Blue Dragon Awards win 'no bias' praise

Yoo Ah-in, left, from “The Throne” and Lee Jung-hyun from “Alice in Earnestland”

The Blue Dragon Awards, Korea’s traditional movie awards since 1963, have been praised for doling out gongs fairly without bias to movies that recorded strong ticket sales.

The event was held Thursday night at Kyung Hee University and awards were presented in 18 categories.

Among the winners were the “big three” Korean blockbusters this year -- “Ode to My Father,” “Veteran” and “Assassination” -- and non-blockbusters like “Alice in Earnestland,” “Minority Opinion,” “Set Me Free” and “The Treacherous.”

The biggest surprise at the 36th event was Lee Jung-hyun from low-budget film “Alice in Earnestland” grabbing the Best Actress Award from five nominees, including hallyu megastar Jun Ji-hyun from “Assassination” and veteran actress Kim Hye-soo from “Coin Locker Girl.”

Choi Woo-shik won the Best New Actor Award for “Set Me Free” and actress Lee Yoo Young Best New Actress for “The Treacherous.” Both movies failed to excite at the box office.

Best Screenplay went to director Kim Sung-jae and screenwriter Son Ah-ram for “Minority Opinion”

The blockbusters also shared the honors of Best Picture (“Assassination”), Best Director (Ryu Seung-wan, “Veteran”) and Best Actor (Yoo Ah-in, “The Throne”).