“Bloodhounds” 사냥개들
“Bloodhounds” offers sweet bromance. But this K-drama also has a brutal take on morality.
Author: Jae-Ha Kim
Go Away With … Nicole Chung
With her first memoir “All You Can Ever Know,” Nicole Chung candidly offered personal reflections on being a transracial adoptee. The bestselling author’s latest book “A Living Remedy” (Ecco) deals with grief, classism and America’s broken healthcare system, which contributed to the deaths of both her adoptive parents.
As BTS Celebrates 10th Anniversary, Their Impact and Legacy Is Undeniable
In this essay, writer Jae-Ha Kim celebrates BTS’s 10th anniversary as a group by looking at the dreams they achieved on behalf of the Korean diaspora. They rose to the top and took us with them.
Go Away With … Kearran Giovanni
“I’m Black and I grew up in the South, so I can only say that I’ve heard certain countries aren’t friendly to minorities,” said “Walker” actress Kearran Giovanni. “But honestly, I’ve felt unwelcome in places within my own country my whole life so nothing can shock me at this point. It wouldn’t stop me.”
“The Good Bad Mother” (나쁜엄마)
Like “Our Blues,” “My Liberation Notes” and “Reply 1988,” “The Good Bad Mother” is a slice-of-life series filled with quirky characters who are overly interested in each other’s business. They support each other, are jealous of each other’s children and talk smack about each other. But if an outsider dares to do the same, hell hath no fury like a neighbor scorned.
“Black Knight” (택배기사)
“Black Knight” takes place 40 years after a comet crashed into Earth, nearly destroying the entire population. The Korean series is clearly a parable for what could happen to our world if we don’t take better care of the most vulnerable among us.
Go Away With … B.I
A rapper, singer, songwriter and producer, Kim Han-bin has been known professionally as B.I since his 2015 debut with the South Korean group iKON. The multi-hyphenate musician is a solo artist now and is promoting his latest album, “To Die For.” That title along with the promotional poster’s YOLO message – dream as if you’ll live forever, live as if you’ll die today – may lead people to speculate that the 26-year-old musician’s own mortality was on his mind when he composed his songs.
“Joseon Attorney: A Morality” (조선변호사)
There has been an uptick in engaging K-dramas where the protagonist becomes a lawyer to avenge the wrongs committed against his family. “The Good Bad Mother” and “Divorce Attorney Shin” are set in the modern day era. “Joseon Attorney: A Morality” adds a twist to this conceit by taking us way back to the Joseon era (1392 to 1897), before Korea was called Korea and there was no Seoul — the city was known as Hanyang.
Go Away With … Helen Park
Helen Park wasn’t awake when the Tony Award nominations were announced a few weeks ago. “My agent called me and I was still asleep!” said Park, who bears the distinction of being the first Asian American female composer on Broadway. “When I checked my phone, the first text I saw was, ‘OMG’ and the second was, ‘You’re Tony nominated.’ I just sat on my bed completely speechless for about a good 20 minutes.”
“Yaksha: Ruthless Operations” (야차)
A fast-moving action film, “Yaksha: Ruthless Operations” is a spy thriller full of special ops, backstabbing and political intrigue. Last year, I stopped watching about 20 minutes into the movie, because it didn’t hold my interest. But when I went back to it this year, I found it to be thoroughly entertaining. Is this a prestige film? Absolutely not. But it was a fun ride with a (straight-laced) fish-out-of-water concept.
Go Away With … Zurin Villanueva
“I definitely don’t get to explore as much as I would like, but I try to get one thing in per city,” said Zurin Villanueva, who stars in “Tina: The Tina Turner Musical.” “I went to Paisley Park – home of the late Prince – in Minneapolis. I left invigorated and very inspired. His moxy to be exactly who he wanted to be, his love for his craft and his generosity is still striking.”
“XO, Kitty” Tackles Adoption, Diaspora & Maintaining Korean Ties
“XO, Kitty” tackles adoption, diaspora and maintaining Korean ties. But is it any good? Not really.
Go Away With … William Yu
“I’m lucky to have family roots that stretch around the globe,” said screenwriter William Yu. “I was born in Philadelphia, moved to Hong Kong when I was five, then to Boston, and then to New York, before coming out here to Los Angeles. My older sister currently lives in London. While we still have family in Seoul, where my parents were born, my mother went to high school in Taiwan, while my father spent formative years in Jamaica, before the two ended up in America for college and beyond.”
The Gatekeepers of Who Is (and Isn’t) Korean
Last week I wrote an article about an incident that occurred to my family when we were new immigrants in the United States. Who knew that such an innocuous essay would stir up the emotions of haters, who deemed us as getting what we deserved for deciding to move here. Of course, they all tapped away anonymously on their keyboards from their homes in the … United States.
“Somebody” (썸바디)
A psychological thriller that sounded much better than it actually is, “Somebody” revolves a serial killer (Kim Young-kwang) who uses a dating app to find his victims — and the app developer (Kang Hae-lim) who identifies with him, even after finding out his true identity.
When Strangers Destroyed Our Korean Lunch
To them it may have been smelly and weird. To us, it was a taste of home.
Suga’s D-Day Concert Review: Agust D, Yoongi, and BTS Suga in One Glorious Fusion
In the final moments of the concert, the cameras seem to multiply, his cadence intensifies, the lights flash like paparazzi light bulbs. On the giant screen, surveillance-style footage captures him at a dozen different angles. It’s all fury and flame and breathless swagger; Suga can dance, Agust D prefers to stalk. And the last image we see is Min Yoongi, his retreating back, the house lights already up, a person at the very end of it all.
“Unlocked” (스마트폰을 떨어뜨렸을 뿐인데)
“Unlocked” came out a few months after the Korean series “Somebody.” Both revolve around cunning, good-looking serial killers who utilize technology to hack their way into their victims’ lives. In this 2022 film, the cell phone is the device of choice.
Go Away With … Ian Chang of Son Lux
“I would love to experience more musical exchange in my travels,” said Ian Chang, whose group Son Lux was nominated for an Academy Award for their scoring of the film “Everything Everywhere All At Once.” “Unfortunately, the standard touring model doesn’t allow for this because of how tight the travel and performance schedules tend to be. I do have a very fond memory of trading drum set lessons for cajón lessons in Lima with an incredible cajón player who was just 10 years old.”