Admittedly Road No. 1 and Into the Fire have garnered most of the attention among Korean War projects, but KBS also has a drama premiering this weekend, Legend of the Patriots. (Its Korean title, Jeon Woo, translates literally to Comrades.) It’s actually a remake of a hugely successful series that aired from 1975 through 1978, which was then re-produced in 1983-84.

I’ve been hearing bits about the 20-episode Legend of the Patriots for a while but it has slid under my radar, but now that I take a look I find myself favorably inclined. The production team is a little iffy but the general plot appeals to me more than Road No. 1. (I admit that I find Road‘s story a little contrived — it’s got that typical melodrama excess going, carrying itself as the ultimate love warring with the ultimate friendship in the ultimate war story of all time. That makes me ask: O rly?)

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Read the rest of War drama Legend of the Patriots premieres this weekend (984 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2010. | Permalink | 45 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Choi Su-jong, Comrades, Im Won-hee, Kim Roi-ha, Lee Chae-young, Lee Deok-hwa, Lee In-hye, Lee Seung-hyo, Lee Tae-ran, Legend of the Patriots, Park Sang-wook, Ryu Sang-wook

Awards!

The 45th Baeksang Arts Awards were held on the evening of February 27, which means: lots of awards for film and television stars, and lots of clothes to gawk at.

There were no real surprises in the winners list; they’re mostly a variation of the same lists we’ve been seeing from the other ceremonies in the winter awards season. Some film winners include A Movie is a Movie and My Dear Enemy, while acting honors went to many of the Daesang winners from earlier awards, like Kim Myung-min, Moon Geun-young, and Sohn Ye-jin. Oh, and a little actor going by the name of Lee Min-ho took home one of the newcomer awards — but a stumble on the red carpet keeps him humble.

Check out all the winners (and the clothes!) beyond the jump:

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Read the rest of 45th Baeksang Arts Awards (1,953 words)

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Post tags: Andre Kim, awards, Gong Hyo-jin, Han Ji-hye, Han Ye-seul, Jang Geun-seok, Joo Ji-hoon, Joo Jin-mo, Kang Ji-hwan, Kim Bum, Kim Hyun-joong, Kim Ji-soo, Kim Joon, Kim Kang-woo, Kim Myung-min, Lee Min-ho, Lee Tae-ran, Moon Chae-won, Moon Geun-young, Park Bo-young, Park Hae-jin, Park Shi-yeon, So Ji-sub, Sohn Ye-jin, Song Chang-eui, Yoon Eun-hye

The film Portrait of a Beauty [미인도] held its press conference and VIP preview on November 4, and a bevy of VIPs showed up to catch an advance look at the risqué period film. It has attracted much comparison to the drama series Painter of the Wind (see trailer below), as both deal with the life of the Joseon artist Shin Yoon-bok. They also seem to share a similar cinematic flair, although obviously there are key differences between a film and a drama series.

The cast also talked to reporters at a press conference, led by lead star Kim Min-sun and her co-stars Kim Young-ho, Chu Ja-hyun, and Kim Nam-gil, who for some reason has changed his stage name from Lee Han (of Goodbye Solo, When Spring Comes). I don’t get this whole changing-names-mid-career thing (see also: Go Jun-hee). Why bother at this point?

Portrait of a Beauty opens to the public on November 13.

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Read the rest of Preview event for Portrait of a Beauty (452 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2008. | Permalink | 27 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Han Hye-jin, Jeon Hye-bin, Jung Ryeo-won, Kim Haneul, Kim Hye-soo, Kim Min-sun, Kim Nam-gil, Lee Jin-wook, Lee Jong-hyuk, Lee Jung-jae, Lee Tae-ran, press conferences

Lame, lame, lame. I’d kind of figured that the newish Seoul Drama Awards would be bland (it’s their third year) based on the voting and nominees, so the results weren’t as disappointing as they would have been if I’d taken the Seoul Drama Festival seriously. As it was, there was a total lack of drama.

First off, the actual awards themselves were kind of… wonky. With dramas from all over the world competing (33 countries, 152 entries), the actual Korean series entered for judging (and which advanced) were hardly Korea’s best work of the past year.

Secondly, and perhaps for the above reason, there was a serious absence of stars — aside from the ones who were either presenting or receiving awards, that is. I wouldn’t call the red carpet and pre-carpet events “beyond pitiful” as one paper did, but when the only way to get actors to come to your event is to bribe them, you know you’ve still got a road ahead to being taken seriously.

I can understand awarding the online popularity award to Nam Sang-mi (adorable) and Lee Junki, above, both of the thriller drama Time and Dog and Wolf. But Golden Bride? Jungle Fish? Erm……

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Read the rest of No drama at the 2008 Seoul Drama Awards (557 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2008. | Permalink | 40 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: awards, Choi Su-jong, Eugene, Kim Sung-soo, Lee Jun-ki, Lee Tae-ran, Lee Young-ah, Nam Sang-mi, Oh Man-seok, Time of Dog and Wolf

It’s a topic that comes around every year, around the time that school starts, when once more national ire flares over the unequal treatment of universities in how they admit students, favoring entertainers and pandering to them in order to woo them to their respective institutions.

On top of the easy admissions, there’s resentment from bona fide students, because the celebrities hardly carry on a normal student lifestyle once enrolled. Even the more distinguished institutions (which are generally more strict in admitting students based on merit) get their fair share of accusations of unfair treatment for stars.

The segment is pretty toned-down in its criticism — the issue provokes much more heated commentary in real life, as it’s a lightning rod for critique and debate. But you can read between the lines and get the general idea.

 
SONG OF THE DAY

Vinyls – “환각” (hallucination) [ zShare download ]

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Read the rest of Is celebrity education really education? (202 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2007. | Permalink | 32 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Eugene, Go Ara, Kim Bum, Lee Tae-ran, Moon Geun-young, Yoon So-yi