339. My Fellow Citizens 국민 여러분 (2019) Korean

Choi Siwon, Lee Yoo Young, Kim Min Jung, Tae In Ho, Kim Eui Sung

Drama Rating: 7/10     Neck Score: A

While I loved this one a lot, I also think it could have been better. I loved those moments where the couple became a power couple, working together to track down and catch the bad guys. He had the conman brains and she was the muscle that made the thugs run. It was awesome. But, that didn't happen as much as I wanted, and a lot of the show was full of instead their marital problems caused by the fact that he was lying to her about being a conman and felt super guilty about it. The driving force of the show was that he would do anything to keep her from finding out, because then, being a cop, she would probably leave him.

So, with that being said, it was still super fun. It was a political comedy, the romance was very secondary because they get married at the beginning, so obviously there isn't going to be that "will they won't they" aspect. There is just the "will she actually figure it out this episode" aspect of it. That was also a strong point, because then it could focus completely on the comedy, and really everyone was funny.

Korean Movie Night: Train to Busan 부산행 (2016) Korean

Gong Yoo, Ma Dong Seok, Jung Yu Mi, Kim Su An, Kim Eui Sung, Choi Woo Shik, Ahn So Hee

Movie rating: 8/10     Neck score: A

I watched this one a while ago with my older sister and her husband.  He is a filmmaker and a zombie enthusiast, so I had to.  He actually bought it and watched it before I could even set up the movie night.  He loved it, so some of his opinions will be shared here as well.

This is one of the most heart filled zombie movies I have seen (I haven't seen that many, but my brother-in-law has, and he said the same thing).  While being gross and violent as all zombie movies must be, it isn't gratuitous violence, it is more about the story and the horror.  And it's plenty intense, because we have little kids and pregnant ladies in the mix, and you just can't help but be more worried about them.  Plus we have the claustrophobic terror of being in the confined space of the train.

The zombies themselves were very interesting, a good mix of body acting, gross make up, and probably some CGI.  But they were really good.  The contortion plus the movements was different and great.  It made it super weird, creepy, and just cool.

One thing that my brother-in-law really liked was the depth to all the characters.  While we had the classic horror film collection of characters, they each had their own depth and were humanized so that we felt things for all of them, even that rich selfish jerk.  We got to see their growth, such as Gong Yoo's character going from worst dad to best dad, or Choi Woo Shik who was too cool/awkward to admit he likes the girl, to becoming a hero to protect her.  Or "dad of the year" Teddy Bear Ma Dong Seok.  He was the best.  Just the very, very best.

Naturally the whole theme was about being united and helping each other and sacrifice.  The only people who survived were ones protected by sacrifice and love.  I would say it was intense over scary, and full of love and emotions.  It also touched on responsibility, and the bitterness of selfishness.

The campiest part was the deer at the beginning.

216. W 더블유 (2016) Korean

Lee Jong Suk, Han Hyo Joo, Jung Yoo Jin, Kim Tae Hwan, Kim Eui Sung, Lee Si Eon

Drama Rating: 8/10     Neck Score: A

Interesting premise and even more interesting execution.  Every preview made Lizabreff say: "what!?!" and we could never anticipate fully what would happen next.  It was very nice in how unpredictable it was.  I also liked the creation of the other world.  Like the fact that it was a manhwa world governed by the rules of manhwa, such as the cliffhanger ending to episodes and the rules of the character descriptions and roles, etc.  It was pretty clever in that respect.  But that also meant that the plot and worlds were also very complicated, and since it was a fantasy genre, anything could go.  So we never know what craziness would happen next.  This, however was the very nature of the plot.  Even though the world or story was predetermined, the will of the characters made it so that you couldn't just dictate an arbitrary ending.  The characters had to be satisfied.  The laws of the manhwa had to be satisfied.  It was all very complex and wonderful.  There were also so many good characters and actors to pull it off.  Such as Lee Si Eon as Soo Bong.  He was just amazing, poor little assistant artist.  I was impressed, as always, with Kim Eui Sung.  That man is just a good actor.  His characters were probably the most complex, and he handled them so well.  The crowd favorite would have to be the crazy fanboy hospital professor Mad Dog (Heo Jung Do) who represented all of us every episode as we watched.  He was so perfect.  I would have liked to have seen a Puppy/Yoo Jin love story.  I thought they had more chemistry together than she had with Lee Jong Suk.  Like literally Kang Cheol was never going to see her as more than a friend, but she had chemistry with that Puppy Namja everyone kept calling oppa and hyung, even when he was younger than everyone in real life, haha.  I know some people didn't love the ending.  It was about what I expected.  I'm not sure what else was supposed to happen for the ending to make any sense.  So I thought it was great.  I liked all the twists and complex themes, and of course the love story.  I will watch pretty much anything for Lee Jong Suk, but this show was well worth it.  He was great.  The show was great.  Plus, lots of blood AND lots of cute.  Cool!