Box Office: Cart, Interstellar, My Dictator

Cart (Korea)Opening Nov. 13Drama. Directed by Boo Ji-youngThe film depicts temporary employees of a mega supermarket chain who are facing unfair layoffs. They are ordinary women, including Sun-hee (Yum Jeong-ah), a mother of two, Hye-mi (Moon Jung-hee), a single mother, and Soon-rae (Kim Young-ae), a janitor. When their jobs are at risk, the three and junior manager Dong-jun (Kim Gang-woo) gather with other employees to fight against the company’s exploitative practices.Interstellar (U.S.)Opened

FilmNov. 7, 2014

Eyelike:Strait’s last concert album a gift to fans

Strait’s last concert album a gift to fansGeorge Strait“The Cowboy Rides Away: Live From AT&T Stadium”(MCA Nashville)The 20-song “Cowboy Rides Away: Live From AT&T Stadium” documents what was billed as Country Music Hall of Fame member George Strait’s final concert. Held on June 7 in Arlington, Texas, the event was more celebration than concert -- where the waves of cheers play as big of a role as the voices and musicians. The guest-heavy lineup leans on modern stars such as Jason Aldean, Eric C

PerformanceNov. 7, 2014

Holy city’s history gets lost in age of iPhone

EPHESUS, Turkey ― This is one of the best preserved, loveliest and most historically significant Greco-Roman ruins in the world.It also is a key religious spot, believed to be where the apostles Paul and John and Jesus’ mother Mary all lived or spent time, and where the Gospel of John was written.But in the age of the iPhone, all that seems like trifling history.In the age of the iPhone, what seems to be the point of visiting here is taking pictures of yourself to post on Instagram to prove you

TravelNov. 7, 2014

Fiji: Where you find family you didn’t know you had

SAVUSAVU, Fiji ― As the departing guests gathered under the coconut palms to wait for the airport shuttle, Jane began to sniffle and tears ran down her cheeks.The rest of us, startled, exchanged looks. Knowing her, a once-upon-a-time debutante with manners to match, we thought she’d been put off by Koro Sun Resort, the most family-friendly ― and the noisiest ― of the three beach resorts we’d visited in Fiji, southwest of Samoa in the tropical South Pacific.“I hate to leave,” she said, mopping he

TravelNov. 7, 2014

Egg meets microwave for speedy rollup

So Dad was over for a visit and wanted scrambled eggs for breakfast. When I expressed some reluctance about pulling out a frying pan (OK, it was a whole lot of reluctance), he remained undeterred. “You don’t have to fry it,” he told me. “Use the microwave. Get me a saucer.”It took a crafty 92-year-old cook to show me how to exploit the microwave, which in my kitchen is better known as the popcorn maker and frozen-leftovers defroster. Within minutes, we were both enjoying a delectable scrambled e

FoodNov. 7, 2014

Pates and terrines at La Cave du Cochon

At La Cave du Cochon, L’Espoir du Hibou owner-chef Lim Ki-hak’s second act, the head cheese is formidable, reason enough to pull up a bar stool to the long wooden counter, pick up a fork and let each gelatinous, meaty morsel melt on your tongue. “I wanted to do this first,” La Cave du Cochon’s Lim, 36, said of the French head cheese known as fromage de tete. Bent on mastering fromage de tete as well as other pates, terrines and sausages, Lim studied charcuterie at the New York-based Internationa

FoodNov. 7, 2014

Around the hotels

Macau Food Festival at Conrad Seoul The buffet restaurant ZEST is presenting Macanese food from Nov. 7-16 with the Macau Government Tourist Office. The food promotion will offer Macanese dishes prepared by visiting chefs from Macau, who will also run egg-tart cooking classes on Nov. 10 and 15. The menu includes Portuguese suckling pig with orange, prawns with chili and Portuguese-style curry crab. Guests who upload photos of their food experience onto Instagram (instagram.com/conradseoul) will h

FoodNov. 7, 2014

Final lineup revealed for YG’s iKON

The votes have been tallied and the fans have spoken. All of the original members of Team B will officially be debuting as YG Entertainment’s newest boy band, iKON. After six months of filming, with intense song and dance battles that tested the limits of a handful of K-pop idol hopefuls, YG’s “Mix & Match” weekly boy band survival program has concluded. Former “WIN: Who Is Next?” Team B contestants Gu Jun-hoe, Song Yun-hyeong and Kim Dong-hyuk, as well as newcomer Jung Chan-woo, received the mo

Nov. 7, 2014

L.A. museum to get biggest-ever art gift

LOS ANGELES (AP) ― An entertainment executive pledged a collection of paintings by Pablo Picasso, Claude Monet, Edgar Degas and other major artists to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art on Thursday, a donation the institution called the largest in its history. “Los Angeles helped make my career possible,” said Jerry Perenchio, the former chairman and CEO of Univision who has lived in the city for 70 years. “My family and I are proud and honored to be able to give something back to a wonderful

PerformanceNov. 7, 2014

Big Bang draws most Japanese concertgoers in K-pop

Big Bang drew the most fans in Japan among K-pop stars this year, a Japanese monthly magazine said Friday. 　According to Nikkei Entertainment’s chart of artists with the most concert fans, Big Bang took the second spot with about 920,000 fans in 29 concerts in total this year, Japanese rock band EXILE TRIBE topped the chart, attracting 1.05 million fans. 　About 32,000 fans came to each Big Bang concert. 　Big Bang held dome concerts for the second year straight this year. (YG Entertainment)　Membe

Nov. 7, 2014

[Herald Interview] Director tackles temp-worker issues

In her new movie “Cart,” director Boo Ji-young depicts temporary employees of a mega supermarket chain who are facing unfair layoffs. They are ordinary women, including a mother of two kids, a single mom and a college grad. They gather to fight against the company’s exploitative practices.It takes guts for a novice director to tackle a touchy and complex current issue like that of temp workers. The number of such workers here exceeded 6 million this year, an all-time high. The English poster for

FilmNov. 6, 2014

Last dance for bold ballerina Sylvie Guillem

PARIS (AFP) ― French dancer Sylvie Guillem is to bring down the curtain on a glittering career that saw her plucked from relative obscurity by Rudolf Nureyev to become the world’s most sought after ballerina.Announcing her intention to retire at the end of 2015, Guillem, 49, said she still loved dancing but had decided now was the right time to bow out.“I have loved every moment of the last 39 years and today I am still loving it in the same way,” she said.“So why stop? Very simply because I wan

PerformanceNov. 6, 2014

Manet fetches record $65m at NYC auction

NEW YORK (AP) ― A celebrated portrait of a Parisian actress by Edouard Manet has set a new auction record for the artist during the second day of a major fall sale in New York of impressionist and modern art. “Spring” was sold at Christie’s Wednesday for $65 million, almost doubling the previous record of $33.2 million for the French impressionist. “Spring” is considered a Manet masterpiece. It was first presented at the 1882 Paris Salon and depicts actress Jeanne Demarsy in a floral dress and b

PerformanceNov. 6, 2014

Korea eyes World Heritage status for Seoul City Walls

South Korea will apply for World Heritage Status for an ancient defensive wall encircling its capital city in 2016, a government committee said Thursday.The Seoul City Walls, an 18.6-km-long wall surrounding Hanyang, the former capital of the Joseon era (1392-1910) and present-day central Seoul, was chosen during a meeting on Tuesday to be, along with other heritage items, on South Korea’s application for the UNESCO heritage listing for 2016, the Cultural Properties Committee said.The advisory p

CultureNov. 6, 2014

Jennifer Lopez shares journey to self-acceptance

NEW YORK (AP) ― Jennifer Lopez wants to share a life lesson with her fans: Learn to love yourself first. “I promise that if you get into it, if you tap into it, it’s gonna make your life better,” she says. The actress, singer and producer sat down for an interview about “True Love,” her new book that was originally intended to be a piece of memorabilia about the 2012 Dance Again World Tour that she embarked on in the wake of her split from husband Marc Anthony. But then it became much more. “It

PerformanceNov. 6, 2014

Super Junior’s Shindong to join Army

Shindong. (SM Entertainment)Just months after the group’s “Mamacita” return, Super Junior’s agency has confirmed that member Shindong will be enlisting in the Army on Nov. 25 for his mandatory military service.According to an announcement by SM Entertainment, Shindong will begin his five-week training period with the 306th Army Battalion in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi Province, at the end of the month, before going on active duty to complete his 21-month stint as a soldier. As he prepares for his enlist

Nov. 6, 2014

Super Junior’s Kyuhyun going solo with debut EP

Popular Super Junior idol and TV personality Kyuhyun is returning to the stage ― only this time, he’ll be performing solo. Officials at SM Entertainment on Thursday revealed that Kyuhyun will be debuting as a solo artist, dropping his first solo EP “At Gwanghwamun” on Nov. 13. As part of his role in Super Junior, one of the country’s most successful K-pop acts, Kyuhyun has been praised for his vocal abilities, lending his voice to a number of Korean drama soundtracks as well as taking on musical

Nov. 6, 2014

Mamamoo returning with new album this month

Mamamoo. (WA Entertainment)The rookie four-member girl group Mamamoo is gearing up for its sixth release of the year with its upcoming album on Nov. 20. Despite being only weeks away, WA Entertainment officials have yet to release any other details regarding the group’s upcoming return.Mamamoo is still new to the K-pop scene, having officially debuted in June with the single “Mr. Ambiguous,” off the group’s EP “Hello.”Before the group’s debut, the girls released various collaborative singles wit

Nov. 6, 2014