Reviews

What makes a father?

New York Film Festival 2013 - Beautiful and fragile about a family in the midst of an enormous tragedy, from Japanese director Hirokazu Koreeda - Previously, among other things, Guldbag-nominated in 2006 for Nobody Knows.

What makes a man a father? Is it the biological bond with one's children or is it the time he spends with them, the games, the laughter, the comfort? It was this question that Japanese director Hirokazu Koreeda wanted to explore when he wrote the screenplay and then made the movie Like Father, Like Son. Partly because the sense of parenthood did not come as naturally to himself as it seemed to do to his wife.

It is, of course, extremely unusual, but it has certainly happened that children have been confused at birth and the parents come home with the wrong baby. At least in the days when children's names were written on their feet with a marker, as one of the doctors says in the film. But what happens if it is discovered through a blood test that the child has already reached 6 years old.

This affects the career man Ryota and his wife Midorino. The son Keita turns out to be biologically someone else's and their biological son has instead grown up with Yukari and Yudai. Crisis - Of course! I don't know if there is a certain cultural difference between our approach and the Japanese or if cinematic liberties have been taken to move the plot forward, but according to the hospital, almost all parents who were previously affected have chosen to switch children.

The only one of the parents who seems convinced that it's the right way is Ryota. Success is important to him and Keita hasn't quite shown the progress he was hoping for. Maybe it's because the two don't share the same DNA? Ryota has also worked a lot during his son's upbringing and has not spent the time required to form the strong father-son bond that his wife has. At least he thinks so.

Despite the hint of science fiction over the story, there is nothing artificial in the way it is presented. The tone is downright serious and the emotions displayed are naked and fragile, without the slightest hint of exaggeration. The actors portray a family in the midst of a tragedy where none of the choices they can make turn out to be right. And it is above all Ryota who gets the opportunity to develop and discover what kind of father he wants to be.

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A story about a distant place, where you go to get away

It has a slow pace a quiet, somber undertone. I really liked it. Maybe because it felt all too relatable, living in a very small town in the countryside. Being queer. The cinematography was amazing, and no overbearing music. Like you really got to immerse yourself in the silence and the scene. If you are a person who needs action, this is probably not for you. This movie has long scenes with lots of silence. It feels very real, as if you're really there.

I like how the directors trust the audience to read between the lines. The movie is aimed towards an older audience not for it's explicit content, but for it's mature and collected framing of the story and dialogue. There is no excessive exposition or any unnatural sounding dialogue, where the characters state things simply for the audience to know - not because it's natural for them to say that.

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i love it

New plot and I love it!
At the beginning of the story, I was really surprised because the departure process of the rocket was so short, even until the scene when the other two astronauts were thrown into space, I was really surprised because this was not even half of the movie.

I saw this movie without reading any synopsis or trailers, and I didn't even know this movie existed. I was just scrolling through viu and found this movie. So I really didn't expect that the storyline would make D.O the only surviving astronaut.

The storyline is new or I don't know if there's a movie with a similar plot like this. But it was interesting because it was fast-paced with a lot of things happening so it wasn't boring.

It does lack depth in the end, which is a criticism for the movie, but at the end the movie was still good and made me cry.

I like the climax of the movie, every scene always brings hope and then conflict occurs again. So it's not at all predictable what will happen next. I liked the acting of all the actors, they played their roles very well.

For some things in the movie I didn't understand a bit, but I enjoyed the movie. Especially the ending which was so warm.

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a captivating journey of love, friendship, and the bitter taste of betrayal

"Love, Lies" intricately weaves a tale of love and betrayal against the backdrop of 1943 Seoul, delving into the complexities of friendship and the bitter sting of deception. Jeon Soo-yeon's (JSY) compelling performance draws empathy as her best friend, portrayed by Song Yeon-hee (SYH), not only steals the spotlight but also the man JSY introduced to her. As the narrative unfolds, we witness the emotional wreckage caused by Kim Yeon-woo (KYW), a man entangled in the web of deceit and commitment issues.

The movie brilliantly captures the essence of its title, portraying love as a delicate web of lies. The stellar cast delivers powerful performances, enhancing the emotional depth of the story. The OST, featuring both traditional and pop songs, adds a hauntingly beautiful dimension to the film. "Love, Lies" is a poignant exploration of love's illusions, leaving audiences reflective on the profound impact of lies, jealousy, and broken hearts in the intricate dance of relationships.

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What You Think You Want…

I really like how this short plays with limiting our information. It begins without context you get in the synopsis on here. The cinematography intentionally limits your view, playing with POV shots (appropriate given the theme) or framing that only lets you see what is going on from behind and underneath a chair.

The ending is beautiful and full of just desserts.

I really like how it put a mini spotlight on how your perception of someone impacts sexual attraction to them. In a lot of ways this short isn’t about a guy who wants to film a scene with this OF star. It’s about a guy who wants to live out a fantasy that lives in his head and, in the end, that doesn’t really line up with what he got himself into.

note: rewatch value is low bc I almost never rewatch anything so that’s sort of high for me

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Perfect Days

This movie made me incredibly lonely and scared of growing old. I only hope I can see the small beauties in life the way this character does. I've not much to say but it was an incredibly beautiful and moving film.
Great soundtrack. Wonderful scenes. In a way it's inspirational to see the pride Hirayama takes in his job cleaning toilets and the way he gets joy and contentment from the seemingly mundane things in life. He has his passions in music, books and photography and being a genuine and loving uncle. I wish to be like him if my life is still this way as I grow old.

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NO This ain't that boring a movie

Well I was never quite in this genre. I have always been on the soft genre side. So people watching this might be a hardcore horror and thriller lover, so it can seem not so interesting for them. But it has enough potential to make you think about life twice. The scary scenes were not too wild but quite decently creepy. And the storyline.. It has a great depth for the viewers to imagine how they would comprehend the not so detailed plot. Many people are complaining why Ae ran's character was involved. I felt it was important to show the character interface of Cheong Seok.
Also the plot keeps you engaged and once you miss a spot, you feel missed out and thats when you start that the movie isnt interesting enough. So better to keep keen look at the movie while watching it. And you'll definitely enjoy it..

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Everything is perceived in a relative manner !

I stumbled across a feed post that said subs out, saw LDW and here we are !

This movie does not know where it stands and it has no say of it own it's just trying to be everything we see in the western films which go out and portray lives of single people as lonely and give out a message that there are people that surround you even in the dark or like the ones where they tell you to value people and one of the main character sets an eg themselves !

- the false hope kinda movies where after everything the boy falls for a girl - a sudden twist like a lie or anything to draw them apart and they suddenly mature and get together by the end - TYPICAL HALLMARK MOVIES! And no denial they have an audience of their own and people love them because they are done right.

but am I the crowd , NO! so apparently I should have bothered doing some research instead of jumping, which I usually do but I did not IDK why lord nvm that ...also I rarely watch kmovies so I am not sure what they do there generally but I just wish it had a few brainers bec for me the movie was too dumb!

The fl looked dishevelled, like wtf they did with her hair and clothes - no sorry that's not how editors generally look - she lacks the basic confidence - okay she is good at her job and what else - no personality ??? - just being dumb and drunk that's her thing.
yk when she actually takes a stand for her self by that time I rarely cared. she could be bad at love and taking hints but that's not how she is shown. instead the figure that comes to life for viewers is like she's a lost cause and has nothing of her own so poigant !

the ml was supposed to enjoy single life - like he doesn't seem to be doing so - he look's pathetically alone with no people no friends and more like he's a social star right - does he even look like he's enjoying posting ? he's not happy and please don't portray that single people can't be happy they can be and fuck can they are happy ! it's a choice ! - like in short he's just being pathetic !

the side characters -- omg they all have no personality - like i get that it's general for nerds to read books and be in the business but nerds can dress up and have a fucking personality - i am a book reader myself and I sure don't look like that, sorry bitches get things straight before you work on another project like that !

The only thing I liked about it was the message that everything is relative and what people remember is based on how they feel at present and it can't be the reality of it all ! - it's subjective !

all in all if you are trying to copy HALLMARK - better do a good job next time or I am literally skipping kmovies !

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The Martian and Apollo 13 Meets Murphy's Law

Let me start off by saying that I am a huge fan of DO Kyungsoo and I was eagerly waiting to watch this.

I've watched a lot of the space and sci-fi genre and if anyone has ever watched The Martian, Apollo 13, Armageddon, The Core, Lost In Space, etc, you will find that The Moon is very similar to all these films/series. It's already difficult to make a space movie taken in the "present" time and not have some similarities found in other films and TV series and that's to be expected.
And of course, just like Murphy's Law, everything that could go wrong went wrong. So much sh*t hits the fan that it becomes hard to believe that he even survives. I think in retrospect, they went a bit overboard with all the unlucky accidents and failures.

Another thing that stood out like a sore thumb was whenever they showed the "NASA" HQ, you felt like you were watching a pep rally where everyone attended the "University of NASA" because mostly everyone working there was wearing NASA hoodies. As if they wanted to make sure the audience knew it was NASA. We got it... the hoodies and jackets told us so. Honestly, they could've just worn regular, normal clothes and we would've still believed it was NASA. But it was pretty obvious that NASA's merchandise branding was everywhere. It was even less convincing when the head FL at the NASA HQ, couldn't speak fluently English. It would've been better if her English was a bit more proficient or at least dubbed. This is NASA after all.

There were other parts I wasn't particularly fond of... apparently no one at the KASC, the Korean space HQ, could make a quick decision or a solution every time a problem arose because there was only that ONE guy from the outside who was the only one capable and there was that one other dude who just f*cked everything up and the Minister who was so incompetent at his job too. It also seemed odd in the beginning that it felt like the other astronauts didn't seem to like the ML. It just didn't fit in with the storyline.

All in all, it was an interesting watch but it just didn't feel very original. I did, however, feel emotionally invested in Maru, the drone. I thought DO Kyunsoo did a good job as usual but I'll be honest and say that I felt he looked too young for the role. I think a more mature-looking and older actor would've been more convincing especially since DO's character was a Navy Seal. Someone like Park Seo Joon or even Gong Yoo, (if he hadn't already been in Silent Sea), would've been more suitable.

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Amazingly Better Than the First

After watching the first one; I didn't want to watch this one because that one was a mess. I like Jason Statham so decided why not; I'm bored. I'll give a whirl. Other reason I didn't want to watch it was because though I'm a scuba diver, I have a phobia of octopi and knowing essentially I'd be looking at the kraken with huge tentacles gave me the jeebs. Thankfully, that part of the show was towards the end and minimal. But though things were messy and far from perfect (antagonists were subpar at best but thankfully most were eaten fairly quickly); the comedy and bantering between the characters was amusing even in dire strait situations. It's not a film for everyone but if you want to just relax with some popcorn and have a chill evening, go for it. It is actually amazingly better than the first. That said, I hope they don't make a 3rd lol.

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It was good, but...

So, I just randomly stumbled upon this, the poster and the title seemed interesting, so I watched it.

The story was good and the way it was written. Despite being a short film, It's slow, and it takes time to show you things, but there's just something about it that didn't grab me. Nonetheless, I appreciated my time with it. It feels like I was dropped in the middle of a story, I'm watching and it feels like I'm missing something.

The writing is very subtle, If you pay enough attention you'll understand what's going on, but for me, I had to watch it twice because I was lost as to why are they suddenly fighting, like what the heck even happened? I blinked and their relationship suddenly started cracking, but I had a good grasp as to what the reason might be based on the way one of them is acting and the things that are happening around the couple.

In terms of the characters, there wasn't really much that was told, it seemed lacking to me, so I couldn't really get invested with them, but I was still interested. Like I said, the writing is very subtle, so you have to really get into the minds of the characters, or you'll get lost. And that's not to say that there will be no acting because of the subtleties. No, I'm not saying that. The actresses did a great job on their parts.

I was expecting a kissing scene when a particular scene came because the mood is set, the setting, and the characters are very close with each other, but nope. So, if you're expecting one, don't bother.

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