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2021/02/27 | Permalink
In its second week of live broadcast "The Penthouse 2" scored ratings of 22.3% on February 26th and ratings of 24% on February 27th. "Penthouse 2" now leads all other programs in its timeslot, including non-dramas...More
2021/02/27 | Permalink
On February 27th Mercedes-Benz confirmed that a major plank of their recent marketing strategy is product placement in South Korean media, and that this has been successful enough that they are planning to expand in this department. The news follows upon prominent spots in "Start Up" and "Record of Youth" last year where characters were seen driving the luxury car brand...More
2021/02/27 | Permalink
On February 26th the time slip webdrama "Will You Leave??" was released via Seezn. Among other details a new promotional poster for the drama has confirmed Lee Dong-yong and Lee Jung-yeon in non leading roles. The drama stars a twenty-six year old musical genius played by Kang Chan-hee and a twenty-one year old busker played by Park Jung-yeon in a six hundred year spanning story of music and romance...More
2021/02/26 | Permalink
Despite the prominence of Irene in promotional material for "Double Patty" this really is Shin Seung-ho's movie. Which is fortunate, since Shin Seung-ho absolutely shines as the frankly dopey twenty-one year old traditional Korean wrestler Woo-ram. While Woo-ram has a fantastic physique, he has generally poor judgment- both of which are on full display in early setpieces where the musclehead finds himself working at a gay bar...More
2021/02/26 | Permalink
In "Plus Nine Romance" four twenty-nine year old friends take stock of their love lives as they prepare to step into their fourth decade. The interlocked stories that follow detail these women as they try to figure out whether their relationships are worth keeping, discussing their frustrations candidly with each other but often not as effectively with their male partners. Whether the male partners deserve that much consideration, well...your mileage may vary...More
2021/02/26 | Permalink
During the 19th year of King Gwangmu's reign, Empress Myeongseong a.k.a Queen Min, conspired with her kinsman Min Gyeom-ho and dethroned Prince Regent Daewongun, the ruling agent. In the nine years that followed, she killed all his subjects and took the throne, additionally abolishing all the policies and reforms set up by Daewongun, that aimed at the people's benefit. Instead, the palace and royal court indulged in a factional feud, extravagance and orgies, while people's lives became more miserable as the government became more corrupt. There emerged a group of youths, children of the royal subjects executed by Min Gyeom-ho who were determined to set the country right. They secretly formed a rebellion group under a scholar named Lee Hwal-min, who was an ally of Daewongun. Hwalminsuk academy was the hub of their activities...More
2021/02/25 | Permalink
The outdoor sportswear brand K2 recently released photos of Park Seo-joon, who is under contract for the organization, as part of their upcoming spring/summer season marketing push. Colorful jackets predominate the photos made available, although hiking boots and shorts also make an appearance...More
2021/02/25 | Permalink
On February 23rd Playlist Studios announced that Yoon Hyun-gi had been selected as their new executive producer. In this role, Yoon Hyun-gi will delegate other producers to manage the many ongoing projects of Playlist Studios. Established in 2017, Playlist Studio has become a major name with web dramas in recent years. Playlist Studio works such as "A-TEEN" and "Ending Again" have also been noteworthy for improving the exposure of actors, leading to roles in mainline dramas...More
2021/02/25 | Permalink
On February 24th the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) announced that the previous day, on February 23rd, they had opened a pop-up exhibition in the Marui Department Store of Shibuya district in Tokyo. The On/Offline K Style Store, as it is described, will remain in operation until March 28th. KOTRA claimed that the pop-up store's development was prompted by interest in South Korean cosmetics in Japan...More
2021/02/24 | Permalink
The many new thrillers which started airing over the weekend have a noteworthy commonality when it comes to casting. Despite all having well-known male stars, "Vincenzo", "Beyond Evil", and "Times" have all elected for lesser known actresses in the leading roles. However, these leading ladies are no mere pretty faces. All have endured their own twists and turns in their careers to get to this point, and all have been received favorably by viewers in light of their clear talent...More
2021/02/24 | Permalink
After having gone through all of 2020 without a single new project, fans of Song Joong-ki have been treated to two very different visions of the actor over the course of only a few weeks. In "Space Sweepers" Song Joong-ki played a largely archetypal leading role as the main perspective character with a tragic backstory in the space opera setting. But in "Vincenzo" Song Joong-ki plays an Italian mafia lawyer whose initially serious storyline quickly descends into farce when he arrives on Korean soil...More
2021/02/24 | Permalink
On February 23rd Yeom Hye-ran's agency released a photoshoot from an upcoming piece in Marie Claire magazine that features the actress. The current year has been quite busy for the Yeom Hye-ran, with the actress having finished up the surprise hit "The Uncanny Counter" back in January and with three films featuring her having been released in February. These include "New Year Blues", "I", and "Black Light". Yeom Hye-ran discusses "Black Light" in particular in the upcoming interview...More
2021/02/23 | Permalink
With ratings of 20.4% in its second episode, "The Penthouse 2" has already established itself as the drama to beat in a surprisingly competitive ratings struggle in a market that was considered to be in decline for most of 2020. "The Penthouse 2" now hopes to beat the 28.8% record set by "The Penthouse" although it already has considerable competition among new dramas...More
2021/02/23 | Permalink
With the new season of Drama Stage coming this March 3rd, more details are being released about the individual stories of this year's drama anthology series. The theme this year is, stories about how we can get back up on our feet. In the fourth episode to be aired of the series, Yang Kyung-won will take the title role in "Drama Stage 2021 - Deok-gu Is Back" as the titular Cheon Deok-gu, a man who returns after five years following an insurance scam where he was presumed dead...More
2021/02/23 | Permalink
On February 23th kth released a special poster for "Double Patty" in commemoration of the movie hitting the ten thousand viewer mark a couple of days prior. As of this writing, "Double Patty" currently has 11,797 admissions, a number that is unlikely to significantly improve given the larger number of new releases in the coming week...More
2021/02/22 | Permalink
Despite appearing in the drama's official promotional poster, Jeon Yeo-bin has been a bit of a wild card for "Vincenzo" in terms of marketing. Her profile is lower than that of lead actor Song Joong-ki or even second lead Ok Taecyeon. To date, her only other leading role had been in the ensemble piece "Be Melodramatic" with other smaller credits including an appearance in "Save Me" of considerably less importance than that of Ok Taecyeon...More
2021/02/22 | Permalink
Weeks after its conclusion on February 4th "True Beauty" still inspires intense interest from fans who were drawn to the high school romance storyline. Many fans have described the drama as a guide to loving one's self that even surprasses the original webtoon. A recent interview from screenwriter Lee Si-eun-II features the screenwriter responding to these sentiments, while also expressing her own love for the drama...More
2021/02/22 | Permalink
On February 22nd GH Entertainment announced that actor Lee Il-jun, who the agency represents, will appear in a new charitable photoshoot project by ANOUS magazine...More
2021/02/20 | Permalink
With the long awaited premiere of "The Penthouse 2" there is already a new champion for dramas, with the premiere for the intense wealth themed thriller hitting 19.1%. But the influence of "The Penthouse" goes far beyond its own sequel, with several other similarly intense dramas also making their premieres over the same weekend. Among them is the serial killer mystery "Beyond Evil" on jTBC which premiered on February 19th with ratings of 4.5%...More
2021/02/20 | Permalink
The feature film "Mission: Possible" has topped the South Korean box office every day since release, and is poised to be the first domestic film of the year to lead the box office. The action flick also marks the return of Kim Young-kwang to the big screen, his having last appeared in "On Your Wedding Day" and "The Soul-Mate" back in 2018. A recent interview has been drawing attention for the actor, and the story behind the spy comedy...More
2021/02/20 | Permalink
While Jang Sung-kyu had been confirmed as a cast member for "The Penthouse 2" it was only when the drama begain airing on February 19th that the exact nature of his role was revealed...More
2021/02/19 | Permalink
As an interconnected narrative switching between four different couples, "New Year Blues" is counting on you liking at least one of the romantic storylines, even if you don't like the other ones. Well the good news is I liked most of them actually! The main exception being the storyline between paralympic athlete Rae-hwan (played by Teo Yoo) and florist Oh-wol (played by Choi Soo-young). But I didn't hate them I just thought their story was kind of pointless with Ye Soo-jung stealing most of the energy in their scenes as Oh-wol's sweet, caring mother...More
2021/02/19 | Permalink
The implied, obvious reading of "The Battle of Jangsari" is that the South Korean teenagers who were brutally killed fighting North Koreans during the Korean War were heroes. At least, that's what you'd think if you'd ever seen any other war movie. And it's certainly what I was expecting, given that "Operation Chromite" was unapologetically propagandistic. But "The Battle of Jangsari" proved far more intriguing than those clichés once I realized this reading isn't actually supported by the text...More
2021/02/19 | Permalink
Based on the 1987 book of the same name by Yi Mun-yol, "Our Twisted Hero" proves that using allegory to portray political commentary can result in excellent films, particularly when the metaphor works as well as in the case of Park Jong-won's movie...More
2021/02/18 | Permalink
February 18th saw the release of "A Way Station" theatrically. The low profile melodrama stars Kim Dong-jun and Kim Jae-kyung in the leading roles. The two are best known for their appearance as the second leads in such dramas as "More Than Friends" for Kim Dong-jun and "The Secret Life of My Secretary" for Kim Jae-kyung...More
2021/02/18 | Permalink
Figures released by the Korean Film Council showed that "Mission: Possible" led all other films on its premiere this past Feburary 17th. However, as is expected in the era of COVID-19, the exact numbers are not very impressive...More
2021/02/18 | Permalink
Actress Kim So-hyun recently saw a spike of activity on her Instagram account due to activity relating to a picture she had posted. In the picture that was posted over the Lunar New Year's holiday, Kim So-hyun can be seen wearing a costume from "River Where the Moon Rises" where she stars as the leading actress...More
2021/02/17 | Permalink
As it passes the halfway point in its eighty episode run, "Homemade Love Story" has emerged as a solid hit for weekend family dramas. It's forty-fourth episode on February 14th had ratings of 32.8%. And appropriately for Valentine's Day, this episode has marked an outpouring of interest for Ryu Jin. Though not a leading character in the drama, his character Jeong-hoo has long kindled interest in viewers for his gentle personality in contrast to his rough appearance...More
2021/02/17 | Permalink
ELLE Korea recently announced that actress Bae Doona would be their latest cover celebrity, and would be appearing in their March issue. The theme of the March issue, RESPECT YOU, will deal with many older actresses and their interest in appearing in work that deals with socially conscious issues. An excerpt from an interview with Bae Doona shows the actress expressing admiration for Youn Yuh-jung, describing her as a role model...More
2021/02/17 | Permalink
Foreign films have led at the COVID-19 enfeebled South Korean every day so far in 2021. But this weekend sees two films try to dislodge them from this position, and very different ones at that. "Mission: Possible" looks to have the best chance, with stronger ticket reservation numbers. "Double Patty" had better numbers pre-reservation, although it has long since lost much of its momentum...More
2021/02/16 | Permalink
Last week the British publication I-MAGAZINE released the latest results in its Fashion Face Awards. These awards take advantage of facial recognition algorithms, as well as human judges from all over the world, to determine which celebrities have the best faces. Lee Dong-wook topped the list for Asian male celebrities...More
2021/02/16 | Permalink
On February 16th the Buddhist charity Life Share Korea confirmed that actress Go Min-si had donated around ten thousand dollars worth of goods to help the less fortunate. Purportedly the proceeds come from her recent modeling work...More
2021/02/16 | Permalink
Actor and singer Do Kyung-soo has been confirmed as the headliner for the upcoming "Secret - 2021" which is a remake of the 2008 Taiwanese movie of the same name. Do Kyung-soo will play the same role that Jay Chou did in that romantic melodrama, which centers around the relationship between a genius student at a musical school and a mysterous girl he often finds playing the piano...More
2021/02/15 | Permalink
On February 14th "Mr. Queen" ended with ratings of 17.4%. The surprise winter drama hit is the fifth best performing drama of all-time from tvN despite its relatively humble expectations. The offbeat story, a fusion of comedy, science fiction, and historical palace intrigue, struck a chord with audiences. But Shin Hye-sun is quickly emerging as the main figure of note in project, with her reputation increased by a substantial margin thanks to her role...More
2021/02/15 | Permalink
On February 15th CJ ENM released their latest rankings for the Content Power Index (CPI) which covers how television programs are engaging viewers in non-traditional metrics. These rankings, which quantify data collected from February 1st to February 7th, had "True Beauty" at the top with 307 points in its final week...More
2021/02/15 | Permalink
On February 15th the food company Barudak announced that actor Kim Soo-hyun had been signed under contract to help promote the company. Barudak in Korean is a portmanteau of the adjective...More
2021/02/13 | Permalink
The roster of 2021 K-Dramas is already looking more promising than ever before with a beautiful blend of thrillers, romance, comedy and more. What is even more exciting is the fact that a lot of the most beloved actresses in Korean television will be coming back this year to create some more iconic dramas and fans cannot be any more delighted about the same...More
2021/02/13 | Permalink
The cast of the upcoming tvN drama "Mouse" recently offered their greetings for Lunar New Year to their fans. Lee Seung-gi encouraged people to mind social distancing guidelines in the light of COVID-19, encouraging people to stick close to family...More
2021/02/13 | Permalink
Ahead of the final weekend for "Mr. Queen" lead actors Shin Hye-sun and Kim Jung-hyun have released their thoughts regarding the drama's production. The drama features Shin Hye-sun as a modern day chef trapped in the body of a nineteenth century Joseon royal consort, while Kim Jung-hyun plays the young King of that era...More
2021/02/13 | Permalink
On February 13th "Mouse" released new stills of Kyung Soo-jin, who will be appearing in the new drama when it begins broadcasting on March 3rd. Kyung Soo-jin plays the second female lead in the drama, which will feature Lee Seung-gi and Lee Hee-joon in the leading roles. Kyung Soo-jin will play a producing director with an interest in the case and powerful skills of deduction...More
2021/02/12 | Permalink
In the first film of the "Today Together 2" omnibus Jong-hwan (played by Ki Joo-bong) lives the life of a borderline hobo, eating only food that ranges in price from cheap to free. His son, Do-jin (played by Park Se-jun) is repulsed by his father's attitude, even as he himself is about as incompetent when it comes to obtaining a proper place in society. And so it is with all the other stories in "Today Together 2" that seem to discuss families on the margin but then, what are the margins anyway?...More
2021/02/12 | Permalink
My first response to "Loop Dreams" was a sort of mild bewilderment. A documentary about yo-yo trick artists? Really? I've seen plenty of self-indulgent documentaries by young people overestimating how interesting their lives are. But then I've also seen plenty of good documentaries by young people who correctly estimate how interesting weirdly specific aspects of their lives are, and the only way to know which is which is to watch them...More
2021/02/12 | Permalink
An Jung-geun, sometimes spelled Ahn Jung-geun was a Korean-independence activist, nationalist, and pan-Asianist. On 26 October 1909, he assassinated Prince Itō Hirobumi, a four-time Prime Minister of Japan, former Resident-General of Korea, and then President of the Privy Council of Japan, following the signing of the Eulsa Treaty, with Korea on the verge of annexation by Japan. He was imprisoned and later executed by Japanese authorities on 26 March 1910. An was posthumously awarded the Order of Merit for National Foundation in 1962 by the South Korean government, the most prestigious civil decoration in the Republic of Korea, for his efforts for Korean independence. His story has been adapted to cinema a number of times, both in North (An Jung-geun Shoots Itō Hirobumi) and South Korea (Thomas An Jung-geun) but this particularly movie is probably the most impressive...More
2021/02/11 | Permalink
The womenswear brand Crocodile Ladies recently released their new catalog for the upcoming spring season. Son Ye-jin recently signed a contract to be the new brand model for the company, and her pictures as a part of this catalog have attracted much interest from fans...More
2021/02/11 | Permalink
On February 11th H&N Entertainment confirmed that Kang Min-ah, who is represented by the agency, will appear in the upcoming drama "Beyond Evil" on jTBC. Kang Min-ah is most recently best known for her role on "True Beauty" where she played the role of Soo-ah, the best friend of the lead character Joo-kyeong played by Moon Ga-young. Kang Min-ah also appeared on "Memorist" last year, following several noteworthy appearances in webdramas...More
2021/02/11 | Permalink
Shin Seung-ho and Irene
On February 10th a press screening was held for the upcoming movie "Double Patty" which stars Irene in a leading role. In addition to being the first film role for Irene the movie is also notable for having the singer use her real name in the credits rather than her stage name, suggesting an interest on her part in transitioning to acting. Irene also appeared in the webdrama "Women at a Game Company" in 2016 which was based on the webcomic of the same title...More
2021/02/10 | Permalink
On February 10th the Good Data Corporation released the latest iteration of the Good Data Report. With a slight increase of 3.69% in social media references, "Mr. Queen" topped the report for the second straight week. The surprising cliffhanger for the eighteenth episode drove much of the discussion as the drama enters its final week. Lead actress Shin Hye-sun was number one for performers while lead actor Kim Jung-hyun was number four...More
2021/02/10 | Permalink
Actor Hwang In-yeop passed a major milestone recently, with his Instagram account hitting over seven million followers- 7.3 million, as of this writing. In spite of his account still not being verified, Hwang In-yeop has already outpaced the account of his "True Beauty" co-star Moon Ga-young, ith only 5.4 million followers. However, both still lag behind Cha Eun-woo, with 16.8 million followers...More
2021/02/10 | Permalink
Recent real estate filings have confirmed that actor Lee Jong-suk has sold another building. The small facility in the Hannam neighborhood of the Yongsan district of Seoul was originally sold to the actor for three million dollars in March of 2018. However, Lee Jong-suk sold it for three and a half million dollars last month in January...More
2021/02/09 | Permalink
The recently released South Korean movie "Space Sweepers" has ascended to the top of the international Netflix charts. The science fiction film which centers around a spaceship crew that clears space junk has been the top movie worldwide in all three days of its availability according to FlixPatrol...More
2021/02/09 | Permalink
Netflix recently released new still shots depicting how "Space Sweepers" was shot behind the scenes. "Space Sweepers" is a futuristic science fiction story, that deals with the crew of a spaceship that cleans up space junk...More
2021/02/09 | Permalink
On February 8th the "Space Sweepers" webtoon made its worldwide debut on four platforms, having premiered on Kakao Webtoons in Korea last May. The "Space Sweepers" webtoon adaptation is appearing on Piccoma in Japan, Tapas in North America, Kakao Page Indonesia in Indonesia, and Delitoon in France...More
2021/02/08 | Permalink
On February 7th actress Lee Jung-hyun made a post on Instagram regarding her birthday, which was on that same day. The actress and singer had turned forty-one years old. To commemorate the event, Lee Jung-hyun posted a picture of her dog, as well as a cake which she baked herself, to Instagram...More
2021/02/08 | Permalink
On February 7th the tvN drama "True Beauty" issued an official apology for a commemoration photo of the drama that was released through Cha Eun-woo's Instagram accoun...More
2021/02/08 | Permalink
A recent interview has called public attention to Lee Jung-hyun-I, a lesser known actor with minor memorable credits. Among them are "Mr. Sunshine" where he played the Japanese army sergeant Tsuda, and "Sweet Home" where he played Kyungmo. Lee Jung-hyun-I has gained a reputation for playing disturbing, twisted minor villains. Other recent credits include a vengeance obsessed victim of past bullying in "Alice" and a combative high student in "GANG" obsessed with Dragon Ball...More
2021/02/07 | Permalink
2020 was an incredible year for Korean dramas and Korean entertainment in general, especially owing to the exponential rise in viewership brought on by the pandemic. Safe to say, if there was anything holding the sanity of millions of people worldwide together, it was the generous flow of fresh new entertainment media on a more than regular basis. Out of this, Korean entertainment formed a huge portion. With new people exposed to K-Dramas, South Korea produced some of the most brilliant works in the past year. We count down the top 10 of all K-Dramas released in 2020 that we still can't get off our minds...More
2021/02/06 | Permalink
On February 5th, Cha Eun-woo made a post on Instagram featuring his closing comments for the drama. Cha Eun-woo wrote that everyone involved in the production struggled mightily to bring it through to the end. He thanked all those who supported him. But controversy came in the form of the picture uploaded alongside the post, which showed a large number of cast and crew members in close quarters without wearing masks...More
2021/02/06 | Permalink
Actor Park Hae-joon has officially withdrawn from the Netflix Korean remake "Money Heist" based on the Spanish drama of the same title. Park Hae-joon had been set to play the role of Berlin. However, scheduling conflicts had rendered his participation impractical...More
2021/02/06 | Permalink
Lee So-yeon recently made a post on Instagram regarding a coffee car sent to her by the actress's former "Dong Yi" co-stars Han Hyo-joo and Park Ha-sun...More
2021/02/05 | Permalink
I expected "Space Sweepers" to have some exposition at over two hours. But I was caught off guard by the sheer quantity of badly paced infodumping. It takes ten minutes for us to be introduced to the spaceship and its crew amid constant infodumps about the worldbuilding. At the twenty minute point they get a goal, requiring more exposition. Incredibly, there is yet more exposition and backstory well into the second half, every single time dragging the narrative to a crawl...More
2021/02/05 | Permalink
So despite the clip from "Dragon Inn Part 1: The City of Sadness" suggesting that "Dragon Inn Part 2: The Night of the Gods" would take on darker more religious undertones, the villain actually just ends up being a pretty unremarkable cult. As in, they basically function like a real life cult, praying on people so lonely they're unwilling to question terrible group decisions. In practice "Dragon Inn Part 2: The Night of the Gods" is largely a procedural wherein the members of Dragon Inn attempt to track the cult down as part of their latest job...More
2021/02/05 | Permalink
If there is a line that, when surpassed, can deem a film as "too melodramatic", then Shin Sang-ok definitely moved over it with "Dongsimcho", a movie that does make a comment about the state of women in Korea in the 50s, but overall, falls victim to its intense sentimentalism and excessive story...More
2021/02/04 | Permalink
Creative Group Agency, which represents Song Ji-hyo, recently confirmed that the actress would be starring in the upcoming TVING drama "Come to the Witch's Restaurant" in the leading role...More
2021/02/04 | Permalink
"Mr. Queen - Bamboo Forest" epilogue episodes are set to air on TVING this coming February 13th and 14th. Despite having the title of epilogues these episodes will also feature material set before the story's completion, including the first meeting of the characters played by Shin Hye-sun and Kim Jung-hyun before the former's body was possessed by a modern day chef...More
2021/02/04 | Permalink
Lee Byung-hun made a recent post on Instagram with the simple text of thank you Go stones. Attached to the post was a picture of a coffee car which appears to have been sent to Lee Byung-hun as well as the cast and crew of "The Match" by fans, with the banner reading as a general expression of support for the cast and crew of the upcoming film...More
2021/02/03 | Permalink
The gaming company NCSoft has been getting attention for its new idol phone service,which was first mentioned on its K-pop Entertainment platform UNIVERSE worldwide on January 28th. The exact nature of the "private call" option which appeared on the platform was not clearly described or advertised. Nevertheless, approximately four million people made reservations for the seven dollar a month service ahead of its February 3rd release, which comes with a single private call voucher...More
2021/02/03 | Permalink
The upcoming musical idol drama "Imitation" recently confirmed Yoon Jung-sub as having been added to the cast. The news follows the nearing to the end of "True Beauty" which is Yoon Jung-sub's most recent screen credit. In "True Beauty" Yoon Jung-sub played the chauffeur for the father of the lead character played by Cha Eun-woo...More
2021/02/03 | Permalink
Ahead of the final episodes of "True Beauty" actor Im Hyun-sung has offered his closing comments on the drama. In "True Beauty" he played the role of the owner of the comic book room where the lead characters played by Moon Ga-young and Cha Eun-woo first met...More
2021/02/02 | Permalink
After a long drought of dramas that could reliably crack the 10% ratings mark, 2021 started the year off with two surprising successes. Expectations were low for "Mr. Queen" and "Royal Secret Agent" due to the relatively weak performance of historical dramas in recent years. But the genre is making a comeback, with new entries making the most of fusing it with other forms of storytelling. "Mr. Queen" deals in time travel and body swapping, while "Royal Secret Agent" involves criminal investigation...More
2021/02/02 | Permalink
On February 2nd Netflix held an online press conference for "Space Sweepers". Actors Song Joong-ki, Kim Tae-ri, Jin Seon-kyu, and Yoo Hae-jin were all in attendance. Director Jo Sung-hee was also present. The science fiction project has been a particular spot of interest for Kim Tae-ri, marking a transition to a more professional, adult kind of character for her...More
2021/02/02 | Permalink
The young contemporary womenswear brand ON&ON recently released a sampling of their spring catalog and Moon Ga-young is central to their promotions. The actress, currently best known for playing a teenager in the drama "True Beauty" is showing a more adult side of herself by showcasing a modern, smart image...More
2021/02/01 | Permalink
Recent real estate filings show that Hyun Bin made a major purchase last year of a five million dollar villa style apartment in the city of Guri. The high class residence has prompted rumors that star is preparing a marital home for himself and Son Ye-jin, who he acknowledged being in an eight month (now nine month) relationship with on New Year's Day...More
2021/02/01 | Permalink
A person associated with the production of the upcoming drama "Oh My Ladylord" has confirmed that Hyeon Sol-ip has been fired from the project. Her replacement is Oh Da-young. "Oh My Ladylord" will be the first head director credit for Oh Da-young although she's not newbie to the field of directing...More
2021/02/01 | Permalink
Jeon Young-mi has gotten attention recently with her appearance on "Mr. Queen" where she plays court lady Jeon, a character who delivers comic relief by explaining ridiculous situations in a serious way...More
2021/01/31 | Permalink
Gi-seong (played by Shin Min-jae) is the atypical "Cute Man" promised by the movie's title. He uses his harmless, pathetic charms to sell housewives on educational material. Gi-seong's profession has surprisingly little to do with the rest of the movie, though. That opening scene is merely the start to a convoluted series of events that leads the divorced father to start dating Il-yeong (played by Lee Jin-ri), a woman amenable to the nonintuitive charms of a divorced father...More
2021/01/31 | Permalink
The dark animation that starts out "Sword of Sarasen" details how in order to guarantee passage through the desert, some traders are known to kill a camel calf right in front of the mother's eyes. Supposedly a mother camel will then take them to safety to insure a proper burial. While attempting to research this legend I learned that apparently camel meat is delicious, casting doubts on some assumptions of the story...More
2021/01/31 | Permalink
By 1959, the influence of Hollywood in Korean cinema was in full bloom, and "A Female Boss" is a testament to the fact, something that becomes obvious even from the music and the presentation of the titles in the very beginning of the movie. However, Han Hyeong-mo's title is not exactly a textbook romantic comedy, since the concepts of toxic masculinity (in the way Kim Ki-duk presented it decades later), the role reversal and the eventual triumph of male domination make the film stand particularly out...More
2021/01/30 | Permalink
Clio Cosmetics recently announced that they were selecting Go Min-si of "Sweet Home" as their newest model. Alongside the new announcement, Clio Cosmetics also released several images giving an indication as to how the beauty brand intended to use her to promote their product...More
2021/01/30 | Permalink
"Mr. Queen" has attracted much positive attention lately due to its discussion of food culture during the Joseon era. In the drama, a modern day chef is transported back to the reign of King Cheoljong. While early episodes did not do much with the profession of the lead character, in more recent episodes his culinary expertise has transitioned into being a critical plot point...More
2021/01/30 | Permalink
A photospread featuring Go Min-si of the recent Netflix drama "Sweet Home" was recently released by the fashion magazine 1st Look. She appears in a variety of lovely styles with both matched and mismatched colors. The photospread is also accompanied by an interview where Go Min-si discusses her work in "Sweet Home" with some detail...More
2021/01/28 | Permalink
On January 28th, a representative for Sublime Artist Agency confirmed that the talent management organization was pressing charges against a YouTuber as well as his associated channel for actions in regards to Song Yoo-jung...More
2021/01/28 | Permalink
The South Korean stage production company ShowPLAY recently announced plans to turn the 2019 drama "Hotel Del Luna" into a stage musical. "Hotel Del Luna" starred IU as the enigmatic operator of a supernatural hotel and Yeo Jin-goo as her new manager, alongside a large cast of colorful supporting characters...More
2021/01/28 | Permalink
Following the announcement that "The Uncanny Counter" webtoon had acquired over 140 million views between its official Daum and Kakao accounts, the author of that webtoon confirmed that a third season was under consideration. "The Uncanny Counter" webtoon is currently in its second season...More
2021/01/27 | Permalink
In this week's Good Data Report, "The Uncanny Counter" led for the second straight week with 20.32% of social media references across tracked platforms. The tracking period was for the third week of January (18th-24th), marking this as the last appearance of "The Uncanny Counter" on the report. The sole representative from the drama for performers was lead actor Jo Byeong-gyu in sixth place...More
2021/01/27 | Permalink
Actress Lim Soo-hyeon was recently confirmed for the upcoming drama "Times" which will start broadcasting on OCN in February. She will play the role of Jeong Yoo-mi, who is an intern reporter...More
2021/01/27 | Permalink
On January 27th the original webtoon version of "The Uncanny Counter" hit a major milestone on Kakao and Daum webtoons, where it is serialized. Cumulatively, the various episodes of "The Uncanny Counter" have now been viewed over 140 million times. According to analytics data, approximately 6.7 million individual readers account for these 140 million views...More
2021/01/26 | Permalink
On January 26th CJ ENM released their latest Content Power Index (CPI), this one covering the second week on January, here defined as January 11th-17th. The CPI attempts to quantify the popularity of television programs via non-traditional sources such as social media, to better determine the relative popularity of programming in an era where traditional television ratings are increasingly irrelevant...More
2021/01/26 | Permalink
On January 26th Jung Entertainment confirmed that Kim Byung-choon, who is represented by the agency, will appear in the upcoming romantic comedy "Hello, Me!" which will air on KBS. The drama stars Choi Kang-hee in the leading role as a thirty-seven year old woman seeking comfort from her younger self to deal with her failures in life...More
2021/01/26 | Permalink
On January 26th Sublime Artist Agency, which represented the now departed actress Song Yoo-jung, threatened legal action against malicious rumors regarding Song Yoo-jung's death. Sublime Artist Agency announced Song Yoo-jung's death on January 25th, despite her having actually died on January 23rd, shortly following the completion of her funerary arrangement...More
2021/01/25 | Permalink
On January 25th EDAM Entertainment announced that charges were being filed against an unnamed web cafe for dealing in malicious rumors against IU who is represented by the agency. Though unspecific about the exact charges, EDAM Entertainment stated that fines had already been levied...More
2021/01/25 | Permalink
On January 25th the OCN series "The Uncanny Counter" confirmed that the drama would be returning for a second season. The news follows on the finale of the first season hitting 11%, the highest ever finale ratings for an OCN drama...More
2021/01/25 | Permalink
On January 25th Song Yoo-jung's agency Sublime Artist Agency announced that the actress had died on January 23rd. No explanation was offered for the delay in reporting...More
2021/01/24 | Permalink
There's a notable change in Yoo-han's disposition in episode fix of "Color Rush" as the always masked young man begins flirting more openly with Yeon-woo. Also he starts to more aggressively lose the mask, confirming my suspicion that the mask was acting as a handicap to Hur Hyun-jun's weak acting talent as much as anything else. Worry not, Hur Hyun-jun isn't terrible in the role, and everybody has to start somewhere. But it's hard to escape the feeling that a webdrama as weird as "Color Rush" got funding at least in part to boost Hur Hyun-jun's acting resume...More
2021/01/24 | Permalink
Of the six plot points juggled by "The ABCs of Our Relationship", only the on regarding South Korean adoption is given full exposition. Though she's not really the lead character, the adoption story centers around Joo-hee (played by Lee Seo-yoon), an ethnic Korean woman who was adopted in France back in 1997. Despite Joo-hee being the entire impetus for that plot, her character is surprisingly out of focus as the search for her birth mother takes on highly abstract dimensions...More
2021/01/24 | Permalink
"A College Woman's Confession" despite its feminist, patriarchy-slamming narrative, became a big hit in Korea in 1958, particularly since women swarmed to watch a movie, which, apart from the aforementioned elements, also entailed hard-core melodrama. Nevertheless, the result was quite positive for Shin Sang-ok, as this was the film that established his career...More
2021/01/23 | Permalink
In a recent interview regarding her upcoming film "Three Sisters", actress Moon So-ri confirmed that she and Jung Jae-young had accepted the lead roles for the upcoming drama "Out of Your Mind" which will begin filming in March for an expected broadcast date of May...More
2021/01/23 | Permalink
On January 23th Son Ye-jin won the KT Seezn Star Award at the ASAN Star Awards, which is a popularity prize. Son Ye-jin earned by receiving the most votes from fans. Consequently, Son Ye-jin was sure to thank her fans in the relevant acceptance speech...More
2021/01/23 | Permalink
On January 23rd Hyun Bin won the Grand Prize for his leading role in last year's drama "Crash Landing on You" where he played a North Korean soldier...More
2021/01/22 | Permalink
The spotlight never stays still and keeps moving from person to person, especially in the film and television industry. In the last year, these 10 talented actors finally proved their mettle, paving the way for lasting success in their field and receiving the title of rising stars...More
2021/01/21 | Permalink
Actress Go Min-si of "Sweet Home" has recently been confirmed for a photospread in the upcoming February issue of Marie Claire. The close up shots have an enigmatic quality, contrasting the pitch black color of her dress and hair with the whiteness of her skin as well as the redness of the background...More
2021/01/21 | Permalink
A recent real estate report has shown that actress Han Hyo-joo has liquidated property assets. Back in May of 2017, Han Hyo-joo purchased a building in the Hanam neighborhood of the Yongsan district of Seoul. The building comprised three floors, including one basement...More
2021/01/21 | Permalink
The microbium beauty brand The Ronettes recently selected Choi Sung-hee as their brand model. The Ronettes beauty brand is named after the sixties American R&B music group of the same name, which were reknowned for their distinctive visual style...More
2021/01/20 | Permalink
On January 20th an interview with Jang Yoon-ju was released in anticipation of "Three Sisters" which will be released in South Korean theaters on January 27th. "Three Sisters" stars Jang Yoon-ju alongside Moon So-ri and Kim Sun-young as the three titular sisters grappling with the force of their collective memories. The film is the latest from director Lee Seung-won-I, and his first with a mainstream cast...More
2021/01/20 | Permalink
Eugene recently excited the attention of her Instagram followers with images of her younger daughter dancing. Eugene and her husband Ki Tae-young had a baby girl back in 2018...More
2021/01/20 | Permalink
For the second week of January, "The Uncanny Counter" ascended to the top of the Good Data Report, filling the void left by "The Penthouse" going off the air the previous week. Much of the improvement was not driven by the content of the drama itself but rather the news that screenwriter Yeo Ji-na had been replaced despite "The Uncanny Counter" almost being finished. Jo Byeong-gyu was number six for performers and Kim Se-jeong was number ten, with neither charting for the previous week...More
2021/01/19 | Permalink
On January 19th, Hwang In-yeop turned thirty years old. On that day, he was sure to thanks his fans for his well-wishes with an Instagram post of the many presents he had been sent for his birthday...More
2021/01/19 | Permalink
Allure Korea recently announced that actress Han Ji-min would be appearing in a photoshoot for the magazine in their upcoming February issue. The theme of the photoshoot is black swan, or isolated beauty...More
2021/01/19 | Permalink
Back in September of 2020 actress Seo Ye-ji appeared in a special Chuseok commercial to promote The Men of Harlem, a web novel that was at the time being promoted by Naver. The oriental fantasy dealt with the political power play involving an empress and her various subordinates...More
2021/01/18 | Permalink
On January 17th Netflix Korea released a new video featuring various "Sweet Home" actors answering various questions. The actor participating include Kim Nam-hee-I, Go Min-si, Park Gyu-young, and Go Yoo-jung. The theme of the interview was TMI questions, with TMI being short for Too Much Information...More
2021/01/18 | Permalink
On January 18th Kim Chae-eun's agency Endmark released the actresses statement about "Growing Season" which had aired its final episode on January 15th. In "Growing Season" Kim Chae-eun played Ha-yeong, a young woman in a long-term relationship that undergoes stress due to the discovery that she has a sexually transmitted disease...More
2021/01/18 | Permalink
The Japanese branch of CJ ENM recently announced that the South Korean drama "True Beauty" would be making its debut on Japanese airwaves. While a final broadcast date has not yet been set, "True Beauty" is expected to begin airing sometime in April on the Japanese version of Mnet...More
2021/01/17 | Permalink
Up until now I have been reasonably outspoken in praising "Growing Season" for its practical usefulness in its frank discussion of sexual health and safety in the context of realistically drawn college aged relationships. It is with regret that I must withdraw this endorsement, as "Growing Season" concludes with a rather critical plot point left entirely unresolved. I am referring, of course, to the chlamydia infection sustained by Ha-yeong despite her being in a monogamous four year relationship...More
2021/01/17 | Permalink
In one scene on a bus, we see college student Yeong-seok (played by Nam Joo-hyuk) sitting in the bleak night in front of an ad that promises learning English will grant him freedom. It's a bitterly ironic moment, but just one of many in "Josee" that uses the trappings of seeming romantic melodrama to ask what it really means to be free. Yet writer/director Kim Jong-kwan takes his time getting to this very moody point, ultimately starting the action off with Yeong-seok accidentally crashing into the wheelchair of the disabled Josee (Han Ji-min)...More
2021/01/17 | Permalink
The overwhelming majority of costume dramas in the Korean movie industry take place in the Joseon era. Thus, watching one that unfolds during the Mahan Age (1st century BC to 5th century AD) seemed a rather interesting opportunity...More
2021/01/16 | Permalink
A recent episode of the KBS variety show YJ Live focused on a subject of intense curiousity among fans this year. Various South Korean celebrities are in high profile relationships but there has not been a high profile wedding as of late between two such stars. While COVID-19 has done much to inhibit any such celebrations, speculation is rampant about which couple may or may not take the next step in thei relationship, and YJ Live was bold enough to single out three such couples in order of likelihood...More
2021/01/16 | Permalink
In 2021 several major actresses who have been active since the nineties will return for major projects- their first in some time. Song Hye-kyo is the most recent of these whose name have come up in connection with "The Glory" which will be written by "Descendants of the Sun" screenwriter Kim Eun-sook. The revenge-themed story will be a departure for Song Hye-kyo's romantic image which still lingers from her last project, "Encounter" which ended two years prior...More
2021/01/16 | Permalink
On January 15th "Growing Season" aired its twelfth and final episode on Naver TV. Earlier in the day, lead actress Park Ji-won-III communicated through her agency her closing thoughts on the project...More
2021/01/15 | Permalink
Need some riveting thriller K-Dramas for your weekend binge? Keep reading because we have curated a perfect list of the top 10 thriller K-Dramas that need to be on your watch list.
One of the most popular genres in Korean film and television is that of a thriller. Be it psychological, crime, mystery or revenge, thrillers can be hair-raising and equally entertaining. In the world of K-Drama too, thrillers have always been commercially successful as well as critically acclaimed. Here are 10 of the best Korean thriller dramas that are guaranteed to leave you wanting more...More
2021/01/14 | Permalink
With ratings of 12.8% following its tenth episode on January 10th, "Mr. Queen" has proven the surprise hit of the new year. Shin Hye-sun has proven indispensable to the drama's success as the lead actress, despite the rather peculiar gender identity of her character. "Mr. Queen" is a fusion historical drama, and Shin Hye-sun plays a modern day womanizing chef trapped in the body of a Joseon-era consort...More
2021/01/14 | Permalink
On January 14th Son Ye-jin posted a sampling of her birthday presents on Instagram. In the accompanying note, Son Ye-jin mentioned that she had never received so many flower bouquets and cakes on her birthday before...More
2021/01/14 | Permalink
On January 14th SM Entertainment put out a statement in regards to rumors that Hyoyeon of Girls' Generation was involved with the notorious scandals of the Burning Sun nightclub. The rumors are sourced from Kim Sang-kyo, the first person to discuss the nightclub's notorious reputation publicly when he was booked on charges of assault. These charges were later dropped, and the police involved with bringing them forward were disciplined for misconduct...More
2021/01/13 | Permalink
It has been five years since Cha Eun-woo debuted with the musical group ASTRO. While his career has evolved from that time from music to now also encompass acting, Cha Eun-woo has done a remarkable job maintaining his fan following...More
2021/01/13 | Permalink
In a recent post on Instagram Story actress Lee Chung-ah thanks Jo Han-sun for sending a coffee car to the set of "Awaken" where the actress is currently starring in the leading role...More
2021/01/13 | Permalink
A new slate of supporting actors has been confirmed for "May Youth". These include Oh Man-seok, who will be playing the role of Hwang Gi-nam, the father of the character being played by Lee Do-hyun...More
2021/01/12 | Permalink
On January 11th Son Ye-jin had her thirty-eighth birthday. Son Ye-jin's many fans worldwide were eager to commemorate the event, as well as to let Son Ye-jin know how much they appreciated her. Consequently, they have taken out ads in many places serving as public congratulations. Some of the more prominent ones include an outdoors advertisement at the MK Center. There's another large one outside Coex describing her as a Hallyu icon...More
2021/01/12 | Permalink
With "True Beauty" now half complete, on the eve of the drama's second half a noteworthy milestone has been reached in regards to viral popularity. Cumulatively clips from "True Beauty" have now achieved 120 million views across various streaming platforms...More
2021/01/12 | Permalink
On January 12th a legal representative for Bae Jin-woong denied that the actor had engaged in attempted rape. The allegation had emerged on January 11th than an unnamed actress who was Bae Jin-woong's junior due to her requesting an official police investigation into the matter. Though the report did not single out Bae Jin-woong by name, he was named as the most likely suspect due to his being the only apparent man to match the various circumstances related to the case...More
2021/01/11 | Permalink
On January 11th SBS announced that on the following day, January 12th, they would be airing a special episode of "The Penthouse" featuring a mass group interview between nine of the principal stars of the drama...More
2021/01/11 | Permalink
While "The Penthouse 2" has been hotly anticipated ever since the ending of "The Penthouse" earlier this month, the release date for the drama is still undetermined. This is in spite of "The Penthouse 2" being expected to air quite soon. Many news periodicals have described it as expected in either January or February, with SBS adding to the confusion by giving conflicting reports on the matter...More
2021/01/11 | Permalink
SBS recently released the official poster for "The Penthouse 2" which will follow up "The Penthouse" which ended on January 5th. "The Penthouse" was a stupendous success for the network, ending with ratings of 28.8%, and a third season is also expected after the second one. The new poster also includes an English subtitle, War In Life, the exact meaning of which is unclear...More
2021/01/09 | Permalink
"Mr. Queen" has proven a solid success in television ratings for tvN, which has struggled for a traditional success since "Crash Landing on You" last year. Appropriately enough, the leading man for "Mr. Queen" was the second lead in that drama. Kim Jung-hyun plays a young King Cheoljong in the drama, with Shin Hye-sun as the leading lady...More
2021/01/09 | Permalink
The South Korean marriage consultation service Gayeon recently announced that they had signed on new models to promote their product for the new year...More
2021/01/09 | Permalink
On January 8th a special exhibition for "Crash Landing on You" opened at the Jing Gallery in the Shibuya district of Tokyo...More
2021/01/08 | Permalink
Yeon-woo (played by Yoo Jun) is a Mono. I'm still not completely sure what that actually means, but apparently he sees the world largely in grayscale. Yeon-woo's mother was also a Mono, before she died due to some horrible circumstance that will presumably be explained in later episodes but for now is being kept kind of vague. Anyway, when a Mono meets a Probe, they start seeing the world in countless colors simultaneously. And for Yeon-woo, that Probe is Yoo-han (played by Hur Hyun-jun), and also this whole "Color Rush" thing appears to be some kind of metaphor for being gay...More
2021/01/08 | Permalink
As episode five opens up, "Growing Season" signals pretty clearly that we're about to get to the part of the story where our heroines learn that men can't be trusted. But obviously foreshadowed as this was, there were more twists than I was expecting. Most obviously there are degrees of bad men, and I liked how the guy who starts out being the obvious villain here is soon shown to not necessarily be monstrous, just kind of clueless, albeit in an obviously self-interested way...More
2021/01/08 | Permalink
Yu Hyun-mok will be forever remembered for a film that is considered among the all-time best of Korean cinema, "The Aimless Bullet". Before reaching the apogee of his career, however, he had to start somewhere, and "Forever With You", his earliest surviving film, is a production much different from the aforementioned, mostly following the melodramatic rules of the era, although with a few cinematic "innovations" that actually make it stand out, to a point at least...More
2021/01/06 | Permalink
On January 6th King Entertainment announced that Kim Kang-woo, who is represented by the agency, has been offered the leading role in the upcoming jTBC drama "Sabotage City" which is expected later this year. This would be the first drama for Kim Kang-woo since "Woman of 9.9 Billion" in 2019...More
2021/01/06 | Permalink
On January 6th the CJ ENM production company Bon Factory announced that they would be collaborating with the Hollywood content company Endeavor Content. The news follows CJ ENM's acquisition of Bon Factory last year, which was justified so as to improve the competitiveness of CJ ENM in the global marketplace...More
2021/01/06 | Permalink
On January 5th Son Ye-jin's Instagram account passed the 4 million follower mark. This news comes after a significant boost to her numbers following the New Year's Day revelation that Son Ye-jin was dating her "Crash Landing on You" co-star Hyun Bin...More
2021/01/05 | Permalink
A person close to the production of "The Penthouse 2" has confirmed that Jun Jin and his wife would make a special appearance in the first episode of the drama. Purportedly they will make an appearance at a party following a musical performance by Kim Hyun-soo's character...More
2021/01/05 | Permalink
Jung Gun-joo has been confirmed for a special appearance in "True Beauty" on January 6th, which will be the seventh episode of the drama. In it, he will play a handsome baseball player who asks for the phone number of the lead character played by Moon Ga-young...More
2021/01/05 | Permalink
The fantasy mystery drama "Sisyphus: The Myth" recently confirmed a new addition to the cast- the relatively unknown actress Lee Si-woo-III. In "Sisyphus: The Myth" Lee Si-woo-III will play Bing Bing, an employee at the Asia Mart where President Park, who is played by Sung Dong-il, gives the orders...More
2021/01/04 | Permalink
The acclaimed 2019 film "Parasite" by director Bong Joon-ho has topped the Japanese Netflix charts. "Parasite" was released in on the Japanese version of the streaming site on January 1st and has led all films in the subsequent days of its availability...More
2021/01/04 | Permalink
The announcement on New Year's Day that Hyun Bin and Son Ye-jin started a romantic relationship together was surprising but no without precedent. The couple had become famous for their leading roles on last year's hit drama "Crash Landing on You" and rumors about the two had persisted ever since they co-starred in the movie "The Negotiation" back in 2018. Beyond just that couple though, many others who have met through drama work have had a low profile through the years...More
2021/01/04 | Permalink
On January 4th SALT Entertainment announced that actor Kim Seon-ho would be holding his first global online fan meeting. The meeting will be held via TikTok Stage Connect...More
2021/01/03 | Permalink
In the wake of the new year's news that actors Son Ye-jin and Hyun Bin have been a couple ever since the conclusion of "Crash Landing on You" some eight months back, old footage has been attracting interest...More
2021/01/03 | Permalink
On January 2nd Lee Jong-suk made a post on Instagram stating that he had returned. Attached to the post were black-and-white photos of Lee Jong-suk in a park wearing a hat and a mask...More
2021/01/03 | Permalink
In a recent interview actress Go Min-si had some choice comparisons between the directing styles of Park Hoon-jung of "The Witch : Part 1. The Subversion" and Lee Eung-bok who directed "Sweet Home" both of which featured Go Min-si in notable roles. The 2020 Netflix drama and the 2018 film both cast Go Min-si as a high school student and both deal in supernatural phenomena...More
2021/01/02 | Permalink
The Korea Institute of Enterprise Reputation recently released its evaluation for which celebrities have the most brand influence on social media. Fifty performers in currently airing dramas were selected for inclusion, and big data trends across various social media platforms were analyzed from December 2nd to January 2nd to arrive at the result...More
2021/01/02 | Permalink
On December 30th, Lim Ju-hwan won the Best Excellence Award for a performer in Wednesday/Thursday dramas at the MBC Drama Awards. Lim Ju-hwan had appeared in two Wednesday/Thursday dramas in 2020, "The Game: Towards Zero" and "The Spies Who Loved Me" both featuring him in prominent supporting roles...More
2021/01/02 | Permalink
On December 31st actress Kim So-yeon won the excellence award for "The Penthouse" at the 2020 SBS Drama Awards. This was an honor she shared alongside Lee Ji-ah and Eugene who are also credited as leading actors in the series. Kim So-yeon's acceptance speech has drawn some attention as she credits, among other persons, her husband Lee Sang-woo for her accomplshments in the drama...More
2021/01/01 | Permalink
Ah-in (played by Park Su-a) is a young woman with an enthusiasm for sex that can only be described as virginal. Ji-yoo (played by Park Ji-won-III) is a slightly older woman with an enthusiasm for sex only in the context of proper vaginal maintenance. Ha-yeong (played by Kim Chae-eun) is another slightly older woman with an enthusiasm for sex only with her boyfriend. Together they...try to present a class report on sexual health...More
2021/01/01 | Permalink
Some of you might not remember Cha In-pyo. Well, most of you probably. As "What Happened to Mr. Cha?" quickly makes clear, Cha In-pyo was a big star in the nineties, and is consequently well-remembered by a certain age group. But in the modern day, working with a new generation of advertisers and producers, Cha In-pyo struggles for relevance despite the fact that he has still maintained a fairly fabulous physique into his fifties. Then he gets buried in an insurance scam...More
2021/01/01 | Permalink
"Even the Clouds are Drifting" is another film that was submitted to Berlinale, somewhat following the recipe of the two that previously received awards there, "To the Last Day" and "A Coachman", although not sharing their success...More
2020/12/30 | Permalink
The latest iteration of the Good Data Report was recently released, and in it "The Penthouse" easily claimed the top spot for the fifth straight week. "The Penthouse" saw a significant improvement in terms of raw social media references, and now represents over 40% of all such references to any currently airing drama. Six performers from "The Penthouse" were also in the top ten for actors...More
2020/12/30 | Permalink
In a recent episode of "The Penthouse" a brief look at a DNA test prompted much speculation from fans. The DNA test in question was used by Lee Ji-ah's character to confirm the role played by Eugene's character in the death of her daughter...More
2020/12/30 | Permalink
An interview with Go Min-si released on December 30th contained a surprising admission from the actress regarding extreme weight loss. Overall the tone of the interview was fairly unambiguously positive. Go Min-si had high praise for director Lee Eung-bok, who once offered words of inspiration on the set via encouragement to succeed like Eun-yoo, the name of the character Go Min-si portrays...More
2020/12/29 | Permalink
On December 29th tvN announced that "True Beauty" would be on a break this week, so new episodes will not be broadcast on December 30th and December 31st...More
2020/12/29 | Permalink
Heo Ji-woong's Instagram and Narsha's Instagram
On December 28th SBS radio personality Heo Ji-woong announced via Instagram that he had tested negative for COVID-19. On the same day Narsha who is herself also a radio personality for SBS stated on her own Instagram account that she too had tested negative for the virus. The tests were prompted by a guest at an SBS Radio program who tested positive for the virus. The identity of this guest as well as which program they appeared on was not disclosed...More
2020/12/29 | Permalink
On December 29th Dongyi Company released a statement confirming that Jang Dong-yoon, an actor represented by the agency, was recently injured on the set of "Joseon Exorcist" which is currently filming...More
2020/12/28 | Permalink
On December 28th Kim Seon-ho posted a live video on his Naver V LIVE account to commemorate the end of the year. The title of this video was Good-bye 2020 ◡̈...More
2020/12/28 | Permalink
The new Netflix drama "Sweet Home" has proven to be a hit both at home and abroad. But the supernaturally themed survival drama's influence will likely last far beyond the popularity of the drama itself. "Sweet Home" is noteworthy for having given a platform to a wide variety of young stars. Many would have struggled for a visible role in a more traditional drama, but the structure of "Sweet Home" has allowed all of them a moment to shine as a member of the greater ensemble...More
2020/12/28 | Permalink
On December 28th Naver Webtoons published an official plan of their current strategy when it comes to adapting works hosted on the comics service to other platforms. Many of these works are already known and airing, or soon to be. "True Beauty" is currently appearing on tvN while "Sweet Home" recently made its premiere on Netflix...More
2020/12/27 | Permalink
On December 27th Jam Entertainment made a post to its Instagram page featuring an official message from Cho Jung-seok, who is represented by the agency. The following letter was described as a special letter for his fans from the actor himself. In the letter, Cho Jung-seok thanks his fans for sending seasonal greetings and gifts, particularly the ones from overseas...More
2020/12/27 | Permalink
On December 27th director Choi Seungho of "Spy Nation" announced on Facebook that alleged spy Kim Seung-hyo had died in Japan on December 26th. Kim Seung-hyo was among the persons featured in "Spy Nation" as having been wrongly accused of spying for the North Korean government for political reasons during the dictatorship era...More
2020/12/27 | Permalink
On December 26th actress Shin Min-a posted two photos on Instagram of a recent photoshoot conducted by the actress. Then on December 27th, actor Kim Woo-bin posted a video to his own Instagram of his own photoshoot. The seeming coincidence has intrigued fans, as the pair are in a romantic relationship and the timing was noticed by those who follow both accounts...More
2020/12/26 | Permalink
On December 26th figures released by the streaming tracker website FlixPatrol showed that "Sweet Home" had slipped to fourth place in the international Netflix charts...More
2020/12/26 | Permalink
In response to news reports stating that "Voice 4" would start location shooting in Jeju Island next year, a person associated with the production of the drama has stated that nothing has been decided yet in terms of filming...More
2020/12/26 | Permalink
The upcoming tvN drama "Mouse" which will be the first project for actor Lee Seung-gi since "Vagabond" in 2019 has recently confirmed that actor Lee Young-jae will appear in the drama. Lee Seung-gi will play Ba-reum, who lost his parents to a serial killer in his youth. Lee Hee-joon will also play Moo-chi, an unconventional detective who is similarly out for revenge...More
2020/12/25 | Permalink
Given the title of "A Special Lady" and the prominence of lead actress Kim Hye-soo in the movie's promotional material, one might think she'd be playing the main character. Well, that's not really the case. She might technically be the initial perspective character, given the extended opening scene where we're just watching old guys gratuitously having sex with prostitutes. Kim Hye-soo's character, Hyeon-jeong, is looking at these videos with no context...More
2020/12/25 | Permalink
The action in "We Are Brothers" is prompted by a documentary program regarding reuniting families. The subgenre of sentimental television documentaries is unremarkable in South Korean culture, although the seeming wackiness does no favors for the drama in translation. Much of "We Are Brothers" lurches from one wacky setpiece to another. Surprisingly few of these weird situations have much to do with the main premise. Sang-hyeon (played by Cho Jin-woong) is a pastor rasied in the United States. Ha-hyeon (played by Kim Sung-kyun) is a shaman raised in South Korea. And now the separated brothers meet again...More
2020/12/25 | Permalink
War films, particularly in the way the western audience has gotten used to them due to Hollywood productions for the most part, tend to focus on entertainment instead of reality, with few exceptions. "Beat Back" however, is not one of those films, particularly since it becomes obvious that the cast, three years after the Korean War, probably had experiences from actual war. The story is based on the true story of Captain Kim Man-sol's participation in the said events...More
2020/12/23 | Permalink
For the fourth straight week "The Penthouse" has led the Good Data Report with a 27.66% surge in media mentions allowing the drama to break 35% of the overall mentions for dramas in the third week of December...More
2020/12/23 | Permalink
On December 23rd Netflix released new images of "Sweet Home" that show what filming for the drama looks like behind the cameras...More
2020/12/23 | Permalink
The global messenging platform LINE recently announced a partnership with Naver webcomics for the former to make mobile games using the licenses of the latter. This is the first such agreement between the two companies...More
2020/12/22 | Permalink
On December 22nd Studio Dragon stock went up 3.4% to eighty dollars. The noticable rebound from previous days of losses appears to have been prompted by foreign investors due to the continuously improving numbers of "Sweet Home" in the international Netflix charts. The supernatural survival drama was number eight in the worldwide Netflix chart for dramas on December 21st but surged to third place on December 22nd as the drama has continued to enjoy a positive worldwide reception...More
2020/12/22 | Permalink
On December 21st the Korean Film Producers Association (KFPA) announced the winners of this year's awards. Eligible movies included one hundred sixty-two films released between October 1st of 2019 and September 30th of 2020...More
2020/12/22 | Permalink
On December 22nd Jung Entertainment confirmed that Kim Byung-choon, an actor who they represent, has tested positive for COVID-19. The news has caused a massive health sweep on the sets of "Phoenix 2020" and "True Beauty" which both star the actor in minor roles. A test was ordered for Kim Byung-choon when he was observed to have been suffering from unusual tiredness...More
2020/12/21 | Permalink
New data released by FlixPatrol on December 21st has shown that the new Netflix drama "Sweet Home" has cracked the international top 10 for the streaming platform. This is the first appearance of "Sweet Home" in the Netflix top 10 and, registered as it is on December 20th, happened in the third day of the supernatutrally themed drama's availability. The drama appears to have risen in the ranks due to strong recommendations from various viewers...More
2020/12/21 | Permalink
Lee Do-hyun and Go Min-si have been confirmed as the leading cast members for the upcoming jTBC drama "May Youth" which deals with the Gwangju Democratization Movement. The two had long been reported as having received offers...More
2020/12/21 | Permalink
On December 21st Shin Min-a's agency AM Entertainment put out a statement that Shin Min-a, who the agency represents, was optimistically considering a role in a drama remake of "Mr. Handy" which was released theatrically in 2004...More
2020/12/20 | Permalink
Lee Si-young, Go Min-si
Park Gyu-young, Go Yoon-jung
A major aspect of "Sweet Home" that has drawn interest from viewers both domestic and abroad is the Netflix drama's depiction of female characters. While the explicit headliners of the drama have been male, most obviously lead actor Song Kang, in practice "Sweet Home" is an ensemble movie. And women make up a critical part of this ensemble, as is to be expected because the modern world thrust into disaster aspect of the premise makes it clear the dramatis personae were basically selected at random...More
2020/12/20 | Permalink
With ratings breaking 8% over the weekend, "The Uncanny Counter" has emerged as the unexpected champion of OCN's drama production, outdoing even such hits as "The Voice" on the cable network. While the relatively low profile lead cast has earned many plaudits for their effective teamwork as an ensemble, supporting performers have also been a major contribution to the drama's success. Lee Hong-nae and Ok Ja-yeon have seen their profile boosted substantially as the drama's villains...More
2020/12/20 | Permalink
One of the factors boosting the popualrity of "Sweet Home" domestically and abroad has been the Netflix's drama good use of practical effects. While specific information of how "Sweet Home" was shot is limited, a snippet of a press conference ahead of the drama's worldwide release offers some clue as to what they were like in practice...More
2020/12/19 | Permalink
On December 18th Netflix released photos of the cast of "Sweet Home" which were produced for Elle Magazine. The move by Netflix coincides with the official release of "Sweet Home" on the streaming platform worldwide. Song Kang, Lee Jin-wook, Lee Si-young, and Lee Do-hyun all appear in the photos...More
2020/12/19 | Permalink
Director Lee Eung-bok is best known for his long-time partnership with screenwriter Kim Eun-sook. Together, the pair made the hit dramas "Descendants of the Sun", ""Goblin", and "Mr. Sunshine", So it was something of a surprise when "The King: Eternal Monarch" was announced and while Kim Eun-sook was to be the screenwriter, Lee Eung-bok was nowhere to be found despite his similarly being overdue for a new project. With "Sweet Home" Lee Eung-bok has made his return- and wisely...More
2020/12/19 | Permalink
With the release of "Sweet Home" on Netflix several cast members whose exact roles were not confirmed in advance have since been clarified. Among these is actor Shin Mun-sung, who has been confirmed to be playing a middle-aged security guard...More
2020/12/18 | Permalink
We are introduced to Ga-ram (played by Kwon Yuri) and Seon-jae (played by Hyun Woo) as the former is confronting the latter in a cafe over the perceived disrespect in their relationship. Their fight is uncomfortable. Ga-ram is too aggressive, and Seon-jae is too incompetent at explaining himself. Their problems seem irreconcilable. Then "Breakup Probation, A Week - Movie" leads us into a one-two punch where one after the other, we see that Ga-ram and Seon-jae indisputedly love each other...More
2020/12/18 | Permalink
In the fairly arresting opening scene to "The Underdog" we see Bundle (voiced by Do Kyung-soo) abandoned by his owner on a random hill. The socially conscious nature of this moment is unmistakable. In contrast to the wishful thinking of the owner that a domesticated dog can be happy and free out alone, we quickly see how in reality abandoning Bundle or any other dog in such a way is an act of cruelty...More
2020/12/18 | Permalink
The "Chunhyangjeon" is one of Korea's most iconic stories. Although its author and date of composition are unknown, it most likely originated as a work of pansori (probably from "Chunhyangga",the most famous pansori), a form of musical storytelling involving song and percussion, and was later adapted into prose during the reign of either King Sukjong (r. 1674–1720) or King Yeongjo (r. 1724–1776)...More
2020/12/16 | Permalink
On December 16th the Korean Communication Standards Communication made an official statement regarding "The Penthouse" and its depiction of violence against children. "The Penthouse" deals with various parents, many of whom live in a giant expensive penthouse, and their often extreme behavior designed to help their children become opera singers...More
2020/12/16 | Permalink
In the latest iteration of the Good Data Report "The Penthouse" pulled ahead to a commanding first place margin for its third straight win. Response from fans toward "The Penthouse" has been overwhelming positive in the wake of Park Eun-seok's elevation in the storyline. Despite being only supporting cast, Park Eun-seok was number one for performers this week, followed closely by his co-star Lee Ji-ah in second. Kim So-yeon was seventh, and Eugene was eighth and Uhm Ki-joon was ninth...More
2020/12/16 | Permalink
On December 15th "The Penthouse" recorded its best ever ratings of 23.3% for its fifteenth episode. From the very beginning "The Penthouse" has pushed boundaries in terms of shocking content. While this has encouraged viewers, it has also encouraged quite a bit of criticism. One recent episode featured a student being threatened and bound by rope- by another student no less...More
2020/12/15 | Permalink
On December 15th, Epitone Project released their long awaited music video Sleepless. The title, which more literally says insomnia, references the lyrics which discuss a person's lingering pain following a breakup. The video has attracted interest because Kim Seon-ho appears throughout as the implied narrator...More
2020/12/15 | Permalink
On December 16th "Josee" marked its sixth day of availability with a small milestone. The melodrama has earned ninety thousand viewers in those six days according to the Korean Film Council. The movie might just barely clear one hundred thousand viewers in its first week...More
2020/12/15 | Permalink
Over December 11th to December 13th various celebrities made charity-minded social media posts in regards to the Light On artistic appreciation project. This is the fourth such incarnation of Light On which aims to help low income youth who lack access to higher art. The purpose of the project is to offer safe and free cultural entertainment of this caliber for such viewers...More
2020/12/14 | Permalink
With the release of "True Beauty" fans of the original webtoon were both surprised and pleased to find that while the drama adaptation takes definite liberties with the exact construction of the story, the tone remains constant throughout. The teen romantic comedy-drama has Moon Ga-young as the lead character, a homely girl who becomes obsessed with makeup. The difference between her appearance with or without makeup is so great she is frightened of her dual life being found out...More
2020/12/14 | Permalink
While "True Beauty" has attracted the bulk of recent attention in its inaugural release as a drama based on a webtoon, "The Uncanny Counter" has slowly built itself into a sleeper hit. From a modest ratings premiere of 2.7%, "The Uncanny Counter" had ratings of 7.7% in its most recent episode. Fans have been impressed with the supernaturally themed drama's characterization and overall structure, despite "The Uncanny Counter" superficially falling into team-based superhero tropes...More
2020/12/14 | Permalink
On December 14th tvN released a video of various scenes from "True Beauty" with director Kim Sang-yeob providing commentary. The discussion mainly gets into various visually distinctive scenes that do not have equivalent in the original webtoon...More
2020/12/13 | Permalink
Last week the Good Data Corporation released figures for the first week of December as to which dramas were attracting the most interest on social media. The data, which was compiled from November 30th to December 6th, showed that "The Penthouse" was the highest performing drama for the second straight week, with 24.15% of all observed media commenting on the drama. Eugene was second place for performers, with Kim So-yeon in seventh place and Yoon Jong-hoon in ninth place...More
2020/12/13 | Permalink
Over the weekend the Joseon-era themed gender bending time travel comedy "Mr. Queen" made its surprisingly strong debut. With ratings of 8% in its first broadcast, "Mr. Queen" has the second highest debut of any tvN weekend drama. It has only ever been outperformed by "Mr. Sunshine", a drama notable for having a considerably more well-known cast and a much more aggressive marketing campaign...More
2020/12/13 | Permalink
The central operating premise of "True Beauty" is based is the main character's extreme interest in makeup as well as her relationship with two unusually pretty boys her own age. But one of the subtler aspects of the original webtoon that was much appreciated by fans was the dysfunctional interplay with the teenage girl's family. "True Beauty" in drama form has expanded on that dynamic, both by increasing the importance of the family and adding a new member- the father, played by Park Ho-san...More
2020/12/12 | Permalink
On December 11th Eptione Project released a teaser video for their upcoming song Insomnia. Inititally only noticed by the musical group's fans, the teaser video in question has since stoked interest among Kim Seon-ho's fans as the actor plays a starring role in the video as the implied protagonist of the song...More
2020/12/12 | Permalink
On December 12th famed director Kim Ki-duk was revealed to have die of complications relating to COVID-19 in Latvia. According to sources close to the matter, Kim Ki-duk's family were unable to deal with the matter personally due to COVID-19 concerns. The relevant arrangements were thus handled by the South Korean Embassy in Latvia, and Kim Ki-duk's remains were cremated according to his wishes. The remains are in transit to South Korea to be received by his family...More
2020/12/12 | Permalink
In a recent photospread and interview for bnt magazine singer Koh Woo-ri of Rainbow confirmed that she would be appearing in drama "True Beauty" which started airing on December 9th. She will play the role of Serena Lee, who is the elder sister of the lead character played by Cha Eun-woo. Despite her familial relationship, Serena Lee does not appear very much in the webtoon adaptation of "True Beauty" although she is critical for confirming important parts of her brother's backstory...More
2020/12/11 | Permalink
Strictly speaking "The Cursed Lesson" is a sequel to the 2009 horror movie "Yoga". This connection is made somewhat more obvious by the Korean title although really, the abstract idea of centering a horror movie around a mysterious yoga school is hardly that distinctive. And so unfolds a surprisingly clever metatext where horror movie conventions and even commentary about superficial beauty is turned on its head. "The Cursed Lesson" is not that kind of scary movie, although it's very good at pretending to be...More
2020/12/11 | Permalink
Eun-soo (played by Woo Mi-hwa) is an older schoolteacher. Ye-won (played by Lee Yeon) works at a casually branded clothing store. They're lesbians who first met in high school when Eun-soo was Ye-won's teacher. Exact details about when and how their relationship advanced to live-in status are kept deliberately vague. The dramatic impetus ends up centering entirely around a tragedy unrelated to their homosexuality, as "Take Me Home - 2020" turns into a story about grief, rage, and change...More
2020/12/11 | Permalink
"A Coachman" is a landmark for South Korean cinema, since it was the first Korean film to win a major international award, netting the Silver Bear Extraordinary Prize at the 11th Berlin International Film Festival ("To the Last Day" , which also won the same award, was actually produced a year before but was submitted to the 12th edition of Berlinale)...More
2020/12/09 | Permalink
On December 9th Rain set fans into a frenzy of speculation when he made a cryptic promise of good news to be released at noon on December 10th. Fans in the comments quickly started to wonder whether Kim Tae-hee might be pregnant. This was in spite of the fact that the most in question contained a hashtag reading, not a family matter...More
2020/12/09 | Permalink
The upcoming tvN drama "Raw" recently confirmed several members of the core cast. "Raw" is based on the webtoon of the same title, which deals with a male gumiho, here played by Jang Ki-yong, who gets mixed up with a human college student, played by Hyeri, due to an incident involving his mystical beads. Their participation in the project as lead actors was confirmed last week...More
2020/12/09 | Permalink
With his name becoming more popular due to an increasingly prominent role in the currently airing drama "The Penthouse", Park Eun-seok has become dogged by a rumor which his agency has yet to fully deny...More
2020/12/08 | Permalink
On December 8th STARNEWS Korea released hitherto unseen footage of Kim Seon-ho at the Asia Artist Awards last month. The minute long clip can be seen on their YouTube channel which is produced in association with Kakao. At present, there is no English translation for the clip in question...More
2020/12/08 | Permalink
On December 8th Netflix released new behind the scenes images from "The Call" giving a glimpse of what the mystery thriller looked like on set. The photos include a mix of the cast and crew deliberating over the way they should be recreating scenes as well as sillier moments of the actors resting on set with cameras visible in the foreground...More
2020/12/08 | Permalink
On December 8th MBC announced the hosts for this year's MBC Gayo Daejejeon. The annual musical program will take place on December 31st as a year-end event. Yoona, who has hosted the event since 2015, will return once again as an emcee...More
2020/12/07 | Permalink
Interpark Entertainment recently announced that Epitone Project, an independent band they represent, will release a new single and music video on December 15th at six in the evening Korean time. The title of the song in question will be Insomnia. The official announcement for the music video contained a largely unidentifiable man in silhouette although the credited information reveals a surprising identity for the actor- Kim Seon-ho...More
2020/12/07 | Permalink
On December 7th an interview was released wherein Nam Joo-hyuk talks about his starring role in the upcoming film "Josee". In the movie, the titular Josee is played by Han Ji-min, but the perspective character is Young-seok, who is played by Nam Joo-hyuk. The story of their happy time together is based on the 2003 Japanese movie Josee, the Tiger and the Fish, which itself is based on the Japanese novel of the same name...More
2020/12/07 | Permalink
On December 7th "Lucky Chan-sil" revealed that the movie would receive an official domestic release in Japan on January 8th. The news follows the re-release of "Lucky Chan-sil" at the South Korean box office on November 26th. As of this writing the movie has earned 28,961 admissions at the South Korean admissions...More
2020/12/06 | Permalink
On December 6th closing statements from the four principal actors of "Start Up" were released following the airing of the drama's final episode. Bae Suzy described her time on "Start Up" both as happy but also as a disappointment. Specifically, she described the ending of the drama as being a disappointment because of the important, happy part her role had provided for her over the previous eight months. Bae Suzy thanked the staff for their hard work, saying it was an honor to work with them...More
2020/12/06 | Permalink
On December 6th actor Bong Tae-gyu feigned shock with his Instagram upload. In the picture, a young girl with large rimmed glasses can be seen smiling broadly. Bong Tae-gyu has the shocked comment, Ah!!!! Goo Ho-dong!!!!!...More
2020/12/06 | Permalink
While "Josee" will not officially release in theaters until December 10th the movie is already a certain lock for a box office win over the next week. Despite the movie's lack of availability, figures released by the Korean Film Council as of this writing show that over 14,000 people have already reserved tickets for the film...More
2020/12/05 | Permalink
Going into its final week, on paper "Start Up" isn't much to look at. The drama has consistently hovered in the 5% range for its entire run. It has neither improved nor weakened the profiles of its lead actors Bae Suzy and Nam Joo-hyuk. But their co-star Kim Seon-ho is a different matter. Originally a stage actor, Kim Seon-ho made his debut with "Chief Kim" in 2017 with a supporting role as a philosopher turned accountant. His kind-hearted character was a hit with viewers...More
2020/12/05 | Permalink
On December 3rd the omnibus film "Motelier" was released to on-demand services. The sexually themed comedy is framed as a series of vignettes told by podcast. In contrast to most erotic South Korean movies, which are aimed toward older audiences, "Motelier" is directed at 20-30 year old audiences. This fact is made especially obvious by the surprising choice of lead actress- Lee Ga-eun, who is better known as a singer for her association with After School...More
2020/12/05 | Permalink
On December 4th The Swoon, which is powered by Netflix, published a video of actor Kim Seon-ho reacting to a fan video which The Swoon had published two weeks prior. While some questions are sprinkled throughout the video from an unseen interviewer, for the most part Kim Seon-ho simply describes the backstory behind various scenes. Kim Seon-ho notably radiates with affection regarding Bae Suzy, Nam Joo-hyuk, and even Kim Hae-sook...More
2020/12/04 | Permalink
Bobby (played by writer/director Bobby Choy) is an aspiring Korean American singer/songwriter in New York City who works as a moderately successful telemarketer by day. "Fiction and Other Realities" takes us through a low point in Bobby's life as he experiences existential dread at the apparent meaninglessness of his existence. It doesn't take much prodding from his more successfully musical friend Billy (played by Todd Goble) to get Bobby to take an impulsive trip to the homeland of his parents...More
2020/12/04 | Permalink
Elancia was a massively multiplayer online role playing game released in 1999 by Nexon. If you haven't heard of it, well, that's not surprising. Even in South Korea Elancia is pretty obscure. In fact, director Park Yun-jin opens the movie up with clips of people exclaiming just how terrible this game is, and how nobody in the modern day in their right mind would play it. Which naturally begs the question of why people, director Park Yun-jin among them, continue to play Elancia when better MMORPGs are available...More
2020/12/04 | Permalink
Winner of the Silver Bear Extraordinary Jury Prize at the 12th Berlin International Film Festival in 1960, "To the Last Day" is a rather melodramatic production, but also quite impressive cinematically and with a rather provocative (for the era) comment...More
2020/12/02 | Permalink
On December 2nd Netflix released new behind the scenes still shots for "The Call" which was released on November 27th. The release of the stills appears to be motivated largely by popular demand...More
2020/12/02 | Permalink
With a 63% increase in relative metrics "The Penthouse" surged to the top of the Good Data Report this week, overcoming weeks of dominance by "Start Up" which now falls to second place. Dramatic events at the halfway point of the deliberately intense and violent drama led to a surge in interest. By contrast, "Start Up" was winding down in its penultimate week, with turnabouts mainly of interest to existing fans leading to a small increase of just a sixteenth of a percent...More
2020/12/02 | Permalink
The American singer/songwriter Billie Eilish is famous in her own right, and in the proper entertainment media circles. This is generally for her musical talent, however, as her image has taken on new meaning thanks to "The Call"...More
2020/12/01 | Permalink
VAST Entertainment recently announced that Lee Yeon-hee would now be represented by the agency. In a statement, they said they had great hopes when it came to assisting her in upcoming times of change and challenge in a happy future. Lee Yeon-hee had been represented by SM Entertainment for some nineteen years. The move likely seems aimed at bolstering her acting career...More
2020/12/01 | Permalink
On December 1st, the Blank Corporation bathware division Body Rub announced a special event for its 2020 Blue Friday sale. Hyun Bin, a long-term model for Body Rub will be central to the promotion of the sale over December 2nd and December 3rd. Certain branded items, such as the Hyun Bin Filter Shower Head, will be available at a special discount over the course of the sale...More
2020/12/01 | Permalink
On December 1st Netflix released new stills for the upcoming drama "Sweet Home" which will air on the streaming platform. "Sweet Home" is based on the webtoon of the same title. It stars Song Kang in the leading role as a teenager who undergoes many strange occurences after losing his family and home. The stills in question have an ominous quality, featuring bloodied characters with intense expressions holding makeshift weapons in the face of some unknown threat...More
2020/11/30 | Permalink
On November 30th Netflix released an interview featuring director Lee Chung-hyun with some choices comments about "The Call" which was released on the streaming platform on November 27th worldwide. "The Call" is the first feature from Lee Chung-hyun, but it's also the first role for lead actress Jun Jong-seo since "Burning" in 2018. Lee Chung-hyun said that he cast Jun Jong-seo due to the unknowable vibe she exuded in that movie, finding it a perfect compliment to the concept in "The Call"...More
2020/11/30 | Permalink
In three months time, "Bleak Night" will be enjoying its ten year anniversary. Though not as flashy as more mainstream releases or more auteur styled films from South Korean directors, "Bleak Night" has been a huge influence on South Korean film over this time. It almost single-handedly created the disaffected youth genre of South Korean film. "Park Hwa-young" is another such movie from 2018. And "Set Play", which releases on December 10th, will be still another one...More
2020/11/30 | Permalink
With the release of "The Call" on Netflix amid a COVID-19 enforced slump at South Korean theaters, many are wondering how much of the future of South Korean film may rest with the streaming platform. According to FlixPatrol, "The Call" has made steady progress climbing up the streaming giant's worldwide charts, hitting seventh place on November 29th. This is in addition to being number one in the domestic South Korean charts...More
2020/11/29 | Permalink
The Korea Institute of Enterprise Reputation recently released its latest monthly report regarding actors in currently airing television actors. From a list of fifty performers, the Korea Institute of Enterprise Reputation analyzes social media trends and big data to calculate which actor has the most immediately popular brand...More
2020/11/29 | Permalink
Major actors such as Lee Min-ho, Jun Ji-hyun, and Kim Soo-hyun have long been popular overseas. Jun Ji-hyun was pivotal to the first Korean Wave for film in the early 2000's, with Lee Min-ho and Kim Soo-hyun being similar major figures in the early 2010's. But the 2020's have seen all three actors adjust to facing the international market first, as they take on projects with clear international pretensions in mind...More
2020/11/29 | Permalink
On November 29th actor Kim Seon-ho sent a message out on Instagram in regards to his recent win at the Asia Artist Awards which were broadcast on November 28th...More
2020/11/28 | Permalink
With the worldwide release of "The Call" on Netflix comments by leading actress Park Shin-hye on the supernatural mystery thriller have taken on new interest. A recent interview with the actress had Park Shin-hye expressing a sense of being unnerved at how the movie is only releasing now, some eight months after the first press conference in March. Nevertheless, Park Shin-hye was appreciative of how the movie is now releasing to an international audience instead of the original limited Korean one...More
2020/11/28 | Permalink
With South Korea's current COVID-19 prevention measures jumping up to level three, there will not be any major promotional pushes for new films in wide release before the end of the year. Compared to the initial outbreak, independent films in South Korea have continued to release at a regular schedule. Additionally, rebroadcasts of films old and new have become increasingly common to allow for some variety at multiplexes...More
2020/11/28 | Permalink
On November 28th Kim So-yeon made a post on her Instagram account. In the relevant pictures, she can be seen standing in front of a cake that is in the back of a car while holding balloons and flowers. A nearby banner declares that Kim So-yeon is a thief, for stealing their hearts, and that they're hopeful she will come steal them again in season two of "The Penthouse"...More
2020/11/27 | Permalink
Seo-yeon (played by Park Shin-hye) is a woman in her late twenties forced into an obscure property In Yeongcheon due to the worsening medical condition of her mother, here played by Kim Sung-ryung. This takes a turn for the weird when Seo-yeon starts receiving ominous phone calls from Yeong-sook (played by Jun Jong-seo), who is clearly under the impression she is talking to someone else. The two bond over Seo Taiji, which is a decent if rather specific clue for where "The Call" ends up going...More
2020/11/27 | Permalink
I could tell that "Dragon Inn Part 1: The City of Sadness" was intended to be the first in a series of films because, well, the title makes it pretty obvious. But aside from that I was morbidly impressed with the sheer degree of disinterest director Choi Sang-hoon-II had in explaining who any of the movie's characters even were. Everything just seems like an excuse for some guy wearing a motorcycle helmet to go around punching people...More
2020/11/27 | Permalink
The Shadowless Pagoda (Sakyamuni Yeoraesangjuseolbeop Tap) is a stone pagoda in South Korea designated as the 21st National Treasure on December 12, 1962. It was built by Asadal, an outstanding stonemason of Baekje who was brought to Silla to build Dabotap (also known as Pagoda of Many Treasures) and Seokgatap (the titular one). According to a myth that might as well be true, after several years with no news of her husband, Asadal's young wife went to Seorabeol to find him...More
2020/11/25 | Permalink
On November 25th the productions behind the television dramas "Joseon Exorcist", "The Penthouse", "Hush" and "Mr. Queen" as well as the web drama "Lovestruck in the City" all announced that their leading actors had received COVID-19 test results as of November 24th...More
2020/11/25 | Permalink
On December 9th "True Beauty" will premiere on tvN. The drama is based on the Naver webtoon of the same title and stars Moon Ga-young in the lead role as a visually unremarkable high school girl who achieves a cult following on YouTube for her beauty video blog. "True Beauty" is also the first project from director Kim Sang-hyeob since "Extraordinary You" last year, and he has high hopes for the new project...More
2020/11/25 | Permalink
On November 20th Esquire Korea released pictures from a photoshoot of Kim Seon-ho which were to be published in an upcoming issue. But Esquire Korea was soon embarrassed as an untouched photo of Kim Seon-ho was mistakenly use in their own official materials...More
2020/11/24 | Permalink
On November 21st, a person associated with the upcoming drama "Bossam - Stealing Destiny" was revealed to have tested positive for COVID-19. The drama, which is still in its early stages, stars Jung Il-woo and Kwon Yuri in the leading roles. Production for the drama is in such an early phase there haven't even been official announcements for most of the cast yet. However, the shared nature of the afflicted area is such that a large number of other dramas have been forced to shut down...More
2020/11/24 | Permalink
On November 24th "The Penthouse" confirmed that plans were in the works for a second ("The Penthouse 2") and third season ("The Penthouse - Season 3") of the popular drama. Purportedly, these seasons will have twelve episodes apiece...More
2020/11/24 | Permalink
On November 21st comedian Park Hwi-soon married his girlfriend, who has drawn attention for being much younger than him, to the tune of seventeen years. The two came into public consciousness when they were announced to be among the spotlighted couples for the next season of the variety show Taste of Wife...More
2020/11/23 | Permalink
The second episode of "The Goddess of Revenge" featured an unexpected appearance. Though the role for the young version of the lead character played by Kim Sa-rang had not been announced in advance, when young Kang Ha-rae appeared in the drama she was played by none other than the new actress Yang Jung-yeon...More
2020/11/23 | Permalink
The movie "Day and Moon" recently announced that actor Ha Kyung would be appearing in the film. Ha Kyung is currently appeared in the drama "Delayed Justice" as the tragic victim of a frame up although his name was eventually cleared...More
2020/11/23 | Permalink
"Start Up" has been surprisingly good for Kim Seon-ho's image. When his role as second lead in the drama was first announced, it was widely seen as a downgrade, and perhaps an unavoidable one. His last drama, "Catch the Ghost" ended with ratings of 2.6% down from a premiere episode of 4.1%. While the performance was not terrible, it also did not do much to inspire confidence in Kim Seon-ho as a leading man...More
2020/11/22 | Permalink
Actress Jin Se-yeon recently passed the ten year anniversary of her debut. The exact date is calculated as November 22nd, which was the first airdate for the drama "It's Okay, Daddy's Girl". Though Jin Se-yeon did not have a major role, it was the first screen credit for the then seventeen year old actress...More
2020/11/22 | Permalink
Last month, W Magazine Korea announced their models for this year's LOVE YOU W campaign, which aims to improve breast cancer awareness. At that time, only wide angle promotional shots for the event were available...More
2020/11/22 | Permalink
In its first weekend the new TV Chosun drama "The Goddess of Revenge" had a respectable opening of 3.4%. "The Goddess of Revenge" is the first TV Chosun drama to air on Saturday and Sunday night since "King Maker: The Change of Destiny" which ended on July 26th with ratings of 5.9%...More
2020/11/21 | Permalink
On November 21st Kim Seon-ho made an Instagram post honoring the crew of "Start Up". For the most part the faces of the crew members are obscured so as to protect their privacy...More
2020/11/21 | Permalink
On Twitter the television network MBC Dramanet recently announced that they would be reairing the 2018 short drama "You Drive Me Crazy". In general it is unusual for networks to bother to rebroadcast short dramas. "You Drive Me Crazy" is only two episodes long, about the same length as a movie...More
2020/11/21 | Permalink
The upcoming December issue of Esquire Korea will feature a photoshoot with actor Kim Seon-ho as the centerpiece. The concept of the photoshoot is BEHIND THE STAGE and is promising to show a hidden side of the actor. The pictures show a wide variety of stylings for Kim Seon-ho, from unusually colored lighting to self aware expressions to peculiar movements...More
2020/11/20 | Permalink
Hyeon-sil (played by Kim Ye-eun) is a lazy woman in her late twenties. She has an excited, energetic dog but doesn't like walking him in the morning. In the very weird scene that follows we see Hyeon-sil be clumsily hit on by a young jogger who clearly doesn't know how to talk to women. But does Hyeon-sil herself have any idea how to talk to anyone? That is the central mystery behind "Midsummer Madness" which is more literally translated as Midsummer Thinking...More
2020/11/20 | Permalink
The most immediately distinctive aspect of "Our Midnight" is how the movie is filmed in black and white. There's no obvious reason for this to start out with- save, of course, for the fact that black-and-white filming is cheaper, and "Our Midnight" is an independent film that was made on a budget. But then that's very thematically on-brand, given how the movie revolves around failed actors who become obsessed with suicide, albeit not for the reason you're probably expecting...More
2020/11/20 | Permalink
In this year's editions of BIFAN and BIFF, there were mostly two tendencies among the Korean films. One was a kind of "weird wave", of genre-bending films that moved into almost uncanny cinematic directions, and the other of intense art-house ones, of the sort where realism takes over the narrative to the point that , occasionally, nothing ever happens. "AND THERE WAS LIGHT" seems to combine these two tendencies, eventually resulting in a film that is quite different, but also both art-house and "strange"...More
2020/11/18 | Permalink
On November 18th the the Good Data Corporation released the latest iteration of the Good Data Report, which measures how dramas perform across various social media metrics. "Start Up" was once again on top of the report, with a stronger lead over its rivals compared to the previous week...More
2020/11/18 | Permalink
"Run On" is set to be released on December 16th, and jTBC has released new character posters as part of its marketing push...More
2020/11/18 | Permalink
Storywiz recently announced the upcoming drama "Color Rush" and provided pictures of the first script reading. They are making "Color Rush"...More
2020/11/17 | Permalink
The eighth episode of the SBS drama "The Penthouse" did not air as originally planned on November 17th due to a football game. On that night, the South Korean national football team was set to play a friendly match against Qatar...More
2020/11/17 | Permalink
On November 17th, DinDin announced on his Instagram account that he had prepared a coffee car for Kim Seon-ho. The banners make it clear that the coffee car is intended for the cast and crew of "Start Up" in which Kim Seon-ho is currently starring...More
2020/11/17 | Permalink
Netflix recently released a special preview trailer for "The Call" which is currently set to release on November 27th worldwide in the streaming platform...More
2020/11/16 | Permalink
The tvN drama "Start Up" recently released new stills for the drama which focus on lead actors Bae Suzy and Nam Joo-hyuk behind the scenes. While much of the reception of "Start Up" has hinged on the drama's depiction of start up corporations, these stills focus more on the chemistry between the two lead actors...More
2020/11/16 | Permalink
Last week a police report revealed that the persons who were caught hacking the cell phone data of various celebrities (like Ha Jung-woo and Joo Jin-mo) and blackmailing them with it have been connected to wider cybercrimes...More
2020/11/16 | Permalink
Recently Kim Do-wan, Yoo Su-bin, and Stephanie Lee of the currently airing television drama appeared in a special video. In the video, the three expressed their support for real world start up firms. According to Yoo Su-bin, South Korea is the world's most innovative country and start up firms are a very important part of that...More
2020/11/15 | Permalink
Recently Bae Suzy in "Start Up" and Krystal in "Search" have redefined what it means for former singers to take up acting in television dramas. Far from being an obvious fit for their brands, Bae Suzy's role as a brainy entrepreneur in "Start Up" and Krystal's role as a soldier in "Search" have shown off very different sides of the actresses. Now Kim Sejeong will follow them in the upcoming drama "The Uncanny Counter"...More
2020/11/15 | Permalink
Actress Han Ji-min recently made an online social media post featuring Han Hyo-joo and Choo Ja-hyun. The three actresses are all clad in safety masks, brandishing receipts they had purchased for the recently premiered movie "The Day I Died: Unclosed Case"...More
2020/11/15 | Permalink
A recent Instagram post by Nam Gyu-ri has gone into some detail regarding the actress's preparations for the drama. The post itself features Nam Gyu-ri practicing on the piano. In the text accompanying the post, Nam Gyu-ri claims to have been practicing playing on the piano for roughly two hours prior to the relevant scenes in "Kairos"...More
2020/11/14 | Permalink
Earlier this week, entertainer Byun Woo-min made a surprise appearance on "The Penthouse". While Byun Woo-min is best known for his musical work, particular in regards to trot music, he fit in surprisingly well with the intense environment of the drama. What's more, Byun Woo-min's character was quickly revealed to be at the epicenter of the drama's key mystery...More
2020/11/14 | Permalink
On November 13th a person associated with the production of "The Penthouse" confirmed to a Korean news organization that the drama's script is now complete. Furthermore, according to the present schedule, filming is expected to be completed sometime in late November...More
2020/11/14 | Permalink
On November 13th the APAN Star Awards announced the acting nominees for their upcoming ceremony which will take place on November 29th. The nominations for best actor in a miniseries include Kim Min-jae-I for "Do You Like Brahms", Park Bo-gum for "Record of Youth", Park Hae-joon for "The World of the Married", Joo Won for "Alice", and Ji Chang-wook for "Backstreet Rookie". The nominees run a long gamut in terms of relative fame and genre projects...More
2020/11/13 | Permalink
Hyeon (played by Kim Yi-kyung) first meets Jae-ha (played by Oh Dong-min) while on a blind date, although such a description is misleading. As Hyeon explains, the reasons she uses dating apps is not to find a romantic partner so much as it is to find a friend with benefits. The distinct impression is given that Hyeon could ditch the friends part if necessary, and is perfectly fine with just a single night of sex. But what if she wants something more?...More
2020/11/13 | Permalink
In the opening scene of "A Leave" we watch a bunch of furniture factory employees at a sit-in, continuously on strike in Seoul. We soon find out that they recently lost a lawsuit. Jae-bok (played by Lee Bong-ha) is having doubts about the mission. Because Jae-bok is not very good at expressing himself, it's some time before we realize that he's raising two daughters at home far from Seoul. Since the labor action is at a standstill, his fellows advise Jae-bok to take "A Leave" at home while they plot their next move...More
2020/11/13 | Permalink
Four year after the quite successful "ALONE", Park Hong-min returns to Busan with a feature that moves in gender-bender, experimental paths...More
2020/11/13 | Permalink
Feature debut for Kwon Min-pyo and Seo Han-sol and a production of Dankook Graduate School of Cinematic Content where both of them studied, "Short Vacation" had its World premiere in Busan...More
2020/11/11 | Permalink
On November 11th the upcoming movie "The Call" released new production stills. "The Call" is currently set for an international release on November 27th, the production company having decided to abandon the original planned theatrical release back in March. "The Call" is likely to be a test case going forward in the COVID-19 era in terms of genre films going straight to Netflix without attempting a proper box office release first...More
2020/11/11 | Permalink
On November 10th Park Shin-hye posted a picture to Instagram thanking Yoo Yeon-seok for sending a coffee car to the set of "Sisyphus: The Myth" which she is currently filming alongside Cho Seung-woo and Sung Dong-il...More
2020/11/11 | Permalink
On November 11th the Blue Dragon Film Awards released the official list of nominations for the awards ceremony that will take place on December 11th. "The Man Standing Next" is the early favorite, with the cerebral spy film leading with eleven nominations for ten individuals...More
2020/11/10 | Permalink
On November 10th the Good Data Corporation released the latest iteration of its Good Data Report, which measures the popularity of South Korean dramas based across multiple social and media platforms...More
2020/11/10 | Permalink
On November 10th S.A.L.T Entertainment confirmed that Kim Seon-ho, who is represented by the agency, has received an offer for the lead role in the upcoming drama "Link: Eat, Love, Die". They noted that Kim Seon-ho has not had time to seriously review the offer, as he is currently appearing in "Start Up" as well as in a popular variety show and he has also been cast in an upcoming state play...More
2020/11/10 | Permalink
On November 9th Ku Hye-sun turned thirty seven years old. The actress posted a video to Instagram in order to commemorate the occasion. In the video, she can be seen in a dark place with a birthday cake...More
2020/11/09 | Permalink
Ku Hye-sun recently appeared on the variety talk show 'Omniscient Interfering View". It was the first variety show appearance in years for the actress, who has avoided visual entertainment media as she has explored a more unconventional career path involving directing, music, and art...More
2020/11/09 | Permalink
The long running South Korean variety show Running Man announced to news periodicals on November 9th that they had booked the cast of "The Penthouse" for an upcoming episode to be aired on November 22nd...More
2020/11/09 | Permalink
At a recent press conference directors from the upcoming season of KBS Drama Specials were on hand to discuss their work. The press conference was held online. In addition to the actors of the relevant works, director Hong Eun-mi of "Drama Special - Modern Girl", director Yoo Kwan-mo of "Drama Special - Crevasse", and director Choi Sang-yeol of "Drama Special - The Joys and Sorrows of Work" were on hand to discuss their dramas...More
2020/11/08 | Permalink
On November 6th Sidus HQ released a picture of actress Jo Bo-ah holding a certificate stating that she is an honorary firefighter. Jo Bo-ah was given the certificate on November 6th as part of an event for Fire Prevention Week, which is leading up to Fire Prevention Day on November 9th...More
2020/11/08 | Permalink
On the November 7th episode of "Start Up" comedian Moon Se-yoon made a surprise appearance as a police officer. His appearance follows an emotional scene where the character played by Kim Seon-ho angrily throws away a flower pot he had received as a gift...More
2020/11/08 | Permalink
A recent broadcast of the SBS Radio program 'Cultwo Show' featured Jang Hye-jin and Krystal talking about their upcoming film "More Than Family". In the movie, Krystal takes on the role of a young woman who finds herself accidentally pregnant and decides to search out her birth father. Jang Hye-jin plays the role of her mother...More
2020/11/07 | Permalink
In its first two weeks on air "The Penthouse" improved on an impressive start of 9.2% in its first episode to a commanding margin of 13.9% in its fourth episode. The upper class themed thriller has struck a major chord with audiences. The intensity was high from the very beginning, as the drama opened up with a person falling to their death from the titular penthouse, with subsequent episodes only relatively recently catching up to the context of this shocking prologue...More
2020/11/07 | Permalink
On November 6th Kim Seon-ho made a post to his Instagram account acknowledging the receipt of a coffee car. In the pictures he is seen standing next to a couple of large placards of himself...More
2020/11/07 | Permalink
A recent broadcast of the variety show program 'Taste of Wife' surprised viewers with the appearance of Park Hwi-soon's soon to be bride, Cheon Ye-ji, who is seventeen years the junior of the forty-three year old comedian...More
2020/11/06 | Permalink
Winner of the Actor of the Year award in Busan, "Our Joyful Summer Days" seems to continue the effort the festival has started the previous years, of promoting independent productions of female filmmakers, which usually move towards paths of realism in context, and art-house in aesthetics...More
2020/11/06 | Permalink
Jero Yun always had an interest in immigration, particularly involving North Koreans, which he continued when he switched to feature from documentary, as in the case of "Beautiful Days - 2017". His feature approach in the subject is cemented in "FIGHTER", probably his best feature work as of now, which premiered at Busan winning the NETPAC and the Actress of the Year awards...More
2020/11/06 | Permalink
An early conversation with the producer and songwriter of BLACKPINK, Teddy Park on a low profile, closes out with him being dismissive of the idea that K-pop actually exists. He's just like, music is music, and we're playing to an international audience. How is that any different from any other kind of popular music? This thesis resounds throughout "BLACKPINK: Light Up the Sky", which goes out of its way to emphasize the international nature of its group...More
2020/11/06 | Permalink
The Carthusians are an enclosed religious order of the Catholic Church. The most distinctive aspect of the Carthusians is that they take a vow of silence. Ironically enough, "The Carthusian Cloistered Monastery" depicts the monks speaking quite a bit, perhaps as a contrast to their normally quiet daily lives. The rules at the sole Carthusian monastery in Asia, more specifically in the Sangju district of South Korea, are a bit more lax than I was expecting...More
2020/11/04 | Permalink
On November 2nd actress Ku Hye-sun started a new YouTube channel with a focus on New Age music which has promised weekly updates of videos regarding her piano albums. It can be seen here...More
2020/11/04 | Permalink
Following reports that Kim Nam-gil had been offered leading roles in the upcoming OCN program "Island - Drama" persons close to the production confirmed that this was indeed the case. While neither Kim Nam-gil nor Seo Ye-ji has accepted an offer, persons close to them have also confirmed that offers are received and currently being considered...More
2020/11/04 | Permalink
The healthcare product brand recently signed Son Ye-jin on as a new model. The actress will promote a product known as LactoBiome, a probiotic product that makes use of microbiums. LactoBiome will serve as the basis for a whole new line of skincare products designed to promote skin health...More
2020/11/03 | Permalink
The South Korean portal website DCInside recently released the latest in their Exciting DC Poll series which posits eccentric questions about various celebrities. The question for this particular poll was, which actress looks best in traditional Korean clothing? This follows upon a similar poll asking the same question of actors which resulted in Kim Soo-hyun and Yoo Ah-in in the top spots...More
2020/11/03 | Permalink
With the release of "The Day I Died: Unclosed Case" Kim Sun-young once again establishes herself as a solid supporting performer in a wide variety of roles. "The Day I Died: Unclosed Case" is the fifth screen credit for Kim Sun-young this year. This follows roles in "Hospital Playlist", "Kkondae Intern", "Backstreet Rookie", and "Homemade Love Story"...More
2020/11/03 | Permalink
Warner Brothers Korea surprised many recently when they announced an official release date for "Josee", a film which has been in an indefinite state for quite some time. The movie will come out in theaters on December 10th, despite not yet having even so much as an official theatrical poster. "Josee" is based on the Japanese film Josee, The Tiger and the Fish, which is based on the short story of the same title. Nam Joo-hyuk and Han Ji-min are the lead actors for the project...More
2020/11/02 | Permalink
A recent survey conducted by the South Korean entertainment news periodical Yes Joy 24 found Hyun Bin and Son Ye-jin to be the biggest name couple of the year thanks to their roles in the hit drama "Crash Landing on You"...More
2020/11/02 | Permalink
Actor Lee Do-hyun is in trouble with his fans following public dissemination of a Lovestagram post which appears to show that he regifted a pig hat fans gave him for his birthday. The unknown woman who appears in a picture wearing the hat is speculated to be his girlfriend. On November 2nd, Lee Do-hyun's agency Yue Hwa Entertainment issued a statement explaining that the woman was a friend of Lee Do-hyun who wore the hat for fun...More
2020/11/02 | Permalink
While explicitly glamorous or egregious product placement often catches the most attention the furniture company has managed a subtle coup by managing to largely seamlessly get its products integrated into "Start Up". The youth coding romance centered around entrepreneurship does, after all, require much furniture due to the drama's business emphasis...More
2020/11/01 | Permalink
With the upcoming release of "The Day I Died: Unclosed Case" actress Roh Jeong-eui has become the latest child star to show marked determination to continue her choice of career into hotel. In "The Day I Died: Unclosed Case" Roh Jeong-eui is still playing a teenager as usual. But in contrast to her previous artistic projects and roles as the younger version of the actual leads, Roh Jeong-eui is playing to a wider audience as "The Day I Died: Unclosed Case" is a mainstream release...More
2020/11/01 | Permalink
A recent episode of the KBS entertainment new programs YJ Live revealed a list of the top ten wealthiest South Korean celebrities in terms of real estate holdings. The top spot was held jointly by Rain and Kim Tae-hee, who own their rental properties together as a spousal unit...More
2020/11/01 | Permalink
With "Space Sweepers" looking into a possible Netflix only release and "Emergency Declaration" being pushed back into next year, "SEOBOK" is likely to be the only major blockbuster theatrical release for the upcoming holiday season. Much of the premise of "SEOBOK" is experimental, with a science fiction concept that revolves around cloning. But in terms of marketing a clear trend has already emerged- emphasize the bromance...More
2020/10/31 | Permalink
SBS recently announced that they would be revising the viewer rating for "The Penthouse". The first two episodes of the drama were recommended for viewers over the age of fourteen, and the third episode which is set to broadcast on November 2nd will have the same recommendation. However, the fourth episode on November 3rd will see this rating rise to only appropriate for viewers over the age of eighteen...More
2020/10/31 | Permalink
The success of "The World of the Married" earlier this year caught many by surprise. "The World of the Married" had an older female lead, focused on social elements, and utilized many soap opera elements, but nevertheless was both a major critical and commercial success. With "The Penthouse" the first attempt to recreate that success has finally hit screens. With strong ratings in its first week, the reception of "The Penthouse" is good news for other dramas produced with these themes in mind...More
2020/10/31 | Permalink
The popularity of "The Penthouse" has quickly inspired comparisons to "SKY Castle" with its similar subject matter of affluent housewives starkly competing with each other for social success. But the similarities go beyond subject matter alone. "The Penthouse" is also using a similar grandiloquent technique to depict the drama's cutthroat world, with a particular emphasis on extreme wealth...More
2020/10/30 | Permalink
Director Koo Yun-joo was once a gifted child. She loved receiving praise for being smart. So as Koo Yun-joo grew up into a young woman, she was always on the lookout for the next chance to win an award or do something that would be impressive on a resume. In the main moment of nostalgia for "Dear My Genius" we see some grainy old footage of Koo Yun-joo going to space camp in the United States as a teenager, an experience she clearly remembers with much fondness...More
2020/10/30 | Permalink
The mother of director Jung Hyungmin is an old woman in her eighties and a devout Buddhist. She's had a difficult life, being widowed in her late thirties and having to take care of her children on her own. She's a simple woman, without much in the way of desires. So it was that, as her final wish, Jung Hyungmin's mother asked for her son to take her on a pilgramage. Over "Journey to Kailash" they travel the long, empty roads from Mongolia to Tibet, living intermittently in the infinite wonder of the wild...More
2020/10/30 | Permalink
Director Han Hyeong-mo was considered to be at the vanguard of 1950s Korean popular cinema, and "The Pure Love", based on the homonymous best seller by Park Gye-ju, which was reprinted more than 30 times, cemented the fact, by becoming one of three South Korean films to sell more than 100,000 tickets in Seoul during its year of release. However, there is such a thing as "too mainstream" and the film definitely moves over that border...More
2020/10/28 | Permalink
At a recent cultural event for the South Korean navy Park Bo-gum made some impromptu remarks about "Record of Youth" which finished on October 27th. The navy cultural event, which involved a musical performance, took place on that same night, at an event which Park Bo-gum co-hosted with Park Se-young. The event was broadcast live on YouTube, and can be watched here although English subtitles are not available...More
2020/10/28 | Permalink
The musically themed drama "Do You Like Brahms" ended on October 20th with ratings of 6%. While not a trendsetter "Do You Like Brahms" has done much to improve the reputation of lead actor Lee Min-jae-I. The drama was big step up for his profile following much lower profile roles in "Flower Crew: Joseon Marriage Agency" and "Dr. Romantic 2" and the actor recently gave an interview describing his feelings about the production...More
2020/10/28 | Permalink
On October 28th Dazed Korea released images from the magazine's photoshoot with actress Lee Ji-ah, who has become a topic of interest due to her starring role in the recently released drama "The Penthouse" which had ratings of over ten percent in its second episode...More
2020/10/27 | Permalink
The new drama "Kairos" premiered on October 26th with ratings of 3.7%. Shortly before airing, the fantasy romance thriller held a press conference where the actors had a chance to answer some questions about the project. "Kairos" deals with a father played by Shin Sung-rok and a daughter played by Lee Se-young attempting to find their daughter and mother, who appear to have disappeared due to supernatural forces...More
2020/10/27 | Permalink
The Korean branch of the women's fashion magazine W recently held a photoshoot of various celebrities to commemorate the start of it's breast cancer awareness campaign...More
2020/10/27 | Permalink
Voting has begun for the Asia Pacific Actors Network (APAN) Star Awards, which will hold ceremonies for musicians on November 28th and actors on November 29th. From October 27th to November 27th on the Idol Champ mobile application, fans will have the chance to vote for their favorites from the newly released ballot. Prizes for the popularity award are to be divided by gender...More
2020/10/26 | Permalink
Since the appearance of Nam Joo-hyuk's character in flashback on the drama "Start Up" back in the second episode, fans have noticed what appears to be an Easter egg in his hair design, though it may be a coincidence. Nam Joo-hyuk's hair appears very poofy and nerdy in flashback, as if he doesn't pay attention to it...More
2020/10/26 | Permalink
Fresh off of a noteworthy if small scale success in the webdrama "Kiss Goblin" earlier this year Jeon Hye-won has had an increased profile, with the actress recently receiving confirmed credits in the upcoming dramas "Love ft. Marriage and Divorce" and "True Beauy" this December. She's also exposing more of her image with a photoshoot in bnt. An interview is also included alongside this modeling...More
2020/10/26 | Permalink
"Start Up" had ratings of 5% in its latest episode. These ratings, while modest, are generally seen as at least passable in the current drama marketplace with wider disparities between popular and unpopular shows as well as increased emphasis on streaming services. But they're a bit of a shock for a project coming from star screenwriter Park Hye-ryeon, who has often been seen as a reliable hitmaker...More
2020/10/25 | Permalink
National Assembly representative Park Jung recently released a report from the Korean Copyright Protection Agency (KCPA) warning that sterner action was necessary against pirated streaming sites. According to his statements, many South Korean programs are constantly reuploaded to streaming sites even as they are just as equally frequently taken down...More
2020/10/25 | Permalink
According to recently released real estate filings actor Park Seo-joon bought a ten million dollar building in the Sinsa neighborhood of the Gangnam district in Seoul. The purchase happened sometime in the spring after "Itaewon Class" had finished airing. The two events are likely related, as "Itaewon Class" performed quite well domestically and abroad and as the top-billed star Park Seo-joon almost certainly was awarded bonuses for such contigencies...More
2020/10/25 | Permalink
The men's magazine Arena Korea recently released a photoshoot featuring Lee Sang-yi-I and Koo Ja-sung. In contrast to the more common single celebrity photoshoots, this one has a more bromantic vibe...More
2020/10/24 | Permalink
Persons close to the film distributor Acemaker as well as Netflix have suggested to press that "Wonderland" is likely to be released on Netflix internationally next year in all territories except for South Korea and China. In an official statement, Netflix has said that while negotiations are ongoing a definite deal has not yet been reached...More
2020/10/24 | Permalink
On October 23rd Bae Suzy posted pictures on Instagram of herself on the shooting location for the currently airing television drama "Start Up". In the pictures, she can be seen making cute faces to a banner of herself that says "START UP!" "CHEER-UP!" in English...More
2020/10/24 | Permalink
The Ji Chang Wook International Team recently unveiled a thank you placard they received from the Miral Welfare Foundation on Twitter. The placard thanks the Ji Chang Wook International team, in English, for a 1.2 million won donation. This amount is approximately equivalent to ten thousand dollars...More
2020/10/23 | Permalink
Despite "The Woman Who Run" being Hong Sang-soo's 24th film in 24 years, the prolific Korean has actually refrained from shooting a movie in the last two years, a decision that was probably for the best, since it was about time to let his fans "miss" his familiar style a bit. In that regard, the film does not do anything different from what HHS usually does, but ends up as a rather interesting spectacle...More
2020/10/23 | Permalink
Director Kim Jee-woon has not exactly been a name in high demand lately since the underwhelming performance of "Illang: The Wolf Brigade" in 2018. Nevertheless, his production company, Dark Circle Pictures, has been busy making movies on a smaller scale this year. These commercially minded flicks feature Bae Suzy and Kim Go-eun in leading roles. Far from the bombastic flicks he's better known for, "If My Things Are At Your Place We're Not Over" and "Untact" are personal, down to earth stories dealing with solitude and relationships...More
2020/10/23 | Permalink
Director Han Tae-ee was, at the time "Welcome to X-world" was being filmed, living with her mother and paternal grandfather in a modest home in the Guro district of Seoul. Han Tae-ee doesn't much care for her grandfather. Her mother doesn't either. So why don't they just move out? "Welcome to X-world" , as a documentary, continuously begs that question until Han Tae-ee's mother finally gives up and agrees to leave...More
2020/10/21 | Permalink
The Asian Artist Awards recently confirmed an initial lineup of presenters. Lee Jung-jae, Lee Joon-gi, Kim Soo-hyun, Seo Ye-ji, Jeon Mi-do, Han So-hee, Park Ju-hyun, Kim Min-jae, Lee Joon-hyuk, and Lee Jae-wook will all participate in the ceremony, which is currently scheduled for November 25th...More
2020/10/21 | Permalink
The South Korean portal website DCInside recently released the results of a poll in their Exciting DC poll, which frames eccentric questions to its users in regards to celebrity preferences. The query for this particular poll was, what man is the perfect fit for traditional Korean clothing? Kim Soo-hyun won with 32% of the vote, but only slightly. Yoo Ah-in was right behind him with 31%...More
2020/10/21 | Permalink
Recent reports have confirmed that the ethnic Koreans who were convicted of hacking eight celebrity phones have filed an appeal to their case. The news follows reports of their conviction back on September 24th of this year, in charges relating to a scandal from late last year and early this year that involved blackmail threats against the afflicted celebrities...More
2020/10/20 | Permalink
On October 20th KBS released new information regarding this year's season of drama specials. Ten drama specials will be released this seasons, starting with "Drama Special - Modern Girl" on November 7th. "Drama Special - Crevasse" will follow on November 14th. "Drama Special - The Joys and Sorrows of Work" will come out on November 21st. "Drama Special - My Lilac" will air on November 28th...More
2020/10/20 | Permalink
While many big profile films have had their releases pushed back or are mulling over premiering in streaming services, the lower profile "Collectors" is still pushing ahead for a release next month. The caper movie deals with tomb raiders, chief among them Kang Dong-goo (played by Lee Je-hoon)...More
2020/10/20 | Permalink
The famed special effects workshop Dexter Studios recently signed a contract to do VFX work for "Silence". Dexter Studios is responsible for the special effects of quite a few popular South Korean films, including "Along With the Gods: The Two Worlds" and "Ashfall"...More
2020/10/19 | Permalink
A recent news report revealed that Son Ye-jin has purchased a high value building in the Sinsa neighborhood of the Gangnam district in Seoul. The purchase was made back in July and recently identified due to legal filings...More
2020/10/19 | Permalink
Recent reports of "Space Sweepers" possibly having its premiere relegated to Netflix have vocalized serious doubts about the South Korean film industry's ability to return to a traditional box office first business model. While sources from Netflix and "Space Sweepers" have only confirmed that the sides are in talks, and insist no deal has yet been struck, the mere rumor alone has begged many questions about the state of the South Korean film industry going forward...More
2020/10/19 | Permalink
Despite poor circumstances in the COVID-19 pandemic, "The Wandering Chef" recently cleared the ten thousand viewer mark at the South Korean box office. The number, while modest, is quite impressive for a documentary film or an independent film particularly in the midst of a global pandemic...More
2020/10/18 | Permalink
The past weekend saw the premiere of two new, very different dramas. "Start Up", starring Bae Suzy and Nam Joo-hyuk, opened up on tvN with ratings of 4.5%. "Start Up" deals with characters attempting to open up a new startup business and is a social drama. Meanwhile, "Search" opened up with ratings of 2.6% on OCN. "Search" deals with a professional military search team, and is focused on action thriller elements...More
2020/10/18 | Permalink
Recently actress Kim Ha-neul released through her agency an interview discussing her various thoughts about the currently airing drama "18 Again" in which she appears in a leading role. Among the topics discussed, Kim Ha-neul claims that "18 Again" seems to be the warmest project she has ever been involved in...More
2020/10/18 | Permalink
A person close to MSTeam Entertainment recently claimed that the agency had a meeting with the production company of the upcoming American film Cross...More
2020/10/17 | Permalink
A huge lineup was recently announced for the upcoming KBS2 drama "Imitation". Jung Ji-so, Lee Jun-young, Jiyeon, Kang Chan-hee, Ahn Jung-hoon-I, Lim Na-young, Minseo, Lee Suwoong, Danny Ahn, Shim Eun-jin, and fours members of ATEEZ JONGHO, SAN, SEONGHWA and YUNHO-I have all been confirmed for the drama. The extensive cast consists of quite a few younger singers...More
2020/10/17 | Permalink
According to figures recently released by HomeChoice, "OK! MADAM" once again let Video-On-Demand releases in the second week of October having returned to the top spot in the first week of October. While "OK! MADAM" originally premiered on VOD services on September 17th, the hijacking themed comedy has had a resurgence as of late in the face of weak competition...More
2020/10/17 | Permalink
The short film "Untact" made its theatrical debut on October 16th but in a curiously limited format. "Untact" will only be screening through October 25th at special theaters in the Yeonnam and Seongsu neighborhoods of Seoul. The limited screenings of "Untact", much like "Untact" itself, were developed to promote 8K home theater systems...More
2020/10/16 | Permalink
We are introduced to bookstore owner Je-moon (played by Yoon Je-moon) as he is being annoyed by So-dam (played by Park So-dam), who's wearing a school uniform in spite of not being a student. So-dam is a queer young woman, and Je-moon mistakes her peculiar behavior for flirting. The situation gets weirder than that as So-dam eventually talks him into going to the titular "Fukuoka" and by apparent coincidence they run into Je-moon's old friend Hae-hyo (played by Kwon Hae-hyo) at a bar...More
2020/10/16 | Permalink
The introductions "Samsara" gives us to its various monks prove surprisingly worldly. Hye-gyeon (played by Kim Jun-bae) bickers with a woman at a dog meat restaurant over various business matters. Hye-yong (played by Hong Hee-yong) does television appearances. Hye-seung (played by Jung Joon-young-I) is a handsome young star on social media. Yet none of these characters are especially in focus throughout "Samsara", as much of the movie takes place in flashback, going over the relationship between senior monk Hye-jin (played by Kim Myung-gon) and his now elderly master Do-beop (played by Lee Yeong-seok)...More
2020/10/16 | Permalink
After a number of awards and an Oscar nomination for "In the Absence", Yi Seung-Jun returns with a new, documentary feature this time, which focuses on the true odyssey of a woman who wants to return to her home and family...More
2020/10/14 | Permalink
On October 7th Lee Dong-wook made his latest debut as a lead actor in the drama "Tale of the Nine Tailed", which premiered with 5.8% ratings, leading all primetime dramas for that timeslot. The action fantasy romance premise is a return to brand for Lee Dong-wook who saw a massive boost to his popularity following "Goblin" in 2016...More
2020/10/14 | Permalink
The daily evening drama "No Matter What" premiered on October 12th with ratings of 18.6%. The drama has been a big step up for leading lady Na Hye-mi, whose profile improved due to her leading role in the well-received "Drama Special - Clean and Polish"...More
2020/10/14 | Permalink
"Dramaworld - Season 2" was recently confirmed, and along with that news, a bevy of actors both old and new have been confirmed to reappear in the drama...More
2020/10/13 | Permalink
KStar Group recently announced the official dates for this year's APAN Star Awards. The Korean Management Entertainment Association hosts the awards, and they are now coming into their seventh year. While the celebrities are the main focus of the words their primary purpose is to honor the managers of these celebrities, who are typically not directly honored in other awards ceremonies...More
2020/10/13 | Permalink
On October 13th inside sources confirmed to press that funding has been secured for the upcoming movie "Noryang" by director Kim Han-min. "Noryang" is to be the second sequel to "The Admiral: Roaring Currents", following "Hansan" which is currently set to be released early next year...More
2020/10/13 | Permalink
The fashion brand 1st Look recently released photoshoot featuring actress Kim Ha-neul. The photoshoot, which is featured in the CelebShop version of the catalog, features the actress wearing fall/winter clothing from the new collection...More
2020/10/12 | Permalink
The South Korean portal website DCInside recently released the results of the latest poll in its eccentric celebrity series. The query for this particular poll was, which celebrity would you like to have a barbecue and go glamping with?...More
2020/10/12 | Permalink
The October 11th episode of the television program 'Drama House Homage' surprised many with its depiction of the very first credited on-screen role for "Hyun Bin" who has since become a major star. "Bodyguard" in 2003 starred Cha Seung-won in the title role as Hong Kyung Tak. The drama also starred Lee Se-eun as top star Sin-ae, which is how Hyun Bin enters the story...More
2020/10/12 | Permalink
A new, final version of "Deliver Us From Evil" is set to premiere in South Korean theaters on October 21st. The expanded cut will feature an extra six minutes and fourteen seconds. It is not known what this material may entail, although the new trailer released by CJ Entertainment does hint at some tonal differences- or at the very least, assumes viewers have more familiarity with the product than they did back in August...More
2020/10/11 | Permalink
Following the big success of "SKY Castle" in 2019 and the more modest success of "Search: WWW" earlier this year, new dramas have been approved that focus more on women's life experiences. These include "The Penthouse", coming on October 26th, and "Birthcare Center" on November 2nd...More
2020/10/11 | Permalink
The actress and singer Bae Suzy had her twenty-sixth birthday on October 10th. Subsequently, the actress made an Instagram post in English entitled "Luv u sueweetie" (sic) which showed off the various presents the starlets had received from fans worldwide...More
2020/10/11 | Permalink
Ju Ji-hoon's agency Keyeast recently released photos on Instagram of the actor on the set of "Jirisan", which is currently filming. In one picture, he can be seen signing a piece of paper that says Ju Ji Hoon Global, and in another he can be seen smiling and making a gesture toward the camera...More
2020/10/10 | Permalink
At approximately nine in the morning on October 9th, "Pawn" passed the million viewer threshhold to lead the South Korea box office going into the three day holiday weekend. All four principal actors made posts on social media with handdrawn notes thanking viewers for their support...More
2020/10/10 | Permalink
While most tourist activities have contracted due to COVID-19, the Gimhae Cultural Foundation has experienced an improvement in its fortunes somewhat counterintuitively for the very same reason. Modern indoor wedding venues have undergone a massive drop in popularity due to the belief they facilitate the spread of the disease...More
2020/10/10 | Permalink
The global streaming platform iQIYI recently announced that they had acquired the broadcasting rights to the upcoming drama "Jirisan" worldwide. The drama, which stars Jun Ji-hyun, Ju Ji-hoon, Sung Dong-il, and Oh Jung-se among others started filming last month...More
2020/10/09 | Permalink
When we're first introduced to Doo-seok (played by Sung Dong-il) and Jong-bae (played by Kim Hee-won), the men give off a vaguely sinister vibe. They dress like gangsters, such that Doo-seok rather nastily castigates Jong-bae for wearing a gold chain that makes him look rather more thuggish than his semi-respectable job title should imply. Then Doo-seok busts into a convenience store to get something to drink. Yet in spite of his rude demeanor, Doo-seok keeps calling out for someone to come take his money...More
2020/10/09 | Permalink
For the most part, "Miniforce: Hamburger Monster's Attack" is a fairly typical Miniforce movie. You've got the various cute little mascot characters, and then the parts where they transform into these Super Sentai-esque warriors with transforming robots. There does seem to be a new element of the robots being used as riding dinosaurs for the fight scenes. I'm assuming this was explained in the television show at some point, what with "Miniforce: Hamburger Monster's Attack" being based on a children's cartoon...More
2020/10/09 | Permalink
The Korean Weird Wave that took the Korean Fantastic section of this year's BIFAN by storm continues here, surprisingly so, in a zombie film, which shares very few similarities with the vast plethora of entries in the category, particularly regarding the protagonists but also the overall approach...More
2020/10/07 | Permalink
Cha Ye-ryun recently posted a picture to Instagram of her family from the back. The picture, which appears without comment, features Cha Ye-ryun's husband Joo Sang-wook carrying their infant daughter on his shoulders on a bridge over river...More
2020/10/07 | Permalink
On October 7th the GOODDATA Corporation released the latest iteration of the GOODDATA Report, covering the first week of October. The results demostrated that Park Bo-gum is once again the most popular active performer on South Korean television, with his leading all media references for the fifth straight week...More
2020/10/07 | Permalink
Lee Min-ho recently became the first South Korean artist to hit the four million follower mark on social media. Last month on September 18th Lee Min-ho's agency MYM Entertainment confirmed that the actor had 20 million followers on Facebook. Then, on October 4th, his Instagram account hit that same milestone...More
2020/10/06 | Permalink
Actor Park Seo-joon recently appeared in "Record of Youth" in a cameo as an older associate of the lead character played by Park Bo-gum. But this cameo is only the first of many planned for the drama, as Hyeri, Lee Sung-kyung, and Kang Ha-na have also been confirmed for cameos in the youth-oriented drama. The cameos are intended to drive interest in "Record of Youth" as the drama moves into its second half...More
2020/10/06 | Permalink
On October 5th Lee Jae-won-I posted photos to his Instagram account of his newborn daughter. One featured Lee Jae-won-I himself while the other featured his wife, a non-celebrity. The two of them were married in October of 2017 following a nine year courtship...More
2020/10/06 | Permalink
On October 6th "River Where the Moon Rises" confirmed that Kang Ha-neul would be appearing in the historical drama. The news was a bit of a surprise, as Kang Ha-neul's agency had earlier stated that Kang Ha-neul had rejected the lead role. As it turns out, the role Kang Ha-neul will be playing will only be a special appearance...More
2020/10/05 | Permalink
The latest episode of the variety show program 'My Little Old Boy' contained a surprising anecdote from Oh Yoon-ah, who was appearing on the program as a special emcee. The anecdote was prompted by Shin Dong-yup mentioning hearing as a rumor that Oh Yoon-ah herself had gone on the honeymoon...More
2020/10/05 | Permalink
A recent poll conducted by the South Korean portal website DCInside asked users of the site which celebrity had such high quality skin that they seemed to be wearing heavy makeup...More
2020/10/05 | Permalink
On October 4th Baek Ji-won's agency Ikkle Entertainment confirmed that the actress would be appearing in the upcoming drama "Awaken" alongside Namgoong Min. She will play Lee Taek-jo, the manager of the information division of the Seoul police...More
2020/10/04 | Permalink
The current season of South Korean television dramas has had a noteworthy casting trend away from established male performers to younger ones with less of a record. Lee Do-hyun of "18 Again", Ong Seong-wu of "More Than Friends", and Byeon Woo-seok of "Record of Youth" all stand out as new faces with quite a bit of screentime in their respective dramas. This, even when they're cast alongside bigger stars...More
2020/10/04 | Permalink
In a Korean Thanksgiving special which aired on KBS over the long weekend, various stars described their sensibilities over quick interviews. Among these was a spot featuring Hwang Jung-min and Lee Jung-jae...More
2020/10/04 | Permalink
With "KIM Jiyoung: Born 1982" airing over Korean Thanksgiving weekend on South Korean broadcast television, attention has once again focused on Jung Yu-mi, who has been greatly praised for her role as the title character in the feminist film...More
2020/10/03 | Permalink
In his fourth film after "Super Virgin", "Super Origin" and "Super Margin", Back Seung-kee is as weird as they come, through a narrative that seems to thrive on sci-fi and surrealistic elements, while combining fantasy, drama and absurd comedy...More
2020/10/03 | Permalink
In a recent documentary about the 2007 television drama "Coffee Prince" actor Lee Sun-kyun expressed many thoughts about the program that kickstarted his career. Following multiple choice romance roles in "My Sweet Soul" and "Triple", Lee Sun-kyun broke out as the lead in "Pasta" where he co-starred alongside Gong Hyo-jin. Though Lee Sun-kyun does not do romantic roles so much anymore, he still has romantic visions of "Coffee Prince"...More
2020/10/03 | Permalink
Son Ye-jin recently appeared in an online event sponsored by the Korean Embassy in Japan where she addressed her Japanese fans. Though no official English language version of the video was produced, an unofficial fan translated version can be found here with English and Indonesian subtitles. The video was produced for Korean National Foundation day...More
2020/10/03 | Permalink
On October 3rd a person close to the filming of the upcoming blockbuster "Emergency Declaration" confirmed that the movie recently restarted its filming on September 12th. This followed a closure on the set when one of the performers was discovered to have contracted COVID-19 back on August 28th. At that time the production company approved a ten million dollar increase in the budget and a two week break from filming...More
2020/10/02 | Permalink
In the prologue to "The Swordsman" we first see the expert swordsman Tae-yool (played by Jang Hyuk) waging a doomed battle against royal usurpers led by Seung-ho (played by Jung Man-sik). Though this scene implies that Seung-ho is a better swordfighter than Tae-yool, for most of the movie, Seung-ho doesn't really do anything. Even more intriguingly, when Seung-ho meets the actual villain, Gurutai (played by Joe Taslim), the smug Qing warlord derisively describes Seung-ho's fighting style as ornamental in spite of his obvious skill. But why?...More
2020/10/02 | Permalink
Prior to watching "The Wandering Chef" I had not heard of famed chef Lim Ji-ho. Nor did I really learn that much about him through the documentary itself. With painstaking humility, director Park Hye-ryoung only provides brief clips early on to contextualize Lim Ji-ho's international culinary reputation. Even as a biographical film "The Wandering Chef" is spare on the details, withholding much critical information about Lim Ji-ho's family background until near the very end...More
2020/09/29 | Permalink
For the first time in five years Ha Ji-won returns to the big screen with "Pawn". In the family film, Ha Ji-won will play the adult version of Seung-i, a young girl played by Park So-yi as a child who is handed over to characters played by Sung Dong-il and Kim Hee-won as collateral for a debt. Consequently, Ha Ji-won has been speaking about her role and her return...More
2020/09/29 | Permalink
"The Day I Died: Unclosed Case" has been confirmed to have a release date of November, although the exact date is not yet known. The crime film is the first project from lead actress Kim Hye-soo since she the end of the highly acclaimed television drama "Hyena" last year. In "The Day I Died: Unclosed Case" Kim Hye-soo plays a detective searching for a missing girl...More
2020/09/29 | Permalink
A stylist personally known to Jun Jin and his bride recently posted pictures of their September 28th wedding on Isocial media. The photos include a personal one taken with the three in the bridal booth as well as wider angle shots of the couple at their private wedding...More
2020/09/28 | Permalink
VAST Entertainment recently released two old child photos of actor Hyun Bin. The disclosure of the photos was in celebration of the actor's thirty-eighth birthday, which occurred on September 25th...More
2020/09/28 | Permalink
On September 28th Netflix released new materials for "The School Nurse Files" including a second poster. There's not much variation between the second poster and the first poster...More
2020/09/28 | Permalink
Real estate filings released on September 25h revealed that Bae Suzy has made a sound real estate investment. In April of 2016 the actress and singer purchased a building in the Samsung neighborhood of the Gangnam district of Seoul. The deposit was approximately 200,000 dollars, with a bond of 1.7 million dollars and equity of 1.8 million dollars, for an effective purchase price of 3.7 million dollars. With an effective rent of 15,000 dollars, this has allowed for a profit of around 5.6%...More
2020/09/27 | Permalink
The new Netflix drama "The School Nurse Files" has featured an unusual emphasis in its marketing. The paranormal drama starring Jung Yu-mi and Nam Joo-hyuk would normally seem an obvious draw for younger viewers. Yet "The School Nurse Files" has featured glowing endorsements from a peculiar slate of older celebrities that includes director Park Chan-wook and actresses Lee Young-ae, Gong Hyo-jin, and Son Ye-jin...More
2020/09/27 | Permalink
As the Netflix drama "The Silent Sea" moves into production more minor roles are being confirmed. Among them is Lee Moo-saeng, an actor who has in recent years graduated from unnamed roles to named roles...More
2020/09/27 | Permalink
The new mobile game from King's Group, S.O.S State of Survival, recently announced that Jung Woo-sung and Hyeri would be working as advertising models for the tactical zombie survival game...More
2020/09/26 | Permalink
A buff naked man crashes from outer space in Cheonggyecheon. The onlookers, for the most part, try not to make a big deal of this. Then we transition to So-hee (played by Lee Jung-hyun), who tries not to make such a big deal of how much she loves her newlywed husband Man-gil (played by Kim Sung-oh), at least until circumstance leads her to suspect infidelity. Although it's not infidelity so much as...well...More
2020/09/26 | Permalink
Maybe it is a bit too early with just 4-5 films, but it seems that S. Korea is experiencing its own "weird wave" (as Greece did some years ago) with titles like "Maggie", "Fallen" and "The Interviewees" falling under this category. The same applies to "Hunger", Kang Dayeon's debut, that uses the sci-fi basis to speak about social issues through a mash up of genres that is disorienting as it is interesting...More
2020/09/26 | Permalink
While the title "Magical: Make The Princess Laugh" calls to mind the classic fairy tale of the princess who never smiled, this conflict is resolved surprisingly early and disturbingly. She ends up laughing at a scene that could best be described as macabre. Not that "Magical: Make The Princess Laugh" ever really acknowledges this. This plot point takes place over the course of a cheerful song where professional clowns attempt to distract Leah (voiced by Park Ji-yoon-I) from her mother's senseless tragic death at the hands of a gippy...More
2020/09/25 | Permalink
A recently aired television documentary about the popular drama "Coffee Prince" has drawn much attention from fans of the drama as the documentary has reunited the cast to discuss their experiences. Chief among these is Gong Yoo, the "Coffee Prince" cast member who has seen the most dramatic career elevation due to the project. Gong Yoo has had much to say about "Coffee Prince" looking back...More
2020/09/25 | Permalink
On September 23rd "Flower of Evil" completed its sixteen episode run on tvN with a ratings high of 5.7%. This compares decently to its opening episode, which had ratings of 3.4%. The drama has helped to bolster the reputation of leading lady Moon Chae-won, who plays a woman investigating the dark past of her husband, here played by Lee Joon-gi. Moon Chae-won has been public about her experiences with "Flower of Evil", giving closing thoughts on the drama...More
2020/09/25 | Permalink
On September 24th actor Lee Joon-gi revealed his closing thoughts for the drama "Flower of Evil" on Instagram. "Flower of Evil" ended on September 23rd with ratings of 5.7%. In the drama, Lee Joon-gi played a husband with a disturbing secret past. The conflict revolved around his detective wife, played by Moon Chae-won, was investigating this past life...More
2020/09/24 | Permalink
According to figures released by the Korean Film Council on September 24th, "Diva" has come to the front of the South Korean box office, earning 15,479 admissions on its opening day of September 23rd. "Diva" is the first Korean movie to lead the South Korean box office since "Deliver Us From Evil" on August 25th...More
2020/09/24 | Permalink
Park Seo-joon was the big star of a recent ZIOZIA photospread. The men's clothing brand had decided to use the popular actor to promote the twenty-fifth anniversary of their launch. In keeping with the social distancing common in these times of COVID-19, the theme of the photospread was having a party by one's self...More
2020/09/24 | Permalink
Oh September 24th at two in the afternoon the Seoul Central District Court issued a judgment regarding the four persons found to have hacked the phones of various celebrities. Two of the persons were sisters with the surname Kim, while the other two were their husbands. The younger Kim sister was sentenced to five years, her husband thirty months. The older Kim sister received a sixteen month sentence with three years probation. Her husband received an eighteen month sentence...More
2020/09/22 | Permalink
MIMI Entertainment, which is the agency of actress Ku Hye-sun, recently released photos of Ku Hye-sun as a director. In an accompanying statement, MIMI Entertainment mentioned that Ku Hye-sun's latest new age music album Breath 3 charted at the top of the new age music charts since its release earlier this month on September 2nd...More
2020/09/22 | Permalink
The fashion magazine Elle will soon feature actor Byun Woo-seok in a full photoshoot and interview. The photoshoot emphasized Byun Woo-seok's fresh and honest looks. He's been in the news lately for his appearance in the drama "Record of Youth" where he appears alongside Park Bo-gum and Park So-dam in the leading roles...More
2020/09/22 | Permalink
Recently the sportswear brand Fila released photos on its Instagram account of Kim Jae-kyung wearing some of the brand's underwear...More
2020/09/21 | Permalink
The Japanese periodical ORICON NEWS recently ran a survey regarding the drama "Crash Landing on You", which has been popular on Netflix in Japan. The poll of 143 individuals showed that 132 of those individuals had a positive opinion of the drama. Interestingly, men were somewhat more likely to express a positive opinion than women, with their approval rating being 97.1% versus an average of 92.3%...More
2020/09/21 | Permalink
On September 21st famed actress Son Ye-jin of the recent popular drama "Crash Landing on You" made an Instagram post showing off the many presents she has received from fans worldwide. The present includes cakes, flowers, and a stuffed rabbit doll wearing a kimono. Son Ye-jin also had a thank you message for her fans...More
2020/09/21 | Permalink
The upcoming Netflix drama "D.P" recently confirmed Cho Hyun-chul to be a member of the drama's cast. "D.P" will be the latest drama to star Jung Hae-in in a leading role, his first since "A Piece of Your Mind" earlier this year. He as well as most of the rest of the cast will play soldiers dealing with desertion. "D.P" is based on the webtoon of the same title...More
2020/09/20 | Permalink
Marketing has come out in full force for the upcoming Joseon-era historical film "The Swordsman" which starts Jang Hyuk in the leading role. He plays the titular warrior who some time after the abdication of King Gwanghae ends up having to fight in order to save his missing daughter. Genre-wise the movie has been described as a shocking action thriller...More
2020/09/20 | Permalink
The Seoul International Drama Awards were held last week. While "When the Camellia Blooms" was one of the further major South Korean dramas in recent memory, the drama did excellently for itself coming up on the one year anniversary of its first broadcast...More
2020/09/20 | Permalink
Lee Min-jung recently finished off a successful run as the lead actress in the ensemble weekend family drama "Once Again" which ended with ratings of 33.6% on September 13th. The drama's popularity has been encouraging for the image of the actress, with her role as a divorced woman making Lee Min-jung seem more independent than the more romantic parts she typically plays. There's also a parallel with Lee Min-jung's own life, as she juggles being a wife, mother, and actress...More
2020/09/19 | Permalink
The search for originality and uniqueness has always been one of the main pursuits of experimental cinema, through a number of courageous filmmakers who shot films they probably knew they had very few chances to succeed, at least commercially. And although there is something heroic in their effort, being gives no guarantee for the quality of the movies or that they actually work. Unfortunately, "The Interviewees" is one of those movies...More
2020/09/19 | Permalink
The docuemntary feature "A Time for Dogs and Cats" is less a single coherent documentary as it is a series of individual subjects depicted in vignette form to eventually sort of resemble a documentary. It ends with, of all things, a musical concert for the various wild cats and dogs of Baeksa Village in the northeastern corner of Seoul. The music's good although I'm not sure the animals got much out of it. Animals don't really understand music as far as I know...More
2020/09/19 | Permalink
Some fifteen years ago director Kim Mi-rye was working in Japan documenting active Japanese labor movements when she learned of the radical "East Asia Anti-Japan Armed Front" from the seventies. It's easy to see how they made such a strong impression on Kim Mi-rye, a Korean woman. Despite being Japanese themselves, the Armed Front hated the Japanese Empire and saw the then current Japanese government as a reincarnation of that power. The South Korean government, then, being little more than a puppet state equally oppressing its own people...More
2020/09/18 | Permalink
Yun Jong-seok will mark his first appearance as a second lead in the upcoming drama "My Dangerous Wife" which will start airing on October 5th on the MBN cable network. There he will play Min-gyoo, the much younger husband of Eun-hye, who is played by Shim Hye-jin...More
2020/09/18 | Permalink
Recently the final social media post of departed actress Oh In-hye has started spreading online. The exact source of the post is unknown, but it appears to have come from someone on her social network. Oh In-hye made the post at one in the morning on September 14th but deleted it sometime later, which is why it had not been widely seen in the immediate aftermath of her death...More
2020/09/18 | Permalink
On September 17th the distribution company behind "OK! MADAM" abruptly announced that the movie would be available on IPTV and digital cable services for on-demand viewing. "OK! MADAM" deals with a seemingly ordinary Korean family that gets involved in a plane hijacking. The comedy film starred Uhm Jung-hwa and Park Sun-woong in the leading roles, and premiered in South Korea theaters on August 12th...More
2020/09/17 | Permalink
On September 16th Incheon police released an official statement regarding the cause of death for Oh In-hye. The conclusion of Incheon police based on the autopsy result was that Oh In-hye did indeed take her own life as had been suspected by many...More
2020/09/17 | Permalink
On September 17th an online press conference was held for the upcoming movie "The Swordsman". Actors Jang Hyuk, Kim Hyun-soo, and Jung Man-sik were all in attendance, as was director Choi Jae-hoon. The story takes place after the dethronement of King Gwanghae, with the title character played by Jang Hyuk once again taking up the sword for the sake of his daughter, who is played by Kim Hyun-soo...More
2020/09/17 | Permalink
Gong Yoo recently appeared in a photoshoot for the October issue of GQ Magazine. He can be seed wearing a wide variety of suits, and the photos also emphasize his physical side. An interview in GQ also goes into why Gong Yoo decided to make "The Silent Sea" his next drama following his last drama appearance in the megahit "Goblin" from 2016...More
2020/09/15 | Permalink
Following the unfortunate death of actress Oh In-hye on September 14th her family set up a memorial service on September 15th and a full funerary ceremony is now set for September 16th...More
2020/09/15 | Permalink
The results are out for the latest Exciting DC Poll, which is performed by the portal website DCInside. The question for the poll, which was tabulated from September 6th to September 12th, was which star seems the most self-managed...More
2020/09/15 | Permalink
Following confirmation of its September 29th release date, "Pawn" appears to be signaling that South Korean movie distributors are confident in a rebound at the South Korean box office for Korean Thanksgiving. The autumnal holiday has long been a popular one for families going to see movies together...More
2020/09/14 | Permalink
"Voice of Silence" has been confirmed for an October release date. This news suggests a confidence in the South Korean film industry in its ability to rebound from the current increased COVID-19 restrictions. Perhaps not coincidentally, "Voice of Silence" is headlined by Yoo Ah-in, an actor whose most recent film, "#ALIVE", has garned attention not just for breaking a previous COVID-19 induced slump but also having a strong performance on OTT services...More
2020/09/14 | Permalink
As of September 14th, "#ALIVE" is still holding strong in the global Netflix film rankings on FlixPatrol. The zombie movie has been a surprise success on the streaming platform. But it is far from unprecedented. After all, "Kingdom" and more recently "Kingdom - Season 2" made big waves on Netflix with a similar concept, albeit taking place in the historical era rather than the modern day...More
2020/09/14 | Permalink
On September 14th Oh In-hye was declared dead due to cardiac arrest following an incident where she was discovered not breathing at her home in Incheon. The tragic news came late at night, followed by reports earlier in the day that her condition had stabilized...More
2020/09/13 | Permalink
Various online communities on the South Korean Internet have been discussing a peculiar detail in "It's Okay to Not Be Okay" that had until now largely gone unnoticed. In the eleventh episode of the drama, there was a kiss scene that prompted a rating restriction of 18+ due to its intense content...More
2020/09/13 | Permalink
"Once Again" completed a successful run on September 13th, airing its final, one hundreth episode to ratings of 34.8%. As expected for a weekend family drama, there were happy endings all around. One couple got married, and another started a family...More
2020/09/13 | Permalink
Joo Ho-sung recently made a big family announcement on social media. His son, Jang Sung-won, will be getting married on October 31st. The apparent motivation for this surprising news was that Jang Sung-won had done his wedding photography on that same day, September 12th...More
2020/09/12 | Permalink
Jin-moo (played by Kwak Jin-moo) is a thirty-six year old machinist who lives with his mother Sook-nyeo (played by Byun Joong-hee) in a small housing unit with mold on the walls. Jin-moo is a schlubby man and an unlikely protagonist, but then that's where the realism comes into play. "Tiny Light" is neither infused with romanticism about the lives of working people in South Korea, nor is it overly cynical about their fate. Director Cho Min-jae makes this movie about the persistence of memory and what Jin-moo has to lose by it...More
2020/09/12 | Permalink
The opening titles of "Masterpiece" are done in a classic olde time silent film style. As the movie gets past these, we see a café with Charlie Chaplin emblazoned on the front. As we're introduced to director Jin-wook (played by Choi Jin-wook), an obvious possible theme is developed. Jin-wook is going to make a classic Charlie Chaplin style movie. And this does happen eventually. But first we have to endure sixty minutes of Jin-wook ineffectively trying to make an obviously bad movie instead...More
2020/09/12 | Permalink
Probably one of the most confusing, chaotic, and genre-bending film we have seen during the latest years, "Fallen" is a movie that tries to be original by following very few "rules" of genre cinema and including as many different elements as possible, both in context and in style...More
2020/09/11 | Permalink
In its third day of full availability on Netflix worldwide, the South Korean zombie movie "#ALIVE" has now risen to the most popular movie available on the platform. The new data comes courtesy of FlixPatrol, which had already noted that "#ALIVE" was the number two worldwide movie on Netflix on September 9th a day after its release. The new September 10th figures show that the movie is continuing to benefit from positive buzz...More
2020/09/11 | Permalink
The video game company WEMADE recently unveiled the latest iteration of their popular traditional Korean fantasy MMORPG, The Legend of Mir. To promote The Legend of Mir 4, Seo Ye-ji is currently appearing in advertisements which she also narrates. The advertisement can be viewed on YouTube and is also available on WEMADE's website...More
2020/09/11 | Permalink
On September 10th FN Entertainment confirmed that actress Ko Eun-min would be appearing in the upcoming drama "18 Again". She will be playing the part of Im Ja-yeong...More
2020/09/10 | Permalink
The South Korean zombie movie "#ALIVE" had a powerful opening on Netflix, surging to second place on the streaming platform's worldwide charts on September 9th following its release on September 8th...More
2020/09/10 | Permalink
Domestic streaming companies in South Korea have recently been calling for the government to review the Netflix Free Rider Law which was passed in May. The Netflix Free Rider Law was passed this May to deal with the issue of Netflix and other foreign companies being able to use South Korea's domestic Internet infrastructure at no cost...More
2020/09/10 | Permalink
On September 9th American media outlets confirmed that an American remake of the 2014 South Korean film "Haemoo" is in the works, and that Bong Joon-ho would be joining the project as a producer. "Haemoo" is based on a real-life incident involving ethnics Koreans being moved from China into South Korea. At the time "Haemoo" was considered Park Yoo-chun's big shot to become a serious actor. While the movie did improve his reputation, his career soon fell into tatters due to unrelated scandals...More
2020/09/08 | Permalink
On September 8th the Bucheon International Animation Festival (BIAF) announced its ten judges for this year's film competition. Ku Hye-sun was among the judges, and had mentioned the previous day in a social media post how encouraging it was that over half the judges this year would be women...More
2020/09/08 | Permalink
Gong Yoo, Bae Doona, and Lee Joon and Jung Woo-sung
On September 8th Netflix officially confirmed that production on "The Silent Sea" had begun. The science fiction drama features Gong Yoo, Bae Doona, and Lee Joon in leading roles and is being managed by Jung Woo-sung in a producing capacity. The drama deals with a space mission to collect abandoned research samples from the moon...More
2020/09/08 | Permalink
Recently the cochlear implant centered charity The Snail of Love announced that actress Yoo In-na paid for a cochlear implant surgery on a thirteen month old child...More
2020/09/07 | Permalink
A recent DCInside poll asked visitors to the website which major actor's return in a leading role has been most seriously teased. Yeo Jin-goo won the poll, but by a fairly narrow margin of only 18% compared to 17% for Gong Hyo-jin...More
2020/09/07 | Permalink
Actress Han Ye-seul recently released a one year anniversary video for her YouTube channel. Han Ye-seul has been reasonably popular on the platform, having over eight hundred thousand subscribers. Additionally, most of the videos on her channel have English subtitles, although the anniversary video isn't one of them, as it was aired live with responses to viewer questions and was not preproduced...More
2020/09/07 | Permalink
The French designer brand Chloé recently released some new photos of Seo Ye-ji, who has done a recent photoshoot for the fashion brand. The "It's Okay to Not Be Okay" actress has been a hot commodity in promotions lately, since much of the hype for that drama originated from her distinctive wardrobe...More
2020/09/06 | Permalink
Ku Hye-sun has recently restarted her professional career. After months of worry from her fans following drama regarding the star's divorce from Ahn Jae-hyun, Ku Hye-sun released a new album on September 2nd, Breath3, following on Breath2 from 2015 and Sketchbook - Breath from 2009. All three Breath albums consist of new piano music and in promoting the latest one, Ku Hye-sun has given some insight into her new life...More
2020/09/06 | Permalink
In its second week of broadcast the SBS drama "Alice" has broken 10% in terrestrial ratings in its fourth episode. This is up 6.1% from the drama's premiere episode on August 28th. The apparent breakout popularity of "Alice" has been quite surprising, as the drama has far more in common with underwhelming dramas from this year than it does with any of the hits...More
2020/09/06 | Permalink
The seventh episode of "Secret Forest 2" on Friday saw the first appearance of Choi Hee-Seo In the drama's cast. As her role is not a major one, it was not widely know ahead of time. She plays the wife of Dong-jae, who is played by Lee Joon-hyuk and not identified by name. The character appears in the drama because Dong-jae had recently gone missing...More
2020/09/05 | Permalink
It is very rare for a reviewer to have to deal with a film whose director has stated, "Rationally, the film doesn't make sense" (Korea Times), but this is exactly the case with "Me and Me", a movie that cannot be examined under the prism of logic in any way...More
2020/09/05 | Permalink
Seung-hee (played by Kim Yu-ra) is a quiet woman who has recently returned to the family farm on Geoje Island. There's minimal verbal explanation as to why she came back. We just see Seung-hee stew in mild annoyance as she's given instructions for chores. Seung-hee is similarly diffident to typical social interaction. At first glance it seems like Seung-hee has an attitude problem. But as the "Days in a Summer" pass by, we see that in reality, Seung-hee is just an introvert...More
2020/09/05 | Permalink
What would happen if an SFX team was active in 1464 Korea? Kim Joo-ho latest action comedy seems to give the answer to this rather playful question, in one of the most entertaining films of the year...More
2020/09/05 | Permalink
Combining the sound of janggu (a Korean traditional hourglass-shaped double-headed drum) with pansori narration and music in a film that revolves around a boxing was a brave as much as an original effort by Jeong Hyeok-ki, since the latter seems to have very little to do with the first two elements. The result is a bit uneven, but interesting whatsoever...More
2020/09/05 | Permalink
Directors Lee Sang-mook and Ma Young-min had a dream of traveling internationally. The problem was, they didn't have any money. So to get funding, they formed a corporation by the name of "Social Nomad" that solicited donations in exchange for promised content. Then, in order to actually go traveling, they sent out e-mails to hostels and travel agencies in order to further sponsor the trip, in exchange for the team producing promotional videos for the places where they stayed...More
2020/09/04 | Permalink
The upcoming drama "18 Again" has confirmed that actor Yoon Jung-hoon will be among its castmembers. "18 Again" is an upcoming drama about a man who goes back to being a teenager shortly before the finalization of his divorce...More
2020/09/04 | Permalink
On September 4th SEM Company released a statement saying that Hwang Jung-min, an actor who they represent, had returned to South Korea on September 2nd having completed Jordanian location shooting for "The Point Men". SEM Company also stated that Hwang Jung-min was currently being tested for COVID-19, as is standard...More
2020/09/04 | Permalink
Following its premiere in South Korea Video On Demand services on August 25th, "Peninsula" has climbed to top of the charts as expected and claimed the number one spot for movies. "The Good Detective", which finished on August 25th, has also maintained the top spot for dramas requested by such services. The relevant data was compiled by Home Choice over the fifth week of August...More
2020/09/03 | Permalink
KBS recently released the final preview for the 93rd episode of "Once Again", a popular weekend drama that's been airing on the network. With only eight episodes to go, "Once Again" is looking to end on a high note. Its 92nd episode featured a series-high rating of 36.5%, and the drama could easily exceed 40% ratings in its final weeks...More
2020/09/03 | Permalink
The upcoming drama "Record of Youth" will premiere on tvN on September 7th. The drama stars Park Bo-gum in the leading role. The preproduced drama is his final project before beginning his mandatory military service, and his first project since "Encounter" from 2018. In comments ahead of airing, Park Bo-gum has described his character in the drama Hye-joon as a kind-hearted friend, one who he strives to better imitate even outside the shooting environment...More
2020/09/03 | Permalink
On September 3rd, Jump Entertainment confirmed that Lee Seung-joon, an actor who they represent, will be appearing in the upcoming drama "Spring of Youth"...More
2020/09/01 | Permalink
The Korea Institute of Enterprise Reputation recently released their August Brand Reputation Report which uses big data to gauge which of the fifty best known South Korean stars has the most popular image on social media...More
2020/09/01 | Permalink
On August 26th the Korea Communication Standards Commission made an official statement regarding a long controversial scene in the drama "It's Okay to Not Be Okay" which ended last month. In the scene in question, the lead character played by Seo Ye-ji approaches the lead character played by Kim Soo-hyun in the men's dressing room of his workplace. She then makes sexually charged remarks to the shirtless man, while also making euphemistic references to his genitalia...More
2020/09/01 | Permalink
The jewelry brand Didier Dubot recently announced publication of its 2020 Fall/Winter catalog. Han Ye-seul is featuring as the main prominent model of note for the upcoming collection, which has stoked interest due to fortuitous product placement. The Signature D line contains jewlery that appeared prominently in the popular drama "It's Okay to Not Be Okay" which aired over the summer...More
2020/08/31 | Permalink
Recent unfounded rumors of Song Hye-kyo and Hyun Bin getting married provoked an immediate harsh reaction from their official representation. Nevertheless the rumors, which started in China, have continued to pop up in social media there. This fake news appears to have its origin in a largely mundane and unrelated source- the recent broadcast of the Chinese remake of "Full House", the drama which was Song Hye-kyo's first big international hit...More
2020/08/31 | Permalink
Ahn Hyo-seop is featured in the most recent issue of Cosmopolitan magazine, and the accompanying interviews has proven a noteworthy demonstration of the culture shift in South Korean entertainment at present. Ahn Hyo-seop is a recent star, who had first chance for a big lead in "Abyss" although his first wide success was "Dr. Romantic 2"...More
2020/08/31 | Permalink
The hit 2017 movie "Confidential Assignment" now has a confirmed sequel in development. "Confidential Assignment" starred Hyun Bin as a North Korean investigator and Yoo Hae-jin as his South Korean equivalent as they attempt to track down an advanced counterfeiting machine...More
2020/08/30 | Permalink
On August 30th the outdoor clothing brand Kolon Sports announced that popular actress Gong Hyo-jin would be their model for the fall clothing line. In a statement Gong Hyo-jin's intimate charms were cited as the chief reason for her selection. Kolon Sports has attempted to distinguish itself as a naturalistic brand, associating its models with realistic environments wherein their products would actually be used...More
2020/08/30 | Permalink
According to a recent news report young actor Lee Jung-ha will be appearing in the upcoming jTBC drama "Run On". Purportedly the name of the character he will play is Kim Woo-sik...More
2020/08/30 | Permalink
The YouTube account of Shin Se-kyung recently topped 1 million subscribers and is now standing at 1.07 million subscribers as the actress has earned a surprisingly robust following as a video blogger. Most videos on her account, which can be seen here, are fairly mundane and simply deal with her everyday life. Since October of 2018 Shin Se-kyung has produced 27 videos...More
2020/08/29 | Permalink
The promotional material for "An Old Lady" has given the movie a very accusatory air, and in all fairness that's not incorrect. "An Old Lady" is, after all, the story of Hye-jeong (played by Ye Soo-jung), an elderly woman who is raped during a medical exam mostly because she couldn't fight back. The movie takes place in 2012- a weirdly specific detail considering it was produced relatively recently. There are technical legal reasons for this particular plot point. Without getting into spoilers, let's just say that a similar case probably wouldn't play out the same in the present day...More
2020/08/29 | Permalink
Hae-soo (played by Rie Young-zin) is a woman in her late thirties who's getting a new start in life by opening up a modest coffee shop. There's an oddly reticent quality about Hae-soo, as if she's hiding something. Enter Ye-jin (played by Yoo Hye-ri), a high school student who's bright, cheerful, and outgoing- yet still at a distance from her peers, much like Hae-soo. Each is lonely in their own way yet obviously incompatible, lesbian love story subtext notwithstanding...More
2020/08/29 | Permalink
"Women now have to be beautiful, thin and with big breasts" is a phrase uttered in this animated film, and it is this dream that dominates a narrative that focuses on the concept of appearances, particularly in show business, and where the endless pursuit of exterior beauty can lead...More
2020/08/28 | Permalink
According to a person affiliated with the upcoming blockbuster "Silence", Park Ju-hyun has been confirmed for a leading role...More
2020/08/28 | Permalink
Jang Seung-jo recently had some closing remarks about the drama "The Good Detective" that were released via his agency. In "The Good Detective" Jang Seung-jo played young detective Ji-hyeok, billed alongside veteran actor Son Hyun-joo as the lead...More
2020/08/28 | Permalink
A poster was recently released for the upcoming short movie "If My Things Are At Your Place We're Not Over" which will be released on September 4th via Kakao TV...More
2020/08/27 | Permalink
The September issue of Cosmopolitan has just hit newstands in South Korea and the popular fashion magazine features Seo Ye-ji of "It's Okay to Not Be Okay" in a major photo spread inspired by the fairy tale theming of the drama. The magazine also features an interview with Seo Ye-ji. "It's Okay to Not Be Okay" finished airing in South Korea on August 9th, in a run characterized more by online popularity than terrestrial ratings...More
2020/08/27 | Permalink
Sung Dong-il, director Kang Dae-gyu, Ha Ji-won, Park So-yi and Kim Hee-won
Due to a resurgence in COVID-19 cases "Pawn" still lacks a definite release date and the action comedy film is currently just slated for September. But "Pawn" is already in the midst of a robust marketing campaign. The chemistry between lead actors Sung Dong-il and Kim Hee-won has been a particular point of interest, as the two older men only just recently finished a short variety program where they attempt to live in a cockroach infested house...More
2020/08/27 | Permalink
On August 27th SM Entertainment announced that Changmin of the K-pop duo TVXQ would be delaying his wedding. Originally his nuptials were set September fifth but the recent resurgence in COVID-19 cases in South Korea led the singer to delay his plans. The wedding was announced back in June...More
2020/08/26 | Permalink
As of August 25th, "Deliver Us From Evil" has achieved a milestone for having held the box office for twenty one straight days. The record was promptly broken on August 26th with the first major Hollywood release since the COVID-19 breakout...More
2020/08/26 | Permalink
Netflix recently confirmed an international release date for the zombie movie "#ALIVE" which premiered in South Korean theaters on June 24th...More
2020/08/26 | Permalink
Major actors Jung Woo-sung and Lee Jung-jae were recently revealed to be real estate dollars in a major real estate deal. According to recent reports, Jung Woo-sung and Lee Jung-jae purchased a thirty million dollar building back in May...More
2020/08/24 | Permalink
On August 24th CJ Entertainment confirmed the existence of the new movie "Woo-ri and Ja-young", although this is as yet a working title. The title character Woo-ri will be played by Son Sukku and the title character Ja-young will be played by Jun Jong-seo...More
2020/08/24 | Permalink
Reports on August 24th confirmed production of the new movie "The Match", which seeks to tell the story of legendary Go player Cho Hunhyun. Also in the report was word that the role of Cho Hunhyun has been offered to Lee Byung-hun, and that the major actor seems likely to accept it. At present Lee Byung-hun is filming "Emergency Declaration" and a decision regarding his next project likely will not come down until filming has been completed...More
2020/08/24 | Permalink
On Instagram actress Lee Min-jung recently thanked her friends for sending a coffee car to the set of the popular weekend drama "Once Again" in which the actress stars...More
2020/08/23 | Permalink
Recent reports have confirmed the lead actors for one episode of the upcoming Drama Special season for KBS, which showcases upcoming talent in drama production on a smaller scale...More
2020/08/23 | Permalink
Lee Jung-hyun recently posted various pictures of "Peninsula" cast and crew members holding placards with messages for fans on her Instagram account...More
2020/08/23 | Permalink
With "Peninsula" actor Kwon Hae-hyo has had his first role as an older character. The veteran fifty-four year old actor plays Elder Kim in that movie, a man of questionable mental faculties who stubbornly insists that help is on the way to help him and his friends leave a Korean peninsula overrun by a zombie apocalypse. But this supporting role in a mainstream movie by no means defines Kwon Hae-hyo, as he is set to star as the lead in "Fukuoka" which comes out on August 27th...More
2020/08/22 | Permalink
In the opening scene of "Deliver Us From Evil" we observe various persons dispatched from the shadows. These thugs wearing suits aren't sympathetic, yet they feel more inhuman than evil, exuding neither warmth nor fear. The sound of their fury signifies nothing. When their murderer is revealed to be In-nam (played by Hwang Jung-min), the contrast is stark. In-nam is no more warm, sympathetic, or human than the men he's killing. We see quiet grief in In-nam's visage as he contemplates his own soullessness...More
2020/08/22 | Permalink
Probably the most eagerly awaited Asian movie of the year, the sequel to "Train to Busan" was looked upon by many as the savior of an industry that is in shambles due to the pandemic. And saving it did, earning $20.8 million worldwide in the first five days it screened, making it the first time since mid-March that the global box office totaled over $1 million. Regarding its quality as a film, however, that is a completely different discussion...More
2020/08/22 | Permalink
The first "Steel Rain" featured extended scenes of odd couple bromance sandwiched by completely bonkers international tactical warfare nonsense involving three countries. "Steel Rain 2: Summit" ups the ante, instead featuring extended scenes of odd throuple bromance sandwiched by completely bonkers international tactical warfare nonsense involving five countries. What the two movies lack in shared continuity, they more than make up for in terms of utterly bewildering plot points...More
2020/08/22 | Permalink
"Money makes the world go round", sung Liza Minelli in "Cabaret" and "A Dream of Fortune" seems to be a film that has truly caught the meaning of the phrase, as everything in the movie revolve around money...More
2020/08/21 | Permalink
On August 21st legal filings revealed that Lee Jong-suk had sold a building he had bought in September of 2016. At that time the old building in Sinsa district of Gangnam was purchased by the actor for a total of around 3 million dollars. It was remodeled in the intervening years into a brunch cafe...More
2020/08/21 | Permalink
FN Entertainment recently confirmed that Im Soo-hyang suffered an injury last month while she was shooting the television drama "When I Was the Most Beautiful" which only just recently started airing. According to FN Entertainment, she was quickly moved to the hospital. However, they noted that at no time did Im Soo-hyang ever lose consciousness...More
2020/08/21 | Permalink
"Peninsula" has had a successful run at the international box office this summer with strong openings in other Asian markets where South Korean films get mainstream distribution. Now, with a worldwide box office total exceeding fifty million dollars and following prior delays, "Peninsula" has opened in 126 cities across the United States and Canada as of August 21st. IMAX, 4DX, and ScreenX enhanced screenings of the zombie movie are also currently available...More
2020/08/20 | Permalink
An interview and photoshoot with Ryu Jun-yeol in the most recent issue of Dazed Korea magazine has attracted some attention. It's the first time the actor, or nearly anyone else, has discussed the upcoming blockbuster "Alien", which he had been filming at the time of the interview...More
2020/08/20 | Permalink
HomeChoice has released its aggregate rankings for the most popular Video On Demand titles currently available on South Korean cable platforms. For the third week of August, "#ALIVE" led for movies and "The Good Detective" for dramas. Both titles are on a three week streak, in large part thanks to a lack of new competition...More
2020/08/20 | Permalink
Ahead of its official domestic release "An Old Lady" has earned many accolades in local South Korean film culture. The winner of the audience prize at the Busan International Film Festival in 2019, "An Old Lady" depicts a sixty-eight year old woman who is hospitalized and raped by a nursing assistant...More
2020/08/19 | Permalink
New pictures of actor Seo Kang-joon have been released by the Project M brand of the casual clothing brand Polham in anticipation of the upcoming fall and winter seasons...More
2020/08/19 | Permalink
The beauty makeup brand LUNA recently hired Seo Ye-ji as their latest model. The move follows Seo Ye-ji's appearance on the popular drama "It's Okay to Not Be Okay", which compensated for weak television ratings with a distinctive visual look that enjoyed much exposure on social media...More
2020/08/19 | Permalink
After two months in public release, the mini-movie 'Awaken the Love Within' has passed the two million view mark and thensome on various social media platforms as well as YouTube. The mini-movie can be seen YouTube and features English subtitles. As the title suggests, it deals with a man in his twenties, played by Seo Kang-joon, awakening to the meaning of love in the modern age...More
2020/08/17 | Permalink
On August 17th director Park Shin-woo of "It's Okay to Not Be Okay" communicated his closing thoughts about the drama. "It's Okay to Not Be Okay" ended on August 9th with ratings of 7.3%. The drama received much attention for its strong visuals and worldwide popularity...More
2020/08/17 | Permalink
Comedian Kim Jun-ho has been out in force promoting the eighth annual Busan International Comedy Festival, which begins on August 21st and goes on through August 30th. The ten day festival has been promoting itself with a tagline of prevention, safety, and laughter, alongside another one of comedy must go on. While COVID-19 has been one cloud for the festival the state of South Korean comedy in general has long been a concern...More
2020/08/17 | Permalink
Comedy films have been more noitceably absent than most since the South Korean box office reopened to new major releases back in June. Only "OK! MADAM", which was released last week, can be described as a mainstream comedy. It's currently expected to cap out at around one million viewer admissions. "Oh! My Gran" has bigger hopes, with lower stakes, as Na Moon-hee and Lee Hee-joon hope for a major box office draw...More
2020/08/16 | Permalink
Jun Hyo-seong has made a target of herself on social media for speaking out in favor of comfort women. The entertainer made multiple posts on August 14th and August 15th calling these days of remembrance for what happened to the comfort women under Japanese rule. Jun Hyo-seong expressed hope that an apology would come soon...More
2020/08/16 | Permalink
Kim Hee-won is about to get a lot of exposure. The 49 year old actor will be appearing in "The Golden Holiday" on August 19th and is also set to star in "Pawn" which will be released sometime in September. For the former release, he recently had an interview on the MBC radio program 'Good Morning FM'...More
2020/08/16 | Permalink
Over the weekend CJ Entertainment released new stills for the movie "Deliver Us From Evil" which passed the three million viewer mark on Saturday. The visuals, both in-action as well as behind-the-scenes, show off both the lush location shooting in South Korea, Japan, and Thailand as well as the talent of famed cinematographer Hong Kyung-po. "Deliver Us From Evil" was his first project since "Parasite" from last year...More
2020/08/15 | Permalink
Mi-yeong (played by Uhm Jung-hwa) is a middle-aged housewife who sells traditional baked goods at the open-air market in Yeongcheon. Even though "OK! MADAM" opens up with a somewhat perplexing North Korean involved spy action scene, the movie is oddly coy about Mi-yeong's actual identity. So it is that as "OK! MADAM" moves on to having Mi-yeong and her family getting on a plane and becoming involved with a hijacking, the movie begins a sequence of generally meaningless plot twists...More
2020/08/15 | Permalink
The Itaewon district of Seoul has long been known as a cool and happening. The recent drama "Itaewon Class" deliberately plays off this mystique, centering around a young man trying to start his own restaurant there. But long before Itaewon was cool was it was just...this place, where peddlers came from far and wide to try and make their fortune. Itaewon used to be next to an American military base. American soldiers, especially in the olden days, tend to have money and not much to do with it...More
2020/08/15 | Permalink
From 1955 and until the Motion Picture Law of 1962 by Park Chung-hee's regime, Korean cinema experienced one of its Golden Ages, both in terms of quality and popularity, which subsequently, brought bigger budgets to movie production. Chung Chang-hwa took advantage of the fact in order to become one of the pioneers of Korean action cinema, in a series of efforts that eventually brought him to work with Shaw Brothers, directing cult classics such as "Five Fingers of Death". "A Bonanza" is an excellent sample of his genre filmmaking, as it incorporates almost every element of mainstream cinema...More
2020/08/14 | Permalink
On August 14th Management SOOP announced that Gong Yoo, an actor who they represent, had donated approximately one hundred thousand dollars to flood relief earlier this year under an assumed name...More
2020/08/14 | Permalink
A poll recently conducted by a mathematics education company investigated what celebrity people would most want to spend a 'Green Day' with. A 'Green Day" was defined as a cool walk through the mountains, hand in hand, to evade the summer heat. Singer Kang Daniel of Wanna One did best on the poll, with 39.8% of respondents answering with his name...More
2020/08/14 | Permalink
According to figures released by the Korean Film Council, "Deliver Us From Evil" passed the 2.5 million viewer mark on August 12th in its eighth day of availability...More
2020/08/13 | Permalink
HomeChoice recently released its new list for the best performing Video On Demand movies and dramas for the second week of August, here defined as August 3rd and August 9th. With no new major releases, the best performers ended up being a repeat of last week...More
2020/08/13 | Permalink
DCInside released released the latest results of their Exciting DC Poll, which poses eccentric questions to users of the community portal website. The query for this particular poll was, in the event of a sudden rainstorm, what celebrity is most likely to suddenly appear to offer an umbrella?...More
2020/08/13 | Permalink
Following his signing a representation contract with CJS Entertainment, industry sources revealed that director Heo Jin-ho had made the move in anticipation of starting work on a television drama titled "No Longer Human"...More
2020/08/12 | Permalink
In its final week "It's Okay to Not Be Okay" once again topped the Good Data Report, which measures drama popularity according to media trends. "It's Okay to Not Be Okay" held 34.78% of social media trends recorded from August 3rd to August 9th...More
2020/08/12 | Permalink
As is to be expected from a sequel series many actors from "Secret Forest" are reprising their roles in "Secret Forest 2". While most of these characters are straightforwardly sympathetic Park Sung-geun's role as Won-cheol, the chief prosecutor of the third division, held some ambiguity...More
2020/08/12 | Permalink
CJ ENM recently released its latest Content Power Index (CPI) which measures relative branding power between television programs. "It's Okay to Not Be Okay" outperformed all other dramas for the sixth straight week...More
2020/08/10 | Permalink
On August 10th Park Shin-hye's agency announced that the actress had donated approximately one hundred thousand dollars to flood relief for the sake of South Koreans damaged by massive flooding in the country. While the sum is large it is not unprecedented. Park Shin-hye has donated large sums of money to charity efforts throughout her career...More
2020/08/10 | Permalink
A continued strong presence of South Korean dramas on Netflix in Japan has helped to spur talk of a new Korean Wave in the country. Figures released by Netflix on August 10th showed that "Crash Landing on You" was the number two drama for that day, with "Itaewon Class" in number five. Previous figures have also shown that "Crash Landing on You" was the number one drama for the month of July...More
2020/08/10 | Permalink
August 9th saw the final stage greeting for "Steel Rain 2: Summit" as the blockbuster has moved out of wide distribution. But lead actor Jung Woo-sung had a final surprise for fans at Lotte Cinema at Lotte World Tower in Seoul, as he appeared at the ticket counter to greet fans in person...More
2020/08/09 | Permalink
Lee Byung-hun recently made an Instagram post highlighting a coffee car he was sent on the set of "Emergency Declaration" by actor Song Seung-heon. Despite the name, in this case a catering service appears to have been ordered rather than a car, as the picture shows the coffee installation being set up indoors...More
2020/08/09 | Permalink
"Deliver Us From Evil" has had the most promising start yet for a new movie screening in the South Korean market post COVID-19, posting admissions over 2 million viewers following its opening weekend. This is comparable to the 1.8 million viewer opening for "Peninsula", albeit with a few metrics likely tilting long term sales in the favor of "Deliver Us From Evil"...More
2020/08/09 | Permalink
On August 14th TikTok has announced that five actors represented by King Kong by Starship will appear on TikTok Stage. The meeting will take place at eight PM Korean Standard Time, and will also be available in English. The stars represented will be Song Seung-heon, Lee Dong-wook, Yoo Yeon-seok, Lee Kwang-soo, and Kim Beom...More
2020/08/08 | Permalink
Seong-joon (played by Oh Ji-ho) and Jin-soo (played by Jung Eui-wook) are friends and rivals at a small, bamboo-laden martial arts temple in the deep mountains. They then come down from the mountains and turn out to be...dubiously employable. Or at least, that's the impression I got when the seven years later subtitled flashes by and far from the mystical oriental paradise of the previous scene, Seong-joon now works at a failing massage therapy shop of dubious legality. It's failing in part because he's too nice to charge money to his poor, elderly patients...More
2020/08/08 | Permalink
In 2010 director Goo Soo-hwan made "Don't Cry for Me Sudan" detailing the charity work of Catholic priest Lee Tae-seok in wartorn Sudan. The cultural impact of the documentary, while big in Catholic missionary culture, isn't that well-known elsewhere. Opening scenes detailing "Don't Cry for Me Sudan" being shown at the Vatican sells just how influential the movie was. And so "Resurrection" works as a retrospective, asking what happened to all those marching band kids ten years later...More
2020/08/08 | Permalink
In the plethora of war films in international cinema, it is quite difficult to find ones that actually focus on characters instead of the action, and use the war as a basis in order to present various comments. The late Kim Kee-duk achieves just that in his feature debut, which netted him the Best New Director Award at the 1962 Grand Bell Awards...More
2020/08/07 | Permalink
"It's Okay to Not Be Okay" maintained its top position in the Good Data Report this week. With the drama set to end this coming weekend, "It's Okay to Not Be Okay" is well positioned to sweep the Good Data Report for its full run. Four of its actors also appeared in the top ten for performers, with Seo Ye-ji at number one, Kim Soo-hyun at number two, Oh Jung-se at number four, and Jang Young-nam at number seve...More
2020/08/07 | Permalink
In a report released on August 6th detailing Studio Dragon's financial performance over the second quarter, the drama production studio revealed a record-breaking 135 million dollars in total sales. This represented a 26% increase over the same time period the previous year. Actual earnings improved at an even higher margin, as increased international business has allowed Studio Dragon to make more money while spending relatively little...More
2020/08/07 | Permalink
Following his attention grabbing performance in "Steel Rain 2: Summit" actor Shin Jung-geun has been confirmed to also be starring in the upcoming blockbuster "Alien". Though "Alien" first started filming back in March it's only been with the release of "Steel Rain 2: Summit" that interest in the actor rose to the level that interested fans were curious what he was planning next...More
2020/08/06 | Permalink
Home Choice recently released their full rankings for which television shows and films performed best via Video On Demand services for the first week of August. The data, which comprises the period from July 27th to August 2nd, saw "The Good Detective" and "#ALIVE" doing best compared to their peers. LG Hellovision, Btv Cable, DLive, CMB and Hyundai HCN were among the services surveyed...More
2020/08/06 | Permalink
Jun Ji-hyun was recently featured in W Korea, which has done much to whet the appetite of fans for her return...More
2020/08/06 | Permalink
Jung Woo-sung talked much about "Steel Rain 2: Summit" over the past month. In a recent interview, Jung Woo-sung described the original concept as odd. "Steel Rain 2: Summit" isn't a continuation of "Steel Rain" so much as it is the same basic concept of a North Korean and a South Korean thrust together against a national security backdrop. But Yet Jung Woo-sung was impressed by the submarine black comedy concept of "Steel Rain 2: Summit" calling it fresh...More
2020/08/05 | Permalink
On August 4th Lotte Entertainment announced that "#ALIVE" had officially broken the break even point. "#ALIVE" has to date earned over 1.9 million admissions in theatrical screenings, but the zombie movie's declared break even point was 2.2 million admissions...More
2020/08/05 | Permalink
GS25 has apologized for their role in encouraging large numbers of Ji Chang-wook fans to gather in Sinchon, setting off a firestorm of criticism in the current COVID-19 centric environment. The event happened on August 3rd. Fans were promised that visitors to the GS25 convenience store labeled as Yondae 2 would have their transaction processed by Ji Chang-wook until six in the evening...More
2020/08/05 | Permalink
On August 4th actor Jang Keun-suk celebrated his thirty-third birthday. For the eighth time, Jang Keun-suk held an exhibition of various pictures for the sake of his fans which he uses as a vehicle to thank them for their support...More
2020/08/03 | Permalink
In the latest whimsical poll from the South Korean portal website DCInside Hyun Bin was the victor. The latest installment asked respondents which celebrity they would most want to drink beer with on the beach...More
2020/08/03 | Permalink
On August 2nd a news periodical announced that tvN had only just finished filming of the drama "It's Okay to Not Be Okay" on July 31st. This is later than expected, given the South Korean drama industry's shift away from the live shooting system...More
2020/08/03 | Permalink
With "Steel Rain 2: Summit" passing the million viewer milestone in its first weekend and "Peninsula" passing the three million viewer milestone in that same period of time, the South Korean film industry has proven itself to be very alive in spite of the COVID-19 slowdown. Nevertheless, for such hotly hyped movies in the high movie season, these numbers are disappointing. Only the COVID-19 backdrop makes them seem impressive...More
2020/08/02 | Permalink
On August 2nd Park Shin-hye made an Instagram post featuring her cats. The actress herself is largely obscured, both by the cats as well as her own phone, and appears to be wearing a simple t-shirt at home...More
2020/08/02 | Permalink
According to figures released by the Korean Film Council, "Steel Rain 2: Summit" had a million viewers in theaters following its opening weekend...More
2020/08/02 | Permalink
In a recent Instagram post Hwang In-young showed her daughter. off to followers. In spite of the obvious pride, Hwang In-young made a point of obscuring her daughter's face. According to the post, it has been thirty one months since her daughter was born...More
2020/08/01 | Permalink
The first short of the "Ahn Sangtae Short Film Collection Vol.1" omnibus plays best to Ahn Sang-tae's natural strengths as a comedian. Undercover is about an undercover cop in a violent criminal gag who very stupidly gets his Kakao chat rooms confused and has to hypermasculine his way out of it. That Ahn Sang-tae does not look or act like either a credible cop or gangster only sharpens the absurd contrast of the situation, as his comically aggressive behavior inspires mild confusion but ultimate acceptance from his superiors...More
2020/08/01 | Permalink
As "Teuri" opens up we see Crayon (played by Seo Hyun-woo) find several letters addressed to acquaintances from his high school days. As Crayon uses the letters as a pretext to go see these people again, a pattern plays out. They are warm and welcome, filled with nostalgic feeling upon the reminder of their past. Then they actually read their individual letter, and the mood turns dark and angry. They express agitation at Crayon, who seems blissfully unaware of the seriousness of the moment...More
2020/08/01 | Permalink
"Born From Soil, Live in Soil, and Die in Soil" is the phrase the protagonist utters in the beginning of the film, and there is no better way to describe the purpose of this movie, which aims at showing the blights of life in the city and the purity of living in the country, in another, almost militant production of the 60's...More
2020/07/31 | Permalink
The makeup artist for "It's Okay to Not Be Okay" lead actress Seo Ye-ji recently posted a video online that goes into the cover makeup for the actress...More
2020/07/31 | Permalink
The latest iteration of the Good Data Report once again had "It's Okay to Not Be Okay" in the top spot for dramas discussed on social media. "It's Okay to Not Be Okay" had a commanding 35.32% of all references to currently airing dramas on social media. This compares to a very slightly higher percentage of 35.46% from the previous week...More
2020/07/31 | Permalink
While "It's Okay to Not Be Okay" has had lackluster ratings ranging from 5-6% since its initial appearance, the drama has been a noteworthy example of defying standard terrestrial ratings with strong performances in non-traditional metrics. It has, for example, been rated as the most influential drama by the most recent CJ E&M Nielsen ratings, which covered social media activity from July 13th to July 19th. "It's Okay to Not Be Okay" also led this metric for the first four week after its premiere...More
2020/07/30 | Permalink
On July 30th Hunus Entertainment confirmed that So Hee-jung, who the agency represents, would be appearing in the upcoming MBC drama "Kairos". In this fantasy thriller drama, Seo-jin, who is played by Shin Sung-rok, searches for his missing daughter while Ae-ri, who is played by Lee Se-young searches for someone she loves...More
2020/07/30 | Permalink
The success of "Peninsula" both in South Korea as well as overseas has led many to conclude that the South Korean box office has returned to normal. But a better indicator is likely the return of more off-beat, lower level films to cineplexes. While big titles like "Steel Rain 2: Summit" and "Deliver Us From Evil" are attracting the most attention, minor films are embracing a wide gamut of genres...More
2020/07/30 | Permalink
The South Korean website recently released the latest results of their exciting poll series asking users offbeat questions about celebrities. In the latest installment, where data was collected from July 19th to July 25th, respondents were asked which celebrity they thought had the most elegant image...More
2020/07/29 | Permalink
On July 28th zombie movie made its appearance on local South Korean Video On Demand services. The move was abrupt, but expected...More
2020/07/29 | Permalink
The heroines of South Korean dramas have taken on an increadingly active and dynnamic presence in recent years. They're e noticeable departure from their counterparts in older dramas, which were at times notorious for existing in obvious Cinderella stories. But Seo Ye-ji's rule in "It's Okay to Not Be Okay" has gone further than most with this, toeing the line between sympathetic and sinister as she drives most of the drama's greater conflict...More
2020/07/29 | Permalink
On July 29th Netflix announced a new original series. Title "Hellbound", it is based on the Naver webtoon of the same title and quickly brought together a powerful cast. Yoo Ah-in of the recent zombie flick "#ALIVE" will play the lead role, while director Yeon Sang-ho of the recent blockbuster "Peninsula" will direct the series...More
2020/07/27 | Permalink
On July 27th the South Korean website DCInside released the results of a celebrity poll. The phrasing for this particular poll was, thanks to global networking platforms such as Netflix, who is the best known [Korean] star worldwide?...More
2020/07/27 | Permalink
Over the weekend ratings for "It's Okay to Not Be Okay" ranged from 5.2% to 5.6%. This was a very slight drop over the previous weekend, but for the most part "It's Okay to Not Be Okay" is continuing to maintain its fairly modest ratings...More
2020/07/27 | Permalink
On July 27th the Korean Film Council released the final figures for the weekend defined from July 24th to July 26th. During that time 761,077 viewers came out to the cineplexes. This is down nearly half relative to the previous week, July 17th to July 19th, when admissions totaled 1,325,766 persons...More
2020/07/26 | Permalink
In its second week at the South Korean box office, "Peninsula" pushed past the 2.5 million viewer mark to become the second best performing film of the year, a spot which had previously belonged to "Hitman: Agent Jun"...More
2020/07/26 | Permalink
The long awaited "Steel Rain 2: Summit" opens in South Korean theaters on July 29th. The movie's peculiar context of arriving right in the midst of another real-world realignment of the peace process between North and South Korea has already been noted...More
2020/07/26 | Permalink
The movie "Hunt" was recently confirmed with famed actor Lee Jung-jae confirmed as both the director and the lead actor. "Hunt" deals with two ace national security agents chasing down a spy ring...More
2020/07/25 | Permalink
In eighteenth century Joseon we see singer Hak-gyoo (played by Lee Bong-geun), his wife Gan-nan (played by Lee Yu-ri) and their daughter Cheong-i (played by Kim Ha-yeon-I) in a constant state of familial bliss. Even a scene as simple as a stroll through a meadow takes on powerful romantic connotations. There's also a strong sense of surreptitiousness in the overall family dynamic, as is most obviously observed when Cheong-i cheekily signals to the viewer that she knows more about how her parents relate to each other than she lets on...More
2020/07/25 | Permalink
While obviously fairly cheaply produced "Road Family" demonstrates some surprisingly lofty ambitions in its worldbuilding. Yu-ri (played by Park Cho-rong) is a teenage violinist with no friends because her more well-to-do classmates at violin school clearly think she's beneath them. This is due, in part, to Yu-ri living with her blue collar dad Hyeon-doo (played by Park Won-sang) who has to work long hours to support his daughter as a delivery driver...More
2020/07/25 | Permalink
Having women protagonists and issues that deal with the place of women in Korean society was not exactly common ground in the 60's (as is also not now), so it comes as a surprise that Gwon Yeong-sun directed a film like that, although the premises are anything but feminist...More
2020/07/24 | Permalink
After only a single day of availability at the Thai box office "Peninsula" has already handily outperformed prior major South Korean films in that market. As the overall number one at the Thai box office "Peninsula" earned 132,000 dollars in revenue. This compares quite favorably with the prior record of 65,000 dollars set by "Train to Busan", as well as the 17,000 dollars earned by "Parasite" in its opening day last year...More
2020/07/24 | Permalink
With "Peninsula" having decisively pushed past the two million viewer mark and certain to pass the three million viewer mark this weekend, the question yet remains whether the South Korean film market has truly recovered. "Peninsula", like "#ALIVE" before it, has had a mixed reception locally, making it difficult to tell whether weaker than average numbers are due to aesthetics or fear of COVID-19. Enter "Steel Rain 2: Summit", a political action thriller that opens next week...More
2020/07/24 | Permalink
Flame Entertainment recently published a warning on the relevant official Internet fan cafe that the spreading groundless rumors involving Oh Ha-young would be prosecuted to the full extent of the law...More
2020/07/23 | Permalink
Actress and television personality Cho Hye-jung has found herself the target of unwanted attention after posting an Internet comment with her official account on July 21st...More
2020/07/23 | Permalink
Seolhyun's agency has started threatening legal actions in regards to further propagation of a rumor involving Seolhyun, one of their more famous stars...More
2020/07/23 | Permalink
The recent rebooting of actor Son Seung-won's Instagram account has been met with harsh hostility across the South Korean Internet, with many followers of social media platforms leery of an apparent attempt by the disgraced actor to restart his career. While Son Seung-won prefaced his reopening with an apology, this has done little to placate commenters...More
2020/07/22 | Permalink
While domestic South Korean have lamented the apparent drop in drama popularity since the conclusion of "The World of the Married" internationally South Korean dramas are still maintaining a high profile. Much of this is thanks to the success of "It's Okay to Not Be Okay". The return project of Kim Soo-hyun has underwhelmed in domestic terrestrial ratings but has struck a major chord on Netflix, where it has charted in quite a few far flung countries...More
2020/07/22 | Permalink
"Unfamiliar Family" aired its final episode on July 21st, closing out with a series high 6.3%. These ratings were quite impressive given the drama's modest expectations, even exceeding the more headline-friendly "It's Okay to Not Be Okay" domestically. So it was that this same night, lead actress Han Ye-ri expressed her closing thoughts on Instagram...More
2020/07/22 | Permalink
The upcoming animated film "Beauty Water" does not yet have a definite release date, but the movie is already gaining traction due to its shocking and intriguing trailer...More
2020/07/20 | Permalink
In an Instagram post on July 20th Ku Hye-sun announced that she was moving to MIMI Entertainment. The move was long expected...More
2020/07/20 | Permalink
Following reports that an online fan community of "The World of the Married" star Han So-hee had been scammed by the mother of the actress for around twenty thousand dollars, with another previouslt defaulted loan of ten thousand dollars claimed to have been reported to the police...More
2020/07/20 | Permalink
On top of its COVID-19 depression breaking 1.8 million weekend in South Korea, simultaneous distribution of "Peninsula" in other markets has allowed the zombie action flick to break the 20 million dollar mark worldwide...More
2020/07/19 | Permalink
"It's Okay to Not Be Okay" continued its reliable, albeit not spectacular performance over the weekend with ratings ranging from 5.8% on average to 6.2% at highest in its nine PM Saturday/Sunday timeslot...More
2020/07/19 | Permalink
On July 19th Kim Soo-hyun surprised fans with selfies on is Instagram account featuring child actress Kim Soo-in, his co-star on "It's Okay to Not Be Okay". In spite of being his co-star, the two have little reason to share screentime together As Kim Soo-in plays the past version of the character played by lead actress Seo Ye-ji...More
2020/07/19 | Permalink
On the latest episode of the MBC variety program 'Omniscient Interfering View' lead actors Lee Jung-jae and Hwang Jung-min were on-hand to discuss their upcoming film, "Deliver Us From Evil". This was not in the context of the television program, but rather a radio program, the footage of which appeared in the television show...More
2020/07/18 | Permalink
Director Kang Kil-yong is a legend when it comes to martial arts choreography, having worked on a ridiculously large number of famous South Korean films over the years. "The Prisoner" is his first attempt leading a movie production as director though, and the results are about what you'd expect. The acting, the script, and the set design is all pretty cheap and even cheesy. But those fight scenes! With very little to work with, Kang Kil-yong pulls off some outrageously kinetic hand-to-hand fisticuff duels...More
2020/07/18 | Permalink
The title of "The Boy From Nowhere", as well as the script, frequently refers to lead character Kim Soo (played by Kwak Min-gyoo) as a kid. This is odd, and a frustrated Kim Soo comments on it as odd, because Kim Soo looks to be maybe thirty years old. But then, Kim Soo isn't exactly an adult. He rides around on his scooter-bike running errands in the illegal migrant trade, making little progress to any obvious goal in beautiful Jeju Island. So he instead decides to take up surfing...More
2020/07/18 | Permalink
Family dramas that do not succumb to forced sentimentalism are actually a rarity in Korean cinema, to the point that the ones that don't, immediately stand out from the plethora in the category. "Mr. Park" does not avoid it completely, but for the most part, its approach comes pretty close to the comical, a tactic that definitely benefits the film...More
2020/07/17 | Permalink
In an attempt to make sense of the chemistry that's underscored "It's Okay to Not Be Okay", South Korean drama fans have hit on a surprising discovery...More
2020/07/17 | Permalink
With "Peninsula" likely to hit a two million viewer opening week in the South Korean market, the outlook for the blockbuster zombie film as well as the South Korean film industry as a whole is looking good. But "Peninsula" has already hit another unexpected milestone in...More
2020/07/17 | Permalink
The SBS drama "Dinner Mate" ended on July 14th with ratings of 4.3%. Though only a modest success, and a decrease from the drama's opening week which featured ratings as high as 6.1%, the main cast members were appreciative of their viewers' support. They expressed gratitude throughout the week for their fans...More
2020/07/16 | Permalink
According to figures released by the Korean Film Council, "Peninsula", the long-awaited follow-up to "Train to Busan" broke 350,000 admissions in its first day of availability at the South Korean box office. The strong performance considerably outpaced that of fellow zombie flick "#ALIVE" which had first day admissions of 200,000 three weeks prior...More
2020/07/16 | Permalink
Despite a slight decrease in objective measurements the tvN drama "It's Okay to Not Be Okay" retained its top spot on the Good Data Report in its fourth week of airing...More
2020/07/16 | Permalink
On July 16th SM Entertainment confirmed that Irene would appear in the leading role in the upcoming movie "Double Patty". The name of the character Irene will play is Ji Mang-saeng, who is described as an anchor...More
2020/07/15 | Permalink
On July 15th Lee Byung-hun made an Instagram post wherein he thanked Song Kang-ho for having accomplished everything according to plan. Lee Byung-hun also referred to Song Kang-ho as his brother. The post followed a similar one from Im Si-wan, calling attention to the existence of a coffee car on the set of "Emergency Declaration" paid for by Song Kang-ho...More
2020/07/15 | Permalink
The reign of "#ALIVE" at the top of the South Korean box office came to an end on July 15th, as "Peninsula" finally received a wide release and quickly took full control of theaters, easily exceeding ninety percent of reservations on online movie ticket reservation sites...More
2020/07/15 | Permalink
On July 13th "It's Okay to Not Be Okay" hit a major milestone in world exposure when it ranked in the top ten of the Netflix world wankings. "It's Okay to Not Be Okay" was the highest ranking Asian drama in the world rankings for that day, although other dramas from Germany, Australia, Colombia, and Turkey also appeared on the list...More
2020/07/13 | Permalink
On July 13th CJ ENM released its latest Content Power Index report, this iteration for the first week of July, defined as taking place from June 29th to July 5th...More
2020/07/13 | Permalink
Hwang Bo-ra's agency Walkhouse Company recently confirmed that the actress would be starring in the upcoming television drama "Zombie Detective". No details are known about her character at this time...More
2020/07/13 | Permalink
"The Point Men" has finally cleared its COVID-19 enforced immigration hurdles, as cast and crew for the movie were spotted at Incheon International Airport in July 12nd en route to Jordan. The production company is hoping to be able to give "The Point Men" a world premiere at the Busan International Film Festival this October to further jump start the ailing South Korean film industry. The recent inability of "The Point Men" staff to get to Jordan for location shooting has been the main obstacle to this goal...More
2020/07/12 | Permalink
While Lee Jong-suk is still in the midst of his mandatory military service, the popular actor has not forgotten his colleagues in the drama industry...More
2020/07/12 | Permalink
On the latest episode of the SBS Radio program 'Cinetown' actors Oh Ji-ho and Julien Kang appeared as guests. They were there to promote the upcoming movie "The Prisoner", an action movie about a detective who goes undercover at a prison fight club. The movie opens in theaters on July 23rd though it is expected to recoup most of its budget from the secondary distribution market...More
2020/07/12 | Permalink
The latest rankings from Home Choice regarding South Korea's most popular Video On Demand titles has recently been released. The metrics include data collated from LG Hellovision, Btv Cable, D-LIVE, CMB, and Hyundai HCN among others from the first week of July...More
2020/07/11 | Permalink
Blue (played by Cheetah) is a jazz singer working in Itaewon living with her high school age sister Yoo-ri (played by Choi Ji-su). Their mother, played by Jo Min-soo, isn't much of a parent. It's intimated that she has financial resources, somehow, but is in general so needlessly hostile and destructive that both Blue and Yoo-ri try to avoid dealing with her. But Blue, at least, has little choice in the matter when mom's first visit to their home coincides with Yoo-ri disappearing without explanation...More
2020/07/11 | Permalink
In Incheon, film director Kyeong-tae (played by Oh Tae-kyung) arrives, massive backpack in tow, and sets off by bus to the next stage of his journey. This turns out to be the outside of the apartment complex where his illustrator ex-girlfriend Da-woon (played Shin So-yul) lives. Kyeong-tae sets up a tent there. Da-woon is, understandably, perplexed and angered by behavior which she interprets as stalking. So it is that "Si, Nario" rather auspiciously begins with the question of why Da-woon doesn't just call the police...More
2020/07/11 | Permalink
Using comedy to comment on society and themes like family is not exactly an easy task, since the balance between commentary and entertainment is rather difficult to retain. However, Shin Sang-ok accomplishes just that with an easiness that is emblematic of his value as a filmmaker (let's not get into the controversy of his history again)...More
2020/07/10 | Permalink
While many minor performers in the South Korean entertainment industry are typecast, this is not the case for Oh Hye-won, who has recently been noted for her noteworthy appearances in two very different roles in two very different genres. Oh Hye-won appears as an autonomous sensory meridian response (ADMR) creator in the romance drama "Dinner Mate", and as a police officer in the popular zombie movie "#ALIVE"...More
2020/07/10 | Permalink
Lee Jun-young of U-Kiss had a recent major drama appearance in "Good Casting". Though a spy comedy drama, Lee Jun-young's character was romantically connected with the one played by Yoo In-young- in spite of the thirteen year age gap between the two. Lee Jun-young discussed their kiss scene among others in a recent interview...More
2020/07/10 | Permalink
Recent comparative stills released by tvN have helped shed some light on the mystery of how exactly "It's Okay to Not Be Okay" is being filmed. The drama has won much interest and acclaim for its unique visual style. Many have wondered if even the more mundane effects, like shots of a mansion in the countryside, were real places or just computer images...More
2020/07/09 | Permalink
The last few weeks have been very strong for the computer graphics company Digital Idea, and going forward their profile only looks to become more important. Digital Idea recently made an impact when "It's Okay to Not Be Okay" premiered last month and immediately garnered praise for that television drama's distinctive visuals. Digital Idea also did the computer effects in "#ALIVE", the zombie flick that broke the COVID-19 induced depression at the South Korean box office last month...More
2020/07/09 | Permalink
In its fifteenth day of availability at South Korean theaters "#ALIVE" hit another milestone, claiming the number three spot on the South Korean box office for 2020. It narrowly outperformed the political comedy "An Honest Candidate", the last decently successful movie before the COVID-19 outbreak...More
2020/07/09 | Permalink
On July 9th the Good Data Corporation released the latest iteration of the Good Data Report, which measures how viewers are responding to dramas by analyzing trends in traditional media as well as social media...More
2020/07/08 | Permalink
While the upcoming blockbuster "Peninsula" is still a week away, the movie has already hit the online reservation charts in South Korea...More
2020/07/08 | Permalink
On July 8th MBC held a press conference for its drama "She Knows Everything" which began airing the same day. Lead actress Kang Sung-yeon, lead actor Jo Han-sun, and director Lee Dong-hyun-IV were all in attendance. "She Knows Everything" is a mystery drama wherein a nosy woman teams up with a detective to solve an unusual incident...More
2020/07/08 | Permalink
Last month Lee Sang-yeob finished up "Good Casting" where he played Seok-ho, a man who had a romantic crush on the lead character Chan-mi, played Choi Kang-hee, who makes a transition from secretary to black ops agent. An interview with the actor has been making the rounds as it references the possibility of a second season. While "Good Casting" did all right in ratings, the drama still ended lower than it started and did not create significant popular buzz...More
2020/07/06 | Permalink
Over the course of June the South Korean box office had over 3.86 million admissions. Though weaker than previous years, this figure is over double the equivalent for May, with only 1.52 million admissions, itself an improvement over April, with only 970,000 admissions. So it is that movie distributors are getting bolder, with a stronger slate set for July...More
2020/07/06 | Permalink
Visual distinction has been one of the strong points of "It's Okay to Not Be Okay" allowing the drama to gain prominent presence on social media sites where stills of the drama are shared. Seo Ye-ji's outfits on the drama have been popular in this format...More
2020/07/06 | Permalink
On July 6th Son Ye-jin's agency confirmed that the actress is currently considering an offer to appear in the leading role of a Hollywood movie for her next project. The title of the movie is Cross, and actor Sam Worthington is purportedly also in consideration for a leading role...More
2020/07/05 | Permalink
According to figures released by the Korean Film Council, "#ALIVE" broke the 1.5 million viewer admissions marks on Sunday July 5th. This follows up "#ALIVE" previously breaking the 1 million mark as it being the first movie to perform so well at the South Korean box office since February, when the COVID-19 outbreak had a chilling effect on the market...More
2020/07/05 | Permalink
Over the weekend "It's Okay to Not Be Okay" continued to hover in the same area ratings-wise as previous weeks on a mild downtrend, with rating of 4.7% on Saturday July 4th followed up by ratings of 5% on Sunday July 5th. The drama is also underperforming slightly with tvN's target 20-49 year demographic with ratings between 3.9% and 4.2% in that particular range...More
2020/07/05 | Permalink
The reappearance of Han Ji-hye into public life with the currently airing variety show 'Stars' Top Recipe at Fun-Staurant' has once again brought the actress into focus, with many wondering about the past of the once famous actress, and particularly her marriage. So it is that an old episode the SBS variety show 'Healing Camp' has come into focus which features Han Ji-hye frankly discussing her personal life...More
2020/07/04 | Permalink
At the start of "Innocence" we're treated to a horrific scene wherein various members of a funeral banquet start vomiting rice wine, having clearly been poisoned. The apparently senile Hwa-ja (played by Bae Jong-ok) is the main obvious culprit, as the woman who prepared the food for the friends of her departed husband. So it is that Hwa-ja's daughter Jeong-in (played by Shin Hye-sun) returns to the outskirts of Daejeon, determined to prove that her mother is innocent...More
2020/07/04 | Permalink
The father of director Kim Lyang hails from the seaside town of Dancheon in the Hamgyeong province of North Korea. Back then, of course, it wasn't North Korea, it was just Korea. He ended up on the wrong side of the demilitarized zone through the time and tide of war. In "Forbidden Fatherland", we see Kim Lyang observing her father's meek depression. From staged flashbacks where Kim Lyang is portrayed as a child who resents her father, the documentary transitions to asking what made him this way....More
2020/07/04 | Permalink
It is always a pleasure to discover barely known cinematic gems, and the fact that you never know where you will find one is what makes searching for older films so interesting. "Bandhobi", (a Bangladeshi word that means female friend) is a film that definitely deserves the search...More
2020/07/03 | Permalink
While new releases have returned to the South Korean box office admissions numbers are low going into the weekend and are likely to remain as such going into the weekend as the big marketing push to reopen the market following COVID-19 has ended. Following weaker than hoped for numbers for "#ALIVE" last weekend the quiet will likely remain until the release of "Peninsula" on July 15th...More
2020/07/03 | Permalink
On July 3rd, social media account for tvN released a spread of images highlighting the styling of Seo Ye-ji on the currently airing drama "It's Okay to Not Be Okay". The actress as well as the drama she appears in have gained much attention for their distinct visual style and unusual variety in wardrobe. The pictures are highlighted as OOTD, or Outfit Of The Day...More
2020/07/03 | Permalink
The latest iteration of the Good Data Report once again saw "It's Okay to Not Be Okay" lead other dramas in terms of social media metrics. The study was conducted from June 22nd to June 28th and measured which among the twenty-four current prime time television dramas attracted the most attention in terms of shared news articles, blogs, and videos...More
2020/07/02 | Permalink
"Into The Ring" had an auspicious premiere this week following criticism from the United Future Party on June 25th that the drama was political propaganda. The United Future Party based this judgment on the fact that a basic synopsis of the politically themed drama's premise appears to suggest that conservatives are the villains, while younger more presumably social justice oriented characters are innately heroic...More
2020/07/02 | Permalink
On June 28th the OCN police drama "Team Bulldog: Off-duty Investigation" concluded its moderately successful run, pulling in ratings of 4.4% for its twelfth episode, compared to 2.2% from its first episode. And while not a regular of the show, Baek Seung-chul had a memorable turn appearing as the final villain, a serial killer named Do Gi-tae...More
2020/07/02 | Permalink
Park Shin-hye recently appeared as a guest on an MBC Radio program. In the interview broadcast on this program, Park Shin-hye discussed the currently screening movie "#ALIVE" in general as well as her co-star Yoo Ah-in in particular, giving him strong praise for his acting talent...More
2020/07/01 | Permalink
On July 1st the tvN drama "It's Okay to Not Be Okay" confirmed that actor Jung Sang-hoon would soon be appearing on the late night weekend drama...More
2020/07/01 | Permalink
In a recent Instagram post Yoo Ah-in posted proof that he was making good on one of his "#ALIVE" pledges. On July 27th during a V LIVE CV he promised that, should "#ALIVE" breaks a million viewers, he would show everyone the alternate hairstyle discussed for his character in the movie which was ultimately decided against in favor of a blond dyed buzzcut. In the picture, Yoo Ah-in is wearing a long-haired wig of the alternate style...More
2020/07/01 | Permalink
While the ratings for "It's Okay to Not Be Okay" were static in their second week, "It's Okay to Not Be Okay" continues to draw attention online for its unique visual aesthetic. Lead actress Seo Ye-ji in particular has been emblematic of this aesthetic, often wearing several wildly different outfits over the course of a single episode. And even this doesn't get into her use of accessories or alterations in her makeup...More
2020/06/29 | Permalink
In part due to the shake-up caused by COVID-19 earlier this year, when the box office reopened in June a curious coincidence had taken place. A disproportionate numbers of films, including three of the four major releases and the best performing independent film, all came from first-time directors...More
2020/06/29 | Permalink
Across the film industry press the story of "#ALIVE" breaking the million viewer mark was treated with considerable relief, as the becnhmark would seem to suggest that the industry depression caused by COVID-19 may soon come to an end. There is some reason to trust in this optimism. After all, unlike South Korea's now infamous club scene, mask requirements and sign-up sheets at South Korean movie theaters appear to have confirmed that movie theaters in the country are quite safe...More
2020/06/29 | Permalink
On June 29th the Save Our Cinema campaign released a new poster, signaling renewed interest from the Ministry of Sports, Culture and Tourism as well as the Korean Film Council in term of preserving South Korea's independent film theater culture. The restarting of the campaign in earnest is the latest sign of aggression in the South Korean film market following the COVID-19 induced depression which appears to be coming to an end...More
2020/06/28 | Permalink
On June 28th, the Korean Film Council released data stating that the zombie movie "#ALIVE" has broken a million admissions, just barely passing the benchmark in its fifth day at the box office. "#ALIVE" is the first movie to achieve the million admission milestone since COVID-19 crashed the South Korean box office back in February...More
2020/06/28 | Permalink
Over the weekend actor Kwak Dong-yeon made a guest appearance in the currently airing drama "It's Okay to Not Be Okay". In it, he played Kwon Ki-do, who is the son of a politician named Kwon Man-soo. The latter character is played by Han Ki-joong. Their relationship is antagonistic, with Ki-do deliberately exposing his private parts on camera in an effort to humiliate his father who is currently running for public office...More
2020/06/28 | Permalink
On June 27th the Japanese television version of "Midnight Runners" begin airing on Nippon TV. The drama stars one idol from the J-Pop group Sexy Zone and another idol from the J-Pop group King & Prince in the leading roles as a pair of police academy recruits who work to solve cases in spite of their obvious clumsy inexperience...More
2020/06/27 | Permalink
Joon-woo (played by Yoo Ah-in) is at home alone playing games online when his Internet friends start noting in confusion that there's crazy stuff happening on television. Up in his eighth floor apartment, Joon-woo looks down and sees a giant panicked mob. Then he sees some members of the mob inexplicably turn around and start biting each other. Suffice to say, Joon-woo is too spooked to leave his apartment, where he remains for most of the rest of the movie...More
2020/06/27 | Permalink
In present day France, Mi-ra (played by Kim Ho-jung) has finally had enough of her husband Jules (played by Alexandre Guanse), a man who we are quickly led to believe is an unsympathetic philanderer even as he earnestly insists their issues can be resolved. We then see Mi-ra return to Korea, seeing old friends for the first time in decades. The culture shock is a bit much, which possibly explains why Mi-ra is always meeting her friends in Western-style bars...More
2020/06/27 | Permalink
Billed as a sex comedy and flaunting Moon So-ri's undeniable sex appeal any way possible (just check the poster), "Bewitching Attraction" seemed like a project that could be commercially successful, to say the least. Bad writing however and a mediocre direction resulted into something completely different...More
2020/06/26 | Permalink
While "It's Okay to Not Be Okay" had a mixed first weekend ratings-wise the drama has gained a strong second wind in social media in large part thanks to the drama's distinct visuals, which are easy to share online. The gorgeous opening stop-motion animated scene that depicts a childhood meeting between the lead characters, for example, was surprisingly compellingly replicated in the real-life version of that same scene...More
2020/06/26 | Permalink
Last year the major movie "Parasite" introduced foreign audiences to the peculiar snack dish known as Chapaguri, which was infamously translated as Ram-don in the subtitles, even though the dish features neither ramen nor udon noodles. Rather it is a combination of the local brands of Chapagetti and Neoguri noodles. But now the dish has made an unexpected comeback to the big screen in "#ALIVE", where it serves a very different thematic purpose...More
2020/06/26 | Permalink
According to figures released by the Korean Film Council, "#ALIVE" once again led in its second day at the South Korean box office bringing in admissions of 148,996 for a two day total of...More
2020/06/25 | Permalink
In its first day of release at the South Korean box office, "#ALIVE" earned 204,093 admissions. This is a fivefold improvement over the previous leader for a post COVID-19 major release, "Intruder", which earned 49,583 admissions on its first day...More
2020/06/25 | Permalink
"It's Okay to Not Be OK" ascended to the top of the Good Data Report this week, boosted by social media discussion about Kim Soo-hyun's first drama since his mandatory military release as well as the drama's distinctive visual style. Fittingly Kim Soo-hyun and leading lady Seo Ye-ji also topped the list for performers, ranking first and second respectively...More
2020/06/25 | Permalink
On June 25th the relevant real estate office to the sale confirmed that actress Hwang Jung-eum bought a high class home in Itaewon. The residence includes one basement floor and two that are above ground...More
2020/06/24 | Permalink
On June 23rd Song Hye-kyo posted in an Instagram Story. The picture featured Song Hye-kyo holding flowers while standing next to Yoo Ah-in...More
2020/06/24 | Permalink
Relatively little was made of the premise of "It's Okay to Not Be Okay", as the romantic drama quickly became a source of interest mainly due to it being Kim Soo-hyun's comeback project. But since the drama started airing Seo Ye-ji has attracted considerably more attention in her own leading role as a fairy tale writer who is, in medical terms, a psychopath...More
2020/06/24 | Permalink
Following the poor performance of "A Piece of Your Mind" and the ongoing disappointment of "Oh My Baby" in the ratings, tvN appears to be reworking its concept with its current dramas that focus more on characters than premises. This shift could first be noted with "My Unfamiliar Family", which opened earlier this month with 3.1% ratings and has since climbed up to 4.7% ratings...More
2020/06/22 | Permalink
From a premiere of 6.1% in its first night on June 20th, "It's Okay to Not Be Okay" dropped to 4.7% in its second night on June 21st. Online comments have suggested that the drop is due to an unexpected focus on the character played by Seo Ye-ji, who renders the overall subject matter too dark...More
2020/06/22 | Permalink
While leading men Ji Chang-wook and Kim Soo-hyun have garnered the most attention for their drama comebacks it is oddly ironic that both of their new dramas are actually centered around their leading ladies, with the major stars themselves filling the comparable role of straight men. So much of "Backstreet Rookie" is riding on Kim Yoo-jung, just as much of "It's Okay to Not Be Okay" is riding on Seo Ye-ji- albeit in very different ways...More
2020/06/22 | Permalink
Park Shin-hye's Instagram and Choi Tae-joon's Instagram
Park Shin-hye has been in a relationship with Choi Tae-joon since 2018. In spite of this, the actress is not generally well-understood to currently have a boyfriend. So it was with some surprise that a journalist in a recent interview asked Park Shin-hye a question on the topic. Park Shin-hye's response was brief, but firm in confirming the continued existence of the relationship...More
2020/06/21 | Permalink
As is the case with many dramas, "It's Okay to Not Be Okay" opened up its first week with much exposition as to character backstory when they were younger...More
2020/06/21 | Permalink
Kim Soo-hyun had a successful first outing with his new drama "It's Okay to Not Be Okay", his first project in five years. The drama earned average ratings of 6.1% with a high of 7% on Saturday night, earning accolades from viewers for its unusual approach. The drama began with an animated prologue and moved on to incorporate a similarly unique fairytale style once the story moved to live action sections...More
2020/06/21 | Permalink
Lee Yoo-bi and Lee Jun-young had noteworthy turns as guest stars in the second episode of "Backstreet Rookie", briefly appearing as guests in the convenience store where the drama takes place. This is the first appearance of Lee Yoo-bi in a drama since "A Poem a Day" in 2018, and the first for Lee Jun-young after "Good Casting", which finished airing earlier in the week...More
2020/06/20 | Permalink
Soo-in (played by Lee Joo-young) is a high school baseball player who wants to go professional. But where as a middle school student Soo-in was hailed as a genius pitcher, in high school age she has fallen behind her male peers. Yet nothing about Soo-in is portrayed all that romantically. Soo-in is first and foremost a sullen teenage girl who's used to feeling beaten down and not getting much support...More
2020/06/20 | Permalink
The opening narrative crawl of "The President's Last Bang" stoically informs us about how President Park Chung-hee (played by Song Jae-ho) brutally rolled back pro-democracy demonstration movements throughout his reign in the sixties and seventies. Then, as we get to the scripted part of the story, we learn that Park Chung-hee seems less like a tyrannical dictator and more like an eccentric rock star, complete wiith groupies and torture dungeons. Also he has a serious Japan fetish...More
2020/06/20 | Permalink
As the fifties were coming to an end, the anti-Rhee establishment/pro-South Korea sentiments were becoming stronger and stronger, something that eventually led to the "April 19 Revolution", a student movement that eventually led to the resigning of President Syngman Rhee. The sentiment of the era was also mirrored in cinema, and Yu Gwan-sun, a student that repeatedly demonstrated against the Japanese rule until her death in the hands of the authorities in 1919, and a symbol of freedom and resistance against Japanese imperialism for Korean people, offered the perfect base...More
2020/06/19 | Permalink
While a younger actress, Kim Yoo-jung earned much acclaim for her role in "Moonlight Drawn by Clouds", where she played the romantic opposite to a traditional Korean prince played by Park Bo-gum. But the then-sixteen year old Kim Yoo-jung has since grown up and now, in her twentieth year, the young actress takes on another high-profile project with "Backstreet Rookie" following a break...More
2020/06/19 | Permalink
Last year Ji Chang-wook finished his mandatory military service and, to the great joy of fans, quickly got right back into making dramas with "Melting Me Softly". Unfortunately, the science fiction concept romantic comedy did not take off, leading some to suggest that Ji Chang-wook, in his rush to start work again, did not consider his available offers well, going too far off-brand...More
2020/06/19 | Permalink
As the domestic drama market has quieted down with the end of hits like "The World of the Married" and "Hospital Playlist" there has been quiet and doubt regarding the importance of major names. Lee Min-ho, after all, was not enough to turn "The King: Eternal Monarch" into the megahit that was expected. But with Kim Soo-hyun and Ji Chang-wook starting new dramas this weekend, big stars are getting another chance to prove their worth...More
2020/06/18 | Permalink
In its final week on air "The King: Eternal Monarch" once again topped the Good Data Report measuring media engagement for various dramas. Much of the attention given to "The King: Eternal Monarch" was negative, particularly in regards to product placement, an issue that dogged the drama throughout its run. In recent weeks "The King: Eternal Monarch" also benefited from weak competition. Its lead actors were also talked about, with Lee Min-ho and Kim Go-eun in first and fourth place...More