K-Drama Report: Genie, Make a Wish (2025)

December 29, 2025

I’ll try to be brief, since I missed the window on this one, big-time. Genie, Make a Wish is part romance, part fantasy, part sadomasochist fantasy, part Dubai tourism ad, and all around, a great K-drama. Aww. Consider this post to be a follow-up to my report on 2022’s Anna, and another benchmark in the twin journeys of watching everything starring its two leads, Bae Suzy and the utterly enchanting Jung Eun-chae (Jeongnyeon: The Star is Born is next) taking me into 2026. This is my third Suzy drama, after her moody turns in Doona! and Anna, and now it appears she’s no longer trying to beat the “idols can’t act” rap by playing an emotionless psychopath. And look, I get it. An idol in film and television is an interloper, leveraging fame when an actor with lesser name recognition might’ve done a better job. Of course, Bae Suzy would’ve only been a famous idol for a few months before she debuted as an actress, and it was so early on in her career that she could arguably be considered a child actress. Alarmingly, she was only 15 when she joined Miss A, and starred alongside IU and Eunjung in Dream High roughly when I was graduating high school (Suzy is one year younger than me). I suppose the argument isn’t that Bae Suzy shouldn’t act because she’s an idol, but that she shouldn’t because she can’t. … More K-Drama Report: Genie, Make a Wish (2025)

The Worst Television of the Year

December 23, 2025

I watch bad TV for a living, and I don’t mean the fun, “so bad it’s good” sort of material, but the hours and hours of mundane CBS procedurals and sitcoms that aren’t designed for one’s full attention – “brain-melting” content, which serves a purpose, sure, however encroached upon by TikTok. I say this because it takes a lot to shock me these days, and for whatever reason, 2025 was generous with truly terrible, offensively bad TV. Discussing the worst TV shows of a given year has not been a regular feature here, nor will it be – with any luck – but I had to make something of the experience of watching this dreck. … More The Worst Television of the Year

K-Drama Report: Anna (2022)

December 21, 2025

Every now and then, I’m stricken with the pang of something – maybe dread, even embarrassment – over the readability of this blog, and especially its “K-drama reports,” for one simple reason: spoilers. As much as I might decry being spoiled on things myself, I’m never so considerate in turn. Maybe I provide a spoiler warning or suggest that the coverage will be comprehensive, so to speak, but at that point, it’s not a recommendation. It’s like a diary entry, and while I’ve always enjoyed the relaxed, indulgent nature of these posts, again, to whose use are they? Because the element of surprise is important to today’s subject, the 2022 Bae Suzy drama Anna, I will begin with a recommendation section before the report proper, if such a thing can be. And it’s important to the overall discussion because I’m not even sure I was supposed to be surprised by half the reveals, or if the reveals were merely “developments.” Part of my confusion may stem from this show having gone under the radar – translation: it wasn’t on Netflix or Viki – and so, what I knew going in was half-inferred. Amazon Prime’s summary is this: “The story of a woman who ends up living a completely different life due to a petty lie.” That life belongs to Jung Eun-chae’s character, and based on the trailer, I assumed that these two actresses were going to war. Come to think of it, perhaps it’s a spoiler to even raise these questions. … More K-Drama Report: Anna (2022)

My Year in K-Pop: 2025 – Oh My Girl Special

December 17, 2025

Once again, we’ve come to the year-end K-pop recap. To supplement the episode, I’ll be zeroing in on Oh My Girl as a kind of tribute for helping me get through the year. Mentioned briefly in the previous installment, one year ago, I really got hooked in 2025. Oh, and I forgot to mention, as far as the number one song goes: how could you not love the lyrics “cheombeong cheombeong,” or as I’ve come to think of it, “chumba chumba”? … More My Year in K-Pop: 2025 – Oh My Girl Special

Mimi

December 16, 2025

Back by popular demand, “My Year in K-Pop: 2025” has actually been tricky to piece together. Damn that demand! Because I was anchored in this difficult year by Oh My Girl, I wanted to focus on their music in a special edition of the (theoretically) annual episode — a celebration, a thank-you. The plan was to count down their top five songs and, in between, introduce each member. The problem was twofold: one, a personal dissatisfaction with how I discuss idols, an issue I haven’t been able to resolve in six years in part because my enthusiasm had me barreling through any self-doubt. I may be reaching an age where other factors are competing with the enthusiasm, but whatever the case may be, I certainly can’t resolve this in the next few days, this episode being due before year’s end. Second, Oh My Girl is more complicated than I thought. I had two options: try to reconcile a celebratory episode with criticism, or do what I always do and ignore the problems. … More Mimi

Flexo! Shoot Flexo! | The One (2001) Review

December 5, 2025

Partway on the timeline between Demolition Man and Everything Everywhere All at Once, behold The One, a blend of science fiction and martial arts to suitably harebrained ends. Far from an expert on all things Jet Li, this first-time viewing was spurred on by its relatively recent coverage on The Greatest Movie Ever! Podcast, in which shameful secrets were revealed about past fondness for musical acts like Drowning Pool and Papa Roach (believe me, I understand). Indeed, this movie is from the year 2001 the way that people from Boston are from Boston, and as I’m currently reading/listening to two examples of popular literature from the mid-1980s, I’ve had occasion to reflect on how often not timeless movies and television are. Those books, Blood Meridian and Stephen King’s It, are both set in the past. By contrast, it’s the rare genre film from the 1980s that doesn’t feel Totally ‘80s! and thus subject to modern nostalgia-driven filmmaking. Will we have a cultural resurgence one day of movies like The One and XXX and The Scorpion King? No. … More Flexo! Shoot Flexo! | The One (2001) Review

How to Win ‘Physical: 100’

November 25, 2025

Be awesome. That’s how! I know there’s a cash prize and that’s technically the primary motivator, but these are athletes who bring their own sets of motivations to this new, weird game: they want to win, they want to prove themselves, and in the case of Physical: Asia, they want to do right by their team. Actually, and to the consternation of some, these athletes are also sometimes influencers, which brings an additional motivation. Now, I don’t begrudge anyone who’s made uncomfortable by the very concept of influencers, the worst of whom do immoral, even illegal things for attention and money, and once we reasonably assume that that doesn’t apply to the contestants of Physical: Asia, we may still be uncomfortable that these talented, determined people don’t make enough money with their day job and need a side hustle, one subject to the whims of the heartless algorithm and the court of public opinion (itself blunted by social media). … More How to Win ‘Physical: 100’

I Keep Ruining Video Games

November 16, 2025

Like any God-fearing millennial male, I am hopelessly nostalgic about the Xbox 360 era. And I say “era” because I also enjoyed the Nintendo Wii, and what defined both consoles – in my shining eyes, anyhow – was local multiplayer. Wii Sports, Wii Sports Resort, three Halos, two Gears, Guitar Hero. One of the highlights in that pantheon was Resident Evil 5. I knew enough about the Resident Evil brand to know that 5 was a tonal shift, from survival-horror to horror-themed action, but it was a great game. “Come on! Come on!” “Chris!” “Sheva!” “I need a herb!” Endless fun, at least when you’re trying to farm enough gold to upgrade all the guns. Still, Resident Evil 5 could be accused of starting the ball rolling off a cliff, leading to the extremely unfun Resident Evil 6 – doesn’t even control right, feels like shit to play – and then a soft reboot with Resident Evil VII: Biohazard and its current heights with the parallel remake line. The action direction ultimately proved to be wrong, but how could you blame the Capcom execs in the mid-2000s? Japanese games were dead, said Lord Inafune. Why not cater to the Call of Duty bros? Well, the bros was I. Though I’ve never really played a Call of Duty game, I was the problem. … More I Keep Ruining Video Games

Jang Eun-sil Report – Physical: Asia

November 14, 2025

We’re on the precipice of the season finale of Physical: Asia, but have already witnessed bracing human drama through punishing feats of endurance. Robyn almost drowned, James put 110 pounds on his back, and Alexandra pushed herself farther than anyone I’ve ever seen. It’s the signature appeal of its mothership series, Physical: 100, though this wasn’t obvious to me at first. Jang Ho-gi’s Netflix reality show premiered in January 2023, a self-proclaimed search for the “perfect physique” between one-hundred South Korean contestants – athletes, soldiers, bodybuilders – in challenges like “how long can you hang on this metal bar?” and “how far can you carry these sandbags?” Even as the set pieces scaled up to elaborate excess, the challenges felt oddly accessible, deferring spectacle to the contestants’ performances (even when they appeared to be static). And while often incredible, the contestants were additionally impressive for being so unlike the archetypal reality show character. They were polite and friendly with each other, and so interested in proving themselves that they’d rather compound an obstacle than weasel around it. Of course, none of this would’ve been enough to entice ol’ Harrison “gives up on movies and TV shows after mere minutes” Chute. No, the last essential ingredient of Physical: 100’s freshman season was Jang Eun-sil. … More Jang Eun-sil Report – Physical: Asia