My Unfortunate Boyfriend

Romanization: Naui Yoogamseureowoon Namjachingoo
Hangul: 나의 유감스러운 남자친구
Writer: Lee Jae-Yoon
Network: MBC Drama
Episodes: 16
Release Date: April - May, 2015

 

Plot

A love story between Yoon Tae woon (No Min woo), who always sticks to the truth, and Yoo Ji na (Yang Jin sung), who lies when necessary.

Synopsis

Well, yes, and no.

The two leads do think that way, but as for it being the plot?

No.

Has zero to do with the plot.

This is the story of two people (4, really) who start out on polar opposite paths yet are thrown together by happenstance and don't exactly hit it off right away while constantly getting in each other's way regardless.

She is desperate to get away from the parents she's looked down on for years, and he is lost in a make-believe world on account of the tragic way in which his parents had to die when he was young.

The other two are the wealthy stand-ins who get in their way for a majority of the show.

(1. a region created or considered as a state by or for a people of a particular ethnic origin -- who knew S. Korea consisted of so many separate 'countries'? I think the misguided subber meant homeTOWN)

 

My Take

 

Holy cripe, was this a yawn-fest.

Unfortunate is right with this one, let me tell you.

It never needs to be, of course, and it was odd that this (and Producer) turned out to be just that, too.

The right actors were employed, can't argue there.

But, it became painfully obvious early into this one that they were hired as eye candy and not for any amount of substance or effort.

It was another poor girl gets tangled up with two wealthy hot guys, too.

Honestly, I don't really know where to begin to explain why this didn't cut it and why I couldn't wait for it to end.

To put it bluntly yet succinctly, it was boring.

Along with the Cinderella done-to-death theme, there was the intermittent stupid music that didn't help to lighten the load or make me even want to hum along at any point.

What was Tae woon supposed to portray, anyhow? Was he - what is the PC term for retarded now? Mentally challenged? Or, was he just a completely immature adult living in his own fantasy land?

I still don't know for sure, but ugh, what a turn-off.

Tae woon acted like he was perpetually nine (and a GIRL nine at that) for all sixteen episodes, and by the fifth, I kinda wished he would have an epiphany and start acting his age at least.

By the end of episode seven, it was just too hopeless to wish for anything -- even for the story to pick up at some point.

I will admit to there being one hilarious scene with him having a helium voice, and he has to chase down a van he thinks was used to kidnap Ji na sshi. Laughed like an idiot during that scene, and for awhile afterwards, too.

And then there was the It guy with the looks, power, and money.

When I said earlier that the producers hired these guys and told them to just act cool, Yoon Hak as Kang Hee chul took it to the hilt.

He spent 98% of his on-screen time leering and posturing - nothing more.

 B.o.r.i.n.g.

It was like the director kept reminding him that he was nothing more than eye candy and to hold back on any and all attempts at giving the audience what it deserved . . . like acting ability and substance.

Too many pregnant pauses, dwelling instances, recaps, you-just-said-that moments . . . yeesh, it was bad.

One of my favorite halabeoji's, Yoon Joo sang as Boss Yoon, starred in this, but not even he was enough to turn this yawn-fest around and make it worth my while.

He always looks like he's smelling his own farts, doesn't he?

Korean Hollywood producers and director are going to have to wake up and realize that eye candy just isn't enough to make a drama worthwhile anymore.

Yes, we want to see the hot guys.

But, we also want to see the hot guys DO something. And, I for one don't want to see them doing the same, blessed thing again and again and again and again until my eyes cross and my head starts to swim.

I'm beginning to think that part of the reason why this didn't work for me is because as I mentioned in a previous review, it is all done-to-death.

If one mousy virgin gets bug-eyed when a guy leans in for a kiss, then they've all done that . . . to death.

If one mousy virgin is chased by two wealthy hot guys, then they've all been chased . . . to death.

If that same mousy virgin comes from humble stock, then they've all come from humble stock . . . to death.

If the good guy is a pussy and the bad guy isn't, then they've all behaved the same way . . . to death.

If the mousy virgin is determined to make it in the world PRIOR to meeting Mr. Goodbar, then they've all done the same damn thing . . . to infinity and beyond.

And, Lord help us all, if we've seen one Fairy Tale themed drama, then we've seen them all to death at least five lifetimes now.

Please, please, and please let's get the creative juices flowing again!

Please?

I would not recommend Unfortunate Boyfriend even if it does star Min woo.

I don't blame him for the fail, but this was just all-around wrong.

I did like that they incorporated a lot of antiquated gadgetry in this story. Record players, cassette tapes, and freaking LOVE THEM flip phones. I still use a flip phone since my eyes don't like tiny phone screens and I don't necessarily care for phones anyhow.

That bit was fun stuff.

And, one of the bit-part characters is precisely what our adorable Lee Seo jun will look like in 20 years.

               

(and then his paternal halabeoji in 60 years)

Read More

Mr. Baek

Title: 미스터 백 / Miseuteo Baek
Genre: Romance, comedy, fantasy
Episodes: 16
Broadcast network: MBC
Broadcast period: Nov to Dec, 2014

 

Main Cast

Shin Ha Kyoon as Choi Go Bong / Choi Shin Hyung Jang Na Ra as Eun Ha Soo Lee Joon as Choi Dae Han Park Ye Jin as Hong Ji Yoon

Synopsis

A conglomerate CEO in his 70s, who has known nothing but money all his life, one day suddenly turns into a young man in his 30s and after 70 years of his life, he discovers love. (DramaFever) Mr. Baek is a successful hotelier who's more interested in hoarding his money than in enjoying his golden years. But in a strange turn of events, this classic scrooge gets a second chance at life when he wakes up as a younger version of himself. With no way to prove his identity, Mr. Baek must enter his own company as a rookie and is forced to work his way up once again. With precious little time, Mr. Baek is given the opportunity to take stock of his life — and to give love a chance. (DramaWiki) An old man is given the power to age backwards, but every time he falls in love he ages forward. (DramaFever)

Judging from the above variations on the same theme, you would guess this drama is all about Mr. Baek -- old and young versions, and you wouldn't be entirely misled -- but you still are if you believe what you just read above ;-)

So, if you haven't watched this one yet, let me explain without spoiling the plot.

It IS about a wealthy hotelier in his early 70s who is as curmudgeonly, cantankerous, and stodgy as the stereotypical old man comes.

He's leaving an award ceremony and being chauffeured back home during a meteor shower when the ground opens up and his car falls inside what the subbers continue to refer to as a sink hole.

He's grasping at life AND one of the pills a doctor recently prescribed, but he mistakes a glowing blue meteor shard and swallows that instead.

This is how he reverts back to age 34 -- Korean male prime as I'm always being led to believe.

Naturally, with a premise like this one, inconsistencies, continuity issues, and just plain stupidity are bound to crop up.

 I wanted to like this one. I really did.

And for the first few episodes, I was actually riveted to the screen.

It was quite fascinating to watch this seemingly interesting concept unfold, and I was curious to know where it would all lead, too. But then the dumb stuff took center stage and I quickly lost that fascination and interest. I did, however, enjoy the theme song.

Very pretty.

First Issue

The love story.

Prior to his reverting in age, he is dumped off at one of his hotels that isn't doing so well profit-wise, and he ends up losing his glasses.

The girl -- Jang Na Ra as Eun Ha Soo -- is working with the elderly there (later we learn that it is a retirement 'hotel') when she happens upon this old man on the ground fumbling around for his specs.

She tries to help him and he pushes her away, snaps at her, and basically behaves in a way that would make any normal, sane person flip him off and walk away to let him fend for himself regardless of his age or circumstances.

But, we must remember that this is a Korean drama and therefore the perfect girl is the perfect lady who will gladly forget herself for any and all men.

She finds him a new pair of clothing, washes his hands, and mends his glasses for him.

She is also involved in the sink-hole incident because his young, handsome son has ordered her to deliver a necklace to the mansion wa-ay after office hours, and she does so without question because she doesn't want to get fired and because he's a guy and she's not.

The son is crushing on Ha soo, which translates to his treating her like shit all the time, walking all over her, making a lot of unnecessary and unreasonable demands . . . you know the drill.

She falls for his young-version father instead, though. And, this, friends, is where everything went wrong for me. He knew the whole time that it wasn't going to last, and yet . . .

Second Issue

Theme time.

The writers juxtaposed these two with Beauty and the Beast.

Can you believe it?

I can't.

I don't get these types of dramas, I don't like them, and I resent being subjected to their trite, make-believe nature when they're using supposedly real-life characters to depict said fairy tale characters.

The Acting

It was good.

A bit over-the-top on his part, but I got to know him better and like what I saw.

I adore her and probably always will. She's cute, pretty, I love her hair, and her eyes.

The voice I can do without, but that is neither here nor there.

My Take

When, I wonder, are we going to start seeing more reality-based drama filled with realistic content?

When, I wonder, will we begin to stray from this formulaic story line of one poor waif versus two hot, rich hunks?

When are they going to stop following a stale, old formula (the same way I ask when are writers going to stop doing the same thing) and start coming up with more original work?

If we've seen one drama that depicts a helpless virgin with two sexy, rich guys vying for her love & affection, we've seen them all.

All 8,603,749 of them.

And, when, for crying out loud, will we get to see nail-biter, cliff-hanger, OMG stuff again?

I get this feeling that if twelve of us Korean drama junkies got together to watch a new release, that we'd be able to foreshadow, accurately guess at, and even recite verbatim the lines prior to their being spoken.

It's just no fun anymore, watching these shows when they are all the same.

Asides

How is it humanly possible for family members to NOT be able to recognize one of their own?

Even his own son didn't recognize him as a younger man?

Am I to believe that there are zero pictures and zero family albums in the Korean household?

I mean, even the faithful chauffeur, who spent a majority of the first few episodes pointing out the fact that he'd been with this old man forEVER, and yet he wasn't able to recognize the man's younger version?

Right.

Oh, and if a DNA test comes back 100%, common sense would raise at least one red flag, wouldn't it?

The Quatrantids occur in early January. The Perseids arrive in mid August. The Geminids usually show up in mid December. So, to ask this man to go back to the scene of the accident on Christmas Day, wait for the meteorites to arrive, and then take care of business is asking an awful lot.

He'd freeze to death waiting for nothing to happen, wouldn't he?

It is also a known/proven fact that any city in any area of the world will lessen the chances of visibility.

You just don't see meteorites flashing by the night sky any more than you can accurately pick out all but two or three visible constellations, if that.

Lastly, he swallowed a meteorite shard.

Which would mean it entered his stomach, which would mean it'll eventually pass when he takes a shit.

So, the writers devised an extremely unlikely get-around-that-fact to annoy me.

I would recommend this to anyone who is interested in fairy tale dream stuff and a stale concept.

I will always hate this stupid ~pop-eye~ kiss scene

Read More

Hotel King #Review

I finally finished the 32-episode Korean drama Hotel King today.

That's right, I typed 32-episodes.

It was another of their drawn-out-deliberately dramas based entirely on ratings and not because the story needed that much time to be told.

Still, it wasn't so bad, or at least not so bad or tiring that I even once felt compelled to skip episodes just to get the thing over & done with, which says something, I think.

 

It was about a guy who started out in a rough situation after being adopted by Americans and then left on the 'mean streets' to fend for himself (LOL).

By age 11, he is picked up by a Korean man who claims to know the boy's background, and that it is the boy's duty to get revenge against the father who abandoned him.

The father in question is heir to a hotel with world-class accommodations and a higher than usual 7-star rating. The man who found the boy is cruel, vindictive, and heartless -- especially to the boy who later becomes General Manager of this hotel. 

The handsome GM believes he is the son of the hotelier and sets out to destroy him when he meets his supposed 'sister', the real heiress to this 7-star, world-class hotel.  

Lee Da hae as Ah Mo ne falls instantly for our charmer with a troubled past while he continues to ignore, resist, and finally self-abuse the budding feelings he's having for what he believes to be his own sister.

Lee Da hae is beautiful. Stuning, even. Great face, hair, eyes, and body. Amazing, really, and a good actress as well.

Long story short, a third of this story had bits of purpose, but it was still a drawn-out Korean affair filled with too much unnecessary angst, pregnant pauses, and recap to truly satisfy my need to know or want of more.

All of the cast gave stellar performances, and while I appreciate the need for levity in a 32-episode nail-biter, sometimes it came at the cost of that tension build-up while at other times it was just inappropriate or misplaced within a scene.

The main reason I chose to watch this drama was because I came from having watched the first season of Roommate in which our handsome hero, Lee Dong wook as Cha Jae wan, stars as well.

During the first Roommate season, Dong wook was filming Hotel King, which worked to intrigue me about him and the drama.

I gave this one 4 out of 5 stars at aznv.tv, where the use of Crunchyroll subs made it nearly impossible to understand what was going on due to an illegible font.

I'm unable to duplicate the issue here, but it went something like this . . .  "I&*%ll have to see if it*(^s okay to go into detail*&%s about the problem%$#s we*%@re having with the font."

Dramafever has yet to upload any episodes, which makes me think they are reworking the Crunchyroll subs so that they are perfect and legible prior to being uploaded to their superior yet expensive website.

 

Read More

신 현모양처 / Modern Housewives

I couldn't wait to get home from work today, so that I could blog about this Korean drama!

I don't know how long Mysoju has had this one in their archives, but yesterday (Sunday, January 11) was about the most pleasant day I've had in a good, long time.

I'm a huge fan of Kim Nam-jin, and it makes me sad that there is not more about him online, in magazines, or on the air.

So, to stumble upon New, Wise Mother, Good Wife was a treasure to behold, let me tell you.

Modern Housewives was an aptly labeled comedy with the right amount of episodes (10 in all) to fill an entire day with laughter and excitement at being able to stare at my Ajushi KIM for an entire day.

This was the story of a young, devoted wife/mother, Gyung Gook Hee (Kang Sung Yeon) and the subsequent demise of her marriage/life.

Her husband, Heo (Kim Ho Jin), is the stereotypical mama's boy wimp with a college degree and a steady job.
He could hardly be referred to as attractive, and yet he swaggers with the boys as if he is a jet-setting playboy with dozens of pole dancers at his beck & call.

They have saved up eight-years for their first house, and on the day that Gook Hee is supposed to sign the contract, housing prices suddenly sky-rocket, and the previous homeowner backs out of the contract.

I've guessed from watching so, many of these dramas that Korean's especially are money-happy, soulless Christians hell-bent on making it to the top in order to receive the almighty acceptance of 'society' (whatever that is).

Modern Housewives drove that point home at every turn, but it was refreshing to note that at the same time, the drama focused on the mediocre of Korean society; the work-a-day drones who eek out a living sub-par with Korean society standards.
Factory workers, convenience store clerks, and the ever-present Pojangmacha owners who seem (to me) to feed an entire nation on a daily basis and therefore should be raking in the $$$ about the equivalent of a degree-holding stuff-shirt.



Im Tae Ran (Kim Tae Yeon) enters the picture at this point, and according to the drama synopsis, her character is meant to portray the modern version of the ideal wife.
Tae Ran is a single beauty with abundant wealth, a few homes, a fancy car, and a terrific job as a screen writer.
Naturally, she's single for a good reason, and that is that she's insecure, or relying solely on her appearance to make it in the world of romance while ignoring her glaring personality flaws.
She comes between Gook and Myung Pil, anxious to have what her best friend Gook has by stealing it away with sex.

Myung Pil has no remorse for his affair, and he says some things to Gook that tore my heart apart, they were that vicious and thoughtless.

Worse though, was Gook's determination to hold on to what she is losing so rapidly, and for such a ridiculous reason as money problems.
She clung to her wayward husband, humiliated herself every chance she got, and she ran into the proverbial brick wall at every turn.
I soon began to hold out my palms to the computer screen and BEG her to ssssttttoooopppp already!

You're embarrassing yourself AND me!

It hadn't occurred to me until now that Modern Housewives was a subdued and abbreviated version of Here Comes Ajumma, but with a better cast and a more realistic storyline.
Gook lives with her immature husband, his mother, and their two, little boys in an apartment community, and the association queens play the snob-bitch part to the hilt!
They use megaphones to alert the entire community to the unacceptable ways of the less-desirable tenants (namely, those with no degree or prestigious job).
It's funny, and at the same time, sad as hell to know (or even to have to assume) that people like this actually exist in the world.

A doggy breaks into the trash, so the queen bitch gets on the horn to alert the neighbors of the fact that the undesirables have broken yet, another Association law by putting out their trash the wrong way.
Gook and three, other women creep from their apartments and converge at the dumpster to clean up the mess while complaining about the injustices heaped upon them at every turn.
Gook leaves the group to find her husband, who is at a Pojangmacha with Tae Ran, and she overhears him tell Tae Ran that he hates his wife, is embarrassed of her, and he wishes that he had never married her.
Gook returns to the girls and suggests that they go to the beach.
One of the suppressed is divorced, the other lives in fear of her abusive husband, and the third woman, Soo Duk, refers to herself in 3rd person fashion, repeating a mantra of demands that her overbearing husband makes on her.

"Soo Duk's job is to cook, and to lose weight", she keeps saying at the first-half of the drama, and believe it or not, it never gets tiring!

She's cute but slightly overweight after bringing two children into the world.

The girls arrive at the beach on the night of a full-moon, and the divorcee runs into Park Seok Doo (Kim Nam-jin).
He's a sexy college student and the son of a Korean ambassador.
Seok Doo stays on the beach with the women, and he's instantly attracted to Gook when she makes the poignant observation that his nomadic childhood must have caused him a great deal of loneliness.

AGAIN, because Gook is five (count 'em, FIVE) years older than Seok Doo, she will not even consider getting involved with his royal hunkiness.

More is the pity.

Seok Doo ends up helping the women with their personal problems while doggedly pursuing the now-free Gook-hee.
Her ex-husband loses his cool the first time that he sees her with the gorgeous Seok-doo.
There is a hilarious scene at a sauna where the two, competitive men end up together inside the locker room.
Myung Pil gasps in wide-eyed shock when Seok-doo removes his shirt, revealing his gym-bod.
Then Seok-doo drops his trousers, and Myung-pil nearly faints.

Kim's character smiled a lot, was wise beyond his years, and was multi-lingual as well as smart.
He always said the right things to Gook-hee and her friends to get them back on the right track and not let their fear overwhelm them whenever push came to shove.
One by one, they took care of their nasty other-halves while growing in wisdom and maturity.
Especially our downtrodden Ms. Gook-hee.
She could not afford to leave the apartment community, so she had to watch her husband and his mistress carry on inside their apartment.
Because Myung-pil could not get over the fact that Gook-hee was actually able to snare a hotty like Seok-doo, he ended up devoting more of his time to Gook-hee than to Tae-ran, which lent itself to more, humorous moments in Modern Housewives.

As I said earlier, Soo Duk was funny, and when her time comes to take back her life and gain some much-needed control in her marriage, she does so with absolute gusto.

She behaved mild-mannered until someone touched her, said the wrong thing, or mistreated one of her friends, and then she would turn into a raging mad-woman.
Except when it came to dealing with her (surprise, surprise) unattractive, overweight husband.
When she finally gains her independence, she attacks him in his sleep, beats him down, and with a fist aimed at him, she orders him to read & follow her list of demands.

"Call me Cutie, not fatso, and say you like my cooking."

Not since Get Karl Go have I had this much fun watching a Korean drama.
I'm at an age now where sappy, sentimental crap and sugary, bubble-gum garbage annoys me.
Teenage anything has dominated this genre (especially in Taiwan and Korea) for almost a decade now, so it's always refreshing to find something like Modern Housewives, Get Karl Go, and East of Eden to fulfill my weekly requirement of the Asian fix.

Korean's do a great job with their period drama's, too.
Kingdom of the Winds is really good, and I'll probably never get tired of watching Emperor of the Sea, either.
I prefer Japanese dramas to Korean, and as long as Hideaki Ito remains on top of his game, I should be able to enjoy mature content dramas from that part of the world, too.

Is Kaneshiro Takeshi ever going to star in a drama, btw?

Read More