Change Your Image
chomp15
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
Dongbaekkkot pil muryeop (2019)
Cringefest
I'm learning Korean so try and give these some of these shows that my wife watches a chance but this might just be the worst one yet. I thought Crash Landing on You was corny but this is next level. It's just so unbelievable and simply does not portray life in Korea in any meaningful way. I get what they are trying to do here but the script and the acting is so comical at times, I'm visibly cringing. The concept of the show is good and I think important, but I just don't see how it's in any way relatable. If there are a sizable number of Koreans, or even of other nationalities, that have softened their backwards and antiquated views on single motherhood as a result of this show then I can add some more stars, as that is the most important thing here when we're talking about an otherwise cheesy and borderline unwatchable portrayal of Korean life which simply does not exist.
Sunderland 'Til I Die (2018)
Disappointing follow-up
The first season was extremely good. Being from the North East and being lucky enough to have a job in football it was never going to be a series I would dislike. It was fantastic entertainment, despite obviously knowing what was going to happen.
The second season popping up on netflix took me by surprise as I wasn't really expecting there to be one. Having just finished watching it I kind of which they hadn't bothered.
It felt short, and yet nothing much happened, so it couldn't really have even been padded out longer. The Will Grigg transfer saga was some very entertaining cringe material. Just textbook what not to do as a club owner at every single turn. I would have loved to see the reactions of the equivalent people at Wigan as it unfolding.
Unfortunately that was pretty much it. The rest of season two was just really boring. And I work on football related stuff every day. Sticking this on at night should be more entertaining than looking at stats and spreadsheets. Sadly it isn't.
I really hope there are no plans for a season 3. Even before the shutdown it would have been a thankless task trying to prise out enough footage to make it watchable.
Gisaengchung (2019)
Enjoyable movie but acclaimed for the wrong reasons
I have serious issues with this movie.
Not because it isn't incredibly well-made, acted etc. I've seen some bad reviews of it which I don't agree with, but I understand where they are coming from. Because at no point is the audience given even the slightest hint about why any of this is happening. Why are this rich family hiring an art tutor for their eight year old? They must have more money sense. Rich people are stupid. Look at this smart but poor family taking advantage, it's all good. Well no it isn't actually. Scamming is a massive issue in Korea. Voice-phishing, molka cams, car insurance scams are an absolute plague and they are, in many ways, uniquely korean issues.
But that isn't why this movie leaves a bad taste. At no point is it addressed why this family would need to be hiring tutors for their kids. This is a very Korean issue, and it isn't something that is exclusive to rich people. It is in fact the norm. It's just much easier when you're rich because no personal sacrifices need to be made. Maths tutors for 4 year olds. Piano teachers. Ballet lessons. Learning 3 or 4 languages. This actually happens. Yes at 4 years old. So an art tutor for an 8 year old really isn't anything to bat an eyelid about if you live in Korea. Which is why most young Koreans would do anything to live in Europe or the US, it's just a constant grind every single day.
This isn't a film about inequality. In fact, Korea is well down the list of most unequal societies. Elderly poverty is a big problem in Korea. Inequality is not. Seoul is just a city, like London or New York or San Francisco that has very expensive districts and houses/apartments. But unlike those other cities, schooling is a large part of the reason for that. Everything comes back to education yet here we are blaming it on 'inequality'. It's fashionable of course. There's always something with the best picture oscar these past few years.
Anyway, it's good to see a Korean movie doing so well. I would rather it have been Old Boy winning the big awards but I have no issue with this kind of entertaining fluff winning awards. Korea deserves recognition as they are producing some fantastic TV and films.
Safe (2018)
Not good
I watched Coben's new Netflix series 'Stranger' before deciding to give this a whirl. What's the worst that could happen? Admittedly I enjoyed Stranger despite all the plot holes. The acting wasn't bad and it was entertaining, if unbelievable. Being a sucker for Murder Mysteries I expected this to be similar but man alive, it was so much worse.
Way too many 8+ star reviews for this, totally skewing the average. If you actually read these reviews there's absolutely nothing at all written to counter the bad ones. Pure fluff, presumably written by teenagers and Eastenders fans, because the acting is on a par with Eastenders/Hollyoaks etc. With Marc Warren being in it, I also couldn't help compare this to Hustle, which was a fairly entertaining, if unbelievable romp characterised by bad acting.
I actually think this could have been better even with the same plot and direction but it was let down by some very bad choices/casting. Sophie was just unconvincing throughout and, combined with Dexter's accent, meant you could never at any point take the thing seriously.
If, like me, you enjoy Murder Mysteries, by all means give this a whirl. But you need to be doing something else because giving this your full attention for eight episodes is going to leave you feeling pretty disappointed with yourself by the end. Life is just too short.