South Korean historical drama “A Taxi Driver” was submitted to the 90th Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, its distributor Showbox said Monday. The section allows only one entry per country. Korean films were submitted for the section every year but none of them made it to the final nominees. In 2016, “The Age of Shadows” was submitted for the section.  (Showbox)“’A Taxi Driver,’ based on the real story, well-illustrated the characteristic of Korea as well as human rights and democrat

The American action-comedy "Hitman's Bodyguard" topped the South Korean box office on its opening weekend by selling 556,100 tickets, data showed Monday. According to the computerized box office figures from the Korean Film Council, the R-rated film starring mega-stars like Samuel L. Jackson, Ryan Reynolds and Salma Hayek outdid its South Korean rival, "Midnight Runners," which gathered 286,097 views. The Korean comedy-action movie, starring Park Seo-jun and Kang Ha-neul, revolves around two cad

South Korean crime-thriller “Memoir of a Murderer” has been invited to this year‘s BFI London Film Festival, the movie’s local distributor said Monday.The movie led by actor Seol Kyung-gu will be screened in the Thrill section at the 61st edition of the festival, which is the largest film festival in Britain. This year‘s event will run from Oct. 4-15. "Memoir of a Murderer" (Showbox)Previous Korean titles that have been invited to the same category were “New World” (2013), “A Hard Day” (2014), “

Various memorial events are planned through this year's Busan International Film Festival to remember its deputy executive director who died during his last business trip to France, the festival said Sunday.Kim Ji-seok, 57, died of a heart attack at a hotel in Cannes where he visited to attend the 70th Cannes Film Festival in May. He was a founding member and executive programmer of the Busan film festival that launched in 1996. Kim Ji-seok (Yonhap)Screening a memorial video during the opening c

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets(France)Opened Aug. 30Sci-fi, adventure. Directed by Luc BessonIt is the 28th century. Species from all corners of the universe have formed a federation and come together to build Alpha, a sort of galactic capital. They live in harmony there, exchanging knowledge and culture. Valerian (Dane DeHaan) and Laureline (Cara Delevingne) are federal agents who keep the order of space. The two set out on a mission to retrieve a rare treasure, and uncover the sec

The Busan International Film Festival announced the nominees for its New Currents category, which awards up-and-coming Asian directors, Friday.　The selections provide distinctive perspectives and themes found throughout east and southwest Asia, BIFF said in a statement. 　Three of the nominated films are Korean pieces that convincingly tell tragedies in different ways. Shin Dong-seok’s “Last Child,” about parents’ ambivalent feelings toward a child who survived an accident that claimed the life o

Daniel Dae Kim is widely credited with having broken barriers for Korean-American actors in Hollywood. Since his debut in 1992, Kim has starred in popular series, including “Lost” and “Hawaii Five-0,” and has been outspoken in his advocacy of racial equality in the American entertainment industry.Now, the 48-year-old is branching out into production, in particular Korean titles in the US. Next month, “The Good Doctor,” a remake of the hit 2013 KBS drama of the same name, written by Park Jae-bum,

Recent thriller “V.I.P.” at center of a whirlwind debate about artistic expression, gender sensitivity

Film’s highlight is actor Seol Kyung-gu laboring onscreen as an elderly, Alzheimer-ridden former serial killer

Jang Dong-gun and Hyun Bin will star in an action blockbuster described as a Joseon-era zombie flick. 　The film, tentatively titled “Outbreak,” tells the story of vicious night creatures that threaten to overtake a Joseon royal palace.　Hyun will play Lee Chung, a character who struggles to protect the palace from the attack. 　The film is directed by Kim Sung-hoon, who worked with Hyun for last year’s action flick “Confidential Assignment.” Kim debuted in 2012 with the drama film “My Little Hero.

"The Battleship Island" has been invited to a competition category of this year's Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia in Spain, the movie's local distributor said Monday.Sitges, one of the world's largest genre film festivals, is set to run from Oct. 5-15 in the city located 35 kilometers southwest of Barcelona.The Korean historical action flick will be shown in the Orbita section for introducing most notable films of the year and honoring a title chosen by the jury compose

Three homegrown films -- "V.I.P.", "A Taxi Driver" and "Midnight Runners" -- waged a neck-and-neck race for box office dominance sweeping the top three posts over the weekend, data showed Monday.According to the computerized box office figures from the Korean Film Council, "V.I.P." topped the weekend chart by selling 598,717 tickets. Directed by Park Hoon-jung, the crime thriller starring Jang Dong-gun, Kim Myung-min, Lee Jong-suk and Park Hee-soon is expected to surpass the 1 million mark on Mo

Actor Lee Joon-gi, hugely popular in Korea and other Asian countries, has ended his relationship with actress Jeon Hye-bin, their talent agency confirmed Friday. (Yonhap)"Lee and Jeon recently broke up as they became estranged due to their busy schedules," Namoo Actors, which manages both stars, said in a release.The announcement came one and a half years after they began seeing each other in the first half of last year.Lee, 35, and Jeon, 34, worked together for the 2014 KBS 2TV historical drama

V.I.P.(Korea)Opened Aug. 23Crime, drama. Directed by Park Hoon-jungSouth Korean intelligence agent Park Jae-hyuk (Jang Dong-gun) is tasked with overseeing North Korean criminal Kim Kwang-il (Lee Jong-suk), a psychopathic serial killer who has tortured and murdered dozens of women. Police investigator Chae I-do (Kim Myung-min) seeks to capture Kim and bring him to justice. Chae is blocked, however, by an insurmountable wall of international powers who seek to protect and retrieve information from

Two decades after Korean folk singer Kim Kwang-seok passed away, a documentary film about him is shedding light on a popular conspiracy theory that his supposed suicide was actually a homicide.The film “Suicide Made” was screened in Seoul from Wednesday to Friday, and is to hit the local theaters on Wednesday. It follows the last days of Kim before his death in 1996 through his music and investigative reporting. A scene from “Suicide Made” (Cineport)“I’ve been following Kim’s case for a while, a