411. Signal 시그널 (2016) Korean

Lee Je Hoon, Kim Hye Soo, Cho Jin Woong, Jang Hyun Sung, Jung Hae Kyun

Drama Rating: 9/10     Neck Score: B

I honestly don't remember why I didn't watch this one as it was airing. The two possibilities are that it was either not subbed on a site I subscribe to (I think that's the most likely) or that I was watching too many heavy/dark dramas at once and I couldn't. I do usually need to watch like 3 fluffy types to every 1 heavy one. Call it escapism. Anyway, once I miss the concurrent airing window, it's way easier to put it off in favor of currently airing ones, so even when I knew it was available on the Netflix, I still waited until my love of Kim Hye Soo made me finally just do it. (You'd think my love of Lee Je Hoon and Cho Jin Woong already would have, but I guess not). It's all about timing. Anyway, it's one I always wanted to watch, heard so much good about, and now finally did. It was worth all the praise too. It literally wrenched every emotion from me. Every single kind. All the feels! It was good.

In-flight Film Time: Intimate Strangers 완벽한 타인 (2018) Korean

Yu Hae Jin, Yum Jung Ah, Cho Jin Woong, Kim Ji Soo, Lee Seo  Jin, Song Ha Yoon, Yoon Kyung Ho

Movie rating: 8/10     Neck score: B

I had been meaning to watch this for a while. Not just because Epik High quoted it's poster for their recent concert series, or because it has Lee Seo Jin, one of my ahjussi loves, but because it has an all around stellar cast, and the premise was super intriguing and it promised to be completely messed up. So when I saw it as an option in my in-flight entertainment, I jumped right in.

It is about a group of best friends for 40 years and their spouses who decide to play a game at a dinner party where they have to reveal their hidden life on their phones. Essentially answering every call on speakerphone and reading every message and notification out loud. Naturally it was going to get messy and tear everyone's lives apart. Not only would cheating and lying be revealed, but true opinions about each other, and their deepest secrets they weren't ready to tell even their best of friends.

Korean Movie Night: Run Off (Take Off 2) 국가대표 2 (2016) Korean

Soo Ae, Oh Dal Su, Oh Yeon Seo, Ha Jae Suk, Kim Seul Gi, Kim Ye Won, Jin Ji Hee, Park So Dam, Cho Jin Woong

Movie rating: 7/10     Neck score: A

If you know me, you know I don't like sports movies.  Even if my favorite sport (to play on my computer) happens to be hockey.  This was one of my favorite sports movies.  Maybe it was because I loved all these actresses, maybe because it was funny and heart breaking, but it did a good job.  It had all the classic underdog tropes, but it handled them well.  A group of misfits are brought together to make a national women's hockey team.  Of course they are given all the crappiest equipment, hand me downs from the guys teams, and the moldy rink, etc.  We have a North Korean defector, a kicked out speed skater, a figure skater, an 8th grader, a field hockey ahjumma, and an office worker.  Naturally, they don't get along at first.  Then there are training montages, them coming together, sticking it to the man and not giving up.  Then there are intense games that are somewhat predictable, but not so bad.  It's realistic, until we get to the drama parts where everyone is panting and hitting walls and we see less of the game and more of their "pain."  Not surprised that they have the only foul play done by the Japanese... yeah... that....  Anyway, it is about sisterhood, friendship, and representing your country, and not about some of the things that sports movies are about.  I love that the only men in it are the coach and the bureaucrats.  And like family and stuff, but there is no romance in it at all, which is the best, because no one needs romance in a sports movie.  That just ruins things.  So this wasn't ruined by that.  It became about families, whether it be the North Korean and her little sister, the coach and his son, or the fact that the team becomes a family.  It was cute and good.  It was also way more hilarious that I thought it was going to be, but considering the cast we shouldn't be surprised (I'm looking at you, Seul Gi!).  It was also much more tender and moving than I thought it would be, so overall, I was pleasantly surprised.