“Hit-and-Run Squad” (뺑반)
I’m so used to seeing Jo Jung-Suk play the good guy (“Hospital Playlist,” “Oh My Ghost”) that it was fun to watch him chew up the scenery as a bad-boy rich guy who is brutal, immoral and nasty.
Tag: SHINee
Miss You, Jonghyun
Kim Jong-hyun was born on April 8, 1990. He would grow up to be one of South Korea’s most famous and beloved singers. And when he died by suicide two years ago on December 18, 2017, his face would be on the news worldwide. No one knew the extent of his pain, but the SHINee singer was a shining star who worked hard to do his best every day for as long as he could.
New K-Pop Avengers SuperM, Assemble!
The K-pop group SuperM kicks off its North American tour on November 11 in Fort Worth, Texas. If you live in cities like Chicago, Los Angeles and New York, you’ll have the opportunity to see them perform live. But because they have many fans who don’t live in the cities they’ll be visiting, the group made the decision to shoot “SuperM the Beginning.” The hour-long episodes give fans a taste of their whirlwind debut.
Idolmakers: D.O., Suzy, Henry, Minho
One of the things that has impressed me about K-Pop’s idol system is that it has developed some truly talented actors. They remind me of performers during the Golden Age of Hollywood, when entertainers were trained to sing, dance and act. Two highly-acclaimed K-Dramas — “SKY Castle” and “Memories of the Alhambra” — featured young K-Pop stars in strong co-starring roles. In the former, SF9’s Chani (né Kang Chan-Hee) put in a stellar performance as a high school student framed for murder. In the latter, EXO’s Chanyeol (né Park Chan-Yeol) played a terrified teenage game developer.
“Somehow 18” (어쩌다 18)
Some might say that there is no way that a young man who looks like Choi Min-Ho (of the idol group SHINee) — even if he’s wearing glasses and having a bad-hair day — would be bullied. But what I liked about this casting was that it reinforces the point that no one is immune from being harassed. And no one is immune from being depressed and wanting to end their lives.