Tag Archives: Kdrama

Poetry: I Loved You From Another Star by Rosebud Ben-Oni

art & illustration, books poetry lit, this & that February 26, 2016 Leave a comment

Girl waiting on bench bus stop illustration

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I Loved You from Another Star

He’s always coming back, our neighbor, never quite here.
His wife, who teaches English, will never leave Seoul,

so he’s present part-year
                               past-participle— a joke he tells without a face.

We watch
his cat Monkra who looks exactly like our cat, who also wakes him
before sunrise, whining for food. Call him Momo for short,
and we do, no questions. He deals in import-export,

never carries a briefcase, only a pamphlet
of English grammar his wife authored.

He says she doesn’t understand

what I do for a living,

that poetry is for children and nine-tailed foxes

favored in Korean dramas that he and I discuss in secret,
away from our disapproving spouses.

read more at Berfrois

Rosebud Ben-Oni

Yong Pal “Old Money” Music Video

film & television August 31, 2015 Leave a comment

Lana Del Rey’s “Old Money” + Yong Pal is an inspired combination. Gorgeous.

Yong Pal Korean Drama Review: First Impressions

film & television August 20, 2015 Comments: 4

Yong Pal

I was pretty excited for Yong Pal before it aired, because I really like Joo Won (despite not liking most of his drama choices in the past), and was intrigued by the high-energy teaser and the promise of the premise, which made it sound more than a little like City Hunter. In case you don’t know, the premise is a nutshell was: Joo Won is a doctor who moonlights as a surgeon to gangsters and criminals in order to raise money to pay his little sister’s expensive hospital fees. Kim Tae Hee is a rich heiress who lies in a (induced?) coma. Their paths cross.

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I Remember You Kdrama MV – Something I Need

film & television July 19, 2015 Leave a comment

Korean Drama Review: I Remember You aka Hello Monster

film & television July 18, 2015 Comments: 2

I remember You kdramaPosted a review of I Remember You/Hello Monster, which I am LOVING, over on my lifestyle blog.

The drama is basically a more serious Girl Who Sees Smells, with higher stakes and a higher body count, but the same tongue-in-cheek, bubbly approach to the lead couple interactions, and the same fast-paced, intricately-written approach to the crime plots.

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Korean Drama Review ‘The Time I’ve Loved You’

film & television June 29, 2015 Comments: 6

19_zpshtg8hvqqThe Time I’ve Loved You is a Korean drama remake of Taiwanese drama In Time with You, and just started airing. In Time with You, though it kind of self-destructs in its home stretch, is one of my favorite dramas, thoroughly lovely and extraordinarily well-written, that rare story that often transcends its medium to tell something real and gripping about human life and love (I wrote a full review earlier today).

The Time I’ve Loved You can be viewed one of two days: as an original story by those who haven’t seen the Taiwanese drama, and as a remake/new interpretation by those who have. Either way, I can say this: both will find it an unexceptional drama. The premise itself of two 30-something best friends who fall in love is strong, but not a guarantee of success, nor unique (9 Ends 2 Outs had the same premise). What matters is how you take that story and run with it, whether or not dialogue and music, casting, visual and pacing choices add or subtract from that premise. In this case, all those variable choices mostly subtract from it. Editing choices are odd – the drama uses an odd kaleidoscope effect to shift abruptly from past to present and back again – and the pacing is slower than in the first drama.

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Korean Drama Review: Emergency Couple

film & television June 20, 2015 1 Comment

emergency couple

Emergency Couple is a fantastic drama, fast-paced with incredible romantic nuance and an aching, so-real-it-hurts chemistry between leads Song Ji-Ho and Choi Jin-hyuk. Medical dramas always sound boring, but I’ve discovered over years of drama-watching that in fact they’re wonderful fodder for romance, mainly because it sets up the leads to work together in a high-stakes, dramatic environment in which they are constantly forced to interact.

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Korean Drama Review: ‘High Society’ First Impressions

film & television June 12, 2015 Comments: 5

high society kdrama review plot summary

High Society is a new Korean drama. It stars UEE as an heiress – the youngest daughter of a family that owns a huge corporation – and Sung Joon as as a businessman from a poor background (his mother is a cook for a rich household). I was initially interested in it partly for the cast – I love UEE and like Sung Joon – but I’m astonished to find this drama completely charming and slightly magical.

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Pop Culture Love Letter: Books, Kdramas, and more I’m Excited for in 2015

books poetry lit, film & television February 26, 2015 Leave a comment

books kdrama paper towns collage

Books

  • Queen of Fire, Anthony Ryan (Raven’s Shadow trilogy)- July 2015
  • Doors of Stone, Patrick Rothfuss (Kingkiller Chronicles) – 2015
  • Brown-Eyed Girl (Travis Family #4), Lisa Kleypas. Kleypas is one of the reigning queens of American chick lit, and her Travis Family series is her best: lightning-quick plots, a depth of character development and emotional complexity that’s rare in the genre, and giddy romance. I generally engulf these in one sitting and cannot wait for this next one
  • Vanishing Girls, Lauren Oliver – March 2015 – Oliver writes incisive, heady YA romance and sci fi, this should be another engrossing read
  • God Help the Child , Toni Morrison- April 2015 – A mother learns about the damage adults do to children and the choices children make as they grow up to suppress, express, or overcome their shame.
  • The Buried Giant, Kazuo Ishiguro- Set in Arthurian England, Ishiguro’s first novel since Never Let Me Go follows an elderly, ailing couple making a journey to their son’s village.

Music

  • Wilder Mind, Mumford and Sons’ third album, dropping May 4th

Kdrama

  • Jeju Island Gatsby. The Hong sisters, who write some of the most addicting, funny, character-driven dramas of the past ten years and are pretty much the reigning queens of dramaland as far as fandom, have another drama out in May 2015. We don’t know cast or plot yet but we do know they’re pairing up with production director Park Hong-kyun, who worked with them on my favorite of their dramas, Best Love
  • Falling for Innocence – a drama with Kim So Yeon and Jung Kyung Ho? I am on this like a rabbit to carrots. Jung Kyung Ho is an investor looking for revenge against his uncle, who took over the family company and caused the death of his father when he was a boy. Kim So Yeon is the woman he falls in love with (there’s also apparently some nonsense about him getting a heart transplant and his new heart “remembering” Kim So Yeon’s character)

Film

  • Insurgent – March
  • Fast and Furious 7 – April 3
  • Far From the Madding Crowd – May 1
  • Age of Ultron – May 1

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Thoughts While Watching the Thai Version of Full House

film & television January 31, 2015 1 Comment

fullhousethaidramaLike many people, my introduction to Asian dramas was with 2004 Korean drama classic Full House. The one, the only, the fairly low-budget, unadorned romantic comedy that has the visual appeal of a documentary and the addicting quality of peanut butter M&Ms, caramel corn and pistachios rolled into one; the drama that started the entire drama and Hallyu movement. I marathoned the whole thing in a few days, and have never looked back since as far as watching Asian television shows. I have a huge amount of affection for it, particularly certain scenes like the “meet-cute-hey-I’ll-throw-up-on-you” on the plane scene and the learning-to-ride-a-bike scene. Having said that, it’s hopelessly dated both thematically and especially in production value, so I was interested to try the recent Thai remake of the drama. Here is my very brief reaction toward episode one.

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