To start off, this movie was jammed pack with information and for the time that was available, they overall did a good job at fitting as much as they can from the book to this movie. But since it was a movie, they lost a lot of smoother transitions that would have made this a better production.
Plot/Setting: -8- For "A Smile is beautiful," I love this movie's storyline! The way the characters interacted online and offline was so cute and I have never seen any movie with that concept before! The downside was that since it was a movie, I got confused at some parts and the jumps between scenes were just too fast for me. Even so, they did a good job at capturing the main parts of the story and they made the scenes work together within 1.5 hours.
Acting/Cast: -8- Angela Baby did a decent job playing Bei Wei Wei in this movie. From what I was expecting though, Bei Wei Wei's character could have been a bit more "introverted" but of course, a bit different doesn't always mean it's a bad thing :) Now Jing Boran, I have to say, does not have the looks like Yang Yang (Actor playing Xiao Nai in the drama version) but I love how his character was a tad bit more open in this version.
Music: -9- The music fitted in nicely with the scenes of the movie so no complaints from me!
Rewatch value: -5- Even though the movie had its pros, this is mainly a one time movie for me.
Overall: -7.5- Due to the jumpy transitions between the scenes, I will have to rate this movie an overall 7.5/10. But of course, for the limited time provided for them, they had great uses of ideas and it all fit together very well.
I would recommend this for anyone who wants to watch a gaming type movie with cute interactions between the two main leads.
Thanks for Reading!
Chào For Now!
Lily L.
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The volatile, kind of onesided, relationship between Natsu and Asako is portrayed quite well even if they were frustrating. It is not some fluffy story of 'tru luv'. At that point in their life they were pretty incompatible and Asako explained it well during their conversation towards the end.
The band members aren't some bffs with a dream, they get into conflicts - some petty, some serious. The focus isn't just on the band members as musicians and their inner drama but on the business side of the music industry in the early 90s and its pitfalls. Is fame worth the price of artistic integrity?
The acting is strong even with Jin there. At first I was like 'why was he even cast, he can't sing or act' but looking at Natsu's character I understood why Jin worked. Even if this is the only type of role he knows how to act, it was a fit here. Perhaps he was playing himself and that's why it worked JK :)
I liked the music very much here. I would have liked it more if Jin was a better singer but the songs were catchy, I even downloaded them (I liked the song by Happies the most). Lands is one of two fictional bands to ever top the music charts in Japan.
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story from everyday life which is often forced to keep as secret.
but the movie..you have to watch it as a classic with understanding of the emotions not the scenes..
i decided to watch this just for gong yoo and but ended up realizing common problem in human souls which is buried under the responsibilities of families..
Acting-
simply it was brilliant..cuz both of them were able to portray the real pain you face in such situations..if i just appreciate gong you that would be unfair..
Music-
it was ok..not much noticeable but blended with the situations..but they were not able to make my heart ache..that job was also done by the cast..
Re watch Value-
i dont re-watch anything..
Overall-
Classic..but only for the people who has open and understandable mind..i have to admit that its not for the people who are looking for fairy tales..
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The storyline of Dream High itself is not terrible, and I like that they took on both light and dark concepts for the drama. It's among the first dramas that I've seen that manage to do both, while being for a younger audience. Made me think of Degrassi. The biggest thing that I took off points for was the weird ending that felt like it was randomly put together. The epilogue styled ending skipped perhaps too far into the future, and didn't provide adequate backstory of how the characters ended up in their current position. It also didn't really give the audience a proper feel of the present either, because it was all sort of smoothed together.
The acting/cast segment is unique in that it has so many K-idols in the show, which works both for and against it. On one hand, it's great to see how these idols are able to act, and somewhat comical at times, however, the show probably could have been a lot stronger if they had more actual actors.
The music gets the highest mark, due to the show being able to record audio from the cast of idols, and subsequently, having original music.
I marked the rematch value the lowest because I don't think that I would really want to rematch this whole show again. I might watch an episode here or there for laughs because of the idols present in them. I wouldn't want to sit through the whole show again only to have the lackluster ending.
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Though in theory it might have been a nice story as a series, it failed on several occasions. The actors were not in the correct roles and/or acted below standards. Story was very basic in which the story was predictable several episodes advanced. Trying to create side stories which were pretty useless and non-interesting. Though I have had some spare moments of joy within this series, I can't give more than a single five for this series, which I think is on the high side.
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While the story was good, it didn't have enough time to develop. I felt like everything was rushed and that they didn't wrap it up very well. The biggest problem was that the female lead had major character issues and she wasn't ready to be in any romance until she solved them. Her relationship with the lead mainly consisted of her using him and then throwing him out when he became useless. I understand that that was how she was raised and that in a way she was just doing what was natural to her, but in the end, the issuse were never solved and I felt like their relationship was very shallow. It made me sad that they ended it like that because with a little more time in the drama it could have improved drastically. In short, I feel like the romance aspect was a total disaster.
While I didn't like some of the characters, I was very impressed with the acting and it was amazing to watch these talented actors bring the story to life. I have seen some other dramas with Joo Won but I was suprised at how well I liked him for this role.
Even though I feel like this wasn't a great drama, it never got boring or slowed down and I kind of liked that. It was really exciting to watch and it was entertaining so if you are looking for something interesting and fast paced to fill your time then I would say, "Go for it!" but if you are looking for a really well done drama with an amazing romance, then this may not be for you... I really enjoyed watching this drama but I will not be watching it again.
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After the first episodes I thought the story was pretty cool for its intensity and definitely promising, but after a while it was perfectly clear they had no idea how to put it together in a coherent way. A lot of things in this drama made no sense at all, like the President´s behavior when he found out what was going on and how easily he ignored the whole situation, almost like building up people´s expectations and leading them to nothing.
Another flaw in this drama was the fact that only Lee jong Suk's character developed while the rest of the cast pretty much stayed the same, even though this drama is characterized by putting its characters through hardships that should've instigated even the slightest change in their personality.
Despite acknowleging the hard life the main characters had since a very young age, I didn't want Han Seung Hee to end the way she did because Jin Se Yeon's acting made her look fake, cynical and unpleasant, making her seem completely out of place. The whole drama involving her identity didn't help either, because while it was interesting and intriguing in the begining, it became a neverending boring drama that only confused the audience.
Honestly the last episodes were lame and full of unrealistic situations. The poorly done ending showered with this drama's characteristic predictability made me question my friend's sugestion to watch this drama. This time not even Lee Jong Suk´s outstanding acting could save him from this drama, that just like his hair, was a mess.
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Overall its great! Its really satisfying... I give the story/plot 8.5 ,because I wish that they had gone more into some of the stories in the drama. It had a lot of twist, my brain was working for once when watching a drama( I haven't seen so many twist since I Gap Dong). I had a lot of ,,Bad guys" drama flashbacks too ( the feel T.T), if you liked those dramas you will most probably like this one too.
The cast and acting was amazing 10/10!!! The music really fits the drama, I wanted to sing a long but I don't know korean.
Watch the drama, there is something satisfying about it (probably the many twists)!. After the second episode is when it really might get some people, if they are more into normal kdramas.
I just rewatched it again, after some time passed and decided to give it a higher score. I dont know why I like it better the second time. :)
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*2nd and 3rd episodes where way too slow
*plot was so annoying at times I almost dropped
*songs sometimes feel out of place
PROS:
*the "good" parts are way better than average dramas
*acting is great, especially In Guk and the butler
*likable cast of characters (them ajummas)
*hilarious comedy
*great song choices (Monster X, GFriend)
*mostly good pacing
*very lighthearted (finally!)
*rich son that's not a douche (bless)
*not many flaws in plot
Overall one of the better dramas out there, would totes recommend
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I normally don't feel like re-watching dramas, but I want to watch this one again for all the funny moments!
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Irresistible Love: Secret of the Valet
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I love times-slipping movies and this one let me taste what was like during the sengoku period in Japan, a period known for the costant military conflicts. Of course It doesn't shows much violence, after all the protagonist is just a kid. The romance between the princess and the general is more like a side story, true love is just one of the many themes displayed... Friendship, loyalty and so on. It's one of those movie that leave you with a warm feeling and a clear message.
If I was able to make you just a little curious, enjoy! =)
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My biggest issue with this drama (apart from the fact that I’m not a fan of leads who act like jerks and who we’re supposed to find romantic rather than toxic) is that the story is all over the place. There’s a story-line involving the three brothers, with a mystery in the middle, which gets resolved halfway through and ends up going nowhere. There’s a story-line about the restaurant they have and trying to make it succeed while not selling out, and it also ends up going nowhere. There’s a story-line about the female lead’s quest for professional growth which ends up only serving the “romantic” story-line. There’s a backstory of a character to make them less two dimensional which also ends up going nowhere. All in all, it’s like every ingredient which could have turned this into less of a cliche and more innovative was pushed aside in the benefit of the overused story-line of the love triangle.
Out of all the characters, the only one I found memorable and whose performance I enjoyed enough was Nomura Shuhei’s Touma (the youngest sibling). He’s the only one I feel has a story arc which involves making personal changes, realizing mistakes and repairing damages he has caused. The rest, I can’t say much. It seemed Miura Shohei’s character was going towards a reasonable development and in the last few episodes his entire character turned 180° for the sake of the cliche romance. It seemed that Kiritani Mirei’s character had more substance to her than being the sweet main lead who tends to be too kind for her own good, but all about her drive and career seemed to just serve the cliche romance.
And Yamazaki Kento’s character deserves a paragraph on his own. He is the jerk male lead, the one we’ve seen at least 4 times this year: we saw him in Dean Fujioka’s Mamiya Hokuto in Happy Marriage, in his Kurosawa Ayumu in Please Love the Useless Me and in Shiraishi Shunya’s Uehara Hisashi in Good Morning Call. I really dislike this trope, I think it’s toxic as heck, but the rest of the dramas at least tried for me to feel for the guy. They intended to introduce a backstory (mostly tied in with family grief) in which I could say “oh, so this is why he’s a jerk”. It never worked, but they tried. Here, everything that happens to this character, all the troubles and external arcs to change him, happen in the timeline of the drama. There is no reason why he acts this way and he doesn’t change his attitude with anything that happens to him. He has that kind of extremely subtle character change which stans of him will call development but I call bad writing.
The reason why this drama isn’t my complete least favorite of the bunch is because it’s very nicely filmed and, mostly, decently performed. The shots were brilliant and they paid attention to detail, the cinematography was very enjoyable. There are some things in the story I found interesting, like the family mystery I mentioned, the somewhat complex way in which they tried to introduce the “ex girlfriend” cliche and the youngest brother’s character growth. But it doesn’t have enough to be different from the rest of the dramas with the same trope.
All in all, if this is a trope you enjoy and male leads being jerks is your thing, for some reason, this is a very well done one of those. If you’re looking for something innovative, different and devoid of love triangles, dates in aquariums, firework festivals being a “big romantic deal” and lots and lots of misunderstandings and “I hurt you because I want to protect you” scenes, there’s not much here for you. Except for an omelette with a burger inside, which is pretty good.
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