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hell, where all the cool kids are
The Girl Power won against Mnet's evil editing.
I went into this expecting the worst. Mnet making the girls seem evil and uncaring, like they did in Unpretty Rapstar. The emotionally exhausting feel of constant competition and shame of losing. And this show was everything but that.I am not gonna lie, Mnet tried at first to show the girls is less than appealing light, but the cast was so amazingly fun, supporting and caring, there was nothing to evil edit. They gave up. And from that point I could focus on the perfect performances and the bond building between the girls.
The strongest point of the show was the fact, everyone could be unapologetically themselves without the need of toning down their personalities and thoughts.
Hyoyeon could enjoy performing without feeling like every stage depends on her as she was the senior compared to others, Cheetah showed her strong presence on stage and caring personality behind the scenes, Ailee was like a supportive angel making sure everyone is feeling good while enjoying the show herself, Jiwoo could shine bright with solo performances and truly show her true colors as a performer, Yeeun, who was lost and confused at first was able to learn how to define herself and be daring in chasing after what she wants, Jamie killed everyone with her cuteness, but also bold charisma, Yunhway brought this calmness and sophistication that left me in awe, Sleeq was just the best person on the planet and her growth and openness was admirable, Young Ji was a happy virus that woke everyone up with her energy and impressive skills and Queen Wa$abii who was tearing apart all the prejudice people might have for a daring and provocative performers.
It's a competition that focuses more on the bonding and personal growth of the cast, and not the competitive aspect of it. Even the teams they were going against were far more focused on just enjoying the process.
I cried a lot while watching. I got amazingly attached to the whole cast and did not want the show to end. It just felt like a new family was created. The change in the views the girls had about each other was amazing to watch. How all of them had such distinctive colors and yet they worked so well together. Pairings that made no sense at first created some of the best stages.
Overall, it was just truly touching. Not only did it have some beautiful and powerful songs and performances, but what is more important: a heart.
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The writers in a writing room be like: do we want romance? melo? thriller? psychological? crime? buddy cop? family issue? gray character? psychopaths? serial killers? good characters with gold morals? tragic past? every cliche on the earth? yes.
The Good
I have to admit, it has quite a well written side/supporting characters with nice stories and development/progression. Young Mi being the "behind the scene heart of the story". I have to say, her and Hyeon Woo's scenes were some of my favorites and I was always curious where they would lead. Hyeon Woo has been just a huge mystery and I never knew what the heck he was thinking. There is also baby boy Dae Jin, who broke my heart. Definitely the best executed story line in the whole show.
Another good aspect of the show was the editing and production value. The show was simply beautiful. I loved all the "from the floor" shots/low angle ones, even though they started overusing them at some point. But from an aesthetic point of view, it felt as if it was made for me.
The Bad
Lee Tae Kyung... What a boring main character. Legit did not care about him at all. Isn't it tragic? The main character being the weakest one?
The confusion I felt from the writing team. As if they could not make up their minds on what the drama is supposed to be. Is it a character driven drama set in a court/business setting? Is it a crime, fast paced one with action? Is it a psychological one with some good old psychopaths? What was it?
The set up of the characters and the plot was too long. It basically took 10 out of 16 episodes. While I enjoyed the last 6 a lot, the first 10 were truly off. It felt as if I was watching two different dramas.
The "I couldn't care less"
The romance... What was the point? It leads to nowhere, they have no romantic chemistry nor they look or act as past lovers. The only scenes that gave you that impression are the few when they are talking about it and you are like - oh yeah, they were a thing before the show started.
Yeon Ah character - I don't know if I was just not impressed with Nana's acting (though I know she ain't bad and has some good skills), but I could not connect with her at all.
Overall, I would not recommend watching. The only memorable bits and characters are the supporting parts, so it would be a waste of time. It was not a bad show, but I rather take a bad one that I can laugh about than the mediocre one, that I just feel bored and frustrated with.
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as a wise woman named Jo once said.
The biggest problem I had with this movie was the beginning exposition. It was supposed to give me a background of the story, sort of an introduction, but these few minutes just bore and confused me. I lost focus in the opening scene and it never came back. Giving me a narrator explaining all the history and all the information I need to know is the laziest way of starting the movie.
With that in mind, I barely cared about what was happening. It was a beautiful movie with a great cast, but it was simply not engaging. They introduced a lot of characters, and it felt like half of them just got lost half way through the movie, just to be brought back by the end.
Anyway, in a few days I will forget I have ever seen it, and even now I can't really tell what was the plot. There was some romance and no one was happy. Lots of fights and running in metal.
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The best way to describe my view on it is: it didn't flow well. The scenes between leads had this deep, melancholic vibe, but then there were some scenes incorporated here and there that felt amazingly out of place with how graphic and detailed they were. As if the writer didn't know if they want to keep everything vague and leave some parts for the viewers’ interpretation, or if they want to shock the viewers with some "realistic" and tragic plot points.
There was one scene, that was simply heavy emotional bomb dropped on me, but nothing followed after it. I had no chance to release the built tension since the ML didn't really do it either. It took me out of the movie completely. I had to pause and ask myself: what exactly have I just seen and why none of the characters truly reacts to it?
It wasn't exactly a short movie (average length) but it felt short because it lacked content. The portrayal of Alzheimer was superficial, taking into consideration the amount of scenes with the mother. They could have done a better job. Or leave out the majority of the scene and focus more on how the ML sees his situation and how he describes it to others.
My biggest problem was probably Do Hyeon. I saw him struggling, but it never felt like he did. I didn't feel sadness, resignation, doubt, fear... The only time I truly felt strong feelings from him was during the "emotional bomb" scene I mentioned earlier. Whatever his character was supposed to feel, I wasn't connecting with it.
The ending seemed rushed. We found out all the tragic details and background story and then again: nothing followed. They went straight to a semi-happy/semi-open ending.
Overall, it had good potential, but it left me with a conclusion that even the writer was not sure exactly what she wanted to portray in it and how she wanted to do it.
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Am I too dumb for this movie or is this movie too dumb for me? Guess I will never find out.Things happened... there was a clown, but not really. And aliens, but like fake ones. They played rock, paper, and scissors for 2 hours. But by the end they forgot about the rules. The main guy is hot.
I HAVE QUESTIONS THOUGH!
Why all the rules, why use the brain power with all the probability and math stuff, when apparently you can just steal the stars? Here's how you win folks!
Steal at least 12 stars, play 12 rounds without caring if you win or lose and be done. Have any extra stars by the end? Sell them. They just stole each other's stars by the end. So what was the point of the game?
Why did the big guy (close to the end) bring the diamonds in, when he was not planning to use them? What would he use them for? Was it only his backup plan if he lost, to get others to buy him out? This part was so random...
They should have explored the whole "psychological problems" the main character had. He thought he was turning into a fighting clown... and people around him into aliens... He needs help. I need help... this movie ruined my last 0.5 brain cell.
WHERE ARE ALL MY LADIES?!
Overall, watch it with friends, have a blast, try to understand the rules and the plot and then be angry by the end, because nothing really matters. Enjoy the beauty of Li Yi Feng (he drops the clothes at some point), the random existence of the mastermind Michael Douglas and that one hot asshole player played by Alberto Lancellotti.
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Hot coffee with a spoon of life lessons.
Would You Like a Cup of Coffee? is a perfect morning drama to accompany your coffee - setting you up for a good day.The show presents a variety of episodic stories linked together by the 2nd Generation Cafe. With a short format of 25 minutes per episode, the viewers might feel like the stories were told in an insufficient manner, never explored enough, ever going too deep into the tackled matter. For me, that’s what I enjoyed about it. They expressed the ideas enough to make me entertained as I was watching, but left me with enough space to wonder about the topics myself. They opened the door and it was up to me whenever I wanted to close them or take a step inside.
The on-screen chemistry between Ong Seong Wu and Park Ho San was amazing. Well presented mentor-mentee dynamics that we don’t see much in dramas - pointing out the value of both: years of experience, but also the perseverance and determination of the youth.
With a cast full of well known names in both main and guest roles, the acting left nothing to ask for. Each character had their own colors that were portrayed perfectly on the screen - even if it was just a smaller role.
That said, this show can be truly enjoyed only in the mornings. I have seen one episode late afternoon and the magic was gone - it just did not hit right. It’s not a drama you would want to binge watch, but it’s a show that made me come back every week to get my own dose of warm feeling to start my day on a positive note.
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Honestly speaking, half way through the show I was not sure what exactly happened. Each episode was rather repetitive with just a few details changed here and there. I felt like the drama lacks focus, the core plot that would drive the characters forward. Rather, we had different stories for different characters that seemed separate in their tone.
While the drama does a really good job at presenting the friendship between the three female leads, I can’t do anything about being disappointed with the romance. Son Ye Jin and Yeon Woo Jin have little on screen chemistry, and their characters do not present an interesting dynamic to watch. Chan Young and Jin Seok’s situation is too over the top and makjang like for this type of a story. Joo Hee and Hyun Joon were the only pairing that worked well on screen, had great chemistry and a well built romance that was entertaining to follow, but with each episode, it got less and less screen time.
The disappointing love lines could be forgiven if they were not such an integral and important part of the plot, taking quite a portion of the screen time. Not to mention, realistically speaking, not every character needs a love line of their own.
Since the show tackles so many different issues, most of them are not explored enough. Some of the topics introduced are adoption (relationship between the child, biological parents and adoptive parents, views of the society on the adoptees, identity issues revolving around it), terminal illness (pain it causes the person who has it and their family/friends, accepting the inevitable, different choices concerning treatment or lack of it), emotional cheating and complicated romantic relationships, starting over with new passions and dreams at 39, and honestly speaking, probably more.
Even though the drama has three female leads, it’s a fact that Son Ye Jin stole all the spotlight. Jeon Mi Do’s portrayal of Jeong Chan Young did not leave any room for improvement, especially taking into consideration the complex situation the character was in.
While I enjoyed Kim Ji Hyun a lot, the character was written in a way that required less work. She did amazing with what was given for her, sadly she was often kept on the sidelines. Jang Joo Hee was there to fill the space as a 3rd friend. Which is a bummer, since the history of that character would perfectly fit into the story if utilized correctly.
The production was great, though the story telling itself could have been improved. Some essential information about the characters and their relationships could have been explored a little bit earlier - keeping me in the dark didn’t make me more curious about the plot, but rather frustrated me, since I did not understand the context of the events happening on screen. Another thing that kind of bothered me closer to the end of the show - they did not care about realism. Made sure everyone looks stunning and has full make up, not matter the circumstances the characters were going through.
The original songs, while truly good, were exactly what one would expect from a drama like that. None caught my attention, but they did fit the scenes they were played for.
Overall, it’s a really slow drama with a great beginning that loses the spark around the middle point. It had some great heartwarming moments, but a few gems cannot make this drama amazing. If only the middle part was as good as the last episode, which was truly a masterpiece.
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Psychological drama with supernatural elements.
Judging by the poster, I expected horror. Checking the genres, I expected a suspense thriller. At the end - I did not get any of these. It's a well crafted and written psychological drama that uses the supernatural elements to tell the stories of two young girls, and how they confront their past and the mistakes that they made.Detention serves as a commentary on youth's problems and how they and adults perceive and deal with them. We follow two different stories, set in different time periods, yet resembling each other a lot. Liu Yun Xiang and Fang Rui Xin try to work around the restrictive and outdated school system and the twisted mentality of the adults running it. Both girls had to face family and relationship problems that led them to take, at times really drastic measures.
I loved some characters (the list was really short though), and hated many. Not everyone got what they deserve. There are some triggering themes included in the show, so I would advise checking the tags before watching it. That said, they were presented in a quite realistic manner, showing them as something serious and not easy to deal with.
The production value seemed high. The show is shot in an interesting and aesthetically pleasing way. Some camera work choices perfectly complemented the writing and the plot points happening on the screen. I honestly do not remember any song or instrumental used in the series, but I am confident they were all fitting (would most likely remember if they weren't - one always remembers what they dislike).
The acting was believable and the delivery was ranging from good to great. I only had a problem with Wen Liang's dad. The acting was just quite robotic and not on par with the rest of the cast.
Overall, if someone looks for a horror or a thriller with fast paced plot and a lot of suspense - this ain't that. If someone wants to see an emotionally driven story with romantic elements, that comments on overwhelming pressure that is put on the female leads, family drama and struggling in a constricting environment, with some nicely done horror/supernatural elements (mostly in first and last episodes), then this is for you.
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The Witness dives into the exploration of Bystander Effect, a situation when individuals are less likely to help a victim or interfere in a situation when there are other people present. Why? Because they assume someone else will help, that there are others, who can take that responsibility on themselves. While Sang Hoon's actions were frustrating, they were also perfectly understandable. Everyone likes to think that if they were in a similar situation they would help. Let me enlighten you: you wouldn't. Most likely I wouldn't. It's easy to be a hero sitting safe in front of your laptop. That's why, even though the male lead's inaction has terrible consequences, I can't really condemn him for his weak and cowardly behavior.
That said, the creepiness and intensity the first half had, slowly died and the movie started to be more entertaining in nature. It wasn't just the killer lurking and hiding in the shadows anymore. The confrontation was approaching, but when it actually happened... It was lacking. I don't think they gave enough reasoning for Sang Hoon's behavior towards the end, but I kind of accepted it because... fun?
The performance of the cast was amazing. The paranoia in Sang Hoon and the desperation in Jae Yup were clearly visible. We haven't seen that much of Tae Ho, but that was the smart choice. The more of him we saw, the less intense and interesting the movie became.
Overall, it's a fun watch. Even though the first and second half give different quality and might even seem like parts of different movies, the ending scene quite well brings us back to the tense and eerie vibe we see at the beginning.
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This review may contain spoilers
I have 0.5 brain cell and this show was still too dumb for me.I don't even know what to say about the plot. Nothing made sense. I am left with just questions. How did she even get into the university without applying? She took part in the tryouts, but no one knew who she was. How was she accepted? I am still confused why Bing Bing's prosopagnosia was shown as him having 3D filter vision blurred af. Or how she was curing him with kisses. Or how he was actually cured of prosopagnosia by having a mild concussion. Or how there were NO repercussions of her attending the university as a boy when she was a girl. Or how the prosopagnosia was not a problem to him unless the plot needed it like 4 times. Or how he could even play hockey with a shitty vision like that. Did the mom have DID? Her personality changed every 5 seconds...
Why does it feel like Fang Qiang Qiang and Fan Kan stole the script from a 9 years old child and pretended it's theirs? I just cannot comprehend how two adults could come up with it. Or they were drunk and wrote it in one evening as a joke, but then they saw $$ so decided to go with it.
That said, Darren Chen is good. He was the most adorable being ever. His acting was also amazing. Quite honestly, I finished the show ONLY for Bing Bing. All the butterflies I felt because of this pretty face. Damn.
Overall, the whole cast did a good job with acting, it's just the script that was painfully bad. It's obvious the writers and producers did not care at all for it to make any sense or even be close to reality. Consistency? Don't know her. Not even one google search has been done while writing and producing it.
One thing that this drama has though, is an amazing ost. I enjoyed a few songs, with Be There For You taking the crown.
I don't know guys. The last two episodes made me want to go and die. While the whole show was a mess I did find Bing Bing and Sang Tian cute and their interactions were fun. But the amount of frustration this show caused is unimaginable. If you are able to COMPLETELY turn off your brain and are in the mood for pure rom com, this will definitely satisfy you. My 0.5 brain cell was quaking with the level of bullshit presented. I'm thankful for Darren's pretty face. Dude is really something else.
As a closing statement, I will leave you with a question:
Why can no one stay truly single in romantic comedies?
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Could have been a music video.
Honestly speaking, the story is so simple and the characters have no depth, this could easily fit into a five minutes music video.Most of the enjoyment I felt came from the visual aspects of the movie - some scenes were truly beautiful. Sadly, this does not live up to my expectations as a movie spin-off of The Untamed, as it has no wits, silly undertones and comedy, nor the interesting characters. One would think making a spin-off would be a perfect way to explore the side characters and the lore of the created universe. I did not get it here.
It was just a really basic plot with predictable plots and conclusions. The cast did what they could, but the script was just too empty to make the movie exciting.
There is not much to say. In my opinion, this is a skip even for The Untamed fans. It did not bring anything to the table, except from improved special effects. Sadly, that’s not enough for me to enjoy a movie.
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Mi Joo is a true entertainer - capable of turning any situation into a content worth the screen time given. Even if she made a lot of jokes during the filming, it was also obvious she put a lot of work into any task given. I especially liked the interaction between Mi Joo and PD, which brought that fun bickering dynamics that many find fun to watch.
We’ve got to see a huge variety of workplaces, skills and professions. They did what they could in a short format like that, but at times, I barely showed a tip of the iceberg of what goes into a specific work.
Overall, perfect short bits of both entertainment and some (realistically speaking not that much) educational content.
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This review may contain spoilers
How to ruin a good movie in 20 minutes.How NOT to do superhero movies.
How to kill the joy of being alive for the viewers.
...
I was thinking for a few minutes about how to title this review. It was not easy, because technically I enjoyed more minutes in this movie than not. Sadly, the bad ones were... bad. I feel like the writers didn't know if they should keep the plot local and in a small area, or go wild. They tried both and it didn't work out.
I love me some good redemption stories. The fallen human being is trying to better himself, but here it felt a bit flat with an extremely (and I mean EXTREMELY) anticlimactic ending. I'm sorry dear writers, but you can't go "realism" on some parts, but disregard it on others and call it a day (and no, I'm not talking about his superpowers here).
There were many elements in the plot and some characters that were pretty useless and/or under explored. For example:
What was the point of Director Hong? She brought nothing to the movie. They could have simply kept it vague, who the big bad guy/girl is and don't waste time on scenes with her. Use that precious time to explore the father/daughter relationship more.
Why would you allow the media to be involved if the only purpose of it was to inform the main character about what is going on? Not following it by showing the public's reaction made it unrealistic. You want to tell me that a video of a man fighting police with his superpowers would not go viral? That other countries would not get involved? And it could be so easily fixed; make the bad guys "kill the press" by restricting anyone's access to the area where the confrontation took place.
With superhero movies you can either go big or give depth. If you go big - go silly about it, unrealistic, don't take yourself too seriously. Don't give a realistic ending - give a good ending. If you want to give the movie depth - keep it local with a smaller cast. Focus on the relationships between characters, not big fights and special effects. Tone down comedy a bit, make it more organic and natural. This movie tried to combine both of the approaches and it simply backfired.
At the end of the day, the comedy bits were the best. The ending was poorly written and made me annoyed. While I enjoyed watching for the most part, that last 20 minutes made me feel like all I have seen so far has no meaning and it was a waste of time.
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I was quite amazed how well all 3 main relationships worked and how I was almost never angry or annoyed by some ridiculous, easily explained drama.Phana will come down in history as the best boyfriend. Find me another guy in BLs who asks for permission before he kisses, says they will wait until their partner is ready and then lets them decide when they will take the relationship further (if you know what I mean ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°), wants to talk and communicate with their partner about any situation that may cause misunderstandings, easily forgives mistakes, but first explain how they did hurt him, is not obsessed and possessive by not letting his partner hang out with other boys, understands that friends are as important to their partner as he is. The amount of times I screamed: YES MA MAN YOU DO IT RIGHT!
Not to mention Ben's acting, damn he good. He truly did look like he was deeply in love with his boi. I've got butterflies in my stomach just watching him look at Wayo.
Then we have the imperfect character of Wayo which makes the drama that much better. With how insecure he is, he creates the necessary tension and conflict that make the watching experience more entertaining. I wasn't sold on Earth acting tho. It wasn’t always natural and at times, his facial expressions felt exaggerated and over the top.
Ming and Kit... Another interesting dynamic - shy boy and a playboy. We saw it many times, but here it was a perfection. Ming was not portrayed as an asshole who cheats on his partners and parties all the time. He stays honest to his feelings and tries his best to not hurt others in the process of figuring stuff out. Kit needed someone persistent enough not to give up on him, because it took him some time to open up. I loved how they both learned how to accept each other.
Forth and Beam, my babies. They are the most different from all the previous couples. Their relationship literally sparks in one evening and then they have to figure out how to deal with what happened. Yet again, the key was communication. They were both honest about how they felt, even though they were not on the same page at first. But it helped them navigate and decide what kind of approach would be the best (or rather, it helped Forth decide how to go after Beam).
Can we talk about Park tho, because damn boi got me shook. He was literally just lurking in the shadows, showing up every few episodes causing just slight mayhem up until it all went to hell in the last episode. He was so hard to figure out and gave such an amazing creepy vibe.
Honorable mentions to: Cake for being the best girl ever. She was so amazingly relatable with her funny remarks (how she tried to hint to Ming's ex that he liked boys now, or how she reacted to guys being cute together and trying to cover it up in a natural way). Pretty gang too, such supportive friends! Willing to protect their boi Wayo from all the creeps around.
While some may say this drama was quite cringe, I'd say: that's what I love about it. Some lines were so ridiculous I started to anticipate more of them. It was simply fun and entertaining to watch. In my eyes, all BLs are more or less cringy and that's their charm.
Overall, I finished the whole show in one day/night. Was impressed how reasonable the majority of the characters were. The jokes were over the top, but somehow fitted perfectly into the type of storytelling presented.
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The strongest points of this show are definitely the characters, filming sequences and the lack of CGI and the payoff we get in the last episode. I was amazed with how smart this drama was filmed. Instead of using mediocre special effects, they focused on conveying the special powers and how they work/manifest with creative angles, camera movements and lighting. They worked their magic and it truly enriched the viewing experience . This drama shows that sometimes “less is more” as long as you are smart and creative in your work.
I also appreciated the sci-fi vibe this drama had, from the design of specific scenes, grounding the special powers in the scientific biological changes and even the background music. It all made a coherent picture surrounded by a fitting atmosphere.
The pacing and the structure of the episode made it easy to get to know, relate and understand the characters themselves, but also slowly realize the bigger picture gradually presented. A good portion of the episodes was dedicated to exploring the stories of each specific member of The Gifted program, which made me think of a procedural crime show: one case (character) per episode with an overlying bigger plotline being entwined between them. This format definitely worked for the plot, sub-plots and characters' background, making it easy for me to immerse myself in the story.
The last episode was amazing. It had more plot twists than all the dramas I have ever watched combined. It made me cry from frustration and I did feel exhausted by the end of it, but it was all worth it.
Overall, it was an awesomely done drama with interesting characters and logical storyline. I did not have high expectations when I started watching it, but even if I did, I feel like this would exceed them anyway.
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