The 51st Grand Bell Awards went off without a hitch last night in Seoul, though apparently there was major behind-the-scenes conflict between the past and present organizers. It was also quite a dud of an affair with the wins mostly getting yawns or huhs from the netizens. That makes the ridiculous and unattractive red lace coochie showing bondage dress that … Continue reading →
The nominees are out for the 51st annual Grand Bell Awards, the Korean equivalent of the Academy Awards to honor the industry’s best and brightest films and movie stars for the calendar year. This year the only K-movie I watched from the list of Best Film nominees was The Admiral: Roaring Currents, which judging by its runaway box office receipts pretty much … Continue reading →
Precocious and preternaturally talented child actors appears to be a dime a dozen in the world of K-dramas, in breadth and depth easily surpassing the other Asian countries and their stable of kid actors. In the modern era of K-dramas since the dawn of Hallyu, there have been a handful of faces seen as the child counterpart of famous leads … Continue reading →
If South Korea follows the Hollywood film release timeline, then Fall is the season when the darker fare comes out. Stuff that screams “awards consideration” over “box office candy”. After the early onslaught of Summer releases with corresponding big VIP list movie premieres, I fell off keeping track of movies but this one caught my eye because it stars the … Continue reading →
Monday sees the premiere of a new sitcom about town, not that most people would care since the Korean sitcoms occupy a lesser plane of consciousness since subtitles are rarely available for it. I’m actually quite intrigued by the upcoming Potato Star 2013QR3, which has an even more unwieldy earlier title of Sweet Potato-shaped Potato Star 2013QR3. It’s got a … Continue reading →
There is nothing like a sitcom to scoop out two rising young stars to deposit them in front of the domestic Korean audience for four days a week going through a more dramatized version of mundane real life. Sixteen year old Yeo Jin Gu has been a child actor for what feels like forever. Seriously, I remember seeing him almost a … Continue reading →
This might be one of the most star-packed K-movie premieres I’ve seen in a long time, which goes to show that Kim Soo Hyun’s star is incredibly high and his agency Key East Entertainment has lots and lots of A-list stars under founder Bae Yong Joon’s vest since everyone was trotted out for this premiere to support Kim Soo Hyun. … Continue reading →
Korea has so many legit child actors that the anticipation of watching them mature and step into leading roles increases with each successive project. But having the acting chops doesn’t mean there are that many suitable transition roles for them. Yoo Seung Ho is in the military now but his acting career in the last 3 years is best described … Continue reading →
First off, Happy New Year to everyone! Of course that also means it’s drama awards time in Korea, with the three big networks trotting out their ratings successes to foist random meaningless awards on. When I first started watching dramas I used to wonder why the winners of the awards have almost zero correlation with the quality of their acting … Continue reading →
In an attempt to procrastinate starting my year end reviews, I started wasting time pondering random thoughts concerning the 2012 K-drama landscape. Aside from good and bad dramas, I realized I could actually pinpoint the breakouts of this year (and the un-breakouts, those who were flying high only to hit a dud this year), which actually were quite a few. … Continue reading →
The first teaser is out for Missing You, which makes sense since Arang and the Magistrate ended today though the drama won’t premiere for another two weeks. Still, it’s nice to get an inkling as to what to expect. Can I sound like a crazy Koala broken record and remind the producers that there is still no second male lead … Continue reading →
Man, just seeing the first official stills from Missing You gave me a good laugh. Don’t get me wrong, the stills are gorgeous, the two young leads Yeo Jin Gu and Kim So Hyun are gorgeous, and the entire mood of the two teenage lovers frolicking in the rain and looking all moony at each other is gorgeous. But can … Continue reading →
Okay, let’s do some math here, even though I suuuuuuck at math. Just so you know, the irony of being an Asian who can’t do math has haunted me my entire life. Arang and the Magistrate has aired 16 episodes and has 4 more left. Including this week, it’s wrapping up next week on October 18th. Its follow up drama … Continue reading →