Korean movie news

2008/04/14 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

Viewer ratings for "Mom's Dead Upset", a popular new TV series on KBS, has exceeded 30 percent since it first began airing two months ago.

According to AGB Nielsen Media Research, "Mom's Dead Upset" recorded nationwide viewer ratings of 30 percent on April 13. The drama also recorded viewer ratings of 30.1 percent in the metropolitan area and 31.6 percent in Seoul.

A study by TNS Media Research showed the drama's nationwide viewer ratings recorded 29.6 percent the same day.

The series is popular writer Kim Su-hyun's first drama in four years. The first episode of "Mom's Dead Upset" which aired on February 2, recorded viewer ratings of 25.3 percent.

The story is about a middle-class family of three generations that run a laundromat. The mother of the family, played by actress Kim Hye-ja, has planned out the lives of her three children her whole life. However, all three end up with partners that don't quite suit their mother's taste. The drama features realistic and witty con...

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2008/04/13 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

By Han Sang-hee
Staff Reporter

Hong Seok-Cheon, the first Korean actor to publicly "come out of the closet", is hosting his own television talk show, "Coming Out", a program that features the lives of homosexuals.

Hong will be hosting the program with actress Jeong Kyeong-soon on cable channel tvN. He stirred the nation when he came out in 2000 and suddenly stopped appearing on television for a while.

At a press conference for the show, which was swarmed with reporters and photographers eager to get a glimpse of the now successful owner of three restaurants, Hong said that he was not initially thrilled about hosting the program.

"When I first saw the synopsis of the program, I thought it was crazy. There are people around me who once thought of coming out, but there were always problems with family and work. This program is not just coming out to your friends or family, but to all of Korean society", he said.

The program will show mini dramas of guests' lives as homose...

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2008/04/11 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

Korean films have won many awards around the world in recent years.
Now also securing the spotlight are a film festival dedicated to gender equality and a Korean-American director's Hollywood debut.
Here's Lee Jeewon .

"See the World Through Women's Eyes!"
That's the catchphrase of the international women's film festival in Seoul.
More than 140 movies from 30 countries will be shown through next Friday.
The movie gala consists of six sections such as the "Female Bodies: Biopolitics and Body Politics" and "Women's Cinema in Korea".
Since this year marks the festival's 10th anniversary, visitors can check out lauded works from past festivals as well.
The event's director shares the organizing committee's plan for the next decade with Arirang News.

[Interview : ] "The main characteristic of our festival for the next 10 years is the celebration of the fact that we're women. The festival has developed through women's positive image of themselves".

That means the annual event...

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2008/04/11 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

Cartoons are generally thought to be exclusively children's entertainment.

Once people grow up they seem to forget how much time they used to spend watching their favorite animations on television.

But for adults who want to go back to their childhood and for children who want to enjoy a variety of cartoons they can go to the 12th Seoul International Animation Festival (SICAF) in May, the biggest annual event of its kind in Asia.

Bringing together fans of animation films and an exhibition of cartoon work, the festival, which is to be held from May 21 to 25, will feature 137 animations from 30 countries, the most in the history of the annual event.

The organizing committee said a total of 1,307 movies from 63 countries competed for the final entry list, demonstrating a growing interest in the festival.

The number of applicants from Europe and Asia has particularly shot up, and South American countries including Argentina, Brazil as well as Southeast Asian countries like T...

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2008/04/11 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

By Yasmin Lee G Arpon
Deputy Editor of the Asia News Network

'Koreanovelas' Fever is sweeping the Philippines

In the last few years, Korean films, TV dramas and pop music have become immensely popular abroad, a phenomenon known as the Korean Wave. This is the second in a series of essays by a select group of foreign scholars and journalists looking at the spread of Korean pop culture in Southeast Asian countries and beyond. - Ed.

The names Johnny, Jenny and Andrew may not ring a bell for Koreans, but for Filipinos, they started the so-called Korean Wave in the Philippines. They were the "Filipinized" names of the main characters in the drama "Autumn in My Heart", better known as "Endless Love 1" when it was shown in the Philippines. It was the first-ever Korean drama to air in the country.

In 2002, the Taiwanese drama "Meteor Garden" swept through the Philippines and the rest of Asia, paving the way for Chinese dramas to enter local markets. The drama was aired on the ABS-...

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2008/04/11 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

KBS has signed a four-and-a-half million dollar contract to export its popular soap operas and other TV programs, the biggest overseas sales contract ever for a Korean broadcasting company.

KBS said Friday that it inked the export contract at the MIPTV fair in Cannes, France.

Programs to be exported are four history dramas that were huge hits in Korea, a high-definition documentary on the history of noodles, and a chlidren's show.

All of the history dramas will be exported to Japan, reflecting Japan's deep interest in Korean programs.

MIPTV is the world's biggest TV program fair held annually in Cannes. This year, 109 broadcasting companies participated in the event.

Reported by KBS WORLD Radio ...

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2008/04/11 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

Actor and singer "Rain" was asked for an interview with the weekly U.S. journal "TIME", according to J. Tune Entertainment.

Every year, "TIME" magazine presents a select list of "100 of the World's Most Influential People" and currently, Rain has surpassed Britney Spears on the online voting site, "2008 Time 100". The request for an interview comes from the "TIME" video web coverage segment, "10 Questions".

This is the third consecutive year that Rain has been linked to "TIME". The Hallyu star was chosen for the "TIME 100" list in 2006 and walked the red carpet with powerful figures such as U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and movie mogul Jerry Bruckheimer.

In 2007, he was ranked number one on the online voting system set up for the "TIME 100" and introduced to "TIME" readers as "Asia's Prince of Pop". Once again he is ranked first on the online poll this year along with an inte...

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2008/04/10 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

The British press is focusing on Director Park Chan-wook, who is awaiting the British premiere of "I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK" on the 4th.

Britain's daily magazine The Times stated through an interview with Director Park that the "poet of blood has changed his productions to love stories".

"I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK" is about two mental hospital patients, played by "Rain" and Im Soo-jeong. It seems The Times has called Director Park the 'poet of blood' because of his bloody revenge stories, "Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance", "Old Boy", and "Sympathy for Lady Vengeance".

In the article, The Times stated, "Director Park's "Old Boy" was at the center of attention after Cho Seung-hui, who committed the Virginia Tech killings, sent a picture of him holding a hammer to a television station".

Director Park commented, "When I heard the news, I was very shocked. I was sad when the press compared that picture and the "Old Boy" poster (Choi Min-sik holding a hammer), as if they were rel...

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2008/04/10 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

Gong Yoo, who entered military service after the end of "Coffee Prince", is telling his fans how he's doing.

On March 30, he wrote a letter to them on his fan cafe, saying, "This is Private Gong Ji-chul, and I'm doing well". He added, "It's been three months since I left with a heavy heart, leaving you crying behind me. I'm in Chulwon, where I have to live for the next two years.

He wasn't able to train for a week because of asthma, but, except for one part, completed all his training. He said that he did all the autograph signing he can do in his life at the training facility.

"I think I got a lot of Taiwanese and Chinese fans. I'm studying English through English letters, and when it's hard and lonely, I laugh a lot reading your letters".

"I'm doing well. I'm still a private who can't do anything, and I think I'm going to be criticized by my seniors. By age, I'm about third or fourth. I'm a little sorry to those young seniors who are uncomfortable around me". Half-jokingl...

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I really want to write to him but I don't know how... :(((... Does anyone know a fanclub of his where I can send mails that will reach him? crigies 2008-04-19 12:20:21 denisekim 2008-04-13 20:23:39 happy to know that you are ok and doing great. just hoping that you will not have another asthma attack, i know how hard it could be. anyways i hope anyone can help me have his exact address cause i really,really, really like to send him a letter and some you're still as cool as ever!:)) ajienn 2008-04-12 03:24:39 from HK with love 2008-04-11 09:46:14 Miss ya much YOO!!! maanski94 you can write to Gong Yoo through his talent management office SidusHQ otherwise you might want to join among many of Gong Yoo fanclubs to reach him via snail-mail. from HK with love 2008-04-11 09:41:57

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2008/04/10 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

KBS is planning to launch "Tears of the Dragon", "King and Rain", "The Age of Warriors", and "Immortal Admiral Yi Sun-shin" to Japan, and is having talks at a fair in Cannes in France, MIPTV 2008.

The usual dramas that launch in Japan have famous stars or are in the present times, so this is an unusual result. It broke the view that historical dramas are hard to export because of differing interpretations of the past.

The team leader of KBS Global Strategies said, "This proves that Japan is becoming more interested in Korea's historical dramas and our history. We expect the four dramas to continue the flow of Hallyu (Korean Wave) after "Winter Sonata"."

KBS also sold the documentary "Asian Corridor in Heaven" and the Insight Asia series "The Land of Man" to an Arab satellite TV station....

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