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

Spellbound

(The Korea Times, November 24, 2011)

RECENT RELEASES

A Better Tomorrow

(moviecynics.com, November 18, 2011)

(Wildside Cinema, November 22, 2011)

Bleak Night

(Ali Quail, November 22, 2011)

Blind

(Modern Korean Cinema, November 22, 2011)

In Love and the War

(hancinema.net, November 19, 2011)

King of Pigs

(hancinema.net, November 19, 2011)

Leafie: A Hen Into the Wild

(Hangul Celluloid, November 22, 2011)

Moby Dick

(Film Business Asia, November 20, 2011)

Poetry

(rainydaymovies, November 24, 2011)

Secret Reunion

(VCinema Show, November 3, 2011)

Sector 7

(Hanguk Yeonghwa, November 24, 2011)

Sunny

(Far East Films, November 13, 2011)

The Front Line

(Japan Cinema, November 25, 2011)

(Modern Korean Cinema, November 24, 2011)

(Next Projection, November 19, 2011)

The Unjust

(Korean Class Massive, November 19, 2011)

The Yellow Sea

(London Korea Links, November 22, 2011)

(subtitledonline.com, November 24, 2011)

(The Huffington Post, November 23, 2011)

Through Korean Cinema

(New Korean Cinema, November 23, 2011)

White: The Melody of the Curse

(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)

A Tale of Two Sisters, 2003

(Hanguk Yeonghwa, November 17, 2011)

Crossing, 2008

(asianmovieweb.com, November 21, 2011)

Dachimawa Lee, 2008

(Mouth London, November 23, 2011)

Day Off, 1968

(London Korean Links, November 20, 2011)

Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, 2002

(Hanguk Yeonghwa, November 23, 2011)

The City of Violence, 2006

(Mouth London, November 21, 2011)

The Good, the Bad and the Weird, 2008

(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.

Weekly Review Round-up (11/12-11/18, 2011)

A wide array of films reviewed this week, many due to the just-wrapped London Korean Film Festival.

RECENT RELEASES

A Better Tomorrow

(DVD Verdict, November 17, 2011)

(Rock! Shock! Pop!, November 14, 2011)

Arirang

(SBCC Film Reviews, November 14, 2011)

Bedevilled

(fright.com, November 15, 2011)

City

(Hanguk Yeonghwa, November 15, 2011)

Detective K

(Alive Not Dead, November 12, 2011)

Ghastly

(Nekoneko's Movie Litterbox, November 14, 2011)

Haunters

(Horror Films, November 17, 2011)

Hindsight

(Film Business Asia, November 15, 2011)

I Saw the Devil

(PinoyMovieBlog, November 14, 2011)

King of Pigs

(The Korea Times, November 17, 2011)

Late Autumn

(Otherwhere, November 14, 2011)

Moss

(Init_Scenes, November 14, 2011)

Negligence of Duty

(Hanguk Yeonghwa, November 16, 2011)

Poongsan

(Variety, November 15, 2011 - Paid Subscription Required)

Promise

(Hanguk Yeonghwa, November 15, 2011)

Sector 7

(Dread Central, November 14, 2011)

Secret Reunion

(Next Projection, November 17, 2011)

Suicide Forecast

(London Korea Links, November 12, 2011)

Sunny

(hancinema.net, November 12, 2011)

(Korean Class Massive, November 6, 2011)

The Cat

(Film Business Asia, November 18, 2011)

The Day He Arrives

(Init_Scenes, November 17, 2011)

The Front Line

(heyuguys.co.uk, November 11, 2011)

(Wildgrounds, November 17, 2011)

The Hideout

(Hanguk Yeonghwa, November 16, 2011)

The Unjust

(Eye for Film, November 18, 2011)

The Yellow Sea

(beehivecity.com, November 12, 2011)

(heyuguys.co.uk, November 16, 2011)

(movies reviews by tom clift, November 14, 2011)

War of the Arrows

(Korean Class Massive, November 6, 2011)

PAST FILMS

Handphone, 2009

(Korean Class Massive, November 7, 20110

I'm a Cyborg But That's OK, 2006

(moviefilmreview.com, November 14, 2011)

Rough Cut, 2008

(Next Projection, November 17, 2011)

The Host, 2006

(Ticker Talks Film, November 11, 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.

Weekly Review Round-up (11/05-11/11, 2011)

A massive haul this week with 50 reviews of a wide range of films, with a number for the popular War of the Arrows.  Many came as a result of the London Korean Film Festival but I also found a lot of new sources, including Hanguk Yeonghwa who, covering the LKFF, delivered no less than 6 writeups.

Enjoy!

CURRENT KOREAN RELEASES

A Reason to Live

(The Korea Times, November 10, 2011)

Silenced

(Film Journal, November 4, 2011)

You Pet

(hancinema.net, November 6, 2011)

RECENT RELEASES

A Better Tomorrow

(examiner.com, November 10, 2011)

(Twitch, November 4, 2011)

A Drummer's Passion

(heyuguys.co.uk, November 7, 2011)

Arirang

(Movie Habit, November 10, 2011)

Bleak Night

(Chicago Sun-Times, November 2, 2011)

(Twitch, November 7, 2011)

Detective K: Secret of a Virtuous Widow

(Hanguk Yeonghwa, November 10, 2011)

Ghastly

(hancinema.net, November 5, 2011)

Hanaan

(Film Fracture, November 8, 2011)

Haunters

(Movie Habit, November 8, 2011)

King of Pigs

(Joong Ang Daily, November 4, 2011)

Leafie, A Hen Into the Wild

(London Korea Links, November 6, 2011)

Midnight FM

(iCov, November 11, 2011)

Night Fishing

(Hanguk Yeonghwa, November 9, 2011)

(Hangul Celluloid, November 10, 2011)

Ordinary Days

(Init_Scenes, November 8, 2011)

Sector 7

(Fangoria, November 8, 2011)

(Modern Korean Cinema, November 10, 2011)

Sunny

(Eastern Kicks, November 10, 2011)

(Hanguk Yeonghwa, November 7, 2011)

(Modern Korean Cinema, November 8, 2011)

The Day He Arrives

(Kimchi Soul, November 8, 2011)

(Movie Habit, November 10, 2011)

The Front Line

(Eastern Kicks, November 9, 2011)

(Hanguk Yeonghwa, November 8, 2011)

The Housemaid

(Asian Movie Pulse, November 4, 2011)

The Journals of Musan

(Banana Times, November 8, 2011)

(nanoomi.net, November 8, 2011)

The Yellow Sea

(Film 4, November 10, 2011)

Troubleshooter

(Init_Scenes, November 6, 2011)

War of the Arrows

(Film Business Asia, November 9, 2011)

(Hanguk Yeonghwa, November 6, 2011)

(heyuguys.co.uk, November 4, 2011)

(MCM Buzz, November 7, 2011)

(Seoul Beats, November 9, 2011)

(Variety, November 6, 2011)

PAST FILMS

Chunhyang, 2000

(bltnotjustasandwich.com, November 6, 2011)

D-Wars, 2007

(Bullet Reviews, November 7, 2011)

Don't Look Back, 2006

(Seen in Jeonju, November 9, 2011)

Going By the Book, 2007

(cineawesome!, November 5, 2011)

(ROK Drop, November 10, 2011)

Memories of Murder, 2003

(Spinetingler Mag, November 10, 2011)

Scandal Makers, 2008

(Otherwhere, November 8, 2011)

Taegukgi, 2004

(Hanguk Yeonghwa, November 1, 2011)

The Chaser, 2008

(Korean Class Massive, November 8, 2011)

The Flower Girl, 1972

(North Korean Films, November 6, 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.

Weekly Review Round-up (10/22-10/28, 2011)

A lot of reviews for The Yellow Sea this week, as it was recently released in the UK & Ireland.  Also found out about a new blog with lots of Korean film reviews, Otherwhere.

Enjoy!

CURRENT KOREAN RELEASES

Punch

(Seongyong's Private Place, October 22, 2011)

The Kick

(Film Business Asia, October 27, 2011)

RECENT RELEASES

Ghastly

(Modern Korean Cinema, October 26, 2011)

Haunters

(The Korea Blog, October 24, 2011)

King of Pigs

(Variety, October 24, 2011 - Subscription required)

Late Blossom

(hancinema.net, October 22, 2011)

(Modern Korean Cinema, October 24, 2011)

Poongsan

(Beyond Hollywood, October 19, 2011)

Stateless Things

(Otherwhere, October 16, 2011)

Sunny

(yam, October 23, 2011)

The Front Line

(Variety, October 23, 2011)

The Unjust

(amplify, October 24, 2011)

The Yellow Sea

(Cine Vue, October 21, 2011)

(eatsleeplivefilm.com, October 21, 2011)

(herald.ie, October 21, 2011)

(London Evening Standard, October 21, 2011)

(msn entertainment, October 26, 2011)

(The Film Pilgrim, October 24, 2011)

(The Guardian, October 23, 2011)

(The Irish Times, October 21, 2011)

(Total Film, October 25, 2011)

(Trash Cinema Club, October 22, 2011)

White: The Curse of the Melody

(hancinema.net, October 20, 2011)

PAST FILMS

A Bloody Aria, 2006

(cineawesome!, October 22, 2011)

Jenny, Juno, 2005

(Otherwhere, October 22, 2011)

The Sword With No Name, 2009

(The Fandom Post, October 21, 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.

Weekly Review Round-up (10/15-10/21, 2011)

This week we have a section dedicated to reviews from the recently wrapped Festival franco-coréen du film in Paris.  All of these are in French (my second language) and special thanks to Kim-Bong-Park, Made in Asie and asiafilm.fr for their hard work!  Also a number of The Yellow Sea reviews as it opens in the UK & Ireland.

Enjoy!

FFCF (Festival franco-coréen du film)

Anti Gas Skin

(asiafilm.fr, October 16, 2011)

(Kim-Bong-Park, October 16, 2011)

(Made in Asie, October 17, 2011)

Bleak Night

(asiafilm.fr, October 16, 2011)

(Made in Asie, October 13, 2011)

Café Noir

(Kim-Bong-Park, October 18, 2011)

(Made in Asie, October 19, 2011)

Castaway on the Moon, 2009

(asiafilm.fr, October 14, 2011)

(Kim-Bong-Park, October 13, 2011)

Cheonggyecheon Medley

(asiafilm.fr, October 15, 2011)

(Kim-Bong-Park, October 16, 2011)

Come, Closer

(asiafilm.fr, October 14, 2011)

End of Animal

(asiafilm.fr, October 13, 2011)

(Kim-Bong-Park, October 15, 2011)

(Made in Asie, October 15, 2011)

Grandmother's Flower

(asiafilm.fr, October 13, 2011)

Hello Ghost

(Made in Asie, October 17, 2011)

Invasion of Alien Bikini

(asiafilm.fr, October 18, 2011)

(Kim-Bong-Park, October 17, 2011)

(Made in Asie, October 17, 2011)

Late Autumn

(Kim-Bong-Park, October 17, 2011)

(Made in Asie, October 18, 2011)

Late Autumn, 1981

(Made in Asie, October 18, 2011)

Leafie, A Hen Into the Wild

(asiafilm.fr, October 19, 2011)

(Kim-Bong-Park, October 20, 2011)

Miracle on Jongno Street

(Made in Asie, October 13, 2011)

Possessed

(Kim-Bong-Park, October 14, 2011)

(Made in Asie, October 19, 2011)

Sunny

(asiafilm.fr, October 19, 2011)

(Kim-Bong-Park, October 12, 2011)

The Code of a Duel

(asiafilm.fr, October 17, 2011)

(Made in Asie, October 17, 2011)

The Day He Arrives

(asiafilm.fr, October 15, 2011)

RECENT RELEASES

Countdown

(Film Business Asia, October 19, 2011)

From Seoul to Varanasi

(Twitch, October 16, 2011)

(Variety, October 16, 2011 - Subscription Required)

Head

(Modern Korean Cinema, October 20, 2011)

Hindsight

(Variety, October 17, 2011 - Subscription Required)

Little Black Dress

(Modern Korean Cinema, October 18, 2011)

Memories of Murder

(subtitledonline, October 20, 2011)

Pink

(The Korea Times, October 20, 2011)

(Twitch, October 16, 2011)

Poetry

(straight.com, October 20, 2011)

Poongsan

(Film Business Asia, October 18, 2011)

Red Vacance, Black Wedding

(Twitch, October 16, 2011)

Silenced

(Film Business Asia, October 120 2011)

The Yellow Sea

(Empire, October 2011)

(entertainment.ie, October 17, 2011)

(Hangul Celluloid, October 17, 2011)

(metro.co.uk, October 21, 2011)

(Mini Mini Movie, October 13, 2011)

PAST FILMS

Possessed, 2009

(Kim Bong Park, October 14, 2011)

Treeless Montain, 2008

(Mmegionline, October 18, 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.

48th Daejong Film Awards

The Daejong film awards are the oldest and most prestigious film industry awards in Korea.  They are essentially the Korean oscars and they will soon be celebrating their 50th edition.  Just like the Oscars, they feature musical performances, celebrity presenters, and a host of other similarities.

Tonight the ceremony for the 48th Daejong film awards took place in Seoul.  A very even field battled it out this year as many films walked away with multiple awards and there was no outright champion of the event.  That said, while the films represented in this year's nominations were more-or-less all worthy contenders, they did not compare favorably to the stellar lineups of years past.  Last year's big winner was Lee Chang-dong's formidable Poetry,  while Kim Jee-woon's I Saw the Devil and newcomer Jang Cheol-su's Bedevilled were among the other films that ranked high on the nominations list.

This year, the most nominated films were (wins in parentheses):

The Front Line - 12 (4)

The Yellow Sea - 11 (2)

Sunny - 9 (2)

War of the Arrows - 8 (4)

Blind - 7 (2)

The Unjust - 7 (0)

Hindsight - 5 (0)

Late Autumn - 4 (1)

Hello Ghost - 4 (0)

Late Blossom - 4 (0)

Detective K - 3 (1)

Romantic Heaven - 3 (1)

Moby Dick - 3 (0)

Poongsan - 3 (0)

The Last Blossom - 3 (0)

Bleak Night - 2 (2)

The six most nominated films were all big performers at the box office, each scored over two million admissions.  Currently I have only seen seven of the films listed above but it does seem like a poorer than usual roster.  As excited as I am to see The Front Line, War of the Arrows, Sunny, and Blind, I am not expecting them to make significant impressions on me like other Korean films have, but I hope I am wrong!

That said, this year's films are all solid and I am especially happy that Ryoo Seung-wan's brilliant The Unjust wound up with 7 nominations, although it is unfortunate that it wasn't able to bag a single win.  I thought it would pick up Best Screenplay at the very least but this went to Blind.  

I was also happy to see that  Late Blossom score 4 nominations even if it didn't win anything.  Personally I think it should have been nominated for Best Cinematography which  is always a great category for Korean film.  So far I've only seen one of the nominees so I'm exited to how the rest look, including winner The Front Line.

I was surprised that neither Quick nor the much-Ballyhooed Sector 7 managed to score nominations for Best Visual Effects.  The films were not well-received but by all accounts the effects were very impressive. War of the Arrows ended up taking the prize.

The biggest successes of the night were the big blockbusters The Front Line and War of the Arrows with 4 wins each, including Best Film for the former.  That result was not surprising as it is also the Korean selection for next year's Oscars.

In the face of some pretty stiff competition, Kang Hyung-chul won Best Director for the small but wildly popular Sunny, which also won Best Editing.

The acting categories all went to different films this year. Best Actor and Actress went to Park Hae-il for War of the Arrows and Kim Ha-neul for Blind, while Jo Sung-ha and Shim Eun-kyun walked away which the Supporting Actor/Actress prizes for The Yellow Sea and Romantic Heaven.

Bleak Night, which has very well-received critically but failed to draw much of an audience in Korea, was a big success tonight, winning its two nominations for Best New Director (Yoon Sung-hyun) and Best New Actor (Lee Je-hun, also nominated for The Front Line).  Meanwhile, best New Actress went to Moon Chae-won for War of the Arrows.

Best Production and Best Lighting went to The Front Line, Best Song went to Late Autumn, Best Costume Design went to The Yellow Sea, Best Art Design went to Detective K, and Best Sound Effects went to War of the Arrows.

Won Bin, who won last year's Best Actor for his role in The Man From Nowhere, was the recipient of the  Popularity Award.  This year's Lifetime Achievement Award went to actor Lee Dae-Geun.

Special thanks to Asian Media Wiki, which live-tweeted the results.

48th Daejong Film Awards Winners and Nominees:

Best Film
Winner:The Front Line
Nominees:
The Front Line
The Unjust
Sunny
War of the Arrows
The Yellow Sea

Best Director

Winner: 

Kang Hyung-chul (Sunny)

Nominees:

Jang Hun (The Front Line)

Kim Tae-yong (Late Autumn)

Ryoo Seung-wan (The Unjust)

Kang Hyung-chul (Sunny)

Na Hong-jin (The Yellow Sea)

Best Actor

Winner: 

Park Hae-il (War of the Arrows)

Nominees:

Kim Yun-seok (The Yellow Sea)

Ryoo Seung-beom (The Unjust)

Park Hae-il (War of the Arrows)

Yoon Kye-sang (Poongsan)

Lee Soon-jae (Late Blossom)

Cha Tae-hyun (Hello Ghost)

Best Actress

Winner: 

Kim Ha-neul (Blind)

Nominees:

Kim Ha-neul (Blind)

Kim Hye-soo (Villain and Widow)

Bae Jong-ok (The Last Blossom)

Yun So-jeong (Late Blossom)

Choi Gang-hee (Petty Romance)

Best Supporting Actor

Winner: 

Jo Sung-ha (The Yellow Sea)

Nominees:

Ko Chang-seok (The Showdown)

Kim Sang-ho (Moby Dick)

Ryoo Seung-ryong (The Front Line)

Yu Hae-jin (The Unjust)

Jo Sung-ha (The Yellow Sea)

Jo Hie-bong (Blind)

Best Supporting Actress

Winner: 

Shim Eun-kyung (Romantic Heaven)

Nominees:

Kim Soo-mi (Late Blossom)

Kim Ji-young (The Last Blossom)

Seo Young-hee (The Last Blossom)

Shim Eun-kyung (Romantic Heaven)

Jang Yeong-nam (Hello Ghost)

Cheon Woo-hee (Sunny)

Best New Director

Winner: 

Yoon Sung-hyun (Bleak Night)

Nominees:

Kim Sung-hoon (Ryang-kang-do: Merry Christmas, North!)

Kim Young-tak (Hello Ghost)

Min Yong-keun (Re-encounter)

Park In-je (Moby Dick)

Yoon Sung-hyun (Bleak Night)

Best New Actor

Winner: 

Lee Je-hoon (Bleak Night)

Nominees:

Kim Hwan-young (Ryang-kang-do: Merry Christmas, North!)

Yoo Yeon-seok (Re-encounter)

Lee Je-hoon (The Front Line)

Lee Je-hoon (Bleak Night)

Jang Ki-beom (GLove)

Best New Actress

Winner: 

Moon Chae-won (War of the Arrows)

Nominees:

Kang So-ra (Sunny)

Moon Chae-won (War of the Arrows)

Baek Jin-hee (Foxy Festival)

Shin Se-kyung (Hindsight)

You Da-in (Re-encounter)

Best Screenplay
Winner:
Choi Min-suk (Blind)
Nominees:
The Unjust
Blind
Sunny
The Front Line
Hello Ghost

Best Cinematography
Winner:
The Front Line (Joo Woo-hyung)
Nominees:
The Front Line
Late Autumn
War of the Arrows
Hindsight
The Yellow Sea

Best Lighting
Winner:
The Front Line (Kim Min-jae)
Nominees:
The Front Line
Blind
Hindsight
Poongsan
The Yellow Sea

Best Production
Winner:
The Front Line (Lee Woo-jung)
Nominees:
The Front Line
Moby Dick
The Unjust
Sunny
Poongsan

Best Editing
Winner:
Sunny (Nam Na-young)
Nominees:
The Front Line
The Unjust
Blind
Sunny
The Yellow Sea

Best Music
Winner: Late Autumn (Woo & Choi Young-rak)
Nominees:
Late Blossom
Romantic Heaven
Late Autumn
Sunny
Hindsight

Best Art Design
Winner:
Detective K: Secret Of Virtuous Widow (Chae Gyung-sun)
Nominees:
Late Autumn
Detective K: Secret Of Virtuous Widow
War of the Arrows
Hindsight
The Yellow Sea

Best Costume Design
Winner:
The Yellow Sea (Chae Kyung-hwa)
Nominees:The Front Line
Sunny
Detective K: Secret Of Virtuous Widow
War of the Arrows
The Yellow Sea

Best Visual Effects
Winner:
War of the Arrows (Han Young-woo)
Nominees:
The Front Line
Romantic Heaven
Blind
War of the Arrows
The Yellow Sea

Best Sound Effects
Winner:
War of the Arrows (Choi Tae-young)
Nominees:
The Front Line
Blind
Detective K: Secret Of Virtuous Widow
War of the Arrows
The Yellow Sea

Popularity Award

Winner: 

Won Bin

Lifetime Achievement Award

Winner: 

Lee Dae-geun (actor)

Korean Cinema News (09/22-09/28, 2011)

Another light week for Korean cinema news but in my searching I did uncover a large amount of Fantastic Fest korean film reviews which will be features in Friday's WEEKLY REVIEW ROUND-UP, maybe that explains it.

KOREAN CINEMA NEWS

Online Smiles for Sunny
CJ E&M Pictures has scored strongly with the multiple online releases of its hit film Sunny. Sunny was released for download via portals and cloud services on 8 Sep, shortly before the Chuseok public holidays, and achieved $597,000 after 10 days. Separately it earned $511,000 on Korea Telecom's IPTV service. Taken together with revenues from other IPTV outlets, CJ estimates that Sunny earned $1.28 million over the Chuseok period and is on course for total ancillary revenues of $2.56 million. (Film Business Asia, September 23, 2011)

Bae Doo-na Ice Cool Ahead of Hollywood Debut

All it took was a video call and a short home movie, and the Wachowski brothers -- the brains behind The Matrix trilogy -- were sold on actress Bae Doo-na. The Wachowskis had been looking around for someone to fill a role in their upcoming movie, Cloud Atlas. (The Chosun Ilbo, September 24, 2011)

LKFF: Festival News from Mayfair, First Impressions & a Salute to Curatorial Ambition
A preview of the London Korean Film Festival courtesy of Ian London over on the New Korean Cinema site. (New Korean Cinema, September 25, 2011)

HK Film Archive's "Restored Treasures" to Feature Korean Director Shin Sang-ok's Masterpieces
An accomplished director and producer, Shin Sang-ok, nicknamed the 'Prince of Korean Cinema', was one of a handful of directors who were instrumental in making the 1950s and '60s a golden age for Korean cinema. The Hong Kong Film Archive (HKFA)'s "Restored Treasures" series in October and November will screen two of his masterpieces. The two selected films were also the first and third restored treasures of the Korean Film Archive (KOFA). (7th Space, September 26, 2011)

Unsettling Dogani Revisits School Horror
A new film based on a true story is stirring up anger and a sense of helplessness among Korean moviegoers. The movie, called Dogani or The Crucible in English, is adopted from the bestselling book of the same name by Gong Ji-young, one of the most prominent and respected female writers in Korea (The Wall Street Journal, September 27, 2011)

Top Actor Jang Dong-gun Set to Star in Foreign Film
Top Korean actor Jang Dong-gun is set to star with Zhang Ziyi and Cecilia Cheung in director Hur Jin-ho’s adaptation of the French novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses. Jang is fresh off the shoot of Kang Je-kyu’s sweeping WWII film My Way which wrapped recently. (kobiz, September 27, 2011)

5-Day Korean Film Fest in Cebu Starts
A five-day Korean Film Festival in Cebu will be held starting tomorrow September 28 until October 2 with top-grossing films to be shown for free at the SM Cinema. (Philippine Information Agency, September 27, 2011)

American Professor Loves Korean Movies
'Korean movies are humanistic and deal with human existence, and that makes us watch them. I think they are this way because of the huge tragedies of the Japanese occupation and the Korean War.' 53-year-old Earl Jackson, a professor at the Korean National University of Arts, told Yonhap News on the 22nd that Korean movies have unique characteristics compared to the cinema of other nations. (asiancorrespondent.com, September 28, 2011)

INTERVIEW

Interview With Director LIM Woo-seong
Up-and-coming Korean director Lim Woo-seong, whose Scars is screening in the San Sebastian International Film Festival Zabaltegi-New Directors Section, speaks to Cine21’s SHIN Dooyoung about his work. (kobiz, September 23, 2011)

TRAILERS

Hi Dokdo

Ryang-kang-do: Merry Christmas, North!

BOX OFFICE

Korean Box Office Update (09/23-09/25, 2011)

(Modern Korean Cinema, September 26, 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.

Weekly Review Round-Up (09/10-09/16, 2011)

I've probably missed a few things as I am traveling in Dublin but a very wide range of films represented this week including a trio from @refresh_daemon of Init_Scenes who has been very active of late!

RECENT RELEASES

Cheonggyecheon Medley: A Dream of Iron

(hancinema.net, September 10, 2011)

Oki's Movie

(init-scenes.blogspot.com, September 13, 2011)

Poetry

(The Daily Page, September 7, 2011)

Sunny

(KoreanIndo, September 10, 2011)

The Apprehenders

(Modern Korean Cinema, September 10, 2011)

The Man From Nowhere

(Twitch, September 10, 2011)

The Unjust (French)

(Des Bons, des Brutes et des Cinglés, September 10, 2011)

Villain and Widow

(VCinema, September 14, 2011)

PAST FILMS

Breath, 2007

(justpressplay.net, September 9, 2011)

JSA: Joint Security Area, 2000

(At the Cinema, September 11, 2011)

Secret Sunshine, 2007

(justpressplay.net, September 9, 2011)

Singles, 2003

(init-scenes.blogspot.com, September 9, 2011)

The Guests of the Last Train, 1967

(init-scenes.blogspot.com, September 16, 2011)

The World of Silence, 2006

(Hangul Celluloid, September 13, 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.