Reviews

Ever since seeing young actor Oji Suzuka in the Japanese drama Silent I've been searching out everything else I can find that he has done, dramas and movies, because I think he is wonderful! I found From Me To You with excellent English subtitles and began watching it, and was so touched by the sweet wholesome story of two very different teens falling in love with one another against all odds. I actually watched it twice in a row because I missed all the characters so much when it ended. I sincerely hope they make a season two. I would love to see the characters working at their first jobs, being successful, getting married, and experiencing the joys of youth and growing maturity. This drama reminded me of what Korean dramas used to be like two decades ago when I first started watching them. True wholesome love stories that are unforgettable. Today too many of them are dark themed and I can't watch those. If I want to see dark themes I can put on the nightly news! When I go for entertainment I want to see sweetness and light.

This lovely short 1990 Christian film Waiting For The Wind was Rhonda Fleming's last film (as I write this she just passed on) and rounding up near the end of Robert Mitchum's film career as well. I have no information on why these two big name stars agreed to do this "little" film but thank God they did, and thank God I stumbled on it after perusing Rhonda's films on Amazon Prime Video. It looked like it might have aired on television that year, perhaps on a Christian station, like a regular TV movie. Rhonda was still beautiful and Robert still handsome, in his own rugged way. They play a married couple whose daughter had been killed in a car crash, leaving a husband and son who miss her very much. Robert himself has terminal cancer and is trying to finish a hand-built boat he has parked on his farm so that he can hopefully take his grandson on a memorable trip on it before he passes on. Will he be able to achieve his goal?

I kind of wish this film had been at least an hour long. There could have been far more to explore in the basic framework of the story. But when any film has a character mentioning the Holy Spirit and which quotes Bible scripture I am so totally thrilled because I can probably count on less than two hands the number of films I've seen in my life that are that bold. Amen and amen!

I stumbled on this British film from 1941, Jeannie, and was charmed at once by its strong, stoic heroine who has to put up with her aged father's cruel taunts while she slaves away serving him his tea and doing his laundry. Barbara Mullen was quite plucky in the role and I smiled through much of the picture. Michael Redgrave is always good and here he's quite handsome as Jeannie's "savior" when, after her father dies and leaves her some money for all her years of servitude to him, she decides to take a trip to Vienna and makes mistake after mistake on her tour; he steps in like a good gentleman and helps her out. He's on his way to Vienna to sell his newly designed washing machine. Will that be successful and help bring him and Jeannie together permanently?

You can find this film online if you do a search for it. The print quality is a little soft but tolerable. This was Barbara Mullen's first movie. Now I'd like to see more of her!

Hunting Hitler really was fascinating overall, though I could have done without some of the ever present dramatic sound effects whenever a new light was shined on something from the past in uncovered FBI files which would help complete the puzzle they were all working together on for years. "Da da!" the sound effects would go, as the researchers would look at each other meaningfully and say "This is huge!" I would have preferred a more studious simplicity to it all. Intelligent people don't NEED sound effects and pregnant pauses and meaningful, knowing looks, nor do they need to hear the Lord's name taken in vain multiple times when new discoveries were made. Just the facts, please. :)

I think they should have started the documentary where they ended up: Germany, and the escape routes for the vicious Nazis escaping the Allies, places in Germany itself, Norway, Spain, Rome, instead of jumping immediately into South American countries like they did. If those were the last living places for Hitler they should have gotten there in a more linear fashion, rather than jumping around in a sometimes confusing patchwork of places that did not have had any real meaning at all in the grand scheme of things.

I enjoyed it overall, but also having a FORMER FBI guy interviewed at the end, instead of someone working for them TODAY in a head capacity, doesn't mean much. Opinions are opinions. Facts are facts. There never was a body of Hitler recovered. The Soviets covered up a lot and so did the USA. No forensic evidence whatsoever available that this heinous mass murderer ever died in that bunker. My own father was in the 82nd Airborne Division and saw the pit where Hitler's body was supposed to have been burned by the Soviets. He said that only three weeks later there was grass growing back in that pit. Highly unlikely, he said to me years ago, after starting a gasoline fire in a pit, that grass would grow that quickly. "I've always doubted Hitler killed himself in that bunker."

Bottom line: the Allies FAILED to catch him, and then covered up mountains of evidence that he escaped to try and plan a future "Fourth Reich" in another part of the world closer to America in an attempt to destroy her. While Hitler failed to destroy America back then, today we still have his closet henchmen - and women - doing his evil, devious, National Socialist propaganda under the name of modern socialism in America - in our media, in the DNC and many RINOs, and in shady political organizations which seek to cause division among Americans and destroy her from within.

There could possibly be a fourth season of this documentary, but it would be totally remiss if it didn't cover what is taking place today politically that had its origins in the sick National Socialist mind of Adolf Hitler.

This K-drama was painfully boring and I've watched 500 of them over 15 years so I know what's good and interesting and which shows are just fluff without much, or anything, of importance to say. They should have gotten permission to have a sequel to Goblin instead, but focusing on the same characters of the Grim Reaper and Sunny come back to life. The characters in this series were total snore-fests, and so predictable to the long time K-drama fan as to be intolerable. Typical K-drama tropes galore embellish this bowl of tasteless pablum. Sorry, this one didn't touch my heart at all. Go watch Goblin instead, or My Mister from 2018 to see a REAL masterpiece.

From the very first few minutes of The Crowned Clown (2019) I was hooked, and knew I was on rarefied ground in K-DramaLand: Masterpiece Level! Its fantasy story of a mere clown becoming an excellent King in the old Joseon era was electrifying, the cinematography amazingly beautiful (more like a first run theater film than a television drama), and the entire cast's acting performances were out of this world superb, remarkable, and perfect in every way. The developing love story was also beautiful to witness, and often I would find myself transfixed by the tentative, gentle, poetical, and sweet love scenes between the male lead Yeo Jin Goo (The Moon Embracing The Sun, I Miss You, and Lee Se Young (Trot Lovers, I Miss You), and I would re-watch their scenes together multiple times.

The first time I had ever laid eyes on Yeo Jin Goo was when he was a little tyke in his first movie, 2005's Sad Movie, in which he played a schoolboy who grieved when his beloved mother (Jung Ah Yum, who played the wicked stepmother in A Tale of Two Sisters) died from ovarian cancer. I knew even back then watching him in that performance that I would see him again in future because he was simply unforgettable in that short role, and I've enjoyed watching him grow up on screen in the years since. That's one of the best perks of being along term K-drama fan: watching the child actors grow up to become stars in their own right. In the case of Yeo Jin Goo that success is richly deserved.

I've always felt that many Korean historical dramas tend to be too long-winded, going on and on till they reach a cumbersome fifty to sixty episodes, but at only sixteen episodes The Crowned Clown is just perfect for those K-drama fans who have never watched an historical K-drama before and would like to sample a beautiful one for the first time. In fact, part of me would have loved to have seen this one go longer, at least to twenty episodes, just so that I wouldn't have to say goodbye to this wonderful cast so soon!

I also loved the instrumental pieces on the OST, particularly the tension music with the wild violin, and the sad goodbye piece with the mournful cello playing, often bringing me to tears.

This is a Korean drama that I plan on returning to and re-watching several times in the future, it was that splendid. It hit all the necessary high notes in its "song" to its viewers. As usual when a drama touches people's hearts this deeply people wonder if there will ever be a sequel, but sadly most K-dramas do not get them. It's just a fact of K-drama life. Enjoy this beautiful masterpiece as it is, like a magnificent ship passing in the dusky early night. And bring tissues!

Many of my top favorite Korean stars are in Sad Movie (2005) and every few years I have to dust off my old DVD and re-watch this gem. The story covers 4 couples (including one mother and son) and how they inadvertently interact with one another. Each couple experiences sadness and tragedy and you will be swept up into their stories and forget that time exists outside of watching this beautiful movie. Why can't Hollywood make such sublimely lovely films like this one, filled with the arts of sympathy and inspiration, sadness and recovery? This film is essentially timeless. It doesn't matter if it's "old", it's perfect for any time period. Discover this treasure for yourself. Enjoy!

I can't believe all the criticism of this film, it's a light ball of fluff, it's funny and fun, and Sophia is gorgeous and so is John Gavin who just died last month at age 86. Give it a break! It's not a masterpiece but it wasn't trying to be. Filmed on location in Italy and Austria the cinematography features a royal world gone by, and Sophia's character is a pip of a princess who makes everyone nervous because she keeps doing scandalous things like shooting at weather vanes and riding forbidden wild stallions and desiring romances with undesirables. Enter John Gavin an American who is good at heart and doesn't know she is a Princess at first, he thinks he hurt her by frightening her horse which threw her to the ground, so he takes her back to an inn to recover, only she's perfectly fine, she just loves the way he looks and is smitten. Then the real (royal) world comes back into play and she is called to be a responsible Princess again and possibly marry royalty but she just can't forget that handsome American who lives in Pittsburgh. :) Must say the clothes design in this movie was Oscar worthy, Sophia wears breathtakingly beautiful clothes, if you love the rich fashions of days gone by you should watch it with a keen eye toward its style. A nice film to drink hot cocoa to on a cold winter night.

Sorry I have to disagree with most folks here. This is a disagreeable movie from the get go. Donald Pleasance's character never shuts up and he's not likeable at all, if I were Robert Shaw's character I would have given him a fiver for a drink and sent him on his way, under no circumstances would I allow him in my house. Alan Bates' character is completely repugnant and completely wacko. All the talk talk talk might have worked well for a stage play but for a film version it was painful. If they were going to film an original stage play why not do a musical at least, it would have been wonderful if they had recorded the original casts of My Fair Lady, Fiddler On The Roof, The Sound Of Music, etc. and not this annoying dusty old thing with cantankerous characters you yourself wouldn't take a shine to if you met them in person. Pass.

What sourpusses among the other reviewers for this lovely film, covering the British hall music era from 1880's to after the WW1 era, and in particular one very famous male impersonator singer, dancer entertainer named Vesta Tilly. I thought Pat Kirkwood's Vesta Tilly was WONDERFUL! Even inspirational. I was happy the movie didn't shortchange scenes of actual stage performances. For the first time I actually enjoyed a performance by Laurence Harvey as Vesta's husband and manager, for once he wasn't cold and taciturn in a role but warm, smiling, supportive and loving. He should have played more characters like this one! The old songs were great to hear and if you flip on subtitles you can sing along with the original lyrics to the great old tunes. This movie was made in the 1950's so there would be people in their 70's or older still alive who would have remembered Vesta and her popularity on the English music hall stages of the turn of that century. I was left with a warm glow watching this movie. You can see it for free with an Amazon Prime membership streaming if you have a ROKU or similar device. Take yourself out of the harsh modern era and go back to a time when entertainment was more wholesome and enjoyable and just plain fun.

While this gentle romantic film To Paris With Love (1955) is admittedly no masterpiece it does provide you with a nice cast, irreplaceable views of post-War Paris in 1955, including the grand old cars, stylish fashions men and women wore back then, the kind of music they listened to, how clean everything looked and how polite people were with one another in that era. All in Technicolor (it says Technicolor on the print itself right on the title frame, not Eastman Color as someone else stated, which is different and tends to diffuse more with time).

Alec Guinness is sweet in the film as he visits Paris with his 20 year old son (Vernon) in the hopes of finding a nice French girl for him. Little does he know that his son also hopes to find a nice older French woman for him. What occurs instead is that the son falls for an older woman and the father falls for a younger woman! I thought that both situations were understandable -- both women were attractive -- but still one senses early on they will merely end up being temporary flirtations and not the real thing.

If you are a romantic person you will probably enjoy the film. If you're not you're probably better off watching something else more realistic. I liked it. To each their own.

I regularly watch Korean television dramas because of their exceptionalism (I have completed 316 as of this writing!) and so the excellence of this cast was no surprise to me when I started watching A Werewolf Boy (I had bought it on DVD off Amazon two years before it even showed up on streaming Netflix).

However the depth of the story was a surprise to me, and I think the quality of the film itself is spectacular - gorgeous cinematography, music, great sets, solid writing, and fluid, romantic direction.

The story is even conceivable: the premise is that scientists during the Korean War had taken orphan young boys (there were plenty of them during that war), isolated them from human contact so that they could not learn languages or social skills, and programmed them to be vicious animals -- all for the war effort. The thought was that if they could breed a group of young men who acted like wolves in combat they would be an excellent fighting force and capable of viciousness that even human soldiers could not duplicate at their worst.

Then the scientist dies, the war ends, the wolf boys scatter -- all except one. The house, barn, and grounds are the only home he has ever known. When the home is rented by a young family they are at first frightened of this animal-like boy and then, in their innocence and kindness, try to feed him, clothe him, socialize him, teach him to speak (which they fail at - at first!).

However the young teen girl in the home, schooled at home because of sickness, is pursued by the son of their landlord and he basically is criminally insane and quite capable of rape or murder. So, who is the REAL monster? This slime-ball young man, or the gentle (until provoked) young man who was raised as a wolf?

Although it doesn't start off that way the romance between the girl and the wolf boy becomes the focus of the story by the time it ends. The faithfulness of the wolf boy in loving his "owner" (she pets him on the head like a puppy) is the most poignant and unforgettable aspect of the story. He will do anything for her, even patiently wait for her for decades if need be. That's the constant love of a tamed animal for his owner. If only most human beings could love unconditionally like that.

This lovely and haunting film really touched my heart and my daughter's who watched with me. The Book Thief is based on a novel and after seeing the film I had to get the book too and now both my daughter and I are sharing reading it. It is not as violent as some films on the Holocaust, and it's very humane: war seen through the eyes of two children, Liesl and Rudy, both played by outstanding child actors. Loved the score by John Williams too; he should have won the Oscar for it, though he did win a Grammy. I loved the cinematography too. The film is not too long so it would be a great intro to WW2 history for children today, many who have short attention spans. This is a film that will stay with you. I loved it.

Not to be missed, folks! This is so much better than about 3/4's of all the K-dramas I have watched so far, equaling 136 at last count. Jun Ki Lee leaves his pretty boy looks behind him after his military service to get into a modern story of a man who changes dramatically when he discovers he has a biological daughter he's never known about before, and that she is sick and that without his help she will die.

I love the way Koreans have their characters grow and change and reform for the better. Petty gangsters become decent human beings. Fast women reform and become noble. It's very inspirational and you rarely see that king of process on American shows.

The little actress who played his daughter was so adorable I wanted to capture her out of the screen and make her my own daughter! She was perfect for Jun Ki Lee. I always say they are the most loving couple in K-drama history!

This was a 4 episode Korean drama that aired in Feb. and March, 2014. It is available to watch on the dramaload.com site, you can download avi video files and English subs for it there.

The story is beautifully shot and well written, has a lovely musical score, and the two main actors are breathtakingly beautiful to look at, especially the lead actor.

A young artist has lost his memory after an accident and no longer remembers the girl he loved in high school, whose ghost follows him around, hoping to find some way to get him to remember her. A grim reaper warns her that if he does remember her that she will have to leave his side permanently. The grim reaper gives her a box of matches with the word Lupin on it and tells her that whenever a match is lit that the boy will be able to see her for just that amount of time that each matchstick burns.

Little by little he regains his memory but then he falls in love with her ghost and does not want to part from her.

The whole ambiance of this short drama is haunting and I wished it had gone on for more episodes. I will be following the careers of these two lead actors because they were so impressive in their roles.

If you love Korean drama do not miss this one.

This is one of the saddest movies I have ever seen. I love Nam Gil Kim and bought this DVD off Amazon; even though it was a low budget independent film I will watch anything he is in. The man seethes with a Brando-like sensuality in every K-drama and film I see him in. There may be other even more handsome Korean actors out there but there's just something about this guy the others don't have, a touch of sadness and forlorn resolution, which is perhaps why his characters so often die in the end.

Woo-seul-hye Hwang is also very lovely in this film. Her character has to learn in the most difficult, violent ways possible that life is hard and unfair -- the male character she falls in love with already knows it's hard and nothing really surprises him but kindness when he finds it -- rarely. The girl suffers so much in this story, and only finds comfort in this man on the run from the police.

I don't want to give away too many plot details, but if you don't mind sad stories and you like the actors then give this one a try. I would say it's not for anyone age 17 or younger. Adult material is pretty much consistent throughout.

I watched The Classic a number of years ago and have since re-watched it several times. It's very much a part of my heart, one of the best Korean films I've ever seen. Ye Jin Son and Seung Woo Cho have a potent romantic chemistry together that is simply unforgettable (I wish they'd pair them up again sometime). Jo In Sung is also nice in the second male lead role. I have followed all their careers in the years since and they are all prolific artists. The screenplay is excellent and the direction is solid. The soundtrack is one of its best features, just beautiful!

This is the type of film that would receive so many more fans in America if it was on Streaming Netflix. Ye Jin Son's other most popular movie, A Moment To Remember, made a year after The Classic, is on Netflix, but not this stunner. It's a shame. I am very happy to see, however, that The Classic has received over 4000 votes here on IMDb. Korean films and actors seem to get short shift on this website, for whatever reason, but The Classic continues to find its audience who are hungry for pure romantic escapism in an entertainment world that pushes a much more violent world view on us. Korea is the nation to go to for entertainment that is geared toward timeless feelings like love and devotion. They are not afraid of sentimentality in their films and dramas.

Spring Waltz remains my favorite of the "Four Seasons" K-dramas. I love the cast and find the story very powerful, the main theme is forgiveness. The young man Jae Ha has many demons related to being abandoned by his alcoholic father as a child. He carries these personal demons deep within himself until as an adult he meets a girl Eun-young who somehow reminds him of a girl he lost in childhood whom he deeply cared about.

How Jae Ha comes to forgive those who wronged him, and how he comes to a place where he can trust and love again, is often a painful journey to watch, but inspiring all the same.

The romance is hard to beat in Spring Waltz. I totally disagree with the other reviewers here in that I think the two leads have VERY strong chemistry between them! The way they look at each other is breathtaking! Very few American shows ever show this deep level of spiritual combined with physical passion between the leads.

There's also American actor of Korean descent Daniel Henney as eye candy, many great character actors, and an absolutely gorgeous soundtrack with lots of genius composer Yiruma romantic pieces.

Don't miss Spring Waltz! It's a classic for a reason.