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!

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.