Egregia

i am excited to know that I will be able to see one of my favorite actors soon, Kim Seon-Ho, in Can this Love Be Translated. I’ve watched Hometown Cha Cha-cha three times. and Start-up twice.

I think the controversy over an actor in the new movie’s comments is stupid. The younger generation has the right to view the past from their own perspective.. I am from the US and right now we have a President who has sent the military into cities for contrived reasons illegally, is murdering suspected drug traffickers in the Caribbean, seizing Venezuelan ships, and invaded that country to kidnap that country’s leader and his wife. The American President iis sick in the head. So, when I read about a controversy about something a young actor said about the military from long ago, it seems pretty insignificant to me. The actor has a right to his own opinion.. The controversy may be contrived with the intent to spoil viewership of the new Netflix movie.

While I am not really into boxing I am also looking forward to seeing another favorite actor, Jung Hae-In , in his upcoming movie. I’ve watched One Spring Night and Something in the Rain five times each and Love Next Door three times.

I am impressed with Jung He-In’s acting skills. Most enjoy his romantic comedies (I’ve seen three of them at least 4 times each) but he handles more serious drama easily and competently; the two DP seasons and Prison Playbook. Jung’s smile melts my heart. He also is a bit of a chemeleon in his facial and hair changes that his roles require. I recently rewatched Love Next Door and then I saw him in an episode of Blank Menu for You and had to giggle. His menu request was for some dishes that use leeks and he loved everything the chef prepared. I love leeks too and got some great ideas from the episode. I had to giggle at the time because in the first episode of Love Next Door his childhood friend is being beat on by her mom. Jung He-In’s character moves between his friend and her mom and tales the blows to protect her. Dad had walked up with a grocery shopping bag that contained a big bunch of leeks sticking out. Mom grabbed the Korean Leeks and starts wailing on Jung He-In with the huge bunch of leeks. I wondered if Jung tried to rescue the leeks after the shoot. I am very happy to know he has a new series in the pipeline. I’ll watch any production he is in.

In addition, the two series had a very different viewer base and that also impacts the difference in ratings.

While I loved Crash Landing on You I have to say that I had to restart the series three times before I could finally continue watching through to the end. I don't think any series should be so confusing in the beginning three or four episodes that it is hard to stick with; without having to restart it a number of times. I think some of the problem was the sub-titles in Crash Landing on You were too long to read before the next set of dialogue appeared. I had to continually rewind and re-watch and that caused me to lose any sense of the characters and story. I've watched just about every K-Drama on Netfix and I think the subtitling has gotten better. I have recommended Crash Landing on You to others and have warned them about the difficult sub-titling. Crash Landing on You and Queen of Tears are too different to compare in my opinion. Both series are excellent in their own ways.

Some of the character's decisions and behaviors didn't make sense but I believe that truth is stranger than fiction. Also, sometimes writers have to hope that those words and events are overlooked by the viewers for the sake of the story. Hyun-Woo's affection seemed so one-sided an Hae-In's damaged upbringing kept her running away from fully committing to him. I would have liked to have seen at least one passionate kiss between them near the end. When Hyen-Woo packed up the family and fled to his parents home in the farming community I loved how the Hae-In's family witnessed a close family and learned how to be closer to each other too; and they kept showing up at Hyun-Woo's parents town even when they didn't have to be there. Hey-In's family learned to enjoy a much simpler life. When the awful things happened in episode 15, I wondered, "How are they going to tie this up without the viewers feeling they're getting the 'bums rush.'" The other stories were finished andhappily. I loved the ending but had to rewatch the last 12 minutes because I wanted to make sure I was getting the ending properly. At the cemetery I had freeze frame on the headstone because it wasn't filmed long enough. Then I learned that while we saw the last of their three years of a tumultuous marriage in the story, Hyun-Woo and Hae-In's do over lasted until Hae-In died at age 83.. I think the writers meant for us to see that at Hyun-Woo's death he reunited with Hae-In in the after-life; Hun-Woo was depicted changing from an elderly man into his younger self to meet Hae-In.. I cried at the realization that they were able to live a long life together. I enjoyed Queen of Tears but often felt it should have been titled King of Tears since Hyun-Woo was so sensitive and unrestrained about expressing his feelings with tears.

I learned a long time ago to not judge a series based on the first episode. I restarted I Crash Landing on You three times before I finally began to enjoy it. Sometimes it has to do with the translated dialog... just didn't give me enough time to read it before going on so I couldn't get into the story. I had to hold the remote control and keep backing up to catch it all. I'm enjoying Queen of Tears a lot. It is the first spoon fed series where it seems like an eternity until the next two episodes (one week away) appear. Now it so popular on Netflix that the episodes last weekend kept stopping to spool. I gave up and watched them on Thursday and Friday instead of Saturday and Sunday. I am assuming it was because there are so many views watching at the same time.. I love the male lead and his character. I often feel very sorry that he is so hooked on his wife; looks at her with caring and loving eyes. The female lead gets tiresome with her cold snippy attitude but I understand her conflicts. When she lets go I really enjoy their relationship a lot. She was brought up in a horrible family and carries a lot of their backstabbing, mistrust and emotional traits. Her job keeps her from really settling into the life. I think she yearns for the life she really wants but can't commit to it. I love the subtle humor that is revealed now and then and particularly enjoyed the two dads drinking in the morning and watching a soap opera together. It revealed how the wealthy are so ingrained in awful relationships with their family members that they don't even see the behavior as odd.