Credits: Another Byunghun-IRIS article translated by antisocialnot at IRIS-soompi.com

November 5, 2009

Will there be a 4 sided love relationship for Lee Byung Hun with the addition of Yoo Min?

Captions:
2nd picture: I’m Sato Eriko
4th picture: I’m here to release you

Hallyu star Lee Byung Hun seems to be very popular in the drama.

Lee Byung Hun is likely to be the envy of most guys as he seems to be monopolising all the females in the drama. In IRIS episode 7 on the 4th of Nov, viewers saw how Lee Byung Hun met with Japanese agent Sato Eriko (played by Japanese actress Yoo Min, Byunghun’s co-star in the 2003 drama All In).

With her pure & innocent image but a strong & intensifying gaze, Yoo Min brought a fresh wave of tension into the drama. During her first meeting with Lee Byung Hun at Suyoson, Yoo Min offered to release him if he were to assasinate the Yakuza (Japanese mafia) in exchange.

Although her appearance was brief, she left a deep and lasting impression on viewers. “I was shocked by Yoo Min’s charisma” and ” Yoo Min’s image transformation was really successful” were some of the comments received from viewers.

With a possible 4 sided love relationship, curiousity has also risen amongst viewers. Kim Tae Hee & Kim So Yeon have already fallen under Lee Byung Hun’s spell and the guess is that Yoo Min will not be susceptible to his charms either.

“Lee Byung Hun is a very lucky guy”, “With the appearance of Yoo Min, the 4 sided love relationship will now start” and “Yoo Min! Even you are going over to Lee Byung Hun’s side?”, such comments by viewers revealed the envy that they felt of Lee Byung Hun.

***translated by antisocialnot*** l www.nate.com

November 5, 2009

IRIS breaches 30 percent mark

The ratings for KBS TV series “IRIS” surpassed the 30 percent mark in its fourth week of showing, according to a survey on Thursday. According to TNS Media Korea, “IRIS” topped its TV chart with a viewership rating of 30.7 percent, gaining 1.8 percent from its previous episode.

A poll by AGB Nielsen Media Research showed that the Wednesday and Thursday night drama did not top the 30 percent mark but gained 0.1 percent from last week to report a 27.8 percent viewership rating.

Several of South Korea’s top actors including Lee Byung-hun, Kim Tae-hee and Jung Jun-ho star in the drama which has been on air since mid-October.

Credits: Jessica Kim jesskim@asiae.co.kr <asiae.co.kr All rights reserved>

A Newsweek Report

November 6, 2009

Korea Takes Hollywood

By Sonia Kolesnikov-Jessop | NEWSWEEK
From the magazine issue dated Nov 16, 2009

Related Korean update at star.mt.co.kr

In the late 1990s a Korean wave washed over Asia. From TV soap operas and movies to pop music, the region couldn’t get enough of Korean culture and its good-looking stars. But the wave never quite reached the American entertainment industry. At most, Hollywood embraced the remake of several Korean films—including The Lake Houseand, more recently, The Uninvited.

Lately, however, ethnic Korean actors have started to gain traction in American film and TV. Kim Yunjin and Daniel Dae Kim broke through when they were cast in Lost in 2004, followed by Sandra Oh in Grey’s Anatomy and James Kyson Lee in Heroes. This year Korean-American heartthrob Daniel Henney appeared in X-Men Origins: Wolverine as the villainous Agent Zero, and now stars on the new CBS medical drama Three Rivers. Lee Byung-hun took on the role of Storm Shadow in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. And John Cho, who played Hikaru Sulu in Star Trek, is currently starring as an FBI agent in ABC’s drama FlashForward.

Next up: Jeong Ji Hoon, a.k.a. Rain, a pop superstar in much of Asia but still little-known on the global stage. On Nov. 25, Joel Silver and the Wachowski brothers will release their latest big-budget martial-arts thriller, Ninja Assassin, starring Jeong as the title character, who seeks revenge on the secret society that raised and trained him and killed his best friend.

The casting of Korean stars in prominent Hollywood roles reflects the new business realities: Jeong and his peers have a huge following in Asia, one of the few regions where movie audiences are growing. Korea, in particular, has become a key foreign market for Hollywood films, in some cases surpassing the U.K. According to the Web site Box Office Mojo, G.I. Joe earned more this summer in Korea—$13.2 million—than anywhere else outside the U.S.

Hollywood producers are also courting Korean directors who have a proven track record delivering hits for Asian audiences. “Every studio executive here has seen Oldboy by Park Chan-wook, and you can’t say that about a lot of foreign movies,” says Korean-American film producer Roy Lee of Vertigo Entertainment. Though Korean directors may be in demand among Hollywood producers, they are reluctant to make the leap. “Top directors in Korea have the ability to make whatever films they want with total creative freedom,” says Lee. “With the [U.S.] studios they do not have that control.”

Korean actors face cultural challenges, too. For actors from Asia to make it big in Hollywood, they have to commit to mastering English and networking with executives. “In Asia, for the most part, there is no auditioning process,” says Grace Chen, the former managing director of William Morris Asia, now an independent consultant in Hong Kong. “So for big Asian stars to go to Hollywood and have to audition, it can be quite a foreign process.” Plus, she says, those playing the Hollywood game risks losing opportunities back home.

And Asian actors in the U.S. are still often typecast as martial-arts experts. “Stereotype does still exist when casting films,” says Rain. “Asians have our own broad and unique culture; it’s just that more people have been interested in the martial-arts side than others.”

But things are definitely changing. While it may be a while before Korean actors are cast as romantic leads in Hollywood, references to Korean culture are seeping into American films and TV. “In the past, you’d see a lot of Japanese references, Caucasian characters eating sushi or speaking a few Japanese words. But recently I noticed [they] are being replaced by Korean ones,” says Shinho Lee, a Korean scriptwriter who splits his time between Seoul and L.A. Vertigo’s Lee cites the rising prominence of Korean-Americans at all levels of the film-production chain: “There are more people of Korean descent working in Hollywood than of any other Asian ethnicity.” Especially in front of the camera.

© 2009 newsweek.com

Thanks to d’ airscapez. for the highlight at the IRIS-soompi thread

IRIS- Navigate DVD (Making) (DVD) (Japan Version)

Expected release date: November 27, 2009.

Can be pre-ordered at YESASIA yesasia.com
Language: Korean
Subtitles: Japanese

description of DVD:
All eyes are on KBS’s 2009 all-star espionage action thriller Iris which marks the small-screen comebacks of Lee Byung Hun and Kim Tae Hee, who have been away from television since 2003’s All In and 2004’s Love Story in Harvard, respectively. Loosely based on the film Shiri, the big-budget drama revolves around globe-trotting rival agents and assassins, and co-stars big names like Jung Jun Ho, Kim Seung Woo, and Big Bang’s T.O.P. This Japan Version IRIS – Navigate DVD contains making-of and behind-the-scenes featurettes, including cast interviews, Korea production presentation, and location footage in Korea, Hungary, and Akita, Japan.

Credits to cine21.com via info at GBW-cafe.daum 5156, with thanks to dora_maomao at IRIS-soompi.com

Ordering page (in Japanese) at innolife.net

IRIS leading co-stars Lee Byunghun & Kim TaeHee

CINE21 Issue 727 2009.11.03 ~ 2009.11.10

Credits: These are Byunghun related articles wonderfully shared & translated by antisocialnot at the IRIS-soompi thread and IRIS artwork created by 2uss

November 4, 2009

Lee Byung Hun holds a ’surprise birthday party’ for Kim So Yeon on-site

Source: news.nate.com

Kim So-Yeon, who plays the charismatic North Korean guard in KBS’s Wed-Thur drama IRIS, had about 3 birthday parties played out for her last week.

Lee Byung Hun and the 2 directors, Yang Yoon Ho and Kim Gyu Tae held separate surprise birthday parties for her. While Lee Byung Hun prepared cupcakes for Kim So Yeon, Kim Gyu Tae (the director) and the crew prepared a birthday cake for her to celebrate her birthday.

Kim So Yeon was so engrossed in playing her role that she didn’t even notice that the crew had prepared a birthday cake and party for her. As such,  she was visibly touched when Yang Yoon Ho (the director) handed her her birthday cake. After proceeding to Incheon for filming later on in the day, Kim So Yeon celebrated her birthday again with Kim Gyu Tae and crew. It was a very memorable experience for her as she had 3 ‘birthday cakes’ to cut in 1 day.

Kim So Yeon expressed that ‘this is the best birthday i’ve ever had’ and her feelings of gratitude towards the staff for preparing the birthday celebration for her.

Meanwhile, Kim So Yeon has received favourable reviews for her role as a strong agent in IRIS from viewers.

**translated by antisocialnot**

Were the sudden ‘lovelines’ in IRIS a mistake by the production team?

Source: news.nate.com

The reason for the sudden loveline between Kim Hyun Joon (Lee Byung Hun) and Kim So Hwa ( Kim So Yeon) has been revealed to be the mistake by the production team.

From wanting to kill each other, and then progressing to walking arm in arm indicated that some time had passed in the drama.

As the production team wanted to bring out the love triangle between Lee Byung Hun, Kim Tae Hee and Kim So Yeon, they resorted to this method. However, this was also met with many objections as some felt that it was too quick. The production team wanted to bring out the ’speed’ essence of the drama as well as make use of the popularity of the drama at the same time. Thus, this love triangle idea was conceived.

The feedback from viewers was that it seemed a little too quick for Lee Byung Hun, who fled to Japan to avoid being killed, and Kim So Yeon, who pursued him to try to kill him, to fall in love. The production team has also admitted that this was indeed unrealistic.

In the drama, Kim So Yeon told Lee Byung Hun that ” If I don’t kill you, I’ve nowhere to return to” , to which Lee Byung Hun replied ” Then kill me. But not now. I’ve something to do. You can kill me after that”.

In relation to this, the production team stated that there was a period of about 2 months whereby both Kim So Yeon and Lee Byung Hun lived in the same hourse. However, this scene was edited out. They wanted to show how Kim So Yeon grew to like Lee Byung Hun and also, the subtitles of ‘2 months later’ which was supposed to be added in, was left out.

This left viewers feeling very confused over the relationship between the two in the show. However, the director praised Kim So Yeon’s acting by saying that through her portrayal of So Hwa, with her intense gaze, strong but feminine character, it helped to cover up the flaw in the script.

Meanwhile, the highly rated IRIS continues to showcase the relationships between Sawoo and Hyun Joon, as well as the upcoming scene whereby Hyun Joong goes over to NK to help. In addition, the loveline between Hyun Joon, Seung Hee and So Hwa continues to thicken, making for an interesting watch.

**translated by antisocialnot***

Update courtesy The Korean Times, capture from nydaily.co.kr

November 4, 2009

‘Kim Yuna, Lee Byunghun Illuminate Korea’

Figure-skating sensation Kim Yu-na, KAIST professor Ahn Cheol-soo and actor Lee Byung-hun were voted as “Power Brains” who have “lit up” Korea by maximizing the power of their brains.

According to the Korea Institute of Brain Science’s survey of 782 people, Ahn, who used to operate computer virus institute AhnLab, topped the business leader category while Lee took the celebrity category with his performance in the Hollywood blockbuster G.I. Joe.

Skater Kim placed the first in the sports category with 39.5 percent of the vote, followed by the manager of the country’s under-20 football team, Hong Myung-bo.

Credits: bjs@koreatimes.co.kr

Update from asiae.co.kr, thanks to taijizero1 for MV clip

Big Bang’s “IRIS” OST released on Wednesday

Boy band Big Bang’s soundtrack to hit TV series “IRIS” will be released tomorrow, according to the drama’s production company on Tuesday.

“Hallelujah”, sung by the five-member idol group, will be used for the actions scenes in the blockbuster spy drama, Taewon Entertainment said in a press release. Big Bang recorded the song particularly in support of member TOP who appears as a sniper named Vick in the Wednesday and Thursday night drama.

The song was written by Big Bang leader G-Dragon and jointly composed by the singer and Teddy, who has penned many of hit songs for their agency YG Entertainment’s artists including the boy band and girl group 2NE1.

Several of South Korea’s top actors including Lee Byung-hun, Kim Tae-hee and Jung Jun-ho star in “IRIS” which has seen its ratings gain every week since its premiere in mid-October to stand at nearly 30 percent.

Credits: Jessica Kim jesskim@asiae.co.kr

Thanks to the highlight by zashibear and 2uss at EverythingLBH-soompi.com, GI JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA DVDset is  now available for fans in North America ^^

Cool DVD caps of STORM SHADOW shared by 2uss

English update from the Korea Times with more info (in Japanese) at Byunghun’s JOFC homepage

November 2, 2009

Hallyu Stars to Stage Special Show in Tokyo

By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter

Heartthrobs Lee Byung-hun, Jang Dong-gun, Song Seung-hun and Won Bin will take part in a special “hallyu” (Korean Wave) festival in Tokyo in December, Yonhap News reported Monday.

The event, to take place Dec. 17 at Tokyo Dome, will be directed by renowned Japanese writer-producer Yasushi Akimoto. The four actors will give a theatrical performance set to an audiovisual piece by acclaimed Korean director Hur Jin-ho (“A Good Rain Knows”).

The four 30-something stars, who are known to be good friends, are said to have initiated the project, wanting to do “something fun and unprecedented.”

Lee Byunghun (“I Come With the Rain”), who became popular in Asian countries through TV soaps such as ‘[All In,” said he was was ‘happy to meet fans through a special production before the end of the year.”

Jang (“Good Morning President”), who rose to stardom through appearances in dramas like ‘All About Eve,” and Song, who garnered local fans in melodramas such as “Autumn Fairytale,” said they were looking forward to meeting Japanese fans after a long hiatus.

Won, whose critically acclaimed thriller “Mother” recently opened in Japanese theaters, also expressed enthusiasm for the unconventional project.

The top stars will also introduce fans to their latest films and TV dramas and take part in an interview session.

Credits: hyowlee@koreatimes.co.kr

IRIS episode 6 from KBS Global, excellent acting by Byunghun-ssi and Kim So-yeon especially.

November 2, 2009

What Will Happen to Lee Byunghun in “IRIS”

With tension growing higher amid action-packed chase scenes and confrontations in the new drama “IRIS,” all eyes are now on the fate of Kim Hyun-jun, a leading secret agent played by Lee Byung-heon.

Scenes from the October 29 episode

The fifth episode on October 29 ended with a scene where Hyun-jun was shot by his best friend and fellow agent, Jin Sa-woo (Jeong Jun-ho), who was ordered to kill him by their boss Baek San (Kim Young-chul).

In the sixth episode, an unidentified man saves Hyun-jun and provides treatment for him. After recovering, Hyun-jun refuses to be helped any more and leaves Hungary, where he had stayed to perform his mission but faced betrayal.

Baek San tells Choi Seung-hee (Kim Tae-hee), Hyun-jun’s girlfriend, that Hyun-jun has become a “man of the past.” Unable to accept the news of his death, she quits her job as a secret profiler and devotes herself to finding out his whereabouts while working at a flower shop.

Meanwhile, Kim Seon-hwa (Kim So-yeon), a North Korean agent who was sent to prison for failing to capture Hyun-jun, and who assassinated a political figure in the communist country, is released on the condition that she captures him without fail. She is told that this will be the last chance to save herself from any punishment.

Seon-hwa beats cold weather and heavy snow to chase Hyun-jun to Japan. Making a narrow escape, Hyun-jun hides in a spa in Akita, where he had stayed with Seung-hee on their secret trip together and prepares for revenge, only to be captured by local police.

With all these developments, curiosity about the next few episodes is rising higher than ever.

“IRIS” airs every Wednesday and Thursday at 9:55 p.m. on KBS2.

Internet broadcast media for “Guide & Review,” TV Report
Email reports to pi@pimedia.co.kr <Copyright ¨Ï Pimedia TV Report KBS Global