#70 | "Better Late Than Single" charts, "Low Life" premieres

IN THIS ISSUE:

• “Better Late Than Single”: first impressions are deceiving

• That awful English dialog in “Squid Game 3”

• VOD: “Dark Nuns,” “The Priests,” “Harbin”

• Torrential rains, severe flooding slam Korea

PREMIERES

• July 16 “Low Life” (Disney+/Hulu)

• July 18 “Wall To Wall” (Netflix)[feature]

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Latest premieres Ryu Seung-ryong (“Chicken Nugget”), Im Soo-jung (“Single In Seoul”), and Jang Ki-yong (“Doona!”) go treasure hunting in 1970s Korea in webtoon-turned-Kdrama “Low Life,” which comes from “Big Bet” writer-director Kang Yoon-sung. 

Housing woes plague Woo-sung (Kang Ha-neul, “Tastefully Yours”) in feature thriller “Wall To Wall.” It’s from “Unlocked” filmmaker Kim Tae-joon, so expect a swiftly-paced narrative and likely some social commentary on housing and class.

What I’m watching Eternal singles mingling in “Better Late Than Single” after getting makeovers and some coaching. What stands out: first impressions are miles away from where our singles’ hearts will travel. (Rewatching the first episode after getting a handful of eps in, sooo fun.)

Now on VOD 2015’s exorcism thriller “The Priests” and its recent sequel “Dark Nuns” are now available on Viki (US); “The Priests” has also been released on DVD and Blu-Ray on Amazon.

“Dark Nuns” had far more to say than expected. Song Hye-kyo and Jeon Yeo-been as nuns fighting to complete an unapproved exorcism said much about navigating multiple structures of hierarchy, along with shamanism, modern medicine, and conflicting beliefs: Catholicism, the patriarchy (within Catholicism and Korean culture), and the role of women in society, to name a few. (Sociologists, have at it.)

And I just spotted “Harbin,” the unflinching feature about Korean independence fighters starring Hyun Bin, Park Jung-min, Lee Dong-wook, and Jeon Yeo-been, is on Disney+/Hulu.

About season three of “Squid Game” I made my way through the final chapter, while skipping thru some of the hand-to-hand belligerence.

Key takeaways: Performances by Lee Jung-jae and Kang Ae-shim, shine. Jun-ho’s (Wi Ha-jun) character payoff was sorely nonexistent. Most of the players’ ultimate fates were appropriately poetic. So what did it all mean? My interpretation is that the game’s creator - in a very dark, twisted way - actually wanted to be proven wrong and to restore their own faith in humanity.

However, I did not care for the ending, the unanswered questions, and found our lead character, Ki-hun’s final trajectory, oh-so-painfully lacking. Sigh.

But perhaps its biggest crime? Deplorably overacted, poorly written, cringe-worthy English dialog in the scenes with Western characters.

Others have mentioned its awful [note: these linked articles contain spoilers]: dubbing, inaccurate subtitles, the use of Google Translate(!), and the inauthenticity in Western shows making the same mistakes. It’s jarring to witness something egregiously bad happen within something that’s good; great measures have been taken to produce this believable world, but with a terrible drop in quality - in acting and direction - believability, and high production value, abruptly disintegrates.

(Maybe) Hotter take: just like the deadly game caters to Western “VIP” characters, what’s creator Hwang Dong-hyuk saying about Korea and the West? Are the Western characters as caricatures, intentional or not? Either way, one might interpret volumes about the worldview presented.

Wednesday-Thursday July 16-17
“The First Night With The Duke” (KBS)(Viki)
“Low Life” (Disney+/Hulu)

Friday-Saturday July 18-19
“Our Movie” (SBS)(Disney/Hulu)

Saturday-Sunday July 19-20
“For Eagle Brothers” (KBS)(Viki)
“Good Boy” (JTBC)(Amazon Prime Video)
“Law and The City” (tvN)(Viki)

Monday-Tuesday July 21-22
“Head Over Heels” (tvN)(Amazon Prime Video)

(*Streaming platforms shown are for U.S. only; distributors vary by country.)

KDRAMA/FILM/TV/ETC.

Among Top 10 Global Titles Today (7/17/25) 🌎 “Squid Game 3,” “Head Over Heels,” “Good Boy.” FlixPatrol 

Netflix’s Global Top 10 Non-English TV (July 7-13): “Squid Game 3” (#1) “Squid Game 2" (#5), “Squid Game” (#7), “Better Late Than Single” (#10).

Korea’s watching: 📺 (July 7-13) “For Eagle Brothers,” “Good Boy,” “Law and the City.” dramabeans

🇰🇷 box office 🍿: “Jurassic World Rebirth,” “Superman,” “Noise.” Variety

“Physical: 100” is getting spinoff versions for the US, Europe, and Asia. Deadline

“Kian’s Bizarre B&B” is getting a second season. ABS-CBN

OTT NEWS ETC.

‘But I must have the DVD’ In our current era of streaming, physical DVDs still have a consumer following; you actually do own it. (Also: maybe keep those DVD players before they go extinct.) NYT

2025 Emmys Announced Tuesday, “Severance” and “The Studio” dominate this year’s noms, the award show airs September 14. (“Squid Game 3” is eligible for next year’s awards.) AP

The state of the industry Global theater admissions are up 8% this year (but still lower than prepandemic), movies are making less money, Netflix is losing some of its dominance. Bloomberg

ICYMI: Indie film’s power distribs Neon, Mubi, and A24 are making moves - scaling in-house productions and IP - each with distinctive catalogs, targeted markets, and merch. THR

YouTube on the Croisette The world’s most watched streamer is heading to MIPCOM in October. THR

SOUTH KOREA NEWS 🇰🇷

Severe flooding, torrential rains Heavy rain has battered central Korea, resulting in severe flooding, closures, landslides, evacuations, suspended rail services, and claiming four lives. TKH

30,000 KRW watermelons The weather and supply disruptions have pushed watermelon prices to an average of 30,000 KRW each (about $22 USD), a 36% jump. ChosunBiz

Convenience stores flourish overseas Convenience stores-turned-microcosms of Korean culture, are doing well abroad. KEDGlobal

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