My Sassy Girl

Type: Korean Movie

Cast:

Jun Ji Hyun as “The Girl”

Cha Tae Hyun as Gyeon-woo

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My Review:

The best part about this movie is that it is based on a true story!  I am not really sure what category to put this movie in, sometimes it is a comedy or romantic but other times it can be a little sad.  It really does have something for everyone, a sort of love story for the girls and a this is my crazy girlfriend story for the guys.  No matter happy or sad this movie is awesome and the story is great!

One night on the subway Gyeon-Woo meets a drunk girl and as she starts to act up the people around him think that they are together and he is forced in to taking care of her.  After a series of hilarious events he gets her off the train and leaves her on a bench asleep.  His compassion gets the best of him and runs back into get her, he carries her on his back and get a hotel room for the night.  In the morning the cops burst in and arrest him for his suspicious behavior.  After he gets out of jail the girl calls him and tells him she wants him to meet her somewhere so that he can tell her what happened.   From there on in they start a very strange relationship that is later explained in a very touch romantic way that makes everything make sense, but I am not going tot ell you and ruin the movie!

This is definitely a must see!  This has got to be one of the funniest cutest movies out there!  Please make sure to catch it and if you watch it online and you like it please support the arts by buying it, you can get it for less than $20.00 us.  I own every movie, drama or CD I review!

James Lee

James Lee is a Malaysian Director that I recently discovered . It all started when I saw a movie titled The Beautiful Washing Machine. I have to say that the title alone peaked my interest and then I read what it was about! I had to see it. I then learned it was a sort of series called the Love Trilogy, so I bought all three movies. I will be watching then soon and will give a review of each!
More to come…. First I will watch The Beautiful Washing Machine

Lim Jeong-Hee – Before I Go J Lim

Artist – Lim Jeong Hee

Album – Before I Go J Lim

Songs on the Album -
01 Before I Go J-Lim
02 When You’re Crazy in Love (Feat. OutKast Big Boi &J.Y.Park)
03 Appearance
04 Opposite of Love
05 Do It (Feat. Miryo From Brown Eyed Girls)
06 Love (Feat. Pdogg)
07 Go to Her
08 Can’t
09 This Kind of Love That Kind of Love (Feat.J.Y.Park)
10 Farewell Declaration
11 Listen (Feat. K.Will)
12 When Love Ends

Lim Jeong Hee is awesome and I think she will have a great shot at a good career in the US. This is her last album in Korean (By last I mean the last one she made, not the last Korean album she will ever make). I think she has a great voice and I like her music style. This album has a softer sound and a lot more ballads on it. One of my favorite songs was the one she did with Big Boi from OutKast called When You’re Crazy in Love, it has a great sound and his addition to the song makes it a great song. A lot of the slower songs I really love as well like Do It, Love, Listen and You Can’t. I pretty much like the whole album! Give it a try, when you want to just relax and hear some nice ballads this is the album you will want to grab!

My Girl & I

Type: Korean Movie

Cast:

Song Hye Gyo as Su-eun (Pictured right)

Cha Tae Hyun as Su Ho (Pictured left)

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My Review:

Warning: Do not let the cute picture on the cover fool you! This story was originally a Japanese novel, then a Japanese movie and then this is a Korean movie. Now that being said, I do intend on watching the Japanese version next.

This starts out with a few friends eating together and talking about someone who isn’t there. They talk about how long it has been since they saw him and doubt that he will show. Then out of no where Su Ho walks into view and they great him. Then you see the friends all standing near the water and one starts yelling about how someone ruined Su Ho’s life. You are then dropped into a sort of memory sequence that is basically the rest of the movie explaining what happened to Su Ho. It is a very cute story about two people meeting in high school and falling in love. From there on in you get the usual little quarrels and make ups or a high school romance. And then one day everything takes a turn, from this point on you better have tissues ready to go and lots of them. It takes a few standard Korean drama cues and one tragic thing after another occurs.

I don’t want to ruin it for you or else all the sad parts will not be as meaningful. I have read reviews saying that it is bad movie or that they made it very different from the Japanese movie. I watched My Girl & I with no preconceived notions and I think even if I had known about the Japanese version that I still would have liked My Girl & I. On it’s own it is a wonderful movie about love and first loves. Once I watch the Japanese movie I will write a review and compare the two for myself!

There are many things I like about this movie, it has some great quotes from the movie and many things that they discuss really make you think. Mostly the movie deals with love so most of the discussion are based on relationships and love. For high school kids that have some deep conversations about love. I can’t really remember the music, probably because I was crying so much! But a few of the locations were beautiful and I really liked the town they used. One of my favorite parts in the movie is when Song sings, I knew she could sing but it was awesome to see it in the movie.

The Railroad

Type: Korean Movie

Cast:

Kim Kang-Woo as Man Soo

Son Tae-Young as Hanna Lee

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My Review

Well I literally just finished watching this movie a few minutes ago and I had to come on to write this while it was fresh in my mind. This is a very emotional movie to watch. It is basically and at it’s most simple a story of two people. Two people the don’t know each other at the beginning. You go through the happy times and sad times and learn more about the life of each person. Then the each go through a tragic and sad event, and find each other the the end of the railroad line. Pretty much stuck i the snow together in the middle of the night they have to work together to over come the fact that there will be no trains till morning. In the end the story comes together very nicely, but do they become friends or do they go their separate ways?

Apparently it is considered a low-budget film, but I don’t get that feeling at all. I found the acting and scenery amazing. The two main charters interact well and see to truly come to care about the others problems. I really recommend buying and giving it a try, I am sure you will want to watch it again and again. It made me feel that even though times can be hard eventually everything will be happy in your life again soon.

I don’t want to give to much of this movie away, so I am not going to say much more. Just please watch it and let me know what you think. I am open to opposing comments! Please no spoilers though!

Jolin Tsai – J Game

Artist – Jolin Tsai

Album – J Game

Songs on the Album -

1. Intro
2. Wild Game
3. The Greek Girl by the Wishing pond
4. Sky
5. Overlooking Purposely
6. Repeat Note
7. Sweet and Sour
8. Oh Oh
9. Exclusive Myth
10. Killing Cupid
11. Missing You

I love this album, I can listen to every song on it. My favorites at Sky and Wild Game. Sky is a slow song and it sounds very sad. Wild Game is the complete opposite, it makes me want to get up and dance. To be honest most of these songs make me want to dance. My favorite thing about this album is that I bought the version that comes with a DVD of all the music videos. I love to watch them all, seeing all the dances she does makes me want to learn one! She is also very beautiful and seeing all the different clothes she wears is really fun. If you don’t have it, buy it and make sure you get the one with the DVD!

Dirty Carnival

Type: Korean Movie

Cast:

Jo In Sung as Byung-doo

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This is a gangster movie, a Korean gangster movie. It is the first one like this I have ever seen and I have no idea how true to life it really is. All that aside, I liked it a lot! It was a little weird seeing Jo In Sung go from sweet and sensitive in Madeline to rough around the edges Byung-doo in Dirty Carnival. But in the end I think it just shows how well he works at his profession. I think over all I was surprised by the movie and I was even able to get my boyfriend to watch it with me and I think maybe it changed how he felt about my obsession with Asian Entertainment.

This is sort of a sad gangster story if you can try to imagine something like that. It is about a boy who has to step up to support the family and his ill mother. He ends up getting into a gang and having his own arcade. In traditional gangster movie fashion he is made an offer he can’t refuse and he takes it. It is hard not to grow feelings for him and wish that things turned out better for him. Lets be honest with ourselves, he does some bad things and tries to keep his family from knowing. At some point they are going to find out and by then it might be to late. During the movie he meets some old friends. One of the friends is a girl that he cares about and he tries to keep his life a secret from her, but she finds out and will no longer talk to him. At this point you really want him to clean up his life for her but will he be able to?

This is no love story, while there is a little one built into it. So please don’t watch and think it is going to be a happy movie. This is a movie about gangs and violence and one mans attempt to keep his family going. It is very well done and some of the fight scenes are very good. If you are a fan of the sappy love story dramas and movies, like me, you might still like it, like I did. But please remember it is not a sappy love story. Please enjoy!

Love Contract

Type: Taiwanese Drama

Cast:

Ariel Lin as Cheng Xiao Feng

Mike Hee as Liu Jian Dong (Ah Ken)

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This is a twenty episode drama, yes you read that right three zero.  It is the longest drama that I have ever watched.  At first it thought it was moving to slowly but I found that i eventually feel into pace and it was fine.  Love Contract it really a simple main story Xiao Feng played by Ariel Lin had a group or friends on her birthday she tells them that all she wants is to fall in love.  So they try to find someone to fall in love with her and create a contract for that person to sign to make them agree to it.  Behind this main story there are many smaller stories that make watching this enjoyable, everything from love triangles to family issues.

Unlike other dramas where the scenery is very important, I didn’t find that to be as true with Love Contract.  The places they went were all very normal their homes, to school, to the pool or the beach.  The beach however plays an important role in the drama.  With many important things occurring there.  Water in general, now that I really sit and think about all the things that happen in this drama, is in a lot of scenes and I don’t mean just one of the characters drinking a glass either!

The soundtrack had two songs that really stand out to me.  One song is sung by Ariel Lin and it is called “The Lonely Northern Hemisphere”.  I really like this song, it has a very fun sound to it and the lyrics are very sweet.  Another really good song is by Zhang Zhen Yue and the title is either “Regarding the matters between us” or “About our relationship”.  I really love this song, it took me a long time to find the English translation and when I did the song became that much better.  It fits the drama well, I wish I could figure out how they make such amazing television, in such beautiful places, with such good acting and the perfect music.

Madeleine

Type: Korean Movie

Cast:

Shin Min Ah as Hee-Jin

Jo In Sung as Ji-Suk

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My Review:

I really liked this movie. I can’t really remember how I came upon it but I know I was on crunchyroll when I did. I watched the whole movie one day online and then I knew I had to buy it. The movie is about two people that went to school together to meet again later in life. Hee-Jin is the main female lead, she is a hair stylist and one day she sees a guy she knew in school, Ji-Suk, ride by on his bike and she runs out to stop him. They talk for a bit and she give him her number. Ji-Suk is the main lead role in the movie. He is quite and spends a lot of time by him self and in the library. They start spending time together and then one day Hee-Jin proposes that they date for one month. She promises by the end of the month he will be in love with her and that he will not want to let her go but if he doesn’t they will part as friends.

Along the way Hee-jin has a few surprises and a little jealousy. They end up breaking up and Hee-Jin becomes very upset. During this time Ji-Suk realizes he does love her and tries to patch things up with Hee-Jin but it might be a little to late. Ji-Suk tries to go on with his life and then one day Hee-jin finally realizes that she can’t go on and goes to him. She walks from her house to his work in a daze unaware of what is happening to her she stops outside his work and stares at him. He eventually notices her standing there and as their eyes meet she collapse. He goes to her and carries her to the hospital and waits for her to wake up.

He friend will not let him see her so eventually he leave. Everything goes back to the way it was before. One day he sees a friend off at the airport and what his friend says to him causes him to think about his own situation. Ji-Suk goes back to the first place they had a date and there is a short flashback. Then he is standing outside of the salon she works at. Hee-Jin turns and looks out the window like she saw something and nothing is there and when she turns around to go back to work she sees his reflection in the mirror.

Watching the movie was a lot of fun and the sound track was great. It is a great feeling when Hee-Jin starts to get Ji-Suk to open up. She is such an easy person to love, she is so cute and happy. The exact opposite of Ji-Suk, he is quite and clam and likes to think things through. She shows him how to have fun and how simple those things can be.

I hope you will try to find this movie! Good luck and enjoy!

Love Letter

Type: Japanese Movie

Cast:

Nakayama Miho as Fujii Itsuki and Watanabe Hiroko

Toyokawa Etsushi as Akiba Shigeru

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My Review:

This is a simple movie and for that I really liked it. I also found it very interesting that Nakayama Miho played both of the lead roles. The story it that Watanabe Hiroko had a fiance and he died. She is having a hard time getting over it so she decides to write a letter to him. She finds his old address in a yearbook and sends the letter there. Then she gets a huge surprise when she gets an answer.

The letter she gets in return is from Fujii Itsuki who is alive and happens to share the same name as her dead fiance. As time passes by they write back and forth and start to figure out the confusion. Hiroko finally decides that she must go and meet Itsuki but things don’t go as well as planned as she is very ill. I can’t say much more with out ruining the ending.

There are a few flash backs to their school days and some very interesting plot twists. In the end Hiroko’s dead fiance’s best friend takes her to the place where her fiance died. There she shouts to him hoping he can hear her and she tries to say her last goodbye’s to let him go. It is a very touching moment and make sure you have your tissues ready.

I love this movie and I love Nakayama Miho and Toyokawa Etsushi. They are both excellent in their performance and they work very well together. As always the vistas are outstanding and play well to the emotions at hand. If you had a high school crush this movie will come a little close to home for you if your love for that person was somewhat unrequited. I would really recommend this movie to anyone who loves a chick flick.