Kim Sang-ho (김상호)

"The Show Must Go on" Wins Blue Dragon Award

2007/11/24 | Source | Permalink |

Director Han Jae-rim's "The Show Must Go On" has won the domestic award for best picture.

At the 28th Blue Dragon Film Awards Friday, the movie's lead actor Song Kang-ho also won best actor. Jeon Do-yeon won best actress for her performance in "Secret Sunshine". Earlier in May, the actress won the best actress award at the Cannes Film Festival for her role in the film.

The best director award went to Heo Jin-ho for "Happiness".

Kim Sang-ho was named best supporting actor for his role in "The Happy Life" and Nah Moon-hee best supporting actress for her role in "Cruel Winter Blues".

The awards are the nation's version of Hollywood's Oscars.

Reported by KBS WORLD Radio ...| More

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[MOVIE REVIEW] Upbeat spin on Korean men

2007/08/30 | Source | Permalink |

For the family. For the company. For the future. There is almost always some excuse for not doing something that we really want to do. We proudly call it "sacrifice" that is necessary for our happiness. After all, our true wishes will be realized some day if we gladly persevere present suffering.

The only embarrassing truth is that such a dream-come-true, suffering-well-endured day never comes for working-class people who are often forced to confront one painful challenge after another.

"The Happy Life", directed by Lee Joon-ik ("The King and the Clown" and "Radio Star") starts off to a slow start, toying with the idea of the sadness and loneliness that grip middle-aged Korean men beset by a variety of troubles at home and in the workplace.

Worse, Ki-young (Jeong Jin-yeong) does not have a workplace to complain about. He's laid off from a financial company and has to get by on just 10 bucks a day, a meager allowance from his wife Sun-mi (Kim Ho-jeong). Even his teenage daughte...| More

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LEE Joon-ik's Joyful Life

2007/02/12 | Source | Permalink |

Director LEE Joon-ik has announced his next project, reprising themes from his previous film "Radio Star" (2006). He is currently preparing to shoot "Joyful Life", a nostalgic tale about three unhappy middle-agers who, some 20 years ago, had a room-salon-touring rock band along with a fourth member. Reunited after the funeral of the fourth, they meet the son of their dead friend, and together form a new rock band to escape from their daily doldrums.

The main cast for the male-bonding movie will be JEONG Jin-yeong, star of LEE's mega-hit "The King and the Clown" (2005), KIM Yoo-seok of "Family Matters" (2006) and "The Isle" (2000) and KIM Sang-ho, known for various supporting roles, including in "Tazza: The High Rollers" ("The War of Flower") and "Between Love and Hate" ("The Unbearable Lightness of Dating") (2006).

Producer-turned-director LEE debuted with the successful "Once Upon a Time in a Battlefield" ("Hwangsanbul")(H (2003) and followed it up with the biggest box-offic...| More

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Old `Swindle' Still Does the Trick

2004/04/15 | Source | Permalink |

By Joon Soh
Staff Reporter
With cutting dialogue, over-the-top violence and quirky soundtracks, director Quentin Tarantino's "Reservoir Dogs" and "Pulp Fiction" transformed how movies presented the world of crime. And for years afterwards, every other film released in the United States and Europe seemed to be chasing after that "Tarantino chic", trying to bring wit and retro-cool to smooth-talking thugs and assassins. Some worked, but most didn't.

It's a little late in the game, but a new local film has thrown its hat into the ring of tales about smooth criminals. "Pomchoe-ui Chaegusong (The Big Swindle)", by first-time director Choi Dong-hun, definitely takes more than a few cues from other heists-gone-wrong flicks, but he and his cast bring enough energy to the story to still make it an enjoyable ride.

Much like "Reservoir Dogs" and Bryan Singer's "The Usual Suspects", the film starts at the tail end of the job, where we find the gang scattered and on the run after their...| More

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Delving into psychology of crooks

2004/04/07 | Source | Permalink |

To pull off a fraud smoothly, being clever and wicked is not enough; meticulous preparation and almost unlimited patience are in order. "The Big Swindle", directed by Choe Dong-hoon, touches on that truth in a sophisticated style that is rare for a Korean heist movie.
The film opens with a car chase as Choe Chang-hyuk (Park Shin-yang) flees from police after defrauding the Bank of Korea using counterfeit bank checks. By posing as bank officials, Chang-hyuk and his cohorts have made off with 5 billion won. The young criminal dies when his car plunges off a cliff. The big question is: Where is the money?

The film was inspired by a true story, according to the director. In 1996, a similar swindle occurred at the Bank of Korea in Gumi and the culprits escaped with 900 million won. They remain at large.


As expected, the film follows the whodunit format, challenging moviegoers to guess who is cheating whom. Chang-hyuk, fresh from prison after serving a sentence in connection wit...| More

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