Reading and Watching
Jan. 30th, 2008 04:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dangermousieIn a little vacuum after Legend (and before it took over, as well), in-between watching the airbrushed angst of Beautiful Days (seriously, Hero. Just ditch the family and move to Canada, Australia, or Brazil. You’ll be much happier), I have also tried watching/reading various things that I haven’t posted about before, with various degrees of success.
WATCHING
1. Angel the Series: I did start AtS and watched the Pilot. While a little clunky, it was nonetheless quite fun, whether because David Boreanaz looked quite good, I was amused by Doyle, or because of coat-billowing scenes. I like Cordelia much better than I did when I was younger (she is amusing on my screen) but I’d still sic a pit bull on her if I had to deal with her in RL.
2. I have watched Tricky Master, a made in 2000 Stephen Chow movie. The plot made no sense and was there just for very very lowbrow gags. Regrettably for my claims to taste, I LOLed throughout.
3. Me and Romeo x Juliet anime just don’t gel. It’s beautifully animated, has a cool concept and nice enough characters, but I find it a struggle to get through more than one ep at a time. I think I’ll be waving it buh-bye.
4. I have tried Legend of Hyang Dan, a two-part ‘special’ (i.e. short) drama, which is yet another reinterpretation of the famous classic Chunhyang story (you know: she is virtuous courtesan, he high official/righter of wrongs, star-crossed love blah blah). In this two-parter, the take on the story is comic and light-hearted, and largely similar to the classic tale but also with a twist. Our hero, Mong-Ryong, is a useless upperclass lamo by day but a daring Robin Hood by night. Or something. One day, running away from the law, he crosses paths not with Chun-Hyang, but her practical, sweet servant Hyang Dan. And that is who he falls in love with, not Chun-Hyang. Ergo the twist.
It appears cute enough, but trying it after the Legend is about the worst timing for it. It’s like having chips after a fancy French meal. I like chips a lot, but you have to admit, this would really not work. It also suffers in comparison both with the amazing arthousy movie Chunhyang, that came out a few years back (and was a serious, classic treatment of the story) and the adorable and sharp Delightful Girl Chun-Hyang drama from two or so years back, with its modern twist on the story. Of course, comparing an enjoyable if unearthshaking special with an arthouse film and two of the best kdramas out there is a bit unfair. It does appear a pleasant way to spend a couple of hours and I will be finishing it soon. Still, when a character made a Hong Gil Dong reference, I caught myself checking for more subs of HGD instead :)
5. By far the best of the bunch of ‘new’ things checked out is the currently airing Robbers. Robbers is a drama which involves a character played by Jang Hyuk (mmm, quite hot!), a handsome, unscrupulous conman who makes his living by preying on women and getting their money, and his interaction with a clear-headed, adorable single mother, played by my kdrama favorite, Lee Da Hae. Something tells me he will fall for her instead.
I am only 15 or so minutes into it, but I loved it. LDH is, as usual, irresistible. Unlike in her previous drama Hello Miss, she also doesn’t have to play a high-strung character, which helps. Jang Hyuk is handsome and unrepentant and while his character is not nice by any stretch of the imagination, he is incredibly fun to watch. I can’t wait to see sparks fly. Plus, the colors are pretty and other characters appear cool too. First five eps have been subbed so I foresee a pleasant catching-up.
I have also fallen behind on 1 Pound No Fukuin (and need to catch up) and can’t wait for more Hong Gil Dong.
READING
1. Heyday by Kurt Andersen. Set in 1840s USA, it’s a good read, a sort of novel Dickens might have written if he was a contemporary author. The author is a bit too fond of ‘oddity’ but it’s a good book overall. There is a love story, adventure, and a murder or three.
2. A History of the World in Six Glasses by Tom Standage. A fun and poppy (if too Eurocentric for my liking) read about the influence on human civilization of beer, wine, liquor, tea, coffee, and soda.
3. Cygnet by Patricia McKillip. Based on a post by queenofthorns. It’s a collection of two different fantasy novels. It seems good so far but I haven’t read enough to be sure.
WATCHING
1. Angel the Series: I did start AtS and watched the Pilot. While a little clunky, it was nonetheless quite fun, whether because David Boreanaz looked quite good, I was amused by Doyle, or because of coat-billowing scenes. I like Cordelia much better than I did when I was younger (she is amusing on my screen) but I’d still sic a pit bull on her if I had to deal with her in RL.
2. I have watched Tricky Master, a made in 2000 Stephen Chow movie. The plot made no sense and was there just for very very lowbrow gags. Regrettably for my claims to taste, I LOLed throughout.
3. Me and Romeo x Juliet anime just don’t gel. It’s beautifully animated, has a cool concept and nice enough characters, but I find it a struggle to get through more than one ep at a time. I think I’ll be waving it buh-bye.
4. I have tried Legend of Hyang Dan, a two-part ‘special’ (i.e. short) drama, which is yet another reinterpretation of the famous classic Chunhyang story (you know: she is virtuous courtesan, he high official/righter of wrongs, star-crossed love blah blah). In this two-parter, the take on the story is comic and light-hearted, and largely similar to the classic tale but also with a twist. Our hero, Mong-Ryong, is a useless upperclass lamo by day but a daring Robin Hood by night. Or something. One day, running away from the law, he crosses paths not with Chun-Hyang, but her practical, sweet servant Hyang Dan. And that is who he falls in love with, not Chun-Hyang. Ergo the twist.
It appears cute enough, but trying it after the Legend is about the worst timing for it. It’s like having chips after a fancy French meal. I like chips a lot, but you have to admit, this would really not work. It also suffers in comparison both with the amazing arthousy movie Chunhyang, that came out a few years back (and was a serious, classic treatment of the story) and the adorable and sharp Delightful Girl Chun-Hyang drama from two or so years back, with its modern twist on the story. Of course, comparing an enjoyable if unearthshaking special with an arthouse film and two of the best kdramas out there is a bit unfair. It does appear a pleasant way to spend a couple of hours and I will be finishing it soon. Still, when a character made a Hong Gil Dong reference, I caught myself checking for more subs of HGD instead :)
5. By far the best of the bunch of ‘new’ things checked out is the currently airing Robbers. Robbers is a drama which involves a character played by Jang Hyuk (mmm, quite hot!), a handsome, unscrupulous conman who makes his living by preying on women and getting their money, and his interaction with a clear-headed, adorable single mother, played by my kdrama favorite, Lee Da Hae. Something tells me he will fall for her instead.
I am only 15 or so minutes into it, but I loved it. LDH is, as usual, irresistible. Unlike in her previous drama Hello Miss, she also doesn’t have to play a high-strung character, which helps. Jang Hyuk is handsome and unrepentant and while his character is not nice by any stretch of the imagination, he is incredibly fun to watch. I can’t wait to see sparks fly. Plus, the colors are pretty and other characters appear cool too. First five eps have been subbed so I foresee a pleasant catching-up.
I have also fallen behind on 1 Pound No Fukuin (and need to catch up) and can’t wait for more Hong Gil Dong.
READING
1. Heyday by Kurt Andersen. Set in 1840s USA, it’s a good read, a sort of novel Dickens might have written if he was a contemporary author. The author is a bit too fond of ‘oddity’ but it’s a good book overall. There is a love story, adventure, and a murder or three.
2. A History of the World in Six Glasses by Tom Standage. A fun and poppy (if too Eurocentric for my liking) read about the influence on human civilization of beer, wine, liquor, tea, coffee, and soda.
3. Cygnet by Patricia McKillip. Based on a post by queenofthorns. It’s a collection of two different fantasy novels. It seems good so far but I haven’t read enough to be sure.
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no subject
Date: 2008-01-30 09:49 pm (UTC)Legend of Hyang Dan has a Suju member and dramabeans.com (whose taste I can agree with 80% of the time) really liked it so I'm def checking it out. But sometimes timing is everything. Watching something you're not in the mood doesn't work out for me at all, ever (unless whatever I'm watching turns out to be something I *am* in the mood for).
no subject
Date: 2008-01-30 10:03 pm (UTC)I say this as someone who doesn’t particularly enjoy Korean historical dramas or films, no matter how good they are purported to be
But that is the thing, I do. (Browsing dramabeans' site, we don't seem to have very many dramastastes in common though. I love my angst and she doesn't seem to).
SoHD is very cute, don't get me wrong. It's a pleasant way to spend two hours. I just don't find it any more than (to use a Bolly term) a 'timepass.' I do think that I was spoiled not just by Legend (I was in the mood for something period, but it was sort of like watching Harry Potter after LOTR, you know :)) but by the fact that DGCH already did a tongue-in-cheek take on Chunhyang (even if a different one) and it was so sterling. And Hong Gil Dong also did an excellent job of making a period drama that was also poking fun at the genre stuff. So basically every element of SoHD was done elsewhere better, if it makes any sense (of Legend, Chunhyang, DGCH and HGD, it is closest to HGD, but HGD has much more time to develop issues and characters).
OK, this sounds like a bash of SoHD but it's not meant to be. It's fun. Just not very memorable.
no subject
Date: 2008-01-30 10:41 pm (UTC)Her ratings are here, btw: http://www.dramabeans.com/about/ratings/
She intro'ed me to Que Sera Sera and Flowers for My Life, both of which I loved (though haven't finished yet), for which I'm very grateful.
Regardless I get what you're saying.
no subject
Date: 2008-01-30 10:53 pm (UTC)Did you ever finish QSS btw? I am sort of considering starting on it next week.
no subject
Date: 2008-01-30 11:12 pm (UTC)mind-blowingly hot Eric Mun who can kiss me in elevators any timetotally aware of his assholeness and tells the heroine right off the bat that he's not a nice guy. Not sure if it's enough to excuse the things he ends up doing, but he definitely goes through shit himself. It's a very hurty drama all around.I think lesbiassparrow's posts made me unsure whether I could go through the emotional pain of the last eps, but I'm still semi-determined to finish it, because Eun-soo/Tae-joo as an OTP took my breath way (such a wonderful confusing mix of cute/hurty) and Eric Mun is hot and the drama also had a lovely dark humor edge to it.
I think what I said in my last post about QSS still applies:
And whilst I don't absolutely always love the difficult situations, the frustrating drama, I can't bring myself to hate it, either. It's like the anti-KANK for me - some people go "ARGH!" at KANK (I'm one of them) whilst others go, "But the layers! But the tragically flawed human beings!". Similarly some hate QSS with a passion while I'm completely captured by the drama.
edit: Er, that's to say, I think you'd love it and I think I will finish it (now that CS revived my interest in kdrama!) once I'm at least 70% with my kdrama backlog. That is, Fantasy Couple, HGD eps on my HD and then I'll dl the rest of QSS.
no subject
Date: 2008-01-30 10:09 pm (UTC)She also starts changing dramatically(but believably) late in the season.
no subject
Date: 2008-01-30 10:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-30 10:14 pm (UTC)She could have been Kennedy.
no subject
Date: 2008-01-30 10:16 pm (UTC)Ohhhh, that's a low blow :D
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Date: 2008-01-30 10:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-30 10:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-30 10:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-30 11:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-30 11:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-30 11:32 pm (UTC)I was going to check out Legend of Hyang Dan since i read it was cute but I guess I could skip it for now. :)
no subject
Date: 2008-01-31 05:42 pm (UTC)Btw, Hyang Dan is cute. Just not memorable :)
no subject
Date: 2008-01-31 10:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-31 10:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-31 05:28 pm (UTC)Heh. I agree. What I like during the first and second seasons is, while Angel grows to love Cordelia, there are moments where he's genuinely irritated by her.
I remember being impressed as well that Angel failed to save the girl in the pilot. I also remember being frustrated (slightly spoilery) that the show kept importing Buffy characters in the first couple of episodes, but I guess that's to be expected for a spin-off.
no subject
Date: 2008-01-31 05:41 pm (UTC)I was also impressed that he didn't rescue the girl.