Eyelike: B.A.P grounds itself with ‘First Sensibility’

 B.A.P grounds itself with ‘First Sensibility’B.A.P “First Sensibility” (LOEN Entertainment)Up-and-coming K-pop boy group B.A.P has returned to the music scene with its first studio album “First Sensibility,” packed with colorful sounds and powerful hip-hop beats.Following a series of successful singles, the new album proves that the six-member group is quite solid, having established a unique style characterized by a mixture of rap and steady vocals. However, the group still has room for progre

Feb. 7, 2014

Kate Winslet plays a repressed mother in ‘Labor Day’

This is a different sort of Kate Winslet than we’ve come to expect.In “Labor Day” ― a romance, a drama, and a woman’s fantasy of what men, perhaps, should be ― the British actress plays Adele Wheeler, a fragile, frightened single mother too wary of the outside world to even get in the car and drive to the market.The year is 1987, the place a small New Hampshire town. Adele’s 13-year-old boy (a very good Gattlin Griffith) has assumed many of the domestic responsibilities. There’s even an Oedipal

Feb. 7, 2014

Top Hollywood films for February

After the box-office smash of Walt Disney Animation Studios’ “Frozen,” Korean theaters are welcoming the arrival of another series of highly anticipated Hollywood films this month.Paul W.S. Anderson’s 3-D disaster thriller “Pompeii,” George Clooney’s “The Monuments Men” and slavery saga “12 Years a Slave” are all opening in theaters in February, each offering something different.Among the three, the first to be released here is “Pompeii,” which follows the story of a slave who falls in love with

Feb. 6, 2014

Movies bring princesses to life on silver screen

The world’s most beloved princesses are coming back to life on the silver screen, played by two Australian actresses who are in fact best friends in real-life: Nicole Kidman and Naomi Watts.Nicole Kidman plays the legendary Grace Kelly (1929-1982) ― the glamorous American movie star who later became Princess of Monaco as the wife of Prince Rainier III ― while Naomi Watts stars as the iconic British princess Diana (1961-1997) who died in a tragic car crash in Paris. Both films, “Grace of Monaco”

Feb. 4, 2014

Actor’s death spotlights heroin epidemic

NEW YORK (AFP) ― The shocking death of Oscar-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman from a suspected drug overdose has spotlighted a growing epidemic of heroin use across the United States, officials warn.Hoffman, a 46-year-old father of three who was considered one of the finest character actors of his generation, was found lying on his apartment bathroom floor with a needle still stuck in his arm.Empty and full bags of heroin were found in the apartment and while the autopsy will confirm the pre

Feb. 4, 2014

Film explores ‘Kids for Cash’ scandal in U.S.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) ― Charlie Balasavage, a baby-faced boy of 14, landed in juvenile detention after his parents bought him a stolen scooter. Hillary Transue was sent away over a MySpace parody of her vice principal. Justin Bodnar was locked up for mouthing off to a woman at his school bus stop. They are just three among thousands of youths whose lives were derailed by a corrupt Pennsylvania judge, a post-Columbine fervor for zero-tolerance policies and a secretive juvenile court system, a story d

Feb. 3, 2014

Heavyweight actresses gather for ‘Venus Talk’

Major local film house Myung Films’ latest project offers a rare opportunity to watch three of Korea’s most prominent actresses on the silver screen all at once: Uhm Jung-hwa (“Montage,” “Dancing Queen”), Moon So-ri (“HaHaHa,” “Oasis”) and Jo Min-soo (“Pieta”).Titled “Venus Talk,” (a literal English translation of the Korean title is the Law of Sensuality) the film is a screen version of the grand prize winner of the 1st Lotte Entertainment Screenplay Contest. It deals with the love, sex and wor

Feb. 2, 2014

Oscar-winning actor Maximilian Schell dies

VIENNA (AP) ― Austrian-born actor Maximilian Schell, a fugitive from Adolf Hitler who became a Hollywood favorite and won an Oscar for his role as a defense attorney in “Judgment at Nuremberg,” has died. He was 83. Schell’s agent, Patricia Baumbauer, said Saturday he died overnight at a hospital in the Austrian city of Innsbruck following a “sudden illness.” It was only his second Hollywood role, as defense attorney Hans Rolfe in Stanley Kramer’s classic “Judgment at Nuremberg,” that earned him

Feb. 2, 2014

Dylan Farrow breaks silence on Woody Allen abuse allegation

NEW YORK (AFP) ― The adopted daughter of Woody Allen has spoken for the first time about the alleged sexual abuse she suffered at the hands of the legendary Hollywood director during her childhood.In an open letter published on a New York Times blog, Dylan Farrow, adopted by Allen during his relationship with actress Mia Farrow, detailed being abused by the director when she was seven years old.“He told me to lay on my stomach and play with my brother’s electric train set. Then he sexually assau

Feb. 2, 2014

Hit film ‘The Nut Job’ to screen in Korea this week

The 3-D animated movie “The Nut Job” is set for release on Thursday in Korea, after becoming a huge success in the U.S. in merely two weeks.The film is a joint-venture with Korea, Canada and the U.S., though a large part of the production costs were procured from Korea. CEO Ha Hoe-jin of the co-producing firm Redrover said, “We aimed for the U.S. market as data showed 80 percent of the animated movies produced in the U.S. fared better than most others. The Korean animation market only accounts f

Jan. 28, 2014

CJ makes inroads into Vietnam

Vietnamese American film producer and director Charlie Nguyen (left), Vietnamese actor Thai Hoa.(CJ Entertainment)After its successful venture into the Chinese film industry last year, Korea’s CJ E&M Pictures is now set to make a foray into Vietnamese cinema, targeting audiences in the Southeast Asian country. The entertainment company announced on Sunday that it is producing two Korean-Vietnamese joint films, both of which will be released in theaters in Vietnam this year. One of the two films

Jan. 27, 2014

Cuaron wins DGA for ‘Gravity,’ gains Oscar edge

LOS ANGELES (AP) ― Alfonso Cuaron was awarded the top film honor from the Directors Guild of America for “Gravity” on Saturday night, giving the lost-in-space saga an edge on the journey to the Academy Awards. In the recent bustle of Hollywood honors, “Gravity,” David O. Russell’s con caper “American Hustle” and Steve McQueen’s historical epic “12 Years a Slave” had been competing in the tightest three-way Oscar race in years. But Cuaron’s film now has the upper hand for the best-picture and dir

Jan. 27, 2014