Korean Drama Girls

East of Eden (Korean Drama)

2012-11-20T09:12:00.001-08:00

I didnt understand why no body reviewed this. I havent watched all of it, im still at the begining but I can tell it’s a great drama! I’m left touched at every moment, and as the episodes go by, I keep thinking I want to know what’s going to happen.

I cried, it has been a whyle since a drama made me cry. But deeb inside, Im still looking for justice in this amazing work! I’m still thinking how this will end. It’s so real, so touching, so emotional. I get the feeling that it really happened and, I keep hoping and crying out for JUSTICE.

I watched a lot of dramas! You can?t imagine! And this one was, really, unique! I think that most of the storys go as we want them to, but this one, with all the twists and ups and downs was AMAZING! All the feelings I felt while watching were so real because I believed the drama was real!(exept the end) From love to pain, from pain to betrail, from hurt to happiness, from sacrifice to joy? so many complicated situations that leave you speachless! Relations between the caracters were well made! Really well made! You can understand each and every one of them! So? so? SO AMAZING!

Love in this drama was devided, there were so many kinds of love! Btwn father and son, mother and son, lovers, brothers, and it even had REAL LOVE in it! A love that didn?t fade, the one of DongChul and GukJa! This one had left me amazed and, without a doubt, this is my best couple! It also had a love that was built of pain but that evoluated into love? Any way, love stories were well done!

there when moments where I cried, moments when I laughed, others when I screemed? there were so many things to learn from DongChul?s life! Peopel that were his enemies became his friends, others that always betrayed him, others that were EVERYTHING to him but who hurt him very much? And ones that, from the very begining, gave EVERYTHING for him to be happy, or should I say one? After all the sacrifices he gave away, God gave him the greatest gift ever! 3000 years of love!

Sacrifice, sacrifice, sacrifice! Because the goal deserves, he gave everythig he had, to the last breath! He lived a life without regrets! I wonder, when I, my self think about my life I have many regrets! But he, he lived it to the fullest, believing what he had to believe, doing what must be done, and giving everything! Faith? Did he believen only once that he will get a payback? No, that?s not what the case! He only, while doing what he did, he had this satisfaction, this feeling that he did well! Not even once in this drama did I think ?No DongChul, that?s not what you should do?. He even did things that left me surprised.

Im really amazed by the acting, but even more by the plot of the story!! The writer must be really amazing! But he did screw the end! FOR SUR, that was a forced end, that wasnt what had to be! NOT AT ALL! Because they wanted it to end like this, they did things that were hard to believe! So, to me, that end isnt the end! I?m erazing it, and I?m writing my own end.

It leaves you think about so many things! So many conflicts, it makes you revex your self some times. The fact of justice, the real cruel world, and REAL happiness, real live, belief, faith? It?s a combinaison of everything! LIFE it self!

I?m gratful that I watched this drama, I still can?t believe it?s ONLY a drama, because, it was SO real!! AMAZINGLY real! So, to me, this happened! -After all, I?m a Paranoide!- And stopped at Episode 55 (So that I can make my own end)

This is a must see! Smile while crying, hurt whyle laughing, sacrifice and be satisfied? weird, sure! but real! It has somethings that our real world make us forget! We?re too self centred that we forget the real meaning of life! The real meaning of joy! And most importantly, the real meaning of being a LEGEND!

Paranoide, I, am sure this is My best drama. I will not forget DongChul, And I will work too, so that I can be a legend.

Paranoide.

AUTUMN IN MY HEART KOREAN DRAMA

2012-11-06T09:01:00.000-08:00

It's about a girl who was switched at birth, her real mom is really poor but when she finds out that her mom was living a bad life she decided to live with her, and the other girl went to live with her real mom. When they both grow up..........YOU HAVE TO FIND OUT BY YOURSELF!

Cinderella's Sister

2012-10-23T07:49:00.000-07:00

Titles:

Cinderella Unni, Cinderella's Stepsister, Cinderella’s Like in Fate, 灰姑娘的姐姐, 신데렐라 언니

Description: Eun-Ju (Moon Geun-Young), who lost her father many years ago, finally gets a new family when her mother remarries. Although things seem to have turn better for the cynical Eun-Ju, she immediately faces problems when she meets her new step-sister Hyo-Seon (Seo Woo).

Released: 2010

AUTUMN IN MY HEART KOREAN DRAMA w/English Subtitles

2012-10-09T07:38:00.000-07:00

This drama has no sex, violence, or even foul language. But it is one of the greatest romantic dramas you will ever see.

It was a huge hit in Korea, Japan, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Phillipines, and even North Korea (smuggled in through China). This drama almost single handedly started the Korean Wave (Hallyu) throughout asia and has led the way for other Korean Dramas gaining a huge fan base and viewership.

Although this drama is now over 6 years old, the theme of this drama is eternal. You can watch this drama many times without being tired of it, which to me, is one of the best tests of a good drama.

The music of this drama is heartwrenchingly beautiful. The soundtrack of this drama was also a big hit throughout asia.

So what makes this drama so special?

I believe the producers went through great lengths to depict true love. For example, the producers filmed the drama in a remote village where people have a strong sense of community and humanity. The village is surrounded by beautiful trees, clear rivers, and wide open spaces. It is not so surprising a love of innocence and purity can be formed between two people in such a surrounding.

The child actors in this drama were unforgettable. They were even better than their adult counterparts!

This drama propelled its 3 main actors into stardom in Korea. It also propelled one child actress (Moon GeunYoung) and one supporting actress (Han ChaeYoung) into stardom. Song Seung Hun (Joon Suh), was the veteren actor at 24 at the time. He was by far the most polished of the actors. Won Bin (Tae Suhk), who was only 22 at the time, also acted well. Song Hae Gyo (Eun Suh), who plays the main female character, was only 18 and it was her first role. Her lack of experience on center stage was little bit apparent in many scenes. But she still did a commandable job since her role was a very demanding and complex one.

Contrary to popular opinion, I do not believe this drama is overly sad. Although you will cry throughout this drama, it is only because the happy moments are so touchingly beautiful, and when sad things happen to people who were so happy, the sadness becomes more compellingly felt.

[Teaser] Love Rain Korean Drama-Jang Geun Suk & YoonA (Girls’ Generation)

2012-09-25T09:44:00.000-07:00

[Teaser] Love Rain Korean Drama-Jang Geun Suk &... by miya2008

Girls' Generation Push Japanese Domination With 'Paparazzi,' 1 Million Albums Sold

2012-09-11T19:01:00.000-07:00

by Jeff Benjamin, Chicago

Girls' Generation

Girls' Generation continues their path to global domination with a new Japanese single and a new chart accomplishment. The group, whom appears as Shojo Jidal on Japanese charts, rocketed to the No. 1 spot last week on the Japan Hot 100 with their high-energy Japanese track "Paparazzi" with sales now at 103,000, according to SoundScan Japan.

The dance song peppered with fun English phrases ("Life is a party!" "Punkadelic crazy night!" "Boom boom boom!") premiered back in mid-June. The debut came via an almost seven minute music video (currently with over 7.6 million views) and a dance-only video (at 4.1 million). Appropriately, the visual jumps between shots of rabid photographers and the girls dancing in perfect nine-piece synchronization. The video plays as a stage performance for Girls' Generation. The show begins with the members whimsically prancing to Gene Kelly's classic version of "Singin' In The Rain" before the real performance starts. In two different outfits, the girls perform their routine in movie-inspired getups incorporating eccentric costumes and even Marilyn Monroe's famous pink gloves.

The girls brought the film motif to their live performances which were spare most likely due to the group's many commitments outside of their music. Never the less, the girls still notched the top spot.

SNSD/Girls' Generation Korean Drama OST Part 2

2012-08-28T17:58:00.000-07:00

SNSD/Girls' Generation Korean Drama OST Part 1

2012-08-12T17:43:00.000-07:00

101st Proposal

2011-10-15T19:24:00.000-07:00

Title: 101번째 프로포즈 / 101st Proposal
Chinese title : 101次求婚
Also Known as: My Perfect Girl
Genre: Romance
Episodes: 15
Broadcast network: SBS
Broadcast period: 2006-May-29 to 2006-Jul-25
Air time: Monday & Tuesday 21:55

Synopsis

The 101st Proposal aka ‘My Perfect Girl’ stars Lee Moon-Shik as Dal-Jae, one of those old bachelors who can’t seem to get a wife no matter how many 맞선 (marriage meetings) they attend. I mean, he’s got it all: he’s good loo… OK, not really. But, hey, he’s rich… at least inside. And despite his heavy Jeolla Province dialect, he certainly has many charms, it’s just that he’s too damn picky (or is it the other way around?)! But all of a sudden he finds his perfect girl, a 29 year old announcer (Park Sun-Young) who will rock his world. Man, I bet her parents will love her new conquest. Story has been done to death, but this being a Weekend Drama (more time to develop characters, less incentive to use educational ‘shocking revelations’ to make viewers practice new swear words) and having such a good cast, we might be dealing with the closest thing to MBC’s glorious mid-to-late 90s Weekend Dramas like 아파트 (Apartment) or (Roses & Beansprouts) in a while. Shows which took a predictable formula and just let the cast act it out for an enjoyable 50 to 60 Episodes.

Source: twitch

Cast

Park family

Lee Moon Shik as Park Dal Jeh
Lee Joong Moon as Park Min Jae (brother)
Im Hyun Sik as Park Chang Man (father)

Han family

Park Sun Young as Han Su Jung
Hong Soo Ah as Han Geum Jung (sister)
Choi Ran as Jang Eun Im (Su Jung’s aunt)

Other people

Song Chang Ui as Seo Hyun Joon
Jung Sung Hwan as Jung Woo Suk
Kim Hyung Ja as Yeom Sun Ja
Jo Eun Sook as Noh Jung Soon
Kim Ji Hye as Noh Chae Young (Jung Soon’s sister)
Jung Kyung Ho as Oh Yong Pil
Lee Joon Ki as himself (cameo)

Production Credits

Producer: Kim Young Sup
Writer: Yoon Young Mi (윤영미)
Director: Jang Tae Yoo (장태유)
Asst. Director: Oh Jin Suk (오진석)

Official Site
OST
Watch Online with English Subtitle

Boys Over Flowers

2011-10-08T07:48:00.000-07:00

Boys Over Flowers

Korean Bikini Model Benchmark

2011-09-30T21:45:00.000-07:00

She is the embodiment and the definition of S-Line and Y-line

This Korean Bikini model or fitting model girl is the absolute benchmark for a perfect body at least if you want a figure that best shows off a sexy swimsuit. Hard to believe that, sorry those are real, but as far as we can tell and we’ve starred at her long and hard she is all natural. Good lord girl you are ridiculously hot! No K-pop girl or Korean actress has anything on you.

Source: koreainsider

Korean dramas on Hulu: Why I'm addicted

2011-02-16T20:58:00.000-08:00

by Stephan Lee

Image Credit: KBS

Growing up, I always had a strong hatred toward Korean dramas. My parents would rent a big stack of them on VHS from Atlanta’s Koreatown and watch them on Friday nights while munching on dried squid snacks. Maybe it was a kind of Pavlovian response on my part — the smell of stinky squid forever associated with the sound of Korean actors speaking a language I only barely understand — or the fact that my parents watching their stories meant no TGIF lineup for me, but I never gave Korean soap operas, or K-dramas, a chance until recently.

A non-Korean American friend of mine had been telling me for a while that K-dramas on Hulu were crazily addictive and that we should get addicted together. I ignored her recommendation for weeks, until one day after an epic DVR and Netflix binge, I was really lacking any other TV options. I did a Hulu search for “Korean Drama.” I settled on one called Boys before Flowers, based solely on the title, and my friend was right — after two episodes, I was hooked. I watched all 25 episodes of the series and had serious withdrawal after it ended. Luckily, Hulu’s DramaFever channel had more than 20 more series, and there are thousands of episodes, all subtitled in English, available to watch for free.

You can’t enjoy a K-drama using the same standards as you would watching American TV. Even the more salacious storylines might seem pretty tame to a western audience. The popular K-dramas I’ve seen, even the most recent ones, feel like throwbacks to a less cynical time. The plots tend to unfold slowly, and teenage characters seem shocked by things that the kids on Skins wouldn’t even blink at. The humor is usually played broadly — think: Three Stooges — and poop jokes are practically guaranteed in any K-dramedy series. The minds behind Korean TV have to be doing something right, though: The ratings for the most popular K-dramas would blow those of American scripted shows out of the water, sometimes attracting more than 40 percent of South Korean households.

K-dramas can appear simplistic and downright campy to an American viewer, but they’re also fascinating and weirdly comforting in a “movie-of-the-week” kind of way — they’re not afraid to whack you over the head with an important moral lesson or social critique. Take Boys before Flowers, which is still my favorite. It’s a Gossip Girl-like allegory about Geum Jan Di, the daughter of dry cleaners, who is admitted to the impossibly exclusive, super-rich Shinhwa High School. She becomes a quick target of F4, a gang of the four richest and most feared boys on campus. They make the other students shake in their boots, but really, they’re the most hilariously dainty-looking gang I’ve ever seen. In Korea, young male actors are just as — if not more — concerned with grooming, makeup, plastic surgery, and general prettiness as female stars, and these actors are Blue Steeling up a storm whenever they’re up to their evil antics, which include throwing cake in a boy’s face for no reason or demanding that a girl lick ice cream off their boots. Jan Di, who I find lovably grating, manages to get through to the bad boys of F4 by repeatedly shouting at them that there are things that money can’t buy. You can’t miss the message about class differences here. The Chuck Bass of his high school is Goo Joon Pyo, a snarling poor-little-rich-boy who rocks a pretty sick perm and delivers his lines like a young Alan Rickman. And I get that Jan Di is working class, but does that mean she has to constantly eat with her hands? Despite the exaggerated types, the characters do grow and become more complex as the series progresses.

It’s really a charming, funny show, and others are just as good. (The titles alone are amazing.) Check out Cinderella’s Sister, Playful Kiss, Bad Boy, and Creating Destiny. I’m convinced I’m not the only one out there: PopWatchers, have you discovered — and become addicted to — Korean dramas?

‘Housemaid’ remake doesn’t quite clean up

2011-02-06T11:33:00.000-08:00

Domestic help: Jeon Do-youn is excellent in the title role of “The Housemaid,” a not entirely successful remake of a classic 1960 Korean drama. (Courtesy photo)

Erotic, stylish and often-juicy fun, writer-director Im Sang-soo’s “The Housemaid” is an experience far fresher and more personality-rich than most of what passes for original studio material, despite its status as a remake and its familiar story involving the mistreatment and seduction of a servant girl.

Unfortunately, however, this South Korean drama does not sustain its sizzle in either of the arenas in which it initially appears headed for distinction — psycho-soaper or wicked satire — over the long haul.
Im (“The President’s Last Bang”) has crafted a contemporary version of Kim Ki-young’s same-titled 1960 drama, which is considered one of Korean cinema’s gems.

He has retained lots of the earlier plot while turning the title character from aggressor into victim and her employers into obscenely rich oppressors. The revision allows for exploration, sometimes realistic and sometimes outrageous, of South Korea’s extreme economic gaps.

Eun-yi (Jeon Do-youn) is the slightly childlike new housemaid at an opulent mansion occupied by wealthy piano-playing businessman Hoon (Lee Jung-jae) and his family.

After sweetly bonding with Hoon’s bright young daughter (Ahn Seo-hyeon), Eun-yi experiences the household’s shadier brand of regard for servants. In the case of Hoon, this involves entering her bedroom and, exuding privilege and superiority, initiating sex. She is receptive, additional episodes occur and strings eclipse piano on the soundtrack.
Pregnancy results and spurs into action the story’s other primary women, monsters all: Hoon’s spoiled wife, Hae-ra (Seo Woo), herself pregnant; Hae-ra’s machinating mother (Park Ji-yeong); and senior housekeeper Mrs. Cho (Youn Yuh-jung).

All three want Eun-yi to disappear. When Eun-yi refuses, things become nasty.

Im stirs an ambitious cauldron, combining explicit eroticism, social satire, dark dysfunction comedy, gothic horror and over-the-top melodrama. An admirer of Hitchcock, he keeps the suspense constant. His overhead and angular views of the mansion convey the warped behavior therein.

Sadly, however, this balancing act collapses in the third act, and soapier, trashier ingredients prevail over smarter ones.

The story, beneath the colorful surfaces, proves little more than an unextraordinary revenge thriller and loses credibility as it advances toward an overblown climax.

The film pales next to “La Ceremonie” or “Live-In Maid” as an examination of servant-employer dynamics. It does not score feminist points either. Eun-yi’s eventual actions are simply vengeful and desperate.

Performances, however, shine in what ultimately amounts to an uneven but vibrant stir-fry. Jeon, an award-winning Korean star, is captivating as, first, an innocent and, later, a wronged soul realizing her capacity for malice.

Also superb is Youn as Mrs. Cho, who knows the family’s every method and secret and manipulates this knowledge to her advantage.

MOVIE REVIEW

The Housemaid

Two and a half stars
Starring Jeon Do-youn, Lee Jung-jae, Youn Yuh-jung, Seo Woo
Written and directed by Im Sang-soo
Not rated
Running time 1 hour 46 minutes

[60thAnni] Are girl groups riding next hallyu wave?

2010-12-04T21:38:00.000-08:00

Girls' Generation

While some argue that “hallyu,” or the Korean wave has seen its limits, others are discovering yet another one slowly making its way to Asian television channels, newspapers and magazines.

Girl groups have become a new source of hallyu entertainment. The young and pretty girls have been criticized for being all talk and no true talent, but it seems they have evolved into another important pathway to spread Korean culture.

The pink wave

Girls’ Generation’s song “Gee” hit the second spot in Japan’s weekly Oricon chart last week — the first non-Japanese Asian group to do so and the second foreign female group in 30 years, while Kara also reached top 2 in the Oricon album charts.

Other girl groups like 4Minute and Brown Eyed Girls followed suit, attracting fans with their sexy and edgy images.

The first generation of hallyu was based on dramas and their characters, touching the hearts of mostly women in their 40s and 50s.

Nowadays, however, it’s easier to find younger foreign fans walking the streets of the fashion district of Myeong-dong and also near major television networks waiting to catch a glimpse of their favorite stars.

“It’s my second time to come to Korea. I love shopping, especially for cosmetics because some of my favorite singers and actors promote them,” Maggie Delores from Singapore told The Korea Times in Myeong-dong last week.

In Thailand, it’s easy to hear songs by groups like Girls’ Generation and 4Minute, with many young fans listening to their music and also watching them perform through the Internet.

“The performance of the singers is different. Korean singers perform better than Thai ones,” Sirisak Ormnork, a 25-year-old airline staff member, told The Korea Times. Ormnork’s favorite singer is Girls’ Generation member Yoo-na.

“Honestly, the first thing I see in a Korean singer is the good looks. The second would be the professionalism found in their shows,” he said.

Another Thai fan mentioned the overall performing talents.

“The most sharply different thing between Korean and Thai singers is the dancing style. Korean singers are more creative. Another main point is the singers’ appearances: they all look cute and beautiful, and finally the good music, lyrics and beat,” said 24-year-old officeworker Jatuporn Buranasakulsatid, who is a big fan of 4Minute’s Hyun-a.

A ripple or a tsunami?

According to Masahito Ichikawa, the former editor of Japanese entertainment magazine TV Pia, “Hallyu in Japan has indeed seen a great transition in paradigm” and the main cause of this change is Korean dramas that started to attract a broader range of viewers and especially the debut of Korean girl bands.

“From last May, four Korean girl bands — 4Minute, Kara, Brown Eyed Girls and Girls’ Generation — made their Japanese debut and their fans are mostly young females,” the editor said during the 2010 Broadcast Writers International Forum held in Busan last week.

“Fans dressed in similar outfits, and while dancing to the music was seldom seen in the past, it has become the norm,” he added.

As fans pointed out, the looks and dances have worked to their advantage, but another interesting factor is the overall concept. Japanese girl bands mostly cater for male fans. The members are young, cute and almost naive looking, while Korean groups go for both images: cute and sexy.

Japanese sports newspaper Nikkan Sports wrote that “Korean girl groups’ vocals and dancing are of very high quality. They also have somewhat contradicting images of ‘cute’ and ‘cool’ in one package.”

Such a distinctive difference has made young female fans pay to see their favorite members, while others show off similar outfits and learn dance moves.

“The first impression I got when I saw Girls’ Generation was ‘Japan is in trouble. I didn’t think we would be able to top them,’” a music producer said during an interview with broadcaster SBS in its weekly documentary “We Want to Know,” Oct. 16.

Another meaningful factor is that the groups have managed to catch the attention with K-pop, not localized moves and tunes, albeit already well established in Japan. While BoA and TVXQ topped charts with a more J-pop style, the younger girls are offering their original Korean numbers.

In other words, the new hallyu is mostly “made in Korea.”

“Korean bands go through a long period of training. Some spend three to four years and others more. Through all that training, they learn how to sing, dance and basically work together as a group,” songwriter Kim Hyung-seok said.

“For Japan, spending such time on training can be considered time-consuming, so introducing already famous groups in Korea can be an easier way to go,” he said.

Is the wave worth riding?

Such success and interest may be a good sign, but some experts and critics are worrying about the local music industry being too driven by idol bands.

“The ‘attack’ of the girl groups is like a result of a special forces unit investing everything they have into one single mission. There is a fancy outcome, but behind the glitter is our bare music industry,” wrote culture critic Ha Jae-geun on a local webzine called Mediaus.

“A desirable structure would be having diverse bands and singers being recognized overseas. We need to have more than just idol bands. Now is not the time to just enjoy their popularity. We still have problems of our own regarding Korea’s music industry and also such idol bands. The worries and criticisms regarding the local music industry have dwindled and this is a problem,” he added.

Japanese experts also noticed such limitations, advising that there needs more to be done than just relax and enjoy the ride.

“It takes about three years for a trend in Japan to die down. (Korea) must come up with other measures in case this dies down,” Hirozumi Yoshioka, editor of magazine Nikkei Entertainment, said.

Worries and doubts may seem a bit early, as the girls and bands have just started to show off their talents. But they, along with their producers and agency, should keep in mind that the entertainment industry and fans can get a bit picky, just like the first wave that dwindled after a few years.

“We tend to only consider them through their images and appearances, but they are actually very well made Korean cultural content. They have all the right values as cultural human resources,” said Shim Sang-min, professor at Sungsin Women’s University’s department of Media Communication.

(Yonhap Feature) K-pop idol groups set off new Korean Wave in Asia

2010-11-27T21:35:00.000-08:00

When South Korean girl group Kara debuted in Japan in May, its members expected the usual fans -- young men and the middle-aged well familiar with Korean dramas that started the "Korean Wave" across the Asian continent.

   But when the curtains went down, the fans screaming and jumping were mostly young women and teenagers, some in school uniforms.

   "We never had middle school students in our fandom," Koo Ha-ra, 19, of the five-member idol group, said in a recent joint interview with several other K-pop idols. "They came to our fan meetings in school uniforms and screamed, 'Sister, I love you!' Suddenly, we had a lot of little sisters in Japan."

   With the driving force of the Korean Wave changing from television dramas to pop music, idol groups are making fast inroads into Asian entertainment markets, sweeping the music charts and building multinational fanbases. The K-pop boom is diversifying the consumer demographic of the Korean Wave from female drama viewers in their 40s to 50s to a new generation of tech-savvy music buyers. What was a cultural phenomenon has become explosive in industrial value with massive financial potential, insiders say.

   Girls' Generation, a nine-member girl group, soared to the second spot on the Japanese weekly Oricon charts less than a week after their second album, "Gee," was released in Tokyo in late October. Boy groups are more dominant in Chinese-speaking regions, with Super Junior, SHINee, CN Blue and Beast topping music charts in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore. Entertainment agencies in Thailand and China are making visits to Korean talent houses in attempts to benchmark their successes.

   "Considering that the majority of culture consumers are teenagers and those in their 20s and 30s, the K-pop boom with younger Asian generations is an encouraging sign for us," said Kim Young-min, chief executive officer of SM Entertainment, a Seoul-based star agency that has produced Girls' Generation, TVXQ and Super Junior, among others.

   With the overseas success of its idol groups, SM's outbound sales jumped to 28 billion won (US$25 million) during the first half of this year, a notable leap from 19 billion won garnered during the entire year of 2009, Kim said.

K-pop idols leading the Korean Wave in Asia -- Onew of SHINee, Kim Hyun-ah of 4minute, Koo Ha-ra of Kara, Narsha of Brown Eyed Girls and Wooyoung of 2PM (from L to R) -- pose for a photograph during a joint interview. (Yonhap)

The Korean Wave originates from the melodrama series "Winter Sonata," which became a huge hit across Asia in 2003 and 2004. Mature female fans from Japan and Southeast Asia would travel to South Korea just to tour shooting locations or swarming airports to greet actors arriving in their countries.

   Music experts say it is now K-pop that is leading the wave, on the back of strategic overseas marketing and the rise of the digital media and social networking services.

   Boy group 2PM, immensely popular at home and in Southeast Asian countries, never expected their fanbase would go beyond Asia, but their latest music video of "I'll Be Back" got soaring number of hits on YouTube.

   "It was really funny," Wooyoung, a 2PM member, said during the joint interview. "We were surprised to see people in Europe and the U.S. watch our video and post their views."

   For 2PM, like many K-pop stars, singing on stage or doing variety shows is only a fraction of their hectic schedule. Off the stage, they get singing and dance lessons, work out regularly and learn Chinese and Japanese from private tutors.

   "Fans in Singapore, China, Taiwan and Thailand sing our songs in Korean. Their support gives me courage and energy to go on," Wooyoung said.

   The determination of the idol stars and their polished looks, combined with successful marketing, can take credit for the K-pop boom, music industry experts say.

   "Korean idols have a strong will to survive in the fiercely competitive entertainment world, so they never compromise on their singing and dancing," said Osamu Takahashi, editor in chief of Japanese monthly Music Magazine.

   Yasu Akimoto, chief producer of a Japanese hit girl group, AKB4B, agreed. "Korean girl groups' singing and dancing skills are overwhelmingly good."

Even before their album was released in Japan, Girls' Generation drew nearly 30,000 fans in their debut showcase at Ariake Colosseum in Tokyo in August. (Yonhap)

Also, Korean talent agencies tailor the youngsters from the day they sign on, grooming them for the broader Asian market. Star aspirants usually undergo several years of musical training and language lessons before they are given a chance to debut.

"From 10 years ago, Korean agencies, anxious about their small-scale domestic market, began to see Asia as a single market and prepared to produce 'de-Koreanized' content," said Hong Seung-sung, chief of Cube Entertainment, which has produced 4Minute and Beast. "Their efforts on discovering talent, systematic training and strategic overseas marketing -- all are now paying off."

Girls' Generation Top Japan's Oricon Charts

2010-11-20T14:20:00.000-08:00

Girls Generation, the nine-member Korean pop group, are making history.

On Tuesday they became the second foreign female group to top Japan's Oricon weekly charts, similar to the Billboard charts in the U.S., with their second Japanese single "Gee."

The first foreign female group to conquer the Japanese charts was Britain's The Nolans in 1980.

The Korean girls are gaining popularity in Taiwan as well. Their first solo concert there attracted over 24,000 fans last week, with all tickets sold out.

London Korean Film Festival 2010 – Preview

2010-11-13T14:13:00.000-08:00

The LKFF returns this month, bringing the best in new cinema from the film capital of the Far East to London.

What is it about South Korea that makes its cinema so great? Perhaps it is the screen-quota system that has existed in one form or another since 1966, protecting a proportion of annual screenings for local product, and so guaranteeing a continuity (not to mention an audience) for the national cinema. Or perhaps it is the considerable inflow of capital funds into the film market since 2000, coinciding with a New Wave of directing talent. Or perhaps it is the country’s turbulent twentieth-century history, with violent civil conflict, political unrest and continuing Cold War paranoia and nuclear threat all engendering a rather peculiar artistic sensibility.

It may be none, or all, of these things, but there must be something in the water of the Han river to have turned the likes of Kim Ki-duk, Park Chan-wook, Bong Joon-ho, Kim Jee-woon and Lee Chang-dong into some of the last decade’s most innovative and exciting directors by any measure. Cinephilia can be a cruelly fickle pursuit, abandoning one nation’s cinema as quickly as it champions another in that endless globetrotting quest for the ‘next best thing’, but those who have remained loyal to the Korean industry have been rewarded with a seemingly endless stream of films that blend lavish craftsmanship with a highly unpredictable handling of genre and tone, so that broad comedy, intense character drama, grotesque horror, spiritual mysticism and incisive political allegory can all come together in a sensual orgy of sight and sound.

This ‘anything goes’ approach ensures that there are always rich and varied pickings to be found at the London Korean Film Festival. This year’s event opens with the UK premiere of Lee Jeon-beom’s massive domestic hit The Man from Nowhere, in which a mysterious pawnbroker (Won Bin) is drawn back into the violence of his past when the young girl who lives next door is kidnapped by a vicious gang of organ harvesters.

Recently Korea has brought us many difficult films focussed upon aggressive adults tempered and redeemed by their relationships with children (Park Chan-wook’s Oldboy and Lady Vengeance, Na Hong-jin’s The Chaser, Yank Ik-joon’s Breathless) – but in fact Lee’s movie is far closer to Tony Scott’s Man on Fire, a reactionary revenger which unleashes a tormented hero upon unconscionably wicked criminals, with little room for moral grey areas. The Man from Nowhere is a deeply conventional film that is also deeply conservative in its politics – but what it lacks in nuance or narrative inventiveness it makes up for in sheer cinematic verve.

Something similar might be said for the festival’s closing film. Im Sang-soo’s The Housemaid remakes Kim Ki-young’s 1960 film of the same name – except that where the original concerned a maid having an affair with her master in a middle-class home (reflecting the Korean bourgeoisie that was emerging in that decade), Im has updated the setting to a mansion belonging to the super-rich, and transformed his maid (here played by Jeon Do-yeon) into a far more passive figure. Im’s commentary on the gulf that exists between the ultra-privileged, über-entitled élite and those that serve its every whim is hardly subtle or particularly revelatory, but there is much to be admired in his management of the film’s aesthetics.

The exquisite perfection of the house’s interior design, and the sedate movements of the crane shots and aerial camerawork, all suggest a surface of sanitised control that will soon be ruptured by the passion, jealousy and vindictiveness concealed beneath, until the film’s apparent calm gives way to a baroquely explosive climax, followed by a bizarre coda. It is an unsettling, erotic social satire, perhaps not worthy of its Official Selection at this year’s Cannes, but certainly worth a look.

Jang Cheol-soo’s Bedevilled boasts beautiful natural island locations that it captures with even more astonishing cinematography. Yet unfolding on this flower-strewn, sun-soaked stage is a dispiriting human drama full of horrific dysfunction and repression. It is a tale of two women – the one a privileged, sophisticated city banker (Ji Sung-won) who has chosen to insulate herself from her responsibilities to others, the other an open and generous islander (Seo Yung-hee) who has become marooned in a life of physical and sexual exploitation. Their reunion after many years apart builds, slowly and deliberately, to despair, madness and murderous revenge – and when the blood finally begins to spill, the scenes’ casual understatement brings an uncomfortable humour to all the unhinged hysteria. This is Korean cinema to die for – confronting, confounding, and with a final image of delicate poetry to suggest that, while no man may be an island, perhaps every woman is.

Similarly excellent, although very different in its subject and style, is Park Chan-ok’s Paju. Told elliptically in overlapping flashbacks that span seven tragedy-filled years, this intense drama traces the complex evolving relationship between a guilt-wracked Christian political activist (Lee Seon-gyun) and his young, guilt-free sister-in-law (Seo Woo). Beginning and ending in scenes of thick fog, the film presents history as a series of cyclical repetitions whose full significance inspires either blinkered perspectives, or outright flight. Meanwhile the city of Paju’s development and modernisation is portrayed as a process of corruption, leaving only suffering in its wake. It is an unquestionably bleak film, but the low-key performances and involving narrative ensure that it also remains compelling to the end.

Politics also come into play in Jang Hun’s Secret Reunion which is concerned, like Shiri, JSA: Joint Security Area and Typhoon before it, with the persisting tensions between the North and South Koreas. That it is also an odd-couple buddy pic illustrates perfectly the way that Korean cinema uses and abuses established genres to its own ends. Six years after the careers of both North Korean undercover spy assassin Song Ji-won (Gang Dong-won) and NIS agent Lee Han-kyu (Song Kang-ho) were brought to a sudden end in the same mutually botched incident, the two run into each other, and begin working together in Lee’s private detective agency, all the while secretly investigating one another in the hope of getting back their old jobs.
Inevitably this will turn out to be the beginning of a beautiful friendship – but their history, in the form of the psychopathic North Korean sleeper assassin known as ‘Shadow’ (Jeon Gook-hwan), will find a way of catching up with them anyway. Secret Reunion may be light in touch, but its gentle comedy helps it to negotiate a political minefield with a surprising amount of humanity, by suggesting that those from the North and the South are equally flawed.

Also screening at this year’s LKFF are two films dramatising actual incidents in the Korean War (Yi Sang-woo’s A Little Pond and John H Lee’s 71: Into the Fire); a retrospective of films by Jang Jin (Guns and Talks, Someone Special, Murder, Take One and Good Morning President); Kim Jee-woon’s long-awaited psycho-thriller I Saw the Devil; Kang Dae-gyu’s women’s prison drama Harmony; Lee Jeong-ho’s horror mystery Bestseller; Kang Woo-suk’s comics-based conspiracy thriller Moss; and Lee Joon-ik’s graphic novel-based period political actioner Blades of Blood. On top of all this, there will be director Q&A’s, short film showcases, and a talk with Jang Jin (moderated by Asian film expert Tony Rayns) on the future of Korean cinema.

Sexy Half Oriental Model Jarah Mariano Watch this hot Japnese girl work up a sweat in her pink bikini, now if I am in Japan this will motivate me to go to the gym more often.

2010-11-05T23:53:00.000-07:00

asian boy bands are juniors and bang super big

2010-11-05T13:49:00.000-07:00

Summary: Super Junior and Big Bang collaborate. Chaos and strange productions ensue.

Genre: genfic, humor, crack-like

Rating: PG-13

Characters/Pairing: Super Junior/Big Bang, collectively

Disclaimer: don't own akp, soompi or kpoplive >>

None of the managers had predicted it—or bothered to even consider it, really.

It had happened when a bunch of Korean pop artists went on a journey to a giant mountain (they did this every few years or so, just to talk to the Korean pop artist gods. Even Choi Siwon and Amber Liu couldn’t deny that they existed). Hundreds of musicians, all climbed the forestry mountain together.

At first, the bands and the artists had stayed with their respective entertainment groups—it was awkward, you know? They knew each other, and they knew of each other, but it wasn’t like they all talked to each other all the time. Some of them had never even spoken a word to another group before.

But when 2NE1 started mingling with 4minute and some of the SNSD members went to go flirt with TRAX, Super Junior and Big Bang had finally collided with each other. And they started talking.

Thus, all chaos began.

It has been reported that two of the biggest Korean pop boy bands, Super Junior and Big Bang, have decided to collaborate and write a song together. – allkpop

“No no no! The lyrics need more English!” Jiyoung was saying to Ryeowook, who was scribbling down the lyrics. “Words like ‘beautiful’, or ‘rainbow,’ or ‘hangover’, or ‘good-bye’, or like ‘baby girl’ or something.”

“Love! Oh baby my girl!”Donghae started singing.

Seunghyun giggled.

“Is the song about girls again?” Kyuhyun asked from the corner.

“You know, technically, they could go either way if we just omitted the word ‘girl’,” Kibum explained. “Then we could be singing about guys, too.”

“Yeah, but we’re not U-Kiss,” T.O.P pointed out.

“True,” Jungsoo agreed.

“But we show enough skinship with each other that we might as well be U-Kiss,” Sungmin said.

“That’s what Korean boy bands are supposed to do. They’re supposed to hug and touch and kiss each other, because it makes the fans happy,” explained Heechul.

Sungmin glared at him. Daesung, who was watching, figured that it must have been a personal thing.

“Whatever. I ship GTOP anyways,” Taeyang commented, earning a smack from Jiyoung.

The song that Super Junior and Big Bang had created went something along the lines of:

(insert Korean words here) BIG BANG AND SUPER JUNIOR TWENTY TEN OH

(insert more Korean words here) BABY GIRL

(insert more Korean words here) YOU MAKE ME WANT TO FEEL YOU

(insert more Korean words here) OH PLEASE COME TO ME GIRL

(insert more Korean words here) GIRL GIRL GIRL

(insert more Korean words here) SARANGHAE (note by Donghae: “Every Super Junior song has to have ‘saranghae’ in there somewhere!”)

(insert more Korean words here) KIMIWA MY BEAUTIFUL HANGOVER

(insert more Korean words here) LET’S GO TOP

(insert more Korean words here) GET LOW FOSHO

(insert more Korean words here) SJ N BB YEAH WE ROCK DIS HOUSE

(insert more Korean words here)

YEAH!

Hyukjae had whined, “I wanted a rap solo in this too ;_;.” Later, T.O.P. promised him that he, Kibum, Shindong and Donghae could, in their next song.

(disclaimer by Jungsoo—I had no part in making this)

When the twenty men went onstage, cheers were heard by VIPs and ELFs in the audience. They had to get a stadium so large that it was twice the size that any man had ever seen in his entire life.

Ryeowook got a duet with Daesung; Jiyoung and Kyuhyun flirted so much that the online ELFs started shipping Kyudragon (“You could put ‘Kyu’ in any word and it would work, anyways,” commented one fan), and Seunghyun, Hyukjae, Shindong, Hankyung and Taeyang had actually choreographed a dance for the performance that involved lots of grinding.

When interviewed about this performance, Hyukjae had explained to the reporter, “It’s because in society today, when there are a bunch of people gathered for a dance, you just don’t do normal dancing anymore, you know? It’s all just grinding and stuff. So we decided that we’d try to adapt this idea into our choreography, because four dancers is a lot already but add two more and we might as well just be one big orgy. Plus, it was really fun.”

At first, Siwon and T.O.P. hadn’t gotten along too well—both of them knew that the other was considered the “handsome man” of their group, and their ego had gotten in the way. They hadn’t talked much at first.

But then one day, in their shared dorm (that had been requested by both Jiyoung and Jungsoo—if twenty men were going to be collaborating, they should probably be gathered in a large enough room), Siwon had come out of the shower and into the living room, where T.O.P. had his legs propped up and was reading a newspaper. T.O.P. had looked up and their eyes met, and Siwon noticed that he had nicer legs than any other girl, and T.O.P. was busy staring at Siwon’s refined abs.

Then they proceeded to do the dirtiest things to each other that no fangirl could ever imagine.

Mostly because, you know, she’d faint from all the hotness.

It has been reported, due to the immense amount of friendships that have been forming in the KPOP industry, rather than unnecessary drama, Super Junior and Big Bang, two of the Asia’s biggest boy bands, have decided to collaborate on an album together. – soompi

When the news had been delivered, the uteri of girls worldwide had exploded. Super Junior-hating VIPs and Big Bang-hating-ELFs went on a rampage and formed an anti-club called I Just Hate Everything (IJHE). The fans who liked both, however, created a fanclub called Very Important EverLasting Friends (VIELFs, which made them sound Vietnamese, yes—but the Vietnamese VIELFs didn’t mind too much, or at all, really).

The album had been called My Apology Is A Lie, with ten songs (“Because fifteen plus five divided by two is ten,” Kyuhyun had explained, until Seunghyun smacked him over the head and told him that Asians could do the math), mostly written and composed by Taeyang, Ryeowook and Jungsoo, choreographed by Hyukjae, Shindong, Donghae, Hankyung and Seunghyun, and performed by Kyuhyun, Jongwoon, Daesung and Jiyoung.

Donghae and Daesung had gotten along wonderfully (though not as wonderfully as T.O.P. and Siwon—but we don’t talk about that), as did Taeyang and Youngwoon, having known each other when they were younger. Jiyoung taught Heechul more swear words (“Like, hella isn’t that bad of a word, you know? Say the word ‘fuck.’ Fans will go wild.”), while Seunghyun and Kyuhyun shared stories with each other about being the maknae (“It’s all about knowing how to get control, isn’t it?” “It is.”).

Shortly after the debut of the first Super Junior and Big Bang collaborated album (and pointedly ignoring Lee Soo Man and Yang Hyun Suk’s urges of “don’t fraternize with other Korean industries”), they ended up appearing on a talk show together.

Upon being asked the question, “Did you guys know of each other before you collaborated?” all the members of both the groups said yes.

“My OTPs were Kyumin and Yewook. I was so mad when Super Junior M formed and everyone started shipping Qmi and Henwook,” T.O.P. confessed.

“I had a bias of Hankyung, but then it changed when I saw Sungmin in his Super Show performances. They were hot,” remarked Seunghyun (and earning a blush from Sungmin.)

“I always thought that I was the black Asian, but then I saw Heechul,” said Taeyang.

“I want to learn some of Ryeowook’s cooking and singing skills,” Daesung said.

“I like putting my lyric writing skills to use and write some Super Junior fanfiction. Like Eunhae and Kangteuk,” Jiyoung grinned. T.O.P. nodded in agreement.

All the Super Junior members stared at them.

“Well I ship GTOP,” Kyuhyun said, and Seunghyun reached over to high-five him.

“So we all like girls, right?” Jungsoo glanced around the large living room.

All the other nineteen men nodded yes.

“Because there’s definitely nothing gay about twenty guys sharing a dorm together,” Sungmin said.

“Of course not. Even though, you know, there’s that statistic that one out of every ten men is gay,” said Zhou Mi.

“That means two of us is gay.” Jiyoung glanced around. “Who are they?”

“I vote Zhou Mi,” Henry said, and Zhou Mi smacked him.

“Well on average. Technically, it doesn’t mean in every gathering,” said Kibum.

“So none of us could be gay?” asked Daesung.

“Or all of us could,” Jongwoon said.

It has been reported that two of Asia’s biggest boy bands, Super Junior and Big Bang, after having released a song and an album that both have worked on together, are now combining to form a twenty-member group, second largest after 21BB. – kpoplive

“We need a name now,” Jungsoo said.

“Super Junior Big Bang!” Donghae called out.

Hyukjae smacked him. “That’s just both of the bands’ names together.

“Exactly! Isn’t it perfect?” grinned Daesung.

“We could try combining them,” said Shindong. “Like… Super Bang.”

“Or Big Junior,” Henry giggled. “Even though that makes no sense whatsoever.”

“We could do Super Big Bang Junior,” said Seunghyun.

“But that makes even less sense than Donghae’s!” Kibum pointed out.

“What about Big Super Junior Bang?” asked T.O.P.

Siwon crinkled his nose. “No.”

“Let’s try to be creative… how about The World’s #1 Boy Band?” offered Youngwoon.

They all seemed to consider his suggestion for a moment.

But then Heechul said, “Doesn’t that make us sound egotistical?”

“As if you aren’t egotistical,” Taeyang teased.

“Come on, no fighting,” said Jongwoon.

Siwon saw that next to him, a boy’s hand was up.“Sungmin, do you have a suggestion?”

“I was thinking we could be Super Big. You know? Just Super Big ~~like our crotches~~,” Sungmin said.

“You know? I actually like that,” Jiyoung said thoughtfully.

“Yeah! Me too!” Zhou Mi clapped happily.

“Then let’s do it! Let’s be Super Big!” Jungsoo said.

All twenty men formed a circle and stuck their hands in the middle.

“We are… SUPER BIG!”