Kare wa imouto no koibito (2011)

Country: Japan
Format: originally a keitai-drama, later made into a movie
Genre: romance, comedy
Cast: Ishihara Satomi, Hiraoka Yuta, Michishige Sayumi,
Synopsis: Miyuki is 24-year-old woman, who works at flower-shop and has never had a relationship. All due to her little devilish sister Haruka, who takes everything from her starting from clothes to stealing all Miyuki's crushes' hearts. When Miyuki runs into her first love Ito Ryosuke, events take a weird turn and he ends up living with the two sisters.
Rating: 4/5
It is really sweet and cute rom-com and you cannot believe how much I laughed while watching it.

Ishihara Satomi as Miyuki looks so adorable. Miyuki is rather shy, quiet and very rational, she gets so easily embarrassed and acts simply awkward. Sometimes her actions looked really foolish, but then again it was understandable for a woman who has never been in a relationship and has had only few chances of talking to men she likes. She never expresses her real feelings and rather looses the thing she likes to her sister than fights for it. It is all because her sister Haruka has always gotten what she likes and when even parents tell Miyuki to give up on things because she is older, then what do you expect? 

For a shy girl it is unthinkable to say it out loud that she likes somebody - even I once lost a guy to my friend years-years ago, because I did not have the guts to admit to her that I do have feelings for him. Even though.. she asked if I like him after she had asked him already out... But this is what happens to shy girls who do not express their feelings properly - THEY LOSE THE GUY! and because Ito-kun is too important to Miyuki, she finally decides to fight back. There is so much comedy about how Miyuki tries to give her best and win his heart. I do hope that no girl ever buys this much flirt- and love-books or tries to use ALL instructions, because that is way too weird and obvious. Another funny things come from Ishihara Satomi's priceless face expressions, Miyuki's wild illusions and her colleague's smart-talk - I must say that even I learned some new things and understood others from him.

Haruka is totally opposite of Miyuki. She is spoiled, used to get what she wants, she has a courage like a mountain, but she does not care about other people's feelings at all. Michishige Sayumi was

really cool in this role and fans say that it was perfect role for her narcissistic personality. I watched some of her TV-appearances and she really thinks too much of herself and her cutesy. I think a woman is never cute or beautiful when she says that all other women in the room are less cute than her. There is no way you can ever feel sorry for Haruka. She might be the first bad-character in dramas/movies, who does not make you pity her.

She is like 100% of evil and devil. I have seen other dramas with "sister being a devil" or "2 sisters=1 man" ("Seigi no Mikata", "Hanawake no yon shimai", "The Marriage Plot"), but she is the meaniest sister of them all! I even heard that from some Michishige fans! Sadly she has not have many roles, but this role showed that she might have really good skills. I would say that Haruka actually would be the worst girlfriend, because of her lack of sympathy toward others, her jealousy and over acting. Most of the time she was really childish and again I end up with question "Do Japanese guys really like that high-pitch voice and fake attitude?" (woah. this review is making me want to talk too much about myself for comparison, but I'll hold myself back..)

Ito Ryosuke is played by Hiraoka Yuta. I have always liked his acting and even this time he did not fail to fill my expectations. Only negative thing is that in script they have left out the things that show Ryosuke's feelings toward girls. You can see the small regret when things come to ex-girlfriend, but to Miyuki and Haruka, sometimes it seemed that he has friendzoned them and next moment there comes this really sweet full of emotions look at Miyuki. Ahh made my heart beat :D Especially I liked him in Miyuki's illusions, because I doubt that I have seen him acting the madlypassionateinloveIjustwantyourightnow-guy. Ryosuke is sweet, cares of everyone, has a high value in fairness and truth. He kind of a changes the lives of both girls.
There are some cool characters more like Miyuki's gay-colleague and Haruka's ex-boyfriend. As I told, there are some new things you can learn from it, but please remember that the most effective way to make someone fall for you is to be yourself. 

SPOILER-review: In the end, when they were holding their cactus, it looked like their were holding and watching their baby. It was really funny and cute, but weird at the same time. I would have wanted to see more "what happened next", but it was all due to my curiosity. 

Hansel & Gretel (2007)

Country: South-Korea
Format: movie
Genre: mystery, drama, horror
Cast: Chun Jung Myung, Eun Won Jae, Shim Eun Kyung, Jin Ji Hee, Park Hee Soon, Kim Kyeong Ik, Jang Jeong Nam, Koh Joon Hee,  Lydia Park,
Synopsis: Eun Soo makes a car accident while arguing with his pregnant girlfriend over the phone on the way to see his sick mother. He gets lost in the woods until he is found by a young girl who brings him to her family home in the deep forest. There is plenty of food, warm fireplace and 3 children are just adorable, but something seems to be off - the phone-line is down for days, mother and father from the family suddenly disappear and no matter which way Eun Soo walks, he always gets back to the "House of Happy children".
Rating: 2/5
This movie has a lot of different emotions - there are moments of comedy, depression, horror and compassion. I really liked it most of the time but the end got too lingering and depressive that it made stars fall as if there were a meteor shower.

All three child actors shined in their roles. They all were much better than the grown-up actors. Their emotions and expressions were all in right moment and it was pleasant to watch and of course at the times really spooky to watch. Eun Won Jae acts the part of Man Bok - the family's son, who seems to be the evilest of them all, because he can do almost everything with his mind. The fact that he has really short-temper makes him even scarier. At the same time, Shim Eun Kyung plays the older daughter, whose power I did not understand or did not notice much.

Young Hee is the calmest, may be due to the fact that she is said to have really weak health. I did not understand much, but it also seemed that she thought the most about other possibilities, because she plays a really important role through out the movie. The last child Jeong Sun is played by Jin Ji Hee. She is the usual cute kid with spooky hairstyle. I started to wonder how such cute and young actress was allowed to play in this movie. I literally freaked out when she was destroying another toy rabbit! Jeong Sun has the power of giving life to lifeless things like dolls (she is the one who makes your toys move around at nights)

The"so-called" main character Eun Soo has not turned out as great as they wanted, because moslty he is more like a side-character, but only with the fact that his story is retold in the movie. Chun Jung Myung's acting is another thing that tears his character down - he has through out the movie the same face expression, so you really do not get what he thinks, because there is so much happening all the time, but at the same time it feels like nothing changes.

I admit that I covered my eyes more than once because actually I  am a really big scaredy-cat when it comes to horror movies. Bu fortunately and unfortunately it is not as dreadful as I thought and hoped it will be. Like most of the horror movies connected to children has "Hansel and Gretel" a sad, pitiful and unfair background why children are making this crazy nightmare. This time it is about child abuse and raping - subject that no one likes or wants to see. (Seriously, how can this kind of people even exist? that is just way too sick!) which leads us to the annoying end too, but read about it from Spoiler review.

I really liked that they made mind and willpower into the strongest thing, because I believe too that human is possible for making everything if they just have the strong belief in it really happening. For a while, I even thought that maybe, just maybe, everything is only in someone's mind and nothing really happens, but then it got too complicated again..
Even though it was not the scariest or unpleasant movie, I will never recommend this movie to people under 13 - I think I have a life-time trauma of toy bunnies. Like with all "horror-movies" - some love it, some don't - I find it rather.. surreal and usual.
btw. There are more known fairytales made into horror movies in South-Korea.  

SPOILER review: Just a bit before the end.. there is sooooooooo long scene about one thing - dialogue between the kids and Eun Soo. He says that he must leave because he is waited and the children must move on with their lives and the children just repeat "We are not bad children. we are good children. Please, do not leave us. Stay with us! etc" and that goes on and on and on for several minutes. I do not know if they tried to fill the screen time with it but it was rather boring an depressive for the whole watching crew we had in the room. They could have made it normal and short and it would not have lost 1-2 stars. You may say I am too harsh, but it mattered to me.

Punch (2011)

Country: South-Korea
Format: movie
Genre: youth, drama
Cast: Yoo Ah Ni, Kim Yoon Seuk, Jasmine B. Lee, Park Su Young, Ahn Gil kang, Kim Sang Ho, Park Hyo Joo, Kang Byul, Kim Young Jae, Sudip Banerjee,
Synopsis: Growing up story about Do Wan Deuk who is a sophomore in high school but does not have any thoughts on future. His father is former cabaret performer with a hunchback, he does not know a thing about his mother and is only good at fighting. His views start to change when his hated and annoying home-room teacher (and almost a neighbor) Dong Jo tells him that his mom is much closer to him than he thinks and actually wants to see him. 
Rating: 2/5
This is really everyday-ish movie.. well, as everyday life as it can be, but it still is just a little slice of Do Won Deuk's life. I hope you get the point. It is based on same-named novel ("Wandeuk") by Kim Ryeo-Ryeon, but with some changes as adding Ho Jung (Dong Jo's love interest) to the movie and changing Wan Deuk's mother from Vietnamese to Filipina.

The most important part of the movie is the relationship between Wan Deuk and his teacher Dong Jo.

Like usually, teacher is trying to reach out and help his lonely student, which is something we can see in many Korean and Japanese dramas/movies. At first, Wan Deuk almost hates Dong Jo, because he is everywhere and is always putting his nose into Wan Deuk's business, but slowly the boy starts to see his teacher in another way - like when seeing Dong Jo's late-night spying on one woman; getting to know Dong Jo's relationship with immigrants and foreign labor or just realizing how Dong Jo is trying to protect him. By the end, they are almost as good friends. Of course, their dialogues are really funny and full of sarcasm, which makes the movie funny too.

I liked the movie mostly because of Wan Deuk's growing recognition of his mother. It almost made me cry, because even though she was the woman who left years ago, she was still his mother. Wan Deuk said that he had not thought about his mother at all, but I am sure that if he had, then he had hoped that she is doing fine: "why to leave them behind and still live bad life?" this thought was in another drama, but I cannot remember in which. That's why it broke my heart when Wan Deuk saw his mom's situation and her old worn-out shoes.

Other great thing about the movie is that it shows "the other side" of South-Korea - students thinking

of dropping out as I bet we all know the thing about South-Korea and finals, disabled people, the poor class, foreign labor and intercultural marriage. I think that these things give the quality to the movie and make it different from others, which also can be the reason behind enormous ticket sale to this movie in 2011, winning many awards and screenings on international film festivals around the world. We see much more "the life of rich and beautiful" or "the middle class", so it is a nice change, but as some viewers have said - some scenes look just too artificial. In addition, I think that these are things that many countries face and that way there is a moment of realisation.

Of course there is added some love-lines, which give the movie the cute touch. Hong Jo's character

was added just because director Lee Han thought that "love" is the best way how to make viewers more empathize with Dong Jo's character, because it is like finding a love after years of single and lonely life. On the other hand, Wan Deuk's and Yoon Ha's love-line shows the young sweet love, which is a part of growing up - but I really liked how they brought in the differences between girls and boys.

I am not going to talk more about characters, even though each character is really interesting and original. As I mentioned at the start, it is all about one stage of human life and you can see it in each character's story. The reason why I did not put higher rating was because there actually were not many changes in the movie's pace or unexpected twists. It just started and went with one flow giving everything I thought I will get from it and nothing more. At least, it is not depressive and does not make you angry at society.