Flower Boy Ramyun Shop is a perfect example of a romantic comedy where poor girl meets rich boy and they fall for each other. Yang Eun Bi (Lee Chung Ah) is a college student preparing for her civil service exam. Chi Soo (Jung il Woo) is the heir of the biggest food conglomerate in Korea. Through some twists of fate, they end up working at a ramyun shop owned by Choi Kang Hyuk (Lee Ki Woo). To complete the flower boys in the series are Kim Ba Wool (Park Min Woo) and Woo Hyun Woo (Jo Yoon Woo).

The one who caught my attention in Flower Boy Ramyun Shop is Ho Soo, who played Ba Wool’s girlfriend. She was unsure about her feelings for Ba Wool, which I think everyone can relate to especially during our high school years. I will keep my eyes on Ho Soo’s career from now on.

Chi Soo and Eun Bi show us that you can’t control your heart to love someone. It just happens. While Flower Boy Ramyun Shop is somehow predictable, it made up for it with interesting characters, funny situations, and heart whelming moments. It tried to be realistic and at the same time suspend reality for its audience. It is well-written and the ending will satisfy most of the viewers.

It is a typical melodrama with Han Da Jin losing both her parents after graduating from a pilot school. Being a pilot would make her father proud. It provided a source of income for her so that she could take care of her younger sister. What she didn’t know was that pilot Yoon Sung directly caused the accident that led to the death of her mother.

Take Care of Us, Captain’s take off was not good. It immediately experienced turbulence during the first episode. I had high hopes for the drama but nothing can save it from crashing down. The rest of the episodes were full of drama and formulaic. The main characters would work on their love lives and the crew would encounter passengers that needed their help or touch their lives. One way or another, the cast would either be shouting with each other or someone would be crying.

Since I saw her in Boys Over Flowers, Koo Hye Sun has a special place in my heart. But role after role, it seemed like her character never changed. She is typecast as the tomboy that gets the man. I don’t know why writers kept giving her the same roles over and over again. Another thing I dislike about her is her inability to kiss. She looks awkward in all her kissing scenes that would make the audience think that she’s not enjoying it at all.

I think that Lee Sung Min was casted in Take Care of US Captain only to have a sexy girl for the pool scene in Episode 3. Aside from that, she is forgettable. If the writer tried to incorporate more scenes with her in a bikini then the ratings could have gone up.

Of the girls in Take Care of Us Captain, Yoo Sun gave the best performance. Her character was the antagonist at first until the writer decided to place her in the back seat towards the second half of the drama.

Ji Jin Hee is a fine actor but you can’t like his character since the start of Take Care of Us, Captain because you know he caused the accident and he hasn’t fessed up to Da Jin. He had to wait until the end until he told her about it. No matter how the writer builds up the relationship of the two main characters, there’s just no spark between them.

Lee Chun Hee had a better chemistry with Koo Hye Sun. As Dong Soo, he had a playful relationship with Da Jin. But he was placed in the friend-zone very early in the story and he can’t get out of it. In the latter part of Take Care of Us, Captain, his character transformed that reminded me of Da Lung from Hi My Sweetheart.

But probably the most adorable part of Take Care of Us, Captain is Kil So Won, the kid who played Da Jin’s sister. She’s so fluffy that she could play the part of the little girl in Despicable Me. She lightens up the mood whenever she’s part of the scene.

To be honest, I skipped a few episodes of Take Care of Us, Captain. I watched until Episode 15 and skipped forward to the finale. I don’t know whether watching the four episodes would change my opinion about the series as a whole but from what I’ve seen, Take Care of Us, Captain is a Korean drama series that I should not have bothered watching at all. It made me not want to see another Koo Hye Sun starrer in the near future. Hopefully, she does her homework and chooses a role that’s not reminiscent of her previous ones.

And because of circumstances, Eun Jae became Moo Yul’s bodyguard. Wild Romance focused on how two people who hate each other end up falling for one another. Yes, it’s a typical romantic comedy featuring an odd couple.

Wild Romance tried to be different by introducing a psycho stalker. This element of the story felt forced and the identity of the culprit was easily unmasked before the end of the series. The writer tried to throw the viewers’ attention away from the real stalker by introducing a twist, which I thought was a bit off character.

Jin Dong Soo (Oh Man Suk) and his wife Oh Soo Young (Hwang Sun Hee) are Moo Yul’s best friends. They support Moo Yul through thick and thin. So when the twist arrived, it was out of nowhere and unbelievable.

One of the reasons why I had high hopes for Wild Romance was because it was the first acting job for Jessica Jung of SNSD. I think she’s not ready yet to take acting seriously. She was stiff and should take more workshops if she wants to pursue an acting career. She played Kang Jong Hee, Moo Yul’s ex-girlfriend who still has some feelings for him.

And speaking of stiff acting, Kang Dong Ho played the only consistent character in Wild Romance. As Kim Tae Han, his poker face stayed on for the entire series. But the Tae Han and Dong Ah (Im Joo Eun) pair is the only likeable couple in the series. They had better chemistry than the main couple.

Dong Ah is Eun Jae’s best friend and she grew on me. At first I tend to just dismiss her presence but as the series progressed, she became my eye candy. I can’t wait to start my What’s Up marathon so that I can see her more.

Wild Romance was a funny romantic in the start and end. But they had to incorporate a stalker mystery plot in the middle to intensify the lackluster romance brewing between Moo Yul and Eun Jae. It drained the fun factor of the drama. If you’re going to watch this one, don’t expect it to be fluffy from episode 1 to the last episode.

Precious is too predictable. Things go from bad to worse as the movie progresses. We already had seen a lot of movies about unappreciated students and their overachieving teacher. This is basically the plot of Precious when all of the drama was removed from it.

It is also full of movie clichés. Precious’ parents were depicted to be the evil ones while Precious is the innocent angel. We should forgive her misgivings because she doesn’t know the right from wrong. The teachers and social workers were seen as miracle workers and Precious’ saviors. One of them was played by Mariah Carey, who you might not notice because she was not wearing her usual face in this one.

Of the cast members of Precious, I can honestly say that Mo’Nique was the only one who managed to make her character believable. She deserved the Oscar she got for the role. The same can’t be said about the Best Writing Award it received because there’s nothing entertaining nor original about the movie.

Clareece ‘Precious’ Jones (Gabourey Sidibe): Some folks has a lot of things around them that shines for other peoples. I think that maybe some of them was in tunnels. And in that tunnel, the only light they had, was inside of them. And then long after they escape that tunnel, they still be shining for everybody else.

Precious was full of stereotypes as it tries to play on the viewers’ emotions but the only sensation I got while watching the movie was boredom. It is a complete waste of time. I beg you not to torture yourself with this movie. I’ll give it five out of five yawns.

During the first two-thirds of Buddha Mountain, we see the trio trying to support themselves through odd jobs and meet their strict landlady. The viewers would be the witness to the progression of the trio’s relationship with the older person. It’s funny to see how they thoughtlessly impose on their landlady and how she exacts her revenge on them. The hilarious moments were balanced out by the heartbreaking scenes regarding her son’s death.

The last third is a bit of a letdown. It introduced a lot of dramatic themes that’s too cliché. Plus, the romantic subplot feels too forced that it could have been better if it stayed in the background. And don’t get me started with the ending. Just when everything seems to be going right, old lady decides to jump off a cliff. It is a little let down and not the ending I was expecting.

Aside from Fan Bingbing, I didn’t get any other reasons for watching Buddha Mountain. It could have been a better movie if they opt for a different ending. It has a simple story but the director opted for a more artsy ending that left a bad taste in my mouth.

Ree lives in a depressing and dangerous area. While she is wary about the people around her, she still needs their support as she tries to take care of her two young siblings and her mentally ill mother. Her father Jessup missed his court date and she has to find him or else they would lose their home, which was placed as collateral for her father’s bail.

Ree (Jennifer Lawrence): I’d be lost without the weight of you two on my back. I ain’t goin’ anywhere.

The scenario in Winter’s Bone seems real that I actually believe that there’s such a place in the Ozarks. Jennifer Lawrence made everything believable and you would definitely be drawn to her character. You’ll feel her every pain and sufferings she had to go through in the movie.

Winter’s Bone is a bleak introspect into Ree’s life. But it you wouldn’t feel bad as the final credits are rolling. On the contrary, it is not a hard watch. It has a good story coupled with excellent performances from the Jennifer Lawrence and the rest of the cast. It teaches us that everything’s possible if we live as if our life depended on it.

During the wait, he was told by his handler to meet Mathilde (Thekla Reuten), who asked him to make a special weapon for her. And during his time in the village, he befriends the local parish priest Father Benedetto (Paolo Bonacelli) and courts the local whore Clara (Violante Placido).

Don’t expect The American to be an action thriller because that’s what I thought of after watching the trailers for this movie. In reality, it is a slow-paced, quiet, introspective movie. It is a riveting character study. We don’t know anything about Jack’s past but we learn about his integrity or the lack of it as a human being.

Director Anton Corbijin frequently showed Clooney doing everyday tasks as he waits for his assignment. But instead of getting bored with it, it elicited the opposite. A huge part of why it got my attention is due to Violante Placido’s character, Clara. She was effective and captivating as a prostitute who falls in love with Jack. But this is not Pretty Woman.

At first, having sex with Clara was just a past time for Jack but as the movie progressed, it showed two individuals who were sincerely caring for each other. The sex scenes in the movie were appropriate because they showed how the character’s relationship progressed from being lustful to pure love.

Performances from the actors were superb. I’m not a Clooney fan but as a tormented hit man, his acting is perfect. Violante Placido is not my ideal girl but as Clara, she got my whole attention. Thekla Reuten played her part well as Jack’s rival assassin.

Pavel (John Leysen): And above all… don’t make any friends, Jack. You used to know that.

Jack made her gun to backfire when shot but he still died in the end. The American teaches us that to be an assassin, you must not lose your edge or else you’ll be eliminated. It’s sad that it ended for him just as he was starting to have a normal life.

The American is like a short story. It focused on a moment and let the viewer savor its details. It is about professionalism, loneliness, betrayal, love and revenge. Not everyone would enjoy the film but I do hope you give it a try.

Come Rain, Come Shine is a slow-placed movie that took place in the couple’s home over a couple of hours of a glumly, rainy day. You can feel the tension in the air but both of them were not confrontational about their impending separation.

A movie about two people who barely spoke with each other for 105 minutes is not what I can describe as entertaining. The silence was only broken by the intrusion of their neighbors who were looking for their cat. This whole sequence bored me to death. Actually the whole movie was boring for me.

After the cat episode, Come Rain, Come Shine became a cooking show. Hyun Bin said he wanted to prepare food for Soo Jung for the last time. And while he was cutting the onions, his eyes were welling up with tears. While some could say that it was his way to hide his true feeling about the divorce, I say they are happy tears because the movie has come to an end.

I wasted my time watching Come Rain, Come Shine. I wouldn’t recommend you doing the same thing unless you’re a Hyun Bin fan. I do get what the director Lee Yoon Ki wanted to convey but the movie was too long and too slow-paced for my liking.

Can’t Lose has an interesting premise wherein the main couple was first seen as being madly in love with each other and during the course of the series, they fall apart. While they’re going through their divorce, the people around them are trying their best to make things better for the both of them.

Can’t Lose features a love story between two people coming from different worlds. Hyung Woo comes from a rich family who is close with his mother. On the other hand Eun Jae comes from a middle class family and hasn’t talked with her mom for a long time.

This is not the only difference that the two have. The cases they take on have also led to their constant bickering. Hyung Woo likes to take on charity cases while Eun Jae takes on the paying jobs to take care of the law firm’s bills.

Can’t Lose is a different type of drama because it started with the couple in love and got separated along the way. It ended rather predictably with both of them missing each other and reunite.

Well it’s a good thing that they didn’t have to change anything about themselves in order to make their relationship work. All it took was their desire to hold on to each other even though they still fight a lot. Yoon Sang Hyun and Choi Ji Woo had the perfect chemistry to make the story work.

Lee Soo Kyung had a brief appearance in Can’t Lose, which I thought was way too short. She played Hyung Woo’s ex-girlfriend Eun Hee Soo. Another actor who made his mark with his short cameo role in the series is Uhm Ki Joon. He played Eun Jae’s ex-boyfriend Cha Suk Hoon.

Can’t Lose is an entertaining drama. It is different from any other romantic comedies around. You’ll get to learn a thing or two about love and relationships from it. I can inspire people whether they are single, married, or going through a divorce.

Chiaki has become the resident conductor of the Roux-Marlet Orchestra and he had to move to a new place so that he could concentrate on his music. She was also struggling with her studies at the conservatory. These issues factored to the strain in their relationship. Nodame Cantabile: The Movie 2 is about how Nodame and Chiaki evaluate their priorities. Through the course of the movie, they have to choose between music and their love for each other.

The flow of Nodame Cantabile: The Movie 2 is somewhat choppy that it seemed like the director had to cut some scenes so that the movie can fit into its 2 hour long runtime. But the director made it up with a solid plot and music.

The supporting characters got the spotlight early in the movie but their subplots were quickly resolved and they were swept back into the background to make way for the main story. I didn’t even know who they were or what their relationship were with the Nodame and Chiaki.

As a standalone, Nodame Cantabile: The Movie 2 is an entertaining drama that featured great classical music. I guess I should not have skipped the first movie first. But I’m thankful for this movie because it made me discover the beauty of Nodame Cantabile. After the movie, I read the manga and watched the anime but I have yet to watch the first live action movie.