Lee Hyeong-gon (이형곤)

Jecheon Fest Highlights Music-themed Films

Source | 2007/08/03 | Permalink |

Between last summer and this summer, a number of musical and music-driven Korean films were released, defining an important new trend towards the genre for local audiences. This month the 3rd Jecheon International Music and Film Festival (JIMFF) showcases that trend, bringing 7 music-themed Korean features to the lakeside event in North Chungcheong province.

Highlighted are last summer's musicals, the kinky high-school comedy Dasepo Naughty Girls ("Dasepo Girl") by Lee Jae-yong in a new Director's Cut version, and "The Ghost Theater", a musical-fantasy by debut director JEON Kye-soo. From Fall '06 are LEE Joon-ik's "Radio Star", an uplifting drama about a fallen rock star (PARK Joong-hoon) who finds fulfillment and fame on the radio, and the "The Fox Family" a full-tilt musical and the feture debut of screenwriter LEE Hyeong-gon.

From the winter of 2007 are two music-themed hits about personal transformation, the extremely successful "200 Pounds Beauty", starring KIM Ah-joon...| More

[DVD Review]Foxes have atrocious pick-up lines

Source | 2007/05/14 | Permalink |

In a way, "The Fox Family" embraces the true spirit of the musical as a marginalized art form. The film is a musical parody about a family of nine-tailed foxes, the supernatural characters from ancient Korean mythology. It begins with a comic tone by featuring the characters as social minorities who are desperately trying to become like other people. The foxes strut and dance on the streets of Seoul with homeless alcoholics and a demented old lady who has been abandoned by her children. And there are the scenes of the fox family running a circus in which they scare the hell out of local children by splashing blood everywhere.
The family's efforts to adjust to the life of human beings in an alien city has a specific purpose. They need to get hold of a fresh human liver and eat it before their 1,000th birthdays, in order to become human.
Perhaps, in practice, the director reveals the premise of the film too quickly. The film stresses the precious value of life, even if it is accompan...| More

Movies for Long Chusok Holiday

Source | 2006/10/04 | Permalink |

By Kim Tae-jong
Staff Reporter

To celebrate the Chusok holiday, millions of people are expected to hit the roads to their hometowns enduring severe traffic congestion. But with longer leaves from work this year, many people will also be spending the holiday at theaters.

"As the holiday is longer than ever, we expect to have more moviegoers, maybe double the average", said Kim Min-ji, PR analyst at CJ CGV, the nation's biggest multiplex theater chain. "Since the lineup seems quite attractive, we think there are many people who will visit theaters more than twice during the holiday".

As Chusok is traditionally one of the most lucrative seasons for the film industry, many films have been released to attract holidaymakers. Local theaters are holding various events along with offering discounts.

About 10 movies are now showing at theaters, and most of them are Korean movies. If you are not sure what to see, here is some information on the movies showing.

Maundy Thursday ("Ou...| More

Chuseok comedies and other film fare

Source | 2006/09/27 | Permalink |

Theaters are being filled with an abundance of new movies a week before the Chuseok harvest holiday.
"Our Happy Time", starring Kang Dong-won and Lee Na-young, premiered two weeks ago and brought in about 1.2 million viewers during its first week of release.
Last week, six films in all, including two comedies ("Marrying the Mafia III" and "Moodori"), were released. The film industry follows a rule of thumb that comedies are the most successful type of film at the box office in holiday seasons; many are wondering if this will again be true this year.
The quintessential movie that follows this rule of thumb is "Marrying the Mafia III", directed by Jeong Yong-ki, which debuted Thursday. It is the sequel to the hit of the same name released at about this time last year,
"Marrying the Mafia III" went into production soon after its predecessor passed the 5-million viewer mark.
But looking at the quality of the sequel, it seems to be a repetition of the comedic moments of the original mo...| More