Wizard's First Rule

Wizard's First Rule turned out to be not really to my taste. Despite being pretty violent and grimm there was something in that did not appeal to me and I'm completely satisfied by reading the rest of the story through plots at wikipedia. And now that I have checked the writer on wikipedia and found out he follows Ayn Rand's philosophies, there is no surprise in me not liking it. Anyway at least I tried. 

Atelier

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Atelier was not really that good but I liked it. It being a female ruled world and the high production values probably the reasons I liked it that much. However it doesn't flow as well as some of my favorite J-Dramas. That is probably why it took me ages to finish 13 episodes. I hope better dramas comes to Netflix. 

The Light Between Oceans (Film)

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The End Between Oceans is available on Blutv so I decided to watch it yesterday hours after I finished the novel. As usual the film doesn't even come close but not because of acting, sets and costumes etc. They decided to cut a lot of stuff and it just doesn't make the same impact as the novel does. Of course I have cried my heart out but mostly due to remembering the novel and not because the film was as emotional. Also he is good even at his worst but this was probably the worst performance from Michael Fassbender I had ever seen. 

The Light Between Oceans

The Light Between Oceans was not even in my radar until I heard about the film. And when I saw it at the airport (probably Dubai but I'm not sure) I picked it up and I'm glad that I did because it turned out to be a very emotional read. The prose is light and easy but the emotions are heavy and brutal. Also this is one of the novels in which I didn't like the main characters at all. Their actions truly left me baffled and I never once supported them wanting them to eat their just desserts. However the situation in the story is a complex one and by the end I was crying (shamelessly on the street where I just had to finish it after work before going for a walk). Definitely recommended.  

The 40 Year Old Virgin

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The 40 Year Old Virgin is a film I had watched years ago and it hadn't left any impression but Netflix keep recommending it to me and despite not really liking any of the main cast I gave it a chance. I liked it better this second viewing and even smiled at a couple of places. 

Joy

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Joy turned out to be a lot more fun and interesting than I expected. Jennifer Lawrence is great as the titular character (inspired by a real person) the all American girl fighting with challenge after challenge (she was like that in Winter's Bone, very different character and circumstances but she was fighting immense challenges and had to deal with nasty people there too. She is great at these roles.

Robert Deniro and Isabelle Rosselini were both very good and I loved the other side characters, Virginia Madsen, Edgar Ramirez were all very fine and the film had a certain rythm that agreed with me.

Hostel: Part III

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Hostel: Part III I have watched on a recommendation from a trusted on line reviewer. And it turned out to be an entertaining ride with some surprises along the way. 

13 Going On 30

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13 Going On 30 is cute. I have watched it more than once and enjoyed it again but I still don't care for Jennifer Gardner and don't believe Mark Ruffalo (great guy, nice actor) is a good romantic lead. 

Dönerse Senindir

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Dönerse Senindir merak ettiğim bir filmdi. Öncelikle Murat Boz'u beğeniyorum. Hiç bir şarkısını bilmem ama sevimli ve izlemesi eğlenceli bir aktör. Sonrasında filmin konusu hoşuma gitti. Romantik komediyi çok severim filmin fragmanıda ümit vadediyordu. Neyse filmi izlemesi keyifli oldu. Addicted to Love filminden ilham almışlar baya (ki o film benim hiç sevmediğim nadir romantik komediler arasındadır) ama eğlenceli olmuş. Eğreti durmamış. 

Serena

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Serena is probably a good novel that didn't turn out so good in the adaptation. The story and the characters are fascinating and the actors all good but it just didn't work. So despite the fact that the responsibility should be on the director, I have checked her out on wikipedia (no joke) and she actually looks like a fine director with a fine filmograpy. So maybe the magic just was not there. And this tells us that the stars/actors are all well and good but they simply are not enough to save a film. Shame really since the costumes and the set were all very nice. 

The Frozen Ground

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The Frozen Ground was just there and it is about hunting a serial killer so I thought I'd give it a try. And it was not that good a film and didn't starr anyone I truly like but I became into it because of the plot.

Winter's War

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Winter's War was not a film I was eager to watch since I didn't even like the new and improved Snow White and the Huntsman much (except for Charlize Theron) so I was not really that eager for it when I saw it on dvdigi. And I'm not very keen on Emily Blunt (and don't think of her as pretty and it kind of bugs me that she is presented as such in every film she is ever in, not a bad actress though). Also I may be one of the few straight females who don't think Chris Hemsworth is handsome. I like him in Thor, it is one of those great chemistry links between actor and character (such as Hugh Jackman and Wolverine) but the actor is not that good as any other character. In this one there was some sort of humour and it worked better for The Huntsman better than the first one. And I love Jessica Chastain and her badass character. All in all I actually enjoyed this one and am surprised at the low box office. I even cried a bit. 

Irrational Man

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Irrational Man is a film I have wanted to watch for some time since I do like Woody Allen films. And I was so happy to see it on dvdigi. It ended up being one of his lesser efforts though and I think it is because the actors were not right for it. Both leads are very talented but they just didn't go along with the rythm of the film in my opinion. The thing is that if it starred say Scarlet Johanson (an actor who is great in Woody Allen films) and Javier Bardem (both equally talented as Emma Stone and Joaqim Phoenix) it would have been a better film. Anyway at least is this one the baddie got what he deserved :)

Bird Box

Bird Box I really liked it. The premise is very interesting and the characters are interesting and the novel just flew by. I liked the ending too.

The novel is how people react against a new threat to which they don't really have a lot of information. Here is an info about me. I don't really like zombies as a plot device. And Bird Box was mercifully devoid of them. However zombie is the one where we see a group of people reacting to the threat. Maybe I need to check more of zombie things. 

The Invitation

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The Invitation kept popping up on my Netflix page but I didn't pay any attention to it. Yesterday I saw a rewiever I like review and like it so I gave it a try. I like most of it but at some point it almost put me to sleep (yeah I had to rewind). All in all I like it mainly because of all the close up shots probably :)

Godfather II

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Godfather II is a film I had not seen for awhile. I don't know but I always preferred the first one. It really was like watching it the first time and I have enjoyed it very much. A true masterpiece, taking its time and telling its stories leisurely. I still prefer the first one though.  

The Luminaries

The Luminaries is a novel I have found recommended on youtube being loved by many. It had won the Man Booker prize too (2013) The story seemed interesting and I gave it a go but I couldn't really connect with it the way I hoped I would be. It is a good novel, definitely, just not for me. 

Hostel

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Hostel I remember watching it in a theatre with my sister and her friends. I have found it scary but in a rather gross way and this second viewing left the same impression. I like the final guy better this time though (knowing what he'll go through beforehand helped in that case). I definitely recommend if you are into this type of film. 

Mandıra Filozofu

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Mandıra Filozofu bana bir arkadaşım tarafından tavsiye edildi. Söyleyecek güzel şeyleri olan ve çekim yeri insanın içini açan bir film ancak bana çok hitap etmedi. Ne bileyim senaryoda bir çok şey eğreti duruyordu, aktörler gereğinden fazla rol yapıyordu (Rasim Öztekin değil tabii ki, diğerleri) ve filmin mesajı çekiçle kafamıza kafamıza vuruluyordu (ki katılıyorum bu düşüncelere ama buna rağmen rahatsız oldum)

Final Girl

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Final Girl is a stylish horror film. It was not really scary but visually different than the rest. I can't really recommend it though. 

A War (Krigen)

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A War (Krigen) is a film I have recorded since it starred Pilou Asbaek (an actor I love since watching him in Bergen) but I truly don't like war genre. So it was just waiting there until a colleague recommended it to me. So I watched it and it was OK but still it made me face war once again and it is one thing I can't make sense of, the point of it and it scares me. Anyway I don't think I'll watch it again but it was an engaging viewing. 

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny

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Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny never really attracted me (despite Netflix pushing it to my face from time to time) since it starred Donnie Yen, a very good action man but a terrible actor (evident in this film) but after The Four I have decided to give this a chance since I like Yuen Woo Ping's visuals (that clean cinematography) and YWP is a great fight director. Of course the original Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon by Ang Lee is one of my all time faves and I consider it a masterpiece. This one not so much first and foremost the story is fast paced and we never have time to focus on the characters and secondly Donnie Yen's performance is even worse than the younger leads' and those were pretty bad. In the original Michelle Yeoh shone together with Chow Yun Fat and Zhang Ziyi and even Chang Chen (an actor I don't really like) all of them very good. Here only Michelle Yeoh is both acting and martial art fighting on camera. She is amazing. But the rest of the cast are all horrible - lead in horribleness Donnie Yeni although again, he is good at martial arts but man that is not enough. Chow Yun Fat doesn't know martial arts but he made a much more believable and sympathetic martial art master. Anyway, I enjoyed this one but probably because I like the genre and Michelle Yeoh. 

The Ugly Truth

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The Ugly Truth well the problem is that I don't like Kathrine Heigel rom-coms. I used to love her and she was great in Knocked Up but she started to play the same character after Knocked Up. And the dresses.. film was not bad but it got worse after that. Anyway I like this one best among them since I like Gerard Butler a lot and their chemistry is good. It has a good message at heart I think but it doesn't have the emotion. 

End of Watch

End of Watch well, I didn't like it very much. Nowhere near the first and especially the second novel. It is still good but I there were details that I didn't like.

I'm very happy for the man but I miss earlier novels of Mr. King. I mean he is still great and all but the early novels have something special in them, it is like now he is filtering/obstructing some thing in the novels now and he didn't do that before (when he was a substance abuser and alcoholic). Anyway I have enjoyed it but not as much as his earlier novels. 

The Conjuring II

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The Conjuring II turned out to be very interesting and kind of romantic in parts, and it was scary too. I like James Wan films and I love Patrick Wilson and Vera Fermiga. So I was very happy with it. 

Sandy Wexler

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Sandy Wexler turned out to be a not so good Adam Sandler film but I love him and enjoyed it.

Inside Man

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Inside Man I liked it much better in this second viewing. I had watched it years ago and loved it (especially the title song) but this time, knowing the plan and the aftermath (although it seems that I had forgotten some of the finer points) was even better. Great film. 

Ride Along II

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Ride Along II turned out to be even funnier than the first one. But then again I love Kevin Hart and Ice Cube. I actually laughed out more than a few times and enjoyed this time pass very very much. 

İkinci Şans

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İkinci Şans yine Özcan Deniz'in G.Kore filmlerini beğendiğini gözler önüne seren bir film. G. Kore filmlerini bende seviyorum o yüzden hiç sıkılmadan izledim ve görseller güzeldi ancak bariz öykü hataları vardı. Neyse eğlendim hatta kolay güdülen bir izleyici olarak bir kaç damla gözyaşı bile döktüm. Ayvalık güzelmiş bu arada. Daha önce iki kez gittim ama hatırlamıyorum pek. 

The Four III

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The Four III is the last film and it kind of ties the story nicely without deviating from the style of the first two films. Spoilers galore:

The wheelchair girls gets nice new braces so she can walk (using her qi) and she makes up with the wolf boy and she forgives the emperor and her fight mate iron hands.

The leader marries his long time girlfriend.

The soul snatched and iron hands remain the same.

The shape shifting lady dies a semi honorable death by horny girl who had to die I suppose.

The four heroes and their leader and his girlfriend who became his wife before the final battle end up victorious over the baddies but I felt it is a bit of a cheap shot for the emperor knowing everything and the horny girl seeing the light (finally).

All in all I was interested in this one because I love martial art novels and wuxia films. And I was entertained.

The Four

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The Four is one of those rare occasions I have watched something illegally on line. I watched it on dailymotion so I'm not sure if it is definitely illegal but I suspect so. Well since I had watched The Four II and intended to watch the third and final film, I thought it would be better if I watched the first one. And it was kind of.. The first film was easily the best since the characters are all explained and I have finally found out what Soul Snatcher does that is so special and why the horny girl is like that. And Anthony Wong is good.

The Four II

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The Four II made me realise that I had been away from Chinese cinema (and literature) for so long. Apparently this is the second film of the blockbuster original The Four (which was not available for some reason), adaptation of a best selling novel. I really like Chinese martial art novels and this story seemed very interesting. Anthony Wong is the old wise master (and I still love him) to the four detectives with supernatural abilities. I had no idea about the first one so it took  me some time to catch up with what was going on. Apparently there two detective units in the kingdom. They are rivals but get along well. One detective is raised by one unit and joins our heroes later on. He is also something like a werewolf but can supress his animal side if his will is strong enough. There is a girl in wheelchair and her and the werewolf are lovers (he likes her more than she does him). There is a handy man warrior and there is a drinking warrior who is called Soul Snatcher but I had watched the whole film and I couldn't understand why.

Apparently in the first film that had caught a bad guy who turned into a tree (shades of GoT here but in the villain camp)  whose father is a great martial artist who poisons his willing accomplices and then makes them do what he wants by giving them an antidote each month (yeah I know weird).

Also there is a female detective who is horny especially for the werewolf guy and wants to separate him from the wheelchair girl.

The head of the non supernatural detective division is murdered and the head of the supernatural detective division is blamed and arrested together with the wheelchair girl (all a plan of the villains, btw the tree guy is hot for the horny female detective) anyway in the end (and I fell asleep because it was soooooooo loooooooong - but I rewound and watched all) the wheelchair girl's family were traitors and the handyman warrior help assassins to kill them but saved the girl (she was a small child then). The handyman and the child are pardoned by the king. Handyman gave her some iron braces for her to walk and she actually walks away from the trauma of finding out that her father was a traitor. Wolfman wanted to follow her but she doesn't let him. Horny girl should be happy but she is again the arms(??) of the tree guy and he tells her that even though she got what she wanted, she is still not happy. Well she separated the wheelchair girl (now iron brace girl I suppose) and wolfman but wolfman didn't come back to her. Well I plan on watching the third film and wish the first one was available. 

Mojin: The Lost Legend

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Mojin: The Lost Legend I have only paid attention to this one and recorded it because I remember my Hong Kong cinema loving days fondly and wanted to check a new film out (no matter how bad). They didn't list Shu Chi as starring in the info section so seeing her was a delightful surprise. And the male lead was very handsome. However the film turned out to be yet another CGI extravaganza with a dash of politics (to please Chinese authorities?) and horrible comic relief. I watched till the end because I like Shu Chi but didn't like it at all. Maybe the book was better (but I doubt it'll be translated into English) 

Big Little Lies (TV show)

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Big Little Lies is an adaptation of the novel with the same name written by Laine Moriarity (who also contributed to the show if I'm not mistaken). I actually loved the novel and purchased another one from the same writer called The Husband's Secret which was not bad but not good enough to make me seek more of her novels out.

Anyway back to the TV show. This one is top notch in every way. A great cast of wondeful actors, great cinematography, soundtrack, script and all in all it ended up being a decent adaptation (although not as good as the book but they rarely are no?) that ended at the right note. Women should stick together. 

House Bunny

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House Bunny was a film I had long wanted to watch. The main reason for that was that I couldn't find it anywhere (legally I mean) and imagine my delight when it showed up on my Netflix. I immediately started to watch and it turned out that I enjoyed it very much. Of course it helps that I like everyone in the cast and think Anna Faris is adorable.  

The Boss

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The Boss was not really that good but I like the cast and Melissa McCarthy and I ended up enjoying it while acknowledging its short comings (mainly the direction, by Ms. McCarthy's husband and this guy is not a good director). I love Kristen Bell and was not expecting her so it ended up being a nice surprise. 

Curse of Chucky

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Curse of Chucky ended up being boring. In fact I think I fell asleep for a couple minutes during and didn't bother to rewind. It was not camply like the seed of Chucky or seriously creepy like the first Chucky (The Child's Play). Instead it was boring. 

The Neighbor

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The Neighbor  (the spelling is what was at the title sequence) was there looking at me and I decided to give it a shot. And to my surprise I ended up liking it a lot. Firstly I liked the lead actor, Josh Stewart, who apparently acted in a lot of TV dramas. Anyway he was really nice. Not exceptionally good looking but he totally worked for me in that all American way. The thing I liked better was how he was really competent and acted appropriately when his girlfriend disappeared, in the end he was also saved by her (who turned out to be one tough, crazy bitch and I liked it).  Even my mother was into the film - I think I'm turning her into a horror film fan of sorts. 

Julieta

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Julieta is probably my least favorite film of Almodovar filmography (and I think I have seen them all). It just didn't have the soul, that certain spark Mr. Almodovar usually brings to his films. I didn't like the actress who played older Julieta either. She was good but not alive (maybe she was not supposed to be but I just couldn't feel the tragedy). I have found out on line that this is adapted from an Alice Munro short story but it doesn't have the sparks of the other Almodovar adaptation The Naked Flesh (from a Ruth Rendell novel). I don't know I almost fell asleep at some point and this doesn't happen to me during an Almodovar viewing. Just make sure that you watch other films from this director to get an idea of his talent - not this one. 

The Silkworm

The Silkworm is the second Cormoran Strike novel JK Rowling wrote under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith. And since I loved The Cuckoo's Calling I was really eager to read (or listen to) this one and it certainly didn't dissapoint. I loved it and am eager to listen to the next one. 

Kartallar Yüksek Uçar

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Kartallar Yüksek Uçar  zaman zaman denk geldikçe parça parça izlediğim ama tümünü kesintisiz izlemeyi bir türlü denk getiremediğim bir dizi. Sadri Alışık benim en sevdiğim aktörlerden biridir. Konuşma sesi, şarkı söyleyen sesi (ki asla şarkıcı değil) ne bileyim süper yakışıklı olmasa da bana kesinlikle hitab eden fiziği ve melodramın hakkını fazlasıyla vermesi her zaman hoşuma gider. Atilla İlhan'ı da çok severim. Kurtlar Sofrası hayatımda yer eden önemli romanlar arasındadır ve bir daha okuyunca terkar, hatta belki de daha çok sevdim.

Neyse, dizi gayet güzel ve eli yüzü düzgün bir yapım. Ancak o zamanlar ve bu zamanlar arasında dağlar kadar fark var. 12 bölümde bitiverdi mesela. Bazı sahneler çok uzun sürerken (uçak iniş sahneleri mesela, galiba bunu toplum geneline nasıl olduğu göstermek için uzun tutmuşlardı) bazı dramatik olaylar hop diye geçiverdi (Hasan'ın vuruluşu). Bayıldım diziye ve TRT Arşiv sitesi www.trtarsiv.com/ gayet güzel olmuş. Başka diziler de var ama benim gönlümdeki aslan buydu. 

Batman Vs. Superman: The Dawn of Justice

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Batman vs. Superman: The Dawn of Justice was not a film I was eager to watch, despite loving Ben Affleck. I don't really care for Zac Synder films (oops). They were midly interesting when first came out but quickly got old. The main problem as far as I'm concerned is that he seem to love his own images much more than necessary and keeps showing them to the viewer kind of like hammering the head. The pearls scattering around is not that good a visual man, stop repeating it. Anyway I did like this one better than Superman though.

Just Go With It

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Just Go With It really was welcome this Friday when I was feeling tired and down. I love Adam Sandler and this one is hillarious and one of the few times I actually like Jennifer Anniston in a film. They have great chemistry, Hawaii is wonderful and Nicole Kidman is too funny for words. It may not appeal to all but for me it works every time. 

Narcos

The actor: Wagner Moura  (photo credit: www.radikal.com.tr)

The real Escobar (in the same time frame) - Photo credit: colombianspanish.co

Narcos is a well done TV show. Good acting, good script and great visuals, sets and costumes. The only thing is that I'm not very much interested in the subject (and fell asleep and rewatched some episodes). The thing I like best about the show is that -to me at least- Escobar never invited sympathy. He was a monster and is shown as a monster. I felt cold towards him even at some of the more emotional scenes (such as his confrontation with his father, worrying about this family etc.) I never once felt bad for him. The actor was very talented but unfortunately didn't look like the guy. The show also shows some of the real life photos/ footage of the characters and not many of them look like the real characters, however Escobar was a well know person (even I had heard of him) and the way he looks is very much in memory. This actor didn't look like him and they didn't age him well.

All in all I can recommend this as a depiction of the rise and fall of a drug gang boss and the hunt to catch him (very satisfying end). I was not all excited for the next episode as much as the majority but all in all I'm pleased with this one. 

Kung Fu Hustle

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Kung Fu Hustle is very entertaining but not as good as Shaolin Soccer or King of Comedy. I love his absurd comedy style. The scene in the photo is hillarious. 

The Damnation Game

The Damnation Game I liked the prose better than the story. I don't know whether I'll seek other novels from this author. 

Finders Keepers

Finders Keepers turned out to be a great read/listen.

Spoilers:

But I think a younger Stephen King would have killed the mother. But I like happy endings better (maybe because I'm getting old too) 

Descendants of the Sun

Photo credit: www.sweetnara.com

Descendants of the Sun is a Korean drama and the way it is most special to me is that is was finished before it was sold to TV. They usually keep on the series when the earlier episodes start to air and if the ratings are good they extend it. So this was good even before it started. Furthermore the two leads are two of my fave S. Korean actors Song Joong Ki and Song Hye Kyo (no relation). I love these two and they are very organically pretty so it was visually very pleasing to look at them. And to my further delight they have great chemistry. The age difference between them is addressed but not presented as a big deal. And Song Hye Kyo looks really young but Song Joong Ki looks even younger. You can put him in high school and no one would bat an eye.

Also it is a testament to their acting skills (and Song Hye Kyo is a great comedic actress who is wasted in melos imho) that I believed delicate, tiny Song Joong Ki is a special ops soldier who beats people up. The writers are wisely inspired by Meredith Grey for Song Hye Kyo's successful surgeon and we have an adorable secondary couple who are even more in love with each other than our primary couple. And there are no misunderstandings here (a very common trope in Korean dramas) couples communicate clearly and discuss their issues without third party interference being necessary.

The whole thing is pro military and nationalistic but I liked it and I have cried and laughed and enjoyed my viewing very very much. 

Ted 2

Photo credit: neighborhoodview.org

Ted 2 was not as funny as the first one. But I laughed out loud a few times (and it is a lot more than I usually do, I like Seth MacFarlane's humour)