As far as I can remember, my first encounters with Korean entertainment were the move The Host (2006), the drama Someday (2006) and the movie Take Care of My Cat (2001) -- any one of which could have introduced me to Bae Doo-na. Which one? Probably The Host, which friends took me to see in the theater even though I hate horror movies. In Someday I ( Read more... )

It seems to happen sometimes. Maybe the first half of a drama is wonderful and the second half appears to be (or even is) written by a completely different writer. Or maybe within individual episodes, there are extremes. Particular characters who grab hold of you and won't let go, and other characters you want to fast forward through.

The first ( Read more... )

The bad first:

Chae-Young's character just feels like a character I keep seeing over and over again, and she doesn't seem new and different at this point. It's as if you must have a villain, a woman who works behind the scenes trying to manipulate events and people for her own benefit. As if there isn't enough drama in the emotional lives of people ( Read more... )

It's a little disappointing that we're on familiar ground here. We have the self-absorbed, evil woman plotting to break up the couple because she's insecure about losing her toy. As the first eight episodes proved, there is enough drama in this drama to sustain an interesting story. Why must we add a Villain?

As usual, the best parts of the episode ( Read more... )

Currently watching:

• Me Too Flower - Now that I've finished Black & White, this is about it, really. I still haven't watched episode 10, and I need to get to that

When I have time, I need to start these...

• What's Up - a musical series written by the same woman who wrote The Legend. I'm hearing good things about it.
• City Hunter - if I keep putting it off ( Read more... )

Possession, betrayal, anger.

( Read more... )

Me Too, Flower is one of my favorite shows ever. It's not perfect or anything, but I've really fallen into it hard. The lead actors are so perfectly delivering a pair of intriguing, damaged yet decent people who fall in love. I like the mood and quirkiness, their hunger for belonging and companionship, their slow progress toward trust.

So naturally ( Read more... )

"You still can't trust me?"
"It's really strange. I only need to listen to what you say. Even if it's a flower folded from paper, it's as though there's a fragrance."

There was so much sweetness in episode 8. They cross the bridge together. They lie together in the warmth of a fire, cozy, feet warming each other. They open each others wounds with ( Read more... )

For some reason I woke up at 4am this morning, and after a while I just decided to make the best of it. So I brought brownies into work this morning, and people seem happy about that.

It's been years, but I'm feeling a strange temptation to watch Northern Exposure again.

A lot of words have been written about the sudden, panicked casting change in Me ( Read more... )

Though no one expects you to tell your life story to the person you've begun dating, significant deception in those early stages can lead to pain. It just seems like a bad idea to lead someone to believe that you're a poor parking attendant when you actually own the company. Or that you're the Princess when you're actually the daughter of Suyang. I ( Read more... )