Yet Another Glimpse Into “Chuno”

Dear Chuno:

I know that you’re determined to pump up hype for your upcoming January broadcast, and that, because of this, you keep releasing all of these lovely stills from filming. I really appreciate your generosity and marketing smarts in letting those interested get a taste of what you are all about.

But honestly, looking at the latest stills of your stars Lee Da Hae and Oh Ji Ho released today, I got so excited that I nearly slipped and hit my head on the edge of my desk. Please, from now on, add a little message to the stills you release. Something like “WARNING: MAY CAUSE HEART PULPITATIONS AND TEMPORARY LOSS OF SANITY” would be nice.

Kim Soo Ro and Yoo Seung Ho Cast In New Drama

Um…Interesting?

Kim Soo Ro and Yoo Seung Ho have been cast as a teacher and a student in an upcoming as-yet-untitled KBS drama (which, back when it had cast Cha Seung Won, who subsequently dropped out of the project, was tentatively titled God of Studying). There are also rumours that Bae Doo Na will be the female lead. It will be based on the Japanese manga by Norifusa Mita that went on to inspire a dorama starring ze ever-so-sexy Abe Hiroshi, Dragon Zakura.

Here’s the synopsis for Dragon Zakura from Wikipedia:

Kenji Sakuragi is a poor lawyer and ex-motorcycle gang member looking for an opportunity to boost his career. His chance finally comes with the nearly bankrupt and notorious Ryuuzan High School, universally referred to as “baka gakkou” (stupid school). There, he sets up a special class that aims to prepare five students to pass the entrance exam of Toudai (Tokyo University).

Kim Soo Ro, obviously, plays Abe Hiroshi’s character, who is here named Kang Seok Ho, and who helps lead his students to academic (and personal) success. Yoo Seung Ho plays the worst juvenile delinquent of the school, who’s named Hwang Baek Hyun. He eventually comes to realize the importance of studying, and becomes a top student.

The drama is set to air on January 4th, after The Invincible Lee Pyung Kang ends its run.

I’ll be honest: My eyes lit up when I saw this news for two reasons, and two reasons only.

1) The mention of Abe Hiroshi.

2) Yoo Seung Ho.

To be fair, I like Kim Soo Ro too. I can’t seem to find out who the PD and writer are, but…I dunno. I have not heard good things about Dragon Zakura. And school dramas tend to be so cliche. And I get a silly vibe from this whole project. Still, it might turn out interesting?

(Via Joy News 24)

New Official Trailer For “Jeon Woo Chi”

Before, we only had a little taste for the movie with the teaser trailer. But now they’ve released the full-length trailer, and oh mah gawd it looks like SO MUCH FUN. I’m a little miffed that they didn’t release a little more footage of Im Soo Jung, but she still looks amazing. And oh em gee Kim Yoon Seok. *flail*

The film looks like there’s a bit of a danger of it hovering into cheesy territory and getting too caught up in its own action scenes (and action scenes tend to bore me when they don’t involve people beating each other up with their bare fists a la last year’s tvN drama Fight). But I’m not too worried. I’m salivating far too much to worry, really.

December 23rd! December 23rd! December 23rd!

Main Poster For “Actresses” Released

Now here’s an interesting project that I’ve been keeping my eye on, but which hasn’t released all that much info until fairly recently.

Actresses is directed by Lee Jae Yong (Scandal), and stars Go Hyun Jung, Choi Ji Woo, Kim Ok Bin, Yoon Yeo Jung, Kim Min Hee and Lee Mi Sook. It tells the story of what transpires after six top Korean actresses gather in one place for a Christmas-themed photoshoot. The film promises to capture their conversation and subtle clashes, and mix fiction with reality.

At the press conference held on the 17th, director Lee Jae Yong revealed that they had over 40 hours of filming material that he had to somehow edit into an hour and forty minutes. He added: “Since this is a film about actresses, I wanted to cast top actresses of various generations…I thought that this would make the things they said seem more honest, rather than setting up a completely fictional setting and working with that. I figured it’d be more fun to present these actresses with situations, and let them fill in the rest (i.e. ad-lib).”

Actresses is set to hit theatres on December 10th.

Press Conference Day For “Jeon Woo Chi”

Oh man, seeing these pictures just ups my excitement levels by SO MUCH.

The cast of the upcoming action flick Jeon Woo Chi attended a press conference for the movie on the 16th. Present were director Choi Dong Hoon, and stars Kang Dong Won, Im Soo Jung, Kim Yoon Seok, Baek Yoon Shik and Yoo Hae Jin.

The cast talked a little about all the difficult wire stuntwork they had to do, with Kang Dong Won saying “When I first got the script, I had no idea this would become such a difficult film to shoot.” Director Choi Dong Hoon praised the star, saying “Kang Dong Won did very well with the wires, and because of that, he ended up doing more and more dangerous stunts. We seem to have created a new kind of action scene.”

On the long shoot itself, Choi added: “When we first started filming, I thought ‘I’ve entered hell’, and in the middle of shooting, I felt nervous about what the outcome would be. But as I continued until the end, I felt good about it all.”

YouTube Clip Of The Week: 09/11/15

Lee Jun Ki’s new drama Hero airs its first episode this week, on the 18th. Thus, why not showcase an Lee Jun Ki clip this time around?

So I present to you his first Giordiano CF. It was while watching the making film for this CF (back in…2006?) that I realized what an intensely hard worker he is, and promptly fell in love. I may not be as crazy about him as I used to be, but I still think he’s very good-looking, and has great potential. Besides, he’s so cute here!

Introducing The Main Cast For “Pasta”

Gong Hyo Jin, Lee Seon Kyun, Honey Lee and Alex have been cast in the upcoming MBC miniseries Pasta. The drama tells the story of a young woman who dreams of becoming a top chef in an Italian restaurant, and her success story. Gong will be playing said young woman, while Lee Seon Kyun and Honey Lee will also be playing chefs. Gong plays Seo Yoo Kyung, a woman who works in a restaurant called Mamma Mia, where she’s an assistant chef. Gradually, through hard work and passion, she will climb her way up to being the top chef in the restaurant.

Lee Seon Kyun plays Choi Hyun Wook, who was a chef in Italy, then went to Sicily and opened up his own restaurant, gradually raising its reputation to one of the best. Honey Lee plays Oh Sae Young, the only female top Italian food chef in Korea, and the MC for a food program. Alex plays Kim San, a food critic who’s well-known for his pickiness and vehemence against restaurants he finds below-par.

Also cast are Choi Jae Hwan, Baek Bong Gi and Jung Da Hye. The PD is Kwon Seok Jang of What’s Up, Fox?, and the writer is Seo Sook Hyang of Mister Goodbye. Pasta is set to air after Queen Seondeok in January.

First reaction: Gong Hyo Jin and Lee Seon Kyun in ONE DRAMA? Squee!

Second reaction: Alex, really? WTF?

But still, sounds decent, right? I was not a fan of Mister Goodbye, but it seemed fairly decent, and I really enjoyed What’s Up Fox (what is Kim Do Woo up to these days, anyway?). And Gong Hyo Jin and Lee Seon Kyun are both good actors, and hot to boot. (Gong Hyo Jin is stronger in the acting department though, I’d say. Lee Seon Kyun needs to stop getting himself typecast – although his recent role in Paju looks promising.) Honey Lee seemed fine from the little of Partner that I saw (I really need to continue watching that drama), and she certainly had charisma. Alex…I don’t know. Why doesn’t he just stick to singing? I like him best when he’s singing as part of Clazziquai (I was rather bored by his solo album, and was really turned off by him in We Got Married. Romantic guys, blergh!). Still, you never know, I guess. I shouldn’t judge before I’ve seen his acting.

At any rate, the very fact that Queen Seondeok (or, as Thundie likes to call it, Queen Snoredeok) will end is a cause for celebration, no? Poor Uhm Tae Woong.

(Via Asia Economy)

Trailer For “Hero” Released

And it looks…fine? I mean, you can’t exactly tell the quality of a drama through a 44 second trailer, but yeah, it looks fine. Lee Jun Ki seems to be overacting again a la Iljimae, but I guess I’ll just have to deal with that. Yoon So Yi looks okay from the little she’s in there, and as for Eom Ki Joon…Ooh la la. Be still my beating heart. How can one guy look so delicious? He seriously looks good enough to eat. Om nom nom.

Ahem. ANYWAY. Hero debuts on MBC on November 18th (next week!). Mark your calendars!

“Cha Cha Cha” Reaches 30% Ratings

I don’t know whether to celebrate or cry or just scratch my head in bewilderment. =\

The currently airing KBS1 daily drama Everybody Cha Cha Cha has, for the first time, reached 30% ratings. 30.3%, to be precise, if you believe the stats churned out by AGB. These ratings were reached for the episode aired on the 10th, episode 97. Just last month, the drama was pulling in ratings in the teens, but they’ve recently taken an upswing, with the current results.

Conversely, its competing dramas, Enjoy Life and The Wife Returns, drew in 10.0% and 12.4%  on the 10th respectively. Everybody Cha Cha Cha will end at episode 150 on January 8 2010. (No, I haven’t been counting down the days. What are you talking about?)

I’m happy for Oh Man Seok’s sake that the drama is doing so well, but I must admit that, well…I really don’t understand why it’s doing so well. =\ What’s so entertaining about this show? The script is atrocious, the directing lazy (although the PDs seem to be experimenting with different camera angles a little more nowadays), and most of the acting is stuck in cruise mode. There’s nothing here that we haven’t seen before. I refuse to believe that none of these viewers realize how bad a drama it is. So…why are they watching it? Out of boredom? Because it’s a little more entertaining than the other shows on at the same time? Because, like me, they can’t keep their eyes off of Oh Man Seok? I am so confused.

(Via Star News)

So Ji Sub Cast In “Road Number One”

AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

So Ji Sub has been cast in the upcoming war-themed drama Road Number One, whose PD is none other than the great Kim Jin Min (Shin Don, La Dolce Vita, Time Between Dog and Wolf). Also cast is Son Chang Min in a supporting role. Called the Korean Band of Brothers, the drama focuses on two men whose friendship is torn apart by war, and by their love for the same woman. So Ji Sub plays the role of Lee Jang Woo, a strong yet gentle lieutenant. He had grown up poor on a farm, and started out as a noncommissioned officer, but slowly rose up in the ranks to company commander. The reason he entered the military was so he could pay for the medical school fees of Soo-yeon, the daughter of the farm’s owner.

They will start preparations next month, and enter filming in January 2010, to continue until May. Road Number One will start airing in June.

AHHHHH I’M SO EXCITED. So Ji Sub, I knew you wouldn’t let me down! Now this is one drama that looks promising, FAR more promising than that headache-inducing Cain and Abel. Taking the reins from your buddy Kwon Sang Woo, eh? I think it’s written by the same folks behind Time Between Dog and Wolf? And it’s directed by none other than Kim Jin Min – which basically guarantees a good drama. I could not be happier. Now just let the rest of the casting go well, and I’ll be truly ecstatic.

Is it 2010 yet?

(Via Osen)