Korean Western aims for awards

The Good, the Bad, the Weird, about a bounty hunter, a bandit and a train robber who vie for a treasure map in 1930s Japanese-occupied Manchuria, is the front-runner, according to the list of nominees released yesterday.

The Korean action movie bagged eight nominations in 13 categories, including best film and best director for Kim Jee Woon. Song Kang Ho, who won best actor at the 2007 awards, was nominated in that category again. Song's co-stars, Jung Woo Sung and Lee Byung Hun, were both nominated for best supporting actor.

Also competing for best picture are: Chen Kaige's profile of the late Chinese opera performer Mei Lanfang, Forever Enthralled; famed Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki's Ponyo on the Cliff; Woo's Chinese historical epic Red Cliff; the Japan- Netherlands-Hong Kong drama Tokyo Sonata; and Indonesia's The Rainbow Troops.