What are your favorite banchan? Particularly ones that can be made ahead of time. I'm having some friends over and don't want to be in the kitchen the whole time they are here! I've made plenty in the past, but always looking for new favorites!

Magazine writer Zeahaa Rehman recently wrote on the demise of North American rom-com genre. Hollywood is not investing in much except blockbuster superhero movies, studio pet projects or animation sequels. As culture writer Elamin Abdelmahmoud wrote earlier this year, Hollywood has “arrived at the nadir of original stories,” capitalizing on audience familiarity to ensure maximum profitability. Rom-coms were made and shown in theaters until 2000 but did not have large box office numbers. Before streaming services existed, those films made revenue through both the initial release of a movie as well as DVD sales. Having two streams of revenue, as Matt Damon explained during his recent appearance on Hot Ones, made it possible for studios to invest in riskier films—like rom-coms—because even if they underperformed at the box office, they could make up for it in DVD sales. Streaming services killed DVD sales and offered only low licensing fees in return, leading studios to stick with films guaranteed to make a profit when widely released in theaters.

Ironically, today the biggest force to push audiences toward K-dramas is the very force that led to the rom-com drought in Hollywood: Netflix. As K-pop’s visibility increased in American pop culture, so did Netflix’s K- drama offerings which were different, well-made and limited series runs that hit a good chord with viewers.

I know streaming services are content consumption monsters that need a steady stream of content to get and retain subscribers. International TV shows are easy to license or adapt for new markets. But the need to feed the beast may create a saturation point of poor dramas, second seasons, etc. which will lead to another change to find a new genre to exploit.

I stumbled upon this little gem and wondered why no one ever shared this on DB. It is a worthy opponent of Bollywood guys!

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CmqOu89IdR_/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

In all fairness, i don’t think the motorcycle was a bearer of doom at all. He was just there, misunderstood with unfortunate timing.

Hello fellow beanies I’m wondering what upcoming dramas you are excited about and why?

There are so many coming out it’s hard to keep track but I think these are the ones I’m most interested in

BAIT:
Watching because of Jang Geun-seok obviously

OUR BLOOMING YOUTH:
I love most of writer Jung Hyun-jung works. They excel at showcasing the complexities of love and I sometimes feel they get stifled when they have to write within the rom com script. One of my favourite works by them was MY FIRST TIME. The male lead didn’t get the girl, tho it was a great coming of age story where he experiences unrequited love. The friendship group was also adorable.

HATE TO LOVE YOU:
I might drop this if it doesn’t capture my interest in the first episode, but how can I say no to Kim Ji-hoon?

HEAVENLY IDOL:
Camp it’s looks so camp and I’m definitely here for it. Also I like both the lead actors, Kim Min-kyu & Go Bo-gyeol

UNLOCKED (movie):
The trailer was very compelling. It’s an interesting concept and very creepy. Also top notch cast

TAXI DRIVER 2:
Lee Je-hoon, Lee Je-hoon, Lee Je-hoon, Lee Je-hoon, Lee Je-hoon & Lee Je-hoon

That’s how many Lee Je-hoon pictures came out on the press release right?

Okay so I don’t want to bring the lively energy from a certain recap comment section which I am honestly too scared to enter. That said, this certain drama gave three examples of co-habitation pet peeves. I’m wondering which one you’d find to be the most offensive?

DISHES:
Dishes are a point of contention in any relationship so it’s a valid pet peeve, but I have a dishwasher so I’m cool with doing the dishes

AIRCON:
Peoples temperatures vary, and thus the aircon temperature setting is also a point of contention, I run hot so yeah this is my biggest pet peeve. I want my aircon sorry climate change (I’ll be better with my recycling)

HOGGING THE TV:
I feel like this would’ve been a pet peeve two decades ago, but now with most people having either a laptop or smartphone, someone hogging the TV doesn’t feel like a big deal. I’d just go another room and watch on my laptop

Chilly winter winds have me longing for spring days! I am looking forward to new episodes for Trolley, Strangers Again, and CCiR. A new fun competition show Physical 100 is pretty cool. Otherwise Im keeping up with weekly Korean variety shows - I have 14 on my watchlist that I currently keep up with. Oh Eun Young’s Report Marriage Hell is the newest, and the feature couples are quite frank. I Am Solo and Battle Trip 2 are my (very) late night watches. Happy weekend! 🦉

Happy weekend Beanies and keep Beaning On!

Still getting used to 2023? It is almost February. Already.

Half January is when new year resolutions usually are dropped, but it seems like I am lucky this year. Until two weeks ago I was bored and restless, but then I started getting struck with motivation and I am milking it as much as I can.💪🏻Suddenly I am working on that essay I kept postponing, scheduling those dreadful appointments, fully booking my weekends until end February and watching three shows.☺️

All it took was bingeing four K-drama episodes one Sunday afternoon, which proves my theory that Beanies are at their best when they watch K-dramas regularly!😁

I wonder if Hollywood lack of imagination is going to last forever or is just a temporary slump.
I feel like I'll go crazy if there's another year where the "favorite" movies are just a bad remake, biography or a wannabe Edgar Wright trying to direct Neon Genesis Evangelion after reading a marvel multiverse fanfiction about east asian stereotypes (yes, I didn't like EEAAO).

I watch old movies, indie movies, and movies from other productions and countries, but I literally have no one to talk about them. The only link I had with other film lovers (friends) was Hollywood. But now I don't feel like watching those movies anymore, especially because even if we talk about them, I just talk about how much I hate them while they look at me like a boring witch because they loved them.

Maybe I'm being over dramatic, but I just feel more and more insulted by Hollywood and I feel like they're destroying one of my favorite things.
If only my friends watched what I recommend them, I probably wouldn't be so salty, since I could just use my energy taking with them about the other films.

Anybody have a recommendation for a low-key (no makjang!) family drama? I'm thinking about something along the lines of Father is Strange or Once Again.

Beanies!!!! Help me!
Can anyone tell me where I can watch ep 13 &14 of Missing: the other side S2?? Both Dramac**l and ki**asian don't have them. What to do???

Wait! Are they not released yet? I thought the series was done already...I am so confused!

Happy Saturday!
Interest of Love, guys.
I was discontent with it the other week. I can't believe it turned into gold.

During Game nights one player around the table started to talk about streaming... and mentionned that he started watching kdrama !
I now have a second real-life accointance that has watched more than one kdrama.
However he does not remember the titles, and was only able to mention Alchemy of souls, Crash landing on you and love alarm.
What was quite fun, is that another person at the table started to talk about her webtoon readings.
Thus when he went "there is another SF story, with the FL able to see the future when she touches someone" we both exclaimed together Kiss 6th sense.
It was fun and strange to talk (not write) about dramas.
Still, they both have difficulties with specifics terms such as chaebol [you can picture me eyerolling] so this will not replace the discussion here soon.

Hello, all:

Am so loving Crash Course in Romance. This is such a sweet romance. I find myself getting very angry at all the intrusive people in the world. If people could just live and let live, life would be beautiful. I think, though, that even if the supreme court said the son wasn't guilty, i think the son killed his mom because he was angry with his mom for being the cause of his sister's suicide, plus the son was also just trying to free himself from his helicopter mom. I really dislike Chiyeolsucks and am wary of the hikkikomori brother. (sorry, i don't know the Korean term for a willful shut-in.) Am not sure if he has something against Chiyeol personally or if he hates what Chiyeol represents. As for the kid who killed himself, I wish the 5th and sixth episodes had shown the grief of his bereaved parents. The story showed how sad the parents were about it but it totally ignored his family. Which was a bit of a mistake, i think. Granted, they did a great job on showing how overwhelmed and depressed our Sen is. I love, love, love it that this show is so human. The characters are so real and our male lead is so fragile and needy. It's an adult romance and so very humanistic. The female lead is so sweet too and the fact that they learn to become friends before they become romantically-involved, it just shows the power of friendship. Our male lead has found a friend, yay!!!!! He really needed it. Our heroine has sacrificed her life to be a mom and now she is finding love. Sooo good. The best slice-of-life romance kdrama this year so far. We see how wonderful life would be if people would chill and accept each other. The show does a great job of showing us that judging people by appearance, class, wealth, looks... is just devastating. Sometimes a big devastation like a suicide, and sometimes a lingering devastation like a depressed teacher whose heart only few can see. Between Alchemy of Souls, The Glory, Crash Course and Bait, it's been a great month for kdramas.

Best Cdramas this season so far: The Knockout, Choice Husband, New Life Begins.

I highly recommend Beyond the Infinite Two minutes J-movie on amazon Prime. a Japanese time travel movie on AmazonPrime. Typical Japanese tongue-in-cheek weirdness. A guy and his friends in his cafe are ahead of themselves in time, by two minutes. I'll just say a lot can happen within the space of two minutes. When it comes to japanese timey-wimey spacey-wacey playful specfic: these five are my favorites, ranging from the tragic to the silly:
You whom i promised never to forget
One cut of the dead.
Rashomon
Beyond the infinite two minutes
My tomorrow, your yesterday
And now I know the Droste Effect and the Bourton-on-the-Water model village
Happy weekend, all.

Oh, Mudeokie, nice to see you again. Time flies, no? Some of us have missed you in these parts.
I’m a bit embarrassed that I’m still smarting over how disappointing the second part of AoS turned out to be despite some lovely moments. I know, I know. I’ve told myself to move on too.

I’ve been watching “My country” and it is wonderful despite being soul-crashingly sad at times. So worth staying with it though but I can’t binge it.

And, “Flower Crew” which is a weird show. The evolution of some characters seem inexplicable in a realistic sense and others show bad judgment throughout but the main leads have chemistry and that’s the main life blood of this drama. And, the hanboks the crew are wearing. Some are dazzlingly gorgeous. Worth staying just for these silk/silk looking beauties move and flutter about.