MBC - Personal Taste

MBC's success in getting "hunk of the moment" Lee Min Ho to pair up with veteran Son Ye Jin in Personal Taste must have been a coup. I have been anamored with Son's flawless acting since I first laid eyes on her performance as a alzheimer stricken girl in the 2004 movie - A Moment to Remember.  While I can't say much about Lee, having missed Boys Over Flowers, all I can say is that he's a good looking chap.

Throw any role at Son and she will just slide into character as if the script had been specifically written for her. You know what I mean when you go back to SBS's 2006 drama Alone in Love. where Son played a middled-aged divorcee coming to terms with her divorce. I am still in amazement with her ability to pile on the weight and look the 30-odd year old woman that she was portraying.

In Personal Taste, Son plays the role of an furniture designer who gets dumped by her good for nothing boyfriend the day before he weds one of her best friends, whom I think is such a bitc*! Fate must have thought she needed more challenges in life, as if she's not troubled enough, when her male buddy got her into some loanshark debt which she has to settle.

Lee, on the other hand, plays a suave architect who, despite his apparent talents, gets thwarted in his work but none other than Son's ex-boyfriend. That's pretty much all that I can say for now cos I have only watched a grand total of ONE episode. :)

But the vibes I get from this drama has been great so far. It's weird, but one can really sense whether a drama is a hit, or a 'stinker' just by the vibe, or gut feel, one gets from viewing the first episode. A classic example is My Fair Lady.  Despite my adoration of Yoon Eun Hye, I had this bad feeling that My Fair Lady is a professional mistake after the first 10 or so minutes of watching it. Truth be said, I think My Fair Lady is one of the worst dramas I have seen for a long time.

So, should you watch Personal Taste if you have just that 1 hour to spare for your daily dose of Korean entertainment. HelloHallyu's answer is an equivocal YES! I think Personal Taste is gonna be a fun and campy show with full of laughs and good entertainment. It's hard to go wrong when you have Son anchoring the show while having Lee as her side-kick.

Personal Taste is now showing on Singapore's Channel U every Saturday at 9.30pm to 11pm. Episode 3 will be screened this weekend. Alternatively, you can catch replays of the series on the "Catch-up TV" on the XINMSN website. Click on this link to catch the first 3 episodes. Enjoy!

MBC Drama - Spotlight

MBC's drama Spotlight is the single reason for the rather low number of posts in HelloHallyu. Caught the first two episodes on Starhub's VV Drama channel as it is currently screening every Saturday from 10.30pm to 12.30am. However, the thought of religiously recording all the episodes helped convince me that it'd be a better deal just to pick up the DVD set.

For those keen to purchase a copy of the drama, HelloHallyu strongly encourage readers not to purchase the Innoformmedia version, which is set we bought. The reason is simple. Instead of the original 16 episodes produced by MBC, the DVDs contained 22 (45 minute) episodes.

We can only guess that this was done so that the drama can be screened for TV viewers in an 1 hour programme slot, in whichever part of the world, with an ample 15 minutes of advertisements thrown in. As a result of this commercial, and in our opinion, a thoroughly irresponsible decision, the episodes are now somewhat truncated, often ending, and starting, at the most awkward of scenes. The poor editing work really marred our enjoyment of this drama.

Now for the good part, of which has totally nothing to do with Innoformmedia.

Spotlight revolves around the work carried out by reporters/journalists which goes into the production of the news programme we see on our TVs. It is really interesting to know that what the news anchor reads out for 2 minutes of air-time on the news programme involves hours, or even weeks, of hard work put in by the reporters working behind the scenes in obtaining the news.

(Source: MBC)

Son Ye Yin, playing the character of rookie reporter Seo Woo Jin, once again shows us why she is one of the best actresses around in the Korean entertainment circles. The ease with which Son Ye Jin slips into a role and bring it to life is already worth the 20-odd bucks which I paid for the DVDs. The way she conveys her character's emotions, be it via body language or facial cues, are so natural that it was difficult to tell that she's actually acting a role in a drama. It was a treat to see Son displaying the full range of her acting skills.

(Source: MBC)

Opposite Son is Ji Jin Hee who stars as Oh Tae Seok the mentor of Seo Woo Jin. While Ji Jin Hee provided the 'suave factor' which is required for this role, his rather stiff acting was a disappointment. Son Ye Jin's good performance failed to make up for the total lack of chemistry between the characters. On most occasions, we are left wondering what are the thoughts of Ji Jin Hee's character he looks at Son Ye Jin. It is almost impossible to decipher since he wears a rather expressionless, and somewhat pained, look most of the time.

We are almost at the last episode, and truth be told, we can barely tell if there's anything going on between Seo Woo Jin and Oh Tae Seok. So, the verdict is still out, for us here, on whether Seo and Oh ended up together.

In summary, Spotlight is a drama that attempts to give everyone a peek into the production of the news we see on TV. It revolves around the constant challenge between the journalistic belief of objective reporting versus the government stance on "public good". To be honest, I always believe that the public has the right to know the truth about their government's dealings, good and bad. After all, the government is voted to safeguard the rights of the citizens not perpetuate its reign, which all too many governments have come to think as a divine right conferred on them once voted into office. The drama has left me more convinced about the need to preserve the journalistic integrity of our media, be it traditional or new.

I (Teddy) give Spotlight a rating of 6.5 out of 10. The plot and content was good. However, the scriptwriter should have done a better job in fleshing out all the characters.

Related Post
Pictures - MBC's Spotlight

Pictures - MBC's Spotlight

Here are some pictures of Son Ye Jin and Ji Jin Hee taken from their filming for MBC's new drama - Spotlight. Don't you think they look great together? The Spotlight dvd set is definitely on my shopping list in the coming months. Looks like I have to make do with checking out clips and pictures on the net till I get the dvds.

(All image rights belong to the original owners)

Congratulations to the winners of the 44th Annual Baeksang Arts Awards

It's kinda late, but here are the list of winners for the 44th Annual Baeksang Arts Awards which took place last week on 24 Apr (click here to see the full nomination list in my previous post).


FILM SECTION

Best Film
Forever The Moment

Best Director
Lee Chang Dong (Secret Sunshine)

Best New Director
Na Hong Jin (The Chaser)

Best Leading Actor
Im Chang Jung (Scout)

Best Leading Actress
Kim Min Hee (Hell Cats)

Best New Actor
Jang Geun Seok (The Happy Life)

Best New Actress
Han Ye Seul (Miss Gold Digger)

Best Screenplay
Kim Hyun Seok (Scout)

POPULARITY
Kwon Sang Woo & Kim Jeong Eun,

TV SECTION

DaeSang
Kang Ho Dong

Best TV Drama
SBS (War of Money)

Best Producer
Lee Byeong Hun (Yi San)

Best New Producer
Lee Yoon Jung (Coffee Prince)

Best Leading Actor
Park Shin Yang - SBS (War Of Money)

Best Leading Actress
Yoon Eun Hye - MBC (Coffee Prince)

Best New Actor
Song Chang Ui - SBS (Golden Bride)

Best New Actress
Lee Ji Ah - MBC (Legend)

Best Screenplay
MBC - Thank you

POPULARITY
Kang Ji Hwan & Sung Yu Ri

Here are some selected photos of the star studded guests at the awards ceremony.

Hong Gil Dong and Yi Nok in contemporary costumes


The ever stunning Son Ye Jin

Yoon Eun Hye, all alone as Coffee Prince - Gong Yoo - is in the military camp

LEE JI AH! Need I say more

Money War's Park Shin Young and Park Jin Hee

Han Ye Seul