Ji Chang Wook 지창욱 - Upcoming Dramas: "The Queen Woo" (우씨왕후) (TVING) / "Bulk" (벌크) (JTBC) / Upcoming Movie "Revolver" (리볼버)

[MyStars]

A very haunting memorial service.

 

[Veronica Park]

https://ahjummamshies.com/2018/06/06/ji-chang-wook-im-si-wan-kang-ha-neul-joo-won-sing-national-anthem-during-63rd-memorial-day/

[MyStars]

What a dramatic and emotional interlude that Memorial Day service was.  The Actors/Performers looked and acted every inch the part because in this meta-drama they are the reality!  It  was a grand show and they acquitted themselves beautifully.  

 

So here I am, back to marking time until one particular soldier (although I would be happy for all of them, too) can come back to civilian life.  Taking up where we left off, in Bachelor's Vegetable Store, we're only in Episode 7!  Although this drama has lots and lots of all kinds of activity, the main story unfolds in a very leisurely manner, at least compared to present-day Western movies and TV shows.  In Ep. 7 the guys really begin to form the cadre that makes them the Fresh Men selling vegetables.  We open with some delightful monkey business, as Han Tae Yang and friends learn marketing-the-hard-way.  I call it the "Yes, We Have No Bananas" episode:

 

Under the spoiler there are more short-story GIFs that reveal a little more of the plot.  Not very many important events happen in Ep. 7; it seems to exist to solidify and explain the relationships between the main two couples and the families.  Watch closely:

Spoiler

This next episode takes place because of Jin Shim's birthday, which Han Tae Yang tries to help celebrate; she breaks down crying remembering how they still have to fool the Dad.  Not knowing exactly why she cries, HTY tells her not to be embarrassed, and that they two can form a pact.  The next little skit adjoining I added just because I like the sentiment and how JCW looks!

 

 

Later, things start to get a little dicey for the guys when some neighborhood thugs try to extract some protection money from them and beat them all up.  But, a passing young drifter (how can they all be so completely good-looking?) helps them out and later becomes a new addition to the Fresh Men.  HTY bears the biggest burden of the beating; he limps to work the next day, looking completely empty and discouraged, not like himself at all.  To Be Continued.......

 

[cherkell]

More photos from the 63rd Korean Memorial Day ceremony.  Are we witnessing the birth of a new F4? 

 

 

 

(Credit to Insight.co.kr for the pics.)

[MyStars]

15 male Korean actors who are known for their sexy bodies

 

Here are some of the handsome and hot Korean actors that needs to be appreciated because they have proven over and over their ability to impress everyone with their sexiness.

Without further ado ladies, this list is made for you. Enjoy!

 

2. Ji Chang Wook

 

Source:http://www.ilovekstars.com/news/post/8380/

 

The rest of the post has been omitted but the link is offered if you want to peruse.  Although this story was featured in August, 2017 I don't remember it being posted here on the Soompi forum then, but if I'm wrong it doesn't hurt to see these pictures again.  He seems so easily adept at anything he undertakes ~ stage musicals, movies, TV dramas, "dancing," giving concerts and singing his heart out, posing in fashion magazines, hanging with the guys, astounding the ladies, melting hearts, beating up bad guys, kissing champeen, body-building……….I just love the kitschy tattoos they hung on Je Ha.

 

I had to resort to "canned" material as I had a computer meltdown that took me 2 days to fix (almost there) but I just couldn't stand not being able to offer something positive in these pages about Ji Chang Wook.  Regarding that computer problem, for any of you out there who suffer with Windows 10, the most recent update locked me out!!  It was horrible......the morning after the update (luckily it was a Saturday) I went to log in as usual, but the log-in screen kept saying my password was incorrect...….after about 5 tries I was not able to gain access.  Luckily at home I was able to track part of the problem on the computer I reserve for work, but none of the fixes offered online were working.  At the sixth try to fix my password, with all the slots blank, I just banged my hands down on the keyboard in utter frustration.  Lo and behold, that started some gears grinding, and after about 5 minutes I was finally taken to an old Windows 10 screen.  Somehow I was logged in as Administrator, but all of my Ji Chang Wook work product (all my PICTURES) were buried in another file that I had to hunt for.  Saved......almost done, but hating on certain Microsoft products, doncha know.  And this wasn't the first time...…..  Thanks, Bill...…..

 

Tomorrow is the big day for the Singapore Summit.  Right now I am off to work.

[cherkell]

11 Signature Korean Action Movies That Rival Hollywood Movies

These Korean films are as good, if not better, than Hollywood movies.  Hollywood may be known for its action movies, but Korea is no slouch either when it comes to thrilling, action packed films.  Here are 11 Korean action movies that could rival a Hollywood production.

 

[unrelated snipped]

 

11. Fabricated City

In a world where crimes are completely made up to get high-profile officials and their families out of trouble, an unemployed gamer becomes the latest victim framed for murder, and works with his gaming crew to uncover the mastermind and clear his name.

 

 

One of the major tenets of law is "Truth as a Defense."  FabCity may have been listed 11 out of 11, but the shoutout is appreciated nonetheless. 

 

Credit:  Koreaboo

[MyStars]

On 6/13/2018 at 1:05 AM, cherkell said:

FabCity may have been listed 11 out of 11, but the shoutout is appreciated nonetheless. 

Hoo Boy, that's right!  And the list was quite extensive.......I've seen a few of them, but not all:  A Man From Nowhere (seen it more than once because it's so good), Outlaws, Thieves (a real hoot!), Veteran (Yoo Ah In as a real bad guy), Asura (couldn't/wouldn't finish because it was so violent seemingly without reason and without redemption), and then Fabricated City, the best of the bunch.  In fact, the two best IMHO, Man From Nowhere and Fab City get the gold crown because the stories are more that JUST violence; they involve real people interacting at a basic level of decency and humanity (if you can get past what the bad guys do.)  But finding and watching the rest on the list will keep me busy this summer.

 

Now I can get back to Bachelor's Vegetable Store!  The Singapore Summit ended without any immediate dramatic changes, so we know the guys won't be coming home sooner than we may have thought, so it's back to marking time and enjoying the reminiscing.

This is the sweet smile......there are other styles too, especially the full, wide open mouth, with incredibly perfectly imperfect delightful dentition that has never been seen before on any other human being.  Yup, it could only be Ji Chang Wook's smile. 

 

When the story left off, Han Tae Yang and friends had been beaten up by a group of vegetable thugs; HTY limping to work, probably hoping to not run into anyone, runs into Jin Shim.  Two skits under the spoiler give us watchers a glimpse into how sympathetic and kind and gentle the two can be with each other.  Please enjoy.

Spoiler

Has Ji Chang Wook ever, ever been in a movie or drama where he didn't get beat up "just a bit?"

 

[changwooks]

For some nostalgia... KBS is uploading Healer to Youtube in high quality with multiple subbing options, English included. Here's the first ep! Who's down for a rewatch? 

 

 

[MyStars]

1 hour ago, changwooks said:

Well, ain't that a kick in the head!!!    The above link to a KBS World upload of Healer shows that "The uploader has not made this video available in your country," which is USA.  Boooo  Hissss........I hope some others of you are more fortunate.  It would have made a great addition to Ji Chang Wook viewing pleasure.  At least, where I am, Healer is still available on DramaFever and Viki.com.

 

 

 

[changwooks]

3 hours ago, MyStars said:

 

Sorry to hear that! That's unfortunate that there's region blocks in place (though that being said, Dramafever is pretty useless for me due to the fact that a lot of content is limited to USA viewers and I'm in the UK)... 

[MyStars]

4 hours ago, changwooks said:

Sorry to hear that! That's unfortunate that there's region blocks in place (though that being said, Dramafever is pretty useless for me due to the fact that a lot of content is limited to USA viewers and I'm in the UK)...

LOL  I know, right?   Somedays there is just no way (in H3LL) to win at anything!!  But sincere and committed Ji Chang Wook fans just keep trying, and trying, and trying.......At least, where you are if you have a yen to re-re-re-watch Healer,  you now have Youtube.  Better than nothing.  Does being in "the UK" mean, generally, being in Great Britain, or in other parts of the Kingdom?  Where are the places that do benefit from the YouTube KBS offering?  You did them (whoever they are) a great favor! 

[MyStars]

Ever since @cherkellposted that review of Fabricated City I've had it on my mind along with Bachelor's Vegetable Store.  As I was culling scenes for the next episodes of BVS there were a few time his expressive face called to mind something similar in Fabricated City.  I decided to put the morph technology to work to see how closely my recall was to reality.  I didn't spend a lot of time on this project, so it may not be the best fit, but it is easy for me to see the younger man (circa 2010) in the slightly older man of 2017.  BVS was/is, so it seems to me, the last training ground for him before he achieved the balance between his raw talent and extreme professionalism that he has today.  Of course in between was the major qualifier of Empress Ki and the grand character Ta Hwan.  See if you see it, too. 

 

P.S.  If anyone has any two pictures they would like to see compared, drop me a PM and we'll see what we can come up with.

 

Moving on to BVS, still early on in the drama, Episodes 7 and 8.  Han Tae Yang and Jin Shim are still attracted to each other but still cautious about what draws them together; HTY and the fresh men are still finding what works........how to sell well, and how not to get beat up, or outsmarted.  The basic sweet natures of most of the main characters still knock me out and their interactions are quietly endearing.  See under the spoiler.

Spoiler

Han Tae Yang looking out for the guys; it's almost poetic, the feeling that his character is given.  Then with Ga On/Jin Shim he is still shy and awkward, but finally stammers out "salad" and the date is on!  Of course, the date doesn't go well.  He learns Ga On may be a chaebol's daughter (oh no!) and that being a seller of vegetables gets him no respect.  After their date:

Stay tuned for more about why these two are so strange.

 

[cherkell]

 

On the road, so a full post will follow shortly!

[MyStars]

So good to know about the 24Miracle contract; there will be pictures of him at least thru 2020! 

 

Taking a brief break from Bachelor's Vegetable Store because somehow I got looking through my pictures and saw some from Sleeping Beauty that would give some visually stunning results when massaged with my magic software producing the color pencil technique.  And shouldn't we be hearing some more about ShinHeung Military Academy?  Is the casting a done deal yet? or is he still having to go through a third audition process?  That's OK because the fans with the cameras and boots on that particular ground will be there and all of us will benefit..

 

Anyway, here are two pictures from Sleeping Beauty.  While trying to find credits about writing and producing I found NOT MUCH.  Way back on page 1 of this thread @cherkellindicates it was an independent production, and I found a name of the producer - Kim Myung-Eun. 

 

There is a plot synopsis on IMDB Korea, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1594540/

 

and there are two full-length offerings on YouTube, but neither has English subs.  I thought there was ONE with English subs, but I can't seem to find it now.  Some how it may not matter because the story is really three short vignettes in one movie; three different plotlines, seemingly none of them related.  Ji Chang Wook is in the last one.  It is one very dark movie, and the section he is in is one of the darkest.  It is not your typical adolescent coming of age movie, but somehow, because it is Ji Chang Wook's first movie (circa 2007-08) it starts him out as: 1.  Inordinately good-looking even at 20 yrs old.  2.  A strong guy, a hero type,  with broad shoulders who "gets beat up" (as usual) but who rescues the girl. Uh, that last statement can be taken as somewhat tongue-in-cheek, because, as @nadsterwould have said, the story line involves some major moral ambiguity given the circumstances.  But......No story line give-aways to spoil your viewing pleasure.

 

OK.  Be prepared.  This man comes by his good looks honestly.  Even in this strange atmospheric movie he stands out as memorable, even haunting.

(I was worried about the attribution of the production, because of needing to credit the pictures.  I put my imprimatur on them because of the software manipulation, but still there should be a proper movie credit.)

 

 

Second picture under the spoiler.

Spoiler

 

 

[MyStars]

During the day today I remembered more about Sleeping Beauty.  In Jiscovery he talks about this movie and how young he was, how unprofessional.  I thought, my goodness, you were young and just getting started, so it wasn't that you were UNprofessional, you were still a novice, an newbie with no professionality under your belt at all, so it seems unfair to call yourself UNprofessional.  I think you only get to be called unprofessional after you've been a working professional for a while and then you screw up royally and with malice aforethought......THEN you are unprofessional.  Dear Chang Wook-ah, don't be so hard on yourself.  Besides, the young man's character in the movie is hardly that of a sophisticated charming chaebol, so the young immature, untried, untested you fit the part perfectly.  

EDIT June 21

Uh, there were short clips that I posted but have since taken down.  I was pushing the "copyright" envelope  posting them, so they are gone.  My remarks really cover the whole situation except you don't get to see The Face, unless of course, you buy the Jiscovery DVD.  Now I just have to figure out how to get rid of the silly spoiler tag. 

 

Well, I got rid of it but it wasn't easy.  And I'll never remember exactly how I did it.

[cherkell]

 

[MyStars]

@cherkell.....I know, or I thought I knew or saw, that there was some text explaining that chart above, but now I can't see it.  Did you remove it? Or has it just not loaded yet?  Was the explanation on Twitter?   OK......on to other old but kinda new news from 

 

UPDATED SUN JUN 24 2018 20:35:47 GMT-0400 (EASTERN DAYLIGHT TIME)

 

http://en.koreaportal.com/articles/45513/20180606/suspicious-partner-actor-ji-chang-wook-partners-with-kang-ha-neul-bridal-mask-star-joo-won-im-siwan-for-special-event.htm

The article recaps the Memorial Day service and gives some up-to-date information about "Shinheung Military Academy" casting, mainly that their casting in the musical has yet to be confirmed.  As the article was updated today, Sunday, June 24th, I guess that's about as specific and timely as it gets.

 

Back to my favorite drama of the month, Bachelor's Vegetable Store.  It was never my intent to do a literal story and episode recap like many blogs do.  What I want to do is recap what Ji Chang Wook does in ANY story, drama, or movie he may be in.  It's all about him.  The stories themselves are relevant because he chose them, so they are reflective of his personality, but the intricacies of the plots are basically irrelevant.  I keep thinking of readers of these pages who may come here weeks, months, or years later to learn about Hallyu, Korean stars and celebrities, but mainly about Ji Chang Wook; I hope they are not disappointed because the the plots aren't completely spelled out.  

 

Here's Mr. Sunshine, Han Tae Yang, greeting Jin Shim/Ga On!  How lovely to be greeted like this.

 

The story line has gotten us to Ep. 8-10, which is about half way through.  I like the way South Korean dramas take their time developing relationships.  It's so different from television series in the West.  Here we may get one episode a week, but the series may run from 5 to 15 years!  SK dramas are much shorter, more immediate and accessible, at least in my opinion, and for whatever that's worth.  And then when the SK DVD's come out, or when you have time to spend on a streaming site, binge watching is great and fairly easily managed.  With American TV dramas on DVD or streaming sites, trying to binge watch 5 years+ worth of material is daunting and usually can't be done in a week.  And then the drama/series better be awfully good to commit so much time to it!  This is a whole other sociological subject in itself, right here.

 

Under the spoiler some short skits showing what an honest man HTY is when he confesses to the real Jin Shim in his memory, and how happy he is to open himself up to the real and present day Ga On.  

Spoiler

 

[cherkell]

 

[MyStars]

Oh Happy Day......it's getting to be THAT TIME of year again.  A birthday coming up for you-know-who.   

 

Meanwhile, back at Bachelor's Vegetable Store, the plot, which is one of the more charming and idealistic stories I've watched in a long time, takes turns with comedy and romance.  The Fresh Men finagle their way into the contest at the last minute; they are technically late with the entry but a chance encounter with Ga On's father lets them enter but with a handicap.  The sprouts are supposed to taste like green tea and testing has been going on:

Their handicap puts them in the position of trying to sell ugly apples.  Things look bleak for the Fresh Men until the idea of a stage play occurs to Tae Yang.  See under the spoiler:

Spoiler

This re-enactment of a favorite old time fairy tale is a big big hit and the Fresh Men actually win the contest!!

 

 Then sweet romance plot begins to gel when Tae Yang gets to take Jin Shim/Ga On on a real date to a "friendly family pool hall" (something ALL mother's warn their daughters about).  They are completely alone and it seems the beast, the predatory male in Tae Yang, surfaces.........but ends in the sweetest kiss in all dramaland.  See under the spoiler for this inspired piece of film sleight-of -hand.

Spoiler

To add to your enjoyment of this mid-career drama for Ji Chang Wook, listen along to one of the OSTs.

 

[MyStars]

 

Hey All!!!  Just wanted to tell you that Soompi has gotten a phone call from Actor/Soldier Ji asking that we not forget his birthday coming real soon.......AS IF......

 

Joking, of course.  That he called Soompi, not that it's his birthday. The GIF is from Bachelor's Vegetable Store when Tae Yang and Ga On start to get close.  While looking for something different to watch on the TV this weekend I was scrolling through Amazon Prime Video offerings and found this:or, How to Use Guys With Special Tips

According to Page 1 of Actor Ji's thread here at Soompi, this was a movie he had a guest part in back in 2013, but as I remember reading, his part was left on the cutting room floor.  Don't know why and I bet those in charge are sorry now........just sayin'.......Anyway, I watched the movie and really enjoyed it.  It is an "adult" film, slightly risque, but not gross, funny, and charming.  What a shame that whatever Actor Ji had to offer was cut.  As per Wikipedia:  

"How to Use Guys with Secret Tips was released on February 14, 2013. The film produced strong word-of-mouth among viewers, though not enough to make it a hit in a month when it was sharing screens with box office behemoths The Berlin File, New World and Miracle in Cell No. 7.[6]

Koreanfilm.org praised the film's "great comic timing," the "charismatic" performances by its lead actors and its "multitude of gags that are genuinely funny." The review said it felt "fresh and new, but it is also simply a very well executed film. In a genre that looks easy, but is actually quite challenging, this is a significant accomplishment."[6]

Twitch Film particularly noted the film's "unique, vibrant and endlessly creative aesthetic," and director Lee's "keen sense of style." It also said "one of the film's great strengths is its excellent soundtrack, which runs the gamut of indie music, pop and club beats, not to mention Ravel."[7]

In April 2013, the film won the Audience Award at the 15th Far East Film Festival in Udine, Italy, and director Lee Won-suk also received the Golden Mulberry Award.[8][9] In August 2013, it won the Bronze Prize for Best Asian Feature at the Fantasia Festival.[10]"

 

So it appears that even if Actor Ji might have been in a film, or was in a film but was cut from, or even thought about being in a film, that movie/film was probably pretty dang good.  I can't say for sure because I still haven't seen Death Bell 2, or all of Hero but I suspect that his instinct for choosing roles is uncanny.  Or is it just because he's in it?...........

 

Speaking of going back to the beginning pages I see that @cherkellhas been hard, hard at work restoring pictures and links that were "vanished" back when Photobucket raised their rates for third party picture hosting to a ridiculous exorbitant amount.  If you are a latecomer to Ji Chang Wook (like me) and want some history, go back to page one and start reading.  It's all there thanks to @cherkell.  Maintaining data and pictures is not easy, so my hat's off.  Thanks, Sunbae.