Potemkin Family Villa

"There is an idea of a Patrick Bateman. Some kind of abstraction. But there is no real me. Only an entity. Something illusory. And though I can hide my cold gaze, and you can shake my hand and feel flesh gripping yours, and maybe you can even sense our lifestyles are probably comparable, I simply am not there." -from the opening monologue of "American Psycho"

While no one in "Romance in the House" is chopping unsuspecting victims to bits with an axe while jamming to Huey Lewis and the News, this drama is not hip nor square nor a shape of really any kind. It's an amalgamation of scenes and characters and workplaces and drinking scenes and backstories that not merely don't add up, but don't make any semblance of an impression at any point.

No actor and character, whether lead or supporting or guest, connects convincingly with any other. Perhaps it's a function of how stock the roles are - the driven, young, humorless corporate salarywoman, her flippant younger brother, the cute boyfriend that's both connected to power & money and with a tragic family backstory, the collection of stereotypically nosy supporting characters, the office gossipers and the former hero athlete. To his credit, Ji Jin Hee goes full tilt to bringing Mu Jin to life, but there's nothing to connect him to. Kim Jee Soo's Ae Yeon is so busy being resigned to her fate that their rekindling romance never feels credible. Meanwhile, Son Na Eun thankfully gets a role that isn't the petulant pretty girl but she overcompensates by being so grim and cranky that she comes across as an unpleasant scold. And Choi Min Ho is simply not a lead actor. He's a cute and chipper supporting gem, but he simply can't express any emotion other than wide-eyed aw shucks surprise. Even when he's acting out a scene where he's supposed to be in a rage or inconsolably sad, he looks like, on the inside, he's just jazzed about the mint chocolate chip ice cream cone with extra sprinkles on top that he'll get as soon as the director yells "CUT!"

The plot attempts to gin up tension by concealing the mystery of Mu Jin's whereabouts for years, his reason for suddenly returning and how he acquired new wealthy status during his absence. The issue is that the tone of the production makes it impossible to imagine that all the hints and speculation of possible illicit means being involved could be true. With no believable mystery of whether Mu Jin has a dark side, there's just a lot of aimless and circular meanderings until the inevitable pairings and reunifications conclude.

The result is much like Patrick Bateman's description of himself - an empty shell - only without the catchy 80's pop tunes and exquisitely crafted business cards.

Not recommended.

Leia Mais

Less of a traditional drama and more like an acting laboratory

For anyone that has not watched "Gangnam B-Side", enter the experience with the expectation that it is not traditional drama fare. Because of the characteristics that typically are associated with a drama, it is remarkably bereft of any of them.

Do not watch expecting some coherent story arc with humanlike characters with somewhat meaningfully fleshed out personalities and dialogue that contains the occasional complete sentence. This vehicle seems more interested in taking actors and asking them to do things to see if they work or not. Some of the things that the production team seemed interested in testing are:

Does anyone know who Jo Woo Jin is without having to look up his biography on MDL?

Would anyone believe it if the pre-release marketing said that Ji Chang Wook was cast as a true villain? Like not a bad guy that is still likable and sort of a good guy inside and immeasurably cool?

As a plot device, does it make sense to disappear the most compelling character from virtually the start to the end?

Might someone/anyone in the Eastern Hemisphere have a different take on how to portray a dirty cop or corrupt prosecutor?

Is there a noticeable difference in Bibi's approach to playing a drug lord's daughter/protege' and a street-wise call girl?

Can Ha Yoon Kyung sell a no-nonsense morally ambiguous prosecutor character after about a dozen consecutive roles as the painfully cute, syrupy sweet secondary love interest?

If Bibi and Oh Ye Ju's characters are put in almost identical predicaments, is there any entertainment value for the second time through the same subplot?

With respect, it's possible for some dedicated viewers or family members of Jo Woo Jin that the answer to the first query is "Yes" but otherwise, none of these emerge from the mess that is this production positively. Jo Woo Jin is not lead material. Ji Chang Wook is a bad guy, but not the villain. Bibi's Jae Hui is the most compelling character but is either missing or kidnapped or otherwise not around for almost the entire show. The bad cops and sleazy prosecutors are the same as any other drama. Bibi is great as this type of character but it's indistinguishable from her character in "Worst of Evil". Ha Yoon Kyung scores brownie points for trying, but she does not deliver the weight and intensity that this role needed. And this plot badly needed to go in a different direction for the second half.

Which is not to say that everything is bad here. Jung Ga Ram is surprisingly adept in his hyperbolic, bad boy night club denizen. Great? No, but much improved over the wooden, shallow type from his previous work. It's yet to be seen how much range Bibi has as an actor, but she has the desperate, lawbreaking, not-to-be-trifled-with, buttkicking maneater character SO DOWN. Jung Man Shik can play shady, slimy & icky like very few others can. And nobody shines as much as Ok Ja Yeon as a sort of den mother to the party girls (a better version of this production would have elevated this character to one of the leads with a full backstory).

The show has lots of blinking lights and bells and whistles. There's more collapsible batons than anywhere outside of the collapsible baton factory. And the martial arts coordinator has one of the few credits I've seen for that job on MDL so there's that little nugget.

And it's definitely got a lot of grit. There is no romance here. This is not a fairytale about nice people or nice places. With a capable group to write some actual dialogue instead of recycling profanity and generic threats of violence, choreograph a fight scene with a scintilla of connection to reality and just one character that an audience could hope emerges from all the trauma in one piece physically and emotionally, "Gangnam B-Side" could have been a taut, compelling thriller.

Even for ardent fans of Ji Chang Wook or any of the other actors, can not recommend.

Leia Mais

So many glaring defects and yet still a likable and fun ride

A pun? Who thinks that naming a show with a pun is a good idea? The only possible answer to that is someone that knows that their title sequence is so painfully bad that papering it over with a ridiculous pun will distract from the ineptitude of the opening credits.

The bad things just keep rolling though:

The supporting cast has some highlights but also some of the worst performances of the current calendar year.

The music, whether during the title sequence or outside of it, is sensationally poor.

There's innumerable unnecessary and sloppily choreographed fight scenes.

The twists are so unsurprising that whether they were intended to be twists or reveals has to be questioned.

There should be some buildup of tension and intrigue as pivotal conflicts approach, but instead they just seem to randomly cut from a nondescript scene to a major confrontation.

It's so frustrating to watch everything be so ineptly put together because

[DEEP BREATH]

...the scenario is fresh and it works, it really works, even with all of its deficiencies. Firstly, because Kang Mal Geum is a shining beam of unfiltered warmth and joy as Do Bae Man's aunt. Every moment she has on screen is a delight.

Second, vengeance is probably not a good real life pursuit but man is it almost always a terrific basis for fictional dramas. And this is an above-average revenge backstory.

Jo Bo Ah and Kim Young Min are both well-suited for their characters, Actually, with more developed and complex characters, both could have been stellar here. Points for the casting director getting these two on board.

But mostly, while the lead cast is fairly strong, this is a show centered on Ahn Bo Hyun and he delivers. Granted, it seemed that the first few episodes were rough. With the show switching from serious to comic on a frequent basis, there's a serious case of actor not knowing what to do with his character. After not too long though, Ahn Bo Hyun settles things down with more gravitas and only enough wry sarcasm to give Do Bae Man an extra dimension. That Ahn Bo Hyun is one of the most physically imposing actors in the industry aids in giving the military prosecutor an ominous presence, but it's balanced by a kind and empathic air.

Will this lead to award nominations for Ahn Bo Hyun? If it does, that would be more than mildly shocking. But it absolutely should convince other productions that he's more than viable lead actor for future productions (which hopefully will have better pieces around him).

Not strongly recommended but still qualifies as a recommended watch.

Leia Mais

We grow up when we realize that adults don't know what to do either

As children, we hear our teachers give us instruction with such confidence. “These facts are the things that happened. These numbers add up to this sum. Our governments follow these rules that we call laws.” Outside on the playgrounds, we make up new games and the rules are made up on the spot. But around adults, it appears that there are systems and pieces that fit together and when we grow up, we’ll know the answers to how things work and where we fit.

And then we reach adulthood ourselves and find that adulthood is lot like the playground games where we’re all making it all up as we go as often as not. Some of us excel at it and a lot more of us struggle to figure out who we are and how we find success or even just live in such a world. At the same time, we find moments, ephemeral as they may be, of unexpected grace and beauty and kindness.

“My Liberation Notes” is an exploration of this reality we live in and it is a stunningly beautiful rendition. Few dramas can combine such lush cinematography with immaculate editing, astonishingly original dialogue, a marvelously composed score and backdrops that might be ordinary in purpose, but are stunning with the vividness of their color. Even had it been sixteen episodes without characters or dialogue, there’s a bevy of gorgeous photography and musical accompaniment worthy of viewing pleasure.

As for the narrative, three unhappy siblings that live in the countryside divide their lives between long commutes to unrewarding jobs in Seoul and toiling on the family farm with a taciturn father and persevering mother. As adults, they all find themselves unsure of their place and their purpose. The oldest sibling is Ki Jung who has a talent for loudly saying the worst possible thing in a public place. The only son, Chang Hee, is a grown man that usually behaves like a squirming, uncomfortable child in church that simply wants to leave. The youngest and main character is Mi Jung, a soft-spoken but unbending and fearless woman that’s never found anyone that understands her. Dropped into this mix is a man known only by his last name, Gu, who is incredibly diligent and skilled but also an unapologetic alcoholic.

As for the plot, it’s very strictly and very real slice of life stuff. It’s getting through petty work disagreements. It’s complaining about the heat or suffering from the cold. It’s waxing nostalgic with old friends. It’s yearning for a few minutes of happiness a day or a new relationship. There are few destinations and the journeys rarely follow a particular direction for any length of time. There’s not so much buildups and reveals and cliffhangers. Rather, there’s symbolism and hidden meanings and guarded dialogue. When a shocking event does happen, it’s revealed initially so matter of factly that a viewer not intently watching might even miss how quickly the news had dropped.

The cast performances are outstanding. Lee Min Ki and Lee El, as Chang Hee and Ki Jung, are the extroverts and thrash and churn through their characters’ frustrations, joys and fears. Several supporting cast members shine too, especially Han Sang Jo as a longtime friend and occasional accomplice to Chang Hee, and Chun Ho Jin, as the siblings’ father. And it cannot be overlooked how much Park Soo Young and Lee Ji Hye shine brightly in very limited supporting roles as members of Mi Jung’s Liberation Club.

Kim Ji Won’s performance as Mi Jung is subdued as the character is extremely guarded and only very slowly reveals herself to Gu. It’s a very good performance and certainly one that should stand out on her resume. But despite having some of the best dialogue of recent memory, Mi Jung never comes across as a relatable human. Whether that’s due to Kim Ji Won’s restrained manner or just that the character’s humanity seems broken or whether this is a production that just isn’t interested in having characters that viewers should root for, that’s the end result - with a central figure that’s emotionally distant.

Meanwhile, Son Seok Koo as Gu is downright brilliant. He barely speaks for several episodes but his smirks and squints and head shakes and intensity belie that this is not simply a normal man with little to say. As his story unfolds and his internal struggles are revealed, it’s a devastating performance. None so far in 2022 can come close to matching it.

Overall, there’s very, very little to find fault with in “My Liberation Notes”. It is exquisitely produced from almost every angle. And it is highly recommended.

Leia Mais

Could have chosen the path less traveled

"Imitation", to its credit, has some intriguing pieces which push it towards being an entertaining vehicle for a good portion of its run. Unfortunately, after starting to fit nicely together, things break apart again and it never recovers.

The cast is a bit uneven. Park Ji Yeon and Kim Min Seo are the highlights, but Danny Ahn and Im Na Young pull their weight too. Lee Jun Young has a promising comedic touch as Kwon Ryok but the character spends almost the entire show either cranky or depressed so those lighter moments are easily forgotten. Jeong Ji So ends up as the centerpiece of the show and, unfortunately, this is not the best fit for her. She's very nice and she's capable, but she tends to repeat a limited repertoire of notes. The HMU team didn't help her either.

As far as stories go, the underdog story of Ma Ha moves a bit too quickly early on and the redemption story that picks up after it only starts to gain momentum and make sense at the very end. Although it closes strong, there's a good stretch of the show that can only be charitably described as filler material.

The whole production was built around two primary columns, Ma Ha and Kwon Ryok. That's what the industry tends to do and the team here got stuck following the typical structure. The result is that there's two characters that are asked to carry far too much of the narrative and several dozen side characters that have painfully little space to contribute. Had the show been structured as more of an ensemble with six to ten characters all sharing time more equally, this could have been a compelling gem. As made here though, it's just a few moments of charm that's not worth sifting through the long intervals of unremarkable storytelling.

Leia Mais

You sly dog! You caught me monologuing!

It's not monologuing that weighs down "Gyeonseong Creature" as much as it "dialoguing".

There's some very credible attributes of this drama and it deserves some accolades. The photography is terrific. The pyrotechnics and slow-motion shots are stunning. There's a few low light scenes in the countryside that are jawdropping. The score is solid. The wardrobing, at least to this layman's level of expertise, is exquisite.

There's some solid supporting characters and actors . Jo Han Chul, in particular, is as good here as he has ever been. There's several great actors that just don't have the character depth unfortunately though. The talents of Im Ki Hong, Im Chul Soo and Ok Ja Yeon are almost completely wasted. For the villainry, Kim Su Hyun and Hyun Bong Sik and Choi Young Joon all play extremely terrible and awful monsters. But then there's a lengthy list of other wrongdoers and each time one of them absorbs any of the focus, it detracts from developing the main antagonists.

And there's plenty of bloat all around. Kim Hae Sook is listed as a lead but there's no need for the character to appear at all. Wi Ha Joon disappears for vast stretches and when he is visible, is bland and forgettable.

As for the leads, when given the opportunity to showcase their strengths, they deliver. Han So Hee and Park Seo Joon deliver in the action set pieces and exhibit all the grim resolve a viewer can handle when things get dark. Sadly, these moments aren't enough.

While the structure of the show is compelling, the ground-level narrative is twisted so badly with unnecessary side- and back-tracks, incomprehensible gaps in plausibility (the ventilation shaft that literally holds an entire squadron of soldiers is particularly laughable), interminable stretches where the highlight of the program, The Creature, is forgotten and, egad, the dialogue! The production team apparently thought nothing of stopping gunfights and melees and action to have some of the most saccharine and cliche and dull exchanges between characters. Of what had most likely been hundreds of pages of script, they needed to be reordered on a wholesale basis and almost every line rewritten. This was a concept that begged for a brief backstory up front and then a deep and long and uninterrupted dive in to a suffocating, claustrophobic, dark and forbidding place. Instead, "Gyeonseong Creature" is a tedious mess.

Leia Mais

Needs a prescription for revision

One of the interesting queries that pops up when watching “Ghost Doctor” is, if this production team would be in charge of putting together a K pop group, would they select a host of actors to try their hand at being musical entertainers? It’s because three of the leading cast members were idols prior to becoming actors. One of the supporting cast is the brother of an idol (and that idol also makes a guest appearance) and another became well-known for appearing in music videos. How does littering a medical drama/buddy comedy with idol cast members turn out? It’s an uneven affair but to their credit, much of that can be attributed to other causes.

“Ghost Doctor” primarily follows Rain’s Cha Young Min, an ace cardiothoracic surgeon who ends up wandering the hospital as a ghost after he ends up in a persistent coma. He discovers a connection with Kim Bum’s Ko Seung Tak, a new resident and member of the hospital’s ownership family. There’s also Uee’s Jang Se Jin who is a neurologist and Young Min’s ex and daughter of a conglomerate chairman that had spent the past several years in the US. Her half brother (Lee Tae Sung’s Min Ho) is scheming to take over the conglomerate and Tae In Ho’s hospital administrator gets involved.

Once Young Min is stuck as a ghost, he’s encumbered with certain rules about how far he can go, but he can go farther if he is possessing a person, and how to change clothes and open doors and eat and drink, etc. These rules make very little sense, but it’s a ghost story and it’s necessary for the narrative so, uh, whatever. But as he can interact with Seung Tak, much of the first half of the run is laboriously spent on getting Young Min and Seung Tak into some sort of working arrangement. The only respite from this glacial pace is a lot of open heart surgeries that viewers with weaker stomachs may want to skip through. And there’s a few other ghosts floating in and out but they have little connection to what’s happening through at least the first half.

After Young Min and Seung Tak finally work out their cooperation, the story lurches forward with Young Min hoping to regain consciousness, reestablish a relationship with Se Jin and foil the nefarious plans of the baddies. Along the way, it’s one odd couple after another with the previously mentioned up and down results.

Rain is clearly a performer that is a natural on stage. Everything is big - the gestures, the expressions, the volume, the attitudes and the moods. The moments when he is at ease are spare. The effect is that Rain comes across as someone playing multiple characters - arrogant Young Min, lovesick Young Min, passionate doctor Young Min and so forth. But the different character/moods don’t integrate together into a single character.

Meanwhile, Kim Bum’s Seung Tak is an aloof but affable and easy-going loafer that has bursts of insight and empathy. It’s clearly meant to be a balance against Young Min’s extremes but Kim Bum’s portrayal is, at best, odd and awkward. He rarely seems to have a comfort level with what type of character Seung Tak should be and it’s compounded by times where Kim Bum is really Young Min in possession of Seung Tak’s body. It’s a role that either is beyond this actor’s talents or that needed markedly better direction.

As a duo, the two together don’t mesh well. One is a roulette wheel of extreme personalities and the other’s real personality is the true apparition on the show.

Fortunately, as the primary arc accelerates, the rest of the cast and the subplots can get some screentime. And the more the focus shifts on to others, the better. Sung Dong Il is terrific as the patriarch of sorts among the ghost crew. Son Na Eun spends most of the first half AWOL but has some nice scenes later. And the trio of ghosts played by Yoon So Hee, Choi Seok Won and Han Seung Hyun is the highlight. Their backstories are poignant. The relationships between them are warm. And their narratives are by far the most compelling. But like with Son Na Eun, they spend a seeming eternity for their arcs to gain any traction.

Meanwhile, the villain barely appears and when he does it mostly just waiting for things to happen. The entirety of the senior medical staff are badly written comic relief and with questionable competency as doctors. Some leeway should be given to a fictional vehicle to stray from reality, but to have a hospital with only one or two surgeons that can actually operate on a patient is a gigantic stretch. Outside of the open chest cavities, the production value isn’t anything special. If there’s an OST, it’s not noticeable. Although there is a nice guest spot by Hani and the writer appears to have an outstanding knowledge of medicine (or at least enough to fool anyone but actual medical experts).

What “Ghost Doctor” really needed was someone to significantly edit the screenplay to accelerate the events of the first eight episodes and emphasize a more ensemble approach to the show. Had something like happened, this show might have been a tremendous success. But instead it’s an average show with a few nice moments and some painfully tedious filler.

Not recommended.

Leia Mais

Class is in session. This is Drama Dumpster Fire 101.

Director: "Good morning everyone! Welcome to our first readthrough of 'Blood Free'! We're so excited to have you here. I mean the talent we've recruited to be part of this cast is simply amazing!!! Shall we proceed?"

Han Hyo Joo: "Before we start, can I ask a bit about how you'd like me to portray my character, Yoon Ja Yoo?"

D: "Robot."

HHJ: "I'm sorry, robot?"

D: "Yes, robot."

HHJ: "Can I add some vulnerability at any point? A bit of emotion? A smile?"

D: "Nope."

HHJ: "A wink?"

D: "No."

HHJ: "Anything? Anything at all?"

D: "Have I not been clear here? Hello? Robot, robot, robot."

HHJ: "You know, I've won awards and stuff. I have talent. I can keep it lowkey and just let out the human stuff at the right time and at like barely discernible levels. I'm really really that good. You're paying me a lot too so I just think maybe you might want me to, y'know, show off a little bit of the goods."

D: "God no. Robot. 100% robot."

Ju Ji Hoon: "Mr. Director, uh, I've seen her work. Han Hyo Joo is amazing! I think maybe you should let her maybe explore the human side of her character a bit."

D: "Thanks for the input, but she's a robot and let's just get your character out of the way too. Robot. Occasionally a fighting robot but a robot. No smiles. No emotion. Oh but the fighting robot has a cat and the cat is NOT a robot so we're cool, right?"

HHJ: "Sir, you're in charge so we'll do what you say but I'm just curious, wouldn't the drama be more interesting if the two main characters who are going to be on screen together for so much of the show be more entertaining if they, I'm just spitballing here, weren't robots?"

D: "Ahhhhh! I think we've found where we're not on the same page here! So just FYI, the further along we go, the less you're going to be on screen together and when things get really exciting at the very end, your character isn't really a part of all that stuff. There's gonna be other people whose characters are just annoying windbags that take over at that point. It's gonna be awesome!"

JJH: "Sorry, we're the main characters, right? Shouldn't we be in the middle of things when the important stuff happens?"

D: "Crazy talk! You're robots! You've been robots through the whole show! Episode one, robot. Episode two, robot. Etc. Etc. and then we'll just go through almost entire episodes without you two appearing hardly at all. But it's fine because nobody cares about your boring robot characters!"

Even a robot wouldn't recommend this show.

Leia Mais

Park Min Young's Impossible Dream & Fanfic Request for the Villain

The signature song in the Broadway musical "Man of La Mancha" is The Impossible Dream. It's a complicated context for those unfamiliar with the production, but the main character has gone mad and forsaken his lands and status to pursue a prostitute he thinks is a maiden, to acquire junk that he believes is magical and to battle a knight who, in reality, is a physician trying to get him to regain his senses. The song is meant to be an inspiration to never give up your passions no matter how crazy they may be.

Yeah. Uh, well. Actually...

It turns out that some passions are actually crazy and bad and should not be pursued.

Exhibit "A" is Park Min Young's performance in "Marry My Husband".

Her character, Kang Ji Won, has suffered prior to a time loop, the following:
-abandonment by her mother
-orphaned at a young age by her father
-bullied by her peers in high school
-abused by her manager at her job
-tortured by her mother-in-law
-suffered financially due to her husband's bad investments
-unable to get pregnant because her husband is sterile
-unnoticed by her colleagues
-passed over for promotions
-betrayed by her best friend
-cheated on by her husband
-diagnosed with terminal cancer
-murdered by the betraying best friend and cheating husband

The only misfortunes that Ji Won has not suffered would be a short list. She's not blind. No indication that she's deaf. Baldness? No, she probably got that too thanks to the chemo. Uh, shortness? No. Bonus points to the writers for really kicking this character as low as probably any character has ever been kicked. And then stomping on her just because.

Somehow. SOMEHOW. Park Min Young takes this nearly inexhaustible list of tragedy and what should be a classic fairy tale princess overcoming the odds to triumph over evil kind of character and not only makes Ji Won not very sympathetic and not totally endearing and not an admirable and cheerable heroine but, instead, kind of a evilly stepmothery ice queen. It's such a total flop of a performance that it not merely overshadows, but practically obliterates the wooden and uninspired performance by Na In Woo. On what planet did this production team decide that the damsel in distress should be clomping around in 5 inch stilettos and haute couture fashion in every scene? Why is she so humorless? When there is a ripple of trouble in her relationship with Ji Hyuk, why does she immediately drop anchor and run for the hills? But most of all, when Ji Won is out for revenge and is settling her scores with Min Hwan and Soo Min, it feels like Park Min Young really feels it. She can sell that. But the scenes where she's being nice and friendly and supportive with Joo Ran and Hee Yeon? Nope. No sincerity. No feeling. No sale.

There's some awful performances from other actors too (Lee Gi Kwang, Cho Jin Se and BoA) but it must be pointed out that Lee Yi Kyung is great. Gong Min Jung nails it here like she has in everything. She's deserving of bigger and more demanding roles. Choi Gyu Ri is very fun. Ha Do Gwon is solid. Jung Suk Yong nails his cameo. So while there's plenty of bad here, there's plenty of strong acting as well.

The star, however, is Song Ha Yoon as she is a breathtaking supernova as the dastardly Yoo Min. It is a scintillating villain as a character, but the performance as this character is astonishing. She is extraordinarily insecure and incisively intuitive and to see how these traits twist her and consume her is both a horrifying and entrancing experience. The hope is that somewhere some genius has written a convincing fanfic account of a way in which Yoo Min somehow by some inconceivable multiverse jump, turns out to be the hero. Because that it would be a show worth watching beginning to end and every second in between.

As for "Marry My Husband"? Recommended but only for every moment with Song Ha Yoon. Very not recommended for the rest of it.

Leia Mais

Punch, chop, yawn, shoot, punch, chop...

Mindless, cartoonishly violent melee-fest movies, even those that recycle mad scientist and power hungry soldier antagonists, can be great fun. And "Badlands Hunters" has lots of ingredients for a successful martial arts brawl-a-thon.

The setting, a post-apocalyptic wasteland? Check.

Comic relief sidekick? Check.

Young, innocent hope for survival? Check.

A steady stream of gangsters and baddies entering from all sides to be dispatched with a single blow or wound? Checkity, check, check.

And a Michelle Yeoh type martial arts badass female? Ahn Ji Hye crushes this.

But "Badlands Hunters" never quite puts all the pieces together for very long. Instead, it's much like the populace constantly seeking morsels of food and a bit of clean water, the fun appears sporadically and, when it does, too briefly. Part of the issue is that the first half frequently sidetracks for small laughs or plot devices that later turn out not all useful. Another part of it is that there's simply far too much invested in transitioning Roh Jeong Eui's young hope-for-humanity from a wasteland origin to the apartment building as utopia/evil mad scientist's laboratory.

The main issue, sadly, is that the big action star in the middle of it, the legendary Ma Don Seok, doesn't seem all that invested in what he's doing. Or at least not very often. The character is meant to be stoic and business-like. That's expected. But having such a character as a baseline really only works as a contrast to when they are shaken out of their typical personality and a fire inside of them is ignited, the intensity ramps up and they get super mad and go bonkers getting even. That never happens here. It's martial arts and knife fighting and shooting machine guns with all the vibrancy and fireworks of stapling insurance adjuster reports together.

Punch. Stab. Shoot. [sigh]

Leia Mais

Not the most novel storyline but enough bright spots

There's a distinct lack of tension and intrigue to this show as its primary arc of the office romance between Ro Woon and Won Jin Ah sticks to checking the usual boxes. It's not altogether unwelcome though and even has some very nicely executed moments, particularly in later episodes. Ro Woon undoubtedly is effortlessly charming and has all the other attributes to carry a show as the central character. As a bonus, his sibling chemistry with Wang Bit Na and Ha Yoon Kyung (his older sisters) is marvelous.

The slow build of the pairing between Na's designer and Lee Kyu Han's chairman is a nice secondary storyline and the chairman provides some badly needed lighter moments. The most compelling secondary plot, however, is Ha Yoon Kyung's splintering marriage and this deserved far more screen time than it received.

Sadly, the show has limitations which ultimately cap its appeal as anything more than an amiable enough but not compelling production. Among them is Won Jin Ah who is a capable actor but not dynamic. The office crew around our main duo is present in many, many scenes, but they are rarely noteworthy. A strange subplot of a video channel run by a mask-wearing host appears, then disappears for almost the entire duration and then needlessly and distractingly pops up in a later show.

But the most serious flaw is the character of Lee Jae Shin and his portrayal by Lee Hyun Wook. The character is alternates from boor to bore. While it is theoretically possible to be a less sympathetic character without being an outright serial killer, it's a matter a relative degree. It's far, far beyond credible not only that three other seemingly bright and mostly morally upright characters would tolerate him and even have strong emotional attachments to him. Trying to shoehorn in a childhood broken family backstory to drum up sympathy only prolongs the discomfort. It doesn't help that Lee Hyun Wook's range is limited to sullen and petulant to sullen and irritable. The show would have been far more compelling to jettison his presence after the primary arc no longer required it.

What will stick (hopefully) is that Ro Woon should be in high demand to lead a show with a more complete package around him.

Leia Mais

"All of it, boiling it. I looked inside, man, and it was turning gray"

Admittedly, it's a stretch to find a connection between "Apocalypse Now", Francis Ford Coppola's Vietnam War opus that's a modern homage to Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness", and "Wedding Impossible", a rom-com-ish enemies-to-lovers chaebol-family-corporate-succession drama. But hold tight for a moment.

One of the "Apocalypse Now" characters in its journey in to a deep and dangerous Viet jungle is somewhat unbalanced Louisiana native nicknamed Chef. During one of the quiet interludes on the boat, one of the handful of other soldiers asks Chef how he got the Chef nickname. And Chef responds with a story about how he was going to study at an exclusive French culinary school and instead ended up in the US Navy with the intention of being a cook. And then one day:

"They lined us up in front of a hundred yards of prime rib. All of us, you know, lined up and looking at it. Magnificent meat! Really! Beautifully marbled... magnifique! Next thing, they're throwing the meat into these big cauldrons. All of it, boiling it. I looked inside, man, and it was turning gray. I couldn't f**n' believe that one!"

Much like Chef and his hundred yards of gorgeous beef, "Wedding Impossible" has the ingredients for a bountiful feast of a drama, but renders it through an uninspired and worn and clumsily exposited narrative that ends with a production far short of its potential.

But the ingredients? [chef's kiss]

Jeon Jeong Seo certainly isn't the classic siren type. She's naturally abrasive and blunt. Her history suggests she's far more comfortable with action and tension than light comedy and romance. But it's this genuine awkwardness that makes her No Ah Jung lead so endearing.

Moon Sang Min is rock solid as Lee Ji Han. He's not just the tall pretty boy. And he's got the "I'm cool on the outside but I'm a raging inferno on the inside" acting thing DOWN.

Kim Do Wan is one of the very best second male leads. Any doubters should skim through his scenes in "My Roommate is a Gumiho" where he throws down a masterpiece performance. Casting him as the closeted gay Lee Do Han, a LGBTQ character that is a three dimensional real human who happens to be homosexual instead of a paper-thin stereotype that populates most dramas, is a perfect choice.

There's a couple noteworthy supporting actors too - Park Ah In as the scheming older half sister is very, very good and Seo Woo Jin crushes as Ah Jung's cute young nephew. Song Sang Eun and Min Jin Woong have some nice comedic relief together.

It may not be a legendary pantheon of heavyweights, but it's a very solid group of actors and characters.

And then it greats dropped in a cauldron of boiling chaebol succession blah blah blah. Press conferences. Paparazzis. Living room confrontations. USB drives of CCTV videos. Secretaries. Suits. Snore. Snooze. Sigh.

It's still great fun to see young actors get a chance to be leads and to work incredibly well together. Despite the plot weakness, the two leads are terrific together. It's a fun show to watch when it sticks to the rom-com side of things. Unfortunately, there's not enough of a story there to fill in 12 hour long episodes and everything else is trite and uninspired.

Lightly recommended.

Leia Mais

Peaks. Valleys. More peaks. Lots of valleys.

"Bo Ra! Deborah" has many characteristics of a dyed in the wool, stock set up rom-com. But it's oddly light on the romance between the leads, erratic with the comedy and with a narrative that is stretched extraordinarily thin across its run. Despite it's negatives, Yoo In Na is terrific as the titular lead once she is allowed to play to her strengths. Her presence makes this a show worth investing the time (at least most of it) to watch.

The rest of the cast? Park So Jin is marvelous but is paired with Lee Sang Woon who plays an exceptionally unlikable husband in a particularly dismal manner. June is a refreshing and likable and energetic presence but Kim Ye Ji's character is so inconsistently written that until a late arc adds some heft to their relationship, it's a disappointing subplot. Hwang Chan Sung works as a loathsome ex to Bo Ra, but it's a one-dimensional caricature which naturally raises significant credibility issues about how she ever would have considered him a desirable match in any respect.

Yoon Hyun Min somehow is getting lead roles despite being the epitome of bland. The writing doesn't do him a lot of favors as his character has an arc but he is asked almost universally to not emote in the slightest. Even in the big moments, it's a character that seems to only exercise restraint, caution and detachment.

What would have aided "Bo Ra! Deborah" more than anything else would have been to axe a good chunk of episode 2 and almost the entirety of 3 & 4. What could have been accomplished with a handful of scenes and a brief musical montage is brutally trod through nearly 200 minutes of excruciating run time. It gets better, much better, at the halfway point and continues almost through to the end with some strong episodes.

Memorable? No. Enjoyable? Ok sure.

Leia Mais

“What’s a trebuchet?” asks the screenwriter…

“It’s like a medieval catapult only with a fancier French-sounding name and that makes me think it would hurl you much further out to the frigid waters of the East Sea than a regular catapult if you ever bring me a script that has a pedestrian hit by a motor vehicle again,” says the producer.

Yes, “Strangers Again” can’t help itself from using this beaten to death and then cremated and the ashes buried beneath the deepest depths of the ocean terrible trope. Not just once but twice in critical plot junctures near the end of its run, the show reverts to the pedestrian accident to advance the story. It’s a capsulized version of The Issue with the show - lots of the little things work well and there’s some promising ingredients but when it has to set aside the less important storylines and supporting characters, attempts to advance the central story of the drama is an undercooked and awkward mess.

The show is part legal drama set in a smaller firm that mostly handles divorces and custody disputes. Kang So Ra’s Oh Ha Ra is the young star litigator who has a side gig on television. Her ex-husband, Jang Seung Jo’s Goo Eun Beom, has fallen on hard times since their divorce and is dodging landlords and other creditors. Before long, the two are back in the same office and reigniting (or rehashing?) their feelings, both warm and rage-fueled.

Also in the firm are the usual support staff that occasionally appear to have some side-plot about to emerge but it never does. And the co-ceos, the terrific Jeon Bae Soo and fantastic Kil Hae Yeon, were nice additions to the cast but their characters don’t allow them many opportunities to flex their considerable acting prowess. There’s also regular sideplots that last 1-3 episodes. Some thread together with the primary Ha Ra - Eun Beom storyline, others tend to provide no entertainment or other value other than to fill runtime, particularly one with Jeon Bae Soo’s ex-wife, an American and a dog.

Where “Strangers Again” shines is with the secondary couple of Jo Eun Ji’s Bi Chwi and Lee Jae Won’s Si Wook. Both are colleagues in the small firm, but begin as absolute opposites. Bi Chwi is a liberated, opinionated and adventuresome modern woman. Si Wook is buttoned-up and formal. What begins as an inebriated hotel hookup becomes a poignantly realistic portrait of two people who seemingly have no future as a romantic couple that find themselves unable to let go of each other. It’s marvelous work from both the writers that conceived of these multidimensional characters to the actors who bring them to the screen so vividly.

It seems like an entirely different crew was at work, however, with the Ha Ra - Eun Beom main couple. Neither character is coherently written - Eun Beom swings wildly and inexplicably back and forth with his feelings for Ha Ra while she is marketed as the “Goddess of Litigation” but she misfires at her job more than an Imperial Stormtrooper for the entire first half of the drama. The second half almost entirely drops the legal portions of the story for some standard family intergenerational trauma. Meanwhile, with neither a novel narrative nor mesmerizing characters to play, neither lead actor proves capable of rising above the mediocre material given to them. There are short sequences where the two leads are given better scripts so their more comic-sided talents can shine. And these happen often enough to emphatically crystallize what the show could have been with a tighter, more fun-focused script.

Some other minor issues - not strong work from the hair team. Kang So Ra, in particular, did not look like either a well-heeled professional attorney or desirable woman. The wardrobe people consistently put cast in clothing that was several sizes too large. And while there should be merit points for attempting an unconventional ending, it also warrants barbs for botching the execution. The destination it arrives at is a choice (whether it is THE choice a viewer wants or not is up to that individual) but it gets there by meandering through half an episode seeming to set up something much different, then plods through long sequences of unneeded redirects through minor storylines then with a perfunctory exchange, it simply ends.

Overall, it’s not something that can be recommended.

Leia Mais

Instead of "Why Her?" how about "Why Any of This?"

This will be brief.

Seo Hyun Jin does, for a good stretch, some of her best work.

Hong Ji Yoon, refreshingly, has a strong guest spot in episode 1.

These two are in a scene together that is very much the high point of the show. And to its credit, any part of the first episode involving either of these two actors is very, very good.

And to the show's credit, that momentum from the opening episode keeps the intrigue up as all the backstories and setups are brought out.

But once the primary narratives are fully underway, this is an awful, terrible, bad and [insert the negative adjective of your choosing here. Actually, as many as you like.] show. Just a few of the issues...

The relationship between Seo Hyun Jin and Hwang In Youp has as much heat as the rings of Saturn. Which are, just in case that's not a clear metaphor, made of ice floating in the cold vacuum of space.

Hwang In Youp as Gong Chan seems to have no idea what to do with the character. It's all overdone makeup and hair, awkward shocked expressions and head-tilted stares at Seo Hyun Jin. And that's largely the fault of a poorly created character. If there were any element of reality in this production, Gong Chang would have been hauled away and locked up as a stalker by the 20 minute mark of episode 3. Of course, Hwang In Youp seems uncomfortable. He's supposed to be a hero but all of his behavior is gross at best and criminal at worst.

Heo Joon Ho has the chops to be a super evil bad guy. But the setup is so ridiculous that it's unbearable to watch. And much of that is because Lee Kyung Young is one of his cohorts. The only plausible explanation for how he shows up in every show of this genre is that his wife is the casting director and would prefer that he not be around her at home.

Bae In Hyuk is also listed as a lead and here's the exhaustive list of the qualities that he brings:
1. He is present.
2. He says the words from the script.
That's the end of the list. The is not even a subatomic particle of effort beyond showing up and reciting the lines.

This review could continue at exhaustive length with further failures and faults of "Why Her?" but in the interest of remaining somewhat compliant with the "This will be brief" opening, the review will conclude with "Why? How about no. Just No.".

Leia Mais