Mark James Russell

Books, blog and other blather

Month: February 2007 (Page 2 of 2)

He’s an Old Boy, but That’s Okay

February 12, 2007 / / 0 Comments

The 57th Berlin Film Festival is in full swing, with several Korean movies being featured there. One of those films, Park Chan-wook’s I’M A CYBORG, BUT THAT’S OKAY, is being featured in the competition section, so The Hollywood Reporter asked me to put together a Q&A with the famous director.

Just for comparison, here is my 2004 interview with Park. Writing for the trade presses can sometimes feel like you are in a bubble, since the audience is so limited compared to a publication like Newsweek or whatever. But that 2004 interview with Park was perhaps my most noticed article for THR, so I remember it fondly.

‘The Good, the Bad, and the Weird’:We Have a Cast

February 8, 2007 / / 0 Comments

The production company Barunson just announced the casting for Kim Ji-woon’s next movie, THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE WEIRD — and it is a hell of a cast:

  • The Good – Lee Byung-hun
  • The Bad – Jung Woo-sung
  • The Weird – Song Gang-ho


    In addition to those big names, Kim is reuniting with his cinematographer from TALE OF TWO SISTERS, Lee Mo-gae.

    GBW is still just in the script phase, so be prepared for a bit of a wait still. I think they are aiming for summer 2008 for the release. The movie will probably film in China, probably in the northeast (can we still call that Manchuria?).

    Which is kind of funny, considering Jung Woo-sung is in the movie. How many movies has Jung made now, when he has been the long-haired guy in China? One guy at Barunson joked that Jung could be a line producer in China at this point. I’m pleased to see Jung playing “The Bad.” Lee Van Cleef was “the Bad” in IL BUONO, IL BRUTO, IL CATTIVO and one of my favorite movie bad-asses of all time, and I hope Jung will follow in his tradition. But if you are going to be “bad,” please be bad. Don’t be a misunderstood, heart-of-gold “bad.” Be baaad. I know you can do it, Jung.

    Amusing sidebar: Apparently GBW will be called “놈, 놈, 놈” (Nom, Nom, Nom) in Korean. Or “Bastard, Bastard, Bastard” (in my bastardized Korean, anyhow). Hah.
    UPDATE: Sorry, but I apparently read the news release too quickly. The Korean title will be a much more normal “좋은놈, 나쁜놈, 이상한놈” (Joheun Nom, Nappeun Nom, Isanghan Nom).

    • 200,000 Sq.Km. Beauty

    February 7, 2007 / / 0 Comments

    No secret that I am no fan of the screen quota. But I found this latest bit of agitprop from the Screen Quota Coalition to be pretty amusing. I’m not sure why this image is anti-FTA, but it is certainly striking.


    In other news, AP is reporting that last night’s Denial of Service hacker attack on the Internet had a strong Korea connection:

    Other experts said the hackers appeared to disguise their origin, but vast amounts of rogue data in the attacks were traced to South Korea.

    Not a big surprise, given all that has been written lately about Korea’s Internet problems, especially its short-sighted reliance on Microsoft standards and Active-X. Of course, the Korean IT guys are downplaying the significance of Korea being the source of this DoS attack, blaming “zombie computers” that have been taken over by bad, international hackers. But that just begs the question, why are Korean computers so vulnerable to being turned into zombies?

    Too Lazy to Organize My Thoughts,aka, Random Notes – Vol 2, No. 4

    February 6, 2007 / / 0 Comments

    There were a couple of good stories in the Chosun Ilbo today (believe it or not, it does happen).

  • “How to Spot the Real Crowd-Pleaser Movies” is a look at how much staying power Korean movies had last year. Calling it the “grapevine index,” the writer divides each film’s total attendance by its opening weekend attendance. The idea being, the more genuinely popular a film is, the most people will talk about it and get their friends to attend. If a film’s popularity is just marketing driven, and the movie itself actually stinks, people will tell their friends to avoid it and it will soon be out of the theaters.

    Grapevine Index of Top Film of 2006
    1. Radio Star – 10.6
    2. 200 Pound Beauty – 8.06
    3. Tazza – 7.28
    4. The Host – 6.42

    Worst Film of 2006
    1. Running Wild – 1.7
    2. I’m a Cyborg, But That’s Okay – 1.96
    3. Bewitching Attraction – 2.1
    4. Daisy – 2.14

    I was quite surprised RADIO STAR did so well, especially considering all the competition in the period it came out. And BEWITCHING ATTRACTION seems to be more a victim of a misleading ad campaign than its inherent quality. Otherwise, the chart seems unsurprising, if interesting.

  • The other interesting story is this one, claiming that South Korean entertainment is getting into North Korea:

    According to a survey of 30 North Korean defectors who settled in South Korea, popular songs and dramas from the South are not only all the rage in Pyongyang; they have also found their way to border regions like Kaesong, Nampo and North Hamgyeong Province. South Korean actors like Bae Yong-joon and Jang Dong-gun have many fans there. North Koreans buy South Korean videotapes and CDs from people who frequently travel across the Chinese border, the survey shows.

  • Dramas ruled the TV airwaves in 2006, led by JUMONG. In fact, all top-10 programs on free-to-air TV last year were dramas. KBS’s 9 o’clock news only managed 19th.

    • Korea Weekend Box Office – Feb. 2-4

    February 5, 2007 / / 3 Comments

    The new Park Jin-pyo film, VOICE OF A MURDERER, came out strong in its opening weekend, despite some so-so reviews, pulling in an impressive 1.4 million admissions from its opening Wednesday evening to Sunday night. That works out to about $9.4 million, and a hair over 40% of the entire box office last weekend. Perhaps most significantly, the film picked up attendance and screens each day it was open, going from 275 screens on Jan. 31, to 397 screens on Feb. 1, to 530 screens on Saturday.

    Way back in No. 2 was THE PERFECT COUPLE, with 59,100 admissions in Seoul, bringing its nationwide total to just over 1 million. Last week’s top film CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER fell to third, with 57,200 admissions in Seoul. The Adam Sandler comedy CLICK opened in fourth, with 176,4000 in ticket sales nationwide. Not great, but about what you might expect for a second-rate foreign comedy.

    200 POUND BEAUTY is still hanging around at No 5, bringing its two-month total to 6.4 million.

    The two local animations YOBI: THE FIVE-TAILED FOX and ROBOT TAEKWON V are still chugging along in the bottom of the top-10, thanks to all the kids on break (and, more importantly, the parents who want them out of the house). If they can stay in the theaters until the Seollal holiday (Feb. 17-19), they might get a pretty good second wind.

    Rounding out the top-10 is SCOOP, which pulled in just over 40,000 admissions on 100 screens.

    Outside of the top-10, over in the art-house world, PARIS, JE T’AIME opened well, with 26,266 on just a few screens (cannot find the exact number). And SCIENCE OF SLEEP continues to do steady business on its last remaining screens, bringing its total to 48,051. Another week like last one, and it will top 50,000, which would be a nice symbolic number to surpass.

    This Week Title…………………………………. Release Date Screens Nationwide Weekend Attendance (Seoul only) Total Attendance
    1. Voice of a Murderer 1.31 530 247,000 1,408,000
    2. The Perfect Couple 1.25 279 59,100 1,004,200
    3. Curse of the Golden Flower 1.25 255 57,200 801,900
    4. Click 2.01 152 53,300 176,400
    5. Apocalypto 1.31 157 45,100 170,700
    3. 200-Pound Beauty 12.14 210 40,500 6,433,700
    7. Miss Potter 1.25 154 21,900 293,600
    8. Robot Taekwon V 1.18 162 20,100 616,100
    9. Yobi: The Five-Tailed Fox 1.25 105 20,000 352,000
    10. Scoop 2.01 100 17,100 40,100

    (Source: Film2.0)

    Oh, by the way, Film 2.0 is my source for the top-10. But for other chart information, I go to KOFIC’s database website KOBIS. It is a pretty useful site for box office information, but you need to be able to read Korean to use it. It does not report all the theaters in Korea, just the ones that have installed its electronic tracking service, but that number continues to climb, and is now at 91% of Korea’s screens.

    And in a totally different vein… A great video of the Charlie Rose Show, with him talking to Alfonso Cuaron, Guillermo del Toro and Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu is here on Google Video. So interesting to hear from the three of them all together. And such a great comparison for Korea. Here are three directors making great films that matter to them, that make some decent money and that are getting recognized in international circles. As much as I admire so many Korean directors, this is a useful way of seeing how much more they still need to learn and improve. As William Blundell once wrote: “There are two kinds of writers in the world: bad writers and improving writers.”

    I also find it interesting how much emphasis they put on leaving their home country and becoming part of the wider world. So many Korean journalists like to talk about the Korean Wave, how Korean culture is doing around the world. But it is so much more important to get feedback/inspiration from as many sources as possible. Look at how many directors got their start outside of Korea (Hong Sang-soo in the United States, Song Il-gon in Poland, Kim Ki-duk in France). But how many directors, since completing their studies, are continuing to spend their time in the world? (And I don’t mean spending a week at a film festival).

    Korea 2006 Music Wrap-Up

    February 5, 2007 / / 0 Comments

    Sorry to be so late, but the Music Industry Association of Korea just issued its report on the 2006 music sales for Korea.

    Back in January, MIAK already published its charts for the top 100 Korean and foreign albums of 2006. If you think I’m going to input the whole thing manually, you’re nuts. And if you think I’m smart enough to figure out how to convert the chars automatically, you are … well, very generous.

    This Month Artist Album Name Release Date This Month’s Sales Total Sales
    1. Various SM Town 10 12.12 33,453 33,453
    2. SG Wannabe The Precious History 11.16 33,426 78,548
    3. Big Bang Vol. 1 12.21 33,343 33,343
    4. Lee Seung-chul Reflection of Sound 9.27 26,017 86,593
    5. Rain Vol. 4 – I’m Coming 10.13 20,995 106,110
    6. Dong Bang Shin Gi Vol. 3 – O-Union 9.28 20,046 349,317
    7. Brian The Brian 12.18 15,376 15,376
    8. Bobby Kim Vol. 2 12.11 13,723 13,723
    9. Sung Shi-gyung Vol. 5 10.10 11,912 94,328
    10. Park Sang-min Vol 11 12.01 11,008 11,008

    (source: MIAK)

    Foreign Sales:

    This Month Artist Album Name Release Date This Month’s Sales Total Sales
    1. Il Divo Siempre 12.01 7,233 7,233
    2. Richard Yongjae O’Neil Lachrymae 9.07 6,498 19,454
    3. Various Love and Memory 12.07 5,471 5,471
    4. The Beatles Love 11.21 5,081 9,126
    5. Westlife The Love Album 11.20 4,629 10,216
    6. Various Step Up (OST) 10.24 4,407 4,761
    7. Shin Youngok Love Duets 12.05 3,845 3,845
    8. Jo Sumi With Love 8.25 3,418 19,055
    9. Various Wine: Music & Story 10.19 3,404 5,410
    10. Kenny G The Most Romantic Melodies 11.20 3,237 6,698

    (source: MIAK)

    Korea-Japan: A Love Story

    February 1, 2007 / / 0 Comments

    I notice lately some blogs and newspapers, et cetera, have been talking about the “rise of Japanese culture” in Korea. Ampontan’s new blog had a post about it. The Korea Herald had this story about Japanese novels in Korea (via the Brunei Times because the Korea Herald thinks people will pay money for its old stories). Not a terrible story, although since the author never mentions how well titles from the US or other parts of the world are selling in Korea, it is impossible to get a proper sense of how significant the sales of Japanese books really is, or how sales have figured over the long run.

    Anyhow, in a similar vein, the Japan Times had a story about the movie “Anata wo Wasurenai” (“We Will Not Forget You”), the story of Lee Soo-hyun, the South Korean guy who died while trying to save a drunk Japanese businessman on the Tokyo subway in 2001. The Japanese Emperor and Empress attended the preview screening and spoke to Lee’s parents. Truly an Oprah moment.

    So, what does it all mean? Are we in a new renaissance of Korea-Japan relations? Has the media gotten it wrong all these years?

    Hell if I know. I cannot speak for the 200 million people who reside in the two countries (including North Korea). But from what I have seen, I think there is far less emnity than many would like to believe. Sure there are freaks full of hatred. Both countries have their John Birchers. And Internet warriors (ugh). But from what I have seen in my time in Asia, especially in the arts (and even more so with women), I think there is a lot of affinity between the two cultures.

    When I first came to Seoul, many years ago, the selection of movies on TV or at the video store was a lot more limited than today. And Japanese pop culture was totally banned. But we did use to have “video cafes,” where the proprietor would play movies on the big screen for whoever wanted to see. At first I used to go to them (especially Joy of Kino in Shinchon) to see movies like BRAZIL or FULL METAL JACKET. But I quickly realized that Western movies were in the minority at most cafes. I would say 60-70% of the films were Japanese. Mostly anime, but a lot of other good stuff, too. Similarly, any trip to the black markets in Yongsan Electronics Mart would turn up a huge amount of Japanese titles.

    Because of my various jobs in Seoul, I have spent a lot of time with designers, who I have found to be perhaps the most receptive to things Japanese. But artists and musicians in general have long flown over, whether for vacations or to live for a while. One of Korea’s most interesting indie performers, Yoonki, could barely move a CD here, but in Japan he sold over 10,000 copies of his first album, toured a bunch, and did quite well for himself.

    In Japan, I have met no shortage of filmmakers who enjoy Korean films, who come here as often as they can, and who have plenty of friends in Korea. Seigo Tono, of the Short Shorts Film Festival, travels here a lot (and is a hell of a good guy). The musician Sato Yukie is a one-man cultural embassy for Japan (he is back in Japan now, but should be returning to Korea before too long).

    I do think there was a year (2005) when Japanese distributors were getting far too excited about Korean films and TV shows, and getting into needless and silly bidding wars for projects that were not even started yet. Business has cooled since then, but there is still a lot of dealing going on between the two countries. Not so high profile. Smarter. But still significant. Japanese TV shows, while not ratings juggernauts, are still common on Korean cable TV. In short, I think we are seeing a more mature, healthy relationship developing between the entertainment businesses between the two countries.

    So when politicians and other politically minded dolts try to get people riled up about this or that alleged problem between the two countries, I would not worry about it much. But in the deeper, more important ways, the two countries are growing closer. The most popular film in Korean history, THE HOST was made with Japanese money (about 1/3 of the film’s budget). CJ Entertainment and Kadokawa have a pretty serious relationship. The Pusan Film Festival got started, in part, because of the Yamagata Documentary Film Festival. It’s not all smiles and sunshine. It’s not all nationalist anger. It’s a far more complicated and intertwined relationship.

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