The Naked Kitchen (Movie - 2008)

'Hello My Love' Sugarcoats Sensitive Subject

Source | 2009/10/01 | 0 comments | Permalink |

By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter

In "Hello My Love", girl falls in love with boy, but boy falls in love with boy, breaking girl's heart. The movie adds an exotic twist with things Parisian as well as a touch of something trendy with wine lessons to sugarcoat the sensitive subject matter of homosexuality in South Korea.

One may think of the sexually explicit epic "A Frozen Flower", but this feature film debut by Kim Aaron is more akin to Hong Ji-young's trendspotting romance "The Naked Kitchen". It is essentially a romantic comedy with a rather unconventional love triangle strewn into strictly mainstream themes of heartbreak, loss and growing pains.

Everything seems rosy for popular radio personality Ho-jeong (Jo An). She is about to be promoted, evoking the wrath of her unsmiling senior colleague, and is about to welcome back her perfect boyfriend Won-jae (Min Seok) from his two-year sojourn in Paris.

The two childhood friends-turned-lovers have been dating for 10 years, and...| More

Summer Action Flicks Are Coming

Source | 2009/06/30 | 0 comments | Permalink |

By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter

Every summer, big budget Hollywood movies flow in, and many worry about the potential threat to homegrown films. Recent trends, however, suggest that competition is healthy.

"The fact that such a comparison (between national and international franchises) is even possible is unique; there aren't so many countries around the world where domestic films can compete with American ones", Han Seung-hee, researcher at the Korean Film Council, told The Korea Times.

After the turn of the new millennium, the Korean film industry enjoyed rapid growth, with blockbusters rewriting box office history each year. But the market plummeted for the first time last year, and investment and production hit an all time low. Moviegoers even criticized films that fared well at the box office as being formulaic.

So far, 2009 looks better. The success of "A Frozen Flower" and "Scandal Makers" ("Speedy Scandal") opened up a promising new year. Although February and March...| More

Actor Joo Gets Suspended Jail Term for Drug Use

Source | 2009/06/23 | 0 comments | Permalink |

By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter

Actor Joo Ji-hoon was given a suspended jail term and community service after he was convicted of illegal drug use.

The Seoul Central District Court sentenced the 27-year-old Tuesday to a six-month prison term suspended for one year, 120 hours of community service and 360,000 won in fines.

Joo was indicted without physical detention last month for taking ecstasy tablets and ketamine at model-turned-actor Ye Hak-yeong's home in Seoul in April last year.

"The drug use of a celebrity like Joo can exert an evil influence on society, because people, especially juveniles, can follow his behavior, and ecstasy and ketamine are relatively cheap and easy to obtain compared with other narcotics", the court said.

"However, we decided to give the suspended term because he took the drugs only on a couple of occasions, has no previous criminal record and is reflecting on his wrongdoing. We also took many petitions asking for a lenient punishment for him into...| More

Warning: contains cheese, sugar; lacks nudity

Source | 2009/06/04 | 0 comments | Permalink |

"The Naked Kitchen" is confused about what it wants to be. From the cover of the DVD, it looks like a cheesy culinary romantic comedy, complete with simpering stars. But from its synopsis, it sounds like a racy love triangle with a wanton wife at the center.

The identity crisis continues through the duration of the film, most apparently in its female star, Sin Min-ah, as Mo-rae, the aforementioned unfaithful spouse.

Upon receiving a copy of the DVD, a co-worker passing my desk said, "Oh, Sin Min-ah, she's so cute". Therein lies the problem. Sin is utterly unconvincing in her role as a cheater. Are we honestly supposed to believe that the prancing, parasol-peddling Mo-rae would actually cuckold her husband, Sang-in? And rather than making the situation more believable, the film's ensuing character development - that Mo-rae was a virgin before marriage and that Sang-in is her enduring childhood love - makes her actions even more preposterous.

Mo-rae's innocent act just gets anno...| More

Hong Ji-young Looks on the Brighter Side of Adultery

Source | 2009/05/01 | 0 comments | Permalink |

What is more interesting about the film "The Naked Kitchen" by Hong Ji-young than the material is the way the director deals with it. Here, an adulterous affair is portrayed not as something scandalous or tragic but with humor and optimism.

Hong sidesteps any sweeping moral standards or family values and focuses instead on the emotions of the three actors, asking fundamental questions about love.

"Kitchen" reminds many people of last year's "Antique". Both deal with forbidden love, in the case of "Antique" homosexual love, and both adopt a bright, happy and playful tone. Perhaps that is only natural, since Min Gyoo-dong, who directed "Antique" is married to Hong. And indeed, both films were invited to the Berlin International Film Festival, and exported to Japan. "Antique" is released there this week and "The Naked Kitchen" on May 30.

"I don't think you can say that new relationships or illicit affairs always start from a deficiency. A new love can come even into the life of a...| More