‘Fast & Furious 6’ includes scene long dreamed by Justin Lin

The idea came screeching into director Justin Lin’s fuel-injected imagination in 2009: a fiery escape scene featuring a muscle car that crashes out of an airplane during takeoff.In production at the time on “Fast & Furious” ― the fourth installment of “The Fast and the Furious” franchise that has grossed $1.6 billion in worldwide box office since 2001 ― he commissioned digital “pre-visualization” artists to mock up a rendering even though the stunt did not fit the movie he was making and was too

May 24, 2013

Hollywood to remake ‘Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance’

Famed director Park Chan-wook’s 2002 film “Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance” will get a Hollywood makeover, according to CJ Entertainment.The film is the first part of Park’s “Vengeance Trilogy,” which also includes “Oldboy” (2003) and “Sympathy for Lady Vengeance” (2005). Hollywood remakes are already planned for the other two films in the series. According to CJ Entertainment, it has signed a deal with Silver Reel and Lotus Entertainment and Lorenzo di Bonaventura’s di Bonaventura Pictures to create

May 22, 2013

Seoul cinema takes on Arab and Indian flavors

Seoulites may want to take a short break from local and Hollywood films in May and June, as two upcoming film festivals are bringing Indian and Arab movies to the city. One is the Arab Film Festival, to be held from June 5 to 9 at Artnine Theater in Sadang-dong. According to its organizers, they are screening a total of nine films, including two that have never been screened in Korea. The films deal with a variety of themes from the Arab region, including war and terrorism, unrequited love, and

May 21, 2013

‘Before Midnight’ as charming as its predecessors

They are now in their 40s, with more responsibility on their shoulders and more to lose. Meet Celine and Jesse again, this time as a long-term, committed couple.After its very successful world premiere at Sundance Film Festival in January, the follow-up to the famous “Before Sunrise” (1995) and “Before Sunset” (2004) was finally unveiled to the local press last week. Titled “Before Midnight,” the latest installment of the trilogy turned out to be equally ― if not more ― compelling as its predece

May 20, 2013

Psy wins Billboard award for Top Streaming Song

Korean rapper and singer Psy won the Top Streaming Song Billboard Music Award in the video category with his international hit song “Gangnam Style” on Monday. He is the first Korean artist to ever win a Billboard award. The award is for the most watched music video of that year. Psy was nominated along with several other musicians including Taylor Swift, Carly Rae Jepsen, and fun., among others.Billboard said they determined the nominees and winners based on key fan interactions over the last ye

May 20, 2013

Hot off the press: Seen and heard in Cannes

CANNES, France (AP) ― Will a switched-at-birth Japanese drama tug on Steven Spielberg’s heart strings?The Cannes Film Festival was wondering that Saturday, when Kore-eda Hirokazu’s elegant and emotional “Like Father, Like Son” premiered. It quickly emerged as an early contender for the Palme d’Or, the winner of which will be decided by a jury headed by Spielberg.Though reviews varied, “Like Father, Like Son” largely charmed Cannes with its sweet, understated examination of nature versus nurture.

May 19, 2013

007's Pinewood expansion turned down

The owner of Pinewood Studios Ltd., where movies including James Bond’s “Skyfall” and “The Dark Knight” were filmed, was denied approval to develop new studios and stages at a campus about 20 miles west of London after an earlier plan was rejected last year.Pinewood Shepperton Plc, Europe’s largest provider of stage and studio space, wants to develop 100,000 square meters (1.1 million square feet) of new space to allow increased film production at a site about 12 miles (19 kilometers) from Heath

May 16, 2013

Box office: The Fast and the Furious 6, Montage, Dear Dolphin

The Fast and the Furious 6Opening May 23Action. Crime. Thriller. Directed by Justin Lin.Members of the professional criminal gang led by Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) have retired following their successful heist of $100 million, but are scattered across the globe as wanted fugitives. Meanwhile, U.S. Diplomatic Security Service agent Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) offers to clear their criminal records in exchange for help taking down an extremely skilled mercenary organization led by Owen Shaw (Luk

May 16, 2013

Korean indie movies for English speakers

While there is much hype in the local media about hallyu, especially Korean films and their fame overseas, it would be difficult to claim that the local film industry is foreigner-friendly. Most local commercial films are screened without English subtitles in the country, not to mention subtitles in other foreign languages.Located in posh Nonhyeon-dong in southern Seoul, the state-run theater Indieplus is one of the very few places in Seoul where non-Korean speakers can enjoy Korean movies witho

May 16, 2013

Behind Cannes glamour, tougher times for European movies

CANNES, France (AFP) ― Europe’s top film festival opens in Cannes on Wednesday to its annual show of glitz and popping champagne corks, but for many in the continent’s movie business, times are tough and likely to get tougher still.The financial crisis that erupted in 2008 is now biting hard into state and regional subsidies and TV programming budgets that are a key support for film-making. Added to that in some countries is the problem of rampant piracy, as people snub a trip to the cinema and

May 15, 2013

Gay filmmaker to tie the knot

Gay filmmaker and producer Kim Jho Kwang-soo is to marry his longtime partner, according to queer film house Rainbow Factory, a subsidiary of Kim’s film company Youth Films.The 48-year-old has been dating his partner, the head of Rainbow Factory who is said to be 19 years his junior, for more than 8 years. The filmmaker said that he’d marry his current partner if the couple got their parents’ blessing during the press premiere of his queer film “Two Weddings and a Funeral” last year.One of the f

May 14, 2013

‘Seo Tae-ji kid’ director makes lyrical feature debut

“You live in my fantasy/ although everything is now falling apart.”These were the famous lines of the legendary Seo Tai-ji’s 1992 song “You in My Fantasy” that inspired up-and-coming director Kang Ji-na to change the title of her feature debut film, a tale of a young man losing his girlfriend in a tragic accident. The film “You in My Fantasy” (English title “Dear Dolphin”) is a rare movie, as Seo’s Seo Taiji Company rarely grants permission for other artists to use his music for their works. Kan

May 13, 2013

Korean movies to reclaim box office from ‘Iron Man 3’

 Superhero sequel “Iron Man 3” has dominated Korea’s box office for over three weeks, showing strong ticket sales since its opening on April 25. It is estimated to have sold about 7 million tickets as of May 12. However, in its third week, the Hollywood blockbuster is losing steam at the box office, raising hopes for Korean filmmakers who are planning to release their latest movies.“Iron Man 3” kicked off with 420,000 viewers on the first day of its release and its success continued with an ave

May 13, 2013

Kwak Kyung-taek to direct sequel to 2001’s ‘Friend’

Filmmaker Kwak Kyung-taek is directing the upcoming follow-up to his 2001 box-office hit “Friend,” its distributor Lotte Entertainment said.Loosely based on Kwak’s personal experience growing up in Busan, the 2001 movie dealt with four teenagers and their friendship and betrayal. The upcoming sequel features one of the four high school kids from the original, Jun-seok, who used to be the leader of the four and the son of a powerful mob boss. Actor Yu Oh-seong, who played Jun-seok in the 2001 mov

May 12, 2013

Box Office: Montage, Dear Dolphin, Boomerang Family

MontageOpening May 16Thriller. Drama. Directed by Jeong Keun-seob.A kidnapper disappeared 15 years ago without a trace. Five days before the case’s statute of limitations expires, someone anonymously leaves a flower at the crime scene. A few days later, another kidnapping takes place using the same method on a similar target. Three people team up to solve the case before it’s too late: the grandfather (Song Young-chang), who lost his granddaughter right in front of him, the mother (Uhm Jung-hwa)

May 10, 2013