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Contrast (Japanese Series)

By Golu
This is basically a high school BL where two guys who have nothing going on in common somehow end up getting really close to each other, and that's kind of the whole point of the title too. There's barely any drama or fluff packed in here, it stays pretty straightforward the whole way through. A little bit of friction pops up here and there, but it's nothing compared to what you'd normally get in this kind of show. Runtime wise you're looking at 8 episodes, each one sitting around 25-30 minutes. The two guys carrying the story are Akira and Kanata, and funny enough they knew each other's faces way before they ever knew each other's names. Kanata's the type everyone likes, always got people around him, popular guy, but there's this distance to him that people can't quite place. Turns out he had an injury that ended his football days, and that's what pushed him into being more withdrawn, and it only got worse once his younger brother got picked...
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Discreet

By Golu
This was a very weird film and even after watching the whole thing, I am not sure what was the film was trying to say. Reading more online about the film, apparently it's a story of a drifter who was sexually abused as a child and the trauma it causes. To be honest, if you do not have this context, there is absolutely no way for anyone at all to understand what's going on this film.

Alex just drives around aimlessly in his van occasionally photographing and renting motel rooms for Craigslist encounters that seem to double as opportunities for petty theft. In between all this, there is a series of web videos of a girl whispering to her audience and offers “vibrational peace”. Alex follows her and using his own camera is trying o make videos to impress this girl. Eventually Alex tracks down an older man, who possibly abused Alex. He brings a teenage boy over for dinner, and seems to hope he’ll catch John trying to do something to him; but much is left unsaid on this topic, even after things culminate in implied violence.

This film was really really bizarre. It felt like more of a sequence of events just thrown in together. We have a hookup scene where Alex recruits three strangers, blindfolds each and has them strip, then watches the men caress each other as he quietly goes through their wallets. And there are a few others, which I really don't know the reason they were there for. I understand that this independent film might be trying to say something deep, but what the use when what we see unfold on the screen in front of us, is so bad and random. In the name of indie cinema, sometimes we are served executions that just absolutely make no sense. I can read all about it in blogs on what the film was trying to say, but its no point. The film is artsy with weird camera angles. I couldn't even comment on the acting because I was so distracted by the randomness of the film, that all I could do wads roll my eyes on how disappointing everything is. I am just not sure how these films get selected for some international renowned film festivals. (0.5/10)
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