O.WHEN(오왠) - ROOM O Album Thoughts

Track List:
01. 스물아홉
02. Oh My!
03. 찢어주세요 (Please Tear Up) 

04. Call Me Now
05. 않길 
06. 밤이 돼줄게요
07. 할말
08. 미지근한 밤
09. 영화배우
10. Good Night (Remastered)
11. 늦은저녁 이른새벽 (Remastered)

   Korean indie singer O.When released a full length album during the earlier part of the summer. I enjoy some of this guy's music but I also so readily look for his new releases. This being because my favorite release from O.When is still his older songs before he tried to go mainstream pop ballad on me. You don't get too much variation to O.When's music after that, even though I still listen to what he brings to the table every now and then. His music's best quality is it's ability to be bilingual in a catchy way no matter what genre of music it is.. However, the magic comes out full power during his jazzy acoustic mid temp numbers. Room O has some moments showcasing these qualities when you have the energy to find them. One good example would be Call Me Now, which should have been the album opener. Instead we get tracks that I know good and well were rejected from Korean drama soundtrack admissions. These tracks are as moody as you can get dealing out the heartache of a broken heart in music or just down right boring for listeners who know how Koreans like their ballads. O.When could just sit down and write another stripped acoustic album as long as they are a mix of English/Korean lyrics. Sometimes I think he misses out on the true art of the Korean indie scene that other artists such as 10cm and Moon Moon capitalize on. We call certain artist Indie based on the SOLE FACT that an indie's artist's music sounds nothing like the mainstream while being good enough to be in the mainstream under said artist's own terms. O.When only tapped into this idea when he first came out. Then he slowly started becoming one of those singers who inspires to be on Kpop Star itching to sell his soul for fame. At least Room O isn't a bad album depending on what you came for.

  O.When's vocals are similar to the music he writes. Two different sounds come out of his mouth in separate registers: Very low and very high. His lower range has a raspy to it that could grace the rhythm of soul music and I love the tonality. He uses his high range more often during the choruses of his songs. 

   I'll continue to have my personal gripes about O.When's music. What I do say though, is that he has something as a singer that makes me not want to quit his music cold turkey. A part of me still gets excited to listen to what slice of the South Korean indie music scene he will try to bring. 

  

Shadow(影) Chinese Film Thoughts(2018)

    Shadow( or Ying: Based on the Ying and the Yang symbol) is a 2018 Chinese film that has critical acclaim all over the world for the film's fresh take on Chinese history through a different style of fighting never before seen by audiences. Zhang Yimou( Hero, House of Flying Daggers, The Great Wall) directed the film as a famous world known director. Popular Chinese actor, Deng Chao stars in a dual role along side Sun Li, Zheng Kai, Wang Qianyuan, Hu Jun, and, Guan Xiaotong. It was also screened at the film festivals in Canada, London, and France.

    In a war between kingdoms, A banished royal general puts his plan for revenge in motion against the kingdom that he had served for many years. To do this, he searches out a man that looks like a split image of himself and plants him in the kingdom in his place.




    If people are going to watch Shadow expecting a mindless Martial Arts film, you will be very disappointed. Shadow is promoted to audiences in it's trailer like the film will be a high impact action epic film- which is delivered to viewers, Just not in a consistent fashion. You actually get a solid storyline in this film that most who know the current formula of the action films coming out of China/Hong Kong/Taiwan aren't very use to. It's a DEEP storyline too and each event that plays out on the screen causes you to pay more attention if you want to keep up with every corner covered in the film. There's not a whole bunch of action until the latter half of the film. The best part about the action is the unconventional way that a fan is used as a weapon. Also, how Zhang Yang inserts old Chinese culture into the mean behind the character's actions: such as a women's feminine movements while holding a fan transferred over to battle or the playing of instruments to entertain rich emotion. Many of the Chinese culture references might be lost on non Chinese viewers but that doesn't take away from the showcase of beauty that is Chinese culture tied to Shadow's foundation. I believe the characters are based on people who are known in China's history. My biggest problem with Shadow was that the plot let my down when presenting a balance between strong storytelling and action. I got more introduced to the peachy element of Shadow shown through the talking scenes, which could come off as boring to those with short attention spans. You have to sit through a lot of talking outside of the brief training scenes, until the major battle. Not to say Shadow doesn't still delivery in mystery and thrills though.

    Some of the acting was better than the action in my opinion. The actions scenes are beautifully done but it wasn't as much of these scenes as I hoped it would be. So you get a film mostly full of dialogue. Each performance really makes you take a step back to understand the artistic essence created from Director's Zhang Yimou's vision. All tension being felt from the character interactions are a nice appetizer leading into what was to come. No other film out of China has had such a deep though provoking story in recent years and it's kind of a shame that this aspect of Shadow isn't promoted as much as the action element…. Which isn't even the most dominate feature to this film. Instead you get labels such as "The best action in years" stuck on this film when it should say " one of the best Chinese feature tales to come out of China in recent years". [INSERT ME LAUGHING.]

   The cinematography is another thing that made this film much a masterpiece. Rain has a lot to do with some of the reasons behind the fighting style used with the woman umbrella. All of the scenes have this downcast grey look like how the inside of a house looks on a cloudy day before rain starts to fall. Choosing to shoot Shadow in this way really gives a dark anesthetic to the film's atmosphere. Even the shots on location shown from different angles consisting of close ups then far off shots set the tone for a story not easily forgotten.

   Shadow is a great film if you want a Chinese film with a meaningful story that serves a little epic action on the side. Don't go into this film thinking that you will get an action packed experience without having to think too much. China has completely destroyed their film market pumping out these bad quality films every year. At least Shadow saved the Chinese film market a little bit last year.

DAY6데이식스 1st World Tour "Youth" DVD Thoughts

    Day6 is a band that JYP Entertainment kept in the basement for most of their debut days in Korea. People would hear their songs without a live performance to go with what they heard. At least  JYP ave fans music videos, otherwise, none would've know what these boys looked like. They came out of the darkness of the basement after awhile and now you get to see them on music shows. I'm not going to lie. I liked the mysteriousness of them not doing much promotion. It made them seem like less of a packaged Kpop band. Day6 had their first world tour this year that I didn't know anything about….. To make up for this sad fact, I decided to buy the concert DVD……

   I was a little disappointed when I first saw the venue as I started watching the DVD. The arena looked kind of small from the angle used to film most of the concert. More scenes showing the full venue come latter on in the concert. For this dvd to be called a "World Tour", Why was the concert held in Seoul South Korea? They should have recorded the concert they did in America then made it into a DVD. When I think of the title, "World Tour", I think of places in the world that you haven't been to before. Not a place that is literally right in your backyard(or country). Well, it is what it is but this concert DVD should have been named "Live in Seoul!" instead of labeled under the concept of a world tour that doesn't show non Korean fans at all. I didn't have a reaction to the first half of the concert. It kinda of just was. I did however notice that some of the members where really nervous like this concert was their first concert ever. All the little mistakes they made while performing were evident at least to me. One member ran out of breath in the middle of a song and had to let the audience sing the rest for him. Jae's struggle to speak Korean, which was funny and cute. The concert honestly didn't truly take off for me until "I need somebody". As one of- if not my favorite track by Day6, The whole atmosphere of the concert changed from this song onward. Day6 came across as more in command when they do harder hitting songs so the concert was a great experience during Shoot Me, I'll Wait, How Can I say, etc. I enjoy some of their slower songs such as I Loved You but not as much as their rocker music style. Colors should have been added to the setlist too! I'm a little disappointed that his track was left out. Detail in effects used on the screens while the band was singing certain songs made their performance pop much more. I loved the screen the band was playing behind during "I need somebody". What I learned from watching Day6's first world tour is that Korean people do like Rock music on a mainstream level. The way it's presented to them is very important though. Day6 still has a Kpop boyband image to most Korean people, making their action to add a harder rock song here and there not too strange to digest in South Korea. I also realized even more that I don't like Day6's Kpop sellout songs. I knew this before but now I confirmed it after watching this concert. Everyone has different tastes in music.

   Jae had the most stage presence in my opinion. When he got really into the grove of feel comfortable, Dude became the hype man of the group real quick. It was easy to just watch him the whole concert. Especially during the songs where the band really had to play all out. I might be a bad fan for saying this but I didn't know all of the guys in Day6 sang! I've been thinking for the longest time that only one guy was singing lead. You can heard how different each guy's vocal sounds during live performances. All of the members were entertaining during the speaking part of the concert. They really tried to bring a "I'm just having fun" vibe to the audience. Even if it didn't always connect they way they wanted things to.

The Traveling Cat Chronicles(旅猫リポート) Japanese Film Thoughts(2018)

   The Traveling Cat Chronicles is a film adaption based on the novel of the same name written by Hiro Arikawa in 2012. She also wrote the screenplay for the film starring, Sota Fukushi, Mitsuki Takahata(voice only), Yuko Takeuchi(Queen, Strawberry Night), Alice Hirose, Ryosuke Yamamoto, and, Takuro Ohno. Koichiro Miki directed the film and Emiko Hiramatsu helped revised the script for film. I'm interested in reading the novel since it was published in English a little while ago.



   A young mad takes a journey along with his cat to visit all the people who have made an impact of his life. None knows the sudden reason for his journey but his cat stays by his side the whole way. This is their story…….

   Arikawa's storytelling about a cat and her owner might as well brace it's self for being thrown into the "man's best friend" category of movies. Many American viewers will instantly think of films such as a Dog's Tale or something along those lines. The Traveling Cat Chronicles give you a lot of bonding between owner and pet to get your animal lover fix but the film also doesn't completely consist of just hugging up on a cat. The cat actually makes the film more of a joy ride in the animal's sassy, quirky, unbothered behavior showcased through voice acting. Seeing a cat be so independent while being connected to their owner was funny yet interesting. A good half of the film deals viewers a background of the main character when he was a child. You get some history about the cat too, giving a stronger foundation to understanding their relationship. I must say that I didn't expect to get so emotionally attached to this film at all. I wasn't even prepared for the major heartache that comes about in the storyline from the start to the finish. Another portion of the film shows the travels of the guy and his cat as the meet people he once knew. All of their background stories come to light which makes you all the more interested in the mystery why he started this journey in the first place. Figuring out he was even traveling for a certain reason didn't cross my mind until the films starts pointing you in that direction. I honestly though he was just going on a road trip with his cat. The Traveling Cat Chronicles uses all human emotion at the expense of people's hearts. On top of this, the film gives you the answer to the mystery of "why?". The answer will pull the rug out from under your feet and if that doesn't it's because you're already on the floor after one other was revealed. The Traveling Cat Chronicles isn't any old animal lover film. It takes you on a ride of relationships you make in life that through time you wish to maintain, because you don't know what might be tomorrow. One the cat s note, I like cats, I'm not IN love with cats. So this film held no kind of bias over me.

   Mitsuki Takahata steals the show voicing Nana the cat. I felt a mix of emotions from her performance. She will make you laugh before making you want to cry. Sota shines the most during the second half of the film. The love he has for Nana was very bittersweet but his acting leaves a strong lasting impression on the viewer. I also have to give it up to the child actors who brought tears to my eyes. I haven't cried watching a film in a couple of months. These actors got me good though. This coming from a guy who doesn't cry easily.

   I don't have much to share in terms of the shooting style for this film. Most of the outward shots mixed in with the shots from above make this film look similar to a special about traveling rural places in Japan. I loved the mountain view and the field full of yellow flowers. Checking out scenery that isn't metropolitan is always a treat.

    The Traveling Cat Chronicles was a better film than I expected. Don't you love when films that seem happy go lucky in the trailer turn out to be deeper than you imagined? I would recommend this film to people who don't even like cats.

Swing Kids(스윙키즈) Korean Film Thoughts(2018)

   Swing Kids is a 2018 film directed by Kang Hyeong Cheol(Sunny, Scandal Makers) and stars D.O.(Do Kyung Soo) of Kpop super boyband Exo, Jared Grimes, Park Hye Su, Kim Min Ho, and Oh Jung Se. The screen play is based off a Korean musical called Roh Ki Soo. Swing Kids earned over a million ticket sales in it's first month of release making the film number one at the box office for weeks.



   A young North Korean soldier is prisoner at a Prison Camp run by American soldiers during the Korean war. This man soon finds his love for Tap Dance through a Black Soldier who is stationed at the camp as on of the chief in command. Both men form a Tap group but teaching everyone the right moves isn't going to be a walk in the park. Also, the war on the outside might undermine all of their plans……

   I dived straight into Swing Kids expecting the film to be somewhat a light hearted affair similar to Kang's other films such as Sunny. Boy, didn't Swing Kids push me down a flight of steps and let me lay there at the bottom. The film has a lot of happy tongue in cheek moments that have to do with Koreans learning about the existence of Tap Dance so they could learn how fun the experience of Tap is. Some of the most interesting scenes in Swing Kids is the dance routines the cast perform. What was happening outside of the classy dancing was secondary to me. Especially because the events in the outside world at that time dealt with war, racism, and inequality. I like the fact that Kang doesn't shy away from the painful history that both Koreans and Back people faced at the hands of racial inequality during that time. In Fact, the plot steps right into the mist of all the bad that was happening in those times. Black soldiers weren't seen as on the same level as White Soldiers no matter if the army said the two races were equal or not. Black People's involvement in the war was also erased when retold by Koreans who praise White people for helping their country during the Korean War(The War Between North and South Korea). Black Soldiers risked their lives to help Korea out too but in my opinion, Koreans still to this day don't give Black American soldiers the same respect that White Soldiers get when it comes to the Korean War's history. It was bad enough that a black man could be hailed a war hero then go back home in America to the same racism he faced before he left. Kang's retelling of history was very truthful in rawness of the racism Koreans faced at the hands of White Soldiers verse racism Blacks also faced. I should have known that considering the situation Swing Kids was set in, that things would not end well. I just didn't think that my heart would have the sensation of weighing a ton by the end of this film. Certain scenes felt more like filler scenes to stall for time so I got a bit bored during some of the film but I was all ears for the tap dancing and how a good thing got torn apart. Swing Kids is nothing like Sunny in regards to a quality friendship. Nothing felt like a connection between the characters to me outside of dance itself: Something this film does right to explore. Dance has one set language that everyone could understand, which Swing Kids uses as a ways of communication. However, I still didn't find it believable that these characters were close friends by the end of the film. I did however feel that special memories were created that lasted one man a life time.

   English and Korean are two languages that are heard most in this film. Normally Korean films make foreign actors come across as really stiff when they say their lines in English and it's almost cringe worthy. Swing Kids actually had a smooth flow moving from language to language. I would forget at times that I was watching a Korean Film because of how natural all the foreign actors were. The Korean actors did the same quality of performance and it was interesting to see both parties coexist in the Prison Camp, since you could tell none wanted to be there. It must have been hurtful to get into those roles as a lot of racial slurs are thrown around in this film. Jared Grimes was absolutely amazing at his role. Tap Dance really sang because of how he made his character breath Tap out into the air. D.O. and the other cast pretty much fed off of Jared's Performance until the second to the last scene where D.O.'s character gets his moment in the spotlight. Singer/Actress Park Hye Su(Age of Youth) was charming in everything not involving English. I wish a Korean actress that was better at English would have gotten the role. Her character plays a translator throughout half of the film and she speaks English with a heavy accent that makes the whole situation unbelievable. I'm not saying her English has to be perfect but good enough to not take me out of the movie. Oh Jung Se balanced being comedic relief and having a sad backstory. There's a lot of comedy in Swing Kids that will make you chuckle but not enough to laugh off the dark subject matter at the heart of the film.

    Swing Kids could be called a masterpiece containing little problems here and there. Kang Hyeong Cheol continues to ignite audiences around the world with his films. He doesn't seem to be slowing down either. Swing Kids stuck with me hours after I had finished watching it, as did Sunny the first time I watch that film.

***Fun Fact: Loved the cameo from actress Park Jin Joo who also was in Kang Hyeong Cheol's hit film, Sunny.