Aug
31
2008
Hurricane Gustav
Posted by luna6 | 3 Comments
Because of Hurricane Gustav, updates will be suspended. Driving on the road for 6 hours to get 260 miles sucks. See ya’ll in a few days.
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Aug
25
2008
Ah-jung Kim (200 Pounds Beauty) set to star in “26 Years” (working title)
Posted by luna6 | 2 Comments
Ah-jung Kim is the actresses that went from extra-large to damn-fine in “200 Pounds Beauty.” Since her break-out performance in that film, Ah-jung Kim hasn’t been seen at all on the big screen and only once on the small screen (cameo appearance in the SBS drama “On Air”). Now Ah-jung Kim is ready to star in her next major project, a film with the working title of “26 Years” … and it’s nothing like “200 Pounds Beauty.”
“26 Years” will be produced by Chungeorahm Films, directed by Hae-yeong Lee (Like A Virgin) and based off of a popular internet comic written by Kang Pool. The story deals with the second generation of victims arising out of the Gwangju Democratization Movement (the 2007 film “May 18” also deals with the Gwangju Uprising). Ah-jung Kim will play a character well versed in competition shooting events (skeet, trap shooting etc). Her dad was killed in the Gwangju Democratization Movement.
Ah-jung Kim’s co-star will be played Seung-beom Ryoo. Ryoo’s character also has ties with the Gwangju Democratization Movement, but he is now a gangster. These two characters then get involved in a plan to assassinate the ex-president of South Korea, Chun Doo-hwan.
Filming for “26 Years” will start in September, with its final release dated slated for sometime in 2009. When the film is released, it will be 29 years since the Gwangju Democratization Movement and the movie makers are discussing whether to change the movie title to “29 Years” in honor of its anniversary.
Movie News, News |
Aug
25
2008
Joon-ho Bong updates progress on “The Host 2″ (Korean Version) and “The Host 2″ (Chinese version)
Posted by luna6 | 2 Comments
At the 2008 Cinema Digital Seoul (CinDi) festival currently underway, director Joon-ho Bong updated the media on the progress of “The Host 2″. Currently, Korean production house “Chungeorahm Film” is producing a Korean sequel of “The Host” and joint producing a Chinese sequel (along with Chinese production house Stoneman Films, Ltd.) of “The Host” for the Chinese market. The Korean sequel will not be set along the Han River like the original, but instead will be set in the Cheonggyecheon creek in downtown Seoul.
Meanwhile, the Chinese version will be directed Ning Hao (Crazy Stone). Ning Hao is currently contemplating the scenario for the Chinese version and is considering having the monster arise out of a bathhouse or a popular vacation resort. On August 21st, Joon-ho Bong got a chance to sit down with Ning Hao and talk for two hours about “The Host 2,” while having beers. They also met the following day, while attending the 2008 CinDi festival.
Movie News, News |
Aug
25
2008
Joon-ho Bong debuts as an actor in “Crush and Blush”
Posted by luna6 | 1 Comment
We’ve already reported on the upcoming comedy “Crush and Blush,” but we didn’t tell you about the cameo appearance featured in the movie by Joon-ho Bong. In case you haven’t watched a Korean film in a longgg time, Joon-ho Bong is the director responsible for such films like “Barking Dogs Never Bite,” “Memories of Murder,” and the highest grossing Korean film of all time .. “The Host.” Bong also directed Yu Aoi and Teruyuki Kagawa in the anthology film “Tokyo!” that just hit Japanese theatres two weeks ago.
Bong’s appearance in “Crush and Blush” will be a brief cameo appearance having only one spoken line. Interesting enough his one line will be spoken in English. The scenario works like this: In “Crush and Blush” Hyo-jin Kong plays Me-sook Yang, a former high school Russian language teacher now relegated to teaching English to middle school children. Making things more difficult for Me-sook Yang is that she can’t speak a lick of English herself! Thus, Me-sook must attend English language classes herself at a private institute. In the private institute Me-sook runs across Joon-ho Bong’s character, a normal salaryman type of guy, who asks in English “What subjects are you teaching in school, now?”
There’s also a fellow by the name of “Chan-wook Park” listed as the movie’s producer. “Crush and Blush” should be good. Look out for it in October.
Movie News, News |
Aug
25
2008
Wei Tang picks up Hong Kong denizenship
Posted by luna6 | 3 Comments
After China laid its unofficial official ban on Wei Tang, the talented young actresses has packed up her belonging and moved to Hong Kong. She has also just received denizenship in Hong Kong, allowing her to work legally in Hong Kong.
Wei Tang opened up a lot of eyes with her debut performance in Ang Lee’s “Lust, Caution.” Even though Ang Lee edited the film for the Chinese market, government officials have come down particularly hard on Wei Tang since then. Earlier this year Beijing and Shanghai television stations were given orders to stop reporting on the actress entirely, while all of her commercial promotions have completely vanished as well. What’s even more baffling is that her co-star Tony Leung has had no problems working in China since that time.
Movie News, News |
Aug
25
2008
R.I.P. Eon Lee
Posted by luna6 | 3 Comments
Late last week actor & model Eon Lee died in a motorcycle accident. Around 1:30 AM on August 21st, after attending a wrap-up party for the television drama “Chilwu, the Mighty,” Eon Lee was crossing an elevated highway in Seoul on his motorbike. His motorbike then somehow hit the guardrail, causing Eon Lee to crash onto the road. He died instantly at that moment.
Eon Lee got his first break in film & television with his impressive role in the 2006 film “Like A Virgin.” Prior to his debut in that model, Eon Lee worked as one of the top models in Korea. For his role in “Like A Virgin,” Eon Lee gained 15 kgs to portray a Ssireum wrestler (Korean traditional wrestler). Eon Lee actually was a Ssireum wrestler in his college days as well.
Eon Lee quickly gained more attention with his performance in the 2007 MBC drama “Coffee Prince.” Subsequently, his roles in “Who Are You?” and “Chilwu, the Mighty” hinted at even greater things to come.
Movie News, News |
Aug
23
2008
Hansel & Gretel
Posted by luna6 | 1 Comment
Movie: Hansel & Gretel | 헨젤과 그레텔
Release Date: December 27, 2007
Country: South Korea
Director: Pil-Sung Yim
Starring: Jeong-myeong Cheon, Won-jae Eun, Eun-Kyeong Shim
Runtime: 116 Min
Editor Rating: 5.5
Users Rating: 7.47 
(15 votes)
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Off the beaten and found somewhere deep within a forest lies Pil-Sung Yim’s (Antartic Journal) latest film “Hansel & Gretel.” The movie is presented as a “horror” film and has a few scenes identified with that genre, but overall seems more suited for the thriller genre. The strongest aspects about the film are the visuals, which are incredibly vivid & bright, and contrasted even more by the film’s dark story..
In Pil-Sung Yim’s “Hansel & Gretel,” Eun-soo Lee (Jeong-myeong Cheon) argues with his girlfriend on his cellphone, while driving his car through a wooded highway. He suddenly looses control and flips his car over a guardrail. When Eun-soo regains consciousness he finds himself in the forest, with a 12 year old girl named Yeong-hee (Eun-Kyeong Shim) standing over him. It’s nighttime now and Yeong-hee guides Eun-soo back to her home.
Yeong-hee’s house is situated deep in the forest, built in a lavish children’s book manner. She has a younger sister named Jeong-sun and an older brother named Man-bok. Her parents greet Eun-soo and invite him to stay the night.
The next day Eun-soo tries to find his way back. Because of the maze-like forest surrounding Yeong-hee’s home, he always ends up back where he started.
Making things more difficult for Eun-soo is that there isn’t a working phone line in the house nor can Eun-soo pick up reception on his cellphone.
On the second day, Eun-soo wakes up to find the children crying. There’s a note left by their parents, explaining they have to leave on urgent matters and asks if Eun-soo could watch over the kids temporarily. Meanwhile, Eun-soo discovers that the children are not your normal set of kids and there may have been other visitors at their home who never made it out of the forest.
And thus one of the more uniquely premised horror/thriller “Hansel & Gretel” unfolds right in front of your eyes. Production value is particularly strong. “Hansel & Gretel” is one of the first films produced by Barunson Film Division, the company responsible for “The Good, the Bad, and the Weird” and Joon-ho Bong’s upcoming pic “Mother“. You can tell a lot of attention has been placed upon the set design. Inspired by the Technicolor feel of children’s storybooks, “Hansel & Gretel” offers a surreal look that’s as appealing as it can be disturbing.
Unlike those visuals, the storyline isn’t nearly as inventive. There’s been a lot of Korean films that have covered similar ground involving orphans and child abuse. Pil-Sung Yim tries to differentiates “Hansel & Gretel” by wrapping the colorful children’s storybook like visuals around the story’s dark subject matter. This is only partially successful. More substance within its story, perhaps workable allegories between the house, forest, and the outside world, would have given the audience more credence to accept the-dark-story-wrapped-around-the-bright-backdrop as something other than a gimmick. When the disturbing history of the children’s early lives are revealed in the second half, the movie fails to convince you that this is something more than a cheap device to give substance to the movie.
The cast itself was largely uneven. The three kids shined brightest by all giving strong performances. Won-jae Eun, who played older brother Man-bok, looked mean and scary at just the right times. Eun-kyeong Shim, who played Young-hee Kim & looked like a 12 year old version of Yo-won Lee, played the most intricate character in the film with natural grace. Ji-hui Jin, who played the youngest sibling, was able to convey the perfect mixture of cuteness and spookiness required for her part. Meanwhile, Jeong-myeong Cheon looked completely lost and out of place as the movie’s main character Eun-soo Lee. It seemed Jeong-myeong Cheon could evoke only one type of emotion, which was this perpetual “Hunh? How did I get here?” look stamped on his face. Supporting performance by Hie-sun Park as Deacon Byeon was the only adult performance worthy of praise.
Pil-Sung Yim’s second film “Hansel & Gretel” has some good things going for it: very strong production values, child actors performing wonderfully, and that unique angle of wrapping a children’s storybook like setting around a dark story centered abuse. Unfortunately, the dark subject matter wasn’t shown in a convincing manner and felt more like a cheap trick to disturb the audience. The movie was also burdened by Jeong-myeong Cheon’s starring performance, which was a complete turd of a performance. Initially, “Hansel & Gretel” had a chance to become one of those unique horror / thriller films, on the level of the brilliant “Epitaph,” but by the time end credits roll around the film turns out to be a decent film saddled with a seen-it-before dark story that underwhelms and even feels exploitive at times.
Cast:
Jeong-myeong Cheon - Eun-Soo
Won-jae Eun - Man-bok Kim (13)
Eun-Kyeong Shim - Young-hee Kim (12)
Ji-hui Jin - Jeong-sun Kim (7)
Hie-sun Park - Deacon Byeon
Lydia Park - Kyeong-suk
Kyeong-ik Kim - Yeong-sik (father)
Yeong-nam Jang - Su-jeong (mother)
Eun-ju Kim
If you like this film you may enjoy: A Tale of Two Sisters, Epitaph
2007 Movie Reviews, Korean Movies, Movie Reviews, Movies |
Aug
20
2008
Disaster pic “Haeundae” starts filming
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The much hyped big-budget disaster pic “Haeundae” has started filming since August 18th. “Haeundae” is a $15 million picture, directed by Je-gyun Yun (Miracle on 1st Street / Sex is Zero) and stars a slew of popular Korean actors like Kyung-gu Sol, Ji-won Ha, Joong-Hoon Park, Jeong-hwa Eom, and Min-gi Lee.
The movie itself is a fictional account of a deadly tsunami crashing onto the shores of “Haeundae” beach. For those that have never been to South Korea, Haeundae is a popular beach area in Busan, South Korea. The city of Busan is the second largest city in Korea and during the summer days overflows with visitors in the Haeundae area. Furthermore, the film’s director, Je-gyun Yun, is a native of the Busan area and is likely to place his own stamp on the well known tourist attraction area.
In the movie Kyung-gu Sol plays Man-sik Choi, a shop owner along the Haeeundae beach area and president of the Haeundae Shop Owners Association. Man-sik Choi enjoys a peaceful afternoon in a Haeundae sushi restaurant owned by Yeon Hee (Ji-won Ha). Unfortunately they are not aware of the huge tsunami coming its way.
Other stars appearring in the film are: Jung-hun Park (plays Kim Hee a geologist), Jeong-hwa Eom (plays Yu-jin Lee, the ex wife of Kim Hee and herself an international event co-ordinator) and Min-gi Lee (plays Hyeong-sik Choi a lifeguard on the Haeundae beach).
“Haeundae” started filming August 18th and continues through December. Special effects for the film will be done in America sometime in November. The movie will then be released in the summer of 2009.
Movie News, News |
Aug
20
2008
Ki-duk Kim’s “Dream” moves closer to its Korean release date
Posted by luna6 | 3 Comments
Ki-duk Kim’s “Dream” (Korean title “Bi-Mong”) is moving closer to its release date in South Korea. While an exact release date has not been given, the movie has been slotted for its release sometime in October. Furthermore, on August 19th, the movie received its rating from the Korean movie board. The movie received a rating allowing only those 18 and over to view the film. This might raise an eyebrow or two, or perhaps wet the lips a bit with visions of steamy bed scenes between Joe Odagiri and Na-yeong Lee. But unfortunately, the movie didn’t receive that rating because of any sexual content or violence or foul language. Rather, the movie was deemed vieweable for 18 and older because of its difficult to understand story line. Ki-duk Kim Film along with distributor Spong Ent. has stated that they won’t resubmit the movie. And with that, in October “Dream” will see its release in South Korea. Young kids will just have to wait a wee bit longer.
Movie News, News |
Aug
19
2008
Crows & Tokyo
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Crows Zero <--- CLick Here
Tokyo Serendipity <— CLick Here
Etc. |
Aug
16
2008
Sad Vacation
Posted by luna6 | 5 Comments
Movie: Sad Vacation
Release Date: September 8, 2007
Country: Japan
Director: Shinji Aoyama
Starring: Tadanobu Asano, Eri Ishida, Aoi Miyazaki, Joe Odagiri
Runtime: 136 min
Editor Rating: 7.0
Users Rating: 7.38 (13 votes)
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The title for Shinji Aoyoma’s “Sad Vacation” is taken from the title of a Johhny Thunder’s song written in tribute of Sid Vicious. The song “Sad Vacation” then blares out suddenly some 5 minutes into the film. There’s something about this moment that projects all the pain, joy, pessism and optimism engraved into the characters themselves. Visually the film has a distinct hipster look, with the film proudly shot in Shinji Aoyoma’s format of choice Super-8.
Story wise “Sad Vacation” centers around Kenji Shiraishi (Tadanobu Asano), an aloof loner that carries emotional scars from the time his mother left him as a child. His mother’s abandonment also led to Kenji’s alcoholic father committing suicide. These moments have left a permanent mark upon Kenji’s existence.
As an adult, Kenji works various jobs. He worked as a truck driver, shuttling illegal Chinese immigrants around Japan. On one of those trips, a Chinese man died in transit and leaves behind a young boy. Kenji, knowing a thing or two about abandonment, takes the Chinese boy as his own. Then, Kenji takes a job as a personal driver for bar hostesses and their patrons, shuttling them from bar to home. One evening, Kenji drives home a patron and then discovers his very own mother waiting for the patron at their home.
Over the next few weeks Kenji then concocts an intricate to plan to exact revenge upon the mother who abandoned him as a child.
“Sad Vacation” packs a lot emotion under its simplistic story. Shinji Aoyama fans will likely enjoy the movie’s distinctive narrative style (frequent slow shots, interspersed with fast edits, and a large cast of Aoyoma regulars), while other folks may fine the movie much ado about nothing.
The movie’s theme constantly brings up the idea of idea of “escapism” or simply “running away.” Just about every character in the movie has been on the run or is on the run. The movie bookends two female characters (Yuri and Chiyoko) expressing their desire to “just fly away like birds.” Following this theme, you’ll often find Aoyama’s camera focusing on a distant bridge looming somewhere in the background of the city.
The question then shifts to what all these characters are looking for. Kenji looks to place misery upon his mother, in the same manner that she has done to him years ago. Meanwhile he questions his current girlfriend “will you wait for me?” something that his mother did not. Kenji’s mother Chiyoko (played effortlessly by Eri Ishida) epitomizes a motherly figure (even after her abandonment of her family) and by the end of the film comes across as something akin to Mother Nature itself.
The cast of characters in the film is expansive and if you are familiar with Aoyama films will recognize a lot of the ancillary characters. This is with good reason as “Sad Vacation” is the final chapter in the trilogy started by Aoyoma’s “Helpless” and then “Eureka.” Tadanobu Asano plays the same Kenji from “Helpless,” as does Kaori Tsuji plays Yuri from “Helpless.” There’s also Aoi Miyazaki continuing her role as Kozue, the girl traumatized by the bus jacking in “Eureka.” Fear not if you haven’t seen these films, “Sad Vacation” can easily be followed as a single entity in and of itself.
While Shinji Aoyama’s “Sad Vacation” feels long at times and projects a message that gets diluted by its surprise ending, there’s still something remarkable about the film. Like “Sukida” this is one of those films that will either click with you or won’t click with you on a personal level. For me, the film packed a bittersweet punch akin to sipping a glass of whiskey during the early hours of the following morning. “Sad Vacation” isn’t for the faint of heart or less adventurous, but if you crave a tale of longing told from a different point of view then check out “Sad Vacation.”
Cast:
Tadanobu Asano - Kenji Shiraishi
Eri Ishida - Chiyoko Mamiya
Yuka Itaya - Saeko Shiina
Yusuke Kawazu - Kijima
Kengo Kora - Yusuke Mamiya
Ken Mitsuishi - Shigeo Mamiya
Aoi Miyazaki - Kozue Tamura
Katsuo Nakamura - Shigeki
Joe Odagiri - Goto
Kyusaku Shimada - Sone
Kosuke Toyohara - Kawashima
Maho Toyota - Makimura
Kaori Tsuji - Yuri Matsumura
If you like this movie you may enjoy: Sukida
2007 Movie Reviews, Japanese Movies, Movie Reviews, Movies |
Aug
14
2008
Sil Jong (literal translation “Disappeared”) - new Korean thriller due out later this year
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Readers of Lunapark6 should be familiar with “The Chaser,” a serial killer based film that topped the box office charts in Korea for the first half of 2008. And with the success of that film it seemed likely that we would see a batch of new films coming out having similar subject matter. A new film with the Korean movie title “Sil Jong” (literal translation “Disappeared”) does seem to be such a film.
Like “The Chaser,” “Sil Jong” is based on a true story. This time around the shocking story is based on the serial killings by a 70 year old man in Boseong, South Korea back in 2007. The elderly man was a fisherman and killed four young people on his boat on two seperate occasions. In the movie version of this story, Se-hong Jeon plays Hyeon-a. Hyeon-a is an aspiring actress that visits the South Korean countryside. When she stops to eat at a restaurant there in the countryside, she captivates a 60 year old man who is the owner of the restaurant. The man, played by acting vet Seong-kun Mun, then imprisons the young lady and causing extreme terror upon her. Meanwhile, Hyeon-a’s older sister, Hyeong Jeong (Ja-Hyeon Chu), ventures out to the country, looking for her sister before it is to late.
The film is directed by Sung-Hong Kim, director of past thrillers like 1997’s “The Hole” (Olgami) and 1994’s “Deep Scratch” (Sontob). “Sil Jong” is filming now and is expected to be released later this year.
Movie News, News |
Aug
13
2008
Plastic City w/ Joe Odagiri, Anthony Wong
Posted by luna6 | 2 Comments
A movie to watch out for at this year’s Venice Film Festival is the new Yu Lik-wai film titled “Plastic City” (Dangkou). The film features two stars from the Asia region, Joe Odagiri from Japan and Anthony Wong from Hong Kong, appearing together for the first time.
What’s known about the film so far is that Joe Odagiri traveled to Brazil in March, 2008. He stayed there for two weeks to film his parts in the movie. In “Plastic City” Joe Odagiri plays Kirin, a Japanese-Brazilian orphan that becomes adopted by Yuda (Anthony Wong), a leader of an Asian mob. Kirin then becomes involved in the mob run Brazilian black market as an adult. One day his adopted father is arrested and Kirin is left to hold the empire together.
Co-star Anthony Wong is a mainstay of Hong Kong cinema and has branched out onto the international stage of late. Wong gave a fun performance in the otherwise dreadful film “The Mummy 3″ and “Plastic City” will mark his next international film.
Yu Lik-wa (sometimes referred to as Nelson Yu) is an accomplished director and cinematographer as well. Two of his earlier films, Love Will Tear Us Apart and All Tomorrow’s Parties, were screened at the Cannes Film Festival. Furthermore, Yu Lik-wa has worked as the cinematographer for numerous Jia Zhangke films and as well as other well reguarded films like Yang Zhang films “Getting Home.”
Plastic City premiers at the 65th annual Venice Film Festival (August 27th - September 6th, 2008) and is slated to open in Brazil during the spring of 2009. No word yet on the movie’s release dates in other regions.
Movie News, News |
Aug
12
2008
Crush & Blush (Misseu Hongdangmoo) starring Hyo-jin Kong opens October 16th
Posted by luna6 | 2 Comments
One of the best young Korean actresses working today not named Du-na Bae or Na-yeong Lee is Hyo-jin Kong. She’s already set to appear in the upcoming summer blockbuster “Dachiwama Lee” and will have one more film coming out this autumn titled “Crush & Blush” (Korean title “Misseu Hongdangmoo”).
The principle cast for “Crush & Blush” includes Hyo-jin Kong, Jong-hyeok Lee, Seo Yu, newcomer Seul-hye Hwangwoo, and Eun-jin Bang. The film is directed by first time feature-length film director Kyoung-mi Lee. There’s also a strong Chan-wook Park connection with “Crush & Blush” as well. Chan-wook Park worked as the film’s producer and the film was produced by Moho Films (company that also produced Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and Sympathy for Lady Vengeance).
In “Crush & Blush” Hyo-jin Kong will play Me-sook Yang a former high school Russian language teacher, but now middle school English teacher (a language she doesn’t even understand). Furthermore Me-sook has a a blushing problem that turns her face crimson red. Me-sook is also in love with Mr. Seo, another teacher at her school. She is crushed when she discovers that Mr. Seo is having an affair with the Russian women who took her original high school job. Even with her disappointed feelings she still doesn’t give up hope on Mr. Seo. In fact she enlists the aid of his teenage daughter Jong-hee, a student at their middle school, to help break up their affair. More problems then occur for the ladies.