Happy Birthday To... Me?

Hello, dear readers,

It's that time again.  That time that I go off ranting about things you don't care about.

Nah, I jest.  Truthfully, I just wanted to let you guys know that I will be gone from August 24 through Sept. 11th.  My blog posts will be automatically updated, but I won't be around to answer any emails at that time.  I'm going on vacation to Conneticut to see my sisters for my birthday present this year.  Thus, I will not be able to reply during that time if anyone needs me.  If you still need to contact me about something, feel free to do so and I will get back to you on Sept. 12th when I have finished unpacking.

By the way, it's my birthday.  (Wink wink nudge nudge.)
Hey, don't look at me like that.  You know you do it too lol.

xoxo
TubeObsessed

People who try to judge foreign acting....

People who try to judge foreign acting (or writing) are one of my biggest pet peeve.

I know that, as a reviewer, I shouldn't be talking badly about my fellow "colleagues," but I really cannot stand it.  When you are watching a show from a foreign country, there are many things that you will not be able to understand.  There are many parts of acting that you have to be a native, or have a lot of experience living in that area, to really understand.  One of these things is the tone of voice.  All languages have their own common speech.  How you say a phrase can create multiple meanings depending on what words the actor chooses to emphasize.  I guess you could call it a "dialect."  A common language pattern can predict what phrase a person might say to express their feelings, as well as what words are emphasized.

As far as writing goes, you cannot fully review one's writing ability without complete knowledge of the language and culture.  In a Korean drama, a person put a flower in a woman's hair.  To an American, that might be romantic.  However, in Korea it is a common reference to crazy people.  Also, you cannot take translations at their word.  Translations are only as good as the subber.  Most of the time translations are not literal.  Most subtitlers try to convey the basic idea as a lot of phrases make no sense if spoken literally.  The words on the screen may not fully impact the same way as in the original translation.  (This has to do with religion as well.  You cannot treat a translated religious script as you would an original script that has not been translated from a foreign text.)

That being said, you really cannot completely judge a person's ability if you are a foreigner unless you are fluent in the language and culture.  People whose native tongue is different from the film they are reviewing will have a hard time noticing things.

Please, dear bloggers, do me a favor.  Please don't say that an actor is good if you do not have the experience.  You can judge if a person is a bad actor if their facial expressions are bad, but you cannot necessarily say that they are wonderful.

Painter of the Wind

Rating:****


Genre: Period Drama
Episodes: 20
Cast: Im Ji Eun, Moon Geun Young, Park Geun Young, Park Shin Yang, Bae Soo Bin, Moon Chae Won


SYNOPSIS:
"Shin Yoon Bok is a talented painter who disguises herself as a boy to search for her father’s murderer and meets a master painter who guides her into being a great painter. Kim Hong Do is the man who teaches Yoon Bok how to paint, and they develop a strong friendship of mentor and disciple."


REVIEW:
In all honesty, this drama just wasn't my style.  Although I enjoyed it because I enjoy painting, I didn't really like it as much as I could have if it had a bit of comedy in it.  The romance in it was...  Well...  The romance was a little uncomfortable to watch, to say the least.  The way she spoke and looked at women when she was dressed as a man was creepy.  I mean, I really didn't know how to react about that.  She really looked like a pretty boy that was in love with a woman.  What's just as uncomfortable is the romantic like relationship between the two main characters.  The characters are supposed to be like 13 years apart, but it looks more like 20.  It seems like they could be in another drama together as a father and daughter and no one would bat an eye.

I hope I'm not scaring you away from this drama, though.  Even though there were things I didn't enjoy, I think this is (overall) a good drama.  If you like painting or period dramas, you'll most likely enjoy this.

What did you think of this drama?  Comment below!
tubeobsessed.blogspot.com

Back to Business

Have you noticed that the last few months I haven't updated my pages?  You may have been wondering why all the upcoming and now airing dramas that I listed were not upcoming or airing.

Well, I've finally updated my blog after a long break.

I've recently been keeping up with too many dramas, so I wasn't able to work on this blog properly.  However, things have been updated once again and I will be updating my pages monthly or bi-monthly (depending on my schedule).

How have you all been lately?  Have you watched anything interesting as of late?

Let me know by commenting below.

xoxo
Tube Obsessed

Lie To Me

Rating:****


Genre: Romance, Comedy
Episodes: 16
Cast: Hong Soo Hyun, Jo Yoon Hee, Kang Ji Hwan, Yoon Eun Hye, Sung Joon


SYNOPSIS:
"Gong Ah Jung, a level 5 Ministry of Culture official, gets entangled in a web of lies when she mistakenly lies that she's married to Hyun Ki Joon, a hotel manager from an affluent family. Their relationship is further complicated when Ki Joon's ex-fiancée and a close friend of his brother's, Oh Yoon Joo, reappears in his life."


REVIEW:
I really liked this drama.  I really do not know what more to say about it, though.  There's nothing overly unique about the storyline, but there's also no real errors in it's production.  The first ten episodes were addicting.  During that time, I was completely addicted to this show.  It's one of those shows that gets you hooked real quickly.  After the first ten episodes, though, there were a few episodes I contemplated just skipping altogether.  Truthfully, one episode was barely worth watching because I could tell exactly what was going to happen.  However, I did end up watching all the episodes, and I am glad to say that it was worth the time I spent to watch it.

What did you think of this drama?  Comment below!

tubeobsessed.blogspot.com

Queen Seon Deok

Rating: *****


Genre: Historical, Period Drama
Episodes: 62
Cast: Ho Hyun Jung, Kim Nam Gil, Lee Yo Won, Park Ye Jin, Uhm Tae Woong


SYNOPSIS:
"Dukman (lee yo won) was born a twin but was abandoned as a baby and sent to a place far away by her father, King Jinpyeong (park ye jin) in order to protect her from being killed by an influenced royal court lady, Mishil (ko hyeong jeong) who tries to snatch away the throne from the royal successor. Dukman was later brought back to the Silla palace, where she joined forces with her twin sister Princess Cheonmyong to oppose Mishil. However, Mishil devised sinister plans to have the two Silla princesses exiled from the kingdom, and in a secretive battle, Princess Cheonmyong was accidentally killed. But Princess Dukman shrewdly enlisted the help of General Kim Yusin (uhm tae woong) and eliminated her archenemy Mishil. She then became Queen Seon Duk, the first female ruler of the Silla kingdom. This drama is about a story of a beautiful queen, who has to give up her love to save the people and thus, leaving behind many brilliant achievements..."


REVIEW:
As you may already know, I've never been quite interested in long non-fiction based dramas.  Usually dramas that are based on actual history tend to be boring, but I found Queen Seon Deok very addicting.  Despite it being sixty two episodes, I was never bored throughout the sixty-two hours that I spent watching it.  It's quite surprising that I was able to sit through such a long drama without getting bored.  As far as the actual film goes, there were a few inconsistencies and errors.  However, considering how long this drama is, it would be a miracle if it didn't have errors.  After all, a long drama is a marathon and it takes a lot of time to make it to the finish line.  I think my favorite character in the whole drama was Bidam.  Kim Nam Gil never disappoints, and the character is not only funny, but grows into a character that the viewer loves even though he isn't a great person.  I also loved Ho Hyun Jung in her role as Mi Shil.  She has that aura that really takes over the screen.

P.S. Did anyone notice that straw hat that looked like it was taped over with duct tape?  Maybe I'm crazy, but I don't think they invented duct tape before that time period.

tubeobsessed.blogspot.com

The Greatest Love

Rating: *****


Genre: Comedy, Romance
Episodes: 16
Cast:  Cha Seung Won, Choi Sung Min, Gong Hyo Jin, Yoon Kye Sang, Yoo In Na


SYNOPSIS:
Ae Jung is a female band member who is already over the hill.  She ends up getting entangled in a long triangle with the top star Jin and her ex-bandmate Kang Se Ri.  In order to make money, Ae Jung joins a dating variety show and meets Yoon Pil Joon, a doctor of oriental medicine who has no interest in the entertainment industry.



REVIEW:
This drama didn't disappoint me in the least.  I found no errors, and every episode was funny and enjoyable.  I guess I'm a bit biased, though, as I am a fan of the writers of this drama.  The Hong Sisters (Hong Jung-eun and Hong Mi-ran) have never written a drama that I did not thoroughly enjoy.  Their previous works include:

Delightful Girl Chun-hyang, KBS 2005
My Girl, SBS 2005-2006
Fantasy Couple, MBC 2006
Hong Gil Dong, KBS 2008
You’re Beautiful, SBS 2009

I know that this review probably isn't of much help as I haven't said much about the drama, but I really have nothing to say except for praises.  I'm a really biased source when it comes to the Hong Sisters.

tubeobsessed.blogspot.com

Manny

Rating: Not Rated

Genre: Comedy, Romance
Episodes: 16
Cast:Byun Jung Soo, Choi Jung Yoon, Suh Ji Suk, Jung Da Bin, Goo Seung Hyun

"Tall, with a perfect figure and his qualifications as an Ivy League graduate, Kim Yi Han is Seoul's top male nanny. He is employed by Seo Do Young as a live-in nanny to look after her two young children, Eun Bi and Jung Min."

 I watched thirteen episodes, and I really wanted to enjoy it as the plotline had such a good appeal, but I just couldn't finish the last few episodes.  Who knows, maybe one day I'll finish it and write more to this review, but I just couldn't go through with it.  Truthfully, after the first ten episodes, it became kind of annoying.  I didn't like any of the characters (except for the children), and it kind of forgot about the comedy completely after a while.  Although it's supposed to be a romantic comedy about a Manny, it slowly became a show about Janice's workplace.  I mean, it is good to have rounded characters and all, but there is a limit to how much you can show about a character the viewer doesn't even like.

IRIS

Rating: Not Rated

Genre: Romance, Mystery, Action, Thriller
Episodes: 20
Cast: Jung Joon Ho, Kim So Yun, Kim Tae Hee, Lee Byun Hun, T.O.P.


"Two elite National Security System (NSS) agents, Hyeong-Jun (Lee Byung-Hun) and Sa-Woo (Jeong Jun-Ho), who were sworn blood brothers, both fall for fellow agent Seung-Hee (Kim Tae-Hee). Sa-Woo attempts to suppress his feelings for Seung-Hee and wishes the couple the best. Hyeon-Jun is then sent off on a solo mission to Hungary. In Hungary, Hyeon-jun accomplishes his mission and while in escape mode becomes wounded. Shortly later, Hyeon-jun finds out that he was betrayed by fellow agent Sa-woo. Seung-Hee attempts to help Hyeon-Jun escape, but a car explosion separates the two and both are misled to believe that the other person are dead. Hyeon-Jun is then saved by an unknown voice and learns of the secret society "IRIS". One year later, Hyeon-Jun returns to Korea to seek revenge. During this time, the two Koreas are set to reunify, while the group "IRIS" are intent on stopping the reunification."

I really wanted to watch this drama, but I just couldn't handle finishing it.  I always hear glowing praises for IRIS, so I really wanted to see what it was about, but this drama just isn't my style.  There's nothing really wrong with the drama, I just have a specific style of drama that I enjoy.  Personally, I cannot stomach an action or romance film without any sort of comedic relief. If there isn't proper comedic relief, the viewer becomes stressed while watching the drama (or, in some case, loose interest).  Although it is not realistic to have comedy in the midst of a shootout, all dramas should have nice little moments in between battles so as to lessen the severity of the action sequences that can cause stress.  After all, real people cannot function well without some time of peace.

I Am Legend

Rating: ****.5

Genre: Music, Romance, Law
Episodes: 20
Cast: Kim Seung Soo, Jang Young Nam, Kim Jung Eun, Lee Joon Hyuk, Jang Shin Young

"Jun Seol starts a band to get her life back on track. She recently divorced her husband after realizing that she deserved to be treated better by her husband's family. Her band mates are also 'ahjummas' who also have personal problems of their own."

I personally found this show very addicting, but I heard many people say that there were things in the show that were disappointing. Although many viewers didn't like the ending, I felt that the ending was realistic.  Truthfully, I kind of always knew it would end the way it did, so it doesn't surprise me.  The only problem with a realistic ending, though, is that viewers don't usually enjoy reality.  Most viewers disregard realistic stories in favor of a fairy tale, as fairy tales tend to end beautifully.  Sometimes, however, it is refreshing to watch something that is not sugarcoated.

The next thing that a potential viewer might want to know before hand is that there are a lot of episodes that deal with law since her ex-husband is a lawyer.  Don't be surprised if an episode minimizes the music aspect in order to show more of her personal life and what she is going through at the time.