Reviews

“ANOTHER SIDE OF HISTORY”

Those rating the movie claiming that this movie was just a trust either hadn’t seen the movie itself or doesn’t know how to see movie unbias…
They write full of hate as if historians are all unbias…

This #MiM or Maid in Malacañang is a story base on Marcos Family during Edsa 1 under the POV of Senator IMEE MARCOS, with some comedic scenes and script added to make the movie interesting…

This is the 1st part on a Trilogy directed by Darryl Yap, and young and brilliant director who is brave enough to make a movie after almost 4 decades of silence on the side of Marcoses…

Among all the casts, Cristine Reyes definitely shine on this movie since she has a lot of scenes here for portraying the main character…

Cesar Montano who is 1 of the veterans among the actors surely did a great job together with his real life son Diego Loizaga… all the casts were superb in terms of acting…

Music used were good also, and matches the ambiance and storyline…

I had watched it here in Riyadh VOX CINEMA, with an English and arabic subtitle, so there were arab national whose watching with us aswell…
This movie made me cry for the first time…
The 2nd time I watched it on bilibili… viva prime isn’t available here abroad to download… sorry viva ?✌️
Would definitely rewatch it again before watching Martyr or Murderer…

Waiting for the 2nd and 3rd part which is #MOM and #MAM

Leia Mais

So Long! follows Ran Ran's last days in Beijing. What caught my attention was not the story itself, which was too disjointed, but the synopsis.
Ran Ran is transgender and defines himself as pansexual. Yet the English description on Gagaoolala (which I intentionally left as is when I submitted the title to MDL), the female gender "she" is used. I wondered throughout the documentary if this was intentional to show that despite Ran Ran's trans-identity, he remains a woman to the administration, he remains a woman to the outside world, as was the case for some of his former work colleagues and academics.
At the end of the 25-minute documentary, I also wondered what happened to Ran Ran after he returned to his hometown. He had mentioned a rather serene relationship with his relatives during the interviews. Was he able to find a new job, did he meet someone? Is he still involved in advocacy for transgender rights? Many questions that will not be answered unfortunately.

Note: The Mandarin synopsis uses the pinyin tā to mark the gender neutral.

Leia Mais

Good Enough

Korean Movie " Decision to Leave " is a drama about obsession, love and crime.

The movie's charm is its oddness, with wild edits, strange POVs and magnetic scenes; a cinematography that trully steals the scene.

The performances were also great and captivating, especially by the female lead who was excellent. The rest of the cast did a good job as well.

However, dispite being intriguing at first, the movie fails to deliver enough emotion for the romance-obsession part of the film to be believable. And yet, that's where the movie should have exceled. Hence, the story feels flat and abstruct, with shots of the main character's life and a mystery that was partially presented. The finale of the film is probably its most intense part.

So, overall, six out of ten.

Leia Mais

A recipe for pasta is simple at first glance, but it all depends on the seasoning, the addition of sauces, the quality of the ingredients to make the dish delicious. Some recipes bring back fond memories, others are forgotten as quickly as they were consumed.

Through the evocation of their common past or the glimpse of their current life, we feel that they have managed to preserve their good moments. I also felt the unsaid things, the affection that shines through, the care for each other and I think that maybe there is a possibility for them. Maybe the recipe at the time wasn't elaborate enough, or maybe it wasn't just right for the 20-year-olds they were.

Note: there is no predefined recipe for making a relationship work, each person finds the right fit in their own way to make it work.

Leia Mais

Simple, Gorgeous, Real, and Inspiring

Simple and gorgeous, while simultaneously showing several issues facing same-sex couples. In it, we meet a strong-willed bibliophile who just wants to be treated fairly, and her partner who is still struggling with being closeted and internalized homophobia in the face of prejudice and micro-aggressions. My heart hurt for her when she said that she wasn't allowed to be upset because "lesbians shouldn't walk in the sun."

I love how our two female leads balance each other out, providing each other unbridled joy and courage as they move forward in life. To the point where they truly are able to shake things off, not because they're scared to be upset, but because they have each other's backs.

Leia Mais

This is a fairly good movie. I liked the beginning the most. The first 50 minutes of the film really keep you on the edge of your seat and the entiity is really scary. The jump scares were good and we get the traditional contortionist movements from the ghost/killer that Japanese horror movies are known for. I thought the last 30 minutes were not that great but overall the ending madeup for it.

The cast is excellent. I genuinely liked all the actors and the characters they portrayed. I liked the developing friendships of the characters too. The friendship aspect of the movie takes this a notch above the traditional teen horror movie tropes. I also liked loneliness as a theme here. .

All in all I recommend watching at least once. That end credit scene is quite interesting; I may have to rewatch in a few months too see if I notice anything differently.

3/5/23

Leia Mais

strange but calm

The movie didn't leave a huge impact on me nor is it very memorable. I don't recall the small details even right after watching nor do I feel like there was ever a climactic moment of the journey (if there is one). The events that take place within the plot are incredibly subtle, even up till the last few moments. There doesn't seem to be an end resolve either, it just IS. This review probably doesn't make sense however, the film itself has it's own color and it's own vibe that is consistent throughout. I think that's one of it's strengths that kept me watching. Although it's incredibly slow and anticlimactic, there's something about the calmness that draws me in.

Leia Mais

The drunk, the cat, and the hammer

Near the end of Chia Ling's movie career, she starred in No One Can Touch Her. For a 1970's kung fu flick, she gave a nuanced performance as a grieving and vengeful daughter suffering from blindness after a brutal attack. Never giving up, she began practicing drunken kung fu and even kitty kung fu.

Chin Lin's father was murdered in front of her by a curious menagerie of bandits. She was blinded and became known as Brother Blind. Drinking copious amounts of mostly stolen alcohol, she and her only friend, a young boy with a sling shot, roam around as she continues to practice her kung fu. Along the way she is reunited with the man who had wanted to marry her and still does and becomes friends with a woman named Wong Mei Gwan (Sun Chia Lin). Also in town is a buffoon of a police inspector and a large man who does manual labor known as Brother Mallett. The Inspector takes an interest in Brother Mallett and soon the big guy is unknowingly practicing the Hammer Hand. The 14 bandits and 2 giants break up a wedding and the fighting and betrayals go to a new level.

The fights were plentiful in this movie, especially the last third of the film. These were fairly typical 70's strike, block, and lock fights. The final fights were more creative using a variety of weapons, even an opium pipe and a cat. Chia Ling did a good job with the drunken fist style and cat style (house, not tiger), so drunken cat style? She appeared to be the most athletic of the lot with Chin Kang, also one of the choreographers, right along with her. Her fight using two swords against a nameless bandit was the most fluid of all the fights. Chin Kang tended to play a lot of baddies so it was pleasing to see him in a more heroic role. With 13 or 14 bandits and 2 giants, there were a lot of opportunities for fights and not a lot of opportunity for character development. Despite her limited screen time due to the large cast, Chia Ling gave a rather complex performance for a 1970's kung fu movie. Director/Writer Ting Shan Hsi also wrote the script for one of my favorite old female led kung fu movies, Come Drink with Me and you can see his writing style shining through here.


Even with the solemn theme, there was plenty of levity, often focusing on Inspector Buffoon and Brother Mallett. Turns out the goofy inspector wasn't wrong about being smart and a kung fu genius. There's a nice little twist at the end even though most people will see it coming. NOCTH wasn't great cinema but it kept my attention and gave me a few laughs and fun fights to watch, I don't ask for much else from martial arts films from this era. I would only recommend for old kung fu movie buffs and Chia Ling fans. As always, I rate these niche, low budget movies on a curve.

3/5/23

Leia Mais

Short film or Intro looking for a drama?

This really, really short film is just like a really good intro that to any C-drama, the type that spoils the plot so you should probably skip it to watch the 50 episode drama instead... With pretty fluffy cinematography, music and flowers...

But since it is a GL, chances are this is all we get, a teaser of romance between a tea picking girl and a wounded master... longing, and less exchange of words than I can count on my fingers.

What we got was however sweet, decently performed and did incorporate quite a lot for having so little time and words. Above all it will only take 5 minutes of your time to watch it, so if you have read all these words in this review you might as well go watch it... so off with you, go watch and enjoy ;)

Leia Mais

hot gimmick? more like hot mess.

note- contains incest and toxic relationships. It is very choppy when it comes to both storyline and cinematography. Any character development just isn't explored. The soundtrack is laughable and I wonder how anyone can take this film seriously. The ending was dramatic but everything in between was confusing with many plot holes. My only praise goes to the actors (as they were actually quite good and managed to stay in character whilst filming some questionable scenes) and the person in charge of lighting ( the constant dark blue tint did add to the atmosphere of the setting).

Leia Mais

THIS FILM WAS TRAGIC

Upon reading other peoples reviews, I had to ponder whether they were all in the right headspace. This film was an absolutely horrific watch, in fact I shed literal tears. Many of these reviews skip over the horrifying events that occur within the film, for example, the main character kissing her Brother. Biologically related or not, this is still a form of incest and SHOULD NOT BE OVER LOOKED. Beyond this, the cinematography was choppy and confusing, with lots of fast swivels thayt made my head hurt. Plus, the forms of "love" shown within the film were mainly ridiculously toxic and harmful to show on TV when there were no consequences for this behaviour.
Furthermore, all of the characters were INSUFFERABLE in which they made horrible decisions while acting as though they had a moral high ground.

Overall, for your own sanity DO NOT WATCH THIS unless you plan to watch with your friends for a laugh as I did. Even then, the scene where she offered herself up to her "Brother" still caused genuine tears to leak from my eyes.

And for anyone who genuinely enjoyed this film, please seek therapy and/or help.

Leia Mais

A girls love dorama. But again, does it worth?

This was pretty much average. It started okay but soon turned out to be 'meh'.
There was no chemistry between the characters (except maybe between the pair of friends: the main heroine and the short-haired girl. Sorry, I am writing this review right after watching this dorama but I don´t even remember their names anymore).

The tomboy-like senior was lifeless (was I watching a human or a doll?). I understand they chose her because of the Romeo role she would take, but her character kinda of spoiled the whole experience, which is a shame cause otherwise this dorama had potential for a bit more.

As for the ending, it was not happy nor sad; maybe bittersweet? But in general I would say the ending was kinda of okay-ish - you know when you finished watching something and then "oh, is that it? Well, okay". It was in general an "empty" dorama? If I can put it like that.

The scenes I could say I enjoyed most were those of the girl taking the role of the director. We don´t know what was on her mind (although we could have an overall idea), so those scenes were bringing a bit of suspense/tension to the dorama.

I don´t think this dorama is 'The Realistic Dorama'. In my opinion it´s nothing special. The "Romeo and Juliet" idea is not new, and it´s used here and then as an excuse for girls love / shoujo-ai. I believe the charm of this dorama is the setting, which is in (middle/high)school.

CONCLUSION: If you are just looking for a simple girls love / shoujo-ai to enjoy without having to think much and don´t minding the lack of story/plot, then this might please you. Otherwise this dorama is 'skippable'.

PS.: I might sound a bit harsh/crude here, but this is just a straightforward way of conveying my opinion without beating around the bush xD
PS2.: Please, consider just the overall score. Although story and music weren´t memorable at all, so instead of choosing a low random score, I decided to choose 1.

Leia Mais

How to integrate into the 'solar system' of life when we are all on our own planet ? ...

A very poignant movie ... it starts off with humour but quickly takes a deep dive into the sad and often desperate lives of the lost, lonely, struggling and abused. These life experiences can leave us feeling like we are alone on our own planet in some dark and obscure part of the universe. One of the characters ... a client of Chihiro ... said we are all on another planet ... separate from each other. And yet ... does it always have to be that way? I think this movie both agrees and challenges that notion.

Chihiro seems to be a magnet to members of the community that have been marginalised by their struggles etc ... people who are alone on their own 'planet'. Chihiro, a 'marginalised' person herself, brings these people together with her unique sense of playfulness, honesty, kindness and non-judgemental acceptance of people just the way they are ... even though she herself seems to feel an emptiness, that she is 'not from this planet' and separate from 'her kind of people'. It really is a skill to break down the 'interplanatary' barriers, but she does it. I wonder if kindness and understanding and acceptance have a lot to do with that ... it is worth thinking about.

Having connected this disparate group of people with each other, they find their grounding and moments of joy ... and from that place, reach out to embrace and strengthen others. It really is a wonderful catalytical reaction on a human scale, with Chihiro as the catalyst ... and just like a 'catalyst', she herself seems 'unmoved' by the process that has brought them together and uplifted everyone up from the darkness. Chihiro then moves on and disappears out of their lives into another set of lives ... a bit like a cool refreshing breeze ... here one moment and gone the next ...

The last scene of Chihiro gazing off in the distances is moving ... it seems that Chihiro was affected by the process afterall, their seemed to be a 'spark' of life in her gaze ... a thread of connection forming with the world around her ... the gap of separation slowly narrowing. If you are feeling like you are on another planet ... this might be a nice movie to watch ... "you're wonderful just as you are regardless of what planet you come from" ... and at some point ... you, yourself may come to realise and feel that to your core.

I really liked the cinematography ... all those outdoor shots were just beautiful ... the sunshine, the abandoned places ... all really added to the vibe of the story. I enjoyed the actors too ... Arimura Kasumi did a marvellous job bringing out that those difficult human emotions ... Shimada Tetta was so believable as a 'latch key' kid.

The movie was well done, heavy going sometimes, but deeply moving.

Leia Mais

Reinventing yourself

This was a sweet movie about getting up again after you fall (or when someone trips you). The FL has had some career difficulties and changed careers from singer to radio show host. When the radio show begins to have difficulties, you think that the poor girl is living under a black cloud. I really liked her personality, even with everything she'd been through, she maintained an open and positive attitude. People around her liked her and were rooting for her.

A new producer comes on board and challenges her, and she remains her spunky self. Sparks fly, but I would not call this movie a romance. That's not the focus. This is more a movie about staying true to yourself, having support of good friends and family, rising beyond your troubles, and going after your dreams.

There are some very touching stories of people that come on the radio to share thoughts with the ones they love. I cried more than once, I'll have to admit.

Leia Mais

Who Am I?

Sakra is an overly ambitious attempt to adapt Qiao Feng's arc from Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils (天龙八部), my favorite Jin Yong novel. This is a tall task and inevitably has resulted in an overly condensed adaptation that misses the spirit of the original works. It is carried by the fact that it is such a beloved story that most viewers can fill in the gaps.

Qiao Feng, the magnetic chief of the Beggar Sect is accused of dastardly crimes and outed as being of Khitan descent at a time of conflict between Song and Liao (Khitan). He is evicted from his sect and the entire wulin (martial world) turns against him. As he seeks to clear his name, he encounters Ahzu, a minion in the powerful Murong household. He risks his life to save hers and discovers that like himself, she is also on a Who Am I? quest to figure out her origins. The narrative takes on too much between the rushed and unconvincing romance, solving murders and disentangling both their back stories. The ending is confusing with hurried character introductions to pave the way for a sequel that deals with the mastermind reveal and final arcs of Qiao Feng's story. This hurried rendition makes Qiao Feng little more than a one dimensional, lean mean fighting machine. It is a pity because Qiao Feng is Jin Yong's most powerful, complex and misunderstood male character.

Qiao Feng is the ultimate master of Jin Yong's epic 18 Dragons Subduing Palm martial arts technique, which employs inner energy and is used in most of Qiao Feng's fight scenes. The action scenes are almost ridiculously bombastic - Qiao Feng pulverising an entire horde of martial arts with his amazing energy blasts; gravity defying roof leaping and up close and lethal hand-to-hand combat or swordplay. Qiao Feng's showdown with the entire wulin is the most thrilling action sequence but it comes a bit too early in the movie. It is both incredulous and stupendous to see one man take on so many. I truly feared for Qiao Feng's life but what was more terrifying was the hypocrisy and cowardice of wulin. They basically cancelled a brother-in-arms who stared down death alongside them multiple times and ganged-up on him to try to kill him! I didn't enjoy the final fight scene as much - while splendidly choreographed and thrilling, it veered too far into the territory of wildly exaggerated almost superpower like flying leaps and from a distance qi energy strikes.

I watched the Cantonese dubbed version because to me, Qiao Feng will always be Kiu Fung and Jin Yong's famous lines always sound so diminished and lacking in vehemence and intensity in Mandarin. I think this is a great watch for the action scenes alone. I rate it 7/10.

Leia Mais