It’s a new era at NSS! I started with IRIS over three years ago, moved on to Athena, and now here is IRIS 2. It’s a full circle… unless of course they decide to make an IRIS 3, and an Artemis, or ARES, or Hercules… Then my circle won’t ever complete. A quick note that I haven’t decided to fully recap this series, mainly because two rounds of the same thing are enough. But episode 2 could make or break this series for me.

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Read the rest of IRIS 2: Episode 1 (3,734 words)

© kaedejun for Dramabeans, 2013. | Permalink | 97 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: featured, first episodes, IRIS 2, Jang Hyuk, Lee Beom-soo, Lee Da-hae, Oh Yeon-soo

New character posters are out for the main cast of IRIS 2!… and they look just like the main poster released a few weeks ago. Which happen to look just like the Athena and IRIS 1 posters that came before it.

The character posters, starting with the top row, feature our heroes and heroines of the spy world: Jang Hyuk is a team leader with the NSS , having been recruited with the agency in his younger days. Lee Da-hae plays an Olympic gold medalist shooter turned spy sniper, which I guess shouldn’t be funny but makes me snerk. Let me guess — she’s a genius shooter, right? And Lee Beom-soo is formerly a spy for North Korea, which means he’s this drama’s Kim Min-jong. I hope just as funny.

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Read the rest of 7 new character posters for IRIS 2 (220 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2013. | Permalink | 56 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Im Soo-hyang, IRIS 2, Jang Hyuk, Lee Beom-soo, Lee Da-hae, Oh Yeon-soo, Yoon Doo-joon

And closing out the year-end drama awards is KBS, who didn’t stray too far off the beaten path. The big winner tonight was You Who Rolled In Unexpectedly, the big ratings pull for the station this year. Taking home the Daesang was its star, Kim Nam-joo, who continues her reign as queen of the small screen. She certainly deserves to fill a room with trophies just for her fabulousness alone, but that also means there were no big shakeups this year. Nice Guy was the other big winner of the night, taking home top awards for its actors.

It’s funny how I always think each broadcaster had so many shows on its roster, but once you split them up, they always turn out to be such a small pool. But by and large KBS had a great year with dramas that were both popular and critically-acclaimed, so their banner shows (You Who Rolled In, Nice Guy, Gaksital, Equator Man) all had plenty of trophies to split among them.

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Read the rest of 2012 KBS Drama Awards (2,426 words)

© girlfriday for Dramabeans, 2012. | Permalink | 254 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: awards, Choi Jung-yoon, Han Chae-ah, Jang Hyuk, Jin Sae-yeon, Jo Yoon-hee, Joo-won, Kim Dong-wan, Kim Nam-joo, Kim Sang-ho, Lee Beom-soo, Lee Bo-young, Lee Da-hae, Lee Jong-seok, Lee Kwang-soo, Lee Sang-yoon, Moon Chae-won, Nam Ji-hyun, Oh Yeon-seo, Park Hae-jin, Park Jung-ah, Park Ki-woong, Park Se-young, Park Shi-yeon, Park Shin-hye, Seo In-gook, Song Joong-ki, Suzy, Uhm Tae-woong, Wang Ji-hye, Yoo Joon-sang

The main poster is out for upcoming blockbuster sequel IRIS 2, and I’ll say this for the franchise: It sure knows its brand, ’cause it’s clinging to that concept like a second lead clings to his unrequited love, with little deviation. This isn’t anything we haven’t already seen before, from both the original IRIS and Athena, and in fact is so similar that I have the vague sensation that I’ve already seen this drama. Haven’t I?

That said, I think Jang Hyuk is a perfect fit for this kind of spy hero (although sigh at the Dumb and Dumber hair), and I’m hoping (fingers crossed) that Lee Da-hae proves to be a strong match, not just for him but as a fierce heroine. (By all accounts she and Jang Hyuk are friends, having worked together twice before, so I’m not worried about their chemistry.) I want to believe she can pull it off, even though she may not have the physicality to be convincing in the way of a Ha Ji-won or a Kim So-yeon. Admittedly, neither did Kim Tae-hee or Su Ae. But in terms of aura she feels appropriate — she’s plenty capable of intensity when she turns it on. Lee Beom-soo we can expect to be awesome, and Oh Yeon-soo has shown herself to be a pro at the steely types.

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Read the rest of IRIS 2′s main promo poster (217 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2012. | Permalink | 67 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: IRIS 2, Jang Hyuk, Lee Beom-soo, Lee Da-hae, Oh Yeon-soo

It’s full speed ahead for blockbuster spy sequel IRIS 2, which will really be the third installment in the IRIS / Athena franchise. Leads Jang Hyuk and Lee Da-hae have signed on to headline the drama, which means this will be their third time as costars. The production has put two directors on the project from the get-go as well — PD Pyo Min-soo of You’ve Fallen For Me and Coffee House, and PD Kim Tae-hoon of Athena.

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Read the rest of IRIS 2 secures cast and crew (552 words)

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Post tags: Im Soo-hyang, IRIS 2, Jang Hyuk, Kim Min-jong, Kim Seung-woo, Lee Da-hae, Oh Yeon-soo, sequels

Lee Da-hae and Jang Hyuk? AGAIN? Are we making IRIS 2 or Chuno 2? The latest installment of the spy action IRIS franchise is now courting Jang and Lee for the leading roles, and both actors are reportedly “considering favorably.” If they sign on, it’ll be the third time they’re paired for a drama: once for Robbers, twice for Chuno… and maybe a third time for international spy antics is the charm?

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Read the rest of Lee Da-hae and Jang Hyuk to reunite for IRIS 2? (379 words)

© girlfriday for Dramabeans, 2012. | Permalink | 95 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: IRIS 2, Jang Hyuk, Lee Da-hae, sequels

Here’s a glimpse at what actress Lee Da-hae has been doing since her last drama Miss Ripley, a role that has successfully put her back in good standing, as far as her public image goes. The drama itself wasn’t nearly as dark as I wanted, but she did a good job playing the wounded heroine, even though I desperately wished she’d stop being wounded and just be BAD.

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Read the rest of Lee Da-hae’s Los Angeles photo shoot (205 words)

© girlfriday for Dramabeans, 2011. | Permalink | 86 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Lee Da-hae, photo shoots

After the recent success of Miss Ripley and her successful fan meeting and CG shoots in China, Lee Da-hae is continuing her streak with a new jewelry line, which launched on October 10.

Lee’s jewelry line was launched by Mzuu, which is headed by the designer Park Min-joo.  If that name sounds familiar at all, it’s because she’s the younger sister of Park Shi-yeon, who co-starred in My Girl  with Lee.  On the jewelry brand Mzuu’s homepage, Lee is seen sporting the items from her new line, which were designed to fit her rather casual personality.  

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Read the rest of Lee Da-hae launches new jewelry line (227 words)

© sassychef for Dramabeans, 2011. | Permalink | 37 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Lee Da-hae, star extracurricular activities

More songs! And this time, they’re sung by some of your favorite (or not) actors. This list is hardly comprehensive, and I picked mostly those actors who weren’t singers first. (And if they were, they are generally stars who are not known for their singing, despite their origins. See: Kim Kang-woo’s awesome beginnings as a soft-ballad rapper. That video takes forever to load, but trust me, it’s worth it.)

Some of these songs come from OSTs, some from digital singles, and some as featured tracks on other singers’ albums.

Enjoy!

Moon Geun-young – “그 바람소리” (The sound of the wind) [ Download ]

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Read the rest of Javabeans Playlist #3: Actor edition (306 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2011. | Permalink | 121 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Bae Doo-na, Chae Jung-ahn, Choi Jin-hyuk, Daniel Choi, featured, Gu Hye-sun, Han Hyo-joo, Han Ji-hye, Hyun Bin, Kang Ji-hwan, Kim Haneul, Kim Kang-woo, Kim So-yeon, Lee Da-hae, Lee Jia, Lee Jun-hyuk, Lee Jun-ki, Lee Min-ki, Lee Shi-young, Moon Geun-young, Park Shi-yeon, Park Yong-ha, Song Chang-eui, Sung Yuri, Uhm Tae-woong

Last episode! I wasn’t sure whether Miss Ripley would wrap up in a surge of melodrama or in unearned happy endings, but it delivers a dose of peace and resolution, with a smattering of bittersweetness. It’s somewhat satisfying, though a little pat for my tastes, but most importantly it gives each of our characters an ending that I think is fitting. (Ish.)

This started out a drama about one desperate woman’s lie to save herself from a miserable fate, and became an interesting study on the power of love (and the devastation wrought by a lack thereof). The mother-daughter conflict was a late entry, but emerges as the core of Miri’s conflict, both internal and external.

SONG OF THE DAY

The One – “그만해” (Enough) [ Download ]

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Read the rest of Miss Ripley: Episode 16 (Final) (3,816 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2011. | Permalink | 113 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: featured, Kang Hye-jung, Kim Seung-woo, Lee Da-hae, Micky Yoochun, Miss Ripley