Reviews

One of my favourites

Okay, so this movie is pretty fucking good. The concept in itself is really interesting. And how they showed how hard it is for a person who has nowhere to stay, really made me feel bad for him. The backstory with his mother was very emotional and you can understand why he is like he is.

The introduction of the female cast really made me angry, when she randomly appears and steals his wallet. The wallet with a picture of his mom in, the only one he has left of her. But after we got to know her situation, I kind of had an understanding for why she did it. After she heard about his wallet and the importance attached to it she understood how important that wallet is to him.

She promises to get it back to him, which she does and it showed that even though on the outside she looked like an asshole at first. She wasn't a bad person.

This show taught me that you can never know what someone is going through. Neither he or she knew what the other one had gone through.

Kiwan truly showed us how a person truly can fight inconveniences to survive. Many people maybe looked at refugees and didn't think any deeper than. "They fled their country and came here" most of us never consider the hardships they've gone through.

I think this movie helped me realise that. I think that I've never been this emotional towards any movie ever.

The romance between the two is adorable, but it felt kind of like it came out of nowhere. I mean, she saved him from an overdose and then he said something like "If you do drugs, I'll do drugs. if you hurt yourself, I'll save you." type shi.

And they just got together. Other than that I kind of feel bad for the Chinese woman. Because she wanted to be able to earn money and she lied about Kiwan to then just get sent back anyway. She ruined her "friendship" with Kiwan and tried to repair it bit never really got the chance. Until she sent that newspaper in the end.

The antagonist who got shot in the end, didn't rat them out and that was honorable.

Leia Mais

"We're just like everybody else"

37 Seconds was billed as a sexual liberation story for a young woman with cerebral palsy. While the film acknowledged that Yuma had desires like any other woman, for a film often set in the red-light district it was surprisingly chaste. This was a coming of age film as Yuma sought to break free from her mother's control and explore the world that couldn't see her as a real woman.

Twenty-three-year-old Yuma leads an insular and highly controlled life. She works as a manga artist for her friend, Sayaka. What the world doesn’t know is that Sayaka can’t draw or write stories, Yuma does it all. Sayaka merely plays the part on YouTube and keeps Yuma a well-guarded secret. At home, her mother cares for and treats her like a child refusing to let her have long hair, use makeup, or wear dresses. When Yuma attempts to sell a manga idea she’s told to stop copying Sayaka’s work and be unique. She ends up at an erotica manga publication. The editor likes her work but tells her she needs some sexual experience to understand what they want. Yuma starts breaking free from her mother and Sayaka when she meets sex worker Mai and her assistant Toshi on a trip to the red-light district. Her new friends encourage her to explore what she likes and not be afraid to try new experiences. Advice her mother will absolutely not agree with.

This film was decidedly aided by hiring Kayama Mei, a woman who has cerebral palsy, instead of an actress mimicking what she thinks CP looks like. Kayama with her delicate voice showed Yuma's resolve as she fought to live her life for herself. Yuma wanted to be seen and heard, something her mother was afraid of. A gifted artist she was closeted away by her “friend.” The film bestowed Yuma with enormously helpful new friends which may not have been realistic but they provided her a gateway to independence. There were a couple of adult moments if you are sensitive to such subjects, when Yuma attempted to hire a sex worker and later when she and Mai visited a sex toy shop. Films about people with handicaps can be condescending and patronizing. 37 Seconds managed to avoid those pitfalls. Soft spoken Yuma demonstrated to herself and others that she was strong and despite her physical limitations, she was just like everyone else. Her transformation as she gained confidence was beautiful to watch. I loved Mai’s words to her, “You’ve taken a big step. Better not f*ck it up.” Of course, most of do on occasion whatever our life circumstances.

Yuma made friends, carved out a professional path for herself, gained independence, and even had an adventure to Thailand. She learned that sometimes you need to know where you’ve been in order to figure out where you want to go. 37 Seconds can be gone in an instant or its effects can last a lifetime. The memory of this tender, unique coming of age film will linger far longer than the title.

13 August 2024

Leia Mais

Parents : Guardians of Guilt and Extend of Love

Movie Summary: IN FEW POINTS

1. Perspective on Justice: As long as wrongdoings affect others, they often go unnoticed. However, when the tables turn, it suddenly feels like a grave injustice.

2. Karma's Play: The movie emphasizes that you will inevitably reap what you sow.

3. Unconditional Parental Love: Parents' love for their children knows no bounds, even when those children have strayed down dark paths.

4. The Power of Influence: The film illustrates how bad company can lead even a good person astray.

5. Cost of Meddling: Never interfere in others' affairs, or you may end up facing the consequences.

6. Unexpected Twists: The story unfolds in a straightforward manner, but two pivotal twists elevate it to another level: one involving a parent’s encounter with a store lady and the other being the twist at the end. These moments transform the movie into something truly memorable.

7. A Critique of Professional Portrayals: One lingering complaint is the film's portrayal of professions or organizations, which often disregards the actual rules and regulations tied to them.

Overall, this is a compelling movie that everyone should watch.

Leia Mais

Felt like a couple of people made a challenge on who can write a movie in a day and then filmed it.

I enjoyed it and it kept me engaged but it felt like a troll, meme movie. Like at the end when broddy said "you really did blow things out of proportion" I laughed so hard cause she really was going to torch his hoe ass. And when the boss died so quickly it made it feel even more meme-ish and i laughed. Felt like one of those "when the villian is explaining all their plan but you can just shoot them while their talking". Bc everyone died so fast, didnt feel like anyone had any plot armour or aura like they gave off at the start. And how Choi pro just shoots the guy in the back just like that, like they just rushed the ending "TLDR ANYWAY BASICLALY EVERYONE DIES THE END" yh thats how it felt. Maybe this is the vibe they were going for. "Badass female lead nothing else" Id give it a 7.5.

Leia Mais

Decent watch.

The story/plot was the best part about this movie. It could have been executed way better, hence why I gave it the score I did. It was a little slow at the beginning, but once it gets past that it is interesting enough to watch till the end. Given that it came out in 2011, it was good for its time.
There was a couple things I liked about this movie, it shows a different perspective on love; having a story that not a lot of movies tell. Another thing I liked, it's realistic; showing real life struggles and things people go through. the hard truth, which is sad but sometimes needed.
If you like gl I'd say give this movie a try, it'll be something different.

Leia Mais

Doesn't hold a candle to the first two

Jackie's belated third entry into his Armour of God series, Chinese Zodiac unfortunately lumbers like a cheap DVD knock-off of one of his old classics. It's decent if unsophisticated family entertainment that demonstrates that Jackie can still put together creative and unique action set pieces. The problem stems from the fact that it lacks so many of Jackie's creative staples and goes way overboard in terms of preaching to the choir with characters practically stopping dead in their tracks to put on their moralising hat and deliver some earnest statement about national pride; there is certainly a feeling of toeing the party line found here that won't be found in his earlier films. Dealing with the film is like dealing with Jackie himself: you have to tune out the crappy stuff to appreciate the unique entertainer that lies within. That being said, Jackie doesn't phone it in as would be so easy with a legacy sequel like this, he still has some charisma to burn and despite the ugly and glossy digital sheen that coats the movie, it's very well shot and directed. Outside of Jackie the only other member of the cast I enjoyed was Kwon Sang-woo, he certainly made a good impression here and I hope I get to see more of him in future. Lacklustre, slow and overly long, Chinese Zodiac only hints at Jackie's winning combo of kineticism, martial arts and comedy despite being occasionally strikingly shot and having its share of populist fun, it just really doesn't do justice to Jackie's film heritage.

Leia Mais

"Let go so you will be happy"

Down the River told the melancholic story of first love through the eyes of Krit, an openly gay high school student. This film was Director Nuchy Anucha Boonyawatana’s graduate school effort so I was lenient in my rating and criticism of it. The story was heavy with Buddhist and natural symbolism interwoven with the boys’ decisions about their futures and whether they would be together or apart.

Krit is convinced that if he gives offerings and prayers at nine different temples that his wish to be with Win forever will be granted. The two have bonded since childhood and their friendship has crossed over into something more intimate. Win is going to the academy in order to join the military which would end any type of relationship they might have. Win also refuses to believe he is gay despite their friendship blurring lines with being lovers. He has a girlfriend and knows the military and society will not be accepting of him as a gay man. Krit presses flowers and his memories of Win into a book that he keeps with him that becomes a symbol of his love. On the trip to the temple and hike to the Elephant Waterfall, the seventh of the falls, Krit hopes to convince Win to stay, but to his dismay Win invites two girls to go with them. Further dimming Krit’s hopes are the monk at the temple telling him at the beginning of the trip that in order to be happy he has to let go.

Nuchy filmed numerous scenes of water and the woods set to a score that perfectly matched the mood and natural background. Sadly, several scenes were too dark to see much of anything. I don’t know if that was by design, age, or poor equipment. The film was held back between the dark scenes and rudimentary acting. While Krit came across as more fully developed, Win was a bit of an enigma. Despite the more amateur issues, I enjoyed the film especially as the meaning of the title became clear.

Krit reminisced about his relationship with Win in an almost spiritually poetic manner. While the film had a universal theme of first love, it also showed how first love between members of the same sex faced even more hurdles in a time and place where their love wouldn’t be accepted. Sometimes a person can hold onto their first love and other times they have to let it go to the river of time.

12 August 2024

Leia Mais

Boy friends that don’t know they seem like boyfriends

I have never watched a movie that was a BL before, but this is one of the best movies I’ve seen in my lifetime it felt like a series, but was longer than a normal show which was perfect for the whole storyline. I have to say that I’ve seen many food BLs, but the food that was shown on this movie looked so good that if I watch it for a second time I may need to be eating at the same time or else I’ll be hungry. Also I have to say that this movies plot was better than normal show plots. I will warn that there may be spoilers ahead.
The storyline was a nice and warm storyline with just a tiny bit of sadness just like a tiny one. At the start we see that Aki is at a home with no one around him until we see Haru at school and trying to make it home so that Aki and Him can unpack into their new home. We see that Aki loves to cook because he has a whole box just for cooking supplies and Haru likes photography because he has his own professional camera and editing apps on his computer. While Aki is trying to find his headband turns out it was on Haru and that’s when the roommates decided that Aki will cook for the both of them and Haru will clean up the house and Aki’s mess. After that we see Aki whipping up the most delicious looking meal on earth and if Haru said it was bussin then it must be bussin. We also get to meet their friends which consists of 4 other people which is two men two girls and one of the girls supposedly had a crush on Haru back in high school put it ended because Aki and Haru were super duper close. I swear they have the most precious and sweetest relationship/friendship in the whole world because it showed that they need each other from when Haru’s sister came and made Aki scared that he had a girlfriend to Haru making food for Aki when Aki was so busy doing a report he forgot about and almost died from boredom from studying which is so real because I literally act like that and made Aki so happy that Haru made him food. Until they had their conflict which was Haru getting an offer to study in England for photography because his photos of Aki were so good, but didn’t tell Aki until he found out from his friend at their Halloween party. That did make Aki sad because he doesn’t really know what he wants to do in life, but is afraid that his journey with Haru is ending. Until at the very end Haru said that he won’t be going to England because he can’t see his future without Aki in it. I have five things to add which is Aki looks so cute with the devil headband, Haru is so cute when he was crying in his dream when chief penguin wasn’t their, Aki buying Haru another giant version of his chief penguin, when Aki got drunk and fell asleep onto Haru and cuddled him, and the ending credits scene were they both said that some people may not see this scene because some people just click off when the movie ends, but I didn’t. I literally recommend this movie it was the cutest thing on Earth!

Leia Mais

Fucking painful

While I'm writing this review I'm crying and listening to the ending song in the background.

The story is about a good-hearted debt collector who falls in love with a girl who has to take care of the debt of her father who is sick. The story seems simple but it is not at all.

At the beginning you will find scenes that are beautiful and fun but then everything goes downhill and your emotions will be a carousel. Questioning many things, not only about the complexity of Zhang's character and her life, but about your own life and your past.

When Zhang meets Wu, he wants to change his life to be better for her but her past haunts him, no matter how much effort he makes. At some point your past and what you did will catch up with you in the present.

Zhang always considered himself a useless man and part of the reason he had that life was his father's fault. The inferiority complex that he has is also thanks to his brother, who blames him for the fact that his family is like this because of him. Although his brother cries after him and repents, belatedly.

On the other hand, Wu, despite his fights and problems, does not blame him. She wants to be with him. Maybe he is two sides of a coin, a person who blames his brother without trying to understand why his brother went that route, and a woman who does not blame him because he put himself in her shoes.

This movie in particular brought back a lot of memories for me. When my grandmother died and actually at her funeral there were few people. Her memory loss in the last moments. And my father's crystalline green eyes during her funeral. I think that is something that you will always carry in your heart and the only thing left to do is survive with that pain that never goes away.

On the other hand, it reminds me of my ex-boyfriend's family. Although I don't really have anything good to say about my ex-boyfriend, I remember that his father was in a lot of debt, I don't know (to this day) why he opened up so much about it to me, instead of telling his wife. And he asked me if he knew a lender. Clearly I'm knew lenders, not because i'm was involved in strange things, but because my father's ex-boss was involved in those things. When he asked me, I lied and told him that I didn't know any of them and that it wasn't a good idea for him to get involved in those things because he could get into worse trouble.

Because clearly the theme of loan sharks is well captured in the film. It's what happens in real life.

After I separated from my ex-boyfriend I found out that his father had gotten involved with several lenders and now they were in big trouble. Although I really didn't wish my ex-boyfriend anything good, I didn't think it would end that way and I'm not happy about it either.

I've already moved on and I'm about to get married soon but somehow I feel guilty for not being more persuasive so that this doesn't happen to him. Clearly I was the only one who saw his father as desperate and deeply depressed. But at the end of the day, everyone makes their own decisions and the consequences of them.

Just like Zhang, though he tried to change and actually did. The past will always catch up with you and make you pay for what you did in the past. It hurts but it is the sad reality.

I think what I learned from this movie is to be with the person you love, I'm not just talking romantically, but also about family. And do not judge lightly, because we do not know the person's past that led him to take such paths. Even when his father speaks badly of his brother, Zhang reprimands him and tells him not to be so hard on him and to be more grateful. He definitely understood his brother and didn't hate him at all.

The acting was so good, I felt like each character's pain felt like my own pain.

Obviously this doesn't have a happy ending, I wish it had but with that premise it was strange that it did. It's very painful, I think i'm would see it once a year.

It is not an easy film to digest and you end up crying buckets. But I think you should see it at least once in your life. It leaves great lessons and makes you think a lot.

Leia Mais