Rants and Weekly Raves #111 (RAWR)

JoAnne: Awww, look how cute! The sleep of the damned. *runs off sobbing*
kakashi: Happy Halloween! Look at how cute his ears are! Awwwwwww.

Korea

The Man Living in Our House (New)

This is the kind of Kdrama I don't like. Nothing about it. Well, wrong: I like Kim Ji-hoon, even when he plays an absolute douche. But the rest really makes me wish he'd be in something proper. Poor guy. 
Predictably, I'm on the opposite side of this divide from you - it's pretty well done and cute as a button, over all, even if they do have a fairly good hurdle to get over with the whole step-dad thing. But it's hilarious to watch him acting like a grumpy, worried dad, and anyway I love me some Kim Young Kwang and Lee Soo Hyuk, ever since I met them in White Christmas. Wonders of wonders, I like Soo Ae when she's being funny.  
So should I watch or no? Kim Ji-hoon picks some crappy dramas
Well so far it's amusing. I'm looking forward to this week's episodes.
It would be totally wrong to watch this for Kim Ji-hoon, that much is clear!!

My Wife is Having an Affair this Week (New)

This title is funny. 
I watched both episodes. Very enjoyable! The Voice kills it, of course, but Song Ji Hyo is pretty and bright and gives away nothing, their child is that adorable boy from Pride and Prejudice (now talking!), Lee Sang Yeob has turned his eternally sad characters on their ear by playing a hilariously overemotional hoobae - it's all a lot of fun, with lots of familiar and welcome faces and several side plots I'm curious about.
I'm curious about the drama but I don't have the time to watch it right now. So I probably won't. You know, that "to watch list".... it doesn't actually exist in my case. If I don't watch em as they air ... I can forget about it.  

Moon Lovers / Scarlet Heart / JoAnne's Wolf

I'm slightly out of love with this drama. It happens to me almost with every Kdrama. They just don't hold my attention long enough? Anyway, the editing is still so bad it's almost funny, IU's limited range is showing more and more clearky, but Joongi is still incredibly beautiful (though the more hair in his face the better) and I will just post many screenshots.
Well first off, fuck you, Film Editors. Even I can't ignore that you were drunk on the job for this by now. As for everything else...I'm too sad to even talk about it. Just leave me be to mourn my darling wolf, who isn't so very well tamed after all.

Woman with a Suitcase

I don't see me finding my way back to this any time soon, despite my liking for many of the actors. Does anyone have a more compelling reason than Joonie being sweet for me to do so?

Jealousy Incarnate

This show, I make time for. I really like every character - they're all flawed, loving humans trying to make their way in the world and and they're all trying to give their very abundant love to various combinations of each other. They don't isolate, they don't withhold. They love fiercely - sometimes a little too hard, in fact. But it is endearing to me, and I love the look of it and the sound track, too. They still haven't returned to the kids, but I'm okay with it. Between the mom triangle and the main triangle, there's plenty.

Shopping King Louis

Haven't made my way back to this, either - but am more inclined to make an effort than I am for, say, Joonie's Bag Lady.

One Percent of Something

I look forward to this every week. The episodes breeze right by and the OTP is absolutely adorable. He totally forgets to be a cold chaebol the minute she enters his mind and becomes this cute cuddly baby-faced hunk who stares at her like she hung the moon. Who could resist? In full disclosure, it's not the best written thing ever...there's a lot that doesn't get said, the 'rival' hasn't made more than one very, very weak move in all this time, and everything has just been too easy. But if you want something light and sweet, this is it.

On the Way to the Airport 

Never before was there a Kdrama of this quality that I didn't know what to write about. At this stage, nobody doubts for a second that the two leads should be a pair - and eventually will be, I hope. But their way to each other is slow and gradual. It's a journey. Even fate ships them.

The K2

Man with swagger?  CHECK.
Ok everybody seems to have dropped K2 but i'm on episode 8 and I quite like it. Yoona just annoys me though i'm not sure because she hasn't really said anything yet. Yes there is a little too much political intrigue but bigbadbitxh is just so....deliciously bad. It's like all her disappointments have warped into this psychopathic mess that still hurts! And poor changwook's character trying so hard to not care but caring too much, even for this twisted mass of humanity, even when he knows....he absolutely has to know (heck he even says it) she will stab him in the back the minute it makes sense.  And her husband who is this weak power hungry man (or is he?) but did he love her once or has he always hated her? and did he want to president before or would he have given it up if his daughter's life wasn't on the line? Everybody is so deliciously broken. Why didn't people like this? And the fight scenes *shivers* omg those fight scenes are just incredibly shot and choreographed.  I don't anxiously wait to go home to watch but when I press play the hour goes by really fast. 
I haven't dropped it. It's so far-fetched and ridiculous, yes, but everything some little thing happens or is revealed that keeps me coming back for more. I have questions. They must be answered.
cherkell:  I'm currently in Seoul for Wookie's musical... and watching the real-life version of 'The K2' play out with the recent presidential scandal.  Can't swing a dead politician without this being splashed all over the city right now. UGH. UGH. UGH. But the excellent OST so far is doing things to me. Nice things. Be back next week! *waves*

Not Korea

When a Snail Falls in Love (New)

I really liked the first three episodes! Well, I didn't like the long Myanmar intro, but as soon as we got back to China, I did like it a lot. I don't know anything about the story since I haven't read the novel, but it's pretty obvious anyway what is going to happen. It doesn't bother me at all though, because the characters are great. Wang Kai is hot (especially with the sunglasses! YUM) and she is exactly right for this kind of role. Looking forward to more! I also really like the character of quiet Zhao Han.

Ice Fantasy 

Damn, that Veiled Lotus sure messed up everything! Down to eight more episodes, HOW did this happen? 

Unmei Ni Nita Koi

While I find Saito very attractive, yes, I am not actually swooning over him the way some of my friends are - mostly because the draw for me has become wondering if he actually is who he says he is. We'll find out soon, only three more episodes to go!

Lucifer

Hilarious. I laughed a lot this week. Until I didn't at the end. Wow, what a rollercoaster.
I love this show, I do. Uriel was pretty interesting - too bad he won't be around anymore. Or will he? Hey, do you think we'll ever meet Dad? Oooh, also...I have always wondered who Shinichi reminded me of, and now I know: the actor who played the action star.

Westworld

Ohhhh, excellent stuff. Very Nolan-ish. But excellent.
So what do you think, Kakashi? Are they actually evolving somehow? Dolores said something interesting about using dialogue meant for another purpose, and we keep seeing how 'left over bits of code' affect things. All of it is input, so far, with outputs that are unexpected. Is that sufficient for the hosts to become somehow more than machines? Or must they generate independent thought? Couldn't you say that humans don't really do more than take input and combine it in unique ways?
The computational theory of mind says the human brain is an information processing machine. If that is true, the question arising is this: who wrote the programm? God? Also, related to the drama: why are we human and the machines the Westworld people build are not? Ford says in the lateste episode that they are "god" in this world. What if there is a "god" in our world and we are just like the androids that populate Westworld? Just recently, the so-called "simulation hypothesis" gained some attention again. Reality, what is that? Some people think it is very likely we live in a simulation. Are we sure we are "humans"?