Rifat_Sharna Reviews

Real (2017)

Real (2017)- Not bad as it was publicized plus Kim Soo-Hyun put good acting show

[6/10 · 10 January 2018]

As I've watched this movie, I've got to realize that it's not that bad as it was publicized (like the worst Korean movie-no,it's definitely not that!). Yeah- many indecipherable scenes -even with much nudity are placed here and there and therefore the plot was also felt hella confusing at times! It would be much better if all those scenes were syncronized well & reasons behind every single motion got revealed like a full moon in the sky at last- then it might touch hearts of general audience and might be recognized as an epic movie too! Rather- it focused on good CGI effects,also some erotica- besides- action scenes were well-choreographed and at some point were artistic too. And acting was also good - specially from all-in-all leading hero- "Jang Tae-young" I mean,actor Kim Soo Hyun.Actually I watched this movie as a former fan of his alien character "Do Min Joon" from "My Love from the Star" drama. And like other fans and well-wishers, I was kinda so disappointed reading all those news- he starred in an erotic movie, even invested in it- and ultimately this movie was criticized badly & doomed in the box office, so didn't he leave so bad impression before enlisting to army? (hiatus of 2 years!) But at last -when I got to watch this full-length movie, I can't be neither disappointed nor angry- because it was too obvious that Kim Soo Hyun put extreme effort to portray his duel role- overall his acting was just praise-worthy! His acting wasn't so praised in media-just because general audience didn't get the plot at all and so it was super-flop! Yeah-it's seemed incomprehensible- but if you pay some attention, you can connect duel personality of his character and feel the effect of 'Siesta' on him (that may cause temporary memory-loss and hallucination!) Yet, many relationships & events evolved around him remained unclear till the end- it seemed that-director &writer weren't interested to disclose these things clearly or failed to figure out how to do that! So Kim Soo-Hyun-if not egoistic - must have realized by now that although he put so good acting show & broke his good-boy image- people wouldn't watch it twice or thrice just to get the plot (as he expected and mentioned in an interview!) Also people wouldn't fall for all those 'sex-doll'-like pathetic female bodies merely- even the heroine didn't seem to have any life or self-esteem at all! Whatever-beside all these things- as an experimental noir plus for its artistic value, I think- it deserves a 6/10 rating- and cheers for actor Kim Soo-hyun!

Our Shining Days (2017)

Our Shining Days (2017): A Refreshing Chinese Musical Teen-Comedy Movie

[7/10 · 23 October 2017]

If you liked Taiwanese hit teen-romance-comedy "Our Times (2015) & Japanese teen-musical film "Swing Girls (2004)" previously, this movie would be your cup of tea! Actually it's kinda blend of those two movies- if you look at our nerd heroine and then the plot about forming a traditional musical band of college students overcoming obstacles and prejudices, it will be so obvious. The plot is predictable and sometimes a bit cheesy too- you must know the outcome of clash between traditional Chinese music and western music in a Chinese movie! Yet, the movie's just refreshing- our heroine really did good job in portraying her comic and emotional character-thumbs up!And the other side characters were also well-acted, cinematography is well-done too- sometimes eye-soothing, even some animation works can be found within this movie. And about music section- you won't expect any better from college students and the scenes portraying rivalry & playing all those traditional and western instruments were done very realistically. So when you feel dull and dizzy in midst of monotonous life and cringe for some comic relief, a good-innocent teenage movie to enjoy at a stretch, just go for it! :)

Dhaka Attack (2017)

Dhaka attack (2017) - First Police Crime-Thriller Film in Bangladesh

[8/10 · 10 October 2017]

Really a superb- action-thriller film- specially on the context of Bangladesh. Intelligent plot, the overall execution and cinematography is also brilliant, music is heart-touching and catchy to ear.

In the acting section- protagonist Arefin Shuvoo and ABM Sumon- both heroes looked cool and charismatic as as detective officer and special force commander respectively. Other male characters- including Shatabdi Wadud, Shipon etc also did their best in their roles. But for the female characters- their character formation and acting was somehow just lame- specially Mahiya Mahi as crime journalist- she looked gorgeous (sometimes with excessive make-up!) but both her character and acting seemed a bit disappointing! If female heroines even in such male-dominated crime- thriller film can be presented as side-kicks or helping hands, it would be a lot more exciting I think! Ad placement also seemed tasteless. If such few inconsistencies here and there could be excluded, it would have become an almost-perfect film actually!

Yet- it's a marvelous film- in the second half you have to feel the real thrill- because the final adventuresome exploration begins and the new villain Taskeen Rahman comes to spotlight! In his debut film, he's done really awesome job as a cold-blooded, brutal serial killer. His background is also explored quite thoroughly in this film. So breaking the stereotype of typical Bengali cinema and bringing up a stylish anti-protagonist- it's just awesome and brilliant!And Taskeen Rahman deserves to get a best villain award!

My overall rating- 8/10

So this film is just ground-breaking by introducing stylish police- crime-action in Bangladeshi film industry. It's also getting super- duper hit in box office breaking some records- that also sounds cool and very promising. Conscious audience're rushing to movie theaters and wholeheartedly appreciating films, doing some constructive criticism- that's all we want! Kudos to debuted director Dipankar Dipan, story writer Sunny Sanwar and the whole team for their strenuous effort to bring up such a hi-fi movie and to value the high expectation of awaiting audience- hoping better for the future!And more and more promising directors are coming with their conceptual films, sounds like a golden era..so all the best, go ahead Bangla movie! :)

My review in Bengali for this film-"Dhaka Attack (2017)-Watch all together,enjoy the thrill!" http://bioscopeblog.net/rifat- kabir-sharna/61002

Yeob-gi-jeok-in geu-nyeo 2 (2016)

Don't compare it with "My Sassy Girl (2001)", even don't treat it as a sequel ! :)

[6/10 · 10 July 2016]

What I feel after watching this movie is that- even "Windstruck (2004)" had much more authentic relation with "My Sassy Girl" , got original "sassy girl heroine" cast and director (Kwak Jae-young)- was much emotional melodrama too ^_^ . So if you haven't watched that prequel-like movie yet, better watch it first, then come to grab this "My New Sassy Girl (2016)"!

Now, coming to the point- Asian blockbuster hit- Korean classic movie "My Sassy Girl (2001)" didn't need any sequel actually- long ago it's got a satisfying ending! But after 13-14 years, two Chinese-Korean production companies came up to make a sequel- mainly to grab Chinese market, actually to draw attention of emotional Chinese audiences! So you see- in this Korean movie the heroine is a Chinese girl, necessarily and unnecessarily a lot of Chinese dialogues are delivered here and there, even the couple is seen to roam about mainly in China! Whatever, only the hero of original movie remained the same. So what to do- first of all, they spoiled original ending of movie, made the original sassy girl as nun and sent her to monastery! Although sassy girl Jun Ji-Hyun had no physical presence in this movie, her 'girl' character was trolled several times. But this sassy girl fans (including me!), don't be disappointed, just take it as satire/comedy and try to enjoy the rest! :) However, several years after being dumped by sassy girl, hero Gyunwoo met his first love-who is nobody but a new Chinese sassy girl! Despite her rude attitude-he fall for her and eventually they got married! (Ah, again- don't relate this to original "Sassy Girl", from this segment- it's better to take it as totally a different movie except the presence of more idiotic hero Gyunwoo!)

Cha Tae-Hyun (Gyunwoo) acted according to the plot-but he's very much stupid and pretty dumb character here- more than "My Sassy Girl"- and it's no more fun to see such humiliation of his character! And new sassy girl- rookie actress Victoria- perhaps she tried hard in her own way to capture a little bit sassiness - but what to do- there's no reasonable foundation, just some unsparing & groundless imitation of previous "sassy girl (Jun Ji-Hyun)" - after all her character is poorly executed here. Even the plot had not much depth actually, sometimes it went beyond logic that tried poorly to relate with original "My Sassy Girl"- so you see-it's overall a forgettable movie!

So for this Chinese-Korean joint venture production "My New Sassy Girl"- don't compare it with original one or treat it as any sequel - just treat it as a mild comedy-romance movie -6 out of 10 rating from pretty optimistic view! Watch, enjoy the trolls, leave and eventually forget the most of it! :)

Assassination (2015)

Assassination (2015): An epic-historical film from South Korea

[7/10 · 20 January 2016]

Although the first half was some slow paced, the second half of the movie got motion & was overall capturing . Ahn-OK-yun (Jun Ji-Hyun), her small team for assassination mission & Captain Yem (Lee Jung Jae) seemed to be main characters of the plot line in the first place.But then, gradually Hawaii Pistol (Ha Jung-woo) & his sidekick Old Man (Oh Dal-su) got involved , geared up an entertainment show . By the mean time, the plot also developed some momentum to be intrigued. CGI effect,action scenes & the ancient background was so believable & realistic for this movie- so was the acting.By the ending, the movie got some symbolic meaning too.Although it could be a little more jam-packed, more artistic till the last to be memorable & greatly appreciated , Kudos to the director Choi-dong hoon - for accomplishing much improvement from his previous hit- heist movie "The Thieves" (particularly in emotion rendering section).

So if you wanna check the outcome of some tremendous efforts from director & actors to set up an epic, historical drama film based on true event - independence of Korea, it will be worth watching obviously.

My Rating: Somewhere between 7 & 8 . :)

P.S: By watching this movie,completed checking all IMDb enlisted drama-movies of "Sassy girl" Jun Ji-Hyun so far. From TV drama "Happy Together (1999)" to "Assassination (2015)" - there's a daring & frequent transformation from innocent/romantic heroine to hardcore action lady.She's lucky enough so far to receive such co-operative support from directors & co-actors + appraisal from audience along with her ambitious consistency!

Scarlet Innocence (2014)

Don't be blinded by love, don't be obsessed in revenge!

[8/10 · 31 August 2015]

"Scarlet innocence" is a romance-thriller movie that is loosely based on a Korean Pansori folklore tale "Simcheongga" which mainly tells a story of a daughter's devotion to her blind father. But this director and script writer was crazy enough to blend different genres into one movie focusing a woman Deokee who seduced or was seduced by that father Hak-Kyu and the tone of an ancient story is just freakishly changed. I took it for a look mainly for the appearance of handsome hero of "Daisy" Jung Woo-Sung. The movie's currently got an average mediocre rating of 6/10 from 225 users on IMDb, so I was even doubtful if the movie was actually worth watching. However he played here the role of a professor who went to small town after being accused of sexual harassment. There he met an innocent looking girl, fall in passionate love with her and then their relationship blossomed with suspense, betrayal, revenge and other controversial issues.

The two leading Jung Woo-Sung and Esom revealed during promotion of film that they had consulted with their father and mother before shooting those close scenes. Esom later said that her mother was so convinced by her performance as pitiful Deokee that she cried a lot (One netizen commented on the news- "If it was me, my mother would kill me right there-LOL!") However a BTS also revealed that they were actually playful and enjoyed the shooting. Perhaps that's why good chemistry was developed under optimized direction & overall acting was that realistic even from the professor's daughter and other side characters' side. Jung as an experienced actor met up expectation from his controversial role charmingly. And Esom being a newbie actress portrayed duality of leading lady role (innocence & femme fatality) who was once betrayed by her love and then sought for sick revenge very judgmentally and that was one of the strongest part of this thriller along with some colorful cinematic visualizations and movements – she was really worth of her nominations as best new actress for that realistic and touching performance.

Don't be blinded by love, don't be obsessed in revenge- otherwise some shitty things can happen and if the total storyline is presented realistically with some beautiful cinematography, so many turns in the plot, natural acting and insane direction, I who wasn't prepared to be haunted by such thriller with erotic tone can give it a damn solid rating of 8. OK, now for God's sake, I wanna get rid of such gratuitous realism!

My Girlfriend Is a Gumiho (2010)

All the cute and lovely supernatural creatures come to Korea only !

[9/10 · 25 July 2015]

"My girlfriend is a Gumiho" is a popular South Korean romantic-comedy- mythological drama series that involved the story of a gumiho or a nine tailed fox whose desire is to live human life and an ambitious actor guy who incidentally met her. And it's a worth-watching melodrama series. Initially my sassy girl-crush Jun Ji Hyun turned down the role of heroine gumiho- that's great because it's destined to be Shin-Min-Ah's show I think. She was very cute, natural, and lovely as a gumiho, also a real fashionista- most of the times her simple dress-up suited her perfectly. The chemistry between her and the talented hero Lee Sung- Gi ( as Cha-Tae-Woong) was adorable too bringing both emotional and funny scenes. Yes, many times the drama was so funny that I laughed a lot and felt that it's one of the best drama series I had watched so far. A lot of passers-by and random characters focused by camera also added more natural flavor. The soundtracks specially the theme song were awesome and natural acting of other side characters- half human Dong-Ju ( thumbs up for No Min Woo! ) , Woong's aunt and grandfather , director and villain-like Hye-In brought fun and suspense. So although in the ending episodes it became a bit cliché and a little more story development and care for side characters would be much better, overall it's a lovely-enjoyable drama.

However, 500+ years old gumiho obviously reminded me of 400+ years old alien Do Min Joon (Kim Soo Hyun) from my previously watched outstanding series "My Love from the Star". Gumiho heroine looked too naive where alien hero looked cool and wise but undoubtedly the both were so adorable at so many times. So why all these cute and lovely supernatural creatures from fictions come to Korea only can be a topic of good thoughts! :p :)

Happy Together (1999)

"Happy Together"- A slow-paced but heart-warming Korean family drama that included star-dubbed cast

[7/10 · 7 July 2015]

"Happy Together" is an old Korean drama and significant in the sense that it was launched just before the successful spread of widely popular Hallyu (Korean cultural) wave and included a touching story with star dubbed cast (most of them got stardom later).

I've got the name of this K- drama series as nerd fan of cute sassiness of Jun Ji Hyun aka Gianna Jun (who got new star award award for this drama in 1999 and the name of this series also came to spotlight at the end of 2013 for her highly anticipated comeback to small screen after 14 years through "My Love From the Stars") . Then I found this drama after searching for a while to have a look (as I finished checking all of her IMDb enlisted released works so far, why it would be left: p ).

Although it was quite a slow drama (so I watched so many scenes at 1.5x/2x speed comfortably), some brutal fighting and bad joke were irrelevant in my opinion, entrance and departure of some additional characters were a bit indistinct- overall that drama was emotionally attaching and memorable in some points especially focusing on complex but affectionate relationship among siblings who had tragic childhood and detachment from each other for a long time.

Now Character review: Lee Byung- hun as Tae-poong was not that handsome at first glance as the mobster from "A Bittersweet Life" or even the king from "Masquerade" (:p) and a seemingly hot tempered guy ,but the whole plot actually rotated around him showing his true desire of reuniting the siblings- his comedy, craziness and his touching song "Tears" ( from that I've come to know- he's a good singer obviously!) matched with the plot well. Then Kim Ha- Neul as Su-Ha was so refreshing and adorable that it was hard to believe that she would become an awful professional con lady later ( in the movie "Too beautiful to lie" !) .Then Song –Seung also performed the hardcore but passionate character of Seo Ji-Suk quite sincerely ( just to mention- I didn't like his exposure at "Obsessed" movie at all ). Sassy Jun Ji-Hyun as the youngest sibling Yoon-Joo was also so cute and her priority in the drama at that teen-age exceeded my expectation (^_^) . Her secret devotion to his big brother and sweet sibling- relationship between them were catching, even her sickness made me worried! (that's the engaging characteristic of K-Drama that is more flourished now :) ) .And voilà, even before "My Sassy Girl" Cha Tae- Hyun ( as thug Ha Shin-yeob) had affectionate love towards " the girl" (Jun) :p. The other characters ( Moon-joo & his thug husband Pil-Do especially ,then Chan- joo, Chae- rim, child actor,Peppermint etc ) were also well done . So overall natural acting of all the actors & actresses was captivating and warming.

When family bond is strong and no misunderstanding or communication gap exist, then we can be "happy together" by co-operating each other to overcome hurdles of life. Above all, this was the motto of this drama, that's why despite being slowly developed & old- fashioned, it was sometimes quite touching and memorable. So if you adore family based melodrama, either you watch it for star dubbed cast or merely for enjoying a heart-warming Korean family drama, you won't regret –that's my personal view! :)

Dream High (2011–2012)

Dream High- An adorable and motivating drama of dreamers

[9/10 · 7 July 2015]

"Dream High" is a captivating musical drama that focused a group of young students of Kirin High School and their passionate journey through music to fulfill their dreams overcoming all the haphazard of life under the guidance of some motivating teachers. And the drama was simply moving and touching in many senses with fantastic music score. Some plot holes can be overlooked being mesmerized by the realistic plot line and natural acting.

From the third episode, I really got into the drama and it was overall so interesting and heart-warming. Tough but emotional character Go-Hye Mi (the then newbie actress Suzy Bae quietly succeeded in turning out the main character, she's an awesome singer too), her follower friend Yoon Baek Hee, fatty but cutely Kim Pil Suk (IU) (both of their transformation are quite interesting),helpful and caring guy Jin Guk (Taecyeon was so lovely and matured in that role), music prodigy country boy Song Sam Dong ( cool alien Do Min Joon of "My Love from the Star" was a way too crazy!), , handsome Jason, inspirational guide - teacher Kang and also the other supporting characters were touching at least for some moments .

At some times, the plot seems to get too melodramatic but I enjoyed the drama till the special concert whole-heartedly. It was an attractive display of modern Korean music and dance too.

"Nan kkumi issoyo. Khu kkum-eul midoyo" ( I have a dream. I believe in that dream)- then hard effort is imperative to fulfill any great dream. We can be in ease in handling difficult situations just by smiling at fears. A good teacher is like a light house. In ups and downs of life, family and friend support can turn out to be a great relief. And after taking a decision, don't regret over it, you've a chance to prove it the best!- these inner morals of this drama are easy to say, tough to implement in real life but obviously these have made the drama ultimately inspirational , moving and memorable .

Just to mention, I watched the impressive first season only and don't have any wish to watch the second season with totally different cast. :)

When Marnie Was There (2014)

Wow, the movie was heart-warming!

[9/10 · 19 June 2015]

I haven't gone through the novel , so I didn't have any idea about the plot before and didn't think that seems-to-be a flat & moderate storyline can be turned out like this way. But wow, the story focusing friendship of a nerd girl and a mysterious princess- like- young lady was really heart-warming. The overall animation and graphics were great and eye-soothing in every perspective. The music especially the theme song also suited the plot and theme perfectly. Like other pretty heart-catching and fascinating "The Tale of Princess of Kaguya (2013)" & "The Secret World of Arrietty (2010)"(two of my favorites), this animation movie also tells an emotional story, but on another background- and that left me charmed at the end.And like others, I also wish that it would really not be the last feature film of Studio Ghibli, they're just taking a break and will come back to simply wow us more like this did . :)

My Love from Another Star (2013–2014)

I fantasized and even dreamt about this show! ^_^

[10/10 · 7 October 2014]

The cutest, craziest, saddest, sweetest Korean drama I've ever seen- although there were handfuls of bitter moments they just made it more thrilling& sweeter. When I first intended to watch this TV drama of my favorite actress Jun Ji Hyun (as I watched and reviewed all her movies and enjoyed a bunch of cute ads also) and went through news of its insane popularity in China, I hardly imagined that a nerd (yet sentimental & melodrama-lover) like me would fantasize and even dream about this fantasy drama throughout the whole show. But as the alien hero professor Do Min Joon ( Kim Soo Hyun) cast his magical spell of mind- blowing coolness (that humble& caring personality really suits him much!), heroine Cheon Song Yi (Jun Ji Hyun)'s cute craziness brought about enjoyable funny moments (even excessive make-ups for lead actress role can't hide her adorable sassy identity) ,cool soundtracks pleased my ears and after all Korean director, script-writer and all the staffs showed expertness in playing with audience's emotions wonderfully as usual so at last it seemed to me- that I loved to be deceived and obsessed in tranquility of fantasy wholeheartedly was destined to happen! Do-Min Joon & Cheon Song Yi- I really loved chemistry of this couple a lot. ^_^

Hot Young Bloods (2014)

A teen-flick involving love, enmity and of course "hot blood" !

[7/10 · 24 June 2014]

"Hot young blood" is a teen-flick- an action-romance movie about enmity, rivalries, love-triangle among the young students in the early 80's in the countryside of South Korea. They seemed to be hot-tempered so often rival groups of boys and girls were engaged in fighting. The hero was a playboy and the heroine was a female gang-leader.

At some particular scenes it has portrayed landscape of village which was eye-soothing. And the soundtrack was also good. The lead actors and actresses did their best but continuous sanguinary fighting and conflict just for "my girl" and other tiny issues was not adorable to me. Severe punishment of immorality was also expected. However sometimes this movie managed to uphold teenage psychology which involves the reluctance to follow the straight path and courteous manner for having "hot young blood" .

It's got a subtle similarity with another box-office hit Korean movie "Sunny (2011)" - both the movie focused on the same period and clashes among hot-tempered teenage people yet " Sunny" was a movie involving much deeper emotion and friendship. And I believe, most of the teenagers even in today's restless society don't possess such hot blood and they are more considerate in cherishing friendship to lead a better future rather than creating such enmity among them! :) .

A Man Who Was Superman (2008)

A Great Realistic Movie

[9/10 · 16 April 2014]

Watching first half of this movie I made myself to write- Being accustomed to enjoy super power of superman, I did not like his crazy behavior in this movie. And in the getup of a documentary producer Jun (popular heroine of "My Sassy Girl", "Daisy" etc) seemed to be a bit rough also. But at the end of the movie the total concept simply wowed me. Really in this self-centered society any individual can turn out to be a superman just by exercising his humane qualities. Although their presence seems to be rare, they can help and inspire countless people effectively. And their motto is simple- "Strength doesn't open big iron doors but a small key will and we all have the key inside us to open the door to a new future." Both the main actor and actress did their best and really such a great realistic movie's worth watching.

Agnee (2014)

Action, Romance, comedy –pure entertainment!

[10/10 · 19 February 2014]

Really enjoyable movie- especially for the very first time in Bengali movie any heroine (This time Mahiya Mahi as Tanisha who has become an incognito, trained killer to take revenge on her parents's murder in childhood ,) is seen to perform in such tremendous and mind-blowing action sequences. All the audience in movie theater seemed to enjoy her lovely acting, spontaneous action, peculiar & exceptional expression and awesome dance. Then although this movie is heroine based, Arifin Shuvoo ( as Dragon/Shishir who is on mission to protect underworld dons and kill their deadly enemies) did fantastic and marvelous job as an action hero who is sometimes comic ( along with comedian Kabila) too. He showed his acting, dancing and singing talent effectively. Then all the villains, other side actors and definitely child actress Puja as little Tanisha acted very well.

Then although any twist is rarely found in plot, boredom was never felt watching about two and half hours.The soundtracks were cool to listen, cinematography was eye-soothing also. The movie is breaking box office records in Bangladesh for its widely acceptance among audience, technical brilliance, superb action and funny sequences .The director Iftakar Chowdhury and his whole team really did brilliant and praise- worthy job. So watch it to get flavor of a total package of pure entertainment!