Hello 2011

As a year ends and a new one begins, I cannot help but think of both the past and the future. This time of the year is a special time in which each of us must consider whether we wish to continue on our selected path, or take a detour. This is the time of the year when we consider where we want to end up. This is the time to set new goals, forgive our past mistakes, and try our best for a better year. This is the time to realize that we cannot fix our past. Even if we want to, we must accept what has happened in the last years and hope for a better future for ourselves, our families, and our friends.

For me, every day is a new year. Every day is a chance to set goals and strive for them. With that in mind, what are your hopes, dreams and wishes this coming year?

Love Contract

Rating: ****

Genre: Romance
Episodes: 20
Cast: Ariel Lin, Mike He, Bryant Chang, Petty Yang, Phillis Quek

"Outwardly, Xiao Feng (Ariel Lin) is a stubborn tomboy and the captain of the Kendo Club at her college. In her group of friends, she is the leader with her demanding nature and abrupt ways. Inwardly however, Xiao Feng is a girl scarred by her past and searching for what she wants most, love. Her friends, Ah Kai (Zhang Rui Jia), Xiao Bai (Lai Zhi Wei ), Mu Tou (Lin Yi Hong), Xin Lei (Zhong Xin Yu, and, Xiao Xiao (Yang Pei Ting) don't know about that part of her past but they are all loyal friends to Xiao Feng; that is, until Xiao Bai and Ah Kai leave the Kendo Club for the Swim Team. Xiao Bai and Ah Kai are immediately regretful when the captain of the Swim Team, Ah Ken, turns out to be a captain as grueling as Xiao Feng. When one night Xiao Feng announces to her friends she wants love the most, Xiao Bai and Ah Ken devise a prank called the love contract. In exchange for finding swim team members to recruit, Ah Ken must court Xiao Feng."


What should I say about this drama? Although I liked it, I really don't know where to begin with all the problems it had.

This drama has a slow pace. Unlike most dramas, though, this drama had a steady, but slow, pace that can make you want to fall asleep if you're not interested in the story. I don't recommend this drama to anyone who doesn't like plain romance stories, as you will get sleepy. I also thought that there was a lot to the story that happened off screen and too much that didn't happen on screen. There will be long scenes of characters staring into the distance and thinking, but sometimes they didn't show important scenes. This causes confusion for the viewers. If it weren't for those few scenes they left out, I think this series would have been a lot better.

The acting and production was good, but I think that there could have been better scene selection.

The Walking Dead

Rating: (Not reviewed)

Genre: Post-apocalyptic, Zombie apocalypse, Horror, Drama
Episodes: (Still Airing - AMC)
Cast: Frank Darabont, Gale Anne Hurd, David Alpert, Robert Kirkman, Charles H. Eglee

"The Walking Dead tells the story of the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse; it follows a small group of survivors, traveling across the desolate United States in search of a new home away from the shuffling hordes of the undead. The group is led by Rick Grimes, who was a sheriff's deputy in King County, Georgia, before the zombie outbreak. As their situation grows more and more grim, the group's desperation to survive pushes them to the very edge of sanity. At every turn they are faced with unspeakable horrors, both from the undead and the scattered remains of a struggling human populace."

Bones

Rating: (Not Reviewed)

Genre: Crime procedural, Comedy-drama
Episodes: 113 (Six Seasons - Now airing)
Cast: Emily Deschanel, David Boreanaz, Michaela Conlin, Eric Millegan, T. J. Thyne, Jonathan Adams, Tamara Taylor, John Francis Daley

""Pilot" is the first episode of the television series Bones, which premiered on the FOX network on September 13, 2005. It is written by series creator Hart Hanson and directed by Greg Yaitanes. It introduces the two main characters of the series, Dr. Temperance Brennan (played by Emily Deschanel) and FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth (played by David Boreanaz), and their partnership in solving cases involving unidentified human remains."

Inception

Rating: *****
MOVIE!

Genre: Action, Crime, Mystery
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Ken Watanabe

"In a world where technology exists to enter the human mind through dream invasion, a highly skilled thief is given a final chance at redemption which involves executing his toughest job till date, Inception."

This is one of those movies that you just have to see. Very original story, great special effects, and good acting make this a movie worth watching.

That Love Comes

Rating: ***.5

Genre: Romance
Episodes: 12
Cast: Joe Cheng, Bu Xue Liang, Li Fei Er, Sun Jian, Emma Pei

"Small town girl Ye Zi arrives at the big city and works in a small convenience store. Ye Zi’s father died young and she left home early to repay her mother’s debts, and at the same time she also supports her younger brother with his studies. Although life is difficult, Ye Zi still believed that as long as you persevere, you will obtain happiness. In what looked like an ordinary day, Ye Zi prepares to return her final loan hoping that from then on she can start with her brand new life. However, fashion photographer Xia Tian unintentionally enters the convenience store and has an unexpected encounter with Ye Zi. After a series of circumstantial errors, Ye Zi’s dream of repaying her debts almost got destroyed. In the middle of the night, Xia Tian realizes the mistake and immediately goes back to the convenience store and returns the money. Having gone through a day of emotional torment, Ye Zi cried silently upon receiving directly from Xia Tian’s hands the money he returned which still held his warmth. This is her in the city, feeling the warmth amidst strangers for the very first time. At the other end of the city, fashion photographer Xia Tian and top supermodel Flora are being called the golden pair, successful and famous. However, Xia Tian’s innermost desire is a simple and straightforward life, he longs to become a wildlife photographer. His girlfriend Flora cannot forget the life of fame and fortune, and Xia Tian gets tired of dealing with her until he finally chooses to break up. In Ye Zi, the convenience store girl, Xia Tian saw his own desire for pure happiness. The distance between them may seem remote, but Xia Tian cannot help but be attracted by Ye Zi, finally he imitated Ye Zi and started to believe: as long as you persevere, happiness will certainly come.."


This is another great story that was ruined by its' production. Although the actual story was pretty good, the way it was shown wasn't that great. Like most of the watchers, I believe that about 1/6th (or more) of the drama was either flashbacks, opening sequences, or ending credits. Truthfully, if you were to cut all the unnecessary flashbacks, you would probably have about 10 episodes instead of 12. I think it really says something about the quality of a drama when they take up time by adding in useless flashbacks. There were also numerous inconsistencies, but most of them I cannot specify because I would end up spoiling things for prospective viewers. I have to say that I loved the opening song as well as some of the other songs used in this drama, though. In short, this story is a nice story, but be prepared to fast-forward through the numerous flashbacks.

Pasta

Rating: ****

Genre: Romance, Cooking
Episodes: 20
Cast: Alex, Byun Jung Soo, Gong Hyo Jin, Lee Sun Gyun, Lee Ha Nui

""Pasta" covers the dreams and success of a young woman who aspires to become an elite chef at La Sfera restaurant. Seo Yoo Kyung started her career as a kitchen assistant at La Sfera restaurant. She eventually works her way up to become a chef. Choi Hyun Wook is the top chef at La Sfera restaurant. He studied the culinary arts in Italy and started out as a chef assistant at a hotel in Sicily. Hyun Wook eventually worked his way up to become the most widely recognized Italian chef in Korea."

AGAIN!
Once again, I almost passed up a good drama. I love food dramas, but without comedy in it, no drama seems complete. I think that's why I tend to pass up good dramas on a regular basis. While watching this, I found nothing bad about the drama at all. Even though it wasn't that funny, it was cute and I enjoyed all the wonderful dishes in it.

Although I probably won't watch it again, it's definitely worth watching (AGAIN!)

What are you thankful for?

So this week I've been working on my writing and I haven't done much in the way of anything else. Thus, let's have a simple conversation this week. What are you thankful for?

For me, I'm thankful for the wonderful people I've met with on the internet. Although I could walk past them and never know they were there (as I have never seen their faces), I appreciate the kindness they have shown me as well as the friendship we have built. I'm also thankful for the wonderful inspiration everyone is given me, which has produced a story that I will be putting on my blog this coming year. The web series will be about 1-2 short chapters a month and (on occassion) a comic. This series will by my way of spoofing common Korean drama stereotypes and I hope my viewers will enjoy it. Should I give you a synopsis?

"Kat, an American girl, has a unique obsession with Korean super idol Park Min Ho. Incidentally, she wins an all expense trip to Korea for a chance to go to Min Ho's concert. In a series of unfortunate events, Kat ends up stranded in Korea and stays at a dorm room that pretty boy Micheal's (Kim Min Goo) family owned. With awkward incidents at every turn, Kat's journey has just begun."

So, now that I answered the question, why don't you answer? What are you thankful for?

Acting Obsessed & New Original Story?

As you may see at the top of my page, I'm starting a new blog called "Acting Obsessed". The blog is not done yet (I have a huge amount of work to do on it still), but eventually I will be posting information on all of the main actors that appear in the television shows that I review. It will also (occassionally) have updates with news about famous actors in different countries. Again, this won't be an immediate thing, but this blog will hopefully be up and running by the new year.

My new short story has already been started and this blog will be the only website in which I will be posting the chapters, so watch out for that. The original story will appear in 400-2,000 word blog entries and will probably be posted 2-4 times a month. The story is a comedy about an obsessed fan, possible love interests, and her daily life.

Anyway, I'm off to do a bit of work. Sayonara!

Dr. Champ

Rating: ****

Genre: Romance, Sports, Medical
Episodes: 16
Cast: Jung Gyu Woon, Jung Suk Won, Kim So Yun, Uhm Tae Woong, Cha Ye Ryun

"Kim Yeon Woo is an orthopedic doctor who takes up a new post at Taereung National Village, the training center for national Olympic athletes, after she is fired from her previous job. She becomes romantically involved with Park Ji Heon, a young judo athlete, and Lee Do Wook, the short-tempered, crippled director of the facility who is still haunted by the injury that had cut short his speed-skating career. This is further complicated by the presence of the swimming coach, Hee Young, who becomes her rival for the attentions of Do Wook."

You know how there are some shows that you enjoyed, but it still doesn't change the fact that you hate the genre(s) of the show? Well, one example of that is probably Dr. Champ. A fellow viikiier told me that Dr. Champ was good so I gave it a try. Although I enjoyed the story, it doesn't change the fact that I hate the genre. I don't really like romance, medical, or sports dramas unless they are funny. In fact, the reason why I avoided watching this drama for so long was the fact that the only genres it had were the stuff that I wasn't interested in.

As far as the story goes, I found it good. I didn't see any big errors in the writing, production, or acting. I do have to say that I think they did an overkill of fan service in the first 5-8 episodes. Although I'm very happy with a bunch of hot guys without their shirts on in my view, I think there is a limit. For example, most guys would wear at least an undershirt in an air conditioned gym, don't you think? I mean, you really don't need to be half naked when you're inside an expensive looking gym, don't you think? It's not that I mind, it just kind of makes me wonder if the reason that they put so much fan service into the first few episodes is because they wanted to distract the viewers attention. You see, the the story moves a bit slow for most of the show and then slams a lot of, what could have been part of the story, into the last two episodes.

So the question is: would I watch it again? Well, probably not. Although, I found nothing wrong with it, it doesn't change the fact that I don't really enjoy medical shows at all. Although I love gore, there is a distinct difference between medical and horror stories. In medical shows, you have to hope for the patients survival (which tends to cause nervousness and stress). However, in horror shows, you already know they are most likely going to die, so you don't have to stress about whether or not they are going to live.