Monday, May 30, 2016

210. Bong Soon - a Cyborg in Love 사랑하면 죽는 여자 봉순이 (2016) Korean

Jo Kyu Hyun, Yoon So Hee, Ji Il Joo, Kim Yoo Mi

Drama Rating: 5/10     Neck Score: A+

I saw this web drama in passing and I said, that looks like Kyuhyun, I have to check.  It was Kyuhyun, and so I had to watch it.  Partially because I wanted to see how bad/good at acting he could be, especially since he has trouble emoting in MVs.  Also, I like Yoon So Hee, so I thought I might as well.  It was cute, I guess.  It was a completely ridiculous plot and a lot about it was not accurately explained.  It was just weird.  But Kyuhyun wasn't as bad as I thought he was going to be.  He wasn't Yunho bad.  He was the worst actor in the cast, however.  The problem was that the topics the show was about, AI and Alzheimer, were way too big to deal with in a web drama.  This made the antagonist weird in his motivations, which was like money and fame, I guess, which made no sense because curing Alzheimer would bring way more money and fame than a cyborg that can fall in love.  Although that would bring it too, but not if it was malfunctioning like it was, because falling in love breaks it eventually. So, huge gaping holes, a male lead who I loved to make fun of, even though he wasn't that bad, and other random side characters that we didn't care about.  Yeah, that basically sums it up.  But Ji Il Joo is still super cute.  I've thought so since the Healer days.

Thursday, May 26, 2016

205. History of a Salaryman 샐러리맨 초한지 (2012) Korean

Lee Beom Soo, Jung Gyu Woon, Jung Ryeo Won, Hong Soo Hyun

Drama Rating: 9/10     Neck Score: B

I loved this show.  It was so well done.  Lizabreff hates corporate dramas, but she loved this one too.  It was gripping the whole time.  Probably because it was one part sageuk, one part corporate drama, and one part witty comedy (I mean, those hilarious bits at the end of each episode were pure gold).  Also it has three very strong women who kick butt in whatever way they have chosen.  I liked and admired every single one of them, even the evil lady who made me disgusted and full of hate.  She was still super strong and kicked butt (literally) as she rose to power and eventually went crazy with power.  If I have to say anything negative about this show it's that it was extended, which led to the last two episodes being ridiculous.  I mean, they went all sensational court room, which is literally my least favorite type of drama ever.  I pisses me off when people pull ridiculous shiz in a court of law and get away with it.  Maybe I should have been a lawyer.  I also feel like there could have been lots more Yoo Bang.  I can never get enough of Lee Beom Soo and while he was technically the lead in this, this show is pretty equally about all four of our leads, which is a good thing.  I just love Lee Beom Soo.  I think that was another reason the extended ending brought less to the table.  It was more of Wiener Thinker being and idiot (which is really wasn't that much of in the first half) and less of Yoo Bang dominating, since he had to wait two more episodes to do it.  But what character development.  When characters go from bums, country boys, spoiled rich girls, etc. to cool corporate generals, you know you have something good.  I loved Yeo Chi's (Jung Ryeo Won) development the most.  She was amazing.  She was unlikable at the beginning (to the lovable point) with her clueless, cussing, ridiculousness, and then she became a wonderful, strong, cussing wonder woman.  Woo Hee (Hong Soo Hyun) was literally one of the smartest people in the entire drama, and I loved how she used every tool she had, even if it was her sexuality to make that idiot know how big of an idiot he was.  I especially loved the two couples.  We had to extremes of cuteness.  The couple who hilariously fights and eats ice cream together, and the couple who are pushing and pulling too much, but are so adorably in love with each other that we can't wait for them to finally stop being idiots and just make out.  Then Kim Sung Oh had a cameo in the last 3 episodes and when I saw him in the preview I was so excited I screamed into a pillow.  His cameo was one of the most amazing cameos ever.  Because I absolutely love him?  No, it was also hilarious.  He did so good.  So I would like to have had the ending a little more tidy in the writing, but this show was good enough to make up for that.  It was amazing.  I needed something actually good right now, and it was perfect.  Best one I've chosen to watch in a while... well, one of them at least.

Saturday, May 21, 2016

161. Oh My Ghostess 오 나의 귀신님 (2015) Korean

Park Bo Young, Jo Jung Suk, Kim Seul Gi, Lim Ju Hwan

Drama Rating: 7/10     Neck Score: A+

You really shouldn't watch a drama over the space of a whole year.  Because if you have a million days in between each set of episodes, then you are going to forget what happens and be less involved with the characters so the feels don't mean as much.  That's what we did, and it was a sad mistake.  So I was watching this with my friend who is really busy, and then I got a job where our schedules didn't align well, so we never had time to watch it.  But she was so determined to finish it with us that I couldn't refuse, so we took a million days to watch it.  Like a whole year.  This meant that by the end, I didn't remember most of what happened earlier.  This was good for Luscious Locks though (Lim Ju Hwan who did not have luscious locks in this one) because it made us way more focused on his brilliantly subtle acting in the last few episodes.  Because literally all the feels came from him in those ones.  He caught our attention from the very start because even when he was acting like a sweet nice guy he was somehow creepy at the same time.  And it was very subtle and it was wonderful.  I do remember really liking all the characters.  However it seems like it was two different dramas.  Jo Jung Suk and Park Bo Young had a cute rom-com going there with the ghost possessing and seducing, which was cute and fun.  I loved both Park Bo Young and Kim Seul Gi's portrayals of the ghost.  They were both brilliant.  Sadly I didn't like the normal girl Park Bo Young without the ghost, because she was lame and boring, but she got better, which was good.  So we have a cute rom-com with an adorable couple, and the group of idiot chef boys who were hilarious, especially when they sang "congratulations!"  Then all the sudden it's a super dark murder mystery and really, really creepy.  And there are still random hilarious dorky scenes of the idiot chef boys being weird bros.   Then there is more creepy where Lim Ju Hwan is amazing with his actions and facial expressions, and then we have an needlessly slow last episode that felt really draggy, especially since they had to have a time jump.  Lame.  But whatever.  All the actors were amazing, and I'm sure if you watch it all consecutively it will make way more sense and be lots better.  I still liked it, but I don't know if I can give a fairer review than this, because of my unique experience.

Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Drama of the Tropes: My Mii Reenactments of Kdrama Stereotypes

Recently, my friends got me addicted to Miitomo.  It's a hilarious social media type app where your Mii avatars can make friends with your real life friend's Mii avatars, ask each other questions, change clothes, play games to win more clothes, and then you can take pictures of your Mii.  Yeah, you can take pictures of your Mii doing all sorts of things.

Couples Outfits

It started with me making a Mii boyfriend, Kwang Soo, to be in my pictures with me, and then I started recreating famous drama stereotypes with my Mii.

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

B.A.P Live on Earth 2016 in Chicago: Marlubs and Lizabreff's Concert Adventures

So recently, Lizabreff and I went to a BAP concert, which was awesome.  How magical is it that they came to Chicago the same weekend we were already planning to be there... well when she was?  I was just happy they came back at all, and then to be able to see them live... dreams do come true I guess.


So we flew in the same day of the concert, which meant that we were super tired, but it was super worth it anyway.  Those boys know how to work a crowd, just saying.  Sadly, we are low on pictures because my phone was running low on batteries... travelling, you know.

Please Teach Me English 영어완전정복 (2003) Korean

Lee Na Young, Jang Hyuk, Angela Kelly, Na Moon Hee

Movie rating: 7/10     Neck score: A

This movie was a lot more funny than I thought it would be.  I was expecting something super campy, and it kind of was, but as peeps with experience in teaching English, or as anyone who has taken any foreign language classes, it was much more hilarious.  Lee Na Young was amazing.  I loved her little cartoon character, inner thoughts, and especially their dreams.  Those language learner dreams were amazing.  Jang Hyuk was great as the "playboy" who was really just an awkward big talker.  Their relationship was funny, and like most movies developed quickly but a bit naturally.  Naturally there was plenty of misunderstandings.  I was worried about that English teacher at first.  She seemed like a bad teacher and a bit slutty at first.  But she became hilarious and a lovable character, especially when we learned more about her and her "type."  It is definitely 2003, but not in a bad way.  It's cute and hilarious.  I especially loved Lee Beom Soo's cameo.  We were watching for it and it was delightful.  The important thing to remember is that it is a bit campy and they are certainly not trying to take themselves serious.  It's supposed to be funny and ridiculous, and it is.  It is also sweet and relatable, especially for those language teachers and learners.

Sunday, May 8, 2016

201. Ms. Temper and Nam Jung Gi 욱씨남정기 (2016) Korean

Lee Yo Won, Yoon Sang Hyun, Chansung, Lim Ha Ryong, Son Jong Hak

Drama Rating: 8/10     Neck Score: A

I found my woman crush character.  I absolutely love Ok Da Jung (Lee Yo Won).  She was hard and snarky on the outside and gooey on the inside.  This show was basically the ultimate underdog show.  Even Da Jung represented an underdog, as a woman in business.  She was not content with that, and so became a powerful confident woman, but that didn't stop those rumors from being around her constantly.  But this show was about the underdogs not standing from the crap that is thrown at them because that is the way that it always is, but too fight for fairness and for themselves.  But in doing so, breaking from the cultural norm of the cosmetics industry, they would have to swim through a sea of crap.  I got seriously angry several times, and some episodes made me so angry and depressed I wanted to cry.  But there were also times that were outright awkward and others outright hilarious.  I hardly could remember that Jung Gi was Oska (Yoon Sang Hyun), because he was so completely different.  Loved Chansung. Bong Gi was the lazy, but bold and brilliant bum to Jung Gi's hard working and brilliant, but super timid office worker.  I loved Nam boys.  From Grandpa to Grandson they were all super cute and funny.  I absolutely loved the relationship between the kid and Da Jung.  It was adorable and hilarious.  It was like the real love story of the show, since our main couple's was so slow, which was perfect for this show.  I loved how naturally the love story progressed.  It would have been weird to see it any other way.  It was perfect.  Especially since all the "second male leads" of the main love triangle were her three ex-husbands.  We also had the awkward young love triangle which was awkward yet amazing.  It also took on some hard topics like sexual harassment like a champ.  The ensemble was good.  I just liked this show, even when it made me mad and so on.

Thursday, May 5, 2016

Splash Splash Love 퐁당퐁당 LOVE (2015) Korean

Yoon Doo Joon, Kim Seul Gi, Jin Ki Joo, Ahn Hyo Seop, Kim Kap Soo

Movie rating: 7/10     Neck score: A

I can't believe I forgot to write the review for this earlier.  I loved this show/movie/drama special!  But since it's only 2 episodes, I naturally just forgot about it, haha.  One of the best and cutest time travel type deals ever.  Also gender bender things.  Because it is so short they didn't have time to mess around with the typical stereotypes, such as when he discovers that she's a girl, etc.  They all just assumed that she was a guy because she was wearing her hair in a topknot... or bun or whatever.  It's just cute and funny, and both Doo Joon and Seul Gi do a super good job with it.  It has the right type of humor for the time travelling and gender bending.  I was satisfied with the ending too.  So if you need something short and good, I definitely recommend this one.  It's super cute and fun.

Puck! 퍽! (2016) Korean

Lee Kwang Soo, Jung Hae Kyun, Son Soo Hyun, Kwak Dong Yeon, Jo Yoon Woo

Movie rating: 8/10     Neck score: A++

I can't even handle how much I loved Lee Kwang Soo in this.  I hate sports movies, but I love Kwang Soo, so I watched it.  He is so amazing.  We have all seen him do mostly comedy, which he is brilliant at, so it's always so great to see him pull of serious so amazingly well.  This was basically, in a nutshell: a loan shark lives for a season (like, the hockey season).  Loan shark thug Kwang Soo beats up peeps.  Almost kills someone.  Has to be less violent when getting money back for his boss.  Ends up joining a hockey team so they can win, so he can get the money.  Evil dude tries to get rid of team.  He finds team spirits, etc.  It was basically the plot of every sports movie, but it was also about how sucky life is.  He became a loan shark thug because his wife put him in debt.  He kind of turned off his emotions, etc., to survive.  The other team players also have their own problems.  The end, like most Korean movies, is really open ended and non-conclusive about that part of the stuff.  The life sucks stuff.  But it also still has the miraculous sports movie ending, so it really made me like it better than most.  Plus, Kwang Soo is amazing.  There was one scene in particular that his neck was so sexy (in that red letterman jacket) that I couldn't handle it (fans self).  Whew!  So, it was way better than most sports movies.  It made me cry, but that might just have been because Kwang Soo.  But, yes, it was good.

204. Click Your Heart 클릭유어하트 (2016) Korean

Kwon Min Ah, Baek Joo Ho, Kang Chan Hee, Kim Ro Woon, Lee Da Won, Kim Hwi Young

Drama Rating: 6/10     Neck Score: A+

So this was kind of fun, especially as a concept, as it was a choose your own adventure type deal.  But naturally we had to watch all of them.  Especially since there was only 7 episodes and they were only like 15 min long.  I guess this is a pretty good way to publicize a new group.  All for boys were from the rookie group Neoz (which has way more boys, so this is just four of them).  Each boy represents one male lead stereotype.  Jerk popular boy, best friend nice guy, cutie angel boy, and chic bad boy.  The first episode introduced all of them, and from there you got to pick who was pitted against each other and then who would win.  So there is story A. Jock vs bestie, and B. Cutie vs. Bad boy.  We followed our hearts the first time and ended up with the bad boy.  His story was the most compelling.  Our next favorite was the best friend.  Then as a story we liked the jock better than the cutie boy... but as characters we liked the cutie boy way better, because the jock was a jerk.  Typical jerk male lead.  Boo.  Personally, I couldn't handle that cutie kid, because he was way too young for me, but as a cute dongsaeng, he was adorable.  I also loved how Min Ah actually had a character and it made sense for her to be with any of them, some more than others (like in the order of how we liked the stories).  She had that bad luck thing, but she also had attitude and a bit of sass for the most part.  Anyway, I thought it was fun and cute.  Definitely good for some fluff and stuff.