I Can Speak movie review

Movie name: I Can Speak

Country: South Korea

Year: Sept 2017

This movie was featured on the Disqus kdrama channel some time ago... It caught my eye because of the actor Lee Je Hoon, and I was curious to know what was the story about. I seldom watch Korean movies mainly because I am not very aware of their titles but it is always nice to watch something new... :D 

So, what's the movie about?

Rookie civil servant, Park Min Jae was just transfered to Seoul in the municipal council like office. His job was to file complaints from the public regarding facilities, amenities and etc. As all new brooms sweeps clean, Park was stickler for rules. He meets a halmoeni (grandma) on the first day of his job. 

This grandma named Na Ok-Boom is a resident "complainer"... Haha... Yes, she would be at that office almost every day to report on things so much until everyone there is scared of her. XD Her first encounter with Park was quite memorable... Hahah scary man, don't mess with this old lady!! 

She made sure to take numbers for the following occasions and Park could say nothing but to process her complaints. Aigoo! Told you don't mess with ladies... esp grandmas... XD 

So, the daily meetings between Park and the grandma wasn't as pleasant as you can already guess! ;D It was not until one day at a language centre that changed everything. Grandma Na was taking English classes there but it was not friendly towards older folks... :( All seemed hopeless until she bumped into Park downstairs. She was so excited to find out that he could speak English fluently and decided to ask him to teach her. 

Park asked her why she wanted to learn English but Grandma Na never said the reason. He refused her offer and she continued to harrass him... even finding his mobile number! Hahah!! This grandma is daebak! :D 

Park finally relented after one evening at Grandma Na's place. Park has a younger bro, but he has no time to take care of him so the bro would always eat ramyeon sometimes even uncooked ones. Grandma Na found the bro one day eating uncooked ramyeon and offered food to him. She didn't know that it was Park's younger bro. 

The rest of the story goes on with Grandma Na learning English and Park finds out the reason why she wanted to learn it. 

Overall thoughts

It is a heart warming story with the relationship between Park and Grandma Na. It was really neat to hear Lee Je Hoon speak English! Ooh my hearteu... XD I actually watched this movie with two online friends on Rabbit and I found myself crying so much at the end! Huhu!! ;D 

Best parts of the movie

Definitely the interaction between Grandma Na and Park... Very touching, I found it refreshing from the usual kdramas of the usual romance... For once they featured a family love kind of bonding... 

The part where Park challenged Grandma Na to speak to foreigners in a bar for 5 minutes... Haha, that was so cool she killed it! ;D 

Even neighbourhood gangsters are no match for Grandma Na! :D

Conclusion

By now you must be dying to know why Grandma Na wants to learn English... ;D Well, it is because of her friend. Her friend was a witness for an international lawsuit in United Nations. Grandma Na and her friend were one of the many "comfort women" during the Japanese occupation in Korea. These women were only young girls about 12- 13 years old back then. They were captured, tortured and sexually abused. Her friend was sick and started to have dementia so it was her last request to Grandma Na to tell the world about the wrong doings of that era.

It was shameful to many as the stigma was that these women voluntarily became comfort women but in actual fact they were captured and forced to do it. This part really made me so angry, serious s* people use your brains who would volunteer to be that? Stupid.

When Park found out, he went all out to help Grandma Na. Even to the very last moment during the hearing... He came and Grandma Na could give her testimony without fear. It was a really brave moment for an old lady. Salute.

This part is actually based on a true story. I remember some news back then that there was such a case and the Japanese refuse to apologise. It was like admitting their fault so they never said sorry. Dayum.

The story ends on a good note, the resolution was passed but as said earlier no apology was ever given by the Japanese government. Grandma Na reunites with her long lost brother in US, for all these years she tried to contact him but he refused to see her because of that stigma. Park had helped her contact the bro... aww that was really so sweet... Lots of onions here.. yes... ;D

Now Grandma Na is travelling around the world, giving her testimony to different levels of authority. The ending scene was funny, when the immigration officer in San Francisco airport asked her if she could speak English....

This movie definitely is a heart warming one. It touches on the human side of the atrocities of war and it serves as a grim reminder to everyone. :( I did feel disturbed after watching this movie but am glad that such shows are made to tell some parts of history. Hope you enjoyed this review, see you in the next one soon...

*Image credits: Google and my own screenshots*

Oh My Venus review

Drama name: Oh My Venus

Country: South Korea

Year: Nov 2015- Jan 2016

This show was recommended by the drama girls on the Disqus Kdrama channel which I am following. I decided to watch it because it stars Shin Min-A, one of my fav korean ladies... :D 

So, what's this drama about?

Kang Joo Eun is a lawyer in her thirties, she was once called Daegu Venus in her hometown Daegu way back in high school. She was like the prettiest girl and everyone wanted to date her. She was nabbed by the top swimmer in her school and they have been dating ever since. 

However, after all those years she gained much weight and looks nothing like her beauty title from back then. It was her birthday and she was expecting an engagement ring from her boyfriend (the high school swimmer sweetheart) but got a rude awakening when she found out he wanted to break up with her. Turned out that he was two timing her with her old college friend who was chubby back then but now a beautiful babe. Worst thing was that her college friend is now her superior in office. Ouch... 

It seemed like her life was down in the dumps when she met Kim Young Ho. Young Ho is a chaebol (son of a rich family) who is living in the States. He goes by the name John Kim and is a personal trainer who looks after a Korean MMA (Mixed martial arts) athlete. Young Ho gained fame in the States when he helped a celebrity to lose weight and after that rumours surfaced that he was secretly dating the celebrity. 

Kang Joo Eun found out that he was the mysterious John Kim and sort of blackmails him to help her lose weight. The rest of the story goes on with her struggle to lose weight, relationship with Young Ho and also helping him get through his childhood trauma. 

Overall thoughts

The first half of this drama was quite interesting I enjoyed it but then I stopped it for awhile before coming back to it. It is a typical sweet kdrama with chaebol, falling in love and getting married. I thought it was almost like What's wrong with Secretary Kim drama that ended recently. Maybe that was based off this show. If I would compare both dramas, this drama has a little bit more substance with some power struggle in the workplace.

Best parts of the drama

Maserati.... Yaaasss..... You heard correctly! ;D Quite a number of kdramas which I have seen where Maserati is one of the sponsors...

Young Ho's residence is quite nice as well.... I was lazy to screenshot the living and other areas of the house... ;P

In the first episode you'll be able to feast your eyes on So Ji Sub's body... haha! ;D

I liked the other two guys in the show, esp the one who speaks English with an American accent... The whole team actually has good chemistry... You can see that they were having fun as well...

There were some racy moments and the iconic line, "Your body belongs to me..." XD 

Then there are some life thoughts for you to ponder upon as well... 

There was this scenery at the end for the second lead couple... I think it's a famous place maybe someone can help me identify it... 

Notable scenes

Definitely the kiss in the rain scene... :D Yeah, with an umbrella... but not at a bus stop! It was in front of a cafe... I don't get the logic of opening the umbrella since you can see them kissing from the cafe side... Haha!! I know, I'm not a romantic! ;P 

I liked this Cinderella shoes part, thought it was worth to note it here... 

And of course the proposal... The pink scarf has a tiny secret, Young Ho knitted a wedding ring in one of its ball strings... So at that very moment he unravels it to reveal the ring... Guys, please take note hahaah!! Very touching indeed... <3 

Special mention

Young Ho's right hand man... I don't know his name, but his no emotion face gives you the Bruce Wayne butler feel... Haha! He does lighten up in the ending episodes, I shall not spoil it for you.. ;D

Conclusion

As with many typical kdramas, just when you thought it will be smooth sailing from then on but then boom! Yes, you guessed right... Young Ho got into an accident trying to save his friend and then he didn't want the girl to see him in that unwell state. The lead couple goes into a time of separation from each other... huhu... ;'( Some relatable scenes right there...

Don't worry, it is a happy ending... ;D Young Ho comes back a year later and they got married... Yes, it's that simple. The funniest part was the ending, where Kang Joo Eun put on weight again... It was nice to see her back to the original self from the start of the drama. Unlike other make-over shows they don't make the character chubby again at the end but I do appreciate this plot twist! XD

There is an epilogue as well, it seems like the two leads have already met when young at Daegu town, but the don't remember each other... Haha, yeah as said earlier the typical kdrama! ;D

Alright, that's about it. It is a cute drama, if you have some time to waste you could watch it. I wouldn't recommend it much though, as I prefer action, crime or comedy type shows more... ;D Thanks for stopping by! Until the next review, I will leave you with the cute American slang boy... XD

Midnight Runners review

Movie name: Midnight Runners
Country: South Korea
Year: Aug 2017

I seem to be on a Park Seo Joon shows review marathon! :D This movie was advertised on my local cable TV as a movie on demand, I wanted to watch it since he was starring in it... 

So, what's this movie about?

This movie is about two young guys, Park Ki Joon and Kang Hee Yeol who wants to join the police force. In order to do that, they must first be accepted into the police university. Park Ki Joon is from a single parent family with not much money, he has a big heart and is like a happy go lucky kind of guy. 

Kang Hee Yeol on the other hand, is from a top school in Seoul, his father runs a meat business and he is someone who is very rigid with many principles and rules for living. 

Their opposite personalities definitely made them enemies right from the start. It was not until after a training episode where Park helped Kang down the hill because Kang offered to buy him a steak if he did so. They escaped punishment and became best friends after that. Aww... 

Fast forward about two years, Park and Kang are now best friends and they have day offs... They can leave the university campus and enjoy a night out in town. This is where the story actually starts... The two went clubbing trying to pick up girls but failed hahah!! They met a girl walking on the street and wanted to get her number. But to their horror, they saw her being abducted into a van... 

Being police cadets in training, they went to make a police report immediately only to be told that their case is not important as the order from the top commissioner. The two decided to take matters into their own hands. 

The rest of the show goes on with the duo trying to find the kidnapped girl, tracking her down and stumbling into a bigger, more sinister plot behind it all. 

Overall thoughts

I wasn't expecting anything of the sort from the movie title. To be honest, I thought it was about runners who do work at midnight or something... Haha.... I know, I was kind of let down that the story line wasn't what I thought it would be. 

Best parts of the movie

The bromance between Park and Kang is fun to watch... 

I guess the only part which I liked and it is literally the movie title... Midnight Runners... there was a lot of running... Hahahh!! XD Park Seo Joon looked so good running with his long legs... 

Another best part would be his body.... XD Hahaha... Well, there were some shower and working out scenes that might be of interest for some fans... ;D 

I also liked the part in class where Park and Kang's answer to the same question really shows their different personalities. Both answers were correct in their own respective ways... and not to mention the middle finger scene! XD 

Conclusion

If you are guessing what I'm guessing about the kidnapped girl, you could be wrong... :O Yeah, the girl was kidnapped not for prostitution or such... but for her human eggs. *horror scream* In name they are young students who sell their eggs for money to couples who want to have children but in reality these girls are runaways from homes, they are captured and sold to be human hens... (somewhat)

You would have to leave your mind behind for the ending... Haha... Yeah, two young cadets tracking and bringing down a big syndicate all by themselves... There is a good ending don't worry, the girls were rescued and the bad guys busted. 

As they are still in the police university and a disciplinary institution, their actions deem as breaking the rules and must be punished. This part is nice as well, the play of words and the core value of being a policeman is reinforced... 

There is an epilogue at the end which shows the same girl from that night visiting them. It ends on that good note... Aww... 

This movie has some comedic moments but I somehow felt a bit disturbed overall after watching it... It is good for such topics to be featured, as we do not know of such things happening. I do hope and pray that all young girls out there to be safe and well... I'll leave you all with the two guys looking all dashing in their uniforms... See you around! Thanks for reading. <3