Ode To My Father 국제시장 (2014) Korean

Hwang Jung Min, Yunjin Kim, Oh Dal Su, Jung Jin Young, Jang Young Nam

Movie rating: 9/10     Neck score: B

Oh. mo.  This movie had me in tears.  It also had me laughing really hard.  It was just all the emotions and feels, so much joy and pain.  It was a very emotional story about a family that was torn apart in the Korean War.  During the Hungnam Evacuation, Deok Soo was in charge of helping his little sister.  While climbing into the boat, his sister gets lost and the father goes back for her.  The boat leaves, leaving the father and sister missing.  Deok Soo then has to be the head of the family, at like 7 years old.  Commence the first round of tears.  Then the movie follows the rest of his life as he takes care of his family and searches for his father and sister, making sacrifice after sacrifice.  It's also full of  beautiful and wonderful moments of life, as he meets his best friend, as they grow up, as he falls in love.  There are plenty of moments that had us laughing so hard.  My personal favorite was the fangirl moment when Yunho suddenly popped up on screen and Lizabreff and I were whispering to each other (since it was a movie theater type experience): "omo, that's Yunho!" and getting all giggly.  We also did little heart hand dances when Ra Mi Ran or Kim Seul Gi were on the screen, because we heart them.  Everyone did such a fantastic job.  Even the people who got the old people make up did a pretty convincing job of acting old and stuff.  It just hit you right in the feels the whole time, whether those feels were happy, sweet, sad, or you know heart wrenching.  Basically we loved it.

223. Just One Smile is Very Alluring (Love 020) 微微一笑很倾城 (2016) Chinese

Yang Yang, Zheng Shuang, Mao Xiaotong, Bai Yu, Ma Chunrui, Zhang He

Drama Rating: 7/10     Neck Score: A

I was pleasantly surprised with this show.  I didn't have any expectations, I was just bored when I started it, but it had me smiling the whole way through.  It was a ridiculous story about a pair of seemingly perfect people who are just the best having to overcome all of the crap that the lesser humans throw at them because they are petty and not as cool.  That being said, it was nice to see a couple so stalwart that they would not falter at any of the bitca or jerk's slimy tactics.  They were never tricked and there was no noble idiocy.  That was pretty refreshing.  I also liked that even the jerks and bitcas were not 100% losers, but that they all had learning curves.  I especially liked how awkward Wei Wei (Zheng Shuang) was all the time and expressed her inner thoughts, like checking out and feeling hot and bothered about how sexy he was.  I did get too invested in Er Xi's relationship with Cao Guang.  It was like a huge part of the plot, but then they resolved it by only hinting that they were going to get together and not letting them get together.  I liked the main couple, but I wanted more balance with the other peeps in the show too, so that was a little boring to me in spots.  I guess I'm too used to the main couple getting mopey that them being cute the whole time got a little boring.  It still made me smile, I just wanted more resolution for the other characters, so spending so much time at the end for them to plan their wedding when there was no other conflict got boring for me, but it was a really good solid show.  Plus the nerd F4.  All of them so good looking, and all of them so nerdy.  I also really loved how they acted out the game sequences and portrayed the moments when someone would step away from the computer.  As a gamer, I thought those aspects were really well done.  It also gave a good excuse for those sequences to be really cheesy, since they were a blend of real life and video game.

215. Uncontrollably Fond 함부로 애틋하게 (2016) Korean

Kim Woo Bin, Bae Suzy, Lim Ju Hwan, Lim Ju Eun

Drama Rating: 5/10     Neck Score: A+

This was a pre-produced drama that was written and edited as if it was a live shoot drama.  If they had all that extra time to produce and edit it, couldn't they tighten up the writing, make the second half decent, and not overuse flashbacks?  No?  Well, I guess not then.  While I'm not wholly unimpressed with this show, it definitely fell short of its potential.  Especially in the writing department.  By the end of this show it was so ridiculously over dramatic about dumb stuff that we just laughed.  I couldn't even cry.  The characters were so flip floppy and all over the place that it made them less sympathetic, and the ridiculous stunts they pulled at the end were hilariously bad.  Couldn't they have come up with something better?  Nope.  However, there were things about this show that consistently impressed me.  The OST was pretty amazing, as was the not OST but overused New Empire song A Little Braver.  It was fun to sing along to.  I was consistently impressed with Kim Woo Bin.  Even though his character was written stupidly, his acting was amazing.  He really acted those sick scenes really well.  I was also impressed with little things like the blood when he ripped his IV out.  Yes, there should be that sort of thing if you are ripping a needle out of your body in such a rash manner.  Little things like that were impressive.  Im Ju Hwan, aka Luscious Locks, had some nice moments, but he ended up being so pathetic.  Sad day.  He acted it well too.  Suzy... did the best she could, but her character was pretty lamely written, which proved to be too much for her acting chops, but she did try, which was good for her.  Crazy Eyes, well Lim Ju Eun did fabulous, but that character was just crazy.  The bad guys were all pretty over the top, and there were lots of annoying or hateful characters.  Then they tried to redeem people way too much at the end, which is  little dumb and made it draggy.  They just had horrible pace and timing, so especially in the second half, the show was just ridiculous.  Oh well.  Woobs was amazing still, even if he character wasn't that likable a times.  I blame the writers and not him.  He was great.

217. Age of Youth 청춘시대 (2016) Korean

Han Ye Ri, Han Seung Yeon, Park Eun Bin, Ryu Hwa Young, Park Hye Soo

Drama Rating: 8/10     Neck Score: A

Can I just say: yes, please?  A drama about five strong women going through their own problems and dealing with crap and making mistakes?  Yes, please.  Sisterhood, womance, and not needing men to make everything better?  Yes, please.  Talking about real issues without glossing things over or wrapping everything up in a big bow?  Yes, please.  Five amazing female characters who are fully fleshed out, relatable, and lovable?  Heck yes, please!  A full range of different types of male characters from the scum of the earth to the most adorable thing on earth?  Yes!  I absolutely loved everything about this drama, including the fact that I hated that sseuregi seakki, that michinnom, because that was one of the many real life issues that needed to be addressed.  I especially loved all the relationships, between the roommates, between the cutie boys and the girls they liked.  I loved that it was not about romance, but about relationships, the good and bad, the love and friendship, and all the ups and downs.  That being said, I do wish there was a little more of the romance relationships, especially at the end.  I just wanted a little more, because it was cute and I wanted to see lots of cute at the end, not just a little cute.  More Ji Won and her club friend!  More Freckle Nose and Senior Yoon!  If there was just a tiny bit more of that at the end, I would have loved it, not a lot, just a little indulgence... but that also was what made it so good.  Even in the end, all the relationships were real.  The lack of confidence, wondering what the other person is thinking and feeling, the missed opportunities, lack of communication, and everything.  It was so good.  There were some many moments and little details that made it so real.  Like taking a bra off in the middle of a conversation (because who actually wears those death traps at home?) or Eun Jae and her senior talking and thinking about two different things at once... like all the time.  So much cute, so much pain, so much perfect.  I loved all those girls, even though they were all so frustrating.  So realistically frustrating that you had to love them all the more.  Why is it over?  Why was it only 12 episodes?  Give me more!  I already miss my girls!

220. Bad Guys 나쁜 녀석들 (2014) Korean

Kim Sang Joong, Park Hae Jin, Ma Dong Seok, Jo Dong Hyuk, Kang Ye Won

Drama Rating: 8/10     Neck Score: A

I finally got to watch this, I'm a little upset it took me 2 years, because it was amazing.  It was my jam.  I mean, bad guys who are really kind of good guys (I have such a thing for bad guys), fighting crime, and bromance.  So much freaking bromance!  I absolutely loved all of them.  Teddy Bear (Ma Dong Seok) who was just my fave.  Psycho (I was already totally in love with Park Hae Jin) was just perfect.  Sexy (Jo Dong Hyuk) has the best neck, and he was so cool too.  Mad Dog (Kim Sang Joong) and his amazing way of saying "saekki."  I loved how well rounded and complex all the characters were.  They all had their reasons, and problems, and you could see their growth from being animals to becoming human again.  There were some plot holes.  Mostly because it was so short and the main plot had to get rushed a bit at the end.  I would have been fine with it being 16+ episodes.  I loved it.  I mostly hated how annoying they made the girl at times.  She was cool too, until they made her do stupid things without enough reason just to move the plot along.  That was too rushed.  But the fighting.  Whoooo.  Sexy.  It made so much sense.  It was nice and classy.  Brutal and street fighty.  Oh yeah.  Season 2, please.

214. Squad 38 38사기동대 (2016) Korean

Ma Dong Seok, Seo In Guk, Sooyoung, Song Ok Suk, Heo Jae Ho, Ko Kyu Pil, Lee Sun Bin

Drama Rating: 8/10     Neck Score: A

As a heisty type drama, this was pretty good.  I think that might have been like 75% because of Seo In Guk and Ma Dong Seok, who are both amazing.  It had some slow parts and the habit of you being super angry at the villains because they were the scum of the earth, but I guess that made it super satisfying at the end when they were gotten.  I was really busy when I finished this, so it's actually been too long since I've watched it for me to actually remember my impressions of it.  But it was so good that Curdy had to watch it with us.  That is saying a lot.  But she was hooked from the start and made more excited noises while watching than I did.  I loved all of the main characters.  Literally I only hated the villains, and each villain was worst than the last.  Then there were the lukewarm villains, the lackeys who did all the dirty work.  I loved how you hated them, but it was also complicated.  You could be sympathetic to them occasionally.  That's good writing.  I liked most of the twists they had, and the "surprise, you've been hustled" moments for the most part made sense, which is important.  I do need to write a post about the nicknames for this show, because everyone had one.  That's how endearing the characters were.  Loved it.

208. Beautiful Gong Shim 미녀 공심이 (2016) Korean

Namgoong Min, Bang Minah, Oh Joo Wan, Seo Hyo Rim

Drama Rating: 5/10     Neck Score: A

You know, for a title character, Gong Shim wasn't in the show very much at the end.  It was such a delightful show, until they decided to make it a melodrama instead of a romcom.  Then it slowly decided to suck more and more.  It all happened when Ahn Dan Tae found out he was Joon Pyo.  A cursed name to ruin everything.  He suddenly had to become serious and hide things from from Gong Shim, and Ahn Dan Tae's ridiculousness and Gong Shim's awkward cuteness were the two things that made this show work. Really, this show was ruined because it was 20 episodes.  I think if it had been 16 it would have been a great show.  But the last two episodes were so ridiculous that I was clutching my head and moaning, especially since they threw in all the worst ending tropes.  Time jumps, magical american medicine, not keeping in contact because they would "miss them too much," all the worst shiz.  Really, the first 12 episodes were delightful.  Namgoong Min as Ahn Dan Tae was the cutest.  Those goofy faces of pure delight as he looked at food, and Gong Shim, were just beautiful.  Gong Shim thinking he was a beggar/pyeontae, even calling him the pervert lawyer.  I also loved the bromance between him and Joon Soo, which was adorable.  All of that was ruined when the drama decided to take itself serious.  It was never great writing, but when it was lighthearted and cute, that was acceptable, but once it became a drama, it was dumb.  I kept just whining "I miss the old, happy Dan Tae!"  I hated the grandma, I hated Gong Mi (she was a serious bitca for no reason.  I never could stand her).  I hated how ridiculous the villains of the show became.  I hated how draggy the drama got from 12-20, and I hated how at the end Gong Shim was barely ever in it.  But I did love Gong Shim, and how with the wig she looked just like G-Dragon.  I loved Dan Tae when he wasn't being mopey and serious.  I loved the bromance.  I loved the romance, and if those things hadn't been in the show even at the end, I would have dropped it.  So the end was horrible, but the beginning was very fun, so it's all the more sad that the ending just sucked.  It got so ridiculous with it's exaggerated plots to get confessions, time jumps, and forced reconciliations for everyone that it was on the level of cheesy lameness of an old or bad Taiwanese drama.  The type that gets cheesy and preachy. Just head shake.

@lizabr3ff: this ending wrap up is at the level of a bad Taiwanese drama. Way too drawn out and stupid. #BeautifulGongShim

— MarlubsGD (@MarlubsGD) July 19, 2016

Nooooo! Run away, Joon Soo! Run away from Gong Mi! She's eeeeeeevil! #BeautifulGongShim

— MarlubsGD (@MarlubsGD) July 19, 2016