Doesn't try to do too much
This is a 30 minute film that focuses on a single conversation between two boys. Because that's all there is, the writing and acting have to carry it. I thought they did a great job!They somehow manage to get backstory in there without an infodump (I hate those), the conversation never gets slow, and it's always going somewhere. By the end you feel like you understand where they came from to get to this place.
Then at the end there's a surprise, which I won't spoil, but which seems to signal a sequel?
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Pleasant and Captivating
I can understand this isn't for everyone but I was incredibly intrigued by this film.This was a one-scene film of a 30 minute conversation between two friends, August and Kit, and in those 30 minutes we were given so much. Goofy and playfulness, frustration and doubt, romance and flirtation. The chemistry and conversation felt natural- almost as if I was right there in the cafe with the two. It was slow but they had my full attention the entire time.
The set was positively adorable- I felt like it was created for a bubbly Kpop MV but it works nicely. The camera work also caught my eye- slowly going "in" and "out" (likely a reference to what Kit talks about at the beginning of the film) was a nice touch!
Give Love Advisor a try! It's quick and easy, and who knows... maybe you'll even be surprised by the ending.
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Frustration at its finaet
Frustrated, more frustrated, most frustrated...This short film does a great job portraying two men who are really, really frustrated... A feeling that grows as the film progresses.
This film also manages to insert a whole lot of twits and made me change my mind more than once about the characters again all in less than 30 minutes and without actually leaving their seats... So I am pretty impressed by the pacing, dialog and way it is written. This film does a great job showing the frustration one can feel while having a long time crush on your friend without actually getting anywhere as well as getting mixed signals or just not being seen... or whatever other reasons there may be this film is just so relatable . I could truly feel the frustration grow... Bringing back memories and reminding me of just how frustrating some people can be... Did I mention it is frustrating?
So in short if you are in need of a dose of frustration, a short but interesting story with twists this is definitely a good choice, just make sure it is frustration you are looking for...
Now count the amount of times I mentioned frustration to see if you are up for the frustration in this film, All the best and good luck to you!
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A Quirky Short Film
Content Warnings: noneOverall: a cute short film (30min) with an art house film quirky vibe
What I Liked
- the set design is really nice
- the camerawork and lighting made it have an art film/quirky/unique tone
- I could see this being a whole series and I don't think I've seen a fortune teller reading tea leaves in BL yet...
Room For Improvement
- I think I know what happened at the end but I'm not really sure...which generally isn't how I like to feel after watching something
- the goofy sound effects were okay, I liked that they toned them/got rid of them later on
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This review may contain spoilers
Skip the Last Minute or so and It's a Great Short Film
Short, but captivating!STORY:
Kit is a tea leaf fortune teller who is waiting at a cafe for his friend August. When August arrives, he asks for his romantic fortune to be read. This sparks a heart-to-heart conversation between the two.
The story isn't too complex. It's just two friends sitting in a cafe talking about one friend's love life. We're not given any back story on the character, but it's through their dialogue that we learn their relationship with each other. Even then, the dialogue doesn't give us the full story. We can only make assumptions based on what they say. It's as if we, the audience, is sitting down at the same cafe listening in on their conversation. It's through their conversation that we learn they are friends. That August has a lot of admirers. And that Kit and August have shared a drunken kiss and it's eating Kit up inside. We learn all of this as they literally sit at a table and talk.
Trying not to spoil the film, I will say that the film is amazing for being able to pack as much drama as they did without getting preachy in their dialogue. Most films will have monologues that explain everything, but here, all the audience can do is guess about everything. The film does great in bringing out the personalities of each character as they sit and chat. August, being more expressive, moves around a lot in his seat as he cracks jokes. Kit, on the other hand, doesn't move much, preferring to just stare and react to August. We get to see the dynamic of the two through all of this subtle movements.
With only 30 minutes, there is a lot that we learn about Kit and August, but it's the last few minutes of the film that throws the audience for a ride. I would have given this film a 10 out of 10, if it wasn't for the ending. While the ending isn't terrible, it is a cliff hanger. Until the film makers give us a sequel the lower rating still stands.
PRODUCTION/ACTING:
(Since I went to film school, I might talk about some things that you might not have noticed, but I definitely did!)
The actors give amazing performances, but it is stunted by the highly stylized cinematography. I've read more than a few reviews saying the cinematography was amazing, but I beg to differ. The cinematography is highly stylized and beautiful, but it took away from the acting. The background lighting was a little over-exposed creating a beautiful effect, but we couldn't see half of the actor's face. In this type of film where there are no big movements or action, the audience can only rely on the dialogue and the actor's gestures and facial expressions. With the lighting they had, while beautiful to look at, we couldn't see half of the actor's face therefore it was difficult to pick up on some of the actor's expressions. I personally had a hard time seeing most of Kit's expressions since his character is more stoic than August.
Also, the mostly static, single camera was horrific. Again, the audience needs to see the actor's expressions. We also need to be visually stimulated in order to not get bored of the one setting story. The film makers tried to make the film visually stimulating with the lighting and the camera occasionally zooming into the actors. The result was the audience not being able to see more than half of the actor's facial expressions. Most of the film was a medium shot of both actors. We could occasionally see a slightly closer shot of the two, but it's clear that the camera was static and just zoomed in on the two. Towards the climax of the film, the camera starts doing this "V" like style of zooming where the single camera zooms into one actor's face, pans out to a medium shot of the two actors, then zooms into the second actor. It was difficult to watch. We barely got to see any actor's face in full. It was always cut off by the lighting and the camera angle made it difficult to see the actor's full face.
Lastly, the jump cuts! There were so many jump cuts! With the static, single camera style of cinematography the film makers were doing, the best would have been the entire film being shot in one take. However, 30 minute long one takes are very difficult to do. The film makers were able to hide the jump cuts by showing us the "close ups" of the actors, but occasionally there would be a jump cut with the same shot. It's only a split second, so many people may not have noticed, but it was very obvious if you paid attention. Also the random jump cuts into the tea pot was annoying and unnecessary.
OVERALL:
Love Advisor is a beautiful short film if you're okay with a single setting and lots of dialogue. The story was beautiful and the cinematography is highly stylized and beautiful (if you didn't go to film school.)
I hope the film makers will give us a sequel, or I will forever skip the last minute of the film.
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This review may contain spoilers
Lee Long is perfect, thank you for listening
30 minutes of pure bliss > We are going to ignore the ending because if I think about it, it will send me into a spiralLee Long can do no wrong
I love mini-movies that take place in one setting where 2 people are talking to each other, I don't know what it is, I think its because it's just raw and intimate. That's one of my favorite things to do is just sit down with someone and just have a conversation so I think that's why I like these kinds of short films.
August's confession was one of my favorite confessions ever, the emotion on both boy's faces when they were confessing to each other was unmatched.
I don't know if Sobita is still acting but he needs to do more series with Lee because they had more chemistry sitting there than I've seen in a whole 12-ep series.
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Great portrayal of Long’s Acting Ability
I throughly enjoyed this short and was drawn into the conversation easily. As it progressed I was impressed by the one-take quality and sense of intimacy. it seemed that I was listening in on what became a very private conversation. I have no clue what was meant by the ending, so I’m going to pretend the last few minutes did not happen. I’m coming to this after watching Long play Day in Love Syndrome lll, where his character’s conduct is largely toxic and irrational, altogether unappealing, except in terms of amazing physical appearance. What a relief to see him play a very nuanced role in which subtle shifts in body language and facial expression role are key. The startling contrast between the roles make me respect him as an actor and look forward to more.Was this review helpful to you?
Foundational Romance Tropes: friends to lovers, confession
A stylish little microfilm that had a very Wes Anderson feel, and queer aura (rather than BL) with decent subs. It was essentially a pretty one act play with very few cuts and good production values that I found well acted but a little dull. I got Nampu (Top Secret Together) vibes from one of the characters (a very good thing). An interesting twist ending gave this a more Korean feel than one might expect from Thailand, which is why I bothered to review this.RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS
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