I’ve been trying to retrain my brain to tolerate fantasy wuxia dramas, which to me is like the untalented sibling of the overachieving star of the family. It substitutes special effects for story, dumbing down characters because magic and make believe elements can be thrown in to solve any problem. But once my darling rising young C-actor Li Yi Feng … Continue reading →
The netizens in South Korea are notoriously judgmental and not afraid to unleash their ire at whatever is the hot topic du jour. When it comes to their celebrities, mostly they require vanilla complacency in their public persona coupled with a hard working ethos. In previous years, some of the topics that have gotten celebs in hot water include tax … Continue reading →
This drama? Is so good, so so good. Quite simply put, it treats the viewers like we’re family and we’re all in this ride together. There is no pandering, it asks us to accept blips in the road when things don’t quite measure up, and it warms us in the feeling of caring about something rather than dispassionately watching with … Continue reading →
While the saying goes that there is no bad publicity, there is something called too much hype. Funnily enough, I don’t think either SBS, writer Kim Eun Sook, or any one of her cast members of the upcoming drama Heirs is trying to hype up the drama (yet). The hype is all fan generated, and we are probably all doing … Continue reading →
I don’t want Lee Jun Ki to hog all the credit for the goodness that is Two Weeks. Yes, he gets the majority of the screen time and carries the burden of all the narrative intensity on his shoulders, but he’s lucky to be surrounded by more than capable and equally talented co-stars. I actually really like Kim So Yeon … Continue reading →
Welcome to dead guy angst central, feel free to park your sanity gut-check and critical analysis at the door and just go with the flow. I promise Who Are You won’t drink your tears for breakfast, but it might have some for a midnight snack. How the heck does Kim Jae Wook play a character who in the present time … Continue reading →
I can sound like a broken record saying how much Goddess of Fire sucks, but numbers don’t lie. An MBC sageuk in the Mon-Tues slot with this cast, GoF’s ratings have been middling from the get go but it’s now dropped 1-2% an episode for the last 4 episodes straight. Ever since Gwanghaegun got more screen time and Tae Do … Continue reading →
I’m always happier picking between a drama starting off shaky and getting better over a drama starting off good and then faltering. Of course the ideal is that it’s good all the way through, but that’s become a rare beast indeed in the increasingly derivative and writing-challenged world of K-dramas. I wrote about the tvN cable ghost drama Who Are … Continue reading →
Lee Jun Ki has totally mastered my heart because he’s mastered the essential skills of being a K-star. He’s hardworking but earnest, bringing the high wattage celebrity aura along with a cheerful openness with his fans. He tweets all the time and these two latest pictures came courtesy of him after the airing of the most recent two episodes of … Continue reading →
I don’t know what’s the shorter end of the stick – Kim Bum getting about 8 minutes of screen time an episode in Goddess of Fire, or Lee Sang Yoon getting triple that but doing really dumb things that make me roll my eyes at him even more. That’s the crazy of GoF, I suppose, where getting more screen time … Continue reading →
After two back-to-back K-dramas dealing with the I-see-dead-people ability and ensuing conundrum, I think its safe to say this gimmick doesn’t make for the best drama concept. I appreciate that its trying something new, but the ghost of the episode stories are never in depth enough to feel important and end up taking time away from the main characters and … Continue reading →
Oh my god, give me a moment here. I need to not go with my gut reaction upon seeing the very first official still from the upcoming revenge melodrama Secret, which shows male lead Ji Sung choking female lead Hwang Jung Eum around the neck and then a fist right next to where her head is. My gut reaction would … Continue reading →
Being away from one’s family for extended periods of time undoubtedly increases the desire for a getogether. Joe Cheng was in the military for the past year and recently got discharged in early July. His service wasn’t completely cut off from the real world, it’s more like a out of town job with weekends off and shore leaves since he … Continue reading →