"빛나게 해주고 싶어요. 일단은 무대 위에서. 그 다음은 인생에서."

Reenact Back To The Future, fall in love with the young version of your aunt, teach your nonchalant 18 y.o. dad guitar, try to prevent a major tragedy, play matchmaker for your future parents, take over the Jinsung empire, and accidentally become an international idol - be like Ha Eun Gyeol! The drama explores so many relatable themes, and it deserves way more than roughly 3% rating on Korean TV. Ryeo Woon and Choi Hyeon Wook have amazing chemistry, both humorous and dramatic, and their acting is outstanding till the end.

"이곳에 와서 알게 됐다. 내 아빠 엄마에게도 아픈 청춘이 있었다는 것을."

🔸Do you want to escape your problems somewhere far away where nobody would be able to find you..? For example, in the year 1995! You'd get to befriend your yet-young parents and hopefully find out why do they act so confusingly as adults. However, time traveling still won't provide you with a safe playground to explore the world because growing up has never been easy for anyone. And if it wasn't, why do adults forget about their own teenage experience while building a relationship with their teenage kid?

"나는 아주아주 반짝이게 빛나야 한다는 말이지. 할 수 있는 건 다 해볼 거다. 사랑이든 벤드든 내가 반짝일 수 있는 거라면 모두 다."

There aren't many thoughtful shows and movies that explore teenagers and their parents together as equal human beings. Twinkling Watermelon achieves this by literally putting them all side by side through time travel. Not only do the highschoolers start to understand their parents better, but the adults in the future change too. The way the drama was written, I was confident from the very beginning that all the characters and their lives are in the hands of a skilled screenwriter. The drama transitions between sentimental exploration and genuine humor so seamlessly that I simply cannot put an episode on pause. There is no intrigue who ends up with whom, and because everything is predetermined we get a chance to feel this fleeting moment of happiness and enjoy it while it lasts.

"내가 사는 세상엔 소리가 없어. 그래서 이렇게 눈을 감으면 세상이 사라져."

🔸I'm sure every viewer has caught on to a couple of KSL (Korean Sign Language) words just by watching this drama. It contributes well to the awareness of people with hearing impairments and subtly educates about the challenges they face in society. Deaf character Cheong Ah still enjoys listening to music vibrations, and many deaf people still enjoy going to loud energetic concerts. Moreover, there is a scene where Yi Chan interprets the legendary song '마법의 성' into KSL and performs it for Cheong Ah - this is what deaf performers do. I suggest you check out Justina Miles interpreting to ASL (American Sign Language) at Rihanna's Super Bowl show this year to get an idea of how you can communicate a song to those who can't hear it.

"수화야. 손으로 만들어내는 소리."

Sign language is an incredible dimension of human expression, and it's not hard to learn. It should be more widespread in today's society, and good thing someone is popularizing it. I personally started learning ASL and KSL, and even though there is no one around me to talk to, sign language has improved my acting (surprisingly!) and communication in general.

🔸Deaf experiences can vary. Some people are Deaf and mute like Cheong Ah, who lost the ability to hear before she learned to speak; some people are partially deaf, and others, like Yi Chan, lost their hearing later. In Yi Chan's case, he is probably mute by choice, either for Cheong Ah or to not give in to an ignorant society, since he could talk normally after getting the trauma.

"음악은 귀로만 듣는 게 아니야. 음악은 눈으로, 마음으로, 심장으로 느끼는 거야."

🔸Twinkling Watermelon is simply magical and now one of my top K-dramas. Its ethereal plot allows me to rediscover other aspects of life that we usually miss in today's hustle culture, like creating music, art together, building strong friendship - all those overlooked human expressions that are essential for human happiness, just like sign language. But overall, it's also a blissful reminder to stay strong and try living my only youth to the fullest. 나도 '반짝이는 워터멜론'처럼 반짝반짝하게 빛나고 싶다.

Learn sign language, you guys! Sign language changes the world. ✨

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I only have one question here. HOW DARE YOU TO WASTE SUCH A TALENT AS ROH YOON SEO?

🔸️For two hours I've been watching good actresses playing fake friendship, fake love, and the most unconvincing crying ever. If it's unconvincing, it has to be a comedy, but it's far from that. Even the male characters were hopelessly bland, targeting the female audience. And I know, that this is not the actors' fault but the screenwriter's because in Our Blues Roh YoonSeo had a really great performance.

🔸️Seriously, guys, for how long are you going to make budget-safe and nostalgia-selling movies? I see you were influenced by 25 21, but the screenplay there was originally crafted. 20th Century didn't even bother to shoot a couple of frames on a real film camera.

You can't fake nostalgia. Periodt.

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진짜 이상하지? 사랑해서 결혼하는데, 결혼하면 왜 사랑은 안 하지?

Here goes the most viewed tvN drama in history, and I still can't take it seriously because I just watched Kim Soo Hyeon dance in trash bags in Dream High. Whatever way you look at it, the drama was bound to succeed because of the stellar cast, the two fantastic Kims who acted their souls out, the top crew, and the huge budget of ₩56 billion that allowed shooting in actual Germany and detailed portrayal of the luxurious life of the elite.

I find it curious that this type of K-dramas about millionaires and their inconceivable affairs seem to dominate the viewership ratings, e.g. Sky Castle, The Heirs, The World of the Married, Reborn Rich, Sandglass. It's obvious that tired working class people on weekends want to immerse themselves in the lives of those who knock on no doors. That explains why Twinkling Watermelon and Lovely Runner struggle on cable TV. But compared to the 2022 Reborn Rich, Queen of Tears is also a hundred times better in writing and production quality.

The most memorable character for me is Hong Soo Cheol. Not usually found in dramas, a big character transformation is assigned once again to the actor Kwak Dong Yeon by the director Kim Hee Won (as was Jang Han Seo in Vincenzo). His character is a vivid and adorable illustration to the change of mindset that the Hong family goes through in the story. This is the best part of the drama made with good humor and inventive situations that place the spoiled Hong heirs in a challenging unfamiliar setting. Kwak Dong Yeon is an amazing actor and needs to be protected at all costs!

Many viewers complain about the uninspired ending, but I think due to the genre and popularity it had to end this way and play safe. The story is also filled with sentimental distractions that bear no significance, e.g. Hyeon Woo saving Hae In in the water when they were kids. She might as well have been saved by anyone else and nothing would've change between them.

Of course I couldn't miss the light homage to the Cassano family and THE VINCENZO CAMEO HOLY SHIT. Thank you Kim Hee Won for letting us know he's doing well!

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Pure Inspiration

I was so immersed and invested in that chaotic disorganized shooting, whoah, this is such a tribute to all filmmakers! This is why I don't ever watch behind the scenes of my favorite shows and films, because I love watching the crew doing their job professionally and I get obsessed with it.

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE how it starts with a shitty low-budget zombie short generously irrigated with orange blood and you think "wtf is this junk", but by the end you see how much effort and human resources actually went into making that junk and how much fun the crew had, and you realize that having good time is the true value of filmmaking no matter how messy the result is. Anyone who participated in any kind of production will relate to this. I feel so inspired!

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Marking The Milestones In History

In the scenes of military violence towards peaceful Gwangju citizens, people who are being brutally beaten do not scream. They're filmed dancing. These disoriented civilians are waltzing to the dizzy dance of panic and agony. The drama Sandglass is uniquely lyrical in its approach to cinematography. With chunky old cameras and 4:3 aspect ratio, it seamlessly exercises dramatic hard shadows, Dutch angles, daring close-ups, insertions of archival footage, camera circling around the characters, overall rather bold moves for an old TV production. But it's only one of its merits. Stay with me here.

"Remember what they teach you at school? Our country is a democratic state and belongs to our people. But such illiterate people like me can't even protect themselves."

🔸Why was it named Sandglass? An hourglass is sometimes associated with impermanence of life and inevitability of death. The drama does talk about death and fate, particularly in the perspective of the people who remained alive. It talks about the survivors, the witnesses, the participants of one terrible period in South Korean history - the authoritarian rule and the Gwangju Uprising of 1980 - and their collective trauma. While the bloody suppression of the uprising is one of the focal points that changes the life of the main character Woo Seok, who was ordered as a soldier to shoot at civilians, it only acts as an attempt to release the tension between the regular citizens and the controlling state. The plot of the drama describes the continuing struggles of the main characters with the dehumanizing government institutions - the indoctrinating concentration camp that Tae Soo had to go through (similar has remained in North Korea to this day), and torturing in jail that Hye Rin was subjected to for not naming other students in opposition. After witnessing all that terror, the lives of the characters could never remain the way they were before.

"그 다음은 문제야. 그 다음 어떻게 사는지 잊지 마라."

🔸The key success element of Sandglass, as I see it, was the perfect timing of its release. 1995 was an extraordinary year for South Korea full of political scandals exposing the structural corruption that had long flourished in the country. The year was marked with the unprecedented arrests of two former presidents: Noh Tae Woo, following the scandal about his giant slush fund, and Jeon Doo Hwan who was responsible for the violent suppression in Gwangju. It was the year of a significant leap in SK's transition to democracy, and, to move forward, historical reflection was needed. Addressing the old political issues helped the Korean society come to terms with its authoritarian past and move on.

South Koreans were eager for justice after the long decades of censorship and oppression, and Sandglass provided them with that unconditional justice. But the story is not a dream come true - its honesty is brutal. Justice comes for everyone in all forms, even for those characters you wish were left in peace at last. It comes for the mafia leader Lee Jeong Do, it comes for the corrupted officials, it comes for Hye Rin who lost her people to keep her father's casinos, and, finally, justice comes for Tae Soo who "had many chances to turn his life around but always chose the easy way". The ending of Sandglass is very grounding, and it encourages you to rethink your life choices you had the liberty to make. "It only matters what was after. Don't forget how you chose to live".

Sandglass processes the collective trauma in detail. However, it fails in tackling the trauma on a personal level. When Hye Rin was released out of prison she spends several days in her room in deep shock, not eating anything, not responding to anyone. But the next episode she is shown completely fine, and soon you forget that she was actually tortured in there. Another problem is the tedious filling episodes in the middle about the gangs and shady business that aren't emotionally impactful. What I also found weird is the Soviet song "Cranes" being most often played in the scenes with the criminals negotiating their business. The translation of that song tells how the souls of soldiers killed in WW2 fly away as white cranes. Putting the song on during those moments doesn't feel very appropriate. That's why, for me, Sandglass is far from perfection despite all of its brilliance in other parts.

The story of the drama gets even more dark if you take into account the tragic life of its director Kim Jong Hak. After the financial losses from his late projects he was placed under the investigation and commited suicide in 2013. In his honor, Sandglass was rerun on SBS Plus on its original broadcasting schedule - two episodes per night four days a week.

🔸So, in the end, why should you watch this old-time drama existing exclusively in low quality somewhere off streaming platforms?

Because young Lee Jung Jae is hot AF.

Or...

Because it will give you the idea of how vast the impact of politics can be, through the example from modern SK history, and how little control an individual can have of their own life. For those viewers interested in exploring historical Korean identify and shared suffering, often called "Han", it provides a unique lens into the struggles faced by past generations. In its times, the drama also challenged the taboo of criticizing the government and portraying the tragic and unsightly aspects of Korean history. All in all, watch it at least to see how K-dramas developed and what they looked like before.

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An Adorable Staple On Your K-drama Shelf

The main feature of this K-drama: Seo In Guk. Among the cold mysterious male leads Seo In Guk is hands down the hottest. I'm genuinely fascinated by the way he cracks that ice mask with his eyes only. It's damn hypnotizing.

🔸I do believe the drama with a long and confusing title 어느 날 우리 집 현관으로 멸망이 들어왔다 (One day doom entered my house through the front door) has earned its place among the classics. It's a heartwarming and well-executed romance between a human and a supernatural being with actually engaging supporting plots. I love how it teaches us to appreciate the present and the fleeting moments of happiness, because there is no happiness without sorrow and no birth without death. The main theme of death in the drama is handled very well. Tak Dong Gyeong is terminally ill, but it doesn't feel like an intentional tear-jerker. Instead, the story concentrates on her connection with her family and friends and recognition of human relationships. The surreal world of Myeol Mang is also attractive in its emptiness and solace, and you're eager to unravel his true nature as his character evolves. The drama depends on him entirely.

🔸The overall story is pretty standard and predictable for a fantasy/romance, involving the annoying trope of memory erasure, but the way the drama takes you on that journey is worth the time. I didn't notice how fast I finished it considering that it's not packed with action and mind-blowing twists. My complaint remains: the emerging of the contract and its conditions - the key element of the story - wasn't clear from the very beginning and stayed unclear to the very end.

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A Potentially Problematic Tale

Why do I feel like Eun Ji was inspired by Mathilda from Leon?

This is a drama about the intellectually handicapped man wrongly accused of s=xual assault of the little girl he was friends with, and the consequences that come with the societal shame that ruins his life and cuts the ties with the people who communicated with him before. It's definitely on the tear-jerker side as it's supposed to show how certain people are defenseless in front of the world if there is no one ready to help. But, honestly, if there was no evidence proving Seok Gu's innocence, how else would you expect the society to react?

🔸The final shot with Seok Gu looking into the camera and breaking the 4th wall should've never happened. For the ending to be more tear-jerking, it would be much more effective if the camera was far away from him showing his unprotectedness to the world. Breaking the 4th wall you are asking for action, but for which one? Legally, the issue was resolved pretty fairly. Socially, there are enough real s=xual perpetrators already that were let slide because nobody believed they could commit such crimes. I don't think you should have strong faith in each and everyone's innocence, if you're asking us for that.

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"우리 모두는 서로에게 파괴자이자 구원자이다."

I was fighting off the desire to steal all the Gu Won's wardrobe till the end, especially that fuzzy white cardigan.

My Demon is a beautiful homage to Doom at your service and Goblin with a light sprinkle of Succession/Penthouse.
🔸️With the K-drama industry becoming more diverse and less dependent on its progenitorial techniques in the recent years, I'm sure the fans are yearning for those goofy nostalgic and lively projects. My Demon is exactly that energetic romcom that preserves all the best tropes and kdrama traditions on top of having a great chemistry between the leading actors, and it doesn't cross the line of being cheesy. I mean, Song Kang and Kim Yoo Jeong are both so attractive, "but who should I look at, is it Shang or Mulan?"©

🔸️The story doesn't break any expectations but meets them closely. A cold supernatural being unexpectedly falls in love with a human - and here goes everything you'd expect from such a story - funny misunderstandings, love contracts, break-ups "because my presence harms you", extravagant habits of the male lead, the villain pursuing the female lead, past lives in Joseon, and so on. But there are also many touching side plots, like the one of Jin Ga Yeong who was saved by Gu Won as a kid.

However, the most definite weakness of the writing would be excessive borrowing from more successful dramas, like the dissipation scene from Goblin or the "charging" from Doom At Your Service. I didn't feel anything in the climax BECAUSE I'VE SEEN IT ALREADY almost shot-by-shot identical in another drama with the same result.

🔸️That said, My Demon is still absolutely worth watching of you want to enjoy the authentic kdrama dynamics between the main characters and the supporting ones like "from enemies to lovers" of the two hilarious secretaries, or Gu Won's most faithful mob army, or the funny colleagues in Do Hee's company.

For me, the most interesting character is Do Gyeong. His story is more multifaceted than you expect, and the actor Kang Seung Ho did an amazing job with his performance. 박수!👏🏻

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"우리집은 진짜 왜 이렇지?"

Just as I expected, The House of Us by Yoon Ga Eun is far more mature than it's ressentimental predecessor The World of Us, and far more skillfully written and shot. The kids in the story are left parenting themselves, feeling obliged to care for their parents and their wellbeing. And they actually try to deal with all those problems they face, everyone in their different ways, and they discover something unique as a result of their journey.

"언니가 계속 우리 언니 있을 거지?"

This is such a great progress from the director and amazing acting from the kids. I hope we soon see her first post-pandemic movie, because currently this one is the latest released.

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"어른들은 진짜 왜 어러냐?"

I successfully forgot all the childhood mishaps not to be reminded here of those..?😅
I acknowledge the hard work put in this movie and the difficulty directing child actors, but I feel like the whole point of the story is to whimper about old traumas and how bad is everyone around. There aren't really any characters who offer strong positive connection with the leads.

This story was written from the position of the weak, and doesn't try to understand the problem of growing up from any other side. I'm sorry, but the debut feature of the director Yoon Ga Eun is immature. It was relatable sometimes, yes, but exhausted itself by the middle. Not to mention the cinematography - there were some overexposed shots. I will watch The House of Us next and hope it's more skillfully made.

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"오늘부터 퇴근 없다!"

서투르고 한심하고 어리석다.
I just can't stand all these poorly made dumb movies that make a fortune by involving big names and accessible concepts while small authors with better filmmaking skills don't get attention.

🔸️Separate scenes are hanging loose, and the acting and lines feel very forced. Lee Byeong Heon totally abandoned that thing called rhythm. He is one terrible director among many in the action thriller genre in Korea. I just despise that type of movies, including Master and the recent Alien. Imagine how would it flow if Edgar Wright shot it - because that's what cinematography is about!

I am damn revolted, and I hope I never make anything like this when it's my time to shoot a feature.

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The essence of the color green.

This title's translation is "green night", and the movie is the essence of the dark side of the color green.

🔸️You should watch it at least for the incredible camerawork. The camera is always static but the composition and the colors contribute to the depressing viscous atmosphere while nothing seemingly unusual is in the frame. This is the director Yoon Seo Jin's debut feature, and, while it's not a masterpiece, the directing style is intriguing enough for me to wait for his next movie. It's dark. Someone's death follows another death, and all in the scale of one family. The main issue would probably be the short premises that don't develop into the full genre or subplot.

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이상하게 귀여운 영화. 내가 제일 좋아하는 박찬욱 영화 중 하나.

"Please, steal my sympathy. Like Thursday."

화려한 영상미와 캐스팅은 차치하고라도 두 정신병원 환자가 각자의 독특한 소통 방식을 찾아가는 이야기는 마치 내가 한번 다시 세상을 발견한 것 같은 느낌을 준다. 분위기가 유치하고 성숙해서 소중하다.

"I didn't come with an instruction manual or a label on me anywhere. I still don't know what my purpose is. What was I made for?"

I was only 2 y.o. when this movie was released. To this day I have no idea what was I made for, but at least I know what a great time it is to be alive.
주목적은 핵폭탕이 되는 거 아니라 행복하게 사는 것이다.

Yesterday was 78 years since the bombing of Hiroshima, and we as individuals should not succumb to self-destructive behavior, we should not become our own nuclear bombs, and we as humanity must not destroy. We all should live, love, and help people around us become happier like Il Soon helped Yeong Goon.

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