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The Walking Dead: Silence the Whisperers (2019)
They shouldn't put that song
It's ok, but that melodramatic song at the beginning and the end is just totally unnecessary, it's so cringe that I feel like I really have to write this review.
Joker (2019)
A bit disappointed
First thing first, I personally like this film, but I wish it can had more dynamics on politics and the disparity, it just feels like it wasn't there yet, all those struggling and revolutionary concepts were kind of cartoonish to me, and the dialogues right before Arthur shoot Murray were too blatant, no character can be this self-aware, not even Arthur.
But the cinematography and the soundtrack in this film is breathtaking, and Joaquin Phoenix is just phenomenal in this film, he's such a brilliant actor, I won't compare him with Heath Ledger because both of them did an absolutely amazing job, I almost can't believe my own eyes.
Though I had some problems with this film, I still really appreciate this movie for being existed, there aren't enough films like this in Hollywood nowadays, especially in the superhero genre. I hope we can see more movies like this in the future, which the directors and the writers were actually trying to make a "good" movie, with no CGI involved and actually care about the characters and the visuals, not just some cash grab digital cinema, but a "real film" with some talented storytelling and masterful visual choreography.
Thank you, Todd Phillips, for giving us this unique experience.
Ci Ma (1973)
Phenomenal
This film not only delivers an intriguing story, but also stands out as a pioneering idol in Hong Kong cinema, the camera movement and the refreshing perspective lens, which is not yet common in this kind of films at that time, it's inventive, compelling and heartbreaking, though there may be some unnecessary flashbacks, it still is one of the best film I've ever seen.
Lung Ti did an amazing job with this role, his performance is just breathtaking, Cheh Chang's direction is definitely groundbreaking, nevertheless, if you are interested in martial arts films, this is easily a must see.
Xiao shi yi lang (1978)
Definitely one of the most underrated film of all time
Over thousands of films from the Shaw Brothers, this film is really something else, and it's a shame that this film didn't have a huge buzz, because to me this is one of the most unique, if not the best, martial arts films in the history of cinema.
The reason I think that it's underrated, isn't because of its amazing direction or the beautiful settings (which is pretty common from films of The Shaw Brothers company), it's that this film wasn't just a typical genre film, it went far beyond than what I expected.
I've seen the first film of this "adaptation", but the first film was actually released earlier than the book, and it's called Swordsman Of Large (1971), it was fun and enjoyable, Lung Ku did an amazing job with its writhing, but it's actually pretty typical "martial arts film", it stayed in the same place where almost every similar films went through, there will be a hero with a good heart, and a stereotypical female, a villain and a female swordsman, it's basically where this film was going in the first half of the movie, but than it broke through that "stereotypical" orb, and invented a "toy house", a doll-like world where dozens of souls were trapped in it, than there's a huge twist that just unbelievably fun, I won't spoil it here, but what this film did is something very different, if you are a lover of the Hong Kong cinema, you may not like it, but you definitely will be shocked, some people will think that it's bizarre, but to me it's fantastic, it satirized the "generic" characters and story of the martial arts films, and used it as a toll to deliver something interesting, almost fabled, the toy house was like the movie studio, and we as an audience were watching the story made from this particular studio, there're characters and actors frozen in it, we "believed" what the man told us, we believed what the storyteller told us, and than we thought we were trapped in the house, but what really happened was that we lied to ourselves, and the true story was always you as a person, we always wanted to see a story in the theater, to have an experience for ourselves, but if we took it away, we may even being watched by someone else, which is the gods, we were always trapped in the same circle, we just didn't know it.
The movie may not be too mature in this kind of concept, but what I'm trying to imply is that in the history of Hong Kong cinema, there's actually a film that has a concept that ahead of its time, there's never a film that has this kind of Utopia-idealistic plot, not in the 70s at least.
This film is extremely underrated to me, and more important than many people thought it is. What Yuen Chor did in this film is experimental, but also pretty amazing.
Liàn liàn fengchén (1986)
Spectacular
As a Taiwanese, I can say that this film has not only deliverers a gorgeous tragic "love" story, it also has a huge amount of Taiwanese customs and symbolism, it not only possesses a magnificent storytelling, and it depicted the tragic common theme of the generation that lived in that era, which the communication and technology is not good enough for a couple to have a relationship, and the way it depicted is just breathtaking, because of its visual and the stunning performance, it is capable enough to not relying on any cheap flashbacks or songs (which is kind of what Taiwanese films nowadays can't able to do), and still has an impact on the audience, the story itself is definitely heartbreaking, you may say it's cliches, but the way it depicted isn't a cliche at all, though there're still some scenes that's out of place, it still an amazing movie in my opinion.
Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (2019)
Beautiful but also the least enjoyable film by Quentin Tarantino
Before you call me a hater and press that "not helpful" bottom, please just hear me out for a minute.
I love Quentin Tarantino, I think he is one of the best director and screenwriter in this era, and Pulp Fiction is also my favorite film of all time.
I can see what Quentin's trying to convey in this movie, and there're still many scenes that's amazingly acted and well written, like the scene with Sharon Tate bumping into the theater, to see her own film The Wrecking Crew, and the scene with Rick Dolton at the set of Lancer, with Timothy Olyphant as James Stacy and Julia Butters as Trudi Fraser, and of course the scenes with Mike Moh as Bruce Lee, all of them are extremely well made, and I have a great time with it, but here's where I don't like about the film, Quentin once said that this movie is his most "personal" film over the years, it's like a love letter to the old Hollywood, but the reason why I think it's his worst film is because of his own selfish desire of telling his own fantasy, ignoring the structure of the story and the audience, there are way too many scenes that should be cut out, like the scene where Brat Pitt driving for three minutes straight there's no purpose in anything in that scene, and I mean there's NOTHING, nothing for the story, nothing for the character, and NOTHING HAPPENED in the first 80 minutes.
You may say that it's own portrayal of the old Hollywood, just like what Afonso Cuaron did to Rome, but Quentin's films always have a basic structure in it, whether it's The Hateful Eight, Kill Bill or Django Unchained, and that's what make his film so enjoyable because he knows how to tell a story in his own way, but not only did Once Upon In Hollywood has (almost) no story at all, it's just a montage of Quentin's fantasy, and it's definitely not something unique, nor is it something different, the only scene that has a sense of purpose of this story is the ending, which is amazing, but that's about it, I can't see what's great about this movie whether than a series of short films combined, I left the theater with nothing except disappointment.
If you liked it than that's good for you, honestly I'm kind of jealous if you do, but neither way, I really just can't enjoy this film as it's own way, not now at least.
Hereditary (2018)
Unique but predictable, stereotypical horror
Hereditary is definitely not boring, it's beautifully done, subtly directed, but the story itself is really just another stereotypical horror film, a spiritual cursed family, ended up haunted by the curse of their own ancestor, this kind of story has done million times before, no matter how many symbols you put in, how many directorial creativity you show, this film is really not that special, and most importantly, it has one of the most disappointing ending that's ever made by a film.
Stranger Things: Chapter One: Suzie, Do You Copy? (2019)
Sweet old Stranger Things, flawed but fun
So it's finally back, after the two long years of waiting it's finally here, and though this may seems like an unpopular opinion, but I really like it, and I have to say that the pacing in this series is just fantastically done, there's rarely anything "dragged", the camera movement and the storytelling keep the visual fresh.
The characters are consistent, I can't see the inconsistent part people keep complaining about, the show gives them enough drama to keep the audience engaged, the humors is on point, though it may not be "phenomenal ", but it's certainly fun, at least I really enjoy it, I mean, this is Stranger Things, what do you expect? as long as it didn't make that crappy Chicago stuff again, it's all good, and it's definitely worth the watch.
Stranger Things: Chapter Three: The Case of the Missing Lifeguard (2019)
Dark but full of fun
This is actually getting darker than I expected, I love the humor and the menacing tone in this episode, the concept of the missing lifeguard is horrifying, the execution of the concept is also really well done, through the hallucinations of Eleven, you can feel the terrifying things that's happening behind the current.
The parts that I didn't like, however, is the investigation part with Steve and Dustin and the newly introduced Robin, the process is just way too convenient, there's too much coincidence in this plot line, and it couldn't escape the stereotypical "figure it out" cliche, it just makes me a bit disappointed, but the ending of this episode is very well done, the whole dinner sequences is just fun, though it may be a bit illogical plot holes in it, but it's definitely not boring.
Big Little Lies (2017)
Gorgeous, impactful, and filled with heart
This is a show that I've been searching for my entire life, beautifully-directed, well-written, nicely-adapted juicy drama, with a group of talented cast, carried a theme that's dark but essential, it's special, full of humor, smart, and just simply astonishing, highly recommended it.
Euphoria (2019)
I actually like this show (so far)
I know it's a little bit too cliched and a bit too overwhelming and virtuoso, but seeing these amazing cinematography, amazing direction, amazing actors and soundtrack and editing, I just can't help myself but fall in love with this show, because it's DIFFERENT from other YA movies and shows, it's special, not because of its controversial materials, not because of its stereotypical story and characters (especially the cliched pool party), but it's the way of storytelling that makes it intriguing for me, and it's also unique enough to stand out from the other YA shows.
Euphoria: Pilot (2019)
I like it
I know it's a little bit too cliched and a bit too overwhelming and virtuoso, but seeing these amazing cinematography, amazing direction, amazing actors and soundtrack and editing, I just can't help myself but fall in love with this show, because it's DIFFERENT from other YA movies and shows, it's special, not because of its controversial materials, not because of its stereotypical story and characters (especially the cliched pool party), but it's the way of storytelling that makes it intriguing for me, and it's also unique enough to stand out from the other YA shows.
Game of Thrones: The Last of the Starks (2019)
Better than the last episode
After the disastrous The Long Night, though Game of Thrones has destroyed their own White Walker storyline, this is actually a good episode, the only thing I wasn't happy with is that Euron scene, I won't spoil it, but there's just something strange about it's visual and logic, but even this scene alone is better than most of the last episode.
Umimachi Diary (2015)
A heartwarming masterpiece
Hirokazu Koreeda is one of my favorite Japanese director in the past decade, and this film doesn't disappoint me at all, I've watched it twice yesterday and watch it yet again today. One of the most difficult things for screenwriter to do in a screenplay is how to choose and arrange the incidents in the movie: which scene should be happened on screen and which one should not? which part of the story is necessary for the overall pacing and theme, and which ones are not? Hirokazu is a master in this kind of aspect of a film, he knows which scene are essential, and which one are not. Every scene has its own story, and there're always something to tell.
This film is an emotional complexed film, every characters have their own issues, but all of theme tied with the main story of this movie: Suzu, the struggles and conflicts she has with her half-sisters, though there're no physical conflicts, but by the dialogues and the amazing storytelling of Hirokazu, you can always tell that there're something going on in the inside. She blamed herself for the conflicts her sisters have with her mother, she blamed herself for being the daughter of the one that destroyed her sisters' life and their mother's life. But what this movie did is that it didn't demonize those characters that were to blame, instead, it seems to forgive the people that causing this kind of situation, because that's how life is, no one is right nor wrong, there's always a broader idea of the problem. Their father wanted to go back but he didn't have the courage to do so, the mother can't bare the house she once lived in but at the same time she's sad for not being with her daughters.
In the end, they solved the problem piece by piece, and realize the most important thing to do is to forgive and let go of the past, they walked by the sea and thanked for their father for giving them a little sister.
There're so many scenes that I loved, one of my favorite is when Chika asking Suzu about their father, her facial expression says it all, her joyfully acknowledgement of her father's fishing habit fills with happiness and pity. Every actress in this film is top-class, especially Haruka and Suzu, and I just love their mother's performance, which was played by Midoriko, though she didn't have that much screen time, but every scene she's in, I can always feel the pain and struggle she has inside.
Nevertheless, this is definitely worth the watch, and I may will watch it again soon.
The OA: New Colossus (2016)
Poetic, beautiful and unique
This is like an Art House film stretched into a tv series, it's full of wonder and peculiarity, I really love its blurry storytelling, the way they uses the flashbacks narrative and the poetic narration, leading us viewers dive deep into this world, with some exotic environments and those amazing soundtracks, this makes us feel like the narrator's carrying us through time and space, and it's magnificent.
Though we still don't really understand the motivations of some characters, and I still can't see what the story's trying to say or what kind of idea it's trying to imply, but it's really a unique show, the visuals and styles kind of reminds me of some Krzysztof Kieslowski's movies, and I love it.
Kingdom (2019)
It's basically a Game of Thrones remake
First of all, it has already used a huge amount of GOT soundtracks, if you listen closely, you can hear Ramin's Coronation and the White Walkers' theme, which were used not only once, but multiple times.
Second, the characters were basically the same. A prince who's promised ended up being in a desolated place, fighting the dead for his people and the kingdom, sounds familiar? It's Jon Snow, but this time he went south, not north. A vicious queen, with her father's help, gained the power of the nation, granted by the marriage with the king himself, sound familiar? Because it's the Lannisters ! The queen is Cersei and her father is Tywin, even their characteristics are basically the same.
Third, the dead were afraid of the sun, ok, that's interesting, I thought that at least there're something different, but until the last episode, that twist is the last straw that breaks the camel's back: they weren't afraid of the sunlight, but instead, it's the temperature that scared them. What it's implying is that the dead can move when it's COLD, which month do you think is the coldest? Which season is it? And which season would the White Walkiers invade Westeros? Just think about it, they're almost nothing in this series are original, what's even worse is that there wasn't even that much plots and characters to make this show more interesting than GOT, and what's more is that the plot still follows the basic stereotype of the Korean drama: using the extreme characters to create an extreme situation, there're only bad guys and good guys, and the bad ones are always extremely evil, they're heartless, cruel and selfish, and the good guys are always honest, caring, and upright, the plot in this kind of dram just always have to satirize the government and the class system, which were already satirized in almost every Korean movies and TV shows.
I'm sorry but I just can't see why people keep comparing it to The Walking dead, because it's nothing like TWD, I mean NOTHING. It's GOT its copying right now.
The settings, the direction, the pacing, the actors and the production were fantastic as always, but the plot is just too familiar to be good.
Kingdom: Episode #1.2 (2019)
Still fresh but predictable
I love how this story sets in the Joseon dynasty, it makes this kind of zombies drama feel fresh and new, they uses the political environment to embody the core of this genre, and it is where it's very good at, "the genre mixing".
Kim Seong-hun is brilliant at visualizing the atmosphere and the tune of this series, with a amazing production designs and editing, but the screenplay is a bit off later on, whenever it's not including the political and historical elements, it feels really cliched, like how they used the naivety of the people to make them "realize" how bad the situation is, not once, but multiple times, and sometimes the plot just feel kind of forced, forced the story to move in a more "destructive" way, like how the two of the Jiyulheon survived, planted tuns of wooden sticks around the building, but both of them didn't stay there to prevent anyone to go near it, instead, they left it there with a huge amount of chaos and blood, with no one guarding the scene, acting like nobody will want to check what happened there, right? And when the bodies were already moved, the man just suddenly appears and try to stop the officers, he just run straight into the yard and shouting about it, but of course they won't listen to him, and here we go.
I'm not saying it's bad though, the script is still fun enough to keep the audience engaged, but after the fresh opening episode, it kind of just follows the old routine of the Korean-drama-stereotyped-storyline .
The Walking Dead: Chokepoint (2019)
Oh My God This is truly amazing
This is truly an amazing episode, I really mean it. It's like a screenwriting suddenly jump to another level, this is like watching season 5 of TWD, which's emotionally intense, nicely choreographed, and with some amazing plotlines, I actually care for these characters now, especially Tammy and Earl, who adopted the baby from the Whisperers.
And speaking of the soundtrack, The Whisperers' theme is already jaw dropping , now they've mixed the sound elements of the previous seasons and it is so good, it makes this whole conflicts in this arc feel fresh and epic, the story between Lydia and Henry is feeling better and better, I can actually see that they are playing a huge role in this arc, and the relationship between Connie and Daryl just keeps getting better and better.
The last bit not least, the confrontation between Daryl and Beta, this is a fantastic bowl if you ask me, the whole building sequences are shockingly great, the fight scene is very well done, comparing to those previous seasons' mayhems, this is really good, I like how they use the white veils for this scene, it's gruesomely brilliant.
The Highwayman's introduction is very cool, with the prosthetic body surrounding their own place is haunting but charming at the same time, but the Movie-surrender-conclusion is a bit awkward and out of place to me, though movies are a great thing and a amazing piece of art, and I get the whole building-a-better-world circumstances, but it still feels inconsistent, but nevertheless, this is still an amazing episode, I haven't seen The Walking Dead being this good for a long time.
The Walking Dead: Guardians (2019)
Fantastic
In this episode, we finally have a glimpse into the inside of The Whisperers, and it's so good, the way they move and talk is fascinating, though there are no actual facial appearances, but it's already clear that Ryan Hurst's perfect as Beta, his voice adds a strong and powerful force in this new group. Samantha Morton in the Whisperers mask is amazing, the way she communicate with her eyes and the overall appearances are even more menacing than she without the mask.
The scenes in Alexandria're unexpectedly well crafted, the dialogues're clear and the pacing's fluent, it really feels like a back to form, I'm delighted to see Michonne, Gabriel and Negan again, especially Negan, Jeffery Dean Morgan's really a blast to watch, every time he appears on screen just put a smile on my face, the Alexandria's storyline is far better for me than the Hilltop's, because Alexandria really feels like the main point in this show right now.
The ending of this episode is really entertaining, seeing the Whisperers being attacked make me feel that they're not invincible, that they are still actual humans, and not to mention the intense conflict between Henry, Alpha and Lydia. I really like the camera angle when Alpha's wearing the mask, its imposing visual added a momentum energy for this new villain.
Though I enjoy the Whispers and most of the storylines, but there're still some flaws in this episode, the Rosita's pregnancy is kinda out of place and melodramatic, especially the slow motion part, and there're still some explainable self-recalling dialogues, but this is still a good episode with some fresh developments.
True Detective: Church in Ruins (2015)
A Summary Of The Season
This season had suffered so much from its unfocused plot lines, unnecessary subplots, over dragged dialogues and scenes, this episode finally has some real development and character's moment, the whole Club scene was masterfully well done, Rachael McAdams' performance was amazing, the struggles and pains in her eyes during the undercover investigation, expressed the fragility of Ani's terrors from her past memories, her beautiful looks shined in the surface, but spreaded with the combination of sorrow and fear, with the graceful music playing in the background, you can feel the corruption and the debauchery of this party environment, the graceful appearances strengthen the irony inside the upper class and the politicians, which was also the theme in this whole season, the whole conflicts and diamentrics in this season can all be represented in this very one scene, this was how it should've been done.
The Walking Dead: Omega (2019)
A bit sloppy
The introduction of Alpha was overall fresh, but sometimes it suffered from the sloppy editing and rushed sound mixing, Samantha Mortan did a splendid job on this character, I really love how she singed the song Lydia the Tattooed Lady when she was "nice", it made her somehow creepier than her psychotic nature.
The transformation of Lydia and the psycho-turning Alpha from the flashbacks, made this episode a bit unconvincing, perhaps it may be explained in the future, but the way Lydia gave up the location of the Whisperer camp, and how she "realized" instantly about the true nature of her mom, was rushed and abnormal, because we've seen how she behaved and reacted to Daryl and the group in the previous episode "Adaptation" and earlier in this episode, she was tough and manipulative, the way how she changed so fast leaving me a bit confused.
The dialogues in this episode were somehow dropping back to the level of season 7, the cheap situation-telling conversations just keeps popping out, and the characters were acting stupid again, Magna's group somehow decided to search for Luke in the middle of the night, without the awareness about the living walkers crumbling outside in the dark, fortunately Yumiko decided they should go back to the camp, and of course Kelly and Connie had to stay there, because nothing could possibly go wrong, right? And Connie just had to stay far behind the guards, trailing around like there's nothing danger in this two-person-kidnapping situation. I hope the future episodes won't be like this again, because this season was finally started to getting better and I hope it stayed that way.
The Walking Dead: Adaptation (2019)
Season 9 is better and you know it
Season 9 so far has reminded of how good this show used to be, the plot is clear, the pacing is on point, the script and the dialogues are good enough, and PLEASE for god sake, for those who still rated "1 ", no matter how good this show has become, you guys just always do the same thing, I saw your reviews' history, there were only 2-4 reviews in total, and all of them were TWD, what a coincidence.
I know the last two years had some tough days, but this season really started to getting back on track, I can see how the screenwriting's been so much better over the 9 episodes, with the new show runner and some new STORY EDITOR, which is extremely important, this show is really diving back to the old days, when it's still has characters and stories.
Venom (2018)
I don't really know what to say about this film
Though this film was undoubtedly entertaining, but it's also inconsistent, monotonous, and extremely cliched, the whole movie made you wonder what kind of character or protagonist this film was trying to shape, or what kind of film this movie was tending to be, the whole character arc and stories had actually stopped because of Venom's appearance, and it minimized Eddie's development from the storylines, and make this film utterly forgettable, the dialogues was kind of fun but also unnecessary and strange, sometimes it tried to be funny but it failed in a horrible way, and what's more was that we didn't actually understand Venom as a character, his motivation was blurry, with huge amounts of unexplained dynamics. What's more was that this film has possessed huge amount of murmur-ly conversations made it pointless and unexpectedly silly.
I'm sorry but this film had almost zero characters and plots, and by how this film progressed through the movie, the story was just another version of Parasyte and many others earth-adapting-alien stereotypes in the past decades, with not enough energy and strength to make it fresh and new, the characters were underdeveloped, and the dynamics were not thick enough to hold the conflicts and the story.
The Walking Dead: The Obliged (2018)
The Walking Dead is really getting back on track
This season so far has gave us the most amazing plot lines in years, this was even better than I could ever expect, the story was clear and convincing, it's unexpectedly great in the most fascinating way. The tension between the Saviors and the others with the walkers being a threat again, created something that has been missing since the sixth season, the horror, the suspense, the danger, they're all coming back to the show. This season is exactly how TWD should've been in the past few years, it's a pleasant surprise that this show can be fixed in just four episodes.
The Walking Dead: A New Beginning (2018)
A huge improvement
Comparing this to the previous seasons ( especially season 8) , this was definitely a tremendous stride, the dialogue was clear, simple and straightforward (which is how dialogues should be in this kind of drama) , no more cringy languages and exquisitely cheap words, no more logically flawed motivation, no more those lazy "feelings talk" (depicting a character's emotion with a huge amount of dialogues) , what's more important was that it didn't feel forced like season 7 and 8, it's smooth and juiceful, though it may be slow, but every scenes had its own purpose for storytelling, the time-jumped backgrounds blended in the story amazingly well, this episode's a pleasant surprise for me after the dissapointing season 8.