MBC hosted its awards ceremony for the 2008 Acting Awards on December 30. Let me first reiterate that I think these end-of-year broadcast-station awards are mostly meaningless. That said, this year’s Daesangs were TOTAL WEAKSAUCE, MBC. Top honor (the “Daesang” grand prize) went to…

Oh, you mean it was split this year? Between Beethoven Virus’s much-lauded epitome of awesomeness, Kim Myung-min, and East of Eden’s overblown and overrated Song Seung-heon?? I mean, I could understand going for the sentimental vote and awarding deceased Choi Jin-shil (she got a lifetime achievement instead), but Song Seung-heon winning acting awards is in itself a joke.

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Read the rest of 2008 MBC Acting Awards (1,572 words)

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Post tags: awards, Bae Yong-joon, Beethoven Virus, Choi Jin-shil, Dennis O, East of Eden, fashion, Han Ji-hye, Han Ji-min, Jang Geun-seok, Ji Sung, Jung Il-woo, Jung Jun-ho, Kim Min-jung, Kim Myung-min, Lee Dong-gun, Lee Hana, Lee Jia, Lee Jung-jin, Lee Junki, Lee Mi-sook, Lee Yeon-hee, Moon Sori, New Heart, Seo Shin-ae, Shin Sung-rok, Song Seung-heon, The Last Scandal of My Life, Yoon Eun-hye, Yoon Jin-seo

I foresee this may start getting repetitive, but here’s another red carpet from the Pusan International Film Festival (we saw opening night’s red carpet yesterday).

This time, the event was the Asian Pacific Actors Network (APAN) Star Road. It seemed some of the stars who were at opening night were noticeably absent at this event, most likely because they traveled back to Seoul to pay their respects to Choi Jin-shil.

Pics beyond the jump.

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Read the rest of More PIFF red carpet at APAN’s Star Road (298 words)

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Post tags: Choi Jung-yoon, Daniel Henney, fashion, film festivals, Jung Ryeo-won, Kang Hye-jung, Kim Ji-soo, Kim So-yeon, Lee Jung-jin, Lee Min-ki, Lee Wan, Oh Man-seok, Park Jin-hee, Song Chang-eui, Yeh Ji-won, Yoon Jin-seo

It’s kind of unnerving how all the news right now is either Choi Jin-shil’s sudden death or the 13th Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF), and sometimes while looking through the news listings, it’s easy to confuse the two based on the thumbnail images. (Given the timing, as far as I can see, there were no overlaps in attendees — or at least, very few — between PIFF and Choi Jin-shil’s funeral viewing.)

October 2 saw the opening night to the nine-day festival; PIFF closes on October 10 and is the largest film festival in Korea, and one of the largest in Asia. Over the course of the week, more than 300 films will be screened from 60-plus countries.

Kim Rae-won and Han Eun-jung, above, came as brand models for PIFF sponsor L’Oreal. Other famous name actors showed up to the red carpet night; the opening film was Kazakhstan’s The Gift to Stalin, as well as the Hyun Bin & Lee Bo-young film I Am Happy.

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Read the rest of Pusan International Film Festival’s opening night (165 words)

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Post tags: Baek Sung-hyun, Cha Seung-won, Choi Jung-yoon, Choi Kang-hee, Eom Ji-won, Eugene, fashion, film festivals, Go Ara, Gong Hyo-jin, Han Eun-jung, Hyun Bin, Jang Dong-gun, Joo Ji-hoon, Jung Ryeo-won, JYP, Kang Hye-jung, Kim Ji-soo, Kim Jung-eun, Kim Rae-won, Kim So-yeon, Kim Sun-ah, Lee Bo-young, Lee Dong-wook, Lee Jin, Lee Jung-jin, Lee Seon-kyun, Lee Wan, Lee Yeon-hee, Oh Ji-ho, Park Eun-hye, Park Hae-il, Park Jin-hee, Shin Hyun-joon, Shin Mina, Song Chang-eui, Yeh Ji-won, Yoon Jin-seo

After all the hullaballo, Kwon Sang-woo finally married Sohn Tae-young today (September 28), and I for one am glad, since we won’t be having to hear about it anymore.

The couple gave a press conference prior to the wedding, as the wedding itself was closed to the press. Sohn Tae-young wore a Kenneth Pool gown, which she bought on the couple’s recent trip to England.

Kwon: “I’m finally getting married. I’m so nervous — my nerves don’t begin to compare with any film festival or event I’ve been to. … We’ll live happily together. I vow to love her forever.” Sohn: “It doesn’t feel real yet. Actually, I wasn’t nervous at all while getting ready. But now I’m starting to feel it.”

When asked about kids, Kwon answered that he’d like three, but joked that Sohn “has agreed to two, for her figure’s sake.”

And, since it’s not every day such a huge Hallyu star gets married, we have a pretty impressive guest-star roster that rivals the red carpet at some of the largest industry events.

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Read the rest of Kwon Sang-woo weds Sohn Tae-young (finally) (286 words)

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Post tags: Byun Jung-soo, Cha Seung-won, Choi Ji-woo, Ha Ji-won, Han Ga-in, Hwang Bo, Jang Dong-gun, Jung Woo-sung, Kim Sung-soo, Kwon Sang-woo, Lee Beom-soo, Lee Byung-heon, Lee Jung-jae, Lee Jung-jin, Oh Ji-ho, So Ji-sub, Sohn Tae-young, Song Seung-heon, star romances, weddings, Yoo Ji-tae

While I wouldn’t call the 4th Jecheon International Music & Film Festival (JIMFF 2008) a star-studded event, it had its share of famous faces sprinkled in amongst the packed crowd of festival attendees, including promo reps Lee Jung-jin and Lee Yeon-hee, above, who hosted the opening ceremony on the evening of August 14.

Also attending the festival are Korean directors Lim Kwon-taek, Lee Joon-ik, Heo Jin-ho, Park Heung-shik, Kim Sang-woo and others. International guests include director Claire Pijman from the Netherlands (Talking Guitars), American animator Nina Paley (Sita Sings the Blues), German director Martin Walz (Melodies of Spring), Morocco’s Ahmed El Maanouni (Burned Hearts), Hong Kong’s Pang Ho-cheung, and more.

Following the opening ceremony, the festival kicked off with a screening of British filmmaker Stephen Walker’s Young@Heart, the acclaimed documentary about senior citizens singing rock and pop songs as a part of the Young at Heart Chorus.

JIMFF will screen films from 30 countries — features, documentaries, shorts, animation, and others — including a new section on films featuring world music. The festival takes place over the next six days in the city of Jecheon in scenic Chungcheongbuk-do (North Chungcheong province), and closes on August 19.

 
Top row: Lee Jung-jin and Lee Yeon-hee
Middle row: Yoo Ji-tae, Lee Yeon-hee, Kim Tae-woo with Eom Ji-won, Eom Ji-won, Ahn Sung-ki with Kang Soo-yeon

Via OSEN, Newsis

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Post tags: film festivals, Lee Jung-jin, Lee Yeon-hee, Yoo Ji-tae

• Lee Jung Jin (Bottom of the 9th with 2 Outs, Love Story in Harvard) held his first official fanmeeting on May 30 in Tokyo, following the end of Bottom of the 9th’s recent Japanese broadcast. A thousand Japanese fans were in attendance; he returned to Korea on the 31st to prep for filming his next movie, Daetol [대털].
• Kim Bum (I Like it Hot, Unstoppable High Kick) injured himself while filming a fighting scene in the upcoming drama East of Eden. Cast in the younger role of Song Seung Heon’s adult character, he was fighting with a stuntman, who struck him on the jaw — and split his chin (owwww). The injury, described as minor by management, was about 1cm in length and required five stitches. I thought stuntmen were there to ensure action scenes are safer.
• Currently promoting his solo album, Jun Jin addressed plastic surgery rumors on the June 7 episode of MBC’s Infinity Challenge — and admitted to a cosmetic procedure whereby fat was removed from his eyelids (to make them look larger and more open).
• The short drama Tokyo Shower, which got off to a lackluster start (its second episode recorded ratings in the 4% range), had its official message board hacked. On June 6, hackers took over the site with postings about opposition to American beef. Dude, if you’re going to hack a site to push your inflammatory propaganda, at least pick a popular show.
• Apparently the mere fact that Rain is singing the theme song to the animated feature Kung Fu Panda is enough to excite his fans, who packed the house on the 4th for a press conference where the music video for “Kung Fu Fighting,” the film’s theme song, was screened. I suppose nobody cares that the song is a crap remake of a kitschy, gimmicky jingle born of a cheesy ’70s chopsocky fad. Here’s Rain singing the theme:

 
SONG OF THE DAY

Jun Jin – “좋은 사람” (Good person) [ Download ]

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Post tags: Jun Jin, Kim Bum, Lee Jung-jin, news bites, Rain, Tokyo Showers