You From Another Star

You From Another Star The reason I chose this drama is that I love Jeon Ji Hyun. Ever since I saw her in My Sassy Girl she is a delight to me. She is not in many films or dramas though so when she appeared in this one I'd have gone for it even if it was not such a well liked drama with high ratings.

The reason for the ratings and the one who got all the awards is Kim Soo Hyun though, the male lead. He is loved by virtually everyone and causes ovaries to explode. But he doesn't do anything to me. Not because he is way younger than me since I like Lee Seung Gi and Jae Joong but this guy does not have that effect on me. His performance was not bad but he is not uber talented like Lee Byung Hun or Cha Seung Won. Anyway on to the show with loads of SPOILERS.


Do Min Joon (Kim Soo Hyun) is an alien who landed in Joseon era Korea and missed his ride back. So he has been living in the world for 400 years and now his kind will be back in 3 months. His only friend and manager of human affairs is Lawyer Jang (it reminded me a bit of Dracula)

Chun Song Yi is a S.Korean super star actress and commercial darling at the top of her career. She is not really into culture though and is known and laughed at for her ignorant remarks.

Do Min Joon has been in the earth forever and tried many professions astronomer, doctor, banker, lawyer and now he is a (albeit very young) professor. To his dismay Song Yi moves right next door to his lovely apartment. Now that they are neighbours, his quiet, undisturbed life is in caos since Song Yi gets drunk, has lots of reporters etc. following her and she is noisy (he, of course has super hearing).

The secondary guy is in love with Song Yi for 15 years but Song Yi only sees him as a friend and never actually gave him hope.

The secondary girl is also Song Yi's friend for 15 years and she is also an actress but she is nowhere near as successful as Song Yi and usually takes small parts in films and dramas Song Yi stars. This time she is in love with the secondary guy and she hides her pettiness behind a nice girl facade.

Our villain is secondary guy's elder brother who is a pyschopath. He kills Song Yi's rival in business and everyone assumes that the rival committed suicide because of Song Yi's bullying. Song Yi is now a disgraced celebrity whose career is in fast decline. Commercials are cancelled, projects shelved, they even removed her as the lead of the drama she is currently filming. All these go to secondary girl SeMi.

Anyway all in all this alien with super powers drama who is influenced heavily from Dracula, Twilight and towards the end Time Traveller's Wife, ended being only OK. I wonder if it is me of they don't make them as good anymore. Of course I kind of leaked tears towards the end but I can't say I felt the need/desire to marathon (which is the best indicator of how much one likes a drama).

All in all I'll recommend since the cast is good, it is entertaining and Jeon Ji Hyun is excellent in it. 

The World We Found

The World We Found was among a batch I picked up from a discount at an internet store. I really like India and most of the meager amount of the Indian literature I have read. This is the reason I purchased it and it ended being an OK book about four women and two men who were social activists in their college days but life turned out to be very different from their ideals. It is a slice of life kind of book with less amount of flashbacks than I thought there would be. All in all I ended up enjoying it. Having been to India and/or watching Indian films would help one like it even better in my opinion.

The Thief

The Thief is one of the books I got from San Francisco. Not a secondhand book. I usually don't hesitate when it comes to Japanese literature since I almost always end up liking it even when not really caring to seek other books from the author. This one was interesting and read like the wind. The protagonist is a pick pocket who gets into trouble with a rather scary villain. Not that he had done anything in particular to antagonise the man. I felt for the thief and hoped that he'll get away.

There is a certain simple fluency in English translation of Japanese books. I love the uncluttered prose.

This one I can recommend if you are into J-lit. Otherwise not necessary. 

Mini Shopaholic

Mini Shopaholic is a book I picked up from the small library at work (since I have forgotten Brave New World at home that day). I'm definitely not into Shopaholic series. Not that Becky is adorable and I remember that I even liked the film. But I'm not a shopaholic for clothes and shoes and bags. If the character was a shopaholic for books and films then I think I might have been more into it. Anyhow this is a timepass. 

Jack Ryan Shadow Recruit

Photo credithttp://www.btchflcks.com
The site has a snarky review of the film.

Jack Ryan Shadow Recruit it was so bad that I fell asleep towards the end. Seriously. Should an action film put you to sleep? But everything was so predictable, so formulaic and so stale that I felt I have watched this film many times. Chris Pine is a decent actor with likable screen presence but he doesn't have what it takes to rebook a character actred previously by Harrison Ford. He is great as Captain Kirk but those films are not one man films no? Anyway the villain is Kenneth Branagh (who is also the director) and he is your typical Russian villain. Aaaand I don't think Russians make good villains in US films anymore. They just don't.
Love interest is Keira Knightley who face looks like she is constantly pouting. Mentor is Kevin Costner who I can't help but like ever since Tin Cup.

So this was a waste of time but I watched it anyway.

Dark Skies

Photo credit: http://www.nerdist.com

Dark Skies was another film I chose to because of its genre. Also I like Keri Russell. Anyway this film had a more of an effect on me. It was about a family harrassed by the aliens. It progressed slowly to a SPOILER   a grim end. Josh Hamilton, who played the husband was a weak link in an otherwise strong cast and a decent cinematography. This may have freak out people who are scared of aliens but it was not scary as far as I'm concerned. All in all had a decent time.

The House of The Devil

Photo credit: http://i2.wp.com/www.heyuguys.com/

The House of the Devil was among the Dvdigi selections and I decided to check it out. Writer director Ti West was aiming for an original retro look I guess and I enjoyed the whole thing despite it being pretty weak as far as the plot etc. goes. And the retro also extended to special effects. It was interesting to watch Greta Gerwig in a supporting role in so old looking a film. All in all it was an OK passtime but not much more.