Kim Seok-yoon (김석윤)

2007/07/03 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

Three famous producers who gave birth to the most popular Korean sitcoms are set to speak at the Cultural Content Academy.

The Cyber Cultural Content Academy (http://contents.connect.or.kr), operated by the Korea Culture and Content Agency, has invited three well-known producers of Korean sitcoms to give an open lecture on, June 30, 2007, at 2 PM at the KOCCA building in Yeoksam-dong.

The speakers who will be expounding on the theme of the Korean sitcom's "Present and Future" are Noh Do-Cheol, producer of "Soul Mate" and "Hello, Francesca", Kim Min-Sik of "Rainbow Romance", and Kim Seok-Yoon of "Old Miss Diary - Drama".

Kim Min-Sik will start off on the theme of "Youth Sitco: Its Past, Present, and Future" and examine the success factors of "Three Men, Three Women", and "Non-Stop". The talk hopes to chart a direction for the advancement of youth sitcoms, according to the desires of viewers, which have become more diverse.

Producer Noh Do-Cheol of "Hello, Francesca", who...

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2007/06/05 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

One of South Korea's top two annual film awards ceremonies will take place June 8th in the city of Daejeon. The 44th Grand Bell Awards, which is televised nationally, will be accompanied by the week long Daejeon Film Festival which will showcase 66 domestic films including last year's sensational "The Host" and international film festival familiar "Family Ties" ("The Birth of a Family").

Last year, LEE Joon-ik's breakthrough commercial success "The King and the Clown" swept the awards. Popularity is an important factor in the Grand Bell Awards, and this year's nominations for Best Film are "Radio Star", "A Dirty Carnival", "200 Pounds Beauty", "The Host", and "Family Ties" ("The Birth of a Family"). The latter three also received Best Director nominations for KIM Yong-hwa, BONG Joon-ho, and KIM Tae-yong respectively, along with RYOO Seung-wan for "The City of Violence" and CHOI Dong-hoon for Tazza: The High Rollers" ("The War of Flower").

In the Best New Director category wer...

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2007/03/21 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

Old Miss Diary - Movie

I always find it interesting that most films that have a single thirty-something woman as the heroine are either romantic comedies or thrillers. This is an alarming sign. It seems that women can no longer survive in films by being the star's trophy wife, but we still have a slight chance if we are willing to acknowledge the fact that we are ludicrous underdogs.
Why can't we tell our stories without ridiculing ourselves?
Women have to act fast. By the time an actress is in her 40s she will be lucky to star in a horror film as a virgin ghost staggering out of a television monitor. (See the Japanese film "Ringul".)
"Old Miss Diary - Movie" is a film adaptation of a television sitcom about a 32-year old bachelorette with lovable flaws. She has a vision of chopping off a man's foot after he accidentally hits her knee on a cramped subway. When a handsome young male colleague offers her a drink after work, she worries that she's about to be fired. She has other is...

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2006/12/25 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

Year-end competition at the box office is intensifying with Korea's generally weak celluloid offerings faced with losing market share to foreign movies.

A noticeable change in December has foreign films faring quite well, while home-grown movies are struggling to bolster sagging ticket sales - an unsettling development for local studios which have relied on the unwavering appeal of Korean stars and filmmakers among audiences.

On Saturday and Sunday, three foreign films, "The Holiday", "Night at the Museum" and "Casino Royale" posted strong ticket sales, dominating the box office, while their Korean counterparts struggled to keep pace.

Although "200 Pound Beauty" performed well at the box office, other major releases such as "The Restless" were stuck with disappointing results.

With Korean movies losing steam, well-made foreign films are reasserting their storytelling power. "The Holiday" is a striking example. Released on Dec. 14, the romantic comedy about a wedding columni...

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2006/12/14 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

In "Old Miss Diary - Movie", Choi Mi-ja (Ye Ji-won) struggles to find hope in her wretched life. She tries to grab any chance to make a living as a radio performer, but she gets few chances to show off her talent. She wants to have a great boyfriend, but almost all the men she dates dump her - without giving a reason. Oh, she's also 32 years old.

Her doomsday conclusion about her life is that there is little, if any, chance for her to live happily ever after with an extremely handsome man. How slim? Mi-ja's ballpark figure is less than the survival rate of a plane crash or being hit by lightening.

"Old Miss Diary - Movie", directed by Kim Seok-yoon, explores her slim "rescue-by-knight-in-shining-armor" chance with slapstick angles, and many of the devices designed to entertain the audience seem to work, thanks largely to Ye Ji-won's passionate performance.

The main plot revolves around Mi-ja's quest for her dream man. Her choice is none other than a young and handsome producer...

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