michelleoc

It gets better the further you watch

At first, I felt like I was watching a high school film competition entry. The editing was choppy, and the actors (to me at least) seemed to be uncomfortable and the acting wasn't too good. However, once the couple FINALLY figured out that they liked each other, I thought it was very cute. The confession was sweet and not something we normally see in K-dramas. I'd say give it a try, it's not a long show.

LIKES:
1) I LOVED the FL. The actress has one of those faces that you just want to watch. The character was good - she seemed pretty sure of herself, not that concerned about what others thought of her, and was very sweet.
2) Confession.
3) The couple once they got together.
4) The storyline of the moms, and their relationships with their kids.
5) The ML lack of directional awareness. I thought it was cute that he kept getting lost.

NOT SO MUCH: Spoilers!!!
1) The ML. Something about him bothered me, in addition to what a jerk he was through half of the show. Was it his hair, the clothes they dressed him in, his puffy face? I don't know, but something was off.
2) The writing was such that for the longest time I wasn't sure who was supposed to be the ML. The 2ML got a lot of screen time.
3) Some of the outfits they dressed the FL in. Shirts 10 sizes too large for her! She looked really cute in shorts, but was that the best look for someone with the skinniest legs known to man? Maybe I'm just jealous...
4) Why does almost every modern K-drama have a time jump? The couples struggle through so much to get together and find love, and then they separate for various and sundry ridiculous reasons. She decides to go to Europe so she can study poetry. Do they not have poetry in Korea?!? As a result, I thought the end was lackluster.

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So many cliches you can make a drinking game out of them, but I really enjoyed it!

As usual, I'm in the minority. I liked this a LOT better than The Love You Give Me.

With the number of cliches, you know it's not going to be an original story, but perhaps I was just in the mood for it when I started watching. Not only were the cliches abundant, they were also repeated numerous times. How many times did she trip over her foot, carpet, shoelace, air? I lost count. I'm notorious for using the fast forward button a lot in Chinese dramas, but I didn't have to at all here, until the last few episodes. I loved the main actors, I've enjoyed them in other projects, and once he falls in love with her, I thought he was precious. His family actually liked her, which was a nice change. We actually got to see more than one wedding, and multiple beautiful wedding dresses.

It wasn't without its irritants:
-the dubbing and ASMR. Minnie Mouse voices, and why do we need to hear them breathe?
-the female that was willing to do anything to break them up. It went on entirely too long and she didn't get what she deserved in the end.
-Why do they always make the characters that are supposed designers wear the most ridiculous outfits?! I laughed out loud at most of the stuff that Mr. Alex wore.

All in all, though, I really liked it.

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Miscasting can mar the story

This is only my opinion...

I felt that Choi Hyun Wook was miscast as the ML. I have enjoyed him in other things, but he looked too young, he acted too young, and his ridiculous hand gestures were lifted (stolen) from Park Seo Joon in What's Wrong With Secretary Kim. Park was able to pull off the exaggerated movements, Choi was not.

I love Mun Ka Young, and she was wonderful here, but I couldn't help compare this with True Beauty, and My Dearest Nemesis lost.

Toward the end of the drama, my mind was still dwelling on their awful first kiss, with her open eyes, not moving, etc. Just awful. In general their chemistry was lacking.

The second couple was cute, but she was kind of a mess. She couldn't make up her mind if she wanted to be with him or not. I don't care if the woman or the man initiates it, I'm not a fan of friends with benefits.

The ending was pretty lackluster. It felt like filler after all the problems were solved.

You might wonder why I even rated it this high. It was cute, and the main couple had some cute scenes together.

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Could have used some editing (and some acting classes)

What I liked:
1) ML's smile. Almost worth the watch just for that!
2) Strong females in abundance. Not only the FL, but her friend, the grandma, the ex-GF, and the evil ladies. I don't think I saw any of them trip over their own feet or turn into weaklings in a crisis.
3) Cute kid.
4) Sweet ending.
5) No miscommunication/misunderstandings between the leads.
6) Strangely, my favorite person was the woman that played Nirin. I thought her acting was very good, especially when she was talking to the grandma.

Not so much:
1) Every episode seemed like a rehash of the previous episode, Bad guys continue to cause trouble, cue the fights scenes, the bad guys get away. And BOY, it sure is easy to go into a hospital, put on some scrubs, and get into an operating room while an operation is going on to try to kill the person on the table. The bad guys took turns "working" in the hospital.
2) FL's back was broken, but she had some kind of magic surgery and was completely healed and fight-ready in four days.
3) The acting of some of the people were pretty bad (mostly the bad guys).
4) The romance was pretty boring.
5) The music...oh my gosh, the loud dramatic music and working my last nerve.

I will say that I don't normally watch Thai dramas, so I'm not the best judge, but this is just my opinion for me to remember what I thought.

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A "mature" romance

I don't know why I put off watching this drama. It was really good, and showed a more mature (read non-school-age) couple. There were no misunderstandings, no noble idiocy, no lack of communication, or any of the other tropes that I've come to expect.

Han Ji Min as Ji Yu was excellent. I didn't like her for the first couple of episodes (which was the writer's intent), but she did a wonderful job transitioning from working automaton to a boss that you'd like to work with. There was a lot of comedy with this character. She knew NOTHING aside from work. She called everyone by the wrong name, she didn't know what the company car looked like, but she didn't care.

Until Lee Jun Hyuk came along as Eun Ho, the most efficient man, best secretary ever. He has an intense gaze that you can get lost in. I found their relationship to be very organic and it totally made sense. Most of their conflict was from outside sources, which was a nice change of pace. Once they got together, they were so cute to watch.

I have to mention Gi So Yoo as Byeol, Eun Ho's daughter. You liked her from the get-go. She was smart, but not bratty, and the relationship between her and her dad was so special to watch. I especially loved how she came to like Ji Yu on her own, without any interference from dad.

The second couple was cute, but I think a lot must have been left on the cutting room floor at the beginning, because Jeong Hun kept showing up at the company, but it wasn't made clear what his purpose was until later in the show. By that time, I was frustrated because he seemed so out of place.

All of the office staff was well-cast. They worked seamlessly together with no one for me being a standout.

There was one thing that I couldn't get past, though. The lighting/makeup were not well-done at all. A lot of the scenes in the office, the outside light was really bright on their faces and you could see all the blemishes/whiskers under their makeup. For me, the most egregious was the makeup for Ji Yu. There is glowing, and then there is sweating. There were so many scenes that I felt that someone should give her a tissue to blot her face, especially her nose and cheeks. Maybe it was so hot in the workplace that she actually was sweating, but it wasn't a good look.

Apart from that, I'm so glad I watched it.

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DO NOT watch this if abuse is a trigger for you! I'm serious.

Normally I rate movies based on my enjoyment of them. Not Silenced. I HAD to rate it on the importance of it. This movie will make you mad. You will be appalled at the evil in some people - it's so upsetting to watch because it's a true story. It's dark, nausea-inducing, and graphic. I had to fast forward through many scenes. The fact that this movie brought to light the actual atrocities that had occurred, brought some justice, and most of all, removed the statute of limitations on child abuse cases - I'm so glad it was made.

Negatives:
-many veteran actors that I will never be able to watch in other works without thinking of them in this movie.
-Yu Mi's acting. I just don't find her believable.
-Gong Yoo's icky moustache through the last half of the movie. It made him look sleazy.

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Action packed

Sure, some of the cases/situations were unrealistic, but for me, that didn't in any way take away from the charm of this drama. It sounds strange to call this type of show (blood, guts, action, etc.) charming, but it was for so many reasons:

1) Ju Ji Hoon - He is a wonderful actor, and he was able to straddle the line between brilliance and off-putting arrogance. He wasn't unlikeable in the least, which I really appreciated.
2) Bromance between Dr. Baek and Number 1. At first, all you see is fear of Dr. Baek, then respect grows, and Number 1 grows in the process. There was a lot of understated humor here.
3) Nurse Cheon as the long-time pillar of the department. She was smart and professional and didn't put up with anything from others.
4) No romance! Thank you so much for not trying to divide up the focus of the show.
5) Dr. Han. I hated then loved this character! Lots of comic relief here.

My only pet peeve about this drama was purposely ending with eight episodes, knowing that they have planned for a season 2 and 3. Hopefully it won't take two years for the next season!

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Fun binge watch!

Think parody of The Hunger Games or Squid Games, but with dating. I don't watch too many Thai dramas, because I find the acting either lacking or overboard. This came up while I was scanning Netflix for my next watch and I decided to give it a try, knowing nothing about it. I'm sure glad I did.

Since the whole show is pretty over the top, you don't notice if the acting isn't good. There is humor and suspense as we watch a Dystopian version of The Dating Game.

There is a lot of use of bright colors and interesting costuming, unfortunately so many of the suspense scenes are so dark it's hard to see what's going on.

It's a very fun show to watch.

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Suspenseful, but I liked it a little less than Blind

My biggest complaint with this movie was the cinematography. There was a lot of crazy camera work that was apparently supposed to put us in her shoes, but she was blind, so every time that happened, it killed the suspense for me.

There were some periods when the acting was less than stellar, but not throughout the whole thing, thankfully.

SPOILERS BELOW!!!!!!
I liked this movie from the standpoint that we got to see what happened in his past that made the perp a bad guy. I also liked that they didn't kill off the detective like they did in Blind. And since it was a newer movie, the social media aspect worked really well.
I also liked the end where her new "brother" was in a band in a tribute to her brother that died.

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Low angst, but...

I had so many problems with this movie. I can't believe I'm going to say this, but it might have been better as a series to allow for some character development. However, I almost turned it off multiple times because the FL was just so lazy, stupid, manipulative and controlling. I think she was supposed to be a happy character, even with hardships, but, for me, she just wasn't likeable.

ML was bland, and toward the end when you see all he did to be with her, he was controlling as well, bordering on creepy. Good looking once you could see his face without the glasses and hair in his face (last half hour, at most).

I don't like triangles. The 2ML served absolutely no purpose, seriously no purpose. He had a couple of scenes like there was going to be a point of him being there, but then he disappeared.

2FL - she didn't like the ML, she just didn't want to lose to anyone else.

Worst of all, the acting was over the top and cartoonish for a lot of it.

I can't recommend it, but it does have the fluffiness factor going for it.

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