Lee Soon-jae (이순재)

[ChanMi's star news] Kim Jeong-hyeon happily wed!

Source | 2009/11/07 | 0 comments | Permalink |

Kim Jeong-hyeon and Kim Yoo-joo couple are posing for the camera!

The two have held their wedding ceremony with Lee Soon-jae leading the ceremony. Kim's friend Lee Min-woo was the MC for the whole program and the special song was by Hong Kyung-min!

Congrats to the newly weds!...| More

JANG Jin turns JANG Dong-gun into president

Source | 2009/10/16 | 0 comments | Permalink |

Director JANG Jin is a peculiar filmmaker who has a gift for approaching subjects from an alternative angle with a typical JANG Jin style of humour. This time JANG delivers his latest film about three fictitious Korean presidents titled Good Morning President.

The biggest name attached to the project is pan-Asian star JANG Dong-gun who will soon enter the international market outside Asia with the film "The Warrior's Way". "The Warrior's Way" also stars Kate Bosworth and Geoffrey Rush.

JANG Dong-gun will play a young president who is also a single father. LEE Soon-jae's character is JANG's character's predecessor in charge of Korea. KO Doo-sim tackles the role of the first female Korean president. All three struggle to combine the demanding position and private life.

Writer/director JANG Jin's filmography includes films like "Guns and Talks" and "Someone Special", and he wrote the scenario for "Welcome to Dongmakgol". "Good Morning President" is the opening film of the 14th ...| More

'President' Offers Politically Correct Drama, Flawed Politics

Source | 2009/10/09 | 0 comments | Permalink |

By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter

BUSAN ― Choosing Jang Jin's "Good Morning President" ost morale for South Korean film industry, festival director Kim Dong-ho said. The film is a feel good, albeit blemished, drama that lightheartedly throws in ethical questions and personal dilemmas into state affairs.

But choosing "President" seemed to be a more nominal choice for opening Asia's largest cinema event. The film skims the surface of Northeast Asia geopolitics, including some red-hot North Korea issues, but laughter and emotional reactions that it aims to draw from viewers are easy to miss for non-Koreans (though Jang Dong-gun's hallyu power will certainly draw attention from fans scattered around the globe, from Japan to Mexico).

The film takes viewers to the private quarters of the Blue House set amid the terms of three fictional presidents. Kim Jong-ho (Lee Soon-jae) is an elderly head-of-state who wins, just before retiring, the lottery he bought as part of a photo-op. ...| More

Stars Fall Upon Haeundae for Busan Film Festival

Source | 2009/10/07 | 0 comments | Permalink |

By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter

The red carpet is ready to be unrolled for the opening tonight of the 14th Pusan (Busan) International Film Festival (PIFF).

Haeundae Beach in the southern port city will sizzle with the longest ever lineup of 355 films from 70 countries and a VIP guest list featuring more than the usual number of high profile stars and cineastes from near and far.

Fans are invited to take part in not only star-studded screenings and events but also concerts, exhibitions and other eye-catching sideline events.

Star-Gazing

The opening ceremony takes place at 7:30 p.m. tonight at Suyoung Bay Yacht Marina. The 1970s screen siren Jang Mi-hee and "The Chaser" star Kim Yoon-seok will host the event, while top South Korean actors plan to grace the red carpet. The list includes heartthrobs Jang Dong-gun and Lee Byeong-heon, and actresses Jeon Do-yeon, Uhm Jung-hwa, Eom Ji-won, Ha Ji-won, Kim Ha-neul and Kim Hyo-jin, among others.

Before the ceremony, actors Lee...| More

Pusan Int'l Film Festival to Kick Off in early October

Source | 2009/10/01 | 0 comments | Permalink |

Make your way to the southern port city of Busan for the 14th Pusan International Film Festival (Oct. 8 - 16).

It will be held on the biggest scale ever this year, featuring 355 films from 70 nations. With a budget expansion of nearly one billion won bringing the total up to 9.95 billion, the coast is clear for Korea's largest film festival to sail into harbor early next month.

The opener for this year is the Korean film "Good Morning President", an abridged version of the politics and lives of three different presidents, directed by Jang Jin and starring Korea's major heartthrob Jang Dong-gun and two veteran actors Lee Soon-jae and Ko Doo-sim. It's been three years since Busan selected a local film for its curtain raiser.

The closing film is "The Message" by Gao Qunshu and Chen Kuo-fu, and is a spy thriller movie set in China in 1942 during the war against Japan. It stars Zhou Xun, Lee Bingbing, Zhang Hanyu and Huang Xiaoming.

Some Korean films that are yet to hit local th...| More