Oh My Geum Bi Review

Title: Oh My Geum Bi

AKA: My Fair Lady

Genre: Family, Romance, Comedy

Episodes: 16

Broadcast period: 2016-Nov to 2017-Jan

Cast: Heo Jung Eun, Oh Ji Ho, Park Jin Hee, Oh Yoon Ah and Lee Jee Hoon.

Mo Hwi Cheol (Oh Ji Ho) is a con artist without a single care of anyone but himself. When he is arrested for selling a fake painting to mob boss, his two partners are saved from the mob boss, but don’t know how to get him out. Not until Geum Bi knocks on their door. Yoo Geum Bi (Heo Jung Eun) is a 10-year-old girl who has been abandoned by her aunt, leaving her only with an address and a name to go to: Geum Bi’s father, Mo Hwi Cheol. After saving her father from jail time, Geum Bi starts living at Hwi Cheols House, much to his displease. While living there she manages to ruin one of their cons: a recluse rich heiress by the name of Ko Kang Hee (Park Jin Hee).

This creates another whirlwind in Hwi Cheols life, as he now must manage lying to Kang Hee and not having Geum Bi tell everyone the truth…

When I heard about this drama I was 100 percent sure that I would love it. And I was right.

It has all the good stuff in it: heartfelt story, great acting and most of all it is very real (as real as a drama can get). I like that they chose beginner father Oh Ji Ho for this role, as I would imagine him being that fatherly with his child in the future when she gets that age, which makes it even more cute.

As the female lead goes, I gotta say I don’t really recall her from other roles, so this was just another female lead doing the very typical Korean female lead kind of acting, and a very typical to be honest. I don’t really feel the Korean female actors have any variety of characters... They all seem alike. The little girl though, she was great! I was quite amazed while watching – though I can’t remember if I’d seen her before.

Anyways, I loved this drama and I would recommend it to anyone.

☆☆☆☆ / 4 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥ / 4 out of 5 hearts

My Little Baby Review

Title: My Little Baby

Genre: Comedy, Romance

Episodes: 16

Broadcast period: 2016-Mar to 2016-Apr

Cast: Oh Ji Ho, Lee Soo Kyung, Kim Min Jae and Nam Ji Hyun.

Cha Jung Han (Oh Ji Ho) is a capable police detective known for his abilities to catch criminals in a very short period of time. Liked and respected by his fellow colleagues and known to be against marriage and children, believing a man ‘has-lost-his-balls” when he chooses family over work or friends.

Everything changes when his sister and brother-in-law pass away in a car accident, leaving him his baby niece under his care. As a complete newbie in the ‘baby-section’ Jung Han has no idea how to take care of the child, so he decides to live with his friend Yoon Min (Kim Min Jae) who owns a café close by, to help him. At first he believes that the child caring is the biggest problem, until he greets his neighbor who is no other than his former colleague Jo Ji Young (Jung Soo Young), whom he had a bit of (severe) disagreement with. Ji Young is the neighborhood society leader, meaning she is the one that runs the community around the neighborhood, and she will do anything to make him move, making life hell for Jung Han.

At the same time Jung Han is getting annoyed at his upstairs neighbor only to find out it is his first love Han Ye Seul (Lee Soo Kyung) who now is married and has child on her own. How will things turn out?

Okay, so when I read about this I wasn’t really expecting this: I was kind of expecting a cute family bonding drama, but instead got a melodramatic-ahjumma-fighting comedy with a hint of romance. As an overall drama it is kind of funny and quite interesting, it just doesn’t hide the fact that it’s low-budget. Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of low-budget great dramas, but this one just loses a lot with where it has been cut. I’m talking about the backstories and the flashbacks. They could have been used a bit better, and the entire feud should have been shorter… I mean 14 episodes is way too long, even if one episode is 30 min.

The cast did an okay job; kind of surprised Oh Ji Ho took another cop character after Cheo Yong but I guess it suits him.

To sum up: a funny comedy with a bit of romance and family (sort of).

☆☆☆ / 3 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥ / 3 out of 5 hearts

Ghost-seeing Detective Cheo Yong 2 Review

Title: Ghost-seeing Detective Cheo Yong 2

AKA: Cheo Yong 2 / Cheo Yong Season 2

Genre: Police, Fantasy, Mystery, Crime

Episodes: 10

Broadcast period: 2015-Aug to 2015-Oct

Cast: Oh Ji Ho, Jun Hyo Sung and Ha Yoon Joo.

After the team was split last time, the chief director decides to put the old team back together again: this time with Jung Ha Yeon (Ha Yeon Joo) an ambitious and potent female detective. Being aware of his abilities everyone looks at Cheo Yong (Oh Ji Ho) to solve most of the cases, but they are all unaware that Na Young (Jun Hyo Sung) is still there – and occasionally possesses Ha Yeon’s body.

They are given the hardest cases – the ones that are hard to crack – but there seems to be a bigger case underneath, which only the chief director and Ha Yeon seem to know. That appears to be the main reason for the reuniting the team. What is really going on?

I apologize for the short summary, but the entire drama is not that exciting. I don’t remember much of the first one, but I do remember I liked it; the stories at least. This season (season 2) really left me without much impression. No that it was bad, but I have no idea why they spent so much time and money on this one. They stories are getting a bit typical, and I really dislike when the main actor/actress is perfect (like Code Blue). It ruins the entire idea of teamwork and team as a general. Though I liked the new characters, and I sort of found the climax good, I have to admit it felt a bit long.

I wouldn’t say I recommend it, but if you liked season 1, this one is a little upgrade from that – but not much.

☆☆☆ / 3 out of 5 stars

♥♥½ / 2½ out of 5 hearts

Ghost-seeing Detective Cheo Yong Review

Title: Ghost Seeing Detective Cheo Yong

AKA: Ghost Seeing Detective / Cheo Yong

Genre: Police, Fantasy, Mystery, Crime

Episodes: 10

Broadcast period: 2014-Feb to 2014-Apr

Cast: Oh Ji Ho, Oh Ji Eun and Jun Hyo Sung.

Yoon Cheo Yong (Oh Ji Ho) was born with the ability to see ghosts from when he was a little boy. When he grew up he decided to use that ability and become a police officer. Even though he became an ace of the station he made a mess out of the entire place, leaving all the paper work to his colleges and not really cooperating with them. While running after a murder suspect also a possessed person, his partner finds him there, but ends up being killed on duty due to Cheo Yongs mistake. This makes Cheo Yong leave the Special Crimes Team, and become a patrol officer.

8 years later he is involved in a case where Ha Sun Woo (Oh Ji Eun) a former victim who became a police officer, is searching for the murderer. In that station a high school ghost Han Na Young (Jun Hyo Sung) is residing and she is keen on keeping Cheo Yong there so she can become the officer she wants to be. But somehow Cheo Yong, Sun Woo and Na Young are connected in the past, and for some reason Na Young is only able to possess Sun Woo. Do they have a history?

When I read about the drama and watched the trailer I wasn’t really expecting this type of drama. Yes I knew there would be ghosts, and a police officer that is able to see them, but it kind of is weird having it being a dramatic story. It is interesting and I am pretty sure you have to make it dramatic to make it on TV, but having it as 10 episodes and focusing on a murderer, which by the way is not human, is a bit uninteresting. Some might disagree, but I was much more interested in his ability as a ghost whisperer than him being a cop. The two do go well like we saw in Who Are You, but WAY is kind of focused on the main love story, which this one is not even interested in. And fair enough no love stories, but then at least make me more interesting in their interaction - kind of has a boring feel.

BUT, the side stories are great, and you really enjoy them, or at least I do. And they touch the important stoires, not just the typical ones. So that is what made me go through all 10 episodes.

All in all interesting; maybe more for others than me.

☆☆☆½ / 3½ out of 5 stars

♥♥♥½ / 3½ out of 5 hearts

Chuno Review

Title: Chuno 

AKA: The Slave Hunters

Genre:  Action, Drama, Period

Episodes: 24

Broadcast period: 2010 Jan to 2010 Mar

Cast:  Jang Hyuk, Oh Ji Ho, Lee Da Hae, Lee Jong Hyuk, Gong Hyung Jin and Han Jung Soo.

“Crown Prince Sohyeon, who was held as a hostage in Qing after the second Manchu Invasion, came back after 8 years and died a month later from a mysterious illness. Afterwards, Crown Prince Kang was put to death for treason. Two of his three sons who were exiled in Jejudo died from an illness. Only Seokgyeon, the youngest son, had lived.  Crown Prince Sohyeon’s mysterious death, possibly by poisoning, led to a bloody political strife. Half of the people became slaves. The slaves ran away from abuse, and many hunted slaves for a reward. They were called the slave hunters” (Taken from the introduction from first episode)

After his family gets killed by slaves, Lee Dae Gil (Jang Hyuk) becomes a ‘Chuno’: a slave hunter. Together with General Choi (Han Jung Soo) and Wang Sun (Kim Ju Suk) they hunt down slaves and return them to their ‘owners’. Dae Gil blames Un Nyun (Lee Dae Hae) a slave girl whom he had loved, but betrayed him when they were found out by Dae Gil’s father, a Noble Man, she was tortured and about to be sold. She is saved by her slave brother, who, while running away, burns down the Lee Household and the family inside, though Dae Gil believes it is Un Nyuns doing.

Song Tae Ha (Oh Ji Ho) a marked and crippled slave, runs away from his owner, and actually manages to overpower Dae Gil, which has never happened to Dae Gil before, so he sets out to solely find him and bring him back…

I really don’t like period dramas, and this one reminded me of why, but besides that, I can honestly say that this is probably one of Koreas best dramas ever made. The love triangle is really stuffy, and the ending was very ‘Korean drama, but other than that: the storyline was superb, the acting was amazing, the fight scenes and the action were brilliant. The three way bromance was splendid, lol, who doesn’t love bromance? :P hehe..

This drama is a MUST if you love Jang Hyuk, his acting is great, but Oh Ji Ho is nothingtheless marvelous.  I don’t really like Lee Dan Hae, but her acting is also good. I loved the side stories, though there was one that just was annoying to watch (the tavern), but else okay.

All in all, good period drama, but almost too Korean.. (just think of all drama clichés)

☆☆☆☆ / 4 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥½ / 3½ out of 5 hearts

Gone With the Wind Movie Review

Title: Gone with the wind

AKA: The Grand Heist

Genre: historical, comedy

Origin: South Korea

Release date: 8. August 2012

Cast: Cha Tae Hyun, Oh Ji Ho, Min Hyo Rin, Lee Chae Young, Sung Dong Il, Go Chang Seok, Shin Jung Geun, Kim Gil Dong, Cheon Bo Geun, Kim Hyang Gi, Song Jong Ho, Nam Kyeong Eup, Kim Ku Taek, Oh Na Ra, Lee Moon Sik, Song Joong Ki . . .

Lee Deok Mu (Cha Tae Hyun) is the son of a minister but lives his life as a commoner running a bookstore with one of his friends. He has no interest in politics, and is often seen as stupid while he is actually quite intelligent. One day he sees his crush begging some soldiers for ice blocks, at that time more valuable than gold, and as she is pushed away he decides to steal one, but gets caught. He meets the man Baek Dong Soo (Oh Ji Ho) who has been framed and fired from his position as chief guard of the royal ice storage, by corrupt officials who want to use the ice business for own gain, ripping the people, controlling is by threatening and bribing other officials and ministers. As  Deok Mu’s father has to leave his position as minister after being falsely accused Deuk Mu decides to take revenge and thus starts a gang with Dong Soo consisting of 11 people, all professionals in their own area, with the plan to steal all ice from the royal storage in just one night.

A VERY nice movie, and I have never heard of this ice harvesting and I have no idea if its true or not, but it was very different and that made it more fresh. Of course Cha Tae Hyun was great again, as always. And with Oh Ji Ho as well, I think his role was a bit weird though. But it had me laughing quite some times and I think actually it might be a great family movie as well, or well.. maybe not haha, I just remembered some scenes. I have no complaints about anything, it was fun and interesting. I recommend it as a relaxing movie, it’s enjoyable.

☆☆☆☆ / 4 out of 5 stars 

♥♥♥♥ / 4 out of 5 hearts 

Sector 7 Movie Review

Title: Sector 7
Genre: Action, Thriller, Suspense
Origin: Korea
Release date: 04 August 2011
Cast: Ha Ji Won, Ahn Seong Gi, Oh Ji Ho and many others..

In the Pacific Ocean an oil platform called Sector 7, a drill crew is having hard time finding oil. After spending several months, the manager calls headquarters in order to get the crew home.
Cha Hae Joon (Ha Ji Won) has been living almost her entire life on Sector 7, and it’s also the place her father mysteriously disappeared. Hearing that they are to leave Sector 7 without finding any oil, she starts a fight with the manager, creating fuss on the platform. When her father’s former partner Lee Jeong Man (Ahn Seong Gi) returns and tells the crew to give him a shot at the drill, everything seems normal.
Suddenly people die, first a young member, followed by the nurse of the crew. At first the death of the youngster is not considered, because his death seemed normal, but after the nurse dies, suspicion towards her fling is made. Shortly after, the doctor dies; one after another people die, or go missing and they are left all alone without any form of communication with the world…

One word: bad. This movie, I mean seriously why it was made, and why this storyline, I can’t comprehend.
The overall is just silly, and God it’s boring. Yeah, cool with the monster and everything, and yeah fairly made also, the entire graphic and all, but simply one of the longest 1h and 40min in my life. Lol, okay, I may exaggerate, it’s not THAT horrible, but daim it comes close. And you may get shocked to see the rating, but I most defiantly will not give it more, nor do I recommend it. If you are looking for a reason to watch it, watch it because of the cast, they seriously try their best. I feel that they were soooooo daim busy showing how ‘cool’ Cha Hae Joon was, but with a face like that and with her voice, so not gonna happen, not matter how many flying motorbikes she rides, or how many beasts she faces…

☆☆½ / 2½ out of 5 stars

♥♥½ / 2½ out of 5 hearts