‘Although There Is Nothing Much Prepared’, the talk show that’s taking off

NoW

Shows, films, books and songs for you

2022.07.29

Credit

Article. Choi Jieun (writer), Im Sooyeon (CINE21 reporter), Seo Seongdeok (music critic), Kim Gyeoul (writer)

Design. Jeon Yurim

Photo Credit. My Alcohol Diary Youtube

Although There Is Nothing Much Prepared

Choi Jieun (writer): At 21 years old, Lee Young Ji has taken Yoo Jae-suk’s words to heart: “Do whatever you want to within the limits of the law.” She now invites people over to her house to make conversation over drinks. Even with the haphazardly hanging bamboo backdrop and the hectic manner in which she cooks, the show now shares the crown with MMTG for most talked-about series among K-pop fans. The conversations flow naturally no matter who is making a guest appearance, and Young Ji has a special talent for complimenting and comforting them without making them feel embarrassed. Her ability to keep the mood light and empathize with the concerns of fellow celebrities allows her guests to open up and makes the drinking sessions fun to watch for both fans of her guests as well as viewers unfamiliar with them. Where else can you see SUNMI giving serious reviews of different types of nipple patches or HOSHI confessing his love for his label in tears after a drinking game and transitioning to a song medley without warning? I just hope Young Ji has a strong liver.

Hansan: Rising Dragon

Im Sooyeon (CINE21 reporter): Hansan: Rising Dragon, the recently released second part in a trilogy of films about Admiral Yi Sun-shin, is set during the Battle of Hansan Island and takes place five years prior to the events of The Admiral: Roaring Currents. The new movie is something of a prequel that looks at how the rise of the dragon—that is, Admiral Yi—came to be after the Japanese invasion of Korea in 1952, known in Korea as the Imjin War. The film is different from its predecessor in that sense as it speculates meticulously on the relationships between its characters, placing this exploration above the spectacle of war in an elaborate imagining of what made Yi’s tactics possible. The first half of the movie plays out like a spy thriller, with Yi (Park Hae-il) and Japanese commander Wakizaka (Byun Yohan) sending spies to try and work out their opponent’s plans as they prepare their own. Notably, the movie cleverly hides its “historical spoilers” by presenting Yi’s tactics only through Wakizaka’s eyes as he comes to understand them, with other crucial information being withheld to keep the plot moving and the film full of tension. Most importantly, Hansan knows exactly what an audience wants from a summer blockbuster. The impressive power of the turtle ships to destroy everything in their path and the pacing that allows for a full display of the effectiveness of the crane-wing formation evokes the same sense of catharsis as in the Outlaws/Roundup series when Don Lee’s character exacts his revenge on the evildoers. The movie is a successful second entry in and a solid centerpiece to a series that will later be completed with the release of Noryang: Sea of Death.

“Undo” (Heize)

Seo Seongdeok (music critic): Song lyrics can, in some cases and for a number of reasons, be a little uncomfortable. Sometimes the lyrics are so toxic they can startle the listener even though the speaker is addressing someone in the song. The same goes for when a song forces its rhymes by using obscure words or awkward sentence structure. It can be difficult to say when it crosses the line between an effective display of emotion and a loss of immersion. But a good example will make the distinction clear. [[~attachment ~laughable]] …In the song “Undo,” Heize uses the word “burden” instead of “inconvenience” and “while laughing” in the place of “while together.” Listeners who follow along with the lyrics will find this novel while the flow of the story remains clear. Even without taking the time to read the lyrics, it’s doubtful anyone would miss what the song is about. You could read them if you wanted to, though. There’s nothing stopping you. There’s nothing dark about the song, so you can keep it in your playlists for a long time. It’s rare to find a pop song that conveys 100% of its meaning without requiring explanation.

When We Call Every Single Being (Bona Park)

Kim Gyeoul (writer): Where does the push to make art originate from? What will artists say when they can’t stop expressing their feelings? If the virtue that makes an artist is moving and being moved by others, they must possess a great perceptibility into the sufferings of others and the likely sufferings of the future, and, on the flip side, they must become the kind of artist who can transcend physical limitations of their own body when they experience the same.

Consider the types of suffering that most strongly resonate with artists today. That could be the prejudice and other forms of discrimination suffered by the underprivileged, the loss of home suffered by diaspora, living only to be slaughtered for meat as in the case of livestock or any living thing led to its death. In the author’s words, they are “the ones whose names have been taken from them and the ones who never had names.” The artists included in this book all shed light on that kind of pain in their own ways: Oscar Santillán holds a performance in the forest with musicians who make the sounds of endangered and extinct Dutch birds using their instruments (The Wandering Kingdoms); Eunji Cho gathers mud from what is suspected to be the burial site of pigs who had been stricken with foot-and-mouth disease, mixes it with pig fat and tosses it against a wall (Metamorphosis_Lard Score); the book’s author and polyartist, after playing what seems like typical sounds that can be heard at a vacation spot, then plays a video revealing that it’s all sound effects being made using unexpected objects (Kotakina Blue 1).

The book is engaging from start to finish, with the table of contents, beginning and ending with “Tree” and arranged in a circle, the carefully selected font for the body text and the author’s sincere, well-organized writing gently guides the reader along. The book is also lightweight, making it a pleasure to carry with you and read at your leisure.