Change Your Image
geewhiz46
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
Nal Nokyeojuo (2019)
I gave it the cold shoulder
I am sorry to say that this is the first time I have ever found it difficult to continue watching a Wookie vehicle although he is up there with my favourite SK actors.
The writing was awful - the comedy - as per usual - noisy and overdone. I began to wonder when Mi-ran jumped about thirty feet in the air and came down with her foot on her ex-boyfriends head, but didn't break his neck. Said boyfriend was obviously the comic relief but the only relief was when he was not on screen. The parents - once again they dictate who their children can marry - but turn on a sixpence when the unwanted spouse has several million in the bank. Apart from all that the story of a cryogenic experiment that was meant to last 24 hours and ended up lasting 20 years was slow and boring and interrupted by the compulsory corrupt conglomerate CEO who was trying to kill his twin brother and an assassin sent to kill our lead couple.
Some scenes were just left hanging in midair and others made no logical sense at all. The FL said that she loved the ML more than he loved her but she was quite willing to go to America (that trope is covered in cobwebs now) to "learn" ? Don't they have books and schools and colleges in South Korea - does she even speak English?
Why would they have the same actor playing Dong-Ma's father and brother? The child actress did not age a day during the three year second spell in the cryo chamber for Mi-ran - although they made an effort with the adults. In all this was too slow - too uneventful - to talky and to sum it all up - too boring.
Wookie deserved better.
Shui Dou Ke Wang Yu Jian Ni (2020)
Interminable
This series has 36 episodes - which is around 26 too many. It concerns a girl who is part of a "family" that grew up in an orphanage. By some means she ends up in a French Chateau owned by an elderly Chinese man - Uncle Wu. When he passes away she discovers that he has left the chateau itself to a boy who lived there when he was young who has been gone for many years - but he has left the vineyard to the girl. There transpires a battle of wills between the girl and the man when he turns up. He is the CEO of a large company who want to take over the whole estate and develop it. The girl refuses - the man insists - she signs an agreement then rips it up - does the same again. Enter a young man she grew up with who is in love with her. The CEO starts to get interested in her. The story then trundles endlessly onward with the usual tropes of the CEO being expected to marry his bosses daughter - and the young man somehow rising to a position of power in a powerful conglomerate. The acting is pretty bad - especially with the girls "family". To make matters worse every scene is accompanied by a yowling female vocal and/or a mournful piano - these are played over dialogue which is infuriating.
Of course there are the usual schemes and trials and tribulations before all is resolved happily - again with the usual trope of the exchange of partners to ensure it all ends well.
My ff got a workout once again.
In all this was a boring series with annoying elements that made it a relief when the final credits rolled.
I would not recommend it.
The K2 (2016)
JCW in all out actioner
I love JCW - he is a great actor who proves over and over again that he can take on any role and triumph in it - this one is no different.
He plays Kim Je-Ha an ex-mercenary recruited to a big business conglomerate on his return to civilian life as a wanted man - framed for a massacre he had no part in. His girlfriend was an interpreter who was killed in front of him on the orders of Park Gwan-soo, a corrupt businessman who is in competition with the business that Je-Ha has been recruited to.
Their single exchange was very fake and as usual was marred by the poor acting of a non Korean actress.
The chairwoman of this business is Choi Yoo-Jin who ultimately falls in love with him.
Enter Anna - the daughter of Yoo-Jin's philandering Senator husband, she has been kept in a Nunnery since she was very young. Anna keeps escaping and being captured again - on one of these escapes she runs into Je-Ha but they lose touch almost immediately. She also ends up grovelling in front of the car of a famous designer who wants her to be his muse. This non Korean actor is awful - they always are - I wish South Korea would not use such inferior foreign actors. Many posters have commented on Anna not being attractive enough to become any designers muse - and I have to agree - you don't see many angels with horrible horny hoofs like that !
The story continues with Jeha having to protect her from her step-mothers cruelty. There are many anomalies - like when Anna's real mother said she wanted to sleep Anna brought her the tub of pills and told her she wanted her to sleep for a long time - ie - die - that was somehow glossed over as the story progressed. And her encouragement of Jeha to kill her step mother wasn't exactly innocent and sweet.
There is a lot of fighting in this - it was done pretty well including a naked shower fight scene !
All was pixelled out in the appropriate places which is a welcome relief from Western explicitness.
Most of the story is business rivalry and the actors all play their parts very well with the exception of the non Korean actors.
I enjoyed it - it was entertaining and kept my interest throughout as do all JCW vehicles. I thought the female lead was weak and free of charisma. It needed a stronger actress for this role and to compete with the strength of JCW's screen presence.
Algoissjiman (2021)
A lost Art
This series concerns a girl - Na-Bi, who is betrayed by her boyfriend who publicly displays a sculpture of her in an obvious post coital position. To make matters worse she finds him making out with another student.
This drives her into the arms of a fellow student, Park Jae-eon, who already has an ex-girlfriend who he still sees on occasion. He sees no reason to commit to any girl or to date them.
Na-Bi starts a relationship with him despite her better judgement and of course - finally breaks up with him because he simply can't or won't change his attitude. She picks up with another man who genuinely cares for her but her feelings for him can't match his for her because she still loves Park-Jae-Eon. For his part he finally realises that his feelings for Na-Bi are stronger than he thought they were and he wants her back.
This is the basis of the main story line. There are other satellite love stories which tick the relevant boxes but really hold no particular interest. Being as this is a feminist vehicle the usual feminine tropes feature which tend to show women as helpless in the face of their own functions and in need of a man's help.
It was a weak story with an implausible ending. It seems the writing of a mature and believable love story is becoming a lost art.
Gisangcheong Saramdeul: Sanaeyeonae Janhoksa Pyeon (2022)
Forecasting terminal boredom
This series was at least eight episodes too long. It took far too long talking about weather features that I doubt anybody understood or cared about. My FF button got a serious work-out skipping through all the boring filler material.
Now the characters - Ha Kyung - female director of a weather department - in a ten year relationship with Ki-Jun whom she catches in flagrante delicto with Yu-Jin - the girlfriend of Si-Woo.
They break up and Ha-Kyung and Si-Woo end up in a relationship. For some reason this has to be kept a secret - who knows why - Ki-Jun and Yu-Jin didn't keep their relationship a secret so there is no logical reason for their respective ex's to. Maybe it was because of the obvious age difference between them, she looked more like his mother than his lover.
As usual there is the interfering mother and sister.
Si-Woo has a hateful gambling criminal father who takes all his money. He makes him the excuse for his decision never to marry.
There are other characters with problems - Dong-Han, who has spent 14 years away from his wife and daughter in various distant postings. Seok-Ho, a neat freak who lives alone and doesn't want a relationship. I mention these only because they all have head transplants by the end of this interminable series. Si-woo decides he wants to marry after all - most egregiously they rehab his father and turn him into a decent man. Dong-Han is somehow forgiven by his wife and daughter and goes back to their happy home - Seok-Ho falls in love and turns into a slob. It is excruciatingly mawkish and unbelievable. I only watched it for Song-Hang but I hope he starts making better choices.
La última noche en Tremor (2024)
Soporific
This is a car crash in slow motion. A man is having hallucinations - over and over again - it brings a whole new meaning to the word repetitive. To eke this weak plot out we have endless flashbacks to not only his history but to the history of his girl friend and his friends as well. It wouldn't have been so bad if any of it had had a soupcon of originality, but no, the same old tropes came trundling out ad infinitum.
The ML's mother was an obsessive ruthless task master who made him practice the piano to the point of physical and mental exhaustion - she is a sectioned schizophrenic and he fears he has the same condition. On an on it goes - incorporating even more unbelievable scenarios as the writers try to make this an intriguing mystery and fail miserably. The only mystery was why I watched it in the first place.
The Highwaymen (2019)
Brutal justice
A very atmospheric film that captures the ethos of the thirties very well. The dry, dusty poverty filled landscape takes you there admirably. Enter Frank Hamer and Maney Gault (Costner and Harrelson) who are given the job of dealing with murdering psychopaths Bonnie and Clyde. They have killed thirteen people brutally but are somehow seen as a Robin Hood due and have garnered a massive fan club which hampers attempts to arrest them.
Sadly that social phenomena is still in evidence today.
Finally the duo are betrayed by a man who is afraid for his sons life and a shoot-out takes place on a dusty road - it is brutal - it takes no chances - and social grief is massive - thousands of people attend their funerals and rip personal items from them.
One wonders at what the families of their victims thought at the time.
The acting is good - as expected from these two stars - the dialogue compelling - the only let down was the two people who played Bonnie and Clyde. I did not find them believable at all. They were stunt performers - which I find an odd choice. I guess they were chosen in preference to known actors as the focus was deliberately intended to be on their pursuers rather than them.
A good film - a brutal reminder of what justice used to look like.
A Man Called Otto (2022)
Sickly sweet tearjerker
I have always liked Tom Hanks - he always gives a solid performance no matter what the genre. This is no different - he is his usual sincere self - it's just everything else that is mediocre.
The story - irascible widower wants to commit suicide but things keep going wrong. A new mixed race family move in over the road. After a rocky start they grow gradually closer together - she cooks him food, he teaches her to drive. The husband doesn't feature much in this at all - he seems to be there just to validate the family construct. There is a neighbour called Jimmy who does the funny walk comedy routine and a black couple who are at risk of losing their home to a corrupt housing development firm. Otto gets involved with all of these people and gets them out of their difficulties - he also acquires a cat. Of course there has to be a pc character and it enters the fray in the shape of Malcolm - a transgender pupil of his dead wife Sonya whom she helped. It is all so bland and sickeningly sweet - and totally fake and unbelievable - what the author would like the world to be like - it just isn't that way.
Summer Strike (2022)
Nothing striking about this
Yeo-Reum has a bad day - her boyfriend dumps her and her mother is killed in an accident soon after. She decides to take her mother's legacy and her own savings and move to a small village where she plans to do nothing for a year. She is offered the use of an old Snooker Club which is in awful condition. She accepts. At first she meets with local opposition and her only sanctuary is the local library run by Da-Beom - a man who has difficultly speaking to strangers. A woman has looked after him for many years and works in the library with him, Ji-Young. She likes Da-Beom but he doesn't reciprocate. Now the drama - Da-Beom's sister was murdered in the club when he was very young - his father was blamed for it and imprisoned. He is, of course, innocent. Then somebody starts defacing the club with graffiti - who can it be? Meanwhile the initial resentment of the villagers soon dissolves and suddenly Yeo-Reum is flavour of the month - this happens far too quickly. She and Da-Beom are attracted to each other and Ji-Young does her best to take Da-Beom to Seoul with her where she has aspirations to work and live. There are far too many story arcs to cover here - suffice to say they are soon embroiled in discovering who the real killer of Da-Beom's sister is. Yeo-Reum is a weak character - she gets drunk - loses money - and gets easily cheated out of more with the purchase of a dog. The story boomerangs between genres and doesn't seem to know which one to settle on. It is not a comedy - not a crime show - not a romance - it swirls about with no definitive purpose. It is dissatisfying for that reason.
Eom-ma Chin-gu A-deul (2024)
Another feminist fail from Studio Dragon.
On taking the time to think about this series in more depth I have come to a different conclusion. It is a study in female domination. Two families with children live next door to each other -Hyo loves Ryu from childhood - and she treats him like her own child. They grow up and she leaves him to go to America (Yawn) where she gets engaged and gets seriously ill and comes home. She tells nobody. Ryu considers nobody but herself - it's all about her, what she wants - what she doesn't want etc. She is ruthless in this pursuit. Her mother - well - you can see where she gets it from - this woman wants to dominate all of her family - if she is thwarted she plays the drums - yes - that is not a misprint. Meanwhile Hyo is a successful young architect who conceals his feelings from her.
Every interaction Ryu has with him she dominates him. Her mother's attitude is unbelievable - how dare Ryu leave her fiance without her parents permission - how dare she date Hyo - like the mother in "Something in the Rain" this character operates on the fringes of insanity sometimes. Next door the marriage has been dead for twenty years and is on the verge of divorce - but when the mother gets forgetful enough to forget her phone and her suitcase and gets checked out for dementia- it's only stress after all and the marriage is back to being as happy as Larry. The ending is what you would expect - although once more the female dominance is in evidence when she makes him wait another year to pursue what she wants to do.
I found Ryu to be extremely unlikable and her mother even moreso. There is a puerile attempt at comedy which falls completely flat - as usual Korean comedy consists of shouting and hitting and falling down. There are the usual side stories that are of little interest and lead nowhere - annoyingly somebody must have told the writer to feature food - as is usual is Korean series - and she does - and it is boring.. This series seemed endless to me - the episodes were far too long and there were far too many of them. I watched it for one reason only - Jung Hae-in - without him I would have been gone during the first scene.
El lugar de la otra (2024)
Time waster
This is a film that should have been a documentary.
There are certain expectations in film, like a story told in stages for instance. I am assuming this was fictionalized and very little of it was factual - if any. The story concerns a female court paralegal in a stultifying marriage with husband and sons that take her totally for granted and no longer see her as a woman with needs of her own. One day she is sent to record a woman who has shot her lover dead in a hotel (this is the non fiction part). She is a writer. She is sent to a nunnery pre- sentencing. During this time the paralegal visits her house to get the woman clothes and ends up living there using all of her belongings. That's it. The woman is pardoned and released in a travesty of justice on the begging letter of a fellow writer (female - who is more famous than she is) thus proving that French justice is just as corrupt as that of anywhere else.
I don't know why this film was made as the only thing it offered was original pictures of the murderess and her victim - it explained nothing.
You'll be better off looking it up online.
Wifelike (2022)
sex dependent
I made it through about thirty minutes of this tripe and I couldn't stomach any more. I wondered how a man could be happy with a creature that faked sexual responses and enjoyment - and I also wondered why a group of feminists wanted to destroy them. They weren't women - they were machines. I also think that why, with such a generous posterior .Elena Kampouris would wish to stick it out even more. It looked so posed and unnatural - just as if somebody had urged her to do that. I didn't think her acting was brilliant - it was typical robot acting. Of course this movie relied heavily on sex scenes - it would have sunk without trace had they not been included.
Sadly - it just manages to keep its head above water - but not, I suspect for long.
The Painted Veil (2006)
Yet another crucifixion of a great writers work
I read this story many years ago - or should I say I read the real story many years ago. This is nothing but a pale shadow of the original work. Walter - a somewhat withdrawn and insular young man falls in love with Kitty - a beautiful but shallow socialite. We aren't given a solid reason why she decides to marry him beyond a somewhat vague conversation she overhears when her mother says she has given up hope on her. Next thing you know she marries Walter and they have marital relations. However we have to assume that Walter doesn't make the grade because Kitty is soon committing adultery with one of his friends. Walter realises what is going on and decides to take up a position in a cholera hotspot in China - he threatens to divorce her if she doesn't accompany him.
From here on in it is pure Hollywood nonsense - destroying the soul of Maugham's masterpiece. But then - this is what talentless writers are best at - we see it in other great writers work all the time - notably Agatha Christie which has become ludicrous.
I don't know what has happened to the copyright process - it certainly isn't working these days. The acting is ok - the sets and locations are convincing, it's just the story that has lost all of it's meaning.
Sanyanggaedeul (2023)
Writers don't box clever.
This story concerns Gun Woo (Woo Do-Hwan) an ex-marine currently down on his luck - using his boxing purses to fund his mother's debt. She has been tricked into owing millions of won by a ruthless loan shark -Myeong-Gil (Park Sung-Woon) and his thugs trash her cafe when she can't pay. When Gun-woo approaches them they slash his face. He has a friend - also an ex-marine. Woo-Jin (Lee-Sang -Yi) who has connections to the loan shark network because he used to work for them. They form a strong bond of friendship and end up approaching a Mr Choi who offers them both a job escorting his grand daughter, Hyeon-Ju.(Kim - Sae-Ron) as she pursues the members of another loan shark enterprise. She is unwilling at first - but capitulates eventually and the three team up to go after Myeong-Gil. There then ensues the usual endless fighting - some of it with ludicrous odds - two against fifty etc - and our heroes somehow survive it all. Strangely Hyeon-Ju disappears from the story towards the end and is replaced by another woman - this does not sit well with the flow of the story and one wonders what happened here. There is also no hint of a romance - which is again, odd, for Korean vehicles. At any rate - I found myself bored with the endless conflict and the omnipotent villain trope - I fast forwarded through a lot of it. Truth to be told I only watched this for Woo-Do- Hwan - I have become quite a fan of his recently !!!
Would I recommend it - hmm - only for those who enjoy constant conflict and bromances.
Tam Bir Centilmen (2024)
Miscast
The story involves two brothers - Kado and Saygin who decide to become gigolos in order to make a living.
The story falters almost immediately as Kado is nothing but trouble, he is on drugs and aggressive to their clientele. To make matters worse he does not look like a gigolo - he looks rough and unkempt and not particularly attractive. His approach to women is crass and unsophisticated. In short - it is hard to see how any woman would approach him for his services - which seems to be their rule. Saygin is the favourite of a mature wealthy married woman, Seyrap, who wants his exclusive services - she buys a house and a car for his use. She has a daughter who has a friend. Nehir. Seyrap wants Saygin to recommend a friend for her daughter. Of course he suggests Kado. This is so stupid - he knows what Kado is like - he knows he will mess it up - and sure enough he does - but during this situation Saygin meets Nehir. The story gives ample opportunity for the leads to sing - which is totally unnecessary and an obvious stroking of their egos. Of course they fall in love and the story proceeds to get more complicated when Nehir and Seynap find out about each other. There is nothing original here - the acting is OK but the sex scenes are in shadow and are nothing to write home about.
Sacchan, Boku wa. (2024)
Terrible writing
The story concerns a couple Sa-Chan and Kyo who have been dating for five years. Sa-Chan looks and acts about ten years old - her wardrobe is juvenile. Kyo too, has a very odd fashion sense with baggy ragged trousers that look miles too big for him.
They have a platonic relationship.
Kyo is reserved and doesn't show much affection - his mother and step mother left his cold and distant father and now Kyo believes he too is incapable of feeling love.
When he leaves their small town for University in Tokyo his next door neighbour is a somewhat strange married woman who invites him to her bed within a very short time. Although Sa-Chan writes to him constantly he never replies. Unknown to the woman - her husband is secretly filming her (and them). Eventually they are found out by a hickie the woman deliberately creates on Kyo's neck. He tries to break up with San-Chan but she will have none of it - she is willing to accept him having sex with other women and having no love for her as long as he doesn't leave her. I found this so repulsive it was hard to continue on from this point. The husband also knows of course and one day he approaches Kyo and demands reparations for damages. This is so ludicrous you have to wonder what the writers are thinking of. A mature adult woman seduces a teenager - probably a minor - and her husband demands damages from the minor????
Like a fool Kyo agrees to a fifty week payment plan.
Meanwhile he thinks he is developing feelings for Sa-Chan at last and buys her a necklet.
Of course we know where this is going and it inevitably gets there.
The ending takes irony and coincidence to ridiculous new unbelievable heights.
The series starts out with a sex scene and they are liberally scattered throughout - I guess to maintain interest - something had to.
Hitman (2007)
Oldie but Goodie
I had seen this movie before - in the days before I began to write reviews - so when I saw it again I remedied that situation.
The story is somewhat straightforward - an organisation dehumanises children from a very young age and trains them to be hitmen. My first question is - why would such an organisation make their assassins so recognisable with tattooed bar codes on the back of their shaven heads? My second question - why make them asexual when they may need that ability to seduce targets?
In any case our antihero - Number 47 - is given the order to kill the Russian President - Belikoff - but he has many doubles which makes the job difficult. Belikoff is also a violent sadist who has bought a woman for $300 - she gets involved in the mission which makes things even more complicated. 47 is being pursued by an Interpol agent and. His sidekick but their efforts are being blocked by an FSB (Russian Secret Service) agent (Robert Knepper). There are many exciting fight and action scenes and tense confrontations before the finale is reached. The acting is good and the exteriors interesting - I was not bored for one instant and saw it through to the satisfying finale.
Memory (2022)
Hit and Miss
This is the type of film I would expect from Liam Neeson. He is a hitman who won't hurt children. He has a brother who has Alzheimers - a condition from which he is suffering himself. Nevertheless he continues to work although his memory begins to fail him, this happens somewhat too abruptly with no lead up to it.
The story concerns a very rich woman - Davana - played very poorly by Monica Belluci -She seems to be untouchable - the police won't even attempt to go after her. Her son runs a children's group home from which he uses children to abuse.
When one of her employees, a man who is prostituting his thirteen year old daughter, is killed and his daughter is taken into custody - she orders a hit on the girl. A well meaning cop (Vincent - played by Guy Pearce - with an unforgivable hairstyle) enters the situation at this stage and succeeds in getting the girl transferred out of custody and into a home. Alex (Liam Neeson) proceeds to his target - but when he sees it is a child he refuses to do the job. This results in himself becoming a target - and in turn he targets all those involved when the girl is killed by somebody else. He eventually helps Vincent when he is suspended from the case.
We are witness to the border politics between Mexico ant the U. S. and the personal and professional prejudices in the police forces. The F. B. I. Seemed strangely powerless in this situation. I enjoyed this film for the most part - sure - there's nothing new here - but who cares if it is done well. At least we weren't drenched in pc and irrelevant social and sexual issues. The acting was ok - apart from Monica Belluci. The pace was brisk and didn't waste time in endless discussions that led nowhere. I watched it through to the end - which is not something I do often given the trash shovelled out by Hollywood these days. I think this should be Liam's last action film though - because he is looking his age these days.
Hi-eo-ro-neun A-nib-ni-da-man (2024)
Boring and slow
This is a story about a family which once had super powers but who lost them because of modern technology. This has left them with various conditions - a son, Gwiju who could once revisit past happy times but who lost his wife in a car crash and can no longer do so because he is depressed. He has a daughter I-na - a shy withdrawn early teenager who can read minds - a sister - who used to be a super slim model but who had now overeaten herself into a vastly overweight compulsive eater - she has loaned her fiancé money to start. Business, but he no longe wants to marry her. The first one to marry will own the family gym. Mama Bok favours Gwiju and she and her husband are pressuring him remorselessly to get married. They are rich, and live in a huge mansion because Mama Bok had the power to see into th future and all the winning lottery and stock information. Strangely there seem to be no servants or serving staff and no electric dish washer. This wealth attracts a family of con artists - one of whom - a female is on the beach when Gwiju tries to save a doll for child and nearly drowns - she saves him. This is enough for Mama Bok to try to force them to marry. Both she and her husband are totally ruthless in this pursuit.
It doesn't seem to bother them to push a depressed man into marriage with a stranger he cares nothing for - but then again this is the nature of the beast in Asia.
Of course we know where this is headed - it is patently obvious. K drama writers are nothing if not predictable. The plot includes the usual femininity issues disguised as female empowerment and the triumph of love over doubt and uncertainty.
I am not familiar with the actors and none of them are outstanding. They did not have the ability to lift this dreary drama out of the mire of terrible writing. It will disappear into the realms of forgotten mediocrity as it deserves.
Shei shi bei hai zhe (2020)
Needlessly complex
This is basically a story of revenge by various people affected by the savage employment policies of a certain company.
The way they go about it is beyond comprehension and belief. They employ the rapidly wearing out trope of the Aspergic forensic investigator and his desire to protect his estranged daughter from her seeming involvement with the current investigation. The police department he works with are less than scrupulously honest and are not above fitting up people. They tolerate him for his ability to solve crimes and bring praise to the department but they shun him when he prevents them from acting unethically. He joins forces with a female reporter - she too is less than ethical. The names of those involved are impossible to remember and there are many of them. It becomes laborious to the point of is it really worth my time and effort. In my case I grew bored rapidly and lost all interest as the cases kept getting more and more ridiculous. It became to smart for its own good.
Ki Hwanghoo (2013)
It would have benefited from generous editing
At 51 episodes this series was a sweeping, colourful, exciting epic full of love and hate, jealousy, rivalry and brutality. The major villain is a grand Councillor Yeonchol, whom I can't seem to find in the credits. He is/was a powerful general whom eventually deposed four emperors, his final target being Ta-whan (Ji Chang Wook) a weak and powerless young man who was content to be a puppet king in exchange for his life. Whilst in a neighbouring country he meets Seung-nyang - a tribute woman who pretends to be a man. Both he and King Wang-yoo fall in love with her not knowing her true gender.
Koreans love this device - it's about as woke as they get, thank goodness. Both men fight for her attentions.
Eventually Ta Whan is made Emperor and Seung-nyang becomes his Concubine. It takes many trials and tribulations before she softens towards him and she helps him to take control of his kingdom and the throne.
There are things that defy belief - the episode where Yang gives birth and loses her baby in the mountains only for Tanashee to find it is too much of a stretch to accept. Also the fact that Ta-Whan never mentioned that he never had sex with her. There are also far too many battle scenes.
I also find the familiar villain faces a bit too irritating in their ubiquity. Their unconquerable villain scenes just annoy rather than entertain.
The acting was good, especially from the two leads. This was the first time I encountered Ji Chang Wook and I have adored him ever since. He has the most expressive face, and those eyes, I have never seen such a joyous light in anyone's eyes before. I could have stopped at episode fifty. I don't understand how Golta could have swopped heads in the last episode. It spoiled the whole series.
Namjachingoo (2018)
Slomo Romo
I watched this for one reason only - the totally endearing and adorable Park Bo-Gum. The story involves a young man. Jin-Hyeok, the son of a fruit seller - on a sightseeing holiday in Cuba that he has saved up all the year for. Enter Soo-Hyun - the chairwoman of a luxury hotel on a business trip - of course it is inevitable that these two run into each other when her car is in collision with his outdoor cafe table and his camera is broken.
Unknown to both of them he had acquired a position at her hotel before he left.
He is a fancy free young man whereas she is a divorcee whose ex-mother in law still controls her life - Soo-Hyun had claimed her hotel as alimony when her husband cheated on her. Her mother-in-law hates her because she will not bow down to their power and influence. Her husband however regrets his actions and would like her back - but he will not help his mother to intimidate her.
When Soo-Hyun is seen enjoying a meal outside with Jin Hyeok all heck breaks loose. Her mother-in-law claims that she can take the hotel back if Soo-Hyun breaks a "Mishap" clause - ie - anything that would visit scandal on the hotel.
But the next thing that happens is that it would benefit the business if Soo-Hyun got back with her husband - her mother is an ambitious hateful woman who cares only about herself and will use her daughter ruthlessly to gain entry to The Blue House.
The story continues with the struggles of Soo-Hyun and Jin- Hyeok to continue their relationship. At 16 episodes it is at least six too many - situations are drawn out and repeated to an unacceptable degree. The only redeeming factor is Park Bo Gum whose smile can light up a city - without him I would not have watched it to the end.
Dalriwa Gamjatang (2021)
Full of emptiness
The story revolves around a Museum of Art - and what happens to the people concerned after the Director dies. Suddenly after twenty years or more - banks and other institutions withdraw their financial support.
The museum is left to the director's daughter, Da-li - and the series continues with her attempts to keep the museum functioning in the face of unknown opponents who are trying their best to close it down.
She meets a Moo-Hak - as a result of mistaken identity at first - but circumstances soon put him at the centre of her life.
He is attracted to her and tries to help her - but she is stubborn and. Independent and resists his help. She has an ex-fiance Tae-Jin - who said something extraordinarily hurtful to her, (we didn't hear what it was) a week before their wedding which was called off.
He is very rich and claims to have changed since then - he wants her back.
Somebody is trying to kill her.
Dali and Moohak are taking a stupidly long time to develop feelings for each other - and this is the trouble with this series.
It's all talk and no action and no kisses.
The two leads - unfortunately - do not have the acting chops or charisma to carry this series. They don't stand out from the rest of the cast which is a fatal flaw in a romantic drama.
I find it boring and I have no interest in what happens to any of them.
Series needs stars to shine.
Kördügüm (2016)
Far to long
When every episode averages over an hour and a half and most of them far longer - how can anyone maintain interest in this series.
To make matters worse the writers rely on The Bumper Book of Tropes for every situation. People have totally pointless conversations that go on forever - they pack suitcases for an eternity - they repeat the same conversations with different people. People have head transplants at the drop of a hat - personalities change at a whim - there is no consistentcy in any character - except maybe Ibo. Naz and Imut appear in flashbacks showing us how happy and in love they are - until Umut decides they were never in love. To blow smoke on his own cheating he accuses Naz of doing the same - what does Naz do - errr - well nothing - she doesn't attempt to defend herself. Meanwhile Ali is left a son by a dying ex girlfriend - Kaan - and this child is the best thing in the series. A natural born model with a sweet personality. There are way to many people who plot endlessly - unknown to those they are plotting against - the invincible villain trope. It gets so old.
I have to say I am bored and impatient and losing interest in whatever happens to any of them.
I can't be bothered to watch anymore.
Maedeudok (2017)
Mad about Do Hwan
The story is lengthy and complicated - I think this worked against it because there were far too many characters with small parts to keep track of.
Kang-Woo is an insurance investigator until his wife and child are killed in a plane crash. He then leaves the company and starts one of his own - Mad Dog.
He is joined in this friends, Cheetah, an ex con, Noo-ri, a genius hacker type young man and Ha-ri, a young woman who has been in love with him for a while it seems. Later they are joined by Min-joon - a somewhat arrogant young man seeking to prove that his pilot brother did not commit suicide thus bringing down the plane deliberately and killing many on board.
This part is played by Do-Hwan, and the major reason I kept watching such a convoluted story. Of course there is a major villain played by the excellent. Choi Won - Young. I have to say I prefer him as a goodie, but no goodie would wear a tie in the half in half out of the collar style as he did here - one wonders at what goes on in the heads of designers - and what doesn't go on in the heads of those that wear their efforts. But then South Korean fashions - particularly for women and bizarre beyond belief.
The series is too long at sixteen episodes and the interest is not really maintained when our five intrepid heroes are off screen.
Particularly Do Hwan - or did I mention that !!
Worth a watch - but it does sag in the middle.