Happy almost Halloween! Halloween seems to be a fan favorite holiday but I admit that I am a bit of a party pooper and not into dressing up. I actually forgot that Halloween was just around the corner until last weekend when I saw an inordinate amount of people dressed up as Miley Cyrus roaming the streets... at least I hope they were in costume; sometimes it's hard to tell in New York City. Although I am a Halloween loser, I tried to keep that theme going throughout the article today so let's see what's on tap.
Cool Things of the Week
Trouble Maker Bringing Trailer Living to K-pop
Random threesomes, throwing up in a toilet, and a fridge filled with neatly aligned Budweisers… that's quite the interesting concept from the duo of HyunA and Hyunseung known as Trouble Maker and their video for "Now". I guess I was a little surprised by the tone of the of the video because it's pretty aggressive for K-pop what with the blatant cigarette smoking, hook ups on a cash covered bed and in a car… not something you typically see from today's squeaky clean idols. On top of that, there's some "trouble" about similarities between the videos for "Now" and Rihanna's "We Found Love". I have to admit that there are some shots that look to be literally staged the same way but even still, don't blame HyunA and Hyunseung because they just do as they're told. Any plagiarism accusations need to be focused on the director and producers. Oh, and I guess there was a song in there somewhere? I don't even remember because that video was totally unexpected.
Team A Reigns Supreme
From the start of the show, I was a fan of YG Entertainment's genius reality-competition show, 'WIN: Who is Next?'. The show was designed for fans to help choose YG's next boy band by voting after a series of head-to-head matchups between a Team A and Team B of YG trainees. *SPOILER ALERT* Last Friday's episode saw the crowning of the winning Team A (Lee Seung Hoon, Song Min Ho, Nam Tae Hyun, Kang Seung Yoon, and Kim Jin Woo) and the unfortunate defeat of Team B (Bobby, Song Yoon Hyung, B.I., Kim Jin Hwan, Go Jun Hwae, and Kim Dong Hyuk). Team B was the underdog from the get-go because of the name recognition of some of the members of Team A so I was rooting for the B boys and even though they lost, I guarantee most if not all of those guys will get their chance to debut soon. I'll say it one more time but YG Entertainment was very smart with this show because they got an old guy like me who cares very little about boy bands to gain an emotional attachment to a group that isn't even debuting! I can only imagine what how the legions of fan girls reacted. By the way, is the name of the winning really going to be WINNER? Oh jeez…
miss A Come Back!
Let the next comeback countdown begin for the ladies of miss A. Fans have been waiting with bated breath for their return and now as they are the de facto JYP Entertainment girl group, the stakes are even higher. An added twist is that it looks like their title track will be written by the songwriting duo of E-Tribe ("Gee" and "Naeng Myun"). It's smart for JYPE to start opening up their artists to other producers because A) it diversifies the type of music they create and B) it allows their artists to experience working with other people and gain new experiences. In the end, it just makes their brand better. Plus, this is just a good excuse to play more miss A videos.
'Nine: Nine Time Travels' Coming to America
It looks like Korean drama 'Nine' will be making its way to American TV's in the near future. An American production company has bought the rights to the drama and the project will have Yunjin Kim (of 'Lost' and 'Shiri' fame) as executive producer. Apparently the production company that wants to create the show is also production company for the shows 'Gossip Girl', 'Carrie Diaries', and one of my all-time favorite shows (at least for the first season) 'Chuck'. This is some serious muscle behind the project and given Yunjin Kim's experience both in Korea and the U.S., I trust she'll bring some of the K-drama magic to American audiences which can get lost in translation. Given this news and the release of the U.S. version of 'Oldboy' later this year, K-pop isn't the only Korean cultural export making headlines.
Girl Group Variety Round-Up
A list of all the girl group appearances on variety shows (that I saw) this week.
- 'Immortal Classics 2' - Ladies Code Sojung (see Video of the Week below)
- 'Infinity Challenge' - BoA (Not really a girl group member but only 1 more week until the actual concert)
- 'Star King' - Girl's Day, SPICA
- '1000 Song Challenge' - Crayon Pop (that Soyul is small but can really sing)
The Taeyeon Experiment
Each week I will post a picture from Taeyeon's Instagram feed in the hopes that one day she'll post a picture of herself reading this column.
It looks like the SM crew is getting in the Halloween mode and Key went all out as Piccolo from the Dragon Ball manga series turned international cartoon legend. That's pretty hardcore and must have been a pain in the butt to wash off.
Pic/.Gif/Video of the Week
Ladies Code member Sojung was on last Saturday's 'Immortal Classics 2' as part of the second Lim Jae Bum special. I have heard the group sing but I've never heard her sing solo and man, she blew me away. She has an amazing voice and I'm definitely looking forward to more appearances on the show and maybe a solo run.
Uncle Fan Mailbag
I've watched them all. "You don't find 'Running Main' bearable to watch? It has its down episodes but most of them are freaking hilarious. Maybe you've only watched the less exciting ones".
-x3dbsksarang
I have literally watched every single episode of 'Running Man' and while I really liked the show early on, it's since become stale and there are many episodes that just aren't fun. I admit that each episode has it's good moments but overall, the show hasn't really progressed and the internal story lines (Gary and Song Ji Hyo, etc...) are getting tired. Still, I'm a fan and will continue to watch for the foreseeable future.
I am an equal opportunity fanboy. "Does being an Uncle Fan mean you don't like female celebrities over 30 years old?"
-privacylimited
Not at all. I'm a fan of everyone! This column is more centered towards girl groups but in fact, I actually prefer slightly older celebs as opposed to the young girl groupers. Maybe it's just the creepy factor that I try to avoid.
But I would miss your grumpiness. "The author should re-title the article to read, "Confessions of an Uncle SONE". That way I won't waste my time clicking on it."
-imjustme
If you feel my coverage of Girls' Generation is excessive or disproportionate to coverage of other groups, I would contend that to be a specious assessment. Other than the weekly Taeyeon thing (which will never end as long as I draw breath), I'm just talking about stuff that's in the news and whether you like it or not, GG is the big dog on the block and therefore in the news more than other groups. I encourage you to read each week and leave comments if you feel that I'm deviating from my position. All girl groups are welcome here.
A Few Non-K-pop Related Things
The Uncle Fan Oscar Buzz Really Quick Thoughts
It's getting to that time of year when film critics and cinefiles start speculating on which movies, directors, and actors will be nominated for the Academy Awards. Here's a list of the 5 early favorites for Best Picture and the Uncle Fan's really quick thoughts:
The movie was called the "greatest feature film ever made about American slavery" by a critic from The New Yorker. I think that along pretty much takes this movie to the front of the list.
'Gravity'
If you watched this in IMAX 3D and didn't like it, we can't be friends.
'Saving Mr. Banks'
About the back story of Walt Disney (played by Tom Hanks) trying to convince the author of 'Mary Poppins', P.L. Travers, to sell her rights to Disney so they could make the classic 1964 movie. It won't win but it's really an incredible story that every fan should know.
'American Hustle'
Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, and Robert De Niro all directed by David O. Russell ('Silver Lining's Playbook') about the mafia in the late 70's, early 80's. I mean, how much more do you need?
'Captain Phillips'
Based on the hijacking of the Maersk Alabama back in 2009, the coolest part of the true story was how the Navy SEALS took out the Somali pirate with snipers. I didn't even know this movie was coming out until it actually came out.
Top 5 Favorite Girl Groupers Right Now
- BESTie - See Song of the Week
- Taeyeon - In honor of the Mary Poppins reference: "Taeyeon, practically perfect in every way"
- Sojung - Needs more solo time (sorry other members of Ladies' Code)
- UEE - Always amazed by the amount of food that girl can pack in
- IU - I like the short hair
Song of the Week
In honor of Halloween, here's a video of the ladies from BESTie (someone please tell me what this means because I can't wait to find out) performing a version of their song "Love Options" with Halloween masks. First time I'm hearing of the group but when you dance with masks on, I like you already.
That's it for this week. Have a fun Halloween and don't be one of those nerds who hands out toothbrushes and floss to the trick-or-treaters. Go buy some king size Snickers and be the cool house on the block! Uncle Fan out!
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