Dramabeans » Bae Yong-joon

Dream High: Episode 4

girlfriday — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 05:23:43 +0000

Hello, new crack! I’m totally loving this drama right now, and I don’t even know if it’s at all logical, because it’s very by-the-book, in terms of what we expect will happen in an underdog-success story. But…it’s just so earnest, and cute, and strangely suspenseful. I honestly wasn’t expecting this drama to get this good after the first week, but this episode totally hooked me.

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Read the rest of Dream High: Episode 4 (3,552 words)

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Post tags: Bae Yong-joon, Dream High, featured, Ham Eun-jung, Jang Woo-young, Kim Soo-hyun, Suzy, Taecyeon

Dream High: Episode 3

javabeans — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 04:55:53 +0000

You know, this show may be kind of predictable, but I’m liking it so far, with the cute characters and underdog setup that you know is manufactured for you to pull for certain characters but can’t help falling for every time. At least that’s how it is for me.

And despite my gloating to girlfriday about winning our epic battle of inflated hopes, that doesn’t mean I don’t like Dream High, since I think it’s easy to watch and, from a cinematography standpoint, super pretty to look at.

SONG OF THE DAY

Dream High OST – “Maybe” by Sunye [ Download ]

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Read the rest of Dream High: Episode 3 (3,536 words)

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Post tags: Bae Yong-joon, Dream High, featured, Ham Eun-jung, Jang Woo-young, Kim Hyun-joong, Kim Soo-hyun, Suzy, Taecyeon

Joo Ji-hoon signs with Keyeast

girlfriday — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 18:56:12 +0000

He’s not due out of the army until November of this year, but it looks like Joo Ji-hoon (Goong, Antique Bakery) is already preparing for his comeback. Army duty can do a lot to wash a slate clean; it’s the Korean equivalent of earning your stripes as a man, and when your public image is tainted, it does the double duty of serving as penance for crimes committed.

Joo has signed with Keyeast, Bae Yong-joon‘s management company, joining the likes of Kim Hyun-joong, Lee Na-young, Choi Kang-hee, and Lee Jia, just to name a few. I know it’s a management company’s job, and Bae Yong-joon is as much a brand name as it is a person, but I have this strange image in my mind of Bae Yong-joon collecting stars like little playthings. Perhaps his role in Dream High is coloring my impression. But if that drama’s confirmed one thing for me, it’s that Bae should stick to being the behind-the-scenes puppetmaster. There is no denying this man’s brilliance in turning stardom into cold hard cash, but his performance leaves a lot to be desired. And I say this having been on the bandwagon in the nineties. It just…ain’t 1998 anymore, is it?

Regardless, it’s all good things for Joo Ji-hoon fans, who can expect a fully-manned comeback, with lots of press and a slew of new projects. Time to start making your wish lists for the drama gods.

Via Seoul NTN

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Dream High: Episode 2

girlfriday — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 04:33:21 +0000

So far, I like. It’s not So You Think You Can Dance, the drama version, (and someone please get on that, stat) but it shows promise to become something like it, so I like what I’ve seen thus far. It’s actually got a healthy dose of drama-comedy-song-and-dance, though I’d like a little more of the song and dance, and well, I could stand for more comedy in everything.

I think the drama is still finding its footing, and the performances are uneven (with some of the worst by veterans, whereas the newbies are holding up okay in contrast), but there’s two crucial things I like about it at the outset: the premise, and the tone. I do trust that this drama will do one thing, and one thing well—deliver on its setup of dreamers-to-stars in a satisfying way. Whether or not the performances will hold up is another story, but what the hell, let’s dream high, shall we?

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Read the rest of Dream High: Episode 2 (2,751 words)

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Post tags: Bae Yong-joon, Dream High, featured, Ham Eun-jung, Jang Woo-young, Kim Hyun-joong, Kim Soo-hyun, Suzy, Taecyeon

Dream High: Episode 1

javabeans — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 04:45:10 +0000

An uneven beginning, but one that got progressively better as the hour advanced. (To be honest, I was feeling that dull sense of bored disappointment halfway through, but at the 45-minute mark things picked up, and the last five minutes had my curiosity stirred and hopes rising. Things take an interesting turn.)

I’m not ready to make a decision yet, because the plot pieces are just getting put into place, and the stuff that draws me to this drama — the school, young aspirants working toward their dream, the rivalries — has barely even gotten any screen time. And yes, I suspect that if you were to decide based on the first half-hour, a lot of people might check out, but that’s mostly necessary background maneuvering; it’s really when they move to the school that things pick up.

[Watch the series at DramaFever]

SONG OF THE DAY

Dream High OST – “Dream High” by cast members Ok Taecyeon, Jang Woo-young, Suzy [ Download ]

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Read the rest of Dream High: Episode 1 (3,987 words)

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Post tags: Bae Yong-joon, Dream High, Eom Ki-joon, featured, first episodes, Ham Eun-jung, Jang Woo-young, Kim Hyun-joong, Kim Soo-hyun, Lee Yoon-ji, Suzy, Taecyeon

Bae Yong-joon’s book to be published overseas

girlfriday — Sun, 12 Sep 2010 12:31:26 +0000

Bae Yong-joon‘s travel-essay book on Korean culture has been a bestseller in both Korea and Japan since its release a year ago. Now he’s launching a Taiwanese publication, and preparing for a release in China as well as an English translation.

Bae’s Journey in Search of Korea’s Beauty went through 13 re-printings within a month of its release, skyrocketing it to the bestseller list right away. Not a surprise, considering Bae’s superstar status in Korea and Japan. The man’s pretty much a god in Japan.

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Read the rest of Bae Yong-joon’s book to be published overseas (119 words)

Dream High scheduled for winter premiere

javabeans — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 17:00:22 +0000

Dream High is the name of a drama project that has been in the works for a while now, and after stalling a bit in the planning stages, it is finally now a go for KBS. The project drew some early buzz for the big names behind its production, namely Keyeast (Bae Yong-joon‘s company), JYP Entertainment (Park Jin-young‘s company), and CJ Media.

The drama takes place at an arts high school and features students pursuing dancing, singing, and acting. Not terribly unlike the university-based What’s Up or, to a lesser extent, The Musical. I wouldn’t say that all these dramas are copying each other because they’ve all been in planning for so long — and they’re hardly the first that take this theme — but I do think there’s something of a zeitgeist factor that has them all coming out in the same season. It’ll be interesting to see how they compare with each other.

According to the chief of KBS’s drama department, they decided in a meeting to air Dream High at the end of the year or early next year. Next up, they’ll be holding open auditions and heading into production. The drama plans to cast both actors and idol-group members, as well as new faces.

Via Mk.co.kr

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© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2010. | Permalink | 20 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Bae Yong-joon, Dream High, JYP

Bae Yong-joon’s drama canceled

javabeans — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 20:39:04 +0000

Bad news for fans anticipating his comeback: Bae Yong-joon‘s drama Drops of God has been dropped due to several production issues. A source with the production company Keyeast, of which Bae is a major shareholder, said on December 5, “Even if the drama were to be produced, it would be difficult to keep up the level of quality.”

One of the problems facing the production is the issue of product placement; the names of famous wines are not allowed to be used, which is problematic since the original makes many references to real brands. The Keyeast rep explained many of their people argued that it would ruin the effect if fake names were used, and they would not be able to achieve the quality level they are striving for.

In August 2008, Keyeast had bought the rights to the popular wine-themed Japanese manga, written by Tadashi Agi (a pseudonym for the writing team). In fact, the writers are said to be fans of Yonsama and had modeled their character Tomine Issei after him. However, now Bae Yong-joon will have to push back his drama comeback, which would have been his first acting role since 2007′s Legend.

Via My Daily

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© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2010. | Permalink | 22 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Bae Yong-joon, manhwa adaptations

Yonsama’s Journey in Search of Korea’s Beauty

javabeans — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 20:38:44 +0000

Bae Yong-joon, or Yonsama, has finally revealed the Korea-related book he has been preparing for many months, called Journey in Search of Korea’s Beauty.

In order to gather information to incorporate into his book exploring traditional Korean culture, Bae Yong-joon spent over a year traveling the country to research various topics; for instance, his first step was to visit countryside villages to learn the process for making kimchi in the traditional method.

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Read the rest of Yonsama’s Journey in Search of Korea’s Beauty (197 words)

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Post tags: Bae Yong-joon, books, star extracurricular activities

Legend to be remade for movie audiences

javabeans — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 02:23:42 +0000

Kind of. The “Yonsama”-led (Bae Yong-joon) 2007 drama Legend [태왕사신기] will be getting a newly edited version to be released in Japanese cinemas.

This “New Edition” will be cut into four movie-length parts and given a theatrical run. If each movie is approximately two hours long, the total eight hours will yield a condensed version of the drama’s 24 original episodes. The new edition will be arranged into the following four themes (and possible titles): Thousand-year Love, Crossed Fates, Omens of Farewell, and Impossible Love. The first will be released next spring, and tickets will begin to go on sale this fall (this fall?!).

As we know, the Japanese love Yonsama, and the fusion historical-fantasy Legend did well both in Korea and in Japan, so perhaps there’s still interest in this kind of project. I think it’s a great idea in theory, and perhaps it’s more commercially viable than I’m thinking. Legend has actually been screened in theaters before, back in 2007, and the 12 two-hour segments showed all 24 of the drama’s episodes. It was reportedly fairly popular.

A New Edition may actually turn out something quite interesting, because editing is a powerful tool and I’d be keen on watching a version of Legend with a tighter story and shorter running time.

Via Now News

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