There’s been some chatter about Moon Chae-won (The Princess’s Man) possibly being up for the lead role opposite Park Yoochun in his new drama Rooftop Prince, but she has now officially declined the role. Her agency reports that she received the offer but found after reading the script that it had a lot more historical material than expected, and she didn’t want to be pigeonholed with another sageuk. It’s too bad, since I thought she’d be good for the role. But now the bigger question is, who’d be better?

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Post tags: Micky Yoochun, Moon Chae-won, Rooftop Prince

Awards, awards, awards! And tons of pretty people.

As with yesterday’s MBC Drama Awards, note that winners are decided in part due to popularity, in part due to ratings and politics. That said, I don’t think anyone will argue with their Daesang winner, Shin Ha-kyun (below), who has been tearing it up on Monday and Tuesday nights with medical drama Brain.

Also no surprise was the awarding of runner-up acting prizes to The Princess’s Man‘s pair, Park Shi-hoo and Moon Chae-won (above), which bagged a number of awards.
As did weekend hit Ojakkyo Brothers.

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Read the rest of 2011 KBS Drama Awards (2,271 words)

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Post tags: awards, Chun Jung-myung, Daniel Choi, Eugene, Han Eun-jung, Han Hye-jin, Hong Soo-hyun, Hwang Woo-seul-hye, Jang Nara, Joo-won, Jung Jin-young, Jung Woong-in, JYP, Kim Min-seo, Kim Soo-hyun, Lee Jang-woo, Lee Jong-hyuk, Lee Shi-young, Lee Yoon-ji, Moon Chae-won, Moon Jung-hee, Park Jung-ah, Park Min-young, Park Shi-hoo, Shin Ha-kyun, Suzy, UEE

Awards, awards, awards! Friday, November 25, was the night of the 2011 Blue Dragon Film Awards, and — no surprise — the winners list was dominated by one of the biggest films of the year, sageuk-action-thriller Bow: The Ultimate Weapon. The film is a David and Goliath story of one man (Park Hae-il) taking down the enemy with his exceptional prowess with the bow and won awards for most of its leading stars.

A few other films also nabbed multiple awards, with best picture going to the thriller Bad Deal. (which also won for director and screenplay).

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Post tags: awards, Byun Jung-soo, Go Soo, Gong Yoo, Han Chae-young, Jo Sung-ha, Jung Ryeo-won, Kim Haneul, Kim Hye-soo, Kim Soo-hyun, Lee Je-hoon, Lee Jung-jin, Lee Min-ho, Lee Min-jung, Lee Shi-young, Moon Chae-won, Nam Gyuri, Park Bo-young, Park Hae-il, Ryu Hyun-kyung, Ryu Seung-ryong, Su Ae, Yoo Sun, Yoon Kye-sang

Epic, moving, suspenseful, and superbly paced. If I were limited to only a handful of words, that’s how I’d describe The Princess’s Man, KBS’s romantic melodrama and premium sageuk from earlier this summer. Then again, I’ve never been good with brevity and I do have an open-ended word count available, so let’s cut to the chase and get right to it. Sit back and settle in; this may take a while…

SONG OF THE DAY

The Princess’s Man OST – “Destino (운명)” [ Download ]

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Read the rest of The Princess’s Man: Series review (5,956 words)

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Post tags: featured, Hong Soo-hyun, Lee Soon-jae, Moon Chae-won, Park Shi-hoo, Song Jong-ho, The Princess's Man

October 17 was the night of the 48th Grand Bell Awards (or, per its Korean name, Daejong Awards), and it was a big event for a few films in particular. And while the Joseon-era David-versus-Goliath action sageuk Bow: The Ultimate Weapon didn’t sweep the categories, it did take home a nice chunk of them.

But Best Picture (and a few others) went to the Korean War film The Front Line (which is probably a good thing, since it’s this year’s entry to the Academy Awards — not that I expect it’ll win or even make final cut. Korean films rarely — never? — do).

A couple of other notable winners: bright, touching comedy Sunny, and the moody, pensive Bleak Night. All are on my Must Watch ASAP list.

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Post tags: awards, Bae Jong-ok, Cha Tae-hyun, Choi Kang-hee, Daniel Choi, Go Chang-seok, Jang Seo-hee, Jang Young-nam, Jo Hee-bong, Jo Sung-ha, Jung Soo-young, Kang So-ra, Kim Haneul, Kim Hye-soo, Kim Sumi, Lee Je-hoon, Lee Min-jung, Moon Chae-won, Park Hae-il, Park Hyo-joo, Seo Young-hee, Shin Hyun-bin, Shin Hyun-joon, Song Sae-byuk, Won Bin, Yoon Kye-sang

With their big drama The Princess’s Man now wrapped, stars Park Shi-hoo and Moon Chae-won are both jetting off to far-flung locales for some rest and relaxation.

Park recently tweeted these photos from his Twitter account, announcing, “From Bali. I’m OK.” I guess it’s not entirely a vacation for him since he’d gone for a photo shoot, but it looks like he got his share of sun-soaked beach time on the side. *is jealous*

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Read the rest of Park Shi-hoo tweets from Bali (157 words)

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Post tags: Moon Chae-won, Park Shi-hoo

This summer’s seen a number of strong films, at least box-office-performance-wise. (Sector 7, for instance, has been largely panned for its story but has been racking up the ticket sales. Others that have enjoyed solid numbers include explosion-laden Quick with Lee Min-ki, and the Korean War blockbuster The Front Line.)

Joining those films is sageuk action film Bow, the Ultimate Weapon, which enjoyed the No. 1 spot at the box office this weekend and has been drawing critical praise for its taut story. It beat out Kim Haneul and Yoo Seung-ho’s thriller Blind, which premiered the same day and came in second place. The weekend receipts for Bow, the Ultimate Weapon totaled an impressive 967,326 tickets, with a cumulative total of 1.36 million.

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Post tags: box office, Moon Chae-won, Park Hae-il, Ryu Seung-ryong

Romantic sageuk The Princess’s Man will be offering up a change of pace for Wednesdays and Thursdays when it takes over the slot vacated by the just-ended Romance Town this week. While that drama was lighter-spirited, this one will dial up the tragic romance and melodrama with its Romeo & Juliet premise. (The story: Two youngsters fall in love, but their fathers are on opposing sides of a political tug-of-war with the throne at stake.)

It also joins the new crop of sageuk dramas on the block, taking us from a rom-com-filled spring to a period-piece summer. Currently, we’ve got fusion action sageuk Warrior Baek Dong-soo on Mondays and Tuesdays, while King Gwanggaeto has been airing on weekends for several weeks. Soon we’ll have another Monday-Tuesday offering, Kye Baek — and then the anticipated Tree With Deep Roots come September. Phew! That’s a lotta sageuk.

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Read the rest of Posters and promo stills from The Princess’s Man (159 words)

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Post tags: Hong Soo-hyun, Moon Chae-won, Park Shi-hoo, The Princess's Man

Looks like The Princess’s Man is really going for the epic romance angle, which is fitting given the whole Romeo & Juliet premise that the story’s built upon, starring Park Shi-hoo (Queen of Reversals) and Moon Chae-won (It’s Okay, Daddy’s Girl) as the Joseon-era version of the star-crossed lovers.

Here are two teasers and more stills from the KBS “premium sageuk” set to premiere in just a week and a half. It definitely looks pretty, that’s for sure. The first clip introduces the lovers-from-rival-families angle (in this case, their fathers are political rivals), while the second introduces the characters in a little more detail.

Playing second lead as another princess is Hong Soo-hyun (Lie To Me), Moon Chae-won’s haughty cousin, who glares with jealousy upon catching wind of the burgeoning romance. Song Jong-ho (Will It Snow For Christmas), whom you can barely catch a glimpse of in the second preview, plays our hero’s friendly rival. I wonder how friendly that relationship will remain once the rivalry heats up.

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Read the rest of Teasers and more stills for The Princess’s Man (70 words)

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Post tags: Hong Soo-hyun, Moon Chae-won, Park Shi-hoo, Song Jong-ho, The Princess's Man

“Sageuk Romeo & Juliet” is the in-a-nutshell description of Princess’s Man, the upcoming KBS drama that stars Park Shi-hoo (Queen of Reversals) and Moon Chae-won (It’s Okay, Daddy’s Girl) as Joseon-era star-crossed lovers.

The setup for their doomed romance: ambition over the throne, natch. It’s pretty much the basis of 99% of sageuk dramas, and for good reason, since it provides the perfect foundation for an epic story with all its attendant power grabs, secret plots, assassination attempts, and political intrigue. Moon plays Princess Se-ryung, whose father, Grand Prince Su-yang (played by Kim Young-chul, the shady Baek San of IRIS), covets the crown. (Historically, he eventually got it and became King Sejo.)

The ambitious Su-yang meets with fierce opposition from his enemy, the high-ranking minster of the left, Kim Jong-seo (played by Lee Soon-jae), whose youngest son Seung-yoo (that’s Park Shi-hoo) falls in love with the princess.

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Read the rest of Cast stills from sageuk romance Princess’s Man (393 words)

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Post tags: Hong Soo-hyun, Moon Chae-won, Park Shi-hoo, Song Jong-ho, The Princess's Man