With the theatrical release approaching for dark thriller film Into the White Night (aka Baekyahaeng: Walk Into the White Night), the production held a press conference on the morning of October 21 in Seoul. In attendance were the movie’s two lead stars, Sohn Ye-jin (Open City) and Go Soo. For the latter, this marks his first screen role since his pre-military drama Marrying a Millionaire back in 2005.

I’ve definitely been anticipating this movie, not (only) because Go Soo finally returns to acting, but because the story sounds wonderfully dark and tense, and the trailer (watch here) looks great.

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Read the rest of Into the White Night holds press conference (387 words)

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Post tags: Go Soo, press conferences, Sohn Ye-jin

This is the poster for Sohn Ye-jin and Go Soo’s latest film, a dark thriller called Baekyahaeng: Walk Into the White Night [백야행 -- 하얀 어둠 속을 걷다] or simply Into the White Night, which now has a theatrical release date set for November. It has also released a teaser video (watch below).

With this role, Sohn Ye-jin (Alone in Love) is again raising eyebrows at the news that the film contains a full-nude bed scene. (The actress had previously shown partial rear nudity in her previous films April Snow and My Wife Got Married.) A source explained that the production had offered Sohn a body double, but she turned it down: “The bed scene we shot is a higher standard than in her previous work. She displayed professionalism in her acting, and took on the scene herself without a body double.”

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Read the rest of November release for Into the White Night (124 words)

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Post tags: Go Soo, Han Seok-kyu, Lee Min-jung, Sohn Ye-jin

I first heard of Into the White Night (literally Baekyahaeng: Walk Into the White Darkness or 백야행 — 하얀 어둠속을 걷다) last year, when lead actress Sohn Ye-jin was cast, and filed it away as something to look forward to.

I like Sohn, but it was the plot that caught my attention: It’s based on a story that’s been remade a few times in Japan in film and television form (titled Byakuyako; the original novel was written by Higashino Keigo). The shared theme is that two young people kill a person in self-defense, cover it up, and decide to separate until the statute of limitations expires on their crime.

The first stills are out featuring Go Soo in the lead role, which is a welcome return for the actor; this is his film comeback following release from army duty a year ago.

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Read the rest of Into the White Night marks Go Soo’s screen comeback (235 words)

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Post tags: comebacks, Go Soo, remakes, Sohn Ye-jin

Awards!

The 45th Baeksang Arts Awards were held on the evening of February 27, which means: lots of awards for film and television stars, and lots of clothes to gawk at.

There were no real surprises in the winners list; they’re mostly a variation of the same lists we’ve been seeing from the other ceremonies in the winter awards season. Some film winners include A Movie is a Movie and My Dear Enemy, while acting honors went to many of the Daesang winners from earlier awards, like Kim Myung-min, Moon Geun-young, and Sohn Ye-jin. Oh, and a little actor going by the name of Lee Min-ho took home one of the newcomer awards — but a stumble on the red carpet keeps him humble.

Check out all the winners (and the clothes!) beyond the jump:

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Read the rest of 45th Baeksang Arts Awards (1,953 words)

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Post tags: Andre Kim, awards, fashion, Gong Hyo-jin, Han Ji-hye, Han Ye-seul, Jang Geun-seok, Joo Ji-hoon, Joo Jin-mo, Kang Ji-hwan, Kim Bum, Kim Hyun-joong, Kim Ji-soo, Kim Joon, Kim Kang-woo, Kim Myung-min, Lee Min-ho, Lee Tae-ran, Moon Chae-won, Moon Geun-young, Park Bo-young, Park Hae-jin, Park Shi-yeon, So Ji-sub, Sohn Ye-jin, Song Chang-eui, Yoon Eun-hye

Drama PD Yoon Seok-ho was married on Sunday, and wishing him well were, among others, the stars of his famed quartet of “season” dramas: Autumn Fairy Tale, Winter Sonata, Summer Scent, and Spring Waltz. (Although, really, only the Autumn and Winter dramas could be called successes.)

That includes Winter Sonata stars Choi Ji-woo and Park Yong-ha; Autumn Fairy Tale leads Song Seung-heon and Song Hye-gyo; Summer Scent actress Sohn Ye-jin; and Spring Waltz leads Han Hyo-joo and Daniel Henney.

The ceremony for the television-drama director and his hanbok-designer bride, Han Hye-soo, was held in Seoul on the 11th.

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Read the rest of “Season” drama stars attend director Yoon Seok-ho’s wedding (146 words)

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Post tags: Choi Ji-woo, Han Hyo-joo, Lee Byung-heon, Park Yong-ha, Sohn Ye-jin, Song Hye-gyo, Song Seung-heon, weddings

The event that took place on December 8 at Seoul’s Villa De Bailey sure was a mouthful to say: 2008 Mucha Jewelry Charity Bazaar and Korean Jewelry Awards.

While “Korean jewelry award” sounds rather strange, the event was designed to allow celebs to donate pieces of their own jewelry for a good cause. Stars walked a red carpet and posed with their jewelry, watched as a jewelry show was put on, then put their items up for auction. Proceeds generated will go toward aiding the elderly.

You know, we (as in, common folks and the netizenery) tend to view celeb charity events through a lens of cynicism, but this seems like a pretty good idea, actually. A star can donate a piece of jewelry s/he no longer cares for and get some positive publicity out of it, while the auction aspect capitalizes on the star affiliation to bolster prices. Money goes to a good cause, and we have a win-win.

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Read the rest of Mucha Jewelry red carpet (536 words)

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Post tags: fashion, good deeds, Han Hyo-joo, Kang Sung-yeon, Kim Sung-soo, Lee Beom-soo, Oh Ji-ho, Sohn Ye-jin

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.

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

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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