Showing posts with label 2010. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2010. Show all posts

Mary Stayed Out All Night (2010 TV Series)

Thursday, May 31, 2012 | Posted by The Entertainment Geek

There was a lot of buzz on Twitter about this one. I felt left out, because, being the K-entertainment guru that I am, I should know about these things... So I set out to find it, and I did. But was it worth it?


“Almost everyone in this one is stupid. Honestly”

The Rundown
Behind the name: Also Known as “Marry me Mary!”
Country: South Korea, 2010
 Genre: Romance, Comedy
Network: KBS2
Director: Hong Seok-Ku, Kim Young-Kyoon
Cast: Moon Geun-Young (as Mary), Jang Keun-Suk (as Kang Mu-Gyul), Kim Jae-Wook (as Jung-In), Kim Hyo-Jin (as Seo-Jun), Park Jun Gyu (as Jung-Suk), Park Sang-Myeon (as  Mary's father), Lee A-Hyeon (as Kim So-Young), Shim Yi-Young (as Director Bang), Lee Sun-Ho (as Lee-Ahn)           
Compare with: Full House
Hate it or Love it?  Take it.  

Synopsis in a Sentence: Poor, dense girl meets indie rocker under unfortunate circumstances, but girl is too stupid to realise that her time is better spent with someone else who would be the perfect partner for her. 

An original Korean story based on an internet comic, Mary Stayed Out All Night seemed like a modern rendition to Full House, with some plot twists, of course…


On Writing: The Plot 

The plot’s honestly, not that great. And that’s a recipe for disaster. If you’ve seen a few Korean series, you already know the skeleton plan for this plot, and you’ll know the “big parts” too. It’s the usual: boy meets girl under unfortunate circumstances, girl and boy have to associate due to reasons unforeseen, boy and girl fall for each other…then comes the third party love interest to complete the love triangle. And of course, the same characters end up together. Stating this isn’t a spoiler because the scenario is so overplayed. How do they not expect us to know the end before it happens? Points deducted for lack of creativity. Many points.

(2/5)


 On Acting: The Cast

The cast actually wasn’t bad, but the leads weren’t great. Best actor in this one goes to Kim Jae-Wook for playing a reasonable Jung-In, and best actress goes to Shim Yi Young for playing the detestable Director Bang. 



Quite honestly, I cannot understand how the leads got accolade for their portrayals here. They honestly can do (and have done) better in other productions. Oh well…

(3/5)


On Production: The Creativity

If the plot’s not great, of course creativity will suffer. So, creativity? None. Even in production it wasn’t great. Just average.

(2.5/5)                                             


On Resolution: The Conclusion
Here the producers try to deliver a ‘different’ ending to a South Korean series. Different in that it’s not quite something you’d expect. So the resolution is slightly better than any of the other parts; not because it’s great, but because it’s an attempt at something great.

(3/5)


The Verdict: Not recommended. South Korea is capable of producing better TV series, and quite honestly, your time would be better spent watching less cringe-worthy moments of 'romantic comedy' totalling up to 16 hours... And I wasn’t the only one who thought so. But see it for yourself and decide.

Overall Score = 10.5/20

 
 



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Cyrano Agency (2010 Film)

Monday, November 14, 2011 | Posted by The Entertainment Geek

I wanted a break off all things else—a break off your regular, run off the mill “foreign film,” and despite the plethora of South Korean dramas I’ve seen, I picked up this one because of it’s story line…  



“A bit of an Asian take on “Hitch” — based on a 19th century French play — with a South Korean twist.”

The Rundown
Behind the name: A reference to Cyrano de Bergerac, a play by Edmond Rostand
Country: South Korea, 2010
 Genre: Romantic Comedy
Director: Hyeon-seok Kim
Cast: Uhm Tae-woong (as Byeong-hoon), Lee Min Jeong (as Hee-joong), Choi Daniel (as Sang-yong), (Park Shin-hye as Min-yeong)
Compare to: Hitch
Hate it or Love it?  Luv it  

Synopsis in a Sentence: A matchmaking agency tries to help guys get girls, but what happens when the joke’s on the matchmaker?
           
It starts quite interestingly enough, drawing your interest throughout the film, there are a few great LoL moments, but generally, it lacks the BANG that would make you love it.
On Writing: The Plot
It’s interesting, eventful, all for your entertainment. There are a few scenes that are slightly implausible, but if you’re entertained, why bother with the details?
(4/5)

On Acting: The Cast
A great cast. Many fans expressed a bit more interest in the actors than the actual movie (for better or worse) besides that, their performances were great. There’s:


 U+21FD.gif Uhm Tae-woong, younger brother of famous singer/actress Uhm Jung-hwa. He plays Byeong-hoon, the “Agency Director,” if you could call it that. A great performance—he personified his character well.






 Lee Min-Jeong plays as Hee-joong, the “hot girl” in the movie. (You might remember her as “Monkey” from Boys Over Flowers) She’s great here. Really good.  File:U+21FE.gif 


Choi Daniel plays Sang-yong, the guy who needs help in his love life. He plays the clueless guy quite well—borders annoying idiot. If he really isn’t one, he’s really good. File:U+21FE.gif 

 U+21FD.gif Park Shin-hye is Min-yeong in this movie. In You're Beautiful. she plays the boy who’s actually a girl. She’s great here also. Her performance in some of the best laugh-out-loud moments of the film is excellent. She’s one talented actress!
(4/5)

On Production:
Good. The tone of the comedy seemed to be intended as dry humour. I have a feeling South Korea hasn’t used a lot of dry humour in its productions. It didn’t suck.
 (3/5)                                             

On Resolution: The Conclusion
As you’d not expect in your regular everyday movies, but as you’d expect for a South Korean production, the ending was resolved. I won’t give out too much, but the ending rests between Hitch and Edmund Rostand’s play.
(3/5)

The Verdict: Something out of the ordinary for a South Korean romantic comedy: a good production.

Overall Score = 14/20 










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Karthik Calling Karthik (2010 Film)

Monday, March 14, 2011 | Posted by The Entertainment Geek

It’s the first Hindi psychological thriller I’ve seen! And an excellent one at that.

 “Can your mind play tricks on you?”

The Rundown
Behind the name: Watch, and you’ll understand
Country: India, 2010
 Genre: Psychological Thriller
Distributed by: Excel Entertainment, Magic Beans
Director: Vijay Lalwani
                  Cast: Farhan Akhtar (as Karthik Narayan) Deepika Padukone (as Shonali Mukherjee) Ram Kapoor (as Mr. Kamath) Shefali Chhaya (as Mrs. Kapadia) Vivaan Bhathena, Vipin Sharma, Yatin Karyekar
                  Compare to: Itself
Hate it or Love it?  Love it.

Synopsis in a Sentence: Karthik keeps getting calls from a person who knows everything about him—what he does, what he’s going to do, and how he’ll do it— who is this that knows so much about him, and who keeps calling?
           

On Writing: The Plot
A fresh, unique plot. Bollywood really has developed range with this story. It’s a new angle, a new idea, and a new delivery. The story flows well, and develops well. There are a few, slight bumps, but you might not notice them at all. You’ll be entrenched in the thrill that this story will have on your psychology.
(4/5)

On Acting: The Cast
Great casting. Thy all play their parts quite well:
 Farhan Akhtar plays Karthik’s development from timid to confident easily. He’s the hero of the story and acts the part.
Deepika Padukone plays Shonali, the heroine, otherwise known as ‘hot girl’. She definitely plays more than just hot though, and save for a slight bump in the details of her character, she sails very easily through her part.
 (3.5/5)

On Production: The Creativity
Very well produced. Nice symbolism, good shots, a great production overall. No complaints here.
(4/5)                                             

On Resolution: The Conclusion
It ends well. The end makes the film, and is well worth it. Very nicely resolved. You’ll have to trace your steps back to the start, but that’s the thriller in it. A good one.
(4/5)

The Verdict: A thrill, not only for your mind.

Overall Score = 15.5/20 



Watch Karthik Calling Karthik 

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Pasta (2010 TV Series)

Friday, February 25, 2011 | Posted by The Entertainment Geek

Pasta seemed like the modern re-invention of Korean romantic comedies, and it started like that, but quickly turned into a series of events strung together by pasta-making contests.


“It’s food, 'romance' and competition.”

The Rundown
Behind the name: That’s what it’s all about—seriously!
Country: South Korea, 2010
 Genre: Romantic Comedy
Released by: MBC (MunHwa Broadcasting Corporation)
Director: Kwan Seok-Jang
                  Cast: Kong Hyo-jin (as Seo Yoo-Kyung), Lee Sun Gyun (as Choi Hyun-wook), Lee Ha-nui (as Oh Sae-young), Alex (as Kim San)
                  Compare to: Tarzan? Lol no.
Hate it or Love it? Like it, I guess

Synopsis in a Sentence: A kitchen assistant falls for her arrogant boss and they spend the rest of the series trying to get together, against his own “rules”.

The romance was just like pasta—twisted & displaced, and the comedy quite the same.

On Writing: The Plot
It’ all about making pasta and what’s supposed to be “love”. 
But it’s not a bad plot. The writers obviously intended for it to be better than it turned out. On the bright side, the plot was original, unlike many other Korean romantic comedies, and included “cute bits” that highlighted the story. On the down side, after seeing what Korea’s capable of, the story turned out to be a series of events stringed together by contests—literally, it was one pasta contest after another after another after another—and that went on throughout the series. I’m quite sick of Korea telling stories of “clumsy female meets refined male” characters—it’s not cute! Much rather annoying. And that’s exactly what Pasta does
Will make you either love Pasta, or hate it.
(3/5)

On Acting: The Cast
Quite good. Most were good, or great.
Props to Lee Ha-nui,  who played the female head cook. Lee Sun Gyun, who played the lead male was okay, but not quite great. His character wasn’t fun either.

 Props also to Lee Seong-Min,  who played the comedic villain. Overall, the cast presented a good cast, with the characters blending easily together. 
(3.5/5)

On Production:
Great music. Quite well designed. The soundtrack was unique and fresh, with tunes that embellished the story, the set was great, and the direction was good. It’s overall a good production.
 (4/5)                                             

On Resolution: The Conclusion
Hmm. Not quite sure what to say about it. It ended quite well, but didn’t quite ‘resolute’. It left us hanging, and not quite sure what to do about it. I’m guessing an attempt to end the story with a twist fell flat.
(3/5)

The Verdict: Recommended to lovers of food, specifically pasta, Italian food… and um, displaced romance?

Overall Score = 13.5/20



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Gossip Girl, Season 3 (2010 TV Series)

Friday, July 2, 2010 | Posted by The Entertainment Geek
Started this with great expectations, but all the best bits were saved for last.

“The scandalous lives of Manhattan’s elite fell into a routine the third time around. With the usual scandals, betrayals, and secrets, season three had nothing we had not seen before on Gossip Girl… well, until the end.”

The Rundown

Behind the name: Based on a series of books, of the same name
Country: The United States of America, 2010
 Genre: Teen Drama
Broadcast by: The CW (Merger of CBS Corp. & Warner Bros.)
Directors: J. Miller Tobin, Norman Buckley, Jean De Segonzac, Allison Maclean, Mark Piznarski, Janice Cooke-Leonard, and many, many more
                    Cast: Blake Lively (as Serena van der Woodsen) Leighton Meester (as Blair Waldorf) Penn Badgley (as Dan Humphrey) Chace Crawford (as Nate Archibald) Taylor Momsen (as Jenny Humphrey) Ed Westwick (as Chuck Bass) Jessica Szohr (as Vanessa Abrams) Kelly Rutherford (as Lily Humphrey) Matthew Settle (as Rufus Humphrey)
Compare to: 90210, The OC, Skins (remotely), Boys Before Flowers
Hate it or Love it?  Love it.  

Synopsis in a Sentence: Follow the lives of conniving rich kids with experience far older than their age in sex, scandal and affluence as they transition from high school to college.


After two full seasons of Gossip Girl, the third season could be more creative. It was quite the same base theme: “hidden” secrets are revealed, there’s a fair bit of conniving performed by everyone, and the characters exchange lovers at least three or four times in one year. But of course, a lot happens in-between all these.


On Writing: The Plot

 Couldn’t be more diverse. Every episode was written by superstar writers like John Stephens (producer of The OC & Gilmore Girls), Sara Goodman (creator of Reunion, Army of One) and Leila Gerstien (writer for The OC, Eli Stone & Tempting Adam) so as you can expect, we weren’t bored by the story, but with about 65 episodes of Gossip Girl under our belts, no scandal can be too hot for us to handle. The writers really couldn’t expect us to flinch over the so-called “secrets” that were revealed. They’ve trained us well. Maybe, a bit too well, because throughout Season 3, we were able to sit comfortably with the plot of the story and not flinch at a new “scandal” in the works. There were many good parts, but form the third instalment of Gossip Girl, we can expect more.

(4/5)


On Acting: The Cast

Season 3 was the season of stars, with appearances by Hillary Duff, Lady Gaga and Tyra Banks. Hillary was well—Hillary. She’s almost the same in every production. Lady Gaga performed as herself on-stage, so there’s nothing new about that, and as for Tyra Banks, we were aware that she was aware that she supposed to be an actress in the episodes she was present.
As for the main cast, they’re good actors, and they’ve grown into their characters over the years. So we can say they can only get better, not worse. In Season 3, we can see what leads Taylor Momsen to think she’s actually older than 16, as she her character, Jenny Humphrey makes some “adult decisions”. Chuck Bass is still an ass, but this time, one with a heart. He’s grown professionally and emotionally, and so has Ed Westwick, who defines this character. Blair Woldorf is weak in Season 3, and Leighton Meester plays her emotions without error. Blake Lively, who seems to relay the same character in virtually every production (see Accepted, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants), does so again as Serena van der Woodsen, but relays her character well.
Overall, a growing cast with promise.


(4/5)

On Wardrobe: The Fashion

Sometimes, designers forget that they actually design clothes for people, so as usual, with top designers on the list, there were some pieces that normal humans like you and me would never wear. Then there were those pieces that you would want to sell your house for. Such is fashion, and such was the fashion on Gossip Girl, season 3. Most of us could relate to Serena Van Der Woodsen’s sense o style, the rich and famous on the Upper-East and West-Sides of Manhattan can relate to Blair Waldorf’s flair for vintage-style fashion, while the demented and depressed may hail Jenny Humphrey as their queen for her demurely inspiring style. Something for everyone! As for the men, we learned that sandals are for losers.

 (4/5)                                              


On Resolution: The Conclusion

It may have started a bit too slowly for some of us, but it ended more than satisfactorily for all of us. The best of the entire season was saved for last. The season finale, titled, “The Last Tango, then Paris” was superb!
As season 3 attracted about 2 million viewers weekly (in America alone), with dwindling numbers as the season went on, the producers might have realized that they had to play their best card on the finale. Enter super-writers, Stephanie Savage & Joshua Safran to save the season, with real scandal, betrayal, and genuine secrets! Leaving director, J. Miller Tobin, to direct all the drama toward the right direction. We explored new facets for all the members of the main cast. Now that’s the Gossip Girl we know!

(4.5/5)


The Verdict: Season 4, here we come! We predict that Gossip Girl will go on for at least, 7 seasons.

Overall Score = 16.5/20

Watch Gossip Girl [http://www.amazon.com/Gossip-Girl-Complete-Third-Season/dp/B002JVWRBS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1278135405&sr=8-1]

*Note: All web sources provided from this source are legal.  


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