Romance for Days!

This was mostly enjoyable and this just made me realize how much Park Min Young is stellar. The whole cast was good but she is a star for a reason. She is efforlessly, funny, sweet, and likeable. Kim Jae Wook was pefectly cast as the Korean born American raised Ryan Gold. He and PMY have some of the best chemistry I've seen on screen. Their scenes together were funny and fire! The other standout in the acting category is Kim Sun Young she played director Ohm brillantly. I have never scene her in anything else but this made me a total fan. I also love the wardrobe departments bold choices for her character.

What this drama did right for me is that there was not too much drama or push and pull and it was the better for it. The leads worked thru their issues by talking instead of shutting down. I mean Duk Mi did do something stupid but it was wrapped up quickly so I'm forgiving her stupidy. They also, nail the obnoxious fan behavior to a T.

What I did not like was the unnecessary childhood trauma to an already traumatic situation re the leads. It didn't elevate the story at all; it didn't even make effing sense. But overall this series was just what I wanted and needed in the romance department!

8/22/23

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This year marks the 50th anniversary of Enter the Dragon, arguably the most well known of the Bruce Lee movies. Especially, for western audiences. I'll take Big Boss and Fist of Fury over this. I have seen this multiple times. We watched a lot of martial art movies when I was a kid and Bruce Lee was always everyone's favorite.

I just watched tonight on the big screen. It was my first time seeing on the big screen. It's the standard revenge story with a little espionage thrown in for good measure. It was the 70's afterall. It's definitely, a dated movie but It's still was enjoyable. Young me really like the movie. Old me thinks it's just ok; but Bruce Lee is a legend for a reason. His charisma and martial arts are top notch. He was also the fight choreographer on this film. The cast if pretty good and a young Angela Mao has a small role as Bruce Lee's sister.

8/16/23

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Enjoyable

I really enjoyed this series overall and I purposely watched after finishing the anime which I found super sweet. This series was just what I needed after the last disappointing series I watched. I really liked the pace of the series too. I mean, they condensed the material but not to the detriment of the story.

The cast is really good and I think the casting director made some really good matches with casting. I liked the actresses playing Sawako, and Yanochan but I especially loved Nakamura Riho playing Yoshidachan. She really played the role to perfection. It was good seeing Miura playing Pin even though I think the character is actually more closer in age to the characters in the anime.

8/8/23

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Slow & Boring

This was a disappointment for me. It was slow and boring.

The acting is stellar. Especially from Lee Moo Saeng. He played SML Jin Seok and I felt him in all of his scenes. He emotes very well. I was more interested in his and 2FL Chan Young's story than the main relationship.

At any rate, I wanted to watch this drama b/c I thought it was an ensemble piece about older, female friendship but it's just a sob story about FL Mi-Jo and her anxiety. The writers put more weight on that than a woman dying of pancreatric cancer. And yes I get that Son Ye Jin was the star and the series was made for her but this had so much wasted potential in the friendship arena. Plus they almost competely left out the 3rd FL Kim Ji Hyun who played Joo Hee in most instances where friendship matters.

I wanted something more adult honestly, sometimes the Mi-Jo character behaved like she was still in her 20s and it was annoying.

7/30/23

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A different bully redemption arc

I liked this. It was an average film about bully culture in a high school setting. It's fairly cliche but I liked what was different about this story was the bully redemption arc. It's done well here and not in the typical linear way. People make mistakes. Anyone can fall victim to peer pressure and do things they never thought they would do. I am not justifying any bullying behavior but if you can see the wrong that you have done and apologize than I can accept that. The young cast is really good too. Especially, Wang Yu Ping playing the FL Yun Heng.

I iked that the comeuppance was done the way I had hoped. I mean, I actually, at first was like an eye for an eye. The main bully was terrible and had no remorse for her actions but then they gave her the best comeuppance I have seen in a long while. Not everyone is going to be satisfied with this film, especially regarding the rape situation.

7/16/23

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Did Not Like the Ending

This was a fairly good action/drama film. It was a solid 8 for me until the ending. I just don't like the way the movie ended. Drops this down to a 6 rating. The last fight scene was sub par at best and I do understand why they did that but NOPE! I hated it. I needed a better fight scene between the 2 leads. The movie is 2 hours and 20 minutes and there are things they should have cut and things that could have been added. Specifically what could have been added was a conversation between Bok Soon and the other CEOs in the assassin business. Especially, after they were starting to question the leader of MK.

The highlight of the film is the cast. Pretty stacked too with some of my favorites in small parts. Looking at you Kim Sung Oh. FL Jeon Do Yeon is oustanding. This is the first thing I've seen her it. She was great as Bok Soon. Lee Yeon was really good here too as the new recruit.

Totally worth the watch at least once though.

7/16/23.

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Good lord another typical Kdrama romcom with stupid relationship actions. This had one of my most hated tropes...The forced relationship b/c the other person will harm themselves. Jeez. They never even explain why the female character in that relationships even likes the guy she's willing to kill herself for.

Anyway, the best part of this series is Wang Bit Na as Ji Seung and Lee Kyu Han as Jae Eun. Their relationship was so refreshing. I enjoyed them getting to know each other and falling in love. I also loved young actress Park So Yi. So expressive and had the brightest, biggest eyes. The other thing the series did well was the portrayal of the relationship between ML, his sisters and his niece.

7/13/23

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Too Repetative

As per usual, I wanted to loved this series and the idea of not using the police to help retrieve your kidnapped child. I mean what would you do if your child has been kidnapped? How desperate would any us us become to get our child back?

The 1st episode was really interesting but as each episode went along the show was just too ridiculous and boring. For me however, the biggest set back for this series is the ML. Actor, Ninomiya Kazunari, can't act to save his life. It was nice seeing Tamaki Hiroshi as the lead detective but even he couldn't save this series. I will say the episodes got better towards the end but this could have been a limited series of 5 episodes. 10 episode led to too many repetative scenes and the same plot devices.

Actor, Hamada Gaku, was great. His portrayal of a desperate father and ex cop was very believable and heartbreaking once all the history was revealed.

6/27/23

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This was a weird and wild ride. I didn't really like the series. I guess it was just too weird for me. Too many scenes were disgusting too; very graphic.

The cast and acting is great but there is something left to be desired in the writing. Some of the actions by the ML defy logic and I get that he's supposed to he a hothead who acts before he thinks. What foolishness in a new town? Even him and his wife staying in town for their daughter was dumb.

Excellent casting re the young Keiske. I may not watch a 2nd season but the last episode damn sure makes me want to. I'm very confused about the villager's role in the drama as well.

6/19/23

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Love the ML

This is a surprisingly good show considering the short runtime of the episode but the writers and producers were able to deliver a concise and cohesive story without a lot of filler and BS pushback from the characters. The show is not without its flaws but it's overall a good series.

The cast is really good too. I like Kim Sae-Ron even though her character, Doo Shim got on my nerves. I loved Nam Da Reum's character Woo Soo. His character was so swoon worthy. He stole hearts the whole series. I really liked Yoo Sun Ho who played Hyun Soo too. The whole cast is very good though and I loved hearing Kim Sung Oh as the voice of the evil spirit. I will always be a fan of his work even when he's not visually on screen.

This series is likely a social commentary about the struggles and pressure kids in Korean (and elsewhere, honestly) go thru during their formative years in school. It's actually quite a nice allegorical story. I guess there's plans for a 2nd season. It will be interesting to see who/what the big bad will be next time.

6/12/23

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This show is nothing to write home about but Park Seo Joon is excellent here as the ML. His charisma is off the charts and there are scenes in this series that would make anyone fall in love with him.

Unfortunately, the series was below average. It's another romcom with misunderstanding after misunderstanding. Then the reappearnce of the ex-fiance that really ruined the show for me. PSJ and Uhm Jung Hwa really do have good chemistry though.

I did like the bromance between Dong Ha and Su Cheol. Some genuinely funny and adorable scenes between the 2 of them! I also liked the relationship between the Boss and Ji Yeon's mother.

5/31/23

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"The Cop" is Super Annoying

This movie is entertaining thanks to the acting. "The Gangster" Ma Dong Soek is fantastic as usual and the actor playing "The Devil" Kim Sung Gyu is brilliant. I havent seen him in anything else but I will. There really are just evil people in the world. Kinda wished they would have given a little more background on the killer's motivations other than the standard abused as a child scenario. I thought they showed he might have been married but then didn't expound on that. "The Cop" was super annoyng and really got on my nerves from the moment he stepped on the screen.

This is overall an enjoyable film and the ending was perfection!

5/22/23

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Yueh Hua was excellent as Nan Kung Hsiao. On a mission to find the killers of his entire family and find his sister-in-law and reunite her with her son. They never do find the boys mother and I guess the writer's may have forgotten that was part of the plot but I really liked his matter of fact character. There were many assassins looking to kill him for 1000 pieces of gold. Then another, top assassin is hired to kill him for 10,000 pieces of gold.

There was an unnecesassry subplot with one of the assassins and his girlfriend's love story but I did actually really like the actress even though that plot point was not needed. The "kid" in the title of this movie is adorable as well.

This is a good one time watch. The fights aren't that spectatcular but it's a nicely paced film and the last fight scene is fairly entertaining.

5/6/23

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I started watching this series over a year ago and stopped at episode 8 back in April of last year. Maybe I was bored. Too much was going on plotwise and honestly they really didn't explain the family dynamics to my liking. However, I have a goal of finishing the shows in my currently watching list. I started rewatching and the show actually is better in the 2nd half. I usually don't say that. Most shows go down hill but this one picked up and became more interesting each episode.

The 2 best things about the show are that the cast is phenomenal and there are some genuinely funny, full on, laugh out loud moments. Shin Hye Sun and Cha Chung Hwa are pure comedy gold. Choi Jin Hyuk's voice was perfection. It's a good series to watch at least once.

I am shouting out epsiode 10. This epsiode was LOL funny. First when the Queen rolled out of the bed at the beginning when she was about to touch the King's nose and 2nd when Lady Choi smacked the Chef on the lips, I about hit the floor. That whole scene in the bamboo forest was hysterical.

4/21/23

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