Reviews

Queen Seon Duk (2009) - not my first time to watch a Korean historical drama but the impact unto me is so great that I want to watch more historical drama (because of this). I basically don’t like historical dramas, but this drama is an exception. I felt the emotions of the drama; it was fun, exciting, and heartbreaking. I think the ending is what it should be - which is usually the case for these types of dramas. I thought that I would give up halfway because of the lack of something in the story line but it keeps getting better and the cast too are getting better. This drama is awesome in many ways. Highly recommended.

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You’re Beautiful (2009) - probably one of the earliest Korean dramas that I have watched overtime. This drama has that typical over the top comedy which I liked watching before (*but not a fan anymore nowadays). Hongki’s portrayal of Jeremy is my favorite since I have the second male lead syndrome in this drama. This drama has a really good cast, the actors are well picked and they suited the image of the characters portrayed. Predictable storyline and yeah totally not convinced with Shin Hye as a guy. Not one of my favorite dramas but it still is one of the reasons why I continued watching Korean dramas up until today.

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This drama is one of my favorite Korean dramas. It is just amazingly pure. The story line is a bit frustrating, but I like how the story goes. This drama also made me like the main lead Korean actress Han Hyo Joo, and she is now my favorite Korean actress. She did well in this drama. I remember how I struggled just to see this drama and I think it was all worth it. All my friends who have watched this drama also like it and so it made me think that this drama is really one of the best.

The male lead Lee Seung Gi in the drama is pretty decent, I think he just started acting since he is not that good in portraying sad scenes just yet.

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not bad but not good

If I'm being honest, I think watching this series with high expectations can actually make you not like it cause it has a one-dimensional story. It's a very progress slow-burn about two reporters working together, along the way they fall in love with each other and that's it.

What carried the show is most likely the visual of the main leads and their chemistry was also "not bad but not good" it feels like the world forced them to be together and it worked.

I just don't like how onoe fell in love with kaburagi so darn fast with just a smile and kindness and how kaburagi kissed onoe without his consent and act like it's not a big deal after then when onoe got harassed by a man, kaburagi was instead jealous and mad at onoe as if he liked it also how he keeps leading onoe on then be all shrug about it after cause he was passively not facing his feelings resulting to onoe being confused a lot whether he actually likes him back or what not which was consistent for almost all of the episode.

Some scenes were kinda "huh?" for me cause it doesn't make sense. It was slow but felt rushed cause of the lack of attention to details, everything felt too easy, like I was wishing they make a mistake as a reporter but all of their project went surprisingly well without a failure which is so unrealistic.

Acting here could've also been more, they absolutely need to improve cause they did not deliver or express well. It might be the director's fault too but it did not guide me to things I should be feeling on some episodes, I was confused on what to feel.

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A movie full of suspense and excitement.. you should not miss watching it (^-^)/

Starting from buying second-hand items on an online shopping platform, Soo-Hyun (Shin Hae-Sun) fell victim to a scam and intended to report the fraudster. Instead of getting her money back, she found herself subjected to a series of relentless terrors.

Korea has never run out of storytelling ideas, and in this film, Korean cinema explores the issue of online shopping scams that have victimized many.

The story is meticulously crafted, and its mystery leaves the audience questioning who the real culprit is. Terror after terror is delivered gradually with various ‘crazy’ methods that keep the viewers on the edge of their seats.

Shin Hae-Sun delivers an outstanding performance, and the villain’s presence is filled with malevolence that makes the audience feel afraid whenever they appear.

The various terrors depicted, coupled with the investigative elements from the police, left me intrigued by the story until the end.

The climax is brilliantly executed, with an escalating intensity of terror. Many viewers applauded when the film concluded.

For fans of the thriller genre, TARGET is guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat!

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Cute & Character-Focused.

Four 45min Episodes. Acting 8.5, Story 6, Script 8, Chemistry 8, Music and Cinematography 8, Recommendation Value 7, Rewatchability 7.

So cute and sweet (and some hot moments too). Characters actually feel like high-schoolers for the most part. The focus is on the relationship between characters. While there is vollyball training, it is not a typical sports story (they only play one warm-up match).

All actors seem very comfortable with each other and there are a couple of sweet yet impassioned kisses. Even though there's not much plot the series was engaging (I did not fast-forward through anything). Both the main couple and secondary couple (step brothers) had me invested in them. There's light angst but medium tugging of the heart-strings and it's happily resolved.

I will likely re-watch at some point.

Same screenwriter as We Best Love, My Tooth Your Love, HIStory2 Right Or Wrong, and HIStory1 Obsessed.

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Entertaining watch

I honestly don't understand all the hate this series gets. It was highly entertaining and I thoroughly enjoyed the mystery aspect of it in the search for Enchanté's identity. It filled the time of the series really well (especially since we already know who Theo is going to end up with anyway) by creating the drama somewhere else rather than constantly throwing things at the MC like other dramas do. Yes there was a little bit of potential crushes looking to get with Theo but I personally liked how all the 4 Enchanté's had different reasons for claiming to be him.

The fact that Akk was willing to help, despite his surfacing feelings for Theo, also made us wonder if perhaps Akk was in fact Enchanté and hoping to prove to Theo that he was there all along. It helps showcase the care and investment Theo and Akk have in each other while teaming up to solve the mystery while also realizing their feelings along the way. And, personally, I didn't see a hint of it coming when they finally revealed who the real Enchanté was. I was even going so far as to guess it could be his father trying to anonymously befriend him to sway his feelings on trying to keep the literature program going. (Spoiler alert: it's not the father.)

I thought the acting was well done, especially by the supporting cast. I felt like everyone bounced off each other really well and all the clashes of personalities and motives made for an entertaining watch. In truth, I think they probably could have gone on with the different stories from all 4 Enchanté's a little longer, which is rare for me. Normally, I'm thinking a series could have been a lot shorter because most of the "filler" is unnecessary or boring or repetitive or a combination thereof. But here, I was so curious in all of their reasons and would have been just as happy to see more of it explained. I feel like out of the 4, Saifa got the least amount of explanation but it kind of makes sense once you find out his involvement.

(Can you tell I'm trying really hard not to say who Enchanté is?)

Speaking of which, I would suggest, if possible, watch the series without finding out who Enchanté beforehand. I admit, normally I am one to check spoilers and such but with this series, I managed to hold myself off and I think that really lent itself to the enjoyment of the watch. That being said, I'm actually looking forward to watching this series again in the near future to see if I can spot extra hints, now knowing what I know.

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Favorite Series

I enjoyed this series very much, great story about revenge, forgiveness, finding happiness, and dealing with hard times, It has many layers to the story. It's not for everyone, but I did love it overall, especially the ending wedding. It is a sister series to Forgotten Nights, which I also loved, but once again it's not for everyone since we all have different tastes. It's sad people truly do not understand the story or characters. I would recommend and rewatch as all the couples are beautiful and all deal with different issues and grow over the episodes, you have to understand this is part of a 3 storyline series. I do look forward to the next chapter. The characters and acting were good and they all had chemistry. It was nice to see that they should have different levels of personality and couples coming together. Showing us the different types of coupling that happen. It surprises me that a few are being haters for this series when clearly they don't get the whole overall storyline, but I would hope people see what is really there and how real this can be for the true value. I give it 10 for showing a great story and actors.

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Worthwhile Watch

Have to give them props to have made this out of a handful of manga chapters. Watched it purely for Fumika Baba, and it was worth the time. I, personally felt that she did a good job of portraying the introverted, shy mangaka who doesn't have a lot of experience with dealing stuff that comes easy to others.

Although, I feel it could've been expanded and shown properly, for eg. the rivalry with Nanase chan, the assistant kun's confession, relationship with Kiritani-san and Riichi and Hana's individual past stories, how they ended up the way they are today..

Not to mention, there a couple of moments which could've been made a lot more dramatic. Really wish more was there, but alas. Considering the source material, imo, this was a good one.

It can't be helped, for what it's worth, it was a decent show.

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Why I hated this kind of great movie.

There are many positive comments about how this is such an amazing piece of cinema. Yes, it is graphic and not for the faint of heart. I think the two male leads were pretty great. Lee Byung Hun as Kim Soo Hyun was good as the "good" guy, and Choi Min Shik was awesome at making Jang Gyung Chul one of the most despicable, disgusting, terrible characters ever.

That said, there is one facet of this movie that just turned me off to the whole thing. SPOILER AHEAD:



Soo Hyun puts a tracking device in Gyung Chul and lets him go. Oh, is he going to track him through the woods or some deserted area and just keep messing with him? No. He lets him go right where he is, to go and offend on a bunch more people. I believe he killed at least 3 people after Soo Hyun let him go. Those are the most egregious. But that poor nurse will also never be the same. Soo Hyun could have done many different things to torture that a$$h0l3. But letting him go like he did just ruined the movie for me. Soo Hyun turns out to be a terrible character as well. I know he didn't want that, or intend for that to happen, but the fact is that the baddie ruined a bunch more lives because of the way Soo Hyun decided to handle it. Sooooooo lame.

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It could have been much better

First of all, I would like to thank the Spanish subs because without them, I wouldn't have been able to finish the series. My Spanish is limited but I understood enough to get the gist of it. And... I didn't quite like it.

I'll be honest, the first two episodes were quite good. Good story, good actors, good comedy, I really enjoyed them. But then, I don't know if it was because of the subtitles that I had to read in Spanish or if the story really went down the drain but I lost interest. At the same time, it is quite hard to watch a series about a couple you don't root for. I'm sorry for Fluke's fans but I prefered to see Met with Phum than with Krit. And I actually pity Met. Not only did this poor guy lose his life/body but he also lost his first love and I was quite mad at Krit for falling for Phum when he was in Met's body... Well... I know it's not really his fault but I would totally blame Phum for it because not only did he fall in love with Krit while being in Met's body but he even pursued Krit when Krit asked him to back off and rejected Met in his own house while flirting with Krit just after. Wow! I was so mad at his behaviour, that was so disrespectful! So, I really liked Met's character and story and I was very disappointed that he was not the main character in this love story. Therefore, I quickly lost interest in the story, especially because Krit steals another life after that.

Anyway... Thank God it was short because I don't think I would have continued otherwise...

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I wish everyone could Live Their Own Life!!!

I have about 30 dramas I am currently watching and need to finish lol.
I popped on Viki and "Live Your Own Life" is promoting on the home page
and I immediately started watching it even though I had it in plan to watch
as this won't finish until march 2024. I miss Ha Joon after watching him in
"Destined With You", so that is probably why I did not hesitate.

I am currently at ep 5 but had to come on MDL to say how cruel that Aunty
is. Also the Uncle too but not as bad as Tae Ho Aunty. I can't wait to see how
Tae Ho bring her and accomplice down. The FL pisses me off with her annoying
family but come to think of it, she is the only one spending. The brother in college
is sensitive with minimal noise. he really has issues lol. Overall it's a nice Melodrama
to watch with far less entanglement than "The Real Has Come".... If you know!

I will update it along the way.

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5 > 7

Five red-headed ghosts visited Jackie Chan in Spiritual Kung Fu. In this kung fu flick there wasn’t just one secret kung fu book, there were two!

Long Yi Lang is the dull, mischievous, often bordering on unlikeable, student at the shaolin temple. One night a thief sneaks into the temple and steals the forbidden Seven Deadly Fists book. The Luk family took it in their plan for revenge against the monks for preventing the father from becoming the Wu Lin leader a decade before. Using the techniques in the secret book, the Luk son will be able to eliminate the competition and gain the leadership role. The only counter to the Seven Deadly Fists style is the Five Style Fists and that book has been lost. Right on cue, a sparkler from heaven crashes into the temple library depositing 5 red-headed ghosts who just happen to reveal where the Five Styles secret book is hidden and begin training Yi Lang in Dragon, Snake, Tiger, Crane, and Leopard styles. Meanwhile, the Luk son studies his book and begins killing off his competition. The inevitable duel between the two men will determine whether 7 is greater than 5 in a kung fu battle.

Jackie Chan’s Yi Lang was more irritating than funny or endearing. When the fights started in earnest, the mugging for the camera and whining finally stopped. James Tien often played a bad guy as he did in this film. Dean Shek and Wong Ching both played comic relief buddies to the two fighters. Wu Wen Siu had the rather thankless job of being the only female in the cast but made the most of it when fighting Jackie and James. I deducted points for the spanking scene she had to endure that detracted from the film for me.

The beginning of the film was slow and the humor decidedly low brow. One low point was when Jackie was putting live frogs and an eel into his pants. Some of the characters integral to the first half of the story all but disappeared during the second half. Maybe they had to rush to do another kung fu movie being filmed. The movie improved when the ghosts dropped into the temple and shook things up. They were funny but the first encounters with them became repetitious as if the director needed them to fill time, especially when he resorted to fart and urination jokes. Jackie choreographed the fights. They weren’t as slow as some of his earlier efforts, but were still indicative of the time and nothing like his more inventive fights he would create later on. It took nearly half the movie to begin the fighting. The pole fights were interesting when he had to fight the 18 Lohans though like the ghost scenes went on too long. Jackie and James’ duel was entertaining as was the fight with the secret Luk father, which didn’t take a genius to figure out early on. Jackie showed off the five styles with a minimum of wire and trampoline work.

Once the training and fighting began, I started to enjoy this film. The clownish mute ghosts in their tutus were low tech but their antics were engaging most of the time. When watching an older Jackie Chan film like this one, it helps to remember that this was near the beginning of his starring roles and his comedy and fight choreography would evolve.

10/23/23

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A Compelling but Unfulfilling Journey - "My Name" Review

"My Name" is a Korean drama series that had me captivated from the very start. Featuring the phenomenal acting talents of Han So Hee in the lead role, it's evident that her portrayal was nothing short of exceptional. So, what did I think about "My Name"? Let's dive into it.

The standout aspect of the series is undoubtedly the acting. Han So Hee's performance is simply outstanding. She brings depth, authenticity, and charisma to her character, making it hard to imagine anyone else in her role. Her ability to convey a wide range of emotions and complexities was a highlight of the show, and her chemistry with the rest of the cast added an extra layer of realism to the story.

The plot, on the other hand, is where "My Name" treads on familiar ground. It leans on some well-worn cliche elements, which might not win points for originality. However, it's a testament to the quality of the acting and the character development that it still manages to be an engaging watch. The series keeps you invested in the fate of the characters, and the pacing is well-maintained, keeping the storyline compelling.

However, where "My Name" falters, in my opinion, is with its ending. It's not the fact that it's a sad ending that bothers me; in fact, I appreciate a well-executed tragic conclusion. What left me unsatisfied was the execution of this ending. It felt rushed and lacking in closure. It left me with a sense of yearning for more, as though the story wasn't fully wrapped up. A more well-crafted conclusion could have provided the emotional satisfaction the series deserved.

In conclusion, "My Name" is a Korean drama with exceptional acting, particularly from Han So Hee, that makes it worth the watch. While the plot might be somewhat clichéd, the character development and pacing manage to keep it interesting. However, the unsatisfactory ending leaves you feeling like there was untapped potential in the storyline. It's a series that leaves you wanting more, but not necessarily in a good way.

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