“Norwegian Wood,” “Confessions,” “Closed Note” and “Paradise Lost.”These Japanese films, set to be released in Seoul next month, have one thing in common: they are all cinematic versions of Japan’s bestselling novels.According to Cracker Pictures, one of local distributors of the films, this is no coincidence ― the trend of making book-based films has been popular in Japan for the past couple of y

I Am a Dad (Korea)Opening April 14Action. Directed by Lee Se-young and Jeon Man-bae. Jong-sik (Kim Seung-woo) is a detective whose daughter is in need of a heart transplant. Finding it impossible to afford the expensive operation for his daughter, Jong-sik receives a bribe from illegal human organ traders and drops their murder charges for them. A man named Sang-man (Sohn Byeong-ho) is falsely cha

“You can only breathe so much in corsets,” says Mia Wasikowska, who was required to wear such an apparatus, along with various bell-shaped skirts, flounced petticoats, and tight little bonnets, as she assayed the title role in the new and beautifully miserable “Jane Eyre.”“It restricts your voice and your breath, and it’s really symbolic of the repression of the day,” she observes. “That’s very mu

Back in 2000, University of Southern California film professor Amanda Pope and a former student, Tchavdar Georgiev, were traveling in Russia and some of its satellites, working on a series of short portraits of emerging leaders in the post-Soviet world. The two were in Uzbekistan when Pope heard about an amazing collection of Russian avant-garde art in a remote museum deep in the country’s desert.

   LOS ANGELES (AP) _ Screen legend Elizabeth Taylor, theviolet-eyed film goddess whose sultry screen life was often upstagedby her stormy personal life, died Wednesday at age 79.   She died of congestive heart failure at Cedars-Sinai MedicalCenter, where she had been hospitalized for about six weeks,publicist Sally Morrison said.Elizabeth Taylor (AP-Yonhap News)   ``All her children were with her

Upcoming film tells a touching yet comical tale of a North Korean officer during the Korean WarJust about two months ahead of the Korean War, a young communist military officer (Kim Joo-hyeok) and his soldiers arrive in a secluded country town in Chungcheong Province.Amid the intense political turmoil, the town, Seokjeongri, is peaceful. It is so remote that its people don’t even take the war rumo

 WEST HOLLYWOOD, California (AP) _ Authorities in Los Angeles say Lindsay Lohan's father has been arrested over allegations he held his girlfriend against her will and prevented her from calling police.Sheriff's investigators say deputies were dispatched on a domestic violence call at 9 p.m. Monday to Michael Lohan's apartment. (AP)A news release says the 51-year-old was booked for investigation o

HONG KONG (AFP) ― South Korea’s finest in film celebrated after blitzing the annual Asian Film Awards on Monday, bolstering the country’s growing reputation as the pre-eminent force in the region.South Korean movie stars and filmmakers dominated the glitzy ceremony in Hong Kong, now in its fifth year, snapping up awards for best director, best screenplay, best actor, best supporting actress and be

Dooman River (Korea, France)Opened March 17Drama. Directed by Zhang Lu. Chang-ho (Choi Geon) is a young ethnic Korean boy living in a Chinese province that shares its border with Hamgyeong Province in North Korea. His mother works in South Korea to support the family and Chang-ho lives with his grandfather and his older sister, a mute. He likes to play soccer and is extremely protective of his sis

Growing up in nearby Compton, Ava DuVernay fell in love with movies thanks to the passion and nurturing of her aunt, Denise Sexton.“She was a registered nurse and a community theater actress,” recalled DuVernay, 38, who has had her own public relations agency in Los Angeles since 1999. “She was a huge film buff. She wasn’t married and didn’t have a family, but her nieces were a big part of her lif

Actors love working on animated movies because it’s so easy: Just say a few lines into a microphone and pick up your check.That wasn’t the case with “Mars Needs Moms,” where filmmakers used a process called motion capture to create the animation. Instead of just speaking, the actors had to perform every scene. Film of those performances was used to make computer-generated images.“This was the hard