The new romantic comedy film Love Fiction starring Gong Hyo-jin (Best Love) and Ha Jung-woo (The Client) is getting ready to premiere in February, and has released posters and a teaser trailer. It looks so cute, and I can’t wait to see their adorable chemistry in action. The movie’s being touted as a “Male Bridget Jones,” which doesn’t sound at all like a bad thing. The story tracks the hero’s bumbling journey through modern dating, which turns out to be a lot harder than he thought.

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Read the rest of Gong Hyo-jin’s Love Fiction releases trailer and posters (251 words)

© girlfriday for Dramabeans, 2012. | Permalink | 35 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Gong Hyo-jin, Ha Jung-woo

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

Huh — did you know Gong Hyo-jin and Jung Il-woo were good friends? Me neither. But thanks to their friendship, we get this special cameo by Gong in tomorrow’s episode of Flower Boy Ramyun Shop.

This particularly tickles my fancy given that this drama started out as an updated version of Biscuit Teacher Star Candy, which is where Gong Hyo-jin played a young teacher and Gong Yoo was her Cha Chi-soo. Kind of. (Ramyun Shop definitely diverged in its own direction after a few episodes of the school-centric, Biscuit Teacher-esque setup.)

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Read the rest of Gong Hyo-jin cameos in Flower Boy Ramyun Shop (203 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2011. | Permalink | 48 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Flower Boy Ramyun Shop, Gong Hyo-jin

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)

© girlfriday for Dramabeans, 2011. | Permalink | 182 comments | Add to del.icio.us
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

I’m sort of in love with how the metaphors have blossomed (ooh, metaphor!) by this point. Rather than just sprouting up in haphazard patterns, they’ve actually managed to work their way together and grown into a whole new thing, proving that the sum is indeed greater than the sum of its parts.

SONG OF THE DAY

Baek Ji-young – “아이캔`t 드링크” (I Can’t Drink) [ Download ]

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Read the rest of Best Love: Episode 13 (4,666 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2011. | Permalink | 309 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Best Love, Cha Seung-won, featured, Gong Hyo-jin, Yoo Inna, Yoon Kye-sang

This time it’s Beauty and the Beast, starring Dokko Jin as both Beauty AND Beast. Sigh. You really are the most beastly princess who ever doth grace this land. It’s a wonder how you keep from swooning at your own reflection. Oh wait. You don’t.

The 30 Days begin, potatoes grow, and everyone gets a bit handsy, though it’s not who you think. A little bromance on the side never hurt anyone, right?

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Read the rest of Best Love: Episode 12 (3,588 words)

© girlfriday for Dramabeans, 2011. | Permalink | 375 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Best Love, Cha Seung-won, featured, Gong Hyo-jin, Yoo Inna, Yoon Kye-sang