In the first of four articles looking back over 2014, we recall some of the culture, sports and heritage stories that made the news. Arts Dansaekhwa emerged as flavour of the year. Following the MMCA exhibition in 2013 and Joan Kee’s book, Kukje Gallery had a monochrome retrospective, and dansaekhwa artists were included in MMCA … [Read More]
People: Jang Dong-gun
Saharial at the Terracotta Festival: My Way
My Way, directed by Kang Je-gyu (Taegukgi) and with a pan Asian cast was the selected opening night film for the Terracotta Asian Film Festival. And whilst the top class cast of Jang Dong-gun (Taegukgi, Friend), Joe Odagiri (Azumi, Shinobi) and Fan Bingbing (Shaolin, Flashpoint) sounded very promising, I had heard from some of my … [Read More]
Do we need another Liaisons Dangereuses remake?
Do we need another Liaisons Dangereuses remake? EJ Yong’s was a bit dull. How will Hur Jin-ho fare with Jang Dong-gun? http://t.co/D5t6GM07 [Read More]
A last look back at 2010
We’ve digested the albums, films, sporting events and books of the year, and reviewed some of the memorable stories of 2010 in our Quiz of the Year. Here are some of the other things we noted in 2010 which didn’t quite make it into any of those articles. 2010: a year of anniversaries It was … [Read More]
Warrior’s Way tired and cliched
Via @bournecinema: Negative review of THE WARRIOR’S WAY (aka Laundry Warrior), starring Jang Dong-gun, in the Joongang Ilbo. Sat on the shelf 2yrs. Not a good sign. “It is a novel idea for an Asian swordsman to go to the West and become a hero there. But that plot twist is not strong enough to … [Read More]
Jang Dong-gun in Warrior’s Way
This still from Jang Dong-gun’s Hollywood debut (The Warrior’s Way, aka Laundry Warrior, with Kate Bosworth) has about as much sexual chemistry as a Hong Sang-soo film: none. http://bit.ly/ikokw2 # [Read More]
Jang Dong-gun and Song Hye-kyo top plastic surgery templates
Times change. 6 years ago Hyolee & Jeon Ji-hyun were top of the list. Now Song Hye-kyo is top Plastic Surgery Template. And guys want to look like Jang Dong-gun http://bit.ly/adsPKV # [Read More]
Korea’s hottest celebs — CNNGo
South Korea's 20 hottest male celebs: CNNGo’s list is topped by Jang Dong-gun, Won Bin and Bae Yong-joon. http://bit.ly/aZAANo – via allkpop http://bit.ly/cDqitG But why isn’t Lee Byung-hun on the list? # [Read More]
The upcoming wedding of the year
Jang Dong-gun and Ko So-young: enough already. http://bit.ly/8ZI8Kf , http://bit.ly/c6JJhH, and just about everywhere else # [Read More]
Jang Dong-gun & Ko So-young wedding plans
I never understand the Korean celebrity system: Jang Dong-gun reveals when it is that he will reveal his wedding plans with Ko So-young. How about spilling the beans now? http://bit.ly/9JCqtB # [Read More]
LKL 2008 Quiz of the year – the answers
The answers to the teasers posed just before the New Year. 1 Stressful times What does the current credit crunch and the most recent DPRK nuclear test have in common? a) the media blame them on an incompetent government who should have seen it coming and somehow prevented it b) they would both cause a … [Read More]
Deadly Elves and other recent tabloid stories
It’s a while since I did a round-up of celebrity news, which means that I’ve almost forgotten all the things I was going to mention, and lost most of the links that I was going to use. So before things get completely out of hand, here’s one of my not-so-regular posts shamelessly plundering the celebrity … [Read More]
Kim Ki-duk: the Coast Guard
While browsing Play.com over the weekend I noted an upcoming Tartan release: Kim Ki-duk’s neglected The Coast Guard. The title of the film, to a westerner, is somewhat misleading. In the peaceful west, a coast guard is something to do with lifeboats, or air-sea rescue. He sits in a lookout post all day scanning the … [Read More]