Reviews

WHAT THE ' BEAUTY AND THE BEAST ' SHOULD'VE BEEN ABOUT :)

One of the funniest and weirdest plots.
This is the 3rd time I've come across such a movie, Taiwan really makes marvellous coming-of-age movies.
What an excellent movie it was.

With the bottom line message of :
You take your chances, and you pursue what you desire.
In dating, in life, in anything.

5 minutes is all you need, which turns to 5 days, to 5 years and so on. :)

Chen Bo Lin nailed his role.
Ivy Chen is one of my fav actresses of all time.
Her script selection is outstanding.
What a lovely movie, with a fantastic plot twist.
Although a bit overbroad,
This movie makes you realize how normal and mediocre each and every one of us is, in the race for standing out against each other.
The imperfections are what makes us, US.

Leia Mais

Brilliantly done movie about two people in love

From start to finish the movie main focus was just its two main leads. Perfect or not, it is a story of their love and how they get through life hardships while being true to their feelings. While this is definitely a LOVE Story, there is never a verbal mentioned of that word and yet you can feel the deep feeling of love that they have for each other through their expressions, actions and decisions. An otherwise simple plot can easily turn to a bore if it were not beautifully done with such amazing actors of leads and supports, beautiful cinematography, captivating dialogue and I am sure a lot more work of editing and other related works that goes into movie making, that made this movie such a delight to watch from begin to end. Kudos to all the actors, producers, directors and crews of this film. I thoroughly enjoyed its slow pace and focus. Though we wish it can be longer so we get a lot more screen time of the leads, the film still leave us satisfied. In 1 hour and 56 mins, the film managed to give a satisfiable closure to all issues it brought forward.
Veteran actress Liu Dan was powerful as a mother that is traditionally biased but secretly caring. Sun Qian was perfect as a determined, strong and single minded young woman. But to me Zhang Xin Cheng was to one who nailed it all together. Not only because that was how his character was written, but because he played it so very well. He was 100% believable and relatable as the ever supportive Li Ran. Of course him being super handsome helps a lot but it was his speaking voice that was so perfect for the whole drama. When speaking, he managed to captivate and grab the audience attention, invoke feelings and that really seal the deal for the whole movie. Their chemistry were on point and with minimum contact and kissing scenes, they manage to get us rooted for their love. That there, were excellent acting.
To me this movie is a prefect 10 except for its music or songs. I am not a non speaking Chinese person so maybe I don't understand the songs to enjoy it but it wasn't the case sometimes. Anyway I still think this movie needs more love and support than what it is getting now.
EXTREMELY WORTH WATCHING.

Leia Mais

Song Yaxuan and Liu Yaowen chemistry here is insane!

Even within 14 minutes they topped most of the dramas that exist right now in terms of chemistry. Chinese bromance really just has that unspeakable tension. From every movement, action, word that comes from these two you can clearly tell their every feeling and emotion towards each other. I love how you can see how much they adore and cherish one another without anyone saying anything. There is so much detail form the way they treat each other and they way they look at each other, it truly makes your heart flutter even with no real romantic actions. From Liu Wen defending Song Xuan from bullies and Song Xuan helping Liu Wen with studying to being eachothers safe place, their chemistry is untouchable.

Every little scene of them flows so naturally, from the boys to the music and background, props to editors and directors for creating the vibe of the film. I guess the reason why they seen so comfortable with each other because Song yaxuan and Liu yaowen have a close bond in real life, from members of the same band they grew up with each other and are practically brothers!

The only thing is I wish they made it into a longer series because there is SO much potential in their acting especially with each other. I watched this a few months ago but not a single days passes where I don't think about this SV. Sad thing is that they are idols not actors so a real drama with them is barely possible but nevertheless just shows how talented they are in multiple aspects. Anyways stan TNT!

Leia Mais

생일 축하합니다!

I haven't had my birthday celebrated for so many years. I can totally understand how you wait for that day to feel appreciated, and it turns out just like any other day that brings you closer to death and updates the count of "friends" who forgot about you.

?️As for the movie, one major issue, in my opinion, is that the rhythm doesn't really change making it hard to feel where is the beginning, climax, and the end. The movie is too shy, too quiet, just like the main character, and I would like it to stir me up a little bit more. Otherwise, it's still bottled up and not resolved. Yet I like this short a lot for its beautiful picture, vibrant environment, and good acting. 응원합니다, 감독님!

If you want to watch this short film, contact the director through email and request the link politely. The email address is [email protected]. (It took about a couple of weeks to get a response on mine)

Leia Mais

May contain some spoiler. Beware.

Basically the story is about a curse at the train station. A junior reporter and her best friend who worked at the train station decided to investigate the story. During the investigation, the best friend got the curse. Now, it's a race against time or the best friend will die. Had some similiraty with The Ring right? Once they break the case, the best friend found a way to break the curse. Here is where I'm so angry.
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Spoiler
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The best friend transferred the curse to the junior reporter. Yes, his best friend.

That one bit of plot, override the entire story because I'm waiting for the reporter to go bat-shit crazy and take some revenge on him. And it did not happend. Instead, she transfer the curse to someone else who deserve it. The end.

Leia Mais

Introductory video, that's it.

I understand that it is a compilation of short stories but if being short takes away the reason and fun out of it, then it just becomes time waste.

There were some stories that were getting good but stopped in the middle and others are just a miss.

Tunnel
I could guess it from a mile away, there was nothing new, not in terms of story nor presentation or screen writing.

The Woman in Red
Would have been a good story if we could understand the motivation behind it. I actually liked the creepiness and the oblivious attitude of the lead. For a period she behaved like being followed in such a creepy manner was no big deal.

Tooth Worms
Best one of this lot. I won't say much but this certainly will tickle your horror bones. The execution was really good even after it squeezed into 12 mins

Necromancy
Not bad. Not good. Just average. This story had so soo much potential

The Wall
Unexplainee over unexplained. The misdirection was great but way too short for this story to soar it's wings.

The Closet
The closest to practical of this bunch but eould have liked it if it was clearer whether it was a paranormal story or not.

Ghost marriage
This was cute. Even though the title serves the whole story but the execution was really well done.

The snapshot filters
Why was this story given a place in the movie? Waste of screentime. Bring your popcorn for the next one while this is playing

The Mannequin
We came for creepy, we got creepy.
Goosebumps till now.

Escape Games
Again, this one was a good story to end on. Escape room on pretence of darker secrets. Dark and I like it.

I would give a 0 to rewatch value coz really even if some are good. None of them ate memorable enough for you to go back again.

Leia Mais

Profoundly brilliant - what manner of man is this ɿ(･ه･)ɾ

WOW ... . this was a deep and mind blowingly good movie!! It reminded me a little of Blank 13. I thought I was going to watch a bit of a mystery but it turned out to be so much more than the mystery of a dead man's back story. It literally was an existential 'man hunt' ... a hunt for what it is that defines a man ... a person ... a hunt for identity.

This was not apparent to me at first. The movie moved slowly and I wondered why are they going so slow ... hurry up and get to the juicy mystery bits. Then it jumped some years ... and then there were flashbacks ... and I was wondering what the point of it all was ... and then it hit me ... this was not just about "a" man hunt ... but a multiple man hunt and not just for the men but for their identities, both from an external point of view and an internal point of view. The movie then became entirely fascinating for me ... nothing was irrelevant ... the script was so good it allowed a gloriously deep dive into the existential ﾟ:･*･:◝(ᵔ‿ᵔ)◜:*:･ﾟ.

"Identity' ... in one sense it is such a concrete thing and yet in another sense, it is elusive and ever evolving ... before we are even born we are automatically assigned an identity:
▪ identity from genetics of your biological parents
▪ identify from the time of your birth e.g. before/after marriage; the year / month / day
▪ identity from the order of your birth compared to your siblings ... even the order of birth of your parents in the broader family context
▪ identity from the geographical place of birth ... even the place of birth of your ancestors e.g. born in Japan but your great grandparents were Korean ...
▪ identity from race
▪ identify from culture
▪ identity from your gender
▪ identity from social institutions e.g. the school you went to, the religion you have, the occupation you have; the clubs you belong to; the music you listen to; the hobbies you have
▪ identity from your physical body - the 'perfectness' of it or the 'imperfectness' of it; who/what you look like ... I am the splitting image of my father ... you look like a Korean etc
▪ identity from your state of mind - sane / not sane; smart; stupid;
▪ identity from what your parents do/are - son of a murderer, daughter of a prostitute, son of a doctor etc
▪ identity from where you live, what you wear, the food you eat
▪ identity from your experiences - parenthood; singleness; military service etc
▪ the identity that others assign to you - "hurry up and go back to your 'old self'"
▪ the identity that you think you are ... or should be ... or want to be ...

"Identity" ... so abstract and yet it is such a very heavy thing ... a blessing in its inclusiveness and yet also a weapon of separation and destruction ... something innate and yet something thrust upon you without consent ... what choice do you have with it ... how much of it can you mold and how much of it do you just have to accept as is ... can you escape from it and thereby escape to a different way of life, a different way of being ... how many times have we modified our personality throughout our lives without even knowing ... how did we do that ... is it necessarily a bad thing (˙_˙)ゞ.

I loved the scripting ... as well as the symbolic imagery used throughout ... and the clues that were set up right from the beginning. I liked the different perspectives of a person's identity given from the children to the adults, to friends and family of the main characters ... even to that of strangers. It was very nicely done and the actors did it credit. The scripting was so loaded ... so mind blowingly good. For me this movie is definitely rewatchable. As for the score ... I got so consumed with the story line and all the thoughts that that generated in my mind, I don't even remember the score of the movie ... but I gave it a 10 anyway because whatever it was, it did not detract from the story line at all.

The final scene showing Kido's back as he looked at that painting ... profound. A brilliant movie ... I loved it.

Leia Mais

The actors lived their characters.

The acting impressed me. It wasn't just the protagonist who gave her all but all the supports too. The Five main leads including the protagonist portrayed their characters' truth.
To tell the protagonist's story the actions and mistakes of the other four characters were pivotal and did they do justice to that.
The antagonist, I almost cannot designate her as the antagonist because of the complexity of the story. Just as I would not be able to see the other ones in all good light. Such a complexity is necessary to tell a story so sensitive.

Story had a chance but sadly not well executed.
There are more chances one would be confused by the ending then accept it as an open ending.
As I mentioned the theme is a complex one and though some boxes were checked, many other weren't and the movie ended up lacking. And towards the end one would scratch their head trying to decode the message which shouldn't have been the case.

Leia Mais

Feels Like Watching My Own Love Story

This movie is for those of us who have unrequited love. For regrets that always haunt and for him we can no longer get back. Not to make us regret even more, but to remember why the relationship didn't work out in the first place. And hopefully we (and Xiao-Xiao) can move forward soon and achieve our dreams.

Watching this movie is like seeing my youth. I was once in Xiao Xiao's shoes and understand why he finally gave up on their relationship. In the end, their relationship turned into a toxic one that only hurt each other. Jiang Qin was too focused on pursuing Xiao Xiao's dream, that he forgot to be present for Xiao Xiao who was beside him. And when he finally realized, it was too late. Their relationship was too damaged to be repaired. The thing that hurt me was when Jiang Qin wanted Xiao Xiao back after he was finally able to buy a house. This further confirms my opinion that Jiang Qin never understood the real reason Xiao Xiao left him. Xiao Xiao (and his father) never asked for money or house. They wanted Jiang Qin to be there for them, completely.

I like the ending of this story, although for some people it doesn't have a happy ending. Seeing Jiang Qin and Xiao Xiao finally get to properly say goodbye, was enough for me. Because I never have opportunity to say goodbye to my Jiang Qin.

Dear Z, I know you won't read this. But I hope, someday if we ever have a chance to meet again you won't hate me too much.

Leia Mais

Toadily ridiculous!

The Guy with Secret Kung Fu looked like a lot of other cheap Taiwanese kung fu movies from this timeframe. Where this film won me over were the sound effects which truly had me laughing in many scenes whether that was the director's intention or not. They must have gotten a deal at Discount Sound Effects R Us and decided to use as many as possible.

Once again, the plucky Ming rebels are fighting the Qings. This time not only must they deal with the hated dynasty but also Sally Chen's fearsome Dragon Gang! Brothers/blood brothers Hung Wei Ting (Mang Fei) and Hu Ah Piao (Li Chung Chien) take down a bunch of Chin Wan Che's brown shirts when the Dragon Gang attacks Elsa Yang and her father on a boat. The Dragon Queen is not happy when her men are beaten nor are the Qing officials. Wei Ting is captured in town and his brother has to break him out. When they slow down to help another escaped prisoner the boys are captured once again. Wang Hsieh as a Qing official lets them loose hoping they will take down the Dragon Gang. It makes less sense as it goes along, but it gives the boys plenty of opportunities to fight and take their shirts off and the girls to be attacked or kidnapped and need rescuing.

The story becomes more interesting when a sorcerer played by Shih Chung Tien brings to life a half-human/half-vampire demon with super strength played by perennial giant Cheng Fu Hung. None of the brothers' kung fu abilities have any effect on him. Fortunately, he tosses them through the wall of the coffin maker's shop thinking them dead and the daughter played by Nancy Yen takes a fancy to them. She just happens to have a secret kung fu book! Of course, she does! It details The Dragon Fist technique and also has a recipe for defeating the demon! Holy Deux ex machina Batman!

The final fights are loads of fun. Sally Chen and her tricked out poison dart thrower, the Sorcerer, and Wang Hsieh with his Toad style against the boys and their newly acquired Dragon Fist moves accompanied by some of the most ridiculous sound effects ever were exciting.

Despite the movie being a Hong Kong production, I knew immediately it was shot in Taiwan. Per usual, the film relied on outdoor scenery, especially the woods and a field of tall grass. The movie was also badly faded as many of them have not been restored. Taiwanese actors and actresses populated the movie-Mang Fei, Nancy Yen, Sally Chen, Wang Hsieh, Shih Chung Tien, and Elsa Yang.

The fights, especially, the first one on two boats and the last ones in the woods and tall grass were quite entertaining. Other fights varied but were a step above kung fu posing. Li Chung Chien appeared in less than 10 films but made a good partner for Mang Fei. Sally Chen was the most charismatic villain with her poison dart gun and glorious dresses. Elsa Yang starred in a number of ninja movies and would have made a good foil for her but aside from Sally, the rest of the female cast were relegated to screaming, "Help me! Help me!" Wang Hsieh's Toad style was hilarious as he blew out his belly and hopped about all while toad sound effects ribbeted in the background. The good guys did some super leaping themselves, mostly filmed in reverse.

Truly, the sound effects were the star of this film, many anachronistically so. Plane sounds when the boys jumped and were thrown about, gunshots for darts, fireworks swirling, frogs croaking, pew! pew! laser noises, and also the standard swish and clash kung fu sound effects. The "demon" sounded like the Tin Man needing more than a few drops of oil from his oil can. The movie itself was badly edited making it quite confusing as it jumped in time and from scene to scene leaving important bits out. The print I watched had been chopped to fit a screen somewhere in its past making me grateful it was dubbed. Otherwise, it might have fallen victim to the subtitles running off the screen or being illegible with the light background.

The Guy with Secret Kung Fu-actually it was Two Guys with Secret Kung Fu-was not a great kung fu flick nor did it have great kung fu, but it was toadily ridiculous and entertaining in its own comic way. Only for the most hard core of old kung fu film fans. As always, these pre-1990 cheap niche movies I grade on a curve.

7/6/23

Leia Mais

Unexpected Ending

I went into this movie fully preparing to be sobbing by the end of it, as my past experience with Chinese BLs has lead to either death & despair, or death & the tiniest glimmer of hope.

This one technically has the death of one half of the main CP, but there is a twist that pleasantly surprised me, and had me smiling through my tears.

I always love a good reincarnation trope in a BL, and it was wonderful to see it here.

I've seen other reviewers talk about how the romance is rushed (which is a valid critique), but 1) the film is little.more than one hour long (so not much time to build a solid foundation), and 2) the "rushedness" can be hand waved away by the implementation of the "soulmates throughout all of time" trope, so I can personally excuse the 0-100 in 2 seconds romance because of that.

This won't be a frequent rewatch, but it definitely WILL be watched again because it's not too emotionally taxing, and the little bits of lore surrounding the different species (humans, mermaids, and dragons) was intriguing

Leia Mais

Beautiful Movie

Honestly I really loved this movie it brings out a lot of real life concerns and insecurities. I love how in this movie "Kyoichi" is truly trying to figure himself ouut and it shows that he feels the pain when he hurts Imagase and doesnt want to feel that way doesnt want to hurt him. I also love how for Imagase it shows how he loved Kyoichi in the past and has for a very long time. I love how that shows there is a deeper connection through his love then what was presented before knowing his background story. The Sex scenes between Kyoichi and Imagase were hot but very sensual and beautiful at the same time. They showed a lot of love and despair between the two. The background music was very calming and sensual I loved how it made the scenes more realistic and more relaxing. The acting for both characters was phenominal it was very beautiful and they got the job done. I would love to see the actors film another movie together. For rewatching this movie I would highly recomend rewatching this movie it helps you understand the real purpose of the movie it also helps you realise parts of the movie or those subtle meanings in the movie watching it the second time. I have overall watched this movie 5-6 times and every time I watch it I learn something new.

Leia Mais

Iconic

As headline says, its iconic.
Is it good? Yes, if you like Z-tales.
Predictable and I wish the jerks had worse endings.
I personally aint very fond of Z content but I endured this one, mainly because the acting was that good.
It was the perfect Z-popcorn excitement cine you watch with friends.

I wish the ending was a little bit better but all in all, it was quite good, again, its the acting that raises the rating, script wise, not as much .

Perhaps contradictive but it has 99% good re-watch rate as the Fx and all the small details you might miss the first round.
Another small interesting part is that the movie is 2hours long, which makes the story almost in real time (as a regular Soul-Busan journey takes ~2.5hours with the speed train), for that alone, it makes this worth watching.

Leia Mais

Bittersweet

This movie although having many erotic scenes has some pretty deep meanings in it. The lack of love and attention from parents results in many issues among women and men alike. This is very true for Sawako because she's trying to fill that void she feels from the lack of attention she gets from her father. The dialogue and acting is very nice and sometimes it's funny, and sometimes it's kinda philosphical. Then you throw in a little bit of those steamy romance novels in it and viola you have Te. There is romance in it but it's not a fluffy and sweet movie. It contains many taboo subjects such as infidelity and our main characters have a sense of realism in them as they are far from perfect. The main takeaway from this movie is how the main character Sawako discovers her inner self and grows as a person, and how she tackles her issues. And lastly....wow! This movie is steamy steamy!

Leia Mais