HanCinema's Korean Blog - Korea's Diary, Pictures, Reviews

After the mysterious death of her father on her 18th birthday, India Stoker (Mia Wasikowska) is introduced to the uncle she never knew existed. The funeral comes and goes; yet her mother (Evelyn played by Nicole Kidman) is still adamant in keeping Uncle Charlie (Matthew Goode) around for emotional support at their large country estate. India herself is a creepy young woman who wouldn't look out of place in the Adam's Family. She regards her handsome and chivalrous uncle with strong suspicion and silently contemplates his motives and timely appearance in her life. The young teenager's relationship with her father was strong (mostly remember and cherished through flashbacks of their hunting trips together) and overshadowed/marginalised her connection to her mother. As India watches Charlie and Evelyn's relationship become increasingly inappropriately, the dark echoes of her family history take hold and develops into a frightening new chapter for her and her kin...More

It's been fifteen years since the apparent murder of a young child. Detective Chang-Ho (played by Kim Sang-kyeong) discovers something astonishing at an emotionally charged location- a place only known by himself, the child's mother, and the the girl's kidnapper. With this, a race quickly begins to try and apprehend the criminal before the statute of limitations run out...More

What really makes "Happiness for Sale" stand out is the excellent camerawork and set design. From the very beginning, we're treated to a lovely artistic rendition of what the titular stationary shop looks like. But even before we get there, the camera has informed us about the bedraggled nature of Mi-Na's life nearly as much as actress Choi Kang-hee's own acting has. The sets are packed with interesting background details that go by just too fast for us to appreciate them- just as Mi-Na is too bedraggled to notice anything except what, at that particular moment, gets her the most disproportionately angry...More

"Iron Man 3" once again defended its place at the top of the Korean box office, but this time there were a few new entries to help spread the wealth around. Marvel's metal magician added 1,039,876 (58.22%) admissions to its reign, moving it onto a total ticket count of 7.5M and to second in the list of Korea's highest grossing films of the year. Song Hae-seong sixth feature "Boomerang Family" and the new DreamWorks animation "The Croods" were among the some of more successful new releases that hit Korean cinemas this past weekend...More

Marvel's metal magician is in its third week in Korea and fans are still throwing money at the screen to catch Tony Stark's latest outing. The previous "Iron Man" films performed admirably at the Korean box office (each claiming around 4.5 million admissions), and this latest instalment is fast approaching 7 million admissions and has yet to see any challengers to its iron crown. It's no real surprise that the film has dominated proceedings, especially considering the massive success of "The Avengers" last year, which snatched 7 million tickets itself in Korea alone. "Iron Man 3" has also been heavily marketing and promoted in Korea. Its lone star, Robert Downey Jr., did some serious PR in Korea, the cinema houses have allocated an extremely large number of screenings to the film, even Korean franchises such as Paris Baguette have been getting in on the action with themed cakes and packaging!...More

When director In-Mo (played by Park Hae-il) finds himself at the end of his professional rope, he reluctantly finds himself beckoned toward home. There he awkwardly accepts the kindness of his ever-patient mother (played by Yoon Yeo-jeong). His older brother Han-Mo (played by Yoon Je-moon) and younger sister Mi-Yeon (played by Kong Hyo-jin) have barely grown up themselves, even though all of them are now well into middle age.

At its best, "Boomerang Family" depicts the rather sad realization that family dynamics never really change. Han-Mo would seem like an ill-suited older brother, given that he lives at home and has a big, lazy pot belly, but he still bullies his younger brother around and acts as if he's responsible for his siblings' well-being...More

Jong-Woo (played by Sin Ha-gyoon) is a poor, beleagured taxi driver with a bad attitude, understandable given the kind of clients he has to deal with. So when one night, a polite, well-dressed man offers an outrageous sum of money to rent the taxi for an extended period, Jong Woo doesn't ask any questions, though he does make rather cheerful and inappropriate conversation with his uninterested charge. It's difficult to blame Jong-Woo for this, given that it takes him some time to realize that he is not the protagonist of a low-brow comedy, but of an action-packed thriller...More