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Reviews
The Creator (2023)
"Children of Men" but with Robots
My overall impression: This movie felt like:
Low-budget Acting.
Low-Budget Writing.
Blockbuster Visuals.
And yet, it was at times extremely emotionally moving, and the film stuck with me long after it ended.
In the end, I'd say it was a solid Sci-Fi film that is absolutely worth a watch, at least once, despite its many obvious flaws.
ACTING:
Overall, the acting was a REALLY mixed bag...
The little girl lead did a great job and really carried the most emotional/poignant moments.
The main adult lead (John David Washington) nailed a lot of the big emotional moments as well, but there was a LOT of wooden/cold-read moments in between.
Ken Watanabe (as a Simulant) was excellent.
All of the acting from the supporting cast playing "The Americans" was laughably bad
(like C-grade TV Sci-Fi acting). It really took you out of the moment sometimes.
While on the other hand, many of the Thai-speaking extras and minor supporting roles were excellent and really drew you back in, making the world feel more real.
WRITING:
The script was basically "Children of Men" but with robots, but it really worked. It was overall a fun, very interesting and entertaining movie. The pacing was very good too.
But the writing was also a real mixed bag. The writers really seemed to struggle often with fitting in the lore/explanations into the runtime, and often awkwardly dropped exposition to "TELL" when they could (should) have just "SHOWN". There were 1 or 2 such moments that were so poorly shoe-horned in I laughed out loud, like "wow...are you serious right now?"
But in the end, while you noticed the flaws for sure, the overall experience was good enough that these issues could be overlooked.
VISUALS:
This is where the movie really excels. The effects and cinematography were solid and made it feel like an epic, blockbuster Sci-Fi movie experience.
I'm no expert on cinematography, but really like whatever they did with the lighting throughout (there were many scenes where really cool lighting and rich color stood out to me).
SOUNDTRACK:
I don't remember much about the score specifically, but the movie did feel epic and emotional and powerful throughout, which probably means it did its job well.
The sound effects were all suitably strange and alien and felt well done.
X-FACTOR:
This movie stuck with me, and the overall experience (visually and story-wise) left a lasting impression.
FINAL IMPRESSIONS:
Was it flawed? Absolutely.
Should you watch it? Absolutely.
In fact, if you go in with low expectations concerning the acting and writing "glitches", you will probably love it.
My Spy The Eternal City (2024)
Loved the first movie, but the sequel is TRASH
Just rewatched the first movie to make sure it wasn't just nostalgia, but yea... from someone who LOVED the original My Spy, I felt like the sequel was a cringey mess... And if you didn't absolutely love the first movie, there's definitely nothing to see here, don't even waste your time.
ACTING: (0/5)
The acting was noticeable stiff/awkward. No real feeling to anything, and it just sounded like people reading lines the whole movie. I wasn't expecting anything crazy, but it really felt like the actors didn't want to be there for this one...
HUMOR: (0/5)
Unlike the first movie (where the humor just worked, and was overall hilarious to me), this movie's attempts at humor mostly just fell flat.
And for whatever reason, they would randomly hit you with moments that were WAY more vulgar/raunchy than the overall tone of the movie suggested... and they weren't even funny. It was like a middle-schooler writing adult themed jokes, and it just felt jarring and out of place.
There were a few jokes that felt like they were good ideas, and had potential, but were just not timed/developed/executed well.
For example, a bad guy starts cracking jokes during a serious scene at one point that were kind of funny in a vacuum, but his established character up to that point was 100% stern/serious for a lot of screentime, and then suddenly, all at once, he's rattling off jokes and doing a little standup bit. If they had developed his character better and worked it in a little earlier, the scene might have worked, but instead it felt really forced and awkward, and ultimately fell flat.
PLOT: (3/5)
I liked how the little girl (who has been training for years under JJ) is now a boss with all these acquired spy skills put into action. There was some fun fight choreography and interesting little spycraft moments throughout. The relationship between JJ and Sophie is still the star of the show, but nowhere near as endearing as in the first film.
The overall plot setup was interesting too, and provided a decent framework for an adventure. It was an average (but fun) check-your-brain-at-the-door plot, that would have been fine and would have worked if the rest of the movie wasn't such a train wreck.
Overall, I'm glad it was free when I watched it, as I would have felt ripped off even paying $3-4 to watch it. In my opinion, this movie is a hard pass...
My Spy (2020)
Lighthearted, Hilarious at times, Feel-Good Movie
This was a really fun movie, I've come back to it quite a few times now.
Even on subsequent watches, there are still so many moments that crack me up. The combination and interplay between the three main actors just works in this movie.
The main plot fatherly relationship between Dave Bautista's character and the little girl is also heartwarming/feel-good, like where you catch yourself smiling constantly throughout. That's really the star of the show and what makes the movie so endearing. And once again, they do a great job of interposing humor between the feels that really catches you off guard and keeps the movie feeling like a fun, lighthearted ride.
Really love this movie.
Ultimate Self-Defense Championship (2023)
INCREDIBLY engaging! Edge of my seat the whole time!
This was not only a really fascinating look at how different martial arts disciplines might perform in a wide range of self-defense situations, but also THE MOST entertaining and engaging reality/competition show I've ever seen!
I started watching late at night thinking I'd watch about 10-15 minutes and go to bed, and ended up binging the entire 2+ hours in one sitting.
They also throw in a bonus Zombie mission, which was SO much fun to watch! It was like watching someone play a suspenseful zombie survival video game, but with your favorite martial arts youtubers as the player characters.
I came away shocked at both how much fun I had watching this and how much I learned (and how this competition shaped/reshaped my views on various martial arts and on the realities of certain self-defense situations (knife attacks in particular, my gosh).
This is one of those very rare nonfiction TV shows that I really want to recommend to my friends and family.
Now I'm excitedly waiting for season 2!
Gumihodyeon (2020)
Review of Season 2 (1938)
Season 2 (1938) was a fun, wild ride. I liked it much more than the original show. The ending was a little weird (more on that later, no spoilers), but not anything that would ruin the rest of the show.
The first two or so episodes were not a great start (felt a little TOO campy to me). But the show quickly took off after that, and was a blast for most of its runtime.
It's kind of a "Monster of the Week" / episodic structure for much of the show (with fascinating mythology and a ton of really well done suspenseful scenes throughout, like it was TENSE at times, edge of your seat stuff), but they still manage to tie each episode to the larger story (a LOT of small details from these seeming tangent adventures become very important later on).
They really built on the mythology of the world introduced in the first season a TON in the second season, to great effect.
This story is not a romance like the first season, but focuses mainly on the brother relationship between Yeon and Rang, and also the complicated relationship between Yeon and his other OP childhood mountain god best friends. They do a great job of weaving this larger story throughout the smaller episodic adventures, and everything builds to a major, epic conclusion. The story of these relationships is the heart of the show amidst the chaos of their many adventures.
Now the really weird ending...
There's a massive story thread/villain that they built up to in the second half of the show, and then just suddenly seemed to forget about in the last episode... he's just a looming threat, a confrontation is coming.... and then he just doesn't show up again in the show, no one seems to notice or care, and the show ends...
Like, it really felt UNFINISHED, like someone chopped out 40 minutes of the finale, and then skipped to the epilogue...
The main themes/relationships that you really care about do resolve and come to a solid conclusion/ending... so it doesn't ruin the show or anything...
It was just bizarre... like you're expecting another episode, or a major cliffhanger ending leading to another season, but the show just ends... or more precisely, it acts like everything was resolved and jumps to a satisfying epilogue to tie a nice bow on the story, pretending that it didn't just skip over a massive plot hole to get there...
And yet... I came away still feeling like the show was a blast and worth watching. It's a shame the unfinished bits of the ending dulled the conclusion a bit, it really felt like they probably needed at least one more episode to properly wrap that last bit up, but all in all, I would still recommend it.
Bad and Crazy (2021)
Show runs out of steam completely after (4) episodes
The first 3-4 episodes were excellent, entertaining and engaging. Then the main plot got resolved and the show could have (and probably should have) ended right there, in 4 episodes.
Instead, it drags on, with a FAR less interesting secondary plot, that feels aimless and was honestly extremely tedious to watch.
I made it half way through episode 7 and realized it had taken me roughly 8 sittings to watch episodes 5-7, constantly feeling checked out. I normally tear through kdramas, binging multiple episodes at once. But this show just didn't need to keep going after episode 4, and it REALLY REALLY drags.
There was also plenty of comedy that fell flat and ridiculously inexplicable character reactions (a main character's first time seeing a man after he murdered her partner in front of her, and hovered over her, deciding whether or not to kill her, as she helplessly looked on in terror, and she's just all nonchalant, like he's some random dude she just met... like what the heck!?)
I tried over and over, but ultimately had to abandon the show part-way through episode 7 (abandoning a show is VERY rare for me).
And from some other reviews, it sounds like it doesn't get any better after that.
20segi sonyeo (2022)
Unnecessary shift in tone at the end kind of ruined it
This was a somewhat enjoyable, lighthearted movie for the first 3/4 of its runtime. Kind of felt like a few episodes of an mediocre kdrama compressed into a movie. Definitely had a "made-for-tv" vibe, but it was ok I guess.
Then there's just a massive shift in tone for the last 30 minutes, that was confusing and just didn't fit together with the rest of the movie.
It was one of those twists that was shocking, not because of some clever storytelling that caught you by surprise, but because it felt so disconnected, unearned, unnecessary, and out of place with the established themes and tone of the movie up to that point.
Basically, they took a pretty mediocre "made-for-tv" movie, that might have initially been worth a watch if you were bored, and in the last 30 minutes, made you feel like you really just wasted your time for the previous 90 minutes...
I don't recommend watching this movie. The disjointedness with the ending made it feel like a waste of time, and honestly, there wasn't anything particularly great about the first 3/4 anyway. Not worth it.
Gojira -1.0 (2023)
A massively over-hyped (but still pretty good) Godzilla movie
Ok, first off, while I enjoyed this refreshing take on a Godzilla movie, this movie has been MASSIVELY overhyped. Don't let the severely over-inflated reviews and ratings fool you. Go in with low expectations, and you'll probably have a great time.
This IS a VERY refreshing approach to a Godzilla movie, and tried to actually be a good piece of cinema, with real human stories that actually made it a decent movie. The story of the human characters was actually worth watching in and of itself.
And the monster action early on was excellent! And stayed pretty strong in the ocean.
The visuals on the atomic breath were BREATH-TAKINGLY good! Like WOW! Spectacular moments!
Unfortunately, once full-grown Godzilla got out of the water, it was like watching a man in a heavy, ill-fitting Halloween costume try and not trip while shuffling along through a miniature prop city.
Overall though, yes, this was a good enjoyable movie, and with an an approach that was refreshing and that I respect. But lets be real here, it's a monster movie, with a nice human element. This is no cinematic masterpiece, no true science fiction that makes you really think.
I can't help but think of dozens of infinitely better, timeless movies released over the last decade with nowhere near the imdb or rotten tomatoes scores that this movie has right, and ask, did we watch the same movie??
Still, and enjoyable watch.
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024)
Incredibly bad and stupid movie, that you'll probably still have fun watching
This was a truly terrible, D-grade movie, with a lot of really fun, mindless monster battles that made me feel like a kid for a couple hours : )
Ok first, the BAD:
From a normal movie standpoint, this was BAD, like complete trash, embarrassingly so. No exaggeration, the WORST acting I think of any movie I've ever seen. That's not a hot take. This was major Fremdschämen territory.
Main lady scientist (SO cringe), submarine captain, signals/blogger sidekick guy, and several others were just insufferably bad. Crazy vet guy seemed like he was having fun I guess.
The most convincing acting in the movie probably came from CGI Kong...
(and, ok, to be fair, the young actress playing the Iwi island refugee actually did a great job and seemed believable).
It's also extremely cheesy, with pretty horrible sound design & mixing (get ready for like 30% of the soundscape to be the same over-compressed rumbling sounds and uninspired/repetitive ape groans).
There was also a lot of pretty STUPID writing, and completely ridiculous, unexplained "magic" technology fixes for everything by the human characters. The pacing was ok in the first half, but a sloppy, unconvincing mad rush to wrap up the story in the second half.
Now the GOOD:
There was PLENTY of ridiculous Kaiju battling going on in an almost cartoonish/Marvel-movie sort of way, that reminded me of being a kid growing up on Godzilla movies, and playing with all the action figures. I think as a kid, I would have LOVED this movie.
Despite all of the obviously terrible cinematic issues (that SOMEHOW managed to fall short of my exceedingly low expectations going in), I still had a lot of fun watching it and was delighted by several moments in the monster battles.
At the end of the day, it was a fun diversion. If you like Godzilla and/or grew up on these kinds of movies, you'll probably have fun with it as well.
Eoneu Nal Uri Jib Hyeongwaeuro Myeolmangyi Deuleowassda (2021)
A mixed bag... Had potential, but stumbled along unevenly
This show had some very interesting ideas, a solid cast (who really did a great job and went all-in), and good chemistry between the leads. It also had plenty interesting secondary characters and subplots. It also has a handfull of moments that made me go "Wow... that was cool"...
I know a lot of people will enjoy it based on those factors alone, and if that's you, please enjoy it!
But if you're like me, unfortunately the many flaws in the writing/storytelling/pacing will make the whole thing feel like a huge missed opportunity leaving an overall "meh..." feeling about the series...
First, the pacing was all over the place. Long stretches of the story were dragged out unnecessarily... and this was a huge missed opportunity. The first time you see a big countdown timer on-screen (loved the use of it by the way) you realize how impactful and interesting each day of this story could be. But instead, long stretches of showtime feel wasted, with several meaningless resets that don't grow the characters or seem to move the story forward at all.
The writers seemed to have trouble deciding which way they wanted to go, and would introduce a very interesting, major complication into the story, only to completely resolve it and remove any and all meaningful consequences within like half an episode, making you feel like it was just a waste of time. The characters would often never mention it again and didn't seem to change or grow from it at all. This happened several times, which really killed the drama, because you knew it wouldn't matter for more than an episode.
But the worst part was that every BIG moment (and you could see them coming a mile away) just fell completely flat. They SHOULD have been good... like the buildup was great, the setup was there, there were good ideas with good drama... but then the moment comes, and you're like, "... well THAT was weak..." just zero impact...
Each time, it felt like the writers didn't give the characters the space to fully react/respond in a way on par with the build up.
I don't know... I came away feeling kind of frustrated with the show, cause it really did have moments that were special and promised a great show, but they couldn't seem to deliver on the promises of the setups in a meaningful way. Don't think I'd ever watch it again or recommend it to anyone.
Yi Yeonaeneun Bulgahangryeok (2023)
Started out OK, but second half is unbearably annoying. Only spoiler is at the end
This show is hard to rate because the main cast actually did a fantastic job acting, and a lot of the directing/pacing is well done, and the story is even unique, interesting, and at times gripping! But man oh man, the writing (particularly for the main couple) was so obnoxiously stupid, particularly in the second half, it just eventually really ruined the show...
The first half is kinda good, it had plenty of thrilling moments, some mystery, and am interesting premise. As for the characters, it was almost like a guilty pleasure, like the characters are so stupid and immature, but the leads have good chemistry and you want to root for them anyway, and for about 6-8 episodes, I looked forward to the next.
But it quickly degenerated after that to the point of being almost unwatchable. The writing is just so obnoxiously brainless... like characters are doing things that (A) completely conflict with their earlier established character, and (B) no sane human being would do... No amount of willing suspension of disbelief will hold up. It's just lazy, stupid writing at several points to try and force drama.
SPOILERS:
At the end of episode 14, after a creepy stalker who has broken into the female lead's house to steal her clothes, tried to break in a second time, terrified and harassed her to the point she doesn't feel safe in her own home, LITERALLY shoved her into a giant pit and tried to BURY HER ALIVE, and stabbed the male lead (almost fatally).... He then calls her and says, "hey, meet me alone in a park at night, or I might hurt your boyfriend again"... and without telling a single person, literally just shows up, alone, at night, to be murdered...
Circumstances happen so she gets saved. The police show up, the psycho escaped again, they'll continue looking for him... and as male lead is driving her home, she's like: "you know what, just let me off here, I can take the bus".... like... I don't adequate have words to describe how infuriatingly IDIOTIC that writing is...
Ultimately, what could have been an interesting, unique show was ruined by repeated moments of horrible, beyond amateur character writing. Really made me hate the show towards the end, even though I had found it entertaining initially.
Miseuteo Shunshain (2018)
Wow... this series would sweep any award show in America. I was blown away
This series was overwhelmingly good on SO many levels!
I was STUNNED by the cinematography... I just kept thinking, "that's one of the most beautifully shot scenes I've ever seen..." and them it just KEPT happening again and again throughout the series. I usually don't care THAT much about that kind of thing, but it stood out so much, it was honestly moving to watch. The musical score was really solid and moving as well throughout!
ACTING:
The acting was INCREDIBLE by the leads and most of the supporting cast too, like top 1 or 2 kdramas of all time for me... (out of like 40+ at this point). Again, overwhelmingly good...
The leads especially had great chemistry and pit on absolutely incredible performances.
... with one SIGNIFICANT EXCEPTION:
(For context, I'm from the US)
The American characters were HILARIOUSLY cringy to watch, some of the worst acting I've seen in a LONG time, with very unbelievable American accents...
PLEASE NOTE: early in the first episode, there's tons of terrible American accents and cringiness in a scene or two (I almost stopped watching, it was laughably bad, but am SO glad I didn't). Just push through those few scenes. They're short, somewhat comical, and will come up again from time to time, but they are MASSIVELY made up for by the incredible acting that makes up the majority of this series.
STORY/CHARACTERS:
SO many really interesting characters! And excellent character development throughout! The show eventually builds to epic proportions, and the payoffs are so much more meaningful because of the investment earlier on in the characters (and SO many solid characters!).
It was also really cool how, throughout the show, they're constantly transitioning from Korean, to English, and to Japanese, (and rarely, even french) and the languages each character speaks tells you something about their story.
Really cool historical context too that was completely new to me!
The series is alternatingly lighthearted, comedic, & fun and heavy, dramatic, and moving.
Be prepared for some tragedy and drama that hits home hard because the characters are so well developed!
This was a masterpiece in so many ways (with a few quirks and flaws), but ultimately one of the best kdramas I've ever watched. Absolutely worth a watch!
Ssanggabpocha (2020)
Massively over-hyped. A mediocre knock-off of significantly better shows
This is not a TERRIBLE kdrama, but it's DEFINITELY not as good as I was led to believe, or anywhere near that. I had read a lot of extremely positive reviews before watching, and I was honestly kind of shocked by just how mediocre the show ended up being
A solid 5 for me.
This was a pretty bad knockoff of two SIGNIFICANTLY BETTER shows: Hotel Del Luna & The Uncanny Counter that are often mentioned in the same conversation.
There were multiple points during the show where I felt like, "wow... this is kinda dumb... but I guess it's mildly entertaining and I'll stick around to see what happens".
The Good:
I thought Jung Da-Eun (who plays Yeo Rin) did a good job playing her character. You don't appreciate it fully until a later reveal about her backstory, but the theme they were going for is pretty solid ; )
The lighthearted humor was also nice, and occasionally I did laugh out loud.
Towards the end, the payoffs of some of the storylines they'd been developing were done pretty well.
The Bad:
Everything else was VERY mediocre, and mostly dull versions of things copied from much better shows.
The final showdown is spoiled by the fact that we see the "heroes" inexplicably standing outside the room listening to the villain monologue and waiting till well AFTER he does the terrible thing that he's obviously going to do to walk in and try to stop him. There's no danger to them entering the room, and no, they're not coming up with some elaborate plan... they're quite literally just waiting their turn for the writer to call them into the scene once the drama has been manufactured...
There are plenty of other cringy/head-scratching moments like this in the show where characters do inexplicably stupid things, even for a TV show.
The biggest thing for me was that, for the first time in about twenty-some kdramas, I wasn't hooked and excited to watch the next episode... it was just a thing to do... mildly entertaining.
The Ugly:
I enjoyed Choi Wonyoung (plays the bar's manager in this show) in Sky Castle, but MY GOSH, his acting in this show was TERRIBLE... I don't know if he just phoned it in, but sometimes it looked like someone who had never acted before.
Overall, it was OK... but definitely in the bottom 2 or 3 Kdramas I've watched... and I've watched A LOT lately, and definitely not anywhere in the same league as most of the other kdramas I've seen it compared to.
I'd say go in with low expectations, if you even bother.
Ma-i On-li Leo-beu-song (2017)
Embarrassingly Bad Writing...Cringey and a chore to get through the first half
This was not good... definitely the worst Kdrama I've seen so far. The attempts at humor just did not land for me at all, and mostly made me cringe throughout.
It was one of those shows where things just happened because the writer wanted them to, with no real justification, buildup, explanation, or even an attempt at a set up. Without spoiling anything, the ending was like the writers gave up and just waved a magic wand so they could finish and go home... you'll know it when you see it. Even though nothing in the show makes much sense (definitely check your brain at the door), they didn't even bother to introduce even a convenient/contrived mystical or poetic excuse for the ending. It just happens out of nowhere... poof... story resolved.
The first half was a chore to get through. I'm used to Kdramas opening an episode with the last scene of the previous episode, but usually you get to see a new perspective, gain important context, etc... but not in this show. Expect a significant chunk of the runtime (and episodes are already pretty short) to be watching an identical scene multiple times in a row. This becomes less frequent towards the end, but it's super annoying for much of the show.
I will say that the last few episodes were decent, and they managed to be enjoyable. The lead actress is great at crying scenes for sure. Wish I didn't waste my time with it though.
Labyrinth (1986)
Huge Waste of Time
Wow... I mean wow... I really cannot for the life of me see why anyone, let alone so many reviewers on this site would enjoy this movie.
This is the first movie I have ever not been able to make myself finish. It was extraordinarily and PAINFULLY dull and boring to get to the hour mark alone, and not long after that, I just couldn't handle it anymore.
As for the PACE, the movie moves along at a crawl,
The ACTING was absolutely awful, save, perhaps, for Bowie's mildly disturbing performance.
The story was just plain stupid and uninteresting. Contrary to many reviews I had read prior to watching for myself, the film is not intelligent in the least: themes and "life-lessons", if you could even call them that, are spoon-fed to the audience by unimaginative writing, most of which is borrowed or copied wholesale from other stories, myths, and films, and by the elementary-school-play-quality acting of the characters.
I get the whole coming of age rationale for the labyrinth and the symbolism therein, but it is presented in an incredibly dull package. Movies with similar goals typically manage to hold the audience's attention with stunning visuals, clever humor, and skillful directing to really hook the viewer. NONE of these can be found in Labyrinth. The visuals are drab and uninspiring, the attempts at humor fall flat and the movie ends up just plain NOT funny, and the directing is just too slow-paced with little reward for the patience required to watch.
On a side note, this was supposedly released as a children's movie, and yet, phallic imagery abounds, and a twisted sexuality pervades the film. Bowie's character, his attempted seduction of an adolescent girl, and just the way the story plays out is uncomfortably reminiscent of the formula used by pimps in sex trafficking... the subtle nature of these themes and images makes them easy to write off as harmless, or to miss entirely. I honestly wonder how many who watched this film as a child and look back on it nostalgically as "magical" were subconsciously affected by this warped sexuality.
In Summary, this movie was a huge disappointment, an ENORMOUS waste of time, and "Magical" only in the Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch sense.
This movie really has nothing positive to offer. If you didn't see this movie as a child, there is really no reason to see it now.