Kim Yoon-ah (김윤아)

'Wonder' Explores Nostalgic Realm of Teen Years

Source | 2007/06/14 | Permalink |

By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter

A small gem of a film with subdued charms, "The Wonder Years" portrays the peculiarities of adolescence with a keen eye. The family drama brings to life endearing characters as it intricately weaves together the mundane, comical and dramatic aspects of everyday life.

Sullen and silently rebellious, 13-year-old Su-ah (Lee Se-yeong) is about to enter junior high school. Her mother, Yeong-ju (Choo Sang-mi), widowed and desperately trying to make ends meet by running an eatery, does not have much time to tend to Su-ah's hushed dilemmas.

Each day is uneventful but life is otherwise good, until the two lose their restaurant which doubled as their house and are forced to move in with Yeong-ju's friend. Feeling misplaced and ostracized by her friends, Su-ah has nowhere to go -- except one place.

Her father's diary reveals that her idol, star singer Yun Seol-yeong (Kim Yoon-ah, lead vocal of rock band Jaurim) is her real mother. As Su-ah ventures off t...| More

Happy Marriage of Musicals, Cinema?

Source | 2007/03/06 | Permalink |

By Chung Ah-young
Staff Reporter


Are musicals and cinema friends or foes? It may all depend on how you look at it.

The symbiotic relationship between the two genres has been already tested between Broadway and Hollywood.

Broadway and the West End have successfully produced musicals such as "Beauty and the Beast" and "The Lion King" in 1990, based on Disney movies.

The Korean musical industry is now also looking to translate hit films into musicals, making the best use of the boom in the local musical scene.

"Movical", a combination word consisting of "movie and musical", is emerging as a Korean slang buzzword on the local musical scene.

The interaction between the two industries dates back to a local film, "Waikiki Brothers", (2001) directed by Lim Soon-rye, which was adapted for the stage in 2004.

This year, about five or six musicals based on films will be staged.

"Innoscent Steps", a film starring actress Moon Geun-yeong and actor Park Geon-hyeong in 2005,...| More

4 Musicians to Produce Quality Sounds

Source | 2006/09/04 | Permalink |

By Chung Ah-young
Staff Reporter

A concert has a double meaning for music fans _ both live music and an extravagant entertainment show.

However, some artists are returning to the basics in music by making good sounds for the audience, rather than visual entertainment shows.

The project concert titled "Audiologie", a new concept combining "audio", and "ideologie" featuring four musicians in a relay is designed to produce excellent music through the high-profile artists' performances throughout September and October.

The four musicians are R&B ballad diva Park Jung-hyun, jazz pianist Kim Kwang-min, pop ballad vocalist Yoon Jong-shin and rock band Jaurim.

The concert will run at the Theater Yong in the National Museum of Korea in Seoul for 16 days in relay. The concert is the first pop concert to be held by the theater since it opened in 2005.

Visitors will be able to indulge themselves in a variety of music genres such as R&B, pop, rock and instrumental sorts under the...| More

'Bang' Has Pop But Lacks Explanation

Source | 2005/02/03 | Permalink |

By Joon Soh
Culture Editor

Whether intended or not, the new local film "The President's Last Bang" has certainly created a sensation in the past month. Based on the 1979 assassination of President Park Chung-hee, the news of the film's production was met with opposition from conservatives and from Park Ji-man, the president's son, taking legal action to prevent its release.

The film now finds itself at the heart of a debate on freedom of speech, with the cultural world banding together to voice their anger over the court's decision to disallow the use of documentary footage in the otherwise fictional film.

Given the political controversy that "Last Bang" has stirred up, it will be difficult to separate the movie from the politics. And the film doesn't make it any easier, mixing fiction and reality and constantly flipping back and forth between thriller and black comedy.

As the film's sardonic _ and unfortunately sexual _ English title shows, "Last Bang" doesn't quite tak...| More

Film on President Park's assassination in dispute

Source | 2005/02/01 | Permalink |

"The President's Last Bang", directed by Lim Sang-soo, is igniting heated disputes over its sensitive content involving the assassination of Korea's late president Park Chung-hee.

It's not just its English title that is provocative (Im hasn't explained why he came up with the name) but also the way it was presented to the press as well as a legal wrangling with Park's son.

With a horde of bodyguards protecting the Yongsan CGV cinema, the film's premier last week revealed some controversial footage, portraying Park as a leader who often speaks in fluent Japanese with his lieutenants in the Blue House and engages in not-so-graceful drinking parties.

Conservative politicians and a group of people who still remember Park as a "respectable leader" that pulled the nation out of poverty with his aggressive economic development drive during the 1960-70s, are sharply criticizing the movie and its producers.

Baik Yoon-sik plays the KCIA director who assassinated President Park Chung-...| More