Choi Su-jong of “Dae Jo Young,” Kim Haneul of “On Air”

Nominees are out for the 2008 Korea Drama Festival awards, and the list is rather ho-hum. For example, the nominees for Best Drama are: Legend (MBC), Mom’s Dead Upset (KBS), Dae Jo Young (KBS), and Gourmet (SBS).

At first I was disappointed in the list of nominees, but then I thought back to the year and realized it’s just been a ho-hum year for dramas overall. Although, if we’re nominating Legend for Best Drama, which premiered over a year ago in September 2007, surely there are other series that have been overlooked.

The Korean Drama Festival runs from November 1 through 5 in Jinju; see the nominee list beyond the jump.

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Tags: awards, Beethoven Virus, Choi Su-jong, City of Glass, East of Eden, Han Ji-hye, Hong Gil Dong, Jang Geun-seok, Kim Bum, Kim Haneul, Kim Myung-min, Lee Jin-wook, Legend, New Heart, On Air, Sung Yuri, You're My Destiny

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It seems we suddenly have a ton of new dramas out, and I was starting to feel a bit lost. So here’s a brief overview of the dramas currently airing, some of which I’m following regularly and some that I haven’t committed to sticking with yet.

For the series I plan to keep watching, I’ll probably follow up with more in-depth posts, but for now I’m taking a general, overall look at the current lineup. (The two dramas pictured above, Kingdom of Wind and The Painter of Wind, are probably the two best series airing currently, but for different reasons.)

SONG OF THE DAY

Sorri - “Because of You” [ Download ]

More on the current drama scene >>

Tags: Beethoven Virus, East of Eden, Jang Geun-seok, Kim Bum, Kim Myung-min, Kingdom of Wind, Lee Jia, Lee Jin-wook, Love & Marriage, Moon Geun-young, Park Shin-yang, Song Seung-heon, Tazza, The Painter of Wind, Yoon Soyi

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I don’t usually comment on fashion, usually because I don’t care enough about what makes fashion “good” or “trendy” or “cutting-edge.” But I DO know bad fashion when I see it, and while I was scrolling through a bunch of the latest photos hitting the (internet) wire, I was taken aback by how uniformly bad things looked at the Gucci 2008-2009 FW Collection, which attracted stars on the evening of August 7 at Seoul’s W Hotel.

For instance, Lee Dong-wook above? Freshly shaven after playing a scruffy bad boy in the recent drama La Dolce Vita, he looks youthful and handsome… from the neck up. I don’t know where he got came up with the rest of the look, though — an ill-fitting gray suit, with a brightly patterned scarf in the middle of sweltering summer? The end patterning on the scarf looks like a rug my parents own (albeit a very pretty rug), and has he lost so much weight that the ends of his belt trail down under the jacket to peek out over his leg? (And brown studded leather with pinstriped gray twill? Even I know that doesn’t go.)

And he’s not even the worst of the offenders. For instance:

(1) Lee Jin-wook’s headstone will soon read: “Death by Paisley Scarf.” Probably not the manliest way to go.
(2) Speaking of manly, someone hit it on the head recently when saying Jang Geun-seok is uncomfortable with his prettiness, because he’s always trying to overcompensate by overdoing it in the opposite direction. But instead of looking masculine, now he looks halfway between a lipstick and butch lesbian (both into biker chic), when he should just embrace his inherent metrosexshuality. OWN THE PRETTY, Jang Geun-seok! The pretty likes you.

(3) I know Lee Jia likes to think of herself as punk rock (really more punk rawk, and lite at that) but when you try to punk up your froofy ballerina tutu (cuz black is so badass), and then matchy-matchy your gold ruffly hem to go with your gold studded belt, you end up merely looking like Avril Lavigne Goes Kentucky Derby. Yee-haw!
(4) Kim Haneul is a pretty woman with bad lipstick, who looks stoned, and is wearing FRINGE on silk. With a sequined skirt. My eyes glaze over looking at all the weird texture combinations, sort of like Kim Haneul’s eyes here.

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Tags: fashion, Ha Seok-jin, Jang Geun-seok, Kim Haneul, Kim Jung-eun, Kim Sung-soo, Lee Dong-wook, Lee Eun-sung, Lee Jia, Lee Jin-wook, Lee Yeon-hee, Sung Yuri

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Rivals isn’t necessarily a bad show… but there’s something about it that smacks of the ridiculous. Chae Rim is pretty good and so is the subtler Lee Jong Hyuk; they have good chemistry despite a really obvious setup. But there’s something that reminds me really strongly of Air City, and it’s not just the Lee Jin Wook connection — and those of you who suffered through that series alongside me will know that’s not a good thing in my book. It’s over-the-top and tries really, really hard — and while it hits the mark half the time, that means it misses the other half.

I will say, though, that if it does prove to be bad, at least Rivals shows signs of being the fun-bad type. I laughed a lot in the first two episodes — although probably in all the wrong places. Rivals is funny partly because it takes itself so seriously, but it should really let itself in on the joke.

SONG OF THE DAY

Oriental Funk Stew - “날아” (Fly) [ zShare download ]

 
Thoughts on RIVALS >>

Tags: Chae Rim, episode recaps, Lee Jin-wook, Lee Jong-hyuk, Rivals

Filed under: Drama Recaps by javabeans - 34 Comments →

Chae Rim, aka plucky Dal Ja of last year’s hit romantic comedy series Dal Ja’s Spring, has been cast to headline the new KBS Monday-Tuesday drama series Rivals [강적들], which takes place in the Blue House (Cheongwadae), Korea’s presidential residence, opposite Lee Jong Hyuk (sexy!) and Lee Jin Wook (cute!)

Chae Rim’s character — energetic, prone to rashness — enters the Blue House as a new employee (security service agent) and rises to success; the series centers on “the world, the loves, and daily lives” of those in service in the Blue House.

Lee Jin Wook (Air City, Smile Again, Someday) takes the part of the president’s haughty, troublesome and rude son, while Lee Jong Hyuk (A Good Day to Have an Affair, A Dirty Carnival, Green Rose) is the dark horse of the presidential security service and Chae Rim’s colleague. Through them the drama will showcase lots of action and a look behind the scenes at the agents’ physical training, firearms drills, special guard duty, etc., while the three main characters (naturally!) fall into a love triangle. Some settings may be novel but the setup is as old as the form. Not that the presidential backdrop is entirely new — in 2006, there was the KBS four-episode mini-drama Special Crime Investigation: Murder in the Blue House [특수수사일지:1호관 사건]. And of course, there was also the Eugene/Lee Minki romantic comedy Really Really Like You, which took a more lighthearted approach.

The series will be directed by Han Joon Seo PD of Capital Scandal, and penned by writer Kang Eun Kyung of Dal Ja’s Spring, Bichunmu, and Hotelier. Rivals will take to air after Single Papa in Love finishes its run, premiering on April 14.

Via Hankyung

SONG OF THE DAY

Gummy feat. TOP - “미안해요” (I’m sorry) [ zShare download ]

Tags: Chae Rim, Lee Jin-wook, Lee Jong-hyuk, Rivals

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