The Technicians (Movie)

Synopsis: 

Ji Hyuk (Kim Woo Bin) is a safe cracker and steals diamonds from President Cho, the dangerous owner of a high-end jewelry store. However, instead of prosecuting the thieves who tried to rob him, President Cho decides to forcefully recruit them and help him with a bigger plan. Along with his trusted partner Koo In (Go Chang Suk), Ji Hyuk links up with the untrustworthy genius hacker, Jong Bae (Lee Hyun Woo) and assembles the perfect trio for the greatest heist of their lives. 

Review: 

I really enjoyed this movie. It was so fun to watch and very intense at times. At the same time, I loved the characters and their distinct personalities. It was very unique how this movie tied their personalities together and also give that unexpected end. Everything that you watch is important to how the story turns out and ends. It was well-made with a very intricate plot that flowed smoothly. I really enjoyed watching every minute

of this movie.

Gong Suo Cheng Xiang (Movie)

       I really enjoyed this movie for several reasons. For one thing, it was nice to see the baby-faced and innocent Zhao Li Ying play the role of the antagonist. Every drama that I have watched her in, she was always played the lovable character as seen in dramas such as Legend of Lu Zhen, Boss and Me, and the new Huan Zhu GeGe. So seeing her play the antagonist showed just how great her acting spectrum is and it made me appreciate her in a new light. 

       This movie takes place within the palace. Chen Xiang, the protagonist, is sent to live in the palace as a maid when she was a little girl. Her kind and timid nature made her quite vulnerable in an unfamiliar environment. Thankfully, she befriends a confident and bold girl named  Liu Li. The two grow up together. Upon growing up, Liu Li begins fantasizing marrying a man from a well-off family (such as a prince). Dragging Chen Xiang along, she seeks to bump into one of the princes one night and makes Chen Xiang do her shift's work. Liu Li met the ninth prince who was manipulative and cold-hearted and took advantage of Liu Li. Meanwhile, Chen Xiang bumps into the thirteenth prince who falls in love with her kind nature but he never saw her face as she covered it with a handkerchief. When news spread that he was looking for her, she couldn't come out and say that she was the maid from that night  because Liu Li would get punished for not being at her shift. Taking Chen Xiang's identity from the night before, she pretends to be the girl that was with the thirteenth prince and marries him. At the same time, Liu Li still is messily involved with the ninth prince and doesn't really love the thirteenth prince wholeheartedly. 

      Chen Xiang goes along with it despite feeling depressed. She got her chances to talk to the thirteenth prince though because the thirteenth prince came up to her often to ask her what Liu Li liked since Chen Xiang was Liu Li's best friend. As Liu Li gets used to her status, she begins to order Chen Xiang around and abuse Cheng Xiang at times. Overtime, the truth is revealed and everything begins to work back in place even if it was the most gruesome option. 

Love Myself Or You

22 episodes

Synopsis:

Can anything be more important than comics and good food? Du Kai Qi (Puff Guo) is an independent, single woman who loves comic books and her job as a sous chef in the fine-dining French restaurant, Figaro Cuisine. When an unassuming man, Fu Zi Jie (Jasper Liu), moves in next door, they immediately begin to bicker over trivial matters. But when Zi Jie shows up as a new employee at her restaurant, Kai Qi, as well as other staff members, mistake him for a lowly intern, not knowing that Zi Jie is a classically trained chef who just returned from France and that Figaro Cuisine is actually his father’s restaurant. Can Zi Jie help save Kai Qi from the wrath of the mysterious “Chef Louis”? “Love Myself or You?”, also known as “Love Meets Cupid" and "Pleasantly Surprised," is a 2014 Taiwanese drama series.

Review:
This was a really cute drama. It was nice seeing Puff again and her character wasn't as bubbly as her character in Just You so it was nice to see a more serious side of her. The male protagonist was very easy on the eyes. I enjoyed the chemistry between the co-workers in this drama because it reminded me of how Puff got along with her co-workers in Just You. There's a sense of family. I also really liked the second male lead because he really was a nice guy. He knew Kai Qi from before and were best friends at a point which was why he was used to her foul temper and he liked her for who she is. He was very kind to her and stayed quiet even though he noticed her feelings growing for Fu Zi Jie and immediately backed off when the choice was made warning Fu Zi Jie to treat her well. It was nice to see. This drama had a lot of food because the main setting is in this French restaurant called Figaro Cuisine. It was cute but it's not a favorite. 

Divorce Lawyers

Ep: 46
Synopsis:
Two opposing divorce lawyers wind up living next to each other, one a hopeless romantic and the other a bitter cynic. Can they settle their differences at work or home?

Review: 
I really liked this drama for several reasons. For one thing, it is about divorce lawyers dealing with crazy people and their drama. Another thing, they were divorce lawyers going through similar situations in their own love lives. At the same time, it's about divorce lawyers who have a sense of rivalry with one another at the same time living next to each other in the same apartment and bonding through work and rivalry. It was also very humorous with a nagging and exaggerated mother that comes visit every once in a while. The romance was also very mature without a lot of the typical high school giggling and worrying. It was very refreshing to watch. I loved watching the chemistry between Chi Hai Dong and Luo Li. It was hilarious and cute all at the same time.
      At the same time, we had to watch relationships crumble and build up while dealing with irrational characters. For example, Chi Hai Dong's ex was a nightmare for the majority of the drama. Not only did she have this mentality that Chi Hai Dong was still her's after their divorce due to HER cheating on him but she was also constantly running back to him playing victim despite marrying the guy she cheated on Chi Hai Dong with. I did pity her though despite my annoyance toward her behavior because the guy she ended up marrying was filled with jealousy that she might still have feelings for her ex-husband and as a result spurred a domestically violent relationship. It was very awful to watch and it was great to see her fight to get out of that relationship at the very end.
       Tang Mei Yu is Luo  Li's best friend and she used to be a partner at Luo Li's law firm. Upon getting pregnant and then married, she resigns from her job to become a full-time wife and mother. But times are getting tough as her husband Chi Kai Qiang struggles to support his family and keep a job. As stress builds up and his inability to relieve that stress with Tang Mei Yu, the appearance of an old high school friend Shi Jiang sparks his interest and he "emotionally cheats" on his wife with her (whatever emotionally cheating means). Tang Mei Yu finds out and gives him subtle hints that she knows and forgives him time and time again asking him to stop without confronting him about it until she could handle no more. Their relationship gets rocky and divorce battles ensue as well as they drag in their friends (the good old divorce lawyers) into the mess. Though they solved the issue, it just shows that even the strongest relationships can experience turmoils that both parties wanted no part of.
     It was just realistic and hilarious and  I enjoyed it a lot. Some parts did drag and seem unrealistic but it's easy to overlook that. 

Who Are You: School 2015

Episodes: 16 

Synopsis:
The lives of identical girls with very similar names – one who disappears without a trace and one who loses her memory – collide in unexpected ways. Lee Eun Bi (Kim So Hyun) grows up in an orphanage and deals with the relentless bullying from a group of girls at her school. Go Eun Byul (Kim So Hyun) attends Segang High School, a top-notch school in Gangnam, but disappears without a trace during a school field trip. As Eun Bi tries to escape from her miserable life and ends up in the hospital with no memories of her past, Eun Byul’s mother (Jeon Mi Seon) thinks Eun Bi is her lost daughter and takes her back to live her life as Eun Byul. As Eun Bi tries to recover her lost memories, can she discover what happened to the real Eun Byul and why she looks so much like the missing girl?

Review: 

    I really liked this drama a lot. I loved the character dynamics and how differently the twins dealt with situations. At the same time, I did ship both the girls with the two guys. Even though my ship didn't turn out the way I wanted to and Eun Byul ended up staying single, I think in a way it played off in a more realistic sense. Not everyone gets paired off and some people have other aspirations. I did feel extremely upset about the bullying scenes. I did not understand why the dead girl's sister kept bothering Go Eun Byul when it wasn't anyone's fault for the girl's death. That girl died due to health issues. Just because her one and only friend didn't go up to talk to her doesn't mean that she deserves to be terrorized the way she was. 

   The OSTs were on point.

    I loved Eun Byul's friends because they were so funny and I liked how that class was so anti-bullying. The minor characters were a pleasure to watch. It was nice to see how everyone struggled a different way to school pressure and self identity. It was interesting to see how changes were made and how people helped one another out. Eun Bi is more nice but she is emotionally weak so I was extremely greatful that she had Taekwang's guidance and I wanted them to end up together. At the same time, I wanted Eun Byul to end up with Han Yi Ahn. It just seemed so much to me that Han Yi Ahn got over his crush of that many years so soon without even thinking "Ok...Eun Byul isn't acting like herself." And even when he did, he just didn't question it and went along with it. 

    There were a lot of beautiful scenes in this drama that brought on a lot of feels. Also, Gong Tae Kwang dyes his hair from blond to black at some point and he looked good. It gave him a sense of maturity and I preferred it a lot over the blond. However, I think the blond was essential to showing his character in the beginning and making him more distinct. I loved it when Eun Byul finally came back and showed Kang So Young who's boss. Kang So Young's actions seemed very exaggerated and I did not like her. I mean...come on, who likes bullies? 

20 Once Again (movie)

                                       

I watched this movie on a plane ride and enjoyed it greatly. This is a Chinese movie and I really enjoyed it. All of the actors and actresses in this movie were very beautiful and charming in their own way (especially our protagonist). Also it was nice to see Luhan continuing his career in the entertainment industry in this movie. I'm glad that he's doing well since leaving Exo. 

Synopsis: 

        Sheng Meng Jun is now a 70 year old widow. She's extremely prideful of her son who she raised as a single mother for all these years. She's constantly bragging to others about how he's a professor at a top university and placing herself on the pedestal. She's also constantly nagging others while picking at all of their faults. She constantly hangs out with her old friend Li Dahai. Li Dahai used to work for her family when he was a teenager and developed a crush on Sheng Meng Jun since then. However, the two never got together but it is evident that he still has feelings for her after all this time. She lives with her son and his family. Sheng Meng Jun's daughter in law suffers heart problems and her grandkids (twins: 1 girl, 1 boy) are constantly arguing with one another. Sheng Meng Jun shows her bias toward her grandson Xiang Qianjin because of his musical aspirations reminding her of the dreams she had when she was younger to be a singer. 

          Because of all the nagging and pressure she places on her daughter in law Yang Qin, Yang Qin ended up going to the hospital. The doctor recommended that Yang Qin shouldn't be stressed for any reason. After this, the family decided it was best if they send Sheng Meng Jun to a nursing home for the time being until Yang Qin gets better. Feeling hurt, she wanders about until she comes across a photography studio that she had never found before. Upon leaving the studio after taking a picture, she is surprised to find that she has been transformed back into her 20 year old self. The prime of her beauty. 

            She rents a room at Li Dahai's house hiding her identity as Meng Li Jun. As her family and Li Dahai worry about where she is, she finds ways to send messages to them about how she is fine. Then at the senior recreation center, she has a singing battle with her long-time rival. Upon this, her grandson seeks her out to be the lead singer in his band and a music director also begins to search for her. With this, her musical aspirations and dreams take flight while helping her grandson achieve his dreams. As her grandson and music director fall for her, Sheng Meng Jun has quite an interesting adventure. At the same time, Li Dahai finds out that his tenant is actually the young version of Sheng Meng Jun and tries to help her out while expressing his feelings. 

            However, at the end, Sheng Meng Jun must decide what is more important. To go back to her normal age and focus on those close to her or to live life again as Li Jun and experience everything she wasn't able to. With a series of events, she realizes how unnatural it is for her to be so young while her generation slowly dies out and how despite the second chance to relive her younger years, she would still want to live the life she chose back then because there are things she values more. It was a very comical movie but at the same time very deep. But the ending is still confusing to me even though I found it beautiful.