The Korea Herald

Miss Piggy to present BAFTA awards in Britain

FilmFeb 6, 2012

LONDON (AFP) ― The organizers of the BAFTA film awards in Britain have unveiled Miss Piggy as one of the show’s hosts, promising spiky questions for Hollywood luminaries George Clooney and Brad Pitt.The glamorous pink star of “The Muppets” will be the red carpet host of the British Academy Film Awards 2012 on Sunday, the organizers said Monday.She is honing her flirting skills as she prepares to meet Best Actor nominees Clooney, Pitt, Michael Fassbender, Gary Oldman and “The Artist” star Jean Du
High Museum to feature folk artist Bill Traylor

TheaterFeb 6, 2012

ATLANTA (AP) ― A new exhibition set to open at Atlanta’s High Museum of Art showcases the work of Bill Traylor, who was born into slavery in Alabama and became a highly respected self-taught artist after he began drawing while sitting on the sidewalks of Montgomery as an old man.The exhibition, which opens Sunday, features 65 of Traylor’s drawings pulled from the collections of the High and the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts in Alabama. The images were made in pencil, poster paint, charcoal and
Singer M.I.A. makes rude gesture in Super Bowl show

TelevisionFeb 6, 2012

For all the pomp and excess of Madonna’s Super Bowl halftime extravaganza a single rude gesture by guest singer M.I.A. is likely to be the most remembered piece of the show.Madonna (center) performs with M.I.A. (right) and Nicki Minaj during the halftime show of Superbowl XLVI on Sunday, February 5,
After two decades, artist Lee Bul shares her secrets

TheaterFeb 5, 2012

TOKYO ― A woman in her 20s who is not afraid ― or dares ― to wear a monstrous costume to perform in the middle of a jam-packed crossroad is sure to become famous. Or, better yet, infamous.Lee Bul, one of Korea’s most internationally recognized artists, is back in Tokyo after two decades. But this time, not to shock the spectators on the streets with her performance but to share her agony and her secrets in a large-scale exhibition at Mori Art Museum. As the title “Lee Bul: From Me, Belongs to Y
French Cultural Center brings Cannes to Seoul

TheaterFeb 5, 2012

New director wants to see greater links between Korean, French cinemasThis is the first of the series introducing cultural centers of different countries in Seoul. ― Ed. Movie fans will be delighted to hear about the French Cultural Center’s latest ambitious project: to bring Cannes Film Festival to Seoul. “We are thinking about screening all of the award-winning films in Korea for a period of over a week. They have never done such a project outside of Cannes and there will be a lot of constrain
Lloyd Webber bets again on ‘Phantom’ sequel

TheaterFeb 5, 2012

NEW YORK (AP) ― Andrew Lloyd Webber’s much-awaited sequel to “The Phantom of the Opera’’ is called “Love Never Dies,’’ but the musical defied its title: after a short life in London, it died. Now he hopes it can be resurrected.Lloyd Webber has quietly helped rework the musical for a current stage production in Australia, and Americans unable to go Down Under will have a chance to see it when a filmed version hits movie theaters this month.It’s a vastly improved work, coherent and visually beauti
Racy ads for French movie about infidelity pulled

FilmFeb 5, 2012

PARIS (AP) ― What does it take to shock in the land of the Gallic shrug? Ads that suggest adulterous oral sex, according to complaints about new movie “Les Infideles.’’Posters for the film ― which show the contented male stars with faceless women in submissive positions ― went up Tuesday but were being taken down Friday following a request from France’s self-regulating advertising body.In one poster, actor and comedian Jean Dujardin stands between a pair of upside-down bare female legs, clutchin
Asia’s K-pop clones dance to Korean beat

MusicFeb 5, 2012

SINGAPORE (AFP) ― Twelve-year-old Sabrina Kaur does not understand the lyrics of her favourite South Korean boy band Big Bang’s songs and, until recently, had never met Koreans in real life.But that did not stop her from joining more than a thousand other Singaporean girls at an audition in the city-state in January to discover a new pan-Asian Korean pop (K-pop) band to be promoted by a talent firm across the region.“I want to be the first Indian (Singaporean) girl to join a Korean girl group,”
Highlights

TheaterFeb 3, 2012

Theater“Seoul Note”: In memory of late actor Park Gwang-jeong, who died of lung cancer in 2008, a group of actors and actresses are staging another run of “Seoul Note,” which was the last play Park performed in before his death. A local adaptation of Japanese playwright Orija Hirata’s “Tokyo Note,” the small-scale, slow-paced play takes place in gloomy present-day Seoul, while an imaginary World War III is happening in Europe. Popular actor Kwon Hae-hyo and recent box-office hit “Unbowed” star P
Lisa Ono’s first album in Japanese

FilmFeb 3, 2012

Lisa Ono’s first album in JapaneseLisa Ono“Japo”(Universal Music)The Japanese-only version of Lisa Ono’s new album “Japo” hit the shelves on Jan. 25 in Korea. It is her first album featuring Japanese songs rearranged and sung by the artist in Japanese.Ono, an established Bossa Nova singer popular around the world, has previously only released albums in English and Portuguese. The album features 12 hit songs rearranged by Ono with her unique music style.Born in Sao Paulo, Ono moved to Tokyo with
Box Office

MusicFeb 3, 2012

Love Fiction (Korea), Opening Feb. 29Comedy. Directed by Jeon Gye-soo. Thirty-one-year-old writer Joo-wol (Ha Jeong-woo) has never dated before ― the idealistic and picky man has been searching for the “perfect woman.” That perfect woman appears to be Hee-jin (Gong Hyo-jin), a successful, career-driven woman working in the film industry. He instantly falls for her the first day they meet, and desperately tries to win her heart. When he finally does, however, he begins to see Hee-jin’s hidden fla
Seeking recognition for stunts from the Academy Awards

FilmFeb 3, 2012

The veteran stuntman has jumped from exploding boats, leaped off a 12-story building and driven motorcycles through balls of flame, surviving two broken backs and a broken neck.But the one feat that Jack Gill has been unable to perform is persuading the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize his craft. For two decades, the former professional motocross rider, who began his stunt career jumping cars in “The Dukes of Hazzard,” has been waging a one-man crusade to persuade the aca
James Cameron plans move to N.Z. farm

FilmFeb 3, 2012

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) ―Hollywood director James Cameron is planning to move onto a New Zealand farm.Cameron has successfully applied to buy 1,067 hectares (2,636 acres) of farmland in New Zealand. In an application filed with the New Zealand Overseas Investment Office, Cameron says he and his family “intend to reside indefinitely in New Zealand and are acquiring the property to reside on and operate as a working farm.’’Cameron, a Canadian, directed two of Hollywood’s most successful films
Hollywood scandal: Ex-marine spills beans

FilmFeb 3, 2012

Fresh from the battlefield, 23-year-old Scott Bowers arrived at Hollywood in 1946 and soon became the go-to-guy for big shots wanting to fulfill their hidden desires.Or so he claims.In his book, “Full Service: My Adventures in Hollywood and the Secret Sex Lives of the Stars,” Bowers, 88, describes how he helped A-listers look for sexual partners.His memoir sheds light on the sexual desires and wildest fantasies of movie stars like Montgomery Clift, Cary Grant, Spencer Tracy and Vivien Leigh. The
‘Mona Lisa’ copy done hand in hand with da Vinci

TheaterFeb 2, 2012

MADRID (AP) ― A “Mona Lisa’’ copy owned by Spain’s Prado Museum was almost certainly painted by one of Leonardo da Vinci’s apprentices alongside the master himself as he did the original, museum officials said Wednesday.The stunning find of what the Prado now says is probably the earliest known copy of La Gioconda will give art lovers and experts an idea of what the Mona Lisa looked like back in the 16th century, said Gabriele Finaldi, the museum’s deputy director collections.“It is as if we wer