Reviews

Its a emotion driven story

this is a beautifully written story describing the life of a immigrant. Song joong ki 's performance was brilliant, choi sung eun was also good.

The first part of the story was brilliant , the things made sense, and the pacing, progression everything was amazing , but in the second part there were a few noticeable issues

one being the whole romance between characters, it felt a bit forced and not very natural.
(they went from being just acquaintances to lovers a bit too fast and a bit too weirdly ) iykyk

secondly. the pacing was weird in second half

but that is with problems

there were many good parts of the story too, the dialogue, screenplay, cinematography all were amazing they managed to capture the struggles and hardships of a guy in an unknown place with nowhere to go . Even the struggles and hardships of Marie were also nicely delivered .

If you can overlook the above-mentioned issues this movie is amazing and yes this is a tearjerker so take some tissues with you

ps. all the scenes of Kiwan and his mother are so good, everything about them was perfect , how without much of dialouges they managed to leave a great impact in the story I can just applaud them .

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Thai movie, with some fight and blood

The movie is very great.
The traditional clothes that the actors wear and the vibes in the movie is just awesome , the work they put in it is very complex. the effects are very good , when there's people being murdered or something else its very well done , looks real and not fake so its very great to see realistic things in this awesome movie , conclusion i really recommend this movie of lovers of the tradition in Thailand also for the lovers who loves to see blood or fight, there's not a lot of fight but even tho when they fight its very realistic! So i really recommend it !! 100000/10

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Meeeooowwww (if you know you know)

Honestly, I REALLY enjoyed this movie!!

I don’t know what is it with Korea and making bullying movies and shows but damn it…they do it so well.

From the beginning, the actors do such a great job because I was so frustrated and mad immediately!! I knew the characters needed development and a little push later but I needed them to punch the bully immediately like dang!!!

It was emotional, scary and yet, so so satisfying in the end.
There’s just something so cool about a vigilante teacher LMAOO
Though I wasn’t expecting the story to steer that way, I am so glad it did because man, I was never bored during this movie.

It’s crazy how you find your passion through such a weird situation, fighting bullies as a teacher but masked? Hell yeah. I hope this concept is done once more and maybe turned into a kdrama. So so good.

If you’re into revenge k-dramas, man i’m telling you this will feed you GOOD.

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I’m sorry but I don’t share the enthousiasm

First of all, I’m not an SJK fan but I’m not a hater either - I don’t hate people, except maybe for a few world leaders at the moment :-(. I’m neutral where he is concerned.
This film just didn’t strike an emotional chord with me.
It all looked a bit amateurish to me. Maybe because of the sets and because the “Belgian” scenes were shot in Budapest. Brussels has a very different vibe than Budapest. The last scenes at the airport, sorry but that was so obvious that it was a set. Also, in official government buildings in Brussels, everything is always bilingual in French AND Dutch. So here, a bit more research would have helped. The gangster scene was just laughable and the European gangsters very stereotyped.
Storywise, too many topics addressed without really going deeper into them (reading further from here means SPOILERS).
But what bothers me most of all is: how on earth would he have obtained refugee status when he ran out of his own court case! Most of the time I got the feeling that I was watching a KBS K-drama instead of a movie, because of the sets that were used and some topics that were apparently solved so easily in the end (like Marie’s drug habit). Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have anything against KBS K-dramas, because they don’t pretend to be more than they are, viz. a daily moment of escapism and guilty pleasure. And to me that is what this film (or the creators) do, they pretend to be more than they are. If they wanted to make a human interest film, they should have restricted the topics to the refugee theme and the love story. The themes of drug habit, euthanasia, the gangster circle Marie was caught up in… it all felt like topics piled on the heap. So sorry but overall the film felt unrealistic and immature to me.

I rated the music because you have to but I didn’t pay attention to it honestly.

The good thing about it all is that I definitely want to read the book now. From the synopsis I have read, I think that is going to be far more interesting and realistic.

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beautiful

This was amazing. From start to finish, I am amazed at how such a great job both the cast and the production team did. Cinematography, costumes, colors, historical touch, plot, acting... everything was a pleasure to the eyes. Seeing Thai culture so vividly made me realize how rich and beautiful it actually is. To be fair, I don't know much about Thai history or traditional art. After watching this, I am intrigued to learn more.

I expected the story to be good too, but I would never guess the plot would be that detailed and exciting! I really enjoyed it. MileApo's chemistry was of course cherry on top. However, if you expect any romance or BL, just don't. There is no romance, yet it never feels lacking because the plot is just so good. Be On Cloud sure knows how to do their job. Especially, if you are into period movies and looking for some traditional elements, you can't miss this.

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Singing an out of tune 'Beautiful'

There are relationships that are not worth fighting for. There are others whose members may not have said goodbye forever. But there are other broken relationships that still have a solution.
Sometimes you do everything right in a relationship, and yet love can abandon you, leaving only paralyzing pain and a ton of questions behind. Among these the "why?" It will drag you to the bottom of the abyss.
In this case, when he (or she) is gone, you can follow him or her. You can still convince him that you love each other, that you are perfect for each other, sing him an out-of-tune 'Beautiful', by Baekhyun, and make sure he doesn't get on the plane at the last minute and leave forever. You can also crash their wedding just before they say "I do", so they run away with you to the astonishment of each other's families, while mutual friends scream with joy. Or get into your car with a trailer caravan where you will live you don't know how many days, months or years, travel the distance that separates you from your loved one, stand conveniently under his window, a few meters from his bed, waiting for him to At some point I will allow you to enter it.
Or in the face of a cold and disconsolate response, you could very well be a regular at their restaurant with a name that hurts the insides and you, because you are clueless, because you don't know the reason why they abandoned you, you don't know its meaning.
What if you decided to collaborate in making the menu of said restaurant, become friends with the villagers, help clear up misunderstandings that involve your loved one's family, which is why he is not popular among the locals and why his humble business is going down the drain, and, between filming sessions and road trips, will you adapt and integrate into the quiet and simple life of the person you want to win back?
I would suggest that after reading the vague farewell note and discovering that your lover has packed his bags and left the apartment you have shared, you put strong pressure on your agency, and tell your representative and his subordinate that you will jump out of the car as soon as possible. leave if they don't locate him.
Or when you can't explain to yourself what you did wrong and you can't find answers to the cause of the breakup, you choose to win the affection of the best friend of the person who has put your life in check and her small and precocious daughter, knowing that every step In this sense, it will allow you to create new opportunities to reconnect with your ex.
Precisely the latter was what Seo Joon (Son Woo Hyun) did when Ji Woo (Kim Kang Min) broke his heart in 'To My Star 2: Our Untold Stories The Movie', a compilation of the BL Korean drama of the same name, with some scenes added and others deleted or moved from their original place in the new montage. Yes, I am referring to those two young people, one of them a famous celebrity and the other an ordinary chef, from two different worlds, with little in common, whose lives were shaken when they met and fell in love.
Well, it seemed like both boys would be together forever, but fate had other plans. After giving us some of the most romantic moments in Korean BL, they also filled us with sadness. But there the actor goes in search of his chef to continue enjoying, among other things, his delicious food.
And Hwang Da Seul, the director, took very seriously that no one is saved from death and a broken heart and that we must all face, throughout our lives, several different types of goodbyes. Knowing that every breakup has its reasons, its consequences and its bitter, and sometimes bloody, extensions, that life is not always laughter, love and joy, he summoned screenwriter Park Young to take up the story and develop a second season to imitate , very well filmically speaking, the breakdown of the relationship of that couple so loved by fans of the genre, and then reconciling them, because otherwise it could not be, since, otherwise, as an audience, we would not forgive them.
I imagine Da Seul digging through the films and television series of yesteryear and today to revisit those that deal with breakups and narratives that address every cliché about love and its components, always with a similar structure and, above all, with a happy ending, a sung ending, that is, "from a movie". And all in order to promote significant topics, such as the couple's commitment and communication.
And it does so with incredible bravery, taking the flaws of the first season, especially that of a pleasant but substanceless original story, to make a sequel with greater development of the characters, expanding the dynamics of their relationships and amplifying the emotions.
While it is true that it suffers from a saturated melodrama at times, with artificial conflicts that could have been polished or not incorporated, what is also real is the achievement of the elegant arcs of the characters, which highlight growth, maturity and redemption .
I know that many BL fans will not like what is related to the breakup and the subsequent suffering of the members of their favorite ships, but a work that shows deep conflicts and characters with greater psychological complexities is appreciated.
Without giving any type of spoiler, I will ask you the same question that comes into play during the first minutes of the story: what is the reason for Jin Woo and Seo Joon's breakup?
With this fuse that is lit at the beginning of the film, the characters develop in a narrative with which they will manage to improve the original series, with richer backstories, more character development and complex relationship dynamics, allowing 'To My Star matures, comes of age and becomes a sophisticated BL drama that unfolds in a fascinating journey, seeking and fulfilling the objectives of unraveling a failed relationship, while the protagonists and the audience wonder if they would have a second one. opportunity to reconnect and be happy.
What BL lover wouldn't be surprised by the breakup of their idealized perfect lovers? Seo Joon experiences the same anxiety when faced with Ji Woo's inexplicable departure after leaving a vague message containing a single word: "Let's leave him."
So, the film aims to explore why the breakup and, as I said, reconciliation. But now everything will happen far from the big city, as the cameras will focus on a small town several hours from Seoul, in Ji Woo's hometown and where he went after the breakup, and while he struggles to move his business forward in an Italian restaurant, Seo Joo continues to face problems in his acting career.
And if the proposal alone still doesn't catch your attention, I'll give you another colorful fact: through the experience of the two protagonists, the sequel explores the moving breakup of a couple with intrigue, intimacy and intense emotions. But it doesn't do so by adding a dramatic twist behind the breakup or an infamous evil destroyer of loves and homes.
No, the creators will pleasantly surprise us by letting us know that the reason for the discord is much more personal, simple but complex at the same time: Ji Woo has always preferred to repress his feelings and alienate those who care about him. Yes, it is not easy to live with him, and the series, through flashbacks, will make us understand why he is the way he is. In his case, he is not the typical individual that we see in other audiovisuals that explain his misunderstood actions, such as abandoning a person he loves and from whom he receives love, using the handy excuse of "suffering from childhood trauma." Ji Woo doesn't do anything wrong, he just stays away from Seo Joon and other people in his life to avoid being hurt.
Woo Hyun continues to show the same charm as his persistent Seo Joon. He continually and without hesitation expresses his feelings, says what he thinks and leaves no room for misunderstandings. He goes for it.
For his part, Kang Min continues to play his role as the grumpy but cute Ji Woo, but towards the end you will see him grow wings, all thanks to the persistence and love of Seo Joon.
If many BL sequels have disappointed for various reasons, 'To My Star 2' does the opposite, transforming a simple love story, but without much substance, into a moving saga of breakup and reconciliation. The maturity in the team, both acting and technical, is evident to deliver an ambitious product, the result of hard work and experience.
At this point in the note, you can already imagine what happens with Ji Woo and Seo Joon... But in case you weren't paying much attention, I can confirm that yes, they fight! However, in this case, new characters and new conflicts are added to the dynamic. With a duration of more than four hours that exceeds the slightly more than 2 hours of 'To My Star', with diversification of filming scenarios and an increased secondary cast, with their plots, traumas and life stories, events and characters were developed complexes that will enrich the main story through a compelling narrative.
And I leave for last, precisely because of its importance, an issue that is striking to me: it seems very light that in a country as conservative as South Korea where discrimination against members of the LGBT+ community still persists, marriage between people of the same sex, and homosexuals have difficulty fitting into society, since coming out is not welcomed in most families who consider homosexuality as something similar to a crime, show a rural community, generally defenders of patriarchal and heteronormative traditions, without its inhabitants ever questioning the "friendship" of the two protagonists when the type of relationship they maintain is evident and even trying to influence it so that it is fostered.

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Powerful immersion of lifelike characters

A story about a North Korean defector who escaped from China en route to Europe, his journey comes with a handful of twists, and there are a few fresh takes on this genre. Acting performances are definitely the most powerful aspect of this movie, the level of immersion into the characters is just insane from all the actors. The story is quite fast paced and lots of details going around, plot development is effective in pushing the emotions to a higher ground every time when uncertainty takes forth. The ending could be a little too dramatic, but in a sense that the director may seem to have wanted to paint the characters some hope, given how lifelike they were written, weren't we all just wanted to be hopeful even during the dreadest situation happening in this unforgiving society.

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keeps you on your toes, i promise. heartwrenching acting.

blue looks good on you. happiness looks good on you.

a realistic approach to the life of refugees.

kiwan, you made it. marie, you made it

this movie, i just have to give it a 5/5. my heart genuinely couldn't stop grieving something in the last 30 minutes. it felt so, so real. i'm glad for them, for all of them who managed to grasp onto the happiness they deserves, im glad.

the actors. god, the actors. joongki and sungeun didnt disappoint. no one who didn't watch the movie would understand what i mean by this. everytime they cried, you'll find yourself tearing up, or your throat hurting. it can't be helped. the actor of marie's father, hanchul, and the actresses who played kiwan's mother and the comrade from that factory, all of these actors, give them their due! they gave it their all, and my heart clenched with it.

my affection for the characters grew as the story went on. the last thirty minutes will have you pushing a tissue to your eyes. my throat still hurts.

the story itself. i loved it. to each, their own opinions about it, but me personally, i loved it. it was directed so beautifully, and the writer, the writer. i have no words. some of the dialogues had me bad too.

everything was perfect. i hope everyone gives it a go with an open mind.

i can't explain how many times during the movie i felt hurt that this is the reality for some.

an amazing movie. easy 5/5.

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"I'll remember it for you forever, so don't worry about it."

I came in blind, didn't watch the trailer nor did I even read the synopsis. I saw Hirose Suzu on the poster and said hey...why not give it a go? I've always liked her in melodramas and it seems like this would be one as well.
And genuinely? I was surprised.

First of all, I have to talk about the beautiful cinematography. It's shot with a very homey feeling, but at the same time you can feel the gaps of loneliness packed in a sharehouse full of people.

The plot might not be for everyone, and I've seen some say that it's a bit too bland. But I guess that's what the movie is trying to tell, that this bland setting might have bits of someone's real life in it, and sadly mine was reflected in this too. However I love how they have scenes where they have playful banter, the comedic insert balanced out how gloomy this film felt,

Another thing that I love was how much of an opposite Sakaki-san and Nao were, with one knowing for a long time and the other figuring it out recently. The contrast between Sakaki-san already going through it as an adult and wanting to just forget everything vs teenager Nao's pure naivety and wanting to be angry and confront everyone yet he couldn't find himself to act upon it just because he was a "kid" and ultimately decided to do (in my eyes, very adorable) questionable things to ven out was nice to see. Nao would always just nod at everything Sakaki-san said so when he shouted and cried I started crying too.

Hirose Suzu did an excellent job despite acting as an OL for the first time, and I was surprised (and love to see) that she's working with a much younger actor. To me, she's always been the patron of fresh, pure and naive child (as per her earlier works) but Ohnishi Riku's naive and clueless performance made her more "jaded" in my eyes.

This movie taught me that it's okay to not forget, and it's okay to not forgive and be angry. But it's also okay if you choose to let go, as long as you're happy. However the pain, the want, at the end of the day we all deserve to be happy.

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"I am through with hell"

When I heard there was a movie called Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo I could not wait to watch it! The fall was long and hard when I realized that the title was false advertising. Mifune Toshiro was in the movie playing a feckless samurai, but nothing like the cagey Yojimbo. Despite a few hints thrown out about the Kurosawa film, this samurai had a name, Sasa. I wouldn’t have been nearly as disappointed if they’d just titled it Zatoichi and the Two-Bit Samurai.

Zatoichi is tired of the blood and decides to return to his hometown with the babbling brook and plum blossoms he talks about at length. It doesn’t take long before he realizes the town is under new management. Two years ago during a terrible famine, other villages heard about the town’s food reserves and attacked. The local leader hired the yakuza to come in, and just like vampires, once you invite them in you can’t get rid of them. After lots of hemming and hawing, Zatoichi decides to stay in town and begins work as the Big Bad Eboshiya’s masseuse/bodyguard. Across town Sasa has been hired by the Big Bad’s son to be his bodyguard. Sasa mostly drinks, sleeps, and cons Masagoro out of coins for strategic information. The blind swordsman and the samurai get on each other’s bad sides, more so because of the comely Umeno than whatever is going on in with the yakuza family. Long story short, everyone wants to know where some hidden gold is.

If they’d given Zatoichi and Sasa a bromance this might have been a fun movie. They couldn’t make Mifune a real bad guy because no one was going to believe Zatoichi could take him down. Bad enough they made Sasa greedy and lazy, and not as smart as Zatoichi. Again, it goes back to the title, because during the whole movie, it was impossible to not compare Sasa and Yojimbo.

The fights didn’t really start until the final third of the film. Another demerit for me. You have two of the greatest swordsmen in the land and they sit around talking and drinking? A new threat, named Kuzurya, waltzes into town with a connection to Sasa and starts eliminating people left and right. The double crosses and corruption were hip deep in the tangled plot line which was needlessly confusing. At nearly two hours with not nearly enough action, the plot became repetitive and dragged. The swordfight choreography was fairly lackluster as well, despite the high body count.

Zatoichi came to town and did his good deed, but even he was hit by gold fever. Whether Sasa or Yojimbo, the character was still played by Mifune Toshiro which gave ample opportunities that seemed to have been missed for a more exciting film. Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo had moments that were entertaining, but it could have been so much more.

1 March 2024

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The movie should be called, "My Name is Marie"

This movie is about a rebellious girl named Marie. Marie has always blamed her father for the death of her mother. Thus, she became rebellious and ran off. Life became a struggle when she became part of a shooting competition gang. She's trying to get out and find her real path in the world. .....Yeah...this is basically the whole movie. Iol! More than half of the movie is just about the girl's drama.

Anyway, the story was pretty interesting in beginning. Loved Joong ki's innocent character. The story was flowing along interestly and pretty good showing the male lead's hardships. I was hoping it would continue that way. However, along came the female lead. And the story got dulled and became your boring ol' korean "romance" drama. Like can we just get a good korean movie without turning it into romance?
Yeah, suddenly the story just focused on this girl and how they fell in love. BORING!
They should've just do less of the female lead's story and do more of the male's story. I feel her story is just too much and took away the actual plot of the male lead's story.
The movie should have focused more on his struggles, who he is, but instead more than half of the movie was just focused on the female lead's drama.

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