Mark James Russell

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Month: March 2007 (Page 2 of 2)

No Hosting THE HOST

March 9, 2007 / / 1 Comment

The New York Post is reporting that Magnolia (the distributor of THE HOST) is taking Google to court, demanding Google turn over the identities of the users who uploaded the entire films THE HOST and ENRON: THE SMARTEST GUY IN THE ROOM. THE HOST, of course, is getting its big North American release in March, so Magnolia is worried that is people watch it online for free, then they will not see it in the theaters (not to state the obvious).

I made a quick check on Youtube, and could not find THE HOST (just some trailers and behind the scenes stuff. However, I did find the complete BARKING DOGS NEVER BITE (no subtitles).

(And for no particular reason, here are some Youtube Muppet links — opening theme,Rita Morena and Animal, Peter Sellers and whiskey and wild wild women, Banana Boat song, Beaker singing Feelings, Muh-na-ma-nah, Swedish Chef).

Oh, the New York Times likes THE HOST, too.

UPDATE: Not just the New York Times. Rotten Tomatoes currently gives THE HOST a 94% freshness rating — 50 good votes, only 3 negative. Impressive.

Coming Attractions

March 8, 2007 / / 0 Comments

Looks like the coming movie line-up is beginning to take shape, as more films are making the release schedule over at Cine 21. This is an interesting time of year, as local studios unload a lot of films ahead of the summer crunch, when the Hollywood big guns come out (and local big guns, like THE HOST). And with SPIDER-MAN 3 getting released on May 4 in Korea, the big summer season will be starting earlier than ever.

Some notable releases (in my humble opinion) on the way:

March 22 – SOO. This is the first Korean-language film made by the famous Korean-Japanese director Choi Yang-il (better known as Yoichi Sai, who made BLOOD AND BONES, DOING TIME and WHERE IS THE MOON?).


April 5 – THE SHOW MUST GO ON. The new Song Gang-ho film that Lotte Entertainment has high hopes for. I do not know much about it, but I will mindlessly brag that I have a ticket to the world premiere in Hong Kong in a couple of weeks.

April 12 – ACROSS THE YEARS. The latest film by Im Kwon-taek, a follow-up to his huge 1993 hit SOPYONGJE. Oh Jeong-hae, who played Song-hwa in SOPYONGJE, returns to her famous role, but no Kim Myung-gon, who is now the Minister of Culture & Tourism.


April 19 – BREATH. Kim Ki-duk’s latest, about a man on death row and the woman who loves him. Not to be confused with MAUNDY THURSDAY.

MEET MR. DADDY. The new film by Park Gwang-su. About a man who meets his estranged daughter for the first time in a long time while on his way to a soccer game during the 2002 World Cup.

May 3 – ADEUL. The latest by Jang Jin.

May 17 – SECRET SUNSHINE. Lee Chang-dong’s first film since stepping down as Minister of Science & Technology. Maybe for his next film, he could direct Kim Myung-gon?

(If Free Use Is Wrong) I Don’t Want to Be Copyright

March 6, 2007 / / 1 Comment

Kind of interesting, imho — the Ministry of Culture and Tourism has opened a website full of items whose copyrights have expired, and so are available for free use. Literature, music, art, just oodles of interesting stuff. The Ministry claims over 10,000 works will be available at first, with more to come, although I have not tried counting. It is all in Korean, but even blind clicking can turn up some interesting artworks (try poking around this area).

As I have mentioned before, the Ministry of Culture is currently pushing “Han Culture” (traditional Korean culture) as a way of moving the Korean Wave to a second phase, beyond just pop culture. I am pretty ambivalent about this idea for many reasons… I mean, I like the idea of better presenting traditional Korean culture. But I have doubts about how receptive the world will be on a popular level to this campaign. And I am in general skeptical anytime governments get involved in culture.

Instead of creating a new campaign, I would be much happier if the government just cleaned up its existing palaces (get rid of the linoleum and mold and put in real traditional paper floors) and created interesting brochures and audio tours (written and performed by professionals… not some vice-minister’s niece or whatever). Or give Ryu Seung-whan a few dollars to set his new violence fest in the Chosun Dynasty, that could be fun.

Sure, Korean culture has a lot of great stuff — but so has Thai culture, and Mongolia, and Kenyan, and Maori, and… and… and….

Point being, if you want to raise your profile and become significant to the world, you need to present works that capture people’s imaginations. You cannot just sit back and expect the world to come to you and love you.

Korea Weekend Box Office – March 2-4

March 5, 2007 / / 0 Comments

Another quiet week in Korean cinema, with everyone claiming victory this week. Well, not everyone, but things were quiet enough that three different titles were boasting they were No. 1.

Tops on my chart was the Drew Barrymore romantic comedy MUSIC AND LYRICS BY, which pulled in 89,100 admissions in Seoul. Nationally, however, MIRACLE ON 1ST STREET was by far the most popular film (according to our friends at KOBIS). KOBIS gave MIRACLE 19.3% of the weekend’s audience share, versus 15% for MUSIC.

And another film claimed the top spot — the No. 2 film on my chart, PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS. HAPPINESS claimed to be the top film, based on … uh, I do not know. They just seem to be claiming the top spot (by audience share).

Jeong Yun-cheol’s second film, SHIM’S FAMILY, looks like it will not begin to approach the success of his debut, MARATHON. Okay, so maybe he was not trying to top MARATHON… but still, that was a pretty weak response to a movie in 170+ theaters.

Very strange to see the top two films this week appearing on so few screens, just 143 and 141. I cannot remember the last time something like that happened. Korea is usually pretty quiet in March and April. But with Warner Bros really pushing 300 at the moment, it will be interesting to see how that film does when it makes its debut on March 15.

This Week Title…………………………………. Release Date Screens Nationwide Weekend Attendance (Seoul only) Total Attendance
1. Music and Lyrics By 2.28 143 89,100 315,400
2. Pursuit of Happiness 2.28 141 69,800 283,900
3. Miracle on 1st Street 2.14 290 62,000 2,273,000
4. Dreamgirls 2.22 110 54,000 519,000
5. Shim’s Family 3.01 171 31,500 176,200
6. Highway Star 2.14 252 28,600 1,447,000
7. Hannibal Rising 2.28 185 26,000 157,500
8. Babel 2.22 107 14,900 199,100
9. A Day for an Affair 2.08 195 11,600 1,798,600
10. Hoola Girls 3.01 69 10,300 28,500

(Source: Film2.0)

Early K-Rock Photos

March 2, 2007 / / 1 Comment

Ken Leighty, who runs the Korea a Tour of Duty website (for veterans who served in the US 8th Army Korea), has posted some pictures of club and stage shows in Korea in the 1950s.

Needless to say, I love that sort of stuff. Most interesting among them are pictures of a Korean band called “Keys”. Judging from the sign behind them, “Lock and Key,” this was the earliest days of the Key Boys (Lock & Key was their original name). The Key Boys were one of the first and most popular rock bands (or “Group Sound”) in Korea (at least in the pre-Pearl Sisters era). You can read more about them and Kim Jong-hak here.


(And, of course, Gusts of Popular Feelings has talked already about this music and era).

Anyhow, Korean rock from that era is some of my favorite music, and I love hearing stories and stuff from that time period. Thanks much to Ken for posting those pictures. I also link to this pic. Not because it is significant or anything; it just kind of creeps me out… like something from LADY VENGEANCE.

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