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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Ouch. Jang Nara’s latest film, Sky and Ocean [하늘과 바다], hasn’t just flopped at the box office, it put in a decidedly miserable showing in last place in its opening week. It seems these days we’re hearing about new films breaking records by bringing in millions of viewers in a single weekend (examples: Take Off, Haeundae, Chaw), but Sky and Ocean fell short of even 10,000 audience members in its first weekend. To be specific, it drew 9,952 viewers.

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Jang Nara arrives with father and brother

For the next ten days, the city of Bucheon, not far from Seoul in Kyunggi (Gyeonggi) province, is hosting the 13th Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival, or PiFan. (Like Pusan International Film Festival, the film festival has kept the old spelling and acronym although the city names are now romanized with the “B” instead of the “P.”)

PiFan is a genre film festival, focusing on thriller, mystery, horror, and fantasy selections. This year the festival screens more than 200 films in eight categories that include Family Fanta (fantastic genre films appropriate for families), Ani Fanta (animation, one of the festival’s main categories), World Fantastic Cinema, and Fantastic Shorts. The Retrospectives portion comprises a “City of Romance” subcategory, screening Hong Kong movies from the ’80s, as well as “Eroticscape,” featuring Korean urban erotica from the ’80s.

The festival opened on July 16, its red carpet walked by celebs like Jang Nara, Lee Jong-hyuk, and Gu Hye-sun. PiFan will close on July 26.

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Normally I wouldn’t be terribly interested in yet another repetitive, recycled Andre Kim “fashion” show — and I use that term loosely — but hot dayum, this couple is stunning together.

Usually, Andre Kim’s chosen celebs just trot down the runway with blank expressions, wearing billowing curtains of material to perform the obligatory kiss-on-forehead maneuver. But this time, the couple is Kim Joon (Boys Before Flowers) and Jang Nara (Wedding), and they look mighty fine as a couple.

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Sky and Sea [하늘과 바다] is the new music-themed film for Jang Nara, wherein she plays a violinist who befriends other young musicians. On the 17th, reporters were invited down to the filming location at a university campus in Ansung, Kyeonggi province.

The cast also features singer Hyun Juni playing a rock-band vocalist, which isn’t too much of a stretch for the actress (of Beethoven Virus) who is also singer of the band Bella Mafia (listen below).

SONG OF THE DAY

Bella Mafia – “소리없이” (Without a sound), a repost. [ Download ]

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