South Korea has selected Lee Chang-dong’s Secret Sunshine as its submission to the foreign language film category of the Academy Awards.

A special committee appointed by the Korean Film Council chose Secret Sunshine over Kim Ki-duk’s Breath and Kim Ji-hoon’s box office hit May 18.

Secret Sunshine premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May, where it won an actress award for Jeon Do-yeon as a young widow who moves from Seoul to start over in a provincial city. The film also stars Kang-ho Song.

South Korea has never had a film selected for inclusion in the final five nominations.

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Kim Rae Won’s Japanese movie wrapped the filming process
The movie title is Flower Shadow (Hanakake), and directed by Bayside Shakedown’s Gawai Hayato (If you’re into Jap movies, i truly recommend Bayside Shakesdown. It’s the special episode of series “Odoru Daisousassen”, starred Oda Yuuji as a detective, in the world of police beraucracy. Witty and refreshing). Hanakake will open next spring.

Oh, and remember Kim Rae Won’s new upcoming drama, Gourmet? Here’s an interview cut, English subbed.

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Upcoming Movies with trailers:

M, starring Kang Dong Won, Kong Hyo Jin, directed by Lee Mung Se, opens October 26th 2007, premieres at the 32nd Toronto International Film Festival.

Synopsis
A best seller writer Minwoo, suffering from constant deja vu goes into a somewhat imaginary relationship with a mysterious girl.
But the more he mets her, odd things start to occur and Minwoo is thrown into confusion.
Then strangely enough old memories about his first love, Mimi, start to come across his mind.
http://www.thecorestudio.net/

Trailer

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Love/Sarang, cast : Joo Jin Moo, Park Si Yeon, Kim Min Jun, directed by Gwak Gyeong Taek. Opens September 20th 2007 (so it’s supposed to be already out now in cinema)

Trailer :

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Court Lady (Gungnyeo), starring Park Jin Hee, Seo Yeong Hee, Lim Jeong Eun, opens 10-11-2007. It’s all about women, if we see the poster.

Synopsis
A maid-in-waiting hangs herself within the realms of the palace. But while performing an autopsy, palace medic Chunryung suspects murder and starts to investigate the case. With a sense of justice and full of wit, Chunryung bravely unmasks the deceptions, but soon confronts the veiled past, kept hidden by those that had far more power than she had expected.
http://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/

Trailer:

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Happiness opens Oct 3rd 2007, cast :Hwang Jung Min, Im Soo Jung

Synopsis
Young-soo has enjoyed his life in Seoul before he finds himself suffering from cirrhosis.
Losing any desire to live, he decides to leave the city and go to a sanatorium in a country.
He meets in there a girl, Eun-hee who is also suffering from a critical disease. They
start to live together in an old house near the sanatorium. One day, his old girlfriend
appears in front of him, asking him to return to the life they once had before. He leaves
Eun-hee and restarts to live with his old girlfriend. But as time passes, he misses
Eun-hee, and goes down to the house they used to live together. But he finds the empty
house and Eun-hee who is waiting for her last moment in the sanatorium.
http://www.showbox.co.kr/

Trailer

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Full Credit When Posted Elsewhere
Compiled by Louise @ ShenYuePop.com
Source : Broasia, Kung Fu Cult Cinema, Variety Asia Online

Joo Jin Moo talks about his latest film, Love that will be screening in South Korea next Thursday.

Joo who started his career in acting more than 10 years ago recently shot back to popularity again with his role as the handsome Sang Jun, the music producer love of fat girl undergone cosmetic surgery turned skinny singer played by Kim Ah Joong in the hit movie, 200 Pounds Beauty.

Clips from some of his movies and dramas:

Joo Jin Mo & Kim Min Jun – Interview Love (Ent Relay)

JOO Jin Mo’s Movies from 1999 to 2006

Joo Jin Mo’s dance clip !!

Musa, the Warrior (2001) – Korean trailer

_________________________________
Full Credit When Posted Elsewhere
Source: China Press+Korean Times
Credit: ShenYuePop.com: Kwfong
No Additional Credit Be Added

Source: Donga, 11 September 2007,
“I Put My Heart and Soul into This Movie”
When Korean male actor Joo Jin-mo dropped by his dear friend as well as his acting colleague Jang Dong-geon’s house in March, the word “Sarang” (love in Korea) written on a cover of a script caught his eyes.
Joo: What is it?
Jang: It’s a script director Gwak Gyeong-taek told me to skim through.”
Joo flipped through the pages and he was immediately absorbed in the script. He could not take his eyes off the script even when Jang talked to him after clearing up their dinner table.
Joo: Who got the main lead?
Jang: I heard the director is thinking of “A.”
In the afternoon, Joo called his agent and said, “If I don’t get this part, I will kill myself!”
Although no one offered him the part, his pride was the last thing on his mind. He was desperate for the role. After many ups and downs, the determined 33-year-old actor finally got the part – the male lead in “Sarang (Love)” scheduled to hit screens next Thursday.
“Sarang”, a new film by Gwak Gyeong-taek, who is also the director of the nationwide hit “Friend,” mainly centers on Choi In-ho’s (played by Joo) desperate love for his elementary school sweetheart Mi-joo (played by Park Si-yeon). Fate forces him to commit a crime for Mi-joo. However, when he comes back for Mi-joo later, she has already become the lover of Yoo (played by Joo Hyeon), who raised Choi.
“I wanted to become something more than an actor with good looks – someone realistic instead of all dressed-up and charismatic.” Many viewers regard the movie as an unofficial sequel to “Friend” as they both contain a heavy Busan dialect, violence and love. Some even said that Gwak has created a replica of “Friend” to make up for the lackluster “Typhoon,” whose popularity did not meet his expectations.
“Up until now, Gwak’s movies were all about masculinity, power, toughness and strong emotions. They were rough. However, this movie is more refined with the universal ingredient – love. Expressing delicate emotions was the essence of this movie. I tried to stay away from outright masculinity.”
Story-wise, “Sarang” is a typical and tragic love story. At an age where instant love prevails, his true love seems almost foolish. Joo said, “This movie has nothing to do with the current trend. However, I am sure that young viewers will be absorbed in the movie.” He described Choi as, “If he falls in love with someone, he thinks about her all the time. There are guys who naturally know how to express their feelings to their lovers and those who are removed from that. Well, Choi belongs to the latter group. He doesn’t know what to do in front of Mi-joo.”
In-ho looks after Mi-joo for life, keeping faithful to his promise. When Yoo tells Choi, “A man’s love for a woman never lasts,” he turns away, saying, “Sir, I am different.” When Dong-A asked if Joo resembles Choi in real life, he replied, “When I was in my 20s, I thought I was invincible. However, as time goes by, I am not really sure about it even if I want to believe so. Well, movies describe ideal values.”
He put his heart and soul into the movie. As the filming schedule adhered to a strict timeline just as they do in Hollywood, losing 10 kg in two weeks was a challenging task. He almost suffered insomnia on an empty stomach every night. Just as his colleague actors such as Jang Dong-geon and Cho In-seong broke free from typical handsome actor image, Joo is confident that he will be born again with the movie.
On the screen, his exotic facial features seemed slightly too much. However, seen in person, he has a very delicate Korean face with subtle facial feathers. At the interviewer’s comment – “I have a feeling that some people might say your face is too exotic” – he takes it seriously.
“I used to hear that a lot, but not anymore. I think people say my facial features are exaggerated when I don’t act with all my heart. If I remain faithful to my role, I don’t hear that. So this time, it will be different.”