Jin Young

Review: The Devil Judge

| kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

As dark as it is, and as flawed as it is, The Devil Judge is quite the rollercoaster of a watch.

I will say that Ji Sung and Kim Min Jung are both magnetic enough in their deliveries, to command your attention all on their own.

That said, there is a lot that one might find problematic in this show’s writing and execution, not least Show’s propensity to try to shock its audience, as often and as deeply as possible.

Some folks love this one, and others hate it. It’s hard to say where you’d land, until you give this one a try. That said, I do think that certain lens adjustment would help yield a more enjoyable watch experience, which I’ll talk about shortly.

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Flash Review: The Dude In Me [Inside Me] [Movie]

| kfangurl

YouTube’s algorithm sure knows how to pique my interest.

I mean, when YouTube suggested this movie to me, I quickly sat up and paid attention.

The idea of a movie starring Park Sung Woong and Ra Mi Ran, with a bit of Jin Young pretty thrown in sounded like just my kinda thing, and I promptly changed my Saturday afternoon viewing plans, heh.

Now that I’ve finished the movie, though, I will say that this movie’s a reasonably decent watch, but I did like it better in concept than in execution.

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Flash Review: If We Were A Season [Drama Special]

| kfangurl

It isn’t often that I fall in instant like with a show (it usually takes several episodes, before I feel fully engaged with a show and its characters), but this one – this one – had me at hello.

Literally, within the first few seconds of having this show on my screen, I felt like this was something that I would like.

A cheerful Spring palette, an abundance of spring blossoms, easy-breezy music, and a general lightness that I found very  appealing indeed. I couldn’t help but gobble it all up, immediately.

Fair warning: this does turn up the angst partway through, but to Show’s credit, it feels meaningful and heartfelt. And importantly, it doesn’t feel like too much, in the overall scheme of things.

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Review: Moonlight Drawn By Clouds

| kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

Well-written, well-cast, and well-handled, Moonlight Drawn By Clouds is a fun fusion youthy sageuk with a boatload of heart. Show not only knows how to bring out the best in its story and its characters, it knows how to engage the heart and bring on the feels too.

The main cast is excellent and our lead couple is exceedingly cute together, but this show’s standout is definitely Park Bo Gum, who is simply wonderful as Crown Prince Yeong.

There’s a spot of drag in the latter episodes, but it doesn’t last for too long. Importantly, Show never loses it’s emotional core, and is quite cracky-delicious the rest of the time, to boot.

This show makes me smile, period.

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Flash Review: She is WOW

| kfangurl

To be perfectly honest, She is WOW is pretty different from your typical kdrama.

Irreverent and saucy much of the time, and dark, bittersweet and even a little bit mysterious the rest of the time, this show is not for everyone.

I picked up this drama coz of the modest measure of positive buzz that followed it while it aired, and the bottom line, for me, is that while I don’t think this drama is quite my cup of tea, in its own irreverent way, it manages to still be a thought-provoking show that asks some hard questions.

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Flash Review: Miss Granny [Movie]

| kfangurl

If you’ve known me for a while, you’d probably know that I generally don’t watch all that many k-movies.

I tend to prefer the dramas over the movies, probably coz so many of the k-movies that I’ve watched seem to either go super gritty & violent, derail, or take weird narrative turns towards the end (Raise your hand if you’ve never had a seemingly harmless k-movie suddenly go all dark, sad and deathy on you!).

Or sometimes, the writers don’t make the best use of their 90 or 120 minutes of available screentime, and the movie ends up feeling more like a highlight reel than a real story. And, well, it’s hard to feel invested in a highlight reel rather than a real story, y’know?

Which is why it makes me so happy to say, Miss Granny is NOT any of those.

I watched this movie on a flight and I loved it. Like, unreservedly, wholeheartedly Loved. It.

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