Forgot to blog, I mean.
I always knew I wouldn’t on Friday, because that was CIX
day, and even with an early finish I still didn’t get home until around
midnight and was too tired. But all that being outside and walking and stuff really
took it out of me, so yesterday was pretty much a nothing day, and I totally
forgot about writing a post.
Instead, I slept a lot, then recuperated by watching a couple
of episodes of Brain Works, which is getting more entertaining by
the week. Then I began a new sageuk drama, that I had been meaning to watch
for a while and hadn’t yet got around to, Under the Queen’s Umbrella.
I’ll be honest, I really have to be in the mood for Korean
period drama, as they all seem to be so serious and so full of intrigue and
backstabbing that I get stressed out watching it. However, UTQU has had many amazing
reviews and has been on so many best-of-year or underrated drama lists. Also, it’s
described as a comedy, so I thought it might be up my street (completely
forgetting that my idea of comedy doesn’t seem to match anyone else’s) – the plot
apparently revolves around a loud, rude Joseon Queen getting her unruly sons under control.
I watched the first three episodes and I honestly can’t
decide whether to keep going. It definitely isn’t a comedy (I almost cried a
couple of times, thanks to a transgender storyline), and is extremely heavy on
the intrigue. The whole thing just feels relentless, with nothing so far to
lighten the atmosphere or give a feeling of hope. It’s just one crisis after
another, but without giving any time to get to know the main characters
properly, so it’s hard to empathise with them past knowing they’re being
unfairly treated. It doesn’t help that one of my favourite members of SF9
– Chani – is playing a total arsehole prince, so you can’t even
think of him as cute because he’s not. He’s a complete cock.
In some ways the series reminds me of another period piece
from 2020 called Mr Queen, which everyone also said was hilarious
and topped all the lists for the year. In that, a modern day male chef somehow
finds himself transported back in time and into the body of a Joseon Queen (of course),
where s/he proceeds to act like a modern man rather than a Queen (with ensuing
hilarity . . . NOT). While I found the story initially quite engaging,
especially as the Queen rarely talked, instead you heard the man’s internal dialogue which was quite entertaining, eventually, as these things always do, the plot
turned to romance. With the man beginning to fall in love with the King, it was
time for the producers to veer sharply away from any chance of it being seen as
pro-gay, so the inner voice disappeared to be replaced by the female Queen, now
acting more like her old self, while the 2 factions battled around
her. Overall, I found the series disappointing, and far too long – and no, it
wasn’t particularly funny either.
Interestingly, by comparison, today I finished another period drama (yes, I know I said I don’t like them much, but. . .) called The Forbidden Marriage. While watching it I realised that this series has had every bit as much intrigue and death as UTQU but it is also amusing, clever, and took the time to build a relationship with the characters that makes you care about what’s happening to them. Even though it was clear almost from the beginning where the story was heading, it was still enjoyable watching them get there. This is what I feel is lacking from the new series, and is stopping me from committing to watching it.
It probably doesn’t help that I can’t settle and decide what I want to watch – I started on the latest episode of Unchained Love earlier, but ended up turning it off, as that’s still not holding my attention either.
While I’m talking about viewings, I want to mention a rather
strange little horror film I watched the other evening. It’s Japanese and from last
year and is called Kisaragi Station (after the Japanese urban legend of
the same name). I know Japanese media tends to be a bit strange (for me,
anyway) but this was even weirder than usual. Unfortunately, the film hadn’t
been subbed properly – it looked like someone had used auto-translate, so it
didn’t make any sense whatsoever, but as the film was so strange anyway, I’m
not sure it mattered much. It’s definitely a film I would rewatch if I could
find a copy with proper subtitles because I really want to know what it’s
about. It’s not a particularly scary film, although there are a few jump scares
and some unsettling CGI effects, but it was interesting, albeit possibly a
little depressing.
Anyway, before I head off to find something else to watch, I
just want to say that the CIX concert was excellent. They put on a cracking show,
were extremely lovely, and I look forward to seeing them again, with hopefully
not too long a wait.
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| CIX in action |
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| All of us (we were in the middle of the balcony) |
Finally, as today is the lunar new year I just want to share this with everyone.
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