Reviews

It will make you cry?

Movie was awesome I would definitely watch again??❤️
My whole family watched it we all loved it wold recommend for any age as long a blood dose not bother you one of the best zombie movies ever I usually don’t watch movies but I could watch this movie a million times and not get tired of it …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… sorry lol had to have 500 characters

Leia Mais

Eternally Mine

My Beautiful Man: Eternal serves as a solid continuation and conclusion to the story of Hira and Kiyoi. It gave a more introspective view into Kiyoi as a character and also allowed Hira to bloom and grow. By the end, though there is still that master/servant undertone to their relationship, it feels like they understand each other better and are on more even footing. The cinematography mixes grounding tones with more ethereal ones that suit the characters and story. It's nothing groundbreaking, but I found it thoroughly enjoyable and sweet.

The movie is a pretty direct continuation of Season 2. Very little if any time has passed between the two. Kiyoi is still working on his drama and Hira is working as an assistant to Noguchi. There's a decent amount of focus on the two of them, on where their relationship is going and how it's changed over time and also how, despite those changes, some things never change. We're also allowed a glimpse into Kiyoi's thoughts, giving a better understanding of him as a person and his feelings for Hira. Hira continues to battle with his self-confidence and giving voice to what he wants, to be the only one who photographs Kiyoi. There's also the sweet friendship between Kiyoi and Anna which, while not explored too deeply, was still an aspect that I appreciated. Kiyoi being kidnapped by Shitara was something that I think most were anticipating, if not quite to that degree, then certainly expecting something to happen. It, combined with Anna's scandal, allowed the movie to explore a little more the dangers of social media and the frenzy and damage it can cause as well as the dangers of idolizing those in the entertainment industry to an unhealthy degree. Hira explains it very succinctly when he states, "Once you start imposing your will on her, you are no longer her fan."

I appreciated the growing equality between Kiyoi and Hira. As I stated previously, there is still very much that master/servant bond between them, but it grows to feel less of an obstacle to their love and more just a part of who they are and they accept that. Hira's subservience does lead to a few more understandings with Kiyoi, but it seems that overall Kiyoi has become accustomed to it and finds it less objectionable. Through Noguchi he comes to understand Hira a bit better as well as misunderstanding him again, but that scene does show that he wants to know and understand Hira. Kiyoi's kidnapping allowed Hira to show that he was still the Hira who had defended Kiyoi in high school. He was willing to kill or be killed protecting him. But what that scene also highlighted was that Hira's need is not one sided, Kiyoi needs him just as much, even if he doesn't express it as much. I liked that Anna was brought back. I appreciated her strength of character and the friendship that she had developed with Kiyoi. The way they could talk to each other easily was very sweet and wholesome. I also appreciated that she knew what she wanted. She wanted both to be with Kiriya and be an actress. The fact that she didn't shrink away from stating such and that she wasn't willing to give up either was refreshing.

Hagiwara has been fantastic as Hira from Season 1. His eyes are deeply expressive and he brought so much to the character of Hira. The scene where Anna calls him to tell him about Kiyoi is a testament to his acting skills. The change wrought in him is simultaneously subtle and dramatic, because no one messes with his Kiyoi. Yagi has steadily improved over both seasons and again in the movie. His acting style feels more nuanced and natural and he was more expressive with both his face and eyes. That growth really helped to give more depth to the character of Kiyoi.

The cinematography was gorgeous. There are some truly stunning scenes. Again, that scene where Hira gets the call, I loved the lighting change. It gave a whole other dimension to the scene. I also generally liked the music choices. Particularly the song used when Shitara and Hira were fighting, it was unconventional, but also worked very well. The ending with them at the school was really lovely. The way they incorporated the flash backs with the present was well done and simultaneously sweet and entertaining.

My Beautiful Man: Eternal is not perfect. It sometimes feels a bit cluttered with plot lines and there are a few holes, but ultimately I found that none of that really affected my enjoyment of it. It wrapped up Hira and Kioyi's story fairly neatly with the promise that, despite the uncertainty of the future, they will remain together. If you've watched Season 1 and 2 of My Beautiful Man, I think you'll enjoy this conclusion. And if you haven't, there's enough background given that you don't strictly need to have seen the first two seasons. You'll just have missed out on the a lot of the character growth and more details on how the two came together. This will certainly be a movie that I'll come back to in the future.

Leia Mais

A small rest ahead of the long TBW list.

There is not much to say about this movie. It is a typical revenge story with no plot twists, no sudden events here and there.

To sum it up, a ballerina befriends a badass girl (JJS) which is the main character in this movie. Some things happened to the ballerina and JJS needs to avenge her. She will try, did she succeed? Watch the movie, i'm not going to spoil you lol. The bad guy is KJH, i like him so no comment on his wonderful sexy acting lol.

The only phrase that got stuck with me from the whole movie is "My face and My Lamborghini", like the vibes were weird and funny at the same time.

Leia Mais

Does true love exist?

That's the whole premise of the movie. The deities bet if it exists or not by cursing a random human child.

Sangui is adorable and you just want all the good things to happen to him but the poor guy is cursed and only trouble finds him. He wants to find his first love but he is scared because he thinks she thinks he is a freak so he first wants to break the curse.

On his journey, he meets this weird girl obsessed with wanting to find a cursed prince and becoming a princess. I genuinely though she might kill him at some point while she tries to break the curse. She took the break part quite literally. I liked how they resolved this, it was cute.

Then he meets a witch but she is not actually a witch, she just can't sleep. I loved their friendship and the way they helped each other. He helped her sleep and heal and she showed him his curse is not that bad.
Regret is also a curse. I loved that line.
Her story is beautifully heartbreaking.

I like how everything is connected in this movie with lines we might not notice immediately.

The whole movie has a soothing and warm vibe. The music is beautiful and fairytale like. I can't explain how much I like music in this movie.

This is not a romance movie, it's a movie about healing and finding yourself.

Overall, I recommend it. It's cute.

Leia Mais

Fantastic, the (red) thread - in every respect.

I have been reading only positive critiques about “Thread of Lies” all over the place. It just took a while before I could see the KMovie for myself. Basically, all the praise has already been said. Nonetheless! The story, which is sad in itself, is told, staged and acted in just such a wonderfully clever way! Despite the seriousness of its topic, the basic attitude is positive and light. The complex and complicated underlying social and emotional mechanisms are so sensitively identified and processed, I can't help but find words of praise for "Thread of Lies" myself, too! Absolutely worth seeing! The characters, their motives and backgrounds, their conflicting feelings, the gray in the shadow, the light in the darkness, everything comes across as multidimensional authenticity.

The older sister sets out to find out the actual reasons for the suicide of her younger, 14-year-old sister. We with her. There are traces – Suspicion. Culprit. Fault. Shame. As far as the eye can see... ...including the look in the mirror. Yet, it is not the index finger being raised. Rather, there is a hand, valiantly reaching out. Powerful!
It is not about accusation and blame or justification and defense. It is like it is. It was what it was. Recognizing THAT for what it is. Not sugarcoating it. No excuses. Recognizing each individual’s own contribution to some tragedy. It's all about this. To learn something out of it? In the best case!

In this KDrama, bullying (or mobbing) comes without bloody beatings and physical violence. Rather, it is the psychological, manipulative, nastily hidden, difficult-to-understand social-emotional mechanisms that are elaborated in an extremely sensitive, comprehensible way. A girl is forced into inner isolation at an age when the peer group actually becomes more important than family. Friendship, dependence, abuse - the boundaries are not yet so clear. When it comes to that, the young are still 'children' – perhaps with high ideals already, but still without lived friendship-experience. Friendship is a word with deep meaning, a powerful concept. It is related to high hopes and yearnings. It is needed, in order to survive in this world.
In contrast, there are parents who know better and still duck away. There are bullying victims who somehow survived. Also parents, who are absorbed in their own world. And in the middle of it all, a young girl says goodbye to this world. Decided and definite. Yet at the same time hesitant, too. Desperate after all. Helpless. A 14-year-old says goodbye to a world in which the only one, who knew about how she truly felt, was a stranger...

The complex story is processed in a non-linear manner. Compact and yet differentiated. The tragedy of the unspectacular is intensified by a rather subtly developed arc suspension. Touching, but not told in an overly emotional way. And what can I say... the story unfolds in such a true to life manner that you can't even be angry with the venomous perpetrator. At least not as much as you would like...

Fantastic, the (red) thread - in every respect.


PS:
The story is based on the novel “Elegant Lies” by Kim Ryeo-ryeong in 2009. Actually, the film production had a rather low budget and its initial difficulties to get started, as the topic is considered highly sensitive, especially in South Korea. The KMovie, however, gave the lie to the doubters. The response was enormous and consistently positive.

Leia Mais

Lovely Slice-Of-Life Epilogue.

General spoiler only at bottom of review.
Cute and sweet, slice-of-life epilogue to the series. It's simple and light and I found myself smiling a lot. It’s a nice and very satisfying end cap to the series story. I wouldn't recommend it unless you've seen the series first, otherwise you'll be missing the emotional foundation of the main couple's bond. The secondary couple were less annoying to me in the movie (and didn't get much screen time, which I was fine with).

I appreciated how Adachi and Kurosawa learned to communicate better with each other and started to approach things in their lives as a team.

The lead actors are so good with their eyes and facial expressions. Everything is 100% believable until there's close romantic physical touch, then it feels ever so slightly stiff. Even so, there are some nice hugs and the way they look at each other holds so much emotion.

The cinematography is nice but the music is not memorable.

GENERAL SPOILERS.
The introduction to the families was a nice blend of realism and fantasy. Some realistic tensions were brought up, but then were resolved fairly quickly, which kept the overall tone of the movie bright. The family members with concerns showed a lingering internal worry even as they made efforts to be accepting, which I thought was a nice, more realistic touch than doing a 180 in 5 min.

Leia Mais

It's called forbidden zone for a reason

I watched this randomly, it's not bad. It's actually entertaining but I didn't like it. I didn't like the main character and I didn't like the story but I still watched the whole thing and I think it's decent.

The CGI is great and the fight scenes are interesting.

The main character is weak at the beginning and then suddenly he is over powered at the end.

There's this one scene where they try to stop the rock with swords and it reminds me of the scene in Guardians of the Galaxy where they try to stop the ship with the net made of robots. It kinda looked like that and it was funny for no reason.

It's a typical story, the main character is special but he doesn't see it until all of his friends die. I'm not joking all of them die (except one and you will know immediately who that one is). I actually started playing a game Who is going to die next? while I was watching. I managed to guess every time. Yay for me, nay for the characters.

My favorite character was the villain, the black haired one. I hate how he didn't get his cool moment and power at the end. I get the point, he was greedy and that destroyed him but I still wanted to see him kick the main characters ass.

The main character is as interesting as a broom. His power never works when someone is dying and at the end he annoyed me with how happy he was that he defeated the villain. I know, I'm slandering him a lot but I don't care. I don't like him.

Overall, it's meh. Watch it and you might (not) like it.

Leia Mais

Varan was a patchwork monster of a movie. Production was originally for a 3-part co-produced limited television series. When the American production company involved fell apart, Toho decided to make it into a feature movie. With a shoestring budget, filmed in black and white for television (no color sets yet!), and utilizing stock Godzilla and Godzilla Raids Again! footage, Varan struggled to cut an identity of his own.

Siberian butterflies are discovered in a remote Japanese mountain village which causes a research professor to send two of his scholars to investigate. What they find is something far bigger. When they don’t return, a new team is dispatched. The team berates the local villagers who worship the mountain god Baradagi, calling them superstitious. Before the village priest can say, “don’t get so cocky city boy,” the superstition comes to life and begins terrorizing the team and villagers. The monster dubbed Varan flies off, meaning Tokyo may once again be in the sights of a cranky Kaiju.

Varan had real potential. Like Triphibious, he could walk on land, live under the water, and fly in the air. The costume was cool and Nakajima Haruo who brought many a Kaiju to life, including Gojira, knew how to make a monster movie. His assistant, Tezuka Katsumi, was also given credit. The story let the big monster down, with Varan often treading water or sitting on the bottom of the bay which didn’t feel very threatening. More time was given to the ships, planes, and tanks than Varan. Many of those scenes were from Godzilla Raids Again, especially the tanks at the airport firefight. The editing wasn’t as seamless as you would expect from a Honda movie but given the circumstances, he did the best with what he had. Ifukube Akira wrote the music and it had the commanding monster marches he was known for. The writers did come up with a creative way to dispatch the One Movie Wonder though it’s said Nakajima suffered burns from it during the filming.

This is where I need to bring up the American version. It features Myron Healey and only uses 15 minutes of the original film with a different story about desalinization attached. You might find it billed as Varan the Unbelievable.

Varan felt too much like a re-tread of Gojira and this Kaiju needed his own unique story. Big G can do many things but he can’t fly, okay only that one time. For fans of guys in rubber suits Kaiju films, it is one to check out to see what Honda Ishiro could do when handed a mess of movie ingredients. As always, I grade these old niche movies on a curve.

10/13/23

Leia Mais

Fine but Unnecessary

I have always been of one mind when it comes to remakes: unless you can make it better, don't touch it. I'll admit it's been a while since I watched the original Cube, but I remember liking it for what it was. It was definitely a film of its time that, in the right hands, could be done well. Unfortunately, the creators of this remake didn't have any new ideas for it; this is basically just the original "Cube" with an ethno-swapped perspective and nothing else. The best parts of the film are those you can watch in the original "Cube." There are moments when the film flirts with delving deeper, but it always pulls back before going too deep, keeping all the characters and emotions at a surface level. Overall, this is fine. If you have never seen the original, you will get more out of it. However, if you have seen the original, there isn't much need to see this one as well.

Leia Mais

Watch it for the visuals

Honestly the storyline is just a simple revenge, nothing we couldn't expect so I'm not hating on it but also not loving it. For me it's the type of movie you want to watch "in the meantime" or "idk what to watch" so you just turn it on and for 1,5h you have something to do. Not a waste of time, but it definitely won't get any deeper thoughts.

However I gotta say that I really admire the visual side along with the acting. The whole vibe of Ballerina and the colour palette used for it fits the vibe so well. It's similar to for example My Name and I'm personally a big fan of this raw&gore yet somehow aesthetically pleasing atmosphere throughout the whole movie. Eye-catching and satisfying.
Plus acting was really on point and since there wasn't that much "talking", the actions and expressions made it really come through and actors did a really good job in this one.
Kind of wishing for better OST since it was alright but it could definitely be better but it's just a detail.

Summing up I don't agree with people saying "it's a waste of time" cause there's much more series/movies that will waste your time worse than this one. Ballerina is just a simple storyline with eye pleasing visuals and if you're looking for something to watch and forget about it soon after cause you have too many things going on to rethinking every single scene of a show and its meaning - it's a good choice to watch it. Acting's great, visuals even better, OST's alright, the length of the movie isn't tiring since it's only 1,5h.. it's just that the storyline is "revenge" and nothing else. Don't get why people hate on it that much lol

Leia Mais

Had too many loop hole

Storyline

The storyline had me hocked and when I saw the cast was like it's going to be one for the books

Well that did not happen. The moive was to short to begin with it had me guessing why she had to take the revenge for the best friend and why the best friend lived the life she did. Not to to forget the ML had to many missing parts from his character.

Character
The character had no life to them it felt like they where one dimensional

Acting
The acting was really good it did not feel forced and the fight scenes where really good so that was 100/ 10

Music
Hated the otp it did not go with the moive

Rewatch value
I would not recommend anyone who has.never watched a k moive. Would never watch it again .

Leia Mais

Ballerina; A Messy Pirouette Marked With Blood…

2023 has seen a great lineup of action thrillers, especially with strong heroines and Ballerina certainly tries to follow suit. However while did have some heavy action scenes and subjects, was it really a worthwhile watch?


Lee Chung Hyun directed and wrote the movie. Ok Ju ( Jeon Jong-seo) is a bodyguard who holds her own in fights. However, her life turns upside down when she discovers her friend and ballerina Min-hee (Park Yu-rim)’s fatal aftermath in the wake of being sexually assaulted by mid-level boss Choi Pro (Kim Ji-hoon).


Now seeking her revenge, she is put on a bloody path to enact vengeance on Choi Pro and his cronies by ending him once and for all.


It’s suffice to say Ballerina is very much what it says on the tin; a revenge movie where the heroine gets revenge by tracking down the big bad and leaving a wake of carnage in her way. The film is gory and filled with adrenaline, but that’s about it.

This isn’t necessarily bad. A lot of revenge and action films work on the premise of mindless violence to keep viewers engaged and it was evident to see the film’s influences from John Wick to Kill Bill. However, Ballerina never really gives us full scope that it tries to do with its characters and plot. It always tethers on potential development before tearing it away to focus on a fist fight and action scene.

The problem is that doesn’t really give the narrative or characters a lot of backbone. Even some of the most disturbing revenge Korean films over the past few decades such as Oldboy, Lady Vengeance and Burning are able to balance out their narratives with adrenaline, and tension, but equally compelling storylines and choreography. In Oldboy, we see plot twist development shock us beyond belief, Lady Vengeance is filled with complex characterisation and compelling fight scenes, while Burning explores tension and thematic issues such as capitalism in its core narrative . The problem with Ballerina is that while it doesn’t have to be a complicated movie at heart like some of its predecessors , it struggles with simple basics such as characterisation and development.


Jeon Jong-seo is a good actress but her character Ok Ju is very paper-thin. The audience never have any opportunities to warm up to her. It seems quite ridiculous when we consider the fact that we’ve seen Jong-seo lose a close friend and numerous hardships, yet we never see this develop or understand how this is such a devastating impact for her character. We do see some flashbacks to understand their relationship but this felt a little convoluted than explained or poignant, lacking a lot of potentially sincere emotional development. Sure, she’s a certified pro- fighter and brutal, but that’s pretty much in the space of this movie’s duration, all we get from our heroine’s character.


It was Kim Ji hoon’s role as Choi Pro which did shine through here. His cartoonish heinousness did help during some of the more questionable pacing and writing issues, by at least giving some appeal for the audience to root for the heroine.


The pacing is pretty variable in parts. When the action comes into force, it’s quick and adrenaline rushes. Yet in its patchy narrative and writing moments drawn out for sobs or seeming development, the gaps in writing often make these scenes drag out longer than they should.


Naturally, action choreography and actions scenes are where Ballerina excels. Lee Chung-hyun’s direction is simultaneously ultraviolent yet sleek. Its mesmerising to watch with the pure adrenaline of movements and camera angles really bringing these scenes to life.



Ballerina is a fairly mindless action movie. While probably not one of the best films released this year or winning over fans of revenge action films and cult classics, it is adrenaline infused and brutal. The writing is patchy but it’s well-directed through its camera angles and the fight scenes are well-executed also. Overall probably decent enough to watch one time when bored or killing time and that’s about it.

Leia Mais

BL movie too short for the romance to make sense

This short movie (about 40 minutes) showcases the meeting of a young male prostitute (quite broken due to traumatic past experiences) with an undercover cop. There are a lot of interesting elements to this story but unfortunately the movie is too short to really exploit well enough most of them.

Even if there is believable chemistry between the two male main leads and some hot moments between them, all the traumas and hardships happening to one of them, as well as the inner power imbalance in their relationship make it very difficult for me to see their story as a romance. Given the dramatic undertones and un-healthiness of the bound between the protagonists, it would have make much more sense for me for the film to take another direction for the conclusion.

Regarding the production, I overall appreciated it with its indie vibe perfectly fitting the rampant creepiness of the plot. I also enjoyed the soundtrack with the main song music video featured after the ending and the credit. It has some poetry balancing well with the story.

I would recommend this to people looking for a dark story. It is lacking in terms of storytelling to make the romance believable but it is not a boring watch for sure. The movie depicts a lot of abuses so be mindful of the tags if you have any trigger as it is pretty graphic.

Leia Mais