Author: Lady Divine

Review – Empire of Gold

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You Had Me At “I Do” – Review of Empire of Gold

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Fifteen minutes in and I was already hooked with baited breath.  Hands down the best opening scene of any K-Drama I have seen to date.   Seriously, my jaw dropped to the floor… “With this ring I thee wed” has never been creepier.  EVER.

The Empire of Gold kept rolling forward at full steam – delivering some chilling scenes and immersing you into the strange and treacherous world of big, shady business.  Yes, ladies and gentleman, this world is as far removed from me as South Korea.  I shall keep my pittance of a government salary and continue to pay rent in my shabby but comfortable apartment and leave the bribes, back-stabbing, golfing, dinner deals and mergers to the high rollers who can stomach such things.  This is not a world of happy endings, or happy middles or even happy beginnings.  This world barely catches even a moment of such things.  And yet it’s compulsively watchable.  Like a massive car pile up on the interstate.  Keep me at a safe distance… about ten feet from the television, thank you.

A dark, precautionary tale of greed.  Highly recommended.

More Random Thoughts – Includes SPOILERS…

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Review – Dr. Kkang (also known as Dr. Gang & Doctor Gangster)

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Review – Dr. Kkang (also known as Dr. Gang & Doctor Gangster)

If Coffee Prince and Padam Padam got married… they’d produce Dr. Kkang.  Coffee Prince had more attention to detail in set design and better costuming. Padam Padam had superior cinematography and a phenomenal musical score.  But if you combine the charm and playful romance of Coffee Prince with the rough-around-the-edges-but-ultimately-lovable male lead of Padam Padam – you might create this remarkably enduring show.  What an unlikely surprise to come across a 10/10 show on a whim via dramafever.

If you like romance (epic), comedy (side splitting hysterical without reducing its characters to gimmicky comedy stereotypes) and a solid gangster-action gritty substructure (yikes) – you will like this show.  Actually, if you like quality Korean drama – you will love this show.  You’re not human if this one doesn’t chisel a crude drawing of a heart on your heart.

SPOILERS FOLLOW….

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Review – Cain & Abel

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Review – Cain & Abel

I loved this drama!  It proved to be non-traditional and yet still remain firmly seated at the table of k-drama theatrics.  Stories about heated rivalry are some of my favorites – there is nothing better than watching two people duke it out for a prize.  This drama threw me for a loop, however, because for the majority of the show – one of the rivals didn’t even know he had a rival.  Relatively fast-paced, adorably romantic, a hearty mix of medical drama, mystery, North-Korean refugees, Chinese location shooting and even a very well done amnesia plot (memory loss is always fun, no matter how ridiculous – This show made good use of it).  From the dramatic opening sequence, I was hooked.

Overall Rating:  9/10

Spoilers Follow…

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Be My Secretary! – The Beautiful Working Women of K-Dramas

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Be My Secretary! – The Beautiful Working Women of K-Dramas

Korean dramas are littered with beautiful Korean people.  I get k-crushes on quite a few of them… Ko Soo, Kim Na Gil, Ha Ji Won, Yun Jung Hoon, Jun Ji Hyun, Yang Dong Geun, and so on.  But sometimes they’re so awesome they seem untouchable.  Even a harmless crush might stain their flawless veneer.  They should be admired… like a work of art.  Look but don’t touch, people!

So let us take a moment to admire one of my favorite side characters:  The Secretary.  Yes, I can’t even say the word secretary without thinking of that deliciously pervy movie with James Spader or the outrageous bombshell figure of the red head from Mad Men.  But those secretaries were touchable… and were touched quite often on screen, if memory serves (it does, and so does my rewind button).  The Secretaries we’re discussing here are the idols of Korean work life.  You can worship them unclothed if you like, but they will not be moved.  They have ascended to a higher plain of existence… where they can steal all our attention away from the female leads without batting an eyelash.

Who are these killer coworkers?  Let us explore…

Every so often I come across one of these absolutely stunning working women… be they secretaries or coworkers or presidents or managers.  Wow.  Talk about incentive to get to work every morning.  If you’ve seen Lie To Me, you probably noticed the extremely hot secretary lurking in the shadows of our male lead.  It was hard to miss her.  She seemed ten times cooler than the female lead but thankfully didn’t get entangled in a love-triangle… cause let’s face it, she was ten times cooler than the male lead too.  These working ladies always know what’s really going on in the dramas.  They know all, they see all.  They’re goddesses amongst mortals.

Park Ji-Yoon played the secretary in Lie to Me.

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