You Who Came from the Stars: Episode 4

별에서 온 그대: 제4회

Yoo-Ra, Song-Yi’s fiercest rival, is found dead on the Han riverbank the morning after a high-profile event that both women attend. With no sign of resistance found on the corpse, the police force wants to declare it as an obvious suicide, but a new prosecutor is eager to prove otherwise. Reviewing the CCTV footage from that night, he sees something peculiar: Min-Joon is on the cruise ship despite not being on the official list of invited guests, and what is more, he disappears just as a tipsy Song-Yi is about to fall overboard, both of them vanishing into thin air altogether in the next frame. Min-Joon indeed saves Song-Yi, and by accident shares his first kiss with her as he lays her down on an empty cabin bed. However, the accident results in a media circus, blaming the “suicide” on Song-Yi for being harsh to Yoo-Ra, as evidenced by a viral video of the former berating the latter. Hounded by the paparazzi who storm the floor where she lives, she seeks refuge at Min-Joon’s place, discovering his collection of antique books and artifacts.

You Who Came from the Stars: Episode 3

별에서 온 그대: 제3회

The in-laws of the young widow Min-Joon met during the Joseon era wanted her dead at all costs, too bad for them she had an extra-terrestrial to protect her. At present time, he dreams of a woman falling into the water, but could not recognize her except for her shoes, which he sees Song-Yi wearing. At 2 AM, she asks him to bring her to the hospital to undergo an emergency surgery to get rid of her appendicitis, and tells him to pretend that he is her manager in order to avoid intrigues. There he gets to witness how dysfunctional her family is: how her mother is only concerned about money; how her brother blames her for their family falling apart; and how her father had to abandon them. Hwi-Kyeong plays the part of the jealous boyfriend, with his persistence as a suitor dating back to middle school as shown in a flashback. His brother, on the other hand, is portrayed as a two-faced character who seems amiable on the surface but turns out to be a shady individual who resorts to murder to get what he wants; and yeah, he is dating Song-Yi’s fiercest rival. Despite Min-Joon stealing her shoes and warning her to avoid water, Song-Yi ends up buying a similar pair of shoes anyway to attend a friend’s wedding. On a cruise ship.

You Who Came from the Stars: Episode 2

별에서 온 그대: 제2회

When Min-Joon landed on Earth 400 years ago, he was accompanied by other extra-terrestrials. Using his power to stop motion, he was able to mix well with the locals, even helping some of them with their life problems. Even so, he has since concluded that human beings do not change at all even if you lend them a hand, and that their life span is not enough for them to mature. He also met a young widow who became his friend, and then meets her reincarnation again four centuries later by saving her from a speeding truck. Song-Yi stars in her very own TV special which chronicles her life in school as a “simple student” but everything backfires when Min-Joon scolds her on camera for submitting a plagiarized report. Depressed, she visits her high school friend and indulges in soju, mistakes Min-Joon’s apartment for her own, and passes out there. She is later fetched by Lee Hwi-Kyeong (박해진), a second generation chaebol who also happens to be her childhood friend and persistent suitor. She accidentally leaves her wallet behind and as Min-Joon finds it, he sees a family photo with a young Song-Yi who resembles that young widow from the Joseon Dynasty, as well as that young girl he saved 12 years ago.

You Who Came from the Stars: Episode 1

별에서 온 그대: 제1회

Joseon Dynasty, 1609. Do Min-Joon (김수현) lands on Earth aboard his UFO, momentarily startling all the Earthlings present to witness such an occurrence. 400 years later, he is now adept at the ways of human beings, changing professions as each decade passes and regularly getting issued death certificates by his only friend who happens to be a lawyer. The appearance of a rare comet signals his return to his home planet, leaving him with just three months to say goodbye to no one in particular. Cheon Song-Yi (전지현) is South Korea’s biggest Hallyu star, although her fame is mostly derived from her physical appearance rather than acting prowess or intelligence, neither of which she appears to possess. She has 20,000 friends on SNS and loves posting selfies with not-so-well-thought-out captions, making her the laughingstock of the online community. Assuming that Min-Joon is yet another stalker following her to her new posh condo unit, she lashes out on him before realizing that they are neighbors and that he has no idea who she is. Later on, she finds out that he is actually her university professor, and that their paths would be crossing more than they would expect.

Gravity

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Medical engineer Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) goes on her first space mission involving the maintenance of a satellite. Assisted by veteran astronaut Matt Kowalski (George Clooney), they endure one week in zero gravity only to end up in grave danger as they attempt to dodge the debris of a Russian satellite that has just been struck down. Losing all communications with Houston as well as the lives of their other three companions, the two strive to make use of what resources they have left to get back to Earth in one piece, with the said debris continuing to haunt them each hour and a half as they hop from one space station to another. Gravity is one hell of a visual experience. If you have yet to see a movie on IMAX, then choose this to be the first. Why?

Thor: The Dark World

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A new threat from an ancient foe faces Asgard as the Dark Elves led by Malekith awaken from their eternal slumber after the accidental rediscovery of the Aether by Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), to whom it binds. The rare alignment of the nine realms randomly linking different worlds including the Earth has allowed such occurrence to happen. Thor (Chris Hemsworth) asks for the help of his brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston), who has been locked away in Asgard for the crimes he committed on Earth. After his successful prison breakout, Loki, along with Jane, accompanies Thor to the dark world through his secret portal. The big question remains to be whether the mischievous frost giant would betray his adoptive brother, or is it about time for them to forgive, forget, and fight against a common foe?

설국열차 (Snowpiercer)

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An experiment gone awry prompts a new ice age which deems the planet inhabitable. The remaining survivors are aboard the Snowpiercer, a train circling the globe and powered by a perpetual-motion mechanism. The train is owned by a wealthy entrepreneur named Wilford (Ed Harris) who was ridiculed for coming up with a modern day Noah’s Ark back in the day, not knowing that his creation would end up to be the salvation of the human race. Since the train is private property, a hierarchy among its passengers exists, with the poor residents occupying the tail end of the train while the chosen few in the elite circle enjoy a life of splendor at the front. From time to time, Mason (Tilda Swinton), Wilford’s right hand, visits the occupants of the tail to make sure that their subjugation is in place. Years of deprivation and unequal treatment have taken its toll, though, and a rebellion is about to begin. Led by Curtis (Chris Evans) and his wingman Edgar (Jamie Bell), will the proletariat be able to succeed in taking over the train?

Who Wants to Be a YouTube Celebrity?

             
Are you a YouTube celebrity? How do you answer this question? Does it depend on the number of videos you post? How many subscribers you have? Your all-time page views? It was in 2006 when I first signed up for a YouTube account. That was almost the same time when the likes of kevjumba and nigahiga were just starting. YouTube celebrities were mostly dominated by Asians, with happyslip becoming some sort of de facto representation for Filipino-Americans, and yes maybe Filipinos as a whole. It was very clear back then that if you wanted to make it big on YouTube, you had to be either good-looking or really talented. You get plus points if you happen to be really entertaining.

Kidney Stones and Projectile Vomit

The kidney stone saga continues this week, which only means that instead of relaxation and all the undisturbed geeking out I imagined this week would be full of, I got pain, and more pain instead. You know how I always joke about projectile vomit being the closest alternative you could get to a mutant power? Well, hooray me. Wish granted!

Battling Kidney Stones in the Middle of Nowhere

I have not been drinking lots of water when I first arrived here in Xiamen. I don’t know if it was just the excitement of finally getting to study abroad for free or plain stupidity and laziness that got me to that point. I mean, how difficult is it to vanquish a 500-ml bottle of mineral water? It’s not even bitter gourd tea or some yucky infusion that would make you throw up the moment you smell it. It’s water, for crying out loud! But no, this is me. It’s my world. My complicated world. And that bottle of mineral water just lives in it. I would buy one but not be able to gulp every single drop until two or three days later, which means I was getting just around 100+ ml hydration on a daily basis. I had lots of soda, though. I was having two meals daily, and a can of Coke would always be the guest of honor.

On the Job

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Two prison inmates are tasked with high-profile assassinations in exchange for cash and reduced sentences. The modus operandi is to get them out of their jail cells, have them do the dirty work, and put them back in before anyone notices. As Tatang (Joel Torre) gets ready for his retirement, which comes in the form of a parole, he grooms his successor Daniel (Gerald Anderson) for a life of cold-blooded murder. However, things do not go according to plan as the unlikely team-up between PNP sergeant Joaquin Acosta (Joey Marquez) and NBI agent Francis Coronel (Piolo Pascual) starts to get hot on their trail. A long game of cat and mouse ensues between the two pairs, but little do they know that they are just mere pawns in a bigger game of chess among the country’s corrupt top honchos, who would do everything in their power to protect their own interests.

The Conjuring

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The Perron family move into their lovely new home, unaware of the malevolent entity waiting to pounce on them. The house has had a long history of being haunted by various spirits from different times in the past, although the soul of one woman dating back to the Salem witch trials proves to be the most vengeful. The haunting starts mildly, ranging from childish laughter to playful clapping which cause some harmless disorientation. It does not take long for it, however, to escalate and take a turn for the worse as the children start experiencing physical attacks taking a toll on their sanity. Carolyn (Lili Taylor) decides to enlist the help of Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga), two of America’s most renowned paranormal investigators, to help her exorcise the house.

늑대소년 (A Werewolf Boy)

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Fragile teenager 순이 (박보영) relocates to the countryside with her sister and widowed mother for the betterment of her respiratory condition. Left with almost nothing, they live a hand-to-mouth existence in the house owned by 지태, the son of her father’s business partner, who lusts after her. One day, they encounter a teenage boy who could not speak and whose behavior is similar to that of a wild animal. The caring mother adopts him and gives him the name 철수 (송중기). Unknown to them, he is actually a werewolf. 순이 hates him at first, although her persistence pays off when she manages to tame the beast inside him, but he could only repress so much of his wild side as danger looms. Forced to separate due to threats to his life, she asks him to wait for her, and promises that she will come back for him. 46 years later, she does.

외대: 도서관

안녕하세요! 여기가 도서관이에요. 그럼 학생카드가 없으면 들어갈리가 없습니다. 매일 점심 먹은후에 여기에 가요. 그럼 여기는요 왜? 원룸텔에 일찍 돌아가면 자요. 그럼 요기서 공부할수가 밖에 없어요. 그럼 책들을 읽어요. 그리고 교과서 다시 한번 도 읽어요.

외대: 학생식당

안녕하세요! 거기가 학생식당이에요. 음시기 싸니까 보통 거기서 점심을 먹어요. 매일. 그럼 안에 가자! 편의점도 있어요. 그럼... 먼저 음식표를 사야해요. 그럼 식권선택... 1,800 원... 수량선택... 확인... 투입... 티켓. 그리고 저기에 가야해요. 콜라를 마시고 싶으면 여기에서 있어요.

외대: 교실안에

안녕하세요! 여기가 교실이에요. 그럼 이제 점심동안이에요. 그래서 사람이 없어요. 매일 여기서 4시간 동안 있어요. 모두 학생이 11 명이에요. 그럼 필리핀사람이 1명, 헝가리사람 1명, 예멘 사람이 1명, 싱가포르사람이 1명, 일본사람이 1명, 미국사람이 1명, 홍콩사람이 2명, 중국사람3명. 그럼 모두 학생이 11 명이에요.

외대: Minerva Complex

안녕하세요! 여기가 Minerva Complex 이에요. 그럼 우리는 매일 여기서 수업이 있어요. 그럼 안에 가자! 거기는 Obama Hall 이라고 하는데 Obama 대통령이 전에 말하기를 했어요. 그럼 이 건물은 정말 편해요. WiFi 도 있고 Caffé Bene 가 있고 아래 층에 체육관 도 있어요. 그럼 정말 편해요. 이리와... 이리와... 내 교실이에요.

외대: 한국외국어대학교

안녕하세요! 여기가 한국외국어대학교예요. 하지만 외대라고 보통 해요. 자, 교정이 생각보다 작네요. 그래서 저빌딩에서 저건물까지만... 그리고 저거랑 저거랑 이멋있는 빌딩이랑 저거랑 저거랑 저거만이에요. 그리고 이 넓은 빌딩안에는 국제 학생 사무실이 있어요. 그럼 문제가 있으면 저기에 물으러 가요. 외대는 외국어 프로그램때문에 인기 있는데 번역이나 통역사가 되고싶으면 여기서 공부했으면 좋겠어요.

외대: 외대로가는길 II

기차가 있을때 갈수없어요. 그럼, 잠깐만요. 여기가 외대에가는길. 그럼, 가게가 더 많아요. 저 넓은 빌딩이 외대에요. 그럼, 필요하는것을 여기에서 살수있어요. 그럼, 식당도 편의점도 여러가지가게가 있는데, 그럼 정말 편해요. 저기가외대예요. 근데 이제 수업이 끝났는데 그럼 먹을게.