Musings of the Obsessive Kind

Mr. Mousie and I watched In Bruges tonight (with Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson and Ralph Fiennes). It just opened and it was WONDERFUL. Both darkly funny, and sad. Plus, we've been to Bruges so it was extra cool.

We have also watched eps 11-12 of Hong Gil Dong. Caps and meta coming, but for now, all I have to say is:
a. it gets better with every single ep
b. How can the same drama make me LOL like a maniac and get weepy-eyed?

( Spoiler for eps 11 and 12, about favorite bits and some caps )

I have also continued with my watch of Que Sera Sera and have just finished ep 15. It's still incredibly excellent.

( Spoilers for eps 11-15 )

( Some awesome caps of manpain! )

Last but not least, the amazing walkwithheroes made two perfect Something Happened in Bali MVs. One about the OTP of Jae-Min/Soo-Jung and one about the love triangle. The OTP one almost made me cry:



I loved Bali so much. It's like a darker QSS actually (or, since QSS is later, I suppose QSS is like a happier Bali). Bali is one of these impossible dramas: there are some characters you want to murder (Jae-Min's entire family should have been strangled in their sleep) but they are nasty in a very realistic way, the ending is the bleakest in any kdrama I've ever seen (but makes perfect character sense),there is a certain sense of realism about the world (poverty sucks, the powerful are unjust, damaged people can go off the rails), but the thing that keeps drawing me to it the most (I will actually rewatch it once I finish QSS) is the incredibly screwed-up, irresistable, intense love story: the interactions between Jae-Min and Song-Joo are some of my favorite things in the dramas. And Jae-Min himself, even though what he really needed was years of therapy, since it would have been impossible to go back in time and get child protective services involved, he happens to be one of my very favorite drama heroes. Which probably says worrying things about me, but whatever...

Oh, and a little reading update:

( Books am reading or about to start )

In my quest to lessen my scary drama backlog, I've finished Return of the Condor Heroes (yummy till the end) and am now finishing Something Happened in Bali. Currently I am in middle of episode 19 of 20. I see myself finishing it soon.

This was a drama I stopped watching three episodes before the end not because I got bored or because it wasn't good, but because (rather like with Silence and The Outsiders) I got so attached to the characters and I knew it couldn't end well. The angst got a little too much for me and I needed a break.

Because it's been months since I posted about it, a quick refresher: SHiB was a phenomenally successful kdrama a couple of years back that revolved around Ha Ji-Won, a poor girl who attracts the intense but somewhat unstable rich scion of an abusive family Jo In-Sung (after this and A Dirty Carnival, JIS just might be one of the best Korean actors I've seen, but if I never see him angst again, I'll be happy). There is also Plucky Poor Man who is into Ha Ji-Won and an Annoying Cow, PPM's ex and JIS's intended.

I adore SHiB for a number of reasons but mainly because of Jo In-Sung (whom I haven't seen in anything before). His character is totally messed up and totally irresistable. Think a grown-up early Logan or (as lesbiassparrow pointed out, of SHiB as a very dark Hanadan). Plus, he's got the mad unsverving love of the heroine going which is a thing I love. Every time he and Ha Ji-Won are on screen, sparks are a mile high.

You know what I don't love? JIS's father? In fact if I had to pick the most abusive drama father I've ever seen, he would win hands down. JIS is a pretty messed up individual, but he is miraculously adjusted considering his horrifc family (there are no nice families in this one, are there?) I thought I plumbed the depths of character hate, when his father literally beat him half to death with a golf club and threatened to do the same to Ha Ji-Won if he didn't marry the girl the family picked for him, and then went 'business as usual' manner.

I was mistaken. There is an absolutely awfully painful scene in ep 18. JIS went and married the girl and he is a mess: he is turning into an alcoholic, he and his wife are both miserable and everything is falling apart. And of course he is still tormented by his feelings for HJW (who he finally got to love him only for the above to happen). And his father visits him in theoffice, and this totally horrible scene follows, where his grown-up son grovels, literally grovels, begging to be allowed to have Ha Ji-Won and saying he tried to be with his wife but he can't and she is miserable too, and he doesn't want anything else, doesn't need anything else, just Ha Ji-Won. And he is on his knees, sobbing 'Father' and holding the man's knees and the old man is hitting and he won't stop. And he is totally trying to protect Ha Ji-Won sobbing 'it's my fault, I pursued her' and the Old Man finlly responds verbally by 'I am going to kill her for making you be like this' and basically reiterates that he will kill her (and he is powerful and evil enough to do so, no question about it) and OMG, Jo In-Sung is all (awfully transparently) tries to collect himself and backtrack and is all, desperately, still on his knees repeating 'I was mistaken, I misspoke' and bsically saying he was confused and he didn't mean what he said earlier. To protect Ha Ji-Won, of course.

And the Old Man stalks out, and JIS is just left sobbing on the carpet.

God, there are no words for the HATE I have for the evil guy. This thing will not end well in a million years so the only thing I want is for the horrible father to suffer. Please. I hope the old guy will have a heart attack.

I have never hated a fictional parental figure like this before.

ETA: finished it.( spoilers )

So, now I restarted Loveholic. I like it a lot, but it's one of those things I can't binge in but enjoy in small dozes. And OMG, Kang Ta=HOT.

In my quest to lessen my scary drama backlog, I've finished Return of the Condor Heroes (yummy till the end) and am now finishing Something Happened in Bali. Currently I am in middle of episode 19 of 20. I see myself finishing it soon.

This was a drama I stopped watching three episodes before the end not because I got bored or because it wasn't good, but because (rather like with Silence and The Outsiders) I got so attached to the characters and I knew it couldn't end well. The angst got a little too much for me and I needed a break.

Because it's been months since I posted about it, a quick refresher: SHiB was a phenomenally successful kdrama a couple of years back that revolved around Ha Ji-Won, a poor girl who attracts the intense but somewhat unstable rich scion of an abusive family Jo In-Sung (after this and A Dirty Carnival, JIS just might be one of the best Korean actors I've seen, but if I never see him angst again, I'll be happy). There is also Plucky Poor Man who is into Ha Ji-Won and an Annoying Cow, PPM's ex and JIS's intended.

I adore SHiB for a number of reasons but mainly because of Jo In-Sung (whom I haven't seen in anything before). His character is totally messed up and totally irresistable. Think a grown-up early Logan or (as lesbiassparrow pointed out, of SHiB as a very dark Hanadan). Plus, he's got the mad unsverving love of the heroine going which is a thing I love. Every time he and Ha Ji-Won are on screen, sparks are a mile high.

You know what I don't love? JIS's father? In fact if I had to pick the most abusive drama father I've ever seen, he would win hands down. JIS is a pretty messed up individual, but he is miraculously adjusted considering his horrifc family (there are no nice families in this one, are there?) I thought I plumbed the depths of character hate, when his father literally beat him half to death with a golf club and threatened to do the same to Ha Ji-Won if he didn't marry the girl the family picked for him, and then went 'business as usual' manner.

I was mistaken. There is an absolutely awfully painful scene in ep 18. JIS went and married the girl and he is a mess: he is turning into an alcoholic, he and his wife are both miserable and everything is falling apart. And of course he is still tormented by his feelings for HJW (who he finally got to love him only for the above to happen). And his father visits him in theoffice, and this totally horrible scene follows, where his grown-up son grovels, literally grovels, begging to be allowed to have Ha Ji-Won and saying he tried to be with his wife but he can't and she is miserable too, and he doesn't want anything else, doesn't need anything else, just Ha Ji-Won. And he is on his knees, sobbing 'Father' and holding the man's knees and the old man is hitting and he won't stop. And he is totally trying to protect Ha Ji-Won sobbing 'it's my fault, I pursued her' and the Old Man finlly responds verbally by 'I am going to kill her for making you be like this' and basically reiterates that he will kill her (and he is powerful and evil enough to do so, no question about it) and OMG, Jo In-Sung is all (awfully transparently) tries to collect himself and backtrack and is all, desperately, still on his knees repeating 'I was mistaken, I misspoke' and bsically saying he was confused and he didn't mean what he said earlier. To protect Ha Ji-Won, of course.

And the Old Man stalks out, and JIS is just left sobbing on the carpet.

God, there are no words for the HATE I have for the evil guy. This thing will not end well in a million years so the only thing I want is for the horrible father to suffer. Please. I hope the old guy will have a heart attack.

I have never hated a fictional parental figure like this before.

ETA: finished it.( spoilers )

So, now I restarted Loveholic. I like it a lot, but it's one of those things I can't binge in but enjoy in small dozes. And OMG, Kang Ta=HOT.

Because too much of The Outsiders is making me incoherent (read: I couldn't use the computer for a time, so had to watch a DVD), I have decided to finish that cheerful drama, Something Happened in Bali. (You know what is scary? It's not the most depressing drama I've seen).

10 minutes into episode 18 as of yesterday and yeah. Jae-Min. Mmmmmm. He makes me want to be Ha Ji-Won's character and take him home and fix all his manifold issues, except:

a. I don't think I can take his Dad in a one-on-one fight. I can soooo take on his Mom, though.
b. In about ten minutes after I took him home, he would manifest said dysfunction and after about a day or so of having to deal with that in RL, not being a very patient or murturing, I'd probably murder him.
c. If I were Ha Ji-Won's character, I'd have to live in a hovel.

But on the plus side, before I either (a) got murdered by his Dad (b) went to jail for murdering him, or (c) succumbed to deadly diseases inherent in hovels,

there would be really hot making out.

So I might still come out ahead.

Especially if I get to give his credit card a work out.

Yeah, I am making up for not posting yesterday.

This will probably be of no interest to anyone but me and possibly alexandral, but below is a clip of Jo In Sung accepting Best Actor at Korean film awards in 2006 for movie A Dirty Carnival (what is it about and where can I find it?)



I am totally gleeful as I adored him to bits in What Happened in Bali and he made me sit through 17 eps of a drama where I hated the other three main characters and the plot of which did not appeal, but every time his abused, arrogant woobie appeared on screen, I melted seventeen different ways. Every scene with him was just incredibly awesome and kept me glued to the screen. Problem was the other scenes (or also believing the heroine wouldn't make up her mind to take him until it was too late).

Heads up, my in the near future drama schedule looks like this:

Finish Lovers and ROCH.
Then get back and finish Nobuta, Beautiful Life and Taiyou No Kisetsu.
Oh, and in there catch up on Liar Game
Watch ProDai as soon as it's all done.
And after that, finish Witch Yoo Hee and Hello Miss.

Yeah, I am making up for not posting yesterday.

This will probably be of no interest to anyone but me and possibly alexandral, but below is a clip of Jo In Sung accepting Best Actor at Korean film awards in 2006 for movie A Dirty Carnival (what is it about and where can I find it?)



I am totally gleeful as I adored him to bits in What Happened in Bali and he made me sit through 17 eps of a drama where I hated the other three main characters and the plot of which did not appeal, but every time his abused, arrogant woobie appeared on screen, I melted seventeen different ways. Every scene with him was just incredibly awesome and kept me glued to the screen. Problem was the other scenes (or also believing the heroine wouldn't make up her mind to take him until it was too late).

Heads up, my in the near future drama schedule looks like this:

Finish Lovers and ROCH.
Then get back and finish Nobuta, Beautiful Life and Taiyou No Kisetsu.
Oh, and in there catch up on Liar Game
Watch ProDai as soon as it's all done.
And after that, finish Witch Yoo Hee and Hello Miss.

OK, Something Happened in Bali, stop giving me heart-attacks!

These are really disjoined thoughts through ep 17.

1. OMG Omg omg omg. Jae-Min and Soo-Jung had sex. Actually, they made love OMG OMFG OMG. He begged her not to leave and he was holding her hands and they were both crying and she was saying how not giving him her heart was the only bit of dignity she had left and there was kissing and a morning after scene and she told him about wanting to have a small hotel in Bali and OMG OMG OMG.

2. Nothing good would happen if characters had a happy moment, I knew it. His parents found out about condo he got for Soo-Jung and they of course want the proper marriage advantageous to the company and WTF WTF HELLLLLLLLL...what kind of a psycho parent beats his son so badly that he cannot even get up and is covered in blood. Jesus H. Christ. I thought Shin had it bad. Yikes. And then his lovely father tells him (as he is still lying on the floor) that if he loves the girl, he'll let her go, because otherwise he (the father) will take care of her himself. WRF ARGH STAB OLD EVIL PERSON IN THE FACE.

3. So combination of pathological terror of abusive father and desire to protect his OTP, Jae-Min basically pretends to Soo-Jung that he doesn't want to see her, even though he is dying to (and of course to her it comes across as she slept with him and he ditched her like a rag) and even though he's finally gotten what he wants: she actually came looking for him, even though she was so tentative (it's like he spent all this effort to lure a frightened wild animal in and then he did but then he had to drive it away and eeee) and OMG OMG OMG he married the evil bitch fiancee (who is horrible. He begs her to help him break off the marriage and even though she doesn't love him, she is 'nope' even though he was taking the blame for her earlier, when she wanted to break up). EEEEEEE. OMG ARGH.

4. And he wants to see Soo-Jung so badly but he can't and there is that scene after she came looking for him and he denied her where he is literally wailing in his house and totally falling apart and she calls him after marriage saying she wants to meet him and OMG he has to hold the phone apart and take forever to respond to each comment because he is trying to control himself because he is crying and he has to sound dispassionate on the phone and OMG OMG oMG.

5. Good thing his wife is getting the 'don't touch me, I can't stand to look at you' treatment.

OMG. Seriously, I know how it ends, and with the way these people are miserable, that is almost a relief for them.

Oh, Jae-Min. Seriously, I think he’s replaced Gong-Chan as my number 1 kdrama boyfriend, even though while Gong-Chan would be an awesome guy to bring home to mother, Jae-Min most emphatically is not. In RL, I would never want to be around such a messed-up woobie, but hey. It’s drama land, world of pink shirts and fur collars on men, and women who bicycle in stilettos. A certain leeway is expected. (Hey, my other kdrama boyfriends are a mobster in love with his stepsister, a math genius who feels such guilt for a death of a friend he becomes a low-level boxer, a Crown Prince of Korea who is so withdrawn and reserved he is borderline unfunctional, a boyish but capable DA for the city of Seoul, a laid-back quirky chef wannabe, a girly looking former playboy, an immature but sweet actor and an unemployed violent guy out for revenge. It’s clearly a mixed bag).

Another interesting thing is that this is a very rare drama where I am rooting for the main ship (Jae-Min/Soo-Jung) mainly because I adore the guy and want him to get what he wants. I like Soo-Jung OK, but it’s rare for me not to fall for the heroine as hard as for the hero: usually, I either adore both or am rather blah on both.

( Spoilers through ep 13 )

And unrelated and unspoilery. I find it interesting that in kdramas, the rich guys drive those huge blocky SUVs. I guess because space and gas are so expensive, it shows status.

I have also looked at my manga/manhwa reading roster and yikes. It’s a mile long. Here it is, in order of preference.

( Long manga ramble )

And a little pic to end the day. It exemplifies both everything that is wrong and that is right with Bollywood.

WRONG; WTF is with the outfit? Who wears a tie on a bare torso?
RIGHT: Shahrukh Khan! (aka my favorite actor ever) Without a shirt!

Oh, Jae-Min. Seriously, I think he’s replaced Gong-Chan as my number 1 kdrama boyfriend, even though while Gong-Chan would be an awesome guy to bring home to mother, Jae-Min most emphatically is not. In RL, I would never want to be around such a messed-up woobie, but hey. It’s drama land, world of pink shirts and fur collars on men, and women who bicycle in stilettos. A certain leeway is expected. (Hey, my other kdrama boyfriends are a mobster in love with his stepsister, a math genius who feels such guilt for a death of a friend he becomes a low-level boxer, a Crown Prince of Korea who is so withdrawn and reserved he is borderline unfunctional, a boyish but capable DA for the city of Seoul, a laid-back quirky chef wannabe, a girly looking former playboy, an immature but sweet actor and an unemployed violent guy out for revenge. It’s clearly a mixed bag).

Another interesting thing is that this is a very rare drama where I am rooting for the main ship (Jae-Min/Soo-Jung) mainly because I adore the guy and want him to get what he wants. I like Soo-Jung OK, but it’s rare for me not to fall for the heroine as hard as for the hero: usually, I either adore both or am rather blah on both.

( Spoilers through ep 13 )

And unrelated and unspoilery. I find it interesting that in kdramas, the rich guys drive those huge blocky SUVs. I guess because space and gas are so expensive, it shows status.

I have also looked at my manga/manhwa reading roster and yikes. It’s a mile long. Here it is, in order of preference.

( Long manga ramble )

And a little pic to end the day. It exemplifies both everything that is wrong and that is right with Bollywood.

WRONG; WTF is with the outfit? Who wears a tie on a bare torso?
RIGHT: Shahrukh Khan! (aka my favorite actor ever) Without a shirt!

OK, something gotta give. I cannot possibly watch all the currently running (or dramas which finished but where subbing is in progress still) dramas on my list. Not with completed dramas I am watching/want to watch, with Farscape rewatch, with Bollywood and books and manga and anime.

Even if I did nothing but watch drama all day (which I cannot), there are not enough hours in the day.

So? Something gotta give. Not only am I not starting any new dramas (running or completed) until I finish half of the ones I am watching, but I am going to postpone a bunch of the ones currently running that I want to watch.

( Ramblings on watch roster and what is getting cut )

I’ve been moving through Something Happened in Bali like crazy.

( A few thoughts on ep 10 )