ChaReyes Dot Com

I must say, at some point of my life, I became a Korean. I lived like a Korean. I talked like a Korean. I even eat my rice bowl like a Korean and I dreamed to live in Korea. That’s how addicted I was when I got hooked with Korean Entertainment (i.e., Korean Dramas, Korean Movies, K-Pop).

I thought, my addiction will be endless and soon I will end up to be on a place wherein I can see these superficially beautiful creatures of Korean Dramas. But, I had enough when I get used to the stories that they come up with. Also, I found it quite time consuming to finish a whole series and let my eyes scrolling with the English Subtitles. So, I switched to Korean Movies, which I also found boring later on. But, what I can tell you is that only Korean Movies can make very emotional, entertaining and enticing movies that I’ve ever seen in my life. I recommended these to my friends, talked about these with them and oftentimes, I will them again for hundredth times.

Now, let me share with you my Top 10 Favorite Korean Movies. If you haven’t watched any of these, please help yourself to do so – I can guarantee that these are worth your time.

1) 100 Days With Mr Arrogant

Cast: Kim Tae Hyun, Han Min, Kim Jae Won, Ha Ji Won, Lee Eung Kyung

After being dumped by her boyfriend just before their 100 day anniversary, Ha-Young (Ha Ji-Won) meets a college guy named Hyung-Joon when she accidentally kicks a can that hits him in the face and causes him to scratch his Lexus. He demands she pay him $3000 on the spot. She escapes from him, leaving her wallet behind. Hyung-Joon stalks her, demanding money to pay for his car. Since she is a poor high school student Hyung-Joon writes up a “Enslavement Agreement” for Ha-Young in order to pay for the damage to his car. Ha-Young is thrown into a nightmarish slave life for 100 days, cleaning his house, running his errands, doing his homework and cleaning his car. By accident she finds out that the damage to Hyung-Joon’s car only costs $10! She then takes her revenge. However, before she knows it Hyung-Joon shows up at her house as her new tutor! He once again takes advantage of her, but soon Ha-Young finds herself falling head over heels for Hyung-Joon. But what happens when he drops out of her life just when she needs him most? The original Korean title can be literally translated as “my love, the asshole,” or, more roughly, as “my love, the no-manners”.

2)  200 Pounds Beauty

Cast: Im Hyun Sik, Kim Yong Gun, Joo Jin Mo, Kim Ah Joong , Lee Bum Soo, Lee Han Wee, Lee Won Jong , Lee Han Wie

Height, 1.69 meters and weight, 95 kilograms. These numbers stand for not only Hanna’s body size but also her social status in a society where looks matter. In order to realize her dreams of becoming a singer and have the courage to love the handsome Sang-jun, she decides to go under the knife and turns into the fairest of the fair…

3)  A Moment To Remember

Cast: David Mcinnis, Hyun Young, Son Ye Jin, Kwon Byung Gil , Baek Jong Hak, Jung Woo Sung , Oh Kwang Rok, Sun Ji Hyun , Shin Hyun Tak, Kim Bu Sun , Lee Sun Jin, Kim Joong Ki

Kim Su-Jin, a 27 year old fashion designer, being spurned at the train station by her lover, a colleague who is also a married man. Depressed, she goes to a convenience store where she bumps into a tall handsome man with whom she has a slight misunderstanding. Following that, she returns home and receiving the forgiveness of her father, decides to start life afresh. One day while accompanying her father, who is the head of a construction site, in making his rounds, she coincidentally meets the man whom she earlier bumped into at the convenience store. He is Choi Chul-Soo, the construction site’s foreman who is also aiming to become an architect. Chul-Soo may appear like a rough and dirty construction worker initially, but he does exude sheer masculinity in its most basic physical form and is pretty handy when it comes to carpentry or house repairs. Su-Jin instantly takes a liking to Chul-Soo and in what is a refreshing change, actively courts Chul-Soo. There are many sweet events that take place in the event of their courtship which eventually lead to their marriage. From here though, things quickly go downhill. Su-Jin soon finds that she has contracted AlzheimerÂ’s disease and the rest of the movie depicts how she slowly and painfully loses bits of her memory until she totally cannot remember anything. Even more painful is seeing Chul-Soo agonise while watching the wife he loves dearly forget even who he is. The ending is bittersweet one but at least offers a glimpse of hope.

4)  Daddy Long legs

Cast: Seo Young Hee, Ha Ji Won, Jung Joon Ha, Yun Jung Hoon, Geum Bo Ra, Park Eun Hye, Hyun Bin, Shin Yi

Daddy Long Legs is the story of an orphan Yeong-mi with an anonymous sponsor. She grows up to be a bright and courageous scenario writer with helps from Daddy Long Legs. She then falls in love with Junho, who works at the company’s archive. This movie is based off of an American novel by the same name, written by Jean Webster.

5)  How to Keep My Love

Cast: Kim Jung Eun, Kim Sang Kyung, Ahn Sun Young, Yu-Jin Lee, Oh Seung Hyun

Hyun-Ju is a woman in her late twenties who keeps waiting for her boyfriend–So-Hun, a professional exterminator–to pop the big question. Yet he doesn’t. We soon learn that he’s caught between the desires of two women.

6)  Il Mare

Cast: Kim Heung Soo, Jun Ji Hyun, Kim Mu Saeng, Lee Jung Jae, Choi Yoon Young

From director Lee Hyun Seung comes Il Mare, the 2000 time-travel romance featuring My Sassy Girl’s Jeon Ji Hyun in a starring role! This touching sci-fi love story centers on Han Seong Hyun (Lee Jung Jae, from Typhoon and Last Present), an accomplished architect who moves into his father’s beach house, only to find himself put in the most extraordinary of circumstances. After dubbing the place “Il Mare” (“The Sea” in Italian), Seong Hyun receives a mysterious letter from a woman named Kim Eun Joo (Jeon Ji Hyun). Strangely, the letter is addressed to the person who will live in Il Mare after Eun Joo leaves, a puzzling statement considering the fact that Seong Hyun is the very first person to ever live in the house! Believing it to be some sort of a prank or perhaps just a misunderstanding, Seong Hyun initially disregards the anomaly, only to find himself drawn into correspondence with Eun Joo. But as the two begin conversing through exchanged letters, they eventually discover that their situation is as remarkable as it is downright unbelievable. It seems that Eun Joo is actually living in 1999, a full two years ahead of the time in which Seong Hyun resides! Disbelief gives way to amusement and intrigue as the two continue their correspondence, eventually falling for one another. But when these two strangers decide to meet up, they soon discover something that neither quite expected. Will there be a happy ending for these two? Can love cross the boundary of time? Find out in Il Mare, the award-winning Korean film that inspired the 2006 U.S. remake starring Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock!

7)  Innocent Steps

Cast: Park Won Sang, Lee Dae Yeon, Kim Ji Young, Moon Geun Young, Kim Byul, Park Gun Hyung, Jung Yoo Mi (1984)

Young-sae was once acclaimed as the most-promising dancer. Losing his partner and lover, he lost his enthusiasm in sports dancing for two years. Now, he decides to make a comeback at the Championships held in Seoul three months later. His new partner is a girl names Chae-min who lives in China and won in a dance contest. It is then discovered that Chae-ryn has come in place of her sister and she knows nothing about dancing! Young-sae wants to send her back at first. When he sees Chae-ryn’s determination to become a dancer, he starts to train her with the hardest lessons. Step by step, their dancing starts to sparkle, so as their relationship.

8)  My Boyfriend Is Type B

Cast: Lee Yong Joo, Baek Il Sub , Lee Yoo Jung, Han Ji Hye, Lee Hyun Woo, Lee Dong Gun, Kim Song Hee, Jung Ryu Won, Shin Yi

The premise for this amusing comedy revolves around the wacky notion that a person’s blood type determines one’s personality and consequently one’s compatibility with the opposite sex. So what happens when you throw a soft-spoken type-A girl together with a brash type-B boy? Romantic comedy gold, if this movie is any indication.

9)  My Sassy Girl

Cast: Kim In Moon, Kim Il Woo, Han Jin Hee, Jun Ji Hyun, Cha Tae Hyun, Song Ok Sook, Yang Geum Suk, Kwak Jae Yong

My Sassy Girl is the smash hit of 2001. It tells the story of a young man not knowing what to do with his life, and a girl young sassy girl who turns his world upside down.

10)  Too Beautiful to Lie

Cast: Myung Ji Yun, Park Gun Tae, Kim Ji Young, Kim Ha Neul, Kang Dong Won, Song Jae Ho, Kwon Tae Won, Lee Chun Hee, Park Jae Woong, Nam Sang Mi, Lee Joo Suk, Lee Young Eun, Kim Jae Rok, Im Ha Ryong

Ju Young-ju, an beautiful ex-con artist who has been recently released on parole, is planning to attend her sister’s wedding. On her way she crosses path with Choi Hee-chul, a shy and unsure young man who is on his way to see his girl friend in Seoul. By a small series of unexpected events, the precious ring that Hee-chul planned to give to his girl friend end up in Young-ju possession, which at the same time, loose her bag. With only information she had chance to gather on Choi Hee-chul, she decides to find him, give him back the ring and take back her bag. However, at the moment of giving back the ring, her old lying habit kick back and obviously, hilarity and adventure ensues.