armyvetswife

[armyvetswife]

My 2 Cents worth on Faith, Time Travel and the “Failure to Communicate”

At the danger of getting "yelled at", I freely admit that I wasn't too fond of Lee Min-ho's character (Gu Jun-Pyo) in 'Boys over Flowers'. If you've read my very first "2 Cents worth" you'll know that I was rooting for Jan-Di to end up with Yoon Ji-Hoo. But while I was browsing through pictures of some of my favorite Kdrama stars on Pinterest, I just happened to come across a picture of Lee Min-ho that immediately caught my attention. I prefer the historical and fantasy Kdramas and that picture appeared to be from one of those.

Usually, I pick which movies or series' to watch based on whether or not they star any of my favorites, but since Lee Min-ho hadn't ranked in that "favorites" category for me yet, I had overlooked this particular series. Took me awhile to find it too, since people on Pinterest have a bad habit of posting pictures without any kind of descriptions. Yet on the other hand, that is sometimes also a "blessing in disguise" because I found several Kdramas and also Cdramas worth watching, that I might not have noticed if it hadn't been for having to spend a few hours, trying to match a picture to a name.

So, in this case, Lee Min-ho's picture led me to the Kdrama 'Faith' and I have to say that it took me less than 2 full episodes to add Lee Min-ho to my "favorites" list. Absolutely LOVE him in the role as the King's bodyguard, Choi Young, and it's a difference as night and day to the character of Gu Jun-Pyo.

Now, for some reason, 'Faith' has received several rather "lukewarm" reviews, which I really don't understand. For me personally, it ranks right up in the top 5 on my ever-growing list of favorite Kdramas. I loved the time-travel aspect in 'Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo' (still holding out hope for a season 2 on that one), and 'Faith' has a similar story-line....though with the added possibility of being able to travel back and forth through time...and a (in my opinion) more satisfying ending.

But getting back to Lee Min-ho for a moment where, in 'Boys over Flowers' I felt the urge several times to kick or smack Gu Jun-Pyo, while in 'Faith' I just wanted to hug Choi Young whenever he was faced with the difficult choice between his duty as bodyguard, protecting the King, or protecting Eun Soo (the female plastic surgeon he brought back from the 21st century to save the Queen). Absolute kudos to Lee Min-ho for the way he portrayed the character of Choi Young, especially in scenes where his duty as the King's bodyguard forced him to kill adversaries.

Min-ho was able to perfectly convey the reluctance with which Choi Young fulfilled his promise to protect the King (and also the Queen), and as the story progresses this reluctance becomes more and more obvious.  The meaning of the "sword getting too heavy" seemed to have eluded some people, judging by a few snide comments I read, but of course everybody is entitled to their own opinion. Mine is that 'Faith' is a wonderful story and most definitely worth watching and I would love to see Lee Min-ho in more historical Kdramas.

One more thought....is it just me, or has anyone else noticed that there seems to be one common aspect in ALL of the Kdramas (and the Cdramas I've watched too) and that would be the "failure to communicate". In every movie and series I've watched so far, the characters talk to each other all the time, BUT NOBODY ever says WHAT they need to say, WHEN they need to say it! Have you ever yelled at the TV (or whatever device you're binge-watching on) "Tell her that you love her!" or "Tell him that you love him!", because it's so obvious that they're in love and it's driving you nuts that they just won't say it? How many misunderstandings could be avoided if people would just say WHAT they should say, WHEN they should say it? But I guess that's what "drama" is all about and what keeps us glued to our screens....ironically, since many of us probably have enough real-life drama to deal with in our own lives, and even more ironically often caused by the same kind of a "failure to communicate".  

[armyvetswife]

My 2 cents worth on “Screen Rage”

I'm guessing everyone is familiar with the term "Road Rage", right? (If not, then Google it) But I think we need to coin a new term...... "SCREEN RAGE"!

What's "Screen Rage", you ask? Well, kindly allow me return the question. Have you ever watched something, whether on TV, computer/laptop, tablet/iPad or cell phone, that made you so mad that you wanted to punch, kick, beat or throw something at whatever kind of screen you're watching it on? Come on, admit it, folks...who hasn't (at least once) sat there and actually screamed at the TV, at whatever you were watching that just sent your blood pressure through the roof? I gladly admit that I've always had a bad habit of yelling at the TV (or computer, or whatever gadget I might be using), but I also have to...not-so-gladly...admit that, when I started to watch Kdramas, that bad habit stepped up to a whole new level. And that level is what I can only describe as "Screen Rage".

Now, if you read my very first post here, then you might notice I made mention that I don't care much for the Chinese dramas, mostly because of the overdone effects such as "normal" people (well, however "normal" we humans are) soaring through the air or having super-human abilities. However, in the meantime I've discovered that the Fantasy Cdramas are rather beautiful, and of course characters like fairies, wizards, gods/godesses and dieties can have all kinds of magical powers. So in the cases of the Fantasy stories I have no problem with overdone effects.

Bad enough that Kdramas were starting to be a hazard to my laptop screen's health, even though I had so far managed to restrain myself from punching it (came very close though, with Queen Yoo, Prince Wang So's mother, in 'Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo').  But today that "screen rage" just wouldn't stay contained any longer and I actually threw a punch at one of the characters...or better say at my laptop's screen.

Absolutely ridiculous, right? I guess I could have just turned it off, which would have probably been the more reasonable thing to do, but at the time that thought didn't even cross my mind. Luckily, the laptop's screen is fine, I finished watching (for today anyway) and my blood pressure is mostly back to at least halfway save level.

You know it's an incredible story and the writers, directors and ESPECIALLY actors have done an awesome job when you get so worked up that you end up trying to punch one of the characters on the screen. Yelling at the TV or computer screen is nothing new for me, but actually throwing a punch at a character was definitely a first. Am I going to quit watching? Absolutely NOT! At least not as long as there is still an intact screen somewhere in the house. SHOULD I quit watching? Well, it would probably be beneficial to my nerves and blood pressure, but....Nah!

Oh, and in case you're wondering what I was watching and who the character was that drove me over the edge... is was the 'Eternal Love - Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms' series and if you watch (or have watched) it, then I'd be surprised if you don't also get the overwhelming urge to punch the character of concubine (consort) Su Jin at one time or another.

As a couple of afterthoughts, I didn't care too much for the movie version of the 'Eternal Love' series, called 'Once Upon a Time', as it failed to fully convey the intensity of the characters' emotions (love and hate) that made the series so nerve-racking. But then again, I guess it's quite difficult to stuff 70,300 years of true love into an hour and 45 minutes of movie.

Also, along with 'Eternal Love - Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms' (the series), the fantasy Cdramas 'Ashes of Love' and 'The Flame's Daughter' are definitely worth watching. Zhang Binbin (aka Vin Zhang), who stars in both 'Eternal Love' and 'The Flame's Daughter' looks gorgeous, even as Ghost Lord with his horns. 

[armyvetswife]

My 2 cents worth on Warrior Baek Dong Soo

First off, I need to issue a  *** SPOILER ALERT ***! So, if you haven't watched the series yet, then please DO NOT continue reading if you don't want any clues as to what happens or how it ends. I'll try not to give too much away, but some things just need to be mentioned to explain why I feel about this series the way I do.

From other comments and blogs I've read, it seems that opinions are vastly divided into 2 categories - those who LOVED this series and those who HATED it. There doesn't seem to be much middle-ground at all. I'm slightly in the middle, but leaning strongly toward the group that ended up hating it. Why? Well, for several reasons...and I know I'll probably get "yelled at" by people who loved the series, but these are just my personal thoughts on it and I hope you will allow me to be entitled to my own opinion, just as you are entitled to yours.

That said, I actually had planned NOT TO watch it at all, after I'd come across a music video that showed clips of the final episode. But then again, I really wanted to see it since it starred 2 of my favorite actors, Hong Jong-Hyun (as Prince Heir/King Jeongjo) and Yoo Seung-Ho (as Yeo Woon). On one hand I'm almost glad I knew what would happen, on the other hand it felt like watching the Titanic movie and hoping that the ship would NOT sink at the end...and we all know how that turned out, right?

Part of what really bothered me about this series was the way it portrayed Baek Dong-Soo who, according to the description in Wikipedia.org, was an actual historical figure and Korean folk hero. Not sure how accurate any historical account of him are, but in the first 5 episodes of the series Baek Dong-Soo is portrayed first as a big-mouth, know-it-all, "full-of-himself" kid who likes to (as we say around here) "let his alligator moth override his hummingbird a**", or more politically correct, likes to "talk the talk but can't walk the walk". After all, 17 fights - 17 losses against Yeo Woon (according to their friend Yang Cho-Rip's count in episode 5) isn't really anything to brag about. And by the time the boys are in their 20s in episode 6, that count is up to 1378 to 0 wins in favor of Yeo Woon, while Baek Dong-Soo's character is still bragging about his own capabilities...and not only in front of his friends, but also in front of his teachers and elders. To me personally, this became more than just a little annoying and actually made me stop watching the series for quite some time.

(On a side-note here and to give him at least some credit, Dong-Soo did also do some good deeds in those earlier episodes, like saving Jin-Joo from the burning building and saving Cho-Rip from drowning, but for me that didn't quite make up for his otherwise arrogant character).

Eventually I broke down and, even knowing that I would absolutely HATE the ending, watched the remaining episodes. Luckily, starting at episode 16, the character of Baek Dong-Soo had become more likeable and more "grown-up" after having been trained by the "Sword Saint".

I know I'm not the only one whose favorite character in the series was and still is Yeo Woon. And even knowing what would happen in the end, I found myself holding out hope that Woon would be turned back from the assassin's path.

There has been a lot of discussion about what caused Yeo Woon to "turn to the dark side" (choose the path of an assassin) to begin with and most people like to lay blame for it solely on Woon's drunk, abusive father. But - again at the danger of getting "yelled at" - I have to lay some blame for this on Dong-Soo. WHAT IF, in episode 3 when Woon asked Dong-Soo to be friends with him and even the girl, Jin-Joo, suggested that they should be friends, Dong-Soo hadn't just simply rejected him? Would things maybe have turned out different? Not sure how accurate the translation is as, "Hey...do you think that I, Baek Dong-Soo, make friends with just anybody?", but I know it really made me cringe. I actually felt myself enjoying the fact that Dong-Soo got his butt kicked, every time he picked another fight with Yeo Woon. And later on in the series, when both of them are grown and Dong-Soo realizes that Woon had become part of the Heuksa Chorong assassin's guild, he promises Woon several times that he wouldn't "give up on him", but somehow it seemed to me that he didn't try hard enough to keep that promise. Of course Dong-Soo didn't realize until much too late that Woon had been helping him all along, but if you're truly trying to save a friend, you have to give it your all, no matter what!

Even having previously seen a clip of the ending, I still had a few minutes of real enjoyment in the final episode when everything seemed to have been worked out. But that quickly turned into total shock when the absolute LAST person I would ever have suspected (Yang Cho-Rip) was the one to mess it all up again. And if that wasn't bad enough, then Yeo Woon's own Heuksa Chorong people who, until then, had loyally followed every one of his orders, acted on their own and made matters even worse with a failed effort to protect Woon, which ultimately led to the terrible ending.

So overall, this series has so far been my absolute LEAST favorite of the Kdramas I have watched, and if it hadn't been for Yoo Seung-Ho's superb performance (and also Park Gun-Tae as the younger version of Yeo Woon), I would not have kept watching until the end and saved myself several boxes of tissues.

R.I.P Yeo Woon

Hey screen writers...have some mercy on us Kdrama addicts, will you? Most of us would prefer much more happy endings!!!

[armyvetswife]

My 2 cents worth on Kdramas

So, earlier this year (2018) my 12-year-old granddaughter turned me on to Kdramas.

Started out with 'Boys over Flowers' in January and we're still arguing about which one of the guys Jan-Di should have ended up with....Gu Jun-Pyo or Yoon Ji-Hoo. Since I'm a sucker for the whole Soul Mate thing (been married to my own soul mate for over 30 years) and Ji-Hoo became my favorite right from the start, I actually wasn't too happy with the way things turned out in the end.

But that's all beside the point and the only thing that matters is that it only took this one series to get me completely and absolutely "hooked" on Kdramas.

Since Kim Hyun Joong became my first favorite as Ji-Hoo, I started looking up other parts he starred in and came across 'Inspiring Generation'. Wow! What a difference! The character of Shin Jung-Tae is just about as opposite of Ji-Hoo as it can possibly get. But I guess that's what makes a truly great actor, and Kim Hyun Joong was simply amazing playing the part....even though it bothered me to see that handsome face getting beat up way too much.

But then it was also 'Inspiring Generation' where I found what would become my next favorite...Song Jae Rim, in the character of Mo Il-Hwa.

I can't quite pinpoint what it was that endeared me to that part, but of course I had to once again look for other Kdramas, featuring Song Jae Rim. And that's when I came across 'Moon embracing the Sun' with Song Jae Rim as the King's swordsman, Woon.

Absolutely loved Jae Rim in that part and still do, even after having watched the entire series about a dozen times by now. I also liked Song Jae Rim in 'Goodbye Mr. Black', even though his wasn't a main character role, but didn't care much for the part of a hitman/killer Mr. Kim he played in 'Two Weeks' since I really don't like my favs playing "bad guys". Of course, watching 'Two Weeks' made me find another new favorite...Lee Joon Gi

Okay, so I just said I don't like my favs playing "bad guys", but the main character, Jang Tae-San, isn't really a bad "bad guy" and if that story doesn't tear up your heart, then you better check if you still have one.

I actually had to do something I usually NEVER do...about half-way through the series I had to watch the final episode to see how it turns out, just so my old nerves could take watching the rest of the story. Yeah, I know...terrible, isn't it? Don't worry, I got more than an earful about it from my granddaughter, and I promise to never do it again! ;)

But while I thought that it could not possibly get any better than Lee Joon Gi's performance in 'Two Weeks', I quickly found out that I was wrong when I watched 'Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo' next. OH, MY...!!! Not only is Joon Gi with long hair pure eye-candy (to me at least), but he absolutely nailed the part of Prince Wang So. 

Ladies, how many of you were ready to strangle Wang So's mother with your bare hands. I definitely was! And what's the big deal about that scar? I guess it's because Princes had to be "perfect", but come on...  Scars are just proof that you were stronger than whatever or whoever it was that tried to kill you. And apparently back then the phrase "chicks dig scars" was unheard of. And also apparently I'm not the only one who wasn't happy at all with the way the story ended, considering there are numerous fan videos on YouTube with different, happier endings. I got more than just a little upset with Hae Soo for leaving Wang So. How could she not see that he was trying his best to NOT become some blood-thirsty tyrant??

Anyway, after only about 3 days of some serious editing work, the final episode in my own DVD collection of 'Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo' has a much happier ending now...many thanks to Daria Zyuzina who created the wonderful fan video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oj0r9zE5Le8) where Wang So finds Hae Soo in the future. And like so many other fans, I'm also still hoping for a Season 2 with this kind of scenario.

On another note to 'Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo'... aside from the despicable character of Queen Yoo (Prince Wang So's mother, who treats him like s**t), my other least-favorite character is Prince Wang Yo (Wang So's biological brother, and also a son of Queen Yoo). However, while I hated the character, actor Hong Jong Hyun did an excellent job portraying the mean, spiteful, conniving 3rd Prince. But if you're like me, you would much more enjoy seeing Hong Jong Hyun in the role of Wang Rin in 'The King in Love'

or, even better, as Seo Chan Hwi, the vice-commander of the Royal Guard in 'Jeon Woo Chi'

(that is, if you can get into things like wizards and magic and tolerate some occasionally slightly over-done special effects of people flying through the air and such...BUT at least in 'Jeon Woo Chi' ONLY the wizards have that ability, unlike in some of the Chinese dramas where seemingly anybody can have such super-human abilities...if you ever watched 'General and I', you might understand what I'm talking about... I couldn't make it past a trailer that had a fight scene between Chu Beijie and He Xia, but that's just me, I guess).

As far as wizards and magic are concerned, however, I did very much enjoy the ones in 'Mirror of the Witch' aka 'Secret Healer' and my favorite character there ended up being the Taoist Yo Gwang, played by Lee Yi Kyung.

Don't ask me why, I just found him adorable (maybe because he was so awkward, dealing with the girl  Soon Deuk who clearly has a crush on him). SPOILER ALERT -- 'Mirror of the Witch' has a rather bitter-sweet ending!

I want to get back to Lee Joon Gi for a moment since I just finished the 'Lawless Lawyer' series....which is an excellent nail-biter and I had to seriously restrain myself NOT TO watch the final episode first again. If you've seen it, tell me is it just me or did you think too that Joon Gi looked too skinny in that series? Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying at all that he looked "bad" in any way and his performance was awesome as usual...I just felt that he looked like he'd lost a whole bunch of weight and "celebrity life" was taking its toll on him. Kind of worries me, because I would definitely like to see him in many more future performances.

I still have some Lee Joon Gi binge-watching left over for now, since the only other movies and series I made it through so far were 'Iljimae', 'Arang and the Magistrate', 'Gunman in Joseon' and of course 'The King and the Clown' (which was way too sad for my taste). But most likely 'Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo' will always be my absolute favorite and I'll keep hoping for a 2nd season...even though that will probably just remain wishful thinking for myself and many others, but we can always hope, right?

Some of my other favs I’d like to mention would be Kwak Dong Yeon as swordsman Kim Byung-Yeon in 'Moonlight drawn by Clouds' aka 'Love in the Moonlight'

and he also played an excellent part as young Shin Jung-Tae in 'Inspiring Generation'.

Then there is Seo In Guk for his outstanding performances as Prince Gwang-Hae in 'The King's Face'

and also as Lee Hyun / David Lee in 'I Remember You' aka 'Hello Monster'.

An excellent yet unfortunately somewhat overlooked performance of Kim Jae Young as Moo-Yeon in ‘100 Days my Prince’

And last (for now) but certainly not least is Jung Il Woo whose sad role as Prince Yang-Myung in 'Moon embracing the Sun' cost me plenty of tissues,

but required even more of them in 'The Return of Iljimae' (even though it has a happier ending for Jung Il Woo’s character)

I'll probably get "yelled at" for saying this, but I honestly have a hard time deciding whom I liked better...Lee Joon Gi as Iljimae in 'Iljimae: The Phantom Thief', or Jung Il Woo as Iljimae in 'The Return of Iljimae'. (Sorry, Joon Gi, but be assured that you'll still always be my #1 fav).

So, thanks to my granddaughter, back to some more binge-watching...hey, I got to blame someone else for things not getting done around the house, right? ;)