[Herald Interview] Young composer-conductor excited about Seoul-Paris premiere

For composer-conductor Choi Jae-hyuck, this June is a time of anticipation. The winner of the 72nd Concours de Geneve Composition Prize, Choi grabbed the attention of the classical music scene for conducting Stockhausen’s “Gruppen” at the 2018 Lucerne Festival with maestros Simon Rattle and Ducan Ward. June 28 will be a big day for the 24-year-old musician. His works will be put onstage across continents, in Paris and Seoul. Ensemble InterContemporain, a renowned cont

June 13, 2019

[Herald Review] ‘Men in Black: International,’ not-so exciting spinoff to beloved series

The “Men in Black” series was absurd, bombastic, outrageous and a whole lot of fun. Sure, the trilogy may have been uneven in terms of quality, but the unlikely duo of Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones have always managed to provide laughs with their fun-packed adventures.Aside from aliens, a few familiar faces, a good joke here and there and admittedly-good action, “Men in Black: International” didn’t really feel like an MIB movie, though that doesn’t mean the s

June 12, 2019

Thriller ‘The Culprit’ a story about trust

A man’s life is shattered when his wife is murdered and his best friend is a key suspect. He now must work with that suspect’s wife to piece together the truth, despite the lack of trust between them.The complexity of the relationship between Yeong-hun and Da-yeon, played by Song Sae-byeok and Yoo Sun, is what director Go Jung-wook said he was trying to depict in his upcoming mystery thriller “The Culprit.”“(The movie) is a film that tries to tell a tale about havin

June 12, 2019

Ultra Korea 2019 wraps up, troubled with hiccups

Ultra Korea 2019 wrapped up three days of festivities on Sunday, but the Korean leg of the annual electronic dance music festival was troubled with hiccups that included last-second cancellations by headliners and controversy over its operations.Misfortune crept up on the event last Wednesday when organizers notified fans that Martin Garrix, one of the main headliners whose act was supposed to be the main stage finale for Friday’s event, had to cancel due to an ankle injury he sustained in

June 11, 2019

Jean-Christophe Maillot says his ‘Cinderella’ is relatable to just about anyone

Born and raised in a small town in France, Jean-Christophe Maillot rose to the top: Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo, one of the world’s most famous ballet companies, founded by Monaco’s royal family. Maillot described himself as a “Cinderella” during a press conference held Monday at Ode Port in Sinsa-dong, Seoul.The longtime director of the renowned ballet company added that making the timeless story real had been his initial focus. According to the director, the reinvention

June 11, 2019

Blockbuster 'Arthdal Chronicles' under fire for similarity with famous dramas, films

The blockbuster fantasy series "Arthdal Chronicles" has been struggling not only with its lower-than-expected viewership ratings but with a ballooning controversy over its apparent resemblance to famous TV dramas and movies.First aired on June 1 by cable channel tvN, the weekend drama is about a story when politics is just being birthed in the ancient city of Arthdal.It was in the center of media attention even before the premiere thanks to its star-studded cast, including movie stars

June 11, 2019

NCT 127 to set out on European tour

Boy band NCT 127 on Monday confirmed that it will commence a tour across Europe later this month, starting in Russia and ending in Paris. According to S.M. Entertainment, the 10-member band will kick off the tour with a concert at the Ice Palace arena in St. Petersburg, Russia, June 26. It will move on to perform at the Megasport Sport Palace in Moscow and the SSE Arena, Wembley, in the UK before wrapping up the tour in Paris at La Seine Musicale.Prior to heading to Europe, the band will hold co

June 10, 2019

NCT 127 announces European leg of ongoing world tour

Rising global stars NCT 127 announced Monday a new European leg of their ongoing world tour "Neo City - the Origin."The European part of the concert tour will kick off at Russia's Ice Palace on June 26 and move to Megasport Sport Palace in Moscow on June 29, according to SM Entertainment.Those will be followed by performance at the SSE Arena, Wembley in London on July 7 and La Seine Musicale in Paris on July 10. As part of their world-trotting concerts, NCT 127 has toured 20 North Amer

June 10, 2019

Kang Daniel gears up for return to show biz with new talent agency

Kang Daniel, a member of the disbanded boy band Wanna One, is expected to finally return to the K-pop scene as a solo artist with the establishment of a management agency for himself.His aides said Monday the singer has recently established Konnect Entertainment, a one-person company, in Seoul to launch his solo career. The move came a month after a local court accepted his request to suspend the efficacy of his exclusive management contract with LM Entertainment.Having finished as the front run

June 10, 2019

‘Spider-Man’ Tom Holland to visit Korea

English actor Tom Holland, star of “Spider-Man: Far From Home,” is slated to visit South Korea from June 30 to July 1 to promote the latest film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe ahead of its opening.According to local promoters of the Sony Pictures action-adventure flick, Holland will participate in a press conference and fan events. The movie opens July 2, both here and in the US.This marks the 23-year-old’s third visit to Korea for an official promotional event. He first trav

June 10, 2019

'Spider-Man' actor Tom Holland to visit S. Korea

The lead actor in Marvel's upcoming superhero film, "Spider-Man: Far From Home," will visit South Korea later this month to promote the movie ahead of its release in the country, the film's distributor said Monday.Tom Holland, who plays Spider Man in the flick, will be in Seoul on June 30-July 1, according to Sony Pictures. It is Holland's third trip to South Korea, following visits in 2017 and 2018 as part of Marvel's global promotional tours for "Spider-Man: Homecoming" and

June 10, 2019

[Herald Review] ‘Long Live the King’ settles for cookie-cutter fun

With his directorial debut, “The Outlaws,” Kang Yoon-sung showed he was capable of creating quality action and characters, although the storytelling was a bit formulaic and cliched. “Long Live the King,” an upcoming comedy/drama about a reformed gangster, shows the director’s strengths and weaknesses with an interesting protagonist, a slightly overdone but promising premise and humor -- but also a weak narrative and clumsy storytelling. The film stars Kim Rae-won as

June 9, 2019

BTS concert north of Paris draws fans from all over Europe

Tens of thousands of fans traveled from all over Europe to Saint Denis, just north of Paris, where the K-pop boy band BTS performed for the second night on Saturday.Following the band's concerts at Wembley Stadium last weekend, the septet came to rock France on Friday and Saturday, their last stop in Europe under the ongoing "Love Yourself: Speak Yourself" world tour.  Hours ahead of the Saturday concert at Stade de France, which accommodates up to 80,000 spectators, excited fans

June 9, 2019

'Parasite' likely to be remade into US drama series

Following the previous globally acclaimed film "Snowpiercer," director Bong Joon-ho's latest, Cannes-winning "Parasite" is presumed to become his second flick to be dramatized in the United States.Winning the top Palme d'Or prize at this year's Cannes Film Festival, the film was sold to film distributors in 192 foreign countries, becoming the most exported South Korean film title ever. With its piercing depiction of economic class division universally appealing to internation

June 9, 2019

Palme d'Or-winning 'Parasite' on its way to topping 7 mln admissions

The Cannes-winning Korean film "Parasite" has surpassed an accumulated 6.5 million admissions in South Korea and is on its way to topping the 7 million milestone, data showed Sunday.On Saturday alone, the tragicomedy film drew 637,677 moviegoers to local movie theaters, dominating the box-office No. 1 position every day since its official release on May 30, according to the data from the Korean Film Council.As of Saturday, accumulated admissions had reached 6.51 million, and the film i

June 9, 2019

BTS offered Recording Academy membership, to vote for Grammys

Korean pop sensation BTS and its producer Bang Si-hyuk has been invited to join the Recording Academy, an elite US group of pop music figures most well-known for voting for the Grammy Awards.The Los Angeles-based group on Thursday announced the list of 1,340 people in the music industry that have been invited to be members, and therefore eligible to vote for next year’s awards. All seven members were invited as “voting members” while Bang -- the head of its agency Big Hit Enter

June 7, 2019

BTS songs to hit playlist of NASA's next lunar journey

Three BTS songs will hit the playlist of the American space agency's next journey to the moon as the agency is planning to make another lunar landing by 2024, the agency's SNS feeds have shown. In a Twitter feed Tuesday, the Johnson Space Center of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) said three BTS songs -- "Moonchild," "Mikrokosmos" and "134340" -- will be added to the playlist for the planned lunar journey. "Wow, there are a lot of BTS &a

June 7, 2019

[Box Office] Movies in theaters this week

Parasite(Korea)Opened May 30Drama, Black ComedyDirected by Bong Joon-hoThe Kims, a poor, jobless family of four, find their way into the wealthy glamorous Park family by landing jobs through deceitful means. They earn the affection of the Parks, who are worlds apart from them and yet are somewhat alike. Their new way of life is turned upside down when an unexpected visitor comes knocking on the door, kicking off a series of unexpected events.Aladdin(US)Opened May 23Adventure, Comedy, Family Dire

June 7, 2019

American singer-songwriter finds ‘accidental success’ in Korea

While Hallyu, or the Korean wave, has proven to be a major force, with South Korean music and entertainment content making a buzz around the world, music travels in the opposite direction too.American singer-songwriter Jim Wolf, 39, is one example. He has found musical success in a place he never would have expected.  “I didn’t actually have a distributor to get the song here. The more I look into it, the more I don’t know how it really began,” Wolf told The Korea He

June 4, 2019

Park Chan-wook’s ‘The Little Drummer Girl’ to screen in Busan

A 2018 BBC and AMC TV miniseries directed by renowned Korean auteur Park Chan-wook will be screened at the Busan Cinema Center this month.According to the center’s officials, the director’s cut of “The Little Drummer Girl” will be screened at its 212-seat Cinema II from Wednesday to Saturday. Two episodes per day will be screened in order from Wednesday to Friday, and the entire six-episode series will be screened on the last day, followed by a conversation between the au

June 4, 2019