Kim Kang-woo (김강우)

2008/02/04 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

A star-studded cast and state-of-the-art stunts might not be enough to save SBS' latest drama "Bichunmoo - Drama" from a bad time slot, awkward dubbing and a poorly written script.

"I felt like I was watching a pathetic Chinese movie", a viewer wrote on the drama's official bulletin board, after the first two episodes aired last Friday.

Jointly produced by Chinese and Korean companies, "Bichunmoo - Drama" features a combination of both Korean and Chinese actors. The first two episodes solved the language issue by dubbing all the Chinese actors into Korean.

But Korean audiences aren't responding well.

"Are they trying to ruin the drama?" wrote one viewer.

Yet another viewer recommended switching to subtitles, writing, "If it weren't for the dubbing, it would be an acceptable drama. It's not too late to change to subtitles now".

Viewers will have to wait till next Friday's installment to find out if SBS takes the hint and starts subtitling. But the dubbing isn't the onl...

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2008/01/29 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

By Cathy Rose A. Garcia
Staff Reporter

European directors are praising Korean actress Son Tae-yeong as one of the world's most beautiful actresses.

Son recently filmed a music video for new singer Revi in the United Kingdom, Yonhap News said Tuesday. Directors Nikita Diakur and Jonas Lund worked on the video, along with art director Thorbjorn Ankerstjerne and photographer Patricia Niven. Niven has worked as a photographer for the ad campaign of top lingerie line Agent Provocateur.

The foreign directors praised Sohn for having beautiful Asian eyes and lips and "rich, beautiful and sophisticated facial expressions". Sohn was the first Asian actress they have worked with.

Son recently appeared with Kim Kang-woo in the critically acclaimed film "The Railroad", directed by Park Heung-shik. The film won a special award given by the International Federation of Film Critics, during the 25th Torino Film Festival in Italy.

"The Railroad" is about two lost souls (played by Kim and...

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2008/01/07 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

"What is the interrelationship between the naming value of a star and the number of audience?"

In conclusion, the interrelationship is inverse proportion according to the trend in 2007 box-office success in Korean film industry. Among the 100 movies released this year, only 4 movies had more than 3 million audiences, including "D-War" (8 million), "May 18" (7 million), "Voice of Murderer" (3.25 million) and "Le Grand Chef" which recently reached 3 million.

Among many movies that went into the black, following are those which closely reached the break-even point, including "Miracle on 1st Street" (Im Chang-jeong and Ha Ji-won), "Voice of Murderer" (Seol Kyeong-gu and Kim Nam-joo), "May 18" (Kim Sang-kyeong and Lee Yo-won), "D-War" (Jason Behr), "Paradise 1986" (Park Hae-il and Seong Ji-roo), and "Le Grand Chef" (Kim Kang-woo and Lee Ha-na). Among the 100 movies released this year, only 7% made a profit.

However, all movies that drew attention for top stars' appearance have fa...

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2007/12/28 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

Time to check on the week's new films.
We have a detective story that plays mind games, a Grimm Brother's fairy tale and even a classic Hollywood style gangster movie.
Here's Shin Haejoo.
"Rainbow Eyes", it's a mystery thriller which will keep you on the edge.
Like the American film "The Usual Suspects", the killer is revealed at the end after many plot twists.
Three consecutive murder cases lead to one suspect, who was brutally assaulted 10 years ago, while serving in the army, by the murdered men.
Reasons lead to revenge but the killer has vanished and his only sister is in a mental hospital.
The story digs into the mind of the serial killer and for the lead detective played by Kim Kang-woo finding him means removing his numerous masks.
This movie takes ideas from the 19th century children's fairytale "Hansel and Gretel".
The original story by the Grimm Brothers tells a story of two abandoned children in the midst of famine stricken Europe.
The Korean version begins with th...

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2007/12/25 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

By Kwon Mee-yoo
Staff Reporter

"Enjoy One's Calling" is the phrase written on actor Kim Kang-woo's cell phone. "Talented people cannot beat people who know how to enjoy life. I went through hard times when I first started acting. But one day, I realized I was doing something I wanted to do and earning money for it. The point is to take pleasure in what I do ― acting", Kim said in an interview with The Korea Times at a cafe in Samcheong-dong in Seoul, Monday.

Kim, 29, debuted through "The Coast Guard" (2002), directed by Kim Ki-duk, when he was a senior at Chung-Ang University. "The only role I could get without any acting experience was a soldier", said Kim.

He was then noticed when he played Mu-cheol in the MBC drama "Breathless" (2003) and starred in SBS's "Three Leafed Clover" (2005). Kim has been known as "Mr. Right" since then for the honest and diligent characters he played. "It's funny. I didn't know that I had that kind of sincere image in me", he said.

Kim a...

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