User reviews

Some Kind of Wonderful (1987) is untouchable. Back in 1987 I first saw it with a guy and both of us loved it tremendously, but hated the fact that we had seen it with each other. On that same fateful day we cooked up a plan to double-date and watch the movie again. Of course we didn't tell our respective partner that we had seen it. What transpired during dinner after the movie is the stuff of stories. The girls looked at us completely awed with the priceless stuff that spewed out of our mouths. This is what happens when you see movies with cine-heads like us after mulling over a movie for some time - movies are not just movies; they are events. Some Kind of Wonderful has always been one of my "test" films for girls. I choose the girl for life based on her appreciation of it and to ace the test means how euphoric she becomes and how many joyful tears were shed. The girl who passed with flying colours eventually became my other half. You are now probably thinking whether you are reading the right review. The thing is Some Kind of Wonderful is not quite untouchable anymore. Our Times borrows the same formula and puts a new spin on it. It is right now the number hit in Taiwan this year and it is easy to see why.

The movie takes us on a 20-year journey through the life of the main character, Truly Lin (Vivian Sung). Seen mostly as a flashback to how her life wound up where it is, we follow Truly back to her senior high school year and watch as she teams up with TaiYu (Darren Wang) to break apart growing love between rivals Ouyang (Dino Lee) and Minmin (Dewi Chien). Through the course of the next year we watch all 4 teens mature, and in the end, nothing is as originally desired.

Our Times is ridden with age-old clichés and formulaic to a fault, but it still manages to stay fresh with a winsome cast and spot-on emotional beats. The movie wears its big heart on its sleeve and for anyone who was a student in the 80s the movie will envelope you in a bubble of nostalgia. If you ask me, nothing beats the 80s on so many levels. Like my "test" movie and You Are the Apple of My Eye (2011), Our Times is not about whether the girl/guy will get the guy/girl in the end. It is about whether the girl/guy deserves the guy/girl. Not many movie narratives dare to ask the question and this one plays the game so well that it will harken you back to the best of times - the time when saying "I like you" to the one you like is the hardest thing to do in the world because if you don't get a "I like you too" back it practically feels like the end of the world. Those are the times when the ills and pulls of society and familial responsibility have not put its deadly spell on you yet, and there is a wind beneath your feet and wings on your back. A sense of invincibility and fragility permeates your entire being. The movie captures all that for me and puts me in a warm place.

Our Times may feel like kids' stuff with a whole lot of slapstick, monster-teacher clichés and teenage stereotypes, but its pluses out-weigh the minuses. It is a simple story of first love, poison chain letters and teenage idols (mine was Seiko Matsuda and I carried a photo of her in my wallet ) that is well-cast, well-acted, well-written and thoughtfully made. Watching this is like witnessing little stars slowly going supernova. The chemistry between the leads burns like a bonfire and any movie that can somehow make me swim in the best years of my teenage life scores big-time. The last act has two major cameos that took me out of the story a little, but by then I was so vested in the characters that it doesn't matter anyway. Our Times crosses the finishing line with finesse and sent us going off into the rest of our lives with a bounce in our step. I hope it will be the same for you.

Being a sucker for the Asian cinema, I needed no persuasion to sit down and watch "Our Times" when I was given the chance to do so. And prior to sitting down to watch it, I didn't even know what the movie was about. Nor did I actually know of its existence.

"Our Times" actually turned out to be quite a good movie, as it had a beautiful storyline, a good and detailed character gallery, a fair amount of comedy, and it had a good ensemble of cast.

What worked out well for the storyline was the way that writer Yung-Ting Tseng had manage to weave a story that spans over many years, revolving around the essential core characters of the storyline without losing the red line throughout the story as time passes by. But more so, also the adept approach of director Yu Shan Chen in bringing the script to life on the screen.

This is the kind of movie that will appeal to a broad variety of people in the audience, because there is a lot of different layers to the movie and lots of different topics.

The actors and actresses cast for the various roles and characters were doing really good jobs at bringing their respective characters to life on the screen. And it was a pure joy to watch their individual and collective performances in the movie.

"Our Times" was definitely a very enjoyable movie, one that is driven by a powerful and beautiful storyline, as well as a fantastic character gallery. This is the type of movie that you will easily be able to view more than just a single time around. I was thoroughly entertained by "Our Times" and can warmly recommend that you take the time to sit down and watch it, regardless of it you like Chinese cinema or not.

Having watched many school slice of life movies, I've got to say that this one follows the same logic as the others. It did remind me of Reply 1997 as well. Also, I loved the sweet innocent romance, as the love story, even though it was full of cliche, it was enjoyable and warm. The performances helped with it as well. The pace was nice, not too fast but not to slow to be tiring and boring. However, the ending was a bit of a disappointment for me. As I've said, after watching many school themed movies, I should have expected this to happen. Few of them had a satisfying ending with a closure or at least a conclusion to the romance. Even though the ending was better than others, and gave some nice touch to the story, it still didn't feel right. Other than that, it was an enjoyable movie.

This is the very closest movie to my favourite Thai teen rom-com 'A Little Thing Called Love'. In fact a few scenes are almost resembling, including the main characters and love quadrilateral. So there's no wrong if I call it the Taiwan version of that movie. I thought I am going through again in another language, but I was not uninterested to sit for it because it was a beautiful story that I can re-watch numerous times without losing any interest.

Remember its not the same movie, but only a similar themed flick, or maybe a highly inspired by that. This film had its own share of story and character developments. The third act was obviously a bit stretched, but twist came at early in that section and turned this tale into entirely different from what we thought going to happen. Except the second conclusion (I mean the real time ending, not the flashback's) which was so old fashioned.

I found some similarities with my life and that Thai movie I mentioned, because that was based on the true story of everyone's first love and so this one. So finding a slice of your life in it is very much possible. The story of an ordinary girl, but it opens with a young woman recalls her school days after discovering her successful life was seen differently by others from her back. That takes us to the early 90s, like every girl in the school how her crush on a most handsome boy on the campus changes the course of her romance life after receiving a prank letter that states she must forward it to others.

"When we say it's okay, it means it's not okay. If we say I am fat, that means we hope you can tell us you're not fat at all."

Obviously it is a girl movie from a teenage girl's perspective narration. But as a movie fanatic, I never had any issues with such kind of movies or any others and to like them openly. Basically, I watch any movies because I want to be an all-rounder, not to stick to my age or what I'm. This movie simply reminds my school days and would do same to you as well. The school culture is different from European and North American to the rest of the world, especially in Asia. But if you're from South, Southeast or East Asian, you will get familiar feeling with this film and that will helps you to like the movie a lot.

In a few parts it lost its reality touch to, you know things that happen only in movies, especially as I said the ending and scenes that tried hard to bring laughs. You love this only for the flashback narration. The first and the last 5 minutes were ordinary. Everyone's performance was phenomenal, totally engaging storytelling. In this particular movie it was not about how much predictable, even if you feel deja-vu, but how it pleases you with those quirky atmosphere. A youthful Taiwanese film I liked very much since 'You Are the Apple of My Eye'. It does not look like it was made by an incoming director.

There were plenty of fun, but on the emotional side, it was slightly weak. But overall it was one of the best coming-of-age movie of all time and recently I have seen. It's already gained a cult status from youngsters that you can find fan made arts across the web. Don't give up on this if you are an adult or adult male, entertainment should be the preference and what comes beyond that is not your choice, but the natural response from your inside. Despite the length of the movie, it had an energetic pace with fine music and heartwarming scenes. In general, I recommend it to all, especially if you like teen romance.

9/10

This is a movie which tells it's story in a flashback. An IT worker gets fed up with her job and her current situations and she recalls the beautiful memories of her highschool where she was a nutcase untill she met someone... and how that someone changed her life . And will they meet again... See for yourselves.

Truly Lin is a hard-working optimist trapped in a busy job and she really misses her old school life. It tells the flashback story of Truly Lin's high school life and She has a crush on Ouyang Fei Fan, the school's most popular male student. She teams up with Taiyu, school's notorious gangster boy to help each other win their dream dates. For a directorial debut, this film did very well. A well scripted and the image of Taiwan in the 1990s was fascinating. Pop songs, hairstyles, letters and teenage obsession with star Lau all made a strong impression of the story. It was a pleasure to watch it and it has all ingredients for a teenage love story. Overall, I really enjoyed it and it's worth a shot.

One of the best high school romance drama I have seen. Darren wang is soo good . Came here after watching the wolf . Even other cast and crew is perfect.

This movie makes me back to school this feeling of the flim is incredible one of my favorites Taiwan flim.

This is is a must-have-to-seen movie. At some points i laught and at some points i cried. Lots of emotions. My favorite Movie.

This is not a film it's everyone's story. Screenplay was good and beautiful Scenes made Screenplay more intersting and non boring. Cool Cinematography and Good Background music. The most unforgettable days of everyone's life were our school and college days importantly the one who we loved, this film will definitely recollect those days. This film will gives us a beautiful emotions or felling after watching also with some drops of tears. A must watch movie.

Just before the beginning of this review.I'd like to let you know that this is my personal thinking. For my opinion, this movie dis not "too bad".But just try it out if you have a lots of time and money.The reason why i hate this movie is because of the "too common story". i wonder who wrote this kind of scenario.If i figured it out i would like to give an advice to the scenarist that it's good to have twists inside the movie but you have to consider genre and basic settings before you try to add dramatic part in your writing.A stroke of good luck in, actors are this movie's saving point. I had to admit that every single one of them are attractive even though i hate this movie.So when you watch this movie you will soon realize that Frankie Chen is qualified to be a director because of her casting skill. Literally actors are the only part that lets you stay and watch all the non-empathized plot and heavily dramatic settings. Even though i hate this movie but i'd like to recommend this movie to others. But remember main characters are the only reason of this recommendation. Try it if you have a lot of time and would like to experience dramatic(but have no connection between the story)and the story that to be seen in anywhere or any third-rate movie