“Uncle” (엉클)
“Uncle” is a sweet, if at times silly, series about a family that struggles to stay together. This K-drama essentially is about how familial love may be rooted in genetics. But there’s work to be done to truly be a family.
Year: 2022
“Juvenile Justice” (소년 심판)
There has been much debate in South Korea about how to punish and rehabilitate underage criminals. “Juvenile Justice” deals with these issues in a taut manner, using the law to mete out judicial revenge.
“Mouse” (마우스)
If there was a test that determined whether your unborn child carried a psychopath gene, would you trust it enough to terminate your pregnancy? Or would you believe that regardless of your child’s genetic makeup, you could raise him to be a good person who wouldn’t grow up to be a killer? Would you trust nurture or nature?
“Juror 8” (배심원들)
In 2008, South Korea held its first ever trial by jury in Dageu. In that trial, jurors deliberated for two hours before deciding that the 27-year-old man accused of robbing and assaulting a 70-year-old woman in her home was guilty. “Juror 8” is not a fictionalized version of those events. Rather, it’s a story about a man who plead guilty to murdering his mother and the first Korean jury that will determine his sentence.
Go Away With … Nicole Kang
“I’m an only child, so I have a lot of memories of being very solitary and entertaining myself,” said “Batwoman” star Nicole Kang. “I liked doing anything creative to entertain myself. I liked to lose myself in my imagination.”
“Hard Hit” (발신제한)
Seung-Gyu is an upper middle class bank manager who’s driving his children to school. While the kids bicker in the backseat, he answers a phone he doesn’t recognize. At first, he assumes it’s his wife’s phone and that the caller is trolling. But when the calls don’t stop, he worries about the what ifs. What if the caller isn’t lying? What if a bomb really will explode if he gets out of his car? What if?
Go Away With … Anna Hindman
“I have a tattoo on my arm of the state flower of each state I’ve lived in,” said “American Siege” actress Anna Hindman. “New York, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Tennessee, and California. But I need to add a few now!”
The Epik Highs and Lows of Tablo
Had Tablo not experienced the alienation and toxicity of TaJinYo, Tablo’s music – and therefore Epik High’s, too – most likely would not have resulted in “Epik High Is Here 下 (Part 2).” From all those lies, truth survived.
Go Away With … Mariel Molino
“I had a beautiful childhood in California and my parents worked very hard and provided a lot of opportunities for us,” said Mariel Molino of ABC’s “Promised Land.” ” Because of this, some of the kids in our community would sometimes ask me if my parents were drug dealers or in the Mexican Mafia. It took me some time to be proud of my heritage. I wanted so badly to be all American – whatever that meant – because it would mean we wouldn’t stick out.”
Go Away With … Cassandra Freeman
“I’m currently shooting ‘Bel-Air’ in Los Angeles and my family is still in Brooklyn,” said Cassandra Freeman, who portrays Aunt Viv in the Peacock reboot of the Will Smith series. “It has been incredibly hard. I work all day and then can’t go anywhere because of Covid, so not to have my family just a quick plane ride away has been most difficult.”
How “All of Us Are Dead” Uses a Zombie Attack to Examine Korean & Global Issues
There’s a lot to unpack underneath the surface of Netflix’s hit zombie thriller. Here are six examples of how “All of Us Are Dead” utilizes the zombie genre to reflect on societal issues that are reflected around the world, with a focus on some issues unique to South Korea.
Go Away With … Reagan To
“I wasn’t told about the violent scenes with the doll [in ‘Squid Game’], so all I was imagining was a friendly doll that was staying calm but was getting more excited to play,” said Reagan To, 10. “I was thinking back to when I was playing with my friends back in school, and that helped me to create a young and innocent voice. I think that made the character even more scary and creepy.”
And the Haters Gonna Hate, Hate, Hate, Hate, Hate
Combatting racism isn’t accomplished by whoever makes the first social media post or writes the first article. It’s a lifelong commitment that focuses on the victims —all of them — and not just one specific group that you happen to favor.
“The Hymn of Death” (사의 찬미)
“The Hymn of Death” is a bittersweet three-hour mini-series that tells the real-life story of Yum Sim-Deok — Joseon’s first soprano — and Kim Yoo-Jin, a renowned writer and playwright. Set during the period when Korea was under Japanese rule, the tragic story is familiar to many Koreans.
Go Away With … Charles Brice
Charles Brice portrays a CIA hacker in the new Netflix spy series, “In From the Cold.” The actor shares stories about catching COVID-19 in Spain, being forced to pay off armed gunmen in Mexico, and feeling as if he were in a spy novel in Hungary.
Go Away With … Emma Malouff
“I am your classic over-packer, so you can always count on me to bring everything I need and everything I don’t need,” said Emma Malouff, one of the stars of “Impeachment: American Crime Story.”
“The Hungry and the Hairy” (먹보와 털보)
During this pandemic when most of us can’t travel and are stuck at home, we can live vicariously through the delicious adventures of Rain and Noh Hong-chul in “The Hungry and the Hairy.”
“Silenced” (도가니)
Based on Gong Ji-young’s 2009 novel, “Silenced” is a brutal look at the systematic torture of children at a facility for the hearing impaired. Though Gong’s book is fictional, the stories she tells are based on the decades of real-life abuse that handicapped students endured at the Gwangju Inhwa School for the Deaf.
Go Away With … Will Clinger
“We’ve had to cancel eight trips for ‘Wild Travels’ due to COVID-19,” said host Will Clinger. “The ones I really hated to lose were to San Francisco for St. Stupid’s Day and to Beaver, Oklahoma, for the World Cow Chip Throwing Championship.”
“Cheese in the Trap: The Movie” (치즈 인 더 트랩)
Based on the 2016 K-drama, “Cheese in the Trap” — which was based on the webtoon of the same name — this film adaptation is a good primer, but it’s lacking in telling the characters’ full stories.