Ha Jeong-woo (하정우)

Korean movie "Thirst" and "Mother - 2009" [CJ Entertainment]

Some of the biggest names in the South Korean film industry, as well as its most noted productions, have been nominated in multiple categories at this year's Hollywood-based Green Globe Film Awards.

According to the event's official webpage, a number of Korea's top movie stars and films will compete in this year's "International Film Awards Theme: Asia" segment of the event which recognizes movies, actors and directors in the Eastern region of the globe.

Noteworthy nominees include Song Kang-ho for film "Thirst", Ha Jeong-woo for "Take Off" and Kim Myeong-min for "Closer to Heaven" in the category for best international actor...More

Director Bong Joon-ho's movie "Mother - 2009" (2009) continues to receive favorable reviews at international festivals abroad.

A thriller about a mother's quest to free her handicapped son from a false charge of murder was recently awarded the Best East Meets West Cinema Award at the 25th Santa Barbara International Film Festival in the United States in mid-February.

The movie already won two other international awards last year: for the best screenplay in the Asia-Africa film category at the 6th Dubai International Festival (Dec. 9 - 16) in the United Arab Emirates and the Signis Grand Prix (granted by the World Catholic Association for Communication) at the Mar del Plata International Film Festival in Argentina (Nov. 7-15).

At the above-mentioned Argentine film festival, "Mother - 2009" was praised "For being a complete work, which explores what a mother is capable of doing when she is determined to protect her son. The director questions...More

By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter

It somehow feels like doing math homework using a history book, with rock music blasting in the background. The seed idea of "Parallel Life" was catchy but the tree that grew from it ended up being a tangled mess.

First-time director Kwon Ho-young draws on the idea that history repeats itself. Case in point: former U.S. Presidents Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy were elected to the senate in 1846 and 1946, respectively, and then the presidency in 1860 and 1960. Their assassinations both took place on a Friday, in a Ford Theater and a century later in a Ford car. Their assassins were born a century apart, in 1839 and 1939.

The film is set in modern-day Korea, and opens with a cancer-stricken academic (Oh Hyeon-kyeong) vehemently arguing in favor of the parallel lives theory....More

"Old Partner" director Lee Chung-ryoul (left) and producer Ko Young-jae at the 7th Max Movie Awards on February 9, 2010. [Asia Economic Daily]

Korean documentary "Old Partner" won the trophy for best picture at the 7th Max Movie Awards on Tuesday.

"Partner" also took the prize for best movie poster at the annual event, which hands out its awards based on a survey on movie fans. A total 753,277 people participated in the survey conducted from January 5 through February 2 this year.

The acclaimed indie film -- which attracted over three million viewers in Korea during its limited theatrical release -- is about an old farmer couple and their lifelong friendship with an old partner, a 40-year-old ox....More

Actors Lee Jong-hyuk (left) and Ji Jin-hee of "Parallel Life" [Lee Jin-hyuk/10Asia]

If your life was exactly the same as someone else's from the past, what would you do? Is it a blessing or a curse -- without having to ride a time machine back in time -- to be able to know what your future holds for you by looking at someone else's life? The film "Parallel Life" begins with an anecdote about U.S. presidents Lincoln and Kennedy. Like the two presidents who lived very similar lives but existed 100 years apart, character Kim Seok-hyun (played by Ji Jin-hee) -- who is the youngest person to be appointed chief prosecuting attorney -- becomes increasingly aware that he is caught up in the whirlwind of the parallel theory. Every circumstance surrounding him runs exactly the same as they did for judge Han Sang-joon, whose entire family was murdered thirty years ago, and hence begins the mind games of Kim Seok-hyun who tries to protect his family....More