refordgarry

Another raw, no holds barred drama from Wavve, in the same uncompromising vein as the previous Wavve offering, "Weak Hero Class I (2022)".

The Perfect Deal features two ordinary young men thrown into the remorseless world of criminality, despite being patently ill prepared and unready for the lurid consequences of wandering, open-eyed into this grisly, twilight world of kidnapping and recompenses. Though just a miniseries (8 episodes in all) the stark, often blood-curdling realities encountered by so-called normal people, lured by the promise of gain into the potentially barbarous treatment of others is very reminiscent of the vintage US series Breaking Bad (2008-13), and whatever the differences of scale between the two dramas, the effect on the audience is just as face-on and, at times shocking. Those that enjoy tense dramas will probably warm to this one, which is guaranteed to jolt, and to keep you on the edge of your seat. I am looking forward, after watching 3 episodes to discovering just how the plot unravels, and whether anybody at all shall escape with life and liberty, or something a lot more lucrative?

Don't get misled by the synopsis, since this kdrama offers a lot more for your money than a mere kidnap story. It's so far been in parts a mixture of touching human drama mixed with "boy's-own" stuff, that's guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat. Very recommendable, as far as the first six episodes go - and here's hoping that the story and plot continue to surprise and outsmart the viewer's expectations. The lead character, Meong-Joon Kim definitely puts one in mind of the 1980s roles played by actors such as Bruce Willis, the sort of person who's just a born survivor, or, as we often like to say, a "Die Hard".

Very innovative drama attempting to balance a comedy/satire show with a murder/mystery one. The writing is pretty slick, despite the material at first seeming absurd (!) Once you've accepted the initial premise, however that our heroine vet surgeon, Han Ji-Min has become imbued with special powers there's plenty of entertainment that awaits. What I really appreciated the most were the oblique Korean cultural gags, for example that the village shaman would idolize of all people the US General. MacArthur, or that this small fishing community had its own idioms of expression that proved pretty baffling to outsiders (in the same vein as outsiders to Korea might initially encounter Korean society). At one point the script even went as far as to jokingly reference lines from another K-Drama, "My Liberation Diary". But Behind My Touch does illustrate just how far K-Drama has progressed since 2010, and if you are in the mood for a light, satirical murder mystery then this could be the one.

It seems counterintuitive that the central theme of One Spring Night is Obsession, that is with a Capital "O", which in many cultures would have entailed at some point violent confrontation, but this love story bounds along with those romantic songs, very much the essence of K-drama. Safe to say then that nothing in the unfolding of this story ever happens to peturb those of a fragile disposition, save one or two broken hearts. Fractious dramas put out by Western TV producers resort too often to overacting as opposed to underacting, and the way Western solutions are wrought tend to be momentous rather than subtle, such as they are here. One often feels the impression in this drama that a Jane Austen novel has been televised in its modern form, which is unsurprisingly a very pleasant experience, since one gets the all the emotions of injustice and wrongdoing without high drama, and solutions without civil war. The only negative impression of Spring Night is there is too little personality in any of its central characters, with even the conniving Jun Han Kin too weak a person ever have the temerity to overturn as much as a coffee table.

Office ice maiden boss in her heyday now attempts to rejoin the super-tough office scene, but now as a middle-aged woman. I like how the writers constructed the terrible choices Mi-Ran (played by Hae-Ra Go) had to face in order to overcome the scourge of age discrimination and to regain her former position as a regular office day worker, but with Mi-Ran having made a pact with the devil in her youth, that should make that transition easy? But has age, maybe made this maiden too mellow and apologetic with her intervening years and experiences? I really enjoyed the tension provided by this difficult situation, welcoming the inclusion of her middle-aged husband and young daughter into this morass, showing off the iniquity of insensitive office culture in all its colors, not limited to just female staff and recommend the drama as a good, short, mid-quality series.

Overall impressions of Cold Blooded Intern, however do fall short of initial expectations, maybe due to its 12-episode brevity - but there lurks that suspicion of a bad juxtapositioning of ages in casting the not-so-young Mi-Ran Ra directly opposite the glamorous and deliciously vengeful office boss-lady Ji-Won Choi, (played by Ji-Won Uhm) when surely two closer-aged actresses would have appealed to a wider audience? Preferable to think the writers overruled the advertising executives in this, making it easier to award this drama an 8 score, when it probably deserves a 7.

I DID like this drama a lot, despite the last episode being a superfluous drag. It takes a special person to do such a dotty role as our heroine "Jackson", and hats off to her for taking it on. As a Comedy/Romance there are plenty of nice laughs, though not all hit home. It fell on the happy-go-lucky Reporter Kim to REALLY make this drama fizz - and what an astounding role he did play, with the actor Si Won-Choi really hitting big, and a screen presence that must have been embarrassing for the less talented - hoping that this is his true "break-out" part. So, better a 12-episode drama, and a lesser role for "The Hair".

Don't give up on Ep. 1, sensing just another feminist, man-slamming drama. Tables are about to get completely flipped in a sensational retraction of Deborah's personal philosophy. The raw emotion of it all is pretty un-Korean, but transcendental of both sex and culture - that truly unites the World. How one gets up from Life's sucker-punches is what makes this drama so fascinating. The fact that all the male characters in are tongue-tied and feeble ought to be a problem, but it is astutely resolved here by over-loquacious but equally vulnerable females devising the four couples. Role of "woman scorned" is performed to perfection by glamorous actress, Deborah (Lee Soo-hyeok), who casts a big shadow on all around her. The scenes, dialogue, and episodic layout here have been intricately planned in a very intelligent drama. If only producers could give audiences more like this.

Expected a whole lot better, but he story was as unbelievable as the Avengers (even to the fake, iron pyrites Gold) and so shockingly grisly it resembled a mobile operating theater. Could've sworn I'd seen that painstakingly worked-on, statuesque face of Sisu somewhere before, but then it came to me - The Comentadore from last scene of Don Giovanni. Pity after so many gushing reviews, probably from desperate film fans, that the only foe they could find, yet again (yawn) were those nasty Nazis, who., for a short WWII season were the Finn's, enemy's enemy - i.e. Friends: clearly an attempted shaking off of any lurking historical unpalatables. Why is it that modern, woke producers think violence, butchery and ludicrous fantasy serve as stand-ins for good writing and drama?

That ever-so slightly scary young actress, Jee Un Lee (ex Kdrama My Mister, 2018) with a seemingly unquenchable penchant for complete loser guys is fated to meet, this time a younger quest, promising a real, juicy romantic encounter at last! But our scary senorita, Sim Woo-Joo shows herself to be not only the astutest on the block, but also the kindest and warm-hearted-est when it comes to her downtrodden protégée, Han Dongjin, played by Kim Young Kwang. This is classical revenge drama, completey turned on its head, and a great achievement both in casting and fantastic, understated acting by our lady Jee Un Lee, that proves she's truly come far since her first, kid-drama appearances a decade ago. It is difficult not to be secretly in love with Sim Woo-Joo. It's certainly a comprehensive refutation of the lie that women CAN'T hold their own on a mixed company stage without the need for those awful "about HER" concoctions, presently showing at cheap, tinsel town theaters.

Despite occasionally getting bogged down in financial/legalistic niceties, and those dreaded A4 Excel printouts that seem to prove everything to a Korean brain, but little or nothing to a non Korean - the story did work out, that is if you had the tenacity to stick with it. The idea was pretty original, which is why I persevered with this K-drama, unlike countless recent ones. The characters were well portrayed and the interrelationships gave the viewer plenty of scope to believe in them as people. The constant twists and turns dealing with business or political intrigues, however did become a little tedious. It would have probably been better to concentrate more on the people, characters and their skullduggerous relationships than that constant paper-chase of technicalities, that thinly separated free market enterprise from "real" crime.

If you're looking for a sci-fi drama & romance - this one's for you, but be careful, it's not all it seems. Director Suk Yoon Kim also directed "My liberation Diary", which accounts for the truly excellent, sometimes astounding screenplay, particularly pertaining to Hye Ja-Kim the old lady, played brilliantly by Kim Hye Ja. This really is a quality production, and the first couple of episodes are guaranteed to have you hooked. The only possible bone of contention (hence the 7) is the plot, that eventually...... produces glaring story contradictions, that, at first appear unresolvable. A more skillful or apt script would have inserted some well placed "Easter Eggs" to avoid such confusion, e.g.... as in the movie The Prisoner of Azkerban, with details ingenuously and seamlessly sewn into the story. With the absence of "big" clues in this drama's early episodes there's a tendency for the viewers to feel a little bit led up the garden path by the final episodes in the separation of fantasy from reality.

Employs the same talented writer as My Liberation Diary - and boy - what an exhilarating piece of TV! Since the English language channels stopped producing stuff of this caliber a decade ago it's a privilege to be positive about something. The episodes are so packed with content I took to watching half an episode at a time. You only get the same sort of sensation from reading a good book. Congratulations!

Compared to recent efforts of Gringo hacks this one's pretty watchable, drawing you into world of Spanish film-noire, with older viewers relieved to know cast are 100% Spanish. It's almost a miracle they managed to find the financiers for a no-strings-tied film, but foreign languages do seem to get this dispensation. True, the plot does have some crazy, almost schizophrenic twists, and cast, esp. Females tended to pronounce their lines very indistinctly, so adding Spanish (or Ingles) subtitles is advisable. The two laudable things you can take from Hogar are that the film is not WOKE, nor did the writers ever think of following the same old tired movie formulae. Good Try.

Will also drive you...... Cwazy! Sounds distinctly as if one Writer recently had to put a son or daughter through Law School. The idolizing of the Lady Justice, using the scales-bearing statue in the college foyer as a central reference-point was at best an over-veneration, and at worst a case of extreme irony considering the depleted state of Justice in S. Korea, and some might add also the USA. Why was renowned Director, Kim Suk mixed up in such a low caliber series to begin with? That is not to say Law School didn't possess one or two good attributes, but the series DID tend to grind on, with one unbelievable plot-turn after another. I watched it to the end, hoping that some of the mastery of K-drama My Mister would come to resurrect it. But none did. Even Mozart had one or two bad days - right?

Jeju Island, 200 km South of Korea is given "Provencal Style" treatment with its happy band of sunny, close-knit maritime folk with a sequence of 20 captivating, inter-related stories. It must be said there seems to be a preponderance of women on this island, with the men folk seemingly dead or incapable of providing very good role models - perhaps many having migrated to Busan or Seoul? The complicated, often vexatious male character, Lee Dong-Sook, however, literally saved this Kdrama from the fire. There's just something different about him; he is middle-aged, yet still a-n-g-r-y, in an excellently characterized performance by Lee Byung Hun. The rest of the cast, with the exception of the two old Ladies (who were excellent) projected slightly cardboard profiles, with a over-preponderance of clichéd, sentimental tales that slightly marred an otherwise well constructed central story around Lee Dong-Suk and his tempestuous relationship with his ailing mother.

This drama has So.... Many.... levels: of simple psychotherapy by the keeping of a personal diary, the daily grind of commuting from sleepy suburb to city, of overgrown children that simply will not leave the parental nest, of fracturable hopes of promotion and marriage, or the mystery stranger (Mr. Gu) with a secret past. And then there is the sheen of that hot, sultry Seoul Summer that permeates deep down into one's own happy memories. The pace is slow, with frequent personal soliloquy from the cast, to the sound of crickets and the croaking of nocturnal amphibians in this barely connected village, where it's apparently always the dead of night.

My Liberation Diary may not suit viewers requiring intense drama or action sequences, but for me it is a real gem. One waits a long time for such a drama to come along, and when it is over there is a genuine regret in its passing. It is almost as if in this age of fast-paced life we all need, time to reflect. This is guaranteed to leave you with something if you can spare the time...

It was an original idea to introduce a supernatural twist into this good/bad-guy revenge drama, though our expectations were over-aroused by such a dramatic opening episode, that then drifted into that familiar "to and fro" between young, emerging attack lawyer and crusty, despicable politician. Those smirking facial expressions of our anticipative hero, Kim Hee Woo are too reminiscent of a small boy, wherein it's advisable to refrain from smirking like a brat, unless you want to be one. But my major gripe with this otherwise watchable drama was that the story-arc of a World regulated by good deities bore no consequent in the execution of its conclusion.

It's a bit like the sunshiny bits of a mainly rainy day. There is no reason on Earth why the epic Trek of the 60s-70s could not be replicated here, but far better thanks to the huge advances in just about everything - except Politics. Why is it that good Art can simply not survive in this toxic age of politik-think?

Like Deluxe Taxi driver and Devil Judge, Military Prosecutor Doberman sets out to right Society's wrongs by Dobee's peculiar approach to Justice. I liked the twists at the beginning, with the female factor, better-wrought than many token actresses. You've gotta feel it just a bit for Doberman's rich victims, though it's a fair bet that many super-rich S. Koreans climbed the greasy ladder - right? After episode 3 & still interested. Just one martial arts criticism - in real life both men and women are put into different weight divisions to stop the inevitable slaughter of 120 Kg. Taekwondo heavyweight tearing a 60Kg-er limb from limb. Yes, I know it's Charlie Chan tribute stuff, but just a little more realism please.

If this were a US Series the cast, selected solely on "identity" wouldn't've gotten on so well together as those of this nice K-Drama young cast. Having just watched Episode 11, which I recommend as a well-written, feel-good episode, I was struck by the sheer charm of 8 young people really interacting with each other like human beings, rather than a collection of identity-politik epithets whom writers deem young people should be - but are not. South Korea, is definitely still a civilisation state, i.e. One where the civilisation still dictates what is artistically plausible, not some sort of neo-liberal concepts of universality, which are artistic phonies. Well done, team!

What a great idea it was to create a story about the Westward migration of settlers from Europe, but then the dreaded identity politics clicked in, and all became about HER - and other minorities. And while all of this is going on the respectable majority folk just stare on, looking forward to the day that this sort of stuff will cease.

Impressive how the writers avoided the melodrama and cliché that would have befallen any hollywood production about terminal illness. But that's why Kdramas are increasingly catching on in the West - because they tell stories about real people. I'd definitely recommend this one, but be warned you'll sometimes need two hankies.

Those who've worked for big companies will be intrigued by this drama. And great to see the same power play at large here as in any other large world enterprises (with or without all that bowing and scraping). So often it is the ruthless, not the talented, or long served who finds the shortest route up the social ladder - though the role of morals or ethics is questioned exquisitely by this strangely composed triangle of characters - Mr. Choi, Ms. Dang and Mr. Han. This one will keep you guessing. Very recommendable.

This high-life Korean drama reminds you of all those bloodstained knife nightmares, that end with an abrupt fall from a high place , or more precisely Puccini's TOSCA......which coincidentally contains ALL these details! Though Penthouse's melodrama is scarcely believable, I'm still watching, since it's compulsive, with Mozart's Queen of the Night and Verdi's sumptuous Sempre Libera (La Traviata) thrown in, though I'm genuinely skeptical mere16-year-old students could master the tacitura. Pity really that Tosca's not got Soprano solos, like "E lucivan le stelle" for Tenor. Penthouse, nonetheless owes much to Kabuki and Greek Drama (Euripides, Sophocles, Aeschylus), whose long-forgotten audiences were frightened equally by awe-inspiring events that often shocked in juxtaposing good/evil, rich/poor, lawful/unlawful Godly/unGodly, mighty/impotent etc. The trick Penthouse seems to employ perpetually.......... is to draw its audience in - shortly before SHOCKING them! We even have the semblance of a Greek Chorus with those two chatty Heron Palace ladies and that toe-rag of a lawyer/politician. All in all, there's actually more than meets the eye to Penthouse. Hope this review will explain things a little better to the curious, or for the Music-lover to search YouTube for Puccini's, E lucivan le stelle, (Pavarotti, or Placido Domingo).

Those who've worked for big companies will be intrigued by this drama. And great to see the same power play at large here as in any other large world enterprises (with or without all that bowing and scraping). So often it is the ruthless, not the talented, or long served who finds the shortest route up the social ladder - though the role of morals or ethics is questioned exquisitely by this strangely composed triangle of characters - Mr. Choi, Ms. Dang and Mr. Han. This one will keep you guessing. Very recommendable.