Paradise Ranch - trainwreck ahoy!

[dangermousie]

The first teaser is out for idol Changmin's foray into acting. (Please imagine "acting" said in a best Calculon voice).

Oh good Lord.

I admit to having a sick anticipation for this - something tells me that as Heading to the Ground was to 2009 and Road N 1 was to 2010, Paradise Ranch will be to 2011. A.k.a. utter and sheer badness so sublime it almost goes back into being good.

Before Changmin fans flood me with hate mail, I think the guy has an amazing voice and can dance well from the few DBSK performing clips I've seen. But I fail to see how either of those is relevant unless they were doing a drama about rival opera singers or aspiring idols. He comes across like a human-shaped tree in the trailer.

Total newbie as lead + ridiculously stupid premise (it's as if they decided to make a twdrama in Korean) + leading lady who is uneven and only works well with a strong cast = DISASTER.

Oh, Joo Sang Wook, why are you in this again? As a cardboard-written secondary guy, no less. You are gorgeous as hell. You have great acting chops and can act circles around the rest of these people while blindfolded and drunk. You just came off a monster success where your storyline became a huge hit. Do the makers of this waste of celluloid have naked pictures of you, or something?

Lee Yeon Hee, I love you but you came off the ratings bonanza East of Eden where you starred opposite Sex On Legs a.k.a. Mr. Hallyu Star Song Seung Heon himself to - this? Being love interest of boybander attempting to act in a piece of idiotic fluff? Oh, Good Lord.

And while we are on the subject of Changmin - he doesn't look old enough to shave, needs to eat, and has a really weird, fish-like face. The guy is NOT attractive. At least his fellow bandmember Yunho, who out-cardboarded a packing box in Heading to the Ground, is brutally hot. Changmin can't even claim that.

WTF, makers, WTF!

Comments

[ockoala.livejournal.com]

Paradise Ranch was done filming early last year, BEFORE Joo Sang Wook started filming Giant.

This thing has been sitting on the shelf for months, looking for an airing time.

Poor woobie Min Woo, after playing with Giants (Lee Bum Soo, daddy Satan, etc), he has to look at himself pre-Giant wading in the kiddie pool here.

Anyways, I've been digging up info since yesterday, it's not confirmed except for at Joo Sang Wook's DC Gallery, but his next drama is set and he gets a leading man role! Woo hoo!

It's on KBS, called The Thorn Birds, will air against 49 Days (Jo Hyun Hae, Jung Il Woo, Bae Soo Bin) and The Royal Family (Ji Sung).

Other leads have not been confirmed, but its supposedly Han Hye Jin, Kim Min Jung (squee I love her), and Seo Do Young (not staring at boobies and doing foursomes, I hope to god). I don't know if its based on THE Thorn Birds, but I do not want to see JSW as a priest. NO.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

That explains a lot. So it's sort of a luckier version of that golf drama with Uee :)

And eeeeee re: Thorn Birds (though agree, please no priests - had enough of that with Love Letter). I love Kim Min Jung so much! Have since Fashion 70s. And oh, SDY in a role I can stomach him in!

Seeing that I really want to watch both 49 days and Royal Family, it's going to be a busy season for me :)

[ockoala.livejournal.com]

You and me, lady, you and me. I am going to get killed come March. The Duo will have started on the Mon-Tues, and then Wed-Thurs will be this trifecta of super awesome!

I love KMJ since F70s too, but it was New Heart with Ji Sung that made me love both of these actors to PIECES. That drama also has Jo Jae Hyun, and it is probably the best medical K-drama I have seen. Surgeon Bong Dal Hae had spots of good. I still need to watch White Tower though, the undisputed best medical drama ever.

Anyways, I'm cautious about The Thorn Birds tho, because the writer gave us Air City (truly one of the worst story-wise dramas ever written, and I watched it all for Lee Jung Jae).

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I am so excited for The Duo, it's a little sick (even if the blood-will-out is not my favorite premise, CJM as angsty poor person in black robbing stuff is VERY VERY VERY MY THING).

Ah, F70. I spent all of it wanting CJM to get the girl (even if I liked JJM just fine and could see why heroine loved him). It's just - I am still bitter about that.

I am not big on medical dramas so never got around to NH but I do have it on dvd, so maybe some day...

[ockoala.livejournal.com]

I'm not keen on the pure-noble-blood thing in The Duo, and maybe my translation of the character synopsis is off (I don't think so though). I do think the drama will try to show PIE's character as a very honorable person, regardless of his upbringing.

But from the other leaks, it looks like his real birth father, the noble, is a giant turdbucket, a very corrupt nobleman, and the beggar father is a good decent guy.

As for New Heart, took me awhile to watch it, but within one episode I was HOOKED. This is one awesome drama, great OST, it's riveting and face-paced. I have an official DVD set so the subs were magnificent, which you need with all the medial jargon. I learned a lot about heart surgery, hee. And it was Ji Sung's best performance in any drama of his I have watched.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Ah, the thing with the fathers makes me feel heaps better. That's totally fine, then, actually. I was afraid they were going for bizarre "nobility by class = nobility in character, always" which would be bizarrely bizarre. But now it's just delicious emo angst, so I am on.

[(Anonymous)]

has bae soo bin been confirmed for 49 days??....if so he's going to be a second lead again?!....hellll nooooooo!!!.....now that's Jung Il Woo and Bae Soo Bin as not the main leads....its not that i dont like Jo Hyun Jae....but I love these two more

[smutty-princess.livejournal.com]

I think ChangMin did quite good, for the preview.
He is a newbie in acting/drama/movie field.
So, i hope we should all give him a chance, wait till the first episode came out, then we could call him human-shaped tree. Plus i think he look handsome in the preview.

And yes, i am ChangMin bias. =3

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I think Changmin has a totally gorgeous voice. Looks are in the eyes of the beholder - a lot of fangirls think he's very hot so I am clearly in the minority in my opinion not finding him so.

And I hope he acts well in this drama - you never know - I've had to eat my words about lack of acting ability before (e.g. about Yoochun or Jang Geun Seok).

But - I never understood the concept of cutting someone slack because they never acted before. Jobs, any jobs, even acting ones, should go to people with requisite ability to perform them. If he hasn't acted before and his skills aren't up to par to be a lead, then he shouldn't be one. I mean - if you go buy a skirt or order a meal or have your house repaired and these are done badly, are you going to be OK with the unsatisfactory result if they tell you the tailor/chef/repairman was a newbie?

[smutty-princess.livejournal.com]

Not that i asked you to cut him some slack, but then again this is a drama, which means if he acted badly at the first episode, maybe it's because he haven't got the hang of it, acting wise, so what i'm asking here is just give him the benefit of the doubt. Who knows he will do much better in the latter episodes. *we still can hope and pray for it right??*

IMO, Yoochun didn't do much for me in the earlier episodes of SungKyunKwan Scandal. But he did get better eventually.
With JGS, he is a true actor. So when i first saw him in YAB, i never doubted him.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I first saw JGS in Hong Gil Dong where I was not impressed. I am impressed now, by his ability, even if not his script-picking skills if MSOAN is any indication.

I hope he improves from ep to ep but PR seems to have been entirely pre-filmed so the clips are likely to be from the entirely of the drama. Granted, I watch twdramas and some of them have acting that makes even the most wooden idol newbie seem like Ian McKellen, but I except that from silly fluff twdrama subgenre, I don't really want to see it in kdramas.

[smutty-princess.livejournal.com]

Really?? I thought his acting as Lee Chang Hwi was delivered wonderfully, cause i could feel his agony and his dilemma with his one sided love and all of that.
On MSOAN note, i haven't watch it yet, so no comment on that one.

I hope the same thing, that he will improve his acting skill.
And about TW drama, i don't know what to say, cause in my opinion, my favorite TW drama is Down With Love. But that's of course my own personal preference. Other than DWL, other TW dramas are just so-so, nothing special.
I maybe biased here, because both of female and male lead are my favorite actor/actress/pairing.

So yeah.. I guess we just have to wait and pray for the drama to be DAEBAK!!!

[scottishlass.livejournal.com]

And here I thought management and TV station would elegantly burn the tapes to never be aired. But as DBSK is still split up in Yunho/Changmin and JYJ with the latter being the more talented actors, I guess SM Management want to push the 2 person DBSK a bit more and put a wee bit of pressure on airing Changmin's acting debut. *sigh* SMM never learns.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

At least, since I haven't seen Changmin act, there is hope he's pretty decent - you never know. But Yunho - gorgeous gorgeous guy and good singer, but the worst kdrama actor I've ever seen. And yet they got him a big secondary role in Poseidon, after HTTG disaster. Hoooooooowwwwwwwwwwww?

Yoochun did really well in SKKS (his looks aren't objectively my thing but after first 10 mins of first ep I didn't care because I was too in love with his character) and Jaejoong is really really good - one of the few bright spots in the horrific Sunao Ni Narenakute was him. No idea on Junsu - has he ever acted?

And why why why do I know the names of all 5 DBSK members when I am not in the fandom at all, why? :P

[scottishlass.livejournal.com]

Yunho is wildly popular with both the teen girls AND the ahjummas, hence him starring again - he is the eye candy of the human drama.

Yunsu is a pretty decent actor but he prefers musicals more, and he has made a name of himself outside Korea as a musical actor/singer.

And why why why do I know the names of all 5 DBSK members when I am not in the fandom at all, why? :P
:D

[att123.livejournal.com]

The sad thing is that yes I will be watching this, at least the first episode anyway. I think I'm in love with Joo Sang Wook, his other drama Kimcheed Radish Cubes looks good too.

So will you be watching this show for the epic trainwreckness of the show? Or just checking out the first ep?

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

ockoal posted upthread that JSW has a new drama coming out as the lead! In the spring! Omo.

I will check the first ep - I've survived some horrifically acted twdramas so I have a tough skin. After that, it depends on whether it's entertaining or not.

And how much I will want to do JSW's character.

[att123.livejournal.com]

YES!!!

And how much I will want to do JSW's character.
Oh me too. Me too.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Heh.

Time to rewatch some parts of Giant :)

[lydzi.livejournal.com]

There's more and more idols in the dramas. I feel like a déjà vu from Japan :/.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I know - and I am really not happy about it - I don't want the storylines infantilized to keep up with lacking abilities of idols and teen sensibilities of their fangirls.

[fivil.livejournal.com]

I guess this is just one of those things which result from the if-not-darker-than-at-least-dimmer side of Korean pop culture. Popular popstar may not be the best actor but his presence will guarantee some viewing numbers and his management company can easily push him to do the damn thing for "exposure" regardless of whether he feels equipped to do it himself..

Not everybody can be Eric Mun/Rain/who else have you. *shrugs*

(One of my best online friends loves Changmin a lot so I'm sympathetic towards him for that but wow, that was certainly some bad acting. This certainly seems closer to the so-bad-it's-good than genuinely good by light years.)

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

The thing that makes no sense to me is that it doesn't work ratings-wise.

Playful Kiss was under 5% and it starred Kim Hyung Joon (and had a much better story that PR seems to have). Yunho's aptly-titled Heading to the Ground was an utter flop. It seems idol fans prefer to watch them sing, dance or host variety shows instead of petending to be someone else, badly, for 16 plus hours.

I totally get that. I adore e.g. Lee Junki, and he's a hell of a lot better actor than an idol, but if the story is stupid and/or he's not acting well, I am not sitting through an entire drama.

[(Anonymous)]

it kinda worked in the early to mid 2000's i guess...when YEH made her debut successfully....and other like Jung Ryeo Won too...the plot description that dramabeans had a couple of weeks ago for Paradise Ranch made it sound terrible....verry makjang.... but from what i've known they always have misleading plot descriptions....the preview looks kinda upbeat compared to that...so i might check it out....but i agree about Changmin's acting.....that last still eith his wide open eyes made me snort

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Yup, and Sung Yuri (who I adore now but don't get me started on the horror of First Love of Royal Prince).

Changmin does look like Bambi :)

[lain7.livejournal.com]

I agree about Changmin's acting, but I must disagree about his looks. Changmin has gorgeous eyes and bone structure, not to mention legs for days. I love how he stands there like a beautiful, beautiful tree with Bambi eyes. XDD

[scottishlass.livejournal.com]

beautiful, beautiful tree with Bambi eyes
If seen in real life that is downright creepy ;-)

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

You mean, like an Ent?

:)

I never thought he was hideous in DBSK clips but he looks as if he lost a ton of weight and it doesn't look good on him. Plus, I wonder if he's just not telegenic. Hmmm.

[angelic-junk.livejournal.com]

When he was filming for this one, he was stick thin. And yeah, people who have seen him in person often tell other people that he looks more handsome in person.

[stillingfleet.livejournal.com]

i wasn't much interested in the show cos of the ridiculous name (and i find i am automatically biased against anything to do with ranches or farms). but now after watching the preview and reading your commentary i have a sadistic urge to watch it - i love changmin as a singer (and formerly as eye candy, until someone told him to go on an unnecessary diet) but this is hilarious. please please do an entry on the first episode! =D

oh on why lee yeon hee is in this - probably because she's also from sm. like how go ara was in HTTG with yunho =)

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Join me - I hate anything to do with farms.

Oh yes, recap of ep 1 coming up when it's out. I have an unholy amount of anticipation for this

[stillingfleet.livejournal.com]

THANKYEW! =D

[ifruity.livejournal.com]

Hmm, well, Kim Yeon Hee is under SM Entertainment, which is the same company Changmin is under, and knowing SM, who makes those ridiculous slave contracts, it's not crazy that they would pair up these two. They did the same with Heading to the Ground, Yunho and Go Ah Ra, both under SM.

Changmin grows on you. His smile will win you over :D

As for the actual drama, the marriage aspect seems really cool, but it seems like it might go into Full House territory with the back-and-forth jealousy that gets a bit tedious after awhile. Then again, I'm really vague with the plot, haha.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the explanation.

Oh, SM, full of insanity, you are.

[shinystory.livejournal.com]

I love the makjang-esque premise but I do think, too, that it could use a more charming leading man. I like Chang-min as a performer, not as an actor.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Yes - he just looks odd to me

[shinystory.livejournal.com]

he just looks odd to me

Oh. Wow. Exactly.

[jennyhime.livejournal.com]

hehe, love your description of this show.
I confess I think Lee Yeon Hee is cute as a button but this just screams disaster evacuate now before it's to late. She's so cute in Hello Schoolgirl and My love and this sounds so.....horrid.
And I agree on the part that Changmin looks weird, of all the former DBSK members Jaejoong was actually quite a positive suprise in that horrible twitter jdorama(damn Asano Taeko should be exiled to a dessert island until she writes good doramas again)

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I don't think it was asano taeko (she's the one who wrote equally trainwrecky Tsuki No Koibito). It was the woman who did Long Vacation and whose dramas I normally like.

[(Anonymous)]

The only DBSK member I'd want to see act is Jaejoong (yum XD), but IDK if he is good. Yoochun was fine in SKKS but maybe it's because he had chemistry with PMY. :)

And unless it's a musical, I do hope whoever creates these shows stop giving newbie idols lead roles. Scary fangirls are scary, I mean, everytime DB posts KHJ-related posts fangirls always attack in the comments--and it's not a pretty sight.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Yes yes yes. Totally agreed.