Reviews

CGI Fish made with Trash 80 Computer

Typical Chinese God trial movie. But what stands out is the God Awful CGI fish that torments the village.

Comedy in the way of rival suitors and village oafs.

on the flip side the makeup department did an excellent job and CGI for the weapons and choreograph of the fight scenes was awesome.
My overall score of this is a seven because of the typical nature of the story and the Terra bad CGI fish. The village antics though do show typical village thought processes save The villages a whole but if a few stray or a different they are ostracized or pointed out.

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Average but not so average movie

At first this was confusing but slowly slowly the story was going on the right track.
I don't have much to say. But ya in the last i can say that it was so good.. (The twist part of the movie).
I don't have much to say.
But if you want to watch a average but not so average story mystery you can watch this. It is pretty much good story.

For me it was a good story.
At first i was feeling bored... But the deep the story was reveling itself the deep i got attracted.

The ending is happy ending with some satisfied thrilling.

The story is not so straight and simple it was looking in the first.

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Lovely movie, of the fantasy genre, where the beast is she, the female/vixen/actual fox, and the beauty is he, that is well, just a man.
Lovely performance of Feng Shao Feng (who played the epic male role in “The Story of Minglan”, as well as the dramtic role in “Life is a long quiet river”). This actor is unafraid to show his skinny naked self if it is to go for comedic effect.
A joy to watch indeed.
Still, while laughing my head off I kept feeling a bit uneasy about the switcheroo of the sex of the main characters. I mean, really? A female who is a vixen, a fox? How lame is that? To fall on an ages old preconception, across all cultures, that is. However, I could not stay long concerning myself with women portraied in a stereotype manner. I was too busy laughing.
Cudos!

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The beauty of slow simple life

I was just thinking the other day if the rest of my life will mean working that 9 - 5 job and not having enough time to slow down and think about life and how I'm doing and if I'm happy or not. I've also always thought we should go back to the old ways of bringing food to our tables, to keep those traditional recipes alive, to learn how to cook as good and deliciously as our grandmas did. To learn how to bring everyone together just like Hyewon did.

This movie really got me mesmerized. At times it's good to do the simplest of jobs. Just recently I read about farmers being the happiest profession as of Jan 6th, 2023 and I'm not surprised. What's funny is that as kids, we always strive to move to the capital or bigger cities thinking that we'll never be able to make a living in our hometowns. Then we find ourselves missing home, waking up to cartoons and enjoying mom's food and just resting out in the sun.

I'm glad I finally watched this movie. It felt like a day off, took my mind to the peaceful picturesque village views and I felt at ease. It reminded me of how much earth gives to us and how grateful we should be of life in general, our good friends, our hard working people, our childhood home. It made me enforce the thought that romantic love isn't always the key to answer your life questions. It made me wanna rethink a few things and hopefully I'll find my little forest too.

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Left Wanting More

This was the start of a good movie but it's just not a fully completed story it's a runtime of 77 minutes and there could have been a succint story in that time and maybe they tried but for me it was too many things left unresolved. Makes me wonder if a sequel was thought about or planned but never took off.

The cast is really good though and I really liked Mimoto Masanori as Takashi and of course Nagase Tasuku was good here.

I thought the fight choreo was spectacular though and it was filmed well. You could see all of the movements and counter movements. Loved that. Sonomura Kensuke, the martial arts director did an excellent job.

9/4/23

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how to be an ntr enjoyer?

...i watched this in theaters.. its the definition of korean aesthetics in film.. but there is a very big but.. it feels ntr and ntr on reverse form. basically the whole movie makes you think they both love each other ... but the movie poster tells you otherwise what the ending is.. close but not so close. the actress said theres no kissing scenes coz they were betting on something more. omegalul. in normal peoples words its bs . i watched it as if i wasted my whole time watching it.
basically the husband feels like minor character third wheeling the whole film .
i dont really get why people say heartbreak as realistic when the whole premise of the film is unrealistic in the first place. you dont keep in touch that long . 6 months ldr people are already breaking up. and they pseudo break up without actually getting together. lul. i feel dirty after finished watching it. its like you ate a sweet flavored sewage water. its beautiful but this is not 500 days of summer where things are clearly sort of explained one way of another how they part ways. in this film.. they already parted way long ago.. so there's basically no point in closure when it already closed in the first place. making the whole thing pointless.
music and acting are the best part of this film. even the silence in certain parts i consider that as music.
if you have 10$ watch it. if not dont. you wont regret not watching it either way.

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What a pleasant surprise!

A film with a nostalgic touch. Kiichi Nakai in his prime and that gorgeous female leading actress. The actress is fitting her role perfectly, I just wonder why she did not appear in much more roles since that. And Shofukutei Tsurube as a lecher is just hilarious.

It's fantasy, it doesn't make sense once you start thinking about it. But just don't think, just feel. It has an atmosphere similar to Nobuhiko Obayashi's films. Dreamlike depiction of life on the border between innocence and adulthood. It even has a sixties touch, from Kiichi Nakai playing the trombone. Flawless!

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Unique Plot

The movie truly shows how far hard work can get you, even if you work as a police officer or as a chicken restaurant employee. They used the situation they were in and made the best out of it. And it all makes it easier when you got your friends around you. Friendship can get you through most situations.

With its unique plot and a unique type of characters, Extreme Job leaves you wondering what you just watched. All of the actors fit their role so good, its a pleasure to watch. I liked how you don't really expect what to happen throughout the movie and just sit there laughing at the unreal coincidences. It was truly a funny movie to watch and it might be something I will rewatch one day.

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About a great service of love AKA a fateful, karmic relationship

"Past Lives" is a US production. Both the author and the two 'Korean' leads have Korean roots, but they did NOT grow up in Korea, nor do they live there. The story is autobiographically inspired and is dramaturgically presented in authentic dialogues on the one hand and selected, visually impressive sets on the other. It is about the aspect of fate (and or Karma) in encounters as well as pondering platonic love. "Past Lives" is indulging into the emotional world of more or less accountable and sensitive reflection of the protagonists, especially of those two extraordinarily mature, fine young men. You rarely see that. Additionally, as far as camera work was concerned, light and perspectives were chosen with care and thus implemented as supplementary actor, sort of. All this is quite wonderful and has already been widely praised. “Past Lives” is thus a movie well worth seeing.

This movie presents South Korea and an attitude towards South Korea through the eyes of a South Korean girl who during the 1990s emigrated with her family at the age of 12. She then grew up in Canada, tried her luck as a playwright in New York, married an American, received the green card as side effect, and is ambitiously seeking recognition and success as a writer today. “Past Loves” thus has its positive emphasis on life in the US. The protagonist´s family had turned their back on South Korea. However, besides everything else, that has been already mentioned all over the place, I would say, that "Past Lives" is actually indirectly, in a rather subtle, reserved, unobtrusive way, (almost overlooked and hidden underneath the shiny, promising dominance of the US,) about positive Korean specific qualities, too... Therefore…

Generally, “Past Lives" juxtaposes those two ´worlds´ rather dichotomously. THERE South Korea, the country of origin that was left behind - far away and rather in the background, in the camouflage colors of the military and surrounded by plenty of soju. HERE the USA - reduced to a highly stylized New York (and artist retreat on Long Island), that is bathing in beautiful light and selected colors. In several respects, the United States is presented as the unrivalled better choice.
However, we experience these worlds through the eyes of the protagonist. In Nora's eyes, South Korea stands for conservative narrow mindedness, constraints, lack of freedom (which to some extend is certainly true). The USA, on the other hand, for her is the symbol for freedom, creative power, partake (should, could, might as well…). Eventually, those world views turn upside down. These are prejudicial concepts, both of which are not generally correct, e.g. each not representing the whole truth.

So, KOREAN normal everyday life is portrayed as conservative, shaped by her parents perspective and Nora's childhood impressions of the 1990s: the young democracy, already economically shaken by the Asian crisis. Her parents were artists and as such one way or another most probably influenced by the shaky turbulences of pro-democracy movement of the 1980s. They wanted a fresh start. Yet, what remains in Nora's memories? Very vague memories of school days, of what was said at home, of the striking images that remain impressively to this day. Bottom line: 'Men have to do their military service.' 'People are conservative and unsophisticated.' 'Men dependently live at their parents´ home until marriage.´ ´You can´t proceed in life.´
On the other hand, NORTH AMERICA is the much-cited world of unimagined possibilities. For Nora specifically, it is about a liberal world for the arts. She´s dreaming about her successful future, while the ambitious daughter may actually be living a much wanted life in lieu of her parents, too, to a certain extent. However, this ambitious dream is symbolically captured as an aesthetically abstract decal of New York and the Montauk artist retreat. For Nora, the USA represent a possibility to fulfil her dream of international prizes as an author. Thus, the USA as the center of her life is uncompromising and practically non-negotiable. That's okay and understandable.

This South Korea in the movie has a strong touch of Nora´s own prejudices. Apparently, she never emotionally processed or reflected her relationship to her country of origin. A deficit, which may also narrow down the perspective of the audience. Therefore, I would like to stand up for positive 'Korean merits', which only shine through subtly. In fact, though, they are formative for the characteristic poetic quality of the story. They come along in the person of Hae Sung. Thanks to him Nora can finally hold the key to her emotional freedom in her hands. (Whatever she may do with it now...) Thanks to Hae Sung (so to speak) she got her story and thus her tremendous success as a writer and director, too.

If you don't identify with Nora´s enthusiasm for the US so much, it might be easier to recognize those ´Korean merits´. Hae Sung actually embodies the opposite of what has settled in Nora's mind about South Korea. He stands for a new spirit among the digitalized young generation - even though he is an engineer. She, however, sees what she wants to see, reducing him to military service, close family ties, his clearly structured career and his reserved answers to her questions about marrying or rather not marrying his girlfriend.
Nora overlooks the fact that in his half-hearted answers about marital responsibility he carefully avoids generalizations so as not to overwhelm her with his feelings for her. She overlooks the fact that Hae Sung is indeed the courageous creator of his own world, possibly facing life even more creatively and openly than she dares herself. He chooses to study abroad in China because he wants to learn the language and because it may suit his career, too. He is ambitiously following his career plans, just like she does. Nevertheless, he is open to life´s challenges and ready to completely turn everything upside down. He is actively dealing with what is going on between the two. He prefers not to go for a logical, reasonable marriage. Instead, he takes what his heart tells him, seriously. He wants to sincerely check it out. This makes him vulnerable, too. Actually it was him, who originally went looking for Nora. With courageous creativity he took the chances life had to offer in his own hands. From a practical point of view, HE thought creatively and acted courageously. Nora on the other hand was the one, who, to a certain extent, simply unwinds her program without looking to the left or right.

Back then, when she left South Korea, she just put her feelings away, came up with a new name, learned the new language and left her best friend (and Korea) behind like an old toy. Since then her feelings for her old homeland only slumber unconsciously in her dreams. In her life, which is highly concentrated on her career as an artist, her past and origins have not been given the place they deserve. Hae Sung has to come first to open the door to that forgotten dungeon of her heart.
Still, we don't know whether Nora was able to take the 'little one' in herself by the healing hand - the 12-year-old Na Young, whom she had left alone in the past. All we know is that Hae Sung gave her a chance to reconcile with her roots and a hidden, almost forgotten part of herself. His great service of love was: not forgetting her, not giving up on her; looking out for her; meeting her, too; recognizing her for who she is; reminding her of something else, that she had almost forgotten; and finally letting her be - in an understanding, loving, respectful, ´Korean´ manner. Even if it hurts.
Actually, being himself, he represented another powerful aspect of South Korea, that Nora had so far not realized as such: A finely nuanced, rather emotionally dominated and yet respectful attitude towards life. This in contrast to a rather dichotomously shaped - black/white, good/bad, yes/no -, rather reasonable approach towards life, as it radiates from her 'North America'-concept.

At the heart of "Past Lives" is the probing of the protagonists' feelings for each other. What are those feelings supposed to be? Platonic maybe? Or more than that? And of course the story lives from the attraction of 'What if?'. This careful scanning of a space of potentiality is processed aesthetically cultivated, and stylishly. Respectfully too. Finally there are tears. ´Past Lives´ it is… However, the striking poetic aspect of this story is only made possible (in my opinion) by this very South Korean Hae Sung, who is not afraid to meet the multilayered complexity of emotional depth, confusing affection and difficult challenges in life, and (!) who is also not afraid to back off in respect to a larger context either. Thus he eventually even provided her on the silver platter of his heart with the so much longed for international artistic success...

PS:
Must be the 'In-yeon' they keep talking about throughout the movie...


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SIDE NOTE:
In-yeon = a fateful, karmic relationship
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No Need For A Girlfriend If You Got Your Buddy

This is one of the best movies I've seen lately. I never expected I would laugh this much watching a movie with such a dark theme. I can agree that the plot has been used before when it comes to police university students getting tangled up in a criminal case. But I think the movie shows some character development when you see Ki-joon go from being unsure about wanting to become a police officer to find pride in helping people and appreciate the work that the police do for the people and for the victims.

As I mentioned before, the movie has a dark theme. What I mean by that is how the crimes surround the subject of human trafficking. It shows how cruel people can be towards others, selling their friends to make money, selling their organs without their consent and making them victims to crime. As cruel as it seems, this is the reality, this is actually something that happens to this day. So I think the movie is doing a great job raising awareness of the subject.

Apart fom that, it also shows what runaway children needs to go through. Many of them are victims to domestic abuse or has experienced bad things in their household. Running away from it doesn't mean it makes it easier for them. They have to stand on their own feet, finding a place to sleep, bringing food to the table and suffer from the fear of being sent back to the cruel place they ran away from.

On the other hand, it was great seeing Park Seo Joon and Kang Ha Neul being like brothers in this movie. They fought together, suffered together and succeeded together. They did a great job showing the character's youthful craziness, their life struggles and their dedication to improve, not for themselves, but for others.

I had a fun time watching it and I recommend you to see it yourself. It is a great movie to watch with your friends.

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Hidden Truth

Originally, Yi wanted to shoot the film in the PRC. In mainland China, homosexuality is not forbidden, but it is treated as taboo. However, after the temporary disappearance of actress Fan Bingbing, there was an appeal from the film bureau not to make certain films. For this reason, Yi rescheduled seven months before shooting began and decided to move to Taipei, Taiwan. A two-year casting process in China had preceded, but actors had dropped out after accepting commitments. According to Yi, it would not have been possible to engage Taiwanese actors because the audience would have noticed the language difference immediately. So for pragmatic reasons, among others, the Chinese actress Zeng Meihuizi took on three roles in Yi's film.

Filming took place over 39 shooting days from May to July 2019 in Taiwan. The production was supported by the Austrian Film Institute, the Vienna Film Fund, Eurimages, Creative Europe MEDIA, Aides aux cinémas du monde, Taipei Film Commission, Belgian Tax Shelter, the Ministry of Culture of Taiwan and Totem. The Austrian Broadcasting Corporation and Arte were also involved.

The film is about the tension between traditional life with children and starting a family and free life in the anonymity of a city. He found a beautiful, unobtrusive aesthetic form for this tension. In the film, one can clearly see how quickly progress in China has torn the generations apart.

The film is visually appealing and cleverly deals critically with the issues of prostitution and homosexuality. However, a few lengths and many plot lines that go nowhere ensure that the hoped-for social criticism and tragedy of the film fizzle out.

The film's clever use of colour should be emphasised. Different spaces and places (e.g. the village, the hip spaces of the big city) are characterised by colours in the film, which also mix again and again in individual scenes. The director is particularly interested in the colour gradients, the "movements" between the different spaces. The complexity of the film saves it from obvious genre formulas, the "sense of images" protects it from narrative conventions. In the process, the director's visual interest in the cinematic world creates a film that is as consistently ordered as it is emotionally stirring, penetrating the rigid structures of world cinema.

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The main-leads…!

Honestly worth watching.
I regret not watching it sooner, but honestly I think it was a perfect time for me to watch. I missed them so much! The two actors are amazing. I’ve been their fans for years and it’s nice to see the two of them in one drama.
The plot was satisfactory. Got emotional at some point but their dedication to the drama inspired me in real life. I actually took Law Enforcement in College and it's nice to bring back some knowledge.
Their chemistry is so funny and cute.
This drama motivated me to stay strong, have perseverance, and have faith.
It may be cliche for me to say but regardless of being a comedy slash action slash yeye I love how they input the struggles of thinking what's right. If you should listen to the upper people or believe in what you believe is right.
I don't know what else to say but thank you for the inspiration even for a little bit.
It motivated it.
12:40 am 9/4/23

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Kehidupan Manusia Kembali ke Masa Barter

Bicara tentang film kiamat, biasanya kejadian kiamatnya ditaruh di tengah sebagai klimaks ceritanya, tapi ini enggak.

Ailh-alih berfokus pada pemandangan kiamat yang mengerikan itu, justru film ini berfokus ke kondisi sosial masyarakat setelah kiamat. Oleh karena itu, genre yang tepat untuk menggambarkan film ini adalah "post-apocalypse" atau pascabencana (nggak disebut pascakiamat karena setelah kiamat seharusnya nggak ada kehidupan sama sekali, bukan?).

Secara singkat, film ini menceritakan orang-orang yang rebutan tempat tinggal dan sumber kehidupan. Seluruh daratan hancur rata kecuali satu apartemen di Seoul. Penghuni asli apartemen ini nggak mau orang non-penghuni tinggal di sini, akhirnya mereka mengusirnya. Sedangkan orang non-penghuni berkeyakinan bahwa penghuni asli apartemen tersebut tidak manusiawi dan egois. Disebabkan dua faktor utama ini, akhirnya terjadi konflik.

Apa kekurangannya?
- Kalau dibandingkan waktu nonton film kiamat abal-abal "2012" sih cenderung nggak menegangkan walau di beberapa adegan tetap bikin otot-otot kaki jadi kaku.
- CGI post-apocalypse-nya kurang mulus: daratan yang hancur itu anginnya kenceng-kenceng, tapi rambut sama pakaian tokohnya nggak kena pengaruh angin.
- Klimaks ceritanya pendek banget, begitu juga anti-klimaksnya.
- Lebih banyak adegan ngobrolnya dibandingkan adegan aksinya meskipun sebenarnya inilah fokus utama film ini, yaitu menyajikan kondisi sosial.

Kalau saya boleh berpendapat, film ini lebih cocok ditayangkan dengan format drama minimal 8 episode untuk menceritakan masa lalu, kejadian saat bencana, dan anti-klimaks konfliknya.
Ya, jujur saja. Alasan utama saya rela menonton ini di bioskop karena ada Mbak Park Bo-young :3

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