The movie is appropriately titled because living the life of a gangster is indeed dirty business, and the film neither sugarcoats nor glamorizes this lifestyle (as other, especially Western, gangster flicks are wont to do). Once you become entrapped there are few, if any, routes of escape.
It's a cautionary tale about an underbelly of society that's dog eat dog, where karma is a real bitch. Trust and betrayal thread a very thin line and losing your humanity becomes the only modus operandi to ensuring your survival.
From where I sat the film was brilliantly executed both in terms of story and plot. The pacing was taut, there was never a dull moment that I can remember. You're kept fully engrossed by a stellar cast who made their characters seem real and very convincing.
Jo In Sung, in the role of charismatic, but conflicted Byung-doo, puts on a memorable performance. Byung-doo is a young man whose life has become twisted by fate. A filial son, and still possessing a shred of conscience despite the violence that surrounds him, I was able to sympathize with the character even while I was appalled by the brutality and ruthlessness fueling his actions.
Considering previous events, the big boss singing a cappella in one of the final scenes really struck chord in me. That's pretty much all I remember about the music, but it was effective enough in that moment to warrant a 7.
Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. I wouldn't have minded if certain things went down differently, but I appreciate the film for its realistic portrayal of what I imagine that world and the people who live in it to be. I doubt fans of the mob genre will be disappointed.
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This review may contain spoilers
A friend of mine recently said that sometimes a drama can just creep up on you. Never has that been more true than with The Vineyard Man. I struggled so much trying to watch this drama, I dropped it twice without being able to get through the first episode. I honestly couldn't imagine that I would ever enjoy it, even as I was watching it. But as with Secret Garden, I am so glad I was willing to give this show a third chance. This show is far from perfect, some episodes drag, and they definitely took their sweet time advancing the romantic story line. They spent way WAY too much time on the love triangle aspect of the show. As you get into the second half, it's like they just can't stop beating the dead horse as they tried too hard to extract every bit of drama and frustration that a love triangle can bring.
The characters were all pretty phenomenal, especially Jang Taek Gi. Seriously, he may have taken the spot as my number one drama hero fantasy boyfriend :p He was so incredibly sweet and caring, even if he could be dense at times. Lee Ji Hyun was so stinking irritating in the first 8 or 9 episodes, she is what made this drama so hard to get through! She was just a spoiled brat, and I hated listening to her whine. I know that that was the point, she is supposed to undergo a transformation, but she was just so unlikable in the beginning, it was grating. The secondary characters were a joy to watch, too. The villagers were all funny, I especially loved Taek Gi's best friend. His voice cracked me up. The only character I wasn't too fond of was the granduncle, which is weird because I have loved that actor in everything else I have seen him in.
I, of course, don't want to get too spoilery, but I will say the last episode was the best of the whole series, hands down. There wasn't too much romance by way of kissing or any other kind of PDA, but there was plenty of sweet scenes to keep you going :)
Bottom line, there are some things I would have changed, but all in all this was well worth the effort of slogging through the parts that dragged on. If you find yourself getting bored in the first few episodes, I would really recommend reading some recaps to get you through them. If you are looking for something fun, sweet, and pretty funny then this is what you are looking for! If you can make it through the boring, you will definitely be rewarded by the sweet and irresistible!
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I began watching this drama with sky-rocket expectations. There wasn't one single person who said this drama wasn't so good. So I'm blaming those expectations as part of the reason why I didn't enjoy this as much as people promised me I would.
I'm sorry, but I didn't like this as much. I was not impressed, and I never found the thing people enjoyed so much about this.
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I just finished this yesterday. After beginning the same day. I don't know why, I don't know how... but I watched every episode sequentially, one after the other, no breaks in between... I didn't eat, I didn't shower, I didn't step out of my room. This is the kind of addictive bad, alright? I knew this was bad as I watched it. But I didn't realize that this downright sucked until I finished it.
This thing is the s***. And I'm not saying that in a good way, because for me s*** means poop. And this should be crowned for being the biggest and smelliest poop out there. Where should I begin?
1. Story: sucked, big time. What in the world is this? Someone needs to get fired. There are no words to describe how bad it was. And there were some random events... oh my God. This story is like the horrendous soup my little brother once tried to make. He had a recipe, and as he began and gave me some sips to see how it was turning out, it was good. But as he progressed making the soup, he began to add every single thing in the refrigerator to make it tastier and more original. And he failed. BIG TIME.
2. Lee Ga Young: I would've been more satisfied if what had happened to Young Gul at the end had happened to this idiot, too. Bella Swan called! She wants her stupidity back. This girl, the only thing she literally did was cry, cry, and bounce back from the two male leads.
3. Young Gul: I'm actually glad of his outcome. Am I the only one who hated him so much? His character was a complete idiot with a spark of motherf*****.
4. The clothes: this is supposed to be a fashion drama. Why in the world am I seeing so many tacky outfits? And I'm not going to use the excuse that I'm not Korean, and that that's why I'm not used to the fashion in this show. But from other dramas I've seen, where I've loved the fashion, I can come to the conclusion that there was no fashion sense in here... AT ALL. Anna was the only one whose style I liked.
5. The ending: The actual f***? I had read reviews for this, but I'd never come across the ending. So when I saw it I was laughing, shocked, amused, and mad at the same time. That was probably one of the most random things in this show.
Look, the first episode was good. I even found myself thinking that this drama wasn't as bad as people said it was.
But it was.
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Also it is officially the FIRST horror movie that has EVER made me cry, if you want to know why, you have to watch it and find out for yourself.
So, in the end all I can say for this movie is "Wow." This movie had some things I was not expecting for a horror movie.
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I will say that this can be a bit heavy for an "everyday" kind of watch, and I needed to be in the mood to sit down and get involved in something to watch it. It has a lot of really fascinating technical aspects to the veterinary work, as well as a lot of political overtones. While I do think that some of the political agenda in it could be tempered a little bit with comments about how best to care for both man and beast, I certainly did not disagree with them. It gives a lot to think about it, a lot of cute furry critters, and a lot of fun moments between the three leads. I would definitely recommend this show.
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There is a movie with the same title from 2010, but the story of this drama is taking place some hundread years earlier, so don't be confused.I haven't see the movie, so I won't compare them.
This drama is an amazing mixture of love, historical events and friendship. I was amazed by the actors how they could portray their characters so well especially Tabe Mikako, who did a great job. She is playing the strong and wild-tempered Iemitsuko with such great feelings. She is portraying the opposite of Arikoto really great. But I can't forget to mention Sakai Masato who is playing Arikoto with such a stone face that it sometimes made me shiver. But what was even more amazing was his other side which was seen only by Iemitsuko.
Tanaka Koki as Gyokuei was quite a strange choice, because he is playing an 18 years old, so I was at the beginning quite wavering, but later on he showed me, he can pull this role off.
My favourite character Masakatsu played by Hirayama Hiroyuki is also very otstanding. I think I will watch more of his works, he needs more spotlight!
I recommend this drama to everyone. You will cry, you will smile, you will want to watch it again like me!
I can't resist to give this drama 10 points for everything including Misia's Deepness as ending song!
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I was very surprised by the movie, I thought it would be dull and sad all the way through, but it was really cute and warm. The editing was just so beautiful, and there were plenty of beautiful sceneries. And that's something that's hard to find in movies/dramas these days.
Even thought the plot had many clichés, the script was written well enough to make me love it. I loved the randomness in the beginnin when Gong Ning/Lu Xia first met Shi Qiao.
I really don't know what to say, more than watch it. It doesn't matter with genre you like, everyone we'll definitely like this. It's just a very well-made movie that will make you feel all warm and at the same time cry your eyes out.
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I thoroughly enjoyed this drama! It's off my usual track of Kdrama's but I'm glad I watched it. I started this drama in the evening and couldn't stop until 8 am the next day!
The revenge plot if excellent, there is no-nonsense romance without 'near misses', the 'second banana' misunderstandings, less comic relief and digression.
You have smart and strong, albeit, hot headed female leads that would go to extremes to get what they want.
It was pretty much impossible to guess what could happen the next minute. I came up with nearly 10 different possibilities of how the story would progress as I watched!
I would have liked to have seen more screen time for Kang Maru and Eun-Gi but it worked well either way. For all those who love 'skinship' ;p I would say the kisses worked well on screen, not too many though, but good! Especially the last one in the series. I only wish they didn't cut into a different scene in between!!!
The few things that annoyed me were the excessive bitch-slapping conversations the two female leads had during the earlier episodes and the annoying shaky camera.
All in all, an excellent drama with unexpected plot twists and turns that will keep you on the edge of your seat at all times!
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Some stories were better than others in both content and acting ability. The first two were quite enjoyable and philosophical. They asked deep, thought-provoking questions that I pondered appreciatively.
My favourite of all 5 was the 2nd story. Very poignant, but also a very sweet manifestation of (erotic) love.
The 3rd and 4th stories were a bit bizarre. Think murderous wives, blood sucking vampires and lesbian loving. I liked the 3rd story the least. Though darkly comedic in parts, I found it boring and uninspired in others. The theme of Eros was not very well conveyed, in my opinion, and the acting was off.
The 5th and final story about partner swapping could have been interesting, but the narrative was somewhat nonlinear, making it difficult to keep track of who was really boyfriend/girlfriend with who.
If I had to rate each story individually:
Story 1: 9
Story 2: 10
Story 3: 3
Story 4: 5
Story 5: 6
The average comes out to about 7 so that's my overall score for this anthology. I enjoyed it while it lasted. This movie is suitable for mature audiences, but nothing about it felt gratuitous. In fact a lot of the sexual encounters were pretty PG. I'd say it's a good date movie to watch with your long term partner, if you have one.
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Goong shows touches of political issues, romance, friendships, and what have you. I don't really know if it follows the story of the manhwa, but it's good and interesting. Problem is, though, I don't think it really had much development. There isn't much character development, too! There are some points where it is draggy, though, but the good cinematography compensated for it.
Despite some draggy parts, though, I guess what really made this loved by a lot of viewers is the cute and fun scenes of the characters and, of course, the romantic scenes or the scenes of the leads with the ones who are not meant for them. I, myself, enjoyed Chaegyung's scenes with Yul (most especially because I cheered for him).
The cast are great, especially the leads. It is said that they were newcomers, then, but when I first watched Goong, it didn't feel like it was their first time. Yoon Eun Hye was really great especially in crying/sobbing scenes. Joo Ji Hoon also did a great job portraying the cold prince who has a warm heart yet didn't know how to express it. Eun Hye and Ji Hoon has chemistry, in my opinion, and that really makes their scenes squeal-worthy and fun to watch.
Kim Jeong Hoon is also good, although when I was watching the show, I felt like there was something lacking in his acting. Song Ji Hyo is also good, but I felt the same way as I was with Jeong Hoon's acting. In any case, the other cast did very well, even those who played as Chaegyung's and Shin's friends.
I really loved the music of this show. All of them are memorable to me. They are effective in creating the mood. Or at least for me.
Since this holds a place in my heart, I'd love to re-watch this someday, especially when feeling nostalgic.
This is a good show. The efforts of the crew behind the cameras can clearly be seen. I recommend this to:
- those who can tolerate the palace scenes (or more like, the conversation)
- those who like watching cold guys falling for bubbly girls
- those who are bored (because this may pass as something entertaining, although it may depend on the kind of person you are)
- those who are aspiring actors/actresses (because, y'know, the main characters are newcomers yet they managed to make this a well-known show)
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Although this movie was done in flashback, it was easy to follow and did not leave me confused (like certain flashback movies). The story line was great albeit a little too simple, with its fair share of hilarious antics and sad moments that had me crying like a baby. Nevertheless, the story was more than well-supported by an amazing cast. Bo Young was fantastic as Suni. She acted really well and her crying scenes made me cry MORE than her!
The star of the show has got to be Joong Ki, definitely. As much as I love him, I have never really considered him as an amazing actor (because the roles he were given so far were not so challenging, i guess). But he proved his worth in this movie due to his versatility. And catch this - he has barely 5 lines in the entire movie! This goes to show how great of an actor he is, being able to carry a story along just through actions. Super impressed!
I love, love, love this movie and consider this to be the best work of both of them so far. Will rewatch it!
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Boy, I was so wrong! It basically tells the story about Korea being hit by a health epidemic, with thousands dying for no reason. The scenes are acted out so realistically, it makes one actually feel nervous watching it because of the fear that it may come true. The acting was superb - I cannot find fault in any of the cast and the plot was tightly clinched in all the right places without it being too complicated (like most epidemic movies). I gave the music a 7 because I wasn't really paying attention to it (oops!)
Special mention goes out to Kim Myungmin for his portrayal of Jae Hyuk - my heart ached with him from start to end. He really is a good actor.
(and Dongwan just looks lovely here *____* one more reason to watch it!)
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