my ajumma notes

Let’s start with some things written in the blurb and reviews.   According to the blurb, “The story of  [where’s the ‘the’?]  clandestine love of Julien’s mother breaks through Violette’s carefully constructed defences to reveal the tragic loss of her daughter, and her steely determination to find out the truth.”   No.  Julien’s arrival quickens the pace of the  revelations  but Violette didn’t quite live behind “carefully constructed defences” nor shy away from the truth.  Through these revelations, we know that she conducted her own investigations before she even meets Julien.   One reviewer says, “An intriguing mystery about a long-disappeared husband and a lost child…” No, too.  Intriguing yes, but the story is not largely about Philippe’s disappearance.  It is about Violette and the main mystery is about how/why Leonine and her friends died in the fire.  Also, do you call a dead girl a “lost child”...

Here, we have another lead pair singing the theme song . Ryu Hye-young and Kim Jae-young sound lovely in this cute song I want to watch Dear My Room because: - it’s about interior design - Kim Jae-young is the male lead - there is the little  100 Days reunion ! 100 Days cameo by... Ji-hyun and D.O.!! with Lee Min-ji (Keut-nyeo) appearing at the cafe too!   I wonder when it will be on one of the platforms I have.   Dear my room / Eun-joo’s room (2018) 12 episodes, Olive

I didn’t know there was such a job as dietitian/nutritionist in a school/university/company cafeteria.  That was interesting.  I wish Song Ji-eun could have breathed more life and soul into the character.  Well, she does try and we just have to accept the limits of her acting abilities, which were mainly two expressions: troubled/disturbed and shocked/surprised.  Sung Hoon as Jin-wook, on the hand, does well, carrying most of the humour, with some comic support from Mr Jang his assistant, and, in a much lesser way, his father and  his  assistant. He also does emotional and serious scenes way better than Ji-eun.  For example, when we cut from one to the other in the last couple of episodes where they are mooning and moping, Sung Hoon expresses his longing and misery far more deeply.   It took me more than 10 episodes to understand Yu-mi’s irony and insecurities.  You can tell that she is embarrassed about her mother be...

Books, writing copy, proofreading, book design, book covers… oooh…    And so much more to look at as well…   Eun-ho’s (Lee Jung-suk) house is amazing , the Gyeoroo office is like an amazing, bright, airy library, the Gyeoroo ethic is amazing (very ‘developmental’ in approach), boss Kim Jae-min (Kim Tae-woo) is wonderfully supportive of  every one, the cafes and restaurants are amazing, and just look at this amazing parade of sweaters and jackets !  Work life  I liked how the newbies are given opportunities and responsibilities, and the bosses are generally tolerant of mistakes.  Even when Hae-rin (Jung Yoo-jin) explodes over Ji-yool’s (Park Gyu-young) costly mistake, Ji-yool is allowed the space to make amends and encouraged when she works harder. stuck overnight sticking stickers One sore point for me is when Dan-i’s (Lee Na-young) idea is used and never acknowledged.  Even if it was the same as Ms Go’s (Kim Yoo-mi) idea, why couldn’t they ...

  “Like a storyteller transforming life into a shimmering river where trouble and boredom vanish far below the water…” … when the connection of kindred spirits produces a tapestry of philosophy, art, music, tea, food and friendship!   A quiet, 50-ish widowed concierge, an intelligent 12-year-old and a cultured Japanese man – on one level this can appear like a random, contrived combination, but it didn’t feel that way to me.  I saw it as the quiet unveiling of the hidden self – of Renee, mainly, but the inner selves of the other characters also emerge gradually.  It takes the child moving under everyone’s radar and the gentle foreigner to draw Renee out from her self-designed hiding place.  Special mention for Manuela, with whom she shares a different kind of friendship. I read comments that this book is pretentious and rambling with all its intellectualising.  I didn’t think this of it.  I found it an attractive work of art....

 It's sometimes fun to watch actresses and actors showcasing their singing. Shin Se-kyung singing 'You're sweet' with indie duo Swedish Laundromat.  Aw... so sweet... Lee Dong-wook duet-ing with Onew in Sea of Hope. Lee Ji-ah, Kim Go-eun and Lee Dong-wook singing with So-hyun, Onew and Yoon Jong-shin. I want to watch the show !! Ji Chang-wook , the most impressive of the lot here, I think, singing 'Laundry' on Immortal Songs, earning praise from original singer Lee Juck . I wonder if 'laundry' has a more poetic feel in Korean.  It seems like such a mundane word but this is a beautiful ballad, with a 'let me try to put my broken heart together while dealing with normal everyday things like my laundry' feel.  Look who else is doing covers of it! Exo guys Shinee guys!

For a change, a show with no big names, no villains, no deep, dark secrets. Just lots of wonderful  rural scenery, a few cute kids and several adorable dogs and other animals.  Fresh, friendly entertainment at only 12 episodes! Newbies Choo Young-woo and Baek Sung-chul do decent jobs of Ji-yul the vet and Sang-hyun the peach-grower.  Ji-yul’s reluctance to stay in the countryside and his eventual settling in are nicely portrayed.  Sang-hyun as a considerate, honest friend and as a budding farming business guy comes across refreshingly. Among the minor male characters, Ji-yul’s Seoul boss Yun-hyung, played by Na Chul, is funny, and the policemen are also sufficiently entertaining.   Unfortunately, the ladies compare rather dismally.  Joy (of Red Velvet) wouldn’t be considered a big name in acting.  She is rather two-dimensional playing Ja-yeong and the other ladies are practically caricatures.  The only female characte...

The John Wick movie posters at bus stops made me think of  Run On  and what I read recently about Im Siwan’s impressive run as a serial killer .   are you John Wick or something? oh, he's a killer... Siwan transforms... why would we think anything murderous lurks behind this winsome face? does he look suspect? OHHH... he's a KILLER... Not a genre I enjoy but I almost want to watch  Unlocked . Pictures from Hancinema

No argument that these are capable leads and among my favourites.  However, I usually need the entire package to work at least fairly well and the packages didn’t.  I could only manage one or less episode of these shows.   Mine , starring Lee Bo-young (2021) This could have been my first Netflix series.  Too ostentatious and knotty in the end.   The luxurious setting is really something – lush furnishings in that compound of mansions, lots of stylish clothes!  There is an exciting combination of characters – gregarious, tortured, retiring, downright idiotic, with the hint of mystery behind each one, and both hidden and overt tensions among them.  When one of the servants is dismissed, she cries about having to leave, “because there’s something happening here every day!”     I liked how Lee Bo-young is a sprightly character here (at least in episode 1), but the mother-in-law’s pet peacock practically did it for m...