For the past year or so, Mrs. Fly and I have enjoyed watching Korean dramas in our spare time.  We used to rent American movies from Netflix, but they grew a little tiresome.  Since we both immigrated to the US when we were around 6 years old, we don't have super strong ties to Korean culture.  But one day we decided to rent a Korean movie from Netflix and found that it was nice change of pace, so we watched a bunch more.  The *one* movie that really stands out is Old Boy - a psychological drama.  The director is one of Quentin Tarantino's favorites, so if you like some of his stuff, you should give it a looksie.  It won an award at the Cannes Film Festival and it's gotten high marks from Ebert, Rotten Tomatoes and CNN.

So after a while, we saw most of the Korean movies worth watching on Netflix, and we decided to give the Korean dramas a try.  I remember my parents watching Korean dramas when I was younger, and I thought it was *unbelievably* lame.  But within the last 7-10 years, Korean dramas have gotten better and are becoming immensely popular all over Asia.  They have even started making its way into the Western markets.  That's probably why Netflix has over a dozen or so Korean dramas (lasting from 16 - 60+ hours each).

Two reasons we watch them is because we feel a cultural tie and we get some language practice.  But we would probably still watch some of them even if we weren't Korean.  Sometimes, a foreign language movie once in a while can be entertaining.  A few months ago, we watched a Swedish movie "The Girl with the Dragoon Tattoo" and thought that was pretty good.

FLYS' THREE FAVORITE KOREAN DRAMAS

This is a bit of a flyer, but in case any of you guys get tired of watching Snooki get punched in the face (I know - how can that ever get tiresome?!?), or you are a Dallas Cowboys or Buffalo Bills fan and need something non-violent to do on Sundays...  here are our three favorites (from the 15 or so that we've seen):

3. Boys Over Flowers (romantic comedy) - the premise is *unbelievably* stupid and some of the acting is very affected, but all the cute "high school" girls in short skirts will help you get past the first few episodes, and then the story becomes more entertaining.  Then it gets a little slow again, and then the heroine starts wearing a French maid outfit for a few episodes so it becomes all good again.  On a more serious note, it probably gives you a more "modern" look at how Koreans of differing socio-economic statuses live.

2. My Girl (romantic comedy) - Nothing really to say, other than we like romances, and this is our favorite.  It kind of drags on in the middle, but I guess that is to be expected when you have to fill 16 hours of air time.  Probably also has the best Korean soundtrack we've heard (Boys Over Flowers would be a close second).

1. Chuno (historical action) - A few weeks ago, Mrs. Fly and I stayed up ALL NIGHT!  That's just how The Fly rolls, baby!  But um... we watched 9 episodes of Chuno because we couldn't stop watching.  It's got some martial arts, and the story is pretty good.  It also gives you an idea of what Korean culture and costumes were like way back in the day.  And all that political plotting, class system, etc probably explains why Korea was a chronic invadee, rather than an invader for five millenia.  There are a few cultural and historical references you may not get, but I think you'll still enjoy it.

Right now we're watching one called Iris, a spy drama, that looks like it has the potential to be in the top 3.  Anyway, if you're bored, just watch one or two episodes and see if you like it.  We go thru a site called www.dramafever.com to watch.  We pay the $4 a month or whatever to watch commercial free, but if I were you, I would probably watch an episode or two for free (with commercials) just to see if you like it.  They are also on www.crunchyroll.com and www.hulu.com for free with subtitles.