Flash Review: Sweet Home

March 11, 2021March 21, 2022 | kfangurl

I did it, you guys. I, the self-proclaimed horror wuss, have finished watching Sweet Home. Achievement unlocked, officially, ha. 🥳

For the record, the reason I decided to try this one out, despite my general aversion to horror, monsters and gore, is because of my recent love for Lee Do Hyun, thanks to the very wonderful 18 Again (go watch it, if you haven’t!).

That, plus the fact that everyone who’s seen it, has been saying such good things about it; mainly, that apart from the blood and gore, it’s very meaty, and there’s a lot to unpack with regards to the psychology of our characters.

That all sounded pretty compelling to me.

Now that I’ve emerged on the other side, I think it’s safe to say that I don’t think I loved it as much as some of you, but I did enjoy it a lot more than I thought I would.

Considering my horror-wussness, I’d count that a win, yes?

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Dear kfangurl: My ship has sunk. How does a fangirl cope?

May 3, 2015March 27, 2022 | kfangurl

Today’s question is brought to us by Jo (the very same Jo who helped to spark off the Dear kfangurl series, no less!), who asks:

Dear kfangurl,

My ship has sunk (will not name which though I think it’s fairly obvious which one it is since all of k-drama news mentions it at least daily).

I was able to get out of it in time – not abandoning ship per se (yes, pun very much intended), but rather, RL took over and I had little time to squee on the forums.

It was my very first ship and I would daresay, my very last. When I was at the height of shipping I was swept up in the highs and lows of it, analyzing outfits and accessories, stalking social media, hanging on to every word said in interviews, the works.

I fiercely believed in the possibility of them. Even wrote a fanfic (yes, that bad). But thank goodness work picked up and other real life duties kicked in that, by the time one of them was confirmed to be dating, I had about 2-3 days to accept it.

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Year In Review: 2014

December 30, 2014March 27, 2022 | kfangurl

If there’s one thing that everyone seems to be able to agree on, it’s that time is flying. Like, seriously. Where has 2014 gone?

I can hardly believe that 2015 is almost here, promising/threatening gifts of dramas chock-full of vampires, multiple personalities, and other ~~psychological disorders~~ goodies.

Before 2014 makes her exit, though, I wanted to come out and give credit where it’s due. Coz as much as so many of my friends in dramaland have been talking about a meh drama year, I feel like I had a pretty good drama year, actually.

I know. How did that happen, right?

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Flash Review: Miss Granny [Movie]

December 26, 2014May 13, 2022 | 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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Review: The Three Musketeers

December 9, 2014March 27, 2022 | kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

More often brisk and breezy than not, more often engaging and fun than not, and more often interesting and entertaining than not, The Three Musketeers is more than your average fusion sageuk.

This drama is a pretty bold attempt to adapt an age-old tale across mediums (novel to drama) and across cultures (French to Korean), while doing its best to retain the optimum crack ingredients that would appeal to a kdrama-loving audience.

Possibly due to its ambition, pacing across the show can be a little uneven, and logic gets sacrificed on more occasions than one might expect. Put on some generous Logic Blinders, though, and there are likely to be enough goodies in this one to make it worth your while.

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Dear kfangurl: Is shipping kdrama co-stars normal?

August 9, 2014March 28, 2022 | kfangurl

You know, one of the things that I really enjoy about this blog, is how you guys inspire new types of posts, often when I least expect it. With your suggestions, this blog has taken on more breadth than I ever intended, and I think that’s cool.

First, it was the Dream Dramas post inspired by Lady G, and then it was the Pure Pretty series inspired by asotss.

Today, I’m kicking off yet another type of post on the blog, and it’s the Dear kfangurl.. post? Series? I don’t really know yet whether this will turn into an actual series, since that really depends on whether people have questions that they’d like to ask.

Basically, it’s sorta like an agony aunt sort of thing, except it’s more specific to dramas and fangirling (it’s my screen-name, isn’t it? It makes me seem like a fangirling expert, eh?).

I do have a nephew, so I’m technically an aunt, but I prefer to think of this as an agony unni column instead of an agony aunt one, heh.

I may not have all the answers that you’re looking for, but I can promise a listening ear and sharing of my thoughts and experiences, much like how a friend might listen and chat with you over tea.

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Trading Thoughts: Nine

September 13, 2013March 31, 2022 | kfangurl

I’m excited, y’all!! I hereby bring you the first joint post this blog has ever hosted! Woot!

Most of you know by now that I’ve fallen into the habit (trap? heh.) of taking a show apart for its review, and examining each little gear and piston, and writing up a storm in the process.

Although I never specifically set out to write epic reviews, it’s become a bit of a trend on this blog now, and I’m grateful to those of you who actually enjoy coming on these epic journeys with me. Thanks y’all. It means a lot, really. ❤

In the midst of all you wonderful peeps who put in the time to read my reviews and share your thoughts with me, I discovered a particular sort of connection with the lovely Betsy Hp who hosts Creating Volumes.

If you’ve been following the comments threads in some of my reviews, you might have noticed that Betsy Hp and I sometimes exchange (very) large chunks of thoughts. It’s like her thoughts inspire me to more thoughts, which then inspire her to more thoughts.

It’s often a cycle that evolves and grows and gives birth to new and completely unexpected thoughts and ideas, which, Too Cool.

I then said (only) half in jest to Betsy Hp, that we should try joint-posting, just to see what these thought babies might look like, given the room to grow. And so – ta-dah! – here we are! *blows noisemaker*

Join us as we dive – with our thinking caps firmly on! – into the twisty world of Nine!

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Review: Nine [Nine: Nine Time Travels]

July 12, 2013March 31, 2022 | kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

A time travel tale that is engaging, absorbing and tightly written.

It took me a couple of episodes to get completely sucked in, but when I did get sucked in, boy did I get sucked in good.

Serving up twists and turns that literally keep you on the edge of your seat (and perhaps your sense of sanity too), Nine is thought-provoking, intense and really rather addictive. The dramatic tension flags in a few spots, but overall, I’d say this is a solid, worthy watch.

If you like your dramas to keep you on your toes and keep you thinking, and keep you guessing too, this would definitely be up your alley.

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