Memorials/ Into the Ring review

 

Drama name: Memorials/ Into the Ring/ The Ballot 

Country: South Korea

Year: July- Aug 2020

Saw the advertisement trailer on KBS Asia during the time it was aired, but didn't manage to watch it. Just kept it in mind but I forgot the drama title. ^_^V Had to ask for help from a kdrama expert in the Discord server that I am in, haha.. she gave me the answer right away after I described the trailer. Many thanks! 

So,what's this drama about?

Goo Se Ra is a late twenties early thirties woman who is still struggling to find and hold a job. She has been job hopping for almost a decade and it shows on her resume. She has a fiery personality and that always lands her into trouble with the working culture in South Korea. Apart from that, she is also known as "Garden Tiger Moth" online, who is infamous for her numerous complaints to the local municipal council to fix or repair stuff on the streets. 

Meanwhile, Seo Gong Myung is a strict no nonsense kind of guy who used to work in the local district finance budget department. Because he spoke up against the budget, he was demoted to the municipal council office instead. There he was given the task to settle "Garden Tiger Moth" 's complaints. One night he finally meets her in person while checking out her complaint. 

The rest of the story goes on with Se Ra running for the district representative post with all the obstacles she has to overcome together with Gong Myung by her side. 

Overall thoughts

It is a light hearted rom-com that skims the surface of politics. The female lead character is very much like Fight for my way female lead, which I don't really like because she seems to be screaming a lot in the show. The male lead is a quiet strong type so it sort of strikes a balance. (The saying goes opposites attract!) It was an alright watch, nothing heavy or any evil villain in this drama. 

Best parts of the drama

The bookshop cafe which was Goo Se Ra's campaign base. The cinematography of this drama is quite artistic, with low angles and wide lens. It's either you love it or hate it, I remember reading some commenters who disliked it. For me, it works while filming the exterior of the building as it gives a dynamic view... 

Se Ra's secret place to hide and re-collect her thoughts... Sunset Land or something... I wonder if the neon signage is on all the time?! :D 

Se Ra's family residence, again you can see here the low angle wide view works... 

The childhood best friends become lovers relationship between Se Ra and Gong Myung... Lots of sweet moments and kisses for the hopeless romantics... 

The friendship between Se Ra and her two besties... They stuck with her through thick and thin... 

This weird scene where small kids were driving cars at night... I was like what is this... and then realised it was a park where kids can learn how to drive... Haha! Lots of other comedic scenes as well in this drama... 

Some yummy food for the foodies... 

Special mention

Haha, this trio from the district representatives members... They always work together as a team. Kinda like the three stooges! 

Conclusion

The biggest bad guy in this story is Gong Myung's father. Gong Myung decides to spill the beans about everything and that totally destroyed his father's reputation and ambition to be the Chief of Mawon. Se Ra manages to keep her job as the district representative until the end of term. 

Lots of different endings for the various district reps... one was banished to the rural area, one of the three stooges finally decides to step out on his own and the best part was one of Se Ra's friends will be running for the district position the following year. Haha, yes it's another round of campaigning! 

Meanwhile Se Ra herself was no longer allowed to be involved in politics...Gong Myung made her sign a cheesy declaration in her notebook...But it doesn't end there, she finds herself being recruited to fight the cause of polar bears! 

Like I mentioned earlier, this is a light hearted rom-com... The issues they tackled regarding urban development and environmental damage was good. However, the political part of this drama is merely on the surface only. In real life politics, there will be lots more bribery, slander, accusations, murder and the like. I did enjoy this drama as it resembles our own political scene here, with the district representatives. I guess it is the same for almost every country... corrupt politicians that squander the taxpayers' money. 

Thanks for reading this and stopping by! Will leave you with Se Ra and Gong Myung... 

*Image credits Dramabeans, own screenshots and Google search* 

Mask Korean drama review

 

Drama name: Mask 

Country: South Korea

Year: May- July 2015

This drama was aired on my local TV channel during the lockdown earlier this year. They were showing Terrius before that, and I was happily enjoying the rerun until it ended. It was replaced by this drama but the subs on the first episode were all messed up! I watched it trying to figure out what was happening and gave up the next day by not watching episode 2. Lucky I came back to watch episode 3 and the subs were alright after that. Due to the slow pace of the drama (and also the network seem to repeat the half of the episode on the next day... it was really annoying!) I continued the rest of the show online. 

So,what's this drama about?

Byun Ji-Sook comes from a working class family who runs a small restaurant. She works as a salesgirl in a department store selling handbags. However, her life is like hell because she is constantly being chased by loan sharks due to the loan which her father took. 

One day she had a shock of her life when she saw a rich woman named Seo Eun Ha who looks exactly like her while she was working at the department store. She helped the Eun Ha pick up a wedding ring. Unbeknown to her, her life was about to be transformed by meeting her. 

Ji-Sook was approached by a strange man who offered her money to take on the identity of Seo Eun Ha but she refused at first. Unfortunately, she was caught by the loan sharks who wanted to get rid of her because she had witnessed an accidental murder of another man by them. With her last desperate attempt to live, she called the strange man and accepted his offer. 

The rest of the story goes on with how Ji-Sook takes on the identity of Seo Eun Ha, which requires her to marry a rich guy named Choi Min Woo. She struggles to keep her identity a secret and also battling internal forces from within the rich family. 

Overall thoughts

It is quite a nice drama to watch. The episodes keep you hooked on for more. However I must say the female lead was annoying to some point because of her weak character. But luckily she transformed almost past midway and finally redeemed herself somewhat. 

Best parts of the drama

The interior of Min Woo's bedroom and Eun Ha's house... 

The main house and even the cafe is also nice... 

The relationship between Ji-Sook and Min Woo... From an arranged contractual marriage to one of real love and trust.... 

I must say the villain guy is really handsome and scary at the same time! Haha... hard to believe he is the nice guy in 2 days 1 night! 

The second lead female, she is so pretty and evil too.... 

Not much of yummy food for the foodies but still looks delicious... 

Special mention

The villain's right hand man... I don't even know his name in the show! The silent loyal bodyguard who does all the dirty job for his boss. No explanation on why he is so loyal even to the very end... 

Conclusion

There was some separation time between the main couple when Min Woo found out the truth about Ji-Sook's identity. However they managed to overcome it and the final showdown was the press conference where they exposed the villain to the media... 

The most heartbreaking scene between the villain and his wife, Mi-Yeon... and the real reason for all his evil doings is for revenge... 

Lots of onions for that scene.... Mi-Yeon commits suicide while allowing her hubby to escape. He realised that she killed herself and turned himself in. Some closure scenes where Ji-Sook went to jail and the villain feeling remorse and realised that he does love Mi-Yeon in the end... There is a hint that he will be joining her soon, meaning he will kill himself I guess... :(( 

Happy ending for the main couple! After Ji-Sook was released from prison, she rejoins her family and Min Woo. One of the rare kdramas that show the couple get married and have a child together... 

I did enjoy the drama despite it being draggy at some point... I watched it at first because it is the same Coffee Prince girl, it's weird seeing her with long hair here but she really blossomed into a pretty lady. Didn't like the male lead at first, but fell in love with him later hahaha!! 

Only drawback is that there was no explanation on how Ji-Sook and Eun ha could look exactly the same. I thought there might just be a short by-story when they showed Ji-Sook's family tree planting part... perhaps Eun Ha could have been her identical older sister. Just a shame the writer didn't try to connect that part for just a bit. 

Alright, that's all for now. Thanks for stopping by! I will leave you with Ji-Sook and Min Woo walking down a lovely road together... 

*Image credits Dramabeans, Google image search and own screenshots*

Extreme Job review

 

Movie name: Extreme Job

Country: South Korea

Year: Jan 2019

Someone recommended this k-movie in the kdrama Discord server that I am in. Made a bookmark to watch it and finally gotten around to it earlier this year. 

So,what's this movie about?

A team of five detectives who has a very poor performance in bringing in the crooks are at the risk of being disbanded. In order to save his team, the leader Chief Go decides to tackle a drug lord named Mubae whose right hand man had been released from jail recently. If they manage to bust the gang they would be promoted and not lose their jobs. 

The story goes on with how Chief Go and team tries to infiltrate the gang by doing a stakeout at a nearby fried chicken restaurant. However, the restaurant is not doing well at all and the owner is about to sell it. The team decides to take over the restaurant to continue with their mission to nab the drug lord. 

Overall thoughts

It is a really funny action movie. Although some may not like the slapstick comedy and overly dramatic action fight scenes (somewhat reminiscent of Hong Kong action movies!) I still think it is an entertaining watch. 

Best parts of the movie

Definitely the stakeout and take over part... haha, they were eating fried chicken and the original owner thought they were a bunch of jobless losers... The part where they were defining their relationship to each other while trying to get the restaurant ownership deal... 

After acquiring the restaurant, their struggle to maintain the fried chicken business and continuing their mission on Mubae... The part when they finally got an order from the drug den, they were dismayed as the place had been vacated already... alas! 

Story goes on

Their fried chicken business went too well and caught the attention of a local TV producer. The team offended the producer by denying him an interview. They couldn't get caught on TV with their superiors seeing them! Unfortunately for them, the producer decided take revenge by smearing their shop saying that their fried chicken is fake, being bought from other shops and served to customers instead. The news went viral and Chief Go's superiors came to know about it. All of them were fired from their police jobs. So sad! 

However, the team had some sort of dumb luck... haha, their restaurant's popularity caught the attention of Mubae's right hand man. He came up with the proposal to use the restaurant delivery service to deliver drugs to customers. It was like the drug guys came to Chief Go in the end! Chief Go didn't know anything about it and proceed to sign with them since they lost their jobs as policemen. 

It was not until one of them realised that their restaurant food chain is not doing well but still there seem to be many deliveries. The team went to investigate and found out that Mubae had been using it for his drug activities. 

Conclusion

Rescue mission time! Detective Ma was missing and the rest of the team had to go rescue him. Meanwhile, the drug lord Mubae was having his own business deal with another drug guy. This is the final showdown when Chief Go and team versus the bad guys. 

Lots of kick ass fights later, the team finally defeated all the bad guys. Haha!! Love the scene where all of them sitting on the couch waiting for the police to arrive. It's a happy ending, all of them got their jobs back and promoted... 

It is a light hearted comedy movie that you could watch. Was a good recommendation indeed. Haha, I really laughed a lot! And the fried chicken does look delicious. Will leave you with Chief Go... 

*Image credits own screenshots and Google search* 

Vincenzo review

 

Drama name: Vincenzo
Country: South Korea

Year: Feb- May 2021 

Came to know about this drama when an ex-colleague posted a trailer on Facebook. It was the scene where Vincenzo was teaching the thugs a lesson at the Italian restaurant. Looked it up and got hooked instantly! This is my first time watching Song Joong Ki in a kdrama... 

So, what's this drama about?

Vincenzo Cassano is a mafia consigliere, someone who is a part of the mafia family that gives legal advice and also help settle family businesses. He is part of the Cassano family for a long time, but that came to an end when the leader passed away. The power was transferred to the son, who did not like Vincenzo. 

Vincenzo knew it was time for him to leave the Cassano family, but without much money he would not be able to live comfortably as before. He recalled a job which he undertook while being a consigliere some years ago, and that was for a Chinese businessman who wanted to store his gold bars. Vincenzo advised the man to purchase an old building and put the gold there. The Chinese businessman has passed away and Vincenzo jumped at the chance to recover the gold bars. 

He heads back to South Korea, where the gold bars are stashed but he encounters a whole new set of problems while trying to retrieve the gold, including dealing with a powerful and ruthless pharmaceutical company. 

Overall thoughts

Definitely worth the watch with all the hype. It starts off a bit slow but it picks up in Episode 4. Some of the parts are a bit over the top and draggy but there is a lot of comedy, action and some romance as well. 

Best parts of the drama

Vincenzo Cassano himself... The visuals... He looks so good with all his tailored suits and his voice... Haha, fell in love instantly! Song Joong Ki speaking (and cursing!) in Italian is a bonus... 

The blue lamborghini scene where they appeared for the court case... 

The new Cassano family... the tenants of the Geumga Plaza... certainly provided us with lots of comedy and team work! 

Inzaghi!! The pigeon that irritated Vincenzo at first, but turns out to be a mafia bird that saves his life... Wow! 

NIS agent, Ahn Gi Seok! Hahah!! This guy is hilarious... he started out as a spy but ended up being a fan boy of Vincenzo! Love the part where he reveals his real identity... 

I did wonder how bad (or good!) the Italian chef's dishes were... Haha, poor guy always gets the horrible review from Vincenzo! 

Notable scenes

The part where Vincenzo dumps pig's blood on Babel's owner... Ok Taecyon is kinda scary in this drama to be honest.. 

Special Mention

Baby Babo... :D Haha, Babo (also means fool in Korean) was the nickname Cha-Young and Vincenzo used while trying to find out the real owner of Babel Group.. The younger brother who seemed to be the bad guy at first but became good in the end... 

Conclusion

Vincenzo did manage to bring down Babel Group but not with normal justice. He did it mafia style. It was quite brutal how the bad guys died but that is mafia. I know that it should not be glorified in any way but for this drama, it definitely brought the satisfaction that every viewer wanted. 

With that said, Vincenzo was of course the most wanted criminal in South Korea. He had to leave the country. Don't cry just yet, he did come back to see Cha-Young even for a brief moment. It was a really sweet meeting and parting kiss. 

The story ends with Vincenzo walking into the night... possibly for another season? If it is, I hope it will be just as good as this one! Am happy with the ending because as a mafia, he leads a dangerous life... and the main target will always be his family. If Cha-Young became his partner, she could no longer live a normal life. 

Okay, what about the gold bars??!! Did Vincenzo finally manage to get them?! There were some nail biting moments when another bad guy wants the gold...I laughed so hard at the chocolate gold bar part!

Don't worry! The gold was already saved earlier. The hacker girl managed to open the vault and all the tenants took turns to take out the gold daily. It was all safely transferred to Cha-Young's basement... where she uses it as a bed. What?! Must be the most uncomfortable mattress ever... 

It was a fun drama with action and lots of handsome visuals... :D Although some parts are a bit too much but it is a drama after all, for all of us to escape reality even for a little while. I was watching this drama in between while waiting for the weekly episodes of Mouse to air, so it was refreshing break from thriller to comedy. 

Thanks for stopping by and reading this! A lot of people were curious on how many lighters did Vincenzo owned for him to keep throwing them away like that... haha... and there was this scene.. 

Alright, I will leave you with Vincenzo and Cha-Young... Hope everyone is doing well. Take care! 

*Images taken from own screenshots, Dramabeans and Google search*