Category: Entertainment Files

Outside of the Mandolorian series, the Disney+ live action Star Wars series have been mostly hot garbage. Hopefully Lee Jung-jae doesn’t end up in a stinker of a series:

Top actor Lee Jung-jae is to join the new Disney+’s “Star Wars” series “The Acolyte,” helmed by Emmy-nominated creator Leslye Headland.

Lee will take a male lead in “The Acolyte,” according to the US online entertainment trade publication Deadline, but the detailed information about his character and role are yet to be revealed.

“There are many speculations about Lee’s role in ‘The Acolyte.’ We do not have any official statement to make at the moment. We hope to share the information, if things are decided in the near future,” Lee’s agency Artist Company official told The Korea Herald on Monday.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

It seems to me that BTS is just leaving the door open to reunite if their attempt at pursuing solo projects doesn’t work out. I guess we will see what happens:

K-pop supergroup BTS flatly rejected rumors Thursday that the band is taking steps to disband itself following its recent announcement of a pause in group activities.

“We’ll try to show good performances either as a team or individuals,” RM, the band leader, said in a post to Weverse, a K-pop fan community platform.

He said he has received the most phone calls in his nine-year career since the band unveiled its plan to take a break from group activities in order to focus more on solo projects in a YouTube video Tuesday.

The abrupt announcement sent a shock wave through fans and news media, both inside and outside the country.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Considering season 1’s huge success, it is no surprise Squid Game has been renewed by Netflix for a second season:

The global sensation “Squid Game” will return for a second season, Netflix confirmed Monday.

“A whole new round is coming,” director, writer and executive producer Hwang Dong-hyuk said in a letter to fans released by Netflix. “And now, Gi-hun returns. The Front Man returns. Season 2 is coming.”

Gi-hun, played by Lee Jung-jae, is the debt-ridden character who gets involved in a mysterious deadly contest to win 45.6 billion won (US$37.9 million) in prize money in the nine-part series.

Hwang added that Cheol-su, the “boyfriend” of the show’s animatronic doll, Young-hee, will be introduced to viewers in the next season.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

BTS supposedly caused one of the largest gaggles of press reporters ever seen at the White House during the Biden Administration:

South Korean supergroup BTS highlighted the need to respect one another as they made their first visit to the White House on Tuesday for a rare meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden.

The group also joined White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre in a daily press briefing before meeting with the U.S. president.

“It is a great honor to be invited to the White House today to discuss the important issues of anti-Asian hate crimes, Asian inclusion and diversity,” group member RM said in the press briefing.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

With a high number of Korean celebrities that have completed their military service why should BTS be exempted?:

Saturday’s meeting between officials of the agency of boy band BTS, Hybe, and President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol’s transition committee went without discussing the K-pop sensation’s possible military service exemption, a high-ranking official said, while hinting it could be discussed in the new administration.

There was “no mention about the military service at all,” Ahn Cheol-soo, chief of Yoon’s presidential transition committee, told reporters after his visit to the Hybe headquarters late Saturday. “It is something that should be decided in the newly launched (Yoon) government, after discussion with the National Assembly,” Ahn said, leaving the door open for discussions in the future.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

Unfortunately Mr. O was not able to accept the award in person because there was no Golden Globes award ceremony this year because the HFPA that puts on the event is now considered racist:

O Yeong-su has won best TV supporting actor at this year’s Golden Globe Awards for his role in “Squid Game,” becoming the first South Korean actor ever to secure an acting trophy at the American awards show.

In the winners list of the annual awards event thrown by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) on Sunday (U.S. time), the 77-year-old actor won Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role on TV for his role in the Netflix original series.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but Mr. O is the first Korean actor to win a Golden Globe award.

Squid Game fans will not only have a season 2 to watch, but likely a season 3 as well:

The global TV sensation “Squid Game” will likely return not only with season 2 but also with season 3, its creator Hwang Dong-hyuk said Tuesday.

“I’m in talks with Netflix over season 2 as well as season 3,” Hwang said in an online interview with Korean broadcaster KBS. “We will come to a conclusion any time soon.”

It is the first time that the director-writer has hinted at the possibility of a third season of the biggest Netflix original series after he confirmed a plan to produce another season in a media interview last month. 

He said the next season will feature the story of Gi-hun, the final winner of the deadly contest of heavily debt-ridden people to win 45.6 billion won (US$38.9 million) in prize money.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Having watched both Squid Game and Hellhound I found them both to be very violent though I would say Squid Game is more violent. Squid Game I found to be filmed and paced better while Hellbound is a bit slow at times, but gets better as the series builds. The CGI of the monsters in Hellbound are not very good when compared to blockbusters such as the Marvel movies. Both are decent shows, but would not make my own personal Top 10 list of best Korean series though the majority of Netflix viewers seem to disagree with me:

Writer-director Yeon Sang-ho’s fantasy drama, “Hellbound,” has topped the top 10 Netflix shows list only 24 hours after its official release last Friday.

The Korean drama was quick to rise to global stardom, generating quite a buzz in the Korean entertainment industry, with some hastily predicting that the fantasy drama could become another “Squid Game,” which has become the most-watched Netflix series ever. 

Despite sharing some parallels, the two Netflix original series are different in terms of their paths to success and audience reactions. 

“Hellbound” was quicker to top the global charts than “Squid Game.” It took only a day to rise to the No. 1 spot on Netflix’s top 10 most watched shows, while “Squid Game” won the same title eight days after its official release. 

The global streaming chart, uploaded by FlixPatrol, a website that updates daily VOD charts for 175 streaming platforms in 76 countries worldwide, shows that “Squid Game” has enjoyed more lasting popularity than “Hellbound.” 

“Squid Game” has continued to top the Netflix show chart for weeks, whereas “Hellbound” was overtaken by the animated series, “Arcane,” just a day after the former topped the chart.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

It looks like the Disney+ app’s launch in South Korea is having some initial growing pains:

Three days after Disney+ became available in Korea, the video streaming service appears to have fallen short of expectations due to poor subtitling and a user-hostile interface.  
   
Shortly after the app was activated locally Friday, some users started posting negative reviews on the Google Play Store and social media, mostly aimed at the low quality of subtitle translations and amateurish app functions. 

While others still welcomed the app and the vast array of Disney’s programming, they pointed out that Korean subtitles seemed machine-translated rather than professionally translated by a human.  
   
“The state of the subtitle translations is just so serious,” according to a review on the Google Play Store on the day of the app’s release. “It’s similar to, or even worse than, Google translations.”  
   
According to the review, in one scene where a character talks about a “GOAT” — a basketball term that refers to the best player — the word was translated into the hangul for the animal. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but I am sure over time the subtitles will be improved. Disney is launching their app in so many countries they likely used computer translations initially for their content and will improve them later. Regardless the Disney+ app is great if you have kids, if not you would need to be a huge Stars Wars and Marvel fan because that is what most of the rest of the content is. There is also some pretty good National Geographic content on the app as well.