A Love to Kill

A Love to Kill(이 죽일놈의 사랑; I Jukilnomui Sarang)
Korean Drama
16 Episodes
Year: 2005
Starring: Rain, Shin Min-a, Lee Ki-Woo, Kim Sa Rang

Okay, this drama is so complicated that I am going to paste this from mysoju.com.

In A Love to Kill, Rain plays a tough guy as the role of a K-1 Fighter, Kang Bok-gu. Bok-gu is a character who is dynamic in nature and grew up in a foster home. He falls in love with a woman whom he should not love. It was because of the woman, his emotionally-wounded brother fell off from the rooftop and became a human vegetable. So, his love is forbidden and inevitably tragic.

The woman is Cha Eun-seok (Shin Mina) who is a TV talent and movie actor. It was not that she jilted his brother on purpose, but upon a basis of misunderstanding, his hatred toward Cha Eun-soek grows more and more burning.

By becoming Cha Eun-seok’s private bodyguard, Bok-gu keeps concretely practicing his revenge upon her. He only desires ‘to bring his brother’s woman to her knees.’ He is gradually taking Cha Eun-seok to destruction, while he feels his love toward her growing deeper and deeper in his heart.

Yes, it's complicated. Yes, it's over dramatic. Yes, Rain is the most AMAZING ACTOR FREAKING EVER.

The beginning is actually quite lame and unbelievable. Not because the actors are incapable, but because whoever wrote this stretched the imagination a little too far. Her hiccups always last three days? Whatever.

This show was pretty boring for the first, well, ten episodes. It's very slow paced. Eun-seok and Bok-gu don't even meet until episode four, I think. But at episode ten it gets very good and you can't stop watching it.

I have a new respect for Rain as an actor. I have never in all my life seen a guy - or girl either - act like that. He was incredible. So believable, and his crying- oh, his crying! I was stunned. Although I wished he would wipe his nose, haha.

The ending is sad, but I didn't cry. I think it was because Rain was SITTING UP. I mean really, he sould have fallen over or been leaning against a tree or something. That just killed the image to me and made it less believable.

The soundtrack to this show is absoloutely gorgeous, especially the song 'Dream' which is in the video below. Love it so much.

I give this drama three stars. Good, but I wouldn't want to buy it or watch it again any time soon.

Hanazakari no Kimitachi e

Hanazakari no Kimitachi e (Hana Kimi, 花ざかりの君たちへ イケメン♂パラダイス)
Japanese Drama
12 Episodes plus Special
Year: 2007
Starring: Maki Horikita, Shun Oguri, Toma Ikuta

Ashiya Mizuki is a Japanese girl who lives in America. After seeing Sano Izumi high jump in a competition, she begins to idolize him. Because of her he is hurt and quits the high jump, so she decides to go to his school and help him. The problem is, he goes to Osaka High, an all boys boarding school. Mizuki disguises herself as a boy and moves to Japan. She and Sano are roomates, and at first he dislikes her. But he finds out her secret (though she doesn't know it) and starts warming up to her. She also befriends Nakatsu, a 'hot-blooded soccer player'.

This show is absoloutely hilarious. I love it. Nakatsu develops feelings for Mizuki and is freaking out through the whole show because he thinks he is gay. Nakatsu's best friend sees ghosts and auras and looks just like a friend of mine. The head of dorm 3, Masao, calls himself Oscar and is completely insane, from wearing a Phantom of the Opera mask to dancing tangos to being possessed.

The downside to this show is that the drama in it gets really lame. REALLY LAME. I can't tell you how tired I got of seeing Sano high jump in slow motion. And the drama in the beach episode was pathetic too. SHE HAD A FREAKING PARASOL.

And the ending was perfect (I LOVE HOW THE DOCTOR ENDED UP!!!), but so sad! But still perfect.

The funny parts totally make up for the lame dramatic parts. This show will make you pee your pants. Seriously. Go watch it.

Four and a half stars!





I chose this music video cuz I loved it. Nakatsu is awesome. Sano is boring. And this video is hilarious.

Attic Cat

Attic Cat (옥탑방 고양이, Rooftop Room Cat, Cat on the Roof)
Korean Drama
16 Episodes
Year: 2003
Director: Kim Sa Hyun
Starring: Kim Rae Won, Jung Da Bin)

This is a romantic comedy that was pretty funny. It's about Nam Jung Eun, a girl in her twenties with a humble background. She doesn't have the money to go to college, and is unable to find a full time job. She has been saving up money for an apartment of her own, but her brother steals her money so she can't afford to move out.

Lee Kyung Min is an orphan who was raised by his rich grandparents. His grandmother has spoiled him rotten. He blows money constantly, playing poker, and is very irrisponsible. He is a law student in college studying for the Bar Exam. He lives in an apartment funded by his grandparents. He is a player with a huge crush on a beautiful girl named Hye Ryun, but Hye Ryun pays him no attention.

He meets Jung Eun and, finding out that she is a friend of Hye Ryun's, loans her the money for the apartment's down payment. He is very nice to her, very friendly, but it is because he is trying to make Hye Ryun notice him. Jung Eun has no idea of this and developes a crush on him.

Kyung Min ends up being chased by loan sharks whose money he borrowed for gambling. He is unable to go to his apartment, and can't go to his grandparent's house because his grandfather, though he loves him, refuses to help him again. Kyung Min, having nowhere else to go, forces himself into Jung Eun's home. She doesn't like this situation at first, but she grows used to him being around all the time. She learns that he was only being nice to her so that he could get to Hye Ryun, and she is hurt by this, but she still likes him. Throughout the show Jung Eun's responsable and strict ways clash with Kyung Min's bratty ones, and that often provides funny moments.

I can't say that this drama is one of my favorites, though. While it was interesting at first, around episode 11 it really started lagging and I was ready for it to end. Kyung Min never seemed to become a responsible adult, and they never officially became a couple. There wasn't the closure I need. Although the ending was cute, it was so confusing. I mean, she leaves mad, then comes back two years later, and it's all forgiven? And where did they go from there?

Two and a half stars out of five. This one was good, but not really worth 16 hours of my time.

A Moment to Remember

A Moment to Remember (내 머리 속의 지우개, Eraser in My Head)
Korean Movie
Running time: 144 minutes
Year: 2004
Director: John H. Lee
Starring: Jung Woo-sung, Son Ye-jin

This movie begins as what seems like a romantic comedy. Su-Jin is 27 years old, and is moving home after having an affair with a married man. She is rather forgetful.

One day she goes into a convenience store and buys a coke. However, she leaves the store without her drink. She returns to the store, and coming out the door is a man with a coke. She looks inside and drink is gone. Thinking the man had taken hers, she grabs his soda and gulps it all down, then burps in his face. She turns and leaves.

On her way home, she realizes that her wallet is gone as well, so she goes to the store again. The man behind the counter gives her her wallet and coke. She gets embaressed over taking the other man's drink, but he is long gone.

Su-Jin's father is the owner of a construction company, and she is going somewhere with him when he has to stop on a job sight where a foreman is causing a fuss over an unstable building. Who should the worker be but the man she stole the drink from.
His name is Chul-Soo. And thus begins their romance.

They get married and are so very sweet together! Su-Jin loves Chul-Soo very much, and, though Chul-Soo won't say so, he loves her too. They are a perfect couple. Su-Jin is still so forgetful, so she goes to the doctor to see what the deal is. It's Alzheimers.

I'm not going to tell the rest of the story, because I don't want to give it away. This movie coaxed my heart out of it's guarded home, deceived it, threw it to the ground, stabbed it, then proceeded to tap dance on it in stilletto heels. I have never flat out BAWLED at a movie before. But I did in this one. It is such a good love story, and, even though my eyes were puffy for about four hours after watching it, and I was sad every time it crossed my mind for the next three days, it is one of my favorites. Amazing. Five out of five stars.



(This video made me cry all over again!)

Mulan

WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS.


I hate to start off my blog with a negative review, but this was the last movie I watched and want to write about it while it is still on my mind.

I had decided to bite the bullet. I can't stand listening to Chinese. But I love the story of Mulan. This movie is about that legendery girl, who most of us Americans know from the 1998 Disney film. The plot is basically the same, except take out the awesome Mushu, the cool fat dude, and add about eleven years.

The movie started off weird for me. First off, there is Vitas, all dressed in white, on a battlefield, with this look on his face that says, 'oh, I shouldn't have eaten those hot wings,' and this music playing in the background that is so high it's unreal.

There is no real telling of Mulan's life; ten minutes into the movie and she is at the army camp. You never get to really know her or her life. Then there is Wentai.

And WHAT THE HECK is with that?! Ok, he and Mulan become generals twenty minutes into the movie, and like four years go by. Then he pretends to die for like five years, but still manages to hide within the camp. And I mean, come ON. He's a fricking PRINCE. How is he hiding from his father? And wouldn't his father know if his son wasn't a general? And how did he go about hiding in the first place? And the thing he did with his blood for Mulan was kinda sweet, but also creepy.

I found out towards the end of the movie that the film took place over twelve years. GAH. And after waiting two hours for a nice ending, I DON'T GET ONE. Usually I am fine with unhappy endings. Heck, some of my favorite movies have the main character's die or one dies and the other is left alone. But this...a good ending would have been this movie's only redeeming quality.

Half a star out of five. Watchable, but blek.