Tag: week in review

Week in Review (Jan 17 – 23, 2021)

~ colourfulgranny ~ Leave a comment

What have I been doing this week? I’m glad you asked! Here’s what’s been on my watchlist this week:

*Note: My reviews usually contain spoilers. You have been warned. Proceed at your own risk.*

TV

Jealousy Incarnate (2016)

This past week I decided to rewatch Jealousy Incarnate, featuring Jo Jeong-seok, one of my favourite actors, in a show that I remembered as being incredible when I first watched it. However, I felt like I didn’t have a chance to fully appreciate what the show was at the time, being a relative novice to k-dramas and Korean culture in general. Now, after having watched about 70 Korean titles from all sort of genres, I felt much better equipped to understand Jealousy Incarnate, and the pieces that went into making it.

On second watch, I found myself enjoying the cast just as much as I did the first time, if not more. Jo and Gong Hyo-jin complement each other so well, both having a natural realist style of acting. I remember being annoyed by that exact quality of Gong’s acting style in When the Camellia Blooms, perhaps because her partner there was too fantastical. But here she exudes charm and because of the way that Hwa-shin reacts to Na-ri, I found it that much more believable.

It’s this grounded approach that makes the more far-fetched elements of the show easier to accept, from the love triangles to the teenage (and sometime adult) hijinks. While I feel like the show could have done without the love line between the chef and SBC ladies (I found myself skipping through these scenes on rewatch), I do like how the show set up these kind of choices for our characters. Most of the conflict of the show is a direct result someone being pulled in two directions and being unable to make up their minds. Hwa-shin needed to make a choice between his friendship or his love, Ppal-gang (Moon Ga-young) needed to decide which of her mothers she wants to live with, Na-ri had to choose whether to hold on to the love she’s had for several years or leave it behind and start fresh. 

The writing was consistently strong, and themes of the show were well mapped out. The writer took the time to explore gender roles, both in the workplace and in society, using Hwa-shin’s breast cancer and Na-ri’s career path as prime examples of gender inequality for both men and women. But I like that just because there was cause to pity a character in one situation doesn’t mean that they didn’t get reprimanded for their other wrongdoings. Hwa-shin was a monumental ass to Na-ri on several occasions, but he didn’t get a pass just because he got sick. In fact, if anything, because he was so terrible, Go Jeong-won (Go Gyeong-pyo) comes up smelling like roses despite his own laundry list of flaws. He had to actively work towards getting Na-ri’s forgiveness for mistreating her. Similarly, Na-ri wasn’t let off the hook as easily by Jeong-won and Hwa-shin for stringing them along.

While the show did have its share of flaws, I enjoyed the show a lot. The highlights for me were the shows two leads. I also loved Doc (Bae Hae-Sun) and Nurse (Park Jin-Joo) for being a near constant source of both humour and heart, as well as Chief Oh’s (Kwon Hae-Hyo) bickering and snark. I feel like the second viewing of this show allowed me the chance to look deeper at the social commentary that the show was trying to make, and understand it in a broader cultural context that I didn’t quite get on first watching Jealousy Incarnate.

Week in Review (Jan 10 – 16, 2021)

~ colourfulgranny ~ Leave a comment

What have I been doing this week? I’m glad you asked! Here’s what’s been on my watchlist this week:

*Note: My reviews usually contain spoilers. You have been warned. Proceed at your own risk.*

TV

Lovestruck in the City (2020) – Ep 5-8

We seem to have gotten more insight into Jae-won (Ji Chang-wook) the past couple of weeks, while Lee Eun-oh (Kim Ji-won) continues to be a mystery. While I do believe that she was being genuine while she was with him, there’s so much about her motivations that is still unclear. We don’t know why she left the city two years ago, we don’t know why she adopted a different personality and didn’t tell anyone from her life about it, and we don’t know why she came back either. Hopefully now that the two have finally met in the present, we can start getting some insight into Eun-oh’s thought process. But honestly, I’m not holding my breath, considering the pace that things have been moving at. 

The other characters have started to get fleshed out a fair bit too, although some of them would have been fine without some of the stranger quirks – like Seon-yeong’s (Han Ji-eun) bizarre need to reclaim all the things she gave her boyfriends when they break up, and Jae-won’s alcoholism. They seem like plot devices more than character development.

While I’m enjoying the snappy editing and crisp dialogue, I am still a bit confused by the framing device of the mockumentary format. While we have seen the occasional camera or other characters filming in the background, there seems to be a disparity in those moments where characters are clearly by themselves, or during events that happened in the past. My current theory is that this is some kind of reenactment, but that seems a little too farfetched even for this writer’s style.

Graphic Novels

Paper Girls (Issue #21-25)

As things start to get wrapped up, all the disparate narrative threads are slowly coming together, and we’re starting to see the bigger picture. The girls landed in the future, and as they try to figure out how to get home they are also each on their own personal missions. Mac’s seems the most pressing, as she thinks the cure to her future illness can be found in the future, only to learn the hard truth that the reason she’ll even become sick is because of the time-travelling in the first place. Mac also helps KJ come to terms with her own internal struggles. As her prophetic visions come to a head, and she finds it difficult to open up to Mac, not sure if she can trust her to be understanding and accepting of her. Ultimately, their friendship wins out, and the girls not only reconcile but also take their relationship to a romantic place.

The other half of the group have similar levels of success and failure. When Erin finally realises that the Old-Timers are being headed by the very same prehistoric people they helped rescue, she and the Tiffanies immediately make their way to find Wari, who somehow managed to survive and travel to the future with Jahpo and Dr. Qanta. What ensues is a mess of trying to decipher Wari’s amnesia-riddled memories, and consequently trying to return to their own time. Ultimately, the older Tiffany has to sacrifice herself so that the girls can return, which comes as a shock to all the girls. They barely have time to recover from all this before they are once again faced with their final difficulty, Erin’s clone, who ends up scattering the girls through time so that they won’t be able to cause any more havoc.

As all this happens, I really do wonder why all these events have been taking place. We still don’t fully know the reason for Stony Stream’s or the girls’ importance to the time stream, and I hope that we get answers in the final stretch of the comic. Every time I think I’ve figured out people’s motivations, new things are added to the mix just to muddy everything up again. Can we please get some answers, Mr. Vaughan?

Week in Review (Jan 3 – 9, 2021)

~ colourfulgranny ~ Leave a comment

What have I been doing this week? I’m glad you asked! Here’s what’s been on my watchlist this week:

*Note: My reviews usually contain spoilers. You have been warned. Proceed at your own risk.*

TV

Mr. Queen (2020) – Ep 1-8

Mr. Queen is such a gem of a show, and these first few episodes has been an absolute delight to watch. I went into the show knowing very little of the premise, only that it was going to be a fusion sageuk with some sort of time-travel element. What I got is even better!

The casting on the show could not be better. I am absolutely loving Shin Hye-sun as Bong-hwan, trapped in the rather frail body of the queen he absolutely does not want to be in. However, he quickly comes to realise the benefits that come with being Queen So-yong, and is on a mission to become the greatest inventor of Joseon. Shin manages to capture the contrast between So-yong’s outwardly feminine features and Bong-hwan’s very masculine body language in the perfect way, to the point where you sometimes forget that you are watching her and see her future counterpart, Choi Jin-hyuk. Although the last episode did away with the final remnants of Choi’s cameo, I’m excited to see how Shin carries Bong-hwan/So-yong going forward.

Bong-hwan isn’t the only one trapped playing two parts, as it seems that the King (Kim Jung-hyun) is also leading a double life. The fool king by day, and vigilante by night, he seems to get more and more interesting as we peel back the layers of his personality, and the queen seems to know how to push all the right buttons to make him want to explode in a rage and reveal the latter. Although history remembers the real King Cheoljong as perhaps one of the most inefficient of the Joseon era, I like that the show tells us not to take everything at face value, and I’m hoping that our characters will also learn that lesson as they get to know one another.

We’re already seeing hints of that with the royal court members. Everyone from the Grand Dowager to Jo Hwa-jin seems to be hiding secrets and I’m looking forward to seeing how all the scheming ultimately turns out. The Kim and Jo Clans’ rivalry is one for the books, and I’m hoping that the excellent writing so far will do justice to them, rather than getting bogged down in the political intrigue that so many historical dramas are notorious for.

Mr. Queen is so laugh-out-loud funny, and hopefully it retains that momentum going forward. The drama’s strong story and good casting is working well in it’s favour and I’m looking forward to what the show has in store for us.

Movies

Soul (2020)

Soul marks my return to the cinema for the first time since late-February last year, and it was so refreshing to get to watch a movie on the big screen after almost a year. The cinema experience is an unbeatable one, and I’m glad I picked this film as my first foray back. Ultimately, Soul is about finding the joys of life, knowing that there will be downs, but that those are necessary for us to be able to appreciate the ups too. 

Jamie Foxx plays Joe Gardner, a middle-school band teacher who finally gets his big break playing a gig with a band he’s always wanted to. Only, he happen to accidentally fall down a manhole and end up in the afterlife on the day of the performance. As he tries to find a way back to his body on Earth, he encounters 22 (Tina Fey), a soul who’s never been to Earth because she’s never seen what all the fuss in living is about. What ensues is a series of wacky events that lead to 22 ending up on Earth in Joe’s body and Joe being her cat guide. While there, both Joe and 22 learn some valuable lessons about how to enjoy life to its fullest potential.

The movie has a beautiful uplifting message, and it uses the visual storytelling as a guide through the world, weaving music and delicious food and the wonder of nature to entice our senses. Soul was a lovely journey, and I’m glad that I got to go along for the ride.

Week in Review (Dec 27, 2020 – Jan 2, 2021)

~ colourfulgranny ~ 1 Comment

Happy New Year! This past year has been an eventful year filled with lots of new show, movies and books. I’m hoping to be able to have just as much fun this year with lots of new media and hopefully some good insights, too.

What have I been doing this week? I’m glad you asked! Here’s what’s been on my watchlist this week:

*Note: My reviews usually contain spoilers. You have been warned. Proceed at your own risk.*

TV

Lovestruck in the City (2020) – Ep 1-4

Lovestruck in the City is a strange take on the mockumentary format, blending interview footage with flashbacks and cutting clips in a way that makes it seem like the characters are having conversations with one another despite being in different locations and perhaps shooting at different times. It also seems like at moments we get to see the characters inner thoughts, and it seems unlikely that there would be a camera around in those situations. I feel like the show is going to slowly diverge away from having the mockumentary style, and eventually we’re only going to be left with a few remnants of interview footage.

As far as the characters are concerned, I’m finding it a bit difficult to connect to them. I picked this show up as a fan of Kim Ji-won, who I loved in The Heirs and was fascinated with in Decendants of the Sun. However, Lee Eun-oh doesn’t seem to have been written with as much depth. Her leading man Jae-won (Ji Chang-wook), isn’t much different. I’d been hearing people rave about Ji as an actor, but his performance here is a little underwhelming. I’m not sure if it’s an issue with the portrayal or the writing, but as things stand, I don’t understand the appeal.

To be fair, the story is only now starting to find its feet, in Episode 4, and I hope we’re going to start to see the it develop more clearly now that the set-up is done – and hopefully pick up the pace too. I’m curious how everyone is going to come together, and what the previous connection between all the character will mean for them going forward.

Graphic Novels

Paper Girls (Issue #16-20)

It’s exposition time! We got a lot of dialogue in these five issues, and the motivations of both sides are becoming clearer, if not more logical. Y2K madness was sweeping the town of Stony Stream, as they arrive on New Year’s Day 2000. Not only are the local citizens panicking, but this is also the time where the Old-timers and the Teenagers have decided to have a robot death-battle. The girls get caught in the cross-fire and as usual have to navigate through the danger until they can find a way out; either to the future, or back home to the past.

I was rather surprised to find out that the Grand Father that seems to be running the show was Jahpo, the child that the girls ended up saving in prehistoric times, and I’m looking forward to his story unfolding as we understand the circumstances that led him to where he is now. I’m also curious how Future Tiffany is going to tie into the group, now that they’ve brought her along for the ride, and if that’s going to affect her timeline as a child.

There are a lot of question that still remain unanswered, and I’m hoping that we’ll see them covered in the final third of the series.

Week in Review (Dec 20 – 26, 2020)

~ colourfulgranny ~ Leave a comment

What have I been doing this week? I’m glad you asked! Here’s what’s been on my watchlist this week:

*Note: My reviews usually contain spoilers. You have been warned. Proceed at your own risk.*

TV

SKY Castle (2018) – Ep 1-5

SKY Castle is such a dynamic blend of political intrigue, sageuk hierarchies and makjang twists and turns. At yet, it falls into none of these genres. It is ultimately a drama set in an idyllic suburb – or so it seems. The universe that has been set up is so intricately laid out, and all the players are following their parts, but there is always a sense that something is brewing just below the surface. 

The Kang family started out in the best position when we were introduced to them. The patriarch of the family, Joon-sang (Jung Joon-ho) is a rising star at his hospital, his wife Seo-jin (Yum Jung-ah) is the ideal housewife and mother, and they have two bright children. But with the departure of the Park family, we see them slowly start falling apart, leaving a gaping hole in the community where Seo-jin thought her family should fill, but is now having doubts about.

The other contender for this spot is Cha Min-hyuk (Kim Byung-chul). He is the most involved of all the fathers in his children lives, and his methods leave a lot to be desired. However, he doesn’t seem to catch on that no-one in the community particularly likes him, his own family included, and just seems to charge ahead without any thought of the harm he’s doing. It was great to see his wife finally stand up to him in Episode 5, and I feel like Seung-hye (Yoon Se-ah) is on the path to reclaiming her place in both her children’s lives and her marriage. It was so satisfying seeing Min-hyuk knocked down a few pegs.

This was of course through the gentle prodding of the community’s newest resident, Lee Soo-im (Lee Tae-ran). Her childhood relationship with Seo-jin is still a bit of mystery, but she clearly isn’t as mild-mannered as she appears on the surface. She’s willing to stand up for herself, and it’s great to know that she gets all the support she needs from her family. I’m looking forward to see how her small actions continue to cause waves among the rest of the families.

It’s also due to her that we see the breakdown between Seo-jin and Jin-hee’s (Oh Na-ra) relationship starting. Because Seo-jin can’t reveal her true past to Jin-hee, she’s becoming more and more untrusting of her closest friend, and added to the tense relationship between their husbands, I feel like they’re on the path to becoming rivals more than friends.

The show has an over-the-top-ness that I’m finding very fun to watch, and I’m glad that the acting is supporting the intense storylines of the show. Kim Byung-chul in particular is a favourite of mine, and he’s getting such an interesting arc that I’m so excited for. All the families have so much invested in succeeding, and it seems like they are willing to go to any lengths to achieve it.

Graphic Novels

Paper Girls (Issue #11-15)

The girls go through some life changing events, as the things around them become more and more crazy. These five issues focused particularly on KJ, who was reunited with the other girls in prehistoric times. Not only does she experience a crisis of identity, she also has to now deal with the consequences of having killed someone in order to defend her companion. It seemed like everything was happening to her all at once. In Y: The Last Man, Vaughan usually managed to balance out the topic relating to women over all his female characters. However, in Paper Girls, even though he has a wealth of women to write for, it seems like one is getting the brunt of the social commentary in her story arc. 

We also encountered two new women, one from the time the girls got stranded in, and one who claims she invented time-travel. Wari, our prehistoric mother, seems to only have one thing on her mind: Keep her son safe from the mysterious three men. The other, Qanta, seems to be on a reconnaissance mission in the past, and accidentally gets herself into trouble with these same mystery men. Both end up being put in distress and have to fight their way out, with the help of our paper girls.

The visual style of the comic seems to getting more conventional as the story gets more fantastical; gone is the vibrant colour palette and everything seems to be in much more muted earth colours. The pacing also seems to be much slower, and I miss the action of the earlier issues that don’t seem to have followed the girls into the past. I hope the story returns to that original pacing of the earlier issues going forward.

Week in Review (Dec 13 – 19, 2020)

~ colourfulgranny ~ Leave a comment

What have I been doing this week? I’m glad you asked! Here’s what’s been on my watchlist this week:

*Note: My reviews usually contain spoilers. You have been warned. Proceed at your own risk.*

TV

Misaeng (2014)

I’ll be quite frank, Misaeng was a gruelling watch, but it was so worth it. There’s something innately relatable about how mundanely the show represents office life and I found myself rooting for these character to get their project proposals approved and their presentations to go well.

Jang Geu-rae (Im Si-wan) is the heart of the show, and is our guide through the crazy world of office politics as he learns to navigate it himself. He’s such an easygoing and good-natured young man that I almost wanted to see how he might react when pushed far enough. Lucky for him, he had a supportive group of fellow newbies and they all learnt to survive by learning and helping one another. All four of them have difficult upward climbs in their respective teams, whether it’s dealing with misogyny, realising that you aren’t as smart as you might think, constantly having the threat of being fired looming, or being belittled by your superiors at every turn.

As much as the newbies suffer, we also see the struggles of middle- and upper-management in the show. While there are clearly good and bad choice, the show doesn’t always paint the people who make them in such binary tones. Oh Sang-sik’s (Lee Sung-min) strong moral compass is what ultimately causes his team to suffer, and Director Choi (Lee Kyoung-young) shows remorse for his decisions knowing he deserved what he got in the end. 

The show was actually quite good about being true to life in that sense, and I liked that it didn’t take place over the course of a few short months as a lot of dramas tend to. We got to spend two years with these characters, seeing them growing and evolving as people, and the long-form storytelling fit well with the slow pace of the show. Han Seok-yul’s (Byun Yo-han) arc in particular was really well teased out, going from having a reputation of a lecherous dog to being genuinely loved by his colleagues. His lively personality was what won me over, as I’m sure it did the others, and Byun deserves a huge amount of credit for turning his character around like that.

Finally, I’m glad that the show didn’t give us neatly tied up storylines. Life is messy, and Misaeng shows us that grimness in all its glory, living up to its name. This life is incomplete, and therefore it has time to change and evolve into something beautiful and unique. The most we can do is try our damnedest to be better. YES? YES!

Graphic Novels

Paper Girls (Issue #6-10)

Wow, things really took a turn in these five issues. Erin encountered not one but two different versions of herself, and not only does she have to contend with the fact that the older version of her isn’t the ideal future she would have imagined for herself, but her clone also turned out to be evil! 

The girls were reunited at the end of Issue #10, but not after some major trials and Mac also learned a hard truth about her future. Mac in particular is a wild card, but all the girls seems to be showing the volatile traits that come with the territory of being a teenage girl; that strange combination of untrusting, overconfident, self-doubting – and it’s all amplified by the fantastical scenario they’re in.

The artwork continues to be a delight, the colour palette in particular setting the tone and complimenting the writing perfectly. Now that the papergirls have been reunited, I’m curious to see how things move forward. It’s most likely going to test loyalties, but I have faith that the girls will make it through to the other side intact.

Week in Review (Dec 6 – 12, 2020)

~ colourfulgranny ~ 1 Comment

What have I been doing this week? I’m glad you asked! Here’s what’s been on my watchlist this week:

*Note: My reviews usually contain spoilers. You have been warned. Proceed at your own risk.*

TV

Start-Up (2020)

Even just the opening title of Start-Up got me in the right mood to watch the show, old-school music mixing with modern imagery, and I loved that the show blended two dichotomies into one constantly, showing that even when things may clash, they eventually need to find a harmony with one another in order for true progress to happen. Nature and technology, tradition and innovation have to learn to occupy the same space, and that’s where Start-Up does its best.

Han Ji-pyeong (Kim Seon-ho) and Harmoni (Kim Hae-sook) highlight one of many such contrasting ideas that blended into one another. The letters were always a creation born of both Harmoni’s traditionalist views and Ji-pyeong modern sensibilities, and that was probably a large part of the appeal of the made up Do-San for Seo Dal-mi (Bae Suzy). Not only was this invented man chivalrous and old-fashioned in the best of ways, he was also forward thinking and had an unsurpassable drive for success and change. Of course no one else could hold a candle to him! 

When the real Nam Do-san (Nam Joo-hyuk) enters the scene, he’s such a change from the original that he has to reinvent himself entirely, but because he’s only receiving guidance from half of the original duo, his character seems incomplete. It’s only when moments of his true self are allowed to shine through that he became a fully realised entity, and it’s no wonder that it’s in these moments when the true magic between them happens. Even though Do-san is extremely insecure of himself, Dal-mi’s unconditional trust in him is what gives him the strength to push to his full potential. 

Another motif of the show is in finding one’s true place in the world, and not following what is expected or wanted of us. Where Do-san failed as CEO of Samsan Tech, having Dal-mi at the helm allowed the team to channel themselves where they would have the maximum impact. In-jae (Kang Han-na) also similarly realised that she would always be unappreciated at her step-father’s company and decided to unshackle herself from them and forge her own path instead.

Although the show is played largely as a traditional romance, it was in this aspect that I found the show to be most lacking. The primary triangle set up between Dal-mi, Do-san and Ji-pyeong never really held my attention, and Ji-pyeong never seemed like a true contender for Dal-mi’s affection. The irony of this is – of course – not lost on me, since in the beginning it is Ji-pyeon’s story that we follow, and it is he that gets the cliche childhood friendship and subsequent coincidental reunion, a trope that is commonly used in several drama pairings. There also seems to be a sense of completeness to the pairing of Do-san and Dal-mi, and a third party seems almost irrelevant (not that that has stopped writers before).

Ji-pyeong’s story feels much more complete alongside Harmoni. Both actors lend such a raw realness to their characters that they feel lived in and a true part of the universe. When Ji-pyeong has his heartbreaking epiphany and Harmoni holds him as he sobs in her arms was equal parts satisfying and tearjerking. The other storyline that left a strong emotional impact on me was that of Dal-mi’s father (played by the omnipresent Kim Joo-hun). Even in his brief appearance, I felt a strong connection to him, and understood his passion and drive. You feel a sense of him throughout the lives of the women he left behind, shaping and moulding the way they view the world in the same way that they made him the man he was.

Lastly, I do want to mention the actors that played the younger counterparts to our main trio. Ho Jung-eun in particular is always a delight to watch and the two boys knocked it out of the park. We can see how closely these younger selves shapes the older versions we eventually see. I also particularly liked our more underrated Sans. Yoo Soo-Bin has a comedic brilliance about him and was a delight to have on my screen. Kim Do-wan played the strong silent type, but when the team was looking for insight he was often there to provide it.

While Start-Up may not be the most groundbreaking show, it does have a sense of appeal in the story it was trying to tell. I particularly like the backdrop of the start-up world and although we didn’t get to fully explore it over the course of the show, it has peaked my interest enough for me to want to learn more about it independently. I’m glad I got to be along for the ride as these characters experienced ups and downs, rooting for them through their hardships and celebrating with them when they ultimately found their successes.

Graphic Novels

Paper Girls (Issue #1-5)

Brian K. Vaughan has been one of my favourite writers since I first read Y: The Last Man almost a decade ago. His latest series, Paper Girls, is just as thrilling and these first five issues have piqued my interest. The universe he has created, paired with the artwork by Cliff Chiang immerses you in the world inhabited by our four intrepid paper delivery girls as they try to uncover the mysteries of their town. 

So far, it’s mostly been about establishing the conditions that sets our characters off on their journey, but I’m looking forward to seeing where the time-travel adventures lead our gang and how this will help shape them in this formative time of their lives. Issue #6, here I come! 

Miscellaneous

Disney Investor Day 2020

It seems a bit strange to be reviewing what is essentially a financial statement, but Disney’s Investor Day of 2020 was a fascinating blend of corporate structure and creative output. The theme of the day was “storytelling” and I think I heard the word used at least a dozen times over the course of the 4-hour presentation. The launch of Disney+ has worked largely in their favour in the present times, and this is reflected right out of the gate with their subscription count. Both Disney+ and ESPN+ have reached their 2024 targets just within a single year with Hulu not far behind, and Disney’s Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) business is striving under the current pandemic. Of the 105 titles announced during the Investor Day, 80% of them are planned for a DTC launch. This is extremely telling of Disney’s strategy with regards to their streaming services going forward. 

When it comes to those titles, the highlights for me were the Star Wars and the Marvel titles. Both seem to have shifted to more long-form storytelling and have an extensive slate of upcoming TV series, each of which tie in intricately within their respective universes. Disney and Pixar on the other hand seem to be sticking to their strength with their feature films. Raya and the Last Dragon and Soul are their next two releases. However, Disney will still be taking advantage of the Disney+ platform by having simultaneous release with Premium Access. 

It always surprises me how many companies fall under the Disney umbrella. With their recent acquisitions of STAR and 20th Century Fox, as well as their ownership of FX, it seems like Disney have a finger in every pie. However, it seems like Disney’s plan to roll out STAR is all over the place, sometimes quite literally. Every region seems to be getting its own version with some having it as an individual tile integrated into Disney+, while in others, it will be its own independent streaming service called STAR+. The biggest revolution that seems to have come out of this though, is in the way they are handling live sports. From the presentation, the UI seems to a very clean synergistic look to it with everything available at a glance or the touch of a button. 

Overall, I’m quite excited about the new titles that Disney announced. However, like most things that concern Disney, I will be taking it with a grain of salt, and will try to manage my expectations because you never know when something might look pretty on the surface, but turn out to be a massive disaster (I’m looking at you, Mulan!). 

Week in Review (Nov 29 – Dec 5, 2020)

~ colourfulgranny ~ 1 Comment

What have I been doing this week? I’m glad you asked! Here’s what’s been on my watchlist this week:

*Note: My reviews usually contain spoilers. You have been warned. Proceed at your own risk.*

TV

Reply 1994 (2013)

While not the final instalment of the Reply series, it is the final one for me, and in a way it’s probably best this way, since I don’t imagine I would have had the urge to watch Reply 1988 if I’d seen this first.

While the cast is excellent and the structure of the story holds promise, the execution often left me with a sense of frustration. The writer seems intent on prolonging the mystery and creating diversions rather than telling a story that serves the characters well. Even knowing how things would pan out before the show started, I was often annoyed at how the writer toyed with the romance mystery. I’m generally a very easy-going viewer, allowing the story to unfold and trusting that the writer is going to do justice to the narrative because they genuinely want to tell the best version of the story they can. But here, it felt a lot like they were just jerking me around. I can see why the writer might have taken this direction with the storytelling style. I mentioned in my review of Reply 1997 how the mystery didn’t really hold my attention because it never really seemed like a question how things would eventually turn out. But it seems like the writer went in the complete opposite direction here, and it just served to alienate me a little bit. 

That being said, there are still a lot of things to enjoy about the show. The boarding house is filled with a mishmash of characters, each with their own unique background. Seeing them interact with one another feels natural, whether it’s Haitai (Sohn Ho-joon) and Samcheonpo (Kim Sung-kyun) fighting over bedtime, Chilbong (Yoo Yeon-seok) finding family and becoming a fixture at the boarding house, Yoon-jin’s (Min Do-hee) rivalry-turned-romance with Samcheonpo, or Binguerre’s (Baro) hero worship of Sseureki (Jung Woo) as he tries to find his identity. In many ways the show is a love letter to the diversity to be found in the small peninsula, but at the same time, that sense of being an outsider is what connects all these characters together.

This writer’s strength lies in developing family relationships, and I find the family unit in this show to be cohesive, even if it isn’t as well developed as the others in the series. Go Ara’s Na-jung is a bright carefree character, and we see how her interaction with her parents (played brilliantly by Lee Il-hwa and Sung Dong-il) has a normality to it that you find in everyday life. They face their ups and downs together, and they rely on one another to get through the tough times as much as they celebrate they joy together.

In the end, I’m glad I watched the show, but I didn’t get the same joy out of it as I did from either the previous or the following instalments of the series. However, this show’s set-backs allowed the writer to deliver an even stronger follow-up, and for that I’m glad that it exists.

Movies

You’ve Got Mail (1998)

There seems to be a 90s theme to this weeks reviews, and this film manages to capture that unique time of the early days of the internet. You’ve Got Mail is a slice of the 90s, and although it is primarily remembered as a rom-com, it’s also equal parts about family, and justice and nostalgia. 

Both Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks deliver stellar performances. Hanks in particular seems to be playing two different characters, the rude and unapproachable corporate in person, which contrast with the kind and helpful online persona he’s cultivated. But over the course of the film we get to resolve these two personas into one, just as Kathleen has to. Kathleen Kelly on the other hand is shown to undergo the most change, and we get to enjoy watching her become more straightforward through the guidance of those around her. She also lets go of her prejudices against Joe Fox, realising that she can’t judge a book by its cover.

The quirky cast of characters helps to round out the universe, showing the great contrast between the commercial Fox Books and the independent The Shop Around the Corner and setting the stage for the majority of the conflict in the film. This conflict is what helps to drive our characters apart, but it is also eventually what helps bring them together, since they are constantly thrust into each other’s company. 

There’s a reason that this film has made it into the ranks of the classics. It has heart and true human emotion driving the characters. You understand where they are coming from and why they react the way they do. It’s fun being on the journey with them as they figure out the ups and downs of life, and you can’t help but root for them. 

Week in Review (Nov 22 – 28, 2020)

~ colourfulgranny ~ Leave a comment

What have I been doing this week? I’m glad you asked! Here’s what’s been on my watchlist this week:

*Note: My reviews usually contain spoilers. You have been warned. Proceed at your own risk.*

TV

My Love From the Star (2013)

What a gem of a show! Jun Ji-hyun is by far one of my favourite actors and her performance alongside Kim Soo-hyun creates for one of the most memorable pair of leads. This show left a strong lasting impression, and barring a few minor missteps, My Love From the Star is beautifully made.

I’m no stranger to Writer Park Ji-eun’s work, and have watched both Legend of the Blue Sea and Crash Landing on You. As a viewer, it is easy to see a lot of the themes of this show reflected in these later works, and arguably done better there. The fish-out-of-water elements definitely work better in Blue Sea, and the antagonists are much more well realised in CLoY, but there are definitely components that she managed to capture beautifully in this show, that didn’t have quite the same magic in the follow-up projects. 

The mixing of two timelines into a single narrative is the first that comes to mind. Kim’s stranded alien forced to spend the last 400 years on Earth waiting for his spaceship back home is pitch-perfect, capturing the weariness of being among a people that you can’t understand and distancing yourself from them. But as we peel back the layers of his character, we find that he did once engage with them, and that the scars left from those interactions forced him to retreat rather than subject himself to more heartbreak. The Joseon storyline shows us just how much he was able to feel back then, and contrasts well with the cold professor we get in the modern day.

Cheon Song-i on the other hand, seems to wear her heart on her sleeve, and we see her start to break through the tough veneer that Do Min-joon has spent centuries perfecting. She’s so disarmingly charming that it’s difficult not to fall in love with her, and Jun is unafraid to be ridiculous in the role in service of the character. Whether it’s crying over her shoes, yelling about her anti-fans or posting on social media, Song-i is always larger than life, and she manages to creep into every corner of Min-joon’s life despite his efforts to push her away. 

Of course there was the fact that she looked like the woman he fell in love with when he first arrived on Earth, but that seemed like a convenient plot-element rather than having any actual place in the show. The other plotline that seemed like it was there just to be there was Song-i and her family being abandoned by her father. It was one part of the story that perhaps worked better on paper than in practice, because it was never really explored and resolved a little too easily for my liking.

Of the secondary characters, my favourite would have to be Lawyer Jang (Kim Chang-wan). His poignant friendship with Min-joon was just as lovely as his hilarious exasperation with him, and I loved the running gag of him speaking to Min-joon so formally despite the actor being decades older than Kim Soo-hyun. My other favourite was comic book store owner Hong Bok-ja (Hong Jin-kyung). She serves as an audience surrogate in many ways, getting to observe the shenanigans from afar, but she also grounds Song-i when she starts to get out of hand and supports her even if she might not agree with her. While everyone else in her life is a yes man, Song-i values her opinion because she knows she’ll tell it to her straight, even if it isn’t what she wants to hear.

Song-i thought this of Yoo Se-mi and Lee Whi-kyung too, but both ultimately had ulterior motives, and neither truly had her best interest at heart. These two characters were perhaps the most infuriating, because they could have been subversive of the typical second lead tropes that we usually see, but the writer falls back on those tried and tested cookie-cutter characters, and they feel flat and lifeless. Lee Jae-kyung also feels like a caricature villain, complete with ring-twisting, evil smirks and greasy-hair.

And that’s where the show felt most underdeveloped. The murder plot went on too long, without any real justification or clear reasoning behind it, and of course it spawned the completely unnecessary inconsistencies in Min-joon’s abilities (Why is going to die if he kills someone?). The external conflicts felt almost redundant when there was so much more meaningful storytelling to be hard from the internal conflicts.

But, of course, I am nitpicking a little bit. My Love From the Star deserves the critical acclaim and love that it gets because it truly does deliver a near-perfect show. And quite frankly, I could watch Jun Ji-hyun and Kim Soo-hyun on my screen any time.

Do Do Sol Sol La La Sol (2020) – Ep 15-16

?????? !!!!!! 😡 

Can that just be my review for the show? I’m so disappointed with how this show turned out, that it’s hard to write about it without getting a bit angry. While there were so many elements of this show to love when it began, the writer seemed to get more and more lost on what to do with her characters as the show progressed. It seemed like we covered practically every trope in the book: Runaway chaebol, clueless heiress, overbearing parents, stalkers, murder plot, dead friend, truck of doom, the list goes on and on. But the one that seemed to be dumbest in the long list of dumb was the writer’s most decent addition of the cancer storyline. WHAT?! And to make things worse, Joon lies to Ra-ra about his illness robbing her of being able to spend time with him, and then has his mother lie to her that he’s dead! For how long you ask? Maybe just a few weeks or at the worst a few months, right? Nope! Five freaking YEARS! There’s nothing noble about that, that’s just plain idiocy. I’m mad that the writer felt like it was okay to jerk us around like that. I wish Joon had stayed dead, to be honest.

This was a show that I decided to live watch, something I haven’t done in years, because I wanted to keep up with the community discussion and enjoy the show in the format that it was intended to be told. Sadly, it hasn’t been an enjoyable experience at all, and I’m wishing for that time back. I wish I’d waited till the show was done before deciding to watch it. That’s not to say I might not have watched it if I’d known it would end badly, but at least I would have had the choice. And that’s essentially what it comes down to. It isn’t that I’ve never watched a bad show, of course I have. But most of the time, I go in knowing it’s going to be bad, but want to watch in anyway. For the writer, the director, the cast or the story. I’ve mentally prepared myself for it being disappointing, so I can manage my expectations and enjoy it for the reasons that I chose it, rather than dwelling on the things that aren’t up to par.

All this waxing poetic to say that I feel cheated by DDSSLLS. Because it showed promise, because I kept giving the show the benefit of the doubt, and perhaps because I didn’t know to quit while I was ahead. But like I said, I liked so many things when this show began: The townspeople of Eunpo, the wonderful colour palette, the way that music was incorporated into the show, and the cuteness of Go Ara and Lee Jae-wook (even if their characters can be described as questionable at best, and that’s me being generous). So, I’m going to take that from the show and hope to forget the rest. Ugh. Whatever, it’s over. Finally. We now return to our regularly scheduled program…

Week in Review (Nov 15 – 21, 2020)

~ colourfulgranny ~ Leave a comment

What have I been doing this week? I’m glad you asked! Here’s what’s been on my watchlist this week:

*Note: My reviews usually contain spoilers. You have been warned. Proceed at your own risk.*

TV

School 2013 (2012)

I’d been hearing about the School series, almost as much as I had heard about the Reply series in having a unique concept and a consistent style with a clear focus on what message it wants to convey.

The message in School 2013 seems to be that of the hardships of youth, how things that seem inconsequential to adults are world-shattering in the eyes of high-school kids. At times, the show takes itself so seriously that I couldn’t help but laugh at how ridiculous it was. But for the most part, there is a sincerity to the show that goes unmatched, in the way that it portrays that turbulent time in a teen’s life.

The strength of the show lies in its relationships. The boys getting into fights because it’s easier to use their fists than their words. The girls falling out over misunderstandings, but then finding their way back to one another. And of course, the teachers, trying to navigate the scary water of the school administration, looking for the right balance between discipling their students and defending them.

In that sense, Ms. Jung (Jang Na-ra) and Mr. Kang (Daniel Choi) form the two ends of the disciplinary spectrum, Ms. Jung being the idealist to Mr. Kang’s cynic. Over the course of the show, they both end up somewhere in the middle, each learning from the other and growing together until their approaches eventually overlap. However, every step they take toward each other in wrought with emotional turmoil. When Ms. Jung eventually has had enough, you really understand the monumental effort it must have taken to crack her facade. Similarly, when Mr. Kang shares his previous hardships, you feel a sense of invasion, like you aren’t supposed to see this stoic, aloof man break down.

The show also explores the wide range and styles of friendship that this microcosm of Class 2-2 encompasses. There’s the loyalty of the bully trio that gets tested, the carefree dynamic between the boys, the caring-yet-competitive nature of the overachieving girl trio and the sweet devotion of Young-woo. The show took its time exploring all the different shapes and sizes friends come in, and even if they might have their disagreements, eventually these kids find their back to each other, because it’s with each other that they flourish.

But there are two friendships that stood out to me over the course of the show. The first is that between Ha-kyung (Park Se-young) and Gang-joo (Ryu Hyo-young). The show starts off by show these two merely as girls that sit next to each other and occasionally share some notes, but by the end they are so fiercely protective of one another that heaven help anyone that try to come between them.

The second, and obviously the central relationship of the show, is that between Nam-soom (Lee Jong-suk) and Heung-soo (Kim Woo-bin). I like that the show teased out the mystery of how these two knew each other and it pays off by the end of the show to know their history, because you understand what these boys have gone through before being able to make their peace with one another and re-forge their friendship. I like that Lee and Kim took the effort to really embody their characters, and they really do manage to capture the beauty to be had in an intimate friendship.

While the tone of the show could be overly melodramatic at times, I think that in some ways it suits the universe it lives in, that of a high school, because to these kids, everything is life-or-death. That said, the actors performances were usually understated, having a matter-of-factness to them that makes them feel lived in. Like if I was to visit Seungri High, I would find the students and teachers going about their day, dealing with the ups and downs like always.

Do Do Sol Sol La La Sol (2020) – Ep 12-14

What. Is. Happening! I’m not sure why, but the show has taken a sharp left into melodrama-land, and it doesn’t look ready to leave any time soon. DDSSLLS started off as such a light, funny and endearing show, so it upsets me to see it take such a sharp dip. The writer seems intent on throwing us one curveball after another.

Episode 12 ended with Joon (Lee Jae.wook) crashing Dr. Cha (Kim Joo-hun) and Ra-ra’s (Go Ara) wedding. Of course, we found out this week that the whole thing was just an elaborate set-up for Ha-young (Shin Eun-soo) and Seung-ki’s (Yoon Jong-bin) new business. Colour me unsurprised, because there’s was no way that those two would get married after their conversation last week. I did find the kids coaching them on how to pose for the photoshoot funny, though.

It’s also nice that we get to see these two kids find a passion and a career that doesn’t follow the conventional ‘graduate-from-high-school’, ‘graduate-from-college’, ‘get-a-job’ life path. Ha-young has had a rather lovely journey in the show so far, and it was heart-warming to see the TWD ajummas tell Sook-kyeong (Ye Ji-won) how much they wish they had daughters like her because of how fiercely she defends her mother.

The less appealing parts of the show this week were the flip-flopping in the Ra-ra/Joon relationship. The late-entry girlfriend seems like one more unnecessary obstacle in the what was already a mess of unnecessary obstacles. Quite frankly, at this point, I think Joon should just go to Stanford, and Ra-ra should ride off into the sunset with Mimi and Juju, as happy as when she first arrived in Eunpo.