the time between dog and wolf

I’ve been more on the romantic comedy/happy-go-lucky kdrama streak recently where the line up included Only You, My Girl, My lovely Sam-Soon, and Wonderful life. Wonderful life straddles the line of happy, but i’ll post about that a bit later.

I must say before starting Time between Dog and Wolf, I was a bit hesitant. Lee Joon-gi was quite girly looking as the secondary male in My Girl….so much so that there was a scene where the main girl referred to him as uni ‘big sister’ and then all the guys in the spa were looking at him funny to see if he was a guy or girl. I thought Nam Sang-mi from Sweet Spy would be good because her acting was the saving grace opposite of Dennis Oh’s terrible acting skills. His saving grace was his looks, but watching his good looks act bad still makes your face cringe. I hear he’s getting better, but in the meantime, he should just consider modeling.

Back to why Time between Dog and Wolf is worth your time to watch:

1. Parts of it were filmed in Thailand, and I was just there. Suadeeekaaaah!

2. Lee Joon-gi looks a lot more manly and bad-ass with his boxing and fighting skillz

3. Acting from main parties is good for the most part

4. It involves secret agents and gangs…what’s not to love? Let’s be real, what little girl hasn’t fantasized about being the daughter of a gang leader?

5. If you liked Infernal Affairs or the american version The Departed, you’ll like this one

6. It’s relatively short: 16 hours…can be done in one weekend.

7. The beginning starts with an exciting car chase and flashes back. Those are always fun.

8. Creativity in story and a few refreshing twists here and there.

Now the downers:

1. Some parts are left weird and unexplained. Not to the point where it detracts from the story, but you just wonder why x was even something they brought up if they weren’t going to shed more light on it.

2. The ending/resolution was a bit short. Also not as complete as I generally like.

3. It’s definitely more action-packed and exciting and a bit heavier. Not the choice if you’re in the mood for something light and funny. People die in this one.

4. Some of the side actors annoyed me or their acting wasn’t as good.

Overall rating on scale:

Stop what you’re doing and watch right now!

A classic

You’ll like this

It’s good, but not great

Who cares about the story, the people are hot!

Got time to kill?

Where did all the pretty people go?

Only watch this if you hate yourself

living with the mek

I’m having a fun Sunday chillin’ on the couch watching TV, snacking, and doing a few loads of laundry.

I’ve been watching Living with the Mek on the Travel Channel since 3pm or so. It’s pretty interesting actually. Two dudes, Mark and Olly, go out to West Papua to hang out with the Mek tribe of the Merengman village. So far, I’ve seen them:

• get initiated into the tribe and granted their very own weewee gourds and the permission to build their own hut
• live through a possible witch sighting
• talk about the scandals of the tribe - the chief’s wife was previously married!
• build a suspension bridge over a raging river
• raise a piglet
• play with snakes
• go to a funeral

Mark is a past Captain in the Army and Olly is a journalist who documents dying cultural traditions.

The current episode is about a young girl named Feresina who everybody thinks is a witch and making the chief ill. Mark thinks that Marcus (the chief) just has malaria and the flu. The mysterious thing about the chief is that he has a really prominent scar on his nose which makes it look like his right nostril is almost entirely missing. I keep wondering what happened to him to give him that scar.

I wish they had a woman as part of the crew or show. It would be nice to cover some of those details and to see if a Western woman could handle some of the hardships they are going through. My guess is that she totally would be and would probably need to work even harder to deal.

Catch it if you see on playing. Travel Channel tends to do insane marathons so it’s easy to catch up on all the episodes.

the other boleyn girl

I caught The Other Boleyn Girl a few Fridays ago in an attempt to get a break from the germ stew I was chillin’ in at the apartment. (Germ stew = what happens when you are sick and mope around at home all day)

Bundled up and with tissues in tow I headed over to Century 20 at the Great Mall to meet up with Betsy, Lizzie, and Jane. Lizzie has actually read the book and says that it was wayyy different from the movie.

Casting

Overall the movie is casted very well with Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson (am I spelling that right?) leading the bill. Eric Bana is the wife swapping Henry VIII. His character is largely underdeveloped which makes sense because this isn’t really about *him* per se but is kind of strange because he’s such a big figure in history.

I have a special place in my heart for Catherine of Aragon. One because I like the word Aragon and two because I did a paper on her in high school. The actress that plays her does a good job of playing her with a lot of poise and respect.

I’m not a huge fan of Scarlett but she did a good enough job were I actually felt terrible for her character by the end of the movie. Natalie Portman, who plays Anne Boleyn, is freakin’ crazy in this movie. Crazy. Like really crazy.

Story

I like period dramas in general. I think its mostly the clothes. Good story but gets creepy at the end. I thought the movie felt a bit rushed once it shifted to Anne and Henry’s relationship. Previous to that the pace was good. It felt a little like the director got tired and just wrapped it up to get it over with.

Overall

Not a bad way to spend a Friday night but not a movie I would want to own or watch again.

The previews before the movie were awesome - Sex in the City, The Love Guru, and Made of Honor. I kinda wish I was watching one of those movies.

grrr the gauntlet

I’m watching the episode of the Gauntlet where Coral screws everyone over and leaves early. All I got to say is…

SWEET.

Yah whatever Coral is a bitch blah blah. Her team tried to screw her over and she got the last laugh. They deserved it. Casey’s ridiculous confessional about how Coral is old and needs a real job is lame. No offense dude but you’re on the same show. You also don’t have a real job. Maybe you should think of better comebacks. Casey signs up for MTV shows and then cries when she has to do anything related with heights. Newsflash: they do this every season please stop acting surprised.

All of the confessionals afterwards with Ev and Diem talking about how Coral is not a team player and she did this and that to Casey. Are you people idiots? Coral doesn’t owe you shit. You tried to kick her off of the team because you are all greedy and then get mad when she beats you at your own stupid game. BAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Thank you, Coral. That felt good.

hana yori dango

I’ve never watched a Japanese drama but thought I would give Hana Yori Dango a try because:

1. It has the same story as Meteor Garden which is well recommended by fellow officemate and kdrama-watcher.
2. It had a 4 star rating on TigerCinema.
3. Hey, why not.

I’ll tell you why not. I hated it. I got through about 4 episodes of this one before I gave up. The story was over the top and creepy in some cases (lick sauce off my white cowboy boots, anyone?). I realize it’s based on a manga so it was trying to pull from some of that but just because it’s in a manga doesn’t mean it should be on TV.

I couldn’t get over the fact that the male leads had A LOT of make up on. Obviously covering up some less than perfect skin. Yah, I’m terrible. I’m concerned about how people look on TV. Honestly, dramas operate on a different plane of reality. Not everyone has to be drop dead gorgeous. Buuuut if I have to look at your face for a couple dozen hours (or half a dozen in this case), I have to kind of not mind it.

Matsumoto Jun plays Doumyouji Tsukasa the King of the Bullies aka F4 (F is for flower btw). He is supposed to be a big pop icon in Japan. I seriously don’t get the appeal. Nothing has ever fell so flat for me before. He is the main reason I had to stop watching. I can’t tell if it was his character or him but I was pretty much completely turned off. I’ll have to watch Meteor Garden to compare.

No ratings here since I couldn’t bear to finish it.

thank you, kinda.

If you know me, you know that I love me a good Korean drama. The first one I ever watched was the classic ‘Winter Sonata’. This did nothing to start me on my current obsession. I found it long, drawn out, and semi-creepy. I didn’t find the leads appealing either. Fast forward several months later when my cubemate suggests I watch Autumn Love Story… I was hooked.

Many moons later I’m the owner of several Korean drama box sets and even subscribe to a DVD rental service. Like Netflix, TigerCinema lets you build a queue and sends you the next drama whenever you’re ready. This week’s drama is Thank You starring Jang Hyuk and Gong Hyo Jin.

Ratings and Basics

• Category: Melodrama, Comedy
• Episode: 16
• Tears: 4 of 5
• Laughs: 3 of 5
• Romance: 1 of 5
• Overall: 3 of 5

Story

Spring (Lee Bom) is 8 years old and lives with her mother (GHJ) and her senile grandfather. A hospital mishap 2 years earlier leaves her infected with HIV. Jang Hyuk plays Min Ki Suh an arrogant doctor who is grieving over his dead girlfriend. His dead girlfriend happens to be the doctor who accidentally gives Spring HIV. He goes to Blue Island to fulfill his dead gf’s wish of apologizing to both Spring and her mother.

To further complicate the story, Spring’s biological father Choi Suk Hyun comes back to Blue Island after an 8 year leave. He had no idea that he fathered a child and is now returning to help build a resort on the island. His mother, who knows deep inside that Spring is her granddaughter, is very mean to her and her mother.

The drama covers the prejudices against HIV/AIDS patient and single mothers and sprinkles in bits of comedy to keep the story from getting too heavy too often.

Casting

The best thing about this drama is the child star lead, Seo Shin Ae. She’s cutesy but not overly so, is a strong actress, and can handle comedy and tears with equal success. Her scenes are some of the best in the whole drama and she often outshines her adult co-stars.

GHJ (who I remember from Let’s Go to School, Sangdoo with Rain), is her normal baby faced self. Her character is much better in the beginning but turns into this weak, blubbering, boring, weepy mother at the end. Such a shame too because she really shines in the beginning.

I’ve never seen the male lead JH and I have to say I’m not really impressed. He’s dashing in the beginning but poor styling make him look grungy by the end. Hint to JH, you might want to lay off the cigs as its effects are starting to show on the pearly whites. The other male Shin Sung Rok (Choi Suk Hyun) is a bit oafish but is a good physical match to Gong Hyo Jin. Dude has some not pretty hands though. I kept noticing the bumps and bites during the close ups.

Side characters like Suk Hyun’s mom, Ji Chang, Mr Lee, and Mr Park are well casted and likeable.

Tears and Laughs and Love

The director does a good job of this. It’s a heavy topic but is well balanced by a few comedic scenes either by Mr Lee’s love Miss Song, Spring, or her ornery grandmother. My favorite scene is the one where Mr Lee bops Spring in the head with one of the toy spoons he eats with.

The last few episodes are major tear jerkers. Have a box of tissues handy.

This is not one of those dramas that’s going to make you giddy with love on your mind. They try to work this into the story but it’s not believable. Min Ki Suh ends up looking pathetic since Young Shin does little to show that she likes the poor guy at all. It’s weird because you know they are *supposed* to fall in love but even at Episode 14 you’re wondering if it’s going to happen. Then it kind of happens but it’s more awkward than sweet.

The kissing is horrible in this drama. Young Shin, in her angelic nature, is stiff as a board.

The subtitles on this one (presumably the official DVD) are… strange. Lots of translations to ‘old fart’ and even one instance of an older woman calling something ‘freakin’ awesome’. I’m not sure it really matched the tone of the drama which might have ruined it a bit for me.

Verdict

Not bad but not a must-see.

why oh why

Well, I’m suddenly a huge fan of blogging. I love my food blog but sometimes I want to talk about other randomness. Other randomness being what I’m watching on TV and, on occasion, what I catch at the theater. It’s been almost a year since I started RCC so I guess it’s not so bad that a year later I’m ready to start another one up. Enjoy!