Lee Byung Hun 이병헌 Byunghun Lee

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May 14, 2016

Actress Lee Ji-ah joins BH Entertainment

Source: INSIDE Korea JoongAng Daily

Actress and commercial model Lee Ji-ah, who has been looking for a new management agency to sign with since March, has found a new home at BH Entertainment. 

“We will do our best to help Lee grow as a better actress,” the agency said Friday. 

BH Entertainment is home to many renowned actors and actresses, including Lee Byung-hun, Han Ga-in and Jin Goo. 

The actress emerged on the TV scene through the MBC drama “The Legend” (2008), continuing the momentum in “Beethoven Virus” (2008), “Athena: Goddess of War” (2010) and “The Woman Who Married Three Times” (2013-14). 

Although the last show ended disappointingly, the actress made her film debut this year with the movie “Musudan.” 

The actress was once at the center of controversy when a lawsuit involving her request for alimony from the legendary 1990s rock star Seo Taiji was publicized in March 2011.

Lee’s marriage and previous relationship with Seo had until then been unknown to the public. 

By Jeong Byung-ki

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Photo credit: sunyongm (during the 26/4 event at US Embassy)

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Source: BH Entertainment

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Photo credit: musicfoodlanguage (2 more pics from the 26/4 event at US Embassy)

Source: Newstown

Spoiler

 

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May 21, 2016

5 Asian actors who could replace Daniel Craig as James Bond
With Craig possibly retiring the suit and gun very soon, Channel NewsAsia's Genevieve Loh looks at some Asian stars who could play the iconic Agent 007.

By Genevieve Sarah Loh Channel NewsAsia

Daniel Craig poses for photographers as he attends the world premiere of the new James Bond 007 film "Spectre" at the Royal Albert Hall in London, Britain, October 26, 2015. REUTERS/Luke MacGregor

 SINGAPORE: Back in October 2015, while promoting Spectre, Daniel Craig said he would rather slit his wrists than play James Bond again. Fans of 007 took to the Internet, shocked, horrified and upset. Seven months later, the 48-year-old Brit, who has played Bond in no less than four films, allegedly turned down a cool £68 million (US$136 million) offer from MGM Studio to return as the international superspy in two more films. According to unnamed sources, the actor told studio bosses that he’s "done" with the role.

If Craig has indeed all but hung up his holster and downed his last shaken martini for good, then the M16 door is now officially open for another actor to fill the void.

And which thespian would not kill for a chance to play an ageless superspy with the ability to drink copious amounts of alcohol, have sex with any woman he desires, fight midgets, giants and megalomaniacs with ridiculously cool gadgets and drive the most glorious cars?

We know some fans’ fingers are crossing for the charismatic Idris Elba and the odds-on betting favourite is currently the very lush Tom Hiddleston, both very strong and apt contenders to take over as Bond. But why not look further east? After all, to counter the recent controversy over Hollywood whitewashing Asian characters, why not expand the candidate pool, throw caution to the wind and consider someone from these neck of the woods? We are pretty sure none of them would say no to a martini and a million bucks.

Here are five Asian actors that could fit into the iconic tux of 007 and immediately be at Her Majesty’s Secret Service.

1) HRITHIK ROSHAN

Driving expensive cars with a bombshell on his arm, Bond must fight off the evilest villains with charm, sophistication and suave. Now who better to do this than a Bollywood star? Roshan has the necessary magnetism, chiseled good looks, and smoulder to be 007. And as a Bollywood hero, he is no stranger to convoluted action sequences, being comfortable amidst a gaggle of swooning women and instant know-how in handling high-tech gadgets - all Bond attributes one must have. And as an award-winning Indian film actor who has blockbuster box office clout (check out Krrish 3!), he wouldbe a wise choice to continue the franchise.

2) TONY LEUNG

At 53 years old, some might say the critically acclaimed Hong Kong actor is a tad too old to play Bond. But a combination of age-proof pin-up looks coupled with award-winning acting chops make Leung a bonafide contender for James Bond. Where else can you find someone who can switch between small art films and big commercial ones without missing a step? Well-known for nailing the tragic, sensitive and vulnerable hero perfectly with gravitas, women want to take him home and take care of him while men just want to be him. Now doesn't that sound like some superspy we know?

3) LEE BYUNG HUN

(Photo: AFP)

How about a Korean James Bond? South Korean superstar Lee Byung Hun already has proven himself with a slew of acclaimed films under his belt - Joint Security Area, A Bittersweet Life, The Good, the Bad, the Weird and Masquerade = which is why we forgive him for playing Storm Shadow in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. But it was also that role that proved that the 45-year-old actor can run with the action big boys. He has also gained some Hollywood ground by starring alongside Helen Mirren, Anthony Hopkins and Bruce Willis in Red 2, and Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator Genisys as T-1000.  After playing a Prototype Series 1000 Terminator, Lee would feel right at home with Bond’s assortment of high-tech gadgetry. Not only would he bring in a whole new audience, he also fills out the suit rather nicely, as evidenced when he became the first Korean actor to present at the 2016 Oscars.

4) HUANG XIAOMING

These days, everyone wants a piece of China’s film-going audience. Which is why Qingdao-born Huang would be a great 007. Throw in the fact that he has got the dreamboat good looks, intense eyes and the acting prowess (he graduated from the Performance Institute of the Beijing Film Academy), we can already see him zipping down the road in an Aston Martin.  He has also got the right muscular physique, having proven it in a James Bond-inspired photo shoot for China’s edition of Harper’s Bazaar magazine a few years ago, covered only by a small strip of animal fur. And that is an essential pre-requisite for any card carrying M16 agent.

5) IKO UWAIS

An all-out action, no-holds-barred Bond? If you saw this Indonesian actor, stuntman, fight choreographer, and martial artist fight in cult hit The Raid: Redemption, then you will know that he will make one heck of a renegade James Bond. With ridiculously great martial arts skills and moves, Uwais would be decimating every single action scene. After appearing in the recent juggernaut Star Wars: The Force Awakens, he would fit comfortably in another big franchise such as James Bond.

- CNA/gl

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Photo credit: 平岩享 (@Hiraiwatoruphoto), thanks to Angel70 for the highlight

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Throwback Thursday #BungeeJumpingOfTheirOwn #LeeByungHun #LeeEunJoo #Clip

Source: __jigu__

 

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Source: The Magnificent Seven

#ByunghunLee #BillyRocks

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Translation of an excerpt from K-Star magazine 

Korean actor Lee Byung Hun appeared on the front cover of the June issue of the K-Star magazine, (Chinese edition)

In the early 2000s,  Lee Byung Hun starred in "All In” and other dramas.  He came out of South Korea and entered the Asian market, becoming one of the first generation of Korean Hallyu stars.  With his superb acting and handsome appearance, he gained huge popularity in China.

In the movie “Inside Man” which was released last year, Lee Byung Hun’s acting rose another notch.  Thereafter, he moved to Hollywood,  In the upcoming movie, "The Magnificent Seven”  he will act alongside Hollywood’s stars,  Denzel Washington, Ethan Hawke and Chris Pratt.

Even though he became a Hollywood's star, Lee Byung-hun did not give up the Korean domestic market, he joined the filming of "Single Rider” and “Master”.  Most recently, it was rumoured that he may act in the movie “Namhansanseong”.  

Source: http://www.koreastardaily.com/sc/news/78805

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Source: The Magnificent Seven 

Outlaws, bounty hunters, gamblers. Meet the Magnificent Seven. ‪#‎Mag7‬

 

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May 31, 2016

FSLC and Subway Cinema Announce Full Line Up for 15th New York Asian Film Festival

Source: Broadway World

The Film Society of Lincoln Center and Subway Cinema announced today the complete lineup for the 15th New York Asian Film Festival (NYAFF), which will take place from June 22 to July 5 at the Film Society and July 6 to 9 at the SVA Theatre (333 West 23rd Street). North America's leading festival of popular Asian cinema will showcase 51 feature films, including one World Premiere, one International Premiere, 16 North American premieres, two U.S. Premieres, and 14 films making their New York City debuts. Featuring in-person appearances by more than 30 international filmmakers and celebrity guests from Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia.

Spoiler

 

The Opening Night gala will be the World Premiere of Kazuya Shiraishi's wild crime epic Twisted Justice, based on Yoshiaki Inaba's autobiography and starring Japan's hottest actor (and Rising Star honoree) Go Ayano as his country's most corrupt police detective. The Centerpiece Gala is the North American Premiere of Ralston Jover's Hamog (Haze), an empowering and thrilling tale about a gang of street kids, headlined by Rising Star honoree Teri Malvar. Closing Night is the International Premiere of Adam Tsuei's The Tenants Downstairs. Based on a screenplay and story by former NYAFF guest Giddens Ko (You Are the Apple of My Eye), the blackly comic, sexually explicit thriller features Simon Yam as a landlord spying on and manipulating the lives of his tenants. Filmmakers and cast members from the three films will be in attendance at their respective screenings.

"We set out this year to champion a much broader range of Asian cinema," said NYAFF Executive Director Samuel Jamier. "For example, we are particularly excited by a new breed of noir film, rooted in social issues, that is emerging in both China and Southeast Asia. With these and other selections in the lineup, we want to show that Asian films are still exploring new directions for world cinema."

Faithful to its Chinatown roots and central to its lineup, the festival will feature a Hong Kong Panorama, showcasing the most innovative films from the Special Administrative Region, with the support of Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office New York. From a coming-of-age drama about high-school girls who become involved in the sex trade (Lazy Hazy Crazy), to a feel-good baseball movie set within Hong Kong's public-housing system (Weeds on Fire), to a hard-boiled gangster omnibus (the Johnnie To-produced Trivi?a), these films are revitalizing local genre staples with a fresh spin. The program also includes Nick Cheung's Keeper of Darkness, Herman Yau's The Mobfathers, and Adam Wong's She Remembers, He Forgets.

The South Korean Cinema lineup includes a vibrant mix of thrillers (both supernatural and surreal) from first and second-time directors that are daring twists on genre films (Alone, The Boys Who Cried Wolf, and The Priests), and insightful art-house dramas focusing on social issues from established directors (Jung Ji-woo's Fourth Place, about how much we demand from the next generation, and E J-yong's The Bacchus Lady, about the plight of the country's abandoned elderly). In co-presentation with the Korean Movie Night New York Master Series, NYAFF will feature the two latest films by Lee Joon-ik, who will attend screenings of Dongju: The Portrait of a Poet (with producer and screenwriter Shin Yeon-shick) and The Throne. Together with Lee Jong-pil's The Sound of a Flower, the triptych examines the scars of South Korea's troubled history. The festival's 11 South Korean films are presented with the support of the Korean Cultural Center New York.

NYAFF's Taiwan Cinema Now! section defies genres with first films by new directors Adam Tsuei (The Tenants Downstairs), Vic Cheng (The Tag-Along), and Lee Chung (The Laundryman) that expand the horizons of the island's genre cinema. The section, presented with the support of the Taipei Cultural Center of TECO in New York, is completed by two powerful dramas from established filmmakers Tom Lin (Zinnia Flower) and Cheng Wen-tang (Maverick), which explore loss and redemption.

Southeast Asian Cinema receives a greater focus this year, reflecting how the region is making some of the world's most innovative films. Highlights include the Tamil-language Jagat (Brutal) from Malaysia, the acutely observed Heart Attack from Thailand, and empowering youth noir Hamog (Haze) from the Philippines. Just as glamorous and talented as their Northern neighbors, stars who will appear in person include John Lloyd Cruz, Teri Malvar, Sid Lucero, Gwen Zamora and Annicka Dolonius (stars of the Philippines' sensuous SURFING drama Apocalypse Child), and Apinya Sakuljaroensuk (from the social-media SLASHER flick Grace).

Special screenings include a full day of films on July 4 from noon until midnight celebrating the indie spirit of Hong Kong cinema. The day will conclude with the hotly anticipated 10 Years, winner of Best Film at the Hong Kong Film Awards, which examines life in Hong Kong in an imaginary future when Cantonese is a second-class language and where THE ISLAND has completely fallen under Mainland control. Special screenings also include the Founding Fathers Tribute, a focus on the favorite films of the festival's programmers, from Michael Arias's madcap animated feature Tekkonkinkreet to Shinya Tsukamoto's Tetsuo: The Iron Man and Pang Ho-cheung's Love in the Buff starring Miriam Yeung, alongside a Surprise Screening of a contemporary classic that holds special significance to the founders of NYAFF.

 

The 2016 Star Asia Awards honorees are Hong Kong's Miriam Yeung, the Philippines' John Lloyd Cruz, and South Korea's Lee Byung-hun, and all three box office mega-stars will be in New York in person to discuss their newest films and their careers. Yeung, whose charismatic girl-next-door persona epitomizes the anything-is-possible spirit of Hong Kong, stars in in Adam Wong's romantic drama She Remembers, He Forgets. The film is her return to the screen after headlining the biggest local hit of 2015, Little Big Master. Cruz, the Philippines' most popular movie star, who broke box-office records in last year's romantic drama Second Chance, transforms himself into a father who will do anything in festival selection Honor Thy Father, a powerful crime epic from Erik Matti. Lee, South Korean cinema's leading man and one of the few to successfully cross over to Hollywood, stars in Inside Men, Woo Min-ho's takedown of the corruption at the heart of South Korea's institutions. Lee, who has been seen in multiple blockbuster action franchises (G.I. Joe, Red 2, Terminator Genisys), is best known for South Korean films The Good, the Bad, the Weird, I Saw the Devil, and Bittersweet Life (by Kim Jee-woon), and in key roles as a tormented soldier in Park Chan-wook's Joint Security Area and as a lowlife-turned-king in Choo Chang-min's Masquerade.

 

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Will we see Lee Byung Hun at the Baeksang Awards tomorrow (Friday 3/6)?

Maybe. Hope so.

Thanks to the fan-highlight at PlanetBH0712

Published on May 29, 2016 by 일간스포츠

52nd Baeksang Awards: Movie Best Actor & Best Actress Nominees

 

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Photo credit: yinababi

 

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Live streaming - http://www.iqiyi.com/yule/100sang52.html

 

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June 3, 2016

Lee Byung Hun at 52nd Baeksang Awards

Source: Nate

 

Looks like he skipped the red carpet??

Spoiler

 

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Inside Men's Best Actor Nominees: Baek Yoon Sik & Lee Byung Hun

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Source:  ISplus

Source: IdaHedaaya ‏@Ida_Hedaaya

Kyungsoo & Lee Byunghun in one frame!
“I want to be like Lee Byung-hun. I think he is really cool senior actor.”

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Congratulations to BH for winning the "Best Actor" award, Movie section at the 52th Baeksang Awards

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Source: 52회 백상예술대상 ‏@JTBC_Awards 

Lee Byung Hun Wins Best Actor at 52nd Baeksang Arts Awards! 

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Thanks to Jun Choi for sharing, here's the clip of his speech.

https://www.facebook.com/summersmoke/videos/vb.100002938731744/995443833896898/?type=2&theater