My New Partner (2007) - 마이 뉴 파트너 (Ma-i Nyoo Pa-teu-neo)

2008/03/27 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

In the last few years, Korean films, TV dramas and pop music have become immensely popular abroad, a phenomenon known as the Korean Wave. This is the 28th in a series of essays by a select group of scholars and journalists looking at the spread of Korean pop culture in Southeast Asian countries and beyond. - Ed.

Ahn Seong-gi seems perennially calm and collected. A gentle smile on his face, he does not raise his voice even when he talks about the turbulent developments pummeling the Korean cinema in recent months. But his concerns are genuine because, in his view, the local film industry is in deep trouble and the future outlook remains gloomier than ever.

Ahn's perspective about the current state of Korean movies and filmmakers is hard to be discounted. The list of films in which he played a key role in the 1990s alone include "Two Cops" (1993), "The Taebaek Mountains" (1994), "Festival" (1996), "The Soul Guardians" (1998) and "Nowhere to Hide" (1999).

In the 2000s, he starred...

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2008/03/13 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

Veteran actor Ahn Seong-gi returns with another leading role in comedy-caper "My New Partner", opening March 6 across Korea. AHN is a face familiar to audiences of all ages, with a screen career that spans some 50 years. By the mid-80's he was Korea's most bankable lead, starring in many of the decade's top films.

In "My New Partner", AHN plays Min-ho, a veteran police detective who winds up teaming with his estranged son Yeong-joon (played by JO Han-seon), a cold-hearted cop fresh on the job. The pair have a chance to mend their damaged relationship as they try to crack a big drug case in Busan.

Actor AHN has appeared in over 100 films, winning numerous awards and working with top directors such as IM Kwon-taek, BAE Chang-ho, LEE Chang-ho, PARK Kwang-su and LEE Myeong-se. His most recent films include "May 18" (2007), "Radio Star" (2006), "Hanbando" (2006), "Duelist" (2005) and "Silmido" (2003).

My New Parnter has already drawn positive reviews from the local press f...

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2008/03/07 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

Whether it's getting over it or reliving it, this week's theme at movie theaters is about the past.
An estranged father and son get back together as police officers, a woman puts a bad relationship behind her and a Chinese soldier seeks his fallen comrades.
Kim Youngwon has our movie preview.

A fresh batch of movies are out this Friday starting with local action comedy, "My New Partner" where a father and son collaborate as an investigating team.
Eight years after leaving his wife and son for another woman, nuisance cop Minho bumps into his son who grew into an investigative cop with the nickname "Police Dog".
Viewers can see Korea's hallmark actor, Ahn Seonggi, on a journey to overcome the past while contrasting investigation techniques with Police Dog.

From across the border, we have "My Blueberry Nights", China's established director Wong Kar-Wai's debut English language film.
The cast of "Blueberry" is enough to draw female viewers with Jude Law in the lineup and male vi...

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2008/03/05 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

One of the intriguing (or disturbing) signs about where Korean movies are headed is the near absence of press previews this month. For instance, except for a screening of Yoo Ji-tae's short titled "Out of My Intention" on Tuesday, there's nothing going on this week. No screenings yet either next week.

The declining number of domestic film releases is in sharp contrast to the surging demand for foreign films. According to the Korean Film Council, the Korean cinema imported 404 films from abroad in 2007, up from 289 in 2006 and 253 in 2005.

The rating agency handled as many as 72 foreign films in the first two months of this year, up 36.8 percent from the same period last year. The momentum comes not only from the major Hollywood distributors but also from small film importers, encouraged chiefly by the unexpectedly respectable box-office success of "Once" and "Lust, Caution".

The foreign movie boom is setting off alarms in the domestic film industry, which is already finding it...

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2008/02/26 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

In a frighteningly complex web of movie scenarios, a straightforward plot often works better, especially when the cast is wisely chosen and actors perform to their full potential.

And no Korean film actor is more capable than Ahn Seong-gi, who debuted, as a child, 50 years ago, and is still doing superb work. Ahn is one of the icons of Korean cinema, and his skills honed over the decades, and reflected in his gracefully shaped wrinkles, shine in "My New Partner".

The movie, directed by Kim Jong-hyeon, involves two cops -- old and new -- and Ahn plays the experienced one who knows how to strike a compromise with the mundane world. This set-up inevitably reminds viewers of Ahn's role in "Two Cops", a 1993 comedy in which he played a slightly corrupt yet likable cop in conflict with his new partner, a young and justice-obsessed newbie.

"My New Partner" follows a similar track. Ahn's Kang Min-ho got entangled in a corruption scandal and was demoted. In the process, he also deeply ...

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