Snowflake Mountain

tags: Netflix streaming, reality show

⭐⭐⭐

Sometimes reality shows are more entertaining to watch than mediocre and badly written TV shows and movies. 

Snowflake Mountain features a group of delicate, immature 20-somethings who party hard, can’t hold down jobs and still live with their parents. These “snowflakes” — which the show defines as young people who are “overly emotional, easily offended and dramatic” — are sent into the wilderness, in an effort to push them into growing up. There is $50,000 waiting for one of them at the end of the show.

Filming took place in Cumbria, UK, in the Lake District National Park, and some filmed at The Graythwaite Estate owned by a family, the Sandys, who have lived on the 5000 acre estate for over 500 years. 

I thought after watching the first episode that it is scripted but after the second episode, I find the show is real and I ended up watching the comple series. I've grown to like a few of them and my favorite snowflakes are American Deandra Joseph and British Liam Brown. Deandra and Liam seem very real, honest, and they are so hilarious and entertaining. 

Most of the snowflakes are in their early 20s, some are overweight, don't have permanent jobs, and lazy so their parents sent them to the reality show to help them grow up a little. They did at the end. I didn't expect to like the series but I did and now I'm looking forward to the new set of snowflakes if Netflix decides to have another season. 

BTW, the word snowflake is a term that the political right dubs leftists who are easily triggered and offended and melt easily at the slight provocation. However, the term has expanded to anyone who is overly emotional and dramatic and the snowflakes in the show are non-political. I recommend the series for its entertainment value.

Money Heist Korea

 

Coming tomorrow, June 24, 2022 on Netflix streaming, 

Money Heist: Korea, Korean version of the Spanish drama Money Heist or La Casa de Papel.

My Liberation Notes's Mr. Gu

Move over Gong Yoo, Lee Min-Ho, Park Bo-Gum...there's a new heartthrob in KDramaland, Son Suk-Ku who plays the mysterious tight-lipped stranger in Netflix drama My Liberation Notes. Mr. Gu is working as a carpenter hired by the father of 3 adult siblings still living in their parents' house outside of Seoul.

My Liberation Notes synopsis from AsianWiki

My Liberation Notes" tells a story of three siblings and a stranger.

Yeom Chang-Hee is the middle child of the three siblings. He wants to escape from his family's home in Sanpo Village, but he doesn't have a dream and just spends his life meaninglessly. He is looked down upon by his family members.

Yeom Mi-Jeong is the youngest child of the three siblings. She would like to be liberated from her boring life, but she is introverted and timid. She is lonely and feels unfulfilled in her life.

Yeom Gi-Jeong is the oldest child of the three siblings. She has a hot temper. She wastes a lot of time commuting to her job in Seoul from Sanpo Village. Her life is filled with complaints and she wants to find love.

Mr. Gu is a mysterious man, who suddenly appears in Sanpo Village. He is always drunk. One day, Yeom Mi-Jeong approaches him.

Son Suk-Ku and his character Mr. Gu are currently the most popular and beloved by fans worldwide. The videos above are made by fans of Mr. Gu and Mi-Jeong from the series.

The first 6 episodes, Mr. Gu doesn't talk much nor socialize with his neighbors, and he drinks 2 bottles of soju every night. One day, the youngest daughter Mi-Jeong, makes an unusual proposition which he accepts by doing something unexpected - a fantastic long jump exactly like a gold medalist Olympian to retrieve a hat for Mi-Jeong. His old life is being revealed slowly which may or may not be bad. But the audience probably won't mind if he turns out to be a gangster.

Son Suk-Ku is not the most handsome Korean actor nor is he very tall, but on screen he has that oomph that viewers noticed him when he appeared briefly in Episode 6 of Jirisan.

He is also on Netflix Korean military drama series, D.P., as Lt. Im Ji-Seob

Metal Lords

tags: comedy, drama, post-metal music, Netflix streaming, teen movie

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

from IMDB

Two kids want to start a heavy metal band in a high school where exactly two kids care about heavy metal. They try to find a bass player, and fail but they do find a girl who is very good at cello. If the three of them can't settle their differences and work together, they're never going to win the Battle of the Bands.

I couldn't care less if the movie is rated unsatisfactory by "professional" reviewers. Yes, it is clichéd and has a predictable ending but it is funny and engaging. I loved it. Sometimes, Netflix comes up with an enjoyable movie about high schoolers that is worth a second watch.

Old Enough

Another Japanese TV show with children as young as 2½ years old running errands such as shopping, delivery, or doing chores ALONE. That's absolutely crazy! Only in Japan and I think in South Korea too. It's amazing the children can communicate properly with adults in the shops and can identify different vehicles such as police cars, buses, etc. Of course, a TV crew is filming so there isn't any danger of them getting hit by a car or snatched by perverts.

On the first episode, the 2 year 9 month old boy has a gross yellowish snot, walking 1 kilometer all the way to his house, dragging the flowers on the road, completing the 3 items to buy for his mother. Kawaii! Very entertaining and some of the kids are natural comedians and some have boundless energy. The camera people must be exhausted with the 2 children running and running even after going up 200 steps. The series is quite addicting to watch.

Streaming on Netflix 20 episodes, 7 to 21 minutes

Thermæ Romæ Novæ

 

New bingeable anime Thermæ Romæ Novæ on Netflix streaming 

11 Episodes, 27 - 36 minutes

2012 live action is also ridiculous and hilarious.

Kotaro Lives Alone

tags: anime series based on manga, Japanese, Netflix streaming 

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

10 episodes, 27 minutes

The story is about a lonely four-year-old boy Satо Kotaro who moves in Shimizu Apartments to live by himself hoping to be reunited with his parents. He makes friends with his neighbors including a poor manga artist, a young girl working in a club as a hostess, and a kindhearted thug (yakuza?).

The idea of a four year old boy living alone is absurd but anything is possible in anime. Each episode is funny but also sad and heartbreaking and there is a lesson learned by the adults as well as the children at Kotaro's Kindergarten school.

Kotaro made cute bento with onigiri shaped like his favorite anime character Tonosaman

A 10-episode live action series based on the same manga, Kotaro wa Hitorigurashi (Kotaro Lives Alone), was broadcast in 2021 but I like this current 2022 anime more.

Korean Dramas 2022

2 new Korean dramas started streaming on Netflix. I hope they are both good up to the last episode

Twenty Five Twenty One

Saturday and Sunday

from AsianWiki

Twenty-Five, Twenty-One tells the love story between Na Hee-Do (Kim Tae-Ri) and Baek Yi-Jin (Nam Joo-Hyuk). Na Hee-Do is a member of her high school fencing team. Due to the South Korean financial crisis, the high school fencing team gets disbanded. Getting through all the difficulties, she becomes a member of the sabre fencing national team.

The South Korean financial crisis also causes Baek Yi-Jin’s father's business to go bankrupt. This leads to a life change for Baek Yi-Jin, from living the life of a wealthy person to a poor person. While studying, he works part-time jobs like delivering newspapers. Later, he becomes a sports reporter for a broadcasting network.

31 year old Kim Tae-ri, second from the left on first photo, plays an 18 year old High School student 

Forecasting Love And Weather

Saturday and Sunday

from AsianWiki

A story depicting love and work lives of employees at the Korea Meteorological Administration. Jin Ha-Kyung and Lee Shi-Woo are two people employed there.

It is becoming a trend in Korean dramas always pairing older actresses with younger actors. I'm not liking it but I am a KDrama addict and also I love the lead cast of both dramas. 

Twenty Five Twenty One female lead, Kim Tae-ri is 31 years old playing an 18 year old High School student set in 1998. She looks young and is believable as a teenager, IMHO. Nam Joo-hyuk is almost 27 and playing a 22 year old college student so the age gap is more acceptable. Forecasting Love and Weather female lead, Park Min-young is 35 and the male lead, Song Kang is almost 27, 8 years younger. I liked the first episode of both dramas. I'll ignore the age difference. 

Through My Window

tags: dramedy, Netflix streaming, Spanish, teen romance

⭐⭐

from IMDB

Raquel's longtime crush on her next-door neighbor turns into something more when he starts developing feelings for her, despite his family's objections.

When I was young, I watched a lot of High School rom-com movies, Molly Ringwald's Sixteen Candles is my all-time favorite. Pretty In Pink is okay too. This movie from Spain based on a Wattpad book has teenage romance and it reminds me a lot of Pretty In Pink. The similarities: the main female character Raquel has a single parent, a mother. Raquel has a male best friend, Yoshi, who is just like Duckie, always declaring his love for her and that they will eventually marry. But just like Andie, Raquel thinks she is in love with the neighbor, Ares. I was waiting for Yoshi to declare "His name is Ares? That is not a name! That's a major appliance! Or something similar. Ares is a wuss just like Blane although in this movie there is no Steff and his rich friends. The people who do not approve of Raquel are Ares's father and older brother. Rich snobby family, ordinary girl. Cliché much? Ah, and there's the prom too where she went alone. 

The script and acting are lame, IMHO. Too contrived and the boy Ares suddenly has a family sob story that makes him even more pathetic. The only difference from Pretty In Pink is there is a lot of teen sex in this movie plus some nudity.

Not recommended.

The Silent Sea

The Silent Sea 

Korean drama, mystery, sci-fi series 

Complete 8 Episodes, Netflix streaming 

With Bae Doona, Gong Yoo, Lee Joon 

December 24, 2021

⭐⭐⭐⭐

The series is brilliant tackling the subject of killing hundreds to save millions. The story borrows from a few sci-fi novels and movies specially Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go. Is it ethical to create clones for experiment that kills them in order to save humanity? The illegality of owning pets is borrowed from Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?. The dialog-heavy style which many viewers find boring is similar to Danny Boyle's movie Sunshine and the Russian movie Solaris. IMHO, the story is complete and doesn't need a second season. You draw your own conclusion based on what happened.

Spoilers

The Great British Baking Show

The 9th season of Great British Baking Show's first episode started streaming today with new bakers. Something to look forward to on Fridays. The show opened with the judges and hosts wearing tacky Billy Ray Cyrus mullet wigs and singing their baking version of Achy Breaky Heart. Prue is even wearing moustache and cowboy hat. So. Much. Cheese. I like it.

You can have your fun

Make brownies by the ton

You can fill your donuts up with jam

You can ice your bun

And then when you are done

You can load your quiche with cheese and ham

You can do a choux

And then whip up a roux

Then produce a few nice cookies you can chew

You can sit and watch the muffins rise

You can make a cream puff and some pies

But don't bake my tart

My flaky pastry tart

I just don't think you understand

You'll over bake my tart

And that will break my heart

And then you'll never shake my hand...

My favorite baketestants so far are the funny Lizzie and the pretty Crystelle. I don't care if they are not the best bakers in the first episode. Lizzie and Crystelle have bright sunny personality and I hope they don't get eliminated quickly. Not only do Lizzie and Noel have matching pink smiley clothing, they have matching sense of humor and are very entertaining together.

Noel and Lizzie wearing matching clothes with pink smiley design

Jaguar

Jaguar

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

6 episodes

tags: 1960s, action, Nazi survivors, Netflix streaming, revenge, Spanish series, thriller

From IMDB

In the 1960s, Spain became a home to hundreds of survivors of the Mauthausen camp. Isabel, a young Spanish woman, is one of them. She is looking for Skorzeny, Europe's most dangerous man, but she is not alone.

Jaguar is a highly entertaining and binge worthy 6 episodes European Spanish thriller series set in the 1960s about a group of Nazi survivors trying to capture, shame, and punish Nazis sneaking into Spain and other European cities. The lead female actress Blanca Suarez as the title character Jaguar is enough reason for me to watch when the series started streaming yesterday. I first saw Blanca when she was just 18 years old together with Ana de Armas who was 19 in the 2007 Spanish melodrama El Internado. 

Highly recommended. Watch in European Spanish with English subtitles.

He's All That

tags: Netflix streaming, teen romance

91 minutes

⭐⭐⭐⭐

He's All That is a teen romantic comedy movie which is a gender-swapped remake of the 1999 movie She's All That. Rachael Leigh Cook who starred in the original movie plays the mother of the main character, Padgett Sawyer, a high schooler.

Padgett earns lots of money with her status as a popular social media influencer. She is able to save money for college and helps her mom with household expenses. She gets humiliated on live video finding her boyfriend with another girl, losing many followers and beauty product endorsement earnings. She vows to get her influencer status back mainly for her college funds and makes a bet with her friends that she will makeover an unsuspecting boy in school because she is the so-called queen of makeovers. The 3 girls choose a loner boy who doesn't follow the trend in school. He has only 2 friends, his younger sister and a girl who is of Indian descent. The boy, Cameron, is not ugly, he is just not stylish and is a magnet to taunting by schoolmates because he doesn't socialize with them. Cameron is an amateur photographer who never shows his photos to anyone, works as a stable hand in the morning before going to school. He loves Kurosawa films which is a huge plus in my book.  

I was not interested to see it at first but then I read the nasty comments about the main actress's lack of acting chops and experience because in real life she got famous for being a social media darling. These people, I find, are just jealous. IMHO the movie is better, yes, better than the original. The script as expected is clichéd but acting is good. I liked it.

Don't listen to the negative comments and watch this updated remake with the same theme as Pygmalion, My Fair Lady, etc.

Squid Game

 

tags: gory, horror, Korean drama, Netflix streaming, violent 

Episode 1 streams on Sept 17, 2021

Similar to horror books and movies Battle Royale, As The Gods Will, The Hunger Games, The Circle, Liar Game, etc, is a new gory drama series from Korea based on a children's game. Can't wait to see it.

Hit & Run

 

tags: espionage, Israel, mystery, Netflix streaming

9 episodes,  40 - 45 minutes

in English and Hebrew

⭐⭐⭐

 from IMDB;

A happily married man's life is turned upside down when his wife is killed in a mysterious hit and run accident in Tel Aviv. Grief-stricken and confused, he searches for his wife's killers, who have fled to the U.S. With the help of an ex-lover, he uncovers disturbing truths about his beloved wife and the secrets she kept from him.

So many dead people in this Israeli and American produced mystery espionage series. I liked it enough to rate it 3 stars but it has serious flaws. The script is implausible and acting is stiff as if the actors are reading. The mystery is engrossing though and the reason for the 3 stars.

I'm hoping Season 2 is better written and comes soon because the cliff hanger is sooo frustrating. I wanna know what happened to Ella!

Blood Red Sky

 

tags: German movie, horror, Netflix streaming, thriller, vampires

⭐⭐⭐⭐

from Netflix

When a group of terrorists hijacks an overnight transatlantic flight, a mysterious ill woman must unleash a monstrous secret to protect her young son

I watched without any idea what the movie is about. But the #1 rating on Netflix got me curious. Foreign language movies hardly get the number one position for several days on Netflix and now I understand why. It is bloody entertaining and I liked it. The story of airplane hijackers mixed with vampires is very creative IMHO. The hijackers are shown to be more horrific and inhumane than the vampire who for many years has maintained part of her humanity because she has a son to take care of. What comes next after the announcement of hijacking is naturally predictable - vampires on a plane. 

It is a tad long at 2 hours and the boy who was getting on my nerves became even more annoying on the last third, never listening to his mother, but it is part of the story which made sense at the end. Acting is okay and the movie won't win any awards but surprisingly gratifying. 

Recommended for horror fans. German and English languages.

  

Kingdom: Ashin Of The North

tags: fantasy, Kingdom series side story, Korean, Netflix streaming, revenge, sageuk, zombies

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

from AsianWiki

Kingdom: Ashin of the North reveals the origin of the resurrection plant and the mystery behind Ashin’s identity.

South Korea has perfected the zombie genre starting with Train To Busan and the Netflix series Kingdom, seasons 1 and 2, a zombie sageuk (historical drama). Kingdom: Ashin Of The North released today is a side story revealing the origin of the plant and the zombies.

The resurrection plant that brings dead people back to life is used by Ashin, who appeared at the end of season 2, to avenge the death of her family and her tribe. Ashin is played by My Sassy Girl herself Jun Ji-Hyun (Gianna Jun). Best revenge and zombie mash-up movie and that zombie tiger is awesome. I hope there is a season 3 with Ashin and the crown prince.

Recommended for Korean drama and zombie fans.

Major Grom: Plague Doctor

tags: action, Netflix streaming, revenge, Russian movie, super hero

⭐⭐⭐⭐

from Netflix

When a masked vigilante’s killing spree throws a city into chaos, a renegade detective and his rookie partner are the only ones who can stop it.

The movie is an adaptation of a Russian comic book super hero. It is loaded with clichés and borrows from other comic book super heroes like Batman. I liked it regardless of its length. Cinematography is very good. Most important no "woke" Hollywood nonsense. Just good vs evil action movie. I hope there will be a sequel.

Note: The title at first confused me and I thought Major Grom is the Plague Doctor. Major Grom is a cop and the Plague Doctor is Major Grom's brilliant but insane vengeful foe.

Highly recommended.

Silver Skates

tags: fairy tale, Netflix streaming, romance, Russian

⭐⭐⭐⭐

from Netflix

On the frozen rivers and canals of St. Petersburg, a petty thief on skates warms the heart of an aristocrat's daughter as forces try to keep them apart.

The description from Netflix is a bit lacking and inaccurate. This Russian movie is a fairy tale with a twist - it is a rich girl, poor boy romance instead of the usual beautiful princess rescued by a handsome prince. Matvey, the poor boy, works delivering pastry using his antique pair of skates but gets fired through no fault of his. His father is a lamplighter who is sick with consumption.

The setting is at the turn of the 19th century and the frozen St. Petersburg is transformed into a pretty Winter Wonderland where people go to walk about and shop. A group of pickpockets skates around and deftly dispossesses the unsuspecting people of their treasures including pocket watches and billfolds. The leader, who reminds me of The Artful Dodger, drops a watch while being pursued by a gendarme. . Matvey tries to return it to him not knowing he stole it. He gets recruited to the group to earn money for his father's hospital treatment. 

He meets the aristocrat's daughter, Alice, on a dare from his new friends. They meet again at St. Petersburg while he was busy "working". Alice befriends him for her own reasons. As the story progresses, one needs to suspend disbelief but it is a fairy tale after all. Besides, I'm sure you'll love the superb cinematography and lush costumes, and the scenes of the skating thieves are beautiful to watch. 

Language is mostly in Russian, some English, and French. Russian and French dialog have English subtitles, English has none. There are subtitles in CC English.

 

Katla

Katla streaming on Netflix

8 episodes, 40 - 50 minutes

In Icelandic with English subtitles 

tags: drama, fantasy, Iceland, mystery, science fiction, supernatural

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

from Netflix

A year after Katla's eruption, the shattered survivors are still grappling with the aftermath. Suddenly, an ash-caked woman appears on the glacier.

The drama mystery series from Iceland, although not a crime mystery, reminds me of the Welsh crime drama series Hinterland and the Russian movie How I Ended This Summer for its beautiful but bleak scenery. The mystery of the naked woman covered in ashes emerging on the glacier is captivating right from episode 1. More ash-caked people emerge. Fascinating watch.

Highly recommended.

On Episode 5, the little boy who died 3 years earlier appears as one of the ash-caked creatures but his father knows he is not his real son. The mother runs away with him and on the road realizes he is not who he is so she abandons him in the middle of the road. On Episode 6, he is shown looking at a downed small airplane. With his outfit -blue coat over light colored sweater and pajama pants, and his boots - he looks like the Little Prince. Then he starts talking to the dying sheep. Definitely an allusion to The Little Prince novel and maybe a clue as to his origin. 

Spoilers