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 was born in the latter half of the 50s and the new technology of my day was the television. What a marvelous invention. You could watch the news, movies, cartoons, and TV shows. During my day one of the most popular TV shows was “The Twilight Zone”. I am so glad that they have these local channels that show nothing but old movies and shows. But they don't have everything from back in the day. That's why I am also
glad that there is YouTube.
I have watched all The Twilight Zone episodes and some of them I watched more than once. I was desperate to
find an old TV show that was similar and stumbled upon a series called
“One Step Beyond”.
This show, unlike The Twilight Zone, which is fiction, the episodes for One Step Beyond are “a matter of human record”. In other words, it's been recorded that this stuff really happened to people. However, they can
not explain how or why.
I'm enjoying this series. It's in black and white. The video quality is not that great. But the stories are very interesting. Although, if things like that happened to me, I'm not sure
I would tell anybody.
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.
Many people enjoy Shakespeare more than his sonnets or his plays. These 3 quotes are very profound.
❤ 1. “Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.” I think we all agree that this is easier said than done.
Love all? That's insane! When it comes to love, humans are very selective. That would not be so bad if when we made the choice not to love, we simply remained neutral. But many choose to hate instead. However, truth be told, if each person was told that they only had two arbitrary choices in this life - Love All or Hate All – would we not all choose love? Of course! (Unless you're a spawn of Satan. :lol: )
Trust a few? We are born pure, innocent and carefree souls. Then … life happened! If we are fortunate in life, we learned at an early age “the few” who can be trusted. But for some, lack of trust is their defense mechanism. They suspect everybody and everyone is automatically deemed untrustworthy until those people can prove otherwise. Most of the time people like this have been hurt badly by others they did trust and consequently, nobody will ever get the chance to cause them pain again. The self-defense reaction is normal. But know this. Life will be a very heavy burden if you have absolutely no other human being that you can trust.
Do wrong to none? None? You mean NOBODY? But what if ____________? Everybody has something that goes in that blank. EVERYBODY!! And for many people, their justification is always that wrong was done to them first. But in the end, one can not disagree with the wise words of Master Shakespeare. His advice simply stated is just math. “Two wrongs don't make it right.”
❤ 2. “This above all: to thine own self be true.” Who knows you better than you know yourself? Even the people you love and hold dear, who you trust the most and would give your heart to, don't know you better than you know yourself. If you lie to yourself and deceive yourself, without me being a mental health professional, I can predict that you're headed for a mental breakdown. Lying is a bad thing to do. Lying to yourself is the worst thing you could ever do! It will lead to delusion. Delusion is defined as an idiosyncratic belief or impression that is firmly maintained despite being contradicted by what is generally accepted as reality or rational argument, typically a symptom of mental disorder.
❤ 3. “The quality of mercy is not strained. It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven upon the place beneath. It is twice blessed: It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.” This was the first Shakespearean quote that I was required to memorize and I have never forgotten it. If you never hear another quote or read anything else written by William Shakespeare, read these words, keep them in your heart, and embrace every opportunity you get to show mercy. You, the giver, and the one who receives from you, i.e. the taker, will both be blessed.
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
Fans of Jake Gyllenhaal and sci-fi movie lovers will enjoy this film. I remember listening to a review by one of the critics that made me laugh. Paraphrasing his words, basically, he said:
“This is a typical storyline. Something devastating or catastrophic is going to happen on earth. And of course, the one who knows what it is, what to do, and tries to warn others is the very person that nobody listens to!!”
This is a lighthearted movie review of a 2004 sci-fi film. Even though it’s 15 years old (as of 2019), it’s still relevant today. Plus! Fans of Jake Gyllenhaal, who want to know what he looked like as a teenager, will love this movie!
What the Official Movie Critics Said
Several official critics had a lot to say about “The Day After Tomorrow”. I remember a review by one of the official critics that made me laugh. Paraphrasing his words, he said:
“This is a typical storyline. Something devastating or catastrophic is going to happen on earth. Of course, there is one person who knows what it is, what to do, and tries to warn others is the very person that nobody listens to!!”
What This Unofficial Movie Reviewer Says
If you believe in climate change, you’ll understand the storyline. What’s going to happen is there is going to be a drastic change in the weather and there will be freezing cold temperatures. Cold enough that people will die. If you believe in cryogenics, people won’t die. They’ll be instantly frozen. They can be thawed out later.
Watched this movie and don’t want to spoil it for those who may not have seen it. (Although you might guess The End through the “hints” woven in between the lines of this discussion.)
Most Memorable Movie Scene
For me, there was only one memorable scene in the movie; a scene worth remembering because I love libraries.
In this scene, there is a group of people in a room in a library. It’s getting really cold! They have to do something to stay warm and since they’re in a library, they start burning books, grabbing any book within their reach and throwing it in the fireplace. They get ready to grab this one book and the man holding on it to refuses to let it go!
He goes: “You’re not burning this book!” He spills out his various reasons why “The Book” must not be destroyed.
Some debate and try to reason with him. Others are about to physically struggle to take the book away from him. Someone yells out that they have found an alternative set of books. No doubt every American would love to burn them! This is not one book. It is a set and has volumes upon volumes upon volumes. The group consensus is: “Yeah! Let’s burn those!!”
To me, that scene was totally hilarious fiction. The scene was also realistic. You could almost visualize that scenario actually happening in real life. If you’re an American taxpayer, you know you’ve thought of burning the U.S. Tax Code.
My Unofficial Movie Rating? 3.5 out of 5 stars and I’m being generous.
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.
Welcome! Please come with me and boldly go where I (and millions of other Star Trek fans) have already gone and will happily go again! ☺
Gene Rodenberry’s Star Trek series really made a name for itself and earned the reputation that allowed for all of the other ST spinoffs. Any program that wants to carry on the Star Trek tradition should be worthy. It’s 2020+ and my Star Trek lust is not being satiated. I viewed a few episodes in three different series that have the name Star Trek in the title and … in my humble opinion … they don’t live up to the name. Hey! It’s an opinion. Feel free to disagree. We all have our peculiar tastes when it comes to entertainment.
First, let’s recap the Star Trek series being used as my basis for comparison. (Let's also thank online streaming services like Netflix for allowing fans to binge watch these memorable TV shows.)
Star Trek: The Original Series
The TV show aired back in the 60s (1966-69) and was considered groundbreaking because of its diverse cast, which included an African-America female high ranking officer, Lieutenant Uhura; and a Vulcan first officer, second only to the captain of the USS Enterprise, the logical and the incomparable Mr. Spock. Imagine. Before man had a mission to go where he had never boldly gone before, Vulcans had already boldly come to us. An advanced civilization had to come and give us ignorant humans a helping hand with our exploration efforts. It’s interesting. Considering that during our space explorations we found that there were so many other “sentient beings” in the universe, one may wonder why the Vulcans chose to ally with the humans and landed in the United States of America for their First Contact. That question is answered in another Star Trek series called Star Trek: Enterprise, which did not air until 2001 after several other ST spinoffs happened in between.
Star Trek: The Next Generation
The show ran from the late 80s into the early 90s (1987-1994). It will always be remembered for Captain Jean Luc Picard, he was very commanding and very wise; the android named Data, he was incredibly smart and very handy to have around; and an extremely scary enemy called … The Borg! Hey! Why fight them? “Resistance is futile”. So what! We fought them anyway!
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
This series aired throughout the 90s (1993-99) and quite frankly, I liked the episodes where they were in the holo suites more than the episodes where they were facing off with a real enemy, The Dominion. The most memorable characters were Captain Benjamin Sisko and Odo, the changeling. (Image: Deep Space Nine Station.)
Star Trek: Voyager
This series began in 1995 and ended in 2001. Can you believe it? They got stranded in outer space, in the wrong quadrant, and the entire series was about them trying to find their way back home and get home before they were too old for their relatives to still recognize them. So get this! A 24th-century state of the art starship with no GPS to give them directions when they’re lost. It’s believable. Sometimes we humans are very creative and inventive but in the process of building things, we overlook an obvious and critically important feature. Who was the scariest enemy? The Vidians. These beings were suffering from a disease so they went everywhere stealing organs from everybody else. They didn’t ask for organ donors. They just took what they needed. What must it feel like to have your lungs disappear? One second you’re breathing. The next second? NO AIR!! Who is the most memorable character in this series? Seven of Nine. She was a Borg drone, who was captured by The Borg when she was a child. By the time she was found by the crew of The Voyager, she was a young woman. Captain Janeway was determined to give her back her life so that she could live as a human again. She succeeded. Out of all of the characters in all of the Star Trek series, I am never going to forget Seven of Nine.
Star Trek: Enterprise
This series is the prequel. Star Trek: The Original Series began without ever explaining how the United Federation of Planets began. It ran from 2001 and 2005 and honestly, nothing about the show was memorable. But it did explain how and why it was decided that we should boldly go where no man had ever gone before. Even if we do cross paths with sentient beings who think they are a superior race or just don’t really like us very much and want to fight a war. If you think about it, it’s really not that much different from living on planet earth.
So now it’s the 21st century and here’s where I am in my Star Trek adventures.
Star Trek: Picard
I watched only one episode because it was offered free of charge for the curious who might be willing to pay to watch the entire series. It was OK. To be honest, since it bore the name “Picard”, I had higher expectations. I’m content to wait until I can binge watch all of the episodes for free at some later date when its novelty has word off.
Star Trek: Discovery
I watched some episodes and I have several complaints.
Number 1: The lighting is awful! For many scenes, it seems so dark.
Number 2: The Klingons wear way too much make-up!
Number 3: The special effects are serious overkill.
This series was launched in 2017. By this time, the original Star Trek series was 50 years old.
Star Trek Continues
I was searching for streaming apps and stumbled across this series. You will recall that the mission was supposed to last for 5 years, only
the show was canceled after 3 seasons. Somebody decided that since the original Star Trek series was cut short and fans were terribly disappointed, they would continue the old show only … with new actors playing the old parts for Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, Bones, Scotty, etc.
Number 1: The replacements have no strong screen presence at all! They are like cheap imitations or really bad counterfeits of the original cast. My opinion.
Number 2: If the first episode is an indicator, it’s a good series to watch if you want to compare it with your imagination. Surely you must have wondered what the Star Trek series would have been like had they actually completed the 5-year mission. I am not that impressed, however, in all fairness, the creators of this series get an A++ for their honorable intentions.
♦ All I can say is… once upon a time … there was an awesome TV show called Star Trek that set the standard for all the other science fiction space exploration television series that would come after.
“Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world’s best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era.”(Wikipedia)
Since readers seemed to appreciate my post about William Shakespeare, I decided to share a short post about another famous British writer, Charles Dickens (1812 – 1870). Unlike Shakespeare, hardly anybody challenges or questions whether Dickens is the true author of any of his works. He is known by almost everyone as the man who wrote “A Christmas Carol“. This novel is a literary masterpiece that has been adapted to film numerous times and has become part of the holiday tradition. Every Christmas people want to see those ghosts! The popularity of this original work has overshadowed the fact that it wasn’t the ONLY ghost story Charles Dickens ever wrote. Dickens had a fascination with supernatural phenomena and the existence of spirits or ghosts. Because of his avid interest, he wrote several ghost stories. Enough to have them compiled into one volume for your reading pleasure. That’s if you like a good ghost story!
Favorite movie stars very likely starred in your favorite movies. Did you grow up watching television or going to the movies on Saturday afternoon? In this article, I am remembering the movie stars from my childhood who are no longer with us. They made quite an impression on my young mind – in a good way – and I don’t care what the official biographies or the movie critics say! To me, these actors and actresses were larger than life and the films they starred in helped build character. I will speak briefly about each. Very briefly. Even though these movies are old, it is possible you may not have watched them. I would not want to spoil the ending.
Humphrey
DeForest Bogart (Dec 25, 1899 – Jan 14, 1957)
Ingrid
Bergman (Aug 29, 1915 – Aug 29, 1982)
Casablanca (1942): This movie was a love story; and if you don’t remember anything else about this film you will remember these two lines: “Play it again, Sam.” and “Here’s looking at you, kid.”
● 2nd MOVIE: Marvin, Bronson, and Savalas in “The Dirty Dozen”
Lee
Marvin (Feb 19, 1924 – Aug 29, 1987)
Charles
Bronson (Nov 3, 1921 – Aug 30, 2003)
Aristotelis
“Telly” Savalas (Jan 21, 1922 – Jan 22, 1994)
The Dirty Dozen (1967): This is a movie about redemption. A dozen men, twelve convicts, are given an opportunity by the United States Army to serve their country, just as any law-abiding patriotic soldier would do. All they have to do is carry out a mission behind enemy lines and come back alive! The records of their crimes will be wiped clean and they will be free men. Think they succeeded?
● 3rd MOVIE: Frank Sinatra in “Von Ryan’s Express”
Francis
Albert “Frank” Sinatra (Dec 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998)
Von Ryan’s Express (1965): This was a war movie. But it was Frank Sinatra like I had never seen him before. He wasn’t singing and dancing and this was no lighthearted film. He was a prisoner of war with a group of other prisoners who planned a daring escape from German-occupied Italy on a freight train. Frank Sinatra was Colonel Ryan.
● 4th MOVIE: Peck, Quinn, and Niven in “The Guns of Navarone”
Eldred
Gregory Peck (Apr 5, 1916 – Jun 12, 2003)
Anthony
Quinn (Apr 21, 1915 – Jun 3, 2001)
James
David Graham Niven (Mar 1, 1910 – July 29, 1983)
The Guns of Navarone (1961): As this is a British-American film, it was released in both the United States and the United Kingdom. If I were to prepare a Top 5 List of Movies To Watch Over and Over Again, this movie would be on that list. A group of men, a commando unit, handpicked by the military because of their special skills were sent on a mission to destroy a German fortress located on Navarone Island.
The Captain of the team was persuasively played by Gregory Peck. Anthony Quinn was a Colonel who served in the Greek Army. The best way to describe his character is by plucking a line from the movie that he said about himself. He said, “I’m not so easy to kill.” If you’re going on a dangerous mission you want a guy like that on your team. David Niven is the demolitions expert. Though he was reluctant, he had to come along. Without his expertise in the field of explosives, there was no point in even attempting to carry out the mission. Everything about this movie was memorable. The actors, the soundtrack, the scenery! It was spectacular!
The
Village: Achiara's Secret is a crime and mystery K-drama series with
16 episodes.
A
serial rapist and murderer (SRM) has evaded capture by the police for
30 years. Han So-Yoon, a young English teacher receives an anonymous
letter regarding a sister she thought was dead. She relocates from
Canada to Achiara, a small village in Korea, to find her sister, Kim
Hye-Jin. Shortly after arriving, she accidentally discovers her
sister's skeletal remains. It is clear her sister died a violent
death.
Law enforcement officials think she may have been a victim of the SRM
they have been trying to capture.
Political officials have an agenda and a “secret”. Investigating Kim
Hye-Jin's death might expoe the secret and thwart their agenda.
They push to close the case as an accidental death. But the
politicians are not the only ones in the village with secrets.
Han
So-Yoon does not believe her sister was an SRM victim, nor does she believe her death was accidental. The coroner said Kim Hye-Jin's body had been buried for at least two (2) years. Two years? In such a small village where everybody knows everybody, her sister had been missing for two years and nobody asked about her? WHY? Han
So-Yoon is determined to find out who brutally murdered her sister and why. But the more she tries to uncover the truth, the more people of the village try to hide Achiara's Secret.
With
each episode, more questions get asked. Slowly but surely, Han
So-Yoon begins to unravel the mystery of crimes that investigators
had been trying to solve for 30 years, along with other crimes,
including her sister's murder. It was a very intricate web.
I heart libraries. One time I checked out a book from the library about the incomparable Bruce Lee. That was when I realized that several people in my house heart Bruce Lee. That book got passed around. My sons loved that book! Had to pry it loose from their fingers so I could return it to the public library. Must admit. It was a great book! But then, everything about Bruce Lee is spectacularly awesome!! Don’t you agree?
Treathyl Fox aka Cmoneyspinner – Home Business Entrepreneur. Think. Dream. Focus. Believe in yourself? Hire yourself! Be your own boss! Do it! Self-employed and loving it! ♦ DISCLOSURE: In compliance with FTC rules and guidelines, be advised that some links shared via this websites might contain affiliate referral links which means commissions might be earned if product sales resulted from your click-through to the vendor’s website.
