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Open Thread #718

Happy Friday everyone!

Here is your Open Thread, which is here for you to chat about anything you want, whether it be drama-related or not. Nothing’s off-topic here! Spoilers may be rife, so proceed accordingly.

 
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Little Boy - 4275k - 19th of August.

good weather events this month all around the world. some ohh videos from China too. This is the future and new normal that is awaiting most of human society. The most secure place gonna get see property prices souring.

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ramen - ramyeon - noodles - Food has its own chemistry. When and how you add ingredients and species can produce different outcomes. That's chemistry for you. I haven't eaten anything freshly cooked past 25 months - so have the craving to try some. no ramen for almost 31 months.

Usually people boil water and then add raw ramen and then the flavour aka spices and other things -
but i like to add raw ramen into water and let it absorb the water. Withing 15 minutes ramen(flour) absorb all the water and inflate and become much more soft and slippery and then you can cook it. Problem comes with adding flavour and how to cook the ramen. in bowl and add more water? or directly fry it in a pan? Then what water to use!!? room temperature water or lookwarm water or boiled water. I like to have fun with my food so always always change a few things to add more fun into cooking.

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Variations on Ramen cooking reminds me of the “Stone Soup” story from my childhood.

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Another week goes by and I'm still not over The Day of Becoming You

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Was it a good ending? I was watching it but got distracted with kdramas 😂

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Haha it's the other way round for me, I put all kdramas on hold to watch and rewatch it. The story wrapped up well but it's better to be spoiled about the last 10 minutes of the show. That's how you can totally ignore it lol.

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I really, really like The Day of Becoming You. This year is the year I (re)discover c-dramas and The Day of Becoming You is one of my favourites. I hardly use the 1.25x speed button while watching this drama which is very rare for me since the typical c-drama is often filled with unnecessary scenes or plots and/or just many irritating characters.

Before I started the drama, I read that many people were upset over the last 10 minutes and that made me apprehensive. I didn’t spoil myself (that in itself is a miracle haha) but I prepared myself for a crappy ending because sometimes the journey is worth more than the destination itself, right? And thankfully, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it might be. I’m truly happy I took the plunge and now Steven Zhang is one of my fav Chinese actors - he really shined in the drama. And I like Liang Jie too. She did well.

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It is hard to get a handle on the ratings for streaming web dramas. I saw that The Witch's Diner has had a lot of comments on dramawiki sites, mostly positive. But since it is a TVING show, traditional rating metrics do not apply.

Netflix stated it had record earnings in 2020. But Netflix Korea stated it has lost 1 million subscribers this year from last year's peak. That is a growing issue with streaming platforms: the ability to hold on to subscribers who are fickle when content is thin.

Studio Dragon is now aggressively licensing and co-producing its Korean shows to be remade into North American productions. I really have a hard time seeing how CLOY would translate as a border friction story between say, the U.S. and Canada. Maybe US-Mexico.

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US producers keep trying and failing to redo K-drama hits like SKY Castle and Hotel Del Luna and the over-ambitious projects never get finished. What they should be doing is going down to middle-tier K-drama dramas. I can see successful American versions being made of of 'Psychopath Diary' or 'My Secret Tarius' or 'Go Go Waikiki' (coincidentally all k-dramas with actress Jung In-sun)

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They succeeded in adapting Good Doctor. Then again, it was probably one of the easier ones to adapt for an American audience. Hospital dramas are already a popular genre in the States and the unique premise was sure to pique audiences' interest.

Sky Castle and Hotel Del Luna's premises and themes rely much more on Korean culture. The stories are harder to translate, however it could still be done well.

However, I agree that perhaps they shouldn't use a kdrama's popularity to determine whether to adapt it or not. Instead, they should look at which premise would be most interesting to see set in a different environment/culture.

For instance, I think the Reply series could be easier to adapt in that sense. They simply need to take the concept and the universal themes and change the setting to somewhere in the USA. However, Slice of Life is not a genre you find on American TV... Also, you would need really good and sensible screenwriters to pull it off. Also, if it ends up being a hit, they might drag the "who's the husband" thing through multiple SEASONS...oh no I take it back

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US TV and films have all but abandoned the romance/rom-com genre. Its like they're embarrassed by the emotions. Also, Americans don't do 'sentimental' very well. Probably for the same reason - embarrassed by the emotions.

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They tend to go really overly schmaltzy when trying to be sentimental (eg hallmark TV movies) where I feel like Korean dramas do emotion really well.

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Funny you say this because I just saw a tweet that said "I genuinely think everything started to go wrong in Hollywood when they stopped regularly making romcoms", haha.

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SKY Castle failed as a concept in the US because the base premise was 'The children of the rich are studying TOO HARD', a concept which would be a tough sell in the US.

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The US remake of The Good Doctor was not a patch on the Korean original. Unwatchable.

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I remember people talking about a US remake of Strong Girl Bong Soon with a UFC fighter as Bong Soon which completely misses the point that she doesn’t look super strong 🙈 but it doesn’t seem to have eventuated.

I think crime and hospital dramas are the ones most likely to remake well - I could see Mouse remade as a US series, but something like Run On might not work so well.

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USA remakes often show an uncanny ability to miss the point.

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My Secret Terius, I think, would easily translate across multiple cultures. Spies out in the cold, betrayed by some insider, etc. are already common staples, and the neighborhood ajummas running THE superior intelligence organization is a new twist on things, but a super spy being run ragged by cute kids is always fun.

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The Tokyo Olympics 2020 fever was on! I meant that on Kdramaland for the next two weeks on any among three major non-cable networks (KBS/SBS/MBC), I felt glad that only Kdrama, SBS' Racket Boys, survived from pre-emptions since it was onlt two(!) episodes left. The pre-emptions are including MBC's On the Verge of Insanity, variety shows and even local daily dramas.

Meanwhile, on my own reaction for the opening ceremony for Tokyo Olympics 2020, I had a mixed emotions and this was the saddest Olympics opening ceremony ever due to ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. :( Also, this Tokyo 2020 Olympics was just quietest event with no more audience anymore (Note: if you're a Tokyo 2020 audience, then watch it on respective Olympic TV broadcasters and of course, online).

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Even without any live audience, the opening ceremony was still too long. Not enough time to make adjustments? Kind of surprised that I actually caught the last hour.

Even though it was technically outdoors, lack of social distancing and some bad mask-wearing made me squirm.

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Jezz, the whole Olympic situation is very unfortunate. I am a cycling fan so I plan to watch the men’s road race live tonight in the US at 10p EDT (11am Sat. in Tokyo). That will probably be the extent of planned viewing for me. Hit or miss after that.

VERGE was a late pickup and I am really enjoying this drama for adults. I am now current with episode 9 and will watch episode 10 tonight. Lol it is the strangest thing but I am starting to soften up a bit to Lee Sang-yeob’s character Se-kwon. There is practically nothing redeeming about him but LSY is doing a little magic.

With the Olympic preemptions and one of my other live watches RACKET BOYS wrapping up I am thinking of working in a summer ‘rerun’ of a well regarded drama from the past. Two possibilities are: CHIEF KIM and INSPECTOR JO.

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Former cycling fan (unless I can watch track cycling in person). How will the Tour participants do since they're arriving exhausted?

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I think about Chief Kim more often than Inspector Jo, but both were good watches. I think you should watch both.

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This is my kids first Olympics, and they found the opening ceremony impressive, but these whole games will be weird with no audience. I don’t know if the games should be happening or not but I’m looking forward to watching a lot of random sports that I would not normally see.

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It was so sad and they showed that vividly in the opening countdown when the lights went out for 2020 and went on again in 2021 with isolated athletes training all by themselves. It was a powerful moment.

Then they paid tribute to those who have died because of COVID and those who have died as Olympiads, especially the Israeli team... Finally the death dance (can I say that the Japanese do ghosts really well?)

I didn't want to watch it, but I also did want to watch it because I know many people in Japan and I felt really sorry for them, having to hold it in the midst of everything that is going on. I wanted to see how they would tackle it, and I came away feeling that they faced up to the reality squarely, instead of trying to create faux excitement. I felt very much too for the athletes. They were brave to be there and to do the thing they do best. It was all a bit bleak but because it was so well contextualised, it seemed right.

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Happy Friday beanies. I finished Autumn Concerto and thank god I went in with zero expectations. It was angsty and did not make any sense but it was enjoyable. Also Chris Wu gave me good SLS after a really long time. I felt my eyes getting moist every single time he got emotional. The child actor was so adorable and cute, I just wanted to squish his cheeks. Finished this one with a liberal dose of ff. I've started Office Girls and binged watched the first 10 episodes as I couldn't do anything much due to period cramps yesterday and I really enjoyed it. Finished my internship and am taking a break before I start looking for another one. idk what I will do

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Office Girls! oh, have you fallen down the Roy Chiu rabbithole? next there is Miss Rose, and unfortunately Happy Fortune something something... the only reason to watch is for roy's bo derek braids... he looks so good in corn rows, it's so un-PC....
: D

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Office Girls was really good!

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I love Office Girls but could not finish Miss Rose. Easy Fortune Happy Life? The hero was too awful for me and I had to switch it off.

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i just watched EFHL for roy's hair.
: D

i think Miss Rose was the drama where the two leads hated one another IRL, right?

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oh, forgot to recco the taiwanese In Time With You with Chen Bolin -- was it the original? don't know, but it was the BEST ONE by far! don't watch the other ones, especially the kdrama one -- talk about a yawner.....

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I liked the Japanese version. They kept the original spirit.

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The writing in the original “In Time With You” was full of write-down lines! So so good

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I had such bad SLS! I felt so sorry for Chris Wu's character

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Fortunately, he was casted as main lead after :D

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The pain was real

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I wish I could finish more Taiwanese romcoms. Sometimes, TWDramas manage to do such a disservice to the characters as the show goes on that I can't bear to watch any longer. (I'm looking at you, Perfect Match, despite Chris Wu as the lead.) One that I did finish and thought was quite fun was Drunken to Love You. I admit I have a soft spot for Rainie Yang whom I find charming in cute comedies. I really liked Joseph Chang in it as well.

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Drunken to Love You is one of my favorites. I also really enjoyed Love, Now and Love Around - although on subsequent watches they don’t hold up so well they’re still fun.

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After reading an article about it on MDL, I watched The Other Half of Me and You and wow it's interesting. It's a Chinese web drama (it's on YouTube) and it's partially a spoof of every drama cliche every (just imagine something like Heirs but gender-swapped) but even more it's a comment on society and the male gaze. (And yes, a large part of me wonders how the hell they managed to get this made. Probably because it's also very funny)

The set-up is that the ML falls unconscious and is transported to a parallel universe where women are boss and men stay home and look after the kids. Before, our ML was a pilot, afterwards he's a pretty flight attendant. You get the point.

But more interestingly, visually the men become the objects that women so often are on the screen. All the men wear shorts and the camera lingers on their legs. It's really fascinating. Eye-opening in the way it (unsubtly and knowingly and very arch) highlights these tropes & gender stereotypes that we see all the times.

And oh, did I mention it's hilarious? The episode about male hair-removal (men have to keep that skin soft!) made me laugh and cringe at the same time.

Anyway, at 32 eps of 5 mins it's well worth a watch.

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Thanks for the tip! ROMANCE OF TIGER AND ROSE had this similar gender reversal tropes. And though I found it a bit discerning how aware this made me, this kind of content makes good food for thought.

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Happy Friday, beanies! In my part of the world, the summer vacations have set in nicely. For me that entails having spent almost two weeks out of town watching local entertaining programs and no drama what so ever. Can't wait to splurge in Chinese costume drama and kdrama rom-com. Sweet drama heaven. Any recommendations? I have no clue what airing nowadays.

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I know you wrote Chinese costume drama but I would like to recommend a Chinese contemporary rom com if you're up for that. The Day of Becoming You was hilarious, endearing and the leads had great chemistry. It's the best rom com I've seen till now in this year. You will get your full dose of sweetness watching it. That said it's also substantial and not only fluff.

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Congrats on completing your internship! Kdrama romcom is my favorite genre. I would have a ton of recs, but it sounds like you might be looking for more recent shows in which case you should check out Run On. I tend to like the romcoms which have a slice of life feel. Chinese costume dramas are generally too scary for me haha, but I feel like I have to make a pitch for the the Story of Ming Lan because it was so exquisite, with a strong female lead who was consistently likeable and smart, a female-centric storyline with complex relationships, and ultimately a happy ending .

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I finished re-watching Romance is a Bonus Book. Man, so many good quotes! Also, the characters were all interesting, well-rounded people and the tropes felt fresh.
The thoughtful writing reminded me of the original Taiwanese In Time With You. That had great quotes too.

….. Which makes it even more disappointing that the writer of Romance next wrote Lovestruck In the City. That was AWFUL. T_T
I seriously only managed half an episode…… Double gutted.

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Bonus Book is so good. I loved the publishing side of it all too.

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Happy weekend Beanies and keep Beaning On!

I missed out on a lot of good books, movies and tv-series until I got into college because I was always studying. To keep track I started listing and collecting what I could remember and get my hands on while in college so that I could get to enjoy it in the future. The list would get shorter whenever I crossed off something as read or watched, and would then get twice as long filled with recommendations from friends and the majority.😅

I discovered K-dramas around graduation and I have not been keeping in touch with western media ever since, so that list has not increased in years. This turns out to be a blessing in disguise lately, because I find myself disliking a lot of the movies I am watching nowadays. Did I watch and cross off all the good ones already? Is it my meh mood this week? Have I matured and has my taste changed? Did those movies not age well? Did the movies not live up to its hype or original? I guess I can answer ‘yes’ to all of the above, but now I am left wondering if they are a total waste of time, or did I simply watch or read them too late?🤔

The same also applies for K-dramas. We recommend and discuss K-dramas all the time, but we are also not afraid to warn each other about the disasters, no matter how subjective they might be.😆I know to stay far away from some K-dramas, but can we actually regret watching the disasters if we (would have) enjoyed them back when they originally aired?🤔

Dramagods, give me some new interesting shows, so that I can stop thinking about this.😅

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I've taken full responsibility to spam this OT and recommend everyone the cdrama, Day Of Becoming You lol, so here you go!

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You have done your duty well!😉

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If you haven't seen it "Moonlight" and "You are my Hero" are also a good watch.
Though none made me laugh as much as The Day of Becoming You.

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Noted!

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I think your taste can change a lot over time so something that was good/you would have enjoyed ten years ago you may not now. My friends and I recently rewatched The Lake House (Keanu Reeves, Sandra Bullock) which we all had remembered as being quite good. It was actually terrible 😂😂 were we just less discerning when we came out? Was it good for its time or was it always terrible? Do tastes/what is considered romantic/arty and moving change so what worked then doesn’t work now? (Personally I think in this case it was always terrible)

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When we *saw it when it came out* lol

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Oh no! I thought about The Lake House recently. I also remembered it fondly although I do remember the story dragging a bit. Now I am curious to see if I'll also find it disappointing if I re-watch it.

It's an adaptation of a Korean movie too! I wonder if the original lives up better after all these years. I have yet to watch it.

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I didn’t know it was originally a Korean movie! I will have to seek out the original and see if they did it better (I suspect yes).

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I’m curious to know if you find it disappointing too! We were on a run of old Keanu Reeves/Sandra Bullock movies (Speed and While You Were Sleeping hold up much better despite ridiculous concepts).

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Speed is one of my favorite action movie. I re-watched it recently too and it is still great fun! While You Were Sleeping is still charming, but while rewatching it during the Christmas break, I noticed some glaring flaws in the writing and production. They really had a wedding at the hospital. Why the rush? 😂

I’ll rewatch The Lake House soon and let you know if I still like it or not.

Let me know about Il Mare if you end up watching it.

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@am1993 I ended up watching Il Mare last night because I found out Viu had it. It’s aged a lot (everything is filmed with a kind of green tinge) but I liked it. It’s quieter and less obvious than The Lake House and they didn’t try so hard to shoehorn so much into the plot so in my opinion it works much better.

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Il Mare - the original korean movie that remake Lake House was based on was EXCELLENT!! Jun Ji Hyun & Lee Jung Jae were so good...

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Thank you for your two cents! I hope it is just a change of taste, otherwise I have made my infamous list for nothing!😂 Btw, I also watched Lakehouse once, but not even Sandra and Keanu could save that one for me!😂

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I'm thinking probably not "regret enjoying/liking" a kdrama, more of "I don't know why I liked it." without negative feelings.

"Totally wasted my time" seems to happen sooner like while the drama's airs or right after one finishes it. So one actually doesn't like it.

Doing something stupid in conjunction with liking a drama such as becoming too much of a fan and trolled critics/haters is might be something regrettable in the future. The regret should involve being a jerk not about liking a drama. Unless one is the type that shifts blame.

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I agree that becoming too much of an (anti)fan usually does not end well. And yes, the feeling that you wasted time seems to be stronger around the air date, rather than in the future!

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I'm mostly disappointed by movies these days, and I suspect its because kdramas have spoiled me. A good kdrama is such a satisfying buildup over 16-20 hours, where you find yourself deeply caring for the characters. I used to enjoy a fair number of movies, English and non-English based, mostly indies, but thinking back it's like I never really knew what it meant to LOVE a show until I started watching kdramas. Even a good movie these days is just meh compared to a good kdrama for me because I don't feel the same level of attachment. I thought Parasite was an excellent movie, but it was just ok compared to the many wonderful kdramas I have watched. On the other hand, my SO doesn't watch many shows to begin with, but when he does, it's usually the umpteenth iteration of an action movie. 2.5 hours of detached frenetic escapism is what he's looking for, and I'm glad he is enjoying it, like tons of other people do, even though it is not what I would choose to watch.

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I watched a Korean Movie called Crazy Romance (it's on Amazon Prime if you're interested) and even though I really liked it, I couldn't help thinking how much I would like an other couple of hours of it...

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THIS! The amount of times I get annoyed at weak character development and rushed plots, only to remind myself that I am watching a movie, not a K-drama!😂

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Oh wow, interesting replies on the K-drama/films content! I too, actually had similar thoughts, as in why did I feel let down when I watch films now? Of course, both are diff. mediums and have diff. needs/desires. Some are exceptions, I feel international content rn is more better/interesting rn.

But on the whole, I feel it has much to do w/ my attention span decreasing as I gotten older :/ Sometimes even w/ K-dramas, I feel like I've been feeling kinda meh on since Vincenzo/Taxi Driver have ended. But yes, films that are 1 hr 30 just don't hold my interest as much b/c I feel something's missing from them. Am very intrigued though is the trend towards shorter dramas (10-12 episodes), now that's something I can get behind!!

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This is interesting to me, because I look at how long a movie is and if it’s above 2 hrs it puts me off watching it. I think there’s a different art to making a movie that can tell its story in a set amount of time, and often when they’re longer they get more wandery/gratuitous/padded out. I’d rather be left wanting more. I think the dissatisfaction comes when they try to do too much (and this applies however much time they have) and don’t do any of it properly.

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That's a great point! Ultimately, sometimes I wish I could spend more time in their world, and other times that runtime is just right. I think rom-coms are great for that shorter duration. Arthouse films that are above 2 hours can be a struggle sometimes lol.

Even K-dramas can be shortened at times, I feel my biggest gripe is how they don't edit down to like 45-1 hr minimum. Not all shows need to be 1 hr 10-30 minutes plus! Editing is crucial folks!

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Attention span is a huge problem, yes!😂 But I agree 100%!

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I am suffering from a really serious attack of Zhou Yi Wei at the moment. It started with the Longest Day in Chang 'nan, and now I am watching The Great Shaolin, The Rebel Princess, and New Face concurrently. I've finished Liberation and am poised to start Dying to Survive, in between any YouTube shorts I can find, plus all the netzens' judgements. I'm even reduced to watching interviews without translation. A serious state of affairs which I hope won't last too long. But good grief, I'm hooked.

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Ep 11 of Monthly Magazine Home, as if they need more of my love, THAT cameo happened! I legit screaamm :D

Drinking Solo is one of my favourite romcoms ever, and I have a fond memory of it, despite of quite unsatisfying ending scene for the OTP, I will always put it on my delightful watch list. (not a bad ending in my book, but I love the OTP so want more than them only smiling to each other, HA).
So to see its OTP came lovey dovey in ep 11 of MMH was such a delight for me, aah I miss Ha Suk Jin and Park Ha Sun <3 (yes, even with that perm on HSJ hair, hahaha)

I love SHINEE’s Key in Drinking Solo too so now hoping that he will make a cameo next, please show,,and thank you!

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Drinking Solo was hilarious! It was so satisfying when High Quality Trash fell head over heels for the FL and had to beg for her attention. The sismance was fun with the epic dance off, and the Noryanjin idiots, especially Key in deep denial of his unrequited love, were such an endearing bunch of clowns. I haven't watch this week's MMH episodes yet but I'm looking forward to the cameos!

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I’ve been watching a lot of Be My Dream Family and the BL Light On Me and enjoying both a lot. Anyone else watching them?

I’ll have to take a break though since I’ll be focusing on the Olympics for now. It’s funny how normally I don’t care for sports but every 2 years for 2 weeks I’m super invested lol.

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BE MY DREAM FAMILY is hiatus for another week anyway.

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Bad news.

I was really looking for ward to the return of the daily drama BE MY DREAM FAMILY but it appears that it will now be on hiatus for another week.

Even if you a fully vaccinated it seems like the Wuhan SARS-2-Covid 19 coronavirus can continue to make our life unpleasant.

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