Daniel Henney as 'Mr. Perfect'

If you want to capture the heart of Daniel Henney (one of the hottest Korean-American actors who sets most female hearts aflutter in Korea), please laugh a lot. For Henney says he loves a woman when she laughs.

Another crucial tip to seduce the heartthrob: please learn some wrestling. Henney thinks a woman doing who can wrestle is "sexy."

The two tips are drawn from Henney's silver screen debut, "Seducing Mr. Perfect" (Mr. Robin Kkoshigi), a typical chick movie in which he is being seduced by Um Jung-hwa at a highly upscale M&A firm.

Henney plays Robin, an M&A specialist who graduated from Harvard Law School and also has an MBA under his belt. He is appointed as the head of the M&A firm in Seoul, and one of his (sexy) employees is none other than June played by Um Jung-hwa.

Neither of them knows the identity of each other, at least when they first encounter through a fender-bender. June pretends to have no knowledge of English when she is confronted by the fluent English of this gorgeous-looking Mr. Perfect who drives a luxurious Volvo sedan. But Robin is no fool; he takes a picture of June with his cell phone camera and snatches her phone to dial his own number to get her telephone number in a couple of seconds - thanks to the caller ID system.



It turns out that Robin is adept at snatching everything - a company as a merger wizard, and a woman's heart as a relationship expert. When they meet again in the office, June finally notices a new reality: she is the assistant of a Hollywood actor-like handsome boss who throws about snappy, pretentious remarks as if he's the smartest guy in the world.

June wants to get some advice from this wise boss. She has long been stuck with messy relationships. She tries to be kind and gentle, but her former boyfriends have dumped her because of her extremely nice character.

Robin offers a challenging game to her: seducing him and by doing so, learning a lesson or two about what men really want.

Of course, if it were a typical Hollywood film, his overly cartoonish offer might be taken as serious sexual harassment involving all sorts of lawsuits. But the film is certainly a Korean one, and characters do not care about such needless political correctness at all, even though "Seducing Mr. Perfect" is the first ever Korean movie whose lines are mostly in English (most foreign viewers will be able to understand the plot thanks to plenty of English conversations).

The film does not have any surprises as a romantic comedy. A predictable plot, all-too-familiar developments that produce a trite ending. But it does have some bonus scenes for female viewers. For instance, at a press preview on Monday, when Robin opens his hotel room door topless, many female reporters sighed out of pleasant surprise.

Many of the details capturing Robin's life - the designer suits, residential hotel rooms, jogging in a wet sports T-shirt in a park and much more - are designed to entertain female moviegoers who buy movie tickets to watch today's new "Mr. Perfect," known as Daniel Henney.

So, it's a bad idea if a couple watches this film together. The woman will love it, often oohing and aaing whenever Henney gives a cool pose or shows of his well built body. But the man is likely to get annoyed when he feels he's constantly compared to this guy with extremely good looks and an easy smile.

Director Kim Sang-woo said at a press conference that he wanted to tell a typical story in a typical way. But what about not-so-typical Mr. Perfect? On his first ever acting for a feature film, Henney said, "I'm not perfect. It was difficult to act, and difficult at times, but it came out OK."

In the film, Robin seems extremely cold in his talk and manner, and Henney said he modeled the character after his former high school basketball coach who always ranted in a stern manner. He also added that he found Um's wrestling scene quite "sexy."
So, if you are determined to conform to Mr. Perfect's ideal woman, please learn some wrestling (details are clearly demonstrated in the film) and also laugh a lot.

By Yang Sung-jin

2006.11.29

The Korea Herald
Link to original article.

My Wife is a Gangster 3 Tops Pre-Sales to Asia

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The American Film Market (AFM) saw a number of Korean films sold to various markets, with pre-sales on Korean sequel My Wife is a Gangster 3, closing successive deals throughout Asia. Korean distribution arm Showbox claims deals to Asian markets for the film reached a record high for any Korean film sold at AFM to Asian countries, not including Japan.

The original My Wife is a Gangster was a domestic box-office sensation in 2001, selling over 5 million tickets nationwide. The third outing for the franchise has already created a buzz, as it stars Taiwanese beauty Shu Qi as the gangster wife. She is known in the west for her award-winning roles in Hou Hsaio Hsien's films Three Times and Millenium (sic) Mambo and for her role in The Transporter.

The current sequel is directed by JO Jin-kyu who also directed the original, and is produced again by Hyunjin Cinema. Showbox said total pre-sales to Asia was at $660,000 so far, with the film sold to Sahamongkol International for Thailand, Panorama Distributions for Hong Kong, Scholar Multi-media for Taiwan, Dynamic Film International for China, Cathay Keris Films for Singapore and Malaysia, PT Amero Mitra Film for Indonesia, and BHD for Vietnam.

Korean sequels do tremendously well at home, often simply by virtue of being a sequel. Other hit sequels include Marrying the Mafia 2 and 3, Another Public Enemy and My Boss, My Teacher. In production are the sequels Mapado 2 and My Tutor Friend 2, while plans to produce sequels to The Host and Tazza: The High Rollers are already being discussed.

Nigel D'Sa (KOFIC)
Link to original article.

Oh Ji Ho - Gangster3 Official Web Page

The official site is up and running. There is a trailer, and other goodies to see. Click anywhere on this announcement to get to the page.


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China Draws up Drama-Based 'Weird Korean Customs' List

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Chinese fans of Korean soap operas were baffled to see Koreans use both spoons and chopsticks to eat, but not as surprised as when they saw women pull each other's hair during fights and managers strike their subordinates on the back of the head. Other notable features of Korean society for the Chinese couch potatoes are the vast difference in treatment meted out to rich and poor here and the number of marriages of convenience. In all, the China Finance Information Network drew up 80 strange Korean customs as gleaned from TV dramas. Here are 12 of them:

1. When Koreans lift their glass to drink any alcoholic beverage with someone senior, they always turn to one side.

2. If a Korean's glass is empty they pass the bottle to the person sitting with them. (In Korean culture it is frowned upon to pour yourself a glass; the proper etiquette is pouring for each other.)

3. Koreans are already putting the next bite of food in their mouths before they finished chewing the last bit.

4. Koreans use chopsticks for the side dishes but spoons for rice and soup.

5. If a Koreans suffer indigestion after meals, they treat it by pricking their fingers with needles. (This is an old folk remedy.)

6. Elderly Koreans often say, "Now that I've reached old age, I see every eyesore." (read: "My goodness, times have changed," "Where's the world heading?" etc.)

7. Korean women often resort to hair-pulling when fighting.

8. When someone hits a subordinate, it is always on the head, and most often across the back of the head.

9. The wealthy have contempt for those without, and those on the lower rungs kiss the feet of their superiors. Korean society treats the wealthy and the poor completely differently.

10. If you go into a house you must take off your shoes.

11. After sleeping, the blankets and pillows go in the closet. If Koreans go into a room, they always shut the windows and doors.

12. Many marriages are arranged for expediency or convenience.


Link to original article found at KPopVideo.

Oh Ji Ho - Gangster 3 sells like hotcakes at AFM

“My Wife is a Gangster 3” Sold at AFM
11/15/2006


The Korean comic action film “My Wife is a Gangster 3” has garnered much attention from Asian buyers at the recently-held American Film Market. Showbox, the film’s distributor, said Tuesday that the film had been sold for a total of 660,000 dollars (620 million won) to eight Asian nations -- Hong Kong, China, Thailand, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Vietnam. “The price is the highest ever paid for a Korean movie at the market by Asian nations except Japan,” it added.

“In the case of Thailand, it signed a deal to invest and distribute the movie in the country instead of just importing it, which shows that the country is confident of its success,” Showbox said. “Vietnam agreed to pay a price similar to what it paid to buy “King Kong, making the movie the most expensive Korean movie it has imported.” Vietnam is reported to have high expectation for the film because it stars Shu Qi, a Hong Kong actress who enjoys great popularity in Vietnam.

“My Wife is a Gangster 3” also sold to Germany, and the distributor expects more sales after the film is completed because other countries like the U.S., Britain and France also showed great interest. “Since the remake copyright of “My Wife is a Gangster 1” was sold to Hollywood in 2001, foreign buyers have showed considerable interest in this movie series,” it said.

Starring Lee Beom-soo, Hyung Young, and Oh Ji-ho in addition to Suh Qi, the movie will be released on Dec. 28. 2006

Link to original article at KBS Global.

Remaking the Extraordinay

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NO!
I don’t like re-made movies anymore than I like rebuilt electronics. Neither ever seems to make the grade.

When I read some time ago that Martin Scorsese was re-making Infernal Affairs, calling it The Departed, I just shook my head. It seems that there’s an inability on the part of American film-makers to admit there are some things other countries do well, in fact they do them better in a lot of cases.

An American mob movie can’t hold a candle to a Chinese movie about Triad activities. America lacks subtlety and class in too many ways, and no one has more class than Francis Ng as the Triad boss of Infernal Affairs ll.

Who could be more soul wrenching than the beleaguered Chan Wing Yan (Tony Leung)

or more vastly entertaining than the powerful Hon Sam (Eric Tsang)? The driven, intelligent, and in some cases empathetic SP Wong Chi Shing (Anthony Wong) is irreplaceable. Who could do it better?

Andy Lau (Inspector Lau Kin Ming)

has a dim view of The Departed. The title alone conveys nothing. A hamburger eaten and digested is departed. The title, Infernal Affairs however, speaks long and hard of degrees of Hell.

I was happy to note Andy Lau was a bright star at Pusan. He works very hard, and as a most a talented individual, he certainly deserved all the recognition given him. While there, he was asked his opinion of the remake. It wasn’t flattering.

This link will take you to a site I recently found called Asianbite.

You can read Andy Lau’s comments there.

It is hoped there will not be a remake of Infernal Affairs ll. The idea of trying to cast a replacement for Francis Ng turns my heart to ice.