Movie/ Drama reviews Options

[rosiebaba]

[TV review]｀Mommy¨s Angry¨ stokes fires of class wars

February 27, 2008

A scene from ＾Mommy¨s Angry.￣ [KBS 2TV]
One of the convenient aspects of moving out of my parents¨ house was that I could choose where I live. I was free from questions like ＾So, where do you live?￣ which can be translated as ＾How rich are you (or more precisely, your parents)?￣
My parents happened to live in a not-so-fancy neighborhood quite a-ways north of the Han River, and answering such a question was not the most pleasant experience for me.
The interrogation became even more unpleasant when two acquaintances teased me for ＾living close to Cheongnyangni, the hooker district.￣
My house was far from meeting their description, but nevertheless these individuals had their share of fun teasing me that night. My family chose to live there to honor the memory of my grandparents, who settled down there during hard times after fleeing from the North. However, this mattered little to these two people, a Korean and an American.
Maybe this is why I chose a neighborhood where I have two former presidents within two blocks, although I was never a fan of their regimes. I am no longer wrongfully scorned for living in a neighborhood that wasn¨t even my own choice or to my liking.
Still, where you live determines who you are. At least this is the message that the TV commercials for apartment complexes have conveyed for decades. Recently, however, something other than an ad for an apartment with sky-high prices and floors shared the same premise. In this instance, a popular TV drama on KBS 2, whose title can be best translated into ＾Mommy¨s Angry,￣ caught my attention.
Written by the well-received scriptwriter Kim Su-hyeon, this drama takes a comical yet meaningful look into what a family means to different generations.
One of the daughters in the family tries to tie the knot with the son of an amazingly rich family. But then the prospective mother-in-law asks one simple question: ＾So, where does she live?￣
The less-privileged family in the drama lives in the Gireum neighborhood in northern Seoul, and the rich mother does not even bother to know which district it is. If I were a Gireum neighborhood native, I would have felt hurt, although I am very well aware of the superficial nature of the dramas penned by Kim.
A well-established and frequently sought-after middle-aged writer for TV dramas, Kim is talented in provoking people¨s emotions. She is quite a sellable writer, and her sales strategy is to bug people.
I am not saying that what she writes is evil, though. I still admit that she knows how to make words sound original yet comprehensible, which can be quite a demanding task for a TV drama writer.
Still, Kim¨s use of the Gireum neighborhood factor in the recent episode of her new drama was provocative enough for me to mull over one of the reasons why I left the home sweet home of my former neighborhood.
I had many good reasons to move out, but I still cannot be 100 percent happy. Did I really run away from the past just because those two little acquaintances laughed at me?
True, life is often unfair from birth onward. But is there any good reason why I should be reminded of the unfairness of life while mindlessly tuning into a TV drama?
I guess I won¨t be tuning into Mommy¨s Angry again. The cast and the crew of the drama are fine, but it works as a vulgar reminder of the superficial nature of human society.
But I can¨t shake the feeling of sudden nostalgia for those days when I lived happily with my parents and sister under the same roof, listening to Frank Sinatra.
I think that those days brought a happiness that life in the posh Cheongdam-dong district might never brings about.

(IMG:http://joongangdaily.joins.com/_data/photo/2008/02/26220441.jpg)
[sujiney@joongang.co.kr]

[mistyred]

[MOVIE REVIEW] Film showcases Ahn Sung-ki's superb acting

(IMG:http://devnewsimg.mydaily.co.kr/2008/02/27/200802271152271118_1.jpg)

In a frighteningly complex web of movie scenarios, a straightforward plot often works better, especially when the cast is wisely chosen and actors perform to their full potential.

And no Korean film actor is more capable than Ahn Sung-ki, who debuted, as a child, 50 years ago, and is still doing superb work. Ahn is one of the icons of Korean cinema, and his skills honed over the decades, and reflected in his gracefully shaped wrinkles, shine in "My New Partner."

The movie, directed by Kim Jong-hyeon, involves two cops -- old and new -- and Ahn plays the experienced one who knows how to strike a compromise with the mundane world. This set-up inevitably reminds viewers of Ahn's role in "Two Cops," a 1993 comedy in which he played a slightly corrupt yet likable cop in conflict with his new partner, a young and justice-obsessed newbie.

"My New Partner" follows a similar track. Ahn's Kang Min-ho got entangled in a corruption scandal and was demoted. In the process, he also deeply disappoints his only son, Young-jun (played by Cho Han-sun), who later enrolls at a prestigious police academy, and denies he has ever had a real father. After an eight-year hiatus, Min-ho, now the head of an insignificant police unit stationed in the southeastern port city of Busan, reunites with his now grown-up son, fresh from the academy and never willing to recognize his father. The duo, however, have to work as a team to track down a drug ring whose connections seem to be linked with higher-ups in the police.

The movie never loosens its pace, starting with a fine (and deadly precarious) rollercoaster sequence, and running through a series of fighting scenes that reflect Cho's dedicated performance as a budding action star.

Ahn does not run, kick and jump much, but he makes his talent clear through his natural delivery of lines, and evokes a real father figure dealing with a troubled past and the painful challenge of trying to win back the heart of his son.

The movie does not limit the father-son theme to Ahn and Cho. In fact, a parallel dynamic is depicted at the opposite end of the good-and-evil spectrum, where the meaning of son is delicately twisted, thanks to a sex-change operation.

The basic format -- two cops who have to work together, despite their resentment, to chase after bad guys -- is not new, but director Kim's fast-paced presentation and the solid performances of Ahn and Cho are fresh enough to generate an impact on audiences.

Those who have seen "Two Cops" and its sequels over the years are bound to enjoy comparing Ahn's current and past characters, since there are similarities and differences. The similarities are obvious. Ahn's Min-ho is well-versed in the tricks of the trade, yet he knows where to stop and take care of justice. What's interesting is the subtlety of the differences. Unlike his previous cop role, Ahn seems more at ease with himself, supporting not only the storyline but also other characters.

Cho's character feels that Min-ho, flaunting gaudy shirts and wavy hair, is neither an affectionate father nor a reliable detective; however, the son comes to realize that he has been assigned to a really fine partner.

By Yang Sung-jin

(insight@heraldm.com)
2008.02.27

[rosiebaba]

`Last Scandal': A New Drama of Strong Spirited Ajumma



Jeoung Jun-ho, left and Choi Jin-sil will star in “The Last Scandal”

By Han Sang-hee
Staff Reporter

Dramas have always been the center of attention among Koreans with their cheerful characters played by young, hip and stylish celebrities. This year, the fever will go on, but this time it will be led by none other than ``ajumma.''

``Ajumma'' is a Korean term that refers to middle-aged women who are married and usually represented as strong, fearless and dependable.

Two television networks have already aired dramas depicting the lives of these women: MBC's ``A Beauty's Unmatched, Park Jeong -geum,'' and SBS's ``First Wives Club.''

Now, Korean fans will welcome another drama full of romance, humor and humanity, all conjoined into the life of a normal, but courageous ``ajumma.''

Choi Jin-sil and Jeoung Jun-ho, from ``Marrying the Mafia'' (2002), have teamed up with director Lee Tae-gon for the new drama, ``The Last Scandal'' (working title) a Cinderella story of a 39-year-old ``ajumma.''

At the press conference, Korea's famed actress Choi Jin-sil, from ``Rosy Life'' (2005), explained why she chose to portray this particular character.

``As an actress, it may be natural to want a role that is glamorous and pretty, but I'm more comfortable with acting as an ordinary person. Reality is an important factor in dramas, and so I wanted to portray the life of a real person,'' she said.

Hong Seon-hee, played by Choi, lived with her husband, 13-year-old daughter and her parents-in-laws. One day, her husband disappears and it is up to Hong to take care of the household.

While she struggles to make a living, she meets Song Jae-bin, played by handsome movie star Jeoung. Hong and Song were once high school sweethearts but now lead drastically different lives. Hong is a stubborn ``ajumma,'' while Song has become a popular celebrity. The two coincidently meet, and their feelings for each other start to blossom, as if they were in high school again.

Jeong seemed excited about the drama as it is his first television drama appearance in two years.

``I feel awkward because it has been a long time since I starred in a drama, and especially because Song is an arrogant character,'' he said.

Lee, the director, defined ``Scandal'' as a ``trendy housewife drama.''

``The drama is about `ajumma' who feel helpless or even hopeless when it comes to romance. I wanted to portray the romance of people who believe their good days are over,'' Lee said.

Distinctive actor Jung Woong-in from the movie ``My Boss, My Hero'' (2002) and model-turned-actress Byeon Jung-su will also perform as prominent characters. Jung will play Jeong's brother and the CEO of his agency, while Byeon will play Jeong's former lover.

When asked about what she thought about Korean ``ajumma,'' Choi smiled.

`I am an `ajumma' myself. I think Korean `ajumma' are fearless. They are not afraid of anything, and this is what I will be portraying. Although Song goes through emotional downfalls, she doesn't give up. I think it is courage that defines `ajumma','' Choi said.

The drama will air for the first time at 9:40 p.m., Saturday, March 8 on MBC.

sanghee@koreatimes.co.kr


(IMG:http://koreatimes.co.kr/upload/news/080204_p14_last.jpg)

[rosiebaba]

[TV review]Neighbors in a pinch over who sits where

(IMG:http://joongangdaily.joins.com/_data/photo/2008/03/04232126.jpg) March 05, 2008

＾Fantastic Neighbor at School￣ brings back memories of teenage days. [MBC-TV]
Who will be sitting next to me tomorrow at school?
This was a question that bugged me at school until I was in my teens.
My school was typically Korean in terms of the seating arrangement: Two students sat shoulder to shoulder behind one cramped wooden desk.
Naturally, it was essential to get a good neighbor.
But deciding on a deskmate at my first school was no easy task. My teacher at that time favored a strange policy that allowed male students to pick their favorite female students.
The teacher ！ who was female, by the way ！ asked the boys to line up at the back of the classroom. She then called the names of the boys in turn and they would choose the girl they wanted the most.
This was not one of the most pleasant memories of my youth. I am at least relieved to hear from my teacher friends that this tradition is dying out.
But I still feel sorry for the boy who sat next to me. I used to pinch him so hard he would burst into tears. It was my way of expressing my disgust that my dream choice had opted for another girl.
Yes, I know making that boy cry was childish and he suffered needlessly. Yes, I bullied him and yes, it was a kind of revenge. But a girl has feelings, too.
Anyhow, meeting the neighbor of your dreams still seems to be a matter of great interest to Korean TV addicts.
＾Fantastic Neighbor at School,￣ which airs on MBC-TV at 9:30 a.m. on Sundays, invites teenagers to choose their favorite neighbors from a bunch of grown-up celebrities. They then team up for a quiz, whose prizes are too trivial to remember now ！ let¨s just say they were not impressive.
What struck me is how kids these days are so much more audacious and vocal about what and whom they want. It was very different in my day.
At the start of the show the children walk on stage and introduce themselves. A girl who said her name was ＾Smarty￣ bragged that she was pretty and intelligent, and she insisted her neighbor should be, too. Not suprisingly, she got the person she wanted: a female TV actor.
The teams played well, proving they had the collective brains to guess the right words, choose ＾yes￣ or ＾no￣ for a given sentence and do math in their heads.
One example from last Sunday was, ＾Will men drool at the sight of pretty women?￣ Many naive boys and girls said ＾yes,￣ with one girl using her 10-year-old brother as an example. In fact, the answer was a definite ＾yes,￣ as scientists have demonstrated that men really do salivate when they see attractive women.
What surprised me most was the sheer honesty of the children on the show. One of the boys last Sunday introduced himself by saying how much he loves his parents and adding that they fight every single night like boxers.
Another boy ditched the celebrity comedian Kim Guk-jin for ＾looking stupid and feeble￣ in real life.
Well, it¨s hard to be a famous comedian.
The show scores a relatively high rating of over 15 percent on average, which I have to say is pretty decent for an early Sunday morning show.
At least the program creators have come up with a novel idea that tries to incorporate a theme for children that translates into a fun TV show.
By the way, I wonder what the boy whom I wanted as my ＾fantastic neighbor￣ at school is doing now. I hope life is treating him well, although I still harbor a grudge that he made such a terrible choice all those years ago.
It really is true that it just takes one TV show to dig out good ！ or sometimes bad ！ memories from the recesses of our brains.


By Chun Su jin [sujiney@joongang.co.kr]

[rosiebaba]

Sikgaek` offers visual taste of Korean cuisine


Food has rarely played a leading role in a miniseries. But in "Sikgaek," the SBS drama slated to air on May 26, food takes center stage. And not just any kind of food. Korean cuisine gets the spotlight this time around.
Based on Hur Young-man`s bestselling comic book series of the same name, this 24-episode drama follows Korean chef Seong-chan, played by Kim Rae-won, on his travels throughout Korea. Driving a beat-up truck, Seong-chan searches for the essence of Korean food, looking for it in the remotest parts of this country.
With cuisine playing such a big role, the production team needed a food expert. And they knew exactly who to turn to.
Kim Soo-jin, president of her own food consulting group, Food and Culture Korea, handled food direction for the film version of Hur Young-man`s "Sikgaek," which hit screens nationwide as "Le Grand Chef," and topped national charts last year.
The mouthwatering dishes cooked up on the big screen served as testimony to her ability to turn Korean cuisine into a showstopper. Kim became a natural shoo-in for the position of food director for the drama.
She seized the opportunity. Little did she know what she was getting herself into.
"A drama is much more difficult than a movie," said Kim, 52, in an interview with The Korea Herald. "This drama shows more than the movie did. There is more research, more sketches, and more designs, and we also have to decide how to plate the food."
The film version provided her with a storyboard, making it easier for her to plan out each food scene. But, with this drama, she has to do everything from scratch.
"We look at the script in advance, and we need to figure out how the food will appear." But that`s just the beginning of the process.
Kim plays composer and conductor to her team of 25. She reads the script in advance, finding the scenes which involve food. After noting all food scenes, she carefully plans out each scene before prepping the ingredients with her team the night before filming.
"For example, what we are filming that day involves making food for 32 people," said Kim. "The day before, we have to prepare all of the ingredients. We need to make notes on what each actor will be cooking, from what step to what step ... And then, the day we film, we post up these notes here and there."
The day of filming starts at dawn for Kim and her team. In the wee hours of the morning, they hit the markets, picking the ingredients that need to be extra-fresh when they arrive on set.
After getting all the needed ingredients together, she oversees the cooking and plating while directing the actors, and monitoring the screen with the director on set.
"You have to teach on set," said Kim. "We take the food and say, `Kim Rae-won, you will be cooking this today, so follow through with these actions in this order and like this.` That way, the actors won`t make any mistakes, and we can all work together quickly.
"And, in order to get the food to look fresh and tasty, we must make the same dish over and over again," she added.
When the scene involves eating the food, they need to make about eight sets of the same dish for each actor.
"It`s war," she mused.
That much work requires three teams. Kim calls them teams A, B and C. Team A stays on set. Team B handles all the cooking. And Team C handles all the supplies.
Just how do all these people communicate with each other? They do it the old-fashioned way. "We use walkie-talkies," Kim said.
Hard to imagine this well-groomed, petite woman barking out orders on such a contraption, but apparently it`s all in a day`s work.
But, long before all the walkie-talkies, prepping and filming came into play, Kim was hard at work training the actors in their roles as chefs. It was no easy matter getting two highly inexperienced actors to wield a knife with expertise.
"Kim Rae-won was already quite good at basic cooking," but she couldn`t say the same for Kwon Oh-jung and Won Ki-joon, who play rival chefs in "Sikgaek."
"But, in the case of Kwon Oh-jung and Won Ki-joon, they didn`t know how to use a knife at all," explained Kim. "So, we started with learning how to julienne five daikon radishes a day. It takes about three hours to mince five large daikon radishes at first. But Kwon and Won worked really hard. They would come for three to four hours at a time, and just julienne radishes."
After learning how to mince them, all three actors learned how to cut the radishes into half moons, thin slices and perfect cubes.
"Later on, when you see them on screen chopping at radishes you will be surprised," said Kim with pride. "The radish just flies."
And radishes aren`t the only thing they know how to cook. Each actor has his own special dish.
According to the food director, Kim Rae-won makes a great cheonggukjang -- a fermented miso bean stew. Won Ki-joon whips up a beautiful pomegranate-shaped dumpling soup, while Kwon Oh-jung cooks a solid shinsollo -- a complicated Joseon-era dish.
In fact, they have gotten so good at cooking over those six weeks of intensive training that, according to Kim, "the director says that we should hold a cooking competition for them later on."
To get a visual taste of their dishes and those of food director Kim and her team, just wait til May 26 when the first episode airs on SBS.
By Jean Oh
(oh_jean@heraldm.com)


2008.03.13

http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/NEWKHSITE/dat...00803130005.asp

[rosiebaba]

Yoo Ji-tae juggles up two jobs as actor and filmmaker


Outside of Korea, Yoo Ji-tae is primarily known as a key actor in Park Chan-wook`s award-winning flick "Oldboy." In the movie, Yoo`s character shows off an extremely calm posturing; however, deep inside his heart is burning with an incontrollable emotion of revenge.
Back to the reality, Yoo does not want to limit his scope to the domain of acting. Although he`s a much sought-after actor, he is not secretive about his burgeoning ambition as a filmmaker. Previously, he made two short films, which have not made it to the theaters.
This time, finally, Yoo`s third short film, titled "Out of My Intention (Nado moreugae)," has achieved something bigger and more commercial. The 24-minute-long film will be screened from March 20 at Sponghouse in Gwanghwamun, Seoul. The screening period is limited to just a week given the film`s brief running time and arthouse nature; nonetheless, the release clearly marks Yoo`s formal debut as a director.
"Out of My Intention" starts off with a middle-aged man (played by Lee Dae-yon) seen driving a car in downtown Seoul. The overall tone appears gloomy, with the sky downcast and the outside view, intermittently glimpsed through the window, fuzzy and blurry.
The camera switches between the man`s sullen face and a pretty girl (Jo An), about 20 years younger than he is. Their dialogue is barely recognizable in terms of content, but the mood suggests that they are in a sort of verbal fight. She wants to clear up the wrangling but he does not give in to her repeated request for clarification.
The movie does not make it super-secret about the mixture of present and past since the couple talks to each other constantly but the camera never shows them in the same screen. They are separated, obviously by the means of time, and the continued blocking between the two evokes curiosity among the audience.
Director Yoo is not so generous about detailed explanations about what really happened. Perhaps he does not need to do so. After all, a short film lasting less than 30 minutes is hamstrung in the first place, and redundant details are by no means welcome.
An emotional tug of war between the two is also juxtaposed with the fantasy shots where the female character is dressed up as a cutie doll in a land where dreams go uninhibited.
For Yoo, short films` greater tolerance for ambiguity and brevity is appealing. "If I had made the film into a full feature, I would have had to give all of the sundry reasons and episodes about their initial relationships," he said.
Yoo told the local media that for artistic diversity the Korean cinema should pay more attention to short films in a way that offers alternative choices for moviegoers at a time when only the mainstream commercial flicks manage to survive.
Yoo`s new film is set to join the competition section of the Kyoto Short Film Festival in June this year, a development that is not so negative for a part-time filmmaker, for he remains a professional actor: starting from next Monday, he will join the shooting for "Sunjeong Manhwa," a romantic film directed by Ryu Jang-ha.
By Yang Sung-jin
(insight@heraldm.com)


2008.03.13

[rosiebaba]

[Movie Review]`Fate` a tale of two gangsters


"Fate (Sukmyeong)" packs plenty of heart-pumping action sequences on the strength of high-profile Korean Wave stars but its heavy reliance on stylized images without offering background details stops short of expectations. In the movie, we see the downfall of a handsome and kind-hearted gangster Woo-min (Song Seung-heon) who attempts to hit it big by attacking a casino along with his close friends including Cheol-jung (Kwon Sang-woo).
Somehow, they manage to escape with bags of cash, but it turns out that Cheol-jung, a short-tempered, foul-mouthed money-will-solve-everything villain, has sold them out for a reward in a secret contract that he hopes will land him a comfortable life.
After all, Cheol-jung`s unwavering belief about life is that money talks the loudest and nothing else, even lifetime friendship, counts.
Playing a scapegoat, Woo-min serves a two-year prison term, showcasing his willingness to sacrifice for his friends. Once out of prison, however, he realizes that something is amiss.
His closet buddy Do-wan (Kim In-kwon) has become a drug addict, his girlfriend is stuck in a shady trap, and his friend-turned-enemy Cheol-jung is cruising at high speed as a ringleader who commands numerous thugs and juggles up cash to get a construction project done. (In Korean cinema, gangsters are often depicted to have been involved with construction projects in addition to their time-honored sources of cash such as adult clubs, bars and prostitution.)
Woo-min and Cheol-jung stand at the opposite end of the emotional spectrum. Woo-main remains calm throughout the film, rarely revealing his real emotions.
In contrast, Cheol-jung keeps talking and shouting, almost a broken radio whose sound is almost always four-letter words.
Like many Korean gangster flicks, "Fate" zooms in on the action scenes where main characters led by Woo-min square off against countless and nameless thugs brandishing iron sticks and Japanese knives.
Amid a series of fighting scenes, director Kim Hae-gon intermittently sheds some hints about the past relationships involving Woo-min, Cheol-jung and Do-wan.
But their shared past remains largely sealed, and it`s up to the audience to keep their imagination wheeling as to how they bonded with each other in the first place.
Until the final big-stakes drug deal gets started, the camera lingers around Woo-min and Cheol-jung at a pace that may test the patience of even the good-hearted audiences.
Even if such takes are designed to highlight the personal charms of Song Seung-heon, who makes a high-profile comeback after his military service, and a transformative image of Kwon Sang-woo, who takes up a baddie`s role for the first time in his career, the running time devoted to capturing their cool images seems overdone.
"Fate" has been made with a careful consideration for the strengths of two main characters. But the portraits of Woo-min and Cheol-jung never go beyond admiration of their contrasting styles and panache for violence, and one comes away with such sour questions as "Why are Korean filmmakers so obsessed with a gangster genre for depicting friendship?"
Despite the longer-than-necessary running time of 123 minutes, Song Seung-heon seems at ease with himself, showcasing his "telling eyes" that express various emotions with subtlety and maturity.
But true show-stealing gigs come from Kwon Sang-woo who seems in perfect sync with his own character. All the low-life slang spitting out from Cheol-jung sound natural and even ironically insightful.
Kwon, from now on, should consider taking the role of a hot-tempered villain because, at least in "Fate," he seems more realistic and believable than ever.
"Fate," shot in Busan and on Jeju Island, is an MKDK Pictures production and will be released nationwide on March 20.
By Yang Sung-jin
(insight@heraldm.com)


2008.03.19

[rosiebaba]

[TV review]TV histories shed insight on politics today
March 19, 2008

＾Sejong the Great￣ remains relevant to today¨s society. [KBS-TV]
Kim Gu-il is a taxi driver with a 20-year career driving around the city. His four wheels bring home the bacon, send his three kids to school and make him an expert on Korean politics. He keeps abreast of current affairs by listening to the radio all day. I met him when I took his taxi to Itaewon one recent Friday evening, and I found myself impressed by Kim¨s knowledge of politics.
The traffic was heavy so we had time to chat, which made the delay bearable, although a little pricey.
His thoughts about the presidency were especially inspiring. ＾You know, people blame former President Roh [Moo-hyun] for ruining the economy, but look at all the cars filling the streets. There is a mean side in people all joining voices to blame one person.￣
Kim stressed he is not a Roh supporter, and went on to share his concerns about the incumbent president.
Admittedly, his discourse was not as sophisticated as Socrates, but he was convincing.
Wrapping up his mini-lecture, Kim said, ＾I don¨t understand why people want to take power. Look at the kings in the history dramas on TV. They all meet tragic endings after grabbing hold of power.￣
I later took time to tune into the two most popular historical dramas on the box today ！ ＾Sejong the Great￣ on KBS-TV on weekends at 9:40 p.m. and ＾Lee San￣ on MBC-TV on Mondays and Tuesdays at 10 p.m.
History is the darling genre of Korean TV series. The kingdoms past are steeped in conspiracy, betrayal and love triangles.
In recent months, the genre has found new appeal among viewers by making history relevant to today.
The TV networks and producers have been focusing on reform-minded kings during the recent political season, which has included a presidential race for the Blue House and the debates over the upcoming elections for the National Assembly.
Lee San is about King Jeongjo of the mid-Joseon Dynasty, who is remembered for failed reforms aimed at creating a fairer society.
Last week¨s episode featured the king appointing his political enemies to his cabinet.
＾My ideal is to seek harmony in government, where we can debate policy pros and cons in an open way,￣ said the king. This storyline brings to mind President Lee Myung-bak¨s cabinet, which has been urging appointees from the former administration to resign.
The title character in Sejong the Great is just a newborn baby in this drama, yet to be crowned. Sejong is perhaps the most respected king in Korean history. He created the Korean alphabet, Hangul, and appointed commoners to high positions in his government, to the chagrin of his higher-born advisers.
No wonder Sejong has been a favorite subject of past historical dramas. In this show, we get an up-close-and-personal profile and see the king as an individual, not just as royalty.
Sejong¨s elder brother is still the crown prince. He later gives up the chance to ascend the throne. In last Sunday¨s episode, the crown prince lamented, ＾Everybody covets the throne. But in reality, people do not know that this palace is just a prison that squeezes you out.￣
Perhaps Kim the taxi driver and I agree more with the crown prince. A friend of mine, who recently quit his job as a TV anchor for a seat in the National Assembly, would probably disagree.
For my part, I enjoy freedom of speech over the bittersweet taste of holding the reins of power.
Next time you get in a cab and the radio is tuned into a current affairs broadcast, check the driver¨s name. Kim makes for a congenial host. He cruises the streets of Seoul throughout the day.


[sujiney@joongang.co.kr]
(IMG:http://joongangdaily.joins.com/_data/photo/2008/03/18231230.jpg)

[rosiebaba]

[MOVIE REVIEW] `The Air I Breathe` goes a twist too far


Director Lee Jie-ho said he got his inspiration for the characters in his debut feature "The Air I Breathe," to be released April 9, while working as a music video maker in Korea.
The original Korean characters Lee dreamed up, however, are almost gone. Only traces of them are left, as high-profile American castings have taken up the roles in this allegorical thriller set in an unnamed American city. Also twisted is the Chinese proverb about four human emotions: happiness, anger, love and pleasure. For the movie, Lee replaces anger with sorrow.

The question is whether Lee`s decision to change the shooting locations, hire top-notch Hollywood actors and tweak the theme has been on target in this unpredictable world -- a tricky topic that, ironically, the movie`s crisscrossed plot deals with in connection with human limitations against fickle and interlocking fates.

The movie has four main segments, subtitled "Happiness," "Pleasure," "Sorrow, and "Love," and each vignette features a key character along with a subplot. All the subplots, of course, come into play, either pushing or pulling each other at one point or another throughout the film.


In "Happiness," we see a hapless stockbroker (Forest Whitaker), who yearns for change in his bored, lonely life, a la the transformation of caterpillar into butterfly. His chance comes when he overhears his colleagues colluding in a rigged horse race -- with the supposedly fixed bet being on a horse named Butterfly. But this timid stockbroker faces an extremely uncertain future as his bet leads to a scary encounter with the mastermind of the scheme, Fingers (Andy Garcia).

In "Pleasure," Fingers` hit man (Brendan Fraser) takes center stage. Fraser`s soft-spoken yet tough character struggles with a mysterious ability to see the future -- but only in disconnected flashes.

His assignment is to guide the boss`s foul-mouthed nephew around in the city, showing him the ropes. Things begin to go awry when the hit man`s futuristic vision takes an unexpected course.

In "Sorrow," Trista (Sarah Michelle Gellar) also confronts something she never expects: a forceful contract with Fingers. It turns out that her manager has sold her to the gangster to settle a debt, and she is penniless. Worse still, has to serve the merciless thug, who is keen to expand beyond his money lending business into the glitzy world of showbiz. Again, the wheel of fortune turns. Tension rises and the plot builds.

"Love," the final episode, features a seemingly unrelated character: a doctor (Kevin Bacon) who desperately tries to save his beloved (Julie Deply) after she is bitten by a poisonous snake. The doctor, spotting Trista on television talking about her rare blood, rushes to get the blood for the poison victim; in the process, all the preceding subplots are woven together, underscoring the connectedness of characters and their fates.

Aside from the movie`s peculiar circular structure that often stretches too far, many of the characters are not fully developed, especially considering the high-caliber cast. The most convincing one, though, is Fraser`s cold-blooded gangster. Garcia`s Fingers, whether he wants it or not, puts a spin on all the subplots in the four vignettes. Sadly, his character never veers from the obvious.

Although the movie`s production is complete and already set to be released in Korea, the question remains: How different would the film have been if director Lee had set the movie in Korea, featuring local actors and incorporating more Korean elements?

By Yang Sung-jin

(insight@heraldm.com)



2008.04.02



(IMG:http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/NEWKHSITE/data/img_dir/2008/04/01/200804010021.jpg)

[rosiebaba]

[TV Review]Can¨t stand your boss? You¨re not alone
April 02, 2008

Ms. Young-ae, painkiller TV character for Korean office workers. [tvN]
The biggest issue for me now is neither the April 9 election for National Assembly nor the power struggle in the Grand National Party.
Sorry, politicians, but your immature mudslinging for a seat in government is just not my scene right now. Instead, I care about global warming (because I don¨t want pretty boys to be an endangered species) and I think a lot about inter-Korean relations (because my grandparents talked about the land that they left behind when they fled the North during the Korean War).
I am worried about global warming and inter-Korean relations. But let me be clear: What I heartily, truly care most about these days is how to age with grace.
I mean, I don¨t want to be Ms. H who repeats every single day, ＾If it were not for money, I would quit right away!￣ It¨s also most dreadful to be like Mr. K whose daily routine is to grumble about everything he sees. Don¨t even get me started about Mr. N who thinks he is the smartest guy in the world and poor only because he¨s unlucky.
I have only a few years left till I am their age, and I am sensing that there is a chance I might become a greasy old lady who has nothing to offer but complaints about life. I want to remain happy and gracious, but I am learning every minute that it would be a formidable project, after all.
I mean, it¨s inhumanly difficult to stay calm amid the hassles of the world, when you have people who think they are smarter only because they are older. I am sure that I am making their lives more miserable because I am such a massive headache.
Life is still livable because I and they have loved ones who have the patience to hear out our complaints.
However, there is a limit to showering loved ones with my share of unhappiness, according to a hard-earned lesson from the past from my patient, kind and loving boyfriend. I must have done something good to have him on my side, but I am also aware he is not a saint with an endless supply of patience.
So I decided to just shut up and tune into a cable TV show, whose title can be best translated as ＾Ms. Young-ae, the Queen of Rude and Rough.￣
Airing Fridays at 11 p.m. on tvN, on cable, the drama is about this 30-something girl-next-door type close to the following definitions: unattractive, driven to drink, lonely and poor.
The drama follows her story at work in documentary format, and the main focus is how rude her bosses and colleagues are to her. Her boss is 50-something with receding hair and dying to have an extramarital affair. He calls her by an insulting nickname that is not fit to print in this paper.
Her colleagues are mostly mean and nasty, but what Young-ae can do is just cowardly revenge, such as putting dust in her boss¨s coffee. So the show¨s title betrays her character.
For a minor cable TV drama, this series became a hit and it¨s now in its third season. Fans of the show say that they unwind watching the show since they can relate to Young-ae¨s predicament.
So it¨s like a painkiller for office workers in this country. It¨s sad that people have to free their minds by reminding them what they hate, but what can we do? We are just wage-slaves worried about our credit card bills.
I realized I devoted only three paragraphs to TV this week. I apologize. But I must have done something bad in my former life to meet Ms. H, Mr. L and Mr. N in my current life. I guess they are also tuning into the same Ms. Young-ae show to free themselves of stress. Just like me.

[sujiney@joongang.co.kr]
(IMG:http://joongangdaily.joins.com/_data/photo/2008/04/01214913.jpg)

[rosiebaba]

[DVD review]｀My Father¨ shows blood doesn¨t matter
(IMG:http://joongangdaily.joins.com/_data/photo/2008/04/03232902.jpg) 　　　　　April 04, 2008


Hwang Nam-cheol (Kim Yeong-cheol), left, is on death row when his son James (Daniel Henney) finds him. [Lotte Entertainment]
Love for one¨s family does not always run through bloodlines.
＾My Father￣ presents a warm story that shows us that even those who aren¨t related by blood can have still waters that run deep.
The main plot may seem cliche: An adopted Korean-American soldier James (Daniel Henney) comes back to Korea, looking for his birth father, Hwang Nam-cheol (Kim Yeong-cheol), who is in jail under a death sentence. If Nam-cheol had turned out to be falsely charged, that would have left the audience in tears, with no lingering feeling after the film.
My Father, however, succeeds in escaping this obvious melodramatic pattern with a twist in the story.
At first the film seems to idealize the criminal past of Nam-cheol as he tells old war stories about his former bands and romancing James¨s mother Eun-joo, while revealing nothing about his murders. Those stories make the audience believe that Nam-cheol is a nice guy; it is more than enough for James to fall in love with his nice, oh-so-cool father.
And yet, My Father reveals a sad reality when James finds out that his father actually used to be a cigarette delivery boy among murderous hookers, one of whom was his mother. Most shockingly, James realizes he and his ＾father￣ are not genetically related.
James faces the choice of returning to the States and trying to forget that Nam-cheol ever existed.
In the end, James leaves, but before he departs Korea, he fills out a form to be adopted by Nam-cheol. The criminal manages to grow on the young soldier.
The film¨s title reflects the pure affection that a son can feel toward his father and the longing for family that has long resided in James¨s heart. The two men are already family because of the love between them. A technicality like blood doesn¨t matter anymore.

Directed by Hwang Dong-hyeok
Starring: Daniel Henney
Running Time: 107 min.
Subtitles: English
Genre: Drama


By Susan Yoon Contributing Writer [estyle@joongang.co.kr]

[rosiebaba]

Mystery, massacre mark this movie
April 09, 2008

Kong Soo-chang. [Movie Week]
Get yourself ready for a two-hour thriller that takes place among the guard posts on the southern side of the demilitarized zone.
Director Kong Soo-chang is back with his second feature ＾The Guard Post.￣
Kong¨s film — released last Thursday — focuses on a mysterious massacre that occurs in the DMZ one rainy day. Twenty armed soldiers at a guard post have been mysteriously killed. One is left alive, but unconscious.

A scene from ＾The Guard Post,￣ director Kong Soo-chang¨s latest thriller, released last Thursday. [JoongAng Ilbo]
The Defense Ministry dispatches an investigation team. Sergeant Major Noh Seong-gyu (Cheon Ho-jin) is given 24 hours to find the body of Yu Jeong-woo (Cho Hyun-jae), who was in command of the guard post.
Kong¨s previous feature, ＾R-Point,￣ also takes place in a military setting. It¨s about a Korean unit dispatched to the Vietnam War that receives a strange radio transmission from a group of soldiers previously thought missing in action.
＾I served in the army under Korea¨s military regime,￣ Kong said. ＾During that time, the government was in total control.￣
Kong was a Korean language and literature major who enjoyed keeping a diary while in the military service. The government constantly inspected that diary.
Kong wanted to share his observations of social irregularities in the army on the big screen.
＾Young soldiers are pushed to the limit in the army,￣ Kong said. ＾These are stories that go behind the extremes.￣
Kong wanted the film to look as real as possible.
＾That¨s why no female characters were cast — there are no women at the guard posts,￣ Kong said.
The film¨s studio set was created to look as realistic as possible.
Since the guard post is an isolated area, the film crew couldn¨t even visit the zone for the film.
But Kong had once visited the post while serving in the military. His assistant director and several members of the film crew had also served in the military at guard posts. To supplement their memories, Kong arranged an interview with a former guard post sergeant and collected information from photos.
＾Above all, the scenes had to look real, but I also wanted them to be grotesque and artistic,￣ Kong said.
Though the film is a mystery thriller the focus isn¨t on finding the killer.
Before rehearsals at the studio, the actors fell in two rows, just as in the military.
True to the strict, regimented nature of the military, the film focuses instead on how people respond to life¨s limits.
＾When writing the screenplay, I wanted Cho [the actor] to be like French actor Alain Delon¨s character from ｀Purple Noon,¨￣ Kong said, referring to the 1960 film.
In Purple Noon, which was remade as the 1999 American film ＾The Talented Mr. Ripley,￣ Delon¨s character Tom Ripley kills his friend, suffers intense mental delusions and begins to take on the dead friend¨s persona.
Cho had to similarly delude himself.
Apart from characters and studio setting, Kong was aware of the historic significance of the guard post, which symbolizes the tragic division of South and North Korea.
Kong noted a cut scene from The Guard Post that talked about ＾a rabbit in a submarine.￣
＾In the past, people put a rabbit inside a submarine to check how dense the air was,￣ Kong said.
Rabbits are more sensitive to oxygen than people. Thus if the rabbit died, it meant there wasn¨t enough oxygen in the submarine.
Kong explained that the submarine symbolizes the country, and the guard post, a rabbit. In a way, a rabbit in a submarine is like society, according to Kong.
＾It could be a logical leap but I wanted to bring out how the guard post is isolated today.￣
For Korean youngsters, Kong says, the army is like the guard post.
＾It [serving in the army] is a bitter experience. It places a wall between members of society.￣
So what¨s next on his to-do list?
Kong says he¨s involved in a story about the secret service in Southeast Asia.
＾There¨s no special reason — it [the secret service] has always been a subject I dreamt to depict,￣ he said.


[angie@joongang.co.kr]
(IMG:http://joongangdaily.joins.com/_data/photo/2008/04/09063531.jpg) (IMG:http://joongangdaily.joins.com/_data/photo/2008/04/09063416.jpg)

[rosiebaba]

[TV review]Charming ruins the dreams of de Beauvoir
April 16, 2008

＾The Last Scandal of My Life,￣ a modern-day twist on Cinderella. [MBC-TV]
＾I have a dream,￣ declared one acquaintance at a recent lunch.
Expecting to hear something equal to Martin Luther King Jr.¨s epoch-making speech, I took time to enjoy her facial expression, which reminded the listeners of the African-American minister.
＾It is to fax my letter of resignation to work after walking down the aisle with Prince Charming,￣ she said.
Wait. What kind of a dream is that to declare in public?
She¨s joking, right?
But she went on, words that trampled all over anything that Simone de Beauvoir and Gloria Steinem ever wrote or stood for.
To be honest, it was even more frustrating because she earns a much better salary than me.
I even lost my appetite for dessert and coffee, which rarely happens.
She started to complain how her company is taking her for granted, but I ceased listening for the sake of my mental health.
Unlike her, I don¨t have the money to find a shrink.
To calm my mind and body, I decided to think that she is just another outdated Cinderella hopeful.
Come to think of it, these kind of modern-day Cinderella wannabes are not an endangered species.
On the contrary, they are evolving steadily and have been spotted in the recent TV drama hit, ＾The Last Scandal of My Life￣ on MBC-TV.
Airing every weekend at 10 p.m., this TV series presents a 39-year-old, divorced Cinderella called Seon-hee played by once-upon-a-time-hot-celebrity, Choi Jin-sil, who is a naïve housewife.
Her life is dominated by her incompetent husband who always fools around, her mother-in-law who nags her and her teenage daughter who is infatuated with a movie star.
She doesn¨t care about herself: She wears her hair in a poodle perm and sports thick glasses.
Then, her husband runs off, leaving debt she cannot handle.
She gets work as a maid at the home of her childhood friend, Jae-min (Jeong Jun-ho).
Jae-min used to have a crush on Seon-hee years ago, but that¨s not the case now. He ignores and teases her, but somehow (yes, as the story goes), he develops feelings for her again.
Then, (yes, again, as the story goes), he faces a rival in his love — his own brother, who is gentle, rich and kind.
So this is a love triangle that warped decades ago. Still, it is a selling strategy, as proven in the relatively high audience ratings.
Even I am watching this, if only to criticize.
Although I pray that this drama is the last of its kind, I have to face my own secret wish that Seon-hee eventually gets the happy life with any Prince Charming that she thinks befits her.
Life is hard and the world is rough out there.
Maybe we all need a little comfort, at least at home with our remote controls.
Another reason that this drama is popular is the starring actress, Choi, who came back to TV screen after a failed marriage to a baseball player.
It has somehow become a trend for actresses like Choi to return to the limelight in shows that depict housewives getting back on their feet after a marriage that hits the rocks.
They tend to meet their Prince Charmings, too.
Going back to my Cinderella wannabe acquaintance, I send her my best wishes. After all, we all have different dreams. For Martin Luther King Jr., it was justice for African-Americans, and for my acquaintance, comfort.
Perhaps she is smarter than me, because Simone de Beauvoir, no matter how often I read her books or how much her work affects me, cannot get me a better salary.


[sujiney@joongang.co.kr]
(IMG:http://joongangdaily.joins.com/_data/photo/2008/04/16001148.jpg)

[rosiebaba]

[MOVIE RIVIEW] `The Moonlight of Seoul` portrays twisted role of men at a host bar


Director Yoon Jong-bin created a favorable buzz in 2006 when he unveiled his thought-provoking debut feature "The Unforgiven," highlighting the hidden talent of actor Ha Jung-woo. Yoon`s casting choice turned out to be prescient. Ha is now the most sought-after film star following the runaway success of "The Chaser," a thriller that further showcases the actor`s passionate acting spirit.
But it seems questionable whether Yoon has made a right casting choice for "The Moonlight of Seoul" (Korean title: "Beastie Boys"), a drama in which Ha is recruited to play a central character for the second time with the same director.
The film, to be released on April 30, loosely reflects filmmaker Yoon`s continued interest in the painful social trap that puts a stifling screw upon the life of Korean men. Previously, Yoon brought to life the suffocating pain in his award-winning "The Unforgiven" in a way that impressed critics at film festivals. The trouble is that, unlike Yoon`s first feature, "The Moonlight of Seoul" is a commercial project which can be easily tossed out at the cutthroat box office unless it`s armed with some mainstream appeal.
Desperate, cash-strapped men who serve drinks and dance with female clients at what is called a "host bar" is not fantastic subject matter for such mass appeal, to begin with. Petty struggles, emotional tug-of-war, and a hunger for genuine love are juxtaposed with the exotic night life of male hosts, but the plot falters helplessly as if the intoxicated main characters try to remain sober after ceaseless drinking night after night.
In the film, Yoon Kye-sang plays Seung-woo, who has recently joined the peculiar nighttime business to stay afloat. His life, as far as he remembers in his dreams, was not always like this. He used to enjoy an affluent life and he knew every corner of Cheongdam-dong where he had lived with his family.
For some reason, which is not explained explicitly, his life plunged into poverty, and he is now forced to sell his handsome appearance and refined manners at the bar where dozens of similarly good-looking men await their female clients, most of whom are professional hostesses venting their frustrations with the money they have earned serving men at sleazy bars.
Ha Jung-woo`s character, Jae-hyeon, is slightly different. He is the so-called PD, or partner director, a host bar equivalent to the madam at a men`s club. Jae-hyeon is constantly testing his luck: gambling, lying and cheating on his girlfriend to squeeze out easy money. His world is steadily disintegrating; undaunted, he keeps rolling the dice to get away from an immediate crisis, only to confront another.
The host bar is portrayed as a sort of underground sex trade venue where female clients buy the attention and care of young, well-groomed host boys, but the film does not pay due focus to the shady details. Instead, Seung-woo`s encounter with Ji-won (Yoon Jin-seo), one of his clients, takes the center stage in plot, bringing to the background the real travails supposedly embedded in the host business.
The couple, after a brief honeymoon-like period, falls into the depths of mistrust and deception, a development that pummels the soft-hearted Seung-woo -- a melodramatic set-up dragging the host bar drama back to the emotionally abrasive shouting game, plus a widely expected revelation that fails to steer the plot into a meaningful direction.
Jae-hyeon comes up with lame excuses around the clock to get by in his debt-laden life, but that`s all there is to see. His life is so boringly predictable that even the last-minute twist does not generate the intended impact. Ha Jung-woo`s nuanced performance occasionally lightens up the otherwise depressingly static storyline -- but doesn`t do enough to save the movie.
By Yang Sung-jin
(insight@heraldm.com)


2008.04.21

[mistyred]

Glam affairs need dose of agony

April 18, 2008

Does a solemn vow as man and wife mean more to one person than another?

The movie Cross Scandal asks its viewers to probe the intricacies of that question about the meaning of marriage.

One-night stands, spouse swapping and seduction replete with exaggerated sexual movements: That was what I imagined when I first read the story line.

Cross Scandal, however, tries to convey more than just another love affair.

On the one hand, its main characters, Yun-a (Eom Jeong-hwa) and Min-jae (Park Yong-woo), who have been married for three years, are like best friends.

On the other hand, So-yeo (Han Chae-young) and Young-jun (Lee Dong-gun), another couple, barely talk to each another.

The two couples meet at a social gathering and the sparks fly — but in all the worst ways.
Both couples find themselves attracted to the others¡¯ spouse.

The fact that the object of their desire is someone else¡¯s partner, something just out of reach, causes their desire to grow uncontrollable.

The original Korean title for this movie is a question — are you living with someone you are in love with right now?

As the original title implies, Cross Scandal poses an important question to its audience.

Everyone from newlyweds to older couples in the later, and often deeper, stages of love might be intrigued by the question and start thinking.

Indeed, there is a certain level of vicarious pleasure in this movie that satisfies the audiences¡¯ secret fantasies about love affairs.

The use of color and light in the movie further highlights the tension of certain moments.
Yet I think that this movie is just a glamorized version of sordid adultery.

It does touch a bit on the hard times that the characters go through, but it is just too slight of a glimpse compared to the time spent on the romanticized parts of the movie.

The story wraps up with romantic scenes played by the beautiful actors, which may blur our moral beliefs.

This type of ending makes us believe that love affairs are more exciting than binding promises.

If the plot of Cross Scandal had spent more time on the dilemma of infidelity and the agony the four characters might feel after their marital wandering, the movie would have had a stronger appeal to viewers.

By Susan Yoon Contributing Writer [estyle@joongang.co.kr]

[rosiebaba]

[MOVIE REVIEW] Zooming in on the hidden side of youth


Director Ahn Seul-gi has a discerning eye for Korean youth and their wanderings. As a teacher, Ahn has observed how they struggle to figure out their roles in society where the outlook remains gloomy for many poverty-stricken students.
"My Song Is ..." (Korean title: "Na-ui norae-neun") is a small-budget film that Ahn shot and produced during a school vacation period. Though the movie`s overall scale is small, the challenges facing key characters are profoundly intense and realistic.
On a cold day, Hee-cheol (Shin Hyeon-ho) wakes up to find himself missing a crucial college entrance exam. His indifferent grandmother has apparently turned off his alarm clock. Frustrated at her carelessness, Hee-cheol vents his anger at his grandmother, but she simply shrugs it off as if nothing important has happened.
In fact, the grandmother`s gesture is telling in many respects. Hee-cheol lives with his aloof grandmother at a shabby house in an obscure area of Seoul. His father, a foul-mouthed drunkard, sometimes comes home, but he`s never of any help in terms of money and emotional support.
With the hope of entering a college completely gone, Hee-cheol works as a delivery boy for a small eatery shop -- a situation that he vaguely senses offers few fresh changes or improvement.
A change in momentum comes when Hee-cheol encounters two college students that are his age, working on a film production project. Yeon-ju (Min Se-yeon), a manipulative female college student and self-styled film director, recruits Hee-cheol as an actor. But his role does not require spectacular talents. After all, what Yeon-ju wants from Hee-cheol is merely the mundane image of him as an obscure delivery boy on a bike.
What`s interesting is Hee-cheol`s emotional change -- and a slight hint of mental growth. At first, Hee-cheol finds the part-time job as a fun activity. But he finds himself comparing his own life with those of relatively well-to-do students. In the eyes of Hee-cheol, the college students equipped with expensive video cameras are living in a different world: schools, identity, money and homes. In contrast, Hee-cheol is not a student, his identity is murky at best. He`s also penniless for the most part, and he hates coming back to his home where there is no comfort at all.
Director Ahn puts a spin on the dreadful reality of Korean youth by shooting the picture in mostly black and white. All the images related to the real-life situations in the movie are black and white, while the full colors are used only for the video images where Hee-cheol plays a central character for the college student project. Symbolism abounds when the two contrasting worlds -- the dark reality in black and white, and the fictional world in full colors -- are intertwined in a way that accentuates the travails of Hee-cheol and the wandering youth generation he represents.
As in Ahn`s previous film project, "My Song Is ..." has been produced at his own costs, and even staff members have pitched in for the movie to hit a couple of screens. IndieSpace and select theaters in Seoul will show director Ahn`s second feature film from April 25.
By Yang Sung-jin
(insight@heraldm.com)


2008.04.22

[mistyred]

[TV Review] Too much reality induces space sickness

(IMG:http://joongangdaily.joins.com/_data/photo/2008/04/23001537.jpg)

Working in a newsroom with television news always on, a time like last week was no picnic, with repeated scenes showing how the first Korean in space brushes her teeth and eats her kimchi.
After listening to the steady stream of anchors on SBS-TV which partly paid for the astronomically expensive trip — proudly explaining every detail, I turned from admirer to skeptic.

"What's the big fuss about a package tour into space", I said, to the disapproval of my friends.
They were heartily excited about this astro-adventure.

Anyhow, it's great to hear that Yi So-yeon is safely back on terra firma.

Now she can brush her teeth like me and evacuate her bowels with two feet planted on ground.

So I am finally free of all that astronaut ado, that lasted 10 days and cost 26 billion won ($26 million). Congratulations to both of us.

I decided to celebrate my freedom over the weekend with some old-fashioned channel surfing, without fear of stumbling upon another "This is how I eat my kimchi" discourse.

Instead, I ran into a seemingly real reality show that shows how the celebrity Lee Hyo-lee spends her 24 hours on the show "Off the Record, Hyo-lee", which airs Saturdays at 10 p.m. with regular reruns on MNet, the music cable channel.

There I faced scenes showing how this celebrity eats her cornflakes without milk and gets her face massaged.

Lee, a singer better known for her voluptuous body, is one of the brightest stars in the Korean entertainment scene.

If you need further information about Lee, you must be a newcomer to this country. She has cultivated a mysterious persona in the media while raking in cash from commercials.

Lee started to regard herself as an enemy of the mass media and came up with this opportunity to speak for herself in the show Off the Record.

The premise is that viewers are finally getting a peep into the reality of this celebrity's life.
There are hidden cameras in every nook and cranny of Lee's apartment, and the producers even get into her bedroom in the morning when Lee is still half-asleep sans makeup.

This voyeurism comes in a package called a reality show. However, real is not real in this program. Lee is constructing what should be real in her life and showing only what she wants her viewers to see.
The directors of the show are 100 percent on Lee's side, as they appreciate the chance to be the exclusive interviewer of this mega-celebrity.

In recent episodes, which I frankly enjoyed for my own voyeurism, Lee took the film crew to a physical check-up session after a fender bender. Then she started to cleverly make the most of the camera, as she chatted with her physician, who was visibly excited to be with her, and tried to obliterate rumors that she had undergone breast-enhancement surgery to make her cup size more full.

"You cannot do this, if you had surgery, right. Right?" she repeatedly cried out, while getting herself checked for breast cancer.

When the doctor put an endoscope into her throat, which the camera magnified, I hit my limit and called it quits.

I mean, I already have more than my share of troubles in my own reality. I've really got no time to care about Lee's breasts or the inside of her gullet.

Oh my God, my television set right next to me is now offering up more SBS-TV in-depth coverage about the trip into space. And now Lee's dancing in a soju commercial.

Maybe I should take a trip in a spaceship just to get away from programs about spaceships and reality TV shows.

"TV Review" appears Wednesdays in the JoongAng Daily.

Source : joongangdaily.joins
2008/04/23

[rosiebaba]

[Review]Not Oscar stuff, but a kickin¨ kung fu flick
April 25, 2008

The Silent Monk (Jet Li, left) and Lu Yan (Jackie Chan, right) give Jason Tripitikas (Michael Angarano, center) a rough kung fu lesson. [MovieWeb]
The big-screen battle between the two greatest kung fu masters is finally here.
The rapid-fire martial arts combat between Jet Li and Jackie Chan was worth the wait, even without Coke and popcorn.
＾The Forbidden Kingdom￣ tells a coming-of-age story about a boy, Jason Tripitikas (Michael Angarano). His tale starts in Boston, where he doesn¨t have the guts to stand up to neighborhood bullies, then ends up in an epic battle against a dominating evil army. Can he prove a worthy match for the ruthless Jade Emperor who¨s imprisoned the peace-and-justice-loving Monkey King?
The Monkey King is based on the ancient fictional Chinese character Sun Wukong from the novel ＾Journey to the West.￣ However, the plot of this story deviates from the original text. In the original story, the Jade Emperor isn¨t an evil warlord, but one of the most important gods.
The movie hearkens back to many old-time Chinese kung fu movies, even pre-Bruce Lee. It brings back old memories of funny close-ups of men in heavy makeup. But compared to kung fu of yesteryear, these rapid-fire fight scenes are completely 21st century.
There are so many hidden goodies within the film for lovers of Chinese martial arts films, one of which is Chan¨s role as Lu Yan, the Drunken Master.
＾Drunken Master (Jui Keun)￣ was a 1978 film that brought Chan international fame. In the original, Chan learns how to fight from a boozehound. In The Forbidden Kingdom, Lu Yan is the spitting image of the 1970s drunken master as he trains the young Jason.
Jet Li plays a silent monk, a fitting role considering his debut as a Shaolin monk in the 1979 film ＾Shaolin Temple.￣
The White Witch, with her deadly white hair, alludes to the famous leading character of the 1993 film ＾The Bride with White Hair (Bai fa mo nu zhuan),￣ which stars the late Leslie Cheung and Brigitte Lin.
The relationship between Lu Yan and Jason was reminiscent of Mr. Miyagi and Daniel in ＾The Karate Kid.￣ There¨s more to these lessons than ＾wax on, wax off,￣ though, with moves like ＾the drunken fist,￣ ＾crane,￣ ＾mantis￣ and ＾tiger.￣
The Forbidden Kingdom also gives the audience the chance to see Chan play an old pawn shop owner and Li as the Monkey King himself.
It was pretty obvious that Li, who typically plays serious roles, sort of let himself loose in the goofy department, a move that Chan is better known for. But I just thought it seemed awkward.
In general, it¨s hard to take this action-packed movie seriously. It¨s especially hard to take the evil Jade Army seriously when they¨re decked out in colorful eye shadow fit for Britney Spears.
Let¨s not kid ourselves: This isn¨t Academy Award-worthy material, even when Chan¨s character gives an emotional self-sacrifice. The Forbidden Kingdom has a plot that¨s all too common in Hollywood.
What makes this movie appealing is the kung fu. It¨ll satisfy the appetite of the most voracious martial arts addict.
English speakers should know the Chinese bits only have Korean subtitles. But rest assured, it won¨t make a big difference.

The Forbidden Kingdom
Action, Fantasy / English, Mandarin
105 min.
Now playing

By Lee Ho-jeong Staff Reporter [ojlee82@joongang.co.kr]
(IMG:http://joongangdaily.joins.com/_data/photo/2008/04/24235556.jpg)

[mistyred]

[MOVIE REVIEW] 'Legendary Libido' twists Korean sex folklore

"A Tale of Legendary Libido" (Garoojigi), directed by Sin Han-sol, is loosely based on "Byeon Gang-soe Tale", one of the most notoriously decadent and sexually provocative theatrical songs which took its current form in the late 19th century.

Byeon Gang-soe is a Joseon-era version of Austen Powers, as he has an amazing sexual energy. The original tale, transmitted by word of mouth, was documented and extensively edited by Shin Jae-hyo (1812-1884). Many of the explicit sexual descriptions were cut out in the process; nevertheless, the extant version contains imagery and expressions that are shockingly frank about sexuality, even by today's relatively liberal standards.

The challenges facing director Shin were obvious. First, the highly inflated and exaggerated metaphors throughout the risque story could not be easily revised for mainstream moviegoers, including some adults who are not familiar with the sex comedy genre. Second, the theme has been adapted for the big screen several times, with ho-hum responses even from the targeted B-movie audiences who wanted just cheap laughs, plenty of nudity, and meaningless sex.

Despite the enormous challenges to such a project, director Shin can be credited for impressive casting. Not only the top-notch talent Bong Tae-gyu, but also veteran actors such as Oh Dal-soo and Yoon Yeo-jeong signed on to the movie for some reasons -- a far more intriguing mystery than the overflowing sexual energy of the film's central character. Bong Tae-gyu plays Byeon Gang-soe, a loner in an obscure mountainous village in the Joseon period. He makes a living, barely, by selling Korean cakes on the street, but wherever he goes, he is jeered by scantily clad village women. Byeon, it turns out, has become a laughing stock because he lacks sexual energy.

He has a dedicated and understanding brother, Gang-mok (Oh Dal-soo), but their ties are disrupted when they encounter a seemingly disoriented beauty who has no qualms about swimming naked in the river and dancing voluptuously on a bridge.

A string of events push the depressed Gang-soe to look for some solution. From this point on, the movie charges ahead with its trademark sex scenes, some of which seem borrowed and adapted from famous comic strips.

But the relentless presentation of luscious female bodies cannot fix the character problem, especially when it comes to the movie's supposed superhero, Gang-seo. Bong Tae-kyu is mostly sullen throughout the film, rarely showing off his renowned talent in fleshing out a realistic and likable character.

In an earlier movie adaptation of this story, veteran actor and sex symbol Lee Dae-geun created a unique character who was at times entertaining and amusing. In contrast, Bong Tae-kyu seems out of place amid a horde of lusty women in a village where desirable men are in seriously short supply.

In this film, the matter of clothing is also problematic. The costume designer apparently opted for a hybrid fashion that resulted in revealing clothes for most actresses, but its effect is, at best, gaudy, and, at worse, unbearable.

"A Tale of Legendary Libido", to be released on April 30, has taken the peculiar subject of unabashed sexuality in conservative Joseon times, but it might have provided the sorely lacking mojo of the supposed sex symbol if it had taken some cues from the purely comical approach of the Austen Powers franchise.

By Yang Sung-jin

Source : www.koreaherald.co.kr
2008/04/28

[rosiebaba]

[Review]It¨s a bird, it¨s a plane — it¨s actually good
May 02, 2008
＾Iron Man￣ was not my first movie choice this week. I had my heart set on ＾Horton Hears a Who!￣, only to find I couldn¨t catch an early enough showing of the non-dubbed Korean version in time to write this review.
So Iron Man it was.
Anyone who¨s been taking public transportation in Seoul has likely been bombarded by ads for this heavily marketed superhero epic. I usually intentionally looked away, as I was positive this movie would be on the same level as the supremely awful 2003 ＾Hulk.￣
I couldn¨t have been more wrong.
Iron Man goes heavy on the cheese, I will say that, but doesn¨t every good superhero movie?
The digital effects are impressive, thanks to the work of the good people at such firms as Industrial Light and Magic, The Embassy VFX and The Orphanage. Unabashedly heavy on the CGI, especially in the robo-warfare scenes, the result is eye-catchingly flashy and fast-paced. And while a hard rock soundtrack of growly guitars is over-the-top macho (did someone say AC/DC?), it fits with the accompanying subject matter.
Robert Downey Jr. proves a good fit for lead character Tony Stark, a techno-genius playboy who has built his vast fortune on peddling weapons of mass destruction. ＾That¨s how America does it. I see no reason to change things,￣ he says after a kablammo weapons demonstration for the United States military in Afghanistan. With that much bravado, Stark is practically a member of ＾Team America: World Police.￣
True to the ever evolving Iron Man character, the four-man screenwriting team updates Stark to fit with 2008 American foreign policy, guns a-blazing in Afghanistan. (In the 1960s, Iron Man made the Vietnamese taste his pain, then the Gulf War states in the 1990s.)
Stark is one of those classic characters you hate to love, but no matter how hard you fight him, he wins you over. Unbeknownst to our hero, his weapons find their way into the hands of the baddies. Then surprise! — they attack him and his military convoy.
Faced with the reality of his company¨s work while held captive by terrorists, Stark plans a delightfully over-the-top heroic escape, then atones for his sins by assuming a superhero identity.
Later, Stark¨s work finds its way into the wrong hands yet again, resulting in one large, clanky metallic clash. This is one of many classic superhero plot devices incorporated in this film, but Iron Man throws a few curves as well.
There is plenty to complain about in Iron Man. There¨s the objectification of women, the rampant product placement (Stark¨s first request on home soil is a Burger King cheeseburger and even the minivan in a rescue scene happens to be a sleek Saab) and the pop culture overload (gang signs and MySpace referenced in the same line!).
But as with Stark, as much as I hated to love Iron Man, I couldn¨t resist its irreverent humor and visual appeal.
Just one thing: One magazine cover in a montage bears the headline ＾Stark takes the reigns [sic].￣ Tsk, tsk. But I¨ll give them a break; the crew of Iron Man was probably too blinded by the film¨s flashy graphics to catch this error.

Iron Man
Action, Adventure / English
125 min.
Now playing

By Hannah Bae Contributing Writer [hannahbae@gmail.com]