Once again, I’m thrilled to have Dahee Fanel guest-posting her thoughts on a drama — in this case, KBS’s recently ended Wednesday-Thursday drama Accidental Couple, aka Just Looking aka That Fool. It’s always a pleasure, Dahee! –javabeans

 
SONG OF THE DAY

Judy Garland – “Over the Rainbow.” [ Download ]

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Read the rest of Accidental Couple: A review (1,658 words)

© Dahee_Fanel for Dramabeans, 2009. | Permalink | 50 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Accidental Couple, Baek Sung-hyun, guest bloggers, Hwang Jung-min, Kim Ah-joong

First off, let me get this out of the way: Yes, I caught the first episode of City Hall, which premiered this week in the same time slot as this show (which has gone through so many titles I think I’m just going to pick one and stick with it). I’ll probably write about City Hall after I’ve seen the second episode, but I can tell you that I thought the first episode was terribly boring. Like, eyes-glazed-over boring. I found it rather cold and indifferent, despite having a really solid cast, both lead and supporting. But it’s Kim Sun-ah and Cha Seung-won, so I’m going to hope for better with the next episode.

As for this drama, in a nutshell: Accidental Couple is a sweet, pleasant show that is a little predictable so far (we all know the setup so nothing comes as a surprise in these first two episodes). It wasn’t a perfect start, but this drama’s charm rests largely on its two leads — but thankfully, Hwang Jung-min and Kim Ah-joong are wonderful. Hwang in particular is marvelous at making you feel for his character — already he made me cry twice in the first episode, and not even in sad scenes.

SONG OF THE DAY

Lena Park – “나 같은 사람 너 같은 사람” (A person like me, a person like you) [ Download ]

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Read the rest of Accidental Couple / That Fool / Just Looking / Six Months (3,046 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2009. | Permalink | 52 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Accidental Couple, episode recaps, Hwang Jung-min, Kim Ah-joong, Six Months, That Fool

Just Looking [그저 바라보다가] is the new name for the drama formerly called Six Months, and while I think the title change — especially so late in the game — was unnecessary, the new title has the added bonus of being shortened to “그바보,” which means “That Fool.” And, judging from these new promo posters, that’s no coincidence.

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Read the rest of Just Looking at That Fool (185 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2009. | Permalink | 34 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Accidental Couple, Hwang Jung-min, Just Looking, Kim Ah-joong, Six Months

First stills have been released as Six Months [식스먼스], the new KBS drama starring Kim Ah-joong and Hwang Jung-min, began filming earlier this week.

Cast and crew left Korea on April 12 for a four-night, five-day overseas shoot in Guam, which commenced on the morning of the 13th at PIC (Pacific Islands Club) Resort.

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Read the rest of First look: Six Months begins filming (187 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2009. | Permalink | 29 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Accidental Couple, Hwang Jung-min, Just Looking, Kim Ah-joong, Six Months

In last week’s Open Thread, a back-and-forth developed between two commenters that caught my eye, because it dealt with a point that had been at the back of my mind for a while. Ever since I first saw the smash 2006 romantic comedy 200 Pound Beauty [미녀는 괴로워], in fact.

The comments dealt with 200 Pound Beauty’s plastic-surgery themes, and echoed some of my own reservations with the movie. Don’t get me wrong; I totally enjoyed watching it — it was light, funny, nicely acted — but something just didn’t sit right with me at the end. And the conversation that emerged last week captured that debate very well, I thought.

So, I asked both Sere and Samsooki if they would be okay with furthering the discussion in a sort of point-counterpoint conversation (similar to how Dahee and I discussed a particular drama character previously). They’ve both graciously agreed to go with it, and here’s the result.

Hope you enjoy!

SONG OF THE DAY

200 Pound Beauty OST – “Beautiful Girl” by Kim Ah-joong. [ Download ]

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Read the rest of Point-counterpoint: Pursuing beauty in 200 Pound Beauty (4,021 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2009. | Permalink | 127 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: 200 Pound Beauty, guest bloggers, Kim Ah-joong, movie reviews

Often, you’ll see the cast and crew of a drama holding a prayer ceremony as their production nears airtime, as a ritual to ask for future success and smooth sailing. Two upcoming drama productions just held their ceremonies this week on their respective sets — KBS’s Six Months (above) on the 7th, and MBC’s Queen Seon-deok (below) on the 8th.

KBS’s Six Months began filming on March 24 with stars Kim Ah-joong and Hwang Jung-min.

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Read the rest of Six Months and Seon-deok pray for success (214 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2009. | Permalink | 22 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Hwang Jung-min, Kim Ah-joong, Lee Yo-won, Queen Seon-deok, Six Months

This is pretty big casting news: Kim Ah-joong and Hwang Jung-min are being paired as romantic leads in the upcoming miniseries Six Months [식스먼스].

The KBS Wednesday-Thursday drama is described as sweet and happy, and the brief description tickles my interest in just the right way — Hwang Jung-min plays an honest and good-hearted postman who runs into Kim Ah-joong’s super-famous top-actress character in a working-class neighborhood where he delivers mail.

Through whatever plot maneuverings that ensue, the two end up in a contract marriage (which, I’d guess, is where the “six months” of the title comes in).

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Read the rest of Kim Ah-joong and Hwang Jung-min together for Six Months (479 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2009. | Permalink | 36 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Cinderella Man, City Hall, Hwang Jung-min, Kim Ah-joong, Six Months