TheJ
Earth
Acting/Cast: Fujiwara Tatsuya was the biggest factor when I decided to finally give the movie a try. After viewing Light in a certain way for all of these years, I really wasn't a fan of his portrayal of him at first. But, as time went on, and I continued watching, I really ended up loving him in the role.
Matsuyama Kenichi is the perfect L. Everything from the way he talks, to the way he sits, to the way he acts, was just totally spot-on. I had absolutely no trouble believing he was L.
The rest of the characters didn't get too much time of their own, but when they did, I wasn't disappointed.
Music: Honestly, I don't remember much of the music from this movie. There's the suspenseful music every now and then, but that's all I remember.
After being so used to hearing it every few minutes in the anime whenever Light's coming up with a new plan, it was kind of disappointing to have it lacking in the movie.
Rewatch Value: After watching the anime repeatedly, and reading the manga just as much, I can safely say I would do the same with the movie.
Overall: Overall, the only things I can think to complain about were the music and the occasional slowness. Like I said though, it's pretty much a given when watching a Japanese movie, so it didn't bother me enough to not give this movie a 10.
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The story had it's predictable parts (like most horror movies), and within the first half hour I was 99% certain on who the killer was, but that didn't really take away from the film; they had a way of making my 1% uncertainty look like it could actually be that.
I really liked the way the stories of each individual in the movie tied in with the next.
Acting/Cast: I liked the acting a lot. The whole cast, I felt, did an amazing job in their roles of adults who still suffer from childhood trauma.
Music: I honestly don't remember hearing any music in the movie at all. A bit during the more suspenseful parts, but that's it. And while I'd usually dislike that in a movie, I thought it fit well with the movie as a whole. I personally find silence to be scarier, so keeping a horror film like that is perfection in my book.
Rewatch Value: I don't really feel like this is a movie I'd watch just for the hell of it again. If I had some free time, and I was in the mood for some horror, then I could see myself going to this.
Overall: Overall, I really enjoyed it. Asian horror films have always been some of my favorites, and this didn't disappoint.
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After finally being pushed to her limit, and after more than one failed suicide attempt, she does the last thing she feels she can do to live a happy life. The story following the surgery is about her journey to accepting her new self while not completely forgetting her old self.
Acting/Cast: I loved the acting and the cast.
Kim Ah Joong did an amazing job of portraying an overweight person, and an amazing job of portraying the skinny person she becomes. In most shows/movies like that, the girl is instantly 500% more confident, while Kim Ah Joong still had to get used to people not gawking at her for being the "ugly, fat chick." Even little things, like learning to walk in heels, were a joy to watch.
I'm still unsure about Joo Jin Mo's character. He seemed to have two different opinions depending on who he was with, so I wasn't really sure what think about him. I suppose, if I ignore the fact that his character confused me, I can easily say his acting was amazing.
Music: Loved the music throughout the movie.
Rewatch Value: I could definitely see myself rewatching this movie often. Definitely. The last 10 minutes or so of the movie (mostly the speech in particular) had me bawling. Just full-on bawling.
Overall: Overall, even though I loved the movie, I had to give it an 8.
While the character herself makes it known that the surgery is for herself, and not for anybody else, it doesn't erase the fact that, ultimately, this was a movie about a person who's life becomes better only after becoming pretty in society's eye. It's just not the type of message I enjoy seeing in the media.
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Even though it was made almost 9 years ago, I had to take off some points for some serious loopholes in the story. It seemed like, after the first 30-40 minutes, the story was just dropped. They had went from not liking each other to suddenly using cute nicknames so fast that you could get whiplash. There was never a hint of them liking each other, so it just felt off. Once I got over it though, it wasn't too bad.
The first half hour or so was definitely the best part of this movie though. I had to keep pausing because I was laughing so hard that I couldn't even hear what they were saying.
Acting/Cast: I'm already a big fan of both Kim Jae Won and Ha Ji Won, and while this didn't really make me feel better or worse about my like of Kim Jae Won (although seeing that body was a nice surprise), my love for Ha Ji Won definitely grew.
Even though Ha Ji Won was 25/26 when she filmed this (which I still can't believe while watching the movie), she pulled off her role as a teenager flawlessly.
Kim Jae Won was amazing in his role of self-absorbed rich boy.
I personally think they meshed well when on screen. The love-hate relationship they had going on was believable.
Music: I enjoyed the music throughout the movie.
Rewatch Value: Like I said, there were some things that just didn't make sense to me throughout the movie, so it's not something I'd want to give another try. At least not for a while.
Overall: It had its ups and it had its down. The chemistry between the leads made up for a lot of the downs. The beginning and ending also made up for the downs.
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The first half of the movie or so went by far too fast in my opinion. I almost gave up watching it. The last half of the movie was better. It slowed down a bit.
Acting/Cast: Song Seung Hun is one of my favorite actors (and the reason I didn't drop this after the first half); this didn't disappoint. I don't know if it was him, or the character he was playing, but I was just totally in love. His innocence when it came to relationships was just really endearing.
Jung Da Bin took some getting used to. Throughout the first half, much like the movie, I just wasn't feeling it. It felt like she was trying too hard a lot of the time.
The rest of the cast, aside from Lee Ki Woo (and that's probably just because he was the only other person who got a lot of screen time), wasn't really memorable.
Music: I honestly don't remember any music from this movie at all. There were some club scenes, but I don't even remember any of that.
Rewatch Value: I would rewatch this simply to see Song Seung Hun again. Seriously, that man is far too gorgeous to ignore.
Overall: Overall, it wasn't good. It wasn't bad. It was stuck somewhere in between. I enjoyed watching the main actors interact, and there were a few comedic parts in there that I was laughing really hard at, but that's really all that I found appealing here.
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Acting/Cast: Most dramas these days seem to enjoy casting idols as one of the lead roles. One of the reasons I wanted to watch this (aside from people always recommending it) was because of the fact that it had trained actors as leads. And you could definitely tell the difference. The acting by the cast of this drama was just tugging at my heartstrings a lot through the middle of the drama. Somewhat angsty moments had me absolutely bawling.
Music: A few of the songs were starting to get really repetitive as I watched this. They weren't bad songs, but they were the kind of songs you could only listen to so many time before wanting to mute it.
The songs were all good; they just needed to cut back on some of the replaying of them.
Rewatch Value: I really liked this show. I would love to watch it again in the future.
Overall: Overall, as much as I loved the acting and the cast, I had to give it an 8.
Much like a few of the songs in the show, the whole thing started to get really repetitive. It was the kind of drama where it was a constant back and forth of I-love-you-but-now-I-hate-you-but-I-really-love-you-when-I'm-not-hating-you a lot of the time. It got old. Very old.
One of my biggest pet peeves about shows that do things like that is that people never try to avoid misunderstandings. Instead of just mollifying the person who's misunderstanding, they just stand there and let the person's emotions fester. That also got very old.
I did love the character of Sam Soon though. Throughout the whole show, she never changed. She started off as a strong character, and she ended the show as one. She fell in love along the way, and had no problems crying over a man, but that didn't stop her from letting him control her life. In a lot of dramas, when a woman falls for a man, it's like she forgets who she is. This drama scored big with me for not going down that road.
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Acting/Cast: I was really quite find of the cast.
I tend to be a bit harsher when watching an idol act in a drama. Since they're trained to sing and dance, and not act, I tend to be wary of them being a lead. Siwon was really a pleasant surprise for me. I'd be lying if I said he didn't actually have me tearing up a few times.
Chae Rim was, in my eyes, spectacular.
Even in the smaller roles, I felt the actors pulled it off fantastically.
Music: Loved it. Absolutely loved it. I've actually never really been too interested in Sunny, but every time her song would come on, I would find myself singing along each time. The main balled of the show was just as addictive for me. It would start playing, and I'd be ready to sing along.
Rewatch Value: I finished this drama in less than 48 hours. I managed to spend a whole day watching over half of the show without even realizing it; I was that engrossed.
There aren't many dramas I rewatch, but I thought this drama was incredibly cute, so I'd definitely watch it again.
Overall: Overall, even though I loved the drama, it only gets a 9. I felt the end was really rushed. It definitely would've helped if it had been extended another episode or something. While it didn't really leave anything unanswered, it just kind of left me...dissatisfied.
One of my favorite things about this drama was its lack of every rom-com cliche. It definitely had it's predictable moments; there's no denying that. But the lack of scheming ex-girlfriends and in-laws spending every episode threatening to ruin the leading lady's life was a nice change.
I loved having the little girl as such an important part of the show. I felt like that was really cemented this as a fantastic drama for me. Her interactions with the leads, as well as their interactions with her, were really amazing to watch.
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Acting/Cast: I started this score off as a ten, and then docked two points for the leads. When I started watching the show, I was already expecting it to be pretty bad (because Korea's past adaptations so far have been horrible), so I didn't let that cloud my judgement when it came to their acting. As the show went on though, I actually found myself skipping over almost all parts that had Sulli and/or Minho in them because it was starting to feel like watching them was a chore instead of feeling like I was enjoying myself.
Minho seemed to have three emotions at his disposal at all times: happiness, sadness, and anger. I understand that the original character is like that, but the actor, in my opinion, should at least be able to display something else if it's needed. And he just really fell short.
Sulli was pretty much the same way when it came to her acting. In most of her scenes, she just stood there. Just stood, while everybody else acted. It was incredibly boring to watch.
The rest of the cast is literally the only reason I made it through to the end of this drama.
Music: This OST was just a total killjoy for me. It seemed like every second of this show was nothing but an SM concert. I'm a big fan of SM and their music, but even I was on the verge of watching the show on mute just to avoid listening to all of it.
Rewatch Value: Every now and then I'll find a drama I would want to rewatch. This was definitely not one of them.
Overall: Overall, the only reason this drama scored higher than a 5 from me was because of the rest of the cast. It felt like the whole drama was nothing but SM everywhere: The leads were SM artists; the OST was only SM artists; even the school was named Genie (a name all of us know from those horrid ads on SM music videos). If they had focused more on finding actual actors to lead the show, and less on promoting SM (I realize I bring that up a lot, but seriously, it was just everywhere), I feel like it really would've helped this drama.
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Acting/Cast: Personally, I feel they really struck gold with this cast. Eun Ji was exceptional in her role as an H.O.T fan. When they were mentioned, she was ecstatic; when they were insulted, she was ready to defend them. Even if I wasn't already like her in that respect, I'd have no trouble believing her acting.
The chemistry between everybody was fantastic. Eun Ji and In Guk played the role of friends from birth really well.
Music: Throughout the show, you hear music from virtually every year between 1997 and 2012, and it's fantastic.
Rewatch Value: I'm not a big fan of rewatching dramas, but I could easily see myself watching this again in the future.
Overall: When it comes to watching dramas, it usually takes a lot to impress me. The fact that I gave this a 10 all-around really speaks volumes.
I loved this drama. The first half was a lot of comedy with some drama thrown in; the second half was a lot of drama (well acted drama [seriously, there were a few times I just had to cry along with the characters]) with some comedy thrown in; the whole show was a perfect mix of both.
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Acting/Cast: I think they did okay with what they were given.
Music: While I liked a lot of the music throughout the show, I scored it lower because, like the story, it was focusing too much on the main 4 characters. There was a cast of skilled people on this show, but when it was time to perform solo, as duets, or as groups, everybody else usually got pushed aside and you never got to see them. If you did get to hear them sing, the camera usually still ignored them.
Rewatch Value: I don't usually rewatch dramas.
Overall: In the end, it didn't rate high on my list of dramas. If they had focused more on the actual performing aspects of a show about performers, instead of the complicated love square of the main people, it would've been deserving of a higher overall score.
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Acting/Cast: I loved the acting/cast so much. So freaking much. I think my favorite part about the cast is that none of them were really overly attractive. In most movies about sex, it seems like everybody is built like a Greek god, whereas this movie had people who just seemed normal.
Yoo Chae Young was, without a doubt, the best part of this movie for me though. She was perfect in her role.
Music: Aside from a few parts of the movie where the actors were singing, I don't even remember there being any music in this movie.
Rewatch: I could see myself watching this over and over again. It had a perfect blend of comedy (seriously, the comedic parts were fantastic) and romance that I really enjoyed.
Overall: Overall, this definitely gets a 10 in my book. Even though it was seriously lacking in the story department, the rest of the movie made up for it.
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Acting/Cast - Before this even came out, I was already waiting in anticipation because I absolutely love So Ji Sub and Lee Yeon Hee. I was definitely not disappointed. Those two, as well as the rest of the cast, did an amazing job in their roles. The good guy roles, as well as the bad guy roles, were very believable.
Music - This was probably one of my favorite parts. The first half of the drama or so, you hear 'The Phantom of the Opera' a lot, and that song is incredible. Then there was the instrumental 'GHOST' that played a lot that I thought was fantastic. The rest of the songs + instrumentals played throughout were amazing as well.
Rewatch Value - I don't really like to rewatch dramas often, but I could definitely imagine myself watching this one again at some point in the future.
Overall - Overall, this whole drama, I think, is perfect. Like most dramas, it had its ups and downs, but I feel like the pros far outweighed the cons. There are two factors that really set this drama apart from other dramas for me.
1) The main focus of this drama wasn't a love story. In other dramas, that's almost always either a main story, or it becomes on 1/4 of the way through.
2) It didn't spend the whole time dragging on with one storyline. There were a few smaller ones tossed in that kept it interesting without taking away from the drama as a whole.
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Acting/Cast -10: This was where the drama was fantastic. The acting was so good, that sometimes the main couple actually had me smiling like an idiot because I was so happy. I've already mentioned that I watched this for LSG and Alex, but some of the smaller roles were the ones that had me hooked.
Choi Jae Hwan as Jung Eun Soo was absolutely perfect. By far one of my favorite characters from any drama I've seen. I can't even imagine someone else taking that role.
As for the other supporting actors, they all had their moments. The Italian chefs had me laughing a lot throughout the show.
Music - 9: The music was the next best part about the show. Whenever an instrumental would come on, I would smile and dance along like an idiot.
Rewatch Value: 7: This isn't higher simply because there were a few characters throughout the show that drove me insane. You know the kind; the ones that have you wishing you could reach through the screen and strangle them (all of those people definitely contributed to me scoring the acting/cast so high too).
Overall 9: While the story didn't interest me, the acting, music, and chemistry between every single actor/character more than made up for it.
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Acting/Cast - 10: I could give this a 10 alone simply because of the little girl. She was absolutely fantastic in her role. Her acting far surpassed even some adult actors for me.
Music - 6: Aside from 'Moonlight Sonata' (a song that plays a somewhat big part in the film), I don't remember any of the music from this film at all.
Rewatch Value - 8: Was a good movie, so I wouldn't be against watching it again.
Overall - 9: Like I said earlier, the ending was just kind of blah, so I docked it a point.
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Story - 10 : It's definitely a story that interested me. Two babies switched at birth by a vengeful nurse, only to discover later on in life what happened.
Acting/Cast - 10 : This one explains itself if you watch the show. The acting was fantastic. The actors portraying nice characters had you loving them at all times; the actors portraying "villains" had you wishing you had the ability to hit people through your screen.
There was, of course, the few English speaking actors every now and then that took overacting to a whole new level, but you learn to deal with it.
Music - 10 : The OST is absolutely amazing. Every song (and instrumental) is perfect. Their timing with the scenes is perfect.
Rewatch Value - 6 : I think, looking at how many episodes made up this show, this questions answers itself. Maybe, a long time down the road when I have a lot of free time, and desperately need to cry, I'd rethink this decision.
Overall - 9 : Up until secrets started slowly being revealed, it felt like it was moving incredibly slow, but I still found myself hooked. And once everybody knew everybody else's secrets, I found it hard to turn it off.
Like I stated above, if you ever need to watch something that'll have you crying your eyes out more often than not, and you don't mind a bit of a slow story, this show won't disappoint.
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