Seven Days (Movie - 2007)

Actor Oh Arrested for Smoking Marijuana

Source | 2009/06/12 | Permalink |

By Bae Ji-sook

Staff Reporter



Popular actor Oh Kwang-rok, most famous for his role in "Taewangsasingi" ("The Legend")' as a wise man, was arrested Thursday for smoking marijuana, police said Friday. 

According to Namdaemun Police Station, Oh is suspected of having smoked marijuana on several occasions, including once in February at his house in Seoul. He allegedly smoked with the head of an unidentified information-technology company, known as Park, investigators said. 

Police said Park bought the drug from a local dealer and shared it with eight others, including animation film director Kim Moon-saeng. 

Oh has appeared in numerous films including "Seven Days" and "Sympathy for Lady Vengeance"....| More

Bong's 'Mother - 2009' Highlights Maternal Love

Source | 2009/05/21 | Permalink |

By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter

"Mother - 2009", coming to theaters May 28, had its world premiere at the 62nd Cannes International Film Festival. Variety magazine was not kidding when it said the Bong Joon-ho film was "unjustly denied a competition berth" in the prestigious French event.

The film is certainly not as edgy as "Memories of Murder" nor does it have the mainstream appeal of the blockbuster "The Host".

But, featuring South Korea's symbolic Kim Hye-ja as a mom with a formidable mission and heartthrob Won Bin in the improbable role of her vulnerable "baby", Bong brings an arresting tale that is at once quintessentially Korean yet universally classic, and uniquely visionary.

Complete with composer Lee Byeong-woo's film score bearing hints of "trot" (Korean country music) beats and landscapes of rural Korea, Bong constantly surprises the viewer with unexpected outbursts of violence ― Kim offering a most Shakespearean "mad scene" ― and an ironically dista...| More

Korean Films to Return in April

Source | 2009/03/26 | Permalink |

By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter

South Korean cinema offers only a handful of releases this month, but a big lineup of homegrown films awaits moviegoers in April.

Some 10 domestic titles are slated for release next month, of which a majority are mainstream franchises that will play in theaters nationwide.

Leading the pack is "Private Eye", coming to screens April 2, starring Hwang Jeong-min as a private detective and Ryoo Deok-hwan as a young medical trainee who try to solve a serial murder case during the Japanese colonial era (1910-45). A special preview of the film with English subtitles is taking place at 7 p.m. tonight at CINUS Myeongdong Theater. The subtitled film will be available on the official release date at the venue, as well as CINUS Gangnam.

A week later, Kang Hye-jeong, the charming heroine of "Welcome to Dongmakgol", will return to the big screen opposite Park Hee-soon ("Seven Days") in "Urijibe Wae Watni" ("Why Did You Come to My House - Movie"), a quirky t...| More

'Our Town', Haven for a Serial Murderer

Source | 2009/03/01 | Permalink |

A clever thriller cannot quite overcome genre conventions

Kyu Hyun Kim (qhyunkim)

A gruesomely murdered body of a young woman is found hanging from an elementary school gym iron, in the form of a crucifix. Exhausted cop Jae-sin (Lee Seon-gyoon) realizes that a serial killer is lurking in his neighborhood: the victims range from an eight-year-old girl to a middle-aged businesswoman. He gets unexpected help from his game designer friend Kyung-joo (musical actor Oh Man-seok, popular from the Korean stage version of "Hedwig and the Angry Inch").

But nothing is what it seems: Kyung-joo drops in a stationary store run by child-like and strangely-named Hyo-yi (Ryoo Deok-hwan), and receives a text message that reads: "Sir, I know you are the murderer".

Korean filmmakers tend to have trouble portraying unapologetically evil characters, always making excuses for them in their sad backgrounds (a fate that befell, to be fair, even Hannibal Lecter) or turning them into cartoonish abstra...| More

'Hand Phone' Showcases Top Talent

Source | 2009/02/12 | Permalink |

By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter

"Paradise Murdered" ("Paradise 1986") director Kim Han-min brings yet another unconventional thriller, "Hand Phone". But unlike his previous work, the setting shifts from an isolated island to the big city and, like its title suggests, revolves around every urbanite's essential hardware, the cell phone

The cell phone, which South Koreans commonly call "hand phone" and thus the title of the film, has appeared without fail in recent thrillers such as "Seven Days". "Hand Phone" also has the victim running around as the perpetrator whispers orders from the other line. It capitalizes on the familiar anxiety of looking for a charger when the battery starts dying out on an important conversation. It also shows the perils of losing one's personal information held by cell phones.

The beauty of the film lies in its haunting revelation of the grotesque in things mundane and the unleashing of the latent beast within individuals, including the most docile, u...| More