Some of Hollywood’s most fabled directors, Elia Kazan and Robert Altman among them, have said that casting accounts for roughly 90 percent of a movie’s ultimate success or failure.Yet at Sunday’s Academy Awards, there’ll be trophies for categories from best director to makeup ― but none for casting directors. While the Television Academy gives Emmy Awards for casting, and the Film Independent Spir

Feb. 25, 2011

Exhibition“Delpire & Cie”: Though the name might not immediately ring any bells, unlike with other Magnum members, Robert Delpire is a powerful figure without whom photographic history cannot be properly discussed. The 82-year-old photographer, publisher and director of exhibitions, films and campaigns has a lot of clout over not only his fellow photographers but also in other cultural realms. The

Feb. 25, 2011

Will James Franco pull a poem out of his tux, or read an excerpt from one of his short stories?Will Anne Hathaway break into song?Will the two of them, virgin co-hosts of the 83rd Academy Awards, dazzle the Kodak Theatre crowd Sunday night ― and more important, dazzle the millions of viewers around the globe?Or will the untested duo drown in a pool of commingled flop sweat?Franco, 32, and Hathaway

Feb. 25, 2011

Shotgun Love (Korea)Opening March 10Comedy. Directed by Jeong Woo-cheol. Home shopping model Sang-yeol (Im Chang-jeong) has a huge crush on his colleague So-yeon (Kim Gyu-ri). Unlike Sang-yeol, who mostly just tastes food items being advertised, beautiful and refined So-yeon is highly successful in the field. She hosts the TV shopping show and is well-known to the public. In spite of Sang-yeol’s p

Feb. 25, 2011

Original French version is Korea National Ballet’s first-ever sellout showThe sight of her tearstained face wrenched onlookers’ hearts, as she held up her hands in a plea to save her beloved’s life. Playing Giselle, Korea National Ballet’s principal dancer Kim Ji-young, not only impressed the press rehearsal audience with her acclaimed technique, but also wooed her viewers with an emotionally inte

Feb. 24, 2011

Audience members eat snacks, drink beer and answer phone calls in wacky new productionsThere was still at least 15 minutes to go before the start of the play but two clowns in black raincoats and hats were already wandering around the stage and near audience seats, miming in slow-motion. People hurried in, bewilderedly whispering to each other, “Has it already started?” Well, it might have ― or mi

Feb. 23, 2011

Singer Kim Bo-kyung is still an unfamiliar name to most Koreans. But once associated with the word “Superstar K,” her name almost instantly translates into the name of the song, “Because of You” by Kelly Clarkson, which she sang during the Korean version of American Idol aired on cable channel Mnet.Despite her mature and appealing voice, Kim failed to get into the show’s top 11 partly because of b

Feb. 22, 2011

‘The Slave Hunters’ star says he feels no pressure to live up to expectationsJudging from the star-studded cast fronting SBS’ new Monday and Tuesday night series, “Midas” looks like a shoo-in for success. Then again, so did its predecessor “ATHENA: Goddess of War,” but high-profile heartthrobs like Jung Woo-sung and Cha Seung-won did not prove alluring enough to reel in top ratings for the Monday

Feb. 21, 2011

PHILADELPHIA (AP) ― “Return of the Mummies” may sound like a horror movie, but in this case there’s a happy ending.The “Secrets of the Silk Road” exhibit reopened Friday at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology with a pair of show-stopping ancient mummies, now that a mysterious dispute with the Chinese government has been wrapped up.The drama has passed that had mus

Feb. 21, 2011

Personal documentary recounts tale of Korean-Japanese who resettled in N. KoreaMovie director Yang Yong-hi has a one-of-a-kind family.She lives in Tokyo, her mother in Osaka and her brothers in Pyongyang, North Korea.Born in Japan to pro-Pyongyang ethnic Korean parents, Yang tells about her life and family history in a cinematic form.But the 47-year-old director’s second personal documentary “Good

Feb. 21, 2011

  South Korean actress Lee Young-ae, widely popular across Asia, has given birth to twins, her agent here said Monday.Lee, 40, became a mother of fraternal twins, a boy and a girl, at 10:30 a.m. Sunday at a Seoul hospital, said Storms Company."The mother and the babies are healthy," it said.Lee Young-ae (The Korea Herald)She was secretly married in 2009 in the United States to a Korean businessman

Feb. 21, 2011

Korean actor Bin Hyun and South Korean actress Soo-jung Lim arrive for a press conference for the film "Come Rain, Come Shine" on February 17, in Berlin. The sole Asian contender for the Berlin film festival's Golden Bear top prize, the minimalist South Korean breakup drama met with jeers from critics.(Photo: AFP)BERLIN (AFP) – The sole Asian contender for the Berlin film festival's Golden Bear to

Feb. 21, 2011

Park brothers’ iPhone-shot short film wins award at BerlinaleSouth Korea’s highly acclaimed director Park Chan-wook and his younger brother, media artist Park Chan-kyong, captured a Golden Bear at Berlin International Film Festival for their first collaboration. Director Park Chan-kyong receives the Golden Bear award of the International Short Film Jury for the film “Night Fishing,” which he co-di

Feb. 20, 2011

BUENOS AIRES, Feb 18, 2011 (AFP) ― The world’s tango capital is dancing to a new beat at Latin America’s first museum devoted to the Beatles, displaying items from boots to wigs and even condoms stamped with John Lennon’s picture.Although none of the 2,500 articles on display actually ever belonged to a member of the Fab Four, thousands of visitors have already poured through the doors of the Buen

Feb. 20, 2011

Slash, best known as former lead guitarist of U.S. rock band Guns N’ Roses, said he is preparing another solo album while planning to visit Seoul as part of a world tour.After releasing his first solo album “Slash” in Korea in May, the current guitarist of Velvet Revolver is to hold a solo concert on March 20 at Ax-Hall in Seoul.“I am working on material for the next record that I am gonna do outs

Feb. 20, 2011

We humans divide ourselves into camps.Liberals and conservatives.Cat people and dog people.Woody Allen fans and Adam Sandler fans.Sandler, whose “Just Go With It” opens Friday, occupies a place in the hearts of Gen-Xers much in the way that Woody Allen is a cultural icon for baby boomers.Those sounds you hear are the howls of protest and snorts of derision from graying movie watchers across the la

Feb. 18, 2011