| Historical drama concocts formula for success (Source) |
2010/01/13 |
'Jejoongwon' offers a glimpse into life in the Joseon Dynasty through the eyes of a surgeon
There are a number of reasons why medical dramas are popular. They depict the tensions that arise in emergency situations, the competition that elite med school students face, and the conflicts between the noble goal of saving lives and the hectic reality of working at a hospital.
The Korean medical dramas, "White Tower" and "New Heart" combined all of these elements to win high ratings and critical acclaim. But just as in medicine, there is no set formula for success on television, and it's hard to predict which combination of elements will win viewers over.
"Jejoongwon", a new drama that revolves around life at the first modern medical institution in Korea, is hoping it has the right combination of fact and fantasy. The show, which currently airs every Monday and Tuesday at 10 p.m. on SBS, is named after the hospital established by King Gojong in 1885 at the suggestion of American medic... |More
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| Eom Tae-woong's Song Picks (Source) |
2010/01/07 |
Korean actor EomEom Tae-woong [Chae Ki-won/10Asia]
Of the many actors who suddenly become unreachable superstars or who have a hard time getting out of their own characters, Eom Tae-woong is someone who has quietly walked his own path. After many years as a struggling actor, he played a dying man faced with a death sentence in KBS TV series "Drama City", which led to his role as a fantastic villain who was impossible to hate in "Sassy Girl, Chun-hyang". And after shooting "Revnege" and "Devil", in which he expressed a soul conflicted between the good and bad, between sin and punishment, he gained the nickname "the Eom force". His roles -- a free-spirited young man who fal... |More
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| Korean networks serve up a smorgasbord of dramas (Source) |
2010/01/06 |
On Monday and Tuesday nights from May 25 to Dec. 22 last year, the Korean TV drama world was dominated by a queen.
During its seven-month run, the MBC hit drama "Queen Seon-deok" topped ratings lists, recording an audience share of 44 percent at its peak.
Now, three new TV series on three different networks are poised to compete for the position that was so well guarded by "Queen Seon-deok" last year. The three series, all of which kicked off on Monday and are broadcast in the same Monday-Tuesday time slot at 10 p.m. both nights, are "Jejoongwon" on SBS, "Master of Study" on KBS, and "Pasta" on MBC.
The battle between the three could all come down to style and subject matter.
Among the offerings are a period drama and two contemporary tales, and the three dramas are set within the fields of medicine, education and culinary arts, respectively.
"Jejoongwon" is a drama about the first modern hospital in Korea. The hospital was established by King Gojong in 1885 at the sugge... |More
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| 46th Annual Daejong Film Awards Nominees (Source) |
2009/10/23 |
46th Annual Daejong Film Awards Nominees
- Best Movie: "Take Off", "Mother - 2009", "The Divine Weapon", "Sky and Sea", "Haeundae"
- Best Director : Kim Yong-hwa ("Take Off"), Yoon Je-kyoon ("Haeundae"), Jeon Yoon-soo ("Portrait of a Beauty"), Jeong Gi-hoon ("Ae-ja"), Bong Joon-ho ("Mother - 2009")
- Best Actor : Kim Myeong-min ("Closer to Heaven"), Kim Yoon-seok (Running Turtle), Seol Kyeong-gu ("Haeundae"), Jeong Jae-yeong ("The Divine Weapon"), Ha Jeong-woo ("Take Off")
- Best Actress : Kim Min-seon ("Portrait of a Beauty"), Kim Hye-ja ("Mother - 2009"), Soo-ae ("Sunny"), Jang Nara ("Sky and Sea"), Choi Kang-hee ("Ae-ja")
- Best Supporting Actor : Kim In-kwon ("Haeundae"), Jin Goo ("Mother - 2009"), Jeong Kyeong-ho ("Sunny"), Jang Geun-seok ("The Case of Itaewon Homicide"), Kim Nam-gil ("Modern Boy")
- Best Supporting Actress : Kim Bo-yeon ("Living Death"), Kim Hae-sook ("Thirst"), Kim Yeong-ae ("Ae-ja"), Choo Ja-hyeon ("Portrait of a Beauty"), Nam Neung-mi ("Clos... |More
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| Fast-paced thriller fails to make it past vibrate (Source) |
2009/07/31 |
Oh Seung-min is not a nice man. A manager for a TV starlet, Oh is involved with the mob, ignores his wife, threatens his employees, and just can't seem to chill out.
Then a model blackmails Oh (Eom Tae-woong) with a sex tape of his meal ticket Jin-a (Lee Se-na), and Oh leaves the cell phone with the video on it in a coffee shop. But losing the movie's MacGuffin and title - "Handphone" - has more implications than just the loss of Jin-a's innocent image when a customer service manager at an E-mart named Jung Lee-gyu (Park Yong-woo) finds it and decides to manipulate Oh into taking revenge on the snotty customers who mouth off to Jung every day.
At first, director Kim Han-nim avoids torture horror, the usual genre for this kind of punish-the-sinner plot, instead sticking to fast-paced suspense. It's a good decision, and the film's at its best when it keeps us guessing - why would Oh attack an old man he doesn't know? Whose car is that he's beating on with a baseball bat? It's all p... |More
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