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.

245. Tomorrow With You 내일 그대와 (2017) Korean

Shin Min Ah, Lee Je Hoon, Kim Ye Won, Jo Han Chul

Drama Rating: 6/10     Neck Score: A

Curdy hated watching this one.  It was too frustrating for her, and the bad guy creeped her out a bit.  It was really interesting to watch it with the three of us together, because we all had different levels of tolerance for what was going on.  Some days Lizabreff would really want to watch it while Curdy was super not ready for it, other days they would both be like, "not that one, not today," when I was like "lets get caught up!"  But yeah, that reveals a lot that we fell behind on this one.  It was the sacrificial lamb in the quest to catching up to what we missed when we went to Dallas.  It was our lowest priority to catching up, so we waited a bit.  We didn't even need to be so meh about it, it never got a bad as we thought it would.  The last four episodes were actually some of the best, it was the middle that kind of sagged.  They would just fall into the trap of the same mistakes over and over in the middle.  "Don't go on the subway any more." "I'll do what I want." "You don't care about me!"  "When did I say that?  Don't you trust me?  This is for us!"  and so on.  There was a lot of lying, but what do you expect from a time travel drama?  The show made up for it with a cute OTP, when they were not having problems.  Which was also good because they seemed more real that way.  It was like a snap shot into a real newly wed couple with all the issues of making two personalities work, just add the time travelling drama, and it's just about right.  That meant it was frustrating, in a good way?  Still hard to watch at times though, but when it was cute, boy was it cute.  I really shipped that couple, which is probably why their troubles were so frustrating.  I tended to be more chill about it than, say, Curdy, who just struggled the whole way through, or Lizabreff who was on and off struggling (mostly liking it).  That's not to say I didn't have days when I just wanted to watch, say, Chief Kim instead.  That's ok.  It was actually a pretty decently done drama, with a great OTP, and an even greater side couple (Ki Doong!  You are the best!  We love you!).  I was satisfied with the end, which is impressive alone.  Most dramas are ruined by the ending, but this one was actually saved.  I liked it.  It definitely is not a drama to be taken lightly.