Movie Reviews: Inside Out and The Avengers: Age of Ultron

For those thinking of going to theaters, I wanted to weigh my thoughts on two recent Disney productions, one of which I really enjoyed and the other which I loathed.

Mask: Episodes 1-8 Review

I hadn't realized Mask came from the same writer as Secret until after I watched all the aired episodes. It makes complete sense, as I can see plenty of similarities in the dark, twisted tone, the intense romance, and the generally assured, suspenseful pacing of the story. Secret remains one of my favorite dramas, as for all its flaws I loved its raw intensity and was blown-away by all of the performances. Mask so far isn't quite to that level, though I find it one of the better and more addicting shows that's aired so far this year.

Angry Mom: Not Impressed as of Episodes 1-4

This drama was long on my list of must-sees, as the premise sounded so fun (a mom going back to high school to beat up bullies!) and featured what I thought would be an interesting OTP of Kim Hee Sun and my beloved Ji Hyun Woo. But wowza have I been disappointed with the end result, and four episodes in I'm deciding to call it quits. I feel like they totally committed false advertising with this show, as all the previews (including those I saw while in Korea) featured a cheery, fun vibe with Kim Hee Sun yelling and kicking those young guys into submission. But what this drama actually turned out to be is a depressing education-system political thriller. No, this does not work for me as a drama and I'm still irritated at the bait-and-switch pulled here.

20 Once Again: Movie Review

Miss Granny is one of the few K-movies that I've enjoyed over the past few years, so of course I was interested in checking out how the Chinese remake, 20 Once Again, would compare. To put it straight, this film's a no-qualms copy-cat of the original, with line-by-line similarities. In some ways this was frustrating as I would have liked to see some original twists rather than feeling like I was watching the exact same movie over again with different faces, but I suppose in some way this fulfills its goals as a true remake. Overall I would rank the two films on about the same level, but giving the Korean version a slight upperhand for how it dealt with the final story resolution. Spoilers included for those who haven't seen Miss Granny.