Category: Blog

‘Hallyu! The Korean Wave’ at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts

April 28, 2024

Today, my mom and I made the perilous trek into the city to visit the hallyu exhibit at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. From the official website, “Today, South Korea is a cultural superpower—a global trendsetter producing award-winning films like Parasite, riveting dramas like Squid Game, and chart-topping music by K-pop groups such as BTS and BLACKPINK. But behind the country’s meteoric rise to the world stage—a phenomenon known as the Korean Wave, or hallyu—is the story of remarkable resilience and innovation.” … More ‘Hallyu! The Korean Wave’ at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts

Ballerina (2023) | From the World of John Wick

March 30, 2024

I was ready, as soon as I’d seen the trailer last year, to see a review for Ballerina here as part of an ongoing conversation (with myself). In 2020, I’d written about Furie, a female-led Vietnamese action movie addled by flashbacks. Later, it was The Villainess, a Korean action movie with at least two set pieces now canonical to the genre, but which didn’t fully believe in its female lead. It’s now 2024, and in the time since, I’ve actually avoided a lot of the female-led action movies that seem to be a natural byproduct of the genre’s current renaissance (if everyone’s making action movies, some of them are gonna star women). I mean, ten years earlier, I would’ve given a limb to see “Mary Elizabeth Winstead the action star” in something like Kate, but alas. It could be option paralysis, because there are a lot of these movies, but I also wonder if the many, varied disappointments over the years have burrowed into my subconscious, impacting whatever impulse it is that I hit play instead of browsing on. Furie and The Villainess especially seemed to follow the formula nearly perfectly, nearly, and Ballerina is very much the next example in that sequence. … More Ballerina (2023) | From the World of John Wick

03/14/2024 – Redefining What It Is to Be a Wendy

March 14, 2024

Last time we spoke of Wendy’s solo outing, it was her debut, 2021’s Like Water. That title track remains memorable, especially as a snapshot of a tumultuous time in Red Velvet history. Of course, I’m glad they went in a different direction with this one, “Wish You Hell” being more pop-punk — a soft Paramore, let’s say. Though for Mother Wenresa, that marks a stylistic departure (and a really good song). … More 03/14/2024 – Redefining What It Is to Be a Wendy

03/04/2024 – Made It

March 4, 2024

It’s March now, so we’re nearing the end of the first quarter of our entertainment year, which is exactly how entertainment is measured. I have to say, of the titles I previewed in this earlier post, not one that I’ve seen has been good. I like Gyeongsong Creature, but it’s so deeply flawed that the flaws become its very substance, for one’s acceptance or rejection — I don’t think it cares either way. I found Echo to be empty, and True Detective: Night Country uneventful. One show I did not list was FX/Hulu’s Shogun, something I’d seen in snippets last year for my job and assumed, when it made landfall, it would be brushed off as hoary-old white-savior nonsense. Wow, how wrong I was. … More 03/04/2024 – Made It

DO NOT POST: “Chill Kill” Thoughts

November 21, 2023

First of all, I want to establish that there are no stakes here, and I am in no way disappointed or upset. Red Velvet is so far past the point of “they don’t have to do anything,” nearing a decade and having released a masterpiece in the after-years. They’ve given me everything; I don’t get to be disappointed or upset. Red Velvet doesn’t have to do anything, and so anything they do is a bonus – for which I’m grateful. Their latest album has been occasion for behind-the-scenes footage, and that’s always fantastic. The album itself? I haven’t finished it. I tapped out after four songs. Of those four, the title track “Chill Kill” was the best, where the others are shockingly low-key mood pieces. … More DO NOT POST: “Chill Kill” Thoughts

10/31/2023 – Sometimes Film Criticism is Dead

October 31, 2023

Here’s what’s gonna happen: I will watch a horror movie made for children, and not write about it because there’s no use. Nobody cares if this movie is “good” or “bad,” or even “recommended.” It simply is. Other horror titles, like The Banana Splits Movie and Willy’s Wonderland, were produced to capitalize on the market this intellectual property created (most likely). And at the end of it, the Five Nights at Freddy’s movie proved a box office success in a wild year of ups and downs. … More 10/31/2023 – Sometimes Film Criticism is Dead

10/21/2023 – The Big Fat Chill Kill

October 21, 2023

Red Velvet’s latest album is on its way, born into controversy as befitting any high-profile K-pop group – I suppose! With turmoil at the top of SM and a group lifespan nearing ten years, I figured Red Velvet was in the midst of an exit strategy, promoting solo acts and mixing members into other groups. This is how they always manage to surprise me. But I first heard about “the new album” from the opposite perspective: fans apparently angry that Red Velvet hasn’t released an album since 2017. Now, if you’re like me, you’re thinking, “What are you talking about?! They put out an album every year! They work themselves to death!” If anything, 2023 ought to be an exception, given they’ve been touring all over the eastern hemisphere. Guys, you know, the “globe” in “global tour” also includes America. … More 10/21/2023 – The Big Fat Chill Kill

08/12/2023 – Pop-Pop the Champagne

August 12, 2023

It’s been With Eyes East tradition on August 12th to celebrate the birthday of Bomi from Apink, but this year, I actually wanted to pivot a bit – not too far – from Apink to Red Velvet. From what I can tell, their 2022 release “Birthday” is considered one of their lesser singles, and it is indeed an oddity like “Zimzalabim” or “RBB.” The video is a total-war assault of bizarreness, without the slightest threat of context for the events or landscapes or creatures. We have a cyclops guy like a Tohl Narita Ultraman monster, a yeti guy from, you know, yetis, and the Gingerbread Man but as a king? It’s like a weird, terrible remix of things that we can sort of place, as if assembled by AI or sheer accident. This is what the K-pop channel looks like within the Videodrome signal. … More 08/12/2023 – Pop-Pop the Champagne

07/26/2023 – Made in Japan

July 26, 2023

In Little League baseball, the best player on each team was usually the pitcher. It was an observable rule of thumb, similar to the one which held that the worst player in the entire league was me. Unfortunately, I was probably the only Asian player that year – or rather, those years, because I played baseball for far longer than I understood why. So, then, you grow up and observe that it’s different in Major League baseball, that the pitcher usually doesn’t even bat! And by that point, mercifully, the Asian kid is no longer playing sports. Enter Shohei Ohtani, widely considered the best player in professional baseball – maybe ever. For starters, when it comes to his upcoming free agency, the number being bandied about for a contract is half a billion dollars, the highest in history. … More 07/26/2023 – Made in Japan