Reviews

Literally screamed at the end!!!

WOW, thos show went from extremely mid and quite slow paced to heart racing anxiety. Hard watch as the topic of the main case is a excruciatingly hard for anyone who cares about kids, I’m not gonna say anymore, but you know this goes on in the world and sadly its a big business that makes a lot of nasty evil people very rich.

I did think at first they spend all the budget on Woobin, which you know will get you views. But the energy definitely steps up and you will be on the edge of your seat.

For those of us who are MASSIVE fans of Designated Survivor there is the very best of surprises at the end and I literally screamed my hubby was extremely confused as he hasn’t seen it. I am a fan however and loved loved loved it!!!

Best President of South Korea, the only one in my eyes lol.

Not sure I’d rewatch. I don’t honestly want to be reminded of what evil sick men do for money, but Woobin and the rest of the cast did great.

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The Kid from Kwang Tung starred Wong Yu, not exactly a household name even in kung fu circles. The story was a bit of a mess. What it lacked in star power and coherency it tried to make up with fists and kicks. With very little wire-fu the fights came early and often.

He Jia Yu is always getting into fights with brothers Wu De Bao and Wu De Zhi from a rival school. Also in town is Chen Xiaowei and her mother who are fleeing from Luo Yihu and his gang who are taking down schools and fighters. When Yihu comes to town the bodies start dropping. Jia Yu and friends will have to up their skills if they want to stay alive.

The first half of this film was slapstick comedy and pranks that began to wear thin. If not for the promise of hopping vampires I would have dropped it. There was a creative fight competition between a chicken and a centipede. Which eventually led to hopping vampire action on a bet later on. Hwang Jang Lee as Luo Yihu had a black cat and could power up when his eyes glowed green. I love watching Thunderleg in action. He didn’t need wires for his high-flying kicks. Wong Yu was quick and acrobatic, a good foil for the hard kicking baddie. Yen Shi Kwan as Yihu’s mentor was always dependable and had a strong fight with Hwang. Sharon Yeung’s fight choreography made use of her limberness, but she wasn’t believable as a lethal fighter. The final fight between Wong Yu and Hwang Jang Lee was quite creative. I’ve never seen incense used in that manner.

Kid from Kwang Tung was moderately entertaining, perhaps more so if you enjoy slapstick comedy. The comedy didn’t work for me, especially when the good guys kept getting brutally killed. What did work? Hwang Jang Lee was worth the price of admission. That and a half dozen hopping vampires. As always, rated on a curve for old kung fu flicks.

11 October 2024

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A HEARTBREAKING YET BEAUTIFULLY CRAFTED FILM

*Uprising* is a heartbreaking yet beautifully crafted film that takes us on an emotional journey through the friendship of Jong-Ryeo and Cheon-Yeong, set in a time of brutal class divisions in historical Korea. The plot centers on how the rigid social hierarchy affects their lives, particularly Cheon-Yeong, a slave who is forced to endure countless hardships in place of Jong-Ryeo.
What starts as a cruel situation—Cheon-Yeong being beaten in Jong-Ryeo’s stead—evolves into a deep bond. Despite the fact that Cheon-Yeong isn’t born a slave, his family’s downfall forces him into this role, and it's his strength and refusal to accept the established hierarchy that makes him stand out. When he begins secretly teaching Jong-Ryeo how to fight, the dynamics between the two change, leading to a friendship that feels genuine despite the social disparity.
However, the film doesn’t shy away from the harsh realities of their world. Even after helping Jong-Ryeo win a prestigious sword-fighting competition, Cheon-Yeong is denied his freedom by Jong-Ryeo’s father, who breaks the promise of releasing him from slavery. This betrayal deeply scars Cheon-Yeong, though Jong-Ryeo still tries to protect him by sending him off to fight the Japanese invaders, hoping this will finally earn him his freedom. The film is filled with these moments of hope and crushing disappointment.
After years of fighting, Cheon-Yeong returns home only to find the world he left behind in ruins. Jong-Ryeo’s family home has been burned down by the people who suffered under the oppressive rule of his father. In one of the film’s most gut-wrenching moments, Cheon-Yeong tries to save Jong-Ryeo’s wife and son from the flames, but she refuses his help out of pride, seeing him as a slave rather than a person who might save her life. Her death serves as a stark reminder of how deeply ingrained social prejudice was, even to the point of self-destruction.
The climax of *Uprising* sees a tragic reunion between Jong-Ryeo and Cheon-Yeong after seven years of separation. Jong-Ryeo, unaware of the full story, initially believes Cheon-Yeong is responsible for his wife and son's deaths. Their final confrontation is tense, but as the truth is revealed, the film shifts focus from their conflict to a bittersweet reconciliation. Just when they finally resolve their long-standing misunderstanding, Jong-Ryeo is mortally wounded in battle against the Japanese. Cheon-Yeong kills the Japanese leader, Genshin, in a satisfying act of revenge, but it’s too late to save Jong-Ryeo.
In Jong-Ryeo’s final moments, he asks Cheon-Yeong if they’re still friends, referencing an earlier lighthearted exchange from their youth. It’s a poignant moment that captures both the tragedy and beauty of their relationship. Despite everything that has happened, the film shows that love and loyalty can persist, even in death. This scene is devastating, but it offers closure, showing that their bond was real despite the cruel world they lived in.
On a larger scale, *Uprising* also critiques the corruption of the ruling class, embodied by King Seonjo, whose greed and cowardice lead to the suffering of the common people. His alliance with the Japanese and subsequent desertion of his own throne during the invasion sparks the uprising that defines the film. The subplot involving Seonjo and the infamous Japanese leader Genshin, known as the “nose-snatcher,” adds layers of historical context and brutality to the narrative. In a symbolic twist, Seonjo’s greed is punished when the treasure he’s promised turns out to be boxes of human body parts—noses, to be precise—reflecting the horrors of war and the consequences of his betrayal.
In the end, Cheon-Yeong and a few of his fellow survivors form a new community, symbolically named “Beom Dong,” meaning “A world together.” It’s a hopeful note to close the film on, but *Uprising* doesn’t let the audience forget the price paid for such unity. The film leaves you with a lingering sense that although there’s hope for change, the struggle against social inequality is far from over.
*Uprising* masterfully balances personal and political themes, offering a powerful meditation on friendship, loyalty, and the fight for justice. It’s a tearjerker that hits hard, especially as it reveals the lasting impact of societal divisions, even as it tries to inspire hope for a better future.

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Great acting working in a really short movie.

It's good, I really enjoyed it and I cried like a baby bc of Tang Wei's arc. Meanwhile, it lacks time to construct each storyline they showed to us through the movie.
What exactly happened with the woman who created it and her parents? What did Gong Yoo mean to Tang Wei in the movie? What happened with Suzy's and Bogum's arc? Did they start to work out their problems? It left us hanging onto something we won't know and it's kinda frustrating. I don't really care about the sci-fi aspects, yeah it's very fantasious, but like nothing serious, it's still a very touching movie.

And what really happened with the guy and his grandma like???? I get it, she died, but how did the system turned out to be that person when it, at least, should have a personality base? It's confusing.

I really liked the movie, but I wish they worked better with a longer time, it would be better to show about all the storylines they introduced.

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The cream of the crop in cinematic swordsmanship

First screened as the opening film at Busan International Film Festival 2024, this has proven to be a worthy eye-opener, and what's even better than Netflix making it available to watch right away globally. For a movie about swordsmanship, it does have a rather fancy plot that has multiple layers of depth in its character design and geopolitical setting. It was fueled with thick story development in class ideology and royal politics to generate that really serious buildup for the tension before the final fight, that core motivation of the characters may seem a little imprudent at first but it works well and gives a brilliant resolution towards the end. The final fight featuring trio swordsman is seriously the cream of the crop in cinematic martial arts sequence, everything is meticulously measured with the highest precision from tactical details to camera works, the scale is just unbelievably stupendous as it will definitely make you grab on the edge of the seat unknowingly while screaming out of shock when watching.

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"Art should have no borders"

Hanagatami was a labor of love for Director Obayashi Nobuhiko. He’d conceived the film 40 years before filming it. Right before production he received the news he had stage 4 cancer and he went ahead and began it. This film was surrealistically beautiful, cryptic, and a scathing criticism of the 20th century Japanese war machine.

It’s 1941 and seventeen-year-old Toshihiko has returned to Japan from Amsterdam where his mother lives. At his new school he befriends three boys—athletic Ukai, nihilist Kira, and class clown Aso. Toshihiko lives with his aunt and her sister-in-law, the beautiful and dying Mina. The boys are introduced to Mina’s friends, Chitose (Kira’s cousin) and Akine. The youth swim in the ocean, have parties and picnics, attend festivals, and fall in love as befits their age. They also have the sword of war hanging over their heads.

“All you boys will be taken and killed!”
This film set an exhausting pace in the first act. With his extensive use of green screens and special effects some of his choices almost made me dizzy. Toshi was ever exuberant, often to the extreme, which was hard to keep up with. The film eventually settled into a more moderate pace. There were events I wasn’t sure happened or were symbolic. The full moon loomed over the nightly proceedings, bathing everyone in its magical glow. And ghostly military scarecrows came to life and marched while children followed along singing.

“War is hell, but I can’t avoid my own personal hell”
It’s hard for me to call the youth “boys” because in fact the actors were between the ages of 27-42. The girls were closer to their screen ages, most being in their low 20’s. Regardless of their real ages, I had to mentally accept them as teens. They were supposed to be coming of age all the while knowing that they might never make it to manhood. There were homoerotic scenes such as two teens riding a horse naked in the moonlight. And sapphic implied scenes between friends and in-laws. There were plenty of male bare bottoms and women in full nude body suits.

“Seen through the wrong end of a telescope an ordinary scene becomes an ancient history. No, it’s not nostalgia. It’s heartache for all that’s lost.”

Toshi was looking back at his youth in the house his mother and aunt prepared for him. The years had flown by and memory colored in dark nights and filled gaps from old wounds. Friendships were bound by the present and impossible future. Their country had deemed their youth expendable in the name of honor and expansion. There were those who decided if they were being sent to die in a distant land, they could choose a familiar place to end their life. Obayashi drove home every chance he could that Japanese men were born to die in war, a truly useless and tragic thing. At no point was he subtle about his loathing for the 20th century government’s actions and his mourning for the wasted lives and potential. Hanagatami wasn’t an easy film to watch. It was long and maddeningly dream-like. It was also highly creative in showing how teens and their relationships are complex especially when they know they will be forced to grow up and face horrors they can’t escape.

“For Toshihiko, his youth was like a game of hide and seek. It was dark before he knew it and everybody had gone home.”

11 October 2024

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Shin hye sun is my favorite actress

really good film...and this actress is an exceptional actress...she plays wonderfully well...all the roles she plays makes the series or film splendid...I loved this film.... .. I loved the film, it's really very good, as the plot unfolds, we become more and more involved, and the film has very good quality, everything seems very real, it ends up that even we ourselves become sad and with angry, but then he becomes very excited and happy, I really liked it, I highly recommend it, I thought it was a series but then I realized it was a film and honestly I didn't give anything for this film, but it delivered everything, it surprised me, it's very good and cool, the fight scenes are really well done, man this movie is wonderful.

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Love Wins All

I really never expected. The producers of this film made this movie sharply. South Korea is now one step ahead of others. They are not only making BLs but also making so many unique dramas/ movies about LGBTQ+ society.

Firstly the actors just nailed their characters. As I already read the novel so I was worried at first but now all the thoughts of mine are gone .
The actor who played the male character expressed the emotions of his character completely. The sufferings, happiness, sadness everything will attack your heart directly. This drama tells us love has no boundaries.

Talking about the female lead , she is mature, strong and also supportive. She understands his emotions with her heart .

The story is funny and emotional at the same time . When the ml and fl fought with each other ( cat fight) , I really can't hold my laugh. Sometimes I felf they are lovers or besties . There is nothing which they couldn't do like throwing slang words to each other , kicking etc etc .

If you want to watch a good movie with your family members then don't hold yourself back . Definitely worth watching.

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Oh, what a web we weave, when first we practice to deceive or ... blow people up

The Web of Death was a Shaw Brothers fantasy and action fueled story with special effects revolving around a spider that could shoot the rainbow out of its spinning hole and create colorful explosive and poisonous webs. In 1976 the creators may have expected the audience to take this movie seriously but I laughed hysterically throughout it.

The 5 Venoms Wu Du Clan is holding a meeting regarding the big martial arts tournament to be held on the Wudang Mountain. Snake Clan Chief Liu Shen wants the Wu Du Chief to allow them to use the Five Venoms Spider to defeat their enemies. The chief refuses saying that if the wrong person got hold of the weapon the world could be threatened. Liu Shen starts the gossip that the weapon which has been hidden for 100 years is about to be found believing the good guys will find it for him. Sure enough, the Wudang Clan immediately sends Fei Ying Xiang out to see what the scoop is. He runs into a woman disguised as a man who tells him she might be able to find the spider for him. Turns out she’s the Wu Du Chief’s daughter. While she has nothing nefarious in mind, not everyone may believe that.

Yueh Hua played the righteous swordsman Fei Ying Xiang while Ching Li played Hong Susu, the deadly swordswoman from the “bad” clan. I know I was supposed to be invested in their Romeo and Juliet romance but it didn’t really pull me in. This film was packed with Shaw Brother favorites. Lo Lieh was the duplicitous Liu Shen-always a delight to see. Ku Feng took on the role of a “good” clan leader while Wang Hsieh gave one of his more sympathetic performances as the “bad” clan leader.

The special effects were low budget 1970’s fare, but there were plenty of them. Sparkling lights, smoke, fire, fireworks, and colored lights. There were hidden traps, acid baths, and poison everywhere. The spider spewing out smoke and lights was a chef's kiss of cheesy effects. And this tarantula could also make elephant trumpet calls while standing on his hind legs. The sets were decked out like a Halloween spider fun house. I’m not an arachnophobe, but I also don’t like seeing them. These decorations looked like something a grade school came up with so were not scary to me at all. There were only a couple of shots of a real tarantula (surrounded in rainbow light) for anyone who needs to know for trigger warnings.

Very little time elapsed between fights or traps. Trampolines, wires, and reverse shots were all utilized in the place of serious martial arts, but the fights were still fun to watch as people fought on fire or dodging fireworks. Whoever doubled for Ching Li was quite acrobatic, flipping and twisting around her enemies.

As I was watching this movie, my first thought, after laughing about the “chase the rainbow” spider, was that I’ve seen this story before. Turns out it was a reworking of Cheng Pei Pei’s The Thundering Sword. Maybe this time the doomed love would turn out better and the good guys wouldn’t be close-minded jerks. Or maybe not.

The Web of Death is really only for fans of old kung fu movies or people who enjoy cheesy special effects. Turns out I love both and had a blast watching this fun house of horrors. As always, I grade old niche films on a curve.

10 October 2024

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Before Hu Bo created his only full-length film, An Elephant Sitting Still, he made this short film about two children attempting to survive in a post-apocalyptic world. Filmed in black and white without music, the film comes across as bleak and desolate---a warning of man’s destructive nature.

Two children are seen searching for anything to eat, knowing they are starving and could die. Their world is decaying and crumbling apart. Every step crunching on the ruins of civilization emphasizes how they live in a godforsaken land. They search a blown-out building and find a man tied and chained to a wall. Realizing he might be someone else’s food cache; they work quickly to secure him for themselves. Is he dead or still alive? And does that even matter anymore?

This is not a great film, but one that people who want to annihilate others should see. Governments who believe there is such a thing as “limited” nuclear war should see. Our mutually assured destruction can put us in a position where those who survive have only the bodies of other unfortunate souls to feed upon. Hu Bo’s pessimistic vision of the future is a dark place of utter misery. Children who should be giggling, playing, and well-fed have become scavengers in a wasteland spiraling down a hole deeper than any well.

10 October 2024

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