From the category archives:

Film and TV

Yang Ik-june’s Breathless gets R2 DVD release

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by Philip Gowman on 16 March, 2010

in Film, Yang Ik-june

“ONE OF THE YEAR’S BOLDEST AND MOST THRILLING DEBUT FEATURES.” – EYE WEEKLY.COM
Following its critically acclaimed UK theatrical release in January, Yang Ik-june’s award winning Breathless comes to DVD on 22nd March 2010 as a two-disc Special Collector’s Edition featuring a host of exclusive extras including interviews with the director and cast members, specially filmed [...]

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Kim Jong-il’s Comedy Club is back: bigger, better and under a new name

11 March 2010 DPRK
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For those who missed this excellent documentary when it showed on the BBC recently, it’s returning to cinemas this month under its theatrical name, The Red Chapel. It’s also a slightly longer cut, 87 minutes as opposed to the hour that the BBC gave it. The screenings are part of the Human Rights Watch film [...]

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Where the Truth Lies: the Case of Itaewon Homicide

7 March 2010 Film reviews and comment
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Saharial reviews one of 2009’s murder-mysteries:
The Case of Itaewon Homicide
Director: Hong Ki-seon
Writer: Lee Maeng-yu
Release Date: September 10, 2009
Cast: Jang Geun-suk, Jeong  Jin-yeong, Shin Seung-hwan, Oh Kwang-rok, Ko Chang-Seok

Synopsis
Based on real events that have been ‘dramatised and changed for dramatic purposes’ the story tells of an incident in 1997 when a student was found murdered in [...]

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Daytime Drinking screens at the KCC

6 March 2010 Events news
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News of next Thursday’s screening at the KCC. A Korean film expert at Cambridge tells me: “Daytime Drinking is very good. A young person’s film that even old geezers can appreciate, I found.”
Film title: Daytime Drinking, 116mins
Director: Noh Young-seok
Cast: Song Sam-dong
Genre: Drama / Comedy
Venue: Multi-purpose Hall, The Korean Cultural Centre, Grand Buildings, The Strand, London [...]

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Lifting King Kong at the KCC

22 February 2010 Events news
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News of the next screening at the Cultural Centre, continuing this month’s sporting theme: Lifting King Kong, also known as Bronze Medallist:
Film title: Lifting King Kong (Kingkongeul deulda), 2009, 120mins
Director: Park Geon-yong
Cast: Lee Beom-soo, Joan, Lee Seul-bi, Park Jun-geum
Venue: Multi-purpose Hall, The Korean Cultural Centre, Grand Buildings, The Strand, London WC2N 5BW
Time: Thursday, 25th Feb, [...]

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LKL Weekly Tweets, 2010-02-22

22 February 2010 Film
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Kick a man when he’s down: steal his shoes from the funeral parlour. Sole searching in the JoongAng Daily http://bit.ly/adnzyI #
Biggest mass wedding in a decade: 14,000 are spliced in Unification Church ceremony: http://bit.ly/bFouGw #
New Product Approval Bill expected to be passed 26 Feb. Unnecessary intervention or saving bankers from themselves? http://bit.ly/c9Mk2s #
Good interview with [...]

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Kim Jong-il’s Comedy Club – the tweets

15 February 2010 DPRK
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It’s not often that Twitter is alive with Tweets about a documentary on BBC4, but Kim Jong-il’s Comedy Club was special. Here are some of them.

LKL: Game for a laugh? Don’t forget Kim Jong-il’s Comedy Club tonight, BBC4, 10pm http://bit.ly/bT9eZE #
LKL: Wow this documentary is bizarre!! #

Alex_Hoban: @lklinks you’re telling me…!

Alex_Hoban: EVERYONE WATCH BBC4 NOW, [...]

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LKL Weekly Tweets, 2010-02-15

15 February 2010 Celebs
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Game for a laugh? Don't forget Kim Jong-il's Comedy Club tonight, BBC4, 10pm http://bit.ly/bT9eZE #
Eternal Empire (1995) – a nice-looking costume drama about murder and court intrigue in the Yi dynasty soon after the death of Prince Sado. One of Darcy’s top 10 K-films of the 90s. Not one of mine, but well worth a [...]

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A pizza shovel for the Dear Leader: was he amused by “Kim Jong-il’s Comedy Club”?

9 February 2010 DPRK
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Kim Jong-il’s Comedy Club is a Danish documentary which follows the two-week visit to North Korea by a Danish comedy double-act who had received permission to perform in Pyongyang’s National Theatre. The documentary is fascinating on many levels. First, the two comedians are ethnic Korean adoptees, born in South Korea but brought up in Denmark, [...]

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Saharial reviews Stranger than Paradise

8 February 2010 TV drama
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Story:
No Yoon Jae (Lee Sung-Jae) was adopted as a child and taken to Canada and now, at age 33 has been looking for his parents for some time. A successful lawyer with a love for coffee and his girlfriend he travels to Korea to meet once more with disappointment. Kang Son Ho (Uhm Tae Woong) [...]

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Take Off screens at the KCC

6 February 2010 Events news
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News of next Thursday’s screening at the KCC
The 37th Korean Film Night at The Korean Cultural Centre UK
Film title: Take Off (Gukgadaepyo), 2009, 137mins
Director: Kim Yong Hwa
Cast: Ha Jung-Woo
Venue: KCC, Multi-purpose Hall
Time: Thursday, 11th Feb, 7:00pm
In 1996 a small Korean town is undergoing a large-scale construction in preparation for the Winter Olympics bid. In [...]

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LKL’s top 10 K-films of the noughties

26 January 2010 2009 year-end posts
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Mark Russell over at Korea Pop Wars led the way with his fascinating list of films of the decade – in which the biggest shock was that there was no Park Chan-wook. GI Korea also has a list, which redresses the balance somewhat. So here is mine.
Over the years I’ve been reasonably diligent in giving [...]

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LKL Weekly Tweets, 2010-01-25

25 January 2010 Bae Doo-na
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Finally finished my top 10 K-films of the decade post. It took forever. 2003 was a good year! Post will be up on Tuesday. 12:57 PM Jan 22nd from web
Big article on Kimchi going global in the Washington Post http://bit.ly/89sKtf (HT: Marmot) 1:16 PM Jan 22nd from bit.ly
Trying to figure out why LKL is offline [...]

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Park Chan-wook’s most embarrassing DVD

22 January 2010 Film
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This week’s Time Out has a brief interview with Park Chan-wook, to celebrate the UK DVD release of Thirst. The subject? His 2,000-strong DVD collection.
For an obscure recommendation from his shelves, Park tips Sanjay Gupta’s Zinda, the Bollywood film that seems to be based on Oldboy. “A man, taken and locked up for 14 [...]

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Ninja Assassin: Could Stephen Colbert do this?

21 January 2010 Events news
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Yes, it’s the UK release of Ninja Assassin, starring Colbert’s nemesis, Rain.
Hollywood.com gave it 1 out of 10. “It’s been a long time since we’ve seen a decent ninja flick,” starts the review, before explaining why it is that we’re still waiting. But the review is reasonably complementary about Rain, reserving its main criticism for [...]

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