These two were fun, sweet episodes. Nothing earth shattering but sweet and clean. Kind of like the next door puppy when she comes up to me for a belly scratch. I don’t love her like my dog but she’s sweet enough to smile at and play with for a few minutes. Smile has become like that for me. I don’t especially look forward to it nor do I think about it after the fact, but it’s a nice sweet moment while it’s in front of me. So onward with the recap!

SONG OF THE DAY

Jo Won-sun – “Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do” [ Download ]

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Read the rest of Smile: Episodes 34-35 (2,721 words)

© dw4p for Dramabeans, 2010. | Permalink | 39 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Jung Kyung-ho, Lee Chun-hee, Lee Kyu-han, Lee Min-jung, Smile

These episodes were pretty tongue-in-cheek, bringing back the charm that’s been missing in the last umpteen episodes. Track suits aside, the moment above reminded me of the Royal Tenenbaums—this ensemble cast has really hit its stride, having established their character quirks and playing off each other for comedic effect.

Two things: Jung-kil bonding with Hyun-soo is actually really fun to watch. And the cute factor between Jung-in and Hyun-soo is BACK. Which means, this series is officially back in action. Let’s roll!

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Read the rest of Smile: Episodes 32-33 (3,114 words)

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Post tags: Jung Kyung-ho, Lee Min-jung, Smile

Surprisingly, rewatching these two episodes weren’t as torturous as I thought it would be. I wouldn’t say I enjoyed it, but just as soyjoy mentioned in her last recap, I can sympathize with the writer’s plight to stretch out a storyline by 16 episodes. Now that Smile has ended, I can look back and see how the frustrations of these two episodes fit into the big picture. But man oh man, it’s taking a circuitous and nonsensical route to get there. (More on this later.)

The one person that I’m enjoying immensely is Lee Chun-hee. I’ve recently finished watching the masterpiece, Conspiracy (BEST) in (DRAMA) the (EVER) Court (directed by the man behind Chuno) and my little crush on Lee has turned into a full on lovefest. I’m sure we’ve all had our fangirl/boy moments, so you’ll have to excuse my indulgence on all things Sung-joon in the recap. I especially found his scenes with Hyun-soo to be quite amusing and endearing. And the bathroom scene above where Sung-joon turns on the water is so reminiscent of Chunderella (see last recap by soyjoy) that it made me giggle with glee.

SONG OF THE DAY

Conspiracy in the Court OST – “일월지가” (Song of Sun and Moon) by Sunye of Wondergirls
[ Download ]

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Read the rest of Smile: Episodes 30-31 (3,151 words)

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Post tags: Jung Kyung-ho, Lee Chun-hee, Lee Min-jung, Smile

I imagine that’s how the writer felt, too, when she got slammed with writing 16 more episodes… and it shows. Episodes 28 & 29 are out of whack with the rest of the series: they’re weepers, but of the kind that make your eyes roll rather than tear up. There were some moments that made me smile, but most of them were due to Sung-joon and Ji-soo, which is why they get this recap’s top billing.

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Read the rest of Smile: Episodes 28-29 (2,654 words)

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Post tags: Jung Kyung-ho, Lee Min-jung, Smile

Nothing particularly substantial happens in this episode. There are lighthearted and enjoyable moments, but it was pretty much a filler episode that rehashes the same themes.

The key element that makes this series work is the growth of the characters and the relations between them. Since there’s barely any developmental progress in this episode, it feels a bit extraneous. That said, if you’ve already come to care enough about these characters to watch them for 26 hours, a little slice-of-life narrative isn’t bad. Just don’t start the series here, hehe.

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Read the rest of Smile: Episode 27 (2,532 words)

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Post tags: Jung Kyung-ho, Lee Min-jung, Smile

Perhaps distance does make the heart grow fonder. I set aside Smile for a while, so as not to watch ahead of writing these recaps (having skimmed up til 29, let me say, it changes the way you perceive the episodes). But when I picked episode 26 back up to write this recap, I was pleasantly surprised. It felt like meeting up again with old friends—who, let’s be honest, have started to get on your nerves slightly. But with the passing of a little time, you’re glad to see them again, and even willing to overlook some of the things that had begun to annoy you. For example, I actually enjoyed the parents’ scenes. I even found Joo-hee funny. For serious.

Objectively, too, I think this episode had a nice change of pace from previous episodes and finally got some key plot developments in motion. It also earned a lot of laughs—especially from the dark horse, Secretary Kim. Who knew the guy could be so funny?

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Read the rest of Smile: Episode 26 (2,554 words)

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Post tags: Jung Kyung-ho, Lee Min-jung, Smile

KBS is on a hot streak — not only does it have several strong hit dramas currently on the air, it dominates every night of the week. KBS actually has more series bringing in 30% ratings than it does in the 20% range. At the head of the pack is the weekend family drama Three Brothers, which broke 40% with a 41.7% rating for its January 31 broadcast.

To put things into perspective, looking at the last week’s Top 20 overall ratings, KBS occupies the top four slots. The Top 20 includes non-drama offerings (variety shows and news, for instance), so if you consider only the drama and sitcom programming on the list, KBS has half of them.

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Read the rest of Three Brothers leads KBS’s winning streak (225 words)

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Post tags: Chuno, drama ratings, Everybody Cha Cha Cha, God of Study, High Kick Through the Roof, Loving You a Thousand Times, Smile, Three Brothers, Wish Upon a Star

Hello to all continuing Smile-lovers and the now less enthused followers! I know it’s been awhile (all my doing) and we’re a full 10 episodes behind on the recaps, but there’s good (or bad, depending on how you see it) news. There’s still 11 more episodes left of Smile! That’s a full 6 weeks – enough time for NBC to give Conan The Tonight Show boot, enough time for Toyota to be sent spiraling down by killer floor mats, enough time for a ferret to conceive and give birth, and (possibly) enough time for soyjoy and I to catch up on the recaps.

All kidding aside, the excitement I felt each Saturday and the sparkle that the series brought to my eyes are now a thing of the past. As soyjoy so aptly described in the past recap, Smile has positioned itself as the minivan in the lot of kdramas, kind of cool and fun in the beginning but still a minivan in the end, one that doesn’t turn too many heads when joy-riding on the road. (I don’t mean to take this metaphor too far. I just found it to be fun and clever…)

SONG OF THE DAY

Jung Kyung Ho (I’m Sorry, I Love You OST) – “소중한 사람” (My Precious Person) [ Download ]

This is a little random but I’m on still on a MiSa high after recently watching the 1994 drama, which started Jung Kyung Ho on his kdrama success. He demonstrates his acting chops playing a singer and So Ji Sub’s (*sigh*) brother, even lending his voice to the OST.

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Read the rest of Smile: Episode 25 (2,360 words)

© dw4p for Dramabeans, 2010. | Permalink | 47 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Jung Kyung-ho, Lee Min-jung, Smile

I’m back from a brief hiatus—huge thanks to dw4p for plowing forward with the recaps for the past month!!!—and I’ve slowly been catching up on Smile. Yes, slowly. I couldn’t believe it at first; I used to be so excited for the weekends to watch these episodes!

The fact that I was fine with leaving them unwatched wasn’t just because life got busy for the past month… Smile has begun to show the effects of its 16-episode extension. I’ll go into this in more detail in the commentary. For now, one more opening observation: It’s interesting that the romantic antagonist / third wheel has become the comic crux of this series! Han-se is again the one to watch—he steals the scenes with his keen comic timing. I especially appreciate that Lee Kyu-han doesn’t force comedy by making Han-se’s character an outright laughingstock, but instead underscores situational comedy in how he reacts and interacts subtly with the other characters. He’s dead-on as the hen-pecked son, and though Mrs. Lee isn’t a particularly likeable or well-acted character, he makes their scenes funny by bringing to life the foibles of their relationship.

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Read the rest of Smile: Episode 24 (3,107 words)

© soyjoy for Dramabeans, 2010. | Permalink | 44 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Jung Kyung-ho, Lee Kyu-han, Lee Min-jung, Smile

Here we are! The last of the year-end review series.

This post is something new, but I thought it would be an interesting experiment. Although each of us reviewers has our personal favorites, which we outlined in our personal reviews, it’s a different thing to move past preference and try to be objective in a sort of Dramabeans Awards — hence, these Editors’ Picks.

We voted in rounds, first nominating all potential candidates, then narrowing them down to a small pool of finalists, then culling that to one or two picks. As a result, not all of us got picks that we may have personally felt were most fitting, but we all respected the process and the opinions that led us to these selections.

SONG OF THE DAY

Queen Seon-deok OST – “아라로” (Araro) by I.U. [ Download ]

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Read the rest of 2009 Editors’ Picks [Year In Review, Part 6] (4,806 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2009. | Permalink | 112 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Accidental Couple, Again My Love, Assorted Gems, awards, Boys Before Flowers, Brilliant Legacy, City Hall, Friend Our Legend, IRIS, Kyung Sook Kyung Sook's Father, Queen Seon-deok, Return of Iljimae, Smile, Story of a Man, year in review, You're Beautiful