Blog Archives

Strong Girl Bong Soon

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Posted on August 21, 2022 by Alison

Co-posted at Still Just Alison

TV series – 16 episodes

This is for all the women who want some vicarious ‘beating the crap out of everyone who’s ever looked at me sideways’ enjoyment. It’s also a whole sack full of fun even if you don’t have the urge to pummel anyone.

Do Bong Soon (Park Bo-young) is tiny, perky, and possessed of the superhuman strength that runs in the females in her family. Park brings an effervescence to the role … (read more)

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The Master’s Sun

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Posted on August 14, 2022 by Alison

Co-posted at Still Just Alison

TV series – 17 episodes

This is just stitched together from a whole steaming pile of wrong. It can’t seem to decide what it is, so it veers between Cinderella rom com, mystery, and episodic ghost series, while never managing to be good at any of them.

Then there’s the acting and characterisation. Some of the actors manage, although the script doesn’t give them much to work with, but the male lead is like a … (read more)

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My Shy Boss

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Posted on August 7, 2022 by Alison

Co-posted at Still Just Alison

TV drama – 16 episodes

The world’s most introverted over-thinker meets the world’s most outspoken non-thinker – what could go wrong?

Fortunately it gets better than that, because if it was just “Genius introvert falls in love with pushy extrovert”, I don’t think I could have stuck it, Sandeul soundtrack or no. I spent the first couple of episodes wanting to slap the female lead, because the character was so incredibly annoying. Most humans with … (read more)

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You’re All Surrounded

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Posted on July 31, 2022 by Alison

Co-posted at Still Just Alison

TV drama – 20 episodes

It looked like just another cop drama, but this little gem ticked all the boxes on my Cracking Good Series bingo card.

For starters, the cast: Lee Seung-gi as Kim Ji-yong/Eun Dae-gu, whose mother was murdered in front of his eyes when he was 15, carries his role with a restrained intensity that starts at “To hell with the lot of you” and never flags. He often seems on the … (read more)

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You Are Beautiful

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Posted on July 24, 2022 by Alison

Co-posted at Still Just Alison

TV drama – 16 episodes

Everyone involved in this debacle should cower under the Doona of Shame for all eternity. I’m even embarrassed to say I watched it.

What a complete dogs’ breakfast – the script was woeful, frequently relying on the execrable tactic of character soliloquies to reveal important plot points & describe feelings, saving all that tedious acting nonsense you might see in other K-drama.

Maybe this was because the acting was so … (read more)

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Secret Garden

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Posted on July 17, 2022 by Alison

Co-posted at Still Just Alison

TV drama – 20 episodes

Japan may have Godzilla, but Korea has an equally fearsome monster. The chaebol mama may not trample buildings, but she has a shriek that can shatter glass, and is equally destructive of anyone who stops her doing whatever she wants.

Anyone who watches this expecting to see another Captain Ri Jeong Hyeok from Crash Landing on You will be sadly disappointed – as this was before Hyun Bin’s military service, … (read more)

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Space Sweepers (2021)

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Posted on February 18, 2022 by Andrew

Space Sweepers is a big budget B movie. A Korean made and led, but globally minded space adventure the likes of which I have not really come across before. Chinese blockbuster The Wandering Earth bears some resemblance in looks, but is very different in feel. Tonally Space Sweepers faintly recalls a variety of animated properties. The crew of the ship Victory work as space janitors, like in Planetes, but it’s a much showier affair that turns tense and meticulous … (read more)

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Rampant (2018)

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Posted on October 18, 2021 by Andrew

South Korea’s zombie train rolls on, as the undead plague continues to spread through pop culture. After Train to Busan went off like box office gangbusters, others were quick to start piling on the potential for a juicy slab of the screen market. Take for instance the hit Netflix series Kingdom, wherein Kim Eun-hee adapted the webcomic Kingdom of the Gods she helped create and which is a strong contender for the genesis of the South Korean strain of … (read more)

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