Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Despicable Me 2

In Summer 2013, get ready for more minion madness in Despicable Me 2. Chris Meledandri and his acclaimed filmmaking team create an all-new comedy animated adventure featuring the return of Gru (Steve Carell), the girls, the unpredictably hilarious minions...and a host of new and outrageously funny characters.

In this sequel, Gru even snags himself a girlfriend and manages to save the world all at the same time.






Thoughts and Spoilers ahead (you have been warned!)

In this sequel, Gru is living the normal (as can be) life trying to be a dad to his three girls Margo, Edith and Agnes. And his mission (that he is somewhat coerced into) is to save the world from an unknown villain who has literally stolen a secret laboratory using a giant magnet! We never get to see the villain's face, so even the Anti-Villain League (AVL) has no idea who it could be - which is why they attempt to recruit Gru for his expertise (being an ex-villain and all). We learn that the secret laboratory was experimenting with a mutagen called PX-41, which turns normal beings (animals or otherwise into indestructible mindless monsters.

The way in which Gru was 'convinced' to help was not very effective (but definitely worth a good laugh... or two). It is also in this way that we are introduced to Lucy a rookie at Anti-Villain League (AVL). She is quirky, chatty and simply the opposite of a grant play-safe Gru. Gru, wanting to make a 'clean' living has decided to start a jams and jelly company, selling the new creations so he rejects the offer. 

However, unfortunately for Gru, his jelly prototype doesn't taste all that good. To add to the blow to his 'failure', his good friend and the genius behind his gadgets (and the jelly prototype), Dr. Nefario, has informs Gru that he is leaving for greener pastures (he misses the good old villain days and wants to use his skills and talent doing vallainy things again). Needless to say, Gru is taken aback and slightly disappointed. But he takes it in his stride and lets Dr. Nefario go in what would be a pretty funny scene involving fart guns and a 'slow' departure. 

After  Dr. Nefario's departure Gru temporarily loses his bearings in life, wanting to step up to be a dad that the girls can be proud of (what could be greater than saving the work?) Gru decides to take up the offer from the Anti-Villain League (AVL) to uncover who the villain is. Soon Gru finds himself paired with Lucy on a stakeout at the Paradise Shopping Mall, undercover as bakers with a bakery as their headquarters.

Once settled in, they start to survey the suspects. Gru suspects Eduardo to be the legendary super-villain, "El Macho" (who is supposedly dead, but the body was never found). Hence, Gru and Lucy break into Eduardo's restaurant at night hoping to find some clues. Although they found nothing incriminating, they do find Eduardo's secret sauce (which they pinch a little to munch and almost got caught by Eduardo) and they encountered the world's first guard... chicken - a feisty little thing which almost behaves like a dog (just in a chicken way). Their investigations lead them to another suspect, Floyd Eagle-san (owner of a wig shop), who is deemed to be the culprit by the Anti-Villain League (AVL) despite Gru's insistence that it is Eduardo.

The Anti-Villain League (AVL) think that Gru is being bais as Margo has develop a crush on  Eduardo's son, Antonio (who's pretty much the resident playboy who breaks Margo heart a little - something that Gru was trying to avoid and totally against). So they arrest Floyd Eagle-san instead when traces of the PX-41 are found in his shop, gauntly dismiss Gru for his services and send Lucy to Australia for another assignment. Meanwhile, while all this is happening the minions (yes, finally on to them) are getting kidnapped one by one in a sequence of 'mysterious' events: abducted alien style, vacuumed into an ice-cream truck and literally snatched...

When Gru learns that Lucy is to be sent to Australia, he is heartbroken (he just come to the conclusion that he loves her and was about to muster up the courage to ask her out. Dejected, Gru and his three girls take up Eduardo's invitation to a party he is holding while Lucy boards her plan.

It turns out that Gru was right all along, Eduardo is the super-villain "El-Macho" who faked his death. Gru is surprised to learn that Dr. Nefario is working for "El-Macho"and has even used the minions to test the PX-41, turning them into mindless monsters of purple fuzz to do the bidding of El-Macho to conquer the world!

El-Macho explains that he admired Gru's past works and even invites Gru to join in his quest to conquer the world, which Gru tries to act all cool (while making his escape) and avoids committing an answer. He leaves as quickly as his can with his three girls and make their way home, much to El-Macho's ire. He does get his revenge on Gru when Lucy, after having realized that she has affections for Gru and seeing everyone as him, (jumps off the plane and) makes her way to find him at Eduardo's party. Her identity is exposed and she becomes a victim, strapped to a TNT-loaded shark rocket heading straight for a volcano.

Fortunately,  Dr. Nefario cannot tolerate anyone messing with his 'family' and gives Gru due warning of Lucy's plight and El-Macho's plan to send the monsterised version of the minions in rockets throughout the world in his quest to conquer the world (basically submit to him or face destruction). In order to rescue Lucy, Gru pretends to be captured by the monster minions (actually normal yellow minions painted purple). The sequence is hilarious! His 'act' soon gets seen through and just as they are about to be descended upon by the purple monster minions, Dr. Nefario and Gru's three girls arrive to save the day with the antidote (the Dr. Nefario formulated) in the form of the horrible tasting jelly as the medium (finally put to good use! ha). Upon contact with the antidote jelly, the purple fuzzy mess of the minion monsters revert back to their good old yellow selves.

In no time, all the minions are reverted back to their original state. Frustrated, El Macho consumes the PX-41 himself, and becomes a gigantic purple mess of  fuzz (but not mindless and clearly aware of what he is doing/wants to do). But his impressive transformation is thwarted by the infamous fart gun. While El Machois is down for the count, Lucy is still stuck to the rocket (with a shark no less) and heading to a volcano to meet her demise (thanks to the guard chicken). Gru gallaintly gets on the rocket when it launches and tries to free Lucy from her entrapment. They barely make it, but they survive (and even confess to each other their feelings).

After 147 dates later, Gru and Lucy get married, with the the minions presenting a rendition of "Y.M.C.A" and "I Swear" (sung in minion-speak as "Underwear") while the whole family dances (and the movie audience laughs). Finally Gru gets the girl and his daughters get that mother figure.

Overall, a movie of simple fun, funny and entertainment! Suitable for kids and kids at heart. Just remember not to go in with super high expectations, it is a simple storyline (but a fun one) and pretty predictable (but what isn't these days?).

 

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Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Running Man episode 154

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This was the second half of the Asian dream cup special and from this Shang Hai trip, i get to know another humorous guest who is just as funny and sporty as Park Ji Sung. I was so excited about this episode, what about you?

As we know last episode winner was the Green team, now Jong Kook and his team have to accept the punishment. What is the punishment? Haha... wearing fashionable winter clothes and acessories in a hot summer day at Incheon  Airport! Kim Jong Kook was asked to deliver a promise he had made with Sulli regarding an earlier episode where he promised to be her slave in exchange for her nametag. Oh Ji Hyo look like a pretty model while Ji suk Jin look like G-dragon or should I say 'Ji-Dragon?' Lol.

Sulli was of course shy and reluctant to order Jong Kook oppa around since he is afterall her senior in the music industry. However, Yoo Jae Suk whispered in her ear and urged her to order Jong Kook around and even use informality on him. To which, Kim Jong Kook retorts,"hyung, what has this got to do with you?" Anyway, their first mission is to buy a packet of cuttle fish for the other team and only when their 'master' allows, then they can remove the winter clothes. lol.




Ji Suk Jin was the first to run to the convience store to buy cuttle fish followed by kwang soo and Jong Kook. I was'nt surprised when kwang Soo leave Jong Kook to settle his bill while he ran back to the destination. Gary opened up the packet of cuttle fish and fed some to Ji Hyo but the latter refused to eat. Gary exclaimed,"I feed you and you don't want to eat?" That was hilarious. What follows  after this was even funnier, when he order Ji Hyo to face the crowds and shout, " Gary, i want you!" Ji Hyo was blushing and was embarassed with all the attention and cheers. How i wish i am there at the moment to witness that. haha.

Finally, the Running Man board the plane and arrive at Shang Hai press conference. We can see the two teams teasing and joking with one another. After that, the Running Man arrived at the Restuarant. Yoo Jae Suk jokingly said that Jong Kook did not sleep well becasue of jetlag. To which Jong Kook replied," how to have jetlag when the time difference is only 1 hour?" haha. We were in for another surprised when Erva (the footballer for Mancaster United) came as a guest. Then, we were shown videos of the two buddies Park Ji Sung and Erva. We can see that they have great friendship to count on. It was interesting that Erva keeps grinning and groofing around, showing his white pearls every now and then. When Erva was asked to guess Ji Suk Jin and Lee Kwang Soo age, Ji Suk Jin was pleased that he look younger than his age. What about Kwang Soo? He actually said that Kwang Soo is 42 years old! lol. Then they proceed to ask what type of role do they want during the soccer match. Jong Kook replied that he has no preference, to which Yoo Jae Suk said, " Then order for us Jiajangmyeon!" That was a nice one, consideing how health consious Jong Kook is.


Subsequently, Jong Kook help to paste the nametag on Erva back and the latter surprisingly turned away and said,"No idiot." As it turned out, Park Ji Sung did fool with him using Korean words. Therefore, it makes sense for Erva to be more cautious. Anyway, down to the first game! Is that Chun Li that delivers the game set into the room? Oh, that was a misunderstanding because that is Maknae FD and Erva look on in amazement at his cosplay. The team have to take turn to roll the dice and play the world game. (basically a board game with different countries and mission written on it).

Erva Team have to play ddakji game and Kwang Soo said that Jong Kook is the king of  ddakji. Yoo Jae Suk immediately opposed and said that he is the rightful one. Is that Ji Suk Jin new found talent? He seem to be able to catch the ddakji that was bounce back when hit the floor. Despite his catching skills, he could not flip the ddakji. Subsequently, only Jong Kook succeed. Their only hope Erva did well for his first attempt as he flip the ddakji over in one shot!

Captain Park team have to kick the ball into a vase at a distance. All of them missed and some were so close yet so far as the ball were seen bouncing off the vase. Finally, it was Ji Sung turn and Erva hilarously made funny face as he placed his head near the vase to distract him. Captain Park failed eventually and they have to return back some coins to Chun Li.


The next game is a miniature table soccer match between the captains. They have to use a straw to blow the ball to the opponent direction and score a goal. This game was so well thought of that it was simply funny watching them blow the ball to and fro. Erva won the first match and Park Ji Sung won the second match. Now they were all exhuasted and Erva even jokingly said that he is tired and is going back to rest now. They took a break and their team members started to massaged their hands before the final match. Erva was so funny when he call out a penalty ball by Ji Sung and attempted to blow the ball into the goal at a shorter distance. However, Park Ji Sung is not a pushover as he competitively defended the ball and even struck his straw in between the goal to fend off erva attack. The third round, Park Ji Sung won and they were sporty about it.

Time for Erva team to roll the dice again and we can see the spiky mat been pushed to the front. Oh, no are they going do rope jumping on those mats again? Indeed, they have to jump fifty times to complete the mission. Surprisingly Erva jumped on the spiky mat in ease, as through that is a smooth surface. Except that when he finishes, he bounced back in pain! LoL..Ji Sung team rolled the dice again and it was captain challenge again. This time round, they have to use their head to hit the ball to their team mates. Gary and Park Ji Sung did well for the practice but failed to do as well for the actual competition. Kwang Soo on the other hand did pretty well with Erva. Jong Kook praised Erva of being a better guest than Park Ji Sung, to which he countered, "Even if you were given the ticket, you may not get to play afterall." ohoh..


The next scene brought us to the stadium where they will be playing the soccer match in the evening. Then, we saw a familar machine at the corner. Oh, each team will stand in a line, while the opposite team will kick the ball at their direction. They will only considered pass when they smiled together at the camera. The PD said to them, " Just smile at the camera." and the Running Man were opposing to the idea since how can they smile when they see the ball moving towards them? Anyway, back to the field as Ji Sung kick the ball at Erva team. I got to stop myself from laughing loud when i saw Kwang Soo expression. Even Erva was 'disgusted' with the toad expression and considered him as the black hole.

I thought Kwang Soo is already so funny and i did not expect Yoo Jae Suk to be so funny too. His expression when he dodge the ball were simply too hilarous. Both teams failed even after several tries and Erva team tried a new tactic and that is to divulge the attention away with Jong Kook and Kwang Soo pretending to kick the ball when actually Ji Hyo is supposed do a surprise attack on Captain Park team. However, Ji Hyo only managed to give a frail kick to the ball which enedup just a short distance away from where she is standing.

Congratulation to Erva team as they were the first to complete the mission. Now both team leaders were given two tickets each. Who will participate in the match? Ji Sung choose Yoo Jae Suk and Haha (since Gary tried last year), Erva picked Kwang Soo and Jong Kook on his side. They were send to the changing room to prepare for the soccer match. Yoo Jae Suk and HaHa were visibly nervous as they sat on the bench looking at the china team. They started to take photo with each other to dissolve the akwardness.

It was in the evening, The Running Man followed Park Ji Sung and did their warm up exercise. The first participant is Kim Jong Kook and he did his best to pass the ball to his team mates. However, he did some mistake with the dribbling and lost the ball to the opponent. HaHa exclaimed, " Jong Kook hyung only like soccer is'nt he? He can't play soccer." Yoo Jae Suk replied, "If he is like that, what about us?"


At the audience seats, Ji Hyo, Ji Suk Jin, Gary and Sulli were cheering them on. The next to be called is Kwang Soo and he did well too and even attempted to head drive the ball coming his way by jumping. But not high enough to hit the ball. He even get kicked at the butt by Captain Park. HaHa uses his short legs to kick the ball and he did morderately well. However, he refused to kick a pentalty ball and pass the chance to the final player - Yoo Jae Suk.  Without glasses, his vision is not as clear but he surprises me when he almost score a goal at the top righhand corner, if only the ball did not hit the goal post and bounced off.

Park Ji Sung was the only one that scored a goal that night and secured a win for the korean team. Erva also played actively in the match and had the least rest as he ran around the field enthusiatically. Finally, a closing speech by Yoo Jae Suk, HaHa and Kwang Soo and we end this episode with a smile.

My Thoughts


Can we have more soccer players guests in Running Man? They were simply amazing and fun loving people. Although Park Ji Sung and Erva were from different countries, race and language, they still overcome their language barriers and became good buddies. That alone is worth every compliments and i can see the brotherhood between them. Park Ji Sung was seen translating to Erva during conversations.

The phototaking session was so funny and creative. Kwang Soo and Yoo Jae Suk were funny beyond words. How not to laugh out loud at those pictures and their facial expressions? I must say that it is a pity that Gary miss this chance but hey he did participate last year. Among them, only Ji Suk Jin did not participate at all. However, that makes sense since he is the 'weakest and the eldest' among them. He may get tired more easily than others. Furthermore, Erva is the one that choose the people to participate.


Jong Kook failed in soccer does not surprise me anymore but compare to last year, he did better this time. At least he passed the ball to his team mate, not the opponent. However, he disappeared pretty fast without explaination on where he goes after the match. Some says that he is injured while others say that he need to go back to Korea to record his other programme. Anyway, he just disappeared after his turn.

Kwang Soo, HaHa and Yoo Jae Suk tried their best too. Although, they intially have doubts about themselves especially after they saw the performance of Spartakook, they did tried their best and performed pretty well for they are not professional soccer players to begin with. Yoo Jae Suk oppa, i wish you could score that goal for Running Man but it is ok because we have next year to look forward too. For the time being, Running Man need to brush up on their skills for the challenges ahead of them. Fighting! :)





Monday, July 29, 2013

Despicable Me 2 (DramaQueen review)

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Despicable Me 2

My thoughts
Having watched Despicable me before, i expected the same fun and cute stuffs in the moive. Indeed, the movie did not disappoint with the storyline. I love to see Gru taking great care of the three sweethearts. He even attempted to dressed up as a fairy so that his daughter will be happy in the birthday party. That was indeed endearing when he shown so much care and love for his beloved daughters and that touched my heart. He even goes to the extend of being a protective father over his children, something which i felt so sweet.

I like that the story is simple and easy to understand or predict since it is an animation for kids. However, who says adults can't join in the fun? I think the minions were so cute and i even imagined owning them in real life. Gru and lucy were so compatible and hilarious whenever they are together, be it completing a mission or otherwise. I simply like to see cute stuffs and sweet interaction between the couples. Indeed, it took them some time and an obstacle to overcome in order to be together. It reminds us to cherish the person next to us. They have a blissful wedding with the minors singing congratulation songs and the marriage was witnessed by his daughters.

Now, there were some scenes which were a little shocking to me. Such as when the minions disappeared suddenly and been stuck into an Ice-cream van! That screams horror and i was wondering what will happen to them? Subsequently, we saw the minions actually enjoyed their life at a mysterious beach. What happen next were beyond imagination as my cute minions were transformed into monsters after they were injected with the serum! They became the children's nightmare out of a sudden and threatened to destroy the world. Gru and his team were left to save the world from the mutated minions. Bring on the actions!
Overall, the story content is nice and the duration is just nice as children has shorter attention span. I like all the characters in this moive and i would recommend it especially for a family to watch. It is only for people who enjoys watching a cute and funny moive loaded with a couple of nice songs in between. I must say that the ending song of the moive is really nice and i can totally feel the groove. Come on, let's move to the music!! :)


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Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Hong Kong TVB interview with Running Man Gary, HaHa, Kim Jong Kook and Ji Suk Jin


This was an interview at Hong Kong TVB J2 Channel which aired on 22 July 2013. The followings are the conversations which were translated into English. The host is Shermaine and she tried speak in Korean during the conversation.

Shermaine: Today we are happy and honored to invite the popular Korean variety Show Running Man four hosts to have a chat with us. Hello, nice to meet you.
Running Man: Hello!
Shermaine: Please introduce yourself
Gary: Hello, I am the sudden commander Kang Gary. Nice to meet everyone.
Kim Jong Kook: Hello, I am commander Kim Jong Kook. Nice to meet everyone.
HaHa: Hello, I am Haroro HaHa. Nice to meet everyone.
Ji Suk Jin: Hello, I am Race Starter Ji Suk Jin. Nice to meet everyone.
Shermaine: "Race Start!"
Ji Suk Jin: "Interview start!"
Shermaine: welcome to Hong Kong.
Running Man: Thank you.

Shermaine: This is the first time Running Man have a fanmeeting in Hong Kong. How do you feel?
HaHa: First of all we are excited, and i even can't sleep well because of that.
Ji Suk Jin: I wondered how many people will purchase the tickets to our fanmeeting.
Kim Jong Kook: In fact when we came to Hong Kong last time, we did not greet the fans properly as we were busy fliming. Now we are fully prepared to interact with the fans on stage. We had prepared some interesting and special programme for the fan meeting.
Shermaine: Jackie Chan had appeared in your program and all of you would like to meet up with him for a meal. If Jackie Chan were to be a guest in Running Man again, what other things you would like him to do?

Ji Suk Jin: What we would ask him to do?
Kim Jong Kook: A "Running Man Vs Kungfu Panda" theme will be interesting.
HaHa: Actually, Jackie Chan teacher is our idol and i watch his martial arts movie since young. If it is possible, we would like him to spend more time with us. A two days, one night Kungfu Journey, something more exciting. Show us some of the martial arts (Kungfu).
Gary: Last time in movies, there was a martial arts called "drunken fist" and a segment of the moive shows him balancing on a bamboo while holding the wine pot.
Ji Suk Jin: We wanted to catch hold of Jackie Chan, although he will never allow us to catch him.
HaHa: We watched his movie since young and now that he is older, we can organise a Jackie Chan friends team with Sammo Hung, Yuan Biao and  Stephen Chow Vs the Running Man. It will be fun.
Ji Suk Jin: yes
Kim Jong Kook: They have many fans in Korea.
Shermaine: Running Man has many innovative games and one of the highlight is name tag tearing. I don't know if it is possible to show us some tactics on Name tag tearing. Since you are in Hong Kong, please demostrate to us how to tear off the name tag in the shortest time. HaHa, can you demostrate by wearing this?

(Haha wore the vest with his name tag behind and turned to Jong Kook saying " Teacher, Shi Fu (Master)."
Kim Jong Kook: I will teach you a tip on name tag tearing. Let me demostrate: First catch hold of the opponent and pull the shirt. Reach for the name tag and tear off. The other method is to reach for the name tag at the back and pulled it off with your strength. That is the basic.
HaHa: pointing at Shermaine, "do you want to try?" and she took up the challenge to rip HaHa name tag off. After she suceeded, she jokingly did a hand gesture (thumb pointing down at HaHa to indicate out!).
Shermaine: You have knew each other in Running Man for three years and i believe you are familar with each other. Now we have prepare some Yes or No questions and the Running Man have to answer the question accordingly making hand gesture at the same time. 'O' for yes, 'X' for no.
Shermaine: First question: Does fliming Running Man challenges acting too?
Running Man: Yes.
Shermaine: Yes, the Running Man need to acomplish some missions and there is a spy for some of the missions, therefore, they need to act. In that case, who is the best in acting and who is the worse?
Running Man: Girin ( Giraffe) Kwang Soo.
Gary: I was often deceive by his acting skill, therefore, i get betrayed by him.
Shermaine: Ji Suk Jin is the eldest in Running Man. Did you go easy on him and let him go during game session?
Running Man: No
Ji Suk Jin: They did not go easy on me because we wanted to present the show as real variety show.
Gary: Only when Ji Suk Jin gets eliminated then the race will start.
Ji Suk Jin: If i did not get eliminated, then they will keep fliming non-stop.
Shermaine: Only girls cannot win him?
Running Man: No
Ji Suk Jin: Ji Hyo is not a woman, she is a man. She has the strength of a man.
HaHa: Ji Hyo has both the strength and the brain. She is very fierce.
Shermaine: Don't know is this true: " Does Kim Jong Kook uses his muscles to bully people?"
Running Man: Yes (except for Kim Jong Kook)

Kim Jong Kook: No, it is because of the character i am playing in Running Man. I am force to protray myself in that manner. I would not do that in real life. ( HaHa and Gary pretended to be afraid).
Shermaine: Now we know Kim Jong Kook will not use his muscle to bully people. The next question: Monday couple is a match-make in heaven?
Running Man: Yes. (Except for Gary who did not respond and Ji Suk Jin who signal cross)
Kim Jong Kook: Why? Do you like her?
Ji Suk Jin: No,  this is unpredictable..
HaHa: You like her?
Gary: Do you like her? Why did you confess your affection to her here?
Kim Jong Kook: Why did you suddenly confess your feeling in Hong Kong?
Ji Suk Jin: I just think that they won't work out.
Kim Jong Kook: Why did you say all the bad things?
Ji Suk Jin: No, i am just giving my opinion.
HaHa: Initially, i do not find them matching but now they look matching, just like couple dating. Like husband and wife. It will be good if they can develop their relationship from here and have a child.

Gary: What? A Child?
Ji Suk Jin: I still do not find them compatible.
Kim Jong Kook: Why are you like this? They are compatible.
HaHa: Do you like her?
Ji Suk Jin: Now they are gradually getting better than previous time, they look more compatible now.
HaHa: Too late!
Kim Jong Kook: Big brother, what do you think of sister-in-law?
Ji Suk Jin: Yes, yes, yes (gives the 'O' sign)
Shermaine: Were there times when playing games and someone gets angry?
Running Man: Yes (Everybody points to Ji Suk Jin and he points to himself)

Shermaine: Why?
Ji Suk Jin: They all make me angry. They really make people lose temper!
Gary: Because he is older, so he became petty.

Kim Jong Kook: Beacuse of his age, he gets angry easily.
Ji Suk Jin: For example, this show has many games is'nt it? Because we have to play it real, therefore, regardless of age, we have to compete fairly. There are times that are'nt favourable to me and that frustrates me.
HaHa: But big brother will cool down after the fliming, Basically, it is for fun.
Ji Suk Jin: You all thought that i can cool down easily but there are things which i am still angry until now.
HaHa: Let's talk about it tonight.
Gary: Yes.
Kim Jong Kook: Let's bury the hatchet in Hong Kong.
Shermaine: Alright, After fliming Running Man, does recovering of stamina/strength for fliming needs time?

Running Man: Yes (except HaHa)
HaHa: Rest for one week. Not one day.
Kim Jong Kook: Very tired, although everybody cannot see the fliming process, actually there are many dangerous things such as over exert the body. Therefore, everyone please do not imitate. This is true, do not attempt at home.
HaHa: Need to be careful.
Shermaine: Ji Suk Jin is it tiring for you?
Ji Suk Jin: Yes! Very tired. Today is tired too. I want to sleep.
Gary: Everyday tired.
Shermaine: Rest for a week right?

Ji Suk Jin: No. A month. Because fliming process can be long, sometimes it is possible to flim for 20 hours.
HaHa: Everytime audience watch the show is only 10% of the fliming.
Ji Suk Jin: The program is 50 minutes. Because we may flim for 20 hours so we get very tired.
Shermaine: Running Man helps you discover your hidden talent/ strength, will it stir up your inner potential?
Running Man: Yes
Kim Jong Kook: Because of the different types of games. The first time we challenge or
we do not know, then we discovered that we are good in that aspect. Normally, we do not know. Then we find out that there are many things that were achievable.

HaHa: Such aas Ji Suk Jin Scissors, paper, stone. It does not depend on strength but it depends on brain and good eye-sight. That stirs out his hidden potential. Shall we try that?
(Ji Suk Jin went around competing in Scissor, paper stone until he lost to the host.)
Everyone cheers and hi five with Shermaine and she did a hand sign (Thumbs down) in front of the dejected Ji Suk Jin. Something that she meant it as a joke and ask Ji Suk Jin not to be angry.
Shermaine: Thank you for the interview today and this enable us to know more about Running Man. We have prepare a little gift for everyone. We Know Running Man member HaHa has became a daddy. Congratulation.
HaHa: Thank you.
Shermaine: We have prepare presents for them. (balloons of each characters, Tiger, Monkey, Haroro and Impala)
HaHa: Thank you.
Kim Jong Kook: It looks beautiful
Gary: This look like me.
Ji Suk Jin: Wow, I have one too.
Shermaine: Say something to the fans.
Ji Suk Jin: To everybody who loves Running Man, the four of as although not all of us are here were thankful to everyone for the support. We will work harder for everyone. We really love Hong Kong and we hope to come again next time.
HaHa: The next time we come again, we will prepare more things. Thank you.
Kim Jong Kook: We had prepare many things, hope that everyone will spend happy time with the Running Man.
Gary: I love Hong Kong.
Ji Suk Jin: Let's say I love Hong Kong. 1,2,3
Running Man: I love Hong Kong! Thank you.






























































Saturday, July 20, 2013

金钟国 7.18.2013 Papitus 粉丝餐厅



金钟国我学过钢琴但是我最近很少弹。现在我在学吉他。

粉丝:如果有机会主持节目,你希望和哪位艺人合作呢?

金钟国李光洙。

粉丝最近你比较喜欢李光洙多过哈哈吗?

金钟国哈哈已经是父亲了,所以欺负光洙比较自在。

粉丝:你认为哪一首歌曲是你现场表现最好的?

金钟国在日本粉丝会上我曾经演唱过"Letter"也被那首歌深深感动。每当听见 这首歌时都很难过。我记得在训练营里第一次听见。(指的是-服兵役时组长播放给他听

粉丝:最近什么事情令你开心吗?

金钟国海外粉丝见面会。

粉丝:你们会去到中国拍"跑吧!孩子们"吗?

金钟国或许会。

粉丝:什么事情会使你在综艺节目感到尴尬?

金钟国当被要求露腹肌的时候。

粉丝: 你比较喜欢和粉丝聊天或者运动?

金钟国我喜欢和粉丝聊天,有时候我不喜欢运动。

粉丝:什么时候会有新歌发表会?

金钟国还在筹备中。

粉丝:你通常和妈妈聊什么?

金钟国谈零零碎碎的事情,会谈到未来。

粉丝:你看恐怖片后,晚上会找妈妈吗?

金钟国我不看恐怖片的。如果有看恐怖片,晚上会回想起电影的内容。

金钟国我最近有看连续剧:"順藤而上的你"和 "聽見你的聲音"

粉丝:你应该也支持光洙的戏剧。

金钟国我会下载。

粉丝:女王的教室"也不错。

金钟国对,那部剧集也很好看。

粉丝:文瑾瑩也有演出李光洙的戏剧。

金钟国我会为了光洙看戏剧的。

粉丝:你有任何祝贺歌曲希望在喜宴中听到吗?
金钟国:(误以为粉丝问他何时结婚)

粉丝:你会在自己的婚宴中亲自唱祝贺歌吗?

金钟国我会邀请别人唱因为我会紧张。

粉丝:会邀请Kap Jin (金钟国经理人)唱祝贺歌吗?

金钟国Kap Jin? 或许唱搞笑的歌曲吧。

粉丝:你的足球技术不是很好吧?

金钟国导播太坏了!原本把我拍得完美无瑕,后来配上我的失误使画面更好笑。我平时说自己很棒是因为若我有失误时会更好笑。我也不是很爱说话的,所以一切都有演戏的成分。

粉丝:爸爸有问你何时结婚吗?

金钟国有时候,他说要抱孙子。

粉丝:我也想看到你的孩子!

金钟国别期望看见肌肉宝宝因为我其实比较喜欢女孩。

Source: 7.18.2013 Papitus Fancafe

Sunday, July 14, 2013

Running Man "Race Start!" in Hong Kong Fan Meeting


Credit KJK Global

13 July 2013, Running Man - Kim Jong Kook (Tiger), HaHa (Penguin), Ji Suk Jin (Impala) and Gary (Monkey) came to Hong Kong. It was reported in Hong Kong news that over three hundred enthusiastic fans greeted their idols during their arrival. Due to the safety reason, they went out through a speacial passage in the Airport instead of the usual way.
During the press conference, the Running Man greeted the media using cantonese and Mandarin. They talked about Hong Kong fondly and mentioned "Dim Sum" and "Yum cha" (a culture in Hong Kong where they served tea, nice buns and dessert).  It was funny with those  hand gestures and the way they say it. While Kim Jong Kook had visited Hong Kong several times, Gary was excited about this trip as he always wanted to visit Hong Kong and would love to go for clubbing.

 

During the interview, one of the reporter asked, " Ji Suk Jin, how do you feel fliming Running Man?" He replied, " It was tiring for me, especially i have to run with the youngsters." Kim Jong Kook and the two kids teasingly replied," We are happy fliming Running Man and we are not tired!" Upon hearing that Ji Suk Jin pretended to hit HaHa. He also revealed that he will sing Eason songs during the fan meeting. Camera flashlights keeps clicking as the foursome stood in front of the banner striking different types of pose. It was funny how they exclude Ji Suk Jin in some of the shoots. In addition, they even used their handphone to take pictures of themselves with the crowd.
They also held an autograph event at Langham Palace. Lucky fans got to received the autographs from the foursome, a hand shake and a hug from them. It was reported that over a thousand fans crowded around that area and the response was overwhelming.
Credit - KJK Global

This picture was taken from the Running Man fan meeting and the foursome wore the "Shang Hai style" jackets with a scarf hanging around their neck. That night at Hong Kong Asia World-Expo, they played games and interacted with the audiences on stage. They had a mini interview with the audience on stage and agreed to do whatever they wanted them to do. The highlight of the fan meeting was Kim Jong Kook and HaHa dancing to "Loveable" during his performance. As usual, Kookie sang his famous hit - One Man to the delight of his fans. HaHa and Gary sang their own songs too, while Ji Suk Jin performed Eason songs.

Credit - KJK Global


Other than awesome song performance, they played games such as Tug of war, kicking of slippers to see who can reach the furthest and ball game. The foursome wore different colour shirts, Red (Ji Suk Jin, Kim Jong Kook) and black (Haha and Gary). They even played a game with the Hong Kong DJs to see who can string the cocktails together in the shortest time. Although the Running Man lost in most of the games, they had fun interacting with the audience. Towards the end of the Fan Meeting,  HaHa went around the stage playfully armed with a bottle of water and splashed water at the other members. Fans scream loudly at the sight of their idols being wet. Video footage of Song Ji Hyo and Lee Kwang Soo were shown on screen although they did not join the Fan meeting.


Credit - KJK Global


Credit - KJK Global
Credit KJK Global

Credit - KJK Global


My Thoughts

With so many people watching the Running Man Fan meeting, they were definately very popular in Asia or even in other countries. After the showcase, the Running Man must be feeling very hungry and tired but they still greeted their fans when they went for a steamboat dinner. That was indeed professional of them to smiled cheerfully to the fans and media who stalked them all around.


However, there was a report in Hong Kong news that Gary, Ji Suk Jin and Kim Jong Kook went for clubbling after the steamboat dinner. They were reportedly clubbling at Lam Kwai Fong from 2am to 5am. Except for HaHa who took a plane and flew back to Korea to see his newborn son (Dream). The Hong Kong Daily news captured the threesome walked out of the club in a drunkard state. Ji Suk Jin smiled and waved at the camera. Gary face turned red as he emerged from the club, while Jong Kook looks like he could not walk steadily and needed the support of the security guards. In my opinion, they are not doing anything wrong and they are in the legal age to go clubbling. The Hong Kong media like to dig for this type of news and make it exclusive, but from what i see they were just having a good time in a foreign country. Anyway, the next stop for Running Man will be in Malaysia. Hope to see more of Running Man.



Friday, July 12, 2013

Arthur Newman Movie Review

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Thanks to omy.sg and Shaw, I was able to attend the preview screening of Arthur Newman, which is rated M18 and categorized as Comedy/Drama.



So what is Arthur New all about? I guess the official synopsis pretty much seems it up:

Wallace Avery is tired of his life. Divorced, disconnected from his son, dissatisfied with his love life, he decides the time has come for a radical solution. He literally walks away from his life, buys himself a new identity as Arthur Newman, and sets out toward his own private Oz – Terre Haute , Indiana – where he believes he has a chance to work as golf pro. Wallace’s idea of a second chance is to become a second person.

His road trip is derailed by the entrance of Michaela Fitzgerald, whom Arthur discovers passed out poolside at a motel. It takes her all of a couple hours to bust Arthur’s identity scam. It takes Arthur a lot longer to bust hers.

Colin Firth and Emily Blunt co-star in this gently comic love story set in a perfect storm of identity crisis. ARTHUR NEWMAN, from a screenplay written by Becky Johnston, looks at how two people, desperate to remake themselves, fall in love and find a way to accept responsibility for who they really are.

Thoughts

Unlike the big productions, Arthur Newman is more of an offbeat romance indie-type movie. Although it is slow paced, it is well paced and does have its funny (albeit mature – it’s rated M18 for a reason! lol) lighthearted moments (e.g. breaking and entering homes, role playing, trying to find one’s identity etc…). It is not extremely exciting, but it is not boring either; a good watch if you want a change of pace and don’t expect too much.

Given the nature and the direction of the movie, I feel that it would be a good read if converted into a novel. However as a movie on its own, it seems to be lacking in the character/story development department and struggles when it attempts to be more profound; everything is just too open-ended with no (hint) of a (any) conclusion nor display character growth (only realization, but even than it was more like starting back at square one).

The premise of the movie sounds intriguing and the actors are convincing as they portray their characters struggle with their inner demons and coming to terms with themselves. I am sure that most of us can relate to (well, daydreaming mostly): wishing to become a totally different person with a new identity with a ‘new’ more exciting life, discarding away the ‘old’ boring one. Nevertheless life, most often than not, is best lived without pretense and delusion. If you really want to become somebody else, you’d better make sure you tie up any loose ends (as much as possible) but either way, be prepared (or not) to face the consequences either way once you embark on such a journey.



Arthur Newman

Official Release Date in Singapore : 11 July 2013
Director: Dante Ariola
Cast: Colin Firth (Academy Award® Winner), Emily Blunt (Golden Globe® Winner)
Rating: M18
Runtime: 100 min

Monday, July 08, 2013

Drama Queen report: G-Dragon One Of A Kind Concert

Big Bang is a Korean boyband that is famous for their hip hop music, rap and dance. I supposed the KPop fans were excited that Big Bang member G Dragon Asia world tour stops at Singapore. I was excited about the concert too, however, I am not a die-hard fan of G-Dragon. Those who read my posts will know that my bias is Kim Jong Kook and Running Man.

Despite that, we still got the tickets online. Thanks to Iceprinxessa who offered to get the tickets for us once they release the tickets at sistic. My friend who is so enthusiastic about the concert persuaded me with an offer to top up the concert ticket to Category A. I managed  to upgrade my seat with my friend. In the end, I managed to persuaded Iceprinxessa too. Since it we have not get to experience a concert performance in category A, we might as well give it a try.

We arrived early at Singapore indoor stadium and we saw many fans queue up at the counter to buy the G-Dragon items. My friend took a purchase list at the counter and she intended to purchase the crown light sticks but we did not managed to get it and we were asked to go in and be seated down for the concert.

The stage design was good and we were shown a short video of G-Dragon before he appeared in a translucent car. The atmosphere hits its highest when he started to sing his first song. To get into the mood, we stood up and move to the music. The audiences and his die-hard fans who were standing near the stage were screaming with excitment as he performed on stage. Although I am not very familar with his songs, I sort of heard his songs before and I was able to sing some lines. It was party time as G-Dragon move the crowd with his famous songs such as bad boy, one of a kind, heartbreaker and crayon.

I was impressed with the fireworks, lightnings, sound system and the cheorography. G-Dragon has his own unique style and stage presence which was presented during the concert. He gamely interacted with the fans by coming close to the stage and walk way. He even posed at the camera so that the fans can see him on the big screen. Being a professional artise from Big Bang, he was able to manage the show and keep it lively by moving around the stage and stop to greet his fans.
I love the special performance of the drums and that was the hightlight of the day. I do think that G-dragon is very talented in music and he is able to hold a tune although he rap most of the time.
The special guest girl band 2NE1 was awesome and all of them were able to dance very well. I was actually very impressed by their performance and energy on stage. They were able to speak English and during their performance, they did converse in English. In my opinion, 2NE1 has their distincted style and attitude which set them apart from other girl bands.

I like the visual effect and the design of the stage. D-Dragon was enthusiastic all night and he keep posing at the camera when he climbed up the stairs. All i can say is that the visual effect was beautiful and i can't take my eyes off the stage as i waited in anticipation for some surprises. The video graphic was wonderfully made and it matches the atmosphere of the song.



Towards the end of the concert, G-Dragon sang fantastic baby as he danced with his dancers to the song. At this moment, i thought it will be great if his group mates are here but i got to remind myself that this is his solo concert. My friend and i were practically jumping and dancing to 'Crayon'! That is my favorite song. :) The concert ended beautifully with G-Dragoon, hope that Big Bang will come back for a concert soon. :)