Media Roundup Jan
Jan. 31st, 2024 21:25![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
superborbCursed Bunny, by Bora Chung, translated by Anton Hur: A collection of short stories, recced by littlerhymes. I enjoyed most of these, but the longest one, Scars, went on a little too long... Most of them had fantastical elements, centering on those with little power in their world. I think my favorite one was The Embodiment, where taking birth control pills too long leads to pregnancy and then a vaguely comedic interlude as the woman must find a father for the baby.
Fiona and Jane, by Jean Chen Ho: Snippets of the lives of two Taiwanese American girls who grew up best friends in LA. I learned about this book frommeitachi here. This was fine? There were a few moments of emotional clarity that were interesting, but as a whole I didn't find it especially compelling.
Goddess of Yesterday, by Caroline B. Cooney: Historical fiction around the Trojan war. This was recced byosprey_archer here. As promised, there were pieces where the protagonist's worldview was really alien -- her absolute conviction in how gods would punish certain things that didn't feel that serious to a modern reader while never questioning all the pirating, the importance of royal blood, etc. Pretty Mary Sue not-like-other-girls-y in a way that made more sense when I realized this came out in 2002. I enjoyed the beginning most, when the protagonist was experiencing culture shock at moving from a tiny island of few people to increasingly larger islands.
PS: How can there be so many kings left if they were constantly being killed and their entire villages wiped out... An endless supply of kings.
PPS: Cassandra purposefully prophesying something so it wouldn't be believed is a nice twist.
Flawless: Lessons in Looks and Culture from the K-Beauty Capital by Elise Hu. An overview of the K-beauty industry, as told through the lens of the author's years as a reporter in Korea. Frommeitachi's rec. Interesting pieces -- the technological gaze was the big thing it really captured well, along with some fun small details (Thailand's Dengue fever rates going up when Korean hot pants became trendy!). However, I thought it was quite repetitive and could have been tightened significantly. It primarily cites journalist articles and substack like sources, along with a significant number of interviews. It did make me enjoy my girl groups that little bit less because it was harder to ignore certain things while reading a book highlighting them.
The Golem and the Jinni, by Helene Wecker: At the turn of the century, a golem and a jinni show up in NYC and learn to live among humans.excaliburedpan recommended this after I read When the Angels Left the Old Country. I really enjoyed this! I loved the characters, their complex backstories and flaws. Probably the plot was a bit simple, but it's really an exploration of the various immigrant enclaves of the era and character development with a sprinkle of magic on top. Really rec this if you missed it!
Snow Man i DO ME live DVD: I love the traditional BIG COATS here. So colorful. So fluffy. Also the dedication to color coding and high kicks. I especially enjoyed the fans trying to keep up with the pen light changing choreography ahaha. They look like they're having so much fun performing, which is really what makes watching a concert recording interesting.
I didn't watch their new year countdown show, but watched the parody Bass Bon complete with trash bag and dish glove costume + a full copy of the choreo, and it was so good; in the bottom corner they have the original for comparison.
Chang'an (2023): The story of the historical figures Gao Shi and Li Bai set against Tang poetry. Baby Du Fu is SO cute. It could definitely have used tightening and though they tried to make it more ~dramatic~, it is really a lot of talking and not much plot. The An Lushan rebellion is happening, but the Gao Shi - Li Bai relationship is the emotional core and doesn't change much over the course of the movie. The one scene of the Li Bai poem animated with them flying on the birds is the only big animation 'wow' scene, so if that's what you're here for, you can just watch the clip and skip the rest. Mainly I was impressed at how many of the poems I recognized, which I think is where a not-small amount of the pleasure of the movie is located.
When the Moonlight is Shining 月白之时 (2023): 34 min long GLish mini series with mermaids that is a commercial for the OPPO RENO 11 YUEGUANG BAOSHI. Also, direct and superficial criticism of the nuclear wastewater release situation. On one hand, it's a casual mini series (bf judged the sound effects so hard), but on the other, they got a shot of the betta fish kissing? and trained belugas? So it felt relatively high budget for a mini series. Cute enough anyway.
littlerhymes. I enjoyed most of these, but the longest one, Scars, went on a little too long... Most of them had fantastical elements, centering on those with little power in their world. I think my favorite one was The Embodiment, where taking birth control pills too long leads to pregnancy and then a vaguely comedic interlude as the woman must find a father for the baby. Fiona and Jane, by Jean Chen Ho: Snippets of the lives of two Taiwanese American girls who grew up best friends in LA. I learned about this book from
meitachi here. This was fine? There were a few moments of emotional clarity that were interesting, but as a whole I didn't find it especially compelling. Goddess of Yesterday, by Caroline B. Cooney: Historical fiction around the Trojan war. This was recced by
osprey_archer here. As promised, there were pieces where the protagonist's worldview was really alien -- her absolute conviction in how gods would punish certain things that didn't feel that serious to a modern reader while never questioning all the pirating, the importance of royal blood, etc. Pretty Mary Sue not-like-other-girls-y in a way that made more sense when I realized this came out in 2002. I enjoyed the beginning most, when the protagonist was experiencing culture shock at moving from a tiny island of few people to increasingly larger islands. PS: How can there be so many kings left if they were constantly being killed and their entire villages wiped out... An endless supply of kings.
PPS: Cassandra purposefully prophesying something so it wouldn't be believed is a nice twist.
Flawless: Lessons in Looks and Culture from the K-Beauty Capital by Elise Hu. An overview of the K-beauty industry, as told through the lens of the author's years as a reporter in Korea. From
meitachi's rec. Interesting pieces -- the technological gaze was the big thing it really captured well, along with some fun small details (Thailand's Dengue fever rates going up when Korean hot pants became trendy!). However, I thought it was quite repetitive and could have been tightened significantly. It primarily cites journalist articles and substack like sources, along with a significant number of interviews. It did make me enjoy my girl groups that little bit less because it was harder to ignore certain things while reading a book highlighting them. The Golem and the Jinni, by Helene Wecker: At the turn of the century, a golem and a jinni show up in NYC and learn to live among humans.
excaliburedpan recommended this after I read When the Angels Left the Old Country. I really enjoyed this! I loved the characters, their complex backstories and flaws. Probably the plot was a bit simple, but it's really an exploration of the various immigrant enclaves of the era and character development with a sprinkle of magic on top. Really rec this if you missed it!Snow Man i DO ME live DVD: I love the traditional BIG COATS here. So colorful. So fluffy. Also the dedication to color coding and high kicks. I especially enjoyed the fans trying to keep up with the pen light changing choreography ahaha. They look like they're having so much fun performing, which is really what makes watching a concert recording interesting.
I didn't watch their new year countdown show, but watched the parody Bass Bon complete with trash bag and dish glove costume + a full copy of the choreo, and it was so good; in the bottom corner they have the original for comparison.
Chang'an (2023): The story of the historical figures Gao Shi and Li Bai set against Tang poetry. Baby Du Fu is SO cute. It could definitely have used tightening and though they tried to make it more ~dramatic~, it is really a lot of talking and not much plot. The An Lushan rebellion is happening, but the Gao Shi - Li Bai relationship is the emotional core and doesn't change much over the course of the movie. The one scene of the Li Bai poem animated with them flying on the birds is the only big animation 'wow' scene, so if that's what you're here for, you can just watch the clip and skip the rest. Mainly I was impressed at how many of the poems I recognized, which I think is where a not-small amount of the pleasure of the movie is located.
When the Moonlight is Shining 月白之时 (2023): 34 min long GLish mini series with mermaids that is a commercial for the OPPO RENO 11 YUEGUANG BAOSHI. Also, direct and superficial criticism of the nuclear wastewater release situation. On one hand, it's a casual mini series (bf judged the sound effects so hard), but on the other, they got a shot of the betta fish kissing? and trained belugas? So it felt relatively high budget for a mini series. Cute enough anyway.
no subject
Date: 2024-02-01 09:04 (UTC)I might actually add The Golem and the Jinni to this year's to-read, though it seems a bit long for me... Simple plot is always a plus for me hehe. And it's somewhat reassuring to see that it's an older recommendation.
The one scene of the Li Bai poem animated with them flying on the birds is the only big animation 'wow' scene, so if that's what you're here for, you can just watch the clip and skip the rest.
Lololol. I found this bit rewarding because of the PoV flip so no regrets. XD There were other beautiful animated moments, but I really agree that on the whole it was too much talking/explaining and the embellishments weren't dramatic enough. ;__; I also felt that it was animated and storyboarded like a live action movie but lacked the energy of real people? There were times where I felt "this could be a live action movie" which made me feel kinda bad askdj;afda;a
It was nice to watch this as a group and see the different ways we engaged with it!!! It was educational for me, at least. XD But I definitely don't think I could have finished the entire thing on my own hahahaha.
no subject
Date: 2024-02-01 16:33 (UTC)Yeah, I do think the scene was very rewarding, it was just (as we complained about) the climax and the rest of the movie fell a bit flat after. I think it could have used more embellishment yeah, I wonder if they didn't have enough budget?
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Date: 2024-02-02 06:42 (UTC)Re: Chang'An - there was a scene where they just (in my inexpert eye) duplicated the character models for soldiers which I found unintentionally funny, so I believe you on budget (and maybe time) constraints. XD But on the whole I just found it lacked stronger vision and emotional understanding. I think some of it had to be a stylistic/directorial issue, because I had similar problems with Nezha Reborn (sleek visuals and cool action, but emotionally lacking) by the same team / studio. The animation was technically very clean and pretty but didn't feel right for this type of project.
I also wonder if they didn't want to get too adventurous with the material because they wanted to be an educational movie...
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Date: 2024-02-02 22:36 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-02-01 10:02 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-02-01 16:33 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-02-01 12:36 (UTC)Unfortunately, it's out of print, not available in my library system, and copies appear to be selling for over £60 in the UK...
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Date: 2024-02-01 16:34 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-02-01 17:38 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-02-02 22:37 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-02-01 22:44 (UTC)Meanwhile, I've read something else translated by Anton Hur and remember enjoying it, so I'll try his taste again if I can find this at a library.
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Date: 2024-02-02 22:38 (UTC)Yeah, Hur seems to be a good translator!
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Date: 2024-02-04 21:53 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-02-04 22:12 (UTC)