Chulsoo and Younghee (KR 2005)

"Chulsoo and Young Hee" 철수♡영희 cute Korean Movie
Chulsoo & Younghee is a cute movie that I rented and watched last night. After the steady stream of romances and sad dramas, this was a welcome respite. The young Park Tae Young who plays Chulsoo is perfect. He is alway a trouble maker and whenever there is something going amuck, Chulsoo is usually at the heart of the matter. One day, a cute transfer student Younghee becomes his seat mate and his life is about to change....
=======================================================
Chulsoo and Younghee

Release Date: 2005

Director : Hwang Gyu DeokWriter: Hwang Gyu DeokCast: Jeong Ha Eun ... YoungheePark Tae Young ... Chulsoo

Sypnosis:

What happens when a naughty boy meets a cute, sophisticated girl and falls in love? When it comes to mischievous behavior, Chulsoo is second to none though he has the lowest academic record at school. The only two who greet him are his mother, who is completely engrossed in investing money on the cyber stock market, and a parrot, which repeatedly mimics the phrase, "Chulsoo, you fool."Chulsoo changes completely after Younghee transfers to his school. With both of her parents dead, Younghee, who lives with her grandmother who runs a flower shop, is grief-stricken but so excels in academics and conduct that her other male peers fall in love with her. Chulsoo gradually approaches her but she rarely opens her heart. Finally, Chulsoo prepares a gift for her, but that is just the beginning.It may have been the intent of director Hwang Gyudeok to give the two main characters such typical names - Chulsoo and Younghee - that you can hear everywhere in Korea and which even appear regularly in Korean elementary textbooks (i.e., the equivalent of "Dick and Jane"). This movie is like a children's tale written for adults. Nevertheless, all episodes in the movie are shown through the eyes of children.

http://kmovieaddicts.blogspot.com/search/label/Fantasy (blurb source)

Wedding (K drama 2005)

Ji Hoon
Lee Sena

Jin Hui
Ji Soo

(WEDDING 2005) Because of his family financial situations, Han Seung-woo (Ryu Shi Won) agrees to go on a blind date. Lee Se Na (Jang Nara) a pampered, rich girl is his blind date. Se Na had always dreamed about a perfect marriage... ceremony and all. She was brought up to understand that she would be set up with a man most compatible to her by her parents. Unforunately, this marriage isnt going to be a smooth one. Seung-woo has always believed in marriage for love. Will his marriage with Se Na last if he doesn't even love her? Or will love slowly arise between them? This drama is fully of laughs and life lessons you will enjoy. (AMAZON.com) 18 episodes--웨딩 / We-ding KBS
=========================================================
I think Ryu Shi Won looked the best in this drama compared to the other ones. Maybe it is the maturity of his character, his smile or his devotion to his mom. But his smile endeared me! Jang Nara is a fave of mine! Though she is supposed to be a spoiled rotten "Pink Princess" she was able to turn her character to be lovable. Even her pink predilection creeped into their home after they both got married. Their marriage is not based out of love and the young couple go through alot before they realize how much they mean to each other. I liked the realistic plot to this one but there was too much of some of the characters not willing to "admit" their feelings to each other. I was getting a bit annoyed but then this is not uncommon to alot of Kdramas! I would say the chemistry between the two main characters was good and the story was not bad. I loved the devotion of the "Pink Princess" father to her. It was rare to see in a Kdrama.

===========================

DRAMAWIKI (source-below)

Starring: Jang Nara, Ryu Shi Won, Myung Se Bin, Lee Hyun Woo

Summary:Lee Se-na (Jang Nara) is the only daughter from a wealthy background. Because of her pampered upbringing, she believes that she can get anything she wants if she sets her heart to it. She meets Han Seung-Woo (Ryu Shi Won), a self-made diplomat, who is not-so-secretly in love with his childhood friend Yoon-su (Myung Se Bin), currently in Japan with her fiance, Seung-Woo's colleague Jin-Hui (Lee Hyun Woo).

Se-na instantly falls in love with Seung-Woo, who asks her what she thinks the meaning of marriage is. In their subsequent marriage, their values are questioned as Se-na's complete trust in Seung-Woo shatters with the realization of Yoon-su's and Seung-Woo's relationship, and Seung-Woo's happiness in marriage shatters with Se-na's deepening mistrust and her own relationship with Jin-Hui.

Cast/Characters:

Lee Sena (Jang Nara) is the pink-princess, the one and only beloved daughter of her parents, a quite wealthy family. Her parents adore her so much, especially her dad, that they granted everything she wishes. When she was meeting Seung-woo for the first time, she is determined to make him hers, because he has asked her from the beginning, "what is the most important thing in a marriage?". True, they met by "arranged marriage" (omiai kekkon - in jdoramas), but then they decided to get married and try to make it work despite of all the 'turbulence' in getting to know each other better and adjust to the idea of living together with your spouse.

Ji Yoon (Jo Hyun Jae) is an upright man, who never been truly in a relationship before. From his childhood years, he has always loved Yoon-su and treats her like a family. After knowing that Yoon-su will get married with Jin-sui hyung, he gave up and decided to marry Se-na. He is an assistant to Korea's famous ambassador, as a diplomat. Even when on his wedding day, they had to go to Japan for honeymoon just because he has to work there right after the wedding. His faithfulness towards making his marriage works, amazes me. The way he handles Se-na and all her tantrums, also amazes me. Ji Yoon is just so sweet as a husband, caring and faithful.

Ji Soo Yun (Hong Soo Hyun) is the childhood friend of Seung-woo, for about 20 years they've been together. She calls seung-woo's mom, Teacher, since apparently, she was taught by her to play piano, and she's been living and known them for 20 years (or so). She wishes to have her as her own mom, and had loved Seung-woo for so long... but when her wishes are not granted, she is destined to be with her Jin-hui oppa who deeply in love with her. After knowing that her only bestfriend, Seung-woo is getting married with Se-na, a girl who he barely knows, she started to have this 'insecure' feelings towards them, but learn to manage and acceptted them.

Suh Jin-hui (Lee Hyun Woo) is the one who loved Yoon-su and take her away from Seung-woo to Japan. They've been together for some time, but one day, he can't stand the idea of her fiance is actually care about Seung-woo's mother. He asks her to choose, Seung-woo or him. And she said, it's not seung-woo, but her family. She needs to be with her family, and be with her Teacher during the times when Seung-woo's mom is falling sick. Jin-hui is also working as a diplomat together with Seung-woo.

K dramas ---some thoughts

We mention a shared appreciation for Jumong (Song Il Gook) and Kim Sam Soon (Hyun Bin 현빈and Daniel Henney). I am catching an old tv show when his 어머니 visited Korea and their experiences together. It was beautiful and touching. I found through a fansite that Daniel was in a Valen Hsu video. *sigh Lucky her!
song title : 祝福了 singer: 許茹芸
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vG18pHBGQSw
I mentioned instead of Kachi Video to rent online. I love renting movies and dramas online. It is my savior and Boston is not exactly a hot bed of places to get certain Asian Videos and movies to rent. Plus with my busy schedule I appreciate I get the stuff via the mail!!!!! Such convenience!

Ha Ji Won--Hwang Jini (http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Hwang_Jin_Yi) I want to see this drama!

So from a new friend, I learned some tidbits about some Kdrama/entertainment stars such as:
I learned that Song Il Gook's relatives where powerful during WWII and saved some Koreans at that time. His only daughter became an actress (Il Gook's mom). He has been in the industry for over 10 years but it has only been "Hae Shin" and "Jumong" where he has much success! JCK and I were wondering what is he going to do next since it seems like a great role! I want to see 하지원 Ha Ji Won's new Kiseang drama 황진이 (黃眞伊) / Hwang Jini(Hwang Jin Yi) (that ended KBS 2006) in Korea. I saw her first in "SECRET" 비밀 as Kim Ha Neul's evil sister. As my sis said, at that time all the "evil" female characters had big permed hair! (Same with the girl in "Winter Sonata" too Park Sol Mi's character). SCK recommended to put on my radar Hyun Bin's newest (just ended in Korea and parts were filmed in Europe -Austria I believe) Snow Queen (2006 KBS) 눈의 여왕 / Noon Eui Yeo Wang and "Something Happened in Bali" 2004 발리에서 생긴 일 (Bal-li-e-seo Saeng-gil Il)

Three Extremes (2004) Asian horror

I caught the movie on DVD Three.... Extremes. I am not usually a fan of horror films but it was alright. I would call them more thrillers than horror. When I think of horror, I envision "Freddy Krueger" or "Friday the 13th" or "Amityville Horror" more so. I guess the American version of horror with lots of screaming, gore, blood and terror. Or scenes invoke nightmares and unpleasant thoughts. I think my fave really was Miriam Yeung as an aging actress in DUMPLING. I am used to her being in comedies and laughing a lot. The last shot of her at the end of "DUMPLING" was a bit eerie and creepy. As my sister added, she will never look at "ha gar" the same way again. Lee Byun Hun as the director in "CUT" was good. Then again Park Chan Wook delivers in very interesting and out of the ordinary films. It is interesting seeing him as a victim in this piece playing along with a sadistic film extra.

I enjoyed "CUT' then "Dumpling" and then "BOX". "Box" did not do much for me. Trying to bring back a beautiful woman's past is haunting her in her dreams on how she did wrong to her sister. She experiences life and all of the sudden the supernatural, reality, and dreams slowly blur that she is not sure which medium she is in.

Three... Extremes (三更2 Saam gaang yi) is a 2004 international Asian horror film collaboration consisting of three segments by three directors from three countries. It is a sequel to, and follows the concept of Three (2002), this time with more established directors. The three segments are, in the following order:

Dumplings, directed by Fruit Chan (Hong Kong)
Cut, directed by Park Chan-wook (South Korea)
Box, directed by Takashi Miike (Japan)

Fruit Chan later released Dumplings, a 90 minute version of his segment.
================================================================
Dumplings - An aging actress wanting to reclaim her youth goes to a woman who makes dumplings that supposedly have regenerative properties. However, they contain a gruesome secret ingredient.

Cut - A successful film director and his wife are kidnapped by an extra, where the director is forced to play his sadistic games. If he fails, his wife's fingers will be chopped off one by one every five minutes.
Box - A soft spoken young woman has a bizarre and recurring nightmare about being buried in a box in the snow. Searching for her long lost sister, she realizes her dreams and reality may possibly be connected.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three..._Extremes

http://www.threeextremes.com/