Woah, I’m shocked too. An extremely cute opening for I Love Lee Tae-ri who under the guise of some silly hijinks asks us some poignant questions. What if the little boy who we dismiss as a child is very much a man already? And what if that woman who desperately faces the world with an adult bravado is just a young girl at heart?

FYI: This is a one-off recap so there are no plans to continue; it’s just to give y’all a taste!

SONG OF THE DAY

I Love Lee Tae-ri OST – “Do It” by Sunny Hill [ Download ]

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Read the rest of I Love Lee Tae-ri: Episode 1 (3,368 words)

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Post tags: cable programs, featured, first episodes, Kim Ki-bum, Park Ye-jin

Huh. There’s a new fantasy-romance drama on the horizon, and it’s about a teenage boy who suddenly turns into a 30-year-old adult—and it’s NOT Big, the drama that’s courting Gong Yoo and Lee Min-jung and written by the Hong sisters that’s also about a teenager turning into an adult overnight.

This one is titled I Love Lee Tae-ri (not to be mistaken for I Love Italy, as I initially read it) and stars Super Junior’s Kim Ki-bum (also of Tree With Deep Roots). He’ll play the main character Geum Eun-dong (really? You named your child Gold Silver-Bronze?) who starts out the drama as a 14-year-old middle school student. He goes to an idol concert, encounters “an unexpected situation” and suddenly turns into a 30-year-old man.

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Read the rest of Boys becoming men overnight: the new drama trend (320 words)

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Post tags: cable programs, Kim Ki-bum, Park Ye-jin

The 16th Busan International Film Festival opened on October 6, and the red carpet to the opening screening — So Ji-sub and Han Hyo-joo’s tragic romance Only You — was awash with stars.

(For those of you used to seeing the festival called PIFF, it recently changed its spelling. The festival is in its 16th year and began back when the city was spelled Pusan. The spelling of the southern city officially changed to Busan in 2000, but the festival kept its former spelling, which naturally led to some confusion. Yeah, the Korean romanization system changes hasn’t been the most easy to follow.)

It’s been a while since we’ve had a big, star-packed red carpet, but this reminds me that we’re heading into awards season, and will soon be seeing lots of events like this. Which means, lots and lots of red carpets to ooh over, or, as the case may be, snark.

There were some questionable outfits (always fun), but overall I really like what I saw, even if there was an overwhelming trend toward leg slits Up To There and a good amount of side-boob. But the colors! Yay for colors!

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Read the rest of 16th Busan International Film Festival’s opening red carpet (1,347 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2011. | Permalink | 159 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Byun Jung-soo, Cha Seung-won, Daniel Choi, Eom Ji-won, film festivals, Go Soo, Gu Hye-sun, Han Hyo-joo, Hong Su-ah, Hwang Woo-seul-hye, Jang Dong-gun, Ji Sung, Jung Seok-won, Kang Hye-jung, Kang So-ra, Kang Ye-won, Kim Dong-wan, Kim Haneul, Kim Min-joon, Kim Sae-ron, Kim Sun-ah, Lee Beom-soo, Lee Je-hoon, Min Hyo-rin, Nam Sang-mi, Park Jin-hee, Park Ye-jin, So Ji-sub, Sung Yuri, Wang Ji-hye, Yeh Ji-won, Yoo Ah-in, Yoo Inna, Yoon Jin-seo

It’s the era of the idol singer (seriously, Korea’s practically drowning in idols these days), so it’s only appropriate that we start making them the focus of dramas (see: Dream High and the upcoming and hopefully hilarious Vampire Idol) and movies like this one, Mr. Idol.

The plot of Mr. Idol centers around a star-making “dream variety show”; Kim Su-ro (God of Study) and Park Ye-jin (My Princess) put together a boy band called Mystery Children, made up of four young men from different backgrounds. The members are all troublemakers of sorts, and the movie tracks their progress from motley crew to popular success.

The movie, which releases in October, stars Ji Hyun-woo (A Thousand Kisses, Birth of the Rich) and Park Jae-bum, which seems appropriate; Ji started out as the guitarist in pop-rock band The Nuts, while Park is formerly of idol band 2PM. In the supporting cast, you’ve got another musician in Kim Randy, a member of Electroboyz, a rap/hip-hop group that debuted last year. The fourth member of the fictional movie band is Jang Seo-won, whom you may recall as one of Ha Ji-won’s stuntman buddies in Secret Garden.

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Read the rest of Mr. Idol’s posters, stills, and teaser (317 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2011. | Permalink | 62 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Ji Hyun-woo, Kim Su-ro, Park Jae-bum, Park Ye-jin

Park Ye-jin (My Princess) has begun filming the role that Park Shi-yeon left behind, in the idol music industry film that was formerly titled Happy Together, now called Mr. Idol. Can’t say I love the title change, as it sounds more like a male model calendar contest than a film about idol stars, but at least the premise sounds interesting. It’s described as a comedy about the music biz, and specifically about the making of an idol group, focusing on the behind-the-scenes movers and shakers of the entertainment industry. I feel a little better about the film now that it’s clearly marked for humor.

She’ll be reuniting with Family Outing member, funnyman Kim Suro (God of Study) in what should be a great match-up of wits between the man with the midas touch when it comes to making idol stars, and the woman who has to actually manage them. I’m picturing lots of Park Jin-young-esque stuff from Kim Suro, who reportedly researched real producers to come up with his character. What, did he follow Yang Hyun-suk around for a day and come up with his own impression?

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Read the rest of Park Ye-jin and Kim Suro reunite for Mr. Idol (265 words)

© girlfriday for Dramabeans, 2011. | Permalink | 36 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Ji Hyun-woo, Kim Su-ro, Park Ye-jin

So I never would’ve put my money on this, but this finale rocks. It’s not only adorable and as cute as always, but there’s actual conflict, and it’s good. (I KNOW!) So weird. What the hell were you doing for all those episodes, Show? Saving your wad for the big finale?

What’s nice is that it’s actually a solid episode with a singular arc, which SO many finales aren’t—most are cobbled-together, resolution bow-tying heaps of dung—but this one actually nailed the tone of the show in a great hour-long plot that made me wish we had gotten to this conflict sooner. Also, never thought I’d say this, but how much do I love Kim Tae-hee right now?

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Read the rest of My Princess: Episode 16 (Final) (3,633 words)

© girlfriday for Dramabeans, 2011. | Permalink | 324 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: featured, Kim Tae-hee, My Princess, Park Ye-jin, Ryu Soo-young, Song Seung-heon

SO MUCH CUTENESS in this episode. It’s like the good ol’ days, which I wasn’t expecting so late in the game with all the monarchy stuff nearing resolution, but which I found refreshingly welcome. True, it’s a little low on story movement, but when you pit story movement against some majorly adorable Kim Tae-hee/Song Seung-heon couple antics, it’s no contest.

SONG OF THE DAY

Humming Urban Stereo – “넌그날” (You on that day) with actress Yoo Inna
[ Download ]

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Read the rest of My Princess: Episode 15 (2,773 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2011. | Permalink | 183 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: featured, Kim Tae-hee, My Princess, Park Ye-jin, Ryu Soo-young, Song Seung-heon

Hear Ye, Hear Ye! The Cute has returned! All hail the return of The Cute! Someone please, throw us a royal ball in The Cute’s honor. It’s the least you could do for dragging us through such nonsense and boredom. I mean, what’s a princess gotta do for a royal party up in this house?

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Read the rest of My Princess: Episode 14 (3,025 words)

© girlfriday for Dramabeans, 2011. | Permalink | 232 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: featured, Kim Tae-hee, My Princess, Park Ye-jin, Ryu Soo-young, Song Seung-heon

We’re playing with some of the same plot points in this one, but at least we get some snuggle-bunny times for our princess and her bodyguard. Not a whole lot, but hey, I’ll take what I can get, since this couple’s cuteness is more than half of the drama’s sustaining life force. The remainder (for me, at least) is probably in the fun of hating the troublemakers, who are operating on a different plane of logic than the rest of us mortals and therefore require us to waste no time finding reasons to explain or justify their behavior. We can just hate ‘em.

SONG OF THE DAY

Park Hyo Shin – “눈물날려 그래” (Tears are falling) [ Download ]

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Read the rest of My Princess: Episode 13 (3,375 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2011. | Permalink | 256 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: featured, Kim Tae-hee, My Princess, Park Ye-jin, Ryu Soo-young, Song Seung-heon

Our couple gets backed into a corner, and everyone comes over with a bad case of Noble Idiocy. Well, everyone who has a heart. But thankfully Hae-young’s got it bad enough to go princess hunting. Which of course sends everyone else on the hunt as well. Who needs wabbits when it’s open season on princesses?

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Read the rest of My Princess: Episode 12 (2,853 words)

© girlfriday for Dramabeans, 2011. | Permalink | 318 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: featured, Kim Tae-hee, My Princess, Park Ye-jin, Ryu Soo-young, Song Seung-heon