Reviews

"Life itself has its own life"

If you watched Everything Everywhere All at Once and thought it was overly simplified and spoon-fed its audience, Leonor Will Never Die might be the reality tripping, mind bending movie you want as long as you don’t mind a bare bones budget. Director Martika Ramirez broke the fourth wall and the 5th dimension.

Leonor worked in the movie industry until tragedy struck. Now ten years later, she and her son Rudy barely speak to each other and literally can’t keep the lights on in the house. She decides to dust off an old script and finish it hoping to help pay the bills. Before she can wrap the story up she’s hit in the head by a flying television and sent into a coma. She enters the world of her script and discovers the traumas she’s put her characters through.

The above paragraph sounds similar to other “entered a make-believe world” dramas and films we’ve all seen. Then Ramirez added a ghost that everyone could see, a pregnant man, and strange criss-crossings of realities. She even threw in a song and dance number. I’m not familiar with 1970’s-80’s Filipino action flicks but Leonor’s re-enacted film looked much like old Hong Kong films from the same time with the same chicka-bow-wow music.

I have no idea if Ramirez wrote this to speak about some deeper social commentary. Should we stop extolling violence to resolve problems, poor Ronwaldo was tortured by Leonora’s writing. Was the story a way for Leonor to work through her grief? I spent most of my time trying to figure out what was going on as the characters and story jumped from one reality to the next. At one point, when Leonora disappeared, the doctor told her son to not bother looking for her. She’d seen this kind of bizarre thing before when people needed to finish their stories. The doc looked at the distraught son as if to say, “Writers, am I right?” Martika Ramirez used comedy, violence, family, and supernatural occurrences to take a woman near the end of her life on a trip that could be described as a “dream within a dream*”--- especially if she’d had spicy food and cold medicine mixed with alcohol before bed.

24 August 2024

*Princess Bride quote and/or Edgar Allen Poe

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Low budget with cheap jump scares.

Finally got to watching the much lauded Phobia for the first time, 15 years after its initial release.

When I think of Thai horror classics of the 2000s, I instantly think of Shutter, which still holds up till this day. Pee Chong Air was another I recently discovered, which was worthy of being talked about in the same breath as Shutter.

Phobia, I can't say the same for. With how popular this movie was, I was not expecting it to have this low of a budget.
Released in 2008, the shift into CG in horror films has already started, and Phobia definitely did not make use of it well.
The practical effects they used also looked cheap, save for the end of the second story.

With what looked like a moving JPEG, pink blood and skeletons that were made with freeware, I cannot recommend this movie to anyone, let alone call it one of the greatest Thai horror flicks.

As someone that appreciates and prefers practical effects in horror films, and rolls his eyes at cheap jump scares, this movie is not for me.

And it made 85 million baht according to Wiki. Higher ups involved had to be laughing to the bank.

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Creepy cautionary tale about smartphone power, quite thrilling despite some scenario flaws

I liked a lot this thriller about a woman stalked through her smartphone. It is clearly a creepy cautionary tale about the power that have smartphone upon the life of most people and how dangerous it is when somebody get a hold on your personal data and what you do on internet.

The premise is really interesting and I wish they would have taken the societal criticism even deeper. It remains pretty on surface of what it is trying to say about society as the scenario put the focus much more on the villain than on the social dynamics. I loved the pacing of the story in its first half, you can feel the anxiety crippling as the heroine gets deeper into the trap set for her. However, I think the second half of the story could have benefited from a better rhythm. It was thrilling but some actions taken by the characters lacked logic.

I found the acting solid: especially Yim Si Wan who does a really commendable job carrying the plot. I'm pretty sure that with a less gifted actor, the scenario would have felt much flatter. He brought a huge range of emotions to his part, making the character he played complex and multi-layered despite the scenario being quite open and vague regarding his motivations. It is my first time watching him in a main role and I will be for sure digging into his filmography for more. Similarly, I'm quite impressed by Chun Woo Hee acting. I thought she acted beyond what the scenario was offering her.

The production was good. I particularly enjoyed the opening sequence with the phone being the window into the life of the heroine. It was super efficient into conveying the point of the movie. The music did not left a lasting impression on me but was appropriate for the angsty thematic.

I would recommend this to people that are looking for a thriller supported by good acting. It is pretty horrific in some way as it is centered around a very prominent feature in most humans modern life: the smartphones. It is a quite violent movie, so be mindful if you have any trigger.

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Must watch film!

"The Paradise of Thorns" is a powerful depiction of Thai society's deep-seated issues, with a particular focus on marriage inequality. The film excels in its storytelling, blending intense drama with cultural commentary. The acting is superb, bringing the characters' struggles and emotions to life in a way that feels both genuine and compelling. Coupled with some of the best cinematography in recent Thai cinema, the film creates a visually stunning yet thought-provoking experience. The film's original soundtrack beautifully complements the emotional depth of the story, enhancing the overall impact of the narrative. It's an exceptional piece of filmmaking that resonates on multiple levels, making it the best Thai film for me.

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Maybe it's for the best that this is hard to find.

I've been looking for a way to watch this movie for months, being a fan of Xu Ruohan. I finally found it on YouTube, albeit with no English subtitles. That said, I have 90% comprehension of spoken Mandarin and have watched raws before so I was excited to finally find a way to watch this movie.

Well. I am no longer excited.

The scant handful of positives:
- Xu Ruohan. I still love her. She's still cute and talented and I'm still looking forward to seeing much more from her.
- The music was decent.
- The cinematography was adequate, no complaints.

Now for the trash fire that's everything else, starting with a plot summary because who the hell thought this plot was a good idea:
The overarching moral of this story is missing your chance and not taking what you have for granted. This is fine, but we start with our FL, Xia Mo literally explaining how she tossed the ML, Chu Qiu, into the friend zone and left him there. I think we're supposed to take away that she's fatherless and fears losing her best friend, but mostly she just acts bossy in the high school arc at the beginning and has a lot of words about "people say men and women can't be best friends but we prove them wrong." Bold words from a romance that is telegraphed immediately, plot. Way to show that men and women really can't be just friends.

They add a friend, their buddy Zhang Tian Hao, who then proceeds to spend the rest of his screentime doing nothing but living for his two friends and eventually using his own wedding to set them up (????). I mean, what a friend, but also he literally does nothing but advanced plot points which is some intensely shallow characterization.

As the three of them look towards college, Xia Mo literally takes the other twos college goals and writes in the college she's going to. She then declares, "Chu Qiu is sticking with my forever. Which means Hao is too." Yup, that's the set up.

Off they go to college and the main plot point here is that, on a dare from Hao, Xia Mo and Chu Qiu try to sleep with their boyfriend and girlfriend respectively, winner gets to decide their upcoming trip. And the resolution of that was.... They both decided not to go through with it and she runs over to his room at the hotel where he's almost naked and blurts out that she's pregnant. His girlfriend immediately dumps him and slaps him. Her boyfriend, who she has tied up and left, finds them in the hall and assumes she's been cheating on him so he breaks up with her and slaps Chu Qiu. Then the two "best friends" look at each other and laugh. I'm not sure if this was a great way to show that they're "best friends through thick and thin" and I really feel for their partners who were lied to and tossed away for this joke of a dare.

At the camping trip they end up going on (Hao wins since they both lost and choose camping), Xia Mo gets really drunk and tells Chu Qiu her four big wishes in life.

So now we're on to adulthood and the bulk of the movie.

On Xia Mo's way to her big important (first?) interview, she bumps older hot CEO type Wei Sidong's Bentley with her scooter because she was distracted. This is our 2ML who then creepily chases Xia Mo with such promises as, "if you become my girlfriend you won't owe me this huge debt for the car repair." Classy. She repeatedly turns him down but ends up mightily entangled because he has her working for him (selling wine) to pay her debt.

Meanwhile our ML, who has absolutely no personality at this point other than being FL's ride or die bestie, watches sadly from the sidelines as the creep seems to be wearing Xia Mo down and it seems inevitable that she'll give in (though the audience sees that she keeps saying no). His response to this is to start fulfilling her Four Big Wishes she told him while drunk in college.

He feeds her steak at the beach (it was a homemade dinner, near a pool and their long suffering plot advancing buddy Hao was the server). Then he confesses to her with a heart made of candles. She turns him down, saying it's impossible. I think because they're friends was the excuse but I wasn't trying too hard to understand this part because I was annoyed.

To deal with his heartbreak, he goes to a club with plot device Hao and then drinks alcohol.... Which he's allergic to and can give him anaphylactic shock. A cute girl (new plot device) kisses him/hits on him and he collapses on the floor due to his allergic reaction.

Xia Mo meets him at the hospital and calls him an idiot (true) but then get awkward with new plot device girl shows up. Xia Mo vehemently denies that she's Chu Qiu's girlfriend so new plot device girl starts taking video of her taking responsibility/dibs for the ML. Good job plot, totally not contrived.

Chu Qiu goes to new plot device girl's performance. Then, callback to a really forced plot point early on where Xia Mo's mom has been day trading stocks and hmmm wonder why that was a plot point, oh because now she and her mom are in a lot of debt and Chu Qiu comes running with flowers. Oh but creepy CEO foil shows up first (who could have called this) and he's already paid off all her debts, no problem (yeah I don't know how he found out either). She sobs in relief and he hugs her. Oh and guess who sees it from the other side of the alley. Our ML, duh.

CEO Wei gifts Xia Mo a big surprise: her own fashion studio! Free of charge! All yours, girl! Knock yourself out! Oh but how did he know exactly what her dream was and designed it exactly the way she loves? He's cagey but no sh** Sherlock, Chu Qiu told him all of it and made the designs. Chu Qiu apparently has gone off the grid to find himself or something and no one can get in touch with him. But before he does, he tells his love rival (who he has already decided he lost to) about Xia Mo's third wish: her dream of having her own fashion studio. Everyone clap.

Xia Mo's response is to.... Tell the plot device girl who has had all of five minutes of screen time everything she knows about Chu Qiu's likes and dislikes and tells her to take good care of him (???).

Fast forward 3 years and the movie is almost over (okay now actually clap). Buddy Hao is getting married but why is Xia Mo also suspiciously dressed up in a dress that looks like bridal wear? The voiceover talks about how she's doing well and has a successful career as a fashion designer now and "even Hao is getting married." She walks into the reception/wedding hall and suddenly she is being attacked by slow falling feathers. Oh it turns out that's her fourth wish, to walk down the aisle to her husband getting married while being rained on by white feathers. So of course waiting at the end for her is Chu Qiu. Who has been MIA for 3 years until he could come crash his friend's wedding and make it about him and his "bestie." They look at each other misty eyed and the guests clap (while the background has the names of the actual bride and groom but we know how much they matter here). The end.


I don't have a whole lot to add. Because that was the plot. I'm sorry Xu Ruohan, I hope you get better projects.

One star for XRH, one star for being watchable enough that I didn't just drop it, one star for the music and cinematography, and half a star for the rest of the cast for trying.

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Condensed Version of TLTWTMOPB

The one thing I found jarring about this film version of TLTWTMOPB, or Eternal Love, is that the story begins sort of in the middle, much like the novel, and fills in the blanks in flashbacks. It wasn't too bad in the sense that there was less characters and subplots to worry about, but it remains a little on the superficial side because it doesn't delve too deeply into that sweeping love story and exemplary acting in the drama version.

If you want a short version of this story then this is the one to watch. Gone are the extra storylines and secondary love characters that made the drama version so long, but with it the sweeping romance that kept us glued to our seats and the spark that made us root for them as well.

Yang Yang is very easy on the eyes and captures the magnetism of Ye Hua, but he is not directed in such a way as to bring out those inner emotions that drove Ye Hua to the great lengths he went for Bai Qian. He is almost, but not quite.

Chrystal Liu is beautiful, but again, I don' think the stakes are high enough in the performances to really make us care for this couple as we should. I feel that Li Chun's part as the evil Su Jin, is depthless and lacks the layers you see in the drama version, which was spectacularly played by Maggie Huang.

The CGI is great and the battle scenes are epic. The costumes were ugly as sin, particularly the wedding dress.

It's difficult to review this film without comparing it to the TV version, which is outstanding, Although you get the gist of the story, it suffers greatly in lack of detail. The ending felt rushed, but I did like the melding of both Ye Hua and Mo Yuan as one character rather than two. After all, the whole plot is about living more than one life to love your soulmate, so it makes sense that the two are one. This is the only thing I didn't feel was handled properly in the drama version.

This movie version was alright, but will only make sense to those that have already seen the drama to fill in the blanks.

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"It takes time to learn to like yourself"

Director Kim Bo Ra explored the joy and pain of adolescence in The House of Hummingbird. Life for an adult can be chaotic and overwhelming, at fourteen, Eun Hee was neither a child nor an adult. Her world was confined to the two places she didn’t fit in---school and her family.

“How many do you understand?”
Eun Hee’s family stresses education to the point that her brother easily flies into rages and beats her, her older sister has begun skipping school, and Eun Hee has a tendency to fall asleep in class. At home her parents come across as disinterested in her or verbally abusive. Dinners are eaten in silence or with the father berating them. When she has a health concern that worsens, Eun Hee has to deal with it all by herself. Anything resembling emotional support is in short supply. She has an on-again, off-again boyfriend and a best friend she attends Chinese tutoring school with. It is her new tutor who actually sees her and lets her know she’s valuable just as she is that touches Eun Hee and frees something within her.

“We should all live separately.”
There were times watching this I was waiting for someone in Eun Hee's family to snap and commit a mass murder. Her parents would go from a no holds barred screaming match and using a lamp as a shiv to acting like nothing happened the next morning. Vicious words were thrown around at the children and physical blows. Then everyone would shove all the frustrations, anger, and fear somewhere deep inside and live in silence with each other. The two sisters’ needs were especially invisible with a brother in the house. Their mother was in a vicious cycle as she’d had to drop out of school in order for her brother to finish high school, a man who never amounted to anything. As Eun Hee learned from her tutor, even a quality university education did not guarantee happiness.

“Will my life start to shine someday?”
Dealing with physical abuse, insecurities, and fickle friends, Eun Hee learned from her tutor that as long as she had her two hands and could move them, she still had the ability to change things. Eun Hee found that friendships and connections made life more bearable or even simply jumping on a trampoline on a sunny day. Despite the chaos around her, Eun Hee’s resilient spirit began to soar. Bad things happen but so do good.

“What’s the right way to live?
Somedays I feel like I know but I don’t really know for sure.
I just know that when bad things happen, good things happen, too.
And that we always meet someone and share something with them.
The world is fascinating and beautiful.”

23 August 2024

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I'm sorry if someone feels offended because they actually liked this one. The basic idea was indeed a good one, but the whole execution/writing/concept was nonsensical.

The sceneries looked quite fake here and there and the lighting felt wrong. CGI was well done sometimes, and bad other times.

For a postapocalyptic environment they displayed not enough desperation of the people.

Without getting into too much detail, the backstory was too short (there was just too less explanation of everything), the introduction of the characters was almost nonexistent, which made it quite hard to get their motivations - just a bunch of stereotypes colliding - and the action scenes were all over the place. There were too many action scenes and even though the fighting itself looked good, the shaky cameras and blood/body parts flying everywhere turned it into a bad rollercoaster. A lot of "deaths" were totally exaggerated.

If they made the movie a bit longer, put more effort into the backstory and its characters and created a more logical rescue mission, this could have been an enjoyable movie.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but don't waste your time on this, guys.

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What the author had in mind?

First thing first: trigger warning for real animal cruelty. Damn 2000's was a different time for this movie to be able to exist. It's mostly fish, but they are not that nice towards dog, bird and frog either...

This movie is kind of hypnotising - you cannot stop watching not matter how gross and weird it gets. You question everything and yet you don't hit that pause button. I think the depth of that movie is hidden deep down in the mind of the author. Is this deep symbolism, or is it a shallow pretentious symbolism? I don't know.

The movie has little to no dialogue and yet it was directed in a way I did understand easily what was going on and what the characters were thinking and feeling (it was all fucked up, but I could grasp it). It's a story of two broken people becoming more broken and more fucked up.

The acting was great, not gonna lie. Seo Jung as Hee Jin was simply disturbing.

Overall... that was quite an experience and I don't think I know even one person I would recommend this movie to.

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It was very nice and then it gets spoiled by meh

This movie is very beautiful.
The scenery and cinematography are great and the type of filter or film they used gives nostalgic vibes.
I think acting is very good, especially by the ML, he was great and I really liked the dynamics between the characters and the banter.
The introspective journey paired with the scenes, the train rides and the beautiful landscapes give you all the feels and I found myself grinning for a big part of the movie because of the little endearing moments here and there like the one with that young traveler in the snow.

Everything was great for me until towards the end when they dropped the EXTREMELY over used troupe that it's also actually very predictable from the start.
That was such a shame and it really spoiled it for me.
There are just so many things that could have been done with the plot, the most plain one being just simply that time passed, that there was a long distance between them. I really wanted a trip for the sake of introspection, self-discovery and peace but we sadly got this once again, and at least I guess he knew and it was not a bomb like they do in other movies/series. I really wish this plot device was left in the 00s where it belongs. I'm so over it at this point.

The plot in general is not new even leaving out that cliché at the end and the execution is not exactly great either. While the flashbacks are carried out in an ok manner the last part showing her side in that way for cliché/shock value was both confusing at times, repetitive and just wallowing in the drama for the sake of it.
Moreover, they knew each other for like a month I think it was, so it's too extreme that he's still hang up on that 18 years later to the level of affecting his career in that way. Also equally unrealistic in my opinion that he only had one 3 months relationship in all that time, what level of workaholic are we talking about?

It's really as described by the tag, bittersweet, although for me because of the lost potential and not what happens in the plot.

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