I’m a list person. I have a list for every single thing in my life from a to-do list, a list of books that I want to read, a running shopping list, and in the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing different k-entertainment lists that I’ve been keeping track of. You’ll be seeing my top 5 lists of stuff like my current celebrity crushes, my favorite k-drama female protagonists, my favorite k-drama male protagonists, my to-be-watched k-dramas, and you know, stuff like that.
This week’s Wednesday Five will feature five K-Movies I Love. I’ve watched quite a few Korean Movies and the movies listed below are my favorite of the bunch.
This movie was hilarious as hell. Like, I really, really loved this movie. I laughed out loud so much that I watched it three more times in the same week. I just couldn’t get enough of it and just thinking about it now brings a smile to my face so if you are in the mood for something fun, definitely give this one a shot.
This is another fantastic comedy that had me dying the entire time that I was watching it. I laughed from the moment it started to the very last scene. There is much to love about this movie and the friendship between the three main leads was just fantastic. So much love this for this movie.
I watched this movie just a couple of weeks ago and really enjoyed it. The movie itself moves at a slow pace but I enjoyed that about the movie. Kim Taeri leads this movie and her character was interesting to me. You can tell that she’s going through something and returns to her hometown to heal and seeing her journey from the lost girl she was when she returned and seeing her figure her shit out day by day was a nice, enjoyable watch and it brought me a lot of comfort with all of the shit up in the air in my own personal life right now.
Two of my faves head up this movie and I enjoyed the heck out of the entire thing. I’ve watched this one a couple of times because it was just a good watch. I liked seeing both Gong Yoo and Park Bo Gum on the screen together and the story was just one that was easy to fall into and I liked it so much.
I wouldn’t say that this was a movie that I absolutely loved because of how dark it is but it was a compelling movie. It was a movie that broke my heart and made me so angry but I was glad that I watched it and it’s one that I recommend everyone to check out.
Eye Candy Friday is something that I’ve been doing since I first started my personal blog way back in 2003. That first personal blog is long gone but I’ve never really grown out of the eye candy phase. I’m always up for some eye candy. Whether it’s a character from a book (male or female, I don’t discriminate), a character from a movie or TV Show, if I loved them and want to gush about how much I loved them, you’ll find them here. Thanks for coming along for the ride.
This week, I’m featuring Choi Taek from Reply 1988. Park Bo Gum was the reason that I watched that show and Choi Taek was my absolute favorite part of that show. He did such a great job bringing Taek to life and I just adored him so much. Choi Taek was just as precious to me as he was to everyone in he neighborhood and I was Team Taek from the jump. Even though I loved the hell out of Jung Hwan, for me, it was always Taek. These were some of my favorite moments that aren’t spoilerish so..check it out!
Eye Candy Friday is something that I’ve been doing since I first started my personal blog way back in 2003. That first personal blog is long gone but I’ve never really grown out of the eye candy phase. I’m always up for some eye candy. Whether it’s a character from a book (male or female, I don’t discriminate), a character from a movie or TV Show, if I loved them and want to gush about how much I loved them, you’ll find them here. Thanks for coming along for the ride.
This week, I’m featuring Park Bo Gum, as Sa Hye-Jun in Record of Youth. I really loved his character in this show. The ending sucked big donkey balls but Park Bo Gum’s portrayal of Sa Hye-Jun was fantastic and I loved that he was Army, just like me! Yeah, that’s part of the reason why he’s this week’s eye candy Friday guy…haha. Here are some of my favorite scenes from Record of Youth that features Sa Hye-Jun.
This is a drama about the growth record of young people who strive to achieve their dreams and love without despair in a generation where dreams have become a luxury and the passionate record of young people who beeline for their dreams in their own way, presenting excitement and empathy.
Sa Hye Joon is smart and handsome. He is a nice guy and a popular model, but what he really wants is to become an actor. He has auditioned for many acting roles, but hasn’t found success yet. Unfortunately, Sa Hye Joon doesn’t have much presence as an actor. Meanwhile, Ahn Jung Ha works as a make up artist. Bright and cheerful on the outside but lonely on the inside, Jung Ha takes out her stress and frustrations by fan-girling over idols.
This drama started out with a lot of promise. I was really enjoying everything that was happening in the first half of the show. I was enjoying it so much that heading into the second half of the season brought about some anxiety as I just knew that the other shoe was going to drop and everything was going to go up in flames. I was right that everything was going to change in the second part of the season but I was less invested in what was happening in the second half.
So this show follows two best friends who are both actors and a makeup artist who is fiercely independent and a huge fangirl over the main male lead, Sa Hye-Jun (Park Bo Gum). Sa Hye-Jun is a twenty-something-year-old actor and model who is looking for his huge break. He’s a struggling actor, working multiple part-time jobs to support himself and seems to only get the crumbs from his much more successful, and rich best friend, Won Hae-Hyo. The story follows the both of them as they struggle, Hye-Jun struggled with staying true to himself and to his beliefs in the harsh world of entertainment, and Won Hae-Hyo struggles with being in the shadow of Hye-Jun’s spotlight for the first time. He’s not used to coming in second behind Hye-Jun in anything and realizing the truth about every job he’s ever gotten, every follower he’s got on social media bites him in the ass so they both struggle with being jealous of what the other has.
When Ahn Jeong-Ha comes onto the scene, she’s proud to be a fangirl for Hye-Jun because he’s everything she hoped that he would be before she met him. When they became friends and they flirted their way into a relationship, I was so invested in their relationship and in their lives apart from each other. They were interesting characters who didn’t have it easy but were optimistic that eventually if they worked hard enough, their efforts would pay off. They understood each other better than anyone else in their lives and seeing them grow to care for each other on a more personal level was a lot of fun.
I really enjoyed a lot of what this show had going on. The relationship between Hye-Jun and his grandfather was a good one. The relationship between Hye-Jun and his two best friends even though they were all idiots at different points in the show. I liked the friendship that sparked between Ahn Jeong-Ha and Hye-Jun’s manager was another fun friendship that was enjoyable. I liked that they all had their own struggles that they were dealing with but were still there for one another when it was needed. I liked that their friendships weren’t perfect but they were trying to be good people and when things fell apart, that was where I was left feeling confused AF. I didn’t understand what drove Jeong-Ha to do a lot of the things that she did, where Hye-Jun was concerned. It felt out of place, and character with what she felt and acted throughout the entire first part of the show.
A lot of the issues that Hye-Jun suffered through with his family, his friends, and then with the work stuff didn’t make sense to me. Like Hye-Jun’s Dad. What in the bleeping hell was his problem? He acted like Hye-Jun was irresponsible. The boy was damn near killing himself working so many different part-time jobs so that his parents didn’t have to support him and his acting jobs, but that didn’t stop his Dad from bitching at him for breathing. The way that the Dad’s lopsided support system worked got on my hot damn nerves because Hye-Jun was paying for crimes that were not his to begin with. I was glad that the Mom supported him and loved him through everything. But the Dad and the brother got on my hot damn nerves. The Dad eventually wins me over but even until the end, the brother annoyed the shit out of me.
Overall, the acting was good and the story was a solid one but the second half didn’t capture enough to keep me in love with what was happening to the characters and I just thought the second part of the season was weaker than the first. So it had a strong start but the end left a lot to be desired and I’m not used to that with the k-dramas that I’ve watched so far. I really finished the last episode looking like this…
Because, honestly, WTF kind of ending was that? It left a lot to be desired and I’m not a fan of those, leave it up to the consumer to figure out on their own BS. Tell me what the heck happens to them and leave no detail spared, please. So he comes back, sees that she’s wearing his shoes and …that’s it? Nope, didn’t like that shit. At all but I didn’t hate it enough to give this drama less than 3 stars so the strong start really saved this one for me.
I became a big fan of Park Bo Gum, Park So Dam, and Byeong Woo Seok so I’ll be on the lookout for more of their stuff for sure. Oh and another really big highlight for me was the Park Seo Jun cameo. OMG, every time he came on the screen, I was Hye-Jun’s manager. Haha, she was great and Park Seo Jun was fan-freaking-tastic too. I always love seeing him on my screen. So yeah, those were great and if the ending had matched the strong start, I would have given this one a higher grade but oh well…life’s not perfect.
Final Rating
3.75 out of 5
Listen to the OST
My favorite song from this drama was 나의 시간은 (Every Second). Every time that it played during the show, I was already teary-eyed or smiling super big. It was such a great song.
In a colorful Seoul neighborhood, an ex-con and his friends fight a mighty foe to make their ambitious dreams for their street bar a reality.
When Quarantine first started, my nephew Chase recommended that I watch this show. I’ve never been interested in reading subtitles so I’ve never really tried very many Korean dramas, though they’re very popular in the Polynesian community. I remember watching Boys over Flowers and Flower Boy Ramen Shop a long time ago but I can’t remember much about those shows. I binged watched the hell out of them with my nieces Meghan and Chaylene back in the day but I couldn’t tell you what they were about, who was in them, or even if I liked them. So needless to say, I was low key skeptical about trying out this show. Chase was adamant that I would enjoy it and he was absolutely right.
I freaking love this show.
Discovering this show has kick-started a love of all things Korean for me and I’m sad to report that I am not reading books much. The only thing that I’m reading much of these days are subtitles and it’s like I’m trying to make up for lost time because my entertainment of choice these days are Korean dramas and so I figured that I’ll start reviewing them and tracking what I’m watching, who I’m loving right here on the blog.
I’m counting Itaewon Class as my first Korean Drama because I actually remember it and don’t think that I’ll forget anything about it, like ever. From the very beginning, I was hooked. I went through the wringer with this show. There were lots of ups, lots of downs, lots of times when I wanted to beat every single person, and plenty of times where I thought I would burst from happiness. I also cried a lot too. Like, ugly cry. It only took me about 18 hours to watch this show from beginning to end so it was a short watch but I loved every single minute. The writers did such an amazing job with this show that I ate every single episode up.
So this show features the life of Park Saeroyi. A young man who just wanted to make his Dad proud. He was a no-nonsense kind of person, who dreamed of becoming a police officer. When he transfers schools, he meets the boy who will become the literal bane of his existence. Saeroyi witnesses, a rich kid bullying another kid and doesn’t stand for it. He punches the rich kid out and his life is forever flipped upside down. The rich kid ends up being the son of the CEO of Jangga Co., who is also Saeroyi’s father’s boss. Needless to say, Saeroyi gets expelled from his brand-spankin’ new school and his father is forced out of his job. Saeroyi is devastated that in one fell blow, the life he was working toward falls out of his reach. Over the course of the show, we see Saeroyi start from the bottom and work his ass off to have a prayer of making it to the top. He doesn’t do it by himself though. With every setback, different people fall into his life and kind of stick. I loved seeing him collect more people for his family because Saeroyi was loyal AF and his circle of friends was loyal AF right back to him.
Saeroyi’s dream of becoming a police officer goes right out the window when he goes to prison for almost killing that same rich kid that got him expelled from school. In another incident, of course. So while serving time, he studies and he researches and he plans. Once he’s released from prison, his plan goes into full effect. He works different jobs to save money to open a street bar and that street bar is the jump-off point for his real plan. To get revenge on the rich kid and his family by opening the company that is going to take the top spot as the biggest food company in Korea away from them.
A lot of different social issues are covered in this show and the way that they were all handled, worked really well for me. Transgender issues, racism, social injustices, discrimination, all of these issues are addressed throughout this show and I connected with every single character and every single storyline. These characters became family to me over the course of the show and I was such a huge fan of each of my Danbam fam.
They were all three-dimensional characters that went through their own obstacles and learned their own life lessons and I really enjoyed getting to know each of them. They all added something different and something fresh to an already fantastic show and I was here for all of them.
The romance in this show really rocked my socks. I cried so hard when things went so wrong for them and I cheered so much and so loud when things went right for them. When the light goes on for Saeroyi and he realizes who he belongs with? OMG, the smile on my face almost broke my face. I just…this was me when he finally gets his shit together and goes after his girl. The girl who has been his ride or die partner throughout the entire freaking show and he was so blind to her in every way that mattered.
I just….gah. I fucking loved them. So stinkin’ much.
This is a fantastic show. I can’t say that enough. I loved this show so much that I have made so many of my family members watch this show and it was a hit with every single one of them. I have become obsessed with finding the next Korean drama that I will love as much as I loved this one and some have come close but none have surpassed my love for this show. Park Seo Joon’s acting is superb and the rest of the cast are no slouches either. Everyone played their parts well and I am looking forward to seeing them all in different shows and movies because they all have wormed their way into my heart and I’ll support the shit out of all of them. I highly recommend this show to anyone wanting a feel good show about a man down on his luck who turns shit around and gets shit done with a solid support group along for the ride. There is some serious squad goals in this show and I loved it so much. I can’t recommend it enough. Chase did good with his pimping of this show. I’m SO glad that I watched it.
Listen to the OST
I didn’t understand a word of any of the songs that played throughout this show but the music is banging. I can now sing along with every single song because I listen to the shit out of this soundtrack. My favorite song is the main song, Start by Gaho. That shit goes hard. So good.
