Review:// Wonderful Radio

I went into this thinking that there would be a lot of bickering and tension filled scenes between the leads, but Wonderful Radio surprised me by focusing more on Shin Jin A (Lee Min Jung) and less on her romance. It's a well balanced film, delivering tender drama, comic relief, and a bit of romance.



Shin Jin A plays a former idol turned radio host, whose show doesn't get high ratings, but the staff is like a family. She interviews new groups who have never heard of her group, Purple, and she seems to be looked upon as a has-been.

The way Purple parted ways hearkens back to The Greatest Love where one of the members is still close to Jin A, while the other hates her. You have the feeling that she's protecting the one, while the other is lost in a misunderstanding, so is doing her best to make Jin A's life difficult.

Lee Kwang Soo is hilarious as Jin A's manager, Cha Dae Keun. Kwang Soo and Min Jung are such an awesome comedic match; both are great at physical comedy and their chemistry is undeniable. I just wanted more, more, more. Writer Nan Seol (Jung Yoo Mi) also has a good dynamic with Kwang Soo, making their scenes quite memorable.

When Jin A's producer goes on maternity leave, she gets a stern new replacement who is tasked with raising the ratings. He gets an earful before even meeting Jin A, and at that point knows that his work is cut out for him.

The radio show's new format involves bringing in listeners who have a story to tell, who then sing a special song. This further emphasized Jin A's caring nature and proved to be emotional to the point of evoking tears.

Though Jin A does clash with PD Lee Jae Ik (Lee Jung Jin), he's a more mature character who doesn't get dragged into theatrics. Love sneaks up on them subtley, and is very sweet when it finally arrives.

Manager Cha Dae Keun takes on various driving jobs to make ends meet, which is the perfect opportunity for Running Man co-stars Kim Jong Kook and Gary to make an appearance. These guys have such a great rapport, they played off of each other perfectly.

Jin A falls from grace in the public eye when she steps into a trap on-air. The process of her finding herself is shot in warm, romantic amber lighting, in music video style, and Min Jung is absolutely beautiful through it all.

Talent agency president, In Suk (Kim Jung Tae), made for a good villain with enough power to add tension and suspense to the film. He brought out the best and the worst in people, in way that was believable and lent itself to character development.

Our couple came together in a very cute way that matched their different personalities and brought the film to an end with all strings tied up nicely.

Director Kwon Chil In gave Wonderful Radio a romantic feel with his choices of lighting and framing. It's really a visually pleasing film to watch as well as a good story. Thumbs up from me and Kwang Soo.

First Impressions:// Flower Grandpa Investigation Team

tvN's 12 episode comedy, Flower Grandpa Investigation Team, is light-hearted and a little cheesy... okay, a lot cheesy, but it's the good kind of cheese. Yummy and cute.

The team of detectives come across a particular scene in their investigation. Old men being held prisoner in a tank, yet their posted laboratory charts identify much younger men. They jump in to free the captives, only to suffer the same fate - instantly aging about 50 years. Well, three of them did. It's a mystery as to why Park Jung Woo was not affected.

Lee Joon Hyuk (Choi Jin Hyuk/Lee Soon Jae) is the cool headed ace Chief Inspector with a photographic memory and high IQ.

Han Won Bin (Park Min Woo/Byun Hee Bong) is the Chief Inspector renown for his intuition and charm with women. His weakness is that his obsession with cleanliness can ruin an investigation.

Jun Kang Suk (Park Doo Shik/Jang Kwang) is an Olympic boxing gold medalist. He's in the top 1% of Korea's policemen in terms of endurance and speed. His flaw is that he's easily deceived.

The token female on the team is Jung Eun ji (Lee Cho Hee). She has the best sense of smell in Korea's police force, including the dogs. The problem is that she has an unreasonable love of eating and will munch on evidence without realizing what she's doing.

Park Jung Woo (Kim Hee Chul) is the chief's son, and also a top investigator. He attended the Police Academy with Lee Joon Hyuk and they took turns being in the top spot. He's personable and a bit lazy, though, while Joon Hyuk is cold and motivated.

The team convinces their superiors to let them continue to work, while trying to find a cure for their sudden aging. Since two of the grandpas are actually younger than Jung Woo, the use of honorifics or lack thereof seems odd to onlookers and co-workers alike.

The elders are a perfect match for their younger counterparts. They adjust to their new bodies, but continue to express their young personalities and the results are quite entertaining. Although it does prompt the audience to wonder how it would feel to be in that predicament.

Joon Hyuk has the additional problem of not being able to stay at his apartment due to his fiance, the affluent Han Yoo Ra (Park Eun Ji). As a result, he spends more time with his dysfunctional family and may end up having a closer bond with them in the end.

In the meantime, the team is reassigned to take the cases that no one else wants. It seems the series will be episodic in that sense, while an ongoing search for answers will ultimately culminate in a happy ending.

Jung Woo is supportive of the grandpas and they all work well together, even as Won Bin and Kang Suk stumble after losing their greatest attributes. Eun Ji is foolish, but talented, and a good counterpart to Joon Hyuk's seriousness. Her crush on him has not diminished with his transformation, and you have to wonder if anything will come of it.

Flower Grandpa Investigative Team's cuteness is accentuated with special effects. We see Lee Soon Jae, Byun Hee Bong and Jang Kwang so often in supporting roles that it's nice to see them frolicking about as the leads. Kim Hee Chul's acting has improved dramatically since I saw him in Bad Family, and Lee Cho Hee rounds out the team nicely.

If all goes well, we'll be seeing these youngsters again in the last episode.

This series is the perfect lighthearted escape, and a good alternative for those who may be getting bogged down or burnt out on melodramas. It's a nice cheesy treat for summer!

SAT:// Lee Min Jung

Lee Min Jung is the "girl next door" type. She's upbeat and positive, funny and down to earth. This is all apparent in her acting where she is delightful in comedy, but can also be quite serious and dramatic. Seen in interviews, she's much the same. Friendly and intelligent with a great sense of humor.

With the right styling Min Jung turns into a glamorous and sophisticated creature who graces the pages of magazines. It's such a contrast to the characters she plays and shows her versatility.

Birthdate: 1982 February 16
Birthplace: South Korea
Height: 167cm (5'5")
Weight: 49kg (108lbs)
Blood Type: O


Min Jung graduated from Sungkyunkwan University with a degree in theater. In 2004, she started her career in theater performing in Jang Jin's Taxi Driver and Clumsy People. In 2007 she played Silvia in The Game of Love and Chance.

Starting out with small parts in movies, Min Jung was an extra in The Gate of Destiny (1996) and was Jin Sung's (Song Ji Hyo) ballet dance double in Wishing Stairs (2003). She played Han Yi Yeon's friend in Someone Special (2004), a second year student in Wet Dreams 2 (2005), and the suicidal Yoon Hee in the comedy, Moodori (2006).

It was also in 2006 that she met her future husband, Lee Byung Hun. But more on that later.

Min Jung played Yoon Soo Ah / Helena in the indie film, Pruning the Grapevine (2007). In 2009, as Soo Yeon in Searching for the Elephant, she got her toe sucked by Lee Sang Woo in a bubble bath. She was the wife of a sex addict and the film had many 18+ scenes, though she did not appear in any of them. That same year she portrayed corporate assistant Si Young in the mystery, White Night and won the Best New Actress award for it from the Korean Association of Film Critics. 

In 2010, Min Jung played Hee Joong in Cyrano Agency and recorded It Was You with Park Shin Hye for the OST. She won for Best New Actress and Popularity at the Grand Bell Awards, Style Icon - Movie Actress at the Style Icon Awards, Best New Actress at the Blue Dragon Film Awards, University Film Festival of Korea, and Director's Cut Awards, and a nomination at the Baeksang Art Awards.

Then in 2012, Min Jung got to show more of her musical side in Wonderful Radio aka Love On-Air where she plays a former idol turned radio host. She recorded Again and Write the Truth, and with Seo Young and Ahn Mi Na, You're My Angel for the OST.

Min Jung started off in small roles in dramas, playing Dong Woo's sister in Love and Sympathy (2005), Dong Gyu's sister in Love Me When You Can (2006), Lee Min Do in Kimcheed Radish Cubes (2007), and Young In's friend in Who Are You? (2008).

Her 2009 role as Ha Jae Kyung, Jun Pyo's spunky fiance in Boys Over Flowers catapulted her career and landed her in lead roles.

In 2009, Min Jung portrayed the quirky, moody Seo Jung In in SBS's weekend drama, Smile, You. She showed her range as a petulant rich girl who has to learn to live as a commoner when her family loses its fortune. Her comedic talents are delightful, but she also does playful, flirty, angry and physical acting incredibly well. She won the New Star Award at the SBS Drama Awards and got a nomination for Best New Actress in Television at the Baeksang Arts Awards.

In 2010, Min Jung played Hee Young in Lunch Box, a one episode Sunday Drama Theater on MBC. Her 2011 performance as Lee Jung Yeon in Midas got her a nomination for Excellence at the SBS Drama Awards. She portrayed Kil Da Ran in Big (2012) and received nominations for Excellence at the KBS Drama Awards and Outstanding Korean Actress at the Seoul International Drama Awards. Though the writing for Big was a huge disappointment, the acting was superb.

Min Jung gave a performance both touching and hilarious in her role as Na Ae Ra in Cunning Single Lady aka Sly and Single Again (2014). In a press conference she remarked that actors have more depth when portraying what they've experienced, so now that she's married, there are things that she can better tackle. She had more affection for this drama as she feels that stories of marriage carry deeper emotion with twice the happiness or sadness. 



Lee Min Jung's collection of leading men is impressive. Is she the lucky one, or are they? Either way, there's a lot of chemistry here.

Getting back to her real life leading man, Jung Min dated Lee Byung Hun briefly in 2006 after they were introduced by acquaintances. He was an established top star and she was just starting out. Their public story is that they broke up due to conflicting schedules. Although if anything, their schedules were even more hectic when they met again at an award ceremony five years later and started dating again. Min Jung had come into her own with lead roles and endorsements pouring in.

Lee Byung Hun actually has a bad reputation for being a player and having a lot of fetishes. He was involved in a few serious scandals where other people's lives were drastically negatively impacted. Netizens were disappointed in Jung Min when the couple got back together, but the positive press and extravagantly sponsored wedding seems to have quieted the disapproval.

On Healing Camp, Byung Hun had all positive things to say about Jung Min. Though she's beautiful, the most important aspect in a relationship is how they communicate and understand each other. He had worried because of their 12 year age difference, but she understands him and is willing to go through everything with him.

Speaking of endorsements, from sweet commercials to a soju song battle and glamorous print ads, Min Jung has quite a resume that includes Pizza Hut, LG Communications, Bacchus, Omphalos, Tommy Hilfiger Denim, Make Up For Ever, SK Telecom, Sony Ericsson Xperia, Happy Point Card, SCINIC Cosmetics, Dawoo Matiz Creative, Raemian, Bestibelli, Mind Bride, 1-Day Acuvue Define, Chamisul Soju, Shinhan Life Insurance, Kolon Sport, Dove Damage Therapy Shampoo, Philadelpia Cream Cheese, Skin Food, Stonehenge Jewelry, Hankook Tire, LG Tromm, Outback Steakhouse, Care Gargle Solution and Vincis Bench.

Min Jung's commercials also pair her up with dashing leading men including Jang Geun Suk and Jo In Sung.

Lee Min Jung shared some childhood photos of herself online. She looks much the same and has been praised for being a natural beauty.

Min Jung's high school and university era photos had netizens scrutinizing her jawline and speculating about procedures she might have had. Min Jung has stated that she has not had any plastic surgery, and fans generally attribute the change in her appearance to weight loss. 

Min Jung reportedly cut her hair short for her role in Boys Over Flowers. Whatever style she sports, she is stunning.

Lee Min Jung and Lee Byung Hun wed on 2013 August 10 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Seoul. It was reported to be the most lavish and expensive wedding of 2013, costing an estimated $150,000 (though one source recorded it as over $200,000) with 900 guests in attendance including many top stars.

Shin Young Kyun officiated the wedding, while Lee Bum Soo and Shin Dong Yup took shifts as MC. Musical performances included a wedding song by Park Jung Hyun, a duet by Kim Bum Soo and Park Sun Joo, and the ending song by Dynamic Duo. It's also reported that Byung Hun gave Min Jung a saxophone serenade.

Min Jung wore three dresses, one for the press conference and one for each part of her wedding. The newlyweds spent 10 private days in the Maldives for their honeymoon and started their lives together in Lee Byung Hun's Gwangju City home where his mother had been living alone.

The following is from Soompi forums with credit to lvalue

Family: Parents, older brother, husband Lee Byung Hun

Special Talents: Playing the piano

Hobbies: Watching movies, reading books, playing StarCraft, swimming

Ideal Man: Manly and smart, so he can guide me in the right direction.

Favorites

Color: White

Movie: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Music: Everything by Jason Mraz, Geek in the Pink in particular.

Food: Kimchi jjigae and egg roll

Season: Summer

Book: The Romantic Movement, Essays In Love, Status Anxiety, etc by Alain de Botton

Movie Stars: Ethan Hawke, Christian Bale, Meryl Streep

  

Other Awards

2010 Korea Jewelry Awards - Ruby Award

2010 Korea Lifestyle Awards - Best Dressed Woman of the Year

2011 Baeksang Arts Awards - InStyle Fashionista Award

Lee Min Jung debuted relatively late, well into her 20's, in a youth obsessed culture. That didn't stop her from landing youthful roles, recording songs and making a name for herself. As she goes forward, she will probably be leaning more toward roles involving marriage, divorce and motherhood, but will always bring a youthful exuberance to her performances. I want to fast foward 35 years and watch her on-screen as the cool rascal grandmother, still doing physical comedy and endearing herself to audiences of all ages.