My PS Partner (2012) Movie Recap

In one of those lonely nights of trying to move on from the memory of his long-time girlfriend, a man received an erotic phone call from a woman while he was dreaming one of those steamy nights with his ex-lover. Caught off guard on what was happening he played along in the intimate weird phonecall adventure and was able to almost reach a satisfying peak before the woman realized that she dialed not her boyfriend’s number.

 

The “this is what realistic relationship is” tone has made this straightforward, lively and cheeky romcom hit all the love chakras in my body. Not since My Wife Got Married did I enjoy an R18 romance flick, but the started-weird-move-to-casual-and-turned-to-binding connection of the lead couple made me so inspired to embark on a dating binge. *giggles

 

It raised a question of which kind of lovers’ parting is more painful… Is it the long-running relationship or the half-way-inlove kind of intimacy? Is it worth it to be comfortable in a routinary relationship with someone who is unsure if he has even plans to get married or is it worth the risk to ditch it and have an honest, carefree emotional involvement that doesn’t take marriage as a scapegoat because you are tired of loving, breaking up, hurting and finding love again.

 

My PS partner is an example of another vibrant love movie I would strongly recommend to watch. It has a subtle indie appeal with a very smart screenplay. It went to the love trap cliche but the quirky development of the romance plus the organic feel of witnessing what relationship in late-20′s-early-30′s was about were depicted amusingly, realistically and candidly.

 

I gave it a 5 star rating and a space on my kmovie favorites because of how it has minimal mature content but was able to balance and even heightened the romantic essence, the seamless humor and the responsive chemistry between the main leads in the movie. Sweetly impudent, My PS Partner made me feel so wanting to be in love after watching it, and not the knight-in-the-shining-armour-cinderella-rose-petals kind of way but the wearing-his-oversized-shirt-singing-while-he-plays-the-guitar kind of love.

 

Still moping about his recent break up with his 5-year ex-girlfriend, Hyung-seung groped for the ringing handphone while he was in the middle of an erogenous reverie and was surprised to hear a woman’s voice. Still figuring what’s happening, his sleepy self became fully awake when the aphrodisiacal phone conversation became more intense, and just as he was nearing his climax, the woman, Yoon-jung realized her stupid mistake of calling the wrong person. Yoon-jung was a lingerie designer who has been dating her man for the last 5 years and was already feeling frustrated about his lack of wedding plans for them.

 

Hyung-seung met up with his friends to drown and numb himself with alcohol, and in tipsy state he tried calling his ex-girlfriend but was answered by the new lover of his ex. Furious, he inadvertently dialed the wrong number and landed an “all girls are whore” litany to the woman he got a phonesex conversation last night who also had a bad day after instead of a wedding ring she got a hairclip from her man on their 5th year anniversary date.

 

They engaged in a heated argument of who was the psycho between them but then he broke down and cry. Felt the pain of the man she was talking with and soon the two found themselves connecting to each other’s love frustrations. From then on they engaged in sassy and steamy conversation and when they agreed to meet up the sexy talks was fulfilled in action.

 

Their weird no-name-invented-yet relationship status has helped each other with their exasperating love problems but knowing and afraid that it would never work out with them Yoon-jung decided to stop their entanglement.

 

Yoon-jung has been patient of his boyfriend’s lack of consideration attitude and has been wanting to confront him about his infidelity issues. She almost reached her saturation point one night only to have him gave her a wedding proposal that she has been waiting for a while. Hyun-seung on the other hand still in limbo of the emotional throe he got ne after the other got anunexpected visit and another second serving with his ex-girlfriend. Then reality hit Hyun-seung, and not minding if it was right or wrong and whether there could be hope, he set forth to see Yoon-jung on her wedding day and in his weird, erotic love song declaration pushed her to admitting that she doesn’t want that marriage and even spilling the beans of her fiance’s illicit affair to an officemate who was also present in the wedding.

 

Yoon-jung went “runaway bride”, and not stopping and responding when Hyun-seung screamed ILoveYou to her.

 

Time flew and Yoon-jung found back her footing and was doing good in her business. She got a visit from her friends who arranged a slot for a phone-in segment to where Hyun-seung was having a disc jockey stint. She sang the same song Hyun-seung did on her cancelled nuptial day which was altered to a decent love song. He recognized her voice as she tried winning him back… and when he asked her “what cha wearin?”, she quipped a description of a sexy lingerie in response.

-jediprincess

Images from hanCinema

 

 

“When a relationship ends because of infidelity, it’s not about the sense of betrayal that kept you from moving on, it’s the unfamiliarity that you first feel because it never dawned on you that such thing could happen.”

 

How To Use Guys With Secret Tips Korean Movie Quick Recap (2013)

Even if I enjoyed the amusing and lively editing, I didn’t like how predictable and unruly the characters were in this story.  For some weird reasons, I have seen most of Lee Si Young’s romcoms, and while undoubtedly she has a knack in comic-romance timing, I can’t feel her connection with the leading man, and not because he’s not that good-looking *giggles but because his projected persona was not that appealing to weave a cold Romeo with side arrogance issues.

So Lee Si Young played the role of Choi Bo-na, an unappealing girl who struggled to make the male population notice and adore her.  She is often times overlooked because of how basically she dressed and carried herself.  When she was left behind the production team she was working with packed up, she had an epiphany of a video shop where an ajussi introduced a video manual on how she can attract boys.  Bewildered and not buying the whole idea, she got sidetracked by ajussi’s sale pitch when he threw in a remark that something dark will happen to her if she won’t purchase it.  So she went home holding the “Instruction on how to Charm Men” video and was not really meaning to see it.  But then she found herself watching the video non-sense and actually learning a thing or two from it.  Soon the changes from her confidence were emerging and she even landed sharing sheets with a Hallyu star she at first had a bad encounter.  After their one night stand, the girl went keen in following the video manual and was able to draw the Hallyu star, Lee Jung Se, closer to her, but still the latter was still disregarding her because of his top star status so she devised a way to make him fall for her even more, and with hint of jealousy and not extending her attention to him, Jung-se found himself smitten by the Assistant’ director’s charm.

Just when everything is falling on the right places and just when both of them were acknowledging their presence in each other’s lives, the eventual conflict of the lead guy knowing about the manual she was following put a wall between them.  The growing and steadying fondness were almost halted but because the power of love can cure almost everything, they found the way back to each other’s arms.

This is the usual love movie, where viewers would already know what will happen in the story, and yet we stayed watching it hoping that at least it would draw some funk at least, but nothing happened.  I hate it when there’s a love misunderstanding and the people involved won’t give a chance to explain their sides.  In this modern time, where communication can be reached online and offline, if a relationship will be misunderstood, then there was no connection at all between the people claiming they were into each other. 

It was a sleek directing and editing, that’s what you will really notice about this film, considering that the plot was not a novelty, the director was able to make it so appealing because of how it was narrated.

I love the idea of how the lead couple “fell in love”, against their personality differences and going beyond their comfort zones, but I hated that they acted stupid on the course of falling in love.

I would give a fair rating on this film because I really found the editing cute and appetizing, but don’t account on a lingering effect, because you won’t find it. -jediprincess

Shadows of Love (2012) Quick Recap

This was a movie that until now I can’t reconcile why I was able to finish it.  It was bordering between plain to abysmal.  It was supposed to be a romantic comedy but the romance part I thought was playing hide-and-seek with me.  Chinese rom-coms are really far behind the Korean love video pills acting and story wise.  They really should invest in good stories first and not predictable ones.

Kwon Sang Woo oppa was soo good in Pained and it really baffled me why he took on this project.  Let’s just blame it to him trying to expand his stardom to the Chinese audience, but really it was such a waste of talent.

The story went like this… Paris, an heiress to a business empire was thought to be affected by a disaster in her visit to Korea, and because her father was stuck sick in the hospital, it would affect their position in the company especially because of her uncle who has been wanting to usurp the top position.  To remedy the situation, Kwon Jung Hoon (Paris’ boyfriend) approached a woman who looked exactly like his missing girlfriend to assume his lost GF’s identity in order to pacify the situation in the company and the worsening health of the Chairman.

Paris’ doppelganger acquiesced to Jung Hoon’s proposition but started awkward in imitating the heiress because of their extreme opposite personalities.  While Paris was bossy, cold and classy, Qin Xin was meek, natural and warm.  Eventually, Qin Xin was able to adapt Paris identity in time for a charity ball hosted by her evil uncle. 

Paris on the other hand made contact with her cousin and was aware of the contingency plan by Jung Hoon.  Conflict arose when Jung Hoon’s emotion was swayed towards Qin Xin who was also feeling the same way with him.  On the night of the ball, Paris emerged unannounced and met Qin Xin for the first time, the latter stepped down to the role she was playing sadly because of the fondness she felt over Jung Hoon.

Paris made Jung Hoon chose between her and Chung Xin.  Jung Hoon apologized for breaking Paris’ heart and decided to be together with the girl who has made him fall in love unexpectedly fast.

There… that was just the story about.  No frills, nothing new, not even something that would make your heart flutter.  This movie no matter how I tried to see any hint of goodness in it, I still am unable to compose a decent encouragement to watch it, as there’s really nothing worth seeing.  I’m sorry.

Lovesic (no pun intended) “Lovesick (2011) Taiwan movie musings

I also don’t know how I was able to finish this movie.  I’m crediting it to my watching of Ariel Lin’s “It Started with a Kiss” and “They Kiss Again” before, but to comment on it bluntly, it was a love in a many splendored cliches movie.  It’s funny as well that the girl from the Taiwan drama who together with Jiang Zhisu nursed me when I was heart-broken gave me a story I was with before.

A very predictable plot, not so much romantic vibes and no quirkiness from the story and the supposed to be love web, I relied mainly on my goal to try to update my Taiwan movie/drama bucket to stay not dozing on the development of the romance and the lack of it and the forced placing of it in the story.

Ariel played the role of a cheerful woman who became a commitment-phobe when her first love who showered her with rose petals, songs and promises left him as he became a pop star.  She went through 5 stages of grief and with the help of her supportive family, she was able to find herself on board in living again but she created a protective bubble and rules of dating which mainly directs her to not really dating at all.

Then came Dr. Cute whom she met while she volunteered in her grandfather’s hospital.  The laughter therapy she initiated was also the same program he was working on so their constant meetings were inevitable.

She tried to dismiss the growing feelings she was feeling for him and was looking for excuses and loopholes in Dr. Cute’s to-good-to-be-true persona to no avail, but the more she made an effort to deny the attraction, the more it was sinking deeper into her.

The main conflict arose when she came into terms that there’s no way out for her but to accept that she has fallen in love with him but she has to choose between making him stay to be with her or pretending their love is imaginary so that he would proceed to fulfill his lifelong doctor dream. Her fear in accepting a romantic involvement was the main story mover, and I was expecting a winningsome romantic scenes sweetly executed by the main lead actor to thaw the ice cold heart of the lead actress.

While I like the confusion-and-moment-of-truth-shock on love confrontations that involved “achieving dreams”, I mustered all my strength to get through into completing the remaining 5 minutes of the movie.  You see I have witnessed bucket of romance stories… read, heard and watched it all my life, that’s why when I knew on the onset of the movie what I will be expecting, I was hoping at least they would put some funk on the typical love phobia storyline.  Unfortunately though, it failed to do so.  It’s bordering to mediocrely done and almost passing.

Just remember Ariel gave you ISWAK AND TKA if you will watch Lovesick.  I’m scheduled to watch this movie couple’s drama project In Time With You, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it will give me a different result.

Typical, not so much quirky and heart-fluttering romance for a love flick, I really don’t like this, so if you liked it I’m sorry, if not, you’re welcome with my saving you from a bad rom-com movie.

KLM101: crash course to the Best Korean Romance Movies

and that’s me being overly assumptive but I’m pretty sure these are initiating Korean romance movies you have to see first, but consider you’re forewarned because these love flicks might erase the existing favorites you have right now …

In response to one of my blog friend’s request of making the best 24 Korean love movies  and because I’m in a sleeping contest with Harper Lee’s book  I’m pausing now to pick the Best Korean Romance Movies my eyes have ever laid on.

This will be hard considering love is subjective and love has different faces, but I’ll select the movies based on their peculiar storyline, evolving characters and knockout directing and overall make.

So Aunt Aphrodite, in no particular order here it goes… please accept my love offering.

P.S  If your favorites are not on the list, charge it to personal preference or I might have not seen it yet.  ^_^

♥ My Sassy girl (2001) – THE GIRL WHO LEARNED TO LOVE AGAIN AND THE BOY WHO WILL DO EVERYTHING FOR LOVE.

Gyeon-woo would make your current BF right now in danger because most likely you will entertain that “I wish my BF can be a little like Gyeon-woo kind of thought”.

The initiating movie for first time watcher on the Korean movie land. This was released in 2001 and was based by a blog post written by Kim Hyo Sik. Director Kwak Jae Yong helmed the production.

If you haven’t watched this movie, then you haven’t watched a really good romance movie.  Needless to say, this is one of my favorite love films. Captivating, vibrant and worth watching… 

A perfect date movie that will leave you laughing and loving at the same time.

This is love tale of losing love, coping on the loss, helping yourself with whatever you can have to find love again.  Most girls undoubtedly can totally understand how the girl might have felt because of how emotional girls can be when dealing with heartaches. 

And I think most of us girls, can relate to the pain she was bearing all through out the movie. It’s hard to get over and start a new when your heart gets broken regardless of the reason why.  All of us want “Gyun-woo”, a not so perfect man but will be there for us no matter what.

A girl who has some past love issues was saved by a cheerful young man when she almost got caught by a train.  Fate played with them and the boy slowly became fond of her and decided that he would heal whatever that pain she has.  If I can marry someone like Gyeon-woo, I’ll be damn happy.

MY SASSY GIRL MOVIE RECAP

♥ Il Mare (2000) – THE PENPALS TURNED LOVERS BECAUSE OF A TIME TRAVELLING MAIL BOX.

Hollywood made a remake of this movie (The Lake house) but still I prefer how Koreans did it. A man and a woman engaged in a romance as they exchanged love letters and leaving it inside a mail box.  Time element executed perfectly. Addictive love story… Deeply touching and moving

IL Mare literally screamed soft and moving love story of time-crossed lovers.  It’s very simple, and yet well narrated that even my attention problem was won over by it.

It’s a nice watch on a lazy afternoon in the arms of someone you love. 

Love they say is magic and I say a sort of magical mail box which made a man and a woman fell in love regardless if they were living at different times was more than fireworks and raining rose petals.

IL MARE MOVIE RECAP

♥ Daisy (2006) – THE SECRET LOVER YOU WOULD WANT TO HAVE

I like how Jun Ji Hyun reinvents herself as an actress, that’s why I love all her films.  Set in Netherlands, Ji Hyun played the role of a street painter that will become the love interest of a secret service agent and a professional hitman… Thrilling, lingering, and romantic elements were put in splendidly

This was narrated gorgeously in a three-way view point, there’s not a single kiss scene, but for some reasons it’s overflowing with love.  It was like the feeling when Pacey gave Joey a whole wall for her to paint.  If I’ll have a stalker like Park Yi, I’m sure I’ll fall for him.

Most movies that I’ve seen with time flashbacks were really good, but in Daisy it was extra special. 

It is unconditional secret one sided love at its best, and the shoot out scene where Park Yi reads Hye-young’s lips is one of my favorite scenes ever. 

And although the ever after was not achieved, this is one love story that really made me happy.  It was a love full of wonderful memories even before it started.

DAISY MOVIE RECAP

♥ Daddy Long Legs (2005) – THE MAN WHO LOVED A GIRL EVEN IN HIS FADING LIFE AND MEMORY

Ha Ji Won played a role of a radio scriptwriter who was always dreaming of meeting the guy who helped her pay her tuition in college. She accidentally bumped into emails that tells about a girl’s long time admiration over a guy. She finally had a chance to meet her daddy-long-legs and there she learned that it was his younger brother who asked him to do all the things for her. She also learned that it was her daddy-long -legs who wrote those emails, however he switched his gender when he was writing the emails. Daddy-long-legs lost all his memories including that of the girl’s because he was dying and he asked his brother to make the girl happy once he lost his memory. You’ll never get tired of watching it. Amazingly sweet and mesmerizing.

Daddy Long Legs is one of the sweetest movies I’ve seen so far.  It is laid back and serene.  The tricky identity switch can either fascinate you or pull a “make no sense” plot in your eyes.  In my case I like how it was laid. 

This feels like that “one summer walk” with your crush that you dearly keep in your heart. 

Eventhough the ending is sad, it is worth your afternoon break.

DADDY LONG LEGS MOVIE RECAP

♥ My Little Bride (2004) – THE LOVE THAT HAS ALWAYS BEEN THERE AND IT TOOK A WHILE FOR THEM TO REALIZE

An ordinary high school girl who worries about grades and has a crush on her school’s baseball team ace was forced to marry a guy out of her grandfather’s wish. Her being young and the hidden marriage made this movie so charming. Dandy, cheerful, playful… will let you remember that feel you have on the first person you ever had a crush on.

My Little Bride is a sweet tale of young love.  It reminds us that sometimes we may become blinded or too pre-occupied to notice a “love” that has been there all along.

We should not mistake thrills over true love.  This is a charmingly cute cradle snatching love story full of vibrancy and true love.

I don’t have a childhood sweetheart, books perhaps, but isn’t it amazing to be sharing the rest of your life with someone who has been there with you and who stayed without you demanding it.

MY LITTLE BRIDE MOVIE RECAP

♥ The Classic (2003) – THE SWEET LOVE AND  ROMANCE THAT WAS FULFILLED AT ANOTHER LIFETIME

Very nice, enthralling, amazingly unsurpassed romance… I can’t find words to dislike this movie, so just watch it. This is a love story that you will tell your grandchildren rather than “Romeo and Juliet”. 

A young woman accidentally bumped on her mother’s love story and she got deeply engaged with it.  The parallelism was well portrayed and there was just so much love in the air.

When I first saw this movie, I was deeply moved I named all my pet dog…  Sang-min.  *giggles  Until now, my pet is named Sang-min.  It was a time-transcending love at it’s best.  This made me love Director Kwak Jae-young much more.

“CHANCE is a GIFT for those who TRY”

THE CLASSIC MOVIE RECAP

♥ My Wife got Married (2008) - THE HUSBAND AND WIFE IN AN UNCONVENTIONAL COMMITMENT AND HEARTFELT LOVE

I was really amused at this movie. Son Ye Jin was a player who hates marriage until she met a guy who showed her that it’s possible to enjoy being committed. Then she kinda like the idea of marriage so she asked her husband if she can marry another guy and there goes a kind of marriage you won’t think would happen in real life… So playful and mischievously flirty.

Marriage is kind of an exhausting topic for me as all my friends have been praying for me to tie the knot and that’s maybe the reason why I can’t because the love angels are annoyed with the buckets of requests.  But this movie was one of a kind, it’s a kind of set up I would want wen I decide to be with someone forever, well not the unfaithfulness perse but the light and comfortable feel of being married.

Sexy but in place.  Buoyant and Bouncy.

♥ A Millionaires First Love (2006) – THE RICH REBEL WHO LOVED A GIRL AND MADE ME CRY

Hyun Bin was a millionaire’s heir but in order for him to have his fortune, his dead granny forced him to finish High School in the suburb. There he discovered the past that he erased in his mind, and the truth that money can’t save the life of the girl he loves.

Most of the Korean Romance movies have sad endings,but then again it didn’t make them less beautiful.  That scene when Binnie’s character was so amazed at the lead girl’s back as she cooks, was one of the sweetest scene I have seen in a KMovie.  This was a dying girl movie that defied all the dying girl movies out there because it was not forced and was so heartfelt.

Passionate and bewitching.  This is a love flick that will remind you how you shared the pain and wanted to take away someone’s pain because of love.

♥ 100 Days with Mr. Arrogant (2004) – THE ENSLAVEMENT AGREEMENT THAT BLOOMED INTO A BINDING LOVE

After dumping her boyfriend just before their 100 day anniversary, she met a college guy when she accidentally kicks a can that hit him in the face and caused him to scratch his Lexus. He demanded she paid him $3000 on the spot and wrote up an “Enslavement Agreement” for her in order to pay for the damage to his car.   She got into a nightmarish slave life for 100 days, cleaning his house, running his errands, doing his homework and cleaning his car. Ooops.. I almost told the whole story… Upbeat, enchanting and one of my favorites.

This is a movie brimming with feel-good vibes.  It is nothing spectacular but always fun and nice to watch.  A slave-master love story refreshing, engaging and worth remembering.

100 DAYS WITH MR. ARROGANT MOVIE RECAP

♥ Romance of their Own (2004) – THE SWEET LOVE STORY THAT WILL SURPRISINGLY LINGER IN YOUR HEART

Two hot guys fought for a sweet naive, girl.  (I swear you would want to trade places with the girl on this movie.) 

This is what a guy should watch to get some  snappy smooth moves for is girl.  My eyes were literally flashing hearts and my heart was fickle every 5 minutes because of the adorable male leads.

The twist of the story is quite surprising, and I’m warning you that you might cry.  Tender, passionate and love-affirming.

♥ Someone Special (2004) – THAT SOMEONE SPECIAL WE OFTEN CALLED “LOVE”

This is REALLY a nice watch… the movie you will force that special someone to watch with you before you decide to tie the knot… *giggles very witty, heartwarming, extraordinarily sweet, comfy and appealing.

This flick has one of the wittiest and funniest screenplay I’ve seen.  It was not complex and will keep teasing your heart in its entire duration.  It’s a movie were all pieces complements each other well from the story premise to how the characters played their role well to the amusing conflict and to the secret love and how it was returned back.  This is one of my hall-of-famers.

SOMEONE SPECIAL MOVIE RECAP

♥ A Moment To Remember (2004) – THE WORTH REMEMBERING LOVE OF A MAN TO THE WOMAN WHO CAN’T REMEMBER HIM

A couple striving to keep up their relationship against the struggle with the wife’s Alzheimer’s disease… A love story of a devoted husband who stayed with her wife even when she was slowly forgetting that he happened in her life.. Poignant, deeply moving, and I cried buckets of tears here.

This movie sent me to tear-land when I first saw it, and while recapping it my heart was still moved.  This is such a strong love story, the kind of love tale you’ll share your friend who has currently having inhibitions about love.  Considering the premise involved “sickness” as a conflict, I think what made this movie so strong is because of the superb performance of the lead couple.

One of the few movies, I dearly keep in my heart.

A MOMENT TO REMEMBER MOVIE RECAP

♥ Lovers Concerto (2002) – THE PAINFULLY SWEET LOVE TRIANGLE OF ‘EM ALL

Stellar acting and a gorgeously written script…  A deeply immersing love story…  Tied with friendship, secret adoration and almost love, this is a little charmer that will fill you up butterflies in your stomach.

I don’t know how to react to a love triangle were a friend of mine is involved.  A man should be worthy enough to make me join a tug of war, but then again how much I love my friend also matters.  This is one of those motion picture tat you can transfer to a book without losing its essence and beauty.

♥ 200 lbs Beauty (2006) – THE WEIGHT REDUCTION LOVE VENGEANCE CHICK FLICK

Brave, sunny and worth watching with your friends… A voice talent who has weight challenges worked hard to lose weight.  She became prettier and avenged her broken heart.  A love story full of courage and never failing to hope for what love can really offer.

If Mischievous Kiss gave hope to not so bright ladies that they have a chance to snatch a smart-prince-like-man, 200 LBS Beauty provided an encouragement4shared Personal Free Online File Storage – InnityIt was simple and not overly done and was an engrossing watch.

♥ Love Phobia (2006) – THE COUPLE WHO WILL MAKE YOU REMEMBER YOUR FIRST LOVE.

So I finally got the chance to watch this movie without interruptions.  Who wouldn’t fall for this darling?  I was so fond of the lead couples when they were children and loved them even more when they grew up.  So sweet, priceless and worth remembering. 

Watched it with my mom, and she loved it.  It’s a  charmingly woven love story.. and although it will make you cry in the end, I’m pretty sure it will be one of those love movies you will highly recommend.

♥ Heaven’s Postman (2009) – THE SUPERNATURAL LOVE MOVIE THAT WILL INSPIRE YOU TO TRUST LOVE AGAIN

A very pretty and serene love story of moving on from the pain of a broken heart.   It has a very simple storytelling but with completeness that will touch the side of your heart that was once broken, and that was able to bounce again because of not giving up to the idea of finding love.

When you watch a love story with supernatural element inflection, you have to prepare yourself not to expect that much, and that’s what I did. Actually it was vaguely presented and was injected fully later in the story, nevertheless I love how this movie was not complicated and effortlessly endearing.

Surely worth of your rest day movie time.

HEAVEN’S POSTMAN MOVIE RECAP

♥ Lost and Found (2008) – THE GIRL WHO TOOK TIME TO REALIZE THE LOVE SHE DESERVED

If you are looking for an endearing and vibrant rom-com movie night with your boyfriend, this darling will delight you.  It’s ever moving and no dull moment.  From the feisty main female lead, the cholatey sweet lead man and the oozingly hot second male lead, this is a kind of Christmas gift you’d promise you’ll open on Christmas day, but when no one is looking out, you’ll sneak to see what it is.

Ji-ho has liked Min-woo since High School.  As her luck ran out with her current job, she bumped with her crush again when she was hit by his car while chasing the snatcher who took her bag.  She took that chance to pretend that she can’t remember anything to fulfill her 10-year dream of spending time with her crush.

But her neighbor-friend-who-secretly-loves-her, Dong-shik spoiled her staying at Min-woo’s house and brought her home while she still firmly held on her supposed amnesia.

She finally got Min-woo’s attention but Dong-shik was also determined to win the girl he has loved all her life.

This is about realizing the right love for you and chasing the romance no matter how long it will take.

♥ Once in a Summer (2006) -  THE NOSTALGIC LOVE STORY THAT WILL MAKE YOU REMEMBER A FLEETING BUT UNFORGETTABLE ROMANCE

It is one of the sweetest “summer love” movie I’ve seen unfortunately though they didn’t get their ever after.  Lee Byung Hun translates to the man you won’t regret committing infidelity if you are currently in a relationship.  He’s just so manly in an I-want-to-throw-myself-in-your-arms-kind-of-way.  Su-Ae has such an expressive eyes and her blithe nature in this love movie complements the endearing character of Byung-hun oppa.

A felicity filled tale that will leave you fetching and at the same time agonizing.  It was a sweet melancholic movie of finding love and holding on to it even if it has long been gone.

ONCE IN A SUMMER MOVIE RECAP

♥ Innocent Steps (2005) – THE LOVE THAT GREW AND FOUGHT FOR YOU

This sweet dance movie was an emotion pond..  It made me feel warm, giddyish, frustrated, disappointed, annoyed, sad, appeased and then eventually blissful.
 
The fake marriage, dance moves and the simple yet sure love launched a well deserved love sigh from me.
 
P.S  I love the footprints practice dance floor.

♥ Never Ending Story (2012) - THE SUPPOSED TO BE DYING COUPLE WHO FOUND LOVE IN THE LEAST MOMENT THEY EXPECTED IT

In tradition of the death bound conflict of Korean love story, this charming movie was able to balance the premise and have it set to both the lead couple’s having after life bargains.

What this movie achieved was setting a sad note to a brighter perception. It was a film about death but the lively scenes and characters have pulled a different take on life’s passing. The love couple were adorable and swung an Edward-Bella pull worthy of your smile and sigh.
I love that it was so natural and that they first slept together inside a coffin and never ending to a traditional bed.  A carefree movie I would definitely recommend.  This was a romance charmer that will raise mirth one moment and then tug your heart at another time.  Watching it made me not expect outcomes or predict what will happen because the conflict surged up when it commenced, but I was left watching them as they have a good time alongside the struggle with their inevitable death.
It was simply done but happily narrated, and that made it hit home in me.
Radiant and resonating, this is a must watch darling.

♥ MORE THAN BLUE (2009) - THE BEST FRIENDS WHO SECRETLY LOVED EACH OTHER BUT FAILED TO CROSS THE ROMANCE LINE

More than blue less the falling in love and dying part made me yearn to have a boy bestfriend. A film so tender and heartfelt, it will give you that sweet regret feeling as you sleep. The dearest melancholic I-secretly-love-my-bestfriend-movie I have ever seen.

What I love about this movie is the transparency of the characters, it’s as if I’m staring at my neighbor’s life because they acted so naturally good and painfully remembering.

The sad ending was really sadder than sadness but how it concluded was clearly satisfying.

♥ A WEREWOLF BOY (2012) - THE LOVE THAT WAS NOT BOUND TO HAPPEN BUT FELT SO RIGHT

I initially feared that this movie could go overrated considering the familiar plot and stellar main leads but I’m so happy to have chanced upon a very beautiful, unconventional, heartwarming first love movie. The last time I felt it was with the film “The Classic” and I couldn’t be any happier witnessing a young love that was not bound to happen but felt so right.

The fantasy element surprisingly blended to the heartfelt connection of the main couple as the simplicity of the narrative and the conflict failed to stripped the amazing progression of this moving love tale that will surely tug your heart.

♥ ALWAYS (2012) – THE COUPLE WHO FOUND LOVE BECAUSE OF THEIR VULNERABILITIES

I received lots of raves about this movie and I must agree to the warm response “Always” has received.  It made me miss the feeling of being in love, and I was left smiling, calmed and inspired as I immersed myself in a love story between two people who found love in their vulnerabilities.

“Always” broke the romantic dry spell I’ve been having for a while now.  It played with the cutesies, the sweetness, the laidback and the contentment feel of a love movie.

On a distracting note, and I mean it to be really utmost distracting… So Ji Sub in his rough, untidy look was a sight to behold, and the short showcase of his abs was a manna from heaven.

Seeing the love grew, saddled, steadied, lost and fulfilled was I think the reason why it created huge admiration.  It was an ever after not of a prince and a princess, but by two people whose hearts can love each other with their eyes closed.

ANOTHER PS:  I have a few parked movies somewhere in my mind as I have to re-watch it to secure a spot on my favorites.

Also you can check my Korean movie vault here:

http://jediprincess.wordpress.com/2009/05/22/top-korean-romantic-films/

Pained Korean Movie Quick Musings (2011)

“PAINED” I thought would be a film full of bitterness and redemption based on its title, but it was not.  It was simply laid and full of heart.
 
Nam-soon has an inability to feel anything and it comes handy to his job as a debt collector where he occasionally engage in fist fights.  He got the condition after losing his family, the trauma left him numb as he exists.  In one of his collection job, he encounters Nam-hyun, a struggling street vendor of accessories.  He has left her homeless but in their next encounters they inevitably reached out and understood each other’s pain leading him to offer a room to where he lives.  He learned of her hemophilia illness, as she discovered his pain tolerance abnormality.  They soon find themselves in love and Nam-soon decided to give a shot to a different job but when Nam-hyun was admitted to the hospital, he gambled with life again to help her with the expenses, even if she made clear and decided that they have to go separate ways and asked him to be with a healthy person.

 
This is the first time I saw Kwon Sang Woo as an actor, he felt so human to me that I stayed the rest of the movie.
 
This was told with no frills attached and in its all natural beauty that I found it sad and yet bracing.

 
Falling in love and not feeling the bliss but knowing you are happy, and falling in love but you are scared to feel it for fear that it is always short lived were the driving moments of this movie.

 Realistic and emotion-filled, “Pained” will not give you the romantic vibes, but will question your belief on how far would you stake yourself for love.
 
P.S I googled Nam-soon’s condition,and I learned that it’s congenital, I have to dig deeper if it can really be derived from a traumatic experience.  As for hemophilia, it’s rare for a woman to carry it. Here’s why I love movies, subconsciously it fires up my inner self who loves to learn here and there.

Sleepless Fashion aka Live with Fashion (2011)

In the sea of Korean movies to watch this weekend, I noticed an actor who hasn’t been at Han River.  I played it, and felt it was promising.

This Chinese produced movie lived to the glamorous, treacherous and nifty world of the fashion world while touching the interaction between the characters and their own fight on their struggles.

Vic Chou played the role of a brilliant fashion magazine editor, Patrick (Zhou Xiaohui), who was a protegee of another fashion editor icon, Alex.  When Patrick’s talent go beyond his mentor, he was forced to leave the company and along with an all fashion rejects staff whose potentials were yet to unleash, he built a fashion magazine of his own.

Gaining public interest was hard for the demotivated and scattered characters at first, but with proper motivation and thinking out of the box, they managed to penetrate the bigger scene they were wanting to achieve.

I deemed the story steady and nice but the love story was not evident and that the conflict they were meaning to push, they should have carried because at times it’s really not even there.  So I’m just gonna stick to define this a defying-dream movie  and not a love movie.  I’m happy there was a closure for the envy, proving worth and reaching dreams conflicts in the story, and with that although this is not quite special and spectacular, it did not disappoint me.

 

Daddy Long Legs (2005) Movie Recap

CAST:  Ha Ji Won and Yun Jeong Won

A young girl chronicled how she was told by her mother that she will meet her first love if the knot she tied on her little finger will stay until the first snow of the next season.  On another scene the little girl’s father helped her do her first bicycle ride.  We shifted to the girl hiding on his father’s back trying to evade her mother who was trying to cut the knot she put on the little girl’s finger.  This little girl’s world was filled by her parents’ unconditional love and her expectation for her ever-after when the future comes, but it was shattered into pieces when her father and mother died in accident.  She met the big world without her mother’s warmth and her father’s care, but she got by because of her optimism and courage.

The little girl grew up to a warm, charming and sunny lady, her name is Cha Young-mi, and this is her story.

Cha Young-mi feels elated after seeing her passing score in the University exam.  Later that day, she receives a shoe package from someone she doesn’t know so she asks the post office if they can trace where the package came from, but the office has no way of doing so.  Since she became an orphan, she has worked hard to support herself, but on some occasions she faces financial concerns.

Then we see Young-mi running fast and bumps at someone in her hurry to pay for her tuition, but when she is about to pay it, she is informed that someone already paid for it to her confusion.  She rushes to try and catch the person who has been helping her, but she’s not successful.  She feels thankful that someone is making her feel that she is not alone and is making her to trust that there is always hope.  She dreams that someday she will meet that man who has helped her secretly and makes her trust in the world again…  She is hopeful that someday she will meet her daddy long legs.

Time passes and Young-mi ventures to the real big world.  She looks excited as she gapes at the building where she will be working from then on.  She works as a radio scriptwriter and was transferred from a local station to the main station.

When Young-mi was introduced to her fellow teammates, the host of the program directly expresses her dislike of having an addition from their team when they are in the process of saving the program, but the program manager insists that she will be able to bring fresh ideas to the team.  The distant female host leaves and the team continue to chatter.  When the program manager learns that she lives far from the station, she offers a room for her to stay.  He explains that it used to be occupied by another employee but she is abroad on a sick leave.  Young-mi feels sorry about her condition and hopes she can thank her when she gets better.

Young-mi writes to her diary that night sharing her new found home and thanking the owner of the place for her kindness.  She feels excited of her first working day.

The next day, the diskette malfunctioned so Young-mi writes down the script to the female host annoyance.  She complains that she can’t work with that kind of set up, but the program manager convinces her to just go on as they are left with no options.  Her first script is aired but after that the female host scolds her for not knowing the proper sequence of the program and her writing skills.  Young-mi apologizes for the trouble as the program manager comes in between to cool down the situation.

Young-mi enters the elevator feeling so frustrated and gloomy.  When she realizes the elevator is not moving, she calls for help and notices that another man is inside the elevator with her.  As she goes panic-stricken, the man presses the button of the elevator as Young-mi realizes her stupid mistake.

When she enters the department room, the program manager tells her that her boyfriend has sent her a cake.  She reads the note on her cake as Jeong-joo mumbles what was written on the cake card.  She snaps back to reality and asks who delivered the cake and she hurriedly tries to follow the man, but she is able to catch only the roaring motorcycle sound.

Young-mi reveals to Jeong-joo her Daddy Long Legs, and she makes her promise that she won’t tell it to anyone. She tells Jong-jong how daddy-long-legs helped her with her college tuition fees but she never once saw him nor did she knew the reason why he helps her.  The last time She  asked the post office to reveal who her secret benefactor is they still can’t provide an answer and just gave her a necklace gift from daddy-long-legs.  So instead of looking for him to thank him, she has worked hard to reach her dream so he can be proud of her.  Young-mi tells Jong-jong that it’s the first time she heard from him that year.  Her new friend jokes about the possibility that he can be a perverted old man, but Young-mi defends that he is surely a warm and good person like her dad.

 

They head to the library but the clerk is not on his post so they decide to browse for the mean time. When the clerk came back they go back to the clerk post and ask him where their things go but he pretends he is clueless of what they are asking when in fact he hides the cake in his station.

 

Young-mi thought of an idea of how she can communicate with daddy long legs by writing their story for their radio program.  Jong-jong blurts that daddy long legs is most likely near her because he can easily send him gifts.

 

At night Young-mi watches a horror film alone and hides herself behind the pillow when the scary character comes out, then Jong-Jong calls her informing her that she will be coming over. 

 

When Jong-jong learns she watched the ghost film, she tries to scare Young-mi so that she can prep her of her intention of moving in together with her.  She sets up her tent and from then on lives with Young-mi.

 

The cold female host nags about Young-mi’s capabilities on their meeting pointing out that the ratings didn’t improve in the past week but the director explains to give her more time to adapt.  When Young-mi is drag by Jong-jong out of the meeting, the host asks the director why he always protect Young-mi but he escapes their inquiry.

 

Young-mi dozes off while on her bus ride, when she gets off the bus, she sees the library clerk, Jun-ho, emerges from the same bus she was on earlier.  She tells Jong-jong about seeing the clerk, as Jong-jong teases her to go out with him if she’s interested.

 

While working on a script her laptop suddenly shuts down and won’t start again so she uses the computer of the owner of the house for the mean time.

 

Young-mi notices an email notification, and she curiously opens the email and reads it.

 

The owner of the house wrote that email so she can send that email a year after.  Young-mi gets intrigue and delves more to the letter.  Then we see the owner of the house sending the email a year ago.

 

To cherish our memories, I’m writing myself this email.  I don’t know how I will be a year from now on, if I will still read this letter at that time, I would like to confess my love for you which I couldn’t do before.

 

Young-mi accompanies Jong-Jong to buy some clothes for her blind date that evening.  Young-mi hints she can just date the producers at work but her friend dislikes it.  Young-mi asks her if an email can be send at a later date, and she replies that the sending date can be scheduled if it is a future date.

 

The blind date turns out to be their producer to Jong-jong’s disappointment, and she expresses frustration to Young-mi while they face beer bottles.  They saw Jun-ho and Jong-jong drags him to drink with them before she passes out.

 

Young-mi sits in front of the computer and immerse herself to the emails of the home owner.

 

A Year Ago…

A woman stares at her crush while he talks with his friend.  Her friend tells her not to worry about the school pass but the professor asked those who don’t have school passes to leave because they won’t be able to take the exam. (me blushed Hyun Bin oppa is in his pretty boy self)

 

Her crush stood up and gave his pass to her confusion.  The woman tells her friend of her hope to attend the same college as his, but her friend hinted it could be impossible because he’s an achiever and he might be at a different university. The woman vowed she’ll worked hard then to be at the same college as his.

 

Young-mi and Jong-jong bumps at the broadcast director and greets him.  He recognizes them and tells them that he likes their show and then leaves.

 Young-mi asks the clerk for a cd of an artist but it is not available in the library.  He suggests her to fill up a request form and advises her to wait for a week for a response.

 

Young-mi finds Jjong consumed reading the woman’s email.  Jjong deduces that the man in her email possibly works at the station and wonders who he is. 

 

 

Young-mi stops by at a music store to check if the CD she’s looking for is available and sees the library clerk, Jun-ho, there.  She greets him, he leaves but stays outside because it suddenly rained.  She stands beside him and sees him holding the CD she requested which she also just bought.  She hides it and they both wait for the rain to stop.

 

I don’t know where they got the umbrella, but he walks her home.  Young-mi sneaks a peek on him as he walks away.

 

Young-mi stares at the nail polish she put on her fingers as she narrates to Jjong that if it stays until the next winter she will meet her true love. Young-mi tells Jjong that she’s intending to look fit the man in the email so that he can tell him how the woman felt for him.  She asks for details about the woman but she didn’t get lucky so she decides to just air in the radio program the email letters.

 

A Year Ago…

 The woman smiles as she ponders how love is really a miracle.  She was elated to be attending the same university as her crush.  She stole glances at him while he took a nap and was happy watching him from a distance when his sand hour glass fell.  She picked it and stared at it.

 

Later on an art class she observed how he turned the paper drawing upside down and emulated what he did.

 

At a rainy day the woman was about to offer her umbrella to her crush but his friends interrupted and they tried dragging him somewhere but he refused because he’s off to meeting someone.  His friends teased that it could be a woman he’s meeting which made the woman left and sad.

 

At home she finished the portrait of her crush and lovingly gaped at it.

 

 

The woman was able to work at the same station as his and continued loving him from afar, but then fate was never on her side.

 

Young-mi is approached by Jun-ho to give the CD she requested.  Young-mi writes on her diary of her desire to meet the man in the email and ponders on the thought that she is sharing someone’s love story without permission.

 

Jun-ho discovers Young-mi sitting asleep while he does his round in the library.  He wakes her up and they walk home together.  Young-mi shares him her woes about airing her love but the clerk convinces him that she needs not to worry because she’s helping her deliver the love to its destination.

 

A Year Ago

 The doctor revealed to the woman’s brother that she’s slowly losing her memory and that she needed to have the surgery.  The woman agreed to have the surgery, and on her last day at work she cried when she saw her secret love walked by and thought of how she wanted to keep her memories of him.

 

Young-mi’s team dine out to celebrate the success in their ratings.   Jjong warns Young-mi that Ji-Yeon won’t agree of the script she has in mind but still pushes to it.  When Ji-yeon read it, she scolds Young-mi that she won’t allow her story to be aired.

 

Feeling so down, a big bear stuffed toy gift from daddy-long-legs cheers her up. 

 

She struggles carrying the big bear and when she bumps at Jun-ho, he put a string on it so she can carry it on her back.

 

Young-mi drinks soju with her big bear friend, when Jjong and the producer enter together wearing love couple shirts.

 

Young-mi pouts at Jjong for not telling her she’s dating the producer, but her friend explains that she didn’t tell her because she told her before that she didn’t like dating producers.  Young-mi gets sunny when she sees new books from her favorite writer.  She tells the clerk how she wonders how it would feel losing life and not having someone to worry about it, but the clerk just stares at her necklace in silence.

 

Blindfolded Jjong walks with Young-gyu, she asks him if she can go to the bathroom first before the surprise but he insists on holding it.  She releases gas just as her bf comes back and open s her eyes to her birthday surprise.  The lovey-doves sweet talking made Young-mi sleepless so she walks out of the house in frustration. 

Young-mi rides a bicycle to kill time and come across Kim Jun-ho, when she enters the convenience store.  They stroll in the flower market and after that evening, Young-mi feels that a blooming love is on its way.

 

Young-mi is in bright spirit when Ji-yeon agrees on the new spot on the program she previously proposed.  She feels all the pieces in her life are finally falling into their right places.

 

Young-mi’s relationship with Jun-ho is getting better too… stealing sweet glances and smiles of an almost love they both deserve.

 

Ji-yeon talks with Young-mi and finally patches up things between then.  She also notices how love is written all over Young-mi’s face.

 

Young-mi looks for Jun-ho to give a can of soda but he’s not on his post, so she gets a paper to leave a message, and then she notices an hour glass on his table, and remembers that the the woman in the email letters also picked up an hour glass.  She thinks that Joon-ho could be the man the woman was in love with, and she goes back from reverie when Joon-ho makes his presence known.  She hides the hour glass and at night she asks Jjong.

 

YOUNG-MI:  Say you’re in love with someone, and there’s a girl who has had a 10-year old secret love on him, what would you do?

 Jjong replies that if the guy doesn’t know there’s no problem about it but Young-mi feels like she has to let the guy know about it.

 

Flashback…

The woman was sad that her illness is making her forget the memories of him…  She wrote post it letters for her to be reminded of him…

 

WOMAN:  When I woke up this morning, I decided to leave you for some time.  The virus in me takes away memories of love.  It makes your scent dull and slows me down following you.  If things get worse and I forget about you completely, my heart will always feel and love you.  When the war embrace leaves the world, I will run into you, and I hope that the memory will last forever.  I’m now freezing memories of you inside me like the sand that doesn’t fall in your hour glass.

 

Present time..

Jun-ho smiles when he sees Young-mi visits him, he worries why she did not answer her phone, but she just returned the CD and coldly walks away to distance herself and give way to the woman who has loved him for a long time.

 Young-mi passes by the music store where she first felt something for Jun-ho while he stands at the front door of her house waiting for her.

 Young-mi sings sadly with the team at work, her drunk teammate offers her a drink, but when she made a pass on it through Ji-yeon’s help, she suddenly blurts out that she got in through the back door.

 

Young-mi talks to Young-Gyu and he reveals that her daddy-long-legs was the one involved to her moving.

 

She rushes back to the station to finally meet her daddy-long-legs whom Young-gyu revealed to be the director.

 She faces the director, but he revealed that he is not the daddy-long-legs that she knows.  Her daddy-long-legs was his little brother.

 

She goes home to see the portrait of a girl who was actually her.

Then we see Jun-ho working on her portrait as flashbacks of them when they were in college streams…

  We see Young-mi giving him the school pass…

  Jun-ho watching her sleep in the library and hitting the hour glass when she stretches her hand…

Jun-ho mimicking her when she turns the paper painting in the opposite position…

Jun-ho attempting to give her an umbrella… Joon-ho paying her tuition…

Jun-ho on his last work day looking at Young-mi as she walked away.

 

Kim Jun-ho is the director’s brother and he has been secretly loving Young-mi since college.

 

The director explains that his brother lost and is losing his memory and death is also inevitable.  When things sink in to Young-mi, she writes a letter for Jun-ho…

 

I’ve been living a life on a log bridge.  On a log bridge, you can’t look back or sideways.  You just look ahead and keep on going.  I’ve been writing to you my stories to make myself less lonely.  For the first time in my life, I feel so much regret.  What should I do?

 

Young-mi walks toward Jun-ho and asks him to go out with her.  While driving, he asks her if she has found her daddy-long-legs, and she replies that she has already found him.

 

They go star gazing, and as she marvels at the stars, Jun-ho asks if she knows the legend if the stars.  She responds that the great people who died became the stars. 

He chuckles and reminds her that not all people are great.  He narrates that a long time ago there were no stars, but as people started to love, their greats went up to the sky and became stars.  He adds that there’s so much love in the world that people sometimes are not aware of.

 

When a shooting star passes by, he asks her to make a wish, but she refuses to do so and tells him that her wish will not be granted anyway.  But he begs her to make it, so she obliges and closes her eyes to hope for her deepest longing.

 

When he inquires what she wished, she says that it’s a secret, he smiles and gapes at the night sky, and then Young-mi faces him and gives him a kiss on his cheek, and lays her head on his shoulder.

 

Jun-ho is rushed to the hospital, and as he lies unconscious, Young-mi talks to him…

 

You know what, when I first saw you, my heart pounded and that is why I went there so often.  I haven’t responded to your emails.

 

Jun-ho lovingly stares at Young-mi while she sleeps on his hospital bed, and while he brushes her hair, he recalls of meeting her in the library..

 

Before I ran into you in the elevator, you looked so familiar.  I knew I was in love.  isn’t it funny?  In love with a stranger?  I’ve planned so many things… Theme parks, movie date and drink coffee together.  I will buy you flowers when you look sad.  I love you, Young-mi

 

Young-mi who is pretending to be asleep softly cries when she heard Jun-ho’s love declaration.

 

Then we see flashbacks of Jun-ho living at Young-mi’s room writing down his memories of her and everything about her so he can be reminded in case he won’t recognize her.  He wrote the email and have it sent to the future to be a map for him to find his way back to her.

 

Young-mi and her office mates decorate the Christmas Tree happily and she later heads to the place where they watch the stars together.

 

While staring at the sky, she remembers him telling her that wishes on the star are done the moment the star falls, so that the yearning of the wisher will be felt by the star.

 

But Young-mi sadly utters that Jun-ho lied to her because her wish was not granted, because what she wished was for her to come back with him at that place again.  She shouts at the stars and begs for him to give her a present again, and as a bright star twinkle in the sky, snowflakes pour down on Young-mi.

 

 

COMMENTS:

Daddy Long Legs is one of the sweetest movies I’ve seen so far.  It is laid back and serene.  The tricky identity switch can either fascinate you or pull a “make no sense” plot in your eyes.  In my case I like how it was laid. 

This feels like that “one summer walk” with your crush that you dearly keep in your heart. 

Eventhough the ending is sad, it is worth your afternoon break.

 

 

 

unofficially in love

I’m sooooo craving for this weekend to come.  I owe two KMovie recaps, please blogger god if there’s any, make me a super-ish on my rest day so I can upload a lot of my pending works.  *prayerful

 I was so consumed in watching the current season episodes of Big Bang Theory, House, Fringe, Criminal Minds, Grey’s Anatomy and Mentalist to avoid the Love week frenzy.   It did help but unfortunately though I reached my saturation point eventually, but I’m blaming “Gone with the Wind” for that.  I watched it morning of February the 14^th, and the almost 4-hour movie hit me with the final blow.  I will never watch a long-running movie I watched before.  I promise.

So today I just slept the whole day in between reading Kafka on the Shore and listening to Chopin.  I was assured by Honabunch that he’ll bring Lee Dong Wook tonight to resuscitate my supposed video burnt out, so I’m full of optimism.

Since I’ll be saying goodbye to House soon, I’m checking on possible replacement for the new drama breeds launched in the past two years.   I tried “Secret Circle”, but so far it’s not clinging in my veins, and my inner witch isn’t feeling the shadow too I guess.  I’m set to finish Game of Thrones which has been delayed due to my mom always sitting beside me when I’m on a marathon, apparently my mom thinks I need parental guidance because she once saw Dexter and the explicit scenes she believes are too much for me to handle. But she’ll be visiting my sister’s house so I’m free.  *giggles

I also saw the remake of “What Women Want” by Gong Li and Andy Lau, well sort of saw it, I’m still halfway on the movie, will finish it tomorrow and will write something about it. 

So what happened to my Love Week?  Nothing yet…  I will be celebrating it with my friends come Saturday by watching “Unofficially Yours”, a local movie directed by my favorite local director.  So far, the buzz about it is overwhelming.   I’m mustering my will not to rush to the movie house and not wait for my movie date with my friends this weekend.

 

I have this crush at work, but so far we’re not moving.   When Aphrodite gave her gifts to women, I think she purposely confined me to have the “difficulty of loving gift”, thus it’s so hard for me to like a person and even harder reaching the point of emotional attachment to someone.  This is so tiring at times but I don’t want to be those girls who can easily bounce back from one relationship to another like almost magically.  It just doesn’t make any sense to set your “moving on” stage to confusion.

best korean romantic films

Blame my long running inability to like someone, because it caused me to get hooked to this romance videos. This hobby of mine is making me believe that somewhere out there “he” is living, too lazy to look for me… *giggles So for my friends whose hearts are broken, wants to be broken, and pretending to be broken, these are romantic pills that can entertain you and keep your thoughts away…

I still have a handful to watch and review. I’m into romance genre if you will notice. I prefer feel good romance movies, so don’t look for historical or overly hyped films here.

For the ratings please see my Korean Movie ratings page and for quick ratings I graded it A+, A,  (for outstanding, lingering and original stories), B+, B (for well-done, feel-good movies), C (for mediocrely-done and easily forgotten films) D (for disappointing) F (for Forget It).   I also included the genre types for your reference.

Initially this is just a page for Korean romantic films, but I’ve added some films that are not really romantic so that you can check whether to watch it or not.  

I have included long recaps and short movie summaries for your perusal, you can also see it all in my Korean Movie Recap Page.

*wink  – for my personal favorites.

 

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♥ My Sassy girl (2001) – If you haven’t watched this movie, then you haven’t watched a really good romance movie.  Needless to say, this is one of my favorite love films. Captivating, vibrant and worth watching…  A perfect date movie… A girl who has some past love issues was saved by a cheerful young man when she almost got caught by a train.  Fate played with them and the boy slowly became fond of her and decided that he would heal whatever that pain she has.  If I can marry someone like Gyeon-woo, I’ll be damn happy.  *wink

GENRE:  Romantic Comedy       GRADE:  A+

 

MY SASSY GIRL MOVIE RECAP

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♥ Il Mare (2000) - Hollywood made a remake of this movie (The Lake house), but still I prefer how Koreans did it. A man and a woman engaged in a romance as they exchanged love letters and leaving it inside a mail box.  Time element executed perfectly. Addictive love story… Deeply touching and moving… *wink

GENRE:  Romance, Fantasy     GRADE:  A

IL MARE MOVIE RECAP

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♥ Daddy Long Legs (2005) - Ha Ji Won played a role of a radio scriptwriter who was always dreaming of meeting the guy who helped her pay her tuition in college. She accidentally bumped into emails that tells about a girl’s long time admiration over a guy. She finally had a chance to meet her daddy-long-legs and there she learned that it was his younger brother who asked him to do all the things for her. She also learned that it was her daddy-long -legs who wrote those emails, however he switched his gender when he was writing the emails. Daddy-long-legs lost all his memories including that of the girl’s because he was dying and he asked his brother to make the girl happy once he lost his memory. You’ll never get tired of watching it. Amazingly sweet and mesmerizing. *wink

GENRE:  Romance     GRADE:  A

DADDY LONG LEGS MOVIE RECAP

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♥ My Little Bride (2004) - An ordinary high school girl who worries about grades and has a crush on her school’s baseball team ace was forced to marry a guy out of her grandfather’s wish. Her being young and the hidden marriage made this movie so charming. Dandy, cheerful, playful… will let you remember that feel you have on the first person you ever had a crush on. *wink

GENRE:  Romantic Comedy     GRADE:  A

MY LITTLE BRIDE MOVIE RECAP

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♥ Daisy (2006) - I like how Jun Ji Hyun reinvents herself as an actress, that’s why I love all her films.  Set in Netherlands, Ji Hyun played the role of a street painter that will become the love interest of a secret service agent and a professional hitman… Thrilling, lingering, and romantic elements were put in splendidly… *wink

GENRE:  Romance, Espionage, Melodrama     GRADE:  A+

DAISY MOVIE RECAP

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♥ Humming (2008) - This is good for those who are in currently a long-running relationship. The lead actor was quite tired of the relationship with her GF. He was about to leave for Alaska to avoid her, but she met an accident and fell into a coma. He starts remembering the relationship he had with her. Will he discover the love he has never realized? Passionate, a bit tear jerker with a twist that you may or may not like…

GENRE:  Romance, Melodrama     GRADE:  B

♥ The Classic (2003) - Very nice, enthralling, amazingly unsurpassed romance… I can’t find words to dislike this movie, so just watch it. This is a love story that you will tell your grandchildren rather than “Romeo and Juliet”. 

A young woman accidentally bumped on her mother’s love story and she got deeply engaged with it.  The parallelism was well portrayed and there was just so much love in the air.*wink

GENRE:  Romance, Melodrama     GRADE:  A+

THE CLASSIC MOVIE RECAP

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♥ My BF is Type B (2005) - Nice girl meets a temperamental guy. Go figure what it would be like… Girls always fall for bad guys and you’ll know why. Lively, witty and mesmerizing… A sweet love that turns sweeter at every scene.  ^_^

GENRE:  Romantic Comedy     GRADE:  B

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♥ Heartbreak Library (2008) - Not really a romance movie for the lead actors… More of feeling the pain of someone who lost his love. A different kind of love story you should not fail to check out. Strikingly fresh and very charming. ^_^

GENRE:  Melodrama, Romance     GRADE:  B+

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♥ My Wife Got Married (2008) - I was really amused at this movie. Son Ye Jin was a player who hates marriage until she met a guy who showed her that it’s possible to enjoy being committed. Then she kinda like the idea of marriage so she asked her husband if she can marry another guy and there goes a kind of marriage you won’t think would happen in real life… So playful and mischievously flirty. *wink

GENRE:  Romance     GRADE:  A

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♥ A Millionaire’s First Love (2006) - Hyun Bin was a millionaire’s heir but in order for him to have his fortune, his dead granny forced him to finish High School in the suburb. There he discovered the past that he erased in his mind, and the truth that money can’t save the life of the girl he loves.  Passionate and bewitching. *wink

GENRE:  Romance, Melodrama     GRADE:  A

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♥ Windstruck (2004) - They said it was a sort of like the prequel to My Sassy Girl, but I say otherwise. Unconventional storyline, wondrous but will make you cry in the end.  ^_^

GENRE:  Romance, Melodrama     GRADE:  B+

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♥ My Tutor Friend 1 (2003) - lazy school boy meets the tutor he would never dream to have. Sweet bickering and a proof that people can accidentally be in love.  Breezy and Fascinating.

 GENRE:  Romantic Comedy     GRADE:  B+

♥ My Tutor Friend 2 (2006) – A touching story of two completely different students from two completely different worlds who fell in love with each other. Bright, exuberant and charming. ^_^

GENRE:  Romantic Comedy     GRADE:  A

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♥ 100 Days with Mr. Arrogant (2004) - After dumping her boyfriend just before their 100 day anniversary, she met a college guy when she accidentally kicks a can that hit him in the face and caused him to scratch his Lexus. He demanded she paid him $3000 on the spot and wrote up an “Enslavement Agreement” for her in order to pay for the damage to his car.   She got into a nightmarish slave life for 100 days, cleaning his house, running his errands, doing his homework and cleaning his car. Ooops.. I almost told the whole story… Upbeat, enchanting and one of my favorites. *wink

GENRE:  Romantic Comedy     GRADE:  A

100 DAYS WITH MR. ARROGANT

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♥ He was Cool (2004) - A cheerful high school student clumsily left a message on the school website to reply to the school bully’s post. She was then stalked by the school bully and while trying to evade him she accidentally kissed him after she jumped in the school’s back wall. Bouncing, breezy and gorgeous.

GENRE:  Romantic Comedy     GRADE:  B+

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♥ Romance of their own/A Wolf’s temptation (2004)-  Two hot guys fought for a sweet naive, girl.  (I swear you would want to trade places with the girl on this movie.)  The twist of the story is quite surprising, and I’m warning you that you might cry.  Tender, passionate and love-affirming. *wink

GENRE:  Romantic Comedy     GRADE:  A

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♥ My Girl and I (2005) - A heartwarming story about true love and happiness.  A guy returned to his hometown after ten years to attend a reunion with his high school friends. In his return, he also remembered the sad story of his one great love. Nostalgic and will crawl in your emotions.

GENRE:  Romance, Melodrama     GRADE:  A

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♥ Unstoppable Marriage (2007) - Sweet and easy-going girl who grew up in a normal middle-class household with a strict and traditional father met willful plastic surgeon who was born into a wealthy family, and has the ego to match his income. Their two worlds collide quite literally when they met through a paragliding accident. It’s a classic case of opposites attract as they fight, falter, and fall in love, but their incompatible families are determined to break them apart.  Fancy and Fun.

GENRE:  Romance, Family     GRADE:  B

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♥ Seducing Mr. Perfect (2006) – The lead girl was a believer in true love and always very dedicated to her current boyfriend.  However, men always break up with her. Distracted by the latest break-up, she bumped into a car and a man stepped out of it - He turned out to be her new boss. He has very clear ideas about a relationship and love: both are a game of power and she sought advice from him, as she doesn’t want to get dumped again.  Alluring, seductive, sexy and playful.

GENRE:  Romance     GRADE:  B+

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♥ Jenny and Juno (2005) - The plot centered on the relationship of a 15-year-old couple, Jenny and Juno who met in school and fell in love. When Jenny discovered that she was pregnant, she and Juno decided against having an abortion, opted for parenthood instead. They tried to conceal the pregnancy from their families for as long as possible, but the truth was revealed eventually, and their parents do not approve.  Pleasant and heartwarming.

GENRE:  Romance, Melodrama     GRADE:  B+

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♥ Speedy Scandal (2008) - I loved Cha Tae Hyun in My Sassy Girl, and he made me fall for him again in this movie. It’s a great watch with your family or friends. Nice humor, storyline and a really feel good movie. Gladdening, vivacious and upbeat.  Cha Tae Hyun works as a local radio celebrity who is sort of a player.  His world was moved when a young girl claimed to be her long lost daughter along with her son.  An instant-father-and-a-young-grandfather, this family will make your movie time so worthwhile.*wink

GENRE:  Family, Romance     GRADE:  A+

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♥ She’s On Duty (2005) - Gong Yoo and Kim Sun Ah were secret agents who played a role of High Schoolers for their police mission. Perky, funny and not tiring to watch.  Great chemistry between the lead actors. ^_^

GENRE:  Romance, Light Espionage     GRADE:  B+

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♥ My Girlfriend is An Agent (2007) - Kim Ha Neul always brings something new from her sleeves. Sexy, charming and enjoyable to glued at.  And Kang Ji Hwan, you are so hot, we really need to hang out sometime.  ^_^

GENRE:  Romantic Comedy, Light Action     GRADE:  B+

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♥ Someone Special (2004) - This is REALLY a nice watch… the movie you will force that special someone to watch with you before you decide to tie the knot… *giggles very witty, heartwarming, extraordinarily sweet, comfy and appealing… *wink

GENRE:  Romantic Comedy     GRADE:  A+

SOMEONE SPECIAL MOVIE RECAP

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♥ Baby and I (2008) - Jang Geun Suk played the role of a young High School student from a well-off family who loves to brawl and a typical mischief maker.  His mischievous life will stop when he got a surprise basket of a baby with a note suggesting that he’s the father.  From there he started his young father adventure trying to give the best life he can provide for his instant son.

GENRE:  Drama, Light Comedy     GRADE:  B

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♥ Doremifasolasido (2008) – an engaging, nostalgic and heart-tugging teen movie about a girl who fell in love with the guy who was first mean to him.  They slowly began to fall in love, but a person from the girl’s past who was also connected to her boyfriend will force them to choose between love and friendship. ^_^

GENRE:  Romance, Friendship     GRADE:  B+

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♥ Antique Bakery (2008) - Lively characters, new, fascinating and stimulating. You’ll love how this movie will capture you.  Joo Ji Hoon played the role of a bakery owner who was once abducted when he was a child.  The trauma from his childhood and his unique bakery made this film worth skipping your Sunday nap time.

GENRE:   Friendship, Thriller     GRADE:  B+

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♥ A Moment To Remember (2004) - A couple striving to keep up their relationship against the struggle with the wife’s Alzheimer’s disease… A love story of a devoted husband who stayed with her wife even when she was slowly forgetting that he happened in her life.. Poignant, deeply moving, and I cried buckets of tears here. *wink

GENRE:  Romance, Melodrama     GRADE:  A+

A MOMENT TO REMEMBER MOVIE RECAP

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♥ The Beast and the Beauty (2005) - Enticing and pleasing, with a lead actor you can’t help but be fond of.  A not so handsome guy created a different look of him to her blind gf, when the girl was able to see again, he will struggle to fight for his one true love.

GENRE:  Romantic Comedy     GRADE:  B+

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♥ Babo (2008) - Classic Cha Tae Hyun, he doesn’t fail to amuse me.  Ha Ji Won was at her usual best… A story of a mentally challenged man whose optimism in life will move you to tears… Full of love and so heartwarming. *wink

GENRE:  Melodrama, Family      GRADE:   A+

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♥ Almost Love (2006) - A typical love story of two people who overlooked how they felt toward each other because of the fear that it may just complicate their friendship.  Bubbly, Amusing and gripping…

GENRE:  Romantic Comedy     GRADE:  B+

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♥ Perfect Couple (2007) - I love Lee Dong Wook, that’s why I watched all his projects.  It’s a love story set behind police curtains and eccentric phobia, but the characters were fun and I just convinced myself I have to finish it. At some point I didn’t get entertained, but the characters were fun. Fast moving and free spirited.

GENRE:  Romance, Light Action     GRADE:   C

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♥ Changing Partners (2007) -  A quadrangle romance of misplaced love… With that one-liner who wouldn’t try to sneak a peek on it?  Sexy, Seductive and Surprising, but lacking substance and story.

GENRE:  Romance (w/ scenes not for minors)  GRADE:  B

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♥ Too Beautiful To Lie (2004) - This is one of my Kim Ha Neul’s favorite portrayal.  Here she played the role of a woman with an excellent deceiving ability who was imprisoned but was able to get a parole to attend her sister’s wedding. 

But cupid played with her and a province guy and they settled to a false relationship arrangement. Light and breezy. Comic cast, will surely grow in your hearts.  ^_^

GENRE:  Romantic Comedy, Family     GRADE:  B+

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♥ Marrying a School Girl (2004) - weird storyline, actually I really can’t say if I enjoyed it or not, but I can remember the story so at least, the movie made an impact on me.  A novelty, quite amusing, sporadic kind of love tale.

GENRE:  Romantic Comedy, Fantasy      GRADE:   D

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♥ Ride Away (2008) -  Slow moving in the beginning but I was affected in the end.  A relationship surrounded by dreams, being hopeful, and always not failing to trust in love.

GENRE:  Melodrama, Romance     GRADE:  C

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♥ My Mighty Princess (2008) - Fun, exciting and entertaining.   A quirky martial-arts-with-supernatural-spike-love-story that will capture you in so many ways.

GENRE:  Fantasy, Light Action, Romance     GRADE:  B+

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♥ The Art of Seduction (2005) - Amusing, playful, and refreshing… a mischievous tale of a seducer and a seductress who got eventually a dose of their own medicines…

GENRE:  Romantic Comedy      GRADE:  B+

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♥ Frozen Flower (2008) – I didn’t know what it was before I watched it, but because I’m midway on the movie when I realized that the sex scenes are overly done, I just ended up finishing it. Nevertheless, less the sex scenes, if you’ll look at the love story itself, it’s realistic and appealing…

GENRE:  Historical, Romance, R18     GRADE:   B+

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♥ Lover’s Concerto (2002) - Stellar acting and a gorgeously written script…  A deeply immersing love story…  Tied with friendship, secret adoration and almost love, this is a little charmer that will fill you up with rose petals.  Two sickly bff’s fell in love on the same boy… this is a touching tale of friendship and finding love and losing it in the end.  A fated love but an unfortunate chance. *wink

GENRE:  Friendship, Romance     GRADE:  A+

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♥ Love so Divine (2004) - This is my favorite Kwon Sang Wo’s movie.  A seminarian meets a charming girl who will let him choose between God and love… It’s like the feeling of eating your comfort food after a very stressful week. Mesmerizing and sweet…

GENRE:  Romantic Comedy     GRADE:  B+

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♥ Hello Schoolgirl (2008) - Reminiscent of a May-December love affair.  Extraordinarily sweet and arresting… plenty of love vibes and heart flutters… ^_^

GENRE:  Romantic Comedy     GRADE:  B+

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♥ Naked Kitchen (2009) - I’m really a fan of movies that are beyond the box, so that’s maybe why I like this film. A dangerous love triangle filled with excitement, addictive attachment and somewhat bliss… gripping and worth your time…

GENRE:  Romance (w/ light adult scenes)     GRADE:  B+

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♥ 2 Faces of my girlfriend (2007) – falling in love with a person with an on-off character… stunningly funny and playful… nicely done and never a dull moment. ^_^

GENRE:  Romantic Comedy     GRADE:  B+

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♥Love Impossible aka Love of North and South (2003) - A love story blossomed between a North and South Korean… will it work out?  It’s not really a movie that will leave an impression, but it’s not boring either. Average, but quite interesting.

GENRE:  Romantic Comedy, Family     GRADE:  B+

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♥ Romantic Island  (2008) – I watched it because I got curious that it was shot in my country. Very typical, will sometimes let you feel the emotions, but over all something that will just pass by to your movie veins.

GENRE:  Romance     GRADE:  C

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♥ White Valentine (1999) - I almost fell in it, but when it ended I was talking to the dvd player to tell me if it’s really the end. I was left there between the limbo, absorbing what happened and convincing myself that if there was any consolation it was a Jun Ji Hyun movie.

GENRE:  Romance, Melodrama      GRADE:  C

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♥ Madeline (2002) - Realistic and strangely touching… The couple played their characters so well.  My favorite Shin Min Ah project. Emotion filled and absorbing. ^_^

GENRE:  Romance, Melodrama     GRADE:  B+

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♥ Spy Girl (2004) – Predictable, light, sometimes amusing… sometimes annoying.  If not for Gong Yoo, I would have not stayed afloat.  A North Korean spy got involved in a romance she can’t have.

GENRE:  Romantic Comedy, Light Action     GRADE:  B+

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♥ Doremifasolasido – a nice teen movie. a pure, heart tugging teen romance film.

♥ 200 Pounds Beauty (2006) – Brave, sunny and worth watching with your friends… A voice talent who has weight challenges worked hard to lose weight.  She became prettier and avenged her broken heart.  A love story full of courage and never failed to hope for what love can really offer. ^_^

GENRE:  Romance     GRADE: A

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♥Insadong Scandal (2009) – It explored the world of Korean art forgery and treachery… A well portrayed characters and Kim Rae Won at his usual best… Entertaining, provoking, pristine storyline…

GENRE:  Drama      GRADE: B+

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♥ 26 Years Diary (2006) – Sad and moving with ear-pleasing music… Not extravagant but worth your time… This is a true story.  ^_^

GENRE:  Romance, Melodrama     GRADE:  B+

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♥ Virgin Snow (2007) – Nicely done depiction of the feeling of falling in love for the first time.   Great chemistry between the lead couple… A Korean boy fell for a Japanese girl even with their language barrier.  The blossoming love was cut short though because of some misunderstandings.

GENRE:  Romance     GRADE:  B+

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♥ ..ing (2003) -  A young woman secluded herself to her own world because of her frail body and deformed hand, but she met a photographer  who helped her step outside of her world…  Tear-jerker, but worth your time… simple, but not dragging… ^_^

GENRE:  Romance, Melodrama     GRADE:  B+

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♥ Crazy First Love (2003) - Endearing, nostalgic, and a classic I’ll-be-what-you-want-me-to-be-to-prove-how-much-I-love-you love story.  It will remind us of the foolishness we all did when we first fell in love.

GENRE:  Romantic Comedy     GRADE:  B

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♥ Now and Forever (2006) – Quite typical, at times romantic, sweet but not falling apart.  A rich young man who can easily lure girls with his smooth ways fell in love for the first time with a cheerful but dying woman.  ^_^

GENRE:  Romance, Melodrama     GRADE: B+

 

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♥ Finding Mr. Destiny (2010) – very nice, worth your rest day if you are going to watch it.. gives that first-love-why-can’t-i-forget-you and maybe-it’s-time-to-move-on vibe… simple and captivating…”The first love doesn’t necessarily mean the first person.”  ^_^

GENRE:  Romance     GRADE:   B+

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♥ Summer Whispers (2007) - It won’t linger, feel good when you are watching it, but you’ll forget it when you sleep… almost plain… gives that typical love-is-just-beside-you-all-along spirit..

GENRE:  Romance     GRADE: C

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♥ The Warrior’s Way (2010) – Okay I’m guilty that I watched it because Jang Dong Gun is hot and because the producers were those who produced LOTR… but it didn’t give me the beat nor the depth… fight scenes are okay… but at the end of it, I would have picked a different movie…

GENRE:  Action/Samurai     GRADE:  D

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♥ Surprise Party (2002) - funny with a cute twist… will take a few minutes to attract you but will catch you eventually… perky characters and candidly sweet story of love and friendship..

GENRE:  Romantic Comedy, Friendship     GRADE:  B+

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♥ Grand Prix (2010) - I watched it because of Kim Tae Hee, but I should have not… well it gave me a glimpse of the horse-racing world but still I don’t like how they wove the story. It’s just all over and plain, but not boring cause I was able to finish it.

GENRE:  Drama, Sports     GRADE:   F

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♥I’m a Cyborg but that’s okay (2006) - how do I put what I felt for this little darling… well for a change it’s something raw for me to have watched such a unique love story of intellectually challenged couple, nonetheless, it crept in my heart slowly and surely…

GENRE:  Romance  GRADE:  B+

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♥ S-Diary (2004) - I was not familiar with Kim Sun Ah yet when i first watched this movie… I re-watched it, and I guess at my age right now, I can sort of relate… contemplating, sassy and engaging.. a charmer that will poke you as well if you are single at this moment.

GENRE:  Romance     GRADE:  B+

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♥ The Recipe (2010) – very pretty and engaging story telling… splendid and impressive shifting of the storyline… and seriously I was also intrigued by how that stew tasted after the movie… guess I’ll try it some other time with my Korean friends… lavish love story portrayed…

GENRE:  Drama, Romance     GRADE:  B+

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♥ Petty Romance (2010) – Okay, I like Lee Seon Kyun, but I was really stoic the whole time I was watching it.  I just felt that the romantic elements were not properly placed.  There were some playful memories but you see the premise was so catchy, and they failed unfortunately to nail it.  There was just a nudge missing, it was a very nice storyline but then again you can’t get the best of both worlds I guess.

GENRE:  Romantic Comedy     GRADE:  D

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♥ Love Phobia (2006) - So I finally got the chance to watch this movie without interruptions.  Who wouldn’t fall for this darling?  I was so fond of the lead couples when they were children and loved them even more when they grew up.  So sweet, priceless and worth remembering.  Watched it with my mom, and she loved it.  It’s a  charmingly woven love story.. and although it will make you cry in the end, I’m pretty sure it will be one of those love movies you will highly recommend.  *wink

GENRE:  Romantic Comedy     GRADE:  A

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♥ Dasepo Naughty Girls (2006) - I watched it because of Kim Ok Bin.. It’s a novelty because it’s the first K-musical movie I saw, I don’t know if there are any other out there produced though.  Fresh, fun and flirty but it did not leave an after-effect to me.

GENRE:  Musical, School, Romance     GRADE:  C

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♥ Love me Not (2006) – Tamper the concept of love for a never-been-into-romance-blind-heiress, and feel the pain even more after doing that.  I like that it presented the dark facet of love for a change because we normally get the ever-after kind.  It depicted misplaced trust and love. 

GENRE:  Romance, Melodrama     GRADE:  B

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♥ Closer to Heaven (2009) - Closer to Heaven was a very painful and yet love-affirming romance between a dying man who wants to live, and a woman who makes a living when a person dies.  Ji-soo was twice divorced because of her job as a she-undertaker, the love that was deprived of her, she fully realized when she met Jong-woo who will eventually die because of Lou Gehrig’s disease. This was a lovestory that will make you realize how blessed you are in a relationship because there are those who really want to love one another all the days of their lives but they have to battle death for it.

A perfectly portrayed and a moving story of understanding the pain that comes when loving someone and loving someone when you are in pain.  With solid acting from Kim Myung Min and Ha Ji Won, this will touch your heart and will make you cry. Quintessential yet saddening, poignant and affecting… ^_^

GENRE:  Romance, Melodrama      GRADE:  A

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♥ Maundy Thursday (2006) – A brave and painfully sweet love film in a “suppressed setting”.  It is a romance of a convicted murderer with an emotionally disturbed woman at a wrong place and time with the right intentions and love.  How life affirming this can be? ^_^

GENRE:  Romance, Melodrama     GRADE:  A

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♥ Cyrano Dating Agency (2010) -  I really love the casting for this movie, but this is really mediocre, and heaven knows I tried to connect with it but it really failed to engage me.  The only thing I will remember would be the bubble gum scenes, but as a whole it was not plain but it’s far from amazing.

GENRE:  Romantic Comedy     GRADE:  C

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♥The Man From Nowhere “ajussi” (2010) - So I finally sat down to Korea’s top grossing film of 2010, and it blew me away.  This was a different kind of love you will see, the kind of love that sprang from almost losing hope that you can find love again.  Won Bin and the girl’s performance will stir up something inside you.  I’m very picky when it comes to action films, and I was proven wrong when I took time to munch this beauty.  Excuse me city hunter, I think I equally like you and ajusshi.  *giggles *wink

GENRE:  Action, Drama     GRADE:  A+

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♥ Jeonwoochi (2009)-  Superb visual effects, a nice watch with your little nieces or nephew, action-packed in a Jumper-meets-inception-meets Harry Potter kind of way. . Undeniably worth killing your time…

GENRE:  Fantasy, Adventure, Family     GRADE:  A

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♥ Heaven’s Postman (Postman to Heaven) 2009- a very pretty and serene love story of moving on from the pain of a broken heart.  This was a breather from the recent k-movies I got a copy of and I tried to watch.  It has a very simple storytelling but with completeness that will touch the side of your heart that was once broken, and that was able to bounce again because of not giving up to the idea of finding love.  It’s one of my favorites from the movies of 2009.  *wink

GENRE:  Romance, Fantasy     GRADE:  A+

 

HEAVEN’S POSTMAN MOVIE RECAP

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♥ White Night (2009)- Thrilling and will get you interested and involved at every scene, although I have slight issues with the pacing.  Your multi-tasking skills will come in handy because shifting time elements were happening throughout the story.  You will learn how dark and twisted a person can be all because of an emotional trauma and love. 

Yo-han and Mi-ho/Lee Jia were victims of a dark past.  When Yo-han’s father was murdered, it left them intertwined with police investigations, murders, deceit and a hope of brighter future for them. 

I watched it after watching Criminal Minds so I have to infuse myself with true love vibes after and got my Sungkyunkwan Scandal CD. 

A film realizing how sad you can be by being consumed over a sin you have to do at that right moment but will not justify the evil act you took.  A sad and stirring film…

GENRE:  Drama, Thriller     GRADE:  A

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♥ The Day Before (2009) – I was watching it for 20 minutes and I still didn’t know what was happening… The subtitles aren’t doing any cartwheel act so I was wondering if it will lead me somewhere. There was a glimmer of magic tricks, sex and infidelity… then someone killed someone, someone surrendered, someone got imprisoned, someone got sick, and someone escaped prison.  Go figure!  Then a faint ray of light emerged, and the story suddenly happened, after another 10 minutes it became pitch black.  I have a soft spot for Kim Nam Gil, but the movie was really dull, everywhere and boring.  It has such a feeble storyline and an exhausting acting but still not sufficient enough for you to hate it.

It is a love story between a fugitive and a woman with a haunting past who started having a connection amidst their emotional baggage and damaged existence.

GENRE:  Romance, Drama     GRADE:  F

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♥ Secret Love (2010) – I’m beginning to declare this month as “infidelity month” *giggles as I have been watching a lot of love triangle even square love movies.  After coming out of “The Day Before” I took this movie and I was thinking what I’ve done wrong lately that’s why life is giving me confusing Korean movie pills.

But it was short-lived like 10 minutes to be exact because the story picked up its bearing, and with the hot actor I was left uncomplaining and drooling. 

A woman has to deal with the hardship of taking care of his husband who was in vegetative state.  Her husband’s brother helped her coping up, and eventually they engaged in an affair.  But her husband woke up and the three got entangled to the “who-deserved-to-be-together-game”.

Bold, brave and beautiful…

GENRE:  Romance (w/ adult scenes)   GRADE:   B+

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♥ Maybe aka Rabbit and Lizard (2010) - slow paced, not so good and you don’t know what’s really going on.  If not for Jang Hyuk I wouldn’t have finished it.  The right intention to capture the watcher was there but the execution was lost somewhere.  I can’t remember any lingering scene.   The acting was there but the story wasn’t.  Didn’t like it and it’s disappointing.  *pout

A man with a rare heart condition met a woman who was searching for her past. 

GENRE:  Drama      GRADE:  D

 

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♥ April  Snow (2005) – I’ll make this simple but firm… the film was sad, slow-paced and the proverbial melodrama, but it did not make me cry.  The premise of the story should make your mind and heart stir undeniable pain if it happens to you, but I remained poker hearted, and I even watched it in the dead of the night.  It lacked emotion it should have.

A man and a woman met in a hospital and discovered that their spouses were together in a car accident.  They soon learned that their spouses were having an illicit affair but they still decided to take care of them.  They soon got entangled in a relationship while they were nursing the angst and disappointment they felt after realizing their spouses’ betrayals.  It was a relationship that will never work out given the circumstances of what brought them closer together but they gamble on it anyway.

The man’s wife woke up but the woman’s husband died.  In the end the woman, opted to leave and start a new life, as the man ended his marriage and commence a new life too.

The conclusion was not a happy ending, but I like how it ended.  Although their love for each other can suffice for them to choose to be together, if that love was never good enough for them to begin with, settling to keep that love close in their hearts while giving up on it was an act of really knowing how to love.

GENRE:  Romance, Melodrama     GRADE:  C

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♥ Meet the In-laws aka Clash of the Families (2011) – A usual rom-com but not enough for me to adore it and place it before my hall-of-famers.  I love the dorky male lead, he’s what make the movie cute I think.  Nevertheless, it is sweet, light and at times hilarious.

The main conflict lies from modern-day Romeo&Juliet whose families came from the opposing regions thus their romance will not be permissible.  The man tried to win the girl’s family’s approval more so of her dad who despises anything with Seoul molecular content. They will struggle to fight for their eventual marriage amidst their opposing families.

Worth your afternoon break, but I doubt if it will be listed as one of your favorites.

GENRE:  Romantic Comedy     GRADE:  B+

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♥ Oh My God 2 (2009) - It is your typical rom-com drama with a dying girl conflict. Surprisingly even if there’s nothing spectacular, I found it sweet maybe because the death conflict was revealed at the latter part of the film. 

The conflict was placed safe, but the quirky and defined characters filled up everything that’s missing in the story. I would have wanted a happy ending for them but I took how the movie parted with me.  It gave me a good while it last kind of feel.  I was taken by the guy’s own way of trying to make lady happy, and d taxi convertible scene will be what I will remember most about the movie.
Im Jung-hwan was a taxi company heir whose expertise is to splurge money on branded items.  Her mother tried teaching him a lesson so he ended up driving one if their taxis.  When Eun-ji forced him to take her somewhere, it led to a trip orchestrated by Eun-ji’s liking after he lost her ring he forced to take from her when she cant pay for the taxi fare.

Eun-ji got him doing things he didn’t normally engage with as they slowly connected to each other.  But Eun-ji was dying so she snapped back to reality and accepted that the miracle she’s waiting was not another chance of her living again, but the precious memories with Jung-hwan in her last days.

GENRE:  Romantic Comedy, Melodrama     GRADE:  B+

 

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♥ You’re My Pet (2011) - This is my opening recap spectaclefor 2012 and it sure pulled out some effort considering I watched, captured screen and do the recap via online streaming.  Full of wacky and endearing moments, I will give up all my wealth if they will auction a pet like that in EBAY.

It’s a sort of a plain love film, you know where the story is heading but it was not complicated that’s why you will stay with it anyway.  It was light, adorable and super-ish.  Jang Geun Seok made my heart turn 360 degrees because of his cuteness and sassyness… Now that I think of, it gives you the my-sassy-girl-ish vibe but the Gyeon-woo counterpart was mischievous and complaining, but not in a bad kind of way.

You want to see your favorite actors not so much acting sometimes and this is what this movie brought I guess.  It was candid and captivating.  Not bad for my opening salvo this year.  ^_^

GENRE:  Romantic Comedy     GRADE:   B+

YOU’RE MY PET MOVIE RECAP

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♥ Shotgun Love (2011) – Mr. Nice Guy, Sang yeol, has been loving pretty woman, So-yeon, from his work place.  They posed as a couple for a Food Advertisement TV program.   So-yeon is in a relationship with the PD of the show, and when he got her pregnant, she refused to give up the child.  They broke up and one night, she asked Sang-yeol to see her.  She left him drunk afterwards, but he caught up on her when he saw her standing sadly in the side walk facing Han river.  The next day he woke up naked in a motel room and thought that something happened between them.

So-yeon’s friend suggested to use Sang-yeol’s impression that they slept together, thus they ended up in an instant marriage of wackiness, lightning chicken, perky homosexuals, malfunctioning toilet and love realizations. 

But the fun was cut off when the vile ex-lover of So-yeon revealed to Sang-yeol the truth about her pregnancy, and realizing he was made a fool he parted ways with So-yeon.

The main lead was such an adorable dork here, he pulled out the character so well, and although nothing much is happening in the story and you know right away where it will be heading, it was still a fun watch and entertaining.  A comic relief considering its befitting plot, nevertheless it was still amusing and entrancing.

GENRE:  Romance, Comedy     GRADE:  B

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♥ A Season of Good Rain (2009) – Yes of course Jung Woo-sung was the basis why I watched it, and as always he sent me to dreamy land, but my presence of mind snapped me back to reality.  It was a beautiful love story, the solid portrayal was there, but the connection of the lead couple was missing. 

Dong-ha and May met when they were studying abroad, when he was on a business trip in May’s hometown, he met her and reminisced the good old days.  The love they hid and kept for one another was resurrected but they are both restricted by their personal emotions.

It was not a bad love movie but it was part-boring-quarter-nothing-much-happening-kind-of-film.  The love story happened only in like two or three days but how it slowly moved felt years for me. 

GENRE:  Romance     GRADE:  D

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♥ Sunflower (2006) – I was browsing on my Korean movie DVD’s when I saw this movie, it was Kim Rae Won oppa starring in the role that’s why I got it, but I never had a chance to see it because I thought it was an action film, well sort of..

It was a deeply immersing story of a man struggling to start a new life after being imprisoned for a while.  His love for the family who embraced and accepted him despite of his dark past was overwhelming but the past he is so wanting to depart from kept coming back and no matter how he tried to keep his ground and not go back to his vile ways, he was challenged unfairly by fate.

I cried buckets of tears here and I really liked how the director orchestrated the story from the small sweet details and the heavy scenes.  The cast ensembles deserved applause, I don’t normally go for tear-jerker-slice-of-life but I was so drawn in Tae-sik’s life.

This will be one of my favorites.  *wink

GENRE:  Drama, Light Action     GRADE:  A+

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♥ My Scary Girl (2006) – Park Yong-woo is a 30-year old man who has yet to experience first love, and when he did the bliss, the kiss, the romance and a secret were all there.

I loved how Choi Kang-hee acted her role in Protect the Boss, but with the two movies of her that I saw, I was not won by her portrayals, but I do like the geeky lead man here, well anyone geek is good for me I guess.

The conflict for me was just crazy – your first love is a sweet murderer… I don’t know, have they brought out how their love will be stronger despite their personal indifferences, it would have been different I think. 

So I don’t like this movie, no matter how adorable Yong-woo was.  Miyane..

GENRE:  Romantic Comedy    GRADE:  D

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♥ The Wedding Dress – a touching movie of love between a mother and the daughter… well a mother’s love has always been there when the first sign of life happened to us, and sometimes we tend to forget it and get annoyed over things mothers normally do to us because it’s their nature.

This was a deeply moving story and will make you hug your mom after, I did (omma was beside me when I was watching it), I don’t know if you will, I hope you will.

This is quite a tear-jerker and you can feel the mother-daughter connection of the lead characters.  This is best served if you’ll watch it with your mom.

GENRE:  Melodrama, Family     GRADE:  B+

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♥ Come Rain, Come Shine (2011) – The break up theme, the sad tone and the slow pacing are evident throughout the story.  It is such an emotion driven film that if the actors won’t portray their ends well, you won’t feel it, but they did a great job touching my tear nerves.

When you have to share your last day with someone you used to love, and probably someone you still love, how would you react on it?  How would you throw the memories and accept the fact that the love was not really meant to go on?  These questions sum up what this painfully break up movie was about.

GENRE:  Romance     GRADE:  A

COME RAIN, COME SHINE QUICK RECAP

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♥ Champ (2011) – This is my second horse-racing-themed movie, and I kept my fingers crossed that I will not be disappointed.  It started slowly but it sort of won me over at the end.  I have loved Cha Tae Hyun in all his movies, and this might not have been a very strong performance for him compared to his previous works.

A famous horse jockey lost his touch after he met an accident and lost his wife.  He found his way again when he met a sort of hard to manage horse.  Their connection brought him back to the horse racing world and gave another hope in his life, but was interrupted when he became blind.

There were a few points in the movie that were nailed perfectly.  The water scene when the horse jockey and the horse first created their connection was full of warmth.  The competition scenes were shot splendidly, and the tear-jerker scenes of the daughter deserved a decent applause.

So aside from the heavy and well portrayed scenes, the story itself is a typical human interest movie.  The strength of the movie came from the characters, but nothing spectacular or lingering.  It will touch your heart, make you cry and make you laugh, but you will easily forget it when you watch another movie.  It felt like a sticky sweet kiss from your favorite niece or nephew, but not the kind of kiss where you would want something more.

GENRE:  Family, Sports, Comedy     GRADE:  B

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♥ Hello Ghost (2010) - Tae Hyun oppa once again showed his exceptional acting ability on this comical-sixth-sense movie.  His shifting from different characters is one of the reasons why he’s one of my favorite actors.  I was close to going to Hogwarts Forbidden Forest to attempt to retrieve the Resurrection Stone for the perky family to live through.   I have to watch Tae-Hyun oppa’s Sad Movie, next week.  He has made me cry twice already this week.

Sang-man has been living all alone, and because he has no reason to live, he has been resorting to suicide, but he was rescued from his attempts.  After another unsuccessful trying, he met new friends, and for the first time in his life, he will not be alone as he meets up new friends imported from after-world.   The quest of fulfilling his dead friends’ bucket wishes will be the only guarantee that they will leave him, so off they set to do those wishes as they teach him how to enjoy and value life.

This is an amazingly done supernatural family movie that you will enjoy watching with your family.  The twist won me over willingly and no questions asked.  It was just the perfect icing on the cake. 

The cast ensembles did their respective job in keeping up with the sunny vibe and upbeat tone throughout the movie.  *wink 

GENRE:  Family, Comedy, Fantasy     GRADE:  A+

HELLO GHOST MOVIE RECAP

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♥ Cyborg She/Girl (2008) -  This is gonna be hard for me because most of Kwak Jae-yong’s movie I really like, but there’s always an exception, not that I didn’t find this flick appealing, but it did not leave a very strong impact on me compared with his previous films.  I’m coming to terms that Director Kwak Jae-yong, either has had his fair share of heartaches or he’s still waiting for his first love to come because his film pattern always involve ever-after future or present time element story insert.  In this film, the time element was presented intricately and will give you a very pretty climax.

A cyborg girl from the future travels to the present time to spend time with Jiro- the man in the future destined to create her.  This is a beautiful story equally enchanting like that of ET and Elliot with literally a twist of time and fate. 

I felt that the lead girl really stood out in the entirety of the movie, the main lead is adorable but our robot princess was fabulous.  It started with the poignant meeting of two people from different time, crawled steadily through the middle of the film and kicked a very nice climax at the end.  I liked that the story focused on how the character’s emotions grow (well technically, that of the girl revealed super late in the future) and how they evolved in the story as the story evolved around them too.  What I found missing is the spike of a typical rom-com movie, that limbo-like feeling of being in between the character’s love while devouring the duration of the movie.  While the characters connected strongly with each other, they weren’t able to touch my romantic nerves, and the last time I checked, I no longer have faulty romantic veins.

This is sweet and satisfying, and although I didn’t like it so very much I still recommend that you watch this movie because in its own right, it’s a real beauty. 

GENRE:  Romance, Fantasy     GRADE:  A

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♥ My Black Mini Dress (2011) - A friendship tale of four ladies and their challenges as they face the real world.  It is a story of the frustrations of not being able to conjure in reality what you have dreamt, and getting by with it with a little help from your friends and yourself.

It made me miss my girlfriends, I sent them “iluvu” messages after watching it.  *wink 

Most girls can relate to the story of these ladies.  I did, maybe because I was also stuck with the job I was not expecting to have, and maybe because when I and my girls grew up, our priorities changed as our problems became harder.  What I got from this movie was a “friendship check”… a reminder to find some time and catch up with them and see how they have been. 

This was a simply laid movie with minimal light tones.  Not all the characters were strongly portrayed though, that’s I guess what I can fail in this movie.  They presented the struggles of each character and had it solved because of their friendship.  Their own personal struggles were not dealt with accordingly.  At some point it’s really plain and dragging but you have to finish it to realize that there’s an after-effect.   

It is not a perfect friendship movie, but it’s laid back and a few perky notes is enough for you to consider hanging out with these women.

GENRE:  Friendship, Drama     GRADE:   B

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♥ Lost and Found (2008) - If you are looking for an endearing and vibrant rom-com movie night with your boyfriend, this darling will delight you.  It’s ever moving and no dull moment.  From the feisty main female lead, the cholatey sweet lead man and the oozingly hot second male lead, this is a kind of Christmas gift you’d promise you’ll open on Christmas day, but when no one is looking out, you’ll sneak to see what it is.

Ji-ho has liked Min-woo since High School.  As her luck ran out with her current job, she bumped with her crush again when she was hit by his car while chasing the snatcher who took her bag.  She took that chance to pretend that she can’t remember anything to fulfill her 10-year dream of spending time with her crush.

But her neighbor-friend-who-secretly-loves-her, Dong-shik spoiled her staying at Min-woo’s house and brought her home while she still firmly held on her supposed amnesia.

She finally got Min-woo’s attention but Dong-shik was also determined to win the girl he has loved all her life.

This is about realizing the right love for you and chasing the romance no matter how long it will take.

GENRE:  Romantic Comedy     GRADE:  A

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♥ Sad Movie (2005) - So finally I was able to watch this star-studded movie.  Due to my attention problems, I like it more if there’s a fewer characters, but I don’t think it harmed the movie by having many characters.  But the stories of the characters here I believe could have stood alone, if it were made to individual flicks.  I think Hollywood had been doing those 4-in-one-intertwining-life-and-love-movies, and I’m not really a fan.

At any rate, this is a movie full of love, and I’m planning to put up a separation agency too, but I’ll be princess cupid, but I’ll handle not just break ups but love second chances too.

Back to the movie… this is about a motherly love and a little boy’s love to his dying mom… a man’s love to a woman but is hindered because he can’t seem to find a stable life… a Snowhite mascot and theme park painter’s extraordinary sweet romance… and a lovestory between a fireman and a woman…

I think they titled it sad movie because of the sad endings, but regardless, you’ll stick to the film’s conclusion.  It’s not that spectacular considering the cast ensemble, but I did like the no complications, flowing narration of the film.  It’s best watched in the afternoon while the wind plays with the foliage behind your windows.  This is saddeningly disarming and calmingly good. 

GENRE:  Romance, Melodrama     GRADE:  B+

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♥ Please Teach Me English (2003) -  When government public officials weren’t able to address a foreigner’s electric bill concern, they decided to spin a bottle to determine who will study English to avoid being tested under the same situation again.  The lucky girl who was picked was Young-ju and from there her goal to learn English language coincided with feeling her first ever love who turned out to be the playboy salesman whose drive to study English came from his dream to meet his sister who was adopted abroad.  The conflict rose when Young-ju felt that her first romance was just one-sided, but then again the player Mun-su realized her worth in the end.

This one is cheerful and dandy and one of those mushy train scene endings which will pull a sweet sigh from you no matter how much you hold it in.  I now officially like Lee Na-young as most of the movies I’ve watched of her well are prettily done.  She’s like the female version of Cha Tae-hyun oppa for me.

Truly this is literally your rom-com movie.

GENRE:  Romantic Comedy  GRADE:  B

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♥  Sex is Zero (2002) – Delving in the exploits and adventures of college life, this has interesting characters, sporadic acts and memory reminder of the good ole days of adult learning.

This for me is the saddest yet sweetest fall back person love story.  I think cupid’s arrows were really unfair.  It only shoots to people with mutual feelings to each other.  If it has special features of making a one-sided love be two-sided, the world will be a better place.

Hilariously presented the yin and yang of college life… those bad choices, the sticky friendship, the thrilling relationships, the dead ends and the coming out of it.  Eun-hyo (Ha Ji Won) played the character of a college girl who engaged in a relationship with a man not worthy of it, and who was adored by another man she doesn’t love.

I have mixed feelings on this movie, it was fun to watch, even engaging at the time you are watching it, but now when I look back it didn’t form an attachment to me considering it is a Ha Ji Won movie.  It was good while it last, but there was no after taste.

GENRE:  Romance, Comedy, School      GRADE:  C

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♥ My Wife is a Gangster (2001) -  In order to please her dying long lost sister, ladyboss gangster Eun-jin embarked in a husband hunting adventure, and settled with a good-hearted man Soo-il who was not aware of her kick-ass identity.

I won’t say I didn’t like the movie, the premise is interesting… a kind-hearted man marrying a strong mafia-ish woman, but it will just give you a satisfactory feel.  The fight scenes were neutral and it fit the presentation of the story, if the action sequences were more than beyond it could have totally wiped out the emotion of the film.

Mediocre, sometimes messy, mischievously enjoyable and with a couple of comic acts that will put a grin in your face.

GENRE:  Comedy, Light Gangster, Romance     GRADE:  B

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♥ The Client (2011) – A courtroom thriller that probed on a case of a husband allegedly murdering his wife.

The battle of wits and evidences and the suspense filled investigation will inevitably cause you to stick your attention to the end of the movie.   Just when I accepted the closure and bought the defense’ argument, the end revelation put a cunning smile on my face.

Well done, well played and well ended. 

GENRE:  Drama, Thriller     GRADE:  B+

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♥The Chaser (2008) – I’ll call it a Criminal Minds episode set in the big screen.  It has successfully laid the requirements for a thrilling serial killer movie.  My only issue though is that I was not left anticipating with the whole psychopath interrogating, tracking and killing.  I felt that the main man tracing the killer’s steps can stand alone, and that the whole police questioning was a useless sequence.  Not that I like it with more bloodbath, but it’s one of those things where you wished the police will only come after the big event.  Nevertheless, I will still recommend for you to watch this movie. 

GENRE:  Thriller, Drama     GRADE:  B+

THE CHASER QUICK SUMMARY

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♥ Fly High (2006) – This is yet another dying girl movie… Yeah, I’m already spoiling it on my first sentence. 

Min-hyuk met his first love in the most awkward place where love can spring – the rest room, and when he confirmed the first surge of romance in his body, he did all he can to win the girl’s heart.  But since the girl is dying she has no choice but not to reciprocate.  She left for further treatment abroad and came back after two years, not successful and just waiting for the expected death. 

Min-hyuk stayed her loving boyfriend until she rested in peace.  He’s so teddy-bear-ish and that man you’d hope to have as your first romance.

I did find the male lead’s performance well and heartfelt but I have some issues with the female lead because there were some emotions that were not displayed at scenes that were most important to be presented.  It’s supposed to be a sad movie, but my heart was not moved, nor did I cry.

A few heart flutters here and there, but if you have watched the classic love films, you will find it mediocre.

GENRE:  Romance, Melodrama     GRADE:  C

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♥Miss Gold digger (2007) -  Min-soo cultivates love.  I remember that All about Anna movie when I saw this perky flick.  She playfully flirted with three men, a smart-potential-prosecutor; a rich-romantic-business man; and a young-talented-rapper.  But her search for the perfect lover gave her a dose of her own medicine and she will realize that love is something you do not plan but you let it happen.

After her brat moment in Moo-yul, I really enjoyed Han Ye-seul’s performance in this love searching/waiting/affirming movie.  Her lead man is already on my stalker list.  He’s not that oozingly hot, but he has this air of being dangerous. 

This is charming, playful and feisty… will give you a Carrie Bradshaw vibe, a bit tamer though… enjoyable and a nice watch with your girlfriends or even your boyfriend. 

GENRE:  Romantic Comedy     GRADE:  B+

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♥ The Housemaid (2010) - dark, twisted romance… dementor-like if I may say… The motivation is clearly defined, and a sexy thriller worth your Saturday night.

Eun-yi works as a househelp in a rich household.  Her primary concern is taking care of the daughter of the eccentric couple.  She engaged in an illicit affair with the father of the household, and when she got pregnant, she was forced to give up the baby. 

The chandelier hanging bursting in fire ending scene, and the amazing hot body of Jae-jun oppa made this melo-drama sizzling and strangely likeable regardless of its gloomy tone. 

GENRE:  DRAMA, TRAGEDY     GRADE:  B

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♥Frivolous Wife (2008) – It was like putting Lee-shin inside a snow globe and staring at its serene picture.  It has high and low notes but it’s fun and the baseball hottie from My Little Bride grew up to what I expected him of, a fine handsome man.

Yeon-soo is god’s gift to men, she’s rich, pretty and an only daughter of a land magnate.  When she finally meets her match, she defies her life and moves to live with Jeon-do, a descendant from a traditional family.  She learns to adapt her role as a granddaughter in law the best way she can, and ends up claiming the ever after she so wanted.

I laughed for a minute in the scene when she is already comfortable with the housework and volunteered on cleaning the soy sauce jars, she chants happily and then when she saw the hundreds of jars, my laughter erupts big time.

Considering I don’t know much of the actors, I did enjoy the movie, well I’m partly blaming my recently fondness over sageuk dramas, but it’s really a nice movie to watch.  Simply adorable.

GENRE:  Romantic Comedy     GRADE:  B+

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♥ The case of Itaewon Homicide (2009) - This picture is mediocre, very simply laid, and forgettable.  Well Jang Geun Seok is hot, therefore I still stare at him even if he played on his dark tone.  But this is just one of those passing films that you will watch if you don’t want to read the book or you want a live adaptation of a web story you read.

A young college student unfortunately was murdered by someone he hasn’t met for the first time.  The prosecutor office embarked on an investigation to prove the suspects guilty, but they have to deal with contradicting testimonies and law technicalities.   In the end though justice was not served rightly.

This movie was based on a true story.  I found the portrayals lacking except for Prosecutor Park.  I was pulling the yarn for the film credits to appear because I don’t like how it was so predictable and plain.

GENRE:  DRAMA, THRILLER       GRADE:  C

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♥ The Good The Bad and the Weird (2008) - Korean bandit, an assassin and a bounty hunter in Western vibe set in Manchurian backdrop.  This film is cool, amusing and engrossing.  The ass kicking fight scenes, Song Kang Ho’s classic self, Lee Byung Hun’s quick abs showcase and my currently running adoration for Jung Woo Sung are some of the reasons why I enjoyed this beauty, but more than that are the excellent fight visuals, the fluidity of the story and how the main leads live up to their existing hype and bear the best that they can to nail an amazing action picture that even a woman like me enjoyed so much.

GENRE:  Action, Adventure, Comedy     GRADE:  B+

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♥ Natalie (2010)- Whoa!  The movie kicks off and it was all steamy sex right there and then.  It was yet another love misplaced story.  I don’t know why we girls have at some point in our life has to fall for the wrong guy, if not entirely wrong, it’s a man who will realize too late our worth.

Either enjoy or don’t mind the sizzling sex scenes and delve to the nature of the story… the eccentric passion of the lead actor, the woman who fell for the wrong man, and the man who loved a girl who can’t love him back.

GENRE:  Romance, R18       GRADE:  B

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♥ Loveholic (2009) - bored housewife was seduced by her husband’s friend, the husband engaged in an affair with his wife’s friend… what a string connected love quadrangle.  There’s nothing much going except the infidelity.  The excuses they all have for being unfaithful are their own struggles with how they can be happy.  It was an incomplete closure and I felt that the cheating motivations were poorly depicted. The love scenes are not that much, oh well maybe because I watched Natalie first.  Watch at your own risk… tutututut…  watch it when you’re about to sleep

GENRE:  Romance w/ adult content     GRADE:  C

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♥ The Uninvited (2003) - Seeing Jun Ji-hyun in a psychological thriller was something new, and come to think of it she has that distinct crying face.  It was a plainly laid suspense movie.  Actually I didn’t feel any goose bumps at all.  The shamanic abilities, the little ghost girls and the court case presented I felt were not fitting perfectly.  It felt like putting a magnet and placing something metallic around it but no attraction will eventually happen.  It was supposed to scare my thoughts but I’m afraid it did not.

A man was seeing the ghosts of two girls he encountered on a train one night and they always sat on a table bought by his fiancée.  He can’t seem to dismiss them until he met a woman who can also see them.  The woman helped him uncover the previous life he had as he got entangled with the past he tried to forget and the woman’s frailties and secrets.

It was not scintillatingly freaky so it’s a good warm up if you are on a Korean thriller spree.  It was not that bad, it’s just that it was too easy to understand and will not leave you haunted and thinking.

GENRE:  Horror     GRADE:  C

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♥ Quick (2011) -  I was not expecting much of this movie, hell I didn’t even do a background check which I normally do, but it held me drooling on it the whole time without any rest room break. 

It was a biker movie, and on that note I was really like uttering ancient chants that it won’t bore me.  So when the action-packed motorbike scene begins, the stunts and the speed blew me away.

Gi Su (Lee Min Ki) is a legendary fast biker who works as the errand guy for his friend’s courier service.  In one of his messenger job, he got pop star Ah Rom as his customer and asked him to drive her for their scheduled performance.  Little did they know that someone plot a bomb on Gi Su’s helmet and Ah-rom insisted on wearing the helmet so they got caught up following a bomber-slash-creepy-guy to bring packages meaning to blow up the receivers.  The catch is they can’t part beyond 10 meters or the helmet will explode so they set to follow “big brother’s orders”.

 Here’s a movie you can enjoy with your boyfriend, not so much romance but definitely entrancing and exciting. 

GENRE:  Action, Comedy     GRADE:  B+

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♥ Once In A Summer (2006) – It is one of the sweetest “summer love” movie I’ve seen unfortunately though they didn’t get their ever after.  Lee Byung Hun translates to the man you won’t regret committing infidelity if you are currently in a relationship.  He’s just so manly in an I-want-to-throw-myself-in-your-arms-kind-of-way.  Su-Ae has such an expressive eyes and her blithe nature in this love movie complements the endearing character of Byung-hun oppa.

A felicity filled tale that will leave you fetching and at the same time agonizing.  It was a sweet melancholic movie of finding love and holding on to it even if it has long been gone.

GENRE:  Romance     GRADE:  A

ONCE IN A SUMMER QUICK MOVIE REVIEW

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♥ Welcome to Dongmakgol (2005) – It definitely live up to my expectations.  This is such a warm action/war film.  All elements synchronized to create a masterpiece.
In the middle of Korean war, soldiers from North and South ended up in a remote village.  A US navy captain was also stranded there and to retrieve him the US force have planned to release a bomb to Dongmakgol.  In their stay to the village, they develop connection to the people and be friends with one another.
I love how the movie wad richly narrated, and although it has a sad ending, I felt that it didn’t make the movie less appealing.  Full of heart and beautifully done.  The climactic ending was a sight to behold, be sad and be pondered about.

GENRE:  Light Action, Drama, Comedy     GRADE:  A

♥ Spellbound aka Chilling Romance (2011) - I bet they were just counting on Son Ye Jin and Lee Min Ki’s star power to pull this off.  Nothing much special about it, typical, and the movie just passes by.  I felt that the chemistry was there but the story was not.

Kang Yu-ri has literally an emotional scary baggage.  She sees dead people.  Her sixth sense ability has saddled her to be accustomed in living alone and avoiding human contact.  But things change when a street magician Ma Jo-goo entered her life, and soon enough they both are aware of the budding romance between them, but they have to defy a grumpy ghost who was Yu-ri’s ex bestfriend Joo-hee, but died in an accident they were both together. 

I will say the talents were wasted here, and if not for the screen presence of the lead couple, the viewer won’t stay afloat.  It was like a denouement all the time, the problem was there, but there was no “what now”?

I’m sure you’ll grab another movie after, and when you doze off, there’s no trace in your memory that the movie happened.  It was enchanting when it’s on the light notes, but the conflict and the plot didn’t justify what could have been a something new romance.  Nevertheless, it’s still a must to watch if you’re a fan of both the lead actors, like me.

GENRE:  Romance, Fantasy thriller      GRADE:  B

SPELLBOUND aka Chilling Romance Movie Musings

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♥ PUNCH (2011) - I am aware that women from poor countries sometimes have no choice but to marry for convenience, and I’m lucky I was able to get another option aside from that.  This movie is invoking, and I appreciate that they did not stoop down to immigrants, but instead emphasized on presenting the viewers what a strong person they are to live in a foreign land to survive.  

To put up the essence of the movie without giving any aspersions is something the filmmaker should be proud of.

The main actors Wan-deuk and Dong-jo set a new kind of bromance, that  bickers amusingly but accidentally brought out the best of one another.

This was a blithe tale of accepting who you are and what extent you can be by embracing the life you did not choose but fought hard to decide the best shot on it.

GENRE:  Drama, Family     GRADE:  A

PUNCH MOVIE RECAP

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♥  Harmony (2010) – Not since The Longest Yard did I enjoy a prison-set film.  This movie warmed my heart and made me even prouder being a daughter, a sister and a woman.

Each woman in the story contributed to an emotion fest offering that lingered in my thoughts and erupted tears in my eyes.  

GENRE:  Melodrama, Family, Friendship     GRADE:  A+

 

♥  A Reason To Live (2011) - I didn’t like the movie.  I don’t know what part in my sense of feeling it was trying to get through, but I totally just felt nothing while watching it. 
 
I can’t point out its strength nor discuss its weakness.  If you are a Song Hye Gyo fan, you can watch it, and just remind yourself that she gave you full house and worlds within, if not… pick something else.

GENRE:  Drama      GRADE:  F

 ♥Detective K (2011) - Move over Sherlock Holmes… Here comes Detective K. 
 
Set in Joseon era, be amused with the clever detective and his side kick as they unfold the truth behind the King’s enemies.
 
With impeccable wit and comic timing, this comedy-mistery film will make you feel dandy, lively and entertained.

GENRE:  Action, Adventure     GRADE:  B+

♥Innocent Steps (2005) -This sweet dance movie was an emotion pond..  It made me feel warm, giddyish, frustrated, disappointed, annoyed, sad, appeased and then eventually blissful.
 
The fake marriage, dance moves and the simple yet sure love launched a well deserved love sigh from me.
 
P.S  I love the footprints practice dance floor. 

GENRE:  Romance, Dance     GRADE:  B+

♥  The Relation of Face, Mind and Love (2009) – I was expecting a lot I must admit because it was Kang Ji Hwan oppa and Lee Ji Ah, but then again I have to charge this to experience because the strong beginning wasn’t able to sustain a story worth keeping.

Kang Tae Pung is a famous architect who had a car accident but his car life-saving bag was able to save him causing minor injury that is “temporary visual impairment”.   So he sort of saw ugly things beautiful and beautiful things ugly.   He then met Wang So-jung, a cheerful-not-so-pretty lady but because of his eye problems she appeared to be his long lost dream girl.  So they then engaged to a whirlwind romance and when his vision went back to reality, her fairytale dream also ended. 

There’s not much love spell and I wondered how Ji Hwan oppa and Ji Ah unni must have felt after their finished film.   It was not ugly but it was just free flowing to somewhere you wouldn’t want to follow.  *yawn

GENRE:  Romantic Comedy      GRADE:  D

♥Villain and Widow (2010) - Kim Hye-su and Han Su-kyung teamed up in this awkward sometimes funny cohabitation of a conman and a widow saddled with money issues.

Kim Hye Su played the role of a widow who rented the second floor of her house to Han Su Kyung to help in their financial problem.  Han Su Kyung meanwhile took advantage of the lease offer to find a famous tea cup of antique importance that is sought after by a chaebol heir who was in the brink of losing his value to his family and the only thing that could salvage him to stay afloat was that china teacup.  So the villain was summoned to retrieve it and thus he embarked on an I-am-a-writer-scheme to try and look for the elusive teacup which the widow’s husband hid in the house. 

A little cute romance here and there and a scattered shower of humor every now and then were some of the reasons why I finished the movie.  To be honest it was not really that much interesting, but the main leads interaction was fun to watch.  It sort of bland most of the time but it has still managed not to go to the brink of boring-ness.  The good times are mainly when the lead couple did their sort of sweet moments and adult bickering.  Well anyway, it was still a comic watch regardless. 

GENRE:  Comedy      GRADE:  B

♥  Pained (2011) – This is the first time I saw Kwon Sang Woo as an actor, he felt so human to me that I stayed the rest of the movie.
 
This was told with no frills attached and in its all natural beauty that I found it sad and yet bracing. 

GENRE:  Romance, Melodrama     GRADE:  A

PAINED QUICK MOVIE MUSINGS

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♥ Sector 7 (2011) - I didn’t see it in 3D but graphics and visual effects wise it felt the same level with Hollywood “beat-the-monster” films.  Hmmmm it was your typical Anaconda vibe flick, the humans thrive on their wit to survive and defeat the monster but they were unsuccessful except Ha Ji Won unni. 

For a thriller I stayed calm and comfy on my bed watching it so it didn’t really boost the fear factor side of me.  I already have foreseen the outcome of the villain so I’ll give this movie an average score for the effects and a Ji Won unni’s stunts.  As a rule thrillers should never be predictable, the viewers should always be on an anticipating ride, and that I didn’t achieve in watching this movie.

GENRE:  Sci-fi, Action     GRADE:  C

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♥ Never Ending Story (2012) - In tradition of the death bound conflict of Korean love story, this charming movie was able to balance the premise and have it set to both the lead couple’s having after life bargains.
 
Oh Song Kyung worked at a bank and has lived her life planned into the smallest details, but what she did not prepare for was a malady that came instantly in her life.  She met Kang Dong Joo who was her exact opposite.  He lives a spontaneous life and never failing to lose hope that he’ll win the lottery someday. The two met because both of them were diagnosed at the same hospital and soon they embark on a bucket list fulfillment that involves funeral preparations for Song Kyung and lottery station hunts for Dong Joo.

 
What this movie achieved was setting a sad note to a brighter perception. It was a film about death but the lively scenes and characters have pulled a different take on life’s passing. The love couple were adorable and swung an Edward-Bella pull worthy of your smile and sigh.
I love that it was so natural and that they first slept together inside a coffin and never ending to a traditional bed. 

A carefree movie I would definitely recommend.  This was a romance charmer that will raise mirth one moment and then tug your heart at another time.  Watching it made me not expect outcomes or predict what will happen because the conflict surged up when it commenced, but I was left watching them as they have a good time alongside the struggle with their inevitable death.
It was simply done but happily narrated, and that made it hit home in me.
Radiant and resonating, this is a must watch darling.  ^_^

GENRE:  Romantic Comedy      GRADE:  A+

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♥ Always (2011) - And I finally got the chance to spend an afternoon full of loving vibes.  I received lots of raves about this movie and I must agree to the warm response “Always” has received.  It made me miss the feeling of being in love, and I was left smiling, calmed and inspired as I immersed myself in a love story between two people who found love in their vulnerabilities.

Im Jung Hwa was saddled with temporary blindness after surviving from a car accident that killed her parents.  She works as a customer service representative over the phone and has lived her life in full swing optimism despite of her disability.

Jang Chul-min was a former boxer who after quitting the profession settled to being a merciless bounty hunter, but in one of his bounty mission he found motivation to start his life in good faith again. 

Little by little fondness grew between them, with a life he was never proud of and nothing much to offer, Chul-min mustered whatever he has and took responsibility of a blind woman’s heart.

“Always” broke the romantic dry spell I’ve been having for a while now.  It played with the cutesies, the sweetness, the laidback and the contentment feel of a love movie.

On a distracting note, and I mean it to be really utmost distracting… So Ji Sub in his rough, untidy look was a sight to behold, and the short showcase of his abs was a manna from heaven.

The last movie I liked was Postman to Heaven which was also a movie of Han Hyo Joo.  Playing a sweet, optimist blind Han Hyo-joo connected to her lead man so well that the blue ray screen emanating love swept the romantic side of me.

Seeing the love grew, saddled, steadied, lost and fulfilled was I think the reason why it created huge admiration.  It was an ever after not of a prince and a princess, but by two people whose hearts can love each other with their eyes closed.

GENRE:  Romance     GRADE:  A

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♥ Penny Pinchers aka Many a Little Romance (2011) - I’m getting interesting love couple combination making my special day today worthy of slumping on my bed and making my heart and eyes happy.

 Hong-sil has an addiction to save money after bankruptcy hit her family causing her mother’s death and her father losing himself to gambling. If I get to adapt her saving strategy, I bet I will get a lot from it. So she lives a lonely life until she meets Ji-woong who struggled in getting himself a regular job. She taught him the trick of her trade and we get kmovieland’s first ever penny pincher couple.

 It was not a movie full of awesome love vibes but I was able to finish it without complaint. I think I liked it because the treatment of how their love was realized was because they trusted each other and they are both willing to sacrifice and appreciate each other’s worth.

You will find that “the boy did the impossible to make the girl happy” will now be always a resident element in a Korean romantic movie.

 A mixture of fun, friendship, forced cohabitation, saving money crash course, some cute no money involved dating ideas and a lead couple that were both fitting in their roles. Penny pincher is a stress reliever after a week’s work.

GENRE:  Romantic Comedy      GRADE:  B+

 

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♥ The Crucible (2011) - The crucible touched a very delicate issue and I’m thankful that such eye opening film like this was produced.

An art teacher moved to another city to accept a post in a school for special children. What he was not prepared for was the reality that his visually and hearing impaired students who haven’t even had their families to take care of them were violated mercilessly by their own teachers and the headmaster.

 It’s a rage inducing towards the evilness of the world kind of film. But whenever power was wrongfully used, hope and faith will always find its way to protect the weak.

 A moving, inspiring and a reality biting spectacle not worth missing.

GENRE:  Drama     GRADE:  B+

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♥ Love Fiction (2011) - A fiction writer fell in love with a bizaare girl and has to flounder with her infamous history with boys, hairy armpit and heedless actions.
While I enjoyed most of it, I felt detached after watching it.  It has an interesting  lead couple who was able to justify the characters and the love conflict they were playing but it doesn’t have the romantic appeal that will make you think of it when you sleep at night.

Interestingly done but mediocre… Feel good and funny but forgettable.

GENRE:  Romantic Comedy     GRADE:  B

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♥ Dancing Queen (2012) - I honestly didn’t enjoy watching this dream-finding-dream-realization movie.  When the movie ended, I just sighed and said “okay”.  It did well in the box office that’s why I was curious, and then curiousity killed me badly. haha

The lead couple were childhood neighbors and met again in college.  They got married and has been living a simple life but when opportunity to pick up their forgotten dreams opened, they seized it.  But then eventually they both hindered their dream decisions. Uhm Jung-hwa hid her joining a girl group while her husband was campaigning for the city mayor office, and when it was revealed it damaged her husband’s dream.

So the movie wants to impart that not all opportunities knock once, and if they knock again, we have to claim it.  It touched on the giving-up-dreams-because-of-marriage issues which the society normally overlooked especially on the woman’s side. It was inspiring and easily narrated.  For a woman, it pointed on how much you can give to stand beside your man when you have your own dreams he doesn’t realize.

It felt good, it looked nice but I was not drawn by it.

GENRE:  Romance, Dance, Drama     GRADE:  B

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♥ Introduction to Architecture aka Architecture 101 (2012) - Architecture 101 was another first-love movie… cute, sweet and nostalgic, but it failed to indulge me.

A woman traced her first love to make him fulfill his promise of making her dream house.  They met in college when the woman took an architecture introductory class.  Because they live in the same town, they do activities together relating to their class.  They were both unaware of each other’s love feeling, and they were able to confess their love when it was too late because the lost love cannot salvage the present they have now.

It was another sad first-love film, and I liked seeing the 2012 kdrama actors in a sort of reunion in this production.
The flashbacks kept me afloat as it drove love to melancholy.  So what do you do when you have another chance you have kept for a long while?  That’s the question this movie asked.

GENRE:  Romance, Melodrama     GRADE:  B

♥ Wonderful Radio (2012) - Although it’s a nice and refreshing film, I felt that the love was missing.  Well it was not really a romance movie even with the kiss scene at the end, it was character driven and much as I want to relate with her, there were some critical scenes I found lacking.
 
A radio dj hosts a program “Wonderful Radio” which has a segment where civilians can impart their message to someone and sing a song after.  She used to be a member of a famous girl group and is wanting to get back to the music scene.  She clashes with the program director at first but they eventually hit the right note and became closer.
 
The conflict supporting the conflict I didn’t like.  I didn’t like what their problem was at all.  If it was a love movie then they should have sprinkled it with a couple romance, and no, a kiss scene at the end doesn’t qualify for it to be called a romantic movie.  The villains didn’t annoy me and the story was there but the characters were disconnected.  This movie somehow looked like big love drama but in radio world setting.  It was a fair watch but I was not amused by it.

GENRE:  Romance     GRADE:  C

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♥ Sunny (2011) – This is one of the best friendship movies I’ve seen in my life.  It made me dig back memories I’ve shared with my high school girl friends.

A reflective film that will make you stop and think for a while to wonder and reminisce one of the best days of your life.  It made me cry and happy at the same time.

A dedicated mother and wife accidentally bumped with her dying high school friend and from there they relive the old times while looking for the rest of their circle of friendship.  Told in shifting time, the film beautifully captured the depth of friendship built with trust and respect.

This is a movie that will make you love your friends even more.  An appreciative story that tells how a friendship stays regardless of reasons and changes after all those times.

 GENRE:  Drama, Friendship     GRADE:  A

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♥ More Than Blue (2009) – More than blue less the falling in love and dying part made me yearn to have a boy bestfriend. A film so tender and heartfelt, it will give you that sweet regret feeling as you sleep. The dearest melancholic I-secretly-love-my-bestfriend-movie I have ever seen.

K and Cream were both orphans who decided to live together and become besties, but fate will eventually take K because he has leukemia. As he secretly love his bestfriend he wished that someone will take care of her when he’s gone. Unbeknownst to him Cream accidentally learned of his condition and in an effort to make him happy she fulfilled his dream of her getting married.

Kwon Sang Woo has given me two lovely films so far.

What I love about this movie is the transparency of the characters, it’s as if I’m staring at my neighbor’s life because they acted so naturally good and painfully remembering.

The sad ending was really sadder than sadness but how it concluded was clearly satisfying.

GENRE:  Romance, Melodrama     GRADE:  A

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♥ Blind (2011)- A fairly done thriller about a woman who became blinded after a car accident. She lost her brother and also failed to go back to the police academy. In an unfortunate twist of event she will be marked by a serial killer and will be able to survive and free herself of the long running guilt she felt after losing her brother in the accident.

Any movie with an adorable dog wins my heart over, and Seul-ki, the guide dog here made me cry.

 It was a suspense filled movie that drew strength from the main character’s vulnerability.

 GENRE:  Drama, Thriller     GRADE:  B+

 

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♥ M (2008) – I had a hard time digesting the movie. I can’t sway my grasshopper-ish attention span because the movie was so attention seeking. The crisp and avant-garde cinematography was jaw dropping and I’m all praises to the editing.

 A fiction writer Min-woo flounders with his job and a girl who kept visiting his imagination. It brought him to leave his sanity and caused rift to his real life marriage. In between the reality and his mentally indisposed self, it was revealed that the girl was his first love.

 The story was not in a hurried pace, and yet I really mustered all the focus I can get to be immersed on it. It’s the kind of movie a film professor should have his students watch because of how superb it was done technically complementing an unconventional plot

 It’s a sad first love movie that was presented incorporating subconscious yearnings and realms of the imagination that kept our deepest longings.

 What I loved about it was the conflict done in modern vibe and mind boggling way but never leaving the sweet and painful narrative of losing your first love… thinking you are over the memories… and finding yourself haunted and affected by it because you haven’t truly given up on it.

GENRE:  Psychological Drama     GRADE:  B+

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♥ The Restless (2006) - A supernatural fest that reminded me of Sword of Truth and Lord of the Rings. Superior visual effects, rolling action scenes throughout and Joong Woo Sung oppa are the reasons why I liked the movie. There’s not much of a plot really and even gasping, gripping or jaw-dropping moment… they relied much on their flamboyant visuals maybe.

Set in Midheaven, a place where people who died stays to wait for their reincarnation to happen.. a demon slayer who was formerly the chief of an elite ghost slayer shoulders, was transported to the place, a human was not supposed to be. He chanced upon So Hwa,  a member of the governing circle of the midlands. So Hwa looked exactly Yi Gwak’s lover (Yonhwa) who was burned by the townspeople because of the belief that she has supernatural abilities.

Yi Gwak has to stand in between the woman he loved and lost and his fellow soldiers who all died on earth after pursuing a rebellion. He further learned that their deaths were intentional as they seek to defy the heavens and change the world. So Hwa held a powerful stone that they needed to be victorious, so Yi Gwak traded his life to protect her and hope that he will meet her again.

If you are up for supernatural adventure then you can try this one, but don’t expect much after effect when you are done watching.

GENRE:  Fantasy, Adventure, Romance     GRADE:  B

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♥ Standing Sleeping Tree (2009) - is a movie that tells about the story of a dying firefighter as he takes on the road about his condition. Being a father, a husband and a friend, the film dealt with the point of view of a person facing death as he settles his affair while feeling the pain of leaving his family and life.

There hasn’t been any manual invented to guide you when you are bound to leave someone and it’s against your will.

Although nothing spectacular is in store in this movie, it will not make you hit the stop button. It’s a sad and an easy watch. It’s actually like coming from a book and narrated as it is. I want to be nice but there’s nothing much going on this movie.

GENRE:  Melodrama      GRADE:  C

 

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♥The Scent (2012) – Following a suspension because of an adultery claim, Detective Kang Sun-woo temporarily ran a secret investigation company that specializes in adultery cases.  One of her clients dragged him to a motel where she claimed to have her husband with another girl, but he woke up and saw his client killed and his supposed husband was also murdered in the adjacent room.  The husband’s mistress was in shock, and because the situation will go bad against him who was at the wrong place and time, he dragged the corpse and buried it.  When he learned that the girl was the real wife of the murdered husband, the detective will investigate a case in which he was unluckily framed up.

It was at first interesting.  Kim So Yeon’s multiple personality went from the vulnerable wife to insufferable tease and nothing-fazes me persona, but there’s not much substance.  There were some thrilling chases, boggling concepts, but there was no climax.  A little sex scenes here and there, and Kim So yeon’s nude parts will kept hold of a man’s interest.

It was not a real good deal, but it’ still worth watching.  The suspense will suffice for me to give it a mediocre rating. 

GENRE:  Thriller, Mystery w/ adult content     GRADE:  C

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♥ Bunt (2006) – I was beaming and smiling and was so amused while watching this endearing father-and-son movie.  A heartwarming film full of a father’s love to his good-natured but feeble-minded child and a friendship so sweet, it will make you reminisce your childhood memories.

Bunt was certainly a gladdening and encouraging movie experience.  Full of inspiring and beautiful lessons about parenthood, friendship and believing in yourself.   Even the humor was edifying, and you will just find yourself immersed in the story, cheering for Dong-gu… cheering for everything that will make him happy.

GENRE:  Family    GRADE:  A+

BUNT KOREAN MOVIE QUICK MUSINGS

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♥ The Concubine (2012) - Not for minors – an obsessive kind of love set in Joseon era where a King’s besetting passion over his brother’s concubine caused him his death.  I found the mature scenes well acted, with a lot of emotion presented is what I mean.  It’s supposed to be focusing on the concubine character but I say the King’s character marked more than in me than her.   I found the mature scenes not that offending, but then again, still minors can’t watch it.  A middling kind of movie in my ratings. 

GENRE:  Drama, Romance R18      GRADE:  B

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♥ All About my Wife (2012) – with constant humor and zest all throughout, this movie about a man with a very outspoken wife who decided to hire a Casanova in the hopes of making her leave him because he doesn’t know how to tell her that he’s wanting his freedom back had a very great potential in the idea it was trying to act, but it failed giving a strong ending punch.  It feels good and a few quirky scenes here and there but then again it lacked an after taste.  If you are a fan of Im Soo Jung, she was able to entertain me in and redefined the word “nagger wife” in a whole new level.  Her two lead men  were able to support her, but there weren’t much depth plot wise.  It was a rom-com but the romance was slightly baked.  

GENRE:  Romantic Comedy      GRADE: B

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♥ Dittto (2000) – A story of a woman who has to throw away her love because she and her best friend fell in love with the same man.  So-eun has been loving Dong-hee for a while.  When she was stalking him outside of their classroom, she used an old radio to be her alibi to cover up what she has been doing.  The old radio has some mojo though and from there she met Ji In who was a man from the future.  They became talking diaries to each other separated by time.  When they realized that they were in fact living in different eras, So-eun learned that the man she was talking to will be the future son of Sun-mi, her best friend and Dong-hee.  Ji In visited his parents’ country house and from there he knew of So-eun and his father’s interrupted love.   He was able to track So-eun in the present time, and learned the truth that she gave way for her parent’s love.

This movie felt Il Mare-ish but using a radio this time for the time element.  Steady and okay for me, this is sweet, sad and nostalgic. 

GENRE:  Romance, Fantasy      GRADE:  B

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♥ The Thieves (2012) – Blame White Collar and my love for Neal Caffrey because it made this star-studded movie not that appealing to me.  I finished it.  It was good, I liked it, but a typical heist film.  Nothing much spectacular, and I really think it’s overrated.  This time I’ll give it to Hollywood’s Oceans. 

GENRE:  Heist, Adventure      GRADE:  C

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♥ Miss Conspirator (2012) – A certified agoraphobic, a woman was entangled between gangsters and police in their drugs and money deal.  Because of the conflict she was accidentally put into, she decided to step up and throw away her old self and from then transformed into an overnight female negotiator.

There’s nothing much to watch really. Skip it.   

GENRE:  Action (tssss idk what genre to put)      GRADE:  F

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♥ Jackal Is Coming (2012) - A Hallyu Star was supposed to be meeting his rich ajumma sugar mom but experienced a series of unfortunate events meaning to kill him in the hotel he was saying.  Sometimes cute, sometimes fun, sometimes dallying around.  But because of Jaejoong oppa’s trimmed abs I’ll give it a higher notch.  *giggles  Among the sort of action movie I saw lately, I liked this more than the rest.

GENRE:  Action, Comedy     GRADE:  B

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♥ Helpless (2012) – A couple was supposed to be meeting the man’s family for their incoming wedding’s blessing, but after a phone call the woman run away and left her fiancé.  Then it was revealed that the woman he was intending to marry was actually using another person’s identity.   His brother friend helped him uncover even more about her past and revealed the sad and abusive past she had that made her a monster in killing a person and assuming their identity.  In the end after a frustrating battle of the main actor to the reality that he actually loved someone he really don’t know well, he still let go of her in her fated and dreadful closure.

Since I have been stalking Criminal Minds for quite some time now, the psychopath girl here and the chase to get her was predictable on my part.  If truth be told they were withholding the essentials until the end when it’s very easy to infer what will happen next.  Safe considering the promised suspense premise but great acting for the lead man in presenting the pain of not knowing what to do in something that you can’t understand.

GENRE:  Romance, Thriller, Mystery      GRADE:  C

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♥ Highway Star (2007) – If not for Cha Tae Hyun oppa, I would have not stayed until the curtains closed…

Dreaming to become a rock star, Bong-pil was a back up for a trot singer, he got invited for a solo album only to find out that he has to perform trot as well.  Story passing, nothing much happening but not that bad-feeling. 

GENRE:  Comedy, Musical      GRADE:  C

♥ Venus and Mars (2007) – Incessant love quarrels, relationship non-sense, and totally weird couple… This was a dark love story I struggled to finish the ending.  The A-list actors weren’t able to salvage the twisted love movie at all maybe because they were busy fighting all the time, and the mellow-romantic surge came up probably late at the same time..  Divorced because of indifference, the short-lived marriage turned into a nightmare after the couple’s temper wont concede to one another.  A case of love gone crazy… hmmp!  Thanks to that pendulum-sweet-scene, it made me forget the many pout scenes from the movie. 

GENRE:  Strange Romance      GRADE:  D

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♥ The Way Home (2002) – Once in a while you get to sit with a simple story about love that doesn’t involve romantic feelings, and you will feel so happy and moved after spending time watching it. 

Sang-woo (played by little boy Yoo Seung-ho) was left by his mother in an old village to settle some financial problems they have.  Raised in the city he was not accustomed with the plain living in the old village and was disrespectful and a brat with his old grandmother.  Little by little though he became closer to her and when his mother returned for him it sent me to 60 weeping seconds as I grew attached of their relationship.

This is a perfect movie to watch with your grandmother if you have one.  So touching and heart-stirring in its simplicity and yet the emotion surge you will get while watching it was so compelling and family bond affirming.  This is a story of a grandmother’s unconditional love to her grandson and whosoever watched it will certainly feel good after and restrospect a little if he’s being rude to his grandma.  This will be added to my favorite movie list.  *wink

GENRE:  MeloDrama, Family     GRADE:  A+

THE WAY HOME (2002) QUICK MOVIE MUSINGS

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♥ The Grand Heist (2012) – Set in the era with so many technological limitations, The Grand Heist will mock at those heist films you have already seen.  Overflowing with humor and showcasing a smooth sailing story, this movie will leave a smile on your face after watching it.

Modern heist films normally brag about the tricks and the smarts they utilized to get their score, this production is no different but it was made even so much better.  It’s not a precious diamond or a pricey antiquated work of art in spotlight to be pinched but ICE.  Why ICE?  Because at that time it was a very indispensable commodity.  How a band of thieves execute their premeditated plan to procure a tantamount ice stock and transport it to another storage is for you to watch (or read on my blog).  *wink

This fusion period movie was well mixed and well done.  I promise you

cuteness and humor.  I promised you it’s gonna be worth your time. *wink

GENRE:  Adventure, Heist      GRADE:  A

THE GRAND HEIST KOREAN MOVIE RECAP

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♥ My Love (2007) – I call it “waiting for love” movie as the characters involved in a web of liking someone hopelessly even if it was hurting them in the process.  It’s a good thing that two of the couples in this quadruple romance story were able to get their happy ending.  It was a nice watch but not that momentous.  The main love story started very strong and adorable and I really sighed and got sad when their love became a tragedy.  The supporting love couples were not plain but something you have seen if you have been watching kdramaland for a long time.  Even if Jung Il Woo was there, it didn’t salvage my wondering on what that somewhat-4-in-one-love-movie was trying to achieve.  The romance stories involved a man with his “hug me”campaign who returned to Korea after 5 years and was hoping to be reunited with his ex-girlfriend who promised to wait for him and to call him on the day of solar eclipse, she called, but she failed to wait any longer and delivered him the news that she got married.  Then there’s a girl who has been liking someone who liked another girl, she eventually got her chance to be closer to him, and soon he eventually liked her back.  Working in an ad agency, a woman loved a man who was imprisoned by the memory of his death wife, after so much showing away, she eventually found a way to his heart.  Lastly, a train operator recounted his memories of the woman he met in a subway.  It could have been a romance overload but humor spikes and funny moments were added to balance the red notes in this love movie.   Sad, sweet, sassy and sunny.

GENRE:  Romance     GRADE:  B+

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♥ A Werewolf Boy (2012) – I initially feared that this movie could go overrated considering the familiar plot and stellar main leads but I’m so happy to have chanced upon a very beautiful, unconventional, heartwarming first love movie. The last time I felt it was with the film “The Classic” and I couldn’t be any happier witnessing a young love that was not bound to happen but felt so right.

GENRE:  Romance, Fantasy     GRADE:  A+

A Werewolf Boy Quick Recap

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♥ Hearty Paws (2006) – Another tear-jerker dog movie, Hearty Paws will promise a lot of smiles.  The simple and quick to predict storyline was overshadowed by the relationship of Hearty, the dog and his master.  Sad and yet sweet, a heartwarming film for the whole family to watch.

GENRE:  Drama, Family     GRADE:  B+

Hearty Paws Quick Review

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♥ Plum Blossom (2000) - This erotic film I watched only because of Kim Rae Won.  One of his earliest films it tackled a man’s point of view when it comes to romance and exploring himself to how he separates love emotions to sexual connection.  I will give a fair rating because it managed to tell the story along with the intimate scenes.  The intimate scenes didn’t overpower the essence and narrative of the main character in the movie.

GENRE:  Drama, Romance, Erotica     GRADE:  C

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♥ COUPLES (2011) – A good man trying to please his gold digger friend, a gold digger who’s true love was a thug, a thug who want to change his ways for the love of his gold digger girlfriend, a woman who met the man in the wrong situation and intention, a sort of detective who fell in love with his bestfriend’s gold digger fiancée…  oh yes!  This is even better than the Hunger Games.

It was snail moving at first, but how the situations were displayed and connected were nicely done.  Forgettable but pleasing when you are watching it, but I do love the happy ending.

This is a love tale told from flashbacks and cute side stories.  Regardless of not having that prolonged feeling, it did fairly in my Hunger-games inspired heart this week.

GENRE:     Romantic Comedy     GRADE:  B

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♥  Love 911 (2012) - Most love stories tell an evident 100% love from its onset, that being said I liked how the adoration build up in this movie. It was not “impossible instant”, but “I know where you’ve been” kind of love. I liked that the man was wounded this time, and the woman did the chasing to make the man fall for her and to heal his broken heart. It was a reversal of romantic roles that exuded understanding and maturity in handling love replies.

GENRE:  Romantic Comedy     GRADE:  A

Love 911 Quick Recap

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♥ Confession of Murder (2012) - I was on the edge of my seat on the chase-the-killer-fight scenes of this movie, and until now, I still can’t accept that I wasn’t able to deduce the ending twist of this movie.  *pout  I thought when the “who’s the real killer conflict” was raised there will be a showdown between them, but there wasn’t.  Years of watching Dexter and Criminal Minds, I thought I have all of it figured out when it comes to socio and psychopaths, but this movie surprisingly amazed and amused me.  Well hidden, director… Well Done!   Nifty written and cleanly executed… this was such a riveting delight and will be one of my favorites for the 2012 movies.

 

GENRE:  Action, Thriller  GRADE:  A

Confession of Murder Movie Recap

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♥ How To Use Guys With Secret tips (2013) - It was a sleek directing and editing, that’s what you will really notice about this film, considering that the plot was not a novelty, the director was able to make it so appealing because of how it was narrated.

I love the idea of how the lead couple “fell in love”, against their personality differences and going beyond their comfort zones, but I hated that they acted stupid on the course of falling in love.

I would give a fair rating on this film because I really found the editing cute and appetizing, but don’t account on a lingering effect, because you won’t find it.

GENRE:  Romantic Comedy    GRADE:  C

How To Use Guys With Secret Tips Quick recap

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 ♥ 5 Senses of Eros (2009) - 5 short love stories made up this film… I enjoyed 2 out of the 5 films but the rest of the 3 films I didn’t like, it may appeal to its target audience though, but I didn’t like the last 3 . “His Concern” was in a Before Sunrise movie vibe, and I enjoyed the screenplay. “Me, I’m here” was a sad love tale of a devoted husband who will have to deal with the passing of his wife.. The first two and the 5th movie are what I liked. “The 33rd Man” tells about a newbie actress who got acting lessons from a veteran actress who turned out to be a vampire. They ate the film director afterwards… That’s why I didn’t liked it. “In the end is my beginning” A woman discovered her husband was sleeping with her high school friend after they got involved in a car accident and the man died. The friend in guilt promised her life to atone for her sins. This started out well, but concluded weak… I would have wanted a clean ending. “Believe in the Moment” was about 3 college pairs who changed partners for 24 hours. It was cute and reckoning. 

This was not an inter-connected characters flick, so you’ll get like Bertie Botts different love beans. The entire movie experience was good and this is for one time watching only.

GENRE:  Romance     GRADE:  C

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♥ My PS Partner (2012) - My PS partner is an example of another vibrant love movie I would strongly recommend to watch. It has a subtle indie appeal with a very smart screenplay. It went to the love trap cliche but the upbeat development of the romance plus the organic feel of witnessing what relationship in late-20′s-early-30′s was about were depicted amusingly, realistically and candidly. I gave it a 5 star rating and a space on my kmovie favorites because of how it has minimal mature content but was able to balance and even heightened the romantic essence, the seamless humor and the responsive chemistry between the main leads in the movie. Sweetly impudent, My PS Partner made me feel so wanting to be in love after watching it, and not the knight-in-the-shining-armour-cinderella-rose-petals kind of way but the wearing-his-oversized-shirt-singing-while-he-plays-the-guitar kind of love. 

GENRE:  Romantic Comedy w/ minimal adult content   GRADE  A+

My PS Partner Movie Recap

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♥ Christmas in August (1998) - Highly praised for its earnest characters and endearing yet bound to fade love, “Christmas in August” made me really want to consider the idea of really reciprocating love out of all the romantic and single life movies I’ve seen so far.I have prepared myself that it could be a dragging narrative since it is already a 15-year old movie but the fetching capturing of the scenes showing vibrant emotions is a must watch for film majors and critics.

Jung-woon is a middle-aged photographer who lives with his father, while he is trying to prepare himself to his eventual death, he meets a woman who will be giving him the best moments and smiles of his routine life.

It is a sad film, but it won’t make you cry. It does have though a lingering effect to reflect and ponder about things, life, romance and and your relationship to people you cared for. It may not appeal to people who prefers a fast paced, idealistic or dream-like love stories and it may not be as stunning as the recent korean romance films, but it is one of the most sincere pictures I have ever seen in my life.

GENRE:  Romance, Family     GRADE:  B

♥ Late Autumn (2010) – It was a strong performance from the lead actress and an amusing rendition by Hyun Bin oppa.  Imprisoned after killing her husband, a woman was given a reprieve to attend to her mother’s funeral.  She met a runaway gigolo in a bus and their unexpected connection would be an eventual momentous memory in their not so meaningful life so far.  As a self-confessed sucker for accidental and impossible love, the saddening thought of an is-this-person-worth-it-kind-of-love transcended in this movie.  Between a two damaged people, the ease on how they converged and the pain of their love situation made my heart think and my heart sad.  This won’t appeal straight to the emotions but after a while when you contemplate of what the movie was about.  An imperfect couple and imperfect romance but was a perfect realistic movie for me.

GENRE:  Romance     GRADE:  B+

♥ The Neighbors (2012) - After a psychopath murdered a little girl in the neighborhood, he saw another girl who looked exactly like the girl he killed.  He marked the young girl as his last target before he moved from that apartment but his secret was realized by the people in the neighborhood who were adamant to reveal his identity.

It was a neatly drawn and simply explained to-catch-or-not-the-killer movie.  I have nothing much to complain about but I won’t say it was that Criminal Minds amazing.

GENRE:  Suspense Drama     GRADE:  B

♥ The Taste of Money (2012) - Blunt on the intimate scenes but the characters and story were not in synchrony.  This film depicted the frustrating life of the rich and powerful.  I saw something like this in The Housemaid so it was not really an inviting movie experience for me.  It centered to infidelity issues and forced relationship participated by members of an affluent family.  It moved in that direction without hitting any viable lessons to provide to the onlookers.  A waste of talented actors and a waste of my time.

GENRE:  Drama with adult scenes     GRADE:  D