One of the interesting things to come out of the Korean reality TV show 'Physical:100' was that one of the contestants was a break dancer that made his career choreographing the zombies for 'Train to Busan' and 'Kingdom,' to name a few. They had a mini-bio about him in the show, but this interview should suffice. Spoiler: he doesn't make it very far in the reality series.
'Revenant' (Disney+/Hulu) was a decently plotted exorcism / folk horror thriller, but had a lot of wasted potential in its scares. It flirted with Asian horror (fans of early aughts Japanese horror like Ringu, Ju-on, or Kairo would know), but didn't fully commit. It also starred two acting heavy hitters: Kim Tae Ri, who was great at playing our possessed protagonist and Oh Jung Se, who was just underutilized as the straight man detective.
She also did a show called 'Jirisan,' (the first original for Chinese streamer iQiYi) about a team of park rangers investigating a series of murders on Mount Jirisan. There were A LOT of disparate strands that didn't seem to gel, so I dropped the show before anything was remotely tied up.
It's rumored that she's writing a follow-up to 2016's 'Signal,' a crime procedural show that was inspired by the 2000 film 'Frequency.' It's about a detective that picks up a mysterious walkie-talkie that connects him to another (now deceased) detective from 30 years ago, and together, they put the pieces together on a number of cold cases that take from South Korea's own headlines.
I did finish 'Light Shop,' (Hulu/Disney+) the new Kang Full show and it's great. The first three episodes are a nonsensical patchwork of Asian ghost stories (taking lots of inspiration from 'Ju-on' and 'Pulse'), but it beautifully comes together and charges on as this emotionally rich family drama. And when the show ends, make sure to watch the hidden scene during the credits.
I think it’s easy to watch a bunch of shows and never finish anything. But over time, I just don’t find that a fulfilling activity. I am outing myself as a major PBS Masterpiece fan, but I finally finished Poldark this week. I got behind for various reasons and then I started trying to catch up with fits and starts. My final push to finish it was for Aidan Turner Renaissance reasons. First I resubscribed to BritBox to finish Season 3 of Being Human. That was Aidan Turner’s last season on the show. Then I turned to Poldark Season 5. All of this is because I heard there’s a good show on Hulu called “Rivals” which stars David Tennant and … Aidan Turner! Trailer: https://youtu.be/iSQhpZX6PBk?si=gqWKBS9LUcH2jcqn
Sometimes one’s desire to finally finish some series is because you enjoy staring at an actor and realize he’s in a new series, so I need to finally finish everything else he’s been in. I can’t be the only one who makes these connections and just ploughs through a bunch of TV to complete the circle. Right? Right????
And I will add that in music, bleakness is DEFINITELY my escapism from real world bleakness. Makes no sense but it's just the music I love the most. When we did a live podcast of TV Talk Machine in Albany once, I had my introduction music be Mark Eitzel's "Mission Rock Resort," which is one of the darkest most depressing songs I know...
I've been around for a while, but not lately, mainly because -- as with "Silo" -- I just couldn't get into "Severance," and had to bail after the first few episodes. Hey, more power to all of you who love it -- the more shows we love, the better -- but those two just aren't for me. Ditto "Mulholland Drive," which I watched all the way through to the bitter end during it's initial theatrical release without a clue what was going on -- so then I rented "Blue Velvet" to see what all the fuss was about ... and wow: definitely not for me.
So you might think that I just can't handle "the wierd," but I had no problem with "Fallout," mainly, I think, because it had a sense of humor that was lacking in all of the above. Maybe it's a reflection of these bordering-on-catastrophic times in which we now live, but I seem to be looking for more reasons to laugh through the darkness, and the grim tone of "Silo" and "Severance" don't fill that hole for me -- they only dug it deeper. Life seemed a lot more cheerful back when I saw "Mulholland Drive," but although I love David Lynch's acting in his rare on-screen appearances, I have no clue what was really going on inside that man's head or in most of what he put on screen.
Color me shocked then, when one of my Hollywood peeps point out that Lynch directed "The Straight Story" for Disney back in 1999 ... I'd have lost a lot of money betting against that. So, go figure.
Speaking of finishing series, I finally plowed through "Bad Monkey," which was fun if entirely silly. The show's tone is more like a live-action cartoon than anything else, with Vince Vaughn's relentless wise-cracking wearing rather thin ... but the other characters were entertaining enough to keep me watching.
Haven't seen the Korean shows you mention, but if you want lots of running in your dramas, fire up the Transfer Portal of the WayBack Machine and check out "Southland" -- a cop show I watched after swearing on a stack of bibles that I'd never watch another. It was that good, even after NBC dumped it off on a cable network which continued the show with a much leaner budget that cost a few characters ... still, it was -- and is -- a great show, with LOTS of cops and bad guys running. One of the seasons -- Season 2, I believe -- ends with a foot chase that culminates in a stunt that shocked me like a sucker-punch to the solar plexus: a high fall that looked absolutely real. I learned the hard way what a high fall gone wrong looks and sounds like early in my in Hollywood years ... and that's something you don't forget. Anyway, "Southland" is a terrific show well worth checking out. Sadly, it seems viewers will have to pay Amazon or Apple two bucks an episode to watch, which is a shame. Such is life these days.
Yeah, both Silo and Severance are pretty bleak and in these times it's not for everyone. I LOVED Fallout. Just burned all the way through it when it came out.
All of your Lynch stuff just made me laugh. It can get to be so weird it's impenetrable. But I'd rather watch any Lynch film than "Tree Of Life" from Malick.
And I LOVED "Southland." I was a huge supporter of that series and thought it was really great. Can't remember the high fall, but your description of seeing one go wrong really hit home. There was a medium high fall in "Mr Inbetween" S1 that looks so seamless and real that it's visceral.
We’re about to finish S1 of Kingdom. I want one of those hats with the beads and feathers. I also laugh quite a bit at a couple of characters. The running is ridiculous, love it.
Watched episode 1 of both Kingdom and Sherwood season 2 and stopped for various reasons (loved s1 of Sherwood and who doesn’t like the idea of period zombies!) but this post has made me want to get back to them. As for Mulholland Drive - just one word ‘Llorando’
So about those running zombies...
One of the interesting things to come out of the Korean reality TV show 'Physical:100' was that one of the contestants was a break dancer that made his career choreographing the zombies for 'Train to Busan' and 'Kingdom,' to name a few. They had a mini-bio about him in the show, but this interview should suffice. Spoiler: he doesn't make it very far in the reality series.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjzRxLorUwU
So about Kim Eun Hee...
'Revenant' (Disney+/Hulu) was a decently plotted exorcism / folk horror thriller, but had a lot of wasted potential in its scares. It flirted with Asian horror (fans of early aughts Japanese horror like Ringu, Ju-on, or Kairo would know), but didn't fully commit. It also starred two acting heavy hitters: Kim Tae Ri, who was great at playing our possessed protagonist and Oh Jung Se, who was just underutilized as the straight man detective.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuEiPKmv6qs
She also did a show called 'Jirisan,' (the first original for Chinese streamer iQiYi) about a team of park rangers investigating a series of murders on Mount Jirisan. There were A LOT of disparate strands that didn't seem to gel, so I dropped the show before anything was remotely tied up.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7Hdb7PVXYo
It's rumored that she's writing a follow-up to 2016's 'Signal,' a crime procedural show that was inspired by the 2000 film 'Frequency.' It's about a detective that picks up a mysterious walkie-talkie that connects him to another (now deceased) detective from 30 years ago, and together, they put the pieces together on a number of cold cases that take from South Korea's own headlines.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsdJLm7Swkw
So back to early aughts Asian horror...
I did finish 'Light Shop,' (Hulu/Disney+) the new Kang Full show and it's great. The first three episodes are a nonsensical patchwork of Asian ghost stories (taking lots of inspiration from 'Ju-on' and 'Pulse'), but it beautifully comes together and charges on as this emotionally rich family drama. And when the show ends, make sure to watch the hidden scene during the credits.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUTranui_uY
Oh, and here's that List I promised you:
https://open.substack.com/pub/whereswallace/p/observing-the-peninsula?r=zor05&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
I think it’s easy to watch a bunch of shows and never finish anything. But over time, I just don’t find that a fulfilling activity. I am outing myself as a major PBS Masterpiece fan, but I finally finished Poldark this week. I got behind for various reasons and then I started trying to catch up with fits and starts. My final push to finish it was for Aidan Turner Renaissance reasons. First I resubscribed to BritBox to finish Season 3 of Being Human. That was Aidan Turner’s last season on the show. Then I turned to Poldark Season 5. All of this is because I heard there’s a good show on Hulu called “Rivals” which stars David Tennant and … Aidan Turner! Trailer: https://youtu.be/iSQhpZX6PBk?si=gqWKBS9LUcH2jcqn
Sometimes one’s desire to finally finish some series is because you enjoy staring at an actor and realize he’s in a new series, so I need to finally finish everything else he’s been in. I can’t be the only one who makes these connections and just ploughs through a bunch of TV to complete the circle. Right? Right????
I had flat out forgotten "Rivals" after seeing the trailer ages ago. I could use a tonal shake up so I'll put the on the list.
Oh, and "Being Human" -- another series I didn't finish! They keep popping up.
And yes I totally get wanting to follow a good actor through something or a director in film, etc. So...Right!
Tim: “There’s some real bleakness in both series, so if you’re looking for escapist fare this isn’t it.”
Me: *trying to figure out what it means that bleak is my escapism*
And I will add that in music, bleakness is DEFINITELY my escapism from real world bleakness. Makes no sense but it's just the music I love the most. When we did a live podcast of TV Talk Machine in Albany once, I had my introduction music be Mark Eitzel's "Mission Rock Resort," which is one of the darkest most depressing songs I know...
Bleak is often my escapism, so I feel you
I've been around for a while, but not lately, mainly because -- as with "Silo" -- I just couldn't get into "Severance," and had to bail after the first few episodes. Hey, more power to all of you who love it -- the more shows we love, the better -- but those two just aren't for me. Ditto "Mulholland Drive," which I watched all the way through to the bitter end during it's initial theatrical release without a clue what was going on -- so then I rented "Blue Velvet" to see what all the fuss was about ... and wow: definitely not for me.
So you might think that I just can't handle "the wierd," but I had no problem with "Fallout," mainly, I think, because it had a sense of humor that was lacking in all of the above. Maybe it's a reflection of these bordering-on-catastrophic times in which we now live, but I seem to be looking for more reasons to laugh through the darkness, and the grim tone of "Silo" and "Severance" don't fill that hole for me -- they only dug it deeper. Life seemed a lot more cheerful back when I saw "Mulholland Drive," but although I love David Lynch's acting in his rare on-screen appearances, I have no clue what was really going on inside that man's head or in most of what he put on screen.
Color me shocked then, when one of my Hollywood peeps point out that Lynch directed "The Straight Story" for Disney back in 1999 ... I'd have lost a lot of money betting against that. So, go figure.
Speaking of finishing series, I finally plowed through "Bad Monkey," which was fun if entirely silly. The show's tone is more like a live-action cartoon than anything else, with Vince Vaughn's relentless wise-cracking wearing rather thin ... but the other characters were entertaining enough to keep me watching.
Haven't seen the Korean shows you mention, but if you want lots of running in your dramas, fire up the Transfer Portal of the WayBack Machine and check out "Southland" -- a cop show I watched after swearing on a stack of bibles that I'd never watch another. It was that good, even after NBC dumped it off on a cable network which continued the show with a much leaner budget that cost a few characters ... still, it was -- and is -- a great show, with LOTS of cops and bad guys running. One of the seasons -- Season 2, I believe -- ends with a foot chase that culminates in a stunt that shocked me like a sucker-punch to the solar plexus: a high fall that looked absolutely real. I learned the hard way what a high fall gone wrong looks and sounds like early in my in Hollywood years ... and that's something you don't forget. Anyway, "Southland" is a terrific show well worth checking out. Sadly, it seems viewers will have to pay Amazon or Apple two bucks an episode to watch, which is a shame. Such is life these days.
And so, onward into the mist!
Yeah, both Silo and Severance are pretty bleak and in these times it's not for everyone. I LOVED Fallout. Just burned all the way through it when it came out.
All of your Lynch stuff just made me laugh. It can get to be so weird it's impenetrable. But I'd rather watch any Lynch film than "Tree Of Life" from Malick.
And I LOVED "Southland." I was a huge supporter of that series and thought it was really great. Can't remember the high fall, but your description of seeing one go wrong really hit home. There was a medium high fall in "Mr Inbetween" S1 that looks so seamless and real that it's visceral.
If you're interested, here's the story:
http://hollywoodjuicer.blogspot.com/2007/10/stunts.html
If not, no worries. It'll be in the book. Almost done with the 4th draft now ...
Jesus. That’s an awful story, wonderfully told. Hollywood is crazy and always has been.
True, that.
You had me at "running"!
There was a lot of running in the "Severance" opener as well!
We’re about to finish S1 of Kingdom. I want one of those hats with the beads and feathers. I also laugh quite a bit at a couple of characters. The running is ridiculous, love it.
I WANT THE 3D LOOKING HAT FOR SCHOLARS.
All the hats are great though. And then their winter head gear game is also strong. But the hats.. Like, insane.
I think it's S2, but there's a scene with running that I just played over and over. Like full sprints and I kept wondering how many takes it took.
Also, you'll know it when you see it. You won't even think, "Is this the one?" You'll know.
Watched episode 1 of both Kingdom and Sherwood season 2 and stopped for various reasons (loved s1 of Sherwood and who doesn’t like the idea of period zombies!) but this post has made me want to get back to them. As for Mulholland Drive - just one word ‘Llorando’
So much Llorando!
I'm glad you are going back to both. Would love to hear your take of Sherwood S2 and I just think you're gonna love Kingdom.