Derama: Boys over Flowers

And here they are, the Korean version of F4 for "Kot Boda Namja" (Hana Yori Dango)

As for the five episodes that have been aired, no objection here so far.

Closer with the Taiwanese version, I must say.

Def rooting for more of Lee Min Ho's Koo Joon-Pyo (aka Domyouji/Tao Ming Tse) <3

#grin#

Movie: My Father

I won't deny that Daniel Henney was one of the factors why I watched this movie. Guess I kept hoping that he will show us a "real" heart piercing acting one of these days. Alas, unfortunately, he seems to be saving the best for later...

Oh, the movie wasn't all that bad. It was a worth four star movie for me in fact, but sadly I have to admit that the stars are all awed to Kim Young-cheol who played as Daniel's father. I will forever remember the scene when he said, "Bom i wasso = Spring has came".

It was like only the 15 minutes first part of the movie and he already made my eyes teary. I swear, you should watch closely his expression when saying these words, it is as if he's picturing his all life in that split seconds...

There were some Henney's acting that also became my favorites, one of them was the scene when he was crying for a painful loss in his American truck. Kind of remind me of my own when I loss my dear grandma.

Anyway, the story of this 2007 released movie was about James Parker (Henney) who went to Korea as an US Army soldier to find his birth parents. James was adopted by an American family ever since he was 6 years old. Even though he have a happy life with the Parkers, James never felt complete without knowing his true roots.

But the father and son rendezvous was not as pretty as the spring cause he soon found out that his father was a convicted murderer waiting for his death penalty.

As I said before, the movie wasn't all that bad, especially when the story was inspired from a true story of Aaron Carter. The story line and tempo were also well kept in my opinion, making us willingly to go with the flow. Surprised (blurred) facts and dubious-no blunt-ending were a good choice, I think, even though I was quiet puzzled for some times. But maybe I have learnt to let go and accept that things sometimes were not meant to be as clear as we wanted...

One thing that make me laugh was, the fact that Henney played basketball ALSO in this piece. Not that I mind, of course, watching him play the game will NEVER make me mind, it just that... come on! HAHAHAHAHA... I just hope that in the future, people won't feel the pressure of making special scripts for him with basketball scenes.

Casts: Daniel Henney, Kim Young-cheol Release Date: 2007/09 Language: Korean

Rate:

The King And The Clown OST - Lee Sun Hee - In Yeon (MV)

Reminiscing mood... how I love Jun Ki's acting in this movie...

For the review of The King and The Clown movie click here

Movie: Attack on the Pin-Up Boys

There's nothing much to say about this one. Don't expect too much on the strong story department, this movie was certainly made only to please the eyes with lots of eye candies such as Choi Si Won, Kang Ta, and so on...

Guess the Super Junior's fans were fully spoilt here. In my honest opinion: not enough Choi Si Won! ;-p

As the title suggested the basic storyline was about attacks toward the beautiful boys from every famous school. If you are popular, good looking, have a lot of screaming girls around you on everyday basis, well... beware, cause you can be the next target...

The bit about attacking them with a plastic bag full of faeces was gross, though... Regretted on using my super imagination power this time ;-p

Rate:

Casts: Choi Si Won, Super Junior Language: Korea Release Date: October 2007

TV Drama: Thank You

It's been quiet a while since I'm able to enjoy a Korean drama, good dramas that are not so easy to find these days, that is. Luckily, my sister told me about this one, and "Thank You (Komapsemnida) " was somehow able to give me that pleasure again.

This 16 episodes drama, in short, told us a story about a young once cold-hearted doctor (Min Gi-Suh) who tried to mend his late-girlfriend mistake. The girlfriend who was also a doctor made an error of judgement that made a child contracted AIDS. And whaddaya know, this child (Bom) was happened to be an only child of a young and pretty single mother (Lee Young-Shin), who desperately needed rescuing from her tough life. She was after all living poorly at a village in a small island full of gossip loving ahjuma-del, striving hard to put food on the table for her daughter and also her senile grandfather.

I wouldn't say that this drama was perfect, just like its precedence, Thank You also had the tendency to prolonged the unnecessary. But I have to admit that they have the worth-to-follow storyline, amidst the usual "rich guy fell for the poor girl" theme, the drama also dealt with some "serious issues", i.e. AIDS, social prejudice, etc.

The chemistry between the two main characters: Min Gi-suh (29) / Jang Hyeok and Lee Young-shin (27) / Kong Hyo-jin was also well felt, made us rooting for the two to fell into each other arms. Sadly, though, after a while, I turned around to cheer the other party: Choi Suk-hyun (29), played handsomely by Sin Seong-rok. They never spoke it out bluntly but the audience somehow, subtly, being informed that this man was Lee Bom (8) biological father.

As the usual love triangle submerged slowly into the story, I found myself bored by the typical Korean male heroes in Min Gi-suh (who alarmingly sometimes looked like Jo In-seong--only sometimes!) and kind of fell for the humanly Choi Suk-hyun (I loveeeeddd his eyes!!!).

"The guy's a human being after all, he made mistakes, please give him a chance for God sake!" But that was of course only my pleading... Hehehe... The rest is up to you...

Rate:
Korean Title: Komapsemnida, 2007 Casts: Jang Hyeok, Kong Hyo-Jin, Seo Sin-Ae, Sin Seong-Rok, Lee Byung-Gook Length: 16 episodes

Music: Beautiful Thing by Xiah Junsu--DBSK

It feels like beautiful thing
darui geurimja arae seon na
gwitkka-e maemdoneun baram
nareul eodiro deryeogalkka

Hayake bameul yuyeonghadeut
gureumeul geonneun yeonghon
saebyeogi chaja-ol ttaekkaji
bami jamdeul ttaekkaji

Time of love o na-ui salme
heorekttwen nareun eonje-ilkka
i sesang geu eotteon geottto
areumdapjji anheun geoneopsseo
salmeun modeungeol aragagi-eneun
neomu jjalbeun yeohaengingeol

Gyejeoreun tto ogetjjiman
shiganui gangdo heulleo
huimihan sesang bicheun
gi-eongman namge dwego
harureul nan gamsahamyeo, jageun gido-ui soneul mo-a
geojise garyeojin modeun geoseul saranghage hasoseo

It feels like beautiful thing. Below the moon’s shadow, the wind whispers in my ear. Where will it take me. Making the night turn white, a spirit that walks on clouds. Till the dawn comes. Till the night goes to sleep.

Time of love, oh my life, when will be the chosen day. There is nothing in this world that is not beautiful. For one to know everything in a lifetime, it’s too short of a trip. Though the seasons will come again, time also passes.

Life’s faint light allow, only the memories remain. I am thankful for each day, so I put my hands together in a small prayer. Everything that is hidden in lies. May I love please.

Romanization by: tsiy (also credit: aheeyah.com)
Translation by: o2_intake (also credit: aheeyah.com)

Note 1: Xiah is one of the Dong Bang Shin Ki members. He’s my favorite among the five. Note 2: Okay, Batata, I officially admit that I do have some teen’s crush for this guy. Hahaha ;-p I loveeedddd his voice (and his dance moves). <3 <3 <3

Travel: Korean Restaurant "Gahyo"

GAHYO
Jl Jenderal Sudirman Kav. 52053 Lot. 6
Jakarta Selatan
Telp 021-52897044

If you ever want to taste some of the Korean delicacies (Hanguk Emsik), I would very much recommend you to Gahyo at Jalan Sudirman. Though did not look too promising from the outside---you cannot see it from the main road; it’s located at the back of Milenia, at one of the alleys. On busy days, you barely can see it, as it is covered by cars parking at the front of it---once you’re inside, you will become a bit reassured.

The rectangle restaurant is divided into two types of seating: western style (with tables and chairs) and the oriental style (with platform, short legged tables, and seat cushions). There was also a small island of bar at the middle of the room. Wanting to have the complete eastern experience, we chose the oriental style seating; taking our shoes off, hoping our feet would not betray and go dead on us ;-p

There were of course the barbeque selections on the menu, but as we want to try the foods with gukgi (clear soup) or cigae (thickly spiced, sometimes oily, soup), we only had our eyes on that group. I wanted to order the Kimchi Cigae (cigae with meat and kimchi), but too bad they only have the pork one, so I have to pass. I order the Jukkejang (cigae with beef and mushrooms) instead.

What I loved about this restaurant was the complete banchan (side dishes) that they served. They were many of them!!! (Quantity sometimes does still rules over quality!!! Hahaha) On my first visit, I counted them, and there were about seven types of banchan: including kimchi, vegetable pancake (a bit like Japanese okonomiyaki), and bean pasted spinach (my favorite!), and eggs tofu, etc. You can see more from the pictures I took. And I found out at my second visit that the set of these banchans were not always the same, so you expect different sets on one day and the other.

The tea they served tasted and smelled like the Japanese mugicha (usually drink cold during the summer). I instantly fell for it. I didn’t expect that mugicha also tasted delightful when served hot. Oh, and thank god for the free refill!!!

Stepping out from Gahyo with full tummy probably can well be expected with the price over Rp100.000 each. But, guess what?! We only spent about Rp60.000 each after tax, only because of the cigae’s price. The banchan is for free and if one serving wasn’t enough, you can get another refill!!! So I guess now you’ve known why I like this place so much. The thought of coming in and order only white rice will certainly come to mind… ;-p

Amidst all the good review, sadly the restrooms were not as those of the high-class restaurant. And where taste is concerned, I will have to admit that at the second visiting, the taste of the Jukkejang could not be described as mind-blowing, but if you’re insist on having great collections of banchan, this is definitely the place.

Pictures taken by Chihiro 2006: (1) Banchan (2) More Banchan ;-p (3) Jukkejang and bab (rice)

Blog: Hallyu and Korean Nationalism 2

Editorials: Too much of a good thing (09/02/2007)

Too many Koreans take advantage of nationalism. This remark by the Korea pop music producer, Park Jin-young, has created controversy.

Mr. Park claims that due to excessive nationalism in Korean society, many people unreasonably and groundlessly interpret hallyu, the Korean pop culture wave, as a form of Korean domination or superiority over other countries. His criticism has a point. We need to think seriously about excessive nationalism in our society.

In Korea, the concept of a unified people was formed when Mongolia invaded us at the end of the Goryeo Dynasty, according to historians.Since then, nationalism has provided a firm defense mechanism through countless foreign invasions and the Japanese colonization, enduring a divided country and war.

In the modern era, Korea has been under the influence of foreign superpowers. This makes nationalism even stronger, and it continues to function as a fortress. Foreign forces and figures have been excluded from the fortress, but within it, Koreans lose touch with the outside world.

When Japanese women admire a Korean actor, Koreans feel proud. But when Japanese movies or novels are introduced into Korea, an alarm goes off to warn the nation that Japanese culture is pouring in.

When foreigners wear traditional Korean costumes, Koreans are very happy, but Koreans were upset when a Korean pop singer wore Chinese costumes during his concert in China.

Nationalism as a defense easily turns into offense, but few notice that transformation. Koreans get upset when their fellow countrymen living in Japan are discriminated against, but they close their eyes when some Koreans exploit immigrant workers from the Third World.

We have to change. We do not mean that we should forget our identity as Koreans, but we need to scrap excessive nationalism. Too much nationalism damages diversity, a growth engine in modern democratic societies. There have also been many cases in which citizens’ freedoms were infringed upon in the name of nationalism.

We should abandon the ideology of nationalism and instead equip ourselves with the skills and competence to become cosmopolitan. That is the way to make Korea not only survive but prosper in this global era.

Source: http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2872260

Blog: Hallyu and Korean Nationalism 1

Producer Blasts Korean Nationalism (2007/02/08)

Celebrity music producer Park Jin-young took a stand against nationalism yesterday, saying the word Korean should be removed from the phrase "Korean wave".

"I don't understand why the Korean wave is taken as the rah-rah material", Mr. Park said. "Now is the time to overcome nationalism, but instead we are intensifying that sentiment".

Mr. Park, who produces the music of the star singer Rain, was referring to hallyu, the Korean pop culture wave. He said the nationalism causes other countries to criticize Korea.

He made the comments in an interview in New York with the JoongAng Ilbo. Mr. Park is scheduled to make a keynote speech on Feb. 16 for the forum "Hallyu in Asia: A Dialogue", at the Kennedy School of Harvard University.

The media is at least partly to blame for fanning nationalism, Mr. Park said. "The press says things like 'The Korean wave is conquering Japan and China', and that leads to anti-Korean wave sentiment overseas", Mr. Park said.

Mr. Park said he's been surprised to hear criticism expressed by producers and TV executives overseas.
"Now, the Korean wave is strong, so they are playing our music in their countries", Mr. Park said. "But I get the sense that if the Korean Wave shows signs of dying out, they would go ahead and stop playing our music. It only hurts us if Koreans stress the Korean label too much".

He also said politicians share in the responsibility. "Politicians do not look at pop art as a way to communicate culturally, but use nationalism for their own benefit".

The producer noted that his own singer, Rain, received criticism on Web sites at home because he wore a Chinese-style costume and made dance moves based on kung fu. "Such a narrow-minded attitude does not help at all", Mr. Park said.

The comment boiled up more online controversy, as Internet users reacted sharply both for and against Mr. Park. Those who opposed him said people can't deny that the Korean wave comes from Korea.

The producer wrote a response yesterday on his Web site, saying, "It is my dream to overcome this modern age in which we think our country and our nation are only the best", he said.

Mr. Park, himself a former star singer, has fostered a round of successful pop singers through his company, JYP Entertainment.

By Nam Jeong-ho(JoongAng Ilbo)/ Chun Su-jin(Staff Writer)

Source : joongangdaily.joins.c... ( English Korean )

Blog: Japanese Wave in Korea

TV review - That rumbling noise is the Japanese wave (2007/02/06)

If you want to know what's hot in Korean culture just now, I have the answer — Japan. The so-called "Korean Wave" appears to have lost its power, at least in Japan. I am Korean through and through, but I have to say this, even though hot-blooded patriots might start showering me with angry e-mails. Still, this is a free country and this is my column. So allow me to talk about something that I cannot miss in the Japanese cultural flow that is secretly seeping over the Korean Peninsula.

I still believe the Dokdo Islets, which Japan claims as Takeshima, should belong to Korea (although I wish the midget islands were simply not there), but I find myself enjoying Japanese novels, TV dramas and music. And I'm not the only heretic. Go to a downtown bookstore and you will see that one of the busiest sections is dedicated to Japanese modern novels and beloved writers such as Amy Yamada and Kaori Ekuni.

Yes, I've declared myself long ago as an aficionado of Japanese TV dramas. But the thing is, my love for Japanese TV dramas was kept in the closet. Translation: I saw many of them in pirate versions floating on the Internet. Now they've come out of the closet, as many cable channels are importing and running the dramas.

There is even a Japanese channel, called Channel J, exclusively devoted to Japanese cultural imports. On a recent night I almost screamed with joy when I saw the "Ooku" series on Channel J while mindlessly flicking the remote control. It's a historical drama featuring catfights among women who compete for the attention of the shogun in a Tokyo castle. It is a huge favorite of mine because of the splendid kimonos and other traditional Japanese charms. I worked the phones and found out that Channel J was officially launched with Korean capital.

Kim Jong-rae, in charge of publicity, ducked the question about audience ratings, refusing to give precise numbers. The closest he came to an answer was to say that the channel's most popular drama ranks around 30th among the shows aired by more than 100 cable TV channels. "Still, we get phone calls from a fanatical audience, who want their favorite TV dramas and pop music", Mr. Kim said.

Another publicist for MBC Movies, a cable channel run by MBC-TV, is more frank. She said that the highest rating for her channel's Japanese TV drama is some 2 percent at the most. So, I asked, are Japanese TV dramas not so popular here? Then I was told that a 2-percent audience rating is quite good when it comes to a cable TV channel. "It's true that we are disappointed by the audience rating", she said. "But we understand that Japanese TV dramas here have a small group of fanatical fans, not a huge general audience".

She added that her channel plans to import more of the shows. Currently, it is running "Nobuta-o Produce", a recent production from last year.

Major TV networks, meanwhile, have constantly come up with their own dramas derived from Japanese originals. The most recent one is the medical TV drama, "White Tower", based on a Japanese TV novel and drama with the same title.

The Korean government still bans shows in the Japanese language from major public-airwave channels, but a little channel surfing on cable TV will prove that Japanese language programming is readily available. "Secretto Sensei", meaning "Secret Teacher" in English, recently finished on Mnet, a cable music channel here. It featured Korean musicians learning Japanese from a Japanese woman. Understandably, quite a large amount of the show was in Japanese.

Well, it's true that the Korean Wave is still alive and somehow kicking, but it's time to wake up from that sweet dream that hallyu will hit the world after conquering Japan. The alarm clock is ringing, and it could soon be time to get ready for a different cultural invasion.

by Chun su jin

Source : joongangdaily.joins.c... ( English Korean )

Persona: Dong Bang Shin Ki

At first I only heard and watched them because of my little sis who is totally madly in love with them, well, particularly with Micky Yu Cheon. CRAZE was more like it!!! But after a while her infatuation ;-p finally get to me, cause after all, I have to admit these five guys really do have the showmanships and some nice rhythms. They have proven that they're not just a regular pretty boys’ boyband.

Anyway, the name Dong Bang Shin Ki (DBSK) itself was translated into "Rising Gods of the East." The Japanese equivalent of the group's name is Tōhōshinki (abbreviated as THSK), while in Taiwan, they are known as Tong Vfang Xien Qi (TVSQ). And they all were born at 1986!!! Except for Max who was born in 1987. Talk about brondong bo!!

Dong Bang Shin Ki's members are:

U-KNOW Yun Ho



MICKY Yu Cheon


HERO Jae Jeong


MAX Chang Min



XIAH Jun Su


Although Hero (Jae Jeong) had easily caught my eyes—and this was easily proven because the camera definitely love him! He looked great on still images---later on, after watching U-know (Yun Ho) danced, I decided that he was the Dong Bang Shin Ki’s member for me.

But then after a while, I changed my mind again. I was really taken by Xiah’s (Jun-Su) powerful and typicality voice—thick in almost every songs even when the five of them singing together, but perhaps for me, especially in Rising Sun and Ashita wa Kuru Kara, and then of course his own solo song with Jang Ri In, a female singer, in Timeless. He has grown nicely through these years ;-p

But then again, nowadays, I can’t really make up my mind. Seeing U-know showing his dance moves… for example, in Destiny (those opening moves under the rain, OMG: he certainly didn’t play nice to my weak heart ;-p): WOW! The phrase “yummy young blood” will instantly pop up in my mind ;-p

Too bad, he’s a bit different now. As if he has lost his sparks. The incident (a girl who was an anti-fan gave him a beverage containing substances usually found in Super Glue!!!!) must’ve had gotten into him. Well, who wouldn’t?

You can read more detail on this topic in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TVXQ

U-know, I hope you’ll get yourself together again soon. Nuna is praying for you!

What kind of songs do they perform? Listening few of their songs, I think they’re trying to do a lot of genres. But I think their strong point is in dance-fast-pace songs and R&B. Their acappellas didn’t really stand out, and their boyband’s types of songs are really not in my menu (Hug for example, not bad but I would prefer something else).

My favorite DBSK’s MV so far is definitely Rising Sun (well, at least, minus the Brady Bunch's scenes ;-p). All of them really looked HOT in that clip. My favorite parts were when they all leaped like young stallions and the slow break dance time. But the new O-Junbanhap’s (did I wrote it correctly?) MV was also cool.


Anyway, browsing the net for their images was so easy, there’s seemed to be a lot of blogthat that hosted their pictures. Thanks a lot to all of you!!! Way to go! Great pics and great blogs/forums!

Here are some of them:
http://tvxq-pipin.seesaa.net/
www.blog.edu.cn
http://m-dbsk.skyblog.com/
http://entertainment.webshots.com/
http://www.shineblog.com/

Persona: Jo In-Seong

Until now I’ve watched quiet enough Hanguk (Korean) derama and movies, I think, and so far Jo In-Seong is still the best for me. Not only good looks, he has the acting and charisma possessed by big stars. In fact, remembering almost three years ago, he was the Korean star who made my head turned and then my heart fell for Halyu (Korean Wave) itself.

Though of course---just like in other postings I’ve put in this blog---I’m opened for other opinion, this is a little warning: where Jo In-Seong is concerned, it will be hard to ask for objectivity from me. Hehehe ;-p

BASICS:
Date of birth: 1981 July 28
Height: 186cm
Weight: 70kg
Star sign: Leo
Blood type: B

TRIVIA:
Family: Parents, 1 younger brother
Education: Donggu University (acting major)
Specialty: Taekwondo (he was to be an instructor, if not for his acting career), Basketball
Hobby: Collecting Hats
Debut: December 1998 Georgio model


TV SERIES
Too bad that I haven’t saw these titles, so no comment:
School 3 (KBS1, 2001), sitcom Drama City "Like An Innocent Comic" (KBS2, 2001), New Nonstop 2 (MBC, 2002), Piano (SBS, 2002), Daemang (SBS, 2002), cameo Shoot for the star (SBS, 2002)

What Happened in Bali (SBS, 2004)

Also known as Something Happened in Bali, this was the derama on which I first “met” Jo In-Seong. In fact, this was the first Hanguk derama that I actually watched, even though, if I’m not mistaken, there were already Winter Sonata, Hotelier, etc back then.

Jo In-Seong was fantastic as Jong Jae-Min. He played as a spoiled rich guy that fell desperately on a poor average girl (played by Ha Ji-Won). His chemistry with her was very powerful; I couldn’t get my eyes off him. His sobbing scenes were definitely unforgettable; they were heart ripping and chest crunching! No wonder that he got that year Best Actor Award from this derama.

In this derama, he looked super with his stylish leather backpack, colorful leather sport shoes, and—the trademark for him in this derama—flowery shirt underneath dark or light colored jacket; oh, and also white pants. Never though that flowery shirt can still make a man looked masculine, but it definitely worked for In-Seong.

The sight of him walking through the cubicles to his office with that tottaly cool moves… omo omo, congmal mositta!!!

Spring Day (SBS, 2005)

After Something Happened in Bali, I was craving for more In-Seong, so thank god for this derama.

Once again, In-Seong played as a rich guy who used to having economy privileges. But unlike Jae-Min character who was confident and strong-headed, in this derama, In-Seong put on top acting by becoming a young doctor who was afraid of blood (!) and powerless against his very strict father.

His character was a bit weak and even cowardly sometimes, many times he chose running rather than facing his problems. That is until he met a simple girl who happened to be his big brother’s girlfriend (played by Ko Hyeon-Jong: lucky woman! So far I’ve watched her playing opposite to two yummy young guys, in this derama and in What’s Up, Fox?) Watching In-Seong tried to win this girl’s heart would definitely reminded you to his efforts in Something Happened in Bali. But I liked those efforts better in here.

My favorite memorable scene was when he followed the girl he loved quite far from behind, watching her went home without trying to see her—because the girl was after all, his brother’s lover. Not in a stalker kind of way, but watching to make sure she arrived at home safely. And then of course, after the girl had realized In-Seong was following her, their kissing scene. So sweet…

More of his derama, juseo!!!!

MOVIES

Titles I haven’t watch: Public Toilet (2002), Madeleine (2002)

Classic (2003)
Watching In-Seong as a university student, a sonbae, was undeniably a treat! He looked great with basic campus look: sweaters, jeans, and jackets. Too bad he didn’t have many scenes in this movie. Even so, he managed to leave deep impression with the beautiful scene of him protecting the girl he liked from the rain.


Love of South & North / Love Impossible (2003)
Okay okay, so nobody’s perfect. But I blamed all the poor performances on the director and the leading lady. In-Seong was sadly not funny in this supposedly comedy drama, nor showed any good memorable acting, but there was the time when he showed after a few years (in the story) looking great with glasses.

A Dirty Carnival/Mean Streets (2006)


Already made a review on the newest In-Seong movie on this blog. Have you read it? If not, go ahead and click here


AWARDS

2006 5th Korea Film Awards Best Actor
2005 41st Baeksang Art Awards: Popularity Award
2004 SBS Acting Awards: Best Actor Award
2004 SBS Acting Awards: Top 10 Stars Award
2004 40th Baeksang Art Awards: Best Male TV Actor (What Happened in Bali)
2002 SBS Acting Awards: Popularity Award
2002 SBS Acting Awards: Top 10 Stars Award
2001 SBS Acting Awards: New Star Award
2001 MBC Broadcasting Awards: Sitcom Acting Award
2000 KBS Acting Awards: Young Actor Award

SOURCES:
http://people.empas.com/people/info/jo/in/joinsung/
http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Jo_In_Sung
http://gallery.asianfanatics.net/

Movie: Monopoly

The story was about Kyung Ho (Yang Dong Geun), a genius computer programmer whose job was to manage the online networks for all of the banks across the country. But having such an important job didn’t really help him in the social life department. Kyung Ho was more like a Japanese otaku: living a solitary life, socially retarded, always a mockery object to one of his co-worker, and his only friends that he often talk to were his animation character figurines collection.

One day, he runs into John (Kim Sung Su), a smooth talking and certainly dashing, handsome, charming, smart, beautiful sight for the sore eyes who had nice smiles (okay, we’ve got your point, Chi ;-p) businessman who invites Kyung Ho to experience the high life with him. Kyung Ho said to himself that this man was the one he’s been waiting for, the one that was like his knight in shining armors. And even though John already had a girlfriend (Yun Ji-Min) who’s madly in love with him, he seemed to return Kyung-Ho’s passionate feelings for him.

So, Kyung Ho was seduced and agreed to help John with his master plan. By using Kyung Ho's computer skills and unlimited access, John asked him to withdraw small, unnoticeable amounts of cash from every bank account in the country---making them rich without anybody noticing the money missing. But, it turned out that even in a crime that seemed victimless like John's, there has to be a loser, or two.

Okay, that was the story, and my thoughts were:


The was no doubt, of course, about how Kim Sung Su’s making the movie a pleasant one to watch, even though he didn't leave strong enough impression in it, unlike his role as Min-Yok oppa in Full House. Somehow he didn't succeed in making me believed that he was the cold-hearted puppeteer who would use anything and anyone for his own goal.

Yang Dong-Geun in the other hand played well. His version of an otaku really worked out for me. And when he looked at John, I could feel his adoration and vulnerability to the superior male. Yun Ji-Min was sadly not alluring enough; a bit off from my idea of the enticing female who used her body to deceive.

And… for the bummer of it, the BIG problem of this movie for me was: I have saw The Usual Suspects! (Omitting the tragic tragedy when I actually SLEPT! during the last five/ten crucial minutes of this masterpiece. Yeah, I know! I must had been really tired that day to be able to do THAT!) Anyway, seeing the ending of Monopoly was a bit like seeing the ending of The Usual Suspects—not the exact copy, but still.

So, to tell you the truth, I was a bit disappointed. But still the movie wasn’t a total letdown because after all, the plotting of the beginning and midway of the film was quite entertaining.

Rate:
Casts: Yang Dong-Geun, Kim Sung-Su, Yun Ji-Min Director: Lee Hang-Bae Producer: Kim Hyeong-Jun Duration: 91 minutes Release date in South Korea: 2006/06/01 Source: www.hancinema.net

Movie: Like a Virgin

This film really reminded me of why I love Korean movies. But then again, this movie alone probably would stand out from its crowd; after all it has won Lee Hae-Jun and Lee Hae-Young the Best New Director Award at The 5th Korean Film Awards. And this was their debut as directors! Wow!!!

I like its simple story line, nothing too ambitious (the kind that tried too hard to give some holly messages), and even though the transgender or transsexual issues has been the seed of so many movies we’ve seen these days, Like A Virgin made me saw it as a new fresh side. I was hooked to every frame and was not willing for it to go without taking me along.

Even though--with the fabulous casts that they had--they can easily create a “serious” drama, I was glad that the directors stayed to the comedy instead; you'll see it instantly that they were totally in their element. Ryu Duk-Hwan was totally great, and not only because he had gained 20 kg for this role! He could really played out his character up to the tiniest flicker in her eyes—ups, I meant, his eyes ;-p

Ryu Duk-Hwan (you may remember him as the youngest North Korean soldier in Welcome To Dongmakgol, though he was so thin in that also great movie) was Oh Dong-Gu, a fat, short and average second year high school student, who seemed to have every possible way of unhappiness.

His father was a gold medal boxer who got injured and now living every day with drinking, swearing, hitting, hating life and himself. His mother had lived separately from them; avoiding her husband’s rages and pursuing a life that had been postponed when she got pregnant with Dong-Gu at a very young age. His younger brother was pretty much ignorant and tried to avoid their father as much as he could—Dong-Gu said to his mother on one of their meetings that he’s becoming more and more like their dad.

And if all of that were not enough, along with the peer pressure and stuffs, Oh Dong-Gu felt that he was a girl trapped in a boy’s body. He was so inspired by Madonna and her song “Like a Virgin” and dreamed of becoming a superstar like her. So when other boys were busy doing part time jobs to buy, for example, a motorbike or airplane models, he’s working hard to save money for a sex change operation.

Doing early in the morning jobs at the dock always made Dong-Gu late and in trouble with the teachers at school, so he had to find other means to reach his goal. And then he heard of the ssireum (traditional Korean wrestling, a bit like sumo) contest, which assured winning players of a prize purse of 5 million won. Thus began his contradictory life, his feminine soul had to compete in a very masculine world of wrestling.


There were so many small but smart humor details that made this movie unforgettable. The way Dong-Gu lowered his eyes when seeing his Japanese teacher (played by Kusanagi Tsuyoshi-SMAP) that he had a huge crush on. The way Dong-Gu and one of the ssireum sonbae practiced Lexy’s Ehsongge dancing (with great moves, I must add) while talking about serious topic. The way Dong-Gu took the long and red cloth which was ssireum’s belt (arrggh, I forgot what it’s called), put it on like it was a long sari, and started to dance Indian dancing moves in front of his locker room mirror. How red one of the ssireum’s sonbae’s face when he’s suppressing laughter fit because of his supersensitive armpit got slightly touched (Imagine doing wrestling and protecting you armpit the whole time. It certainly didn’t look easy! Hahahaha). Etc.


But this movie was not all about humor. The heartfelt scenes were also there. The painful sobbing in the middle of the night while Dong-Gu was washing his wet pants, after a dream of finally having the menarche. The beating Dong-Gu had to endure from his father when he confronted him with the truth (“This is me, Abohji!).

And of course the dialogue Dong-Gu and his bestfriend had:
Friend: “You’re so lucky, unlike me or others, you already have a dream…”
Dong-Gu: “What dream? I just want to live a life!”

Rate:
Korean title: Cheonhajangsa Madonna Directors & Screenplay Writers: Lee Hae-Jun, Lee Hae-Yeong Casts: Ryu Deok-Hwan, Baek Yun-Sik, Lee Sang-Ah, Kim Yoon-Seok, Park Yeong-Seo, Kim Kyeong-Ik, Oh Yun-Hong, Lee Jae-Gu Distribution: CJ Entertainment
Release date in South Korea: 2006/08/31
Sources: www.yesasia.com; www.hancinema.com