Lee Joon-ik (이준익)

Jecheon festival looks to blend music and film

2008/07/17 | Source | Permalink |

The fourth Jecheon International Music & Film Festival will kick off its six-day schedule Aug. 14, introducing 82 flicks from 30 countries plus a variety of music performances.

"The festival aims to develop a new genre, putting together music and film, and we expect a fresh momentum this year as we introduce a competition section for the first time", said festival organizing committee head Eom Tae-young at a news conference in Seoul on Tuesday.

JIMFF, started in 2005, is Asia's first music-oriented film event where moviegoers and music lovers can share opportunities to enjoy both. This year it has established a new competition section titled World Music Film Today, where 10 films from nine countries compete to win awards and a cash prize worth $15,000 in a bid to solidify its position as a film festival.

Cho Seong-woo, executive director of the festival, said the slogan for this year, "Jump! JIMFF!" illustrates the organizers' resolve to upgrade the event's status into one spe...| More

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Watch Sun-heui Become 'Sunny'

2008/07/17 | Source | Permalink |

By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter

"Sunny", a love story set amid the Vietnam War, epitomizes South Korean director Lee Joon-ik's cinematic endeavors by bringing together the period detail of "The King and the Clown" (2005) and musical inspirations of "The Happy Life" (2007).

This is the country's first movie directly depicting the sweat of some 320,000 Korean soldiers that fought with American forces. At the time, veteran singers like Patty Kim and Hyun Mi, who were pin-up girls back then, traveled to the war-torn land to cheer up soldiers. According to the director, a black and white photograph of a beautiful "consolatory band" singer gave birth to the film.

Lee brings a tale that seeps into the heart with the wistful tunes of Kim Chu-ja's "My Love Is Faraway", the Korean title of the movie. The story is basically about an average rural housewife who, with the sole aim of tracking down her husband, becomes a singer. But the film grazes upon a broader sense of love and humanitar...| More

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'Sunny' offers a woman's Vietnam War

2008/07/02 | Source | Permalink |

Director Lee Joon-ik built up a lofty reputation with "The King and the Clown", a surprise hit which sold more than 10 million tickets in 2005.

Naturally, expectations are high for his latest project, entitled "Sunny" (Nim-eun meongose)".

But Lee has expressed displeasure at the current film industry trend in which the public judges a film only in terms of ticket sales.

"Making films is not a record-setting competition", he told reporters on Monday at a news conference in Seoul to promote his new film, which cost a hefty 7.1 billion won ($7 million) to produce.

Lee's terse remark came in response to a reporter's question about his conjecture regarding the number of viewers.

"Nobody knows how many people will watch my film", he said. "Even though the film industry is now going through a drastic change, we should try to strike a balance between cultural value and economic value".

Set in 1971, when the Vietnam War was underway, the movie features Sun-i (played by Soo-ae)...| More

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[ChanMi's movie news] Every man's first love, Soo-ae

2008/06/30 | Source | Permalink |

Lee Joon-ik, Director of "The King and the Clown" casted Soo-ae for his new movie "Sunny".

His reasons for choosing Soo-ae is that the young ladies of 1971 are now old enough to be our mothers, so an actress who best fits the image of a first love who becomes a mother through time's progression is Soo-ae....| More

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[Talk of the town] "Kung Fu Panda" kicks his way into the spotlight

2008/06/25 | Source | Permalink |

Po (Jack Black), the obese and lazy panda in Mark Osborne and John Stevenson's animated film, "Kung Fu Panda", is now a star.

According to the Korean Film Council, the film attracted some 3.31 million Korean viewers as of last weekend, since its release on June 5.

Past animated films that attracted as many viewers were "Shrek 2" (2006), with some 3.3 million, and "Howl's Moving Castle" (2004), with 3 million.

While Kung Fu Panda ranked second at the box office last week, Kang Woo-seok's action-thriller "Public Enemy Returns", released last Thursday, ranked first. It attracted 1.3 million viewers in three days, according to the council.

Meanwhile, for those moviegoers hoping to see more Korean films on the big screen among Hollywood blockbusters like "Incredible Hulk" and "Sex and the City", wait till next month.

These films are on standby director Kim Ji-woon's "The Good, the Bad, the Weird", Lee Joon-ik's "Sunny" and Gwak Gyeong-taek's "Eye for an Eye, Tooth for a Tooth...| More

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