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

Film Aug. 19, 2024

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

Film Aug. 18, 2024

“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

Film Aug. 18, 2024

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,

Film Aug. 18, 2024

Just as if you had walked into a local bakery somewhere in rural America, “What A Bread” (WAB), a newly opened bakery in a bustling food alley next to Yongsan Station, is where you can enjoy a creative variety of baked goods. The last few years have seen Korean bakeries grow more creative than ever, with genre-bending techniques and innovative flavor combinations. WAB, which perfectly fits into the category of bakeries that offer good pastries, has the freshest and the most filling

Food Aug. 17, 2024

“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

Film Aug. 16, 2024

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

Film Aug. 14, 2024

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

Film Aug. 12, 2024

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

Film Aug. 9, 2024

“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

Film Aug. 9, 2024

“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

Film Aug. 9, 2024

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

Film Aug. 8, 2024

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.

Film Aug. 7, 2024

“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

Film Aug. 6, 2024

Hidden in a back alley of Namyeong-dong in Seoul's Yongsan-gu or near subway line No. 4 Sookmyung Women’s University station, Nampark truly stands out from other restaurants down the road – a street filled with trendy restaurants that open and also close down without fanfare. Nampark, which takes its name from the family names of married head chefs Nam Joon-young and Park Ji-eun, sells Vietnamese pho and other Vietnamese food that locals enjoy during the day, something light and

Food Aug. 6, 2024