Slumdog Millionaire

My niece mentioned briefly this movie in her blog and shortly after I read her blog a colleague of mine asked out of the blue if I had watched this movie, he said it was nice. So I was curious, and thus borrowed the dvd from my niece.

It's a British film, set and filmed in India, it tells a story of a young man froms the slums who appeared in an the India version of "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire". Being uneducated, he exceeds people's expectation when he answered all of the question correctly and thus raised suspicions of the game show hosts (Anil Kapoor) that he somehow was cheating. The host handed him over to the police to be interrogated when the show was over for the night and to be continued on the next day.

In police custody, where he is tortured as the police attempt to learn how Jamal, a simple "slumdog", could know the answers to so many questions. Jamal tells his whole story, explaining how his life experiences coincidentally enabled him to know the answer to each question. Haha... the scene afterwards below is the time I had to close my eyes and don't want to think in my head....

Anyway, it tells the story of growing up in poverty for the two suddenly-orphaned brothers, Jamal (Dev Patel) and Salim. Their mother was bludgeon to death infront their eyes during the Hindu-Muslim riots in the slums. Then, they met Latika, also another lone child survivor from the riot. It is a depressing movie really - if you think about the horror lives that children in some of these kind of countries really faced - but if we only takes it just another movie, it is kinda ok... merits those awards at the Academy? I don't know, hehe... since almost all of those movies that won those awards before bored me to sleep!

Well, the hero of the story might be Jamal, but I think the character of Salim is more interesting. Why did he let go of Latika's hand when they chase the train? He don't want the added responsibility? Or he don't want to share his brother? Why he hurt Jamal then, when they finally found Latika again?

Fireworks aka Exhibition of Fireworks (2.5)

I really wasn't planning to watch this drama, but a collegue at work lend it to me, so what the heck since I'm tightening my purse not to buy anymore boxset for the time being and Kang Ji Hwan was in it, what the hell...got to suffer through Han Chae Young then.

But heck... I don't like her so much that I stopped at episode 2. It just wasn't right she was the lead heroine, but I was rooting for the second one. I need to take a breather and clear my head first from any thoughts of her. After a few days, I continue watching....

So the story was Shin Na Ra, almost hitting 30, unmarried and living with her boyfriend of 10 years, Seung-Woo (but practicing abstinence!) and had no stable jobs. Her boyfriend just got back from overseas business trip, and on this trip he fall in love and sleep with another woman. But he feels so beholden to Na Ra who had supported him emotionally and financially all those years that he said he would still willing to marry her (asshole!). Na Ra kicked him out of the house. That's good for her right? but fudge, after a few days she doing anything to win him back again...what-the-hell?...but he had changed his mind, he really love this girl and wanted to be with her.

To make the story short, she met In Jae, whose mother is rich and famous but he prefer to be independent and his almost-sister-in-law bring him back to mother's fold. The almost-sister -in-law was none other than the girl Seung Woo falls in love with, Mi Rae!. Na Ra practicng 'keep your friends close but your enemy closer' finds herself working in the same beauty-care (cosmetics) shop as Mi Rae and In Jae. Na Ra and In Jae becomes close and make a pact to become "couple of convenience", someone to be there for you whenever you need a partner for a drink, watch a movie together and hear you complains whenever you have a bad day - witout any emotional entanglement or attachment. Just when they might be something more to their relationship, In Jae found out that his almost-sister-in-law, Mi Rae is also in love with him. He was willing to see her get married again to another man, but when she confessed she had the same feeling for him also, that his brother was actually the 'replacement' for him, he cannot give her up. So Na Ra's man was again stole by the same person, she and Seung Woo was left in the lurch.

I don't want to write more about the storyline, just enough to say I would have given up watching if it wasn't for Kang Ji Hwan. Hate the Mi Rae character, so...selfish! and so self-righteous! She was in love with In Jae since she was young, but In Jae was busy living life, rebelling, trying to outshone his perfect-brother in his mother's eyes; so when In Jaeng (In Jae's brother) falls in love with her, she decided not to wait for In Jae anymore and just accept it. Then In Jaeng died, since it's the right thing to do - she showered In Jae with sisterly affection. But she can't get over her real feeling forIn Jae, and her guilt over In Jaeng, so she slept with and agreed to marry another man. What kind of woman is that, so centered on herself, and trying to forget one mistake by doing another....argghhh! It was good that Na Ra give back as much as she got. But Na Ra is also one thing, one day she was scheming to get her boyfriend back and then the next she fall in love with another guy. The two guys character also was no better... In Jae realised that he's not really in love with Mi Ra, but decided to marry her still out of pity sake. Seun Woo...well just for being Seung Woo. Seung Woo was played by Yoon Sang Hyun, the guy who was married to Na Young(Eugene) in Three Dads and One Mom... he's like superman in a way; when he's wants to play a nice dorky guy he donned his spectacles, but for a mean character minus the spec ^_^

And oh yeah, a short bob makes Park Eun Hye's face look fuller, she should just stick with her hair all pulled back and tied. Don't wanna say much about Han Chae Young's looks...wonder why she was called Korean Barbie? Is it because she got the fuller figure on top although she was skinny or is it really her face?

Yi San Vol. 4 (3.9)

Please get ready with a box of tissue at your side! Sob! Sob! So many deaths... well, its predictable since this is the last volume.

First, I shed a tear for Dae Su, who sends Song Yeon to be the King's concubine. In that I hate Song Yeon a little bit, for not being overly concerned for Dae Su's feeling. Hmph! What did Han Ji Min intrepretation for her character, Song Yeon must be flattered by Dae Su's feeling for her; in one hand she feels sad for Dae Su, but on the other hand she also don't want him to stop loving her. Wouldn't any woman feels the same way?

For Secretary Hong...well, its nice that they potrayed him as not 100% evil, he's just plain human with first and foremost his own self-interest - but with a conscience. I like the 'bonding' and 'loyalty' between Secretary Hong and the "three musketeers" and between Secretary Hong and the king itself. These must be what friendship is between guys, its there just not verbally expressed, while friendship for the females gender; I don't know...if its most of the time consists of only gossiping then it's just superficial, won't last through time and tribulation.

The king did want to forgive Secretary Hong, cause he knows that his friend was 'just lost his way' then, and its his job as a friend to bring him to the correct path once again. But its not so simple, cause he's the king and his hands are tied. Ironic isn't it, to be a king and be so powerless to do a simple thing as lift a hand to help a friend?

And then it's time for Song Yeon to die... Didn't you asked yourself sometimes, did you cry because you feel sad for the dead, or did you cry because you empathized to the pain of those who are left behind? They wonder how could they lived on, but lived on they did - because lives go on... and the pain dulls. I hate this scene, hello!!!! the love of your life is dying in your arms, but you look elsewhere?!!!

Prince MunHyo, his son with Song Yeon only lived for 4 years. His succesor to the throne was another prince from his other concubine. This I got from wiki since I was curious whose son is it that becomes the king when he passed away.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeongjo_of_Joseon

Btw, the little princes are cute, can I adopt a korean baby please? Wakaka...

Well, its a nice drama, but the political skirmishes makes you wanna go argghh! enough already...if they edited these out, it will be much more less episodes, and can save me some $$$...