Shu Qi (舒淇 (서기))

Choi Min-soo to Co-Star With De Niro

Source | 2008/03/18 | Permalink |

By Cathy Rose A. Garcia
Staff Reporter

Korean actor Choi Min-soo will co-star alongside Hollywood stars Robert De Niro and Andy Garcia in the up-coming film "Street of Dreams", Yonhap news reported Tuesday.

"Street of Dreams" is a 40 billion won co-production between US-based FR Productions, Korea's Hyun Jin Cinema and Japan's Wides Japan. It will be produced by Fred Roos, whose credits include "The Godfather: Part II" and "The Godfather: Part III".

Hyun Jin Cinema has produced Korean films such as "Holiday" and "My Wife is a Gangster 3".

"Street of Dreams" is based on the true story of Montana Joe, a legendary Japanese-American gangster in the 1940s. In the film, Choi will play the role of Montana's Korean friend, Eddie. This will be Choi's first Hollywood film, having appeared in several Korean films such as "Holiday" and "Sword in the Moon".

FR Productions said De Niro has been cast as an Italian mafia leader. De Niro, who has won two Academy Awards, is known for mem...| More

[DVD review]Third wife fails to give any pleasure

Source | 2007/04/18 | Permalink |

There is undeniably a guilty pleasure in turning off one's brain and soaking up a mindless action/comedy, but sometimes a movie is so pointless, mind-numbing and idiotic that it not only makes you want to demand a refund, it also inspires the desire to somehow be reimbursed for the two hours of your life that were wasted.
"My Wife is a Gangster 3", the third (yes, the THIRD) installment of this declining franchise, successfully evokes the latter emotion as it takes the thinnest of storylines and combines it with a cliched comic premise, to produce a painful-to-watch piece of cinematic trash that should have you running back to the video store in search of something that at least pretends to be a decent film.
This is an action movie in which the running time seems to be a lot longer than the plot, so thin is the premise. The film does have the undeniably striking triad gang member Aryong, played by Taiwanese actress Shu Qi (of 2002's "The Transporter"), who is sent to Seoul from Hong ...| More

Actresses Dominate on Big Screen

Source | 2007/02/20 | Permalink |

By Kim Tae-jong
Staff Reporter


The stars of actresses are shining brighter than those of their male counterparts in local films.

It's not only their physical beauty, but also the range of different characters they play that have been attracting moviegoers and better box office results.

Obviously, the movie-going audience now wants to have more choice than the gangster films, which male actors tend to dominate. But also, actresses have proved they are not just the pretty girlfriend of a leading male character any more.

One of the actresses leading the "female wave" in the big screen is Kim Ah-joong.

She has successfully completed her first "heavy" role in her latest film, "200 Pounds Beauty", which sold over 6 million tickets nationwide. In this film version of "The Ugly Duckling", Kim had to become her ugliest, a role which most actresses would avoid.

During the hot summer season, she wore special makeup all over her body which took four hours to apply; a makeover ...| More

Mafia Wife

Source | 2006/12/28 | Permalink |

Those who have been exposed to numerous gangster movies might respond to the film "My Wife Is a Gangster 3" to be released today in either of the following way. "Boy, a gangster movie again? I'm sick and tired of the g-word", or, "Now I'm feeling affinity to even gangsters I bump into on the streets".

"My Wife Is a Gangster" drew a slew of viewers nationwide in 2001. Over the next five years, it gave birth to two sequels. The following are the three features that separate the third film from the two previous ones.

No wife, just a voluptuous gangster-

In the two previous films, Cha Eun-jin (by Sin Eun-kyeong), the main character, was a wife as well as a gangster. But Lim Aryeong (by Shu Qi), the main character of the third film, is neither a gangster nor a wife. She is just an only daughter of a Hong Kong crime boss. Facing threats from a conflict with a rival gang, Aryeong flees to Korea, her mother's homeland. She is protected in Korea by Gi-cheol (by Lee Beom-soo), the numbe...| More

My Wife 3' Spins in Different Orbit

Source | 2006/12/28 | Permalink |

By Kim Tae-jong
Staff Reporter

The new gangster comedy "My Wife Is a Gangster 3" (Chopok Manura 3) is not a successful sequel. It lacks connections to its two predecessors.

But as a totally new story, it spins in a separate orbit and produces a reasonable amount of humor and jokes that are enjoyable throughout the film.

Directed by Jo Jin-kyoo, the new movie revolves around Aryong (played by Shu Qi), who flees to Seoul because her father's gang is engaged in a conflict with another gang in Hong Kong.

When she arrives, Ki-chul (Lee Beom-soo) and his gang take care of her without knowing her real identity.

As they live in the same house, the gang first tries to show off how manly and brave they are to the elegant Hong Kong woman and teach her a lesson. However, they later find out that she is not just a pretty girl but a martial arts master, who can easily kick the men's butts.

The story evolves in a predictable direction, but that is not a problem because it is funny....| More