thworp

I write stuff. Yeah. Mostly about queer movies. I'm open to recs.

[whichpercydoyouthink]

I love watching queer, LGBT+ movies and shows, especially as more and more well-thought-out, complex stories are released. Generally, I love to write about movies I love. Movies that make me want to recommend them to everyone I know. Movies that rip my heart out and then make me thank them for doing so. Movies that make me smile or sob uncontrollably.

This was not one of those movies. I have complicated feelings about it therefore I shall vomit it all here for any passer-by to glance at.

Lost to Shame (2016).

I went into this thinking it might be something like Method which I have also written about. It... wasn’t? Honestly, I haven’t tried to compare the two too much because I don’t want to compare them.

The story: young actor, Oh Song Joon auditions for the role of Judy in Dark Life, a play about the pain of being a transwoman. In preparation for this role, Oh Song Joon studies the struggles of the trans community and meets Kang Yi Na who helps him understand her world. With the help of Yi Na and his dancer brother Oh Song Hyuk, Song Joon gets the role and things seem to be looking up for him until one day he finds out something about his brother and his best friend that has him questioning things he thought he knew about himself. Sometimes, we don’t even realise we are pretending until that pretence is tested and our fear reveals our true self.

Before I get into the negative, I just want to say how much I loved Kang Yi Na. She is a beautiful character and I loved seeing how confident she was as herself, how she had a loving community, and how strong of a character she was. She isn’t made out to be weak or a pity project for the main character. I also respect her for not standing any of Song Joon’s bullshit when he reveals his hypocrisy and for cutting him off completely when he a hundred percent deserves it. She doesn’t make any excuses for him just because he’s her friend and she doesn’t allow him to maintain his double standards in staying friends with her but rejecting his brother and his friend.

Which leads me to the main problem of this movie: Oh Song Joon. I’m not going to write an entire essay about how I hate his character and all the things he did wrong. I understand that the story is about revealing his hypocrisy and the struggle between what you thought you knew and your true fears that are forced out into the open. That being said, I do not enjoy watching straight homophobic main characters beating up decent LGBT+ characters just because their feelings are hurt, and then not even apologising properly or showing remorse. If they keep secrets from you then maybe there’s a reason and reacting in a toxic and cruel way only justifies their fear of telling you.

Another thing is that I did not enjoy the ending of this movie. Song Joon fails to reconcile with his brother who says he’ll die in the military because of what he’s done. Song Joon apologies to his co-workers but in a way that to me felt forced and self-satisfying. He plays the role of Judy for the last showing of the play and sees, Sung Wu Jae, the friend he beat up, in the crowd with a massive bruise covering half his face that Song Joon put there and he gets angry, asking what he did wrong in a way that blends his pain with that of Judy’s. But they are not the same. Not at all. Which frustrates me because it feels like he is victimising himself and then he cuts the blade into his wrist claiming he should die. Am I supposed to feel sorry for him? Am I supposed to worry about whether he will actually die or not? All I was concerned with in that scene is Wu Jae watching this all and what he thought. Why had he gone to see the man who had beat him up and then not even bothered to apologise? Was he supposed to see how much pain Song Joon was in and forgive him? How when the man hadn’t done anything to resolve anything? He’d never tried to talk to him or truly understood.

Maybe I misunderstood the ending of the movie or whatever the director’s intentions were but I was very dissatisfied and felt that the characters of the brother and the friend deserved better. So much better. And in the end Oh Song Joon is just a weak hypocritical character. The emotions of this movie... they don’t feel powerful or touching to me because we see everything from the eyes of the self-victimizing, straight cis male main character. He loses everything and learns nothing. It just feels like a hopeless movie that I found hard to see the beauty in. But that’s just my perspective.

Maybe someone else can enjoy it.

[whichpercydoyouthink]

You're not normal, either (2021)

So I’ve found my new obsession. Just kidding, it’s more like my favourite movie of the week. Or the month. Or the year. It really depends on when I find another. But exams are over so yay.

This one’s very light and cute, but you'd be surprised to find that it actually has a pretty deep message. I loved it.

The story: Highschooler Kasumi Akimoto (Kiyohara Kaya) takes it on herself to inform her cram school tutor Yasuomi Ono (Narita Ryo) that he is, in fact, not normal. Obliging when he begs her to teach him how to be “normal” and thus not die alone, the two embark on a journey on what exactly “normal” entails even though neither of them would typically be considered normal. When Kasumi finds out the man she had a crush on is engaged, this turns into a mission to get Yasuomi a girlfriend. The girlfriend in question being the woman Kasumi’s crush is engaged to. Yeah, no one really thought this through, especially not Kasumi.

Yes, this is a romance with an age gap so if you hate stories like that, either don’t watch or go in informed. It’s really not that big of a deal because it’s super light and I feel that with the characters being the way they are, it worked anyway so it never feels weird.

Anyway, here's what I loved. Which was, of course, the characters. Yasuomi is your stereotypical socially awkward nerd who spent all his time studying so he has little to no understanding of "normal" social interactions. He doesn't really seem to care at all until he realises that well, maybe he should care. Kasumi on the other hand, however, has all the understanding that Yasuomi lacks yet without really understanding it on a practical level. What's interesting about Kasumi's character is that from the beginning she is clearly an observer in her life, watching those around her without feeling like she fits into the system. This is one of the reasons she becomes so infatuated with her idol Mr Miyamoto who promotes a future of change that she clings onto. I just found it interesting how she seemed normal at first and yet it became clear that she and Yasuomi were sort of in the same boat in struggling to keep up with "normal". This leads them to an oddly equal-footed relationship that I loved to watch grow.

I also really loved how this wasn’t a girl meets boy, girl changes boy to meet standards, boy undergoes miraculous transformation and they live happily ever after. They both go on this sort of ride where Kasumi is basically his life tutor and he fails pretty much everything they plan until it’s clear he really likes Minako, Kasumi’s crush’s fiancée, and he actually manages to somehow do something right. That is until, spoiler, they realise that Minako was never going to be able to leave her fiancée no matter how terrible he was because what she wanted was her dream of a "normal" life. Even if that "normal" was a lie, she was willing to stick with it. What's interesting is Yasuomi's reaction to it all. Someone who initially seems rather weak and passive ends up being the one character to challenge what he doesn't understand and even after trying to understand with Kasumi, he finds he cares even less about what's "normal". Enough so that he is able to get angry for both himself and Kasumi, helping her to get closure and move on from her shattered idealisation. They end up right back where they were, neither becoming more "normal". It’s cool, though, because the very first scene of the movie is a scene with Yasuomi alone in a forest. The very last scene is the same only this time, Kasumi is there with him. Still disconnected from society’s “normal”, only now Yasuomi isn’t alone. It made me happy to see.

The relationship I was the most conflicted over was the one Yasuomi formed with Minako. I was surprised by how well they matched each other. When they actually talked and formed such a genuine connection, they looked like leads of their own story. Which was kind of tragic when Kasumi, the actual female lead, was watching them together from afar. It made Kasumi and Yasuomi's partner's-in-crime sort of duo to crumble, dividing them. It really made me sad for Kasumi with her crush on Yasuomi as she watched them, and then for Yasuomi to talk about it without noticing her feelings? Oof. The way he talked, too, and how it had kind of been Yasuomi and Kasumi vs "them" before only for Kasumi to be left behind and become an outside observer once more.

A super sidenote though, I really loved how Kasumi basically adopted that couple her friends were gossiping about. She just decides they’re her therapists and they are so confused but the guy just kinds of goes with it and gives her advice while his girlfriend is wondering who the hell this random person is. They were just living their own life, being in love, ignoring the haters, meanwhile Kasumi was having a crisis where she maybe sort of was in love with her cram teacher who she had kind of set up with this other woman to have a chance with her old crush.

The background sound of this movie was also really good. I don’t know if it was actually different to other movies or I’m only just noticing it here but they really put an effort to include every tiny background sound and I loved it. Like the bubbling of food in the restaurant and the background chatter. And then when Yasuomi and Minako were walking in the street and you could hear the wind, the leaves, the road, other people talking… Just everything was perfect. It was so peaceful.

Another part of this movie I loved was how it didn’t over-dramatize small important moments in the story. Maybe I’ve been watching too many k dramas, but I loved how nothing was emphasised by dramatic music or camera angles, it was all in the acting and subtle body language. Like when either Kasumi or Yasuomi were looking at the other a second longer. Or when Kasumi saw Yasuomi for the first time after starting to realize her feelings for him and you could tell she was looking at him in a new light and that things were different just by the way she paused and the way she looked at him from afar.

I didn’t say this before but another thing I liked about the sort of cyclical journey Yasuomi goes on is the fact that not all development needs to be forwards. If that makes any sense. Like, not all change is linear. It’s good to go out and explore what you don’t understand, but that isn’t necessarily going to take you anywhere. Sometimes that important personal revelation just takes you right back to where you started. And that’s okay. Not everyone grows the same. That’s one of the things I took away from the movie, which I think is cool.

Something I didn't expect to like so much was how the movie ended concerning Yasuomi and Kasumi's relationship. They end on a sort of ambiguous "not friends but not lovers" kind of relationship and while I usually feel unsatisfied at such endings, it felt right here. Maybe it was because of the age gap but I feel like it was more because it would have been strange for them to suddenly act more romantic with each other. All that mattered was that they clearly cared about each other and they felt like partners together in how they appreciated and understood each other despite their quirks. It felt natural for them to go with the whole “start from friends and see where they grow” thing. But that's just my opinion.

(I was super surprised to find that after finishing this movie, I couldn't find much on it on social media. It feels like barely anyone has seen it and I find that tragic because I really enjoyed this film and I feel like a lot of other people would too.)

[whichpercydoyouthink]

The Handmaiden (2016)

Since diving into the world of Thai dramas, I’ve noticed a great imbalance between mlm content and wlw content out there in general and my search for more good wlw shows or movies (Thai or otherwise), while not completely fruitless, has been a little frustrating. So, when I stumbled across this movie, I was so happy. Not only did the quality and budget look great but it seemed to have an interesting plot. And this movie really impressed me, from its twisting plot to the complicated characters to the gorgeous dresses and beautiful music. The plot twists, though. Maybe I’m just blind because I did not see any of it coming but I am all here for where they took me because damn.

I generally prefer to avoid mentioning spoilers as much as I can but I’m afraid this time I can’t not talk about the two major plot twists so small disclaimer here.

But first, the plot: hired as an accomplice to by con man posing as a count, thief Sook Hee (Kim Tae Ri) embarks on a mission to pose as the new maid of a rich Japanese heiress Lady Hideko (Kim Min Hee) in order to trick her into falling in love and running away with the Count to get her fortune. Things seem to go smoother than expected until Sook Hee starts to realise that she doesn’t want Hideko to marry the Count due to her own blooming feelings for the heiress. Conflicted between love and greed, Sook Hee becomes tangled in a mess much bigger than she first realised as she fights for a happy ending amidst the plotting and desires of powerful men.

I swear it’s not a tragedy, despite what it says on the tin and the way things go like a third of the way into the movie. This movie really takes you on a journey back and forth in time where every detail counts.

One of the things I found interesting was how the film was structured. By that I mean we have a part one to start us off, followed by a part two that makes you question everything you have watched, and ended with a part three that somehow manages to catch you by surprise even more and ending things with an awesome and slightly gruesome bang. Thinking back over it trying to figure out the reasoning behind this structure and I sort of came to the conclusion that, you know, three parts, three main characters, right? And it kind of makes sense if you think about it, considering who exactly the main focus of each part is. Because what I really loved about this movie was how it played around with the power of perspective and how that perspective can mightily change the importance of something, or a particular scene. Sook Hee is the main character for the first part, diving into the plot just as ignorant and clueless as we are only to be slapped with the plot twist as we watch everything we thought we understood crumble at the end. Because then it’s part two and you realise that Hideko is a much more complex character than you first were shown and suddenly the stakes are a lot higher than before because there’s a new main character and a new villain to the story. Only, in part three, it turns out Sook Hee wasn’t as oblivious as we first thought, and maybe we weren’t seeing the entirety of Sook Hee’s perspective all of this time. Maybe it’s more complex than that because then it’s the Count whose turn it is to be oblivious. But even then, he’s not the real main character, not even in this part.

The way I interpreted the story was two women who had already spent their lives carving a place for themselves in a man’s world, finding their own happiness in each other away from men and their desires. Hideko is very much trapped by her uncle in his twisted stories, sexualising her as the other men do. She has no choice but to use it to survive even as it slowly drives her insane inside, becoming a twisted and more calculating version of herself. Sook Hee has always had to fight for survival, ready to take advantage of others to satisfy her greed and stay alive. She is not so much trapped by men’s desire in that she frees Hideko from it, showing her sex outside of the books she was forced to read, forced to embody. Even though I personally found the sex scenes a little much, I could kind of understand the significance of it towards the end. In a way, Sook Hee showed Hideko a world new to her where she could put her pleasure first, rather than having to “perform” for other people’s desires, as well as showing her what real love could feel like.

One of my absolute favourite scenes is when Sook Hee finds out all about the readings and all the sex books and “performances” and she just. Gets so mad. I felt like it was something I hadn’t really known how to feel about the entire time, and maybe Hideko had felt the same way, just letting it all happen with a smile because she had had no choice and had to lock her feelings inside. But when Sook Hee gets so angry, I was suddenly feeling all those emotions too because it is horrifying and that is exactly how it should be reacted to and I’m so glad that Hideko was able to see that. To be able to look back on all that abuse and treatment and realise just how much she had gone through. To have someone that could be mad for her even if she couldn’t, someone who cared about her enough to ransack that damn library and trash everything. I just know that as Hideko followed Sook Hee around while she rampaged, watching her silently, she was falling in love all over again.

Speaking of Hideko, in part one, I wasn’t a fan of her character. She was gorgeous but she felt a little empty and so I was wondering what exactly going to happen. Then in part two, a completely different Hideko was revealed, and it made so much more sense. I really thought she was an interesting character, more so than Sook Hee who, while being sweet and heroic, was a little naïve. Seeing Hideko grow up, it’s clear that she was a blank slate, absorbing everything around her until she became a mix of everyone she knows. Like when she slaps the maid to take out her anger from the forcefulness and punishment from her uncle. Like when she uses the Count’s own words against him. Like when she seems to carry her aunt’s depression with her and even tries to kill herself in the exact same way. Like when Sook Hee swears in front of her and Hideko picks it up and starts saying “fucking hell” on her own. Everything her uncle put her through, everything she silently observed and internalised, it all helped her to morph into her role and adapt for her own survival, twisting her into someone intelligent enough to play and manipulate everyone around her. It’s also a cool way of showing just what she’s overheard, just how much she knows and foreshadowing some of the plot twists. But in the end, most of all, I was just happy that she was able to be freed and find her happiness.

One little shoutout for the song at the end “The Footsteps of My Dear Love” by Gain and Minseo because it was beautiful and made the ending feel so satisfyingly epic, the perfect end to the legendary escaped lovers Hideko and Sook Hee.

A really good movie all around and I highly recommend although be warned there is explicitly sexual scenes as well as suicide, torture and er quite bloody dismemberment at one specific scene. Other than that, enjoy.

[whichpercydoyouthink]

River's edge (2018)

I finally watched a movie again. Yay. No particular reason other than I’m supposed to be studying right now. Ha. Yeah. So here I am. Once more.

Warnings for this one: sex, drugs, bullying and death (it probably won't be who you think, tho). Lots of nudity and quite a bit of violence too, and I should probably mention that there's a character with an eating disorder.

Alrighty, let’s go. So: River’s Edge (2018) is centred around high schooler Haruna Wakakusa (Fumi Nikaidô) who looks out for the school loner Ichiro Yamada (Ryô Yoshizawa) who is bullied by her boyfriend Kannonzaki. They form an odd friendship as Wakakusa routinely looks for Yamada in the aftermath of him being beaten up and bringing Yamada’s clothes back to him and seems to be the only one who cares. Yamada one day tells Wakakusa that he’s gay and only dating his girlfriend Tajima as a pretence, as well as showing Wakakusa the dead corpse rotting by the river’s edge that he had found a year ago. Every character will surprise you and you may come to realise that the story’s ending was set in stone from the beginning (which may sound stupid because of course a movie’s ending is already decided, but I’m talking about from the perspective of the characters.)

Feelings? Um, mostly conflicted. Parts of this movie made me love it and other parts made me hate it a little. I think it's cool when movies do that to you.

I don’t know what it is, I don’t know anything about technical cinematographic terms and all I have are my own words, but I really really loved the way this movie was put together. I loved the way the camera shots showed the depressing scenery and the way the pacing of the movie gave the characters just enough time to breathe and feel real but not too much that it became boring. I was never bored while watching this movie. Fascinated and intrigued, but never bored. Also, I really loved the fact that rather than the typical high school uniforms you usually see in j dramas, the high schoolers all wore their own clothes. It really let their individual personalities shine, strengthening their characters, and it just added something for me, maybe to the aesthetic of the movie or just the fact that it added some colour to the drab world the camera painted.

The world in River’s Edge is indeed drab and rather dark. Filled with news reports on global warming and the scenic shots of the river with the large belching factory looming over everything, the movie managed to use real, normal things from our world to create this ominous and solemn atmosphere. Things we just kind of ignore are isolated and made unignorable in River's Edge. When I say there’s nothing romanticised or sweetened in this movie, I really mean it. The setting, the characters’ relationships, the depiction of love and youth, of family, life, all of it is stripped bare and the audience is forced to watch it in all its uncomfortable and violent nature. Which is a love-hate thing because I loved how different it was from the usual high school narrative but at the same time, it’s hard to completely love something designed to make you uncomfortable as hell and be unapologetic for it.

But, there is one thing I can truly appreciate in this de-romanticisation: the depictions of sex in this movie. Yes, I am sick of the way dramas and movies depict sex as something magical and perfectly necessary to every and all relationships. The close-up shots, over sexualising and objectifying the bodies of the actors who often play teenagers. The play with light to make it seem intimate and special. The sexy music that covers up what would be in reality, from someone else’s perspective, something less than pleasant and entirely awkward to watch. Which is what I watched River’s Edge stripped bare. I almost laughed in glee mixed with disgust as I watched Kannonzaki forcefully suck face with Wakakusa as she stared distractedly up at the sky over his shoulder. Or when he has sex with Rumi and her face is contorted painfully and the sounds are awkwardly loud and there’s no close up to her body or boobs, just everything out in the open and it is gloriously uncomfortable to watch. And so I thank everyone who worked on this movie for not objectifying teenagers and turning them into sex objects. You did a good one. My hat is off to you. It all just very much took the magic and the specialness that the media places on perfect kisses and desirable sex and just trashed it all. Maybe I’m just overly fixated on this part of the movie, but it made me happy. Because in reality, it was like the characters were actually just having sex in front of us. They were just there, going at it and we are voyeurs, just like when Yoshikawa was accidentally put in the place to watch Kannonzaki and Rumi go at it like desperate rabbits. It’s a slap to the face but that’s just River’s Edge.

Moving on now. Right, another thing that made me laugh maniacally. Well, not literally. But in my head, I definitely was. It’s all about a little something Yamada says about halfway through the movie in response to something Wakakusa asks him. Here.

Now, this instantly made me think about all those comments I see in a lot of BL fandoms when fans speculate over the question of top or bottoms and over the nature of the dynamics of fictional relationships between two male characters. In theory, speculation is harmless really but it never really settled right with me how much it tended to reduce the relationship to something about sex. Which is really nobody’s business but the characters and it kind of sucks because a relationship should be so much more than just sex. I guess that’s where the whole fetishization of gays kind of in part comes from and I loved how the movie didn’t hesitate to nail in something about how objectifying it is. Like how invasive it is to talk about stuff like that for our entertainment and curiosity.

Speaking of relationships, the relationships (platonic, romantic, sexual) in this movie had me conflicted as well. I loved the midnight trio that formed between Yamada, Wakakusa and Yoshizawa as they buried corpses and bonded as being people who didn’t treat others completely like trash. However even they said and did things that only added to the general unease the movie seemed intent in creating as you watch.

Despite Wakakusa’s concern for Yamada and her ability to stand up to her bully boyfriend, she was just as a whole a character that seemed very much disassociated from life. From her constant smoking to her frequent quiet moments staring off into nothing, it’s impossible to peg her as a typical story heroine who stands up for justice and is kind to those in need. I have to say though, I almost pegged her as a fellow asexual due to her reaction in a lot of the scenes but it’s nothing I’d confirm since it could have just as easily been that Kannonzaki simply wasn’t doing it for her.

Yamada smiling over a burnt corpse? His general treatment of Tajima? The corpse “treasure”? Yeah, he had the intriguing mysterious loner thing going for him but there was something a little unhinged about him. It very well could have been the many years of traumatic bullying, I have to say. In that case, I’m just grateful he was pretty chill and never turned into a full-blown psychopath.

As for Yoshikawa, I really loved her character. Yes, she had her own creepiness but she was beautiful and I lament over the fact that she and Wakakusa never became a thing. I also kind of loved how down she was when Yamada called her over to bury a body like she came prepared.

One final thing I would like to give a mention to is the character “interviews” that were spread across the movie. I thought the idea was cool because to me it felt like the characters really came alive in those moments. The questions posed seemed targeted to the characters, bringing out vulnerabilities and hesitations the spoke volumes, really giving the acting a chance to shine. Like when Rumi was asked what she thought love was and she just stared into nothing. Or when Wakakusa was asked what it meant to be alive and you could see her searching for an answer she didn’t have. Or when Tajima was asked if she was happy to be alive and you could see her try to convince herself with her answer. It was haunting and really made me feel their emptiness.

This isn't a happy movie. It's not all that positive or hopeful. But there's an element of realism in River's Edge that is sad and lonely and speaks of relationships that just don't work, life that happens and a struggle to feel whole. At least, that's what I came away from the movie with. I can say that overall I enjoyed it. Sometimes, it's not a happy movie you need but one that makes you think and leaves a pit in your stomach. Or maybe I need therapy. Anyway, enjoy :)

[whichpercydoyouthink]

Drowning Love (2016)

I'm just going to straight-up say do not be fooled by this cover! Okay, be slightly fooled but like. Be warned.

As a disclaimer for this movie I'm just warning for thinking of watching it: rape and murder- well, suicide actually. Technically. A further warning for aggressive blond boys you can’t tell what the hell are thinking. Trauma, too. I think? Also, do not expect a happy ending. A beautiful one, but not necessarily a good-feels one.

I won’t say it was a terrible movie, I’m here to rant about it after all. But I wouldn’t say it’s one of my favourites. More like one I will look back on fondly, which is mostly due to one character (*cough* Otomo *cough*).

So, Drowning Love: Natsume Mochizuki (Komatsu Nana), a teen model for a magazine, is forced to move away from Tokyo with her family to live with her grandfather out to a rural town. Less than happy with the turn of events, she doesn't see any point in staying away from Tokyo until she meets Koichiro Hasegawa (Suda Masaki), also known as Koh, a member of a locally prominent family of Shinto priests. The two are instantly attracted to each other and as they keep meeting, they get closer and closer. It's a story of a love that's too powerful for either of them to ignore, and how it fairs when their relationship crumbles under pressure and complicated emotions.

I'll admit, it's a kind of confusing movie. Some actions seem random and scenes skip moments in time that leave you trying to figure out what’s going on and so I understand why some who watched it saw that as a problem. But I can also kind of understand it. For one, it’s a movie adaption of a manga so of course, it’s condensed with moments left out. For another, I think it’s important to remember that it’s a movie about teenagers, featuring a romance of youth. Teenagers are immature, prone to experimentation, and are impulsive. It’s this impulsivity that I feel well explains parts that confused people the most such as the random bouts of running the characters were prone to. It’s all about this new and intense attraction, a push and pull kind of thing that’s full of energy and curiosity. Excitement pushes one to run, prompting the other to give chase. It’s a dare and it’s a kind of dance only they know. That’s how I saw it, anyway. In that sense, I feel the movie managed to capture that aspect of teenage romance well. It was beautiful, the actors were beautiful, the direction the plot went was... slightly less beautiful, but the ending was beautiful too. I actually found it pretty sweet as a whole (if annoying with the guy’s constant aggressive behaviour and the girl's passiveness). That is, up until the first crisis of the film, which hit me like a slap to the face when I least expected it to. Which may have been the intended impression? The rest of the movie deals with the consequences, rising in tension until the equally jarring climax and the resolution. Which was where my man Otomo SHONE.

Que me ranting about a fictional character.

He was just perfect? And I loved him? He prioritised giving Natsume the comfort she needed, most times above his own feelings, and was not too embarrassed to laugh at himself, to do anything to make her laugh. He was just an amazing friend before being a romantic interest and as someone who loves good platonic relationships, I loved it. My favourite scenes are all ones with him in it, including one near the end where the mood of the scene is depressing and he starts singing karaoke despite the pain he's in and it turns everything funny and silly and it's all to stop Natsume from crying and to get her to laugh again because he knows what's going to happen. It just made everything better.

I also loved loved loved that really visually gorgeous scene with the red flowers (Otomo happens to be in it too lol) where they put the flowers in their mouths with the backdrop of red flowers and then Koh bikes past- it was just so satisfying to see and made me want to paint it.

I''m not going to say much about the ending for fear of spoiling. When I first finished it, I was kind of like "um, what the heck?". Then I thought about it some more, rewatched the ending and cried. You just have to carefully watch Natsume's and Koh's faces towards the last few minutes for it to really hit home and thinking about the entire movie, it really is just achingly beautiful. Yes, some shots were oddly filmed and it certainly wasn't perfect. But I can look past it and say that overall, it managed to make me think and I enjoyed it! Which for me, is all that really matters.

Side note that may make you smile: Apparently the actors behind the main two are currently dating. Like, as of 2019 I think. Which is cool.

[whichpercydoyouthink]

My fave anime movie: Tekkon Kinkreet (Black and White)

So, today let me tell you about this beautiful, beautiful movie that I absolutely love. No, it’s not beautiful in typical anime movie fashion with gorgeous graphics and a soft, quietly touching story but I’m begging you, give it a chance. From the art style alone, it’s clearly different from anything else you might have seen and I’m hoping y’all will see it my way.

First up, the synopsis: In Treasure Town, an industrial jungle free for orphan brothers Black and White known as "the Cats" to run amok in, we have various players in the play for power over the city. There are the ophans, wild and well-attuned to the craziness and dangers of the town. There’s the local yakuza fresh from prison and as slimy as rats. There’s the police, keeping an eye on the yakuza and generally exhausted from having their hands full trying to keep the peace. And then, there’s the new arrivals, the mysterious curly eyebrowed creep and his three alien thugs. My town, my town, my town. As tensions rise and the old dynamics between those of the city are explored, Black and White must struggle to stay together and survive in a town that’s leaving quickly them behind as everyone learns the price of power and true darkness.

IDK if that is able to convey just how hella cool this movie but it is in fact hella cool. I’m not going to waste time telling you how good or how bad it is. Instead, I’m just going to tell you what I loved about it and anyone who reads this can judge for themselves from there. So. What did I love?

First up is the most obvious: the visual aspect of the film. At first, I wasn’t a fan and found it bizarre to watch but the art style was something I quickly got used to as it ended up working really well with the tone and the storyline of the movie. Everything was simplistic yet colourful, with unusual proportions and an amazingly complex environment. I fell in love with it, okay? It was unlike anything I had seen before and that set it apart from everything else in my mind. The effect it had on the expression of the character’s emotions, the flow of their movements, and the world it painted was interesting to say the least. The fact that the fighting scenes allowed us to see so many cool parts of the town was great too, with each nook and cranny providing more detail to Treasure Town from bustling streets to industrial monstrosities, slums to that gorgeous clock tower. It was at once a place familiar in that it seemed pieced together from so many cities and something had never seen before.

I loved the characters, too. Black and White were so interesting for me as main characters, especially with their relationship and their way of interacting with their world. They just have this really strong bond and despite being children, they essentially rule Treasure Town. I loved their dynamic, with how whimsical White was with his hats and his imagination and Black just accepted and loved him anyway, even though he could get annoyed or was stressed. What’s interesting as well is the contrast established between them from the beginning through their names, establishing the ying-yang visual, that isn’t exactly what it seems at first. Black is the older brother and for White, represents a protective power and anchor to reality where White is young, pure and whimsical, remaining largely untouched by the darkness of the world as Black looks after him and is, for all intents and purposes, the ‘good’ to Black’s ‘bad’. However, both brothers are equally as mischievous and live their lives above the law, fighting to survive and defying adults. What I love the most is the complexity of their relationship and how, in the end, it’s actually White who is the strength and protector out of the two as Black succumbs to darkness, balancing them out. It was just really nice to have such a loving sibling relationship as the focus of a movie, as well as the sort of psychological battle that occurred that was beautiful when paired with the movie’s freaking awesome art style.

Another thing I loved was the fine line between supernatural and metaphorical in the film. It’s kind of up to you what you want to believe. Are the purple thugs actually aliens or merely appear like that as a metaphor for the intrusion of the unfamiliar into the familiar, of change to a world they thought they knew, completely changing everything they thought they knew about the way the world worked? Then there’s also Black and White’s almost superhuman abilities as they soar above the town and let White’s imagination carry them on, White’s seemingly prophetic gift, their connection that allows them to be deeply linked so that when Black is in trouble White knows, the manifestation of Black’s darkness as some super evil.

There are also small details in Tekkon Kinkreet: the recurring eye motif that was kind of creepy, the apple seed, Black’s t-shirts, White’s watches, the vision of the sea as a kind of utopia or metaphor for freedom beyond the corruption and cruelty of Treasure Town. All of it made the movie as a whole so interesting and rich in things to pick up, to see, to experience.

The setting itself is whimsical but also, underneath it all, brutally realistic. In the backdrop of the plot, we see the desperate side of Treasure Town, suffering from imposed development and decisions from those in power that leave the locals behind in favour of tourists and newcomers, destroying the essence of the place in the process. We see this unwinnable fight and the inevitability of change when greed is strong and the sad reality that is created for local businesses, forcing those that actually live there to look to move away. Maybe that’s just my brain wired from my geography lessons and focusing too much on that side of things, but I thought the contrast between reality and whimsical was interesting.

It really is a great movie. It may have a childish look to it, but it is definitely not for kids, with lots of violent scenes and a few of nudity, showing the sadder and darker side of society. So, yeah. Give it a try and I’m sure you’ll see why it’s so great.

[whichpercydoyouthink]

Definitely one of my favourites: Midnight Runners

I actually first watched this a while ago but it was so so good that I've been thinking of rewatching it recently and yeah. Here I am.

What happens in the movie basically is: we have the main two guys, Park Ki Joon (Park Seo Joon) and Kang Hee Yeol (Kang Ha Neul), training to be cops. Their beautifully funny friendship starts there when they are drawn together during the initial program. Two years into their time at Korean National Police University, they witness the kidnapping of a girl one night. Banding together, the adventure takes them from a quest to save a girl, to a mission to put a stop to something a lot bigger than they expected to stumble on when no one else will step in. Along the way, attempted heroing and general dumb-assery ensue as these two idiots learn what it is to be a cop outside of the university.

Straight up, don't hesitate to watch this. Seriously.

I think one of the reasons I found this movie so good is the underneath all the adventure and comedy, it was pretty much about two teenagers discovering what they loved and what they really wanted to do in life after basically just following the system with no clear goal. Which is pretty relatable to me right now and it was so nice to see protagnists with genuinely no clue about what they were doing and just trying their best, no matter what hitches they encountered or how many people told them to stop. The character growth was *chef's kiss*.

The plot was straightforward and interesting but what stood out the most for me was, of course, the characters and I seriously loved their dynamics so much, and that's not even taking into account the hella good acting. From the moment the main two were silently insulting each other on sight you could tell their friendship was going to be chaotically hilarious and I loved it. One is the typical 'brawns' of the duo, while the other fills in as the 'brains' and while this works well for them, they're never limited to these labels and both manage to hold their own in fights and trade ideas. Their years of friendship comes through in their ease with each other and their chemistry as friends translates into their ability to work together under pressure towards a common goal. And the two just get along really well. It feels like a real friendship, with the way they trade insults, share a sense of humour and dork moments, sticking together the entire time. They are also both socially awkward which makes it both painfully relatable and hilarious as they explore the world outside of the university.

The two actors behind the characters were of course brilliant and it was kind of hilarious to see the two handsome actors become these two lovable dorks and act so ackwardly. They killed it though and I'd love to see them act together again in something else.

The conflict of the story itself surprised me in how intense it was but it really got me invested in the story. I found it all terrifyingly real, especially with the frustration towards the inefficiently slow police system and the kidnapping of girls who it almost seemed too late for. It was also very realistic in terms of the actions scenes and when Park Ki Joon and Kang Hi Yeol got into a fight, it was clear that despite their strengths, they were still students facing experienced adults in an adult world. It's not an easy fight for them and when they win, it's just barely and something they really have to fight tooth and nail for. Of course, that makes it all the more satisfying afterwards.

In the end though, it left me smiling hard and I really loved the ending. It was a ride and I loved all of it, especially with a friendship at the forefront and the fact that it didn’t really feel the need to have romance, apart from vague implications at the end. It was just so nice, especially so because the main friendship didn’t feel lacking in any way so I didn’t need anything else, despite my weirdly romance-craving brain that usually makes me wish for stuff like that. It was also just so genuinely hilarious despite the more serious parts. So yeah. I can’t recommend this enough. I will warn that it can get a little dark at times. Especially if you’re not a fan of blood.

Except for their seemingly endless taxi funds that allowed them to travel quickly wherever they needed to go.

[whichpercydoyouthink]

Give it a try: Method (2017)

Damn. Just damn.

That was really all that was going through my head after the last scene of this movie. After that I sat through the entirety of the credits in a daze, going over the entire movie in my head. Method took me completely by surprise and all I can really say was that I did not expect any of it.

Well, that’s not all I’m going to say, obviously. Do not take this movie lightly, it won’t be for everyone but you know what? I kind of loved it.

The plot: In the play ‘Unchain’, the two playing the starring roles veteran actor Lee Jae Ha (Park Sung Woong) and Young Woo (Oh Seung Hoon) find themselves in deep as they practice and get into character. Things get interesting when the lines between fiction and reality blur as they get invested in their characters and each other through their ‘method acting’, resulting in a complicated relationship. That’s all I can really say without spoiling anything. And I do try not to spoil as much as I can.

To be honest, I was not in love with this movie for at least the first half of it. But that’s only because I didn’t really understand what I was watching, or at least, I didn’t know where it was going. At first, it felt confusing and too fast-paced, with characters I found annoying. Their relationship shifted and I still was like: ‘okay, this is happening’. But after the press conference, I began to get more of a sense of where it was going. And the night of the play itself? Oof. It was the most intense acting in the entire movie and it really shook me. By then most of what I had found confusing or too fast-paced kind of made sense in its own way, what with this movie being about an unhealthy confusion between fiction and reality.

The acting in this is so so good. Like by the climax of the movie, I was staring wide-eyed, hanging onto every word, trying to figure out what they would do next. For me, Method isn’t really a movie with characters to fall in love with which is usually what I love in a movie but I was still able to appreciate the conflict of the characters nonetheless and I did love the actors for how they made their roles come alive. Thinking about it, too, it must be a pretty relevant topic for all actors: the struggle of getting into a character/not losing themselves in their character and placing a boundary between their job and their personal life. It makes me wonder if Park Sung Woong or Oh Seung Hoon or any of the other actors put any of their own experiences into their acting.

I did really love the music in Method as well. I didn’t really notice it at first but it really came through at the end of the movie, fitting the scenes really well and carrying the story to its end without further words needed from any of the characters.

The way this movie ended also felt very real. It wasn’t happy but it also wasn’t particularly sad. It was just… relieving, I guess. After the tension and high emotions of the climax (you can tell I’m trying to talk around it without spoiling it, can’t you?) it was like a shock back to reality and was one of the main reasons I sat through the credits in a daze. Honestly, I liked it. At first, I was kind of like: wait, what? But the more I thought about it, the more I made peace with it. I don’t know if many will agree, though.

I don’t really know how to recommend Method. I’d say, give it a try? If you’re into darker storylines that aren’t entirely happy. Seriously, don’t watch it for the good feels because there are none, or at least, none that you can take full satisfaction in. But it was definitely interesting.

[whichpercydoyouthink]

Two Weddings and a Funeral (not to be confused with Four Weddings and a Funeral... just putting it out there)

As it was inevitable to happen, procrastinating my growing workload has brought me here. This movie has been on my watch list for a while and so when I took one look at my homework and felt like crying, I decided why not. And guess what? I loved this movie, of course!

Here’s the pitch: It’s pretty simple really. Gay man Min Soo (Kim Dong Yoon) and lesbian Hyo Jo (Ryu Hyun Kyung) get married so that Min Soo satisfy his pestering relatives and Hyo Jo can adopt a kid with her girlfriend. As the pair juggle holding the whole charade together under the scrutiny of Min Soo’s parents with their work as doctors, this movie touches on themes of homophobia, the struggle of coming out, and the pain of not being able to be who you are. Along the way, we have Min Soo small community of gay friends, and Min Soo eventually having to juggle his faux marriage and work with a new boyfriend on top of that. Of course, things can only get chaotic.

Straight up (or not really you know), I’m just gonna say I did not expect to cry as much as I did watching this honestly. I thought it was a comedy (which it was but), I completely forgot the title of the movie within the first five minutes of the movie but that’s on my terrible memory I guess. (The police scene had me silently crying trying not to alarm my sister too much. That was just… damn)

What I loved loved loved most of all in this movie was the relationships. Not just the two main couples (although they were certainly adorable), but the community it showed and the friendships. Yes, I love when there’s beautiful portrayals of platonic relationships and Two Weddings and A Funeral really had me smiling. In the movie, Min Soo often hangs out at a gay bar where we encounter this small gay friend group of his who all accept each other so easily and allow themselves to be themselves in front of each other. They all have their personalities and I loved seeing their dynamics, their relationships and how easy everything was for them. The acting was a little over the top but it only added to the charm for me and I don’t think I would have changed anything.

I also really loved the twist on the typical contract marriage this movie played on, with a gay and a lesbian forming a friendship rather than a straight couple falling in love. It just really satisfied me, especially when we got to see the two lesbians hang out and befriend Min Soo’s gay friends and they all just got along. Plus, the ending scene, I loved it so so much.

When things started to get serious, I was worried that it was going to get too much and overpower the comedy of the movie (if that makes sense to anyone) but I thought it did it well. While it did touch on some serious issues and showed its fair share of tough moments for our two main couples, the characters didn’t let me stew in their depression too long as they also had some quite touching moments and more light-hearted ones.

It was a bit of a rollercoaster of emotions, but it ended well, although the ending animation kind of confused me (ohhh I just saw it’s also a manhwa, I see now). I definitely recommend so don’t hesitate to add it to your own watch lists!

[whichpercydoyouthink]

The one where Qing Ming is kind of like Robin Hood but is also the adopted father of numourous children and Bo Ya just wanted his job back... or something

So it’s been brought to my attention that The Yin Yang Master (2021) is based on the video game and The Yin-Yang Master: Dream of Eternity (2020) is based on the novel which makes sense now that I’ve watched the former and seen how different they are. I wasn’t aware of this before I watched it, though, and as a result, I couldn’t help comparing it a lot. Which was a mistake because despite sharing the characters Qing Ming and Bo Ya as well as their fictional universe, they are very very different movies with different strengths and weaknesses (apart from their shared beautiful visuals and soundtrack, ofc). During this rant/rave unfortunately I won’t be able to stop myself in the comparisons as that is how I experienced the movie but I will try my best to separate them as much as possible.

BUT, before I do anything else, a summary: we start with a glimpse in the past in which Qing Ming is caught betraying the Yin Yang Bureau (yeah, so apparently there’s an entire BUREAU which explains a lot) and after killing some guy called Ci Mu, and escapes using a Thor-worthy teleportation spell. Skip some years and we have Capital Guard Bo Ya who encounters the rogue Qing Ming when he hijacks the transportation of some tributes and generally annoys the heck out of Bo Ya. When Bo Ya is suspended as a result, he goes on a journey to find Qing Ming in the Monster Realm and arrest him. Along the way he meets a girl called Shen Le equally eager to find Qing Ming. As they find Qing Ming, the pair get caught in a conflict between Qing Ming and literally everyone else, eventually being swept up in a battle to save both the human and monster worlds from the clutches of the great evil wanting to take over the world. Feat: Qing Ming’s dark past and a boss lady called Bai Ni.

One of the things that really stood out in this movie (for me at least) was the rich and colourful world it explored. Seriously, it’s like something out of Star Warsor Guardians of the Galaxy except without the space, and magic instead of guns/lightsabres. There were so many interesting monsters and places to see. I loved Qing Ming’s home and the little world it contained with all his familiars. I also loved the monster city and the Spirited Away-esque bridge thing, that was really cool. It was just so entertaining to see the characters interact with this world even some of them were also discovering with us and it felt big and detailed and creative. This world-building is something I feel this movie did better than Dream of Eternity, if only for the fact that the world felt bigger, and we got a lot more information on things that weren’t necessarily needed for the plot but were still cool to see.

I also enjoyed the fresh characters this movie presented around Bo Ya and Qing Ming. It was kind of like watching an alternate universe but that was also an awesome experience in itself because I got to see Bo Ya and Qing Ming in a different way, in different situations and I got to fall in love with more characters. I thought Shen Le was cool and I loved the sibling-like squabbling she and Bo Ya shared as it filled the Bo Ya and Qing Ming partnership-shaped hole in my heart. Same goes for badass Bai Ni and her more mature old friends-turned-enemies relationship with Qing Ming. The character who became my new favourite was the Red Ghost, though, like seriously, that ability of his was freaking awesome and made him practically indestructible. He also, like, ditched his bully captors and saw Bo Ya as worthy of being his master so he obviously has good taste. In addition, despite what I’m gonna say about the movie’s villains later, I will say that the Snow Lady/Queen was interesting. Her airy voice-thing was slightly annoying, but her powers were cool and it was awesome to see her in a fight scene. She was all swish swish, bendy bendy, ‘join my master’. I definitely liked her better than he-who-shall-not-be-named-but-will-later-be-described (I hope others who have watched are able to guess who).

I gotta say, I really mourned the loss of Bo Ya and Qing Ming’s chance to properly work as a team and bond. I mean, they did reach a place where Qing Ming was amused by the angry child chasing him and Bo Ya grudgingly respected the mischievous Yin Yang Master, but I wanted more scenes where they worked together. I felt they barely had any moments where it was just them. Oh well. That’s just me comparing it to Dream of Eternity too much, I guess.

To be fair, in pushing away Dream of Eternity from my mind, I did really like the new take on both Qing Ming and Bo Ya’s characters. Qing Ming definitely had more of a rule-breaking outcast vibe, and I thought the actor did a fantastic job. Bo Ya was adorable but in a younger, less experienced way. To that end, the relationship between Qing Ming and Bo Ya was less as equals and more of an older/ younger friendship. Which, I guess, isn’t too strange considering in this one, Qing Ming was undoubtably the main character, with less of a chance for them to share the spotlight.

Ok, so, I don’t like to complain, and I don’t say this to warn people away from the movie BUT I can’t deny that (to me) the first half of the movie definitely felt better than the second half. I don’t know, maybe that’s just when the plot really starts to kick in and for me, the plot kind of felt like the let down of the movie. It just didn’t captivate me as much and with kind of terrible villains, it just wasn’t as good for me. I love movies with a good antagonist, particularly one that doesn’t look quite so… ridiculous. Maybe it was just me but the flowing red hair, reindeer horns and giant spider hand-thing didn’t really impress me as much as an immortal snake man who actually has an emotionally driven motivation. The bridge battle didn’t really feel as high stakes as they tried to make it, I don’t know, maybe that was just me. And the way Qing Ming took down the bad guys and the way it ended? Wasn’t really satisfying to me. I guess it leaves room for a second movie? I’m not really sure. (I’m trying really hard not to spoil anything if you can tell.)

No but don’t let that dissuade anyone. Seriously, it’s still a good movie in my eyes and I enjoyed it, especially as it definitely answered a lot of the questions Dream of Eternity left me with. Yes, the plot kind of sucked but the worldbuilding was fantastic and the different realms were interesting to explore. Maybe if you plan to watch both movies, watch this one before Dream of Eternity. That way you will be able to enjoy it without comparing the plot/characters so much AND you’ll be able to go into Dream of Eternity with some knowledge of the world already and maybe come out with less questions. But seriously, they’re good movies separately. So, give it a go, I guess. If you want, that is.

Completely irrelevant side note here (screenshot below) but did Qing Ming in that scene make anyone briefly think of Inuyasha or was I the only one who was reminded my that while watched? No? Just me? Ok. I haven't even watched the anime wth why did I think of this.

[whichpercydoyouthink]

Masters of the Mystic Arts fight with the power of love AND Chinese bl drama on their side… or something.

AKA The Yin-Yang Master: Dream of Eternity (2020).

Now, for some reason, when I first saw this show up on Netflix I took one look at it and was like ‘nope’. Looking back, I really don’t know why I avoided it like that, for months, until now. Maybe it was the title? Maybe the fact that I wasn’t having great experiences with Netflix adaptions at the time? I can’t really remember but I really regret not giving it a chance sooner. I guess that just means Tumblr is going to have to deal with my rant/rave now.

Because OF COURSE I freaking love it.

But first, a brief summary: the movie essentially starts with Qing Ming (Mark Chao) training under his Master Zhong Xing (Wang Duo) to be a Yin-Yang Master only he struggles to master the one basic spell of a Yin-Yang Master: the protection spell. When the great evil serpent, the embodiment of all of humanity’s greed and obsession, almost breaks free and triggers the death of Qing Ming’s master, Zhong Xing sends Qing Ming to the eastern world to work with other masters to stop the great evil serpent once and for all. There, Qing Ming meets Bo Ya (Allen Deng) his opposite in more ways than one, who’s suspicions he must tolerate and force them to work together when problems arise with the mysterious death of one of the other masters and a plot to release the great serpent must be thwarted.

All in all, not what I was expecting after watching the trailer but I was pleasantly surprised. Let’s get into this.

Okay, before anything else, the absolutely gorgeous visuals were what captivated me and made me fall in love with this movie. The costumes and jewellery (seriously, I loved the princess’s head piece) were beautiful and the settings were amazing like I loved the city when we first glimpse it on Qing Ming’s arrival. Not only that, but we have actually beautiful CGI work that was so awesome to see in action with the magic during the fight scenes and even just the giant snake was pretty freaking cool.

Oh, oh, and the soundtrack. Like, hell yeah. From the beginning it had me dancing in my seat in anticipation, it truly made everything like ten times better.

I will say this, though, I really couldn’t take the Guardian Spirit entrance thing seriously. It happens like two times in the entire movie and I just couldn’t help but laugh with the vaguely Pokémon-esque battle music and the pure drama in the way the three spirits enters. And when they each announced their own name? I just couldn’t. It killed me, although their fighting was still awesome to watch. Sorry, I just had to say it. Moving on.

Right, yeah. Another thing: Bo Ya and Qing Ming. Just Bo Ya and Qing Ming. It was *chef’s kiss*. Honestly, it wasn’t the bordering on explicit romance I was expecting with how many people I saw compare it to The Untamed, but it was still an amazing bond they had. The development was beautiful, the acting was beautiful and Bo Ya’s unimpressed face was beautiful. My favourite scene was the tomb scene. Seriously, with the way the movie poetically ended, there was no way their relationship was purely bromance. They were obviously soulmates, whether platonic or romantic is entirely up to how you want to see it. (Also, I think I found my favourite Chinese name. Bo Ya is just so satisfying to say and I love it.)

On a side note, give it up for Qing Ming our bisexual king! (Oh yeah, I saw those two scenes when Bo Ya caught him wasting time with the Guardian Spirits. I noticed the girls and the guys, Qing Ming I see you.)

So this is entirely based upon my interpretation (having only watched the film and possibly being wrong) something I loved about the story (yes, back to the actual plot) was that love became a sort of power and it was Qing Ming’s absence of that kind of connection that would push him to want to protect someone else at all costs was what made him, essentially, weak and unable to become a real Yin-Yang Master. Qing Ming’s Master’s love for Fang Yue was what made him powerful. Qing Ming’s love for Bo Ya helped him to grow and reach his full potential. And that’s beautiful. I guess I’m just sick of all those “love is a weakness” and “your loved ones will become your weak spots so be mean and push them away for the greater good” superhero movies/shows. That kind of drama just gets me really frustrated. Idk, I just really, really loved that part of this movie.

I have to say as well, however, despite how much I loved this movie, it did leave me with a few questions. Maybe I just missed some details, and they did explain everything plot-related by the end, BUT I was still left unclear about some aspects of the world. Mostly how the whole Yin-Yang Master thing works and what exactly Bo Ya was. Like I remember him being a master but was he a Yin-Yang master like Qing Ming or something else? Were they human? Cause, like, they both talked about humans and demons like separate species so what exactly are they? Also, can just anyone become a Guardian Spirit? How does that work? Also, where the heck were the other Guardian Spirits during the entire movie? They just appeared when summoned and disappeared after. Is it like some kind of Pokémon thing?

But I can accept my questions since none of them were plot related. However, I do intend to watch the other movie, The Yin-Yang Master (2021) and maybe it will answer some of my questions since I heard it has better world-building. For anyone not aware, both The Yin-Yang Master: Dream of Eternity (2020) and The Yin-Yang Master (2021) are based on similar source material but are not connected in terms of story (I guess), actors etc. I have no clue why Netflix wanted two different adaptions of the same thing but oh well. From the trailer they look very different and if I end up liking the second one enough, I’ll write up my opinion. Though I don’t have much hope that it will trump Dream of Eternity, I loved Bo Ya’s actor too much. We’ll see.

[whichpercydoyouthink]

Yes or No (2010)

This one is a bit older but don't let that scare you off.

I’ll admit, the movie I’m about to rant/rave about isn’t the most exciting/ action-packed movie ever BUT I love it anyway. Yeah, it’s not the most original plot. Yeah, there are a few clichés. Yeah, I didn’t fall in love with the soundtrack. BUT BUT BUT!

Yes or No is just so freaking cute, and I kinda fell in love with the main two? *Cough* Kim has my heart *cough*. Well, let’s get into this.

Yes or No is a college-set story in which we have Pie (Sushar Manaying/ Aom), a girl who has a negative view of tomboys and lesbians (fueled by her mother’s rather traditional views). Pie ends up rooming with Kim (Suppanad Jittaleela/ Tina), a girl who is very tomboyish and to all who see her, looks like a boy. The two start off at odds as Pie does her best to tolerate living with Kim much to Kim’s bemusement, going as far as to divide their room with red tape. Slowly, however, despite Pie’s initial misgivings, the two grow closer as they learn more about each other and grow to be friends and discover new feelings.

I’m not trying to say it’s the best movie ever and everyone has to love it, but here’s what I loved about it.

First up, the plot! Ok, it’s nothing original by far and even before I watched it I had already heard it was going to be some similar to a less toxic version of TharnType (which was a major plus so…). But, there have been so many heterosexual romantic movies that do the same things over and over again, I’ve often found myself thinking, this would be interesting if they had just made the couple both men or both women because that would change the dynamic so much. Bring some of that fanfiction to the screen. And Yes or No did that. And I loved it. Maybe it’s exactly that that makes some people less than keen on the movie but I don’t know, sometimes I just want a queer movie that doesn’t feel part of an entirely new genre they made for queer films because ew heteros or because the hetero dominated film industry wants nothing to do with it. I have no idea if anyone feels the same as me but I have simple tastes and SOMETIMES what I want is a sweet romance that just so happens to also be queer.

If that makes sense.

If not, then another thing I loved is the acting! Or am I talking more about the characters themselves? Either way, the acting/ characters just felt so real and natural. There were some really cute subtle details in the way the two female leads interacted: small smiles, little touches, the hugs (they were so adorable). Not just interactions between the main couple tho, there was also that scene where Kim goes home heartbroken and just hugs her dad, no explanations, no awkward back pats, she just goes in for a hug and he accepts her and doesn’t ask. It made my heart ache (in a good way). But back to Pie and Kim, they are so cute together?? I can’t?? Their relationship is based on their friendship and it is so sweet and such a strong connection and they are beautiful together.

Maybe this is just me because I’ve never really watched any GLs before (honestly, I don’t think there are that many out there which sucks) but I adored the way that even with Kim looking like a boy and being the chill one out of the two, the couple didn’t fall into a typical boy-girl dynamic where Kim's character was essentially a guy. Kim was who she was, maybe boy-like in appearance but that was just how she liked to dress and she wasn’t pushed to act masculine, she didn’t dominate the relationship, she wasn’t the one who was always to the rescue of the damsel in distress. In fact, if anything, I would probably say that Pie is the real rock between them. Despite coming off as a bit like the typical whiney female lead at the start, she was also there to help Kim when she got scared, she took care of her when she got sick without a fuss and when Kim went off to cry in the rain, Pie went after her with an umbrella to bring her back.

Another thing I wanna say is that I loved how Yes or No didn’t feel the need to make their relationship sexual to make it captivating. No sex scenes, no nudity, no intense kisses. Just love, and fluff and wholesome hugs. I’m telling you, it may not sound like it, but hugs can give you just as many butterflies while watching as seeing the main couple smooch. I feel like it means more, even. Kim and Pie do kiss in the movie, but it’s simple, it’s sweet, it’s not overdone and it’s real. It’s not the climax of their relationship but just another way for them to show affection for each other like it should be.

I have no idea how the movie comes across with what I’ve said, but I’m pretty sure I’ll be rewatching this in the future.

[whichpercydoyouthink]

I Recommend: 3 Will Be Free

We have roadtrips. Gang conflict. A lot of tense stand offs. We have queer-accepting mafia bosses. We have Neo’s trademark croptops, Miw’s flawless makeup, and Shin’s adorable glasses. We have guns. We have a whole lot of shirtless shots. We have antagonists you’ll root for just as much as the protagonists.

What to we have? 3 Will Be Free!

Let me make this clear first up, this ain’t about a love triangle. This is a polyamourous relationship between three people. Just so you know. Rare, ain’t it?

This Thai drama is, in my opinion, freaking brilliant! Not only did it do a polyamourous relationship pretty good (and actually had it endgame), but it did it with a captivating plot, beautiful camera shots, and a hella intense soundtrack. I will definitely be rewatching this one in the future. 

Let's get into this. I’m not trying to spoil anything hear but I have to gush about this and so I’m sorry if I accidently reveal anything or imply enough for some people to work stuff out. Just watch it! I can’t say it enough.

To introduce you a little, the initial plot of 3 Will Be Free all surrounds this Mafia type boss guy called Thana. Enter main character number one: Neo, a free spirited dancer at a club who catches the eye of Thana's second wife Vanika and they start an affair. Enter main character 2: Miw, a hostess at a nearby club who meets Shin (main character 3), the son of Thana's first wife, one night when his friends pay her to sleep with Shin. Things quickly get chaotic when Thana finds out about the affair, sends people to kill Neo and punish Vanika only Vanika gets killed in the crossfire, Neo runs and hides at Miw's club only to run into Shin in the bathrooms and just as they're both caught, Miw comes in and shoots Thana's right hand man dead (it all happens in like the first episode, okay, its fine to spoil, right?). So yeah. You can probably imagine the running-for-their-lives, road trip that Neo and Miw enbark on with Shin swept along for the ride because of a mysterious connection to Neo. 

I'm not gonna say more about the plot except that Thana's right hand man, Phon, happens to have a transgender girlfriend, Mae, who is devastated whe she hears about Phon’s death and embarks on a revenge driven chase after the main trio with Phon's best friend Ter (who also works for Thana). The two bond over their shared loss and show some of the saddest, heart-wrenching moments as Ter struggles without his friend to guide him and Mae suffers the loss of the only person who properly supported her. Mae is probably my favourite character in the show, she is just so good and showed the most emotional depth despite her limited screen time and the show really did her dirty, she did not catch a break. Also why the heck did this show have to make me love Phon even after he died?? He was just the nicest, most supportive boyfriend ever and honestly, despite the whole gang thing and the fact that he was trying to kill Neo, I kind of wish he had lived. For extra info this show is ten 50 minute episodes long and is on youtube with every episode split into 4 parts. So go watch. You'll be in for a ride.

All along we have Miw and Neo bickering constantly and Shin grinning quietly in fondness. That’s essentially their relationship summed up. It’s adorable.

Individually, though, I loved the depth I felt in these characters and how they felt more than just stereotypes or cardboard flat.

Neo ( Way-Ar Sangngern / Joss). On the surface, this guy is your pansexual bad boy hooker/prostitute/stripper who works a ton of jobs and lives freely, working a ton of jobs with no set future. Neo is also a gentleman who can be summoned by wallet theft to save the day and is very caring and protective of those he loves. Essentially, he’s the mama bear of the trio, but unfortunately he is also a jerk, selfish, and may very well have a saviour-complex. I don’t think he’s everyone’s favourite by the end of the show BUT he kind of holds the trio together and they need him to keep Miw out of trouble and free Shin a little. I also believe he is singlehandedly reviving people’s love for croptops.

If anyone’s wondering why I consider this guy pansexual when Wikipedia says bisexual, it’s because he literally says he doesn’t care about gender in relationships. I could be wrong, but that’s how I interpreted what he said.

Miw ( Lapassalan Jiravechsoontornkul / Mild). In a time when we are seeing more and more strong, independant female leads, Miw is the queen. She is definitly the source of strength of the relationship and has no time for anyone’s sh*t. She is bold, always has flawless makeup and outfits, and is never scared to speak her mind, tough and prepared to do anything to survive. She also honestly has some of the best lines in the show. But if this type of character puts you off, don’t run away because she’s more than just that. Miw has her own vulnerabilities, isn’t completely bulletproof and killing a man is not easy for her. There are reasons behind the strength she projects and her way of seeing the world, reasons she has to keep being strong, and that doesn’t stop her from bonding with other women over shared experiences, standing up for others, and comforting Neo and Shin when they hit their lows.

Shin (Tawan Vihokratana / Tay). Let me just say, you are guaranteed to fall in love with this boy, he is the soft and innocent one in the trio from a completley different world from the other two yet that doesn’t stop him from not wanting to be left behind and trying to understand. Shin is honestly the real hero of this story, he is so selfless and insecure and must be protected at all costs. Of course, the characters in the show know that which is why everyone is either trying to kidnap him or save him. But he isn’t just quiet and shy, he’s also smart and has his own bad*ss moments when Neo has being a jerk and Miw is just trying to survive. If Neo is the glue, Miw is their strength, then Shin is peacekeeper and balances out Neo and Miw’s outspoken personalities.

I do understand, though, that some may be a little less than satisfied with Shin’s ending. I felt like they really needed to develope or explore his relationships with Miw and Neo further or atleast as much as they seemed to for Miw and Neo.

In the end though we had quite a few cute moments with all three of them together and apart from that minor issue, I got nothing other than to cry over all those characters who suffered the director’s killing spree. Like seriously, is nothing safe?! So beware.

[whichpercydoyouthink]

This isn’t to express an objective or critically accurate analysis in any way but I’ve gotta stop bugging my friends with reccomendations for random stuff I watch so here I am...

I randomly decided to start this on a Saturday morning and rather than be dazed by the american-ness of the school and kind of bored, I found I actually really enjoyed it. At the same time as being dazed by the american-ness of the school (idk, it’s just not the same as european schools at all, at least for me anyway, and it’s kinda fascinating). Anyway...

I’m a sucker for a movie with a soundtrack I fall in love with and so this one won me over pretty early on. I also really loved all the characters and the fact that there was an introverted character who wasn’t ‘improved’ to be a more outgoing version of herself was more than alright with me, Claudia suprised me. The film just kind of let her do her after the initial fight with the main character. Also, I can’t not mention Seth. He was pretty much perfect, the supportive and adorable boyfriend anyone would want (I mean, people who are intrested in dating, that is) and for that, the funeral home scene was only slightly weird for me. 

CONCLUSION: I very much enjoyed the movie. Does that mean it’s a good movie? Is it the best ever? Bruh idk, but it made me smile and it was hella satisfying to see the antagonist dude something Wilson get wrecked at the end.  (Dylan?? Brent?? He feels like a Brent but honestly I can’t be bothered to look this up)

If anyone else has watched it, did they see what was on the classroom whiteboard in the background? I laughed a lot when I saw it and it had to be intentional.