Big Disappointment

Well, the title says it all, really.  I stuck through to the bitter end.  Let me be clear, this was no Mary Stayed Out All Night level of suckitude, but I really expected more out of the Hong Sisters. 

You know what this felt like?  As though they had written up notes for the characters and plotlines but something happened and they had to pull in a ghost writer.  Because it just did not feel like their show.  It was just...off.  I don't blame them for trying something new, but it didn't work and I hope that going forward there were lessons learned from this.  A lot of people thought Best Love/Greatest Love was just...too much (Not me! But people. Out there.  In the interwebs.) Maybe they responded to that criticism by pulling back too much. 

Let's face it, Gong Yoo is awesome but he can't carry the weight of the entire show.  But darn he was cute. 

So onward and upward.  I wrapped up Protect the Boss.  I can recommend that drama for people who are just looking for something pleasant.  There's not a lot of angst and the characters are really likeable. It was a nice change and I'm glad I watched it.

Right now I'm all about Faith and Haeundae Lovers and am heavily drawn to Arang and the Magistrate. My schedule will probably be ramping up again soon so I just don't know if I have the time.  So many dramas... 

What Are You Watching?

I haven't posted in a while.  Real life has gotten in the way and I am seriously behind on my dramas.  Queen In-hyun's Man/The Queen and I is seriously tempting me to start.  Crazy!  I can't even manage to watch the dramas already on my list. But how can I resist the drama that caused the infamous Fan Meeting to End All Fan Meetings?    I need a day that I can do some serious marathoning. 


Big is a lot of fun, if not the cracktastic rollercoaster ride you normally see from the Hong Sisters.  Admittedly, a lot of the time it coasts on Gong Yoo's charisma and abs.  I Do, I Do I'm really enjoying, even though I don't get the romantic pay off there that I get from Big.  Protect the Boss I'm really lagging on and I'm still too traumatized by King 2 Hearts to pick City Hunter back up again. 


How about you guys?  What are you watching?

Full House Wrap-Up

Full House is an older drama, from 2004.  It stars Rain as actor Lee Young-Jae and Song Hye-kyo as aspiring writer Han Ji-Eun.   


The first few episodes of this drama were really hard for me to take.  The premise is ridiculous in that the lead character gets scammed out of her house and all her money and possessions by her best friends but does not put them in jail because they are going to have a baby.  This all happens in the first episode so I'm not spoiling anything by telling you this, just giving you a heads up because if that sort of scenario is likely to make the top of your head fly off in a rage you may want to avoid this drama.


I'm putting in a jump because this is long.  Mild spoilers follow...

I Do, I Do (through episode 4)

This drama is really unusual.  At least, maybe, my reaction to it is unusual because it may just be me.  But I'm not really feeling the love line but I am completely invested in the two female leads.  

A lot of K-dramas have trouble with the heroines.  Sometimes they are nothing more than a cardboard cut out that reacts to the hero but we have trouble understanding what motivates them or why they are feeling what the audience is told they feel.  And as for the B female lead, well usually she's just a crazy, clingy chick who puts the E in Emotional Disorder. 

The reason I'm digging I Do, I Do is that both women are becoming very compelling in their own right, away and apart from the male leads and their story lines, particularly when they are together. A lot of this is the writing, but I think you really have to credit the actresses, Kim Sun-ah and Lim Soo-hyang.

Spoilers after the jump...

Geek Post #2: It's Taboo

Language is a mirror that reflects the culture that produces it.  

In George Orwell’s 1984, one of the goals of Big Brother is to reduce vocabulary because a broad vocabulary can convey complex thought.  If you don’t want people to think, limit their ability to communicate.

Part of the complexity that language communicates is the history of a people and the way they think, for example the taboos that they have embraced.   A common taboo among humans is left-handedness.  

About 10% of the world population are left-handed.  Apparently that’s just the right number to freak history right the heck out because it’s a taboo that is extremely common in languages around the world.  

This is kind of long, so the rest of the post is after the jump...

Too. Many. Dramas.

I'm watching 5 dramas.  Drama overload.  There aren't enough hours in the day.  


City Hunter I haven't watched since a certain event in King2Hearts because the drama is hurtling toward its endgame and I'm still traumatized from K2H.  If anything bad happens I can't take it.  So rom-coms it is! I'll come back to it because it's really good but I've got to be ready for it. 


Protect the Boss I'm really enjoying, but it's been spinning its wheels the last couple of episodes so I picked up Full House thinking I wasn't going to watch anything currently airing and I wanted to see something a little more old school. 


Foolish, foolish Penny.


I already posted about I Do, I Do.  I've been totally sucked in because I want to see how the drama between the A and B female leads plays out.


And then there is Big.  I was feeling some ambivalence but it's the Hong Sisters and Gong Yoo so it's not like I could stay away.  Plus I really liked Lee Min-jung in Boys Over Flowers (She played Ha Jae-kyung.  Am I the only person who was upset that she didn't get the guy?  I actually liked Ha Jae Kyung more than Geum Jan-di and thought that Lee Min-ho had a ton more chemistry with Lee Min-jung than Ku Hye-sun. But that's another story...) Anyway....Gong Yoo is killing me playing a teenage boy (*waves hands* "Whatever!") and his post army body is....killing me in a completely different way.


(Dear Gong Yoo,
I'm sorry for objectifying you.  I know it is wrong.  But the army was very, very good to you.  And everyone else.  The end.


Love, 
Penny)


So, yeah, it's Drama City around here.  Sigh!  Can you tell I'm really, really happy?


P.S.  We need to talk about the person responsible for Rain's wardrobe in Full House.

Cyrano Dating Agency

So if Perfect Couple was an example of B grade fluff, Cyrano Dating Agency is bringing its A game.  

Cyrano Dating Agency stars Lee Min-jung (who will be in the upcoming Big with Gong Yoo), Uhm Tae-woong, Park Shin-hye, and Daniel Choi as unemployed stage actors who decide to use their drama skills to help the lovelorn win their hearts' desire.It's basically a modern retelling of Cyrano De Bergerac, only instead of letters they are using high tech surveillance equipment.

First of all, the cinematography and the set design is lovely.  The set for their home base in an old theater has all of these lovely warm tones and antique theater props.  The soundtrack is perfectly understated as well.  Here's a video of the song that features prominently in the plot line:

AGNES BALTSA - Aspri méra ke ya mas

Like the song, there is a certain dreamy quality to the film and it's not a fast mover.  This is one you just kind of sit back and go with the flow on.


The cast works well together, the plot isn't wholly unexpected if you know the source material but the journey is a pleasant one and the angst isn't overwhelming.  In fact there is a definite sweetness to it that I enjoyed a great deal.