Reviews

Cried from start to finish

This is the first movie where I've cried throughout the entire film. Truly a life-changing and phenomenal film. I want to commend the actors because their performances were so heartfelt and tear-jerking that I sometimes had to pause a take a break. Not to mention the cinematography that was produced because just the beauty of the scenes themselves was enough to make me cry. I want to recommend this movie to everyone I know because it deserves more hype.

Afterward, I even went on TikTok to watch every single edit I could find. Even now, I still think about the film in my daily life, although it's been months since I watched it. However, it'll take a couple more months for me to muster up the courage to watch it again and cry as much as I did once more. Because there is no way one can sit through that movie and not shed a tear. That's how powerful it is. It hits you where and when you least expect it and that feeling lingers in your heart.

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Completely Raw tense at times yet presented Beautifully

Indeed a gem.
Got completely involved with the charecters even after having multiple affairs and other charecters with kyoki watching kyoki and imagase together was so intense.
The scene where imagase asked kyoki to keep him near he doesn't want anything in return even if he can just see him once ....uff i badly wanted to hug the charecter of imagse.
STORY LINE :- So the lost character of kyoki continuously cheating and denying to realise himself a character imagse came who loved him since the university where they first met since 8 dammn years without a sign of getting him (although how he made it you will know in the whole story )made a huge change in kyoki which was obviously slow and frustrating at times because your heart will ache for imagase. I was cursing kyoki to be left alone in journey but the scene when he went to bar and left crying convinced a little hope in me like yes he could be given a chance may be which still was too much for a character like him but somehow i tried to understand him too. he kept dragging imagase in because somewhere he didn't want to make him unhappy but he kept doing it wrose and was not ready to accept his trueself
SIDE CHARECTERS:- i liked most the charecter of okamura and felt really bad for her, kyoki's wives charecter was also good and screaming of a completely cold and dead relationship between them which was meant to be end.
The charecter of kyoki's ex from university potrayed best that you will definitely dislike her and will want her to leave soon which i was glad not dragged too much
SEX SCENES: i saw some reviews saying its nudity and porn there is nudity but hello you are supposed to make your choice seeing r rated of the movie wether to watch it or not
If you are here then you must not be going to serve any lullaby
So In the short kyoki just wanted to settle his cheating agenda with the kiss but you will see how he resists but could really not deny imagase with time
He keep saying he is straight and cant do that but
in short You will see the difference in poured passion how kyoki was with the other and was with imagase when he finally couldn't say no to him .He was the one to hold imagase when he said its just a yes or no , if its a no after that i will never touch you .
ENDING:-
People might be getting dissapoint over the ending that oh no its sad or little more legit will say its open ending but trust me for me it was beautiful the two last scene one the beach one where imagse said "when you truly love someone they are your only expectation/ exception"
And he shouted that "i did love you truly"
Analogy to this scene where kyoki went to finally broke up with okamura and she asked do you trust that they will return kyoki definitely had no answer but he was willing to wait for the love he finally realised he wanted to make imagase the only exception for him and for me he might not had the answer if imagase will comeback but he trusted when he said he truly loved him and might consider to make him his exception.
The relationship was toxic and intolerant at times but i fell in love with imagase for having the courage to kept holding And for imagase he definitely deserved the wait he made the man like kyoki willing to wait for him.
The one flashback scene where imagase cried while they were making out made my heart ached for him at that point it was right for him to leave. Kyoki was changed but i couldn't imagine the loss and harm imagase was at but thats what the point of his charecter that he was willing not to count that like us and came so a long way to make the things happen he himself might not have ever thought. But in course he was probably lost and tired loving kiyoki which he didn't in 8 years when he was not with him.
The slow gradual and wanted change in kyoki was so satisfying to see and the at last scene when he washed the ash tray which imagase threw in dustbin while leaving which he himself once gave kiyoki too keep when they last broke up ,,,was beautiful. The exact end with kyoki crowling on the stool sitting like imagase used to do and kept waiting for him was satisfying.

JUST IN CASE:- i know it is based on the manga but if just in any case I would love to see a sequel of it and for the end i would still say i m not obssesed it to be them coming back together and a typical happy ever after. i want to see more of imagase want him to be at peace want to see his strong determining self when he decides something. ( whether it was to love kyoki 8 years ago or to leave him in the end)

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this is so good i love it like hollywood

the CGI is too good for anything. second i love dohkyungsoo so much that i will support him till the day i die. third there is waikiki lee yikyung, the most loved hilarious man. for sure this movie will make you burst out laughter! and the plot is so good and makes me cried. it is about humanity guys. i think korean sci fic movies are distinct from hollywood because they could express humanity better than hollywood and i love it. its aura is different from other stories and i just love it. mr director, im waiting for along the gods 3 and 4 with dohkyungsoo acting in it. please make kyungsoo happy everyday!

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Character driven with a melancholy atmosphere

Step back to a place in time with video arcades, skating rinks, phone booths, pagers, and no cell phones. Teens have been rebelling since the dawn of time and these teens were trapped in the cement jungle of Taipei with only the detached neon god spreading harsh artificial light over the packed, dreary streets. Welcome to the Rebels of the Neon God.

The film follows the lives primarily of Hsiao and Ah Tze. Hsiao is a teenager failing at his college cram school and completely disinterested in studying. He lives with his parents in a small, but comfortable apartment. His mom is convinced that he is the reincarnation of the god Nezha, explaining the emotional distance between father and son. Tze is a petty crook who with his buddy, Ping, steals change from phone booths and vending machines to use at the arcade. Hsiao's father is a taxi driver whose side-view mirror is broken when Tze smashes it in an act of rebellious aggression, an act that will come back to haunt him in more than one way.

Tze lives with his brother in a filthy apartment with a backed-up kitchen drain that constantly floods the place. He sleeps on a cot above the moat, flicking cigarette butts into the swill. He begins a relationship with Kuei, his older brother's one night stand. She works in a skating rink and for the phone "dating" service but is as aimless as Tze and Ping. When Hsiao withdraws from the college prep class and pockets the money, fate brings him across the path of Tze. He stalks Tze with the adeptness of a serial killer, watching as he and Ping steal the motherboards from the arcade's games. Hsiao's father locks him out of the house for taking the refund money and disappearing. With nowhere else to go, Hsiao returns to the hotel to rent a room where Tze and Kuei are spending the night. Obscured by the falling rain he takes the opportunity to have a little revenge for the road rage incident by vandalizing Tze's motorbike and spray painting that Nezha was there next to it. For nearly the entire movie Hsiao is emotionless and speaks no more than 10 words, but when he sees Tze's frustration over his destroyed bike he literally dances with joy. When the mother board deal goes south, the petty crooks end up escaping in the cab with Hsiao's dad which triggers reactions in both Tze and the father with feelings of guilt for both men.

None of the youth had anything to look forward to and sought to find pleasure in the moment, whether it was games, smoking, sex, or impaling a cockroach on a desk. Hsiao was an isolated boy with anger seething below his benign face, unable to measure up to what his parents wanted from him. Whether he went home again or remained on the streets was never answered, although his father left the door cracked open for him. Hsiao's parents worshipped the old gods, he and the others answered to the cold god of the streets. Tze was always restless whether pulling small jobs, hanging out with his friends, or smoking like an inmate marking time in his apartment. Ping and Kuei were largely side characters, the loyal buddy and the girl Tze had sex with, but struggled to commit to. Despite their gritty exteriors, Tze and Ping weren't hardened criminals, they simply had nowhere to go and no better tomorrow to look forward to.

The area of Taipei where the movie was filmed came across as dirty and deteriorating though there were signs of new construction. Rain fell almost constantly, making the urban setting more claustrophobic. Aside from Tze's dilapidated apartment, two seedy hotels were used as sets, complete with porn on the small televisions. The streets, school room, and arcades were packed with people, people who were side by side but not communicating. Phone "dating" was shown several times, so even the normal act of meeting someone was difficult to do.

These young people were alienated from the general society, living somewhere on the edge without a safety net below them, desperately searching for belonging. Despite the oppressive atmosphere, there was a glimmer of hope. Each person who watches the film will likely come away with a different interpretation based on age and walk of life. I saw young people who felt trapped, rebelling against the suffocating box they'd been put into. They were all longing for love and acceptance and something that would help propel them to a brighter future but with no idea how to get there.

8/9/23

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Just bcuz it's not a complete copy, doesn't mean it's good

So this is a good example of why u shouldn't trust articles on internet recommending u movies, especially horror. But I did. I am a big horror fan nd for me no horror movie is small or big. As long as it can give me chills and vanish my night sleep, I will give it a good rating. But this one was a bummer. From the beginning till the end, the movie proves itself unworthy.
The only thing they did was not copying the Ringu completely but that doesn't give them a pass for creating garbage. They literally put some stupid music whenever u get a call after watching tape, like wtf. The main concept of ringu was that creepy voice telling u, u gonna die after 7 days. But the korean ver. screwed it.
The OG and the American ver. focuses on the main female's kid too, but korean ver. literally cut off the kid's part completely like the kid was not meant to be the part of movie bcuz she's minor ?
The main character or the woman was an idiot. She literally visits the doctor or morgue doctor whatever to ask some questions but the end up taking his help for no reason. Like there was no connection developed between the two characters to contact each other.

The TV ghost was hilarious ? Like literally insulting trans people with story. The guy who was making out with her found out she's a trans and killed her, like wtf. At least provide a better reason.

Overall, I would say do not waste ur time watching this garbage. The whole vibe of movie is boring and slow. They just created a distinct representation of OG but didn't work on the story meticulously.

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The essence of the color green.

This title's translation is "green night", and the movie is the essence of the dark side of the color green.

?️You should watch it at least for the incredible camerawork. The camera is always static but the composition and the colors contribute to the depressing viscous atmosphere while nothing seemingly unusual is in the frame. This is the director Yoon Seo Jin's debut feature, and, while it's not a masterpiece, the directing style is intriguing enough for me to wait for his next movie. It's dark. Someone's death follows another death, and all in the scale of one family. The main issue would probably be the short premises that don't develop into the full genre or subplot.

Leia Mais

heartwarming comedy loaded with cuteness

Absolutely enjoyed this movie. While there isn’t much to it, the simplicity about family, dogs and love is just captivating.

It is such an easy watch, we laughed, we gushed, we cried. Cha Taehyun and Yoo Yeon Seok were amazing. Their bond feels so real, their banter feels like something I would have with my own sibling and their care for each other as well. Human actors aside - the puppers!!!!! It isn’t like Hachiko or 10 Promises to My Dog. If you don’t like watching sad dog movies, this is for you.

11/10 watch if you love dogs. Probably a 8.5/10 or 8/10 if not.

Leia Mais

Entertaining action sci-fi movie, not surprising and flawed but does the job

This movie takes place in a dystopic world as we follow a crew of misfits working as "space sweepers", therefore literally cleaning junk floating dangerously around various orbit stations. The story in itself is not that innovative for the sci-fi and action genre, the peaks and valleys of the script are quite similar to what's already been done but I still found it quite compelling even if not surprising.

I have two main complains regarding the scenario. One being that I found the nanobot technology used too much as a magical tool able to fix a lot of things but not supported by a lot of well constructed storytelling. The way it is used seems rather random and only there to move the plot along than really making a lot of sense. The other flaw being the writing regarding the antagonist who is totally written as a cartoonish villain with very surfaced-level motivations rather than some nuanced character that could bring some deepness to the film.

Regarding the cast, they are some ups and downs as well. I liked a lot the main cast playing the space sweepers team (especially Tiger Park and Buds) as well as "Dorothy". Other than that, I have more mixed feelings regarding the performance of the actors playing the secondary characters (in particular the foreigners). It was mostly average: for some, I even noticed that the language in which they were playing was not their native one (but the script was implying it was), so it gave a really strange vibe to the dialogs which sounded unnatural.

The production value was pretty high: I found the spaceships scenes really nice looking and the visual effects regarding the robots and the technology looked really good overall. The soundtrack was alright but did not make a lasting impression on me.

I would recommend this movie to people looking for an entertaining sci-fi movie. If you enjoy shows like "The Mandalorian" or movies like "Star Wars" or "The Guardians of the galaxy", you might like it (even though you will for sure not be surprised by anything if you have seen / read a lot of similar stuff).

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WANG YIBO is One And Only

One and Only is about enthusiasm & dreams of Young boy who is pursuing his passionate dreams while going through difficulties and life hardships.
The story is very simple and easy to understand (unlike Hidden Blade which is art-house film)

Some netizens think that due to this is YIBO’s core and genre so that he can act really well naturally in movie. **But I would like to point out that Chen Shuo and YIBO’s characters are totally different personalities, nature, attitudes. Only loving dances and chasing street dance is the same in between them.
Yibo have to overcome his strong superior rich aura & personality. Because Chen shuo is simple, honest, poor, patient, very humble boy in movie.
So that Yibo shapes this character because this is character Yibo plays as. Yibo is actor so he is acting out Chen shuo diligently.
He makes everyone believes that he is acting in true colours in that role he plays.
It is an actor’s ability to make others believe in what he acts in. ****

There are some heart warming moments after movie is finished, most of Young children came out and danced with credits in front of seatings during releasing in china This make me so moving and enthusiasm and youthful energy.

Even the person who never watches hip-hop(street dance) & doesn’t know the rules of street dance competition, you can understand the last 20 min competition part easily.

Many years later, many people will remember that there was such a street dance movie in ?? ,& many people will fall in love with street dance because of this movie.

Before this movie is produced and during Street dance of China shows (SDC), One of bboy said and posted, who witnessed the positive change brought abt by Yibo, that “The street dance circle has never been like this. May be a few years or decades later, when we talk about the development history of domestic street dance, the turning point will be Wang Yibo ”

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Two childhood friends reunite after 20 years

I remember one day in May this year when I was browsing through Letterboxd and suddenly, one poster caught my attention. It said Past Lives and after I watched the trailer, I knew I needed to watch it. Unfortunately, one thing interrupted my excitement and it was the fact that it would be released in July, which was two long (boring?) months away :(

Today was finally The Day I was waiting for. I couldn't sleep, didn't have hunger, had no motivation to do anything, only wanted to watch Past Lives. So I went with Mom to the second local cinema in my city, which isn't exactly the classic big cinema with multiple screening rooms and a bar with popcorn and other stuff (this has only two screening rooms, a little bar with (mostly alcoholic) drinks). The tickets are like the small pieces of paper in old cinemas. When you sit there it feels like you are sitting in a movie club with movie fans and not with random people, after the end of a movie when you see that everyone still sits in their seats and watch the credits is something so nice that it always warms my heart (in my opinion I think the credits are part of a movie which should be watched as well because by doing so you honor the film and the people who worked on it). I personally like this cinema more than the bigger one that we have here, they do movie marathons, they screen movies that are not in the big cinemas (old or not well-known titles by not well-known directors) and many other nice things ♥

I know I should not say this because it's quite a lazy sentence that won't tell you anything, but everything in this movie was perfect! The ost – it was a big part of the movie, it would be weird without it. The story – it's just a simple story about love which is nice to see after the films I watched. The characters sometimes just stare at each other and it is worth hundreds of words. The cinematography – aesthetic and pleasant to watch like wow every shot was amazing. You feel like you are there with the characters - that is such a great feeling when movies can do this magic ^^ (I was in NY in person and even on the same street eeeee, sorry I needed to flex a little haha) And the Actors – Greta Lee and Teo Yoo were awesome I was already familiar with both of them.

It got me at the end, I couldn't hold the feelings anymore ㅜ-ㅜ
My new comfort movie.

Watched twice already, thinking to watch it for the third time :D
Can't wait to see Song's second movie Materialists (current name) ^^

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"I'm a drifter, the man from Tokyo"

If you want a good example of a highly stylized film, Tokyo Drifter fits the bill. With its vibrant Crayon coloring, stagey architecture, and jazzy theme song sung and whistled by various characters throughout the film, it's more of a hypnotic experience than yakuza story.

When Tetsu and his boss Kurata attempt to go straight, the Otsuka gang works to bring them down by ruining a real estate deal Kurata is orchestrating. Three murders later, Tetsu is forced to go on the run or drift until the heat is off. Otsuka's hitman "The Viper" is always close on his tail. Tetsu evades him across Japan with the help of "Shootin' Star," another drifter who warns him that Kurata may betray him. One character observes, "It's hard to handle a man like that once he gets good and mad." Director Suzuki rewarded the audience with Tetsu finally becoming the hurricane he was renowned for being. The film ends predictably in Tokyo for predictable reasons, but the trip there made the ride worthwhile.

Suzuki edited the film in such a way that there were times I wasn't sure what happened. He could make it challenging to keep up, especially in the snowy battles in northern Japan or during a dreamlike fight on a snowy train track. You never knew what to expect, there was even a bar room brawl, of course in a Western bar because no one brawls like Brits and Americans. Though the film supplied plenty of fist fights, gun fights, even sword fights, none of the fights were particularly convincing. The final scene was orchestrated like models doing a shoot, color coordinated with the set's architectural pieces. The gun fight more a dance than a struggle for survival.

Aside from the use of vibrant colors, the lighting could be surreal and contrary to the rules of nature. The sets may have been stylish but also appeared flimsy, especially when someone bumped into a wall causing it to shake. There were gorgeous travelogue shots of Japan as Tetsu drifted through them. But it always came back to the bright neon lights of the seedy side of Tokyo. The film felt quintessentially 1960's in manic mood and color.

While the film could bounce around-the betrayals, alliances, and creative storytelling never let the momentum slow down. Tokyo Drifter is a surreal yakuza experience, but one that is worthwhile if you like arthouse films or those films a little on the vividly strange side.

8/8/23

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Horror movie lacking in suspense, thrills, characters development and logic

This horror movie did not impress me at all. The story could have been interesting but somewhat felt lacking in terms of suspense, thrills and characters development. The pacing was not good and the film managed to catch my attention only in its last third.

I was a bit frustrated by the time we got to the bottom of the story because of the lack of logic in some of the actions of the main character: some choices she made did not necessarily make sense given her psyche and the mental health issue from which she is suffering. Similarly, I did not find the romantic aspect engaging nor convincing in the context of the story. The redeeming quality of the script comes from the way it showcased that once again the scariest thing is the human nature.

Acting-wise, I'm quite neutral regarding the actors performance: they were not bad but I did not find them memorable in any way in their roles. I usually like a lot Park Min Young and she did a suitable job here but was not helped by the filmmaking and the scenario.

In terms of production, the jump scares were almost all a miss for me and I did not find the film scary and dark enough despite it being labelled in the horror genre. Some (if not most) of the visual effects were outdated and quite bad.

I would not recommend this to people unless you like Park Min Young and want to see her in something quite different. This film deals a lot with animal cruelty and can therefore be triggering. The statement at the end of the movie, explaining that "no cat were hurt during the filmmaking" was a big relief because of the awful treatments of the animals in some scenes.

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Original story quite fascinating but odd pacing and ending

I really enjoyed the concept and the scenario, it is quite innovative and leave for sure a lasting impression on the viewer. I did not found the story super well-paced and the ending felt a bit too rushed though. I think the movie could have been a bit longer to better flesh out the ending and the message of the film.

The ensemble cast was pretty good. More specifically, I really enjoyed Rain performance, with his goofy, cool but also more crazy and mad sides. Im Soo Jung did also a great job in her very particular and erratic role. It is a bit of a shame that despite the quite good acting, I did not find myself emotionally invested in the characters. It might be linked to the script, but I felt more like a "cold" external observer trying to understand what was happening rather than candidly rooting for any of the protagonists.

I quite enjoyed the directing choices to represent the various mental illnesses faced in the mental hospital. There are quite a bit of memorable scenes and the cinematography for some of them was really cool. Even so, the visual FX regarding some of the cyborg aspects did not age very well, it is still impactful for sure but a bit cringy at the same time. The music did not really stand out to me, except one specific song with some yodelling.

I would recommend this to people that enjoy movies by acclaimed director Park Chan Wook. It is not the most well-known of his filmography but it is worth a watch for its interesting concept. Strangely enough, even though both pieces are very different from another, it made me think somewhat to "Squid Game" as a comparable recommendation.

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Quite loose adaptation disappointing in some aspects

I have read the manga quite a few years ago and was curious to see its movie adaptation. I remember quite enjoying it at the time despite some flaws in its writing. Unfortunately, I found myself disappointed by the film.

Story-wise, it is a quite loose adaptation -which make sense as a 14 volumes manga cannot be encompassed fully by a less than 2 hours movie. However, despite the shortcuts taken by the script, I still found the plot rather confusing as if the writer was trying to put too much into it. They try to make it sensible but I found it difficult to follow and it was also a bit all over the place in its pacing.

Acting-wise, I like a lot Tsuchiya Tao but I would not say that I found her role when playing "a genius actress" totally believable. The part was clearly not easy and she did an honourable job (as well as the other female lead Yoshine Kyoko), but still something did not click for me in the performance. The acting got definitely better in the last third of the movie with a pretty compelling last narrative arc allowing the actresses to be more intense.

Production-wise, I liked a lot some of the decors around the theatre plays. I also truly enjoyed the set up and making of the dramatic scenes. I am much less convinced with how the main "fantastical" element was portrayed with the lipstick and its implication. I found also the "ugliness" of Kasane and her outside appearance totally downplayed. I had already some nit-picking regarding that specific point with the manga, and the movie made it even far less convincing...

I would not necessarily recommend this to people unless you really like one of the main actresses or if you enjoyed the manga and are curious to see its adaptation.

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