There have been so many rumors upon rumors circulating for so long about Ha Ji-won starring in upcoming romantic comedy The King, and new reports are out that she’s finally confirmed the role. But with this drama, I’ll believe it when I see it. And right on the tail of her casting report, a new name got tossed out for a possible leading man in Cha Seung-won, who’s reportedly considering the role carefully. I swear, this drama just needs to pick a cast already. I vote for this pair. Can we start filming now?

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Read the rest of Ha Ji-won and Cha Seung-won in The King? (236 words)

© girlfriday for Dramabeans, 2012. | Permalink | 105 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Cha Seung-won, Ha Ji-won

Oh, MBC. I can always count on you for some awards-time whatthefuckery. Three years ago it was split Daesangs (daesang = Grand Prize), giving the same award to Kim Myung-min and Song Seung-heon and doubling awards in every category. Two years ago, there were more split awards, and last year we had the bizarre “Character Daesangs” (“Crude Language Award,” “Hot Temper Award,” and so forth).

This year, no actors were forced to share the Daesang…because it basically went to a drama instead. What the what? (Last year, Drama of the Year was a viewers’ pick award. This year it took the place of the Daesang, even if it wasn’t officially called one.)

Part of what makes MBC such a weird award in my opinion is that they never seem to know what they’re doing. If you’re going to make weird categories a thing, then stick with it — but if you’ll compare past years with each other, you’ll see that they keep changing things around. It makes them seem desperate, scrambling to appease everyone. Add to that the fact that in recent years, MBC has typically had the weakest drama performances of the three broadcast stations (remember when MBC was the Drama Kingdom?). So with weak competition, you get awards being doled out to some middling dramas, while others are overlooked entirely.

It must be noted that these awards are hardly ever based strictly on merit. They’re given out by the broadcaster, so they’re more a measure of which dramas and stars they want to thank/bribe/flatter. It’s partially a popularity contest, and partially politicking; it’s a given that the big ratings hits will rake in a lion’s share of awards. I still reserve the right to gripe about their choices.

You’ll see that this year, the broadcaster has once again introduced new categories and done away with others. They’ve gotten a lot of flak in past years for splitting awards, so this year they haven’t split many… because instead, they split award categories, which essentially achieves the same thing. Oh, MBC, always trying to please everyone and therefore pleasing no one. Maybe you’ll get a decent hit in 2012.

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Read the rest of 2011 MBC Drama Awards (1,593 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2011. | Permalink | 119 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: awards, Cha Seung-won, Gong Hyo-jin, Honey Lee, Hwang Jung-eum, Ji Hyun-woo, Jo Yoon-hee, Jung Bo-seok, Kim Hyun-joo, Kim Jae-won, Kim Jung-tae, Lee Bo-young, Micky Yoochun, Nam Goong-min, Park Yoo-hwan, Shin Aera, Yoon Tae-young

Will Cha Seung-won be returning to dramaland as Doctor McSwoony? (Though I really want to name him Doctor McMustache…) The action-drama heavyweight who transformed into comical leading man in this year’s hit rom-com Best Love may be making a quick foray back to television, this time as a doctor in the medical drama The Third Ward. Cha did once reject the offer to star in THE medical k-drama, 2007′s White Tower, which everyone seems to be mentioning as some kind of wrong that needs to be righted.

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Read the rest of Cha Seung-won considers medical drama (216 words)

© girlfriday for Dramabeans, 2011. | Permalink | 69 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Cha Seung-won

The 16th Busan International Film Festival opened on October 6, and the red carpet to the opening screening — So Ji-sub and Han Hyo-joo’s tragic romance Only You — was awash with stars.

(For those of you used to seeing the festival called PIFF, it recently changed its spelling. The festival is in its 16th year and began back when the city was spelled Pusan. The spelling of the southern city officially changed to Busan in 2000, but the festival kept its former spelling, which naturally led to some confusion. Yeah, the Korean romanization system changes hasn’t been the most easy to follow.)

It’s been a while since we’ve had a big, star-packed red carpet, but this reminds me that we’re heading into awards season, and will soon be seeing lots of events like this. Which means, lots and lots of red carpets to ooh over, or, as the case may be, snark.

There were some questionable outfits (always fun), but overall I really like what I saw, even if there was an overwhelming trend toward leg slits Up To There and a good amount of side-boob. But the colors! Yay for colors!

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Read the rest of 16th Busan International Film Festival’s opening red carpet (1,347 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2011. | Permalink | 158 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Byun Jung-soo, Cha Seung-won, Daniel Choi, Eom Ji-won, film festivals, Go Soo, Gu Hye-sun, Han Hyo-joo, Hong Su-ah, Hwang Woo-seul-hye, Jang Dong-gun, Ji Sung, Jung Seok-won, Kang Hye-jung, Kang So-ra, Kang Ye-won, Kim Dong-wan, Kim Haneul, Kim Min-joon, Kim Sae-ron, Kim Sun-ah, Lee Beom-soo, Lee Je-hoon, Min Hyo-rim, Nam Sang-mi, Park Jin-hee, Park Ye-jin, So Ji-sub, Sung Yuri, Wang Ji-hye, Yeh Ji-won, Yoo Ah-in, Yoo Inna, Yoon Jin-seo

LOL. They really did it! Dokko Jin did say that he’d move in on Seung-gi’s CF territory if he didn’t help get Gu Ae-jung on Steel Heart, and now it looks like he’ll be sharing the limelight (and hugs!) as a result. Capitalizing on the meta brilliance of the Hong Sisters’ drama Best Love, Samsung has actually brought Cha Seung-won onboard to guest star in one of Lee Seung-gi‘s refrigerator CFs. (He’s their main brand model, so he has an entire series of these.) There’s so much drama-meta-meets-fiction-meets-reality that I don’t know what’s what, but it cracks me up.

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Read the rest of Dokko Jin moves in on Seung-gi’s refrigerator CF (386 words)

© girlfriday for Dramabeans, 2011. | Permalink | 103 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: CFs, Cha Seung-won, Lee Seung-gi

They had me at pig rabbit…or wait…was it the rabbit pig? The hybrid lovechild doll born out of Tae Kyung (Jang Geun-Seok) and Mi-Nam’s (Park Shin-Hye) puppy love in the hit drama You’re Beautiful had me looking at the Hong Sisters in a fresh new light.

It was just this past winter when I was first introduced to their sweet and often zany sense of humor while watching My Girl, starring Lee Dong-Wook and Lee Da-hae, while laid up in bed with a cold for 3 days. Although I thought the rom-com to be cute, sassy and funny, it wasn’t until You’re Beautiful and My Girlfriend Is a Gumiho that I was hooked…line and sinker. I mean come on, how could one not be hooked after Shin Mina’s first outburst of Woong-ahh~!

With the recent completion of their latest MBC hit drama, Best Love, it seems as though the sisters have done it again. The adorable paring of Dokko Jin and Dding-dong will forever remain on my list as one of the best couples Hong sisters have ever created. Even with Best Love now over, the viewers are still riding the aftermath of the “Dokko wave” and don’t seem to want to let go of the drama. The ever-busy Hong sisters sat down for an interview to speak about their latest mega hit, and what other projects they may up their sleeve for the future to keep feeding our addiction for the dramas we just can’t seem to get enough of…so let’s get started!

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Read the rest of Fabulous Hong sisters sit down for an interview (823 words)

© sassychef for Dramabeans, 2011. | Permalink | 68 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Best Love, Cha Seung-won, Gong Hyo-jin, Hong sisters, interviews, Yoon Kye-sang

It’s over! Did Best Love topple my long-standing No. 1 from the top of my personal Hong Sisters favorites list? Maybe not, but it did give the list a pretty decent shakeup.

As a straight-up episode, this one was admittedly light on drama — but as an epilogue, it’s one of the better ones I’ve seen in a while. (Coffee Prince will forever be a big ol’ letdown, falling flat in its final hour thanks to that unnecessary extension, while Boys Before Flowers also ranks high for awkward fast-forward jumps.) And it’s definitely one of the better Hong sisters epilogues, given that they usually make the couple angst through the end, giving them about ten minutes of happy at the end. I’ll take an hour of hugs, kisses, and declarations of love over that any day.

SONG OF THE DAY

4men – “수수께끼” (Riddle) [ Download ]

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Read the rest of Best Love: Episode 16 (Final) (4,492 words)

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Post tags: Best Love, Cha Seung-won, featured, Gong Hyo-jin, Yoo Inna, Yoon Kye-sang

The bad news: there’s a time jump, sapping all the dramatic tension out of the surgery. Boo. The good news: still cute as ever, of course. Because I suppose in the end, it was never about whether he lives or dies, but how their love will survive in the real world. It just feels a little ass-backwards, in the whole gain-momentum-towards-the-finish-line school of thought, because last week was the height of drama, and now we’re back down to Earth. I feel like someone reshuffled the order of the episodes on me, when I wasn’t looking. Are you Episode 12, masquerading as 15? You know I’m terrible at math.

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Read the rest of Best Love: Episode 15 (3,778 words)

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Post tags: Best Love, Cha Seung-won, featured, Gong Hyo-jin, Yoo Inna, Yoon Kye-sang

OMG. Seriously, you guys have to watch this. It has got to be the best parody mash-up ever. At least the funniest. It’s Best Pasta, a combination of Best Love and Pasta, using Gong Hyo-jin of course as the connecting thread… only what starts as a macho contest between Dokko Jin (Cha Seung-won) and Chef (Lee Seon-kyun) ends up as a burgeoning love between the two heroes. LOVE IT. They are officially my favorite new couple.

The alternaverse starts out as both guys realize the existence of the other in Gu Ae-jung’s life, asking who the other guy is and throwing childish tantrums, as both men are known for doing. So then Dokko Jin starts researching this Chef guy to see what the competition is like, only his heart starts racing, and he doesn’t know why. Chef moons over losing the girl, and meanwhile Dokko Jin shows up to La Sfera and starts stalking him, even though he’s told to get lost.

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Read the rest of Best Love / Pasta mash-up, birth of a new power couple (223 words)

© girlfriday for Dramabeans, 2011. | Permalink | 191 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Best Love, Cha Seung-won, Gong Hyo-jin, Lee Seon-kyun, Pasta

How can every new episode be the best episode ever? It seems statistically improbable, but here we are, beating the odds. And though I promised myself I wouldn’t cry, I broke like a dam of tissue paper against Niagara. Damn you, Drama!

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Read the rest of Best Love: Episode 14 (4,303 words)

© girlfriday for Dramabeans, 2011. | Permalink | 341 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Best Love, Cha Seung-won, featured, Gong Hyo-jin, Yoo Inna, Yoon Kye-sang