themusinggirlsa

[themusinggirlsa]

NEW YOUTUBE VIDEO ALERT!

Check out my vlog of a week of filming for the KBS (Korean Broadcasting Station) TV Show “Quiz On Korea 2022”.

저 드디어 KBS월드 2022년 퀴즈온코리아 브이로그 제 유튜브 채널에 올렸습니다~

Not only did the quiz test my knowledge of Korean history, society, culture, K-Pop, etc. but I also got the fantastic opportunity to meet #GOT7’s #BamBam.💚

GOT7 has been my favorite K-Pop group since 2016. So, this was huge for me!

한국의 모든것이 대한 퀴즈이였는데, 제가 제일 좋아하는 아이돌 그룹 갓세븐의 뱀뱀도 만나게 되었어요! 💚

More than anything, I enjoyed meeting friends from so many diverse countries and traveling Korea with them.😊

Make sure to watch the full video for the whole experience!

무엇보다 다양한 나라에서 온 친구들이 사귈 수 있었다는 점 제일 좋았아요.😊

영상은 아래 링크에서 확인해보세요~ 자막도 있습니다~

[themusinggirlsa]

Some wholesome content of me teaching my kids at English Winter Camp here in Korea!

[themusinggirlsa]

#springintospring2020 Challenge Day 21

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DISCLAIMER: THERE WILL BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! 

 Check out my final thoughts  on the Netflix series in my Itaewon Class review!

[themusinggirlsa]

Yes, I’ve still had to go to work everyday even amidst the coronavirus outbreak . Yes, that’s even though the school semester has been delayed. No, children are not coming to school. So what am I doing? Desk-warming lol. What is desk-warming?

[themusinggirlsa]

Interested in teaching in South Korea through the EPIK program? Here’s a video of 5 simple hacks to help you pass your EPIK interview! Not going to teach through EPIK or in Korea? No problem, I’m sure some of this advice can apply to any ESL interview that you may have to do to teach English abroad.

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Netflix Love Is Blind Review/Rant

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Candyman Movie Trailer Reaction

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DPR LIVE Legacy Official MV Reaction

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BTS 방탄소년단 'ON' Official MV Reaction | I’m Jungshook!

[themusinggirlsa]

I found your parasite review rlly interesting because I saw the movie so differently. I viewed the system as the parasite because the rich were placed in a bubble of ignorance due to their wealth(allowing them to leach off of other’s to better their lives without any regard for them) while the poor were driven to desperate(and selfish) actions due their lack of wealth. Neither are evil, both made immoral, victims of the parasitic system. Loved the interesting points urs brought up in contrast!

Oh very interesting perspective too! I definitely agree and can see it that way. This is the awesome thing about a film like Parasite that allows itself to be open to symbolic interpretation! :D

[themusinggirlsa]

There’s Someone For Everyone - YOU Season 2 Review

Series Title: YOU

Origin and Year of Release: USA (2019)

Starring: Penn Badgley, Victoria Pedretti, Ambyr Childers, Jenna Ortega

Genre: Crime thriller

I can’t believe that this was the show to bring back the cheesy way of saying I love you, by replacing the word love with a random thing. So teen Tumblr years, I wolf it. 

Regardless, after my obsession with our protagonist in the previous season, this time he uproots the very essence of his character to an ill-fitting Los Angeles. He’s a fish out of water with a resolve to be better. No more obsessive relationships and killing for the sake of them this season. No, Joe. We’re going to be better! 

Until we’re not...

But this time, he becomes the target of someone else’s affections, even though he doesn’t know it yet. 

Joe remains a lovable mystery. We love him, but we have no idea why. He’s after all done terrible things, but now we love his redeeming qualities that are constantly being put to the test.

We want to get rid of the things and people that will make Joe a bad person, which is a way of justifying his behaviour yet again. You Season 2 is basically You Season 1. In a good way. A similar set up with a new environment and new character, as well as exploring a new character arc for our protagonist. 

Without saying too much, the final episodes become a transition to the third season instead of a conclusion to the second. Joe finally meets his match and kinda meets the thing he’s been desiring since season 1. But he doesn’t seem to want it anymore. Moreover, he seems too intimidated by it.

I personally can’t even conclude how I feel about the second season. All I can do is hope that the third one makes it make sense.

[themusinggirlsa]

Parasite Review | 기생충 리뷰 (with spoilers)

Movie Title: Parasite (기생충)

Origin and Year of Release: South Korea (2019)

Written and Directed by: Bong Joon Ho (봉준호)

Starring: Song Kang Ho, Lee Sun Kyun, Cho Yeo Jeong, Choi Woo Sik, Park So Dam, Lee Jung Eun, Jang Hye Jin (송강호, 이순견, 초여정, 최우식, 박소담, 이정은, 장은진) 

Genre: Black comedy thriller

I was one of the people who was late to the Parasite watch party, and only watched it after it won its Oscar, despite it being on my to-watch list months before. I’m aware that watching an award-winning film after it has won that award may mean that you have a pre-conceived idea that the film is good, but I cannot fault this film on anything. It was so captivating and I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the screen.

Realism. I love realistic cinema and Parasite is exactly that. Real. 

The film showcases the societal hierarchy and wealth disparity that is ever-present in Korean society, below the shiny Hallyu surface.

A family trying their best to survive, is forced to become parasitic. Ironic considering that the wealthy often look down at poor people as parasites, often pinning them as lazy or unfortunate, but Parasite shows us the survival edge of the parasitic sword. Whether their survival techniques are the best choice or not is however up for debate.

But Parasite is about more than just a symbolic title and a hierarchical motif. The film investigates humanity and the selfish side of the human persona, be it something “less significant” such as starting a relationship with the girl your friend likes or something big like almost killing a woman by using her allergy against her and framing her for having a disease.

It plays on consequence and shows that not every action has an equal reaction. That some retaliations are not from a place of pure vengeance but simply a selfish desire to live. The film makes you question whether the antagonists are evil or not by rooting their actions in the deep reality of their circumstance. 

The cinematography and sound design are clean and crisp, not overly-dramatized, to keep these characters sunken into every second of their reality, without ever taking away from the choices they constantly have to make. It doesn’t allow them to question morality but rather echoes the sentiment that justice (in terms of inequality) is the only matter of importance. We can ask whether it was the right thing to do, after we reap the rewards of what we have done.

After the chaotic climax (which I will not mention for the sake of not spoiling it) we once again only face the consequences of the characters’ actions after everything has hit the fan. We’re left with a mystery about what happens to the main perpetrator, who after self-introspection assigns their own justice. 

The parasites are exterminated or returned to a non-beneficial place and we are left uncertain but concerned about where they will find their next host, regardless of the morality of their previous actions.

Overall, I’d watch this movie again and again and again. Big ups to Korean film, you’ve always been a goodie but now more of the world can see that.

[themusinggirlsa]

Check out my honest review of my first time attending a Monsta X Fan Concert! 

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Disclaimer: I didn’t take the second image. Credits to the original owner.

http://www.korea.net/NewsFocus/Culture/view?articleId=117901 

VINCENT VAN GOGH MUSICAL REVIEW (빈센트 반 고흐) 

So this was my first time attending a musical in Korea. I went to see it alone on New Years Eve because I didn’t want to go partying lol. 

I’ll begin with why I chose to see it in the first place. I had been wanting to go to a musical for a while and after perusing Interpark, Van Gogh’s story appealed to me the most. I had been fascinated by his story for a while, but had never done any proper research on it.

It was a fairly easy choice, actually. However, I couldn’t shake the intimidation of seeing a musical in Korea alone. Would it be completely in Korean? The site promised that there would be English subtitles. Which there were not.

I am not usually someone who feels entitled to English in a homogenous country, but I do believe that a promise is a promise. I cannot deny the fact that I was slightly disappointed by the lack thereof. Luckily for me, I have a pretty decent understanding of Korean and my listening and comprehension are pretty good. I understood the play for the most part, but felt like I was missing a lot of tiny details that would have completed the experience.

For the rest of this review, check out my YouTube video and vlog about the experience:

https://youtu.be/wdOZ_w7pzpk 

[themusinggirlsa]

What Happens When You Take Away an Influencer’s Influence?

Movie Title: Airplane Mode (Modo Avião)

Origin and Year of Release: Brazil (2020)

Written by: Renato Fagundes and Alice Name-Bomtempo

Directed by: César Rodrigues

Starring:  Larissa Manoela, Erasmo Carlos, Katiuscia Canoro, André Frambach and Dani Ornellas

Genre: Comedy, Coming-of-Age

I seem to be watching a lot of coming-of-age or, at least, coming-of-character films formed around the grandparent as an archetypal mentor. Hmm? I Wonder what that means?

This film was your typical coming-of-age story. We have a bratty protagonist who gets removed from her toxic environment and thrown into a location linked to her heritage or something of the like. Completely out of their comfort zone, they become victims of circumstance, that quickly become changed-for-the-better holistic individuals. Think Emma Roberts in Wild Child. Exactly the same character arc.

As for Ana, her character arc was on-the-nose and predictable, not at all assisted by the reinforcement from obvious dialogue.

To be honest, you’ll get the feeling that you’ve seen this film before when you watch it.

It’s sweet and novel, but nothing overly original. Particularly when it comes to movies that surround the theme of fashion, social media and coming-of-age.

The one thing that I’d say is different (I’m not sure if this is a case of under-developed character or just a fresh twist) is the role of the archetypal mentor. Her grandfather.

This might be an unpopular opinion, but I felt that instead of a powerful mentor figure, he just served as a vehicle or provider of an environment that would drive her change.

This is good in the sense that it means she transforms herself more as a character, rather than being transformed by everyone around her excluding herself. Yay for females, on film screens, who can make decisions for themselves.

Overall, it’s a cute movie and we’re not mad at the protagonist, but we’re also not impressed enough to watch it ever again.

[themusinggirlsa]

Exploring Jecheon | Waffles and a Cute Doll-making Cafe | Third Biggest ...