Scholar who walks the night

Just saw I had Kingdom in draft, you know the ancient zombie drama set in Korea with royal palace schemes. I really need to work on my updating schedule, ha ha ha.

Vampire tale, set in ancient Korea - Scholar who walks the night. Woo for gorgeous guys! Heartbeat racing. Frankly, no need for the kohl-lined eyes. Sexy and you know it. 

Well plotted out drama, not a single unspun thread lacking detail here. The flow of story is smooth, without deviation or gaps to stumble on. But do you like vampire stories? If you don't, walk away.

There are two worlds and interaction between the two is forbidden. To uphold the law, the Guardian Gwi prevents other Gwi from making the human race their slaves. Say Gwi when you think Vampire.

SPOILERS -

Our dear villainous Gwi, Lee Soo Hyuk, was called by the human king to help establish a royal dynasty. He has never left. Under the royal palace and over the king, rules the vampire. His words are law and the kings who disagree get eaten alive.

The villain is one sexy criminal, a pic of Lee Soo Hyuk as Gwi.

As the coronation of the Crown Prince approaches, every full moon night, Gwi drains the king's women to get his promise of obedience. This Crown prince has a best friend who is in love with his adopted sister and finally has gotten the parents' approval to marry. The Crown prince does not want his friend involved but he insists.

Our hero, human for the moment, Lee Joon-Gi, but in the drama we call him Kim Sung-Yeol, promises to help the Crown Prince defeat the vampire who resides under the palace. The Crown Prince finds the Guardian Gwi and introduces him to Kim Sung-Yeol. The trio hatch a plan to defeat Gwi. The plan is written down in the Crown Prince's memorandum.

Evil Gwi overhears them and strikes back first. Kills the Guardian Gwi and frames the Crown Prince of treason. His human minions do all the work in the sunlight. Before the Guardian Gwi dies from his injuries, he transfers the vampiric curse to Kim Sung-Yeol.

Fast forward 120 years later. The two vampires play cat and mouse. A cross dressing girl sells copies of banned books. Kim Sung-Yeol searches for the book with the secret plan. The Crown Prince is murdered by Gwi and his son swears revenge.

And the hero looks even better than the heroine. Where do they find these hunks?

As the Guardian Gwi, Lee Joon-Gi. 

 

Of course, this is a romance, so we spend a lot of time with the female protagonist, but she's not as annoying as Sookie Stackhouse, which is wonderful. Sorry, True Blood never quite hit the spot for me. Maybe it was the annoying heroine or the whiny boys. Aged centuries these grown men are still crying for their mothers.

You will notice the excess of enthusiasm, well, this show is now complete, hallelujah.

Marathon viewing session time. This is originally a webtoon, the artwork looks cute. 

Super secret spoiler - The secret plan consists of three weapons used together to create an opportunity to defeat Gwi. The bloodline of Gwi from his child with a human, the Guardian Gwi, and the will to rebel - belonging to the royal bloodline that called for Gwi. The end episode is fantastic. Do watch this.

Sherlock TV

 Love this show. Dares to do so much and succeeds brilliantly.

The actor playing Sherlock, Benedict Cumberbatch, brings Sherlock Holmes to the modern age with a fae otherworldly arrogance that is a trademark of the detective from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's novels. This is a true portrayal of a modern detective, and the idea is so good, it's got a copycat. Elementary the TV show starring Lucy Liu, but actually that's not a fair claim, cause it is a very different take on a modern detective. Another review!

Spoilers -  John Watson is a soldier and a doctor, back from an Afghanistan tour. He meets 'the consulting detective' Sherlock Holmes and shares the rent on 221B Baker Street. He tags along for crime scenes and professional doctor advice

I think the portrayal here is an asexual, childish young man, like Peter Pan. Playful and monstrous at the same time, on the side of angels but not an angel himself. Peter Pan kidnaps children, don't forget it. Possessive of the people he holds dear, John Watson included. More like his toys, his emotional understanding is close to nil. Maybe a deliberate choice to lose emotion for better logical thinking.

Brilliant acting, you forget it's a show and are completely drawn in.

Super Secret Spoilers - Read at your own risk
Sherlock is brilliant but Mycroft, Irene and Moriarty are smarter. Even Mary gets the better of him. 

He knows he is clever and his ego blinds him. He overlooks the ordinary people when he should know better, no one is truly ordinary. People have the power to surprise you. Humans commit crimes. You can't be perfect and on top of the world, 24/7.
 

Lagaan 2001

 Sure, I don't need to make this post, but that recent Oscars law? Do they need to watch all the films now? What were they doing before? Rolling by on vibes? Or bribes?

This movie - Lagaan - was the best foreign language film offering from India and it was the closest we got to actually winning the Oscars. This film had everything, acting on point, tight and timed plotline, excellent songs plus creative dance choreography, it was strong from start to finish, not a single flaw! 

They did not watch it and they voted. Why do we even try every year? Oscars can die in a ditch. 

Bollywood actually sucks - stale formulaic scripts and nepo babies who can't act, but this film was grand. It was a breath of fresh air. It deserved a fair chance. 

I thought they must have seen it at least and chosen the other contender. People have different tastes. But to not even give it a chance, Oscars is rigged. 

Dirk Gently's holistic detective agency

When I saw this show over a two-day one-night viewing marathon, it was so infectious that I found my writing voice heavily influenced for a week after. Kudos to quality.

Loved both seasons, which is rare, the second less than the first, kind of irked by the pessimistic new attitude displayed by Dirk, but people can't be cheerful all the time. Trauma, grief, loss, despair, all those negative things we would love to skip over, but life is not that easy. 

SPOILERS -
Universe building first, there are people with superpowers - holistic is the term used, and a secret government task force - Black wing - exists to keep track of them and capture them alive and record their talents. I think they were born not made but the show keeps you guessing. And yes, this is adapted from a book written by Douglas Addams, of Hitchhiker's Guide fame.

Holistic people have the power to influence the universe, make it stop, and listen to their demands in return for an equal conversation. Sometimes they obey what the universe demands of them and things go crazy.

Our main character is a holistic detective, with his new partner. Antagonistically placed is a holistic killer with her new partner. One team saves lives, and the other team ends them, but they both work for the same boss. The planet spins, the universe self-corrects and the sun continues on track. Did you see that creepy video of the sun dragging our universe behind it as it travels through space?

Adds a very creepy fatalism to the concept of destiny, stay in your lane, eyes forward. If your life is predestined by a higher power, what exactly is individual free will? Do you have any real choice at all? And you won't ever know the answer.

But why do I like this so much? The bromance of course. Initially thought romance, but the show determinedly pairs males with females, so, shrug my shoulders and move on.

Mutually informed consent should be the priority. The adult parties don't matter as long as they loudly enjoy it, fully aware and happy. Love should be a celebration of life. Why wait for a funeral to value life? But people can be fools. You only love her when you let her go says passenger. Ok, let's actually talk about the story before I lose track of my train of thought.

Brother and sister, brother has a disease, which runs in the family. Sister babies him and overprotects him, brother has wanderlust and adventure thirst and meets a weird boy. The quirky boy has prophetic insight and a really crazy case to solve regarding a serial murderer. 

The strange boy is being chased by an assassin and a mysterious organization that wants to hold him prisoner and conduct life-threatening experiments on him. Just this dry synopsis is whetting your appetite for more, isn't it? 

There are a lot of twists and turns, and I won't reveal everything here. This show reminds me of sense8. 

don't worry darling netflix

Alright, first things first. It is unfair to judge a veteran singer against a veteran actor in an acting contest. (Not K-pop idols who are trained in multiple disciplines.) Then, add the 13-year difference in their ages, wow!  Of course, the young man had no chance.

At first glance, this is a movie set in the past, with outdated gender roles, nuclear weaponry, and a Cold War timeline? But that was a time of racial segregation. Strange things begin to creep one out. That tuna salad thing? Why say anything? Just let her bring it. Other guests will enjoy it. 

SPOILERS -

Set in the present time, anti-feminist view and incel thought process. Just another computer simulation playing in your mind, like the matrix.

Your perspective makes such a huge difference here. For a woman, this is a horror story. For a man, this is a wish-fulfillment fantasy. Especially with the politics leaning so heavily into right-wing territory right now, and technology headed into brain chips territory, this could be a tale made true in the future. 

There is grace in symmetry, there is beauty in control, and the queen takes over. I got some ick factors in the first scene where we meet her but the focus is on the men in power. Is she a lesbian who assaults other women in the simulation and then mind-blurs them to forget? Why are people so horrible?

This is a super creepy retake on an idealized time when housewife was the only life path for a woman. And you don't even need to know the woman, as long as you can kidnap her. Or the company can do it for you. Times are not so different now, what are the rights of women?

What a horrible world, don't you want someone who knows you and loves you as the person you are? I mean you got a doctor for a spouse and you still wanted to cut her down. A well-paid sugar mama who put up with you, been in love with you, all you had to do was treat her with the bare minimum of respect.

I am editing this after the recent election. Watching the news cycle - all those preventable deaths - where doctors don't raise a finger as patients bleed to death in front of them. First world problems where women are incubators but not human beings.

Stop consuming media that portrays this as ideal, stop following trad wife content. Decenter men. Matriach life goals. 4B all the way, babes.