Kam Woo-seong (감우성)

Christmas blues besiege three Korean actresses

2007/12/26 | Source | Permalink |

Kim Tae-hee, Han Ye-seul and Choi Kang-hee enjoy similarly enviable public recognition as attractive actresses. But they are going through a similarly gloomy Christmas holiday.

The three actresses are now competing at the box office, jockeying for a position in the usually crowded year-end holiday season. But their films are struggling to gain a foothold in terms of ticket sales.

Kim Tae-hee, who plays a tough housewife clashing with her husband in Han Ji-seung's latest comic drama "Venus and Mars" (Ssaum), is dealing with the second lackluster public reception in as many big-screen attempts. Last year, she joined the 10 billion won ($10.6 million) film project "The Restless", which tanked at the box office with a mere 1 million tickets sold.

Released on Dec. 12, "Venus and Mars" sold about 320,000 tickets in two weeks. The film had drawn keen interest as director Han, a leading filmmaker known for his sophisticated style, has taken the helm, and equally famous actor Seol Kyeo...| More

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Hollywood Adventure & Korean Romantic Movies

2007/12/21 | Source | Permalink |

Time now to check on the week's new movies.
From Hollywood comes a fantasy based on a bestselling novel and as for domestic fare we have a cheeky story about a very confident woman.
Here is Lee Jeewon.
We begin this week with "The Golden Compass", based on a bestselling and award-winning book of the same title.
The book is the first of author Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy set in an alternative world where people's souls appear as demons.
The epic story begins when a teenage girl named Lyra tries to rescue a friend kidnapped by a mysterious organization.
Newcomer Dakota Blue Richards stars as the main character playing alongside screen heavyweights, including Nicole Kidman.

Now if you're a fan of Han Yeseul you can't miss the next film "Miss Gold Digger".
Han plays Sin Misoo, a successful career woman with looks, skills and the determination to get any guy she wants.
Misoo can turn into just about any man's dream girl and she proves it by going out with four m...| More

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"My Love" Is Loathsomely Sweet

2007/12/20 | Source | Permalink |

By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter

"My Love" is a montage film that weaves together four different love stories like the popular romantic comedy "Love Actually". If the British flick is like a mosaic of thoughts on love, this homegrown family drama is more like a hand-knit scarf ― fuzzy, warm and a bit tickly. Those who are in the mood for something sappy will love it, whereas humbugs will find it loathsomely sweet.

Set during summertime, "My Love" brings together characters from different parts of Seoul in time for a solar eclipse. Ju-won (Choi Kang-hee) is an eccentric ― and slightly sadistic ― artist who takes pleasure in teasing her subway engineer boyfriend Se-jin (Kam Woo-seong): At one point, a wardrobe malfunction has poor Se-jin standing, boxers-exposed, while giving Ju-won a piggyback in the subway. A few years later, Ju-won has left him, but he discovers that traces of their love remain.

For college student So-hyeon (Lee Yeon-hee), it was love at fir...| More

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[MOVIE REVIEW] 'My Love' nowhere near 'Love Actually'

2007/12/13 | Source | Permalink |

"My Love" attempts to mimic the famous romantic comedy formula set by "Love Actually" (2003), and the effort itself deserves some attention because the Christmas holiday season is just around the corner, and young Korean couples are keen to watch sweet, feel-good films with the snow falling.

"My Love" has some common grounds with "Love Actually". Obviously, as the title suggests, its target audiences as well as screening time are already set at around the year-end. Both films present multiple couples. But that's the end of the tenuous similarities, and everything else in "My Love" is dramatically inferior to those featured in "Love Actually".

In fact, Lee Han, who has directed "My Love", has some credentials when it comes to romantic comedy in the domestic film market. He previously made romantic features such as "Lovers' Concerto" (2002) and "Almost Love" (2006). But Lee is not Richard Curtis, a master of romantic comedy who made "Love Actually" and wrote "Four Weddings and a Fu...| More

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Seasonal Movies Come to Screen

2007/12/11 | Source | Permalink |

By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter

The winter holiday season is here, with decorative lights warming up the nippy evenings and carol tunes flowing out from record shops ― and of course, colorful movie posters adorning the faces of movie theaters. Here are several films to complete the year-end celebration.

"My Love"

Popular actors convene in this warm drama, which pieces together different love stories in the tradition of "Love Actually".

Subway engineer Se-jin (Kam Woo-seong) is madly in love with his free-spirited and spontaneous girlfriend, Ju-won (Choi Kang-hee), but his deep affection for her makes him feel increasingly insecure.

College student So-hyeon (Lee Yeon-hee) makes a big move on her love interest Ji-wu (Jeong Il-woo), by asking him to teach her the art of drinking.

Su-jeong (Lim Jeong-eun) is constantly rejected by Jeong-seok, a copywriter and widowed dad. But despite the damage to her pride, she perseveres.

Tree-hugging activist Jin-man (Eom Tae-...| More

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