| 'Girlfriend' Prevails With Small, Tactful Jokes (Source) |
2009/04/23 |
By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter
Don't be discouraged by the rather familiar plotline or the tacky English title. This reporter had been expecting the worst for what appeared to be a spin-off of "Mr. and Mrs. Smith", but Sin Tae-ra's buoyant spy romance "My Girlfriend Isn't an Agent" is a promising asset to the South Korean romantic comedy genre.
It's predictable and cliched, but features some surprisingly good B-rate laughter, winning the audience with a series of small but tactile tickles rather than a big K.O. After dabbling with blood in the slasher film "Black House", the director returns with something more digestible, while actors Kim Ha-neul and Kang Ji-hwan make their mark on the silver screen.
Following a few mediocre franchises, Kim reclaims her reputation as the romantic comedy queen in the tradition of her "Too Beautiful to Lie", while Kang's charms, eclipsed by So Ji-sub's charisma in his feature film debut "The Rough Cut", shines through. While many homegrown roma... |More
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| [ChanMi's movie news] Kim Ha-neul in an action film (Source) |
2008/12/20 |
 Kim Ha-neul is returning through a new movie!
Until now, she has been a melodramatic queen through "Lovers of 6 Years" with Yoon Kye-sang, "Ditto" with Yoo Ji-tae, "Almost Love" with Kwon Sang-woo, and "Too Beautiful To Lie" with Kang Dong-won.
In the recent drama "On Air" with Park Yong-ha and Lee Beom-soo she has been the sophisticated and high class character. And in "Romance" with Kim Jae-won she has been the cute and sweet actress who battles with love.##
| Actors struggle for authenticity in Korean War roles (Source) |
2008/10/21 |
War is tough, a fact well known by a generation of Koreans caught up in the slaughter of the Korean War (1950-1953).
But despite the chaos of the weeks and months that followed the end of the war, the two teenage boys in the movie "Once Upon a Time in Seoul" learn never to quit.
Instead, Jong-doo (Lee Wan) and Tae-ho (Song Chang-ee) fight for survival during those difficult times.
The film is loosely based on Kenzo Kitakata's "Scars", a Japanese novel depicting the dark side of Japan after World War II.
Rascal Entertainment, the company that made the film, thought the descriptions of impoverished Japan in the novel were similar to those that Korea experienced in 1953.
The story of "Once Upon a Time in Seoul", however, goes beyond the simple retelling of wartime disorder.
"The film is an exploration of a man's heart when life is pushed to its limits", said the film's director, Bae Hyeong-joon, at the film's production conference last Tuesday in Apgujeong, southern Seo... |More
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| Pretty boys overtake the screen... this fall is the season for them (Source) |
2008/07/03 |
After the female-dominated last year and after this summer filled with men, it will be the season for pretty boys.
The faces are brilliant.
Kang Dong-won, who had stayed inactive after "M", will come back with "The War of Flower" Director Choi Dong-hoon's "Jeon Woo-chi". He is the first of the pretty boys, and will play a character who is born again into modern times after being trapped in a picture due to his wasteful life.
People look forward to Kang Dong-won's special comedy, which he showed in "Too Beautiful to Lie" and "M", and how it will tie in with his innocent appearance.
"JEON WOO CHI : The Taoist Wizard" will be released early next year, but it is already popular due to the union of Director Choi Dong-h... |More
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| Actors Kim, Yoon Gossip About Love (Source) |
2008/01/15 |
By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporters
What happens when you've been dating for six years? Kim Ha-neul and Yoon Kye-sang show that the initial sparks are long gone but a deep sense of familiarity settles in, through the upcoming film "Lovers of 6 Years", slated for release Feb. 5.
During a press conference last week at a Hongdae club in northern Seoul, director Kim Hyeon-jin explained, "I wondered how it would be for couples that date for a while, say six years. After six years, you grow so comfortable with each other that some break up and some overcome this and get married. I think six years becomes a bit of a turning point".
"I was able to relate very much to my character, who is my age and generation", said the lead actress. "I think that when men date someone for a long time they tend to unintentionally hurt their girlfriends with their insensitivity", she said. "A simple `I'm sorry' can easily make up for it, but they don't seem to know".
Kim, the queen of romantic comedies... |More
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