this and that

Lee Min-ho and other stuff...

[ohpurpleballoons]

on hiatus...

[sadgrl09]

There should be no boundaries to human endeavor. We are all different. However bad life may seem, there is always something you can do, and succeed at. While there’s life, there is hope.

[ohpurpleballoons]

Dream living space!

[ohpurpleballoons]

Beijing 2011

[ohpurpleballoons]

Side view

[ohpurpleballoons]

Fresh avocado on a toasted Portuguese roll is heavenly amazing

[barcelonaesmuchomas]

“It feels good to be in the same generation as him. I believe he’s the best player in the history of the sport.”  ~ Gerard Piqué

[newyorker]

Faced with a series of decisions and turning points, again and again the magazine took the path that would lead toward what could be called a ‘better’ story. For journalists, that’s what makes the scandal the worst kind—unconscionable, and imaginable.

George Packer on Rolling Stone and the temptations of narrative journalism. (via newyorker)

[humblehunter]

[ohpurpleballoons]

Now Playing: Love is the moment~

[ohpurpleballoons]

So what do we make of Gangnam Blues, Part I?

Finally got a chance to view the movie last week. Woohoo! Have some thoughts on the movie and Minho’s acting coming up in another post.

For now, been wanting to chime in over the movie’s commercial and artistic appeal since a few people have asked what I’ve thought of it.  And I wanted to wait till I got a chance to see the movie personally, as well as to see how it did in theater-run domestically and internationally.

Here are some numbers as of 3/17/15:

Revenue:

Total Admissions : 2,191,482 Total Gross : $15,737,173  Rated: 19+  Cr: KOFIC 

Cost (Production+ Marketing): 

10 Billion Won or 8,883,000 USD (per Korean news reports and Mister X)

Overall, I wouldn't call it a runaway success commercially. Minho, himself, has said as much -- that it would need to break 3 million ticket sales in order to break even. Granted, this excludes overseas sales, but what he said is fairly accurate given that the movie cost 10 billion won to make, and it's not a 1:1 ratio for every ticket revenue = profit. And from what I’ve gathered overseas sales have been okay. But it’s rather difficult to gauge how revenue-profit sharing structure works in this kind of situation. I'm inclined to say that overseas sale is immaterial, so we can ignore that number for now (unless, GB gets a wide theatrical release in China, then we'll revisit “overseas sale number” later).

However, I wouldn't take this news as, "Omg, it's the end of the world!" Because it's not. Not at all. 

If anything, it was a smart move for Minho to choose Gangnam Blues as his first cinematic leading role. It had a lot going for him - written and directed by a well-respected filmmaker, based on a script that is the last part of the famous “Street Trilogy,” etc... And reviews have shown that he made the right decision. He immersed in a role that is giving him more acting credibility in the eyes of those who work in the field. I want to see more of that kind of challenge.

Onto Part 2...

[ohpurpleballoons]

Got a chance to catch up with Korean drama news recently, and can I just say how appalling I am of the way some people are behaving online? The merry go round of comments on popularity is so tiring and frankly just the general attitude of taking everything to the extremes, either LOVE IT! or HATE IT! There's no in between whatsoever.  Of course, this only applies to some (and maybe just a few most likely), but I sincerely hope that those fans should it take down a notch. Ask yourself a question, would you say all those things, you've written on drama blogs etc.., in real life? If the answer is no, then apply the same attitude toward your online persona as well. 

Leave the bragging and dragging and random popularity statistics out. 

[wmagazine]

Fashionably Late

Photograph by Adam Katz Sinding. 

[ohpurpleballoons]

"When you’re protected by the screen of deniability called a joke, it’s tempting to view the whole world as a game of gotcha." 

-- "No More Late Nights" by Emily Nussbaum of The New Yorker

[ohpurpleballoons]

Hmmm...another concert in HK. Is singing a permanent part of his profession now? Should he be called singer actor Lee MinHo, instead of just actor Lee MinHo with the way this is going?

[ohpurpleballoons]

[stanwalkerofficial]

"And then Legolas did a totally sick backflip and decapitated like 15 orcs. It was fuckin’ sweet"

J.R.R. Tolkien (apparently)