Film festivals celebrate human rights

NKFF, IDFF bring socially conscious films to SeoulTwo human rights-themed film festivals open in Seoul this month ― a rare opportunity to experience a wide range of socially conscious documentaries and feature-length films.The first North Korean Human Rights Film Festival, which kicks off on Nov. 10 at Lee Hae-rang Arts Theater of Dongguk University in Seoul, brings together 10 non-fiction and feature films that delve into human rights conditions in the communist country. The two-day event’s lin

Nov. 3, 2011

Hugh Grant becomes a dad, but mother undisclosed

LONDON (AP) — Hugh Grant has become a father for the first time after a brief fling, his spokesman said Tuesday — but the identity of the baby's mother is not being disclosed.Publicist Carrie Gordon said Grant "is the delighted father of a baby girl."She said Grant and the mother "had a

Nov. 2, 2011

Oldest movie camera rental shop in Hollywood auctions off its film cameras

LOS ANGELES ― Call it film’s last gasp.Birns & Sawyer, the oldest movie camera rental shop in Hollywood, made history last week when it auctioned off its entire remaining inventory of 16- and 35-millimeter film cameras.Owner and cinematographer Bill Meurer said he didn’t want to part with the cameras but had little choice as the entertainment industry has largely gone digital.“People aren’t renting out film cameras in sufficient numbers to justify retaining them,” Meurer said in an interview at

Oct. 31, 2011

‘Barrier-Free’ films offer universal experience

‘Blind’ becomes first local barrier-free film for people with hearing or visual impairments“Blind,” this year’s highly successful serial-killer with a visually impaired heroine has been converted into Korea’s first “barrier-free” film, which people with hearing or visual impairments can view along with the non-disabled.The new version is accompanied by a descriptive audio feature and subtitles that narrate each and every action of the film. It was first screened during the first Barrier-Free Fil

Oct. 31, 2011

Comedian-turned-director slapped with exit ban over embezzlement charges

Disgraced comedian-turned-director Shim Hyung-rae has been banned from leaving the country in connection with suspicions that he embezzled huge company funds, police said Monday.Police have recently launched an internal probe into suspicions that Shim, chairman of the movie production company Youngg

Oct. 31, 2011

Box Office

The King of Pigs (Korea)Opening Nov.3Thriller/Drama. Directed by Yeun Sang-ho. Kyung-min, a 30-something CEO impulsively kills his wife after his business goes bankrupt. He seeks out his long-lost friend Jong-suk, whom he was close with in middle school. The two meet up and talk about their middle school days where both of them were severely bullied by their classmates. At the time, they became friends with Chul, an outsider who helped them avoid abuse from the class bullies. Chul had planned a

Oct. 28, 2011

‘Johnny English’ star Rowan Atkinson finds the U.S. a tough bean to crack

If British comedian Rowan Atkinson had any doubts about his international appeal, they’ve been put to rest by stories he keeps hearing from English aid workers returning from trips to Africa.“They go to these African villages where there are four thatched huts,” said Atkinson, 56. “There is nobody in any of them except one, where the entire village is crammed in there. There’s a tiny black-and-white TV set being powered by a car battery, and there’s a ‘Mr. Bean’ VHS tape being played.”Mr. Bean i

Oct. 28, 2011

A woman’s life is turned upside down by an affair

Anne Enright doesn’t believe in leading readers gently into anything ― certainly not an affair. In “The Forgotten Waltz,” the Irish writer plunges us headlong into the world of Gina Moynihan, young IT consultant and adulteress at large.Gina is not so much an unreliable narrator as someone obsessed with her own unreliability. Dissecting her love affair with married man Sean Vallely, she constantly doubles back on her own thoughts and memories, gamely trying to pinpoint the moment when her convent

Oct. 28, 2011

Yoon Seok-hwa to return to big screen

Veteran stage actress Yoon Seok-hwa is returning to the big screen after 24 years for director Kim Tae-gyun’s debut film.According to Pan Cinema, the production house of the upcoming movie, it only took a day for Yoon to decide to take the role. The actress was instantly moved by the script, the company said.Based on director Kim’s personal story, the film, titled “Spring Snow,” is about a family coming together after losing one of its members. Yoon will be playing Soon-ok, the mother of the fam

Oct. 27, 2011

‘We Need to Talk About Kevin’ gets London prize

LONDON (AP) ― The beautiful, terrifying domestic drama “We Need to Talk About Kevin” has won the London Film Festival’s best-picture prize.Lynne Ramsay’s film stars Tilda Swinton as a mother grappling with grief and guilt after her teenage son carries out a high-school massacre.“Shakespeare in Love” director John Madden, who chaired the judging panel, on Wednesday called it “a sublime, uncompromising tale of the torment that can stand in the place of love.”The 55-year-old London festival introd

Oct. 27, 2011

Twisted revenge tale gives anime dark edge

BIFF award-winning ‘The King of Pigs’ first of its kind in KoreaAfter this year’s huge box office hit “Leafie,” Korea’s animation scene sees the arrival of a highly controversial work sure to leave an impact long after its theater run.A low-budget feature debut by director Yeun Sang-ho, “The King of Pigs” claims to be “the first animated vicious thriller in Korea.” Unlike “Leafie,” which sold over two million tickets with its PG rating, the film targets adult viewers only. Ironic, since the $150

Oct. 27, 2011

Holiday releases range from Muppets to Marilyn Monroe

LOS ANGELES (AP) ― Only Hollywood could assemble a holiday guest list that ranges from the Muppets, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Puss in Boots and dancing penguins to J. Edgar Hoover, Margaret Thatcher, Marilyn Monroe and a steed in the trenches of World War I.The latter are among a batch of potential Academy Awards contenders from past winners and nominees: Leonardo DiCaprio as the FBI boss in director Clint Eastwood’s “J. Edgar”; Meryl Streep as former British Prime Minister Thatcher in “The Iron

Oct. 26, 2011

Lindsay Lohan poses nude for Playboy: report

LOS ANGELES, Oct 25, 2011 (AFP) - Troubled actress Lindsay Lohan has posed nude for Playboy in a deal worth nearly $1 million dollars, the TMZ celebrity news website reported Tuesday.The actress, who has faced a string of legal problems and is currently on probation, had wanted $1 million dollars an

Oct. 26, 2011

Bard’s name is barred in protest against film

LONDON (AFP) ― Protesters in William Shakespeare’s home county were on Tuesday to temporarily remove the writer’s name from street signs in support of a campaign against a new film which suggests the Bard was “a fraud.”Shakespeare Birthplace Trust was to tape over nine road signs bearing the writer’s name in Warwickshire, central England, in protest at “Anonymous,” a new movie which alleges Shakespeare was a “barely literate frontman for the Earl of Oxford.”The charity, which promotes the study

Oct. 25, 2011