Ha Gi-ho (하기호)

Jecheon festival looks to blend music and film

Source | 2008/07/17 | Permalink |

The fourth Jecheon International Music & Film Festival will kick off its six-day schedule Aug. 14, introducing 82 flicks from 30 countries plus a variety of music performances.

"The festival aims to develop a new genre, putting together music and film, and we expect a fresh momentum this year as we introduce a competition section for the first time", said festival organizing committee head Eom Tae-young at a news conference in Seoul on Tuesday.

JIMFF, started in 2005, is Asia's first music-oriented film event where moviegoers and music lovers can share opportunities to enjoy both. This year it has established a new competition section titled World Music Film Today, where 10 films from nine countries compete to win awards and a cash prize worth $15,000 in a bid to solidify its position as a film festival.

Cho Seong-woo, executive director of the festival, said the slogan for this year, "Jump! JIMFF!" illustrates the organizers' resolve to upgrade the event's status into one spe...| More

"Once upon a Time" ideal to start the Lunar New Year

Source | 2008/02/13 | Permalink |

Director JEONG Yong-ki's "Once upon a Time" topped the Lunar New Year holiday box office, closely followed by "Forever the Moment" and "Lovers of 6 Years". "The Devil's Game", "Last Present - 2007", and "A Man Who Was Superman" claimed places four to six, respectively. "Radio Dayz" was the seventh Korean film in the top ten at nine.

"Once upon a Time" is a comedy starring PARK Yong-woo and LEE Bo-yeong. "Forever the Moment" - a sports drama with MOON So-ri and KIM Jeong-eun, and directed by LIM Soon -rye - continued its strong box office run. The romantic drama "Lovers of 6 Years" features KIM Ha-neul and YOON Kye-sang, and PARK Hyeon-jin directed.

In "The Devil's Game", YOON In-ho directs SIN Ha-gyoon and BYEON Hee-bong whose characters switch bodies. KIM Yeong-joon's drama "Last Present - 2007" stars SIN Hyeon-joon and HA Ji-won. HWANG Jeong-min plays the titular character in the drama "A Man Who Was Superman". JEON Ji-hyeon also stars and JEONG Yoon-cheol directed. RYOO Seung...| More

Week-long break boosts box office

Source | 2008/02/06 | Permalink |

The long Lunar New Year's holiday starts today, which spells good news for cinemas.
Holidays such as Lunar New Year and Chuseok, Korea's Thanksgiving, see a surge in ticket sales.
Megabox, one of Korea's largest movie theater chains, said the box office usually rises 10 percent during holidays.
Four Korean, one martial arts and one Hollywood film that opened last week will screen during the holidays this week.
Jeong Yoon-cheol's "A Man who was Superman" is one of the Korean choices. Jeong directed "Marathon" (2005) and "Shim's Family" (2007).
In Jeong's drama, Song Soo-jung (Jeon Ji-hyeon) is a documentary filmmaker, but life is not turning out well.
While she languishes in despair, a superman (Hwang Jeong-min) appears and helps her to take care of undone business.
If you fancy a thriller, check out Yoon In-ho's "The Devil's Game", starring Sin Ha-gyoon and Byeon Hee-bong.
One day Min Hee-do (Sin), a poor street artist, gets a strange phone call inviting him to a mysterious...| More

Ryoo Seung-beom and Kim Sa-rang bewitch audiences

Source | 2008/01/25 | Permalink |

"Radio Dayz" is a feel-good comedy set during the Japanese colonisation of Korea in the early 20th century and revolves around a group of radio employees who develop a radio drama that captures the heart of Korean audiences.
Ryoo Seung-beom ("Arahan", "Crying Fist") plays a laid-back and resourceful radio producer who decides to hire a writer for a radio drama format. However, the radio drama encounters numerous problems before it succeeds in captivating audiences.

A major problem is the character portrayed by KIM Sa-rang (Who Slept with Her ("Sexy Teacher")), a famous singer with star attitude, who – while broadcasting live – decides to create some more lines for herself whenever she feels she isn't quite in the spotlight; resulting in a plot turned upside down and everybody else confused.

KIM's character envies HWANG Bo-ra's character who has the female lead role in the radio drama. KO Ah-seong – the girl captured by the monster in "The Host" – plays a quirky girl who helps ...| More