‘Ernest & Celestine’ a delicate delight

The delicate and lovingly hand-made “Ernest & Celestine” captures the whimsy and warmth of a dearly felt children’s picture book like few movies before. The Oscar-nominated animated French-Belgian film is a simply rendered tale about a friendship between a mouse and a bear, painted with watercolor backgrounds and hand-sketched characters. In a movie landscape crowded with awesome digital animations and forgettable big-budget cartoon blockbusters, “Ernest & Celestine” is a humble oasis of gentle

March 12, 2014

Does Disney‘s ‘Frozen’ promote homosexuality?

Disney’s animated film “Frozen” is trying to “indoctrinate” children into being gay, and treating “homosexuality and bestiality in a light sort of way,” American Pastor Kevin Swanson said in a radio broadcast. 　The sensational film has reportedly grossed over $1 billion worldwide and won two Oscars, but it has been blasted for being “too gay-friendly.” 　Swanson, however, did not cite specific scenes that he viewed as advocating homosexuality.　Blogger Kathryn Skaggs also penned a lengthy post las

March 12, 2014

Asian Film Market advisers announced

Kim Woo-taek, CEO of major Korean film production and distribution company Next Entertainment World, has been named one of the advisors and consultants for the Asian Film Market to be held in October this year.The film market, which is a comprehensive marketplace for an array of industry events at the annual Busan International Film Festival, announced the list of advisors to this year’s edition on Tuesday. The names on the list include Choi Jae-won of Withus Film, who produced this year’s box o

March 11, 2014

‘300’ sequel rules U.S. box office with $45.1m debut

NEW YORK (AP) ― The shirtless warriors of the “300” sequel “Rise of an Empire” ravaged the post-Oscars box-office weekend with a domestic debut of $45.1 million but an even bigger international haul of $87.8 million.Seven years after the original “300” became an unlikely, ultra-stylish, blood-soaked sensation, Warner Bros.’ 3-D follow-up showed considerable might at the box office. While “300: Rise of an Empire” didn’t come close the North American debut of Zack Snyder’s 2007 original ($70.9 mil

March 10, 2014

‘Winter’s Tale’ a bit too chilly for its own good

Mark Helprin’s 30-year-old fantasy novel “Winter’s Tale” saunters onto the screen as a lovely but slow and emotionally austere experience, a romantic weeper that shortchanges the romance and the tears.They threw Oscar-winning screenwriter Akiva Goldsman (“A Beautiful Mind”) and a cast including three Oscar winners at this exercise in magical realism, and yet Helprin’s bulky, honored book leaves them pinned to the mat, its big themes seemingly diminished by the time the credits roll.Colin Farrell

March 7, 2014

Box Office

Stories We Tell (Canada)Opening March 14Documentary. Directed by Sarah PolleyCanadian filmmaker Sarah Polley discovered in 2007, at age 28, that her father was not her biological father and that she was in fact born from her late mother’s extramarital affair. Her personal documentary “Stories We Tell” follows her shocking discovery and family secrets, consisting of interviews with her siblings from her mother’s two marriages, as well as Michael Polley, the man who raised her, and her biological

March 7, 2014

Darren Aronofsky’s ‘Noah’ hits Korean theaters

“The Wrestler” and “Black Swan” filmmaker Darren Aronofsky’s controversial biblical blockbuster “Noah” is arriving in Korean theaters on March 30.Based on the biblical story of Noah’s Ark, the film stars Academy Award-winning Australian actor Russell Crowe as Noah ― the man chosen by God for a great mission before the coming of an apocalyptic flood.Actress Jennifer Connelly (“A Beautiful Mind,” “Blood Diamond”) is starring as Noah’s wife, while Emma Watson (“Harry Potter,” “The Bling Ring”) is p

March 7, 2014

The abs strike back in ‘300’ sequel

The glistening abs are back in “300: Rise of an Empire,” and they’ve been doing crunches. Like its forerunner, the 2007 hit “300,” “Rise of an Empire” again plunges us into bloody, hyper-stylized Greek history: mythology with muscles. The computer-generated warfare franchise is now a third of the way to a six-pack. Made clearly to capitalize on the popularity of “300,” “Rise of an Empire” is something like collected behind-the-scenes from the Persian invasion featured in “300.” Whereas the first

March 6, 2014

‘Stories We Tell’ reveals family secrets

Canadian filmmaker Sarah Polley is mostly known in Korea for her 2011 drama “Take This Waltz,” a tale about a freelance writer who becomes bored of her stable marriage and falls for an artist who lives across the street.The emotional struggle of Margot, the protagonist of “Take This Waltz,” may make more sense after watching Polley’s personal documentary “Stories We Tell,” which deals with her late mother’s extramarital affairs.The documentary premiered in 2012 at the Venice International Film F

March 6, 2014

Paul Potts talks about his ‘One Chance’

British tenor Paul Potts paid his 11th visit to Korea on Saturday, but this time he was not here to perform. The “Britain’s Got Talent” winner attended a Seoul press screening of James Corden’s film “One Chance” on Tuesday, which depicts his dramatic rise to operatic fame based on his 2013 autobiography of the same title.“The book and the movie are separate but they have the same theme and they have the same message, and that is achieving your goals,” Potts told reporters after the screening of

March 5, 2014

Rain to debut in Chinese film

South Korean singer and actor Rain has been cast in a Chinese film for the first time, his management agency said Tuesday.Rain will play a talented young painter who falls in love with a woman in a melodrama directed by Gao Xixi, one of China’s most famous movie directors, Cube DC said.Rain is one of the most popular male celebrities in South Korea and a well-known star in other Asian countries, and has appeared in several TV series and films, including two American action flicks: “Speed Racer”

March 4, 2014

‘Snow Queen’ syndrome grips Korea

This weekend, Disney’s animated film “Frozen” broke the 10-million viewer mark in local theaters, becoming the second film to reach the milestone this year after “The Attorney.” It is no exaggeration to say the country is almost obsessed with the film. Not only is “Frozen” the highest-grossing animated film ever in Korea but it is also one of only two foreign movies among the nation’s 10 highest grossing films of all time ― the other is James Cameron’s “Avatar.” Local costume players like to dre

March 3, 2014

‘12 Years a Slave’ wins best picture at Oscars

LOS ANGELES (AP) ― Perhaps atoning for past sins, Hollywood named the brutal, unshrinking historical drama “12 Years a Slave” best picture at the 86th annual Academy Awards. Steve McQueen’s slavery odyssey, based on Solomon Northup’s 1853 memoir, has been hailed as a landmark corrective to the movie industry’s long omission of slavery stories, following years of whiter tales like 1940 best-picture winner “Gone With the Wind.” The British director dedicated the honor to those past sufferers of sl

March 3, 2014

'12 Years a Slave': violent, raw historical drama

Harrowing historical drama "12 Years a Slave" was crowned best picture Oscar on Sunday, while 3D space thriller "Gravity" was the top prize winner at the 86th Academy Awards with seven.True-life AIDS activist drama "Dallas Buyers Club" won three Oscars including best actor for Matthew McConaughey, while Australia's Cate Blanchett won best actress for Woody Allen's "Blue Jasmine."But 1970s crime caper "American Hustle" and Martin Scorsese's "The Wolf of Wall Street" went home empty-handed from th

March 3, 2014