Like more than 30 million Netflix members, I too have adopted a Binge Routine of:
Series, Movie, Series, Repeat.
First things first ...
Disclaimer: As a Netflix Streamteam member I receive special perks for my streamteam participation, posts and sharing. Of course all opinions are my own. But, the truth is I was a Netflix member and writing my What To Watch Wednesday posts long before I became part of the Netflix Streamteam.
Series - Movie - Series, or what I like to call a Netflix Binge Sandwich ...
The series being the bread with a delicious filling of movies. Alone they're good, but together they compliment each other and become something great. My taste in binge sandwiches tends to be eclectic, especially this time of year with the added flavour of cheesy Holiday shows.
It all started here ...
It was while doing some streaming "research" for my #WhatToWatch posts I developed my current series-movie-series, repeat pairing and binge routine (some would say addiction), which I believe differs slightly from the majority. In fact for ages I knew of only one other person with the same pairing and binge sandwich tastes. The binge bond was immediate! (Fighting!)
Subtitles: feel the fear and stream it anyways!
I 've never shied away from subtitles, and because of this I stumbled upon a Korean Rom-Com series. One lead to another and then another, and soon I ran out of Korean TV Dramas, and moved to other Asian TV Dramas set mostly set in Taiwan (Mandarin) or set in Japan (Japanese). But there's no need to stop there, I've found loads of other great series in other languages Club de Cuervos and Velvet in Spanish, Rita and Dicte in Danish, Deep and Witnesses in French, and a plethora of Bollywood movies.
Ponder this and ponder that ...
Anyways ... back to my Asian TV Dramas. Lately I've been taking note of some differences and similarities between the dramas set in Korea, vs Taiwan vs Japan. And pondering things like:
- Why Roots Canada Apparel appears in every series set in Taiwan (like I mean EVERY one!)
- Why are Koreans and Taiwanese so clumsy? They're constantly tripping or bumping into each other and accidentally kissing? Stunned they seem unable to move from the lip-locked position for ages. Yet their footing is so good while doing martial arts? Hmmm ... ponder ponder.
- Why the spoons in the Korean series are different than the ones in the Taiwanese series?
- Why those cool slipper closets in the Taiwanese series haven't caught on in Korea (or at least not in their TV dramas).
- Why in the Korean series, do some but not all characters turn the faces away to the side or cover their mouth or both when drinking alcohol?
- Why is there so much more tea drinking in the Taiwanese dramas?
- Why the Japanese do not seem to have adapted the most awesome of terms "Fighting" accompanied by a fist pump?
- The rules and customs around name usage: It's clear there are rules about how and when one can shorten a name that indicate either a formal or casual relationship, I just can't figure out what the rules are.
I had no one to talk about these observations and ponderings. The eye rolling evil offspring or Hubby weren't of any use in this area. I thought I was forever destined to ponder these things alone, until one day over breakfast, I casually mentioned my love of Korean TV Drama to a friend, and then one became two. She too craved the delicious taste of an Asian TV Drama sandwich with a Cheesy Rom-Com filing.
It's a thing. Honest!
For ages we went merrily along discussing what series had been recently added, which ones we like best, new items to add to our ponder list, and practising our "Fighting" with fist pump action moves, blissfully unaware it was "a thing". Only much later did I realized the degree of popularity Asian TV Drama had among English-speaking Caucasians. So much so they actually made a funny series about it called Drama World, which just happens to be currently available on Netflix.
Subtitles and Multi-tasking do not go together.
Subtitles require focused streaming, and I like a break between series to watch movies in English (usually cheesy rom-coms) so I can write posts like this one at the same time. Something I can't do while reading subtitles. Lately there has been an abundance of both cheesy rom-coms and Asian TV Dramas so I've been busy trying to watch those and all the fun holiday movies and specials.
Easy as 1, 2, 3 ...
This time of year I take on the 1, 2, 3 approach to series-movie pairing. 1 Asian TV Drama, 2 Cheesy Rom-Coms, 3 Holiday Movies or Specials.
For Example:
With so many great series and movies currently available on Netflix I hope you find your perfect series, movie, series pairings. But just in case you need some inspiration, be sure to check out these fabulous series and movies:
Series
- The Crown (2 thumbs up!)
- Minority Report
- Shetland
- ARQ
- Offspring (2 thumbs up!)
- Death in Paradise
- Uncle
- The Musketeers
- Spotless (2 thumbs up!)
- The Divider
Movies:
- Whisky Tango Foxtrot (2 thumbs up!)
- MI-5
- RED and RED 2
- Mr Right
- The Big Short
- Ant-Man
- Eddie Eagle
- The Heat
- The Fundamentals of Caring (2 thumbs up!)
- Who's Driving Doug (2 thumbs up!)
Yep, just me Cathy thinking out loud about my streaming routine.
Again, full disclosure I receive perks as a Netflix streamteam member for streamteam participation, posts and sharing. My What To Watch posts are not part of my streamteam activities and I am not compensated for these posts. I write and share my What To Watch posts because I believe they are of interest to my readers. The opinions ... well those are all mine!
No comments :
Post a Comment