Korean dramas in review for 2007

So I completed 18 Korean dramas in total and gave up watching 3 this year. Here’s my boring, uninteresting and shallow round-up post about the K-dramas I saw from 2007. Bear in mind that I didn’t touch any of the popular historical dramas (Jumong, The King and I, Yi San and Legend of 4 Gods).

Addictive:
- Thank You (MBC) => a drama that appears like a tearjerker but ended up being bright and not too weepy!
- H.I.T (MBC) => suspenseful from the beginning until the end
- Surgeon Bong Dal Hee (SBS) => interesting medical drama
- Capital Scandal (KBS) => funny and heartbreaking at the same time
- Legend of Hyang Dan (MBC) => short and sweet
- Time of Dog and Wolf (MBC) => one of the most spectacular drama this year!
- 9 End 2 Outs (MBC) => funny and witty about friendship and love

Enjoyed it but not to the point of addiction:
- Dal Ja’s Spring (KBS) => enjoyed it but it really didn’t have a lasting impact
- When Spring Comes (KBS) => nothing exciting about this drama but I found the family and neighbors of the main character endearing
- Crazy For You (SBS) => a heartbreaking drama, in which watching once is enough
- Bad Couple (SBS) => a good start but went a bit downhill since the middle
- Snow in August (SBS) => good acting from the cast but it’s mildly depressing
- Coffee Prince (MBC) => didn’t love it as much as the mass did
- In Soon Is Pretty (KBS) => it was an alright viewing but slow-moving at times

Disappointing!
- Witch Yoo Hee (SBS) => disappointment of the year!
- Perfect Neighbor (SBS) => shaking my head while watching it
- Get Karl! Oh Soo Jung (SBS) => pretty forgettable if you ask me
- Lobbyist (SBS) => big scenes and big cast but bad script

Started but couldn’t finish it:
- The Devil (KBS) => still didn’t resume watching after 2 episodes…
- Hello! Miss (KBS) => whatever…
- War of Money (SBS) => a bit too hyper for me

Favorite drama of the year --- Thank You (MBC)
=> I was debating for a long time between Thank You and Time of Dog and Wolf. Although Time of Dog and Wolf is thrilling and exciting with a complicated plot but points were deducted because of Nam Sang Mi’s performance. Thank You won because it’s a very captivating drama with a simple plot and setting. All characters had flaws but no one is wicked evil. It carried a humanistic and positive view about life, hardship and illnesses. It taught us to be thankful and grateful for what we have and cherish our loved ones as well. It sounds preachy but it’s really not that preachy. A well-written and well-acted drama.

Favorite female character of the year --- Cha Song Joo (Han Go Eun) from Capital Scandal (KBS)
=> The fact that I admire the supporting female character more than the lead is worth mentioning. As a gisaeng, she’s sexy. As a friend, she’s understanding and righteous. As an assassin, she’s calm, cool and tough. As a lover, she’s giving and sacrificial. What can you ask more?

Favorite male character of the year ---- N/A
=> Surprisingly, I don’t have a favorite this year! How weird!

Favorite on-screen couple of the year ---- Byun Hung Tae (Lee Jung Jin) and Hong Nan Hee (Soo Ae) from 9 Ends 2 Outs (MBC)
=> I find myself liking this pair more and more when I think about the drama. Not the most passionate couple but certainly the most realistic and comfortable pair out of the bunch. It’s a sweet pair without being saccharine (*cough cough like Coffee Prince*).

In Soon Is Pretty

Yay...In Soon Is Pretty (KBS, 16 episodes) is my last drama of 2007...

In Soon Is Pretty Synopsis (from KBS Global):
Love doesn’t judge.
Some say that we live in the era of narcissism, because people have their say in everything these days thanks to the widespread use of the Internet and communication as well as political and social freedom. There are always people on the street using their mobile phones and talking busily to someone. Blogs and personal Web sites have also been developing rapidly. Everybody is the main character nowadays. But despite the abundance of communication, people these days are more lonesome than ever because everybody is talking only about themselves -- about their wounds being larger than the wounds of others and about their needs being more urgent than other people’s needs. Everybody claims that they are the best and the most lonely. But nobody listens to them. In the end, we all think that we are treated unfairly. The greater access we have to communication the more lonesome we feel. That is the downside of the era of narcissism in the 21st century.

Can you throw a stone at her?
There is a woman who was abandoned by her mother as soon as she was born and was raised by her impoverished grandmother. She also served a sentence for accidentally killing someone while in high school. She has the worst credentials to live in this merciless world, and people easily stigmatize her as a “sinner.” But who doesn’t have sins? And what credentials can be better than hers from the standpoint of people who have money and power? What does a “sin” mean to humans? Who will dare to throw stones at her?

Cast:
Kim Hyun Joo as Park In Soon
Kim Min Joon as Yoo Sang Woo
Seo Hyo Rim as Kim Jung Ah
Lee Wan as Jang Geun Soo
Lee In Hye as Han Jae Eun


My comments:
I wonder why I picked this drama to watch because I don’t particularly like any of the main cast, but “In Soon Is Pretty” is an interesting drama title. Just looking at the title, I have no idea what to expect from the drama and reading the not too accurate summary from DramaWiki, it surely looks interesting but depressing. After finishing it, it’s afterall not that depressing even though not everyone has the happiest ending. But isn’t life this? I thought the plot of the drama was very simple and it could be draggy and boring sometime. It’s basically about In Soon trying "to find her herself back” after a chain of (mis)fortune events. She’s a nice girl and all but gets prejudiced because of her dark past. Like she said herself in the drama, she went from a sinner to a heroine to a liar and to someone being pitied. What a life! You cannot help but sympathize her, hoping that there would be no more bad things happening to her. However, it doesn’t help when she has a selfish mother who makes matters worse. I felt that her mother deserved a harsher lesson...

I like how the killing accident was handled in this drama. It was told in a blurry and not too detailed way at first and then you slowly know the bits about it and finally you get a little surprise at the end. Kim Min Joon and Kim Hyun Joo surprisingly has good chemistry and makes a cute and endearing couple. Their interactions and conversations in the beginning of the drama were rather funny.

* Opening credit of the drama

Lobbyist

Lobbyist (SBS, 24 episodes) is a drama that I was anticipating but…sigh…

Lobbyist Synopsis (from SBS Global):
In the mid 1980s, Maria (Jang Jin-young) grows up in a quiet fishing village with Harry (Song Il-guk). Harry’s father died when a North Korean spy snuck into the country and shot him dead because he was an Army commander. Harry and his sister move to America after the incident. Maria’s family also migrate to America soon after and Maria’s father takes a job as a bus driver. While living happily in America, a mugger kills Maria’s father one day. Meanwhile, Harry meets Maria by coincidence. When his uncle sexually molests his sister Suzie, he decides to run away from home with his sister.

10 years later... Maria is 20 years old and works as a bus driver. Her sister Eva graduated from a prestigious American college and works at the naval intelligence agency in Washington D.C. One day, she meets Eva’s boyfriend Tae-hyuk (Han Jae-seok) and begins to develop feelings for him. While working at odd jobs throughout his life, Harry challenges the Mafia to save his sister Suzie. The Korean wife (Kim Mi-sook) of the Mafia boss is impressed with Harry and she offers to let him join the gang. Meanwhile, Maria learns that the FBI is investigating Eva because she is under suspicions of trying to steal sensitive military secrets. When her sister dies under mysterious circumstances, Maria’s whole life changes all of a sudden...

Cast:
Song Il Gook as Harry / Kim Joo Ho
Jang Jin Young as Maria / Yoo So Young
Han Jae Suk as Kang Tae Hyuk
Yoo Sun as Eva / Yoo Moon Young
Huh Joon Ho as James Lee (Maria's teacher / trainer)
Kim Mi Sook as Madame Chae

My comments:
When it’s a big budget K-drama, it always contains these ‘must’ elements: oversea shooting, lots of bullets, revenge and separated childhood sweethearts. Lobbyist unfortunately includes all these. Amnesia is the only element that is left out this time. This drama reminds me of All In, which is absolutely not a good thing because I think All In is one of the most boring K-dramas I’ve ever seen and Lobbyist didn’t meet my expectations either. Although it has oversea shooting, a very capable cast and a large number of Swarovski products, it suffers from a very bad script. There are a lot of events and situations that are so unrealistic that I just burst out laughing and when Song Il Gook gets beaten in almost every episode, it gets very tiring to the point of me getting numb. When the first 1/3 was shot in the States, I felt like I was watching a travel program or an American movie when it comes to action. It gets better when they return to Korea but 24 episodes is too lengthy for this drama and I don’t think it would hurt much if it’s cut down to 20 episodes. I was only more attentive and felt more ‘into’ the drama during the last 4 episodes.

I like Song Il Gook; Jang Jin Young is one of my favorite Korean actress and well, Han Jae Suk is not my favorite but I’m curious at how he’s doing after his military services. I didn’t fell much chemistry between these 3 as I just don’t care if so ends up with so or not. I find all three characters boring (it also didn’t help that both guys had hideous haircut for a large part of the drama) and I’m having a hard time liking Maria. She’s keeps on getting into mess after mess due to her stubborn and aggressive character, which makes people around her suffer. It hurts the drama a lot when the female lead is not too likeable. Huh Joon Ho’s James is a more interesting character. I had a hard time guessing what his motive to accept Maria as his apprentice is. Is it to help her genuinely, to compensate her or to destroy her? You never know what he’s really thinking until the end.

Watch this drama only if you’re die-hard fans of the cast; if not, save those 24 hours…

* Opening credit of the drama

My top 10 Chinese songs of 2007

It’s time to do a recap of the year 2007. First, it will be my top 10 Chinese songs of the year and I’m pretty sure that it will not be the same list with any award ceremony. Oh well…not in particular order…

我懷念的 – 孫燕姿 --- Album: 逆光

Mi – 鄭秀文 --- Album: Show Mi 2007 演唱會

殺手 – 林俊傑 --- Album: 西界

山歌 – 側田 & 吳雨霏 --- Album: In Control

鍾無艷 – 謝安琪 --- Album: 3/8

Love Song – 方大同 --- Album: 未来

仍未解決 – 陳思祺 --- Album: Perfect Disorder

酷愛 – 張敬軒 --- Album: 酷愛

青花瓷 – 周杰倫 --- Album: 我很忙

第三身 – 麥浚龍 & 何韻詩 --- Album: Chapel of Dawn

* All pics from Yesasia

Khalil's 3rd album

Warning: I’m currently in fangirl mode and yes, it’s another post about Khalil Fong. But hey, it’s the album I’ve been anticipating for I don’t even remember how long! I’ll probably receive my copy during the second week of January (seem so long!). I'm expecting a second version including MVs to be released later but I can’t wait longer so I’m getting the first version, especially after hearing the first single Love Song. Ah…I’m melting…Errr, like Jay’s case on 我很忙, I hope that the album cover will be different though…

The very cute promo CF of this album



Why is the kid carrying a cooker? Because 大同電鍋 is a well-known brand in Taiwan and Khalil’s Chinese name is 方大同. Get it?

Haha...

I think I found the main reason why I have no motivation to watch anything lately besides being busy...It's because I've been manipulating tons of DVDs at work these two weeks, which makes me alienated when I see them or movies in general. I'm not kidding, I calculated my stats today and I actually had contact with 1299 DVDs this week! Wow...I'm speechless..!

Anyway, vacation time finally!!! YEAH!!!

Snow...more snow...!

Man, isn't it depressing (or maybe exciting for others...) when you look at the blowing snow and gusty wind in Montreal today? Still snowing...bah, 2 snow storms within a month!!! 35 cm again this time?! Noooooooooooo!

Something to cheer me up, Khalil Fong's third album entitled 未来 is going to be released on Dec. 28! Yes, finally!!! All news that I can gather about this album are from Taiwanese sources and it just proves how neglected he is in HK...sigh...Anyway, I will DEFINITELY buy this album Khalil! :p

Boring life...

Haha...I have 3 Korean dramas that I can watch (Air City, Rebirth - Next and Fly High) but I don't really have the motivation to do so. So I was spending my time re-watching my old 獎門人 tapes. Hey, I still laugh like crazy! Maybe I need a dose of silly stuff to balance back my exhaustion for working overtime lately...

TVB Dramas 2008

I got this thing called TVB Corporate and Programme Information 2008 today so why not scan it and put it here?...

There are only 2 dramas that I want to watch from the list:

- The Seventh Day
Reasons: I enjoyed Under The Canopy of Love last year and I already know that The Seventh Day borrowed some ideas from the Korean movie A Moment To Remember therefore I want to see how many Korean references I can spot this time. Haha...

- The Four (what an original title, TVB!)
Reasons: The reunion of the Raymond Lam, Ron Ng, Sammul Chan and Kenneth Ma.

Looks like there will be lots of sequels, which I generally think it's a bad idea...I would watch The Gentle Crackdown II if it was acted by the original cast and also Forensic Heroes II if Charmaine Sheh was not included...Oh well...

The Great Adventurer

It really took me a lot of time to finish The Great Adventurer (ATV/Mainland, 35 episodes) not because it’s bad but because I really have no time lately…

The Great Adventurer Synopsis (from Yesasia)
Great Adventurer is a 35-episode action drama, starring award-winning actor Francis Ng (The Mission), famous comedian Dayo Wong, and also charismatic TV actress Flora Chan. Joined by popular Mainland actors, they unfold a story about triad power struggle, in which people have no choice but to be drawn into a whirlpool of violence! Francis Ng is Fan Shouwang, an ordinary young man who fails to resist the temptation of wealth and power to join the triads. Not before long his best friend vanishes in the thin air, his beloved woman leaves him for another country, his fellow triad members get arrested... At this point, Fan Shouwang decides to turn away from all the illegal activities he has been engaged in before and utilizes his talents in gambling and the stock market. However, he can no longer determine his fate once he has stepped into the power struggle... Shot in Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Thailand, the TV series presents a thrilling adventure in the underground world of the triads.

Cast:
Francis Ng as Fan Sau Mong
Flora Chan as Tao Lei Guen (Sharon)
Dayo Wong as Bak Woot
Zhang Ting as Yip Mei


My comments:
First, the synopsis from above is not really accurate but I’m too lazy to write my own so bear with it. I watched 32 episodes in Cantonese and the remaining final episodes in Mandarin dub and that was a major turnoff (I had no choice since the torrent is stuck at 99.3% for who knows how long…). With such a grand cast from HK, I have some expectations. I find it good but not too great. I didn’t find it as slow and draggy as others did and ATV did a good job with ending each episode with a cliffhanger. However, I think that I’m more and more alienated from long dramas about protagonists starting from zeroes to becoming tycoons. Perhaps, for me nothing can top Greed of Man in that genre…

Anyways back to the drama, I can name tons of flaws and mistakes that happened, mostly anachronisms. First, it’s the time background. The beginning tells Sau Mong risking his life bringing a girl from Vietnam during the Vietnam War (the 70s) to developing cellphones with the flip (I think that was in the early 90s) in the middle part. I assume that it was a 20 years time frame but in the drama, it was presented like a 2-3 years frame since the there were no physical change in the characters. How unbelievable! Second, there was a lot of incoherence in the dialogues (that surprisingly happens a few times from Dayo). For example, when A already met B, C says that he will introduce B to A, A says alright, next time…(confused? *roll eyes*) Finally, as a drama setting in the 70s and 80s, the props, hairstyles and costumes look too modern. I even spotted a passerby using his cellphone in the background but I guess it was accidental…

Now, the acting was really good from the main cast. Francis, Flora and Dayo are playing characters that are very different than the ones they did in TVB. Francis’ Fan Sau Mong is the leader, authoritarian and headstrong guy who plays by the rules. I thought that he became more and more irritating towards the end as he was mostly responsible for a lot of unhappy events at the end. Flora’s Sharon is a conniving and aggressive woman who could use dirty tricks to achieve her goals if she must even if it wasn’t meant to harm others. At first, I think she had difficulties grasping her lines but she got better as the drama progressed. Dayo’s Bak Woot (in Chinese, it means ‘living for nothing’?) is an illiterate and naïve math genius who has the ability to predict the wins of horse races and stocks by calculations! Dayo still has his trademark “stand-up comedy” factors in his performance but Bak Woot is really a cute character although his selflessness is a bit over. Everything he says has deep philosophical meanings in it. I must say that Francis and Dayo still look convincing as lads despite being above 40.

For those who are expecting a Francis and Flora reunion ala Triumph In The Skies, you’ll be highly disappointed. Sharon likes Sau Mong but he doesn’t while Bak Woot madly loves Sharon. They opened the business all three together but because Sau Mong and Sharon have ideas and values clashes, they split in a very ugly way with the poor Bak Woot trapped between them. Dayo and Flora makes surprisingly a cute and sweet pair while I think Francis had more chemistry with Zhang Ting than the actress who played Wan Gi. I really think it would be believable if they make Sau Mong and Bak Woot a couple too because they had a lot of mushy talk…bwahaha! The ending has a sad tone; although they succeded and gained buckets of gold, the lives that were sacrificed all along left me a bit depressed...

* Themesong of the drama

Playlist of early December

- 鍾無艷 - Kay Tse => Very 富士山下 feel which is the pro and also the con of this song. Still a top quality song from this year and I wish Kay a successful comeback.

- 悔過詩 - Hins Cheung => Yay for 中國風 and the most interesting factor about this song is that it’s written by 單立文!