Reviews

"I'm not old, I'm just mature"

Return of the Deadly Blade was the equivalent of click bait for me. The cast included Kurata Yasuaki, Norman Chu, and Lo Lieh. And then it hit me with the discombobulation virus, which lasted around 90 minutes.

Master Li aka The Deadly Blade killed “Kam the Invincible Gold Rings” in a duel and then went into hiding for twenty years. Now suddenly everyone is looking for the famed bladesman. Siu Wan begins his trek to find Master Li taking on contenders as he goes. The Lonely Killer, a roguish lady’s man, is also looking for Master Li. He’s followed by a female fighter he defeated who apparently developed the kind of crush that could kill. A nobleman dressed in gold lame, which means you can’t trust him, sends out men to assassinate Lonely Killer, including a ninja. Siu Wan and LK keep crossing each other’s paths as does the lovesick warrior and a damsel in distress. All roads lead to the Tomb of the Hero and the showdown to discover, “Who’s your daddy?”

The story was convoluted and badly edited. Maybe there’s a longer version out there that tied the plot elements together better, but this version was disjointed and didn’t explain things well. Kurata Yasuaki finally had a role where he wasn’t a diabolical villain. Lonely Killer was no angel but usually Kurata played a burn down the orphanage kind of character in old kung fu movies. Kurata is skilled in karate and other forms of martial arts and his moves displayed his skill despite the limited hand-to-hand action. David Chiang as Siu Wan was David Chiang, I was never a fan of his work in these older movies. Reliable Norman Chu appeared as the wheelchair bound Master Li, a man tired of killing. Lo Lieh surfaced briefly as an umbrella fighting warrior who had to fight against Siu Wan and LK. While it saddened me that Lo was often relegated to smaller roles after the 1970’s I always enjoy seeing him on the screen. In a blink and you’ll miss him moment, Hwang Jang Lee was featured in the intro as Kam and his golden rings. Flora Cheung played both ingenue and femme fatale.

Since the writers didn’t make the story very clear, the action had to carry the movie along. Kurata had a fun fight against the Famous Four in a cave hot springs tub. Epic towel fight. He later had to face Bruce Leung in a cameo role. The three-way fight between Kurata, Chiang, and Lo Lieh was well choreographed. Later, when Kurata faced a ninja and the vengeful nobleman on a rope bridge, it felt like more could have been done with it. The grand finale fight that included quite a bit of wirework was a letdown.

Return of the Deadly Blade squandered a strong cast with a badly edited story. The most compelling reason to watch it is to see Kurata Yasuaki be able to play a lighter character than usual. Not a solid reason, but for fans of the genre a reason to try it.

15 March 2024

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Tan Song Yun and Three Labradors Made It Passed the NRTA Review

I titled my review above because I swear there is a supernatural element in this movie (will give some examples). And if you watch a lot of Chinese shows you know that NRTA (Chinese censorship agency) banned modern shows with supernatural themes and deemed it as superstitious. But the cute actress and her cute labradors (yes there are three of them) were able to wring the hearts and tears of the NRTA reviewers and viewers alike.

STORY:

The movie is based on a novel titled "Dad is a 'Dog'" written by Wang Xiao Lie. The story is simple, and the synopsis provided on MDL tells the whole plot. The native title is Good Bye, Li Ke Le (再见，李可乐). Li Ke Le is the name of the pup, so we know in the end the female lead Li Yan (Tan Song Yun) loses her dog. So no surprises here. But it is a beautiful movie about mother and daughter's mended relationship past the death of the head of the family. How to let go of regrets and attachments after pain? How to learn love and courage while growing up? When the difficulties of the past reappear, will they have a regret-free choice in their lives?

Now I want to explain why I think this drama contains a supernatural element, in which Ke Le is the incarnation of Li Yan's dad. On the day Li Yan and Mom went back from the hospital after Dad passed away, Ke Le showed up and was adamant about being adopted into the family. Ke Le's habits mimic Dad's habits, including drinking soda (although the dog definitely cannot drink soda). That's why it was named Ke Le, since 可乐 means soda. The English sub called the dog Coke or Cola. And Ke Le knows some Dad's secrets, too.

ACTING/CHARACTER:

The acting of Tan So Yun and veteran actress Yan Ni (who played Li Yan's mom) portraying the estranged relationship between mother and daughter is worth watching by itself. But the three Labradors who played Kele ought to have their introduction as well. Xiao Ke Le is the young pup who becomes Li Yan's companion during her mourning period. Ping An is the adult Ke Le. The dog also showed up in the 2023 drama "A Date With the Future". The adult Ke Le oversees the grown-up Li Yan, including her choice of a special friend who will be her future husband, and also accompanies Mom when Li Yan leaves the house to attend university. And lastly, the elderly Ke Le is played by Xiao Qi, who gives away Li Yan during her wedding.

DIRECTING/EDITING:

Kudo to the director and the editor who managed to execute a life story of Li Yan from teenager to adulthood, and of Ke Le from puppy to end of its life. There is not much dialogue as we see in dramas, but the actors and the actresses use a lot of facial expressions only well-experienced ones can show. All three dogs definitely are well-trained and able to act, including showing their facial expressions (especially Xiao Qi with its sad look).

And guess what? Wang Xiao Lie, the novel author, is also the director of this movie.

VISUALS:

I love the filming set in a small town. Wang Xiao Lie, besides being a director, is also a photographer. Thus we were able to see the simple yet beautiful cinematography captured in this movie.

OST:
The main theme is "We Have a Deal" by Diamond Zhang/Zhang Bi Chen

ENDING: (Scroll down, skip if don't want to be spoiled)
























Li Yan and Mom mended their relationship. Li Yan married her high school sweetheart Zhang Huai Jun (Jiang Long), but as usual Chinese shows, they don't date in high school but later in the university. Mom gets a new man, Uncle Zhang Ping. As for Li Ke Le, he becomes elderly, gets a brain tumor and the family has to put him to sleep. The movie ends with Li Yan snowboarding again. Dad and Ke Le are watching her from the hilltop, smiling.

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Warning: have tissues handy!

This was a fabulous movie! It made me angry (the injustice of it all...would the result have been the same if the little girl wasn't the daughter of a powerful man?), it was hard to watch at times (when he first went to prison and he kept getting beat up), it made me laugh (all of the inmates! Each had charms of their own), it warmed my heart (the relationship between Yong Gu and his daughter, as well as their relationship with everyone in the prison, including the guards!), then it broke my heart and dehydrated me (the last 20 minutes).

The acting was stellar, especially Ryu Seung Ryong as Yong Gu and Gal So Won as Ye Seung. Yong Gu was such a special character - with his disability, you felt for him when he was trying to come up with words and didn't understand things, but his innocence was what made me love him, as well as his strong, strong love for his daughter. The actor embodied the character completely. The character of Ye Seung was precious. She was innocence personified and everyone that came into contact with her came to love her. She loved her dad completely and embraced the new father figures of the other prisoners and the warden. All of the interactions were so sweet. The awards that both actors received were well-deserved.

The only weak link, for me, was Park Shin Hye. I think an actor less well-known would have been better in this role. Plus, PSH always feels like she's acting to me. I don't feel that she embodies her roles. And when she's yelling and crying, I just feel like she is overacting. She wasn't terrible, but she's just not a favorite of mine. She is beautiful, and the scenes of her outside in the snow were gorgeous.

I held off watching this for so long. If you are on the fence, please watch it. You won't be sorry you did. But don't forget my warning about tissues!

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In the Line of Duty 4 kept the action rolling from beginning to end. Cynthia Khan returned for the fourth installment of the franchise made popular by Michelle Yeoh. Khan was joined by Donnie Yen, Yuen Yat Choh, and Michael Wong.

Luk Wan Ting is a dock worker in Seattle. A mortally wounded police officer hands him a roll of film before he dies. Now Luk is being hunted by the bad guys and considered a cop killer by the good guys. Inspector Rachel Yeung doesn’t think he’s guilty though Capt. Donnie Yan is less flexible. CIA officer Michael Wong is determined to have Luk extradited to Hong Kong. The attacks on Luk are non-stop for a nice guy who just wants to see his mom and be done with all of the cloak and dagger danger and trickery. Rachel has to figure out how to keep him alive and who is the mole betraying them at every turn.

This entry in the franchise is one of my favorites. Khan and Yen had an appealing chemistry in their push-pull professional relationship that thankfully didn’t veer off into romance. For the most part there was no idiotic comic relief character which was a huge relief for me as well. Yuen Yat Choh, in what became his final movie, was a sympathetic character who was dedicated to his mother. Michael Wong’s performance as the duplicitous CIA agent wasn’t particularly strong.

What made this movie entertaining for me, aside from the acting rapport, were the numerous well-choreographed fights. Yuen Woo Ping and his brother Shun Yee resisted the wire-fu for the most part and relied on their actors’ athletic abilities and flexibility. Cynthia moved believably against the various foes she faced and delivered some punishing kicks. A young Donnie Yen had no problem reaching kicking heights all by himself. And Yat Choh was another of the Yuen clan who knew how to sell a fight. No wires didn’t mean characters weren’t left dangling on several occasions or even falling to their deaths. Gravity is a harsh mistress. Cynthia had an exhilarating ordeal on top of, on the sides of, and on the grill of an ambulance. Donnie faced real life martial artist Michael Woods in a brutal fight on a rooftop and jousting on motorcycles with ax and shovel.

The story had some narrative gaps and not all of the acting was strong, but for the most part the story held together by the relationships of the characters. The fights were fast, exciting and creative, all that any martial arts movie enthusiast could want.

14 March 2024

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Never Play With Spirit Boards in a Classroom!!!

I keep telling you, Japan, nothing good will ever come from playing around with a homemade spirit board in an empty classroom, but you never listen.

The plot centers around a young woman who is spiritually connected to her deceased mother, and her attempts to fulfill her mother's request to appease the ghosts at her old school... I don't know what else to say without spoiling the plot but just another warning- if you HAVE to play, then at least don't be condescending jerks in an obviously haunted building.

So yeah, in conclusion, there's ghost kids in the school. Incredibly mild scares happen. Much sadness for ghost kids. The end.

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Love

I am not going to review the whole film. It is impactful, it is emotional, it is gritty... great acting. I want to comment on the love reltionship part. There seems to be so much discussion about romance part of the movie and how it was not needed at all and even SJK has refused the script 7 uears prior as he didn't see the point of it. My take on this (as a refugee myself) is that often we seek home. Be it a new country and a new community but often it ends up being a person. The connection. Place to belong to. That is why I am completely ok and feel it is important part of the refugee process to have it in this movie as well.

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"You're disgusting, you make me sick!" Preach on sister!

The Street Fighter was violent, exploitive, and had almost no redeeming qualities. Takuma Tsurugi was the manliest man to ever man which means he got a pass for sexual assault and selling a woman into sex slavery. This was a violent film just to be violent, with little story to go with it.

Takuma breaks a death row convict out at the last minute. When the convict’s brother and sister can’t pay the last installment he begins to rape the sister. The brother tries to intervene, so Takuma kills him, and sells the sister to be a sex slave. Big man. A group attempts to hire him to kidnap an heiress but he turns down their lowball number. Because Takuma knows of their plan they attempt to eliminate him which drives him to be the heiress’ protector. After forcibly kissing and groping her, he's hired on to protect her. When the convict discovers what happened to his family he joins the other bad guys for the chance to free his sister and kill Takuma. Yeah, at this point I’m rooting for anyone who would kill this b@stard.

The fight scenes weren’t well choreographed and I hated Sonny’s fighting style and acting. The editing was even worse. At one point Takuma asked his sidekick, “How did you get here?” I was expecting Ratnose to say, “Heck if I know!” It was as if they edited out anything that would have caused the story to make sense. The story jumped around and so did the people as if they had a transporter to drop them into a completely unrelated scene. The acting was bad even for a 1970’s martial arts film.

The Street Fighter failed on every account for me. Only for Sonny Chiba fans and those who enjoy the main lead behaving reprehensibly toward women. This movie put the mindless into mindless violence. At the end of the film, in big letters it declared “Return of the Street Fighter coming soon!” Thanks for the warning.

14 March 2024

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Exquisitely directed

This is a hidden gem. I am two years late watching this short film. It’s a shame that this wasn’t promoted well because everything about this film is exceptionally great. Newcomer actors portrayed their role really well you can’t tell that they are still new actors.

It has a dark and mysterious theme but done jn an exquisite way. The director is known for dark themed work that leaves a viewer enthralled.

The entire production did well with wardrobe, scene sets and props. It will not disappoint.
You need to focus on every detail to truly grasp the story and watch til the very end to explain few things.

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If you are considering to watch...

it is not a spoiler to say that this has zombies/undead in it.
I like Liu Yi Tong and he did a different character here that he portrayed well. Yuan Zhao didn't disappoint either although there's some scenes that her facial expression were a bit exaggerated. If a good artist role portrayal, wardrobe and sets are enough for you, this can be a possible watch.
The story and how it was relayed or directed got me bored. This is where it failed drastically. Those undead could have been directed better. The fight choreographies are borderline good. The comical scenes weren't funny at all.
The costumes were great as well as the sets for all scenes.
I don't recommend this movie personally but if you are out of selection, it may work to get you through.

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what kind of plot is that?

i get it, ig they trynna tell the reality of loan sharks or whatever but the plot was soo lacking im dumbfounded, for example the FL’s friend, why were they not friends anymore? she really was stalking her going wherever she went but i get that she was trying to help her but still? also i dont get how the bully/villian made the students not pay back, he just said trust me and then everyone went to the police what the hell was that? then the ending so so cofunsed, they showed some short clips that didn’t even make sense except that epilogue, the loan shark is gonna do his filthy work nevertheless… the only thing i actually liked was the acting and the actors i love them all they are the only reason i watched it lol

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the movie broke me

the ending was something I was really not prepared for… after watching I kept crying for the whole day seriously😭😭💔

what broke me the most was that when he went to live abroad ( i forgot the place ) she kept waiting for him but he never returned because he died especially the exhibition scene and the video tape that he made for her to watch😭I could not stop crying at all 😔💔

i got really mad at Bora’s friend when the twist came I was like why just whyyyyyyyyyy did this had to happen🥲

I must say it is a really heartbreaking movie especially for someone like me who is really sensitive🥲

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