Korean Pop Culture Obsessions: Notting Hill (Updated!)

Ever wonder why in certain dramas people only seem to reference Brad Pitt or Angelina Jolie in reference to Hollywood movie stars? Well it’s that train of thought that started me down this pop-culture rabbit hole.  Unfortunately, the “Brangelina Effect” is too tall an order for me to tackle at this moment. Instead, I’ll discuss my findings of another Hollywood treasure, the 1999 Rom-Com Notting Hill.

Now Notting Hill is very near and dear to my heart.  When I used to work for a movie theater, we each had name tags indicating our favorite film, so I went with the “hip” answer by choosing Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Royal Tenenbaums, and Run Lola Run. Fantastic films in which to lord over the average theater patron with my faux cinematic pretentiousness, but put a gun to my head and out comes Notting Hill every time.

Because I literally watch this movie once a season without fail, I am fine-tuned to notice any references (be it real or imaginary) that crop up, so when Secret Garden‘s Oska played “She” (Notting Hill’s equivalent of “My Heart Will Go On”), I always wondered if the Korean reception for the film surpassed even America’s or Britain’s.

So this is the result of my exhaustive “research”, and I’ll touch on some conclusions upon finishing, so dig into some tasty mayo yogurt and enjoy!

Bae Doona continues to be Wachowskis’ # 1 Korean, will be cast in Netflix Series

Well this seems… interesting. The Wachowskis, directors of such films such as Speed Racer, Cloud Atlas, and The Matrix Trilogy, are about to film a new series for streaming giant Netflix, presumably so they’ll still have jobs before the release of wackadoo janitorial space opera Jupiter Ascending. This film where not even the power of  a hobbit yearning Channing Tatum could prevent it from having a delayed release from this summer, to the cinematic garbage dump of February (though this does fit more thematically).

So, they are partnering with Netflix to create  a science fiction/conspiracy thriller connecting characters from across the globe, which seem to be their motus operendi at the moment.  “Entitled Sense8, the story follows eight telepathically connected strangers who experience a shared vision. After their sudden psychic link-up, the eight (each located in different countries) are able to see and talk to each other with their minds. As they try to figure out how and why the event happened, a “mysterious” man tries to bring the group together, while another — the intriguingly named “Mr. Whispers,” seeks to kill them.” (Source Pajiba)

Oh So Cinematic – Korean Film Reviews Vol. 1: Secretly One Ajusshi

 

These days I hardly watch any movies outside of going to the theater, which also means I have little to no knowledge of Korean film.  So I’m slowly working my way through a list of critically acclaimed films.  Problem is, now that I need to satiate my thirst for my fav K-Drama actors, it’s led to some questionable movie watching decisions.  Also known as watching My Girlfriend is an Agent before Old Boy.  Here are some mini reviews (and with all my reviews,  they shouldn’t be taken too seriously;)