The King 2 Hearts

Nowadays it's pretty rare that I get the urge to write on my blog. I admit I have been lazy. But I strongly feel I have to write a review on this particular drama before it fades away from my memories, which could only mean that it's powerful enough to impact my current state of living.

The drama that I just finished watching recently is called The King 2 Hearts. It's a fictional k-drama about South Korean prince (or king later on) falling in love with a North Korean military soldier. The genre is a mixture of action and romance. Hearing the title being mentioned over and over again among some k-drama lovers, I tried watching the trailer and decided to watch it because it seemed interesting.

The start of the drama didn't go so well for me. It was kind of boring. The lead male character (Jae Ha - the South Korean king) was acted by Lee Seunggi, and I've seen him before in My Girlfriend is a Nine-Tailed Fox with a pretty similar characteristics: immature and acting like a jerk. Similarly Ha Ji Won, who played the lead female character (Hang Ah - the North Korean lady), always acts as that strong girl like in Secret Garden or Sector 7. One thing that I've learnt from watching so many k-dramas is if I can finish the first episode, no matter how boring it is, it's probably not gonna be that bad. For some reason the first 2-3 episodes of k-dramas (with the exception of The Greatest Love) always make me bored. With that kind of mentality I decided to continue watching it, and I'm glad I did, because it turned out to be a really good one.

The number one reason I feel is the perfect choice of cast. Every single one of them can really act, even down to the minor supporting roles. As I stated earlier, I'm not that fond of Lee Seunggi and Ha Ji Won (I don't hate them either, I'm just neutral) because they keep having similar characters, but still they are good at acting those roles. I feel more content with Ha Ji Won especially, because she displays more range of emotions (and for some reason prettier haha..) than in Secret Garden. Lee Yoon Ji, who acted as princess Jae Shin - Jae Ha's sister, is as good as usual (she was that teacher from Dream High season 1), or I should say even better. Jo Jung Suk was already good in What's Up?, but I only became his fan after watching this drama. He had the same awkward character like in What's Up? as Eun Shi Kyung - Jae Ha's right hand man and Jae Shin's bodyguard, but Eun Shi Kyung is 100% stronger physically and mentally. Jo Jung Suk is simply a fabulous actor, his portrayal of his character is just perfect. It's impossible not to fall in love with Eun Shi Kyung, he's such a sweet guy. In fact, I'm actually more of a supporter of Shi Kyung - Jae Shin couple than the main Jae Ha - Hang Ah couple. Yoon Je Moon played as the bad guy, John Mayer/Bong Gu. I've seen him before playing as the bad guy too in Midas, but here he's even better. Same with that foreigner lady who played Bong Bong (or Bon Bon?) - John Mayer's sadistic underling. The fact that they both creeped me out throughout the entire drama just proves that they are really good actor/actress. As I stated earlier, even minor roles like the WOC team members, the head of the palace maids, John Mayer's secretary, and those nasty politicians were acted really well too.

As far as the storyline goes, it kept me in suspense. Except the first two episodes, it was interesting and made me want to keep watching. The last one and a half episodes were unnecessary though. The idea of the problem is good and it could have warranted another arc in the story, but it wasn't developed long enough. For me it felt like they put it there just to make the drama longer. There is also one part where I felt so so so disappointed with the writers, but I guess that's more of my preference and has nothing to do with the quality of the storyline. I won't spoil it here in case you want to watch the drama, once you watch it though I'm sure you can tell which part exactly I'm talking about. The ending is good. My criteria of a good ending is it doesn't make you feel you just wasted your entire time watching the drama/movie. You know, there are those films where the story was actually good but just because the ending sucks (whether it was done abruptly, didn't really tell the conclusion, or just sucks in general) you feel that you just wasted your time (yep, I'm talking about you, Flames of Desire and Introduction to Architecture). But yeah, this drama didn't make me feel like that, so it's a good watch.

The King 2 Hearts passed my criteria of highly recommended dramas: I couldn't stop thinking about it even after it ended, which made me search for behind the scenes videos and cast interview articles online. So yeah, if you're looking for something to watch, try this one :)

Welcome to Dongmakgol

This started as a homework from my Korean Language class. The teacher asked us to watch a movie called "Welcome to Dongmakgol". He didn't tell us much, he just said it was a movie related to the Korean War. As soon as I heard that I became so uninterested. I'm just not a fan of war movies because:

• Most of the time I can't tell which side is which. They all basically look the same: soldiers.


• I can't tell what's going on. There are a bunch of explosions, shootings, blood, body pieces everywhere. They are just jumbled up into one.


• Most importantly, I can never understand how these people have to heart to kill each other, and sometimes it includes civilians.

Because of those reasons I procrastinated and didn't watch the movie on time. But I decided to be a good student, so I started watching it. The movie began with a scene war between the North and South. I couldn't remember much about it (and either way I didn't really get what happened), but then it transitioned into some weird scenes. I did get discouraged from finishing the movie so I stopped watching (and I felt bad when the teacher found out that I didn't do what he asked).

Anyway, this evening I decided to pick up where I left off last time. As I kept watching, the story developed further and further. Ah! Now it started to make sense! From enemies to friends, funny to heartwarming to touching. At some point I even thought of wanting to live in Dongmakgol. It seemed so peaceful there and the villagers were all happy.

I think all the actors and actresses did a very good job of portraying their characters (Yeo-Il was especially a cute character ^^). Although there were some weird scenes (like the one with the boar), I still feel it was worth my time. It's a good movie with a good message (to remind us to STOP THE WAR) so I definitely recommend you to watch it :)

Death Note Marathon

For me, a good fiction is something that will leave a deep impression upon me even after I finished watching or reading it. The last time it happened, it was around the end of last year after I read several chapters of NANA manga. I couldn't stop thinking about it to the point that I made a post to analyze the storyline. This past weekend though, my boyfriend and I had a Death Note movies marathon. I guess it happened again, I was too impressed by the movies and now I can't take my mind out of it xD

The first and the second movies, Death Note and Death Note II: the Last name, were based on the Death Note manga. I haven't finished reading the manga, but I can tell that there were some differences between the manga and the movie. I guess the movie was made different in order to tell the storyline more effectively and to dramatize it even more. To rate the storyline, I will give an A+ since it was so puzzling and captivating. You can't guess what's gonna happen next and it makes you wanting to know more and more.

UPDATE: The movies were unpredictable and kept me in suspense because I had never read the manga or watched the anime before. If you have done either one or both of them, it might not be that exciting for you anymore since you would have known the outcome of the story.

I had never read the manga before I watched the movies, so I wasn't sure if it was going to be good. I only knew what my friend roughly told me, it was about a book to kill people. It sounded like a horror story to me, so I was never interested in watching it. The library close to where my boyfriend lived just happened to have the movies, I decided to give it a try. I asked my boyfriend to watch it with me just in case it was really a horror movie (not that it would really make any differences whether I was watching it alone or with him, oh well... xD) Anyway, even for both of us who didn't know anything about it, I think the director did a good job in introducing the characters and telling the story.

About the main character, most of the times I thought of Kira as this crazy psycho guy, but there were other times I was amazed by his intelligence. I often thought, "This guy is smart! What will he do next?" or even "What?! What is he thinking? I don't understand him at all" It was kinda sad though when Kira was captured. Not because I was a supporter of him, but because I could empathize with the people around him. These people trusted him so much, but they were left disappointed when everything was revealed. The last scene in the second movie really drew out the sadness ;_;

About the other characters, L gave me the impression of a creepy guy. Hahaha... The way he sat, the way he picked up a phone, the way he stood, the way he ate sweets, they were all so creepy. My boyfriend and I kept laughing at his eccentric behaviors. Hahaha... Of course I also often thought "Man, this guy is also smart! What will he do next?" and something like "Who's gonna win? Is it him, or Kira?" In any case, my favorite character is not either Kira or L. It's Ryuk! His appearance was scary, but a devil that screamed "Eeeeeeeee????", now that was funny! There were his other antics that were so funny and refreshing, by the end of the first movie, I was already fond of his character. Hahaha...

The third movie, L change the WorLd, was not based on the manga (at least that's what I think), but it was using several pieces out of the manga, such as Naomi's case and the name Near. My boyfriend did not like this movie as much as the first and the second ones because this one is more predictable, but I really like it a lot! It showed L's emotions that were more humane: feeling anxious waiting for 'the time' to come, confused over what to do when he suddenly had to babysit a boy, and the feelings of care that he developed for the little kids, etc. I must say that Matsuyama Kenichi portrayed the character really well. Oh, before I forget, I should point out that there were more humor in this movie! No matter what, I definitely recommend this movie as well. It's not necessary to watch the first two Death Note movies before watching this, but it will be more interesting if you do.

After watching L change the WorLd, I became a fan of L too. Hahaha... I guess after watching those unknown sides of him, it was more easy to empathize with him (and to erase those creepy feelings that I sensed out of him). Now that I think about it, I think it was this movie that left a deep impression on me, particularly the last scene. I kept thinking about the Death Note storyline and characters, and now I have started reading the manga as well. So then, was it L that made me intrigued to read the manga? Oh dear... xD

Lost in Love

Kali ini gue nonton Lost in Love di YouTube (iye gue ketinggalan jaman, hehehe). Ini lanjutannya film Eiffel I'm in Love kalo nggak salah. Ceritanya ringan dan ada unsur humornya sedikit, jadi lumajan kalo lagi bosen tapi males buat nonton yang terlalu berat atau serius. Latar belakangnya masih di kota Paris, ngebuat gue makin pengen jalan-jalan ke sono. Hehehe... Satu poin yang gue suka, ceritanya jujur kalo Tita emang kurang bisa ngomong bahasa Inggris. Nggak kayak film-film ABG laen yang sok-sok ngomong pake bahasa Inggris, padahal belepotan.

Namanya juga film romance, jadi inti ceritanya juga berusaha nunjukkin sesuatu yang romantis. Tapi nggak tau kenapa menurut gue masih kurang deep gitu, entah karena jalan ceritanya, atau karena aktingnya. Sampe sekarang gue masih belom bisa mastiin apa yang kurang di film-film romance Indonesia. Kenapa ya? Apa karena film Indo menggambarkan cinta sebagai sesuatu yang gampang abis? Misalnya si Tita yang lulus SMA aja belom, pacaran baru sebentar, trus tau-tau udah tunangan padahal orang tuanya aja nggak tau kalo dia punya pacar. Menurut gue tuh kayak 'Hah?! Gitu doang trus langsung happily ever after?!'

Menurut lo gimana? Setuju sama gue, atau gue-nya yang terlalu sok tau? Hehehe....

*PS: Ini random sih, tapi yang maen jadi Adit di Lost in Love lumayan cute juga ya. Hahahahha....

Bukan Bintang Biasa

Gue lagi kangen nonton film Indo. Gue keinget temen gue pernah ngasih tau, 'Ada film Indo tentang anak-anak Art School juga tuh Pei. Judulnya Bukan Bintang Biasa. Coba deh nonton, ada di YouTube kok.' Akhirnya hari ini gue tonton juga tuh film.

Mmmm.... Sori yah buat semua fans-nya BBB atau aktor-aktris yang maen di situ, tapi buat gue film ini enggak banget. Mungkin gara-gara gue udah pernah nonton Nodame Cantabile atau Center Stage, jadinya gue masang standar setinggi itu. Karena ceritanya tentang Art School, gue expect bagian performance-nya juga bakalan keren abis, namanya Art School gitu loh. Tapi BBB performance-nya sungguh amat sangat mengecewakan. Gue ngerti, pemaen film belom tentu bisa macem-macem kayak gitu. Tapi kalo film luar tuh, pemaen filmnya biasanya dikasih training beneran dulu biar hasilnya sesuai sama karakternya. Atau setidaknya, mereka pake double supaya keliatan profesional gitu.

Trus jalan ceritanya juga berkesan dangkal banget. Bentar-bentar gampang jatuh cinta. Gue bukan ahli film, jadinya gue nggak tau pasti apa yang kurang. Gue cuman tau ceritanya nggak ngena. Bukannya berasa romantis malah berasa gombal. Entah kenapa film-film romance Indonesia masih berasa gombal-gombal deh, kecuali AADC (movie-nya loh, dramanya juga amit-amit). Gue masih nunggu nih, film romance Indo yang bisa ngebuat gue ngerasa 'Uhhh... so sweet...' =)

[Currently + Will Be] [Reading + Watching]

Currently, I am curious about this story called Ima, Ai ni Yukimasu or Be With You by Takuji Ichikawa. I just started reading the novel. After that, there will be 4 other stuff to compare it with:

• The manga adaptation.
• The Japanese TV Drama adaptation, with Hiroki Narimiya as the leading male character.
• The Japanese movie adaptation.
• The US movie adaptation, rumoured with Jennifer Garner as the leading female character.

I will call this the "Be With You" project, planned to be completed in 2009. Why is it so long, you say? Because the US movie adaptation is still in process, and hopefully it will be completed sometime next year. So I need to wait patiently until that time comes.

Random thoughts about SUGIZO

Listening to SUGIZO's new album, COSMOSCAPE, reminds me of his movie with Kou Shibasaki "Soundtrack". I've wanted to see the movie for quite sometime now, but I couldn't find anywhere to download it with or without subs. I'm debating with myself too whether I really want to watch it, since it seems like a scary movie of some sort. I watched one of the clips in YouTube and at the end of the clip there was this red-dressed lady that looked like a ghost, and it freaked me out. I remembered I was too afraid to sleep or go to the bathroom after watching that clip. Hehe.. What makes me want to watch it is the music, especially Synchronicity, it's really great! I also heard from those who already watched it that both SUGIZO and Kou Shibasaki successfully portrayed their characters' feelings and emotions really well.

Triggered by that, I started searching for Soundtrack again. During the process, I found out that SUGIZO is actually quite good looking!!! Only if he doesn't put any of his J-Rock make-up though... Still, I must say that HYDE is more handsome and cuter, haha...

By the way, I still haven't watched Soundtrack until now -_-;;

Crying Out Love, in the Center of the World

Well, my eyes are kind of swollen now. Too much crying for the day. Hahaha... I just finished watching Crying Out Love, in the Center of the World. It is also known as Socrates in Love or Sekai no Chuusin de, Ai wo Sakebu or simply Sekachu. I would say the drama is pretty good. The storyline might be too slow or too long at some parts, but hang in there, keep on watching and you'll see some touching moments. I cried a lot, although not as much as when I watched 1 Litre of Tears. Still, I recommend you to watch this drama.

If I'm not wrong, there are two versions of this film. One is the movie version and the other one is this drama that I watched. I haven't watched the movie version yet so I can't tell whether it's good or not. I liked the drama, especially the girl who played Hirose Aki. She's pretty. But I don't like the guy who played Matsumoto Sakutaro. I guess it's because I watched him the first time in Densha Otoko. In this drama he also played as a weak guy. That's why I kinda want to slap him for being so weak =P~~

If you wanna watch this drama online, go to http://www.crunchyroll.com/ and search for "crying out love". Watch from the first episode until the last one. If you watch from the very beginning until the end and you don't produce any tears at all (especially during episode 11), then you are really a cold person. Hahahaha...

Enjoy!

UPDATE: I watched the movie version and it was boring. The drama is much better!

felem-felem Indo

Akhirnya setelah sekian lama ketinggalan kereta, gue nonton juga film-film bioskop Indo yang udah lama keluar. Tanggepan gue yang utama cuman satu, yaitu ya ampyurrrr... aktingnya itu loh amit-amit banget. Nggak bisa apa cari artis yang emang ada bakat akting? Apa mungkin gara-gara filmnya sendiri ga mutu ya? Maksudnya tuh jalan ceritanya makin nggak-nggak aja. Cetek banget gitu lho, kadang terlalu hiperbolis. Gue bukan penggemar AADC, tapi menurut gue dari semua film layar lebar Indo yang gue tonton, AADC yang paling mending (eh ralat, gue paling suka sama Mengejar Matahari). Malah Petualangan Sherina lebih bagus daripada "film-film remaja". Tapi ya liat aja deh, mungkin dengan nonton satu per satu gue bakal nemuin yang mutunya bagus.

Film yang baru-baru ini gue tonton: Eiffel I'm in Love. Rating: B. Aktingnya nggak terlalu bagus tapi masih lumayan bisa ditonton. Ceritanya emang romantis tapi rada nggak masuk akal. Apalagi yang waktu si Tita dateng ke Perancis trus kamarnya diisi bunga mawar putih semua. Kalo menurut gue itu malah ngotorin kamar, berantakan! Dihias mawar boleh tapi cara ngehiasnya nggak bener banget. Nggak kaya di film-film Eropa gitu kalo ngehias kamar pake mawar rapiii gitu, trus indah. Hahahaha... Tapi buat hiburan ni film lumayan lah buat ditonton.

Film laennya yang baru selese gue tonton: Cewek Matrepolis. Rating: C. Nggak banget. Ceritanya dangkal, aktingnya amit-amit banget. Apalagi si karakter Beni gue paling nggak suka aktingnya. Nih film sok-sok bahasa Inggris padahal didengerinnya tuh nggak enak banget. Nggak tau karena pelafalannya atau karena nggak pas aja. Mau bikin cerita tentang persahabatan yang mengharukan tapi buat gue nggak ngena sama sekali.

Film laen yang setaon lalu gue tonton: Ungu Violet. Rating: B. Ceritanya lumayan. Cowok tokoh utamanya sayangnya kurang menarik buat gue. Hahaha... Dian Sastro cantik, tapi kok nggak seberapa cocok sama perannya waktu dia masih miskin. Soalnya gayanya dia tetep kaya gaya anak gaul, trus cara ngomongnya tetep kaya cara anak gaul SMA ngomong. Kalo gue bilang dia paling cocok sama peran kaya waktu di AADC.

Film laen yang mau gue rating: Arisan. Rating: B+. Lucu juga filmnya, tapi waktu itu gue nonton sama nyokap jadi rada gimanaaaa gitu. Tanggepan nyokap gue ga seberapa bagus. Hahahha... Aktingnya boleh lah.

Film satu lagi yang mo gue rating: Jomblo. Rating: B+. Aktingnya bagus-bagus. Jalan ceritanya bukan yang wah, tapi lumayan buat sekedar hiburan.

Film yang tiba-tiba keinget: Mengejar Matahari. Rating: A. Tiba-tiba keinget, ini film layar lebar Indo yang gue demen. Aktingnya bagus-bagus. Jalan ceritanya juga lumayan bagus. Apalagi pas yang salah satu tokohnya meninggal, sedih banget deh gue sampe kebawa nangis. Hahaha... Nah kalo mao buat film yang model begini dong, ada mutunya.

Film laen yang udah gue tonton tapi udah males ngejabarinnya: AADC, Petualangan Sherina. Film-film yang gue nonton sebagian doang tapi ga selese soalnya bosen: Banyu Biru, Gie. Denger-denger Gie sebenernya bagus tapi berhubung gue ga seberapa demen sama politik jadi ketiduran deh. Hahahha...

Oiya, satu lagi yang gue keluhkan dari film Indo. Sound-nya itu nggak seberapa bagus. Kadang suaranya suka mendelep gitu, nggak kedengeran. Ngerti nggak mendelep? Hahaha gue nggak tau bahasa Indonya apa. Pokoknya mo lo gedein volumenya sebesar apa juga tetep nggak kedengeran soalnya kualitas suaranya nggak bagus. Trus kadang suara musiknya lebih kenceng daripada omongan orangnya, jadi makin susah ngedengerinnya. Apalagi gue juga rada budek =P

Betewe, gue nonton film-film Indo ini dari YouTube. Ayo pada upload film-film Indo, gue mo nonton =D

lessons from a movie

After watching The Break-Ups, I realized how much pride (a.k.a. gengsi) could harm our relationships with people. Hmmmm... Maybe I should learn from this as I could be considered as one who cares about pride so much.

The ending is not relly satisfying, but I recommend this movie to some guys out there! They need to learn that no matter how patient we -girls- are, our patience has its limit. Note that I didn't say all guys, but SOME guys; so if you think you're not included in that 'some' category, no offense alright?

Cheers,
PePei

pilm

Baru nonton 'Kicking and Screaming', langsung jatuh cinta sama Francesco Liotti. Ahhhhhhh cakepppp!!! Jadi inget sama Alessandro Nesta. Orang Italy, kiyut, jago maen bola. Gile tuh anak kalo udah gede asal ga aneh-aneh pasti cakepnya oke banget tuh. Ahakssss bermimpi deh saya.

Lagi nyari-nyari picnya dia, susah bener! Malah dapetnya Harry Potter 4. Orangnya buruk-buruk ah. Si Voldemort ajah kalo rambutnya dibenerin ada kemungkinan cakep. Cho Chang juga lumayan cantik. Nih kalo mo liat
klik di sini.