MC Jang Geun-seok

Although I didn’t watch August 23’s broadcast of Mnet’s 20’s Choice awards (a wannabe VMA’s, really), looking over the full winners list, my first reaction is: “What were they smoking?”

Some choices made sense. I get why Jang Geuk-seok, shakin’ his thang above as the event’s MC, was awarded Hot Movie Star (Male) because he’s had a great year coming off the drama Hong Gil Dong and recent movie Baby and I. And Hot Sports Star is a topical choice, going to the recent gold-medalist female weight lifter Jang Mi-ran, while the annoyingly catchy, ubiquitous earworms “One More Time” and “So Hot” (by Jewelry and Wonder Girls, respectively) are no-brainers.

But even the fact that they’ve got a “Hot Schoolgirl” category (winner So-hee), or “Hot Comment” (I think they meant catchprase) are kind of, pardon my French, retarded. And don’t even ask me what “Hot Sweet Music” means.

Furthermore, I get that “American beef” was a hot topic this year, but to highlight it at an awards show as the “winner” of Hot Issuemaker seems a little crass. Or just stupid.

Check out the full list beyond the jump, along with pics of the show in all its tacky glory.

MNET 20′S CHOICE WINNERS AND ATTENDEES >>

Tags: awards, Big Bang, Girls Generation, Jang Geun-seok, Jun Jin, Kim Ji-suk, Kim Min-hee, kpop, Lee Beom-soo, Lee Hyori, Park Min-young, Park Shi-hoo, Park Yong-ha, Ryu Seung-beom, singers, Uhm Jung-hwa, Wonder Girls, Yoo Seung-ho

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[javabeans: Please join me in welcoming Sevenses to Dramabeans as a new writer and recapper! Dramabeans.com: Now with more dramas! (Also more beans?) I look forward to reading more of her funny, witty recaps, particularly of dramas I'm not currently watching such as this one. Hope you enjoy, and keep an eye out for more from Sevenses. Also, much thanks to Luv for her screencaps!]

Hometown of Legends

Generally I avoid scary stuff, having been forever scarred at the tender age of 15 by The Grudge, but hey, this is pretty interesting, particularly as it’s not that scary after all. (CGI issues will remain, alas.)

SONG OF THE DAY

Huckleberry Finn - “죽은 자의 밤” (Night of the Dead). [It's not often I get to be so literal with song titles. Naturally I'm going with it. --javabeans ] [ Download ]

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Tags: episode recaps, Hometown of Legends, Park Min-young

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Summer is the season for chilly gothic and horror entertainment, so KBS takes the post-Women in the Sun time slot to launch its new horror series, Hometown of Legends, as its Wednesday-Thursday programming for the month of August.

Or, should I say, new OLD series. There was an earlier version that aired in the late ’90s, which had approximately 70 episodes. (I think there may have been another version in the 1980s, but I don’t know that for sure.) The stories spanned different topics (with some overlaps) but was based on the same conceit. A film of the same name — albeit translated into English as The Evil Twin — was also released in 2007 and featured Park Shin-hye and Jae Hee, the latter of whom also appears in this new series.

What sets this drama apart from others is in the episodic, anthology nature of the storytelling. Each episode is written and directed by a different team, and stars different actors in its installments. Think of it as fusion sageuk meets the Twilight Zone, or a collection of old ghost tales.

Hometown of Legends kicks off with the first episode today, “Nine-tailed Fox,” followed by others bearing titles like “Curse of the Sajin Sword” and “Demon’s Story.”

SONG OF THE DAY

Green Cheese - “Black Bird Dies” [ Download ]

A breakdown of HOMETOWN OF LEGENDS >>

Tags: Choi Su-jong, fusion dramas, Hometown of Legends, Jae Hee, Lee Jung, Park Min-young, Sa Kang

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“Legend”’s Sujini, actor Lee Jia

 

“Which new talents shine most brightly in drama-land?”

My Daily asked three experienced industry insiders (drama manager at KBS Lee Sung Joo; SBS’s drama department chief Gu Bon Geun; and MBC’s CP Jo Joong Hyun) to help in assessing some of the more notable new faces to pop up in the past year.

One of the first names to come to mind has to be Lee Jia — for whom her current role as tomboyish Sujini in the hit fantasy-historical drama Legend is not only her first leading part, but her ever. (For those who aren’t familiar, Lee Jia studied graphic design in New York as her first career path.) In the words of Legend’s director Kim Jung Hak, who spared no praise:

“Prior to filming the drama series, she underwent intense acting training. On top of that, Lee Jia is bold and has strong ambitions for her acting, and works very hard. She integrates into the cast so well that it’s difficult to believe she’s a new actor.”

SONG OF THE DAY

Nuevo Discos - “Drive By the Sea” [ zShare download ]

Which other new stars shine brightly? >>

Tags: Coffee Prince, I Am Sam, Kim Dong-wook, Lee Jia, Legend, Park Min-young, Unstoppable High Kick

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Hm, maybe my Spidey sense was tingling with the whole Unstoppable High Kick thing. Apparently it’s being made into a movie! …which I honestly can’t picture, but sure, okay.

Frankly, I can’t imagine forking over ten bucks (or should I say manwon) to see an extended version of the sitcom. Unless they go for something completely different and experimental and racy, and hook up Yunho with his teacher-crush, that is — then I’m there. Possibly twice.

Despite the announcement, it seems nothing’s quite set in stone yet. The director is going into planning with the writers — all five of them! That’s a number unheard-of by Western movie-producing standards — before the obligatory rewrites and fights over credit, that is. Five people co-writing on an initial draft is… interesting.

Furthermore, they’re not sure of the cast’s availability, noting that several of the “adult” actors (grandparent and parent roles) are currently tied up in filming for various projects. (Grandpa’s in the sageuk drama Yi San, and Grandma’s in Ggakdugi aka Radish Kimchee.) Choi Minyong (playing the teacher and uncle) is in a current legal dispute with his management company, and Seo Minjung (teacher and object of teenage Yunho’s affections) has recently married and moved to the States with her gyopo husband. Naturally, they’d like to keep the entire cast intact for the movie, for which they’ve set a target release for sometime next year.

(Random) SONG OF THE DAY

시언 (Sheean) - “소녀찬가” “A song for girls,” or perhaps more literally, “a song in praise of girls.”
[ zShare download ]

Pics and original source >>

Tags: Jung Il-woo, Kim Bum, Kim Hye-sung, Park Min-young, Seo Min-jung, Unstoppable High Kick

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