fool in me thought everything would work out, like in one of those Filipino movies I saw. It was The Other Woman, where, in the end, they were all blissful after everything worked out in their favour. While I wanted that, I think that would not have been the correct ending for the film. The film did such a great job in making me attached to the characters to the degree that I didn’t even realise that when the ending happened, I was legitimately left speechless with my hand over my gaping mouth. Which only means that it achieved what it set out to do.

The themes it tackles are one of the reasons I ended up loving the movie as much as I did: A teenager's plight in standing his ground to his overbearing parents and a trophy wife's unhappiness because she is stuck in a loveless marriage. Teenagers struggle with pleasing themselves while also keeping their family's expectations met. Meanwhile, a good chunk of marriages nowadays involve lovelessness and looking for happiness elsewhere as a consequence. I would also consider this to be a commentary on the dangers of the less-than-stellar areas of the Philippines.

I love how the film swerves away from the blueprint of movies with a similar premise to this. I love how this film doesn’t feature a confrontation scene with those iconic lines since it focuses on the human struggle of biting your tongue and enduring it all because it is what it is. I love it whenever I find media that represents humanity for what we all are: beautifully flawed. The only reason that its rewatch value is at five is because I want to spare myself the pain, not because it's bad but because it hurts.

I would recommend this to anyone curious, and while I can’t guarantee that you’d love it the same way I did, I can at least hope you’d enjoy it.

Leia Mais

RESEÑA <3

La amistad está por encima de todo.

Lo vi en versión original, que es cómo mejor se ve este tipo de dramas y películas. <3
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Me gustó la historia pero a lo largo de la historia, ocurrían cosas que más o menos me hacía algo de idea, como que al final me lo suponía y sabía como iba a acabar.
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No contiene mucha intriga, pero está bien para pasar el rato y entretenerte un poco si no sabes que ver. Dura 1 hora y 49 minutos, se ve rápido.
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Los actuación de los actores me gustaron, pero el papel que más me llamó la atención, es el de la actriz principal, te acabas enamorando de su personalidad.

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A continuation of the series

I'll be honest, the beginning was not as riveting as the previous two, it took me a few days to get through 40-50mn, but once the action started it was sustained mostly to the end. Continuing honestly, I started watching these for Yamazaki Kento (a Naruto-like character) and the action scenes.

The action is good, choreography of fights is cool but... this movie especially (iirc), less believable than previous ones? It's not MCTNA quality, let's say, barely killing enemies as they go, I sincerely doubt enemies would attempt to tackle someone rather than lead with their swords but, characters must survive, I get it.

The cinematography is good, the costumes too (armors excepted, they do have that fake/cheap look but alas).

The acting is as good as it always is, in a... very Japanese fashion (no duh, yes), the dialogue is, well, also simplistic.

I haven't read the original (book? manga?) the live action is based on and can't judge the accuracy of the plot, just that it's simplified for the 2hr format (probably). As seems to be the trend in Japanese productions, women are scarce with a similar amount of lines (we met a new one but naturally died for the cause), there was a lot of backstory I'm not entirely sure was necessary in the way it was done, though we get to understand Eisei's motivations, we don't spend a lot of time developing other characters. Kyokai continues to be awesome, sadly never enough screen time for her skills hahaha, I loved her and Shin sparring. And once again I wonder why Karyoten is still here, probably so they have an excuse to explain strategies to the audience (but does she *really* still need that costume!? Ahem). Shin's on his way to fulfilling his dream(s)? If Hoken doesn't kill him first, lol (he won't, yes yes).

I did not expect OGURI SHUN to show up but omg, HELLO! More please!

tl;dr, it's a pretty fun watch that continues the series, if you watch just for the action you're likely to skip halfway through. Solid production overall, though if I were to rewatch anything of the series it'd be the action (or Shin's good looking face).

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"You helped me find my ladder"

From birth to death, we all have the need for food in common. Tampopo put a weird twist on the food genre by combining it with a Western, with the emphasis on weird. The film’s main course was the search for the perfect bowl of ramen. The side dishes ran the gamut from heartwarming to sexual food fetishes. When the character in the opening scene breaks the fourth wall, hold onto your popcorn because you are in for a wild ride.

On a dark and stormy night, two truck drivers ride into town looking for a place to eat. Goro wears a cowboy hat and his trusty young sidekick loves ramen so they stop at small shop. Tampopo is a widow with no experience cooking ramen and it showed. Goro and Gun give her advice on her ramen and before long are helping her to improve. Team Ramen begins to expand to include a homeless ob/gyn, a chauffeur, and a drunken contractor. And this is the most normal story in the film.

Just when you think it couldn’t get any weirder, director Itami Juzo says, “Hold my Heineken.” Like tag team wrestling, a passerby will be tagged in and their story of food begins. Professional and international dinner etiquette, con artists, fetishes, first times, and last times all pop in and out with circle wipes. Tampopo delves into the connections we have with food and dining. How much do we savor and pay attention to what we eat? How memories and food are tied together in a family. There were some scenes with the 18+ food fetish couple that I would rather not have seen but for the most part the vignettes were PG, kooky, and entertaining. When the last breaths of a character were for a wild boar intestines recipe you know the director is hard core about food. While I found myself invested in one of the romances, the true love of the film was for food.

Tampopo will not be for everyone, nor will all the stories in it. I enjoyed Team Ramen as they explored the world of ramen, experimenting, failing, improving, and building a comradery. Some of the vignettes were more humorous than others, but overall, I found it quirky and entertaining. As someone who grew up watching westerns with my dad, I fully expected one character to shout out, “Come back Shane!” at the end of the film. If you are in the mood for something different, grab a snack, and settle in for a film dedicated to food in the many ways we celebrate it.

7 February 2024

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very good if you like imperfect realistic portrayal of people

after reading the negative critiques of this movie I understand now that its a case of kdrama delusion. they want everything and everyone to be perfect and soft and cute with nothing bad ever happening ... well this is not that kind of movie.
here the relationship and the people are realistic and flawed. every action has its consequence negative or positive. same with the inaction. nothing felt forced or like a plot device to make things move forward. the writing was excellent, smart and simple.
here the villain of the story is the timing. it seems like they barely miss each other every time but also the ML not taking its chance and regretting it. the acting and the chemistry was really good as well. the direction, cinematography and the colours were perfect. 10/10 for sure !

ps: we're the dog and monkey cgi ???I think so bas of the credits

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emptiness and warmth

I remember watching it a while back and I saw it on my recommendations on YouTube so I watched it again.Loved it the story just touched my heart I don’t know if it was because of heartbroken I was aldready due to some things that had happend to me today but when I was watching it every little detail touched my heart ❤️ love it ?

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Sadly Disappointing

I have been waiting for this movie with bated breath.
I love these two actors together. From all I have watched before, they have great chemistry and good acting skills.
Sadly none of that was evident in this movie.

For starters the story was seriously mediocre and bland. The visual effects were not effective, just a bit of fading in and out to make a ghostly figure. The directing was cringe worthy.

And I'm truly sorry to say this, but the acting from the leads was wooden and weird. Zee's facial expression never changed and NuNew constantly looked like he was on opioids, with this strange dreamy expression in every scene. There was no chemistry between them like I've seen in other dramas.

The setting was about the nicest thing about the whole movie. It was very pretty. :(

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A shining star in Brandon's filmography

Notable for being the late Brandon Lee's first starring role and his only Hong Kong production, Legacy of Rage is an explosive extravaganza and highly entertaining little jewel of Brandon's tragically short career. Yeah, the plot and melodrama are standard eighties action fodder, but Ronny Yu's direction, Lee's reverting presence and exceptional acting chops more than carry the film through the more clichéd aspects of its story. The action possesses a raw intensity and some exceptional choreography which makes it rather a shame there isn't more of it sprinkled throughout the film, however, there's an outstanding climactic car chase and final shootout that feels very much in the vein of John Woo's A Better Tomorrow, all accompanied by a badass score courtesy of Richard Yuen. Given this is the film where Brandon fights Bolo Yeung (who had fought his father in the iconic Enter the Dragon) and featuring a gloriously slimly Michael Wong as its villain, you'd be hard-pressed not to love Legacy of Rage's rough and ready emotional camaraderie.

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"Love and marriage aren't always the same thing"

Late Autumn was in many ways a reworking of Ozu’s classic 1949 film Late Spring only this time focusing on a widowed mother and her daughter of marriage age. Three friends of her late husband decided they knew what was best by finding not only a mate for the daughter but the mother as well! Regardless of what the women wanted.

At the memorial service for their friend Miwa, three old friends, Mamiya, Hirayama, and Taguchi ask Miwa’s widow, Akiko, if she would like help matchmaking for her daughter Ayako. She agrees and after she’s left the men discuss how much each one of them had a crush on Akiko when they were younger, not always in the most respectful ways. The men get to work finding a suitable prospect but run into a wall when they discover Ayako doesn’t want to wed for she fears leaving her mother alone. That knowledge only spurs them on. Mamiya finds out by accident that Ayako has started dating one of the prospects she’d rejected. When he called her on it she said it didn’t change anything. Love and marriage were not necessarily the same thing. The men change tactics and decide to have Akiko marry one of them which turns her small, quiet household upside-down!

Despite their sometimes crass language, the three men’s hearts were in the right place. They wanted the best for Akiko and Ayako. There was more innuendo in this film than most Ozu films. I really didn’t need to hear about the men’s “itches”. Akiko and Ayako had a close relationship that was tested. Fortunately for all involved, Ayako’s friend, Yuriko, stepped in and sorted the men out in the best scene of the whole movie. She then went to work on the mother and daughter.

Ayako feared marriage would cause her to lose her friends as she’d seen with her own friends that married. She also feared becoming distant from her mother and leaving her mother alone, with no one. Despite not being as independent as Yuriko, she enjoyed her independence and feared losing it, too. Akiko, with Hara Setsuko playing her, was the epitome of grace and generosity. The three men were all a little in love with her which even their wives knew.

Ozu’s palette was much the same-muted colors highlighted with green, yellow, and his favorite color red. His red teapot was replaced by a prominent yellow one here. The steady camera set low with the people moving instead was a constant as well as the intricately composed frames. Many of the same players from previous films showed up here like old friends. There’s a comfort and familiarity with his post-war films.

Despite having covered much of the same topics in previous films-the changing Japanese family, aging, and loneliness, he still had more to say. I enjoyed this film more than Late Spring with Hara as the mother instead of the daughter. Okada Mariko’s presence gave the film a jolt of energy when the talking began to go in circles. As bachelor Ozu aged, so did it seems, the boys from his silent films. Still incorrigible with good hearts, only now old men sitting together drinking sake and meddling in other people’s lives…with good intentions of course.

6 February 2024

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