michelleoc

The scenes in Korea saved it for me

The good:
when they were in Korea (meant more to me because I just returned from my first visit there).
The not good:
-The acting. With some of the actors, you could actually almost hear what was going on in their minds, "Now I walk to the door, stop, turn." Wooden or over the top acting by all.
-The makeup for the FL. The pink, pink cheeks and the pink lipstick. Learn to blend the makeup, people!
-The storyline. I've seen this story 100 times done better.
-Costuming. The women all dressed so skimpily and sleazily. Are shorts, midriffs and high heels a thing in the workplace? Not a good look for anyone.
-No chemistry between leads, partially because I felt like I was watching them "act".

My rating is only what it is because of the Korea shots, otherwise it would have been even lower.

Read More

Exceptional Acting

For me, this drama had an unnecessarily convoluted plot, and it seemed like every episode I was thinking, "Ah, yet ANOTHER bad guy." That being said, if you haven't watched this show, you really should. I'll admit that this isn't my normal genre. I have watched other shows of this type, but never have I seen better acting or such a wonderful relationship as the two leads had.

Yoon Kye Sang as Myung Joon. He's a father desperate to save his daughter, and as such he will do anything. However, we see throughout the drama that he still has a moral compass and wants to do the right thing. I've seen him in a couple of other shows and enjoyed him, but here, in this part, he absolutely shone.

Yuna as Ro Hee. She is someone to watch, for sure. Her part was emotionally intense, difficult to play without showing too much emotion. She had been used in her short life, and when she comes across Myung Joon, she finally finds someone that cares for her. More often than not, she is the adult of the relationship, and that's fun to watch. Her emotional range is amazing. For the most part, she was required to be unemotional, but in the last episode the dam breaks and she falls apart. I fell apart with her. Watch her closely, she doesn't have the mannerisms of a child, but of an adult. When sitting on the couch, her hands are folded the way an adult in charge would be. She was exceptional.

I also appreciated the respect she commanded, that people listened to her even though she was "just a kid".

This drama was worth the time, and then some!

Read More

Short and cute

Liked:
1) Interesting premise for a storyline, not something we've seen, with fantasy elements.
2) FL was just terrific. I loved all of her different personas.
3) It had a good message. Can someone love the real me?
4) Amusing.
5) The couple was cute together.
6) It's a short time commitment.

Not so much:
1) ML's acting left a lot to be desired.
2) Strange editing. A lot was left out that could have made the story more cohesive. The main couple has had a few conversations and all of a sudden, he's calling her his girlfriend. Wait, when did that happen!?

Read More

Short and simple

This was a cute watch for me. I liked the fact that it was short, a nice change of pace and not much of an investment. It's not an original story by any means, but it was sweet. Being a short series, it felt rushed, especially since they had two couples to tell us about.

What I liked:
Kim So Hyun as Hong Ju. She is such a cutie, and I really enjoy watching her.
Chae Jong Hyeop as Hu Yeong. I've liked him in other works, and for the most part I enjoyed him (see below).
Yun Ji On as Jun Ho. I loved him in Tomorrow, but to me, his storyline seemed very forced.
Hwang Sung Bin as the PE teacher. He was terrific! I loved his straight, military demeanor and how out of his element he was with the 2FL.
I'm a sucker for when the man falls first, and we got it in both couples.
Chemistry, for the most part, was good. I hate to keep using the word "cute", but that's the thought I had as I watched it.
Second couple. I loved the second couple. They were very amusing. However, there was a lot of time spent on them, which took away from the main couple, but maybe that's okay.
I liked the friend with the restaurant and how he was trying to play matchmaker.

What, to me, could have been better:
At times, Chae Jong Hyeop's acting seemed a little forced, especially when he was hugging her and they focused on his face. His expression was totally blank, and his body language was stiff.
So much drinking!!!
Her leg injury - she's limping one minute, the next she's not, then back to limping, then the boot is gone and she's walking like she was never injured!

Read More

Light, fluffy, no angst

What I liked:
1) Fewer episodes.
2) Shorter episodes.
3) ML and FL were beautiful to watch and oh, so cute together.
4) FL wasn't an idiot
5) Okay kisses (see below)
6) I smiled a lot while watching this
7) Flashbacks weren't overdone
8) Second couple wasn't too annoying
9) Potential triangles were resolved quickly
10) Voices were okay
11) I love when the ML falls first, and I'm a sucker for the destiny trope
12) Cute flashback that explained their whole past relationship. However, see #6 below.

Not so much:
1) What was with the editing? There seemed to be a big chunk missing, and suddenly they were married!
2) The potential triangle (both male and female) felt like add-ins and didn't bring anything to the story.
3) More time spent on the 2nd couple than the mains!
4) Some bad attempts at kisses. Their mouths weren't even in the same vicinity.
5) Even with the shorter duration of the show, it felt like there was time wasted. I'm usually disappointed in the editing (or lack thereof) in Chinese shows.
6) Lack of dramatic reveal of feelings. It's like they kept them all bottled up throughout the show and then just had a brief conversation about being in love. Lots of emotion missing from the scene.
7) Wasn't feeling chemistry between the mains.

All in all, it was a cute, easy show to watch.

Read More

My rating was all over the place as I watched

Overall, I really liked this drama, with the assistance of my fast forward button. I had to skip over her terrible brother and his entire family (other than the cousin). They were all simply terrible, and they were jarring compared to the rest of the drama.

Yoon Kye Sang was wonderful. I've not seen him in anything else (now I'll be on the lookout!) but I loved his characterization of Lee Kang. The despair, the loneliness, the invisible wall built around himself keeping others at bay. He's got such a great face, his vulnerability shone through. It was a treat to watch him slowly open up and watching him not able to control or figure out what his feelings were, taking advice from a child, acting out of character. My only problem came when he lied to ChaYoung about his mother. I think that was an important part of the healing process for both of them.

Ha Ji Won as Cha Young was good, I just had a problem with her character. She reminded me of Eeyore, carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders.

Jang Seung Jo as Lee Joon was terrific as Lee Kang's cousin. I loved watching their relationship progress (If you've not seen them, he was great in The Good Detective 1&2).

The pace throughout was slow and calm. I, personally, liked all of the hospice cases. We got to see our ML and FL be changed by those they encountered. Through sadness, my takeaway was to live fully and completely every day, cherishing the time you have and those that you love.

The OST was wonderful.

All of the cooking/eating scenes were a feast for the senses.

It was beautifully filmed, the locales as well as the lighting, camera angles, etc.

I think I would have given this drama at least an eight, but the time skip and her leaving out of the blue just made no sense. She'd finally gotten closure on things, was with the man she loved and said, "Give me some time, don't wait for me." What the heck!?!?! It was a cop-out to say the least. We could have gotten a lot of lovely scenes with the leads, a happy ending, some closure, but no...she continued to be depressed and morose even toward the end! It was a happy ending, just poorly done.

Read More

Not everyone gets a second chance at life...

I really enjoyed this movie. It has some of my favorite veteran actors in it. I found it heart-warming and heart-breaking at the same time. I'm so glad was a movie and not a series, the length was perfect.

I know the Granny was not supposed to be likeable, but she annoyed the heck out of me. Once she became her younger self, but still retained the same attitudes, it was really funny to watch. I loved the grandson, he seemed to be the only one that cared for Granny.

I would have loved to have seen the family's reaction when she reverted back to her usual self after the blood transfusion, but, for me, that was the only thing that was missing.

The young version of the Granny had the voice, attitude and mannerisms down perfectly. I loved how they modeled her after Audrey Hepburn, her hairstyles and her fashion. And can we talk about the music? The songs were just beautiful.

And I'm sorry, you simply can't go wrong with a cameo by Kim Soo Hyun!

This was a very fun movie, which made me wonder about what choices I would have made in her situation. I'm so glad I finally watched this.

Read More

Excellent acting, but...

This show started out really well. I really liked up to about episode 9 (of 32 half hour episodes). Then, I think the writers went on a vacation, and before leaving, told them to just film episodes repeating episode 9 over and over again, with different clothes and actors. Every episode was the antagonist killing/possessing someone else, and our Scooby gang trying to catch/kill her. It's been a while since I've watch something with so much repetition.

ACTING: Casting was on point and the acting was stellar. Daniel Choi was very controlled and understated as the detective. Park Eun Bin - boy, that woman can act! Kim Won Hae - I love him. He always brings the comedic element to roles, but inevitably is able to wring tears from me. Lee Joo Young - beautiful and smart, great addition to the Scooby gang.

I did really like seeing how the characters met, bonded and began to work together. And the leads had amazing chemistry, which was wonderful to watch, yet sad. I mean, IYKYK. Which brings me to the ending. What the heck!?!?! I'm all for a happy ending (I pretty much insist upon that), but it made no sense! Then to have the big bad show up again after everything they went through just seemed like a cheap ploy, hoping for a season 2.

Actually, if I'd done the smart thing, I would have watched episodes 1-10, skipped to the last episode and watched it. That would have been a good show and would have made the ending make a little more sense as well.

Read More

I'm not getting on a plane anytime soon!

Story: a very timely story, for the world we live in (unfortunately). This movie had action, drama, a speck of humor, as well as shining a light on how strong the survival instinct is for people, often at the expense of others. There were a lot of moments when I got angry at the injustices that these poor people on the plane were facing.

Acting: Very good, especially Siwon, who was the standout. I love seeing actors that I've seen in multiple other works. It feels kind of like getting together with old friends.

Music: Was there music?

Rewatch Value: For me, low, since I know the ending. This is a movie that I think can be enjoyed more fully, the less you know about it going in.

Overall: Very good action flick.

Read More

Cool retro-looking show

I enjoyed this show a lot and for numerous reasons:
1) Lee Je Hoon. I really enjoy him as an actor. I liked him better in this than Taxi Driver, because I love when he's a little goofy.
2) The Team 1 detectives. Can we talk about the friendship chemistry they had going on? I really liked that we got to see what brought them into police work. There was no weak link in this group, each brought something special to the show and to the team.
3) Multiple cases. Though, more often than not, the cases were horrific and heartbreaking, I prefer that over one case throughout the whole show. The cases got darker as the episodes went along. I think at about episode 5 there was a warning at the beginning of each episode saying it was for mature audiences.
4) A good ending. This drama wasn't too long or too short. Personally, I like the 10-episode format, less filler. And this show could TOTALLY have multiple seasons!
5) Costuming. Really great job with all of the clothing.
6) Some of the episodes had further information at the end about what happened with the cases, or Korea at the time.
7) A female cop. Good addition.
8) Cute romance. Definitely not the focus, but I didn't feel like it was wasting my time.
9) The music. Very Austin Powers-ish.

Just a couple of shortcomings for me:
1) Team 2 detectives. Every one of them was corrupt, and it went all the way up the ladder. They were blatantly obvious that they were corrupt. To have that many corrupt cops seemed overkill.
2) At the end, when Je Hoon's character got promoted, everyone was celebrating, including Team 2. Why were they celebrating? That would be the end of the way that they do business.
For me, those were the only things that kind of diminished my enjoyment. This was a very well-done drama, with some comedy, lots of drama, a bit of romance, and a team of policemen always fighting for right.

Read More

What a ride!

I'll start by saying that alternate timelines/parallel universe stories always confuse me and give me a headache. Normally, I rate the dramas I watch strictly based on my enjoyment of them (so I can remember which shows I liked and why). So, for me, I can't say generically that I loved the show, but I HAD to give this rating because of the concept and for the acting.

You have to admit, the idea of a serial murderer dumping bodies in an alternate timeline isn't something you see every day! This drama was full of twists and turns, and just when I ventured a guess as to who might be involved, I was proven wrong (multiple times). You know how sometimes you watch a drama, and someone is suspicious from the very beginning, whether they just act shifty, or the looks they give others, etc.? That is not the case in this drama. I continued to be surprised. I also liked how each person was different in the alternate world, sometimes just slightly, sometimes in big ways.

I am not going to single anyone out about their acting, because everyone was excellent, especially the ML. The way they wrote him, upstanding in one world, corrupt in the other, gave him the opportunity to shine as both. Then, the instances of them being together in one frame, in addition to slight physical differences, the mannerisms and behaviors were different. So, that also means that the antagonists did a great job as well.

I don't remember music, per se. I do remember thinking that it was doing a good job of kicking up the tension.

I won't rewatch this, since I know what happened.

For anyone that is curious, there is a slight romance. I'm a romance junkie and don't usually care for romances in any type of thriller, action drama. I thought it was handled excellently. It was VERY understated, and his lines when he was talking to the FL about the FL in the other world, wow, heartbreaking.

There is a happy ending, but I will say I'm confused about there being 2MLs in the same world at the end.

I can't believe it took me this long to watch Train. If you are considering it, I can highly recommend it.

Read More