Archive for the ‘Cinema’ Category

The Old Garden (2007)

January 21, 2008

The Old Garden

IMDb Link……: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0939911/
Genre…………: Drama / History / Romance
Year………….: 2007
Country……….: Korea
Director………: Sang-soo Im

After 17 years of imprisonment, democracy activist Hyun Woo (Ji Jin Hee) is released from prison, but what awaits him is an unfamiliar world. He feels lost and displaced in a Korea that has gone through a myriad of changes in the last two decades. His former comrades are now salarymen, and all he went through in the past seems to be for nought. Learning that his love Yoon Hee (Yeon Jung Ah) has passed away, Hyun Woo returns to the countryside where they met, and revisits the past through her diaries and letters. During the tumultuous 80s, the young Hyun Woo found romance and refuge with Yoon Hee, and 17 years later, the memory of her love again provides a guiding light.

Fighter In The Wind (2004)

January 19, 2008

Fighter In The Wind

IMDB-link……: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0416499/
Genre…………: Action / Biography / Drama
Year………….: 2004
Country……….: Korea

“Bone crushing non-stop Karate excellence comes to invade your home movie theater as the story of real-life hero Choi Bae-dal offers you adrenaline-filled action that will keep you nailed to your seat.

Yang Dong-geun portrays the film’s protagonist a farmer boy Choi Bae-dal who grows up to practice martial arts skills to perfection. Originally planning to become a pilot, he later abandons this plan and wanders through the streets at night rescuing people in need. After his revered teacher and friend Bum-soo is slain by a gang of Japanese hoodlums Choi intensifies his training and continues to take on Karate experts all over Japan.”

The Twilight Samurai (2002)

January 18, 2008

The Twilight Samurai

IMDb Link……: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0351817/
Genre…………: Action / Drama
Distributor……: ?
Year………….: 2002
Country……….: Japan
Director………: Yoji Yamada

Seibei Iguchi, a low-ranking samurai, leads a life without glory as a bureaucrat in the mid-XIX century Japan. A widower, he has charge of two daughters (whom he adores) and a senile mother; he must therefore work in the fields and accept piecework to make ends meet. New prospects seem to open up when Tomoe, his long-time love, divorces a brutal husband. However, even as the Japanese feudal system is unraveling, Seibei remains bound by the code of honour of the samurai and by his own sense of social precedences. The consequences are cruel.

The Warlords (2007)

January 10, 2008

The Warlords

IMDb Link……: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0913968/
Genre…………: Action
Distributor……: ❓
Year………….: 2007
Country……….: China
Director………: Peter Chan

It’s a heroic tale of three blood brothers and their struggle in the midst of war and political upheaval. It is based on “The Assassination of Ma,” a Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) story about the killing of general Ma Xinyi. The story was filmed by Zhang Che in 1973 as The Blood Brothers.

A Love (2007)

January 10, 2008

A Love

Link……: http://www.sarang2007.co.kr
Genre…………: Action Drama
Distributor……:
Year………….: 2007
Country……….: Korea
Director………: KyungTaek Kwak

The latest film by the director of “Typhoon” and “Friends,” “A Love” is the tragic love story of In-ho and Mi-ju. In-ho is willing to do anything to protect his first love, Mi-ju, including murder. They cannot forget each other while In-ho is in prison, but their love does not go smoothly.

The Valley of Flowers (2007)

January 3, 2008

Valley of Flowers

Genre: Adventure / Romance / Action / Drama / History / Religion
Year: 2007
Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0392883/

Love is eternal, lovers are not.

The highly anticipated new film from Pan Nalin, the director of Samsara, Valley of flowers is an amazing Himalayan legend of love, death and immortality over two centuries that ends up in modern day Tokyo.

Along the highest mountain passes of the Himalayas, tough, intrepid Jalan (Milind Soman) and his gang earn their living by stealing from unsuspecting travellers. Abiding by their own, unique codes of honour and dividing the spoils equally, all is routine until the arrival of the mystifying, beautiful Ushna (Lena Jam-Panoi). Appearing mysteriously after the raid of a pilgrim caravan, Ushna adheres to Jalan, claiming to have seen him in her dreams, and refusing to leave his side. Sensing the unsettledness of the rest of the men, Ushna offers to help them in their endeavours, under condition that they not ask why or how she is able to guide them to success.

In the time that follows, Ushna leads the gang to tremendous exploits, gaining the respect of the men, and the admiration of Jalan, who begins to fall passionately in love with this mysterious woman. As their success increases, seemingly unstoppable, so the love between Jalan and Ushna mounts in intensity, until they seem to have entered a world of their own. No longer heeding of the world around them, Jalan and Ushna venture too far in their exploits, progressing from the theft of material objects to tampering with elements that should never be tampered with; stealing energy, luck and even the powers of levitation, the two cross over into the bounds of the supernatural, until fate puts an abrupt end to their rapturous adventure.

Word of the duo and their strange exploits reaches the shrewd, robust General Yeti (Naseeruddin Shah), who takes after them with his gang of experienced bounty hunters. In the confusion of pursuit, Jalan and Ushna face a temporary separation, the shock of which drives each to desperation. Having lost luck, wealth and friends, the fated two are nevertheless fortuitously reunited. Their passion running higher than ever, they vow never to be separated again, even if this entails deceiving fate and cheating mortality. But life always reserves surprises…

Gardens of Heaven (Haneul jeongwon 2003)

December 16, 2007

Gardens of Heaven

IMDB link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0358503/
Director: Lee Dong-Hyeon
Genre: Romance
Production: Dusondrim Pictures, Amuse Korea
Distribution: ShowBox
Language: Korean
Country: South Korea

Choi is emotionally scarred by the experience of losing his parents as a child. That’s why he is so surprised when he meets Kim, another orphan, and finds himself opening his heart to her. But Choi could lose Kim as easily as he falls in love with her, as she is dying from in incurable disease.

In Between Days (2006)

December 16, 2007

In Between Days

IMDb Link……: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0492463/
Official Hope Page: http://www.filmsalt.com/soandbrad/sbinbetday.htm
Genre…………: Drama
Distributor……: Kino International
Year………….: 2006
Country……….: Korea
Director………: So Yong Kim

Aimie, a newly arrived Korean immigrant teenager, has fallen in love with her best and only friend, Tran. She tries to express her feelings for him, but is scared of losing their friendship. Their misunderstood affection for each other creates a delicate relationship that is challenged by the demands of living in a new country. To spend more time with Tran, Aimie drops out of her English class, which she is failing. She fights against her mother who wants to remarry and then realizes she’s losing Tran to an Americanized Korean girl. Aimie’s world becomes more isolated, until she is forced to look inside herself for answers.

Love Now (2007)

December 15, 2007

Love Now

IMDb Link……: N/A ;http://www.asiandb.com/browse/movie_detail.pfm?code=6409
Genre…………: Drama, Romance.
Distributor……: Cinema Service (ART Service).
Year………….: 2007.
Country……….: South Korea.
Director………: Yeong Yun-Su.

From YesAsia: One couple marries out of love, then falls out of love. Another couple marries without love, then fails to find love. Enter seduction. Love Now (a.k.a. Changing Partners), directed by Jung Yoon Soo (My Girl and I), revolves around the infidelities of two married couples who inadvertently engage in couple swapping. The film features the all-star casting of Uhm Jung Hwa (Seducing Mr. Perfect), Park Yong Woo (World Of Silence), Han Chae Young (Wild Card), and Lee Dong Gun (My Boyfriend Is Type B). Yoo Na (Uhm Jung Hwa) is a sexy fashion consultant who demands perfection in her work and marriage. Her husband of three years, Min Jae (Park Yong Woo), is a sensitive hotel manager with a gentle charisma. They share a connection more as friends than as a couple. So Yeo (Han Chae Young) is a sophisticated lighting designer who feels dissatisfied with her passionless marriage to workaholic Young Joon (Lee Dong Gun). Their marriage is nothing more than a legal contract. Their relationships take an unexpected turn when Young Joon meets Yoo Na during a fashion consultation, and Min Jae and So Yeo run in to each other in Hong Kong. All four become both victims and offenders in this deceptive game of love and seduction. Will they ever find out the truth about each other?

Failan (2001)

December 15, 2007

Failan

IMDB-link……: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0289181/
Genre…………: Drama / Romance
Year………….: 2001
Country……….: South Korea

After losing both her parents, Failan (Cecilia Cheung) emmigrates to Korea to seek her only remaining relatives. Once she reaches Korea, she finds out that her relatives have moved to Canada well over a year ago. Desperate to stay and make a living in Korea, Failan is forced to have an arranged marriage through a match-making agency. Kang Jae (Choi Min Shik) is an old and outdated gangster who has no respect from his peers. Short on money, Kang Jae decides to take on the arranged marriage. Having nothing more than a picture of Kang Jae, Failan spends her days dreaming and wishing that Kang Jae would come to visit her. Failan often writes to Kang Jae in sorrow about how much she misses and thinks about him, but never has the nerve to give the letters to Kang Jae. Things take a turn when Kang Jae is asked by his boss to take the fall for a murder in exchange for some money. The only hope in his worthless life is the wife he never met.