Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Dream High, Starring Suzy Bae and Kim Soo Hyun

I really loved this show. The music was awesome, the characters well-rounded, the plot well-told. It didn't end the way I thought it would, which is good, because I like to be surprised. I even enjoyed the adults' stories.

I liked the fact that the main character was a girl jerk and the two boys nice guys, different from the usual nice girl falls for the jerk guy. So you don't know who she's going to end up with.

The joy and passion these young people have for their music is inspiring. Dream High is not only for young people, but for old people with dreams too.

Saturday, October 19, 2013

Linsanity the Movie--An Inspiring Asian American Success Story about Jeremy Lin


A week and a half ago, I watched Linsanity the Movie about NBA basketball player Jeremy Lin. In February of 2012, he shocked the sports world with a five-game winning streak for the New York Knicks.

More shocking was the fact that he seemed to come out of nowhere. Undrafted and unwanted by the Golden State Warriors and the Houston Rockets, he ended up with the Knicks and fully expected to be sent home. Then several New York players became injured or sick and Lin got his last chance to show what he could do. He amazed his teammates, opponents, fans, and the sports world by sinking baskets left and right, tearing up the court.

Sports commentators didn't know how to describe him. Unfortunately, some ugly racial stereotypes came out that actually started a dialogue on how Asians have been ignored or misrepresented. But the movie doesn't dwell on this. Lin credits his parents and his Christian faith for seeing him through good times and bad. His God gave him strength to do what he needed to when he needed to.

This inspiring movie gives hope to anyone the world has written off. No matter what your skin color or others' perception of you is, your dreams still can come true.

Friday, October 11, 2013

Creating Destiny, Starring Yoo-Jin and Tae-young Ki

This drama was hard to get into. It seemed to move slow and some parts were hard to understand the logic. Why would the protagonist agree to travel to Korea to become betrothed when she already had a boyfriend? The bloodline excuse the mom gave was not fully explained. Was she afraid of hereditary diseases, unwanted character traits passed down the family line, inherited debt? And Sang Eun's biological mother's name was never mentioned. Nobody in either family bothered to ask her it or what she or her family did for a living.

I did enjoy seeing the romance grow between the two main characters. The second storyline with Yeo Joon's sister was interesting, yet in the end, we still don't know if she was really in love with the father of her child. The other romances were kind of unbelievable. And why was Yeo Joon's uncle even in the drama? He didn't really contribute much.

Maybe some things were lost in the translation. In fact, whole lines were missing from some scenes. Maybe because the drama was translated by volunteers.

I really wanted to like this drama more. I like the actors and actresses. I wish more of the scenes could have been shot outdoors or in places other than restaurants and coffee shops.