Here’s something a little different. Cine 21 has an eleven-part profile of the workspaces of various entertainers, artists, and creative-arts professionals, which caught my eye because I am obsessed with workspaces.

Well, maybe not obsessed, but very, very, very interested. I constantly fiddle with mine, think of ways to rearrange it, and dream of theoretical future workspaces in theoretical spacious homes with large areas dedicated solely to shelving units and wide tabletops and books and storage solutions. Lots of glorious storage solutions.

Show me someone’s designer wardrobe or tricked-out fancy crib, and I’m like, “Eh.” Show me someone’s well-designed workspace, and I am filled with a combination of admiration and horrible, gripping envy: OMG WANT. (It’s for that reason that I have to restrict my time on Apartment Therapy, for instance.)

SONG OF THE DAY

Jang Kiha and the Faces – “달이 차오른다, 가자” (The Moon is Waxing, Let’s Go). Folk-indie singer-songwriter Jang Kiha is one of the artists featured below, and this is one of his hits, which he performs with his hilariously oddball backup dancers, the Mimi Sisters. [ Download ]

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Post tags: directors, Go Ah-sung, Gong Hyo-jin, Im Kwon-taek, Jang Jin, Jang Kiha

Clothing brand Benetton is launching its “Green Ride Campaign,” with five fashionistas providing the face to their promotional ads: Jung Ryeo-won, above (Ja Myung Go); Gong Hyo-jin (Crush and Blush); Kang Hye-jung (Why Did You Come To My Home?); Choi Kang-hee (My Sweet Seoul); and model-singer Jang Yoon-ju.

As part of the campaign, Benetton will be producing limited edition bikes and “eco” bike bags and T-shirts, which will be sold in stores nationwide and on their website. A portions of proceeds from the campaign will be donated to the Climate Change Center.

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Post tags: Choi Kang-hee, Gong Hyo-jin, Jang Yoon-ju, Jung Ryeo-won, Kang Hye-jung, photo shoots

Gong Hyo-jin and Shin Mina are teaming up as half-sisters in the upcoming film Sisters on the Road [지금, 이대로가 좋아요]. This could be interesting, as both ladies are among their generation’s more visible rising actresses (and fashionistas), having worked steadily and increased their profiles over the past several years in projects like Crush and Blush and The Naked Kitchen.

In the film, the two share the same mother, but because they have different fathers, the sisters have never cultivated a close bond. However, when their mother suddenly dies, they set off on a trip to locate the younger one’s (Shin) father, encountering unexpected obstacles, accidents, and the revelation of startling family histories as they unravel what it means to be family, and sisters.

(The English title is given as Sisters on the Road, but the literal Korean translation means “I like how things are here, now.”)

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Post tags: Gong Hyo-jin, Shin Mina

Awards!

The 45th Baeksang Arts Awards were held on the evening of February 27, which means: lots of awards for film and television stars, and lots of clothes to gawk at.

There were no real surprises in the winners list; they’re mostly a variation of the same lists we’ve been seeing from the other ceremonies in the winter awards season. Some film winners include A Movie is a Movie and My Dear Enemy, while acting honors went to many of the Daesang winners from earlier awards, like Kim Myung-min, Moon Geun-young, and Sohn Ye-jin. Oh, and a little actor going by the name of Lee Min-ho took home one of the newcomer awards — but a stumble on the red carpet keeps him humble.

Check out all the winners (and the clothes!) beyond the jump:

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Post tags: Andre Kim, awards, fashion, Gong Hyo-jin, Han Ji-hye, Han Ye-seul, Jang Geun-seok, Joo Ji-hoon, Joo Jin-mo, Kang Ji-hwan, Kim Bum, Kim Hyun-joong, Kim Ji-soo, Kim Joon, Kim Kang-woo, Kim Myung-min, Lee Min-ho, Lee Tae-ran, Moon Chae-won, Moon Geun-young, Park Bo-young, Park Hae-jin, Park Shi-yeon, So Ji-sub, Sohn Ye-jin, Song Chang-eui, Yoon Eun-hye

Yet more awards, as we get deeper into December: this time it’s the 11th Director’s Cut Awards, which were presented on December 16.

Awards were determined based on a vote cast by approximately 200 film directors. Actors Ha Jung-woo and Gong Hyo-jin won nods for their roles in The Chaser and Crush and Blush, respectively. The Chaser and The Good, The Bad, The Weird also continued their winning streaks with more trophies. One new name to crop up in this list: Antique Bakery’s (and Strongest Chil Woo’s) baby-faced Yoo Ah-in.

Being mainly a director’s night, this ceremony has the distinction of being substantially less glamorous than the others we’ve seen and will be seeing. Personally, I can dig when the dress code of the night constitutes sneakers, jazzing up that hoodie with a jacket, and maybe trimming that goatee a bit.

Full winners list beyond the cut.

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Post tags: awards, directors, Gong Hyo-jin, Ha Jung-woo, Jung Woo-sung, Lee Byung-heon, Park Chan-wook, Song Kang-ho, Yoo Ah-in

You know how at the prom, everyone goes for uber-glitz and black-tie formal, only it’s done through the filter of a 17-year-old fashion sense — or rather, what a 17-year-old would think was formal black-tie fashion sense? So the end result is a really weird mix of over-the-top gaudiness that may have been expensive but looks cheap?

That’s kind of the feel I get from looking at pictures from the 7th Annual Korea Film Awards.

Of course there are some standouts — Han Ye-seul glammed it up with the appropriate touch of class and sexiness — but there were also a lot of beautiful women in ugly dresses that looked more off-the-rack Jessica McClintock (hey, it’s fake prom!) than red-carpet awards ceremony.

So if we’re talking red-carpet wow factor, it was a decided step down from, say, last month’s lovely Blue Dragon Awards.

As for the awards themselves, no surprises if you’ve been watching the accolades accumulate all year long. The Chaser was the overwhelming winner, with The Good, The Bad, The Weird taking up (a distant) second place. A few notable exceptions from the rule were Kang Ji-hwan (A Movie Is a Movie) and Gong Hyo-jin (Crush and Blush), but you can check out the full list (and, of course, the fashions!) below the jump.

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Post tags: awards, Eom Ki-joon, fashion, Gong Hyo-jin, Ha Jung-woo, Han Ji-hye, Han Ye-seul, Joo Ji-hoon, Kang Ji-hwan, Kim Min-hee, Kim Min-sun, Lee Mi-sook, Lee Soo-kyung, Oh Man-seok, Park Hee-soon, Shin Mina, Sohn Ye-jin, Song Kang-ho, Song Yoon-ah, Uhm Tae-woong

It’s kind of unnerving how all the news right now is either Choi Jin-shil’s sudden death or the 13th Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF), and sometimes while looking through the news listings, it’s easy to confuse the two based on the thumbnail images. (Given the timing, as far as I can see, there were no overlaps in attendees — or at least, very few — between PIFF and Choi Jin-shil’s funeral viewing.)

October 2 saw the opening night to the nine-day festival; PIFF closes on October 10 and is the largest film festival in Korea, and one of the largest in Asia. Over the course of the week, more than 300 films will be screened from 60-plus countries.

Kim Rae-won and Han Eun-jung, above, came as brand models for PIFF sponsor L’Oreal. Other famous name actors showed up to the red carpet night; the opening film was Kazakhstan’s The Gift to Stalin, as well as the Hyun Bin & Lee Bo-young film I Am Happy.

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Post tags: Baek Sung-hyun, Cha Seung-won, Choi Jung-yoon, Choi Kang-hee, Eom Ji-won, Eugene, fashion, film festivals, Go Ara, Gong Hyo-jin, Han Eun-jung, Hyun Bin, Jang Dong-gun, Joo Ji-hoon, Jung Ryeo-won, JYP, Kang Hye-jung, Kim Ji-soo, Kim Jung-eun, Kim Rae-won, Kim So-yeon, Kim Sun-ah, Lee Bo-young, Lee Dong-wook, Lee Jin, Lee Jung-jin, Lee Seon-kyun, Lee Wan, Lee Yeon-hee, Oh Ji-ho, Park Eun-hye, Park Hae-il, Park Jin-hee, Shin Hyun-joon, Shin Mina, Song Chang-eui, Yeh Ji-won, Yoon Jin-seo