The 18th annual Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) kicked off yesterday in the seaside town of Busan, South Korea with lots of glam and anticipation. Featuring 301 movie selections from 70 countries shown over 10 days, BIFF has cemented its reputation as one of the top film festivals in Asia and this year’s star studded opening ceremony brought lots of … Continue reading →
The premieres in Seoul this Summer keep getting bigger and bigger and this is one of the most star-studded to date what with the melding of Hollywood and a Korean directorial super star. Seoul was the location chosen for the world movie premiere of the upcoming Snowpiercer since its directed by South Korean wunderkind Bong Joon Ho, who has helmed … Continue reading →
These cute BTS pictures snapped by the cast on the set of Cruel City (Heartless City) are exponentially cuter once you take into account the context. The gritty and tension-laden noir thriller airing on cable network jTBC has crossed the halfway mark of its airing and is still as taut and well-written as ever. Starring Jung Kyung Ho, Nam Gyu … Continue reading →
This is going to be a busy week in K-drama land. Two high-profile Mon-Tues dramas are wrapping up in Gu Family Book and Jang Ok Jung, Live in Love, while next weekend a sprawling cast weekend drama Goddess of Marriage premieres. In between I’m toggling Cruel City (Heartless City) to start off the week with the sweet kids-bonding-through-music Monstar to … Continue reading →
I’ve seen my share of odd photo shoot concepts, but for the most part its from the edgier magazines such as Vogue for the ladies, GQ or Details for the men, or perhaps an indie rag or two. InStyle Magazine is probably as straitlaced as they come, like the Toyota Camry of the publishing world when it comes to mixing … Continue reading →
Now that I’m all caught on up Cruel City (Heartless City), it’s neat to work backwards like Memento on its trail of drama goodies. I did keep this drama on my radar when I knew Jung Kyung Ho was cast as the lead in his first post-military service comeback drama. But the inclusion of Nam Gyu Ri totally turned me … Continue reading →
I can sum up the entirety of this post in eight words – This. Is. The. Best. Drama. Airing. Right. Now. Three months ago I wrote that the first quarter of 2013 was by and large a disappointment. I wondered then if the new dramas premiering in the Spring would end the quality drought and herald a return to addicting and … Continue reading →
Everything about the upcoming Haeundae Lovers is just weird. I don’t mean bad, just odd and hard to wrap my mind around. It seems so slapstick and silly, yet it could be good if done right because you have one prosecutor who loses his memory and thinks he’s a gangster and falls in love with the daughter of a mob … Continue reading →
Last year around July a drama premiered that appeared both zany and cute, leaving everyone excited that a good farce was to be had. Alas, Spy Myung Wol turned out to be a debacle of epic proportions on and off the screen, and right now Haeundae Lovers is reminding me of SMW for various reasons. It’s about the premiere in … Continue reading →
The first stills are out of Park Shin Hye in the KBS drama special Don’t Worry I’m a Ghost. She looks so adorable it just makes me even more curious about how this drama will turn into. Something quirky and fun? Bong Tae Kyu is a great choice to play the leading man since he’s hardly conventionally handsome so we’ll … Continue reading →
Spring is here, and with it comes wedding season. If you’re married it feels anticlimactic, if you’re single it feels like an interminable slog. But weddings are always great for checking out the bride’s wedding gown, and giving it the thumbs up or down. Many Korean actresses have played brides in dramas, movies, or magazine shoots. I thought it’d be … Continue reading →
The pretty (oh my god so pretty) cast of the upcoming SBS Wed-Thurs drama 49 Days held its press conference yesterday in preparation for its premiere next week. I’ve posted enough about the drama so I have nothing more to add substantively about the story, but fashion and chemistry-wise this press conference was a win and added to my interest … Continue reading →
We’re two weeks away from the premiere of 49 Days, and my personal goal is to finish my Sunny Happiness recaps by then so that I can get that addiction out of my system (good luck with that) in order to start squealing over this drama. SBS released a ton of official promotional materials yesterday, including posters, character stills, and … Continue reading →