Usually the Lunar New Year is a great time to open new films, but with the holiday falling on the weekend, it has shortened the time off from work that people usually have resulting in just one actual day off. That day will probably be spent travelling back from meeting with family. Not a lot of time to watch films. So this holiday, we have just one new film opening. South Bound was directed by Im Soon-rae and stars Kim Yoon-seok, Oh Yeon-soo and Han Ye-ri. Here is the trailer:
There are three Korean movies opening for the first weekend in February. The first of these is opening today (January 30th) and has an incredible cast which includes Ha Jeong-woo, Han Seok-gyu, Ryu Seung-beom and Jeon Ji-hyeon! The title of the movie is The Berlin File and it is directed by Ryu Seung-wan.
The second film is a romantic comedy entitled The Etudes of Love by director Lee Yoon-hyeong. It stars Jeong Da-hye and Yeon Je-wook
And then there is the mystery A Fish, starring Lee Jang-hoon and Kim Jeon-bin, directed by Park Hong-min.
We have three new Korean movies opening in theaters for the last weekend of January. Normally movies open on Thursday in Korea, but there have been a couple of films that are getting released today, a day early. One of them is the Spanish/Canadian co-produced horror film Mama, whose trailers have gotten me curious. The other is the Korean film Miracle in Cell No. 7. <the official English title is not ‘a gift of seven room’ as the Youtube trailer seems to indicate>
Next we have a film that is actually from 2007 and was on the film festival circuit. The poster has the English title Busan Flounder- Redux . This film is likely to have a limited release. Because of the age and nature of the movie, I was unable to find a trailer. However, there is a music video featuring scenes of this film that effectively serve as a trailer.
Finally, there is a documentary entitled Sea of Butterfly which was also screened quite successfully at many film festivals.
This weekend’s movies are opening a little early to take advantage of Election Day during which there is no school or work for most businesses. The two Korean movies opening are Love 911 and Marrying the Mafia 5.
Marrying the Mafia 5– d. Jeong Yong-gi – Jeong Joon-ho , Kim Min-jeong , Yoo Dong-geun
Love 911– director: Jeong Gi-hoon (Goodbye Mom)– Go Soo (Haunters), Han Hyo-joo (Always), Ma Dong-seok (Nameless Gangster)– – the trailer has English subtitles
Well, out of the twelve movies opening in theaters in Korea this week, just one is Korean. I think the reason that more are not opening is pretty clear. Among the films opening this week is The Hobbit. That film is likely to dominate the screens and the box office this weekend and putting a film up against it would be foolish.
China Blue, directed by Kim Geon and starring Baek Seong-hyeon and Kim Joo-yeong, is likely to be getting a very limited release. The trailer is below…
This coming Thursday, four new Korean movies will be opening in theaters for the weekend. The first of these, My PS Partner, has been doing the heaviest advertising. It is directed by Byeong Seong-hee and stars popular actors Ji Seong and Kim Ah-joong
Romance not your style? Well, there is a new thriller opening as well called Roleplay. It features Lee Dong-gyu and Kim Jin-seon helmed by director Baek Sang-yeol.
Huh.. that was still a little heavy on the romance. There is also a film called Paradox Circle which looks like it has promise
Finally there is a documentary opening called Ari, Ari the Korean Theater directed by Heo Cheol and starring Yoon Jin-seo and Jeong Ji-yeong and many other famous actors, directors and critics.
We have four Korean films opening in theaters this week.
The first is an action film by director Jo Geun-hyeon starring Jin Gu and Han Hye-jin. The title is 26 Years.
Next, we have a comedy starring Park Ha-seon and Yoon Sang-hyeon. It is called Vocal Clinic and is directed by Kim Jin-yeong. (I have also seen this listed as Tone Deaf Clinic, but I hope Vocal Clinic is the one that is picked as the official title. KOBIS doesn’t have an English title listed as of this post)
Knock is a fantasy/horror that has peaked my interest. It is directed by Lee Joo-heon and stars Seo Woo and Kim Hyeon-seong
Finally, there is The Little Thief, a film that seems like it should be an Australain/ Korean co-production but is listed as a Korean movie. It is directed by Christoper Collins and stars Lee Yeong-soo and Madeline Lucre. Oh– the trailer is in English and contains strong language, so if you are watching at the office, turn it down…
There are six Korean films slated to open in theaters tomorrow. One of them, an omnibus for 2009 called Sai-eseo, has no trailer or English name. I was able to find an interview with the director and actor at the premiere of the film, but it was not particularly appealing visually and I decided not to post it here. However, the other films all have trailers. Take a look below…
The first film on my list is Turn It Up to Eleven 2: Wild Days in which director Baek Seung-hwa continues following the international tour of the band Galaxy Express…
Then there is Don’t Cry, Mommy directed by Kim Yong-han and starring Yoo Seon and Nam Bo-ra.
For action lovers, All Bark and No Bite will be opening as well. It stars Kim Moo-yeol and Jin Seon-gyu. The film is directed by Jo Byeong-ok
I was surprised when I saw the lead actor’s name in the next film. It is called Woosoossi and stars Choi Soo-jong. Choi was often in romantic comedies in the mid- and late 90s, but I don’t recall seeing him in very much recently. He returns in this film directed by Yoon Hak-ryeol.
Korea has had many dark periods politically in the past hundred years. This next film looks at the mid-1980s and at some unpleasant actions taken in the name of National Security. The film stars Park Won-sang and Lee Kyeong-yeong.
Finally, we have a dra,a that previously screened at the Toronto International Film Festival called Juvenile Offender starring Seo Yeong-joo and Lee Jeong-hyeon.
We will have our choice from among 6 new movies opening this coming weekend although, taking into consideration some of the short running times and the topics of the films, several may be limited releases or in theaters catering to arthouse films.
The first trailer you will see however, is anything but arthouse. Codename: Jackal stars Song Ji-hyo and Kim Jae-joong. It is directed by Bae Hyeong-joon.
The next film does not yet have an English title, but its Korean moniker is pronounced Soomokjang. It stars Lee Yeong-ah and On Ju-won. This horror/thriller was directed by Park Gwang-choon.
White Night is also opening this Thursday. This film has received great reviews at film festivals. It is directed by Leesong Hee-il and stars Won Tae-hee and Lee Yi-kyeong.
According to Daum Movies, but not listed on Kobis, two other queer themed featurettes will also be released this week, both by director Leesong Hee-il is called Suddenly Last Summer and stars Kim Yeong-jae and Han Joo-won.
The other is Going South, starring Kim Jae-heung and Jeon Shin-hwan.
Finally, we have The Winter of the Year was Warm, directed by Jo Seong-gyu and starring Ye Ji-won and Kim Tae-woo.
Yikes! I just logged in to put up the trailers and found I had 9500 comments waiting for approval!! Of course, they are mostly spam, but the most this blog has generated before is about 300 a day! Even cleaning up in bulk is going to take a while… ** I have temporarily changed comments to ‘registered members only’ because new spam was coming in faster than I could delete it.. someone really wanted me to buy anti-depressents online. After two days I have gotten the spam all cleared up. I will change the comments section back to normal after a few days
I did not write a review last weekend– I would up turning off Rice Cakes from 1988 before I got even halfway through, but I did update the films in production and awaiting release sections which can be seen via the menu on the left….
There are three Korean movies being released tomorrow. Here are their trailers, plus one bonus..
First we have CONFESSION OF A MURDER directed by Jeong Byeong-geol and starring Jeong Jae-yeong and Park Shi-woo.
Next we have MODERN FAMILY, an omnibus directed by Kim Seong-ho, Lee Soo-yeon, Shin Soo-won and Heum Ji-yeong. It stars Jeong In-gi and Kim Ji-yeong among many others…
And finally we have TOUCH, directed by Min Byeong-hoon and starring Yoo Joon-sang and Kim Ji-yeong..
The ‘bonus’ I mentioned earlier is not a Korean film, but one produced in Singapore. I am mentioning it here because it stars Korean actor Jang Hyeok as ..a ballroom dancer!? The movie is called DANCE OF THE DRAGON
