Korean Movie Night: Along With the Gods: The Two Worlds 신과함께-죄와 벌 (2017) Korean

Ha Jung Woo, Cha Tae Hyun, Ju Ji Hoon, Kim Hyang Gi, Kim Dong Wook, Lee Jung Jae

Movie rating: 8/10     Neck score: A

Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds is the first installment in a series of movies that all have to do with a team of reapers helping souls through their judgement in the different hells in their first 49 days of being dead. The reapers have a further stake in this because if they help enough paragons they will earn a chance to also pass judgement and be reincarnated as well. The Two Worlds follows the path of Kim Ja Hong (Cha Tae Hyun) who was a fire fighter and predicted to be a paragon. I really liked how it brought up how complicated a human's life is, even when they seem to be a paragon of virtue, constantly saving lives and acting selflessly. I also really loved how they portrayed the different trials and hells, especially since each god of hell was a fabulous cameo with an equally fabulous costume. It was fun to recognize each god and get excited to see who was next. They were all awesome. Also, the prosecutors were hilarious. The dynamic between the three reapers was super fun too. The mysterious and cool reaper, Gang Rim (Ha Jung Woo), who actually remembers his past (I'm sure we're going to learn even more in the next movie) is like the dad (or hyung/oppa) of the group. Hae Won Maek (Ju Ji Hoon) is the punk uncle/younger brother, who likes to argue and complain, but they all will protect the donsaeng Duk Choon (Kim Hyang Gi) at all costs. It was a funny action packed trip, as they tried to unravel the knots of what was happening and what had happened, so they could defend their paragon to his reincarnation. It had great effects, action, and of course made us cry with all the feels. All the FEELS! Why are they also making me laugh while I'm crying, dang it! It was good.

I am really excited for when we watch the next installment, The Last 49 Days. I also expect I won't want to wait for the expected 3rd installment, which is supposed to happen next year. Let's hope it still does.

425. Oh My Baby 오 마이 베이비 (2020) Korean

Jang Na Ra, Go Joon, Park Byung Eun, Jung Gun Joo

Drama Rating: 8/10     Neck Score: A

I knew I had to watch this show when it was first announced because 1. Jang Na Ra, 2. Go Joon (I loved him so much in The Fiery Priest!), and 3. Park Byung Eun (he's seriously rocked everything I've seen him in). I think I've watched almost all of Jang Na Ra's dramas. She's one of my favorites. She's sooooo good and so pretty! But I put off watching this one right away because I knew it was going to hit me in the feels just like that episode of New Girl where Cici finds out her eggs are drying up. I guess sometimes I do worry that kind of stuff as I continue my single, career woman life. Plus kids are super important to me even if I don't have any myself, so I get it. It was just what I predicted. Super cute, funny, and made me cry almost every episode. Maybe I didn't predict just how much it would make me cry. Everyone was perfect too, the acting was so spot on.

423. The Love Equations 致我们甜甜的小美满 (2020) Chinese

Simon Gong, Liu Ren Yu, Li Ge Yang, Julio Wan Yan, An Yong Chang, Gao Qiu Zi

Drama Rating: 7/10     Neck Score: A

This completes all of the current dramas based on books by Zhao Qian Qian, the previous two being A Love So Beautiful and Put Your Head on My Shoulder. While I loved them all, I think this one ranks slightly below Put Your Head on My Shoulder, with A Love So Beautiful as third. Not that my ranking them was that important, I just felt like it. All of them have the same basic premise, with a smart stoic boy who falls for a spunky girl. But why knock a proven fun plot, I'm super into that trope. The reason this one only hits second place is that I really dislike misunderstanding breakups and while this one wasn't the worst I've seen, the year gap soured me just enough. It might also have to do with me watching PYHOMS first... maybe. See those reviews for more details though. But ultimately it was super cute, the couple had lots of chemistry, and I was very invested in everyone's happiness and binged watched the whole thing very fast.

422. Mystic Popup Bar 쌍갑포차 (2020) Korean

Hwang Jung Eum, Yook Sung Jae, Choi Won Young

Drama Rating: 9/10     Neck Score: A+

Oh my heart, this show was so good! The feels! Not just for the main plot and characters, but feels for all the people whose grudges they settled. It was just so sweet and funny! It's about a kid who has the power to open people's hearts. This means that when anyone touches him, they start spilling the beans, all their inner emotions, and he has to deal with their emotional dump on him. But that also means that anyone he tries to date will do the same, so all he wants is to be loved, or a family. Because he was abandoned by his parents, real and adopted, for the same reason. Then he meets the two owners of a pop-up tent bar, who specialize in settling grudges. Wol Ju's punishment for her past sins is to settle the grudges of like 10,000 (or was it 100,000?) people before her 500 years of punishment are up. She does this through dreams with the help of some water from the afterlife that helps her bridge the gap between the two worlds. She is assisted by Manager Gwi, who is supposed to be supervising her, but is more like helping her while getting bossed around. Kang Bae is enlisted to help them, since he can get people to open up so easily, because time is running short.

420. Good Casting 굿캐스팅 (2020) Korean

Choi Gang Hee, Yoo In Young, Kim Ji Young, Lee Sang Yeob, Lee Jun Young, Lee Jong Hyuk

Drama Rating: 7/10     Neck Score: A+

Good Casting was a good combination of awesome spy action, comedy, and romance. It is the girl power spy show that isn't afraid to just be silly. The best part is that while all the women are off being bad-A spies and getting things done, the dudes all think they are in some kind of romantic comedy. But even though the ladies are pretty awesome, they are also pretty flawed, which I know made some people struggle at the beginning. This isn't a show about perfect, top notch spies. It's about a bunch of misfit spies who were thrown together to not get the job done, but they get it done anyway, even with all the slapstick.

Baek Chan Mi (Choi Gang Hee) is a loose cannon who lets her temper get the best of her, making huge mistakes. She lost the target and endangered a team member last time, so is determined to not to lose him this time. Hwang Mi Soon (Kim Ji Young) is basically retired and living the life of an ahjumma. She is rusty at best, but is still crazy good at undercover, in spite of her being past her prime. Im Ye Eun (Yoo In Young) is a white agent (think completely green). She's been working for the NIS for a while, but has kept out of the field and worked support and tech. This is her first field assignment. She is also a single mom. They are all put on a team to catch Michael, an elusive international technology thief/dealer. Michael managed to escape and kill Chan Mi's teammate last time, and this team is the last resort.

412. Hospital Playlist 슬기로운 의사생활 (2020) Korean

Jo Jung Seok, Yoo Yeon Seok, Jung Kyoung Ho, Kim Dae Myung, Jeon Mi Do

Drama Rating: 9/10     Neck Score: A+

I don't love doctor dramas, but I loved this one. Because it was about the people and relationships way more than dramatic operations (although there are plenty of operations). But it's more about the day to day hospital life than the crazy dramatic stuff. But most of all it's about the people who work in the hospital, and not just the main ones, the whole ensemble.

I love good ensemble dramas where we have multiple main characters to care about and not just the OTP. Hospital Playlist was great in that respect, and I am super excited for next season. Even just watching the group of five friends hanging out, eating, and band practice without their dynamic with their other coworkers would be amazing. I could even watch a drama just focused on the moms and uncles. In fact, my main ship is Rosa and Jong Su's friendship. There was enough balance through the longer episodes for all the different story lines for all the characters. I also love that there was passage of time without there being huge gaps. It just flowed well.