433. Mr. Queen 철인왕후 (2020-2021) Korean

Shin Hye Sun, Kim Jung Hyun, Bae Jong Ok, Kim Tae Woo

Drama Rating: 9/10     Neck Score: A+

I had my eye on this one when it was announced, and it did not disappoint. Although I'll admit that it was not exactly what I expected. I was thinking it would be more like a body swap, but instead it was a gender swap/soul swap. So not Secret Garden, but Scarlet Heart Ryeo except the person going back in time in the soul swap was a free spirited, playboy chef named Jang Bong Hwan, ending up in the body of Kim So Yong, the soon to be queen of Joseon. I was immediately caught when that free spirited chef was played by Choi Jin Hyuk. A lovely unexpected special appearance that made everything even better, especially since he still did the voice of the chef's thoughts inside the queen's body. So imagine deep manly voice as the petite Shin Hye Sun acted it out. I thought their team work was amazing. I have an even deeper respect for Shin Hye Sun in this role. It really felt like she was channeling Choi Jin Hyuk even down to the expressions. Then add in amazing chemistry between her and Kim Jung Hyun and yes, this drama was awesome. I haven't raved while telling people about dramas in a while, but I was totally talking  my sisters' ears off about this one.

351. The Tale Nokdu 조선로코 녹두전 (2019) Korean

Jang Dong Yoon, Kim So Hyun, Kang Tae Oh, Jung Joon Ho, Kim Tae Woo

Drama Rating: 8/10     Neck Score: A

This is super late, so I'm not sure I remember enough to write a lot... and I'm also getting over a cold so my head is still cloudy as well. But I do remember liking it a lot. It's one of the ones that I looked forward to watching every week.

However, this felt like two different dramas: one where he cross dresses and one where the second male lead goes mega evil to stage a coup. They tie in together well, but the flavors are so drastically different that you forget the other one existed. I much preferred the cross dressing story too. Maybe because Jang Dong Yoon did a fabulous job, but also because it was different and refreshing while the highly political violent half is basically every sageuk out there. Not a bad thing, I did like all of it, its mostly how much it changed that made me forget. What I loved about it was that the characters didn't change even though how dire the situations got. They grew and adapted, but their basic character stayed them. Nokdu was Nokdu whether he was dressing like a widow or playing the soldier. You could even see the gradual decent of the villain into extreme measures. Just kidding, that was mind-blowingly unexpected. As was the death of who we all thought was the real villain.... wow.

Korean Movie Night: JSA Joint Security Area 공동경비구역 JSA (2000) Korean

Lee Young Ae, Lee Byung Hun, Song Kang Ho, Kim Tae Woo, Shin Ha Kyun

Movie rating: 9/10     Neck score: A

I knew going into this one, that it was going to be filled with tension and sadness.  How could a movie about the boarder between two countries, divided, and constantly on the brink of war not be?  It certainly had all of that.  It was also full of all the emotions, like every Korean movie I end up watching.  I really liked the build of this one, as it starts with the event that is being investigated, with gun shots and dead bodies, and then we slowly get flashes into the different sides of the story, until we get the full story, what really happened.  By this point we are fully invested, so it is all the more tragic and heartbreaking, and we're crying, or at least ready to at any moment.  It had a good way of catching the beauty of the little moments, so that the gravity of the big moments were all the more harsh.  This is something that's hard to find in most typical movies.  I love it when the little moments are important.

I loved how cleanly it portrayed both sides.  It didn't demonize or glorify one side over the other.  It didn't paint one bad the other good, but that the whole thing was a mess.  The higher ups on both sides were just as bad, demonstrating the stereotypes and prejudices, while the common soldier, the individual, each had a story and their own opinions.