We finally had some movement on the book this week. Not a lot, but I still find myself strangely excited by it. I answered by first round of queries by my editor and apparently my manuscript is heading into copyediting now. Very much looking forward to seeing some of my more rambling prose tightened up.

It is also very amusing going back and looking at what I wrote again. It has only been a few weeks or months since I wrote most of the book, and already it is beginning to pass into the “What? Did I write that?” part of the brain.

Anyhow the important thing is, I think POP GOES KOREA is looking okay, at least at this point. I suppose I am still a couple of months away from page proofs, but I am really eager to see them.

In the meantime, the Pusan International Film Festival continues to fill the schedule. It is less than a week away now, and everyone is getting as many background stories prepared ahead of time for the dailies. My Asia Editor, Jonathan Landreth, has done a remarkably good job getting everyone organized and on the same page.

Not an exciting weekend for movies in Korea. Hur Jin-ho’s HAPPINESS does not get released until Oct. 3, and I have been too busy to hit the press screenings. A weekend for DVDs, I guess.

  • UPDATE: I just noticed that D-WAR has soared upward in its Rotten Tomatoes ranking, now reaching the incredible heights of 23% fresh.

    Just a 33 at Metacritic, though. That’s not even in the bottom-200 of the all-time worst.