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12.12.: The Day, originally published as Seoul-ui bom, is a South Korean historical action-drama that takes place in the late seventies and early eighties in South Korea as it follows the assassination of President Park Chung Hee, the declaration of martial law and a coup d'état unfolding on the day referenced in the title. This movie closely analyzes the rivalry between Lee Tae Shin, the courageous commander of the Capital Garrison Command, and Chun Doo Gwang, an influential security commander with a pitiless attitude. This suspenseful movie is gripping from start to finish, no matter how much you know or you don't know yet about South Korean history. It's interesting to note that very similar events are currently unfolding in South Korea in late 2024 and early 2025 and here's hope that citizens are wise enough to not repeat the terrible mistakes that occurred during Seoul Spring in 1979 and 1980 and led the country into a brutal eight-year long dictatorship rather than to democracy, freedom and modernity.

Other than the gripping story and the valuable lessons that should be learnt from it, one has to point out the excellent acting in this film. Jung Woo Sung convinces as an idealistic commander in a role he didn't choose who successively gets abandoned and betrayed by friends and partners alike. Hwang Jung Min excels as sinister leader putting friends and foes under great pressure who doesn't hesitate to go to extreme lengths to achieve his dystopian goals.

This wonderful movie also works so well thanks to the excellent job by director Kim Sung Soo who uses calm camera work, excellent lighting and atmospheric settings to recapture the dreadful events unfolding throughout one single evening and night at the heart of South Korea's capital.

The director's excellent work is complemented by a tense soundtrack, accurate props and fitting costumes. These elements make this exciting mixture of an action movie, a drama and a thriller feel like an authentic documentary.

One has to applaud South Korean filmmakers to portray the dark side of its history so directly, honestly and openly. Several other countries in the region tend to use excessive lies, pathos and propaganda to make viewers believe fabricated history in contemporary cinema. In times like these, South Korea must fight stronger than ever before to keep these ideals intact and confront those who are putting such values at excessive risk.

To keep it short, 12.12.: The Day, originally published as Seoul-ui bom, combines genres such as action, drama and thriller to create a historical film that doesn't only honestly showcase the horrors of South Korea's past but even the impending doom of its worrisome future. Let's help South Korea keep its constitutional values of democracy, freedom and peace established since the beginning of the Sixth Republic all the way back in 1987 and drive those who actively menace such values out of the country.

Alienoid: The Return to the Future, originally published as Oegye+in 2bu, is the second and hopefully final part of the duology that started with Alienoid, originally known as Oegye+in 1bu. In order to understand this film, you must be familiar with the first movie as just reading a summary about it won't be sufficient to fully understand this new film. If you watched the first part two years ago, do yourself a favour and watch it again before giving the sequel a shot. These two movies are best enjoyed together in rapid succession.

In order to give you a general idea of the content, the first film explored how alien prisoners were attempting to destroy Planet Earth. The villains were thus transported back into the past by a group of courageous heroes. The second film explores how these characters meet again in the past and travel back to the future. This new movie thus culminates with the climactic confrontation between antagonists and protagonists.

Let's start on a few positive notes. The visual special effects of this movie are on the same level as Hollywood's contemporary science-fiction epics such as Alien: Romulus and Dune. The beautiful costumes used in this film are on the same level as recent Hollywood productions such as Gladiator II and Megalopolis. The excellent sound effects also deserve to be praised. The combination of historic settings and futuristic vibes makes for an intriguing mixture. Regarding the acting performances, Kim Tae-ri deserves much praise for her dedicated, emotional and youthful performance.

However, this film suffers from multiple flaws. The story is complicated and confusing, especially if you can't remember all the details of the first film or if you haven't watched it at all. The plot is nonetheless paper thin and fails to leave a mark in the long run. The acting performances are often restrained and superficial as the characters are exchangeable and stereotypical. The film also feels much longer than it actually is as especially the middle section is challenging to sit through. Make sure to be fully awake and eager to watch this movie or else you risk to fall asleep or miss bits and pieces here and there.

While the first film of the duology showed much promise, the second part peters out unspectacularly. It would have been much better to either make one short, focused and coherent movie of two and a half hours out of this material or to take some time and develop a profound television series of about eight to twelve episodes of forty-five minutes each. The final result however is too complicated for cineasts preferring one film and too superficial for fans watching television series. This second part is boring, confusing and shallow despite a few decent scenes every now and then. Describing this movie as barely acceptable and awarding it six out of ten points is actually still quite generous. If I had the chance to watch it again, I simply wouldn't do it. The Alienoid franchise is only recommended to dedicated fans of futuristic fantasy franchises in the key of Blade Runner but anyone expecting anything daring, exciting and inspiring can truly skip this franchise without any regrets.

Hogwarts Legacy is an action role-playing game inspired by the legendary Harry Potter novel series. It was developed by Avalanche Software and published by Warner Brothers Games throughout the year 2023. This game is now available on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S.

The story is set in the late nineteenth century and follows a student in fifth year who attends Hogwarts for the very first time. The protagonist attends classes, makes friends, explores locations and solves numerous main and side challenges. The main purpose of the juvenile character is to use an ancient magic to protect the secretive wizarding world from a mysterious danger.

This video game convinces on several levels. The settings have been crafted with detail, patience and precision as they should appeal to fans of the novels and the movie series alike. The different characters have depth and are intriguing to discover. The possibility for players to create their very own protagonist is a wonderful idea. The challenges and quests throughout the video game are initially diversified, entertaining and surprising. The vast game map offers much to discover for patient players dedicated to the franchise. The graphics look stunning, the sounds are realistic and the soundtrack is entertaining as well.

However, this game isn't without several flaws. The different challenges and quests end up being somewhat repetitive after a few hours only, making players travel from one side of the map to another in order to meet a new character or to get access to a new object. Even though it's possible to travel quickly in this game, the aforementioned downside still remains dull and uninspiring. The video game's main story line is also not compelling enough to keep players interested throughout. While the exposition is truly intriguing, the rising action of this game is everything but exciting as the game quickly starts to drag along. This video game also confuses players when matching a setting about one and a half centuries ago with contemporary societal issues. One option or the other would have been interesting but combining both feels like a complete mismatch.

At the end of the day, Hogwarts Legacy is a decent action role-playing game but has overall been overrated by critics and fans alike. I would only recommend this game to dedicated fans of the Harry Potter franchise who are either familiar with all the novels or all the movies or possibly even both. Occasional or new fans won't find much to enjoy after a few hours of playing time. Even dedicated fans should purchase this game at a reduced price rather than spending a lot of money on it. Passionate fans will ultimately appreciate wonderful settings, fascinating characters and numerous challenges. One should however also be aware of the game's significant downsides such as an unimpressive story, quickly repetitive quests and a confusing mismatch of contemporary issues and past settings.