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This drama surprised me in so many ways. Despite its age, it's very watchable today. The acting was stellar all around. It felt quite natural and in a way, less staged and choreographed than many modern dramas. Seeing actors such as Choi Min Soo and Go Hyun Jung in their breakout roles would make the 24 hours of heartache worth it even if the drama was not quite as good. It is that good, though!
The music, while unconventional, fit the mood of the drama well. Thank goodness they chose atmosphere over trendy ballads because I'm sure I would not have appreciated that as much in 2018. It got a tiny bit repetitive, but it's a minor issue. I wonder if that was a criticism they got when the show aired as well? At some point pretty late in the drama, a "new" background music appeared to soundtrack all the action scenes. (I didn't like it. It was cheesy and didn't fit with the rest of the music :P)
There are only a few other things I can think of to criticize. The wardrobe seemed odd to me. The story runs from the early 70's to the late 80's. It was filmed in the mid 90's. Throughout the drama, the clothing was basically pure 90's to my eyes. So when the real life footage shows up, it's kind of jarring that those people are actually wearing clothes of their time but the drama characters are not. It's a bit jarring. And the other criticism is that the sound effects are very dated. Cartoonish "thwaps" and "pows" abound whenever a fist fight occurs. It's kind of endearing in a way, though. :)
I won't describe the story. Even if you aren't normally a fan of politics and gangsters, you might find you like them in this context. If I had known in more detail what I was getting into, I might not have been so eager to watch, so don't let genre deter you if gangsters aren't your thing either. I was won over by the pace of the story and the compelling characters. I was impressed by the lack of common tropes. If I had any preconceived notions of what a 90's kdrama was like, I think it must have been that I expected way more cliches and the same old tired tropes that we still have even now. They had to come from somewhere, right? Well, maybe, but they didn't come from this drama. No childhood chance meetings ending in eternal love. No clear-cut, neat revenge plots. What it does have: lots of gray characters, which are my favorite kind. A surprisingly strong and articulate female lead. No easy answers, no preachiness, but lots to think about.
The intertwined lives and fates of the three main characters is what drives the story. What holds it together and gives it staying power, even today, are the timeless themes of corruption, abuse of power, and the thirst for change for the better despite so much resistance and sheer inertia. (And bringing in real life issues and events that would still have been in the fairly recent past for the audience at the time lends it that much more weight.)
Lastly, THE ENDING. I shall say no more in terms of story. But it hit me like a ton of bricks. Nicely done, show.
I cannot believe that no one has written a review for this drama! I'm not sure my review does it justice, but if you like a compelling drama and don't mind some dated effects and styles, then give it a shot.
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As far as plot goes, there's not a lot to it. Young Jae has a very unstable home life, and consequently, lives in a group home that's kind of a Catholic orphanage/halfway house headed by pseudo-parents. He does his best to keep in their good graces so he can stay there. He goes to mass, he sings in the choir, he wants to be a priest, and so he has to spend even more time at church and with his tutor. However, all these things aren't enough. His position is never secure at "home". So he reacts to the uncertainty by devising some not-so-priestly backup plans.
The way I see it, the uncertainty eats away at him, eventually turning into desperation, and that's when he reaches a breaking point. Everything in his life is in such a precarious balance, and he fights so hard to keep it there. But nothing he does is ever enough.
I think I'm probably not making a lot of sense, but if you like a good character piece, check it out. It's very well done, if this is the sort of thing you enjoy. The music is minimal, but very effective, the cast is solid, and I would totally watch it again, sometime when I won't mind being an emotional wreck. :)
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I think the most important thing to know about Hometown Legends is that this is truly a mixed bag: genre, style, quality, you name it. These episodes vary widely from one another. If you go in expecting 8 horror episodes, or 8 mysteries, or 8 whatever, you will be disappointed. The overarching theme is simply to have a supernatural element of some sort, I'd say. So maybe the best thing to do here is to attempt to categorize the episodes a bit, and explain why some worked better for me than others, and hopefully that's helpful for someone out there who is deciding whether to watch, and which episodes to watch.
In terms of (subjective) quality/how much I enjoyed them: episodes 1, 3, and 7 are clearly the winners. 4 and 6 were enjoyable, with some flaws that keep them out of the top tier, but I still enjoyed them quite a bit. Episode 5 is the next level down - not my favorite, but okay. The remaining two episodes, 2 and 8, I would not recommend.
In terms of genre, the episodes range from comedy (episode 7!), to almost straight mystery (episode 3), to horror-ish (episodes 4 and 6 are probably the closest). All are sort of a mixture of genres, though, really. Most have elements of mystery and horror, but vary in the ratio. The true oddball of the bunch is episode 7, which I described as a "supernatural caper comedy" in my episode review. It also happens to be my favorite, so go figure. :)
The music also varies widely, but most didn't leave an impression on me, so I'd say it's fine overall. The extremes are episode 7, which had some creative music choices to match its general weirdness (which is to say, it fits the feel of the episode well), and episode 8, which I felt had poorly done, distracting music.
The acting is generally fine, but to go into more detail would take forever. See the episode reviews if you need more. Same for comments on writing and directing, although I will say that I enjoy watching things like this (one-offs, drama specials, etc.) because sometimes it's a glimpse into a director's earlier style, or a chance to see a little more experimentation, I think. Several well-known directors are represented here, all before their better-known works, and it's fun to see how styles change (or don't).
As with the rest, special effects vary widely in their usage and effectiveness. Clearly they were working with a limited budget, but I thought that most of the episodes did pretty well with the special effects. Nothing fancy, obviously, but conveyed what they were meant to convey without looking excessively cheap or cheesy. I think it probably took some skill to decide how best to use effects with a limited budget, and most of the time, it works okay. Sometimes, it didn't work so well, and I would definitely call them cheesy in a few cases (episodes 2, 5, and 8 are by far the worst offenders).
So this is a super-long review. But I just wanted to try to give a fair assessment of the series as a whole, as well as a little comparison of the specific episodes. I didn't really know what I was getting into when I started watching Hometown Legends. The synopses and a vague expectation of ghost stories were all I had to go on. I'm glad I watched it though, and I might even rewatch a couple of the best episodes at some point.
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The beginning of this drama really hooked me. I have a weakness for stories of two friends torn apart by fate or circumstances or whatever. Epic bromance? Sign me up. So this should be right up my alley, right?
The acting is quite good from all the main cast members, with the exception of the adult version of Ji Sun, which just about everyone who reviewed this drama already mentioned. It didn't help that her character had nothing to do for most of the drama, but even when she did, she just didn't draw me in. Choi Min Soo is the opposite end of the spectrum. During certain episodes, I'm pretty sure I was watching for him only. Ji Chang Wook and Yoo Seung Ho are both good as the main characters, but I had serious problems with how just about every character was written, including their characters.
Which brings me to the writing. There was a long stretch of episodes in the middle where it really felt like nothing was happening. I mean, things happened, sure, but as far as advancing the main story, nothing much was accomplished in those episodes (ginseng, anyone?). The story lost its way somewhere, and without rewatching (which is not happening), I can't be sure where exactly. Around the end of the older generation's arc, I was actually willing it to end faster. Which I knew was a very bad sign, since I really loved those characters in the beginning of the drama. How did they end up so unimportant to the story?
And from there, it got even worse for a while. For a story centered on the conflict between the two lead men, they definitely didn't do much with that conflict. Also, Dong Soo is a bit of an idiot at times, and the writers obviously thought we were too if we weren't supposed to know which "side" Yeo Woon was playing for. (Were we supposed to be as surprised as Dong Soo was by that revelation? I really can't tell.)
The personality transplant of a previously likeable side character that set the final act into motion was completely out of nowhere. After all this time to set up the final confrontation, this is all the writers could come up with? I give the resolution of Dong Soo and Yeo Woon's story a little credit for being genuinely affecting and well-acted, but it's equally infuriating. To be clear, I'm not upset about the fact that it's sad; I'm upset about how we got there, and how much better it could have been.
And that last episode really was nearly unwatchable. Do we really need to pair off everyone? Is that what constitutes "closure"? Ugh.
Ultimately, I would give the first half (approximately) of this drama a 7. Solid, good, watchable, with potential for better things to come (I only give scores 8 and up to things I really like a lot--I'm picky that way). The latter half gets...something much lower than that. But I did finish it, which doesn't always happen, so I settled on a 4.5 for the overall rating. There are good parts and strong performances here, but the writing really did fall apart somewhere for me. I know a lot of people love this drama, and I can understand that, because the things this drama did well, it did really well. Cinematography, acting, epic, multi-generational, ill-fated friendships, and so on. But I think precisely because it does some things well, the things it didn't do so well (pacing and writing issues, chiefly) are glaringly obvious.
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Yes, as others have mentioned, this is very slice-of-life. Possibly not even that, since it skips forward a bit from time to time. It gives the feel of little vignettes, I guess. Anyway, I didn't mind that at all. The thing that sticks with me, thinking back to watching this, is that it made me laugh. For real. It's just so wacky and out there and I guess I like that. As for the role that food plays in the drama, it's central, but varies depending on the episode. I am glad it didn't veer into either straight food porn (because that just doesn't interest me) or something sentimental (a la the k-version of Late Night Restaurant, which I liked, but that would absolutely not have worked in this drama, with these characters).
I was unfamiliar with Ahn Young Mi going into this one (even though I must have seen her in Reply 1997), but she impressed me by embracing this oddball of a character. She's brash and insecure, opinionated but willing to reconsider her stance (eventually). In short, the character grows a tiny bit (and believably), even over the course of this very short drama, without losing what makes that character who she is. No Min Woo is adorable as good-guy Byung. Byung's a bit like No MIn Woo's character in My Unfortunate Boyfriend in that he's kind of sweet and naive, but someone you root for. Cute, but not too cute. If that makes any sense. He's good at that.
I liked the music a lot, which kind of surprised me, frankly, since I usually find very little drama music that I actually like. It either sets my teeth on edge (ballads) or it's just generic (most of the rest, with some exceptions, obviously). This was very low-key, but fit well.
I'm not sure I would rewatch, but then again, it's so short that who knows. I might watch an episode or two again just to laugh some more.
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Drama Special Season 7: My Happy Home
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This is a really creative drama special! KBS has a pretty solid track record with their drama specials, but there are practically never sci-fi installments. That's why I was excited to see how they pulled this one off. I expected the sci-fi portion to be relegated to setup and then dropped, but I was pleasantly surprised that it never went fully into the romance/melo like I expected it to.On a side note, this episode was written by the director, Choi Yoon Suk. He's been around KBS directing and producing since at least 2010, but this is his first writing credit, as far as I can tell. He did a really nice job here, both on the writing and directing fronts. Hope to see more from him in the future.
Not much specific to say about the music or acting, other than it was very good.
I don't want to say too much about the plot, since I feel like it might be easy to give away too much and slip into spoiler territory. So, basics: girl marries cyborg, and we get to see how it all came about. She programs him, essentially, because he can't remember his past, but we see very quickly how that becomes problematic for both of them, especially after one of their old classmates shows up out of nowhere.
And the ending! It's extremely rare for me to be surprised by an ending, and even rarer for me to think it was a good ending on top of that, but this one manages to pull that off. This one might even be worth a rewatch, just to see the details in a different light with knowledge of the ending in mind. Glad I chose this one as my first special of the 2016 season :)
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Drama Special Season 2: Strawberry Ice Cream
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Let me offer a bit more detail than the synopsis up there does before I go further. I don't think it'll be very spoiler-y since it's pretty obvious to the viewers what happened, even if it's not obvious to the lead girl. So, the two leads are co-workers who are dating (secretly). One day, he disappears in such a way that we know he's probably dead, barring some miracle. The problem is that the woman starts getting text messages from him, which leads her (and us) to question whether he's still alive somewhere. I won't say more than that, but that might give a better idea of the setup of this special.So onto some sort of review...the acting is good; the music is serviceable; there's not too much to say about that. The story is very simple, but executed well.
This drama special almost feels like a metaphor for the confusion and disbelief that we all feel when someone we are close to dies suddenly. Don't go into this expecting a fluffy rom-com based on the cute title and the "romance" genre. It feels very small and quiet and melancholic - and pretty real. This is also not melodrama, despite the sad theme. This is a window into someone's personal tragedy. For that reason, it might not be the most compelling hour of TV you ever watch, nor the happiest, but it's definitely a change of pace.
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Drama Special Season 1: The Scary One, The Ghost and I
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The synopsis given here is a little misleading, in that it doesn't seem to be his fear of losing face that drives Duseop. Maybe there's a hint of that in the very beginning, but it soon turns to some pretty intense moments of introspection. The ghost, and his attempts to get rid of her, drive the story, but it's about much more than a fear of looking like a crazy person.
Tonally, this drama special is rather unique. It mixes funny and poignant, sometimes swinging wildly between them, and sometimes managing to do both at once. And it does it well. Lee Won Jong is fantastic here as the powerful yet psychically (and physically) wounded gangster Duseop. Park Ki Woong is reliably awesome as the diffident Yong Soo. An hour or so long drama special doesn't allow much time for character development, but both main characters are fleshed out nicely here, thanks to excellent writing and acting.
Director Kim Yong Soo (known for White Christmas, Equator Man, etc.) brings his trademark flair to the table. This drama special is an excellent example of how good his directing can be. The music is definitely non-traditional, but used very effectively in setting the mood. The screenplay is written by Park Yeon-seon, who later re-teamed with the same director for White Christmas. (If they ever work together again, I'm in, no matter what it is.)
I won't give away the ending, but I will say that it stays true to the tonal wackiness of the drama as a whole. And for me at least, it made me want to watch it again almost immediately.
So if you're a fan of the actors, or the director, or the writer, or are none of the above, but just want something interesting and different to watch for an hour of your life, try this.
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However, as episodes go by, the writing starts to fall apart. I slowly grew to dislike all four leads. The story dragged, characters started keeping stupid secrets and doing stupid and occasionally outright repulsive things. Luckily, the last episode rebounds a bit and at least ties things up nicely. But really, such a disappointment after a really good start.
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With that out of the way, I really enjoyed this movie. The three parts are very, very different from one another. I can see that putting some viewers off, but as I liked all three, it didn't bother me in the least that there was absolutely nothing whatsoever tying these things together (the only theme would have been 3D, but alas...) So part 1 (Ghost, or "Mad", if you prefer, haha) is gritty and realistic, part 2 is...insane, really. A total genre mishmash, but in a good way. Part 3 is fantasy, set in the "real" world.
Ghost is horrifying, and not in the way the title might lead you to believe. It's based on a real murder case, and the script and acting make something rather unbelievable on paper come to life in an all too believable way. I cannot believe such a thing really happened, but then...I can absolutely believe that it did. My main criticisms are that it ends rather abruptly and feels a little underdeveloped.
Story-wise, part 2 (I Saw You) is really imaginative (zombies can take medication to control the symptoms; social commentary and classism ensue), although the romantic backstory fell a little flat for me. It's by far the funniest of the three parts, however, and I totally get why it was placed in the middle of the movie. It's a break from the dark and grim aspects of the other two parts. Stylistically, it definitely takes risks, and for me, those risks mostly paid off (for example, the choreographed factory sequence was pretty off-the-wall, but it was effective). It's simultaneously artsier and zanier than either of the other two parts, both of which play it pretty straight. Yeah, it doesn't fit, but I enjoyed the contrast. My only other criticism is of the acting: Nam Gyu Ri was fine as a zombie, but I found her human acting off-putting. Take from that what you will, I guess.
Picnic is the highlight, telling the story of a girl obsessed with comics as she struggles with real-life responsibilities that are pretty heartbreaking. The story culminates in a sequence that really makes me sad that I didn't see the 3D version, because it was whimsical and spooky and gorgeous but obviously made for 3D. Sigh. Anyway, little Soo An (you've seen her in Train to Busan, yes?) carries the segment like a champ and it all ends on a hopeful but not at all saccharine note.
I have a tiny criticism of the music in Picnic in that it was a bit generic for my taste in parts (bland and boring, sounds like BGM of a million other things). The other parts did better with the music, and overall, it's really good. Even the music in Picnic redeemed itself in that sequence I was referring to above.
I found this movie disturbing, funny, touching, and really entertaining. 8/10, would watch again.
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Drama Special Season 2: Daughters of Bilitis Club
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The music is nothing special, but not bad. The acting is good, and like I said, the story is really nothing groundbreaking except for its subject matter, which does add a very interesting twist. The episode proceeds through three generations, from youngest to oldest. They do interact and show up in each others' segments, but the focus goes from youngest to oldest. I found the oldest couple's story the most interesting and the saddest. The story does resist the urge to go too melodramatic, despite the inherent sadness of most of the story, so it feels a little more real. Thus, the ordinariness of the story could be considered its strength.
Just a note: I think there's been some confusion about Daughters of Bilitis Club. It was never intended to be a series. It's a KBS Drama Special, a single episode format series. It was never "canceled" as such, but a re-airing of the episode was cut short by KBS. The episode did air in its entirety in its original timeslot, however. At least, that's how I understand it. :)
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Drama Special Series Season 3: Their Perfect Day
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The writing and directing here could have easily gone awry with the multiple perspectives and timelines,
but the story seemed well-planned out and was decently executed. The story is frankly not the most exciting one, but is skillfully told. The acting of the mothers (who are the main characters) is generally good. The child actors are hit or miss at times, but are usually fine.
Overall, this drama is a mystery with a dose of social commentary about modern family life, what it means to be a "good" parent, and social class. I found it to be entertaining throughout, since hints are dropped and new characters introduced as the story progresses. It's also structured in a creative way, which possibly makes me more willing to forgive it for its flaws.
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Drama Special Series Season 1: Rock Rock Rock
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As for the drama itself, it follows Kim Tae Won's life from his teen years up until almost the present (it ends in the mid-2000's, I think, and the drama aired in 2010). Since this is a low-budget drama special, there's not a lot of emphasis on makeup or anything like that to help convince viewers that time is passing. Wardrobe and props/surroundings change (and the hair!), but that's it. And that's totally fine. It's just a limitation of the format. I can suspend my disbelief enough for that.
Especially since No Min Woo is pretty good as Kim Tae Won. He was an excellent choice for this role. He does the anguished, tortured creative genius well, and does a credible job showing the growth and changes of the character over the ~20 year period that the drama covers.
The drama features the music of Boohwal, as expected, so obviously the soundtrack is good. Overall, it's an interesting watch for someone who likes music biopics or is interested in Kim Tae Won or his music.
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Drama Special Season 1: Aridong’s Last Cowboy
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This one, however, is one of the oddest. Sometimes funny, sometimes a little disturbing, always very, very strange. My complaints: the motive given for the murders seemed like a bit of a stretch to me, and the ending left a very big question unanswered. Oh well.
I did find it entertaining, and the acting was pretty good. It took me a long time to finally place the actor playing Dae Shik--he's the bratty newspaper owner's son from Bridal Mask. This drama special was directed by Kim Yong Soo, of White Christmas, Equator Man, and Sword and Flower, as well as at least a couple of other drama specials, and his style is very much in evidence here.
So, long story short: if you're a fan of the director, and are in the mood for something different, maybe consider giving this a try. If not, you probably aren't missing much.
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Drama Special Season 1: The Angel of Death Comes with Purple High Heels
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Rundown of good and bad: I liked the animated segments. I didn't quite get the exact parallels between them and the main character's real life at times, but maybe I'm just slow, haha. They didn't do a very good job of explaining why the relationship of the two leads wasn't working at the beginning, so it helped that the stakes were higher because of the "death wish" conditions. Otherwise I would not have cared if they got together or not. However, the "death wish" idea was pretty imaginative and propelled the story forward quite well.
The acting is good; the music is fine, but was mostly notable to me because it really, really reminded me of something and it finally came to me. The main song they used in this drama special is also present in a slightly reworked version in Ojakgyo Brothers, which was also on KBS just a year later.
Anyway, this is a quirky little drama special and I'm glad I finally got around to watching it.
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