Friday, August 3, 2012

Weekly Review Round-up (07/28-08/03, 2012)

It's been a few weeks since the Weekly Review Roundups have been up but I've gone back and added them all now. Lots of PiFan reviews of course and plenty more!

I also wanted to take a moment to say that I will be a little more selective about what appears on WRR from now on. Up until now I've been happy to feature anything on Korean film as long as it was legible but over time I've come across some major outlets that don't always present honest opinions. I'm not here to name and shame but I have removed a few sources from my list that I believe do not respect their audience by giving false opinions for ulterior purposes. Anyway, shouldn't change much going forward!

Thanks for reading and WRR should be back to its weekly status for the foreseeable future.


CURRENT FILMS


Deranged

(Seongyong's Private Place, July 28, 2012)

Thursday, August 2, 2012

PiFan 2012: Super Virgin (숫호구, Suthogoo) 2012


Part of MKC's coverage of the 16th Puchon International Film Festival.

What is it that draws us time and again to narratives following socially-awkward men who are trying to lose their virginity? My first thought was that these provide a vicarious thrill for male cinema-goers but actually, these films tend to draw crowds across the gender divide. Judd Apatow recognized this and harnessed the phenomenon into global hits with The 40 Year-Old Virgin (surely one of the most self-explanatory film titles of all time) and Superbad, which were equally successful with men and women when they were released.

Super Virgin, which had it’s world premiere at this year’s PiFan, is a Korean ultra low-budget film about the 30-year-old Won Jun, who is idling away his life in Incheon with his equally directionless friends.  He’s portly, awkward and sports some unbecoming spectacles, in short he’s a virgin and there doesn’t seem to be much hope for him. A cute girl moves to town and he falls for her but what can he do? By chance, he is abducted by a scientist who wants him to test ride his new invention. This scientist has created a sex avatar that he claims has been tweaked to instantly attract every woman who will cross his path. Following a long night of drinking and a bout of despondency, Won Jun agrees to the experiment and it works like a charm. But when he uses his new avatar to woo the girl he likes things become complicated, as ironically he can no longer be a match for himself.

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Korean Cinema News (07/26-08/01, 2012)

Another abbreviated KCN due to PiFan coverage but nonetheless soe important Venice announcements, interviews and box office history in the making!


KOREAN CINEMA NEWS

SICAF 2012: Animation Event in Korea
Local press covering this year's Seoul International Cartoon & Animation Fest (SICAF) frequently touted diversity, among other program elements, as the event's primary commendation. This year marks the sixteenth edition of the annual comics and cartoons showcase, and although animation screened in competition has traditionally come in from all over the globe, the festival's confident mix of emotional, adult films and seasoned children's fare produced a rather unique schedule. SICAF 2012(July 18-22, 2012) concluded last week. (Animation Insider, July 30, 2012)

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

PiFan 2012: Over My Dead Body (시체가 돌아왔다, Sichega Dolawassda) 2012


Part of MKC's coverage of the 16th Puchon International Film Festival.

Comedy is a curious beast even at the best of times. Across the world’s national film industries, thrillers, horrors, romances and action films share many common elements, while comedy tends to be fall in line with indigenously codes. I’ve said it before but it bears mentioning again: for foreign viewers, Korean comedies are a tricky proposition. Dialogue-based humor is often lost in translation and societal quirks, idiomatic expressions, customs and cultural references further complicate our relationship with these works.

My knowledge of Korean is steadily rising (and had a big bump during PiFan) so I’m starting to see things that I may have missed out on before and Over My Dead Body, which was presented in the World Fantastic Cinema section is proof of this but still doesn’t convince me that comedy is a forte of Korean cinema. It’s another of the many high-concept, mid-budget and low-brow comedy-thrillers that the industry has been churning out for some time. Having exploited certain generic combos, like the gangster-romance comedies (Marrying the Mafia and My Wife Is a Gangster), to the point of depletion, comedy writers have gotten into a habit of concocting increasingly outrageous premises in the hopes of eliciting laughs through the sheer absurdity of their narratives.

Sunday, July 29, 2012

KBO: The Thieves Steals First Place in Grand Fashion (07/27-07/29, 2012)

The Thieves Steals First Place in Grand Fashion


Apologies for this abbreviated Box Office Report, all updates were suspended while MKC covered the 16th PiFan.

Title Release Date Market Share Weekend Total Screens
1 The Thieves 7/25/12 55.30% 2,004,178 2,866,802 1,073
2 The Dark Knight Rises (us) 7/19/12 25.30% 891,004 4,256,255 807
3 Ice Age 4 (us) 7/25/12 10.60% 359,122 470,762 501
4 Horror Stories 7/25/12 2.60% 91,890 141,071 274
5 Deranged 7/5/12 2.00% 75,898 4,411,340 261
6 Detective Conan (jp) 7/19/12 1.70% 72,203 329,882 211
7 Doraeman (jp) 7/25/12 1.10% 45,187 58,340 180
8 The Amazing Spiderman (us) 6/28/12 0.30% 9,572 4,840,651 45
9 Midnight in Paris (us) 7/5/12 0.20% 8,143 293,979 38
10 SeoTaiji Record of the 8th 7/27/12 0.20% 5,326 5,326 1

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Korean Cinema News (07/19-07/25, 2012)

An abbreviated KCN as I am was away covering this year's PiFan.


KOREAN CINEMA NEWS

Korean Film Invited to Venice’s Independent Section
Director Jeon Kyu-hwan’s feature-length film The Weight has been included in the line-up of the Venice Film Festival’s autonomous sidebar section, the movie’s distributor Fine Cut said. Jeon, whose previous works include Berlinale-featured Varanasi and Dance Town, has become the first Korean director to be invited to the Venice Days competition program. The sidebar is widely considered to be the equivalent of Cannes Director’s Fortnight. (The Korea Herald, July 25, 2012)