Voice Letter (2005) - 여고괴담 4: 목소리 (Yeo-go-goi-dam 4: Mok-so-ri)

2007/12/10 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

Kyu Hyun Kim (qhyunkim)

The second installment in the You Il-han and Ahn Byeong-ki team-up horror series concerns a young working mother Min-young (Kim Seo-hyeong, the victimized teacher in "Voice Letter"), who moves into an "office-tel" room (a studio flat that doubles as a workplace) with a kindergarten-age daughter (Kim Yoo-jeong). Of course, the office-tel turns out to be spooked by the spirit of another young mother, whose attacks are responsible for a series of mysterious deaths. Soon it is uncovered that the building originally had another floor (the "fourth floor", which, like the thirteenth floor in the West, is considered bad luck and usually absent in Korean buildings). When the vengeful spirit seeks to possess Min-young's daughter, she decides to uncover the sordid past of the office-tel building.

Written and directed by Kwon Il-soon, who received notice due to his short "Hide and Seek" (2001) that, not coincidentally, explores a young child's feelings of loss of her ...

To participate to HanCinema, you must sign up or log in. Sign up, Why ?

2006/09/10 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

[DVD Review] Listless spook show is a typical post-'Ring' Asian horror flick

Kyu Hyun Kim (qhyunkim)

"Cello" is a typical example of the lugubriously underwhelming horror films flooding Korean theaters every summer season. The first decade of 21st century has seen an out-and-out flourishing of Korean horror films, once a vilified and ignored genre. A few among them, like "A Tale of Two Sisters" and "Memento Mori", beautiful, mysterious and emotionally engaging, have attained the status of minor classics. Others, including "Into the Mirror", "The Uninvited", "R-Point" and "Voice" ("Voice Letter") have experimented with a mixture of genres, refinement in techniques and style, or infusion of art-house sensibilities, winning praise among critics and support among more patient viewers. And then there are the rest: the hopelessly cliched and listlessly non-frightening, which still constitute, unfortunately, the numerical majority.

There are many reasons for this state of affairs. Si...

To participate to HanCinema, you must sign up or log in. Sign up, Why ?

2006/08/05 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

She is tough. She is energetic enough to love martial arts. Her provocative charm is more than evident in dance scenes from her latest movie, "Dasepo Girl". Her remarks on a TV show have invited a barrage of criticism. The name Kim Ok-bin is enough to draw the attention of virtually everyone.

She is very busy this summer being cast in a couple of differing roles. She stars in an MBC drama, "Over the Rainbow - Drama", as a would-be singer wish boyish charm. In the new movie, "Dasepo Girl", she plays a very cute, interesting high school student. I interviewed Kim, who always wears a big smile, on August 3 at NB, a club in Seocho-dong, Seoul.

She Loves Martial Arts –

In "Over the Rainbow - Drama", her role as Jeong Hee-soo is someone full of energy. Hee-soo is ashamed of neither her occasional wrong pronunciations nor her local accent. In real life, she is a third dan (or rank) in Hapgido and second dan in Taekwondo. She learned Muay Thai and boxing for fun.

"It must be my str...

To participate to HanCinema, you must sign up or log in. Sign up, Why ?

2006/04/26 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

By Paolo Bertolin
Contributing Writer

UDINE, Italy ㅡ With 13 recent films mostly unreeled in their international and European premiere, Korean cinema is once again under media spotlight at the Far East Film Festival (FEFF) taking place in Udine, a North East Italian city.

Now in its eighth edition, the fast-growing event claims primacy among Western film festivals concerned with Asian cinema. Certainly a one-of-a-kind format among film festivals that commonly tend to focus on art-movies, FEFF proves the global appeal of mainstream Asian productions, as press officials stress record-breaking figures in international accredited press and report screenings continuously playing to full capacity.

Among the seventy films from East Asia blending into the enticing FEFF menu, the Korean ones retain a prominent spot indeed, as both opening and closing soirees happen to showcase Chungmuro productions. On Friday, April 21, Han Jae-rim's unflinching debut "Rules of Dating (Yonaeui ...

To participate to HanCinema, you must sign up or log in. Sign up, Why ?

2006/03/09 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

Seven Korean films, including "Old Boy" and "Samaria", will be shown on the Sundance Movie Channel, an American cable TV network.
Kim Jee-suk, programmer of the Pusan International Film Festival, recently stated, "SunDance Movie Channel, a leading movie cable channel in the United States, has bought the exclusive US televising rights to a total of eight Asian films from their distributor Tartan".

Kim added, "No schedule for airing the Korean films has been settled yet. However a tentative decision has been made to air the films during prime time every Sunday".
The seven Korean movies to be broadcast on the Sun Dance channel will be Park Chan-wook's thrillers "Old Boy" (2003) and "Sympathy for Lady Vengeance" (2005); Kim Ki-duk's "Samaria" (2004); Kim Ji-woon's "A Tale of Two Sisters" (2003); Lee Jong-hyuk's "H" (2002); "Memento Mori" (1999), jointly directed by Kim Tae-yong and Min Gyoo-dong; and Ahn Byeong-ki's "Phone" (2002).

Park Chan-wook's thriller "Sympathy for Lady Venge...

To participate to HanCinema, you must sign up or log in. Sign up, Why ?