Bong Joon-ho revisits feel-good Oscar moments Director Bong Joon-ho, second from right second row, poses with “Parasite” cast and staff at the press conference for his historic four-Oscar win at the Westin Chosun Hotel in Seoul, Wednesday. YonhapBy Kwak Yeon-sooDirector Bong Joon-ho thanked his staff, cast and fans, saying that their endless dedication and support helped him throughout the unprecedented journey for “Parasite.”“It feels surreal that we were able to gain such widespread acclaim inside and outside the country,” Bong said at a press conference for his historic four-Oscar win at the Westin Chosun Hotel in Seoul, Wednesday.“Parasite” became the first foreign-language film to win best picture at the Academy Awards in its 92-year history on Feb. 9. It won four Oscars, including best director, best international feature film and best original screenplay. As of Feb. 19, the film has won a total of 174 awards at international film festivals and awards ceremonies.Bong shared several anecdotes that occurred during Parasite's awards-season campaign, which lasted even longer thanFeb 19, 2020By Kwak Yeon-soo
Bong says months-long Oscar campaign driven by passion, dedication South Korean actor Song Kang-ho, left, and South Korean director Bong Joon-ho speak during a press conference for the movie of Parasite in Seoul, South Korea, Feb. 19, 2020. EPA-YonhapSouth Korean auteur Bong Joon-ho of "Parasite" said Wednesday that the monthslong Oscar campaign in the United States was driven by the passion and dedication of his staff and cast.The black comedy thriller about two extreme families won four Oscar titles at the Academy Awards last week, becoming the first non-English language film to capture best picture in its 92-year history.Bong led the film's awards season campaign, which started in August and ran through the Oscars ceremony on Feb. 9, along with its U.S. distributor Neon and its production houses Barunson E&A and CJ ENM. "All films did their best to win an Oscar," Bong said in a press conference in Seoul. "But our team has to fight a guerrilla war with less budget, compared with big-name studios and Netflix."He said he and actor Song Kang-ho, who played the father of a poor family in "Parasite," did more than 600 media interviews and held specFeb 19, 2020
'Call' is female-led ticking-clock thriller From left, actresses Kim Sung-ryoung, Park Shin-hye, Jun Jong-seo and Lee El pose for a photo at a press conference for “Call” at CGV Apgujeong in Seoul, Monday. Yonhap By Kwak Yeon-sooSupernatural mystery thriller “Call” is a female-led film that defies one of cinema's fallacies that women and thrillers do not go together well. Adapted from “The Caller” released in 2011, the movie revolves around two women who are living two decades apart and are connected through an old phone. Seo-yeon, played by Park Shin-hye, lives in the present day and accidentally stumbles across an old telephone at her house. Then, she begins to receive mysterious calls from a stranger.Over time, Seo-yeon discovers that the caller is a woman named Young-sook, played by Jun Jong-seo, and the two develop an unlikely friendship. However, when Young-sook claims to be calling from the past, Seo-yeon begins to question her motives. Young-sook suggests that she will save Seo-yeon's dad in 1999, andFeb 17, 2020By Kwak Yeon-soo
In 'Jexi,' foul-mouthed virtual assistant becomes life coach Adam Devine in film “Jexi” / Courtesy of Wannabe FUNBy Kwak Yeon-soo“Jexi” is a light satirical comedy that features a virtual assistant controlling a user's phone and, furthermore, life. Imagine Siri or Alexa, but rude and controlling.The plot centers on isolated, phone-addicted Phil, played by Adam Devine, who works at Chatterbox, a Buzzfeed-like company in San Francisco. Though he dreams of handling “real news,” he cranks out mindless “listicles” all day long. On the day he encounters a bike shop owner Cate, played by Alexandra Shipp, Phil breaks his phone following an accidental collision with a cyclist, and replaces it with an off-brand model with a virtual assistant named Jexi, voiced by Rose Byrne. The assistant, which is programmed “to make Phil's life better,” takes over his world. It controls his e-mail accounts, bank accounts and social media accounts, and pushes him to make better choices ― coaches him to ask out a date and make friends at work. However, “Jexi,” which is capable of showing human emotiFeb 17, 2020By Kwak Yeon-soo
PHOTOS 'Parasite' director Bong Joon-ho gets hero's welcome “Parasite” director Bong Joon-ho waves to fans at Incheon International Airport, Sunday, upon returning home after the historic Oscar wins at the 92nd Academy Awards Feb. 10. He said: “I'm happy that I can now put my mind at ease and return to my work as a creator.” Yonhap"Parasite" director Bong Joon-ho was greeted with cheers and applause as he returned to South Korea on Sunday after his historic four-Oscar win. About 300 reporters and fans were waiting to greet Bong as he arrived at the Incheon International Airport. "Thank you for the applause, I would like send a round of applause back to you all for coping so well with the coronavirus," Bong said. "I will join the effort to overcome the corona by washing my hands diligently. Happy to be home." Director Bong speaks to reporters after arriving at the airport. Yonhap"Parasite" became the first foreign-language film to win best picture in the 92-year history of the Academy Awards on Feb 9. It won a total of four Oscars, including best director and original screenplay for Bong Joon-ho and best international fFeb 16, 2020
Major Korean airlines ban 'Parasite' because of 'unsound scenes' Korean carriers will not screen “Parasite” because of including sexual content inappropriate for young passengers. Courtesy of CJ EntertainmentBy Dong Sun-hwaSouth Korea's two flagship airlines will not screen the Oscar-winning black comedy “Parasite” on their planes because it contains “scenes that are sexually provocative and portraying Korea negatively.” Korean Air and Asiana Airlines decided on the policy recently despite the movie winning four Oscars on Feb. 9. “We do not screen films containing sexual or provocative content, even if they are not adults-only,” a Korean Air official was quoted as saying in a report. “Based on our judgment, 'Parasite' includes a scene that could be provocative for our young passengers.” Korean Air plans to screen around 400 movies on its planes this year. Asiana gave a similar reason for not screening the flick. “We excluded the movie for being excessively sexual for kids, but we may reconsider the screening if we can 'settle up' inappropriate scenes following negotiations with the Feb 16, 2020By Dong Sun-hwa
'Honest Candidate' off to good start - and that's no lie A still from “Honest Candidate,” which has been on top of the local box office since last Wednesday/ Courtesy of NEWBy Lee Gyu-leeA poster for the “Honest Candidate” / Courtesy of NEWThe comedy “Honest Candidate” has made an impressive start, topping the domestic box office since the film's release on Wednesday. As of Saturday, the film had sold more than 646,000 tickets, taking in 5.4 billion won ($4.6 million) in sales. This is the best performance of all movies that premiered this February ― far outdoing Hollywood films “Little Women” and “Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey.”Directed by Jang Yoo-jung, who directed the rom-com "Finding Mr. Destiny" (2010), the film revolves around lawmaker Sang-sook (Ra Mi-ran) who is campaigning for fourth term re-election. But one day, she loses her ability to lie and starts making blunt, unflattering remarks. As the election comes closer, Sang-sook and her aide Hee-chul (Kim Mu-yeol) struggle to save her campaign from falling apart. Distributor NEW had considered postponing the releaFeb 16, 2020By Lee Gyu-lee
Pompeo congratulates 'Parasite' on winning 4 Oscars Courtesy of CJ Entertainment, AFP-YonhapU.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo congratulated the production team of the South Korean film "Parasite" on winning four Oscars during his talks with South Korean and Japanese counterparts in Germany on Saturday, a Seoul official said.Pompeo made the comment in welcoming remarks at the trilateral meeting with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts ― Kang Kyung-wha and Toshimitsu Motegi ― on the sidelines of a security forum in Munich, according to the official.Kang said in turn that she found the subtitles of the film well written. Pompeo said that he had no problem understanding the movie through the subtitles.On Feb. 9, the Bong Joon-ho-directed film became the first ever in the Academy's 92-year history to win both best international feature film and best picture. It also bagged the Oscars for best director and best original screenplay. (Yonhap)Feb 16, 2020
S. Korean cinemas draw record 220 mln spectators in 2019 A record 220 million spectators visited movie theaters in South Korea last year, helping a record five films garner more than 10 million viewers each, a report showed Saturday. According to a report on the South Korean movie industry in 2019 published by the Korean Film Council, the country's movie theaters received a total of 226.68 million spectators last year, up 4.8 percent from a year earlier and the most in Korean cinema history.Combined revenues by the film industry came to 1.9 trillion won (US$1.6 billion) last year, up 5.5 percent on-year and the highest number on record as well.On the back of the increased inflow of spectators, a record five titles, led by Korean comedy cop film "Extreme Job," topped the milestone of 10 million spectators, the report showed. Having sold 16.28 million tickets, "Extreme Job" was the most watched title in South Korea in 2019, followed by American superhero film "Avengers: Endgame" with 13.93 million in ticket sales, Walt Disney animation "Frozen 2" with 13.37 million, Hollywood animation "Aladdin" with 12.55 million and finally the Oscar-winniFeb 15, 2020
Books of 'Parasite' script, hand-drawn storyboards top online sales charts Cartoon “I Am Bong Joon-ho” published by Junior RHK / YonhapA set of books carrying the script and the director's hand-drawn storyboards of "Parasite" has stormed to the top of local book sales charts this week following the film's historic Oscar victories.The two-volume set sold 1,110 copies on online bookstore Yes24 on Monday alone, the day the film won four Oscar awards (Korean time), becoming one of the 10 highest-selling books with the major online bookseller. As of Wednesday, the book was the daily top seller on Yes24 as well as on the online wing of Kyobo Book Center, the biggest bookstore chain in South Korea. The books also topped the weekly sales chart of another major online book distributor, Aladin, for the second week of February. The buying rush came after "Parasite" picked up four awards, including best picture, at the 92nd Academy Awards held in Los Angeles on Sunday.The Korean film became the first ever in the Academy's 92-year-old history to win both best international feature film and best picture, and also bagged the Oscars for best director and best oFeb 14, 2020
