Once actors go off to fulfill their two years of military service, it’s not often that we get to see them in the public eye until their discharge. So it’s nice to see a few of the currently enlisted entertainers together onstage for the 2009 Army Concert, which took place in Seoul on the evening of October 31.

Some of the celebrities who participated were actors Jae Hee (Three Dads One Mom), Jo In-sung (Frozen Flower), Lee Dong-wook (Partner), Kim Jae-won (Hwang Jini), and Ohn Joo-wan (Chosun Police). On the kpop side, there were singer-actors Yang Dong-geun (I Am Sam), Lee Jung (Hometown of Legends), and Kim Jung-hoon (Goong), as well as singers Sung Shi-kyung, Tony An.

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Read the rest of Enlisted celebrities participate in Army concert (99 words)

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Post tags: army duty, Jae Hee, Jo In-sung, Kim Jung-hoon, Lee Dong-wook, Lee Jung, Ohn Joo-wan, Sung Shi-kyung, Yang Dong-geun

There’s another Korean-Japanese co-production coming out, and this one has rather flown under the radar. News came out about the movie Café Seoul [카페 서울] after it had already wrapped filming. In fact, one of its actors, Goong’s Kim Jung-hoon, just enlisted for his army duty a few days ago (April 28) and won’t be around to see the film come out this summer.

Along with Kim Jung-hoon, the film also stars Coffee Prince’s Kim Dong-wook, as well as Choi Sung-min (Big Sister, Saving My Wife); together, the three play brothers.

The movie is filmed by Japanese director Take Masaharu of the 2007 film Boy Meets Pusan and also stars Saito Takumi. It sounds like a simple indie drama, but something about the description strikes me as lovely: the movie tracks “the process of youths coming to realize the warmth and meaning of old things in the midst of the fast-changing streets of Seoul.”

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Post tags: Choi Sung-min, Kim Dong-wook, Kim Jung-hoon

After it became known that announcer Han Joon Ho is a member of Mensa — the group open only to those with high IQs (specifically, those who score above the 98th percentile on standardized IQ tests) — interest arose in the topic of celebrity IQs.

For reference, the average IQ is 100, although the range can be extended to include 90 through 109. (110-119 is superior intelligence, 120-140 is very superior, and above 140 is generally known as genius level. Conversely, 80-89 is in the “dull” range, 70-79 is borderline deficient, and under 70 is considered “feeble-minded.”) And yes, I know IQ can be considered an outdated standard of measurement.

Now, some of these names are familiar, but some are a bit surprising. Goong’s Kim Jung Hoon, a smarty? Whoaaa. Not that he seemed, well, un-smart, but I’m a little surprised.

SONG OF THE DAY

Epik High – “Lesson 2 (Sunset)” [ zShare download ]

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Post tags: edumacation, Kim Jung-hoon, Kim Tae-hee, Tablo

Ahh, Witch Amusement. How you’ve amused me so. Despite your repeated shenanigans (or maybe because of them), I’ve enjoyed watching you, all 16 episodes. You gave me so much to laugh about (and more to laugh AT, but who’s differentiating? Po-tay-to, po-tah-to.).

And now, we say adieu.

(Random) SONG OF THE DAY

K.Will – “You” [ zShare download ]

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Read the rest of Witch Amusement: Episode 16 (Final) (3,094 words)

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Post tags: Dennis O, episode recaps, Han Ga-in, Jae Hee, Kim Jung-hoon, so bad it's good, stuff I dig, Witch Amusement

I was mildly concerned that in its last week, Witch Amusement would for no reason regain its sanity and fall into a sudden abyss of logical, comprehensible blandness. Having seen Episode 15, I laugh at my naivete. I worried for nothing. All is well in the land of entertaining crazy. I loved this insane, silly episode because it made me laugh. Who cares if most of it was the inappropriate kind?

(Random) SONG OF THE DAY

Blue Sorbet – “그남자가 자꾸…” (That man keeps on…) [ zShare download ]

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Read the rest of Witch Amusement: Episode 15 (2,719 words)

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Post tags: Dennis O, episode recaps, Han Ga-in, Jae Hee, Kim Jung-hoon, so bad it's good, stuff I dig, Witch Amusement

The good news: at least the crazy is the entertaining kind. I think I’ve figured out what must’ve happened: some nutjob anti-fan of Han Ga In / Dennis O / Bin / Kim Jung Hoon sneaked on set, dropped a bunch of crazy pills into the punch bowl, and everyone drank the Kool-Aid. It started gradually, unnoticeably, finally culminating in the schizophrenia of this episode. Yup. That’s got to be it.

There was a time I tried to divvy out these caps to include everyone and not just Jae Hee, but they’ve all become much less interesting. Jae Hee is by far the most compelling thing in this series. So why fight it?

(Random) SONG OF THE DAY

Byul – “세상의 반” (Half the world) [ Download ]

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Read the rest of Witch Amusement: Episode 14 (2,241 words)

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Post tags: Dennis O, episode recaps, Han Ga-in, Jae Hee, Kim Jung-hoon, so bad it's good, Witch Amusement

On the distinctive plus-side, Jae Hee and Dennis O both looked particularly hot, to be shamefully superficial for a moment. You’ve gotta hand it to these producers — they know their audience. On the down-side, the acting was… wow, really some awful stuff here, all across the board. At least it was funny-bad, and not just painful-bad. And have I mentioned it was ridiculous?

(Random) SONG OF THE DAY

Lyn – “Kissing U” [ zShare download ]

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Read the rest of Witch Amusement: Episode 13 (2,588 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2007. | Permalink | 46 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Dennis O, episode recaps, Han Ga-in, Jae Hee, Kim Jung-hoon, Witch Amusement