Ko to return as reclusive cartoonist

In her recent works, actress Ko Hyun-jung has been nothing but a powerful, ruling woman.She starred as Korea’s first female president in the 2010 SBS drama “Daemul,” and the ambitious, manipulative royal concubine Lady Mishil in MBC’s 2009 hit biopic drama “Queen Seondeok.” Even in her 2007 police procedural TV series “H.I.T.,” Ko played a fierce detective who would not take no for an answer.In her upcoming movie “Miss GO,” however, Ko returns to the screen as a timid, dowdy woman. In the highly

May 29, 2012

Audrey Tautou grown up in Cannes closer

CANNES, France (AP) ― Actress Audrey Tautou, known for her sweet and light roles in such films as “Amelie,’’ praised the late director Claude Miller as a “bright and passionate’’ filmmaker who helped her turn in a darker direction in his final film.The French star plays a husband-poisoner in Miller’s “Therese Desqueyroux,’’ which closed the Cannes Film Festival on Sunday at a special screening celebrating the lauded New Wave filmmaker, who died last month of cancer at age 70.The contemporary of

May 29, 2012

Cannes crowns ‘Love’ as Europe sweeps awards

Im Sang-soo and Hong Sang-soo, the only two Asian directors in competition, fail to win prizesCANNES, France (AFP) ― Cannes crowned “Love” by Austria’s Michael Haneke, the wrenching tale of a man and his dying wife, with its Palme d’Or prize Sunday as Europe swept the awards at world cinema’s top showcase.Haneke’s octogenarian actors, French screen icon Jean-Louis Trintignant, 81, and Emmanuelle Riva, 85, bowled Cannes over in the story of Georges and Anne, an adoring couple whose bond is tested

May 28, 2012

Box Office

Runway Cop (Korea)Opening May 31Comedy. Directed by Shin Tae-ra. Detective Cha Cheol-soo (Kang Ji-hwan) does not care about the way he looks or what others think of him. He is fat and does not wash enough. His hair is always greasy and his clothes smell. But when he is assigned to a drug case in Korea’s flashy fashion industry, he is ordered to lose at least 20 kilograms and pretend to be a fashion model to investigate undercover. Granny in 1st Grade (Korea)Opened May 24Drama. Directed by Jin Gw

May 25, 2012

Ohio jeweler collects movie star fashions as hobby

Richard John has one of the most interesting closets in America.A Barbra Streisand concert gown. Costumes from “The King and I,” “Camelot” and “The Ten Commandments.” Suits worn by Bob Hope on stage and Laurence Olivier on the big screen. A Lana Turner necklace. Sequined shoes from Phyllis Diller’s final Vegas act. An Elizabeth Taylor ensemble from a television appearance.After more than 20 years of collecting clothing and accessories from classic-era movie stars, John’s wardrobe is bursting at

May 25, 2012

Haneke, Loach among Cannes’ early highlights

CANNES, France (AP) ― The first half of the 65th annual Cannes Film Festival has completed a life cycle in films that range from the motivating spark of child birth to the despair of slow death in old age. The latter came by way of Michael Haneke’s “Amour,’’ which is by wide consensus the favorite thus far for the festival’s top honor, the Palme d’Or. Such an outcome would make the Austrian filmmaker, who won three years ago for his previous film, “The White Ribbon,’’ the seventh director to win

May 23, 2012

Actress returns in another racy period thriller

Jo Yeo-jung stars in Kim Dai-seung’s highly convincing noir ‘The Concubine’Despite the media frenzy and concern for her “going nude too often,” actress Jo Yeo-jung appears to have a fine taste in selecting her roles.After breaking into Korea’s film scene by going nude in her 2010 erotic period drama “The Servant,” the actress has chosen another period thriller with explicit sex scenes. But despite the media hype about Jo’s graphic nude scenes, “The Concubine” is actually an alluring thriller rev

May 23, 2012

Chinese actress Li Bingbing at Canne festival

 Alessandra Fisher Li Bingbing arrives at the 65th Canne international film festival,in southern France on Thursday. (Yonhap News)China's actress and singer attended the 65th Canne international film festival in France on Thursday.

May 23, 2012

Huppert lost in translation in Korean Cannes entry

Isabelle Huppert plays three roles in “In Another Country” by South Korean director Hong Sang-soo about French women lost in translation among admirers in Asia, premiering at Cannes on Monday. Huppert, 59, appears as a trio of different characters, all named Anne, in quirky vignettes dreamed up by a young screenwriter, a woman seen only briefly in the film.All the stories take place in the seaside town of Mohang, with Anne the successful film-maker, Anne the married woman cheating on her husband

May 22, 2012

Will Smith slaps journalist who tries to kiss him

 MOSCOW (AP) _ Hollywood star Will Smith slapped a male television reporter who he said tried to kiss him on the lips as he walked down the red carpet for the Moscow premiere of ``Men in Black III.''The reporter from the Ukrainian television channel 1+1, Vitalii Sediuk, made headlines at the Venice Film Festival in September when he presented a bouquet of clearly unappreciated purple hydrangeas to

May 20, 2012

Box Office

Runway Cop (Korea)Opening May 31Comedy. Directed by Shin Tae-ra. Detective Cha Cheol-soo (Kang Ji-hwan) does not care about the way he looks or what others think of him. He is fat and does not wash enough. His hair is always greasy and his clothes smell. But assigned to investigate a drug case in Korea’s flashy fashion industry, he is ordered to lose at least 20 kilograms and pretend to be a fashion model to investigate the case undercover. Granny is in 1st Grade (Korea)Opening May 24Drama. Dire

May 18, 2012

‘Expecting’ author and star bond over babies in pregnancy comedy

Many times Hollywood came calling, wanting to make her book “What to Expect When You’re Expecting” into a movie. But Heidi Murkoff said “Huh?”It’s a best seller, yes, with some 40 million copies in four editions in print. But it’s a self-help book, packed with answers to the burning questions a lot of pregnant women and their husbands ask. Murkoff, 53, didn’t see a movie in that.“These movie pitches never survived my gut check,” Murkoff says. She was waiting for somebody who “got it,” that “What

May 18, 2012

Im Sang-soo takes disturbing portrait of chaebol to Cannes

'Taste of Money’ to compete at Cannes film fest along with Hong Sang-soo’s ’In another Country’Regardless of whether or not director Im Sang-soo has met any real-life chaebol families, this is how he imagines their lives to be in his latest drama: They have a Philippines-born housemaid, are ruthlessly immoral, commit murder with no shame, speak Korean with a smattering of English, and are utterly unhappy. Just a couple of days before the opening of this year’s Cannes film festival, Im’s “Taste o

May 17, 2012

Im takes disturbing portrait of chaebol to Cannes

‘Taste of Money’ to compete at Cannes film festival along with Hong Sang-soo’s ‘In Another Country’Regardless of whether or not director Im Sang-soo has met any real-life chaebol families, this is how he imagines their lives to be in his latest drama: They have a Philippines-born housemaid, are ruthlessly immoral, commit murder with no shame, speak Korean with a smattering of English, and are utterly unhappy.Just a couple of days before the opening of this year’s Cannes film festival, Im’s “Tast

May 17, 2012