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gilaswan

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Everything posted by gilaswan

  1. gilaswan
    I will admit I have found it difficult to regard SJK positively as an individual following the divorce, but that's his personal life and he's still a good actor. That said, it's just a personal sense that as far as body language goes, I didn't see any sparks fly between him and his co-star, neither as Vincenzo + HCY nor as SJK and JYB. Quite the opposite actually - I sensed a reservedness of caution in interaction (and I did watch all the different Swoon vids). Regardless, it's the morbid vile displays of sadism and revenge that is more worthy of analysis in this series actually, than anything else. I thought the SCMP article quite hit the nail on the head. Your gut tells you all Vincenzo is doing is absolutely wrong, but do we, like the Geumga residents, also eventually get desensitised to the evil in the supposed name of "justice"? Hard to think justice needs to look so evil.
  2. gilaswan
    https://amp.scmp.com/lifestyle/k-pop/k-drama/article/3132066/k-drama-review-vincenzo-netflixs-wild-and-absorbing-show
  3. gilaswan
    Alright. Am done with the show. It was certainly entertaining. Morbid. And a wry, sardonic reflection of the baseness of humanity. The monk's words to Vincenzo and his own closing statement exactly expresses the futility of Man's efforts to achieve peace on his own. Ironic that the Italian mafia's catholic roots has not yet led Vincenzo to recognise where true justice and forgiveness comes from. As regards his own pursuit of love - he remains true to his own belief that love will elude him, hence he will never really make that proposal of a lifelong commitment to Chayoung. And she likely knows too that she cannot live the mafia life. No loss for me though - I was never invested in their "romance". Apart from being good business partners, I can't say I felt the chemistry between them as a couple. Oh well.
  4. gilaswan
    Am watching while writing this. Like @ktcjdramasaid, the killings are just too gruesome just by thought alone, so I'm choosing not to pay attention to them. I don't think it was necessary to have it done this way, but again, this just points to how evil man can be/is. For a villain to be made hero, imagine how much more a villain the others must be? Is Vincenzo a good guy therefore? No. It's all about how humans rationalise things, and within the logic we elaborately create for ourselves to justify our actions, where is morality?
  5. gilaswan
    Just finished ep 19. This show is really turning out to be quite a blood bath. Indeed, the sheer evilness of mankind manifest in all the characters, none better than the next. As Han Seok himself says to Cha Young - they're all villains, regardless. It's really a game where you stake your life, hence also Han Seo's acceptance that it would have to be his life on the line from the moment he decided he wanted to play too. Such a grim and bleak portrayal of life. I go through wanting the remaining fellas dead, and wanting at the same time for all the killing to end. Would it be a satisfying end only when Han Seok and Myung Hee are dead. I'm not so sure how I feel about the (now) Chief Prosecutor Han Seung Hyuk. He is really just a rat. An absolute sewer rat. I'd really like to see how it ends for him. And just a comment on the "mafia-ness" of it all - where is the Italian brotherhood in all of this? Except for it being a hook at the start, you've got to admit there's nothing actually Italian nor mafia about the show. I was hoping the twist with Vincenzo not getting on the plane could be a little more intelligent in finally bringing his Italian godfatherness into the story. I found it disappointing that all it took for him to send Luca back to safety was to wire over tens of thousands of euros. Luca wouldn't have had to come at all if it were so simple as to pay them off. Seemed like lazy writing just to take Vinny out of the picture for a while. There was really no real reason for Vinny to leave Italy and go to Korea to engage in this bloody fight there. Even the storyline with the gold is in effect not enough for this desire to "protect his (Korean) family". The fights are entertaining as are tweedle dee and tweedle dum moments from the Geumga Plaza tenants, but otherwise, Vinny's Italian Mafia heritage is actually not a necessary part of this story. I'm still wondering what the deal is with his Italian family now. Doesn't he have to go back and save them too from whatever is happening there?
  6. gilaswan
    @ktcjdramaThe drama is oddly entertaining though very much darker than I thought it would be. I found the bombing that killed one of his earliest henchmen most disturbing. Didn't think he would treat them as being so dispensable. I too wonder what's with the bye bye balloon, but the twists and turns have been quite interesting and clever so far. Maybe the bye bye ballon will send CMH off to goodness knows where. Heh heh heh...
  7. gilaswan
    So the killing of Interpol and all that was imaginary? Just Han Seo's story to his brother? Now I'm wondering what will happen in Italy since he didn't go back.
  8. gilaswan
    Haven't been online for so long cos of work! Up to my eyeballs in it, but a new colleague has arrived so have got a bit of breathing space. Just finished watching the latest episode. Have to say it's getting to be quite a brutal bloodbath. I like the idea that Han Seo is still an ally - there are many conversations that we know happened but have not seen yet - but one sense that in the world of the Mafia, even where family loyalty is prized, affiliations between families can switch. Who's really working for the benefit of the Cassanos and who's not?
  9. gilaswan
  10. gilaswan
    @JenLI laughed at this statement of yours - "the events of the story so mellow, uneventful and disconnected". Indeed. This was what this show was. But I think therein lay the charm too. The other show that seemed mellow and uneventful was Record of Youth, though the events told not quite as apparently random, nor were the conversations. And perhaps that's why in comparison, Run On seemed the more interesting. Perhaps a little like reality tv where the mundane become interesting, until they become mundane and the next thing happens. @abs-oluteMI did watch the final episode this morning and y'know what? It ended quite satisfactorily. Nothing jaw dropping or earth shattering - as was the entire premise of the show - but everything ended as they should have. Realistic as it is unrealistic, in that the ending would be exactly what the characters talked about - "What exactly does 'Happy Ending' look like anyway?" The villain gets their just desserts: politician dad falls out of the running for presidency and that's that with his political career, irritating brother who was not deserving of anything loses his position in the company; The underdog wins: DA is rightfully recognised, TW gets the recognition both as an idol and brother and so now has a family, MJ trumps dad cos she gets to stay with SG on her terms, WS gets signed on with a reputable agency and starts winning, sister gets to box and teaches mum at that too; Values are retained: dad's political secretary resigns, mum gives up hollywood to be a mum, DA doesn't throw away her feelings and re-explores her relationship with YH, agent-mum recognises that what's important is her relationship with her children and not the material life she wanted to give them, chaebol dad recognises his daughter and she her dad. So happy ending is when the world settles into what should be than what it really is. In that regard, the show has done well. 1. Looks like it, which was prolly why dad favoured the apparently healthy eldest son. 2. I reckon she is VP because she's too young to assume presidentship. I suppose the president might be a hired person? It's an executive position anyway. 3. I wasn't paying attention to that. Was it?
  11. gilaswan
    @abs-oluteMStrangely from your summary, I feel like I shouldn't bother with tonight's episode and just go to bed... it all seems very... placid. Maybe "run on" takes on a more linguistic meaning here... just a mish mash of independent lives somehow connected in the oddest of ways, neither completing nor unraveling the other. Life simply just... whatever it does y'know?
  12. gilaswan
    I wasn't too happy with yesterday's episode. Except for YH's painting reveal, it felt like a non-episode with non-events. Everything seemed displaced, odd, and forgettable. Even YH's best friend's coming out was very strange. So he was already seeing someone? Then what's with the longing looks at YH? And yes, @abs-oluteM, looks like DA's dad passed on and she's gonna be up for an inheritance battle now. I'm just wondering if they can wrap everything up in one episode today. I still want to know - how mum is going to resolve her relationship with dad - how dad is actually responding to his daughter's scandal, and what is actual role is in it (could he really not tell it would happen? What's he using it for?) - KSG's career future - the show synopsis said he was an athlete agent, but he's actually spent almost all of the series being jobless. - Woo-sik's career? - that female coach? Where'd she disappear to? - the high school athletes? What happened to them?
  13. gilaswan
    Always love reading @40somethingahjumma's reflections, and now that I've had the chance to watch the past couple of episodes in a continuous flow, I agree that a number of events in the story flow have become disjointed - the narrative does seem a bit off kilter and I'm not sure if it was deliberate (unlikely), or that this is yet another case of "the curse of the 16-episode kdrama structure". While KSG did seem quite so heartbreakingly pitiful in the back hug scene, I wasn't quite sure if they had broken up to begin with, or if dad's "threat" was enough for OMJ to react the way she did. Sometimes, I'm still also not sure what their relationship is based on too. Is anyone comparing them to Eunseob and Haewon in I'll Go to You When the Weather is Fine? There's a certain innocence in their relationship because of the inexperienced male lead, and there's something very attractive and sweet about it. But Eunseob's character was more layered and the development in him brought about by his relationship with Haewon seemed clearer. Seongyeom however seems to have changed very little so much so that when dad tells Mijoo that she made his obedient son defiant now, I'm not sure exactly where that defiance is or what it's intended to target. Likewise when SG tells dad that he doesn't yet know what he's capable of, it didn't come off as threatening as I think it was meant to. Has MJ really changed SG? I don't know. Hence while their "not for minors" romp in the room was cute, as I said before, it escalated from PG13 to above 19 a tad too suddenly. We've had to fill in many story gaps on our own. And DA's story? It feels too disconnected. It might as well have been a separate drama on its own. All said, I still find this drama oddly entertaining. In a disjointed way. I don't really know what it's about but it's mundanely fascinating. Hahahah...
  14. gilaswan
    For sure YH's best friend has romantic feelings for him. It's just YH that's oblivious and clueless about it, but as long as he has YH seemingly to himself, he was ok with it being absolutely one-sided, which is kinda sad. Not a way to live life at all. He's obviously jealous that SG has moved in and YH's circle is expanding beyond him. Tough. He's starting to hate. You can see it in his eyes.
  15. gilaswan
    Then dad must’ve married her for his political career... he must need them more than they need him...
  16. gilaswan
    hahahaha... I think considering he didn’t go back to YH’s apartment that night, and she very clearly wasn’t asking him over to eat, it certainly was not for minors behind those closed doors. Have to say though, they moved quite quickly up the scale from PG13. I just want to see how seriously he will butt heads with his dad. It does look like the rest of the family are ready to go against dad too. Will mum finally be a mother to her kids? And another point of curiosity - is mum independently rich? Is the hotel owning grandfather maternal or paternal? An aside - Siwan has a very nice voice!
  17. gilaswan
    I'm here, I'm here, I'm here! Still alive and kicking... work has been busier than I want it to be (I am hopeful things will get better soon - just short of manpower at the mo'). Have been so exhausted at the end of each day I just crave sleep more than anything else and watching my dramas on 15-minute installments. :P But this week's episodes... Cos of the 15-min installment watches, I can't say I've got a very coherent view of the character developments and how the show's been developing - everything is in snippets for me. But I had to come in to say these few things: 1. That back hug scene. My heart broke for SG. There's something just so pitiful about his life and how it's just been managed for him because of his father's political career. Your modern day palace politics. How could she say no to him? (She didn't. Ho ho ho) 2. She invited him for ramyeon, and we learn that he's not that clueless after all. Well, he is in his 30s already... I liked how they zoomed in on her hands tugging at his arm sleeve. There was something very sweet about it. I hope it means she's not going to let go of him again like she did before. 3. DA and YH. I like them, but I kinda don't? He seems a tad bit too childish for her. Can't quite figure out where their relationship is supposed to head. No wonder this concern that it would look like she's just messing around with a college kid. Imagine the field day the tabloids would have if that came to light - would it? The scene where he begs his mum to let him stay out (despite him actually living alone in Seoul) just shows how much a child he still is, and him not understanding why she wanted her face covered reveals how naive he is and so not ready for the world she lives in. Will she give it up for him though? My take is she won't. Not a chance. I'd like to see her crush her annoying "older" brother though. And Seo Taewoong... I still don't get his character and why he's so against YH. Cos he wants her to win out against the other brother too?
  18. gilaswan
    8 more minutes on my clock!!
  19. gilaswan
    Have been meaning to drop in some thoughts on last week’s episodes but the year started off really busy for me. I’m just refusing to work at the moment cos I’m so tired. Is it Christmas yet? Ep 6 by far has been the best. Something so bittersweet about the encounters between the key characters. So many precious scenes. I especially liked the scene where KSG feeds the cat in his garden and personifies it while he talks to it. Tells a lot about the circumstances he grew up in and how he therefore relates to people around him. Funny how his sister also mentioned in Ep 1 that he essentially grew up in that house alone. I wonder why that was. There’s been some mention of KSG’s apparent naïveté with regard to his response to May’s claim of a stalker in the neighbourhood. I beg to differ though. He knew quite clearly they were fibbing, but he needed an excuse to find that community and family he’s lacked all these years. While he didn’t really have deep relationships with his track mates, he was at least not living alone. And after he resigned and moved out of the training centre, he lived alone, ate alone, and was just... alone. He had nothing to do and that was what motivated his offer to just pick May up after work. After all, the ladies had given him an excuse to be around them, and he used his facade of aloofness to his full advantage. It’s this same facade that has Mijoo hating him but also crushing on him. His apparent non-judgmental persona judges, and it’s this same persona that allows him to deflect any kind of judgement placed on him as well. And so he can unabashedly accept random offers and make random offers, neither judging nor not judging, neither getting judged nor fearing judgement. No wonder Mijoo gets so flustered by him. And she strangely too craves that family attention she never had but is getting from him in an unconventional way. She wants to depend on him, and he wants to be depended on. And DanA. Poor her, living under so much negative gender stereotyping. And here comes this young man who doesn’t quite respond to her rough tough exterior too. How she’s unable to annoy or rattle him the way she annoys and rattles other men around her frustrates her. He’s unexpectedly charming to her, especially when she’s so determined to not let men of any kind “charm” her cos she’s sick and tired of these gender stereotypes. That younger half brother of hers is so annoying though. Why does he pine for her attention so much?
  20. gilaswan
    I don’t agree with the headline of this article leh... Not to be biased but it seems more the article that lacks logic or charm. Pfft... https://amp.scmp.com/lifestyle/k-pop/k-drama/article/3116363/netflix-series-run-romantic-k-drama-starring-im-si-wan-and
  21. gilaswan
    So I've let 3 episodes roll. Yes. Roll in the background. It just wasn't catching my attention. When it first aired, I tried watching it and turned it off after 10 mins. Decided to try it again today and I've figured out what's wrong with the show - the style of filming (short form) and their experimental format of blending "interviews" with drama is too jarring. Too much "art" in their way of framing the story in the form of cuts. There are too many scene shifts and cuts in a single act that it makes for a very disjointed storytelling. They're trying to film it in the style of shows like The Office, but the cuts shift too rapidly from character to character, And flash back memory scenes more like that of a drama pulls you back and forth in time - the "time jerks" disrupt story flow and don't build into information that should propel a story forward. I wish I could like the show better cos I like the main couple, but the format is annoying. They should've kept it as a drama.
  22. gilaswan
    @LynneI saw the news too and was like, wow, that was fast! Hahaha... I hope he picks a good comeback project
  23. gilaswan
    Just saw the news! Wah! What a way to start 2021! Wishing them a good and strong relationship that can weather public scrutiny in the industry they're in.
  24. gilaswan
    So many precious moments in ep 6 and I’m only halfway through! Stopped so I could post this cos I just had to - SG’s incredulity at MJ’s eating habits when he saw her just drinking a smoothie straight out of the blender and asked, “Are you too lazy to chew?” Even if fried rice is the only dish he knows how to cook, at least he bothers. As May says, “No wonder (MJ) can’t get over you.”
  25. gilaswan
    That’s what her older half-brother (who’s another brat) claims, and it would seem like she has this on-going anger feud with her father in the same vein of challenging gender identities rather than sexual identities. So if she decides to get into a relationship with YH, then the game with Daddy gets more interesting because she’s simply doing everything her father clearly doesn’t condone. She’s so resolute in wanting to prove to her dad that gender is the only unreasonable value placed against her. Korean feminism on display?
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