Reviews

Artsy and sincere story

I enjoyed that short film intertwined with the song RERUN of PP Krit. It is about the evolution of the relationship between two guys Kit (played by PP Krit) and Chou (played by Nine Naphat). It is very sincere and simple but with an artsy touch that I appreciated. The filmmaking does an excellent job in showcasing how they fell in love as well as the set back they may have faced.

The acting is good overall. PP Krit is once again demonstrating how captivating he is when emoting. Nine Naphat does a good job as his counterpart. He is not too bland and unassming at the side of PP Krit, which is already an achievement as he could have been easily eclipsed by the star power of PP Krit.

I would recommend this to people that are looking for a short movie with some artsy and indie vibe. If you are a fan of PP Krit, this is a must watch (coupled as well with the MV of the song itself). The scenario is not revolutionnary in itself and I wish they went deeper on some elements but it is enough in conveying emotions.

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Dark and murky story, wish it would have been more fleshed out

This very short movie is about the encounter of a vampire and a dead drowned girl as she is brought back at the morgue where he lives. I enjoyed their interactions, the way the scenario interlocks their fates. I wish tough the story would have been a bit more fleshed out as we learn enough to understand the main characters but not enough to really be moved by their horrendous destiny as it goes very quick on it. The side characters seems also to be there just for the sake of explaining things.

The acting was good: Ji Sung and Park So Dam exude together sexy (and morbid) chemistry. They carry very well the movie, making this a tragic and wicked tale rather than what could have been otherwise very campy and comedic if not properly acted. The filmmaking was good: the special effect was well done but could have been a bit uglier and dirtier. It seems a bit too clean but I can understand that esthetic choice.

I would recommend this to people that are looking for an horrific short movie. It is in the realm of horrow but not frightening. It provides an interesting point of view on the vampire myth as well.

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Diamonds are a girl's and space kaiju's best friend!

Toho and Honda Ishiro stepped out of their comfort zone with Dogora. This massive tentacled space monster wasn’t a guy in a rubber suit which was a nice change of pace. As with many of these kaiju films from the 1960’s I was left wanting more monster and less people.

An international gang of jewel thieves is blamed for jewel thefts, well, internationally. Trouble is, they only pulled one of the jobs. When they tried stealing diamonds in Tokyo a glowing blob swept them off their feet and melted the vault door. Also involved with diamonds is Dr. Munakata who studies crystalline geometry with the help of his lovely secretary Masayo. On the case of the jewel thefts is Det. Komai. Another player is the shadowy American Mark Jackson who always seems to show up when diamonds or the giant space monster are near. Masayo’s brother is a space scientist who is concerned about satellites that have recently been destroyed. It doesn’t take long, actually it took longer than it should have, for everyone to realize that Dogora was funneling up huge amounts of coal and diamonds from around the world. Dr. Munakata realizes if Dogora is not stopped it will spell Doomsday for the people of Earth when she turns her carbon hunger toward the carbon based people inhabiting the planet.

This film was more cops and robbers than monster flick. While Dogora provided stunning spectacles of destruction, the police and jewel thieves had tunnel vision when it came to the diamonds. Much of Dogora played out like some of the humorous jewel theft movies of the time such as the original Pink Panther and Ocean’s Eleven. Everyone seemed to take another monster in stride. In fact, the police captain told Komai to stop messing around investigating the monster and focus on the human jewel thieves despite the fact that the two were connected.

Special effects director, Tsuburaya Eiji, created something new and beautiful with Dogora. Around the 50-minute mark Dogora showed herself in all her glory, like a glowing jellyfish or cephalopod. She was graceful and ethereal and decidedly deadly as she destroyed Wakato Bridge. Her sparkling amoeba shaped children/minions(?) did her bidding around the world. Reverse tornadoes sent coal, trucks, smokestacks whatever was in the way of her carbon snacks upward. The miniatures were interlaced with real military weapons and people. The ultimate weapon was wackier than in other kaiju films, but at least it wouldn’t destroy the Earth.

All of the performances were good though I was pleased that Robert Dunham was cast as the American as he could speak Japanese fluently instead of being dubbed. He also didn't have to wear the embarrassing costume he had to don for Godzilla vs Megalon. Toho monster regular Koizumi Hiroshi had a small part as a scientist. Bond girl, Wakabayashi Akiko, played a femme fatale in the thieves’ gang who became too greedy for her own good. Handsome Natsuki Yosuke’s Komai made for a great straight man against the quippy Mark Jackson. Yet despite having a strong cast, the heist script was not nearly tight enough and was often repetitive. Despite its faults, the human characters were stronger than in many of these old kaiju films.

I probably rated Dogora too high in comparison to other kaiju flicks from the timeframe. I was just happy to see a more creative monster. The film would have been much better if they’d trusted the balletic decimator to carry the show instead of the bumbling cops and robbers.

5 October 2024

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Recommend to those who ships love stories

"And Yet, You Are So Sweet" is a love story centered around unrequited love. The female protagonist has been in love with a schoolmate for many years. One day, she finally gathers the courage to confess her feelings, only to face rejection, which leaves her heartbroken. A boy from her school notices her sadness and suggests they play a game where he will pretend to be her unrequited love. Over time, this game makes her develop real feelings for him, but she tries to distance herself, believing they come from different worlds, especially since he is very popular among the girls in school. However, the game affects him too, and he begins to fall for her charm and smile. Both hide their feelings from each other. To find out what happens next, you'll have to watch the movie.

I enjoy love stories, which is why I liked this one, but if I take that away, there isn't much else to the plot.

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Wasn't electrifying

Whether watched under the title Frankenstein Conquers the World or Frankenstein vs Baragon, this movie was a letdown on both counts. I enjoyed War of the Gargantuans, the loose sequel to this film and had higher hopes for the origin story. All the scenes of decimated animals had me wanting to bolt for the door.

During the last days of WWII a German mad scientist’s work is taken by the Nazis and delivered to the Japanese via submarine. An equally mad Japanese scientist in Hiroshima looks at the indestructible beating heart and envisions an invincible army of soldiers who cannot be killed. As luck would have it, as they were doing their experiments, it turned out to be the disastrous day of August 6, 1945. Fifteen years later scientists come across a feral boy who is eating people’s cats and dogs and bunny rabbits. He’s eventually captured and after some research is believed to be a Frankenstein. With an oversized brow, a terrible wig, gapped teeth, and unable to communicate he continues to grow the more protein he is fed. Meanwhile, an earthquake, unbeknownst to the citizens, is actually Baragon burrowing and causing havoc.

A feral boy who continues to grow until he’s over three stories tall and a giant burrowing kaiju with a glowing horn ought to make for an electrifying movie. Alas, most of the film was as dull as dirt until the last 15 minutes or so. The scientists continually waffled back and forth whether Frankenstein should be or could be killed. Most believed he wasn’t human so it didn’t matter how they treated him when he was shackled and caged. This could have led to an interesting moral discussion but they were unable to piece together a workable body of logic.

The miniatures for the most part were skillfully done. The trees being thrown had roots to good effect. The boar on wheels and puppet horse were funny because they were so unrealistic and made the scenes less problematic. Although I did not need to see a dismembered rabbit. The overlays worked for the most part when Baragon blasted through a dance party.

These are the hardest films to review because Frankenstein Conquers the World wasn’t awful but it wasn’t very good either. It was an interesting origin story for War of the Gargantuans but didn't reanimate the genre. Baragon would be seen again in 1968’s Destroy All Monsters and the mouthful of a title Godzilla, Mothra, and King Ghidorah-Giant Monsters All Out Attack in 2001. The latter was the best out of all the movies mentioned here. There were parts of an interesting story and the final fights were good (make sure to watch the international version which has an additional kaiju), it just wasn’t stitched together well as a whole. The writers could have used a hand but sadly it crawled off.

5 October 2024

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Nailed it!

Kung fu, hopping vampires, silliness, and ghostly romance---what more could you ask from a movie called Mr. Vampire? It had typical 1980’s slapstick style humor. Some of the jokes haven’t aged well but many were still able to stick the landing.

Lam Ching Ying’s Master Ko is in charge of stopping a deadly vampire with only two incompetent disciples to help him. One disciple (Chin Siu Ho) becomes possessed by an amorous ghost (Pauline Wong) while the other one (Ricky Hui) begins to transform into a vampire after being bitten. Matters are not helped when a greedy rice dealer (Wu Ma!) adds regular white rice to the sticky rice needed to deter vampires. Did that suck! Master Ko uses every trick in the book to destroy the vampire. Buffy had it a lot easier. All she had to do was stake the fangers or decapitate them. Ko has to use chicken blood, ink, talismans, coated wire, sticky rice, and a host of other magical spells to try and stop the nearly indestructible homicidal hopper.

Mr. Vampire was aided by Lam Ching Ying and Chin Siu Ho having some martial arts abilities. Chin was particularly acro-bat-ic. Kung fu veteran Yuen Wah played the vampire which added to the martial arts fun. There was wire work which fit the magical atmosphere. There was a grave mistake, I spotted the wires in one scene.

What I learned from Mr. Vampire: Sticky rice slows down a vampire. A vampire can’t see you if you hold your breath. If a beautiful person of the opposite sex suddenly appears and wants to take you home on a dark night, best to make a date for coffee during daylight hours to see where it goes and whether they can appear because they may not be the ghoul of your dreams. If someone grows long blue nails overnight keep the sticky rice nearby. Hong Kong has gorillas? lol

Mr. Vampire was fun, especially if you like hopping vampires/Jiangshi combined with martial arts. As always with these older films there won’t be the high production values and CGI you see in modern films. Though you will be able to see guys hop in unison and others get set on fire. Props to Yuen Wah who was able to take the heat and his performance to the neck level!
(Trigger alerts below)

4 October 2024

TRIGGER ALERTS: A real chicken was killed as well as a snake (they made soup out of it later). There were also rats in one scene.

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Quase amor, acho que foi amor sim! E ainda se amavam!

Confesso que fiquei confusa com esse final, pois era nítido que ainda se amavam, e então, o que foi esse final???

ALETAR DE SPOILER
Eu já sabia que teríamos um final ruim, na verdade não foi ruim, eles só não ficarem juntos, normal da vida, acontece.

O que não gostei:
Imaturidade do Can, era individualista e colocava a culpa da vida nela, eu até entendo as suas frustrações, mas ela não tinha culpa, na verdade ela tentava apoiar ele a todo momento.
Imaturidade Jiao Yang, eu entendo ela ter ficado decepcionada com ele. Poxa, a avó dela morreu, e ele não foi no enterro, cadê a parceria de um relacionamento! Agora, ela sair de casa, sendo que já estavam juntos há muitos anos sem nem mesmo uma conversa, não existe isso também.
O que eu não entendi, e não fez sentido para mim.

Eles já tinham terminado, por que se encontrar 1 ano depois para nada, para terminar o que já haviam terminado?
E depois de 2 anos apenas, ele decidir casar-se, em 2 anos dificilmente a pessoa amadure, não deu nem tempo da empresa dele se firmar no mercado. Mas, vendo a reação dele olhando o celular e durante a casamento, entende-se que era um casamento arranjado, e que ele não estava feliz. Assim como, ela ficou surpresa e triste com a notícia do casamento, ela disse que não ia chorar, mas acabou chorando.

Se essas reações não são de amor, não sei o que é então.

E aí minha pergunta, por que não ficaram juntos???

Mas fica a questão do realismo, vida real, não é porque 2 pessoas se amam que estão destinados a ficarem juntos, e é por isso que fiquei com um misto de sentimentos.

Queria que tivessem ficados juntos, mesmo que dessem uma passagem de tempo maior, mas nem todos terminam a vida com o 1º namorado, na verdade isso é bem raro.

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é melhor te conhecer do que sentir sua falta...

"a resposta final para o universo é que eu e o mundo só estamos te esperando"

que fofo? eu vi um corte no tiktok sobre esse filme e fiquei muito interessada em assistir. e nossa, valeu muito a pena ter visto.

amo toda essa história de implicância, e o legal dessa história é que a protagonista é boa em todos os esportes!!! a química que eles apresentaram foi muito gostosa de assistir também. queria que tivesse mais cortes deles juntos (não teve nenhuma cena de beijo masssss) na universidade.

acho que o grande propósito do filme foi passado, de ser um drama divertido de ensino médio que te deixa com um gostinho de quero mais...

e o plot twist do final.......!!!!!! vc pensa que nãooo he fell first masssss she fell first but he fell harder, amo.

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Sensual, moving, gripping

Some movies in their attempt to be artistic become confusing, weirdly-paced and an overall chore to go through. Then there are productions that serve its entertainment purpose, but feel like fast-food for your brain. And just as fast-food, while you enjoy them, you don't really feel nourished in the end.

The Handmaiden succeeds at blending the artistic with the popular incredibly skillfully. This movie is visually stunning, sensual and hypnotising while - at the same time - provides some of the best plot twists one could wish for.

Technically, it's pretty much flawless, with great camera work, amazing shots and editing. But in its craftsmanship it still remains full of soul and emotion, being one of my all time favourite love stories.

I respect Park Chan Wook as a director a lot. The man made some of the best movies in the history of Korean cinema. This - to me - is his best work.

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Perfeito.

Esse foi meu primeiro bl, e eu considero ele o pior bl que já vi, mas é meu favorito.
Chorei por horas e continuo chorando quando revejo, mas é simplesmente perfeito.
É uma confusão de sentimentos, ódio, amor, confusão, esse bl é uma merda, mas é tão perfeito.
Eu consigo odiá-lo e ama-lo.
Meu primeiro bl, meu bl favorito, e o pior bl que ja vi, depois de playboyy.
Assistam, vale a pena, mas se procuram um romance clichê, não é o bl certo.
Considerem assistir em uma quarta-feira a tarde, um dia frio, tomando algo quente e no conforto, porque o bl é desconfortável o suficiente.

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A bit silly, fun as a futuristic theme but zero explanation why only one group was so futuristic they even had a spaceship like ship


The aging is all messed up, the girl is 18, 2ml supposedly a bit older, but their real age gap is like 20 years
My mom did think he was 20ish but I was like now he’s 40s, so when he was talking about a crush or tried to flirt, that was disturbing
And Jackie with the other fl, she’s 36 now so she was like 29 real age, and she was a cop 13 years ago?

as a story it's 1d and predictable, and a bit ridiculous, he put her in an orphanage, so bad ppl won't find her, but stayed close for those 13 years? sounds stupid.. to make your child grow up alone fearing danger, but still staying close that anyone who'd follow him would see who he's looking at?
when i saw a clip on tv i thought they had a fight and he was staying close but she didn't want to acknowledge him cuz he was being overprotective xD

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Kirei 'na' Uta, ne vous trompez pas !

La présence de Aina the End, ex-leader du défunt groupe idole/punk Bish n'avait rien pour me rassurer, mais le peech sentait bon l'amour de la musique. Loin, justement, de toute velléité commerciale. Et même si Hirose Suzu par son seul nom fera multiplier les vues par deux (plutôt que les entrées, film Netflix oblige), elle ne dénature pas du tout un film qui se veut sensible et esthétique.

Et pourtant "sensibilité" n'est pas le mot qui vient à l'esprit en écoutant les tubes du groupe Bish. Voix volontairement cassée et discordante, pour ne pas dire du chanté faux sur de nombreux singles. Je me suis souvent posé la question si je devais apprécier ce concept idol/rock largement dépassé par Babymetal et consœurs depuis des années. Mais la faiblesse, si on peut dire, vocale du groupe s'est transcendé dans la voix de Aina the end qui est pour moi une révélation à tous points de vue dans ce film. Vocale, bien sûr d'abord, avec une maitrise de son timbre cassé, dans tous les tons. Dans le parlé, où elle joue une quasi-autiste, incapable de prononcer plus de trois mots et encore du fond de la gorge. Puis, dans ses interprétations solo qui déchire le tympan autant que le cœur. Cette voix qui fait penser aux grands interprètes folks comme Janis Joplin est à pleurer et c'est bien le but du film.

Hirose Suzume parait bien terne à côté, n'ayant en plus qu'un rôle de soutien. Cette retenue joue en sa défaveur, sans compter les nombreux déguisements ridicule pas du tout justifier par le scénario. On dirait presque qu'elle est mal à l'aise dans un second rôle, elle qui est habituée à être au centre de l'histoire depuis "Notre petite sœur". On appréciera la présence de Kuroki Haru en institutrice courage et plein de guests musicaux comme Otsuka Ai ou Ando Yuuko. Des passages furtifs qu'il faudra scruter, mais vous aurez plus de temps pour admirer la plastique et le jeu plutôt bon de Matsumura Hokuto, des SixTones. Tous ces acteurs magnifient les situations et les rendent encore plus touchantes.

Si vous avez la chance, comme moi, de découvrir l'histoire par le film (car une série qui le découpe, existe) et sans avoir lu un seul résumé, vous apprécierez ses aller-retour dans le passer. Difficile à appréhender au début, surtout avec le coplay, on se prend vite à l'histoire de chacun et ces pièces de puzzle qui se reforment sur une durée tout de même de 3h. Le thème et la mise en scène, sans être originaux, rappellent des autres films qui ont marqué la décennie au Japon, et pour cause. La durée parfois marquée par des plans contemplatifs pourra rebuter.

Alors que clairement, on oppose une fois de plus campagne chaleureuse à ville déshumanisée, tout le monde se rassemble autour de la musique. Et de voir autant de scènes de chant me réchauffe le cœur. Les chansons sont choisies dans le Billboard Japonais de ces 5 dernières années et les entendre par la voix ro---ck de Aina the End terminent de catégoriser Kyrie no Uta dans les bons films.

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