Six Indian films will be screened for free in Seoul between Thursday and Monday, according to the Embassy of India and CJ CGV.The Indian Film Festival at CGV Apgujeong features acclaimed Indian films with Korean subtitles. All of the movies to be shown have won awards at national and international film festivals, according to the Embassy of India.“India is the biggest producer of feature films in the world and over 1,000 feature films are produced annually in Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and other c

Feb. 28, 2012

The ruling Saenuri Party’s leadership argued Monday over the selection of Rep. Lee Jae-oh, a close ally of President Lee Myung-bak, as a candidate for the general election. The party’s candidate selection committee announced the nomination of Lee, but immediately faced opposition from some party leaders who had openly called on him to step aside to take responsibility for the damage the president and his confidants have done to the party’s support. Committee head Jung Hong-won announced the firs

Feb. 27, 2012

Hollywood celebrates its early years, with black-and-white silent film sweeping Academy AwardsLOS ANGELES ― “The Artist,” a black-and-white homage to the early days of Hollywood, was named best picture at the 84th Academy Awards on Sunday. Directed by Michel Hazanavicius, it is the first essentially silent film to win best picture since “Wings” won at the first Oscar ceremony in 1929.Meryl Streep won the Oscar ― and a standing ovation ― for her uncanny portrayal of former British Prime Minister

Feb. 27, 2012

HOLLYWOOD (AFP) ― Flamboyant British comic Sacha Baron Cohen pulled a North Korea-themed publicity stunt on the Oscars red carpet Sunday, pretending to pour late leader Kim Jong-il’s ashes onto an interviewer.The “Ali G,” “Borat” and “Bruno” star, who had been warned against staging a stunt at the Academy Awards, turned up in full military regalia from his latest movie “The Dictator,” and clutching a funeral urn bearing Kim’s photo.Flanked by two female guards in uniforms and red berets, he told

Feb. 27, 2012

Best Actress in a Leading Role Meryl Streep and Best Actor in a Leading Role Jean Dujardin celebrate their Oscars in the press room at the 84th Annual Academy Awards on Sunday in Hollywood, California. (AFP-Yonhap News)“The Artist” won five Academy Awards on Sunday including best picture, becoming t

Feb. 27, 2012

Popular actor Lee Byunghun this month started shooting a historical epic based on the life of Gwanghaegun — a 17th century Joseon ruler who was dethroned in a coup — the movie’s producer CJ Entertainment announced on Monday.The movie, whose working title is “King of Joseon,” is written by “Oldboy” screenwriter Hwang Jo-yoon and directed by “Mapado” and “Late Blossom” auteur Choo Chang-min. The fictional plot of the film develops as the eccentric king runs into Ha-seon, a man from the lowest clas

Feb. 27, 2012

LOS ANGELES (AP) ― The Oscar ceremony has much to prove Sunday, including whether a blockbuster-free field can draw a TV audience and if Billy Crystal’s host routine remains a crowd-pleaser.Brian Grazer and Don Mischer, the show’s producers, are laughing off the challenges: “Comedy is the direction we’re going in this year,” said Mischer.For Crystal, who returns to the ceremony after an absence of eight years, that means jokes and patter that were being rehearsed at the last minute to avoid punc

Feb. 26, 2012

SANTA MONICA (AP) ― When Adam Sandler’s bad, he’s really bad, according to voters for the Razzies, an Academy Awards spoof that singles out the worst movies of the year.Sandler received a record 11 nominations Saturday for the Razzies as star, producer or writer on three 2011 movies ― “Jack and Jill,” “Just Go with It” and “Bucky Larson: Born to Be a Star.”That more than doubled the previous record of five Razzie nominations held by Eddie Murphy for 2007’s “Norbit.”Sandler’s nominations include

Feb. 26, 2012

Architecture 101 (Korea)Opening March 22Drama. Directed by Lee Yong-joo. Seung-min (Kim Soo-hyeon and Uhm Tae-woong), a 20-year-old university student, meets Seo-yeon (Suji and Han Ga-in) while attending his introduction to architecture class. Though he falls for his female colleague, Seung-min does not know how to express his feelings, and ends up not talking to her due to a trivial misunderstanding. Fifteen years later, Seung-min, who now works as an architect, receives a sudden visit from Seo

Feb. 24, 2012

Leonardo DiCaprio likes his coffee smooth ― a light roast, nectar-like, no bitterness.Just ask Todd Carmichael and Jean-Philippe Iberti, who spent more than a year perfecting a blend to suit the palate of the Hollywood star.The founding partners of La Colombe, a Philadelphia-based roastery with cafes here and in New York and Chicago, paid repeated visits to DiCaprio’s West Hollywood abode to brew him single-batch roasts and to test blends, working to come up with a new La Colombe label that woul

Feb. 24, 2012

Hollywood actress stars in romantic comedy thriller ‘This Means War’Hollywood actress Reese Witherspoon said on Thursday it’s only natural for women to have wrinkles as they age, and she finds it wonderful to be an example of that on screen.During her first visit to Seoul the 35-year-old actress seemed unaffected when asked by a reporter whether she is “all right” with having visible wrinkles in a scene from her rom-com action film “This Means War.”“I’ve been making movies since I was 14,”the ac

Feb. 23, 2012

Kim Ki-duk, one of the best known South Korean auteurs overseas, started shooting his 18th film this month, according to production house NEW.The film, entitled “Pieta,” will star actor Lee Jeong-jin and actress Jo Min-soo. According to NEW, Kim thought of the initial plot of the film as he wanted to delve into the theme of evil, and whether or not “human beings have evilness as one of their innate qualities.”The upcoming film tells the story of a heartless man whose job is to threaten debtors t

Feb. 20, 2012

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― The secretive Navy SEALs are coming out of the shadows for a new Hollywood film, with elite commandos cast in starring roles in a radical departure for America’s special forces.In “Act of Valor,” the select troops who call themselves “the quiet professionals” take a turn as leading men on the big screen, reciting lines from a script as they race to prevent terrorists from carrying out an attack on the United States.Filming began in 2007, before the Navy’s Sea, Air and Land Tea

Feb. 20, 2012

BUFFALO, New York (AP) ― The license plate on movie projectionist Arnie Herdendorf’s Buick is 35MM MAN, a nod to his work in the booth at the 1925 Palace Theatre, with its velvet-draped stage and chandeliered mezzanine.When he drove recently to a multiplex to watch as its film projectors were swapped out for new digital ones, the sight of old 35 mm workhorses “stacked up like wounded soldiers’’ had him wondering how long his title ― or job ― would be around.The questions are even bigger for hist

Feb. 19, 2012