The nominees are out for the 51st annual Grand Bell Awards, the Korean equivalent of the Academy Awards to honor the industry’s best and brightest films and movie stars for the calendar year. This year the only K-movie I watched from the list of Best Film nominees was The Admiral: Roaring Currents, which judging by its runaway box office receipts pretty much everyone in South Korea also watched. It leads this year’s nominees with a whopping 11 nominations across all major categories but close behind is the well-received and also fellow box office hit The Attorney with 10 nominations.

Best Actor will come down to nominees Choi Min Shik for Roaring Currents and Song Kang Ho for The Attorney while over in the Best Actress category for awhile it was Shim Eun Kyung for Miss Granny but who knows how voting will go now that she’s currently starring in a drama dud. I was personally blown away by another Best Actress nominee Choi Won Hee for Han Gong Ju. For the young viewer contingent, a couple of idol-turned-actors snuck into the New Actor nominations with Park Yoochun for Sea Fog and Im Shi Wan for The Attorney. Continue reading →