Movie Review: The Royal Tailor (2014)

English Title: The Royal Tailor
Korean Title: 상의원
Genre: period/drama/fashion
Director: Lee Won Suk
Release Date: December 24, 2014
Rating: 9/10

Main Cast
Han Seok Kyu as Cho Dol Suk (Royal Head Tailor)
Go Soo as Lee Kong Jin
Yoo Yeon Seok as King
Park Shin Hye as Queen

Plot
A royal tailor is challenged by new, younger and more liberal tailor. The new tailor makes ruckus around the country and tries to create more comfortable and beautiful clothes. Problems arise, when the tailor also falls in love with the Queen and the royal tailor feels threatened .

Drama Review: Pinocchio (2014)

Korean Title: 피노키오
English Title: Pinocchio
Rating: 8/10
Main Cast:
Lee Jong Suk as Ki Ha Myung/Choi Dal Po
Park Shin Hye as Choi In Ha
Kim Young Kwang as Seo Bum Jo
Lee Yoo Bi as Yoon Yoo Rae

The Plot:
A group of rookie reporters at different news stations get entangled with news, passion, aspiration, and revenge rolled into one and bad-not-so-bad villains ready to tackle down their every attempts to report honest news. Oh, and the romance between adoptive uncle and his niece who can’t lie.

K-Drama Long Lost Family

                Having watched numerous k-dramas and sometimes K-Pop I admitted that sometimes similar faces appear and I have difficulty to differentiate. K-dramas are known to have formulas to keep viewers interested, but nothing more interested than birth secrets. Whether it was baby swapping at birth like Autumn in My Heart (2001) or title-relevant drama titled Birth Secret (2013). And here I list some great actors and actresses whom I found have similar faces, familiar features or posture that  people may mistakenly seen as family.  These actors and actresses are well known in South Korea and even some fans admitted that maybe they somehow related as family.

Long Lost Brothers/Sisters

11. Kim Jae Won/Lee Jong Suk

When I watched first episode of School 2013 and watched Go Nam Soon I am stunned at the striking similarities between Lee Jong Suk and Kim Jae Won. I automatically compare his face with Kim Jae Won and even browsing at their pictures. They both have oval, white, almost pale face. Not to mention their killer smiles that will kill every fan...  Their drama characters ranging from high school boys to lovely Joseon guy but they always look cute and handsome and awesome. I even foresee Lee Jong Suk will have similar career path with Kim Jae Won. Only to be more famous and internationally and domestically acclaimed.

22. Yoon Eun Hye/Park Shin Hye

I have known Yoon Eun Hye first, naturally, from her roles in Coffee Prince (2006) and I Miss You (2012). I also admit that I don’t even know Park Shin Hye face and just knew her name though Park Shin Hye also famous star. I just realized their uncanny resemblance through Running Man episode when she had been guest with Lee Seung Gi. From there I believe Eun Hye and Shin Hye are long lost sisters who happen to have different last names. YEH and PSH have similar facial expressions and features. They both known to be lucky worked with some most famous and handsome actors in Korea. YEH with Joo Ji Hoon in Goong/Princess Hours, Gong Yoo in Coffee Prince, Kang Ji Hwan in Lie To Me, and most recently with Yoochun in I Miss You. Whereas PSH already worked with Jang Geun Suk in You Are Beautiful, Yonghwa in Heartstrings, Yoon Shi Yoon in Flower Boy Next Door, and has worked with LEE MIN HO in Heirs. How lucky they are! Maybe the only glaring difference between them is their ability to do on-screen kiss. While YEH is famous to create hot kisses, PSH is known notoriously bad at kiss and maybe well like cardboard.

33. Choi Siwon/Go Kyung Pyo

Who else think that Siwon and Go Kyung Pyo look like brothers? Or who else got tricked by GKP when he impersonated Siwon in Saturday Night Live that featuring Super Junior? At first I don’t see any resemblance because they sporting different hair styles. But when I looked at SNL episode I almost got tricked by Go Kyung Pyo who playfully danced and acted like Siwon. They have similar heights and postures and at a glance people are easily not noticed their differences.

Long Lost Aunt/Niece and Uncle/Nephew

11.  Lee Young Ae/Moon Geun Young

Have you ever watched Dae Jang Geum/Jewel in The Palace (2003)? Ever since I watched that drama I always get bothered whenever a drama depicted their hero/heroine young self who doesn’t even look like him/herself. Dae Jang Geum was great and the actress that played young Jang Geum was not bad but they don’t have any resemblance on facial features or body postures. I wished at that time that the young Jang Geum will be portrayed by Moon Geun Young because their resemblance. Though when Dae Jang Geum aired I don’t know MGY, I just know she is the actress who played young Eun Seo in Autumn in My Heart. Now, 7 years after Dae Jang Geum aired on my national TV station I know the answer: they indeed are look-alike. Just see at the promo pictures of MGY latest drama Goddess of Fire, Jung Yi (2013). She worked as royal potter that served royal palace while Jang Geum worked as royal physician. They have similar hairstyles, clothes, and accessories. Being long lost Aunt and Niece is possible right?

22. Bae Soo Bin/Yeo Jin Gu

 

They have similar looks, similar intense and charismatic eyes and they both really a hoot!! I realized their similarities when I watched Yeo Jin Gu first time in I Miss You as young Han Jung Woo (the adult role played by Yoochun) and watched Baek Soo Bin in 49 Days (2011). Same as above point, I cringed at almost non-existent similarities between Yeo Jin Gu and Yoochun and hope that someday he will play the younger version of Baek Soo Bin. BSB and YJG both can play as fierce and strong man but also can act as a man fall in love and smile stupidly for the woman they love. Last but not least, they both adorable as an oppa or noona killer!!

34. Baek Young Joon/Kim Hyun Joong

Many k-drama viewers and fans already know it. I just want to make sure in this list they won’t go unnoticed. They look alike the most when they have long and blonde hair like Kang Jun Sang/Lee Min Hyung in Winter Sonata (2002) and Ji Hoo in Boys Before Flowers (2009). They have same sad face and longing eyes, looks that melted every woman heart. Funnily, they became close and having hyung-dongsaeng relationship after people noticed their resemblance. In an interview KHJ told the audience that they really close and BYJ even seek potential date through him.

          Hopefully casting directors, writers and PDs across South Korea will notice and create the pair of long lost family in future dramas. With their looks and talents it’s hard to ignore them, right? Maybe somewhere in Dramaverse we will be able to see them act together, preferably in daily dramas with 50+ episodes so I can watch them every day and notice every similarities and differences.  

Source: various sources

Drama Review: Heirs: He Who Wears The Crown, Must Endure The Weight (2013)

Rating: 6/10

The Cast:

Lee Min Ho         as Kim Tan

Park Shin Hye    as Cha Eun Sang

Kim Woo Bin      as Choi Young Do

Kim Ji Won          as Rachel Yoo

and many other actors that will be too much to be mentioned

The  Plot:

                Second son and the heir of Jeguk company, Kim Tan, exiled to California by his family. In California he meets Cha Eun Sang, daughter of the mute housekeeper in Kim’s family. They fall for each other while try to defy the social norms, classes, and society pressure.

Review:

                Starring Lee Min Ho, Park Shin Hye, Kim Woo Bin, along with up-and-coming rising stars and star writer Kim Eun Sook, you wold expect the drama can do no wrong. Wrong, actually. It spends 20 hours on mopey faces, endless angst, crazy second leads, evil parents, and Lee Min Ho’s fashion crimes. Anticipated by kdrama fans worldwide, Heirs crumble under its own weight. One of the main problems is because the cast, especially the main leads look nothing like high school student although the drama set in high school. Second problem, although it spends million dollars to shoot in California to show Kim Tan’s wealth, the writer and producers forget to spend the budget to improve actors’ English skills. To say I’m embarrassed watching Lee Min Ho speak English is an understatement.

Lee Bona - Yoon Chan Young

Third problem, Heirs promises everything and shows (almost) nothing. Is it because the writer tries to give social commentary on chaebol’s world and fail or the writer doesn’t confident of her story? I don’t know. The story seems half baked and seems hypocrite. So it’s okay for Kim Tan to do whatever he wants but not okay for his older brother? Fourth problem, music director messed up the music. The music and OSTs rather than enhance the show, almost make me died laughing every time the main OST being played. There’s nothing wrong with the main OST musically, Moment, sung by 2AM Changmin. But when you heard “love is the moment….” for a thousand times, you bound to laugh at the cheesiness. Also, I noticed Germany national song being played in background in episode 1 when the cast had family dinner. I was like, WTH? Is there no classical music good enough to accompany the scene? Fifth problem, Kim Tan and Cha Eun Sang character. Kim Tan has tendency to be abusive while Eun Sang can’t stand the ground for herself. She’s too scared to fight against the injustice. It doesn’t help when Lee Min Ho looks sleepwalking, while Park Shin Hye is crywalking (she cried for about thousand times in the drama).

Choi Young Do <3

               

   Despite many problems, I confess I watch the show until the very end. One of the silver linings of this drama is Kim Woo Bin’s portrayal of Choi Young Do. Kim Woo Bin reminds me the very definition of Ki Hoon’s character in Cinderella’s Sister. “If he told me the moon is square, I would believe it.” KWB is totally charismatic actor that will make me believe everything he said… In Heirs he is the only person with gradual growth and most satisfying storyline. The second silver lining is Lee Bo Na and Yoon Chan Young, played by f(X) Krystal and CNBLUE’s Minhyuk respectively. They are cute together and provide comic relief, they also prove that love is indeed can break social barrier if your love strong enough. All in all if you’re fan of the lead, you may want to check it out, but if not it’s not worth your time except for few brilliant and funny scenes.

Life Lesson:

1. Don’t ever fall in love with chaebol. Your love is bound to be destroyed and most probably you’ll be sent to abroad in exchange to break up with the chaebol’s children.

2. If you have good fashion sense, send your CV to Lee Min Ho’s manager and/or management company.

3. If you can write and read Korean, go and write Heirs on your own. I'm pretty sure it's better than the original

The Need to Remake of Painter of the Wind

            So, I have finished Painter of the Wind drama 8 months ago and still get withdrawal feeling from this drama. Actually Painter of the Wind is a SBS 2008 drama but I just heard of it earlier this year. It starred so many great actors and actresses like Moon Geun Young, Park Shin Yang, Moon Chae Won, Baek Soo Bin, and Ryu Seung Ryong to name a few. I really love this drama and I heard (and read) many good reviews about. I started crazy over it and my craziness doesn’t end easily. Then I decided to post this article and hope someone would hear my wish. I really want someone REMAKE this amazing drama!! ASAP!

            The drama was about a royal painter in Joseon era during the reign of King Jeongjo. Her name is Shin Yun Bok. She disguised herself as a man and become apprentice at Dohwaseo (Royal Painting Bureau) with the help of her adoptive father, Shin Han Pyeong. The father has an eye for securing the title of Royal Painter towards his children and since his own son, Shin Young Bok, not good enough, he adopted Shin Yun Bok and wish she could became Royal Painter. But because woman didn’t allowed to enter Dohwaseo at that time, she must disguised herself and live as a man. One day, she met Kim Hong Do, the painter that previously expelled from Dohwaseo because of the conspiracy. Kim Hong Do later became her teacher and friend and unaware that she was woman. Problems arised because Yun Bok had keen interest on drawing women and stir up controversy on sensitive issues. Not only that, she also fell in love with gisaeng, Jeong Hyang. This drama was about the journey and controversy surrounding Shin Yun Bok, one of the greatest painters in Korea.

            Not many historical records written about Shin Yun Bok, maybe because he was controversial figure or not important enough. But in the records Shin Yun Bok was a man. Rumors said Yun Bok was Dohwaseo painter and later get expelled but some source said he was never been accepted in Dohwaseo and didn’t have any relations with Kim Hong Do. This drama based on bestseller novel with same title, Painter of the Wind, and went with the assumption what if Shin Yun Bok was a woman disguised as a man? No one can be sure since there’s little record and based on Shin Yun Bok’s paintings it’s easy to make this assumption since almost all of his paintings have women in it and he painted with bright, cheerful colors and very detailed lines. Therefore I assumed either he was a pervert or a woman in disguise.

            The drama itself is famous on turning feminine and beautiful actress Moon Geun Young to be handsome and cute royal painter, Shin Yun Bok. Her character was not easy to portray but she gave her 1000% efforts and made it happen for us. Seriously, if you watch this drama, at some point you’ll be dying in admiring Moon Geun Young and the adorableness and cuteness and so on. Shin Yun Bok portrayed as a man but with heart of a woman and that’s what makes her/him loved and fell in love with gisaeng Jeong Hyang, who never gave her heart to any men she entertained before. Jeong Hyang also portrayed almost perfectly by Moon Chae Won. The two Moons made sizzling chemistry and made our hearts hurt because Love That Doesn’t Mean to Be. They eventually won the Best Couple at SBS Drama Awards 2008, the first time female/female recipient in Korean Drama history. Danwon Kim Hong Do played by Park Shin Yang, ajusshi that played male lead in Lovers in Paris. He fitted the role to be the teacher but not as a romance partner and I can’t get Hong Do-Yun Bok chemistry towards the end of the drama as lovers. Not that I say, they didn’t deserve each other but the age difference is 19 years and it’s clearly shown Shin Yun Bok respect Kim Hong Do as her teacher, not her partner.

            Therefore, I propose the need to remake this drama. Maybe this year, next year, but I still hope. What I want is a happy resolution for our couple and let’s makes Shin Yun Bok a male character this time. Then we will have no problem seeing our couple without one ounce of guilty of the homosexuality portrayed. Since South Korea is rather sensitive with homosexuality why not making a drama without it. Let’s just say we believe on historical records. Historical facts that we have known about Shin Yun Bok are: 1) He was a man, handsome, tall and suave; 2) He was apprentice at Dohwaseo; 3) He was expelled from Dohwaseo but without further explanation. Based on those facts, we could possibly remake this drama with male lead this time that is handsome, tall and suave. Shin Yun Bok was renowned to have keen interest in painting Gisaeng House (gibang) and Drinking Tavern. So our hero probably spent his spare time on those places and love drinking and accompanying by gisaeng. He is 18 years old when King Jeongjo reign and probably in his twenties when controversy come up. While Kim Hong Do is in his thirties and soon promoted to be Pil Chul, ranks of Dohwaseo supervisor. So based on those informations let me introduce you who in my mind perfectly fitted to be Shin Yun Bok….

LEE JONG SUK  

 

     

        Why Lee Jong Suk? Why not? He is talented, have recently filmed sageuk movie, namely The Face Reader (2013). He is tall, handsome and suave and fit the description of Shin Yun Bok. He also has eyes for naughty and pervert boy, not to mention his adorable smile. Since I saw him briefly in School 2013, I can’t help but thought his winks are very naughty. He can be serious too like he showed I Hear Your Voice (2013). Although his age maybe a little bit inappropriate but he has youthful looks and can pass for someone who supposed in his early twenties. While I am aware that he is super busy with movie and drama projects this year, maybe next year?

Other candidates: Kim Soo Hyun, Yoo Seung Ho

 

Who can resist the adorableness and cuteness of Yoo Seung Ho and charming Kim Soo Hyun? They also have experience in sageuks, KSH in The Moon That Embraces The Sun and YSH in Arang and The Magistrate both aired in 2012.

And who is his leading lady?

 

            I am researched for some time and imagining what if LJS with Park Shin Hye? It may be a bit uncomfortable for Park Shin Hye to star in sageuk, given she never played in it before. But she is very appropriate to play the gisaeng and if you are not sure how on earth PSH play as a gisaeng that can play gayageum (Korean zither strings) then take a look at below picture.. How awesome she is! She already learned gayageum back in 2011 when she took a role in Heartstrings (2011). While many will groan since PSH is more experienced and has heavier resume in KDrama and probably deserved high level actor to match hers, she is actually one year younger than Lee Jong Suk. Aside from that, Lee Jong Suk has proved he can handle the pressure to star next to more experienced actors and actress and created awesome chemistry with all his co-workers. Like in I Hear Your Voice when he was paired with much older Lee Bo Young but successfully made us all crave for their happily ever after. Park Shin Hye and Lee Jong Suk would be great OTP afterall, right?

Other Candidates: Park Se Young

His classmate and almost lover in School 2013, Park Se Young also made believable chemistry with LJS during that drama. She also tried sageuk once, as Queen in Faith (2012).

How about Danwon Kim Hong Do?

 

            In reality Kim Hong Do and Shin Yun Bok has 16 age difference. Kim Hong Do always a genius but sometimes he inserted flashes of humor in his paintings. His role is a teacher who cares so much about Shin Yun Bok. Based on that info I propose Jo Hyun Jae or Lee Ki Woo to play Kim Hong Do. They both have the look and personality to root for. Jo Hyun Jae has exploding charisma and charm as an official and he is notable sageuk actor, having played in dramas Daemang/Great Ambition (2002-2003), Song of The Prince (2005-2006), and movie Untold Scandal (2005). On the other hand, Lee Ki Woo would be great for comedic and immature role (for example Flower Boy Ramyun Shop) but I never see him in sageuk so I don’t know his competence on handling sageuk drama. Therefore, I lean more on Jo Hyun Jae for this character.

And how about the story?

            Maybe we can twist the story with some teacher-student relations, more bromance, and more romance. I mean REAL romance between a man and a woman, between male Shin Yun Bok and gisaeng Jeong Hyang. I want them to be together and live happily ever after. Maybe before they reach that, there would be drama including complicated love triangle of Shin Yun bok-Jeong Hyang-Kim Hong Do, controversies of the paintings, more paintings of Shin Yun Bok, hotter king than Bae Soo Bin (haha), and longer drama (just kidding). The original version has 20 episodes so the remake would be around it.  We could throw bromance between SYB-KHD, and the twist including the betrayal of Kim Hong Do. How about he could get promoted to be Pil Chul and get Jeong Hyang if he removed Yun Bok from Dohwaseo? But he couldn’t do it so he just expelled SYB (because the controversy too big not to remove SYB) and instead help Yun Bok to be with Jeong Hyang. Oh, great bromance and true friendship!!

        

So Lee Jong Suk+Park Shin Hye+Jo Hyun Jae anyone?

Painter of The Wind dream casting:

Shin Yun Bok-Lee Jong Suk, he can do puppy eyes very good. He can act and his look is perfect for SYB. Especially considering SYB is rather playboy and playful. LJS sure could deliver.

Jeong Hyang-Park Shin Hye. She learned gayageum and she will be the best gisaeng in Joseon not to mention PSH never do sageuk drama. It’ll be challenge for her but I’m really looking forward to see PSH in sageuk and her potential chemistry with LJS

Kim Hong Do-Jo Hyun Jae. So he’s supposedly Shin Yun Bok’s teacher and bestfriend. He maybe became third wheel but he’s so swoonworthy.. KANG AHHHHHH…..  

Shin Young Bok-Kim Jae Won. Shin Yun Bok’s hyung. By looks itself Kim Jae Won and Lee Jong Suk must be long lost brother.

King Jeongjo-Yoo Ah In. His previous role in JOJ convinced me he’s best looking, hottest, cutest Joseon King not to mention his overflowing charisma and charm.

Queen Dowager-Go Hyun Jung. No one can do mastermind evil stare better than GHJ.

Kim Jo Nyun-Jo Min Ki. He’s the unconventional villain who loves arts but doing bad things for our hero and heroine. JMK gives me the vibe of downright creepy but conflicted villain.