Reviews written by James Tom
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What Planet Are You From? (MBC TV Series)(US Version)
What Planet Are You From? (MBC TV Series)(US Version) DVD Region 1
(22)Our Price: US$34.99List: US$99.99Save: US$65.00 (65%)Related promotions:2 people found the following helpful
February 10, 2007 Sacrificial LoveAs I write this I'm listening to the "What Planet are You From" soundtract helping to bring into focus the delightful scenes that made me laugh and cry and make this to be one of my favorite dramas. Jung Ryu Won plays a much better role as Bok Sil/Hye Rim than she did as the waif girl in "My Lovely Samsoon. Her character's positive attitude along with her tears of sincerity caused me to laugh and cry all in one show. Kim Rae Won's role wasn't nearly as complexed as the one he played in "Attic Roof Cat" but he did well as the leading man.
What made me enjoy this so much, was the display of a sacrificial love seen in each character including the interfering mother. Perhaps this is the truest form of love:to give up ones own desires for the happiness of another.
Of all the dramas I've watched this is certainly one that I feel is worth having.
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Goodbye My Love (MBC TV Series)(US Version)
Goodbye My Love (MBC TV Series)(US Version) DVD Region 1
(1)Our Price: US$34.99List: US$99.99Save: US$65.00 (65%)Usually ships within 1 to 2 daysRelated promotions:2 people found the following helpful
January 29, 2007 a truly sad storyThis is one of the tragic Korean dramas that is more real life than fantasy. Lacking the cute coincidences of some of the revent popular dramas, Goodbye My love still does a good job of grabbing a hold of you to where you want to see how the writers will lead you. The ending was abrupt and leaves you guessing what will happen to the main character(Minsoo).
Yet Minsoo and Yeon Joo do have chemistry and you want to see them make it as a couple. Although I would have been more satisfied if they had done a three years later kind of thing and shown what happened instead of letting you guess.
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Summer Scent - Original Sound Track (Overseas Version) (CD+VCD)
Summer Scent - Original Sound Track (Overseas Version) (CD+VCD)
(10)Our Price: US$18.99List: US$25.99Save: US$7.00 (27%)Related promotions:1 people found the following helpful
January 3, 2007 super soundtractLast night I watched the final episode of Summer Scent and found myself quite pleased with the entire series. The concept of whether a person's heart is more than just a blood pump can't help but spark the romantic in each of us. Though the story seems a bit drawn out (they could have probably finished it in 16 shows instead of 20) the finale is perfect!
This is the fourth drama I've watched from this director having started with Winter Sonata, Autumn in my Heart and Spring Waltz. Autumn in my Heart was my favorite but Summer Scent has certainly tied for first place.
The Soundtract is a lovely blend of classical Schubert and modern Korean POP. There are a couple of songs from the drama that I'd like to have had on the soundtract that didn't get added, but the songs that did are tops, easily making it the best of the four soundtracts from the dramas I just listed.
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Love Story in Harvard (English Subtitled)(SBS TV Series)
Love Story in Harvard (English Subtitled)(SBS TV Series) DVD Region 3
(58)Our Price: US$91.99List: US$110.99Save: US$19.00 (17%)Related promotions:October 7, 2006 once is enoughLove Story in Harvard has the basic elements of other Korean Dramas; rich guy, poor guy both in love with the poor girl but with the addition of the backdrop of their school years in Harvard (actually filmed in Southern California). The characters are likeable and the story enough to entertain you without the emotion that keeps you up at night wondering what will happen next. There are some endearing scenes but most failed to invoke a emotional response.
This would rate as a good "B" movie with the soundtrack having enough pull to make me purchase it. Some dramas are good enough to make me want to watch them again; but once is enough for this one.
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Love Letter (MBC TV Series) (US Version)
Love Letter (MBC TV Series) (US Version) DVD Region All
(188)Our Price: US$34.99List: US$99.99Save: US$65.00 (65%)Related promotions:1 people found the following helpful
September 27, 2006 Heaven and earthUnlike the fluffy love stories of other K-dramas this one deals with a man's struggle between his love for God and the love of a woman. If he were a protestant it wouldn't have been as much of an issue for they could marry and serve God together. But in the Catholic church where it's give God all or nothing, the conflict takes legs.
Love letter is a deeper thought provoking story than other dramas, that makes one pause for a moment and think of lifes meaning. Though I thought a different ending would have been more realistic, it did nothing to disuade me from realizing the ultimate gift in life; that being relationships. The one with God and the ones with those people we live with here on earth.
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My Lovely Sam-Soon (English Subtitled)(MBC TV Series)(US Version)
My Lovely Sam-Soon (English Subtitled)(MBC TV Series)(US Version) DVD Region 1
(75)Our Price: US$59.99List: US$99.99Save: US$40.00 (40%)Related promotions:September 11, 2006 Sam-soon is lovelyIt is easy to understand why this was the number one Korean TV drama in 2005. It has the unique combination of comedy and a serious love story, with a main character who could easily represent the common man/woman. She is average looking with an average body (on the plump side), instead of the Hollywood perfection that is so mainstream in todays media. In fact if we had more women in leading roles, such as represented by Kim Sam-soon, there would most likely be fewer cases of eating disorders among the female population. Perhaps men would start to look at the heart of a woman instead of the naked flesh that is mainly promoted in today's movies and television. Perhaps we all would begin judging individuals by their hearts instead of the way they look.
Samsoon is a quirky character wtht a heart that yearns to love and be loved. We start out sympathizing with her being dumped by her cheating boyfriend on Christmas eve. She inadvertantly ends up crying in the stall of the mens bathroom where she first meets Jin-heon, her prince charming. I must admit that when I first looked at these two they seemed so mismatched. Being trained by the stereotypical Hollywood production I felt that there wasn't anyway possible for her to win over Jin-heon, that he would be unable to love such an ordinary person. And when Hee-jin, Jin-heon's ex-girlfriend, appears, I felt that here was the answer, here was the princess for prince charming. But when, near the end of the series, I found myself rooting for Sam-soon I realized that she too is a princess!
Another thing enjoyable about this drama is the lack of an evil villian that is the mainstay of most of the popular K-dramas today. Instead we see a reflection of people we might meet on any given day in any given life. People who are a just trying to get by, wanting to love and be loved during this short time we have before leaving the planet.
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Save the Last Dance for Me (SBS TV Series)(US Version)
Save the Last Dance for Me (SBS TV Series)(US Version) DVD Region 1
(51)Our Price: US$74.99List: US$99.99Save: US$25.00 (25%)Related promotions:September 5, 2006 simply wonderfulI just finished watching the final episode of Save the Last Dance and I must say that I am sad to see it end. It's like saying goodbye to guests that I have had in my house for the past week and a half, guests that I've enjoyed being with. The lovely Eunsoo, the girl next door with a heart so true, the pretty Soojin, brought up as a princess and expecting to marry her prince Hyunwoo who wants to be an artist but must take over the family business empire. Even dark Taemin has a side of him that is good, making him a more complexed person than a cowboy with a black Stetson.
The story, like a roller coaster ride, was predictable from its memory loss beginning to the all embracing end, yet contained enough twists and turns that it makes you want to line up and ride again. It's the new love, the feelings that are pulled out of us as we watch Eunsoo and Changho draw close and then be ripped apart and the desire to see them enjoined once more. It's the pain we feel for Soojin as she fights to grab hold of Hyunwoo only to watch him slip through her fingers like running water, most of us havng at one time or another loved someone who doesn't return that love. Perhaps this is what makes this drama so appealing, the pleasure of being made young again through these intrepid lovers.
Though not as intense as either All In or Stairway to Heaven, Save the Last Dance holds its own as a major love story right up there with such greats as Winter Sonata and the masterpiece Dae Jang Geum. The music is simply wonderful, causing me to order the sound tract after watching a few shows, the tunes bringing back the feelings with each song, the different scenes pained on a mental movie screen with each note played.
Buy and enjoy, you won't be disapointed.
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