Lee Seon-kyun (34) married his 33-year-old bride Jeon Hye-jin on May 23; the event was closed to the media but the couple has released official photos of the ceremony.

The day was emceed by Lee’s good friends, actor Oh Man-seok and Hong Sung-bo, and featured a serenade by the groom himself, as well as songs by actor Kim Chang-wan (Coffee Prince) and indie artists Zitten and Tearliner. I am officially jealous not only of the bride’s good fortune but their awesome musical lineup.

The song Lee sang was the one he’d also sung for Coffee Prince co-star Chae Jung-ahn (who was in attendance), titled “Ocean Voyage” (listen below).

SONG OF THE DAY

Lee Seon-kyun – “바다여행” (Ocean Travel) [ Download ]

(...)
Read the rest of Lee Seon-kyun serenades his bride (180 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2009. | Permalink | 65 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Chae Jung-ahn, Jeon Hye-jin, Kim Chang-wan, Kim Ji-woo, Kim Su-ro, Lee Seon-kyun, Oh Man-seok, weddings, Yoo Sun, Yoon Eun-hye

Following MBC’s Acting Awards on the 30th, the 31st saw awards ceremonies for the other two stations. First up: 2008 SBS Drama Awards. (KBS coming up next!)

The big news is that the SBS Daesang was awarded to the very young but very talented Moon Geun-young for her gender-bending role in the gorgeously shot historical drama Painter in the Wind. It had been widely speculated that her co-star, shunned star Park Shin-yang, might not appear after being shut out of the nominations and criticized for his exorbitant asking fees, and he in fact did not show. (I think Park’s management did not handle the War of Money pay situation well, but making a point to blackball him from SBS seems like scapegoating to me.)

(...)
Read the rest of 2008 SBS Drama Awards (968 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2008. | Permalink | 62 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: awards, Cha Ye-ryun, Choi Kang-hee, fashion, Ha Seok-jin, Han Hyo-joo, Han Ye-seul, Jang Hyuk, Ji Hyun-woo, Kim Haneul, Kim So-yeon, Lee Junki, Lee Yo-won, Moon Chae-won, Moon Geun-young, Moon Jung-hee, Oh Man-seok, Park Bo-young, Park Yong-ha, Song Yoon-ah, Yoo Seung-ho, Yoon So-yi

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.

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

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2008. | Permalink | 33 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: awards, Eom Ki-joon, fashion, 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

Oh Man-seok (King and I, The Vineyard Man) got his start in musicals, and now he’s taking on his debut directing role for the upcoming production of The Happy Life.

Not only does Oh direct the musical, which is currently in the midst of rehearsing, he polished the script himself and wrote the lyrics to the songs. Most of the actors are musical theater veterans, although there are a few screen actors as well, including Yoo Joon-sang (Tell Me Something, Catch a Kangnam Mother) and boy-bander Ryan of Paran.

The story centers around two guys who are crazy about music. One is a high school music teacher, “Beom-jin,” who has broken up with his girlfriend and now eats sadly alone in front of his mirror out of habit. Another is the younger “Sae-ki,” whose mother left and whose father died in a sudden accident, leaving him an orphan. In this rather dull world, the only thing that makes these two feel alive is music, offering them their “happy life.”

Oh explains, “The title ‘Happy Life’ is somewhat ironic. None of the characters have much to be excited about, and are depressed. But it’s about the music, love, and lives of people who do what they can to ignore that aspect and live each moment of their lives joyfully. It’s a musical that’s both cheerful and emotionally weighty.”

(...)
Read the rest of Oh Man-seok directs The Happy Life (223 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2008. | Permalink | 7 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: directors, musicals, Oh Man-seok

Television drama ratings have been released for the month of September in Thailand, and six of the top ten series are Korean dramas.

AGB Nielsen Media, a media research company, released the numbers, and the 2006 KBS trendy drama The Vineyard Man, starring Yoon Eun-hye and Oh Man-seok, came out on top. Although its initial run in Korea garnered low ratings (it was up against juggernaut Jumong), The Vineyard Man was the most-watched drama by Thai viewers last month. Thai and Korean ratings, while both recorded by Nielsen, are measured differently, but a general conversion puts Vineyard’s Thai numbers at about two to three times its Korean ratings.

Here’s the full top 10, which comprises six kdramas, three Chinese series, and one “foreign” other:

1. The Vineyard Man
2. Chinese drama Legend of the Demigods
3. Chinese drama Justice Pao
4. SBS’s 2007-08 sageuk drama King and I
5. SBS’s highly acclaimed 2006 series Alone in Love
6. Chinese drama The Sword and the Chess of Death
7. Angel Yr. 3 — perhaps they mean Whedon’s Angel?
8. MBC’s 2005 hit romantic comedy My Name Is Kim Samsoon
9. KBS’s 2006 mania drama Goodbye Solo
10. MBC’s daily drama Be Strong, Geum-soon

 
Via Segye.com, Joy News

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2008. | Permalink | 29 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Oh Man-seok, The Vineyard Man, Yoon Eun-hye

Lame, lame, lame. I’d kind of figured that the newish Seoul Drama Awards would be bland (it’s their third year) based on the voting and nominees, so the results weren’t as disappointing as they would have been if I’d taken the Seoul Drama Festival seriously. As it was, there was a total lack of drama.

First off, the actual awards themselves were kind of… wonky. With dramas from all over the world competing (33 countries, 152 entries), the actual Korean series entered for judging (and which advanced) were hardly Korea’s best work of the past year.

Secondly, and perhaps for the above reason, there was a serious absence of stars — aside from the ones who were either presenting or receiving awards, that is. I wouldn’t call the red carpet and pre-carpet events “beyond pitiful” as one paper did, but when the only way to get actors to come to your event is to bribe them, you know you’ve still got a road ahead to being taken seriously.

I can understand awarding the online popularity award to Nam Sang-mi (adorable) and Lee Junki, above, both of the thriller drama Time and Dog and Wolf. But Golden Bride? Jungle Fish? Erm……

(...)
Read the rest of No drama at the 2008 Seoul Drama Awards (557 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2008. | Permalink | 40 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: awards, Choi Su-jong, Eugene, Kim Sung-soo, Lee Junki, Lee Tae-ran, Lee Young-ah, Nam Sang-mi, Oh Man-seok, Time of Dog and Wolf

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.

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

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2008. | Permalink | 14 comments | Add to del.icio.us
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