Journalist, Author & Syndicated Columnist
A fast-moving action film, “Yaksha: Ruthless Operations” is a spy thriller full of special ops, backstabbing and political intrigue. Last year, I stopped watching about 20 minutes into the movie, because it didn’t hold my interest. But when I went back to it this year, I found it to be thoroughly entertaining. Is this a prestige film? Absolutely not. But it was a fun ride with a (straight-laced) fish-out-of-water concept.
“XO, Kitty” tackles adoption, diaspora and maintaining Korean ties. But is it any good? Not really.
A psychological thriller that sounded much better than it actually is, “Somebody” revolves a serial killer (Kim Young-kwang) who uses a dating app to find his victims — and the app developer (Kang Hae-lim) who identifies with him, even after finding out his true identity.
In the final moments of the concert, the cameras seem to multiply, his cadence intensifies, the lights flash like paparazzi light bulbs. On the giant screen, surveillance-style footage captures him at a dozen different angles. It’s all fury and flame and breathless swagger; Suga can dance, Agust D prefers to stalk. And the last image we see is Min Yoongi, his retreating back, the house lights already up, a person at the very end of it all.
“Unlocked” came out a few months after the Korean series “Somebody.” Both revolve around cunning, good-looking serial killers who utilize technology to hack their way into their victims’ lives. In this 2022 film, the cell phone is the device of choice.
The concept? A group of telegenic Korean celebrities run a snack bar in Bacalar, Mexico, for one week (haha!). In its own way, it had all the elements of a fun K-drama minus any love triangles. Was there a 2nd male lead? Of course! As well as a 3rd and a 4th and so on. It shifted every few minutes, depending on who’s on screen — Park Seo-joon of “Itaewon Class,” “Parasite” actor Choi Woo-shik, BTS vocalist V, and the dimpled head of Jinny’s Kitchen, Lee Seo-jin (“Behind Every Star”).
“Summer Strike” is one of those series that I started started, was meh about, and then returned to a few months later and found myself binging the rest of the show. The premiere episode was strong, focusing on a young office worker whose good nature is taken advantage of both at work and in her long-term relationship with a man who breaks up with her.
Back in my era, the teachers encouraged immigrants to only speak English at home so that we wouldn’t fall behind. But what they didn’t know at the time — or perhaps they didn’t really care about — was that in the rush to make us understand English, many of us lost our ability to converse in our birth language.
One of the best K-dramas of the year, “Queenmaker” is the latest female-centric series led by women in their 40s (and older) that in nail-bitingly good. A political thriller with twists and turns, two foes unite to take down a corrupt chaebol family that will stop at nothing to protect their financial and familial interests.
This second season of the revenge series “Taxi Driver” is adept at tackling inspired-by-real-life cases, like the Burning Sun scandal, where privileged male clubgoers were given access to drug and assault women.