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.

PIFF’s red carpet >>

Tags: 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 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

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(Does anyone else hear the words “Go go” and find yourself immediately tempted to singsong out, “…Power Rangers!”?)

The three leads of the disco-era movie Go Go 70 (Jo Seung-woo, Shin Mina, and Cha Seung-woo) came out to promote their new film on September 19.

In the film, Jo Seung-woo apparently performed all songs himself — he plays a rocker fronting a band — and found his numerous stage experiences in musicals helpful: “It wasn’t very difficult filming the performance scenes. I wasn’t required to follow the camera. We filmed as though they were real concerts,” with multiple cameras fixed in various spots to capture the unfolding events: “All I had to do was enjoy myself.”

Shin Mina, on the other hand, had this to say about her dance- and singing-heavy role (for which she trained for three months leading up to shooting): “It was a difficult process from the start. … I felt pressure working with Jo Seung-woo, too.” Having never danced in any of her prior roles before, she felt shy at the outset, but found her groove (we hope) as filming progressed.

The movie opens October 2.

More cast press conference photos >>

Tags: Jo Seung-woo, Shin Mina

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Jo Seung-woo and Shin Mina, stars of upcoming period flick Go Go 70, style themselves in ’70s-era rock fashions (Shin Mina previously showed her stuff as sexy dancer Mimi).

Jo: “As I worked on this film, I started dreaming of having my own real band.” Shin: “At first, I don’t think the director had much faith I could pull off this passionate Mimi character, so I studied ’70s singers like Kim Chu-ja and Kim Jung-mi a lot.”

Tags: Jo Seung-woo, photo shoots, Shin Mina

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Here’s a twofer: Shin Mina exudes a “modern” and “sexy” image in the pages of September’s issue of Harper’s Bazaar. She also gets into a pair of designer Calvins as the new brand model for Calvin Klein Jeans, advertising its new “silver omega” denim line. The line apparently premiered at 2008 Fashion Week in Seoul and happens to correspond with the brand’s thirtieth year in the biz.

With her recent film activities and more planned for the near future, Shin is being called an “It Girl” for the upcoming year (although it doesn’t seem to require much to be called that these days). Her new movie Go Go 70 — in which she stars opposite Jo Seung-woo as a trend-setting fashion leader (their words, not mine) in the disco era — opens in October.

Shin Mina shows her stuff in Bazaar >>

Tags: photo shoots, Shin Mina

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Shin Mina startles fans with her transformation as a “sexy diva” in her latest role, trading her cute, warm image for a more blatantly sexy one. She dons a glittery, slinky dress as go-go girl Mimi in the 1970s film Go Go 70, about a band called the Devils who are active in the go-go club scene during the age when curfew was imposed.

The film also stars Jo Seung-woo and Cha Seung-woo and is set for an October release.

Via Segye Ilbo

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Tags: Shin Mina

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