Antique Bakery

Sweet Jesus, it has been ages since I've watched this movie.. I think it was back in 2010/2011 but I'm not sure anymore..

If you don't like Boys Love at all (which means gay relationships or something like a one-sided love) you probably shouldn't read this. There'll be some more reviews of Boys Love movies I've watched years ago but want to review anyways.

서양골동양과자점 앤티크 (Antique Bakery) is a Korean movie that was released in 2008.

Story: Kim Jin-hyuk has money, looks and charm but fails to find the right woman in life. So he decides to open up a cake shop and hires Min Seon-woo, a talented patissier, who had a crush on Jin-hyuk back in high school. Together with ex-boxing champion Yang Ki-bum and bodyguard Nam Soo-young they stir up the quiet neighborhood. But except for being careless and happy on the outside, each of the men has to deal with events in the past.

Cast: So at first we have Joo Ji-hoon as Kim Jin-hyuk. A flower boy nonetheless but a good actor, I liked him a lot in this movie but haven't seen him in any other series so far. Secondly, there's Kim Jae-wook as Min Seon-woo and cheers to him for doing such a great job. He had to speak French in this movie and I think acting a gay character is difficult though. But I would've loved to try some of the cakes he made, like.. seriously. Yoo Ah-in is part in this movie as Yang Ki-bum as well. That poor guy has some serious issues in this movie. But actually every character does.. I was just feeling really sorry for his character. Last in the main cast is Choi Ji-ho as Nam Soo-young. A quiet but clueless bodyguard.. he's adorable as well but tends to wear his glasses all the time though.
As for the acting, I think it was really good but then again - I don't think I've criticized too many actors so far. If what they do seems realistic, they probably deserve a 'well done'.

To me, this movie is incredibly cute and sweet. It's not too much of a Boys Love movie, so if you're not looking for such stuff, you can still watch it and maybe just skip some scenes.
My rating is 9/10 just because it's such a nice movie to watch. Rewatch value? Yes, oh yes, it's still funny after watching it a few times.

IRIS: The Movie

아이리스 : 더 무비 (IRIS: The Movie) is a Korean movie that basically summarizes the first season of the Korean drama series IRIS. It was released in 2010.

Story: Two close friends, Kim Hyun-joong and Jin Sa-woo, who are actually working for the military in the beginning are brought into a secret organization called NSS. Both of them fall for the analyst Choi Seung-hee. Hyun-joong is brought into a solo mission in Hungary which makes him a culprit so that a lot of people are after him. He then tries to find out who put him in that position and stumbles upon a top secret organization called IRIS and tries to figure out what they actually want.

Cast: The cast is actually incredibly well-known nowadays. The main cast consist of Lee Byung-hun as Kim Hyun-joong. Kim Tae-hee who is known as one of the most beautiful actresses in Korea took the role of the female lead Choi Seung-hee. Jung Joon-ho acted as Jin Sa-woo. Kim Young-chul joined the cast as Baek San whose intentions are a huge mystery to the viewer at first. And please, let's not forget about T.O.P as Vick.

The story is exactly the same. The cast as well. And the OST as well.
But this movie is like.. horrible. My personal rating is 3/10. Why?
The whole plot isn't only extremely shortened - it feels like they just cut some parts together that are important in themselves, yes, but there are parts missing that explain why in the world the things happen. Plus, I've been complaining about the missing balance between the IRIS political story and the annoying love story in the drama before but in this one they just left out things that are important to understand what IRIS actually wants and why in the world the organisation exists. But they had to add a bunch of love scenes. That doesn't even make any sense!
People, I get they had to shorten the drama but it would've made more sense to leave out some unnecessary lovey-dovey stuff and to add the important facts..

Death Note

So I bet nearly everyone knows this movie.. it was the first Japanese movie I've ever watched and really popular but I wanted to review it anyways~

デスノート (Death Note) is a Japanese movie based on a manga series. It was followed by two more movies, Death Note: The Last Name and L: Change The World. The first movie was released in 2006.

Story: A Shinigami, a God of Death, drops a Death Note in the human world where Light Yagami finds it. "The human whose name is written in this book shall die" it says. Light decides to try if it really works by using the names of released criminals - and finds out that it's true. He decides to create a new ideal world.
Meanwhile the police figures out a pattern since all the criminals die of a heart attack and there are no leads around. Detective "L" was placed in a police force to help solving the mysterious case, and he somehow gets closer to Light..

Cast: There's a bunch of people included in the cast. At first we have Tatsuya Fujiwara as Light Yagami (yes, I know that usually in Japan the last name comes first but I'll just leave it like this because I think it's easier for most people). And his opponent L is played by Kenichi Matsuyama. I have to admit that I still can't choose who I think is cooler. I have to admit that actually Light has some things that speak for him.
Then there's Asaka Seto as Naomi Misora. She also becomes an opponent of Light and she also figures out that he's kira. That becomes obvious when she brings Yu Kashii as Shiori Kashino, a girl who's pretty close to Light into the game.
Not that important in the first movie but still one of the most important characters in the whole series is Erika Toda as Misa Amane.
Of course there are many many more characters but it would take ages to list all of them on here and I think this should be enough for now.

So this movie got a 9/10 rating from me, it's probably one of my most watched movies and I seriously like it a lot. It's a great movie for fans of crime and fantasy stories as well as manga and anime fans and the duel between Light and L is awesome to watch.
Oh, and I love the Shinigami, Ryuuk. Shinigami and apples - if you know the movie/anime/manga, you'll get this. Ryuuk is such a great and funny part of this movie. And I don't think he's scary at all though he looks a little.. strange.

Death Bell

"One will die

for every incorrect answer"

고사: 피의 중간고사 (Death Bell) is a Korean horror movie that was released in 2008.

Story: The movie is set in a high school were twenty elite students take an extra class to prepare for their college entrance exams. After the heroine Kang I-na is nearly strangled and another student is throttled in the restroom, the screen in the classroom changes to to the image of the top-ranking student being caught inside a fish tank that's slowly being filled with water. A voice announces that her life depends on the exam questions he will set for them, and for every wrong answer a student will die. Head teacher Hwang Chan-wook and English teacher Choi So-yeong are trapped with the students.

The group realizes the students get killed by their ranking. But what's still a mystery is: Who's murdering the students and for what reason?

Cast: Regarding the fact this is a movie, there's a huge number of characters in this movie.

At first we have Nam Gyu-ri as Kang I-na, the heroine. We have Kim Bum as Kang Hyun, Lee Bum-soo as Hwang Chang-wook, Yoon Jung-hee as Choi So-yeong, Lee Chae-won as Uhm Ji-yang and Moon Woong-ki as Kim Hyung-jin.

Of course there are many others but I don't want to list everyone on here. Those are just the most important characters, and I have to admit they did a damn good job. I started watching this movie around 10PM in my dark room and it was actually easy to get caught be the action and the characters who were sometimes desperate to try and safe their classmates but couldn't really do anything.

My personal rating is a solid 8/10 just because there were some aspects that weren't good enough for a better score but it's good. The end is kind of surprising though because - I think I can reveal that much - the students weren't the actual target. They were innocent victims, being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Did this movie really scare me? Well, I'm a scaredy cat but love horror movies - how this works out, I can't tell you either. Usually all I do is turning the light on when walking around in the house at night and since that only happens after watching horror movies or games, I think this movie managed to scare me but I couldn't help but find the ways how the students were killed rather interesting. Whoever got the ideas should probably go and see a doctor.. It's creepy.

Codename: Jackal

자칼이 온다 (Jackal is Coming/ Codename: Jackal) is a South Korean movie released in November 2012.

Anyone in for some tied up Kim Jae-joong? Do I hear voices screaming "No"? Well, then this movie definitely isn't for you because we have a lot of tied up Jae-joong but I think many people are actually here for this.

Story: Bong Min-jung is hired to kill actor Choi Hyun. But since she appears not-so-smart it's actually a kind of complicated situation. The mission starts by abducting him at Paradise Hotel in Seongju. But in the same hotel the police is looking for the serial killer "Jackal". Hyun finds out that his ex-girlfriend hired Min-jung to kill him and tries to convince her to let him go because she got the wrong person.
After several attempts to escape a crazy fan sneaks into the hotel room, unties the ropes and takes him to her own suite but starts to torture him. Min-jung saves him from that fan. Then Angela, Hyun's lover appears, but is stabbed to death.
"Jackal" arrives and after Min-jung kicked Hyun which caused him to fall down and become unconscious. Min-jung fights with "Jackal" and it comes out that actually Hyun was never the target but just a way to contact the real target..

Cast: Song Ji-hyo can be seen as killer Bong Min-jung. She's so funny in the beginning but in the end you realize that she's actually really smart and her strategy was almost perfect. And yes, we have Kim Jae-joong as Choi Hyun. Did I mention tied up Jae-joong? Come on, I know we all want that (and he's not even included in my bias list). After all the dramas and movies he starred in I'm sure I don't need to talk about his acting skills. He can do well and he definitely did do well in this movie.
We have Oh Dal-su as Chief Detective Ma, Han Sang-jin as Team Leader Shin and Kim Sung-ryung as Angela.

Soundtrack: Jaejoong himself sang two songs for the soundtrack, "Stay" and "Kiss B" and I really enjoyed listening to those songs. But then again I really like Jaejoong's voice so.. if you don't like his voice at all the OST isn't for you at all.

My final rating is 7/10 just because I admit there were some parts I just didn't understand at all. The movie was more confusing than everything else I've watched because.. I seriously didn't understand anything and even the end left me confused. As for a movie I think everything should be clear in the end unless they want to leave me unsatisfied or definitely want to film another part. And the end definitely sounds as if they are thinking about a sequel. Anyways..

I did promise some tied up Jaejoong so - here you go~ Grab some popcorn and enjoy it!

All About My Romance

내 연애의 모든것  (All About My Romance) is a South Korean drama series that aired on SBS from April 4th to May 29th 2013.

Story: Kim Soo-young is newly elected into the national parliament as a member of the Great Korea Party, the most conservative party with the largest number of members in the parliament.
While trying to breaking into a room where the GKP No Min-young, a member of the minor party, hits him with a fire extinguisher and the two of them become known as "the fire extinguisher couple".
No Min-young entered the political world after her sister, a member of the parliament, died in a car accident.
Somehow the two of them start developing romantic feelings but after all their love is forbidden since their ideologies are too different...

Cast: So Shin Ha-kyun accepted the role of the male lead Kim Soo-young. He has a killer smile, that's true, and actually the rather cold politician can actually be such a charming man. I only think he looks completely different with his hair cut short in later episodes.
Lee Min-jung can be seen as Lee Min-young she's such a cute and cheerful woman in this drama and I would so wish for her to date Shin Ha-kyun for real! They make an awesome couple in this drama but then again, I shouldn't confuse actors and their characters.
Park Hee-soon acted as Song Joon-ha in this drama, and all I say is second male lead. That already explains everything else. He's doing an incredibly good job though, I like him. As the second female lead An Hee-sun we have Han Chae-ah. A rich child of a company she's not used to not getting what she wants and is deeply hurt because she cannot get Kim Soo-young.
Others in the cast include Jin Tae-hyun as Kim Sang-soo, Jang Gwang as Maeng Joo-ho, Cheon Ho-jin as Ko Dae-ryong, Gong Hyung-jin as Moon Bong-shik and Kim Jung-nan as Go Dong-sook. But there are so many characters in this one (regarding the drama is set in the parliament from time to time) that it's impossible to list all of them.

Soundtrack: Regarding the season in which this drama aired it's not surprising the title track is cute, cheerful and refreshing. The first track on the OST that appears in the drama quite often is performed by Baechigi and Shin Bo-ra and is called "사랑하니까 (Because I Love You)". Yes, after hearing it a few times in the drama one gets tired of the song but it is actually such a perfect song for the spring season that I can't help but listen to it. Tiffany of SNSD performed a nice ballad track for the OST, as well as Shin Yong-jae of 4Men. Those two songs appear in the rather sad and confusing parts of the drama but both of the tracks are pretty solid.
Another quite well-known track is called "I love you" and performed by Akdong Musician. The song as well as the MV is incredibly cute and once again perfect for the spring season and you should definitely check it out. And just because I have to mention it about cute, bubbly and spring as well - Dal★shabet performed a track for the OST as well and it's also worth listening to.


My personal rating is 8/10 but I really liked this one as well. It's just that there are too many characters and it's hard for me to follow the political stuff but it's actually a cute story and worth watching if you don't watch dramas only for young actors.

Winter Sonata

Welcome to this review of the oldest Korean drama I've ever watched.

겨울 연가 (Winter Sonata) is a Korean drama series that aired from January 14th to March 29th 2002 on KBS2.
It was one of the first Korean drama series that were aired in Japan, and there it was known as "冬のソナタ" (fuyu no sonata).

Story: The story starts with Kang Jun-sang transferring to a high school in Chuncheon because of the desire to find his father. He meets Jung Yoo-jin in school and the two of them fall in love. But one day a horrible accident happens and Kang Jun-sang dies.
Years later Yoo-jin and her highschool friends started working and most of them live in Seoul. Oh Chae-lin, a girl who had a crush on Kang Jun-sang, brings Lee Min-hyung from Paris with her - surprisingly Min-hyung looks like Jun-sang and Yoo-jin starts to wonder if it's possible Jun-sang didn't die back then.

Cast: At first we have Bae Yong-jun as Kang Jun-sang and Lee Min-hyung. Choi Ji-woo appears as Jung Yoo-jin. Her close friends are played by Park Yong-ha as Kim Sang-hyuk who's deeply in love with Yoo-jin and one of the first victims of the Second-Male-Lead-Syndrome, Park Sol-mi as Oh Chae-lin, Lee Hye-eun as Gong Ji-sook and Ryu Seung-soo as Kwon Yong-gook.
It's a good cast but I didn't know most of the actors before. It's not surprising though since most of them aren't that active today anymore (and Park Yong-ha committed suicide a few years ago, may he rest in peace).

Regarding the age, the drama is good. What is actually interesting is that sudden patterns and tropes even appeard in 2002, so roughly 15 years ago. Sure the style is kind of old school, yes, but it would so definitely work. Maybe we should sign a petition for a new version. (Just jokin', though I'm sure it'd be a huge success just by adding new actors and rewriting the story a little.
So my personal rating is 6.5/10 because it seems too old but I'm pretty sure it would work again today. So check it out if you're in the mood for some romance next winter!