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.)
I grew up during the 60s and the 70s. Amy Winehouse recreated that throwback vibe. It’s a pity she departed so soon.
Amy Winehouse passed away July 2011. But her music endures.
“Back to Black” is the signature song by Amy Winehouse that she left for us to remember her by.
♫ ♫ ♫ ♫
Enter Amy Winehouse. 14 September 1983
Exit Amy Winehouse. 23 July 2011
♫ ♫ ♫ ♫
Music is my weakness. So many songs have left an imprint on my life and as life passes those songs still move me. No doubt, it’s that way with everyone.
But in my generation, so many talented souls departed this life way too early than they should have — like Janis Joplin (1943–1970), Jim Morrison (James Douglas “Jim” Morrison, 1943–1971), etc.
I grew up during the 60s and the 70s and always tell my kids that the music of my generation was the best! That’s why the artists and musicians of their generation “sample” it. But every now and then there are singers from my kids' generation that hearken back to that old-school sound I remember.
You would think the artists in later generations might learn from the tragic stories of others and not repeat history. But they don’t learn and they do repeat the tragic history.
Yet when another bright one finally gets to shine their light, and no sooner than they are in the spotlight, their candle is blown out.
I was just starting to enjoy her raspy soulful sounds when it was announced that she was gone.
Glad she did a duet with Tony Bennett to leave as part of her legacy.
I've been a loyal viewer of American TV sitcoms since the late 50s, I watched Father Knows Best and My Three Sons and Leave It To Beaver. Fast forward to my adulthood and I watched Family Ties and The Cosby Show. Having had all of this exposure to "wholesome family entertainment", I can state unequivocally that ‘A Different World’ presented a different world to the US audience.
Before Bill Cosby’s “fall from grace”, he had a propular TV show and I was a faithful viewer. Lisa Bonet played the part of Denise Huxtable, one of his daughters. Her character was so popular they created a brand new TV show about her days in college. She attended Hillman College, an HBCU.
(HBCU = historically black colleges and universities. At one time during the period of segregation in the USA, blacks attended so-called “separate but equal” educational institutions. But these days anybody who wants to can attend no matter their background. Hey! They are really good schools! Our US vice-president Kamala Harris attended an HBCU.)
The show was started with Lisa Bonet in the spotlight, i.e. the main character. However, the character “Whitley” played by Jasmine Guy almost instantly took the spotlight. Viewers really liked her. I think it was “her accent”. LOL. If you ever saw the show you would understand that joke about Whitley’s accent. Lisa Bonet left the show after the first season.
In June 2021, the cast got together to discuss “the good old days” and the article was published in Vanity Fair. “A Different World” ran from September 24, 1987 to July 9, 1993. I was not a regular viewer. It was light comedy but often tackled serious topics. To borrow a quote from the article: “Fans remember the show as much for its cultural relevance as they do for its laugh-out-loud comedy and talented cast.” That’s true. I distinctly remember one episode where they addressed the link between sexual promiscuity and AIDS. It was definitely relevant to the times and it presented a world that was different from any of the other popular TV sitcoms during that same time period. The real plus or takeaway from the program is that it, in real life, the show actually encouraged a lot of young people of color to attend colleges, universities, and other institutions of higher learning.
Lisa Bonet left the entertainment industry and replaced it with motherhood. That’s not a bad tradeoff. She was first married to Lenny Kravitz; and now she is the wife of Jason Momoa.
Jasmine Guy had a productive acting career in film and on stage, and also tried her hand at music. She also worked behind the scenes producing and directing but has not taken on any significant projects in the entertainment industry recently.
I usually watch K-drama TV series. But I found a Korean drama movie to watch called “Love, Lies” (2016).
WARNING!! DO NOT watch this movie if you don’t want to be bummed out!
I got addicted to Korean drama 5+ years ago. So I know K-dramas always have a love triangle. It’s expected. However, this is the saddest, most painful, most sorrowful, and most tragic love triangle I have ever seen IN MY LIFE! (And I have watched a lot of sad love stories over the years.)
Two young Korean girls ~ Jung So-yul (played by Han Hyo-joo), and Seo Yeon-hee (played by Chun Woo-hee) ~ who have beautful voices were raised to be “artists”. (That’s what they were told. One of them found out later that they were just beautified to be “artful prostitutes” for the Japanese men.)
One young Korean man ~ Kim Yoon-woo (played by Yoo Yeon-seok0 ~ who is a song-writer. But he writes popular songs for the common people ~ “Joseon’s Heart”. Not the traditional music (jeongga, or classical Korean songs) the girls have been trained to sing for the upper class Korean society and the Japanese occupiers.
Kim Yoon-woo says he is in love with one girl but then he meets her best friend. You might want to call the guy “a jive turkey”. But as the relationships develop, you almost feel like … he didn’t really do anything wrong.
WHY? I always say that if you are in a relationship, it is best that you find out BEFORE you get married that you don’t want to be in that relationship. No matter how much it may hurt the other person, you really should not marry somebody that you don’t love. Because that means two (2) people will be miserable in the relationship. Break it off before you marry so that the other person can … maybe … find someone else to be happy with.
I won’t tell you details of how this story unfolds but it was so so so so so so so so so so so so … painful!!
Half of the time I was watching the movie, one part of my mind kept telling me … Look away! You don’t want to see The End. The other part of my mind was saying … Look! You gotta know what happens in The End.
I watched it until The End and my heart was breaking for all three of them!
The cruelty that resulted from a woman’s bitterness, anger, and jealousy …?? I searched for one word to describe the things she did to get her revenge. But I came up with two words. INSANELY VICIOUS!!
By the end of the movie, I was totally shattered.
Many reviewers praised the movie; and I wholeheartedly agree with those reviews. I thought the acting was superb! In addition to the stellar acting by the three (3) main characters, this movie also gets my 5 star rating for: the music, the scenery, and the costumes. Especially, the traditional Hanbok clothing and the modern westernized clothing that both ladies wore. In every outfit, they were both gorgeous and extremely stylish. Their hairstyles whether long hair or short hair were beautiful!!
Also, I really liked the album covers. Both ladies released an album with them singing and the artwork for both album covers is incredible! I wouldn’t mind buying an art print.
In fact, that’s how the movie begins. Some people found an old record album and wanted to know the whole story behind it. (Kind of like that popular American movie “Titanic” (1997) where they found that art portrait and wanted to know who the woman was.)
The majority of reviewers gave this movie 4.8 stars out of 5. I agree.
NOTE: There is one thing I am curious about in this movie. Maybe my readers can enlighten me. The red and blue parasols given to the artists when they completed their training? Is that historical fact or historical fiction?
Designated Survivor: 60 Days (2019) is streaming on Netflix.
I watched the American version of this TV series, Designated Survivor (2016–2019); also on Netflix. So I was curious to watch the Korean version. Another reason for this series being added to my watch list is that the main character, Park Mu-jin, the South Korean Minister of Environment, is played by Ji Jin-hee. The first time I saw this actor, he was the king in the series “Dong Yi”. I have been a loyal fan ever since. I knew he would not disappoint.
We know that in a monarchy there's a line of succession for who will become the next king or queen when the current monarch is no longer with us. In a democracy, there is also a line of succession for who will step into the shoes of the president should the nation's leader become unable to fulfill his or her duties. In episode 1 of this political thriller, the president and ALL of the people in the line of succession, are killed in a massive explosion. Park Mu-jin (Ji Jin-hee) had done something earlier during the day which resulted in him being terminated. Because he had lost his job, he was not at work when the explosion occurred. Also, even though the president had fired him, the “official walking papers” had not been processed by the personnel office. That means that … “technically” … he was still employed. That also meant that … “technically” … he was the “designated survivor”, i.e. the person who had to step into the shoes of the president and take charge.
He is officially sworn in as Acting President for 60 days, and … after excusing himself from the meeting to go throw up in the bathroom … he returns and starts performing his official duties, which includes finding out who was responsible for the bombing.
16 episodes. Most viewers gave this series a rating of 4.9 out of 5 stars. I agree.
The King: Eternal Monarch (2020) is streaming on Netflix.
This series is a romantic-fantasy with an interesting twist. The fictional place is the Kingdom of Corea. Parallel worlds exist and the king from one world ~ his world (let's call the Kingdom of Corea, World #1) ~ finds the portal that takes him to the other world, the Republic of Korea (let's call it World #2) where he finds the same people that exists in his world (World #1), only their lives are completely different in the other world (World #2). Why did he need to go into the parallel world? Because he has a rotten uncle who is a ruthless murderer. In World #1, that uncle killed his own brother, who was the king's father, because he wanted to be The King! The uncle went over to the “other world” (World #2) for the purpose of finding “the twin” of the people who are having a hard knock life. He shows them how the person who looks exactly like them is living a wonderful life. He tells them: “You can have their life. Just go kill them and take their place.” You can't have two of the same people living in the same world. One of them has to be eliminated. Otherwise, the balance of both worlds will be thrown into chaos. Basically, what the uncle is doing is recruiting loyal subjects who will serve him in his eternal kingdom, once he gains power.
Lee Gon, The King, the Eternal Monarch (played by Lee Mon-Oh) needs to hunt down his uncle and stop him! In the process, of course, he falls in love with Jeong Tae-Eul (played by Kim Go-eun). She's a lieutenant in the police force. Somehow the two worlds got criss-crossed. She ended up in World #1 where she saved the life of Lee Gon, when he was a young prince (who became king after his father's murder). During the scuffle of fighting with the bad guys and saving his life, the young prince grabbed her police identification badge and kept it. When he grew up, he began searching for the woman who had saved his life. He found her in World #2. The murder of the king and the attempted murder of the prince occurred in 1994; however, the police badge which the lieutenant wore was issued in 2019. When they meet, they are both about the same age. Yes. She should have been a much older woman but she wasn't. Hey! It's a romantic-fanasy and age differences can easily be eliminated. In addition to searching for and finding the female lieutenant, he is also chasing after “a rabbit with a clock”. It's complicated.
16 episodes Most viewers gave this series a rating of 4.8 out of 5 stars. I agree.
My Country: The New Age (2019) is streaming on Netflix.
This Korean drama is set in the time during the transitional period between the end of the Goryeo dynasty and the beginning of the Joseon era, which is why it is called “The New Age”. A king, the king's wife, princes (sons of the king), and military leaders, are all engaged in a power struggle to build a new country.
Seo Hwi (played by Yang Se-Jong) and Nam Seon-ho (played by Woo Do-hwan) are two childhood friends who have the power of their friendship “tested”. Various events occur in their lives which result in them getting separated, and they become enemies due to a misunderstanding about "my country." One of them decides his country is “the country of the abandoned”. There is no reason for him to loyal to Goryeo, the old country, or Joseon, the new country. What did the country's leaders ever do for him, his sister or his father? He especially, owes them no loyalty for what they did to his father. He father was falsely accused of treason and unjustly received the death penalty, leaving him and his sister to struggle in the cruel world all by themselves. The wrongful execution of his father was just the beginning of the unfair unjust treatment that he received.
NOTE: I don't want to spoil it for those who have not watched it; but this series made me so sad and not just at The End. There were lots of sad serious solemn moments. Nevertheless, I persevered and watched it all the way through.
16 episodes. Most viewers gave this series a rating of 4.8 out of 5 stars. I agree.
(English:
Never Say Good Bye; also known as KANK.)
This
Bollywood movie was released in 2006 and it was very controversial
among the Indian audience. (Americans would not have raised an
eyebrow.) Even though it was a really good movie with powerhouse
actors and actresses, I didn't like it. The life lesson is plain and
the 4 main characters learned this lesson the hard way. I did not
like it because they could have learned the very same lesson in life
without making those horrible mistakes. In real life, hardships and
pain can definitely be avoided if you think wisely. But of course,
it was just a movie. Another reviewer said this: “Realistic and
wonderful movie” TO “A disappointing rendering of a sensitive
emotion”.
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