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

"My Place" by Park Moon-chil'

No, you didn't miss a Day One report. My plane got in late last night so I missed the opening night festivities- not a big issue. As with any film festival, the highlight of JIFF is the films and I've set off running with three...More

The science fiction action flick "Oblivion" managed to hold onto first place in what was one of the year's quietest weekends at the box office. Tom Cruise's latest held down first with only 367,022 (30%), the lowest admissions count for first this year. Tom Cruise is a popular figure in Korea and, despite some close competition from Kang Woo-seok's "Fist of Legend", his latest representation was able to cling onto gold. "Oblivion" had 563 screens around the country from which to pool admissions from, and this past weekend saw it advance its total tally to 1,204,448...More

With around 180 million hits on his new song "Gentleman", the South Korean pop sensation Psy seemed to have instantly doused any knee-jerk reactions to him being a one-hit wonder. Riding off the back of his pervious global hit "Gangnam Style" (which has more the 1.5 billion views on YouTube), Psy has returned to ignite the world once more with his provocative satire and comical shenanigans.

While one may have thought that after his previous record-breaking effort, Psy may have perhaps been forced to compromise his style (to a certain degree), you know that very flamboyance and foolish charm that got him here in the first place. However, his manager Scooter Braun (who also pulls the strings on the young Mr. Bieber) seems to have played this one smart; allowing "Gentleman" to have just enough of an overlap with "Gangnam Style" to keep the interested and association strong in the public's eye: Same, Same...but Different?...More

Psy's new hit song "Gentleman" left me with some doubts as to how chivalrous the man really is...More

A drug deal has gone bad, and local gangsters find themselves unexpectedly pursued by big-name mafiosos from Busan. The police, spearheaded by detective Seong-Ju (played by Ko Soo), must reach deeper and deeper into an investigation that consists mainly of lots of driving. And throughout all of this, traffic reporter Yu-Jin (played by Song Ji-hyo) is having unsettling visions, as if she has lived this day before...More

Ae-Ryun (played by Lee Mi-yeon) is the proud new owner of a video rental store. She's an avid movie lover, and takes great joy in operating her shop to the most effective degree possible. Ae-Ryun doesn't just make sure that the decor, video system, and layout is perfect- she encourages her patrons to try out new, different, interesting movies that expand their horizons. Most of them have to be persuaded into this- except for Dong-Suk (played by Choi Woo-je), who's quite relieved to meet someone of Ae-Ryun's opinions running a video rental store...More

Korea's love for all things Tom Cruise proves itself once again this week as the Hollywood actor's new film "Oblivion" takes the top spot. The film is based off an unpublished graphic novel from the director Joseph Kosinski ("Tron: Legacy") and Arvid Nelson. Mr. Kosiniski said that the film pays homage to the 1970s and the science fiction films of that era. 530,069 (34%) admissions were enough for the film to hold first position over 638 screenings around the country. The film also stars Olga Kurylenko, Andrea Riseborough, Morgan Freeman, Melissa Leo, Zoë Bell, and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau. The sci-fi genre seems to fit Cruise's acting persona well and the thousands of Korean cinephiles that came out over the weekend to see him in action would not disagree...More