Reviews

Not All That It Seems

Some reviews of this film really downplay its actual meaning in my opinion. This is one of those films that you really have to watch knowing some aspects of the historical context while keeping in mind the audience this film was originally aimed at.

When I first watched the film I initially agreed with some over the absolutely misogynistic premise it seemed to set. Yet I had to take a step back and ask myself who exactly this film was aimed at. I am not a Japanese person; and I am certainly not a Japanese person that has lived through war and then occupation- in which all of my traditions are suddenly being challenged due to new ideas and even new ways of living being introduced BECAUSE of losing a war. Personally, I believe the film is not aimed to stamp down on Noriko personally. It seems the actual idea of the film was to discuss the impacts new ideas bring to different people - especially different people of different generations.

Each character of the film lives differently and embraces tradition and new ideas differently. One has to look at these contrasts - especially in the context of each character's own life versus how they want Noriko to live hers.

Some may find this film slow or ask why it was even made in the first place but... I think it's a gem. At first I was disturbed and slightly annoyed by Noriko's constant smile at the beginning of the film; but seeing how her smile changes throughout the film was actually quite sad and almost disturbing. If anyone is interested in post-war Japanese films I would really give this a try. There is a constant and tangible pull for all the main characters to embrace a new way of living while still trying to hold on to tradition. This is especially seen in how the characters push Noriko to embrace tradition while not necessarily adhering to tradition themselves. Anyway, I really recommend it.

Leia Mais

A Messy Love Triangle Overpowers a Love Letter to Family, Faith, and Home.

Fu Yue, Ariel Lin, is an established art director for film. While on set of her latest project, she abruptly leaves to return to her hometown of Chaiyi. Her terminally ill father has decided to stop all treatment for his disease and remain home to live out his final days. This sudden interruption of her hectic work life offers her the opportunity to reflect not only on herself, but on her Grandfather Nikko, Vic Zhou, who was instrumental in creating the woman she is today.

Be With Me tells the semi-autobiographical and deeply personal story of legendary art director and first time director Hwarng Wern Ying’s family across three eras of Taiwan: 1940s Japanese Colonization, the 1980s Economic Boom, and Present Day. Originally conceived in 2005, this passion project of Hwarng Wern Ying took nearly twenty years to complete.

In 1940s Chaiyi, Nikko must hid the family’s beloved Xuan Tian God figurine from the Japanese Government. It’s the Kominka Movement, which sought to eradicate all Chinese and Taiwanese culture, language, and religion in Taiwan. Despite this oppression from the government, Nikko is a kind and generous man who opens a Ryokan across the street from Chaiyi’s Train Station. This is where he can offers sanctuary and respite to anyone who seeks it, regardless of age, ethnicity, or financial background.

During the 1980s economic boom, Nikko is now an affluent figure in Chaiyi who has time and money to spare. He now spend his days with his favorite grandchild, Fu Yue, and spoils her rotten. Taking her to five star restaurants with his business partners, as well as private auctions of rare Chinese antiques. These experiences taught Fu Yue to appreciate the finer things in life, as well as trained her to have a discerning eye for beautiful craftsmanship. All of these precious moments with her grandfather laid the groundwork for her future career as an art director.

In the present day, Fu Yue is a contemporary woman struggling to define who she is. Though soft spoken and quiet, she is incredibly strong willed and takes pride in her work. This inexplicably leads to heated arguments with the director and producer of her current film. Her love life is equally tumultuous; pursued by a man who loves her whom she does not love in return, whilst at the same time in love with another man with a wife and child. Mr. Yu, Ethan Juan, is a shrewd businessman who always gets what he wants, and right now he wants Fu Yue. A chance encounter drew them together, and since then Mr. Yu has been chasing Fu Yue all over Taiwan. Chun Shan, also played by Vic Zhou, is a famous architect whom Fu Yue has hired to renovate her historical home in Taipei. Throughout the design process, Chun Shan’s personality and demeanor reminds Fu Yue of her Gandfather Nikko. Before she realizes it, she has fallen in love with Chun Shan and begins a passionate affair.

To capture the essence of these three distinct eras, Hwarng Wern Ying had an ace team of award winning cinematographer and composers to bring her vision to life. Cinematographer Yu Jing Ping utilized unique framing techniques, lenses, lighting, and coloring for each era. Not only did this enhance the feeling of being transported back to a specific time in history, but also to a distinct time in cinema’s history. To round out the experience of traveling back in time, composers Lim Giong, Summer Lei, and Yang Wan Chien dug deep into the music archives to find songs and pieces critical to encapsulating the feeling of living and thriving in each time period.

Ariel Lin may get top billing as the main protagonist Fu Yue, but it’s Vic Zhou who is doing all the heavy lifting here. Not only is he playing two roles, Grandfather Nikko and Chun Shan; but he also appears in all three eras speaking three languages: Japanese, Taiwanese Hokkien, and Mandarin. Hwarng Wern Ying, wrote the dual roles specifically with Vic Zhou in mind. Although Vic Zhou is not a native speaker of Japanese or Taiwanese Hokkian he whole heartily threw himself into this production. Even though he spent months working with dialect coaches to perfect his Japanese and Taiwanese Hokkien, native speakers may be a bit distracted be his pronunciations in those scenes. Still a commendable effort nonetheless.

Originally intending to only tell a story between a granddaughter and grandfather, Hwarng Wern Ying ultimately decided to add a romantic element to make the film reach a wider audience. For that part of the script she tapped in her two college roommates: Chen Hsiao Wen and Yang Yi Chien. Unfortunately, this added drama completely distracts from this touching tribute to Hwarng Wern Ying’s grandfather and Chaiyi. The plot distinctly felt like Hwarng Wern Ying wrote all the scenes about Grandfather Nikko; Chen Hsiao Wen and Yang Yi Chien then wrote all the romantic scenes; and at no point in the process did the three come together to merge the two into one cohesive story. It was like each story line was its own car driving down a road, then you as a passenger must jump back and forth between the two cars in order to get to your destination. You may have gotten to the end, but you’re completely exhausted and question if it was worth the effort to get there.

Leia Mais

Moments of silence

To nobody's surprise, my favorite scene is absolutely the reunion scene; it's also an amazing example of effective silence, because the film absolutely took its time and you could feel the characters' disbelief and nostalgia with every passing second. That was when the wave of emotions finally hit.

This is a warm movie (ironically) with a relatively simple plot. I don't know if it has to be as long as it was, especially since a lot of the screentime was given to the daughter and her boyfriend, who were cute but didn't really feel relevant compared to the mother-daughter relationship.

Leia Mais

One of the two "shining" faces of the Gameboys series, the twenty-year-old actor Elijah Canlas, plays the main role of the seventeen-year-old journalism student Martin in this film, and as Karcikarel already writes, he played it excellently (he won the Jury Award for acting performance at the PP4 Awards Night 2018 festival, where the film was also awarded for best screenplay, cinematography and feature film). The "negative" TV reporter Lawrence was played by the three-year-old handsome Filipino Enzo Pineda and was portrayed very solidly. This controversial film about sexual harassment is a glimpse into the disillusioned soul of a young student who adores his idol. I think that there are a number of people in the world who "endure" the harassment of their idol, or perhaps a producer, in order to get the role of a toadstool, they simply do not want to let go of their possible chance at any cost. Finally, the newly filmed Thai series Call It What You Want is about this, for which I wrote a review a few days ago. The English hardsubs are quite small and harder to read, and I believe that in time someone will find separate subtitles so that those who can't speak English at all can translate them. It would be a shame not to see a movie with such good acting.




Jedna ze dvou "rozzářených" tvářiček seriálu Gameboys, dvacetiletý herec Elijah Canlas, zde v tomto filmu hraje hlavní roli sedmnáctiletého studenta žurnalistiky Martina a jak už píše Karcikarel, zahrál ji výborně (získal Cenu poroty za herecký výkon na festivalu PP4 Awards Night 2018, kde snímek byl ještě oceněn za nejlepší scénář, kameru a celovečerní film). "Negativního" TV reportéra Lawrence si střihl třecetiletý sympatický Filipínec Enzo Pineda a byla ztvárněna velmi solidně. Tento kontroverzní film o sexuálním obtěžování je nahlédnutím do rozčarované duše mladého studenta, zbožňujícího svůj idol. Myslím si, že ale na světě existuje celá řada těch, kteří "přetrpí" obtěžování svého idolu, nebo třeba producenta, aby získali roli nějaké muchomůrky, prostě za žádnou cenu nechtějí pustit svou případnou šanci. Nakonec je o tom čerstvě natočený thajský seriál Call It What You Want, ke kterému jsem psal před pár dny recenzi. Anglické hardsuby jsou dosti malé a hůře čitelné a věřím, že časem někdo najde samostatné titulky, aby si je mohli přeložit ti, kteří anglicky neumí vůbec. Byla by to škoda, nevidět film s tak dobrým hereckým výkonem.

Leia Mais

It's 1992, and a Japanese film deals with a marriage of convenience, a marriage of convenience. I am surprised by the openness and the fact that this volume is not figuratively lynched, dishonored and offered a cinematic solution to "how it should be right". The picture is interesting, actually, if it weren't for the style, phones, cars, hairstyles, I would easily believe that it was filmed even now or just a few years ago and not almost thirty years ago. The acting is excellent, especially the characters of Shoko and Kon Fujishima, the overall impression is surprisingly very good and I also want to thank karcikarl for the cz subtitles.


Jsme v roce 1992 a v japonském filmu se řeší sňatek z rozumu, manželství ve lži. Jsem překvapen otevřeností a tím, že se tento svazek obrazně nelynčuje, nedehonestuje a nenabízí se filmové řešení, "jak by to mělo být správně". Snímek je zajímavý, vlastně nebýt toho stylu, telefonů, aut, účesů, bych klidně uvěřil, že bylo natočeno i nyní nebo jen před páry lety a ne skoro před třiceti. Herectví výborné, především postav Shoko a Kon Fujishimy, celkový dojem překvapivě velmi dobrý a ještě chci poděkovat karcikarlovi za cz titulky.

Leia Mais

During the viewing, the spoken word of the picture gradually slipped away, at first OK, towards the end it became more obvious, but it is nothing that should be a problem, the link to this picture cannot be simply rattled off and a non-Thai viewer must first of all crack the subtitles, so it doesn't matter that much and it's not the fault of the movie makers. I had to play the ending three times, I didn't understand it. With the open end, they left a back door for a possible sequel. It was a little difficult for me to recognize the actors at the beginning, because the age gap was not so great that they had to be replaced by other - older actors. Cus - young handsome, the older one was completely ugly, he didn't match physically, I understand that it is difficult to find different types of actors, Ball was probably the most similar to the younger-older one, Per - the younger one was already played by an older actor than the others, it was enough to age his beard, by editing. I just have to respect that the Thais wanted it that way. Overall, just slightly above average, where the story itself took it. I'm not the one who has to criticize and prove to myself how bad everything is, on the contrary, I'm always looking for the positives, whoever doesn't do anything won't spoil anything.


V průběhu sledování postupně ujíždělo mluvené slovo obrazu, zezačátku OK, ke konci už to bylo více zřejmé, ale není to nic, co by mělo vadit, odkaz na tento snímek se nedá jen tak zchrastit a jiný než thajský divák musí především louskat titulky, tak to tolik nevadí a není to chyba tvůrců filmu. Konec jsem si musel pouštět třikrát, nechápal jsem ho. Otveřeným koncem si nechali zadní vrátka na případné pokračování. Trochu mi vadilo se zezačátku vyznat v hercích, protože věkový odstup nebyl tak velký, aby se museli nahrazovat jinými - staršími herci. Cus - mladý krásný, starší byl naprosto nepěkný, neodpovídal fyzicky, chápu, že je těžké různé herecké typy najít, Ball byl asi nejvíce podobný mladší-starší, Per - mladšího už tak hrál starší herec než ostatní, stačilo ho ostaršit vousky, úpravou. Prostě musím respektovat, že to tak Thajci chtěli. Celkově jen mírný nadprůměr, kam jej vytáhl samotný příběh. Nejsem ten, který by musel jen kritizovat a dokazovat si, jak je všechno špatně, naopak, vždy hledám klady, kdo nic nedělá nic nepokazí.

Leia Mais

A movie neither romantic nor suspenseful

A murder mystery rom-com that has a hard time balancing rom-com antics with mystery suspense. This is the setup for the romance: our male lead is a butler known as a bland pushover, and what helps him keep it together is his girlfriend. Our female lead is a more aggressive and bold character, polar opposites of the male lead. She comes aboard the ship he is working on as a butler and breaks the news that their significant others are cheating on them with each other. Whatever guess you have about the romance side of the plot, you'd be correct. There is nothing new or fresh with this as it hits every beat you can imagine.

What makes it enjoyable enough is the chemistry between the leads. They play off each other really well and add some life to their characters, even if the romance portion moves fast. As I haven't mentioned the murder mystery portion of the story yet, it's because the movie didn't seem that interested in it. The characters involved in that part of the story get very little screen time and characterization. When the case wraps at the end, even with a twist involved, the story doesn't give proper closure to all the characters involved, focusing more on our main couple. It makes one wonder why even have the murder mystery plot since it didn't add anything and didn't affect our main characters in any significant ways; it's just kinda there to pad out the runtime, which is 2 hours and 7 minutes, and probably about a half-hour of that could have been shaved off.

It's not an awful film; it's just very plain and would get lost in a sea of films with a similar premise. My recommendation for this would be if it's a Saturday afternoon, it's raining outside (not too heavy but not too light either). You are tired but not sleepy, you have a cup of tea beside you (no caffeine). You lay down on the couch with your arm resting under your head as you crave something inoffensive and not too deep, then this film is just for that.

Leia Mais

More mind games that lacks impact

Originally a remake of Johnnie To's "Drug War", now they've delved into a wider expansion in this sequel and beyond the initial plot on its own. There's even more mind games this time with new characters, but as much extended storyline was added in, it does not seem that it's posing any bigger impact as it should. There's really not enough stakes to drive the threats onto higher ground, the movie stays within its frame and that's not much different than any other standard drug crime movie, it's just ridiculous why Netflix would even cash in a sequel to a movie they do not own in the first place.

Leia Mais

Enjoyed the musical moments and the bright colours & costumes, disappointed by the romantic aspect

This movie has a very interesting premise with an Indian wedding being organized in Thailand with the wedding planner being the ex of the groom...This is a good set up for a lot of shenanigans and could have made a nice rom-com movie with a cultural twist, mixing both Thailand and Indian casting.

Unfortunately, I was quite disappointed by the romance aspect of the movie. I had trouble to fell empathy for the female lead and was not that convinced by the storylines with the two males protagonists. It lacked emotions and was super focused on the comical / almost satirical aspect of things that I never managed to really care about any of the relationship of the main cast. The secondary characters were a bit better in terms of likeability despite being for some very caricatural.

What I preferred from the film relates to the filmmaking of the various cultural steps of the Indian marriage as well as the musical numbers which were really nice. The soundtrack left me with a very good impression. In terms of production, I enjoyed the costumes and decors, but I remains a bit more ambivalent regarding the directing choices, especially in the more "action" driven sequences where everything felt very cheap.

I would not recommend this movie as I was disappointed by the plot and the romantic aspect of the scenario. The premise is good and there are good musical moments...but the overacting and almost parodic directing choices as well as the lack of nuance in the storytelling prevent me to recommend this.

Leia Mais

Awesome

This is late Review after rewatch
All is good in this movie especially [ Han Hyo Joo ] her
When its happen in reality how much you tolerate like her
My Favorite scene is 1⁚02⁚02 - 1⁚03⁚58 i love this scene in that scene child artist And her screen presence is hilarious
THank you totally i enjoyed i hope you all feel same as me
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Leia Mais

Sad but Real

B (Actor): Young Woo
T (Actor): Jae Ha

"Method" unfolds the narrative of an actor and an idol engaging in a clandestine affair while collaborating on a play, reflecting a story that resonates with the often intricate reality of such relationships. True to life, the connection dissolves once the curtains fall on the play, mirroring the transient nature of these romances. The film, while okay in its portrayal, adeptly captures the emotional journey of the characters. Though the reasons behind their mutual attraction remain unclear, one certainty emerges—both characters undergo profound transformation. This isn't a tale of happiness but a raw depiction of real-life complexities. The film concludes fittingly, acknowledging the impermanence of such relationships in reality, unless one is prepared to sacrifice everything.

Leia Mais

maybe cause i've watched the drama, this fell short. the editing didn't do it any favors, there were parts missing that didn't flow well, a lack of info that would make scenes from one scene to the next - here were missing.

so the only reason anyone would watch is (cause here the "sex" scene wasn't edited out ) which was erotic (i guess) to me it was kinda cringe, so skipped it. But after that (here) the morning after, Seung Hyun doing a runner cause he saw the ballpoint pen was a bit ridiculous IMHO.
1. the dude (supposed to be) a virgin, so when he finally does "give up his V-card", would one run out on the person u finally gave it too (?) when they were good to u & were being sweet?!? without any type of explanation. or hang around to clear the air idk anything but disappear (especially when u work together OMG, this movie was a glaring warning to why one shouldn't get involved in office romances - that's my main take-away from this...)(ノへ￣、)
2. he finally got the hot guy he was salivating over - a guy that was out of his league (in his head). not to mention this time around it wouldn't be an unrequited love. so make it make sense that he tried to ghost Jong Chan, cause Yoo Seong didn't know he existed?!? ＼（〇_ｏ）／like plz -

& after hearing out Jong Chan, talking it out with Ji Yeon (his bff) he's still passively waiting for Jong Chan to make the 1st move - why?!? cause he's the "bottom"??? i hate this b.s. trope, can't stomach it when we talking FL's in K-drama's, not gonna find a taste for it cause this a BL & we talking about an ML - like plz with this crap!
he was in the wrong, Not Jong Chan - so it was his mess to clear-up ugh with this toxic, passive personality that is the norm cause everyone else eating it up (╬▔皿▔)╯
him being cute, clueless, inexperienced, insecure, younger (or any other reason u can think of) doesn't make his actions the day after OK. & as an adult that wants to be in a relationship he should know better, apologize & work on his sh*t so people would want to be in a relationship with him (but this dramaland, so never mind~(>_<。))

on a whole this was ok - if i wanna revisit, would watch the drama - Not (!) this.

Leia Mais

Worth watching for me.

Whatever the story was I really liked it. I loved the casting. Especially the young actors they were so good. It was my first time watching a Korean Movie. And also my first time writing a review. All i can say don't expect anything just watch it. Give it a try.

I really don't rewatch any series or anything I watch. So yeah.

In the end I really got anxious. But the ending was good.

Overall it's worth watching. I've watched a lot English horor movie. According to those obviously it's good. I decided to write a review cos I saw a lot of negative review. It's not bad. I can say a simple horor/ thriller movie with a potential cast.

Leia Mais

Actually Quite Enjoyable

Pleasantly surprised. Didn't think I would like it so much. I only picked this up cause I was bored but it did not disappoint. It made me laugh, then it made me sad and it finally made me cry. I really liked the complexity of the characters. They are all flawed in their own way and as the plot progressed, they grew. I love how it explains things that it was so abrupt at the beginning leaving you with why did they did this and that. But after they showed the reason it makes your heart cry. Three characters who are broken because the loss of a loved one. They come together and help each other. I love how there is no bad guy in this show. Just flawed humans. You felt sympathy for every character. Truly a gem. Worth a watch.

Leia Mais

Average Thai Rom-Com set in an Indian wedding

This is my first non-horror Thai content I watched as I was intrigued by the Indian wedding setup shown in the trailer. Being an Indian, I wanted to see what are they going to show in the rom-com.

OVERALL REVIEW:-
It's an average nothing special rom-com which fails to hit the mark in both the romance and comedy departments. It does not mean it is unwatchable or cringe and considering the short runtime of 1.5 hrs, I didn't expect much from it in the first place. Comedy seldom lands and chemistry between the leads is just Meh! There is no place where we can breathe and absorb what happened as it is very fast-paced, moving from one comedic scene to another emotional scene within seconds.

LANGUAGE ISSUES:-
There is a hotchpotch of different languages being spoken with not-so-on-point accents which I can understand as people are not speaking their dialogues in their primary language. Nevertheless, both the Indian characters as well as Thai characters look unnatural and uncomfortable when speaking English which breaks the flow and kills the vibe of the movie. I would have preferred the Indian characters to have at least converse in Punjabi or Hindi when they were talking to each other.

THE LEADS:-
Let's not talk about the Indian supporting cast as they were neither the focus nor did they act naturally as a bunch of Punjabis speaking English sounds very cringe to me.
Vachirawit Chivaaree the ML looked very bright and handsome straight out of a K-Pop band and his acting was decent.
Ranee Campen the FL looked so gorgeous and beautiful throughout the movie which I can not deny. But her character was written very clumsily and her acting was very over the top in a few scenes which I didn't like.

PORTRAYAL OF INDIAN CULTURE:-
This is the aspect in which the movie gets full marks in making sure they showed Indian culture appropriately and with respect. All the ceremonies (Mehendi, Sangeet & Phere) which are essential parts of Indian wedding were at least shown correctly and briefly explained.. The song featured in the movie gave good Bollywood vibes with all the background dancers and our couple looked really good doing the dance movies in traditional Indian clothes. Definitely the highlight of the movie for me.

NOTE: I want to clear the misconception for anyone watching this movie and they must know that only a minority of Indians consume alcohol during weddings and in general alcohol is not allowed.

Leia Mais