My picks for entertainment ~ suggested movies, TV shows, music, and books ~ so you can enjoy some quality ME time! (ATTN Korean drama addicts! This blog has lots of K-drama love.)
"Shine or Go Crazy" (alternate title: "Shine or Be Mad") was released in 2015 and it is a "gem". If you have not already watched, then add this Korean drama series to your watch list. It has 24 episodes and is available on Viki.com.
Talk about palace
intrigue. It's loaded with murder by poison, spies who spy on the
spies, and warriors on different sides. The good guy warriors or the "Righteous" wear
BLACK. The bad guy warriors wear RED. It is set during the period
BEFORE the Joseon era when the country was called Goryeo. The main
character is Wang So (played by Jang Hyuk) and he is the cursed Prince
of Goryeo who is destined to become the emperor. But! Will he be a good emperor or a bad emperor?
The reason the
series is called “Shine or Go Crazy” is because when his future
or fate was read, it was determined that he was born with both a
light and fire. That means he will either shine bright like a star
OR he'll be a madman. We won't know until the last episode. LOL.
Is there a love triangle? Of course! It's a Korean drama! There is
more than one love triangle and some interesting family ties. I love all of those complicated
relationships.
I have a silly complaint though. I
don't really like the costumes from the Goryeo Dynasty (AD 918-1392).
I like the clothes they wore during the Joseon historical period.
But hey! It's history. If that was the fashion back then, I'll just
have to accept it.
"Assassination" is set in 1933 during the Japanese occupation of Korea, and involves a group of resistance fighters on a daring mission to assassinate a high-ranking Japanese officer and a Korean collaborator who supports the Japanese forces.
Lee Jung-Jae plays Yeom Seok Jin.
This film is a realistic recreation of the tumultuous atmosphere of 1930s Korea. Characters not only strive to carry out a dangerous and difficult mission but must also be on constant alert for “the enemy within”, i.e. being betrayed by their comrades. The storyline is engaging because of the historical authenticity, suspenseful and clever plot twists, intense action sequences, and the compelling characters who comprise the mission team.
Lee Ja-Sung is an undercover cop for the National Police Agency, and he's right in the middle of it. Having spent years infiltrating the crime organization he has become the right-hand man of the #2 lieutenant. Ja-Sung has to balance himself between playing his role as “one of them” in
the treacherous crime world and performing his duties as a law enforcement officer, without blurring the lines between right and wrong.
This is an excellent Korean crime drama that has intricate storytelling and character-driven narratives. Lee Jung-Jae won the CJ CGV Star Award at the 2013 (33rd) Korean Association of Film Critics Awards.
The drama depicts the power struggle of chaebol families. An exciting confrontation between a dirt spoon and a gold spoon unfolds. pic.twitter.com/O0iyYP9Aci
“The Face Reader” (2013) is an award-winning film. It is set during the Joseon Dynasty in the year 1455. Nae-gyeong can “read faces”, i.e. he uses the age-old art of physiognomy to discern a person’s character and fate by studying their facial features. Nae-gyeong prefers to avoid the palace intrigue and the demands of the royal court. However, there is a royal power struggle going on.
Lee Jung-Jae plays Grand Prince Suyang.
The current king Munjong wants him to identify the potential traitors who threaten his reign. He is summoned to read the face of Grand Prince Suyang, who is vying for the throne. If only, he could not read faces because Nae-gyeong believes the prince is going to plot treason to take the throne. The visually stunning cinematography, along with the costumes and set designs recreate the grandeur of the Joseon Dynasty. The stellar cast convincingly portrays real historical figures and their performances are memorable.
TheMovieChanneI. “The Face Reader — Trailer.” YouTube Video. YouTube, September 28, 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9YoyvBAMWI. VIEW TRAILER/TEASER.
It’s official! My kids have decided that their mother has lost all the marbles in her head. Why? K-drama television series. Very pleased with the business decision by Netflix to add such programs into their database. Even more pleased that many of the programs are available for viewing online free at various websites. Can’t explain my reactions. Grew up on American television. My husband got me started watching foreign films. Once my kids began subscribing to Netflix and other similar video streaming services noticed that some of them were into binge-watching. One particularly boring day at home decided to binge-watch a BBC mystery because BBC television mysteries are my favorite. From that point, binge-watching became my way of treating myself to a healthy dose of doing … The Nothing! You know. Those days when you just decide you have earned your “Goof Off All Day” reward and no serious work will be done on that day!
However, even when indulging myself in binge-watching, never lost sleep over a TV show; and certainly never really thought any series was worth watching more than once. Might watch a few particular episodes a few times more. But never the whole series!
Did I say BBC mysteries “are” my favorite? Sorry. Meant to say “were”.
Huh?? Duh??!! That was how my children reacted. – (???) What could possibly make mom choose an alternative for the BBC? Answer. Those silly cute adorable Korean drama television series that have incredibly simple yet intricate, seemingly never-ending storylines with each episode, that leave with the thought”: ‘Gotta find out how this ends!!’
My first taste of K-drama was a movie called “Commitment”. It was intense!!
Then my husband found a more light-hearted TV series called “Tamra the Island” It’s a romantic dramedy (drama and comedy blend) that was “Inspired by the real story of a Dutch explorer, a young Englishman discovers Kdrama in the 17th century Joseon Era”. (Quote source: dramafever) One of the main characters was played by this tall handsome guy with the “skinny little body” whose name in the series was Park Gue, whose real name is Im Ju Hwan. I was impressed with him so search for more programs where he was playing a character.
My research indicated that Hwan (Park Gue) had made an appearance in this show. Started watching the program only looking for him. Got stuck on it!! Got so stuck one night and didn’t go to sleep until about 4:30 in the morning!! Hwan did make an extremely brief appearance, after about 20 episodes. Talk about an Easter egg hunt! Anyway … glad someone realized this young man’s acting abilities and gave him the lead role in “Tamra the Island”. Disappointed at only catching a tiny glimpse of Hwan in this TV show. However, my decision to view the entire series was filed under “Happy R&R Time Well Spent”. Took me a few days to finish all the episodes. Will say no more because people hate spoilers. But if you like romantic dramedy, you’ll like “Boys Over Flowers”. Wonderful love story. It’s so cute!!
"Marry
My Husband” is a 2024 Korean drama series that has 16 episodes, is streaming on Amazon Prime and tvN; and can be categorized as Time Travel, Fantasy, Revenge Drama, and Romance-Comedy (Rom-Com). This Korean drama series is based on the novel of the same name and also serialized as a webtoon.
Kang J-Won is dying from cancer. Her husband will not pay the hospital bill so she returns home. She catches her husband in the act. He is having an affair with her best friend. He pushes her and accidentally kills her. She dies ... but she doesn't die. She travels back in time to BEFORE she gets married. Since she
knows her husband had an affair with her best friend, her plan is
simple. She thinks to herself: 'I'll just get my best friend to
marry my husband.”' After all, they deserve each other.
Lee Jung-Jae is a South Korean actor who has played a wide range of characters ~ good guys and bad guys. Regardless of the overall rating given by viewers, his performances in the movies and TV series that I have watched should be rated 5 out of 5 stars.
Lee Jung-Jae catapulted to international stardom for his role in Netflix’s survival Korean drama series “Squid Game”. But Lee Jung-Jae must surely be on several lists of South Korean Best Actors ~ the best, the most famous, award-winning, etc. His filmography is impressive and dates back to 1993 (before K-dramas were cool).
One more PLUS! In September 2022, Lee Jung-Jae joined the Star Wars Universe. He was cast as the male lead in the Star Wars series “The Acolyte”, set to be released on Disney+ in 2024.
Perfect
Marriage Revenge Could Easily Be Turned Into a Korean Soap Opera That
Could Go On and On and On and …
Perfect Marriage Revenge is a 2023 VIKI Original Korean Drama Series with 16 episodes. The scriptwriters should consider stretching it out to 160 episodes. Loaded with hostile family drama where the relatives dream up ways to plot evil against each other, and then spend their waking hours making their dreams a harsh reality. You pity the children born into their homes because they are raised to carry on with the family traditions of performing acts of malice. Without a doubt, Perfect Marriage Revenge could be the best Kdrama soap opera ever!
“Perfect
Marriage Revenge” is a romance/drama that tells the story of Han
Yi-Joo, a young girl who was adopted into a rich family but
never accepted as a part of the family. Meanwhile, her little sister
is showered with love and spoiled rotten. Yi-Joo is constantly
reminded by her “mother” who adopted her that she is “fake”
and her little sister is “real”. Meaning that she should be
thankful she was adopted and never try to receive all the wealth and
property that should go directly to her little sister. Growing up in
that home was hellish for Han Yi-Joo! Someone even tried to poison
her, but they failed.
Han
Yi-Joo was a gifted artist. No doubt she could use her God-given
talent and create her own wealth. Instead, her mother convinced her
to “copy” the originals of famous artists. Her mother told her
the copied paintings would be donated to orphanages as a charitable
donation. However, she sold them as “originals” to make money.
One day her mother's fraud was exposed. She told Yi-Joo to submit a
false confession and go to jail. Yi-Joo was so upset she jumped in
her car and drove off. Sadly she got into a car accident and almost
died. While hanging between life and death, she prayed for a second
chance. If she could only relive her life she would not make the
same ignorant and foolish mistakes.
Her
prayer was answered. Instead of waking up in a hospital bed,
she woke up in her own bed. When she checked the time she realized
that she had gone back one year in the past. She had been given a
second chance and now had the opportunity to change her past. But she
only had one year to accomplish this. She
overheard her little sister say that she wanted to get married to Seo
Do-Kook, a man who was one of the heirs to Taeja Group, a Korean
conglomerate. Han Yi-Joo made up her mind that getting Seo Do-Kook to
marry her would be the perfect marriage revenge.
MAIN
CHARACTERS:
Han
Yi-Joo (played by Jung Yoo-Min)
Seo
Do-Kook (played by Sung Hoon)
This
Viki Original Korean drama series is based on the webcomic
“Wanbyeokhan Gyeolhonui Jungseok”. But in my opinion, it was the
best soap opera ever!
The Matchmakers is a
2023 Viki Original Korean drama series, with 16 episodes. It is
categorized as historical, romance, crime, and mystery, with light
moments of comedy.
The two main characters are a widow, disguised as
a matchmaker, and a widower who is a prince working as a matchmaker according to a royal decree.
♦ The
Widow and the Not So Merry Widower
Jung Soon-deok
is a widow who becomes a matchmaker by personal choice. She is a
widow, the daughter-in-law of a powerful political party leader. But
she truly believes she is the “goddess of
matchmaking”, i.e. Ssangyeonsulsa. It is not the kind of lowly
work that a noble woman should do, so Jung Soon-deok keeps her
true identity a secret by using the name “Yeo Joo Daek”. She
didn't learn until later that the name she had taken as a disguise,
was the name of a woman who was wanted for murder.
Shim Jung-woo
is a Confucian scholar who scored the highest on the civil service
exams. The king would been pleased if he could put this young man's
intellect and skills to good use. But the leader of a corrupt
political party, arranged for him to be married to the princess. On
the day of the wedding, the princess dropped dead. He became a
widower before he could even consummate the marriage. So now he's a
prince who can not participate in political affairs or serve in any
way other than being a prince, a member of the royal family.
♦ The
King Makes a Promise
The king is furious
and frustrated because he wants his son, the crown prince to marry
and have an heir. But corrupt officials keep finding ways to prevent
the marriage. He tells Shim Jung-woo to can come up with a way to
thwart the efforts of the politicians so that the crown prince can
marry. If he is successful, the king will have his marriage to the
princess annulled.
Shim Jung-woo tells
the king, to get a matchmaker to arrange marriages for the daughters
of his close friend, who had passed away. But the plan was not so
simple. Even if the politicians were not resorting to their
treacherous tricks, the daughters themselves are all refusing to get
married.
♦ The
Widower and the Widow Become a Team
Shim Jung-woo needs
to work with an experienced matchmaker since he knows nothing about
the process. He meets Jung Soon-deok aka “Yeo Joo Daek” who
agrees to assist him as long as he cooperates with her and follows
her directions. He agrees, so now they are The Matchmakers.
The process of
matchmaking is complex, but it gets even more complicated when they
begin to uncover murders connected to political power schemes to
overthrow the king and the crown prince.
On top of all this,
the matchmakers ~ Shim Jung-woo and Jung Soon-deok ~ fall in love
with each other. Theirs is a “match” that would break all of the
rules.
Main
Characters:
Widower
Shim Jung-woo (played by Ro Woon, )
Widow
Jung Soon-deok (played by Cho Yi-hyun)
This
is a Viki Original series and Viki
viewers rate this series 9.4 out of 10 stars.
I agree.There
was the main plot of forbidden love between a widow and a widower; a
relationship that went against Joseon rules, customs, and traditions.
Then
there were various subplots:
Corrupt nobles,
their wives, and the king's concubine, plotting against the king and
the crown prince;
True crime stories
published as erotica novels;
Old maidens (virgin
women in their 20s) who need to get married ~ hence the need for matchmakers; and
a
slingshot!
The
intricate plot-weaving kept me eagerly looking forward to the next
episode.
Remember (2022) is categorized as Historical, Thriller, Suspense; and Viki viewers gave it a rating of 9.6 out of 10 stars. I agree.
Pil-Ju
is an elderly veteran who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's
dementia. He is beginning to forget but does not want to forget the
people who betrayed and destroyed his family during the Japanese
occupation. In order to remember, he tattoed their names on his
fingers.
Despite
their age differences. In-Kyu considers Pil-Ju a trustworthy friend.
Pil-Ju offers to pay him to be his chauffeur. In the beginning, he
does not know Pil-Ju's backstory. He just thinks it's a driving job.
However, when he learns what happened to Pil-Ju's family, he chooses
to help him. In-Kyu has his own personal reasons for offering his
support to the elderly veteran.
Main
Characters:
Lee
Sung-Min plays Pil-Ju, a war veteran suffering from Alzheimer's
disease
Nam
Joo-Hyuk plays In-Kyu, a young man who befriends the elderly veteran
See
You in My 19th Life is a K-drama series based on a webtoon of the
same name; has 12 episodes; was released in 2023; and is currently
streaming on Netflix.
The
main character, Ban Ji-Eum, remembers her past lives:
people and places. In her 18th life, her name was Yoon
Ju-Won, and her life was cut short because she was involved in a
tragic car accident. She was in the car with the boy who was her
first love, in that life, Mun Seo-Ha. She was reborn
as Ban Ji-Eum and remembered him, but did not know if he had survived
the accident. Since she remembered where he lived, she went to
visit. From the gate, she looked into the yard and could see that he
had survived. But of course, she could not approach him because he
would not recognize her. She then hatched a plan to reunite with him
and continue their love relationship. Before she died as Ju-won, she
had promised she would come back to him. In other words, she would
see him in her 19th life. She
fully intended to keep that promise.
Ban
Ji-Eum's ability to remember her past lives was not how reincarnation
is supposed to be. Others don't remember their past lives. They
start each rebirth with a brand new life.
This
series poses several questions:
Why does Ban Ji-Eum remember her past lives?
Is she the only one who can remember their past lives?
Is there a way to erase these memories?
If you had the choice, would you want to keep your memories from your past lives, or erase them?
As
the story unfolds, these questions will be answered. Although, if it were you, you might have come up with different answers.
Korea-Khitan War is a
2023 Korean drama series, with 32 episodes, currently broadcasting
via KBS and streaming on Viki. Also available on also available for
streaming on Wavve, Kocowa, and on Netflix in selected regions.
Korea-Khitan War is a
historical period Korean drama series about the war between Goryeo
and the Khitan Empire during the reign of King Hyeonjong.
♦ The War Between
Goryeo and the Khitans Lasted 26 years
“Korea-Khitan War”
begins with a scene of a bloody battle. It is the 10 century in East
Asia, and the fierce Khitans have been successfully conquering
various peoples. Their empire covered the regions from Liaodong to
Mongolia and are now they were determined to conquer Goryeo.
The people of Goryeo,
though outnumbered, were equally determined to fight the Khitans and
not become subjugated. After those intense scenes showing how
intense the fighting was between Goryeo and the Khitans, there is a
flashback that shows what had happened several years earlier, before
the war began.
♦ King
Hyeonjong is Crowned Emperor
Kang
Cho was 70 years old and a loyal subject of Goryeo. He was a
seasoned warrior, understood politics, could offer wise counsel to
the emperor, was not afraid to confront the kingdom's enemies, and
took the risk of being branded as a traitor when he assassinated the
emperor, King Mokjong, to clear the path for a new leader.
The
new leader is King Hyeonjong, the last grandson of Taejo of
Goryeo, who ascended to the throne at the age of 19.
Gang
Gam-chan was an elderly statesman. He had been living in the
countryside but returned to the palace and the court to serve the new
emperor. King Hyeonjong appreciated his forthright comments. He did
not use double-speak, offered the king sound and wise advice, and
helped him understand politics.
Once
the emperor realized that war could not be avoided, he made Kam Chan
Commander-in-Chief, giving him the authority and responsibilities for
defending Goryeo against the Khitan invasion.
Rather
than cut off the head of Kang Cho, the young King Hyeonjong bestowed
upon him the emperor's ax and sent him off to war. The king promised
that when he returned triumphantly, he would no longer be marked as a
traitor.
This
series is based on the novel “Goryeo–Khitan
War: Sweet Rain in the Winter”.
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