Underdogs in summer movies include originality, opportunity

NEW YORK (AP) – Hollywood’s summer, which kicks off with the fittingly combative “Captain America: Civil War,” will be a season of struggle: for box office, for originality and for opportunity. 　More than ever, the big tent of summer moviegoing is held up by a forest of tentpoles stretching from May to August. The swelling size of the summer movie has turned the season into a game of survival. The possibility of bombing lurks as an ever-present threat, testosterone often dominates in front of an

FilmApril 28, 2016

Ministop selling 1,000-won iced coffee

Convenience store chain Ministop will be selling “Big Iced Coffee” for 1,000 won (80 cents) until May 8. The move to increase the size of the beverage and reduce its price was done to meet rising demand for convenience store coffee in larger sizes, according to Ministop. Customers should first grab a cup of ice before purchasing the coffee at the convenience store counters.　 (Ministop)By Lim Jeong-yeo (kaylalim@heraldcorp.com)

Expat LivingApril 28, 2016

Despite damage, Palmyra retains authenticity: UNESCO

PARIS (AFP) -- The U.N. cultural agency said Wednesday that the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra had suffered significant damage at the hands of Islamic State fighters, but that the archaeological site retains much of its authenticity.　UNESCO sent experts to the world heritage site to study damage caused by the Islamic State group which held the city for nearly a year before it was retaken by President Bashar al-Assad’s forces last month.　Escorted by U.N. security, the mission inspected both the P

PeopleApril 28, 2016

What to do with billions of useless humans?

It is no news that machines have come to largely replace physical labor and computers surpass human beings in processing data. But in the future, the development of artificial intelligence may render humans obsolete even in the realm of emotional intelligence, according to Yuval Harari.　“It is true that in one sense, AI doesn’t even come close to human emotion since it has no consciousness or mind and doesn’t feel anything,” said Harari at Tuesday’s opening ceremony of the 2030 Eco Forum, organi

PeopleApril 28, 2016

Poets from Korea, Iran to meet in Tehran

Korean and Iranian poets will gather at an event in Iran next week to recite and discuss each other’s poetry.　Three Korean poets Kim Hu-ran, Shin Dal-ja and Jang Seok-nam will be meeting with Fatemeh Rakei, one of Iran’s most influential female poets, and Mohammad Ali Bahmani, who has received both popular and critical acclaim for his works.　The poets will recite each other’s works and discuss the poetry and literature of their countries. Students from the University of Tehran will recite Persia

CultureApril 28, 2016

Top stars make cameo appearances in TV dramas

Top Korean stars including Yoo Ah-in, Lee Kwang-soo, Zo In-sung and Park Shin-hye, are playing cameo roles in TV dramas, stealing the show despite their brief appearances. 　In the hit TV drama “Descendants of the Sun,” which ended on April 14, three actors made cameo appearances, thanks to their friendship with the cast and staff members.  Song Joong-ki (left) and Lee Kwang-soo in “Descendants of the Sun” (NEW)　Actor Lee Kwang-soo, who is a close friend to the drama’s lead, Song Joong-ki, appear

April 28, 2016

Met curator Andrew Bolton, quiet defender of fashion as art

NEW YORK (AP) -- The opening seconds of the trailer for “The First Monday in May,” the new documentary about the dizzyingly star-studded Met Gala, show pop star Rihanna tossing her fashionable head in slo-mo as the red-carpet cameras click furiously. Suitably, she sports a glistening tiara.　And then suddenly we're looking at a boyish, bespectacled man far from the limelight, far from Rihanna and Bieber and Beyonce, walking through the dimmed galleries of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He is And

Arts & DesignApril 28, 2016

Jimmy Choo creative director Sandra Choi talks glamour and ? of course ? shoes

In some fashion universe, TV’s fashion cheerleader Carrie Bradshaw is probably talking to her husband, John James “Mr. Big” Preston, and gazing at all of her shoes. After all, the former Ms. Bradshaw, a lover of shoes, missed her ferry ride home during an old episode of HBO’s “Sex and the City” after slipping out of a designer shoe and crying out, “Wait, I lost my Choo!”　The “Choo” she was referring to, of course, is the red carpet favorite Jimmy Choo, the London-based footwear and accessories l

Arts & DesignApril 28, 2016

No Man is an Island’ brings religious extremes face to face

A Korean cult leader gets more than he bargained for in a new short film by expat filmmaker Nash Ang.“No Man is an Island” is a drama that follows a leader from a Korean cult to the southern Philippines, where he finds himself prey to Abu Sayyaf terrorists who hold him hostage. But according to Ang, the cults he used as inspiration for the film are quite predatory themselves.“The most troubling thing is that they use fraud ‘religion’ not only to gain money but to molest their members, mostly lea

Expat LivingApril 27, 2016

Camarata to perform Mozart’s Requiem

The Camarata Chorale and Orchestra will perform Mozart’s Requiem next weekend.The choir will be accompanied by the Camarata Orchestra, who will also perform a piano concerto at the concert, after music from the Camarata Chamber Singers.“This concert is going to be a bit different because we‘re featuring all of our organizations this time,” said CMC director and conductor Ryan Goessl. “I think it’s going to be one of our best concerts yet.”　The requiem is one of the composer’s most famous works,

Expat LivingApril 27, 2016

‘Rusalka’ gears up for Korean premiere

Are you willing to become a mute for the one you love? This is one of the many spellbinding love quandaries of Antonin Dvorak’s dramatic opera “Rusalka,” which is making its Korean premiere at the Seoul Arts Center on Thursday evening. 　Begging the eternal question of how far would one go to be with the one they love, the three-act opera tells the tale of Rusalka, a water nymph who falls in love with a human prince. Desperate for his love and affection, she makes a deal with an evil witch. A sce

PerformanceApril 27, 2016

Korean competition strong at Jeonju film fest

JEONJU, North Jeolla Province -- Ten films are vying in this year’s Korean Film Competition at the 17th Jeonju International Film Festival, offering a varying bounty of the best in Korea’s independent film scene. 　The film festival in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, is set to screen flicks for all sorts. The fest -- running April 28 to May 7 -- will see 211 films on the big screen from 45 different countries, with 49 films making their world premiere. While JIFF doesn’t lack in international flav

FilmApril 27, 2016

Barcelona bookstores reinvent themselves to survive

BARCELONA (AFP) -- Faced with falling sales and the rise of ebooks, bookstores in Barcelona, the Spanish-language world’s publishing capital, are remaking themselves as cultural centers that offer concerts, classes and hard to find books to draw customers.　“We had to change. Either we reinvented ourselves or it was really impossible to stay open,” said Montserrat Serrano, the lively owner of the Bernat bookstore located just off the Diagonal, one of the main avenues in Spain’s second-largest cit

CultureApril 27, 2016