Nothing much

I'm currently busy watching a Korean drama Be Strong, Geum Soon, which is 163 episodes!!! Now, I'm only in the 20s episodes and I should be able to finish it in 2 weeks. By the time I'm done with this drama, I should be able to start Witch Yoo Hee, Thank You or The Devil. Sigh...so many to watch, so little time!

These Korean actors...

I started to watch Korean dramas since 2002 and my first one was All About Eve. Frankly speaking, I didn't like it that much and I was not completely head over heels over Jang Dong Gun. The next ones that I watched made me had a temporary crush on the actors such as Bae Yong Jun after Hotelier, Kim Jae Won after Wuri's Family and Go Soo after Piano but I didn't have the urge to dig their other works though...

After watching a fair number of K-dramas and K-movies, I'm not embarrassed to admit that I got charmed by quite a few actors. Hehe...here's my list:


Rain/Bi/Jung Ji Hoon (25/06/1982)
First saw him in: Full House
Later saw him in: Sang Doo, Let’s Go To School, A Love To Kill
=> I thought that his hair and wardrobe in Full House is hideous; but how can I not like him when he grins secretly and do those cute grimaces. I like Sang Doo but it’s not a drama that I will rewatch countless times. He looks the best in A Love To Kill but too bad that drama is on the top of my “Don’t waste time on it” list. I so want to go to watch his concert in Toronto!


Hyun Bin (25/09/1982)
First saw him in: My Name Is Kim Sam Soon
Later saw him in: Ireland, Spin Kick, A Millionaire First Love
=> I remember thinking that he looks weird when I first saw him but those dimples...ah! His performance as the arrogant and icy prince is so memorable in Sam Soon and I like him in Ireland although the drama is beyond weird. Still haven't watch Snow Queen yet...


Jung Woo Sung (20/03/1973)
First saw him in: A Moment To Remember
Later saw him in: Musa, Sad Movie, Daisy
=> I think that he’s the best looking Korean actor. He looks handsome in clean shaven look (like in Sad Story) or scruffy look (like in A Moment To Remember). A Moment To Remember tops on my favorite melodrama list.


Chun Jung Myung (29/11/1980)
First saw him in: Fashion 70’s
Later saw him in: Goodbye Solo, What’s Up Fox, The Aggressives, Les Formidables
=> A versatile young talent. From all the things I saw him, he presents himself differently. My heart ache for him as the rebellious son in Fashion 70's and he’s 180 degrees different in What’s Up Fox displaying boyish charms.

Park Gun Hyung (01/11/1977)
First saw him in: Innocent Steps
Later saw him in: Miss Kim’s Adventure in Making A Million, When Spring Comes, Riverbank High
=> I was charmed the moment I saw him dance in Innocent Steps. Innocent Steps still ranks at my top 5 favorite Korean movies, it’s just so sweet and touching! His character in Miss Kim is so bland and boring that I wonder why on earth both ladies were fighting for him...


Kim Ju Hyuk (03/10/1972)
First saw him in: Lovers in Prague
Later saw him in: Singles, Mr.Handy, When Romance Meets Destiny, Blue Swallow, Love Me Not
=> Not the best looking one but I think he's very charismatic. He's so good in portraying deadpan, stony expressions characters. A lot of people didn't like Lovers in Prague but I liked it a lot more than Lovers in Paris thanks to Jun Do Yeon and him.


Lee Dong Wook (06/11/1981)
First saw him in: Alcohol Land
Later saw him in: My Girl, Hanoi Bride, parts of Letters To the Parents, parts of Loving You, Arang
=> I only have vague memory of him in Alcohol Land as the jerk who turned good at the end. It’s My Girl that made me like him. I think that he’s not the best actor out of the bunch since I found him awkward in some scenes in My Girl but Gong Chan sshi is just too irresistible. Later I went to dig his previous dramas but couldn’t finish the majority...


Lee Seo Jin (30/01/1973)
First saw him in: Shooting Stars
Later saw him in: parts of Damo, Lovers, parts of Phoenix, Freeze, Shadowless Sword
=> He was the bad guy in Shooting Stars, the one that I feel like strangling. It wasn’t until Lovers that I’m completely smitten by him, those dimples...ah! He’s just ultra cool and suave as the gangster. I abandoned Damo because I knew the tragic ending in advance, I just don't have the courage to watch it.

*All pics from hancinema.net

200 Pounds Beauty

I saw 200 Pounds Beauty, a Korean movie starring Kim Ah Joong and Joo Jin Mo, which created a lot of buzz last year. I think I also read how plastic surgeons were so busy thanks to this movie. (Ha!)


Synopsis (from http://www.koreanfilm.or.kr)
Hanna is a lip sync vocalist for Ami, the famous Korean pop singer. Even though she is always ignored because of her appearance, she has been a bright and lighthearted girl until Amy humiliates her in front of Sang-jun, her secret love. At last she makes a decision of a lifetime to have plastic surgery all over her body. Her unrequited love gets any return?

My comments:
I didn’t have high expectations for this movie because I thought that it would be something like HK’s Love On A Diet and TVB’s To Grow With Love. I actually like 200 Pounds Beauty. There is more than the message “It’s the heart that counts more than physical appearance.” This movie touches the taboo subject of plastic surgery as well. I’m not a 100 % supporter of plastic surgery but I think Hanna in the movie have no choice but to do it. She is blessed with a nice voice but because she’s physically unattractive, the chance of her succeeding is very slim. Yup, we’re all very shallow…

I had tears in my eyes when she had her makeover and I cried my eyes out when she confessed everything on stage. I’m still thinking whether the movie is trying to support plastic surgery or not. I like the ending…it didn’t have a definite closure. There is no further development between Hanna and Sang Jun's love realtionship and while Hanna has her fame and fans, she also has her share of antis...

26th Hong Kong Film Awards

Yup, I woke up at 8:30am just to hear the Hong Kong Film Awards show live through RTHK (I thought it was live but actually it isn't). Some resting hours sacrificed (from someone who’s still sick), but it’s okay for that annual ceremony. I didn’t see all the nominated films but congratulations to all winners! Hmmm...I'm so unpro when it comes to the names of the people working behind the scene.

Best New Director => Daniel Wu (The Heavenly Kings)
So sweet when he thanked his girlfriend.

Best Newcomer => Goum Ian Iskandar (After This Our Exile)

Best Cinematography => Andrew Lau, Lai Yiu Fai (Confessions of Pain)

Best Editing => Kwong Chi Leung (Battle of Wits)

Best Screenplay => Patrick Tam, Tian Hoi Leung (After This Our Exile)

Best Visual Effects => Re-cycle

Best Sound Effects => Re-cycle

Best Action Direction => Yuen Woo Ping (Fearless)

Best Art Direction => Curse of the Golden Flower

Best Costume => Timmy Yip (Curse of the Golden Flower)

Best Original Score => Peter Kam (Isabella)

Best Original Song => Chrysanthemum Stage – Jay Chou (Curse of the Golden Flower)

Best Asian Film => Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles (China)

Best Supporting Actress => Zhou Xun (The Banquet)

Best Supporting Actor => Goum Ian Iskandar (After This Our Exile)

Best Actress => Gong Li (Curse of the Golden Flowers)

Best Actor => Lau Ching Wan (My Name Is Fame)
Big applause! See how the crowd was cheering! So sweet when he thanked Amy Kwok…

Best Director => Patrick Tam (After This Our Exile)

Best Picture => After This Our Exile
Tony Leung and Carina Lau presenting this award together…what a gimmick!

I’m very happy that the singers for the nominated songs were present to sing on stage but did Rene Liu perform as well? Anita Yuen’s speech about fans was good and right, hope that Andy Lau feels better now!

When Spring Comes

As expected, I did finish K-drama When Spring Comes (KBS, 16 episodes). I admit that I watched this for the two male leads: Park Gun Hyung and Lee Han, while I did see previous works of the female leads (Lee Ha Na and Park Si Yeon).

When Spring Comes Synopsis (from KBS Global)
Our intelligent and righteous hero seems to be capable of everything but nothing works out for him in a family where his father and grandfather are ex convicts. But his hard work day after day in the end bears fruit.
‘When Spring Comes’ is the thrilling success story of a social underdog.

Families are our closest loved ones but they can also be the most hurtful to us. The story of an excon father and his prosecutor son underscores persistent familial love despite a repetitive cycle of love and hate, pity, wrath and forgiveness.

Cast:
Park Gun Hyung as Lee Jung Do
Lee Ha Na as Moon Chae Ri
Lee Han as Kim Joon Ki
Park Si Yeon as Oh Young Joo

My comments:
Honestly, the drama is just average at best. The story is choppy and the pace is uneven sometimes. Worse of all, I think that this drama had the most unromantic and non-intimate couples ever; I didn’t see any sparks between Park Gun Hyung/Lee Ha Na and Lee Han/Park Si Yeon pairings. Sigh…

But it had some interesting characters especially Jung Do’s dad and grandpa; they are actually my favorite characters. What a supportive, caring and understanding family! The neighbors are adorable characters too. This drama focuses more on families. All four lead characters are from single-parent families and have their own family problems to handle. Acceptance and forgiveness are the major themes here. That’s why I felt the family issues were more touching and heartwarming than the love relationships of the lead characters.

HK goodies

I was dead sick for the past few days but still managed to start watching a Korean drama called When Spring Comes. I heard pretty bad stuff about it but I find it okay and watchable. Usually, if I can make it after episode 6 for a 16 episodes drama, I will most likely finish it.

Anyway, something to cheer me up is that my grandma just came back from HK and that means that I got some presents. I requested the HK version of Full House and 2 CDs (Gary Chaw's Superman and Khalil Fong's Soulboy). One slight disappointment is that I wanted Khalil's Soulboy but my uncle bought This Love instead...sigh! That means that I have 2 copies of This Love now...Okay I shouldn't complain...so thanks uncle and auntie for the presents!

Dalja's Spring

I took a break from Korean drama for like 3 months. The last recent one that I finished was Lovers (with Lee Seo Jin and Kim Jung Eun) and I had a hangover for awhile. Now, I'm back to K-addict mode after finishing Dalja's Spring (KBS, 22 episodes) and the lineup for the spring season seem appealing with The Devil, Witch Yoo Hee and Hello, Miss.

Dalja’s Spring Synopsis (from KBS Global)
‘Dalja’s Spring’ is the story of Dalja, a 33-year old single at a crossroad of whether to remain single or get married before she gets older. The drama aims to comically and candidly portray the reality and undying pursuit of romance of a thirty something single woman.

The love triangle of Dalja, Taebong and Gijoong brews conflicts over love versus marriage. Taebong, a hunk six years younger than Dalja, works as substitute dates and becomes Dalja’s fake boyfriend. Gijoong is the type who dreams of an ideal and rational courtship. The drama also highlights the life and work of women in their thirties through Dalja who is a talented managing director at a home shopping channel.

Actress Chae Rim plays 'Oh Dalja' while actor Lee Min-gi is 'Taebong,' who freelances as a substitute date and develops feelings for his last client Dalja. Lee Hyeon-woo will play 'Yeom Gijoong' and Gong Hyeong-jin is cast for 'Shin Sedo,' a free romantist and Dalja's ex. Actress Lee Hye-young plays ‘Wi Seon-joo,’ a 33-year-old home shopping show host with a brilliant sense in dating.

Cast:
Chae Rim as Oh Dal Ja
Lee Min Ki as Kang Tae Bong
Lee Hyun Woo as Uhm Gi Joong
Lee Hye Young as Wee Seon Joo
Gong Hyung Jin as Shin Sae Do

My comments:
At first, Dalja's Spring gives me the impression of a mix of My Name is Kim Sam Soon + What’s Up Fox. The similarities they have: the heroine in the journey of self-discovery, the heroine who likes to fantasize and the heroine who dates a man younger than her with families objecting. As it goes on, differences can be noticed. Normally in this genre of drama, you have the leading couple with a supporting male and female character, who are the “roadblocks” preventing the leading couple to be together. Surprisingly, not this time! Dal Ja and Tae Bong (leading couple) didn’t have major obstacles until Soo Jin comes to the picture. Se Do and Seon Joo (supporting couple) have their own loveline with their own problems as well.

It took me awhile to warm up to Chae Rim. She is different now compared to the last time I saw her: permed hair, dark nails, heavy makeup and looking more and more like a doll. The major characters are interesting and end up being very adorable in their own way. Seon Joo seems like a cold, arrogant woman at first but she does have a warm heart but doesn’t show it. Ki Joong gives the impression of a boring and bland prince charming at first but he gave me the most laughs. For example: his anger management techniques and in order to learn how to be a perfect prince charming, he would read romantic novels and mangas. He was so into it that he had to call his secretary eagerly to know what happens to this and that character, why that character didn’t end up with that character etc. Haha!

Overall, I find this drama very touching and heartwarming. The support and care the friends and coworkers give to Dal Ja when she needed it made me tear the most. The ending should be the most complete ending I've ever seen, even the minor characters who appeared briefly had a closure. Oh and this drama had a lot of parodies and references from other dramas and movies, which cracked me up!

* Opening credit of the drama

Cute animals

A lot of local shopping malls have real animals on display for the Easter holiday. Today, I passed by Complexe Desjardins, which is near Chinatown and I took a lot of pics. Aww...it's so cute! Little kids seemed to have fun feeding them too...

Songs I curently like...

Don't know what to write about...so here's a list of songs I currently like:

詩人的情人 - 方大同 => My favorite for quite some time, it's simply poetic!

第三身 - 麥浚龍 + 何韻詩 => Juno's voice is so low that I cannot really understand what he's singing but I like the "mysterious" feel of the song, so "ying".

山歌 - 側田 + 吳雨霏 => When I first heard it, I was thinking this is neither Justin nor Mark Lui’s style. Tada…Jerald Chan from Swing wrote the song, no wonder it’s so fresh.

黛玉笑了 - 泳兒 => I have a lot to criticize about this song: it sounds like a TVB ancient drama themesong, it’s 老土, the rap part reminds me of Jay's 髮如雪 and I don’t like Vincy’s singing style in general BUT despite all the criticisms, I still like that song…weird!

3 Melodramas

I watched 3 melodramas from 3 different countries, involving similar theme and even a similar ending: Love Phobia (South Korea, 2006), Heavenly Forest (Japan, 2006) and Happy Birthday (HK, 2007). After watching countless melodramas, I thought that I became immune to them. Boy, I was wrong…I’m still a crybaby when it comes to tearjerkers!

Love Phobia (with Cho Seung Woo and Kang Hye Jung)
Summary in short: Guy and girl like each other since young but they only get to meet 3 times in 10 years because girl keeps disappearing without a word.

Comment: Typical melodrama which might be boring to others but I liked it thanks to the pair of charismatic leads. I prefer the first half when it’s light and happy while the later half is very heavy, but still effective. I’m confused about the ending; I think I got it but I’m not sure I got it right.

Side note: Cho Seung Woo and Kang Hye Jung were still a couple when making this movie. They just broke up recently. Sigh…what a waste; they are such a lovely couple.

Heavenly Forest (with Tamaki Hiroshi and Miyazaki Aoi)
Summary in short: Girl loves guy but guy just treats her like a friend. He realizes that he truly loves her after kissing her and it was too late already because she disappeared without a word.

Comment: It’s not hard to guess what the ending will be from reading the synopsis. I was all prepared for the sad news but when it came, it’s still very poignant. The most heartbreaking part is when he was in the exhibition and saw her picture...That moment was like “whoa” for me! The movie had beautiful scenery of nature.

Happy Birthday (with Louis Koo and Rene Liu)
Summary in short: Guy and girl love each other but because of girl’s stubbornness and insecurities, they carried an on-off relationship for 7 years. No matter what, the guy will always send birthday greetings the girl until...

Comment: My mind was away a few times while watching this movie. It’s a bit slow but I find it less manipulative compared to the other 2 movies above. The ending is not that shocking because they did give obvious hints during the movie. After finishing it, I feel bitterness for them.

Hana Kimi

I just completed Hana Kimi, a 15 episodes Taiwanese drama. I only watch Taiwanese dramas occasionally because while watching them, I have to endure a lot of things. The things that bother me in general about these idol dramas is the actors/actresses’ comic-style portrayal of their characters (a simpler word => overacting) and the use of annoying and unfunny sound effects.

My little summary:
One day, Rui Xi (Ella from S.H.E) saw Quan (Wu Zun from Fahrenheit) high jumping on television in the U.S.; she was so amazed that she decides to return to Taiwan to meet and to be close to her “idol”. In order to do so, she has to disguise as a boy to attend the same school because Quan attends an all boy school. She is successfully transferred to the same school and even better becomes his roommate.

At first, Quan is annoyed by her behavior but discovers that she’s a girl very early from an accident. The same accident makes the school doctor know about that secret as well. Quan keeps silent about knowing the fact that Rui Xi is a girl (he didn’t even tell her that he knows); thus, he covers her up and comes to her rescue whenever there’s the danger of her identity being exposed. Of course, his love for her grows stronger as it goes on.

At school, Rui Xi becomes friends with a few guys; the closest one is Xiu Yi (Jiro Wang from Fahrenheit). Xiu Yi never knew that Rui Xi is in fact a girl but started to have “special feelings” for her very early as well. As these feelings grow stronger, the poor guy is confused about his sexual orientation and even thinks that he’s gay! As the drama went on, a few people know Rui Xi’s secret but they kept silent too after knowing her reasons. So will Quan and Rui Xi have a happy ending?

Cast:
Ella as Lu Rui Xi
Wu Zun as Zuo Yi Quan
Jiro Wang as Jin Xiu Yi
Tang Yu Zhe as Liang Si Nan
Tang Zhi Ping as Mei Tian


My comment:
I didn't read the manga so I cannot compare how faithful this adaptation is. Judging the drama alone, I think Hana Kimi is an above average drama. 15 episodes is a good length, not too short and not too long. One of my friends is absolutely head over heels over Wu Zun after this drama, but strangely I’m not. Yes, I know…he’s cute, is tall, has a good body and has cool tattoos but…Even more strange is that I was more drawn to Jiro Wang’s character because he’s more fun although he can go overboard with the silliness. Nope, I’m still not a fan of Fahrenheit…yet. My absolute favorite character is Mei Tian, the school doctor. Every scene with him is guaranteed to have laughter. The ending can be a major letdown to some people but I find it acceptable.