allicya
Japan/Malaysia
If you are searching for a light but simply addicting drama, you should pick Long Vacation. The story may began just like the other 'living under the same roof' dramas, but the setting is on 1996 so it was different from other recent dramas. No handphones or emails, so it was more about the characters dealing with themselves regarding their feelings. The simple twist at the end of every episode will keep you want to know more about what will happened next. And the ending is simply beautiful.
The chemistry between the main couple really worked out, it was fun to see them together. Kimura Takuya is as excellent as ever and Yamaguchi Tomoko did a very nice job playing a miserable 31 years old woman. The other casts are also awesome, I didn't find any of them annoying.
The soundtrack is also one of the winning factor for this drama. The opening theme is still one of my favorite song up until this moment (and I always sing it whenever I went for a karaoke) plus all the music pieces they chose for this drama is awesome.
Even though this drama is quite old, it will remain evergreen in my heart. Try watching this drama, you are not going to be disappointed.
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This review may contain spoilers
There is a reason why the tragedy tag is there. The setting of this movie itself is during war, in a war camp where all sort of people is there. The good and the bad people, the honest and the one with ulterior motives. The story itself is unique to me. Usually, movies in a war setting are heavy on tactical or political but Swing Kids focuses mainly on tap dance. When I watched the trailer, it got myself thinking too how did this one ended up as musical movie? The music was necessary to accompany the tap dance. I don’t really know much about American music during war times but it is pleasant to hear. The movie focuses on the hero, Kisoo and how he fell in love with tap dance. How tap dance changed his life, the consequences he got when he accepted his love for tap dance from his fellow countrymen and enemies, and the dream he wanted with his talent. It was a beautiful journey to watch his character development. The other characters are necessary for this development, one leads to the other, and another, until they completed each other. And these characters will be tested on their ideology and loyalty; either to be freed physically or to be freed mentally.
Do Kyungsoo is so incredible in this movie. The way he talked in North Korean accent, the way he potrayed as a bully and the most important is the way he tapped dance. It was so beautiful to watch his character. The second lead for me is the character Jackson. The actor, Jared Grimes, is really into his character, I am so impressed. Jackson is the person that introduced tap dance to Kisoo. The relationship between them is so beautiful, it transgressed language, skin colors and ideology. Park Hye Soo’s English is wonderful and she certainly can tap dance; while Oh Jung Se and Kim Minho completed the comic relief in this movie.
The movie started with a good humor here and there, and later it changed into a serious tone due to a major event in the movie. But the beauty of tap dance is featured in the movie from the beginning until the end. The director is clever to use music as the momentum, mostly the pacing of the shoe’s tap itself, and there are some scenes I literally held out my breath, the tap dances in this movie are that good.
I would love to rewatch it again in the future. This movie is certainly different from the others. Recommended.
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This movie is not for those that want something exciting all the way through, in fact the movie is quite slow in the beginning. However, the cinematography is beautiful hence I don't have problem with the slow plotline. It didn't really follow the flow of the novel, but the storyline still delivers. The transition between current timeline and the past are not confusing at all since they are using different actors so you can figure out when is the current and past timeline easily. I love the climax, it was delivered nicely.
Just to let you guys know, the movie focused on the past timeline the most so Takumi Kitamura and Minami Hamabe are the one that appeared the most in this movie. Shun Oguri acted as the storyteller and Keiko Kitagawa as the friend that also effected by the main issue. All of them played their roles perfectly, especially Takumi Kitamura. I really love the tone of his voice that he used in this movie, it suited his role perfectly. Minami Hamabe is perfect as the cheerful girl and you just can't help to like her since she always smiles brightly. Both of them connected naturally despite them being strangers in the beginning and the differences in their personalities.
The music is subtle, easy to the ears, suited perfectly with the storyline. Though I'm not sure if I will rewatch this again, this movie surely isn't forgettable. Enjoyable.
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This is a political movie, yes. If you don't like politics and expect an intense fight with Gojira the whole time like those western movie, this movie might not be for you. There are so many political issues they need to handle with. How the government should react when something not written inside the manual happened to the country, what the Prime Minister should do in time of crisis; stay with the people or run away, surrender to pressure or think of other way out. How the ministers should react fast to support the country; find a way out or give up. And probably the most critical point, what Japanese should do for Japan; ask for help from outside to take over or ask for help but still take control of the overall decision. This movie also tackled on sensitive issue for Japanese; the nuclear and radioactive stuffs and the army first big crisis after the post war. Awesome, I tell you.
Non Japanese might find all these stuffs are hard to relate thus tend to focus on the weird side effects, weird Gojira movement. Not to mention the music is so Japanese in so many ways. Try to see this movie in Japanese POV and you will find this movie is an extremely good one. Recommended.
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Turned out the storyline was good. The movie will catch your attention right from the start. The pace was nice, there are no moments that I found boring. The storyline is clear, it tells you what it wanted to tell, nothing requires critical thinking. You just ponder on what should they do to survive that zombie attack. Yes, there will be some scenes that are going to disturb your emotions. Sometimes you feel like you want some characters to die fast because they are plain annoying, even at some points Gong Yoo will annoy you. He delivered the selfish role right. Kim Soo An also delivered her role well, I am impressed. Ma Dong Seok is a sweetheart, I really like his role here.
No songs whatsoever have been used as the background except Soo An's singing and the ringtone. But then the sound effect that they are using are appropriate at the correct time. Typical of zombies movies to have that sudden shock effect on the viewers, so be alert all the time. You will never know when a zombie will appear.
Tho personally I think they can give a better ending, this is a good movie indeed. Maybe I will rewatch it again 5 years later, it still leaves quite an impression to me. Go watch it, it's worth your time.
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It focus on how the heroine is trying to catch the hero's attention. The movie is very comedic, I laugh often on her ways to attract the guy. It is more on how their friendship blooms, how the guy taught her on life through foods so yeah, their relationship is kind of sweet.
I watched Kawaguchi Haruna's previous drama and I must say she improved a lot in this movie. She delivered that desperate woman's act successfully. This is the first time I watch something with Hayashi Kento, he is good, an eye candy too.
The ending made you want to know more, kind of hoping for a continuation of this movie. This movie is short, about an hour and half only so if you want something light heartening you can try pick this movie. Recommended.
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Story wise, the plot is from one of the major arc in the manga which introduced the background of Gintoki, the main character. Shun Oguri is such a fine man acting as Gintoki, I'm so thankful that they casted him to play that role. It's not going to be so hard to follow the plot if you didn't read the manga, it is the typical someone did something bad so the heroes need to set things right but with Gintama styled twist. Masaki Suda portrayed Shinpachi effortlessly, he really acted weak but with funny facial expressions, I laughed so hard in the cinema. Kanna Hashimoto also acted well as Kagura. Her scenes with Nanao are so remarkably funny. Nanao is so hot in the movie too, easy eye catcher. Special acknowledgement to Jiro Sato, if you guys remember him in Mr Nietzsche, his role is exactly as comical as that, I really like how he acted his comedy.
In terms of music, the background musics are appropriate with the scenes. UVERworld performed one of the OST, if you know them, the song Decided which is for this movie is awesome. Shun Oguri did sing for comical purposes lol.
Simply put, it is literally a part of the manga that has been transformed into live action. All the Gintama's wicked dark humor, their famous tag lines and the famous Gintama-style references to other mangas or animes are there in the movie. These stuffs are essential to Gintama. Kudos to the movie makers for didn't leave these things in this movie. Recommended.
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Got surprise tho. The first episode was quite typical crime drama style. Then from the second episode onward this drama is seriously too good to pass. The pace for second episode is fast, a good kind of fast and everything started to grip your attention. And by the end of every episode you will want more. Too bad there are only nine episodes, the grip of this story is awesome.
Yamada, our Johnny's boy acting is very good here, I'm impressed. I approved how he played Kindaichi. The other's acting was good too tho some guest character's acting went overboard or too plain but the storyline made up that flaws.
The OST, Weekender is a very nice song but I am a Johnny's bias so that is expected from me. But really, it is very catchy. The sound effects they used in this drama are very suitable, I am very fond of the school bell's sound effect, managed to get your attention.
Overall, I really recommend this drama to those Kindaichi's fan and those that are new to Kindaichi. There are no scenes too brutal, all the murder scenes are mild. Those that are used to Kindaichi will know the difficulty level of the case and for those that are new, you will wreck your brain on how to solve the crime from the beginning. Go watch it, worth your time.
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For me, any adult who have experienced few romances episode in their life can relate easily what the drama is trying to convey. The main couple story is mainly about finding true love and distinguish it from adore, like, crush and those similar feelings. Other couples stories are about dating while doing other commitment, facing pregnancy and the courage to love again after failed romance.
And that is why I love this drama. It is close to our daily life issues, with every episode can make you wonder about your own life. The plot gets dragged a little bit in the middle and the clueless-ness of some characters will make you feel like you want to slap and shout at them, but I guess that means the actor/actress are doing a good job. Both main love story and the side stories are cute and beautiful.
The music is wonderful too. Easy on your ear, perfect for those who are in love. The music director of this drama did a great job too, every situation has a suitable sound effect.
If you want a light and cute drama, I recommend you watch this drama. There is nothing too serious in this drama and it surely can manage to make you smile.
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The Miracles of the Namiya General Store
6 people found this review helpful
There are past that belongs to Mr Namiya and the future that belongs to Atsuya and his friends. And in between there are also other characters in another different timeline. The future will interfere with the past and in the end everyone is connected to each other. Sounds confusing? No, the director did a great job not to confuse the viewer, he followed the event properly.
I will say that Toshiyuki Nishida is the main actor here, without him nothing will happened. He did his role perfectly up until the end. Yamada is an angry young man here, I always think he is a great actor, even in this movie. Both of them didn’t share any scene together, but the link between them will be explained more as we go further into the movie. Special shoutout to Kento Hayashi. His acting improved greatly in this movie. The woman beside me was crying so hard on his scene to the point that I too, get goosebumps.
The cinematography is beautiful, it didn’t use much sound or song except in a few scenes. There are no definite climax in this movie but the storyline is so clear, it keeps you wanted to know the real mystery behind everything. It is not the detective kind of movie, it is just people trying to make sense of what is going on. In the process, they learnt something very important in their lives which is relatable to us all. I really like the message this movie tried to convey. Recommended.
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You can just watch this one without watching the live action, the storylines are not related. It focused on Sougo and Hijikata with Gintoki on the background. Gintoki is still as awesome as ever even only as a sidekick, don't worry. But Shinpachi and Kagura didn't appear here. Just like the live action, this drama literally follow the manga and didn't change any of the plot so it is very enjoyable for the fans. It used the same style and music from the live action so it didn't feel like two different Gintama.
You can just watch it alone or complete it with the live action. Nicely done, recommended.
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But no. I watch this on this era and apparently this drama is not really for our era. I watch it for the sake of Kimura Takuya, but his good acting skills is wasted here. First, just skip the opening theme. The music is poor, yes, nothing can conceal that. And there are so many time gaps on this drama. Two weeks later, one year late, one month later. Then at certain points you are just getting tired of that.
The good things about this drama? The actors. A very good acting, in fact, this is the only drama where I like the other lead actor instead of Kimura Takuya. Tamura Masazaku played the role of the husband perfectly, I am touched. The actress however annoyed the best of me. The storyline is kinda slow, but it gets better through time.
Watch it only for Kimura Takuya. Or if you need a drama on the background of your desktop while you are working. It will pass easily.
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Yes, it is about six different stories set around Christmas, only two pairs of couple did actually met with each other but only as acquaintances. Imagine watching six stories in 110 minutes, so it is quite lacking in details for a few of the pairings. But I guess the film is quite watchable and passable since it involves the usual things in our life. Finding love, expressing love, enduring love, dying love, lost love and unrequited love all in one film. I found the long distance couple are the most exciting couple of all, their story lines was beautifully told to the extent that I got teary eyes watching them.
All of the casts did their job well done, I have no problem with their acting. The musics are mostly Christmas songs. I only noticed one non Christmas song. Though personally I will not going to rewatch this movie, the numerous plots made me want to focus only on the couple that I am interested in.
In short, the film is a good movie about love. If you have no problem with watching numerous stories in one film, you can give this movie a try.
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Zhang Ziyi and Leehom are looking good together in this movie and they portrayed their characters perfectly. There was a time when I laughed so loud that the other flight passengers were looking at me, their acting was that good. The story line still can manage to get your attention, thanks to the main lead.
Since I watched this in a flight (noise everywhere) so I can't comment much on the aspect of music, but really, this movie is very enjoyable even without the sound effects.
If you want to watch something light in a free time, this movie can serve that purpose. Or if you want to watch Zhang Ziyi in one of her best comedic roles, give this movie a try. She is not going to use her usual martial arts to beat the bad guy, but she will do witty things to beat them!
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Kindaichi Shonen no Jikenbo: Gokumon Juku Satsujin Jiken
1 people found this review helpful
I really like this case. It is hard to solve the case from the beginning. And as time goes by you will suspect someone but then it still didn't make sense. Yamada's acting is good as always, and the other supporting characters are quite the eye candies.
This is a very good special. Watch it if you have some spare time and need something to grip your attention easily. The case is quite complicated but the storyline made things easy to understand. I have finished watching all Kindaichi cases with Yamada Ryosuke acting as him and I must say I recommend all of it.
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