Cinderella (2006) - 신데렐라 (Sin-de-rel-la)

11th Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival (PiFan)

2007/06/22 | Source | Permalink |

Korea's second-largest film event, the Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival (PiFan) is also Asia's top genre film fest. This year running July 12th to the 21st, the fantasy fueled fest will screen 215 films, opening with Korean director Hwang Kyoo-deok's supernatural romance "For Eternal Hearts" and closing with hit Indonesian thriller, Kala by Joko Anwar.

The festival's chief competition section Puchon Choice will present 10 features from Asia, Europe and the USA, including Korean independent film "Resurrection of the Butterfly" by KIM Min-sook. The 60-film World cinema section will screen films from around the globe including premiers of Korean films "Beautiful Sunday", Aseurai and Code of a Duel, the later two being DV works. Previous local releases "Texture of Skin" and "Cinderella" will also screen here, while Jang Jin's drama "A Day with My Son" and animated feature "Robot Taekwon V" (1976) will play in the Family section.

Each year PiFan also unearths treas...| More

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[DVD Review] "Ghost" ("Dead Friend") aka 'Ryung'

2007/06/18 | Source | Permalink |

Soggy horror film more appropriate for TV drama fans

Kyu Hyun Kim (qhyunkim)

Ji-won (Kim Ha-neul) is a college student stricken by selective amnesia due to a near-drowning experience. The missing memory seems to suggest that she was a close friend with another girl (Nam Sang-mi), but the details remain fuzzy. Meanwhile, her friends, members of a high school clique, are beginning to turn up as dead bodies.

Made in 2004, "Ghost" ("Dead Friend") represents the nadir of contemporary Korean horror cinema, ravaged by the strains of a PSC (Pointless Sadako Clone) virus and put together in such a slapdash manner that it might serve as an object lesson in how not to make a generic horror film. (Even the title is super-generic.)

The fact that director Kim Tae-kyeong's screenplay is an irritating hodgepodge of plot elements (and scare tactics) stolen wholesale from Nakata Hideo's "Dark Waters" and the most awfully disingenuous and hackneyed setups cribbed from TV dramas is certainly a...| More

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Horror debut drowns in stale images

2006/10/24 | Source | Permalink |

For many ambitious film directors in Korea, the genre of modern horror flicks has become something of an Aladdin's lamp, which they think of as a magical turning point in their cinematic careers able to certify their aesthetic taste with a single granted wish.
In fact the directors of "K-horrors" usually have a few things in common. Often they have never directed horror films before; somewhere in the special features section of their DVDs their commentary implies that horror was never their favorite genre; and their films make grand and sweeping statements about human psychological concerns such as jealousy, resentment and homoeroticism.
In the case of Bong Man-dae's "Cinderella", it's clear he pushed too hard to try to rehabilitate his reputation from that of a best-selling director of soft-porn adult videos to the only slightly more respectable genre of B-grade cult horror films.
It was a worth a try, I guess.
The film, though is flooded with tasteless lines and once again recycl...| More

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Child actors come of age in Korea

2006/09/25 | Source | Permalink |

Four years ago, a small boy moved the hearts of more than 4 million Koreans. He was Yoo Seung-ho, the young star of director Lee Jeong-hyang's movie "Jiburo", or "The Way Home" in English, a heartwarming story about a boy and his deaf-mute grandmother.
Seung-ho played the grandson in the movie, earning the title of "forever the young boy".
But four years have passed and the 10-year-old has grown up.
He will soon return to the cinema with a main role as a teenager whose only family is his dog "Maumy".
The film "Maumy" ("Heart is ..".) is coming to theaters late next month, but moviegoers are already excited to see their favorite boy actor coming back to screens, entertainment Web sites show.
It seems that he has gained a lot of teenage girl fans as well.
"He has a million-dollar smile", wrote "Ruelo" on the bulletin board of Interpark, a Web site for film ticketing. Another article posted by a female fan read, "He has grown up to become so handsome and so cute".
He was voted to b...| More

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On celluloid, plastic is murder

2006/08/29 | Source | Permalink |

Who would refuse to look beautiful if it could easily be done? All it takes, after all, is a knife, a talented doctor and a wad of cash.
Apparently, not many would refuse, particularly in Korea, where it's a badge of honor to be counted as an eoljjang ("face king", a person with a great face) or a momjjang ("body king").
A recent survey conducted by the movie magazine Movie Week found that 71 percent of its respondents said they would have plastic surgery if they could afford it. The magazine said its survey showed that plastic surgery was no longer just for celebrities, a point that would surprise few people here.
Chungmuro, the street in Seoul that houses Korea's biggest filmmakers and one of the most sensitive places to social changes in the country, didn't need a survey to know that plastic surgery is a big issue. Two films released this month revolve around the issue of cosmetic surgery, and another film to be released soon features a girl who succeeds in life after having plas...| More

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