Disney pens love letter to Japan with robot film

TOKYO (AP) ― Disney executives call their next film “a love letter to Japanese culture.” No wonder: This nation can’t get enough of animation, especially Disney’s. Walt Disney Animation Studios is practically bending backward to woo Japanese moviegoers after the stupendous success of “Frozen.” The fifth-highest-grossing movie of all time made more than $250 million of its total in Japan alone, nearly a third of its overseas numbers and more than five times what it made in France, according to Bo

Oct. 26, 2014

Box Office: The Truth Shall Not Sink with Sewol, The Golden Era, My Love My Bride

The Truth Shall Not Sink with Sewol (Korea)Opened Oct. 23Documentary. Directed by Lee Sang-ho and Ahn Hae-ryongThe documentary “The Truth Shall Not Sink with Sewol” (a.k.a. “Diving Bell”) addresses issues on the April 16 sinking of the Sewol ferry, which claimed more than 300 lives, particularly issues about the use of a marine rescue equipment called a diving bell, which was largely seen as a failure. Investigative journalist Lee Sang-ho takes the camera to Paengmok Harbor, Jindo Island, to doc

Oct. 24, 2014

Hasbro in high spirits over prospects for film based on Ouija board

Hollywood has a fascination with turning classic board games into movies.There was “Clue” and “Battleship,” and now “Ouija” is about to hit theaters this week. Filmmakers are working to get “Monopoly,” “Candy Land” and “Risk” off the toy store shelves and into cinemas.The big studios hope to cash in at the box office as these familiar titles resonate with grown-ups and teenagers alike who played the games as children. And, for toy makers like Hasbro Inc., it could help boost sales of games that

Oct. 24, 2014

‘Begin Again’ woos Korean audience with song

Greta (played by Keira Knighley) follows her singer-songwriter boyfriend Dave (played by rock band Maroon 5’s frontman Adam Levine) to New York. As soon as Dave lands a deal with a major record label, he strays away from her. Heartbroken Greta takes to singing at a bar, where she meets former music producer Dan (played by Mark Ruffalo), and they decide to make music together busking around the city. This is how the musical film “Begin Again” unfolds. The story sounds banal, but the movie has gai

Oct. 22, 2014

Building on the ‘Frozen’ effect in Korea

Following Walt Disney’s groundbreaking success in Korea earlier this year with its animated film “Frozen” ― the first animated feature and second foreign film after “Avatar” in 2009 to attract over 10 million viewers here, it makes sense for the studio’s creative mind to visit Korea to show what the future holds for Disney and for Asia. John Lasseter, chief creative officer of Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios, The Walt Disney Co.’s animation units, says what happened in Korea was “miracul

Oct. 21, 2014

Archaeologists seek movie set in California sands

GUADALUPE, California (AP) ― Archaeologists working in the sand dunes along the Central California coast are digging up ancient sphinxes ― but these are made of plaster.More than 90 years ago, legendary filmmaker Cecile B. DeMille erected 21 giant sphinxes and a 240-meter-wide temple as a set for the silent, black-and-white classic movie “The Ten Commandments.”But in 1923, when filming was over, DeMille abandoned them there among the sands of the Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes in Santa Barbara County.No

Oct. 20, 2014

Film about Korean naval hero to open in China

A scene from “Roaring Currents”A South Korean smash-hit movie about a 16th-century Korean naval hero will open in Chinese theaters this year, the film’s local distributor said Monday.“‘Roaring Currents’ will be shown in some 3,000 theaters throughout China within this year with China’s largest state-run movie distributor, China Film Group, in charge of the film’s distribution,” CJ E&M Corp. said.Released on July 30, “Roaring Currents” drew a cumulative 17.6 million viewers in South Korea. On Aug

Oct. 20, 2014

‘Dear White People’ acts as sly, wry conversation starter

Coming on like a fresh breeze amid the hot air that so often accompanies talk about race, “Dear White People” is both a conversation piece and a calling card, announcing writer-director Justin Simien, in his feature debut, as an invigorating voice, someone original from a new generation.From the recent events in Ferguson, Missouri, to the media dust-up over an essay on television in the New York Times, the broad subject represents a minefield no matter the arena. The playfully incendiary satire

Oct. 17, 2014

Box Office

The Golden Era (China)Opened Oct. 16Drama. Directed by Ann HuiThe Chinese-Hong Kong film, “The Golden Era,” is a biopic of legendary Chinese writer Xiao Hong (Tang Wei), who lived through political turmoil in modern China from 1911 to 1942. Before the writer died at the young age of 32, she published many short stories and essays including “The Bridge” in 1933 and “Tales of Hulan River” in 1944. The film, which was screened during this year’s Busan International Film Festival, focuses not only o

Oct. 17, 2014

Rogen’s serious business: Alzheimer’s

LOS ANGELES (AP) ― Seth Rogen let out a loud laugh when asked what he had done with Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader who suddenly and inexplicably dropped out of sight about six weeks ago. “It’s all a marketing ploy,” joked Rogen, whose upcoming comedy “The Interview” mercilessly mocks the rotund ruler. “We’ve hid him somewhere, and he’ll be released one week before the movie.” Kim’s absence is at least a bit easier to laugh about now that he has finally resurfaced, appearing in images relea

Oct. 17, 2014

Keaton soars again in ‘Birdman’

NEW YORK (AP) ― When Michael Keaton met Barack Obama shortly before Obama would become president, the then-senator had a question for the actor.“Why don’t you make more movies?”It’s a quandary that has long bedeviled moviegoers just as it has, so it seems, heads of state. Why did the roundly beloved Keaton ― a manic comic actor, an intense live wire, a real-deal movie star ― become such an infrequent presence on the big screen? Even at the height of Keaton’s stardom in the 1980s and ’90s, he was

Oct. 15, 2014

Rare French-made animation film showcases home talent

A rare feature-length animation film produced entirely in France, “Yellowbird” premiered on Sunday at the London Film Festival, a heartwarming tale of an orphaned bird leading a migration across the world.The story was inspired by airlines which flew thousands of swallows across the Mediterranean in 1974 after the birds began dying en masse before they could migrate due to an early winter.The main character, Yellowbird, is an orphaned chick who is forced to lead a migration to Africa after he is

Oct. 14, 2014

Behind Korea’s film renaissance

At a glance, Korean cinema seems to be having a renaissance. In a world where Hollywood blockbusters dominate the silver screen, local films grabbed a market share of 60 percent in 2013, double that of U.S. titles. Not only that, ticket sales exceeded 200 million for the first time in history last year, as Koreans once again proved themselves to be among the world’s most avid cinemagoers. Then this summer came another major milestone. A local period flick, “Roaring Currents,” attracted more than

Oct. 12, 2014

Box Office: My Love My Bride, Slow Video, Whistle-Blower

My Love My Bride (Korea)Opened Oct. 8Romance, Comedy. Directed by Im Chan-sangA remake of the popular 1990 movie of the same title, “My Love My Bride” centers on a newlywed couple, poet Young-min (Jo Jung-suk) and art teacher Mi-young (Shin Min-ah). The couple tied the knot after being madly in love for four years. The sweet honeymoon period is short-lived as the couple faces the reality of married life. Small troubles and misunderstandings pile up and they begin to wonder whether their marriage

Oct. 10, 2014

Drummer keeps the beat or takes a beating in ‘Whiplash’

We only hear about them if there’s video or audio ― coaches, mostly ― a Bobby Knight, grabbing and choking players, a Mike Rice, hurling basketballs and the foulest abuse at a recruit.We hear the rationalizations, shake our heads and watch the court of public opinion take them down.Terence Fletcher is Bobby Knight with a baton, the tyrant of the jazz band program at New York’s prestigious Shaffer Conservatory. A mercurial bully, he charms and flatters only so he can tear down those he charms and

Oct. 10, 2014