Happily Ever After

           If I were to choose only one Korean movie, I would choose this one, <Take Care of My Cat>(2001). It is the most special to me. Thanks to this movie, I got to experience personally life-changing events that I will surely cherish for my entire life.    In 2021, the movie reopened in theaters after a 4K remastering. As a big fan of actress Bae Doona, I went to the movies. And what I witnessed was something odd. To begin with, the story was odd. There was no romance, no thrill, no comedy, no pity in it. It was a first. The music was odd, too. Feeling doubtful about what I just watched for 2 hours, not knowing what should have been felt from it, I remember walking out of the theatre dumbfounded.    Then by chance, I got to watch <Take Care of My Cat> again. And I wasn't dumbfounded at all this time; I was dumbstruck. Because the movie mesmerized me. Enchanted me. It was truly a magical moment. I had a realization that m...

  Sports movies are surprisingly rare these days. They have their own strength in that they induce joy, thrill, excitement, fulfillment, and a bunch of other positive feelings. This movie was made by a renowned, young director Lee Byung-hun and stars famous actors Park Seo-jun, IU(Lee Ji-eun), Lee Hyun-woo, and so on.    Hong-dae is a famous soccer player, but things didn't go well for him. He has to play a role as the coach of a soccer team of homeless people. And the whole process is to be filmed into a documentary by a producer So-min. Hong-dae and So-min both start this project just for personal interests, but as time passes, they begin to work together to actually make the homeless people's lives better.   The movie shone much more than I had anticipated, as I thought that it would be like a typical sports movie. But there was definitely something special about it, and it took some time to figure out what it was.   <Dream> was special because while wa...

    Hong Sang Soo is one of the most renowned movie directors of all time. His works are appreciated all over the world and has gotten many international film awards. With respect, the first movie of his I'm going to introduce is a short film; it's running time is less than half an hour, but it's impact is extraordinary.   Mi-hye and her mother go on a trip. Mi-hye decides to write down a list of things to do on the trip and writes down twelve things to do the next day. The two of them go to the beach, and they encounter a famous movie director, Sang-jun, there. Sang-jun takes immediate interest in Mi-hye, and as they spend time together, Mi-hye begins to open up her feelings for Sang-jun, too.   Hong Sang-soo is a director renowned for filming impromptu. Due to this style of work, his movies tend to be interesting because they focus even on trivial things. He captures seemingly insignificant things and then blows spirit and liveliness into them. As a consequence, th...

    Lee Byung-hun and Jeon Do-yeon are two extremely popular Korean actors of all time. The two are famous for filming many movies together, appearing in 'Memories of the Sword', 'Ashfall', and 'Emergency Declaration'. They have an amazing acting career built steadily over the past years, which made them who they are now. But even they had their rookie days, and this movie, 'The Harmonium In My Memory', was filmed when they were still young, promising actors. It was also the beginning of their long, special relationship.   Hong-yeon is a late elementary school student of age seventeen. She falls in a one-sided love with the new teacher, Soo-ha. She expresses her feelings to Soo-ha ardently, but Soo-ha's attention is entirely on a fellow teacher, Eun-hee. Hong-yeon gets intimidated and heartbroken, but still she tries her best to make Soo-ha like her back.   Although the movie is quite old, released in 1999, the story doesn't feel outdated at all....

    Since this movie was already renowned for being a tear-trigger, tears were expected as I prepared myself for an outburst. But it wasn't just an outburst; it actually turned out to be a gigantic flood. And once the tears started running, soon they were running automatically every time someone in the screen showed some sign of crying.    Go-eun and Sora are mother and daughter. Sora is used to figuring things out by herself even though she is very young since her mother has always been busy with work, working as a wedding dress designer. Then, Sora begins to notice that her mom had become somewhat different. Go-eun starts to spend time with Sora more, and even encourages Sora to skip school to go on a trip with her. Sora also notices other things too, that her mother is sick. As days go by, Go-eun and Sora become more desperate for time, more time for more love.   The actress who played Sora, Kim Hyang-gi, made my heart break so much by impeccable acting. It f...

  This movie was one that I had been waiting for two months to watch in the theaters. The main reason was because of actress Kim Dami. I loved the tv show, <Our Beloved Summer>, where she starred alongside actor Choi Woo-sik. Their bond was perfect; the drama depicted their fresh romance so heartwarmingly that I was naturally looking forward to Kim's next appearance. And <Soulmate> was the exact movie I was looking forward to; it had everything fully equipped. So, I eagerly rushed to the theaters on the release date, and in the dimly lit space found myself face to face with something more magical than I could ever imagine.    The magic between Miso and Haeun begins in 1998, when Miso moves to Haeun's school. It continues until high school of 2004, when a new friend, Jinwoo, comes along. 2010, they each begin their journey as adults. Along the way, fights sometimes occur, but it's okay, maybe, because they will somehow find their way back to each other. Be...

    Later this month, a new Netflix movie is going to be released. The movie, <Kill Bok Soon>, stars Jeon Do-yeon and Seol Kyung-gu. But it's not the first time they are in the same movie. They also worked together before four years ago in a movie titled <Birthday>, which is what I'm going to introduce to you today.   This movie is based on the famous Sewol Ferry sinking accident that occurred in 2014. This tragic accident cost the lives of many people, including high school students who were on a school field trip together. Jeon Do-yeon and Seol Kyung-gu appear as parents of a high school boy whose life was lost in the ferry accident. The family becomes torn apart by the tragic incident, and the movie tells carefully about the life of those who are left behind, how they barely manage to live day after day.    Jeon Do-yeon and Seol Kyung-gu showed amazing chemistry in <Birthday>. Their despair accumulates as their deceased son's birthday gets c...