Korean Drama

[bag.lover]

Recommended K-dramas & movies site:
http://www.soompi.com/forums/index.php?showforum=16

[bag.lover]

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(source: KBS GLOBAL 6/18/2007)
LA Times Spotlights Daniel Henney



The Los Angeles Times has carried a special story on half-Korean actor Daniel Henney, who has become a major star in Korea in just two years since his debut here.

The U.S. daily called his immense popularity interesting because of Henney's confession that his Korean language skills are at the level of a 12 year old, he cannot fully handle an all Korean cultural situations and that he's not yet comfortable with the Korean style of emotional expression.

His soon to be released film 'My Father' is about an adoptee who comes to Korea to look for his biological parents and how he eventually reunites with his father.

The LA Times cited Henney as saying that "I'm not yet familiar with the Korean father and son relationship but fortunately, I am in the same position with the character I played in the film."

The paper covered how the model-turned-actor first came to Seoul in May 2005 for a commercial shoot, his rise to stardom through the hit Korean dramas 'My Name is Kim Sam-soon' and 'Spring Waltz' and his recent film debut 'Seducing Mr. Robin.'

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[bag.lover]

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(source: BROasia 6/18/2007)
Movie 'Hero' featuring Lee Byeong Heon cranks up



The movie 'Hero' starring Kimura Takuya cranked up in Tokyo on the 15th. The movie gathered attention for having filmed on location in Busan with Lee Byeong Heon.

Sankei Sports on the 16th reported that Kimura Takuya was moved by the teamwork of the staff and said the climax and scenes for the title were filmed that day.

Director Suzuki Masayuki delivered flowers to all the actors after the movie and Kimura Takuya and other cast had satisfied looks.

Kimura Takuya who played Kuriyu Kouhei, a rather peculiar high school drop out prosecutor, commented, "I was always on set or location as the teamwork of the staff and cast was great. I had a great time. This time I hope our actors can meet everyone through the movie screen. I hope to meet everyone again in the theatres."

The movie version of 'Hero' is based on the televised version that aired in 2001 with 11 episodes all exceeding 30% viewer ratings and an average of 34.3%, the highest of a Fuji TV drama series.

The special episode that aired last year had a 30.9% viewer rating gathering attention as to whether the movie will be just as successful.

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[bag.lover]

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(source: BROasia 2007-05-09)
Hyun Bin visits Japan for 'The Snow Queen'



Hyun Bin who has been gathering attention as a rising Hallyu Star was greeted by 600 or so fans at Haneda Airport on the 9th. He is visiting Japan to appear at the special promotional event for the drama series 'The Snow Queen' which will start airing on the 10th on TV Tokyo.

A press conference was held at the Tokyo International Forum Hall A at 7pm with 150 or press personnel and Director Lee Hyung Min and writiers Kim Eun Hee and Yoon Eun Gyung also were present.

During the press conference, Hyun Bin spoke of his experience, "I was entitled with a role of great responsibility, but I seemed to have enjoyed the filming with great people. I only ate chicken breast to portray a third class boxer so I now don't eat chicken as much."

Hyun Bin had actually reduced 7~8kg for the drama series. In a question asking the most memorable scene, he chose the scene where Tae Woong and his friend Sang Ho were drinking. They filmed drinking real alcohol and it had left a lasting impression.

Also, when asked what should be looked forward to in the series, "This drama features the mysticism of Andersen's fairy tales, beautiful cinematography, and the fun of dramas all in one. I hope everyone enjoys it."

Director Lee Hyung Min said, "Hyun Bin seems very normal on the outside, but is a strong and clean actor that has the ability to become the character being portrayed. In this series, I hope you can all feel the glitter of his eyes as a boxer, when he finds his way back to becoming a mathematician, and when he falls in sorrowful love," once again praising his great acting.

With his first movie 'First Love of a Millionaire' being released on the 25th, Hyun Bin's popularity is expected to continuously rise.

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[bag.lover]

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(source: BROasia 2007-05-11)
Jang Hyeok saying "Thank You" for his successful return!



Miracle did happen to him.

No one expected him to recover his fame this fast after getting into the Army of Korea with so much of criticism for purposely avoiding the service.

MBC's Wed/Thurs drama 'Thank You' is what gave him the second chance in his career and revive as the most interesting actor, putting all of his criticisms behind.

The success started with him being a guy who's arrogant and impertinent in the drama. But toward the end, he became the most wonderful person with warm heart and full of 'thanking spirit' in him.

This drama created a very positive image of Jang Hyeok so his thanking not only everyone who's involved in making of it but also the viewers who kept watching until the final episode and the ones who supported him.

It definitely made him more shining.

Song Seung Heon, So Ji Sub and other stars are coming back from their military duty which means that his can be a very good return showcase example for many celebrities and probably the attention magnet for the viewers.

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[bag.lover]

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(source: BROasia 2007-05-31)
So Ji Sub's Fans Publish Book For Him



Fans of the actor So Ji Sub published a book in honor of him.

So Ji Sub's fan site "Eternally Loving Only So Ji Sub," in commemorating its seventh year, published a book titled "While Loving A Silent Star." The book contains the ten years of So Ji Sub's acting career, the posts on his fan site, pictures, and etc.

So Ji Sub, who received the book, said that he was so touched by the great gift. He wrote on his homepage that he will show his fans his hardest efforts in film, to repay them for their kindness.

The fan site's webmaster said, "Through this book, I hope that many people will understand why So Ji Sub can only be So Ji Sub, and no one else."

The proceedings earned by this book is planned to be used for the joint project between the fan site and So Ji Sub that had been running for the past two years.

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[bag.lover]

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(source: BROasia 2007-06-11)
Jang Hyuk and Ha Jung Woo become 'hosts'



Jang Hyuk and Ha Jung Woo will become hosts in the movie 'Beastie Boys' to be directed by Director Yoon Jong Bin who once gathered attention with the film 'The Unforgiven.'

The movie 'Beastie Boys' draws the story of two popular hosts who work at a host bar and try to escape their mundane daily life after making money, but find themselves entangled in complicated episodes after falling in love with someone.

The massage girl host Jang Hyuk falls in love with will be played by Yoon Jin Seo.

Director Yoon Jong Bin gathered attention through his film 'The Unforgiven' drawing upon the troubles and hardships of the young generation in 2005 which was featured at the Pusan International Film Festival. The film also starred Ha Jung Woo at the time.

Ha Jung Woo in an interview preceding the opening of 'Second Love' commented, "I have been involved with the movie 'Beastie Boys' ever since the scenario was being written and no it well. Since it is Director Yoon's first commercial piece, I feel it natural for me to take part in it as well."

Jang Hyuk who successfully had a come back through the drama 'Thank You' after completing his military service will broaden his scope of characters by turning into a host.

'Beastie Boys' will crank-in in mid-August with a budget of 2.5 billion KRW.

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[fabgrabs]

Cannot believe I've found so much k-drama love!

My all time favorite is Winter Sonata.

I need to find a huuuge box set of DVDs to watch!

And thank you, bag.lover, for all the articles!!

[evychew]

thank you bag.lover -- i love reading all the articles you post. The photos are such eye candy too!

[lucidbabe]

Originally Posted by Roo

Has anyone ever seen "Full House"? OMG I LOVE THAT MINI SERIES!!!

Yes I didn't like RAIN initially but after i saw his mtv, i had a crush on him!

[bag.lover]

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(source: The Korea Times 06-19-2007)
Rain Fans Sign Petition to Show Support

By Cathy Rose A. Garcia
Staff Reporter


Singer Rain faces legal challenge over his name.


Fans from all over the world are signing a petition in support of K-pop singer Rain, who is facing a legal battle over the use of his name in the United States.

On the Web site www.ipetitions.com, a fan created an online petition titled "Rain/Bi deserves to keep his stage name." As of 6:30 p.m. on June 19, there have been over 3,400 people who have signed the petition.

The petition is aimed at showing fans' support for Rain, who is being sued by Nevada-based music company Music Corp. who claims to have the copyright for the use of the name "Rain" in the U.S. The company, who has a band named "Rain The Beatles Experience," wants the Korean singer to stop using the name there.

"If you feel that this lawsuit is for publicity and money, sign it. If you think this is wrong, sign it. If you are a fan of Rain and want him to continue with his success in America, sign this petition! Most importantly, this petition is to show that Rain/ Bi deserves to keep his stage name," the petition stated.

Due to the lawsuit, Rain's concerts in the U.S. originally scheduled for this month have been postponed. Fans have posted comments on the Web site, saying they love and support the Korean singer. Most fans were angry over the lawsuit, which caused the postponement of his U.S. concert tour "Rain's Coming."

One fan said Rain should be allowed to keep his name, which is the English translation of his Korean stage name "Bi."

Another fan with the username Duong noted Rain is already a well known singer around Asia, while Rain the Beatles Experience is hardly known by anyone.

Rain is already known in the U.S., after being named one of People Magazine's 100 Most Beautiful People, and topping the online poll of Time Magazine's Most Influential People of 2007. He is scheduled to start filming the Hollywood film "Speed Racer" next month in Germany.

While most of his U.S. concert dates have been postponed, Rain is expected to hold a concert at the Staples Center in Los Angeles June 30.

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[bag.lover]

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(source: The Korea Times 06-19-2007)
Korean Films Attack the Big Apple

By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter


A scene from "Aachi & Ssipak"


Korean cinema will take a big bite of the Big Apple as the 2007 New York Asian Film Festival (NYAFF) begins Friday. The festival will feature more than 30 works from the East, of which almost a third are Korean. The event will take place at the IFC Center until July 5 and at Japan Society July 5 - 8.

"A 17-day-long festival will feature films from Park Chan-wook, Johnnie To, Kiyoshi Kurosawa and Takashi Miike. This year's festival will introduce you to buffalo-busting action flicks from Thailand, cartilage-cracking gangster films from Korea, and the first gore flick ever made in Pakistan!" the festival said in a statement.

Dubbed "one of the city's most valuable events" by the New York Times, the film festival is America's leading showcase for Asian movies. Launched in 2002 by Subway Cinema, the festival has featured over 100 films from China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan and Thailand.

This year, Ryoo Seong-wan's old school action-packed "The City of Violence" (2006) and gangster films "Cruel Winter Blues" (2006) by Lee Jeong-bum and "The Show Must Go On" (2007) by Han Jae-rim starring Song Kang-ho ("The Host," 2006) will entertain audiences with kicks and blows.

Love will conquer all in director Park Chan-wook's ("Old Boy," 2003) quirky romance movie "I'm A Cyborg, But That's OK" (2006) starring pop star Rain and Kim Dai-seung's heartbreaking drama "Traces of Love" (2006) starring Yoo Ji-tae ("Old Boy").

Youn JK's kick-butt comedy "Miracle on 1st Street" (2007), Joe Beom-jin's grotesque animation "Aachi & Ssipak" (2006), E. J-yong's teen sex comedy "Dasepo Naughty Girls" (2006) and science-fiction "Never Belongs to Me" (2005) by cult filmmaker Nam Ki-woong will surely bring many laughs.

Each year, the film festival draws thousands of local fans and in 2006 some 9,000 people attended. The audience votes for one film to be crowned the NYAFF Audience Award. Korea's box-office smash "My Sassy Girl" (2001) and "Please Teach Me English" (2003) won the heart of viewers in 2002 and 2004 respectively.

This year's key feature is Korea's Mise-en-scene's Genres Film Festival (MGFF) lineup. The Asian festival has partnered with MGFF for the first time to bring award-winning horror, comedy, melodrama, science fiction and action short films

Presented with the support of the Korean Cultural Service New York, the shorts were selected by MGFF's committee/jury members, including directors Park Chan-Wook, Ryoo Seung-wan and E. J-yong.

The 6th Mise-en-scene's Genres Film Festival will take place in Korea June 27-July 3 at multiplex theater CGV Yongsan, central Seoul.

For more information about the New York Asian Film Festival and tickets, visit www.nyaff.org. To learn more about the Mise-en-scene's Genres Film Festival, visit www.mgff.org.

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[bag.lover]

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(source: BROasia 2007-06-19)
Lee Jun Ki, receives love calls from Director Chen Kaige



Actor Lee Jun Ki received a 'love call' from China's Director Chen Kaige.

According to the agency in charge of Lee Jun Ki's marketing in China, Director Chen Kaige who met Lee Jun Ki at the Shanghai International Film Festival this past 16th received an offer to appear in a film directed by him.

In response, Lee Jun Ki said positively, "As long as the scenario and role is good, I am more than willing to."

The agency also commented that Director Chen Kaige's 'love call' was rather influenced by Lee Jun Ki's popularity as a Hallyu Star in China.

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Chen Kaige is the renowned director of "Farewell My Concubine" (won Palme d'Or at 1993 Cannes Film Festival). Actor Jang Dong Gun worked with him in 2005 film "The Promise".

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(source: People's Daily Online)

Korean actor Lee JunKi walks on the red carpet in Shanghai Grand Theater on Saturday night, June 16, 2007, before the opening ceremony of the 10th Shanghai International Film Festival.

[bag.lover]

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(source: CHOSUN 6/19/2007)
Hollywood Sequels Take Over Korean Screens



A much-reduced screen quota for Korean movies and a lackluster time for domestic works is allowing a bevy of Hollywood sequels to slug it out among themselves on Korean screens.

First up was “Spider-Man 3”, which opened on May 1, three days ahead of the U.S. release. Some 502,000 viewers saw the movie on the opening day alone. By the first week of June, the oddly hyphenated tale of the arachnid superhero’s confrontation with his own darker side had drawn 4.91 million viewers here.

“Spider-Man 3” handed the sticky baton to “Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End”, also the third in the franchise, which opened May 23. It drew some 1.09 million viewers in just two days -- 308,000 on the opening day and 789,000 the next ? and breaking the record of 1.08 million set by domestic blockbuster “The Host.”

In “Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End”, Captain Jack Sparrow, played by Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom’s Will Turner and Keira Knightley’s Elizabeth Swann engage in another rip-roaring sea adventure, joining forces with Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) against supernatural warriors led by legendary squid-face Davy Jones (Bill Nighy). The Singaporean pirate Captain Sao Feng also joins the hokum. By casting the Hong Kong superstar Chow Yun-Fat as Sao Feng, the movie clearly has one eye cocked on Asian markets.

Despite the epic running time of two hours and 48 minutes, "Pirates" had drawn 3.88 million Korean viewers by early June.

The third sequel was the animated “Shrek The Third”, which opened on June 6 and set yet another record by drawing 620,000 audiences on opening day. On June 14, it was followed by another third, “Ocean’s Thirteen”, and a belated fourth, “Live Free or Die Hard”, is due on June 28. “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix”, already the fifth of its franchise, will open on July 12.

The received wisdom is that sequels fare less well than the original, but every last one of the Hollywood sequels has subverted that belief. Of course, lack of creative ideas and new materials plays a part, but sound business sense clearly comes first.

If it weren’t for “Secret Sunshine”, a different kind of movie altogether, there would be little to salvage the honor of Korean film. Jeon Do-yeon, who won best actress at the Cannes Film Festival for her performance in the film, ensured audience figures of over 1 million here. The movie’s profound and understated exploration of existential issues is light years apart from the big-budget extravaganzas from across the pond.

Among Korean films, “Hwangjini” starring Song Hye-kyo opened June 6, and the mystery thriller “Black House” starring Hwan Jung-min will open June 21. “Remember U 518” is a Korean blockbuster about the May 18, 1980 Democratic Movement for a budget of a cool W10 billion (US$1=W938) . It opens on July 26. Whether it can reclaim top billion for homegrown movies remains to be seen.

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[bag.lover]

[About the Drama]
Gaeul Dongwha (Autumn in My Heart; Autumn Fairy Tale; Autumn Tale; Endless Love)
Network: KBS2
Airing Dates: 9/18/2000-11/19/2000
Produced By: Yun Seok-ho
Screenplay By: Oh Soo-yeon
Cast: Song Seung-heon, Song Hye-gyo, Won Bin

(source: KBS-America E-STORE)


CAST: Song Seung-heon (Yoon Jun-seo), Song Hye-gyo (Yoon/Choi Eun-seo)

Yoon Jun-seo
Jun-seo is thrown into utter confusion after learning that his younger sister was mistakenly switched with another baby when she was just born. His heart-wrenching love toward the woman he always thought to be his blood sister one day evolves into agony over the love that may never be consummated.

Yoon/Choi Eun-seo
Eun-seo's destiny was mistakenly changed right after her birth. After living for 14 years with the people she regarded her birth parents and blood brother, she finds herself in a completely different environment, all by herself, with a good-for-nothing brother and a step-mother, who swears all the time. But this sad character finds a way to survive thanks to her uniquely outgoing personality and strong will.

DRAMA REVIEW



Two girls whose destiny had been switched for 14 years.

Their relationship was destined. Two girls were born on the same day of October, lived in same town, and were classmates in same school. Eun-suh was happy with her life while Sin-ae wasn't.

One day Eun-suh got an accident and her parents found out that her blood type was different from theirs. So the whole truth came out and the parents found out Eun-suh and Sin-ae had been switched. Eun-suh's elder brother Jun-suh was the most confused one since he really loved his little sister Eun-suh.