This movie was adorable. Both Nam and Shone seem like the kind of people you'd want as your best friends. I didn't want the story to end- I could have watched the characters sit and read the newspaper for 20 more minutes at that point.

That said, I couldn't give it this movie a 10 because there are some problematic ideas about beauty expressed, specifically about skin color. As I watch more Thai movies, I'm realizing the prejudice against darker skin is in fact very real and pressing in Thai culture. Although this isn't a focus of this movie, the idea that darker girls are ugly is clearly present (whether it's completely endorsed or not,.) That makes me concerned about younger girls of color seeing this film without discussing it first.

Leia Mais

I hate melodramas, and at first I only watched this for Ji Sung. I eventually became addicted. Bad things happen in this show, yes, but they work for the plot. I never got bored, although sometimes I was frustrated by the characters.

I was really confused by the reviewer who said the two leads didn't have chemistry. The scenes between them were hot! My love for Ji Sung has only gotten stronger. I know he's married, but let's be realistic, we were probably never going to hook up even if he was single. Okay, I've gotten off topic...



The music was great and the story was solid. One thing I loved was the little touched of comedy. I probably won't rewatch the jail episodes, but I'll revisit this series at some point. I found the first few episodes a little slow and Min Hyuk a little hard to deal with at first, which is why this doesn't get a perfect score.

Leia Mais

I'm so glad this is over! Not to say I didn't enjoy it. It was a good show that got tanked by having too many episode to stick to one premise. The "who is the husband" thing got old very fast once it was down to 3 guys, and once it was down to 2 guys I started not caring. Even the Oppa twist in the very beginning, although it didn't really annoy me, hinted that tricking the viewer was going to be a constant thing.

The thing with Binggeure also bothered me, because he was obviously going through a dilemma the show never really addressed before it tied it up nicely with a bow. 1994 had amazing heart and great characters, but the writers decided keeping the viewers in the dark was more important than telling a good story. (Let's not forget that basketball suddenly disappeared, and there are several episodes where a certain baby isn't even mentioned. Plus, what was the point of the scene with the teen in the present talking to that girl?)

But, again on the plus side, a good story is here nonetheless. It;s worth watching. There will be parts, however, where you are banging your head against a table.

Leia Mais

I finished this drama this morning. I watched it raw and my Japanese is still rough, so I might have missed some things. On the whole I have to say it was an interesting story, with an interesting heroine. Even though this is a romance, the focus seems to be more on the main character's development.

I don't really like stories where you can't figure out why the guy likes the girl, so when I read the synopsis of this drama I was worried this would just be weird wish fulfillment and there would be no reason for the guys to like her. I was pleasantly surprised in that respect. First of all, even really dressed down, the actress is very pretty. I think it's realistic that people might notice that. Secondly, even if she's not very friendly, we as the viewers get to see inside her thoughts which are frankly hilarious. I like it when she is insightful and sarcastic (only inside her head) and the things she imagines make me laugh every time. I think the two guys are attracted to her in part because she has an introverted, guarded personality, and they like the moments where she lets her guard down.

I just wish the leading men were better developed, especially the younger man. I think there is substance behind the character, but you're left to just guess at it instead of seeing it.

Naka Riisa is worth mentioning here because this character, while still comic relief at times, was a more mature character than I've seen her play in a while. She handled it well.

Leia Mais

I wanted to like this more than I did. It wasn't a bad movie. However, there were a lot of long, drawn out scenes where people were just staring into space or talking about nothing...I think these scenes were supposed to add tension, or make you "feel" what was going on as opposed to telling you, but for me they just felt excessive. Also, I don't know if I'm just not bright or something, but I don't really understand what happens in the end. I didn't understand all of what happened in the movie, either. On the positive side, there were a few scenes that I think really worked, and I liked the acting for the most part. I did end up caring about one main character more than the other. The BL was mostly implied, not graphic, so if you're not into that, you don't have to worry about seeing something you don't want to see. This isn't porn disguised as drama. I think it's more about the way the characters view themselves and each other and what they are doing than anything else.

I doubt I'll rewatch this. For one thing, it's a bit long, aided by those long silences I talked about before. There were long bits of the movie where it felt like nothing was happening. The movie is old so the fashion is also a bit distracting. The main lead always has his pants belted practically at his throat, for instance.

When rating music, my first thought was "Was there any music in this?" So that's why it's such a low score.

Overall, I think people who are more into movies with an independent feel than I am will enjoy it more.

Leia Mais

I think this show proves that something can be bad and still be entertaining. I don't know about others, but I felt slightly ashamed of myself for enjoying this drama. I just couldn't get rid of the feeling the writers were doing psychedelics.

The main problem I had with the show was the writing- there were too many elements mixed together. The supernatural element especially was only thrown in from time to time- as if someone occasionally remembered it was supposed to be there, but didn't know how to fit it in. The ending felt strange for that reason. The acting was a bit clunky at times, but I felt that the actors did the best they could with a dubious script- or in the case of the actor who played Alex, with a character who was written with very little personality.

But, like I said, I enjoyed this show. The romance was sweet, although I was angry at the main female lead more than once. Jin and Kay had a lot of personality and weren't bad to look at. The case of the day, while usually weird and (for some weird reason) leading everyone to forgive someone who committed a crime, was usually interesting.

If you are looking for something amusing and not overly coherent, this might be for you.

Leia Mais

This show is all kinds of schizophrenic, so I don't feel like I can talk about it in a logical way unless I just go through the rating categories. I'm going to rearrange the categories a bit because I want to mention the music first.

MUSIC- This show has great music. I cannot recommend the soundtrack highly enough. In fact, I just suggest you listen to the music and just pretend this train wreck of a drama never happened. Have you ever watched a show that was so good in the first half that a bad second half made it you hate it more than if it had just started out bad? That's what happened to me with Fall in Love with Me. The music, however, could always make me feel something. I didn't actually realize Aaron Yan was a good singer until I heard one of his songs for this show, but the minute I did, I was sold.

STORY- Aaron Yan does a fantastic job acting as two different characters for the first part of the show, which is the original main conflict- the leading lady is not very fond of one of his personas but likes the other. When this changes from being the main conflict, the show takes a serious nosedive into melodrama. It isn't unusual for romantic comedies to introduce melo elements, but this show completely changed from one genre to the other. I don't have an issue with melodramas if they're done right, but Fall in Love with Me not only became a melodrama, it became a bad one with a lot of repetition and insane and/or illogical characters. The shift in tone is so drastic and jarring that it really feels like two different shows. (It reminds me of the movie Hancock, which, if I catch it on TV, I watch up to a point and then turn off.)

ACTING- The cast is mostly very good. The second lead female turned- well, you'll see if you watch- was actually very good. And I really like Aaron Yan as an actor. I just started watching Taiwanese dramas less than a year ago, so the only other thing I saw him in is Just You. I didn't really like his look, but after a few episodes I really started to like him. I'm not saying he's perfect, but he's competent. Some actors, especially if acting is not their primary profession, deliver their lines and or expression, and then their face goes back to blank as they wait for their next line to come around. Aaron Yan's always acting, and his expressions always express a great depth of emotion. He does occasionally over act, but not too often. Unfortunately, Tia Li's acting is not to the point were she should be cast as a leading lady. Her facial expression is always the same, whether she's crying, laughing, eating, whatever. I feel like achieving that is actually difficult, so I don't know what's up with that, but it's not great to watch. She was better before the melo came, but she wasn't very good then either. But anyway, there are a lot of good character actors playing supporting roles, also.

Rewatch Value- I almost rated this a 1, because who would want to put themselves through this again? But I have to admit that the first 11 or so episodes were really good, with a lot of cute moments. There is also a cute side romance that managed to stay cute even through the craziness. I am a re-watcher, but if I ever watch Fall In Love with Me again, I probably will not watch the full run and will maybe just find one or two cute moments on youtube.

Other: I love whoever came up with Xiao Lu's look. It took years off of Aaron Yan and created a kind of hip urban nerd vibe that I really, really liked. I would love a show where the lead actually dressed like that the whole time.

Leia Mais

'Let's Eat' is charming. The characters are amazingly well written and it's almost impossible to hate anyone, even when they might be serial killers. I wouldn't say Let's Eat' has the strongest story. At its heart, It's a character-driven, slightly meandering look at building friendships, with a dash of food porn. That might not sound appetizing, but it's just so well done. The official plot, which is darker than expected, only serves to highlight the developing relationships between the characters. There are certain episodes where nothing really happens, but I was never bored. I don't think this show is for everyone, but I loved it. Oh, and this boasted not 1 but 3 male characters who were amazingly charming and whom I couldn't stop staring at. Not only that, there were also well-rounded, endearing female leads. Jin-Yi in particular could have been annoying. Instead she was adorable. The romances could have started earlier- the main characters are all guarded in certain ways, so the slowness made sense but was still frustrating. I didn't have 2nd lead syndrome, but I could see it happening. My final impression- if you love food, and love friendships, watch this!

Leia Mais

I love this version, but I have to admit I have a big issue with the pacing in it. There were 5 or so episodes where the story slowed down a lot, while still adding new wrinkles, which caused the last episode to seem a rushed and over-full. It felt a bit forced, and there wasn't room for the resolution we saw in other versions of this story. But this is still one of my favorite recent dramas. The actors are great, especially those who played Naoki and Kin-chan. This is the first time Naoki seemed like a complex person to me, and this Kin-chan was frankly a bad*ss. I really enjoyed this version of Kotoko, although I do wonder if the actress was a bit too young to do convincing romantic scenes. I will watch this again, probably soon.

Leia Mais