It’s time to face the music in this final chapter as Shin-woo chases after the answers to the questions that plague him. The truth rears its ugly head and rams into the stone wall of defense Shin-woo has built for himself. Learning who the true enemy is in this battle is only just the beginning of the frightening and painful journey towards healing. Perhaps it’s not too late to come back from the brink and realize that the greatest lesson of all is learning how to love.

Sirius ended its short and sweet run with a 2.9% in ratings.

SONG OF THE DAY

Mono – “Pure as Snow (Trails of the Winter Storm)” [ Download ]

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Read the rest of Sirius: Episode 4 (Final) (3,280 words)

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Post tags: Drama Special, featured, Seo Joon-young, Sirius

More revelations spill out in this episode as the brothers face new challenges ahead. A baddie like Boss Go is none to be trifled with as the show sets itself up for a final showdown. We learn even more about Eun-chang and Shin-woo now that their strings are somewhat cut from the smiling devil, giving them ammunition and armor for what’s to come.

Ratings fell for Episode 3 to 2.7% but it doesn’t detract from the awesome kickass that is this series.

SONG OF THE DAY

No Respect for Beauty – “I Am a Shadow” [ Download ]

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Read the rest of Sirius: Episode 3 (3,594 words)

© gummimochi for Dramabeans, 2013. | Permalink | 14 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Drama Special, featured, Seo Joon-young, Sirius

So the game begins and pieces are set into motion. Their identities now switched, old grudges bubble just under the surface while new misunderstandings take root. The brothers soon find themselves as marionettes caught up in the intricate web of the puppeteer’s strings. Pulling at one string tugs at another and now there’s no way that either twin can step away unscathed.

From where we’re standing, there’s no way to tell just how deep and dark this rabbit hole is.

SONG OF THE DAY

Explosions in the Sky – “The Birth and Death of the Day” [ Download ]

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Read the rest of Sirius: Episode 2 (3,567 words)

© gummimochi for Dramabeans, 2013. | Permalink | 19 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Drama Special, featured, Seo Joon-young, Sirius

Two brothers, both alike in vanity. In fair Seoul where we lay this majestic scene. Where ancient grudge breaks into new rivalry. Where civil blood make civil hands unclean.

KBS kicked off its third season of its Drama Special anthology series this year with suspense thriller Sirius. Garnering critical acclaim for its directing, writing, and acting, the premiere drew in an impressive 3.8% in ratings for its midnight timeslot. And I am happy to report that the show is totally kickass with its captivating visuals, tightly written story, and characters that draw you into their mysterious and mind-boggling world.

Who knew that identical twins could be so eerily similar and yet so starkly different from one another?

SONG OF THE DAY

No Respect for Beauty – “The Walls Between Us” [ Download ]

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Read the rest of Sirius: Episode 1 (3,581 words)

© gummimochi for Dramabeans, 2013. | Permalink | 54 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Drama Special, featured, first episodes, Seo Joon-young, Sirius

Bleak Night is a remarkable film. So remarkable that it has languished in my drafts folder for a year, for fear that the review wouldn’t do the film justice.

What finally spurred me to take it up again was the light bulb that went off in my head while watching KBS’s currently airing drama School 2013, which took me back emotionally to the experience of watching Bleak Night—similar in many ways, yet also worlds apart in spirit. It isn’t fair to compare the two directly against each other given their respective formats, so I don’t think of them in terms of one being better than the other, but perhaps they can be observed as unexpected companion pieces.

I love School 2013′s realism, but it’s realism bathed in an optimistic light: It takes the darkness of Bleak Night and promises you hope at the end of the tunnel. In that sense, School 2013 is a more enjoyable watch, but also the safer one. Not a criticism; it’s that hope for the future that makes the current trials and tribulations bearable.

Bleak Night, on the other hand, is stark, stirring, bare-bones, and the most intensely moving thing I’ve seen in a long while.

SONG OF THE DAY

Amature Amplifier – “Monday Robot,” the song that closes the film. [ Download ]

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Read the rest of Movie Review: Bleak Night (2,188 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2013. | Permalink | 61 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: featured, Jo Sung-ha, Lee Je-hoon, Seo Joon-young

A new year means a new season of KBS’s anthology series Drama Special, an umbrella for their short programming that varies in length from one to eight episodes per installment and launches new directors, writers, and lesser-known stars. This year they’re planning on six shows, and it kicks off with a 4-episode suspense thriller called Sirius, starring Seo Joon-young (To the Beautiful You, Bleak Night, Tree With Deep Roots) in a double leading role as a set of twins. Two Seo Joon-youngs and one of them is evil? Sold.

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Read the rest of New season of Drama Special premieres with Sirius (468 words)

© girlfriday for Dramabeans, 2013. | Permalink | 61 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Drama Special, Seo Joon-young

Do you ever wonder who would headline all the crime thrillers if Jung Jae-young weren’t around? Good thing we don’t have to find out, ’cause he’s moving right along from I Am A Murderer to the new adaptation of Wandering Blade, alongside a promising supporting cast: Lee Sung-min (Golden Time, The King 2 Hearts) and up-and-comer Seo Joon-young, who was most recently in To the Beautiful You, though he’s gotten much more recognition for his role in Bleak Night.

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Read the rest of Jung Jae-young stars in adaptation of Wandering Blade (328 words)

© girlfriday for Dramabeans, 2012. | Permalink | 16 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Jung Jae-young, Lee Sung-min, Seo Joon-young

Have you ever experienced the excruciating pain to stay away from a 9 minute preview? And how satisfying it is to see the premiere in its entirety? We were promised lots of pretty and heartwarming moments, and we got those. But we also got some disjointed and jarring ones as well. I’d attribute this to two distinctive styles that haven’t fully meshed together yet but I’m holding out that they find a nice middle ground.

And this song rocks my socks off. It’s right up my alley.

SONG OF THE DAY

J-Min – “일어나 (Stand Up)” [ Download ]

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Read the rest of To the Beautiful You: Episode 1 (3,498 words)

© gummimochi for Dramabeans, 2012. | Permalink | 184 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: featured, first episodes, Kang Kyung-joon, Kim Ji-won, Lee Hyun-woo (2), Min-ho, Seo Joon-young, Sulli, To the Beautiful You, Yoo Min-kyu

No, it’s not the final poster, but here’s the first official group still of the high school flower boys (and girl in disguise Sulli) of To the Beautiful You, the Hana Kimi remake about a girl who dresses as a boy to enter a boys’ athletic high school.

From left to right in the above poster shoot, we’ve got:

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Read the rest of To the Beautiful You has its poster shoot (497 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2012. | Permalink | 176 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Lee Hyun-woo (2), Min-ho, Seo Joon-young, Sulli, To the Beautiful You, Yoo Min-kyu

Bleak Night is a movie that was quietly released a week ago, which caught my attention for its thoughtful, haunting indie vibe.

Centered around a death at a high school, the film released a week ago on March 3, and has been building strong word of mouth among audiences for being “hair-raisingly, frighteningly realistic” and sensitive. Now in its second weekend, it is approaching the 10,000 admittance mark, and while that’s a pretty small number for a mainstream studio picture, it’s a strong showing for a small indie film, bolstered by fans who are returning for repeat showings.

It has even drawn glowing words from notable industry giants like Bong Joon-ho (director of The Host, Mother), who declared, “It’s an astonishingly well-made film.” Yang Ik-joon, director of the award-winning Breathless, said, “I’ve been waiting for this! For such an outstanding movie and director to appear…”

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Read the rest of Dark indie film Bleak Night earns raves (381 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2011. | Permalink | 37 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Jo Sung-ha, Lee Je-hoon, Seo Joon-young