Reviews

Treasure map to a hidden gem of a film

I braced myself when I started Tange Sazen and the Pot Worth a Million Ryo. Having watched numerous films from the 1920’s and 30’s, I’m used to darker themes and sadness. To my relief and surprise, this 1935 film was a delightful, lighthearted romp with no undo suffering in sight.

A miserly daimyo lord discovers that the old, dirty, monkey pot he’d gifted his brother turns out to hold a map for a million ryo hidden treasure. The brother, Genzaburo, is dominated by his beautiful wife and offended at the cheap gift. When the daimyo’s retainer generously offers to take the "worthless" pot off his hands, Genzaburo refuses. He’s excited when he finds out about the treasure map, but also thwarted when his wife tells him she sold it for a pittance. The missing pot actually gifts him with something better than money. In order to search for the pot, he’s able to leave the house unattended!

“Edo is huge. It might take 10 or even 20 years. It’s like going out for revenge.”

The pot ends up in the hands of an orphan who uses it as a goldfish bowl. Both pot and child are taken in by the one-eyed, one-armed ronin, Sazen Tange. Sazen is also henpecked, not by a wife but by the proprietress of the shop he guards. There are gifts for sale and men can come in to eat and drink and shoot arrows at targets, much like at an arcade. The fun begins as multiple people search for the pot in earnest and Genzaburo delays finding it so that he can have some fun.

I don’t always connect with the humor in nearly 100-year-old films, but I laughed out loud a couple of times with this one. Even when they bickered and verbally refused to do the right thing, the characters always ended up being generous, protective, and kind. There were a few, quick samurai fights and sparring, but nothing to ruin the gentle mood.

This Tange Sazen film was a beautiful hidden gem, highlighting some of the best of humanity in a humorous way. I wish more of director Yamanaka Sadao’s films had survived. I look forward to trying his other two extant films.

8 July 2024

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We all need more Kuno Totono in our lives

Another completely biased review from me to you

I love this character, and the way Suda Masaki plays him. I have a thing for quirky characters and Totono is one of my favorites.

First of all, not enough Garo. It was nice to see a little bit of Garo in the beginning but that just leaves me wanting more!

There's not enough Totono spouting theories in this. That's one of the things I love about this character is the way he talks and talks and talks until he drives the villains/bad guys/antagonists crazy! (I knew I loved the character from the first bit of the series when he is being questioned by the police and just tears apart their reason for suspecting him. I laughed so hard when I saw that the first time, and still laugh when I rewatch! 'Maybe it was a twin who was separated from me at birth...Do you have a twin that was separated from you at birth?...I don't' The delivery from all in the scene was perfection!)

And there's not enough of the majestic King Gnu that played all the time in the series, except finally in the last couple of minutes. Damn I miss that! Yep, too much silence in some scenes, they need the music more.

Nanoka Hara was adorable and I love how the resolution of the story went.

I loved seeing Furomitsu Seiko, Ikemoto Yuto, and Aoto Nariaki, even if it was just in the last 3 minutes of the movie! And my heart is full, got to end the movie with Garo. What a smile. Where the hell is Season 2???

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A long episode of the drama

Note:
- I have read the manga volumes of the story the movie is based on. Hence my opinions will likely be skewed.

Likes:
- Feels like an extra long episode of the show. If you like the show, you will probably like this.
- High concentration of Totonou's appearance
- It is a very self-contained movie. It does not require audience to recall minor plot points of the drama while distinctly understood it itself is also an extension, leaving season 2 as a likely possibility.

Dislikes:
- Similarly while I do like it being self-contained, I also found myself wanting to see the continuation of the main series. though I am certainly someone waiting for a season 2.
- Certain acting can be slightly awkward.
- The movie cut out certain plot points from the original story, which I think would have helped to land the ending better.

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Neither funny nor thrilling

45 minutes in, and I noticed that I did not care about the serial killer. I did not care if he even existed or if it was [spoiler]. I did not care about the company's new marketing, I did not care about the three main characters.
Ten minutes later, and I noticed that I did not care how the movie would end. So I stopped watching.

I admit, in the beginning, I did laugh a few times -- and then the jokes either were of the same category or I did not even notice them.
There was no tension, the "scary" scenes never were exciting, let alone thrilling.
Scenes were often too slow, or not contributing to the story -- why should I be interested in how they market their shirts(? I think they make shirts.)? And I say this as someone who has a high tolerance for slow pacing, if it's done with purpose.
Come on, there are excellent Thai comedies, and great Thai thrillers! You know how to do it!

Two good aspects:
* Three woman in main roles.
* Very good acting, especially of the Boss.

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Good story, mid romance

After reading some of the comments here, i was expecting something super cliché and boring, but I was surprised in a good way. I liked it overall, I think the rythm was good and the topic was interesting.

Now, I think the main reason I liked it is, being queer myself, I rarely see realistic queer representation in BLs or GLs. Which is fair, since the target is straight women who'd like to enjoy a nice romance, not really actual queer people. The lgbtq+ matters in these romances are often ignored: no homophobia, no identity questionning, no other representation than the main couple... I'm not blaming them, I actually enjoy these romances too.
But after watching athlete I realized how much I actually missed a more realistic perspective on those matters. Not only did the movie talk about Homophobia, it also portrayed accurately the struggle of coming out, of facing your family who has always known you under a certain light and you're not sure they'd understand, of actually understanding the problematics and not just fall in love, and on top of everything, being part of a community.
Although some of the BL/GLs I've seen before do go over the main problematics of being queer, I've rarely (maybe never) seen one that actually depicts the lgbtq+ community. This movie did, and I loved it. The final scene when they talk about priscilla was super touching, and I loved that Kouhei actually gets to learn about the people in that bar and grows close to them rather than just fall in love with a guy and try to understand only him.

Now digging into the main relationship. The open ending didn't bother me. The relationship was pretty unstable from the start, so I wasn't even expecting a happy ending. However, I understand the people saying that it was too much of a mess. The couple raises a lot of topics and problematics: Being a prostitute, cheating, jealousy, being ashamed of their relationship, etc... but even if they reconsciliate at the end, they never actually solve the problems. They never communicate about their feelings, they just blame the other for doing something wrong and that's it. Maybe that's why I don't mind the open ending, because I could see this story expand and have a sequel where Kouhei finds another boyfriend with whom he actually has a healthy relationship, and Yuta would be an important part of his journey but not the finality.
I'm a big fan of "show don't tell", so I also didn't mind them not saying "I love you"s and stuff, but still I was annoyed how they didn't kiss once without having sex right after. Knowing that this story really wasn't about lust, I think that was a pretty weird choice. Also, the first two times were fine but the love making on the beach was just straight up ridiculous. The movement were so weird, the choreography was really bad.
The acting otherwise was ok I guess but I did laugh out loud when that kid started crying in Kouhei's arms at the pool. The acting really ruined the scene there.

To conclude, I think it was a pretty bad BL but it was an good queer story and I'd definitely recommend it to people who look for something a bit more twisted than simple romance.

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The villain here is so hot!

Every Don Lee's is a must watch for me. I super like his action move I'm sure its cute and funny.vI like when he throws punches his cute like a teddy bear. I was really expecting too muct that doesn't meet my expectations but still its a good movie forme, I was expecting more hardcore action scenes.
The villain is super hot here and Kim Mu Yeol did an amazing portrayal as a villain his just a good actor because I begin to hate him in this film. In there first film together hit the cop now his the bad guy chased by the cop Don Lee's character in the movie. Every portrayals hevdid is superb no matter if if its a good or bad role he can nailed it.
It has a great cinematography,is as beautifully shot in the Philippines ??. I have to commend one Korean actor that speaks tagalog dialect, infairness his good, he delivers it well. He sounded like one of the locals in PH.
It has a star stellar cast, familiar faces from the kdrama land is seen in this film..
Its a action filled movie, very satisfying ending.

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Great acting, great plots, but should have been a series

I actually really liked this movie. A lot of people did not enjoy it because they found it confusing or peiced together weird, which I will say is true to an extent. I really liked all of the plot lines and how they connected, but it left me wanting more from each one. We got a snippet of each plotline basically. I definitely think it should have been a series rather than a movie, that way they could flesh everything out better, and make it a bit more cohesive. Overall I think it is well worth the watch, and will probably watch it again when it releases on Netflix with the official subtitles.

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HEART WRENCHING.

I finished this just a while ago, and I can say it is beautifully written and produced. This film did not only touch my hear but also broke it into pieces. I'm not quite good with expressing myself but here it goes:

STORY/PLOT:
The plot was good. It was just simple. Even though you somehow predict that they'll die in the end— yet you still hold on to the hope that they will live and enjoy their life together but you know...
I can say very well that the story was nicely executed— especially without having too much of that or too less of these— it was just balanced, which made it more perfect.

ACTING/CASTING:
Every actors were great with their roles— they've brought out the charm of each leads' character well enough.

MUSIC:
It's great. I think I'll listen to it more, and just have to recall all of these again— and cry my heart out.

REWATCH VALUE:
This is totally something worth watching all over and over again.

This is a masterpiece worth to be known by everyone. Just watch it— I can assure you that it is worth your time.

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Must-watch -- esp. on the big screen

As a fan of both of the lead actors, I had high expectations for this film, especially given that Lee Je-Hoon and Koo Kyo Hwan felt so confident in it that they jokingly offered to refund anyone who did not feel entertained, or like they got their money's worth (unless you purchased an IMAX ticket, of course). Despite my high expectations, I was not let down.

The film was thrilling. The story was well written, well-executed, and (importantly) well produced. The trailer does a great job of giving you a sense of the pacing for the story. It is an action-packed thriller, with twists and turns. While the story is mostly linear, it also relies on viewers understanding some subtext (e.g. the pre-established & hierarchical, but amicable relationship between the leads, and the changes in beliefs), it is well acted.

This movie is a GREAT watch and is *worthy* of watching on the big screen.

I'd venture as far as to say that it's the best movie I've seen all year. I'll be surprised (and disappointed) if Je-Hoon or Kyo Hwan don't win any awards for the film. As my biggest critique is that the end felt a bit rushed; nonetheless, I really enjoyed the watch, and I felt like I was still rooting for all the characters in the end.

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