Back in Mike Tyson’s heyday, it was a badge of honor for many boxers to simply survive past the first round in the same ring as Tyson, the self-described “animal” and “monster” of American sports.But now I’ve got those palookas beat. I went the distance ― all 580 pages ― with Tyson’s violence-, drug- and sex-filled memoir, a masterpiece of depravity and confessional honesty titled “Undisputed Truth.”In 1986, at age 20, the New York City-born, onetime petty criminal became the youngest-ever heavy

Books Nov. 28, 2013

Just a year after the first Seoul run of the popular Broadway musical “Wicked” ― performed by an Australian cast ― Korea celebrated the opening of the first Korean-language rendition of the show last week, starring local big-name stars as the two beloved witches.Sunday’s show was greeted with tumultuous applause and a standing ovation at the Charlotte Theater in Jamsil, Seoul. The audience repeatedly cheered as actresses Oak Joo-hyun and Kim Bo-kyung took their bows. “Wicked,” which is marking i

Performance Nov. 26, 2013

Korean animator Yeon Sang-ho’s latest film “The Fake” won Best Animated Film Award at Festival Internacional de Cide de Gijon, an annual international film festival held in Gijon, Spain.The film, the second feature-length work by Yeon, is a powerful tale of truth and deception, taking place in a rural Korean town on the verge of being flooded. It competed against 10 films in the section, and shared the prize with American animator Bill Plympton’s “Cheatin.”The movie’s plot develops as the villag

Film Nov. 25, 2013

As a film writer I get to see a lot of movies before they hit theaters ― not all, or I’d have no life. Despite having seen nearly a dozen on our holiday list, there are a number of films I’m still greatly looking forward to seeing over the next six weeks.The Thanksgiving period brings Disney’s charming and eye-popping animated 3-D musical “Frozen,” which has one guaranteed showstopper, “Let It Go,” sung by “Wicked’s” Idina Menzel. The studio also has the sweet comedy “Delivery Man” starring Vinc

Film Nov. 22, 2013

Seven Cannes and Berlinale winners have been included in the lineup of the upcoming 2013 Cinecube Premiere Festival, the event’s organizers announced this week. The festival, hosted by Cinecube, one of the best known art house theaters in Seoul, offers moviegoers a chance to enjoy the Korean premiere of critically acclaimed works scheduled to be released in local theaters in December or early next year.A total of 15 films will be screened throughout the festival. Five Cannes winners will be scre

Film Nov. 22, 2013

Slim, poised and soft-spoken, Koh Young-hee has the posture of a dancer. The North Korean defector, who fled her country in June 2012, effortlessly shows her distinctive arm movements -- the movements she learned from her mother and her mother’s teacher, the legendary Choi Seung-hee (1911-1969).Koh, 55, is the daughter of North Korean choreographer Bae Geum-ee, who was one of the original members of North Korea’s first dance troupe, founded by Choi in the 1940s in Pyongyang. One of Bae’s many st

Performance Nov. 21, 2013

In his 1976 novel, “The Great Santini,” Pat Conroy spilled all the beans that a good son is never supposed to spill: He wrote about his brutal father, his cowed mother, his frightened and abused siblings, and his own defiant and terrorized young self ― all thinly disguised, of course, as fiction.Like Bull Meecham in the novel, Donald Conroy really was a Marine fighter pilot, really did beat and terrorize his wife and kids, really did drink to excess, really did swagger around and call himself “T

Books Nov. 21, 2013

It’s the spring of 1937 when Evalina Toussaint, the narrator of “Guests On Earth,” first catches sight of Zelda Fitzgerald, wearing black tights and ballet slippers and smoking a cigarette, on the grounds of Highland Hospital in Asheville, North Carolina.By then, Zelda had been married for 16 years to F. Scott Fitzgerald, who was so infatuated with the Montgomery belle when they first met that he wrote the same line to her over and over: “I used to wonder why they kept Princesses in towers.” Nev

Books Nov. 21, 2013

LongbournBy Jo Baker(Alfred A. Knopf)Looking at the ever-growing list of contemporary fiction presuming to improve on Jane Austen (with or without zombies), readers may well wonder why they can’t leave the poor author alone. Happily, Jo Baker’s “Longbourn” is no mere riff but a fully imagined rejoinder to “Pride and Prejudice” that casts a sharp working-class eye on the aristocratic antics of Elizabeth Bennet, Mr. Darcy and their friends.The Bennets’ housemaid Sarah is Baker’s heroine, and she s

Books Nov. 21, 2013

Filmmaker, actress, singer and artist Ku Hye-sun is up for a new challenge.She is to write, direct and star in her next movie project titled “Daughter.” It is her first time taking up the three roles all at the same time.The film is said to be about a difficult relationship between an abusive, demanding mother and her daughter. Veteran actress Shim Hye-jin has been cast to play the mother, while Ku will be playing the tormented daughter.Ku, who broke into the Korean entertainment industry in the

Film Nov. 20, 2013

When Israeli choreographer Idit Herman asked to share “something personal” for their joint piece, her nine dancers ― all members of the Korea National Contemporary Dance Company ― were very “shy” at first.“They are very, very much reserved,” Herman told The Korea Herald. “They really keep things inside. But they don’t just do that for nothing. They have a great depth and they are resilient.”Herman is premiering “Into Thin Air,” her collaborative project with the Korea National Contemporary Dance

Performance Nov. 19, 2013

In 2004, Jang Mi-jeong, a Korean housewife, was arrested upon her arrival at Paris Orly Airport. She had been asked by her husband’s friend, whom she had known for more than 10 years, to take a bag of diamonds to France. Turns out, what was in the bag was some 17 kg of cocaine.An upcoming movie, titled “Way Back Home,” features the 2004 case, which led Jang to serve two years in prison in Martinique, an island in the eastern Caribbean Sea and one of the 27 overseas regions of France, for drug sm

Film Nov. 18, 2013

For those who haven’t yet had a chance to see some of the most significant independent Korean films in theaters, the ongoing IndieGO Film Festival will come as a special treat.Hosted by Indie Story, a film house and distributor that specializes in independent cinema, the movie bash offers screenings of some 40 films, including ones that have not yet been released in theaters. The company celebrates its 15th anniversary this year.Included in the lineup is director Kim Dong-hyun’s “The Dinner,” a

Film Nov. 17, 2013