deewaniaurat
Dancing in the chorus
Weird to be back dancing in the chorus again!
Posts: 7
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Post by deewaniaurat on Dec 11, 2013 4:30:21 GMT
Ok which first? Queen InHyu's Man or Love Rain What do you guys think? Just saw your post elizabennet! Queen In Hyun's Man all the way! Also thanks for the link to Modern Korean Cinema. I wouldn't mind seeing a few korean films so i'll give this blog a look.
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Post by elizabennet on Dec 11, 2013 11:33:24 GMT
I have already started Love Rain (Jang Gun Seok trumped) and to my surprise I'm loving it. But then again I love the Season dramas and this is very much like them. The first love story became -for some reason- very special to me and I love the older actors and their story line (despite the fact that it is riddled with lots of drama clichés) Anyway to stay away from spoilers I have stayed away from anything related and I don't know whether this show had good ratings or not, and I hope that it will not be turn off halfway through (Nice Guy did that to me) but so far I'm so pleased with a drama that is old school.
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Post by dariya on Dec 11, 2013 12:55:37 GMT
Please give us the names of some of the films, I'm trying to see more (my viewing performance is no where near when I started) and any recommendation is welcome. I'm recently following modern korean cinema since the reviews of the films I have seen really match to my taste and viewing sensibilities. I haven't seen many recent korean films although I keep meaning to. You have probably seen more than me elizabethbennet! By being spoiled by great korean films I was referring to the likes of romantic/comedies My Sassy Girl, The Classic, Windstruck, A Moment to Remember, 200 Pounds of Beauty etc. and drama/thrillers like Ajusshi, Mother, Thirst, 3 Iron, The Host, The King and the Clown etc. (any of which if you haven't seen I highly recommend!)
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Post by elizabennet on Dec 11, 2013 15:15:45 GMT
Our film tastes are alike!!! Windstruck and 200 Pounds of Beauty are not ones that I have enjoyed as much as the others but all the rest are films I like. Definitely and highly recommend Bungee Jumping of Their Own . It is also amazing that you have not seen many of Lee Byung Hun's films. Based on the films you have mentioned I think you'll not be unhappy with either of them (well maybe Addicted is not so good as the rest but still even that is not bad time pass). Although I'm very much in need of watching Indian films (but the ones I have on my to watch pile are not that appealing, maybe I'll watch Dhoom 2 again  )
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Xas
Guest appearance
 
Posts: 185
Favorite actor: Kunal Kapoor, Ranbir, Prabhudheva
Favorite actress: Madhuri, Rani, Vidya, Huma Qureshi, Divya Dutta, Nutan, Asha Parekh, Helen, Mumtaz
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Post by Xas on Dec 27, 2013 18:39:04 GMT
Saving General Yang (Hong Kong/China, 2013), about seven brothers who go off to rescue their Dad. Not starring anyone whose names or faces I recognise, and unfortunately with the world's tiniest subtitles. Fortunately my dvd player has a zoom thingy, but it was still a struggle to read at times, especially when it was a 'white words on a white background' type deal. Also fortunately, it is one of those movies which only contain about two minutes of actual dialogue, and the rest of the time it's just people running around shouting 'Yaaaaargh!' at one another, so subtitles were frequently not an issue.  The action sequences were mostly Epic Battle Scenes, which tend to get messy, in every sense of the word, after not-very-long, but there was a really well done scene involving two archers sort of duelling in a field of very long grass, and the final one-on-one fight scene was pretty good, too. All-in-all, though, just an average kind of movie.
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Post by Dil Bert on Dec 28, 2013 10:58:33 GMT
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Post by elizabennet on Jan 3, 2014 7:58:08 GMT
Queen In Hyu's Man - I liked this one a lot. The leads were lovable, the plot very romantic with some action thrown it. The comedy was funny and all in all I agree with everyone that this is an entertaining watch and a worth addition to "viewed" list of any Korean drama fan. Too bad for me is that I didn't think the main male lead was attractive. But he gave a decent performance and his actions scenes were not awful. He was a good on screen kisser too. The female lead was the secondary in Best Love and I liked her much better in best love. But she is a good actor and despite the obvious collagen lips and a possible nose job she emotes really well.
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John3b
Junior artiste

Just waiting for the next music item to start.....
Posts: 59
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Post by John3b on Jan 4, 2014 0:30:18 GMT
The Four - from Netflix, OK timepass, with OTT super special powers and martial arts, - lots of colourful sets, costumes, and shots. Good entertainer.
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Post by Dil Bert on Jan 4, 2014 10:03:00 GMT
The Four - from Netflix, OK timepass, with OTT super special powers and martial arts, - lots of colourful sets, costumes, and shots. Good entertainer. The TV series is much better, FWIW.
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Post by elizabennet on Jan 13, 2014 9:20:31 GMT
Norwegian Wood It is a bit difficult for me to explain what I think but I'll give it a try.
Firstly Norwegian Wood is one of my all time favorite novels. And I like Trihn Ahn Hung's films even when they are not that good. Yes I even liked I Come With the Rain. Kenichi Matsuyama is my favorite among his generation and I think he is cute too. But I have heard nothing but bad things about this film.
But the novel is not really adaptable. I don't really think any of Murakami novels are.
So as soon as the film started I decided to approach it as not an adaptation but a film on its own. And even then it is not that good. Well I LOVED it but I do like the director's visual sensibilities and I can look at the images he films for hours and feel good. Kenichi Matsuyama was excellent and the other actors were all decent.
So all in all I will not recommend this one. It is for a very minor group of people who likes Trihn Ahn Hung films. But please read the novel since you'll have a good time even if you end up not liking it as much as I did.
Answer Me 1997 Highly recommend for a viewer who knows a bit about Korean social culture in 90s and 2000s and/or has some Korean dramas under his belt. I remember when this came out everyone liked it and everyone is right. Go watch it and remember your first high school love, being a fan of a pop group etc. It is a very uplifting show and I both laughed and cried a lot of times during.
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Post by Dil Bert on Jan 14, 2014 13:55:04 GMT
My Lucky Star (China, 2013; Zhang Ziyi, Leehom Wang) -- Prequel to Sophie's Revenge, not quite as good but very much from a woman's POV, so may be of interest.
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Post by elizabennet on Jan 21, 2014 9:19:59 GMT
Hanzawa Naoki This show was a ratings champion in Japan (and unlike Korean dramas, I usually like the ratings champ J-dramas) So I picked this up thinking how exciting a "corruption in a bank" story can get. The first half turned out to be excellent. From the cast, to the script and to the editing (where salarymen running to and fro somehow produced great adrenalin) The second half turned out to be predictable with the lustre faded but still working it. Just watch the first half and leave it at that However {The ending}I didn't see the ending coming, AT ALL. Maybe the first part but certainly not the second- well I saw it a minute before the reveal but I think the writer intended me to) And it left me down. I didn't see the ending coming, AT ALL. Maybe the first part but certainly not the second- well I saw it a minute before the reveal but I think the writer intended me to) And it left me down.
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Post by Dil Bert on Jan 23, 2014 1:27:34 GMT
TVB Now Accepting New Programming Ideas from Public www.jaynestars.com/news/tvb-now-open-for-public-to-submit-new-programming-ideas/TVB announced details to its “Unleash Your Creativity” <2014打開創意天空> project at a press conference held yesterday. Facing declining ratings and harsh criticism over the quality of its television programs this year, TVB hopes to source fresh ideas from the public and put it to production. Helmed by TVB’s assistant General Manager Peter Au (區偉林), the project encourages the Hong Kong public to submit proposals for dramas, food shows, travelogues, and other creative programs for TVB to produce. “We want to open new doors and attract new talents,” said Peter Au. [...] Encouraging Hong Kong’s creative minds to help TVB’s competitiveness in the international market, TVB will begin accepting program proposals from January 22 through March 31, 2014. Genres and programs of all kinds are accepted, but submissions must abide by Hong Kong’s broadcasting guidelines. It is encouraged that the new ideas are sustainable and extendable, with programs that appeal to younger audiences being preferred. The proposal must include a detailed introduction of the idea, its main subject matter, a summary of contents, a message, a filming format, its feasibility, and an estimated production budget. Proposals can be written or recorded in video. Accepted proposals will be approved for a pilot episode, which will be aired during the summer time on TVB’s J2 channel.
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deewaniaurat
Dancing in the chorus
Weird to be back dancing in the chorus again!
Posts: 7
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Post by deewaniaurat on Jan 30, 2014 8:48:17 GMT
Answer Me 1997 Highly recommend for a viewer who knows a bit about Korean social culture in 90s and 2000s and/or has some Korean dramas under his belt. I remember when this came out everyone liked it and everyone is right. Go watch it and remember your first high school love, being a fan of a pop group etc. It is a very uplifting show and I both laughed and cried a lot of times during. So you've now seen Answer Me 1997 and Queen In Hyun's Man! I think those were my two favourite shows last year. Are you going to watch the latest Answer Me? Do you have any recommendations for any shows that came out in the last year? Something along the lines of the above 2.
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Post by elizabennet on Jan 31, 2014 8:37:16 GMT
The problem with me is that I can't legally download (viki, hulu etc. are not region friendly with Turkey) and I do not want to illegally download (my sister is a monster and I don't even want to watch what she downloaded and try to stay away). So I have to wait for a dvd I can afford to come out in order for me to watch anything.
I don't know whether I'll give Answer 1994 a try. Maybe later.
The only dramas I have seen from last year are
When a Man Loves - I gave in to piracy temptation of my sister because I love to look at Song Seung Hun and was promptly punished since this show is seriously bad. My sister actually fast forwarded it and just looked at the male lead. Cruel City - This one I gave up on 3rd episode (my sister loved it though and even had withdrawal symptoms after it). Maybe it is due to the fact that I have watched The New World (story of an undercover cop in a mafia organisation) and loved it so much so that everything else seemed a bit lack lustre after it or maybe it was the seriously bad acting of the second lead, I don't know. I just didn't like it as much as the majority. King of Dramas I usually -though not always- decide on my k-dramas by actors and I like Kim Myun Min. So I gave this one a try and was not dissapointed. It is entertaining and not that illogical (no communication accidents, couples understand each other and the conflicts are of a different - although still cliché - sort. I was surprised to find out that the ratings for it were not good. This doesn't have the vibes of the two dramas mentioned in your post though.
The ones I'm eager to watch (and had to stay away from spoilers) are:
Gu Family Book - Lee Seung Gi is my kryptonite, I simply love that gargoyle like adorabe bundle of cute. He is not that good an actor but he has chemistry with his stars and I can see him trying. And I just warmed up to him at first sight. Master's Sun - Well this one is a double whammy because I like Hong Sister's dramas (Best Love is one of my all time faves and I watched it more than once) and I love So Ji Sub. Now I wouldn't watch a drama just because Hong Sisters wrote it (stayed away from Big since I don't like either of the leads) but this now is an irresistable combination. Cruel Palace - War of Flowers I love a good sageuk and am interested in this one since the story is interesting and I like the actors and Mr.X gave it a good recommendation (his sageuk recos are usually to my taste). Empire of Gold Makjang is like your favorite junk food and this is sounds like it will be my packet of crisps. The Queen's Classroom Korean child actors are almost always great and I like the female lead.
I'm currently watching Dong Yi and it turned me into a bipolar viewer. Han Hyo Joo is someone I'm happy to watch on screen and she never dissapointed, and the story is interesting and as I said I like sageuks. But this drama is one that is shameless. How can a viewer stand a flashback of a scene showing what just happened 30 seconds ago? And not just once but no less than 3 times of this in every.single.episode. Also the plot does not really allow any excitement, you know Dong Yi will be alright and you know that the baddies will get it in the end. And the writing is not good enough to make you care nevetheless. I actually fell asleep during almost every viewing and trying not to fast forward and some episodes are great but the ratio is about one to ten. But I can't seem to let it go either since I love the "angel" type of heroine where she always does the right thing no matter how hard it was and there is a bit of Candy in her too so this is two of my favorite archetypes. And I like Ji Jin Hee. He doesn't star in any of my fantasies but he is easy on the eyes and a decent actor too. Bae Soo Bin is also harmless as far as I'm concerned. And the worst of it is that I kind of like the comic relief (I hang my head in shame here). So I think I'll keep draggin it hoping that I'll connect to it somewhere somehow.
This ended up being a long post and I'm sorry that I was not able to have any recommendations.
It is not a new drama but if you have not seen it already, you must watch Sungkyungwan Scandal.
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