K-Drama

Review – Descendants of the Sun

/ Lady Divine / 6 Comments

Review – Descendants of the Sun

In a way, this show was a big tease.  It promised to be epic and exciting and exquisitely romantic… and it took us out on a first date and flirted with us and opened the door for us and laughed at all our jokes, it sent us flowers, it held our hand and told us about all the wonderful places it wanted to take us, the things it wanted us to see and share together.  And then it ghosted us.  Just left us on the side of the road.  What happened?  I may be able to live on my fantasies alone for a few weeks and think back fondly on this drama, but after a while all I will remember is the odd case of misdirection and mixed feelings.  Like the movie version of Les Miserables when I thought we were going to see the Broadway Play.

It was a good show.  Beautiful, even.  Visually, at least.  And interesting too.  Exotic locations, a host of random foreigners speaking broken English, attractive actors playing unique characters with fascinating jobs.  And  yet… meh.  I was entertained and simultaneously underwhelmed.

Overall Rating – 7.5/10.  The Picture On The Menu Is Better Than The Meal.

More musing and spoilers and opinions….

Continue reading →

Review – Bride of the Century

/ Lady Divine / Leave a comment

Review – Bride of the Century

bridecentury1

Two things were made abundantly clear by this cute, odd, quirky, melodramatic, supernaturally-tinted show.  One, Yang Jin Sung is a adorable!  Two, Lee Hong Ki… maybe not so much.  Don’t get me wrong, I love this little guy… but he just doesn’t have the chutzpah for leading male status, in my humble opinion.  Yang Jin Sung, however, blew me away.  I actually didn’t realize it was the same actress playing two characters until the end of episode one, she was that good.  Her face is so expressive and she can go from sticky sweet to hardened bitch face in two point five seconds and both are perfectly believable.  My favorite is her little lip curl – which makes me think of the famous lip curl of Jang Keun-Suk.  I’ll be bookmarking her other dramas and watching them soon.

Bride of the Century is mainly a story about women.  It’s about a rich, rich family with a sexy ghost watching over it for generations… but she demands payment for her services, in the form of the first wife of the first son of each new generation.  This is a conundrum for the mom of the current first son, as she wants him to marry the gal of her choice but needs to get that sacrificial first marriage out of the way before her plans can be realized.  So it’s scheming demon, and momma is willing to go to great devious lengths to get what she wants… but soon finds herself at war with another momma who doesn’t plan to lay down her daughter’s life without a fight.  It’s the behind the scenes battlefield that so many women wage wars on and claim victories over.  The battlefield of other women (dead and alive).  It may the be the worst thing patriarchy has done to humanity – setting women against women.  But it’s a great thing for dramas and novels.

Overall Rating – 8/10 – You Can’t Trick A Ghost With A Doppelganger, But You Can Trick A Man.

Discussion and Spoilers Follow

Continue reading →

Review – Uncontrollably Fond (of Melodramas!)

/ Lady Divine / 6 Comments

Review – Uncontrollably Fond (of Melodramas!)

uncontrollably

In which a romantic melodrama causes me to become very philosophical about life and spend too much analyzing a show as a microcosm of the problems of the world.  But before we jump into that mess, let’s just say this was a cool melodrama with a bizarre plot line about justice and personal responsibility that I quite enjoyed.  We had the battle between the economic classes, the battle between lovers, the battle between exlovers, the battle between spouses and extended families, and the battle for your life.  Lots of little wars going on in this show with lots of little twists and turns to keep you entertained.

Do not be fooled by all the happy smiling faces in the promos and title images.  It’s a melodrama, not a romantic comedy. I get very frustrated with viewers who want to criticize a melodrama for being a melodrama, with comments like “it’s not realistic!” and “why does she keep apologizing!”  and “oh my god, I hate his hot and cold treatment of her!”  I mean… what?  What do you think a melodrama is?  They’re sensationalist madness.  They’re emotional rollercoasters.  They’re a giant trainwreck and when you bought the ticket to ride it said, “WARNING:  THIS TRAIN IS GOING TO EXPLODE, THEN IMPLODE, THEN PROBABLY RECONSIDER, HOLD ITSELF HOSTAGE WITH DYNAMITE STRAPPED TO ITS CHEST, CHICKEN OUT, START CRYING, AND FINALLY SETTLE FOR TURNING INTO A BLACK HOLE AND PULLING THE ENTIRE WORLD INTO ITS VOID.  We hope you enjoy the ride.”  Your ticket was very clear, my pretties.  Melodramas don’t mess around with your reasonable business, go elsewhere if you want a fair shake down and rational decisions.

I am a huge fan of melodramas; it’s exciting, perversely, to watch everyone’s lives crumble to pieces despite their best efforts to keep it together with lies and manipulations.  Oh, the drama!  The drama, the drama.  You will gasp and shake your head and bite your pillow and cry.  Even the most stoic of viewers will probably melt down in ep 19 about 38 minutes in… if you have dry cheeks after that scene then I fear for the state of your soul.  It would be stripped away of its melodrama title if it didn’t make you ugly cry at least once, though, so embrace the hard earned tears.

Overall Rating:  8/10.  Broken Hearts Are Easier To Mend Than Broken Families.

Now for lengthy philosophizing and ranting and raving….

spoilers ahead!

Continue reading →

Review – Signal

/ Lady Divine / 3 Comments

Review – Signal

signaltheme

I heard everyone raving about this show but I thought, “Ugh, a cop show.  Ugh, sounds like Frequency.  Ugh, matching up an older woman with a younger man again.  Ugh Ugh.”  I should have slapped myself across the face.  And so should you, if you are entertaining such thoughts.  Snap out of it!  Signal is AWESOME.

Yes, it’s a cops-solving-crimes show that jumps back and forth between the past and present, connecting cops and crimes across decades.  And yet I was riveted.  None of the cases ended like I thought they would.   None of the future’s interventions had the outcome I expected.  None of the usual cliches and tropes applied to this show.  There was no noona romance, for one thing.  Instead, a seasoned female cop works alongside a young cute rookie and NOTHING HAPPENS except for work.  Gasp!  I was sooo happy.  Yes, ladies and gentlemen, men and women can be friends.  They can care about each other and not want to have sex.  It is, in fact, possible to live and work in a nonsexual way with half of humanities population.  Signal was a revelation!

signalpeeps

It was also very dark.  The crimes were horrible and gritty.  The justice system struggled, realistically.  Crimes were unsolved.  People died and their killers were never brought to justice, not in this past, not in the present.  It was hard to know what the right thing to do was.  People are so many shades of gray, after all.  The story lines were complicated and compelling and every single episode was gripping and intense.

I highly recommend not reading too much about it before starting it up.  It’s nothing like Frequency (the movie or the show).  It’s a mystery and all mysteries should remain vague and ponderous until you actually watch it unfold before your eyes.  I don’t like to do lengthy reviews on mysteries for that very reason.  So I leave you with this – just watch it.  When you’re done, you can pick at the little pieces and discuss characters and debate the ending all you want to.  Somewhere else.  This review is just to get you to bite and spend sixteen hours devouring this amazing show.

Overall Rating – 10/10.  Dark Crime and Magical Realism.

Review – High End Crush

/ Lady Divine / 1 Comment

Review – High End Crush

highend

Another deceptive title image.  This in no way reflects the tone or the plot line of this drama.  But whatever, I’ll save my title image ranting for another day.

The Plot, Short Version:  Eccentric wealthy dude falls for stubborn country girl.

High End Crush.  What to say, what to say.  Thankfully the leading man was entertaining enough to carry this short drama to its obvious conclusion with a few laughs along the way and a few enjoyable romantic moments too.  But…

After finishing this series, I think I can officially state that I don’t like “short” dramas.  It’s like having annoying commercial interruptions ALL THE TIME, right when interesting things start happening.  I think if they had strung up all the episodes together and let them play as one long string, without the constant stop/start of intros and exits, it would have been a quality short drama, if not a bit on the hammy side.  If it ever makes it to Netflix, they will do this for us.  They did it with The Guild and it made the entire viewing experience so much more enjoyable.

What else can I say about this drama?  I finished it a few days ago and have been chewing on what to write for a review.  It’s so problematic.  Here’s why… the things I liked about this show were also the things I hated about this show.

Example 1:  I loved the idea of a young woman from deep in the mountains, disconnected from modern society… and yet I didn’t buy it.  At all.  The entire sequence of events in the mountains felt like theater scenery and unnatural to both characters.  She did not seem like a young woman cut off from modern society at all.  It just felt off.

Example 2:  I loved the love/hate relationships inspired by the main male character.  His shrink, his employees, his personal assistant all hated him with a passion… and yet they loved him too because he was interesting and flamboyant and really good at his job.  And yet I couldn’t really figure out what his job WAS or what he did or if it was, indeed, impressive.  It just seemed like a glossed over subject.

Example 3:  The disloyal yet lovable assistant.  This contrasting nature made the character both deviously hysterical and enjoyable.  Sometimes.  And other times I thought, “there’s no way this guy wouldn’t have been fired three years ago,” or worse, it made the assistant come across as a true asshole, which is not endearing whatsoever.   And this is one of my favorite actors, too, so it hurts to say that…

There’s some really cute romantic comedy moments in this show.  And some pretty spectacular lines and witty banter… like this scene in the car…

greatpeople2

allweird

But overall it was just MEH.  I enjoyed all the characters, mostly, and was entertained… but I also felt cheated out of a good drama, which it might have been if given room to stretch its legs.

Overall Rating – 7/10.  Size Matters.

Review – Discovery of Romance

/ Lady Divine / Leave a comment

Review – Discovery of Romance

distitle

This romantic drama featured the reunion of actors Jung Yoo Mi with Eric Moon.  I love these two together.  They were fantastic in Que Sera Sera.  And they were good in this drama as well.  Sung Joon is also in this show, and he’s another of my favorites.  But I’m just gonna stop you now before you get excited by the quality line up of actors…

It just wasn’t that good.

Discovery of Romance is love triangle plotline, but with a bit more weight on each side for once.  Eric Moon’s character is the former lover of Jung Yoo Mi’s character.  They were together five long years before breaking up.  Now she’s with Sung Joon’s character, in a strong, healthy relationship.  That is… until her old lover turns up again and wants to try again.

Despite loving all the actors and the exploration of the complexity of relationships, I didn’t think too much of this drama.  I finished it, though I confess I started to skim towards the end.

Overall Rating – 5/10.  When The Heart Is Involved, Honestly Is Easier In Theory Than In Practice.

SPOILERS FOLLOW

Continue reading →

Review – Pinocchio

/ Lady Divine / 7 Comments

Review – Pinocchio

pintitle

Every once in a while a finely tuned drama like this comes along and grabs you unaware.  The premise seemed simple, almost silly.  I thought it was going to be another cheesy romance with some silly work comedy thrown in.  Oh how wrong I was.

This is one of those rare shows that just does everything right.  Every character is well developed.  They give you enough time to explore the world – the family and friends and dynamics of relationships.  No one feels plastic or cliche.  By the end of episode five, you have a deep commitment to all the players on the stage.  It isn’t just about a cute couple falling in love.  This is a drama about lots of people and how interpersonal relationships shape your life, for better and worse.

The Plot, Short Version:  After inaccurate news coverage leads to tragedy, a young man grows up and tackles the enemy from the inside by becoming a reporter.

Overall Rating – 10/10.  Do Reporters Go To Heaven or Hell?

SPOILERS AHEAD!

Continue reading →

There’s Something About Mary… Review – Mary Stayed Out All Night

/ Lady Divine / Leave a comment

There’s Something About Mary… Review – Mary Stayed Out All Night

marytitle

This drama has a lot going for it.  Two incredibly attractive men vying for the affection of one ridiculous girl.  Check!  Indie rock music.  Check!  Behind the scenes of the business end of making dramas.  Check!  A hysterical disaster-inducing father.  Check! Funny friends.  Check, Check!  Lots of piggy back rides and wrist grabbing… just tick off every box for “YES.”  It has all the basics.

And basic is what you get.

A mildly enjoyable romantic drama.

READ MORE…

Continue reading →