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cere-mon-ials · 1 year

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2022 in kdramas

*that I finished

I spent my January nursing all that The Red Sleeve broke (my heart), nourishing what it gave me (provocation to write, notes here), cursing what it did for my overall k-drama viewing expectations. I am still mad that Lee Se-young wasn’t recognised for what she did in TRS, a show that belongs to Deok-im and her alone. I had finished Good Manager a day before, a long-winded bromance between Namkoong Min and Lee Jun-ho. I didn’t think much and truth be told, I don’t remember much either. Happiness fell flat after three episodes; stayed for the remaining episodes because of the excellent chemistry between the main characters. I evidently watched Coffee Prince many years too late but I saw every reason why I might have never finished school if I had seen it earlier.

Run On kept me thrilled on occasion, became white noise otherwise. I loved seeing my two joys, running and translation, woven into the show, loved the miracle of found friendships and homes, and a defiant writing philosophy that healthy relationships are worthy of being probed. Despite how unbearable Our Beloved Summer was about Ji-woong’s unrequited love, I could see the good-naturedness of the story writer-nim was trying to tell. I loved watching why the two leads fell apart and what brought them together. I loved that this had something to do with communication but I loved even more, that it just had to do with having grown up and realising you can love something you’re not and that’s one way to experience life. Kairos is the most underappreciated show that tackles time-travel. Great writing with exceptional attention to detail.

February was spent with the duology of the Ahn Pan-seok—Kim Eun—Jung Hae-in universe, the k-drama equivalent of Austenian bliss. Both shows benefit from Kim Eun’s thesis that romance may be intimate but love, in a patriarchy, demands a public that must accept it. Ahn Pan-seok is the finest orchestrator of moments that feel like the time lapse that falling in love is, that thing that people often reduce to soulmatism or violins at first glance. In One Spring Night, it works. In Something in the Rain, it fails because Kim Eun was still finding her voice as a writer who is stumped by what makes for the ‘right’ kind of conflicts in a 16-episode arc. I don’t think that’s the only problem with SITR but it’s the one she solved with marvelous elegance in OSN. In both shows, the main leads are charmingly, refreshingly communicative with each other. But it is in OSN, where Kim Eun figures out that being vulnerable is not the same as talking about vulnerable things, and how to make it count for all relationships that matter. Son Ye-jin and Han Ji-min, I love you both equally.

In March, I began paying an honorarium to the guard of my Jang Hyuk horny jail. Deep-rooted Tree made me cry in at least 14/24 episodes. A Joseon murder mystery wrapped in a drama about accessible language as the beginning to breaking down class barriers and nation-building, with nerdy love for character interiority? I ate that up. Han Seok-kyu is the only reel King Sejong ever. Just like Jang Hyuk is the only reel Bang Won ever. My Country: The New Age is a shallow show with hilarously lofty dialogues and masterful action sequences. In my most generous reading, MCTNA attempted to ask if Bang Won’s modernity could have come at a lesser price; is modernity not equivalent to audacity? Woo Do-hwan is almost as good at portraying audacity as Jang Hyuk.

Having Park Eun-bin and Kim Min-jae play Brahms in a riveting duet is exactly what Do You Like Brahms? set out to do. Introverts are rarely done well on the screen and getting it right with not one, but two leads is an achievement too. If you are a person fuelled by that mystical "passion," the creative arts industry can be a cruel place. Chae Song-ah is, by all accounts, not as talented as the others around her, and this is not a story of stick-with-it-till-you-rise-from-the-ashes. Even the hope that it might be is wonderful writing because Song-ah is far more assertive than anybody gives her credit for, like a baby who holds onto your finger with shocking strength. In classical music especially, there is no such thing: you are good or you are out. Park Joon-young is great and yet, he is begging for an out, because being good is just the beginning. These two and the other characters are deeply in love with music and they want to protect that love. They all find out that in the end that love needs sustenance, not protection.

I binged Fated to Love You in April, in a private experiment to see how much Jang Hyuk brainrot I can take. (Let’s remember this is a summary of the shows I finished.) I came out of it with brainrot for one more Jang. Outrageous show, outrageous star power. Soundtrack No. 1 was a forgettable experience save for the fact that I am now a person who looks up Park Hyung-sik’s MDL page on the reg. I think everybody is right about Twenty-Five Twenty-One: (a) Baek Ye-jin and Na Hee-do were always going to break up (b) It was a terribly-conceived finale. Two other opinions I am going to leave here: (c) Ji Seung-wan, darling of my heart, should have been the lead for the show that writer-nim actually wanted to do. (d) More people would see this, and also may have responded with thoughts beyond ship discourse, if Na Hee-do was played by anyone other than Kim Tae-ri.

I think people were right about criticising Lee Soo-yeon’s Grid too. The science of time-travel took some leniency. I get why the finale would have been unsatisfying, even as a setup for a potential second season. But I offer that the thesis of LSY’s shows is never in how they end, because they are not moral science lessons for the future. Grid’s deeply introspective themes of time-travel and the greater good begins with the the sun, the most reliable force in a human's life, turning against mankind. This immediately takes away a human as ultimate antagonist, when it easily could have been. For LSY, the future is the darkest place with unknowable power and we have the task of paving a path of light towards it. Time-travel is not the science-fiction component with which to imagine our behaviour in an unrecognisable, but possible, place. It’s the fucking fantasy. Even if we got the chance to change the past, we really couldn't. The future is what we have got to change and the present to make the first move. Those dreams of going back, repenting hard enough, flirting with what ifs? Not going to cut it. LSY's meta elegance is in bringing the intensely personal version of this theme in parallel to the big one: divorce. FWIW, she had all these threads tie together by Episode 7. I get why she said Grid is the next iteration of her life's work—an exceptional mind.

Park Min-young could have chemistry with a rock, and thank god, Seo Kang-joon isn’t one. When The Weather Is Fine is the rightest show about life in the countryside. It nails the fine line of a tight-knit community that shows up for you and also, how easily they can be the first source of judgement, as people who know your secrets. Best book club in a k-drama. Very well done pining. Imo is my favourite character and she should publish that novel because “Hey. Who do you think killed my brother-in-law?” is a banger opening line. I first saw Lee Jae-wook in this show.

During the weekends of April and May, there was My Liberation Notes. I watched it like a scheduled therapy session, although I do not think Park Hae-young is aiming for catharsis with her works (despite it seeming like the most common outcome). I didn’t have the word “healing” in my everyday vocabulary so often before k-dramas. It’s a genre of k-drama that is meant to be comforting, to inject slowness into everyday life as an antidote for the ills of modern society. Bullshit. There are multiple wide shots of the Yeom family tending their farms, eating in peace amid the greenery, and they are claustrophobic. It might feel like complaints, and you’re free to think that. But PHY knows, as most people my generation do, finding an escape is actually really easy. That’s not the point. The point is to be less sad about being who you are; to know that who you are is enough to make a living, find love if you want it, make peace with your family. This show is about siblings as the real loves of your lives.

I don’t remember what I was doing in June.

Pachinko is not a k-drama strictly speaking, but let’s do it. I adore Min Jin Lee and I am afraid to admit how emotionally attached I am to the world of Kogonada’s eyes. In MJL's book, the linear structure is meant to make you feel like the history of a family can also be a history of the other themes that consume intellectual space. In the show, there is no such thing as a past, or a history. Nothing is done, nothing is over and under the rug. You see Sun-ja’s and Solomon’s stories at the same time because there's no distance that makes what happened then far enough from what's happening now. For this alone, Pachinko is a superior adaptation. I have a shrine for every woman in this show. Watching Yumi’s Cells 2 has been among the happiest experiences of my TV viewing life. Bloody Heart could have been bloodier. I respected that it reached a conclusion without feeling the need to give a neat answer to its central question of assertive power as driver of both unity and chaos—there’s humility in realising that the answer need not be determined in one generation. Jang Hyuk thirst got me into the show, Kang Hanna’s outstanding face and smarts kept me there. Lee Joon’s Lee Tae nearly made me quit. Park Ji-yeon, muah. I watched the back half of Signal in July. It is no fault of the show that I was zapped out of will to see women being killed. There were two scenes of Kim Hye-soo’s that wrecked me bad, I had to quit watching for couple of days. Thank you to the makers for giving a genre-defining template. (Kairos did do it better.)

Alchemy of Souls was super fun as a weekly watch. Daeho is boring to me as a setting and the plot ventures into territories worthy of critical thought once in a blue moon. But I admire the ambition, and the storytelling does have its moments. Lee Jae-wook is a menace. Inhaled Rookie Historian Goo Hae-ryung over four days; I enjoyed it. Extraordinary Attorney Woo tried. I also binged Reply 1997. Reply 1988 is always going to be my favourite and I am not going to watch R1994 for a conclusive test of veracity.

Between these shows, their endearing efforts at being fulfilling shows about love of different kinds, I nibbled on episodes of My Mister. I couldn’t watch two episodes together; it was so potent, so unbelievably demanding of my attention in every way imaginable, and I gave it willingly. I wrote about the show here.

October brought the best mystery/thriller show of the year: May It Please The Court. It was written with a clear idea of how much to bite, knew how to chew on it, and that’s why it also landed the best conclusion of the year. The show is astute about forgiveness and justice, and well, forgiveness in justice. I think the show’s success is in how it trusted both its characters and the audience to process what this means to them. Jung Ryeo-won and Lee Kyu-hyung have impeccable married energy from first scene. Lee Sang-hee is the best, the hottest, the finest.

Little Women is the mystery/thriller show with the most potential of the year. It wasn’t until episode 11 that the show lost me but I do think the flaws began revealing themselves a lot earlier. I didn’t appreciate the show’s insistence that the central crime of the show was Sang-ah’s murders and not the patriarchal cult that pretends to be a meritocracy. I thought the Vietnam War references were in conversation for a whole different reason: I viewed it as a nod to the first war where losing means more than winning. That war is the blueprint for the 21st century exertion of control for the right to capital and target audience, rather than mere territory and pride. But this symbolism wasn’t what came through and I understand those who pushed back on how the war's references, along with an exotic flower, rang hollow. LW did get characterisation right, particularly the way poverty alters how intelligence is perceived and valued. It’s ambitious premise—that Louisa May Alcott was wrong in deciding these sisters would taper their poverty with unusual politeness—is radical.

I will rewatch the first 11 episodes of May I Help You in several trying days of my future. Baek Dong-joo and Kim Tae-hee, butlers to the dead and the alive respectively, are companions, friends and lovers, in that order. What's not to love? The acts asked of them are rarely grand but they are delivered with emotional heft. I forgive all the detours taken from episode 12. I tend to find it dull when everybody and everything is connected to each other. In this one's ending, it's quite lovely. I see the vision in saying that we only know Dong-joo’s story because that’s the story we have tuned into. The miracles could be happening to anyone at all. I wish writer-nim wasn’t so Christian throughout—the throwaway line about suicide put me off. Best piggy-backing scenes in a rom-com and also, favourite kiss, I am going to say.

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theabyssgazesalsointoyou · 4 months

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evan - kang-hyeon park / seong-kyu kim / gyu-hyeong im

heidi - seon-yeong kim / yeong-suk shin

connor - seung-wu yoon / ji-seop im

zoe - ji-hye kang / seo-yeong hong

larry - hyeon-seong jang / seok-won yoon

cynthia - si-ha ahn / yu-ran han

jared - yong-hwi cho / kang-jin kim

alana - da-jeong lee / hei-jin yeom

#deh #dear evan hansen #evan hansen #heidi hansen #connor murphy #zoe murphy #larry murphy #cynthia murphy #jared kleinman #alana beck

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korean-dreams-girls · 8 months

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KyuJin (NMIXX) - CHIC Magazine Pics

#KyuJin #Jang Kyu Jin #NMIXX #Magazine #Official

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kverything-official · 29 days

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10 Sci-fi Korean Movies To Watch This Weekend

10. Space Sweepers

Space Sweepers is a South Korean sci-fi action film that takes viewers on an exciting adventure through the cosmos. If you love space themed flims then this is one of the must see korean movies to watch for you.

Movie Info

Directed by Jo Sung-hee

Produced by CJ ENM and Dexter Studios

Starring Song Joong-ki, Kim Tae-ri, Yoo Hae-jin, and Jin Sun-kyu

Genre: Science Fiction, Action, Adventure

Synopsis

one of the best Korean movies to watch for Sci-Fi Fans

Space Sweepers is a visually stunning film with an engaging story. Packed with action and suspense, the film also explores themes of social inequality and what it means to be human. With a talented cast and crew, Space Sweepers is one of the highly recommended Korean movies to watch for fans of sci-fi films.

9. Lucid Dream

Lucid Dream is a 2017 South Korean science fiction mystery-thriller that delves into the world of lucid dreaming, where the dreamer is aware they are dreaming. This unique plot makes it one of the best sci-fi Korean movies to watch this weekend.

Behind the Scenes

Directed by Kim Joon-sung (directorial debut)

Written by Kim Joon-sung and Lee Young-Jong

Starring Go Soo, Jung Yu-mi, Park In-hwan, and Sol Kyung-gu

Genre: Science Fiction, Mystery, Thriller

A Father’s Desperate Search

A Mind-Bending Adventure

Lucid Dream is a film that will keep you guessing. As Dae-ho delves deeper into his dreams, he uncovers unsettling truths and faces nightmarish dangers. The film explores the potential of the human mind and the terrifying consequences that can arise when dreams become a battleground.

For Fans of Psychological Thrillers

Lucid Dream is one of the best Korean movies to watch for fans of mind-bending films with a touch of science fiction. The film’s exploration of lucid dreaming is both fascinating and unsettling, and the performances by the cast are captivating. If you’re looking for a film that will stay with you long after the credits roll, Lucid Dream is one of the perfect Korean movies to watch.

8. Save The Green Planet

Save the Green Planet! is a 2003 South Korean science fiction black comedy film that blends environmental commentary with violent action and dark humor as well as one of the most enjoyable Korean movies to watch.

Cinematic Team

Directed and Written by Jang Joon-hwan (debut film)

Produced by Kim Ki-duk Films (yes, the director of “Oldboy”)

Starring Shin Ha-kyun, Baek Yun-sik, and Jeong Min-ah

Genre: Science Fiction, Black Comedy, Action

Environmental Hero (of Sorts)

Byung-gu (Shin Ha-kyun) is an eco-warrior with a twist. Disillusioned with the state of the planet, he becomes fixated on the idea that aliens are responsible for environmental destruction. Believing himself to be Earth’s chosen savior, Byung-gu kidnaps a powerful corporate executive, Kang Man-shik (Baek Yun-sik), convinced he’s an alien leader. Aided by his childlike girlfriend, Su-ni (Jeong Min-ah), Byung-gu subjects Kang to a series of bizarre and brutal interrogations, determined to force him to reveal the aliens’ plan and save the planet.

A Genre-Bending Experience

Save the Green Planet! is not your typical sci-fi film. The dark humor and outlandish violence create a unique viewing experience. While the film can be shocking at times, it also uses satire to explore themes of environmental degradation, corporate greed, and social isolation.

Not for the Faint of Heart

The film’s graphic violence and intense situations may not be for everyone. However, for those seeking a unique and thought-provoking film that blends genres and challenges expectations, Save the Green Planet! is another of the best Korean movies to watch.

Continue reading at: 10 Sci-fi Korean Movies To Watch This Weekend

#song joong ki #kim tae ri #park shin hye #chae soo bin #jang hyuk #korean movie #movie recommendation #movie review

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elderflowergin · 1 year

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2022 kdrama/movie roundup!

It was a tough year for keeping up with anything because life, toddler, etc, but here are the things I watched, in part or whole, that I remembered. Hot Takes Incoming!

Sell Your Haunted House - Jang Nara in boots. Kang Mal-geum in dark lipstick. Touching, gay, many mother issues. The girls were fantastic. The boys weren't bad.

25 21 - I was dropped back into the 90s. Surprisingly, I didn't hate it. The girls were fantastic. Na Hee-do was correct to dump Baek Yi-jin. Moon Ji-woong, perfect boy. Ji Seung-wan for PRESIDENT!

Why Her? - Someone thought it'd be a great idea to throw Seo Hyun-jin's ex-client (shudder) current-student (TRIPLE SHUDDER) Hwang In-yeop into the romance mix when billionaire CHOI YOUNG-JOON and Crown Prince Bae In-hyuk were already there. And they thought it'd be funny if Hwang In-yeop won. NO.

Eve - The superior commentary this year on the horrors of capitalism. It ends with reparations (Park Byung-eun hands over his entire empire to Seo Yeji, who promptly divests it), rich people dying in horrible ways and Seo Yeji doing the tango. Were the makjang knobs dialled up so high they're broken? Yes. Was it fun? YES, because I got to see Park Byung-eun's range, which includes Pained Hottie, and Seo Yeji running men's feet over in cars wearing couture. We can ask for no more.

Juvenile Justice - No one asked "What happens if we take three of the most charismatic working actors in Korean entertainment today and squeezed the life out of them?" But someone answered anyway.

My Liberation Notes - Lee El, a revelation. Mr Gu, a revelation when he started talking, and not the good kind.

Grid - Kim Mu-yeol. Kim Ah-joong and Jang So-yeon had a great year. I didn't understand the time thing at all. This is a me problem, but probably the only time I'll face it this year. Right? RIGHT?

Bloody Heart - Jang Hyuk has done nothing wrong, ever. The girls were fantastic. Lee Joon, I heard your script was meant for Lee Joon-hyuk. Sorry.

Pachinko - The girls were fantastic. Kim Min-ha, baby, you're gorgeous. JUNG EUN-CHAE was everything. Sorry to Lee Min-ho, who had the tough double role of acting as Ko Hansu and also like he belonged to this cast of greats.

Our Blues - Great acting, but my own blues were sufficient for me. The girls were fantastic. Unwanted to wanted pregnancy storyline: no thanks. This is a me problem, but probably the only time I'll face it this year. Right? RIGHT?

Extraordinary Attorney Woo - 75% love; 25% NOT THIS AGAIN.

Little Women - The girls were fantastic. I ran out of air by this point in the year. I'll come back for you, gothic interior design, poison orchids, and Song Joong-ki in the best role he's played all year!

Through the Darkness - Almost too many twirling moustache psychos and dead girls. I did it for Kim Nam-gil because he's so pretty in this and in case it wasn't abundantly clear by now, I don't think with my brain. The lone living girl - Kim So-jin - was fantastic. Jin Seon-kyu, well-adjusted stealth hottie!

Reborn Rich - Samsung owes Lee Sung-min its entire semiconductor business as @rain-hat said. Lee Sung-min owes me reparations for making me watch this show for him primarily (secondarily Park Hyuk-kwon, Kim Shin-rok, Park Ji-hyun and Kim Nam-hee for their acting; Kim Young-jae because he is THE DILF). I'm manifesting NO TIMESLIPS in 2023 dramas.

Under the Queen's Umbrella - Kim Hye-soo pushing up her hanbok sleeves to carry babies and do embroidery should be projected onto my tombstone unto eternity. The girls were fantastic. And I know this is unusual, so bear with me, but: the boys? FANTASTIC ALSO.

Movies:

Vikram - Fahaadh Faasil, my thoughts are nasty and you don't want to hear them. The girls might have been fantastic had they been permitted to live and not be dumdums. That was never going to happen, of course. There was torture and a baby in significant peril, but it was also the most fun I'd had in a while. I should get my head checked.

Ponniyin Selvan - The sheer scale of work and sweat that has gone into the enterprise of making Vikram seem taller than Trisha Krishnan for the last twenty years! Iconic. The girls were fantastic.

The Naked Kitchen - This is sold as a story of a woman choosing between two men. That is a lie. It's about a man coming to terms with his marriage drifting into polyamory, and enjoying it. Shin Min-ah and Ju Ji-hoon fuck in a museum, which was also weirdly sweet.

Asura City of Madness - AHJUSSHIS WHY. Hwang Jung-min's shirttails worked very hard in 2012. Jung Woo-sung ate glass and has pathological issues about being as handsome as he is. We love him for it. We did not love this.

Hunt - Love is your bestie learning how to write and direct just to write and direct you in the role of a lifetime for you, personally. I don't know if that's what happened here, but that's what love is. And chemistry is whatever these two guys have in this completely ordinary movie that did not give any feelings. Hwang Jung-min, pussy OUT.

Decision to Leave - A well-deserved love letter to Tang Wei, just beautifully shot, gorgeous.

Il Mare - Absolutely lovely little film, reliant almost entirely on the star power of two actors who are so charismatic they don't need to meet in the movie to convince you of their romance.

Laal Singh Chaddha - There was a very beautiful wedding at the end. Aamir Khan's face must hurt.

Darlings - A movie that appreciated and respected noted hottie Shefali Shah.

#2022 gin roundup

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