PrettyCarEye

Interesting. I was planning to watch this sometime soon.

Hey there, yeah, long time. What you been up?

Departures is a fantastic movie! The plot is very simple, but so very well conceived and packed with feel good emotion even whilst the overall theme of the movie is coming to terms with death. The male lead delivers a very heartfelt and endearing performance, as did all the other actors. This was just an all round wonderful movie that I'd highly recommend to anyone! :)

Hmm I love LDG too! Which shows made you love him? I first saw him in Sweet 18 where, interestingly, I didn't fancy him for most of the show. I thought he was a bit unattractive, but as the show progressed he grew on me! And by the end I loved him even though I didn't care for the show itself. Then I saw him in Changing Partners & I really loved him there! I can't believe I thought he was unattractive. I must have been that unfortunate hairstyle ... which many attractive Asian actors fall victim to at some point or another. By the way this was sooo true for Junki in the last ep of Dog & Wolf. I really wasn't feeling that comb over he was rocking! haha

Anyway I just might have a look at this for LDG's sake. IF the ending is good.

As for writing, yeah I've never worked in TV (and don't really want to), but that's totally how things go down. It's easy to tell when a show is plotted out from start to finish with the same set of writers. The flow of the story is often far more fluid & at least makes an attempt to not insult the audience. Like Golden Empire, for eg.

Nooooo, chingu! No offense taken. I know a lot of people disliked the show. At the time of watching it suited what I was looking for. No melodrama and a happy ending so I don't feel silly for liking it at all. I've passed the age of succumbing to peer pressure of that nature. I just think it's a bit funny because if I had watched it today I know I would've had the same disdain for it as you.

At the time of watching, though, I didn't notice any of the flaws you mentioned! This was like my 3rd or 4th drama so I was still fairly new to the Asian drama world. I was just happy to watch something light & funny. And because I liked it during the viewing I gave it an 8. Today I know without a doubt that it would have been a 7, maybe even a 6. Probably I wouldn't even have watched it at all since I've come to realize Asian romcom is mostly not for me.

Moreover, now that I think back on the show I recognize the truth in your critique. Most love triangles are totally unnecessary & foolish, but the one here WAS extra stupid. For me the dumbest thing I remember about the show are the last 2 eps where the female lead claims to be looking for her 'light' or some dumb shit. I didn't get the purpose of dragging out the show with such nonsense. Now one year later my tastes have evolved & I watch TV shows with a far more critical eye, like I do with movies.

I'm curious about the dramas you thought deserve a better rating in comparison to Lie To Me. I know one of them is Dog & Wolf which I gave a 7. lol Which others? :p

By the way, chingu, I was very rude in my last post. I didn't even ask how your thanksgiving was! And if your dad made it back to Cuba safely. Sorry about that! How did everything go down at your house?

Before I watch a show I need to have an idea of what's it about so I depend on these synopses to inform my decision. But I've been burned so many times by these spoilery synopses that I no longer read them in full. When I see a huge paragraph like the one above I just read the first two sentences then stop. Or I look up the film on IMDB or wikipedia for less spoilery summary.

Ugh, I'm disappointed to hear that Marry Him went down the drain and never managed to make its way back. I was planning to watch it since I like both leads. LDG looks sooo handsome in it! Pfft ... what a waste. That's why I kinda hate watching airing dramas. You just don't know when it's going to be a massive waste of time.

Let me know what you think about Secrets! I need someone I trust completely to tell me to watch it or not. I've been doing so much back & forth on this.

Depending on the end, I'll definitely watch Kimmy in Ando Lloyd when it finishes airing! Keep me posted.

Oh and btw, you never responded to my post on Lie To Me. WHY did you ask? LOL I'm assuming it's partly because you watched it and hated it along with many other people, but what prompted the question that day ... do you remember? lol

This drama gets a raw deal. It's not THAT bad!

How are you liking Golden Empire?

Hi Marcia, sorry for the somewhat late response. A little busy these days.

But anyways, yes! What you said about the salaryMAN culture was indeed 1 of the biggest culture shocks I experienced when I started watching drama. I don't judge stay at home wives/moms; every woman has the right to chose whatever works for her family. BUT I was shocked to find out how rigid gender roles appeared to be in Asian society. Women, after becoming pregnant, have to quit their jobs. It is expected of you & if you don't it's like you've committed a shameful sin.

I've seen dramas in which the pregnant female lead is banished to the far corner of the office, away from everyone else, as if she's a leper. People avoided contact with her & whisper about her as she passed. I had to laugh. I thought surely this is a joke? Is this a depiction of real life or for dramatic effect? I was inclined to believe it's somewhat true to life when I discovered a few SK based bloggers who have expressed their own shock over this very thing.

As for romcoms in the West, you're right. They're not as popular as in the 90s. Now superheroes are saving the day, & Hollywood in recent years have had a fairly bad track record of making quality narrative films that's truly artistic & substantial in nature. In some ways I understand the dilemma of the industry. You can make a 150 mil superhero movie & make 8x that in profits whilst you make a strong narrative film for 10 mil & run the risk of not even earning 2x that in profits. A 10 mil production budget doesn't include marketing costs of another 10mil so for the studios to make a profit they'd need to earn at least 60-70 mil on such a movie to justify the investment. But the market just isn't there. Audiences, worldwide it seems, want total fantasy & escapism.

Hey Hessa, what you been up to? Watching anything good?

I pop over to dramabeans and scoompi on occasion, but I try not to get too involved in those communities because I really can't afford any more distractions than those I already have. I'm already waaay too indiscipline at managing my time.

Dongsæng, I'm not much of kpop fan. I'm one of those unnies that need to understand what's being said to really get into a song (unless there's a really catchy beat that makes me wanna dance! Then I don't care about lyrics! ;p). There are a few exceptions, but mostly this is the way it is for me. I've heard some kpop & k-hiphop songs that I've liked, but I don't follow any groups nor would I pay money to go see any of them. But in general I don't pay to go see anyone, not even here in the west. Anyway, lol ... why the puppy eyes, though? I guess you're disappointed in your unnie now? :)

I'm watching Down with Love. Silly rom-com which I avoid at all costs, but there are occasions when they serve their purpose of making you roll your eyes and giggle. These days I've been under a lot of stress and pressure at work so it's exactly what I need when I come home from a long, hard day! What you watching?

Wow! Ph.D in Physics! Sick ... as in wonderful! You must be super smart. I've never done more than high school physics and just recalling those days makes my brain feel like it's being squeezed out of my skull! lol

What does your research entail if you don't mind me asking? As a consummate artist I'm always fascinated by scientists! hehe

Ok, now that you've left the world of Secret, what are you currently watching that's really good? I'm in the mood for something fluffy and light so I started Taiwanese drama Down with Love. The first ep was a trial because the female lead was like an anime character on crack. Her acting was sooo over the top! I almost dropped it. Thankfully she's toned things down in the 2nd and 3rd episodes. I'm really liking the series so far.

Hva er VPN for noe og hvordan får man tak i den?

I did study acting, yup. At the NYC branch of NYFA & the Lee Strasberg Institute. In fact, acting was my first love. That's what I've wanted to do for as far back as the womb, but my parents (mainly my dad, but with the full support of my mom!) refused to pay for acting school. So I enrolled behind their backs ... WHILE I was in grad school with the money that should have paid for my masters. lol

That's why now I'm saddled with a very hefty student loan bill, but I don't regret anything. My parents still don't know about this stunt I pulled. Which is for the best because my dad would surely kill me or keel over from a heart attack. My mom too. God forbid ...

You and I are similar in our approach to actors. I normally give an actor a chance to convince me of their talent, about 3-5 roles ... but once I make up my mind, one way or another, that's the point of no return. I usually don't give second chances since I reserve judgment until I've seen a number of their works.

As for acting ... usually 'system' is used interchangeably with 'technique'. Although in some cases 'system' encompasses a broader spectrum of activity rather than a singular technique. Anyway there are a lot of acting techniques out there and even when an actor isn't formally trained they end up intuitively using one or the other. Usually Stella Adler's system which is largely sensory based.

I've watched up to ep 3. I've been bringing home a lot of work these days so not much time to watch as much as I usually do. You're right, though, Ella is growing on me. I can't help but smile at her foolishness and I love how the developing relationship between her and Jerry is such a discovery for both. For once I like listening to the thoughts of the characters in a Taiwanese drama. I normally hate it because it's always too much 'telling' when TV & film as visual media ought to 'show' an audience the character's journey. Anyway, if the series continues in this same vein I think I'll like it! :p

I started it, but haven't finished it yet. The first 30 mins I saw was okay. I plan to finish it up tonight as well.

Well, on a personal level I'm already fairly independent in that even if Ahjussi was out of the pic I'd still be okay. But professionally his financial resources are a boon to my filmmaking efforts. He's wonderful & supportive, have always been ... even with our yo-yo on/off relationship, but of course when necessary I wish I didn't have to ask. But it is what it is! :) ::shrug::

As for Thanksgiving ... no, not much celebration here. We used to celebrate, both TG & Christmas, with another American couple, but they moved back to the States. Since then it's just been us two unless our parents come over to visit. With each year we put less and less significance on celebrating holidays. We'd rather take advantage of the time off to travel or just relax at home and pursue our individual/common interests. I do most of the cooking, but that's entirely based on my mood. This year I didn't feel like cooking so I didn't. We rustled up some pasta (tagliatelle, chicken breast strips, asparagus and homemade cream sauce ... yum! :) & enjoyed a nice bottle of white. That was basically our thanksgiving. It was all good.

Myself too, lately I've been a bit busy. Working on 2 projects at the moment, one old, one new so haven't watched a drama episode in a long time & I'm falling behind on responding to my wall posts again. But I'm around on the site, just can't be as active as I'd like to be of late. Anyhow, please don't abandon me, chingu! *whiiiiine*
I miss you when you're not around! Or when you come on & I'm asleep! Try to log in more often! :)

What do you know! So am I! :) (watching Down with Love that is :). How are you liking it? Second time ever I was tempted to drop a drama. Ella's over the top acting and tomboyish looks/ways just got to me. Somehow I stuck with it. lol We'll see how it goes! :p

True. True. I feel yah.

True. True. I feel yah.