PrettyCarEye

Sure, dramaland is what it is & that's my point, if my expectations weren't driven to such heights I probably would have enjoyed the drama for what it was.

At the time though I wasn't used to the cliches that were always popping up in shows: the annoying love triangles, the forced separations (whether someone is being zapped back to the past or somebody goes overseas), the illnesses (or impending deaths) & the sad and or open endings. I mean having only watched western cinema where these cliches don't normally exist they were big shockers for me. So when people told me none of them existed in QIHM I was as excited as a kid in a candy store. Only I soon realized the candy store had locked up shop & I was, in actuality, no kid.

BTW, I know western cinema has it's own fair share cliches, just not the ones you tend to see in Asian drama.

Oh dear, those melos, gets me every time! I try to avoid them. The worst one I've watched so far is Loving You A Thousand Times. I hated it a thousand times! lol

But, having said that I'll watch one every once in a blue moon if it's decent. I quite liked Padam Padam, for eg, even though I wanted a different outcome. Are there any melos you thought was particularly good that you'd like to recommend?

I hope I didn't disappoint you with my critique of the Hongs! :)

I'll let you know if/when I give Gumiho a chance.

What else is tickling your toes on your watchlist? Anything you wanna recommend? :)

Offended me? Noooooooooooo! lol
I thought everything you wrote was lovely! It's great to meet someone on the same wavelength as me here on MDL. Offline I'm usually among the youngest in my circle of friends & acquaintances so I'm used to having people I can relate to, but on here almost everyone is my dongsæng! Such an odd feeling! LOL :)
Anyway, you'll hear back from me soon & my answer is veeeery long. No wonder it took 2wks to write! lol

Lol, my lovely dongsæng, unique is not a word I'd associate with the Hongs, but let's agree to disagree! :)

I know many people like them. I suspect mostly teens & young adults ... which is totally fine! Like I said I get their popularity, somewhat. Their dramas are filled with humour & do tend to have some romantic moments. Nevertheless, they're not for me. I like my dramas to be a bit more ... shall we say ... intelligent? Yes, that, bcuz I can usually unravel a Hong sister drama from the first ep! So more intelligence & more maturity. And gladly a female lead that isn't an annoying child-woman. :)
There's still hope for Gumiho because I'm curious to meet Shin Min Ah, who I know is quite popular, & to a lesser extent Lee Seung Gi. We'll see how it goes.

Yes, doc son's appearance in Time is what made it popped back on my radar after lying dormant on my list for months. So far everyone I've asked this question chose TbDW so I guess I'm gonna have to start it! :)

I know it's airing. That's why I said I have my eyes on it for when it gets off the air. I don't have the patience to watch airing dramas.

The hype around Secret Garden was most certainly due to Hyun Bin. I get it. The guy is hot & he's not half bad as an actor either. I saw him in The World They Live In I appreciated both his looks & talent. Nevertheless, Ha's name in the credits just turned me completely off from it. Too bad as I would've liked to see his performance.

Hope you find something cool to watch next. What are your tastes? Any particular genre/sub genre/theme you like more than others?

Here's the thing with Queen In Hyun's Man I probably would have liked it just fine if I had stumbled across it all by my lonesome. But what happened was that I got sucked into the hype machine. By this time I had seen a few dramas & I was suffering from culture shock. They were sooo different from what I was used to! I mean what's up with those fish kisses? And the same repetitive cliches in EVERY drama? What??

People told me 'QIHM is totally different, it's NOT like the average drama AT ALL!', 'this is THE BEST drama you'll ever see, period', 'NO fish kisses, NO stupid cliches', 'You're not about to forget this drama ... EVER'. I was foaming at the mouth.

Then I started watching & there were cliches from start to finish. Fish kisses abound. The couple barely spends 2mins together b4 he's zapped back to the past EVERY TIME, the storyline of this jeseon man adapting to our world like he was born into it was, imho, preposterous! The time travel? Riddled with plot holes. I was crushed, disappointed, angry ... not at the fangirls, mind you. At myself. For not doing my homework. So I dropped the show in frustration after the umpteenth forced separation of the couple. That's my QIHM's story!

You & I are different. I don't like to cry! I hate crying. I like to laugh & feel good. I know the type of dramas you're talking about, the 1s that touch your heart & move you to tears. They're great & I like them too ... when I'm of a mood for such. In general, tho, my default shows are those that provide escape & relief from my stressful life. With movies these heart wrenching storylines are more bearable bcuz your investment is little, 1.5-2hrs max. With a drama it's anywhere from 10-60hrs & in that time I don't want to be crying. I want to be laughing/smiling/sighing blissfully.

Ahjumma, how are things? You good?

So I finally watched Breathless & wow, what a movie! Really leaves one breathless! :) Normally I'm able to watch all kinds of sh-- in movies, but this was raw, this was up in your face. It's gonna make you uncomfortable. The unadulterated violence, the pure vitriol & hatred that oozes from the characters. But that's the whole point. The film is meant to shock, to repel. This is a disturbingly profound story about family abuse & how it shapes the lives of the people who experience it. If gritty life dramas are your cup of tea I'd recommend this wholeheartedly. The actors did an amazing job. You will not watch this movie unmoved!

Otherwise what have you been watching? I haven't watched The Man from Nowhere yet, but I'm planning to do so either today or next weekend. And my ahjussi has agreed to watch it with me! Yay! :)

You know for the longest while I ignored Lovers because of the reviews that said it was draggy (among other things). I also figured the guy's a gangster, this can't possibly end well.

But when I started it I literally sped through it, not skipping even a minute of any sequence (in fact I rewatch A LOT of scenes while I was watching! :). I do remember there were times when I thought 'ugh please let's move on', but that's not because the scene at hand was boring or felt draggy in and of itself, it was because being the romance junkie that I am I was impatient to get back to Kang Jæ & Mi Joo.

One day soon I seriously need to rewatch this drama from start to finish just to see whether it gives me the same high as the 1st time bcuz I did not find it draggy at all. Not even a little bit! Which is ODD I tell you because I had never watched a drama that did NOT drag prior to this, even the ones I really liked.

As I told Defresne I love Lovers for many reasons & one of those reasons is that the characters are so human. No one's flawed, no one's purely evil or purely good. They make choices that you may not like, but there's no one that's really hateful. I did end up liking Seo Yoon a lot. They could have made him into such a villainous character, but I'm grateful that they didn't. The resolution to his story arc was quite satisfying & I just loved that heart to heart he had with Mi Joo in the park. Both characters showed such depth & maturity. I think that's what's so refreshing about this show above all else. Everyone's so darn adult! This is not something I'm used to in kdramaland where everyone throws temper tantrums, hissy fits & scheme like nobody's business! lol

Will keep you posted on TBF. Might watch it next w/end since I convinced ahjussi to watch with me.

Thx for the rec of Time Between Dog and Wolf. I've heard good stuff about it so I'm definitely gonna check it out. I didn't know Lee Jun Ki was the star. I've been wanting to meet this guy for the longest while. I have my eyes on 2 Weeks once it airs.

One day when I'm in a charitable mood I just might consider Secret Garden for Hyun Bin's sake, but it's a long shot. I've seen enough with Ha to know that she's just not my cup of tea.

Did you decide on what to watch next? And are you happy with how Hwang Jin Yi ended?

ooOO, I see you're on ep 15, you're in for a treat! :)

Nope not yet but I will do. It's got my man Ha Jeong Woo in it! :)

How's Lovers coming along?

Sumi, my dear, working on a response to you! I just have been sooo busy I haven't had the chance to edit & send what I wrote yet! :)
How you're well, chingu friend! :)

So you're a fellow yardie, huh? Big up! :)
Nice profile.

Glad to hear it, dongsæng. Must take care of your health! :)

I loved all those dramas except Queen In Hyun's Man. I only mentioned it to illustrate the kind of kisses I like to see in dramas. That one had a few decent kisses! I also liked Coffee Prince more than I loved it. I remember skipping some parts, but that drama introduced me to Gong Yoo so it will always be special to me! That man is pure sexiness! lol :)

Yes, when it comes to dramas a happy ending is preferable. As a viewer I invest so much in dramas, time, emotions, energy. I want to be rewarded in the end. It is not a 100% must, depending on the story, but I'd say 95%. Movies on the other hand are up for grabs.

When it comes to Lovers, please spam me as much as you like! I can never get enough of talking about it! LSJ will be haunting my dreams again tonight! :)

ooOOO, and I forgot to mention I AM VERY TEMPTED TO WATCH MASTER'S SUN BECAUSE OF Seo In Guk!!!

Omo, that kid ... omo, omo, omo! Pedonoona about to make an appearance! :)

And I mean every word! I love all my dongsængs here on MDL, you're all AWESOME & such a pleasure to talk to! :)

Oh sorry, dear, my bad! I read wrong in reference to your comments about Master's Sun. Actually I don't know if I like the lead girl either ... ::duck!:: :)
I mean I think she's cute & all, but perhaps a bit too cute. And childlike. She's a grown ass woman so she needs to grow up & start acting like one in the roles she chooses. She kinda got on my nerves with all the stupid holding out in TGL.

The Hongs, indeed they're horrible. They're good with humour, but that's about it. There storylines are annoying & filled with plot holes and their female leads are problematic. Not my kind of women at all. Jury's still out on whether I decide to watch My GF is Gumiho though.

As for what I'm watching ... Smile, You. Liking it, but I'm still not 100% invested. Also trying to decide what my next short drama should be. I'm trying to decide between City Hall, Can You Hear my Heart, Time between Dog & Wolf and Que Sera Sera. Which one, if any, would you choose & why?

3 Iron ... whew, we have a lot to talk about, don't we? lol
I like it!

3 Iron, absolutely amazing! This movie was my introduction to Kim Ki-duk & I'm glad because most of his other films are so dark & bizarre. I mean I like dark & bizarre, don't get me wrong, but I love love stories more & this was just exquisite.

Other Kim Ki-duk films I've seen are Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter ... and Spring (amazing!), Samaritan Girl & Breath. I liked them all though I was a bit confounded by Breath. I think Kim literally lost the plot on that film. Nobody can really put a finger on what he was trying to say, but it's still worth a watch for the cast (Ha Jeong Woo plays a supporting role, love him!) & Kim's unique signature.

I have yet to see some of his more violent, sexually exploitive films. I walked out of Pieta when it screened at Venice, I believe it was, some years ago. It wasn't necessarily because the film was bad, I just wasn't in the mood for that type of film at the time. I think that year the festival programme was filled with a lot of weird, torture porn, violent films so I felt a bit spent by the time I got to Pieta. Anyway, all his films are on the list to watch, though I doubt any of them will be able to top 3-iron. What from him have you seen besides 3 Iron?

Overall, I'd say I'm a fan of his work. I like his mode of non verbal communication through his films & in some strange way I seem to understand his worldview, even if I don't always agree with it.

I think it's amazing that your dad's still in the biz! Showbiz is pretty cutthroat, not for the faint of heart! :)

Yeah, I kinda agree with you that stalking people, actors or not, is probably not the best way to go about things. Not my style anyway. And intruding on people's personal time would be very awkward for me too. I remember a few years ago when I lived in LA, had just moved out there & was pretty young & young in my career. I was at a 24 hr diner on Sunset with a couple friends. At the time I didn't know it was a place frequented by stars. I saw the guy who played mr. Eko in the TV series Lost (I don't know if you ever watched it?) He was with some girl & on impulse I went over to him & told him how much I admired his work on Lost, that I'm an aspiring producer (at that time) and I'd love to work with him one day on some or the other exciting project. He was polite enough, but I could tell he was annoyed at being disturbed on his date.

Years later I met him again in London at the Raindance Film Fest. This time he was much more open & communicative. A totally different person altogether. I reminded him of our encounter in LA & he admitted that he really dislikes being approached by fans in such a setting. He said the woman he was with was his sister, not his date, but still that's his personal time & he doesn't want to stop his conversation to chat with fans every 5 mins. At festivals it's okay, it's EXPECTED that you approach bcuz that's what festivals are for. To network, to meet & mingle, to make deals etc. So from that point on I stopped approaching celebrities on the street. Not that it's something I had done many times, mind you. Besides since I attend most of the major festivals anyway meeting celebrities no longer feel like a big deal to me. Many times they're mundanely average & you cant believe THIS is the person you've been fangirling over all your life?!? lol