Dramabeans » Chungmuro/Film

Movie “Actresses” blurs line between fact and fiction

javabeans — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:26:32 +0000

Talk about an all-star line-up: the new film Actresses [여배우들] features a whole slew of high-profile names, such as Queen Seon-deok’s Go Hyun-jung and Hallyu princess Choi Ji-woo, pictured above, in addition to Lee Mi-sook (East of Eden), Kim Min-hee (I Like It Hot), Kim Ok-bin (Thirst), and Yoon Yeo-jung (The World They Live In).

Here’s the official description, which I think sounds GREAT:

Actresses: Christmas Eve. For a fashion spread in Vogue magazine, six top actresses are brought in spanning ages from their twenties through sixties. As expected, these ladies who are used to receiving the spotlight alone engage in a battle of wills, and tension fills the studio. It’s an unwritten law in the fashion world to schedule shoots to avoid actress encounters, so this experiment was playing with fire from the outset. The psychological battle starts with wardrobe choices and ends with the scandalous scene of [Choi] Ji-woo storming out at [Go] Hyun-jung’s provocation. [Yoon] Yeo-jung suspects she was only called in at the last minute to substitute, and while [Kim] Min-hee enjoys the shoot, [Kim] Ok-bin feels the burden of being around sunbaes, wondering how far she has to go to treat them as elders. They endure an endless wait for the featured jewelry that doesn’t arrive. The staff is growing worried and the actresses are becoming more and more sensitive.

What events happened that night? What words were exchanged between these frank, bold women? Could they have really finished their shoot without incident?

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Read the rest of Movie “Actresses” blurs line between fact and fiction (811 words)

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Post tags: Choi Ji-woo, Go Hyun-jung, Kim Min-hee, Kim Ok-bin, Lee Mi-sook, press conferences, Yoon Yeo-jung

Into the Gunfire casts Cha Seung-won, Kim Seung-woo

javabeans — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:29:01 +0000

Confirmed: Into the Gunfire [포화 속으로], which is set to begin filming shortly, has cast Cha Seung-won (City Hall) as a North Korean officer and Kim Seung-woo (IRIS) as his South Korean counterpart.

As previously announced, the Korean War film formerly known as 71 (and originally starring Kim Bum and Yoo Seung-ho) has been reworked by a new production company and given a new cast, starring Kwon Sang-woo and TOP as student soldiers who defend their home from invading North Korean soldiers.

The casting of two of its stars (TOP and Kim Seung-woo) makes sense given that the new production company, Taewon Entertainment, is also behind IRIS. They’re following that 20 billion won blockbuster spy hit with another blockbuster that, with Gunfire’s 12 billion won budget, promises to be one of next year’s largest-scale action films.

Into the Gunfire will begin shooting on November 25, shortly after Cha Seung-won wraps filming on his Lee Jun-ik period piece, Like The Moon Escapes From Clouds.

Via BNT News

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Yoon Kye-sang’s new omnibus film

javabeans — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 18:05:49 +0000

Yoon Kye-sang (Executioners) has announced his next project, which will be an omnibus film called Just A Little Closer [조금만 더 가까이] in which he’ll act without pay.

The film will weave together five vignettes and will be made with a relatively modest 100 million won budget ($86,000). Each storyline is a different kind of love story, with one being about a couple that reunites after breaking up and another featuring a gay couple. Directing is Kim Jong-kwan, who won an audience award at the Resfest digital film festival and screened at foreign short film festivals with his 2004 How to Operate a Polaroid Camera.

Yoon will take the role of a man who experiences a change of heart after reuniting with a former girlfriend. A rep from the film production team said, “Yoon Kye-sang and the other cast members readily agreed to act without pay because they agreed with the director who wants to focus on the quality of the film as a whole rather than thinking of commercial appeal.”

Shooting will begin at the end of November with the intention of being screened at Pusan International Film Festival and other prominent festivals. In addition to Yoon Kye-sang, also cast is singer-turned-actress Yozoh, who made her acting debut in the well-received small film Cafe Noir.

Via E Daily

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Song Seung-heon and Lee Min-ki’s noir remake

javabeans — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:49:31 +0000

Song Seung-heon and Lee Min-ki have been cast as the leads of a Korean remake of Hong Kong noir film A Better Tomorrow, the classic 1986 John Woo crime thriller that starred Chow Yun-fat, Leslie Cheung, and Ti Lung.

The remake, Invincible [무적자], boasts a blockbuster budget of more than 10 billion won and comes from film company Fingerprint, which bought the rights to remake the film in 2006. At the time, director Jang Hyung-soo was attached; he is known for films like Rules of the Game and Everybody Has Secrets. However, now directing is Song Hae-sung of Maundy Thursday and Failan. Director Song and Song Seung-heon are reteaming after having once worked together a decade ago in 1999’s Calla. The film has been invested in by Japan’s Formula Entertainment, making this a multinational production that plans to release simultaneously throughout Asia.

Song Seung-heon will take the role originally acted by Chow Yun-fat, while Lee Min-ki takes Leslie Cheung’s. Ti Lung and Waise Lee’s roles are currently being cast. While the original was set in the Hong Kong gangster underworld, the remake features a North Korean defector who settles in the South and gets caught up in the world of organized crime.

This is Song Seung-heon’s next project after his drama comeback met with widespread success in East of Eden. Lee Min-ki, meanwhile, has had a great year with blockbuster Haeundae (as well as smaller films like Oishii Man) and also put out his first solo album.

Invincible hopes to begin filming at the end of the year in order to release in 2010.

Via My Daily

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Post tags: Lee Min-ki, remakes, Song Seung-heon

Gu Hye-sun busy at work on her next film project

javabeans — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 01:14:00 +0000

Actress-musician-director-screenwriter-artist-novelist Gu Hye-sun is currently engrossed in work on her next screenplay, as she explained at a “Good Downloader Supporters Day” event that took place on November 10 at Myungdong’s Lotte Avenuel. (She was described as looking very tired, but smiling.)

A rep from her management company explained in an interview the following day that she’s currently working all day and night on the project, “which doesn’t have a title yet but will be a music film.” A few months earlier at July’s PiFan film festival, she had given a talk with audience members about her short film The Madonna (or The Cheerful Caretaker) and explained, “I’m preparing a mystery music film. I think I’ll be able to show audiences in November, but it won’t be easy.”

Gu Hye-sun’s last acting job was in the hit trendy drama Boys Before Flowers earlier this year,, but she has remained busy doing practically everything but acting. Gu recently put out a new-age album of songs she’d written, hosted an art exhibition, and published a semi-autobiographical novel about a twentysomething woman’s experience with love and relationships. And while production ended on The Madonna last year, she has been doing a lot of promotions for it this year as the short hit the festival scene.

Via Star News

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Kim Hyun-joong cast in remake of Kimi wa petto

javabeans — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 03:34:49 +0000

I say this without snarkiness (a quality I think is growing far too overrated these days anyway): One would have thought that idol singer Kim Hyun-joong’s stiff, uncomfortable acting debut in Boys Before Flowers earlier this year would have convinced people to STOP casting him in high-profile projects, but alas ’tis not the case. He has just been cast as the lead in the film adaptation of popular Japanese manhwa-turned-drama Kimi wa petto, or You’re My Pet. The j-dorama aired in 2003 on TBS.

Like Boys Before Flowers, the Japanese original starred the popular idol-actor Matsumoto Jun (opposite Koyuki). The romantic drama unfolds as a woman fashion-magazine editor who is perfect in looks and talents comes to live with a good-looking young man. She and the man, who is first taken in and affectionately called her “pet,” gradually fall in love. The female lead is still currently casting.

The contract has yet to be finalized, according to Kim’s management, but should be made official soon. The film will begin shooting as soon as the casting is complete, and aims for a release date next year.

(I really thought Kim Hyun-joong would go the way of Se7en, as in, he’d realize that he was sorely limited in the acting arena and focus on his music. Coupled with his seemingly indifferent attitude toward acting in the first place — he had to be persuaded to take the BBF role by management who were eager to heighten his name recognition — I figured he’d fade from acting, not be cast as the lead in another high-profile remake. Again, I mean this without sarcasm, but I sincerely hope he hies himself to some intensive acting training if he wants a career in the field.)

Via OSEN

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Post tags: Kim Hyun-joong, manhwa adaptations, remakes

Jang Nara on her new movie and its controversy

javabeans — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 20:38:10 +0000

Bad news for Jang Nara: Her film company has decided to pull their recent film Sky and Ocean from theaters a mere twelve days into its run. The company says this is in response to the controversy the film has sparked, but no doubt the abysmal ticket receipts are also to blame.

For being a small, relationship-based music film, the film has been at the center of a lot of noise. Jang’s production company, which is headed by her father Ju Ho-sung, has battled accusations that there was unfair lobbying going on behind the scenes when the film was nominated for a best film Daejong Award.

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Read the rest of Jang Nara on her new movie and its controversy (973 words)

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Post tags: box office, controversies, interviews, Jang Nara