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Reviews
Choeakui Ak (2023)
Could not stop watching
I am a fan of Ji Chang Wook's acting and this drama did nothing to lessen my admiration. I first saw him in Healer, which was awesome, and have watched most of what he has done since. He is great, and in this series he really brings it. It is funny to think of him appearing in this and Welcome to Samdal Ri in the same year as the roles are widely different. I am glad he is working hard though, as that's two more opportunities to enjoy his performances.
I also like Wi Ha-joon and think he does a good job of playing Jung Gi-Cheoul as a sympathetic character, despite his ruthlessness.
I am not at all familiar with Bibi but she is a scene-stealer, as is her near silent bodyguard.
As usual, the side characters are immensely talented and do not detract from the overall production. Choi Jeong-bea, Yoo Eui-jung's mother, the Japanese bodyguard, and the guy on the bike (Yankees?) caught my attention, but they're all very good.
There are some rather unbelievable bits (JCW has superhuman healing abilities) but overall it is forgiveable because the pace is somewhat relentless and you've already moved on to enjoying the next scene.
I'm giving this 10 out of 10 for the acting and the pure entertainment value.
Taekbaegisa (2023)
Watchable but turn off your logic
I'm giving this 7 out of 10 as it loses 3 points for the plot holes and somewhat silly bits.
However, the look of the show is great, and I really liked the characters. I do like Kim Woo Bin but the show wasted him to some extent. That said, he was fine as a mostly masked tough guy, though I would have liked to see more of him from his pre-delivery man days.
I really like Esom too. She was competent in this but it would have been nice to see her character be something other than grim a few times.
I really liked Ya-sol, his three friends and grandfather, and also Esom's sister.
Overall, I felt like the series was too short and things happened too quickly but the actors, acting and cinematography were all good.
This Is Us (2016)
Too much Jack
I really love this series when it first, when I first started watching it. The characters are wonderful and warmly, drawn. For a long time I loved learning more about Jack and the mystery surrounding his death.
And finally, I learned what happened and I was satisfied. I thought okay next season we can get on with the kids lives. But no suddenly we have to have a whole bunch of new drama around Jack. Jack's army life. Oh god, I'm so bored of Jack. As much as I loved the other characters I could not keep watching. I like the actor who plays Jack but I am totally over the character. So I was forced to tune out. I just couldn't handle how much air time was given to a character who was going nowhere.
Ki Hwanghoo (2013)
Rivetting!
I loved all 51 episodes of this show. I even slowed down my watching at about ep. 35 because I didn't ever want it to end. The main actors in this series are so wonderful, but the whole supporting cast is great. I loved so many characters - General Tal Tal, Choi Moo-song, Golta, Park Bul-hwa, Yeon Bisu, Bang Shin Woo. And then there were the people I loved to hate, Tanashiri, the Empress Dowager, Yeon chul, Dang Kise, Beakan, Yeon-hwa, Yeom Byung Soo, Court Lady Seo and Bayan Khutugh.
Of course, the three leads were amazing. I hadn't seen Ha Ji-won before but she was rivetting as Yang/Empress Ki. The weakest part of the show was when she acted as a man, mostly because it was hard to believe anyone thought she was a man because of how she looked - her mannerisms were reasonably convincing. But once she becomes a tribute woman, she puts in a solid performance, growing from strength to strength as her character navigates the twisted politics of the court. Excellent performance.
I had not seen Joo Jin-mo either but loved his understated, very manly portrayal of Wang Yoo - in many ways the biggest victim in this drama but accepting everything with stoic grace. A worthy king figure.
I have seen Ji Chang-wook before and already think he is a great actor and he did not disappoint here, though his character was quite disappointing. However, because he was played by Ji Chang-wook, the emperor was beautiful and that made him a little easier to bear. Another solid performance from this actor.
This is a beautiful production. The costumes. The cinematography. The people. The story. I really enjoyed every episode of this drama. It flew by and I was sad when it had ended.
The Tank (2023)
Just lazy
There are some good things about this movie - I don't mind the creatures and there were some creepy bits, but this is overshadowed by the ridiculous bits. Like pouring your super irritating chemicals into the water of a massive tank as if they won't just dilute immediately. Or wandering around in the dark wondering if something is out there while something out in the forest makes prehistoric noises that would scare the hell out of anyone. The most puzzling bit is the disappearing windows of cars. These disappear to let beasties in but then reappear when the danger is over. It is amazingly lazy filmmaking. I'm prepared to suspend logic for a horror but the disappearing window glass took it that step too far.
Knock at the Cabin (2023)
Not as good as it should've been
This is a weird one because I read the book before watching the movie. Part of me wishes that I didn't because I wonder if knowing what was coming spoiled the movie for me. But then, part of me is glad I read it first as I doubt I'd have bothered reading it after watching the movie. The book was more shocking and had a way better ending. This ending was Hollywood cliche - and why do a horror if you shy away from horror?
I like the director but he does this a lot. In this movie it was to the point of an almost total declawing.
It was decent to watch in terms of cinematography and acting but it didn't build interest in the characters and took a quite shocking scenario to a mildly interesting one.
Barry (2018)
Binge watched four great seasons
I'd heard about this show but didn't watch it until recently and before long I'd binge watched the lot. It was hard to resist letting each episode start because I always wanted to find out what happened next.
Barry is full of great characters, from Bill Hader's Barry to his self-obsessed girlfriend to vain, narcissistic Cousineau and the always delightful Noho Hank. There is an amazing episode with a taekwondo expert and his daughter - both parts played perfectly. So many great scenes and bit parts.
Some episodes I would be in awe, sometimes I'd laugh out loud, sometimes I'd be scared or tense and sometimes I'd be crying for the terrible grief and desperation of the characters. Definitely give it a go.
65 (2023)
More Dinosaurs, less asteroids
I was always going to watch this movie. Adam Driver. Dinosaurs. Those two elements are enough in themselves. But pretty soon I realised I was watching After Earth, except that After Earth is better. Why? Because that side story about the fear monster is actually pretty interesting.
There is no interesting side story here. Yeah, there is a diversion to explain why Adam Driver's character has little reason to live, but it's a very standard story without a lot of punch. There's also a bit of a Last of Us vibe when he finds a little girl has survived as well and he decides to save her. But again, it lacks lustre. Koa is fine, it's just that the plot is so done over and over again. I do think it would have been good if it was a bit more Pitch Black, with more survivors who can then get picked off. At least would have generated some more tension.
The planet alternates between being super dangerous and not dangerous at all. One minute you can't sit on the beach for a second and the next you can walk across massive open fields with pterodactyls flying overhead and be totally fine. There is a lot of focus on asteroids and such when the focus should really be on dinosaurs. But I did like the dinosaurs and Adam Driver so I'm giving it seven.
Smile (2022)
Smile becomes a frown
I really liked a lot of this movie. I found the premise interesting and hoped like hell they weren't going to try for tracing origin and all of that. But they did.
Still not too bad but you quickly figure out they're going to make out the psychologist is not smart enough to understand what she has to do and it quickly becomes a less interesting version of Fallen.
But, unlike Fallen, the last fifteen minutes or so are really really stupid. We see the monster and it is sooo who cares. Really? That is what scared me for the first half of the movie. Boring. It's like yet another stretchy Gumby monster. I'm so sick of them now. This monster was done well in IT Follows and parts of IT but because it is well done in other movies, it's totally boring in this one. The smile was way way scarier. Way scarier. I was so disappointed at the end I had to look up what happened later because my brain couldn't be bothered remembering it.
Pahanhautoja (2022)
Another mother monster
I really enjoyed this movie. It didn't really scare me but it was quite chilling.
Tinja's demanding mother makes her character known in the first scene of the movie and should be ample foreshadowing of where this story is going. She kills a bird Tinja has become concerned for and this bird leads Tinja to an egg. I think the bird may be a cuckoo, as this is a cuckoo trope.
The cuckoo hatches and immediately seeks to fool the 'mother' that it is one of them, and in so doing, progressively ruins Tinja's already deteriorating life.
The mother is the monster of this movie. She cares nothing for the feelings of those around her, is hyper competitive and will throw anyone under the bus. It's a great performance, by both mother and daughter.
At the end, Tinja's mother reveals exactly how much of a monster she is, and is rewarded with exactly the kind of gift such a monster would wish for. Chilling.
Barbarian (2022)
More sad than scary
I had high hopes for this movie but it did disappoint. I've given it 6 out of 10 because its still better than most horror movies, but it's not a gem or anything.
The movie is in 3-4 segments. The first is the best. Good tension, a prevailing sense of unease, some really horrifying propositions. It's one of those - no don't do that!! Kind of movies.
The second section was about a grubby tv star and was less enjoyable. I wasn't even interested enough in him to see him get his come tuppence. So what. He made the whole section irritating.
The third section was some pre-history. Wasn't scary.
In the fourth section, one character has told another that the old dear in the house is not the worst thing in it. So, I start waiting for this worse thing to appear. Turns out to be a weak old man dying in a bed. Oooh. Yes, he was a serial killer/rapist but he's not scary anymore. Disappointment. Movie plays out to the end which is just really sad. Really really sad. I mean, genuinely evoking sadness.
I don't know who needs to hear this but, old people aren't scary. They just aren't. Neither are saggy boobs, or falling out teeth or a few wrinkles. If an old person starts coming at me, I'm going to be pretty happy they're old. Not that I'm sure the woman was old - maybe she was only forty or so. But you know, that whole concept, the old sad mother thing, was zero scary. It just made me feel sad. For her. I have seen way too many movies lately where I'm meant to be terrified by the spectacle of some skinny old person filling doorways or hallways. Sometimes this is done effectively but quite often I'm just waiting for the scary bit to begin. Do people really find skinny old people that terrifying? They're just old people.
The Predator (2018)
Atrocious
This is not a good movie. I don't even know what audience it is intended for. Obviously previous predator fans, but only if you expect previous Predator fans to still only be 12.
Why, oh why, was there a child in this? Bad, bad, bad decision. As soon as I saw the kid I was thinking 'this is going to be bad' and nothing ever proved me wrong.
The predator dogs! They were so bad. I know they had dog things in Predators but that was a bad decision too. You know when you watch a movie and think 'wow, a cool alien creature comes to earth to hunt with its way superior tech and senses' and then suddenly it turns out to be basically human? Yeah. Boring.
Lastly, the giant predator was awful.
Prey (2022)
Best Predator Movie since the Original
It took me a while to watch this as I didn't realise it was a Predator movie. Even then I was wary, because the last movie called The Predator might be one of the most disappointingly bad movies I've ever watched. But I was pleasantly surprised by this one. I hadn't read anything about it so went in without preconceptions, basically expecting another awful Predator movie.
I do have criticisms of the movie, like, why would the Predator be killing animals. If nails and teeth are weapons, why not kill unarmed humans? Also, it was cold. Why did the Predator come in cold weather? Is the hot weather a regional based thing? And why the bone mask? Silly.
But anyway, I did like the main character and the other actors and the predator. I think taking it back 300 years and making out the predator tech changed a lot in such a short time was weird, given how much tech the predator already had. Look, the movie does require some serious suspension of belief. But so did the first one. There was no way Arnie was really going to kill that thing. It really needed to go back way further, but they wouldn't have then had the opportunity to introduce that location, the Commanche and the French hunters as the real bad guys.
And on that, why has nobody figured out in any of the movies that if you just put down your weapons and go about your daily life, the Predator won't even notice you and is rendered completely harmless. That's what I would do if I saw a predator - drop any weapons I might be holding and give it a wave. Why does everyone insist on fighting it? It'll get bored after a while and go home.
The Northman (2022)
Somehow didn't cut it
Loved the cast, location, concept, but somehow was just pretty boring. I did watch the whole thing, so that is something, but it never really convinced me. I think it was mostly the writing of the main character. He just seemed rather dull, from boyhood all the way through to the finale and quite one dimensional. I never cared about him. I actually found his uncle more personable and his uncle was pretty awful.
On the whole, I think this could have been a really good movie. I would watch it again, as a background movie, because the scenery was so beautiful and it's sort of quiet most of the time.
Animal Kingdom (2016)
Loses points for season five
This is a brilliant show for 4 season, and then it loses something. Smurf is the obvious loss (young Smurf and her boring stories are not a plus) but also the momentum. I want to see what happens with the boys. There was only one Smurf and they decided to write her out - so leave her out!!
Look forward, not backward. And if there are to be flashbacks, let's see Ellen Barkin in the boys memories, not some long ago who cares Smurf that has no relationship to anything now. Half the show is boring now. Used to be a solid 10/10.
Eden (2021)
More like purgatory than Eden
I watched every episode of this and as a whole, it struck me as being presented from the viewpoint of someone with a terrible, pointless crush on a girl named Hedwig - crushing to the point where Hedwig could be devoid of anything at all and it made no difference because it was all about how she looked anyway. A statue would have done.
Hedwig is boring. There's just no other word for her. But we are expected to believe she is beautiful, smart, talented, a great friend, interesting, captivating etc, all because other characters say she is. Other than being beautiful, there is no evidence of these qualities. She is antisocial, jaded, desultory, disillusioned, lifeless...boring. Almost all camera shots are like model shots. I can hear them telling the actress 'just look really passive - no, more passive...okay that's perfect'. This does kind of fit in with the story as she's pretty much the victim of being everyone's fantasy (for some unspecified reason) and fantasies work heaps better if the subject is passive.
I feel a bit sorry for Bebe Bettencourt. She was in The Dry in essentially the same role. I hope she hasn't been typecast already.
It's a shame as this could have been way better. It wasn't just the characterisation of Hedwig that was an issue - a fair bit of stuff wasn't particularly believable.