Korean drama fever over 'Sungkyunkwan Scandal'

Sungkyunkwan Scandal (courtesy of MySoju.com)

Ya..ya..I know and I'm gonna say it again that it's been a while since my last post. Remember? I was tightly busy with the Sabah International Expo 2010 (SIE2010), one of my company's major event that was just held on 15 - 19 Oct at 1Borneo Hypermall. And now it's all over and we just organised a Budget Forum on 22 Oct and that's over as well....and I'm starting to get a lil lazy at work after all that.

Anyway, back to the subject...this started during the SIE actually, while my friend Dev and I was resting at our hotel room @ Novotel when we turned the tv channel to KBS World (Korean channel) and we watched this Korean drama called 'Sungkyunkwan Scandal'. (you can click on the title to watch it - you could get addicted!) I'ts a romantic comedy drama and read that it's one of Korea's latest hit drama. After watching like 2 episodes of it, I instantly fell in love with the storyline which is so cool & charming because I favoured movies/drama that has a girl pretends to be a boy and there's love triangle kind of thingy going on - just makes my heart melt! I got so into it that we watch the next and next epis online. It's so charming that I could just keep smiling everytime I think about it and I've already requested a record store to make me the DVD of the whole drama - crazy huh! I'm having 'Sungkyunkwan Scandal' fever!

Okay let me share you something about this drama:

Synopsis: This drama is set in Sungkyunkwan University during the Joseon era, revolving around the exploits and love stories of four youths. When her younger brother falls ill, Kim Yoon Hee enters the school in his place disguised as a boy in her desperation to find a way to support him, and becomes friends with Lee Sun Joon, extremely rich and the brains of the gang, playboy Goo Yong Ha and the rebellious Moon Jae Shin.

Check out the trailer here: Sungkyunkwan Scandal

The four main characters L-R: Lee Sun Joon (Micky Yoochun), Kim Yoon Hee/Kim Yung Shik (Park Min Young), Moon Jae Shin ((Yoo Ah In - my fav & he's hot) and Goo Yong Ha (Song Joong Ki)

I'm madly in love with his character - Yoo Ah In starred as 'Moon Jae Shin'. I drools over his sexy lips and killer smiles...haha (sorry husby). For more of him check out this lovely videos here and here and here again and oh here's another one which is my fav (courtesy of Joy13wall & Swoddss - beautiful soundtracks and I love the chemistry of him and the heroine. I so wish they would end up together!) Don't you think he is SO CHARMING with his smile? And he's extremely a good actor too!

Before I end this post (because I might continue on talking about SKKS if I don't stop) I'll leave you with the best part - here's a video that shows the love triangle between Lee Sun Joon, Kim Yoon Hee & Moon Jae Shin. (And to swoddss - your videos are great!)

I'm smiling now...again (thinking how charming Moon Jae Shin/Yoo Ah In is..hehehehe...naughty mama)

Go animated

As I was going around searching for X'mas gifts, I saw this tiny cute keyring called 'Forest Ghost' which stated on it's box could bring love and luck. Me being so Donna loved stuffs like this - I loved collecting. I'm amazed with those creative people who creates stuffs like these and make $ out of it. I got it from 'Something Different' gift shop. They have a few kinds and this one is called 'Love Dolls': Sparks of love will never eliminate interest, enjoyment of forever fatal-level gravity-like feeling love. I might buy other series later.


It's made in China - you can tell by reading the description at the back of it's little box.

Well, I was at the movies again....

Went to watch Disney's musical 'The Princess and the Frog' today - loved/enjoyed it...so worth watching for you and your family. It's funny and the music is great...the movie soundtrack is a MUST buy! When I read that the movie is gonna be set in the Jazz Age in New Orleans - I already knew the music is gonna be great! Can't wait to buy the dvd for my CJ, I know she's gonna love it too.

Check out the synopsis and the trailer here:
THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG, an animated comedy set in the great city of New Orleans. From the creators of “The Little Mermaid” and “Aladdin” comes a modern twist on a classic tale, featuring a beautiful girl named Tiana (ANIKA NONI ROSE), a frog prince who desperately wants to be human again, and a fateful kiss that leads them both on a hilarious adventure through the mystical bayous of Louisiana. THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG marks the return to hand-drawn animation from the revered team of John Musker and Ron Clements, with music by Oscar®-winning composer Randy Newman. One of the voice-over cast is Oprah Winfrey...guess which character(?).


Here's one of my fav song from the movie 'Almost There' sung by Anika Noni Rose (just loved her vocal)


La da di..la da da...Weekend is here again, I hope your weekend will be as fun and exciting as in this picture...beautiful illustration from Mia Overgaard:

Movie: The Little Ashes

Watched this movie 'The Little Ashes' last weekend. Any movie/documentary about an artiste/painter's life is a MUST watch thing for me because anything about the arts fascinates and inspires me. I have a few of this kind of movie in my collection such as Surviving Picasso, Pollock and Frida. Honestly, I don't really understand this movie...I mean I can't feel the story...dead boring and lil disgusting. I thought it will feature more on the life of the eccentric Spanish painter, Salvador Dali. Another reason why I watched this movie again because it starred Robert Pattinson (you know...the Twilight heartrob?) who potrays Dali.

If this movie interest you, check out the synopsis & trailer here. I think this movie is as stupid as Sacha Baron Cohen's 'Bruno' (remember the 'Borat' guy?) - so gay! (sorry!)


Read synopsis of the movie here:
Madrid in 1922 is a city wavering on the edge of change as traditional values are challenged by the dangerous new influences of jazz, Freud and the avant-garde. Salvador Dalí arrives at university at the age of 18 years old, determined to become a great artist. His bizarre blend of shyness and rampant exhibitionism attracts the attention of two of the university’s social elite — Federico García Lorca and Luis Buñuel.
Salvador is absorbed into their decadent group and for a time he, Luis and Federico become a formidable trio, the most ultra-modern group in Madrid. However, as time passes, Salvador feels an increasingly strong pull toward the charismatic Federico — who is oblivious to the attention he is getting from his beautiful writer friend, Magdalena. Finally, in the face of his friends’ preoccupations — and Federico’s growing renown as a poet — Luis sets off for Paris in search of his own artistic success.
Alone in Madrid, Federico struggles against his psyche, tortured by the damning implications of his own religious beliefs and the undeniable voice of his flesh. He is haunted by news of Salvador, who is collaborating on a Surrealist film with Luis and has embarked on an affair with Gala, a married woman.
By 1936 Spain is teetering on the precipice of civil war, and Federico, now a highly acclaimed and controversial playwright, receives an invitation to dinner from Salvador and Gala. But the hosts have a rather unusual agenda and the evening is a disaster. A week later, Salvador is hosting a party when he discovers that Federico has been assassinated in the outbreak of war. The walls of self-denial that surround the artist come crashing down as he realizes, too late, the depth of his love for Federico.



Here's photos of the real Salvador Dali (younger & older):



And here are 3 of Salvador Dali's famous paintings. I find his paintings creatively strange, unique and super erotic but yet amazing...I like!

The Madonna of Port Iligat


Christ of St John of the Cross


The Persistence of Memory (one of the most famous of Dali's paintings)

I also liked some of Dali's quotes:

'When I paint, the sea roars, the others splash about in the bath'

Drawing is the honesty of the art. There is no possibility of cheating. It is either good or bad.

People love mystery, and that is why they love my paintings.

Have no fear of perfection, you'll never reach it.

Those who do not want to imitate anything, produce nothing.

One interesting trivia - do you know the Chupa Chups lollipop? Dali actually designed its logo and the logo is still used on the famous Chupa Chups lolly wrappers until today.


Now I understand what 'surrealism' (A 20th-century literary and artistic movement that attempts to express the workings of the subconscious and is characterized by fantastic imagery and incongruous juxtaposition of subject matter) movement is. Here's an example of what surrealist painting looks like. Interesting right?!






I think I'll attempt to paint a surrealist art sometime soon. Wish me luck and be my 1st critic.

Baler

I've yet to watch the new released 'BALER', a Philippino movie but I'm really looking forward to watching it...I might want to watch it on Cinema or just buy the VCD today. I heard it's romantic & beautifully directed & probably consider an epic as well (like the movie Australia). I'm having goose bumps about it....especially when my fav Phil hunk, Jericho Rosales is on it starring together with Anne Curtis. (Aaaaaarrghh, I'm screaming now - crazy!)


Synopsis (taken from WikiPilipinas):
In 1898, a band of Spanish soldiers heroically defended Baler (which would later be the capital municipality of Aurora in 1951) against Filipino forces for 337 long and grueling days.

Filipino barrio lass Feliza (Anne Curtis) and Filipino-Spanish soldier Celso (Jericho Rosales) are caught in a forbidden love, torn apart by the societies they came from. Feliza's father Nanding (Philip Salvador) is an anti-Spanish government fighter, which puts pressure on the young couple to keep their relationship a secret. Outnumbered and out-gunned by the Indios they once governed and abused, the Spanish soldiers in Baler, including Celso and buddy Lope (Mark Bautista), are now forced to hole up in a church as they wait for non-existent military reinforcements to rescue them from the band of Filipinos who have now surrounded them and are waiting for their surrender.


The music is great as well & of course I've always love the voice of Sarah Geronimo. Sarah sings the Baler movie theme song 'Ngayon, Bukas at Kailanman', composed by Louie Ocampo.


So I've got to watch this movie - A MUST!

My Simple Film Review: AUSTRALIA & Deepa Mehta's WATER

AUSTRALIA, a beautiful epic.....

Synopsis: It tells the story of English aristocrat Lady Sarah Ashley (played by Nicole Kidman) in the 1930s, who inherits an Australian Outback cattle property. To save the animals from local cattle barons, Lady Ashley joins forces with a rugged cattle drover (played by Hugh Jackman) to drive 1500 cattle through Australia's Top End, only to be caught in the events surrounding the bombing of Darwin during World War II. The movie is directed by Baz Luhrmann....remember his 2001 musical success Moulin Rouge(?). (I'm a fan of all his films)

The real star of the movie is not a name you would recognise. Brandon Walters plays the boy 'Nullah' and narrator. A small boy being asked to carry the vast majority of the film in a genre that’s pretty much been in deep stasis (if not actually extinct) for a number of years is a tall task. That he pulls it off is astonishing. That he does it with aplomb is breathtaking. An emotionally nuanced performance that carried the audience on a rollercoaster of laughter, drama and sadness that in and of itself is a reason to watch this movie.





Eleven-year-old Brandon Walters makes his film debut in Australia as the Aboriginal boy Nullah.

I really adores this little aborigine cutie...I wish there's a 'Nullah' doll that I could cuddle-ha! I learned that this is his very first film and 1st time actor...but boy he's really, really GOOD....I think he could be nominated as Supporting Actor in the next Oscar's award. And this epic could be the next Oscar's Best Picture.

This movie is really worth watching, great cinematography and good acting of all the casts. It's also very dramatic and heartfelt...especially when it comes to some scenes how the aborigines were treated unfairly and casted out. I love that Nicole and Hugh are also great together/perfect match...I mean Baz Luhrmann or any directors should get both of them to act together on more romantic films in the future.




Check out trailer here:


WATER by Deepa Mehta

This is quite an old movie but it's not a typical Hindi movie. It's one of the 'Elements' Trilogy feature films by Deepa Mehta after 'Fire' and 'Earth'. But on all CD stores in town, I could only find 'Water'.

Synopsis: The year is 1938, India is ruled by the British, and it is around this time that Mohandas K. Gandhi has arrived from Africa to begin his tryst with the British, as well as battle the traditions that bind the Hindus. Not yet in her teens, Chuyia is married to a much older and sickly male, who shortly after the marriage, passes away. Chuyia is returned unceremoniously to her parents' house, and from there she is taken to the holy city of Banaras and left in the care of a wide assortment of widows who live at "the widows' house," shunned by the rest of the community. Chuyia believes that her mother will come to take her home. Here she meets several elderly women, including the head of the house, Madhumati; a quiet, confident woman named Shakuntala; and a gorgeous young woman named Kalyani -- all widows. Chuyia does not know that according to Holy Hindu Scriptures she has been destined to live here for the rest of her life, for when a woman's husband dies', she has three options: One, to marry her husband's younger brother, if his family permits; two, to kill herself on his funeral pyre; three, to live a life of celibacy, discipline, and solitude amongst her own kind. A new law in India which permits a widow to re-marry is not popular, and it is these customs and openly welcoming the lower castes that will pit Gandhiji against his very own people, apart from struggling with the British to leave India. Kalyani meets and falls in love with young Narayan, a follower of Mahatma Gandhi, who wants to marry her, despite his mother's protests. The question remains, can Kalyani marry the man she loves? Will he still want to marry her when he knows everything about her? And is Chuyia destined to live the rest of her life as a widow among shunned widows? Written by rAjOo (gunwanti@hotmail.com)

The movie was originally supposed to star Shabana Azmi and Nandita Das. It was nearly abandoned by Deepa Mehta after protests by Hindu organisations halted filming in the year 2000. The director received death threats and was forced to shelve the movie after Indian authorities shut down filming amid protests by Hindu outfits. She finally shot the film in Sri Lanka five years later. With new casts, crew and a little twist in the story.



Like Australia, the movie potrayed more on the child actor as the main character. I think Deepa has her reasons (probably more on security) for casting Lisa Ray (played the role of Kulyani), a Canadian citizen and whom is of mixed parentage - Bengali Indian father & Polish Mother, even though she can't really act that well (my opinion) and she looked too much of a 'Mat Salleh' than a real Indian woman in that movie. The real star there is the child actress Sarala who played Chuyia...what a superb acting and very talented young soul! Overall it was a creative and well done movie yet touching (you may have some disturbing feelings too) by Deepa and of course the music by A.R. Rahman contributes to its greatness. I enjoyed it.


If you would like to learn more about the lives of the widows in India, you should also watch Forgotten Woman by Dilip Mehta (Deepa's brother).


Just love epic movies and feature films like this - A MUST WATCH!