Kang Woo-seok (강우석)

Son Ye-jin, Ko Soo to Bring Mystery Romance

Source | 2009/10/21 | 0 comments | Permalink |

By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter

Actor Ko Soo returns to the screen after a five-year hiatus in the melodramatic thriller "Baekyahaeng" ("White Night") opposite top stars Son Ye-jin and Han Seok-kyu.

"I suppose it was a short yet long period of time", said Ko about being off the public radar during a promotional event for the movie in Seoul, Wednesday, before its release in theaters next month. The 31-year-old, who had been a sweetheart among fans for popular TV soap roles ("Green Rose", SBS 2005), appeared in the play "The Return of Mr. Um" after completing his two-year mandatory military service.

"I read the script for `White Night' and was completely absorbed by the intriguing storyline", he said.

The film, based on the best-selling Japanese mystery novel of the same name ("Byakuyako" in Japanese) by Keigo Higashino, begins with a murder. When a man is brutally killed not long after being released from prison, detective Dong-su (Han) looks back into a homicide case that o...| More

Isn't that the train station from 'My Sassy Girl'?

Source | 2009/09/16 | 0 comments | Permalink |

Moviegoers and drama lovers flipping through photos of Incheon and may think certain places seem vaguely familiar. With beaches, islands, an amusement park, Chinatown and Korea's largest airport, it's no wonder this metropolitan city has established itself as a filming location for movies such as the recent Cannes favorite, "Thirst".

"There seem to be all kinds of interesting sites in Incheon", says Yook Sang-hyo, director of the 2004 film "Hi, Dharma 2: Showdown in Seoul". "The beautiful roads by the seaside and the busy ports make it possible for the city to be a great background for any kind of movie".

He's not kidding. According to the Incheon Film Commission, a total of 27 movies and dramas were filmed in various locations around Incheon in 2008. Thirst, for instance, found the perfect spot last year in a factory near Incheon International Airport.

But fans may also remember the locations of some popular hits from a while back.

One of the most famous on-screen sites in...| More

[ChanMi's movie news] New film, "Moss" stars Yoo Seon

Source | 2009/08/03 | 0 comments | Permalink |

Actress Yoo Seon is in Director Kang Woo-seok's new film, "Moss".

Yoo will be the character Lee Yeong-ji. Yoo Seon has a mysterious image and a great talent for acting so she will be perfect for the character Yeong-ji who has a lot of past and secrets.

Yoo Seon also said that she is honored to be part of the...| More

CJ Ent. Makes Waves at HK FILMART

Source | 2009/04/16 | 0 comments | Permalink |

The film sales arm of Korean major CJ Entertainment did brisk business at the Hong Kong FIILMART, closing deals on a slew of titles including pre-sales for its big-budget disaster film "Haeundae" going to Indonesia's VSG for rights over Malaysia, Singapore and home territory.

The Busan-set CGI driven film about a tsunami that hits the popular Korean beach resort of Haeundae, boasts a top cast of SEOL Kyeong-gu ("Oasis"), HA Ji-won ("Duelist"), PARK Joong-hoon ("Radio Star"), and UHM Jung-hwa ("Princess Aurora"). JK Youn (Yoon Je-kyoon - "Miracle on 1st Street") directs with Hollywood master Hans Ulrich (Star Wars 4 & 5, The Day After Tomorrow) supervising CGI.

"Haeundae" also sold to Indo Overseas along with KIM Ji-woon western "The Good, The Bad, The Weird" for India. CJ also sold KANG Woo-seok thriller "Public Enemy Returns" to Palisades Tartan for the US and UK, and JEON Yoon-soo's erotic period drama "Portrait of a Beauty" to UniArt for Japan. CJ also signed an agreemen...| More

'Our Town', Haven for a Serial Murderer

Source | 2009/03/01 | 0 comments | Permalink |

A clever thriller cannot quite overcome genre conventions

Kyu Hyun Kim (qhyunkim)

A gruesomely murdered body of a young woman is found hanging from an elementary school gym iron, in the form of a crucifix. Exhausted cop Jae-sin (Lee Seon-gyoon) realizes that a serial killer is lurking in his neighborhood: the victims range from an eight-year-old girl to a middle-aged businesswoman. He gets unexpected help from his game designer friend Kyung-joo (musical actor Oh Man-seok, popular from the Korean stage version of "Hedwig and the Angry Inch").

But nothing is what it seems: Kyung-joo drops in a stationary store run by child-like and strangely-named Hyo-yi (Ryoo Deok-hwan), and receives a text message that reads: "Sir, I know you are the murderer".

Korean filmmakers tend to have trouble portraying unapologetically evil characters, always making excuses for them in their sad backgrounds (a fate that befell, to be fair, even Hannibal Lecter) or turning them into cartoonish abstra...| More