PrettyCarEye

Hey chingu, I'm extremely busy this week so my responses are a bit sporadic. Sorry about that! Should be back to normal next week. Re GE, you beat me to the punch. I still need to finish my review. I'm just like you. I finished the show almost 2 weeks ago and not a day has since gone by without it crossing my mind. It certainly left a big impression! I read your review and agree with most of it.

I agree with your critique of the actress who played Seo Yoon. Ommee, she almost drove me crazy with that horrible deadpan expression of hers throughout most of the show. I thought she improved somewhat in the latter episodes, but just barely. One could argue that it's the nature of her character not to express any emotion, but irrespective of the situation she had the SAME expression every time. Even on those rare occasions when she's supposed to be happy and relaxed. She's my least favourite of the players. On the other hand, I disagree about Go Soo. I thought his performance here was brilliant! In this role I developed a lot of respect for him as an actor whereas before I only saw him as a pretty face. With that said the guy who played Min-jæ was a real standout for me, even slightly more so than Go Soo. His acting was just explosive. I absolutely loved it!

I tend not to watch airing dramas because I don't have a lick of patiences, BUT I am planning to watch HEIRS. Not because I'm a fan of such shows. I just want to see why Lee Min-ho has all his fangirls panties in a twist! LOL
The writer of the show also wrote one of my all time favourite dramas so there's that too.

Cheers, raincat, appreciate the recs!
I don't know if I want to commit myself to a whole series right now though. Anime is still new to me so I want to start off with movies just to get a feel for this medium. Moreover, I have too many live action series that I need to watch. It would be criminal to add more to the mix! :) So any good movie recs for me?

Well, you and I are in the same boat really. After my last drama, Golden Empire, I'm not sure what to watch next. Like you I think I need to watch something Japanese (preferably) or Taiwanese.
As for recs ... the only Taiwanese drama that I'd recommend to anyone is MARS, but I see you've already watched it & gave it a 10! Awesome. I loved that show, the romance is one of the best I've seen in dramaland. Others that I've seen (not many) are not worth the watch.
As for j-dramas I always start off by recommending Brother Beat because it's a funny family drama with pretty good romance. It's about 3 brothers and their mother so there are 3 different love lines. Cute story with multiple happy endings and a whole bunch of laughs. A rare occurrence in Japanese drama.
You've already watched so much! Way more than me so everything I think to rec you've already seen. Sorry I can't be of more help!

Well, hello there, stranger! Long time no speak! And I know right ... isn't my Lee Seo-jin absolutely, completely, mindblowingly gorgeous???? The guy is driving me crazy!!! It's not right that one man should be so scrumptious! Bahaha!!!
Thx. October is a busy month. When I come home late at night I'm completely exhausted after a day of screenings, networking, deal making and what have you, but I really enjoy what I do so I can't complain.
What have you been up to lately? Are you still on hiatus from Asian dramas? What if anything is holding your interest now? Nice hearing from you! :)

LOL! Ok, I hear your pain! :)
I actually don't mind plain Jane heroines as long as they don't get on my nerves and are not too virtuous. I ended up finishing it, but like I said only after a looong hiatus in which I forgot about all the irritating points of the drama. I was able to start it up again with a completely fresh perspective. I've learned the hard way that it's never wise to marathon a Hong Sister drama. You'll run up your blood pressure for sure. lol
I gave it a 7 because I loved the male lead and his foolishness. lol Take him out and this drama would be a 3 or 4 for me.

Did you see Master's Sun?
It would seem as though Gong Hyo Jin is the Hongs' go-to actress. In some ways I can understand it because she has this plain, ordinary look about her and I guess 'plain, ordinary' women are those they try to appeal to the most with their dramas.

You know, plain (often down on her luck) Jane getting the gorgeous guy. I'm not a fan of Gong, but I guess I don't mind her when she's not annoying the daylights out of me.

I plan to watch Big just see that notorious ending that infuriated so many people! lol
Can I ask what you didn't like about TGL?

Soooo agree with you about Aishiteru to Ittekure!!!
I watched it recently so everything is still fairly fresh in my mind. To this day I keep asking myself what the hell was that in the last 4 eps? It was like the devil possessed the female lead and made her do stupid sh--!
Totally tainted the experience for me so that's why it gets a 9 instead of a 10. This could have easily been my all time favourite drama if the ending wasn't so dumb.
Thx for the info on Bara!

I like neither!
I prefer straightforward endings that assure me that the characters remain together. Kamisama sounds really good, but given that the girl has aids I figured there'd be no way this could end well so I don't think I'll ever watch it. In Taiyou no Uta does anyone die or will die?

I noticed you dropped The Greatest Love at ep 10. I did too ... or rather I put it on hold. I went back and watched the remaining 6 eps 3 mths later (by which time I had forgotten what irritated me about the drama) and I quite enjoyed it.

I am generally not a fan of Hong sister dramas though.
I found myself giggling at your ratings. You're not one to be easily impressed, are you? :)

Thank you for the recs!
Can you say which ones have happy (or fairly satisfying) endings? I'm not in the mood for anything tragic (the ending of Aishiteru to Ittekure, eps 9-12, were tragic to me! :)

What did you think of it by the way? Were you satisfied with how it wrapped up?

I heard Bara no nai Hanaya was not much of a romance. More a slice of life so I decided not to prioritize it. In your opinion would that be true?

By the way I have since checked your list and saw that you gave Aishiteru a 9. So did I. I really loved the first 8 eps of that drama! :)

Hello there. In terms of taste it would seem like we have a bit in common. I love romance and after watching Aishiteru to Ikketure I've developed a serious appreciation for older jdramas too. If you haven't seen Aishiteru I highly recommend it! The ending was a disappointment (as many romantic dramas tend to be), but overall the drama is so wonderfully romantic, esp eps 1-8, that no fan of romance should miss out on it. If you've seen Orange Days then the same writer who wrote it (OD) wrote Aishiteru. :-)

Can you recommend me some good romantic jdramas from the '90s/early 2000s, preferably with a happy ending if that's possible? Cheers! :)

Last but not least, artists and not everything they produce need to be interpreted. Interesting pov, because I'm working now with a Thai filmmaker and artist name Apichatpong Weerasethakul. He won the prestigious Palme d'Or at Cannes in 2010. His films and artwork are the epitome of your statement. Inconceivable. That's why everyone (in the art house indie film circle) is so enamoured with him. I LOVED his movie Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives ... very spiritual, like a calm wind over the soul. But his other works ... hmmm. I guess art for me should come from somewhere within its source and I as a viewer (and artist myself) will mostly have a need to figure out where that inspiration comes from or what message it is trying to impart. But no offence taken at what you said. Many many people will agree with you! :)

I've seen A LOT of spicy Korean movies and a few dramas with good kisses. With the Japanese, finding movies (I've never seen ONE J-movie with a proper sex scene) and dramas with real kissing is a challenge, but when it does happen it tends to be better than the Koreans. So I don't know. Anyway, it is what it is. It's not like they're about to change things to suit me so now I'm just more picky about what I watch. I'm mostly able to find the type of dramas I like to watch, but not often enough. I have to spend a lot of time doing research & the luxury of time to waste on such things is not mine to begin with.

Now regarding my ahjussi and his coping skills ... lol! I just had to laugh. If only you knew ...
I'm just glad that we don't live together 100%. When he starts with his nagging I can send him off to his place and enjoy my drama (and lusting after hot Asian actors) in peace! :)
Do you have an ahjussi/oppa? How does he deal with your addiction?

Yes, the writer of Secret Garden (which I refuse to watch because of you-know-why!!! :) is the same writer of City Hall AND my all time fav drama LOVERS. Besides my need to see LMO in a drama, she's also the reason why I'm willing to give HEIRS the benefit of the doubt.

As for the 'lack of intimacy' issue in Asian dramas. In 3 days I'll have my 1 yr anniversary in dramaland, and let me tell you I have NOT gotten used to it!!! If anything, it annoys me more now than in the beginning! LOL I don't think I ever will get used to it really. At my age (the ripe old age of 31) I guess I'm too set in my ways to change. People in adult relationships hug, kiss, have sex ... and to not acknowledge that is just plain weird to me. I like great sexual tension as precursor to the real deal, not a replacement of it. Perfect example of this would be LOVERS. That's why I will forever LOVE that drama!

Now don't get me wrong, I like sweetness just like the next girl (please note sweetness and CHEESINESS are 2 completely different things). I like that shyness you feel when you meet someone new and every glance, every little touch holds a lot of meaning. I like the cute gestures (a good example of the kind of sweetness I'm talking about would be Orange Days or Aishiteru ko Ittekure).

I love all that stuff, but the relationship should have a NATURAL progression. If most or all of the drama is spent with grown ass adults behaving like they're preteens experiencing their first crush it gets irritating after a while. Those type of shows are not for me because I'm unable to suspend belief & accept all the fakeness. Sometimes I can't determine who is the more prudish lot.

Sorry for the late reply, chingu!!! As you're aware work is kinda kicking my butt right now, but I'll be able to get some rest in the coming days.

Ok so back to our conversation! City Hunter haha ... arite I'll give you the full 100 as soon as I see it. :) I'm going to watch it with an open mind, but oh dear ... what if I end up not liking your Lee Joon Hyuk??? It can happen because you seem to like flower boys, chinguya, while I like grown men! ;)

Re: Golden Empire, I definitely didn't like the ending, but I can't hate the whole drama because of that. It was a pretty darn good show with soooo many valuable life lessons to learn. The show has its demerits (I'll elaborate on those in my review), but it's verrrry entertaining. When you hit around ep 12 the urge to lose sleep, neglect your health, relationship, work hits! LOL It's been a week since I watched the show and so far not a day has gone by without it crossing my mind. So yeah, it left a big impression. Do you plan on watching it? I would guess probably not since I'm slowly starting to understand what you like. I honestly think if you watch this you'd soooo boot LJH out of your harem for Go Soo. I thought he looked pretty hot in Love 911, but aigooo ... that's because I didn't see him in GE. The guy is absolutely GORGEOUS!!! And his acting was PHENOMENAL in this drama! Somebody should seriously give the brethren a medal.

Cool, I'm a fellow Caribbean national, of sorts! One of my parent is Jamaican. I can imagine how different it must be! And I do agree with you that the allure of the unknown is indeed quite exciting. In fact that's what brought me to where I am now, but 12 yrs later & with a lot more maturity and experience (some of them quite negative) I won't just pick up and go off to a foreign country like that again. Moving to this country on impulse was not a wise idea and I've learned from that so even though Japan sounds very exciting to me, I'm wary. I need to conduct a thorough investigation to determine if it's the right place for me.
How did you go about signing up for ATL? Did you use a special agency? If you don't mind my asking, what's your ethnicity? If you're not white, how do Japanese people treat you? I have a few non-white friends who have been to Japan with no problems, but I have heard stories that the Japanese are quite xenophobic...what's your experience?
Now onto something else that I'm always curious about! Japanese men! haha How are they? If I go to Japan I won't be going there to find a husband, no! LOL But, I know so little about them (other than what I see on drama) so I'm curious. I know that all men are inherently the same no matter where they come from, but culture & upbringing do create some differences. How do they treat you as a foreign woman? Do you ever get picked up or asked out? Do Japanese men even ask women out?
Hehe I used to think it was the norm for guys to ask girls out everywhere in the world, but what a shocker I experienced when I moved to Europe & the guys expected the girls to ask THEM out. That taught me never to assume anything. I know I've bombarded you with a lot of questions, but I hope you'll answer as best you can! :)
Cheers! :)

Hehe, I wanted Tæ-joo to end up with her too, but I knew this being an Asian drama it would never happen! If romance isn't the main theme of a drama from the very beginning, you can pretty much bet your last dollar that any romance involved will be shot down and killed. So even though I wanted them to have a happy ending I braced myself for it not to happen.

Yes, there's a romantic suspense/thriller movie called Secret Love. It stars my darling Yoo Jæ-ti and I highly recommend that you watch it. It's similar to the movie Addicted, starring Lee Byung-hun, if you've seen that one.

I doubt I'll ever get used to the lead actress in Secret Love the drama, but I'll keep an open mind until the reviews come out. If they're decent I might consider giving the show a go.

I plan to watch Heirs, not because I'm a fan, but because I want to see Lee Min-ho in a drama. I need to see for myself if he deserves the hype. It also helps that the screenwriter who wrote one of my all time favourite drama is also the writer of this show.

Don't think I've heard of Miræ Choice ... wait, is that the same as Marry Him if You Dare? If it is, then I might consider watching it given that I liked the leads, but I'm not 100% committed yet. We'll see what the buzz is like when the show starts to air.

What about you? Are you watching any of these dramas, and if so what's your impression so far?

I'll back in a jiffy, Chinguya! :) I'm a little busy on the festival circuit even though I'm not screening a film. I'm producing an art exhibition called Photophobia by Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul (he won the Palme d'Or at Cannes 2010), I have to interview special guests and lead q&a sessions, I have to attend minglers AND last but not least I have to watch some films! So the days are long and given that I'm in horrible shape ... tiring! When I get home (usually not before 23:00) I'm exhausted. Just have enough energy to check the latest buzz on MDL before passing out! lol

BUT we definitely HAVE to discuss Golden Empire! Promise me you'll stick around & not lose your enthusiasm for the show during my short hiatus. Ya, I waited for you all that time you were away so I'm counting on you, chingu! Arraseo? ;p

From Thursday my schedule should loosen up a bit & I'll have more time to focus on writing my response to you as well as finish up my review of the show!

Hey I read a comment you made on the feed about working with ATL in Japan. I wondered what ATL was? Is that some sort of Teaching English programme like the EPIC programme in South Korea? And are you originally from St. Lucia? Sorry for all the questions! :)
I just find it interesting that you live in Japan! From time to time I entertain thoughts of going there to teach English, but in the next breath I say no way! lol
First off I'm not really good at teaching anyone anything and I know if I'd want to live in Japan for an extended period of time. I mean I'd love to visit and immerse myself in the culture for a few months, but vast cultural difference & the language barrier (I hear people don't speak English well there & even if they can they're very unwilling to speak it ... like the French! haha) would surely begin to annoy me after a while. I know this from experience since I've lived in a foreign country for the last 12 yrs. I have a love/hate relationship with my adopted hometown. lol

It's not that I'm not enjoying Salaryman. I only saw 2 eps and they were alright. Its place on my 'on hold' list was meant to be temporary, but somehow it ended up staying there longer than intended. I plan to pick up again soon, though. Maybe before or after City Hall & Time between Dog & Wolf. Thx for the link to Ugly Alert. It shows that 84 eps have been posted to the site. Isn't that enough for you to at least start the show?

Aigoooo. Knowing you you probably quit the movie before the credits rolled. No wonder you don't know the answer to your own questions!

He did not return to his old life. He developed a severe case of Stockholm Syndrome and decided to stay with his captors even when he had the opportunity to escape. He claimed he'd stay just a few more months until the makeshift irrigation system he'd built was fully developed.

But 9 yrs later his mother was still looking for him and had no idea where he was.