[Movie] Post-Avatar Korean Cinema: 3 Major Films of 3 Different Colors

Seollal (Lunar New Year's Day) and Chuseok (Mid Autumn Festival) are the busiest season for movie theaters. As the Lunar New Year approaches, a host of Korean films are getting ready to hit the screens once the Avatar blast is over.

Many of them are so called "well-made movies" that are both entertaining and touching since the Lunar New Year's Day is a holiday for family reunion. Genres and stories range widely, offering a broad array of choices for movie goers.

A heart-warming drama about a choir of a female prison starring Kim Yoon-jin

#The Tear-Jerker "Harmony"

Harmony (directed by Kang Dae-gyoo and produced by JK Film) tells the story of a choir made up by female prisoners. The globally-recognized actress Kim Yoon-jin and Korea's representative veteran actress Na Moon-hee play the lead roles, raising expectations for movie aficionados.

Kim Yoon-jin plays Jeonghye, a young woman of great maternal love who gives birth to a baby in prison and organizes a choir to get a one-day leave out of the prison with her baby. Nah Moon-hee playing Munok, a renowned music professor who is sentenced to death for killing her husband, holds the baton and leads the special choir. Gang Ye-won, a rookie actress who studied vocal music in college, and Jeong Soo-yeong and Park Joon-myeon, both musical actresses add to the great, heart-warming music for the movie. The film premiers on January 28.

Kim Jeong-eun and Jin Goo Clash in a Cooking Battle Presenting the Magical Charm of Kimchi "Le Grand Chef 2 – Kimchi War" – Arousing All Your Five Senses

"Le Grand Chef 2 – Kimchi War" (director: Baek Dong-hoon, produced by IROOM Pictures), the sequel to the 2007 hit film of the same name picks the best story for the biggest national holiday of the Lunar New Year: kimchi. The first film featured a two chefs' battle with a focus on beef while the sequel presents the charm of kimchi from various perspectives. The film introducing more than 100 kinds of kimchi, heightens the expectations of kimchi becoming a global cuisine and possibly triggering a new Hallyu, this time for Korean food.

The cooking battle between Jangeun, a world-class chef played by Kim Jeong-eun and Sungchan, an amateur chef played by Jin Goo is a great fun to watch for the audience. Loosely based upon the comic book series of the same title by Heo Yeong-man, the movie presents a newly created character Jangeun, adding fresh spices to the story. The film is due to be released on January 28.

When Song Kang-ho, a National Intelligence Service (NIS) agent and Kang Dong-won, a North Korean spy meet in a movie…

#"Secret Reunion" Appeals to Female Movie Goers

The fact that the two movie stars, Song Kang-ho and Kang Dong-won are in the same movie is exciting enough for many movie fans to make it the talk of the town. The veteran character actor Song Kang-ho and Kang Dong-won gaining growing popularity in the movie "JEON WOO CHI : The Taoist Wizard" join forces together in the new movie by Jang Hoon, "Secret Reunion" (produced by Showbox/Mediaplex, Rubicon Pictures and Dasepo Club ).

Song plays the fired NIS agent Han-gyu and Gang plays the abandoned North Korean spy Ji-won. The two men who thought of each other as foes get back together in 6 years and build a fragile friendship into a brotherly bond. The two heart-throbbing actors will present wild actions and fight scenes, drawing female viewers to movie theaters. It is slated for release on Feb.4.

Source: The Hankook Ilbo