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chelsietristany
Reviews
Sawoleuiggeut (2017)
Nice storyline
First of all, I must say I'm not a fan of psychological thriller such as this movie. I find the story intriguing and suspenseful. It's also very creepy and gives you horror movie vibe or haunted apartment vibe. In the first half of the movie, you'd still enjoy all the creepiness. Starting the latter half, you'll start to wonder what exactly is the movie trying to convey. And you still won't get it until the last 30 minutes. Although I enjoy much of the story itself, I think the ending lacks something. As if there's something missing. And it's not enough for me. But overall, I guess, it's worth to watch if you have nothing else to watch.
Daegun (2018)
Don't misled by the synopsis
I've read all types of synopsis of this drama from various links. And I'm sure it is kinda misleading. Why? Because it doesn't center on the female lead. It centers mostly on the princes and their rivalry. Prince Lee Kang has wanted to become king even before he met Ja Hyeon. It's just that his urge of claiming that woman his is getting stronger after he become the king, when he thought he have all the world in his hand.
It does, focus a lot at the beautiful love of Prince Lee Hwi and Lady Ja Hyeon. The synopsis that said the lady is the most beautiful woman in entire Joseon and has so many suitors lining up for her hand-in-marriage is also not entirely true. She is pretty, yes. That's why both the princes are madly in love with her, one with obsession, and one with sincerity. But she's extraordinarily pretty only in both of the men's hearts and about all the suitors, it's not true lol.
Overall, I just want to say the synopsis don't do this drama justice. It focuses a lot in power and politics too. And I don't think the ending is rushed. I can expect what the ending would be so I'm not entirely disappointed. Some parts can make you cry a river. And I really enjoy the intense love of the leads.
Fin.
Kill It (2019)
Complicated and confusing...
First of all, I must say that this drama takes A LOT OF energy and effort to digest. I mean it. Although I'm a huge fan of heavy, emotional, brainwashing, and historical dramas, but still this drama is too much even for me. I'm not a fan of crime drama since the very beginning, so that might be the cause too. This drama gives too many names, too many characters, and unclear plot of how, why, and what. Everything just falls over to the place. I'm getting so confused until around episode 5-7 and everything just boom, suddenly clears out after hanging the cloud of confusion for the first half of the drama.
Even if I'm the fan of a heavy plotted drama, I still need sufficient sweet thing called romance to balance the plot out and to put more intensity, but I think the romance in this drama is quite dry. I know it's due to the main characters' characters and personality, but still. I think the other is too active, while the other one is too passive. If you watch it, you'll know who I'm referring to. Although there's some improvements, it was very slow and unsatisfying. I know some didn't like 'pushed' and unnatural romance where the leads fall in love like in, less than 7 days. But still, I need more than this. They don't even hug, let alone kissing. I'm confused whether they really have feelings for each other and mutual love, or just childhood nostalgia seeps in.
But one thing I must praise is the ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK. I love them all. The soundtracks were so intense, great music and wonderful lyrics. I must praise this drama for the effort of presenting wonderful soundtracks that I'll always remember. Just like the soundtrack of Sky Castle, "We All Lie", the soundtrack from this drama is also very good. I really like it.
Another thing is, (I might be biased by my own personal opinion, but heck yeah, all this review is part of my personal opinion, so yeah) I want to praise the producers to pick my fav Im Jin-ah a.k.a Nana 'After School' as the female lead. I fell in love for her legendary beauty, of course, and hearing that she'll star in a drama with Park Hae-jin this 2019 really made my day, but suddenly she pulled out from the drama, and I was really depressed. Fortunately, she decided to join another drama, which is Kill It! And I also love Jang Ki-young since the days he starred in IU's MV (MY ULTIMATE BIAS IS IU / LEE JI-EUN) and after he starred again in IU's drama 'My Ahjussi'. Even though he played the role of a jerk, but I can't deny that HE'S HOT! Having both ultimate visuals of Korea really brighten up this drama. And I must admit the only great things that this drama has is its wonderful visual casts and beautiful soundtracks.
I hope whoever watching this enjoy this drama enough. I'm determined to watch this until the end and promise to myself that I won't drop this off in the middle (this is that kind of drama that can make me feel so distracted by other things, like playing my phone for example, due to boring plots and confusing dialogues), because as much as it is complicated, confusing, and boring (I don't know how many times already I repeat these 3 words), I'm still very drawn by the characters and potential (although it's almost 0%) romance development, and how will everything revealed in the end, the aftereffect, and the reactions of each cast. I'm still so curious of how this drama end. So stay tune pals!
Muoi (2007)
I watch this in 2019, so...
First of all, I want to state that I watch this in 2019. Literally 12 years after the release (and probably the making) of this film, which is more than a decade ago. I must say that this movie exceeds my expectations.
The jump scares are all predictable, yes, because I watch this in a gap of 12 years, where I already consume way too much horror movies to be scared by jump scares in 2007. If I were to watch this in 2007, it might be scary. This is not the best 'old' horror movie I've watched and as long as I remember, but it serves good plot although it's just a cliché type of revenge story with sad/tragic past of the ghost. I've seen countless horror movies (especially Asian) with that kind of typical plot and past story of the ghost, which is the thing that I still quite like even though there's too many same type of background story everywhere. But it's still good, at least, it's clear enough for us why the ghost is there in the first place. And that simple and overused explanation still quite satisfy us. Unlike some recent modern ghost stories (mostly Western) that involve devils too much to the point we just know that devil is around, and the exact reason why devil is evil is because they were created to be evil. The end.
That's what attract me the most from Asian horror movies. They do not give us as wonderful photogenic places nor audio effect as those western movies but they always seem to have the right plot in the right place.
Escape Room (2019)
It's good.
Well, it's good. Yeah, but just good. It's not amazing. The film offers enjoyable ride of course, and the rooms are interesting. But as every one of them gets their tragic end, you'll see why the movie becomes sourly bad. I'm a fan of movie that not only offers good horror but also good plot. And I need more plot than this. The overall plot and the overall reason why they create this escape room is ridiculous and unrealistic. While they starts the movie with some complicated-looking-genius-like logic that I'll never google, this movie seems like something that will twist your brain along with how they twist the way they escape from the deadly rain, but as much as the casts need cleverness in finding the way out, the movie doesn't offer us the same genius start to end this. It even ends ridiculously and I must say, stupidly. They died worthlessly. And this what makes me so disappointed. They build up all the tension and something braintwisted like, but end it with stupid things. To give a comparison, they start it looking cool like with complicated algorithms, but end it with simple 1 + 1 = 2.
Us (2019)
Doesn't make sense, but entertaining
Well, watch this movie only with the sole purpose of being entertained by the thrills. Then I guarantee you won't be disappointed. Don't watch this while expecting some brainwashing ideas and theories. Just watch this because it's thrilling and entertaining. Because once you use your brain to process, every fun will just fall apart. I watched this in cinema and I feel quite satisfied of overall of the movie. In general, it's entertaining and give you chills and makes you feel so.. growled, I think.
The plot is easy to follow, I know right away that the girl was switched from the very beginning of the movie. And it doesn't become a plot twist anymore. So it's useless if you try to make the audience feel, 'oh wow! I didn't see it coming!' because it is sooooo... Expected. The ending is left hanging though, and it's up to you to interpret the continuation of the movie.
It's satisfying if you don't expect too much. The very original idea of the movie is not that bad (very creative and imaginative), just stupid. No
King's Daughter, Soo Baek Hyang (2013)
Great but Not Satisfying Ending (Not Sad tho)
I watched it because I had nothing else to watch. I'm a big fan of historical Korean drama.
Well, first of all, it is so sad you'll cry a river. It contains tragic love story that'll make you cry so hard. The power of this drama is not in the plot twist, but in how long the secrets will be unveiled. As a watcher, we know all the secrets but we are dying to know how much longer will everything revealed. That's the climax. At first, the plot is going a little bit slow but still enjoyable. Try to enjoy it as much as you can until you can do nothing but to skip some parts just to see how and when the secrets are revealed.
I hate Seolhee so much that I need to skip most of her parts when Seolnan is not there. I don't think her part bring any importance to the plot either. She's just an evil and selfish girl who think of nothing but herself. I've never hated someone so much before. They are success in making someone looks so bad if the character were alive we could kill her.
I couldn't wait any longer to find out how the king would know Seolnan is her daughter so I must skip lots and lots of part in the last episodes. I was disappointed because the king found his real daughter when he's going to die and he did nothing much for her, like, Su Baek-hyang has done A LOT for the country, even to the extent of risking her life. And it doesn't seem so rewarding. The end is not satisfying too. Seolnan made a perfect material to become the queen of Baekje but in the end, she doesn't even marry the crown prince. Even though they're allowed to. So... for me, personally it's enjoyable in the beginning toward the end, but you'll rush the episodes because you REALLY want to see how everything's revealed and how the bad guys ruined themselves.
That's all, thank you for reading this.
The Nun (2018)
When Devil Meets Zombie
First of all, I want to state that this is a personal critics. You may agree or disagree with me.
Since Conjuring 2 where we can catch a glimpse of Valak from the photograph, I was really excited for The Nun. But after I watched it in the cinema, I'm a little bit disappointed. The Nuns' ghosts looks like zombie apocalypse. I mean it. The first thing that came to my mind when I saw their ghosts are, 'what? Are they zombies?'.
The jump scares are predictable too. We can predict when will the jump scare happens. And even though some makes me 'jump' a little bit, but it's not that scary. The thing that made me 'jump' isn't how scary the jump scare, but how loud the audio is.
It turns out to be very comedic whenever Maurice a.k.a Frenchie is on the screen. I like him though, I think he's (apart from being hot and handsome) but also loyal and brave. No matter how scary the things they're going to face, he never left Sister Irene and Father (I forgot his name, sorry). It's such a shame that in the end he's possessed.
Next, some things are still confusing to me. Well, they make some facts unpredictable and it is fun to discover it. For example, the key. I've always thought the key is used to open the door to 'other world a.k.a the spirits world whatsoever', but it turns out that they key is used to take Jesus' blood that will be used to defeat the devil even as strong as Valak. The thing that puzzles me is about the crack that is claimed to be the gate to hell and the spirit world. If the crack is existed, then what is the function of that door? How can the door appears? The crack existed because a duke opened it. And that's another thing. I was wondering why the duke opened it. Some things are left untold. I don't know whether they're going to make a next movie or not, and if yes, whether they'll answer these questions or not.
The conclusion is, this isn't the type of horror movie that will make you scream. It does make you jump a little bit if you watch it in the cinema because the audio is awfully loud. And it won't give you the 'scared-to-go-to-bathroom-in-the-middle-of-the-night' aftereffect like some real scary horror movies. Some movies leave you aftereffect, but The Nun? I felt nothing. It's good, not bad, but it's not satisfying enough for me who have waited for it for so long.
Puen Tee Raluek (2017)
ABSOLUTELY AMAZING MOVIE
First of all, if you are the type of audience who wants to watch a VERY SCARY horror movie, with lots of freaking scary-looking ghost, don't watch this. Personally, I really like this movie because it is one rare out there where it can serve emotionally dramatic but also scary movie (for me it's scary enough, even tho we don't see Ib's ghost very much). It has jump scares, like any other horror movie. The thing that I particularly like is the emotional aspect of the movie. How mother and daughter struggling to help each other and so. It also shows a very modern sight of horror movie, instead of going to shamans (which ALMOST always portrayed in every Thailand horror movie, because shamans is almost like a unique aspect that is very Thai), Boum chose to fight for her daughter alone. It didn't end very well, tho. But I think the ending is quite satisfying and emotional. The thing that still bother me is, why Ib's mother didn't take any action of her daughter's murderous revenge plan for her best friend? And why Ib must involve an innocent young girl, even if the girl is her betrayer best friend's child? But no matter what, I still think that Boum's decision to cancel her suicide plan is the most correct thing she's done in her life. She indeed is at wrong for asking Ib to go on suicide together impulsively, but imagine us being in Boum's place. OF COURSE WE WOULD BE TERRIFIED AFTER WE SEE OUR FRIEND DIED. I think it is very scary and traumatizing. Boum would never have the guts to take the gun and killed herself after watching Ib died like that.
Anyway, this movie is soooo worth watching for those Thai horror lovers. One of a gem of Thai horror movie.