Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

Li Bing Bing and Jun Jihyun

Lisa See’s new book came out the other week, and seeing it on the shelf got me thinking about a few years back when they’d re-released her book Snow Flower and The Secret Fan to tie into the new movie that had just come out…I’d made  plans to check out that movie at the time, but it must have came and went without much fanfare because I didn’t hear anything much about it after that. With renewed interest, I went onto ebay and found that there were a good many affordable DVD copies for sale, and I was able to grab a deal of about 7 dollars for the Bluray version which arrived just the other day!

Now, I didn’t remember much about the movie except that it was noted that Wanye Wang, the director who’d done “The Joy Luck Club” had also directed this film. I didn’t know who any of the actors or actresses attached to the film were either, so imagine my surprise when I got the bluray movie into my hands and found that one of the girls (the aforementioned “Snow Flower” in the film’s title), was played by none other than Gianna Jun, AKA Miss Jun Jihyun, the sassy actress who recently took my heart for a ride with her cute and sexy take as Cheon Song Yi in “You Who Came From The Stars”!!! WOW!

Gianna Jun and Bing Bing Li

 Snow Flower and The Secret Fan tells the tale of two girls in 1893 China who are bound together as lifelong companions in a ritual called laotong (the ceremonial choosing of one's confidant, think arranged marriages, but for friendship among girls) and the support they have for each other as they grow up, get married and pursue their own paths through its ups and downs. It’s also a tale of two modern-day friends who have the same friendship pact between each other, and the rituals they got through relying on each other. 

Friends comforting each other in 1839 China...

...And in Modern Times, too.

   Both the Olden China story and the Modern Day girls’ story’s characters are played by the same two actresses, Gianna Jun and Li Bing Bing (playing main character Lily), and it’s fascinating to watch them jump back and forth from the rigid ceremonial past to the free-wheeling electronic age, but best of all, you get to see Jun Jihyun in not only her traditional China garb, but also as the sexy-hot Jihyun we all know so well from You Who Came from the Stars as well as films like “The Thieves” !

Jun Jihyun and Hugh "Wolverine" Jackman in Snow Flower

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan is a pretty straightforward tale of true friendships that endure all the pitfalls and heartaches of life, and though it didn’t rock my world or anything, I still came away afterwards thinking about the movie (as well as wiping away my tears) and will definitely be watching this one again!

PS: one drawback about getting the movie in bluray is that I couldn’t play it in my computer, and therefore wasn’t able to make any screencaps!  
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

The Stunning Jun Jihyun

Jun JiHyun as Cheon Song-Yi in You Who Came From The Stars

Oh my GOD I am crushing SO HARD for Korean actress Jun Jihyun right now! Arghhh, I know it’s only been 6 episodes so far of her incredibly awesome drama YOU WHO CAME FROM THE STARS, but those 6 episodes have been like 6 WEEKS in a freaking haze of crushing ADORATION! You know, I KNEW I was going to like her portrayal of sassy actress Cheon Song-Yi from the first time I saw her, but I never could have imagined it would grow deeper with every episode! As the show went on, I found myself liking her more and more til it turned into a full-blown LOVE!

What it is, I think, is that she’s like the perfect balance of beautiful goddess and helpless Damsel In Distress- Jun Jihyun, as gorgeous Song-Yi, is the total package- a jet-setter woman with devastating good looks, stylish to a “T”, sassy and sarcastic with her remarks and general attitude,  loud and bitchy to all around her, and yet behind closed doors, totally helpless, lonely and vulnerable, too. Part of you is in speechless awe of her Mightier-than-thou stature, yet at the same time you want to protect her, stroke her hair and absolutely hug her to pieces!

Each episode is just cram-packed with scenarios of Song-Yi in a variety of situations and moods, from calm to panicky, from sexy to silly, from confident to confused and OH! All those pretty outfits!!! Truly a fanboy's dream!

Signs of the modern age: What would current dramas do without cell phones? I don't know, but I'm pretty sure spoiled Song-Yi couldn't SURVIVE without one, a direct contrast to the introverted Minjoon, who still communicates via PAGER, LOL!

It’s what I call the “NaNa” effect, named after that lovesickness that struck me the first time I saw Aoi Miyazaki as Nana in the eponymously titled movie- I was in love with Aoi Miyazaki, yes, but more correctly, I was in love with her character NaNa… and it’s the same thing here- I’m thinking about Jun Jihyun ALL the time now, but or course, it’s her character Song-Yi that I’m really in love with!

LOL, What would YOU do if a buoyantly drunk Song-Yi showed up at YOUR door one late winter evening? Min Joon takes the high road.

When a case of appendicitis strikes, this girl shows that she can make even being bedridden look good! And no malady can keep that sass outta her demeanor, either!

When fate decides to have Song-Yi as an unwanted houseguest of Minjoon’s for a ew days, the gag is supposed to be  an “Odd Couple” clash of wills with the neat and fastidious Minjoon having to deal with the careferee and slobby Song-Yi, but you can’t fool ME…No guy could resist this much CUTENESS and PLAYFULNESS, and sure enough, when she finally moves back home you can see in his eyes a bit of wistful wanting there...Take this case example-Minjoon coming home to find SongYi doing circulation excercises to prevent bloating, and though he shakes his head and asks why she’s being such a fool, everyone knows part of him MUST be enchanted by her childish and rascally ways!

I love this one shot of the couple because their facial expressions say it all! Min Joon is clearly exasperated by dealing with the selfish and bossy demands of his houseguest, while Song Yi is thinking “My kingdom for some competent help!”

Holy CRAP, I have to say I REALLY didn’t expect this drama to blow me away as much as it did. But MAN, every episode is so damn good, I actually find myself marveling at how great it is WHILE I’m watching the show! I’ll be in the middle of n episode and chuckle to myself “This show is sooo freaking AWESOME!” I wasn’t kidding when I said that it might be one of the best dramas I’ve ever seen- it’s THAT good! Intriguing story that keeps you guessing, great scenes with great dialog,  great characters and a stellar bunch of actors, including a great lead actor…and a PERFECT leading LADY!! 

Kind of a funny thing is that I remember back when I was just starting to get into K-pop and visitng a freidn who worked at a record store, he had featured in his “Employee Pick of the Week” a new domestically released Korean movie called “The Thieves”, and I was STUNNED at the luscious little vixen on the cover- 

“WHOA….Who the heck is THAT?!” I asked in awe- “My friend replied back with a grin, “THAT, my friend, is Gianna Jun!” Imagine my surprise when I looked up Jun Jihyun’s credentials for this drama and found that she and Gianna Jun were one and THE SAME LADY!!!  So I’d actually lusted after her years and  YEARS ago!!! This Crush, it seems, was fated TO BE!!!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

A Wild Dal Shabet Sighting

As a fan of Dal Shabet, I had a happy surprise watching Episode Three of the awesome “You Who Came From The Stars” when who should show up as a couple of junior actresses under Cheon Song-Yi (Jun Jihyun) but Serri AND Subin!!! Ahahaha, You know, I think I remember reading about them having a cameo in a drama some time before, but I’d completely forgotten about it! When they came on, I just HAD to laugh!!! Sadly, All their time was spent being scolded! 

    At first, the Junior Actresses are in such awe to meet their famous sunbaenim, but she quickly chides them for not properly greeting another fellow (but less popular) sunbaenim Yoo Se Mi (Yoo In Na) that had also been in the room!

Drawing them in closer, she quietly tells them that all the rumors about her having a bad attitude are true, leaving the two properly scolded juniors speechless...

After she leaves, the two hurt girls mumble something along the lines of 

"Meh, maybe this unnie isn't all that after all" LOL

Nonetheless, the two young actresses were seen aboard a private yacht with the company later that evening, so we must assume things worked out OK!
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

New K-Drama "You Who Came From The Stars" Totally Rocks!

Arrival! Byeoreseo On Jeudae (You Who Came From The Stars)

  Just finished watching the first episode of “You Who Came From the Stars”, that new K-drama being touted as the next big thing- so much that I felt I just HAD to check it out! Now, I haven’t watched all that many Korean Dramas, counting from “My Girlfriend is a Gumiho” through to “The Prime Minister and I”, there have only been about five or six shows I checked out (and all with only varying degrees of completion), but I have say that judging from the first episode alone, this may be one of the BEST ones ever!

Do Min Joon (Kim Soohyun)

meeting the 16th Century Cheon Song-Yi (Kim HyunSoo)

I’m not even kidding, EVERY aspect of this show rocked- this story of a man who beamed down to earth 400 years ago and has been biding his time, settling into the Human way of living until the comet comes around again that will take him back to his homeworld is as exciting as ANY sci-fi drama of its kind! I’ve long been a fan of time-travelling movies, and though not technically a time-travelling story, the way the drama jumps back and forth from his life in 1602 and the present 2013 is exactly the same in feel!

20th Century Do Min Joon

And Stylish Actress Cheon Song-Yi (Jun JiHyun)

Of course, the show wouldn’t work without some great actors to back it up, and we’ve got a perfect cast here- with Kim SooHyun as the time-travelling “Man From the Stars” (under guise of a regular school teacher named Do Min Joon),  he’s cast in a perfectly cold, stoic role, and MY GOSH, Jun Jihyun is simply STUNNING as the lusciously SASSY hot young actress Cheong Song-Yi! As the story begins, fate has somehow placed the two together as neighbors in a High-rise apartment complex, and whenever they cross paths, Song-Yi’s abrasive and larger than life personality against Min Joon’s stern and introverted outlook creates some very dynamic conversations!!!

Fateful Meeting in the High Rise Elevator

And then there’s the overshadowing backstory of the young princess he met when he first beamed down- something has happened to her (so far hasn’t been revealed yet) and he’s been chagrined over his loss so much that when he gets a flash that a young girl that looks just like her in 2001 is going to be killed, he speeds to the site and saves her.

 Little does he know that this young girl he saved is in fact the obnoxious actress living next door to him! Adding further to the fact that she’s just returned to School and has found out HE’s her new teacher, ya just KNOW that things are GONNA GET INTERESTING!

With a lead man as cold and soft-spoken as Min Joon, you really need a energetic and LOUD counterpart, and BOY does Song-Yi deliver! This is a girl that does and says what EVER is on her mind! And yet, while on one hand being loud, bossy and arrogant, beneath the surface is this really likeable girl who just wants to be loved by people and is genuinely hurt when her so–called fans attack her online and call her airheaded. I liked her from the very beginning!

   In fact, every person on this show is so enthusiastically played that they are a joy to watch in any scene ,and even the roles of Song-Yi’s put-upon assistants are hilarious- they know that their charge can be thick headed and must use the utmost diplomacy handling her!

And I really like the side-story of Min Joon’s only Earth friend- a lawyer he worked with in what appears to be the mid 1950’s. Now very old, he still meets up with Min Joon to talk, and is quite saddened to her that his friend will soon be making the trip back.

 Aw, there's just too much good stuff going on in this show that I can't even cover them all, and besides, it's time to get back to watching the next episode! O Yeah, I’m TOTALLY in this one for the LONG HAUL!!!!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com