Private Life

Photo credit: www.imdb.com

Private Life turned out to be decent film, reminded me a bit of Woody Allen films but with a more humane touch to it. (God, I still like Woody Allen films...) Paul Giamatti is one of my favorite actors and he is great in it as is Kathryn Hahn. I felt for this couple in the end and I wanted them to be happy.  

Vesikalı Yarim

Photo credit: www.imdb.com

Vesikalı Yarim hatırladığımdan daha güzel geldi bu sefer. Ve bir kez daha Türkan Şoray'ın oyunculuğuna hayran kaldım. İzzet Günay'da hiç fena değildi. 

A Precious Jewel

A Precious Jewel turned out to be a delightful read. I liked the beta male and the whore (who had to choose this life out of necessity and circumstance). It may not be a usual romance but it definitely made me happy in the end. 

The Chalk Man

The Chalk Man ended up being an ok novel. I felt the lack of heft though and it bothered me for some reason. The writer seems to be a nice person though (I like to read the acknowledgements). I can only recommend as an introduction to the genre (horror mystery??)

Burnt

Photo credit: www.imdb.com

Burnt has a lot of problems, mainly the storytelling. And it didn't really work for me although I watched it till the end. 

The Wandering Earth

Photo credit: www.imdb.com

The Wandering Earth (Liu lang di qiu) well you were accustomed to Americans saving the world from a variety of disasters all these years. In this film it is the Chinese who save the world (with a little international help but still the majority of the brain and body work is done by our intrepid Chinese heroes and you know what? It was not that unwelcome a change. Oh the formula is still the same (separated family, devestating threat, sacrifices all around and eventually the triumph of human spirit) the whole thing reminded me of a much more intelligent Armageddon without the romance. Because yes, when the stakes are that high, romance is not the number one priority in everybody's mind. I liked it, cried during despite not expecting to. 

Sky Castle

Photo credit: www.imdb.com

Sky Castle is the most recent S.Korean cable ratings behemoth I have been very eager to watch and Netflix did me a solid this time by making it available. I really liked it so much so that I almost inhaled the whole thing in less than a week. It is one of those "unhappy lives of the rich and privilidged" type of drama where the ordinary masses love to watch the higher class suffer through many hurdles, mostly caused by their bad decisions. It was funny, entertaining, sad, very well acted and very high quality makjang with a great soundtrack. Highly recommended if you are into that sort of thing.