Musings of the Obsessive Kind

Yes, once I finish Nobuta Wo Produce (most likely today), I am going to restart Long Vacation. winterspel, I know you think I should give up because I've tried for months, but I really hate not finishing once I start, and also, hey, NwP love didn't kick in until ep 8. Most importantly, I have a Kimura Takuya withdrawal. I think now that I know I don't care for the heroine and have made peace with the fact that she is unlikely to grow more lovable (for me), I'll be OK. Also, now that I realize I am unlikely to be as in love with this as everyone seems to be, my expectations are tampered down so I think it will help with enjoyment.

Of course, the problem is I've seen the first two eps so long ago (and watched an ep more recently), it's all a little disjointed in my mind :D

OK, can people rec me Kimura Takuya dramas? I've only seen Pride and some of Long Vacation. I know, I know. In a way, it's the same thing meganbmoore has with the male lead in Damo. I loved him so much in Pride, I am half afraid to watch him in anything else. But I know I want to, so there it is.

I have Good Luck, but I am thinking of more dramatic ones, and hopefully with romance.

Thanks.

Yes, once I finish Nobuta Wo Produce (most likely today), I am going to restart Long Vacation. winterspel, I know you think I should give up because I've tried for months, but I really hate not finishing once I start, and also, hey, NwP love didn't kick in until ep 8. Most importantly, I have a Kimura Takuya withdrawal. I think now that I know I don't care for the heroine and have made peace with the fact that she is unlikely to grow more lovable (for me), I'll be OK. Also, now that I realize I am unlikely to be as in love with this as everyone seems to be, my expectations are tampered down so I think it will help with enjoyment.

Of course, the problem is I've seen the first two eps so long ago (and watched an ep more recently), it's all a little disjointed in my mind :D

OK, can people rec me Kimura Takuya dramas? I've only seen Pride and some of Long Vacation. I know, I know. In a way, it's the same thing meganbmoore has with the male lead in Damo. I loved him so much in Pride, I am half afraid to watch him in anything else. But I know I want to, so there it is.

I have Good Luck, but I am thinking of more dramatic ones, and hopefully with romance.

Thanks.

I went and saw The Painted Veil yesterday.

Based on Somerset Maugham’s novel, TPV is set in 1930s China, and follows Kitty (Naomi Watts), an upper-class Englishwoman, who ends up in a rural, cholera-ridden area of the country, after her bacteriologist husband Walter Fane (Edward Norton) offers her a choice between going with him or divorce for adultery. There, Kitty and Walter discover love for each other, and a lot of sick people, and some cool nuns.

I LOVED IT.

LOVED IT LOVED IT LOVED IT LOVED IT.

And not just because you see a lot of unclad Edward Norton :D

smartylibrarian, if you are interested, I don't mind watching it again.

( Spoilers for the movie )

I’ve also watched the ending of Long Vacation (the jdrama) and OMG, cute!! ( Spoilers )

And here are some thoughts on Green Rose, eps 5 and 6. ( Green Rose thoughts )

I cannot WAIT until Hana Yori Dango 2 ep. I want the dl to be here yesterday! :) I read spoilers for the ep as it already aired in Japan, and gleeeeee. Someone on the hanadan comm has a text icon that says 'apples make your hair fall off' and every time I see it, I giggle. I want my fix, now!

Oh, and thank you everyone for Friday Night Lights rec. I’ll definitely check it out.

Full House OMG. ( ep 8 babbling )

After seeing the following MVs for 1 Litre of Tears ( MVs behind cut ) I cannot wait to see the dorama. But even the first MV made me cry. I think this one might overload my angst capacity. OMG. Can't wait.

Discovering doramas is as giddy as discovering Bollywood was three or four years back. There is the whole other world out there and so many things to watch.

Of course, this also means that my watching list is about a mile long and like a person with too many cool things around her, I cannot decide what to watch first and end up watching more than one dorama at a time and still running around with 'this one or this one or this one.' I know I should impose some kind of order, but even if I just finished the ones I am currently watching, I'd need to have some kind of order. It's overwhelming and great.

And new 'must watch this second' doramas get added to the list every day.

( My watchlist ramblings )

QUOTE OF THE DAY: Cinderella lost her parents when she was young. And she was tortured by the jerk Lee Young-Jae. (Han Ji-Eun's reimagining of Cinderella in Full House).

Full House OMG. ( ep 8 babbling )

After seeing the following MVs for 1 Litre of Tears ( MVs behind cut ) I cannot wait to see the dorama. But even the first MV made me cry. I think this one might overload my angst capacity. OMG. Can't wait.

Discovering doramas is as giddy as discovering Bollywood was three or four years back. There is the whole other world out there and so many things to watch.

Of course, this also means that my watching list is about a mile long and like a person with too many cool things around her, I cannot decide what to watch first and end up watching more than one dorama at a time and still running around with 'this one or this one or this one.' I know I should impose some kind of order, but even if I just finished the ones I am currently watching, I'd need to have some kind of order. It's overwhelming and great.

And new 'must watch this second' doramas get added to the list every day.

( My watchlist ramblings )

QUOTE OF THE DAY: Cinderella lost her parents when she was young. And she was tortured by the jerk Lee Young-Jae. (Han Ji-Eun's reimagining of Cinderella in Full House).

I have a fandom confession to make: I like Doctor Who but don't love it. I enjoyed it when SciFi was running it, but when the season ended, I was perfectly content to wait until fall when it would start airing the new one. No great desire for torrents. And even when it was running on scifi, I was pretty OK with waiting a week between episodes. I have no desire for Who fic. I am not jumping up and down for spoilers. I wonder why. Probably because it's too episodic. I know that no matter what there'll never be an ending.

Fandom confession number two: I have a lot of Stargate fans on my flist but even though I tried the show repeatedly, I get bored within the first 10 minutes and switch the channel, every time. I think I am just going to give it up.

In unrelated news, three episodes in, Long Vacation has started working for me, all of a sudden. It's not going to be my favorite (it's too low-key) but I genuinely really like it now. I even like Minami (though she won't win my favorite dorama heroine award, not yet). It really made me think about something: I've liked plenty of heroines much more abrasive, but they were all cute 20-year olds. I guess I have ageism as a viewer, too :) But yes, all of a sudden, I feel for her.

And since I ran out of subbed eps of Silence, I am going to watch them unsubbed. However, I wonder if there is some place where I cn find detailed summaries of the thing so I won't be completely lost.

And Mars eps 16 and 17 are really really good. I totally adore the sex scene ('open your eyes, it's me' squeeeeee) and the whole Ling begging his father for help and completely capitulating (men negating selves for love is always hot) and Sheng's room is extra creepy, all those portraits of himself. And I love all the OTP cute moments, as when he is hugging her and she is laughing and saying it's too tight. They really have all those lovely little moments. And I love that he proposes marriage so casually, when they are sitting in bed. SQUEE.

I gave the jdorama Long Vacation another try. I've watched the first two eps and liked it well enough to finish it eventually. I don't see myself falling for it madly or anything as it's too low-key for me, but I do like Sena quite a lot and it's funny but Takuya Kimura really grows on one. I started out thinking he was a bit odd looking but now I find him almost handsome and I think a couple of more eps will make me see him as quite sexy.

This said? Minami. Oh My God. I haven't loathed a character this much for a long time. That's my one big problem with LV. I loathe one of the two main characters and the girl in what is supposed to be the OTP. No wonder her fiance dumped her. Heck, the fact that he put up with her at all is a miracle. You are 31, so grow up! She is shrill, bimboish, inconsiderate and insensitive. She is supposed to be quircky and cute and funny but all I get is that she would drive anyone halfway normal to suicide. I keep rooting for bad things to happen to her and cheer when they do. I don't think that's the reaction I am supposed to be getting. Heck, I know it will never happen but I want Sena to punch her or something. I cheer every time (all too few) he ever says something less than 100% nice to her. Heck, I am rooting for her drowning accidentally in a bathtub. Does she get any better? She is like nails on a chalkboard.

I gave the jdorama Long Vacation another try. I've watched the first two eps and liked it well enough to finish it eventually. I don't see myself falling for it madly or anything as it's too low-key for me, but I do like Sena quite a lot and it's funny but Takuya Kimura really grows on one. I started out thinking he was a bit odd looking but now I find him almost handsome and I think a couple of more eps will make me see him as quite sexy.

This said? Minami. Oh My God. I haven't loathed a character this much for a long time. That's my one big problem with LV. I loathe one of the two main characters and the girl in what is supposed to be the OTP. No wonder her fiance dumped her. Heck, the fact that he put up with her at all is a miracle. You are 31, so grow up! She is shrill, bimboish, inconsiderate and insensitive. She is supposed to be quircky and cute and funny but all I get is that she would drive anyone halfway normal to suicide. I keep rooting for bad things to happen to her and cheer when they do. I don't think that's the reaction I am supposed to be getting. Heck, I know it will never happen but I want Sena to punch her or something. I cheer every time (all too few) he ever says something less than 100% nice to her. Heck, I am rooting for her drowning accidentally in a bathtub. Does she get any better? She is like nails on a chalkboard.

Jury duty tomorrow. How dull.

Oh, and I am going to give Long Vacation another try. When I tried watching it a few months back, I was so frazzled. No wonder I couldn't concentrate. Hope I'll like it this time...

I started Long Vacation last night, which I liked but was a bit tired so put off till later. Minami is kinda annoying though: pushy and spastic and abrasive. Please tell me she mellows out because right now I wouldn't want her to get together with Sena who seems normal, if quiet.

Though the scene where she barges into his apartment on the eve of her wedding was hilarious, I still wanted to smack her. And when she moved herself in? Maybe it's a pet peeve, but in RL I'd find this really really annoying.

Also watched bits of Rent DVD. This movie is addicting as I kept playing random bits and then other random bits and basically I could play the whole thing in an endless continuous loop. Told Husband if he ever wanted to get me into a mushy mood, just make me watch the end of the movie. I also watched the deleted scenes, and why were they deleted? They are under 10 mins total, and scenes like "Goodbye Love" are kinda crucial in understanding Roger's motivation (not to mention Mark's withdrawal). Or maybe I just love Mimi singing "Goodbye Love" to Roger and Roger crying. The alternative ending was interesting but I see why they left it out as it felt too stagy and would have brought us out of the movie as reality framework (worked for the very beginning, before we got invested, but that's another, different story). I also watched a bit of the documentary and what little I've seen is fascinating.

Also watched one ep of Peacemaker Kurogane and I love. Faith in anime is back after Marmalade Boy horror. Toshi and Souji are uber cool, I LOVE the animation style (how do they manage to make it so sharp and 3D), the main character doesn't particularly interest me (he is 15 but acts and is drawn as even younger), but the rest of the major characters make up for it. I also love the notion that fighting as a samurai isn't all that it's supposed to be: you become a demon-like person. I love the kid watching Toshi dispatch his assailants and he is shivering, covered with blood watching it as Toshi isn't even winded.

I have an urge to rewatch Orchestra Wives, which is a very forgettable early 1940s movie. The plot is a groupie's dream as it concerns a small town girl who has a thing for the sax player in 'Gene Morrison' band and after a whirlwind night marries him only to find out travelling as an 'orchestra wife' isn't all it's cracked out to be. Why do I want to see it? Because this movie is 30% plot and 70% music and it has the best music ever as it's basically the real Glenn Miller and his orchestra performing and acting in it and the music is to die for (the leader is named "Gene Morrison" so they could use the band's insturments with "GM" initialled on them). If I could have only one movie soundtrack, this would be it. And in related note, am reading Rupert Holmes' Swing and am loving it as much as I did Where the Truth Lies.