| [Comics] Comics Evolve Into Source for Pop Culture Contents (Source) |
2010/03/11 |
Satisfies pop culture's appetite for fantasy
Show off true value in various fields such as films, musicals, dramas, online games, etc.Korean comics have come under the spotlight as a source material for pop culture including films, musicals, dramas and games.
After the success of the 2003 drama Damo , which was based on Bang Hak-gi's comic strip, comic books such as "Full House" (Won Soo-yeon), "Princess Hours" (Park So-hee), "The War of Flower" (Heo Yeong-man) and "Le Grand Chef" (Heo Yeong-man) have been reborn as various formats. This is known as OSMU (One Source Multi Use).
In particular, comics are noted for their ability to satisfy pop culture's recent appetite for fantasy, as reflected in the popularity of Avatar.
Comic-based films pour out
The film version of Hyung Min-woo's "Priest", produced by Sony Entertainment, will be released in Hollywood this October. It fuses the Western genre with a battle between God and the devil. It is the first Korean comic whose fi... |More
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| Kim Hye-soo Mum on Yoo Hae-jin (Source) |
2010/03/05 |
By Cho Jae-hyon
Staff Reporter
Top actress Kim Hye-soo, who admitted to dating fellow actor Yoo Hae-jin two months ago, declined to answer reporters' questions about their relationship during an event to promote a cookware brand, Friday.
It is the second time that she has stayed silent on their relationship at a public event. In an autograph session on Jan. 8, she also kept her mouth closed to reporters' questions.
The actress took part in a promotional event to launch kitchenware maker Fissler Korea at Lotte Hotel in downtown Seoul Friday morning.
She skipped a question and answer session with reporters, which was originally scheduled by the organizer.
Reporters were blocked from getting close to her by bodyguards.
"I think she did not make comments on the relationship as the event was not a personal one", an official with her agency told reporters.
Yoo has also made no comments on their relationship.
Kim's agency made the announcement of their romantic relati... |More
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| Director explores magical realm (Source) |
2010/01/21 |
'The magical arts made the impossible possible, just as CG effects do for film.
James Cameron's masterwork "Avatar" is currently in high favor with moviegoers, but it is not the only movie that's doing well at local box offices. The Korean action flick "Jeon Woo Chi : The Taoist Wizard" has also become a commercial success, attracting more than 5 million viewers in less than a month after its release on Dec. 23.
The movie, which is based on the classic Korean novel "Jeon Woo Chi", may not have the spectacular special effects and computer graphics that Avatar does, but the imaginative story featuring a legendary Korean anti-hero seems to be attracting moviegoers, critics say.
Director Choi Dong-hoon, 39, who is known for movies such as "The Big Swindle" (2004) and "The War of Flower" (2006), said in a recent interview that with Jeon Woo Chi, he wanted to show something different from his previous works. Following are excerpts from a recent interview with Choi.
Q. Your previo... |More
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| Year of the thriller for Korean movies (Source) |
2010/01/12 |
Film insiders excited over new works by three star directors
Hits came from all quarters in Korean cinema last year, with big blockbusters "Take Off" and "Haeundae", auteur films "Thirst" and "Mother - 2009" and indie sleepers "Old Partner" and "Breathless" all filling seats.
Disaster flick "Haeundae" was the first locally made film to top 10 million tickets sold in three years. Industry-wide box office returns hit a record high of 1.08 trillion won ($964 million), about half from Korean-made films.
The state-funded Korean Film Council forecast in a recent report that the local movie market will continue its incremental growth over the next five years, and 2010 is expected to be another bonanza for the local film studios. But the most hotly anticipated movies inside the industry aren't quite as diverse as 2009's top sellers - on the contrary, they're all in a single genre: thriller.
Korea's thriller renaissance, kicked off by "The Chaser" in 2008 and continued by "Secret - ... |More
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| 'Fantasy of Korea Key to Drawing Global Audience' (Source) |
2010/01/11 |
By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter
Korea doesn't seem to spark the imagination of North Americans, and this partly explains why Korean films are not popular there, observed an award-winning filmmaker.
Choi Dong-hoon, 39, director of the latest box-office hit "JEON WOO CHI : The Taoist Wizard", said that the lack of information about Korea makes it difficult for Korean filmmakers to be successful at the Western box office.
"North Americans know that Korea is part of Asia. Compared with Japan and China, however, Korea has little to appeal to the people there", Choi said in an interview with The Korea Times last Thursday at his office in southern Seoul.
By Monday, more than four million moviegoers had flocked to see his latest movie that deals with superhero Jeon Woo Chi. The critically acclaimed film, based on a Korean folktale, marked the third consecutive box-office hit produced by Choi.
Choi made his filmmaking debut in 2004 with "The Big Swindle", a thriller that drew ... |More
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