Miley Cyrus rules ‘SNL’ as host and musical guest

NEW YORK (AP) ― Miley Cyrus cautioned viewers she wouldn’t be twerking on “Saturday Night Live.”But she commanded the stage on this week’s edition of the NBC sketch comedy show, serving as both host and musical guest.And she did some shimmying as an over-sexed Congresswoman Michele Bachmann in a parody video about the government shutdown.Cyrus seized attention and criticism in August for her sexually charged MTV Video Music Awards performance, which featured the singer in scanty garb while exhib

TelevisionOct. 7, 2013

Director sees drama migrating from the big screen to TV

BUSAN (AFP) ― Six-time Oscar-nominated Irish director Jim Sheridan said Sunday that Hollywood’s fixation with making money from the international box office had moved drama off the big screen and onto television.“We’re in a transition period worldwide,” he told a press conference on the sidelines of the 18th Busan International Film Festival (BIFF), the largest in Asia.“I think Hollywood is making movies for China and India and Brazil and Russia. So they don’t want dialogue movies. They don’t wa

FilmOct. 7, 2013

Festivals to celebrate Hangeul’s promulgation

As Hangeul-nal, or Hangeul Promulgation Day, which falls on Wednesday, became a national holiday after 22 years out of the public eye, the nation will go abuzz celebrating the 567th anniversary of the promulgation of the Korean alphabetical system that is still written and used in everyday lives, representing the Korean spirit. Hangeulmunhwa KeunjanchiThe Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is hosting the Hangeulmunhwa Keunjanchi, a festival highlighting Hangeul and its culture, at the Gwang

CultureOct. 6, 2013

Ambitious Yellow Lounge project has a little more to do

Classical music forayed into one of Seoul’s trendiest nightspots Thursday, as the Yellow Lounge project invited The Philharmonics ensemble and DJ Pascal Dior to present their interpretations of classical music at Club Octagon in southern Seoul. The Philharmonics, consisting of members of the Berlin and Vienna philharmonic orchestras, played refined, but reworked scores. Under the bluish and pink lighting with flamboyant LED displays as the backdrop, the ensemble gave a modern and somewhat Jewish

PerformanceOct. 6, 2013

Drunken Tiger returns with message of hope

This is the ninth in a series on producers, MCs, DJs and artists working in the Korean underground hip-hop scene. ― Ed.Tiger JK, Yoon Mi-rae and Bizzy have seen it all. From their beginnings in the hip-hop industry when Tiger JK would perform for free tapas, up to now, with the release of a new album, Drunken Tiger’s ninth, they have seen both ups and downs.All three got into hip-hop in different ways. For Yoon Mi-rae, or Tasha, it was her dad who first influenced her. She said he was in the U.S

PerformanceOct. 6, 2013

The Killers prove you don’t need to be a soldier to have soul

Chants of “I got soul, but I’m not a soldier,” filled the Olympic Hall on Saturday night with thousands of rock fans singing along in unison with the chorus line of The Killers’ hit single, “All These Things that I’ve Done.”In the band’s first ever performance in Korea, the Las Vegas natives Brandon Flowers, Dave Keuning, Mark Stoermer and Ronnie Vannucci Jr. rocked Seoul during their live concert over the weekend. Although getting off to a bit of a late start, keeping the audience waiting anxio

PerformanceOct. 6, 2013

Oakwood named leading serviced apartment brand

Oakwood Premier Coex Center received the title of South Korea’s leading serviced apartment brand at the ceremony for the annual World Travel Awards held in Dubai on Oct. 1. The World Travel Awards plays a major role in recognizing excellent services within the industry’s various sectors worldwide. Oakwood Premier Coex Center, located in Samseong-dong in southern Seoul, is one of the most prominent serviced apartment providers in Korea. The service aims to combine the luxury of a 5-star hotel wit

PeopleOct. 6, 2013

Calendar

Exhibitions“Take Your Shirt Off”: PKM Gallery holds a solo exhibition of young artist Jeong Young-do, who expresses the cultural and moral differences he felt while going back and forth between the U.S. and Korea during his studies at Rhode Island School of Design and Temple University Tyler School of Art. In his paintings and illustrations, abstract figures subtly, but explicitly show the emotions he felt, such as confusion, pain and a sense of loss. The artist currently works in Seoul. The exh

CultureOct. 4, 2013

Traditional medicine meets modern skin care

Korean traditional medicine has found popular application in the beauty industry in Korea.The expansion of Korean medicine into modern lifestyle is seen through a diverse range of beauty products ― from skin care products, shampoo and body products to acne treatments. While it remains to be seen if the trend will continue in Korea, where consumer trends change rapidly, some of the ancient medical tips are regaining influence. Leading the revival of the ancient medical and beauty tips are cosmeti

CultureOct. 4, 2013

Eyelike: Find healing with ‘The Cure’

Find healing with ‘The Cure’Drunken Tiger, Yoon Mi-rae, Bizzy“The Cure” (Universal Music) “The Cure” is the first album churned out by FeelGhood Music, a label founded by Drunken Tiger, including fellow hip-hop artists Yoon Mi-rae and Bizzy. Unlike the recent “dissing” mood in the current hip-hop scene, the trio have compiled an album filled with hope for a better future. The album starts with “Beautiful Life,” a hip-hop and pop hybrid about realizing that life is beautiful despite any pain and

PerformanceOct. 4, 2013

‘Gravity’ has the weight of an epic space opera

Technically dazzling and emotionally gripping, “Gravity” is a space-age science fiction thriller grounded in something pretty close to reality.A space shuttle / space junk accident picture, Alfonso Cuaron’s movie gives us Sandra Bullock and George Clooney, space-walkers whose ship is wrecked, forcing them to face the ultimate human fear.No one wants to die alone. There is no place lonelier than the cold, silent and airless vacuum of space.Filmed in a stunning “How’d they DO that?” 3-D, we meet c

FilmOct. 4, 2013

Box Office: Rush, Runner Runner, The Face Reader

 RushOpens Oct. 9Action. Drama. Directed by Ron Howard. Based on a true story, race-car drivers James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) and Austrian Niki Lauda are young and talented, and both are looking to win it big. After a Formula Three race in 1970 at the Crystal Palace circuit in England, where both their cars spin out-of-control but Hunt ultimately wins the race, the two begin to view each other as rivals. A rivalry that first began on the track grows into off-track drama, and the pair experiences

FilmOct. 4, 2013

Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison has big plans for little Lanai

LANAI, Hawaii ― From the wheel of the big four-wheel-drive Suburban, our guide nods at a small roadside sign pointing to a beach called Lapaiki. “That’s one of those dotted-line roads on the map,” he says. “If you go down there you might as well be driving up and down flights of stairs.”In other words, roads can get rough on Lanai.As it is, navigating the deeply grooved road we’re on, leading through ironwood-crowded Kanepuu Preserve to a rocky landmark known as the Garden of the Gods, is a bit

TravelOct. 4, 2013

No nose-picking: China chides its ‘unruly’ tourists

BEIJING (AFP) ― Chinese tourists should not pick their noses in public, pee in pools or steal airplane life jackets, China’s image-conscious authorities have warned in a handbook in their latest effort to counter unruly behavior.The National Tourism Administration publicised its 64-page Guidebook for Civilised Tourism ― with illustrations to accompany its list of dos and don’ts ― on its website ahead of a “Golden Week” public holiday that started on Oct. 1. As Chinese tourists increasingly trave

TravelOct. 4, 2013