Looks like the news is finally confirmed: Eric is on for action drama Poseidon, which is set in the world of the maritime police and has already cast Kim Kang-woo as a lead. This news has been floating around for a few weeks, but only as unconfirmed rumor, as with a few other names like idol star U-Know Yunho. (Yunho’s casting is still undecided.)

But Eric, the Shinhwa rapper turned actor who just completed his military obligation, told the press as he was discharged on October 30 (pictured above) that he will be acting in Poseidon. He has been serving out his mandatory army duty since October of 2008, and had been fielding offers for a comeback project in the months leading up to his discharge.
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Read the rest of Eric on for Poseidon, Kim Ok-bin still in consideration (289 words)

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Post tags: Eric, Kim Ok-bin, Poseidon

I previously posted about the new movie Actresses, which stars six famous movie stars playing six famous movie stars: each portrays a version of her real self, but the question is, how much of that is “acted” and how much stems from reality?

I found the initial reports really interesting, and much has been said of the supposed tensions between its two leads, Go Hyun-jung and Choi Ji-woo. No doubt the innuendos and possible exaggerations of real catfights are titillating for the public, who hardly ever get to see the real people beneath the smoothly polished images. (Korean entertainers are so carefully managed that it’s rare — and therefore big gossip — whenever one deviates from the carefully constructed narratives that have been built for them. And yet, it occurs to me that even if they’d all gotten along swimmingly, it would be a pretty shrewd promotional tactic to play up the fake-versus-real conflict to incite interest.)

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Read the rest of Actresses: Fake documentary or reality filmmaking? (1,184 words)

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Post tags: Choi Ji-woo, Go Hyun-jung, Kim Min-hee, Kim Ok-bin, Lee Mi-sook, Yoon Yeo-jung

It’s that time of year again: awards season!

On December 2, the 30th Blue Dragon Film Awards were held at KBS Hall in Yoido, Seoul, hosted by actors Kim Hye-soo and Lee Beom-soo.

Considering the recent slump in the Korean movie industry, it was a pretty good year for films, with several big hits breaking box office records, like Haeundae and Take Off, both of which amassed a number of nominations. It was also a good year for the smaller, indie movie, with awards being given to actors of Breathless, and both Kim Myung-min and Ha Ji-won pulling in top acting honors for their performances in My Love By My Side (aka Closer to Haeven).

Actress Jang Jin-young, who passed away this year from stomach cancer at the age of 35, was given a special award that honored her career in film, with roles in movies like 2001′s Sorum and 2003′s Singles.

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Read the rest of 2009 Blue Dragon Film Awards (1,513 words)

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Post tags: awards, Cha Tae-hyun, Choi Kang-hee, Chu Ja-hyun, Chun Jung-myung, Go Soo, Ha Ji-won, Ha Jung-woo, Han Ye-seul, Jang Jin-young, Jang Young-nam, Jeon No-min, Jin Gu, Jo Ahn, Kang So-ra, Kang Ye-won, Kim Haneul, Kim Hye-soo, Kim Ji-suk, Kim Min-hee, Kim Min-joon, Kim Ok-bin, Lee Beom-soo, Lee Chae-young, Lee Min-ki, Lee Shi-young, Oh Yeon-seo, Park Bo-young, Sohn Ye-jin, Song Chang-eui, Sunwoo Sun, Wang Seok-hyun, Yoo Sun, Yoon Jin-seo

Talk about an all-star line-up: the new film Actresses [여배우들] features a whole slew of high-profile names, such as Queen Seon-deok‘s Go Hyun-jung and Hallyu princess Choi Ji-woo, pictured above, in addition to Lee Mi-sook (East of Eden), Kim Min-hee (I Like It Hot), Kim Ok-bin (Thirst), and Yoon Yeo-jung (The World They Live In).

Here’s the official description, which I think sounds GREAT:

Actresses: Christmas Eve. For a fashion spread in Vogue magazine, six top actresses are brought in spanning ages from their twenties through sixties. As expected, these ladies who are used to receiving the spotlight alone engage in a battle of wills, and tension fills the studio. It’s an unwritten law in the fashion world to schedule shoots to avoid actress encounters, so this experiment was playing with fire from the outset. The psychological battle starts with wardrobe choices and ends with the scandalous scene of [Choi] Ji-woo storming out at [Go] Hyun-jung‘s provocation. [Yoon] Yeo-jung suspects she was only called in at the last minute to substitute, and while [Kim] Min-hee enjoys the shoot, [Kim] Ok-bin feels the burden of being around sunbaes, wondering how far she has to go to treat them as elders. They endure an endless wait for the featured jewelry that doesn’t arrive. The staff is growing worried and the actresses are becoming more and more sensitive.

What events happened that night? What words were exchanged between these frank, bold women? Could they have really finished their shoot without incident?

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Read the rest of Movie “Actresses” blurs line between fact and fiction (811 words)

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Post tags: Choi Ji-woo, Go Hyun-jung, Kim Min-hee, Kim Ok-bin, Lee Mi-sook, press conferences, Yoon Yeo-jung

This is pretty cool: Park Chan-wook‘s recent Cannes jury prize winner, Thirst, will have a U.S. theatrical release.

Film distributor Focus Features (a division of Universal Pictures) has picked up the vampire thriller; it will open in theaters in Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and other large cities on July 31. The film has already been sold to approximately 20 countries throughout Europe, South America, and Asia.

Via Chosun, Ain’t It Cool News

RELATED POSTS

• Thirst wins jury prize at Cannes
• Thirst’s preview attracts A-list VIPs
• Thirst: The vampire chic version
• Park Chan-wook unveils Thirst

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Post tags: Kim Ok-bin, Park Chan-wook, Song Kang-ho

Director Park Chan-wook had won the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes Film Festival in 2004 for Oldboy (the second-place award, below the Palme d’Or); this weekend, he won another award for his vampire horror movie Thirst as the festival closed on Sunday.

The film starring Song Kang-ho (The Good, the Bad, the Weird) and Kim Ok-bin (War of Money, Dasepo Naughty Girs) took the jury prize, the third-place honor (top prize went to The White Ribbon by Austrian director Michael Haneke; second to French film A Prophet).

Director Park said he would share his honor with his lead star Song, with whom he has worked several times already in Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Sympathy for Lady Vengeance, and Joint Security Area: “I enjoy making movies from the very beginning through the end, and the last step of that enjoyment is the Cannes Film Festival. I’d like to share this honor with my dearest friend and colleague, actor Song Kang-ho.”

Via Festival de Cannes, Yahoo News, My Daily

RELATED POSTS

• Thirst’s preview attracts A-list VIPs
• Thirst: The vampire chic version
• Park Chan-wook unveils Thirst
• Vampire priest thirsts for love in “Bat”
• Director Park Chan-wook’s latest muse

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2009. | Permalink | 15 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: awards, Kim Ok-bin, Park Chan-wook, Song Kang-ho

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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Read the rest of Thirst’s preview attracts A-list VIPs (359 words)

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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

These new photos themed around Oldboy director Park Chan-wook‘s latest film, the vampire horror movie Thirst [박쥐], take a decidedly less shocking approach than the previously released teaser poster, which had received a bit of criticism for being too provocative.

(In response to the public reaction, the bat-like imagery of the legs — as the Korean title literally translates to “bat” — were removed digitally to produce a more toned-down version, although personally I think the original is striking and badass.)

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Read the rest of Thirst: the vampire chic version (122 words)

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Post tags: Kim Ok-bin, Park Chan-wook, Song Kang-ho

Whoa. That sure is… eye-catching, to say the least. Here’s the new poster for Oldboy director Park Chan-wook’s upcoming vampire-priest film, Thirst.

The poster is kind of awesome for evoking not only the dark and provocative aspect of the film (check out the trailer below), but also the “bat” imagery of its title, which is how the Korean name [박쥐] literally translates.

The film stars Song Kang-ho (The Good, the Bad, the Weird and The Host) and Kim Ok-bin (of Over the Rainbow and Dasepo Naughty Girls, who’s been progressively cultivating her sexy image).

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Read the rest of Park Chan-wook unveils Thirst (138 words)

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Post tags: Kim Ok-bin, Park Chan-wook, Song Kang-ho