The year end holiday season will have a star-studded big-budget K-movie to look forward to, and hopefully end the Korean box office for 2017 on a high note. Fantasy death movie Along With the Gods (Two Worlds) is adapted from the same name webtoon about the death trials of a firefighter played by Cha Tae Hyun who experiences the trials … Continue reading →
The waning days of summer is also the kickoff to the biggest fashion season of the year in fall. The colors and fabrics transition from the playful and light to the experimental and substantial, and this year Italian design house Bottega Veneta is showcasing a lot of blacks and whites judging from the main color palate of the K-stars out … Continue reading →
Two K-ent titans forming an agency is more than enough to garner interest and anticipation that the effort would be a success. Best friends and top Korean actors Lee Jung Jae and Jung Woo Sung left their agencies after their contracts were up and teamed to form The Artist Company, following in the footsteps of top actors like Lee Byun … Continue reading →
Oh dang, clearly being super famous and critically acclaimed isn’t enough to gain a reprieve or special dispensation from the ongoing Chinese ban on Hallyu. Upcoming Chinese thriller movie Sheer Cliff was set to start filming starring Zhang Zi Yi paired with K-actor Ha Jung Woo and now the movie is a no go. At least a no go for … Continue reading →
A new record got broken from the Korean film contingent attending this year’s 2016 Cannes Film Festival – famed director Park Chan Wook‘s long awaited intense period movie The Handmaiden broke the record set by Bong Joon Ho‘s Snowpiercer as the best selling Korean movie of all time. The Handmaiden was sold to 175 countries over Snowpiercer’s 167, but the more … Continue reading →
The shiny Korean stars at this year’s 2016 Cannes Film Festival wasn’t only Gong Yoo and Jung Yumi, there to promote zombie thriller Train to Busan. Also at the French beach city are top actors Ha Jung Woo and Jo Jin Woong for their period movie The Handmaiden (Agasshi), along with female leads Kim Min Hee and Kim Tae Ri. … Continue reading →
The list is out for Forbes Korea magazine’s annual ranking of the 40 Most Powerful Celebrities, a ranking that takes into account a whole host of factors including buzz, name recognition, successful projects, number of CFs, and so forth. I hope to forestall useless arguing since just because you/he/she think your oppa or unni is the most popular person on … Continue reading →
Every time there is a survey of some sort, it’s always entertaining to casually peruse which star has maintained top dog popularity and who may have dropped off a bit. This weekend Section TV did a poll for its 800 episode, asking 800 people to name the Top 8 Big Stars of South Korea. This one sounds like a pure … Continue reading →
I’m always entertained by lists and polls, offering a snapshot of the general reaction to the topic at hand without needing to take it seriously. The latest list is interesting in how many selections elicited approving nods from me. tvN did a poll of Korean males to ask who their favorite manly actor was and the top three is basically … Continue reading →
Just because Jeon Ji Hyun did one mega hit K-drama without any indication she’s planning anymore small screen forays doesn’t mean she’s not acting. She’s just back to her day job is all, being one of the biggest K-actress movie stars of her generation. Her next movie costars two of the biggest K-actor movie stars to boot in Ha Jung … Continue reading →
The annual Forbes magazine ranking of the top 40 Korean celebrities has just been released, fresh out of the oven and piping hot for perusal. As always, try not to get too worked up if your favorite oppa/unni or bias didn’t make the top 40 this year, it’s just one ranking albeit a very influential one that has a lot of … Continue reading →
There are stories so profound that it is imprinted in the heart. Such is the novel (and later movie adaptation) of the C-novelist Yu Hua‘s most famous work To Live. I was so awestruck and emotionally devastated after watching the Zhang Yimou directed movie that it took me years later to get up the courage to read the novel itself. … Continue reading →
This is about as high wattage as it gets for movie premieres in South Korea. The upcoming Joseon-era sageuk movie Gwanghae: The Man Who Became King (English title Masquerade) starring Lee Byung Hun, Han Hyo Joo, and Ryu Seung Ryong held its star-stubbed movie premiere in Seoul this week which was attended by a veritable who’s who of actors young … Continue reading →
