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My Tutor Friend
InGood, Movie Reviews

My Tutor Friend (Review)

June 8, 2005By

My Tutor Friend

aka Donggabnaegi gwawoehagi

2003
Starring
Kim Ha-neul as Su-wan
Kwon Sang-woo as Kim Ji-hoon
Baek Il-seob as Ji-hoon’s Father
Kim Ji-woo as Ho-kyeong
Yu Kong/Gong yoo as Jong-soo

Ever had your tutor and you develop and attraction to each other? No? Not even once? What, are you being tutored by ugly guys or something? Oh, that’s understandable. They can’t all be Mary Kay Laturno. Nor can they all be Kim Ha-neul! Another movie full of wonderfully expressive faces, be they goofy, smug, smirking, frightening, humorous, or just plain cute, this girl is fun to watch. (Previous films of hers here are Too Beautiful to Lie and Dead Friend.) Kwon Sang-woo also stars as tough guy Kim Ji-hoon. Kwon Sang-woo is a Korean heartthrob, he goes on to star in Love So Divine which will show up here in a week or two. Yu Kong from Spygirl also appears, as a completely different character than his romantic lead in Spygirl, instead playing a lame gang leader who’s sole function seems to injuring Ji-hoon’s fist by repeatedly slamming his face into it over and over. This also brings up another point that makes this film good, when the film gets too sappy or boring, we get a fight sequence, and not a boring fight, either. The chemistry between Kim Ha-neul and Kwon Sang-woo is wonderful, nothing is forced and you can easily lose yourself in the story. The minor characters are finely crafted as well, this is one of the better romantic comedies to come out of any country.

Dead Friend
InMovie Reviews, Ugly

Dead Friend (Review)

May 17, 2005By

Dead Friend

aka The Ghost aka Ryeong

2004
Starring
Kim Ha-neul as Min Ji-won
Nam Sang-mi as Su-in
Bin as Eun-seo
Shin Yi as Shin Mi-kyung

Asian horror grows ever popular, and it’s coming from all fronts, Japan, China, and South Korea (with some Thai thrown in for good measure.) The movies Ringu and Ju-on have helped forefront and onslaught of ghost films, many of them featuring creepy schoolgirls with long hair covering their face. I bring that up because you wouldn’t guess what the ghost here looks like….yep, gave it away. So what sets this film apart from the rest of the clones? What? Kim Ha-neul from Too Beautiful to Lie! Nam Sang-mi from Spygirl and Too Beautiful to Lie! Shin Yi from Sex is Zero! It’s a convention-fest-o-rama of cute Korean girls who’ve showed up here before! That’s almost enough to forgive the ghost rehash.

Spygirl
InGood, Movie Reviews

Spygirl (Review)

February 4, 2005By

Spygirl

aka Geunyeoreul moreumyeon gancheob

2004
Starring
Kim Jung-hwa as Park Hyo-jin (spy)
Kong Yu as Choi Go-bong
Nam Sang-mi as Nam Jin-a
Jadu as Park Hyo-Jin (Real)
Baek Il-seob as Park Mu-sun

In a follow up to Korean romantic comedy Too Beautiful to Lie it’s time to review another Korean romantic comedy. This one is also pretty darn good. Now that makes the movies fun to watch, but not much fun to review, as it’s harder to be nice than to lash out violently as Turkish rip-offs speak gibberish or Starman beats up aliens for hours on end. But in the end it makes you a better person, to not be filled with hate. Or so they say, I just am saving my rage for the next film. I promise it will be crap. Now let’s get started on something good.

Too Beautiful Too Lie
InGood, Movie Reviews

Too Beautiful To Lie (Review)

February 2, 2005By

Too Beautiful to Lie

aka Don’t Believe Her! aka Geunyeoreul midji maseyo

2004

Starring
Kim Ha-Neul as Joo Young-ju
Kang Dong-won as Choi Hee-chu
Nam Sang-mi as Jae-eun

Joo Young-ju is behind bars, living the life of a female prisoner in South Korea. She spends her time making a wooden goose for her sister’s upcoming wedding, and is now up for parole. She tells the parole board her father is dead, her mother works constantly, and her sister missed a year of school to pay for her education, all while tearing up. The Parole Board buys it and she’s granted a release, but back in the holding area she is teaching the other prisoners how to lie convincingly and cry correctly. Young-ju leaves the prison and calls her sister, who is embarrassed by Young-ju and doesn’t want her future in-laws to know Young-ju is an ex-con.

Young-ju goes on a train ride, where a parade of passengers of varying degrees of annoyance sit by her. Finally a young man named Choi Hee-chul sits by her, though she is asleep at this point. Hee-chul pulls out an engagement ring from his coat and begins fondling it, given shades of Gollum. One bump of the train later, and the ring has fallen to the ground, and rolled underneath Young-ju. To get his ring back, Hee-chul has to reach past Young-ju, which he tries to do as she sleeps, but she awakens to him on the floor with his hand beneath her legs and freaks out, hitting him repeatedly.


InBad, Movie Reviews

2009: Lost Memories

August 9, 2004By

2009: Lost Memories

2009: Lost Memories
2002
Starring
Dong-Kun Jang as Masayuki Sakamoto
Tooru Nakamura as Shojiro Saiko

Japan is the reigning Asian Power after controlling Korea and China since the early 20th century. How did this come to pass? Well, in 1909, the Assassination of Chosun Governor Ito Hirobumi by Cheong-Kun Ahn was prevented. And that lead to greater Japanese dominance of the entire region. Suddenly history is different:

1910 Takeover of Chosun (Korean Penninsula)
1919 Illegal gathering in Pagoda Park dispearsed
1921 Second Governor of Chosun appointed (Inoeu)
1932 BG Yoon killed in Honxiao Park, Shanghai
1936 Japan and US soldiers fight as allies in WW2 (wait a min…)
1943 Japan takes over Manchuria
1946 Atomic bombs dropped over Berlin ends WW2 (Now WAIT a min!)
1960 Japan accepted in the UN as a permanent member of the Security Council
1965 Sakura I satellite goes into orbit
1988 Olympic games in Nagoya
2002 Soccer World Cup held in Japan

Hey, sort of slanted against South Korea’s accomplishments at the end there…

2009: Lost Memories

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