It was 3pm on a sunny but cool afternoon when I began to queue for the CNBLUE concert, though many had been there since early morning coming from as far afield as Finland, France, Switzerland, Italy and Poland – a wide mix of nationalities and ethnicity that seemed almost equal. As with all concerts there … [Read More]
LKL articles by Saharial (page 2)
Kim Soo-myun: no joy in the men’s gymnastics individual all-round finals
It was Tuesday evening before I could settle down to watch the men’s gymnastics finals – individual all round. It had already been a day of controversy for the Koreans in Badminton and there was disappointment yesterday with the fencing, so I hoped Kim Soo-myun would do well for his country. Not in the top … [Read More]
Korea’s male gymnast team loses out, but three solo efforts make it to the finals
Settling down to the 2012 Men’s gymnastics qualifier, I decided to do a little coverage for LKL. I’m a big fan of gymnastics, probably because of the inability to do even a cartwheel these days, and it has always been the highlight of the Olympics for me. Whilst I’m not the most technical person when … [Read More]
Saharial at the Terracotta Festival: Dancing Queen
This second film of the Korean Breakfast Club double bill was a comedy with a little more social punch, dealing with gender roles in Korean society, politics and show business. The story focuses on Jung-Hwa (Uhm Jung Hwa), once known as the Madonna of Shinchon, who once dreamed of being a singer before marrying her … [Read More]
Saharial at the Terracotta Festival: Couples
Couples (Jeong Yong-Ki, S. Korea, 2011) is not an easy storyline to explain, but that is perhaps one of the reasons I enjoyed it so much. A remake of the film Stranger of Mine (Ken Uchida, Japan 2005), the main action takes place during one day as we follow the story of several couples and … [Read More]
Saharial at the Terracotta Festival: Arirang
Finally! I had been hoping to see this along with a Q&A at the London Korean Film Festival last year, but it never materialised much to my disappointment. Kim Ki-duk, despite a rather misogynistic approach on occasion to his female characters on film, is one of the Korean directors whose work I really enjoy. Ever … [Read More]
Saharial at the Terracotta Festival: My Way
My Way, directed by Kang Je-gyu (Taegukgi) and with a pan Asian cast was the selected opening night film for the Terracotta Asian Film Festival. And whilst the top class cast of Jang Dong-gun (Taegukgi, Friend), Joe Odagiri (Azumi, Shinobi) and Fan Bingbing (Shaolin, Flashpoint) sounded very promising, I had heard from some of my … [Read More]
Saharial reviews Kyu Won’s 2nd album: 스스로 떠나는 사람들
Kyu won – 2nd album – 스스로 떠나는 사람들 Open Music, 2011. Released back in June last year, I’m not sure why it took me so long to buy this album seeing how much I enjoyed the first. I wasn’t sure what to expect this time round: most artistes attempt to have a different feel … [Read More]
LKL Critics’ Choice 2011: Saharial
Looking back over my orders, its been more of a Japanese movie year for me this year, but despite that and the usual excessive Shinhwa related purchases there are some honorable mentions, one disappointment, and a winner by someone you might not have heard of… 4Men – Vol. 4 – The Artist 14 June 2011 … [Read More]
Cube United – Saharial reports from the Brixton Academy K-pop concert
For those of you who follow Kpop in the UK, and maybe those who don’t, Monday 5th December was a rather momentous occasion. 4minute, G.NA and BEAST, three of the five acts Cube Entertainment manage, came to London’s Brixton Academy as United Cube in the first really big K-pop event held in London. After a … [Read More]
Gig Review: Dok2 at the Coronet Theatre
Saharial reports from Sunday’s live Kpop concert It’s not often that London is graced with the presence of Korean Hip-hop, but the Kpop Team announced proudly a month or so ago that they had arranged for Dok2 to have a concert in London, not just to showcase a talented act, but to hopefully pave the … [Read More]
London YG flashmob gets Korean media attention
Flashmobs don’t normally go on for an hour and a half, nor do they normally travel down to the London Eye and back filmed by most major Korean TV channels, nor do they dance, sing, wave banners and scream their enthusiasm for YG Family. This however is flash mobbing k-pop style and there are no … [Read More]
SHINee Happy People: fans turn out in force to greet their favourite K-pop band
Saharial joins the Shawols in Abbey Road and catches a glimpse of SMTown’s boy band. Abbey Road at 7.45am lies unsuspecting in the morning sunshine of the hundreds of kpop fans that will swarm the area in support of SHINee who are performing “Japan Debut Premium Reception in London“ (http://youtu.be/codeksErVqU) – a live streamed concert … [Read More]
Saharial’s Guide to Kpop – part 1
Saharial commences a journey through the many attractions of Kpop, which will lead her wherever you want her to go Introduction I’ve been following the Korean music scene since late 2004, after a small detour from the Hong Kong and Taiwanese pop scene turned into one giant change of direction in my interests in Asian … [Read More]
Film review: Moss
Saharial catches up with one of 2010’s top films on the in-flight entertainment system over the Christmas break. I am liking international travel, especially when the film choices on the flight I took from Vancouver to New York had ‘Moss’ in their Asian cinema collection. Starring Park Hae-il (Memories of Murder) it is a thriller … [Read More]
LKL Critics’ Choice 2010: Saharial
Saharial rounds up this year’s Critics’ Choice series with her own picks. It’s not been a great year for album buying for me. I’ve been doing more film and drama watching, and the constant injection of yet anther boy or girl group into the already over-packed market is frankly quite off-putting. The longer I spend … [Read More]