‘Face Reader’ sweeps Grand Bell Awards

Director Han Jae-rim’s period drama “The Face Reader” swept six awards at this year’s Grand Bell Awards on Friday, including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Director and Best Supporting Actor.The film tells the story of a man who can tell one’s personality and future by looking at their face, and gets involved in a coup d’etat led by the Grand Prince Suyang, who later became king Sejo, in 1450s Joseon. The drama was a huge commercial success, drawing more than 9 million viewers.Song Kang-ho, who

Nov. 3, 2013

Boxoffice: Thor: The Dark World, The Accomplice, Lovelace

 Thor: The Dark WorldOpened Oct. 30Action. Adventure. Fantasy. Directed by Alan Taylor. A year has passed since the Avengers came together. Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is back in the kingdom of Asgard with his brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) locked up in the dungeon for threatening to destroy the world. Meanwhile, on Earth, Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) coincidentally comes upon an ancient weapon that predates the universe itself and was originally owned by the Dark Elves. Malekith (Christopher Ecclest

Nov. 1, 2013

‘12 Years a Slave’ a searing exploration of a dark chapter in American history

At the start of “12 Years a Slave,” a nonfiction account of his experiences as a slave published in 1853, Solomon Northup expressed pleasure at the burgeoning number of books, newspaper articles and other writings that had started to sprout alongside his own memoir.“Since my return to liberty, I have not failed to perceive the increasing interest throughout the Northern States, in regard to the subject of Slavery,” Northup wrote. “Works of fiction, professing to portray its features in their mor

Nov. 1, 2013

Box office: The Accomplice, Lovelace, Hwa-yi

 The AccompliceOpened Oct. 24Thriller. Directed by Guk Dong-suk. Da-eun (Son Ye-jin) becomes suspicious of her father (Kim Kap-soo) and thinks he might be the culprit in a kidnap-turned-murder case. With only 15 days remaining until the statute of limitations expires, Da-eun begins to look into her father’s hazy past. She is put into emotional turmoil as she finds out more about the case and distrust begins to grow toward her otherwise dedicated, loving father. The movie is inspired by the true

Oct. 25, 2013

Johnny Knoxville shrugged off a lot on the way to being ‘Bad Grandpa’

The right ring finger. ... No, “THE LEFT RING FINGER!”It’s minutes before sunrise at Westchester’s Kerlan-Jobe sports medicine clinic and Johnny Knoxville has very nearly, accidentally, authorized orthopedic surgery on the wrong hand. His uninjured hand.A clinic administrator taking down Knoxville’s information shakes her head in disbelief.Within the hour, the co-creator and breakout star of MTV’s cultishly beloved series “Jackass” ― and a trio of spin-off movies that have a combined gross of mo

Oct. 25, 2013

Hunchback mortician tale gets belated theater release

Art house film director Jeon Kyu-hwan’s drama “The Weight” is finally hitting local theaters next month, a year after the movie won the Queer Lion prize at last year’s Venice International Film Festival.The film, which is Jeon’s fifth feature-length film, tells the story of a hunchback mortician and his transgender sister. It is the first Korean movie to win the prize at Venice, which is given to the best film with LGBT themes.Actor Cho Jae-hyun, who plays the mortician, won the best actor prize

Oct. 25, 2013

Lesbian romance tale arrives with praise, whiff of scandal

NEW YORK (AP) ― “Blue is the Warmest Color” arrives in the United States from France this week ― and it’s bringing along some baggage.  On the plus side, the intense and soulful lesbian romance carries a Palme D’Or from Cannes, awarded not only to director Abdellatif Kechiche but, in a rare gesture, to his lead actresses, who received effusive praise from jury head Steven Spielberg. It’s also done boffo box office in France. On the more complicated side, it carries a whiff of scandal ― in the fo

Oct. 23, 2013

A glimpse into privileged lives of young Pyongyang elites

GOYANG, Gyeonggi Province ― Singaporean filmmakers Lynn Lee and James Leong started their documentary “The Great North Korean Picture Show” in 2008 thinking the film would most likely be about the communist state’s film industry.The film, which had its Korean premiere last week at the ongoing DMZ Korean International Documentary Film Festival, turned out to be something more, if not entirely something else. A lot of it had to do with the limitations the filmmakers faced while shooting: They were

Oct. 22, 2013

‘Hide and Seek’ to open London Korean Film Festival

Director Huh Jung’s thriller “Hide and Seek” has been selected as the opener of the upcoming London Korean Film Festival, the film’s producer said.Organized annually by the Korean Cultural Centre UK, the London Korean Film Festival celebrates its eighth anniversary this year. The thriller, released in August, tells the story of Sung-woo, an established businessman who lives with his wife and two loving children in a luxurious apartment. He one day learns that his brother, whom he cut off contact

Oct. 21, 2013

Women speak candidly about abortion experiences

GOYANG, Gyeonggi Province ― In 2009, a group of pro-life doctors reported clinics and fellow physicians that performed illegal abortions. Under Korean law, abortions are illegal except under special circumstances, such as the unborn baby posing a serious health risk to the mother. The practice still remains widespread here, however, especially among young and unmarried women.The particular event in 2009 inspired filmmaker Jo Se-young to create a film about the issue, featuring women who agreed t

Oct. 20, 2013

Box Office: Lovelace, Hwa-yi, Rush

Lovelace Opened Oct. 17Biography. Drama. Directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman. Linda Lovelace (Amada Seyfried) is manipulated by her abusive, domineering husband Chuck Traynor (Peter Sarsgaard) into entering the porn industry. Despite her protests, she stars as the main character of a hardcore porn film “Deep Throat.” The movie is the first of its kind to gain much popularity and is screened all over the country, turning Linda into a famous porn star. Behind the glamorous fame Linda is u

Oct. 18, 2013

Mother steals the show in ‘Carrie’ remake

Awash in blood and tears, a woman howls in unspeakable anguish as she gives birth in the harrowing opening moments of “Carrie.” She is ashen and alone, her face gnarled with fear. Believing the child to be the devil’s spawn, she grabs a pair of scissors to stab the infant to death. Only the baby’s soft mewling, the pureness of its gaze, spares it from the knife.Director Kimberly Peirce summons up the bracing thematic subtext of her stylish remake in that deeply disturbing scene. It’s masterful f

Oct. 18, 2013

Movie harkens back to 2007 Taliban abductions of Koreans

BUSAN (AP) ― The South Korean Christians kidnapped by the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2007 returned home to not just relief but outrage, rapped for engaging in zealous missionary activity in the Islamic country in defiance of government warnings and forcing South Korea to negotiate for their release. A new drama by director Lee Jang-ho, well-known in South Korea for his commercial movies in the 1970s and the 1980s, borrows from those true events to examine religious conviction in a country that se

Oct. 17, 2013

Movies with a 270-degree view to hit Korean cinemas

BUSAN (AFP) ― A new format that gives moviegoers a panoramic 270 degree view will be rolled out by Korea’s biggest cinema chain this month, using the walls of theaters as additional screens. Screen X, developed by cinema chain CJ CGV, was on show at the Busan International Film Festival last week in the premiere of a 30-minute spy thriller “The X,” directed by Kim Jee-woon, a film commissioned to showcase the expanded three-screen format. Kim, who directed this year’s Arnold Schwarzenegger actio

Oct. 16, 2013