Film & Entertainment BlogWatch
Most of the blogs on this page are film-related, but Mark Russell’s Korea Pop Wars is a bit broader. If you know of any other film blogs with a specifically Korean angle, let me know.
Posted 11 hours ago: She was one of the biggest Korean stars. Choi Jin-Sil was found dead in her bathroom last Thursday. The tragic news has stunned the whole nation and saddened this year's festivities here in Pusan. One more suicide in the South Korean show business. Choi Jin-Sil would have turned 40 in December. She reached the peak of her career in the ... [
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Posted 11 hours ago: Hi, so I'm back from the dead (and/or from non-blogging: please read previous posts - on this). I landed in Pusan (or Busan, as the new spelling goes) yesterday and attended the opening ceremony in a semi-comatose/delirious state (it's a long haul from NYC). So far, so good, though. "One hell of a good start," as one of the Spartans ... [
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Posted 32 hours ago: With the persistent problems with the Korean press in the past (film_blog/portraits/the_strange_ca~ Then again, he has a consistent record of getting recognition from foreign critics and audiences: he received the Best Director awards at the Berlin International Film Festival, for Samaria (2004) and at the Venice Film Festival 3-Iron (2004). So honors are nothing new for him, but a major ... [
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Posted 32 hours ago: Happy happy joy joy Korean TV and film stars celebrated... themselves, I suppose, for The 44th PaekSang Arts Awards (http://isplus.joins.com/100sang/) last week (Thursday, April 24) in Seoul (aired on SBS), and the greater good of all things screen-related, big and small. Not much to say about the "content", since I must admit I haven't seen a whole lot of the ... [
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Posted 32 hours ago: One of my colleagues - a true connaisseur of all things anime - brought this to my attention yesterday: Studio Flying, the animation team that worked on Aachi & Ssipak, is coming back with a spectacular-looking project, Mad Monkey. The format if the film is basically a series of 3 OAVs (70 minutes total) that will be directly released on ... [
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Posted 32 hours ago: I have not had the occasion to comment on the hallyu (Korean Wave) panel that I had the chance to moderate, on August 23rd. Nor did I have much time to blog much, of late... swamped as I was in my recent duties. At any rate, since I am evoking the “Is the Korean Wave dead” roundtable, I should mention ... [
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Posted 32 hours ago: The New York Korean Film Festival 2007, presented by Helio and organized by The Korea Society: Paradise Murdered will be screened on - Tuesday, August 28th 2007, 9:00 PM. At the IFC Center The tiny but lively community that lives on the remote island nicknamed “Paradise Island” (Gukrak-do) is, as the epithet suggests, a peaceful, almost utopian micro-society. Or would ... [
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Posted 32 hours ago: On Thursday, August 23, 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm, I will be moderating a panel discussion with: Kim Yong-Hwa (director of the blockbuster comedy, 200 Pound Beauty) Michael Huh (vice president, ImaginAsian TV) Robert Cagle (assistant professor of cinema studies, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) Recent years have seen a wave of Korean pop culture (hallyu) sweep across Asia as ... [
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Posted 32 hours ago: The New York Korean Film Festival is having its second Short Film program on August 30th at Cinema Village. The theme of this year’s edition is: Universality. The purpose is “to honor the works, which communicate and connect with various culture and audience by sharing something that is core in life.” “In Your Eyes”, one of the animation finalist After ... [
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Posted 11 hours ago: I had a nice little surprise today when I went browsing through Kyobo Books downtown -- I discovered a new volume of THE PAST UNEARTHED, the Korean Film Archive's collection of colonial era Korean films. If you recall, I wrote about the first box set of colonial era films here. This set has three films in it -- SWEET DREAM ... [
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Posted 11 hours ago: James Bond has a pretty good opening last weekend. Not record-breaking or anything amazing, but pretty good -- almost 900,000 admissions and $4.3 million. Personally, I thought it was a noisy, annoying film. Exceptionally well done... but so well done technically that it was pretty empty. Also, it gave me a headache. Kind of cool, though, that it was released ... [
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Posted 11 hours ago: I just noticed that Matthew Harding, the dancing world traveler of Where the Hell Is Matt? fame, has a third video out, documenting yet another global jig. And in this video, Korea gets not one, but two segments -- on the DMZ at about 1:45 and in front of Namdaemun at 2:45 (or is it Dongdaemun?). As always, a fun ... [
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Posted 11 hours ago: Happy news. I just received the official shipping date for POP GOES KOREA -- Nov. 17. Just a couple of weeks from now. Of course, it will take a little time from then for the bookstores and Amazon.com, etc. to get their copies. But the important thing is that POP GOES KOREA will be on store shelves very soon. And ... [
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Posted 11 hours ago: A boring weekend at the box office, with no films doing terribly well. MY WIFE GOT MARRIED was No. 1 for the second week in a row and how now topped the 1-million-admissions mark. EAGLE EYE has topped 2 million. Only two Korean films in the top 10 (albeit one is the No. 1 movie). Hopefully James Bond can shake ... [
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Posted 11 hours ago: Big thanks to Anna and Orienkorean over at Indieful ROK for pointing out that an amazing 17-CD boxset of Sanullim's albums is about to be released (Nov. 26). Sanullim is, of course, the biggest Korean rock band from the late 1970s. Their first album was released in 1976 and was a classic. Their second album was probably their best. After ... [
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Posted 11 hours ago: A top-11 this week, in honor of Bong Joon-ho's latest film, one-third of the triptych TOKYO!, which opened in eleventh.But the top film this week was a Korean film, MY WIFE GOT MARRIED, pulling in just over 500,000 admissions since its release on Thursday. I think I am too depressed by the dollar-won exchange rate to convert its revenues into ... [
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Posted 11 hours ago: It must a strange week when the most interesting movie is a 9th place debut. But that is what we have this weekend, when the coolest film in the top-10 is a stunning four years old.I am talking about APOLOGY/APPLE, the Moon So-ri film that was ready way back in December 2004, but finally made it to the theater last ... [
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Posted 11 hours ago: Hey there, aspiring architects. Korea's coolest architectural house, Mass Studies, is looking for interns. Come work at the firm that is designing the new Seoul City Hall (and oodles of interesting stuff all over the world). [
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Posted 11 hours ago: Hey, six of the top 10 films this week were Korean. I cannot remember the last time that happened. Not long ago, Korean dominance at the box office we usually typical, but for most of this year, there have been many fewer films released than in past years, making it harder to fill the top 10 most weeks. Despite having ... [
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Posted 7 hours ago: Are you watching SBS’s Family Honor? No? Will this shower scene from an upcoming episode featuring Park Shi-hoo (Iljimae) change your mind? The weekend drama is enjoying healthy ratings (its last episode on the 23rd garnered a 21.1% rating, according to AGB Nielsen Media). This particular episode showcasing Park Shi-hoo’s hard body airs on November 29. (Shower scenes will also ... [
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Posted 11 hours ago: Cookbooks, essays, short story collections, photography books — stars are constantly looking to expand their brand. And now, Gourmet actress Nam Sang-mi has… her own font? The font was unveiled this month on cyworld, and is styled after Nam’s own handwriting. It’s described as “cute” and bright, like the actress herself. (See below.) The font can be used online and ... [
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Posted 16 hours ago: Everyone (in the U.S.) have a good Thanksgiving? Anyone going Black Friday shopping? Personally, the thought of getting out at the crack of dawn to fight hundreds of crazed bargain-hunting fiends over marginally lower prices for crap I can’t afford anyway has never appealed to me. (That, and I’m lazy. Vicarious Black Friday is good enough for me.) SONG OF ... [
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Posted 24 hours ago: At least in a figurative sense. Before Kim Rae-won took on the role of a young chef in Gourmet, he was reputed to be a fair cook in his own right. Now he’s revealed his own cookbook: Delicious Fare by Kim Rae-won. (The Korean title plays with the character names from Gourmet. If you’ll remember, Nam Sang-mi’s character Jin-soo and ... [
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Posted 31 hours ago: Eastern Barbie meets Western Barbie? Han Chae-young (of the upcoming Boys Before Flowers) poses with Hollywood glamour goddess Charlize Theron at the “Christian Dior and Chinese Artists” art exhibit in Beijing. The gala event took place at the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art on the 15th; Theron is the spokesmodel for Dior’s J’adore fragrance. © javabeans for Dramabeans, 2008. | ... [
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Posted 37 hours ago: The World They Live In is getting trounced in the ratings, but it’s still putting out a music video, perhaps in an attempt to raise its profile. (By the way, I’m working on getting guest recappers on board to take over the series, so if we’re lucky things may get back on track soon.) Ballad singer Sung Shi-kyung is currently ... [
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Posted 43 hours ago: Aw, isn’t he adorable? (Reminds me of Coffee Prince’s Kim Dong-wook.) Yoo Ah-in (assassin Heuk San of Strongest Chil Woo) attended a screening of his latest movie, Antique, and surprised 200 excited fans with his unannounced appearance. After watching the movie, in which Yoo plays a former gifted boxer who retires after losing his mojo in an accident, Yoo spent ... [
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Posted 2 days ago: I hadn’t intended on posting about actress Ok So-ri’s current adultery case, because South Korean law is one subject that I freely admit is beyond me. But the news has hit the international newswire, so here we go: The 39-year-old Ok, who enjoyed most of her popularity in the ’90s (her last film was 1996’s Karuna), admitted to having an ... [
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Posted 2 days ago: Jang Yoon-joo has been one of Korea’s top fashion and runway models for the past eleven years, appearing in all the big name magazines and doing some international work as well. She’s also releasing her first album as a singer. She’s not a complete newb; she’s expressed her love of music before, and contributed to tracks of other singers’ songs, ... [
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Posted 3 days ago: Next up for military enlistment: 28-year-old Jo Seung-woo (Tazza, Go Go 70). He’ll go sometime next month, although a rep from his management company says that because he hasn’t received the official paperwork yet, Jo isn’t certain of the exact date. Jo had just finished filming his last film this month, Like Fireworks, Like a Butterfly, and is now working ... [
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Posted 12 hours ago: The new James Bond film dominated the weekend box office taking in nearly 50 percent of all ticket sales while the number two film only took about 15 percent. One film, Antique, was given an early release and came in at number nine nationally. It will receive a full release this weekend. It’s information is listed below. ———-Coming This Week ... [
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Posted 12 hours ago: After four and a half months of staying in the USA with my family, I have decided to return to Korea. I mentioned a couple of months ago that I returned home to spend some time with my mother and I was looking for work here. I was offered the chance to work as the International Student Advisor for the ... [
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Posted 12 hours ago: ———-Coming this Week to Korean Theaters———- Cafe de los Maestros (us/brazil, arg)- d. Miguel Kohan -documentary http://blog.naver.com/tango_2008 Chongging (kr)- d. Lu Zhang, starring Kwak Ga-woo, Ha Guk-bong Once Upon a Time in Seoul (kr)- d. Bae Hyeong-joon, starring Lee Wan, Song Chang-ui www.boys2008.co.kr Owl and the Sparrow (vietnam/us)- d. Stepane Gauger, starring Han Thi Pham, Cat Ly www.owlandsparrow.com Quantum of ... [
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Posted 12 hours ago: ———-Coming this Week to Korean Theaters———- 26-Year Diary (kr/jp)- d. Junji Hanadou, starring Lee Tae-seong, Seo Jae-kyeong www.leesoohyun.co.kr Bank Job (uk)- d. Roger Donaldson, starring Jason Statham, Saffron Burrows www.bankjob.co.kr Boy Director (kr)- d. Lee Woo-yeol, starring Kim Yeong-chan, Choi Yeo-jin Burn After Reading (us)- d. Ethan Cohen, starring Brad Pitt, George Clooney Control (uk/us/au/sp)- d. Anton Corbin, starring Sam ... [
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Posted 12 hours ago: ———-Coming This Week to Korean Theaters———- Body of Lies (us)- d. Ridley Scott starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe www.bodyoflies2008.co.kr Da Capo (kr)- d. No Jin-su, starring Ha Yi-jae, Kang San www.kino-eye.co.kr Light Sleep (kr)- d.In Seong-chan, starring Choi Ah-jin, Yoon Chan www.kino-eye.co.kr Mermaid (ru)- d. Anna Melikyan, starring Mariya Shalayeva, Yeugeni Tsyganov www.rosalkafilm.ru/main My Wife Got Married (kr)- d. Jeong ... [
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Posted 12 hours ago: ———-Coming this week to Korean Theaters———- American Haunting (us)- d. Courtney Solomon, starring Donald Sutherland, Sissy Spacek www.anamericanhauntingonline.com Crush and Blush (kr)- d. Lee Kyeong-mi, starring Kong Hyo-jin, Lee Jong-hyeok www.misshong2008.co.kr Death Race (us)- d. Paul Anderson, starring Jason Statham, Joan Allen www.deathrace.kr Duchess (den/us/uk)- d. Saul Dibb, starring Keira Knightly, Ralph Fiennes www.theduchessmovie.com Gou-Gou the Cat (jp)- d. Isshin ... [
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Posted 12 hours ago: I am happy to see that Modern Boy is doing well. To me, this film seems to be exactly what Once Upon a Time in Korea should have been. ———-Coming This Week to Korean Theaters———- Eagle Eye (us)- d. D.J. Caruso, starring Shia LeBeouf, Michelle Monaghan www.eagleeyemovie.com Made of Honor (us/uk)- d. Paul Weilland, starring Patrick Dempsey, Michelle Monaghan www.madeofhonor2008.com ... [
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Posted 12 hours ago: ———-Coming This Week to Korean Theaters———- Babylon A.D. (us)- d. Matthieu Kassovitz, starring Vin Diesel, Michelle Yeoh www.foxkorea.co.kr/babylonad Deception (us)- d. Marcel Langeneggar, starring Hugh Jackman, Ewan McGregor www.theclub2008.kr (aka The List. Released in Korea as The Club) Go Go 70’s (kr)- d. Choi Ho, starring Jo Seung-woo, Shin Min-ah www.gogo70.kr Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (uk)- d. Bharat ... [
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Posted 2 days ago: This post is a little late because I just had my internet connected in my new house. I am now back in Korea and settling in and will now be able to review Korean films much more easily than when I was back in the USA. I am once again in the village of Samrye outside of Jeonju and back ... [
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Posted 12 days ago: Some major differences in the box office results this week between Jeonju and the national totals. The biggest difference, and the most easily explained, is the inclusion of the film Iri in the Jeonju top ten. Iri is the former name of the city of Iksan which is just a short drive from Jeonju and is, I believe, the second ... [
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