Shim Hye-jin (심혜진)

'Delivering Love' ("Beyong All Magic") Doesn't Come Through

2008/06/12 | Source | Permalink |

By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter

Cinema allows artistry to soar high and far, allowing reality to mix freely with products of far-fetched imagination. However, there exists a marked difference between being surreal and just plain baffling. While visually pleasing, "Delivering Love" ("Beyong All Magic"), the directorial debut of Jo Nam-ho, is, unfortunately, the latter. The movie thoroughly disappoints, particularly since it stars some of South Korea's biggest actresses like Shim Hye-jin and Kim Soo-mi.

Unfolding in a rural village with scenic fruit plantations and quaint traditional houses, the film is a visual delight. A painter character does wonders to an old truck and other mundane spaces. But the film fails to keep the narrative on track and viewers will ultimately find themselves lost. If not, then you will be most likely be distracted by the intolerably cliched and corny script, which breaks the flow of the drama by inspiring giggles at all the wrong moments.

Nam-hui (Sh...| More

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Korean movies leap into box-office fray

2008/05/29 | Source | Permalink |

In late April, Iron Man arrived in the Korean cinema, smashing the box office into very profitable pieces. In mid-May, Prince Caspian took the baton and kept up the pressure on Korean competitors. Last weekend, whip-wielding Indy joined the Hollywood-only party, roped in plenty of movie tickets sales.

The bombardment of Hollywood films dragged down the share of Korean films to a record low. But the bleak development was widely predicted since only a couple of new Korean releases were made. June might be slightly different, as eight Korean movies are set for release.

"Girl Scout", directed by Kim Sang-man, will hit theaters on June 5, featuring well-known actors such as Kim Seon-ah, Nah Moon-hee, Lee Kyeong-sil. The film will test whether the audiences still have an appetite for a chase-the-money drama with fewer funny moments than publicized.

Waiting in line for the June 12 release are four Korean films: "Life is Cool", "Beyond All Magic", "Spare" and "Like Father, Like Son". ...| More

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Nantes Fest Names Korean Best Actress

2007/11/28 | Source | Permalink |

Actress and traditional music singer Oh Jeong-hae has received best actress honors at a French film festival for her role in "Beyond the Years".

The film's production company says it received the news from the Festival of Three Continents, which was held in Nantes and ended Tuesday.

Previous Korean best actress awardees at Nantes include Kang Soo-yeon in 1988 for "The Surrogate Woman", Shim Hye-jin in 1990 for "Black Republic" and Choi Myung-gil in '94 for "La Vie en Rose".

Oh played a blind traditional music singer in director Im Kwon-taek's one hundredth film, "Beyond the Years".

Reported by KBS WORLD Radio ...| More

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Hit movies revisit audiences as musicals

2007/06/18 | Source | Permalink |

Creating a new catch phrase "moviecal boom" in the country's entertainment industry, a number of musicals based on hit movies will be staged in the coming months. Smash-hit Korean movies, including "200 Pounds Beauty", "Singles", "Love So Divine", "My Love My Bride" and "The Parade of the Youth", are a few examples among many moviecals already announced for a rebirth on stage. The moviecal boom doesn't stop there. Older hit movies like "The Gingko Bed" (1995), which starred Han Seok-kyu and Shim Hye-jin, "The Harmonium In My Memory" (1999), featuring Lee Byeong-heon and Jeon Do-yeon, winner of this year's Canne Film Festival, and internationally acclaimed director Im Kwon-taek's "The General's Son (1990)" are also to be staged next year.

Among a number of moviecals, the musical adaptation of the movie "200 Pounds Beauty", is already grabbing media attention in and out of the country. The movie based on a transformation story of an extremely fat singer produced an impressive box-offi...| More

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"Family Ties" ("The Birth of a Family") Wins Top Prize at Home

2007/06/12 | Source | Permalink |

The nation's oldest film awards ceremony, the Grand Bell Awards, gave its top prize to low-key hybrid-family-drama "Family Ties" ("The Birth of a Family") , directed by KIM Tae-yong. The film, which has toured a number of international film festivals winning the top prize at the International Thessaloniki Film Festival in Greece, also picked up a Grand Bell Best Screenplay award. The win was a happy surprise after many expected last summer's
blockbuster The Host to take top honors. "The Host" did however snatch up a Best Director award for BONG Joon-ho and Best Editing for KIM Sun-min.

Actress KIM Ah-Joong, whose fame is spreading like wildfire across south-east Asia, picked up the Best Actress award for her lead in the cutting-comedy "200 Pounds Beauty". The sleeper-hit also took away the Best Cinematography and Best Music awards for PARK Hyun-cheol and LEE Jae-hak respectively. Veteran star AHN Seong-gi received a Best Actor prize for his role in "Radio Star". "Tazza: Th...| More

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