Reviews

don't watch with close minded people the first time you watch it.

How can they be gay at such a time. How can they defy the church and society. Why would they defy that. How can people not understand that it's not a disease? How could you not believe such love? Why would they want to be gay at such time? How can people say it's not real? these are the type of questions that ran through my mind during the credits. If by then, you still think their emotions aren't real, they you might just be a dense idiot. Hell might just be a wonderful place if it accepts such love.

The acting was really great, the actors are so talented(except maybe the western extras. no offense).

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Cried Twice Because I Was M in Real Life

Altough I kinda think the storyline is kinda basic, but I have to say that the execution, production, deliver, it so well done. I personally dont really like complicated storyline so it makes this movie better.

I personally not crying because the story, I cry I because I realize this is what i have been throuh with my granma, Its beatiful and sometimes its sad. Watching this definetly just watching my life back and I realize the moment I had is precious and now I think it does, because not many ppl really have a bond with their elder. Even my own granma doesnt close with her own child except me her granson. She has 4 granchild but I'm the only one who close with her.

Scoring, Cinematography, Estabilish Footages They are telling a story.

I dont know what to say, this movie rent-free in my head forever.

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Dream vs Reality

Fascinating Dream in the Grassland was shot so realistically that it was difficult to tell whether it was a short film or documentary. At only 13 minutes long, the film told the story of Gele/Garus and her love of dance and her love for her family.

Gele lives on the Tibetan grasslands with her family. They are the last generation of grazers and herders. There are sheep, yaks, horses, and cattle grazing on the vast grasses. When her father takes a herd to graze further away, Gele must help her mom with the animals left behind. As she works in the fields, Gele dances and dreams of going to the big city to learn more and perform. Gracefully and joyfully, she lifts her arms and moves her feet to the songs in her head. Her dream is compared to the familial needs as her grandfather and brother state her responsibilities to their family in their remote life with their herds.

Gele’s father will make the final decision whether she can leave and if they have the money for her to go. And Gele will have to decide what she truly wants. Whether performing in front of people is her dream or dancing on the grasses with the mountains in the background.

The cinematography was stunning with the grasslands and mountains as the backdrop for the story. The acting came across very naturally as if it was a documentary. For a short film, Fascinating Dream gave an intriguing glimpse into a young woman’s heart and a fading way of life.

27 May 2024

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56 minutes (not a BL)

Overall: I generally give indie productions some leeway but the very ending of this was...a choice... not really sure what message they were trying to convey. Watched on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNtNapJNVeQ

Content Warnings (it's complicated but I'm keeping this spoiler free): intimate partner abuse, held against will, non con touching/sexual assault and something else

What I Liked
- easy to follow plot
- tried to talk about mental health issues
- they uploaded to YouTube and added English subtitles

Room For Improvement
- randomly couldn't swim
- I did not agree with all of the messages around mental health issues, society/the environment is not 100% to blame, biology plays a factor as well
- that ending was not what I was hoping for, it wasn't a funny joke, were they trying to say that pushing/ignoring boundaries/sexual harassment of a coworker was fine???

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I LOVED THIS SM

BRO IM SO OBSESSED WITH THIS ITS SO CUTE AND LIGHTHEARTED I LOVE THE SLIGHT MISCOMMUNICATION THAT EVENTUALLY GETS SOLVED AND ITS SO CUTESY AND THE PLOT IS SO INTERESTING 😭😭😭LIKE IT DEADASS GOT ME GIGGLING AND SMILING SO HARD ITS SOOOO SOOO GOOD AND IF U DONT WANT TO U DONT HAVE TO WATCH THE FORST MOVIE THEY DONT RLLY CORRELATE BESIDES THE BEGINNING BUT IT WAS GENUINELY RLLY GOOD I HAD SM FUN WATCHING IT AND I WILL DEFINITELY BE REWATCHING IT , ITS SO GOOD AND IT HAS A MIX OF EVERYTHING LIKE ITS SAD AND HAPPY AND CUTE I COULD NOT BE MORE SATISFIED WITH A MOVIE THAN THIS

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Not sure how to feel

I watched this movie after watching Love Syndrome III. I liked that better than this movie, but i'm not sure why exactly, as neither of these is really good. I'm not sure if it's fair to compare them, but i'm going to do that anyway. The acting in this movie is ok, better than in the series apart from the NC-scenes, which were honestly quite cringe in this movie. I felt NO chemistry from the main couple (GearNight) and only mildly from FourGus. DayItt was worst of all, and how they cabn go from where we left off here to being as in love as they are in the series is anyones guess. Day says he likes Itt (but whyyyyy?) but his actions and bodylanguage don't support his words. Itt is scared (and rightly so!) but seems to stay with Day of his own free will (but whyyyyy?) . the movie has an open ending, and seems to leave room for a follow-up (LSII?) but i'm not sure I want it. Maybe we should just leave these characters in the book (that I did not read, nor intend to) where they can do no more harm, instead of trying to make the terrible things these guys do to eachother screen-friendly.

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NOT THE SAME WITH Yesterday Once More

Intrique to watch this because thinking Yesterday Once More (Chinese Movie) is the adaptation of this movie, so I just want to compare these 2. But silly me for not reading the summary. Because if you're reading the summary you'll know these 2 movie nowhere near the same. Don't know why MDL link this 2 together.

But anyhow....

This movie very much like the title: My Tomorrow, Your Yesterday. Story about Minamiyama Takatoshi (MT) who meet Fukuju Emi (FE) on the train & fall in love with her. Build up the courage, he decides to talk to her. No long after that they decided to date & the story rolling with one big secret FE hiding under the blanket.

What will you do if you're FE? If me, maybe I'll try to avoid meet up with MT in my young year (20ish). It's beautiful & meaningful but also one painful memory that I've had to go through.

One really interesting concept of story but really hard to swallow. I have to re-watch it a few time to understand & let it settled in my mind. But it still beautiful in the end. And the vibe is really calm & give positive vibe all over....

Overall If you want to watch something new or fresh, you can try this movie. In the end this is not a movie that I've regret watching.

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disappointing

I was looking forward to this. I had been constantly searching for when it was releasing. I really enjoyed the book and series. Love Syndrome is about Itt and Day. there wasn’t enough of them. I was hoping to see Neil and Nick’s story come to life, but Nick wasn’t even in it. If there is a second part, I would still watch it though. the actors did a fantastic job I just think the script needed some work. probably would have been better a series. it could have gone into more detail with the story line. so happy to see Neil being played by the same actor. this was the third recast for Day and Itt but they did a great job. overall it was a Huge letdown!!

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All surface level and no depth of emotions

Ok, I'm not sure what to say about this movie except for the fact it shouldn't have been made in a movie format. Do do justice to THIS type of story you need a longer format. The very fact that the end of this was just a brief cut-off of the story midway through is a testament to that. They didn't stop at the end of a story arch just ended it on a cliffhanger and called it good.
There isn't any resolution or even a redemption arch here. The closest would be that Gear and Night had sex again but there wasn't any talk of a relationship. It might be implied but it just felt incomplete there as well. Because of the compressed format, I wasn't able to understand Night's shift of emotions from hurt that Gear fucked him over to wanting to give him a second chance. There is also a whole mountain of story that was never touched about Day's plan for Gear and what Day and Night's argument was really about.

With Itt and Day, there is nothing in the way of any kind of emotion. There was a brief implied moment when Itt stormed out of the bedroom complaining he had been woken up. Obviously, some time has passed and there has been some kind of movement in their twisted relationship since he isn't in chain and his initial wounds have healed. Yet we don't know how much time and EVERYTHING has been off-screen.

I really wanted this movie to give me the twisted emotions behind this story. To show me how these two couples went from a damaged toxic start to what we see in Love Syndrome III. THAT is an interesting story. But this movie even, if it ends up with a second part, isn't that. This movie focused on the shock value of the rape and dub/non-consent aspects without building the proper foundation to support any type of relationship between the two couples, even a toxic twisted love.

To me, this feels half-baked at best using the rape and abduction as shock value pull without doing the heavy lifting of the emotions behind it. This movie is all surface level and for this type of subject matter, it makes it disappointing at best and a bad movie at worst.

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It invites us to reflect on homophobia, equality and non-discrimination

'Faded' (淡淡/ Dan Dan) tells the moving story of Tian Yu, a Chinese high school student who lives a secret love relationship with Jun Zhi (Arthur Tan / Jun Yi Tan), a boy with whom he discovered his sexual orientation.
Tian Yu, played by Soo Xu Zhe, a Chinese actor known for his participation in the films 'Do You Love Me as I Love You' (2020) and 'Dear Ex' (2018), is struggling with his sexual identity and finds himself caught between fulfilling his filial duty as an only child and the desire to be honest with himself and his mother (Seck Fook Yee).
Tian Yu's internal conflict worsens when the mother discovers her son's homosexuality, through a photograph that someone secretly sent to her cell phone, and confronts Jun Zhi about the relationship.
However, the mother does not act in a homophobic manner, as she is actually afraid of the repercussions of her son coming out of the closet.
Through his relationship with his mother, Tian Yu will have the courage to face his fears and insecurities, and finally admit to her his homosexuality, in addition to asking her for understanding about his desire to maintain the relationship with the boy he loves.
'Faded' is a small, amateur short film that intimately and emotionally addresses universal themes such as the search for authenticity, personal acceptance and coming of age.
With the message "Love is the same for all genders", it also invites us to reflect on homophobia, equality and non-discrimination.
Released on October 23, 2017 in China, the 15-minute film is written, directed, starring and produced by Arthur Tan Jun Yi Tan, who is also the performer and composer of the eponymous musical theme that serves as the soundtrack. to the short film.

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Funny and entertaining romcom, but has been done better in k-dramas

I enjoyed this movie. It had maybe comical scenes and interesting characters. I loved the mother-in-law who, in the end, only wanted her daughter's happiness.

The movie was filled with tropes, but I felt the movie was using them to wink at its audience.

But what I found disappointing about this movie is that little explanation was given to show us why they fell in love. When at the end, the ML is asked to remember all the good memories and all he manages is to remember all the bad ones instead and decides it doesn't matter. I understand this was because there were no such scenes to begin with, proving my point. All we saw was why they wanted a divorce. This felt a bit unbalanced.

There also was no explanation given as to why the relationship went downhill. The FL was a bit of a slob, according to the ML, and the ML tended to be fastidious.

Without understanding what went wrong, and no character growth whatsoever, I see their relationship as history that is doomed to repeat itself.

But I feel that several dramas did a better job of handling the "love reset" theme. Go Back Couple, time travel is used to "reset" the relationship, but the theme is the same. Just like Love Reset, the beginning starts with the end of the relationship, but by the end, both the audience and the characters understand what led them there, and what went wrong and how to avoid repeating the same mistakes.

If you want a quick and funny movie without any depth this is for you. If you want to explore the theme more satisfyingly, Go Back Couple is for you.

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"When we feel bad, we cast a shadow over our children"

Sincerity was a film by Naruse Mikio adapted from a short story. The film had great potential but was marred by wartime censors. I would love to have seen what he would have done free from their interference. The film had lovely elements, two schoolgirls were friends despite coming from different economic classes. And their friendship wasn’t harmed by one girl being ranked higher than the other in their class, no competition or ugly jealousy. The young actresses were particularly engaging in their roles which helped enormously. I would have been happy if Naruse had created a slice of life with just their delightful story. But underneath the surface of their sunny friendship, lay a darker tale between the parents which threatened to upend their joyful existence and friendship.

Tomiko and Nobuko both bring home report cards. Tomiko who lives with her mother, Tsuta, and grandmother is ranked first in her class. Her mother works as a seamstress to support them. Nobuko is reluctant to show her mom her report card as she has dropped to 10th in the class. Her father, Keikichi, isn’t concerned but her mom blames the new teacher. Keikichi says education is the mother’s job and maybe she is spending too much time away from the house. Late one night Nobuko’s mom brings up Tsuta and her past relationship with Kei. Nobuko overhears the conversation and shares it with Tomiko the next day. The girls’ reaction to the news and their parents’ reactions once they realize the secret is out leads to uncomfortable confrontations and conversations. And to add a bit more drama, Keikichi receives his draft notice.

Naruse managed to pack a lot of story into an hour though the ending was emotionally and narratively abrupt. The censors may have had a hand in that as everyone came together to send off the soldiers waving flags and cheering. Draft notices were met with happy congratulations. The film also began with the Greater Japan’s Patriotic Women’s Association meetings. I found it strange that Mrs. Asada, she was never given a name like everyone else, was scolded by her husband for spending too much time with these patriotic groups. In fact, he gave her a dressing down at one point that was particularly harsh, one of the harshest comments to a wife I’ve seen in a movie. Future soldier Keikichi was immune from criticism regardless of what he did.

The stars of the show were the child actresses, Kato Teruko and Etchan. They brought a wealth of emotions to their characters. Regardless of what was going on with the adults, Tomiko and Nobuko, showed great care for one and other. They were unable to be as close as they would have liked because they weren’t allowed to visit each other’s houses. Ostensibly this was because of their different economic classes, but the hidden feelings of the parents’ may have also had something to do with it. The parents wore their masks until the truth came out and then slipped them back on again, teaching the girls how to mask their feelings and pain as well.

There was a wonderful movie hidden inside Sincerity that was unable to fully blossom. Like a too early frost, it was nipped in the bud just as the depths of the secrets and story were about to be fully revealed and dealt with. If you are a Naruse fan, this is definitely one to try in order to watch as the young friendship was shaken by the adults’ deeply buried emotions and how the children fought to keep their friendship. All while the specter of war lingered in the background. I just wish the resolution had been fully explored instead of chopped off suddenly.

25 May 2024

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Only 2nd paragraph contains spoilers

I usually don't write reviews for anything unless it's bad. This is one of the worst movies I have ever watched. I'm not saying that to be mean either, I just have to be truthful to people who wants to watch this. The acting was bad, the movements they made were unnatural, when they were hitting things I couldn't keep a straight face because they wouldn't actually touch the thing they were hitting, the special effects looked free in a video editor app on your phone, nothing was explained so the story was bad too. This truly looked like a school project, and the teachers would fail them if they saw this. Nothing made sense. If you're considering watching this, just don't. It's only an hour, but it's not worth any of your time. The whole movie looked like it was made for free and posted against their will. Honestly.

Spoilers!

The ghost looked like a zombie rather than a ghost. He was moving like one too. The make up made it look like a zombie as well. The way he tapped on the phone to text them looked ridiculous. Considering they couldn't afford more than like 5 actors for this movie says a lot. I just feel pissed off after watching it. It really made 0 sense.

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