[I’m happy to feature another review from guest blogger and kdrama watcher extraordinare, Dahee Fanel! Hope you enjoy as well. --javabeans]

Have you ever felt the urge to throw something at your T.V. screen? Something heavy, but that can still fit fairly comfortably in your hand? Something like, oh, say…A brick?

I have. Numerous times. In fact, I felt that urge just the other day, as I was watching Beethoven Virus (on my laptop though, as I unfortunately do not currently own a T.V.). Luckily, I stopped watching after about fifteen minutes, so that desire didn’t manage to overwhelm me, not quite. I really do like my laptop, after all, and I’d prefer if it didn’t get overly damaged.

But with some dramas, I manage to get hoodwinked long enough to sit through them until the bitter, bitter end. That metaphorical brick is always in my hand, mind you, scratching at my palm, but I’ve been blinded by something - an actor’s admirably well-developed abs, per se, or some lovely cinematography - and it’s that something that keeps my eyes focused. Well, focused enough, anyway.

Iljimae was a lot of things to a lot of different people. But to me, it was one of those dramas that conned me into watching it, and thus caused me an awful lot of (stomach) pain. Oh, and incidentally? I’m ready to throw that brick now.

SONG OF THE DAY

Iljimae OST - “hwa shin” by Park Hyo-shin [ Download ]

[Read more →]

Tags: Han Hyo-joo, Iljimae, Lee Junki, Lee Young-ah, Park Shi-hoo

Filed under: Drama Reactions & Reviews by Dahee_Fanel - 40 Comments →

Coming off a great past year with two back-to-back hit dramas (Iljimae and Time of Dog and Wolf), Lee Junki has been selected as the face of Hallyu — at least for the upcoming 2008 Seoul Hallyu Festival as its spokesperson and PR rep.

A rep for the festival explained, “Through projects like The King and the Clown and My Girl, Lee Junki has amassed popularity not only in Korea but in China and throughout Asia as well. With his current popularity, we plan to promote the Seoul Hallyu Festival as an up-and-coming international event.”

The Festival will take place over three days starting October 23, and will host a Hallyu star fanmeeting and photo session, as well as a fundraising concert to raise money for recent disasters in Asia. Other celebs scheduled to attend include DBSK, SG Wannabe, Super Junior, Lee Min-woo, and more.

Via Hankook Ilbo

RELATED POSTS

• It’s a wrap for Iljimae
• Iljimae
• Stars raise awareness (about selves)
• Bringing new meaning to the term dollface
• Lee Junki’s Thai welcome, five thousand strong
• Lee Junki gets lots of love from Thai fans
• Another rising star

Tags: Lee Junki

Filed under: Celebrity News by javabeans - 24 Comments →

The cast and production team of SBS’s Iljimae gathered at Yongsan CGV today (July 24) to watch the finale of the drama together. The hit fusion sageuk premiered on May 21 to viewership ratings of 14.8%, which steadily climbed over the course of the drama’s run to end in the near-30% range.

In attendance was the drama’s star, Lee Junki, with co-stars Lee Young-ah, Han Hyo-joo, and Park Shi-hoo, as well as PD Lee Yong-seok. Approximately 400 to 600 attendees were present (the numbers vary according to different reports), most of whom were members of Lee Junki’s fan club and the drama’s online fan café members. [SPOILER, highlight to read] By the way, it appears the fans are in a spot of denial about the drama’s ending, saying, “He may have died, but he’s not really dead.” Which sounds to me like dude’s dead. Reading the article’s summary of the ending, wherein Iljimae confronts the eeeevil king and engages in a hard fight against the king’s men, it also seems to bear similarities to the ending of Hong Gil Dong, actually, which was an ending I appreciated but would rather avoid repeating in more dramas of its kind. Chil Woo had better stay alive, is all I’m sayin’. [/SPOILER]

Lee Junki and PD Lee both expressed their thanks for the fans and staff, although Lee Junki did wish they’d had more time to present a better finale episode (”If we’d had more time, we could have shown you a better result, but I’m a little disappointed that we weren’t able to do that”), referring to how things fell behind schedule. Apparently the drama finished filming its last episode… on the day the last episode aired. (Yeesh! The last time I heard of something that frantic was with Fantasy Couple’s finale, which sounded insane.)

The drama Working Mom (starring Yeom Jung-ah and Bong Tae-gyu) will air in Iljimae’s time slot starting next week, on July 30.

Via Star News, E Daily

RELATED POSTS

• Popular vs. buzzworthy dramas
• First-date dramas
• Iljimae (SBS)
• SBS’s Iljimae preview
• The battle to claim Iljimae

Tags: fanmeetings, Han Hyo-joo, Iljimae, Lee Junki, Lee Young-ah, Park Shi-hoo

Filed under: Drama Casting & News by javabeans - 31 Comments →

SBS’s Iljimae isn’t necessarily BAD… if you don’t mind over-the-top, ham-fisted schlock. Perhaps that’s harsh, but I have a bad feeling about it — it’s like Hong Gil Dong but less realistic, which tells you a lot right there. The series starts off with grown-up Iljimae in an action sequence that is as ridiculously cheesy as it is logically riddled with holes. Then, as many sageuk dramas do, we jump back to childhood to establish our characters in the Tragedy! and Chaos! that informs their adulthoods, and it’s in the past that the series does a borderline decent (though convoluted) job of building the intertwining relationships.

The current-time sequence that starts us off is what bothers me most — because although we spend a mere ten or fifteen minutes in that time period before the story jumps backward and improves, I know we’re going to be returning to the “present” time eventually. And when it does, if things continue in the vein of the series start, I am going to be incapacitated by Howls of Laughter at the Ridiculous.

The acting ranges from acceptable to laughably over-the-top, the directing is okay, the effects are not as good as they could be, the music is pretty good, and Lee Junki is as much a ham as he ever was. (He’s always had a tendency to overact, and his best moments are when he pulls back from his excess. He doesn’t restrain himself much here.) Can I see why the series got off to a quick start and healthy ratings? Yes. Do I agree? Umm… not really.

SONG OF THE DAY

Gummy - “따끔” (sting) [ Download ]

 
ILJIMAE Episodes 1 & 2 >>

Tags: episode recaps, fusion dramas, Han Hyo-joo, Iljimae, Lee Junki, Lee Young-ah, Park Shi-hoo, sageuk dramas

Filed under: Drama Recaps by javabeans - 65 Comments →

Okay, normally I’d choose to look on the bright side of something like this (there was this star campaign for domestic adoptions, for instance), but the timing — and the way the article frames the issue — is totally not even trying to hide the publicity spin.

Five stars — Kim Rae Won, Lee Junki, Yeon Jung Hoon, Lee Wan, and Kim Jae Won — are stepping up as models in a photo exhibition to raise awareness for handicapped children in conjunction with Holt International Children’s Services. Coincidentally, they’re also currently promoting their newest acting projects. I’m sure the photo spread has nothing to do with that. But the report is quick to follow each actor’s description of his handicapped-child photo shoot with a description of his upcoming drama or project. Because it would be a shame to let such great PR go to waste.

Like Yoon Eun Hye before him, Kim Rae Won is given particular mention for the easy, cheerful way he connected with his photo partner, 5-year-old Kim Dae Joon, who’s been afflicted with conditions since birth bearing names from hydrocephalus to cerebral atrophy, hypoxic brain injury, cerebral palsy, benign myoclonic epilepsy, and developmental retardation. (Kim Rae Won’s upcoming drama Gourmet airs on SBS. The article points out how he flew all the way from Japan, where he was busy with promotions, for the shoot. OMG! He flew in from promo work for… more promo work.)

Lee Junki posed with a 7-month-old girl, Jeon Yoo Ha, who was born with a cleft lip and palate. (Don’t forget to tune in to Lee Junki’s Iljimae on SBS next week!)

Lee Wan shot his photo with 14-year-old Lee Soo Hoon, who has Down Syndrome. (Lee Wan just finished filming his fourth film and is readying for his next.)

Yeon Jung Hoon had his photo shoot with 2-year-old Kim Joon Seok, who suffered from prenatal development problems and was born with a finger deformity (only four on the right hand) and hemiplegia (the right side of his face is paralyzed — but that baby is adorable). (Yeon Jung Hoon is currently preparing for his television comeback.)

And finally, Kim Jae Won posed with 3-year-old Yoon Dae Woon, a mentally handicapped boy with cerebral palsy who has trouble standing on his own. Apparently the boy spilled grape juice over Kim Jae Won’s white pants during the shoot, which I find inexplicably funny. It would’ve been hilarious if the photo actually showed the grape stain, but alas, it doesn’t. (To be fair, Kim Jae Won does not appear to be currently promoting his own agenda.)

The “photo story” goes on display for three days at a gallery in Seoul starting May 29 — the gallery has its opening party on the 30th — after which the promotion goes nationwide.

Via Asia Economy

SONG OF THE DAY

Aquibird - “Whose Dream” [ Download ]

 
RELATED POSTS

• What’s with all the babies?

Tags: Kim Jae-won, Kim Rae-won, Lee Junki, Lee Wan, photo shoots

Filed under: Celebrity News by javabeans - 26 Comments →