What makes us human?

Nowadays, good psychological thrillers are like the money you have left at the end of the month; not enough.
And here we have Lesson in Murder that not only managed to be compelling from beginning to end, but also had the ideal dark atmosphere that a film in this genre must have.

As a fun of ''darker films'' (and as a way to defy my parents when I was young) I have watched my fair share of disturbing/bloody scenes and I no longer get shocked easily.
However, in some peculiar way this film managed to disturb me, even though it didn't have neither the most bloody nor the most disturbing scenes I have watched (especially make-up wise).

Is the blood and human despair enough to make a good psychological thriller though? Certainly not. There is also acting, directing and an actual -non bloody- plot. But let's start from the beginning.

Abe Sadawo that portrayed the serial killer Haimura was simply phenomenal. His facial expressions in combination with his emotionless eyes was just a disturbing image in itself. It literally felt like I was watching an emotionless shell trying to be compassionate. Mizukami Koshi also did a pretty good job in his role as well as (most of) the rest of the cast.

Plot wise the movie was complex and intriguing enough without being hard to understand. It managed to explore the darkest corners of the human mind, without trying too hard and it had a great balance between plot and characters. I would definitely recommend to anyone that may be reading this to not watch the trailer or read the whole synopsis before watching it.

And there is something else I personally loved and I know that most of the times it can end up being a disaster. I am talking about the so called ''filler scenes''. The movie had some scenes that seem unecessary at first, but as the film progressed everything ended up being equally important.

Last, but certainly not least, the directing and cinematography were great. They gave the film that last spice that was needed to make it better than your average psychological thriller. It was dark, but not too dark, disturbing without trying too hard, symbolic without being too on the nose.

Even though it is not flawless, mostly when it comes to the make up/hairstyling department and some deliberate misdirections, the film ticked all the right boxes -dark atmosphere, engaging plot, good acting- that definitely differentiates it from many movies in the same genre and personally speaking it has just been way too long since I watched something this satisfying.

P.S. To my fellow Through the Darkness and Beyond Evil lovers, you will enjoy this a lot!

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Blood and Flesh

I have been trying to come up with a catchy first sentence to begin this review for the past hour, but I can't think of anything satisfying enough, so here we go.

Execution-wise the movie is splendid in all aspects from cinematography and directing to acting and music.
Unexpectedly it doesn't even feel draggy, even though it runs for two and a half hours.
However for some reason I don't feel like mentioning any of this is important, because it doesn't really matter comparing to the plot and what it felt like watching it.

Hunger deals with the theme of greed and the chasm between the poor and the rich. It doesn't romanticise anything and at some points it feels raw to a point that as a viewer I felt depressed, frustrated and angry but not in a way that it made it difficult to watch. It doesn't have any type of ''fairy-tale'' plot or the cliché of ''food made with love beats everything''.
It focuses on the importance of the choices that people make for themselves and how easy it is to turn into a person you hate.

Even though it doesn't feel preachy, I feel like they could tone it down a bit more to have a better balance.
I would definitely like a different ending, but it didn't degrade the rest of the film.

"The poor eat simply to satisfy their hunger, but when you have more than enough to eat your hunger doesn't end".

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It's been a while

SPOILER FREE
Everyone can appreciate some aspects of this drama, like the acting or the OST, but plot-wise this is not a drama for everyone. Beyond Evil is a character-driven drama, that some may find slow paced. Anyone who likes multilayered and morally gray characters will appreciate it. The acting (especially from the two main leads) is probably one of the best I have seen.

SPOILERS
It's been a while since I saw such an intriguing series. Was it perfect without even a single flaw? No. However the flaws were minor, so I didn't really care about them.

Beyond Evil is a gripping drama from the beginning. There are not enough words to express how much I loved watching this series. The plot is very well written and the characters are so interesting and complex. The acting is outstanding. Shin Ha Kyun delivered one of the best performances I have ever seen. He is an amazing actor, and Yeo Jin Goo was such a great choice to play Han Joo Won. I don't know who thought of putting Shin Ha Kyun and Yeo Jin Goo together in a series, but whoever did, thank you very much! This series would definitely not be the same without this great cast and the phenomenal chemistry of the two main leads.

Generally, I don't pay too much attention to the directing, since most of the times it is good or at least decent. Nonetheless, it was impossible not to notice the great directing of this series. I loved how it was like seeing the POV of another character and it led the viewers to certain assumptions to distract them from the truth. The color tones were all so dark yet not too dark, which made the series even more appealing and disturbing (especially in the first episodes). The OST fits the series in an unimaginably good way.

Did this get draggy, tiring or just not as good comparing to the first half? Kind of, but it was inevitable. This isn't a series that reveals everything on the last episode, so of course every single clue added a piece to the puzzle and when things started getting clearer it was natural for the series to not be as mysterious as it was in the first episodes.

What I really loved, is the fact that everything was revealed slowly but surely and we didn't wait till the last episode to find out who the killer is.

I loved how Beyond Evil tackled many issues like the stigma that follows a falsely accused person or the pain that people who are left behind are going through.

Am I being objective giving this series a prefect 10? Probably not, but reviews are not objective anyways and this is a series that I will remember for quite a long time, so why not?

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Femme fatale, where?

While I was watching this series many "what if" questions came to my mind. What if the editing was good? What if Park Hee Soon was the male lead? What if the make-up artists could do make-up? But let’s see every aspect separately.

Plot
The plot was obviously full of plot holes, as expected from the genre. The problem is that the series took itself way too seriously to a point that me, as a viewer, expected something better writing-wise. At some points, it was plain stupid.
Let’s take the kids for example that were basically there for décor. When the scriptwriter needed them, she added all those scenes with them, when she didn’t, it was like they didn’t even exist.
When it comes to these series, entertainment is a must. Even though the first half of the series was entertaining to watch, the second half was boring for the most part and all the excitement disappeared.


Directing, Cinematography & Editing
First of all, if someone asked me, when was this series released, I would be confused. The majority of the series looked like a 2016 or a 2015 production, but there were some scenes -not many- that looked visually pleasing, like they were part of a 2021 production. Generally though, it felt cheap.

The lighting was bad, especially in some scenes, like the tango scene in the first episode. I only liked the close-ups in the first few episodes that added to the atmosphere they were trying to create.

The editing was also pretty bad. In one scene the character looks to the right in the other scene, he looks straight ahead.

And then, we have everyone looking fake. Someone told me how it is called, but since I don’t remember it and I can’t find it, I will just use my own words. Everyone’s skin looks fake. It is flawless and not in a "the make-up is great" kind of way. In some scenes, it felt like some characters didn’t have a nose, that’s how bad it was. And to be honest, just why? I had a huge problem with that, especially regarding Seo Yea Ji. She is stunning the way she is, why would you make her look like that? That must be an achievement.


Acting
Oh, Lord. Generally speaking, the acting was mediocre, if I want to be generous, with Yoo Sun as Han So Ra being the only one that I loved watching on screen. She did a great job, portraying her character and I dare say that I would compare her performance with Kim Seo Yeon’s in the Penthouse. Good overacting is not easy to find and she did a magnificent job. Lee Sang Yeob and Park Myung Hoon, Kang Yoon Gyeom's brother, also did a very good job.

Now to the rest of the cast. Seo Yea Ji did an okay job as Lee Ra El. I would say that she needs a bit more work in the sentimental-scenes department. Besides that, at some point, I felt like she gave up. It was like she was trying so hard to make Ra El seem like a good person, to a point that she even made her voice sound thinner.

Now to the actual problems. One of those problems is Park Byung Eun. Even though I didn’t find him as bad as everyone else did, another actor would bring the eroticism and chemistry that it was needed. My biggest problem with his acting was the inconsistency. In a close-up shot he looked shocked, eyes red etc and in the full shot of the same scene he looked like he was just staring at some flowers in the park.

I also didn’t like the acting of Jeon Gook Hwan, the actor that portrayed Han Pan Ro, Han So Ra’s father. I get that he is a veteran, but for me he was ridiculous and I am saying that in the least good way possible. I felt like his acting would suit a series from five years ago. Same with his right hand Kim Jung Cheol, portrayed by Jung Hae Kyun.

Don’t even get me started on the foreign actors and how bad they were. Seo Yea Ji spoke better Spanish than the people that were supposed to be from Argentina.


OST
I like the original soundtrack of the series, with Hold Me Tight by Kim Ye Ji being my favourite. The version of Libertango by Astor Piazzolla with the bandoneon in the tango scene was also fantastic.


Femme Fatal
Undoubtedly, Seo Yea Ji is the perfect actress for these types of roles. Besides her beauty that I personally find quite unique in the Korean industry and her deep voice, she can pull of characters like Lee Ra El. However, no matter how good and gorgeous she is, her character was downgraded by everything else.

Firstly, she is supposed to be mesmerizing when dancing tango and she is just not. The way she dances feels amateurish, cringe to watch and it is definitely not as erotic as they want us to believe. Plus the choreography they created didn’t help at all. It made me laugh at times. That’s where the director should enter and actually do a good job alongside the make-up artists and stylists which gets me to my next point.

As everyone noticed, Seo Yea Ji has lost a lot of weight. Even though we can’t know if it was for the role or because of the scandal, the people responsible for her outfits should be fired. Many of the things that she wore didn’t fit her body type. Not only that, but some of the clothing choices were just bad. Same goes with the makeup.

No, the bad make-up wasn’t intentional, as I have heard many people say. Besides the fact that it felt like they were amateurs and had the same three things to work with -colors, eye-shadows etc-, the majority of their work was awful and I am being very kind. The make-up they used in most scenes looked awful on her, it didn’t fit her outfits nor it was nicely applied. The glittery make-up was just offensive to my eyes. It was bad even in her dreams! Plus, in some shots it looked different than in others and in some scenes they made her look like a ghost.

The same problem occurs with the hairstyles. They weren’t too bad, but when you have Seo Yea Ji you must make her look even more beautiful and not degrade her beauty.

Once again, think of the tango scene. I can’t believe they made her wear that awful dress with that awful make up, when they could have dressed her with a blood red colour dress to make her look like a woman you would give up everything for.


Kang Yoon Gyeom VS Seo Eun Pyung
If you were watching this series, while it was airing, then you know that everyone was arguing about who Ra El should end up with, who is better blah blah blah.

This is my unpopular opinion. First of all, for me, Ra El should end up with no one. Confucius had said "Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves" and that would be the most fitting ending for this type of series.
Now, if I had to choose one, that would be Kang Yoon Gyeom. First of all, I can see why he would love her or obsess over her, take your pick. Also, people seem to forget that Lee Ra El is not a saint. She may have been through a very difficult time, but she is manipulative and uses everyone to achieve her goals, including the kids. So no, I don’t think she would make a good couple with Mr. Perfect Seo Eun Pyung. Her toxic relationship with Kang Yoon Gyeom and their similarities make them the ideal endgame, because that is what fits a series full of morally grey characters.

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High expectations are the key to disappointment

This is going to be a rant/review with the length of an essay, so friendly reminder that this is my personal opinion. I intended to make this spoiler-free, but I just had to mention a few scenes that made me roll my eyes in the plot/characters and directing part of my review.

Remember 15 was one of my most anticipated series of the year and it did disappoint me in almost all aspects possible. Before ranting, I want to mention the two things that I liked about it.

Promotion: I want to applaud the team that was responsible for the promotion of this series. The posters, especially the first one, were some of the best I have ever seen. The official teaser prepared the viewer for a suspenseful, gory series that would also focus on the characters and their stories and it was very well edited.

Acting: The portrayal of the characters from their respective actors was probably the best thing this series had to offer. They all did a decent job, taking into consideration the fact that the characters were not that well-written.

Now to the rant:

Directing: I usually don't pay that much attention to the directing, since in most series it is neither praise-worthy nor rant-worthy. However, in this case things are different. If someone told me, they changed the director after the first two-three episodes I would probably believe them. Even though it felt like it got improved in some way (not that it was good, but not as bad) the way they shot the first few episodes was amateurish at best. There were some shaky camera movements, even in scenes that there was no reason for the camera to be shaky (basically scenes where they were just standing and not running). Some unneeded (and shaky) close-ups, that not only did not create the atmosphere they aimed for, but also made the scene look even more ridiculous. Some outrageous shots that were filmed badly - worse than when I was filming a commercial for school-. There is this one scene where two characters are face to face and it is supposed to be intense, but the camera angle allows the viewer to see half of the face of one of the characters and not even that well, because her hair was getting in the way. And let’s not forget the scene when Fone lost her eye from the branch of a tree. That branch went so deep that it should have destroyed her eye completely, yet someone thought ‘’let’s make the screen red, to show that Fone is seeing red from the blood that she lost'', when she is not supposed to see anything, because her eye is gone!

Make-up: After watching the teaser of the series, I expected a decent amount of gory scenes and there were some, but the way they did the make-up was pretty bad in many of the cases. As a result it felt fake and it ruined the gore aspect that was supposed to be one of the main themes of Remember 15. Frankly, there are many times that I, and probably many other viewers, have seen some pretty bad CGI or some pretty bad make-up scenes (with a very recent example being Under the Skin). However, unlike those dramas, Remember 15 should have some realistic gory scenes to make the plot and the atmosphere work.

Plot/Characters: I wouldn’t mind that much if the plot was perfect and all the other aspects were lacking, but even the script was not well-written. The series has basically two timelines, one happening in the past and one taking place in the island. As a viewer, I anticipated some suspenseful scenes in the events happening in the island, but unexpectedly, the past of the characters was much more interesting to watch. Generally, the majority of the plot and the actions of the characters made no sense. I know I should throw my brain out of the window, when I have to, so I can enjoy a series, but this one was so outrageously stupid at some points that it was hilarious and a bit insulting to watch. The characters' reactions made no sense. Everything worked as a plot tool to make the story develop -if I can call that development-.
Everyone is so emotionless and their reactions (or to be more precise the lack of them) make no sense. People are dying and everyone is so calm! In one of the scenes Bozo (or another male character, I don’t remember) finds Bew with blood on his hands and with a dead body near him (that probably has no head left, because Bew smashed it with a rock) and he looks calmer than when I am having a walk in the park. People get severely injured, but they survive and can function properly, when the script says so, but others with less serious injuries can’t even walk straight. The characters' reactions are very fake and the way they act changes so drastically, in a way that it feels like they change their whole personalities. Therefore no matter what they do, you don't really feel anything about them. Some of them are okay, but the majority is just bland, the kind of 'I don't care even if they die' kind of bland.

The pace: Unfortunately the pacing of the series was another huge problem. I could call the first half of the series a guilty pleasure, but after some point it became very draggy. The thing is, that when you are making a slow paced series, you must know how to handle everything to make the viewer interested in what is taking place on the small screen. In this one, they apparently didn’t know how to do that. There are many scenes that last minutes, even though they don’t add anything to the atmosphere or to the plot and the sole purpose of their existence is to make the episode last longer.
Remember 15 could easily be a movie or a short five-episode series. I felt like they wanted to make this deep, emotional and at the same time engaging and suspenseful, but it ended up being extremely boring. As a result I watched the second part of the series in double speed and I felt like I was watching it in its regular pace.

This is trying to be a character-driven horror series with some social commentaries here and there, but it is failing miserably in all aspects. After having watched the WeTV Thai original series After Dark, I expected a similar atmosphere as that one. If you have watched that series, you will know what a disturbing atmosphere really means. It managed to balance good acting, chilling atmosphere and also make some social commentary, while this one just wanted to do so and never achieved it. Is this horror? No and I don’t know If they really aimed for it.

All in all, Remember 15 had an interesting concept, but the execution lacked in almost all aspects and for me, it does not deserve your time, especially if you are looking for a horror series. Try After Dark or some other Thai series with a similar theme, like The stranded.

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"On the backside of the moon, there was not even a single ray of light."

"I have someone that I want to make happy, but if that person really finds happiness then I won’t be needed by anyone in this world."

Human darkness was always something that fascinated people and Byakuyako portrays two of the most interesting and complicated characters I have ever watched, that have fallen into the abyss. It focuses on two pathetic human beings, Yukiho and Ryoji that are trapped in their past and guilt. Their relationship can’t be defined with a simple word. It is not love, nor friendship. It is a complicated connection between two scarred humans that found someone to rely on. Like the sun and the moon, Yukiho and Ryoji are meant to exist in the same universe and offer comfort and rest to one another, but without being able to truly exist at the same time.

"After that, I told lies upon lies. This way, I lost every bit of the truth."

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Two years ago, this would be ground-breaking

Like many people, I have been waiting for this series to air for way too long. I have been through all the airing dates, the delays, the rumoured cancellations, the teasers, the trailers, everything. Even though, it’s been a few days since KinnPorsche finished airing, I wanted to write this review, because I waited way too long to watch this series. I will try to make it as less tiring as possible.

I haven’t read the book, so my thoughts are solely based on what I watched, how I experienced it and my expectations. So excluding the first two episodes that were worse that my physics teacher in high school, below are my thoughts for the rest of the series.

Directing & Cinematography
With a few exceptions, I would say that there were quite a few visually pleasing scenes and for the most part the directing was very well done. I liked the lighting they used and the framing.

Fight scenes
The fight scenes were a huge problem for me. Some were good enough to entertain me and others were ridiculous. Besides the sounds that sounded fake most of the times, but well they were much better that some other Thai series I have watched, there were other problems.
One of those problems was the camera movements. I get why some directors like shaking the camera to create tension, even though I don’t agree, but you need to know how to do that. Showing me a wall when there is a fight scene is not the right way to do it! Making me dizzy and confused about what is happening is also a huge miss. Plus, when the fighting scenes are not well choreographed, don’t use full shots! How am I supposed to get into the fight scenes, when I see people standing there pretending to fight the air, because the protagonist must win, even though they could have easily killed him like nine times?

OST
For me, "Why Don’t You Stay" by Jeff Satur was definitely the highlight of the original soundtrack. No lies, I am basically obsessed with this song. The instrumental and the opening song were also quite nice to hear.

Product Placement
It’s a Thai series, I don’t know why I expected something better…


Plot
So, here lies the biggest problem. I haven’t read the book, so after watching the trailer, I had certain expectations. I was waiting for a plot driven series with a sprinkle of same-sex relationships. What I got was romance with a sprinkle of nonsensical wattpad-like plot.
Ok, let’s be honest, the plot makes no sense. Like at all. Porsche is acting like a three-year-old, being irresponsible af and the mafia is being way too cool about it. There are way too many things that don’t make sense, but I will not mention them, because of spoilers.

Humour
Oh God, I hated it. To be honest, it is a hit or miss, I personally didn’t like it at all, with that fish scene being quite disturbing (still hoping that those fish were fake). Imagine my shock, when I was expecting to watch a serious mafia-based plot and the first four episodes -at least- had so many comedic scenes that felt like they were there just to make the episodes longer.

Acting
Before talking about the actual acting, where the hell did they even find so many good looking people? WHERE? All of them were like they walked out from a fashion show or something; Vegas and Tay (Kinn’s friend) obviously forgot to change their model-like clothes.

And now to the acting. I would dare say that it was much better than I expected, especially taking into consideration that many of the actors don’t have that much experience. I enjoyed the majority of their performances and most importantly I didn’t feel like they forced themselves to act. People that have been watching BLs for a while, know what I mean.
With the exception of some scenes that felt a bit cringe (mostly the ‘’I am speaking another language’’ ones), I was very satisfied with the acting. The chemistry between the actors was also very good and to be honest, I feel like all the cancellations and delays helped them get more acquainted with each other and this is the result.

Romance & Intimate scenes
Like I previously mentioned, I liked the chemistry between the characters and I think they did a pretty good job, making their relationships seem real. At some point though, the main couple became a bit boring to watch and I would like to see more of the other couples, especially the relationship between Vegas and Pete that felt like it started way later that it should have. Even the relationship between Kinn’s friends was much more interesting and I am mad we didn’t get more of them.
KinnPorsche offered some very steamy scenes that you have probably not seen before in a popular BL series. And once again, everything felt quite natural to watch which is a huge plus!



All in all, KinnPorsche was an entertaining-enough series, thus the rating, that should not be taken seriously. I enjoyed it much more, when I accepted that this is not the serious mafia-based series that I was expecting (since they had advertised it as such) and the mafia-plot was basically the background that just didn’t have to make much sense.

The thing is, that five years ago, when the BL series that got produced every year could be counted in one hand, people didn’t have high expectations. This would be phenomenal back then. Why? Good budget, good actors, fun to watch.
Nowadays, there are so many BL series and people have the option to choose what to watch, picking what they think as best from a variety of dramas. At this point, the majority has started looking for well-written stories and not just for a portrayal of a same-sex relationship on screen. This series is definitely something relatively new, but certainly not ground-breaking.

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The comparison is inevitable

In 2018 the Gifted was released. Even though I am not a huge fan of the whole ''super power'' theme, I decided to give it a chance, because of the rating here, on mydramalist. Not only I wasn't disappointed, but on the contrary I loved it. The cinematography and the directing were both phenomenal. The music was great and so were the actors. And who wouldn't mention the great way of handling the potentials?

The Gifted wasn't just a series that portrayed kids with 'super powers'. It was also a series that judged the educational system and undoubtedly, the best part was the plot. Even though the supernatural aspect was a big part of the series, it felt realistic because they paid attention to almost every character. To these high school kids, that were trying to control their potential without making it destructive for themselves and for others.

Unfortunately, the second season wasn't as satisfying. First of all, one of the aspects that I missed the most was the suspense. In comparison to the first season I wasn't as compelled to watch the next episode immediately. Also, even though the music was equally great, the actors weren't as good as I expected. Their acting was a little bit robotic and not as convincing, and because I have seen many of them in other projects, I choose to believe that the plot was at fault. Which leads me to the most disappointing part of The Gifted: Graduation.

I felt like the plot was over the top. It seemed like they tried too much to make it interesting, while attempting to make it emit the dark vibes of the first season. And they also included new characters that were unlikable to say the least (at least in the first half).

Nonetheless, it is not a bad series. It was decent, but unfortunately the comparison with the first one is inescapable. The Gifted was a fantastic series and every episode was perfect, at least this is how I experienced it. In this one though, they tried too much to add shocking factors to make it more interesting and as a result they neglected other aspects.

However, I will leave this here:
''We do not study hard to get ahead of other people. We study to earn the freedom to choose our paths and to choose the world we want to live in''.

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Reality game shows shouldn't be fun just for the players

The Devil's Plan is a 12 episode reality game show, where 12 players must compete to gain the grand prize that can go up to 500.000.000 won (approximately 370.000 dollars). Being one of my most anticipated reality shows of 2023, I had certain expectations about it and after completing it, I'd generally say it was a decent watch that could be much better, if they handled some things properly.

Contestants: The 12 players taking part in the games seem to have different strengths and weaknesses.
The good:
+ All players are interesting to watch at first. Why? We don't know them, so like kids that get excited with their new toys, as viewers we are interested to learn more about their abilities, strategies and -of course- characters.

The bad:
- I am not sure what the production team thought when choosing some of the players. After the first 2-3 eps, some of them were literally invisible. They didn't know how to use any strategies and they offered nothing to the actual game. They just got to stay, because they were protected by the nature of the games.


The games: Here we go. The games are interesting and well-thought-out for the contestants that are taking part in them, but not as fun for the audience. There are two games in a day. I don't have any complains for the second one, since it was mostly suspensful, fast and fun to watch.

The first one is another case and here is why...
- Rules: Too many and complicated. In some games it is hard to understand, before they start playing. Why? The actual rules lasted up to 7 minutes. Am I supposed to stay focused, when someone with an awful mask is talking with an altered voice for 7 minutes straight?

- Time: The first games took too long. They could take an entire episode to finish and they got very boring.

- Revelations: Almost everything is secret about the identities or the advantages of the players in each round. As a result -the last 15 minutes aside where things got fun- it is not that easy for the viewer to immerse in the games.

- Advantages: The first few games are created in a way that even if you win and take an advantage, it's like you never got it. In other words, your previous win is worthless in the next game since you are in the same spot as all other players that could literally just have lost or done nothing.

- Pacing/Interaction with the audience: This is no Physical 100 where people fight and you have fun watching them trying to figure out who will win in one to one fights. This is a show about wits. If the audience can't somehow take part in the games, which is natural, they should at least be fast paced and fun to follow.
Even though I had fun watching the show and the time did pass relatively quick, it also felt like I was watching many people plotting and talking to each other about rules (that are hard to understand at first), while having secret roles they have revealed to one another (that I, as a viewer, don't know).

- Eliminations: They rarely happened in the first few eps. As a result, the games felt draggy and you didn't feel any suspense.


They could easily make this much more entertaining for the audience if they just changed some things.
1. This show needed more players. In that way, it would have more eliminations -so would be more entertaining to watch-, more capable contestants and most importantly it would be much more suspensful for the audience.
2. It needed one to one games. It had almost none and that made it hard to follow and it wasn't as investing as it could be.
3. Some players shouldn't have been chosen. They offered nothing but frustration and they are the main reason why this show wasn't as interesting as it could be.
4. Team games should have been less complicated. I am sorry, but I can't fully focus when someone is reciting rules for 10 minutes in a game that as a viewer, it is almost impossible to follow -at least in the first half- and I can't take any part in it.
5. Games should have been more entertaining for the audience. The games in the final are the perfect example of it. If they had decided to plan more games that the audience could follow from beggining to end and they didn't need huge teams to work, it would be an amazing game show.

All in all, the concept is interesting, the production quality is really good and many of the contestant choices were wise. I will also admit that the games are very well-thought-out and generally it is a very easy show to watch. However, it is a game show that it is much more interesting and fun for the contenstants than for the actual viewer that is watching it. It is a pity, because it could be a much better watching experience, if they had a different approach or at least a different editing team.

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LIVƎ

"Hell is empty and all the devils are here"

Dear lovers of the dark side,

This is a tale that not everyone can stomach.

Boody, disturbing and daring, this doesn’t follow the typical routes.

Don't spoil yourself (and don't rush to judge it), because you will miss the fun.

It may not be perfect, but you will enjoy the dark elements and the twists and turns.

Just be careful not to gaze too long into the abyss.

Don't miss it (if you can take it)

Sleep safe,
Dark Side Cult Member

P.S. You better be watching or I will be watching (you)

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''Freedom within limits''

''Home should be a shelter that can protect us''

Let me start off by stating that this movie has almost nothing in common with Parasite (since I saw many people wondering), besides the fact that it is not for everyone. It is the definition of a visually stunning film that heavily relies on the atmosphere to convey different types of -mostly- negative emotions. The movie gives out a disturbing feeling and it makes the viewers sense that something is very wrong with the family. That feeling is enhanced by the dark color pallet that is used, to make the audience feel even more trapped and suffocated. The acting is great not only from the veterans, but also from the young actors and actresses, that manage to give off a touch of desperation and melancholy to the film. The instrumental is beautiful and the plot is mostly well written, with some twists and turns, especially near the ending. The only reason that this is not rated higher, is because of the way that all the revelations were handled. It felt like they tried to make the viewer understand what happened in a very rushed manner, revealing everything in the end in a way that could be seen as confusing by many. All in all though, it definitely deserves the watch.

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I promised myself to write a review after finishing this series and here I am. This is my first attempt, so bare with me.

I wanted to say that I didn't plan to watch the Gifted. Actually I didn't even know it existed before the first 5 episodes. After finishing it I am not disappointed with my choice. If you are looking something with no romance (or maybe some hints of it) and you would like to think about some serious topics like education and equality then this is for you.

Plot wise the series is near perfect. The depiction of the students and the fact that they didn't use over the top 'gifts' like flying , made this quite unique. The best part of it was that the scriptwriters didn't only focus on the advantages of the students abilities, but they also commented the serious consequences not only to themselves but to others too.

If you are a student and have asked yourself "Why am I studying so hard?", "Why do I have to do this?" or "Why am I not good at this?" this is a must watch.

This is a realistic depiction of the 'law of the jungle' and our educational system that ignores some of the students as 'not all deserve the same treatment'.

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A fun ride, but...

Special Delivery is an action movie that is certainly not ground-breaking in any way. When I am watching action movies, my goal is to be entertained and throw my logic out of the car window. However, in this case, the movie did not offer the kind of entertainment that would make me turn away from all the ridiculous things that were happening at times.

The plot was structured like many films of the same genre, and the action sequences were definitely fun to watch and very well-made. In other words, if you are looking for some nicely shot and fun to watch action scenes, you will surely be entertained.

What ruined it for me the most was the acting. The female lead is a badass protagonist, and Park So Dam definitely didn't have a hard job, when it comes to the acting department. Her character was mostly expressionless, but in my opinion, she didn't deliver even in the scenes that she was supposed to show the slightest bit of emotion. She was very wooden. The main antagonists mostly overacted and to be frank, I couldn't take them seriously. Generally, the majority of the cast was mediocre.

It was obvious that the scriptwriter tried to make this an action film with some kind of emotional impact, taking into consideration the way the plot progressed. However, the characters were poorly developed and the acting was lacking. As a result I didn’t feel anything for any of them.

All in all, even though there are some aspects that are there in almost all action films, like people not dying, unless the script says so or individuals suddenly turning into super humans with great abilities, the acting and the way the plot was structured didn't make it entertaining enough to make me feel for the characters or ignore some of the absurd things that were happening on screen. Don't get me wrong though. This is an entertaining ride and an ideal movie to watch, when you are looking for some fun after a long and difficult day.

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Chishiya’s show

When I first watched season one I immediately rated it a nine. However a few weeks before the release of S2 I decided to give it a rewatch and honestly I would probably rate it a six now. It had many flaws that I didn't really care about in my first watch but when I rewatched it, it was almost painfully bad at times.
After rewatching S1 and reading some of the comments here on MDL about S2 my expectations were low.
That being said, this time, probably once again, I didn't really think it through when I rated it a nine, because I had fun and that is the most important thing in my mind. That doesn't mean that it deserves it or that I won't criticize it in what will follow, so here we go:

What I liked:
- Production quality: Everyone knows what a good production quality means and you can see it here. It is expensive and it shows.

- The games: If you ask me they were much better than in S1. First of all, the characters that appeared in the games were extremely interesting. Besides that, the games were much more suspenseful, difficult and not as predictable comparing with S1. Lastly they were much more violent.

- Chishiya: Okay, I will be honest. This guy should have been the main character and he is caring this show on his smart brain cells. He is so fun to watch and Murakami Nijiro's performance is on point. He is intelligent, flawed and has the best lines in the entire series. He is just a pleasure to watch and I believe that without him the series would be half as memorable.

- Manga feeling: First things first, I haven't actually read the manga, but the series does give you a manga-feeling. The action scenes, the way the characters act and look and some specific scenes are like they came out from manga pages, something that is probably one of the biggest advantages this drama has.

- New characters: Even though our old fav characters like Kuina and An are still there and they have kept their awesomeness, new interesting characters appeared like Kyuuma or Akane.

- Easy to watch: Look, some of the episodes were very long (with the longest being 1h and 20m), but generally the series was very easy to watch. Yes, there were some draggy scenes and some boring moments, but I didn’t feel the urge to see how long it is left from the episodes.

- The ending: As probably all sane people that were planning to watch season two, I was very concerned -and I mean very- about the ending. Will it be nonsensical? Will I want to break my screen?
The ending surpassed all of my expectations and it was the perfect way for the final episode to end. It was so mind-blowingly good that I had to rate the show a nine. It was also unexpected -at least comparing to what I had in mind-.


Things I found mediocre:
- Philosophical aspect: In this season there were many philosophical questions regarding the meaning of life, justice, the ''price'' of humans etc. Even though I liked that they added these existential questions, sometimes it felt a bit forced especially since it wasn't that evident in the first season.

- Main leads: I know, I will get killed for saying this, but the main leads were just boring to watch. They were so uninteresting comparing to the rest of the characters and their plot armour was so huge that even with a nuclear disaster they would survive.

- Nonsensical stuff: I know it is based on a manga and to be honest I didn't really care because I had fun watching, but the amount of disbelief I had to live through was just unimaginable. I think that they could have handled it a bit better to make it more suspenseful and ''realistic'' before the grand finale.

What I disliked:
- Acting of the two mains (and some other characters):
I had a huge problem with the acting of the two main leads, especially with Yamazaki Kento. He was overacting most of the times and no matter how much I tried to feel for his character his expressions were so ridiculous that I had the urge to laugh than actually care about him. Tsuchiya Tao also wasn't that great and her way of talking in some scenes felt like she was pressuring herself to sound in a specific way.
Let me be clear about something here. I know that in many Jdramas actors tend to overact, but there is a difference between good overacting and bad overacting.
Even though this is based on a manga (so I can get the need to overact) the only character that was overacting badly was Yamazaki Kento (and another character that barely appeared). Acting is acting and to be able to succeed in this type of acting you must know how to pull it off in moderation, something that our main lead obviously did not know.
They both had their good moments though (thankfully) and most of the times their acting was bearable.

- "Romance": Once again it is ruining the show and it is just not there, I am sorry. I saw no chemistry between the mains even though it was obvious that their affection was building from season one.

- Emotional moments: this series is about death games and people will die, they will get hurt (physically or emotionally) and they will question their existense and values. Even though there were some scenes that made me emotional (which I won't mention because of spoilers) the majority of them didn't work. They even used sad music as background and managed to make it feel bland. The fact that some of these scenes lasted longer than what they should have, reduced the emotional impact to zero. Funny thing is that I felt so much more when it came to some new characters comparing to what I felt for the main leads.


All in all, I had fun watching this season and -even though this is an unpopular opinion- I believe it was much better than season one especially when it came to characters, pacing and games.

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Was it worth the wait?

When Narco-Saints was announced it was immediately added to my plan to watch list, even though I am not a huge fun of series or movies with drugs as the main theme. Was it really worth it though? Let’s see every aspect individually.

Production Quality
From the first scene of the series, it was obvious that they invested tons of money to make it. Long story short, it looked realistic and expensive. However, for me at least, the production quality was the best thing this drama had to offer along with the acting of the two main leads.

Cinematography & Directing
As many other Korean series, this was another well done drama in the directing and cinematography department. The colour grading gave the same vibe as other series or movies that deal with drugs. It was well done and thankfully they didn’t overdo it with the darker tones.
Was it anything that I haven’t seen before? Definitely not. There was not even a single scene where I was like ‘’Wow, that looks so good’’. Even the action and fight scenes were not that well directed or choreographed. There were a few times that I shouted on my screen ‘’You could have killed him by now’’. To be honest, after My Name my expectations for fight scenes skyrocketed. This is just the typical directing that we have seen way too many times in the past.

Plot
Narco-Saints has nothing new to offer to the genre. I personally expected something better, after a very well-executed pilot episode. However the plot was a bit boring and draggy. Some things were happening over and over again. I think it would be wiser to make this a two hour movie or a series with three episodes. There were also some matters that stayed unresolved. Even the last few episodes that were more action-packed didn’t feel that suspenseful.

Acting
Well, well, I will probably get killed for this, but I definitely expected something better. The thing is that the actors themselves are fantastic. Taking a look at the cast is enough to understand what I mean. Ha Jung Woo and especially Hwang Jung Min were fantastic and it is worth a try just for these two. However I have two main complains.

The first one is the believability. We have Yoo Yeon Seok portraying David Park. He is supposed to be fluent in English and he is script-wise. It is his comfort language. He prefers speaking in English and he uses the language, when he is angry or emotional. Nevertheless, the way Yoo Yeon Seok speaks English makes me believe that someone is forcing him to do it.

My second problem is the fact that the main language of communication is, obviously, English. It is given that the pronunciation of the majority of the actors won’t be great. After all, it is not their mother tongue. The problem is that in some scenes specifically, it feels like the actors don’t know what their lines mean. They are awkward to hear and sometimes it is pretty cringe to watch. It feels like they just memorized them and forgot to act. On the other hand, when they are speaking in their native language they are fantastic.
The foreign actors were not bad and that’s a first. Okay, honestly, they were not fantastic either, but they were decent enough.


All in all, Suriname was a decent watch that had nothing new to offer to the genre and in my opinion, it would work better as a movie. On the other hand, if you are a huge fan of the main theme, you may enjoy the series much more than I did, even though it has its downsides.

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