Sssshhhheeeee’s baaaccck! Ace Ji-hyo‘s back to bring the heat in Beijing Race Part 2! This time, Ji-hyo’s got someone on the inside working for her. Last week’s loot is safe, isn’t it? Stolen you say?! Oh no, not this wild ride of “Did you take it? I didn’t take it! What about you?” again…

EPISODE 62. Broadcast September 25, 2011.

The morning mission starts bright and early at 8 AM and the first person to arrive is… Haha? We’re just as confused as he is. He’s soon followed by Jong-kook who pulls rank that he’s in first place, as always.

(...)
Read the rest of Running Man: Episode 62 (1,612 words)

© gummimochi for Dramabeans, 2011. | Permalink | 33 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: featured, Haha, Ji Suk-jin, Kang Gary, Kim Jong-kook, Kim Joo-hyuk, Lee Kwang-soo, Lee Yeon-hee, Running Man, Song Ji-hyo, Yoo Jae-suk

Another international trip for our Running Man Cast? Count me in! This time we’re headed to Beijing to handle a different kind of beast: the Great Wall of China. There’s big money on the line – will you give it your all Running Man?

EPISODE 61. Broadcast September 18, 2011.

Our cast gathers together at Gimpo International Airport excited about heading overseas again. They wonder if their Chinese fanbase can compare to their reception in Thailand of screaming adoring fans waiting for them at the airport.

(...)
Read the rest of Running Man: Episode 61 (1,888 words)

© gummimochi for Dramabeans, 2011. | Permalink | 35 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: featured, Haha, Ji Suk-jin, Kang Gary, Kim Jong-kook, Kim Joo-hyuk, Lee Kwang-soo, Lee Yeon-hee, Running Man, Song Ji-hyo, Yoo Jae-suk

Lee Yeon-hee (Paradise Ranch, East of Eden) will be making a return to the big screen in Jo In-sung‘s highly anticipated post-army comeback project — the sci-fi fantasy film Fist Fighting from critically acclaimed director Park Kwang-hyun of the hit satire Welcome to Dongmakgol.

(...)
Read the rest of Lee Yeon-hee to star opposite Jo In-sung (300 words)

© girlfriday for Dramabeans, 2011. | Permalink | 64 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Jo In-sung, Lee Yeon-hee

Paradise Ranch has released a couple new photos for the drama, which will be halfway through its 16-episode run with this week’s episodes.

The first shows a kiss between Changmin and Lee Yeon-hee; if you’ve seen the series, you’ll recognize the scene from their ill-fated young marriage. (The couple divorces within six months and then meets again six years later.)

(...)
Read the rest of New set of Paradise Ranch posters (225 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2011. | Permalink | 105 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Choi Kang Changmin, Lee Yeon-hee, Paradise Ranch

Paradise Ranch is the long-awaited (?) — or perhaps it’s more accurate to say long-shelved — drama starring idol pop star Choi Kang Changmin of DBSK in his drama debut, alongside Lee Yeon-hee. For lots of reasons, there’s been an undercurrent of unease about this drama, with its inability to secure a broadcaster or a timeslot for months, which led to a pretty lengthy time spent in limbo. In fact, the entire drama was wrapped and completed practically a year ago, and there was speculation that it might never see the light of day.

But SBS picked it up for its Monday-Tuesday 9pm timeslot, which has in recent months been home to lighter dramatic fare (I Am Legend, It’s Okay Daddy’s Girl, Dr. Champ). The timeslot hasn’t seen a hit since Wish Upon a Star a full year ago, so I wonder if SBS will continue to slot it with dramas (the other stations don’t air dramas in that slot) for much longer. But that’s a discussion for another day, another post. I mostly mention it because I happen to have seen all the dramas in this hour minus one (Angel’s Temptation) and for whatever reason, I seem to have more lenient expectations of them. I don’t know why.

Paradise Ranch was neither as good nor as bad as I was hoping it to be, which puts it squarely into that category of meh for me. It isn’t horrible — as I was expecting from its awful trailers — but it’s not really that exciting or interesting, either. But it’s also benign enough that it doesn’t really merit heaps of snark, either. Yet. We’ll see.

[Watch the series at DramaFever]

SONG OF THE DAY

Winterplay – “You’re In My Heart.” This song plays in one scene toward the end of Episode 1. [ Download ]

(...)
Read the rest of Paradise Ranch: Episode 1 (1,880 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2011. | Permalink | 175 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Choi Kang Changmin, featured, first episodes, Joo Sang-wook, Lee Yeon-hee, Paradise Ranch, Yoo Hana

I haven’t been keeping up with the news on Paradise Ranch, but with the drama now set to air in two weeks, it’s time for me to get with the program.

Pictured immediately above and below are the latest stills to be released from the production, which feature wedding shots of the lead couple, played by East of Eden actress Lee Yeon-hee and DBSK idol Choi Kang Changmin.

(...)
Read the rest of Wedding stills (and more) from Paradise Ranch (301 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2011. | Permalink | 63 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Choi Kang Changmin, Lee Yeon-hee, Paradise Ranch

Yoo Hana, who played the adorably bubbly Eun-ji in Sons of Sol Pharmacy, has been cast as the romantic counterpart to DBSK’s Choi Kang Changmin in the upcoming drama Paradise Ranch. She joins Lee Yeon-hee (East of Eden) and Joo Sang-wook (Queen Seon-deok) in this story “set against the beautiful nature of Jeju Island, which deals with the lives, work, and loves of young men and women.”

Yoo Hana plays an up-and-coming interior designer who is a second-generation chaebol, and trades in her previously cute, energetic image for a more cosmopolitan one. The romantic melodrama boasts a “cheerful story that incorporates beautiful music” and is currently filming. It will be produced entirely in advance of its broadcast, which means no live-shoot system for this one. Perhaps buoyed by its lead actor’s popularity abroad, Paradise Ranch has already been bought for broadcasts in Japan and Southeast Asia. Yoo Hana also has a lot of overseas fans after acting in the Taiwanese drama My Lucky Star.

I hadn’t really been that interested in this drama, since we’ve had quite a few idol stars falling flat in lead-role acting debuts and the track record wasn’t looking good. Furthermore, I find Lee Yeon-hee absolutely beautiful to look at, but not quite natural in her acting. Yoo Hana, however, does have an effervescent charm onscreen and is quite likable. (Even though she can sometimes overdo the comic overtones, at least she does have a comic sensibility.)

Paradise Ranch will have 16 episodes and is looking at a March premiere.

Via Mk.co.kr

RELATED POSTS

• The Sons of Sol Pharmacy House / My Too Perfect Sons

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2010. | Permalink | 27 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Choi Kang Changmin, Lee Yeon-hee, Paradise Ranch, Yoo Hana

Well, I suppose it isn’t totally out of line, considering that Lee Yeon-hee, who is managed by SM Entertainment, was almost in Girls Generation back in her training days. But I admit I tire of singers crossing over as actors with mediocre acting skills, as well as the reverse, actors crossing over into kpop with middling singing talent.

In any case, the East of Eden actress will feature her vocals on Super Junior‘s upcoming third album, having lent her voice to the song “Club No. 1.” The album is also drawing notice for featuring DBSK’s U-know Yunho and Micky Yoochun, who will rap on the song “이별… 넌 쉽니 (Heartquake).” (What, with 13 members — or is it 14 now? — is Suju finding it difficult to fill out their songs with their own talent?)

Super Junior will kick off their comeback with an appearance on KBS’s Music Bank on March 13.

Via Herald Biz

RELATED POSTS

• Lee Yeon-hee addresses acting criticism
• Soonjung Manhwa press conference
• Fashion week runway features Lee Yeon-hee
• Presenting the cast of East of Eden

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2009. | Permalink | 83 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Lee Yeon-hee, singers, Super Junior

MBC hosted its awards ceremony for the 2008 Acting Awards on December 30. Let me first reiterate that I think these end-of-year broadcast-station awards are mostly meaningless. That said, this year’s Daesangs were TOTAL WEAKSAUCE, MBC. Top honor (the “Daesang” grand prize) went to…

Oh, you mean it was split this year? Between Beethoven Virus‘s much-lauded epitome of awesomeness, Kim Myung-min, and East of Eden‘s overblown and overrated Song Seung-heon?? I mean, I could understand going for the sentimental vote and awarding deceased Choi Jin-shil (she got a lifetime achievement instead), but Song Seung-heon winning acting awards is in itself a joke.

(...)
Read the rest of 2008 MBC Acting Awards (1,572 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2008. | Permalink | 146 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: awards, Bae Yong-joon, Beethoven Virus, Choi Jin-shil, Dennis Oh, East of Eden, Han Ji-hye, Han Ji-min, Jang Geun-seok, Ji Sung, Jung Il-woo, Jung Jun-ho, Kim Min-jung, Kim Myung-min, Lee Dong-gun, Lee Hana, Lee Jia, Lee Jun-ki, Lee Jung-jin, Lee Mi-sook, Lee Yeon-hee, Moon Sori, New Heart, Seo Shin-ae, Shin Sung-rok, Song Seung-heon, The Last Scandal of My Life, Yoon Eun-hye, Yoon Jin-seo

Lee Yeon-hee has been picking up a lot of flak for her acting in East of Eden, which many feel has been pretty weak. And while the 20-year-old feels that some criticism, when stated with affection, can be motivating, “outright condemnation is a little hard to take.”

After many of those bad reviews came out, she received lots of encouraging text messages from friends and acquaintances in the biz telling her not to worry about the negative press, which, ironically, is what clued her in to the overwhelming press in the first place: “Because I was busy filming the drama, I didn’t know how much people were talking about my acting. Seeing all the messages made me realize it.”

(...)
Read the rest of Lee Yeon-hee addresses acting criticism (450 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2008. | Permalink | 159 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Lee Yeon-hee