On one hand, I’m a little bummed that The Return of Iljimae has been postponed, just when I was getting excited about it.

On the other hand, the drama that will take over the time slot intended for Iljimae is General Hospital 2. I wasn’t at all into the idea of this show — I don’t love medical dramas — even with its cast lineup:

Cha Tae-hyun (My Sassy Girl, Flowers For My Life)
Kim Jung-eun (Lovers in Paris)
Ahn Jae-ryong (Goodbye Solo)
Ryu Seung-soo (Mixed-up Inveestigative Agency)
Lee Jong-won (East of Eden)
Do Ji-won (Love Me Not)
Ryu Jin (Capital Scandal)
Go Jun-hee (What’s Up Fox)

But on the other hand (yes, that’s three rhetorical hands), General Hospital 2 is being directed by Noh Do-chul — who was behind two wonderful quirky series: Soulmate and Hello, Franceskca.

More about General Hospital >>

Tags: Cha Tae-hyun, directors, Kim Jung-eun, Noh Do-chul, Return of Iljimae

Filed under: Drama Casting & News by javabeans - 25 Comments →

 
Hehe, note that with Taereung National Village, I said I’d found a series to watch, not the series to watch. The great thing about watching shows that have long since finished airing is that now, I can watch without worrying about keeping pace with the new episodes every week. This was the second show whose first episode held my interest long enough for me to finish without stopping it halfway through.

 
Hello Franceska is funny. (The title, 안녕 프란체스카, could be read as either “hello” or “goodbye,” but I’ve seen it more readily translated as “hello,” so that’s what I’m using.)

Vampire comedy. Great two-word summary, huh?

Actually, what makes Hello Franceska entertaining isn’t so much the premise (pretty good), but its execution.

 
SONG OF THE DAY

Peterpan Complex - “안녕.” (”Goodbye.” Or I suppose, possibly “Hello,” but the song takes the goodbye meaning. Ironic, since I chose hello over goodbye just above, isn’t it? It’s all about context.)
Trying something new: zShare download

HELLO FRANCESKA >>

Tags: Hello Franceska, Jung Ryeo-won, Noh Do-chul, sitcoms

Filed under: Sitcoms/Variety Shows by javabeans - 37 Comments →

Although I’m busy with “work” and life and all those other things, and still have to catch up on recaps of Dal Ja’s Spring, I think the next series I’ll try recapping is the MBC show SOULMATE, broadcast in mid-2006. Partially because (1) it’s an awesome show, and (2) there doesn’t seem to be a lot of information available about it.

.

BASIC INFO:
Director(s): No Do-chul, Sun Hye-yoon
Screenwriters: Jo Jin-kook, Park Eun-jung, Nam Ji-yeon
Broadcast period: 2006 March 13 - 2006 June 26
Episode total: 12* (see note at bottom)

Official MBC Website: http://www.imbc.com/broad/tv/ent/soulmate/soul/index.html

(Torrents and subs available at d-addicts.com.)

SONG(s) OF THE DAY

A universally praised aspect of the show is its amazing, eclectic, perfectly selected soundtrack. There are too many songs featured to even list properly in one post, but these are a few key tracks:

Nouvelle Vague - “This Is Not A Love Song.” This serves as kind of the anthem of the first episode. [ zShare download ]

Mon Murmure - “Jazz Cocktail.” This gives you an idea of the playful nature the show sometimes adopts. [ zShare download ]

Fantastic Plastic Machine - “L’aventure Fantastique” [ zShare download ]

Lasse Lindh - “The Stuff” [ zShare download ]

[Read more →]

Tags: Lee Soo-kyung, Noh Do-chul, Sa Kang, Shin Dong-wook, Soulmate

Filed under: Drama Reactions & Reviews by javabeans - 113 Comments →