I respect his acting

So I just finished Delightful Girl Choon-hyang and it was a hilarious drama. It's centers around a high school couple and their quirky arranged marriage and the subsequent third and fourth wheels that try and break them apart. Unlike most other dramas, I was unable to guess what was going to happen. Plus, the drama spoofed Winter Sonata, Full House, and What happened in Bali.

But what really made this drama good was the fine acting of the main actor, Jae Hee. The long close up scenes where the director lets you just read Jae's eyes were some of the most powerful scenes in the drama. Jae's acting starts and ends with this eyes. When he's cheerful and smart-alecky, he squints his eyes and smiles sheepishly and when he's sad or angry or despondent, his eyes turn red and quiver. It's refreshing to find a young actor in korean dramas that can act. I really respect Jae's acting abilities and I hope to find him in other dramas too. 

If you're interested in supporting a good actor, watch Delightful Girl Choon-hyang. If you're have time to spare, you can catch Jae in Witch Yoo Hee. In my opinion, Jae, with his soulful eyes, saved this drama from being a crapfest of bad acting. It's too bad that he's not used in more dramas. I just know that he will be a very successful actor soon.  

Some of what I did over the summer

Ok, so I haven't been on here in a while. In fact, based on my current workload, I still shouldn't be on here. However, I have too much to post about to let my hiatus last any longer. Without further adieu, let me introduce you to the dramas I have watched over the summer and those I am still watching or will watch. 

1. Witch Yoo Hee - Watched this drama before and during my finals period. In retrospect, the storyline was cliched (contract, love develops, etc.) and save for the male lead, the acting was bad. If you're a girl and get your fashion tips from TV, then this drama may be for you. Otherwise, watch it only if you have time to spare and nothing else to watch.  

2. War of Money (or Money's Warfare) - It's a story about loan sharks. I guess loan sharks are big business in Korea. Good acting, good overall storyline, horrible ending, horrible "bonus rounds." On the plus side, the kissing scene is much better than the typical lip-touching-with-camera-spinning-360-degrees-around-the-actors sort of kiss that you see all too often in Korean dramas. 

3. Thank You - Unlike Money's Warfare which was faster paced and slightly awkward, Thank You is a melodrama. Little girl has AIDS and is ostracized from her rural village. To pull on your heart strings a bit more, the little girl doesn't know who her dad is and her great grandfather has Alzheimer's. Aside from the emotional turmoil, the overall storyline and message is good and the acting, especially from the little girl is good.  

4. Dreams Link - Boring. This is a story of a girl who has a secret relationship her older sister's boyfriend. Like the spoiled bitch that she is, she later develops a crush on an older man while the older sister finds out about the secret relationship. The story dragged on and on with side stories and characters that were one dimensional. I barely cared about the main characters let alone the minor characters. 

5. Yi San - This is the story about the life of King Jeong-Jo and his love for a girl named Seon Yeon. It's a very good, well-polished drama with high production values but I can't really say they developed Seon Yeon's character. Her interactions with the King consisted of lines like "Your majesty..." and "I'm sorry." If anything, this drama was more a bromance than a romance. The drama spent lots of time detailing the relationship the king had with some of this most trusted advisors and warriors. I did jot down a nice pick up line from this movie though. 

6. The Ballad of Suh Dong - I'm currently watching this right now. Nothing much to say. 

7. The First Shop of Coffee Prince - I just finished watching episode 5. So far, I'd have to say that this drama is overrated. I still cannot buy the idea of the main character successfully crossdressing as a guy. She has none of the mannerisms of a guy. If anything, she is able to portray a 14-year-old boy more than a 24-year-old young man who has the difficult responsibility of providing for his mother and younger sister. And what the hell is up with most of the guys in this drama? This drama is way to metrosexual for me. I should watch Yi San again; more testosterone. 

8. Delightful Girl Choon-Hyang - In queue. Stars the male lead from Witch Yoo-Hee. His acting skills in Witch Yoo-Hee persuaded me to download this drama. 

My Top 5

1. Melissa Theuriau. Head and shoulders above the rest. Mademoiselle Theuriau is beautiful, smart, classy, and is the gold standard among newscasters. 

2. Emmy Rossum. Actress, singer, cute. She's got a great smile and seems really down to earth. 

3. Eva Green. Can't go wrong with a Bond Girl right? She's a good actress and there's just something about her sultry looks that's very striking. Maybe its because I have a soft spot for goth girls but Eva Green's fashion is very gothic-esk.

4. Natalie Glebova. Miss Universe 2005, need I say more? Well, I will say more because she is more than just Miss Universe 2005. She can play the piano, has promoted charitable causes worldwide, and I can't fault her for liking Tennis. 

  

5. Julianne Hough. What's not to like? She's talented, vivacious, and always has a great smile. C'mon, she's a fellow milk connoisseur too! 

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Honorable Mention

Yoon Eun Hye. She cute, funny, and energetic. Her role in Goong was perfectly played and was really adorable. However, minus points considering every Korean actress gets plastic surgery and the fact that she is a little too thin. Girls with some meat on their bones = ^_^

Cat Tien. Ok, so she's talented, got a great smile, and she's got meat on her bones, so why isn't she in my Top 5? I could have sworn she got a slight nose job (but I am not sure so don't quote me on this) and well...she's got a passing resemblance to my aunt. Just barely but still enough for me to think twice. 

Belle from Beauty and the Beast. Yes, I know she's a cartoon character, that's exactly why she is not in my Top 5. However, hear me out. Beauty and the Beast was the first Disney movie I saw and it blew my 5-year-old (I think I was five) mind away! She's smart, adventurous, and is a strong girl, capable of handling herself. 

Ashley Tisdale of The Suite Life of Zack & Cody and High School Musical fame (don't ask why I know). She's cute. However, I don't really like her music. But what's the real downer is that most of her fans are 13 and under. I feel really creep watching the same music video that millions of little girls dance to. Let me repeat that, DANCE TO. Parents, where are you??

Sophie Marceau. Another Bond girl eh? Her role as Elektra King in The World is Not Enough was what saved that movie. And I'm only talking about the acting. Add in her sultry looks and you have a dynamite combo! She's kind of older now though and I think the French stereotype of the chain smoking French woman has finally caught up to her (many apologies if she really doesn't smoke). 

Posting for postings sake? Alternate title: What the hell am I doing with my summer?

My headline says it all. Work is good. I now subconsciously add two spaces after every period because of how much work I've done as a legal intern at wherever I work at. Somehow I've managed to pump out a work product in a decent amount of time, but I try and "stretch" the amount of time I spend working just so that I don't get dumped with even more work. I try to limit what I do to one or two assignments per week - mind you I only work three days a week.

So the work life is good. But the social life sucks. It sucks so much that I don't even have a Korean drama to watch right now. Everyone is either busy, lives too far away, or is too much of an acquaintance for me to bother asking if they want to do something on X day or X weekend. The one silver lining in my social life is that I'm finally getting into shape. A combination of Wii Sports and working out at the gym 2-3 days a week has pumped me full of endorphins. Remember all the goals that I had set for myself a few months back? Yea, looks like I should ramp up my efforts or else goals 2 and 3 will not even be attempted this summer.

It's Tough Doing Nothing

It's tough doing nothing. Really tough. I stay up late and sleep in till the sun is high in the sky. It's tough figuring out what to do everyday. Really tough. So far, I've managed to assemble a list of Dim Sum restaurants I want to go to over the summer. Lets just hope my heart can withstand all the greasy sui mais I'm going to eat. I've also been working out again, but I'm still no where near where I was last year.

But what has really helped preoccupy my time has been watching Korean Dramas again. I am currently watching Full House. No, not the Full House with the Olsen twins, but a different Full House. Here's a music video link to Full House. Watching Korean Dramas all over again has given me time to reflect on the dramas that I have watched - and believe me, I've watched plenty.

My very first Korean Drama was a show called All About Eve. This drama had high production values, a story, characters with depth, and the evil girl was hot! What was annoying though was that my mother and a few of my aunts thought I looked like the lead actor, Jang Dong Gun. Yea right. Only if I were about...15 years older and 50 pounds heavier, then MAYBE. On a scale of 1-10 in terms of similarity, I would rate myself a -1.

A few other good dramas that I've watched (in no particular order) have been Winter Sonata, Beautiful Days, Hotelier, All In, Stairway to Heaven, and Dae Jang Geum (or Jewel in the Palace in English). In fact, DJG was perhaps one of the most elaborate and well-written dramas I have ever seen. For the most part, DJG actually broke away from the typical formula you find in most other Korean (or Asian for that matter) Dramas - that of a regular girl being pursued by two men (one usually poor while the other is rich). I would go so far to say that if you have some interest in Korean Dramas, you must have DJG on your list; all of Asia loved this epic, 54 episode drama!

Luckily, by next week, I'll be at work and that will help preoccupy my time. I should iron my shirt, shine my shoes...