Reviews

Underrated

If you know Quentin Tarantino's work and other older black comedies and genre-blending films from different eras you will dig this. It's highly rewatchable and fun. The atmosphere, the cinematography and the performances are excellent. And you have to pay attention to the dialogues to fully enjoy it. There are no explicit scenes, but the sexual tension between Chani's and Kim So Ra's characters is so thick - I love when actors can do that.

That scene with the dog and the finger in the end reminded me of ''Kiss Kiss Bang Bang'' with Robert Downey Jr.

I found two versions of English subtitles and one of them has all the curse words censored with *** and the characters curse a lot! Censorship is a strange thing to do since they let you know from the beginning that this is 18+ and contains strong language. This can be distracting for some people so look for the good subtitles.

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Important movie for South Korean cinema, start of Lee Joon Gi stardom <3

This historical movie tells the story of a(n) actors/clowns troupe at the court of the infamous and tyrannical King Yeon San in the beginning of the 16th century of the Joseon Dynasty. I quite enjoyed discovering this rather original part of Korean history with the tale of a king and "his clown".

Story-wise, I found it poetic and beautiful: it is about artist lives in trying times, mental health issues, court ordeals and much more... The pacing could have been better but I was overall pretty invested in the plot despite some of the characters' choices being quite illogical (or at least not very smart). It make sense in the context of the poetry of the film, but at the same time it can feel a bit frustrating. It is fair to say that huge gestures and statements might trumps here practical and sensible decisions.

The bromance was epic in a way but could have been pushed further as well as the interactions with the secondary characters which remained quite superficial. Still, acting-wise, Lee Joon Gi, Kam Woo Sung and Jung Jin Young are really good and solid in their respective roles with some stellar moments. A lot is left unsaid regarding the relationships and sentiments which is interesting as the viewer is really relying on the actors performances to understand the feelings rather than on the dialogs.

I loved the OST which supported so well the measured dialogs and their sporadicity, it was made of sorrowful instrumentals, fitting for the dramatic mood of the film. The production value is great, there are a lot of really amazing acrobatic scenes as well as dances / comedic / jesters bits. All the costumes, accessories and decors felt high quality (especially as the movie has been released 18 years ago, I was pretty impressed).

I would recommend this to people that are curious to see the movie that made Lee Joon Gi's talents recognised. Personally, I first discovered him in the 2005 drama "My Girl" and clearly I do not regret to have finally taken the time to go back to watch his first big movie performance for which he was particularly (and rightly so) praised for. If you like historical movies and are not afraid of a gut-wrenching poetic journey, you will likely enjoy it!

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Blued app short film ad

In a series of short film ads Blued produced, this one is for Mother's Day. So accordingly, this is a story about a mother coming to terms with her teenage son's burgeoning sexuality.

The relationship between the mother and her son is precious. Mother is sad because she's not close to her son as much as she used to be: she notices the changes in her son. And while her son is getting more and more distant, the mother is worried and is looking for new means of communication with her son. Realizing that he is looking to identify where his penchant lies, the mother tries to talk to him through an app.

The "difficult-to-communicate" mother/son relationship is a usual one in adolescence and focusing this film on it is an excellent idea. Through misunderstandings, errors and generosity, they manage to mend the damaged relationship. The character of the mother is someone we all dream of having as a mother: kind, understanding, open minded and most of all loving unconditionally! Her son is a typical teen thinking the adults are the enemy.

The boy uses the app to try out a gay relationship: girls do nothing for him. The person who shows up is his schoolmate. Now here is the huge problem with this film: the schoolmate forces himself upon the boy! They eventually end up having a relationship, but was the force really necessary to make the point? This short scene shaved off two stars from my ratings.

It is a really good movie if you manage to make abstraction of a hugely problematic scene. The rest is perfect!

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Good story about medical professions in a tough situation like SARS pandemic in 2003

"Eye of the Storm" is a movie about the 2003 SARS pandemic in Hong Kong and Taiwan. It showed case the stories of how the nurses and doctors, including the hospital administrators, were trying to cover up the patient zero and the spread of SARs.

It also showed the ugliness of human behaviors regarding life-and-death situations. It started out slow, and the story progressed nicely. It also showed the human kindness of everyone trapped in the hospital and how they helped each other in a tough situation. The heroes were the doctors and nurses caring for patients and their families.

Overall, I enjoyed it and gave it a 7.5 rating.

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"Everyone's dissatisfied"

Ozu explored the family life of a cog in a wheel salaryman. Sugiyama Shoji personified the endless, hopeless life of the literally white collared worker who made just enough to live on but not enough to get ahead, much less dream of something different.

Shoji and Masako have been married for a number of years but after the death of their baby son have drifted apart emotionally. Shoji's family is now primarily populated by the people he works with, ex-army buddies, and mahjong companions. Masako has a widow neighbor and a jaded mother she can turn to. Due to Shoji's nighttime habits of mahjong and drinking, the couple are behind in their rent. The disaffected worker is about to knock Ozu's ubiquitous train off the tracks when he begins an affair with a younger woman named Goldfish.

Aside from A Hen in the Wind's male lead, Shoji was one of the most unsympathetic leads in an Ozu film that I've seen so far. He frittered away the family money, barely spoke to his wife and treated her like a maid. He brought drunk friends home to sleep it off and walked out one evening when he surprisingly came home early and dinner wasn't ready yet. To top it all off he scarcely covered up his affair which seemed cruel. His wife did all the laundry and he didn't think she'd notice the lipstick faithlessly adorning his clothing? He didn't think she would smell another woman on him when he sauntered in after having sex with Goldfish? When she finally did confront him, he tried to gaslight her and lied like a five-year-old. With the exception of one woman who told her to stick to her guns, others, including her mother, convinced her to apologize for her part in the marital estrangement and go back to her husband. Thankfully, Shoji did finally apologize to her, however with all the emotional depth of apologizing to someone you'd accidentally bumped into. As the husband in Hen in the Wind did, he wrapped up the story with a "let's start all over again" happy ending. Ozu banged on about how disillusioned salarymen were and largely blaming Shoji's infidelity on his employment dissatisfaction. Where was the insight into the grief Masako was obviously still dealing with and her loneliness? Where was the compassion for a lonely woman with a husband who spent most of his time away from home? Why did she have to apologize for her husband sleeping with another woman?

Ozu's composition and framing were as exquisite as ever. There were the typical scenes in an Ozu film with singing and game playing, occasionally both at the same time. The 2 hours and 24 minutes film dragged badly in places. How many drinking and singing scenes were truly necessary? The waxing on about the meaninglessness of a salaryman's life became repetitious. Over and over again, Shoji was shown spending time with just about anyone but his wife which began to wear thin. It was doubly painful because Shoji never mentioned loving his wife whereas numerous characters commented on Masako's love for Shoji. At no point did Ozu show the reason Shoji decided to turn his marriage around other than for convenience's sake which made the decision emotionally hollow.

Ozu's insight into the long hours and drudgery of death by overwork was stinging. The commentary on women with unfaithful husbands was disheartening. The nicest comment about wives was Shoji's older friend played by Ozu regular, Ryu Chishu. "No one is more dependable than a wife." Sounds like something you would say about a brand of tires or dishwasher. I didn't find the unfaithful and cold Shoji a compelling or sympathetic character. He was an irresponsible husband who did nothing to earn his wife's forgiveness. Ozu made many meaningful films, for me, this wasn't one of them.

8/29/23

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Started out ok-ish and gets worse the more you watch

It started out ok although from the beginning there are a couple of clichés that already made me cringe.
Main Guy character is a classic "nice guy" with stalker behaviour, very frustrating and if pushed can be quite evil even.
Girl has self-esteem issues.
Side characters are side characters, we learnt almost nothing from anyone, it's kept very superficial. I could even say the same for the main characters, the reasons for him to like her are hold by a fine thread until they have more relationship and we're still told absolutely nothing about her, I don't know anything of what she likes or doesn't, what she wants to do or doesn't, she's just pretty.
Writing is mediocre and I feel at points the movie doesn't know what it wants to be or what direction it wants to go, at points it feels like it wants to be a different version of 500 days of Summer, but then it tries to tell me the main characters are meant for each other and there is romance there, even suggested with that ending. Talking about the ending, it's unsatisfactory to the point it leaves me a very bad aftertaste as if everything Guy did was justified and June grew nothing and thought about things 0.01 seconds. There was no growth and no change.

I found some parts a bit funny, but overall not sure I could classify this as romantic comedy, Guy makes this movie go south very early on and I just felt uncomfortable he was so pushy and inactive at the same time.

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Good Enough

Korean/ USA Movie " Past Lives " is a drama about what ifs, lost relationships, and identity.

The movie has impressive cinematography, with a gloomy New York as the main setting, offering the right space for the melancholic tone of the story. And true, the plot is quite blue, with the two main characters missing chance after chance to be together. At the same time, the questions of identity and home are often set out to become obstacles for them, other than bad timing and bad decisions.

Other than that, the movie seems to never reach that burst that the story needed, whether that was a happy ending or a tragic ending. Also, the time jumps were plenty and messed up the pace and the cohesiveness of the story.

Finally, the performances were smooth and enjoyable by every actor and actress in the cast.

So, overall, five out of ten. It's an interesting movie, but it turns out to be just okay.

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Annoying characters

Five BJ decided to check out a haunted building after one fellow BJ disappeared there. All five of them streamed different materials with one about ghost hunting and another one about debunking them. Truthfully, the characters were annoying with constant prank and shouting. It took away the mysterious feeling from a similar movie, Ghonjiam. At one point, I wanted them all dead to be done with it.

The place was supposed to be a place for healing. However, everyone either end up dead or missing.

The scene that annoyed me the most was when a police arrived and instead of saving them, he questioned their integrity. I don't know about other places but, in my country, police usually comes in pair.

I probably watch it again and fast forward to when the ghosts appear. At least they're not annoying.

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Gangster flick with a bit of a heist

This movie is about a bar owner that fights with organised crime, mix of gangster flick with a bit of a heist, it does touch on some political scandals. Movies with politics in them usually bore me but this one was interesting and the main characters had a lot of chemistry.

Seo ye-ji is the reason I watched this movie after falling head over heels for her in It's okay to not be okay. Her character is so elegant but a bit suspicious at the start but I can't stay mad It's Seo Ye-ji.

I only know Park Hae-Soo as that fella from squid game so I'm so used to him being the bad guy, his character in the movie was surprisingly likeable quite mad at times almost like the joker, it was really cute when his character gets nervous around Seo character.

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Cars that drift

This movie is so exciting and full of action which I love
The movie is set in the lead-up to the historic 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, the film centres around five friends who collectively call themselves the Sanggye-dong Supreme Team.

I love the classic 80s retro vibes and soundtrack
Fast and Furious in the 80s (I don't know if fast and furious have political chats never watched it)

I was a little confused with the friendship dynamic this is my understanding of them
The main lead Park Dong Wook and Park Yoon Hee are siblings, Woo Sam (John) and Joon Ki are brothers, in the middle of the movie Joon told Dong while giving the ignition "this is dad's, so I don't know

I hate politics side in these types of movies but it went straight to the point, I liked the discovery uncovering a slush fund scam during the Olympics that was really good and refreshing.
I really shipped John and the Secretary they deserved better
I gasp so loud when prosecutor died he just came out of nowhere unexpected jumpscare

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Great Follow up to the Original Series

The original TV series had some pacing issues, but the characters and story set up were excellent. This follow on movie has thrilling action with a fast pace, and appears to be the first of a series of self contained movie long episodes with the main characters from the original series. Baek So Jin, the main character and 'hero', doesn't appear until late but she is clearly the center and is defined by her actions as a new super hero. Reminds me of the Dexter character from the book series - not the TV series - who was literally possessed by a demon/evil spirit that resulted in a tense balance between good and evil. Dexter would offer up serial killers for torture and death to this demon to keep it and its influence on him in check. I look forward to seeing what they do with this demon possessed So Jin character.

The first time I watched this from an online source the subtitles were horrible. However, I just rewatched a Blu-Ray version and they are much improved.

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"Who doesn't treasure life?"

Street Angel followed a group of low-income workers who forged bonds of love and friendship as they dealt with the hardships thrust upon them in an uncaring city of have and have-nots. Music, magic tricks, humor, and true love lightened the mood of a melodramatic story.

Xiao Hong and her sister Xiao Yun fled the Japanese and ended up in Shanghai working in a tea house. Xiao Hong sings for the customers while the owner put her older sister to work as a prostitute. Hong flirts with the trumpet player, Xiao Chen, who lives across the street with his friends. Their flirtation turns to love and all seems well until Hong discovers her new guardians intend to sell her to a wealthy street gangster. Chen and his friend Wang, visit a lawyer with an office high in a skyscraper only to discover that justice is out reach for the poor. C buddies The buddies spirit Hong away and the two lovers marry. Yun finds her sister and for a time it looks like the sisters may have a happy life. Sadly, the melodramatic aspect of this film could not be outrun as the economy worsens and rent prices increase, even worse, the tea house owner and the gangster are hot on their trail.

Music dominated much of the film. Zhou Xuan sang several lovely songs and enthusiastic trumpet music also livened the story's setting. Chen entertained Hong and his friends with numerous magic tricks to keep everyone's spirits up when money was tight. Zhou Xuan and Zhao Dan played their roles exuberantly and earnestly as the lovers went from frolicking to despair.

The quality of the filming was difficult to tell as the film I watched in the public domain had not been restored and could be quite blurry at times. Even at that, I could tell it was well framed and shot. This was one of the earliest Chinese films to use sound and they made the most of it with the background music and musical numbers.

Street Angel worked in humor that bordered on slapstick without going overboard. The love story felt authentic, even the second love story felt earned. The bright loving, parade-like atmosphere crashed into reality by the end of the film when the characters faced the harsh truth of their lives and limits of their power. Those who lived high above them had access to justice and medical care while they struggled to keep a roof over their heads and a smile on their faces. "Who doesn't treasure life?" Treasure life they might, but the poor toiled in a system that would swallow them whole if they weren't lucky. This plucky group of friends were a delight to watch as they held each other up and held on tight, even when it seemed their luck had ran out.

8/29/23

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The ending was confusing

HOLY SHIT THIS MOVIE THO
The ending I was speechless because I was so confused I was like what?
I'm literally so scared to use my phone right now

Our phone might be this small device that we use in our day to day life but It holds everything our bank details, our information, interests etc but once it goes to the wrong hands you are in so much trouble. All the female lead did was forget her phone on the bus and some creep took it and ruined her life.

I was so anxious all through the movie I kept pausing it, it felt too close to home.
I can literally watch a crime documentary and not feel anything other than saddest for the victims but this movie shit I'm terrified of device repair shops and losing my phone now.
I know people will blame the girl and be like who would forget your phone? Have you ever misplaced your phone? The panic you feel is undescribable.

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The Curious Case of Fukuju Emi

It is better to have love and lost, than never to have loved at all. In theory I agree. But I want my romcoms to have a happy ending and here.....

I am still trying to figure out what happened here. It is basically a japanese version of Benjamin Button: two people meet at different moments in their lives but they are on opposite time trajectories and can be happy and in love only once in the lifetime and only for 30 days.

I love time travel, parallel universe stories but this one is not a fun or uplifting one. In spite of all the cuteness (and the actors are both really cute!) this was a terrible movie to watch. When I realized sometimes halfway through, where this movie was going, I wanted to drop it. I did not because I hoped, against hope, that they would manage to find a way to sort it out. Spoiler alert: they did not.

I wish somebody had told me it was Benjamin Button. As much as I liked Brad Pitt, the movie was horrible. Just like this one: it is depressing and hopeless!

I had seen the chinese version, but it has nothing to do with the plot of this film so I am a bit confused as to why they put that version's link on this film's page.

Another thing I do not understand is the ending. It is the beginning. Are they stuck in a time loop?

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