Reviews

The snowy mountains and the lone Warrior at the beginning are so beautiful together

Because of the understanding of Zhang Zhehan's current situation in the country, a talented artist, but in the country has been comprehensively slander social death, his name is not, his TV series has been completely removed from the shelves, the film has been cut out, and even the case has been filed. There was nothing wrong with him at all, so the difficult climb of the snow mountain at the beginning made me cry. This unprecedented injustice, in the face of such a great injustice, he did not choose a dead end, but went to the most beautiful scenery in China - Tibet, to the human fireworks to find themselves, to find the meaning of life, to heal himself, but also to heal the injured people, this is the reason why I like. After watching this film, you will gain the strength of calm and go nowhere. I like the narration of this documentary best. The writing is so beautiful.

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Fantastic directing and great acting in a sensitive take on a delicate subject

What a wonderful watch. I loved how the story was revealed to the audience, from the first meeting of our protagonists, the relationship of Lok with Yan-Yan, to finally his second meeting with Yip Nam, and the struggles they went through. It was such an interesting way to tell their story, I completely didn't expect how it would unfold when I started watching.

I also think that the film provided us with enough information about both protagonists to understand their actions, including Lok's final decision or Yip Nam's lack of professionalism when she got involved with him in the first place. I liked that both FL and ML shared the same theme of their mothers affecting how they navigate relationships and love (I appreciated that Lok wasn't just reduced to being a person suffering from schizophrenia, but we got to hear of more of his life experiences influencing how he behaves).

The acting was great. Both main actors did a wonderful job, and both made me cry with their respective break-down scenes. The directing was beautiful. I loved all the far distance, wide angle shots, which - for me - emphasized the feeling of derealisation, but also switching from "Lok's perspective" to the "real world" perspective. I also enjoyed how a lot of scenes were filmed from the perspective of standing outside a window or hiding behind a shelf (as if someone was constantly there with Lok, following and observing him).

The movie treats the subject of mental illness with sensitivity and depth. I appreciated we got to see how Lok navigates his life (e.g. relying on the cellphone to see if a person talking to him is really there) and feel the insecurity he might feel, not knowing if things around him are real. The relapse scene at his apartment was really painful to watch. Yet at the same time, it was so well- filmed and acted that I was enjoying its every moment. The sequence when Yan-Yan and Yip Nam are both holding onto Lok and "fighting over" him was excellent in every detail!

Finally, a separate praise goes to the love scenes. The chemistry between Lok and Yip Nam was palpable, especially in that scene on a crowded train.

Highly recommended!

This was cross-posted with Viki.

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"Sometimes I have to follow what others do. I don't know why life is this hard"

All the Crows in the World is a short film by Tang Yi that won the 2021 Palme d’Or Best Short Film and the 2022 SXSW award for Narrative Short. A clever satirical look at “respectable” businessmen and also a warm take on how friendships can occur in the strangest of places. Tang Yi built her world, added some surreal elements, and let her sharp female lead navigate it with care and fun.

Zhao Sheng Nan and her friend are enjoying a snack when the shop owner takes off with a female “friend” before his wife comes back. Sheng Nan starts a stopwatch and bets how long he’ll last. A relative advises her with a bullhorn that her cousin wants to meet up with her. At the restaurant table filled with middle-aged businessmen she finds herself, her virginity, and her marriageability the center of conversation. A conversation that includes a Taoist priest. She’s also gifted numerous red envelopes. The party moves to an “entertainment” establishment where numerous girls in short dresses are introduced. Sheng Nan finds a safe harbor with Wang Jiang Guo who has no interest in women or the evening’s proceedings.

Shot on a small budget, Tang Yi was the writer, director, and cinematographer. She utilized her 14 minutes and managed to make Sheng Nan and Jiang Guo come to vivid life, also helped by the actors’ performances. Though teenage Sheng Nan still had an innocence about her, with each zip of her jacket she showed that she was also aware of what men’s eyes desired. And was confident enough to put the businessmen in their places. Unlike the mainland where gay love is verboten, this Hong Kong film had an openly gay character. Jiang Guo and Sheng Nan formed great co-conspirators as they found their own way to enjoy their evening.

I enjoyed this quirky short film which even found time for a quick dance number complete with wings, bubbles, and strobe lights. Sheng Nan and Jiang Guo’s developing friendship was entertaining to watch as they commiserated with each other and poked fun at the respectable people around them. Tang Yi is a fresh voice and one I want to hear more from.

24 September 2024

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Good food for thought

I really like the setting of this short film. It offers the possibility of a future where gender transition is actually supported by the government, but it's always inside the limits of the gender binary - not only on a biological level, but also on a social level.
Yi An is almost 17 years old and will soon get his one-in-a-lifetime chance to choose the gender they will want to be for the rest of their life. As they interact with their best friend Wen Hua and their crush Zhou Yang Kai, their doubts keep increasing.

The events are kept vague, but also detailed enough to let the viewer reflect on what is happening in the film and make their own conclusion, which I liked a lot as I believe it mirrors the uncertainty of Yi An's feelings toward themself, toward the choice they're meant to make, and toward the people around them. I don't want to include spoilers, so I'll only add this: I believe that when the film ended, we got all the information we needed about the characters and their thoughts, and that anything else would have been unnecessary.
The actors all did an amazing job (Hsiang En Hung as Yi An, Audrey Fong as Wen Hua, and Ptero Li as Zhou Yang Kai). Props to Hsiang En Hung in particular for being able to portray Yi An's inner turmoil so beautifully.

I really liked the music used for this short and the camera angles. I also really liked the idea of using both a masculine and a feminine voice for Yi An's thoughts/narration, alternating the two or even using both at the same time.

It's a nice little piece of art. Recommended!

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Le fait que «Silenced» soit tiré d’une histoire vraie, rend ce film encore plus terrible, déchirant et inhumain. Ce que traversent ces enfants, il n’y a pas de mots pour le décrire, rien qui ne pourrait être assez fort pour l’exprimer. Je m’attendais à ce que cette histoire soit difficile à regarder, mais pas à ce point. J’ai passé les deux heures qu’il a duré à vouloir prendre ses enfants dans mes bras pour les protéger, et vouloir faire payer ceux qui les ont blessés, ainsi que tous ceux qui les ont aidés, directement ou non. J’espère sincèrement que ceux qui ont été victimes de tout ceci vont mieux maintenant, et qu’ils ne sont pas seuls, mais bien entourés. Pour ce qui est du film lui-même, je le conseille vivement ! Oui, il est difficile à voir. Non, je ne le regarderai pas de nouveau. Mais ces enfants méritent que leurs histoires soient connues, et les acteurs, que ce soient ceux connus comme Gong Yoo, ou les enfants, ont tous joués avec brio ! «Silenced» est vraiment un de ces films qui ne peut laisser indifférent !

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*Avis Complet sur mon Blog :*
https://lamagiedeshistoires.wordpress.com/2024/09/24/septembre-2024-en-rafale-dramas-films/

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«Where Your Eyes Linger» parle de deux amis qui, socialement, ne sont pas égaux. Un travaillant comme garde du corps pour le second, qui lui, vient d’une famille riche. Ils ont toujours été ensemble, l’un veillant sur l’autre comme une ombre. On les voit dans leur amitié, mais aussi, on voit les sentiments inavoués, la jalousie, la douleur d’un amour cru non-réciproque, etc. Ces sentiments sont parfaitement mis en avant dans ce mini-drama ! Avec une très bonne histoire, une alchimie encore meilleure, ce drama a rapidement capté mon attention… Même l'OST est excellente !

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*Avis Complet sur mon Blog :*
https://lamagiedeshistoires.wordpress.com/2024/09/24/septembre-2024-en-rafale-dramas-films/

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«Sweet & Sour» suit la relation de deux personnes, et les changements que celle-ci subit lorsqu’une de ces personnes se voit transférer à un poste plus loin de chez lui, les forçant tous les deux à avoir une relation longue distance. Ce film est actuellement assez réel, on ne suit pas une histoire parfaite, ou quoi que ce soit. Non, on voit les problèmes qui s’accumulent, que ce soit quelque chose de simple, comme la fatigue et le traffic pour se rendre au travail, à d’autres bien plus complexes. Les acteurs ont été excellents, et le retournement final, fut une vraie surprise ! Malgré tout, j’avoue que ce ne fut pas mon film favoris, un des sujets étant quelque chose que je n’apprécie pas du tout (infidelité, même émotionnelle) même si j’ai passé un bon moment.

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*Avis Complet sur mon Blog :*
https://lamagiedeshistoires.wordpress.com/2024/09/24/septembre-2024-en-rafale-dramas-films/

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What does it mean to be a mother?

No Blood Relation was the second oldest surviving film from director Naruse Mikio. Like Ozu Yasujiro, many of his early films have been lost to the ravages of time. Based on a novel by Yanagawa Shunyo, Naruse asked the question, “What makes a mother?” Is it biology or nurture? A little girl would be torn between the only mother she’d ever known and the mother who came to town to claim her.

Famous actress Tamae Kiyooka returns home to Japan after making her fortune in the United States. First on her list of things to do is to regain custody of the daughter she abandoned as a newborn when she ran off with her lover to pursue her career in Hollywood. Coincidentally, her ex-husband is filing for bankruptcy and being hauled off to jail for reasons related to the downfall of his company. Kiyooka is unaware of how deeply Shegiko and her stepmother love each other. Masako has raised Shegiko as her own with Shegiko never knowing she’s not her biological mother. Kiyooka uses Atsumi’s mother who is disgruntled by their backward step in fortunes to kidnap Shegiko. Neither the little girl nor her stepmother are willing to be separated, but Kiyooka believes she has the moral high ground with the blood relation and is wiling to be patient.

Okada Yoshiko had the difficult job of making Tamae Kiyooka sympathetic. The script didn’t help much but her ability to convey Kiyooka’s sorrow and frustration over her daughter not only not recognizing her, but hating her as well came across wonderfully nuanced. Because Kiyooka remembered her child it never occurred to her that Shigeko would feel no connection to her. The consequences of her choices tumbled on her like a falling spotlight. “Is the bond between mother and child so fragile?” When you’ve put no effort into it for 7 years, yeah, it’s pretty fragile. I found Okada to be a fascinating person. The actress led a complicated life with various lovers culminating with a move to the USSR in 1938. Instead of a happy ending they were jailed and tortured as spies. She was incarcerated for 10 years and her lover died before she ever saw him again. Okada went back to Japan to make a few films in the 1970’s but returned to the Soviet Union not long afterward. Her story would make an intriguing film.

Tsukuba Yukiko as Atsumi Masako gave her character heart and a gentle fierceness as she fought for the daughter she loved. Traditional Masako was shown in contrast to Kiyooka’s modern and Westernized woman. Kiyooka deserted her daughter for a career while Masako began a job to keep her daughter. Oka Joji played the Atsumi’s friend, Kusakabe Masaya. This was a distracting casting choice for me. Nara Shinyo as Atsumi was homely and petite. I couldn’t help shipping handsome and imposing Kusakabe with Masako. Kojima Toshiko was charming as Shegiko, the precious child two mothers fought over. Katsuragi Fumiko played Atsumi’s greedy mother who proved that gold is thicker than blood.

I watched this silent film on the Criterion Channel where the film had an unobtrusive piano accompaniment added. There was significant salt and pepper pocking as well as white lines on some frames. The intertitles were used efficaciously and provided the necessary information needed with one exception. I wasn’t sure why Atsumi was sent to prison. Naruse made several awkward choices with the use of speedy extreme closeups interspersed with choppy shots of people and exteriors. His later work would flow much better. The bumbling brothers felt like they were part of different movie when they were clowning around all while two women fought a devastating battle for the affections and custody of a child.

With no spoken word, compelling performances were a must for silent films. No Blood Relation was fortunate to have quality actors conveying the film’s message. “It’s raising a child, not giving birth to one that makes a woman a mother.” Kiyooka had to learn the difference between love and possession while Masako had to dig deep to fight for the daughter she loved. If you enjoy Naruse’s films this poignant story about maternal love and what constitutes a family is one to try.

23 September 2024

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A different rendition of the end of My Home Hero.

Part 2 of the manga is one of my favorite pieces of media. It was harrowing, disgusting, and a massive low point for the Tosu family. However, Part 3 didn’t live up to my expectations. It dragged and didn’t feel like a satisfying conclusion to the story. But this movie, for me, is how My Home Hero should have ended.

Since they excluded the second arc, they had to rework some key plot points to fit the story they were telling. Unfortunately, the biggest casualty of these changes is Kasen, considering the second arc revolved around her. Shino and Ozawa’s personalities also took a hit, probably because there just wasn’t enough time to flesh out their subtleties. Making them more extreme versions of their characters works, too, I guess.

That said, the movie does have plenty of positives. There were a few major throughlines. One was Tetsuo’s confession letter-turned-novel. It’s what caused everything to spiral for him, and the way they tied it back at the end? SO GOOD! Another was Reika’s childhood vacation story, where she had to save Tetsuo, even though he was supposed to be the one saving her from drifting too far from shore. That same beach ends up being where Tetsuo stashed the Mano group’s money after taking Kyoichi’s freedom. All roads led back to that beach, and it’s also where Tetsuo loses his own freedom. It’s such a good final set piece, and I’m really glad they included Kasen in that scene. It’s a good farewell for him. I also love the contrast between Tetsuo’s scream to the heavens in the live-action series and his quiet, pained look from behind the prison walls here. He lost his freedom, but he protected his family.

It’s a really well-done, streamlined version of the end of My Home Hero. If you have the time, read the manga too!

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A feel-good movie

It is indeed one of my favourite Chinese movies, the kind of movie that makes you feel really happy and hopeful afterwards, hence 10/10 rewatch value from me.
The storyline is nothing out of ordinary, you can probably guess it just from watching a trailer. However, the way it flows is quite natural and does not have gaps where you feel bored or lose interest, instead it makes you cheer for the protagonist, you want him to win. The final battle where Chen Shuo incorporated everyone's dance moves into one is undoubtedly the climax of the film.
The only downside for me is I feel some of the dance scenes are unnecessarily heavily edited with too many visual effects, which kind of made the dance sequences a bit less enjoyable to watch.

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Esta wena pero no taanto

PARA EMPEZAR: Vi esta película con mi mamá y me pareció entretenida para tomar tecito en la tarde, pero a los días se me olvido que existía hasta que la vi acá asi que toco darle una review. >>
•1.Este drama es la típica peli que está en Netflix sobre gente peleando con personas malas y pues senti que era una más del montón, lo que me llego a atrapar en algunos momentos fue el tema que aborda la película pero más de eso no me llamo la atención.
•2.La actuación del policía estubo buenisima (el poli tmb aajekek) y pues estuvo muy wuapo asi que le doy mas estrellas, agregaré que me encanto el cambio de look que le dieron al protagonista porque el pelo que llevaba antes no me gustaba nada la verdad (ahora si esta bien wapote).
•3.Respecto a la trama, no me pareció nada mal y me hizo encariñarme con algunos personajes, me gusto que el protagonista cuando veía a alguien en problemas no dudaba en ayudarlo. No me arrepiento de verla, byebye.
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La recomiendo? Maso (recomendaria otras)
La volvería a ver? Nop
7-8/10

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Should you watch it?

Not the kind of show I would watch but decided to watch because of the hype.

In terms of pacing and writing it’s really good and also the basis of the story being centered around probation officers, martial artists who monitors possible offenders that might do recidivism is really a unique storyline of unsung heroes who usually go unnoticed. One thing that is believable about this movie is the mc’s father and director motivation to inspire others as well protecting the less vulnerable is very commendable and it doesn’t feel too forced upon or cringy. There isn’t really a boring moment in the movie which did make me guess how much more dangerous will the next offender be.

Mc has really good group of friends and support group so it was nice to see that their friendship isn’t only limited to hanging out playing games and eating out but it goes beyond that. They were willing to go the distance to help mc when it comes to catching the serial rapist. Mc’s relationship with the director was also wholesome and cute as they looked out for one another.

Overall, I can see why some might enjoy this as there are mix of light-hearted moments, good-hearted Mc and a unique storyline.

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I just finished watching this and I don't know how I feel about what I just saw.

I'm a martial arts fanatic. I will watch any and everything martial arts related. The title got to me and of course the fighting previews reeled me in.

The main character gets introduced as not having a life. He's easily bored if he's not having any kind of fun from winning what he thinks are challenges. He stumbles upon a person getting beat and he winds up helping that person with his martial art skills which gets told to someone in the ankle monitoring department of the police station. He learns the person he helped will be out of commission for 5 weeks and with his martial art skills, the ankle monitoring department could use some help with dealing with the difficult ones who won't obey the ankle monitoring rules. He then takes the job because he thinks it's fun. He then realizes the job he'll be doing isn't so fun because most involves sexual assault crimes against children. This right here could be a trigger for some which is why I think this movie treaded very lightly on the subject.

Now that I'm thinking about how I felt what I saw, the word 'light' explains it. This movie was very light. It only told the crimes of the ankle monitoring perps. Only two actors showed a light dusting of why they had to wear their ankle monitors.

The main bad guy hardly had any back story. We just know he's a horrible person that shouldn't be around kids. He gets out of jail only to pick up where he left off. This happens to be the heart of the movie but again, it was lightly done.
You get a few sprinkles of fighting scenes thrown in. The guy recruits his best friends to help capture the bad guy.....and that's about it.
He faces the bad guy again after the bad guy and his goons manage to injure the first MML and the other ML 's.

It ends with the hero saving the day...as usual...and that's it.

I usually gripe about Korean movies being a lot of fluff with no explanations on a lot of things and this one was like that. Luckily it wasn't drawn out and wrapped up in a news segment like a lot of Korean movies tends to do.

If you want a light hearted crime movie with some fighting thrown in, here's your movie.

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Not like manga

First season was at least following the manga. When I heard that the movie was announced I was excited but it didn't follow manga. They skipped part 2 of the manga and skipped part 3 as well. They took the aspect of the starting of part 2 in manga and the ending of part 3. At the end of season 1 it shows 6 months later a landslide occurs but in the movie 7 years later. The movie is completely non canon to the manga . If you want to consider it canon you can because it doesn't really affect the show story.
Tetsuo went to the landslide and met a detective. He found that the body was found of Matori and the detective asked him some questions. Then the plot goes on.
I liked the cast and story was good but compared to the manga it wasn't good. They skipped the village arc and didn't even explain properly that Tetsuo posted their story online.
Kubo said that Tetsuo made his killing more fun because he killed like 2 officers . Spoilers for the manga skip this part






SPOILERS
In the manga Kubo said thank you because Tetsuo let Kubo kills the entire village about 160 people and 180 because of suicide people.






Back to the movie
The music was on fire especially near the end of the movie. I like the cast so much especially Tetsuo.

One thing that the movie did better was show Tetsuo in Prison and gave a perfect Kyochi's character development. I really liked the scene where he punched Tetsuo( Hope he did the same in manga but he didn't because of his friends) I also loved that Kyochi was more involved in the action.
Choreography was amazing in the movie. I hope that they make season 2 of the series other wise this movie will be show canon which isn't bad but manga is amazing;

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