Jun Ji-hyun, the star of the mega-hit TV series “My Love from the Star,” ranks No. 1 on the value of real estate holdings among female celebrities in South Korea, market research showed Wednesday. The combined value of buildings owned by Jun in southern Seoul was estimated to be worth 13.15 billion won ($12.72 million) as of end-July, according to Chaebul.com, a website that tracks the wealth of the rich.  Jun Ji-hyun accepts an award from the Korea Tourism Organization during a cermony held in

Aug. 6, 2014

Period action flick “Roaring Currents” has set one box-office record after another since its opening last Wednesday. Previous period flicks have enjoyed notable successes, including “The King and the Clown” in 2005 and “Masquerade” in 2012. But none became box-office hits as quickly and sensationally as “Roaring Currents.” The film premiered on July 30, with the biggest-ever opening-day viewership in Korean film history (682,778 viewers). It topped the 6 million mark in just seven days on Tuesda

Aug. 5, 2014

A scene from “Roaring Currents”A homegrown action film about a 16th-century Korean naval hero’s astonishing victory against Japan surpassed the 5 million viewer mark on Monday, the movie’s investor-distributor said.“Roaring Currents” exceeded the milestone at about 9:30 a.m. Monday, the sixth day since opening, CJ Entertainment said.This was four days faster than a record shared by “Snowpiercer” (2013), “The Face Reader” (2013), “Iron Man 3” (2013) and “The Thieves” (2012).Released on Wednesday,

Aug. 4, 2014

One of the world’s top animated feature filmmakers Studio Ghibli ― creator of internationally acclaimed works including “My Neighbor Totoro,” “Princess Mononoke” and the Oscar-winning “Spirited Away” ― has announced that it will put its production on a hiatus. A scene from “My Neighbor Totoro.” (Studio Ghibli)Suzuki Toshio, the general manager of the Tokyo-based animation studio, said it would stop making new films for the time being, instead focusing on “restructuring and rebuilding” during an

Aug. 4, 2014

LOS ANGELES (AP) ― “Guardians of the Galaxy” blasted past expectations at the weekend box office. Marvel Studios’ cosmic romp starring Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana and Dave Bautista as members of an intergalactic band of rebels earned $94 million in its debut weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday. Ahead of its Friday debut, box office analysts initially projected that the comic book adaptation would earn between $60 million and $75 million in North America. The out-of-this-world launch gives

Aug. 4, 2014

Hong Kong filmmaker Ann Hui has been chosen as the winner of the 2014 “Asian Filmmaker of the Year” by the Busan International Film Festival, organizers said Monday.“We selected director Ann Hui as the winner of this year’s award to show respect for her contribution to the Asian film industry and her pioneering spirit with the creation of many masterpieces that will be remembered for ages,” the film festival said in a release.The award is given annually to an Asian filmmaker who has significantl

Aug. 4, 2014

Everyone seems shocked when they find out “And So It Goes” is the first time veteran actors Michael Douglas, 69, and Diane Keaton, 68, have worked together.“I take that as a compliment because it means that we must look very comfortable working together,” Douglas says. “I knew going in the movie that it would be a real treat to work with her, but after the first day I knew that it was just going to be a lot of fun. She’s a sweetheart and so talented.“Diane has a way of making you think you’re th

Aug. 3, 2014

“Code Black” opens in chaos, settles into systemic calm and ends with young doctors struggling against “the failure of the system” to get back some of that chaos.But this isn’t this year’s new variation on TV’s “young doctors, under stress and in love.” It’s a documentary film filled with adrenalin junkies, idealistic Type-A personalities and over-achievers. They’re residents at L.A. County Hospital’s “legendary” emergency room, capturing the urgency and immediacy of this last line of defense ag

Aug. 1, 2014

The Pirates (Korea)Opening August 6Adventure, Action. Directed by Lee Seok-hoon“The Pirates” takes place on a pirate ship, and tells the story of a royal seal that went missing early in the Joseon era (1392-1910). Based on the true story of a missing seal, the movie fuses history and imagination in recounting the search for the artifact. The searches are conducted by a group of bandits headed by Jang Sa-jung (Kim Nam-gil), a group of pirates headed by Yeo-wol (Son Ye-jin), and government officia

Aug. 1, 2014

The period blockbuster “Roaring Currents” drew a record number of viewers in just two days, surpassing the number of viewers who saw “Avatar” in the first week of its release. According to the Korean Film Council, the movie drew more than 1.4 million viewers in the first two days of its debut, the fastest record so far this year. The movie attracted 700,866 viewers on Thursday, making it the most-watched film on a single weekday in Korean cinema history. It also had a record opening with 680,000

Aug. 1, 2014

A film festival to promote the coexistence of people and animals will be held at Suncheon Bay, South Jeolla Province, from Aug. 21-26. The “Animal Film Festival in Suncheon,” in its second year, will screen 50 animal-themed films from 20 countries. The movies will deal with the preservation of nature and interactions between humans and animals. Japanese film “7 Days of Himawari & Her Puppies” directed by Emiko Hiramatsu, will kick off the festival. The film is based on a true story and depicts a

July 31, 2014

There’s a delicious moment in “Get on Up,” Tate Taylor’s new James Brown biopic, when Brown ― played by Chadwick Boseman, in a thrillingly magnetic performance ― is about to appear on the T.A.M.I. Show, a multi-act concert filmed in 1964. Backstage, the singer is informed that he and his band won’t be closing the show; that honor will be going to an up-and-coming British band called the Rolling Stones. Brown shakes off the disappointment, goes out and blows the roof off the place with the force

July 30, 2014

When people think of Kim Nam-gil ― a 33-year-old actor with a lean, masculine physique ― they often describe him as coldhearted and intense with sad, mysterious eyes, thanks to the revenge-seeking characters he played in 2010 TV drama “Bad Guys” and recent show “Shark.”But little has been shown of what lies beneath his dark and weighty roles: a hilarious, talkative, laid-back man who at times “has some screws loose,” he said at the press premiere of his new movie. It seems as though the actor fo

July 29, 2014

At the height of their powers, our overlords at Marvel have deigned to prove, like an emperor tolerating a court jester, that they do, in fact, have a sense of humor. The Marvel universe, of course, isn’t entirely lacking comedy, as we’ve seen in “Iron Man” and “The Avengers.” But on the whole, the Marvel kingdom is built on an unshakable foundation of self-seriousness. The comic book studio seems to fear that if the solemnity of its fiction isn’t diligently guarded, people might start questioni

July 29, 2014

SAN DIEGO (AP) ― Amid the costumes and fantasy of this weekend’s Comic-Con convention, a group of young women drew widespread attention to a very real issue ― allegations of sexual harassment at the annual pop-culture festival. Geeks for CONsent, founded by three women from Philadelphia, gathered nearly 2,600 signatures on an online petition supporting a formal anti-harassment policy at Comic-Con. Conventioneers told Geeks for CONsent they had been groped, followed and unwillingly photographed d

July 28, 2014

For Kim Tae-hoon, a 38-year-old man who takes care of ten North Korean defectors like a mother, the meaning of family goes far beyond blood ties. Little had he imagined that he would have a family like that until 2006, when he met Ha-ryong at Hanawon, a resettlement center for North Korean defectors located outside of Anseong, Gyeonggi Province, where he served as a volunteer.Ha-ryong, 10-years-old back then, asked Kim when he was packing his belongings to go home after spending a night with him

July 27, 2014

Roaring Currents (Korea)Opening July 30Action, Drama. Directed by Kim Han-min“Roaring Currents” is a story about Yi Sun-sin, the most revered admiral in Korean history. The film focuses on the historic 1597 Battle of Myeongryang during the Japanese invasion of Korea (1592-1598), in which Yi, played by veteran actor Choi Min-sik, uses strategy to destroy 133 Japanese warships with only 12 ships under his command. This battle is regarded as one of Yi’s greatest victories. Director Kim Han-min retu

July 25, 2014

You can sense a John le Carre spy novel adaptation, often before his name turns up in the credits. The hero’s cynicism at war with his skepticism, the professionalism at war with personal demons ― in the spy master’s gloomy, overcast world they’re all spies “Who Came in from the Cold.”That’s especially true in “A Most Wanted Man,” a New World Order/old-school espionage thriller built around one last magnificent performance by the late Philip Seymour Hoffman.It’s a modern story of spy games in po

July 25, 2014