#MeloMovie (mini review)
As soon as they kissed, ang nasabi ko na lang, (Mga) Binata na ang Wooga talaga ðŸ˜
📌After Our Beloved Summer (OBS), it seems that 2 seasons of Jinny’s Kitchen, In the Soop: Friendcation, Wonderland, and A Killer Paradox were not enough to satisfy our hunger for #ChoiWooShik, whom we fell in love with as Choi Ung (although personally, I am not a fan of the female lead), and who was unforgettable as Ki Woo (because every time he goes abroad, he is recognized as “the actor in Parasite”).
📌When it was announced that filming had started for this drama from the same writer of OBS (Lee Na Eun), one couldn’t help but be giddy and excited, especially after seeing him up close and personal in November 2023. Tall and goofy and simply adorable, Choi Woo Shik has this sincere and contagious smile, and funny ways that are similar to his Wooga Squad. During the Hi Bye session in that same fan meet (our row was the first batch to hop on the stage), our Oppa was wearing a red sweater, saying hello to each one of us, with eyes that sparkled and a smile that will forever linger in my memory.
📌He is not super handsome at first sight like Park Hyung Sik (PHS), but his looks are the kind that grows on you and after a while, you would notice that his nose is chiseled, his skin flawless, his eyes parang naaawa ka na sige mamahalin na nga kita (this was what happened to me in OBS), yung hair color nya pag na-hi-hit ng sunlight and its cut/style na nakaka-pogi sobra, and the height (1.83m, he endorses Project M).
📌Here in Melo Movie (melodrama, tearjerker, love story), Woo Shik is Ko Gyeom, a movie fan who played bit roles when he was younger and became a popular film critic. He has an older brother, Ko Jun (played by Kim Jae Wook, Her Private Life) who because of an accident, became dependent on him. The brothers are orphans, with an 11-year age gap, kaya si Hyung raised him. And they loved each other dearly.
📌And anyway, ang babaeng pinagpala, #ParkBoYoung (Daily Dose of Sunshine, Light Shop ) who has worked with Woo Shik’s Wooga brothers, Park Seo Joon (Concrete Utopia) and PHS (Strong Girl Bong-soon), plays Kim Mubee (of course, from the word “movie”), a film director’s daughter who hated movies (because the job took her father away from them for most of her life), but majored in Film and vowed to make an awesome melo movie in his honor and memory. Medyo tough sya, somewhat introvert, but fell for Gyeom anyway. Only to be ghosted by him, disappearing after his brother’s accident and coming back 5 years later. So syempre galit siya.
📌Bonus si #LeeJunYoung, whom I loved in Imitation, and later on cheered for him in May I Help You, Impossible Heir, and Badland Hunters. At 1.85m, almost same height sila ni Woo Shik . Pwede syang mabait and funny, pwede rin syang bad and talagang kakainisan mo (Mask Girl). Here, he is Si Jun, a struggling songwriter na can afford naman ang family, left home to focus on his music, but hindi nagte-take off ang career, and couldn’t leave his past and misery behind after his girlfriend of 7 years broke up with him to find her own path.
📌To complete the second lead couple, playing Ju-A is #JeonSoNee (Our Blooming Youth), a rising screenwriter who believed that Si Jun could come up with a beautiful OST for her movie with Mubee, thus the need to work with him and be together again after their painful breakup.
📌I finished the 10 episodes in one sitting, spending my Sunday with Oppa Woo Shik for 10 reasons. Because one, all 10 were available on Netflix; Two, ayoko na sila pagsabayin ng Buried Hearts ni PHS when it airs on Feb 21; and 3-10, Woo Shik/Woo Shik/Woo Shik/Woo Shik/Woo Shik/Woo Shik. Ayoko na ito patagalin hahaha In fact, you can finish it all on its airing day - Valentine’s Day.
📌Some of the funny scenes, feeling ko minsan wala na sa script itong gestures ni Woo Shik but was allowed by the director. Ang natural nya magpatawa. Siguro after the take/s, nagtatawanan sila. Sa mga reality shows nya, napaka-evident ng sense of humor nya. Yung nawawala na mata niya pag tawang-tawa sya. Dito pa naman, they all have their wounds and trauma, kanya-kanya lang sila ng dala, and his character siguro thought maitatago niya ito or these will go away by being funny, setting his own pains aside, magpatawa ng ibang tao, be of service to others.
📌Gusto ko rin yung relationship nila ng Kuya nya. May chemistry sila. Most of the funniest scenes, silang dalawa. Bagay silang mag-Hyung. Sa Episode 7 ako bumunghalit ng iyak, because dito napakita yung POV ni Ko Jun. Yung struggles niya all his life. Na he had no choice but to work at a young age, raise his younger brother, hindi na sya nakapag-girlfriend man lang, wasn’t able to have his own family dahil he dedicated his life to Gyeom. Gyeom suspected for a long time na hindi accident ang nangyari sa Kuya nya, but an attempt to kill himself. But at a time that he wanted to go on living, may sakit na siya and eventually passed. In denial si Gyeom, that’s why he has been putting off going home and sleeping at home kasi, “There’s nobody there.” But yes, to be able to heal, he must face his grief.
📌Support system – Mubee’s childhood friend Woo Jeong-Hu played by Cha Woo-Min (Study Group)
And kahit medyo masungit and looks conservative but cool din naman pala, Mubee’s mom - Kim Hee-Jung (Sweet Home, Call It Love, Start-Up). I don’t know, I thought theirs was a good mom-daughter relationship pero dun sa end, pinalabas na nagkulang pa si mother and that she wished she was kinder. Ewan ko lang ha, but I didn’t see anything wrong sa kanya.
Bar owner and Su Jin’s boss - Kim Young-Woong (Study Group, Happiness, Vincenzo)
Director Ma - Ko Chang-Seok (Dream, Chicken Nugget, The Impossible Heir)
📌The OST is also good. Among the tracks is the male version of Under Sunset, na si Jun Young ang kumanta (kasi may female version din). Ahem, Jun Young is a former idol, a member of U-KISS and of the project group UNB. The song was played while the two leads were kissing, with Gyeom’s car stalled at hindi na sila aabot sa pupuntahan nilang film location sana at kung kelan hinahabol nila yung sunset. >>>Link https://youtu.be/Gig7MHxXddI?feature=shared thank me later. (Other tracks: Surfing in the Moonlight, TOMORROW X TOGETHER; My Star, DOKO)
📌Perhaps my biggest takeaway is (hindi ko alam kung tama) – but you don’t have exclusive rights over pain, getting hurt. Hindi lang ikaw ang nasasaktan, hindi lang ikaw ang may problems or nararmdaman. Minsan kasi umiikot lang ang mundo natin sa sarili nating hurts, heartaches, struggles. Hindi natin napapansin ung iba, na may pinagdadaanan din sila. Yung universal advice na be kind, totoo yan, tama yan. And yung makinig ka lang? Hindi yung may sasabihin sa iyo, tapos para kang nakikipagcontest na ay ako rin, ay ako nga…Wala ka sa lola ko levels ba. When someone shares something with you na malungkot, masakit, mahirap…wag ka na makipagpaligsahan. Just listen. Just be there. Hindi lang enough yung naririnig mo, dapat pinakikinggan mo rin siya/sila.
📌And speaking of episodes, episode titles are taken from movie lines, maybe Na Eun’s paying a little homage to films and film making (including Hollywood). All in all, while the drama is not that super spectacular, if you stan Woo Shik (or Wooga Squad like me) or Bo Young (who has her own following), it will certainly help. Pamatid-uhaw, ika nga.
📌Basta for me, kahit mixed ang reviews ng Melo Movie – may ok, may hindi; may positive, may negative – it doesn’t matter. Kasi kung ako as viewer, as consumer – kung para sa akin, nakuha ko yung gusto i-convey na message, nagresonate sa akin in one way or another, nag-enjoy (kahit yung iba, hindi), naluha sa mga eksena or parts ng drama, dahil may naramdaman, may nakurot sa puso, for me, ok na yun.
📌Like life, dramas (or movies, or fiction) are imperfect, may flaws, yung bida minsan sablay; pero basta may character development, hindi ka man perpekto, gaya ng istorya, but you always strive to be a better version of yourself, yung may goal ka to become a better person as you grow older, you’re doing great as it is. For the things and happenings that you have control over, (you can) write your own ending. 💕
🎬 Melo Movie is streaming on Netflix
#BuhayKPam
