Jo Hyun Jae

Avatar

I finally saw “Avatar”, the 3-D sci-fi epic that James Cameron wrote and directed and which took 15 years to make (from conception.)  It has broken all box-office records, having already taken US$1 billion at the box office as of last week.

I suppose you all know “Avatar” is about a world of the future, set in the year 2154.  It tells the story of a disabled marine sent on a mission to Pandora, a moon in the Alpha Centauri star system, home to a race of blue aliens called Na’vi.  Humans are intent on exploiting Pandora for its resources but meet with resistance from the natives who live in perfect harmony with nature in their world.

This fantasy world, with its weird and wonderful plant and animal life, is brought to life using stunning special effects.  The title “avatar” refers to the genetically engineered bodies used by the film’s characters to interact with the Na’vi.

The movie is 2 hours 45 minutes and is great entertainment.  But does it live up to the hype?  Yes and no.  The special effects are spectacular; it could not have been made in 1994 when James Cameron first came up with the idea.  But as I was watching, I kept thinking about cowboys and Indians (Red Indians, natives of America.)  Essentially the same scenarios, the same sentiments, only repeated in outer space and in the future — old Hollywood traditions, old formulas, old cliches. 

There is all this talk on the internet about people becoming depressed, even suicidal, after watching “Avatar” — because the ideal world on Pandora is not real, intangible, unreachable.  And then there is the conspiracy theory of secret (subliminal) messages in the movie.  All great press, resulting in great box office.  The Americans are publicity geniuses.

The Lovely Bones

The next day I saw a totally different movie, Peter Jackson’s “The Lovely Bones”.  Even though the slimmed-down Jackson is not as cute now as the chubby director of “Lord of the Rings”, his “Rings” trilogy will always remain as one of my all-time favourites.

“The Lovely Bones” opens with the narrator saying: “I was 14 years of age when I was murdered on Dec.6, 1973.”  If that doesn’t startle you, I don’t know what will.  Billed as “the story of a life and everything that came after…..”, this movie is weird and wonderful in a way very different from “Avatar”.  The murdered girl is in a sort of in-between world (between earth and heaven), unable to let go, torn between her lingering desire for life and her desire for her family to heal. 

Based on the critically acclaimed best-selling novel by Alice Sebold, “The Lovely Bones” is a very unusual kind of detective story, a sort of CSI conducted not by forensic scientists but by a ghost (?)  The acting of the ensemble cast is superb, especially that of the young actress who plays the murdered girl — Saoirse Ronan, who is the younger sister in “Atonement.”

Thirst

I’ve got the DVD of this Korean movie for some time, but I kept putting off watching it.  Can’t watch it at night because it’s about vampires.  No time to watch it in the daytime.  As it turned out, it was after dark that I finished it.  What can I say?  It’s…..weird…..and not that wonderful.

Written, produced, and directed by Park Chan-Wook (“Old Boy”) and loosely based on Emile Zola’s novel “Therese Requin”, “Thirst” tells the story of a priest who becomes a vampire because of a failed medical experiment.  He struggles to control his insatiable thirst for blood until a love affair unleashes his darkest desires in deadly ways.

Director Park on “Thirst”: “It is about more than vampires.  It is about passion and a love triangle.  I feel it is unique because it is not just a thriller and not merely a horror film, but an illicit love story as well.”  The film won the Jury Prize at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.

There is a lot of blood (to drink) and sex, but ultimately I think the film fails because at 2 hours 14 minutes it is too long and it drags in parts.  Song Kang-Ho (as the priest) and Kim Ok-Bin (as his lover) give their all, but when vampires behave like humans, it’s no fun (and not scary.)  Only the ending is wonderfully weird.

Why am I playing film critic on a JHJ website?  It’s just that every time I watch a movie, I try to imagine JHJ in it.  All 3 movies are different from the usual run-of-the-mill stuff churned out by studios.  But I don’t see JHJ ever acting in any one of them, or anything like them.  Not much acting is required in “Avatar”, since the Na’vi which dominate the movie are digitally manufactured.  I don’t think any Korean studio will finance a movie like “The Lovely Bones” which wins critical acclaim but not box office intakes.  As for “Thirst”, no nudity of an sort for JHJ, please, Cannes Film Festival prize notwithstanding.  JHJ as Andrea in “Love Letter” is nonpareil, but as a vampire-priest?  Robert Pattinson, move aside!

Remember the jasmine tree that Jo Hyun-Jae planted when he visited Thailand for the fan meeting in July 2008?  Well, it’s been 1 1/2 years and it’s blooming.

Photos below show what it looks like now — in January 2010.

This is how Sir Thomas More (1478 – 1535) — English humanist, scholar, statesman, and Lord Chancellor of England — describes the jasmine:

Plants that wake when others sleep.  Timid jasmine buds that keep their fragrance to themselves all day, but when the sunlight dies away let the delicious secret out to every breeze that roams about.

Does this remind you of Corporal Jo who has to patrol with his army dog at 4 a.m. when the rest of us are all asleep?  And on a metaphorical level, isn’t this a reflection of JHJ who may seem a little too shy and slow to people like Han Chae-Young but who is really a late bloomer whose best is yet to come?  Han has obviously never heard of the Chinese maxim  细水长流, roughly translated as “a tiny stream of water runs longer.”

The Thai fans, in their wisdom, have chosen the appropriate flower for JHJ.  The jasmine tree will grow from strength to strength, as will JHJ.

(Please also see our 2/13/09 post “JHJ’s jasmine tree is blooming” – under Category “JHJ news”.)

(Photos courtesy of johyunjaeThailand.  Thanks!)

2010.06.19…..that’s the scheduled discharge date…..but there is talk of an earlier discharge…..

Thinking about during this one and a half years after Hyun-Jae joined the army, how fans try in their own way or in their own space to spend the time during which the star is not around.

It’s a pity there are some who have left.

Another 160 days…..

Hope there are still many who remain constant in their support of Hyun-Jae.

Atsuhime’s music is very lovely.

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OK, everyone!  2010.06.19  SAVE THE DATE.  We have a date with JHJ!  You’ll still be here, right?  or even there?  at the camp in Pocheon waiting for him to emerge?

(Credit: Param of CarpeDiemJAPAN; cafe.daum.net; hyunjaelove.jp; johyunjae.hk.  Thanks!  Words translated from the original Japanese.)

One day
at a time,

One step
at a time…..

You can make it!

Hope today
Is a very good day for you.

We hope every day is a very good day for Jo Hyun-Jae!  And tomorrow is an even better day!

The video is in Korean and Japanese, so your guess is as good as ours.  It appears 5 Korean actors are shortlisted and this segment promotes Jo Hyun-Jae. 

There are a lot of scenes from “Only You”, followed by an interview in which JHJ discusses the drama.

This video is 10:38 minutes, so simply enjoy!

(And don’t ask us who the other 4 guys are because we neither know nor care, though one of them looks vaguely familiar, fox-like.)

prissymom says she is shocked but not scandalized by “Untold Scandal”.

I finally got the chance to watch “Untold Scandal”.  I was not really scandalized, but I admit I was a bit shocked.  I have this notion that Koreans are a conservative people (based on the Korean dramas I have watched),  but “Untold Scandal” disabused me of that thought!  Nude and sex scenes are aplenty, thankfully Jo Hyun-Jae as Kwon In Ho (KIH) is not required to be in any of those scenes.  Oh yes, JHJ did show some flesh, but I would describe it as chaste compared to the baring that his co-stars did in the movie!

JHJ is perfect for the role of Kwon In Ho — naive, gullible, such an innocent!  A less efficient actor could have turned Kwon In Ho into a pathetic/pitiful character; but JHJ’s great acting had me smiling/laughing at the situations he gets into.  I have three favorite scenes:

1. The scene inside the carriage with Madam Cho.  I love JHJ’s acting towards the end of this scene — apologetic, embarrassed, flustered, aro—d, and yet still keeping that air of innocence and naivete!

2. The scene inside Madam Cho’s bedroom.  This particular scene requires no dialogue from JHJ’s character (actually all 3 characters – Kwon In Ho, Madam Cho and Cho Won – involved in this scene do not have any dialogue), and yet I was able to understand what he is trying to convey in this scene.  The satisfied smile on his face, the confident but almost lazy way he is lounging on the floor, the slight lift of his eyebrows, even the way he holds his head all convey that he believes, truly believes that it is his charms that capture the attention of the much older woman Madam Cho!  While I was watching this scene I couldn’t decide if I should laugh at KIH or pity him for his ignorance.  In the end, I laughed because KIH really looks supremely confident of his manly charms!

3. The crying scene after reading the letter from So Ok (but was actually written by Madam Cho).  JHJ really looks like a heart-broken young man, a young man whose dreams of love have been shattered.

In two of my favorite scenes (1 and 2) JHJ is acting opposite Lee Mi Sook (LMS, Madam Cho).  I wouldn’t categorize their onscreen chemistry as romantic because even if their scenes have sexual/sensual overtones, their onscreen relationship is hardly romantic.  And yet the two (JHJ and LMS) have great chemistry, much more than JHJ has with Lee So Yeon (LSY), or LMS with Bae Yong Jun (BYJ).

Could the chemistry be because of the help extended by the much older LMS to the newbie actor that JHJ was at the time?  (Editor: mentioned by JHJ in an interview.  Please see our 10/16/09 post “60 NGs in ‘Untold Scandal’”.) Whatever the reason for their on-screen rapport, I hope that JHJ and LMS will get the chance to act opposite each other again in the future.

Anyway, JHJ’s role in the film may be short, and he may just be a relative newbie acting alongside big stars, but he didn’t allow these things to get in the way of turning in a superb performance.  JHJ as Kwon In Ho in “Untold Scandal” – perfect role and perfect acting from a perfect actor!!!

Yes, it’s the same EVER mousepad as in our Jan.7 post “New Year present from JHJ.”  BUT it’s not the same one — this is our very own!  From Jo Hyun-Jae!  He wrote: “Happy New Year.”

Our sincerest thanks and gratitude to EVER for giving us this precious souvenir autographed by JHJ.  We’ll share it with all JHJ fans all over the world.

If you ever visit us, or if we ever visit you in your country, you shall have the privilege of seeing and touching this mousepad.  That’s a promise.

We’re going to Seoul to welcome Jo Hyun-Jae out of the army on June 19, 2010.

How many of you are planning to go?

I was there to see him off to join the army on August 5, 2008.  I can tell you it is an unforgettable experience.

Seeing JHJ up close and personal is enough to take your breath away, and yet he is so normal, so natural, so down-to-earth.

Spending a day in the company of other fans and enjoying the comaraderie is heart-warming and fun.

The other day a seasoned JHJ fan tells me that having overseas fans at fan meetings and other functions is considered prestigious for Korean actors/singers.

The Japanese will of course be there, en masse!

How about JHJ fans in other parts of the world?  Will there be a contingent of international fans?

From the comments you left on our blog and e-mails you sent us, we know JHJ has fans in Canada, U.S.A., England, Portugal, Australia, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Myanmar, and, of course, Korea and Japan.

So, how many of you are planning to go to Seoul in June 2010?  Please let us know if you’d like to join us.  It’s not a commitment, don’t worry.  We just want to know roughly how many are going.  And it’s not going to be a tour group as such, and we’re not going to be tour leaders.  But we can get you a seat on the bus to the camp at Pocheon.  If there are fan meetings, we can get you tickets too.

The Korean media reported extensively on JHJ’s send-off in August 2008.  They’ll be there to cover his return in June 2010.  The more fans there are, the more coverage there will be.  And that can only be good for JHJ.

As an overseas fan, you might even get interviewed (as I was in August 2008, even though I tried to hide behind the others.)  I almost died when I saw myself on YOUTUBE!

Those of you who’d like to have a close encounter with JHJ please EITHER leave you name here OR write to us at jhjfans@gmail.com.

(Credit for photo: Name on photo.  Thanks!)

Above is EVER’s T-shirt that Jo Hyun-Jae signed!  Those of you who have the T-shirt please cherish it (even without JHJ’s autograph.)

Below is message on EVER:

Hyun-Jae is helping out with our 2010 New Year celebration activities.

Fans in Korea and outside of Korea have joined in this “Different space, same memory EVERjohyunjae Friendship Event.”  All activities have been carried out most happily, even though it is a little hard, but that part has melted like snow.

It is so unexpected of Hyun-Jae to all of a sudden participate in this.  We are so grateful and thankful to Hyun-Jae for his participation.

Hyun-Jae has always been the centre of our world.  We are together with one heart.  Like us, Hyun-Jae is celebrating along with every one of us.

Hyun-Jae, who will soon be discharged from the military, will repay his fans with his best performance.

Hyun-Jae’s autographed message to his fans who are all waiting the rest of the time is like an unexpected Christmas present and brings us a lot of joy.

Our Hyun-Jae is really so handsome.~~♥♥♥

The weather is so terribly cold.  Even though we are very worried, but we hope he can overcome the arduous training and emerge to see you all again in his healthiest form.

Thanks to Hyun-Jae, we are very grateful for all these blessings.

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현재님께서 2010 신년이벤트에 함께 해주셨습니다.

국내외 팬분들과 다른 공간, 같은 추억을 나누는

Everjohyunjae Friendship Event를 하면서 모두들 너무 즐거워하고 좋아해 주셔서

조금 힘들었던 부분도 눈녹듯이 사라졌었는데

이렇게 현재님까지 깜짝 참여하실 줄은.. ^^;;

함께 해주신 현재님… 정말정말 감사하고 고맙습니다.^^

언제나 우리의 중심에는 현재님이 있었고

늘 마음으로 함께 했던 우리들처럼

현재님도 여러분들과 마음으로 함께 하고 계셨었네요.

팬들에 대한 고마움을 전역후에 좋은 모습으로 보답하겠다던 현재님~

현재님의 자필메시지가 남은시간을 기다리는 팬들에게는

예상치 못한 크리스마스 선물처럼 커다란 기쁨이 될 것입니다.

너무 멋진 우리 현재님~~♥♥♥

날씨가 엄청 추워져서 걱정이지만 -_-;;

힘든 훈련 잘 이겨내시고 건강한 모습으로 만나기를 바랍니다.

현재님 덕분에 행복한 일이 더 많다는 것에 감사합니다.

Two diary entries in one week?  Never knew my life is that eventful!  Nah!  Precisely because nothing ever happens, in my life or JHJ’s (at least during these 1 1/2 years), that I have to find ways to entertain myself and my readers. 

Just got back from mailing your photos/postcards to JHJ (as well as our Dec.26 party photo) to EVER.  Didn’t really feel like going out because it is SO COLD!  But EVER told me they’re going to mail everything (from different countries for “Friendship Event”) to JHJ at mid-January.  So had to brave the cold — this is the coldest winter in my whole life!  -8 degrees Celsius now, even colder tonight and tomorrow.

The normal 10-minute walk took me twice the time because had to be very careful treading on the icy snow.  I was all wrapped up but still felt my feet freezing.  Got to the post office at 11:45 a.m. but found it CLOSED!  Lunch break — 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.!  Who goes to lunch at 11:30 a.m. except civil servants?

What to do?  Couldn’t go home — that would be 20 minutes either way.  Thank God for Starbucks!  Even though I only had a cold sandwich and (thankfully) a hot latte.  Starbucks was very busy today.  The 3 Korean ladies at the next table were talking so animatedly that they must have forgotten they were not in their own living rooms.  The old Japanese couple on the other side were mum — not surprising, considering the man sat down while his old lady waited in line for the two coffees and two sandwiches (one of which she dropped on the way to the table.)  Did he go to help her?  What do you think?

As I was sipping my coffee and looking at my watch (heard of the old saying: “A watched pot never boils”?  Well, let me tell you: “A watched watch never moves!”), suddenly heard JHJ singing “The wind by your side”!  The Korean ladies looked at me and I looked at them.  And then,(delayed reaction!) realized it’s my cell phone.  M helped me set JHJ’s songs as my ringtone when I belatedly found out my cell phone had blue tooth. 

It was B who called from HK to tell me Mr. M has gone berserk!  He has made enemies of several JHJ websites; he leaves messages all over the place berating this person and that person — by name!  If he can read my English, he will be after my blood too.  Mr. M is an enigma; he is the only male fan of JHJ’s that I know.  He patrols various JHJ websites, giving you hell if you don’t credit him correctly.  How could someone like Mr. Jo who is so gentlemanly and considerate attract a fan like that?  Fatal attraction!

I’d forgotten to check number of caller just now; should screen my calls because the day before received another call from overseas.  G was very upset I mentioned her in an earlier post; someone told her I said nasty things about her.  As God is my witness, I never said anything bad about anybody on this blog!  Everything I wrote is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.  I stand by every word I wrote. 

If I say my head is barely attached to my body, do you know what I mean?  If you are a faithful reader of this blog, you will.  If not, never mind.  Just treat this as the ravings of a delusional mind.  I don’t want to change the world; I know I can’t.  I just want the JHJ world to be peaceful, serene, joyful, and loving.  I firmly believe the majority of JHJ fans just want to admire their idol in peace.  Who cares about who’s top dog in the JHJ world?  The alpha female?  LOL!  (Laugh out loud!)

I told my very small circle of JHJ aficionados that we must have tunnel vision — focus on JHJ!  Nothing else matters!  For no reason at all, I suddenly remember a scene in a movie called “The Student Prince” I saw many, many years ago.  Maybe it’s not meant to be funny but it’s hilarious to me.  There are 3 people in this scene:  A complains to B: C is harrassing me.  B to A: Ignore him.  A to C: I ignore you. [End]  I IGNORE YOU! 

Ha! That’s another post!  Musings of a mind under the influence of caffeine (I normally drink decaf.)

(Photo from 2009 JHJ Calendar)