Review: Wolf- EXO

IS THIS WHAT TOOK A YEAR TO PRODUCE?!

EXO are back after a year with their first album XOXO (I see what you did there) and lo and behold! A feisty title track...which I'm very disappointed in.

Exotics, admit it, the song is a bit of a hot mess. From the lyrics to the mish mash of disjointed sound that makes it awkward, it's a song that's meant to woo the ladies into "forbidden love" with a beast but the odd autotuned "Saranghaeyo" is just so annoying, why is it there? That's not sexy at all Exo! 

As with most standard SM videos, our darlings are placed in a box, from the teasers we're meant to have a drama version in which the wolves are let out and into the real world (hooray for drama videos!). Another thing is that for this round of promotions there isn't Exo-M or Exo-K, we just have Exo as all twelve perform together. One thing that does happen is that some members are sidelined for example Lay, Sehun, Suho and Xiumin. Kai doesn't get many parts but you still see him flinging his cornrows at the front. Despite this, I kind of like Exo performing as one, it's nice to see the Korean members' attempt of the song in Chinese and vice versa, it's cute. 

One thing about this dance version of the music video is the dance itself. Ok, I get that the song is called Wolf and you have the whole "I'm a Wolf awooooo" line but you really do not need to keep emphasising that with the wolf ears move that actually looks like you're doing gwiyomi player... I just find some parts of the dance silly, but I guess the boys really got into playing wolves...just like how they kept on talking about their super powers.

I just can't wait till the full album drops because we get to hear this in full:

Meanwhile, I'll just leave you with my future husband Kris.

OK KRIS SPAM DONE.

Review: The Baddest Female- CL

GURL U SO BAD

So the baddest chick in Korea has finally made her solo debut and makes us "Do the Unnie".

First things off, I love the video, it reminds me of G-Dragon's "One of a Kind" with her backup dancers and the cross dressing. CL is the female counterpart of GD, all she needs now are t-shirts with "Do the Unnie" printed on them, et voila!

The latter part of the video has a nineties or holiday feel to it, and I like seeing CL around children, it's like the baddest female in Korea has a soft spot and shows a contrast from the CL we saw in the earlier part of the video when she bares golden fangs. I like that she's able to show herself in her music video, even with the many comparisons you can make with "One of A Kind". 

The styling is colourful and of course, with a lot of Chrome Hearts jewellery and Jeremy Scott goods, I mean, how can she not have that, she's his muse! On a side note, there are cameos by Taeyang and GD (both with bad hair), why is GD not wearing any pants?

Though I may love the video, the song isn't what I expected from one of the best female rappers in Korea. Whilst some bits are definitely catchy, especially when we have to get down and do the unnie, I feel that this isn't up there with her releases with 2NE1 or with the releases of the YG Family. With a song that claims to define the "Baddest Female", CL definitely should've had a song that was stronger and more in-your-face.

Nevertheless, do the unnie, hey, do the unnie~

The Great Gatsby- Ain't No Party Like A Gatsby Party.

Oh Baz, old sport. What have you done.

Expect drop waist dresses to come into fashion again, Baz Lurhmann's adaptation of The Great Gatsby features beautiful costumes and visual delights is finally out after it's delayed December release. 

I must say, no matter how wonderful the visuals were, it also made me feel as if I've been drunk or on an acid trip. Funnily enough Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire) had that same wide-eyed and drunken with glee expression throughout the film, even though he didn't drink as much as everyone in Jay Gatsby's (Leonardo Di Caprio) parties. Much of it was done on the green screen and it all just seems surreal and dream like. Then again the movie is narrated in retrospect as we open with Maguire in a madhouse as he is now a recovering alcoholic...according to Luhrmann. Whilst it may not be accurate to the novel, well since when were film adaptations ever were, I feel that Lurhmann made this film lacking in something.

 Luhrmann's adaptation is superfluous with over the top parties and pageantry (which is an understatement, I wish I was rich enough to have parties like that) the amount of emotion in the story is weak against the frenzy of the surrounding environment. This lack of emotion makes the film feel like an empty dream that lasted a very very long 143 minutes. 

Like I said, the costumes were fantastic, the cast was wonderful, however I felt that the way in which they were directed didn't allow for their talents to be used, especially Di Caprio, but come on, its Leonardo Di Caprio. 

I MEAN LOOK AT THE OLD SPORT.

Now let's talk about the soundtrack. Oh Jay Z, why did you allow Mrs Carter to cover Amy Winehouse's Back to Black?! WHY?!

Whilst I appreciated the effort of adding a modern touch to a classic, I felt that the soundtrack was cringe worthy, you can't Charleston to dubstep, it just doesn't work. I think the only contributions to the soundtrack that I appreciated were from Lana Del Rey and Florence and the Machine. The soundtrack by itself is nice to listen to (except that cover of Back to Black which should never exist) but when you hear it with all the commotion on the screen, again it feels like an acid trip.

After watching it, a woman asked me how I felt after that screening and we both agreed that Gatsby, whilst being a headache inducing treat for the eyes, was not great. 

Sorry, old sport.

Review: 2PM- A.D.T.O.Y

They would be my dream Chippendales team.  Just saying.

I'm not a big fan of 2PM but they are big enough stars in Korea that you're probably living under a rock as a K-Pop fan if you don't know them. I have to say this is instantly my favourite song by them- EVER. Their last release "Hand's Up" was a 5/10 from me but this. Oh. Hello boys.

The mv is so nicely done, it reminds me of what their female counterparts the Wonder Girls could've done for a sexy version of "Be My Baby"...if that was ever possible. I think in general I just love black and white music videos. Also the nice little plot where they all get played by a lady with very nice tattoos (which is me in the future btw (I wish)) nice, nice. The actual content, with the boys of 2PM frolicking in beds and almost having hot sex was very nicely done too.

The music soo matched the video (praise the lord) and the choreography was great. Except for that hip action that looks a bit too feminine, you know what I mean right? I just wish they would perform this live soon because I wouldn't mind watching it from Thursday to Sunday for four weeks. I'd be a very happy girl.

Whoever put a turtleneck on Chansung should just be fired. 

Let me just keep listening to this gem till I get sick of it.

Thanks for stopping by!

M

Review: T-ara N4- Jeo Won Diary (Countryside Life)

Harlem shake anyone?

As with most T-ara videos, there's a drama version and a dance version. So in this post I will talk about the dance version. Watching the drama version will be quite worthwhile because the girls are actually quite comical whereas the dance version is what K-Pop fans are used to.

After the Hwayoung scandal, I think this is a nice way to get back up from T-ara's fall from grace, though there wasn't much anyway, just saying. Especially with Jiyeon's habit of deadfacing and constant line-up changes. I mean, wasn't Dani supposed to debut last year?

There seems to be a trend with K-pop where the videos have to be super saturated with colour. 4minute's recent video is just a nightmare for the colour blind and so is this one. It's made worse by the annoying editing that can cause epilepsy which reminds me of their "dance" video for "Day by Day". If I keep seeing choppy editing, I'm just gonna flip.

Like most T-ARA dances, they're fairly easy to remember and do. Well at least to some extent. I like the dance, it's just as fun as the dance for "Lovey Dovey" which had the shuffle. T-ara likes to take current dance trends, and in this release, we have the harlem shake. Nicely done ladies.

I love the outfits in this video except the basketball and leggings ensemble. I still can't get over that. I also like the song, but it's not amazing. I usually download T-Ara's songs because I can dance to it and pretend I'm a kpop star. That makes me sound sad... but it's fun!