My Top 10 of 2010

It's the time of the year and it was hard to choose 10 songs because 2010 was so...bland...Not in particular order.

美 - 王力宏 --- Album: 十八般武藝

完美孤獨 - 莫文蔚 --- Album: 寶貝

雨下一整晚 - 周杰倫 --- Album: 跨時代

Double Trouble - 張學友 --- Album: Private Corner

LOVE! - Hebe --- Album: To Hebe

吹摯友 - C君 featuring 方大同 --- Album: 奇蹟

無人之境 - 陳奕迅 --- Album: Time Flies

Rock It - 大嘴巴 --- Album: 万凸3

愛不愛 - 郭采潔 --- Album: 煙火

Deadline - 張敬軒 --- Album: N/A

* All pics from Yesasia.com

Heartbreak Library

Heartbreak Library Synopsis: (from http://www.koreanfilm.org.kr)
Eun-soo, a librarian watches for book vandalism that currently happens in the library. One day, she catches Jun-oh tearing off certain page of books. Eun-soo accuses him of vandalism but soon discovers the complex story behind his actions. Jun-oh’s girlfriend suddenly leaves him with only a mysterious note. “Look up page 198”. Jun-oh’s girlfriend was a bibliophile and she checked out books regularly at the library. Jun-oh goes to the library and tears out page 198 from every book he comes in touch. As Eun-soo has just broken up, she gives him an advice saying that he has to let her go if she really meant it. However, looking at Jun-oh torn apart by his love, Eun-soo starts to help him decipher the messages on page 198 of all the books.

My comments:
The reason I chose to watch this movie: Lee Dong Wook! Heartbreak Library is a very simple love story in which each lead learns how to let go. Viewers get hints that imply very early that the girlfriend is dead so the mystery message of this ‘page 198' and the background story of Jun Oh is what makes me keep going. My friend who saw it said it was a snoozer but although I found it slow moving at times, I liked it overall because I work in a similar environment as Eun Soo so there is a sense of familiarity. The library scenes so remind me of my work. Ha!

Watching...

Well, tried watching Fugitive: Plan B but couldn't get further than 2 episodes despite liking (even loving) the three male leads and lead actress Lee Na Young is someone I usually enjoy watching in movies. Problem with this one drama? I dunno, it's a bit too pretentious and it's really hard to follow when everyone interacts in multiple languages. I even see Josie Ho and Ti Lung appearing in this drama...


Therefore, I'm currently watching How I Met Your Mother Season 5 instead...

The Jade and the Pearl

The Jade and the Pearl Synopsis (from AsianMediaWiki)
Princess Yan becomes engaged to a King from the faraway state of Fan. Princess Yan & her entourage are then escorted to the Fan State by General Ching Hin (Raymond Lam). During the long journey, Princess Yan & General Ching Hin often bicker with each other, but soon falls in love. The couple even exchanges loves tokens - a pearl from Yan's dowry and a family treasure jade from General Ching Hin.

Suddenly, the convey is attacked and Princess falls off a cliff and loses her memory. General Cheng is taken by a group of bandits led by Chuk Sam Leung (Joey Yung).

The princess is saved by a storyteller named Ling Kam Hoi (Cho-lam Wong) and starts a new life with him, not rembering she is royalty. When Princess Yan and General Cheng finally reunite, Princess Yan has fallen in love with Ling Kam Hoi.

My comments:

If you have free time and really have nothing to do, then watch The Jade and the Pearl. If not, then don’t bother. I shouldn’t take this movie seriously but I felt like I wrongly invested my time in this one even though the last twenty minutes before the ending was not as bad. Sorry Raymond, I’m your fan but even you couldn’t save the movie. I can accept that the setting was a fusion of ancient and modern but the movie suffered bad story, bad acting, bad costumes, bad everything! The first half was lame and childish and the ending was so cheesy that made me want to gag.

Is it me; I didn’t feel the supposing love chemistry between Raymond Lam and Charlene Choi while I thought Charlene and Wong Cho Lam made a more believable pair. Is Joey Yung self mocking her bad acting or what? She was absolutely cringe-worthy. Cameos were fun to watch but that was it.

Sungkyunkwan Scandal

Haha…I can’t believe that I caught the Sungkyunkwan Scandal (KBS, 20 episodes) fever too…

Sungkyunkwan Scandal Synopsis: (from DramaWiki)
Sungkyunkwan Scandal is set in Sungkyunkwan University in the late Joseon era during the reign of King Jeongjo, revolving around the exploits and love stories of four youths. When her younger brother's illness worsens and their family is in danger of being evicted from their house for lack of money, Kim Yoon Hee enters the school under his name, disguised as a boy in her desperation to support him. There, she becomes friends with the intelligent and upright Lee Sun Joon, the playboy Goo Yong Ha and rebellious Moon Jae Shin.

Cast:
Micky Yoochun as Lee Sun Joon
Park Min Young as Kim Yoon Hee
Song Joong Ki as Goo Yong Ha
Yoo Ah In as Moon Jae Shin
Seo Hyo Rim as Ha Hyo Eun
Kim Min Seo as Cho Sun
Jun Tae Soo as Ha In Soo

My comments:
I usually would not pick a Korean ancient drama but I heard a lot of good things about Sungkyunkwan Scandal so I decided to give it a shot. I’m pleasantly surprised at how much I liked it. I view it as an ancient version of Hana Kimi and the quartet as the scholar version of A.N.Jell (in You’re Beautiful).

I always like stories with the girl cross-dressing as a guy and it’s usually hilarious when the guys start to fall for her and then question their orientation. In this drama, it took long enough (15 episodes) for our dummy hero Sun Joon to know Yoon Hee’s gender and when he knew the truth, surprisingly he wasn’t as angry as I expected him to be. I totally expected one or two episodes where he would be all pissed off and mad; well not that I'm complaning...It’s so funny that Yong Ha knew from the very first glance that Yoon Hee is a girl and wanted to prove it to the other oblivious two but failed at every attempt. Aw…and Jae Shin, the poor guy hiccups whenever he is near a girl so imagine at first when he knew…hehe…I still LOL at the sleeping arrangements scenes (1, 2).

Too bad that the ending is too rushed. There were so many questions that left unanswered. We have a closure ending for our quartet but what about the others? I would like to know what happened to Ha In Soo and his sister. I kinda liked Ha In Soo despite what he did in the drama was glaring at everyone but I thought he had potential to be Sun Joon’s love rival. Why was Cho Sun in her situation in the first place? What really happened during the night Jae Shin’s brother and Yoon Hee’s dad’s murder? There’s this big talk about a better future for Korea but was it realized? It would be nice if there was ONE scene in which Yong Ha and Jae Shin telling Yoon Hee that they knew she was a girl. If I remember correctly, Jae Shin did not confess (at least verbally) once to Yoon Hee and now that’s a first in the little K-drama history that I know...

I thought the overall acting was great considering that they were mostly newbies. Park Min Young looks too girlish (she has manga-like round sparkling eyes) to pass as guy but I guess in an ancient setting it’s passable. Song Joong Ki and Yoo Ah In shone in their roles and I absolutely found their bromance endearing. Micky Yoo Chun was a bit wooden at the beginning but I guess that was part of the character and he just got progressively better. Ah…I’ll surely remember you guys, Jalgeum Quartet.

That is too cute to not post it (from kbs.com.kr)

* Opening credit of the drama

Break Up Club

Break Up Club Synopsis (from AsianMediaWiki)
Joe (Jaycee Chan) is an aimless young man who loves Flora (Fiona Sit) sincerely. Unfortunately for Joe, Fa breaks up with Joe due to his lack of ambitions. Joe then comes across the website "www.breakupclub.asia" which promises to reunite lost loves if they are willing to break up another couple ....

Meanwhile Joe is picked to participate in a documentary by director Barbara Wong dealing with break ups...

My comments:
Thanks to cousin p for lending me this movie. Jaycee Fong and Fiona Sit reuniting 5 years later for Break Up Club. They went from playing a teenage couple in 2 Young to playing a 20 something couple in this movie. Their chemistry is evident and I enjoyed the movie despite that I didn’t find their individual character likable. We see them breaking-up for some small matters, making up and then breaking up again in the same pattern so I think a happy ending for them is questionable. I like that it was an open ending, leaving it to the viewer's imagination. I admit that I did cry for the airport scene and I was surprised by the little twist at the end. It’s funny to see Patrick Tang in such flamboyant role.

Love In Disguise

Love In Disguise Synopsis: (from Yesasia)
Impossibly famous an incredibly young age, DMH (Leehom Wang) has only ever known a celebrity pop star existence. Yet, despite all the perks and glamour, there is still something lacking in his charmed life: True love. Refuses to give up in his search, with the help of fellow musician and friend WZB, DMH disguised as regular Joes in hope to find true love. While incognito, DMH and WZB strmble across the performance of a classical Chinese orchestra and DMG is immediately captivated by the melodies of the guzheng soloist, LMQ (Crystal Liu), a classical music student at the Shanghai Conservatory, who's affections lie with the accomplished, if not arrogant, conservatory virtuoso, ZXZ. DMH nevertheless promisses to help bring them together, deteermined to spend more time with LMQ.

Inevitably, DMH's distraction from his superstar responsibilities does not go unnoticed Agent Joan (Joan Chen). Further more, as he and LQM grow closer, it becomes increasingly difficult to conceal his identity. What happens if she finds out who he really is? Can she really love and respect a celebrity pop star? And can she forgive him for lying?


My comments:
Hmm…I’ve been neutral regarding Wang Lee Hom; I’m not a fan or a hater so I can watch Love In Disguise without any biases. How was it? It was cheesy, yes, as I found myself rolling my eyes a few times during the movie. But, overall I thought it was enjoyable rom-com mostly due to the music aspect since I was always fascinated by traditional instruments like er-hu and guzheng. I thought the romance part was unconvincing since I didn’t see any sparks between the leads.

Performance wise, everyone was passable since the actors were not required to do much or acting very hyper. Wang Lee Hom was basically playing himself (notice the way he moves his hands when singing in the movie is exactly the same in real life). The surprising thing was Crystal Liu remained a plain Jane until the end and got the guy. Finally, no huge makeover for the heroine to get the attention of the guy! Also, Khalil Fong’s little cameo as himself is cute!

My Girlfriend Is A Gumiho

Due to busy work schedule and lots of gatherings, it took me longer than usual to finish My Girlfriend Is A Gumiho (SBS, 16 episodes)...

My Girlfriend Is A Gumiho Synopsis (from DramaWiki):
Cha Dae Woong accidentally releases a gumiho, a legendary fox with nine tails that eats the livers of humans. When he finds out that she is a gumiho, he ends up doing crazy things to prevent the girl from eating his liver.

Cast:
Lee Seung Ki as Cha Dae Woong
Shin Min Ah as Gumiho
No Min Woo as Park Dong Joo
Park Soo Jin as Eun Hye In
Byun Hee Bong as Cha Poong
Yoon Yoo Sun as Cha Min Sook
Sung Dong Il as Ban Doo Hong


My comments:
As a Hong sisters drama, I expected My Girlfriend Is A Gumiho to be a cute and lighthearted drama but I didn’t expect to cry my eyes out during the last episode. I was a bit worried that it will be a sad ending. I enjoyed this and I laughed at some hilarious moments (the most memorable one being Mi Ho giving that billboard ad to Dae Woong as a gift and his expression!) but compared to the Hong sisters’ previous works, this one didn’t give me severe withdrawal symptoms hehe…

Lee Seung Ki and Shin Min Ah have great chemistry as a couple and Shin Min Ah is just too adorable as the clueless gumiho; I also wanted to pinch her cheeks. Her naivety and innocence at first created some absurd and funny situations. I can totally understand Dae Woong’s fears and burdens by having Mi Ho by his side. Who would not go gaga over him once he made up his mind to fully accept Mi Ho and that there is no going back for him. But I was more fascinated by No Min Woo’s character Teacher Dong Joo. The actor itself just had a few expressions throughout the whole drama but it worked because it’s such a mysterious character. He was considered as a roadblock to our main couple’s happy ending but it was interesting that it wasn't for love as he didn’t love Mi Ho in the romantic sense.

I enjoyed Dae Woong’s aunt and the director’s part as well because of cheesy references of A Better Tomorrow. I laughed out loud when they played that Leslie song. It’s also nice to see a darker haired Jeremy (Lee Hong Ki) and a longer haired Go Mi Nyeo (Park Shin Hye) from the Hong sisters’ previous drama You’re Beautiful appearing as cameos. Even UEE appeared as a art student. But…where were Tae Kyung and Shin Woo? :p