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Paradise Murdered (2007)

(0 Ratings) Rate It

Movie

Off the southern coast of the Korean Peninsula, an island of 17 inhabitants exists. The so-called...

Dirty Deeds (Cole McGinnis #4)

Rhys Ford

8.0 (1 Ratings) Rate It

Book

Sheila Pinelli needed to be taken out. Former cop turned private investigator Cole McGinnis never...

Contemporary MM Romance Crime Mystery Suspense

Sophia (Bookwyrming Thoughts) (530 KP) rated Hello, I Love You in Books

Jan 23, 2020

I listen to far too much kpop songs for my own good. When I heard that Hello, I Love You is a book about kpop, I just had to read the book.

I despise this. Katie Stout's debut novel isn't about kpop – that's just a small element. It's just about an American girl trying to run away from her past and ends up falling in love with a Korean superstar. Oh, and that Korean superstar is also running away from HIS past, so hooray! Past runners colliding.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--1WHSx-iaa4/Vcu_9iIqSpI/AAAAAAAAE5w/ZOJm3UkK-e8/s1600/sigh.gif"><img src="http://bookwyrmingthoughts.bookblog.io/wp-content/uploads/sites/317/2015/08/sigh.gif"; width="188" height="200" border="0" /></a></div>
It's obvious Grace didn't do much "research." She's tired of eating rice every day, and she wrinkles her nose in disgust at fish – does she realize that rice and seafood is quite literally associated with every part of Asian culture or what? How else do Koreans or Japanese survive when they're surrounded by ocean all around (the seafood part)?

Grace's research basically consisted of typing in "international boarding schools," clicking on the first result that seemed interesting and decided, "Why not? It's the way out." She doesn't even know why she chose Korea. It's all about running away from the past, and that was probably repeated multiple times in the book. I just want to throw a book at Grace and say, "Suck it up, buttercup."
<blockquote>I've kept a big distance from it because it reminds me too much of my past, too much of what I left behind.</blockquote>
Methinks the lady doth protest too much.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FXuDDyyknZc/Vcu_2-_rRRI/AAAAAAAAE5o/8E4pJbSzM1Q/s1600/angry-gif-o.gif"><img src="http://bookwyrmingthoughts.bookblog.io/wp-content/uploads/sites/317/2015/08/angry-gif-o.gif"; border="0" /></a></div>
I suppose I can't blame her because the mom's worse – she's all, "Hi, Korea. I'm FARRR more superior than you." *sticks nose up and saunters away in ten-inch heels* If Grace is so "language impaired," she could have considered England, Canada, Australia or New Zealand where English is the primary language, thank you very much. -_-
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-D4yvObK8a5g/VcvAC60UhSI/AAAAAAAAE58/wJW7gAeQ96c/s1600/you%2Bgot%2Bproblems.gif"><img src="http://bookwyrmingthoughts.bookblog.io/wp-content/uploads/sites/317/2015/08/yougotproblems.gif"; width="320" height="180" border="0" /></a></div>

I'm not happy at all. I'm not even Korean. I'm Chinese and Vietnamese. I don't know if my Asian meter has been insulted or not. I suppose I'll applaud Stout for trying to write a book about kpop, but that's about as far as I'll go for Hello, I Love You.

<a href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/review-hello-i-love-you-by-katie-m-stout/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>

Kudos

Bob Mann (459 KP) rated Minari (2020) in Movies

Apr 23, 2021

Minari (2020)

2020 | Drama

8.7

(3 Ratings)

Movie Rating

Ensemble cast acting (2 more)

Music and Cinematography

Engrossing story

Abrupt ending leaves too much speculation (0 more)

A Korean Hillbilly Elegy, done right

In "Minari", a struggling Korean immigrant family - the Yi's led by Jacob (Steven Yeun) and Monica (Yeri Han) - leave California for Arkansas farmland to seek a better life. While employed sexing chicks at a factory, Jacob dreams of farming the land on which they live to improve their lives. But will his obsession for this dream stand between him and his family?

The tale is told through the eyes of young David (Alan S. Kim), who is struggling with a hole in the heart and doubts about his mortality. The arrival of Monica's mother (Yuh-Jung Youn) is resented by David, but the woman is wise (as well as foul mouthed) and perhaps the pair will eventually learn to respect one another?

Positives:
- Gloriously bucolic cinematography (by Lachlan Milne) frames an engrossing story of an immigrant family striving for the American dream. The fact that it is semi-biographical for the writer/director Lee Isaac Chung (also Oscar nominated for both) makes it all the more fascinating.

- All of the leading cast work fabulously as an ensemble. Steven Yeun and Yuh-Jung Youn have all the Oscar nomination glory (with Youn as the Grandmother odds-on to win the Supporting Actress award on Sunday). But Yeri Han is also great and the film wouldn't work unless the two child actors (Alan Kim and Noel Cho) delivered, which they do in spades.

- The music, by Emile Mosseri, is strikingly good and - deservedly - also Oscar nominated.

Negatives:
- The ending. Now, I'm all for leaving things in a thoughtful way, allowing the viewer to ponder on things. But this ending was a little too obscure for me. You need to understand (with thanks to this article) that the vegetable Minari purifies (water), grows in unfavourable soils and only really thrives in its second season. Now, forgive me for not being 'up' on my Korean plant botany, but this was too much of a leap for me. For the uninitiated (I assume 95% of the audience) the ending will feel abrupt and unsatisfying.

Summary Thoughts on "Minari":
Having watched "Hillbilly Elegy" and "Minari" on consecutive nights, I was struck by the unexpected parallels between the films (over and above the Yi's calling themselves "Hillbillies"). Both feature a dysfunctional family (though less so here). And both also feature a lead character, from an impoverished background, trying to better themselves and follow the 'American dream'. And front and centre is the growing relationship between a young boy and their grandmother.

But there the similarities end. For I just loved the simplicity of the story-telling in "Minari". No fancy flashbacks and disjointed timeline here. And a sense that you were really in on the journey of both Jacob and his farm and of the relationship between David and his Grandma.

This was heading at one point for a 10 star rating for me. But - for me anyway - the obscurity of the ending left me with a "WTF" feeling. So I've tempered my rating. Still a great film though, and recommended.

(For the full graphical review, please check out the post on One Mann's Movies on the web or Facebook. Thanks).