@ 100 Maria

Ahh, yes. Won Bin actually popped in my head when I clicked 'Post'. Even though I've never seen the movie or even seen Won Bin in anything, I remember being impressed that he had taken that role. Good for him!

But again, it makes me wonder at motivations of Asian actors vs. Hollywood ones. Here in Hollywood, you'll see a lot of big name actors taking on smaller, more indie projects that maybe don't make a lot of money, but are challenging roles.

I. . .don't know if that really exists in Asia? Does that mean that motivation is more money/fame based rather than talent based? I mean Taiwan introduced me to the concept of idol dramas! I didn't even know what that was until I started watching Asian dramas. You mean they make TV shows JUST for singers? I mean, yes, it happens in the States, but here it's more looked down on, I think. Like if you said that NBC was going to make a TV show for Christina Aguilera or Justin Timberlake, I think you'd have more people scoffing than actually excited.

It's just an interesting thing to think about. . .at least for me.

KRW did a gangster movie, i think? I"m not sure if it is a dark movie.
i love the beach! Wish I'm in Bora-cay right now.

Anyone going to check out Daniel Henney's medical drama for CBS?

@94, mishane

Attic Cat was my first Kim Rae-won drama to watch and for the first few minutes I wasn't that knocked out, but it didn't take long for that "IT" factor to kick in big time. Whatever "IT" is, he has it in spades, at least to me anyway! Then I really loved him in What Planet Are You From. His new movie Insadong Scandal looks like it has a somewhat darker tone. Also, and this is right up there with my weird thing for slightly imperfect teeth, but right before KRW speaks he has this sort of smacking his lips thing he does that drives me insane. In a really good way...

This is exactly what makes our conversations here on Open Thread Friday so lively, all the differences of opinion!

For instance (bracing myself here), I do NOT think that Jung Il-woo is even remotely attractive. Something about him bothers me. I can't tell you what, but it's sort of putting me off of My Fair Lady a little bit. And it's not his age, because age certainly isn't stopping me from ogling Kim Bum as often as I can.

I also like how Yoon Kye Sang always try challenging roles on his movies, the type of roles that aren't really the good-guy/handsme guy role. I'm looking foward for his new movie 'Executioner', I hope it does well in korean box-office. He's a great actor, but I hope he had better response from the audience regarding his projects.

@ 103 langdon813

HEEHEE. When it comes to Asian dramas, what I use to measure attractiveness goes right out the window!

Mainly because before I started watching them a year and a half ago, I never found Asian men attractive. At all.

But then I'll watch a drama. And . . the charisma of that actor, or the character he plays. . .and I'll be convinced.

For example, Gong Yoo. EVERYONE AND THEIR MOMMA LOVES HIM. I. . .don't think he's attractive, or my type. But put him in a drama role, and I'll fall for his character. . .and consequently, the actor himself. But then I'll look at a random picture of him, a candid picture, and I'll go, "Ehh, he's okay" and then I'll watch a movie of his and go "OMG SO HOT".

SO, I really can't judge attractiveness anymore. :(

@ 103 langdon813

HEH. I googled 'Jung Il Woo'. I have no clue who he is but he has the cutest round little chubby boy face!

@101 mishane
YEah! I know what you mean. I think in korea we could blame the actors and actress's entertainment companies that make them go for the easy-to-act and more likeble roles. It also seems like when their actors/actresses archieve the A-List status they only want to accept lead roles to confirm their status.

Ithink this isbad because sometimes its better to take meanful supporting role or supporting roles in good projects than being lead with a character with no deep in a meaninless project.

As for Won Bin, he has his own ent. company so he has freedom to chose what project he wants to do and based from his interviews and messages his representatives leave on his fanclub, seems like Won Bin wants to keep taking meanful roles instead of roles just to raise his popularity as one of Korea's most handsome actors. I wish more actors and actress would do the same.

i enjoy KRW in anything he does.

i think that someone mentioned his actingi n Plum Blossom... i have yet to see it.. but i'm looking for it for purchase, for the pure pleasure of seeing him half naked. i think that any nudity takes a LOT of courage and if it's tastefully done, INCREDIBLE to watch. plus, i believe other ppl on dramabeans has expressed that KRW won awards for this breakthrough performance. so i'm HIGHLY anticipating watching this... as soon as i can get my hands on it.

@94 mishane

KRW plays a darker character in the movie "Sunflower".

Hey, lb_tmi!

Did you ever figure out the reason for your persistent headache from several days ago? I've been meaning to ask, sorry! Hope it's much better!

Naked KRW?? I don't know if my heart can take it...oh, who am I kidding? Of course it can.

Dramabeans: Here is the link to your net worth. ^__________^ Quite a handsome part-time job. Congratulation!! Your estimated worth is about US$70,000.

http://www.websiteoutlook.com/www.dramabeans.com

Umm...hehe...give me your hands and let me read your palms. ^___________^

@ 107 Maria

Yeah. When I first started reading about Asian entertainment, I found it interesting that the management companies controlled basically everything about a stars life. What projects they did, with who, etc. I think the first one I read about were Filipino management companies, and with those, I think only select actors can work with each other? Which is why you saw the same collaborations again and again.

The more I read about Won Bin, the more I'm intrigued by him. I've never seen him in anything.

@108 lb_tmi
Yeah! Kim Rae Won won Blue Dragon Award for best new actor because of his performance in 'Plum Blossom'. :)

Kim Rae Won's Charm is that he can make the most boring and simple character seem endearing and multi-dimensional. He just has a lot of screen presence and easy charm about him. Basically he just has the IT factor. I think a lot of his series were as good as they were or just watchable because it had Kim rae Won. Imagine Gourmet with any other actor and it would be a BLAND FEST. Or A which star did you come from. Any other actor would have butchered that role with over-acting or looking bored. But Kim Rae Won just provides a lot of Spark. I think he is one actor who is able to rise above the script.

I think Korean actors are scared of experiment because korean viewers seem to like the same thing over and over again and cannot seem to take something too different. Case in point, Brilliant Legacy was a super-hit and A story of a man was a super-flop. How else could you explain it. Lee Dong Wook and Ju Ji Hoon tried different in The Devil and La Dolce Vita and noone really watched it. So i dont really blame the actors. Its the ratings

And Jung II Woo is so cute and Talented

yes, yes, yes... Sunflower!!! i've seen that! it's a revenge plot. and KRW does dark well too! Mr Socrates was good too! i had gone on a KRW spree after i bought ..Ing.

@ langdon813..

my headache went away after i got the UTI. or at least it didn't hurt as much as the pressure from the UTI. LOL! i had another headache the other day, but only lasted ONE day!!! so i'm good now. thanks for asking! i expect that i'll have another headache in another week until the end of the month (when all my work is due again!)

Plum Blossom... that's the movie you and i want to watch, langdon813. if you find it online... let me know. i'll do the same. i've seen it for sale at Yesasia, but not streaming or for download yet.

lovebird_tmi AT yahoo DOT com

@ 114

Well, I think your right about Korean viewers liking the same thing, but how does that explain a movie like Oldboy? I mean, wasn't that movie really popular AND make a lot of money? And it dealt with a huge issue. . .incest.

ACTUALLY, now that I think about it, Asia seems pretty open with incest. Am I wrong about this? This always pops up in dramas or movies.

And America is NOT okay with incest. I hardly ever see that being dealt with and if it is, it's in an indie or a horror movie. Actually, I don't think I've seen incest in an indie movie.

What I DON'T seem to see in Asian movie is pedophilia. That one doesn't seem talked about at all. And I feel like it's OVER-talked about here in US. So. . maybe it's just a cultural thing. This may sound strange, but I find the topic of pedophiles to be very interesting, I did my final term paper on it and I'm doing my MA thesis on it. Does anyone know of any Asian movies that deal with the topic of pedophilia?

Kim Rae Won and Plum Blossom -- he's a lot more than half-naked in it! I was a little taken aback about how explicit some of the scenes were, having only seen dramas and My Little Bride up until then...

He just radiates charisma in whatever role he plays, which is how his slacker characters manage to be believably attractive. I agree with the others, he is the actor who in photos is just nice-looking but in a character, on film, he's magnetic. I've been saving Insadong Scandal and Gourmet to get me through these two years he'll be off-screen.

if there's more than half naked of KRW in Plum Blossom, then skip the streaming vids... i'm BUYING IT!!!

can i get a HECK YEAH!!!?

OMG!

Just read Jay Chou is Kato in the new Green Hornet movie!

Perhaps the korean tv audience is not usually the same as the korean movie audience. Seems like people are more able to accept unique stories in movies than in TV.

And yeah... it's amazing how there are so many asian dramas and movies that has incest or references to incest.

As for pedophilia,
I think it's disturbing how asians seem to like the hole lolita culture. There are many tv series with veeeery young girls being paired with guys that areold enought to be their uncles. And the way asian men see girl groups like SNSD, Wonder Girls and etc as sex symbols is disturbing. -_-' Even the creater of SNSD said they were created aimed on men around their 30's and 40's.

@mishane

For some wierd reason, i think that korean viewers are more adventerous about movies then about dramas, Maybe the movie audience are younger and more ready to watch new things. While the drama audiences are usually ajummas who are less likely to try new things. For example, Lets say Kim rae Won, His roles in movies such as sunflower, plum blossom or even insadong scandal are way more daring than his drama roles. Same goes for Kwon Sang Woo. He always sticks to the same boring formula(although it does not seem to be working anymore) in the dramas
Yes there is just too much Incest and i am surprised how nonchalantly it is potrayed...Like one spring day...They make it seem like its normal...Like in case of TRIPLE...People wanted Haru and Hwal to be together...

119 langdon813:
Really???? Jay Chou? He's not really what we would call a good actor, but I like him a lot he's a talented musician and I liked the movie he directed & wrote: 'Secret'. :)

I'm back!

@54 meh and @70 mishane

Okay, will check out the 2 Nodame SPs. Need to locate copy, hate to watch it online. In fact, I need to watch Nodama Cantabile again on my pimping TV room with surround sound speaker, instead of in the bedroom after the koalababies have gone to bed. Watching Nodame on anything less than a rocking sound system is a travesty of the highest order, and I aim to further enrich my classical music experience properly.

Everyone on 9E2O - will finish it properly now, all the love is for a good reason, right? I really wasn't very captivated by it, but perhaps it was the wrong time for me to enjoy such an intimate, realistic, simple yet charming drama. I hope all the folks who read about all the CH love pouring forth in all the OTs recently also give it a chance the way I am re-checking out 9E2Os. Sorry, can't help myself, resident CH-oholic, can't go an OT without a CH shoutout. Speaking of which....

@23 lovenyc52

"Finished CH earlier this week. Holy. Crap. Best. Ending. EVER. "

Mild Spoiler below:
Love your punctuation here, sometimes I run out exclamations, emphasis, all caps, whatever is needed to express the awesomeness of City Hall. I am still in shock, to say that "Fate" played a part, but we never saw it coming, never even mattered to us really when we've already invested a billion percent into how the coupling was already perfect, well, it's just icing on the cake, don't you agree?

My Love Patzzi:

I really enjoyed it the first time I saw it, it's such a short dramady, introduced me to the Kim Wons, and was fun to watch. However, for me, it does not allow for re-watching (the plot is nonsensical), and what was initally slightly annoying traits for Jang Na Ra's character has overtime become more and more I want to shoot her full of tranquilizer. So, worth checking out for those who haven't watched, but not an investment property.

@langdon813

Oh noes! I wonder what happened with Kim Sang Woo. Jay Chou's good for the part too, anyways. Come to think of it, I thinks he's better suited for it.

@121, shubi

In the case of Hwal and Haru in Triple, I didn't look at that situation as being remotely close to being incest, but rather incompatibility due to the huge age gap. But since they weren't raised together (never even lived together as stepsiblings), and shared not a drop of blood between them, I had no problem with the pairing. In a different but similar situation in Tree of Heaven, that brother and sister combo were in fact roughly the same age and did share a house together with their newly married parents. So while they didn't share a bloodline, that alone made it a little squicky for me. But still, not completely out of the realm of possibility since they were both teens when they met for the first time.

@122, skelly

I had no idea that the main actress in Attic Cat committed suicide. Man, that just breaks my heart. I'm so glad I didn't know that beforehand. That's the one thing that is holding me back from watching Last Scandal Of My Life, even though I know it's a very good drama.

@123, Maria

Yep! Just read it on Yahoo! I liked Secret as well; and musically this guy is just insanely talented. Should be interesting!

I think Jung II Woo has a lot of future and is an actor to look out for
Jung ii woo is cute and is a really good actor. He is completely different in Unstoppable High Kick and The return of Illijimae. He is only 23. The maturity he shows is that role is pretty admirable.

Oh i thought Kwon Sang Woo was also in talks for the role in Green Hornet..I had really hoped he would get it...I am kind of sad

@langdon813
I think Haru and Hwal did live in the same house. But Hwal was never home...But still when your parents get married you automatically think your half siblings as your siblings..So i still dont get it.. The huge age factor is another reason i was against it....Also Pong Ho is so damn cute

I recently watched "I Love My Younger Sister" with Matsumoto Jun (HYD)... as you might imagine from the title, it's a whole movie about incest. I had not realized, as I do now from these posts, that this is such a pervasive theme (perhaps b/c I tend to watch the comedies, not the weepies).

@ 126 langdon813

I agree with Triple. There was no incest there. They were step-siblings who never even had a family relationship. The age thing bothered me a little, but not THAT much.

Happy Friday:) everyone. I'm hanging with my big sis in Florida for a few days and right now I have two weeks till I leave for Seoul. It feel unreal that I am really doing this, but I know it will work out.

So I started the first episode of Love Shuffle and have to say it is quite interesting as far as the story's concept goes. I have already decided who I want to end up with who but we will see how it plays out.

I wanted to check out Style and Dream but I think I might finally watch 9E20 from all the comments I am reading about it. It is on my list of dramas to watch so I am downloading it now and will check it out after Love Shuffle.

Ciao!!!

@ 128 reluctantbutaddicted

Yeah. That movie was. Hmm.

Brother/sister sex. Fun?

No. Not really.

jay chou as kato? does he speak english is what i want to know. he's a cutie. <3 i knew kwon sangwoo wouldn't get the part. he's far too buff to be seth rogen's sidekick.

@119 langdon - jay chou!?! really?? but...he doesn't speak english haha.... i do adore him tho.. :)

@124 ockoala - re: nodame SP - i was able to DL it off d-addicts w/ no problem. people are still seeding i believe!! re: 9E20 - yes, so good. i don't even know what else to say. except that i'm gonna go re-watch it haha. re: city hall 'fate' role OMG! i think i kinda screamed a lil when it happened. and like you said, it didn't matter if that twist was in there or not since it was already the perfect couple and perfect story and perfect ending... but having it there made me love them EVEN more. yes. icing. :o) yet another example of how superb the writers were for this show...

@128 reluctantbutaddicted :
I watched the movie and the OVAs and I thought the male character had some mental problem to like his sister the way he did. As for the girl, she seemed like she just acepted her brother's advances because she didn't wanted to lose his presence in her life.
How can I explain? She looked needy, like she didn't wanted to lose having her brother by her side (and through his actions it was clear that if it wasn't to be as boyfriend, he wouldn't be by her side). Seems like she only loved him as a brother, but to not lose him she accepted to let him love her not as a sister, but as a girlfriend.
that story was creepy...! -_-'

@ 133 Maria

I fast forwarded through A LOT of that movie (it was so slow!) and from what I saw, I agree with you. It seemed like the sister didn't want to lose her relationship with her brother. . .so she agreed to sleep with him.

Creepster.

It is nice that Jun took the role, even if he didn't really do much with it.

Mishane and Maria...

It was indeed a creepy movie. I never really understood in the first place why he was so obsessed with his sister. Too obscure, oblique, and unpleasant for me. I couldn't really see the point of the film: why tell that story?

I did a quick search on Google Scholar to see if I could find anything discussing the role of incest in Asian film, but came up empty. A paper there waiting for someone to write...

@88 - LOL I always wonder the same thing. I have watched soo many kdramas and the girls are nearly always wearing heels even if they're poor or in the most ridiculous situation. I thought it was a korean culture thing I just didnt get...that girls just wear heels in every occasion.
But then I got a shock recently watching Brilliant Legacy and Han Hyo Joo was wearing flat pumps most of the time.

Although the other day I was sitting on the bus and suddenly saw a group of koreans and the girls were lugging along big luggages and their heels....wow. Would be a lot easier on their feet to wear something a bit more comfortable.
Haha and had my mum beside me getting all excited (as seeing any koreans in london in rare) and she wanted to go and talk to them about kdramas! lol *so embarassing* luckily she had the window seat and I wouldnt move out the way to let her go. xD

@ ockoala
Loved reading your story in the last OT about your hubby's car/garage incident. :P

Mine was a dear and watched Hon (RAW) with me because I'm a big chicken when it comes to horror. Vampires, werewolves, etc. I enjoy, but ghosts/horror is another story.

excerpts from hjkomo & hjkomo's husband's viewing of Hon:
(note: hubby doesn't understand Korean aside from a few words/phrases here and there)

Ep. 1:
(early on)
Hubby: You said they were twins.
Me: yeah, they are.
H: but she called her Unnie
Me: yeah, she's the older twin
H: but they don't even look anything alike!
Me: how many real-life Korean identical twins do you know in show business?

(later)
Me: (flinching) EEK!!!!!
H: hahaha!

(a bit later than that)
Me: (flinching) AHHH!!!!
H: hahaha!

(end)
H: That was it?! That's the ending?!!!
Me: yeah, of episode 1. It's a ten-part series.
H: WHAT?! There are NINE more hours of this???!!!

Day 2 - Ep.2:
Me: Stay awake!
H: Okay, okay. This episode's not scary at all.
(which was true...ep.2 wasn't scary)

@94 mishane

"Like playing a psychopath, or a murderer or a pedophile. I’d think that these would be more challenging roles and something, that as a thespian, you’d look forward to"

But many big-name stars have dared to go there, look at the Vegeance trilogy, could I have imagined Lee Young Ae playing Lady Vengeance, hells bells no?! Or Choi Min Shik and Yoo Ji Tae in Old Boy. I think dark roles are rarer in dramas (imagine watching 16-20 episodes about a serial killer, psychopath, pedophile, wifebeater - not very pleasant, so I doubt such a drama would ever get green lit - though let me eat my words a tiny bit, we did have Story of A Man and the resident sociopath Kim Kang Woo), but dramas tend to be happier, geared towards escapism, so the theme is more likely to be positive rather than focus on the negative.

Nonetheless, I think it takes great guts for a big name star to bust out of his/her comfort zone and play a dark character, so it splendidly well, and then can resume a steady career of playing the hero. The public will have to laud their thespian efforts but not get that image ingrained in their minds forever. Juicy roles soon so rare these days, sigh.

@ 138 hjkomo

Aww, that was extremely adorable. And funny!

@135 mishane: yeah the movie was pretty slow, but surprisenly it was better than the OVAs. On the OVAs, the male character seems even more freak than on the movie because he's shown as more possessive and obsessed to his sister than on the movie.

@136 reluctantbutaddicted:
you're right, on the movie and on the OVAs there was never a real or acceptable explanation as for why the boy was so obsessed and in love with his sister like that. So it made the hole story a bit pointless. My cousin is reading the manga and he said that there are lots of volumes. So maybe in the manga they explain better why he falled in love for her, but it still doesn't remove the fact that incest is creepy and a NO NO NO.

Last month, I came across an interesting article about incest and it's even more disturbing when you know that there are real cases of incest in the world where the siblings and even mother-son/father-daugher both accept and agree with the incest.

@142 Maria

"My cousin is reading the manga and he said that there are lots of volumes. So maybe in the manga they explain better why he falled in love for her, but it still doesn’t remove the fact that incest is creepy and a NO NO NO"

I hesitated to get involved in this subject, but I have read/skimmed through the manga Boku wa Imouto ni Koi wo Suru and wish to god I can erase the memory, just god-awful sick stuff. I returned it to the lender whence it came faster than Chiaki slapping Nodame upside the head.

But I know why the brother was in love with his twin sister (they are twins, in case the movie or OVA did not make clear - I can't believe they generated more visual mediums of this horrific story - so, it turns out the twins are indeed blood related (gee, the whole, what if they are not related, then it's alright, no? - yeah, not gonna happen - writer wanted to write about incest, and she went there all right).

The twins are fraternal (we knew that because, hello, one boy, one girl), but it turns out the mom had sex with 2 men within hours of each other, and so her fraternal twins had different dads. The boy's real father was in love with the mother, tried to persuade her to run away with him on her wedding day, but she ended up marrying the girl's father, and hence, the twins with different fathers outcome. So the brother was carrying his dad's love for the mother and he had transferred it onto his twin sister-mother look a like.

Sh*t, I wish I could forget this piece of cr*p story, but I used to reall all mangas I could lay my hands on, but this one has taught me to peek a little at all the volumes before I start reading in case I come across another jack story like this, and I can run away screaming.

Where are the good ole days of Candy Candy, sigh, classic Japanese mangas are always a balm for my soul.

@140 asianromance

LOL! Yes, we do go out in our sweats and in pajamas running errands and so on here in So. Cal. I don't know if it's nationwide, though? I didn't start doing it till I moved here from Chicago 17 years ago, over there, I was always dressed, meaning at least had a pair of jeans on or something. Imagine the first time I was at Pavillions(grocery store), seeing people around me in sweats! Years later I'm one of them...

@143 ockoala

Oh my. No, none of that back story came through in the movie, at least as far as I could see. Just seemed inexplicable and pointless (and, of course, icky). Good advice to browse before you commit to reading!

Heels... I also often wonder what on earth those Asian women onscreen are thinking wearing heels with outfits and on occasions when they seem totally inappropriate and inefficient. But then I saw Gwyneth Paltrow in Ironman running for her life in heels at least 6" high... and when I stopped laughing, I realized I could no longer see it as a purely Asian cinema phenomenon.

@ 143 ockoala

oh wow, that is one creepy creepy creepy story. I've started tons of manga (and have been disturbed by the content in a ton of them... and therefore stopped reading almost all of them in the first few volumes) but that is by far the most creepiest tale ever. And how in the world is that illustrated? *wrinkles nose*

**

yea, I've found that Asian movies and dramas have taboo topics such as incest as a topic a ton more than American t.v. shows. I'm guessing its part of the "forbidden love" theme that the audiences' love. And I'm guessing that the more conservative society is, the more liberal the anime, movies, and dramas are?

Can you imagine Kimi wa Petto being made into a t.v. show or a mainstream movie? or Kamisama Mou Sukoshi Dake, where the main character, a high-school girl, sells her body for a concert ticket and then gets HIV?

What I find sometimes equally as creepy as incest is the faux-incest which is so common in Korean melodramas. Where the main girl and main guy are 'siblings' or become 'siblings' through their parents' marriage... and they decide they're destined to be together for forever, when they're not old enough to even cross the street by themselves.

@143 ockoala: Like reluctantbutaddicted said in the movie none of that was explained and in the OVAs it was not explained either. But thanks for telling us. The explanation the mangKa used is even more pointless than no explanation at all. lol. Now I know I should definetely stay away from that manga.

@145 reluctantbutaddicted - lol @ at the gwyneth running in 6inch heels scene!! i totally remember watching that and thinkin, DAMN girl can run in 6 inch stilettos on a metal GRATE?!

@144 celestialorigin - haha yes we do run around in sweats...albeit in the OC and LA they tend to be juicy sweats haha. i used to be so anti-juicy sweats cuz i thought 'omg they're SWEATS!! how do you pay that much for SWEATS?!' and then i tried them on and holay are they comfy as all hell. now i own 3 sets *sigh*

@148 lovenyc52

Loved Juicy, but am now forbidden to buy more. ockoala hubby almost had a brain aneuryism when I bought baby koala girl her own pair of Juicy sweatpants. She's 2 yrs old, and her bottoms say Juicy, and that is apparently not acceptable according to the hubby who is already polishing his shotgun collection.

I wear heels, all the time, have since college. I'm short, so the heels is a height boost for me, plus it completes an outfit. I think as long as the wearer enjoys them, then totter away, sister! I have since drawn the line when my dad (who gets free samples), presented me with a 7 inch (with platforms) sandals that he called from the latest collection best selling "strip pole shoes" (translated from Chinese). I said, thanks, but no thanks, Dad. Psst, my dear old dad was not nudging me towards a different occupation, he was just being clueless as usual, thought the shoes looked fancy.

@ 146 meh

Yes, it was the creepiest sickest concept ever. I vote to make it a horror story next time, so unsuspecting readers like me don't ever read it thinking it was some cute high school love story. Shiver. Gives me jeebies kinda like hjkomo did when watching Hon.

i don't like those printed juicy ones. i like them plain and neutral colors not those bright orange ones. lol
they're pricey, but i totally agree they're the most comfortable sweat pairs!