Journalist, Author & Syndicated Columnist
As Hyun-soo, Kim Soo-hyun is superb in a difficult role where he has to be sympathetic, but also could be a cold-blooded and manipulative killer. His role requires him to cry in a manner that allows viewers to feel his panic and fears. And Kim comes through again superbly, proving he is one of the best actors of his generation.
For many Westerners, Korean cinema didn’t enter their consciousness until the unparalleled success of the film “Parasite: in 2019. The gripping film deals with socio-economic discrepancies specific to modern-day South Korea, but the clever and sometimes brutal storyline hit a nerve with filmgoers worldwide. The film won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, an Oscar for Best Picture at the Academy Awards, and a BAFTA for Best Film Not in the English Language at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
Two Korean men move to Suriname in the hopes of making some fast money. Their goal is to buy skate, which Surinamese don’t want, for pennies and resell them in South Korea at an inflated price. But when cocaine is found in one of their shipments, both men are arrested and jailed.
This second season of “Hello, My Twenties!” is entertaining, but suffers a bit from too-much-going-on syndrome, as well as the recasting of a central character.
“Seoul Vibe” is full of backstabbing, murder and mayhem. Director Moon Hyun-sung does a commendable job at keeping the plot moving, but he knows that the wild car chases are the key to this movie.
I loved “Extraordinary Attorney Woo.” The storylines were compelling and the actors did a fine job in bringing their characters to life. Park Eun-bin has been singled out for her extraordinary portrayal of a highly-functioning autistic attorney. But that’s where my conflict lies. As many autistic people have already pointed out, as good as Park was in her role, it is unsettling to watch a non-disabled actor portray a character who is on the spectrum. Most of my friends and acquaintances who have autistic children said they couldn’t force themselves to watch beyond the first episode, because her portrayal felt like a mockery of what they live through.
“Hello, My Twenties!” follows the lives of five college roommates ranging in age from 18 to 28. Eun-jae is a meek freshman who’s too shy to ask an upperclassman to return her pen and much too afraid to tell her roommates not to eat all of the homemade preserves her mother sent her off with. Ye-eun is a culinary arts student who’s more interested in her inattentive boyfriend than anything else. Ji-won is an eccentric journalism major (haha!) who says she can see a ghost in their apartment. Yi-na has a series of older, rich boyfriends and doesn’t seem to be studying much of anything other than her shoe collection. And at 28, Jin-myung’s live revolves around working three part-time jobs to pay for her tuition and pay off her family’s bills.
In the span of time it takes for a plane to fly from Seoul to Honolulu — approximately nine hours — a psychopath boards an airplane at Incheon International Airport and releases a deadly biological pathogen onboard, which results in passengers getting sick and/or dying (and turning on each other). And, oh yeah, scientists on the ground develop an antigen to combat the virus.
“The Roundup” is an action-packed sequel to the 2017 film “The Outlaws.” Often times brutal and very bloody, the movie also has its share of slapstick comedy thanks to its affable star Ma Dong-seok.
“Tomorrow” tells the stories of people who are on the verge of ending their lives. This is where Ryeon and Joong-il come in. These angels of death work for Jumadeung, an elite company that employs those who’ve already died, but are revived to deal with matters of the afterlife. Some employees are given the option to reincarnate and live a normal life — after fulfilling their contracts, that is.
Yumi is a woman in her early thirties, who had spent most of her twenties with a man who used her financially, cheated on her and then left her after seven years together. She viewed those as wasted years and, in some ways, is correct. Doting on a partner who doesn’t value you is nothing to be proud of. But there’s also something to be said for learning from negative experiences.
Ayesha Rascoe speaks with journalist Jae-Ha Kim about the popularity of Korean television dramas on streaming services and her top recommendations.
I enjoyed “Shooting Stars” for what it is: a cute romance with two incredibly attractive lead actors. But I also acknowledge that there are some problematic moments that mar parts of the series for me.
In this review, writer Jae-Ha Kim explores Prime Video’s “The Summer I Turned Pretty” and the way it approaches its Asian American lead — and her love interests.
Son Ye-jin and Hyun Bin fell in love while filming the popular K-drama “Crash Landing on You” and were married earlier this year. “A new life has found us,” Son said on Instagram. The couple are expecting a baby!
The Spanish TV phenomenon gets remade and reset in an imagined North and South Korea, complete with charged political commentary and BTS namedropping. My latest review for Rolling Stone.
“My Liberation Notes” is very beautifully executed in presenting a slice of life that doesn’t offer a fairy-tale ending … or offer finite solutions to ease the characters’ lives. But what this K-drama does do is allow for growth. Who the characters are at the start of the series is not who they are by the finale, and that’s a good thing.
At first glance, “Our Blues” appears to be about a somewhat eccentric community of folks in Jeju-do — South Korea’s largest island. And it is. But it’s also about so much more. Over the course of 20 episodes, the series weaves together the complex stories of more than a dozen characters, creating a larger picture of love, forgiveness, and what it means to truly look out for one another.
“Again My Life” stars Lee Joon-Gi as a prosecutor who gets a second chance at life … literally. He is smart, charming and (of course) ridiculously handsome. This series is a lot of fun to watch, especially if you like revenge dramas.
