The Seoul Museum of History is hosting the 2017 International Various Film Festival, screening a wide range of movies celebrating diversity and multiculturalism through the end of the year. 　An array of shorts, features and documentaries from around the globe will be screened at the museum’s first floor theater on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 2 p.m.From July 25-Aug. 31, the festival celebrates the analog sentiment, screening movies that have been shot on 35-millimeter film. This section will featur

Film July 25, 2017

“Train to Busan” will be opening in Japanese theaters on Sept. 1, the last stop in its worldwide run.The zombie flick, which was screened at the Cannes Film Festival’s Midnight Screenings category last year, has been sold to some 160 countries since its release.　The film opened in North American theaters in July 2016 and was later released in Europe and South America. It will be shown on 149 screens in 44 cities in Japan, including Tokyo, Osaka and Fukuoka.  A still from “Train to Busan” (NEW)“I

Film July 25, 2017

Asia’s largest virtual reality film event will take place at the Busan International Film Festival, running from Oct. 12-21 this year. The event, VR Cinema in BIFF, will screen some 30 virtual reality films in an exclusive screening space at the Busan Cinema Center, according to BIFF.　The film festival, Asia’s largest, has signed a memorandum of understanding with culture and VR contents company Barunson for the exhibit. 　BIFF will be spotlighting the virtual reality venue as one of the film fes

Film July 24, 2017

Herald Artday, a subsidiary of Herald Corp., is holding an online auction from July 22 to 26, presenting major works of art by contemporary Korean and international artists. The auction will feature works by Lee U-fan and Ha Chong-hyun, internationally acclaimed Korean artists leading the dansaekhwa, or monochrome painting, movement. Additionally spotlighted will be artists such as Kim Tschang-yeul, known for his signature water drop paintings; Lee Wal-jong, who captures the picturesque life of

Performance July 24, 2017

From the chilling revenge story in 2003 neo-noir “Oldboy” to last year’s erotic thriller “The Handmaiden,” cinephiles will be able to revisit the works of Korean director Park Chan-wook from July 27 to Aug. 23 at the newly opened Park Chan-wook theater at CGV Yongsan, Seoul. Opened July 18, it is the third screen that CGV has dedicated to a significant figure in Korean cinema, following the Im Kwon-taek theater in Busan and the Ahn Sung-ki theater at CGV Arthouse Apgujeong. 　A wide range of Park

Film July 23, 2017

In his ludicrously entertaining 2014 science-fiction thriller, “Lucy,” French director Luc Besson gave us a chemically enhanced action heroine with the rare ability to harness 100 percent of her brainpower. Besson’s latest futuristic whatsit, “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets,” seems determined to induce the opposite effect in the viewer. When you enter the theater, you can pick up your 3-D glasses with one hand and drop off your brain with the other.All in all, you might not consider

Film July 21, 2017

“Dunkirk” is not a typical war movie. There are no brothers in arms, no flashbacks to simpler times and pretty wives and girlfriends left behind, no old men in situation rooms pontificating about politics or helping with exposition. There’s no talk of Hitler, or Germans or battlefields or trauma or mothers. In fact, there’s hardly any talk at all, or, for that matter, even any characters in the traditional sense. 　 But don’t be mistaken: Christopher Nolan’s “Dunkirk” is a stone cold masterpiece.

Film July 21, 2017

Ewha Womans University posted an old but hilarious clip on its Facebook page Friday. The clip, which dates back to March 2014, shows a group of nine professors performing on stage for their new class.  The professors, clad sharply in suits, give an energetic performance of a song by the hit K-pop group. (doo@heraldcorp.com)

Performance July 21, 2017

Kim Yun-jin will foray onto the stage in the US with the play “Wild Goose Dreams.” 　“There is not only the one-dimensional everyday of Korean society but a deep reflection on everyday people and their love stories,” said Kim about the upcoming play.　“There’s a theme that the American audience can relate to as well. That’s what I like about it. I chose it right away,” she said.　The play is set in Seoul and centers on Yoo Nan-hee, a woman who has defected from North Korea. Through an online dating

Culture July 21, 2017

Dunkirk(US)Drama, thriller. Directed by Christopher NolanIn May 1940 during World War II, Germany advances into France and traps the Allied troops on the beaches of Dunkirk. A slow, methodical plan to evacuate the British and French troops began to be put into motion, using every naval and civilian ship that could be reached. Some 330,000 French, British, Belgian and Dutch soldiers were brought to safety after the completion of the mission. Flipped(US)Opened July 12Romantic comedy, drama. Direct

Film July 21, 2017

Hong Sang-soo’s “On the Beach at Night Alone” won the top prize in the international film category at the Jerusalem Film Festival on Friday. 　“Using the simplest of cinematic tools, Hong Sang-soo creates a mysterious magic, rooted in the heart of daily life,” said a jury consisting of Israeli filmmaker Nadav Lapid, actress Evgenia Dodina and journalist Deborah Young on awarding the film, according to ScreenDaily. 　“Love, hatred, affection, rage, sexuality, loneliness and deep pain are reflected

Film July 21, 2017

CJ CGV, Korea’s largest cinema chain, opened the world’s biggest IMAX screen in its renovated CGV Yongsan multiplex in Seoul Monday.The screen measures 31 meters wide and 22.4 meters high -- about five times the size of the average multiplex cinema screen. The pictures projected are also some 50 percent brighter and twice as clear, according to CGV.  CGV Yongsan’s IMAX screen (CJ CGV)Previously, Australia boasted a 35 meter-wide IMAX screens but they are not currently in use. CGV’s CEO Seo Jung

Film July 20, 2017

It is inevitable that Korean cinema frequently retell the story of the Japanese occupation, a defining scar in the country’s history, in various ways. “The Battleship Island” is the most recent of such films, recreating Japanese atrocities on a massive visual scale. 　The film’s message is heavy and clear: it exposes the horrific torture of Koreans on Hashima Island from 1940 to 1945. Records show that around 500 to 800 Koreans were taken captive on the island and forced into slave labor, digging

Film July 20, 2017

Actress Yeom Jung-ah and K-pop diva Lee Hyo-ri will be the first guests on producer and singer Park Jin-young’s upcoming talk show, SBS announced Thursday.　It is the first time Park, commonly dubbed JYP, will host a talk show in the 25 years of the performer and songwriter’s career. 　The show is set break the traditional talk show format. Its set is staged like a club, with audience members enjoying themselves while standing in front of the stage. 　 Set of “Party People” (SBS)During the first sh

Television July 20, 2017

Much-anticipated war flick “The Battleship Island,” starring Song Joong-ki and others in a star-studded cast, was unveiled to press Wednesday at CGV Yongsan. 　Director Ryoo Seung-wan said he had always wanted to make an escape thriller.　“Escaping can be interpreted as an attempt to deal with the past,” Ryoo told reporters following the press screening.  Actor Song Joong-ki speaks at a press call for the film “The Battleship Island” held at CGV Yongsan on Wednesday. (Yonhap)The war flick is set o

Film July 19, 2017