How director Gore Verbinski wrangled ‘Rango’

“Animation isn’t a genre” like Westerns, film noir, romance or horror, Gore Verbinski was saying. “It’s just a technique for telling a story.”So when the man behind the hugely popular “Pirates of the Caribbean” series decided to make his first animated feature, his biggest concern wasn’t about the process of animation but about the process of storytelling.Verbinski, 46, could have stuck with the “

March 4, 2011

‘Adjustment Bureau’ aims to be latest hit based on stories of Philip K. Dick

Philip K. Dick had a flair for spinning science fiction scenarios that were well within the orbit of paranoia. In his novels and short stories, he addressed the tricks of memory and the quirks of reality.Once dismissed as a mere purveyor of pulp fiction, Dick ― who died in 1982 ― is now recognized as a major American writer. But arguably, he’s still best known for inspiring some of the most imagin

March 4, 2011

Listen to King George VI’s real speech

At the Oscars, the night undoubtedly belonged to “The King’s Speech,” which won four Academy Awards, in best picture, director, actor and original screen play. Accepting the award for best original screenplay, David Seidler said: “I would like to thank her majesty the queen for not putting me in the Tower of London for putting swear words in George VI’s mouth. And I accept this on behalf of all th

Feb. 28, 2011

Ashton Kutcher, Sarah Jessica Parker awarded worst actor and actress

Ashton Kutcher and Sarah Jessica Parker were awarded the worst actor and actress at the Golden Raspberry Awards on Feb. 26, the night before the Oscars, the Telegraph reported Sunday. Ashton Kutcher (left) and Sarah Jessica Parker (right) (MCT)Known as the “Razzies,” the Golden Raspberry Awards is held annually to recognize the worst films of the year. “The Last Airbender” was crowned the worst, w

Feb. 28, 2011

'King's Speech' crowned Oscars monarch

HOLLYWOOD, (AFP) - British royal drama "The King's Speech" was crowned Oscars winner on Sunday, taking three of the top Academy Award prizes at the climax of Hollywood's annual awards season.The movie took best picture, best director and best actor for Colin Firth as a stammering King George VI, helped by an Australian voice coach to rally wartime Britain. Colin Firth accepts the Oscar for best pe

Feb. 28, 2011

No Oscar love for casting directors

Some of Hollywood’s most fabled directors, Elia Kazan and Robert Altman among them, have said that casting accounts for roughly 90 percent of a movie’s ultimate success or failure.Yet at Sunday’s Academy Awards, there’ll be trophies for categories from best director to makeup ― but none for casting directors. While the Television Academy gives Emmy Awards for casting, and the Film Independent Spir

Feb. 25, 2011

The best (and worst) supporting Oscars hosts

Will James Franco pull a poem out of his tux, or read an excerpt from one of his short stories?Will Anne Hathaway break into song?Will the two of them, virgin co-hosts of the 83rd Academy Awards, dazzle the Kodak Theatre crowd Sunday night ― and more important, dazzle the millions of viewers around the globe?Or will the untested duo drown in a pool of commingled flop sweat?Franco, 32, and Hathaway

Feb. 25, 2011

Box office

Shotgun Love (Korea)Opening March 10Comedy. Directed by Jeong Woo-cheol. Home shopping model Sang-yeol (Im Chang-jeong) has a huge crush on his colleague So-yeon (Kim Gyu-ri). Unlike Sang-yeol, who mostly just tastes food items being advertised, beautiful and refined So-yeon is highly successful in the field. She hosts the TV shopping show and is well-known to the public. In spite of Sang-yeol’s p

Feb. 25, 2011

Director tells more than her family story in ‘Goodbye Pyeongyang’

Personal documentary recounts tale of Korean-Japanese who resettled in N. KoreaMovie director Yang Yong-hi has a one-of-a-kind family.She lives in Tokyo, her mother in Osaka and her brothers in Pyongyang, North Korea.Born in Japan to pro-Pyongyang ethnic Korean parents, Yang tells about her life and family history in a cinematic form.But the 47-year-old director’s second personal documentary “Good

Feb. 21, 2011

S. Korean actress Lee Young-ae gives birth to twins

  South Korean actress Lee Young-ae, widely popular across Asia, has given birth to twins, her agent here said Monday.Lee, 40, became a mother of fraternal twins, a boy and a girl, at 10:30 a.m. Sunday at a Seoul hospital, said Storms Company."The mother and the babies are healthy," it said.Lee Young-ae (The Korea Herald)She was secretly married in 2009 in the United States to a Korean businessman

Feb. 21, 2011

Downbeat S. Korean drama booed in Berlin

Korean actor Bin Hyun and South Korean actress Soo-jung Lim arrive for a press conference for the film "Come Rain, Come Shine" on February 17, in Berlin. The sole Asian contender for the Berlin film festival's Golden Bear top prize, the minimalist South Korean breakup drama met with jeers from critics.(Photo: AFP)BERLIN (AFP) – The sole Asian contender for the Berlin film festival's Golden Bear to

Feb. 21, 2011

‘Night Fishing’ brings home Golden Bear

Park brothers’ iPhone-shot short film wins award at BerlinaleSouth Korea’s highly acclaimed director Park Chan-wook and his younger brother, media artist Park Chan-kyong, captured a Golden Bear at Berlin International Film Festival for their first collaboration. Director Park Chan-kyong receives the Golden Bear award of the International Short Film Jury for the film “Night Fishing,” which he co-di

Feb. 20, 2011

Adam Sandler: Is he the new Woody Allen? No, and yes

We humans divide ourselves into camps.Liberals and conservatives.Cat people and dog people.Woody Allen fans and Adam Sandler fans.Sandler, whose “Just Go With It” opens Friday, occupies a place in the hearts of Gen-Xers much in the way that Woody Allen is a cultural icon for baby boomers.Those sounds you hear are the howls of protest and snorts of derision from graying movie watchers across the la

Feb. 18, 2011

Director Lee defends pace of Berlin’s sole Asian entry

BERLIN (AFP) ― The sole Asian contender for the Berlin film festival’s Golden Bear top prize, minimalist South Korean breakup drama “Come Rain, Come Shine,” met with jeers from critics Thursday.It tells the story of a woman who announces to her husband she is leaving him but, before she goes, spends one last day with him in their home ― an experience that fills them both with longing and regret.“S

Feb. 18, 2011

Box office

Come Rain, Come Shine (Korea)Opening Mar. 3Drama. Directed by Lee Yoon-ki. A woman (Im Soo-jeong), who has been married for five years, one day tells her husband she wants to leave him for another man. The husband (Hyun Bin), an introvert who rarely speaks his mind, does not ask her why. On the day she moves out, he makes coffee and wraps her favorite teacup so she can take it with her. The film f

Feb. 18, 2011

He-men of a certain age contend with young rivals

This summer, 68-year-old Harrison Ford will be mixing it up with Old West-invading extraterrestrials in “Cowboys & Aliens.” Next month, 67-year-old Robert De Niro will star in the action thriller “Limitless.” When “The Expendables II” opens in 2012, the combined age of its top five prospective stars, God willing, will be 291 years.The landscape of recent motion pictures, in particular Manly Movies

Feb. 18, 2011

Iranian drama cheered at Berlin fest

BERLIN (AFP) ― A warmly applauded Iranian drama emerged Tuesday as a front-runner at the Berlin film festival, which is throwing the spotlight on the country’s embattled film-makers.“Nader and Simin: A Separation” by Asghar Farhadi, who won a best director prize for his haunting film “About Elly” at the 2009 festival, brings another fascinating portrait of contemporary Iranian urbanites to the scr

Feb. 16, 2011