Korean Movie Night: Battleship Island 군함도 (2017) Korean

Hwang Jung Min, So Ji Sub, Song Joong Ki, Lee Jung Hyun, Kim Su An

Movie rating: 7/10     Neck score: A+

This was definitely set up as a wartime/survival/underdog movie.  We have a bunch of Koreans forced into a labor camp on a coal island off of Nagasaki.  Tricked and then forced into slave labor.  So naturally, since this is a WWII movie, the Japanese are going to be super demonized.  Just letting you know.  They're basically the worst in this.  Not just kicking the puppies, they're outright killing the puppies.  The other worst is that it's a fight to survive in this camp, so Koreans are turning on Koreans, especially the ones who kiss up to the Japanese to get favorable treatment.

So we're following a musician (Hwang Jung Min) and his band, and his daughter (Kim Su Ah), who get forced into going, along with a boatload of "drafted soldiers" and a bunch of women who were brought to "help".  They're just trying to survive, but even with their letter of recommendation, they are forced into the camp.  So Ji Sub is one of the drafted.  He's a gangster with authority issues.  He starts a fight on the boat over, and has an awesome run in with Lee Jung Hyun who is basically boss and can hold her own, which is great because she can help protect the daughter, who's like 10, but is still separated out with all the women.  They all get forced into the coal mine labor camp, forced slavery or indenture, since they force them into debt along with everything else they do to them.  Once in the camp, it's basically just survival.

It's funny because this one was a lot more action packed, but because of that it felt less harsh than the brutality that was in A Taxi Driver.  There was plenty of violence and fighting, but it was the kind we were used to?  Not all of it, just in general.  There was still plenty of shuddery violent scenes, and anxious ones, such as the bathhouse fight, which was awesome as it was scary because fighting almost naked in a bathhouse, so in and out of the bathtubs.  But that was the way to do a bathhouse fight (cough cough The K2 cough cough).  As they were coal mining all the time, there was plenty of almost naked men, which could go both ways depending on who the man was.

I always felt the most anxious for the daughter the whole time, because she was just a kid and had to face some pretty nasty stuff, but that's the reality of that time, so they weren't pulling too many punches.  It's a good thing that she was super smart along with everyone else, or there is no knowing what could have happened.  Shudder.  It was a little bit like Life is Beautiful, the Italian Holocaust movie, if you've seen that, but much more action packed and a whole lot less tear jerking, which is not to say that it isn't tear jerking, because it's a Korean movie, but nothing makes me cry like Life is Beautiful.

I kind of like how ambiguous Song Joong Ki's character is.  I'll just leave it at that.  He's special forces, but what is his mission?  Duh duh duhhhhhhh.  That's one of the things I liked about everyone.  They're all on their own side, which might be the same side, if they could figure it out, but the number one objective for everyone is survival, and then they have to figure out how and with whom, etc.  I liked it a lot.  I probably liked A Taxi Driver more, because it was more sentimental, but I did like both.  I'd recommend it just for that cool three screen deal.  I'm not a fan of 3D, so this was a much cooler alternative for me.  I felt very surrounded, which was awesome in those mine scenes.

Day Two: First Official Day of K-Con LA 2017

So starts day two of our K-Con adventure, this one is focused on exploring, since we had some flexibility.  It started later, so we got there later, and miraculously missed all the traffic.  Our hotel was farther from the convention center, but still situated so that we would miss the bad traffic if we left at the right time.

No one died while I drove in LA.  In fact, I was once again pleasantly surprised at how decently everyone was driving, not that I loved the traffic, it was just more predictable than freeway traffic where I'm from.  People know how to merge a bit better, haha.

181. Oh My Venus 오 마이 비너스 (2015) Korean

So Ji Sub, Shin Min Ah, Yoo In Young, Jung Gyu Woon, Henry Lau, Sung Hoon

Drama Rating: 8/10     Neck Score: A

This was way better than I thought it was going to be.  I mean, shows about weight loss and having to change your image to find love and happiness are blech to me in typically.  But I love So Ji Sub and Shin Min Ah, and them together was sure to be worth something even if the plot was meh.  But it surprised me.  It wasn't about getting a makeover and getting a man.  It was about being healthy and healing, but it was more about total healing, like attitude, heart, emotional, etc.  The OTP was better than expected too.  What genuine people.  They were both people who weren't going to put up with crap, we honest about how they felt and especially about each other.  He fell in love with her way before she lost weight and suddenly became beautiful, so when he saw her dimples for the first time, that was cute.  They were overly cute and not in a bad way.  In fact there was really no one to hate in this show, unless it be that step-uncle, the grandma, PD Ex, and naturally the stalker pervert.  But even they were only mild hates.  They generally made everyone redeemable.  I actually was just as invested in the second leads romance as I was in the main leads.  I love Yoo In Young, so much that I looked to her for inspiration in my latest hair style.  So I liked that her character was not just bitca in this one, but that she had the issues she was dealing with (however badly she was) and we were more anxious about her bad decisions than about hating her.  And Wiener Thinker was surprisingly a nice guy and not the d-bag ex we expected him to be.  I loved them together and was more frustrated about them at the end, and whether they would get together or not, than anything else.  You know you have a good set of couples when every one of them makes you say "those two! Oh!" when they are doing something cute.  Then of course Henry and Sung Hoon were adorable and sexy.  Basically there was a decent set of characters which made up for any plot holes (why did there have to be a car accident and a year recovery gap?  Huh?) and silliness.  There was only one episode that was insufferable and made us tweet to get through it, and even that one wasn't that bad.  So basically if you want good chemistry and a couple that isn't afraid to express themselves, this is probably a good option.  I mean, how many other dramas have the girl seducing the guy?  Repeatedly?  So even if it had a few cheesy parts and a few head scratching moments, it was better than most romcoms I've seen.  Good job.

166. One Sunny Day 좋은 날 (2014) Korean

So Ji Sub, Kim Ji Won, Lee Jong Hyuk, Im Joo Eun, Lee Jong Hyun

Drama Rating: 6/10     Neck Score: A

Emphasis on the ONE sunny day, because there was only one day in the whole show that was sunny.  It rained every other day.  Not just rain, but pouring.  I guess this is my first web drama.  With ten 15 minute episodes, it's basically the length of a movie.  It was about as exciting as most Korean romance movies I've seen.  Slow moving and low on the skinship.  However, that is not necessarily a bad thing.  This is a journey of healing.  Ji Ho (So Ji Sub) is super sad and trying to get over this girl.  He's also a shy quiet type anyways.  The relationship is more organic in that slow movingness.  Also, the situations they find themselves in, and how they act in those situation has a more for real feel to them.  Basically it's cute.  The end.  Although they could have given us an abs shot... just saying.

"I love Choi Daniel in So Ji Sub's Body" and Some Nicknames in Phantom

I was surprised at how much this drama sucked me in at once.  Now I regret not watching it when it first came out, but not at the same time, because now we could watch it as fast as we wanted... and that was very very fast.

How could I resist watching it when I finally figured out that it had some of my favorite actors?  So Ji Sub (that man is just so very sexy), Choi Daniel (I'm pretty sure I just want to marry him, he's so freakin' hot), and Uhm Ki Joon (also known as Grumpy Cat). Once I figured that out, I was watching it pretty much the next day.

Now to talk about this show without too many spoilers or whatnot.  But it's old, so that shouldn't be too big of a problem... unless you're like me and waited to watch it...

121. Phantom 유령 (2012) Korean

So Ji Sub, Lee Yeon Hee, Uhm Ki Joon, Kwak Do Won, Song Ha Yoon, Choi Daniel

Drama Rating: 8/10     Neck Score: A

Blow my mind, why don't you!  Amazing!  I usually predict everything before  it happens, but not so much in this one.  Especially in the first few episodes.  Tricked us.  Then they kept trying to trick us, but we did figure things out a bit better once we got more familiar with the style.  It's more like an American cop show than a Korean drama.  The style of tropes that is, although it's still very Korean.  Also, there are just so many awesome people cast in it.  I started it for So Ji Sub, Choi Daniel, and Uhm Ki Joon (aka Grumpy Cat) but I ended up just loving Kwak Do Won (who I hated in Good Doctor).  Man that dude is a good actor.  Crazy Cow was my favorite character, and I thought I was going to hate him.  That just shows you how much the first two episodes tricked me.  Also this has about as much romance as 3 Days, in the fact that it really doesn't have much of a romance, at least not the one that you are going to expect.  It just keeps wishy washing around with the main romance, but that is not even a problem.  I would give it a higher rating, but there were a few holes in the plot, even though it was pretty much awesomely written, and there was some frustration (especially with a few of the tiny plot arcs that were suddenly too predictable), but really, I just loved this show.  Except I am now really paranoid about cyber security, which I was already super big into.

55. Master's Sun 주군의 태양 (2013) Korean

So Ji Sub, Kong Hyo Jin, Seo In Guk, Kim Yoo Ri

Drama Rating: 8/10     Neck Score: A+

This is my favorite Hong Sisters drama (well tied for first with Greatest Love) but you have to be okay with horror to like it, because this is a Horror Romantic Comedy.  The first episode is probably the scariest too.  The first 15  min has some of the scariest ghost faces that will deter any peeps who are less enthusiastic about horror things.  I mistakenly recommended it to my younger sister, because I loved it so much, and she reported back that it was way too scary for her, which is something I haven't considered.  Even while my roommate finally watched it she needed me there for some episodes because they were on the scary side.  It didn't bother me, but it can, apparently, be a bit on the scary side (especially that stitch mouth granny in the first 15 min).  I watched it because it was the Hong Sisters, Horror Comedy, and Seo In Guk, but I came out completely in love with So Ji Sub.  Man that man is sexy.  He played vulnerable so well too.  Also, Kong Hyo Jin is awesome in this, but her hair and style is as tacky as always.  But her acting makes up for it.  I love the way the Hong Sisters always throw in lots of side romances, those are always cute.  This one has some hooky plot arcs, which is actually pretty typical for Hong Sisters.  They are good a comedy and pop culture references, but not so good at wrapping up loose ends and solid finishes (couch couch Big cough cough).  But this one, overall, was great.  Less love triangley and more ghosts and funny.  Also we got to see So Ji Sub and Seo In Guk sing the Three Bears song.  Win!