On October 8, the 14th Pusan International Film Festival, or PIFF, opened in Busan. (Yes, the city takes a different official spelling than the film festival. Blame inconsistent Romanization.)

As the largest film festival in Korea, it drew a large list of attendees, as you can see from the long list of red-carpet walkers. It was definitely a star-studded opening night, and even included one familiar Hollywood face (Josh Hartnett).

This year’s PIFF features its largest lineup to date, screening 355 films from 70 countries, and closes on the 16th.

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Lee Seo-jin of Hon

Since horror is supposed to offer a chill in the hot summer months, we can see why there’s such a sudden burst of horror material these days. Two television dramas will soon add to the tally, giving us a Monday-thru-Thursday lineup of horror through August and September.

MBC’s Hon (”Soul”) is first, premiering next Wednesday and starring Lee Seo-jin (Yi San), Lee Jin (King and I), and newcomer Im Joo-eun. The drama recently released its latest teaser posters in anticipation of its August 5 airdate.

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The film Portrait of a Beauty [미인도] held its press conference and VIP preview on November 4, and a bevy of VIPs showed up to catch an advance look at the risqué period film. It has attracted much comparison to the drama series Painter of the Wind (see trailer below), as both deal with the life of the Joseon artist Shin Yoon-bok. They also seem to share a similar cinematic flair, although obviously there are key differences between a film and a drama series.

The cast also talked to reporters at a press conference, led by lead star Kim Min-sun and her co-stars Kim Young-ho, Chu Ja-hyun, and Kim Nam-gil, who for some reason has changed his stage name from Lee Han (of Goodbye Solo, When Spring Comes). I don’t get this whole changing-names-mid-career thing (see also: Go Jun-hee). Why bother at this point?

Portrait of a Beauty opens to the public on November 13.

More from the VIP event >>

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What could pop-singer-turned-actress Jeon Hye-bin (known during her somewhat disappointing singing career as simply Bin) be cheering in her peppy cheerleading outfit? Could she be expressing her support for the Olympics? Rooting her countrymen on to victory? Indulging creepy-old-men fantasies?

Not… exactly.

Here she films in the city of Goyang at Jonghap Stadium for her upcoming drama Scales of Faith (also possible translation: Scales of God, although I can’t be sure without the hanja). This scene involves a sports meet for employees of the Judicial Research and Training Institute; she plays a lawyer in the series.

Jeon Hye-bin’s last acting role was in the sageuk King and I; before that she acted in the hilariously silly Witch Amusement. Scales premieres on August 22 as SBS’s new Friday series.

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This entry is totally just an excuse to post a song, but whatever, it’s Friday!

You know, JEON HYE BIN (aka Bin, aka Seung Mi in Witch Amusement) is one of those actresses who apparently has a lot of anti’s, and although I don’t know why, I could kind of understand, because before Witch Amusement, I’d only ever seen her on shows like X-Man. For some reason, she tended to rub me the wrong way, although I had no reason to dislike her. There are just some people who are like that, I guess — I’d put Chae Yeon into the same category. Some celebrities just seem to be the kind of people women love to love (Lee Da Hae, Song Hye Kyo), while others are the kind that women love to hate.

Anyway, Bin has surprised me by being very likable in Witch Amusement, and she’s certainly really lovely on the show, enough that I found myself grudgingly liking her. (Dramas have a tendency to do that; same thing happened with Seven in Goong S.) Anyway, so what really sealed the deal is when I found out my favorite song in Witch Amusement — the one that I feel really captures the fun, cool essence of what the show is about — is sung by her.

Who knew?

SONG OF THE DAY

Jeon Hye Bin – “If” from Witch Amusement OST [ zShare download ]

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