Movie-thon

I dig k-dramas right now but I’ll also add a spritz of Hollywood and Brit flicks to make my movie reviews have that U.N day feel. These movies, in no particular order, were by far the best ones I’ve seen. 

Always (2011)

South Korea/Romance-Drama

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I’m not really into the romance-drama genre 'cuz I'm a fan of horror movies so just imagine how iffy I was when my sister told me to quit watching horror flicks for now because of the gore. It’s not that I don’t watch romance and drama movies, it’s just that I find them cheesy most of the time (although not all of them). When I googled ‘best Korean romance movies’ this movie “Always” came up. 

I was intrigued by the movie poster because it didn’t look teeny-bopper-cheesy to me. If you’re my age (who’s already alive during the first EDSA revolt a.k.a Coup d’etat) you’d be able to relate why I don’t prefer teen love stories because I’m not a teenager anymore. Anyways, going back, let me begin. 

Cheol-min work as water delivery boy in the morning and parking attendant at night. He met Jung-hwa by chance after the later thought he was the previous parking attendant she watches soap opera with. Jung-hwa is blind by the way. 

The two got to know each other because Jung-hwa regularly hang out in the parking attendant’s booth to watch TV. Cheol-min was an ex-boxer. He got into trouble and was incarcerated. Jung-hwa on the other hand works as an inbound customer service representative for this company that employs people with disabilities. Her boss is sexually harassing her but won't quit her job because she’s got nowhere else to go. 

One night, Jung-hwa’s boss paid her a visit on her birthday then assaults her after she refused to be touched. Cheol-min went to Jung-hwa’s house and saw everything. He beat up Jung-hwa’s boss. Jung-hwa finally quit her job. Cheol-min promised Jung-hwa to take care of her. Love blossomed between the two until Cheol-min  learned that he was the reason why Jung-hwa turned blind. Cheol-min accepted an offer from an old acquaintance to box/fight illegally in Thailand for him to raise $30,000USD and use it for Jung-hwa’s eye operation so she could get her sight back. Jung-hwa’s operation was successful but she never saw Cheol-min again.

Two years passed. Jung-hwa started living a normal life, put up a pottery business and studied to become a masseuse. She never forgot Cheol-min. One day, Jung-hwa massaged one of the patients at the hospital (not knowing he's Cheol-min because Jung-hwa was still blind when they met). Cheol-min was totally heartbroken unable to tell Jung-hwa who he is) and already planned a life of a recluse. Before he retreated somewhere faraway, he paid Jung-hwa’s store a visit. He bought a plant in a pot and took his ailing miniature turtle pet then left. Jung-hwa noticed that the turtle is missing when she came back to the store, her assistant told her that a man with a scar on his face was the last customer. Jung-hwa realized it was Cheol-min for sure  because he originally owns the turtle. She ran after Cheol-min and almost failed until she remembered the same place they use to go to. Jung-hwa found Cheol-min standing there, saw his face for the first time. Cheol-min and Jung-hwa finally reunited. 

This is a wonderful movie really. I mean, like I said, I’m not a fan of romance movies except for 'The Notebook’ but this flick is definitely gonna be added to my list. A must watch. It’s not your typical love story.

Spellbound (2011)

South Korea/Horror Romantic Comedy
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️




Jo-goo used to be a street magician back in the days and during one of his street performances, he noticed a woman from the audience who seemed not amazed by his magic tricks because she’s consumed by so much sadness. The woman later on became an inspiration for his now successful stage magic show.

Few years later, Jo-goo employs Yeo-ri (the same sad woman from the audience) to become part of his show (the type who pretends she’s part of the audience without the audience knowing she works for the magician). Yeo-ri is odd and anti-social, she never went to any of Jo-goo’s after work huddles and claims she’s out of control when she’s drunk. One day, Yeo-ri did not go to work which made Jo-goo worried. He went to her house and found she lives alone. Jo-goo saw a little boy in Yeo-ri’s house not knowing the kid is a ghost. The kid followed Jo-goo home which freaked him out. He learned that Yeo-ri can see ghosts. The two became close because Jo-goo is scared of ghosts. They eventually fell in love after Jo-goo learned that Yeo-ri is a nice person who’s family left her behind because of her sixth sense. Jo-goo broke up with his model girlfriend. 




Spellbound is actually interesting. Something I haven’t seen before. They infused horror with magic and romance which I think is kind of an odd combination but not bad though.




About A Boy (2002)

British-American-French/Comedy-Drama
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I stumbled upon this flick whilst searching for Nicholas Hoult movies. I think About A Boy is one of Hoult’s famous movies before Warm Bodies. I was reminded of Hoult after I saw him again in this movie Mad Max and I thought his complexion is really chalk white. 

About A Boy stars Hugh Grant as Will Freeman and Nicholas Hoult as Marcus. I was so surprised to see little boy Nicholas Hoult in this movie and my God he’s cute as a button. I never thought he was chubby when he was still young because he’s now a tall and lanky guy with still a chalk white complexion. Let me just say that he’s even whiter as a kid. I didn't know he's British neither.

Alright, moving on, Will, the main character is a single 38 year old guy, unemployed yet live a luxurious life because of the royalties from his Father's famous Christmas song. Will realized after dating a single parent, how guilt-free it was hooking up with one because their lives are complicated so they don’t really stick around for too long. He decided to join SPAT a support group for single parents to hook up with a single mother then got acquainted with Suzie who’s friends with Fiona, a depressed single mother. Fiona has a son named Marcus who often gets bullied at school because he’s a little eccentric compared to other kids. Marcus became acquainted with Will because Suzie tagged him along for a picnic. When they got back they found Fiona lying on the couch unconscious, she attempted to commit suicide.

Marcus thought his Mom Fiona is so sad and depressed. Fiona had 'music therapy' to rid off her depression thus often play the song Rainy Days And Mondays by The Carpenters. The song got stuck into Marcus’ head and even sang it out loud, out of the blue during class which made all his classmates laugh at him. I never thought Nicholas can sing really but he was good, I just don’t know if he still sings.

Marcus decided to stalk Will and found that he’s not a single parent nor has a kid. He sort of blackmailed Will, that, he will tell Suzie he’s lying if he won’t let him hang around in Will’s house. Will came to like Marcus in the long run. Marcus told Will that he thought about having a third person for back up so he won’t be left alone if his mother commits suicide again or abandon him. He tried to set her mother up with Will but it wasn’t successful. I really like Marcus, he’s a brilliant kid and he thinks that he makes his mother happy every time he sings. Suzie later on learned that, Will lied about his being a single parent so she stopped seeing him. Marcus, on the other hand remained friends with Will. 

Will met Ellie (Rachel Weisz) but it did not work out neither after Ellie learned that he lied about Marcus. Will introduced Marcus by the way as his ‘son,’ Ellie found out  it wasn’t true. 

Marcus decided to sing for the school talent show thinking this would make his Mom happy. Guess what Marcus chose to sing? Yes, t'was Rainy Days And Mondays by The Carpenters indeed. I thought it’s a  beautiful song but I guess kids think otherwise lol. Anyways, Will rushed to Marcus’ school to save the poor boy from further humiliation and from becoming a laughing stock. He showed up with a guitar onstage and accompanied Marcus while he sings Rainy Days And Mondays. Ellie’s son btw danced during the program and he fell in love again with Will after what he did for Marcus. The End. 

I love this movie because It’s so meaningful. My sympathy goes to kids like Marcus who unfortunately have to deal with their parents shortcomings. I hope all kids has a mindset like his no matter how hopeless the situation is. 




The Classic (2003)

South Korea/Romance-Drama
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Warning, this movie is very lengthy although the plot is really nice. The movie has fragmented chronology because it consists of two stories, Ji-hye's mom and her own love story.

Ji-hye found her mother’s box full of love letters and started reading them. She learned that, her mother,Joo-hee fell in love with a guy named Joon-ha before her father. Her mother gave Joon-ha her necklace.

Now Ji-hye’s love story: She secretly is crushing on a guy from school named Sang-min who directs the school play. However, her friend likes Sang-min too so she’s keeping her distance from him to avoid conflict. 

Back to her mom’s love story: Joo-hee grew apart from Joon-ha because of the war. Joon-ha survived the war but told Joo-hee he’s married. Her mother learned that her first love has gone blind. She married her father afterwards and had her. Ji-Hye found out that her mother’s first love Joon-ha died in the war and had a son. 

Present: Ji-hye found that Sang-min feels the same for her. She took Sang-min to the place where her mother and Joon-ha met. Sang-min cried to Ji-hye’s surprise then took off his necklace, the same necklace her mother had. Ji-hye found out that Sang-min is the son of her mother’s first love Joon-ha. This only means that Joo-hee and Joon-ha’s love story finally find its happy ending through their kids. Fate found a way to match two people together. I couldn’t think of a better ending actually because if Joo-hee and Joon-ha ended up together, Ji-hye and Sang-min won’t or vise versa.




Carol (2015)

British-American/Romantic-Drama

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Casts:

• Cate Blanchett (Carol Aird)
• Rooney Mara (Therese Belivet)

Sad to say, Rooney lost over Alicia Vikander in the Oscars. Nevertheless, I could care less because these two ladies are my best bet as far as acting is concerned, they are equally awesome for me regardless of the genre. 

Moving on, the movie is about a married woman named Carol Aird who hooked up with Therese, a salesgirl from Frankenberg's department store in Manhattan. Carol is looking for a present for her daughter for Christmas, unfortunately the doll is out of stock so Therese recommended a train set instead. Carol’s daughter loved the train set so she thanked Therese and invited her over to her home. Therese found that Carol is in the middle of a divorce and used to hook up with her daughter’s Godmother.  Carol’s husband is divorcing her because of her being a homosexual and would like full custody of their daughter otherwise will expose her homosexuality. Carol gave up custody of their child because she doesn’t want their daughter’s life be impaired because of the legal battle. Therese and Carol eventually went on with their relationship. Therese realized she's a homosexual and broke up with her boyfriend. 

There's nothing special about the movie except it happened during the 1950's back when homosexuality is not widely accepted yet AND it stars two of the best actresses Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara. 

 

Coming Down the Mountain (2007)

British/ Drama
⭐️⭐️⭐️

Casts:

• Nicholas Hoult (David)
• Tommy Jessop (Ben)




David hates his brother Ben who has down syndrome because he thinks that their parents spends everything on Ben.  He despise his brother so much to the point that he wanted to kill him. David’s parents wants him to look after his brother all the time. 

The move to Derbyshire (their family is from London) pulled a string on David because he doesn’t want to leave his girlfriend behind. David thought his parents do not think about his welfare since moving to Derbyshire is only beneficial for Ben (there’s a special school for Ben in Derbyshire). David wasn’t happy with everything after the move; he hated his new school, he got into a fight. 

One day, David took Ben out for camping instead of taking him to school. Whilst on top of the cliff, Ben said their parents love him more than David because he’s a troublemaker which made David sparked and pushed Ben off the cliff. Ben however survived but did not tell the police that his brother attempted to kill him. Ben walked away from David afterwards, David followed and found him having milkshakes. The brothers talked and David learned so many things about him. He found that Ben has a girlfriend from special school and he’s not as helpless like what their parents perceived about him.

The police picked up David and Ben from the camping site because their parents are worried sick about them. As soon as the two got home, David endured their parent’s wrath but Ben got in the way and stood like a man to defend his brother. Their parents were shocked with how Ben reacted. David then told their parents that Ben has a girlfriend and he’s just like a normal person, they’re just treating him as if he’s helpless while he’s not. The parents met Ben’s girlfriend, also a special child. Then all is well.

This is a very good movie because sometimes, those people living with individuals with 'down syndrome' limits their growth because as humans we are stuck with the stigma that people like them are helpless. Little did we know, we often inhibit their growth because of that ‘fear’ of letting them go.

Last but not least,


The Revenant (2015)

Historical/Adventure
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 

• Leonardo DiCaprio (Hugh Glass)
• Tom Hardy (John Fitzgerald)
• Domhnall Gleeson (Andrew Henry)
• Will Poulter (Jim Bridger)

This movie is pretty heavy because of the gore, human and animal slaughter etc. so if you’re the sensitive type who gets grossed out with a sight of blood even in movies then don’t watch this. Writing about historical events is quite a challenge for me because you have to be true to the facts. It’s kinda like writing an autobiography, you have to make sure to write about the correct chronology of events and the names of people involved.

Circa 1823.

Captain Andrew Henry sent group of trappers to hunt for pelts or fur in the the Northern Plains (now called South Dakota) lead by Hugh Glass, an experienced guide. Whilst the group is resting Arikara Native Americans (American Indians) attacked Glass and his group, unaware and unwarned, majority of them died. The  Arikara have this belief that the Americans abducted the Chief's daughter named Powaqa. Glass suggested that the remaining trappers/survivors escape on a boat despite John Fitzgerald’s disapproval because he abhors Glass as he was partially scalped by natives in the past and Glass has a half-native son named Hawk who's with him during their quest. Scalping by the way (which is being practiced by natives) means the tearing of the human scalp (with hair) from the head of an enemy as a trophy.

Once the trappers are settled after the escape from the Arikara,  Glass went out to check out for pelts in the forest. He saw a big grizzly bear with its cubs, tried to shoot it but was badly mauled beforehand. He killed the poor bear but he was left for dead.  Fitzgerald had an evil suggestion which was to leave Glass behind because he slows them down. Andrew Henry refused to kill Glass though. Henry offered to pay whoever sticks around with Glass until they get to the outpost. Whilst one of the trappers Jim Bridger, is out getting water, Fitzgerald attempted to kill Glass by suffocating him. Hawk, Glass’ son saw it and got in the way but Fitzgerald stabbed him to death in front of Glass. When Bridger came back, Fitzgerald said that the Arikara is near and they have to abandon poor Glass so they left him a in shallow crater or grave.

When Fitzgerald and Bridger reached the outpost, Fitzgerald said that Glass is probably dead because of the Arikara. Fitzgerald intimidated Bridger, kept mum about it fearing for his own life. Henry gave the two money for trying to stick around with Glass.

Glass, on the other hand crawled out of his makeshift grave, ate twigs and raw animal meat to survive. He met Hiku, a nice Pawnee guy (a native) who treated his wounds and kept him warm during the snow storm by building him a makeshift shanty from tree twigs. He was unfortunately hanged by French-Canadian pelt hunters the next day. I thought, vengeance could’ve been easy on Hiku’s end but he did not kill Glass because he was a God fearing man. I couldn’t wrap my head around what he did to deserve such evil deed of mankind.

Moving on, Glass survived and reached the fort. Henry looked for Fitzgerald after the later stole money. Fitzgerald retreated somewhere  far. Glass told Henry that Bridger does not have anything to do with Fitzgerald’s demonic possession err evil actions so he was spared. Glass and Henry went to chase Fitzgerald. Henry was killed by Fitzgerald unfortunately when Glass and Henry split up. Glass could’ve killed Fitzgerald but he didn’t  after remembering Hiku’s words about vengeance, it’s in God’s hands and not humankind. The Chief of Arikara, accompanied by (his now found) daughter Powaqa, killed and scalps Fitzgerald yet spared Glass.

This film made Leonardo DiCaprio bagged his first Oscar award for Best Actor after over a decade. I was surprised Leo hasn’t won an Oscar yet because he’s an awesome actor even as far back as Titanic days and he’s won tons of Best Actor awards in the past (Golden Globe,  Academy Award). This is such a well deserved feat for Leo although it’s been long overdue.

Going back to The Revenant, it was a lengthy film and may not be for everyone because if you’re clueless about the movie like you haven’t read about it in Wikipedia or online news you’ll be pretty dumbfounded what the hell is going on. I didn’t even know at first that they were hunting for pelts, all I know is that they are on a quest and that they were attacked by natives. Of course an attack is always triggered by something so that wasn’t clear at first. My sister googled the movie whilst we were watching it at home to know what exactly is going on before we get totally lost in space. Nevertheless, it was a profound film, a lot about humanity and the domino effect of vengeance, that, it is infinite if no one will concede. Leo mentioned during his speech (after winning the Oscars) something about climate change which I think relates to the extreme weather conditions his character went through. The film denotes that, climate change has been prevalent even as far back as the 1800s. The Revenant tackled about a lot of issues and  on a bigger scale may be pretty difficult to unravel what the geist is all about, but, if you search in your heart, this film justifies that, goodness always prevail in the end.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - highly recommended

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️  - somewhat highly recommended

⭐️⭐️⭐️    - it was alright.

⭐️⭐️       - nah.
⭐️          - waste of time.