Reviews

Hilarious Thai comedy with a charming cast

If you love Thai humor and movies like Noodle Boxer you will for sure love and laugh a lot. From the same director Yacht Rergchai Poungpetch is this light hearted, funny, action romance.

Hilarious nonsense conversations (I can't get enough of them) like - Why are they after Buddha statues? How should I know? That's why the called crazy Sakura gang.

Or hilarious quotes like - I lost my nipple virginity to a gecko - will for sure make your day. But of course the full experience of Thai humor you only can experience when you speak Thai. Some of the wordplays and jokes are lost in translation.

Gulf Kanawut - it's his first movie role and Anne Thong - queen of Thai entertainment industry are a odd but very charming couple. I was in awww with Gulf's charming performance and loved all the action scenes of the movie. The little love story melted my heart. First love but with age gap - I grinned from ear to ear. They both had major Golden Retriever and Cat energy. Cuteee.

Perfect for a funny family movie Sunday!

Leia Mais

HiraKiyo Eternal !!!

For disclaimers, I am not a fluent Japanese speaker, but simply someone who understands a level of Japanese to understand the context and translate contents sometimes, so I might have gotten some details slightly wrong. I fell in love with Season 1 first after it aired, and went on to listen to the drama CDs.

The movie essentially focuses on 3 conflicts. One, HiraKiyo has to go apartment hunting after Naho and Tomoya prepare to move back to the house the couple is currently staying in. Two, Hira prepares to graduate from university and enter the adult world. He's chasing after Kiyoi who seems to be walking a step ahead by starting work earlier, and loses his confidence to shoot Kiyoi beautifully after seeing Noguchi's work. Third, Anna and Kiriya's story, which Kiyoi finds himself tied up in. This movie overall, focuses on Hira's growth as a character.

HiraKiyo does feel more like a couple who has dated for a while here, compared to Season 2, from their domestic acts to ways of showing affection. HiraKiyo has learnt from their past in the previous two drama series and have grown a lot in terms of intimacy. Kiyoi is a lot more direct with his affection and doesn't hide behind his tsundere ways, and Hira takes a bit more initiative this time. Hira does still idolise Kiyoi by calling him a "king" and himself a "fan", but the "God" nickname and treatment (in the extreme end at least) has stopped. I do think that compared to the drama seasons, there's nothing people will be able to call "toxic" and in a sense, I think they are turning into a more "normal" couple (or as normal as they can be with HiraKiyo lol) like what Kiyoi wants without Hira's extreme worship and Kiyoi's tsundere manners.

Noguchi was definitely the MVP here. He's the only one apart from Kiyoi who really understands Hira, so he's the only one to truly get through Hira's brain and see through what Hira is trying to deny. It's because of him that Hira can grow as a character. I think most of the important scenes with him were kept so everyone can also feel how important he is when they watch the movie. Also just a note for the Koyama fans who didn't read the original work, he only has two relatively quick scenes.

I absolutely loved how the soundtracks and flashbacks to Season 1 and 2 were used throughout. They're both effective in bringing nostalgia to fans of the drama series, as well as to provide context for those who only watched the movie. The soundtracks, paired with the beautiful cinematography, gives you goosebumps no matter what scene it is. Bitter was also unexpectedly used in the climatic scene, which I think was really smart of the crew, considering how well the lyrics and Hira's emotions there paired together. My favourite soundtrack of the movie would be "Time to Forget Myself" (恍惚の時間), as it's used in a particularly gorgeous and touching scene (both in terms of the movie and behind the camera since Riku is the one holding the camera there) with little words.

Considering how the movie was 103mins long, I think they managed to include all the important scenes from Nikurashii Kare, rearrange the scenes and make everything flow well. Having known the novel plot, I do think there were some scenes I would have liked to see in the movie or preferred the novel version, but watching the movie as it is was amazing nonetheless. I'm also glad they scrapped certain parts from the novel and rewrote it. Something I want to point out though, is that I feel fans of the original work should probably try to judge the movie as a separate entity rather than compare it to the original novel.

The side characters (notably Anna and Shitara) and Kiyoi's own more minor storyline (since the main focus in the book for Hira's) as an actor were definitely more developed in the novel, but having their scenes cut didn't really make anything feel like it was 'lacking' while watching, at least to me. Such scenes would perhaps have added more depth, but I do think, after all, there's only so much you can squeeze into less than 2 hours of a film, compared to a whole novel. So, I would think it's more important to focus on HiraKiyo as a relationship during that limited duration.

In terms of acting, I've always thought Riku and Yusei were impressive as actors but they genuinely outdid themselves here. Their chemistry has always been amazing, for if you know these two outside of Utsukushii Kare at all, you'll know they're extremely close friends as well. Both of their facial expressions just screams HiraKiyo's love for each other while somehow still showing its subtle complexities. Their range of emotions, with Riku showing Hira's devotion, insecurities, possessiveness, etc and Yusei showing Kiyoi's "ore-sama" side, adoration, hurt, etc, is just insane. There have been multiple directors going to watch the movie, so I do hope they take a liking on RikuYuse's chemistry and acting skills, and somehow pair them up again in a vastly different show. I would love to see them co-star again, as the two have also mentioned wanting as well.

Of course, the supporting actors were amazing too. I especially wanted to point out Nimura Sawa and Ochiai Motoki's facial expressions and the way they delivered their lines. I can't point out which scenes in particular made me feel this in particular without giving out major spoilers, but they were absolutely great. The entire casting was perfect. I wouldn't be able to imagine anyone else in the current roles they're playing.

The movie, like what I believe many Utsukare fans feel for Season 1 and Season 2, is very rewatchable. Heck, if a fan can go to the cinema and watch the movie 53 times within 2 weeks of the movie showing, I don't see how it's not rewatchable. The staff put in so much thought into each design, be it regarding the set, costume or story (e.g. https://bit.ly/3qMBLeT), and the actors outdid themselves in playing their characters as well as they did. There's just so many little details to catch, from both the background in each scene, to the acting and story.

My bit of criticism though (even though it didn't really affect my experience with the movie), is that I wish that they could have shown how they resolved the conflict better. To me, it just felt like after the incident with Shitara, everything was just resolved? I didn't expect the Hira's confidence issue to necessarily be fixed, since that is who he is, but it did feel like a spur of the moment thing, both when he promised to stay by Kiyoi's side because of the impact of the incident on HiraKiyo, and when he took Kiyoi's pictures. I guess they could have talked it out after Hira returned home like they had planned to before Shitara happened, but it's never shown so it's kind of left as a '?' for me. I don't really remember whether the self-confidence part was in the novel, so this could either be me criticising the novel and the movie adapting it as it is, or the movie itself.

Still, it's also because of this that I want to see more from Utsukare. The movie ending was good, but there's still slightly more content I want to see, notably Kiyoi releasing a photobook with Hira's name on it beside his as his photographer, and Kiyoi's growth as an actor. I don't really expect a new drama series season (despite how welcome that would be) nor having Nayamashii Kare adapted as well (which would be especially hard to adapt knowing the main plot), but a drama special would be nice...

What I can conclude though is, if you love HiraKiyo solely because they are HiraKiyo, you'd absolutely love the movie. Or even if you don't know HiraKiyo at all, this will be a lovely story to witness of two people who are so different, but somehow love and understand each other better than anyone else and will always return to each other.

Leia Mais

Different and disappointing

The reason I started watching the High&Low series was because I heard yuta from NCT was going to be in a japanese gang movie so I just HAD to start from the beginning and watch all the content one by one. I totally fell in love with the series and characters, it's just so fun when it needs to be and so stupidly emotional at the same time. It took a year but now I finally watched this movie and wtf?

The first hour of the movie was full of shit, new characters we've never seen before, with seemingly no purpose other than existing (now that I've finished the movie), no mention of any of the side characters that we know and love; unlike all the other H&L movies where we get a recap of all relevant events, this movie seemed irrelevant so there was no recap.

The hurried change from introducing the suzuran school to getting context on the actual "villains" the senomon school, it just felt like they had too much to do but wasted an hour doing a not-so-good job on the suzuran school (I didn't watch crows and dk if that changes anything) and suddenly ending that storyline and moving on to continue to the next school. There was also the school that only wants to fight todoroki, and another school I think? idk it seemed like there were a couple schools mentioned. Like who tf are these people? backstory anyone? what am I missing cuz I don't remember them at all??? then we just hear they lost the fight and move on, it was just lacking so much.

I feel like there should've been a series to establish all these new characters and bonds instead of just jumping into a movie where we're forced to watch these random characters we've never seen form a random alliance and act like their fights mean anything to story. It also feels like there was supposed to be a series before this movie to set up the scene, but we didn't get it so it all felt shallow.

Yeah it was like 5 for me but I actually enjoyed the 2nd half with housen so 6.5/10

Leia Mais

What an Innocent Love Story

One thing that's definitely gone over-saturated in the medium is how over-the-top and over-dramatic everything is acted out. Sue, it makes for bugger stakes, larger-than-life storytelling, however, in today's world, there is so much like that's it's daring to stumble across an unassuming, unadulterated adaptation like Kimi Ni Todoke.

Kimi Ni Todoke is an innocent, wholesome, and pure romance told through the lens of a high school outcast, Sawako, buried deeply under stacks of rumors and deep-fried gossip. And you know how superstitious some of those remote rural Japanese towns can be. Until that is, she meets this pleasant, loved-by-everything high school sweetheart, Hazehaya, who breaks through the social cage keeping the FL away from any meaningful interaction.

The synopsis seems generic enough to pass you by in an instance, however, the approach and the execution are what kept me engaged. This is a family-friendly showing of innocent, coming-of-age romance with no vulgarity to show. Not even a single kissing scene and you know what? That's fine, in fact, it's what makes it stand out in my opinion because even without any intimacy of that kind, the direction of the movie makes it work, and beautifully so.

What drew me originally to watch this is Tabe Mikako herself, I'm so in love with her acting, she has such a way of expressing emotional frequencies through her talent as an actor but nobody told me I was in for discovering such an amazing male lead, Miura Haruma who stole my heart in this role. Unfortunately, I was hit by the news of him dying a couple of years earlier at such a young age of 30 too.

Leia Mais

Very slow and dare I say boring

The actors were great and the tension and music and cinematography were all done well. My gripes from the plot and HEAVY SPOILERS TO COME. And I also slipped through the second half of the movie cause I just lost interest.




Nagisa coming unexpectedly like that and the wholeeeee thing that came after put a bad taste in my mouth. Maybe I missed something but the fact that what he did was absolutely outrageous and never properly called out is kidding me. Maybe I'm too aggressive but the fact that he suddenly arrived with his KID, stayed over, and not even a finished divorce would have is fighting outside. Like are you NUTS. He doesn't get dragged enough for that in the movie which gives me the ick

Like I said I got very bored around 37 mins when I realized we were that deep in the movie with no proper excuse for nagisa showing up. I knew the movie would be unserious from that point. I did thinking the ending scenes were quite cute.

Leia Mais

Very underrated but there are some flaws

Story :
I like the overall concept of the story but it could have better execution.. I felt like there were alot of plot holes and the story didn't really feel complete☹️ I also felt the romance was a little rushed and it didn't really make sense but oh well
Acting/cast :
All of the actors were SO good and the main couple had amazing chemistry?
Music :
There isn't a particular song that stood out but I do find that they did a good job in putting the music at the right time. Like the times where there wasn't any music you could really feel the tension between the actors, but when there was, I found the music fit the atmosphere well.
Rewatch value :
I put low because I don't usually rewatch shows let alone movies so I couldn't really see myself rewatching this but maybe since it's so short I might forget abt it and rewatch it..
Bonus : cinematography
I just wanted to point out how good the cinematography was!! The coloring is amazing and I also love the camera work.
Overall:
I think it's worth the watch If you don't mind sensitive topics like rape, prostitution,SA, etc.. so yh watch out for that if ur not comfortable but it's not bad and you should give it a watch!!

Leia Mais

watch it now!!!

omg what a film. i;'ve seen this on reccomended list, but i haven't watched it, because of multiple issues, but i am glad i did now. about the film now: i literally cried. it's so emotional and is a roller coster of emotions and it's just wow. you have hope that it's gonna be a happy ending and she us gonna live happy with her father, but it's heartbreaking to see that it doesn't. all the scenes where she cried just made my heart shatter. i recommend the film, but prepare tisues. there is one more thing i want to say: don't let yourself be manipulated and stand up for youself, i love you.

Leia Mais

Intriguing… I found myself questioning my morals.

It’s been a while since I’ve enjoyed a Japanese movie or a drama, everything seemed pointless lately until I saw Prior Convictions on my laptop, turns out my sister downloaded it and watched it and forgot to delete it.

I came into it with no prior information, nor expectations other than the will to delete it if it didn’t match my mood today. And holy crap!

The movie is so good, I couldn’t bat my eyes in case I missed a scene although it was slow. The atmosphere is something that I have been missing for a long time. Arimura Kasumi’s character was unfairly intriguing and amazing. I was moved by her diligence. I wanted to know more, the struggles kept me on edge. I felt like I was back again to ten years prior when I enjoyed watching Japanese media.

The city’s panoramas were the highlight for me, I don’t know why but the small town smell was so strong and it felt like I was there too, Morita’s acting was great too. In fact, everyone did their part very well.

At the end it left me wondering: Agawa was working hard to rehabilitate Kudo and I was there for it. but then, I wondered if Touyama deserved his second chance and I caught my bias.
It was really eye opening.

Leia Mais

I love this movie from the bottom of my heart

This movie has so beautiful places like the house is just so majestetic, I want that kind of house too!

But the men in this movie are so annoying..
I Think I started to hate lil bit MORE men because this? btw I've always hated men/boys (I have my own reasons)

Now lets speak the sex scenes in this movie!
Masterpiece.
Do I need to say something else? hmm...
The sex scenes were so beautiful and I want it too..jk jk (Or am I?)

If you like lesbian movies where are annoying men, beautiful sex scenes, majestetic clothes and so pretty places, this is for you!

Leia Mais

I love this movie from the bottom of my heart

This movie has so beautiful places like the house is just so majestetic, I want that kind of house too!

But the men in this movie are so annoying..
I Think I started to hate lil bit MORE men because this? btw I've always hated men/boys (I have my own reasons)

Now lets speak the sex scenes in this movie!
Masterpiece.
Do I need to say something else? hmm...
The sex scenes were so beautiful and I want it too..jk jk (Or am I?)

If you like lesbian movies where are annoying men, beautiful sex scenes, majestetic clothes and places, this movie is for you!!!

Leia Mais

Mostly Forgettable

What to Do with the Dead Kaiju is a parody of kaiju movies in general and a couple of the most well known franchises in that genre in particular. The premise is pretty solid: a large reptilian kaiju has just stomped through Tokyo and died at the mouth of a river and the government neither knows why it died nor what to do with the resulting decaying hill of flesh. The government dithers and various ministerial departments seek to score political points while addressing the threat to the environment.

The protagonist is Yukino who is the close aid of the Minister of the Environment and married to Mashiko who is, in turn, similarly the chief flunky of the Prime Minister. Complicating matters is the fact that Yukino is still carrying a torch for Arata who had disappeared in a mysterious white light for a couple years and is now a lieutenant in the Special Forces put together to fight kaiju. The love triangle is neither interesting nor well executed, but it's the only plot linking the scenes together, and so enjoy it to the extent you can.

The humor is fairly low, but not all that effective (but, as always with comedies, YMMV). There are a few slapstick moments that might raise a chuckle. The focus of the film, however, is more on bureaucratic incompetence and malfeasance as issues arise with the decaying mass of flesh. The script telegraphs what kind of ending is coming about halfway through and then sticks with that plan through to a pretty unsatisfying climax. The film is not terrible, but there are better Japanese comedy movies out there.

Leia Mais

Bu Na who works in London was tricked by her parents to come back home to China. She met Jin Yang who picked her up at the airport and ended up being her hired driver while she's back home. He's a hard worker, and very dedicated at taking care of his mom who lives in a nursing home. She looks down on people, including him, and naturally he resented her for that.
One thing lead to another, she ended up hiring him as her fake boyfriend. Love grew as they spent more time together and she learned what family means from him.
Nothing spectacular on the story or acting from anyone, but not bad either.

Leia Mais

I am mouse hearted while watching a horror movie, but honestly, I was not scared to the point I was expecting. I was triggered for gross makeup thats it. All the stories are connected with the narrators story but didn’t make an impact on the narrator story too. Maybe his boldness reduces the scary meter.

The setting Gwanglim Mansion was nice. The building was the same so there was no difference in the direction of each story. Had the same angles of the doors and corridors. The stories intersected with other stories in some scenes but show different perspectives of each story. also shows that all these happened at the same time.
It builds up an average eerie atmosphere but it lacks a finishing touch for most of the chapters. A couple of the chapters are interesting. Not particularly scary.
The actors performances are solid but we are seeing the story through Ji-Woo's perspective, who remains off-screen most of the time and is turn off. We just see strangers dying in the mansion in various ways which aint similar. Which have become stories told by the narrator.

Scary Meter

Room 504 (The writer) - Not scary 7/10

Room 907 ( The Pharmacist) - Very scary 9/10

Room 708 (The Salesman) - Mild 8/10

Room 604 (The Student) - Average 7.5/10

Room 1504 (The Caretaker) - Average 7.5/10

Leia Mais

once a watch

Note: if one is going to spout nonsense after watching an incest story, they should probably watch something else.

I come from a conservative society where if we call an unknown person brother, he is a brother, its a respectful term. But I have also seen cousin marriages, so I thought to try this movie. Japanese incest-based stories are emotional and delicate, not hurting anyone's sentiments. After finishing the movie, I didn’t feel guilty too, it was a CLEAN MOVIE, about two teenagers who had a complicated relationship. It doesn't storm the emotional guilt but gains pity for the leads.

The story is twisted to create curiosity but the ending is satisfactory.
Lastly, the portrayal of complicated emotions in the last few scenes could have been a lot better. That is a crucial scene but neither old nor young actors did great.

The songs were pretty nice. The lyrics were fine complimenting the mood of the scenes.

Leia Mais