Screen Rambles: March

Welcome to another edition of Screen Rambles! This is the post where I round up all the movies and shows I watch last month, instead of rambling about them in my wrap up post and making them too long 😂 Last month I didn’t do a post because all I watch was chick flicks and Lego Batman, and I already posted my thoughts of them in THE NERD DAILY. Click here to check my review of chickflicks and Lego Batman. I also watched Beauty and the Beast last month, but I already posted the review on The Nerd Daily too,  so check it out. Without further ado, let’s see what I watched last month.

Moonlight Drawn by Clouds / Love in Moonlight

AAHHH I LOVE THIS K-DRAMA! I finished the whole thing in 3 days, which is a record for me in terms of K-drama (I didn’t even finish DoTS this quick!). The thing about K-drama is, they are around 16-20 episodes long, and each episode are around 1 hour, so I can’t watch them quickly.

It tells the story of Hong Ra-On who cross-dressed as man her whole life, and accidentally sold as an eunuch to the palace. There, (s)he met the Crown Prince whom she had (bad) history with, and in K-drama standard, you know what happened next.

First of all, I LOVE SAGEUK. I love the costumes and the feels, the overall etiquettes and power struggles between the faction…. They’re the reason why I prefer them more over contemporary drama.

Second, the actor. They are all amazing! Yoo-Jung’s and Jinyoung’s facial expression, Dong-yeon mysterious aura, the King’s fidgeting, and of course, Park Bo-gum! ❤❤❤ I mean, obviously the reason I watch this drama is because of him, but I don’t expect him to be so good?? Like his eyes are so expressive, you can know and feel everything without him having to say anything. And his face and smile… His good look is just a bonus along with his kind heart and singing voice, but someone as handsome as he is shouldn’t be allowed to exist! I mean, LOOK AT HIM.

Ahem. Okay it seems like this post has turn into a Bo-gum centric post, so let’s move on.

I love the chemistry between the cast! Like they’re so cute! I didn’t really feel it between the Prince and Eunuch Hong though. I ship her with Yoon-sung! I also feel bad for Yoon-sung, he knows everything and treat Ra-on kindly… but all he got is… 😭 Their interaction is very strong, I cried during certain parts. Also, as much as I love PBG, I kinda dislike the Crown Prince in the drama. He’s certainly smart and cares for his people, but he’s absolutely bratty. He paid no attention of his actions’ consequences have to his entourage, and he treated the Crown Princess coldly. I know he doesn’t like her, but at least he could treat her nicely or as a friend. Even when Yoon-sung died and Crown Princess left, he doesn’t seem to show any reaction and do nothing or say last words. I wish he would do something or at least be a better person at the end, but nope. He’s still pretty spoiled.

My only complaint is just how it drags in the middle, little happened except for expanding the romance. I also felt wasted opportunity because the first 3 episodes were very fun, with sassy Ra-on and Yeong, but as the story goes and the romance develop, they become… nice 😅 And the story become not as fun as it should be as the result. And finally, the ending left lots of questions to answers, and I prefer it ends like the actual historical way. I think it will pack more punch for the viewers. Imagine the tears.

So overall, I really love this sageuk, not only because PBG, but for the plot, the atmosphere, and the chemistry between characters. If you love saeguk, K-drama, or PBG in general… Watch this.

Oh, here’s a bonus Bo-gum gif.

Rating: 4/5

Should you watch it? HECK YES.

Logan

All my friends were freaking out when this movie was released. They were all bugging me to watch this movie, saying things like “IT’S WOLVERINE” to “IT’S HUGH JACKMAN LAST MOVIE AS WOLVERINE”. Finally, I gave in. The thing is, I never watch the old x-men movie. I watched snippets and some scenes, but never a full movie. I only watch the McAvoy/Fassbender/Turner reboot.

I think this also factors in why it didn’t blew me away like the others. Sure, it’s action packed, sarcastic as hell, and pack some emotional punch. But I’m not THAT connected with the story and characters for me to be emotional. I feel sad about Charles though, he’s so different from the professor X we knew. (Damn it Erik where are you save him).

The highlight of this movie are of course the relationship between Logan/Charles/Laura and Laura’s performance. They felt like family to me, and some scenes truly broke me (like when Logan said “it wasn’t me” and “so this is what I’m missing”). I’m not comfortable with graphic violence in movies, so that also took away my enjoyment. Some things still doesn’t feel closed enough to give me closure, so I think there will be more movie in the x-men universe. Who knows.

Rating: 3.5/5

Should you watch it: If you have been following the x-men franchise since ye olden days or reading the comics, yes. If you’re a newbie or just watch the reboot, still yes but you won’t enjoy it as much, I think.

Goblin

This k-drama was highly praised in the K-pop community. I’ve seen it mentioned everywhere, along with Gong yoo’s face. Sadly, I didn’t enjoy it as much as I would like to, and it’s dissapointing tbh.

This k-drama tells the story of a soldier who was killed by the king whom he served because of jealousy. Other than killing him, the king also killed his whole family, including the soldier’s sister who’s also the king’s wife. The soldier was made immortal by the gods (either as a curse or a gift), and he can only died when he meet his bride who can pull the sword on his chest (the one the king used to kill him). Unfortunately, his bride comes in the form of Ji Eun Tak, a 19 year old who can see ghost, orphan, and targeted by the grim reaper. The said grim reaper also moved in into Goblin’s house, so the 3 of them are stuck together. Chaos ensues.

One word: BROMANCE. The chemistry between Gong-yoo (Goblin) and Lee Dong Wook (grim reaper) is so perfect. They are funny and chaotic, both are di immortales who can’t cope with human problems😂😂😂 They are also a bit heartbreaking (okay, A LOT) but they are really cute together! I really wish they spend more time together causing shenanigans to the humans around them with their abuse of power and cluelessness abot human life😂

Another thing that I really like is the concept and the aesthetic. The concept is really interesting, touching on Korean folktales as well as having background during Goryeo era (usually it’s Joseon, so it’s refreshing). This show also pays a lot of attention to aesthetic, which resulting in high quality graphics.

Unfortunately, my complaint outweigh the positive. The first thing is the age gap between Goblin and Eun Tak. I don’t mind the whole 3000 years age gap. I mean, hey, we watch vampire movies all the time, so age gap doesn’t matter. What matters is, how Goblin still looks 30 yo immortal instead of in his teenage years, therefore, the age gap was pretty visible. And obviously, like in other asian countries, we use different honorifics for older person. Eun Tak, the love interest, called the Goblin “ahjussi” which means uncle.

It really bothers me. Like I said, I don’t mind the age gap, because it’s usually around the same age (vampire diaries, twilight, underworld, etc). But this one is too obvious. And everytime Eun Tak called him ahjussi, it really bothers me.

Another thing is how slow the plot is. 12 episodes are only background, 13 is the real action, and apparently 14-16 is the closure. I don’t know, I stopped watching after 13. Even at episode 1, I’m already bored. It spent 50 minutes explaining the origin of Goblin before moving on to Eun Tak. I’m sorry but I’m just not interested. The last one is how bad the effect. I mean, it’s not horrible. But compared to some other k-dramas I watched this year (W, Moonligh Drawn by Clouds, DoTS), it’s very underwhelming. It’s too obvious and just seem more “unfinished” compared to the rest.

There are many more small complaints, but I guess that’s all I’ll talked about. This does not mean that Goblin is a bad drama, it just doesn’t work for me.

Rating: 2.5/5

Should you watch it? It depends. If you’re curious with the hype, go for it. If you’re not, then just steer clear.

What were you watching in March?