Reviews

Comedy Gold

A gang attempts to rob a gas station, finding no cash on hand, they decide to work as station attendants to make a score - forcibly confining anyone who gives them trouble. Comic hijinks ensue, then escalate.

A true hidden gem, highly entertaining and fun movie, and unlike the other crime/comedy movies the main characters were not "trying" to be funny they were just funny and they didn't have to act like clowns to do so. they were "funny in a cool way"
and the other great thing about this movie is how random and unpredictable it is.
i will definitely rewatch it in the future

Leia Mais

What the heck?!

I put off watching this for the longest time because I had heard about the ending. I decided to pull up my big girl panties, suck it up and give it a watch. Well, I do have to say that the ending really affected my rating.

The concept for the story was cute. Bo Ra's best friend has a crush on a boy and wants Bo Ra to find out everything she can about him while said friend is in America. Bo Ra's detective work was very cute. She was certainly creative in the means that she used to glean information! In the process, Bo Ra starts to like Woon Ho. When her friend comes back, she finds out that Woon Ho is the one she actually likes. This is where the power of friendship was displayed very well, between Bo Ra and her friend. It was sad, you could feel the emotions of the girls, but their friendship was beautiful and strong.

Kim Yoo Jung as Bo Ra, and Byeon Woo Seok as Woon Ho were terrific. They made such a cute couple. Bo Ra beginning to feel the emotions of love that her friend had described to her, her journey of discovery in her first love was a treat to watch. And I thought that Woon Ho was written really well. His emotions just showed on his face every time he looked at Bo Ra, he didn't try to hide it, he was feeling the feels, and he went with it. I can't count the number of times I was taken with his beatific smile. There was no hidden agenda, no game playing, it was just there for the world to see.

So, for three quarters of the way through the movie, I was thinking that I was probably going to rate this pretty high, such was my enjoyment of it. Though there was one head-scratching moment early on, I probably could have overlooked that, but the other two points, just no:
1) There was mistaken identity because Woon Ho had worn his friend's school uniform. There is no way he could have worn his friend's uniform, Woon Ho was about a foot taller!
2) Why in the world did they feel the need to have a different actress play Bo Ra as an adult? That ruined the flow.
3) And the WORST? A ton of time goes by, and she finds out that Woon Ho died years ago!?!? The first thing out of anyone's mouth would be to ask how he died. That is never explained, and it remains this huge clunky rock of disappointment to an otherwise good movie. I mean, just why? There are certainly more satisfactory ways this movie could have ended. I'm just mad.

Leia Mais

A visual piece of film.

From Asian latitudes, Chinese director Wang Xiaoshuai serves serious family drama with the classic father figure at the center. Although heavy on symbols, it is coolly performed, well played and a whole that feels magnificently composed.

The points of contact are many and emotional as Father Lin returns to the family he once abandoned. His son has died in a hostage drama and the loose ends of the past are exacting their toll.

Absent fathers, also known as the ultimate pigs, have long been a constant companion. It seems we all suffer from the loss that only an absent father's embrace can cause and the question looms, are all fathers pigs? The setup here is already clear and rather it is about a human exploration in the art of abandonment.

In this way, Chongqing Blues is far from an innovative film, possibly more sigh-inducingly boring. But despite many prejudices, this is a beautiful film, not only on the surface but also in content. Admittedly heavy on symbols where Xiaoshuai seems to want us to read way too much into a look, movement or thing, bordering on sentimentally careless but by all means, it works.

The portrait of the father who has left his wife and child is brilliantly done by Wang Xueqi as he tries lostly to collect the rubble of a life. Neither over-the-top nor explosive, a strong ensemble overall succeeds in conveying a touching story through deep if not always long-lasting characters.

The visual composition is very similar to the narrated core of the film. The further you get, the more impressive becomes Xiaoshuai's slickness in terms of cutting and eye for picture details. The cross-cut flashbacks in particular send pleasant shivers through any movie buff.

And the interest in a not entirely original film is sustained by concrete content. It is thoughtful and purports to be an exploration into parenting and confession. It will hardly be to everyone's taste, Asian father drama, that goes without saying, but Chongqing Blues is a visual piece of film that is worth your time and attention.

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Bad Sex Framed Around A Poorly Written Version of the Oedipus Complex

So the ML becomes a call boy because ...I'm not sure why. But it's revealed that he has a thing for older women, which morphs into this weird Oedipus complex implying his attraction to older women is due to his mother who died when he was 10.

The ML had no personality and no boundaries. There was no insight into his character, what was driving him, except the reveal about his mother’s death. There were no details on how that impacted him and thus was driving his decisions in the present. Nothing to indicate why he was indifferent about life and school. Why he found women “boring.” Why he would choose to be a call boy.

The call boy jobs were boring. The madam framed it as him making love to his customers, but he was not making love. He was f***** them. And he was HORRIBLE at even that. He was like a bull in a China shop, ravaging his customers, and even the woman he did know, with no care or finesse when sleeping with them. I didn’t believe for one second that he grew as a lover and learned to read a woman’s body and focus on how to give her pleasure. He always went from 0-200, with no in between, when having sex. The title of the movie was right he was a call boy, because he did not have sex like a man who knew what he was doing.

There was no depth to the story whatsoever. And even weirder was the madam, having her deaf and dumb daughter test out the call boy candidates, potential in bed, while she watched. Just weird and frankly abusive and disgusting. Oh, they gave the excuse that the daughter wanted to do this and who was the madam to stop her, but it still felt very wrong. I didn't understand why the ML suddenly fell in love with the madam and wanted to "make love" to her. They barely interacted throughout the whole movie. So him "falling for her" was not shown. I guess they needed that poorly written storyline to make the big reveal that she used to be “on call” herself and as a result caught AIDS.

Again, this movie had no depth whatsoever and overall was just bad. After a while I just started fast forwarding through all the horrible sex scenes in hopes of getting to some substance in the story. Unfortunately, there was none. This was not worth the two hours I spent watching it.

Leia Mais

When I realize the subject and the fact that the film was shot eleven years ago and during that time there was a slight shift in the creation of gay stories, I have to greatly appreciate the acting performances of both the two main protagonists (26 and 30 years old at the time). Done openly, tastefully, convincingly, and at the same time the viewer has the impression that it is really just a "documentary of a day", the picture does not play tricks, and please, we are in Asia! A beautifully-sad experience and a complete sense of truth...

Když si uvědomím námět a to, že film se natáčel před jedenácti lety a za tu dobu přeci jen došlo k mírnému posunu ve tvorbě gay příběhů, tak musím velice ocenit herecké výkony obou dvou hlavních protagonostů (v té době 26 a 30 let). Provedeno otevřeně, vkusně, přesvědčivě, a přitom má divák dojem, že je to opravdu jen "dokument jednoho dne", snímek si na nic nehraje, a to jsme prosím v Asii! Krásně-smutný zážitek a naprostý pocit pravdivosti ...

Leia Mais

A bit of a different revenge drama. Carter Wong plays Ping Fei Lee who has been accused of killing his brothers in the monastary. I felt bad for him b/c there was no evidence that he had committed any kind of crime; yet the head monk was screaming lock him up he's guilty. They said he killed all these people and stole some important Jade object that the Emperor had given the monks. He escapes the monastray and tries to find the real trader/killer. There's some subplot about the Emperor wanting to destroy the monks and the Shaolin temple. Not sure whay it was necessary. Lung Chun Erh played the Emperor's sister. Polly Shang Kuan played a student of a monk.

Overall the story is nonsensical but it was an enjoyable watch. I'm biased though b/c I like Carter Wong and Polly Shang Kuan. They work well together. The fight scenes were ok and I liked the short fight scene between Polly and Lung Chun Erh. I loved the fan work by Chun Erh too. I loved the Imperial costumes as well.

12/16/23

Leia Mais

The shortest distance between two points may be a straight line but revenge is often circular

The Jade Raksha started out as a typical revenge wuxia and then dug a little deeper to give it a nice twist. Cheng Pei Pei once again played a confident swordswoman but this time she was more anti-hero than hero. Three fathers died and three children swore revenge in a vicious violent circle.

Leng Qiu Han has been rampaging against the Yan family in a desire to make them pay for murdering her family. The problem is, she doesn’t know which one did the vile deed. She crosses paths and swords with Xu Ying Hao. Xu tries to convince her to find evidence as to which Yan killed her family instead of taking the lives of innocent people. Leng has no intention of discontinuing her blood-letting. Xu can’t hang around because he has his own revenge to fulfill against the man who killed his father which in turn will spawn a new cycle of revenge.

I was relieved that there wasn’t a romance between Leng and Xu as Tang Ching was twice Cheng Pei Pei’s age in real life. The film did seem to be trying to make Xu younger than Tang Ching’s grizzled appearance. Leng could be difficult to like as she sliced her way to the top of the Yan family because Xu did have a point. At first, I wasn’t sure if she was avenging her family’s death or punishing the Yan’s crimes against animals and fashion. Many of them wore some atrocious looking animal furs. Interestingly, Xu’s sense of morality didn’t make his revenge any more righteous than hers. In the end, many revenge plot points were finally pulled together in a long exposition dump in the villain’s dungeon of doom.

There was fun wuxia action to be had---running on water, fighting on the top of bamboo trees, bamboo pole vaulting over a flaming bridge, and light body leaping onto roofs. The sword fighting was average for the time period, nothing terribly inspiring. The sets and scenery set the mood for the different scenes perfectly. The dungeon of doom had a specialized guillotine for head and arms which was demonstrated. There were enough traps and torture devices that it made the virtuous Xu question the philanthropic lead Yan’s innocence. I loved that the secret door leading to the dungeon had a sign reading “Always Be Kind”. Of course, the sign at the gate of the fortress read, “Home of Mercy.” False advertising at its best.

This was not my favorite Cheng Pei Pei role though she was fine in it. Leng's kill first, ask questions later attitude and penchant for jealousy made the character difficult to connect with. As I mentioned, Tang Ching seemed a little too long in the tooth for the hero but he did well as the swordsman who wanted to do the right thing but made some unfortunate choices. One of my favorites, Ku Feng, gave depth to the story as a blind father with a dark secret. Get in line, buddy, there were plenty of secrets to go around. And plenty of revenge. The film showed that the road to revenge is not always a straight line or as simple as it might seem.

16 Dec 2023

Leia Mais

Psychologically Intriguing. What Voids Can/Can't Be Filled?

Psychologically intriguing and emotionally haunting; a seemingly "happy" ending on the surface but in actuality very precarious as it was hollow. The story lingered in my mind and I really wish there was more of it.

21 minutes long. The script and directing/editing was smartly done and to-the-point. Acting, cinematography, and music supported the storytelling well.

The 11th SungKyu wants a nice home and family so much that he stands in to fill the voids the other family members have. But he is a shell of a person himself, can HIS void be filled? Maybe over time, but we don't get a clear-cut answer, and that's why my thoughts on this short film keep percolating and drive me to dissect it.

It's well done and good for one watch if you're in the right mood for it.

SPECIFIC SPOILERS below!
... ... ...

I can easily understand SungKyu learning how to interact, and puting effort into play-acting, with the mentally fragmented mother (who can't accept that one of her real sons is gone).

I feel sad at his decision to be physically intimate with the brother, SungWoo, though. Sad for both of them because it seemed the result of individual desperation. Maybe they both end up being what the other needs and have a healthy future together, but that seems a fragile hope. More realistically, SungWoo may develop feelings while SungKyu's interest would remain in question; does he really care, or is he trying to fill his own void, or is he just maintaining his place in the family?

And whatever drove SungKyu in that scene, it doesn't seem to have given him much. The next morning, SungWoo feels accepted and is noticeably lighter and happier but the smile that SungKyu returns slides off when he's not being looked at, and his eyes remain vacant throughout. SungKyu said he was "nobody" and seemed to remain empty himself even as he filled in what the other family members needed.

For me, it's really hard to leave the story at that moment because I crave more emotional resolution, so I likely won't re-watch. I am glad I saw it once though.

I found Bearr's MDL review good and insightful too.

Leia Mais

Get ready to cry

I knew what I was getting myself into when starting this, from seeing the sad edits of this movie on tiktok and instagram, I just knew I had to watch it.

Despite this movie having a sad ending, it’ll also tell a beautiful story at the same time, and I knew that’s exactly what i’ll get, and I did!

It’s one of those movies that leave you heartbroken, or with that feeling you can’t really describe but you feel yourself grieving as if it’s you who’s going through it and not the characters.

Stories like these are heart wrenching, but it’s important to show these type of stories too. No matter how much you love someone, no matter how happy you once were with them, or how right it felt to be with them, when you’re not meant to be with someone, then you’re just not meant to be.

This story is something I connected with from my life, granted I didn’t have a marvellous ‘will they won’t they’ love story like they did, but some fragments of the story I could resonate with, and it’s true how you could go from loving someone and willing to fight to be with them, to having a fleeting moment of regret. It is something that will sneak up on you, no matter how many times you say you love this person.

On your wedding day was raw and funny and beautiful. It will make you cry…maybe, but it’ll most definitely leave you with an aching heart.

I rooted for them at the start and all the way till when they started dating, but once they broke up- I could just tell the spark wasn’t there anymore, and even if there were still unspoken feelings and longing ones too, there’s a moment that you allow yourself to see that this is not the person that will take a path with you but they will remain as a fond memory and that is equally beautiful too.

Very sad yet beautiful movie, watch it when you can!

Leia Mais

Acting on point. And ost on point as well.

I wanted to watch this movie for a good some time so, i gave it a try. It was really good. I liked the storyline, amazing cast, acting was insanely good. The music was also really good to hear! but this movie isnt all happy this and that. Its emotional as heck but ill say it was worth giving it a try! Everything was on point and done really well!

And my main question is, i wanna know if this was actually not considered a bl because i watched it for that. If its not then i will be upset about that. Because im trying to fill up my bl movie list :')♡ but oh well its totally fine i still liked the movie alot!

Leia Mais

About old flames from a bygone era.

If you say the Hong Kong genre, most probably think of old martial arts films with Bruce Lee, 80s and 90s action comedies with mainly Jackie Chan or newer and more brutal action films like Internal Affairs. Other films are also being made in Hong Kong. One of the most successful directors in recent years is Wong Kar-Wai. Among his previous works that have been shown in Swedish cinemas, In the mood for love and Happy Together can be mentioned.

2046 is a love drama set in 1960s Hong Kong. Journalist and writer Chow looks back on his life as a bachelor and his past love affairs. In search of work and excitement, he travels between Hong Kong and Singapore. He enjoys life with different girls: Many of them come and go but the memory of some remains. He also writes a science fiction book entitled 2046, in which people ride a train to a future where everything and everyone is unchanged as it once was. The title of the book is the same as the number of his hotel room, but it is really strongly influenced by his longing for his own love memories and the girls he didn't get or that he wanted to be with anymore.

With some girls it sometimes becomes a hot passionate relationship, with others it stops at friendship: As with the hotel owner's two daughters. They have two completely different personalities: One wild, spontaneous and a little crazy, looking for new adventures. The other, played by Maggie Cheung, sensitive and fragile like a flower that must be taken care of. To help her with love, Chow agrees to smuggle her love letters to her, hidden from the father who disapproves of her relationship with the young Japanese.

2046 is a beautiful and well-made film that is easy to follow and yet goes deep without being boring. Tony Leung, who also appeared in Hero and Internal Affairs III, is absolutely superb in the male lead role. Like several of Wong's previous works, 2046 also takes place for the most part in 60s Hong Kong. What is typical for him also comes through clearly in this film: A quiet drama made with beautiful images accompanied by wonderfully beautiful music.

In 2046, Wong has assembled several of the best Chinese actors of the moment. The result can only be a very beautiful and successful film. The interaction with everyone involved is total. Everyone is so convincing in their portrayals and they really get into their roles. The majority of those involved have also collaborated with Wong in his previous films: Tony Leung, for example, played in both In the mood For Love and Happy Together and was awarded for both of these, as was Maggie Cheung who also received an award for In the mood For Love.

Another participant is the actress Zhang Ziyi, who is currently very hot and popular above all in her home country of China, and who, by the way, can also be seen in Flying Daggers.

Wong's style is special and unique and it shows in his films. The camera is constantly present and follows tenderly and carefully above all the movements of the protagonists. As a viewer, you are invited into the action and feel almost like part of the film. You are touched. To manage to get the viewer involved like he does is commendable!

Leia Mais

Beneath the shock-value, there lies a narrative about life

Japan has always showcased some unique and interesting BL stories. It has given have very romantic and sugar-coated stories like Kieta Hatsukoi and Cherry Magic as well as some hard hitting and mature stories like Life: Senjou no Bokura and His (the movie). But sometimes, we are introduced to something wild and different. This is one of those storylines. Beyond the shocking and explicit scenes lies a profound message about the value of life, obscured by a barrage of perplexing moments that will leave you questioning your own understanding.

The movie hits the ground running where we find Katsuragi is bound and naked at an unknown place by a mysterious person, who sexually assaults him while taunting him about the feeling of being alive. Through Katsuragi’s recurring dreams, we find out how he landed up in this mess. As his daily sexual torture ensues, we find him struggling to stay alive.

The movie although graphic deals with trauma, loss and self-guilt. As the story progresses, we find that both our characters, Katsuragi and Ryoji are dealing with psychological issues. The tremendous personal loss that they have suffered makes them suffer from guilt and depression and ultimately to suicide. This is where the story takes a darker turn and uses the tool of bondage and sex albeit non-consensual to drive home the point that life is important and you need to live it daily. You are responsible for your own actions but certain things are beyond your control and you can’t be blamed for the outcomes.

This dark and twisted movie works due to the truly excellent performance by the main cast. The conviction through which they have played their roles speaks volumes about their talent and professionalism. There were multiple scenes that were awkward with lots of nudity and graphic presentation of sex and the actors have put up a convincing performance.

In conclusion, if we are able to overlook the extensive amount of nudity, bondage, sexual assault and the twisted means to looking at life, the movie holds some important lessons on dealing with trauma and guilt. For any one suffering from such psychological afflictions needs to visit a doctor but this is certainly not the kind of help you would be looking for.

Leia Mais