D-Wars

Trailer for the new upcoming "blockbuster" - looks like a joint production between Korea and the US.

Jeon Do-yeon wins Best Actress Award at Cannes

Jeon Do-yeon (전도연) has officially just won the Best Actress Award at this year's Cannes Film Festival for her role in Secret Sunshine (밀양), the latest from director Lee Chang-dong (Oasis, Peppermint Candy). The film follows a recently widowed mother (Jeon) as she begins to start a new life without her husband. Song Kang-ho plays an auto mechanic who befriends her and attempts to bring meaning back to their lives again. 34-year-old Jeon Do-yeon won the best actress award at the 60th Cannes film festival. She became the second Korean actress in 20 years to win a best actress award at one of the three major international competitions, Cannes, Berline and Venice. Now, film critics around the world has been citing Jeon as one of the strongest candidates for the award at this year's Cannes. In "Secret Sunshine" or Milyang in Korean, Jeon plays a newly widowed Shinae, who seeks to start a new life with her little son in her late husband's hometown. In a cruel twist in the story, the little boy is abducted and killed, and Shin-ae turns to evangelical Christianity to deal with the overwhelming despair. "Secret Sunshine"'s main theme evolves around how people overcome tragedies and continue on with their lives. This is the first picture by director Lee Chang-dong since returning to the film industry after serving as the country's culture minister. "Secret Sunshine" was one of the two South Korean films competing for the Palme d'Or, otherwise known as Golden Palm, the highest prize given to a competing film. The other film was Kim Ki-duk's "Breath". But the highest honor went to the Romanian film 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days about the harrowing journey of two women as they seek an illegal abortion in Communist Romania. Russia's Konstantin Lavronenko won best actor for The Banishment.

Recommended Reading

Just thougt I tell you guys about some books that are out there to let you know more about Korean Cinema

Korean Cinema: The New Hong Kong Pictured here
New Korean Cinema (Highly Recommend) Pictured here
Contemporary Korean Cinema (Politices and Cinema)
The Remasculinization of Korean Cinema

Korean Movie Info

Leading actress Moon So-ri joined the cast of the upcoming film Woori Saengae Chwegoui Soongan, the title translates as: "the best moment of our life". The sports drama will be directed by Lim Soon-rye. The true story is based on the Korean women's handball team at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

The cast's strong line-up also includes the actresses Kim Jeong-eun, Kim Ji-young and Jo Eun-ji. The drama will be complemented with humorous lighter moments. The portrayal of these women's greatest game will rely on the athletic abilities of the actresses to achieve realistic and dynamic action scenes; therefore, the actresses will undergo handball training during three months. The film is scheduled for a cinematic release in the second part of 2007.

MOON will tackle the role of the headstrong top player. The other protagonist is the leader of the Olympic team who fulfilled her dream by becoming a professional player; she captains a team in the Japanese pro-league until national and Olympic ambitions call. She is played by Kim Jeong-eun.

MOON debuted in the contemporary classic film directed by Lee Chang-dong "Peppermint Candy" (Bakhasatang, 2000) as a sweet and innocent young woman. She continued playing remarkable and strong characters, and among her recognitions is the Marcello Mastroianni Award at the 2002 Venice Film Festival for her role in another Lee Chang-dong film, "Oasis" (2002).

Kim Jeong-eun graduated from television with the 2002 hit comedy "Marrying the Mafia" (Gamoonui Yeonggwang) and she was praised for her role in "Blossom Again" ("Close to You" - Sarangni, 2005). Kim Ji-yeong played in last year's "Old's Miss Diary - movie" and Jo Eun-ji is currently present in Korean cinemas with the international film festival's favorite "Driving With My Wife's Lover" (Anaeui Aeineul Mannada).

Director LIM is one of the few high profile female directors in Korea and "Waikiki Brothers" is her best known film. She is selected for one of the directors that the next edition of the KOFIC Korean Film Directors series covers.



Actor and heartthrob Lee Byeong-Heon will make his global debut with a starring role in Vietnamese-French director Tran Anh Hung's film "I Come with the Rain". In the movie, the Korean star will play the role of a Hong Kong gang leader.

Tran achieved international recognition in the mid-90s for the feature films "Cyclo" and "Scent of the Green Papaya".

The new movie, which is slated for a 2008 release, is a thriller about a former L.A. cop who is traumatized after he takes the life of a serial killer and is hired to find a Chinese billionaire's missing son.




Park Chan-wook, already considered by many film buffs to be Korea's greatest director, has received more foreign recognition of his talents.

He has been asked to join some of the world's most celebrated filmmakers to participate in making Emmanuel Behbihy's new movie "New York Je T'Aime" (New York, I love You), a collection of vignettes, each five minites or less, depicting different aspects of New York City.

The new movie, which is set to be released early next year, is a sequel to "Paris Je T'Aime", a collection of 18 shorts by 21 directors from all over the world, each set in a different Parisian neighborhood.

Besides Park Chan-wook, the other 11 participating directors include Fatih Akin, who won the Berlin Film Festival's top Golden Bear award for "Head-on" in 2004 and Wang Xiaoshuais who produced "Beijing Bicycle", winner of the Berlin's Silver Bear Award in 2001.

Park Chan-wook gained recognition thanks to his trilogy "Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance" (2002); "Old Boy" (2003), the Cannes' Grand Prize-winner; and "Sympathy for Lady Vengeance'" (2005).

His latest feature "I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK". recently won this year's Alfred Bauer Prize at the Berlin International Film Festival.



Director Kim Ki-duk's movie "Breath" has drawn significant attention in Cannes.

The movie, which was invited to compete at the 60th Cannes Film Festival, received a favorable response after it was screened May 19 and has grossed impressive profits.

The world-renowned movie magazine Variety quoted the firm in charge of the movie's overseas marketing as saying that the movie has been sold to film festivals in Poland, Singapore and Lithuania.

"Breath" made headlines when it was sold prior to its opening to France, Spain, Italy, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Turkey and Greece.

One foreign news agency expressed hopes that Korean filmmakers can produce more "charming films like "Breath"."

Attention is now focused on whether "Breath" will bring an award to director Kim Ki-duk, who has previously won awards at the Berlin and Venice film festivals.

Korean Film list

Hey, Guys (just so you know I mean guys cause there's a group of people, I don't want to offend the one lady in the group) I just started my own blog. Just go to my profile and you should see it, anyway I just wanted to tell you guys that I posted all the Korean movies I own (i think, i might have left one or two out), so that you can see my backround in Korean Film. At least know which ones I own.

As a normal blog I'll be writing stuff that caught my attention, but I'll have some other reviews and info on film from films not Korean. Hope you guys check it out.

Rain

This is in response to Mark's post (the one prior to this).
For those who don't know about Rain here some info about him trying to break through to the U.S.

Which is funny because I was just going to tell you guys about his new film "I"m a cyborg but that's okay"

Rain, also known as Bi and Jeong Ji-hun, The Korean singer and actor Rain has a foot in the door in Hollywood after being cast in "Speed Racer", the next film by the Wachowski brothers, who created "The Matrix". Rain is to play a character who takes part in high-speed car races to secure his father's company. Rain's manager claimed the K-pop star's role "holds the key to the movie". "Though it is a supporting role, Rain will manage the flow of the movie between the two main parts". The character's name has not been decided.

He was picked by the director after competing with 20 Asian actors including top stars in Asia. Rain met with the Wachowski bothers at Berlin in April. He will participate in a production press conference in Berlin on May 31, and start filming in the German capital for two months after finishing his world tour in June.

Rain's agent said that Rain personally visited Berlin in April to meet with the Wachowski brothers. At the meeting, the directors of the Matrix series showed Rain some materials for the film and Rain was reportedly very impressed with its ingenuity and techniques.

"Speed Racer" is based on the popular Japanese animation "Mach Go Go". The movie is expected to be released next May and cost W260 billion (US$1=W924). Emile Hirsch, who starred in "The Girl Next Door", is to play the hero Speed. Oscar-winning actress Susan Sarandon, John Goodman, Christina Ricci will also appear in supporting roles.

"It is my debut in Hollywood. I will do my best, taking each step cautiously", Rain was quoted in a press release as saying. It is the singer's second movie role after "I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK" directed by Park Chan-wook. Park Joong-hoon was the first Korean actor to appear in a Hollywood movie.


HERE's ANOTHER ARTICLE

Readers of Time Magazine online have chosen Korea's heartthrob singer Rain as the most influential person on the planet in an online vote.

In an article "Time learns that popular taste can vary a lot with the test market", the New York Times said Rain received over 470, 000 votes out of the total 2,500,000 cast by participants around the globe, with users choosing from a list of 200 nominees selected by Time editors.

Rain received far more votes than the runner ups Stephen Colbert, an American political satirist, and American Idol's star Sanjaya Malakar.

Introducing Rain as a 24-year-old singer who is phenomenally popular in Asia, the New York Times wrote that the singer seems like "Korea's answer to Jon Bon Jovi", quoting Josh Tyrangiel, a deputy managing editor of Time.com.

Time editors said the vote was an international one and people were allowed to vote as many times as they liked.

Noting that the results did not influence the list of Time's 100 most influential people as chosen by editors in the May 14 issue, Adi Ignatius, the deputy managing editor of Time who oversees the Time 100 said he could foresee the magazine taking readers' opinions into account in future Time 100 lists.


Well, what I was going to tell you is that "I'm a cyborg but that's okay" has only been out for ten days and is already out of print from yesasia, but if you really want to buy it go to http://www.asiandb.com/store/detail.pfm?num=6710
I wouldn't really trust ebay, I mean sure you'll find it but I'm not so sure on how legal (meaning from the right distributers).

Colbert does Bi

Thought some of you might get a kick out of this. Bi, or "Rain", is one of the biggest pop singers (and newbie actors) in Korea. This is Stephen Colbert's take on one of his videos.

Upcoming film Reviews

Hey there people, I justed ordered some old films and I'm not too sure how many of you have already seen them. So when they come in and I get a chance to watch them I'll let you guys know about them. So they're A Good Lawyer's Wife, Hypnotized, and Tale Of Cinema

Summer Sessions at University of Chicago

Hey there people, I don't know how many of you will be interested but I just saw this booklet and wanted to let you guys know about it. University of Chicago will be offering Korean courses over the summer. If I can't register for classes at Columbia, or if my schedule will let me take extra classes I think i might be signing up. For more information about what classes are being offered (lots of language classes), check out http://summer.uchicaog.edu or for more info on the Korean Classes contact
Jung Hyuck Lee at jlee@uchicago.edu

IFC this weekend

For those that plan on some couch time this weekend...

Saturday - Bandits vs. Samurai Squadron
Saturday - Seven Samurai
Sunday - Quitting
Sunday - Sympathy For The Underdog

Seven Samurai is a classic, a must-see. I haven't seen the others but I have watched some of Fukasaku's (Sympathy director) other films which weren't bad.

On another note, I've just started watching my first Korean drama series, Stained Glass. Once you tune out the unbearably cheesy music score, it's not that bad. In fact, I'm actually looking forward to the next episode (still on Disc 1).

Any other dramas you might recommend?

This is Sheffy

As the newest member of Chicago Korean Cinema Club (or at least I think I am), I think I should introduce myself. As I'm sure you guys (and ladies) might get tired of seeing all the post I keep putting up.

I first got interested in Korean culture when I was about 12, when I started taking TAE KWON DO. Then I started to watch a show called "TOP 10" on channel 28 (later 23 and now 41) ,KBS Chicago where I heard Korean Pop music. Then I drifted to comedy variety shows like "SuperSunday" and into movies. I haven't seen a lot of dramas only an episode or of each of the following: The Girl Who Wants to Marry - 결혼하고 싶은 여자,The Infamous Chill Sisters - 소문난 칠공주,Fox with Nine - 구미호외전.

As for dramas I'm interested in seeing these two shows,
When Spring Comes - 꽃피는 봄이 오면 and Dalja's Spring - 달자의 봄. Both of which are currently playing on channel 41


I forgot to mention that I'm a film student so I've seen lots of movies especially from Japan and Hong Kong. As for Korean movies I've seen (get ready it's a lot):

2009 lost memories - 2009 로스트 메모리즈
A Dirty Carnival - 비열한 거리
A Tale Of Two Sisters - 장화, 홍련
A.P.T - 아파트
Addicted - 중독
Almost Love - 청춘만화
Arahan - 아라한-장풍 대작전
Arang - 아랑
Art of Fighting - 싸움의 기술
Attack the gas station - 주유소 습격사건
Barking Dogs Never Bite - 플란다스의 개
Beat - 비트
Bichunmoo - 비천무
A Bittersweet life - 달콤한 인생
Bloody ties -사생결단
bungee jumping of their own - 번지점프를 하다


... Actually there's 90 on my list, if you want to know just ask.

Korean filmmakers face a gloomy summer

It was not long ago that Korean filmmakers appeared to be winning the game. A steady stream of well-made films and blockbusters crushed Hollywood flicks at the box office, signaling a new renaissance period for the local film industry.

The solid growth, however, has slowed down significantly in recent months amid a slew of worrying signs. The combined market share of Korean films is plunging. The number of new film projects is also dwindling. Investors remain wary about the commercial viability of Korean films. Worse, several Hollywood blockbusters are poised to dominate the Korean box office in the run-up to the crucial summer season.

Leading the Hollywood lineup is "Spider-Man 3", which was released on Tuesday. This blockbuster secured a whopping 617 theaters across the nation, selling 502,000 tickets on its release day alone.

Given that Korea's biggest hit film "The Host" got released in 620 theaters last year, "Spider-Man 3" is expected to pull off a solid box office performance, threatening other small-budget Korean films like "Adeul" ("A Day with My Son") and "Long Day's Journey into Night". Even if Korean filmmakers manage to survive the attack from Spider-Man, the battle is far from over. A powerful ogre ("Shrek the Third") and pirates ("Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End") are set to join the Hollywood lineup in coming months, casting a dark cloud over mostly small-budget local films.

According to Max Movie, an online film ticket website, "Spider-Man 3" dominated ticket reservations this week, pulling off a 62.7 percent share, followed by "A Day with My Son", a Korean drama that only secured a 19.4 percent in ticket reservations.

This lackluster box-office performance of Korean films came after Korean filmmakers failed to bolster their share in competition with foreign movies. In March, the share of Korean films nosedived to 21.6 percent in the metropolitan Seoul area, down from 45.8 percent a month earlier, according to multiplex operator CJ CGV. The figure marked the worst performance since December 2004 when Korean films combined carved out only 16.9 percent.

Quarterly figures are also negative. In the January-to-March period this year, Korean films achieved a 48 percent share, down from 72.5 percent in the year-earlier period. American movies, meanwhile, increased their share to 70.5 percent, staging a sharp recovery in the domestic market. This is a dramatic turnaround for Hollywood, given that American films struggled to maintain even a 30 percent share last year.

Korean Film Council, a state-funded film promotion agency, said in its latest report that Korean filmmakers introduced 32 movies in the first quarter of this year, up just one from the year-earlier period. The number of moviegoers who chose to watch Korean films declined 41.9 percent. In contrast, 45 foreign films led by Hollywood were released in Korea during the same period, marking a sharp increase from 21 films a year earlier.

In a recent survey by SBS radio, the recent decline of Korean movies at the box office is largely due to the deteriorating quality. About 44 percent of respondents in the survey said the quality problem dragged down the share of Korean films, while 23 percent blamed the slump on the reduced screen quota.

Experts said the dearth of big hits like "The Host" is affecting the overall performance of home-grown films. The odds for a rebound are also low because of sharply reduced film productions this year. Korea produced 108 movies last year, largely boosted by the Korean Wave-led boom. But due to the downturn in the film industry partly sparked by the oversupply, the number of films made this year is expected to be down about 30 percent from last year.

Filmmakers, critics and government officials are now debating whether the slump will last longer than expected or a recovery is in the offing. Except for "200-Pound Beauty", there was no major hit Korean film this year, while a growing number of Hollywood movies sell more tickets than expected, regaining their combined market share they lost to Korean rivals in the past years.

By Yang Sung-jin
Source : www.koreaherald.co.kr...

Thought you guys would want to know about Jeon Ji-hyeon new project

Filming of Blood: The Last Vampire with Jeon Ji-hyeon in the leading role has begun on March 15, according to the Jeon affiliated Korean studio Sidus HQ. JEON's debut Hollywood project will stay in Argentina's capital Buenos Aires for a month, before moving to China where they are scheduled to film during three months.

The Japanese Animation film of the same title gained cult status after its release in 2002. It lead to several spin-offs, including platform computer games. The protagonist Saya – in the upcoming feature film played by Jeon – is half vampire and half human. Although she has some contempt for humans, she protects them by fighting vampires.

The project is in the hands of the producer Bill Kong ("Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon") and director Ronnie YU ("Fearless"). The film is scheduled for release in the summer of 2008.

Hollywood already made acquaintance with Jeon when her successful films across Asia attracted attention. Remake rights for films starring Jeon have been sold to Hollywood studios. Last year's The Lake House was a remake of "Il Mare" and JUN's role was played by Sandra Bullock. A Hollywood remake of JEON's breakthrough film "My Sassy Girl" is under way and this time Elisha Cuthbert is casted for the role originally played by Jeon.

Sidus HQ also announced that Jeon will use the name Gianna Jun outside Asia.

Yi Ch'ang-ho (KOFIC)

A few spy onset photos have turn up on the net for the upcoming live action version of Blood: The Last Vampire, directed by french director Chris Nahon. Many will know Chris Nahon for his work on Jet Li's Kiss of the Dragon in 2001. His most recent work was The Empire of Wolves in 2005.

Blood: The Last Vampire doesn't drop until 2008, but already, even before production started it has raised a few eyebrows. One in casting of korean bombshell Jeon Ji-hyun, who many thought was miscasted. Second comes the hiring of Runny Yu to direct the project. Some also thought this was a bad choice here on our forum.

Before production started, we get hit with more interesting news that they decided to drop Ronny Yu and replace him with Chris Nahon. Reasons behind this is still unclear. Though I thought Chris Nahon did a fair good job on Kiss of the Dragon, I still think that Runny Yu was the best choice of the two directors.

A huge fan of the short movie and the anime series, I am a little affraid to see how this might turn out. We all know that there will be some changes in the live action version. Though the movie only ran for 48 minutes, there is alot of material they can use from the anime series that ran for 50 episodes. One change we already know of is that Saya is no more, she is now Gianna Jun.

good films, guilty pleasures, and anime also

As my only source of Asian films are the premium cable channels and Facets Multimedia [I need English subtitles] - and local film festivals, I spend most of my weeknights watching dvr'd K-dramas. The latest 'newish' film that I now have taped is Typhoon [very cool, same driving pace as Shiri, I thought] and from Facets I was able to see the complete 'Vengeance' trilogy, Lies, Attack the Gas Station, Save the Green Planet [my vote for 'Citizen Kane' film of the last decade] recently.

For the K-dramas I'm watching Jumong & White Tower [their back to back on Comcast AZNTV], and just before Jumong I caught 'Samsoon' for the third time. Their only watchable taped, so I can fast forward through the 5 minute commercials.

I currently have stored on my DVR Fulltime Killer, A Snake of June, H, Last Life in the Universe, 3-Iron, Howl's Moving Castle, and Blind Beast, Robots, Memories [Japanese anime]. I've seen them all at least twice, [3-Iron maybe 5 times by now], but like to keep them around like good books you want to reread.

I had a ton more stored, but started to run out of space, and now I regret removing them. I had most of Hayao Miyazake's films saved, 3 other Kim Kiduk films, a lot of the Tartan horror films, At least 10 classic Samurai films from the 50's, the complete 5 film series of Japanese Yakuza 'docudramas' from the early 70's, etc.

And finally, I saw the 'Host' 3 times when it was released in April, after catching it twice at the film festival. [running guy flinging molotov cocktails. exquisite action shot]

What have you been watching lately??

MJE [Marietta]

And then there was blog...

Well as you can see, I've decided on an outlet for our club. I hope this agrees with all of you - I think it will work out really well and I'm looking forward to not only voicing my own thoughts more frequently but hearing from all of you as well.

At this point I'm still a little green to the whole blogging thing, so there may be some changes here and there in the next few months as I get used to things. I've never been big on rules and such, so I'm not going to try and enforce any right now. It seems like all of us are tactful adults and all I ask is that all of our posts are respectful.

One of you had asked whether the content should be restricted to Korean cinema. I'd like to open it up to world cinema in general, with a definite lean towards Asia - after all, this is the "Korean Cinema Club". Again, I plan on being more of a participator than a facilitator, (or editor).

So, what's new? I got about halfway through Mutt Boy the other day - not bad so far, although I'm not too impressed with Jung Woo-Sung's performance - the kyung-sang-do (southern) accents are hilarious though.