Korean Box Office: August 27-29
30th August 2010
This has been a very busy morning. First a 9:30 meeting going over the budget of an exchange program we are making, the a photo session for a local Chinese-language newspaper, then a meeting with a new English speaking professor followed by a meeting with a Nepalese grad student. Currently I am waiting for one of the students in the school’s soccer team because I promised him he could take my class but, since its full, I have to sign a form granting him permission to enter. But while I am waiting, I can finish the box office. Of course, with school starting this Wednesday–and all my classes being in the morning–this will be about the time I will be posting the box office each Monday–about 3 o’clock local time. All summer I had it online by 11, but it will be a couple of hours later for the next 15 weeks or so.
The Man from Nowhere remained at number 1 for the fourth week in a row. I was surprised to see the Last Airbender still in number 2 given the word of mouth reviews I have been hearing. I was even more surprised about Piranha.. but I guess the 3D gimmick is still enough of a draw to get people into the theater. The other new films, Predators and Enemy at the End fell flat on their debut weekend–and with 11 new films opening in theaters this week, they could disappear from screens altogether by next weekend. The new films are listed below. Of them, Bedeviled interests me the most, especially after reading the review for it by Kim Kyu-hyun at Koreanfilm.org.
1. Afterlife (us)– Agnieszko Wojtowicz-Vosloo, starring Liam Neeson, Christina Ricci www.afterlife2010.co.kr
2. Bedeviled (kr)–Jang Cheol-soo, starring Seo Yeong-hee, Ji Seong-won
3. Door (de)– Anno Saul, starring Mads Mikkelsen, Jessica Schwarz www.thedoor2010.co.kr
4. Escape (kr)– Leesong Hee-il, starring Lee Yeong-hoon, So Yoo-jin
5. Hua Mulan (us/ch)– d. Jingle Ma & Wei Dong, starring Wei Zhao, Kun Chen www.mulan2010.co.kr
6. Kids Are All Right, The (us)– d. Lisa Cholodenko, starring Annette Bening, Julianna Moore www.allright2010.co.kr
7. Killers (us)– d. Robert Luketic, starring Katherine Heigl, Ashton Kutcher www.killers.co.kr
8. Lymelife (us)– d. Derick Martini, starring Alec Baldwin, Cynthia Nixon
9. Paper Heart (us)– d. Nicholas Jasenovec, starring Charlyne Yi, Michael Cera
10. Thumbelina’s Father (kr)– d. Kang Seong-ryong, starring Bang Dong-won, Jin Da-eun
11. Tournament (uk)– d. Scott Mann, starring Robert Carlyle, Kelly Hu www.tournament2010.co.kr
August 30th, 2010 at 10:18 am
I have to ask – What’s up with the #10 film in Jeonju being only 142nd nationallY? Sounds like there’s an interesting story behind that.
August 30th, 2010 at 10:41 am
The story behind that? The student I was waiting for came to my office while I was typing and I hurried to finish. It was a typo that should have read 12th…which it does now…
I haven’t heard from you in a long time? How have you been doing? Will you be in Busan this year?
September 7th, 2010 at 1:32 pm
Married life keeps me busy and keeps me focused on building up a better financial savings, so trips to Busan (or anywhere) will be rarer. Which means I’m getting to see fewer and fewer KFilms, sadly. So I’ve re-geared my writing towards other interests, such as public space and active transport (walking or biking), while still writing about film for more venues than just Koreanfilm.org, some which actually pay! (But not nearly enough to ever let go of my day job.) So I’ve been well, but sadly out of touch with the KFilm circuit. (I’m two films behind on Hong Sangsoo’s oeuvre now!!!) I miss following the festival circuit, but hopefully some opportunities will arise so I can eventually make it out to Jeonju’s Film Fest eventually.