The Case of Itaewon Homicide

The Case of Itaewon Homicide Synopsis (from AsianMediaWiki)
A college student, Jong-pil Jo, gets into an argument with some youths at fast food restaurant in Itaewon, South Korea. The boy is later found stabbed to death in the restroom of the restaurant. Two Korean-Americans, Pearson and Alex, are known to have gone into the bathroom after Jong-pil Jo and become prime suspects. The prosecution must now determine which of the two committed the crime.

My comments:
When I picked up The Case of Itaewon Homicide, I absolutely didn’t know that Song Joong Ki was in the movie. So what a treat to watch two of Korea’s prettiest guys (Jang Geun Suk and Song Joong Ki) in the same movie but also not looking very pretty in the film. I enjoyed this movie, a good portion was in English and I didn’t have to over rely on the subs to understand what the actors were speaking. Therefore, I’m surprised at how good Jang Geun Suk’s English. It wasn’t American perfect but still above average. If this movie wasn’t based on a real case, I wouldn’t feel so depressed at the end. It was a gruesome murder without any motive and at the end, we have no definite answer to who was the real killer and both suspects just got away from it. Sigh…where is the justice?

Secret Garden

I expect myself to have long suffering withdrawal of Secret Garden (SBS, 20 episodes)…

Secret Garden Synopsis: (from DramaWiki)
The drama tells the story of Kim Joo Won (Hyun Bin), an arrogant and eccentric CEO who maintains the image of seeming perfection, and Gil Ra Im (Ha Ji Won), a poor and humble stuntwoman whose beauty and body are the object of envy amongst top actresses. Their accidental meeting, when Joo Won mistakes Ra Im for actress Park Chae Rin, marks the beginning of a tense, bickering relationship, through which Joo Won tries to hide a growing attraction to Ra Im that both confuses and disturbs him. To complicate matters further, a strange sequence of events results in them swapping bodies.

Cast:
Hyun Bin as Kim Joo Won
Ha Ji Won as Gil Ra Im
Yoon Sang Hyun as Choi Woo Young/Oska (Joo Won's cousin)
Kim Sa Rang as Yoon Seul
Lee Philip as Im Jong Soo
Lee Jong Suk as Han Tae Ssun
Yoo In Na as Im Ah Young

My comments:
Funny, I was totally invested in Secret Garden and I’ll probably have withdrawal for a very long time but is this drama going to be in my top 10? I still don't think it will be. I loved this drama before the body swapping part. Hyun Bin and Ha Ji Won’s chemistry is so sizzling since the first episode and the tension between them…whoa! I think this particular scene in episode 3 will be a classic moment for a lot of fans (I melted while watching it too :p). While the post body swapping parts were hilarious, I thought it didn’t help a lot in plot development because the characters didn’t learn anything from that bizarre occurrence at first. Joo Won remains the same and so is Ra Im and it didn’t change much to the ones around them. But then the body swapping was used in its full dramatic purpose and who didn’t shed tears in episodes 17-18? However, the resolution of the body swapping was simply bleh.

Besides the the enjoyable bickering between the lead couple, I did like how Joo Won and Oska kept pushing each other’s buttons but deep down, they care deeply for each other. Ra Im is a badass stuntwoman and has the attitude but when facing Joo Won and his mom sometimes she’s really a doormat. I thought that Yoon Seul would just be like any secondary lead in K-dramas, witchy and mean until the end but I’m pleasantly surprised that’s not the case. She is wearing that mask to cover her vulnerability and how I wish that she and Oska would stop hurting each other. While no one was evil (well, Joo Won’s mom was annoying though) nor was perfect but I just ended up adoring the five of them.

Hyun Bin was such a pleasure to watch in this drama. From his arrogant, snobbish CEO persona (his over obsession of European designer sportswear…haha!) to slightly exaggerated feminine shy awkwardness when Ra Im is trapped in his body to using childish and jealous antics when he’s completely smitten over Na Im were so spot on. It’s too bad that when he reached another peak of his career now that he has to fulfill his military duties. While Ra Im is a very likeable character, but besides her career as a stuntwoman, she was just boring compared to the other characters. Ha Ji Won can easily play this character in her sleep since I know how capable she is. I saw some Yoon Sang Hyun and Kim Sa Rang’s works before and in Secret Garden, they were very good as well as they had more character development than usual secondary leads. I'm so looping this song right now...

His precious Italian hand-stitched designer sport jacket that has him exasperated when everyone doesn't share his appreciation...hehe...!

* Opening credit of the drama

Happy Birthday to...

Happy 32nd Birthday to Jay Chou! I deliberately chose today to watch The Green Hornet in cinema since it's Jay's birthday. Well, the movie itself was exaggerated but entertaining and fun. It's nice to see Jay kicking asses (or getting his ass kicked :p). Wish him the best!

Haeundae

Haeundae Synopsis: (from http://www.koreanfilm.or.kr)
Located on the southeast tip of the Korean peninsula is the international city of Busan. A popular vacation spot on the East Sea coast, Haeundae draws one million visitors to its beaches every year. Man-sik, a native of Haeundae, lost a co-worker to a tsunami on a deep-sea fishing trip four years ago. He has never returned to sea ever since. He now leads a simple life running a small seafood restaurant and is preparing to propose to his longtime girlfriend, Yeon-hee. Man-sik’s brother Hyung-sik works as a coast guard. One day, he rescues a female college student from Seoul who promptly, comes on to him aggressively. While these everyday domestic affairs unfold, geologist Kim Hwi, an expert on tsunami research, discovers the East Sea is showing signs of activity similar to the Indian Ocean at the time of the 2004 tsunami. Despite his warnings, the Disaster Prevention Agency affirms that Korea is in no harm of being hit. When he discovers a mega-tsunami is headed straight for the Korean peninsula, he quickly heads down to Haeundae. There he meets up with his ex-wife, who is organizing a cultural event, for the first time in seven years. He also sees his young daughter who is unaware that he is her father. Eventually, Kim gets a call about a deadly oncoming wave, with only ten minutes to spare! While the vacationers and citizens of Busan are enjoying a peaceful, hot summer day, a mega-tsunami is headed straight for Haeundae at 500 miles per hour.

My comments:
Haeundae is a big budget disaster movie from Korea. At first, I couldn’t really emotionally connect with any characters because all they did was yelling and shouting at each other. No one was especially likeable except Lee Min Ki’s character. It was slow moving at first because there were a lot of characters to be introduced and it took a lot of time to show who is related to who and who is in conflict with who, etc. However, when the tsunami hit, then it’s pure intense action. In a movie like this, it is expected to have a lot of deaths and I had an idea who will go but when the moments came, I was really bawling. What would one not do for the ones they love? It’s really a sad movie. Lesson learned from natural catastrophe movies, when someone predicts such occurrence, you better believe it…?

OB/GYN Doctors

I watched OB/GYN Doctors (SBS, 16 episodes) during my new year break...

OB/GYN Doctors Synopsis: (from DramaWiki)
The drama depicts the difficult decisions and moving human stories that take place daily in the OB-GYN department, focusing in particular on Seo Hye Young, a talented and determined obstetrician who has just transferred from the prestigious Seoul base to the branch hospital. Her straightforward manner of handling her professional life is in contrast with her love life, which is marred by her relationship with a married man. This becomes even more entangled when she meets Lee Sang Shik, the chief of NICU, and her long-time friend Wang Jae Suk also shows his interest.

Cast:
Jang Seo Hee as Seo Hye Young
Go Joo Won as Lee Sang Shik
Suh Ji Suk as Wang Jae Suk
Lee Young Eun as Kim Young Mi
Song Joong Ki as Ahn Kyung Woo
Ahn Sun Young as Head Nurse Lee Sook Jung

My comments:
Medical dramas are not my favorites and I admit that I picked up OB/GYN Doctors more or less because of Song Joong Ki although he plays a secondary character. This drama reminds me of Private Practice but in a hospital setting with each episode involving a theme/case. It’s a more mature drama compared to what I’ve been watching lately. I’m not exaggerating if I announce that I cried in EVERY bloody (no pun intended) episode. That’s right I cried in all 16 episodes when it was not even a melodrama that I’m watching. There were a few cases where the doctors have to choose difficultly to save the mother or the baby. Therefore, it was especially sad when you see babies or pregnant mothers passing away during labour or post-labour. I was a bit squeamish at first during the surgery scenes as there were pretty gory and bloody!

Although it’s a drama that was heavy on medicine and light in romance, I found the chemistry between the three main doctors surprisingly good as lead actress Jang Seo Hee is 9 years older than her 2 co-stars. Jang Seo Hee was very good as the stubborn, distant, hard to approach ob/gyn doctor. She was not my favorite character but I can see why the guys would like her. Go Joo Won and Suh Ji Suk were good as well although I thought they were awkward at times. I enjoyed watching the secondary couple of Kyung Woo and Young Mi and I was amused at how coy they are about intimacy since one is a doctor and one is a nurse…

It’s such a relief to see a drama without messy love triangles and secondary manipulating evils (well the mothers of some characters border on that). The romance was not only light but it was subtle too. Even though the rivalry between Dr. Lee and Dr. Wang was there but it was also very subtle and they were an interesting duo because they behave so gentleman-ly regarding Hye Young. I thought that they were going to develop more about Hye Young’s pregnancy and make a big deal about it but nope, not here. At times, I even forgot that our heroine is pregnant. It’s so good to see everyone behaving like professional and rational individuals. The ending was the most realistic open ending in all K-dramas that I’ve watched so far.

The main cast

Perfect Wedding

Perfect Wedding Synopsis: (from Yesasia)
One night, wedding planner - Yan (Miriam Yeung) meet a young attorney, Fun (Raymond Lam) and had a one-night stand. Later, Fung did accidentally join to Yan's wedding planning company.

In a special wedding, regardless of Yan against Fung, the rigid procedures of the wedding ceremony turned into a warm, touching the carnival. Customers in more than touched, the two are deeply moved a step closer so emotional. However, the emotional harm suffered psychological Yan still cannot break the shackles of courage in the face of her girlfriends (Teresa Mo, Bernice Liu, Kate Tsui and Oceane Zhu) Fung's hand holding a bold recognition of this relationship. At this time, her fiance - Kelvin (Eric Kot) was again disrupted Yan's emotional world. Who is her true Love....?

My comments:
Perfect Wedding was a cute feel-good romantic comedy that was easy to watch. It had a nice looking cast and a trendy setting so everything was rightly calculated. I saw a lot of dramas/movies exploring the older woman/younger man theme lately and while this movie was formulaic and didn’t have many surprises but I liked it overall probably because I liked the chemistry between Miriam Yeung and Raymond Lam here. Man, I still remember them as Candy and Shrimp Head in TVB's A Taste of Love (wow, that was 10 years ago!) as they already acted as an adorable bickering couple. The friendship between Yan and her four ‘Sex in the City’ alike friends was also a hoot to watch.

Mary Stayed Out All Night

Mary Stayed Out All Night (KBS, 16 episodes) is my 100th Korean drama!

Mary Stayed Out All Night Synopsis: (from DramaWiki)
Wi Mae Ri is a stubborn woman and the daughter of a failed businessman without much experience in dating. She starts to date tough rocker Kang Moo Kyul. Problems arise when a perfect guy with a good background and prestigious education, Jung In, gets in the way.

Cast:
Moon Geun Young as Wi Mae Ri
Jang Geun Suk as Kang Moo Kyul
Kim Jae Wook as Jung In
Kim Hyo Jin as Seo Joon
Park Joon Gyu as Jung Suk
Park Sang Myun as Wi Dae Han
Lee Ah Hyun as Kam So Young


My comments:
I have expectations for Mary Stayed Out All Night because of its superb cast. Then I read a lot of negative comments regarding the drama so I lowered my expectations; therefore I didn’t find the drama that unbearable. I liked the first 7 episodes or so although, there wasn’t much going on story wise. But I enjoyed the moments of Moo Kyul and Mae Ri doing domestic chores and learning about each other in the process. It was refreshing to see role reversals between the two males leads since in a standard K-drama, Jung In’s status and personality (cold, distant rich businessman) would be a typical leading hero while Moo Kyul (warm, laid back hippie) would be the second lead. Therefore, it was nice to see the our main couple Moo Kyul and Mae Ri so similar since both grew up with a single parent, have an irresponsible parent and have to clean the parents messes, etc. as Mae Ri didn’t turn to a Cinderella.

The drama started fresh and breezy but then it just turned ridiculous and tiring. If Jang Geun Seok, Moon Geun Young and Kim Jae Wook were not the leads, I can’t imagine how catastrophic it would be because it was the charisma and performance of the leads that saved this mess of drama. Jang Geun Seok and Moon Geun Young have amazing chemistry and they were absolutely adorable and cute as a couple. Their little nickname calling (Mae Ri Christmas…hehe) and their interactions were fun to watch but too bad their cuteness together cannot sustain 16 episodes when the plot was almost nonexistent.

I didn’t care much about Jung In at first because he was a walking robot who obeyed his father despite his father’s menaces/threats. But my heart did go to him when he turned to be a selfless guy at the end who didn’t get the girl while Moo Kyul was getting annoying at the end for being petty and selfish. It’s too bad that a bromance wasn't developed between Moo Kyul and Jung In; now that would be a killer (haha!). Kim Hyo Jin was completely wasted here as an ineffective pissed off ex with the princess syndrome. The OST is quite addictive though.

The very adorable main couple.