Completed
Better Days
0 people found this review helpful
2 days ago
Completed 0
Overall 10
Story 10
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 7.0
Rewatch Value 6.0
This review may contain spoilers

I recorded this movie in my heart.

This movie is made in such a way that if it has not even happened to you or you have not been wronged, you will notice the damage that has been done to this girl and you will feel it. At one point, an officer said that maybe it is not like this for us, but they are teenagers, and yes, it means Everything is honest and loyal, a huge love has been shown in the boy's face, he wanted the girl to experience things or dreams that he didn't have, even his heart wanted to die and let her live, and it would be nice to have such people in our lives now. They don't exist or they are few. I wish movies weren't just for watching and forgetting, and we could change our behavior. I recorded this movie in my heart.

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Love Syndrome: The Beginning
1 people found this review helpful
2 days ago
Completed 0
Overall 1.5
Story 1.0
Acting/Cast 4.5
Music 3.5
Rewatch Value 1.0
This review may contain spoilers

Unless there’s a sequel, Don’t Watch

First off I would like to say something VERY IMPORTANT:
To those who have experienced sexual assault, even if you are now in a better place and think you’ve healed enough, don’t risk your mental health by watching this.
If there’s one thing that was well made in this movie was the SA scene. From a victim: it felt like I was reliving my own assault even if the details aren’t even slightly the same, it was just so well acted and scripted that my body reacted instantly.
Spare yourself, go watch something else, stay safe and love yourself.



Those who watched the other 2 series associated with this (these are side characters of Unforgotten Night and the characters of Love Syndrome III) will be severely disappointed unless there’s a sequel.
This movie alone explains absolutely NOTHING, so if you are just now being introduced to the characters you will absolutely lost.

TW:
- Rape (repeatedly)
- Non-con recording
- Severe beatings and torture
- Abusive behavior
- Abduction and drugging

There’s nothing enjoyable about this.
Spoilers (but not really):
After Gear records a sexual encounter with Night after a bet with his friends, Day (Night’s brother) is out for revenge. He sets up Itt, the friend that made bet, getting him to go back to his house on the pretense of paying for damaging his car. Itt is then drugged, beaten unconscious and raped while being recorded, all by Day who wants revenge by his younger brother. This lasts over a few days, meanwhile Gear and Night are happily together going on dates after having made up.
When Night shows up with Gear, Day promptly freaks out and that night Gear comes and takes Night on a romantic getaway.
Ofc, as expected, when Day finds out he beats the living shit out of Itt who’s been trying desperately to contact Gear to no avail.

It ends on a cliffhanger with Itt finally getting a hold of Gear and telling him Day has found where he his and is coming to beat him up.

There is ZERO romance, even between Gear and Night it’s more portrayed as some sort of Stockholm Syndrome like “you where my first and only one, I still love and forgive you even though you literally recorded us having sex and showed it to your friends”.
I already HATED the backstory of Day and Itt when I first heard it in Love Syndrome III but this took it to a whole new level.
I loved Itt and Day in Unforgotten Night, hated them in Love Syndrome III and now I’m just plain DISGUSTED at this “couple”.
A sequel here would have to have a redemption arc so incredible for Day that I don’t know it’s even possible.
So far, there’s absolutely no hope. It’s a disgusting story about someone getting raped and beaten, nothing else.

I give props to the actors of Itt and Day though, they did a fantastic job, I hope they had a good team behind them making sure they were okay because scenes like that can take a toll on a person even if it’s just an act.

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A Balloon's Landing
2 people found this review helpful
3 days ago
Completed 0
Overall 10
Story 9.5
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 10

Love it and enjoyed it, amazing acting

Watched it in the cinema with friends on the first release day in Hong Kong and it was a pleasant experience. I love how good the actor's acting are when it comes to expressing all the detailed emotion. Especially when i had enough of BL drama full of sexual scenes, this movie certainly gave me a refreshing break. If you are hoping for some crazy hot and spicy love story, sorry but this is not one of those. But you are looking for beautiful scenery, music, people and subtle emotions, this is certainly a must watch. The lyrics in the theme song pretty much stated out the whole story line.

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As Long as We Both Shall Live
1 people found this review helpful
3 days ago
Completed 0
Overall 10
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 10
This review may contain spoilers

He Would Kill For Her

Thats right, he would kill for her. This amazing man puts her first and only her. He would even kill her family if they hurt her. I love how he really did an excellent job and her, she is exactly the same as in the anime/manga.

I enjoyed this drama, and i love how they did not drag the “cold person” personality too much. He was very loving towards her and open up to her bit by bit. We could also see changes in her and thats what i really like about it. I truly did enjoyed this and would rewatch this again when i have the time.

I do recommend this, do give this a watch. Its an amazing drama.

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Man in Love
0 people found this review helpful
3 days ago
Completed 0
Overall 8.0
Story 8.5
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 7.5
This review may contain spoilers

what a sad lovestory

This a remake from 2014 Korean film with the same title. A story of a gangster who is a debt collector who happens to collect money from a girl who has a sick father but she accidentally fell for her. She is willing to do anything just to please the lady to get her attention. Then one day as her father pass away the girl sees the effort of the guy to console her, a person that is willing to make her happy in her darkest moment. The girl was touched by the mana gesture and she developed feelings for him. They then begun a couple, they are happy and planning to make it better. The guy decided to change his proffesion, his willing to change for he wanted to be a change man for her. One day as he ask permission to his boss he wanted to change he,asked for a different kind of a clean job. His willing to give him but he needs to do one last dirty job without him knowing that his boss is planning something foul. He fell into the trap that make her relationship also got ruin he blames himself without telling the girl the whole truth. He spent many years in jail.
When he has freedom the first thing she did was to take revenge to the person who ever done wrong to him, so that he can explain himself to the girl. But through his range he was prisoned again for many years. He was released then trying to be a changed man. He came back really sick without telling then that he suffers from Aneurysm.The girl knew it ang willing to take care of him but it still to late, the guy then dies that's makes the story sad. He has last wish, that his father must treat her as her own.

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Monster
0 people found this review helpful
3 days ago
Completed 0
Overall 9.0
Story 9.5
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 10

A poignantly beautiful tale that keeps us pondering over

As many review here, I find it hard to write about the movie without spoiling the viewer and fail to describe how beautifully the movie is done.
It is best to not read any review at all before watching the movie to let your mind work the miracle.
In essence, the movie is about a tale of self-discovery of 2boys growing up being told in different perspectives of people closest to them. With each perspective being told, more details are provided for the viewers to conjugate the real story of what actually happens.
As other Koreeda's work, the movie would leave you in daze and linger for some time as viewers cant help but keep contemplating and pondering over the ending, the characters and the message of the movie.
Koreeda is truly a master of story telling and building emotion through a seemingly uneventful narration and seemingly “normal” characters. Still, one can always feel his effort in avoiding to force a conclusive ending and closing of the story, as if to maintain his neutral stand and to respect viewers’ interpretation of the tale. That is another thing I admire of Koreeda as it is incredibly hard for a director to avoid forcing his own view of the story without making it illogical and incomprehensible. One also feels his love for human as he refrains from condemning any character in the story.
By unveiling the story through different perspectives here, perhaps Koreeda wants to remind us again that there is always 2 sides of the story; and we should not jump to conclusion with our own prejudice and limited experience in this modern era where everyone is ready to attack others through the use of sns without properly contemplating over the event. How our interpretation of a story can go very wrong with misleading fabrication and gossips. And how we might have hurt others by our own prejudices and judgment built by societal norms of “normal”.
Who is the monster here but us human, flawed and frightened, traumatized by our own societal norms and interpretation.

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Triple Threat
4 people found this review helpful
3 days ago
Completed 0
Overall 6.5
Story 6.0
Acting/Cast 7.0
Music 6.5
Rewatch Value 7.0

"This is personal" Well, of course it is...

Triple Threat had an embarrassment of martial artists riches and also embarrassingly bad dialogue, even for an action movie. The martial arts were also short shrifted in lieu of guns and things that go boom far too often.

Payu and Long Fei have been hired to help with a “humanitarian” mission that turns out to be anything but. Local security for the site, Jaka, loses his wife in the deadly firefight that erupts when the mercenaries enter the village to release Collins, a notorious terrorist. Payu, Long Fei, and Jaka develop a tenuous partnership to bring down the mercs and end up protecting a Chinese heiress/local philanthropist along the way.

The firefights were often over the top as the bad guys mowed down people throughout the small country of Maha Jaya. Things were always more interesting when the guns were down and the fists and kicks were up. Tony Jaa, Iko Uwais, and Tiger Chen all have experience with fighting on screen and choreography. The weakest of the three was Tiger as his fights often looked slow and uninspired. Tony and Iko were far more entertaining as they defied gravity with their flexibility, quickness, and strength. Bad guy, Scott Adkins, was able to keep up with the kicks as was Michael Jai White. Jeeja Yanin had what amounted to a glorified guest role and didn’t have many chances to show her skills.

The action came fast and furious with the fighters and heiress on the run. Unfortunately, some of the acting and much of the dialogue was painfully cringeworthy. Not much effort was made to create a cohesive story either. As a check your brain at the door, let’s watch Tony Jaa fly and flip, it was rudimentary martial arts action entertainment.

15 May 2024

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Graupel Poetry
0 people found this review helpful
3 days ago
Completed 0
Overall 7.5
Story 7.0
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 7.0
Rewatch Value 7.0
I originally thought that the film was a year old and I was staring at the plot and what two men in censored China could afford to do with each other, and everything was still very "entangled" with each other, so I didn't mind the film, on the contrary, well played, in just over ten years China has taken a huge step "forward" (actually backwards) and now two human beings of the same sex can afford practically nothing in front of the camera. The story "smoldered" in me for a long time.
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Rooted
0 people found this review helpful
3 days ago
Completed 0
Overall 7.0
Story 7.0
Acting/Cast 7.0
Music 7.0
Rewatch Value 7.0
I didn't recognize the actor Wei Lie Jin at all, who plays one of the main roles in the tender series DNA Says Love You, which we have here translated into Czech. In this short, he plays a boy who falls in love with a lifeguard and has to deal with his feelings. I also see a Taiwanese aborigine (lifeguard Da Han) in the film for the first time. However, the sexual awakening is without romance in this short, as the lifeguard is straight and the story revolves mainly around the main character and his self-discovery of his own orientation, falling in love and how to cope with all of this under the supervision of his strict father, with whom he runs a Chinese medicine and acupuncture practice. In addition, the film ends without salt, without fat for the audience who will expect a fairy tale ending, but the very end, when Yun Wu swims away from the place where he was drowning at the beginning, symbolically meant for me that he realized his self, began to respect himself and continues strengthened into his next young life, and that's what I appreciate about the film, even if the project doesn't have a top ten rating.

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Yesterday Once More
0 people found this review helpful
4 days ago
Completed 0
Overall 8.0
Story 7.0
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 2.0
Rewatch Value 2.5
Both Zhou Ye and Chen Feiyu showcased their remarkable acting prowess in the film. Their performances were truly captivating, allowing me to feel the raw emotion and heartbreak in their scenes. Moreover, their on-screen chemistry was undeniable

The balance between angst and joy is perfectly executed, leading to moments that evoke both tears of sadness and tears of happiness. Personally, I found myself emotionally invested in the journey of the characters
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Wild Grass
0 people found this review helpful
4 days ago
Completed 0
Overall 8.0
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 1.5
Rewatch Value 2.0

This movie is not a romance.

Although the story is engaging and the acting is decent, it is not a romance and should be categorized in a different genre. I enjoyed the male lead Johnny Huang he is an outstanding and sexy actor. Especially when he plays a bad ass with a heart. Johnny Huang is the reason I picked this to watch. He has never disappoints especially when he is a bad ass.However, this movie was listed as a romance. It gave off a much different vibe. I would recommend just not the movie if you want to chill because it pulls at your humanity at times and has you jumping from fear or excitement not at all relaxing ?.

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May You Stay, Forever Young
0 people found this review helpful
4 days ago
Completed 0
Overall 6.0
Story 7.0
Acting/Cast 7.0
Music 6.0
Rewatch Value 3.0
This review may contain spoilers
Story: It's predominantly about a sheltered, young man who strives to meet his parent's expectations but also wants to live a life for himself. So when Francis reconnects with Tommy, he follows the latter around town, neglecting his studies and piano lessons.

Acting: Decent enough to portray the relationship between two boys just hanging out.

Music: Nothing to write home about.

Rewatch Value: Once is enough.

Overall Impression: When I searched for other reviews of this short to serve as comparison, there's hardly anything that could be found. Instead another HK film of the same name, the one that uses the 2019 HK protests as a backdrop, was the one usually featured. So it made sense to me, that this particular short, barely registered on the radar. And so is my opinion of the film.

The only pivotal scene that I could commend is the one where Francis finally had his outburst in the final moments. He finally snapped after being subjected to other pursuits he really does not have any interest in. For his mother to profess to care about Francis, she did not do a good job of understanding where he is coming from nor what he really wants in life.

But even with this statement, I wasn't quite sold on what the film was trying to portray, aside from the reality of gay teens living in the shadows of their true nature.

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Beats per Minute
0 people found this review helpful
4 days ago
Completed 0
Overall 6.0
Story 7.0
Acting/Cast 7.0
Music 7.0
Rewatch Value 3.0
This review may contain spoilers
Story: Two boys catch up about old times while playing badminton at night. They talk about girls, who they hooked up with, what's their ideal type, etc, etc, as they walk around the city.

Acting: Okay enough for some randos.

Music: Well, if two guys can dance to it without looking like crazy lunatics, I guess that's decent enough.

Rewatch Value: Yeah, I get it the first time.

Overall Impression: The single thought I had in this film: "Are they or aren't they.........going to clean that vape?"
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Completed
What to Say
0 people found this review helpful
4 days ago
Completed 0
Overall 8.0
Story 9.0
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 7.0
Rewatch Value 7.5
This review may contain spoilers
Story: It's about a boy telling a story about two boys to another boy. In the boy's story, the two boys are best friends. But wouldn't you know it: the boy telling the story is also the best friend of the boy who is listening to this story. What a coincidence! And that the boy telling the story, is planning to do a movie about this story. Or at least, that's what he said he was doing.

Acting: Good enough for two people sitting at a coffee shop.

Music: Barely noticed.

Rewatch Value: Short and adorable enough to repeat.

Overall Impression: What an ingenious concept for a confession. At least Dong Young is self-aware enough not to expect much from his best friend aside from maintaining their friendship. And it's a healthy reaction from Jung Min, accepting his best friends feelings without indulging in it. Nobody died, it's a win for me.

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Dokkoi Ikiteru
1 people found this review helpful
4 days ago
Completed 0
Overall 7.0
Story 6.5
Acting/Cast 7.5
Music 6.5
Rewatch Value 4.0

"There's no such thing as easy anywhere these days"

Dokkoi Ikiteru aka I Still Live was a painful look at the most vulnerable in Japan post WWII. Director Imai Tadashi who dove into socially conscious movies after the war, made this film outside of the major studios. I will admit to only grasping the large parts of the film as the only available copy I could find used auto-generated English subtitles which were lacking to say the least. Until such time as someone who watches this who speaks Japanese or there is an adequate translation, I’ll leave a quick review for those who might be interested in this film.

The film centers on a Japanese family of four. They initially live in a small shantytown but are forced to move out when it is torn down. The father rises early every morning to apply for day laborer jobs along with crowds of desperate people. It is a daily struggle to earn enough money to eat and supply shelter. Many of the places where the father works amongst the rubble and ruins had been hit hard by the air raids during the war. At one point in time, the mother and two children take the train out of town. At first it looks like the father may find a manufacturing job and his luck will turn for the better, but alas, not in this melodrama. Everything goes from bad to worse, some of the injuries self-inflicted, until he reaches the point when he thinks they would be better off dead. A precipitous action will determine the course he takes.

While this film highlighted a desperate time for many after the war and has value in edification of its historical setting, I found the film to be too deliberately maudlin for me. The music was heavy-handed and overwrought as the little family suffered misfortune after misfortune. Yet the performances were strong and again, it covered an important subject, though at times it did feel more educational in nature. If you enjoy older films and especially ones set in this difficult time in Japan’s recovery, this would be a film to try.

14 May 2024

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