Monday Marathon: Dream Knight

I am officially a fan girl of GOT7 now. I was a fan of their music and I was becoming a serious fan of Jackson after watching him in Roommate but I think I've fallen in love with all seven of them after watching Dream Knight.

Overview: A high school orphan gets bullied and is also sick but four dreamy guardians, played by JB, Mark, Youngjae, and Jackson of GOT7, come to protect her. The show is 12 episodes long with episode lengths ranging from 12-22 minutes long. I watched it on DramaFever.

Why It's Worth Marathon-ing:
1. GOT7: Some may complain that this is only a promotional opportunity for GOT7, which it is, but they're worth promoting. Not only are they talented at singing and dancing but they are pretty decent actors too. I was surprised that they acted so well and made me really enjoy watching their performances. Aside from that their looks kind of made me fall for them even more. There are a lot of close ups of their faces in this drama so if you are already a GOT7 fan this'll be a treat for you.

2. PLOT: Sometimes in mini-dramas, plots get rushed or have holes, but this one was pretty well written and well executed. They managed to tie all the strings in the drama successfully. Also, though parts of the plot are quite familiar, the show never got boring and it managed to feel fresh.

3. CAMEOS: There were some amazing JYP cameos in the drama. From 2PM's Chansung to Miss A's Min to 2AM's Changmin to 15&'s  Jimin to Choi Woo Shik, to JYP himself. It was very nice to see members of the same agency supporting each other, but it was also nice to see their acting skills.

4. THE ENDING: I am not going to say anything about what happened during the ending, but I must say that it was a very good ending. It was sad but sweet. I actually cried which is really rare for me. 

This was a really nice drama. It was a little cheesy at times but it didn't take any skin off my back to watch it for almost 3 hours straight. I ended the drama feeling satisfied and with a new place just for GOT7 in my heart, which I am sure was the point of giving them their own miniseries. I highly recommend it. If you're not a drama snob then you'll like it. Also, if you have a friend that you've been trying to expose to dramas little by little then I don't think this one would be a bad one to start with. 

TAIWAN: It Started With A Kiss

This is my third time watching an adaptation of Itazura na Kiss. The funny thing about watching the same story unfold more than once is that each time it's entertaining. Despite this being my third time seeing pretty much the same events unfold I didn't get bored watching it and I became just as invested in the Taiwanese characters as I did with the Korean and Japanese characters.

Synopsis: Yuan Xiang Qin (Ariel Lin) is an intellectually challenged high school girl who is in love with Jiang Zhi Shu (Joe Cheng), a genius with an IQ of 200. After two years of having a crush on him, she confesses her love to him at school with a love letter. Zhi Shu is not impressed, and Xiang Qin is left humiliated publicly in front of their entire school. As fate would have it, Xiang Qin would have to move in with Zhi Shu and his family after her new house was destroyed by a meteor. Will love blossom now that they're living under the same roof?

Things I liked About the Taiwanese Version:

1. In every version, the male lead is a big old meany, but Zhi Shu seemed to be a bit softer with his insults and cold demeanor. I don't know if he was written to be softer or if Joe Cheung just downplayed the meanness in his acting, but to me he didn't seem as harsh as the Korean or Japanese male lead.

2. I also liked that the mom in this version didn't seem as obsessive as the moms in the other versions. For sure, the Korean mom was the most invasive when it came to setting up the male and female leads. The Taiwanese mom played by Cyndi Chaw was encouraging without being everywhere. I liked that because I think it made for more comfortable interactions between Xiang Qin and Zhi Shu. 

3. Although the second male lead, Ah Jin, was just as obsessive and delusional as the others, he was played by the handsome Jiro Wang making him my favorite version of Kinnosuke. 

4. For some reason I really enjoyed listening to the Mandarin Chinese in this show. I have no idea why but the language kind of hypnotized me. 

5. I loved the theme song. It's so melodic and catchy. "Say that you love me, say that you care..."

There wasn't much about this show that differentiated it from the other versions, so there isn't much that I can say about it that hasn't already been said about the other versions. Either way I highly recommend this drama to anyone who is a fan of the other versions of Itazura na Kiss.

MOVIE REVIEW: The Technicians (The Con Artists/Criminal Designer)

It's finally here! The movie many Korean entertainment fans have been waiting for is available to international viewers (legally) on DramaFever. Right now the movie has only been released to Premium subscribers, but I am sure that in the near future it will be available to all, so if you're not a subscriber to DramaFever Premium I suggest you practice patience. However, if you do have premium access then head over to DramaFever right now!

Photo Credit: AsianWiki

I can't tell you how excited I was to be able to view this movie. I decided long ago that I was going to career stalk Kim Woo Bin, this was even before I saw him in The Heirs. Out of the 11 productions that Kim Woo Bin has credits for I've managed to see seven including The Technicians. Though Kim Woo Bin is still in the genesis of his acting career he has managed to go from random guy on the runway in Runway Cop to one of the most sought after young actors in South Korea. To make such amazing steps in such a short amount of time is not only a credit to his acting skills, which I think he is still trying to sharpen, but also to his eye for a promising production. 

That being said I think it's time I start talking about the movie. 

Plot: Lee Ji Hyuk (Kim Woo Bin) a master safe cracker and art thief works with a master engineer (Go Chang Suk) and a master hacker (Lee Hyun Woo) in order to steal $150 million dollars from Incheon Customs. The plot should be familiar to anyone who is a fan of heist movies. Since the plot is pretty familiar the movie can be a bit predictable, but I think the writers did a good job at throwing in just the right amount of twists to keep the viewer's interested.

Action: Growing up on American action movies, I am used to high octane action. I live for a sizable amount of explosions, car chases, and gun shooting like most fans of action movies. This movie however, didn't really have that. It did have some action: there were car chase scenes, there was an explosion and there was a lot of  hiding from the cops but nothing that was too extraordinary. There wasn't anything that kept me on the edge my seat freaking out over how much it would cost to rebuild the city of Incheon. Truthfully for this type of plot, a lot of action was needed. In movies with a more complicated plot I think scaled back action makes sense but in this one an epic car chase through the streets lasting much longer than it should have would have been AWESOME!

Acting: I think the highlight of the movie was the three main actors, Kim Woo Bin, Lee Chang Suk, and Lee Hyun Woo. They each delivered their character well and definitely had fan girls swooning with their cheeky smiles and manly eyebrow action. Though I wanted to see the movie for Kim Woo Bin, it was Lee Hyun Woo who really impressed me. I hope that he can continue to build his resume with movies like this. Though he's known to be a total sweetheart and charming cutie pie, he has managed to show his manly side in productions like Secretly Greatly and The Technicians. He totally blew me away in this movie. If you saw Lee Hyun Woo on Running Man then you know how smiley he can be, but he was a real bad ass in this movie and I liked that. 

Aside from the three main actors, there were other stand out performers such as Lim Ju Hwan (Shine or Go Crazy) as the evil henchman. He definitely held his own in this movie and kicked some major butt with his silver taser stick. Also in the movie was Jo Yoon Hee (Lie to Me) as Eun Ha, the romantic interest of Ji Hyuk, and Kim Young Chul (Iris) as President Jo, the ultimate bad guy. The two played their parts well and kept the movie going, providing motivation for Ji Hyuk's actions. 

Photo Credit: AsianWiki

Overall Recommendation: I definitely recommend the movie. It's not going to change your world or anything, but it was enjoyable to watch. It had some good action moments, some good comedic moments, and even a decent hint at romance. Overall I think it did the trick, and if you're looking for a Kim Woo Bin fix before his next drama then this is a good way to go.