Nina Savino

in MHOP Sayles' best... grief, anger, humor, redemption, characters so real, you want them nextdoor... couldn't ask for better actors, I'm afraid if I say more, I will spoil the film for anyone new

I haven't read the books, so I can't comment on any comparisons about that... Shonda ALWAYS delivers good storyline, witty and smart dialogue, great characters... that said, I am going to stick my neck out here (after reading others opinions, chop away) and say... I likely would have been less disturbed by the portrayal of racial diversity in the early 1800's England, which we do not have nearly enough of in 2020 let alone in 1820, had the show been promoted as "historical fantasy" rather than "historical fiction"... as a person of color myself, I REALLY get the desire and longing for inclusivity and representation... I love Renaissance Faires and dressing up, even though I'm pretty sure Queen Elizabeth had never seen a Japanese person in her entire life. I cannot tell you what a comfort kaiju monster movies were to this biracial kid from the 50's... instead of only ever seeing Asians as bucktoothed cruel and militaristic enemies, I got to see ordinary people that looked like me... albeit they were getting stomped on by outrageously large lizards, moths and aliens... I get it... but I think we do ourselves a disservice re-imagining these splendid times of gentility as being something they were not... yes... there were occasional incursions into European gentility/rank by those of other color or persuasion (Victor Hugo, Belle van Zuylen, Alexander Pushkin, Dumas... fils and pere, possibly Beethoven, Barrett and Browning, Victoria's adoption and acceptance of Hawaiian princess Kaʻiulani, Viscount Aoki in the mid 1800's married into a German noble family, there are more, simply not many) and there are much longer lists of 20th and 21st century interracial marriages among the elite... that said... let us not become deluded into thinking that racial inclusiveness was a norm of any kind in our history, any more than fair and equal social and economic disparity was a part of ANYone's history... Dickens' portrayal of society was, sadly, fiction much closer to fact and I fear storytelling of this sort, when we haven't even done enough homework to get our history books straight, is another form of 'whitewashing'.

this is such a fun show... well made, great chemistry between the actors, fantasy but still very human... it's right up there with my favorite K-dramas

I haven't seen ANY of the remakes... saw this when it first came out in a Golden Harvest theater that I had to drive 75 miles for the ONE showing in the area! SO worth the drive... among the best of that era's HK films

loved it... lush, sensual, lavish and provoking... Ishioka's costuming superbly sets an unearthly dissonance between the savage supernatural and Victorian England

this was the one that got me hooked on the current Kdrama scene... it lives up to all the expectations... the only downside is finding other work just as good... the lead actor Gong Yoo describes this show as a gift he was given... it certainly is... enjoy

among my very favorite K-romcoms... I've now seen it 4 times... just doesn't get old... other people will tell you more about the story... I'm just going to say, see for yourself

not usually a fan of the genre... that said, I was led to this film as a fan of Gong Yoo, and it didn't hurt that I really enjoyed another of the director's films, Snowpiercer. Impeccably performed by a killer ensemble cast, I actually watched a second time on the heels of the first... I was scared angry, outraged, saddened and grateful, as characters unfolded showing layers not expected under the worst of situations.

a damned good action spy espionage piece... I would have given it a 4 1/2 but couldn't figure out how to do that. Hard hitting and non-stop action.

among my very favorite films ever... brilliant all the way around