White: The Melody of the Curse (2011 Korean Horror Film)

Dear Entertainment Diary,

So I just watched another Korean Horror Film, White: The Melody of the Curse, also known as White: The Melody of Death, and I kinda like it!

For me, it's not a typical horror film which you can understand everything into it just by watching the whole film itself. There are some important scenes but were very unnoticeable and I need to take some hints online or check some pages that contain the complete film list/plot. I don't know why but was I just a lil' bit slow when I was watching it?

Ok, so, it's about a cursed suicidal song wherein the writer/composer seeks revenge to anyone who sang it. Cursed things with revengeful plot lines are typically normal for Asian Horror film, which for me, started to see huge fame since The Ring and The Grudge. It's very typical that I think Asian horror writers and directors have nothing new to offer so I was expecting a natural horror film but this actually made me confused and think so hard just to tie up the story, which is good because I was so attached to the film that I wanna know everything about it.

For me, it's not that scary. Yes, scenes thrilled and scared me but not like what I felt while watching some horror films that I previously watched. BUT still, the just by watching it make feel afraid to go to the bathroom especially the scenes where the spirit/ghost was haunting the characters.

Although I am glad on how the story made me feel confuse and made me search for what was really happening, there are really some parts of the film that have loopholes and stuff which is kind of unbelievable. I.e., the scene where Shin-Ji was crushed by that certain vehicle that rise up the camera, I thought she was dead. Actually, what happened to the first 3 members should've killed them already. Obviously, they should die that time, but no, for the story's sake, all of them were just comatose for I dunno, "weeks?", and then when White (Eun-Joo) is on the peak of popularity, they all woke up at the same time then their characters were also killed near the end. I mean, why let them live if they would also commit suicide in the end? Just so they can blame and accuse Eun Joo for sabotaging them when they were chosen as the main? Tss.

Another thing, the Group Pink Dolls were consisted of four members in the start but when the members was hosptalized one by one, they didn't emphasize nor shown in the film what were the "natural reactions" of the fans? What? The fans were also mesmerized by the song so they didn't care about their idols even when they were hurt BADLY? So why did the fans wanted to save Shin-Ji when she was floating in mid air when her hair was stuck?

But overall, I liked the film for slowly giving us each detail in the film and for not obviously hinting us how the characters will die. 

PLOT (from asianwiki):

Girl group "Pink Dolls" is always pushed into the background by other popular idols. When the girls release their new song "White" - a remake from unknown origins they become instant sensations. 

The four members of "Pink Dolls" include Eun-Joo (Ham Eun-Jung), a former breakdancer, Jenny (Jin Se-Yeon), a singer insecure with hitting high notes, A-Rang (Choi Ah-Ra), a singer addicted to plastic surgery, and Shin-Ji (May Doni Kim) who can't sing, but is good at rapping. As the group becomes more and more popular, jealousy and competitiveness increases as all the girls tries to become the lead singer. But, when a member becomes the lead singer that person falls victim to a horrible accident, one by one. Eun-Joo then realizes that the song "White" is cursed and she attempts to reveal the secret ...

I put this plot because I don't want to tell here the whole story or give mainly about the film. If you want to read the complete plot, wikipedia has it! But I advise you to go and just watch the film instead of reading the whole plot so you can feel what I feel.

Cast (from asianwiki)

Ham Eun-Jung - Eun-Joo

May Doni Kim - Shin-Ji  

Choi Ah-Ra - A-Rang

Jin Se-Yeon - Jenny  

Hwang Woo Seul Hye - Soon-Ye  

Pyeon Jung-Su - Talent Agent

Kim Young-Min - Lee Tae-Yong

Kim Ki-Bang - manager

Choi Min-Chul - Director Choi Tae-Gon

Nam Sang-Ran - member 1 of Jang team

I mentioned earlier about the film not giving me everything I want to know so I need to research about it. I was actually telling you guys about the end of the film, on how the song was played in the videoke and why the last character killed was included to be killed. You'll find out in the wikipedia page, actually. HAHA. And also about who is th on seeking revenge in this film.

OH! And can someone tell me who's the actor who played the sponsor of Eun-Joo? Can't seem to find his name!

The images were taken from Asianwiki.

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The Greatest Love (2011 Korean TV Series)

"Gu Ae-Jung... You are my greatest  Love..."

Dear Entertainment Diary,

So, if you are a Filipino, you probably have heard about this Koreanovela as it is currently airing here in the Philippines on GMA Network.

Straight to the point, this is my most favorite Korean drama to date. Why? Simply because this is not just your typical RomCom series! I thought I Miss You is a great example of melodrama but how can this series make me cry for so many times? In other words, it contains different genres that a typical person would wanna watch to be satisfied in a lonely moment. Actually, I'm not satisfied. I'm very satisfied and enraging with different emotions as I watched the last episode! I'm actually sad that I finished this very quickly but I'm also happy that I have watched this series.

I said that this is my most favorite K-drama to date. Why? Because aside from what the title signifies, there are also many more greatest things included in this series. The Greatest Love, for starters. Then, the greatest couple. Greatest Song (Thump Thump/Heartbeat). The greatest friends. The greatest protector. The greatest/grandest entrance of the set of heart physicians ever. The greatest artificial heart. The greatest sidekick. The greatest manager. The greatest company director/president. The greatest everything! The list go on and it can take forever for me to mention it all.

I'm just glad that I came across with this drama and I'm hoping that I will watch another drama as grand and has a beautiful story as this. RomCom series don't actually make mecry. Yes, they can make me laugh and make "Kilig" for some of the comedic and sweet scenes but this series just made me cry for a lot of scenes! Perhaps, the acting of the cast just shot me in the heart then the bullet of emotions just went straight to my brain and commanded me to express those different types of emotions!

As I watch the series, I can't help myself but to laugh with Cha Seung-Won's acting especially when his mouth opens! This is the first drama of him that I have ever watched and I'm surprised that with a very masculine body and a very manly looking face like that can give us too much effortless comedic scenes! It's just that he's very perfect for the role! Again, his acting was very effortless! 

As for Kong Hyo-Jin, this is also the very first drama of hers that I have watched and I gotta praise her as well for her acting! Her, acting as a very respectful protectors of  everyone around her suits her well. Yoo In-Na, I think I saw her on Little Black Dress along side with my Yoon Eun-Hye and I read that she also starred in Queen In-Hyun's Man which will be aired in GMA Network as well as in Secret Garden. For me, she actually didn't do many evil things, as I expected her to be the very with of the series, but still she's good at acting very much in love with Yoon Kye-Sang's character!

As I said, this drama has it all. All the most "kilig" or the sweetest moments here can make you tingle straight to the bones! It can also make you cry as if you're the one in the story for being very affected especially the time when Gu-Jin sacrificed his image for her love. It can make you dance for its very catchy thee song. You can laugh every time Dok Gu-Jin opens his mouth and do all crazy stuff for his Gu Ae-Jong. You can also fell in love with Yoon Pil-Joo for he is the most perfect man and you can be irritated with Kang Se-Ri for his selfishness but most of all, we can all sympathize with Gu Ae-Jong for her braveness and for her protecting everyone she loves. You see? What can you ask for? I actually dreamed about this drama one time because I really want to watch and finish it! But although I finished it already, I think I'll still gonna watch it as I really want this drama and also, I wanna hear the theme songs; Bakit Ngayon by Julie Anne San Jose and Dugung Dugung ( Heartbeat / Thump Thump Tagalog Version) by Rita Iringan.

Here's the plot of the drama: (From  asianwiki):

"The Greatest Love" depicts a sometimes comical, sometimes sad, sometimes sweet and sometimes maddening love square between a popular actor, a washed up former pop idol, a successful former pop idol, and a doctor of traditional Asian medicine.

10 years ago, girl group "Kukbo Sonyeo (National Treasure Girls)" was the top girl group, but 18 months later the group held a press conference announcing their breakup--for unknown reasons. Since that time, lead vocalist Ku Ae-Jung (Kong Hyo-Jin) has gone through many difficulties; she released a solo album, but it flopped. Many negative rumors also swirled around her, but again, for unknown reasons, she never discussed them or explained them in any way. This led the public to develop a very negative image of her. Her father and brother lost all the money from her brief success on a string of failed business ventures. Now 10 years later, she is known to of the public only as a D-lister, the bottom of the celebrity pile, but she still struggles to maintain her career and take care of her family by appearing on any TV or radio programs that will have her.

Meanwhile, top actor Dok Ko-Jin (Cha Seung-Won) is considered by the public as the perfect man; he is an action movie star who is sexy, yet humble--to the public. In actuality, Dok Ko-Jin is arrogant, self absorbed, and downright mean to those who know him. By chance, Dok Ko-Jin and Ku Ae-Jung cross paths at a gas station. Ku Ae-Jung seems to be recognized by a young fan and, because she is flattered, stands next to Dok Ko-Jin's decked out van while he is still sitting inside--as if it is hers. After the fan leaves, she becomes curious who might be in the van and peers into the heavily tinted windows, but is unable to see anything. Dok Ko-Jin sees her trying to peer through the window and believing she is a fan of his, grabs her arm through a partially opened window and autographs his cyrptic signature onto her palm. He then has his driver drive off without identifying himself to her.

Later on, Dok Ko-Jin and Ku Ae-Jung meet again in the lobby of a TV broadcasting company. Through a series of mishaps, Ku Ae-Jung finds herself hiding in Dok Ko-Jin's dressing room and overhears a conversation between Dok Ko-Jin and his manager where she learns that Dok Ko-Jin had his eardrum ruptured during a shooting scene and he wasn't picked for a coveted movie role, even though he bribed the director with a very expensive bottle of wine. On her way out of his dressing room, she bumps into Dok Ko-Jin and when he autographs his name on her scarf she realizes that he was the arrogant star at the gas station in the van.

Ku Ae-Jung then appears on the variety TV show "Sebakwi" and lies to the staff that she can call the famous actor Dok Ko-Jin during the show's speed quiz segment. Before she goes on, she asks Dok Ko-Jin to take her call--but he refuses. However, for some reason when the show airs he changes his mind and actually takes her phone call. Unfortunately for both, Ku Ae-Jung, caught up in the excitement and pressure of the game, accidentally reveals one of the secrets that she overheard in his dressing room--that Dok Ko-Jin tried to bribe a movie director with a bottle of wine. This leads to the beginning of their tumultuous, often hilarious relationship...

We continue to see the ups and downs of their relationship and there are several surprising things that the storywriters let happen to both characters throughout the series as their relationship continues to build and develop.

Another wonderful Hong Sisters drama, arguably the best of their career, "The Greatest Love" carries a dual meaning. The most obvious is the love Ko-Jin grows to have for Ae-Jung, but just as important and poignant is the deep, sacrificial love Ae-Jung has for the people in her life. It's Ae-Jung's willingness to sacrifice herself that lies behind why she finds it so difficult to escape her bad image and the rumors that follow her."

Cast (From wikipedia):

Main cast
Cha Seung-won as Dokko Jin
Gong Hyo-jin         as Gu Ae-jung
Yoon Kye-sang as Yoon Pil-joo
Yoo In-na          as Kang Se-ri
Yang Han-yeol as Gu Hyung-kyu (Ae-jung's nephew)
Jung Joon-ha     as Gu Ae-hwan (Ae-jung's brother/manager)
Lee Hee-jin         as Jenny
Im Ji-kyu            as Kim Jae-seok (Jin's manager)
Choi Hwa-jung as Representative Moon (president of Jin's agency)
Bae Seul-gi         as Han Mi-na
Jung Man-shik   as Manager Jang
Choi Sung-min   as Kim Eun-ho (Couple Making PD)
Kim Mi-jin         as Han Myung-jung (Couple Making writer)
Park Won-sook as Pil-joo's mother
Han Jin-hee         as Gu Ja-chul (Ae-jung's father)
Jeong Gyu-soo as Cardiac surgeon
Hyoyoung         as Harumi

Cameos

Episode 1
Jang Hang-joon
Jung Doo-hong
Horan

Episodes 1-2 (Quiz to Change the World)
Kim Gu-ra
Lee Hwi-jae
Park Mi-sun
Jo Hye-ryun
Lee Byung-jin
Lee Kyung-shil
Jo Hyung-gi
Kim Ji-sun
Ji Sang-ryul
Kim Hyun-chul
Park Kyung-rim
Kim Shin-young



Episodes 3-4

Park Si-yeon

Episode 9

Lee Seung-gi

Episode 10

Brian Joo

Episode 14 (Section TV)

Kim Yong-man
Gu Eun-young
Park Seul-gi
Lee Sung-bae
Seo Hyo-myung
Hwang Je-seong
Jung Hwan-gyu

Episode 15-16 (Ideal Type World Cup)

Kim Gu-ra

You can watch it if you are in the Philippines every Monday-Thursday night on GMA Network after Temptation of Wife (Philippine Version)

The copyrights of the images used still go to their respective owners.
asianwiki.com
MBC (c)
The Greatest Love (c)

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"I Miss You", Tears Were Shed

Dear Entertainment Diary,

It's been 5 weeks since the newly hit Koreanovela, "I Miss You", has seen the light of day in Korea and in the internet, and a lot of good feedback has been said, and let's not forget that it is currently rating in Korea every week. Now that it already aired 10 episodes, it has only 10 more episodes to air before it'll end and I'll be one of the saddest fans of this series ever when that thing happens.

Read my first post here: I Miss You.

The series only consists of 20 episodes in total. It already aired half so it means its lifespan will only be 5 weeks long and it'll end in January. 

I already published a post about it and I'm very proud to say that it is one of the top viewed posts in my blog of all time. Thanks so much, readers!

A lot of things had happened in the story during its 5 weeks of airing, including good things and shocking scenes, but it was covered/outnumbered by sad parts as this is a melodramatic series.

I've got to praise the child actors/actresses who portray the main characters in the beginning as they were the ones who touched my heart and made me love this series even more. I'm saddened by the fact that this series only rated when the adult characters appeared. WHY? Because it only means that a lot of people only watch this because of the adult actors/actresses who portrayed the main characters. How about the chilid ones that also gave their best and brought us a great impact in the start? And most of all, how about the story? They missed a lot of dramatic scenes including the death of the special characters that didn't appear in the 5th episode. Damn, I've been keeping this heartache for a very long time and I'm so glad that I cleared it out here. LOL

As I said, a lot of great scenes already happened and the story is lighting up in front of every viewers eyes. The story is clearing its way up in our fantasy and we are getting some answers to every questions in our mind.

I'm not into recaps as it will spoil the people who'll read this but what the heck, this is for you to be more intrigued by what's currently happening in this drama: (SPOILER ALERT! If you haven't watched the episodes yet and don't want to be spoiled, please drag your mouse and click the back button or you may read other posts in this beautifully majestic blog).

• In the 5th episode, the main characters grew up. Yoon Eun-Hye, Park Yoo-Chun, Yoo Seung-Ho, and Jang Mi In Nae appeared and did their best to continue the great acting by their child opposites.

•  Soo Yeon and Hyung Joon grew up together in France while Jung Woo and Eun Joo live together in Seoul. Soo Yeon became a very famous designer and changed her name to Zoe while Hyung Joon is a very successful young businessman, changed his name to Harry, leaving both their past behind. Hyung Joo became one of the best police/detective in Seoul so he can find Soo-Yeon and clear things up. Eun Joo became a web cartoonist (?).

• Years later, Harry and Zoe came back to Seoul because of Hye-Mi's death. (The one who took crae of them when they were young or I think she only sticked for the money.)

• At the moment, Jung Woo is very determine to get Soo Yeon back especially now that he knows that Zoe is really Soo Yeon.

• The kidnapper who also raped Soo Yeon was released after years in prison. He was bumped by Harry's car and he stole Zoe's phone. On the night of that same day, he called at Harry's house and wanted Zoe to come to him, so he could get more money and planning a very slutty thing to do to her. But, he was killed by an unknown intruder.

• Zoe was listed as a suspect after she was caught in a black box (CCTV) in the building's garage.

• The killer used Soo-Yeon's mother's name and Jung Woo's computer to make this case connected to Soo Yeon's incident.

• Zoe/Soo yeon now knows that Harry and Jung Woo are relatives and she became very angry to Harry to the point that she locked herself up in her room and didn't open it even though Harry keeps on frustratingly banging the door.

• Soo Yeon and her mom finally met each other in episode 10. She now knows that Zoe and Soo Yeon  are only one person and kept it a secret, even to Jung Woo.

• Harry is now taking his step closer to the Han family, beginning his revenge for the death of his mother and also, for his magical limping foot

and lastly:

• The identity of the killer is now known to the public and Jung Woo is now in danger as he was electrocuted by her with a stun gun. (Yes, all through out the episodes, they know that the killer is a girl/woman but I won't say it here.) :)

That's all for it now, I'll continue to watch this drama until the end since I love Yoon Eun-Hye that much and I'm starting to be a fan of Yoo-Choon. I just love his somewhat-chubby-chins! He is such a great actor, and he's also one of the play maker in this series. He's also good at making the viewers laugh!

So far, great actors, great story, great script. I Miss You, all the way to the end! :)

Screencaps were from Asianwiki:

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