The Concubine Korean Movie 2012

Starring: Kim Min Joon, Jo Yeo Jung, and Kim Dong Wook 

Rating: R, explicit sexual content/nudity and mild violence

Synopsis: The story of a tragic love triangle. A noble woman loves a poor man; she is discovered for her beauty by the prince and later made to give herself up as a concubine to the King instead.

My thoughts: Honestly the movie posters for this movie are more impressive than the actual movie itself. Sure the leading lady is pretty, but with the plot so loose what does that even matter? If you want to see a historical movie with sex scenes watch A Frozen Flower, it's a much better use of your time.

My conclusion: 

Watch

Not Watch ☻

Beautiful Korean Movie 2008

Starring: Cha Soo Yeon and Lee Chun Hee.

Rating: R, nudity, violence, some disturbing images

Synopsis: We follow the story of a girl, Eun Young (played by Cha Soo Yeon), who finds her life miserable because of the attention and loneliness her irresistible beauty brings her. Because of this beauty she procures stalkers and one of them stalks her to her apartment and rapes her. He says "I did it just because you are so beautiful." She then believes that her beauty is what caused her to become the victim of rape and that in order to survive she must change the way she appears, but changing your looks is not as easy as it sounds. Lee Chun Hee plays the rookie police officer trying to help her.

My thoughts: The common thinking is that beauty can make things easier for us, this movie shows us it can actually be our demise. What we think of beauty is not the only side to it; there's an ugly side to it too.

The actors in this movie were superb. I read comments after that people didn't find the "intense beauty" in the main actress like she was supposed to have, but I disagree. I thought she was very beautiful in every shape and form, which was the point; that it didn't matter what she did to herself she was still found to be extremely beautiful.

Word of caution, this movie is dark. It didn't leave me with an intense sadness like there's no hope in the world let's all go shoot ourselves kind of feeling, so that's a plus. It did leave me with a WTF did I just watch feeling though, but despite that I'd watch it again. Don't ask me why (I guess I like dark-themed material).

My conclusion: 

Watch ☺

Not Watch

Autumn's Concerto Taiwanese Drama 2009

Starring: Wu Vanness, An Ady, and Bin Xiao Xiao 

Rating: PG-13, mild sexual content

Watched: 21/21 episodes 

Synopsis: Ren Guang Xi, a cocky law student, seems to lead the perfect life. He's the sole successor to a huge and famous business and a talented ice hockey player. But in reality, his lonely life lacks joy, laughter and motivation. That is until he meets Liang Mu Cheng, the new bento seller at his school canteen. Although orphaned at a young age, Mu Cheng does not let her past affect her and lives life with great passion and determination. A harmless bet brings the two together and Guang Xi slowly changes as Mu Cheng teaches him how to give and love. Tragedy strikes when Guang Xi suddenly has to go through a major brain surgery which causes him to lose his memory. His mother begs Mu Cheng to leave him and the latter has no choice but to do so. Little does she know that she already has Guang Xi's child. Six years pass. Mu Cheng lives a quiet life with her young son in the countryside while Guang Xi is now a successful lawyer and is engaged to He Yi Qian, the kind and beautiful doctor who took care of him after his surgery. A strangely familiar piano piece stirs Guang Xi's heart as he struggles to recall his past romance with Mu Cheng. How will the couple make up for six years of lost time? Happiness, which stop do I alight at? (Honestly this is the best synopsis ever and I couldn't write it better if I tried so giving credit to Dramalist/Dramawiki) 

My thoughts: So many tears cried over this drama. I felt like it dragged just a tiny bit at the end like they were trying to make up excuses to be mad at each other and then all of a sudden it was resolved, but that was really the ONLY problem I had with this drama and for 21 episodes that's a hard feat. The story line, pacing, and the way twists played out was better than I could have ever imagined. I mean do you ever just wish sometimes that you could have your memory wiped so that you could watch it again "for the first time"? That's how amazing this drama was to me. I've already re-watched it 2-3 times! It really is one of the best Taiwanese dramas out there. It's different from the rest. 

My conclusion: 

Watch ☺

Not Watch 

Missing Korean Movie 2009

Starring: Moon Seung Geun, Jun Se Hong, and Choo Ja Hyun 

Rating: R, brutal violent content including rape and torture

Synopsis: Hyeon Ah tags along with her boyfriend to one of his favorite restaurants; an unknown little place in the countryside. Hyeon Ah's sister constantly worries about her so when she doesn't answer her phone for several days her sister starts to panic. She sets out to find her using what little she knows from the last phone call she had with her. The police don't want to help on a missing person's case because they don't believe that she is really missing. Because of this she has no choice but to go out on her own. She happens upon a witness who claim they saw her sister near the home of an elderly man named Pan-Kon. Little does she know this is only the beginning of the nightmares to come. 

My thoughts: Creepiest movie posters ever. You know the guy who played the serial killer needed some serious therapy after this movie. On doing some follow up research this movie is based on a true story?! About a 70 year old South Korean fisherman who murdered four women between September & August of 2007 in Bosung, South Jeolla Province, South Korea. I... did not know that when I was watching it... *shudders*

I was in the mood for a scary flick and happened upon this. Not recently, but in the past year I had watched this movie called Gone with Amanda Seyfried. The story-lines sound almost identical. Younger sister gets taken, older sister goes to find her on her own because the police think she's crazy. So I was expecting a movie like that; some jump scenes, a little who-dun-it. What I got was a freaking intense, gory movie. The plot was great and the actors did a fantastic job. Obviously something like this where you already know what happens is hard to re-watch with the same effect. (Although I don't think I'd ever want to re-watch it anyway) because man was the killer sick and twisted. So if that sounds interesting, give it a go.

My conclusion: 

Watch ☺

Not Watch 

Kimi no Kioku wo Boku ni Kudasai Japanese Drama 2010

Starring: Kim Jae Wook, Kim Joon, and Minamisawa Nao

Rating: PG

Watched: 12/12 episodes

Synopsis: After a long time of dating Mika goes all the way to Seoul to see her sweetheart. Hyeong Jun (Kim Joon) can't pick her up from the airport though so he asks his best friend to pick her up for him. A tragic event occurs in which roles are reversed and the best friend ends up falling in love with Mika. Memories between the three also begin intertwining making this tragic love triangle all the more complicated.

My thoughts: This is a "drama" with 12 episodes that each are 10 minutes long. I found all the episodes together in movie form so I don't really know why it's considered a drama when it's basically the length of a movie. I didn't find that there were cuts in between either, when I'm guessing, a 10 minute interval was done.

I started watching this for Kim Jae Wook (because everything I've watched him in, he has a supporting role and he never gets the girl), not to mention I love him to death. That's the ONE good thing about this "movie" is that he's in it A LOT. Other than that though this movie was sooo confusing (like the title.) It just felt wrong sometimes, like the characters were displaying emotions that at that point in time were not appropriate to display. Maybe the subs were completely off, but I kept finding myself saying what the hell are they talking about??? The amnesia to me was stupid and it does not say a thing about it in the plot synopsis even though it's pretty much all the story is about. It was just weird all around and when they finally went to explain something the movie was basically over at that point. Like really guys? Thanks for making me wait so long.

All in all, I wouldn't recommend it unless you are just so in love with Kim Jae Wook. Fans of Kim Joon beware, he's not in it as much.

My conclusion: 

Watch

Not Watch ☻

Boku wa Imouto ni Koi wo Suru Japanese Movie 2007

Starring: Matsumoto Jun and Eikura Nana

Rating: PG-13, mild sexual content and thematic elements

Synopsis: Yori and his twin sister Iku were always really close from the moment they were born. Lately though Yori has been giving Iku the cold shoulder and Iku can't figure out why. Yori is behaving this way because he's in love with Iku. It's only made harder for him to resist by them sharing bunk beds. He confesses his love for his little sister, but he can't help feeling it's wrong still when she accepts him without restraint. Yori tries to push Iku away by dating a classmate of hers, but this only hurts Yori more when he sees Iku in pain.

My thoughts: ...... Well. All I wanted was the exact English translation of Boku wa Imouto ni Koi wo Suru and instead I end up starting to read the manga, which, hell's bells, is way worse than the movie in terms of "explicit" content. It's not porn, but the couple of things I read go much deeper into their, uhm, inner thoughts while they, cough, do stuff.

Anyway, the plot synopsis is strange on Dramalist and Asianwiki. Maybe that's how it is in the manga (because I noticed he actually does go to a type of boarding school situation it seems), but in the movie Yori does not sleep with Iku's "best friend." In fact they're not really friends at all, more of acquaintances who shared the same class one year. Also the boyfriend troubles I don't think necessarily bring on the internal conflict between the two siblings. Like he said he had "reached his limit." As mentioned earlier as well he doesn't apply for a boarding school either. Her feelings to me are not necessarily apparent in the beginning, but after he makes a move she makes it quite clear where she stands and she never wavers again. So to me this movie is mostly about his inner struggle. He loves her, but he can't help feeling it's wrong to love her. There were a lot of scenes where there was very minimal talking done or at least the responses were extremely.... drawn.... out.

I've watched dramas and movies before with the theme of forbidden sibling love. Usually though they're adopted, brought into the same home, and raised together at a young age. Then later torn apart only to find each other again in their adult lives. Falling in love in this instance makes sense to me. First of all, they're not related. Second of all, they have fond memories of each other where their childhood was the happiest time of their life and that other person was apart of it. In this movie they're twins. I went into this movie saying I wouldn't be judgmental, but I just couldn't help thinking what if she gets pregnant?

If you're a big fan of Matsumoto Jun then yeah I would go ahead and watch this, but if you just want a good forbidden family romance drama then pick up One Fine Day or Autumn Tale. The latter will have you crying for days. 

My conclusion: 

Watch 

Not Watch ☹

White Christmas Korean Drama 2011

Starring: Baek Sung Hyun, Lee Soo Hyuk, Kim Sang Kyung, Sung Joon, Kim Young Kwang, Kwak Jung Wook, Hong Jong Hyun, Kim Woo Bin, and Lee Som

Rating: PG-13, mild violence and thematic elements

Watched: 8/8 episodes

Synopsis: The story revolves around seven students whom attend a prestigious high school reserved only for the top 1%. Secluded in the mountains, these students decide to stay on campus for their winter break. Because of a previous "incident" a teacher is required to stay on campus with the students as well. During a snow storm, a psychiatrist ends up in a car accident and finds shelter at the school. Unaware, each student has received an anonymous letter and they find themselves searching for a killer among themselves.

My thoughts: I only started watching this because of Lee Soo Hyuk and come to find out Sung Joon's in it too?! Two-for-one special! The other boys aren't hard to look at either ;) Soooo I began watching it for eye-candy, but that's not why I finished it. Just wow. I got so much from this drama that I wasn't even expecting to get. I thought it was just going to be another psycho-thriller. You know those dramas (or movies) that really mess with your head. There is so much more to White Christmas than that. It's more philosophical than anything else. It poses questions that are hard to answer, have multiple answers, or are open-ended. The main one being are monsters born or made? In the end I felt like the answer to this question was both. That there is a monster in all of us. Scary stuff, right? Watch it for yourself and tell me if you agree or not.

Favorite quotes: "Shouldn't the people listening to the joke be more entertained than the joke teller?"

My conclusion: 

Watch ☺

Not Watch