‘The Help’ wins big at SAG awards

LOS ANGELES (AFP) ― “The Help,” a big-screen drama focusing on race relations in America, was the big winner at the Screen Actors Guild awards ceremony here Sunday, sweeping the top prizes for best actress, best supporting actress and best ensemble. The film, which tells the story of an aspiring journalist who decides to write a book exposing racism faced by domestic help in the 1960s, beat black-and-white silent movie “The Artist,” “Bridesmaids,” “The Descendants” and other films that had been

Jan. 30, 2012

Box Office

Papa (Korea)Opening Feb. 1Comedy. Directed by Han Ji-seung. Chun-seob (Park Yong-woo), who used to be a high-earning representative of a popular idol singer, now lives as an illegal immigrant in the U.S. The singer he used to work with ran away with all the money to the U.S., and Chun-seob, without a proper visa, failed to get a hold of her in the foreign country. One day, Chun-seob runs into a young girl named Joon (Go Ara), who is in need of a guardian in order to live with her “siblings” all

Jan. 27, 2012

EYE LIKE

Best-selling collection on sale in KoreaVarious artists“2012 Grammy Nominees” (Universal Music) The 2012 Grammy Nominees album went on sale on Jan. 17 in Korea, featuring hits from more than 20 chart-topping artists across genres.Artists featured include some of the world’s and Korea’s favorite artists such as Adele, Amy Winehouse, Tony Bennett, the Black Keys, Eric Church, Coldplay, J. Cole, Lady Gaga, Maroon 5, Bruno Mars, Katy Perry, Rihanna and Taylor Swift.One of the most notable categories

Jan. 27, 2012

Vintage eyeglasses provide clear path to Hollywood

Even in Hollywood, it’s rare for anyone to be able to boast a connection to dozens of Oscar-contending films and blockbusters over the last 25 years. But Russ Campbell can hardly turn on the television or go to a movie theater without seeing something he’s made a mark on ― including the high-profile films “J. Edgar,” “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,” “The Rum Diary,” “Cowboys & Aliens,” “A Single Man,” “Catch Me if You Can” and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” as well as such TV shows as “Mad M

Jan. 27, 2012

Filmmakers turn to popular novels for inspiration

More best-selling books to be made into movies in 2012We saw its success on the silver screen last year, with the hits “Punch” and “The Silenced.”Following the box-office triumph of the two bestsellers-turned-films, Korea’s publishing scene is seeing more of its output being turned into motion pictures this year. The film rights to about 10 popular books have been sold to production houses so far. The books to be turned into films include author Park Bum-shin’s romance novel “Eungyo,” Kim Tak-hw

Jan. 26, 2012

‘Unbowed’ flying high at box office, reviving attention to forgotten case

“Unbowed,” a low-budget South Korean film based on the true story of the so-called “crossbow terror”incident of a college professor, is heating up the local box office, drawing renewed public debate over the 2006 incident.The movie claimed the No. 2 spot by bringing in more than 1 million viewers at local cinemas as of Wednesday, a week after making a robust debut, the Korean Film Council, a government agency in charge of promoting domestic films, said on Thursday.The 1 million viewers is double

Jan. 26, 2012

Movie bash brings top anime filmmakers

Eighth Japanese Film Festival features top worksThis will be a thrilling week for Japanese movie buffs in Korea, as the annual J-cinema event returns to Seoul on Thursday, bringing with it some of the most celebrated Japanese anime filmmakers. The 8th Japanese Film Festival, which is being hosted by Japan’s Agency for Cultural Affairs, along with Korea’s CJ CGV, Busan Cinema Center and Japan Image Council, features 18 films this year. Notably, a separate event will be held in Busan for the first

Jan. 25, 2012

Smartphones help directors look at films from new angles

Mobile gadgets become new source of experience for pro and amateur filmmakersIt’s cheap, it’s easy, and it’s accessible. Welcome to smartphone-filmmaking, which has become the new trend for both amateur and professional filmmakers in the past year. The trend ― which started about a year ago upon the domestic release of Apple’s iPhone 4 and its local carrier KT’s aggressive-creative promotion of the products ― is becoming even bigger as more capital and talents are getting involved.In the beginni

Jan. 20, 2012

Box Office

I Don’t Know How She Does It (U.S.), Opening Feb. 2.Comedy. Directed by Douglas McGrath. Kate Reddy (Sarah Jessica Parker) is one busy woman. She is a high-earning financial executive at a Boston-based financial management firm, a devoted mother of two young children, and a supportive wife of her out-of-work architect husband Richard (Greg Kinnear). She manages to be on top of her schedule every day, and is used to hearing people say ‘I don’t know how you do it.” Yet things begin to change when

Jan. 20, 2012

eye like

Making up with sadnessChrystal Ship (Sujeongseon)“Reconciliation”(Sony Music)Chrystal Ship’s music is sad ― sad enough to be completely engulfed in the misery, yet sometimes, enough to give up being so sad. With a voice of a person who clearly knows one cannot be sure of everything in life, Chrystal Ship, a former member of Reverberation, sings 10 tracks that attempt to “make up” with sadness after a long period of aching. “What I Want Myself to Be” describes the confusion among two desires insi

Jan. 20, 2012

Max von Sydow graces ‘Extremely Loud’ with silence

His voice is deep, sonorous, rumbling with quiet gravitas.Few actors are as readily recognizable by their vocal cords as Max von Sydow, the great Swedish actor who arrived on the international scene in 1957, as a knight who encounters Death ― and plays chess with him ― in Ingmar Bergman’s classic, “The Seventh Seal.”Von Sydow would make 10 more films with Bergman (“Without him, I would certainly not have been here today,” he says). And he would make his mark in big commercial films, playing a sl

Jan. 20, 2012

Sundance time: Indie film world gathers

PARK CITY, Utah (AP) ― Independent films that may have been years in the making get their first audiences at this week’s Sundance Film Festival. That could also mean careers in the making for unknown directors and actors whose movies connect with the right crowds. Robert Redford’s independent-cinema showcase was opening Thursday with 117 feature-length films, 64 short films and a lot of anxious filmmakers on the agenda during its 11-day run.Some are established directors showing their latest wor

Jan. 19, 2012

Depp, Paradis ‘living separate lives’: report

Hollywood star Johnny Depp and longtime girlfriend Vanessa Paradis have split after a 14-year relationship, according to reports.Speculation of the break-up has grown as it as became increasingly rare for the couple to make public appearances together. Although both Paradis, 39, and Depp, 48, were in Paris last November, she didn’t attend the French premier of The Rum Diary, a film Depp both produced and starred in. Instead, the French actress and singer reportedly went to a concert. Paradis wa

Jan. 19, 2012

Paramount Insurge’s niche: Cheap films that promote themselves

LOS ANGELES ― The weekend before last, Paramount Insurge released the No. 1 movie in America. This past weekend it was shooting test footage of a talking dog.Formed in the wake of 2009’s ultra-low-budget surprise hit “Paranormal Activity,” Insurge is an experimental label within movie giant Paramount Pictures that aims to make youth-oriented films developed outside the traditional Hollywood system on a fast schedule and at low cost.Paramount is hardly the first studio to try to turn a surprise m

Jan. 17, 2012

‘The Artist’ makes a loud noise at Golden Globes

The black-and-white silent film “The Artist’’ came away with the most prizes with three wins at the Golden Globes, but the show spread the love around among a broad range of films and TV shows.Ricky Gervais, who has ruffled feathers at past shows with sharp wisecracks aimed at Hollywood’s elite and the Globes show itself, returned as host for the third-straight year.Wins for “The Artist’’ included best musical or comedy and best actor in a musical or comedy for Jean Dujardin, while the family dr

Jan. 16, 2012