At The Box Office: ‘Our Unwritten Seoul'
Swift said that this is 'by far the best k-drama of the year' despite the fact that there are currently only two episodes out. Why?
Those episodes were 'so moving and have stuck in my mind.'
This show follows a woman with a corporate job in Seoul, and a sister that works odd-jobs outside of the city. Both have different pressures and expectations in life, which is why they decide to swap careers.
Despite the premise, 'There is nothing goofy about this show.'
The writer captures sibling dynamics that 'push our buttons' in realistic ways. Additionally, the show gives commentary on capitalistic gain and life satisfaction.
'It's a special show,' Swift concluded. Anyone interested can catch up on 'Our Unwritten Seoul' before the next batch of episodes premier on Netflix.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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New York Times
44 minutes ago
- New York Times
‘Real-life Happy Gilmore': Meet the hockey player who inspired the Adam Sandler movies
One day, in early 1995, Kyle McDonough had a catch-up conversation with an old buddy. A star center for the University of Vermont hockey team from 1985-89, McDonough was establishing himself as one of the best players in Norway's top professional league at the time. On the other side of an ocean, the friend was making waves in his own line of work and wanted to share some good news. Advertisement 'Remember that movie that we talked about?' Adam Sandler asked McDonough. 'We're filming it.' Set to shoot in Vancouver that summer, the project starred Sandler as a washed-out hockey player who becomes a world-class golfer after learning that his lone on-ice skill — a booming slap shot — translates to the tee box. It wasn't a huge commercial success upon its February 1996 release, grossing less than $40 million in North American theaters. But 'Happy Gilmore' proved pivotal for Sandler on his path to becoming one of the most bankable, beloved presences in comedic history, starring in projects that earned more than $3 billion at worldwide box offices and signing a recent Netflix deal worth $250 million for four films — including the hotly anticipated 'Happy Gilmore 2,' which debuted last week. And it all might have never happened without the elementary school classmate from New Hampshire known to Sandler as simply 'McD,' the guy who inspired the original 'Happy Gilmore' on a Manchester driving range some five decades ago and remains a close friend. 'You got to talk to Kyle McDonough?' Sandler said at the start of a conversation with The Athletic, a day before the sequel's release. 'The best. The king.' McDonough and Sandler first met in the early 1970s, when Sandler's family moved from New York to Manchester. Sandler was 5, McDonough was six months older. They were tight from the jump; McDonough and another friend, Sandler said, walked him to school each day 'just so I could feel comfortable.' That scored McDonough major points with Sandler's mother, Judy. '(McDonough) was talked about in my house like (he) raised me,' Sandler said. McDonough came from a family of athletes: Older brother Hubie wound up playing 195 NHL games for the Kings, Islanders and Sharks. Their father, also named Hubie, 'was a coach of everything,' Kyle said. Advertisement The family, Sandler said, would drive around Manchester in an old Volkswagen bus filled with sports equipment for seemingly every occasion — and it showed. 'Any sport we did, Kyle became better than everybody,' Sandler said. 'Best baseball player. Best football player when we were screwing around. Best hockey player by far. Could do the most chin-ups. Could do the most push-ups. Was jacked when he was 8. 'He was just the biggest stud and the nicest, humblest guy in the neighborhood. … My family loved Kyle's family. The whole family loved him.' Nobody liked Kyle more than Stan Sandler. When Adam was about 12, a conversation between father and son turned into a discussion about the latter's future. 'I go, 'I dunno Dad, I was thinking maybe a pro baseball player,'' Sandler said. 'And he goes '…Nah. That's not gonna happen. You're too slow. It could happen for Kyle McDonough, though.' 'I was like, 'Yeah, I know (that) could happen. Maybe for the both of us, man.' ''Nah. Just Kyle.'' It made sense, then, that McDonough was invited along for one of the Sandlers' early trips to the local driving range when Stan was just starting to get into golf. The first time McDonough stepped to the tee, to hear Sandler tell the story, was all it took for the seed of a movie premise to plant itself. 'He was hitting them as a young kid far enough for everybody at the range to turn their heads and go, 'What's he doing that I'm not doing?'' Sandler said. Stan Sandler's hypothesis, both that day and as the years went on, was that McDonough's hockey skill and muscles — especially in his wrists — helped him immediately thrive with a club instead of a stick. McDonough continued golfing with the Sandlers. After losing his own driver, he once even borrowed Stan's for a long-shot competition … and won. But his legacy in the sport was cemented years later, when Sandler reached into their shared past and began crafting a script about a hockey player with preternatural driving talents. 'It's a great story,' said Tim Herlihy, Sandler's longtime writing partner. 'It's great that there's a real-life Happy Gilmore.' By 1994, Sandler was acting as a regular cast member on 'Saturday Night Live' and already working with Herlihy on a second movie — even before their first, 'Billy Madison,' had been released. If Sandler's pivot from television sketch comedy to feature films was going to happen, it needed to be then. Advertisement 'They probably wouldn't have let us make another movie if we waited until 'Billy' came out to start 'Happy,'' Herlihy said. 'We needed to come up with an idea for a movie and we had nothing. So (Sandler) said, 'I actually went golfing with Kyle McDonough once. And he was whacking it. It was his first time ever playing, and he was hitting it farther than me. What about a hockey player in the golf world?' 'And that was it. It was right there.' Herlihy, of course, had already heard the lore about the McDonough brothers — he and Sandler roomed together at NYU, an easy drive for some of the latter's New Hampshire buddies. 'They drank the town dry,' Herlihy said. 'But they talked about Kyle and Hubie like they were the superstars of Manchester. These guys were just legendary.' Premiering in summer 1995, 'Billy Madison' underwhelmed at the box office and with critics. But 'Happy Gilmore' was far enough along for Sandler to break the news to McDonough. The film was shot in British Columbia, and McDonough made the trip. He spent a week watching Sandler on set and crashing with him at his hotel. 'I'm going, 'I guess this is really happening',' McDonough said. The movie went on to significantly out-earn its $12 million budget, guaranteeing Sandler and Herlihy more work. Over time, cable channels and DVD sales have turned 'Happy Gilmore' into one of the most beloved comedies of its time — and made the name synonymous with a rage-case, alligator-wrestling golfer who takes a running start on his tee shots and winds up as if preparing to hit a one-timer on the ice. But the real-life and fictional Happy Gilmores are far from perfect analogues. McDonough's hockey resume is proof. At Vermont, he led the Catamounts in scoring three out of four seasons; helped the Division 1 program make the NCAA Tournament for the first time; and earned All-American honors as a senior. Only five players in program history have logged more career points, and one is Hockey Hall of Famer Martin St. Louis. Advertisement Given McDonough's temperament – humble and mild-mannered, a coach's son – some tweaks were necessary for comedy's sake. Sandler pulled from the other hockey players he grew up with in Manchester. 'They were brawlers and ready to go and could knock back drinks, and I thought it would be funny to see that style of a guy on tour with the other dudes,' Sandler said. 'I thought the reason my guy could play was because he bangs them so long that he had an advantage. 'And that was Kyle. His first hit was always 80 yards longer than anyone else.' They also decided to play up what Herlihy called 'the blunt instrument of the temper issue,' which came naturally to Sandler. McDonough, on the other hand, never fought a coach at tryouts: 'I got cut (from a team), but not like that,' he said. Nor did he ever take off his skate and try to stab someone with it. 'We have to draw the line somewhere,' he said. Sandler's knock-kneed skating on camera was another differentiation point. 'God, that was hard to watch,' McDonough said.' I tell everyone, '(Sandler) took poetic license with that.'' Asked to scout himself as a hockey player, McDonough, who was listed at 5-feet-9 in college, showed some of the humility that Sandler mentioned. 'He's quicker than he is fast. He'll beat you to that puck right there, but down the ice, it's not gonna happen. He skates a little funny,' McDonough said. McDonough wound up playing overseas for 13 years. He piled up points across Europe — Denmark, Scotland, Sweden — but made his biggest mark with Frisk Asker in Norway's top league, scoring 33 or more goals in three of his six seasons there and leading the franchise to a championship in 2001-02 before retiring. The closest he came to Gilmore as a hockey player, McDonough said, was during one of those Norway seasons when he led the league in penalties. Naturally, he also won its scoring title. Every year, his students sniff out the Sandler connection. Typically, it doesn't happen until after Christmas. Then someone lands on the correct search results, or sifts through the entirety of the DVD special features on YouTube. And the whispers begin. For his part, McDonough leans in. Now a high school social studies teacher in Manchester, he appreciates the cachet — even if he refuses to directly answer their questions. Advertisement '(I) kind of play it off. I'll deny it,' McDonough said. 'They know that (Sandler) came from here, so it's plausible. All I say is, 'Someone had to go to first grade with him, right?'' Nearly 30 years after Happy Gilmore sank a circus shot with a hockey stick putter to win the gold jacket at the Tour Championship in the original movie, the sequel features a stronger hockey presence. Retired NHLers Sean Avery and Chris Chelios play a pair of bodyguards, credited as Henchman No. 1 and Henchman No. 2. Happy has four sons — all hockey players. He golfs in updated Bruins gear on the screen and, in character at last month's NHL Draft, announced Boston's first-round pick. That player, James Hagens, later met Sandler at the New York premiere of 'Happy Gilmore 2.' The movie also attracted extra attention for its sheer tonnage of celebrity cameos and family-reunion vibes. Bad Bunny is Happy's caddie! John Daly lives in Happy's garage! Travis Kelce gets (redacted) by a (redacted)! Sandler's daughters! Herlihy's son! All pop up, in some fashion. So does McDonough, who made the final cut as a caddie for Charles Howell III. He attended the premiere, too, where he was particularly excited to talk to Judy Sandler. Stan Sandler passed away in 2003 at 68, three years after Sandler released a spoken comedy album called 'Stan and Judy's Kid.' 'I hate to say it, it's so cliché: (Sandler) is one of the guys,' McDonough said. 'I've never been with him where he said no to a picture. And it's everywhere. It's constant. It's so unbelievable. How he's stayed like he is, is just baffling. It comes back to Stan and Judy.' Given the sequel's summer publicity rounds — Sandler mentioned McDonough's name on the Kelce brothers' podcast, for one — the whispers around the real-life Happy Gilmore might start earlier than normal when school begins on Sept. 5. Another recent development for McDonough: After more than 20 years on the bench, including for his former high school and current employer at Manchester Memorial, he's done as a hockey coach. Now, he coaches golf. (Illustration: Kelsea Petersen / The Athletic; Archive Photos / Getty)
Boston Globe
2 hours ago
- Boston Globe
Tariffs threaten Asian beauty product boom in US
Asian skin care has been a booming global business for a more than a decade, with consumers in Europe, North and South America, and increasingly the Middle East, snapping up creams, serums and balms from South Korea, Japan and China. In the United States and elsewhere, Korean cosmetics, or K-beauty for short, have dominated the trend. A craze for all-in-one 'BB creams' — a combination of moisturizer, foundation and sunscreen — morphed into a fascination with 10-step rituals and ingredients like snail mucin, heartleaf and rice water. Advertisement Vehicles and electronics may be South Korea's top exports to the U.S. by value, but the country shipped more skin care and cosmetics to the U.S. than any other last year, according to data from market research company Euromonitor. France, with storied beauty brands like L'Oreal and Chanel, was second, Euromonitor said. Advertisement Statistics compiled by the U.S. International Trade Commission, an independent federal agency, show the U.S. imported $1.7 billion worth of South Korean cosmetics in 2024, a 54% increase from a year earlier. 'Korean beauty products not only add a lot of variety and choice for Americans, they really embraced them because they were offering something different for American consumers,' Mary Lovely, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, said. Along with media offerings such as 'Parasite' and 'Squid Games,' and the popularity of K-pop bands like BTS, K-beauty has helped boost South Korea's profile globally, she said. 'It's all part and parcel really of the same thing,' Lovely said. 'And it can't be completely stopped by a 25% tariff, but it's hard to see how it won't influence how much is sold in the U.S. And I think what we're hearing from producers is that it also really decreases the number of products they want to offer in this market.' Senti Senti, a retailer that sells international beauty products at two New York boutiques and through an e-commerce site, saw a bit of 'panic buying' by customers when Trump first imposed punitive tariffs on goods from specific countries, manager Winnie Zhong said. The rush slowed down after the president paused the new duties for 90 days and hasn't picked up again, Zhong said, even with Trump saying on July 7 that a 25% tax on imports from Japan and South Korea would go into effect on Aug. 1. Japan, the Philippines and Indonesia subsequently reached agreements with the Trump administration that lowered the tariff rates their exported goods faced — in Japan's case, from 25% to 15% — still higher than the current baseline of 10% tariff. Advertisement But South Korea has yet to clinch an agreement, despite having a free trade agreement since 2012 that allowed cosmetics and most other consumer goods to enter the U.S. tax-free. Since the first store owned by Senti Senti opened 16 years ago, beauty products from Japan and South Korea became more of a focus and now account for 90% the stock. The business hasn't had to pass on any tariff-related costs to customers yet, but that won't be possible if the products are subject to a 25% import tax, Zhong said. 'I'm not really sure where the direction of K-beauty will go to with the tariffs in place, because one of the things with K-beauty or Asian beauty is that it's supposed to be accessible pricing,' she said. Devoted fans of Asian cosmetics will often buy direct from Asia and wait weeks for their packages to arrive because the products typically cost less than they do in American stores. Rather than stocking up on their favorite sunscreens, lip tints and toners, some shoppers are taking a pause due to the tariff uncertainty. Los Angeles resident Jen Chae, a content creator with over 1.2 million YouTube subscribers, has explored Korean and Japanese beauty products and became personally intrigued by Chinese beauty brands over the last year. When the tariffs were first announced, Chae temporarily paused ordering from sites such as a shopping platform owned by an e-commerce company based in Hong Kong. She did not know if she would have to pay customs duties on the products she bought or the ones brands sent to her as a creator. Advertisement 'I wasn't sure if those would automatically charge the entire package with a blanket tariff cost, or if it was just on certain items,' Chae said. On its website, YesStyle says it will give customers store credit to reimburse them for import charges. At Ohlolly, an online store focused on Korean products, owners Sue Greene and Herra Namhie are taking a similar pause. They purchase direct from South Korea and from licensed wholesalers in the U.S., and store their inventory in a warehouse in Ontario, California. After years of no duties, a 25% import tax would create a 'huge increase in costs to us,' Namhie said. She and Greene made two recent orders to replenish their stock when the tariffs were at 10%. But they have put further restocks on hold 'because I don't think we can handle 25%,' Namhie said. They'd have to raise prices, and then shoppers might go elsewhere. The business owners and sisters are holding out on hope the U.S. and Korea settle on a lower tariff or carve out exceptions for smaller ticket items like beauty products. But they only have two to four months of inventory in their warehouse. They say that in a month they'll have to make a decision on what products to order, what to discontinue and what prices will have to increase. Rachel Weingarten, a former makeup artist who writes a daily beauty newsletter called 'Hello Gorgeous!,' said while she's devoted to K-beauty products like lip masks and toner pads, she doesn't think stockpiling is a sound practice. 'Maybe one or two products, but natural oils, vulnerable packaging and expiration dates mean that your products could go rancid before you can get to them,' she said. Advertisement Weingarten said she'll still buy Korean products if prices go up, but that the beauty world is bigger than one country. 'I'd still indulge in my favorites, but am always looking for great products in general,' she said. Bhasin, in Menlo Park, California, plans to keep buying her face masks too, even if the price goes up, because she likes the quality of Korean masks. 'If prices will go up, I will not shift to U.S. products,' she said. 'For face masks, I feel there are not a ton of solid and reliable substitutes in the U.S.' AP audience engagement editor Karena Phan in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
San Francisco Chronicle
2 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Tariffs threaten Asian beauty product boom in US
NEW YORK (AP) — When Amrita Bhasin, 24, learned that products from South Korea might be subject to a new tax when they entered the United States, she decided to stock up on the sheet masks from Korean brands like U-Need and MediHeal she uses a few times a week. 'I did a recent haul to stockpile,' she said. 'I bought 50 in bulk, which should last me a few months.' South Korea is one of the countries that hopes to secure a trade deal before the Aug. 1 date President Donald Trump set for enforcing nation-specific tariffs. A not-insignificant slice of the U.S. population has skin in the game when it comes to Seoul avoiding a 25% duty on its exports. Asian skin care has been a booming global business for a more than a decade, with consumers in Europe, North and South America, and increasingly the Middle East, snapping up creams, serums and balms from South Korea, Japan and China. In the United States and elsewhere, Korean cosmetics, or K-beauty for short, have dominated the trend. A craze for all-in-one 'BB creams' — a combination of moisturizer, foundation and sunscreen — morphed into a fascination with 10-step rituals and ingredients like snail mucin, heartleaf and rice water. Vehicles and electronics may be South Korea's top exports to the U.S. by value, but the country shipped more skin care and cosmetics to the U.S. than any other last year, according to data from market research company Euromonitor. France, with storied beauty brands like L'Oreal and Chanel, was second, Euromonitor said. Statistics compiled by the U.S. International Trade Commission, an independent federal agency, show the U.S. imported $1.7 billion worth of South Korean cosmetics in 2024, a 54% increase from a year earlier. 'Korean beauty products not only add a lot of variety and choice for Americans, they really embraced them because they were offering something different for American consumers,' Mary Lovely, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, said. Along with media offerings such as 'Parasite' and 'Squid Games,' and the popularity of K-pop bands like BTS, K-beauty has helped boost South Korea's profile globally, she said. 'It's all part and parcel really of the same thing,' Lovely said. 'And it can't be completely stopped by a 25% tariff, but it's hard to see how it won't influence how much is sold in the U.S. And I think what we're hearing from producers is that it also really decreases the number of products they want to offer in this market.' Senti Senti, a retailer that sells international beauty products at two New York boutiques and through an e-commerce site, saw a bit of 'panic buying' by customers when Trump first imposed punitive tariffs on goods from specific countries, manager Winnie Zhong said. The rush slowed down after the president paused the new duties for 90 days and hasn't picked up again, Zhong said, even with Trump saying on July 7 that a 25% tax on imports from Japan and South Korea would go into effect on Aug. 1. Japan, the Philippines and Indonesia subsequently reached agreements with the Trump administration that lowered the tariff rates their exported goods faced — in Japan's case, from 25% to 15% — still higher than the current baseline of 10% tariff. But South Korea has yet to clinch an agreement, despite having a free trade agreement since 2012 that allowed cosmetics and most other consumer goods to enter the U.S. tax-free. Since the first store owned by Senti Senti opened 16 years ago, beauty products from Japan and South Korea became more of a focus and now account for 90% the stock. The business hasn't had to pass on any tariff-related costs to customers yet, but that won't be possible if the products are subject to a 25% import tax, Zhong said. 'I'm not really sure where the direction of K-beauty will go to with the tariffs in place, because one of the things with K-beauty or Asian beauty is that it's supposed to be accessible pricing,' she said. Devoted fans of Asian cosmetics will often buy direct from Asia and wait weeks for their packages to arrive because the products typically cost less than they do in American stores. Rather than stocking up on their favorite sunscreens, lip tints and toners, some shoppers are taking a pause due to the tariff uncertainty. Los Angeles resident Jen Chae, a content creator with over 1.2 million YouTube subscribers, has explored Korean and Japanese beauty products and became personally intrigued by Chinese beauty brands over the last year. When the tariffs were first announced, Chae temporarily paused ordering from sites such as a shopping platform owned by an e-commerce company based in Hong Kong. She did not know if she would have to pay customs duties on the products she bought or the ones brands sent to her as a creator. 'I wasn't sure if those would automatically charge the entire package with a blanket tariff cost, or if it was just on certain items,' Chae said. On its website, YesStyle says it will give customers store credit to reimburse them for import charges. At Ohlolly, an online store focused on Korean products, owners Sue Greene and Herra Namhie are taking a similar pause. They purchase direct from South Korea and from licensed wholesalers in the U.S., and store their inventory in a warehouse in Ontario, California. After years of no duties, a 25% import tax would create a 'huge increase in costs to us,' Namhie said. She and Greene made two recent orders to replenish their stock when the tariffs were at 10%. But they have put further restocks on hold "because I don't think we can handle 25%,' Namhie said. They'd have to raise prices, and then shoppers might go elsewhere. The business owners and sisters are holding out on hope the U.S. and Korea settle on a lower tariff or carve out exceptions for smaller ticket items like beauty products. But they only have two to four months of inventory in their warehouse. They say that in a month they'll have to make a decision on what products to order, what to discontinue and what prices will have to increase. Rachel Weingarten, a former makeup artist who writes a daily beauty newsletter called 'Hello Gorgeous!,' said while she's devoted to K-beauty products like lip masks and toner pads, she doesn't think stockpiling is a sound practice. 'Maybe one or two products, but natural oils, vulnerable packaging and expiration dates mean that your products could go rancid before you can get to them,' she said. Weingarten said she'll still buy Korean products if prices go up, but that the beauty world is bigger than one country. 'I'd still indulge in my favorites, but am always looking for great products in general,' she said. Bhasin, in Menlo Park, California, plans to keep buying her face masks too, even if the price goes up, because she likes the quality of Korean masks.
