Journalist, Author & Syndicated Columnist
There are parts of “Doctor Lawyer” that are well done. The plot is intriguing. And this K-drama stars So Ji-sub (one of my faves). So why did I stop watching? The answer is in my quasi review. Let me know if you agree or not!
Park Ji-hoon is almost unrecognizable from his Wanna One days. Leading this cast, which also includes Choi Hyun-wook (Twenty Five Twenty One) and Hong Kyung (D.P.), Park is so intensely good as a bullied boy who uses classical conditioning (Pavlov’s Dog) and Newton’s Laws of Motions to fight back against his tormentors.
Based on the French series “Call My Agent,” this K-drama actually reminds me more of the U.S. show “Entourage,” but from the viewpoint of combative entertainment agents. “Behind Every Star” focuses on a team of elite agents whose clients include top stars who need to have their egos stroked on a regular basis
In the superb “Return to Seoul” – which is Cambodia’s Oscar entry for the Best International Film category – French Cambodian filmmaker Davy Chou (“Golden Slumbers”) takes a look at what it means to be an adoptee who unexpectedly is reunited with her birth parents.
“Under the Queen’s Umbrella” is my top pick of 2022. If you’re looking for a fantastic series to watch, this sageuk/사극 (or historical drama) is difficult to beat. Kim Hye-soo is magnificent as a queen whose sons’ lives (and her own) are in danger if the Crown Prince dies. She is whip smart and almost always one step ahead of her enemies, who want to destroy her family to elevate their own.
The best K-dramas of 2022 were bookended by a pair of brutal teen-centric dramas that premiered at the beginning of the year (“All of Us Are Dead”) and the end (“Weak Hero Class One”). They frame a year of superb Korean dramas, so many that it was difficult to narrow it down to just 11 top picks.
If you could change places with a wealthy acquaintance, with the condition that you have to give your family to do so, would you? That’s the moral question behind “The Golden Spoon,” which stars BtoB’s Yook Sung-jae (“Goblin,” “Mystic Pop-up Bar”).
“The Law Cafe” is a cute K-drama centering on a couple that has always been in love with each other, but doesn’t realize it. Or, rather, is unwilling to acknowledge it. Jeong-ho is a former prosecutor who quit his job after a scandal was covered up. Yu-ri is his fearless childhood friend — also an attorney — whose passion lies in helping powerless people get justice.
“The Dude In Me” is a 2019 Korean fantasy film that centers on a high-ranking gangster and a high school student. When the latter accidentally falls from his school roof, he lands on the mobster. While neither dies, the mishap somehow switches the pair’s bodies and minds. Now, wiseguy Pan-soo is trapped in the body of chubby and bullied teenager Dong-hyun, while Dong-hyun is stuck in Pan-soo’s comatose body.
“When My Love Blooms” started off so strong and promising that I had high hopes for this years. You usually can’t go wrong with Yoo Ji-tae and Lee Bo-young in the lead roles. But while the actors did a great job of embodying their complicated roles, I ended up not appreciating either character very much.