SHIRI Trailer: Kang Je-Gyu’s Propulsive Spy Thriller Classic Gets A 4K Relaunch This Month!
CJ ENM is proudly bringing back home Kang Je-gyu’s explosive spy action classic back to Korean cinemas on March 19!
song kang ho
NYAFF XXII Review: THE HOST Challenges You To Destroy All Monsters
Bong Joon-ho has been on movies for close to thirty (count ’em) years now. His feature film resumè began several years after, with black comedy Barking Dogs Never Bite in 2000. Indeed, not all of his films have been commercial hits. Still, this is neither to say nor imply his directorial work hasn’t stricken a chord with critics. That includes the milestone success of his 2013 sci-fi epic, Snowpiercer, a explosive coverage of socio-political meltdown amid the dystopian fallout as uprising escalates class warfare on a speeding global train. Of course, the claim to that film’s victor wasn’t without its share of hurdles, with Bong resigned to advocating fervently against the will of cut-crazy producers at the now-defunct The Weinstein Company, for his cut to get the release it deserved. Bong would go on to ante-up even further, partnering with Netflix for the release of Okja which earned two nominations, […]
COBWEB: Song Kang-Ho Is An Artist Trapped In Inspiration In The First Trailer
Fully immersed in vibrance for its introspection is Cobweb, a dramatic new thriller with a trailer now online and ripe with energy. It’s the latest from director Kim Jee-woon who has been best known for delivering pulsating actioners and cult favorites like A Bittersweet Life, I Saw The Devil and manga adaptation Ilang: The Wolf Brigade, now reteaming with leading man Song Kang-ho for a fifth time since 1998’s The Quiet Family, and the hit 2000 comedy, The Foul King. Kim, who recently delivered Apple TV+ series “Dr. Brain,” directs from a script he wrote with Shin Youn-shik (Rough Play), with a story that, according to the film’s press kit, is inspired by Kim’s own mid-pandemic ruminations and reflections on the filmmaking process re: “creativity” and “originality,” and what kind of impact cinema will have in the future. As Kim himself noted in the director’s statement of the press kit, […]
Streaming Sleepers: Catch KCCNY’s Korean Movie Night At Home’s Master Series: Song Kang-Ho For Free Now!
I’m late to the party on this but I don’t get these announcements sent to me directly so I only managed to stumble upon this update over the weekend, but The Korean Cultural Center New York is already underway with its newest virtual screening series celebrating the work of actor Song Kang-ho. Six titles are streaming per Korean Movie Night at Home’s Master’s Series: Actor Song Kang-ho which kicked off on October 28, and as of this report, that leaves a little under two weeks for everyone to take a gander at some free viewing with some required membership which is a cinch to finish up in the process. Titles include Joint Security Area, Secret Reunion, The Face Reader, The Attorney, A Taxi Driver, and The King’s Letters. I’ve seen at least three of these already in the last few years, including A Taxi Driver and JSA – Joint Security Area, and […]
EMERGENCY DECLARATION Review: Measuring Terror At 30,000 Against All Odds
A pilot passes by someone he recognizes. A man gets irate with an airline clerk before resuming a grisly task in the mens’ room. A detective on the ground makes a gruesome discovery… These are just a few of the precursors that happen going into the next 140 minutes of nearly non-stop suspense in Han Jae-rim’s new aviation thriller, Emergency Declaration, from director Han Jae-rim, and starring Song Kang-ho and Lee Byun-hun among the roster. With a plane full of as many as 150 passengers headed from Incheon to Honolulu as its taking off, a mysterious man (Im Si-wan) plots something nefarious in the bathroom, and as the hours pass, it becomes clear that people are suddenly getting sick and dying from whatever is circulating on the plane. The illness is soon discovered as a bioweapon attack carried out by a disgrunted former employee of a company who had uploaded […]
EMERGENCY DECLARATION Teaser Trailer: Song Kang-Ho And Lee Byung-Hun Tackle Unfriendly Skies
Premiering Out Of Competition at Cannes next week is The King helmer Han Jae-rim’s newest thriller, Emergency Declaration. The latest international teaser trailer is making the rounds from the reps at Showbox, with actors Song Kang-ho (Parasite) and Lee Byung-hun (Ashfall) top-billed to head the story of passengers aboard a plane forced to declare an emergency when an unprecedented terror occurs in flight. That’s pretty much it for the logline too, and the rest is up to what you can gather from the footage being offered, on top of the poster which you can view below. There’s unrest, upheaval and the constant threat of imminent danger that lends a lot to pick apart here. Acquisition news remains pending so don’t wait up too long, but keep this one on radar for sure.
Arrow Review: Park Chan-Wook’s JOINT SECURITY AREA (JSA), A Lamentation Of Peace Through A Darkly Pragmatic Lens
It was around 2005 or ’06 when I finally managed to observe the work of director Park Chan-wook with an online buy of Oldboy. At this point, Park had already reveled in the ceremony of his previous work, notably with his 2000 film, Joint Security Area (JSA), which still stands on ceremony to this day with film fans as one of the most highly regarded of the last two decades. Set against the backdrop of intense relations between the North and the South, Park’s tale of murder bodes as more of a multi-layered epic drama going about thirty minutes in; The film is set in Panmunjom where soldiers from both Koreas hold the fort on opposite ends of the ‘Bridge of No Return’, initially introducing Swiss-Korean army major Sophie Jean (Lee Young-ae) to the story as the pointwoman for the Neutral Nations Supervisory Committee in its investigation of what happened […]
EMERGENCY DECLARATION: Lee Byung-Hun And Song Kang-Ho Take To The Skies For New South Korean Thriller
The likelihood of 2020 releases may reside for what comes next with actor Lee Byung-hun. The South Korean star of the action-packed Netflix K-Drama, Mr. Sunshine, will star in Emergency Declaration with celebrated actor Song Kang-ho. The King director Han Jae-rim will take the helm for the new thriller which is described as a disaster flick set on an airplane. Both actors share a trio of preceding credits listing Park Chan-wook’s JSA, and Kim Jee-Woon’s whirlwind Western romp, The Good, The Bad, The Weird, and searing period thriller, The Age Of Shadows. The film also marks another reunion for Han who directed Song in The Show Must Go On and The Face Reader; Song currently stars in the Palme d’Or-winning feature, Parasite, from director Bong Joon-Ho, which opens in North America on October 11 from NEON. Song is the latest recipient of this year’s Excellence Award at the 72nd annual […]
THE DRUG KING: Song Kang-Ho Reigns In The Official Poster And Trailer
Inside Man helmer Woo Min-ho is officially en route to theaters December 19 with his newest pic, The Drug King. The official trailer and poster are out as well, though it’s the poster at the bottom of the page that deserves to be heralded as much as there’s aplenty in reasons why multiaward-winning actor Song Kang-ho gets to take the full page. Apart from his accolades, his conviction shows in all its purity. RISE AND FALL OF A DRUG LORD WHO STUNNED THE NATION IN 1970s Lee Doo-sam (SONG Kang-ho) is a small time smuggler in Busan, Korea. One day, he helps the mob smuggle meth by chance and finds himself falling into the dark crime world. Being quick-witted and full of ambition, he eventually overtakes the underworld and starts to lead a double life: a good community leader during day but during the night, an infamous drug lord who […]
THE DRUG KING: Song Kang-Ho Reaps The Grim Seeds Of Ambition In The First Official Teaser
2016 was a banner year for director Woo Min-ho following dark thriller Man Of Vendetta and lighthearted spy flick, The Spies. He accrued mutliple ‘Bests’ at festivals for his sprawling 2016 corporate crime thriller, Inside Man, and he’s since made his return to the helm for the long-awaited 70’s-set The Drug King which opens December 19 featuring Song Kang-ho. He’s joined by actress Bae Doo-na and fellow cohort from The Face Reader, actor Cho Jung-seok for the story not far from many who are keen on narrative “rise-and-fall” crime epics. This one sees Song in the role of Lee Doo-sam, a small time smuggler in Busan who rises to the occasion per the illegal drug trade and rides his way up the ladder forthwith to become the head of his own criminal empire. The official trailer is finally here ahead of its December release. View it above as well as […]
Review: Jang Hun’s A TAXI DRIVER Enthralls And Reminices On A Time When Getting It On Video Meant Something
I haven’t seen a lot of films featuring actor Song Kang-Ho, although I can assert that he has never disappointed in being the entertaining actor that he is. Films like The Good, The Bad, The Weird, Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance and Snowpiercer come to mind, and I can certainly now add his latest performance in acclaimed filmmaker Jang Hoon’s A Taxi Driver to the list. Reuniting with Jang since the 2010 action drama, The Secret Reunion, Song stars as Kim Man-Seob, a former soldier-turned-Seoul taxi driver struggling to make ends meet for himself and his daughter Eun-Jung. Desperate to pay the rent and keep the peace with his landlord, he jips a private cab service of its new scheduled pick-up: a high-paying customer named Peter who declares himself a missionary upon entry in South Korea. Learning his latest mealticket happens to, instead, be German reporter from Japan covering the Gwangju […]
Watch The U.S. Trailer For Kim Jee-Woon's Thrilling Spy Flick, THE AGE OF SHADOWS
Things are looking lively for I Saw The Devil and The Last Stand helmer Kim Jee-Woon whose latest, The Age Of Shadows, is being noted as a worthy Oscar contender. It’s also great first for Warner Bros. as it is their first Korean production, and with a director like Kim now poised for more stellar work to follow, including a live-action adaptation of the hit anime feature, Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade. Bear these in mind when you look at the trailer for The Age Of Shadows, now leaving numerous, upbeat reviews in its wake after premiering in Venice prior to its Toronto screenings as of Friday. The high production value and intensity here speak highly to Kim’s ability to craft a fictional tale around an albeit real-world period era, and with morsels of intrigue, action and danger to top it all off. Indeed, it’s a good time to be a […]
Check Out The New Trailer For Kim Jee-Woon's THE AGE OF SHADOWS
I Saw The Devil and The Last Stand helmer Kim Jee-Woon has returned with a thrilling new period pic, The Age Of Shadows, which now has a first trailer circulating online. You can expect this one to make the festival rounds while a date is currently pending for Warner Bros.’s premiere Korean this September release of the film, and with actors Song Kang-Ho and Gong Yoo leading the cast. SYNOPSIS: Set in the late 1920s, The Age of Shadows follows the cat-and-mouse game that unfolds between a group of resistance fighters led by Gong’s character, trying to bring in explosives from Shanghai to destroy key Japanese facilities in Seoul, and Japanese agents trying to stop them. Song plays a talented Korean-born Japanese police officer who was previously in the independence movement himself and is thrown into a dilemma between the demands of his reality and the instinct to support a greater […]
Now Available: SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGEANCE (2002)
CJ Entertainment It’s easy to see why Park Chan-Wook has become such a favorite over the years, particularly with his Vengenace trilogy dating back to the 2002 release of Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance. I had only been familiar with the 2003 release of Oldboy, the second of all three Vengeance titles with each film telling a different tale, and so it’s only a matter of time before I set out to catch Lady Vengeance in the process. For now, I speak of the first film which centers on Shin Ha-Kyun as Ryu, a jobless deaf mute who, after a failed attempt to sell his kidney to the black market to acquire the funds for his ailing sister’s own kidney operation, hatches a plan with his girlfriend, Cha, to get the money he needs. However, secrets be damned, the truth unfolds in a plot that deals in kidnapping, murder, mystery, and […]
Song Kang-Ho To Star In SECRET AGENT For Warner Bros.'s Korean Debut
Big things are happening this week over at Warner Bros. with the studio now looking to ramp up its Korean-language debut for I Saw The Devil helmer, director Kim Jee-woon‘s new Korean period film, Secret Agent. The report comes as the studio has come to see Korea as a lucrative market for investing in film due to the country’s successes in recent years, in addition to Fox’s latest slew of Korean titles, including Intimate Enemies starring Ryoo Seung-Bum. Secret Agent was reportedly pitched to the studio by Harbin production CEO Lee Jin-sook, and is currently being described as a co-production venture between Warner Bros. and Grimm Pictures, with Warner Bros. fully financing the film, according to Variety. Actor Song Kang-Ho is set to reunite with the director following the 2008 flick, The Good, The Bad And The Weird and there is currently is no plot for the film said to […]
South Korean Period Drama, THE THRONE Rules With A New Teaser!
The Joseon dynasty remains evermore a staple for directors to build off of in film, leaving plenty of actors to leave quite the impression as well. Leave that to Blades Of Blood helmer, acclaimed director Lee Joon-Ik whose new period drama, The Throne is gearing up for a release in September in the good company of actor Yoo Ah-In, and beloved actor Song Kang-Ho at the center of a compelling period drama with political upheaval, intense conflict, and inner turmoil that puts this a royal family on the brink. SYNOPSIS: In the year of 1762, when King Yeongjo of the Joseon dynasty’s been ruling for 35 years already, Crown prince Sado is accused of plotting treason by his biological mother lady Yi. Yeongjo falls into a dilemma since he could not penalize his own son as a traitor as it would mean that he would become the father of a […]
SNOWPIERCER Gets A New Poster For Its U.S. Release
Any news is good news since director Bong Joon-ho won the battle to grant filmgoers the desired viewing of his version of his new critically acclaimed sci-fi epic, Snowpiercer. So on Friday, the kind folks over at Vulture unveiled the newest North American artwork for the film which you can take a look at below. SYNOPSIS: “Snowpiercer,” based on the French graphic novel “Le Transperceneige,” is set in a future where, after a failed experiment to stop global warming, an Ice Age kills off all life on the planet except for the inhabitants of the Snow Piercer, a train that travels around the globe and is powered by a sacred perpetual-motion engine. A class system evolves on the train but a revolution brews. The film is getting a day-and-date release in the U.S. on June 27, meaning you will be able to catch the film in select theaters throughout the […]
SNOWPIERCER Gets Its First Official U.S. Trailer
Have you ever gotten the feeling of total, absolute frustration from hearing that other people have seen a movie for you? Well, I certainly got that feeling before the The Raid 2 finally hit theaters, and I will be fixing that same problem when I go and see X-Men: Days Of Future Past. But especially, I know where I will be on the weekend of June 27 when director Bong Joon-Ho‘s newest critically-acclaimed sci-fi action thriller, Snowpiercer, arrives on its day-and-date digital, VoD and theatrical release. And to think that all it took was a roughly a whole year after it was released in South Korea and other audiences around the world to much fan appeal. Nearly a year. It never should have taken this long. SYNOPSIS: In a future where a failed global-warming experiment kills off all life on the planet except for a lucky few that boarded the […]
The New Red-Band Trailer For SNOWPIERCER Draws Plenty Of Red!
It’s been a long time coming, but director Bong Joon-ho‘s latest film, Snowpiercer is finally getting the North American treatment it should have gotten at least last year. Granted, it will only be a day-and-date release, but considering how long and hard Bong fought to get his cut of the film approved after The Weinstein Company acquired the rights to it with the goal of cutting it down in order to be able to sell it to middle America, a limited theatrical release is a small price to pay. And to boot, we’re talking about a film that has already earned the explicit praise and approval of most critics around the world who have seen the film, if not all of them. Snowpiercer has an ensemble cast led by actors Song Kang-Ho, Chris Evans, Tilda Swinton and Ko Ah-sung, with Jamie Bell, Octavia Spencer, Ewen Brewmner, Alison Pill, John Hurt […]
Bong Joon-Ho's SNOWPIERCER Keeps Its Director’s Cut For North America
It’s been a long, long await for South Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-ho as he sought to see his latest film, Snowpiercer, get its day in theaters around the world, including in North America. Evidently, as the film launched its success story with rave reviews from its previous releases in South Korea, Hong Kong and France, in addition to its positive test audience ratings for the director’s cut against TWC’s, the film suffered from a major snag last year as Harvey Weinstein felt it necessary to chop the film down for its U.S. audiences in southern states so it would sell better as a condensed action movie. This obviously did not settle well with the director and it ultimately lead to a long and winding debate that kept the film’s North American release in an unnecessary state of limbo while Bong and TWC sorted out their differences, until Thursday night when […]
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