Natural City (2003) - 내츄럴 시티

'The Host' Is Viciously Smart

2006/08/25 | Source | Permalink |

Monster film devours Korean and U.S. competitors

Kyu Hyun Kim (qhyunkim)

One particular scene in "The Host" in retrospect almost looks like a commentary on the film's box office prowess. A young woman is enjoying a relaxed moment in the sunny Han River citizen's park, her ears covered by headphones. She is totally oblivious to other visitors madly dashing past her, eyes popping out of their sockets and screaming until their lungs burst. WHAM! A thing that looks like a gigantic tadpole with malformed legs and a hungry, lamprey mouth stomps her, like an SUV with a Texas license plate squishing an armadillo. She and other panicked Seoulites, some of whom will end up inside the monster's belly before the movie gets past its first fifteen minutes, might as well be standing for "The Host's" competitors.

As of mid-August 2006, this ungainly but dexterous beastie hopped past the awe-inspiring ten-million-ticket threshold in record time (21 days, compared to the previous box-office cha...| More

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Off-Key 'Cello' a Far Cry From Classic Horror

2005/08/18 | Source | Permalink |

By Philip Dorsey Iglauer

Cars are nearly as dangerous as musical instruments in "Cello," billed as this summer's last silver screen scream.

Where usually character development or plot is used to thrill or spook, the summer's horror flick finale tries to invoke screams through deafening bursts of horror movie music by Lee Han-na. Though the some scenes caused a jolt, or were at times shocking, genuine horror movie shrieks never came.

In the not-so-scary "Cello," evil seems to lack a will to kill, because aside from a tenuous revenge motive, the murdering musical instrument is pretty much without a purpose. Yes, it is true. In the horror movies it shouldn't really matter, but this one took too many liberties with the genre.

"Cello" is the unintentional third in this Summer's shock-horror trinity of possessed inanimate objects _ "Red Shoes" and "Wig" "Scary Hair" being the other two _ only this one was a bit disappointing.

"Right after watching the film, now that I think ab...| More

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The 25th Oporto International Film Festival invites a total of 10 Korean films

2005/01/09 | Source | Permalink |

'Oseam' by director Seong Baek-yeob and 'My dolling' by director Jeong Yong-ki were selected as additional invitation films of The 25th Oporto International Film Festival to be held in Oporto, Portugal, from Feb. 21 through Mar. 6.

Accordingly, Korean films to be screened for this Film Festival have totaled 10 films including 'Old Boy', 'Natural City', 'Wonderful Days', 'Sword In the Moon', 'Bunshinsaba Ouiju Board', 'Fighter In the Wind' and so forth.

Based on a fairytale by Jung Chae-bong, 'Oseam' tells the story of two orphaned siblings.
Gami is a young blind girl who has had to take on a mother-figure for her 5 year old brother, Gilson. An intelligent and highly observant boy who has very much become the eyes for his sister, but to say he's hyperactive would be an understatement.

With nowhere to go and winter coming they stumble upon two monks who take them to their temple to stay. Gami takes to the life with her normal serene manner, but the peaceful temple is in for...| More

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The 25th Oporto International Film Festival invites 8 Korean movies in large numbers

2004/12/21 | Source | Permalink |

The 25th Oporto International Film Festival to be held from Feb. 21 through Mar. 6, 2005 in Oporto, Portugal, has invited in large numbers 8 Korean movies such as 'Fighter in the Wind', 'Natural City', 'The Sword in the Moon', and 'A Vital Activity' etc.

Besides, 'Bunshinsaba', 'Wonderful Days', and 'Old boy' etc. are invited to this International Film Festival.
The Oporto International Film Festival, now going to its 25th edition, specialises in fantasy and science-fiction films in its Official Competitive section.

This Festival also includes the 15th New Directors Week with an Official Competition and a Retrospective section. The Festival runs now in 5 theatres (2,600 seats altogether ) and screens nearly new 200 feature films each year.

The press coverage of the Festival is made by all the most important Portuguese newspapers, radio stations and television networks and by foreign specialised press. This allows press dossiers of about 5000 clippings every year and represe...| More

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Korean Movies Invited to Portuguese Film Festival

2004/12/21 | Source | Permalink |

Eight Korean movies, including "My Mother, the Mermaid" by director Park Heung-sik, have been invited to the 25th Oporto International Film Festival to be held in Oporto, Portugal, Feb. 21 through Mar. 6, 2005.

According to Kim Ji-seok, a programmer of the Pusan International Film Festival, eight Korean movies, such as "Mermaid", "BunshinSaba" (Ahn Byong-ki), "Sword in the Moon" (Kim Ui-seok), "Wonderful Days" (Kim Moon-saeng), "Fighter in the Wind" (Yang Yoon-ho), "Old Boy" (Park Chan-wook), "Arahan" (Ryoo Seung-wan), and "Natural City" (Min Byeong-cheon), have been invited to the international film festival in Portugal. A list of invitees for divisional competitions will be announced later.

Meanwhile, the movie "Productive Activities" (Oh Jeom-kyun) has been invited to the international competition division of the 14th Flickerfest International Short Film Festival to be held in Sydney, Australia, Jan. 7-15, 2005, to compete for the best picture award, or Coopers Award....| More

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