Director Kim Jo Gwang-soo garnered some attention with last year’s queer short film Boy Meets Boy, and now he’s coming out with his follow-up. Called 친구사이?, the title translates to “We’re Friends?” or simply “Friends?”

Friends?, like Boy Meets Boy, also deals with queer romance, and this time, the director has cast two unknown actors, 19-year-old Hong Jong-hyun and 25-year-old Seo Ji-hoo. Hong started as a model and was also in Jo In-sung’s Frozen Flower, while Seo earned his role through auditions.

As with Boy Meets Boy, the events of this film are based on the director’s personal experience; the film aims for a “realistic, frank” depiction of young gay love.

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Read the rest of From Boy Meets Boy to Friends? (230 words)

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Post tags: directors, homosexuality, Kim Jo Gwang-soo

I’ve been talking about the short queer film Boy Meets Boy for a while now, and it’s finally being released.

The nearly wordless short film, starring Kim Hye-sung (Unstoppable High Kick) and Lee Hyun-jin (Kimchi Cheese Smile) as 18-year-old high school students, is billed as a queer romance about first love, and bears the tag “based on a true story.”

The film held its press conference on November 5, and will have a theater release in six theaters — unusual for a short — starting on November 20, which will also feature a segment on the making of the film. (Because it won’t be shown with other shorts, the ticket price is also lower, at about half the price of regular movie tickets.)

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Read the rest of Boy Meets Boy in theaters soon (167 words)

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Post tags: homosexuality, Kim Hye-sung, short films

I’ll just give you a second to let that image sink in. (I mean, really, really sink in that this is indeed two of Korea’s hottest rising pretty boys made famous by two of Korea’s biggest youth drama hits, Joo Ji-hoon of Goong and Kim Jae-wook of Coffee Prince.)

October 28 was press preview day for the new movie Antique (full title: Western Antique and Bakery Shop), starring Joo Ji-hoon, Kim Jae-wook, baby-faced Yoo Ah-in (Strongest Chil Woo), and model Choi Ji-ho (Time of Dog and Wolf).

 
Also: Let the Coffee Prince comparisons begin?

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Read the rest of Antique press preview yields interesting fashions (492 words)

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Post tags: Choi Ji-ho, fashion, homosexuality, Joo Ji-hoon, Kim Jae-wook, press conferences, Yoo Ah-in

On October 5, the short film Boy Meets Boy held an open discussion at the Pusan International Film Festival with its stars Kim Hye-sung (Jenny, Juno) and Yeh Ji-won (Mixed-up Investigative Agency) and director Kim Jo Kwang Su.

I remember being intrigued when I first heard about Boy Meets Boy [소년, 소년을 만나다], which marks Kim Hye-sung’s departure from his family-friendly image in Unstoppable High Kick. His early career had been marked by an emphasis on his pretty face more than anything (he rose to fame as an internet uljjang with thousands of fans, got a couple movies, and then the hit sitcom High Kick), but he seems to have a grounded perspective of his fame (as he explained in the interview linked above).

Not only is he portraying half of a gay romance in the short film, the narrative is expressed without dialogue — the director opted instead to tell the story mostly in the characters’ gazes.

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Read the rest of Boy Meets Boy at PIFF (364 words)

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Post tags: film festivals, homosexuality, Kim Hye-sung, press conferences, short films, Yeh Ji-won

I admit the first thing that struck me about Kim Hye Sung was his adorable baby face. But although he’s part of the newest generation of good-looking, trendy young stars, he seems to be slowly differentiating himself from his peers and taking some personal care (and risks) into his acting choices. He’s one I’ve got my eye on for the future.
 

“Kim Hye Sung’s transformation from pretty boy to hot-tempered youth to gay lover”

By the time 2003’s hot uljjang trend had blown over, some new stars had appeared on the scene: uljjangs. [What’s an uljjang?] The first-generation ulljangs included Park Han Byul, Gu Hye Sun, Nam Sang Mi. Second-generation ulljangs: Kim Ok Bin, Bae Seul Gi, Lee Yeon Hee. And also Kim Hye Sung and Kang Eun Bi.

They rose to fame not via television or movies, but through the internet, causing a shake-up of the currently existing star-making system. Uljjang stars weren’t discovered through television station tests, new-actor auditions, talent agencies, or streetside castings; they were made into stars by audiences and consumers themselves.

Five years later. …

SONG OF THE DAY

Deb – “Dopamine” [ Download ]

 
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Read the rest of When Boy Meets Boy (798 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2008. | Permalink | 36 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: homosexuality, Kim Hye-sung, netizens, uljjangs, Unstoppable High Kick

Oh holy frijoles this was a good episode.

I’ve been careful (I think) to indicate that I’ve been enjoying Coffee Prince, but held off on a verdict… Given a history of disappointments, I kept expectations low in starting this series; I just hoped it would be light fun. As of today’s episode, I can say with certainty that I love Coffee Prince. I was so curious to see how they’d handle the pseudo-homosexuality angle, and I’ve been pleasantly surprised.

The story works whether you see Eun Chan as a girl, of course, but also if, like me, you find yourselves occasionally forgetting and thinking she really is a male, or at least some kind of new hybrid gender. I’m telling ya, the actors are selling it, particularly Mr. Gong Yoo (Yoon Eun Hye is doing wonderfully as well, but I’m speaking specifically to the struggle with sexuality-questioning here). I actually believe Han Gyul as someone struggling with feelings of homosexuality, rather than merely thinking, “But she’s a girl so this is all moot.” It’s NOT moot — because the way they’re exploring his struggle is really rewarding for me.

(Background) SONG OF THE DAY

Arco – “Alien.” One of a few songs used in today’s episode.

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Read the rest of Coffee Prince: Tenth Cup (3,018 words)

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Post tags: Chae Jung-ahn, Coffee Prince, episode recaps, Gong Yoo, homosexuality, Lee Seon-kyun, stuff I dig, Yoon Eun-hye

First things first. As usual, I thoroughly enjoyed the episode, and continue to enjoy the way they are progressing the relationship between Han Gyul and Eun Chan. But let me get this bit of criticism out of the way, and that is that this episode didn’t flow perfectly.

There were a few awkward transitions, which felt choppy at first. Disjointed. I think they were busy trying to squeeze in some new plot points to set us up for more stories — like exploring more about Han Gyul’s birth, for instance — and because elements felt shoehorned in, it disrupted the otherwise nice developments of the episode. Thankfully, that bit of awkwardness mostly occupied the first half (minus the very beginning, which was entirely too cute); the latter half was lovely.

 
(Background) SONG OF THE DAY

Arco – “Perfect World.” This song plays in one of the early scenes between Yu Ju and Han Sung.

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Read the rest of Coffee Prince: Ninth Cup (2,628 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2007. | Permalink | 125 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Chae Jung-ahn, Coffee Prince, episode recaps, Gong Yoo, homosexuality, Lee Seon-kyun, Yoon Eun-hye