First we saw Lee Jia’s supposed transformation into an ugly duckling, now we see her dapper co-star in the telecinema project Love Is Blind [내눈에 콩깍지], Kang Ji-hwan^(mine).

It does seem that due to Kang Ji-hwan’s “visual impairment,” the unattractive and unpersonable character played by Lee Jia will be portrayed at least some of the time using the actress’ usual stylish appearance. Aside from that, there’s not much to add about the plot since that’s been covered in previous posts. Love is Blind opens on November 5.

[Read more →]

Filed under: Chungmuro/Film by javabeans - 37 Comments →

Here’s the newly released poster for Love is Blind [내눈에 콩깍지], the segment of the telecinema project starring Lee Jia and Kang Ji-hwan. The romantic comedy features Kang Ji-hwan as a good-looking, capable, and charming guy who falls for an unattractive woman (Lee Jia) while experiencing a visual impairment that makes him see unattractive people as attractive.

[Read more →]

Filed under: Drama Casting & News by javabeans - 44 Comments →

Finally, some more news about that large-scale, multiple-installment, Korean-Japanese co-produced “telecinema project.” The release date has been set as November 5 for the segment starring Kang Ji-hwan (Level 7 Civil Servant) and Lee Jia (Style), which has a new title: Love Is Blind [내눈에 콩깍지].

I think the new title is a big improvement, since the tone of the film is much lighter than the initial working title, which was the much more unwieldy — and serious-sounding — The Relationship Between Faces, Hearts, and Love.

[Read more →]

Filed under: Drama Casting & News by javabeans - 16 Comments →

I stopped watching Style a while ago (I couldn’t take it anymore, it got on my nerves), but I’m still keeping an eye on the news about it, since it’s holding steady in the ratings in the mid-upper teens. (It hasn’t yet broken 20%, and has recently slipped into second place behind KBS’s weekend drama Iron Empress.) It doesn’t surprise me that the drama is now being criticized for its excessive shilling of products — as the article below points out, product placement in and of itself is fairly common these days, but when it crosses the line, viewers will notice that the drama starts feeling empty of actual story.

“A magazine 100% free of advertising? Are you joking?”

That’s a line of dialogue that magazine editor Park Ki-ja (Kim Hye-soo) fires at Seo Woo-jin (Ryu Shi-won) in SBS’s drama Style. Replace the word “magazine” with “drama” and you’ll hit the mark regarding Style.

Watching Style, with its fancy visuals, is like watching an hour of advertising. To some extent, it’s unavoidable to show what the characters like to drive, wear, eat, and use. However, Style is also coming under fire for this display and the characters’ conspicuous dialogue.

[Read more →]

Filed under: Drama Casting & News by javabeans - 35 Comments →

I tend to agree with viewers of SBS’s Style that, despite its title, the fashions and feel of the drama lack a certain stylish flair. (Kim Hye-soo is looking fierce, but everything and -one else feel somewhat bland.) However, the drama sure isn’t skimping on the parade of luxury cars, and are adding yet another in this weekend’s upcoming episode.

Thus far, Kim Hye-soo’s fashion editor character, Park Ki-ja, has been seen driving around a Maserati Quattroporte S, valued at approximately $130,000. Her romantic interest, the famous macrobiotic chef played by Ryu Shi-won, has equally fancy wheels with the Maserati GranTurismo S, valued at approximately $140,000. However, as though that’s not enough, one of the Maseratis gets upgraded in an upcoming episode to a Ferrari.

[Read more →]

Filed under: Drama Casting & News by javabeans - 18 Comments →