City Hall (시티홀 -2009)

Starring:
Cha Seung Won as Jo Gook
Kim Sun Ah as Shin Mi Rae
Yoon Chae Rin as Mi Rae (child)
Choo Sang Mi as Min Joo Hwa
Lee Hyung Chul as Lee Jung Do
Extended Cast
Cha Hwa Yun as Jo Yong Hee (Jo Gook's mother)
Yoon Se Ah as Go Go Hae
Jung Soo Young as Jung Boo Mi
Lee Joon Hyuk as Ha Soo In
Yang Jae Sung as Kang Tae Gong
Kim Gun as Yang Kye Jang
Choi Sang Hoon as So Yoo Han
Kwon Da Hyun as Sun Hwa
Kim Neul Mae as Go Yang Yi
Choi Il Hwa as BB
Shin Jung Geun as Ji Gook Jang
Park Joo Ah as Yoo Kwon Ja
Kim Jin Seong as Jo Rang
Yum Dong Hun as Go Boo Sil
Park Tae Kyung as Boo Jung Han
Im Dae Il as Director Moon
Ryu Sung Han as Director Byun
Kang Joo Hyung as Mang Hae Ra
Lee Jae Goo as Ye San
Kim Ah Rang as Ha Ni
Choi Dae Sung
Kim Dong Gyoon

City Hall is a drama that will deal with politics in a romantic comedy genre. It’s about the happenings between a young woman mayor and an elite bureaucrat. Jo Gook is an exceedingly smart government official. He passed the Higher Civil Service quickly, and basically is the perfect guy. But being a deputy mayor is not enough for him. He lives with the dream of becoming South Korea’s President. He should have easily gone straight to the top, but due to an unexpected incident, he gets dispatched as a deputy mayor for a provincial small town, Inju City, where Shin Mi Rae was working. Shin Mi Rae is a low-ranking secretary in Inju, but she works her way up in becoming the youngest City Mayor. As their paths met, they have to deal with each other’s personal and social differences. But despite their constant bickerings, would they end up in each other’s arms? -KoreanDrama

I will admit that at first, the very FIRST episode bored the living hell out of me. I had to force myself to watch it. Well worth the torment.....

OMG! This is TOP ranked. Kim Sun Ah....the QUEEN of comedy...RULES!! This show was the most amazing Korean Drama I have seen in a long, long, long time. Only 20 episodes (I wished they had added a few more), the romance between Mi Rae and Jo Gook brought friggin' tears to my eyes. I can't count how many. Oh...oh....oh...let's not forget that this drama DID NOT have the classic, horrendous, boring-as-hell kiss scenes that director's force us to watch. You know what I mean. Sealed lips that are pressed together does not a kiss make. Errrrgh. Oh no! This was some serious kissing that left you breathless. Oh God just thinking about Cha Seung Won pressing his lips to mine..............*cough, cough*...........I mean to Kim Sun Ah's was true blue. Nothing left to ones imagination. Those kisses were what it was all about. *sigh*

I'm not all about politics. So some things went over my head and under my feet, but the story itself was really, really good. You don't have to know legal mumbo jumbo to understand the story.

This was not your typical love story. No real love triangle to make you want to pull your hair out. This was some real entertainment. My God....will Korean dramas ever follow the City Hall formula? It works. It was real. And the chemistry between CSW and KSA was perfect. Move over Hyun Bin....Sam Soon has a new boyfriend and was he ever H. O. T........HOT!!

Cha Seung Won

Small Town Rivals (Yijang-gwa gunsu / 이장과 군수 -2006)

Starring:
Seung-won Cha
Hae-jin Yu
Hie-bong Byeon
Jeong-won Choi
Won-ju Jeon
Eung-su Kim

“Small Town Rivals” is the latest offering from director Jang Gyoo Seung, who previously scored commercial hits with the likes of “Lovely Rivals” and “My Teacher, Mr. Kim”. He continues here in the same broad vein with a comedy about one of the most popular subjects in modern Korean cinema, namely small town life. The film proved to be yet another success for the in-form Jang, performing well at the box office and winning a nomination for Best Screenplay at the 44th Daejong Awards.

The film begins with small town farmer Cho Choon Sam (Cha Seung Won, who played the title role in Jang’s “My Teacher, Mr. Kim” and who recently featured in “My Son”) being made village chief, mainly since nobody else wants to do the job. However, the lazy man is spurred into action when a former classmate of his called Noh Dae Gyu (Yu Hae Jin, also in the excellent “Tazza: The High Rollers”) is elected local magistrate, stirring up old feelings of jealousy. Although things start in a friendly enough fashion the two soon run into trouble, with Choon Sam trying to make his mark by preventing Dae Gyu’s plans to build a nuclear waste disposal facility nearby. Needless to say, things spiral rapidly out of control, leading to a number of crazy and increasingly high stakes confrontations. -- Beyond Hollywood



LOL! This was a really cute movie at the beginning. I've never really known Cha Seung Won to be that hilarious. He was actually a riot. So his comedic talent is a given. So used to seeing him in parts as a tough guy, mob gang member, rejected member of society. Quite refreshing.

This movie started as a competition of two old school mates who are jealous of the other but then as the movie progressed, the whole movie turned and did a 180. It was still funny at times but really got serious and it started to lose it's appeal. And the story started to crack away to the point of not making much sense to me.

All of a sudden, two rivals came out to be two best friends from school. I didn't get that. I understand competition between friends but it seemed the movie had to add more past scenes to make the two of them believable as best friends. That's all fine and dandy but then that made the first part of the movie a lie...joke. They either hate each other and then become friends. Or they are friends who start to hate each other.

I won't say it wasn't funny. It was hilarious at times and quite unique in it's own way. I just like a story to keep on track instead of taking the next rail unless there is another train coming..............

The Big Scene (Baksu-chiltae deonara/박수칠때 떠나라 -2005)

Starring:

Seung-won Cha - Choi Yeon-gi
Yeong-nam Jang
Dong-hwan Jeong
Gyu-su Jeong
Jae-yeong Jeong - Bully
Ji-su Kim ... Jung Yun-jung
Hyeong-gwon Lee
Jeong-ah Park - Han Mu-suk
Goo Shin
Ha-kyun Shin - Kim Young-hun
Han-wi Lee
Seung-yong Ryoo

In a posh hotel room, the body of a beautiful woman, a high-ranking employee of an advertising firm, is found in a pool of blood. The police quickly nab the most obvious suspect near the scene, a young man clutching a canister of gasoline. What initially seems like an open-and-shut case for hard-as-nails prosecutor Choi and his team quickly unravels – not only does the suspect, Kim, refuse to confess and moreover pass a lie-detector test, other suspects with very strong motives for the crime start to surface. And then there’s the highly unorthodox new television program that attaches itself to the investigation, broadcasting every development in real time across Korea, putting even greater pressure on Choi and his crew of quirky colleagues. As the hours slip by, the autopsy reveals startling new evidence, witnesses provide complicating testimony and lack of sleep takes its toll on the investigators as internal tensions begin to mount. Then matters take a turn for the weird when the TV producers bring in a spiritualist and her daughter to summon the victim’s ghost…

Okay, this was a totally wigged out movie. I didn't expect this to be like Real World/24/CSI/Law and Order. LOL!

This was a criminal investigation that was live broadcast all over the station to the people in Korea or Seoul or wherever they may be. It was just weird because they even had the producers script the real suspects and everything. Weird. Totally different in every genre I can think of.

Surprisingly enough this was a murder mystery that Sherlock Holmes would have thought was psychotic. LOL! And the end, let's just say I was bumfuzzled and everything. So confused. Okay, we know who stabbed her...but her brother...well, WTF? Was he innocent or not. I'm confused still......Aaaaaaagh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Break Out (라이터를 켜라 /Lightereul kyeora -2002)

Starring:
Seung-woo Kim - Heo Bok-gu
Seung-won Cha - Yang Cheol-gon
Yeong-gyu Park - Park Yeong-gab
Seong-jin Kang
Mun-shik Lee
Hye-jin Yu
Chae-yeon Kim
Jung-shik Bae
Jae-hyeon Park
Po-Ram Han
Eun-pyo Jeong
Hyeong-seong Jang
Hang-jun Kang
In-mun Kim
Sun-kyung Kim
Won-jong Lee
Hyeong-jun Lim
Ji-ru Sung
Hae-jin Yu
Seong-kyeom Kim
Jeong-woo

Bong Gu has no job, no friends and no money, only a mother who really worries about his condition. After an exhausted reserve military drill exercise, on his way back home, he buys one of those cheap plastic lighters with the only money he has left in his pocket. With nothing in the future in perspective and no money at all, the only thing that it remains to him his cheap lighter.
Taking a break in a public restroom at the train station, he loses his precious lighter.

Trying to find desperately were he left it, he finally discover that his precious is now in the hand of a low life gangster named Chul Gon, who is on his way to an important meeting. Bong Gu is now ready to do more than everything to get back his belonging and that includes facing this gangster and his mean bodyguards. -- KFC Cinema

Hmm? I really liked the movie at first. I mean come on...it was funny because Bong-gu was bound and determined to get that damn lighter. LOL! The more he was set back, the more outraged he became to get that thing.

Then poor, poor Cheol-gon.....harrassed by Bong-gu for that damn red lighter. LOL! I don't know why he just didn't give it to him. I think it was out of pride that made him keep it. If he had given it back, I think all of his problems would have been solved or his actions would have been easier. I will say I was sad when he called his wife and pretty much told her he was a dead man and that he missed his son's birthday. That made the movie seem less comedic but real emotionally.

Then there was that guy, don't remember his name, that talked non-stop! OMG! He reminds me of so many people. The kind of person you just want to say "Shut the f*ck up!" to. Ya know?

I wasn't happy with the ending. I think they didn't really know where to go with it so they just let the loose threads of the movie just dangle. Ah well. It was pretty good. Lots of fun with it that is for sure. Moments that you'll laugh out loud because you can't believe "he" would do that. LOL!

Libera Me (리베라 메-2000)

Starring:
Min-su Choi - Sang-woo Jo
Seung-won Cha - Hee Yeo
Ji-tae Yu - Hyun-tae Kim
Gyu-ri Kim - Min-seong Hyun
Sang-Myeon Park - Han-mo Park
Ho-jae Lee - In-ho Kim
Jun Jeong - Jun-seong Lee
Jun-ho Heo - In-Soo
Ae-ri Jeong
Su-ro Kim

Five months after his release from prison, arsonist Yeo Hee-soo (Seung-won Cha) terrorizes the city of Seoul with a series of deadly blazes. Yeo rigs each fire so that a second, far more lethal conflagration ignites shortly after the firefighters have arrived, causing further casualties. He then turns his attention to those members of the department he feels are interfering with his "mission," which develops into a game of cat and mouse with veteran fireman Jo Sang-woo (Min-su Choi).



Wow! This movie was spectacular. I did have a few irritations with it but they were personal preferences rather than bad acting or cinematography.

This movie was like Ron Howard's Backdraft but on crack. This special effects were spot on! Amazing.

My problem with the movie....a certain character was killed that shouldn't have because he was the main reason I was watching it in the first place. As soon as he died, I forced myself to watch it all the way through. It was rough. I was so depressed. I'm glad I made it through.

It was typical movie in Hollywood fashion but Korean style. LOL!

Yu Ji Tae


Cha Seung Won

Kick the Moon (Shinlaui Dalbam, 신라의 달밤-2001)

Starring:
Sung-jae Lee ... Park Young-jun
Seung-won Cha ... Choi Ki-woong
Hye-su Kim ... Min, Ju-ran
Jong-su Lee ... Min, Jin-seob

Ten years ago, a legendary fighter named Choi Gi-dong and a timid straight-A student named Park Young-joon leave for a high school field trip to Gyeongju city. But during their journey, fate befalls on them as they experience an unforgettable incident that would change the course of their lives.

One night during a school gala, Gi-dong leads his entire school to a huge brawl against a local gang while Young-joon chickens out and stays behind at the party by himself. The streets turn out to be a battlefield with blood gushing, heads bashing and bones breaking, but the gruesome fight nonetheless becomes history in the making. Gi-dong becomes admired for his brevity, while Young-joon gets ostracized for his fear.

Ten years later, Gi-dong and Young-joon coincidently meet each other at a club in Gyeongju. Surprisingly, Young-joon turns out to be a big time gangster while Gi-dong becomes a daunting phys ed teacher who transferred to a high school in Gyeongju. They feel glad about their unexpected reunion, but the mood gets tense as they rekindle old yet not-so-fond memories.

Before they bid farewell, both Gi-dong and Young-joon suddenly find a pretty damsel named Ju-ran in distress. In an instant, they fall headlong in love with her as Ju-ran's gleeful smile sweeps them off their feet.

Gi-dong makes his claim on Ju-ran, but Young-joon calls it a fair game. Young-joon planned to make his trip to Gyeongju a short visit, but he extends his stay to win Ju-ran's heart and to get back at Gi-dong for old time's sake. Gi-dong gets infuriated over Young-joon's decision since he won't listen to him like the good old days. Even though fighting over Ju-ran becomes a grueling test to their friendship, the situation gets worse when they practically get the whole city involved. It's a fight to the finish to win one girl's heart, even if it takes a few bones to break.



This was a pretty decent movie. It started out a bit slow though but picked up at the end.

The premise of the movie has you believing this was all about two guys fighting over a girl. Not in actuality. Once we graduate, most of us, will lose contact with best friends in high school. This is a story about two good friends who meet up and who are totally not what they were in high school. This story is about how we reconnect as friends and maintaining that friendhip. So don't let the trailer fool ya or the plot.

This was a good movie to rid you of the boredom doldrums.....

Lee Jong Su


Cha Seung Won


Lee Sung Jae