Category: Entertainment Files

Seriously, what is so secret about this “secret weapon”?:

“I’ll seduce Japanese fans with my sexy looks,” promised Lee Hyo-lee, revealing her strategy for cracking the Japan market. Lee was speaking at a press conference on Monday at the Hotel Okura Tokyo in Japan ahead of the launch on Fuji TV CS of her soap “If in Love… Like Them.”

Yes quite the secret weapon. 

I watched Spiderman 3 this weekend which continues to be the leading movie in Korean movie theatres.  In my opinion the movie was quite good, but not as good as the first two movies.  The special effects are in incredible as to be expected and all the main characters give strong performances, but the story line is what makes this the worst of three movies.  There are a variety of story line threads in the movie that just do not come together well in the end.  The story line thread involving Peter Parker turning into the dark Spiderman was just absolutely ridiculous and really took away from the movie. 

The movie has two new villains, the Sandman and Venom along with the old Hobgoblin villain from Spiderman 2.  The two new villains are very poorly developed, especially Venom, which can all be attributed to the poor story line.  One of the villains should have been left out for a future Spiderman movie which would have helped focus the story line.   All in all it is worth seeing just for the special effects alone, however I think Spiderman 2 is still the best Spiderman movie. 

Any bets how long this lasts?

I think it is safe to say that the moral of this story is to not hire gangsters as your manager:

The manager of South Korean movie star Kwon Sang-Woo was sentenced to eight months in jail Wednesday for blackmailing his client, court officials said.

The defendant, a former gangster identified by his family name Paek, was found quilty of threatening Kwon with disclosures about his private life in an attempt to secure a lucrative business contract, they said.

Kwon, 30, who is gaining popularity in Japan and other Asian countries during the Korean pop culture boom, had also faced another case of intimidation.

In February prosecutors indicted Kim Tae-Chon, a gang leader already serving a prison term for bribery, for trying to force Kwon to attend a fans’ meeting in Japan organised by Kim’s friend.

The Korean netizens are at again criticizing the depicting of bridge in a recent episode of the television drama LOST:

A rather poor substitute for Korea’s historic Hangang Grand Bridge shown in the American television series "Lost" has provoked intense feelings among some Korean watchers.

In the 18th episode of the third season of "Lost" which aired a week ago, a bridge labeled as the Hangang Grand Bridge appears briefly in the background of one scene.

(…)

Some Koreans discussing the episode on Internet message boards called the production sloppy and criticized the show makers for their apparent ignorance of Korea.

"It was so absurd I couldn’t even laugh," wrote somebody called "ion***" on the Naver portal. "How could they film a scene like that? What does the U.S. think of Korea?"

Another poster wrote, "The producers of Lost have gone too far. They don’t have to know everything about Korea, but this is ridiculous."

This is really idiotic criticism because the show is filmed in Hawaii where the bridge depicted is located at.  I’m sure the shows creators added the Korean lettering to the bridge thinking it would give the scene more of a Korean atmosphere since they were filming in Hawaii, but the childish Korean netizens are once again using this as to create a perception of Americans slapping Koreans in the face once again. 

You would think they would have learned their lesson when they criticized LOST during season one because the two Korean characters were initially portrayed negatively in the series.  However, as the story line progressed these two characters became some of the main heroes in the series and it became clear why the characters acted the way they did at the beginning of the series. 

The LOST series has done more for Korea actors and film industry than any others movie or series in the US.  Yet the netizens think it is anti-Korean because the producer won’t pay to fly the entire cast and crew to Seoul to film a brief scene of Kim Yun-jin walking across a bridge.  I’m sure they wouldn’t have been complaining if in the background of the same scene there was a USFK soldier dumping toxic waste into the river.  These netizens really need to get a life. 

You can read more on this over at Lost Nomad and the Marmot’s Hole.

The new Korean drama is winning over viewers and making cultural waves in Korea:

A new TV soap opera is gaining popularity in South Korea with the tear-jerking tale of an eight-year-old girl infected by the virus that causes AIDS – a disease that still invites more ostracism than sympathy here.

The MBC network show "Thank You" has been winning top ratings in its time slot with the story of a young HIV carrier – a rare topic for South Korean dramas that typically focus on forbidden love or secret love affairs.

Here are some stats on HIV in Korea:

South Korea has a relatively low number of people living with HIV – 3,891 as of March, according to government statistics. But experts say the actual number could be at least three or four times higher – some 13,000 by a U.N. estimate – with many reluctant to take HIV tests due to the social stigma of the disease.

The number of new infections is on the rise, reaching a record 751 last year – more than double the figure recorded in 2001 when 327 new cases were found.

I would say the rise in HIV numbers has probably more to do with increased awareness of the virus and more people getting treated for it compared to in the past than because of any new epidemic.  Hopefuly this drama can continue the increase awareness of HIV and help those stigamatized by it.

Kim Yun-jin is ranked only one spot ahead of Lindsay Lohan?

Stories like this just go to show that not all things are bad between Korea and Japan:

Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko appeared to be emotionally affected at the screening on Friday of a new film about a South Korean student who was killed by an oncoming train in 2001 as he tried to rescue a drunken stranger at a Tokyo station.At a preview in Tokyo on the sixth anniversary of the death of 26-year-old Lee Su Hyon, the imperial couple both seemed to be moved as the film reached its finale where the main character is killed.

Lee’s parents also attended the screening.

“Anata wo Wasurenai” (We Will Not Forget You), the latest Japan-South Korean film collaboration which will premier across Japan on Saturday, depicts a young South Korean man and his love for a Japanese girl in Tokyo and is interlaced with the complex feelings South Koreans have about Japan, their former colonial occupier.

Empress Michiko has a personal involvement in the real story. In November 2001, she happened to meet with Lee’s parents at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo while they were on a tour.

For Christmas I bought my wife the Emperor of the Sea DVD series that she had been hinting she wanted. It took me a while to find a copy of the movie because the usual online movie sites I go to were all sold out of this series. I actually had to get somebody I know in Korea to help me out. I bought my wife all 51 episodes of the series for $200. Kind of pricey, but it’s Christmas. Usually I don’t pay too much attention when my wife is watching Korean dramas. I sat through a few episodes of Winter Sonata, which I bought for my wife last Christmas, and that was enough for me.

However, watching the first five episodes of Emperor of the Sea, I have to say it is really quite good. Emperor of the Sea is based on a novel by Choi In-ho. His novel is loosely based on the real life exploits of Jang Bo-go (?~846), a famous figure in Korean history who dominated the seas of East Asia during the Unified Shilla Dynasty (676~935). Jang Bo-go also eliminated pirates in the Wando area, which was a geographically important sea route during the time. He also established sea trade across east Asia from Tang dynasty China to Japan. At least that is what the back cover of the DVD set says.

In the first few episodes I have watched it has focused on Jang Bo-go’s childhood growing up as a slave ship builder on Wando island and his determination to rise above being a lowly slave. He secretly studies martial arts and ends up being falsely accused of aiding pirates that raided Wando island by a yangban’s son who was jealous of Jang’s martial arts skills. He is pardoned from execution because he saved the yangban’s daughter during the pirate attack, but is instead exiled to work as a slave on a horse farm. There he continues to study martial arts and improve his skills. He hopes to escape slavery by competing in a martial arts tournament in Kwangju sponsored by a noblewoman who uses the tournament to hire new soldiers for her own personal security contingent.

The drama is beautifully shot, with well develop characters, and a engaging story line. The fighting scenes are similar to what you see in Hong Kong movies such as, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. I know some people are annoyed by that kind of action scenes, but I found the scenes well done in this series so far. If you have ever wanted to watch a Korean drama stay away from the Winter Sonata clones and I recommend watching this one.

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UPDATE: Since writing this posting I have watched all the episodes of the drama and it was excellent. I have also since visited Wando Island and did my own Jang Bogo tour.

You can see pictures of Wando Island here and here.

Pictures of the movie sets on Wando Island can be view here.

Pictures of the real Cheonghaejin Island can be viewed here.

UPDATE: LOL, Nomad was thinking the same exact thing I was after reading the Paris Hilton article.

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From the Chosun:

Paris Hilton, singer, actress and heiress to the Hilton Hotel fortune, signed a modelling contract with Fila Korea, Fila said Thursday. The one-year contract, said to be worth W1-1.5 billion, begins in March. Shooting for the print and broadcast ads will take place this month in Los Angeles. A Fila staffer explained that Hilton was chosen because her sophisticated style matches Fila’s image and said the company plans to introduce a line of Paris-related products.

Is it just me or is "sophisticated" not the first word that comes to mind when thinking of adjectives for Paris Hilton?