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Drama Special Season 14: TV Cinema - Joseon Chefs
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Be yourself
This historical cooking drama is very good to watch but loses its balance from scene to scene trying to add so many things. While it is a enjoyable to watch, it has many details that bothered me so it is hard for me to recommend it. I really liked the meals (i always love seeing Korean cousin on screen), and then the dramatic tension in the family and also the question about balancing between expectations and requirements from a society that put a person into a box. So the message (Be yourself) is quite good - one should find his own path and fight for his freedom. I didn't like that the two male leads behave as children or maybe even like they are in love, also i was bothered by themes that weren't properly resolved and by the many scenes presented in a pathetic way trying to artificially stir emotion.Was this review helpful to you?
Drama Special Season 14: Dog Days of Summer
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Basketball VS Football
I might be biased because basketball is my sport, but this drama was just right on every level. The desire of the main protagonist to play basketball when everyone is interested in football is a good allegory of the unique talents that every child brings and the difficulty to adjust to the group. Young actors were great. The story is simple yet very authentic and therefore emotional. It helps us grownups to understand children and their emotions which can be very complicated.This drama manages to touch on many themes in only one hour of duration (sport, school, children, friendship, romance, family, …) and that makes it a great choice to watch. I still didn’t watch the entire “KBS Drama Special 2023” but for now this is my favorite of the season.
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Drama Special Season 14: Shoot For Love
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Sport for Love
There is love for sport and there is sport for love. While watching this drama I remembered a meme with a picture of boys playing basketball. One boy is looking the girls at the stands and says: As I get older, I am less interested in Sport. At the same time a girl from the stands, while looking attracted to boys, says: As I get older, I am more interested in Sport.So this drama is presenting itself as a sport romance comedy, about a female football (or soccer) player who can even compete against men, but we don’t get to see to much of football because there is a love story here also. As much as I appreciate the story in both dimensions, the connection between women gets the most screen time so that the drama actually doesn’t have a clear focus. Finally, the best part of this drama is Lee Yeon as Ko Do Hyun. She was very believable as a football player unlike other actresses.
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pleasing fantasy
Dr. Cheon is a likeable guy and the movie rightfully carries his name in the title. He also has his sidekicks, a small group of distinct characters. Unfortunately they weren't used much in the story. They are here mostly for show, but I can imagine them having more responsibilities in a sequel if they decide to make it.I like this type of movies so the plot holes didn't bother me too much. There is adventure and fantasy, and a little bit of spirituality, and also action. Would like to see more movies like this from Korea. The atmosphere is great, especially in the first part where the comedy and a small bits of horror work well. At the end it becomes more and more generic but still very enjoyable and exciting. The runtime is good, not every movie needs to be 2-ghour long. All in all, not a masterpiece but a great relaxing evening movie.
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I wanted to do good
Oh my, this was a long movie that makes me want to light up a candle and pray for the protagonists - man and woman living together. One of them actually does light a candle while working, maybe even praying, and the other said something that describes the movie for me. He said: I wanted to do good.The society has an institution of marriage for a reason, for protection and support (the common good) of both husband and wife, and their children. The couple in this movie are just living together, they are friends, partners and lovers, they live in a consensual union where everything is good until it isn't. Paradoxically, the problems seem to start when the woman Jay gets pregnant . Would marriage make it easier for them? I argue that it would. I would say that this movie is an honest depictions of psychological and practical challenges of unexpected pregnancy not only for woman but also for man. The story takes an unexpected turn and the end is both negative and positive. Even if i would want to spoil the movie, i wouldn't be able to decide if the ending is good or bad. It is, just like in real life, the reality of so many relationships. Don't watch this movie for entertainment, watch it if you want to study relationships.
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Frog-like laugh
Your husband / wife should not only make you happy, but also make you angry. Going together through laughing and yelling, through romance and fighting make for the best partnership and this movie shows it. This romantic comedy is fully with unique characters that provide many unexpected funny moments and it made me laugh a lot. The actors all did a great job, but i especially liked the absurd frog-like laughing from the male actor Kang Ha Neul. As with others movies of the same genre, the comedy serves to highlight the message of love that survives all the challenges. here it is presented through a reset of relationship which was used well for both the comedy and romance.Note that there are post-ending gags, and an credits scene and also a post-credit scene. Everything in the movie is made for the enjoyment and i did have a fun Sunday night with it. Hope you will too!
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What is Korea?
Can I use spoilers for a review of a true story? I will try not to because I saw the movie in complete ignorance and i was 100% engaged in the story thankful that i didn't know what will happen next. That made the viewing of the movie much better. After watching the movie i checked some facts and it turns out that the movie is very faithful to the true events.This is a sports drama at its best. There are many inspirational stories but this is one of the best I saw. It shows a sporting spirit and also a Korean spirit, so in t he end, this is very patriotic movie. At the time when Korea was not even recognized in the world, a few individuals were fighting for Korean pride with sport. That shows that sport is not only a virtue in itself but it is also a means to connect people and a great ambassador in the world.
PS. I am also from a small country but every time i visited Korea people connected me with the famous athletes from my country. Well i should learn more about Korean athletes also. So thank you movie for teaching me a valuable lesson and showing me once again what is Korea.
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Humans 3
Yes, Season 1 could have been enough, but as we watched Seasons 2 and 3, the theme became increasingly extreme. I didn’t like Season 3 until the final episode, which truly hit me emotionally. There was a twist no one in the show saw coming, and at last, we get a conclusion to the Korean Squid Games.There are some inconsistencies in certain scene, and oh, those unbearable VIPs, but also a few mostly useless side stories, so at one point I thought the story was going nowhere. Yet, the director managed to put the mosaic together in the end.
The highlight of the show is its moral theme: the worth of life, and the corruption of human nature in the face of desperation, greed, and violence. Season 1 exposed how crushing debt and hopelessness can push ordinary people to lose their morality. Season 2 raised the intensity and explored how trauma and greed further corrupt humanity, as people risk everything for material gain. The final season is the darkest, showing that by the end, there are no good or bad guys—only people pushed to their absolute breaking point.
And that is the final question we are all invited to ask ourselves: Humans are... ?
If you're reading this review before watching the show, try answering that question now—and then again afterward. See how your answer changes.
P.S. By the way, remember: Hodie mihi, cras tibi! — or in my own translation from Latin: what happened to the people in the show today might happen to people in real life tomorrow.
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Difficulty level. 10
I like that this movie reminds viewers of the biblical story of Noah and the Flood, in which life on Earth was saved in the ark. God promised never to send the Great Flood again, but here we are—and this time there is no Noah, no Ark, no animals, and no God. The fate of earthly life lies on the shoulders of a troubled mother with a special mission.Her endeavor reminded me of video games, where there are different difficulty levels depending on how hard it is to win. The movie raises the bar to the maximum—level 10. I would certainly give up halfway through.
The first part of the movie serves as a reference point and carries a strong sense of suspense and urgency. The second part has a completely different feel, with more confusion and exhaustion than enjoyment, but it ultimately leads to a satisfying ending that offers a lot to think about and discuss. The movie is quite relevant to our time, even though it is still science fiction.
There were some inconsistent details that bothered me, such as fish suddenly appearing and fire appearing and disappearing between shots. Still, these flaws are redeemed by strong human moments, and overall this is a memorable movie that I can recommend to everyone.
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The Korean Murphy's Law
In many Korean movies and dramas you just know that the writers want to add suspense by including the worst possible scenarios. If a character can save himself by going right, he will go left. If there is a chance to make the plot more complicated it will be. I felt that way watching this drama. The premise and the plot twists are great but I felt that it could have all been resolved sooner. The show could have ended after 2 episodes, then after 6, than after 7 and half, than after 8, but it kept going until, luckily, it managed to find its resolve and conclusion. I don't want to give anything aways but I can say the ending is a bit generic. Fortunately there is also a short epilogue that i liked.On the other side i still enjoyed all 10 hours of this drama, especially in moral and psychological themes of the characters and how the situations lead and change them. It was truly a bloody lucky interesting exciting ride that no one would want to experience in reality.
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Carrying the casket
Touching and meaningful. In the Love Track series, the main plot is love with the addition of certain original elements, but in this episode, the romantic relationship of the main character is actually an addition to the real story — saying goodbye to a dear person who has passed away. The whole story unfolds during the funeral ceremony, so this drama is also educational in showing how Korean funerals are held. I have actually been to one funeral in a Korean church, and I helped carry the casket from the church to the car, so this particular drama was very meaningful to me.The final images of this drama are also very touching, in a good way. We all have to say goodbye to someone we loved (or rather, not loved, but still love, because death cannot kill love), but we say that goodbye with respect for the life that was lived and with hope for the life that is still to come. There was no priest at this funeral, but there is hope, and I recommend watching this if you have the chance.
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Magic of Onion Soup
Very funny. Loving a certain dish is nice, but that can never be true love, because if we love something that only serves us, that love is selfish. The main character here loves his onion soup a little too much, but the director used that premise in a smart way to lead us further and make us think about the dishes we like and the relationships we develop around them.The actors were great. The female lead was cute and had a special kind of aura, but the male lead was the highlight. Of course, he is one of the Korean veterans, so there is no doubt about his acting skills. His attitude was so funny to watch, and in a strange way, I could relate to both of the main characters. I really enjoyed every second of this first episode from the *Love Track* series, which continues the legacy of the Drama Special format of one-episode short stories. I am looking forward to the other episodes.
I bet that after watching this short movie/series, you will want to try onion soup yourself.
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Unbelievable
This movie is unbelievable—and I don’t mean that in a good way, but rather as unrealistic and absurd. It is best described as a parody of gangster films, and the entire plot feels more like an introduction to a story than a fully developed feature. But despite its flaws, the movie has many good elements. First of all, it is short, so it can serve as decent entertainment during a boring evening. It took me a while to get used to the nature of the comedy, but once I accepted that it is silly, I started to enjoy it more and more. By the end, I even laughed out loud at a few gags.The actors are very solid. They handled the action scenes very well and truly committed to their characters. It was great seeing them during the post-credits scene as a small behind-the-scenes preview—especially since they are almost all legends of Korean cinema, each with over 50 roles in different movies. For me personally, that was the most enjoyable part of the film: seeing so many familiar faces together.
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Noisy Mansion
I didn’t know that noise was such an issue in Korean apartments. After a month-long break from watching Korean films, I just saw two movies: The Noisy Mansion (2025) and this one — both centered around the same issue: a strange noise disturbing the tenants in a large apartment complex. But while the first film managed to connect the dots, this one left me confused and disoriented. I would say the main problem is that the movie shifts in atmosphere and tone too many times — from dreamlike sequences and imagined montages of buying an apartment, to social drama, thriller action, and mystery. It becomes a mix of everything, but ultimately remains unconvincing and unrealistic.I tried to focus on the real meaning of the title, Wall to Wall, or the translated Korean title: 84 Square Meters. That would suggest the apartment itself is the main protagonist, trying to survive its noisy, weird, and angry tenants. There was a lot I didn’t understand or felt was poorly resolved. That said, I did enjoy the movie, and it held my interest as I wanted to see where the plot would take us. But despite its unusual twists and strange events, I think this film is, unfortunately, forgettable.
P.S. I’d really like to know — what was that laugh at the end? Can someone explain?
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Romans 8:31-39
The title of this movie comes from one of my favourite texts from the Bible: Romans 8:31–39. In this passage, Saint Paul explains how great the love of God is for us through Jesus Christ. I had trouble understanding how this applies to the movie, but it truly gives us something to reflect upon once the movie is over. There are also many Bible verses included in the film, but they appear and disappear in the blink of an eye, and I couldn't really connect them to the story. The director probably wants us to do a kind of workshop or reflection on the state of our service in the Church. The overall theme of the movie is about sinful people who work in the Church. Since I am a priest, I feel I am the intended audience—and I can say it truly made me examine my conscience.From an outsider’s perspective, some people might interpret this film as a denunciation of the Church, revealing the corruption that exists among pastors who become false idols. It's true that many could find reasons to stop believing or attending Church because of the bad behaviour of religious leaders. But for me, this challenging movie is a testimony to us weak and sinful people that God is always beyond us. We can trust in his Love but we must be humble.
There is also a very young girl in the movie. She barely appears, but her subplot about cookies is so strong and provocative. That little subplot is simple, but theologically it’s quite powerful. What to do with love that hurts someone?
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