Ji Chang Wook 지창욱 - Upcoming Dramas: "The Queen Woo" (우씨왕후) (TVING) / "Bulk" (벌크) (JTBC) / Upcoming Movie "Revolver" (리볼버)

[cherkell]

 

[Mai Stars]

Hello again!  Time for a brief synopsis of Episode 7 of Melting Me Softly.  I am doing this, not so much as to explain or retell the drama, but to highlight what I found interesting, charming, and funny.  Things that I put in here are in order and can give you an idea of what the plot is, but I am leaving a lot out.  Some spoilers but not a lot...just high points. 

 

One of the first things that happens in Episode 7 doesn't seem to have any connection with anything else that has gone on, but is such a delightful visual that it can just be accepted for what it is!

 

 

Then next we get a startling revelation from Ma Dong Chan.  Ha Yeong has asked him to "start again" so that she can counter any bitterness he has toward her, but his answer is devastatingly honest, and to his disadvantage.  Link: because gfycat isn't working right....

https://gfycat.com/nextboringatlanticsharpnosepuffer

 

Later on he continues hounding Mi Ran, keeping tabs on her health, and generally annoying her.  These conversations are what you could call "circumlocutions" and fit the "push you, pull me" effect off their growing interest in each other.  It definitely isn't love at first sight.

Link: because gfycat isn't working right.

https://gfycat.com/hospitablelavishfalcon

 

 

More under the spoiler :

Spoiler

Again he corners Mi Ran with stern warnings about how she is to tell him everything, regardless of what other things he may be doing....and forbids watching erotic videos.

https://gfycat.com/idealconstantkite

 

As Ep. 7 draws to a close Dong Chan is reconnecting with his family in a way that shows he is not completely the selfish, immature person he at first made himself out to be.

https://gfycat.com/clearcutimprobableharborporpoise

 

But at the end of Ep. 7 it is Mi Ran who throws him quite an unexpected curve.

https://gfycat.com/ableperfectgreatwhiteshark

 

I am growing more and more attached to the families; they are people I can relate to. They have warmth and honesty and care very much about the two time travelers in their midst.

[Mai Stars]

Hello, hello.  Time for Melting Me Softly, Episode 8.  This is really a pivotal episode where most all of the relationships (especially between Ma Dong Chan, Mi Ran, and Ha Yeong) become clarified and defined.  We are half way through this 16 episode TV drama, so this is a good time to set down firm boundaries, right?  

 

I'd like to open with a scene that is out of sequence because it sets the tone and the "hook" for many of the things that happened twenty years ago that seem to be working out now in 2019.  Twenty years ago Mi Ran went to a Shaman for advice on whether or not to participate in the freezing project. The answer was a definite YES, and this is why:

https://gfycat.com/unfitoddbassethound

 

Plus, it tickles me that AMEN! is usually what sentient human females with a pulse say when they first set eyes on Ji Chang Wook.  Amen.......I know that vacant yet hypersensitive stare.

 

As Ep. 8 opens, (remember that Ep. 7 ended with Mi Ran impulsively kissing Dong Chan, thinking she was about to die from overheating, and wanting to at least have had the human experience of a kiss) we see the TBO entertainment/variety team being called together for an impromptu sexual harassment meeting.  Who hasn't been to at least one these days?

https://gfycat.com/unpleasantunfiticelandgull

 

And I do believe that this drama takes the NON-PC route of making a slightly sarcastic bit of a social satire case for the reverse of the "Me Too" movement!!!  (Oh, the outrage! But wickedly funny.) 

 

See why under the spoiler! 

 

Spoiler

https://gfycat.com/quaintrashbangeltiger

 

Is Ma Dong Chan easy?  No, no, no.....

https://gfycat.com/defiantdiligentflatfish

 

Finally, though, we get the Million Dollar Question from Ma Dong Chan, or as I like to think of him, Ice Doll.   He asks: If it hadn't been me what would you have done?  Temperatures going up and there is a little ice-melt around everyones edges,

https://gfycat.com/hiddennippycamel

 

The next scene shows Mi Ran's reaction to literally getting robbed by a phone voice phishing scheme,  and her emotional reaction to it.  She says: The world is now a little too overwhelming for me.  He runs to her, frightened and ready to do whatever it takes to save her again.

https://gfycat.com/defiantinsistentheterodontosaurus

 

He finds her vulnerable, and penitent, absolving him of any wrongdoing, and she sincerely wants him to go away.  But, too late...he's crossed over into commitment territory.  Totally.

https://gfycat.com/ornateseriousalbacoretuna

 

 I have left out one very important scene because it involved Dong Chan and Ha Yeong, but not Mi Ran.  It is a beautiful fantasy scene of unrequited love and desire on Ha Yeong's part.  It is well worth seeing, and it was left out only because I wanted to emphasize the feelings between Ice Doll and Mi Ran.  If you haven't watched the drama because you heard things that were not positive, please take the time to see for yourself and judge for yourself.  

[cherkell]

 

[cherkell]

 

[Mai Stars]

Well, isn't this special?  Here I am trying to post a recap of Melting Me Softly Episode 9, and I find all my previous entries built with GfyCat Pro are now either missing, or if they are posted they are now in a small, scrunched up video that is completely impossible to see. Yesterday the previous entries were normal size.  Even trying  to log in to Gfycat is impossible right now.  WTF????  Not cool if you are paying for the service.  I'll be back if and when I can figure out what is wrong.

 

5 Minutes later......EDIT:  Website DownDetector says Gfycat is down, and trying to log in gives a 504 Error

 

3 hours later.....EDIT:  Gfycat website is back up but I have to email support to find out why the posts that were here in Soompi that were ONCE full size got reduced to 1/3 the size for no reason I can discern from reading other info on the website.

 

I have gone back to all my posted Gfycat entries and removed the squashed entries and replaced them with their appropriate link.  I still plan to continue with this explanation of why I liked Melting Me Softly....it just may take a few days longer than planned or anticipated. 

[Mai Stars]

Haven't received any definitive reply from Gfycat, just a request for more information. In the meantime I thought to check with Soompi, too. My Gfycat videos could be considered “reaction GIFs” which are allowed but only if put under a spoiler if there are 3 or more. I tried to adhere to that, too, but in a couple of instances I paired them with a regular GIF. Could this be what tipped the scales?

 

In order to continue with my project I will use what Gfycats I have already created and post links to the Gfycat videos with sound; that will have to do until these questions get answered.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Melting Me Softly, Episode 9, is turning out to be my favorite so far! MMS is much more of a dialogue-centric drama than one built around physical action, but it is still very much a “hero’s journey.” The give-and-take repartee between Mi Ran and Ma Dong Chan is fast, quick-witted, and very distinctively written for each character.

 

(Lord knows, Ji Chang Wook, graceful, fluid and strong as he is, is actually the poster child for the phrase “poetry in motion” but for him action roles may be contraindicated for a while. In the meantime I, at least, can be bought off by clever dialogue and his idiosyncratic acting and even more idiosyncratic hand gestures.)

 

In the drama Dong Chan’s dictatorial questions and answers are designed to keep other staff off balance, especially Mi Ran. As he becomes more and more aware of her as female he also tries hard to avoid that realization, yet he needs to be close to her and to keep her close to him under the guise of their “common destiny.” He teases her unmercifully, annoys her, bosses her, yet draws her closer every time they interact. Even as he is explaining how dangerous it is for the two of them to be close, he has to stand close to her to illustrate. (Hah...cognitive dissonance anyone?) Thus is born the Half-Meter Rule:

https://gfycat.com/acceptablegenerousgalah

 

Mi Ran, for her part probably would like to be more confrontational to him because of his behavior, but slowly realizes how much power she wields just by answering in her low, soft feminine voice.  When she gets her answer to the question of whether or not he is still dating Ha Yeong, her little smile of relief and victory is a cinematic slam-dunk.  In her own quiet way she manages to trip him up into revealing more than he planned to EVER reveal.

 

Meanwhile, back at the office, Mi Ran has unintentionally disrespected the head writer, so a private reprimand/conference is called by Dong Chan: 

https://gfycat.com/elegantdeafeningantarcticgiantpetrel

 

Then he gives her more information for her to use to keep herself in the current universe:

https://gfycat.com/gravebowedcockatoo

 

An "oops" moment that turns into something else:

https://gfycat.com/fluidunequaledasianelephant

 

'Working late' interactions that turn into something else, too:

https://gfycat.com/offensivescaryadouri

Plus, this little scene gives Wook fans another uncommon trait/tic to add to the list of odd things that are in his acting repertoire.  

 

There is much more to Episode 9, but I am a very visually-oriented person and I can't stand all this writing without any pictures!  I gotta go create some pictures!! I'll be back to finish up Episode 9....

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, I came back to finish Episode 9 and had some very nice black and white photos to liven the page and soothe the eyes, but low and behold, the Gfycats are now posting normally again.  Good thing I am typing this in real time, because if I hadn't lived it I don't think I would be believing it even now.  Whatever.......Let's see if things stay this way.  I still have not heard definitely from Gfycat so I don't know why this is happening.

 

There are a couple of scenes in Ep. 9 that involve only Dong Chan and Ha Yeong.  In a previous episode she had found out that he had gone off alone on another location scouting trip and she finagled a way to manage another "business" trip to be able to stay in the same hotel.  She let him know what her room number was, but he never obliged her with a visit.  In Ep. 9 she brings it up and tries to shame him, complaining that her feelings were trampled on when she was ignored.  To Ma Dong Chan's eternal credit, he refuses to lie or to placate her;  he tells it like it was:

https://gfycat.com/fittingforsakenblackbird

She has conveniently not brought her own car to work, so he has to offer to drive her....it's the least he could do.  While she has him trapped in the car, because of her questioning,  he has to tell her the very, very blunt truth. 

https://gfycat.com/splendidinfatuatedhoverfly

 

My esteem for Ma Dong Chan skyrocketed on seeing these two scenes.  He may be heedless, headstrong, opinionated, charismatic, and rightly successful, but he is also a man of high integrity and deep honesty. 

 

Think how dreadful and shabby the drama would have been had he tried to sneak and keep the affections of both women.  It would've been so easy for him to do.... Or how hopeless and resigned they all would have been had he given up his interest in Mi Ran to keep his 20 year old promise to Ha Yeong despite her "lack of enthusiasm" in looking for him.

 

As if hearing and answering my "what if" questions above, Mi Ran gets her answer:

https://gfycat.com/ethicalquickannashummingbird

 

 

 

Then while in the car with Dong Chan, Mi Ran gets a phone call from her Noona admirer; hilarity of the jealous type ensues:

https://gfycat.com/mediumloathsomedanishswedishfarmdog

 

But finally we come to the denouement of Episode 9.  Mi Ran has been outed as the other apocryphal frozen person and as - a shameless person drunk on illicit gains.

 

Ma Dong Chan is appalled.  What does he do?  

https://gfycat.com/evenentirebuck

 

The Half Meter Rule has been finally and irrevocably breached!  

 

[Mai Stars]

This episode opens with a confusing shot of Mi Ran in freezer capsule, only this time she is wearing a different dress and refers to something that (from the viewer's perspective) will happen in the future.  MYSTERY???

 

Melting Me Softly Episode 10 shows how Ma Dong Chan deals with Intern MiRan, who is being thought a "shameless person drunk on illicit gains" because she is allowed to work at TBO. 

 

 After promising MiRan that he will protect her and clear the way for her to do anything she needs to do (because it is all his fault), he is confronted by his staff, who try to read him the riot act and blame him for acting foolishly:

 

 

The questioning continues; he upholds what he did, and tells exactly why he did it.  Ma Dong Chan is a man of his word.  More under the spoiler:

Spoiler

 

His logic is without fault and he wins over his reluctant staff.

 

After this positive interaction with most of the TBO staff, Dong Chan looks for Mi Ran and finds that she has been brought low,  by of all things....the common cold.  He finds her resting in TBO's dormitory. 

 

What happens then is one of the most un-affected and intimate conversations between two lovers that I have ever seen or heard  on screen.  I am switching here from GIFs with no sound to Gfycat videos with sound so that you can hear the dialogue between the two.....

 

https://gfycat.com/impureunconsciouscockerspaniel

https://gfycat.com/honestthatgiraffe

 

Meanwhile, the Professor has been kidnapped and terrorized by the person who wants all of the frozen people to die to keep his own evil secret. 

 

The professor, traumatized and frightened into believing that his experiments don't  bring salvation to humanity but instead bring evil, is about to pull the switch on the other frozen humans when Ma Dong Chan interrupts and stops him!  Ma Dong Chan wants the Professor to save MiRan and himself so they can be "ordinary" and just live:

 

 

 

Then, Episode 10 ends on a VERY creative cinematic note:

 

You have to see it onscreen to get the full effect because this is not your usual romantic ending!!  I throw that out there to those who might have been put off from watching this drama because of the negative reviews.  Don't listen to them....watch and see for yourselves.

[Mai Stars]

Hello, all.  I am working on MMS Episodes 11 and 12,  but I just had to post this link about Ji Chang Wook's  having his palm read by an "old white guy."  It is really a hoot, and quite descriptive of the man Wook!  I don't think the palm reader is really any kind of a devotee of KDrama.....so; I never believed in this stuff before, but I may change my mind.

 

https://youtu.be/syxjvGA9iSY

 

Plus, I wonder if the person who submitted the request got the information she was hoping for! 

[Mai Stars]

Melting Me Softly Ep. 11 is quite busy with many events!

 

 Highlights are 1.) Ma Dong Chan and Mi Ran have their first date. 2.) GoGo99, Mi Ran’s film essay on bringing youth back into the lives of 40 somethings is filmed and a good time is had by all. 3.) Mi Ran’s young college companion becomes an Intern at TBO and learns a lot from Ma Dong Chan, especially how NOT to learn much of anything. 4.) Ha Yeong conspires with The Bad Guy, and Heong Ki shows his true color - Yellow, by planning to steal a couple of programs from TBO to “buy” himself another job at a rival agency. 5.) Mutations occur for our Adam...not a good thing.

 

Mostly though, for this Ji Chang Wook uber fan, it is almost a textbook of Wook-isms, of acting lessons 101. Like a sampler box of expensive candy, take your pick and savor each scene!

 

 

 

Under the spoiler they flirt at work and get busted, they decide that after work they could do...uh, you, know....And on their first date they ice skate:

Spoiler

 

Ma Dong Chan, jealous of the Intern, offers some advice for what to do and not do in the office.

https://gfycat.com/brilliantwindyantlion

 

He and Mi Ran get caught up in the nostalgia that GoGo99 brings:

https://gfycat.com/feistyblushingjabiru

 

He makes a startling "confession" to Mi Ran's ex-boyfriend:

https://gfycat.com/assuredfarflungethiopianwolf

 

However, at the end of the episode there is a scare.  And damn if I don't have a heart attack every time his head hits the hard, hard pavement.  It's only a movie, right?

RANDOM MUTATION!!

 

[siddo]

It was so awesome to see JCW back on screen. Ah! It has been two years since I saw him in a drama.  Sad that MMS didn't fare well as per expectations of many but it was good watching him!

 

BTW Can anyone tell what happened to the other drama which was offered to him simultaneously with this MMS? Name's City of Stars. Is it put on hold? Is Chang Wook still considered for that series?

I don't know why but I desperately wish, he does an antagonist role, something on lines of Min Joon Gook( I can hear your voice) or Cha Min Ho( Defendant) or Nam Gyu Man (Remember). It will be something different from what he usually portrays. He definitely has those villainy looks and acting to pull off a negative character. I hope he does one in future.

[cherkell]

 

[cherkell]

 

[cherkell]

Looks like Uri Wook is in NYC this week!

[Mai Stars]

So good to know Wook is cold but HAPPY. 

 

Reporting on Melting Me Softly, Ep. 12, I find it a strange interlude, possibly because it is so filled with hospital things, unexplained mutations, recoveries from same, growly and ill-tempered Bad Guys, and a cheating and conniving Ha Yeong; there is even one half-hearted but clever car chase.  However, Adam and Eve are closer together than ever. 

 

As Ma Dong Chan recovers in the hospital from his "mutation," Mi Ran sticks to him like glue until he explains he'll never get well because she is too close for comfort and keeps his temperature rising...The words 'like' and 'death' are mentioned which seem to me to be bad form in a hospital near someone with a bizarre condition, but somehow these two manage to pull it off:

https://gfycat.com/radiantidealisticgeese

 

Even though he has sent Mi Ran home, he misses her and checks himself out of the hospital, probably AMA (Against Medical Advice) and meets her running to meet him:

https://gfycat.com/sneakyimpracticalindiancow

 

Back at work, Dong Chan indulges in a fit of jealousy, a much-needed bright spot:

https://gfycat.com/decisiveplumphound

 

Last, but not least, the  new campy duo of Par-r-r-rk Kyung Ja and Son Hyun-Ki discuss various things, including what might be a new type of offspring.

 

 

[cherkell]

 

[cherkell]

 

[cherkell]

 

[Mai Stars]

 

[cherkell]