[K-Movie Night] A 12 months-Finish Medley » Dramabeans

[K-Movie Night] A 12 months-Finish Medley

by Dramaddictally

Welcome to Ok-Film Evening — a once-a-month characteristic the place we microwave some popcorn, placed on a face masks, and get cozy with a Korean film from yesteryear. With so many movies lastly streaming (with subs!), now’s the time to get caught up on all these films we missed that includes our favourite drama actors.

Every month, we’ll decide a flick, write a evaluation, and meet you again right here to debate whether or not or not it’s price a watch. Tremendous easy. All it’s a must to do is kick up your ft and be a part of us within the feedback!

 
MOVIE REVIEW

Wow, 2024 handed by quick. I can’t imagine we’re right here with our vacation Ok-Film Evening once more, able to ring within the new 12 months. (And if you happen to missed final 12 months’s vacation decide, return and take a look at New 12 months Blues. I believe anybody watching When the Telephone Rings proper now can be comfortable to devour extra of Yoo Yeon-seok’s romantic charms.)

And like final 12 months’s film, A 12 months-Finish Medley boasts an ensemble solid, a feel-good spirit, and vacation cheer — together with the shining faces of Kim Younger-kwang, Web optimization Kang-joon, Han Ji-min, and Received Jin-ah, amongst others. Don’t ask me how they match all that fairly into one vacation package deal, however some genius minds made it occur. And so, with out additional ado, let’s give our brains a break — to wind down our stress and our 12 months — and see what this easy-breezy movie has to supply.

We begin on an upbeat be aware, with Web optimization Kang-joon as a radio present host and extremely sought-after singer, who’s belting out the vacation hits for his viewers. And with this rendition of Jingle Bells, I believe it’s secure to say we’re in for a warmhearted collection of tales that gained’t stray removed from the tropes or the comfortable endings.

Within the opening moments, we’re launched to all our gamers, who will go on to have separate however loosely linked encounters. The setting is a high-end lodge, the place we’ve got a housekeeper (Received Jin-ah) crossing paths with the CEO (Lee Dong-wook); the lodge supervisor (Han Ji-min) looking out for a psychically divined romantic proposal; and a depressed visitor (Kang Haneul), prepared to finish the 12 months by ending his life.

That final one may sound like a downer, however really it’s the funniest and most properly executed of all of the strings of tales. Our depressed visitor resides in a semi-basement residence (assume Parasite), working in a warehouse the place he stacks (or by chance knocks over) bins, and may’t even discover the suitable means to off himself, since medicines and pesticides have gotten so darn good at not being lethal as of late.

If this was anybody however Kang Haneul this won’t work, however his over-the-top appearing and satirical cynicism gel collectively for laugh-out-loud moments. When he takes out his housing deposit to pay for a luxurious suite with plans of leaping to his doom, he finds the mattress so comfy that he dozes off and begins to rethink his plans. Hmm, possibly life isn’t so unhealthy if you happen to really get an opportunity to dwell it.

However his luck adjustments completely when he begins a day by day chat with the girl who makes the wake-up calls (Yoon-ah) and finds a kindred spirit. In probably the most unconventional rescue scene I’ve ever witnessed, she finally ends up being the one to speak him off the ledge — by deciding to hitch him on the market! Whereas Yoon-ah solely has a short look, she efficiently exhibits off her comedic chops, paying homage to her King the Land efficiency.

And that storyline isn’t the one one giving off King the Land vibes. Our housekeeper-meets-CEO is straight out of the identical playbook, however sadly it’s sped as much as the purpose that it lacks any emotional punch. With so many parallel paths to pursue, the film can’t take its time with any of them, leaving those with probably the most sentimentality to be the least affecting.

Right here, Received Jin-ah’s lodge housekeeper has goals of being a dancer, and an unintended encounter together with her traumatized boss provides her an opportunity for a giant audition. It additionally units her as much as be bullied at work for having the gall to go after a man approach “out of her league.” There’s an anticipated monologue about social class and their incompatibility, which leads nowhere after they resolve that love can save the day.

The issue isn’t that this can be a story we’ve seen earlier than. It’s that the film depends on the truth that we’ve seen it 1,000,000 occasions — wanting us to fill within the emotional gaps — somewhat than doing the work of improvement.

And whereas I gained’t go over each relationship on the checklist, the final one which holds a central place is between Han Ji-min’s lodge supervisor and her former bandmate and bestie, performed by Kim Younger-kwang. He’s set to marry another person quickly and his finest good friend for fifteen years has been harboring a crush that she will be able to’t convey herself to disclose. It’s scary since anybody with eyes needs him, so she’s waited round to see if he would confess to her first.

Now that he’s getting hitched, she realizes it’s too late and pulls a couple of lowkey pranks to attempt to separate the comfortable couple. I’m not telling how this one ends, however I’ll say I used to be disillusioned. It has all the things in place to be probably the most transferring of all of the vignettes, with a wonderful elevator scene close to the top that captures the fantastic thing about their relationship — solely to be undermined a couple of seconds later with a flashback that adjustments the which means of their dialog. The decision doesn’t fall right into a trope, nevertheless it did bitter the tone for me.

All in all, that is one to look at for the visuals with cameos galore (hello, fifteen seconds of Jung Yoo-jin!). However even the attractive solid couldn’t save this film for me. It begins out heat and entertaining and I had plenty of hope of being swept away within the feels, however the concentrate on capturing a variety of romances made for shallow characters who’re laborious to latch onto. That’s powerful while you wish to hit the viewers within the coronary heart.

As a substitute, the very best of this roundup is the one which aimed to be overtly humorous. We don’t want a lot backstory right here to make this work — it simply must make us snort. At that it succeeds, and I want extra of the threads had taken an analogous humorous strategy. Should you simply wish to watch folks falling in love at Christmas time, this one’s for you. Should you’re on the lookout for somewhat extra meat in your film meals, this medley of entrees won’t be probably the most satisfying.

Be part of us in January for the following Ok-Film Evening and let’s make a celebration of it! We’ll be watching Love Fiction (2012) and posting the evaluation over the past week of the month.

Wish to take part within the feedback when it posts? You’ve bought 3 weeks to look at! Relatively look forward to the evaluation earlier than you resolve to stream it? We’ve bought you coated.

 
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