It is nice to be back in Korea, but there have been a few changes while I was gone. Most shocking to me was the fact that the internet dvd company I shopped at had closed its doors as of January 11th. The brief message on their website indicated that it was for ‘personal reasons’. Now the website has completely disappeared and with it has gone Cineseoul.  I hope the latter is a temporary situation as it had an extensive database which I used regularly. Cineseoul was linked to Madmad, the dvd company, and you could find a film and then click it to order.  It may be that Cineseoul is now looking for another company to make the same arrangement–it would be a shame to lose that site–but as of now, Cineseoul is offline.  I found a new website to shop for movies and placed a (too) large order this morning.  I will post my impressions about the new site I’m using after I receive the order…  <<Edit:  Cineseoul is back online. Glad to see that it was only temporary!>>

Below is what is opening this week in Korean theaters.  Of particular interest to me in the new Attack the Gas Station.  It will be interesting to see the differences between the first and the sequel with so much time seperating

A. Attack the Gas Station 2 (kr)– d. Kim Sang-jin, starring Ji Hyeon-woo, Jo Han-seon www.oilattack.co.kr

B.  Bodyguards and Assassins (hk)– d. Teddy Chan, starring Donny Yen, Nicholas Tse http://blog.naver.com/8heroes

C. Ex (it)–d. Fausto Brizzi, starring Christian Capotondi, Malik Zidi

D. Joomoonjin (kr)– d. Ha Myeong-joong, starring Kim Ki-beom, Hwang Bo-ra www.joomoonjin.co.kr

E. 500 Days of Summer (us)– d. Marc Webb, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, ooey Deschanel www.foxkorea.co.kr/500day

F. Nice Shorts (kr)– d. Kim Yeong-geun, Kim Ye-yeong, starring Lee Da-in, Jo Yeong-jin

G. Princess and the Frog (us)– d. Ron Clemnts, starring Anika Noni Rose, Terrence Howard www.princessandfrog.co.kr