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Author: katt

Korean Entertainment News 2011

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 Author| Post time 29-4-2009 12:40 PM | Show all posts
April 27, 2009

Actor Joo Ji-hoon Charged with Drug Use



Popular film star Joo Ji-hoon was booked Sunday for drug use. Police announced that Joo and several other stars are being investigated for distributing and using drugs. The narcotics unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said that arrest warrants are sought for actress Yun Seol-hee and model Ye Hak-young, who allegedly smuggled ecstasy tablets and ketamine from Japan.

The 27-year-old star of TV drama 揚rincess Hours
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 Author| Post time 29-4-2009 12:42 PM | Show all posts
April 28, 2009

Actress Woo Seung-yeon Found Dead



Rising star Woo Seung-yeon was found dead in her home in an apparent suicide. The 26-year-old actress reportedly suffered from depression and has been receiving treatments recently, according to her associate. Woo debuted as a model for a fashion magazine, and appeared in film 揌erb
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 Author| Post time 29-4-2009 12:47 PM | Show all posts
April 29, 2009

Korean Stars Come under One Roof in the U.S.



The merger of two major talent agencies in America, William Morris and Endeavor, has brought Korean stars together under one roof. Contracted with William Morris are Singer Rain, actress Kim Yun-jin of the American series 揕ost,
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 Author| Post time 29-4-2009 07:43 PM | Show all posts
April 29, 2009

Singer Park Ji-yoon Returns With New Album

By Han Sang-hee
Staff Reporter


Pop singer Park Ji-yoon

Singer Park Ji-yoon is back with a new album, breaking out from her six-year hiatus and life as a photographer.

The 27-year-old singer has been avoiding the spotlight in recent years, focusing on yet another profession as a photographer, but she finally appeared in front of the press at a showcase Tuesday in southern Seoul.

"The new album 'Flower, Once Again,' is like my first one. It's meaningful because unlike the past, when I wore clothes and sang songs chosen by others, I was able to express my own feelings through the lyrics and melodies," she said.

First debuting in 1994, Park became popular with her sweet image, delicate voice and catchy dance and ballad numbers such as "Steal Away" and "I'm a Man."

This time, her songs are more acoustic and simple, stretching to the contemporary music style of Europe. When asked if this meant she was saying good-bye to her signature dance numbers, Park said no. "The dance singer Park was me, and this is also me," she said.

Debuting at the age of 15 must have been a burden, and Park explained that it was one of the reasons why it took her so long to return to the stage as a singer. "I started singing at such a young age, and I worked without looking back nor taking a break. I finally started to think about what to do with my life, my path and future. Now, I finally know what my path is, which helped me finish this album," Park said.

Taking photos, holding her own exhibition and publishing a photo book has kept her busy, but now Park is ready to meet her fans full time as a singer. "I want to work as soon as possible since I have been off the radar for so long. I will appear in music, entertainment programs and also in radio shows as much as possible to satisfy my fans. Some worried because of the difference in music, but I believe there will be people who enjoy my new numbers," she said.

Park will be on the music program "Show! Music Core" at 4:15 p.m. on Saturday on MBC for the first time in six years.

Credits: sanghee@koreatimes.co.kr
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 Author| Post time 29-4-2009 08:26 PM | Show all posts
April 29, 2009

Starlet Found Dead in Apparent Suicide  


Woo Seung-yeon

The actress Woo Seung-yeon was found hanged in her home in Jamsil, Seoul on Monday morning. The 26-year-old actress and model apparently killed herself.

The police on Tuesday said a friend who lived with her found Woo's body. Officers found a five-line note to her family in her diary that reads, "I love my family. I'm sorry I'm leaving before you."

Police said Woo often told friends and her sister how upset she was that she failed a number of auditions for new roles recently. "It seems that a combination of fear of the future and depression about her current situation led to Woo's suicide," police said.

Woo's management agency Oracle Entertainment said it seems Woo had been suffering from depression, but police said there was no need to investigate that aspect since her family did not mention it.

Credits: englishnews@chosun.com
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 Author| Post time 29-4-2009 08:29 PM | Show all posts
April 29, 2009

Korean Animation to Screen at Cannes Film Festival


Jung Yu-mi (file photo)

"Dust Kid," an animation directed by Jung Yu-mi, has been invited to the prestigious Director's Fortnight Program at the 62nd Cannes International Film Festival to be held in France from May 13 to 24.

The 10-minute independent short animation features a theme that although, like dust settling directly after cleaning, people are never free from worries, they are still able to garner their strength.

Winning the application for the Seoul Metropolitan Government's support for short animation production in 2007, given to nurture the local animation industry, the film received W20 million (US$1=W1,356) to complete.

Credits: englishnews@chosun.com
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 Author| Post time 30-4-2009 02:28 PM | Show all posts
April 30, 2009

Seo Tae-ji to Have 1st Tour in 5 Years  


Seo Tae-ji

Top singer and musician Seo Tae-ji will have a concert tour of nine cities including Seoul, Busan and Daegu beginning June 13, according to Seo Tae-ji Company Thursday.

This will mark his first concert in five years since his "Zero" tour in 2004. Right before the forthcoming tour, he will release his eighth album.

Seo Tae-ji Company said the tour, entitled "The Moebius," will be "full of various things to see and music."

Seo Tae-ji, one of the most prominent and influential cultural icons in South Korea, will begin his June tour with an outdoor performance at Peace Plaza in the War Memorial of Korea in downtown Seoul. Concerts in the remaining eight cities will be featured indoors.

His level of popularity in Korea in the 1990s was comparable to that of Michael Jackson's in the United States in the mid-1980s, according to Wikipedia.

Source: koreatimes.co.kr
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 Author| Post time 30-4-2009 06:59 PM | Show all posts
April 30, 2009

Major S. Korean film festival opens for nine-day run



JEONJU, South Korea, April 30 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's Jeonju International Film Festival (JIFF) opened in this southwestern city Thursday, aiming to expand its global reach while maintaining an indie spirit as it marks its 10th anniversary..

Opening with "Short! Short! Short! 2009," a digital omnibus film created by 10 promising South Korean directors, the event will feature 200 films from 42 countries from Thursday through May 8. Tickets for up to 120 films have already been sold out, the event's organizers said. About 15 percent of the tickets for each film has been set aside for on the spot purchases.

Held each year in the city of Jeonju, about 240 kilometers south of Seoul, JIFF is especially noted for highlighting undiscovered films from non-Western regions and supporting independent filmmakers.

South Korea's Hong Sang-soo, Japan's Naomi Kawase and the Philippines' Lav Diaz have each contributed a 30-minute short film to this year's "The Jeonju Three Digital Shorts Project," which has helped discover emerging directors over the past decade.

The project is considered JIFF's core program, providing 50 million won (US$37,000) to each of the three directors chosen annually to produce short digital pieces to be premiered at the event.

In the "Discovery: Sri Lankan Cinema" section, six features by master filmmaker Dharmasena Pathiraja, and two each by Prasanna Vithanage and Asoka Handagama, influential contemporary Sri Lankan filmmakers, will be screened. The three will be attending the event to meet audiences and participate in various seminars, organizers said.

The winner of the Woosuk Award, JIFF's top prize for international feature films and documentaries with a running time of more than 60 minutes, will receive $10,000.

Credits: hayney@yna.co.kr via yonhapnews.co.kr

[ Last edited by  katt at 30-4-2009 19:15 ]
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 Author| Post time 30-4-2009 07:00 PM | Show all posts
April 30, 2009

Jeonju film fest opens with digital omnibus

The 10th Jeonju International Film Festival (JIFF) kicks off its nine-day run today in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province with "Short! Short! Short! 2009," a digital omnibus film created by 10 up-and-coming Korean directors.

The opener "Short! Short! Short! 2009" illustrates the festival's identity as a key venue for experimental filmmakers in Asia by providing a humorous yet thought-provoking glimpse into today's Korean society and its obsession with money.



Under the slogan of "Freedom, Independence and Communication," the festival has expanded its lineup to 200 movies from 42 countries in a bid to strengthen its position as the country's second biggest film festival after Busan.

Reflecting the festival's popularity, about 40 percent of tickets have been sold as of Tuesday according to JIFF organizers. The tickets for the opening film sold out in just two minutes. Although many of popular films have sold out, organizers said visitors could get tickets at 15 JIFF-affiliated theaters in Jeonju because 15 percent of tickets are reserved for offline purchase.

A pre-opening performance was held in the square in front of the Jeonju City Hall yesterday, featuring singers Girls Generation. Actors Kim Tae-woo and Lee Tae-ran will host the opening ceremony, which takes place at the Sori Arts Center at 6:30 p.m. About 2,000 audience members are expected to attend the show featuring the opening speech of JIFF chief organizer Song Ha-jin and congratulatory music performances.

Drawing attention is the Jeonju Three Digital Shorts Project, a key programs aimed at nurturing talented filmmakers. This year, Korea's Hong Sang-soo, Japan's Naomi Kawase and the Philippines' Lav Diaz have each contributed a 30-minute short film.

"West of the Tracks" in the New Directors Discovered by JIFF section is also getting attention because of its exhausting runtime time of nine hours and 11 minutes. Director Wang Bing followed foundry employees in an industrial city of Shenyang province for two years, meticulously portraying the inevitable decline of an obsolete manufacturing industry.

"Surreal Random MMS Texts for a Mother, a Sister, and a Wife Who Longs for You: Landscape with Fingers" is disappointingly short - 15 minutes - in consideration of its long title. However, it's one of a new breed of cutting-edge films produced by mobile handsets. Director Christopher Gozum of the Philippines lays bare the reality of immigrant workers, defying the limited scope of a mobile phone camera.

Horror movie fans, meanwhile, may well be excited about JIFF this year because it presents "Embodiment of Evil," a hair-raising fare directed by Jose Mojica Marins. The film centers upon Coffin Joe, described as "the most deliciously evil villain in film history," who gets released from prison after 40 years of isolation. Coffin Joe's revenge drama neatly puts together all the horror film elements - murder, sex, torture, amputation, cannibalism, supernaturalism. The final installment of the Coffin Joe trilogy, the film received the X-treme Award at the Festival de Cine de Sitges 2008.

The Jeonju film festival will close on May 8 with "Machan," directed by Uberto Pasolini, known as a producer of "The Full Monty" (1997). This neo-realistic comedy involves 23 people in a slum town of Sri Lanka, who set out to become a national handball team as a ploy to get visas to Europe.

For further information, visit its homepage at jiff.or.kr or call (063)-288-5433.

By Yang Sung-jin (insight@heraldm.com) via koreaherald.co.kr
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 Author| Post time 30-4-2009 07:45 PM | Show all posts
April 30, 2009

'Cyborg She,' One Man's Perverse Fantasy

By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter


Directed by 揗y Sassy Girl
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 Author| Post time 1-5-2009 11:44 AM | Show all posts
April 30, 2009

'Life' ups Korean Cannes entries to four
First Korean-French co-production gets special screening


By Jonathan Landreth



BEIJING -- Writer-director Ounie Lecomte's "A Brand New Life," thought to be the first Korean-French film co-production, has secured a special Out of Competition screening at the Festival de Cannes, upping the event's number of Korean titles to four.

Seoul-based sales agent Fine Cut will handle international sales for the film, which is based partly on Korean-born Lecomte's experience of being adopted by French parents in the 1970s.

Co-produced by Korea's Now Films and France's Gloria Films, "A Brand New Life" was co-written and produced by Korea's former culture minister and leading Korean director Lee Chang-dong ("Secret Sunshine").

In August, when it was still a work in progress, "A Brand New Life"won the $10,000 Overseas Korean Foundation Fund award for a film from a Korean living overseas.

This February, at the Berlinale, Paris-based Diaphana signed on for theatrical distribution in France and Canal Plus grabbed French TV rights.

"Cannes will be the first market where we reveal the fully finished film," Fine Cut marketing manager Jiyoon Lim said Thursday.

The other Korean films at Cannes this year are "Thirst" by Park Chan-wook (In Competition), Bong Joon-ho's "Mother" (Un Certain Regard) and and 1961's "Prince Yeonsan," which will unspool in the Cannes Classics section.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter
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 Author| Post time 1-5-2009 11:47 AM | Show all posts
May 1, 2009

New Historical Dramas Struggling to Find Viewers

The heroines of Korean history, who had been tipped to draw huge TV soap audiences this year, are struggling with present-day realities.

SBS drama " Princess Jamyeong" only draws about 10 percent ratings and KBS' "The Iron Empress" some 15 percent. One reason may be that they failed to win the hearts of middle-aged men, the bedrock of audiences for historical drama.


Choi Si-ra (left) in scene from "The Iron Empress" and Jeong Reo-won
in scene from " Princess Jamyeong"

TNS Media Korea said "The Iron Empress" rated 12.5 percent among men and 11.4 percent among women in their 40s, and " Princess Jamyeong" 4 and 6.5 percent. Traditionally, men dominate audiences for historical epics about male figures. "The King Dae Joyoung" rated 19.3 percent among men in their 40s and 15.5 percent among percent women, and "King Sejong the Great" drew 14.5 and 11.3 percent.

But while the two disappointing dramas may be alienating core audiences by showing women in traditional men's roles on the battlefield, quality could be another problem. "Ladies of the Palace" depicted women caught up in the political intrigue of the palace and won ratings of over 50 percent in 2002, and successful epics such as "Tears of the Dragon" and "Emperor Wang Gun" magnificently captured the grandeur of war scenes as well as vividly depicting the detail of political tensions between the characters. Drama writer Yoo Jung-soo said, "It seems current epic dramas lack suspense and attention to details in general."

Credits: englishnews@chosun.com
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 Author| Post time 1-5-2009 07:39 PM | Show all posts
May 1, 2009

10th Jeonju Film Fest Off to a Promising Start

Just as the title of the opening film "Short! Short! Short! 2009: Money" implies, prospects for the 10th Jeonju International Film Festival, which kicked off its nine-day run on Thursday, seem bright, at least in terms of profitability.

About 65 percent of tickets to 200 films from 42 countries were sold in advance. There are 41 more films than last year.

To celebrate the 10th anniversary, the opening ceremony was attended by some big names in Korean cinema such as directors Im Kwon-taek, Hong Sang-soo, whose latest film "Like You Know It All" will be screened in the Directors' Fortnight at this year's Cannes International Film Festival, and Lee Myung-se, who is known for stylish cinematography.   



Lee Ji-hoon (left) and Jo Ahn


Lee Tae-ran (left) and Kim Tae-woo


Ju Ho-sung (left) and Jang Na-ra

Credits: englishnews@chosun.com
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 Author| Post time 1-5-2009 07:42 PM | Show all posts
May 1, 2009

Yonhap Interview
Film critic says Korean, French movies akin

   By Shin Hae-in

JEONJU, South Korea, May 1 (Yonhap) -- From the creations of Park Chan-wook to Kim Ki-deok, something about Korean films keeps attracting the French.  



Kim's works have drawn millions to the theaters in the European country, and Park's newest release, "Thirst," has been selected to compete for the top honor at the upcoming Cannes International Film Festival.

   The reason, according to respected French critic Roger Gonin, may be the unexpected similarities between films made on opposite sides of the world. "Korean films are very close to French films, I think, in terms of dealing with relationships," Gonin, a jury member of the Korean shorts section of the Jeonju International Film Festival, said in an interview with Yonhap News Agency. "And both also tend to be a bit long."

   The French love the "strangeness" of Korean films, he added, and crave "something that blows you totally out of your mind."

   Gonin, who also participated as a jury member of Korea's Pusan International Film Festival last year, said there are "just too many" South Korean directors to choose a favorite.  "I personally like a bit of craziness in movies," he said. "Director Park's works are violent and audiences don't know what to expect exactly. We also love Kim Ki-deok. There are just too many of them that we like."

   A creator of two short films and currently a festival director and jury member for international competition of the Clermont-Ferrand Short Film festival, Gonin also praised Korean film institutions."I think Korean films are very unique and high-quality largely due to their schools and universities. You can't find such strong (academic) structure anywhere else," he said. "This is the right way to learn. Directors need to find their identity through exercise."

   The 57-year-old critic also said he had supported South Korea's screen quota system for domestic films, which some have criticized as a restrictive tool to prevent foreign movies from making inroads into the local market. "You might not need it anymore with so many fans of local movies, but at the beginning I think it was very important to have this," he said. "Many people don't like their own cinema, even the French. But it's so important to be proud of their own films. Korean people did that and I admire that."

   Gonin emphasized the importance of short films and advised their makers to keep them as "short as possible."

   "The best way to get into the (film) industry is to start off by making short films, but some people are so impatient," he said.

   Credits: ayney@yna.co.kr via http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr
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 Author| Post time 2-5-2009 12:29 PM | Show all posts
May 1, 2009

Hong Ji-young Looks on the Brighter Side of Adultery


Hong Ji-young

What is more interesting about the film "Kitchen" by Hong Ji-young than the material is the way the director deals with it. Here, an adulterous affair is portrayed not as something scandalous or tragic but with humor and optimism.

Hong sidesteps any sweeping moral standards or family values and focuses instead on the emotions of the three actors, asking fundamental questions about love.

"Kitchen" reminds many people of last year's "Antique." Both deal with forbidden love, in the case of "Antique" homosexual love, and both adopt a bright, happy and playful tone. Perhaps that is only natural, since Min Kyu-dong, who directed "Antique" is married to Hong. And indeed, both films were invited to the Berlin International Film Festival, and exported to Japan. "Antique" is released there this week and "Kitchen" on May 30.

"I don't think you can say that new relationships or illicit affairs always start from a deficiency. A new love can come even into the life of a married couple at the peak of their happiness. I wanted to show how it's possible to deal with such a cruel reality in different ways," she says.

The question she asks the audience in the movie is, "Can we make really make a moral judgment about love?" The light tone, then, is distilled from a background of very serious thinking.

Credits: englishnews@chosun.com
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 Author| Post time 2-5-2009 12:38 PM | Show all posts
May 2, 2009

Choi Song-hyeon Drops Clean-Cut TV Image in Debut Movie

Choi Song-hyeon transforms herself from the elegant and clean-cut professional Koreans know from TV into a sexy smoker with long wavy hair and a leather jacket in her big-screen acting debut in "Insadong Scandal."

Although she has a minor part, Choi says she is happy her dream to be an actress came true. In the film, she shows a dramatically different side of herself. "It was very difficult to distinguish the life in the movie from reality," she admits.


Choi Song-hyeon in scene from "Insadong Scandal"

After working as a presenter at KBS for two years, she surprised everyone when she quit the coveted job to become an actress. She made her debut in SBS drama "Gourmet" last year.

"Insadong Scandal" revolves around the restoration of a Chosun-era masterpiece and stars Kim Rae-won and Uhm Jung-hwa. Choi's character plots a scam with an art restoration expert played by Kim.

Credits: englishnews@chosun.com
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 Author| Post time 2-5-2009 10:11 PM | Show all posts
May 2, 2009

Different, but complementary: three Asian directors featured in eccentric project of Jeonju film fest

   By Shin Hae-in

JEONJU, South Korea, May 2 (Yonhap) -- One is funny, another is poignant, and the other is completely down-to-earth -- but it's needless to talk about the effect when all three are bound in one film.

   United by the theme "Visitors," three talented filmmakers from Seoul, Tokyo and Manila each contributed a 30-minute short film to this year's "Jeonju Digital Project," one of the South Korean film festival's core programs.

   Opening its 10th anniversary this year, the Jeonju International Film Festival (JIFF) requested South Korea's Hong Sang-soo, Japan's Naomi Kawase and the Philippines' Lav Diaz to work on the project, providing each with a small budget of 50 million won (about US$37,000). "We were surprised to find all three directors had dealt, in some way, with the subject of visitors when we never gave them a theme," JIFF's program director, Jung Soo-wan, said after the film's press preview Saturday.

   South Korea's Hong, noted for his humorous and satiric portrayals of the hidden -- and often ridiculous -- desires of Korean men, again talks about tangled relationships in "Lost in the Mountains." Shot in Jeonju, his film is the shortest among the three with a 31-minute running time. "It was my first short film after leaving school and also the first time for me to work together with foreign directors," Hong said. "I was grateful and happy for the opportunity."

   Japan's leading female director, Kawase, who won the Cannes 2007 Grand Prix with her movie "The Mourning Forest," contributed "Koma," a story about a third-generation Korean who discovers his identity after meeting a Japanese woman in the regional Japanese town. "I have always been interested in the issue of ethnic Koreans in Japan," she said. "I think it was kind of fate for all three of us to have talked about one subject. This opportunity has made me think more about the possibilities and hopes of working together with Korean directors in the future."

   Filipino director Diaz portrays the lives of former miners on Marinduque Island, who face difficulties after the Canadian Mining Company shuts down the mine in his movie "Butterflies Have No Memories." The director said he chose to shoot the film in black-and-white to portray the "dark history and struggle" behind the beautiful scenery of his country.

   The digital shorts project has been drawing keen attention from movie critics overseas, with two JIFF-commissioned films, "Expectations" and "Memories," receiving awards at the 2008 Dubai International Film Festival and the 2007 Locarno International Film Festival, respectively. Three directors are chosen each year to produce short digital pieces to be premiered at the event.

   JIFF, held each year in the traditional South Korean city of Jeonju about 240 km south of Seoul, has been growing into one of the most important film festivals in Asia. It is noted especially for its effort to discover hidden films from non-Western regions. This year's event will run through May 8, featuring 200 films from 42 countries.

   The winner of the Woosuk Award, JIFF's top prize for international feature films and documentaries with a running time of more than 60 minutes, will receive $10,000. Winners of the Korean feature film competition and shorts competition will be given 10 million won and 5 million won, respectively.

   Credits: hayney@yna.co.kr
http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/ ... 0502001800315F.HTML
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 Author| Post time 3-5-2009 02:15 PM | Show all posts
May 3, 2009

'Thirst' Tops Box Office in Korea With 600,000 Moviegoers



"Thirst," of Director Park Chan-wook's latest film, placed top in the box office during the two consecutive holidays of the opening week.

The film attracted a total of 626,024 moviegoers during the first three days after the release, following 439,950 at 601 cinemas across the country for May Day and Saturday, according to the integrated computer network figure of the Korean Film Council.

The film also attracted 178,000 cinemagoers, Thursday, the largest number among new releases in the first day of their screening this year.

The film, which tells the story of a priest who becomes a vampire, is expected to hit 800,000 in total Sunday if the current trend persists, according to movie analysts

Source: koreatimes.co.kr
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 Author| Post time 3-5-2009 11:14 PM | Show all posts
May 3, 2009

Single mothers and baseball coming to small screen



A slew of new dramas are taking over both weekday nights and late night weekends.

This weekend, MBC aired its new Saturday and Sunday night series "Strike Love." Based on a comic book series spawned by cartoonist Lee Hyun-sae, the sports drama charts the life of baseball pitcher Oh Hye-sung, played by actor Yoon Tae-young, and his childhood love, played by hit medical series "New Heart" star Kim Min-jeong.



While MBC is bringing some sports to the world of drama, SBS is bringing yet another soap opera-style series to weekday nights. Following the highly popular SBS series, "Wife's Temptation," "Two Wives," another outrageous tale of adultery and betrayal, hits screens tonight.

Headed by Hallyu star Kwon Sang-woo's wife Sohn Tae-young, the new SBS series revolves around the lives of Kang Chul-soo, played by actor Kim Ho-jin, his wife, played by actress Kim Ji-young, and his lover Han Ji-sook.

Sohn Tae-young is taking on the role of Kang Chul-soo's lover, Han Ji-sook. In an unlikely twist of fate, Sohn's Han Ji-sook, a single mother, manages to wrest Kang away from his wife, only to lose him when he gets into a car accident. After his accident, Kang contracts amnesia. Having been erased from Kang's memory, single mother Han faces a tumultuous future.

Another kind of single mother is slated to hit the small screen later this year. Olive Nine, the entertainment and production company behind popular dramas including "Jumong," signed a deal with the production company that produced the hit flick "Speed Scandal" to make a television version of the movie.

The movie version follows the escapades of a successful radio host, played by actor Cha Tae-hyun, and his illegitimate daughter (he unknowingly fathered her with his first love). His peaceful life is turned upside down when his daughter -- a single mother to boot -- arrives at his doorstep, unannounced. A series of comic events unfold as Cha's character struggles to come to terms with his newfound family.

"The drama version of 'Speed Scandal' will upgrade the charms of the three main characters, showing episodes that delve more deeply into issues like childcare, education and single motherhood," said a representative of Olive Nine. "As a result, I think it will make for a fun and touching, well-made drama that surpasses the original."

"Strike Love" airs on Saturdays and Sundays on MBC at 10:40 p.m. "Two Wives" airs on Mondays through Fridays at 7:15 p.m. on SBS starting tonight.

By Jean Oh (oh_jean@heraldm.com) via koreaherald.co.kr
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 Author| Post time 4-5-2009 11:21 AM | Show all posts
May 4, 2009

Real fun begins at midnight for devotees at Jeonju film fete

   By Shin Hae-in

JEONJU, South Korea, May 4 (Yonhap) -- For Alex Bradley, a day at an ongoing film festival in this regional South Korean city begin no earlier than 5 p.m.

   Spending nights in theatres watching rare movies and mornings discussing them with his buddies, it is no wonder this self-described film addict from Australia begins his day so late. "I wake up at around 2 p.m., grab a bite to eat, hang around the hotel room for a while taking as much rest as I need, and hit the theaters early evening," he said. "I've been to the festival three times before, and this pattern suits me the best. Other movies, I might be able to see them back home, but these midnight films are really rare and phenomenal."

   As the Jeonju International Film Festival (JIFF) lapses into its fifth day Monday, film buffs like Bradley have found a unique gem in the event's "Midnight Obsession" program, which screens three movies for five to six hours from midnight under various themes.

   The program, considered a core event for fanatics willing to stay up all night, runs for three days from Saturday at the cultural center in Jeonju's Chonbuk National University. " Pregnant and elderly viewers may be disturbed by particular scenes," session organizers warn on the leaflet, as many of the selected films are noted for their boldness or morbidity.

   The first night's screening on Saturday featured Julio Bressane's "The Rat Herb," Jose Mojica Marins' "Embodiment of Evil" and Jean-Claude Brisseau's "A L'aventure" under the theme "Madness and Desire." The following night, the features were "I Sell the Dead," "Kill" and "On War," under the theme "Illusion."

   On Monday, the third and the last midnight screening, three films will be shown by Japan's Tanaka Noboru, the master filmmaker of Nikkatsu Roman Porno, known for his bold portrayal of human desires. Despite the off-hours time allotment and the heavy rainfall, Saturday's session drew more than 1,000 viewers from in and out of the country. "I may sleep through most of the films, but I just love the atmosphere," said Lim Su-jin from Seoul, who attended the first midnight screening. "I think the midnight sessions are the essence of JIFF and something that people should not miss out on."

   Jung Hyun-woo, a 23-year-old Jeonju localite, said he loved the "aura." "I am excited about the fact that so many people are willing to stay up all night watching these gory movies," he said. "I feel like all of us are close friends or something."

   JIFF, held each year in the city of Jeonju, about 240 km south of Seoul, has evolved into one of the most important film festivals in Asia, noted especially for its efforts to discover hidden films from non-Western regions. This year's event will run through Friday, featuring 200 films from 42 countries.

   The winner of the Woosuk Award, JIFF's top prize for international feature films and documentaries with a running time of more than 60 minutes, will receive $10,000. Winners of the Korean feature film competition and shorts competition will be given 10 million won and 5 million won, respectively. Winners will be announced on the final day of the event.

   Credits: hayney@yna.co.kr
http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/ ... 0504001400315F.HTML
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