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[ Fox Valley ]
I liked the idea and the introduction to the story. The scenes made me feel uncomfortable and anxious, but with the alien sex scene, it lost all the charm and became a joke of itself. I love dark humor and horror comedy, if done right. This was not.
[ Road Rage ]
Probably my favorite out of all the stories and the reason is quite simple: it was realistic. The things that truly may happen in real life are far scarier than anything abstract and supernatural. The plot by the end made a full circle and it was enjoyable to watch. The switch of characteristics between the characters was a good plot point, which was nicely executed.
[ Machine Ghost ]
This part was also well done, but made the leading story that much more confusing with the styling of the robots. That said, I always welcome a story that dwells on the themes of consciousness, free will and what makes a human human. When does the robot stop being a commodity to be used by people and should be treated as its own being deserving rights that will protect him? Since the story is short, it is not a deep dive into such a broad topic, but it highlights some interesting aspects.
Overall, I would say it was worse than the 1st movie, but better than the 2nd. The leading story was quite ridiculous and I truly disliked the costume and set design. It looked like a low-budget sci-fi movie.
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Gwan Hee being the source of entertainment for all.
This was easily the best season of the show. All the changes made in terms of production were spot on - from how the Inferno works, how many times they were going to Paradise, the casting of contestants, the MCs. Great combination for the entertaining watch.For the cast, you might hate Gwan Hee, you might love Gwan Hee, but it's undeniable he took the girls, the MCs and all of us on a rollercoaster journey of emotions. His whole arc presents like a kdrama plot with decent character development. This old, yet I truly believe he is a child at heart (and maybe the brain lol). Easily emotionally moved, not knowing himself well, egocentric (at times I truly thought it's not like he deliberately was ignoring what others might feel, he simply could not understand and comprehend any other than his own point of view). And yes... I could not hate him. I was frustrated to the core, but he still won my heart.
Realistically speaking, the only truly good guy and the right choice was Choi Min Woo. The most mature, the most honest and straightforward, but in a pleasant manner. Did not pay that much attention to him at first, but by the end, I just wanted him to be happy.
For the girl, two that I ended up loving were Yun Hajeong and Yu Sieun. Hajeong was just a ball of positive energy and amazing humor. Personally, I enjoyed her interactions and relationships/friendships with all contestants. On the other hand Yu Sieun had this good and pure image that felt natural and peaceful. Could just had to root for her.
There were some contestants I could not vibe with by the end: Hanbin, Jinseok and Gyuri. I just honestly have no idea what Hanbin was doing there (I mean I know, the show is great for self-promotion), Jinseok just confused me a lot closer to the end and Gyuri was legit scary.
Another great aspect of the show was the addition of Dex as one of the MCs. He blended perfectly with the previous ones, creating fun chemistry on screen. He also added a new perspective of someone who himself was part of the previous season and knew how it might affect the participants.
Overall, loved it. First season was fun, because it was something new for me. Second was a complete mess, and this one is juts entertaining blessing.
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The plot is rather mediocre - it’s the same old hunting story we have seen thousands of times. What makes the movie great is how it presents, the overall tone and great pacing. While you know where the plot goes early on, you might still be interested in how it will be shown.
Bea Alonzo acts as a driven counselor, who makes her mission to help students in any way she is capable of. The mix of fear and concern she presented in many scenes was done in a believable way. Overall, the acting of the whole cast ranged from good to great, and I had no major issues with it.
Sadly, the movie loses some points from the over the top jump scares that they drop left and right, whenever they are needed or not. The movie would be far more frightening without them. Rather than flashing scary faces on screen, holding the shot still with eerie background elements would elevate the suspense and anticipation, in the process giving a better payoff.
Overall, goodish horror. Nothing outstanding, but for sure enjoyable.
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Supernatural teen scream
The movie has good moments and bad moments. Some scenes were well built on atmosphere, making the jump scares more effective. Some jump scares were punching you in the face with over the top effects. And yet, the movie was quite entertaining.What truly adds to the typical teens at the haunted location flick is the introduction of different timelines. We follow different plot lines that together create a rather cohesive picture. There were a few small twists that I didn't see coming, thanks to which, the ending was truly satisfying.
Hard to comment on the acting, when the acting was 80% just screaming. There was not much depth to the character, and their purpose was to… well, die. About dying, the ghost had a strange interest in toilets. Somehow, quite a lot happened in that area.
First half of the movie had a better atmosphere. The director showed us enough of the supernatural lurking in the dark, that I was interested in what’s to come and what exactly is after the kids. Sadly, the more of the actual footage of the demonic ghost I’ve got, the funnier it became.
Overall, a rather fun ride. I am a bit weak for the teen horrors, and seeing these kids run around trying to survive is always entertaining. So, as long as you don’t expect a groundbreaking cinematic masterpiece, and just want to have a little bit of chill fun, you might like it.
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Really basic in all aspects.
It’s hard to have any opinion about this movie because it was just really… mediocre. They used the typical jump scares, the plot and the ending were rather predictable, the characters were stereotypical.It had a nice atmosphere to it, but I feel like it was not used to the fullest. They could have focused more on the different motivations between characters - Jia Wei trying to get money and Shu Yi trying to get peace. This could lead to a good conflict between the couple, drive them apart and be better incorporated into the hunting aspect.
That said, the acting itself was good. I have no complaints in this area. Especially a good performance from Kimi Hsia, who had to show a lot of the character’s internal conflict through facial expressions.
Overall, it is skippable.
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The vague explanation of the plots, relationships between the characters and the characters’ motivations is exactly the charm of the stories. Everyone can see what they want to see, everyone can view it the way they seem fit, and everyone will be correct in their perception.
For me Love Set represents the determination, desperation and domination; Collector serves as a literal representation of toxic relationships, when two people expect different things and cannot fulfill each other’s needs; Kiss Burn shows the recklessness of youth and the overexaggerated perception of events they hold; Walking at Night portrays the grief and guilt one might feel after losing the loved ones, and how we can try to subconsciously deal with it.
IU’s performance was truly amazing. While she has her style in the lines delivery, that can be seen in most of her projects, the nuances she adds on top of it made all the characters distinguishable.
Each movie was beautifully shot, with Kiss Burn fitting my taste the most. Loved the dark environment and the use of light to bring the set to life.
Overall, after finishing the first episode I asked myself “what the heck have I just seen?”, but the more I watched, the more interested I became and I started to build my own interpretation of the stories I’ve been watching.
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What started as a movie that focuses on human’s weaknesses, doubt, overcoming trauma, finished CGI blood and smoke and possessed animals… Why? First and second half of the movie do not exactly match well together.
Each character had an interesting personal story that could have been explored in the context of their faith - fighting against the bureaucracy for the good of others, overcoming your trauma and finding strength within yourself, showing goodness when faced with danger and pain. Sadly, none of these plot lines were explored enough, when the movie focused more on the preparation and the exorcism itself.
Additionally, there were some plots that were introduced but truly led to nowhere (the investigation over a possible indiscretion and immoral acts of Father Kim) and I questioned the point of introducing them in the movie in the first place.
While the cinematography and camera work were truly on point, the CGI and practical effects left a lot to desire. The exorcism scene made me cry from laughing with how over the top and “excessive” it was. When will horror directors figure out that less means more?
Overall: I quite enjoyed it. The last 25 to 30 minutes were the weakest, and served a rather ridiculous conclusion to the story.
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The biggest problem I had was poor world building and a villain that made no sense. The pacing was also quite all over the place. With a rather simple plot like this (especially since they did not expand on more complex themes that could have been included), it was just too long - the movie dragged.
The ending was lazy. In this type of movie I am not expecting a plot twist of a century, but they should wrap everything up.
The best part of Space Sweepers was for sure Kang Kot Nim. Truly loved the actress and the character she was playing. She had the best chemistry with every cast member.
Overall, don’t bother to watch it, unless you are a massive fan of any of the main cast. It was just a really safe movie, tried to keep everything low key (except for visuals) and because of that it was at times boring and skippable.
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Sure, there were few performances I liked a lot, few that made me laugh, but overall, there wasn't even one episode when I did not feel like skipping. From time to time I rewatch more memorable performances from previous seasons, but I am sure this will not happen here.
Not only participants were less engaging, the celebrity guests also presented, at times, questionable entertainment value.
I don't really have much to say about this season, since it was simply "meh". The format was dead 2 seasons ago, and even with the production team trying to tweak it here and there, it still is not interesting enough anymore.
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Ignoring the unnecessary supernatural aspect of the movie, it's quite an interesting portray of the struggles and hardships of a gay people in Korea in 1990', especially among teens.
The way the story is presented is simply confusing, though not impossible to follow. The timeline keeps changing, the flashbacks and current events are, at times, hard to distinguish from each other. Min Ah's deep involvement with the couple is also quite weakly explained.
The worst part of the show is the ending act. That's when the heavy supernatural element is introduced and takes over the story. And it makes the story feel so cheap. This movie would have worked so much better as a teen melodrama or coming of age story.
I liked the acting in Whispering Corridors 2 way more than the first movie. It's more modern in style, and because of that, feels more natural.
Overall, I did enjoy it more than the first movie, simply because the topics discussed in here were more serious. I wouldn't call it an amazing movie, but I don't regret picking it up.
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Interesting concept with great performance...
...and too short of the run time.The movie presents an interesting take on the time travel stories. The only connection between the two timelines happens in dreams. This sadly created a pacing problem.
The characters could not easily and actively confirm if what they are seeing is just a dream or an actual different timeline. The introduction to the story just took too long, and as a result, the investigation and cooperation between Geon Woo and Ji Hwan felt rushed and underdeveloped. The potential behind their connection was barely used.
The movie did a great job with fleshing out the characters. The performance of the whole cast was amazing. Jo Jung Suk killed all his emotional scenes, and the subtle effect they had on Geon Woo as a character was perfectly executed by Lee Jin Wook.
Additionally, Time Renegades is simply beautiful. For a crime and detective story, it has quite a number of calm, relaxing, and pretty sceneries, especially in the first half and the closing scenes.
Sadly, the ending was disappointing. The effect the changes in the past had on the present storyline had close to zero sense. Some characters, who had no connection to the past events, had their fate changed without proper explanation. It just didn't click well, felt forced and over the top. They tried to introduce unnecessary plot twists and connections that just didn't work well.
Overall, it was still an enjoyable watch. Some decisions made by characters were questionable and gimmicky (the way they dealt with the main villain was laughable), but I guess that was also the charm of the movie. Adding some run time or making the introduction to the plot and characters shorter could solve some of the problems I had with it. Even with that though, I don't regret watching this movie.
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The movie has two leading aspects to it, that just don't quite match. On one hand, it's a psychological drama about child abuse and the deteriorating relationship between father and daughter. On the other hand, it's a ghost investigation with comedy bits. But none of these are used to their full potential.
The movie would be better if they commit to either of these: focus mostly on the relationship and how it affects the family and then surround it by the stories of abandonment presented in the supernatural aspects or cut short the relationship between dad and his daughter and jump to the ghost investigation with Kyung Hoon faster and truly give that Scooby Doo fun, entertaining story.
The highlight of the movie was the acting and visuals. Heo Yool as Yi Na was a masterpiece of child acting. Especially liked the scene when she was watching a video of her mother.
The design for the supernatural was spot on and pleasing to the eye (is that weird to say about some evil beings?). The set design was quite well constructed. Visually speaking the movie was amazing, but that was also the reason I did not find it scary at all. The scene that should terrify or at least give me chills just made me think "wow, that's so pretty/cool".
Overall, I would recommend it as a fun, short movie for a Friday evening after work/school, when you ran out of all brain power and just want to be mildly entertained.
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On one hand it's a story about the sacrifices people can make for the ones they love, on the other, how you cannot escape the destiny and story written for you. It had heart, tension and some good scares. One of the scenes, that I would probably pic as one of my favorites from any movie I watched this year relied only on the sound and was such a refreshing way of creating suspense.
The acting was quite nice. I was hesitant to start the movie because of Ok Taec Yeon, but since his character was not that complex, and served a propose of guiding the viewers. He was more or less the exposition.
The movie is also shot in a beautiful way. Many scenes were presented from unusual angles and I could clearly see how much attention was put in the lighting.
There was one aspect of the plot I wasn't too happy about, but since it's a major spoiler I will write about it in comment section under spoiler. But even with that, I could appreciate the story for what it was. Another thing that was slightly off was the makeup done on Kim Yoon Jin to make her look older. Even tho better than in many other productions, it was still not fully believable.
Still, would definitely recommend. Best to watch with lights off and headphones on.
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Sadly, this season had exactly what made me almost drop season one - too much script. The thing I loved about season one was the fact the cast was rarely ever seriously in the characters, and they themselves kept making jokes about the games and the "seriousness" of the cases. Here we got the opposite of that. Everything has been scripted, and with the ending like that I felt like no games nor cases were truly organic.
There was also less variety in the cases and "supporting" characters, since all the cases were strongly connected. The best episodes were the ones that felt the most different from the overall theme.
Sadly IZ*ONE's episode felt like a filler and did not have the same level of excitement like the others. Same goes for episode 9, which was nothing more than a heavy exposition and explanation. More than half of it was us watching the cast watch something else, and definitely not enough interactive elements.
The star of the season was for sure Min Jae. His character was fun to watch, and even more entertaining was when he broke out of it when the jokes were too much to handle.
I still had a lot of fun watching, but I do feel a small dose of disappointment compared to season one.
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I have to admit, mixing variety show and drama was not a stupid idea. If produced correctly, it combines all the best aspects of the two entertainment media. Did it work out here? Yes and No.
Yes
The cast members trying to fit into the roles of detectives led to many funny scenes that quite literally made me cry from laughing a few times. Having the main plot link all the episodes made me more involved. Usually, with variety shows, I only watch the episodes that have guests I am interested in. Here, because they tried to tell a cohesive story, it "forces" me to watch all the episodes, to be able to understand what is going on.
Dramas and variety shows are as good as the chemistry between the characters/cast. Damn, they did a good job with the casting here. They played off of each other so well. No matter who was working with whom, and how they split up, it was always fun and entertaining to watch.
No
First three episodes were too scripted, to the point it did not feel genuine. Instead of watching the cast solve the mystery and play the games, it felt like I'm watching them act it out, as if they already knew all the answers. Luckily, even though they left the scripted parts for the plot line to progress, the solving cases did feel more organic in later episodes. They started to have fun with how cringe the show is and joke about it too.
Honestly, I was about to drop it in episode 3, and give it a last shot with 4th only because I saw who the guests were. I was lucky, because that episode changed my mind completely. Now I cannot wait to start watching season 2.
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