It’s a new dawn for KBS sageuk River Where the Moon Rises with this Monday’s episode 7 and other than the removal of one very toxic cast member everything else makes me want to yell “Go back, put it back the way it was!” Luckily the rating’s didn’t tank but stayed the same as last week, but the arrival of Na In Woo made me feel like a soothsayer who predicted doom and gloom but am too tired to say I Told You So. The production had him film snippets of scenes solo that were already filmed and then cut him into the scenes with his own standalone face shots or CGI’d together with the previous filmed scenes. It was mostly the same facial expression carried over from Queen Cheorin I dub “Mopey Constipation”. I know he’s asked to essay a character last minute and I applaud the effort but this young man has thus far demonstrated very limited to straight up bad acting talents so why does anyone think he can do well all of a sudden here? Conversely second male lead Lee Ji Hoon in every drama I’ve watched from Legend of the Blue Sea to Dinner Mate to here gets the obligatory one-note emo plot device type character (like Na In Woo’s Byung In in QC) but his acting always elevates it to capture audience interest. That’s the difference with good acting. Le sigh, Na In Woo aside the narrative continues to paddle in the kiddie pool with Ga Jin immediately getting smacked down by the villains in court with her first attempt at a tussle.
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Oh lord, seeing this makes all my maternal instincts rise up and I just want to take care of Kim So Hyun. She was at the press conference this past weekend with Love Alarm 2 costar Song Kang, with the … Continue reading

Another K-drama casting switcheroo is happening, also due to the recent spate of bullying allegations against younger generation stars. Girl Group April‘s Lee Na Eun, who got her big acting break in Extraordinary You, was hoping to start her more … Continue reading

The opening sequence of episode 6 of Vincenzo was a balletic comedy set in a courtroom, orchestrated to perfection by Vincenzo with full support of Cha Young and the Plaza denizens. It’s going to need that and more to win … Continue reading

Honestly this was a win-win proposition and perhaps the only losers are viewers hoping for a actor better at, well, acting. Na In Woo has stepped in for the disgraced Ji Soo as the male lead of River Where the … Continue reading
It’s back to the modern era for K-actor Kim Jung Hyun, no longer King Cheoljeong in tvN sageuk Queen Cheorin despite looking exceptionally fine in either era. He’s on a fashion pictorial roll with this new Esquire Korea spread as … Continue reading

I react to remake or new adaptation news based on the circumstances of each, time between and whether I think the previous one really feels outdated and the source material rich enough to merit a fresh take so new generations … Continue reading

Bellissimo! Episode 5 of Vincenzo was a work of art and I’m going to need to learn more compliments in Italian to shower on this drama if it stays this good or perhaps gets even better. The shady and offbeat … Continue reading

There is casting updates around second half 2021 tvN drama Island, with a new fresh-faced male lead taking over for a prior name associated with the drama. Cha Eun Woo will be the other male lead in Island for the … Continue reading

The wide net of bully allegations against 20-something Korean actors/actresses and idols has another casting change though not openly admitted. Actor Lee Sin Young, most famous for playing the good looking reticent North Korean soldier in Crash Landing on You, … Continue reading

Every time there is a Lee Seung Gi drama I’m on pins and needles hoping my boy picked well and doesn’t end up with a narrative stinker. His recently premiered tvN drama Mouse comes with high critical pedigree from the … Continue reading

The rapid downfall of actor Ji Soo has come to a conclusion and there are some wrap up news to report. Ji Soo will be enlisting in the army later this year in October 2021, but he’s serving public service … Continue reading

I owe Kim Eun Sook a mea culpa, I thought she wrote the narratively most frivolous time-travel/parallel universe drama with The King: Eternal Monarch but now the crown goes to Sisyphus: The Myth. The other wacko time-travel drama Alice was … Continue reading