Monday, October 29, 2007
Recently watching...
I told myself to avoid long Korean dramas since Be Strong, Geum Soon (that was 163 episodes in 30 minutes per episode length) but now I took the challenge of trying to complete Lotus Flower Fairy, which is 174 episodes in total! I’m currently in the 50s episodes. Frankly speaking, this drama moves at a snail pace with repetitive dialogues, very LONG karaoke scenes and occasional annoying flashback scenes. Why am I continuing then? First, it’s good to see Lee Da Hae in a more serious role before My Girl fame and after being slightly put off by her recent Hello! Miss. Second, I’m expecting a very touching love story between Cho Won (Lee Da Hae) and Moo Bin (Kim Sung Min) in the upcoming episodes even though I think they seem too coy as a couple until now. Last, I always found shamanism fascinating and it’s interesting to see a Korean drama involving this theme and their approach to it.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
My favorite singers
Since I did a shallow post about my favorite K-hunks so why not a post about my favorite singers as well…I listened to mostly American pop during my teenage years (I’m not ashamed to admit that I was an obsessed fan of Backstreet Boys!) but since 2000, I shifted back to Canto pop and Mandarin pop and the following artists are really the ones that I will buy original copies of their albums. Mostly male singers, haha…I guess because opposite attracts. Being a singer-composer also scores extra points too…
Jay Chou 周杰倫
First song I heard => 可爱女人
First saw him in => I think it was on JSG when he played two keyboards at the same time!
3 Favorite Songs => 可爱女人, 暗號 and 四面楚歌
Comments => I became a fan since his second album so it’s been 6 years already! Time flies! I still remember how shy and wordless when he debuted and now he’s the multi-tasked Director Chou. People can be really harsh when they criticize his music. Honestly, give the poor guy a break! When he doesn’t change his style, he gets bashed for being boring and repetitive and when he changes, people will go ‘WTF!” and bash. Perhaps, people are expecting too much from him…
Khalil Fong 方大同
First song I heard => 我們能不能
First saw him in => CR 903 Awards 2005 when he got silver for newcomer awards
3 Favorite Songs => 每天每天, 蘇麗珍 and 詩人的情人
Comments => A very low profile artist, who you rarely see on news reports. It’s a shame that he’s so underrated! I became an absolute fan when I heard his second album This Love as it’s one of the best things I’ve heard in recent years. His songs have a very comfortable, laidback and elegant feel and his live performance is amazing! I have a feeling that he will dethrone Jay as my absolute fav one day…By the way, I can’t wait for his 3rd album hopefully coming out soon!
Gary Chaw 曹格
First song I heard => 少年
First saw him in => 少年 MV
3 Favorite Songs => Superwoman, 沉默玩具 and 3-7-20-1
Comments => When I first heard Superwoman, I was really blown away! When he debuted and went to those Taiwanese variety shows, he was clueless and quiet most of the time but once he opens his mouth to sing, we see a different Gary who is so energetic, confident and powerful. He can sing well in Mandarin and Cantonese and I think that’s his biggest advantage. Sometimes, I hope that his songs can have better lyrics because I found some of them overly mushy/sweet.
Justin Lo 側田
First song I heard => 好人
First saw him in => Err…was it in a random episode of Scoop or JSG?
3 Favorite Songs => 命硬, 我有今日 and Erica
Comments => The king of newcomer in back 2005 but also a controversial singer who says wrong things occasionally (or maybe the media twisted his words) and is accused of plagiarism. I, at some point lost faith in him but his ballads always managed to touch me. He’s really good at singing songs about the pain of being dumped or that he’s not good enough for the girl he likes. Hope that he will continue to write good songs...
Notable Live Performances:
Jay’s live performance in 2002
Justin and Khalil acoustic performance on JSG
Gary singing My Way in duet mode by himself
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Get Karl! Oh Soo Jung
I had some expectations for Get Karl! Oh Soo Jung (SBS, 16 episodes), but I'm disappointed after finishing it...
Get Karl Oh Soo Jung Synopsis (from DramaWiki)
Go Man Soo is a world known golf player who was dumped by a former beauty queen, Oh Soo Jung, seven years ago. Their fate becomes reversed when Oh Soo Jung who is now known as an old maid comes chasing after Man Soo who is now a 'golden bachelor' with good looks and money.
Cast:
Oh Ji Ho as Go Man Soo / Karl
Uhm Jung Hwa as Oh Soo Jung
Kang Sung Jin as Jung Woo Tak
Park Da An as Yook Dae Soon
My comments:
I have to confess that despite I like the leads, I didn’t find this drama particularly exciting or funny. In fact, I found the whole “vengeance- testing if the woman really love me" thing very 無聊 and lame. I needed 4 episodes to warm up to this drama and the characters. The fat makeup/suit that Oh Ji Ho wore in the beginning was an attention grabber and it looks convincing face wise because he was really unrecognizable under it.
Character wise, Soo Jung was shallow, matrerialistic, shameless, rude; she almost had no redeeming quality at the beginning. In the middle, we understand that she is like this because of her responsibilities toward her family (a father who is jobless, a young stepbrother and a mother who is always in debt!), she had to choose financial security over love. She became a pitiful character and the victim since then. It’s also interesting that she cannot tear even when she’s sad but when she is betrayed by Man Soo, she teared for like 10 hours. Uhm Jung Hwa is really good at holding her tears and I cried with her when she bursted out.
However, I wasn’t really into the romance between Soo Jung and Man Soo. I found myself rooting for the second lead, Woo Tak, more and more instead. His change from being a swindler with the mission to deceive Soo Jung to ending up loving her for real was more interesting to watch and could be expanded. It’s great to see Woo Tak as someone who is not despicable for trying to separate Soo Jung and Man Soo; he even became Soo Jung's reliable friend and helping Soo Jung and Man Soo to get back together at the end. Now, Dal Soon is an evil witch. She presents herself like an angel in front of people but she can stab you behind. I think those kind of people are the scariest. Finally, I think the biggest problem with this drama is that the four leads don’t have much chemistry with each other. When it the drama ended, I didn’t have any lingering feeling.
Get Karl Oh Soo Jung Synopsis (from DramaWiki)
Go Man Soo is a world known golf player who was dumped by a former beauty queen, Oh Soo Jung, seven years ago. Their fate becomes reversed when Oh Soo Jung who is now known as an old maid comes chasing after Man Soo who is now a 'golden bachelor' with good looks and money.
Cast:
Oh Ji Ho as Go Man Soo / Karl
Uhm Jung Hwa as Oh Soo Jung
Kang Sung Jin as Jung Woo Tak
Park Da An as Yook Dae Soon
My comments:
I have to confess that despite I like the leads, I didn’t find this drama particularly exciting or funny. In fact, I found the whole “vengeance- testing if the woman really love me" thing very 無聊 and lame. I needed 4 episodes to warm up to this drama and the characters. The fat makeup/suit that Oh Ji Ho wore in the beginning was an attention grabber and it looks convincing face wise because he was really unrecognizable under it.
Character wise, Soo Jung was shallow, matrerialistic, shameless, rude; she almost had no redeeming quality at the beginning. In the middle, we understand that she is like this because of her responsibilities toward her family (a father who is jobless, a young stepbrother and a mother who is always in debt!), she had to choose financial security over love. She became a pitiful character and the victim since then. It’s also interesting that she cannot tear even when she’s sad but when she is betrayed by Man Soo, she teared for like 10 hours. Uhm Jung Hwa is really good at holding her tears and I cried with her when she bursted out.
However, I wasn’t really into the romance between Soo Jung and Man Soo. I found myself rooting for the second lead, Woo Tak, more and more instead. His change from being a swindler with the mission to deceive Soo Jung to ending up loving her for real was more interesting to watch and could be expanded. It’s great to see Woo Tak as someone who is not despicable for trying to separate Soo Jung and Man Soo; he even became Soo Jung's reliable friend and helping Soo Jung and Man Soo to get back together at the end. Now, Dal Soon is an evil witch. She presents herself like an angel in front of people but she can stab you behind. I think those kind of people are the scariest. Finally, I think the biggest problem with this drama is that the four leads don’t have much chemistry with each other. When it the drama ended, I didn’t have any lingering feeling.
Saturday, October 13, 2007
The Perfect Neighbor
I didn’t realize that I took a 3 weeks break from K-dramas! I must be too bored lately to be able to finish The Perfect Neighbor (SBS, 20 episodes)…
Perfect Neighbor Synopsis (from DramaWiki)
Baek Soo Chan has nothing in his hands but he lives a life under the belief that he will become the man any woman who sits next to him wants. However, his belief is questioned when he starts to realize true love. This drama will be focusing on the relationships of four persons who are living in the company's dorms. A professional con-man, a successor to the company, a lawyer and her meddling assistant.
Cast:
Kim Seung Woo as Baek Soo Chan
Bae Doo Na as Jung Yoon Hee
Park Shi Hoo as Yoo Joon Suk
Min Ji Hye as Go Hye Mi
Son Hyun Joo as Yang Duk Gil
Kim Sung Ryung as Jung Mi Hee
My comments:
The Perfect Neighbor is indeed peculiar. First, it’s hard to tell who is the main male lead in this drama: Kim Seung Woo or Park Si Hoo? Then, it’s hard to classify the genre of this drama. It looks like a rom-com but it’s not really one. It seems like a mystery drama, it’s not really as well. Well, it has mixture of familiar elements: bickering pair, Cinderella plotline, opposing rich mother, evil second female character and family secrets etc. The first scene starts with someone being potentially murdered to keep the suspense and by the end of episode 2, you already have three characters dead.
However, this drama didn’t quite work for me as I watched it in an on-off mode. The biggest problem is that it doesn’t have a central focus and the scenes just jumps here and there. I wasn’t particularly interested in the romance. Soo Chan and Yoon Hee are better and have better chemistry as friends while Joon Suk and Yoon Hee’s relationship is too cliched and too draggy. I find their fairytale love irritating before the exposure of the family secret. Joon Suk was basically a coward. He wants to keep Yoon Hee by his side but still plans to marry Hye Mi who he doesn’t love because of his mom’s suicidal threats! Yoon Hee is willing to be the ‘mistress’ and Hye Mi who I have trouble telling if she even love Joon Suk or not back then just follows her parents’ arrangement to marry him and accepts it as ‘fate’. Man, what are these people thinking? The ending is somewhat incomplete. There are a lot of matters left unresolved and unexplained…
The only thing I like about this drama is the bonding between the neighbors. It’s touching to see the neighbors supporting and encouraging each other during difficult times but they are also realistically portrayed as nosy people gossiping behind each other’s back. The kids are also fun to watch. Kids in K-dramas are always portrayed as extremely smart and aware of what the real world is…haha!
Perfect Neighbor Synopsis (from DramaWiki)
Baek Soo Chan has nothing in his hands but he lives a life under the belief that he will become the man any woman who sits next to him wants. However, his belief is questioned when he starts to realize true love. This drama will be focusing on the relationships of four persons who are living in the company's dorms. A professional con-man, a successor to the company, a lawyer and her meddling assistant.
Cast:
Kim Seung Woo as Baek Soo Chan
Bae Doo Na as Jung Yoon Hee
Park Shi Hoo as Yoo Joon Suk
Min Ji Hye as Go Hye Mi
Son Hyun Joo as Yang Duk Gil
Kim Sung Ryung as Jung Mi Hee
My comments:
The Perfect Neighbor is indeed peculiar. First, it’s hard to tell who is the main male lead in this drama: Kim Seung Woo or Park Si Hoo? Then, it’s hard to classify the genre of this drama. It looks like a rom-com but it’s not really one. It seems like a mystery drama, it’s not really as well. Well, it has mixture of familiar elements: bickering pair, Cinderella plotline, opposing rich mother, evil second female character and family secrets etc. The first scene starts with someone being potentially murdered to keep the suspense and by the end of episode 2, you already have three characters dead.
However, this drama didn’t quite work for me as I watched it in an on-off mode. The biggest problem is that it doesn’t have a central focus and the scenes just jumps here and there. I wasn’t particularly interested in the romance. Soo Chan and Yoon Hee are better and have better chemistry as friends while Joon Suk and Yoon Hee’s relationship is too cliched and too draggy. I find their fairytale love irritating before the exposure of the family secret. Joon Suk was basically a coward. He wants to keep Yoon Hee by his side but still plans to marry Hye Mi who he doesn’t love because of his mom’s suicidal threats! Yoon Hee is willing to be the ‘mistress’ and Hye Mi who I have trouble telling if she even love Joon Suk or not back then just follows her parents’ arrangement to marry him and accepts it as ‘fate’. Man, what are these people thinking? The ending is somewhat incomplete. There are a lot of matters left unresolved and unexplained…
The only thing I like about this drama is the bonding between the neighbors. It’s touching to see the neighbors supporting and encouraging each other during difficult times but they are also realistically portrayed as nosy people gossiping behind each other’s back. The kids are also fun to watch. Kids in K-dramas are always portrayed as extremely smart and aware of what the real world is…haha!
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Jay Chou's new song
When I saw the following potential cover for Jay's upcoming album “On The Run”, I fainted! I’m still praying that it will be a different cover image when the album officially releases next month. I believe in miracles…
Now, I just heard his new song 牛仔很忙 and I fainted again! Huh?! Is that really Jay? I think I need time to ‘digest’ it. I do give him my thumbs up for trying something so…different…Anyway, since I’m a hardcore fan, I’ll still buy the album even if it stinks :p
Now, I just heard his new song 牛仔很忙 and I fainted again! Huh?! Is that really Jay? I think I need time to ‘digest’ it. I do give him my thumbs up for trying something so…different…Anyway, since I’m a hardcore fan, I’ll still buy the album even if it stinks :p
Monday, October 8, 2007
Wonder Women
Wonder Women Synopsis (from Yesasia)
Gigi Leung stars as the main "Wonder Woman", Joy Shing, a respected professional and a loving mother, who is promoted to Chief Financial Officer of her company on the very same evening that her husband To Lam (George Lam) is ousted as CEO. His replacement is the handsome, Mainland-connected Ching Bit-Chung (Nie Yuan), who has his own romantic designs on Joy. But Joy has little time for romance, with both financial and personal losses mounting. Her neighbor (Hui Siu Hung) cheats her out of millions of dollars, leading to a bitter falling out with her childhood sweetheart (Kevin Cheng). Also, her husband falls deep into debt, and the ensuing spiral of misfortune threatens to tear their family apart. But with the outbreak of SARS comes Joy's most terrible loss of all.
My comments:
I didn’t have much expectation before watching it because I read contradictory opinions. I like it and I find it meaningful and moving although it’s way too dramatic and sometimes manipulative. I haven’t seen an unfortunate character like Gigi’s Joy for such a long time in HK stuff. It talked about her ups and downs within the last decade and there were more downs than ups in her case as she really lost a lot of things. Was it necessary to it that depressing? It’s sad to see her going through so many hardships but it’s also a relief to see her succeeding at the end and finding hope. The movie included real news footages of the big events that happened in HK since the handover and it’s actually sad to recall back the economic crash and SARS.
I haven't seen Gigi Leung in a long time; I'm glad that she chose to play a bold character in this movie, a very different her and I think she did great. She shows signs of aging though. Fiona continues to irritate me with the way she speaks but I like her character’s attitude at work. I cracked up when she said “Actually, I dislike giraffes”…haha…those who follow her news will know why it’s funny. Nie Yuan is quite charming as the young CEO and I was rooting for him to end up with Gigi…too bad that most men in this movie are portrayed as jerks! Sigh…
Gigi Leung stars as the main "Wonder Woman", Joy Shing, a respected professional and a loving mother, who is promoted to Chief Financial Officer of her company on the very same evening that her husband To Lam (George Lam) is ousted as CEO. His replacement is the handsome, Mainland-connected Ching Bit-Chung (Nie Yuan), who has his own romantic designs on Joy. But Joy has little time for romance, with both financial and personal losses mounting. Her neighbor (Hui Siu Hung) cheats her out of millions of dollars, leading to a bitter falling out with her childhood sweetheart (Kevin Cheng). Also, her husband falls deep into debt, and the ensuing spiral of misfortune threatens to tear their family apart. But with the outbreak of SARS comes Joy's most terrible loss of all.
My comments:
I didn’t have much expectation before watching it because I read contradictory opinions. I like it and I find it meaningful and moving although it’s way too dramatic and sometimes manipulative. I haven’t seen an unfortunate character like Gigi’s Joy for such a long time in HK stuff. It talked about her ups and downs within the last decade and there were more downs than ups in her case as she really lost a lot of things. Was it necessary to it that depressing? It’s sad to see her going through so many hardships but it’s also a relief to see her succeeding at the end and finding hope. The movie included real news footages of the big events that happened in HK since the handover and it’s actually sad to recall back the economic crash and SARS.
I haven't seen Gigi Leung in a long time; I'm glad that she chose to play a bold character in this movie, a very different her and I think she did great. She shows signs of aging though. Fiona continues to irritate me with the way she speaks but I like her character’s attitude at work. I cracked up when she said “Actually, I dislike giraffes”…haha…those who follow her news will know why it’s funny. Nie Yuan is quite charming as the young CEO and I was rooting for him to end up with Gigi…too bad that most men in this movie are portrayed as jerks! Sigh…
Saturday, October 6, 2007
Invisible Target
Invisible Target Synopsis (from Yesasia)
Loose cannon cop Chan Chun (Nicholas Tse) is perpetually on the edge, having lost his fiancée when she was killed during an armored car heist. Six months later, Chan finally gets a lead on the perpetrators, a gang of vicious Mainland thieves, led by the deadly duo of Wu Jing and Andy On. The thieves are looking for the mysterious person (or the "invisible target") who masterminded the original heist, and then took the money and betrayed their gang - and they're willing to take down as many cops as they need to gain their revenge. Chan wants them caught, but he's not the only one out for justice; the tough and smartly-dressed Inspector Fong Yik Wei (Shawn Yue) also wants a piece of the action, and rookie cop Wai King Ho (Jaycee Chan) suspects that the thieves may have something to do with his brother, a missing undercover cop. Individually, the three cops can't stop these guys, but through teamwork, righteous determination, and plenty of head-busting, flying-fists action, they just might stand a chance.
My comments:
This movie is actually 130 minutes long but I didn’t feel so when I watched it. It did have some draggy scenes with some preachy talk but still an entertaining movie overall. Lots of explosions and bullets here for those who love action movies and there were some over the top action sequence, featuring the guys flying (er…I mean jumping) from one thing to another! I can see that the guys put a lot of efforts on the stunts, well they were believable at least. It’s so easy to guess who the mastermind is and where the money is hidden, so there is no surprise here. But I’m a bit surprised by the ending…aw…so sad! I’m glad that the romance element is light here but it was not really a great idea to cast Elanne Kong as Shawn Yue’s girlfriend. She delivered her lines like she reading straight from the script, in other word very emotionless but she didn’t have much scenes so whatever…Hey, just a shallow comment: I totally enjoy that shirtless moment with the three main guys…haha!
Loose cannon cop Chan Chun (Nicholas Tse) is perpetually on the edge, having lost his fiancée when she was killed during an armored car heist. Six months later, Chan finally gets a lead on the perpetrators, a gang of vicious Mainland thieves, led by the deadly duo of Wu Jing and Andy On. The thieves are looking for the mysterious person (or the "invisible target") who masterminded the original heist, and then took the money and betrayed their gang - and they're willing to take down as many cops as they need to gain their revenge. Chan wants them caught, but he's not the only one out for justice; the tough and smartly-dressed Inspector Fong Yik Wei (Shawn Yue) also wants a piece of the action, and rookie cop Wai King Ho (Jaycee Chan) suspects that the thieves may have something to do with his brother, a missing undercover cop. Individually, the three cops can't stop these guys, but through teamwork, righteous determination, and plenty of head-busting, flying-fists action, they just might stand a chance.
My comments:
This movie is actually 130 minutes long but I didn’t feel so when I watched it. It did have some draggy scenes with some preachy talk but still an entertaining movie overall. Lots of explosions and bullets here for those who love action movies and there were some over the top action sequence, featuring the guys flying (er…I mean jumping) from one thing to another! I can see that the guys put a lot of efforts on the stunts, well they were believable at least. It’s so easy to guess who the mastermind is and where the money is hidden, so there is no surprise here. But I’m a bit surprised by the ending…aw…so sad! I’m glad that the romance element is light here but it was not really a great idea to cast Elanne Kong as Shawn Yue’s girlfriend. She delivered her lines like she reading straight from the script, in other word very emotionless but she didn’t have much scenes so whatever…Hey, just a shallow comment: I totally enjoy that shirtless moment with the three main guys…haha!
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Diary
Diary Synopsis (from Yesasia)
The dour and volatile Winnie (Charlene Choi) likes to make wooden puppets and write in her diary. After her boyfriend Seth leaves her, Winnie becomes increasingly emotionally and psychologically unstable. At the urging of her friend (Isabella Leong), she starts a new relationship with Seth-lookalike Ray (Shawn Yue), but the relationship soon makes the same downward spiral as before. As the situation worsens, so too does her grasp of reality. Or perhaps none of this is real in the first place. The answers all lie in her diary...
My comments:
An ex-coworker recommended Diary (well, Twins girls are his guilty pleasure!) and my cousin also said it wasn’t too bad (did you, p.w? :p) so why not watching it despite my biases against Twins. I might turn off the radio or switch channel when I hear/see them sing but when it comes to acting, I’m more lenient toward them. Also, it’s the movie that got Ah Sa 2 best actress awards so I have to see how great she is here…Anyway back to the movie, wow, it bores more than thrills! It’s messy, disjointed and slow at the beginning and it’s visually dark for like 85% of the movie. The first 30 minutes didn’t have much happening and I was constantly checking the time. It tried to build a mysterious atmosphere but it didn’t work for me; however, the ending managed to surprise me a bit and gave me some chills though. Ah Sa did improve and became more mature as an actress and I also found her pronunciation better but that’s basically it…
The dour and volatile Winnie (Charlene Choi) likes to make wooden puppets and write in her diary. After her boyfriend Seth leaves her, Winnie becomes increasingly emotionally and psychologically unstable. At the urging of her friend (Isabella Leong), she starts a new relationship with Seth-lookalike Ray (Shawn Yue), but the relationship soon makes the same downward spiral as before. As the situation worsens, so too does her grasp of reality. Or perhaps none of this is real in the first place. The answers all lie in her diary...
My comments:
An ex-coworker recommended Diary (well, Twins girls are his guilty pleasure!) and my cousin also said it wasn’t too bad (did you, p.w? :p) so why not watching it despite my biases against Twins. I might turn off the radio or switch channel when I hear/see them sing but when it comes to acting, I’m more lenient toward them. Also, it’s the movie that got Ah Sa 2 best actress awards so I have to see how great she is here…Anyway back to the movie, wow, it bores more than thrills! It’s messy, disjointed and slow at the beginning and it’s visually dark for like 85% of the movie. The first 30 minutes didn’t have much happening and I was constantly checking the time. It tried to build a mysterious atmosphere but it didn’t work for me; however, the ending managed to surprise me a bit and gave me some chills though. Ah Sa did improve and became more mature as an actress and I also found her pronunciation better but that’s basically it…
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Playlist of early October
- 男人KTV – Justin Lo (Cantonese version)/Anson Hu (Mandarin version) => I heard both versions and the feeling is actually not very different. The sampling of 吻別 and 你的背包 works better in the Mandarin version but comes odd in the Cantonese version. Still, a very karaoke-friendly song and I’m predicting that Justin’s version will be big this year at the award ceremonies.
- 你是我心内的一首歌 – Wang Lee Hom & Selina => The lyrics in Taiwanese dialect makes this song special. Also, I really like the retro feeling in this song despite the title sounding really cheesy.
- 左右無緣 – Gary Chaw => Gary’s second Cantonese song and it’s a great sad song. Will he ever release a Cantonese album?!
- 我的天 – Hins Cheung => Another sad song and the melody reminds me of his other song Dear U.
- 風生水起 – Fama featuring Mak Ling Ling => Yes, that’s really the Fung Shui master 麥玲玲 rapping. Very amusing song here!
- 你是我心内的一首歌 – Wang Lee Hom & Selina => The lyrics in Taiwanese dialect makes this song special. Also, I really like the retro feeling in this song despite the title sounding really cheesy.
- 左右無緣 – Gary Chaw => Gary’s second Cantonese song and it’s a great sad song. Will he ever release a Cantonese album?!
- 我的天 – Hins Cheung => Another sad song and the melody reminds me of his other song Dear U.
- 風生水起 – Fama featuring Mak Ling Ling => Yes, that’s really the Fung Shui master 麥玲玲 rapping. Very amusing song here!
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