BIFAN-winning director Francis Galluppi says ‘don’t go to film school’

“I would argue that this movie is not a Western,” Francis Galluppi, director of “The Last Stop in Yuma County,” said about his first feature film just hours before it won the audience award and top competitive Best of Bucheon title at Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival on July 12. The film takes place deep in the desert of 1980s Arizona at a diner next to the only gas station in a hundred miles. More than one mysterious stranger makes an entrance, denim and cow

Aug. 22, 2024

‘I, the Executioner’ exudes ‘new kind of energy’: director, actors

Ryoo Seung-wan, who directed the 2015 action blockbuster “Veteran,” is returning with sequel “I, the Executioner” this fall. The movie picks up the story of veteran detective Seo Do-chul (Hwang Jung-min) nine years after the first installment, as he is joined by rookie detective Park Sun-woo (Jung Hae-in), who is full of passion and a sense of justice. Do-chul and Sun-woo investigate a high-profile murder case of a professor which seems to be in line with the previous mur

Aug. 21, 2024

[Herald Review] Lee Isaac Chung serves up 90s rom-com, meteorological mayhem in ‘Twisters’

This summer Korean American movie director Lee Isaac Chung brings us “Twisters,” an entertaining disaster flick inspired by the 1996 summer blockbuster "Twister." Chung, the director of “Minari,” chose not to make “Twisters” a direct sequel, but its plot mirrors the original, incorporating an old-fashioned rom-com revolving around tornado chasers, and even Dorothy, a technology designed to study tornadoes. While paying homage to the original 1990s bl

Aug. 19, 2024

[New on the scene] ‘Mission: Cross’ director dreams of making unprecedented comedies

Director Lee Myung-hun, who made a directorial debut with the comedy action “Mission: Cross,” has a lot of love for comedy. “Comedy is definitely a difficult genre to make. When you don’t make it correctly or miscalculate the lines or scenes, the audience can easily turn away from the story. But that also makes comedy an attractive genre, because you get to see the feedback or reactions right away,” Lee told reporters during a group interview in Seoul, Aug. 12. &ldq

Aug. 18, 2024

‘Heartsping’ director confident that Teenieping movie appeals to all ages

“Heartsping: Teenieping of Love,” the first movie of the hit Korean animation series “Catch! Teenieping,” appeals not only to young viewers, but to those in their 50s and 60s as well, its director said. Kim Su-hoon, who doubles as the movie's director and the CEO of SAMG Entertainment and is responsible for the Teenieping worldview, said he differentiated the movie from the TV series by adding elements of a family movie. “From the beginning, I was sure that thi

Aug. 18, 2024

Kim Min-hee wins best performance at Locarno Film Festival

South Korean actor Kim Min-hee received the best performance award at the 77th Locarno International Film Festival for Hong Sang-soo’s 32nd film “By the Stream.” “By the Stream,” titled “Suyucheon” in Korean, is the story of Jeon-yim (played by Kim), a lecturer at a woman’s university who asks her uncle, a blacklisted actor-director, to direct a skit at the university. While Jeon-yim goes out every night to paint by the stream and get inspiration,

Aug. 18, 2024

[Box office] Movies in theaters this week

“Heartsping : Teenieping of Love” (South Korea) Opened Aug. 7 Animation Directed by Kim Soo-hun Princess Romi of the Emotion Kingdom comes to Earth to catch cute and mischievous creatures Teeniepings and has a fateful encounter with Heartsping who becomes a soulmate. “Revolver” (South Korea) Opened Aug. 7 Crime Directed by Oh Seung-wook Former detective Soo-young (Jeon Do-yeon) is released from prison after being convicted of crimes she did not commit. With one goal in

Aug. 16, 2024

[History through films] Korea’s turbulent politics of 1970s depicted in ‘Kingmaker’

The 1970s is an important era in South Korea's contemporary history, a turbulent time that shaped the country's politics. Set in the 1960s and 1970s, director Byun Sung-hyun's “Kingmaker” follows a group of politicians who attempt to replace the dictatorship with a democracy. Kim Woon-beom (played by Sol Kyung-gu) is an opposition party politician who dreams of becoming a president, despite having failed in four consecutive parliamentary elections. He comes across natu

Aug. 14, 2024

Park Chan-wook’s next film stars Lee Byung-hun, Son Ye-jin

South Korean auteur Park Chan-wook will begin shooting his new film “No Other Choice” starring Lee Byung-hun and Son Ye-jin on Aug. 17, the film distributor CJ ENM said Monday. Based on the US novel titled “The Ax” by Donald E. Westlake, the movie revolves around Man-soo, an employee who is fired from his paper manufacturing company. Lee, who worked with Park on the 2000 mystery thriller “Joint Security Area” and the Korean section of 2004 horror trilogy &ldqu

Aug. 12, 2024

Disney unveils sequels for hit franchises

Disney unveiled an exciting slate of sequels for its popular franchises -- "Avatar," "Zootopia," "Moana," "Toy Story" and "Tron: Legacy” at the eighth D23, the official Disney fan club event held Friday night at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, where some 12,000 fans gathered for the biannual convention. Among the announcements, the third installment of the global blockbuster "Avatar" series is set to hit theaters on Dec. 19,

Aug. 11, 2024

‘The Roundup: Punishment,’ ‘Inside Out 2’ lead CJ CGV profits in Q2

South Korea’s largest multiplex cinema chain CJ CGV saw a fifth consecutive quarter of operating profit in the second quarter this year thanks to the success of megahit films, according to the company. CJ CGV said its April to July sales increased by 7.6 percent on year to 430 billion won ($315 million). Its operating profit over the same period increased 26.4 percent on-year to 22.3 billion won. The company attributed such performance to an increase in moviegoers who went to the cinema to

Aug. 9, 2024

‘My Dearest Fu Bao’ offers close look at beloved panda's last 3 months in Korea

“My Dearest Fu Bao,” a South Korean movie depicting the interactions between the panda Fu Bao and her zookeepers, will feature in-depth stories about the beloved giant panda, the movie’s director said Thursday. This documentary film is based on interviews with zookeepers Song Young-gwan and Kang Cheol-won, who is widely known as Fu Bao's "grandpa" by fans. The movie narrates stories of how the zookeepers met Fu Bao and how the beloved panda was cared for by them

Aug. 9, 2024

[Box office] Movies in theaters this week

“Revolver” (South Korea) Opened Aug. 7 Crime Directed by Oh Seung-wook Former detective Soo-young (portrayed by Jeon Do-yeon) is released from prison after being convicted of crimes she did not commit. With one goal in her mind -- getting her some 700 million won back -- she visits the people who owe her one by one. “Pilot” (South Korea) Opened July 31 Comedy Directed by Kim Han-gyeol Han Jung-woo (Jo Jung-suk) who, after getting fired from his job and divorced by his w

Aug. 9, 2024

‘Twisters’ director Lee Isaac Chung says what scared him made him grow

Korean American filmmaker Lee Isaac Chung of the latest American disaster film “Twisters” said what scared him has made him grow, in terms of his first-ever production of a blockbuster film. “Twisters” is Chung's work to be released after “Minari,” an autobiographical family drama that won the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2021. “One of the reasons I wanted to do this movie was that I got scared. How do I make a movie like t

Aug. 8, 2024

[Herald Review] ‘Mission: Cross,’ a high octane action flick with comedic elements

Kang-moo (Hwang Jung-min) is a stay-at-home husband who cooks and cleans while his wife Mi-seon (Yeom Jung-ah) is a veteran crime squad team member who was once an Asian Games silver medalist in shooting. Kang-moo, a warm-hearted man, helps Mi-seon by putting his past as a former agent behind and keeping it a secret from her – until he accidentally bumps into his former agent colleague Hee-joo (Jeon Hye-jin). After the encounter, he often goes out of contact and leaves the house all messy.

Aug. 7, 2024

[LLG] Son's mission to preserve memories of 93-year-old mom earns him unexpected recognition

Last year, Kang Heon-koo, 63, undertook an intriguing personal project: reconstructing a map of his family's now-defunct old village using the memories of his 93-year-old mother. The goal of the map-making was twofold: to visually preserve his mother’s memories before they fade and to keep himself engaged in a productive pursuit during retirement. With his old Samsung Galaxy smartphone, he recorded the process of piecing together the lost landscape of a small village in Bucheon, Gye

Aug. 7, 2024

[Herald Review] ‘Revolver’ a slow-burning noir complete with icy protagonist, diverse characters

“Revolver” may give you a sense of an action-packed revenge noir, but the movie is about a former policewoman on the trail of vengeance. It’s a thriller -- or even a psychodrama -- revolving around a fearless woman obsessed with one goal: Getting her money back. Though ex-cop Ha Soo-young’s (Jeon Do-yeon) motive behind chasing after the some 700 million won ($509,447) she was promised in return for taking the rap and going to prison remains unclear to viewers, director Oh

Aug. 6, 2024

[Herald Interview] Jeon lauds color director brings to tale of broken promise

It was the fear of repeating her performance in “The Shameless (2015)” that led veteran star Jeon Do-yeon to think twice before teaming up again with director Oh Seung-uk for her latest noir “Revolver.” The actress had promised him to do the film, so she pressed on, constantly reminding herself of creative ways to play the new character who, Jeon says, is ironically identified by the notion of promise. “So I pushed hard against projecting emotions, being as understa

Aug. 6, 2024

‘Mission: Cross’ exudes simple, entertaining energy of detective wife and stay-at-home husband

Netflix's upcoming action comedy film “Mission: Cross” featuring a detective wife and stay-at-home husband with secret pasts, will exude entertaining energy, said the movie’s director and actors on Monday. Hwang Jung-min stars as Kang-moo, a stay-at-home husband who hides his past as a former agent, and Yeom Jung-ah plays veteran crime squad team member Mi-seon, who was once an Asian Game silver medalist in shooting. After learning about her husband’s past, Mi-seon g

Aug. 5, 2024

Jo Jung-suk’s gender-bending comedy ‘Pilot’ sells 1m tickets in 4 days

“Pilot,” a South Korean comedy flick about an unemployed former pilot disguising himself as a woman to get a new role, has attracted over 1 million moviegoers since the movie’s release on July 31. According to the Korean Film Council data, the movie has attracted an accumulated 1.33 million moviegoers in four days since its opening here. The movie attracted 441,537 moviegoers on Saturday alone, leading the local box office. A trusted name in comedy flicks, actor Jo Jung-suk sta

Aug. 4, 2024