@ 394, mookie

I watched Sunflower a few years ago, but I do remember liking the story and thinking it was a good departure from KRW's typical roles. And Kim Hae Sook never disappoints.
Omo, OMO...what do I see?! Han Jung Soo on the dvd cover of Sunflower! How could I have missed that?! Will have to rewatch this one, sometime soon.

Just stay far, FAR AWAY from Say You Love Me/Tell Me You Love Me. That drama makes my all-time worst list. It made me want to poke my eyes out, chop off my limbs, and jump off a bridge. Ugh.

@ ockoala
"and then it’s on like donkey kong"

Booya. Throw in Lee Jong Hyuk and a three-way nekkid fight of I-MUST-HAVE-DIED-AND-GONE-TO-HEAVEN, and I'm in! :D
But, you'll have to mop me up off of the floor afterwards. ;)

@ hjkomo -

"Yeah, My Sassy Girl was annoying.
I haven’t watched Winstruck, but I enjoyed Daisy for its action (not a romantic comedy at all) and Jung Woo Sung & Lee Sung Jae’s acting."

Oops didn't mean to string Daisy in that comment. Got carried away on the Jun Ji Hyun warpath. I personally love Lee Sung Jae in anything and he made Lawyers of Korea so watchable and I've never been so attracted to an ajusshi like him even with all his "uhhh, uhh" after every sentence delivery.

@samsookie

"I would move up the list “My Wife Is A Gangster,” and also include My Wife Is A Gangster 2, due to the impressive fight scenes along with the cameo appearance of an extremely hot Zhang Ziyi at the end."

Its actually not in any particular order except as it was strung in my head. I started by the order of movies I've seen and then switched by favorite director/actresss/actor's body of work and others because they just segued that way by stream of consciousness like all the gangster films. I also liked "My Wife Is A Gangster 2" but not as much as the first one so left it out, I also liked taeguki but not enough to put it on my list.

@belleza
" I still feel Chan Wook Park is a better writer than he is a director (I can hear the musos go but-but-but, but most of them haven’t seriously watched the true extreme stylists like Takashi Mike) . . . his black, black sense of humor always makes most of his films wonderfully nasty experiences/"

Hersey!!! Witch!!! Ok I'll watch Takashi Mike first and then comment later but if he is black as you say I'm going to love him since I've been learning my abc's using Gorey's alphabet since I was a mere slip of a girl.

@nycgirl,

"Hersey!!! Witch!!!"

How dare you sir -- I resent that comment. I do not weigh as much as a duck. I do not like sex in a truck. I will not watch Oldboy in my box. I will not watch Oldboy with a fox. I would not like Choi Min Sik in my house. I do not like Choi Min Sik with a mouse. I will not love Bora here or there. I will not love Bora anywhere. This Belleza does not like green eggs and ham. This Belleza does not like them, Sam-I-Am!!

...Takashi Miike...a friend of mine was a huge fan. I think the most I ever caught was a few minutes of Audition, not sure if I could've handled watching the whole movie....and supposedly that was one of his more tamer projects? The word extreme is a mere understatement....though I still want to see MPD Psycho, the drama series he directed just to see how he adapted it. I remember reading the manga (very violent and disturbing but really interesting concept)...though I'm kind of scared to watch any of his work...because for me Jhorror of the 90s is equated with his name.

@hjkomo
Thanks for the trailer...Jan 6th seriously cannot come fast enough. Does anybody know whether the series will be completely shot before airing or will it be partially live-shoot?

By the way, on Oh Ji-hoo's look for Chuno...I almost feel like since his looks/body have always been what he's been known for (being model and all), that the director tried to make that a secondary aspect. Is it me, or is OJH really channeling the "tortured, sad" look in the trailer? I've never thought of him as a very emotive actor...but his eyes seem more expressive than usual...I'M SO EXCITED! It's going to be so hard to figure out who to root for...and now that I know actors from CITC are going to be in here like Kim Ha-eun, my expectations for this drama keeps on going up

Whoa… this OT (and recent ones too) is HOT and reeeling so fast I can’t catch up!!! :-D

DB OT’s is a drama in itself. Shall we call ‘The Temptation of OT’ or some other names since temptation has been overly used. It’s a treasure trove of recommendations, reviews ideas, food, places to eat (everything under the sun and moon) etc etc (OT #111 has such good book reviews, I am still looking for some of the books).

OT #112 had a dark side starring samsooki/langdon813 against belleza/mookie et al (phew, so glad its over) but thank God, peace has prevailed again in OT land. Lol

I have to say it again (with my limited vocab) that DB OTers’ are so intelligent, well-read (Shakespeare, poems), people (from all corners of the world) with so much heart and humor. And yet, accepting ‘simple’ me (original chinese slant eyes, lol) who can hardly type and express my two cents worth. :-D

Thanks again OT friends for so much love, fun, laughter (sharing tears too) and very special thanks JB for OT and Dramabeans.

Finished HGD. My heart pains for Chang Whe and I think I need to watch something different. Taking @langdon813 rave and going to watch Robbers (but it comes with bad subs). Oh, my ICOMYM is in full drive for JGS and gonna watch HJI eps 1-9 only. Lol

Thanks @hjkomo/belleza for recommending ROI, will watch it maybe after Robbers. @belleza, one Yi Nok is enough for me and won’t be touching 1000 years. :-)

My ICOMYM list
1. JGS (I am a sucker for cute/beautiful guy with deep voice and who can sing well and also dance). Used to be Hwanhee (Over the Rainbow (fly to the sky), but stopped icomym after his p.surgery, not cute anymore)
2. Im Joo Hwan (cute/beautiful and love his voice)

@ Taohua and hjkomo

Yes, Taohua nailed it - in all seriousness - something seems different about Oh Ji-ho in the Chuno stills and trailers. He's really conveying anger, pain and suffering without resorting to any gimmicks. It's just his eyes that elevate his entire expression from potentially constipated into tortured righteous hero. Bravo! That's why I feel like Chuno is one awesome on top of another.

hjkomo and langdon, I'm on episode 3 of Robbers, and........my glorious LDH is seriously pissing me off with her really weird, uncomfortable and inconsistent acting. Her crying scene in episode 3 made me *laugh* she was so bad. And LDH is an awesome crier in Green Rose, and even in MG, even though I wished Yoo-rin would Stop Crying For One Minute Please. Anyways, I'm not sold on Robbers, not by a long shot, but since I love JH and LDH, will watch to the very end regardless.

Anyways, my hopes for Chuno are so high I need to calm the heck down before I bust a nerve or something. And hjkomo, I thought we discussed this already, I've got a spatula ready to scrape you off the floor come Jan. 6. Btw, we're discussing Jan 6. like its 12.21.2012. We're sooooo in over our heads with this drama madness/love.

@ cingdoc

You can watch it streaming on aznv.tv
or download the Director's Cut from aja-aja w/subs by Mister X at withs2.com.
It really deserves to be watched in all its glorious splendor.

I'm glued to IRIS tonight but wanted to see what y'all have been up to. A lot, apparently! :-)

@ ockoala

You'll get there with Robbers, I have faith. All roads lead to Ep 10, which I have watched no less than 50 times. I wish I were kidding, but I am not. It's that good.

@ cingdoc

AZNV is fixed! CITC is there, along with many other dramas discussed on this particular OT such as Ireland, Green Rose, Friend, Our Legend (which went missing from Dramafever recently, not sure why).

@ simplesim

AZNV is also where I watched Robbers; had no problems with subs at all. Hope you get a chance to watch it! :-)

@ samsooki

What can I say? We fought a good fight.

And from last night, replying to posts after I hit the sheets:

@ nea:notoriousnoona

I watched the drama Friend before I watched the film Friend. After it ended I was so obsessed with it that I couldn't let it go, so I HAD to watch the film. I thought they were both really good, but Hyun Bin was Oscar-worthy. Seriously. I could talk for hours about it, but I already have, so I won't. But I cannot recommend it highly enough.

@ hjkomo

Oh, the mother-in-law in Thirst was so outstanding. I think she steals the movie, honestly. All day today I kept seeing flashes in my head of her in her lovely Barcalounger, mouth wide open...and the snotty son/husband lying on the bed with his rock...yuuuuuuuuuck!

@cingdoc
If you are able to, you can try to download the raws from aja-aja.com and the WITHS2 subs. The cinematography is one of the highlights and the raws are high quality and they are the Director's Cut (meaning I think ten-fifteen minutes of extra video) so you really can enjoy the visual aspects. Also Mister X's subs for CITC are pretty good (IMHO, he's one of the best subbers out there, especially for sageuks---does anybody else find reading his reviews extremely intimidating? I'm always impressed at how much history/background info he knows...)

Edit: I had stepped away from my desk for a few minutes and your question's already been answered :)

@ ockoala, Taohua

Of course, Oh Ji Ho as Tae Ha is going to have a tortured, sad look.

1) He lost his wife and child.
2) He was tortured, framed for a crime, stripped of his rank & sentenced to slavery (not necessarily in that order).
3) The prince he served for 8 years suddenly dies under mysterious circumstances.
4) In order to save the prince's son, he escapes and becomes a runaway slave, hunted by Dae Gil - the most ruthless slave hunter.
5) He falls in love with Hye Won, who can't forget her first love - Dae Gil.

Yeah, from the trailer, OJH is starting to be more expressive...but the jury's still out....

@ langdon813

What is this that you have to install to watch videos on aznv.tv now? I haven't watched anything there in ages.

@celestialorigin
Just finished Meichan and it was totally insane but 100% cute and worth my time :)
I'm now moving to Absolute BF and Atanshinchi no Danshi. I don't necessarily like submissive guy roles but rather aloof, emotionally unavailable ones... You know, people I can identify with (hehe).

@390 mookie
Thanks. That's what I really wanted to do. Will try to do so by this weekend. I'm not sure really what to look forward to but I do want to get started on the show, so I need to get the party started.

@simplesim
I'm not a regular so you aren't speaking "directly" to me but I just wanted to say that you really say the nicest things.... and my sentiments exactly. Its truly a blessing to have found this place! Whether I post or not, I'm always reading and taking advice, laughing at husbands or witnessing death threats and witch hunts. Its great!

@anyone watching Smile You
Are you enjoying the show? Up until this week I was scratching my neck but once this week rolled around I kinda hit a stump. I don't know if its my worry over their future or what... I adore HS but every time I find myself happy for them, I stop myself because I don't trust it. I have more faith in JS and SJ.

@Chuno talk
I'm not as excited as some of you seem to be because I'm scared to get too excited. It seems like its going to be huge and elaborate with a lot going on... How long is it supposed to be? Tell me under 30 eps please!

@cingdoc

So happy to be half doppelganger (wow, exact same reasons). I like GY and JJH but not in my manrem. Lol so far there’s too many in my manrem (KJH, HB, CSW, JWS, Chun Jung Myung (love him in Fsh70s) KRW, Joe Cheng, Ethan Ruan, Vic Zhou) but no I LUB U yet! Btw, my criteria for manrem must be 6 footer and above. :-)

Cingdoc, perchance your #3 ICOMYM is LMH? I feel we don’t have to feel quilty about our icomym. When I am ‘crushing’ (drooling) over eg JGS/HTK, I don’t feel my age but rather I am feeling like PSH/GMN, likewise in PK’s case I feel like Beojin but not so ‘stupid’ of course. I just take the good characteristics. Lol

@lovenyc52, do you feel CJM looks like JGS or vice versa?

@langdon813, thanks but I am living on the other side of your world, no AZNV. lol

@ hjkomo

I just discovered the site a few months ago in the middle of my Snow Queen obsession and when I signed up they were using Winamp. AZNV have now gone back to the Winamp player after toying with some Flash thing that didn't work out. I was happy either way personally, but the Winamp player only takes a few minutes to download and it doesn't cost anything. I've read some complaints about it but I haven't had any problems with it. The only thing I've noticed is that if you leave it paused too long it will cut off and go back to the beginning, but that's no big deal.

@ nea:notoriousnoona

I'm watching Smile, You and it is adorable. I watched the first ep and gave up, daunted by the number of episodes. But I'm so glad I gave it another shot, I'm loving it. I think I have a little crush on Chunderella. I'm such a hussy.

@ simplesim

Sorry about that (that you can't use AZNV, not that you live on the other side of the world)! And may I say that you have excellent taste in men!

@ langdon813

If you like Lee Chun Hee, watch CitC!!!!
Yang Man Oh will open a whole new love for Chunderella.
Seriously, we should petition PD Kwak to give him a part in Chuno...a cameo, at least. PLEASE!!!

Damnit, I haven't watched anything today except Chuno clips. I'm in serious need of help. ;)

Sisters:

Am I missing something? I'm not connecting with Robbers at all. And I'm up to episode 6. Help me, so far, it's the Jang Hyuk one-man show (no complaints here), but I feel no emotional vestment or connection with either lead character.

Still soldiering on, but am getting desperate, and wondering if I missed an epiphany somewhere earlier. And occasionally LDH shows a spot of nice acting, but otherwise she's a complete miss here for me (and I'm a super LDH fan! Wah, I feel so disloyal, but it's like my brain is screaming against my heart).

Regardless, while I think JH and LDH have good chemistry, I don't think Oh-joon and Dal-rae have good chemistry. Does that make sense? And LDH *needs*, simply must learn, how to kiss properly in a modern drama. I allow her some close mouth awkward kissing in a sageuk, but once JH starts macking on you, you *kiss* the man back properly, you hear?

Sigh, I'm confusing myself. If it weren't for you two and the promise of the best proposal to end all proposals, I would be off watching episode 4 of YB on LA18 while warming my toes.

@ ockoala

If you aren't convinced by the end of Ep 6, then you probably won't be. This is actually the ep that sealed the deal for me (exactly 47 minutes in is when I knew I was a goner for this drama), so I'm not giving up on you loving it yet. The magic really happens after Dal-rae finds out the truth about Oh-joon, and falls for him anyway.

Let us know!!

@ langdon-unni

I'm up to Episode 6, not yet done with that episode, so I have not hit the 47 minute mark. Hee hee, don't disown me. :-( Yet.....

Back to watching, was taking a break, and clearing my head.

binnnn ssshhhiiii!!!
(I howl like that everytime there's mention of CJM and F70s)

@hjkomo, yeah the synopsis of Sunflower, intriguing. I'm quite sure it wont convert me a KRW fangirl, first impression is impossible to shrug for me. esp if u r telling me he did another dud that's worst than LSiH.

@ockoala
I was also watching otomen a while back, stopped at ep2.. All I rem was I was a droolpool when he's making heart shape cake with pink cream roses and crocheting (?) for his stuffed animals

so....simplesim, cingdoc: if you want a token j boy in your man(boy)rem: how bout Okada Masaki (he's in mine, 180cm and my hubby thought he was binnie's younger bro...)

sigh...my hubby...sighsighsigh he got emo (I saw a tear) watching QSD (some preggie princess losing her knightly hubby in some doomed battle), what to do?! Feed him green duck or Bora and a truck?!?! He's now asking me if said cute princess will die. I told him THEY ALL DIE!!!

Much much better. Still nowhere near my expectations, but Episode 7 of Robbers was quite good. But still, LDH's performance is really inconsistent, it's like she hasn't quite found her understanding of Dal-rae. And I can't blame her, I don't understand Dal-rae, she's pretty one-note and frankly, not very interesting. Her character feels very written rather than organic, with quirks that comes across as the writer trying too hard.

But Jang Hyuk and his Oh-joon, oooooohhh, he's a bad bad boy, about to find out that he's actually deep down a really good guy at heart. I buy it, gimme more. I'm stopping for the night, but I feel like Robbers is the Oh-joon story, and he feels like the heart (however colored in shades of grey, black, or even white) of the drama.

@ mookie

Yeah, Otomen is uttery charming and whimsical. I've enjoyed both episodes I've watched (currently waiting to start episode 3 when I'm in the mood - @ celestialorigin, no, I have not yet gotten to the dolphin beachhouse episode/scene, but can't wait).

I'm thinking some folks might be wondering who Okada Masaki is, what with mookie calling him Binne's younger brother.

Here you go: (it's from the ending credits for each episode of Otomen - reminds of how the Chung-hyung ending scenes):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vp-CBgM_aA8&feature=related

@ ockoala

No worries. You're not alone. Robbers was one of those dramas you either loved, or it just didn't grab you, and you quit out of boredom. Admittedly, it was more JH's performance than LDH's that drew you in.

For more insight, I suggest skimming through the soompi thread.
http://www.soompi.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=175576

The first post is well-organized, so you can jump to the summary for each episode and then skim down for imogene_af & lilyrose's reviews. I can't possibly do better than what they wrote.

Ep.5 review excerpt from imogene_af:
This love story is not sugary or sweet. He is not surprising her. He is not going to paint her or buy her overflowing gifts. Some people will ask-- why is Dal Rae drawn to him? It is because she feels his pain and that pain reflects in her. These two people live sad lives despite the coolness and their cheerful ways. The suffering that still remains in both of them is what is bringing these wounded souls together. They are a lot alike in some ways because their anguish is somehow part of them.

from lilyrose:
About the kiss: I thought it was a painfully sad kiss. It was passionate, sure. It was filmed in a stereotypical 360 degree panning shot, sure. But what made it unique was the islands that each person was standing on--alone--as each kissed the other. The connections they both have made--and those connections are earnest and true because their confessions of their darkness/dark fears/scar tissues/scars/life's cruel hands give real passion to their kiss. But their pain (no one can take away their pain) also separates them. Their fear/self-loathing/individual frustrations separates them. The kiss epitomized the story so far to me. A kiss of desperation, yet also of genuine affection, born out of a tenuous connection that is as real as life can possibly allow reality to be.

Ep.6 excerpt from lilyrose:
"This episode is more about D-Rae, and I am of the opinion that unless I have something really, really, really good to say, I should keep fairly quiet--not completely quiet, mind you, , but hold my tongue a bit. So I will just say, with all due respect to Lee Da Hae fans, that this was her moment to really shine, but I feel that she didn't."

{Edit:}
Damn, I've got to work on my marathoning skills. In the time you've watched 7 eps of Robbers, I've only watched the new Chuno trailer & the photoshoot (albeit repeatedly)...and half of today's Hero. Aigoo.

@404 belleza

You mean it? No green eggs and ham for you?

@407 simplesim - Dec 9, 2009 at 7:25 pm

Whoa… this OT (and recent ones too) is HOT and reeeling so fast I can’t catch up!!! :-D

DB OT’s is a drama in itself. Shall we call ‘The Temptation of OT’ or some other names since temptation has been overly used. It’s a treasure trove of recommendations, reviews ideas, food, places to eat (everything under the sun and moon) etc etc (OT #111 has such good book reviews, I am still looking for some of the books).

OT #112 had a dark side starring samsooki/langdon813 against belleza/mookie et al (phew, so glad its over) but thank God, peace has prevailed again in OT land. Lol

Indeed, an addiction within DB addictions.

@417 nea:notoriousnoona

Enjoy. Atashinchino danshi was a cute one with 5/cute boys. Gee, can I call this a description? Nowadays, cute and adorable seem to be the only thing matters for me in certain type of dramas. But Jun is highly highly recommended for different reasons.

@422 ockoala

Oh! What a relief to hear this from you! I'm not the only one. With all the discussions going on about it around here, I was thinking "Hummm, I dropped that one after a couple of episodes..."

@425 mookie

Awwh! He's mine as well!

Anyway, I've been rather busy this afternoon and I miss you all. Tomorrow back to my day job for 2 days. Then, I have to watch Jewel in the palace on my shor t layover if I can. That's all I can have for my K-drama indulgence for now... Sigh... Otherwise, it has to be in English or Japanese, no subtitles to read for now... Sigh... I'm suffering from Iris withdrawal...

Just wondering, is this the 2nd longest OT of all time?

"Just wondering, is this the 2nd longest OT of all time?"

Samsooki?
Bueller?

"Bueller?"

LOL

The 1961 Ferrari 250GT California. Less than a hundred were made. My father spent three years restoring this car. It is his love, it is his passion . . .

It is his fault he didn't lock the garage. :D

hey Chinese tabloids are saying LBH and KTH are an item... leaked by KSW!!!

and and NJH + Song Joong Ki are like 'real siblings' on set, always flaunting matching V signs

"hey Chinese tabloids are saying LBH and KTH are an item…"

Uhhh if this is actually true, I can't say I'm surprised. Or that happy about it. I mean, just reinforces this perception of LBH that I don't like to think about.

"delaying the “slaying” as long as I could"

Ahem. Excuse me while I put on my Texan-by-way-of-Connecticut accent . . .

Friends, gentlemen and Samsooki . . . I do not condone violence against This Bora. We are a good, decent people. A peaceful, freedom-loving people. Yet This Bora hates our freedoms -- our freedom of noona fantasies, our freedom of boy love, our freedom to squee and to LOL and to make up Bora-must-die campaigns because Youtube is blocked at work. This Bora threatens our very way of life, in the same way Ha Ji Won's OPW threatens most marriages. This Bora and her Weapons of Mass Oppa Pout Wiggle is threat to the free world and must be destroyed!!

Therefore, I ask you to join me and together we can rule the galaxy. Cingdoc, you can destroy This Bora. This Bora has forseen this!!

KSW, u Blair Walwolf!

u think ur due date will beat KTH's, belleza?

"u think ur due date will beat KTH’s, belleza?"

Definitely. Though I'm kinda sure how KTH's babies will look. They probably will have larger faces than their mum's, you know? :D

Good morning. OT buddies. time to go to work for me for a change. I'll miss you!

@417 nea:notoriousnoona

I meant Jin above...

I'm late to the party but trying to skim through and catch up... but I have to ask:

@ Samsookie:
"or even You’re Beautiful Director’s Cut DVD boxset (still in development, with pre-orders being taken through first week of January 2010, almost for certain to have English subtitles)."

WHERE? I wrote to YesAsia and just got a reply that there was no DVD set out yet and they didn't know when one would be. So where can one pre-order the Director's Cut DVD???

Thanks!

@ 440 reluctantbutaddicted

Someone (cecilia, I think) at Soompi created a new blog which should answer all questions about preordering the Director's Cut DVD of YB. I'm still on the fence, trying to decide if I feel safe ordering it or not. But I really want to, because this will be one of a kind AND it will be subbed. I don't mind paying $120 for it, but right now I don't think there's a way to find out in advance how much shipping will be to the US.

http://minamdvd.wordpress.com/

LOL samsooki!

Are you wearing the One Ring (and Guyliner) to rule them all? I will stand with you!

Thanks for the info and links to the DVD of You're Not As Bad-Looking As I Thought At First...

I have to admit, I find Soompi a little overwhelming. I never feel like I even understand how the site works (ie how to get around and find what I want), let alone what everyone is talking about there (even here sometimes with the JDLs and LDYs and so on I get lost quickly... and MiSa had me stumped for months, but someone braver than I asked recently and I saw the answer, and although I don't understand how it can mean I'm Sorry, I Love You, I can accept that it does). The fan-intensity... who has the TIME? Just following the OT is as much as I can handle, and not always even then.

Ruminating on DVD of You're Pretty Okay I Guess: The price is steep but I can handle that... and I have a multi-system DVD player... but no guarantee on the subtitles? Hmmmmm.

Another new Chuno trailer - centered on Un Nyun/Hye Won (LDH).
:D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NahEhFUJxWw

Now, how am I going to get any work done today???

"I don’t like Jang Hyuk that much"

Rocking good news. More for me! :-D

I'm predicting site crashes in January just from the four of us alone...hehe!

@ 447 samsooki

Me: "What took you so long, dood?"
Dood in question: "Um, I just needed something other than 400 close-ups of OJH, JH, LJH, and the rest of the supremely chiseled men in Chuno to open my mind."
Me: "And? After that newest trailer?"
^_^: "Yup, 100% percent on board. One Lee Da-hae balances out all the rest of that testosterone. LDH in Chuno pretty much blew out the fuse of my brain"
Me: "Sweet. Chunojammas unite, plus one samsooki."