Showing posts with label spellbound. Show all posts
Showing posts with label spellbound. Show all posts

Friday, December 16, 2011

Weekly Review Round-up (12/10-12/16, 2011)

30 new reviews this week including a great write-up on Hong Sang-soo's latest from The New Yorker and a series of reviews on Kim Ki-duk's from the Rainy Day Movies blog where Connor McMorran is hosting a fantastic Kim Ki-duk Week.


CURRENT KOREAN RELEASES


Spellbound


RECENT RELEASES


(Shu-Izmz, December 11, 2011)

(Variety, December 14, 2011)

(Beyond Hollywood, December 12, 2011)

(Pinoy Movie Blog, December 16, 2011)

I Saw the Devil

(The Los Angeles Times, December 15, 2011)

(Modern Korean Cinema, December 11, 2011)

Poetry

(Twitch, December 13, 2011)

(The New Yorker, December 15, 2011)

(City on Fire, December 10, 2011)

(Inti_Scenes, December 14, 2011)

(Init_Scenes, December 16, 2011)

(Wildgrounds, December 13, 2011)


PAST FILMS


(Rainy Day Movies, December 14, 2011)

Bad Guy, 2001
(Rainy Day Movies, December 13, 2011)

Beat, 1997
(Modern Korean Cinema, December 9, 2011)

(Modern Korean Cinema, December 9, 2011)

(The Non-Review, December 9, 2011)

Green Fish, 1997
(Modern Korean Cinema, December 11, 2011)

No. 3, 1997
(Modern Korean Cinema, December 10, 2011)

(Rainy Day Movies, December 15, 2011)

(Rainy Day Movies, December 16, 2011)

(Rainy Day Movies, December 15, 2011)

The Isle, 2000
(Rainy Day Movies, December 12, 2011)


The Weekly Review Round-up is a weekly feature which brings together all available reviews of Korean films in the English language (and sometimes French) that have recently appeared on the internet. It is by no means a comprehensive feature and additions are welcome (email pierceconran [at] gmail [dot] com). It appears every Friday morning (GMT+1) on Modern Korean Cinema. For other weekly features, take a look at Korean Cinema News, and the Korean Box Office Update. Reviews and features on Korean film also appear regularly on the site. 

To keep up with the best in Korean film you can sign up to our RSS Feed, like us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter.

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Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Korean Cinema News (12/08-12/14, 2011)

This week's Korean Cinema News features some casting and festival items as well as a number of substantive features and profiles.  I've revamped the look again as I'm hoping to make the weekly update more interactive, let me know your thoughts or if there are any problems with the new design!


Ryoo Seung-wan's next film, the ten billion won project Berlin has added star Jeon Ji-yeon to its cast.  She will play an interpreter at the North Korean Embassy as well as the wife of Ha Jeong-woo's character, a spy who is shunned by North Korea.  Berlin will also star Han Seok-Kyu, Ryoo Seung-beom, and many more.  (hancinema.net, December 11, 2011)

Pop-opera Star Bocelli to Sing Title Song for My Way
Famed vocalist Andrea Bocelli is set to record the theme song for the upcoming movie My Way.  He will perform "To Find My Way", composed by musical director Lee Dong-joon, whose previous work includes Taegeukgi and IRIS.  (hancinema.net, December 8, 2011)

Catch the 2010 Korean A Better Tomorrow Remake on Netflix Instant
Last year, director Song Hae-sung remade John Woo’s classic A Better Tomorrow (1986), not only did he have Woo's consent but he was also an executive producer.   Recently the film was released on blu-ray and DVD from distributor Well Go USA, but it is now streaming on Netflix Instant in HD.  (City on Fire, December 8, 2011)

Lee Yoon-ki is a humanist.  The refusal by this South Korean director to suggest otherwise can quite understandably be argued as a limitation.  Since narrative films often rely on audience identification, a movie that empathizes with a repressed character and stresses a need for self-expression often doesn’t make for very challenging contemporary cinema.

Korean Film Downunder 2: "Interest & Availability"
Following on from my look at distributions link to genre, I had believed the fact that the level of interest in Korean film in Australia was where it was at due to what was available to people.  Generally films released and readily talked about fit into the crime thriller or horror genres, and this can of course only have limited appeal as its marginalising the audience.  But as stated over at the KOFFIA blog Hungry for Drama, we have seen that comedies and dramas have been some of the favourite films at the festival.  So why hasn't there been a crossover between those that love Korean dramas into watching Korean films?  (Tully's Recall, December 7, 2011)

Lee Sun-mi Wins Woman in Film of the Year
The Woman in Film of the Year Award was designed to encourage and support woman who demonstrate “the most excellent activities of the year.”  This year producer Lee Sun-mi is the 2011 won the award for her work on Detective K: Secret of Virtuous Widow.  Other prize winners included: actresses Song Hye-kyo and Choi Ji-hee, director Han Hye-jin, and producer Um Joo-yeong.  (KOBIZ, December 14, 2011)

Yun Jung-hee was honored with a Best Actress award at the 37th Annual Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA) Awards for her performance in Poetry.  The film was directed by Lee Chang-dong and stars Yun as a old lady who lives with her grandson and details the changes she goes through after a terrible event occurs.  (KOBIZ, December 13, 2011)

Top Issues in the 2011 Korean Film Industry
From sleeper hits to leading directors shooting abroad, society-changing films and game-changing moves, 2011 has been a surprising year for the Korean film industry.  South Korea’s box office in 2011 had integrity.  Films emerged that were more ambitious than ever with large-scale budgets and marketing campaigns to fit, but cinema-goers were not taken in by it all.  (Korean Cinema Today, December 7, 2011)

The 37th Seoul Independent Film Festival Opens
The 37th Seoul Independent Film Festival (SIFF) opened yesterday with Myselves, a documentary project film shot by actresses Boo Ji-young, Kim Kkot-bee, Yang Eun-yong, and Seo Young-ju.  The festival runs Dec. 8 – 16 at the CGV Apgujeong multiplex in Seoul.  All four actresses were on hand at the opening ceremony along with filmmakers such as Yang Ik-june.  (KOBIZ, December 9, 2011)

Bittersweet Life: Korean Cinema's Secret Popularity in the UK
Ask any cine-literate film-goer, critic, blogger, or tweeter in the UK about Korean cinema and you’ll be greeted with an enthusiastic response.  They will talk of the Hallyu period of the past decade, a wealth of some of the most creative and interesting film-making in the world.  They will speak with passion about Park Chan-wook, Kim Ki-duk and Bong Joon-ho.  (Korean Cinema Today, November 29, 2011)
After six months of shooting around the world, in location such as Macau, Hong Kong, Busan, and Seoul, Choi Dong-hoon's highly anticipated fourth feature finally wrapped production on December 7 at the W Seoul – Walkerhill Hotel.  The Thieves stars Kim Yun-seok, Kim Hye-soo, Lee Jung-jae, Jeon Ji-hyun, and POh Dal-su.  (KOBIZ, December 9, 2011)

Virtual Hallyu: Korean Cinema of the Global Era
Kyung Hyun Kim’s Virtual Hallyu seeks to redress what the author sees as an imbalance in recent English-language surveys of Korean cinema.  As Kim, an Associate Professor of East Asian Languages and Literature at the University of California, Irvine, points out, the few works available in English – such as Jinhee Choi’s recent The South Korean Film Renaissance – generally assess the Korean film industry and other external aspects of Korea’s film boom of the mid-1990s and early-2000s.  That is, they explore the how and why of the rapid expansion of Korean films in the domestic marketplace and the rise in stature of the filmmakers and the industry abroad.  (Cineaste, December 2011)


Last month, Gerwin Tamsma made his annual visit to Seoul in search of new films for the next International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR).  In between screenings, meetings, and an impromptu dinner he kindly threw for festival alumni, the friendly, outspoken programmer met with Jean Noh for a quick interview.  (Korean Cinema Today, December 7, 2011)

Park Jung-bum Recalls Making of The Journals of Musan
Clad in blue jeans and a grey hoodie, director Park Jung-bum looks nothing like the North Korean defector he played in his award-sweeping feature debut, The Journals of Musan.  He no longer has the character’s bowl-cut, nor does he have that sluggish gait.  (The Korea Herald, December 12, 2011)

South Korean Cinema Hoarding Artist Yearns for 'Good Old Days'
Hoarding artist Paek Chun-tae's 40-year career painting cinema billboards came to an early end in the 2000s, but his work is now featured in an exhibition that will run through the end of this month.  Like many other hoarding artists, he lost his job in the 2000s as many old-style movie theaters were driven out by multiplex cinemas.  (Yonhap News, December 8, 2011)


TRAILERS

Nameless Gangster


Pacemaker


Spellbound


Unbowed



POSTERS



(Modern Korean Cinema, December 12, 2011)


Korean Cinema News is a weekly feature which provides wide-ranging news coverage on Korean cinema, including but not limited to: features; festival news; interviews; industry news; trailers; posters; and box office. It appears every Wednesday morning (GMT+1) on Modern Korean Cinema. For other weekly features, take a look at the Korean Box Office Update and the Weekly Review Round-up. Reviews and features on Korean film also appear regularly on the site. 

To keep up with the best in Korean film you can sign up to our RSS Feed, like us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter.

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Monday, December 12, 2011

Korean Box Office Update (12/09-12/11, 2011)

Weekend of December 9-11:


Title Release Date Weekend Total
1 Spellbound 12/1/11 590,232 1,391,938
2 The Adventures of Tintin (us) 12/7/11 407,330 477,771
3 Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part I (us) 11/30/11 249,656 1,227,325
4 Arthur Christmas (us) 11/25/11 124,832 520,821
5 SIU 11/24/11 110,119 1,041,647
6 Punch 10/20/11 97,314 5,226,346
7 Blitz (us) 12/8/11 31,609 45,831
8 Sunday Punch 12/7/11 28,568 39,733
9 Real Steel (us) 10/12/11 23,977 3,568,936
10 Moneyball (us) 11/17/11 9,767 631,845
- Gilsotteum (1985)
1,692 1,692
- The Sleep Deeper Than Death (1979)
1,342 1,798
- Life Is Peachy 12/08/11 877 1,521
- The Forgotten Bag 11/17/11 624 5,339
- Dancing Cat 11/17/11 621 11,016


Another week at the 2011 Korean box office and another runaway word of mouth hit!  The year has seen quite its share of sleeper hits starting with Detective K and Clash of the Families in the first quarter before Sunny began its extraordinary run in May.  War of the Arrows, the least-awaited summer blockbuster became the year's biggest hit and the fall produced the controversial Silenced, the still-playing crowd-pleaser Punch, and now it looks as though the sophomore Spellbound may join their ranks.  A healthy 1.71 million tickets were sold this weekend, a slight uptick on last year's 1.67 and, encouragingly, the market share jumped 8 points to 49% despite only four Korean films on the chart.  Very impressive given the time of year, a season typically dominated by Hollywood holiday tentpoles.

The new No. 1 was the comedy/romance/horror blend Spellbound which, after a strong start last week, grew nearly 25% to 590,232.  The result is proof of the enduring popularity of the multi-genre pics in Korea and is reminiscent of last year's similar hit, the Cha Tae-hyun starring Hello Ghost, which ended its run with a little over 3 million admissions.  If Spellbound continues to generate good word of mouth it could easily surpass that but competition from American imports will be significant throughout December.

The Steven Spielberg-directed and Peter Jackson-produced motion capture animation Tintin opened in an enormous amount of theaters but only managed a 407,330 weekend.  A decent start but nothing to write home about.  The picture has had good reviews so perhaps it will benefit from good word of mouth down the line but this is far from certain.

Last week's No. 1, the fourth installment in the Twilight franchise, as expected saw much of its business eb away.  Though its sub-40% drop is not as devastating as it could have been.  At this rate it is unlikely to match its predecessor's final tally in Korea.  Arthur Christmas stayed relatively strong as it barely dropped, adding 124,832 to its total, though it started out with such a small figure that these small drops aren't making a hit out of it.

SIU lost about half of its business for a 110,119 weekend but managed to cross the one million admissions mark in the process though this will be its only major milestone.  Word of mouth hit Punch fell about 35% to 97,314 in its eighth week as it winds down it remarkable run.  The six million admission mark is probably out of reach.

Blitz, a Jason Statham action film that went straight-to-DVD in the US had a minor opening.  The Korean Sunday Punch opened to a weak 28,568 but it wasn't a platform release.  Real Steel and Moneyball added 23,977 and 9,767, respectively, to their totals.

Outside the Top 10:  Re-releases Gilsotteum and The Sleep Deeper Than Death sold 1,692 and 1,342 tickets; the lesbian drama Life Is Peachy sold only 877 tickets; and documentaries The Forgotten Bag and Dancing Cat added 624 and 621 tickets to their hauls.

Next Weekend:  The gangster film Too Many Villains opens.


The Korean Box Office Update is a weekly feature which provides detailed analysis of film box office sales over the Friday to Sunday period in Korea. It appears every Monday morning (GMT+1) on Modern Korean Cinema. For other weekly features, take a look at Korean Cinema News and the Weekly Review Round-up. Reviews and features on Korean film also appear regularly on the site. 

To keep up with the best in Korean film you can sign up to our RSS Feed, like us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter.

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Monday, December 5, 2011

Korean Box Office Update (12/2-12/4, 2011)

Weekend of December 2-4:

Title Release Date Weekend Total
1 Twilight: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 (us) 11/30/11 482,384 775,522
2 Spellbound 12/1/11 420,806 487,861
3 SIU 11/24/11 201,264 838,983
4 Punch 10/20/11 150,737 5,046,804
5 Arthur Christmas (us) 11/25/11 144,574 367,274
6 Real Steel (us) 10/12/11 58,945 3,521,389
7 Moneyball (us) 11/17/11 39,267 602,465
8 Immortals (us) 11/10/11 27,951 1,322,363
9 50/50 (us) 11/24/11 17,663 100,940
10 You're My Pet 11/10/11 4,234 541,356
- Penny Pinchers 11/2/11 1,560 422,686
- The Houseguest and My Mother (1961) 10/27/11 1,543 1,985
- Perfect Partner 11/17/11 1,162 89,371
- Dancing Cat 10/20/11 937 7,150
- King of Pigs 11/17/11 774 17,526


Despite a huge new Hollywood release, Korean films remained very competitive this weekend, managing a 50% market share.  It was a big weekend with 1.56 million tickets sold which was better than last year's 1.25 when Petty Romance opened.  As Darcy Paquet noted in his biweekly box office evaluation for KOBIZ, Korean cinema will have to face off with a number of American tentpole releases in December but this is a very encouraging start to the holiday season.

The new Twilight opened in first place as was expected, the first non-Korean film to do so since October (Real Steel) and only the second since July (Harry Potter).  However its 482,384 opening was a little soft, certainly coming in below my expectations.  From here on out, this frontloaded pic should drop very fast.

Spellbound opened to a very healthy 420,806 this weekend giving Twilight a run for its money.  The multi-genre pic has been garnering some strong word of mouth and may play well throughout December if it can distinguish itself from the many new offerings that will become available.

Last week's one-time champ SIU fell two places, slowing about 40% to 201,264.  The buzz has not been fantastic surrounding the film and it will likely drop relatively quickly out of the top 10 though it will shoot well past the 1 or even 1.5 million admissions mark in the process.

Punch is finally starting to show some vulnerability as it dropped another two spots and lost nearly 50% of its business in the interim.  However its 150,737 take was enough to push it past the 5 million mark and get it to No. 3 on the yearly chart.  It remains to be seen whether it can cross the 6 million milestone, which may or may not be a bridge too far.

The next five spots were all held by Hollywood releases beginning with Arthur Christmas which held onto most of its opening as it added 144,574 to its total.  Real Steel finally saw a substantial drop but it has had a phenomenal run and the 58,945 tickets it sold brought it over 3.5 million admissions.  Brad Pitt's Moneyball dove 60% to 39,267 while Immortals fell 70% to 27,951 and 50/50 also shed 60% for 17,663.

At No. 10 was You're My Pet, which this week secured releases in China and Japan.  It made 4,234 this weekend for a 541,356 to date.

Outside of the Top 10:  Penny Pinchers added another 1,560 to its total; Shin Sang-ok's classic The Houseguest and My Mother (1961) sold 1,543 tickets in re-release; Perfect Partner fell hard to 1,162 and all but guaranteed it won't be crossing the 100,000 mark; Dancing Cat sold another 937 tickets; and King of Pigs added an additional 774 admissions.


The Korean Box Office Update is a weekly feature which provides detailed analysis of film box office sales over the Friday to Sunday period in Korea. It appears every Monday morning (GMT+1) on Modern Korean Cinema. For other weekly features, take a look at Korean Cinema News and the Weekly Review Round-up. Reviews and features on Korean film also appear regularly on the site. 

To keep up with the best in Korean film you can sign up to our RSS Feed, like us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter.

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Friday, November 25, 2011

Weekly Review Round-up (11/19-11/25, 2011)

A wealth of reviews for current and past films this week from many sources including multiple write-ups on A Better Tomorrow, The Front Line, and The Yellow Sea.


CURRENT KOREAN RELEASES

(The Korea Times, November 24, 2011)


RECENT RELEASES

A Better Tomorrow

(Ali Quail, November 22, 2011)

(Modern Korean Cinema, November 22, 2011)

(hancinema.net, November 19, 2011)

(hancinema.net, November 19, 2011)

(Hangul Celluloid, November 22, 2011)

(Film Business Asia, November 20, 2011)

(rainydaymovies, November 24, 2011)

(VCinema Show, November 3, 2011)

(Hanguk Yeonghwa, November 24, 2011)

(Far East Films, November 13, 2011)

The Front Line

(Korean Class Massive, November 19, 2011)

The Yellow Sea

(New Korean Cinema, November 23, 2011)

(Film Business Asia, November 23, 2011)


PAST FILMS

3-Iron, 2004
(Hanguk Yeonghwa, November 22, 2011)

Arahan, 2004
(Mouth London, November 23, 2011)

Assassins, 1969
(London Korean Links, November 20, 2011)

A Sister's Garden, 1959
(koreanfilm.org, November 2011)

(Hanguk Yeonghwa, November 17, 2011)

Crossing, 2008
(asianmovieweb.com, November 21, 2011)

(Mouth London, November 23, 2011)

Day Off, 1968
(London Korean Links, November 20, 2011)

(Hanguk Yeonghwa, November 23, 2011)

(Mouth London, November 21, 2011)

(Hanguk Yeonghwa, November 20, 2011)


The Weekly Review Round-up is a weekly feature which brings together all available reviews of Korean films in the English language (and sometimes French) that have recently appeared on the internet. It is by no means a comprehensive feature and additions are welcome (email pierceconran [at] gmail [dot] com). It appears every Friday morning (GMT+1) on Modern Korean Cinema. For other weekly features, take a look at Korean Cinema News, and the Korean Box Office Update. Reviews and features on Korean film also appear regularly on the site. 

To keep up with the best in Korean film you can sign up to our RSS Feed, like us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter.

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