I've been dying to see the opening of this series again- ever since I started writing the screenplay and trying to figure out how to tell a story visually with the most impact. Even though What Star is on my must-acquire list, it keeps getting knocked down a spot or two by things I want more (like Wish with English subtitles, or the new Van Ness CD, or Secret with Jay Chou). It's been nearly impossible to find online to stream since the youtube uploader had her account yanked. Wandering through mysoju yesterday, I noticed that they claimed that What Star was fixed and was thrilled to watch the first episode again.

A fairly typical Korean drama with Kim Rae Won and Jung Ryu Won, it tells the story of a film director who lost his first love and falls in love with her twin sister who was stolen as an infant and raised in the countryside. (See, I told you it was a typical storyline)... but it's far from typical in the techniques that it uses to tell this tale of love lost and found.

Let's look at the first ten minutes of the series. The writers introduces the main characters, tells the backstory, and allows the two new love interest to meet and sets the tone for the rest of the series. But it's more than that. There's very little dialogue in the first ten minutes, but it's visually impacting and emotional. It's rare that you care about the main characters that quickly in any series. KRW does an absolutely incredible job as the heart sick director who doesn't know how to do life alone after his fiance dies and I don't know who shot the series, but the nuances of the emotions carries the opening. Ten minutes of film equals ten minutes of script in the States, but I suspect that it was five pages in Korean. Either way... this is the story I think that you could remake for American audiences. This is the story I'd love to rewrite someday.

I think it's Kim Rae Won at his best, and Jung Ryu Won plays both the sophisticated girl and the country girl expertly. You never doubt her in either role and at times it feels like two different people are playing the characters. If you haven't seen it, go watch the first ten minutes at least and see if you think it's as amazing as I do.

In other news... my Van Ness CDs are here so I'm legally lost in his sound and am watching the DVD. It totally annoys me that they only put clips of some of his MVs on it. They have plenty of space on the thing so why can't they play the whole music video???? So annoying!

Found and Preordered!

A combination of three new songs and his greatest hits, this is the last obligation that Van Ness has with this company. (I'm sure he has plans, but I don't know what they are... I do know that he wants to be with someone who loves and respects the music and musician, and I suspect he'll form his own company with that in mind, but it's pure speculation.)

To be released in Taiwan on July 4th, he refers to it as his personal day of Freedom....

It's been a pain in the butt finding a copy of it to preorder (unless I wanted to deal with Hong Kong banks, fan clubs, and crap like that).

I finally e-mailed the CEO of yesasia two weeks ago to inquire why they didn't have it for preorder yet and when I checked today... there it was. (Wouldn't you think they'd have emailed me to say it was up??? They did answer my email with something that didn't make sense to me... so it's not like they can't do that!)

Even with that... yesasia doesn't get copies until the 8th and I just got an email saying my copy isn't even being shipped until the 16th (which is three days AFTER it is supposed to have arrived).

I really, really, really hate this part of having to order something on line. It took weeks for my first copy of V. Dubb to get to me last time. I'd found it online and downloaded it the day AFTER it was released, but it made me a bit sick to think it was so quickly available and the he was losing the sales- and the momentum. (Well, not from me because I actually bought two copies- I wear them out even if I burn them- and I preordered V. Dubb the day it became possible at yesasia. (I've ordered his music and movies from other places online and they have taken weeks... like 5 or 6... so I rely on yesasia).

I thought about asking my friend in Taipei to get a copy and mail it to me, but it seems like a big imposition... just because I'm impatient... but it'd be here in a week... seven days!!! not fifteen! (Maybe I'll email her after all!)

I had this huge discussion last week about the voice of the Asian-American being missing in America's media scene. It wasn't until I talked about Van Ness and Lee Hom Wang leaving us to become International Stars who are still virtually rejected and unknown by their home that this brilliant African-American scholar began to listen seriously and not try to excuse it away. I left her a bit shaken as she had to step outside her knowledge base and comfort zone and think about what the effect of the missing voice was going to have on us as a culture and a society.

Bring Them Home! I say it repeatedly... not that anyone is listening to me... Bring them home! We need them here. I need them here. I need to be able to walk into FYI and buy Van Ness' new CD the DAY it is released! Am I asking too much? Seriously?????

  This list stays mostly the same. The bottom three or four might change and I only list series that I've completed so things like "Fated to Love You" and "Wayward Kenting" and "Express Boy" would be on it, but I haven't finished them.

Unfortunately, I might never finish Express Boy since the fan subber has stopped subbing it and my chinese isn't good enough to complete it.

So... here's my list...

1. MARS with Vic (my intro to twdrama and F4 and the best translation of a beloved manga to series ever!)
2. Silence with Vic Zhou
3. The Rose with Joe Cheng
4. The Devil Beside You- Mike He at his bad boy best and while I read the manga afterwards, the series didn't ruin it for me.
5. Bullfighting with Mike He again... Mike plays basketball nearly every episode!
6. Peach Girl with Van Ness... I hated the manga but actually loved the storyline in this. The writers did a great job and Van Ness learned to act in it. You could see him improving week by week... which was awesome... plus he does an old American song in the first ten minutes.
7. Queens... just pure fun
8. Corner with Love with Barbie and Show Luo... light hearted, but nearly perfect
9. My Lucky Star with Jimmy Lin
10. Shao Nian Yan Jian Jiang or Young Warriors with Eddie Peng and Peter Ho... forty three episodes, but the ending is worth every hour you invested in it!

I'm off to the pool for water aerobics. I'll add links and stuff later tonight or tomorrow! :)