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- Sorry Not Sorry 2 (KBS Joy) Weekend (December 13-15)
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51 annie
April 9, 2010 at 11:44 AM
Thanks for the welcome guys!
@39 samsooki
Hi! I haven't lurked on OT before, but I've been reading JB's blog for a while. I really LOVED your City Hall recaps. As for your questions: I don't know anything about Jang Nara, Sung Yuri is beautiful but not a great actress (although I haven't seen anything she's done recently) and I know better than to get into the middle of the KJH war :)
@41 ockoala
Thanks! I will And thanks for your suggestions - but I'm afraid I'd get myself into trouble by talking about things I don't know about, lol.
@47 asianromance
I know what you mean about melodramas... I've fallen for CU but I'm wondering if I'm going to regret it. I dropped WISFC after 8 episodes because I could see where it was heading and my heart couldn't take it - despite Go Soo's incredible yumminess.
Oh, by the way, I recently watched Lawyers of Korea based on the positive comments I saw on dramabeans - and I loved it. I fell in love with the main lead myself. I watched it in like two days (even though I had a 12-page paper to write. Eep!) This is one of the reasons I love this blog so much - it points me to watch dramas I otherwise never would have discovered. (I sometimes get put off by weird titles.) Thank you Javabeans! :)
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52 annie
April 9, 2010 at 11:46 AM
@49 hjkomo
Thanks for the welcome!
Should I duck before the shrapnel starts to fly? ;)
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53 eiko
April 9, 2010 at 11:46 AM
@49 hjkomo
LOL LOL......oh you are a character! Samsooki Lying Liar of Lies!!!!!
That's why I love being here.....I get all the laughs I can handle in a sitting from cyberspace faceless wonders! How terrific is that?
Okay LLoL.....defend yourself! At least.....TRY....
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54 yenthi
April 9, 2010 at 11:48 AM
Finance is done!!!!!!!! Only 3 classes left (well I guess 4 if you count the last 3 classes of stupid MIS (i'm a CS undergrad btw)) and I'll be doneeeeee with school! Can't wait. Going to Vegas in July. Whew what a week, super stressful. Hope everyone is doing well. Looking through the past few year's dramas to decide which one to start! Been watching CS and enjoyed it. Hope everyone has a great and k-drama filled weekend!
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55 samsooki
April 9, 2010 at 11:49 AM
@48 eiko -
lol!
***
With respect to the asian-american version of MTV’s JERSEY SHORE in Los Angeles... I am cringing BIG TIME.
From what I understand, Jersey Shore just played on the worst of the stereotypes, magnifying and expanding on "colorful" individuals who tended to portray the worst in ethnic-typecasting.
Can you imagine who they will select to be in a single big house in Los Angeles? How many stereotypes are there?
1. kung fu guy
2. scholastic nerd
3. asian princess
4. fobby student / rich kid on break from HK or Korea
5. devout christian korean american
6. goth asian female addicted to sex
7. muscle bound asian gangster wannabe.
8. chauvistinic mysogynistic short asian guy
9. skinny asian guy who plays XBOX Need For Speed all day and nite
It makes me mad just thinking about it. I hope public pressure builds enough that this show is cancelled before it gets off the ground...
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56 janna
April 9, 2010 at 11:52 AM
@djes, sorry for your loss, like ockoala said we're always here if you need us!!
Next week new jdramas.. too much drama! If anyone is going to watch any, let me know, otherwise I'll shut my trap about 'em! I watched A Season of Good Rain and Kiss Me Kill Me movies last weekend. I think.. I think I got the end of A Season of Good Rain? Yes, the ending to me was a little ambiguous; maybe I just wasn't paying attention. I like Kang Hye Jung, so I liked Kiss Me Kill Me. The kind of movie leaves you guessing until the end.
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57 langdon813
April 9, 2010 at 11:54 AM
Just to clarify, it's LYING LIAR *WHO* LIES.....
Also....SAVE BORA!
:-D
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58 lb_tmi
April 9, 2010 at 11:54 AM
"LYING LIAR OF LIES"
hil-effen-arious! i LOVE it, just like i LOVED JB's fakey faker who fakes. i LOL'ed so loudly that a coworker came in to check and me, and i had to x-out of DB so fast! almost busted by my own busting out.
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59 hjkomo
April 9, 2010 at 11:55 AM
@ eiko, Laica
Samsooki earned his nickname all on his own. I believe Langdon813 coined the term way back...
And, yeah, he's not afraid of me even though he knows I can kick his @ss... ;)
Like ockoala said, he likes living on that little island world which exists only in his head. :P
Edit:
LYING LIAR WHO LIES -
thanks for the correction, Unni. :D
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60 ockoala
April 9, 2010 at 11:57 AM
@ samsooki
Plus:
10. One Korean lawyer from the NE with a vast appreciation and knowledge of visual entertainment of the Korean and non-Korean variety, also known as the Lying Liar Who Lies (@ hjkomo, I recollect langdon coined this appropos term, and the Who vs. the Of perhaps merits a distinction, as samsooki is not completely filled with lies, he just chooses to espouse them to his advantage - and I still remember why he was given that moniker - he lied about rainbows and unicorns and baby Gil-dong + baby Yi-noks running around Hwal Bin-dang, n'est pas, langdon-unni?).
I would pay money to watch samsooki in the Asian Jersey Shore house. Except, samsooki, I don't think they are casting Asian Real World (where the stereotypes above would fit), but they are casting 1 main stereotype of Asians (I believe every one of the Guidos/Guidettes are exactly the same person, however pointless they may be inside). I don't know which stereotype they are aiming for - but since its set in LA - it'll likely be the souped up Acura Integra gang with their princess bitch girlfriends.
edit: I see langdon clarified it already. He Who Lies is perhaps a good way to remember it.
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61 janna
April 9, 2010 at 12:00 PM
@samsooki: they're making a list, and checking it twice. gonna find the trashiest camwhores in sight. MTV is coming to town... (cringe) Also I thought some of the people on jersey shore weren't actually italian? (someone else can fact check this for me...)
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62 Annie
April 9, 2010 at 12:00 PM
ok, i just heard that the main guy is suppose to be a writer and the whole thing is just a story in prosecutor princess. please tell me this is not true
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63 ockoala
April 9, 2010 at 12:04 PM
Eun-ji-ahhhhhh - I'm done with Ireland...... You better be ready to send me more Chun!Jung!Myung! YT videos, preferably shot in daylight so I can see what I want to see instead of squinting.
Anyways, hehehe, review forthcoming. *puts on thinking cap*
Edit: samsooki below - I agree a billion percent, I hate the direction reality TV is going, or reality TV for the most part.
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64 samsooki
April 9, 2010 at 12:05 PM
@60, ockoala,
how could i forget the souped up acura integra / honda civic / hyundai scoupe asian male stereotype?
i think they had that those guys down pat in Fast and the Furious 2: Toyko Drift.
The use of stereotypes for entertainment is offensive, and it is harmful. What would be the consequence of filming a Real World South Central? Would Tyrese do that, or would he think that too many people would jump on the show as proof that that's what all black people are all like?
It is offensive, it is cringe-worthy, and i hope to hell the show never gets green-lit.
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65 langdon813
April 9, 2010 at 12:21 PM
@ ockoala
I believe the exact situation was that samsooki said something along the lines of "Hong Gil-dong isn't sad", and since I was probably fresh off a 4-hour crying binge over said drama...I shrieked LLWL!
BUT...BUT...BUT...
If not for him, I might not have watched MNIKSS, Dal Ja's Spring, City Hall, You're Beautiful, Friend, Snow Queen...or Super Rookie! And probably half a dozen others I'm not giving him credit for, so...he was forgiven long ago. :-D
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66 Amber
April 9, 2010 at 12:22 PM
I'm loving Prosecutor Princess!! it's such light bubbly fun but with these AMAZING bits of angst in there and genuine chemistry between So Yeon and Park Shi Hoo!
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67 Ladymoonstone143
April 9, 2010 at 12:27 PM
Happy Friday everyone. This week was just too hectic for me so looking forward to the weekend.
I am so loving the dramas now that I am still undecided who will get the number 1 spot...:)))
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68 eiko
April 9, 2010 at 12:40 PM
@64 samsooki: " the use of stereotypes for entertainment
It is offensive, it is cringe-worthy, and i hope to hell the show never gets green-lit."
A thumbs up to you....and even with the thought that it might happen...it's because money talks and all the faces involved want a piece of the action for whatever the reason might be. The audience/viewers feed into the frenzy which adds to the circus.
My favorite TV show? Anthony Bourdain and Andrew Zimmern on the Travel Channel... those 2 make me smile. Of course, besides Jang Hyuk, Cha Seung Won; Park Shi-hoo.....etc. etc.
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69 jjwu
April 9, 2010 at 12:45 PM
With so many other posts here, I am just being reduant. Nevertheless, JB, your recaps are awesome, sometimes I find your recap funnier than the actual drama.
I am totally hooked with the latest bash of k dramas. Personally, I think Oh! My Lady really took the leading here among Personal Taste, Prosecutor Princess, and Cinderella’s Sister.
The first few episodes of Oh! My Lady were simply fun and enjoyable but not challenging, however, ep 5 and 6 really made a turn. I found myself completely drawn into it. Chae Rim is adorable; yes, the hair style is very unfortunate and seeing Choi Siwon kissing a woman with such a hairstyle really freaks me out, but I definitely enjoy watching an ajumma more with such hairstyle than a more fashionable one. Not to mention that the little girl who play Siwon’s daughter is so so so cute.
I think my expectation for Personal Taste was too high. I really love Lee Min-Ho and Sohn Ye-Jin individually, but I don’t think there’s chemistry when they are together. I found episode 3 enjoyable but episode 4 really drop back down to the ep1&2 standard. With just too many scene “that are necessary for the plot, but not necessarily fit well”, is hard to keep up with the momentum it had established. However, I think I continue with this drama because Lee Min-Ho is such an eye-candy. Overall, Personal Taste is not that bad, it is just dull, which I think I can put up with.
For Prosecutor Princess, I really find Kim So-Yeon’s character annoying in the first 2 episodes. I think watching a spoil princess just frustrates me a lot. As I was watching episode 3, I can’t help asking myself why do I even continue to watch this drama? I am actually glad that I did watch episode 3 since plots really start to pick up. There are some love frictions entering the scenes as well. Will see how it goes next week.
I only got through the first half of episode 1 of Cinderella’s Sister. I understand why people who watched it love it. It is definitely different from the Oh! My Lady and Personal Taste genre, and that’s a good thing. Moon Geun-young and Seo Woo are well acted here. However, I find it too intense and melodramatic for me; I watch tv drama just for the fun lightness and have good laugh. I think I might watch it when I get a long vacation and don’t mind the stress from it.
I am so glad that all recent dramas are so good; my weekly schedule is so packed now. Hehehe…
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70 Alison
April 9, 2010 at 12:54 PM
AHHHHHHHHHHHH i love love love radio dept.!
you're awesome jb. looking forward to your recap on Cinderella's Sister. : )
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71 mm
April 9, 2010 at 1:02 PM
i love love Cinderella unni..
kihoon and eunjo just so adorable together..
eunjoo-ah...
eunjoo-ah..
OMG cant wait for wed..
hope taecyeon not ruining everything...
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72 cingdoc
April 9, 2010 at 1:07 PM
@djes
*HUGS*
So sorry for your loss...my deepest Condolence....
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73 cingdoc
April 9, 2010 at 1:13 PM
@hjkomo@ockoala and @langdon813
You guys owe me another laptop screen....LLWL, hehe...those good old days...nothing has changed...
@samsooki
Wow,trying to recruit newbies to your "camp",eh?? I'll give you "A" for effort.
Just like you have a special radar for JNR and KJH,@hjkomo has special radar,too & "appears" right in front of you when you "taunt" her "out of hiding",hehe....=P
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74 Carinne
April 9, 2010 at 1:19 PM
TGIF!
What !?!.... Casting call. Again! I think it has to do with all the collaborations happening in the music industry that this show open doors. Remember, Lady Gaga wanted Teddy to help produce her second album? And well, we've seen how Se7en, BoA, Bi rotate American artists into their English albums. I think (Black) Americans are realizing their fascination on the cross culture and evolution fusion of dance crews and hybrid R&B + Hip Hop. It can be a great thing, or disaster.
I'm also in with the group of people eager to see Taec on ep.05 of CS. I keep giggling when the topic of PT and OML arises. Those series make my day bright. My mother is barely coming around to start watching YB/YAB (I get confused, which ever); she likes it so far so she says.
Sadly, DWL is not getting great ratings against PSM. I still enjoy both stories, and news that Wu Chun will participate in a series replacing DWL's time slot this summer looks real good. I miss Wu Chun on regular tv time.
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75 samsooki
April 9, 2010 at 1:22 PM
FYI:
use of "ah" or "ya" at the end of names.
generally speaking, between ppl of close relationship or ppl younger than you, you can add an "ah" to the end of their name, if their name ends with a consonant or add a "ya" if it ends with a vowel. So, for Eun-Joo, it would be Eun-Joo-ya. For Hyo-Sun, it would be Hyo-Sun-ah.
If you are a girl, and you are younger than Ki-Hoon (played by CJM), then you wouldn't use "ah" or "ya" but you would use a title, like oppa. So Eun-Joo and Hyo-Sun would both call Ki-Hoon as Ki-Hoon oppa. For Hyo-Sun referring to her older sister Eun-Joo, it would be Eun-Joo unni.
For everyone else, if you aren't that close, you would add a general honorific, "shi"
So, for me to address any of Hyo-Sun, Eun-Joo or Ki-Hoon, even if all are younger than me, I would address them all with "shi" - so, Hyo-Sun-shi, Eun-Joo-shi, and Ki-Hoon-shi. But if I didn't know their names, I would call them a generalized term like "student" or "hak-seng." Sort of like saying, "hey kid."
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76 Carinne
April 9, 2010 at 1:46 PM
@ 75 samsooki
Oh........ thank you samsooki-YA ! I really don't know you that well samsooki-shi but it sounds fun to say YA!!
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77 Eun-Joo-yahhh
April 9, 2010 at 2:03 PM
@djes
*hug* my condolences. I'll be thinking of you.
@CU
This is not a recommendation of the drama. and I'm so not LLWL or FFWF. I was M of MOB and BORA MUST DIE!! so welcome to OT @Laica (and other new posters!!) ;)
Are we asking too much fr a 15/16 yo in MGY's Eun-Jo's shoes to not be brash, abrasive, scowling and claws on 24/7? I rem personally knowing teen girls as such without her buckets of poop thrown at her, random acts of cruelty is there to stay in the universe of teens, at least that's the world I'm in. CU also caused me to dug out my family Psych books and wished I can watch CU then on top of Ordinary People.
CU turns out to be a deeply personal emotional watch for me. Even if it goes very sour fr here. I'm grateful to have watched these 4 eps. My dad sent me to most 'junk' and chain mails over the years. I don't live w/ my folks since quite young so I know my dad picked up email for me. I used to complain and rant and tried to convince him chainmails really do not kill and self-combust if u don't forward them. But after a while I save every 'little' email he sent my way. I got it finally dad, thank you.
This was one he just forwarded:
My Son, I wrote this to you because:
1. Life is unpredictable, nobody knows how long we have, so say it as promptly if you have anything to say.
2. I'm your dad, if I did not tell you, nobody would.
3. What I wrote here, I got it from numerous hard, painful life experiences, this can spare you many of those.
This is what you have to remember in life:
1. Don't keep in mind people who treated you badly. In your life, nobody has the obligation to be nice to you, except me and your mother. As for those who are kind to you, on top of cherishing and thankful, you also have to be careful. We all do things for a purpose, it's not an absolute truth when someone is nice to you, he/she likes you. You have to be rational, there's no need to rush in making true friends.
2. There's nobody who can not be replaced, and nothing that is necessity. If you understand, when someone does not need you by his/her side in the future, or when you lost your love of your life, you'll know this is no big deal.
3. Life is short. When you are wasting your life today, you will recognize you've lost it tomorrow. Therefore, love and treasure it. Instead of wishing for longevity, why not start enjoying life early?
4. There is no everlasting love. Love is a moment in time, it is bound to be fluid as time passes and you change. If your so called love left you, please be patient, let time slowly claim it, let your heart find its bearing again and your pain will thin out. Do not hone excessively on romance, do not dwell on an exaggerated pain of love lost.
5. Although a lot of successful people did not receive an education, that is not to say not studying may bring success. The knowledge you learn is yours to keep. You can start your life's work on your own, but not unequipped.
6. I won't ask you to support me for the rest of my life, same token, I won't do so for the rest of your life. My responsibility will end when you are grown and independent. Whether you take the bus/drive a Benz, it's your call.
7. You can ask yourself to keep a promise, but you can not ask the same from others. You can ask yourself to be nice to others, but you can not expect them to reciprocate. How you treat them does not have bearings on how they treat you. If you did not get this, you will just be piling on your own stress.
9. Family is a one time blessing. No matter how much time we can spend together, please treasure every moment of it. In our next lifetime, whether we love each other or not, we will not see each other again.
I had a dad who will send me random life lessons disguised as 'junk' emails. Eun-Jo can only wishes her 'dads' do not abuse, while 99% of us (me and SW included) can not even start to count our blessings as a mememe teenager.
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78 samsooki
April 9, 2010 at 2:06 PM
@77
lol mookie.
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79 cingdoc
April 9, 2010 at 2:14 PM
@77mookie(I like that name,so I will just keep you as that)
Thanks for sharing....
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80 cingdoc
April 9, 2010 at 2:17 PM
@mookie
I think I love #9 "Family is a one time blessing. No matter how much time we can spend together, please treasure every moment of it. In our next lifetime, whether we love each other or not, we will not see each other again."....the most,not only for my personal family,but to my OT family,too =P
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81 ockoala
April 9, 2010 at 2:24 PM
Ireland (2003)
Starring Hyun Bin, Lee Na-young, Kim Min-joon and Kim Min-jung.
To preface, (1) I'm omitting any hint of snark from this review and shall approach it with thoughtful ponderings, as befits the tone and theme of the drama, and (2) this is gonna be chock full of spoilers, so if anyone wants to watch Ireland and doesn't want to know what happens, stop reading now....and Go Watch Ireland (what are you waiting for!)
This is the drama that made Hyun Bin famous, before MNIKSS made Hyun Bin even more famous, before Snow Queen made Hyun Bin Bora's slave, and before Friends, The Legend, made Hyun Bin scarier than the boogieman comes at night.
There are only two reasons to watch Ireland: (1) to see what catapulted Hyun Bin from bit-part actor in Bodyguard and such fare, to leading man, and (2) to watch a Korean drama version of a Wong Kar-wai movie, with splatter with some Hou Hsiao-hsien aura. Someone commented that Ireland makes no sense, it was like watching Twin Peaks in Korean. I disagree (TP made sense, if you lived in David Lynch's brain, which I still visit circa Mulholland Drive from time to time), Ireland is not about making sense, its about existing. And sometimes to exist makes absolutely no sense.
Ireland have four leading roles, and if I consider LNY to be the "lead" or "leading lady", it is because her role acts as the catalyst for the "story." That is the sole reason, so don't ask me who the leading guy, second guy, second girl is, everyone of these four plays the lead. What lead begs the question? They play the lead in a script about what does it mean to live in this world? Do we exist then follow a script, pick a calling and choose a loved one? Or do we exist and simply be? Ireland is a story of who a person is and how they choose to interact with others. Ireland is not a typical, or even unusual k-drama. It's never been done before, to take a Chungking Express and make it a k-drama, and add a few kdrama tropes for good measure.
I think the majority opinion is that they hate Ireland (even if I suspect most people who hate it never finished watching it). Normally I say, don't be so quick to judge, finish it first, but Ireland I can understand the feeling, it's not a compelling drama. As a viewer, we can't ever relate to anyone in the drama. It's constructed too much like a play with a series of set pieces. In fact, it reminds me starkly of Dogville or Manderlay, like we are supposed to pretend this scripted construction of human foibles is suppose to mean anything more than characters on paper being acted out on screen. And so we don't connect or care, and then it becomes impossible to desire to continue watching it. But I continued, because I love Hyun Bin and he is absolutely the single best thing about Ireland, both his acting and his character, and because I wanted to see it through the end to satisfy my curiosity.
Ireland maintains its tone consistently, the writer clearly set out with a vision in mind and remained true to her vision. The use of Londonderry Air as the background interludes (three guesses why) and Danny Boy sung often and loud, invokes the drama namesake, but Ireland (and everything related to the Ireland subplot), could and should have been cut. They can still use Londonderry Air and Danny Boy (though Momosan might throw a fit at the inappropriateness) for the mood.
Ireland had no "story" or "plot" like I said, but in a nutshell, it's about LNY returning to Korea after having grown up in Ireland, to search for her birth parent/kill herself because she's mentally unstable after her adoptive family is killed, and she meets HB, who is the perfectest perfection of a perfect man alive, and they marry, and then she meets Kim Min-joon and falls in love with him and cheats on her husband, who mentors KMJ, who is dating Kim Min-jung, who is an aspiring actress that meets HB and falls in love with him after breaking up with Kim Min-joon. Oh, and LNY and KMJ may or may not be siblings. Go figure, also unnecessary for the plot.
What's striking about Ireland is that I spent the entire drama wanting to strangle LNY, or bitch-slap her, or pack her into a suitcase and mail her to the nearest hole in the Pacific. She is both isolated yet longing for connection and unable to truly make it. That starts of the catalyst where the two couples can't maintain its stability and in the end, topples over into each other. It's a mess of tangled relationships, and I don't even need to get into stuff like LNY-HB divorcing after she's pregnant, because by then I could not relate to any character other than HB and viewed this drama with a eye towards execution rather than connection.
Ireland is beautifully shot, with gorgeous lyrical camera work and the drama is heavy on the symbolism and light on coherence (in fact, the final episode is 100% pure symbolism over any plot, I still do not know how Ireland ended). Dialogues are purposely obtuse and/or eye-opening. But rest assured that not liking Ireland does not mean you aren't sophisticated enough to "get" the drama, and liking Ireland doesn't automatically make you a connoseuir of high brow eclectic fare.
I get Ireland is trying to show that people seek love as a means to make a connection, and make a connection in order to show love, and even without either love or connection, we are still alive and need to continue to live as we want to, however full of meaning or meaningless one chooses to live life. But this dragged out over 16 episodes, with only one person, HB, we even feel remotely empathetic towards, means Ireland doesn't work even if we accept its premise not as a mass-market k-drama, but as a deconstruction of the notion of love and relationships in kdramas.
Ireland fails where WHIB works, both are love/hate dramas, but one instantly makes you understand and feel the pain, lonely, selfishness, insecurity all the leads feel (WHIB), and one makes you feel like a clinical observer in a dissection (Ireland).
In the end, I'm glad I watched Ireland (man, I appreciate the manic genius of WHIB even more now, as if that was possible), but I didn't enjoy watching it. It left me feeling no emotional connection with it - which I concede could be exactly the feeling the writer was trying to convey.
As for acting, everyone was good in their respective roles, but HB definitely is the standout performance. It's hilarious becuase Kim Min-jung keeps calling HB ahjusshi and he looks about 19, even wearing his black suits as a bodyguard. I'm looking forward to hearing other opinions about this drama.
And now for my ending salvo, a snark-only tablet review of Ireland: Ireland is what happens when a crazy, isolated sad girl meets a guy who only knows how to protect people, and then they bump into vagabond dude and aspiring actress on the street, and protector dude decides he's gonna go take care if everyone when he should be running away as fast as he can, and straight into MY arms (oh Binnie boy, I'll take care of you!).
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82 ockoala
April 9, 2010 at 2:39 PM
@ Eun-jo-yahhhh
Have you read this article? I've been meaning to send it to you.
http://dailynews.sina.com/bg/ent/ausdaily/20100407/16511326886.html
Thanks for your daddy's email. My FIL does the exact same thing, sends daily emails of encourgement, uplifting messages, etc.
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83 reluctantbutaddicted
April 9, 2010 at 2:42 PM
@ djes : I'm so sorry to hear about your losses. What a terrible week for you. Sincere condolences.
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84 origummy
April 9, 2010 at 2:58 PM
@djes- sorry to hear about your loss, hang in there and hope all the fun dramas are helping to keep your spirits up.
Whoever mentioned Harvest Villa, I totally agree! The drama is not typical of anything I've seen before. It feels more like a movie/mini-series. It's got lots of great acting, comedy, and heartfelt drama. The writing and direction is great too. Hope more people watch it.
I know hoping for recaps is probably out of the question, since there are so many other great/fun dramas out now, and the recapping crew seems to be burning the candle at both ends--thanks for all your hard work! You guys are amazingly fast and totally awesome!!
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85 mookie
April 9, 2010 at 3:25 PM
@cingdoc, *hug* I'm one emo jello lately, I have tears reading forwarded emails fr dad.
@twin
Thanks for the good reads! *muak* That TVB show, which I watch diligently, is ep after ep of unbelievable bombs left and right. it's so frank and honest and FIRST HAND. I still do not understand y HK paparazzi r paying jobs.
Ireland is the first drama I wanted badly to read the script as prose. I suspect doing our own individual interpretations will benefit the material way more than this PD can bring to the table. (yes, I have haterade for this particular PD, in my book EoE is a drama with no redeeming value) he's so heavy-handed and literal. Ireland is to Ruler of Your Own World as World's Within is to Goodbye Solo. Both pairs of these dramas r by same brilliant writers, but watching them I did pray for a more soulful PD who viscerally gets the writer, if so, we'll get the latter gems rather than the former wannabes.
It's even cuter when my dad forwards me stuff he translates on romance (and this one he forwards to my hubby as well...)
'Don't give up on the girl you love and think she'll be happier without you. A man should work harder in keeping her by his side and strive in making her happiness comes true!'
“爱一个女孩子,与其为了她的幸福而放弃她,不如留住她,为她的幸福而不断努力!”
I still want to draw hearts in crayons and send it to my daddy sometimes.
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86 ockoala
April 9, 2010 at 3:37 PM
The Ireland PD did EoE?!? *Giant Thud Forehead on Desk* Now I want to scream: have you not learned anything!!! Actually, Ireland is heavy on the obtuse symbolism where EoE is rife with the literal symbolism (tho I'm not sure what LDH's constant dog-walking is supposed to stand in for). And where Ireland flows disjointedly from moment to meta-moment, EoE lurches directly from plot pt A-M-Z and then back round and round again.
And I'm waiting for someone to explain ep. 16 to me, I would rewatch it and mine the scenes for meaning, but I hasn't the will to do so, I tired now, Eun-jo-ahhhh.
Btw, what's saddest in that article was that Babara and Kent were just victims, of being in a system that neither could really function, reading how it was Barbara's second attempt is just devastating.
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87 cingdoc
April 9, 2010 at 3:45 PM
@mookie
Awww,your Dad is too sweet. It's nice that you have a good relationship w/him.
As for me,it's a Dr. Phil's episode; we were never very close and worse when we kids were left in US while Mom and Dad returned to HKG. By the time I wanted a relationship w/ him ,Dad suffered his heart attack.So,....
(everyone) please cherish your parents,no matter how much they "nag" you; you don't want to be like me,keep wondering the "should've,could've"....and
Mookie,go and draw a GIANT poster of hearts to Dad and give him a big *HUGS* when you hand him your gift :)
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88 lovenyc52
April 9, 2010 at 4:25 PM
@37 Laica
Welcome to OT!!! :) I hope you enjoy reading the randomness that happens and the battles that Samsooki will inevitably begin... all in the name of fun, of course :P
@ mookie
I love reading about life lessons - #1 and #4 really are so so true and keeping that in mind helps so much. Thanks for sharing this with us.
@ ockoala
Hi! *waves* ... since I started working in Corona, I have not been able to go to 85C... just so tired after work that I don't want to battle the dinner crowd, and don't even get me started on weekends there. I miss the sea salt coffee and the Korean grapefruit tea and the yummy yummy breads. sigh. hope you're enjoying them enough for the both of us....
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89 wabbit
April 9, 2010 at 4:33 PM
I truly have been missing the repartee between Mookie-ya, Hjkomo-ya, Cindoc-a, Ockoala-ya, Samsookie-ya, Langdon-a and the rest of you lately!
Welcome back!
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90 djeedjes
April 9, 2010 at 4:52 PM
Awww, thank you all. Actually I wanted to share about it last week, but I was thinking why should I tell my life's story to strangers?
I was wrong. You guys are no strangers, the OT community is friends...in the alternate world~~~ :D
I'm going to start Prosecutor Princess now, and really curious after reading your comments... At least I like Kim So Yeon to begin with.
I used to love wuxia series, but I don't know why I can't stand watching it again now, and so I also hesitate to watch saeguks. I'm curious with Chuno ( or Hong Gil Dong ), but I don't even want to see the first episode. So, can you guys, anyone, convince me why I should watch them? And someone, please recommend a new, good wuxia serials?
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91 ockoala
April 9, 2010 at 5:02 PM
@ djes
"please recommend a new, good wuxia serials"
kekekeke, @ Eun-joo-ahhhh, you want to answer djes query, or shall I take first crack?
First off, why can't you stand to watch it anymore? I ask only so I can recommend something for you without the stuff you don't like.
djes, wuxia serials have been persona non-grata for me for the last decade or so, until only very recently when mookie convinced me with little convincing needed to check out LoCH 2008 (Legend of the Condor Heroes 2008, or its inaccurate name Legend of the Eagle Shooting Heroes).
LoCH 2008 re-invented the wuxia serial for me personally, taking Louis Cha's seminal masterpiece (and really, the blueprint for any wuxia story to confer with first) into the new century. I LOVED IT is an understatement. And it has really really cute leads, all four of them, in fact! So cute, one of them is now mookie and my loverboy, we heart him so.
I love parts of Chuno and was meh on others. I think in the end, I enjoyed Hong Gil Dong more amongst the two. But stylistically, Chuno is closer to a classic wuxia story mixed with k-melodrama, and HGD is more a modern twist on a saguek with like zero wuxia.
The Korean saguek is story, tone, execution, pathos, quite different than the wuxia serial, but I see the two merging more and more into closer cousins of each other.
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92 janna
April 9, 2010 at 5:19 PM
Why couldn't Ki-Hoon just hold up a boombox of De Colores in the rain for Eun-Jo. I mean, I could have had this over in four episodes. I'm just sayin'.
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93 brookeeve
April 9, 2010 at 5:32 PM
@djes, wanted to say I understand your confusion about your emotions, being adopted myself. I am praying for you!
This is my first time posting, and what a weird bit to start on! A whole lot of posts about parents and families and adopting! I only started watching Korean dramas because my step-son's mother is from Korea and I wanted to understand my family's culture better. I've seen quite a few at this point, but I must say that without dramabeans I probably wouldn't have comprehended as much about the culture as I do now. It has probably helped me more in dealing with personality/cultural differences and side stepping/preventing arguments than all of the psychology books that I have read concerning the subject. Thanks, dramabeans!
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94 Eun-Jo-ahhh
April 9, 2010 at 5:34 PM
@djes: kekeke I second every word @ockoala twin wrote. But yes, give us ur likes and dislikes, we'll find you one! *muak*
Wuxia is in my blood. And I did not watch anything memorable at all till LOCH08 past 10 years. But it needs some realistic readjustments. Old school wuxia is extinct, just as historically accurate saguek. I cant recommend Chuno, I was in great dilemma whether to continue (I'm exactly half way at ep12) for wks now, either watch it, or savor Samsooki/Thundie/Hjkomo/Dahee's brilliant recap as I'm a bit of a spoilerphobe. But I finally decide wisely, reading their recaps pwn'd the watch itself by miles (I knew it before my internal debate, but JH's DG manpain is *sigh*) I'm at peace, I was expecting unicorns out of mustangs. Chuno is a good production, but its weaknesses lie in places I completely cant stand in dramas.
And talk about reinventing, ever dream of an angsty shoujo X kdrama written/directed #$!%!#@^! amazing and acted by $5#$1!$%!OMGunbelievableawesomesauce thespians?! (um... I'm not talking about BoF)
@CU
My love for CU does not have to make sense, I'm not even in any salvageable state to analyze anything on writing, characterization or have coherent thoughts. I drove by a Caltrain just now and I had heart palpitations due to a certain scene involving train and C!J!M!
I spent my kindergarten sandbox playtime gagaing over a shoujo cartoon Candy Candy, (a check on SYR radar: Bora was singing that theme while binnie's DG was piggybacking her, super cute... MUSTDIE!) since then i'm a shoujo addict part nature, part nurture. it's not a choice, shoujo is my sustainance. I'm not proud of my fine taste in those reading materials, but it's in my blood. Good that I'm equally crazy about wuxia and tog they shaped me to a mental yet functional woman.
4 eps into CU, I felt enduring my own shoujo-blood thro'out my teens is not in vain. CU is not a melodrama, it is a fairytale of survivors. it's whimsical and magical where it needs not be, but no cheese, not campy, just plain shoujo sparkles and stars and moonbeams VISUALIZED and elevated to awards worthiness. CU even make my read and watch of anything Twilight saga and the trees and celluloid lost worthwhile ( for me).
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95 momosan
April 9, 2010 at 5:53 PM
@djes
Oh I’m so sorry for your loss.
@13 kitten and djes
I'm not Korean either, but I'm a saguek junkie. A saguek brought me over to the dark side. 8-)
I enjoyed Chuno - but wanted to throw things at the monitor at other parts. For me, it was a tour de force acting job by Jang Hyuk that lifted it out of it's writing problems (also, I still want General Choi for Xmas). I did enjoy it more than Hong Gil Dong.
I'm currently banking Dong Yi for future viewing. I have great hopes for it being decent. 8-)
Generally speaking, I watch maybe 1 US show - usually something like Deadliest Catch or Anthony Bourdain - I watch Dr Who and TopGear from the BBC - usually 1 Japanese show (currently trying to chose my spring offering) - and 2 or so Korean shows - currently it's A Man Called God, Personal Taste and Oh My Lady - while also stockpiling Harvest Villa and Cinderella Unni for later viewing.
BTW, I took the subbed version of A Man Called God ep 4 on my iPod out of town with me today and at one point I was trying to stretch out my back, so I was flat on my back on the floor with iPod in hand, snickering away. Luckily at the event I was at, this is considered rather normal behaviour, but man that thing is funny. 8-)
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96 ockoala
April 9, 2010 at 6:23 PM
@ twin
Candy Candy? Candy Candy! Candy Candy. And no, I'm not talking about no candy.
Please read OT 95, page 2, comments 78 (formerly known as comment 178 pre-format change).
http://www.dramabeans.com/2009/08/open-thread-95/
Candy+Terry FTW 4ever!!!
I am a shoujo-fiend. My mom is still trying to get me to remove about 2000 tankoubons or more of comics from her house. My sister has cherry picked her faves but loads are still left and mom may be thisclose to burning them if we don't remove them. But then I'd need to have two rooms in my house - my drama room + my manga room. And I don't have the room.
@ momosan
Gah, I love AMCG. Glad you are enjoying its sheer amusement park fun ride.
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97 cingdoc
April 9, 2010 at 6:39 PM
@lovenyc52
OMG You're working in Corona.....literally down the street from moi (Think Victoria Garden). there's a couple decent Korean restaurants here in IE...and if you're bored at work,you and I can have lunch together,right in front of my laptop,kdrama marathoning,hehe :)
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98 beyondinfinity
April 9, 2010 at 7:19 PM
AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
Chun Jung Myung is such a cutie. I love most of the characters in Cinderella's sister so far...usually I would find Hyo Sun (Seo Woo) annoying, but somehow she makes the character a little less detestable.
LOVE LOVE LOVE Chun Jung Myung + Moon Geun Young in this drama!
I already watched episode 4...and I have to say, I don't really buy the number of years they are separated (no spoiling here xD)
I really hope it doesn't end up like Will it snow for Christmas? where the first few eps portraying their 'younger selves' was so much better than after they grew older.
If this drama keeps it up, it will be wonderful!
Chun Jung Myung really has the sweetest smile ever. Sighhhhh..........
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99 annie
April 9, 2010 at 7:27 PM
Hi guys! Back from my movie... it's -1 degrees C outside :( But it's been unseasonably warm in Toronto, I guess we were due for the sudden unseasonable cold.
@98 beyondinfinity
I'm hoping we won't lose the magic of the younger storyline in CU because the actors are staying the same (except Taecyeon). In WISFC it was hard to connect the older actors with their teenage selves, especially as they looked nothing alike. Not only that, the teenage actors were so amazing that Han Ye Seul's performance was almost shockingly bad in contrast. Hopefully we won't have such problems in CU.
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100 hjkomo
April 9, 2010 at 7:49 PM
Samsooki-YA!!! :P
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