Ashton Kutcher, Sarah Jessica Parker awarded worst actor and actress

Ashton Kutcher and Sarah Jessica Parker were awarded the worst actor and actress at the Golden Raspberry Awards on Feb. 26, the night before the Oscars, the Telegraph reported Sunday. Ashton Kutcher (left) and Sarah Jessica Parker (right) (MCT)Known as the “Razzies,” the Golden Raspberry Awards is held annually to recognize the worst films of the year. “The Last Airbender” was crowned the worst, w

Feb. 28, 2011

'King's Speech' crowned Oscars monarch

HOLLYWOOD, (AFP) - British royal drama "The King's Speech" was crowned Oscars winner on Sunday, taking three of the top Academy Award prizes at the climax of Hollywood's annual awards season.The movie took best picture, best director and best actor for Colin Firth as a stammering King George VI, helped by an Australian voice coach to rally wartime Britain. Colin Firth accepts the Oscar for best pe

Feb. 28, 2011

Fashion brands: Introducers of latest art

Hermes Foundation and Comme des Garçons show high-tech contemporary art in SeoulA black spaceship-like object seems to have landed on the third floor of Artsonje Center in Sogyeok-dong, central Seoul. Inside its dark room, about 10 cushioned seats are installed, encircling a large screen. Named “H Box,” the 6.5 meter wide and 5 meter tall structure is a mini, portable screening room for video artw

Feb. 27, 2011

No Oscar love for casting directors

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

Events calendar

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

The best (and worst) supporting Oscars hosts

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

Box office

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

Kim Ji-young’s seasoned Giselle touches audience

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

Theater of the absurd ditches the rule book

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

Superstar K contestant takes first step as K-pop singer

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

Will Jang score another success with ‘Midas’?

‘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

Philly exhibit reopens with Chinese mummies

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

Director tells more than her family story in ‘Goodbye Pyeongyang’

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

S. Korean actress Lee Young-ae gives birth to twins

  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

Downbeat S. Korean drama booed in Berlin

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

‘Night Fishing’ brings home Golden Bear

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