Reviews

An enjoyable mess

The fact that A Better Tomorrow II somehow manages to form a somewhat cohesive narrative and deliver some more uproarious Woo action is nothing short of a miracle. While the moment-to-moment editing is extremely questionable, seriously, the number of hard cuts in this movie that feel like we're jumping over some very necessary details; all get thrown out the door for an absolutely brilliant finale that is more than a highlight in Woo's already-stacked repertoire.

The absolute mess of its production is infamous, with John Woo and Tsui Hark constantly disagreeing with each other over how the film should go eventually resulting in two different versions of the film being shot, separately edited and then edited together again by another team. Honestly, if someone were to find the original film elements of this movie, you could most likely cobble together, at minimum, 5 different cuts putting Blade Runner to shame.

Chow Yun-fat is completely unhinged in this one, be it crying over some rice or nearly being blown up due to an explosion gone wrong, I love it. Ti Lung and Leslie Cheung retain their great performances of certified bromance which made the original so endearing. Joseph Koo's soundtrack is great, at least when he isn't egregiously overusing the main theme at every possible moment. For what it's worth, however, while this film may be an unfocused mess, it's still ridiculously entertaining with all of Woo's loveable trademarks still very much in place.

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Simply Marvellous

Considering A Better Tomorrow was produced on a relatively small budget and sent into cinemas with virtually no advertising, it's simply incredible to witness what is the birth of Hong Kong gangster cinema as we know it today. Pretty much any of the film's wonkier moments are bolstered by its captivating musical score by Joseph Koo, the gripping story, epic shootouts and incredible leading performances of Ti Lung, Leslie Cheung and, the epitome of coolness himself, Chow Yun-fat. In 95 minutes, John Woo redefines his entire filmmaking career into one that is very often imitated but never matched, his ballads of heroic bloodshed and emotional male leads leave me enchanted every time. A Better Tomorrow is simply marvellous.

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Ultraman Dyna and the cameoing Tiga

Greatly benefitting from a larger budget and its theatrical status, Ultraman Tiga & Ultraman Dyna: Warriors of the Star of Light ultimately plays like two TV series episodes cut together as a movie and less like the team-up promised by its title. Sluggishly paced but exceptionally well-directed the film does at least look pretty fabulous, Kazuya Konaka did a great job here while Tatsumi Yano's music is as great as it has always been. The model and practical effects work is marvellous and looks tremendous in the widescreen format, although the CG character work is abundant and extremely rough. The acting from its cast is solid, but like the show, I still haven't gelled with Asuka's character as a protagonist, even if this film largely focuses on his inner turmoil and occasional suicidal thoughts. The Tiga aspect of this film is more set dressing than anything else, with the titular Ultra only showing up during the climax but conspicuously missing his host, Daigo. While it is lovely to see most of the cast of the GUTS squad again, the conspicuous absence of Hiroshi Nagano doesn't make the reunion feel authentic. Ultimately, I wish the story for this one was better, there's a lot of good stuff in here but it just fails to stick the landing.

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A wonderful show!

The King and the Clown is an enjoyable movie about a clown, who is so beautiful, that even the king coveted after his beauty.

It shows the tyranny of the king and the helplessness of common folks like the clowns. Even though the beautiful clown wanted to leave the king's service, he couldn't because he was helpless. He was forced to serve the king's tyranny even though he didn't want to. His friend lost his eyes simply because he tried to protect the beautiful clown.

It showed friendship. I like how the partner of the beautiful clown protected him and tried his best to keep him safe. Also, one of the clowns sacrificed his life to protect the beautiful clown.

Also, it depicts a subject much frowned upon by society-- male prostitution. The theme that even in the past, beautiful males are subjected to sexual abuse is shown in this movie without reserve. The beautiful clown was often subjected to sexual abuse because of his beauty... first by official, then by the king.

Furthermore, it explored the corruption in the palace-- how officials accepted brides and how a queen could be wrongly killed. It explored the repercussions of such a corruption-- how the king turned up the way he did partly because his mother was wrongfully killed.

Overall, I enjoyed this show.

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"Who can throw a stone?"

Love Letter was actress Tanaka Kinuyo’s first film to direct. WWII was over and the censors had left so she could address sensitive issues about American G.I.’s having Japanese lovers. The subject for her first film was a tough one and the 1950’s attitude of the male lead was difficult to sympathize with.

Five years after WWII, Reikichi lives with his younger brother, Hiroshi, who pays most of the bills. An old friend brings him into his business translating and writing love letters in English for women who have been involved with American soldiers. Most of the women are asking for money and Yamaji makes the letters flowery and eloquent. Reluctantly, Reikichi begins work there to bring in more money. He’s despondent because he has never forgotten his first love who married someone else. When he discovers that she’s a widow he goes to the train station every day to search for her. As luck would have it, she comes into the shop to have a letter written to an American soldier who had fathered her baby.

First the positive. I enjoyed Tanaka’s fluid directorial style. Despite the year and cultural values, she showed Michiko in a mostly sympathetic light. Mori Masayuki gave a wonderfully complex performance, even when I wanted his character to erupt in flames. Yuga Yoshiko brought a damaged, yet sweet spirit to Michiko. Michiko was a woman who had lived through her own hell and was still able to be kind to others. The supporting characters were also strong. Tanaka made a guest appearance as a woman needing a letter written by Reikichi but instead received an earful about her lifestyle from the sullen man.

Much was made of Reikichi’s loyalty in waiting for Michiko for five years. They made a point of him standing next to the Hachiko statue, the dog who had waited faithfully for his deceased owner every day at the station for nearly 10 years. For Michiko to have sullied herself with a foreigner from the country that had defeated them was too much and the diatribe Reikichi buried her in was vile. That she’d also given birth to a “blue-eyed baby” who had died made her acts even worse. He knew nothing about her and the struggles and pain she had faced. He was unable to comprehend that the man she’d been involved with had been what she needed at the time. This kind of overly precious attitude about women’s virtue struck me as false given the horrors the Japanese military committed against women during the war.

What saved this film for me was that both Hiroshi and Yamaji called Reikichi on his stupidity and stubbornness. “Who do you think you are? A saint? You can’t be proud of the way you lived.” They knew that the war years and post war years were brutal for women, especially single women without a family to support them. For Hiroshi, Michiko’s actions could be forgiven as she had only been with one guy, unlike the prostitutes who made a living off the white bread foreigners. Michiko was a kind and elegant women who condemned herself for being “depraved” which was awful to hear. Reikichi wasn’t exactly a great catch. Though well educated he’d been sponging off his brother since he came home.

Japan had much to process after the war. Soldiers had experienced traumas and civilians had lived through their own. Most people had either visible or invisible battle scars. Reikichi was learning the hard way that forgiveness was hard to come by and sometimes harder to give when clinging to rigid ideals.

30 August 2024

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Revolver with misfired bullets

An extremely classy looking loot revenge crime thriller that was made up of 100% pure melodrama without any action sequence. Despite its stylish appearance and full of dark conspiracy threats, the storyline never really takes off into anything worthy, it didn't had enough pressure or stakes to make it intimidating, and the side characters are mostly useless for the story. At the end the mission seems easily fulfilled without shock ending or huge fights, after all the extended buildups it turns out to just be an underdeveloped arthouse film that only feels like a revolver with misfired bullets.

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The best out of all of them!

I placed spoilers at the end of this review.

The series/original movie: This had an interesting storyline. The script was simple but good. However, I’m the first to admit it had some weak parts to it. Although it had one story element I’m not a fan of, it does make sense in this series. The cast was incredible with their characters. There was only one exception which is often seen in Korean BL series/movies. As for the 2020 movie version, they did a great job editing the episodes into a cohesive movie. There were a few scenes that were deleted or cut short. There were also a few major scene placement changes towards the end of the movie. My only complaint was they removed the internal monologues from the two main characters. Both had beautiful cinematography, but the coloring in the movie version was more vibrant.

The director’s cut movie: The biggest plus for me was bringing back the internal monologues that was missing in the 2020 movie. Just like the 2020 version, they did a great job with the editing. There were some scenes that were deleted and some major scene placement changes towards the end of the movie. There are a few added scenes in this version. In my opinion, all of the changes greatly improved the quality of the movie. I also enjoyed the added behind the scenes footage at the end of this version of the movie.

Random Notes:

After watching all 3 versions, I strongly recommend watching the director’s cut because it incorporated the best qualities from the series and 2020 movie.



******Spoiler Alert******

The usual exception of course was the kiss scene. if they are not going to show an actual proper kissing scene, I would have settled with a kiss on the check or them hugging. Not every BL series has to end, or have, a make-out/kiss session at the end.

Although it had a three-year time jump, it does make sense with this storyline.

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Too short but still worth it for the interesting context and the cast

Disclaimer, this review only relates to the 29 minutes short film, not to the additional bonus making of / behind-the-scene which lacked subtitles.

In a nutshell, I found the premise very interesting and quite subversive (especially given the fact it was released in 2009) as it features the romantic relationship between two guys separated while one is doing his mandatory military service. In a very short time, I found the movie made some very compelling points, with scenes showcasing how somewhat taboo their relationship is seen by Korean society. Unfortunately, the film is too short to really get to the bottom of the conflict and remain relatively superficial on the turmoil faced by the characters.

The acting was good and it is quite pleasant to watch some familiar actors that I had seen in other works, here at the very beginning of their career, in an indie movie. The production value is quite limited, you feel the budget constraint. Even though it felt very strange because of the shift of tone, I enjoyed the opening and ending generic. It was quite fun to watch with some joyful folk music that I appreciated.

I would recommend this movie to people looking for an indie BL short movie. It approaches love between men within the mandatory military context in Korea, which is not a very common topic. It felt unfortunately a bit short in terms of storyline and what it is trying to say, mainly because of its short length format. Still, given its short duration, it is worth giving it a shot, especially if you want to see performances of Yeon Woo Jin and Lee Je Hoon at the beginning of their career.

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Exciting adventure thriller with excellent performances

All the Hollywood action thrillers want what this movie has. The plot starts mid-action and always keeps moving, the tension never lets up, the fight sequences are nail-bitingly visceral, and the soundtrack balls out the whole time. Pair these with layered leads plus some scene-stealing side characters, and you have a winning addition to the North/South Korean political action drama pantheon. Besides, in this era of bloated scripts, Escape deserves extra points for its refreshingly trim 90 minute runtime.

Not sure why this only has 8/10 on here; it deserves at least a 9 in my book. Go and watch it!

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How is it possible for an horror movie to feel so boring ? Cast could not save it

This horror movie about a MMA fighter confronted to evil had too many flaws to entice me. Its main qualities reside in its cast as well as in its filmmaking. Indeed, the esthetics was quite good as well as the special effects, you can feel there was quite a big budget.

However, the scenario in itself felt poor and repetitive. The editing could have been better to amp the angst as well. The villain is quite a blank canvas and the introduction of the hero to position him in the action takes up almost half of the movie. The pacing of the film is sluggish at best, which is kind of a big issue for a movie belonging to thriller/action/horror genres...

It is my first time seeing Woo Do Hwan and even though I found the character clearly lacking in terms of motivation and background, I'm curious to see what he can do with a better script. I am quite biased toward Park Seo Joon, so he was the saving grace for this movie to me. He is always good and believable in action scenes, and here again he brings the charisma up. Unfortunately, as for the antagonist, there is not a lot offered by the scenario for him to do much acting-wise with his character.

I would not recommend this movie to people unlike you are really a big fan of one of the main actors. If you are an avid fan of horror movie, you might like it but honestly because of its very generic story and strange pacing, I don't think it is worth the watch.

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The emotions are on fire!

I don't really know how to rate this one, my emotions are so mixed

Okay, lets say, logically, the movie is well-done but emotionally, it's not satisfying for me, lol.

The movie depicts exactly what it says, method acting. It shows how 2 MLs really show us what method acting looks like, leaving us unsure if what they have is real or unreal. I must say, I get totally immersed into it myself and totally think they are in love and want them to stay that way, which obviously is where I tripped myself up emotionally

Acting is SOOOO good for both actors, its definitely top notch KBL with quality acting, the emotions they express, especially by Seung Hoon. Their chemistry is sooo good and the kiss scene is hot af

The play itself is very dark and its quite hard for me to watch honestly, so I don't really enjoy this part, nor the ending

But then, again the movie is well done, its just not my liking as I prefer happy ending, So i'm rating logically, although ive such a mixed feelings. I so badly wanted them to be together. Oh well...its just, method :)

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It's a film that stands out for its ability to create an eerie and immersive atmosphere. Kim Jee-woon's direction is masterful, with an impeccable use of tension and suspense that keeps you on the edge of your seat. The narrative is complex and layered, inviting the viewer to unravel the mysteries and relationships between the characters.

The performances are outstanding, especially those of the two leads, who manage to convey a deep emotional charge and vulnerability. The cinematography also deserves a special mention; each shot is carefully composed to heighten the sense of unease and beauty at the same time.

However, while the story is captivating, it can be somewhat confusing at times, which may leave some viewers a little lost. Still, the film manages to be a memorable experience that stays with you long after the end credits roll.

Overall, it's a standout work in the psychological horror genre, with an execution that almost borders on perfection. A film that undoubtedly deserves its place among the greats of Asian horror cinema.

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