PARIS (AFP) - One of the world's greatest private collections of modern art is to go on show for the first time outside Russia, museum curators told AFP Wednesday.　The collection of more than 250 paintings put together by Sergei Shchukin before the Russian revolution will go display in its entirety in October at the Foundation Louis Vuitton in Paris -- a major coup for the newly-opened gallery. Foundation Louis Vuitton in Paris will host “Icons of Modern Art” from Oct. 20 to Jan. 20, showcasing

PerformanceFeb. 11, 2016

NEW YORK (AFP) - The Beatles were masters of concise yet catchy songs and now Paul McCartney is writing tunes that are even more succinct -- to accompany emojis.　The former Beatle announced Wednesday that he has written a series of sounds to go with emojis on video chat service Skype, mostly designed for Valentine‘s Day messages.　“At first I thought, hmm, strange proposition, is this for me? And then I thought, you know what, why not? Something fun, something nice and new,” he said in a video on

PerformanceFeb. 11, 2016

Unbridled power and relentless revenge converge in the exciting, tightly plotted “The Short Drop,” which launches a new series about former computer hacker Gibson Vaughn.　Matthew FitzSimmons delivers an assured, action-packed debut that features strong shades of the political thriller. Fans of Lee Child, Gregg Hurwitz and Harlan Coben will find much to like in “The Short Drop.”"The Short Drop" By Matthew FitzSimmons(Thomas & Mercer)　On the surface, Gibson appears to be the quintessential thrille

BooksFeb. 11, 2016

For legions of Catholics, and not a few church bureaucrats, the supernatural is as real and present as it was for their medieval forebears.　In “The Vatican Prophecies: Investigating Supernatural Signs, Apparitions and Miracles in the Modern Age,” veteran Catholic journalist John Thavis explores their world of Marian apparitions, relics, exorcisms, doomsday visions and other purported encounters with the supernatural."The Vatican Prophecies: Investigating Supernatural Signs, Apparitions and Mirac

BooksFeb. 11, 2016

“The Pirate,” the second installment of Jon Gnarr‘s childhood memoir trilogy, is essentially an Icelandic-punk version of “Catcher in the Rye.” Rather than Holden Caulfield wandering the streets of New York looking for someone who is not a phony, Gnarr narrates in pseudo-stream-of-consciousness style through his never-ending search for real punks in Iceland."The Pirate" By Jon Gnarr, Translated by Lytton Smith (Deep Vellum)　Gnarr was diagnosed at a young age with an intellectual disability cause

BooksFeb. 11, 2016

When the movie industry faced competition from the television industry in the 1930s and 1940s, filmmakers and studios had to be creative and offer something different on the silver screen to get people to visit movie theaters. Audience members wear 3-D glasses to watch a movie using 4DX motion picture technology at the Cinema Park multiscreen theatre complex in Moscow, Russia. (Bloomberg)They looked for ideas in Germany and France, and introduced new and mixed genres such as film noirs or romant

FilmFeb. 10, 2016

Three Korean films have been invited to screen at this year’s 66th annual Berlin Film Festival (Berlinale), which is running from Feb. 11 to 21. 　Director E J-yong’s “The Bacchus Lady,” Lee Dong-ha’s documentary “Weekends” and Yoon Ga-eun’s “The World of Us,” will premiere at the festival’s Panorama screening event. This year’s Panorama selection will feature 51 films from 33 countries, including 34 fictional features and 17 documentaries.   Offical movie poster for “The World of us” directed by

FilmFeb. 10, 2016

With “Like for Likes,” what you see is what you get: A cookie-cutter omnibus romantic comedy featuring three couples, tangentially linked, each finding his or her way to an ever-after ending. The men are sweet, the women are adorable and butterflies abound as the familiar stages of courtship unfold.　It’s difficult to imagine how this setup could yield surprises, yet one still feels a tinge of disappointment at the way in which “Like for Likes” fulfills its promise to a T. If any romantic comedy

FilmFeb. 10, 2016

PRAYSSAC, France (AFP) – France’s southwestern Cahors region is a new frontier for foreign investors, from Argentine winegrowers doing the “Malbec tango” to potential investor “ambassadors” from China.　Cahors is the new go-to destination for foreign investors as wine-growing land is becoming scarce -- and therefore exorbitantly expensive -- in other French regions.　“You can’t afford anything in Bordeaux or the Rhone or even in the Loire anymore,” says Chilean specialist Pedro Parra, who works fo

FoodFeb. 10, 2016

LONDON (AFP) - “It's like travelling in a time capsule,” enthused Jimi Hendrix’s former girlfriend, marvelling at their old London flat which has been painstakingly recreated to look exactly the way he left it in the swinging 60s.　The apartment where Hendrix and Kathy Etchingham lived between 1968 and 1969, which opens to the public on Wednesday, reveals the ordered domestic life behind the extraordinary U.S. rock star's mind-blowing music. Kathy Etchingham, the former girlfriend of U.S. musicia

PerformanceFeb. 10, 2016

After spending countless hours in the kitchen or in front of the TV, most families want to spend a day outside having fun together. The most accessible source of entertainment is the movie theater, where you can catch a film that everyone in the family can enjoy. The Korea Herald offers a short guide to the best movies for a family outing.Commanding nearly 70 percent of ticket bookings as of Thursday, Lee Il-hyung’s crime comedy “A Violent Prosecutor” looks set to be the top film during this hol

FilmFeb. 5, 2016