Mokpo, Gangster's Paradise (2003) - 목포는 항구다 (Mok-po-neun Hang-goo-da)

2008/04/04 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

Japanese Kadokawa announced the release dates of SIN Tae-ra's horror film "Black House" (Geomeun Jib) and KIM Ji-hoon's "May 18" (Hwaryohan Hyooga), the films will open on Japanese screens on April 5 and May 10, respectively.

"Black House", a domestic box office hit, stars HWANG Jeong-min ("You Are My Sunshine"/Neoneun Nae Woonmyeong) in an impressive psychological charged role as an insurance agent who gets drawn in a suicide case in a mysterious house. Director SIN's ("Brainwave") film is based on a Japanese novel of the popular horror writer Yûsuke Kishi.

After his "Mokpo, Gangster's Paradise", director KM Ji-hoon's next film "May 18" was highly anticipated and the film about the Gwangju civilian uprising against the military dictatorship was a box office success of 2007. The film's strong line-up includes AHN Seong-gi ("Silmido") and LEE Joon-ki ("The King and the Clown"). LEE enjoys great popularity in Japan and starred in the Korean-Japanese co-production "Virgin Snow" (C...

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2007/09/04 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

According to the latest box office, historical-tragedy "May 18", has surpassed 7 million ticket sales as of September 3, making it the highest grossing Korean-language film of the year. The Korean-produced but English-language D-War is thus far the overall box office champion of 2007. "May 18" is directed by KIM Ji-hoon, previously responsible for "Mokpo, Gangster's Paradise" (2005).

On "May 18", 1980 the government under then military general CHUN Doo-hwan, sent in troops to put down a civilian uprising. The repressive policies of general CHUN, who had ordered the shut down of universities, outlawed protests, censored the press, and arrested his political opposition, resulted in the Gwangju Uprising. Troops entered the city and fired into the crowds killing hundreds of civilians.

While several films have dealt with issues surrounding the Gwangju Massacre, including "The Old Garden" (2006), "Peppermint Candy" (1999), and "A Petal" (1995), "May 18" is the first to directly fo...

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2007/08/15 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

Park Cheol-min, one of the actors starring in the hit movie "May 18", which tells the story of the Gwangju massacre, has a long relationship with the city where the democracy movement rose up against violent oppression by the Korean military in 1980.
Park is a native of Gwangju, and was in his second year of middle school when he witnessed the uprising. His film debut was in a movie about the events of May 1980 and he has played a small role in another Gwangju film called "Kkotip", which means petal.
Park said he lived in a remote part of Gwangju and he would visit the downtown area on his bicycle.
"It was an interesting scene with tires being burned and people wailing", Park said. He said it was odd because what he witnessed on Gwangju's streets and the Gwangju he saw on TV news were very different.
Now, 27 years later, Park has played the role of In-bong, one of the many Gwangju taxi drivers who blocked the roads and honked their horns in support of the democracy movement. In...

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2007/08/08 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

The chance of a lead role in a promising soap opera or movie is unquestionably a golden opportunity for actors to demonstrate their potential. Thus Kim Ah-joong and Cha In-pyo must have felt awful for declining such offers on account of their hair.
After her success in the movie "200 Pounds Beauty", Kim gladly accepted the lead role of Ko Eun-chan in "Coffee Prince", a popular drama that boasts an audience rating of 30 percent -- until she realized that Ko was a cross-dressing young woman. This meant that Kim's long, shiny hair had to be cut. Kim's manager, Kim Eun-joo said, "Unfortunately, as a shampoo model, Kim is forbidden to get a haircut at any time under the shampoo contract".
Cha In-pyo also missed his chance to perform in "May 18", the box office success about the Gwangju uprising. Already acquainted with both the film's director and distributor after his part in "Mokpo, Gangster's Paradise", Cha seemed perfect for "May 18". However, he was promptly replaced, when the direct...

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it was destined to yoon eun hye to get that role in coffee prince......... angelica_171439 2008-01-24 09:33:19

2007/07/30 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

"May 18" opened strong, taking in US$ 10.1 million in its first weekend. The CJ Entertainment title took the top spot at the box office with 1.45 million viewers. "May 18" also broke another deadlock by becoming the first Korean film to lead the pre-sales in thirteen weeks. In its first few days – ahead of the opening weekend – the film attracted already 126,000 viewers. All these factors together cause hopefuls to speculate about whether "May 18" may achieve the most successful opening week for a Korean film. Over the weekend the number of screens was raised from 490 to 520.

Reports show that the film about the Gwangju massacre moves the audiences emotionally, a change of pace from the special effects laden films and horror titles crowding the cinemas during summer. Another aspect going for "May 18" is its subject matter; films dealing with modern Korean history have often proved to find an audience in Korea, including "Silmido" and "Taegukgi".

The film also boosts a strong ca...

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