I saw God Once When I Was Little

I just finished skimming episode 31 of Gloria, and I have to say: The Fab Four (JJ, KS, YS, DA) are so smart. At the same time they are breaking my heart. As for Creepy - he has got to go. Like now. Some spoiler-filled thoughts follow the cut:


( Everyone knows that if you want the girl,you have to stalk her and ruin her life )

This past week I finally got around to watching the first two episodes of this new Korean drama. I was a bit worried about this one, not because of the horrible ratings, but because the last time Group Eight did a Japanese manga adaption, it was Boys Before Flowers. And, I think we all know what a train wreak that drama became during its second half. Of course, it did have one thing going for it: the director, Hwang In Roe, who directed The Return of Iljimae and Goong. Still, my flist has been buzzing about it, so I gave it a go.


And the verdict. . .it's kind of adorable and awesome. Seriously, this is a very underrated show!



( A kiss is forever )

This is a drama that I've had mixed feelings on for a long while. While I liked the premise: fusion-period drama with a touch of Hana Kimi; plus, the previews made me think of Hong Gili Dong, Hana Kimi, and even a little bit of Goong. Still, I wasn't sure if this drama was for me. I wondered if it would take itself too seriously or it it would focus too much on comedy and forget its historical aspects. The fact that the male lead, Micky Yoo Chun, hadn't really acted before didn't help matters. Despite my nervousness, I watched the first two episodes with English subtitles Friday afternoon.


The first episode was. . .a disappointment. I found myself rather bored throughout the episode, and ended up fast forwarding quite a bit. I had several issues with the episode, and wasn't sure if I should go on with episode two. But, since I already had the episode and subtitles, I decided to keep going. After all, I do try to give a show four to six episodes to impress me. And, I liked the second episode a bit more. It had a bit more comedy and I was really seeing the Hana Kimi-ness of it. I don't love the show, but I'm enjoying it.


( some spoiler-filled thoughts )

A Good Day For the Wind to Blow is a daily Korean sitcom that airs Monday thru Friday on KBS1. It airs at 20:25 o'clock and is the usual daily sitcom fare - a show about a middle class family and a plucky girl who changes them. Or something. The show is described as a romantic family sitcom and so far it is living up to that.


The thing about daily sitcoms is they last 100+ episodes, with each episodes being between thirty and thirty-five minutes. It's a bit like watching five or six seasons on an American sitcom, only instead of watching over a period of five/six years, you're watching over a period of five or six months.


The basic plot of A Good Day. . . is the story of nineteen year-old Kwon Oh Bok who dreams of become an illustrator. Despite hardships (her mother died when she was young and her father is a bum whose always leaving her in debt)Oh Bok remains very optimistic. One day she meets Jang Dae Han and sparks fly. At first they dislike each other (it is a Korean drama), but they end up working together and slowly a connection and mutual respect grows into something more. Sadly, things aren't that easy for them due to a multitude of reasons.


Dae Han also has two siblings and their complicated love lives and search for what they want to do in life make up the show's side plots.


( If you leave your lover for seven years without a word don't be surprised to find them married when you come back )




My feelings on this show are very simple - if you fast forward through the boring parts - it's a rather addictive little show. It's a fun little thing. Actually, it reminds me, at times, of American/British soap operas - lots of sweet moments among twists and turns and weird 'WTF?' type moments and plot turns - and totally addictive.


Still, I'm mostly watching for Oh Bok (Kim So Eun - Boys Before Flowers) and Dae Han (Jin Yi Han - Who Are You?) and their adorableness. It's good because I can watch two-four episodes a week and it only takes me an hour.


At this point I do rec it if you're in the mood for sweetness and a touch of angst. But, after episode 90, we'll see if that rec changes.

Ages ago I watched a 'one-off' pilot for a show called Being Human. It was a fairly straight-forward concept - three 20-somethings live together in a house and cope with life. There was, however, a twist - the 20-somethings were a vampire, werewolf, and ghost. The creator of the show, Toby Whithouse, originally envisioned the show being about a sex-addict (the vampire), a man with anger issues (werewolf), and a woman suffering from Agoraphobia (the ghost). He later changed it to include the sci-fi/fantasy/horror elements. Whithouse decided that all the horror stuff - vampires, werewolves, ghost would be used as metaphors for the addicts and issues that people face.

The pilot, which was meant to be a sixty minute one-off, (if it was popular there would be a chance for a pick-up, but it could stand alone) aired in early February of 2008. It became a huge hit with fans and critics alike.


So, BBC 3 picked up for a series of six episodes that aired from January 2009 until March of that same year. (Some changes to the cast were made as the creators decided to 'go less Gothic' with the vampires and some of the actors' options had expired.) The show returned for a second series of eight episodes in January of 2010 and ended in February of 2010. Filming has begun on series three, which should air in January of 2011.


Now, I'd like to give my thoughts on both series. I watched the pilot a week after it aired and watched series one as it aired. But, I didn't watch series two until this past week for various reasons which I'll mention.

( I've got this friend. He says the human condition, human nature, being human, is to be cold and alone. Like someone lost in the woods. It's safe to say he's a 'glass-is-half-empty' kind of guy )


Overall I recommended this series to those on my flist. Though, I think I'm a bit late as I believe most on my flist have watched this series. My overall score for both series (and the pilot) is a solid B+.

While it may seem like all I do is watch Asian dramas, that’s not true. I’m also a huge fan of British television, and not just Doctor Who. Way back in 2006, I started watching Life on Mars and fell in love with it. I ate both series up and could not wait for new episodes. I was actually really sad to see it end, and though there is Ashes to Ashes (which I’ve only watched three episodes of) it’s just not the same.


There was something special about the show. I even did fanvids for it and wrote a crossover fic with Sam and River Tam!

To quote one of the producers: ”It’s the thinking man’s Doctor Who.”. Recently, I’ve started a rewatch of the show and actually watched all sixteen episodes in two and a half days. In honor of this, I decided to do a bit of a pimp post for the drama. My hope is that at least one person reads this post (because it will take a lot of work) and that at least one person gives the show a shot after reading this.

Stars: John Simm as Sam Tyler; Philip Glenister as Gene Hunt; Liz White as Annie Cartwright; Dean Andrews (Ray Carling); Marshall Lancaster (Chris Skelton)


( My name is Sam Tyler )

I have a bit of a thing for human dramas, especially those that deal with a family or a tight group of friends. So, while looking for something to watch, I recently came across the 2002 drama Tentai Kansoku (Searchin' for My Polestar ). It honestly sounded like a rip-off of a John Hughes film. But, upon farther reading, I discovered that, in Japan, it is most often compared to the early 1990 dramas about college life – like Ai to iu Nano Moto ni (1992) and Asunaro Hakusho (1993).

The story follows seven twenty-five year olds, who were all college friends. Now, three years out of university, they discover that the world isn’t as perfect as they thought it would be. They are each dealt harsh realities when they realize that a person can’t always hold onto their dreams. Plus, it is really unquie in tme ump – we miss all four years of their clloge life (expect for the first week and the summer trip) and then we time jup three years after graduation. This makes things fascinating in that we viewers have a lot of things to fll in: how did this happen? Why does ths person feel ths way about that event? Et, etc.


( Read more... )

I finally finished this wuxia drama last night, and I have to say that I did enjoy it. However, I think it was unbelievably slow at times and there were a lot of storylines that either bored me or that I felt were unneeded. I'm speaking about the overall show here, but I have to say that it seemed (to me) that a lot of things started happening in the final two discs that were a bit, well, not to my liking - Chu Cheng's stuff mostly. Of course, this is just my opinion and I've read plenty of reviews that list this show as a favorite.



In all honestly (and I'm sure many fans of the show will disagree) a lot of my frustration with the story came from the characters themselves. There was a lot of moments were I just wanted to shake or slap a character for being so stupid or cruel.


MAJOR Spoilers for the WHOLE SERIES follow!



( best friends talk about their women woes at the river of emo )



Finally, I just want to say that while this series had its issues, overall it was a fun watch. The action scenes were fun, the character moments were often meaningful and memorable, and the overall feel of the show was a good one. I would say that while this isn't a top ten (or even a top twenty) favorite, it is a show that I could see myself revisiting in the future. It's a good 'starter' wuxia, and as I've only seen a few wuxia series, this was one that I enjoyed.

I finally sat down and watched the second disc of Romance of Red Dust, which had episodes six thru ten. I know it's still fairly early in the series, yet I cannot help being slightly underwhelmed. The actors are all playing their roles well, the sets are nice enough, and I see a lot of potential in certain things. But, I can't help feel that their is something off. Maybe it's Chu Chen near Mary-Sue-ness? Or the quick pace of some storylines and the slow pace of others?



( spoiler filled thoughts )

From May 8th to May 10th, I watched all 12 episodes of the FOX show Dollhouse. Mostly because so many people on my f-list wanted it and mostly because I heard Alan Tudyk was guest staring in episodes eleven and twelve; I’ve been an Alan Tudyk fan since 2001/2002, so I had to watch. Now, I did watch the pilot, because I’ve enjoyed some of Joss Whedon’s other work (Firefly, Serenity, the first five and a half (or so) seasons of Buffy, the first two seasons of Angel), but – I turned it off about twenty minutes in.




Going into the episodes, I knew very little. I knew Eliza Dushku (Echo) was the star and a producer. I knew what I had seen was not the original pilot (is it ever with FOX?) and I knew that it was about these “Actives/Dolls” remembering themselves. Basically, I knew the plot and a few complaints that fans had with the show (slow pacing, weird slave/rape vibe in episodes, to name a few.)





Well, after watching the episodes, more or less back to back, I can safely saw the show has promise and it has a lot of issues that need to be worked out. For one thing: the first five episodes lacked focus. For another the Echo character is just a bit . . . well, focused on quite a bit. There are times when she’s Mary-Sue- ish and all her imprints seem to be the same – I blame writing and Dushku not being a strong enough actress at this point in her career. Also, Ballard’s increasingly creepy obsession with saving Caroline is . . . well, creepy. Very very creepy.





I’m actually less creeped out by John Conner having a thing for his Terminator protector, Cameron. I was less creped out when Jun Matsumoto and Nana Eikura were twins who made out. There’s just something freaky about a grown man being obsessed with a woman he’s never met and then wanting to ‘save’ her, while (maybe?) knowing that when she has no ‘imprint’, she’s basically, you know, a two year old.





But, I digress. I watched the episodes and have some thoughts. There were, as I said, some good and some bad points. And no, I don't think everyone will agree with me. But, I do hope we can all be adult about this.




( Did I fall asleep? )





With all of that said, I do think Dollhouse had/has potential. The show needs a lot of tweaking. A lot of tweaking. Plots need to be more even – this is mean to be ‘ensemble’ than ‘The Echo and Ballard Show’. Characters need to be reworked a bit. And the writing needs to be tighter – because some episodes had scenes that worked beautifully and other scenes that were just a mess.


I’ve read that FOX will only renew Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles or Dollhouse. Because God knows you can’t have more than one futuristic sci-fi show. And honestly, while I enjoyed both (more or less on the Dollhouse front) and while I agree that both need some work (TSCC less so, as they’ve had more episodes to work it out – they’re building a new mythology people. They go slow because of that. Dollhouse went slow to show Dolls having dates with people who are, like, two seconds from being perverts.) I would, personally, pick TSCC at this point. Besides, its overall ratings were (apparently) more solid. To be fair, I may do this with TSCC. Because, at the end of the day - I still cannot figure out if I like the show or just the actors/some of the characters. But, I know I adored everything a bout TSCC.