Journalist, Author & Syndicated Columnist
“Five Fingers” is what I categorize as a “Melrose Place” series, where an evil character treats people like garbage, but viewers are expected to root for them, because they occasionally show signs of humanity. No. Just no!
Let’s cut to the chase: the plot revolves around a high school student and a doctor who switch bodies after an accident. Yoon-Jae, the 30something doctor is in a vegetative state in the body of 17-year-old Kyung-Joon. Meanwhile, the teenager is alive and well, but he is trapped in the buff body belonging to Gong Yoo, er, I mean Yoon-Jae. Caught between these two is Gil Da-Ran, a wet dishrag of a woman, who (despite her beauty) has absolutely no confidence in herself. When she realizes that Yoon-Jae really isn’t Yoon-Jae and that it may take a while for the two to switch bodies again, she plays along with the charade.
A sweeping dramatic series set in Korea’s Joseon era, the “Moon That Embraces the Sun” is a love story that at times is painfully heartbreaking. But, it’s also filled with hope and humor. That combination makes for an addictive series that will leave viewers hungering for more.
A blockbuster hit in Korea, “Thieves” features an all-star cast that includes Jun Ji-Hyun and Lee Jung-Jae. (The duo shared the big screen in the 2000 film “Il Mare” — the film that was later remade as “The Lake House” with Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock.)
Everything that “How I Met Your Mother” did wrong (including its series finale), “Answer Me 1997” does right. Funny and poignant with superb acting by the entire cast, the series tells the story of 6 childhood friends whose lives are intertwined through adulthood. Kudos to K-pop Hoya (of the group Infinite) for his thoughtful (and unstereotypical) portrayal of a gay teenager who is in love with his best friend; and to the writers for not portraying it as “weird.”
“My motto is, ‘Don’t believe anything with a mouth.'” That’s sound advice, coming from Kwon Hyuk Joo (aka Crazy Cow), the head of the cyber unit. And that’s also good advice when trying to figure out who’s telling the truth in this 2012 police procedural.