Category Archives: film & television
New Trailer Roundup: American Heist, Disney’s Cinderella, Al Pacino in Danny Collins
American Heist. For a second I thought “this could be good!” and then…Hayden Christensen. Also, old warhorse of a premise and extraordinarily bad dialogue. I love Adrien Brody, and heist films, but this isn’t for me.
Disney’s live-action Cinderella, starring Lily James and Cate Blanchett. It looks cute but unexceptional, though casting Cate Blanchett as the evil stepmother was a stroke of genius, and great soundtrack
Danny Collins starring Al Pacino. This is a “meh” for me – it’s probably charming and I may watch it on DVD
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Benedict Cumberbatch Rare Interview: On Fame, Sherlock, and Being a Sex Icon
Benedict Cumberbatch gave a rare, and stellar, interview to Vulture
“And so he has vivid memories of watching his life change not just very quickly but literally over the course of Sherlock’s first 88-minute episode in 2010. “I sort of knew I’d be stepping into the limelight, because it’s such an iconic character,” he says. “But none of us had any idea about what kind of success we’d have on our hands, and it shocked all of us. That first night it aired in England, my God! I wasn’t really aware of this internet TV culture, because I hadn’t really dabbled in a series or something with a potential cult following, like a Doctor Who or a Downton Abbey. But when the internet exploded with this live, immediate audience reaction, it was like being in a theater of millions of people.”
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Once Upon a Time..A World of Magic
Once Upon a Time has really stepped it up with the special effects this season. 
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Kdrama Review: ‘Discovery of Romance’ First Impressions
Since there’s no almost no good dramas currently airing, I hit up Tumblr for older drama recommendations and got Discovery of Romance suggested. I’m two episodes in and finding it very charming. Eric and Jung Yoo Mi previously starred in the classic drama Que Sera Sera together, but as I haven’t seen that (it’s apparently very dark and features a slightly abusive relationship) I had nothing to go on. After two episodes I would say that while they don’t have extraordinary chemistry, and the chemistry they do have is more of the “cute and sweet” variety rather than “crackling and simmering”, what they do have is a very natural, convincing dynamic together. Side note: my gold standard forever for physical chemistry onscreen is Yoon Eun Hye and Kang Ji Hwan in Lie to Me. Which is totally unfair to all other drama couples since their scorching chemistry was on another planetary level entirely.
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Loving The Flash
Let’s take a pause for a minute for me to say that if you’re not watching The Flash you should start because it a blast of fun with a charismatic lead and strong writing. I love it. 
Lover, fighter, boy next door….Barry Allen, hero
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Korean Drama Roundup/Review: Birth of a Beauty, Pride and Prejudice, Liar Game, Iron Man
It’s a dark season for new television. On both sides of the pond – and in this case by “pond” I don’t mean England and the United States but Korea and the United States – the new series that have debuted in the fall have almost universally been disappointments. Here in the U.S., the overwhelming majority of good (and highly-rated television) currently on is the returning favorites, and among the few new successful shows are How to Get Away with Murder and The Flash. The dramas that have premiered and aired in the past few months have also almost all been disappointments, and at this point I’m just impatiently waiting for Pinocchio (starring my love Park Shin Hye!) later this month, Healer in December, and Jekyll, Hyde (starring Hyun Bin!) in January.
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Bring the Chemistry with Anne Shirley and Gibert Blythe – Web Series Adaptation Green Gables Fables
Did you know there’s a webseries adaptation of Anne of Green Gables? I don’t like the whole thing, but the episodes with Gilbert are fantastic – so much chemistry between the lead actors, and well-written dialogue and good staging. YUM.
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Two Upcoming Web Series Based on Mansfield Park and Midsummer Night’s dReam
The creators of University Ever After are debuting A Midsemester’s Night’s Dream in late October. I didn’t like University Ever After, which was muddled and a little dull with far too many characters, so I’m a little hesitant going into it, but I do think that college is a perfect setting for the madcap events, general insomnia, and obsession with romance that characterize the story, so on that level I’m excited.
Follow the Tumblr and subscribe to the Youtube channel.
And, Foot in the Door Theatre is debuting From Mansfield with Love on December 3! There’s not much info yet – “from Mansfield With Love is a contemporary adaptation of Mansfield Park by Jane Austen, and is produced by UK – based company Foot in the Door Theatre.”
Follow on Tumblr and there’s a website and a Twitter. This I am excited for 🙂
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Kdrama Review: Iron Man/Blade Man starring Lee Dong Wook and Shin Se Kyung
The most puzzling thing about this slightly odd drama is that it’s not based on a manwha. It seems tailor-made to have been based on one of the melodramatic, romantic manwhas that are so often the rage in Korea and Japan. And yet it’s an original creation from screenwriter Kim Kyu Wan – to which all I can say is, you got grit, to break from the tailor-made drama template most screenwriters use in this way. Kim Kyu Wan tends to write problematic dramas with a lot of potential, like Cinderella’s Sister and Robber. Iron Man centers on Joo Hong Bin (Lee Dong Wook), the oddball CEO of a hugely successful game company (video games, not board games). A chance encounter with Son Se Dong, an aspiring game designer, and the unexpected appearance of a young son he didn’t know existed, turns Hong Bin’s world upside down.
Coffee and Irony 