13th PIFF Presents..

13th PIFF update (Sept 27) from www.piff.org and image from news.empas.com

‘The Feast of stars’ begins on October 2

Celebrated actors from all over the world gathers at the opening ceremony of the 13th Pusan International Film Festival

English site » HERE

Korean site (218 guests-hotel list) » HERE

The 13th Pusan International Film Festival has announced the actors and actresses who will show up for the upcoming opening ceremony on October 2nd. In this year, rising film stars from across the world will visit Busan, making the festival glorious.

For Korean Actors, Hyun Bin and LEE Bo-young of the closing film <I Am Happy>, AHN Sung-ki, KANG Soo-yeon, PARK Hae-il, KIM Hye-soo, LEE Byung-heon, KONG Hyo-jin, JUNG Jin-young and YE Ji-won has already booked the ticket to Busan.

Juri UENO, who secured a bunch of fans with Japanese serial drama <Nodame Cantabile>, Xiaolu LI, called as one of the four little Empresses of China, Aron YOO from US, actress Moon Bloodgood of Korean extraction, Lun-mei KAWI from Taiwan and Tien-you CHIU from Hong Kong are planning to meet the audience at the festival.

The 13th Pusan International Film Festival, the biggest film festival in Korea that is also gaining its fame for Asia’s representative international film festival, invites 315 films from 60 countries, the largest number of all time. The magnificent festival will start on October 2nd until 10th.
* Korean Actors list for the opening ceremony (in Korean alphabetical order)

- The list is subject to change due to the actor’s schedule.
- There might be other actors who will join the ceremony. The lists will be updated later on.

Soo-yeon Kang Hye-jung Kang Hyo-jin KONG Kang-woo
Kim Nam-gil Kim So-yeon Kim Soo-mi Kim Jung-eun
Kim Jung-hak Kim Jun-sung Kim Hyang-ki Kim Hye-na
Kim Hye-soo Kim Hye-seong Kim Seung-hun Myung Chae-won
Moon Ji-hea Min Sang-myun Park Yong-woo Park Eun-hye
Park Joon-hyung Park Hae-il Park Sung-hyun Baek Taeg-yu
Bong Dong-won Seo Chang-ui Song Chang-ui Song Mi-na
Shin Shin Lee Hyun-joon Shin Ji-ho Shim Nae-sang Ahn Sung-ki
Ahn So-hee Ahn Ji-won Uhm Ji-won Ye Jung-se Oh Ji-ho
O A-in Yu June-sang Yu Eugene Yu-jung Yoon Ji-min
Yoon Jin-seo Yun Ki-woo Lee Da-hui Lee Min-gi LEE Byung-heon
Lee Bo-young Lee Sun-kyun Lee Yeon-hee Lee Jeong-jin
Lee Jin LEE Han-wee Lee Hwa-sun Lee Hwan Lee Har-yung

A Wedding to Cherish

Article from the Korea Times and photos from various media-portals via daum, naver & empas.com

Actors Kwon, Sohn Tie Knot

By Han Sang-hee
Staff Reporter

Actors Sohn Tae-young, 28, left and Kwon Sang-woo, 32 wave to reporters ahead of their wedding Sunday at Shilla Hotel, Seoul. The couple invited some 300 guests to their closed-doors wedding ceremony, but fans and reporters swarmed the venue to catch a glimpse of the celebrity duo. / Yonhap

Actors Kwon Sang-woo, 32, and Sohn Tae-young, 28, tied the knot Sunday at a three-hour private wedding that drew a crowd including top Korean stars, reporters and fans from Japan.

Before the wedding, the elegantly dressed couple appeared in front of fans and photographers, smiling and holding hands. “I thank everybody for coming, even those who came all the way from Japan. We promise we will do our best to live happily” Kwon said.

The two actors met through friend and fellow actor Kim Sung-soo and when Kwon was asked if he talked to anybody before the wedding, he smiled and said he talked to Kim.

When asked of how many children they were planning to have, they had their differences. “I would like to have three children, but I don’t know about Sohn,” Kwon said, while Sohn answered that she wanted to have two in order to stay fit.

The wedding was held at the Shilla Hotel with 300 guests. Singer Jo Sung-mo sang the nuptial song, while Sohn’s brother-in-law pianist Yiruma performed just for the occasion.

The star-studded guest list was known to include fellow actors So Ji-sub, Lee Byung-hun, Lee Jung-jae and Song Seung-heon.

When asked what they wanted to do after the wedding,

October Spotlight – Lee Byunghun Festival

Our thanks to Sala-san for the newspaper clipping, and to ylin for the highlight from SKY PerfecTV courtesy of LBH’s Taiwan MagicBox

Official WEBSITE – skyperfectv.co.jp

SKY PerfecTV October Lee Byung Hun Festival

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“LEE BYUNG HUN FESTIVAL BY SATELLITE BROADCASTING”

Thanks to Sala-san

Aloha! GBW in Hawaii

Our thanks to the highlight by Kuri at LBH.SG, article from The Honolulu Advertiser

September 21, 2008
Film star Jung Woo Sung coming to HIFF

By Jeff Chung

Korean film megastar Jung Woo Sung will attend The Louis Vuitton Hawaii International Film Festival in October for the closing-night film, “The Good, The Bad and The Weird,” a Korean western that has been a blockbuster hit for 2008.

Jung will be at HIFF to screen his film and also to receive the Achievement in Acting award for his accomplishment in cinema.

Jung Woo Sung had his debut in 1994, in the film “The Fox with Nine Tails.” He was born on March 20, 1973, in South Korea. Although he has not done TV dramas, he has several movie hits that have been successful in other Asian countries.

He starred with Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi in the 2001 movie “Musa,” and with Son Ye Jin (“Summer Scent,” “April Snow” and “The Art of Seduction”) in 2004’s “A Moment to Remember,” which was successfully released in Japan in 2005. Jung became a big hit in Japan, making it into the top 10 list for Korean actors in that country.

Jung starred in “Sad Movie” in 2005 and was invited to HIFF for the opening night film, but he had a prior commitment in Japan for the release of “A Moment to Remember.”

In 2006, Jung appeared in “Daisy” with Jun Ji Hyun (“My Sassy Girl”), notable because it was directed by Hong Kong director Andrew Lau, and filmed in the Netherlands. Also in 2006, Jung was in the film “The Restless” with actress Kim Tae Hee. There was a huge party celebrating the release of “The Restless” at the Pusan International Film Festival. Side note: Mayor Mufi Hannemann was invited to the CJ Entertainment party launching the film “The Restless” and took pictures with stars Jung and Kim at Pusan.

Coming to town: Korean megastar Jung Woo Sung
will attend HIFF next month

“The Good, The Bad and The Weird” premiered at Cannes Film Festival earlier this year. It is one of the most successful films this year in the domestic Korean market. It has already taken in more than 7 million admission at the Korean box office.

Megastar Lee Byung Hun (“All In,” “Bittersweet Life”) and Song Kang Ho (“Memories of Murder,” “JSA,” “The Host” and “YMCA Baseball Team”) are co-stars.

The Weird is played by Song, who steals a treasure map from the Japanese. The Bad is played by Lee, who is paid to get the map back. The Good is played by Jung, who is a bounty hunter who tracks down the other two. The setting is in Manchuria in the 1930s.

Director Kim Ji-woon’s films “Bittersweet Life” and “Tale of Two Sisters” have been showcased at HIFF in previous years. Kim was in Hawai’i three years ago with Lee Byung Hun for the screening of “Bittersweet Life.” The director is also invited to this year’s screening of “The Good, The Bad and The Weird,” Oct. 1 at Dole Cannery. The director and Jung are expected to make an appearance at the screening.

Jung has expressed that he is honored to accept the Achievement in Acting Award from HIFF and looks forward to attending this year

Hunnie Treat Collection M

Back again, a treat to all! ^^

» Clips courtesy various fan-sharing, compiled by EverythingLBH-soompi.com

Thoughts of Toronto & more to come

Our gratitude to the highlight by PlanetBH0712, English translation by Hyc-EverythingLBH based on Chinese text by Ping-bhjwlove.com with the original VOD & article courtesy koreatimes.net

Sept 18, 2008 – A recent Byunghun interview in Toronto

LBH gave his impression on his visit to Canada (for the 33rd Toronto Film Festival), “I have visited USA many times, but this is my first time in Canada. The attire of the people showed free-spiritedness, but the conservative atmosphere of old buildings can be felt. The first impression is that the place is very clean. And that the conservative atmosphere of Europe seems to mix with North American free-spiritedness.”

LBH confessed that, “In my 17 years of acting life, this is the first time I’ve taken up the challenge of a villain role-a cold blooded bandit boss. I worry about the foreign media comments, comparing this unique character with the clown The Joker in movie “Batman, The Dark Knight”, whether it’s just mimicry but this is not the typical bad guy image. It has to show the wounded past and pain of the character with the menacing eye expression through smoky air, and not to be overly done.”

LBH said, “After overcoming the burdening thought of acting a villain for the first time, I accepted the role. Unfortunately the next day my ankle was injured. I decided to give up the movie. The director said it’s just an accident, it would heal, and I can do the filming then.”

“In the one and half month with plaster cast on my ankle, I started physique training. The way to express the form of the bad person is by a muscular frame; muscles appear in the slightly slim figure looks best with the plot character. I worked hard with the personal trainer and we had a good sweat.”

Besides GBW, LBH was doing movies “GI Joe: Rise of Cobra” and “I Come With The Rain”. He is on the verge of his dream to Hollywood debut.

In addition to the high school education, LBH was lucky to have English lessons for two months. Although his English was quite fluent,

London Fest Official Invite

Thanks to the highlight by deka_if at soompi.com, article from www.korea.net

Three Korean movies invited to the London Film Festival

Three Korean films, including the much-acclaimed The Good, the Bad, the Weird (directed by Kim Ji-woon), have been invited to the The Times BFI 52nd London Film Festival (LFF) to be held in Britain from Oct. 15 to 30.

According to the list of films invited to this year’s festival released on the LFF Secretariat’s webpage, The Good, the Bad, the Weird was invited to the “Film on the Square” division and two other Korean films, Night and Day (directed by Hong Sang-soo) and Hansel and Gretel (directed by Yim Phil-sung) were invited to the “World Cinema” division.

The “Film on the Square” section introduces noticeable new releases around the world, while the “World Cinema” division shows movies that reflect the current trends in cinema.

The Good, the Bad, the Weird was inspired by Sergio Leone’s classic 1966 spaghetti Western The Good, the Bad, the Ugly, starring Clint Eastwood.

The story line follows three Korean men and their entanglement with the Japanese army, Chinese and Russian bandits, accompanied by many exciting action scenes set in Manchuria in the 1930s.

The movie was screened in the gala section at the Cannes film festival this year and it is reported to have received a standing ovation.

GBW-Sitges in Competition

41st SITGES update from www.cinemasitges.com

The best in competition fantasy cinema

The in competition Official Fantàstic Selection is made up of a wide choice of the best fantasy films from around the world, focusing on current genre tendencies. The resurrection of Asian fantasy films far removed from the coordinates of ghostly horror, the confirmation of a new wave of British horror movies, the return of intelligent and original North American B movies or the interest of European auteur films in fantasy are some of this year’s most outstanding features.

OFFICIAL FANTÀSTIC SECTION IN COMPETITION

Absurdistan, Veit Helmer
Blindness, Fernando Meirelles
Crows-Episode 0, Takashi Miike
Eden Lake, James Watkins
Fighter, Natasha Arthy
Hansel and Gretel, Yim Phil-sung
La possibilité d’une île, Michel Houellebecq
Let the Right one in, Tomas Alfredson
Martyrs, Pascal Laugier
Prime Time, Luis Calvo Ramos
Red, Trygve Allister Diesen, Lucky McKee
Sexy Killer, Miguel Martí
Surveillance, Jennifer Lynch
Tale 52, Alexis Alexiou
The Broken, Sean Ellis
The Burrowers, J.T. Petty
The Chaser, Na Hong-jin
The Cottage, Paul Andrew Williams
The Good, The Bad, The Weird, Kim Jee-woon
The Sky Crawlers, Mamoru Oshii
Tokyo!, Bong Joon-ho, Léos Carax, Michel Gondry
Vinyan, Fabrice du Welz
Your Name Here, Matthew Wilder

OFFICIAL FANTÀSTIC SECTION OUT OF COMPETITION
Dachimawa Lee, Ryoo Seung-Wan
JCVD, Mabrouk El Mechri
Long Weekend, Jamie Blanks
Mongol, Sergei Bodrov
Repo! The Genetic Opera, Darren Lynn Bousman
RocknRolla, Guy Ritchie
Soy un pelele, Hernán Migoya
Synecdoche, New York, Charlie Kaufman
The Informers, Gregor Jordan
The Warlords, Peter Chan
Transsiberian, Brad Anderson

GBW reading pleasure ^^

Sep 4, 2008:

Someday

Thanks to the highlight by Ping, ylin and Hyc-bhjwlove.com, captures from hmv.co.jp and info from Sung-ja at EverythingLBH-soompi.com

Official page
universal-music.co.jp-lee_byunghun

Music sample
ITSUKA-Rock Version

Pre-Order
amazon.co.jp
hmv.co.jp

TIFF token

Original review at www.showcase.ca via twitchfilm.net

September 10, 2008

TIFF Review: THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE WEIRD

Posted by Todd Brown at 6:30am

[This review originally appeared as part of my festival coverage at Showcase. Thanks to the Goat-Boy for allowing us to reprint it here.]

Over the course of his career Kim Ji Woon has become one of the most unique voices in South Korea. Sure, he doesn’t have the name recognition here of Oldboy’s Park Chan Wook, but has Park ever told the tale of a bland businessman turned masked wrestler? Told a twisty ghost story? Gone for gangster revenge?

Okay he’s done the gangster thing – sort of – but Kim has a much more diverse resume and has earned himself a reputation as one of the most technically skilled directors in the world the good old fashioned way: by actually being exactly that. Kim’s a wizard with a camera as proven by the atmospheric world of A Tale of Two Sisters and the jaw dropping action of A Bittersweet Life. So the reaction to news that Kim was taking a stab at a straight up western? Glee!

The film is The Good, The Bad And The Weird and rumblings about the film running over time and over budget – so far over budget that the original production company couldn’t handle the costs and it moved to a bigger outfit – were not nearly enough to dampen enthusiasm for the film and it won some strong reviews when a rough cut premiered in Cannes and has gone on to become a huge hit in its native Korea. But does it live up to the hype?

The Good, The Bad And The Weird is pure spectacle. Kim built enormous standing sets for the film and puts them to great use, creating a totally immersive world for a virtually non-stop string of chases and shootouts. Production values are gorgeous and the staging energetic. There is always – absolutely always – something impressive to look at on screen. It doesn’t take long, though, to realize that something very basic has changed here in the way Kim approaches film making.

Sure, he’s never been shy of spectacle in the past but he has always started from his characters and worked his way out from there, making sure the action comes from the characters rather than ruling them. Here, though, he takes exactly the opposite path, building the film purely around his sets and action sequences. Need a big train robbery? Check. Three way shootout? Check. Knife wielding maniac? Check. Gun fight carried out by bounty hunters swinging on ropes high above the village streets? Oh, god yes, check. The characters, though, the element that is normally his strongest suit? They’re not quite an afterthought but they’re not far off.

Here’s the basic story.

TIFF2008 Red Carpet Clip

Thanks to the highlight by PlanetBH0712 and LBH.SG, original vod at msn.com

A Must Watch! Streaming clip – the interview with Dir. Kim Ji Woon, Lee Byung Hun (he answered in English) and Jung Woo Sung at the Toronto FilmFest Red Carpet for GBW

[VOD] TIFF08 Red Carpet: The Good, The Bad and The Weird

Watch the streaming at video.msn.com *please click on link*

More photos

RAV4 Goodies Unpacked

Our gratitude to sweet angel, Sala for these awesome sharing and to Sung-ja at EverythingLBH-soompi.com for the info

Netz Toyota in Japan are promoting three sales goodies which are a set of 5 postcards, a poster (similar as the one displayed at the shops) and a making DVD of the CM.
The postcards and poster are given free, however