Scarlett Johansson (AP)Hollywood actress Scarlett Johansson has ended her year-long romance with advertising executive Nate Naylor, UsMagazine.com said Monday.The couple broke up within the last week, the celebrity news website said without giving a reason.Johansson divorced actor Ryan Reynolds in late 2011 after nearly three years of marriage.Reynolds wed actress Blake Lively last month after les

So Ji-sub returns as a professional killer in his latest action flickHe seems like yet another urban professional in Korea who has no life outside of his work. The 30-something is one of the most trusted employees at his work, and always gets things done right. But when he tries to quit his job, he faces a series of ordeals that tests his courage and fortitude. Director Im Sang-yoon’s feature debut “A Company Man” shows the extremes of Korea’s office politics, and the mundane lives of urban prof

BUSAN (AFP) ― A low-budget, experimental production from Thailand and a gripping Lebanese drama shared the main award at Asia’s largest film festival, which drew to a close on Saturday.Jurors for the New Currents award at the Busan International Film Festival described first-time Thai director Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit’s “36” as “breathtaking” while praising the “extraordinary sympathy” director Maryam Najafi was able to draw from her audience throughout her entry “Kayan.”Both productions recei

Korean actors Bang Eun-jin and Lee Jae-hoon hosts the closing ceremony of the 17th Busan International Film Festival in Busan on Saturday. (Yonhap News)The 10-day Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) closed Saturday after demonstrating its growing stature as Asia's largest film event.The curtains came down with the screening of "Television," a family-focused movie directed by Mostafa Farooki f

A Company Man (Korea)Opened Oct. 11Action. Thriller. Directed by Lim Sang-yoon. Hyeong-do (So Ji-sub) is a professional killer. He works for an organization that disguises itself as an ordinary metal manufacturing company. He never makes a mistake, is loyal to his boss, and is always on top of things. He is one of the most trusted killers in the organization; he does not have a life outside his work, as he has no family to take care of, and has no friends to spend time with. One day, however, he

The physical requirements for the scene weren’t complicated. Bryan Cranston, who plays CIA manager Jack O’Donnell in director Ben Affleck’s hostage rescue drama “Argo,” had to walk from one office to another, and as laid out in a Los Angeles set late last year, a straight line ran from point A to point B.But before Cranston took a step, Affleck pulled the actor aside and redirected him.Iranian militants had just stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran, and details about the 1979 takeover were muddled

BUSAN ― Afghan director Siddiq Barmak remembers watching helplessly as reel upon reel of film footage was taken outside and burned in the street after the Taliban took power in Afghanistan.He also remembers the effort it took to save other films from destruction after the extremist forces marched into Kabul in 1996.Barmak and other Afghan filmmakers this week warned that efforts to save Afghanistan’s film history were being undermined by government inaction and concerns about security ahead of a

NEW YORK (AP) ― Tom Hanks will play a gutsy New York City newspaper columnist when he makes his debut on Broadway in the spring. Producers of Nora Ephron’s play “Lucky Guy” announced Thursday that Hanks will play Mike McAlary in the stage biography. Hanks, a two-time Oscar winner, had been in negotiations for the role when Ephron died this summer. Previews begin March 1 at the Broadhurst Theatre and an opening night is set for April 1. McAlary, the city’s one-time dominant tabloid reporter, got

Norbert Leo Butz and Katie Holmes began rehearsals Monday for the Broadway comedy “Dead Accounts,” the show‘s producers said.Theresa Rebeck’s play is being directed by three-time Tony Award-winner Jack O‘Brien.Co-starring Judy Greer, Josh Hamilton and Jayne Houdyshell, “Dead Accounts” is to begin previews Nov. 3 in preparation for a Nov. 29 opening night at Broadway’s Music Box Theatre.“Jack‘s unexpected return throws his family into a frenzy, and his sister Lorna needs answers,” a synopsis said

BUSAN (AFP) ― A North Korean romantic comedy about a female coalminer who dreams of becoming a trapeze artist was given a rare screening before a South Korean audience on Wednesday.South Korea normally bans all forms of media from the North but the government made an exception for the romantic comedy “Comrade Kim Goes Flying,” screening at the 17th Busan International Film Festival (BIFF).“We are proud to say that we have played our part in the cultural exchange between North and South Korea,” s

O Muel’s ‘Jiseul’ portrays tragic historical event in exquisite black-and-white cinematographyBUSAN -- Director O Muel occupies a rare place in Korean cinema, being one of the very few filmmakers creating works about Jeju Island. All of his previous films were shot on his native Jeju, in Jeju dialect, featuring the lives of people living on the island.Two previous films, “Pong Ddol” (2010) and “Nostalgia” (2009) were rather humorous accounts of ordinary Jeju residents, from a flakey filmmaker to

A television show in the United States conducted an intriguing experiment to check how realistic the movie “Titanic” was in depicting the death of its central character Jack played Leonardo DiCaprio in the freezing ocean.“Mythbusters" on the Discovery Channel set out to carry out the test as there is lingering doubt about whether Jack really had no choice but to die in the cold water. The cable channel set a simulated environment and implemented the experiment with a dummy. In the movie, Jack wa