Category: Uncategorized (Page 7 of 7)

Heh. Got some love from THE KOREA TIMES today.

http://koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/special/2007/05/135_3749.html

Sorry for the late box office this week. Deadline looming like the Sword of Damocles. Will update tomorrow. But for now:
1. Paradise Murdered
2. Reaping
3. My Tutor Friend 2
4. Meet Mr. Daddy
5. The Show Must Go On

This week, on Monday and Tuesday, saw the latest DICON held in Seoul, at the Convention Center. The fact that DICON stands for “International Digital Content Conference” gives you a pretty good idea how sensible this event is (i.e., not much). My puny brain would call that IDCC, but what do I know? Or IDCon2 or something.

Anyhow, despite being in its sixth year, DICON was a bit of a mess. Interpretations were very random, when they existed at all. The most potentially interesting presentation was canceled (Orion Ross was supposed to talk about What is Hot Around Asia). And the organizers managed to annoy more than a few of the guests by changing around plans and schedules at a whim. Which led to more than a few annoyed guests. I was told that Terrance Chang and Bong Joon-ho were both severaly displeased by how the whole event went.

And what is the POINT of DICON anyway? I know it is accepted industry jargon these days, but any time a bunch of bureaucrats start jabbering on about “content”, I am usually pretty skeptical. Does anyone get excited about the thought of Content? Literature, sure. Movies, you bet. Music, games, stories, ideas — all great. But “content”? Ugh.

After a quiet couple of weeks, a new hit opened last weekend, the melodrama MAUNDY THURSDAY, the story of a woman who wants to die and a man on death row who would much rather not. Directed by Song Hae-sung (FAILAN, RIKIDOZAN), MAUNDY was faulted by some film critics for being rather obvious. But for melodramas, obviousness is not always a failing. Anyhow, I have not seen it yet, so I should probably keep my snarky comments to myself.

Other notes… A disappointing opening for PUZZLE. The noir-ish crime drama had a pretty heavy push by Cinema Service, but nevertheless opened weakly. I’m guessing that it was too similar looking to WAR OF FLOWERS (타짜), which comes out next week (and looks to be a more interesting film).

Also, THE HOST is still chugging along. Looks like it will top the 13-million-attendance point in the next week.

(source: Film 2.0)

(Note: Three Fellas was “Ttukbang Jeonseol” in last week’s box office chart)

A bit of a quite weekend this week, as the Korean film world recovers from summer and prepares for the coming Chuseok Holiday onslaught. In the No. 1 spot, we have the debut of BETWEEN LOVE AND HATE (연애, 그 참을 수 없는 가벼움). It is nice to see Jang Jin-young back and doing well, after the fiasco that was BLUE SWALLOW.

More interesting, perhaps, is the surprising strength of LIKE A VIRGIN (천하장사 마돈나), which moved up from No. 3 to No. 2 this week. I guess the film has been getting some pretty good word of mouth… not bad for a movie about a boy who wants to get a sex-change operation. I have not seen it, but apparently it is a gentle-spirited film that is uplifting and quite non-judgmental.

(source: Film 2.0)