The Divine Fury(사자) Korean Film Thoughts

   The Divine Fury is a 2019 film that was directed and written by Kim Joo Hwan. This film stars rising star Park Seo Joon, Ahn Sung Ki, Woo Do Hwan, and, Choi Woo Sik. When the film was released, it made it to second place at the Korean box Office. Kim Joo Hwan and Park Seo Joon previously worked together on the film Midnight Runners.




    A man loses his father as a child to a demon. His father's death causes him to lose faith in God during a war between Priest and Demons. Somehow, he is given the power to kill demons in his hand after being possessed by a demon who used his thirst for revenge to control him. He soon teams up with an older Priest to fight a dark entity called the Dark Bishop.

   The Divine Fury to me, was an updated version of 2015's The Priests. Only this script tries to juggle action, religion, and drama all in 129 minutes… I won't say the the film took on more than it can handle but it did get lost in trying to please everyone. The trailer gives the impression that this film is an all out pure action film. As you dive into the film, you find quickly that this isn't the case. There's more discussion about religion than anything else. In between that you get some exorcism scenes. Nothing here is super extreme, especially if you have seen some of the American classic horror films. You should be able to put up with this level of horror. Korea does a good job paying tribute to what has already been an established cinema genre else where though. The Divine Fury doesn't pay the action side of things until toward the end of the film. I guess the Devil killing scenes were interesting enough until you get to the fun part. Tying up everything nicely to end the film felt a bit cheesy: Bad guy becomes juiced up finial boss and our main character fights his way to him for a final battle. Which was enjoyable for the most part… just not anything masterpiece defining. Some of you might be tripped out like I was over the Super Saiyan hand glowing in a blue light.[INSERT ME LAUGHING.] One reviewer compared The Divine Fury to the classic Blade films and I kinda agree in a way. Revenge always makes good story telling.

    The performances were top notch. There requires a certain head space to act in an Exorcism film. Plus you have to study latin for all those chant scenes. It's not an easy thing to do. I know as I once studied Latin when I was younger. No, I'm not Catholic nor did I enjoy my study of the language. Two of the main cast did a good job forming a father son relationship between each other. Feelings of nurturing could be seen in the scenes they had together. Including many of the scenes where they talked about religion and being a non believer. I would guess that deep down he had to be a believer in order to wield the power to kill demons.(which is suppose to come from God.) He was in denial most of the film much to many Catholic worshippers's dismay. Other cast members such as the villain were a nice touch. I just wish that we had gotten a bit more of a background story on this Dark Bishop. There was a point in the film where he himself was fearful of the dark power commanding him behind the scenes. This was something else the film doesn't expand on so I believe that there will be a continuation to this film. Looking at the ending also makes me think that the story isn't quite over yet.

     The Divine Fury could have used a few edits in the script. Even with this being said, the film's message rings clear about faith and a father's love. Two things viewers can relate to whether you're religious or not.

Nagi's Long Vacation(凪のお暇) Japanese Drama Thoughts

   Nagi's Long Vacation is a television drama based off of the manga of the same name created by Misato Konari. The drama was directed by Toshio Tsuboi and rewitten for television by Satomi Oshima. A full cast of up and coming actors and actress take part who include, Haru Kuroki(To Each His Own, Million Dollar Man), Issey Takahashi(The Lies She Loved, Million Dollar Man), and Tomoya Nakamura.



   Nagi is a women who always "reads the atmosphere" in most situations that she's in. She doesn't like to stand out or cause trouble for others, so she keeps her true feelings to herself. She has a regular job and a boyfriend who, even though they work for the same company, he ignores her most of the time, only coming to see her for sex. Women who Nagi would consider her friends also only use her to do their project for them while talking about her behind her back. On top of all of this, Nagi's natural hair is a curly afro. Soon many events happen that cause Nagi to have a big wake up call about the life she is currently living. She decides to pack her bags, stop straightening her hair, and move out to the countryside where none can find her… So she thinks…. This is Nagi's LONG Vacation.

   I wasn't aware that Nagi's Long Vacation was originally a Manga series. I just decided to check this drama out because many people had good things to say and you don't get that with a lot of East Asian dramas nowadays. Nagi's Long Vacation could have hit many stereotypical potholes on it's road to successful storytelling. These would have been potholes that I wouldn't have minded so much. I'm a big fan of anything where the main character becomes a better person than who they were when the story first started. Nagi's journey could have stayed in the same old "shy girl becomes confident girl" category as I had expected it would but Nagi does well taking the roads less traveled by other East Asian drama scripts. It takes this drama about two episodes to solve a conflict that would have taken a Korean drama twenty episodes to solve. I was shocked out how Nagi faces her problems at a fast pace that doesn't feel rushed or sloppy. Viewers instead feel refreshed by the new dynamics not rarely seen, then they wonder what will happen next. You come to find as you continue through the episodes that Nagi isn't the only person in her life who can't learn how to be themselves. Both men she runs across also have to same mentality as her, which was a nice touch to the script. Nagi's dismay center focuses outside herself and connects to the dismay of the other characters. Yes, there's romance in this drama but you don't really support love the way you would watching other dramas. If I were to put it into simple words, viewers will end up rooting for Nagi's progression of her own self love than you will any other relationship that happens in Nagi's Long Vacation.

    I loved the cast of characters, even though Issey's character causes severe mood swing syndrome….At least on my part anyway. I'm actually a fan of Issey as an actor and have been since some of hi early dramas such as Quartet and Love That Will Make You Cry, He's finally getting lead roles in dramas and films so I'm proud that his talent is getting more recognized. Haru portrayed Nagi has a very flawed human being. One episode could make the different on the character's progress to becoming a stronger, more emotionally independent person. Watching her performance was sometimes very frustrating since the character would do so well, then all of a sudden take two steps back into her old habits. Haru is a good actress. This I know after watching her in To Each His Own before she crossed over into becoming Nagi, who are two very different characters. Tomoya was like Nagi's reflection in a way. His character helped her grow. All I can say is some men need to realize what they have before it's gone. This could be said about all the men in this drama. Oh. I lastly want to mention that I noticed a black actor in this drama too. I believe his name is Moctar. Having more representation of us in Japan is nice to see.

     There's something special about the location used to film Nagi's Long Vacation. The drama constantly goes back and forth between two places: the city and the country side. Each transition from places to place feels smooth to the viewer and Japanese people make simple living always single a kind of rebirth. Most of the cast can be seen walking down various roads to get home or to work. The country had a lot of grassy hills where small apartments stood(similar to Nagi's place) or a road that ran along the riverside.

     I forgot to mention above that Nagi's Long Vacation has many sub genres. Comedy can be seen mixed with romance and a slice of life. This drama defiantly goes on the list as on of the best Japanese dramas of 2019….. Just for being original at that.  Hope everyone has a happy holiday!

Masquerade Hotel(マスカレード・ホテル) Japanese Film Thoughts

     Famous word renowned Japanese author Keigo Higashino has done it again with his penmanship. He originally wrote Masquerade Hotel as a novel that was released in 2011. Most of his novels get adapted into some form of film or drama. Masquerade Hotel soon followed suit, being directed by Masayuki Siziki and staring popular Idol singer turned actor, Takuya Kimura along side Masami Nagasawa. There's also a supporting cast consisted of many up and coming talent such as Nanao, Ryo Katsuji, and Yuki Izumisawa.

   A murder who is famous for leaving behind clues for the crimes he(?) has committed has yet to caught. The police is hot on his trail and the murderer's tracks have led them to a popular hotel run by an excellent staff who's sole purpose is to make sure the customers staying there are satisfied. One of the police officers is picked to go undercover to catch the killer before he or she has the chance to kill again. He doesn't know that running a hotel full of guests with different personalities isn't a walk in the park. Plus the murderer could be hiding among them.




     Masquerade Hotel comes off as the type of film that it's really not in the trailer. Adaptions of Keigo's works normally range from one kind of emotional story telling to the other. Just under the mystery genre. This film presents itself as a hotel murder mystery that has the murderer hiding among a cast of people. What the film won't tell you is the film doesn't try to present itself as a murder mystery at all.  Talks of murder is discussed among the characters, giving them a motive for why they do what they do. However, Masquerade Hotel puts the murder mystery on the back burner several times without actually caring that it strays away from what it "suppose" to be the core of this story. Instead you get introduced to a cast full of different people who have their own problems and them bring these problems to the hotel. None of these character are in the hotel with each other at the same time though. Plot lines do somehow crossover into each other as to stop Masquerade Hotel from being a in cohesive project of epic proportions. Some people might even call Masquerade Hotel a train wreck because the film isn't about what was promoted in it's trailer. I'm not sure if this fact was some kind of mystery ploy in itself but I was turned around like a ball trying to figure out what this film was trying to say. The film progresses on and you get to the reveal of the truth which turned out to not be as interesting as the two main leads relationship with each other. Honestly, the character interaction between the two leads was more of a mystery worth exploring than any half baked murder case this script try to give viewers. I didn't expect to leave Masquerade Hotel not giving two fucks about the murder case I came for but instead feeling satisfied seeing the characters growth after they went through such an experience.

     In all honesty, the cast made this film through and through. The chemistry between the two leads dazzles on screen. Their dazzle shines so bright that you can overlook the misfires of the script. Every  single actor and actress from the up and coming to the veterans gave the best they had. Thankfully their efforts stopped this film from falling flat. I almost didn't like this film but something told me to go back and look into what the film was trying to speak to the viewer. What I got from the performances is that Masquerade Hotel's mystery is human bonds we form in various times in our lives. Certain bonds we form are beyond our control. Other bonds are formed without us even realizing that we have created them with another. This was the message I got when watching Masquerade Hotel. Nanao is also one of my favorite newer Japanese actresses…. I'm always happy to see her getting more roles.

     Where ever the set on location was looked really gorgeous. The hotel had a design that was beyond even a billionaire's tax bracket. Most of the time I had my mouth open staring in shock at the overall appearance of the hotel. It was nice…… super upscale considering that the place didn't even look like it was in Japan. I don't know what type of games they were trying to play……… I'm here for it though.

     I was reading some of the comments about this film and I agree with one that I saw. The comment said that Masquerade Hotel should have been a show and I completely agree. Masquerade Hotel could have worked in the same fashion as the Galileo TV drama that also inspired films. Keigo Higashino's stories never don't have enough room to expand.

Rainie Yang(楊丞琳) - Delete Reset Grow(刪·拾以後) Album Thoughts(Mandopop)

 

   Rainie Yang is a women that I've gotten to know over the years through her acting. I've seen a couple of her dramas and enjoy the one's I've seen for the most part. Her singing career didn't become apparent to me until I decided to search her name up. She was in a girl group for a short time before deciding to go solo. Now she has made a long career for herself, spanning over eleven albums and multiple films. Delete Reset Grow is Yang's eleventh album that was recently released. She's also gotten the spotlight for finally getting engaged to long time boyfriend Li Ronghao.(who I'm a fan of)

Tracklist:

1. 節日快樂

2. 刪拾

3. Love Is Love

4. 不可惜

5. 煉愛

6. 獻醜

7. 臉孔

8. 空空

9. 泥土

10. 我不認識你

    Delete Reset Grow comes after an album she released back in 2016. That album was something that I could count as good for what she was going for but it wasn't what I was looking for as a listener. I'm not sure if that makes sense but that's how I felt after listening to Delete Reset Grow. The album defiantly feels like the songs came from a pop star. Something was just missing in the execution for me though. One of the biggest things I noticed about this album was the amazingly high production value in the instrumentation. Yang set the bar really high when she created tracks like Love is Love which contain a coming of age techno pop sound ending with a bit of RnB flavor. Most of the album is classical arrangements using piano accompanying strong violin intros. These ballads that feature this dynamic emotionally enhance Yang's vocals.  Still, she doesn't mind throwing a curve ball at us every now and then with a pop anthem. Ballads are more of her forte from what I could tell from her other releases. I was looking forward to her doing more pop rock ballads similar to other Taiwanese female singers. One track gave me a little of that toward the end of Delete, however, much of the album runs together into on big overhaul of ballads that sound good in name until Yang puts her unchanging vocals on the track. At least Love is Love is a good track that came out of the creation of this album. I could see myself bumping this song for awhile.




    Rainie Yang has a pretty voice. There's no doubt about that. Her voice has a nice quality that doesn't get to see much experimentation. She sings the SAME way during most all ten tracks. Things got to the point that I could actually predict what notes she would hit when a new song would come on. Only one song really showcased her range….. One track out of ten that we are given. Yes. Rainie Yang shouldn't have to prove herself to anyone at this point but that doesn't mean I want to stop witnessing what makes her a great vocalist. For example, each and every one of Wang Lee Hom's releases continually respell out what makes the guy so talented. Even the releases that aren't his most powerful. Rainie has been in the industry almost as long as Lee Hom, so she needs to step up her vocal game a bit in my opinion.

   I've come to realize that I like Rainie Yang more as an actress than a singer. Her music isn't awful nor is her acting the best. Despite the contrary, Nothing stops her from wiggling her way into people's hearts somehow.

   

Money Flower(돈꽃) Korean Drama Thoughts

   Money Flower is a Korean drama directed by Kim Hee Won and aired for 24 episodes. The drama had some of the highest viewership ratings during it's time slot and has been praised for it's thrilling story that keeps viewers wanting more each week. Long time actor, Jang Hyuk stars along side Park Se Young, Jang Seung Jo, and veterans Lee Mi Sook as well as Lee Soon Jae. Most of the cast as been nominated or won awards for their performances. Lee Myung Hee was the scriptwriter for the 2017 to 2018 drama.



   One of the richest families in Korea has a right hand man in their mist. He has a smart mind that he used to control every situation that he's in. Behind the man's ice cold demeanor is a burning flame for revenge against the family who left him without a family for years. A plan for revenge is set in motion using a candidate's daughter and the son of the family who is to be head of the company. There's too many skeletons to step over in this family's closet for greed of money not to be a normal emotion. This man doesn't know that this family is match enough for him. Money never looked so good.

    East Asian dramas in general have money plots that have to with a person going into enemy ground that get revenge. I know some people might read the plot and think that they've been down this road of storytellings before. I've been one of those people when I was deciding if I wanted to check out Money Flower or not. What I can say about this drama's progression in telling a story is it has one sole goal. That goal is to keep the viewer wanting to come back for more. Money Flower slowly flows into this motion during the first three episodes, then dead locks into giving the viewer something to look forward to after each episode. Stories of revenge can easily all follow the same formula created by other dramas but Money Flower shines in it's craft that creates perfect cliff hangers. Just when you expect the story to go a certain way you normally would see. Suddenly out of nowhere the plot switches up into a different hybrid. Episodes do this constantly until the last episode. I actually felt like the writing was playing tricks on me as the viewer. Outside of that, the show also keeps you hooked with it's character interaction involving a war over money fueled by greed. The building tension was like an addiction as you waited for all the crap to hit the fan. Even that didn't pan out like I thought it would. Still I finished Money Flower feeling shocked and light hearted all at the same time. Money Flower is what Korean melodrama should always strive to be.

   Characters are more than plenty here. There hasn't been a drama that really utilizes it's cast like Money Flower did. Almost all of the characters were well developed. No background story was left untouched especially the main characters. The three main characters who had the most background history always revisited their past to ad emotional depth to the character. Jang Hyuk was amazing as the leading man. I've never seen someone act while in a drama using an emotionless facial expression that said so many emotions. His eyes never once lied even if his words might have. Park Se Young was great at creating such an emotional connection with Jang's character. Money Flower isn't really a romantic drama. There's elements of romance but the script keeps things realistic and mature. Park's character had a ton of damage done to her heart as she is thrown into the world of the Jang Family. The character has variations of changes that occur when she goes from being pure to a white canvas stained red by revenge. This change was very interesting to watch. Jang Seung Jo's character had a similar dynamic. It's just that he starts to get on your nerves toward to end of the drama. Him, actress Lee Mi Sook, and Lee soon Jae were all the same side of the coin: emotional driven by money and power. I had not remorse for any of the Jang family. Only thing that gave me satisfaction was their downfall. Han So Hee was worth mentioning as the side chick who thought she was ENTITLED to something. I loved her performance because she gave me more reasons to hate side hoes who think becoming a baby mama will get them the good life. She learned real quick to know her place. Her character development was my only problem with Money Flower. I wish they had shown her one more time during the final episode. That would have given me more closure with her character.

   It's not a stretch to say Money Flower is one of the best Korean Dramas that has come out in recent years. I don't like a lot of K dramas out now merely due to the fact that their scripts aren't good. Money Flower reminded me of the golden years of Korean drama when the story stuck with you after you finished a drama. Isn't that what a good Kdrama is suppose to be?

 

The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil(악인전) Korean Film Thoughts

    The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil is a 2019 film that was shown at the Cannes Film Festival during the Midnight Screenings and is considered apart of the festival's official selection. Lee Won Tae wrote the script as well as directed the film. There is said to be a remake in the works that's re-casted lead actor, Ma Dong Seok(Train to Busan) who originally starred in the Korean film alongside Kim Mu Yeol(Bad Guys), and Kim Sung Kyu(Kingdom, The Outlaws).




    A murderer who fakes car accidents on the road then kills the person in the other car is on the loose. Cops are trying to be on his trail but have no luck until the murder tries to kill a big time gangster on a rainy night. One of the lead cops on the case is an unleashed hot head who will do anything to solve this case. Even team up with a revengeful gangster for a competition of who can catch the murderer first. Do you think this devil can outwit the two men?

     This is the type of film that you can watch mindlessly if you choose to. The script is very easily laid out for the viewer to understand as a "chase the killer thriller". Won Tae attempts to give some kind of substance in the story, especially when the film arrives past the midway mark of the film. Here is when the film talks more about the legal laws that would put the murderer behind bars. Still, nothing feels to me like a dull moment. The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil quickly goes from one point to another without taken a breather, making the film experience a fun one. I wouldn't say that this film brings anything new to the "Gangster" genre coming out of South Korea though. Instead we are reminded of the reasons why South Korea has given the world such amazing hard-hitting  Gangster films such as Bittersweet Life, A Dirty Carnival, and, Real World.

    Won Tae sets the foundation in the introductions of the characters. It's not something you think too much about while you're watching the film but you don't get a lot of background about the characters. The script writing gives you just enough through the character's actions to create an imagination of what the characters were doing before we got to know them. For example, We get to see a picture of the murderer before he started killing people and you understand him a bit more just from that piece of information. Ma Dong Seok playing a gangster is a dead give away role for the actor. His looks embodies a gangster by themselves. What I will say about Ma's performance is that he sparks fear in you while still also showing an essence of humanity. The complexity his character makes you want to figure him out. Kim Mu Yeol might as well have been a gangster wearing a police badge. His acting blurred the lines between what is a cop and what is a gangster in my opinion. Outside of a few times that Ma's character had to put a person in his place, his character was much more cool, calm, and collected than Mu Yeol's hot head behavior he used constantly to get his points across. The character was literally a corrupt cop who would do whatever it took to catch the criminal. Both him and Ma bounce of of each other's performances for a chemistry that's comedic, yet sometimes down right insane. Lastly we have our "Devil", Kim Sung Kyu. The performance he gave was riveting to the point that he put me in mind of other Korean actors who gave stellar performances as murderers in other Korean films. Korean actors know how to get into a dark frame of mind when approaching these roles. I've never seen so many actors looking just cray cray. Seeing a character smiling as that crazed look comes into their eyes gets me every time. One last thing I want to make note of about the characters is that they all had violent tendencies. At the end of the day not one of them were angels either. It was more about the simple fact that the lesser of two evils had to come together to put a greater evil away. In another life all three characters might have been friends had the situation and positions been different.

     Dark, gritty films must be shot a certain way to maximize the effect. I noticed when watching this film how Won Tae makes smart use of shots at various angles to shows the scene to viewers. He loves  shooting from above the action so you feel a sense of being an observer witnessing something you shouldn't. Artistically he also zooms the focus out from far back in shots like a scene done in an alley way. This was one of my favorite scenes to look at in the whole entire film.

   The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil, was hands down a good film. If you want a film containing the right amount of action packed storytelling then you've come to the right place. It's the kind of film that has a high replay value and is easy to recommend to fans of the action genre.