Time travel done right

This is not your ordinary K-drama.

I'll tell you what it's also not. The Atypical Family is not a tiresome rom-com that shambles zombie-like into a melodrama morass by episode 8. Instead it rather delicately shifts through various shades of crime caper and dark comedy with clever little twists before it hits the romance that it promises to be. It's self-aware and addresses obvious tropes with almost fourth-wall, existential humour. It manages to use time travel coherently and does not insult the viewer with unnecessary time gaps and pointless makjang.

The casting was very good at all levels and the actors delivered. I thought that the marriage fraud gang were the best of the bunch. Choi Kwang-rok was unrecognizable in a good way. Kim Su-hyun wore both the fat suit and the several iterations of her character with remarkable style. I did not find the leads truly exceptional but they were good enough and played off each other well. All of them were helped by the fact that the writers took good care of the characters and allowed them to develop their own stories so nobody was acting in a void.

The Atypical Family does many things very, very well. Above all, it does not outstay its welcome and doesn't try to scrape four more episodes off the cutting room floor.

This is what it feels like when a show's producers and writers respect their work and their audience. For that, this tough audience will rate it a solid 9/10 and will recommend it to pretty much anyone with time on their hands.

Leggi di Più

Talentless but not useless

No doubt about it. "Talentless Takano" is not just talentless. She is as dumb as a sack of doorknobs. It's a miracle that she remembers to breathe. She's not a savant or a secret genius but rather goes through the show as a serendipity magnet whose vexing idiocy is misunderstood in absurd or creative ways. Yes, it's over the top. But the OTT is what is funny as long as you can accept it for what it is and don't try to read into it intentions that aren't there.

The producers cast a competent ensemble of actors for both ordinary and silly characters. I liked how they took Nanao, who is an icon of glamour and often plays one, and let her go through a whole show without her looks being noted or having any meaning. Nanao herself seems to be having fun playing a deadpan character who makes lame platitudes and blank stares appear profound and wise.

I thought that neither the story nor the characters needed piles of development. They get the correct amount to keep them a bit interesting without asking the audience to identify or invest. The writing added enough depth to keep any characters from being one-dimensional. The ending, however, was a bit weak. It's not out of character for the series but I'd have hoped for something more satisfying. On that note, don't expect too much in the romance department.

The upbeat soundtrack is hardly my cup of tea as music goes but I found it appropriate and sensibly put together.

Should you watch it? I don't know. Takano offers the sort of detached amusement that helps me wind down and have a chuckle before bedtime. These things are hard to find for me so that may have earned it an extra point in my rating. YMMV but you can count on it being consistent. So if you didn't like episode 1 you will not like the rest and should watch something else. If episode 1 works for you you should keep going. That simple.

Leggi di Più

A little less than I hoped for

The production and the acting get full marks. The leads are at the top of their game but they don't have to carry the whole show since the rest of the cast are also pulling their weight. It's very competently directed and obviously not cheaply made. The music fits well and provides an excellent background for the emotionally intense scenes.

I don't expect every afterlife drama to be a "May I Help You?" but I was hoping for at least a "Mystic Pop-Up Bar." I did not get it here. I feel like the script was not ambitious enough and the plot got stretched too thinly towards the end. I feel that the makjang missed the spot as often as it hit it. And it suffers from one of my pet peeves, which is the leads constantly running off into danger alone *after* they find out that they're stronger together.

Midnight Studio is well made and bingeworthy but it's not exceptional. It's missing that certain je ne sais quoi of originality that would set it apart from the crowd. Still, you would not be wasting your time watching it.

Leggi di Più

Fluffy and thoughtful

Fluffy and thoughtful... and that is exactly how I like my J-dramas. It strays outside the romantic comedy box quite often but does not suffer for it.

I liked the casting and thought that the characters were well designed and very believable. Each was credibly played by their actor. There are no extras. Every character is permitted to have their independent story and say their personal piece.

I had not seen Hirose Alice in anything before and was a bit surprised to see that her background was in modelling and not the stage. She's much more than just a pretty face with a big grin and the directing made her look very good. Her performance was confident and her expressions were right on. Her motion and personality could fill the screen. As a lead she impressed me and I'll certainly watch her again.

If you like underdog stories, noona romances, or college ensembles I highly recommend this series.

Leggi di Più

Half a drama

So many weird feelings about this drama. Initially my heart skipped a beat when I heard the FL wake up to Deep Purple blaring out her phone speakers. Yes, the Japanese love DP Mk.II as much as I do. But that's as far as my love affair went before it became as flat as the nine episodes that followed. I came back several times after finishing it to ponder where Nagisa-san went wrong. The flaw was in the storyline and the writing... but where?

An uncompromising workaholic is suddenly surrounded by eligible bachelors the moment someone strong-arms her into contemplating marriage. She says yes to everyone and everything and then tries to blow them off. In order to achieve that she digs herself a hole of lies that are lame and annoying with no redeeming comedic value. Her choices occupy a spectrum between romantic and transactional but even the most romantic option is at best a mildly enamored 5/10 on the passion scale. Her love life gave me more anxiety than entertainment value. It was like watching a stock market ticker. It doesn't have a happy ending. It doesn't have a sad ending. The bell goes DING! and you can breathe out as you've broken even for the day. That kind of ending.

And here's what I finally figured out: What I watched was half a drama. This drama ends where a typical J-drama contract marriage story begins. The nature of the relationship that the leads enter at the end needs, well, a whole other drama to fill in and complete the story. The half-assed recap "special" only left more questions.

Should you watch it? With a drama that features so many well-acted nice people and green flags I really want to like it and recommend it for the characters. Unfortunately, even as the characters develop, the whole principal arc goes sideways and disappears into a parallel universe. I'd really like to say that you should watch it but... well... meh, do as you please. I dunno.

Leggi di Più

Not much more than a series recap

This is 20 minutes *tops* of original footage about a single married couple's argument and its resolution. It also wraps up some supporting characters' arcs that ought to have been given ten minutes in the main series. The rest is recaps and flashbacks to the main series. It is strictly for completists and for viewers who don't plan to sit through nine episodes of fairly average J-drama.

If you're already watched "Watashi no Kaseifu Nagisa-san" you can skip this since it adds almost nothing to their story and you might wear out your fast forward button. If you set your standards for post-wedding specials by "Nigeru wa Haji da ga Yaku ni Tatsu" like I did you will feel ashamed for having watched this one. It's a half-baked Episode 10 rather than a Special and that was the only sensible way for Netflix to present it after acquiring the drama for the international market.

[This review was brought to you by the "I watched it so you won't have to" squad]

Leggi di Più

A drama with no clear identity or purpose

The story was an indecisive plot about a bunch of high school friends being indecisive until, ten years after graduation, their pent-up emotions force them to half-heartedly act. I'm not sure what the message was. And, while I like the ensemble style, I am not persuaded that those five people really knew each other like inseparable high school buddies should so I felt that the backstory had some really thin spots.

I'd have been content if it had lived up to the potential of being a light drama about the healing power of love and baseball. Instead it spends too much time in slice-of-life melodrama territory before it decides to blindside us with random resolutions while leaving us hanging on the main plotlines until the last second. And I got a case of SLS for Miyabe-san. Whoever tried so hard to make her character look creepy and pathetic: You failed and I don't like you!

It was competently acted but I think the directors failed to use the leads' strengths as physical actors who can fill the screen with motion. All that static, tight cinematography did not let them show their best.

I wouldn't watch it again and can't say that I really recommend it. Even for fans of the leads you're not missing out if you skip it.

Leggi di Più

AV with training wheels

I can't really explain why I watched this. Between episodes of Racket Boys and My Holo Love, neither of which I adore, I started browsing random crap on MDL and found, well, about as random crap as random crap gets. I've no idea if it's been subbed in English pero lo encontró con subtítulos en español and that's good enough for me.

Since it does say "ecchi" in the listed prequel title, it's a bit of yeah well, what was I expecting and why was I not paying attention. My only excuse is that My Holo Love really numbs the mind and I was side-watching a football match on another screen. But mostly I think it was because the 6.2 rating felt like a challenge.

So it's less about the plot and more about the fact that it features two women in their 20s who look very nice in lingerie and a handsome guy who takes his shirt off maybe twice. I used the fast forward button a lot since most of the dialogue featured their friends giving the couple of virgins, and then beginners, bad sex advice, and most of the sex was in the dark or behind an aquarium. Much of the discussion about the lead couple's sex life took place between the office, nomikai, and the yoga studio as a matter of public interest.

Assuming that I was looking for something light and dumb to watch between episodes of something else, I was right on the money. The only thing lighter than the, uh, action was the plot. It's not that you expect to "read these things for the articles" but this is thin.

Should you watch it? Well, unless you have a thing for live action adaptations of manga with busty ladies, probably not. No, make that definitely not. Or even good God, no!

Leggi di Più

A little of everything, not enough of anything

This is the sort of drama you sort of watch while doing your taxes. The romance was light and conducted at arm's length with stereotypical Japanese reserve. Age differences were mentioned and then forgotten. The leads were nice and seemed to work together well. I really disliked the SML. He struck me as controlling and manipulative even when he was being sincere and I expect that this character could trigger some viewers. None of the other characters mattered. And if someone put a comedy tag on it they made a mistake.

It's an unambitious production. The cast are experienced and competent but not much was demanded of them. The sets, directing, and photography were good enough but will win no awards.

This drama checked the boxes but has no highlights. At a self-aware 10x23 minutes (counting the final episode as two) long it could have been condensed into a mediocre movie without much effort. Really, if you want to enjoy it at all you should summon your inner gourmand and treat it as food porn. The imam bayildi will impress you more than the plot.

Leggi di Più

Mercifully short

This is a reject from the "I watched it so you don't have to" department. It's "This is so bad you gotta see it" material.

The script lurches forward randomly trying to condense a bad 16-episode rom-com into 40 minutes of airtime. I could not figure out if there was a love triangle that tripped my gaydar or if it was straight up BL with some random chick thrown in to confuse things. Based on the last episode I think it's trying to be heterosexual.

The acting is only charitably described as such. "David Shin" has one acting credit. It should remain that way for all eternity. The other two were far from that bad but they won't be passing my auditions any time soon.

The music was taken from a tape of insurance company hold music that one of the producers probably stole from their day job.

Bottom line: I gave it one point for being mercifully short. You should absolutely watch it and prank your friends into watching it, too.

Leggi di Più

More than the sum of its parts

In the footsteps and in the spirit of the late filmmaker Chi Po-lin, A Thousand Goodnights weaves the story of a people into the story of a land. As expected and as required, the cinematography makes the island of Taiwan the true star and that is what you should really come to see.

Did you come for romance? While individual characters come close and their hearts meet, romance is not the point. The romance is with the land and with the notion of home. People love and live within that context. This is more about reconciliation, about healing both the land and the people.

The story begins with a travelogue that becomes more charming every episode. Each destination raises questions and the determination of the leads to answer all of them and find closure is beautifully portrayed. The way in which the characters grow together is natural and organic and reminds us that love does not need to have fireworks. I was not terribly fond of the Yilan arc from ep 14 to 18, which had much family melodrama, but the story recovers and I had no regrets about watching it in the end.

The casting was, as far as I can tell, careless and not done by expert hands. The acting was very uneven and by far the weakest part of the series. I only really loved Yao Ai-ning and Yang Jie-mei in their parts, and the old veteran Chen Bo-zheng was acting circles around the whole lot of them. I really, really did not even want to look at Lu Bei-an's character. My biggest problem, though, was that I could never bring myself to like the lead even though I liked the character's design. I don't like her looks, I don't like her acting, and something was so weird about her elocution that it sounded off even to someone like me who is not at all intimate with spoken Mandarin.

I don't usually make separate mention of the music but this one contained a rather interesting mix of both soaring and intimate documentary music with songs about romance and longing mixed in. Just when you think you're getting tired of the piano in the background it does something to make you forget that it's there.

I felt that this series was created by artists who wanted nothing more than to pay tribute to a master of the arts and to tell me what they love about their people and the country they live in. So yes, I'm scoring some of its individual components lower but in the end it's about how much I liked it and I am also rating the work for the vision and the heart that went into it.

Leggi di Più

Perhaps the greatest work of one of the greatest masters

I do understand that this work is on MDL more for completeness than for its fanbase, which is why it's rated lower than Divorce Attorney Shin. It should still be given the respect it deserves.

The basic plot of Ran is similar to King Lear: one ruler, three heirs, tragedy ensues. It's set in approximately 16th century Japan.

For me this is a film with no flaws. Kurosawa-sensei had a huge vision and a tremendous eye for detail.

The casting was perfect. The acting was inspired. The sets and costumes were nothing short of spectacular. The battle scenes were sweeping and raw. The intrigue was both credible and unbelievably well executed.

The truth is that I don't have enough superlatives to describe Ran. "Epic" doesn't even begin to cover it. But so many prominent critics have studied it that my opinion serves only to introduce viewers who may not know about it.

If nothing else, watching this film is an art history lesson. I first watched it as a teenager and it opened my eyes to what cinema as an art can do.

Leggi di Più

This belongs on your list of police dramas to watch

Cops and teamwork, always a winner, right? Pretty close in this case. The good cops are pretty damn pure and the dirty cops are as "Signal"-level filthy as can be. If that's how you like them, "Crash" is indeed a winner. The only thing that really detracts from the experience of watching it is Disney's 14 minutes of farkin' ads per episode.

The story is fairly standard but well put together. I liked the traffic setting, which placed the action outside and on the road a lot. The character writing is not wholly original but damn well made. It really has everything you expect from a Korean police drama. The pace is fast but the plot does not leave the characters behind. In fact the development of the storyline and that of the characters are unusually well balanced. If anything suffered, it was the car transmissions that were asked to do impossible things in reverse. I'll have to ding it a bit for wrapping lines up a bit too early and leaving the final episode hanging around like an awkward epilogue. But with everything else packed pretty tight into 11 episodes they did leave their options open to use it as a segue into a second run.

The casting was near perfect, heroes and villains alike, with one notable large fly in the milk. UNPOPULAR OPINION: Lee Min-ki still can't act his way out of a wet paper bag. This show was an opportunity to shine for many of the male actors as Heo-Seong-tae and Ha Seong-kwang were perfect fits for their roles. Hyo Ji-won and Kang Go-doong played one of the most perfect ever pairs of despicable, overprivileged little turds. On the other side, Kwak Seon-yeong looked like she was having the time of her life in her role. Overall (except for That One Guy who has no idea what "fun" looks like) everyone looked like they were having *fun* acting in this show.

I'll recommend "Crash" to anyone who digs a cop show where the good guys are Good, the bad guys are Bad, and the car chases are wild and absurd.

Leggi di Più

Meandering and light but not awful

It's a chameleon of a show. It begins with fart jokes and shocking truths. It morphs into a low-key romance. Eventually the light comedy dissipates in favour of a standard healing drama. The character interactions are good and the backstories are robust, but the situations are not terribly credible and the main relationship looks like more of a background story than a stand-out plotline.

On the cast and acting side I though that it was generally good but both leads were the weakest link. In a show that should have been filled with both laughter and vexation you'd look to the actors' eyes for the key expressions. These two looked like they'd just come off a botox treatment so neither joy nor mortification successfully crossed their faces. Apart from Joo Jong-hyuk, who did very well as the SML, I though that the best performances came from the people who were not seasoned drama actors, those characters being Director Yeon, I-na, and the kid.

Also on the upside, nobody gets stabbed. I find it weird that I have to mention it but that's the K-drama world for you.

Waste of time? No, not really even if I did not rate it highly myself. It's more in the line of "Love is for Suckers" than "My Lovely Liar" so you'll get some mileage out of it if you're looking for light viewing and light romance and are content with a 7/10 show.

Leggi di Più