We’re given hints at the potential conflicts of a few more characters, but as usual, what we get are crumbs. In attempting to give too many characters adequate screentime, you end up shafting everybody; it would have been vastly more effective to establish rapport with two or three kids, then work in the support crew. What we get instead is a lot of flimsy storylines, none of which have found purchase because they’ve been given no chance to connect with us.

I think there’s promise in what today’s episode gives us, but I fear it may be too little, too late.

SONG OF THE DAY

Jinwoon – “걸어온다” which Yoo-jin played in the street in yesterday’s episode.
[ Download ]

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Post tags: Dream High 2, featured, Ji-yeon, Jung Jin-woon, Kang So-ra, Kim Jung-tae

It’s time to set up rivalries all around, but to be honest, I found myself struggling to care in this episode, though it did pick up somewhat in the latter half. Most of the hour was spent rehashing conflicts we already knew about, though the rivalry between Hae-sung and Ri-an has hints of promise and might take an interesting turn. And we do get our first glimpse at one pair’s romantic sparks, which probably saved this episode for me.

Dream High 2 isn’t faring very well in the ratings, dropping with each episode from 10 to 9 down to 7.2% with this episode. Light and Shadow led the timeslot with 16.8%, and Salaryman came in at 14.6%.

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Post tags: Dream High 2, featured, Ji-yeon, Jung Jin-woon, Kang So-ra, Kim Jung-tae

It feels sorta familiar, and yet totally different. That’s probably a good thing for a franchise show, because you want the brand to be recognizable, but who wants to see the same thing all over again?

That said, there are certain things Dream High 2 does differently than its predecessor which work for this season, and certain things that I think lose sight of what made the first one so endearing. Hint: It wasn’t the musical numbers (which were often great fun to watch) or the singing performance (which featured nice idol voices) or even the acting (which was great in some cases, spotty in others). It was the characters and the realness of their emotions, their connections, and their fighting spirit.

Thankfully, there are a few characters I love, and whenever the drama focuses on them and their central issues, I’m all onboard. But the show also has a tendency to flit from character to character like it’s got the attention span of a flea, and that gets in the way of establishing a solid connection. I hope this season doesn’t forget its heart, because Dream High without heart is just… one long music video.

SONG OF THE DAY

Toxic, singing what is probably titled “Dreaming” although that hasn’t been confirmed yet. This is today’s ending song and it’s apparently a version of Kim Soo-hyun’s “Dreaming” from the Season 1 soundtrack… which you totally cannot hear in the melody, but the lyrics are 99% the same. [ Download ]

Kim Soo-hyun – “Dreaming” from the Dream High 1 OST. [ Download ]

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Post tags: Dream High 2, featured, Ji-yeon, Jung Jin-woon, Kang So-ra, Kim Jung-tae

It’s time to Dream Higherererer with a whole new cast of characters, and a whole new universe as well. As it turns out Season 2 is no dummy – we don’t just pick up where we left off, or reboot to square one with the same narrative and a different cast. Phew. One bullet dodged.

We get a twist right off the bat that brings Kirin down a peg or twenty, and find out that the trajectory for Season 2 is to revive the place where dreams begin – it’s going to be about saving the school as much as it will be about each individual character. This time K really is for Kirin – the school itself.

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Post tags: Dream High 2, featured, first episodes, Ji-yeon, Jung Jin-woon, Kang So-ra, Kim Jung-tae

Another round of Variety Roulette is here!

This time we tackle We Got Married, the show where stars pretend to be newlyweds in front of the camera. It’s a show that girlfriday watches regularly but which I’ve only caught in snippets, never watching a full episode from start to finish. It takes some getting used to the premise when you’re entering it cold, but hey, that’s the name of the Variety Roulette game, right?

SONG OF THE DAY

Super Junior – “Walkin’” [ Download ]

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Post tags: Donghae, Eunhyuk, featured, Ham Eun-jung, Kang So-ra, Kyuhyun, Lee Jang-woo, Leeteuk, Sohn Eun-seo, Super Junior

We’ve had teaser stills and other images, but here’s the first official poster for Dream High 2, the aspiring-idols-with-dreamin’-hearts-and-dancing-feet drama hoping to match the original series’ popularity.

Looks like Kang So-ra and idol-turned-actor Jung Jin-woon are the underdogs, if we’re going by the poster, with the top dogs looking down on them (literally). They are, from left to right, Sistar’s Hyo-rin, JB (who’s giving me some serious Taecyeon vibes), Park Seo-jun, and T-ara’s Ji-yeon.

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Read the rest of Dream High 2′s official poster released (283 words)

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Post tags: Dream High 2, Ji-yeon, Kang So-ra, Kim Jung-tae

girlfriday: So Dream High 2 finally has its cast! I can’t say I know any of them other than Kang Sora, but I loved her in Sunny. She’s simultaneously badass and cute. I love it.

javabeans: She was bubbly in Dr. Champ, too, as the girl who got all handsy with Jung Kyeo-woon.

girlfriday: Yeah she ran around calling him Buttocks!

javabeans: I suppose she’s the “actor”-actor of the bunch, while the rest look like they’re idols.

girlfriday: Yeah, along with T-ara’s Ji-yeon who confirmed earlier, we’ve got Jung Jin-woon (2AM) and Hyorin (SISTAR). That makes her the Kim Soo-hyun of Dream High 2, or what I’m going to call it from now on: Dream Higher.

javabeans: Not Dream Again?

girlfriday: Dream Bigger?

javabeans: Dream On?

girlfriday: Ha. I think that one’s got a slightly different ring to it. But I’d watch that drama.

javabeans: That would be funny if they were all unsuccessful and/or has-beens.

girlfriday: Like the D-list idols.

javabeans: The ones who refuse to give up on their dreams, because that’s what all the dramas tell you to do, only… in this case, maybe they’d be better off. But it would have to be a black comedy, because otherwise that’s just depressing.

girlfriday: Yeah not so much uplifting, dream big dreams, like the franchise.

javabeans: I totally understand the need to go with idols in this case, although it would be nice if they picked idols who have acting talent. Like, Kim Soo-hyun was far and away the best actor of his bunch, but if you had six of him, it would take away from the performance aspect, which was sizable. I don’t know anybody other than Ji-yeon in this bunch, though.

girlfriday: Yeah me neither. I can understand that it’s a hard balance to strike, because yeah, in this kind of drama you need the dancers and the singers. But there are musical actors and well, lots of choices in that pool.

javabeans: Dancer and singer stunt casting is great for the Pil-sook and Jason roles, but you need stronger people playing Baek-hee and Jin-gook, for instance. In that respect Eunjung was a lot stronger than Taecyeon. I was okay with Suzy and Taec — I went with it, but only ‘cause we had no choice. But could you imagine how the drama could’ve rocked if those roles went to Kim Soo-hyun-level actors?

girlfriday: The love triangle would’ve been much more heart-stomping.

javabeans: You mean, instead of just waiting for the inevitable shift in the tide? Yeah. Although that’s one drama where the romance didn’t even matter to me, ‘cause I loved the hopes-and-dreams stuff. The misfits banding together, challenging the hotshots.

girlfriday: Yeah that’s really the heart of this series (and franchise, we hope).

javabeans: Ha, don’tcha love that in a post about Dream Higher, we’re just talking about Dream High?

girlfriday: Heh. So we like to live in the past.

javabeans: Well, if the powers that be have it their way, we’ll be doing this post again next year, reminiscing on #2 while waiting for #3. Or, as I’ll be calling it…

girlfriday: Dream Higher Still Again and Again?

javabeans: Dream Even Higherer.

girlfriday: That’s not even a word! We’re done now.

Via Star News

RELATED POSTS

• Kim Jung-tae joins Dream High 2
• T-ara’s Ji-yeon cast in Dream High 2
• Dream High 2 begins pre-production
• Dream High 2 to audition cast via reality show
• Dream High concert and final thoughts
• Dream High: Episode 1
• The new Monday-Tuesday lineup: First impressions

© girlfriday for Dramabeans, 2011. | Permalink | 94 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: conversation post, Dream High 2, Ji-yeon, Kang So-ra

October 17 was the night of the 48th Grand Bell Awards (or, per its Korean name, Daejong Awards), and it was a big event for a few films in particular. And while the Joseon-era David-versus-Goliath action sageuk Bow: The Ultimate Weapon didn’t sweep the categories, it did take home a nice chunk of them.

But Best Picture (and a few others) went to the Korean War film The Front Line (which is probably a good thing, since it’s this year’s entry to the Academy Awards — not that I expect it’ll win or even make final cut. Korean films rarely — never? — do).

A couple of other notable winners: bright, touching comedy Sunny, and the moody, pensive Bleak Night. All are on my Must Watch ASAP list.

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Post tags: awards, Bae Jong-ok, Cha Tae-hyun, Choi Kang-hee, Daniel Choi, Go Chang-seok, Jang Seo-hee, Jang Young-nam, Jo Hee-bong, Jo Sung-ha, Jung Soo-young, Kang So-ra, Kim Haneul, Kim Hye-soo, Kim Sumi, Lee Je-hoon, Lee Min-jung, Moon Chae-won, Park Hae-il, Park Hyo-joo, Seo Young-hee, Shin Hyun-bin, Shin Hyun-joon, Song Sae-byuk, Won Bin, Yoon Kye-sang

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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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

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Rating: 7/10 ***See comments section below for my rating system

As a whole, this movie was a good watch. It had its fun and quirky moments, suspense and thrill, and also a lot of teen drama. However, it lacked some crucial elements that would have made it even better. After watching, I can honestly say that this movie would be a fun Saturday afternoon viewing experience, but please do not expect greatness. Cuteness sure, but greatness, not so much.

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Read the rest of Movie Review: 4th Period Murder Mystery (2,800 words)

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Post tags: featured, Kang So-ra, Yoo Seung-ho