The Man Living in our House Review

Title: The Man Living in our House 

AKA: Sweet Stranger and Me

Genre: Family, Comedy, Romance

Episodes: 16

Broadcast Period: Oct-2016 to Dec-2016

Cast: Soo Ae, Kim Young Kwang, Lee Soo Hyuk, Jo Bo Ah, Kim Ji Hoon, Kim Mi Sook, KimHa Kyun, Ji Yoon Ho,

Hong Na Ri (Soo Ae) is a middle-aged flight attendant who suddenly comes home to find her deceased mother's husband, Go Nan Gil (Kim Young Kwang), has decided to live in her house. The problem is her mothers husband is three years younger than Hong Na Ri. Go Nan Gil runs a dumpling shop inherited from his late wife, where the shop and Na Ris house are located on a hotly disputed land.

During this drama I had so much to say about it. I should have kept notes, because now that I have to write the review nothing comes to mind.
One thing for sure is that they really wanted it to be a suspense drama, but failed miserably. The first 10 episdodes they kept hinting at a dark secret that would throw our lead actress into some real distress. However the last 6 episodes instead of a big revelation of the past (which they make you really curious about), they just dodge the whole thing and trying to put an end to the story. For one thing it made me disappointed and another: what a huuuuge waste of time. While watching the drama it’s enjoyable, and you like seeing the lead actress tumbling through life and trying to figure out how to get out of her midlife crisis. The lead actor also did a splendid job as the step-father despite his young age. However, it’s only when you finish it, you feel incomplete and with so many unanswered questions. 

☆☆☆ / 3 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥ / 3 out of 5 hearts

The Flu Movie Review

Title: The Flu
Genre: Human, Action
Origin: South Korea
Release Date: August 14, 2013
Cast: Soo Ae, Jang Hyuk, Park Min Ha, Yoo Hae Jin, Ma Dong Seok, Lee Hee Joon, Cha In Pyo, Lang Sang Yeob

A group of illegal immigrants are smuggled from China to South Korea inside a shipping container, but when it's opened in the affluent Seoul suburb of Bundang by traffickers, it's discovered that all of the immigrants are dead, except for one man, a carrier of a deadly strain of H5N1 (avian influenza, or bird flu). As the man escapes, he quickly spreads the virus to nearby residents. Mir (Park Min-ha), daughter of a single mother Kim In-hae (Soo Ae), meets the man, named Mossai, and gives him some food and tells him to wait as she calls rescue worker and paramedic Kang Ji-goo (Jang Hyuk). However as he arrives, Mossai is nowhere to be found.

I was able to watch this movie while travelling, and only because it was the only movie I had in my tablet. However, oh boy I wished I watched it sooner, it was better than I expected. It totally gave me the chills. Somehow, it kept your attention to the very end and had a good story line. When you’re finished with the movie, it still stays with you on your mind, and you start looking at people coughing and wonder if... Just kidding! The acting was top-notch especially Park Min Ha. She may be a child actress but she brought her character to life, I’m seriously amazed by all the child actors in Korea, some of them are better than the adults. One scene with Park Min Ha crying made me cry so hard (watch the movie to find out) that I had to look away from the screen & took a break for a moment to recompose myself.  If you like medical, disaster and action type movies then you'll probably like this one.

☆☆☆☆☆ / 5 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥♥ / 5 out of 5 hearts

Bunji Verdict

This is another movie I had to watch, because of the references made by Korean tv. Though I never really paid much attention to it, I felt it had been out there and around me for quite a long time, but I didn’t want to watch it, as I am not the biggest fan of overhyped movies. That said, I loved this! I was afraid it would be a wannabe Hollywood epidemic movie, but I LOVED that they kept it (for the most part) Korean. I really have no flaw to mention in this movie, except the fact that the last 8 minutes made me cry so much, I was all swollen, but that is because I was unable to look away from Min Ha’s acting… seriously amazing!

I don’t want to spoil anything, so I’ll just end like this: 100% recommendable.

☆☆☆☆☆ / 5 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥♥ / 5 out of 5 hearts

Mask Review

Title: Mask

AKA: Gamyun

Genre: Romance, Melodrama

Episode: 20

Broadcast Period: May-2015 to Jul-2015

Cast: Soo Ae, Joo Ji Hoon, Yun Jung Hoon, Yoo In Young, Hoya, Jun Gook Hwan, Park Jung Geum, Jung Dong Hwan

They say that some people has a doppelganger, and the first one who see ‘the other’ will die soon after. Byun Ji Sook (Soo Ae) has always had a hard life with her father constantly going into debt and being chased by loan sharks. She desperately wants to know what life is like if she was born into a better family and didn’t have to worry about money all the time. When a series of circumstances brings Ji Sook to Seo Eun Ha (Soo Ae), a woman from a wealthy family who strongly resembles Ji Sook, she grabs hold of the chance for a better life and assumes Eun Ha’s identity and begins to live her elite life. She meets Min Woo (Joo Ji Hoon), a chaebol heir who is mistrusting of the people around him. But when he realizes that Ji Sook is not like the other women he has met, he is drawn to her. How long can Ji Sook keep up the charade and hide her true identity?

Certainly, this has been a crazy 20 hour long yet interesting ride. First of all, the synopsis does not do any justice for the drama, but because I really didn’t want to spoil anything I kept it as minimal as possible. There is so much more going on politically, family stuff and revenge. To sum it all up, people with hidden intentions wearing a mask. After finishing it, it made me think a lot. Aren’t we all wearing a mask from time to time… Anyway hahah, I got carried away. The drama itself was really good, although it made me frustrated a lot in the beginning. The characters were so weak it made no sense, it portrayed a dark world were everything can be done with money. An over-dramatic melodrama, like serious, there were more than 5 different dramatic car chases, and two of them happened in the same episode, but I was hooked. The four main characters were all intense with a lot of hidden feelings, especially Suk Hoon/Yun Jung Hoon, he was so interesting and so despicable. One thing you can say about them all is, whether you hated them or loved them, you can’t deny what an amazing character they were. There were a lot of plot-holes for sure, but either it is strong enough to excuse them or it isn’t. In this case, it’s very close, but it was so intriguing you’ll actually be more concerned about how it would end.

☆☆☆☆ / 4 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥½ / 3½ out of 5 hearts