Actress Kim Min-sun was already a decade into her career when she decided to change her name last year — not just a stage name, but her actual real one. Her next project will be the first where she acts under her new name, Kim Gyu-ri.

The reason for her change? Kim explains that Kim Min-sun is her legal name, and it’s also the name she is credited under in projects like ero-sageuk Portrait of a Beauty and drama series Loveholic. However, her family has always called her by the name Gyu-ri. Kim is a fourth daughter, and at the time of her birth her parents wanted a son, so they entered the name Min-sun into the official registry. However, they’ve always called her Gyu-ri, so this change is to make it official.

The funny thing is, there’s already another actress with the name Kim Gyu-ri, who happens to be the same age as this one. (She’s pictured below, at left. You may recognize “the original Kim Gyu-ri,” as some have taken to calling her to avoid confusion, from dramas like I Can’t Stop and Lovers. It must chafe the first Kim Gyu-ri to suddenly be thrust into the backseat, since Kim Min-sun is the more famous actor.)

Making things even funnier, Kim Gyu-ri is actually a stage name for the other actress — whose real name is Kim Moon-sun. HAHA.

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Post tags: Kim Gyu-ri, Kim Min-sun

Lee Beom-soo (On Air) sure is busy this year; he has yet another movie coming out soon, in which he stars with Kim Min-sun (Portrait of a Beauty) as an engaged couple. The action comedy is called Where Is Jung Seung-pil? [정승필 실종사건] and features Lee as a kidnapped man; these photos of the be-wigged couple are the ones carried around by Kim’s character in her wallet.

Sohn Chang-min (Woman of Matchless Beauty Park Jung-geum) plays a “lazy detective” in danger of being fired, who dreams of scoring an overnight success. When he is put in charge of a case of a disappeared financial planner (Lee Beom-soo), he determines to crack the case and sets out to survey the suspects. What ensues is a rather bungling investigation. The lively comedy features kidnapping, embezzlement, and an “accidental” murder.

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Read the rest of Lee Beom-soo’s action comedy Where Is Jung Seung-pil? (82 words)

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Post tags: Kim Min-sun, Lee Beom-soo

Given that the star-studded omnibus movie Ogamdo [오감도] is touted as a story of “love beyond eros” told five different ways (there are five directors helming five different vignettes), it’s no surprise that its promotional material continues to be provocative. (For instance, the first poster got people talking with the nude woman it featured.)

In fact, the film has received an adults-only rating due to its “frank sexual depictions” and “provocative content.” Some of the narrative threads include a newlywed couple’s upset love, a first encounter for a young couple, a “peculiar relationship” between a famous movie actress and a new actress, a woman who lives with her dead husband’s girlfriend, and so forth.

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Post tags: Cha Soo-yeon, Hwang Jung-min, Jang Hyuk, Kim Hyo-jin, Kim Kang-woo, Kim Min-sun, Kim Su-ro, Uhm Jung-hwa

Whoaaa. Check out this new still from the vampire film Thirst [박쥐], which recently confirmed that it will be screening at Cannes International Film Festival later this year.

The much-buzzed-about film held its press conference and VIP preview screening on the afternoon of April 24 in Seoul. Given the movie’s high profile (and its director and lead actor), the screening attracted some big names, such as Lee Byung-heon, Jeon Do-yeon, Won Bin, Rain, and Song Hye-gyo.

Lead actor Song Kang-ho, playing the vampire priest who falls for his friend’s wife (Kim Ok-bin), discussed some of the film’s more provocative scenes, one of which serves as the crucial point of the film. He had discussed the scene in some depth with director Park Chan-wook and had no qualms shooting it, as he agreed that it was essential to the story.

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Post tags: Jeon Do-yeon, Kim Hye-soo, Kim Min-sun, Kim Ok-bin, Lee Byung-heon, Park Chan-wook, Rain, Song Hye-gyo, Song Kang-ho, Won Bin

The upcoming omnibus film Ogamdo [오감도] has a provocative new poster out, and the first question — given its star-studded cast — is which of its leading ladies is featured in the nude photo. The answer: none. The production explained that the poster — which conveys the movie’s primary motif of “eros” — used a body model, not one of its high-profile actresses (like Kim Min-sun or Uhm Jung-hwa).

The tagline reads: “See, pass by, feel…” and is followed by the subtitle “A story about more than eros.” Each of the film’s various vignettes falls under the love/eros theme, but will be filmed by a different director, of whom there are five signed on to the project:

Heo Jin-ho (Happiness)
Byun Hyuk (Interview)
Yoo Young-shik (Shim’s Family)
Oh Ki-hwan (The Art of Seduction)
Min Kyu-dong (Antique Bakery)

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Post tags: Bae Jong-ok, Cha Soo-yeon, Hwang Jung-min, Jang Hyuk, Jung Eui-chul, Kim Dong-wook, Kim Kang-woo, Kim Min-sun, Kim Su-ro, Lee Shi-young, Lee Sung-min, Shin Se-kyung, Song Joong-ki, Uhm Jung-hwa

There’s a new omnibus film coming out, Ogamdo (not sure yet if it’ll get an English title), which is the next project for Happiness director Heo Jin-ho.

While it stars some marquee names (Jang Hyuk, Kim Min-sun), the announcement of its lesser-knowns is also drawing attention, particularly as the younger cast members are gaining popularity in the latest “kkot-minam” (pretty boy) trend.

Case in point: Jung Eui-chul and Lee Shi-young, whose names shot to the top of online searches after appearances on star-making drama Boys Before Flowers. Jung (top left) was the devious model Haje of recent episodes, while Lee (bottom left) played plastic beauty Min-ji.

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Post tags: Bae Jong-ok, Cha Soo-yeon, Jang Hyuk, Jung Eui-chul, Kim Dong-wook, Kim Kang-woo, Kim Min-sun, Kim Su-ro, Lee Shi-young, Lee Sung-min, Shin Se-kyung, Song Joong-ki

Portrait of a Beauty actress Kim Min-sun is joining the number of stars jumping into the publishing sphere — this time with her photoessay collection “Sunny Side Story,” for which held a fan signing on the 10th.

The collection contains photos Kim snapped over the past few years, beginning in 2005, and includes some glimpses behind the sets of Portrait of a Beuaty, her recent risqué foray into the role of a cross-dressing artist in the Joseon Era (a character also portrayed by Moon Geun-young in the drama Painter of the Wind).

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Post tags: books, Kim Min-sun, star extracurricular activities

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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Read the rest of 7th Korea Film Awards (1,738 words)

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Post tags: awards, Eom Ki-joon, 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

Did the Blue Dragon Awards sneak up on us this year or what?

As one of the largest year-end awards shows, the Blue Dragon always tends to draw out a good number of A-listers, and we saw plenty of them out on the red carpet on November 20 and posing pretty for photos.

One big winner of the night was the “kimchi Western” The Good, The Bad, The Weird, as was the thriller The Chaser and even the sports movie Forever the Moment, from way back in January.

But, as with any awards show, sometimes the fun is less about the actual awards and more about parsing all the red carpet looks.

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Post tags: awards, Go Jun-hee, Han Chae-young, Han Eun-jung, Han Ye-seul, Joo Ji-hoon, Jung Jun-ho, Kang Ji-hwan, Kim Haneul, Kim Hye-soo, Kim Joo-hyuk, Kim Min-sun, Kim Nam-gil, Lee Bo-young, Lee Jung-jae, Lee Ki-woo, Lee Mi-sook, Lee Mi-yeon, Lee Soo-kyung, Park Shi-yeon, Shin Hyun-joon, So Ji-sub, Sohn Ye-jin, Song Yoon-ah, Su Ae, Uhm Tae-woong

The film Portrait of a Beauty opens November 13, but a more significant premiere on its horizon is a possible screening at the 2009 Cannes International Film Festival.

According to production company Yedang Entertainment, a Cannes representative was an attendee at the recent VIP preview event, who had high praise for the film and extended an unofficial invitation to show at Cannes. Portrait of a Beauty has received acclaim for its high production values and artistic cinematography, while the story tells of the “hidden life” of famous Joseon-era artist Shin Yoon-bok. (Yes, the same Shin Yoon-bok of the drama series Painter of the Wind.)

One rep from Yedang expressed the honor of showing at Cannes, saying, “Through Portrait of a Beauty, viewed as being the most ‘Korean’ of films, I’d like to show the world the excellence of Korean cinema.”

Other Korean films with strong Cannes showings include Park Chan-wook’s Oldboy in 2006 and Lee Chang-dong’s Secret Sunshine in 2007, for which lead actress Jeon Do-yeon was also named Best Actress. Portrait of a Beauty may join those illustrious ranks, but only if that “unofficial” invitation turns official. Let’s hope they don’t have to do a lot of embarrassed backtracking later. (It might also help to get the English right on the poster if they want to make “the history.”)

Via Mk.co.kr

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• Preview event for Portrait of a Beauty

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2008. | Permalink | 14 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: film festivals, Kim Min-sun