I prefer kdramas over kmovies. A movie can be turned into a drama (Masquerade into The Crowned Clown). I am curious if a drama has been made into a movie.
Favorite movies: Masquerade, Miss Granny, Castaway On The Moon.

I think Kdramas, originally airing on public channels, have to follow some rules to show the example (except they don't always make sense no smoking but unlimited drinking scenes).

When Kmovies have more freedom and can address different themes like politics, feminism, LGBT, etc.

After watching a few movies, I guess usually don't have enough time to discuss the idea it set out to tell. That is why most endings feel rushed.

I've only watched a handful of Korean movies so far, including OLDBOY and MY PS PARTNER (WHATCHA WEARIN'?). I saw OLDBOY over 15 years ago, it was my first exposure to the Korean entertainment industry. I only heard about Kdramas years later.
When I read that the West and Netflix in particular are influencing the Korean entertainment industry in a negative way (meaning violence and explicit scenes, among other things), I always have to smirk a little when I think of OLDBOY, for example.

When it comes to romances, I now prefer dramas to films. Not because there are usually less explicit scenes, but because the number of episodes gives more time for the characters and their feelings to develop.

But if I want to watch thrillers, crime thrillers or fantasy, then I enjoy watching it as a movie.

I haven't watched many Korean movies and in general I prefer Kdramas. One thing I like about movies is the opportunity it gives actors to go outside their comfort zone or outside the kdrama comfort zone. Even though I've never seen it, I've heard that Lee Jong Suk was a truly disgusting and sadistic predator in VIP. If he played such a character in a drama, not only is that a LONG time to be in the head of such a character but it might make it hard drama audiences to see him romcoms.

Then again, a show like Mouse exist and that featured some vile characters. I think a benefit of it being a drama is the time given to developing the relationships and dynamics which makes the reveals and betrayals all the wrenching for the characters (and the audience).

I keep going back and forth but a good movie can also manage great development and story telling.

I guess the freedom to tackle topics not typically used in dramas is another benefit.

I think it might be a skotch harder to compare because dramas are getting bigger budgets and more diversity so they can do movie like productions including subject.

I used to live in a city where the theaters would show Korean and Chinese movies with some regularity, and I’d see them all. Now I live in a city that almost never does 😭

At home, I’ll choose to watch a drama over a movie 90% of the time though.

Favorite movie from the theater: Exit starring Jo Jungsuk as a feckless millennial who is looked down on by his family and even the neighborhood kids for his lack of drive. But when a terror attack causes a dense fog of toxic gas to blanket the city, he (and his crush from his university rock climbing club) volunteers to stay behind so his family can be evacuated. They then have to climb from building to building to escape the rising toxic fog and to be rescued.

It was my first experience with Korean disaster comedy and I loved it! 😂

Korean films - particularly as theatrical releases - are not as readily available as kdramas.

I watch alot of kdramas (although I cannot keep up with most of my fellow beanies). I have only been able to see a few korean films.

It feels like an uneven experience.

However I feel the like the few films I have seen seem to stick with me whereas most of the dramas seem to dissolve in my memory. I don't know if that would change if I were to have access to more films.

I STILL have a vivid impression of Decision to Leave. And I only saw that once in a cinema. No re-winding favourite moments and yet I can see them in my head. I could draw them.

And so far this year, my favourite rom-com watch has been the film Single in Seoul - breezy with a bit of light satire, some nice thoughts, adult. I love its soft mocking of the hipster adult male. And its been a rom-com heavy year in kdramaland.

I watched Korean movies (from late 90s) long before venturing into Kdramas (from 2005). They are by and large two quite different experiences - and different products.

Kmovies are free from the much stricter broadcasting rules and can be very explicit in sex and extremely violent. I was sometimes quite shocked at how explicit that could be, especially after becoming a drama fan to see our genteel drama leads becoming a sex goddess or a shit pervert in movies. But that just shows the creative liberty those working in Chungmuro can enjoy. And traditionally, working in movies are more prestigious than working for broadcaster dramas. Aspiring actors will look for opportunities in Chungmuro once getting their foothold in dramas. Notable examples are Yoo Ah-in, Byun Yo-han, Kim Min-hee. Kim Tae-ri and Park Bo-young are the few exceptions that gained fame from movies before crossing over to dramas. A success in film practically brings not just fame but career options including drama offers. The same cannot be said though for successful drama leads being also successful in movies. There are many examples of mediocrity or failure.

After watching kdramas, I become more selective in watching films especially for romance and family dramas where there are more times to develop characters and the emotional relationships. It is a more satisfying watch from that perspective.

However, if you are a fan of arthouse or quirky films like me, kmovies excel in these and have a lot on offer. For movies, I tend to follow the Directors as they are a better guarantee of something good, special or unique. Film stars are not a good indicator and more often than not, disappointments. For example, it’s difficult to find a weak spot in the resume of Bong Joon-Ho, Park Chan-wook or Kim Jee-woon. And Hur Jin-ho’s romances are mostly on the mark. Two of his earlier works - Christmas in August and April Snow - are my all time favorites that I can rewatch anytime. A director to watch is Uhm Tae-hwa (brother of Uhm Tae-Gu). I watched his Concrete Utopia last week and was impressed by his script and directing blending a dystopian narrative with humility and absurdity.

In terms of genres, it’s funny that I don’t watch sageuk dramas for its length and extended set up before getting into the main story - but I can watch Korean period movies anytime. I love all three Roaring Admiral movies, War of the Arrows etc. Thrillers is another genre that Koreans do very well, almost a commercial staple.

The boundary between Kmovies and Kdrama is much blurred with global platforms now moving into the space. A lot of talks about their ‘polluting’ the kdrama content but I see it as importing some of the Kmovies content and expertise to kdrama production. I have a feeling those big players have easier access to the movie big names than knowing the local drama talents - hence, more movie directors pivoting to drama production. This trend will just continue whether...

I find movies don't stay with me. I watch them, form an opinion about whether they were good or bad, and quickly forget them.

Nowadays, TV and streaming churn out so many dramas that they're equally forgettable, but because they air over 8 weeks, I retain more of them. There's more time for me to either become obsessed or complain. This is also why I can't remember Netflix single-drop dramas because I just binge them and move on.

I like both since it still give insights on the korean culture. I actually like that actors get a lot of range by delving in both.

Korean movies are often very good, but I don't trust the endings. I don't really want to watch a romance without a HEA or HFN. Kdrama romance is more likely to have that. So I have to Iook up the ending before I'll watch it. My favorite Korean movie is Red Carpet.

There are pros and cons to both, thematically and stylistically. Sometimes the two cannot be more different, which is rather amusing. But availability angst with movies is much stronger - usually I long forget about any title I was interested in once it finally pops up subbed somewhere lol - and there's nothing I like more about cinema than being able to spend WEEKS discussing it ongoing, so my preferences always leaned significantly more to the drama side. Not that it mattered in the long run because these days I hardly watch either^^

I generally prefer k-dramas to k-films, although I've also watched fewer films so I'm sure there are lots of gems I've missed. I have seen some gems though - two favorites are Sopyonje and The King and the Clown (and yes, the fact that both are about actors/performers and traditional performance forms is definitely part of the appeal).

Having never lived in Korea, I don't have any data about the reality of movies vs dramas. But, I am surprised to hear it. At least in the US, movies and broadcast media (it's not only TV these days) has a complex relationship. Movies are quite expensive here. People psychologically only go to movies if it is something they can't get on TV. When movies were a lot cheaper, there was a much wider variety of movies made. Also, before I was born, broadcast used to not be very good because of lower budgets. Low advertising budgets would make shows have to cut corners. Now, because it is really easy to make a show, TV has really increased in quality. I think this is forcing movies to do things that are extra. Extra controversy, extra action and explosions. I would say that movies are more exaggerated than ever. And, now with streaming platforms that have even lower requirements of advertisers shows have gotten a lot more free and there is an even bigger attempt for movies to differentiate themselves from shows like Game of Thrones that had all the action, controversy, nudity etc. I think movies are trying to make themselves into a premium event now to justify the price. But, I also think this comes at a cost of making a realistic show.

I agree that Korean movies seem to have a lot more sex and violence than dramas. But, I am surprised to hear you describe it as realistic. The drinking and smoking and sex seems to be just as much of an exaggeration designed to entice an audience as the censored reality depicted in dramas.

My first, my main love will always be film. But also, I will always be in an affair with kdramaland. 🤣
However, if we get specific about "k-movies", I don't know much. I do have a bit of "history" with them tho.

3 Iron (빈집) used to be my favorite film ever until I found out the director was utter garbage (that will hurt me till I die since I was obsessed with his movies).

But I guess that made me look for and appreciate other directors.
I love the genre slice of life, and, imo, no one is better at it than east Asians. So obviously some Korean directors like Zhang Lu or Hong Sang Soo caught my attention.

But I also like the bold type, so Park Chan Wook is my type of guy. I wish that being traumatized by Oldboy didn't stop people from trying other of his works. I adore Sympathy for Lady Vengeance and Ahgassi with all my heart. I remember being obsessed with Stoker as a kid (because Nicole Kidman), but I never paid attention to the director. It really took me a while to appreciate him.

Anyway, some recs...

Slice of life:
Moonlit Winter
Ode to the Goose
Fukuoka
The Table
Our Body
A Quiet Dream
Late Autumn
House of Hummingbird

Other genres:
Voice of Violence
Zombie for sale
Intimate Strangers (remake of Italian classic Perfect Strangers)
Burning
Christmas in August
The Villainess
Secret Sunshine
Thirst

K-dramas and K-movies inhabit different worlds, I am quite convinced of that.

The biggest difference between both the streams is that K-dramas are invariably upbeat, while K-movies have this strange air of melancholy hanging over them (at least the ones that I have watched).

The one thing that truly startles me is how graphic and explicit their sexual scenes can be, that are such far cries from the usual fare of fish kisses we see that it feels they don't belong to the same country, let alone the same culture. And the violence - less said the better.

Even the saddest drama has a certain rose tinted haze, while a cute movie has a certain grittiness to it that's hard to ignore.

I largely prefer k-dramas, but there are some k-movies I liked too: Little Forest, Tune in for love, A Birth, Be with you, Emergency Declaration... And of course Parasite and Train to Busan.
And there are also some Korean movies I watched a very long time ago and I barely remember anything about them, like Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter... and Spring, or 3-Iron.

I have seen other Korean movies but I prefer to watch dramas. Honestly, k-dramas and c-dramas take most of my free time, and even though I still watch some Western series, now I see few movies in general.

I'm usually in the mood for k-dramas over k-movies. I almost have to force myself to choose a movie to expand my horizons). And I can list many more favorites among dramas, but The Man from Nowhere was an early favorite and I can always rewatch that. I'll look out for films by Park Chan-wook (I like the whole Vengeance trilogy but particularly Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance) and Bong Joon-ho (Parasite, The Host). I generally feel romances and melos are best left to dramas, but I did like Something Blue (Lee Bo-young, Kwon Sang-woo and all the tropes). Silenced with Gong Yoo and Jung Yu-mi is disturbing (I often wonder why would someone write a story about this and then I find
out it really happened) and it's not something I want to watch again but it's really well done and I can't imagine it in drama format.

I appreciate movies for being less restrictive and uncensored, but movies have so little screen time that I often wish they were a kdrama instead.

(That's why i'm really glad that streaming services have allowed korean writers to write kdramas outside of broadcast restrictions and censorship these days!)

That is not to say I always prefer kdrama over kmovie. There are a few movies that used their limited time perfect as it is and I wouldn't change anything about them. Kmovies have some of the best thrillers and horrors i've seen!

Some movies that really impressed me are: Exhuma, Forgotten, Hijacking 1971, Emergency Declaration, Memoir of a murderer (not to be confused with memories of murders, but that was great too), midnight, the merciless etc.

My fav K-movies are real works of art - Decision to Leave, Burning, Joint Security Area, The Handmaiden, Train to Busan (my first zombie movie and I loved it!)...
But I feel like I need to devote the full time and attention to watching in one sitting, so it requires more energy than plopping down with a kdrama I can stop and pickup whenever without losing any of the creative intent. So I watch kdramas much more often. Also there are many many more of them available to watch. Movies I would love to see at some point: Oldboy, Memories of Murder, The Spy Gone North, The Negotiation...

Dramas lol. I like & respect Korean actresses a lot and films generally don't give them much to do. Like if you look at the cast list of far too many Korean movies, it's a sausage party behind & in front of the cameras. Films might be less censored, but that means little to me if it's used to exploit women's bodies. For me, that's just as conservative as a drama that blurs sex toys.

But on a lighter note lol, I find it easier to finish dramas than films for some strange reason. It's like reading a book 😁

movies leave me with a shook, lasting feeling. but it depends. some dramas can also leave a strong impression. a la Flower of Evil
when the acting and material is high level it doesnt matter
but you can watch movies on big screen and it really does add a lot to the quality of the experience.

@dramaddictally Great image choice. That movie stole my soul. I watched both the versions, and I am in love with the Korean one because it brought a kind of vulnerability that Chinese one lacked. Both Nam Dami and Jeon So Nee were so good that even their gazes are imprinted on my mind. The women overshadowed Byeong Seo Wook completely, so much so that I didn't even recall who the guy was until my second watch.

As a former movie reviewer for Dramabeans and having developed a love for Korean cinema in the early '90's back when most Korean dramas were ultra cheesy and low production value, I'm quite impressed with how much Korean dramas have developed to the point where they are as good in the serial narrative space as any other major television landscape.

Korean movies are still fascinating and boundary pushing in a way that dramas might never be (although the streaming revolution has pushed that for sure), but it's no longer the "Korean" element of the mediums that really stands out to me as a distinguishing feature between them, but rather the inherent differences of the formats that we see in many cultures' developed film and television industries.

I've always been much more a film buff than a tv watcher, but the overall quality of Korean films I've seen so far has not been all that great. Of the 115 titles that I've checked off my list, I've rated just over 10% as good or excellent. I really loved these "arthouse" films:
Burning
The Handmaiden
Decision to Leave
Parasite
Mother
The Book of Fish
The Broker
3-Iron
Little Forest

I also enjoyed these more mainstream ones, though I probably won't watch them a second time:
Always
Rough Cut
The Man from Nowhere
Castaway on the Moon
The King and the Clown
Citizen of a Kind
Blind

I'll be trawling the comments for more titles to add to my watch list!

Forgot to mention one thing that movies have over drama series: no wasting time watching 6 episodes of a drama and then deciding to drop it. 🤭

As Hollywood has recently discovered, Korean movies deliver more bang for the production buck: stories are more condensed, clear and show the gritty details (social issues/class struggles/cultural problems) than rely on boilerplate scripts and tropes (that plague most k-dramas). K-movies capture the cinematic aspect of story telling.

But both did have a winning formula: a good premise, strong lead characters, tight scripts, believable climax and a final story resolution. But in recent years, the idea of theater releases should be "franchise" movies like Marvel or second seasons of TV shows seems to hinder the unique qualities of each.

I have watched some of the popular Korean movies that are on the streaming services. I am talking about movies, not serious cinema. Basically I'm avoiding anything where the violence is actually believable and might be scary. I'm probably a weirdo, but I loved watching Jeon Jong-seo "kill" everyone by hitting, shooting and burning them in Ballerina, but I could not finish Burning because the thought of anyone hurting her character was unbearable.

My partner and I had an idea we'd undertake to watch a list of great Korean films and we started with Daytime Drinking. But I still haven't seen some true greats. It isn't really about preference or thinking one is better than the other? It's about what I'm satisfying by watching. To me, it's amazing that we can have actors who participate in great cinema, real masterpieces and innovative films, in our cheesy romance dramas.