Cheon Ho-jin (천호진)

The Korean Gangland Is 'a Dirty Carnival'

2008/05/26 | Source | Permalink |

Yoo Ha's searing crime melodrama deserves kudos

Kyu Hyun Kim (qhyunkim)

Byung-Doo, lanky and adorable, (played by TV drama star Jo In-Seong from "Something Happened in Bali") is a 29-year-old career criminal working for the middle-rank enforcer Sang-Chul (Yoon Je-Moon, a Molotov-cocktail-loving vagrant in "The Host"). Burdened with a terminally ill mother and taking care of younger siblings, Byung-Doo is feeling financial pressure as a substitute patriarch. When the big boss President Hwang (Cheon Ho-Jin, "The Big Swindle", "Crying Fist") is cornered by a corrupt prosecutor, Byung-Doo volunteers for a whack job and wins the man's trust. However, his real trouble begins when friend Min-Ho (Nam Goong-min), an aspiring movie director, asks him to be a "consultant" for the latter's debut film, a gangster epic not unlike "Dirty Carnival".

Yoo Ha's follow-up to the successful "Once Upon a Tim...| More

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Watched this again last night with a cousin who is also a Jo In Sung fan-a-tic. Love his acting in the movie. Can't wait for the next one. ginger ale 2008-05-30 19:49:12

Mystery, massacre mark this movie

2008/04/09 | Source | Permalink |

Get yourself ready for a two-hour thriller that takes place among the guard posts on the southern side of the demilitarized zone.
Director Kong Soo-chang is back with his second feature "The Guard Post".
Kong's film — released last Thursday — focuses on a mysterious massacre that occurs in the DMZ one rainy day. Twenty armed soldiers at a guard post have been mysteriously killed. One is left alive, but unconscious.

The Defense Ministry dispatches an investigation team. Sergeant Major Noh Seong-gyu (Cheon Ho-jin) is given 24 hours to find the body of Yu Jeong-woo (Jo Hyeon-jae), who was in command of the guard post.
Kong's previous feature, "R-Point", also takes place in a military setting. It's about a Korean unit dispatched to the Vietnam War that receives a strange radio transmission from a group of soldiers previously thought missing in action.
"I served in the army under Korea's military regime", Kong said. "During that time, the government was in total control".
Kong was a...| More

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"R-point"'s KONG Soo-chang returns with The Guard Post

2008/04/04 | Source | Permalink |

Writer/director KONG Soo-chang's latest film "The Guard Post" (GP506) opens on April 3. Like his previously directed film R-point, the film is a horror film situated in the military. This time the setting is the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea.

JO Hyeon-jae and CHEON Ho-jin star in the horror film about a mysterious slaughtering at guard post 506 and the investigating team who gets trapped at the same guard post due to worsening weather. CHEON Ho-jin played in director YOO Ha's crime film "A Dirty Carnival" (Biyeorhan Geori) and alongside JEON Ji-hyeon in "Daisy". JO Hyeon-jae starred in "Untold Scandal" (Scandal).

KONG initially worked as a scenario writer. He wrote the scenario for the JANG Yoon-hyeon directed thriller "Tell Me Something" starring HAN Seok-kyu. He debuted as a director with "R-point" which unfolds in Cambodia where a Korean military unit is dispatched during the Vietnam War.

Yi Ch'ang-ho (KOFIC)...| More

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"The Guard Post" Puts DMZ Back on Map

2008/03/27 | Source | Permalink |

By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter

In his second feature film "The Guard Post" ("GP506"), director Kong Soo-chang ("R-Point") tells another agonizing tale about military life. But this time, he takes viewers to the demilitarized zone (DMZ). In this bloody mystery thriller, Gong explores the ever-so relevant yet alien area, where dark secrets and ghosts of forgotten histories lurk.

But the film does not deal with the ideological conflict between the Koreas. Rather, it fathoms the raw human instinct for survival.

On the 38th parallel, between the two Koreas, lies the last remnant of the Cold War. "Demilitarized" zone is perhaps the most improper name for one of the most heavily fortified places on Earth. On the south side is the tightly contained Guard Post 506 (GP506), where armed soldiers stay alert for possible aggressions from the North.

One rainy evening, sergeant major Noh Seong-gyu is called to attend to an emergency. A massacre has occurred within GP506, leaving 20 dead ...| More

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Actress Jeon Picks Another Top Award

2008/03/18 | Source | Permalink |

By Cathy Rose A. Garcia
Staff Reporter

The internationally acclaimed Korean film "Secret Sunshine" (Miryang) grabbed the spotlight at the second annual Asian Film Awards in Hong Kong, picking up three top awards including Best Film.

"Secret Sunshine", which is about a young widow moving to her late husband's hometown, beat other Asian films such as the controversial thriller "Lust, Caution", Hong Kong's "The Sun Also Rises" and Japan's "I Just Didn't Do It".

Actress Jeon Do-yeon won Best Actress, adding another award to her collection, which includes several Korean acting awards and the Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival last May. She won over Korean actress Kim Yun-jin and Chinese actress Tang Wei.

"I don't usually need time to recover from most of the roles I portray. But this time, because my character was so damaged, it took some time to recover from it", Jeon was quoted by the Associated Press, after winning the award.

The film's director Lee Chang-dong...| More

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