258. Lookout 파수꾼 (2017) Korean

Lee Si Young, Kim Young Kwang, Kim Tae Hoon, Kim Seul Gi, Kim Ki Bum

Drama Rating: 6/10     Neck Score: A++

Of the four dramas that Lizabreff, Curdy and I were watching together, this one was my favorite.  It has it all.  An amazing bad-a female lead, a shady morally ambiguous secret male lead, awesome hackers who are the best (separate and together), some really hateable bad guys, and an unrealistically attractive priest.  I was so invested.  And it stay consistently good most of the time, until the very end, where all the sudden no one acted like themselves and they were all tricked by everything they should have seen through and it was embarrassingly bad.  It turned into a blame session where everyone wanted to take the blame and we started chanting "나 때문에!" to the tune of War of Hormones by BTS in that part where they are blaming women and hormones for the way they are.  So yeah, what a disappointment.  It was bitter, it was hard.  I loved this show so much and it betrayed me at the last minute.  It was like they gave up in the last two episodes and just slapped something together.  I didn't mind how they wrapped everything up in the end, I just hated how it got to that point.

It makes it hard because now I feel like I can't recommend it to anyone, because I would have to say "it's amazing until the last two episodes and then it really sucks" kind of like Reply 1988.  But in all fairness, it still deserves some love for those first 14 episodes (or 28, since they are doing those new short episodes).  It was a great revenge, crime drama with a puppet master, bad prosecutors, crazy wildcard police detectives gone rogue, and a wonderful bromance and romance.  Also, Kim Young Kwang's hair deserves an award.  As does his suits.  He is so despicable, yet so likable too.  And I just loved Lee Si Young with all my little heart!  She's a freaking goddess!  And my Ki Bum and Seul Gi were just so precious and perfect!  Best OTP ever!  It was also really weird seeing Kim Tae Hoon being so righteous.  He usually doesn't get to play roles like that often.  Bah!  It was so good until they ruined it at the end!   So, yeah.  I'm a little upset that my favorite ended up last in the ending department.  Boooooo!

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.

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.

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.

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.