Ask, and ye shall receive. Actually, movie reviews are a feature girlfriday and I have wanted to contribute to for ages, but haven’t been able to get around to with the craziness of drama-recapping. I’m always excited to write about movies before they release, but strangely, once they do it’s like they drop off my radar. It’s not because I don’t like movies, but because access and exposure to Korean movies is so much more limited than with dramas. You wouldn’t think that would be the case given the proliferation of Hallyu and dramamania throughout the world, but it’s just a different beast.

In any case, I’m happy to be diving into my first outright movie review, which is for Penny-Pinching Romance, a romantic comedy that released last fall. (Called 티끌모아 로맨스 in Korean, I’ve also seen the title Love N Cash.) It’s a movie I was immediately interested in when it was announced, which I finally got around to seeing recently.

SONG OF THE DAY

Penny-Pinching Romance OST – “웃어요” (Laugh) [ Download ]

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Read the rest of Movie Review: Penny-Pinching Romance (3,351 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2012. | Permalink | 95 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: featured, Han Ye-seul, Song Joong-ki

And now to conclude the Big 3 Broadcaster awards with SBS, featuring some of the most popular dramas of the year. Tree With Deep Roots was the big winner of the night, winning six trophies in total, including the Daesang for Han Seok-kyu, and the Top Excellence Award for Best Drama. There were no big upsets in any category, because they kind of have a category for everyone, but that’s the name of the game. I’m just happy for Han Seok-kyu’s big win, and the fact that he didn’t have to share the glory with any split-award hullabaloo.

Protect the Boss cleaned up as well, winning Best Couple and acting awards for the stars, as well as an additional netizen popularity award for Choi Kang-hee. As expected, Thousand Day Promise had a strong showing in the acting categories, as did fellow melodrama Scent of a Woman. It certainly was the year for tearjerkers. The winners…

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Read the rest of 2011 SBS Drama Awards (1,653 words)

© girlfriday for Dramabeans, 2011. | Permalink | 139 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: awards, Choi Kang-hee, Eom Ki-joon, Gu Hara, Han Seok-kyu, Im Soo-hyang, Jaejoong, Jang Hyuk, Jeon Gwang-ryul, Ji Chang-wook, Ji Sung, Jung Kyeo-woon, Jung Yumi (2), Kim Rae-won, Kim Sun-ah, Lee Dong-wook, Lee Mi-sook, Lee Min-ho, Lee So-yeon, Lee Yo-won, Seo Hyo-rim, Shin Hyun-bin, Shin Se-kyung, Song Joong-ki, Su Ae, Wang Ji-hye, Yoon So-yi

Being the lesser-known actor challenging Song Joong-ki as love rival has got to be a daunting task, but Yoo Yeon-seok has been brought in to do just that in Wolf Boy, the upcoming fantasy-melo film starring Song Joong-ki and Park Bo-young as the two main leads.

The movie follows a “lonely wolf boy who’s been abandoned by the world” and a “cold girl who has closed her heart to the world” as they fall in love. Yoo Yeon-seok is the antagonist who likes her and therefore torments wolfie, even though he’s rich and spoiled and has everything else going for him.

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Read the rest of Yoo Yeon-seok cast as Song Joong-ki’s rival in Wolf Boy (192 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2011. | Permalink | 22 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Park Bo-young, Song Joong-ki, Yoo Yeon-seok

Here’s Song Joong-ki in a decidedly strange spread for GQ. Normally I’m a fan of quirky, but this one’s just plain weird. For one, they’ve got the torso and legs of a woman standing there like a headless prop, which drives me batty. (Objectify much? Seriously, Mr. Scarecrow got better treatment than her.) And secondly, is it just me, or does he look AFRAID of what might be under that teeny tiny bikini?

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Read the rest of Song Joong-ki for GQ (160 words)

© girlfriday for Dramabeans, 2011. | Permalink | 87 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: photo shoots, Song Joong-ki

That’s right – this is the episode you’ve all been waiting for. It’s Flower Boy Joong-ki‘s epic appearance on Running Man!! I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard in a Running Man episode before. Joong-ki, you’ve got to come back – we’ve missed you!

EPISODE 66. Broadcast on October 30, 2011.

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Read the rest of Running Man: Episode 66 (1,454 words)

© gummimochi for Dramabeans, 2011. | Permalink | 35 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: featured, Haha, Ji Suk-jin, Kang Gary, Kim Jong-kook, Kim Joo-hyuk, Lee Kwang-soo, Running Man, Song Ji-hyo, Song Joong-ki, Yoo Jae-suk

There’s blood, guts, and glory as our young actors grow into their older counterparts and the murder mystery begins to unfold. The bodies are starting to pile up, and it’s scholars against officials and Chae-yoon against his multiple personalities in this tightly-edited episode that shows us it’s still cool to be King… just not when there are dead people in your library. The next time I hear an owl, I’m going into hiding.

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Read the rest of Tree With Deep Roots: Episode 4 (3,239 words)

© HeadsNo2 for Dramabeans, 2011. | Permalink | 32 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: featured, Han Seok-kyu, Jang Hyuk, Shin Se-kyung, Song Joong-ki, Tree With Deep Roots

It’s really fun to watch a conversation between two people that makes you feel like you’re in a verbal boxing match with giants. Every time Lee Do landed a nicely-veiled hit to his father I practically cheered… Wait, I actually did cheer. We’ve got secret orders, political maneuvering, and shadowy groups of idealists bent on subverting the power of the King – all the ingredients you need to make a tasty sageuk cake. Mmm.

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Read the rest of Tree With Deep Roots: Episode 3 (3,119 words)

© HeadsNo2 for Dramabeans, 2011. | Permalink | 40 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: featured, Han Seok-kyu, Jang Hyuk, Shin Se-kyung, Song Joong-ki, Tree With Deep Roots

Is it just me, or do the Yoo Ah-in and Song Joong-ki photo shoots always come in pairs? Well they do both have movies getting ready to premiere. Song’s rom-com Penny-Pinching Romance with Han Ye-seul premieres in a few weeks, where he plays a broke, girl-crazy slacker. Well, a CUTE broke, girl-crazy slacker. He is played by Song Joong-ki, after all. He says that he took the role to shake things up and “break my image,” which is always fun to see. Here he poses for Vogue‘s November issue with a scarecrow friend, because… nothing says high fashion like a stick-thin figure dressed in clothes? Waitaminute.

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Read the rest of Song Joong-ki with scarecrow buddy for Vogue (199 words)

© girlfriday for Dramabeans, 2011. | Permalink | 63 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: photo shoots, Song Joong-ki

What an intense follow up to an already intense first episode. We’re still so early in the series for performances to already take my breath away, but that only gives the show extra brownie points. There’s a great blend of style and substance going on here as we get to delve deeper into what it’s like to be a young king and what it’s like to be a young slave without a master. We’re seeing the first stages of a good mystery unfold right before our eyes, and the directing and pacing (so far) seem steady and assured. And the colors! The cinematography! Living in Joseon never looked so good.

[Watch the series at DramaFever]

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Read the rest of Tree With Deep Roots: Episode 2 (3,133 words)

© HeadsNo2 for Dramabeans, 2011. | Permalink | 49 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: featured, Han Seok-kyu, Jang Hyuk, Shin Se-kyung, Song Joong-ki, Tree With Deep Roots

Tree With Deep Roots is cinematically stunning and darkly thrilling – a full on assault of the senses, if you will. If this drama were a meal, it would have seven courses with a complimentary dessert just because it’s awesome like that. If this drama were your girlfriend, she’d leave you to watch Song Joong Ki play a tortured young king and Jang Hyuk a Joseon-era murder investigator. If this drama wore clothes, it-…

You know what? The opening episode was good. Let’s just go from there.

[Watch the series at DramaFever]

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Read the rest of Tree With Deep Roots: Episode 1 (3,242 words)

© HeadsNo2 for Dramabeans, 2011. | Permalink | 65 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: featured, first episodes, Han Seok-kyu, Jang Hyuk, Shin Se-kyung, Song Joong-ki, Tree With Deep Roots