I wish I could handle bad news with the levity that Heejun Han displayed last night. Heejun, the 22-year-old Korean American from Flushing, N.Y., was eliminated Thursday night after the judges chose not to save him. About an hour and a half after the show, Heejun strolled into the media room pretending to sob into a white handkerchief. “No questions!” he shouted dramatically.
Thus began a series of interviews during which Heejun deadpanned one witty remark after another. “I’m going to try out for The Voice next year,” he joked to one reporter. When one journalist asked Heejun...
Thus began a series of interviews during which Heejun deadpanned one witty remark after another. “I’m going to try out for The Voice next year,” he joked to one reporter. When one journalist asked Heejun...
- 3/30/2012
- by John Young
- EW - Inside TV
Fans of Dexter and the films of Guillermo Del Toro will find a couple of familiar faces in upcoming indie thriller Innocence Blood. C.S. Lee and Doug Jones stars in the kidnap thriller from Sun Kim and DJ Holloway, a picture that looks to be a very strong bit of work.Sun W. Kim and D.J. Holloway, behind several award winning short films, makes their feature film debut with Innocence Blood. The suspense thriller tells the story of James Park, a retired detective turned college professor, who is forced to face his dark past in order to find his son Cody's kidnapper. James Park, played by Jun-Seong Kim (Manchu, West 32nd), a well decorated, officer is exposed for who he really is by his son's...
- 9/1/2011
- Screen Anarchy
Attention, all nerds, geeks and fanboys (and, trust me, I count myself among your ranks): The Los Angeles Comic Book and Science Fiction Convention is coming, and this year’s festivities feature a healthy dose of campy cult goodness!
This year’s show, on Sunday, November 8, will feature an exclusive 40th anniversary screening of The Green Slime, the 1969 cult science fiction classic. Notorious for its unequaled goofiness, which manifests in every element from its theme song to its low-budget effects, the film was a success thanks to aggressive marketing, including an appearance on the cover to Famous Monsters of Filmland #57.
The Green Slime, which follows the inhabitants of a space station as they’re attacked by tentacled green aliens that multiply when they’re shot, was directed by Kinji Fukasaku, who would become more of a cult figure in later years with his adaptation of Battle Royale. The screenplay was penned by Bill Finger,...
This year’s show, on Sunday, November 8, will feature an exclusive 40th anniversary screening of The Green Slime, the 1969 cult science fiction classic. Notorious for its unequaled goofiness, which manifests in every element from its theme song to its low-budget effects, the film was a success thanks to aggressive marketing, including an appearance on the cover to Famous Monsters of Filmland #57.
The Green Slime, which follows the inhabitants of a space station as they’re attacked by tentacled green aliens that multiply when they’re shot, was directed by Kinji Fukasaku, who would become more of a cult figure in later years with his adaptation of Battle Royale. The screenplay was penned by Bill Finger,...
- 10/23/2009
- by sean
- FamousMonsters of Filmland
Drag Me to Hell
Girl says no to woman at the bank, and soon falls under the wrath of the woman's witchy gypsy ways. It sounds like you're regular ol' horror movie, but it's also Sam Raimi's return to the genre. I wasn't the biggest fan of the film, but considering the fact that most of the people I know loved it, I'll defer to them. In his review, Peter Martin said: "Raimi has made a joyful romp through his personal horror playground and come up with a very entertaining horror-comedy that gets back to the basics." Buy it. Also on Blu-ray.
Add to Netflix queue | Buy at Amazon
The Proposal
Sandra Bullock is an easy-to-hate boss ... until she's about to be deported back to Canada. Desperate to keep her job and stay in the U.S., she whips up a marriage of convenience with her assistant Ryan Reynolds.
Girl says no to woman at the bank, and soon falls under the wrath of the woman's witchy gypsy ways. It sounds like you're regular ol' horror movie, but it's also Sam Raimi's return to the genre. I wasn't the biggest fan of the film, but considering the fact that most of the people I know loved it, I'll defer to them. In his review, Peter Martin said: "Raimi has made a joyful romp through his personal horror playground and come up with a very entertaining horror-comedy that gets back to the basics." Buy it. Also on Blu-ray.
Add to Netflix queue | Buy at Amazon
The Proposal
Sandra Bullock is an easy-to-hate boss ... until she's about to be deported back to Canada. Desperate to keep her job and stay in the U.S., she whips up a marriage of convenience with her assistant Ryan Reynolds.
- 10/13/2009
- by Monika Bartyzel
- Cinematical
West 32nd
Pusan International Film Festival
BUSAN, South Korea -- For all intents and purposes, West 32nd is the kind of urban crime drama that has played out on screens for years. Few have never seen a gangland thriller, and Korea has coasted on an industry of these kinds of films for many years. What separates Michael Kang's second feature from the rest, however, is the location: New York's shady Koreatown. By transplanting the room salons and hierarchies to Queens, Kang has created a film that's both fresh and familiar.
West 32nd has enough to make it appealing to both general and niche festivals, but the familiarity of the narrative could make it a moderate success on the art house circuit overseas, the same market that supported Infernal Affairs and many of Kitano Takeshi's films.
John (John Cho) is an ambitious junior defense lawyer fresh out the public defender's office. He pursues the case of a 14-year-old who allegedly killed a prominent gangster, Jin-Ho (Korean actor Jeong Jun-Ho). While sniffing around for details, he meets up-and-coming foot soldier Mike (the extremely charismatic Jun Kim), who's just as ambitious as John is.
Between them is the killer's sister, Lila (Grace Park, Battlestar Galactica), who went to school with Mike. Needless to say, John and Mike's worlds clash, setting them up for some fresh doses of reality that ends in a detente of sorts.
What makes West 32nd stand out is its peek into the Korean diaspora's criminal subculture, one that is overshadowed by Triads and Yakuza. While that's novel in itself -- at least for overseas audiences -- Kang and writer Edmund Lee do an effective job of creating characters that are equally out of place in their chosen worlds.
John is a pitch-perfect illustration of a Korean-American who can't find a way into the affluent Manhattan life he so craves. He doesn't speak the language but resorts to using his Asian advantage to get there. Mike is too American for his colleagues and bosses -- he's perceived as a disrespectful cowboy -- and eventually turns to violence to prove his Korean-ness and move up the ranks. Lila is the good daughter that puts family first, though she's not above working outside the system to protect it.
Kang, whose last film was the comedic coming-of-age comedy The Motel, coaxes believable and, for some, recognizable performances from his leads, and each does a superb job of crystallizing the experience of simultaneously being labeled foreign and domestic.
The film also offers a look at intra-Asian dynamics that are easily overlooked by English-speaking audiences and filmmakers in favor of more easily identifiable sources of urban friction (Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing springs to mind).
Cinematographer Simon Cuoll's neon-pierced nighttime landscapes efficiently realize the dark corners Mike and his crew live in and that John becomes enamored with. It's not a new story, but the players are, and that gives the film its edge.
WEST 32ND
A CJ Entertainment America production
Credits:
Director: Michael Kang
Writer: Edmund Lee, Michael Kang
Producer: Teddy Zee
Executive producer: Jamin O'Brien, Ted Kim, Kim Joo-Sung
Director of photography: Simon Cuoll
Production designer: Carol Strober
Music: Nathan Larson
Co-producers: Sabine Schenk, Choi Joon-Hwan
Costume designer: Kitty Boots
Editor: David Leonard
Cast:
John Kim: John Cho
Mike Juhn: Jun Kim
Lila Lee: Grace Park
Suki: Jane Kim
Danny: Dante Ham
Saeng: Lanny Joon
Jin-Ho: Jeong Jun-Ho
Kyuc: Hans Kim
Running time -- 96 minutes...
BUSAN, South Korea -- For all intents and purposes, West 32nd is the kind of urban crime drama that has played out on screens for years. Few have never seen a gangland thriller, and Korea has coasted on an industry of these kinds of films for many years. What separates Michael Kang's second feature from the rest, however, is the location: New York's shady Koreatown. By transplanting the room salons and hierarchies to Queens, Kang has created a film that's both fresh and familiar.
West 32nd has enough to make it appealing to both general and niche festivals, but the familiarity of the narrative could make it a moderate success on the art house circuit overseas, the same market that supported Infernal Affairs and many of Kitano Takeshi's films.
John (John Cho) is an ambitious junior defense lawyer fresh out the public defender's office. He pursues the case of a 14-year-old who allegedly killed a prominent gangster, Jin-Ho (Korean actor Jeong Jun-Ho). While sniffing around for details, he meets up-and-coming foot soldier Mike (the extremely charismatic Jun Kim), who's just as ambitious as John is.
Between them is the killer's sister, Lila (Grace Park, Battlestar Galactica), who went to school with Mike. Needless to say, John and Mike's worlds clash, setting them up for some fresh doses of reality that ends in a detente of sorts.
What makes West 32nd stand out is its peek into the Korean diaspora's criminal subculture, one that is overshadowed by Triads and Yakuza. While that's novel in itself -- at least for overseas audiences -- Kang and writer Edmund Lee do an effective job of creating characters that are equally out of place in their chosen worlds.
John is a pitch-perfect illustration of a Korean-American who can't find a way into the affluent Manhattan life he so craves. He doesn't speak the language but resorts to using his Asian advantage to get there. Mike is too American for his colleagues and bosses -- he's perceived as a disrespectful cowboy -- and eventually turns to violence to prove his Korean-ness and move up the ranks. Lila is the good daughter that puts family first, though she's not above working outside the system to protect it.
Kang, whose last film was the comedic coming-of-age comedy The Motel, coaxes believable and, for some, recognizable performances from his leads, and each does a superb job of crystallizing the experience of simultaneously being labeled foreign and domestic.
The film also offers a look at intra-Asian dynamics that are easily overlooked by English-speaking audiences and filmmakers in favor of more easily identifiable sources of urban friction (Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing springs to mind).
Cinematographer Simon Cuoll's neon-pierced nighttime landscapes efficiently realize the dark corners Mike and his crew live in and that John becomes enamored with. It's not a new story, but the players are, and that gives the film its edge.
WEST 32ND
A CJ Entertainment America production
Credits:
Director: Michael Kang
Writer: Edmund Lee, Michael Kang
Producer: Teddy Zee
Executive producer: Jamin O'Brien, Ted Kim, Kim Joo-Sung
Director of photography: Simon Cuoll
Production designer: Carol Strober
Music: Nathan Larson
Co-producers: Sabine Schenk, Choi Joon-Hwan
Costume designer: Kitty Boots
Editor: David Leonard
Cast:
John Kim: John Cho
Mike Juhn: Jun Kim
Lila Lee: Grace Park
Suki: Jane Kim
Danny: Dante Ham
Saeng: Lanny Joon
Jin-Ho: Jeong Jun-Ho
Kyuc: Hans Kim
Running time -- 96 minutes...
- 10/7/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Cho hanging with CBS' Silveri pilot
John Cho is set to star in CBS' untitled Scott Silveri comedy pilot.
Phillip C. Vaden also has been cast in the Warner Bros. TV project, which revolves around a group of people who hang out at an all-night diner from midnight-6 a.m.
Cho will play a regular at the diner, where he conducts business via his laptop. Vaden will play another regular, a preoccupied insomniac who is collecting doctorate degrees.
Cho recently wrapped Harold & Kumar 2, in which he reprises his role as Harold Lee. He next appears in The Air I Breathe and West 32nd, both of which will premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival, and Smiley Face, which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival.
He is repped by the Gersh Agency, Principato-Young and attorney Alex Kohner.
Vaden, who will next be seen in the indie feature Man Maid, is repped by the Stone Manners Agency and manager Matthew Lesher.
Phillip C. Vaden also has been cast in the Warner Bros. TV project, which revolves around a group of people who hang out at an all-night diner from midnight-6 a.m.
Cho will play a regular at the diner, where he conducts business via his laptop. Vaden will play another regular, a preoccupied insomniac who is collecting doctorate degrees.
Cho recently wrapped Harold & Kumar 2, in which he reprises his role as Harold Lee. He next appears in The Air I Breathe and West 32nd, both of which will premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival, and Smiley Face, which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival.
He is repped by the Gersh Agency, Principato-Young and attorney Alex Kohner.
Vaden, who will next be seen in the indie feature Man Maid, is repped by the Stone Manners Agency and manager Matthew Lesher.
- 4/13/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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