andjel
Croatia
The Korean Murphy's Law
In many Korean movies and dramas you just know that the writers want to add suspense by including the worst possible scenarios. If a character can save himself by going right, he will go left. If there is a chance to make the plot more complicated it will be. I felt that way watching this drama. The premise and the plot twists are great but I felt that it could have all been resolved sooner. The show could have ended after 2 episodes, then after 6, than after 7 and half, than after 8, but it kept going until, luckily, it managed to find its resolve and conclusion. I don't want to give anything aways but I can say the ending is a bit generic. Fortunately there is also a short epilogue that i liked.On the other side i still enjoyed all 10 hours of this drama, especially in moral and psychological themes of the characters and how the situations lead and change them. It was truly a bloody lucky interesting exciting ride that no one would want to experience in reality.
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This is serious
Everyone who tried to buy or sell something on classified ads websites can relate to this movie. Personally I was scammed once when selling something, and almost when trying to buy a console but I can see and detect scammers on a daily basis whenever I scroll the adds online. There are too many scammers out there. Unfortunately they always use new tactics and we should all be careful when shopping and leaving our personal information online. This movie is a great warning for that."Target" is a very interesting and suspenseful triller. There are some typical Korean movie cliches inside but they didn't bother me because the story was very compelling and moved quickly. It kept my interest all the time and I would certainly recommend it to everyone.
Btw. anyone here want to buy my Sony MHC V13 Sound System? ㅎㅎ
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Jeju is beautiful
A few weeks have passed since I last watched a Korean movie, and this movie served as a great motivator for me to continue following Korean cinema. While this film isn’t a masterpiece, and I assume I’ll forget the plot within a year, it was still a great way to spend a relaxing evening. The film is short and straightforward, categorized as action, though it’s much more comedy-oriented. I gave it a 9 out of 10, specifically for the humor that really resonated with me. Normally, I’m not a big fan of gag jokes, but it seems I was just in the mood for something like that, and this movie delivered. I found myself laughing at some silly mishap in almost every scene.The actors have charisma, though it seems they could have expressed the eccentric qualities of their characters even more. At the beginning, each character is introduced with distinctive traits, but these quirks don’t play a significant role later on. In fact, their personalities change into a cliché roles.
Also, since I have such beautiful memories of Jeju, this film was a lovely reminder of my visit to the island. I appreciate that the cinematographers gave us viewers a little glimpse of Jeju’s landscape through this film.
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The Triangle of Warfare
You know how some movies feature a love triangle, where three people are involved in a romantic drama that can only end with two? Here, we have something akin to a *fighting triangle*, interestingly set up to represent the three parties involved in the conflict: the imperial guards, the slaves, and the Japanese enemies in this historical period of Korean history.Korean movies usually succeed in conveying strong emotion, and this movie has all the elements of a great drama, spiced up with thrilling battle choreographies. But for some reason, I couldn't empathize with the characters emotionally— basically none of them. The story is great, the actors are very good, and the production is top-notch, but something was not in the right place for a perfect epic, so I couldn't fully enjoy the film. I definitely appreciated the scenery, with its beautiful and sometimes brutal shots, but where the film should have been strongest—in the emotional clashes between the protagonists—something was missing, and I can't fully explain what it is. One of the reasons could be the movie's pacing, which wasn't fluid and jumped from one thing to the next, making it seem like the director didn't focus enough on the central plot.
What I really liked, however, was the theme about Korean society and the relationship between the upper and lower castes. There are echoes of a message that we should all be equal, whether someone is an emperor or a slave, and we know that because of this very message, the Catholic faith in Korea was violently suppressed in the early 19th century.
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Everything is possible
The synopsis says that this is an Omnibus movie with 5 short stories, but there is also a sixth one (Pieces – 토막) that is not mentioned, which connects all the other stories.Each story has a different sub-theme of the supernatural, terrifying, and disgusting. The best element of the movie is the individual scenes where the viewer has to close their eyes because they are too repulsive/disgusting and hard to watch. There aren’t many of them, but each short story has at least one such shocking scene. The horror elements aren’t executed very well because they appear superficial. They try to scare the viewers with various clichés but lack clarity and authenticity. I found it interesting to watch the different themes that make each short segment and each story unique, and everything is quite well connected into one unity. This movie truly breaks the boundaries of what’s possible and just does whatever it wishes. The acting at times seems unconvincing, and as is the case with other horror movies, the characters' actions are often illogical. When I think about it, maybe the directors do this intentionally so that we, the viewers, get more involved in the movie, even if it’s by complaining about why the characters weren’t smarter or more cautious. Horror fans will probably appreciate this movie, despite its flaws, but I wouldn’t recommend it to the general public.
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Sound of Freedom
This movie deserves every recommendation, and I want to join the praises with a brief review. The producers know how to capture the audience's attention and evoke emotions. This is pure action with a moderate dose of humor but also a lot of seriousness, especially in the second half when we follow criminals committing very serious crimes. No one can remain indifferent when watching children in danger. This movie reminded me of the excellent *Sound of Freedom*.In short, this movie works excellently both as entertaining action and as a social commentary on criminals on probation after being released from prison. The main actor, Kim Woo-bin, who plays Lee Jeong-do, managed to stand out with his charisma among much more experienced actors, and it’s nice to see his maturation through the experiences he gains in the movie.
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Do you know what your neighbor is doing?
Living in an apartment where you can hear what's going on with your neighbors through the walls is the everyday life of many people. And of course, when you hear sounds and you don't know what they are, you start imagining different things. I'll never forget one night when I couldn't sleep because the neighbor above me was moving furniture at midnight, and I thought it was a real earthquake. This is also the premise of this film. A young woman who is pursuing a writing career is disturbed by the sounds from the neighbor's apartment, but interestingly, no one else is bothered by it. I liked that for the greater part of the film, as viewers, we remain in ignorance and suspense because we ourselves question what is really happening. Later, when all the elements are revealed, the film shifts the emphasis to another topic, so until the end there is something that keeps us attentive to the plot. But saying more would mean to spoil te movie.The movie isn't bad, and I liked that it didn't try to over-inflate the tension. It tries to be as realistic as possible, and yet arouse interest in the viewers due to the slowly developing plot. I have some objections to the decisions and actions of the main characters, which seem illogical to me, but all in all, this is a solid film that turns from a social drama at the beginning into a tense thriller at the end.
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Dude, who is a gangster?
Just saw this movie for the second time and it is great to see the actors I didn't see for a long time in any project. The production is really excellent. The movie started with an impressive artistic scene with hundreds of gangsters together so i was expecting a „City of Violence“ type of movie. Then, after some jokes thrown into the story I thought maybe this is more like „The Crime City (The Roundup)“ movie series. But this is another city – City of Damnation where we have gangsters and cops but we don’t have much action, just the comedy so this movie would mostly fit the genre of comedy. The director didn’t bother much with the story but just for the visuals and the comedy. There are hundreds of gags in this 2-hour movie which is too much and so over the top that at the end I just laughed at their stupidity. I was reminded two times on the movie “Dude, where’s my car”. There is a tattoo joke and a scene where a character unsuccessfully tries to translate one English to Korean. Haha.Anyway, this could have been a great movie but it exaggerated with the jokes and missed some opportunities with the interesting premise of the story.
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Unrealistic but interesting
I couldn't fully enjoy the movie. It has a lot of great elements, but also a lot of stupid, illogical and unrealistic details. I won't reveal spoilers but I will at least mention the first scene where we see the main character Im Gyu-nam mapping the way through the DMZ. The scene is full of tension and looks attractive, but it is completely unrealistic. The whole movie is like that. They don't represent the realistic view on North Korean regime but an anecdotal exaggeration of it. The events in the plot are so "extra" that until halfway through the film I kept asking myself: "Is this really happening?", and later I came to terms with the fact that the film is based on impossible plots and even more impossible instant resolutions. Maybe modern audience likes that, but to me it was a bit off putting from what is generally very engaging and interesting story.Life in North Korea must be very difficult, and the film develops the theme of free will and choice well. Is it better to live in obedience-slavery but in security or to live in freedom but in uncertainty? The two main protagonists each answer this question in their own way.
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Life doesn't get easier
The movie begins with an interesting plot of a man who returns to life after death and gets a new chance. That short introduction takes us back more than 20 years, to 1997, where we relive the high school days of the main character. His mission is to relive his youth by making a lot of money, but reality will teach him about his limitations and what is really important in life.The uniqueness that the film brings in the original background of the plot with supernatural, even at times religious elements, is diminished due to the clichéd plot and standard, not to say, predictable, story of the students in high school. For me, the best parts of the movie were the first and last 10 minutes, because they try to connect the idea of the story into one, while the main part of the movie fails to profit from the idea of going back in time, but gives one, though nice, but still only a standard high school story.
The message that even with second chance our life is challenging, is actually very noble. I found the movie inconsistent, although it's unique enough that I'm glad I watched it and can recommend it to those who are interested either in the story or the actors.
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Dog?!
First of all there is no dog as protagonist in the movie but there is an artist who dreams in black and white and without sound so his dreams could be his shadows. He is also preparing the exhibition but isn’t doing anything to prepare it?! He is just exploring the small town where he came after a long time. One of his wall painting is actually called: “The Dog Who Eats Shadows”.Still, I didn't get the movie. What dog? What shadows? Maybe I should check Chinese Mythology? Maybe dog (개) can be intended as a scumbag, a person who is less than human. And shadow (그림자) could be compared with the artist because a painting is 그림. So in my mind 그림자 could be a person who paints. Then we should see, who is the scumbag who eats our painter, haha. Sorry, this is just an interpretation since this movie is open to many interpretations. At least the guessing made me interested in the story.
I missed the story arc of an actress, a woman with a certain charisma that seems to be friendly with men around so she can be considered the one eating, dispersing shadows: the doubts, the sadness, the pains of others. I would like to know what happened to her.
And I want to add a warning that this is a mature film with 3 very brief scenes of nudity.
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Real Story
I am sued to watch the actor Ra Min-ran in comedic roles. Here her talent shines through as a hard working single mother who got scammed for her life savings. So instead of making us laugh she makes us sympathize with her struggle for her children, job, money, in fact for her life. Her acting is so sincere that I forgot that this is only a movie. I felt sorry for her situation as if she was my neighbor. Also the other actors are very good. And there are also characters who bring a little bit of humor and cheerfulness so that the movie wouldn’t be too depressing.I like this kind of movies where the story captures you from the start and continues to guide the emotions. I think that the director masterfully connected real life event on which this movie is based of, with the dramatic themes and cinematic details. In short, i was engaged 100% in the movie from start to finish and i can recommend it to everyone. It also speaks about the ever growing problem of scammers.
Interesting fact, completely by chance I watched this movie exactly on the date the case was solved, August 21st.
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Awkward Woman
This is an interesting movie, but I wouldn't say that it is for entertainment, but for thinking about foreigners integration. In today's world, in many developed countries, there are a lot of foreign tourists, travelers, workers so that the compactness of nations and states is slowly being lost. Despite all its openness to the world, Korea still proudly preserves its traditions. In this movie we have an unknown woman, a foreigner, who lives in Korea. The title of the film suggests that she is a traveler, but it seems that she would like to be a part of Korea, not just a foreign traveler. The movie touches on what I experienced myself – In Korea, everyone is very kind and friendly to me, but I still feel like a foreigner.The foreign woman in this movie reflects the difference and clash of cultures. It was awkward and uncomfortable for me to watch her interaction with people, hugging at the first greeting, nonchalance and seeming disinterest in regards to others, irresponsibility for herself, taking private space in sitting to close to other people... The movie has a lot of interesting details, it is especially nice how some sentences and gestures are repeated by several characters to convey that there is something that connects us. In my opinion, the message of the movie is that there is a place for foreigners in Korea, but not without difficulties.
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The Redemption of a Series
After the mess that was the season 2 I thought this series is dead and I almost didn't want to watch season 3. But man, this was a good show and i liked the most of it. There are still many stupid illogical details but at least the series had a focus and gave each character a purpose and a proper conclusion.Watching the series, I realized how much I care about the characters and it was very emotional to witness their pain and tragic fates. This is thanks to the actors who looked very attractive and authentic. Also the excellent soundtrack that often sounded like church music contributed to the atmosphere.
I especially liked the use of religious elements and symbols that subtly indicated order in the midst of chaos. All the characters, whether human or monster or specially infected or neohumans, they all found their purpose and a kind of redemption. In my opinion, the authors managed to return the series to its original roots and conclude the story in a great way and i couldn't be happier about it.
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Holy gangsters :)
It is said that spirituality should not be used for jokes, but sometimes that is justified. This film uses different religions and spiritualities in a very good way, for a joke, but also for inspiration. For a moment it may seem that the film makes fun of faith, but in fact it conveys the message that faith has its own strength and meaning, and the message that different faiths together give greater strength is also noble.The Korean title of the film is 목스박 which stands for 목사 (pastor), 스님 (monk) and 박수무당 (shaman), according to the three main characters who suddenly take on the roles of these holy figures leading to various funny and absurd situations. Since this is a family friendly action comedy after all, I am a little disappointed with the excessive use of curse words. The characters are just as crazy as they should be, to combine the comedy and the action for a fun watching experience. In some absurd way, this is a good movie about religious dialogue and cooperation.
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