A tear-stained, blood-splattered odyssey
An odd mix of hardcore visceral action and contemplative sentiment, Night in Paradise suffers from being an overly long plod in need of some major narrative tightening and its occasional blasts of directorial panache that are ultimately squashed by its uncompromising fatalism. Melding the gangland revenge thriller and the terminal illness romance, there's real inventiveness to the way director Park Hoon-Jung wrong-foots the viewer and handles the operatic displays of gunfire and death, unfortunately, the connective tissue that the film only pretends to be interested in and beyond basic action sequences renders it rather dull. The production values are the best things the film has going for it, the photography is frequently fantastic and the music does a decent job of matching the dark tone the film carries with some decent acting all around to boot. Unfortunately, there's a serious lack of personality permeating throughout Night in Paradise, one that sometimes plays like a road trip, sometimes like a romance and sometimes like the idle imaginings of a serial killer. A tear-stained, blood-splattered odyssey in whether revenge is warranted or even capable of bringing personal satisfaction that could have been so much better.Was this review helpful to you?
Underground resistance fighters battle the occupiers, moral ambiguity and romance complicate things
A good watch, 2hrs and 20mins, a spy thriller from 2015, very successful at the box office in SK. Good costumes and sets, very cool acting.Do not watch on a whim late at night as I did, only to realize 15 minutes in that I had completely lost track of events. The first scenes are set in 1911, in the 6th year of the 40-year long Japanese Occupation of Korea, and the main assassination plot takes place in 1933 in the 28th year of the Occupation. If you prefer to prepare with a complete spoiler the Wikipedia article on the show itself is very clear. I dont do spoilers but I offer two pointers, one to plot and one to perspective.
1. The premise is set up clearly in the first few scenes but do not be kdrama lazy and assume all will be made clear, this is a spy thriller and you have to keep on your toes. Pay attention to Yem and to Kang later on, respectively the resistance fighter captured after the weird attack on the rich collaborator, which results in the killing of Kang's wife, and the loss of one of his twin baby girls (spirited away by a chinese midwife).
2. Try this rough imagination hack to understand the twisted lines of loyalty and love in 1933 Korea. So, if Germany, France and the British Isles correspond to Japan, Korea and China imagine:
-Germany had successfully invaded France in 1940 and set up a puppet govt which was only ousted after a gigantic international war in 1975-1980 (cruelty, torture, massacres, the suppression of the French language in schools and all civil institutions).
-Meanwhile Germany used France as a base to wage a protracted war from 1968 to 1980 against a distracted UK riven by an internal civil war (coastal British cities sacked and occupied, war crimes galore).
-An assassination plot targeting a 1968 wedding in Paris of a German general's son to a rich Frenchman's daughter falls into chaos like Casablanca on steroids due to the usual divided alliances and survival needs of the people involved and the way romance and family have a tendency to transcend allegiances. Love espionage, nothing like it.
simultaneously posted on viki
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A Great introduction to a grand story
Kingdom is based on of the many manga I've bought and which... I haven't gotten around to read due to lack of time. Seriously there's 70 volumes already published in my country, I have all of them and I haven't read a single one.By the same token, from what I remember the anime already has 5 seasons... and I haven't watched a single one yet.
Only bought the series because it is apparently popular so I didn't know anything of its story.
Since I've been burned by Japanese live actions I don't know how many times before, I was really wary about this one, but I was pleasantly surprised.
I thought it delivered an entertaining story with lots of action and a hero easy to root for. The fighting scenes were a bit too long for my taste. We get a useless "comic relief" in the character of Ten that I just couldn't care about and it was honestly a bit weird to have subtitles in which the names were spelled in Pinyin when characters are pronouncing them the Japanese way. Sometimes the Japanese and Chinese pronunciations were pretty close, and other time not at all, but I got used to it at some point.
I've seen several projects by Yamazaki Kento, all live actions and didn't think much of them because honestly... well they sucked. But checking my list, I realized all the projects he acted in which I hated were from the beginning of his carreer. I haven't seen a single project of his in the last 5 years that I disliked. He seems to be choosing his projects more carefully now and I'm starting to feel, he's slowly but surely becoming my favorite Japanese actor.
Anyway it had some minor flaws but I was thoroughly entertained and it made me want to finally take the time to read these freaking 70 volumes accumulating dust in my library. Not gonna do it because I don't have the time but you never know....
A solid 9
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When the only interesting part of someone's life is their execution.
This docudrama is surprisingly hilarious. It's also cleverly meta – in more ways than one.Bayaning 3rd World follows a couple of filmmakers keen to cast a critical eye on José Rizal as The Phillipines' national hero. But at the same time, they struggle to figure out how to transform their take on Rizal's life into an engaging movie. So Bayaning 3rd World is a story about telling the story.
The humour comes from the filmmakers (who are not the actual filmmakers, btw, they're actors). They playfully navigate and interrogate this huge figure of Filipino nationalism. The storytelling style reflects this playfulness too – the filmmakers sit down with Rizal's family members and "interview" them. None of this is to say they are disrespectfully mocking Rizal. Quite the contrary, it's clear that the makers of Bayaning 3rd World are 100% sincere in their poking and prodding of what has made Rizal into a national hero.
One sticking point is Rizal's "retraction document". Supposedly, just before his death, Rizal converted back to Catholicism and, in doing so, retracted all his previous criticisms of the Church. But Bayaning 3rd World questions this version of events, suggesting that the document might be inauthentic. Why the fuss? Well, as one of the filmmakers points out, in Rizal's era, the Church and the State were one and the same. So for Rizal to renounce his criticism of the State would make him less worthy of national hero status.
To add another layer to this meta docudrama, it's important to note that director Mike de Leon made Bayaning 3rd World in response to the film 'José Rizal'. Directed by Marilou Diaz-Abaya, 'José Rizal' had come out two years earlier in 1998 as part of the centenary commemorations of Filipino independence.
To quote Antonio D. Sison's commentary, "In Diaz-Abaya’s film, Rizal is the prodigal son who returns to the colonial Catholic religion of his oppressors and renounces the very works that 'served to restore dignity, self respect, pride, and patriotism among the Filipinos'. De Leon makes an intellectual and entertaining effort at questioning this cut-and-dry story but without actually providing answers himself".
At the end of the day – hero or not – Rizal is still the central character to Bayaning 3rd World. Of course, it could've been otherwise. As one of the filmmakers remarks more than once after "interviewing" one of the women in Rizal's life – "Her life would be a much more interesting movie than Rizal's!"
===
Antonio D. Sison's review: https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2005/feature-articles/3rd_world_hero/
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Not enjoyable, I could not get behind the rationale of the story and the unconvincing acting
It might be a case of "it's me, not you", but I did not enjoy my time watching this movie. The overall moral remains blurry, as well as the reasoning behind the action of the main villain which is a surface level antagonist. The heroine was such a let down, instead of a badass and resolute cop, she felt not in charge and completely manipulated by the bad guy from beginning to end.The cast really did not satisfy me more than the story. No idea if it is directing related, the fault of the script or simply the actors/actresses performances being average, but the acting certainly did not convince me. None of the characters were very likeable and most of the lines sounded fake and maybe it is because I was not onboarded with the plot.
The ending song was pretty good with its rock vibe but I really disliked all the church choral going on during the movie. I'm assuming it was supposed to instore a mystic aura around the main villain, but I found it super artificial and distracting. Similarly, the visual effects were really over-the-top and rather than being frightening, it gave an unrealistic feeling to the movie.
I would not recommend this to people unless you like the actors/actresses and/or the manga (which I did not read). I found the motivations behind the crimes sometimes really "light" (wanting to murder somebody because of jealousy seems a bit a strong choice) and overall the police felt completely incompetent in their job. The ending was also a let down with an unsatisfactory statu quo.
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some kind of regret
this movie reminds me one thing that became a lesson for a lot of people...the things that we did NOT do.after high school I took a 3 years foreign language course.
at the second year there were a classmate who asked me for tutoring since she was working and taking the course at the same period, she was somehow eccentric; attractive, cheerful, above average kirei but none had the gut to approach her personally for 恋愛, she was somehow out of our league.
2 years after our graduation I was already an employee in a local company and had a girlfriend.
one day she called me through my home number.
at that time I didn't aware that none of my friends/classmates ever contacted me via home line.
we talked quite long and she gave me birthday wishes I didn't even get from my own girlfriend.
10 years later, we have classmates meet/party.
after that I once phone her and tell her 会いたい
a few months after the meet she got hospitalized after a trip to middle east, me and my classmates visited her at the hospital.
I had the chance to visit her alone afterwork at non visitors hour (the hospital's security personels seems to see me as a patient family member, they didn't even stop or questioned me as they did to other visitors entering the hospital's inpatient pavilion/I had konbini bag on my hand)
she recovered and got home, but in a few months she was rehospitalized and I was only able to convey condolences to her family at her funeral.
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This review may contain spoilers
This was extremely hard to watch for me, and also to write a review, because my mother heard exactly the same diagnosis - and there was one scene in the film that came very close to how my mother died. Mother-daughter-relationships are also at the centre of this film, not all of them are good or even resolved at all.
So, if you're also sensitive to the topics in this film -- late-stage cancer, death of a parent, mother-daughter-relationships - then you might want to avoid it.
That being said, the actors are excellent! This is one of the reasons I couldn't not finish the film, because the actors, child actress included, portrayed their characters so well that I was already invested in their story and needed to know how it all ends.
Regarding the story, apart from my personal hang-ups: The three main characters, are all female -- and they are who are shown as the ones who shape the family, who take on the challenges life throws at them -- while the men are more passive, even weak.
The thing is, the mother is shown too much as the "self-sacrificing prototype", which really got on my nerves after a while. I wish the mother had been given a bit more time for her own struggles, her own pain, her own grief for having to leave her family. There was only one scene, right after she heard her diagnosis, when she broke down, alone in the hot bath (excellently filmed, btw), and then, once, near the end. All of the rest showed her being dedicated to her growing family -- but a mother is also a person with her own life, and I really wish the writer had given her that. It wouldn't even have taken a lot, maybe just her wiping away a stray tear, looking at an old photo, hugging herself in the kitchen ... just show us that there's more to her than just "devoted mother".
Overall, I can see how many people would love this film, even maybe find solace in it -- and most of the aspects I did not like are more related to myself than to the film -- so if you think you can watch something with the above-mentioned topics, then you should definitely try this one.
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Lighthearted fun
The movie was enjoyable. No girlfriend/boyfriend drama. Just enough humor. Finally shows that school can be a place to develop and nurture friendships. My only negative observation is the teacher/student violence aspect. I'm sure it's cultural, but teachers allowed to randomly hit students still triggers me a bit. Overall, it's definitely worth watching.Was this review helpful to you?
Nauseating
I didn't realise I was watching a movie I tried watching 3-4 years ago ..well I dropped it then and I dropped it now again .. first of all the plot itself is weird and nonsensical like I grew up watching anime and reading manga and trust me there is no way anyone would be made fun of, for having firm and voluptuous bosoms ..entire shonen industry is running on the appreciation of women assets but they showed a girl is bullied in school for that ..gimme a break ... Second the stretch mark issue .. dude 99 percent women (even men) in this world develop stretch mark during various stages of life. Why are you treating this like an epidemic ...This movie made me conscious about the things I never even cared for ..like stretch marks ..who the hell cares about something even Kardashians and jenners are experiencing???
The story itself is so boring and bogus that other things like cast acting music XYZ didn't even grab my attention.
Strongly not recommended
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a sad ending that warms the heart ?
Don't watch it if you can't stand sad endings. I just watched it for that and honestly, I'm satisfied. I really liked the actors and the story. I especially liked Kim Yoo-jung's performance, as the fantastic Kim Bo-ra, and Baek Woo seok, the guy I found the most mysterious and intriguing in the movie. But I didn't really understand why and how he died. Maybe I missed something important or I don't know. In any case, the ending really left a mark on me and I will remember it for a very long time 🥹Was this review helpful to you?
You won't want to do anything else until you finish watching it.
• CINEMATOGRAPHYThis is one of the main points here, The cinematography was so beautiful and fabulous. I liked all the scenes and point of views, and everything.
• MUSIC
The music was on point for eveything, from the drumming for the exorcism to every intense moment, and then scary horrifying sound effects from time to time, it was perfect.
• STORY
The story was so good too. Showing about the history etc. And the movie's about Exorcism, Shamanism, Feng Shui, Buddhism and Christian too if you look at it. I didn't even know it before that a job of Geomancer exists. He tastes the soil and identify about the land. I got so immersed in it. The four characters work together their roles are different but they make a team and work together.
At first there was a family case, in which their grandfather's coffin ⚰️ was opened and he went on to a bloody killing streak of his descendants.
Then another a more bloodthirsty monster case came to light, but this is just my opinion that, in the end that (lord) died too easily, like it didn't fight back (well he was shown undefeatable). The ending was good, but just a doubt he died too easily.
• CASTING
The casting was perfect each actor was perfect. Kim Go Eun's performance was fabulous, her acting was so good and all other actors. I totally loved them.
I recommend this movie, 10/10.
Just that nothing else, Have a great day ahead.
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The story is very good and entertaining, good villains.
The choreography of the fights was very well done and amazing!
everyone's performances were perfect, I loved them all, especially Takeru Satoh's performance.
The music is very good, especially the credits song, I love One Ok Rock.
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Beautiful to watch.
Aside from the story and acting (which were excellent), this show is just beautiful. You know how you can have art as a screensaver on your television? I want every scene in this show as a screensaver so I can see this beauty every day. I'll have to look up the directors other work to see if they are all done as well as The Time of Fever. Excellent title too. This couple is the 2nd couple in Unintentional Love and it gives us just a little more of them. I really hope that they will have another show that covers the time during, and after, Unintentional Love.Was this review helpful to you?
A fable of human love caught in the current of nature's wrath
An adaptation of the 1913 play of the same name, Demon Pond blends theatrical artifice with cinematic surrealism offering a compelling lesson in the power of superstition and mythology; defined by a pervasive tension between the ancient and the modern, superstition versus scientific reason, an aquatic tale of life and death. We live as long as we have it, but if we lose it, we die, except the film's true subject is love. We can live without it, but is that really living? In Masahiro Shinoda's lush, romantic, bigger-than-life take on Izumi Kyōka's text, the answer is a resounding no. What starts as a folk horror fantasy with a psychological thriller vibe gradually shifts into full-on action-adventure-meets-disaster film mode once all watery hell breaks loose. Shinoda's is extraordinary in its dreamlike decadence, it's the kind of film that could get by strictly on aesthetic terms, such a feast for the eyes and ears, that it almost wouldn't matter if the story didn't make much sense or even had one to begin with. Set to the swirling strains of Isao Tomita's utterly hypnotic synth score and bolstered by some great acting from its cast, Demon Pond is a fascinating experience; one that arguably runs a little long at two hours, but which remains endlessly captivating thanks to its beauty, elegance, and portrayal of a fable of human love caught in the current of nature's wrath.Was this review helpful to you?
wasted potential
the only reason i rated so low is the fighting scenes. some of them were great while others were embarrassingly bad. there were so many shots where you could clearly see that the fighting is choreographed because the shots were not planned or edited properly. there also seemed to be some weird sound design choices. it really detracted from my enjoyment. otherwise i liked the story and characters and thought it was entertaining. the actors are great.Was this review helpful to you?
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