Korean movie sequels/prequels

O_O Don’t really like it that K-movie follows the style of so many Hollywood movies. Even though there are some sequels/prequels that are well-made (and even better than the first one) but IMO, those are in the minority.

200 Pounds Beauty was originally based on a Japanese manga/novel (don’t remember which type it is) and now they are going to make a second movie - I wonder, will it be as entertaining as the first? What will be the theme this time? Bad idea, IMO.

As for The Host 2, which is a prequel to The Host, I wonder how they are going to tie-up with The Host. Or maybe no tie-up at all ??

Read about it in Variety Online… 

“Maria” will have a Japanese cover

Remember that very infectious song, Maria, sung by Kim Ah Joong in 200 Pounds Beauty? There will be a Japanese version of Maria This is for the Japanese release of the movie.

The singer chosen is Rinka, I don’t really listen to a lot of Japanese female singers so I don’t really know who she is. I have included her official site and the wiki site if you are interested. Hmm, she doesn’t looked Japanese. Is she mixed?
News…

Talento Rinka (34) is reaching out to all those Japanese women with a broken heart. She was chosen to record a cover of Blondie’s 1999 song “Maria” as the theme tune for the Japan release of Korean movie “200 Pounds Beauty”. The movie is based on a Japanese manga by Suzuki Yumiko, “Kanna-san Daiseikou Desu!” Producers say they chose Rinka because of her popularity among young Japanese women and her “dramatic life”. The recently revealed breakup with her boyfriend of six years no doubt influenced Rinka as she wrote her own Japanese lyrics for the song. Blondie keyboard player Jimmy Destry also took part in the project. “Maria” goes on sale December 12 and the movie opens in Japanese theaters on December 15.

Source: Japan-Zone.com

Rinka’s official site

Rinka’s wiki site

44th Daejong Awards - Winners

I won’t be posting the full list but these are the major ones…some surprising results

Best Film: Family Ties
Best Director: Bong Joon Ho, The Host

Best Actor: Ahn Sung Ki, Radio Star

Best Actress: Kim Ah Joong, 200 Pounds Beauty

200 Pounds Beauty - the musical version

I wonder who will be playing the leads - they should find Kim Ah Joong back coz that girl can sing. Also find Joo Jin Mo too coz he also can sing (he has a band or formed a band before, if I remembered correctly). LOL, those are wishful thinkings…

Another reminder: the movie is opening here in Malaysia this week. Please go and watch it, if you can .

The picture below: the dress looked familiar -she wore this dress in the movie, right?

 

200 Pounds Beauty in Malaysian cinema on 7th June

Yeah the movie is going to be screened here. Most of the Korean movies that were screened here were horror/monster movies. It’s rare that they (the film distributors) decided to bring in this movie. Well, being one of the best-selling movies in S.Korea did play a major factor!

I have already watched it and it’s fun. Not to mentioned that there’s a real gorgeous guy (Joo Jin Mo ) in it. Yes, you also have the gorgeous girl (Kim Ah Joong). Did I mention the music (original soundtrack) is good too ? 

The Star has an article on Kim Ah Joong (clickie here). Sigh! How I wish for both Kim Ah Joong and Joo Jin Mo to come here for some promotion .

44th DaeJong Award Nominees

** Updated with the link to the full list of nominees -> refer to comment #6 below **

Eh I dont have the full list but the newspapers (HK Yahoo News, SINA and TW Yahoo News) said that “200 lb Beauty” is nominated for a total of 12 nominations, 1 more than “The Host”. The awards will be held next month.

Kim Ah Joong (200lb Beauty), Moon Geun Young (Love Me Not) are nominated for Best Actress alongside with Kim Hye Soo (Tazza: The High Rollers). Uhm Jung Hwa (For Horowitz) and Yeh Ji Won (Old Miss Diary) are also nominated for Best Actress.

Fresh Japanese Wave Threatens Korean Pop Culture

From left: K-film “200 lb Beauty”, K-drama “White Tower”, K-drama “Lover” and K-drama “Alone in Love”

What the film “Secret of The Beauty,” which drew 6.6 million viewers late last year, and MBC’s recent hit drama “White Tower” have in common is that they were remakes of Japanese originals. The success of these and other Japanese works in Korea is raising concerns that Japanese pop culture could once again dominate Korea.

Dependence on Japanese stories

Another drama based on a Japanese original is scheduled to air on SBS from March 30. “Lover” stars Yoo Oh-sung and Yoon Son-ha and is the remake of the 1995 Japanese series written by Hisashi Nozawa. Nozawa is also the author of the novel that was the basis of last year’s SBS drama “Alone in Love,” which was very popular among viewers in their 20s and 30s.

Korean drama production companies are competing to secure the rights to Japanese novels and mangas. KimJongHak Production and JS Pictures each have already bought the rights of three Japanese works to turn them into dramas here. “We have taken a serious interest in Japanese novels and mangas since late last year,” JS Pictures president Lee Jin-seok says.

In the film industry, the number of movies based on Japanese works is also increasing. Between 2002 and 2005, only one or two films were based on Japanese works, but the number rose to three in 2006 and is expected to more than double in 2007, including the already released “Highway Star” and seven other works in planning or production.

All this enthusiasm has sent prices for rights soaring. It now costs some W30-100 million (US$1=W93 for a novel and W10-70 million for a manga, depending on the reputation of the artist or work. Industry insiders say that is nearly double what they cost in late 2005. “Just in 2002, it was possible to buy a good Japanese work for as little as W5 million if we did well in negotiations,” says KimJongHak Production. “But prices for Japanese works are skyrocketing as broadcasters and producers compete.”

The power of Japanese stories

Experts say the Korean entertainment industry’s dependence on Japanese pop culture will increase because the Japanese novel and manga markets are popular around the world. According to the Korean Publishing Research Institute, as of 2006 the size of the Korean novel market was no more than W203 billion, while that of Japanese market stood at W724.3 billion. The gap for the manga markets was even greater, with the Japanese market (W4 trillion) some 40 times bigger than the Korean market (W124.2 billion).

The scriptwriter Lee Ki-won, who wrote “White Tower,” says in Japan, unlike Korea, the world of highbrow literature interacts with the popular literary world, which contributes to creating very unique stories. Japanese novels have also started beating Korean novels here. The Kyobo Book Center says Japanese novels occupied 31 percent of the Korean novel market in 2006, leaving Korean novels behind with 23 percent.

Of course, some Korean movies and dramas are also being remade in Japan, including film “My Boss, My Hero” and drama “Hotelier.” But overall Korean pop culture is at risk in the face of a Japanese Wave.

A Japanese Wave?

Some experts fear that enthusiasm for Japanese pop culture is headed for a renewed domination of Korea. Bae Won-keun, a researcher at the KPRI, says it is a shame that Korean entertainment companies scramble to snap up Japanese stories for quick returns rather than working to strengthen their creative power. “The entertainment industry should make more effort to cultivate young writers with fresh ideas,” he adds.

Source: Chosun Ilbo

There’s only 2 dramas and 1 film that I know that is a remake of Japanese dramas/films. The dramas are the aforementioned White Tower and Alone in Love. The film was My Girl and I. I havent watched both of the Korean dramas and film. I personally seen the Japanese version of White Tower (which was also remake to a Taiwanese drama which I am thinking of watching it soon) and it was a good drama - maybe the solid cast + intriguing plot helped too. Alone in Love was remake based on the novel written by the same writer who wrote Koori no Sekai and Nemureru Mori and I don’t think it was dramatized in Japan yet. My Girl and I was a remake of Crying Out In the Center of the World. I havent watched My Girl and I so I can’t pass judgement on whether the remake is good or not.

I think they (the writer above) has a bit over-reacted to these Japanese remakes. A lot of things are remakes from a country to another country. Japanese even remake Korean dramas/films - the above mentioned dramas and films like Christmas in August. Don’t let me start on those Hollywood remakes :p . The thing is sometimes it is not bad to have remakes - LOL, look at The Departed…the most important thing is IMO, is it worthwhile to have it remake?

Take for example, The Ring (the Hollywood version) and Ringu (the original Japanese version). I can understand why the guys in Hollywood want to remake it. The pace and the not-so-straightforward plot may not be American cup of tea…uhm…in this case, coffee. But IMO, there’s something lost in translation - when I watched the Ring (and maybe I have watched Ringu before the movie, to be fair), all I felt was just on the spot scares, faster pace and what the heck do they want to put those horses in for? Even the video tape is not as scary or mysteriously scary compared to Ringu. What I am saying is the psychological scare is not there in The Ring. After I watched Ringu, I can’t stare at a switched off TV for long coz just sitting in front of it reminded me of …what if that thing suddenly switch on ?

JoongAng Ilbo: Movies revive the dead radio stars

Director Lee Joon-ik turned Park Joong-hoon into a passe rocker from the ‘80s in his film “Radio Star.” Kim Yong-hwa wanted Kim Ah-jung to play an obese understudy singer in “200 Pounds Beauty” and Kim Sang-chan and Kim Hyeon-su made Cha Tae-hyun dress up in a tacky, glittering costume to act like a rookie “trot” singer in the upcoming “Bbong Feel.”

Radio Star

Apparently, the main obsession of film directors these days is to have a singer or two play the main roles in their blockbusters ― aside from the fun they must have making the musical stars of our times embarrass themselves in thick latex or silly outfits as they try to master acting.

But the industry is quite happy with these films and it expects to make more. Critics say they have all the elements of a movie that sells: a good story and lots of entertainment.
“It’s a good item for a touching storyline, “ said Im Jin-mo, a film critic. “These three recent films featured a singer who starts from the bottom and gets to the top, “The stories have ups and downs as stars mature or collapse and they often tell the truth about the pop industry, “ he said.

200 Pounds Beauty

In fact, “Radio Star” is about washed-up rocker Choi Gon who ends up working on shabby stages to earn money for food. The story is real enough.

“200 Pounds Beauty” also depicts an aspect of reality. An entertainment agency only lets Kang Han-na sing in secret as an understudy for another prettier girl because she is fat and ugly ― that is, until she has plastic surgery.

The upcoming “Bbong Feel” is also a sad comedy about a rookie rocker who is forced to change his singing style to trot, a nasally, old pop genre.

“A singer can become a star overnight and vanish as quickly,” said Kim Jak-ga, a popular culture critic. “And that makes it a good theme to use in a movie because it causes tears and dramatic excitement.”

So they provide good storylines. But why chose out-of-fashion rock and even trot for the film’s musical backbone?

Nostalgia, says Song Gi-cheol, a music critic.

“In the 1980s and even into the ’90s, the brilliant stars of our times were mostly singers, not movie stars or television figures,” he said, also referring to the fact that the music record industry has been on a downward curve, especially in terms of sales. “And hearing the songs of that time brings back our memories of the dazzling past, when we had big pop stars.”

Film critic Lee Sang-yong agrees.

Bbong Feel

“As an example, ‘Radio Star’ attracted a big audience among middle-aged people who miss the songs of their times,” he said.

But other critics say just three comedy films about miserable singers do not mean the local film industry has succeeded in finding a new trend. Korean films currently depict fictional characters that are hard to sympathize with.

They point out that the best Hollywood movies that depicted a singer’s life are mostly about actual figures who inspired many.

There was “Ray,” about the life of jazz singer Ray Charles, and “The Doors” about Jim Morrison, the late lead singer of the film’s namesake band. Stories about Kurt Cobain and James Brown are also on the way.

Source: JoongAng Ilbo, Jung Hyun-mok JoongAng Ilbo [mina@joongang.co.kr]

Yes, except Bbong Feel (never heard of this movie until today), I want to watch both Radio Star and 200 Pounds Beauty. Ahn Sung-Ki and the gorgeous Kim Ah-Joong are major draws XD.

Chosun Ilbo: How to spot the Real Crowd-pleaser movies

Lee Joon-ik’s “Radio Star” has earned average ratings of 9.22 out of 10 in a poll of 7,749 Netizens by the portal site Naver late last month, easily topping the popularity chart among those who watched the film. According to the Korean Film Council, “Radio Star” drew 150,684 viewers on the first weekend of its release on Sept. 28, but that was just around 10 percent of the total number of viewers, which surged exponentially over the weeks: a textbook example of word of mouth making a movie’s success.

By contrast, “Bewitching Attraction” released on March 16 last year and starring Ji Jin-hee and Moon So-ri drew a total of 588,467 viewers, but 60 percent or 280,141 of them saw it on the first weekend. Most people who went to see the movie were misled by a provocative poster that has been slammed as close to false advertising. Some 2,438 Netizens gave the movie a dismal average rating of 3.05, placing it 673rd out of 676. Before release, the average rating had been 6.54.

To gauge the true popularity of films released in 2006, the Chosun Ilbo has come up with a “grapevine index” based on the box office performance over time of 110 movies released in 2006. The index divides the total number of viewers by the number on the first weekend of the movies’ release.

From left: “Running Wild”, “I’m A Cyborg, But That’s Okay”, “Bewitching Attraction”, “Daisy”

Rock bottom is “Running Wild” with Kwon Sang-woo and Yoo Ji-tae, scoring an index of 1.7, followed by Park Chan-wook’s “I am a Cyborg, But That’s Okay’” (1.96), “Bewitching Attraction” (2.1), and “Daisy” (2.14) starring Jung Woo-sung and Jeon Ji-hyun. The common factor among the nine films at the bottom is that their rating by Netizens plunged after they saw them. The higher the expectations, the bigger the disappointment. “Between Love and Hate,” which ranked 10th from the bottom, is the only film this low on the index that was rated more positively after people had seen it, improving from 6.96 before to 7.49 after.

From left: “Radio Star”, “Secret of the Beauty” aka “200 pound Beauty”, “War of the Flower”, “The Host”

Topping the chart was “Radio Star” with an index of 10.6, followed by “Secret of the Beauty” with 8.06, “The War of Flower” with 7.28 and “The Host” with 6.42. Most of them became successful through the grapevine, drawing bigger and bigger audiences with the passage of time. The average rating for the top 10 films stood at 8.63, compared to 5.99 for the bottom 10 films.

In the current film market, a movie’s box office performance on the first weekend of its release virtually determines its fate. With no fewer than five or six new films released every week, theaters are unwilling to leave unappealing films on show for more than a week. That harsh reality forces distributors to promote and market their films at any cost.

One film marketer admits that when a film is mediocre, the only solution is to advertise it even harder to draw as many viewers as possible in the first week of its release, before the word is out, “because they know that the number of viewers will drop rapidly after that.”

The trend is raising a lot of concern since it can seem that more time and money is being put into making films look good than into making good films. According to the KFC, the average production cost of films was W4.02 billion(US$1=W936) in 2006, but the proportion of marketing expenses increased by W180 million while pure production cost dwindled by W150 million. It was the first time pure production costs shrank since 2002, with all that implies for the producers’ concern about quality.

Source: Chosun Ilbo

Among all the 8 films featured in the above posters, I only watched The Host. My brother thought it has a good storyline but lacked pace - too slow for him (he doesn’t watch a lot of Korean movies, though). I like The Host and it is certainly a good and recommended movie to watch.

>< I want to watch all of the films featured above including the 2007 movies (Radio Star, War of the Flower and 200 pound Beauty)