Reviews

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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I may just be coming off of the “just watched high” to explain my high ratings lol. but something about this movie really itched a good part of my brain. The plot always pulled me back in, everyone was just so psychotic??? But I think this movie showed (even if to an extreme) how bullying and constant torment can push anyone over the edge, including those who do it. when i say that tho- i don’t think it was an educational movie, more so just something to consume and think “what the fuck just happened”afterwards! i really am not like a gore-fien, but i find it almost satisfying in this, it feels more like relief than revenge to the main character if that makes any sense lol, i think i sound stupid now so…anyways. i totally recommend, definitely a new favorite! but obviously if you don’t like the mentioned above mixed in with just total tragedy, i don’t think this would be for u…but enjoy if you do watch!

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Some aliens can't take the heat

Only a few years after Godzilla stomped through Tokyo and Rodan stirred up trouble, Japan had to deal with aliens. The Mysterians wanted to set up housekeeping on the island and to mate with Earth women. They had a giant robot and destructive ray while the humans had two plucky scientists.

Shiraishi Ryoichi is convinced that aliens are lurking in the area around Mt. Fuji. Most of his colleagues think he needs a vacation, until strange events begin to take place in his village. When an underground alien fortress rises up for all to see scientists Adachi Tanjiro and Atsumi Joji realize Ryoichi had been right all along. The Mysterians blew up their own planet during a terrible war and are looking for a new place to hang out. They also need to breed with Earth women because they have been unable to reproduce healthy children on their own since their war. Needless to say, the Earthlings aren’t ready to acquiesce to the Mysterians’ demands and start to work on building a weapon to counter the deadly ray gun the aliens use.

This was another Toho film directed by Honda Ishiro with music by Ifukube Akira. The miniatures and overlays were all well done. This was before many of the miniature towns started looking like cardboard boxes as they stretched the Godzilla franchise out on smaller and smaller budgets. There were also some real-world military weapons and planes interspersed throughout the film. The Mysterians had one of the first big screen TVs, 10 years before Capt. Kirk on the starship Enterprise. Shimura Takashi, famous for his work in Kurosawa Akira films, played in several of these Honda films, this time as the lead scientist. Hirata Akihiko, the hero of the original Godzilla, played a more morally complex character in this film. As with other films in the early years of the Toho monster flicks, there was a moral lesson to be learned. An all out nuclear war would all but ensure humankind's destruction so another way of combating the Mysterians had to be found.

The Mysterians had its moments. I mean, who wouldn’t want to see a giant laser fight in front of Mt. Fuji? Where the film lacked for me were the Mysterians. They were a little too mysterious in their colorful Power Rangers costumes. We never see their faces or hear their diabolical plan for world domination. Most of the film was from the scientists’ point of view and their assumptions that the aliens were up to now good. The film could have also used more of Moguera, the giant robot. For a 1957 sci-fi film, the special effects were sufficient as was the acting, surprisingly. I just needed a little more menace from the creatures who arrived from their blown-up planet via Mars, via the moon.

3 October 2024

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Another best KBL you should watch

Dibandingkan drama utama mereka Unintentional Love Story, chemistry mereka disini lebih diperlihatkan.
Emosi yang muncul diantara para aktor dan disandingkan dengan OST yang menyentuh membuat penonton dapat merasakan secara tidak langsung emosi yang dituangkan didalamnya.
Disini Han Dowoo benar-benar terlihat sangat manis dan cantik tanpa mengurangi ketampanannya, berbeda dengan saat di ULS dimana dia terlihat sedikit tua.
Director membawakan kisah singkat mereka ini dengan sangat baik.
Durasi yang lumayan sedikit, namun pesan dan isi cerita dapat disampaikan dengan baik.

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DONT LET THE 7.5 RATING (currently) DETER YOU FROM WATCHING THIS MOVIE!!

This movie is so precious. it shows an adult woman that seemingly lost her hope and dreams after being an adult for so long. in comes a younger woman who makes the adult woman do everything she thought she would never do.

this movie is so heartfelt, you can clearly feel the sorrows of our main character, just crushed as she faces the problems in her life. the script writing and pacing is superb, not a second wasted. you feel immersed throughout the whole film, you can relate and understand why our main character is the way she is. You'll also gain a valuable lesson from this movie. live your life, look forward, have hope, dont stop yourself from dreaming, be youthful again.

I love how even if there was a love interest in the movie, the film wasn't centered towards him at all. an independent woman who is sad and deprives herself from the one she likes in fear of disappointing or burdening him. i wont say whether they end up with each other or not, but you find yourself rooting for our main character and she finally starts to take lead in her life! The movie truly was all about our main character. friendship, sisterhood. Finding back one's self.

the message in the film, really touched me. And the execution? DONE SPECTACULARLY. I find it hard to find movies i like because I take everything into account, and really... this film was just.... GAHHH PLEASE WATCH IT IF YOU ARE DUBIOUS FROM THE 7.5 RATING (currently as im typing this), I BEG YOU, after reading my review, please watch this. so little ppl have rated this movie and i was so shocked when it turns out this review will be the first. Please, this is a gem. try it out, you wont regret it.

i made an mdl account all bc i was so flabbergasted by the low rating and 0 reviews of this amazing film.

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"It was no dream"

Kwaidan is a 1964 film that contained four unrelated ghost stories. The film drew most of its material from Lafcadio Hearn’s 1904 book called Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things. Director Kobayashi Masaki crafted each stylized story much like a painting. The skies were often brightly painted backgrounds with each vignette taking place primarily on a soundstage. These were not terrifying or gory tales, more like eerie, karmic, Twilight Zone episodes.

1) The Black Hair/Kurokami (B)
An impoverished ronin discovers what goes around comes around aka payback is a bitch when he leaves his loving wife to marry up and take a new position.

2) The Woman of the Snow/Yuki Onna (B+)
A young woodcutter is spared by a snow witch on the grounds that he never tell anyone he saw her. He learns the lesson to never betray a woman.

3) Hoichi the Earless/Miminashi Hoichi no Hanashi (B)
Blind, kind, Hoichi is a young monk at a temple not far from where an epic battle took place 700 years before. The ghostly Heike clan calls upon him to sing the tales of their failed battle night after night. He pays a painful price for his freedom.

4) In a Cup of Tea/Chawan no Naka (B-)
Can you swallow someone’s soul when drinking a cup of tea? A writer receives a proper punishment for writing an open ending to his story.

I enjoyed the stylized view of each of the stories with most having a stage production look and feel. They often appeared surreal, especially Yuki Onna’s swirling eyes in the sky. Each varied in length with Hoichi the Earless being the longest (maybe too long) and In a Cup of Tea being the shortest (maybe not long enough).

The cast for each story was strong. Nakadai Tatsuya played the naïve woodcutter and Kishi Keiko played the complicated Yuki in Yuki Onna. I love his wild eyes though he was the babe in the woods in this segment. Shimura Takashi as a Buddhist priest tried to help the blind Hoichi who was bound to his ghostly visitors each night. Too bad his character didn’t have a strict attention to detail.

Each of the four stories took a different approach to the supernatural though all of the main human characters paid a price for their encounters. Kwaidan had strong performances, taut stories, and a mesmerizing artistic appeal to it. There was an almost poetic rhythm to the moralistic storytelling. While these were technically horror stories, they were the type you could see people telling around a campfire, preferably with any powerful talisman available hanging around their neck.

3 October 2024

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A mediocre gangster movie.

Pattaya Heat is a movie that revolves around Thailand’s criminal underworld with the concept of a cat-and-mouse game. It has all the elements a gangster movie should have - drug lord, corrupt police officer, illegal business, revenge plotting, sex, profanity, betrayal, violence and a lot of blood - but somehow it lacks better storylines to make it captivating. The plots seem to have no proper structure. One moment it seems like a heist movie, then it becomes a revenge movie.

Although the theme is nothing new and the story/plot is somewhat messy, the action and acting save this movie from being an absolute disaster. Like Hollywood ensemble movies, those big shots on screen together managed to deliver good acting, but no character really shines out. Most of the characters lack depth to make them interesting or memorable. However, Christine Gulasatree is the one who impressed me the most. Even though this is her debut film, she did a good job of capturing the essence of a cunning seductress.

Overall, it's a crime-action movie with the recipe of Tarantino's or Guy Ritchie’s movies, but the result is not even on par. It's just another mediocre gangster-heist movie we’ve seen before. A bit ambitious, but not quite there yet. Well, it's not bad, but not good either.

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more a soft porn than a drama

So this is a typical sexual explicit manga done in a movie...
That's how some woman fantasize about guy relationships.

The ingredients are, a straight porn actor turning gay, a close-in person who has a trauma after the death of his mother, because his Dad told him he was gay, but loved his mother and he is the fruit of their love. And of course that dad has a younger partner. 🤣

The dynamics between the dad and his partner was the most interesting part of the movie. I could have lived without most of the explicit scenes except those story relevant. This is a low budget production, so there are only six people in this movie. So for example the bar feels very steril because most of the time it's empty, except when a makeup artist for Towa goes there.

The story is simple and of course pure fantasy. There is no drama except when the jelaousy kicks in, they break up, but of course the get together again because... fantasy. It does not really makev sense that Towa disappears for some time and reappears later one, especially because they never talked about their feelings and Takato never mentions that he does not like Towa working as a porn actor. It was an afterthought in the end of the movie but it felt shallow.

If you like such movies/series good for you, but for me, it was a waste of time. Half the time it's NC scenes and the other half is ok-ish. I'm more or less offended because such is not gay life and it should not be depicted like this. Bad enough that most mangas are like this, but it sells. It also shows the double standard in japanese society, it's ok to love yaoi manga, but the son should never turn gay. They did not even try to improve the manga by giving the characters and the story much more depth which could have been done and many series still do. So for me, it's a disappointing movie without substance.

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decent pink film

Overall: this is a 70 minute pink film (has several pretty explicit scenes). Aired on GagaOOLala https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/videos/4764/heavens-candy-2023 There is an extra scene after the end credits.

Content Warnings: peeping, past grooming, past pedophilia/non con

What I Liked
- dynamic with the leads
- the age gap relationship with the dad and the other guy was interesting.
- NSFW scenes were pretty well done

Room For Improvement
- voice over with a flash forward to start the movie
- wish they had taken out 1 character to really focus more on the leads and their relationship
- rushed ending

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