Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie in Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005)

Steve Carell, Chris Renaud, Jemaine Clement, Miranda Cosgrove, Pierre Coffin, Elsie Fisher, and Dana Gaier in Despicable Me (2010)

Alan Tudyk, Benedict Wong, Gemma Chan, Kelly Marie Tran, Awkwafina, Thalia Tran, and Izaac Wang in Raya and the Last Dragon (2021)

Lorraine Bracco, James Gandolfini, Edie Falco, Steven Van Zandt, Dominic Chianese, Robert Iler, Michael Imperioli, Steve Schirripa, Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Tony Sirico, and Aida Turturro in The Sopranos (1999)

The Oscar-winning film ‘Parasite’ might had opened to the rest of the world on the potential of Korean-language productions. But for anyone like myself coming from Asia, the phenomenon has been there since the turn of the current century when ‘Winter Sonata’ had since came to be known and recognised as the first Korean-language TV drama series to mark the start of the ‘K-wave’ (or the ‘Korean wave’) in Asia, making the rest of Asia see the potential of Korean-language entertainment, whether it is on the small or big screen, or in the world of pop music.

But for those willing to explore beyond ‘Parasite’ and don’t mind the subtitles, the other titles to consider as well. I was in my early teens at the turn of the current century when ‘K-wave’ took off, and so the success of ‘Parasite’ merely confirmed what many of us thought all along of Korean-language entertainment at this part of the world. That it can also hold its own too. 

Pop culture phenomenon can come and go, but Korean-language entertainment still makes its way outside of its home country after so many years where there is always a buzz if a TV drama series or a film which has done well in South Korea and starts to be shown elsewhere as well, and so it says something. That is if you are willing to get past the idea of subtitles, unless you do want to learn the language.

P.S. The subtitles are also how I get by watching what are on here, making me absorbed and involved too.

Song Kang-ho, Jung Ik-han, Jung Hyun-jun, Lee Joo-hyung, Lee Ji-hye, Lee Sun-kyun, Cho Yeo-jeong, Park Myeong-hoon, Park Keun-rok, Jang Hye-jin, Lee Jeong-eun, Choi Woo-sik, Park Seo-joon, Park So-dam, and Jung Ji-so in Parasite (2019)

Titles that I have discovered while being on Netflix. Chances are the foreign-language titles in here were also discovered through there.

Cha Eun-woo and Park Gyuyoung in A Good Day to Be a Dog (2023)

Park Shin-hye and Lee Jong-suk in Pinocchio (2014)

Lists Related to Hotel Del Luna

More to explore

Recently viewed