269. Golden Cross 골든 크로스 (2014) Korean

Kim Kang Woo Lee Si Young, Uhm Ki Joon, Han Eun Jung, Jung Bo Suk

Drama Rating: 3/10     Neck Score: A+++

Let's take a guy with a normal family who has struggled a bit because they are as good as they are normal, even though they fight and stuff and don't get why they have to suffer when they are good, and then let's ruin their lives completely just to give us the premise of this show: a secret chaebol organization that steps all over normal people for their greedy, economic controlling power.  There, we have the set up for a perfectly normal revenge drama.  Prosecutor in training, who also happens to be a former Taekwondo star, whose family struggles because of his super upright, honest banker dad, losing everything when his said upright, honest dad is framed for murdering his little sister.  It's obviously set up so this prosecutor will go on a holy rampage and take this secret organization down with his smart brain and snazzy taekwondo skills.  His crush is both the villain's daughter and the prosecutor of his father's case, that's going to lead to a bit of drama, exciting!  Typical revenge melodrama, right?  Well, let's take this typically set up plot and logical progression and do the opposite of everything logical.  That equals this show.  I was so disappointed.

Korean Movie Night: No Tears for the Dead 우는 남자 (2014) Korean

Jang Dong Gun, Kim Min Hee, Brian Tee, Kim Hee Won, Kim Jun Seong 

Movie rating: 7/10     Neck score: A

I don't know why I keep forgetting that I watch these movies, or at least forgetting to review them.  It must be because it's a one time commitment of like 2ish hours, versus like 16+ hours and weeks of dedication.  But anyway, I do like watching movies too, and so I'll have to just keep remembering all the movies I've watched so I can review them, so you all can decide whether or not to watch them... or just enjoy reading my thoughts if you've already watched them.

So, No Tears for the Dead.  A very bloody action film.  My little brother showed it to my older sister and I, so it was like a different kind of movie night.  It has lots of swears.  It has lots of violence.  It's pretty darn cool.  It also has Byun Yo Han in it for like two seconds.  Just long enough for me to shout his name and get excited before it was over.  Oh.  It's ok, we've got Jang Dong Gun being bad-a.  We're good.

It's about an assassin who starts to question whether he wants to remain as an assassin when his last job goes a little south.  He is ordered to clean up his mess and bump off the wife of the man he just killed as well.  There is a lot of him pretending to follow orders, then not following orders, and former buddies being mad that he's not following orders because now they have to kill him.  So he's got to protect himself while he protects this woman, and all that jazz.  It's pretty compelling.

The bad guys are total d-bags.  I don't want to be violent, but they made me want to be violent because they were mean and gross.  Kind of like how we hated the Ahjussi baddies.  Like their deaths are super justified.  So it has kind of a Die Hard meets Bourne Identity meets Ahjussi vibe to it, and I liked that.  There were lots of conflicting emotions, especially since it was about the conflicting emotions of this poor hardened killer, this assassin who is super good at his job, but just a helpless little boy at heart.  Much tears.  So besides it being super violent and full of subtitle swears and not subtitle swears (in English too, since the bad guys were like Korean American- you've been warned) it was a tear jerker, really.  Very interesting and super cool.  The action was very cool.

234. Discovery of Romance 연애의 발견 (2014) Korean

Jung Yu Mi, Eric Mun, Sung Joon, Yoon Jin Yi, Yoon Hyun Min, Kim Seul Gi

Drama Rating: 6/10     Neck Score: B

I guess you can't technically say it belongs to the same franchise as "I Need Romance" since it isn't the same network, but it is the same writer, so it definitely has the same flavor.  But it was also different enough to be not completely associated with it.  Lizabreff still likes to say that it is the best of the "I Need Romances" but I might rank it on the same level as I Need Romance 3.  I do like how it has the interview style, where all of the characters are interviewed to show their inner thoughts.  I thought this was cleverly done, as it allowed for the differences in opinions and memories, because half of this show was about the past and what happened during the five years that the main couple dated and how they fell apart and why.  It shows how people have different perceptions of what happened, remember things differently, and nothing is 100% someone's fault.  I liked how the story built from the memories, to make us see that neither one of them was innocent and they both did plenty of stupid things while they were younger and more immature.  It also showed how their relationship had affected each of them in positive and negative ways.  She had become more confident in herself, but had also become manipulative.  He had become more stubborn, but also more aware.  This also left room for plenty of development for their characters which was also nice.  However, in true "Romance" form, the show was dragged out so that the couple would not get together until the last episode, because these shows are about messy, messy relationships where all the ugly comes out before we finally see them get to where they are supposed to be, in the last episode.  This meant frustration as the main love triangle dragged out for forever, even though we knew that Dr. Derpface and her romance was kind of toxic, as she manipulated him and he let her.  We also just really wanted him to be with the other girl.  Thank goodness we had the other couple, Fish Bangs and Seul Gi to make everything better.  They were probably the cutest ever.  I love both of them, so that could only be good things, and it was.  They were hilarious and adorable.  So yeah, good show, if you want a messy, frustrating, but growing and developing love triangle.

228. I Need Romance 3 로맨스가 필요해 3 (2014) Korean

Kim So Yeon, Sung Joon, Namgoong Min, Wang Ji Won, Park Hyo Joo, Yoon Seung Ah, Park Yu Hwan

Drama Rating: 6/10     Neck Score: A

This was by far the best of the I Need Romance franchise.  The characters were better developed, they were well acted, and the plot didn't suck.  It also had somewhat natural character arches.  The most far-fetched thing in the show was how perfect Derp Face's character was.  Sweet Potato Derp Face was so perfect and good that he basically couldn't exist.  Plus cute derp faces.  A man so patient and loving isn't realistic at all, but makes for good watching.  So many cuddles and warmness.  My favorite character was Se Ryung, the bitca.  Wang Ji Won did an amazing job with her.  I like how much depth her character had, she was a bitca, but she had her reasons too, and they weren't just because she was a bitca.  She had been hurt, she had her dreams and ambitions, and she was only interested in one man the entire time.  Even when she could have conceivably switched to another dude when the lead was interested in him, she stuck to the one man she wanted to get back.  I like how the plot was about Joo Yeon learning how to feel again.  She had become a robot and she had to be sweet potatoed into getting back in touch with herself.  The side couples were a bit annoying.  I liked the fling turned into pregnancy one ok, that couple was ok cute, but the young office romance was a little peachy.  The girl's voice just always sounded a bit whiny.  They also pulled every stereotype in the end, hitting all the issues, the modern woman stereotypes: take a year to travel to find myself (wait for me!), you don't have to make her quit because she's a pregnant single mom, we can be neighbor parents and raise the babies, etc.  It was a bit cheesy but you still got to appreciate and support it.  Also, it was remarkably (comparatively) low on the sexy time scenes the whole time, because the dynamic was different and the main couple didn't get together until the end, but that meant that the last couple of episodes were like constant bedroom scenes, to make up for the rest of the show.  I think everyone but the lead peeps had bedroom scenes until the last few episodes.  But it was a cute and satisfying show.

Ode To My Father 국제시장 (2014) Korean

Hwang Jung Min, Yunjin Kim, Oh Dal Su, Jung Jin Young, Jang Young Nam

Movie rating: 9/10     Neck score: B

Oh. mo.  This movie had me in tears.  It also had me laughing really hard.  It was just all the emotions and feels, so much joy and pain.  It was a very emotional story about a family that was torn apart in the Korean War.  During the Hungnam Evacuation, Deok Soo was in charge of helping his little sister.  While climbing into the boat, his sister gets lost and the father goes back for her.  The boat leaves, leaving the father and sister missing.  Deok Soo then has to be the head of the family, at like 7 years old.  Commence the first round of tears.  Then the movie follows the rest of his life as he takes care of his family and searches for his father and sister, making sacrifice after sacrifice.  It's also full of  beautiful and wonderful moments of life, as he meets his best friend, as they grow up, as he falls in love.  There are plenty of moments that had us laughing so hard.  My personal favorite was the fangirl moment when Yunho suddenly popped up on screen and Lizabreff and I were whispering to each other (since it was a movie theater type experience): "omo, that's Yunho!" and getting all giggly.  We also did little heart hand dances when Ra Mi Ran or Kim Seul Gi were on the screen, because we heart them.  Everyone did such a fantastic job.  Even the people who got the old people make up did a pretty convincing job of acting old and stuff.  It just hit you right in the feels the whole time, whether those feels were happy, sweet, sad, or you know heart wrenching.  Basically we loved it.

220. Bad Guys 나쁜 녀석들 (2014) Korean

Kim Sang Joong, Park Hae Jin, Ma Dong Seok, Jo Dong Hyuk, Kang Ye Won

Drama Rating: 8/10     Neck Score: A

I finally got to watch this, I'm a little upset it took me 2 years, because it was amazing.  It was my jam.  I mean, bad guys who are really kind of good guys (I have such a thing for bad guys), fighting crime, and bromance.  So much freaking bromance!  I absolutely loved all of them.  Teddy Bear (Ma Dong Seok) who was just my fave.  Psycho (I was already totally in love with Park Hae Jin) was just perfect.  Sexy (Jo Dong Hyuk) has the best neck, and he was so cool too.  Mad Dog (Kim Sang Joong) and his amazing way of saying "saekki."  I loved how well rounded and complex all the characters were.  They all had their reasons, and problems, and you could see their growth from being animals to becoming human again.  There were some plot holes.  Mostly because it was so short and the main plot had to get rushed a bit at the end.  I would have been fine with it being 16+ episodes.  I loved it.  I mostly hated how annoying they made the girl at times.  She was cool too, until they made her do stupid things without enough reason just to move the plot along.  That was too rushed.  But the fighting.  Whoooo.  Sexy.  It made so much sense.  It was nice and classy.  Brutal and street fighty.  Oh yeah.  Season 2, please.

167. Misaeng- Incomplete Life 미생 - 아직 살아 있지 못한 자 (2014) Korean

Im Siwan, Lee Sung Min, Kang So Ra, Kang Ha Neul, Byun Yo Han

Drama Rating: 9/10     Neck Score: A

Painful, hilarious, relatable, and amazing.  It's just about office workers, but it had me on the edge of my seat at times.  That PPT test, boy was that intense.  Whew.  It was painful because it was so relatable.  I kept cry saying "I know how you feel [Geu Rae, Pyeontae, Baek Gi, Yeong Yi]!"  It was just office work, but it was life or death to us watching it.  No one was completely evil, not even the bitca of an executive director... well, Department Head Ma might have been the worst... that sexist pig.  But I did like how it followed the stories of all four interns, and they each had their own relatable strugs.  It made it hard to watch, and also addicting.  So glad I finally got around to watching it.  It was so good.  So many good characters, so many funny facial expressions, so many crying times, so many lol moments.  Just a good, well rounded drama.

166. One Sunny Day 좋은 날 (2014) Korean

So Ji Sub, Kim Ji Won, Lee Jong Hyuk, Im Joo Eun, Lee Jong Hyun

Drama Rating: 6/10     Neck Score: A

Emphasis on the ONE sunny day, because there was only one day in the whole show that was sunny.  It rained every other day.  Not just rain, but pouring.  I guess this is my first web drama.  With ten 15 minute episodes, it's basically the length of a movie.  It was about as exciting as most Korean romance movies I've seen.  Slow moving and low on the skinship.  However, that is not necessarily a bad thing.  This is a journey of healing.  Ji Ho (So Ji Sub) is super sad and trying to get over this girl.  He's also a shy quiet type anyways.  The relationship is more organic in that slow movingness.  Also, the situations they find themselves in, and how they act in those situation has a more for real feel to them.  Basically it's cute.  The end.  Although they could have given us an abs shot... just saying.

Memery of 2014... 2015... It's Just Meme Time

Just for fun, I wanted to do a post of memes created mostly for shows in 2014, but maybe I didn't get around to making them until just now... haha.  I'm really lazy when it comes to getting pictures ready.

Anyways, here is some fun.

Birth of a Beauty: How One Couple Made a Drama Worth Watching- or why they should let couples be cute for longer

Having just recently finished up the ridiculous Romantic Comedy Revenge Melodrama that was Birth of a Beauty, I feel inclined to discuss why I even watched it in the first place and what made me keep watching it.  It was like the best and the worst at the same.  Insanely cute romantic comedy, ridiculous and scream worthy makjang.  I guess the balance was enough to make me keep coming back?

This is the reason I started it:

And this is why I kept watching:

But there is so much more to it.

When Following Peeps on Instagram Makes You Like Them Less

Following my biases and other Korean and Taiwanese stars on Instagram and Twitter is generally a delight.  Countless hours have been wasted browsing their goofy, cute, and fun posts.  But then there is always the problem of a little TMI.  You get less impressed with them because of what they post.  This has happened to me one too many times to not write about.


It just so happens that the monotony or the stupidity of their posts just annoy us enough to where we end up thinking less of them to even not being able to take them seriously any more.

Best and Worst Couples of 2014

Let's have a little throwback in remembrance of 2014 dramas, specifically the couples of 2014.  Why not celebrate our favorite OTPs, I'm going to miss them.

But we can't leave out the worst couples as well, those ones that were just so lame or squirrely that we could barely watch (or couldn't watch) the shows they were in.  So here are my votes for the best and worse, and what I love (or hate) about them.

The Sweetest Nicest Man in the World, Who Also Happens to Be a Murderer

There were so many things I could have written about Pinocchio, such as how much I love both Lee Jong Suk and Kim Young Kwang, because they are so tall and beautiful.  Or how much I actually love Park Shin Hye in this.  I mean, what the heck!  I have never been so impressed with her.  I absolutely love her and Lee Jong Suk together, and I never thought that would have happened!  They are going for the list of best couples in my book right now.  The dad and grandpa are amazing as well, but the thing that I feel most compelled to write on is the older brother, Ki Jae Myung.  This is a bit overdue, but I have to talk about the serious dilemma I went through.  Seriously, Jae Myung, can you confuse and pull on my heartstrings any more?

From moment one, even when he was a kid, he was so real to me.  Then he seemed to have grown up to be so sweet and nice, even if he was a bit bitter about the dad thing still, but then... andwae!

Healer: Abs in the First Episode, Sign Me On!

Why did I start this one right away?  Now I'm really struggling with the whole waiting thing.  This one had me hooked from episode one, and not because of this:

Although I am totes ok with him showing off his abs in the first couple of minutes.  What really grabbed me was the premise, with his Night Courier and his whole spy mercenary type deal and this messy web of relationships.  Super cool and fun.

Another List of Men Who Make Me Watch Dramas Against My Will: Flower Boy Edition

This might be the last of this series... I can't think of any more editions, but the Flower Boy edition probably has the strongest motivation of all.  I used to have a huge weakness for flower boys... I still do, but not as much as I used to, and that lead me to watching some horrible, horrible shows, because sometimes even the flower boys can't make up for the silliness... (cough, Nail Shop Paris, cough cough).  Oh these Flower Boys...

I think that there might be more ridiculous shows with flower boys in them than any other handsome type man shows.  There is like a trend for dumb flower boys dramas that have super hot flower boys but no actual plot, or if there is a plot then it's ridiculously overly dramatic and over-the-top.  I mean, Boys Over Flowers is the king of flower boy dramas, so that should tell you something... but then again, all of the actual "flower boy" series are pretty good.  Such as Flower Boy Ramen Shop and Flower Boy Next Door...

Drama Proof That Necks are Sexy

I just had to collect a small list of some drama or movie moments that show off necks as attractive or even seductive.  I mean, it's a well established fact that necks are a sexy thing, that's where the whole vampire thing becomes so popular, because a neck bite is just sexy enough to keep that trend alive.  But enough with them, this is not about them.

Here are some solid moments of neck's being attractive and seductive.

Shin Sung Rok Needs to be Added to the Top 10 Sexy Necks

I have already admitted openly that I am obsessed with this man.  I mean, he has it all.  Sexy neck, sexy voice, sexy smile, sexy face... the list just goes on.  So I have to write this post dedicated to him, and seriously consider who he could possibly bump off of the Top 10 list, or should I just make it Top 12?

If you've seen my recent lists, you'd already know that I am obsessed with him.  He made the list for men with smiles, men with sultry voices, other men, villains I love and hate (multiple times), and he could probably make more lists that I haven't made yet.  Basically he's like my ideal type or something (if I could have one of those, because I like so many different things).

The Epicness That Ended in What the Heckness: Lists of Night Watchman's Epic Fail

It's not often that a drama gets two posts dedicated to it, but I just have to say something about Night Watchman's Journal.  What.the.heck.

Even Sadam is laughing at this ridiculousness.

I mean seriously, what the heck happened?  The first two episodes were so epic, and then all the sudden it took a downward slope into the realms of cheesy lameness.  Did they forget how to create epic?

Fated to Love: Cun Xi vs. Lee Gun

This post had to be written for two men that I love for very different reasons.  Having recently finally finished watching the Korean version of Fated to Love You, I have to talk about it.  I think it's one of my favorite dramas, and might have one of the highest ratings on my drama review page.  Anyways... here it is Cun Xi vs. Lee Gun!

This Post is Dedicated to Lee Kwang Soo... Just Cuz

It's not like it's his birthday or anything.  But I just feel the need to celebrate him, because he's just that awesome.

It might because It's Okay, That's Love is over now, and I miss it, and I absolutely loved him in it.  He was so good!  In way more reasons than one.