| 'Girlfriend' Prevails With Small, Tactful Jokes (Source) |
2009/04/23 |
By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter
Don't be discouraged by the rather familiar plotline or the tacky English title. This reporter had been expecting the worst for what appeared to be a spin-off of "Mr. and Mrs. Smith", but Sin Tae-ra's buoyant spy romance "My Girlfriend Isn't an Agent" is a promising asset to the South Korean romantic comedy genre.
It's predictable and cliched, but features some surprisingly good B-rate laughter, winning the audience with a series of small but tactile tickles rather than a big K.O. After dabbling with blood in the slasher film "Black House", the director returns with something more digestible, while actors Kim Ha-neul and Kang Ji-hwan make their mark on the silver screen.
Following a few mediocre franchises, Kim reclaims her reputation as the romantic comedy queen in the tradition of her "Too Beautiful to Lie", while Kang's charms, eclipsed by So Ji-sub's charisma in his feature film debut "The Rough Cut", shines through. While many homegrown roma... |More
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| Korean Film Festival Tours China (Source) |
2008/11/19 |
A Korean Film Festival will be held across China this month, bringing 12 Korean features to three major Chinese cities – Beijing (Nov. 14-19), Shanghai (Nov. 16-21) and Kunnming (Nov. 25-28).
The event, organized by the Korean Film Council, China's state film authorities, and the Shanghai International Film Festival, brings a mix of critically and commercially successful Korean hits to local Chinese audiences.
Opening the festival is director LEE Joon-ik's rock-redemption comedy "The Happy Life" (2007). LEE Chang-dong's "Secret Sunshine", which has won numerous awards including Best Picture at the 2007 Asia-Pacific Screen Awards and Best Actress at Cannes (for JEON Do-yeon) will also screen.
Other films in the touring festival include JEONG Yoon-cheol's "A Man Who Was a Superman", JANG Yoon-hyeon's "Hwangjin-y - Movie - 2007", HEO Jin-ho's "Christmas in August" and IM Kwon-taek's "Beyond the Years".
Actor, JEONG Kyeong-ho will attend the Shanghai leg of the tour, repr... |More
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| KOFIC, Korea-China Interchange to Revitalize Two Industries (Source) |
2008/11/12 |
KOFIC (chairperson KANG Han-sup) is commencing two events in order to revitalize the film interchange between Korea and China.
First of the two events is '2008 Korea-China Business Campus' which will take place from Thursday, November 13 to Monday, November 17, over the course of 5 days. The event will mainly focus on the process of sharing films as well as co-production opportunities. This event first took place in 2006 in China, and then moved to Pusan International Film Festival in 2007 as a forum format, thus making this year's event second edition to be held in Korea. First annual event focused on the effect of Korean manpower and resources in Chinese film industry, while the current Business Campus will concentrate on not only the further advancements of above but how Korea and China can collaborate on projects that promote exchange of resources between the two countries. The event will hold pitching/mentoring sessions, seminars, business meetings for producers, production/po... |More
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| YOO Ji-tae and LEE Yeon-hee in romantic film (Source) |
2008/11/06 |
Director RYOO Jang-ha is adapting the popular internet manwha (Korean equivalent of Japanese manga) Soonjeong Manwha by KANG Pool (real name: KANG Do-young), the English title will be "Hello Schoolgirl". The titular role will be played by LEE Yeon-hee and her love interest is a role by YOO Ji-tae.
The story is about a high school girl (LEE) who every morning sees a shy thirty-year-old businessman (YOO) at the elevator. The girl is not afraid to express her feelings for the man who is the first she feels romantic feelings for.
The young actress LEE is still mostly acting the roles of young women encountering their first love. She is currently also playing a similar assertive young woman in the television drama "East of Eden", and portrayed a headstrong young woman in the teenage drama "A Millionaire's First Love". In her previous film "M" (LEE Myeong-se), her character was a shy young woman whose love defied death.
YOO broke through internationally with his role opposite of ... |More
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| Song Hye-kyo Returns to Small Screen (Source) |
2008/10/21 |
By Han Sang-hee
Staff Reporter
Korean dramas are full of entertainment, with cliched yet dramatic plots, cute and handsome male characters, both main and supporting, and always a young pretty heroine.
Among these heroines is Song Hye-kyo, 26, who will appear in the new drama "Worlds Within". She returns to the small screen for the first time in four years after her hit series "Full House" with top singer/actor "Rain".
"For the past four years, I have been working on three films and so I was more accustomed to the movie filming atmosphere. TV dramas require quick reactions and with help from the director, I'm now back on track", Song said at a press conference of the program Monday at a hotel in Seoul.
The makers of the drama also made headlines, as the producer Pyo Min-soo, who brought "Full House", and writer Noh Hee-kyeong have teamed up. It is the first time in six years for the makers to get together for a program.
Despite criticism that large-scale dramas lack dep... |More
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