Seong Ji-roo (성지루)

'Santamaria' overly emotional, mawkish

Source | 2008/06/30 | 0 comments | Permalink |

How many films can a Korean director put out every year? When the industry is booming, the optimal number might be one, maybe more if they are lucky. When business is sluggish, the number is bound to shrink, and so far 2008 has been a bad year for most Korean filmmakers.

Director Jeong Yeong-bae has defied the conventional wisdom dramatically. At a time when releasing even one film is regarded as an admirable feat, he is now set to introduce his second film - "Santamaria" (Jalmot-doen man-nam) - in less than two months after the release of his debut feature, "Cherry Tomato", in May.

It is all the more surprising when you consider that "Santamaria", to be released July 10, is not the best candidate for a box-office jackpot. The movie focuses on how two men cope with an emotionally taxing mixture of mistrust, hatred and resentment, even though they were best friends when they were young.

Il-do, played by Jeong Woong-in ("My Boss, My Hero"), was once an up-and-coming police detec...| More

Trend in 2007 box-office success in Korean film industry, "The naming value of a star and the number of audience are in inverse proportion"

Source | 2008/01/07 | 0 comments | Permalink |

"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...| More

How Stars Create Their Names

Source | 2007/12/11 | 0 comments | Permalink |

By Han Sang-hee
Staff Reporter

Some fans send presents and letters to their favorite stars, shouting their names and wishing they could get a closer look at them. But little they may know about the special meanings to the names of their favorite stars hold.

"Cover Story", a celebrity gossip program on the "Story On' channel, offered fans the true story hidden behind the names of celebrities last Thursday.

Gong Yoo, heartthrob of the hit drama "Coffee Prince" created his name by putting together the last names of his parents, Gong and Yoo. Having a name that represents his parents allowed him to work twice as hard and take responsibility for his works.

Park Jin-young, who recently released a new album and the former producer of Rain was responsible of the world star's stage name. Coincidence or not, every time they recorded his songs, it began to rain. From that day, Park playfully called him "Rain", and later on, it became his stage name.

Park Hwa-yobi is also one of t...| More

6th Korean Film Awards Winners

Source | 2007/12/04 | 0 comments | Permalink |

LEE Chang-dong's "Secret Sunshine" took home four of the top awards at Korea's 6th annual Korean Film Awards, held in Seoul Dec 1st. LEE's fourth feature won best film, best director, best actor (SONG Kang-ho) and best actress for show-stealer JEON Do-yeon. JEON has won a total of seven acting honors since being awarded the Cannes best actress prize in May of this year.

Other winners included a best supporting actor prize to SEONG Ji-roo in "Paradise Murdered" ("Paradise 1986"), and KONG Hyo-jin for best supporting actress in "Happiness". The best new actor and actress prizes went to Daniel Henney ("My Father") and SONG Hye-kyo ("Hwangjin-y - Movie - 2007"). KIM Mi-jeong won best new director for "Shadows in the Palace". LEE Myeong-Se's "M" picked up all three top visual awards for cinematography, lighting, and art direction.

Veteran director, YOO Hyeon-mok, known for the Korean cinema milestone "An Aimless Bullet" (1961) and many other classics, won an honorary achieveme...| More

'Secret Sunshine' Wins 4 Film Awards

Source | 2007/12/02 | 0 comments | Permalink |

The film "Secret Sunshine" directed by Lee Chang-dong has won four prizes in the sixth Korean Film Awards.

In downtown Seoul Saturday, the film earned top honors for best film, best directing and best leading actor and actress.

The award for the best supporting actor went to Seong Ji-roo for "Paradise Murdered" "Paradise 1986") and that for best actress went to Gong Hyo-jin for "Happiness".

Daniel Henney was named best new actor for "My Father" and Song Hye-kyo best new actress for "Hwangjin-y - Movie - 2007".

Reported by KBS WORLD Radio ...| More