Korean Movie Night: The Unjust 부당거래 (2010) Korean

Hwang Jung Min, Ryoo Seung Bum, Yu Hae Jin, Ma Dong Seok, Cheon Ho Jin

Movie rating: 7/10      Neck score: A

I'll admit, I 100% watched this because of Hwang Jung Min and Ryoo Seung Bum.  Also a little bit for the premise.  I like twisted, gritty crime movies.  I'm not sure that by little brother liked it as much as me, but he didn't hate it either.  It's hard to like it 100% though, because it's about a bunch of bad guys.  Literally.  We have a cop who is coerced into being corrupt, part blackmail and part promise of promotion, who joins forces with a gangster, and a prosecutor who is all about bribes and saving face.  Their paths get twisted as the prosecutor accepts bribes from the business man the cop was trying to catch.  The cop, who is always passed up for promotions because he is not a police academy graduate, is offered a promotion deal if he frames someone for an unsolved serial murder case to make the police look good.  He does so with the help of a gangster, who is a direct rival of the bribing business man.  The prosecutor is on the case of the framed man, but with the meddling gangster getting after the briber, it turns into a messy power play.  The cop gets into more dirty water than he can handle, and we end up not knowing who to root for, if anyone.  The cop was being blackmailed to do it, but he ended up doing some pretty bad stuff, while the prosecutor only accepted bribes and let people go (which is bad enough), but was wholly unrepentant and selfish about it.  It it literally about a bunch of really unjust law people.  It has some harsh language and some violence, but really it wasn't too bad.  I guess the language might push it to a harsher rating, but I'm glad I'm not in charge of deciding that.  It was a good movie, but not one that leaves you feeling happy or even satisfied.  Maybe a little pissed or disgusted though.

150. Chuno 추노 (2010) Korean

Jang Hyuk, Oh Ji Ho, Lee Da Hae, Gong Hyung Jin, Lee Jong Hyuk

Drama Rating: 8/10     Neck Score: A

I started out watching this with Curdy and Lizabreff, because Curdy loves Jang Hyuk and Lizabreff and I had been planning on watching it eventually anyway.  Well, that lasted about 8 episodes.  Then, after a long break, I had to continue on alone until the end.  Because the first eight episodes are basically the same thing over and over, with a lot of action and way too many near misses.  There are so many near misses that it is ridiculous.  I wanted to get violent with an ice pick, as tweeted by me: "The sheer # of near misses in #Chuno is making me want to stab things with an ice pick. You know, like ice and stuff."  But we literally stopped right as it got really good, instead of just actiony good.  Even though there were still so many more near misses and people drove me crazy with their stubborn nobility and pride (yeah, I'm talking about you, Arms).  And while they did kill like everyone off, they didn't kill off all my favorites, like I thought they did.  They literally make you think everyone will die, but it's not a completely sad ending... well... it kind of is, but it leaves you with hope and stuff.  It raises a lot of questions about equality and humanity, and also about life and death.  I have to admit that I never really paid attention during the politics talks by all the bad dudes, so I'm not 100% sure of the motivation behind some of the dastardly plots.  I really don't know why they did some of the lousy things they did.  I just know the outcomes and stuff.  I might need to read some recaps of some episodes, haha.  This is a bad habit of mine while watching sageuks.  I don't do those boring court and politics scenes well.  I do have to say that everyone did an amazing job acting and all the characters were good enough to deserve nicknames, so that is a mark of a good drama character-wise.  They made most of the main characters sympathetic at some point.  Even Basket Head (Lee Jong Hyuk), although that wasn't always the case.  I hated him a lot in certain scenes (leave Monkey and Secretary Ko alone!).  It was a good, but long and very involved show.  Very emotional in spots and very, very actiony in others.  Kind of a dude show like 95% of the time.  So... good overall, just a bit draggy about certain plots, and pretty predictable too, even though it is not stereotypical.  It is 24 episodes long.

145. Oh! My Lady 오! 마이 레이디 (2010) Korean

Chae Rim, Choi Siwon, Lee Hyun Woo, Moon Jung Hee, Park Han Byul

Drama Rating: 8/10     Neck Score: A+

Omo, Siwon, you bias crusher!  Seriously!  He's just so completely sexy, adorable... everything!  This is a perfectly likable drama because you've got a completely likable and relatable lead, who has super ahjumma powers, and you've got Siwon, one of the sexiest peeps ever.  It's not so much a romance as it is a story about an immature star maturing and becoming a responsible, adorable dad with the help of the best ahjumma ever.  She's confident, quirky, big hearted, not afraid to stand up for herself, and generally just awesome, even if her character was pretty static.  At least she started out at a good point.  Also, that little girl was so cute.  Siwon's kids are totes going to be that adorable.  The end was a little weird.  I think they just kind of derped out trying to finish it.  Since the romance wasn't that strong to begin with, it was a bit blase at the end.  Still good though.  But the other dude.  Boo.  I didn't like him because he was all over the place.  Super self-righteous, prideful, cold and then suddenly good with kids and a nice person/busy body?  Can't keep it together with his wife but will bend over backwards to protect a random ahjumma that he randomly took a liking to?  Wut?  Whatever.  He was annoying, not because he was a bad guy, but because his character made no sense.  Also he was married, and he and his wife were the most frustrating couple in this.  Park Han Byul is the queen bitca.  I seriously think she is the best at playing bitcas because she is so hatable in every role.  Slow clap for her?  Anyways, to the important part.  Siwon's abs, Siwon's smile, Siwon + cutest little girl ever, Siwon's eyebrows, Siwon's decent acting.  This show was good.  Chae Rim was awesome.  Siwon was sexy awesome.  The end.

119. Queen of Reversals 역전의 여왕 (2010-2011) Korean

Kim Nam Joo, Jung Joon Ho, Park Shi Hoo, Chae Jung An

Drama Rating: 3/10     Neck Score: D

This should be called Queen of Turtlenecks.  Ugh.  I think absolutely everyone in the entire show wore a turtleneck at least once.  Sadly the main men wore them all the time.  Especially Park Shi Hoo.  I'm sorry dude, I love you but... no.  No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!  Jung Joon Ho pulled them off way better than Park Shi Hoo and he's an ahjussi.  I basically just didn't really like this show anyways and so the overuse of turtlenecks made me really not like it.  It was the premise that I didn't like.  From the moment she married that Bong Junsu dude this show was doomed for me.  It's basically about a family getting split apart because that couple wasn't good for each other, and that's just not my cup of tea.  I don't care how passionate her new romance was, I hated it all.  Especially when there was also a kid involved.  Just not my favorite premise and then there were all those turtlenecks... at least there was Little Guy and the brother from Cunning Single Lady to make it watchable.  And Manager Mok.  I liked him at least. And that hot cop guy- rawr… hated that bitca… this could go on for forever… I loved seeing the bitca boss cry at the end… etc. It’s a love/hate type show, but mostly was just meh.

61. Mary Stayed Out All Night 매리는 외박중 (2010) Korean

Jang Geun Suk, Moon Geun Young, Kim Jae Wook, Kim Hyo Jin

Drama Rating: 4/10     Neck Score: A

This was another one I watched because of that list of 100 best dramas.  That list was probably crap, but whatever.  I don't regret expanding my viewing pool.  This one was just dumb.  The premise was dumb.  Jang Geun Suk's hair... hot.  But it's about this girl, Mae Ri, whose dad is in so much debt all the time that they are constantly running and getting their stuff taken away.  But he runs into his old friend, who was in love with the dad's wife, so he decides to pay all the debt if Mae Ri (who looks just like her mom) marries his son.  In the mean time Mae Ri meets Jang Geun Suk, who is this long haired musician in a band.  She hits him with her car, but is so worried about scams that she follows him to get his signature promise that he is fine and wont sue later.  He's been scammed by agents making him sign slave contracts that he wont sign and they end up getting drunk together and he takes her home and crashes at her house for a while since he no longer has a house.  Then when Mae Ri finds out that her dad wants her to get married she uses Jang Geun Suk to pretend to be already married.  Then there is a bunch of stupidness as her dad registers her marriage with the son so she's technically married to both men.  Then there is a bunch of sharing the wife crap and it's dumb.  There are some cool songs.  Jang Geun Suk's rock band is pretty sweet.  It was so cray cray and lame that the writer even quit half way through.  Just silliness, really.

58. Like Stars Falling From the Sky 별을 따다줘 (2010) Korean

Choi Jung Won, Kim Ji Hoon, Shin Dong Wook, Chae Young In

Drama Rating: 6/10     Neck Score: B

The only reason I gave this show another chance (the first 2 minutes are so stupid) was because it was on some list of 100 best dramas and it was on Netflix and I was looking for a no commercials weekend.  It was actually a lot better than I gave it credit for.  It does the family/kid humor pretty well.  It's about this girl who works for an insurance company and is obsessed with the company lawyer and hates how poor her family is, and how many kids they've adopted.  Then her parents suddenly die and she has to take care of her like six siblings.  But because of birth secrets, inheritance, and all that crap (which is the reason for her parent's death) they lose their house, etc.  So she ends up taking a housekeeping job, which includes a room and board deal, at the lawyer's house.  She also plans to sneak all her siblings in.  Keeping them hidden doesn't last long, but that's the best part.  This lawyer dude is a jerk, and his brother is sweet, and his nephew is cray cray, and seeing the three bachelors interact with the kids, who range from like 15 to a baby is hilarious.  Especially the gruff lawyer, whose hair was sometimes awful and sometimes strangely sexy.  They even do the poop humor well.  There is plenty of constipation humor too.  Basically there is a little bromance between the lawyer dude and one of the brothers that is adorable.  The kid sleep walks and keeps ending up at the foot of the dude's bed.  It's pretty cute.  The ending was silly, I thought, but oh well.  It was still a good ending in happiness, etc.

47. High Kick Through the Roof^ 지붕뚫고 하이킥 (2009-2010) Korean

Lee Soon Jae, Kim Ja Ok, Choi Daniel, Yoon Si Yoon

Drama Rating: 7/10      Neck Score: A

This is a sit-com so there are like 126 episodes, but they are only like 20ish min.  That is why I haven't finished it yet.  Also, it is so so so so so funny.  Also I am now in love with Choi Daniel and Yoon Si Yoon even more.  However, this show has a really bad ending.  As in the last two episodes suck.  I had to get spoilers for this because I heard things and needed to know how bad it was before I went too far.  It's bad, so look it up before you start and then maybe just don't watch the last two episodes.  But it's a hilarious sit-com about a crazy family with a farting grandpa, a mom who high kicks, a dad who is hen pecked by the grandpa and mom because he's kind of silly, a younger brother who is a socially oblivious doctor, a son who has a crush on the young house keeper, the daughter who is spoiled and calls everyone farty-butthole (still one of the best insults of all time).  There is also the 20-something year old house keeper and her younger sister who were raised in the mountains and are clueless as to modern society and how things work.  There is also the vice-principle of the school the mom works out who is dating the grandpa, as well as the bunch of youngsters who live at her house which includes the son's tutor (who lied about what school she goes to in order to get the job and has a love/hate relationship with the younger brother) and Lee Kwang Soo and Yoo In Na (who are trying to become idols) and Julian Kang (who is a Canadian who is living in Korean to work and learn and is sometimes more Korean then the rest of them.)  I think I only watched up to episode 84 or something, and everything is great.  I hope it doesn't get too stupid before the last two episodes, which I just won't watch.  Also Choi Daniel and Yoon Si Yoon are the same age (born 1986) but Choi Daniel is the uncle and Yoonie is the nephew, obviously supposed to be at least 10 years apart... and it works.  The power of the baby face!

39. King of Baking, Kim Tak Gu 제빵왕 김탁구 (2010) Korean

Yoon Si Yoon, Joo Won, Eugene, Lee Young Ah

Drama Rating: 4/10     Neck Score: B-

This is one of those dreaded family dramas that are usually 50 episodes long.  This one is only 30, but I am still not ashamed to say that I watched most of it on fast speed.  As in, I only watched the parts that had the young peeps in it, and none of the parent crap.  Clearly, I watched this because of my new found love for Yoon Si Yoon, but he doesn't even appear in it until episode 6 because it starts out as kids.  This is a birth secrets drama.  No!!!!!  But it's ok as long as you fast forward the family drama part and keep to the kids drama.  I speed watched the first few episodes to get the jist of it and then skipped all the parent parts during the show.  It was tolerable then.  Super makjang though (cliched overly dramatic) also... does the other guy get the main girl?  Cause that's what it looks like.  It's ok.  Everyone loved Yoonie and Young Ah together anyways.  They're the REAL OTP (one true pairing).  Yoon Si Yoon is a pretty crier though.  Also, despite his bad attitude, I ended up really loving Joo Won, who is an amazing actor too.  Also, upon rewatching some of it, I realized that Yoonie had the worst fat face/neck in this.  It was horrible when paired with his nasty mullet-like hair.  I had to bump this don't to a B- since Joo Won's neck is still good.  If you want to see Yoon Si Yoon's hot neck, this is not the drama for that.

38. Sungkyunkwan Scandal 성균관 스캔들 (2010) Korean

Park Yoochun, Park Min Young, Yoo Ah In, Song Joong Ki

Drama Rating: 7/10     Neck Score: A

It's the classic girl dresses as a dude, only it's also a sageuk (historical).  Only the themes of the show are so not traditional that it would have to be called more of a fusion sageuk.  Still it's fun, and it has three really handsome mens in it.  Personally, I fell in love with Song Joong Ki the most (which is totally understandable because he is awesome) but you really just have to love them all.  This was Yoochun's first real acting role (because those DBSK drama specials def totes don't count) and he does a really, really good job.  Also, JYJ all chipped in and did some OST for it, so we get to see Yoochun's face and hear Jaejoong and Junsu's beautiful voices.  Win and WIN!  We've got the main plot of her being a girl dressed as a boy and then forced into taking the entrance exams for Sungkyunkwan, which is basically the royal scholar academy (totally getting in obviously) and having to deal with the peeps who don't like her and are trying to kick her out, and then we have this other mystery plot involving the king and politics (because every sageuk needs that requirement), and then we have the love story that is entangled with everything else. Cheesy, but fun.  Easy on the eyes and as typical sageuks go, very undramatic, which is good.  Also we have a sort of cameo appearance of little Lee Min Ho (not the BOF star) who you might recognize as one of the ducklings in Rooftop Prince, one of Yoochun's later dramas.  Sweet deal.  Lots of moralizing too.  Honestly, the very ending is the worst part in terms of cheese, but in general it's an enjoyable show.

35. The Woman Who Still Wants to Marry 아직도 결혼하고 싶은 여자 (2010) Korean

Park Jin Hee, Uhm Ji Won, Wang Bit Na, Kim Bum, Lee Pil Mo

Drama Rating: 4/10      Neck Score: B

Normally a fan of noona romances, this one was just awkward.  They dwelt on it so much and made it such a big deal that it was just awkward.  A fan of Kim Bum, I just have to realize that as pretty as he is, he is consistently in shows that I'm just not going to like as well.  Oh well.  I think his best role I've seen so far is Padam Padam.  So I liked the other, side romance better and it was only ok.  I guess I just like Uhm Ji Won, even when her character is annoying, in a classy way.  It's basically a story about three 36 year old women and their romance stories.  Then we have the awkwardness of the main girl being 12 years older than the main boy and 12 years younger than his mom... or was she only 8 years younger than his mom?  It was awkward no matter how young his mom was.  They dwelt on the age difference so much that I ended up not liking it.  It was just... meh.  Not my favorite show, definitely not my favorite noona romance.

32. Prosecutor Princess 검사 프린세스 (2010) Korean

Park Si Hoo, Kim So Yeon, Han Jung Soo, Choi Song Hyun

Drama Rating: 6/10      Neck Score: A

The first like 15 min of this show were so stupid that I stopped it once and didn't start again until I was really bored one day so I gave it another chance.  It was still dumb until the moment Park Si Hoo came on the screen.  I think he opened the door and all the sudden "Ahhhhh!" I was going to watch no matter how stupid the show was.  But actually, it got good after that.  Not just because this hot man was in the show, but because the plot actually kicked in and it wasn't just this silly girl becoming a prosecutor and chasing after a pair of shoes.  It's kinda got that legally blond type premise, but it's got a pretty deep plot with twists as it goes from fashion princess becomes prosecutor to twisted revenge plot.  Also the other prosecutors are all pretty good looking (including Lee Jong Suk), as all prosecutors always are in these shows.  So while the first episode is way dumb (first episodes are never the best) it has a nice build and some tricky plot twists.

23. Pasta 파스타 (2010) Korean

Gong Hyo Jin, Lee Sun Kyun, Lee Ha Nee, Alex Chu

Drama Rating: 5/10     Neck Score: A

I hated her little bangs. They bothered me the whole show.  Her hair was ok when it was pulled back with her little hat, but when she had it down... ew.  I'm not a super big fan of Lee Sun Kyun, I think he has weird teeth, but he does have a sexy voice.  His character was annoying in this one though.  The plot was a bit draggy too.  But the food looked really good.  Also, there was plenty of eye candy in the chefs department, including No Min Woo and Choi Jin Hyuk.  If those are reasons to watch it, then do it.  It's just not the best drama in the world.  But it does have several good looking men (just not the lead) and will leave you craving Italian food.

20. Lie to Me 내게 거짓말을 해봐 (2010) Korean

Yoon Eun Hye, Kang Ji Hwan, Sung Joon

Drama Rating: 4/10     Neck Score: B

Well.  This show has a lot of good kissing in it.  That's about it.  Seriously, very badly written.  I have no idea what this show was going for, and it's probably the worst case of "Spazcakes" (my nickname for Yoon Eun Hye) ever.  She's like spazzing out the entire show, and for what?  I dunno.  Her character is just a spaz.  And the dude (as hot as he is, his neck is not my favorite) is so inconsistent.  I swear his character changed every episode.  The other chick was an annoying whiner who really got screwed over in the plot department, poor girl.  So the main couple makes out a bunch of times, he changes characters completely as soon as he falls in love, and then consistently keeps changing characters, and it is a cheesy kissy show.  It's supposed to be a plot based off of a lie, which forces them together and to act as a married couple, but that gets resolved too soon for the whole 16 episode thing, so then it just gets draggy until it finally ends.

19. Secret Garden 시크릿 가든 (2010) Korean

Hyun Bin, Ha Ji Won, Yoon Sang Hyun, Kim Sa Rang

Drama Rating: 7/10     Neck Score: A

I know I probably had heard about the body switching plot before I watched it, but that was so long before I watched it that I totes forgot and so when they finally switched bodies (like episode 5 or 6) I was like: What?  But it's so good.  I've seriously watched this one so many times and each time it just keeps getting better.  I don't bother skipping anything when I rewatch it, which is how I usually rewatch shows unless I am showing them to people.  Even though it has almost every plot device ever, from evil moms to butt headed chaebols becoming sweet loves to amnesia/coma type deals, they make it work so well.  It's well written, well balanced, full of characters we love despite the flaws, and one of the best OSTs ever.  I might own that.  I'm only sad I didn't watch this sooner, I could have rewatched it a couple more times already.
Also, after you have watched this fully, you need to watch the Big Bang Parody of it... Smell!

16. Playful Kiss 장난스런 키스 (2010) Korean

Kim Hyun Joong, Jung So Min, Lee Tae Sung

Drama Rating: 3/10      Neck Score: A

I actually started watching this earlier, got 2 minutes into it, and stopped because it was so bad.  Then one holiday weekend, when I was feeling very low and needed something so bad, I just finished it.  It really was bad.  So cheesy, bad acting, silly plot.  (I've since read the manga and watched the Japanese and Taiwanese versions).  This is probably the worst version of this story, mostly because of the bad acting and weird writing choices, such as combining two characters to make one bad other chick.  The character I liked most was "Tae Moo" which is the character's name the actor played in Rooftop Prince, aka Bong Joon Gu (Lee Tae Sung).  He had hot hair and then later when he cut it, hotter hair.  Also a hot neck.  Kim Hyun Joong has a pretty face and hot neck, but he really can't act.  He looked blank the whole time, unless he was angry at her, and then he looked like he hated her.  Even after they were married I didn't believed one bit that he loved her.  She was just annoying.  Out of all the girls, she was the most annoying.  Just... no.  So hot men, but not worth the time.  If you must watch a show of this manga then I recommend the newest Japanese version first (Mischievous Kiss: Love in Tokyo) and then the Taiwanese version (It Started with a Kiss).

4. Personal Taste 개인의 취향 (2010) Korean

Lee Min Ho, Son Ye Jin, Kim Ji Suk, Wang Ji Hye

Drama Rating: 5.5/10     Neck Score: B


Giving Lee Min Ho a chance without 25 episodes of drama, and I wasn't too disappointed, although this all seems laughable now.  I guess I went through that phase too.  This drama is decidedly better that BOF.  His hair was much hotter in this one.  What is also laughable is that I hated Kim Ji Suk and thought he was ugly at first.  I now am not impressed with Lee Min Ho (to the point of maybe disliking him a bit) and am absolutely love Kim Ji Suk.  He's one one the top Korean men that I would love to marry, along with Lee Kwang Soo.  I even went back and watched parts of this again and was baffled at my past self, because Kim Ji Suk is very hot in this one, even if he plays a d-bag.  Also, I love Son Ye Jin.  She should get the real props in this drama, as she plays awkward and with a not so good script really well.  I heart her.  So, as a drama based off of a misunderstanding that makes the dude have to pretend that he's gay, it's decent.  Lots of steamy scenes, and a bit more adult humor.  It had some interesting twists, and the other peeps seemed needlessly mean/evil at times.  Wang Ji Hye is amazing at being a bitca, especially in this one.  Also, love her hair.

1. My Girlfriend is a Gumiho 내 여자친구는 구미호 (2010) Korean

Lee Seung Gi, Shin Min Ah, No Min Woo

Drama rating: 8/10     Neck score: A+

My first drama, so of course it has a special place in my heart, but it's also a really good drama.  It's hilarious, as is typical for the Hong Sisters, I soon learned, and a good balance of drama and the other necessary evils.  Plus both the leads are super attractive, necks included.  It was a great place to start for me. I especially loved their relationship.  It started out as a butt headed boy conning/helping a mythological creature (a Gumiho- 9 Tailed Fox that eats men's livers to become human) in what seems to be a mutually helpful agreement, even though he's constantly scared she'll eat him and grows in the cutest way.  I love how obsessed with meat she is.  Shin Min Ah is amazing, just saying.  She plays the Gumiho so delightfully sincere.  Loved it.

Ahjussi 아저씨 (aka Man from Nowhere) (2010) Korean

Won Bin, Kim Sea Ron, Kim Hee Won, Kim Sung Oh

Movie rating: 9/10     Neck score: A

This movie is awesome!  Also super violent, but so good.  There are plenty of cringe worthy violent parts, but it's not glorying in the violence, with the whole violence for violence sake, but it is more of showing the horribleness of that situation and the crime organizations.  It's about a mysterious man (Won Bin) who runs a pawn shop in this grungy apartment complex.  This little girl named So Mi befriends him, as her mother is like a prostitute or something and definitely a drug addict, and she feels more comfortable with "Ahjussi" than at home sometimes.  When her mother gets involved with stolen drugs belonging to a group of powerful drug lords, her daughter ends up getting kidnapped, and Ahjussi has to come out of his voluntary retirement to track the bad dudes down and get the girl back before she is sold or her organs are harvested.  Since it deals with really gross subjects, such as drugs, human trafficking, and organ harvesting, it's not going to be a pretty movie, but it is so very well made.  The fight scene at the end... wow.  It leaves you like blank stare overwhelmed.  Also, since it's like a little 8 year old girl, you get pretty anxious for her safety, so it's also an super intense movie that way too.  But so good!  Also, Won Bin.  He's so hot, even when he's all gruff with the long hair.  But boy, when he cuts his hair... whew!