Kim Ki-duk wins Cannes sidebar prize

Cinematic self-portrait ‘Arirang’ gains international recognitionKim Ki-duk, one of the best known Korean auteurs overseas, received a coveted sidebar prize at Cannes on Saturday for his wrenching cinematic self-portrait “Arirang.”Kim shared his Un Certain Regard best picture prize with German director Andreas Dresen, who received it for the film “Stopped on Track.”“Arirang” is an emotionally raw

May 22, 2011

Director Kim wins key Cannes sidebar prize

Cinematic self-portrait ‘Arirang’ gains international recognitionKim Ki-duk, one of the best known Korean auteurs overseas, received a coveted sidebar prize at Cannes on Saturday for his wrenching cinematic self-portrait “Arirang.”Kim shared his Un Certain Regard best picture prize with German director Andreas Dresen, who received it for the film “Stopped on Track.”“Arirang” is an emotionally raw

May 22, 2011

Box Office

Goodbye, Boy (Korea)Opening June 2Drama. Directed by Roh Hong-jin. Middle school boy Jin-woo gets a part-time job delivering newspapers in the early morning, to help his mother who supports the family by herself. His father has always been unemployed, suffering from alcohol addiction. And his sister, who attends high school, has no aspirations for her future. Jin-woo runs into another boy named Ch

May 20, 2011

Keith Richards rocks a new generation

After decades of dark excess, Keith Richards seems wildly out of place at family-friendly Disneyland. But on a recent Saturday, there he was, a rock ‘n’ roll exile on Main Street USA, attending the massive movie premiere of “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,” the fourth installment in the blockbuster franchise in which he briefly appears as Capt. William Teague, father to Johnny Depp’s

May 20, 2011

Film-maker Lars von Trier 'accepts' Cannes ban

Actresses Charlotte Gainsbourg, Kirsten Dunst and director Lars Von Trier arrive for the screening of Melancholia at the 64th international film festival, in Cannes, southern France. (AP-Yonhap News)CANNES, France (AFP) - Cannes barred provocative Danish director Lars von Trier on Thursday amid a growing backlash over his remarks about Adolf Hitler, but his film remains in the race for the festiva

May 20, 2011

Foster thinks Cannes film can be ‘therapeutic’ for Gibson

CANNES, France (AFP) ― Jodie Foster drew cheers at Cannes on Tuesday for her latest film “The Beaver” and said she thought the experience of making it could be “therapeutic” for her troubled star Mel Gibson.The small-budget drama, directed by Foster and featuring Gibson as a depressed toy company executive who turns to a beaver hand puppet to help him get his life back on track, had a shaky openin

May 18, 2011

Film stars, models share Cannes charity catwalk

CANNES (AP) ― Fashion rolled out the red carpet for charity in Cannes, with a benefit runway show that saw A-listers including Naomi Campbell, Jane Fonda, Rosario Dawson and tennis man Novak Djokovic strut their stuff for a good cause.Campbell’s Fashion for Relief charity organized the Monday show and an auction that followed to raise money for the Japanese Red Cross to aid victims of the recent e

May 17, 2011

Schwarzenegger reveals he had child with staffer

 Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife, Maria Shriver, separated after the former governor revealed he had fathered a child with a member of their household staff, The Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday.The couple announced in a joint statement May 9 that they had separated after 25 years of marriage. The Times reported Tuesday that Shriver moved out of the family's Brentwood mansion earlier this yea

May 17, 2011

Kim Ki-duk’s one-man production creates a stir

South Korean director under spotlight for his bitter reproaches in ‘Arirang,’ attacks his colleaguesKim Ki-duk, one of the best known South Korean auteurs overseas, is causing a stir with his film “Arirang” that was screened at the Cannes Film Festival’s side bar section, the Un Certain Regard, on Friday. Naming actual figures, Kim aggressively poured out his anger and criticism toward his colleag

May 16, 2011

Dardenne brothers’ unsentimental story targets Palme d’Or record

CANNES (AFP) ― Belgium’s Dardenne brothers on Sunday premiered their “Kid With a Bike” at Cannes, with the two-times Palme d’Or winners showing again their stunning capacity for unsentimental storytelling.In his first screen appearance, Thomas Doret plays Cyril, 11, who has been temporarily abandoned by his father at a foster home, and from the title to the final shot, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne

May 16, 2011

Actress Gianna Jun at the 64th Cannes Film Festival

Actress Gianna Jun poses on the red carpet before the screening of "The Artist" presented in competition at the 64th Cannes Film Festival on May 15, 2011 in Cannes. 웨인 왕 감독의 영화 '설화와 비밀의 부채'의 프로모션을 위해 제64회 칸 국제영화제를 처음으로 찾은 전지현은 칸 영화제 메인 상영관인 뤼미에르 극장에서 진행된 영화 'The Artist'의 레드카펫 행사에 참석했다. Photos by AP-Yonhap NewsActress Li Bing BingActress Uma Thurman blows a kiss as she arrives for the screening of

May 16, 2011

Cannes cheers for Kim Ki-duk ‘self-portrait’

CANNES (AFP) ― South Korean film-maker and festival favorite Kim Ki-duk drew a standing ovation at Cannes for an emotionally raw self-portrait aimed at curing a crippling bout of “director’s block.”“Arirang,” screening in the Un Certain Regard sidebar section at the world’s top cinema showcase, features Kim living in self-imposed exile and grilling himself about his own perceived failings as a dir

May 15, 2011

Box Office

Copacabana (France)Opening May 26Drama. Directed by Marc Fitoussi. Babou is unconventional and cheerful, almost never having cared about social conventions. But she suddenly realizes that her own daughter is ashamed of her and so refuses to invite her to her wedding. Babou tries to regain her daughter’s respect by starting afresh. In an attempt to prove her worth and love, Babou accepts the challe

May 13, 2011

Fact is, Paul Bettany is fine with vampires

LOS ANGELES ― In his new 3D action film “Priest,” Paul Bettany plays a laconic warrior with a cross tattooed on his face, a man who channels divine power to combat the vampire menace that terrorizes the citizens of a post-apocalyptic realm. But it’s not entirely new territory for the English actor, whose resume includes “A Knight’s Tale,” “A Beautiful Mind” and “Master and Commander: The Far Side

May 13, 2011

Cannes honors women in independent productions

CANNES, France ― This year’s Cannes Film Festival is filled with big-budget movies like “Puss in Boots” and “Kung Fu Panda 2,” but on Thursday evening, the focus was on the realm of independent film. Cannes judge Uma Thurman and actress Rosario Dawson were honored for their contributions to indie film. Also lauded were “Sleeping Beauty” director Jane Campion and the film’s producer, Jessica Brentn

May 13, 2011

Box Office

Thomas & Friends: Misty Island Rescue (U.K.)Opened May 5Animation, Adventure, Family. Directed by Greg Tiernan. On the Island of Sodor where Thomas lives, a new Search and Rescue Center is being built. Greedy Diesel, thinking he is better than the “steamies”, decides to take the Jobi logs to the rescue center himself and races down the tracks with the Jobi logs. Thomas sees that Diesel is going to

May 6, 2011

‘Beaver’ director Jodie Foster’s loyalty to Mel Gibson intact

LOS ANGELES ― As she has crisscrossed the country tirelessly promoting her latest directorial effort, “The Beaver,” Jodie Foster has been keeping in touch via text with Mel Gibson. When the star of your film is also your close friend and Hollywood’s leading persona non grata, the messages can get a tad awkward.“Mel said, ‘I will be dragged through gravel for you,’” Foster said in Beverly Hills. “H

May 6, 2011

Actor Hemsworth, almost outgrew his costume playing title character in ‘Thor’

KANSAS CITY ― Turning your body into that of a god is a weird process.Chris Hemsworth knows. Once he was tapped to play the title character in “Thor,” the Australian actor threw himself into a body-building regimen that would transform his solid but unspectacular physique into one worthy of a Marvel superhero.“I don’t naturally have the kind of weight Thor has,” Hemsworth said. “I ate tons of prot

May 6, 2011