That Awkward Moment stars Zac Efron, Miles Teller, and Michael B. Jordan as the three main male characters. These three are best friends, and based from the trailer, the story is about those three men who promised to be single in order to support one of them, Mikey (Michael B. Jordan) who just broke up with his wife. However, things got messy when the two, Jason (Zac Efron) and Daniel (Miles Teller) seem to connect with what they thought was just a hook-up.
You can check out the trailer below.
I found this movie because its trailer was shared by one of my Facebook friends and I thought it was interesting enough.. Okay I admit it. It was interesting because of Zac Efron's naked scene on the toilet. I watched the movie and here's what I thought. The movie is about men who glorifies being single and loves living the life of having just hook-ups and never a relationship. The only man who was in a relationship was Mikey, who just broke up with his wife. That's why the two single men encouraged him to live a new life as a single man and try to find women in bars and have a one-night fling. The two, however, finally found "the one" that was a keeper that will literally keep them from finding women to just have hook-ups with. That's basically the movie. Zac Efron's love line was given more attention to as the flow of the story started with him and ended with his love story.
I would give the movie a 3 out of 5 stars. It was entertaining, the jokes were funny enough and the stories were average. It was focused on the men growing up and falling in love thing and that's the selling point of the movie but I just don't think that the way it was portrayed was the best thing to show it. I say this because I think that their "promise" to be single together was nonsense and it's not a good enough reason for this kind of story to revolve in. I finished it though, and I found everything other than that good in this movie.
To be completely honest about it, I haven't watched that many Korean romantic films in the recent years. There are few reasons that contribute to that. First is that I've been busy. It's not that I don't have time anymore to watch a few movies. It's just that if I watch a certain movie, I want to be really interested in it even before watching because I will not and could not finish a movie if I find it to be a bother to watch based on the first few scenes. Another reason is that there are a few Korean romance movies that have really unique and interesting story lines. I watched many Korean romance movies then and it's easy for me to watch from movies to movies because the genre was new to me. Now, I've gotten used to the stories and much like those cliché Hollywood or Filipino movies, I could not take to watch every movie anymore. I just choose those potentially good movies and that's it. Lastly, I try to widen my scope these days. I really like horror or thriller movies, so I give more time in watching movies of that genre. Also, I watch (romance) French, Hollywood, British, Japanese, Thai, and other genres as well from other countries. That's why maybe I don't give time to watch other Korean romance films that are not that appealing to me. Nonetheless, I'm giving my top five Korean romantic films that was released from 2010 to present.
Let's start from..
5. Cyrano Agency (2010)
At times, I really forget what the ending to this movie was. I think that's a good thing though, because you don't watch a movie just because of its ending. It's all about the process of how the story was presented. The concept was really good because it's quite different from the usual Korean romance movies that we all like.
4. How to Use Guys with Secret Tips (2013)
This movie is much more unique than you might expect it to be. The Korean title really means "A Manual on How to Use Men." It's basically about a woman who lacks social skills that a "woman" accepted by society needs, which is the capability to attract men. She then found a videotape (bought it from a weird vendor) that teaches women how to attract men in a step-by-step process. You might have guessed already: she then followed the tips and her life turned around from then on..
There are those types of movies wherein you just don't understand what's going on, because it seems like underneath those weird scenes comes a deep meaning. Perhaps I'm just thinking about it too much, but this movie indeed is somehow weird but its message is interestingly conveyed. You might notice that I like movies that is somehow at the periphery of the usual boy-meets-girl type of Korean movies because of reasons like what I've said in my introduction.
3. My Black Mini Dress (2011)
I actually included this movie already in the list I made for the Top 10 Korean Romance Comedy Movies I made back then, however, it wasn't in the top 10. I didn't include it because it was pretty recent and I wanted to include those old movies that many people really like already. This time, I'm including My Black Mini Dress in this list. This is about four women in their mid 20's who are struggling in life, albeit in different ways. These four were best friends in college but now that they're facing the "real world" already, the fun stopped and now they're struggling to look for the direction they need in life. It's a bit timely because the generation of people in their 20's nowadays are all "struggling" in finding something that is worthy to do for the rest of their lives. It's a matter that many of us are currently experiencing, and so this movie might just be the right movie to watch even though it's not that "romantic" in a sense of having a love story as the main plot of the movie.
2. Sunny (2011)
Like "My Black Mini Dress," this movie is not centered on a love story about a man and a woman. It's also about girls who were the best of friends in high school and got separated upon growing up. The movie alternates between the "present" wherein the girls are already adults and the "past" wherein they were in high school and having fun. I like this movie because it somehow gives you the feeling of nostalgia even if you're not part of the group. It's perfect in representing friendship especially between women. I also really like the soundtrack, especially the song where the title was based on, which is "Sunny" (that we all should love).
1. Architecture 101 (2012)
Architecture 101 or Introduction to Architecture is probably popular among K-pop fans because of Suzy (Miss A). This movie is about first love. The concept of first love in romance movies might not be that unique anymore, but this movie definitely portrayed it in a different way. The movie is somewhat perfect for me. It has this subtle vibe of romance. Usually, movies about first love can be so dramatic and passionate that it just ruins the innocence that's supposed to represent "first love." This is not the case for Architecture 101. The soundtrack was also really good and as you might have noticed, I'm a sucker for good soundtracks. Overall, this movie is at the top of my list because I think it's worthy enough to be in line with my other favorite movies like "My Sassy Girl" or "Windstruck."
That's it for the top 5 recent Korean romance movies. I hope you guys like the movies in the list and I promise to watch more romance movies so that I can review them here.
P.S.
This post is to make up for the past month (February). I haven't posted anything because of my busy schedule, but I hope this list makes up for it. I'll try to post another list (maybe of soundtracks) for the "love month," February.
Prime Minister and I stars Lee Beom Soo and Yoona (Girl's Generation) as the titular characters, "Prime Minister" and "I," respectively. It started airing last December 2013 (on a Monday & Tuesday run time), and is almost nearing its end. I've only started watching it and I really got hooked. I'm not that of a fan of Yoona, and I'm not really familiar with Lee Beom Soo, that's why I didn't have the motivation to watch this drama when it first aired.
Now for the story..
This drama is about the Prime Minister of Korea who married a young reporter due to circumstances the they were in. Of course, like any other cliché K-drama goes, they don't like each other but still goes through with the wedding for convenient reasons. It's then called a "contract wedding" and so they struggle to keep this secret only between those people who were involved in making the decision. Even the Prime Minister's family (three kids) and Nam Da Jung's (Yoona) sick father are not aware of the wedding being a hoax.
As you might've noticed, the story is quite the same with Full House and Goong (which are two of my favorite Kdramas). The main characters get into a "contract wedding," where they have to pretend that they're all sweet and in love with each other when in reality, they hate each other and that they're just starting to fall in love. I love clichés like that, and so I easily got hooked with the story. I didn't really bother to look up this drama when it aired, but when I didn't have anything to watch on a certain day, I tried it out and ended up watching most of the episodes that's already out. What I like about this drama is that I don't expect any surprising twists or even exciting scenes from it. Just the good all romance of two people stuck in a situation wherein they're meant to fall in love, seals the deal for me. Clichés never disappoint, since you already know what could happen. I love it!
Not recommended though for those who hate clichés and those people who live for criticizing these sort of Korean romantic comedy drama. By the way, I don't have screenshots for this drama because I didn't download it due to lack of space in my hard drive (whale cries). I do need a new external hard drive because my 1 TB one is already full of movies, dramas, sitcoms, and anime. (whale cries again)
Strobe Edge is a shoujo manga by Io Sakisaka. It's set in high school, like most shoujo mangas are, and is about a teenage girl who falls in love for the first time. Ninako is a 15-year old girl who falls in love with a popular guy in his grade, Ren. Everyone loves Ren because he's charismatic and so many girls have already been rejected by him. One thing about Ren though is that he already has a long-time girlfriend who is older than he is and is really pretty. His girlfriend, Mayuka, is a college student and is a model. Mayuka is Daiki's older sister. Now who the hell is Daiki? Daiki, during the first few chapters, is shown as Ninako's best friend and apparently had a crush on Ninako for quite a while. He was into Ninako until she rejected him because of her love for Ren. Now Daiki will have a new love interest, and I'll leave it at that.
There are other characters that will pop up in later chapters of this manga who are all quite important to the story. Since it's a shoujo manga, expect a lot of cheesy and fun moments in the story. In this first volume that I have, the author mentioned that she wanted this manga to become something that everyone could relate with, and created it to contain such emotions that most of us had probably already felt. When I read that, it really stuck with me through my reading of this manga. To be honest, if I didn't read that statement by the mangaka, I wouldn't have continued to read this manga because of its cheesiness. However, the emotions being shown in this manga mostly by the main character, Ninako, is of an innocent love for Ren, and I quite understand that despite the excessive "shoujo manga cliché" that it shows the readers.
Anyway, I just finished this pure and cute story of Ninako and Ren, and I want the song that's stuck with me since it was mentioned that this song is the one Ninako was listening to in a certain chapter of this manga. For those who have already read Strobe Edge, may this song make you remember Ninako's pure and innocent love for Ren.
Reply 1994 ended last Saturday, leaving all of the hopeful fans heartbroken. In every drama that I've watched and liked, I would always feel heartbroken and empty after watching the final episode. Whether I like the ending or not, it will always feel like a good friend leaving for somewhere faraway. This time also, I felt like friends who stuck with me through the latter part of 2013 left me alone again in facing challenges in life. I think that that's how I show my sincere liking for Korean dramas, and whether the stories may be clichéd or too simple, the value it has for me will never change.
Reply 1994 is a Kdrama that I've recently got attached to (and stuck with every week) and the fact that it already ended makes me want to watch it all over again from start to finish. I'm just going to point out some of the highlights of the last episode (Episode 21) of Reply 1994.
Na Jung and Chilbong got some closure, although Chilbong was really heartbroken.
The two "rivals" also got some closure, apparently as sunbae and hoobae.
The first glimpse of the husband, where the foot was only shown, and now the husband's face was finally revealed.
Sseuregi (Trash) or Kim Jae Joon is Na Jung's husband. This is the part when Na Jung's father scolded the husband for choosing the date of their wedding as the same day as the soccer World Cup game.
Sung Dong Il appa hesitating to give Na Jung's hand to Sseuregi.
The happy husband and wife.
There were few moments from the present time that were cleared out, like when Sook-sook asked his brother-in-law to answer Il Hwa omma's call.
The wallet catching thing was also cleared out, because apparently Sam Cheon Po caught the wallet and gave it to Trash hyung-nim.
The scene where Sung Shi Won met the husband from an earlier episode was also shown.
Finally, the scene where everyone gathers in Na Jung and Kim Jae Joon's house for a house-warming party and leaves the house to end the series.
In this scene, it was also revealed that the flat is Chilbong's and that Na Jung and Sseuregi's family is only renting it, which explains why Chilbong is comfortable inside the house already. They also talked about how everyone's first loves worked out, except for Chilbong, who then joked that his also worked out well.
Sung Na Jung and Kim Jae Joon's wedding photo, with awkward Chilbong at the back.
Bonus! Sseuregi appa with his youngest son. So cute!
Finally, we have the final moments of the past. This was in 2002, days before Na Jung and Sseuregi's wedding. They were all watching a soccer match of Korea in the World Cup.
The morning after watching the game, they all gathered for the final breakfast that they will have after living together in the boarding house for many years. Boarding house omma again went all out in preparing the breakfast.
Everyone said their goodbyes, and Haitai was the last one to leave the boarding house since Sam Cheon Po and Yoon Jin already got married a year ago. They took a final photo to commemorate their final moments in the boarding house.
This is the saddest part of the episode, since I feel like I'm also part of the gang and that we're all going our separate ways after this episode.
Towards the end, we also see a scene where Chilbong meets a girl who apparently is from the countryside and also refers to slippers as "ddal-ddari" like how Na Jung referred to Trash's slippers back then, and this made Chilbong laugh.
Haitai became an office worker who succumbs to his superiors, even though in his youth, he was all energetic and did what he wanted.
Na Jung became a strict mother, who would always pay attention to his kids' studies, which is very different from how she was part of a fan culture (basketball) in her youth.
Sam Cheon Po and Yoon Jin enjoying technology, which back then was only a walkman. It was also mentioned that they were really lucky to have experienced both analog and digital in their lifetime.
Binggrae or Kim Dong Joon diligently working in the medical field (revealed to be in the dermatology department in a past episode) despite having issues of identity crisis and career path back then.
Finally, the boarding house went out of business, days before Na Jung's wedding. This final scene made me really empty inside, and it was the perfect way to end the series.
I have many thoughts about this drama, and I might as well reveal them all here. I love it. Even though some people who "shipped" whomever with Na Jung got either really happy or disappointed with the drama, I still believe that in the end, the essence of the drama was redeemed. I also got to a point where I got sick of the husband guessing game but I continued on watching it for the sake of the whole gang. I didn't care anymore who the husband will be (but I initially shipped Na Jung and Sseuregi, since it was first to bloom) and nor should anyone sincerely watching the show. What I mean is that the essence of the drama is to show the life in the past and Na Jung's husband being a mystery is only part of the fun. That's why this show shouldn't be judged whether Na Jung married the "right" guy for him or whether it was justified that Sseuregi should be with Na Jung or not. I think that the writers redeemed the drama towards this last episode and really showed the true beauty of this series. Don't get me wrong, I'm really satisfied with the way this story was told, and only the husband guessing game being extended for too long that got me a bit uneasy watching this. Nonetheless, I've never watched a drama this good lately (well, except for Gu Family Book) and I'm really happy that I had Reply 1994 with me this 2013.
I will definitely miss the whole Reply 1994 gang and I believe that I love this gang much more than the Reply 1997 one, since I can probably relate to these 20-somethings more. Before I get too depressed, I just found out that there would be a special episode that will air Jan 3, 2014. Here's a preview of what's in store for us Reply 1994 fans in that special.
December 22, 2013. Sunday, 12:00am (Philippine time).
I'm done with Christmas gift shopping! (well, except for one last which I'll be buying in Dubai) I've also wrapped them (those for my family) and pre-wrapped the other ones. It's so much fun wrapping the gifts, but it was tiring when I bought them this morning. It even rained hard in the afternoon! I was trying to go home from buying gifts and doing some errands and it rained just when I stepped outside. Despite that, I'm home and trying to finalize the things that I'll be bringing with me, and I hope that I don't forget anything.
***
This movie is a well-known (romance-themed) Christmas movie in the English-speaking world. Love Actually is a British film about many couples with different love stories, which are somehow interrelated. As Christmas was approaching, the characters experience love, be it requited, unrequited, friendly, or even forbidden.
I'm going to talk about the couples involved in this movie, and the situations they are in.
Juliet and Peter
Mark and Juliet
These two (Juliet and Peter) are a newly wed couple. Peter's best man, Mark, is in love with Juliet for the longest time, and couldn't even tell her until after Peter and Juliet were already married. Juliet basically just found out about Mark's feelings for her. In the end, Mark confessed his feelings, as a way of letting go.
He did the cutest stunt! He played a carol (Silent Night) on a cassette player and hoped that Juliet will answer the door. Juliet did, and so he showed the placards that he prepared for her. (without Peter knowing about this)
Next couples are Daniel-Joanna and Sam-Joanna.
Daniel and his wife Joanna, who just passed away.
Daniel and his step-son, Sam.
Sam and his crush, Joanna.
Daniel's wife just passed away, while Sam and himself are left behind. Daniel is not that close to his step-son, but he tried to be close to him and talked to him, and so Sam opened up and told him about his crush in school, Joanna, who's an American who sings really well. When Joanna was leaving for the US at the eve of Christmas, Sam courageously told her about his feelings and so Joanna kissed him good-bye (for now). These two kids are the cutest!
Now we have Harry-Karen and Harry-Mia.
Harry and Karen with their two children.
Harry and Mia.
As you have already probably guessed, Harry fell in love with another woman apart from his wife. He already has a family, but his new secretary, Mia seduced him, and he fell for it. Harry's wife, Karen, was well aware of this, and didn't think much of it at first, not until she figured out that her husband gave Mia a necklace. Karen then confronted Harry and Harry realized his faults. He probably took a break to give sometime for himself to think, but in the end, he'll be coming home to his family.
Next are Sarah-Karl and Sarah-Michael.
Sarah and Karl.
Sarah and Michael.
Sarah has been in love with Karl, her co-worker, for many years now. When they finally got the chance to be together, Sarah couldn't leave her brother, Michael, who has a mental problem. She would always blow off Karl to talk to her brother because her brother needs her more than anything. In the end, her love for her brother was still stronger than her long-time unrequited love for Karl.
Next is Jamie and Aurelia.
Jamie finally proposing to Aurelia.
Jamie is a writer who went for a trip to write a new book. He gets his house-helper, Aurelia, since he is too busy putting his thoughts into words to cook for himself or even do house chores. As they spent time together, they developed feelings for each other. However, when Aurelia finished her house-helping duties with Jamie, they went their own separate ways. Of course, Jamie then realizes his feelings for Aurelia and tries to learn Portuguese (since Aurelia can't speak English) and then goes to find Aurelia to ask her hand in marriage.
John and Judy.
John and Judy at a production set.
John and Judy met at a filming of a movie where they're supposed to have sex scenes. While they're working together (naked), they would always talk to each other comfortably even when doing those (fake) sex scenes. The finally got together after the shooting.
Colin and Harriet
Harriet with Colin introducing her to his friend, Tony.
Tony is always teasing Colin that he can't have a girlfriend and couldn't even if he tried a million times. Colin then figured out that only English women aren't attracted to his charms and so he went for a trip to America to find an American girlfriend. As we can see on the screenshot, Colin was able to get an American girlfriend during his trip and so he introduced "Harriet" to his friend Tony.
Billy Mack and Joe
Billy Mack hugging his manager, Joe.
Billy Mack is a veteran singer who has his long-time manager, Joe. Billy would always be mean to Joe and doesn't seem to appreciate Joe's hard work in being his manager. However, in the end, Billy realized that Joe is the only one whom he wants to spend the holidays with. (not in a romantic way, but in a "bromantic" way. Haha!)
Lastly, we have David and Natalie.
David and Natalie at a Christmas show, publicly revealing their relationship.
David is the Prime Minister, and Natalie works for him. He fell in love with her, and at first, he tried to get rid of her (transferred her to a different job) so that his growing feelings for her will be suppressed. But it did not last long, and he found himself looking for her on Christmas eve, because he found out that she also might have feelings for him. That's when he confessed to her and afterwards, they publicly revealed their relationship unexpectedly.
That's about it for the couples, and these interrelated stories of different couples on the Christmas season showed the different forms of love that can exist in our lives. We have to admit it, Christmas has developed from a celebration of Christ's birth, to also a day that we celebrate our love for our family, friends, and lovers.
December 21, 2013. Saturday, 12:00am (Philippine time).
I'm currently pondering over the Christmas gifts that I will be giving this year. Last Christmas was pretty lonely (gift wise) but still happy since I got to be with my parents. This year, I am giving presents (even though I'm quite broke) to my friends and family! I want every gift to be personalized, and just last Wednesday my friend and I got really tired of going around from store to store looking for gifts. Nevertheless, buying gifts for everyone made me fulfilled contrary to the stressful start of December that I had.
For this post, I will be talking about the movie Just Friends, starring Ryan Reynolds and Amy Smart.
Ryan Reynolds plays Chris, a fat guy in high school whose best friend is a pretty and popular girl, Jamie (Amy Smart).
You can probably guess that Chris is in the "friend zone." Look at the adorable shirt Jamie got him for their high school graduation.
Chris was bullied upon everyone finding out about his feelings for Jamie. He wanted to prove all of those jerks who bullied him that he can change and become better than they were. He then went to college, got a job in LA and became successful.
Ten years after he experienced the most shameful night of his life, he's now a gorgeous fit man who's a big time record producer in LA. Now that he's a handsome guy who's got it all, women like him and he likes them back, but just enough to sleep with them for one night.
Being a record producer, he's assigned with a task to bring their record's new pop singer, Samantha James (Anna Faris) to Paris, but then their private jet emergency landed on a place near Chris's hometown in New Jersey. The screenshot above showed the two (Chris and Samantha) "surprising" Chris's mom by crashing in their home.
Chris is finally conveniently in his hometown, where his old best friend (Jamie) is. He reunited with some old friends in a bar in town and there he also reunited with Jamie. Jamie (as shown above) is now working as a bartender. They got together again and hung out as friends and visited places that they used to hang out in. Chris also found out that Jamie is not just a bartender, but also a teacher.
This is a long shot of Jamie's house which decorations are beautifully and effortfully put together.
All throughout the movie, we can see Christmas decors, Christmas events like singing carols, Christmas parties, and the like, amidst the white, fluffy and cold exterior.
Going back to the story.. Chris and Jamie hung out like when they were in high school, but now that they're adults, anything could happen, right? However, Chris's plan to sleep with Jamie did not work out, probably because he wanted to do that as some sort of "revenge" for his "friend zoned" self in high school and yet he still seems to have feelings for Jamie. Jamie also seemed to want to be with Chris this time despite keeping him in the "friend zone" in high school.
And as chick flicks go, something happened that caused the main characters to be in a fight and reevaluate the things that they've done, and so Chris went back to LA. But then he didn't last long and immediately went back home to be with Jamie, and then Jamie also accepted him. Aww. So cliché right? That's what we love about chick flicks! Anyway, all's well that ends well!
Four days left until Christmas and I still have four more movies to blabber about in this blog!
P.S.
This Christmas countdown will make up for the few weeks that I didn't have a Reel Thursday article. I've been squeezing in some Christmas movies in between reading for grad school to cheer me up a little and that's why I have these movies.
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