KOREAN DVDs ON THE HORIZON (cont'd)

Holy Daddy [원탁의 천사]
DVD release date: 10/30/2006
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A Dirty Carnival [비열한 거리 ]
Director: Yu Ha
Cast : Zo In-sung (Byung-doo), Lee Bo-young (Hyun-ju)
Synopsis
Byeong-du, played by actor Jo In-seong, is an ambitious second boss in a gang, who has a "real" family of a sick mother and two younger siblings, and a "gang" family of five brothers depending on him. While he strives to somehow make a decent living for the two families, his merciless boss blocks him by taking away a gambling house which is Byeong-du's only means of living. Facing a dead end, Byeong-du chooses to abandon his loyalty by making a deal with a man called president Hwang - whose full name is unrevealed in the movie - and kills a senior prosecutor and his own boss. Through this deal, Byeong-du is guaranteed enough financial support to feed his families, but is forced to enter a brutal food chain in which only the strongest man survives.
(Korea Herald)

Anyone who has seen and admired the films of Yu Ha (Once Upon a Time in High School, Marriage Is a Crazy Thing) will be eager to see A Dirty Carnival. Reviews of the film, Ha’s follow-up to the highly successful Once Upon a Time in High School (2004), have been generally favorable. The violence that erupted in the school system in the former, with it’s petty gangs and demands of unswerving loyalty, has been transferred in the latter to the criminal underground. The presence of choreographer Sin Jae-myeong (Once Upon A Time In High School, Die Bad, Typhoon, Friend, Hi, Dharma) ensures that the street fighting will be bone-crunchingly realistic. Sole dark cloud on the horizon – the incorporation of a love interest ((Lee Bo-yeong) that threatens to bury the actioner in melodrama (a la Once Upon A Time In High School).

Review of A Dirty Carnival
http://www.koreanfilm.org/kfilm06.html#dirtycarnival
Source : Koreanfilm.org

Preview of A Dirty Carnival
http://www.twitchfilm.net/archives/005680.html
Source: Twitch

DVD release date: 10/30/2006
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Between Love and Hate
Director: Kim Hae-gon
Cast: Jang Jin-young (Youn-ah) / Kim Seung-woo (Young-woon)
Synopsis
Young-woon, who helps his mother's barbeque restaurant but jobless in reality, and his friends flocking together, don't consider any counterplan for their lives. One day, a sexy bold saloon girl Yeon-ah attracts Young-woon's attention. Even though he already has a pretty fiancée, he can't turn down other relationship to have fun as a play. Gathering altogether with his friends, this couple repeats fights and make ups. This seems not that understandable, but it is a 'real' love to them. One day his mother knows this relationship, and she suddenly sets a wedding date for him. Now, he has to get married, but he's afraid of Yeon-ah. So he starts to escape from Yeon-ah, and she starts to look for him after she's pissed off knowing the truth.
(KOFIC)

Review of Between Love and Hate
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/culture/200609/kt2006090716313710970.htm
Source : The Korea Times

DVD release date: 11/30/2006
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The Fox Family [구미호 가족]
Director: Lee Hyung-gon
Cast: Joo Hyun (Father), Park Si-yeon (First daughter), Ha Jung-woo (Son),
Synopsis
The nine-tailed fox is a mythical shape-shifting creature which can become a human being in its 1000th year if it eats the liver of a human being. A family of such foxes open up a circus and transform themselves in the hope of capturing human beings. One day, there occurs a strange case of torso murder which becomes the biggest issue of their day, and the fox family is caught up in the middle of it. Will the family be able to make their thousand-year dream come true?
(KOFIC)
DVD release date: 11/30/2006
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No Mercy for the Rude [예의없는 것들]
Director: Park Chul-hee
Cast: Shin Ha-kyun (Killa), Kim Min-jun (Ballet), Yoon Ji-hye (She)
Synopsis
His name is Killa. Growing up as an orphan, he had been teased so much for being a lisper that he decided not to talk at all until getting a surgery that would make him talk clearly. Living all by himself, he spends his time doing only two things; watching bullfights on TV and eating seafood. He sometimes writes poetry and spends most of his time daydreaming about becoming a matador to fight face to face with a bull. In order to earn money for the surgery, he chose to become a killer. However, he has his own rule; kill only those with scary faces or with bad manners. Everything seems fine until his boss shows him a picture. The last prey he has to kill is the one who he has never expected to kill. And there is another secret hidden behind the mysterious client of this whack job.
(KOFIC)

Review (The Korea Times)
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/culture/200608/kt2006082417251710970.htm

DVD release date: 11/30/2006
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Fly Daddy [플라이 대디]
Director: Choi Jong-tae
Cast: Lee Mun-sik (Jang Ga-pil), Lee Jun-ki (Go Seung-suk)
Synopsis
An ordinary businessman in his forties, Jang Ga-pil returns home one day to find his daughter sexually molested by some schoolboys, including school boxing star Kang Tae-wook. Realizing that he has no background and money to fight back, he plans to stab Kang on the way to school. This fails miserably, but another student named Go Seung-suk agrees to teach Ga-pil to fight – in only 45 days.
(KOFIC)

Kim Tae-jong of The Korea Times writes that this adaptation of a Japanese runaway bestseller, starring Lee Jun-ki (The King and the Clown) is laden with superficiality, and fails to adequately account for Go’s rebellious ways. Pointing out the prominently displayed designer clothes worn by the star in the film, the reviewer compares the movie to a two-hour commercial.

DVD release date: 11/30/2006
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The Host
Director: Bong Joon-ho
Cast: Song kang-ho (Gang-du), Byun Hee-bong (Hee-bong), Park Hae-il (Nam-il),Bae Doo-na (Nam-joo)
Synopsis
A VW-sized monster emerges from the Han river to wreak havoc on Korea, demolishing all previous box office records, taking the world by storm.
International Film Festivals
2006 Cannes Film Festival, Directors’ Fortnight
2006 New Zealand International Film Festival
2006 Melbourne International Film Festival, Regional Focus
2006 Edinburgh International Film Festival, Directors’ Showcase
2006 Toronto International Film Festival, Midnight Madness
2006 Sitges International Film Festival of Catalunia, Fantastic Official Competition

DVD release date: 12/30/2006
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OTHER DVD REVIEWS

Review: My Piano/ For Horowitz
http://lunapark6.com/?p=2375#more-2375

Review: The President’s Last Bang
http://lunapark6.com/?p=2362#more-2362

And yes, Lunapark6, the 39th president of the United States was a peanut farmer from Georgia...