Kim Hye-ja (김혜자)

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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2008/04/09 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

Korean Wave star and household heartthrob WON Bin has been cast in director BONG Joon-ho's latest project ' Mother ' alongside veteran actress KIM Hye-ja. This will mark actor WON Bin's first return to the screen since 2004's box office smash "Taegukgi" and the popular "My Brother", released the same year.

BONG, who is counted one of Korea's top directors, after his 2006 film "The Host" quickly became the highest grossing film of all time at the Korean box office, presented the new project last month at the HAF project mart in Hong Kong. Production house Barunson Film Division is managing the project with CHOI Jae-won and SEO Woo-sik producing. The film is expected to start shooting this Fall on a budget of US$5 million.

BONG and Park Eun-kyo penned the screenplay, which centers on a shy, awkward young man (played by WON Bin) framed as the perpetrator in a brutal slaying. His devoted and determined mother (KIM Hye-ja) pits herself against incompetence and corruption in the ...

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2008/04/07 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

By Chung Ah-young
Staff Reporter

Veteran actress Kim Hye-ja and hallyu star Won Bin will star in a new film directed by Bong Joon-ho, renowned for local blockbuster "The Host".

Titled " Mother ", the film has been cast and shooting will begin this fall, with an early 2009 opening planned.

The plot involves a mother who struggles to clear a false charge against her son, who is involved in a murder case.

Kim will return to the big screen ten years after 1999's "Mayonnaise".

The film marks Won's comeback four years after 2004's "My Brother" and will be his first appearance since being discharged from military service.

Bong is known to be a big fan of Kim, with high praise for her acting, which he thinks touches the hearts of the viewers. Kim has been long dubbed "an ideal type of Korean mother" for focusing on mother roles. Bong has long had his eye on Kim for the role, first expressing his interest in her for it four years ago....

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2007/02/21 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

By Chung Ah-young
Staff Reporter

Veteran film and television actors and actresses are returning to the theater this spring.

Their move is expected to galvanize the theater scene, which is currently drawing smaller audiences.

For a long time, theaters have been losing a number of veteran actors and actresses to films and TV dramas, while only a handful of theater-enthusiasts have kept the theater scene afloat.

The trend might boost the popularity of theater in the short term. But some critics said that the casting of stars in plays is following a trend similar to musicals and films, which rely heavily on the names of stars rather than on the work of writers and directors.

At the forefront of the move to theater is prominent actor Jo Jae-hyeon, who has been exceptionally successful in both theater and film.

He is starring in "Kyungsugi, Kyungsugi's Father", directed by veteran playwright and director Park Keun-hyung, which will continue until March 25.

His most rece...

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2006/12/28 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

Director Bong Joon-ho sets new standard

By Yang Sung-jin

Director Bong Joon-ho enjoyed the most memorable moment of 2006. His latest feature film "The Host", released in July, sold a record 13 million tickets, setting a new standard for filmmaking and CGI effects.

The film features a monster emerging from the Han River in Seoul, with family members struggling to protect each other while a series of increasingly depressing events unfolds around them.

High-quality computer graphics and solid performances by main cast members including Song Gang-ho impressed both critics and mainstream viewers here. Particularly noticeable is director Bong's cinematic sensibility that incorporated cutting-edge technology into the most universal theme of affection among family members.

The film is now set to greet American moviegoers in February - a new development for the Korean Wave directors. Until now, famous Korean stars and directors focused on Asian markets, but Bong opened up a new p...

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