back to basics.

ready, set, go!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 1 x2

Deathly Hallows had the biggest opening weekend for the HP franchise ever! $125.1 million domestically and $330 million worldwide. I actually ended up contributing to these numbers twice, as I caught the movie for its midnight premiere and then went to another screening the following night....
Puahahaa. It wasn't even because I LOVED the movie (although the movie was fine). It just turned out that way because I hung out with different people.
I must say, David Yates did some great things with the movie, though. Some scenes were completely more memorable and effective than I expected them to be, such as the beginning scene when Hermione heartbreakingly erases memories of herself from her parents' minds in order to protect them, and the animated narration of  "Tale of the Three Brothers."  I also loved the little scenes added to the movie to make up for the loss of longer, more detailed scenes of character  interaction like when Hermione tries to teach Ron "Fur Elise" on the piano or when Harry tries to cheer Hermione up with the silly dance. I felt they were very true to character.
I did notice several flaws especially because I saw it twice, but most were easy enough to overlook.
The obvious ones bugged me, though (like Harry not removing his glasses before diving into the water!!).
But overall, a very solid film. I commend Yates for executing the past 3 films in a consistently well-done manner. Also, I credit him for bringing out the best in the young actors.

P.S. Weasley twins were hot! Rawrr. & Bill Weasley was suuuper cute. Rawrrrrrr! ;)

Matt Lauer is the real douchebag.
The Today Show can go suck a dirty nut.
George Bush makes me wanna hurl everything from my intestines and up. ughhh.
Kanye, you have nothing to apologize for. Keep marchin to the beat of your own drum, kiddo. (Maybe take some public speaking classes, though? I say this with love.)

Eep.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/11/02/no-african-americans-in-next-u-s-senate/

Halloween '10

best costume this year goes to a cute chinese couple that came to Boba Bear yesterday night dressed up as Mr. and Mrs. Fox from Fantastic Mr. Fox. They did it so well, too, with their clothes and all! hahahaha they were really excited I recognized their costume.

I wanted to take a picture of them/ with them so badly but I had no camera and I thought it'd be slightly creepy.. hehe.

i don't understand how these douchey-ass guys have such absurd standards for women yet don't seem to realize how much more pathetic and unattractive they themselves are.

oh wait, i guess that's what we call delusional.

Sometimes I'm struck by how pretty some people are.
Then I hear them speak.
Illusion shattered.
Haha.

No Captions Necessary

<3

Guy(?) Love

So. Good.

Yong-ha shush-ing Sun-joon. The boy is quite touchy, no? ;)

Jae-shin tying up Yoon-hi's loosened pant bottom mid-conversation.
Such a quietly sweet gesture.

Sun-joon beaming at Yoon-shik. <3

Regarding Episode 12, can I just ... "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!" (And a "I knew it!")

Basically, Yong-ha guesses that Sun-joon is conflicted over his feelings for Yoon-shik (Oh yeah- so I call her Yoon-shik when referring to her in connection with people who know her as a guy. I call her Yoon-hi in context with Jae-shin, because he knows she's a girl). They have this little talk about masculinity and the nature of sexual attraction. Sun-joon asks Yong-ha if it isn't more natural for a man to enjoy spending time with a fellow guy that he's comfortable and close with rather than a girl he barely knows (a thinly veiled reference to himself, Yoon-shik, and Hyo-eun). Yong-ha asks if Sun-joon's finding himself more attracted to males than females, and Sun-joon awkwardly stammers a no but proceeds to state that at a certain point, attraction could develop amongst good friends.
Yong-ha cloyingly responds, "the desire to get close and to touch?" When Sun-joon uncomfortably averts his eyes, Yong-ha laughs and admits that he's experienced that before. Sun-joon looks up expectantly and Yong-ha answers "With Geol-oh." (aka Jae-shin! muahaha- I thought those two were sexy together.)
He adds that at those times, he questioned his masculinity, but quickly fixed it with the help of a very special book (basically an old fashioned porno)- a book he hands over to Sun-joon to look over at times of confusion.
He ends the conversation (and I love him for this) gently advising Sun-joon not to worry too much, saying that it isn't a sin to like someone, whoever that person may be. :)

Yong-ha & Jae-shin ^__^ 

This scene in combination with the previous scene where he tricked Jae-shin into showing his care for Yoon-shik by lying about his/her well being made me so giddy with joy. Song Joong-ki has made this character so lively, layered, and lovable!

Also, I love when my suspicions (more like hopes) about man-love in k-dramas are proven correct. Like in 남자이야기 with Kei + Chae Do-woo! (Woohoo that was my favorite because it was such a tiny detail yet the only crack into the mind of the super mysterious Kei! I loved that he was this cold-blooded killer who could kick anybody's ass but was obsessively faithful to his physically abusive, sociopath of a boss. It was such an interesting touch to the whole twisted story of power and revenge.) I love its "normalizing" effect. Korean people definitely need as much of it as possible.

But yeah. Poor Jae-shin! He's actually a really good fit for Yoon-hi, but so is Sun-joon. It's funny because they're both so different, yet they mesh well with the different aspects of Yoon-hi. I think Jae-shin is adorable because he knows she's a girl and therefore treats her with a lot of care (although he developed symptoms of attraction to her before he discovered her femaleness). However, Sun-joon is great because he challenges her head-on and helps her grow into a stronger person. I loved his "confession" to her, because it was more a confession of his respect and admiration for her intelligence and strength of spirit, than some standard lovey-dovey (lusty) shit.
One of the biggest reasons I love boys falling in love with girls-in-drag is because it takes away some of the gender divide. The male leads fall in love with certain inescapably feminine traits of these guy-girls, but it's after they've already established them as equals, so it's the best of both worlds. except for when the male lead tries to get over his "homosexuality" and pushes the guy-girl away. or when the girl gets found out after the male lead has gone through his whole painful process of accepting that he is in love with a man. Part 1 has already started in SKK Scandal, but now I'm fervently waiting for the good part, when Sun-joon will come to terms with his awesome self and announce his love for Yoon-shik in the next episode or so (ignoring the inevitable pain of Part 2 for now).
Basically, I'm waiting for a second rendition of the infamous Coffee Prince man or alien speech.
...Expectations too high? :D (Choi Han-kyul <3 4eva! ^__~)