2009 Blue Dragon Film Awards

by javabeans

Kim Ok-bin, of vampire thriller “Thirst”

It’s that time of year again: awards season!

On December 2, the 30th Blue Dragon Film Awards were held at KBS Hall in Yoido, Seoul, hosted by actors Kim Hye-soo and Lee Beom-soo.

Considering the recent slump in the Korean movie industry, it was a pretty good year for films, with several big hits breaking box office records, like Haeundae and Take Off, both of which amassed a number of nominations. It was also a good year for the smaller, indie movie, with awards being given to actors of Breathless, and both Kim Myung-min and Ha Ji-won pulling in top acting honors for their performances in My Love By My Side (aka Closer to Haeven).

Actress Jang Jin-young, who passed away this year from stomach cancer at the age of 35, was given a special award that honored her career in film, with roles in movies like 2001’s Sorum and 2003’s Singles.

(Winners are marked with asterisks**)

Top Excellence for Film:
** MOTHER (마더)
Take Off (국가대표)
Thirst (박쥐)
Good Morning President (굿모닝 프레지던트)
Haeundae (해운대)

Top Excellence, Actor:
** KIM MYUNG-MIN for My Love By My Side (내사랑 내곁에)
Kim Yoon-seok for Turtle Runs (거북이 달린다)
Song Kang-ho for Thirst (박쥐)
Jang Dong-gun for Good Morning President (굿모닝 프레지던트)
Ha Jung-woo for Take Off (국가대표)

Top Excellence, Actress:
** HA JI-WON for My Love By My Side (내사랑 내곁에)
Kim Ok-bin for Thirst (박쥐)
Kim Haneul for Level 7 Civil Servant (7급공무원)
Kim Hye-ja for Mother (마더)
Choi Kang-hee for Aeja (애자)

Top Excellence, Supporting Actor:
** JIN GU for Mother (마더)
Kim In-kwon for Haeundae (해운대)
Seo Dong-il for Take Off (국가대표)
Shin Ha-kyun for Thirst (박쥐)
Lee Min-ki for Haeundae (해운대)

Top Excellence, Supporting Actress:
** KIM HAE-SOOK for Thirst (박쥐)
Kim Bo-yeon for Faithless Hell (불신지옥)
Kim Young-ae for Aeja (애자)
Jang Young-nam for Level 7 Civil Servant (7급공무원)
Chu Ja-hyun for Portrait of a Beauty (미인도)

Directing Award:
** KIM YONG-HWA, Take Off (국가대표)
Park Chan-wook, Thirst (박쥐)
Bong Jun-ho, Mother (마더)
Yoon Jae-kyun, Haeundae (해운대)
Jang Jin, Good Morning President (굿모닝 프레지던트)

New Actor:
** YANG IK-JOON for Breathless (똥파리)
Kim Mu-yeol for The Scam (작전)
Kim Ji-suk for Take Off (국가대표)
Song Chang-eui for Boys Don’t Cry (소년은 울지 않는다)
Choi Jae-woong for Like Fireworks, Like Butterflies (불꽃처럼 나비처럼)

New Actress
** KIM KKOT-BI for Breathless (똥파리)
** PARK BO-YOUNG for Speed Scandal (과속스캔들)
Kang Ye-won for Haeundae (해운대)
Sunwoo Sun for Turtle Runs (거북이 달린다)
Oh Yeon-seo for Yeogogoedam 5: Suicide Pact (여고괴담5-동반자살)

New Director:
Kang Hyung-chul , Speed Scandal (과속스캔들)

Popularity Award:
Lee Byung-heon, Ha Jung-woo, Ha Ji-won, Choi Kang-hee

Special Award:
Jang Jin-young (deceased)

Two of my favorite shots from the evening:
Park Bo-young, Cha Tae-hyun, Wang Seok-hyun, Kim Min-hee

And now, on to the red carpet!

Ha Ji-won (Haeundae) is, as always, a goddess.

 
I love Kim Min-hee‘s (Actresses) overall look. It’s glam, it’s elegant. It’s also reminiscent of the classical hanbok without being literal with the allusion.

 
Kim Ok-bin‘s (Thirst) bright fuchsia runs the risk of looking gaudy, but it’s lovely on her. Glad to see that she’s graduating from that early-uljjang tag into real actress these days. She’s pictured with her Thirst co-star Song Kang-ho.

 
Chun! Jung! Myung! (What’s Up Fox, Hansel and Gretel) Who else is thrilled to have him back from the army?? I know in most cases they say a man comes back from service with a newly mature look, but Chun looks as baby-faced as ever.

 
Also back from the military — and gearing up for a new drama — is Go Soo (Will It Snow on Christmas).

 
Ha Jung-woo followed one incredibly successful role (last year’s The Chaser) with another, in this year’s sports smash hit Take Off. He also showed up with his hair suddenly short.

 
Lee Min-ki sure has had a busy year with numerous film roles (A Million, Oishii Man), but by far the most successful was record-breaking disaster flick Haeundae. (Can’t wait to see him remaking Hong Kong noir!)

 
Kim Haneul (Level 7 Civil Servant) is usually reliably stylish on the red carpet (witness last year’s Blue Dragon Awards — and the arm candy didn’t hurt). But this one is a rare miss, I think. It washes her out and that burnt orange lipstick makes her look sickly.

 
Kim Hye-soo (Style) hosted the event with Lee Beom-soo (Hong Gil Dong’s Descendants). She’s got that pose — the one that says, “Yeah, I own you (and you like it)” — down pat.

 
Not sure what’s going on with the ruffly chest area, but the strips floating down the length of Sohn Ye-jin‘s (Into the White Night) dress create a nice airy effect.

 
Kim Min-joon (Friend, Our Legend) is looking a little unkempt (it’s the hair and five o’clock shadow), but the man can wear a suit.

 
I’m not feeling this dull pink on Sunwoo Sun (Queen of Housewives). It’s rather shapeless and boring.

 
Here’s a dress that looks dramatically different in various pictures. I didn’t like Han Ye-seul‘s (Will It Snow on Christmas) rose drapey number at first (there are a lot of dark shots that give it a faded pink tint), but it’s growing on me in the brighter photos. She’s doing that coy cutesy pose in almost all the pictures, though, which gets old fast.

 
“4-D” actress Choi Kang-hee (Aeja) looks cute and I actually like the dress… but not on her. Doesn’t it seem like it was made for a six-foot-tall model-giantess, and needed to be shortened to fit Choi Kang-hee’s smaller frame? A bubble skirt doesn’t work when it hits at the ankle, but I think it would’ve been adorable if it hit mid-calf (or higher) instead…

 
Kim Ji-suk‘s fusion-sageuk drama 2009 Hometown of Legends tanked this summer, but thankfully he was buoyed by Take Off.

 
You may recognize Kim In-kwon as manager Ma Hoon-yi of You’re Beautiful, but he’s here for his role in Haeundae. He shows some fans some love.

 
Jang Young-nam (Hero, Dal Ja’s Spring) is like comic actress Jung Soo-young in my mind, where both are gorgeous ladies, but what makes them really memorable isn’t their looks but the way they take on eccentric characters with a unique comic twist.

 
Jin Gu (Le Grand Chef 2) took home an acting award for Mother.

 
Jo Ahn‘s (Everybody Cha Cha Cha) chartreuse gown shows that a dress can look dramatically different on camera when you’ve got a bad photographer at the lens. (I’ve omitted those from the bunch.) I think these photos show off the color beautifully.

 
Kang So-ra (in the first two photos) is the new actress who got to kiss Yoo Seung-ho in Fourth Period Murder Mystery; she looks like she didn’t know whether to channel little girl or old lady and wound up as little old lady. On the other hand, fourteen-year-old Ju Da-young (Chuno, Into the White Night) shows off an adorable, youthful look.

 
Kang Ye-won (Haeundae) looks so pretty from the neck up that it’s a shame her dress doesn’t fit. I know it’s supposed to look asymmetrical, but it actually seems like someone took a dress five sizes too large and tied the extra material in a knot at her waist — you know, like we did in the ’80s with super-large T-shirts. (I KNOW I’m not the only one! *Looks at all children of the eighties expectantly*)

 
Kim Yoon-seok didn’t win for Turtle Runs, but 23-year-old Kim Kkot-bi did for Breathless, although it was shared with Park Bo-young.

 
Lee Shi-young (Loving You a Thousand Times) looks a little uncomfortable on the red carpet (nervous?), but I think she looks pretty in the flowy, Grecian number.

 
I hate that crinkly black dress on Oh Yeon-seo (Yeogogoedam: Suicide Pact) — it’s ugly in an aggressive way, in my opinion — but she absolutely wears it well. Look at that posture.

 
I love that the stars of last year’s hit comedy Speed Scandal — Park Bo-young, Cha Tae-hyun, and Wang Seok-hyun — came together! Park Bo-young looks a little like Big Bird, yeah, but she’s sweet and talented and if she wants to look like she’s about to burst into a drunken semblance of the cha-cha on a seniors’ cruise to Acapulco, well, that’s her prerogative.

 
Song Chang-eui had a dud of a drama in Cinderella Man, but he earned a nomination for his war film Boys Don’t Cry.

 
This dress just about ages Lee Chae-young (Wife’s Return) twenty years, which is a shame. Oh well, there will be other awards shows.

 
I like the silhouette, but not the design, of Yoon Jin-seo‘s (Return of Iljimae) red dress, but she looks lovely overall. Even if she must have skinned a Yeti to get that hairy shawl-rug.

 
Another lady who looks fantastic in a dress I dislike. Yoo Sun had a pretty big year with a No. 1 drama (in ratings for the year) as “Bokifer” of the Sons of Sol Pharmacy. The dress seems matronly for her, but at least it’s a huge step above that garish monstrosity she wore at the October PIFF opening red carpet.

 
It seems like it’s awfully late for people to be earning nominations for provocative period piece Portrait of a Beauty, but Chu Ja-hyun did.

 
I love when married actor couples show up looking happy together, like Jeon No-min (Strongest Chil-woo) and Kim Bo-yeon (Love & Marriage, Faithless Hell).

 
I love that writer-director Jang Jin (Good Morning President) brought along his family, particularly the boy he kept on his arm the whole red carpet.

 
Jeon Se-hong‘s (Penthouse Elephant) skimpy red dress is a little… trashy for an award show, isn’t it? (I think it’s the string-tie back that pushes it over the edge.)

Via E Daily, OSEN, OSEN

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