PrettyCarEye

Yes, I saw your rec for this movie on the front page! I'm adding it.

Are you still watching IHYV as your next drama or have you switched to something else? I'm still in this weird mood after CC where I can't decide what to watch next. Tentatively, it's Nagareboshi in a couple of hours. What more can you tell me about this show, actually? Is it romantic? I know the Japanese aren't the best when it comes to romance.

Not that it matters a great deal, but I like my romance wherever I can get it. :P

One thing that made me want to watch it is that I want to see how the relationship, the marriage of convenience, pant out. Usually, if done well, these type of stories can work really well for me.

Ms. Amanda, long time! How are you, my favourite dongsæng? I see you're watching AGD, are you enjoying it?

Yum, eye candy? I LOVE eye candy! Hehe
Yeah, I figured I'd like it the minute I saw Joo Jin Mo's name in the cast. Song Seung Hun is pretty hot too, though I've only seen him in He Was Cool.

Speaking of Joo Jin Mo, if you like him definitely check him out in Wanee & Junna and or Happy End. If you're in the mood for a Choi Min Sik marathon, Happy End is a good choice! He (CMS) plays against type here & though a bit predictable, it's a novel experience seeing Choi in a role like this. Moreover, JJM in it ... O.M.G! Same goes for Wanee & Juna. Not a perfect movie by any means, but I liked it bcuz it's so refreshingly cliche free, for the most part.

As for THV, definitely worth a watch, but it's one of those slow, arthouse films so you do have to have the right mood for it.

Oh and another movie I'd like rec you, The Journals of Musan. Great!

I'll let you know when I post my review. That way you can have a better understanding of exactly what didn't work for me & see if it makes any sense to you. It's hard to explain here, given the character limit.

All that said, I did like the show. On American TV crime dramas like The Sopranoes, The Wire, Prison Break etc were always my favs & it's no different here. The only issue I have with Korean crime dramas is that they have an awful tendency of killing off their lead characters! :)
That's actually why I haven't watched Iris. And I probably wouldn't have watched CC either if I were thinking straight! But I got caught up in the hype which wasn't a bad thing in this case, per se.

But, man, I always get burned when I let myself get sucked in by hype! Same thing happened with Queen In-Hyun's Man. Was convinced it was gonna be GREAT, but for me it turned out to be just OK. :)

Arite, Nagareboshi it is then! I also have some movies lined up. A Better Tomorrow, for one, but given that it's gangster & my emotions after CC are still a bit raw I'm going to push that back to the weekend. I can't deal with any more fav characters being cut down! :)

Otherwise though I'm looking at 1,778 Stories of Me and My Wife. It stars a guy I recently watched in The Hotel Venus. I liked him in that so my interest in his other works was piqued. Speaking of THV, I need to rewatch it. It's a very interesting art film. Good watch the first time around, but it left me totally unable to rate it so I need to watch it again to make up my mind.

I hear you, I really do. But as a filmmaker myself I think it's important to remain consistent & true to the story and characters you've created. Otherwise, your viewers might end up feeling cheated ... well, some viewers! LOL

I know it may seem like I'm griping because things didn't end the way I wanted, but it's really not about that. Of course, I'm sad about what happened, but to me it felt very much like the writers (& director) felt they had to end on this note because it's a necessity of the genre, rather than the story they've told up to this point. Therein lies the biggest issue I have with the show.

It's like nudity (objectification of women) in movies. Most of the time it's totally unnecessary to the plot/story, but you do it anyway bcuz you can & bcuz that's just how things are done. Anyway, it is what it is! In spite of everything I still liked CC a great deal! :)

I can relate. Despite my gripes with it, CC is the kind of show I like to watch. On American TV my favourite shows were always crime dramas like The Sopranoes, The Wire, Prison Break and so on. Only issue I have with Korean crime shows is their awful propensity to kill off the lead in the end. :)

Yes, Smile, You, haven't grown attached to any of the characters yet, but it's still early days. I'm not so sure about Lee Min Jung, kinda hating on her for the most ridiculous, superficial reason ever! She's about to marry my man LBH come the fall! #smh I must be on crack! LOL

Anyway, I still can't believe JKH is the same guy who played the amazingly charismatic Doctor's Son in Cruel City. An insane transformation! When I first met him in SY, I didn't really care for him, I thought he was a little ugly ... but damn, after CC, he's definitely set the record straight! :-)

Don't I know the feeling! Actually, despite my gripes about the show, I felt a little lost after finishing CC too. Where am I going to find a drama with another awesome character like Doctor's Son? Or with the same edge-of-your seat pace? I still haven't decided & I doubt that drama is gonna turn up anytime soon so for the time being I'm looking at something Japanese. I haven't watched a J-drama in ages! I'm thinking of Nagareboshi. I read the synopsis and liked it. Or maybe k-drama Lobbyist, a drama which has been described as somewhat similar to Lovers. Have you seen any of these? What's your take?

I have no plans to watch IHYV, but for your sake I hope it lives up to the hype! :-)

Well, on that we certainly agree! That last scene with him, I mean. Actually I don't think it has any significance to the story at all. To me it's just paying homage to Doc in life. Otherwise though he's stone cold dead. Anyone who says otherwise is in denial. There's no stronger evidence of his demise than the two kids cheering Soo Mina on at the end, symbolizing Gyung Mi & Doc united once again in death.

No, no, no, Rosie, LOL! He hesitated the first time Min went for his weapon, that's reasonable. But how on earth Min was able to reach behind his back, draw his weapon and deliver a smooth shot to the heart with no reaction from neither Doc nor Hyung Min is beyond me! That makes no sense! :)

The ending sucked for me, yes, but I knew it was coming so I could've lived with it if everyone suddenly didn't start acting out of character. I mean throughout the show both Doc & HM were excellent marksmen, but all of sudden they - IN UNISON - botched the whole operation, resulting in Doc's death. It felt too formulaic, as if the writers felt they had to stay true to the conventions of the genre, rather than allow the story they've told up to this point to influence the ending.

Like I said I wouldn't want everything wrapped up with a nice little bow. I would be just as unhappy with such an ending, but a little consistency and logic would have been nice. Anyway, sorry, chingu, to be raining on your parade! At the end of day, bad writing regardless I did like CC! :)

I just wanted to give this a score in the upper quartile; a 9 or 10, but no matter how I think about it, it just doesn't deserve such a high score imo. But a 7 from me is still a good score. Doc is like Kang Jæ to me. He owned the show, no doubt about it & he'll remain a fav forever.

By the way, the forum discussion is quite informative. I didn't see any commentary on the ending, but it's interesting to read their overall opinions on the show. They touched upon a lot of the same issues I had with the writing.

Bahaha! Couldn't have said it better myself! LOL

You mentioned him going on a plane? I didn't see any plane. I saw him with his back turned to us, the audience, in the middle of a crowded street with his phone up to his ear. I didn't take that as an open ending. To me it was just one last glimpse of him as he was in life. But in reality he's dead. :(

LOL, but if he's awesome why would you want him to die? Wouldn't it have been better if he'd disappeared somewhere, ever the elusive, shadowy figure he was up until now? I'm not just asking this question because I prefer happy endings. I just think killing him off like that doesn't make sense for the type of character he was. Both he and Hyung Min were holding loaded guns at Min, yet Min managed to reach behind his back, get his gun & shoot Doc square in the heart? It doesn't make any sense. Both Doc & Hyung Min were expert marksmen every other time they discharged their weapons in the show, but all of sudden BOTH of them had such poor reflexes they couldn't eliminate Min before he eliminated Doc? No, the whole thing was just very contrived. The ending should stay true to the characters and the story created thus far, not genre formula. Disappointed :(

The one time they could have justifiably used their creative license to give us a more optimistic ending they cop out on us? I'm calling foul. I'm not asking for an ending wrapped up nice & neat with a bow. I would have been OK with an unhappy ending to the barely there romance & Doc disappearing for good, ever the elusive figure he's been up until now.

It was a good ride, but in the end it left me with a hollow, unsatisfied feeling. :(

The ending sucked, not just because I'm a happy ender, but bcuz it doesn't fit with the story they've been telling us thus far. It may seem appropriate for the genre, but the story at hand should be what influences the ending, not genre formula.

Think about it. After Soo got angry at Doc for lying to him, WHY would he suddenly confront Pusan on his own? Soo did not have a death wish. If there was anyone who wanted to live, it was Soo!

That final scene with Min, 2 expert shots pointing a loaded gun at him, yet he still manages to reach behind his back for his weapon & discharges it, shooting Doc square in the heart & killing him on the spot. He never even saw it coming. Really? Does that make any sense to you? Is the Doc we've come to know & love that stupid, with such poor reflexes? Is Hyung Min? Not buying it. Not buying it AT ALL! Bad, stupid ending to an otherwise decent show.

I gave it a 7. Have a look at my profile, 2 or more of my enjoyment criteria weren't met. My biggest problem was with the writing. For 20 eps I could see that the writers were totally winging it, they had no idea what would happen from ep to ep. There's the story they have in their minds to tell & the story that materializes on screen. They're never the same. I know this well since I write for film too & have experienced it.

Instead of adapting they stuck to the formula of the genre and ended up writing themselves into corner after corner without realizing/caring how absurd certain things played out. I mean, Hyung Min & his team were totally useless! And for such a terrifying guy like Pusan, his foot soldiers were a bunch of incompetents chumps! hehe

So were the kisses real? I'm thinking of watching this next, but not if the kisses are lame. :)

Arghh, don't tell me he's another Lee Byung-hun! Lee's also tragi-fan. What a waste.

Re: CC, the biggest problem I had with it was the writing. Very disjointed, and formulaic in parts, esp the ending. I have a sneaking feeling they wrote this episode by episode. The story didn't feel very fluid, as if they had it all mapped out from beginning to end. With that said, the characters and pacing were great! :)

That list is BS. This is a crime drama. Other genres played little or no role in it. Dude, just watch the show! lol