PrettyCarEye

Hahaha, måtte le av din beskrivelse av kyssing og intimitet i dramaland. Kunne ikke ha sagt det bedre egentlig. Jeg fikk veldig sterk kultursjokk da jeg innså at dette var normen i Asiasiske serier. Jeg var liksom ... what the "¤%&!#??? Haha, jeg kommer aldri til å bli vant til det.

Jøss, du har sett MANGE serier og filmer! :) Ser også at du har alle de klassiske romanse serier på lista. Så du ga LOVERS en 9, elsker den drama! Men jeg ser en del 0 rangeringer på din liste. Hva betyr det? Var disse så dårlige at de ikke fortjente en score? lol
Vi har samme smak når det gjelder sjanger. Aller best liker jeg spenningsfilmer og dramaer med action/suspense og en god romanse. Lovers er den perfekte eksempel. Derfor liker jeg den serien så godt. Ellers liker jeg 'romantic drama' som sjanger. Jeg skjønner ikke folk som sier de ikke liker romanse. LOL

Takk for anbefaling av Osozaki. Jeg har hørt mye bra om det.

Akkurat, så du har bodd her lenge i Norge. Jeg har vært her siden 2001, men jeg tok 2 års studietur til Storbritannia i mellom.

Oslo er bra. Vi har hatt fint vær i det siste. Litt kjølig men ellers sol og klar himmel. Jeg har aldri vært i Kristiansand. Nærmeste jeg kom var Grimstad. Var der for kortfilmfestivalen i juni. Jøss, for en vakker liten by! Jeg bodde en sommer i Stavanger og har vært i Bergen, Bodø og Trondheim. Utover det har jeg ikke reist så mye i landet. Hvis jeg skal først reise foretrekker jeg å gjøre det utlands og oppleve et nytt land. Har veldig lyst til å reise til Korea neste år men er ikke helt sikker om det er mulig enda...

Mars is fantastic! Why can't more dramas have a realistic portrayal of the romance like in MARS?

See that's why I don't hold any prejudices toward dramas from a particular country. The 3 main drama producing countries in Asia all offer something unique in my opinion. When it comes to Taiwan I definitely appreciate their less conservative approach to (sexual) relationships even though they have less than stellar production values.

I hope you enjoy Orange Days. I think you will. It's a beautiful love story. And I really hope Lovers will be to your liking! It's another one of those passionate, but rare, k-dramas that totally took me by surprise when I first watched it. I really loved watching KJ & Mi-soo fall in love! :)

Kim Eun-sook is officially my favourite writer in this genre. So far I've watched 3 of her dramas - A Gentleman's Dignity, Lovers & City Hall - and I haven't been disappointed by any of them. I loved them all. The most recent one was City Hall & I'd highly recommend you add it to your list!

I love that her dramas feature 'real' grown-ups, oftentimes characters well into their 30s and with a bit more life experience than your average drama protagonists. I'm even planning to put aside my differences with Ha Ji-won (who I know you love by the way so apologies that she's on my black list) and watch Secret Garden. One thing to bear in mind about Kim's dramas though is that the romance takes time to build. In a 20 ep drama it probably won't pick up heat until around the 12 ep mark, but in the end it's totally worth it!

Thanks for the tip re Dog & Wolf. I didn't know that. Now that I'm aware it I can brace myself so that it doesn't become a major irritant. Cheers! :)

Well, that's where you & I differ. I loved the actor. I became a fan after seeing him in this role, but I hated the character. Min-jæ to me is a psychopath. With the exception of Seo Yoon, her step brother & Min-jæ's dad, the entire Choi family are psychopaths. People who resort to any means to get what they want.

Min-jæ's despicable actions were consistent throughout the drama. He screwed everyone over - his family, even the one person who loved him above all else & always looked out for him, his father. He screwed his 1st wife, Yoon, and his 2nd wife after he'd tapped her dry of all her money. His niece Seo Yoon who he could've reached a hand out to & work with her to keep SJG within the family. He screwed over Tæ-joo by reneging on his word to take the empire together. I mean, the guy is pure scum, if you ask me. An empty shell. He no longer has a soul because he sold it long ago to the devil. At least Tæ-joo still had a conscience after what he did to those poor people & tried to give them retribution. I don't agree with his methods. I think he should've loss everything, gone to prison then come back 10 yrs later and rebuild. He sure had the smarts and gumption to do it.

As for the any romance between him & Seo Yoon, I didn't miss it but I can not see how it would've weakened the plot had it been explored. But we can always agree to disagree on romance since your strong aversion toward it in every capacity is something I can not appreciate. My point anyway was not to argue for a romance between them, but to illustrate Tæ-joo's character as a guy who, at his core, always tried to do the right thing by the people who put their trust in him. I gave GE a 9.

Planning to start Time Between Dog & Wolf next.

Haha, update your list, woman! I can't figure out which scene that was or what ep are you on. Was that a blind date with Kang Jæ or someone else? Or are you referring to the scene when Mi Joo mistook Kang Jæ for someone else (something related to her sister ... don't want to say too much in case you haven't watched that far). I see you still haven't finished Padam Padam ... or maybe you just haven't updated your progress? If you're still on ep 3 after all this time, I guess you're not enjoying it then? I remember when I first watched that drama it took me a while to get really invested. Don't think it happened until around ep 10.

By the way, The Greatest Love was hilarious & it got a 7 from me only because of Cha Seung Won antics. The guy is totally ridiculous. It totally would've gotten a lower score because it was mostly a mediocre drama (as are most by the Hongs). In City Hall he played a milder version of Dok Go-jin. A manlier, slightly less silly version, but some of his trademark Dok Go expressions are definitely there. I loved him even more in this drama. I don't think he's playing a role ... I think Dok Go-jin is really a part of his real life personality. Hahaha. You should definitely check out CH if you haven't already.

So happy you enjoyed Orange Days! It's a classic. Now you should watch Aishiteru to Ikketure. It's by the same screenwriter and features another deaf protagonist. This time the guy instead of the girl. I really loved this drama. Had it not been for the last few eps I would have dethroned OD as my favourite Japanese drama. I still gave it a 9 though because it was otherwise fantastic!

Takk! Jeg har hatt Time Between Dog and Wolf på radaren i det siste, men ble distrahert og begynte å se på en annen drama, en japansk en. Tonbi har vennene mine snakket varmt om. Den skal jeg se på når jeg er i humør for det. De andre du nevnte har jeg ikke hørt om så takk! Skal sjekke dem ut. :)

Hvilken sjanger liker du best? Fra lista di ser jeg en del krim. Er det det du ser mest på? Hvordan er været i Kristiansand? Har du bodd mange år i Norge? Det føles så rart for meg å skrive norsk på MDL, hehe.

Obs:
Jeg ser du nettopp ble ferdig med Come Rain, Come Shine. Hva syntes du om det? Jeg får inntrykk at den er en veldig sær, kunst film som jeg gidder ikke se.

Raza, my friend, what's up? Sorry for the late reply, man! I just had so much to do in October! It was mostly all 16 hr days and I'm still trying to recover...

I lived in UK for 2 yrs, from 2009 - 2011. I spent about 9 or 10 mths of that time in London. I loved it! There was so much activity, I always found something interesting to do with my time. Unlike Norway which feels like you're living in a remote village even though you live in the capital city. It was also cheaper to travel and entertain in London. Here everything is 3x more expensive. Just about the only thing that was more expensive in London was housing. That was crazy! I'm paying the same amount I paid for a crappy house share in London at my current self-contained flat.

I'm not originally from here, though -- I'm Jamaican-American -- but I've lived in this place since 2001, aside from those 2 yrs I spent in the UK. If I'm honest I don't really like it, but I'm stuck here for personal reasons.

Anyway, what you been up since we last spoke? Have you watched or are you watching anything good?

I just came off of a really nice politically focused, romantic drama named City Hall. It was fun. Now what to watch next ... :)

Coffee, what's up? Long time no hear. Where you off to? I just finished City Hall (written by same screenwriter as Lovers - it's official I simply love that woman!) and I really enjoyed it, esp the romance. Cha Seung-won, that guy ... pure comedy. And Kim Sun-ah was a treat to watch. I liked her character Shin Mi-ræ a lot! What you up to? Anything good on the watchlist? :)

DWL!

Reise, once again I went MIA in the middle of our conversation! Sincerest apologies! October was such a maaad month! I'm still trying to recover from all the 16+ hr days I pulled.

You asked me a couple questions about my work process and I'll gladly answer them, but I hope it's not too much for you, my talking about my work so much ... which you may or not be the least bit interested in.

Anyway, since you asked ... here are my answers: on whether I'll hire international talent - definitely. This is a small country and there isn't a broad range of acting talent available. For budgetary and other reasons I always scout the local market first before looking abroad, but it's always an option I keep open.

And at the moment I don't have any particular performer that I collaborate with on multiple projects. Not in front of the camera anyway. Behind the camera I tend to use a lot of the same crew. I would love to find an actor or actress that becomes my muse. I'm still looking for that person.

Themes I wouldn't be able to tackle ... hmm, I haven't come across any yet. I'm a writer/director so of course I only write what interest me. If I should try to adapt someone else's writing I don't know if there are any themes/genres that I'd reject. Maybe horror. I like watching horror, but I don't know if I could write or direct it. Would be fun to produce a horror flick though. I guess I won't know for sure until I'm in the situation.

Golden Empire ... what a drama! Some of the best acting I've seen anywhere and such wonderfully complex, 3-dimensional characterizations. It really felt like I was watching an intense chess game & that totally had me on the edge of my seat from ep 12 & onward. I gave it a 9. Would have been a 10 if the ending were different.

Now I'm not saying Tæ-joo was a saint. Certainly resorting to rather nefarious means - money laundering, racketeering, bribery etc - were not beyond his methods, but in business that's the nature of the beast. Either you play the game or go home. I believe Tæ-joo was perfectly within his right to try and take over Sun Jin Group. Just because the Choi family created the Group doesn't mean they have a single handed 'right' to it. Business is an opportunistic enterprise - and you're only as good as how well you stay on top of your competition and or those who seek your ouster.

Tæ-joo believed he had to rid the world of the scourge that is the Choi family and he appointed himself as the man to do it - both to avenge his father (and poor, pitiful people like him) AND because of his own inferiority complex (he was not going to be like his father, a dog from Chillengdong who bowed his head to everyone).

He severely overestimated his own ability to take over the empire (remember he figuratively compared himself to Hitler whose ambition was to rule an entire continent) and underestimated the Chois social and political clout. He felt morally superior to the Chois ... until the very circumstances which led to his father's death stood in the way of him getting what he really really really wanted (the downfall of the Chois). All this combined with the fuel of vengeance was the perfect recipe for disaster. In the end I think he experienced a steep learning curve. That in order to gain that level of power you have to become the very beast you despise, something he thought he never had to do or would do at the beginning of the drama.

Cheerful, apologies for the late reply. October was a mad month! I'm still trying to recover from the 16hr days...

I finished Golden Empire & what a drama! The acting was absolutely some of the best I've seen anywhere. I loved the strong thematic elements & the extremely well-crafted, 3-dimensional characterisations.

I still liked Tæ-joo & was sad to see his end. I was very disappointed by what he did to those people, but was it enough to make me hate him? No.

His insatiable need for vengeance against the Choi family was what, imo, led him astray, not necessarily greed. He wanted to annihilate them so badly he became obsessed w/bringing them down & in the process dug his own grave. But throughout the drama his choices were mostly unselfish & he never screwed people over until they sought to screw him over first. He remained loyal to his people & looked out for their interests. Even when he made Seul Hee take the fall for him, he did it with the (perhaps misguided) thought that he was fighting for a greater good that would benefit them all in the long run. I believe if he didn't feel indebted to her he would've stayed with Seo Yoon bcuz I think they developed some affection for each other or at the very least to acquire SJG a lot easier, but it wasn't in Tæ-joo's nature to stab people in the back, esp 1 of his own. To me he was David against the mammoth Goliath & that's why I wanted him to win.

Though he made a severe mistake I respected him far more than anyone in the Choi family. Those people weren't human, esp Min-jæ. They were seriously a very psychopathic, carnivorous lot. Me saying Min-jæ would prostitute his own mother was just a figure of speech to illustrate the lengths they, & particularly him (Min-jæ), would go to for money & power.

Hello there, apologies for the late reply! I've been a bit busy and haven't had a chance to respond to wall posts until now.

Anyway, it's really interesting to me how other people developed their addiction for Asian entertainment. I work in the film industry so my interest started out with movies. A Bittersweet Life, Old Boy and I Saw the Devil made very strong impressions on me. Lee Byung-hun was my first Asian crush. But it wasn't until Oct 2012 when I worked a local festival and saw a lot of Asian films that things really took off.

I went online to look up some of the films I had seen and I stumbled across gooddrama.net. I felt like a kid in a candy store because it had most of the movies I've been wanting to watch for a very long time but couldn't find anywhere. Then I came across MDL and the rest is history. Here I am 1 yr later, never expecting that I'd be an Asian drama addict! haha

Life does take us for a loop, doesn't it? What have you been watching lately?

Hello Erin, ironically I'm seriously contemplating Secret Garden which stars Ha Ji-won and Hyun Bin. Even though I really like Hyun Bin I've been very reluctant and sceptical about watching this drama because of Ha. But given that SG is written by Kim Eun Sook whose dramas I've loved (the 3 that I've seen, that is), I'm willing to give it a go. I quite enjoyed A Gentleman's Dignity even though I also have an intense dislike for Kim Ha Neul. Dunno if you've seen that.

Granted, I watched this drama very early in my career so at the time I didn't know that I disliked Kim Ha Neul. I knew something about her acting style was off-putting to me, but I didn't hate her. Yet. After watching AGD, however, Kim's fate was sealed. I've already reached this point with Ha, but I love Kim Eun Sook's work so much I want to bite the bullet and give Secret Garden a try. Have you seen Secret Garden? If so, what did you think of it?

Apologies for the late reply! Busy. Busy. Busy.

I'm Sagittarius ... a fire sign. I think in Chinese zodiac I'm a Rooster. What's your bf's sign in western zodiac? My bf is Leo. They say we're a perfect match since he's also Fire. I don't know about 'perfect', but we're compatible. Generally we have the same approach and outlook on life. We also share some of the same negative traits, like we both have a temper though the older we get the wiser we become at choosing our battles. haha

I'm not very big on astrology, like I don't read horoscopes and things like that, but I do think there's some merit to personality descriptions based on the signs. Like everything I've read about Geminis I've found to be true, more or less, because I have a lot of Gemini friends. Same goes for all the other signs. And people who are born under the same 'element' (Fire, Air, Earth, Water) share a lot of the same personality traits. So I use it casually as a tool to understand people better.

As for snatching from my mom's garden. Oh I would, if she didn't live on the other side of the globe! :(

Rich, what's up? Hope it's okay that I respond to you here! I've been really busy. October was a crazy month for me, but things are finally starting to wind down even though every day presents a new challenge. I see you haven't updated your list since August! What have you been up to, kid? Don't tell me you've lost your interest in drama already? :)

Liker du best japanske serier? Jeg har egentlig ingen preferanse. Jeg har noen kriteria som jeg ser etter i hver enkelt drama, uavhengig av land. Så lenge de er tilstede, ser jeg på den. Ble nettopp ferdig med City Hall ... likte den veldig godt, og før det så jeg på Ugly Alert som jeg likte litt mindre. Akkurat nå må jeg velge noe nytt å se på men vet ennå ikke hva. Noen anbefalinger?

Festivals are a big part of what I do so they're always productive whether I'm screening a film or not.

Ugly Alert ... I watched it fully up to ep 70, I think, then I started getting frustrated with the lack of development so I speed watched from ep 71 - 108. It's now on hold until the remaining episodes are released with English subs. The romance here is nice, but this is not my kinda drama. The women are mostly irritating shrews who I really want to bitch slap & the men don't have any balls. Give me an arrogant hero over one these whipped idiots any day.

Hello there, I saw a comment you left for Egobandit and just had to put in my 2c.

If you're a fan of romance definitely watch MARS. It's quite romantic and it has the best love scenes I've ever seen in an Asian drama. Yes, you read that right, LOVE scenes. Not just kiss scenes. LOVE scenes. Nothing too graphic, just emotional, sweet and beautiful ... esp after what the female lead has been through. You'll understand what I mean when you watch it.

I see you enjoyed A Gentleman's Dignity. So did I. I'd like to recommend that you check out the other dramas of AGD's screenwriter. She is perhaps the best in the business for this genre. She wrote my all time favourite romance drama, LOVERS. And 2 days ago I finished City Hall and it was great! The romance between Kim Sun-ah & Cha Seung-won was just sizzling. They had great chemistry, as do all her leads. Her romances are always so mature and realistic. That's what I appreciate about her shows the most.

I'm even thinking of watching Secret Garden even though I dislike Ha Ji-Won & Heirs even though I don't watch high school dramas. To me, she's that good.

Hey, sorry for the late reply. I'm a little in over my head with work at the moment!

I can understand your apathy towards Can You Hear My Heart. I had similar issues with the show. I chose to watch it because I wanted to see another deaf character after watching Aishiteru to Ikketure, but I was disappointed with how they treated the male lead's supposed disability. To me the actor had no credibility playing a deaf person whatsoever. Overall, I had to force myself to finish it because I don't like dropping dramas. Aside from the male lead's mother I didn't care for the vast majority of the characters, and like you I couldn't abide by the female lead's hairstyle. I mean I see some pretty dubious hairstyles in dramaland, but this takes the cake. Dreadful. All this & a lack of chemistry between the leads sealed its fate.

How are you getting on with Lovers? Recently I finished City Hall which is written by the same writer as Lovers. Lovers remains my favourite, but City Hall was quite good as well. The romance was just lovely & the ending ... close to perfect. I think you'd like it.

What have you been up to since we last spoke 2 weeks ago?