News

“The Front Line” was South Korea’s official submission for the 84th Academy Awards, marking one of the early breakout performances of Lee Je-hoon, who would later become one of Korea’s most celebrated actors. Upon its release, the movie received critical acclaim, earning four Grand Bell Awards in 2011, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best New Actor for Lee. It also won multiple categories at the Blue Dragon Film Awards and received the Audience Award at the Udine Far East Film Festival, reinforcing its status as one of the most accomplished Korean war dramas of the 21st century.

The Front Line is screening at New York Asian Film Festival

“The Front Line” takes place during the final stages of the Korean War in 1953. The story follows First Lieutenant Kang Eun-pyo, an officer from the South Korean Army’s counterintelligence unit, who is sent to the Eastern front to investigate...

The 29th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival, came to a close on July 13, marking the end of its grand journey.

This year, Bifan kicked off on July 3 and ran for 11 days, screening 221 films from 41 countries across 16 screens at 9 theaters. The festival achieved a remarkable final seat occupancy rate of 88.7%. Among the 221 films, 143 titles (64.7%) were premieres — including 54 World Premieres, 11 International Premieres, 31 Asian Premieres, and 47 Korean Premieres.

Training 10,000 AI Filmmakers! Opening of the AI Film Institute Bucheon — Bucheon Emerges as a Hub for Cutting-Edge Cinema

This year, Bifan continued its international AI competition section, just as it did last year. The opening film, About a Hero by director Piotr Winiewicz, was scripted by AI, further solidifying Bifan’s pioneering stance in the realm of artificial intelligence.

One of the highlights of Bifan 2025 was the establishment of the AI Film Institute Bucheon, with a bold five-year goal to train 10,000 AI filmmakers. Ahead of the festival,...

Amazon’s Prime Video has a movie for just about every mood. The streamer’s film library is large and diverse and packed to the brim with both throwback and modern classics. That is true especially of the platform’s selection of psychological thrillers, which includes masterpieces from over 50 years ago, early calling cards for some of Hollywood’s biggest living directors and a few contemporary gems.

Here are the seven best psychological thrillers you can stream on Prime Video right now.

“Memento” (Newmarket) “Memento” (2000)

Part neo-noir mystery, part psychological thriller, “Memento” is the film that put writer-director Christopher Nolan on the map. Nolan’s second feature effort, the film follows Leonard Shelby (Guy Pearce), a man suffering from a form of short-term memory loss that prevents him from forming any new memories, who hunts down the person who killed his wife using a complex system of tattoos, notes and photographs.

Overseas studios constantly look to Hollywood for inspiration in making their own movies and television shows, and South Korean K-dramas are no exception. Among the more surprising K-drama remakes is the 2016 fantasy crime procedural "Signal," which is a loose adaptation of the 2000 American movie "Frequency." And while the Korean version maintains the broader narrative premise, it definitely moves in its own unique direction. A popular show worldwide, "Signal" is currently available to stream on Netflix, Paramount+, Apple TV Channel, and The Roku Channel.

"Frequency" is a sci-fi thriller that centered on John Sullivan (Jim Caviezel), a detective who is able to communicate with his father Frank (Dennis Quaid) in the past through a radio. Through their time-bending conversations, the two men not only prevent Frank's premature death, but they also take down a serial killer menacing their family. "Signal" retains the concept of a radio linking two men separated by decades facing the same mystery.

Hollywood may dominate the global box office, but for true cinephiles, the real rite of passage begins with exploring non-English films, which are, by definition, international movies. Stories from countries/regions introduce us to different cultures and broaden our perspectives, offering a new way to see the world.

Movies like Slumdog Millionaire, from Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle, are prime examples of people, culture, and struggles shown from a foreigner’s lens. For the real taste of the world, audiences have to dive into cinema beyond Hollywood. When Bong Joon-ho accepted the Academy Award for Best Director for Parasite, he famously said, “Once you overcome the one-inch tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films.”

From action and romance to slice-of-life genre, including animated ones, this list consists of some of the best non-English films that one must definitely watch before they die. Without further ado,...

While the American entertainment industry has remade countless foreign shows and movies for its own domestic audience, this creative tendency is not a one-way process. The South Korean entertainment industry has similarly remade or based movies and shows off of plenty of American projects. This trend has certainly extended to K-dramas, or South Korean scripted television programming of any genre. The breadth in types of American movies and shows remade for South Korean audiences is wide, ranging from crime procedurals to comedic variety shows.

In many cases, the broader premises from the American source material carries over to their K-drama counterparts, with some shows even retaining similarly phonetic names. However, even the most devoted fans of the shows and movies being remade will be surprised to see where these reimagined series take the story. In more than one instance, the endings of the remakes are completely different from the source material,...

One of HBO's biggest original series in the 2000s was "Entourage," created by Doug Ellin in 2004 and loosely based on the up-and-coming experiences of executive producer Mark Wahlberg. The comedy series followed Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier), a breakout movie star whose close friends not-so-subtly rode the coattails of his success in Hollywood. After the show's eight-season run and feature film continuation, "Entourage" was remade for South Korean audiences in 2016 as a K-drama, or scripted Korean television show of any genre. Also titled "Entourage," the Korean version wasn't particularly successful with local audiences, but it remains an interesting watch, especially for fans of the HBO original series.

The Korean "Entourage" follows popular 20-something actor Cha Young-bin, who is accompanied by his three friends as he enjoys life in the spotlight. Young-bin is closely monitored by his agency's CEO Kim Eun-gab, who frequently clashes with Young-bin's childhood best friend and manager Lee Ho-jin.

When you purchase through our links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

The Resort is a mystery dark comedy-drama series created by Andy Siara. The Peacock series follows Noah and Emma, a young couple on a vacation for their 10th anniversary in the Mayan Riviera. They feel their marriage is in a rut, but they soon come across an exciting mystery involving a disappearance fifteen years ago. The Resort stars William Jackson Harper, Cristin Milioti, Luis Gerardo Méndez, Skyler Gisondo, Nina Bloomgarden, Gabriela Cartol, and Nick Offerman. So, if you loved the thrilling mysteries, biting drama, and compelling characters in The Resort, here are some similar shows you should check out next.

Signal Credit – Netflix

Signal is a South Korean supernatural crime drama series created by Choi Jin-hee and Park Ji-young. The tvN series is set in two different time periods, and it follows Park Hae-young, a criminal profiler who comes across a mysterious walkie-talkie,...

Signal 2 Confirms Lee Je Hoon, Kim Hye Soo, and Jo Jin Woong’s Return ( Photo Credit – Instagram )

Get ready, fans, because Lee Je Hoon, Kim Hye Soo, and Jo Jin Woong are set to join hands once again for the second season of Signal. The smash-hit series is finally returning after 9 years. In 2016, it was first released, narrating the story of a group of police detectives who mysteriously connect with the past to solve a cold case. Back in February, the series was confirmed for another season; now it has been officially announced that the lead cast will be reprising their respective roles.

On March 5, tvN, the network channel that broadcast Signal back in 2016, shared a post on social media featuring the lead trio: Lee Je Hoon, Kim Hye Soo, and Jo Jin Woong. “Signal, a drama which received great love, will be returning with ‘The Second Signal’ (literal translation),” the caption read.

As far as crime thrillers go, Believer doesn’t waste any time on frills; the South Korean remake of Johnnie To’s Drug War literally cuts straight to the chase. The narrative is centered on Detective Won-ho (Cho Jin-woong), a man who’s on a mission to take down the mysterious drug kingpin known only as “Mr. Lee.” The gigantic catch is that nobody knows who Mr. Lee is or what he even looks like. Nevertheless, the search is on, and it unfurls into a tense game of cat and mouse, where the stakes are sky-high. Won-ho’s investigation gains some traction when Seo Yeon-rak (Ryu Jun-yeol), a low-level criminal with a personal vendetta, offers to help. Their unlikely partnership becomes the story’s driving force and goes a long way to make the audience question their motives at every turn.

Hidden beneath a fencing mask lies mystery. In the South Korean thriller No Way Out: The Roulette, an unknown criminal mastermind enthralls the public with horrifyingly lucrative offers—rewards in the billions of won for those who carry out violent acts against others. Spinning his personalized roulette wheel on social media livestreams, this enigmatic ‘Masked Man’ sets the stakes for each deadly game he plays.

Directed by Choi Kook-hee and written by Lee Soo-jin, the series wastes no time hurtling us into its twist-filled premise. We meet Detective Baek Joong-sik, expertly portrayed by Cho Jin-woong, as he uncovers the grisly truth behind a man having his ear severed for cash.

The victim was one of the Masked Man’s targets, with the assailant paid handsomely after mutilating him as the wheel decreed. Yet the real intrigue is just beginning—for who exactly lies behind that eerie fencing mask, and what...

Streaming Sensations

The Busan International Film Festival‘s sixth annual Asia Contents Awards and Global Ott Awards has revealed its nominees across 11 competitive categories.

Pts Taiwan’s “Imperfect Us” leads with five nominations, followed by Indonesian Netflix series “Cigarette Girl” with four. Wong Kar-wai‘s series debut “Blossoms Shanghai” (Tencent Video) and Korea’s “A Killer Paradox” (Netflix) each have three nods. Other multiple nominees include Korea’s “Daily Dose of Sunshine” (Netflix) and “Lovely Runner” (Cj Enm Studios/Bon Factory) and Thai Prime Video series “Enigma” (Gmmtv).

The best lead actor (male) category sees Hu Ge (“Blossoms Shanghai”), Yim Si-wan (“Boyhood”), Choi Woo-shik (“A Killer Paradox”), Wu Kang Ren (“Living”), Cho Jin-woong (“No way Out: The Roulette”) and Sakai Masato (“Vivant”) competing for the award.

For best lead actor (female), nominees include Dian Sastrowardoyo (“Cigarette Girl”), Park Bo-young (“Daily Dose Of Sunshine”), Nikaido Fumi (“Eye Love You”), Ariel Lin...

The heinous Kim Guk-ho, a serial murderer and rapist, is released after 13 years behind bars. Upon his release, a streamer known as Masked Man proposes a murder game with a 20 billion won bounty for Kim Guk-ho's life. Chaos erupts as threats surround Kim Guk-ho. Meanwhile, conflicts arise between those trying to protect him and exploit him. [Source: Disney+]

Directed by Choi Kook-hee (known for his movies Life is Beautiful and Default) and scripted by Lee Su-jin (who also wrote the movie The Devil's Deal), this 8 episode series features a star-studded cast of veterans Cho Jin-woong, Yoo Jae-myung, Yum Jung-ah supported by Kim Moo-yeol, Lee Kwang-soo, Sung Yoo-bin, Kim Sung-cheol as well as Taiwanese actor Greg Hsu Kuang-han. No Way Out: The Roulette is currently streaming on Disney+ globally and on Hulu for the US.

Back in 2019, I wrote about “Believer”, a Korean adaptation of Johnnie To's “Drug Wars”: “Believer” is an impressive and quite entertaining action thriller, which highlights the fact that Johnnie To's productions can be very easily adapted to the current style of Korean cinema. I am sure the success of this one will open the way for more, and personally, I cannot wait. As such, I was really eager to watch the sequel, which premiered in Busan this year and started streaming on Netflix a couple of days ago. The result, however, as is frequently the case with sequels, was not exactly as expected.

Click on the image below to follow our Tribute to Netflix

The film begins with a sequence showing what happened in the first part, focusing on Brian's incarceration and the insistence of detective Won-ho that Mr Lee, the actual leader of the international drug cartel,...

The South Korean remake of Hong Kong’s Drug War was a decent action-thriller boasting of and cashing in on its fantastic cast. 5 years later, we get Believer 2, a contrived and rather unnecessary sequel that tries terribly hard to fill up the (purposely left behind) gaps in the mysterious first film. What was fascinating about part 1 is the desperation with which Won-Ho wants to believe in the existence of Mr. Lee, who at this point appears as a fable rather than a real person. Won-Ho is keen on catching the mind behind the drug “Laika” that has taken over Asia (as we hear). Believer follows his vigorous journey to find the elusive man and shows us who he encounters on the way. Won-Ho is focused, moving ahead with nothing in his peripheral vision. He says to Brian, when he’s impersonating the big man that he knows Mr. Lee...

“Believer 2” is an action South Korean movie directed by Baek Jong-Yeol starring Cho Jin-woong, Cha Seung-won, Han Hyo-joo, and Oh Seung-hoon.

“Believer 2” is an Asian action flick that, staying true to its genre, presents a gritty tale of drug trafficking, gangs, gunfights, and various cruelties surrounding a mysterious character, the enigmatic Mr. Lee, who eluded capture in the first installment.

Let’s see what happens in this one.

Believer 2 Plot Believer 2

The unyielding detective relentlessly pursues the truth hidden behind the largest drug syndicate in Asia and its enigmatic and formidable leader, with whom he has unfinished business.

Movie Review

Impressive? Not really. It doesn’t surpass other action movies in terms of its script, characters, or action scenes. Entertaining? Yes, quite, almost on par with the first one.

Cinematographically, it is a sequel that fails to live up to its predecessor or establish its own...

As it is, Believer was not a fantastic movie; in fact, it’s a grain of sand on the shore that is the Korean action film industry. It’s not unusual to have great expectations from a country that has given us action-packed spectacles like Oldboy, I Saw the Devil, or most recently, Ballerina, and it’s equally fair to be disappointed. Personally, Believer wasn’t anything special on its own, and in an attempt to make a twisted film, the story got lost within itself, making for a convoluted film with an open ending. Now, we get Believer 2, a (very unnecessary) sequel to a rather mediocre movie. At least the first part had a decently cohesive story, though. Believer 2 follows Detective Won-Ho (again) as he continues his search for Asia’s (supposed) biggest drug-ring mastermind, Mr. Lee, along with looking for Rak, the inside man who got away.

Lee Hae-young did in 2018 what many thought impossible when he successfully remade Johnnie To's much loved thriller “Drug War” into “Believer”, an accomplished thriller that boasted of a strong starcast, excellent visuals, an impressive score and the final on-screen appearance from the late-great Kim Joo-hyuk. While the story didn't really need a sequel per se, Netflix thought otherwise and here we are in 2023, with “Believer 2” ready to release imminently in the streaming platform.

Synopsis

A crime action film on the nerve-wracking war between Won-ho, who is still pursuing Mr. Lee's organization and the disappeared “Rak” after the bloody fight at Yongsan Station, and Brian, who has reappeared, and a new character “Big Knife.” “Believer 2” follows Won-ho's investigation of looking for “Rak,” who disappeared after Brian's incarceration, while getting to the core of the elusive drug cartel. Baek Jong-yeol, who has already received praise for sophisticated cinematography and...

The Busan International Film Festival has unveiled its selections for the popular Korean Cinema Today – Special Premiere and On Screen strands.

The On Screen section, introduced in 2021, showcases series and this year boasts six world premieres – five from Korea and one from Indonesia.

Tving show “I Am a Running Mate,” about an ordinary student trying to become student president marks the directorial debut of Han Jin-won, winner of best original screenplay as a co-writer for Bong Joon Ho’s “Parasite.” The series merges the coming-of-age genre with elements of a political drama, and stars Yoon Hyun-soo, Lee Jung-sic, Choi Woo-sung, Hong Hwa-yeon and Lee Bong-jun. Three of the nine episodes will screen at the festival.

“The Deal,” a Waave original series, is a tale of criminal intrigue in which two young men kidnap their friend and demand KRW10 billion ($7.5 million) as ransom. The cast features Yoo Seung-ho’s streaming debut alongside Kim Dong-hwi,...

Streaming platform Paramount+ has set a release date for Korean series “Yonder” that is one of the first titles flowing from Paramount Global’s alliance with Cj Enm.

The show will premiere on April 11 in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Australia, Latin America, Brazil, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Austria and France.

Set in 2032, “Yonder” is a science fiction-drama series about a man who receives a message from his deceased wife inviting him to a mysterious space. The space is designed for the dead to be able to live on by uploading memories of their lifetime from their brain. The show raises questions about life and death and what it means to have eternal happiness as humanity faces a world altered by advancements in science and technology.

It was directed by Lee Joon-ik who has numerous hit film credits including “The King and the Clown,” “Dongju: The Portrait of a Poet” and “The Book of Fish.

The 27th edition of the Busan International Film Festival startet on 5th of October and will show a new selection of the best from the Asian cinema till 15th of October. One thing is sure from the beginning, it will be a good year for cinema from Iran here as well. Some other international festivals have already come forward, like the Berlinale with “Ta Farda” by Ali Asgari, “Leila’s Brothers” by Saeed Roustaee and “Holy Spider” by Ali Abbasi in Cannes, “No Bears” by Jafar Panahi and “Beyond the Wall” by Vahid Jalilvand in Venice. These films can now also be seen in Busan, as well as “Life & Life” by Ali Qavitan and “Scent of Wind” by Hadi Mohaghegh who opened the festival.

“Scent of Wind” by Hadi Mohaghegh – Dignity in Modesty

The director’s fourth feature film tells a very simple story in itself, but the...

When you've been deprived of something for an extended period of time, anything that comes close to the real McCoy starts to look a little better than it did before. That may well apply to The Policeman's Lineage, director Lee Kyu-maan's new thriller starring Cho Jin-woong (Believer) and Choi Woo-shik (Parasite), which delivers plenty of reliable thrills in a slick package, but eventually runs into trouble when its familiar elements begin to tangle themselves in a messy final reel. Given the overall paucity of new Korean releases we've had ever since the beginning of the pandemic (countless completed films are still waiting in the wings for local market conditions to improve), we've been treated to precious few Korean thrillers over the past few years. That...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Welcome to Deadline’s International Disruptors, a feature where we’ll shine a spotlight on key executives and companies outside of the U.S. who are shaking up the offshore marketplace. This week, we’re speaking with Korean super-agent Soyoung Lee, who represents some of the nation’s biggest stars and talked to us about her experiences of the Korean content boom.

Few have been better placed to both witness and be part of the Korean content explosion than Soyoung Lee, super-agent and founder of one of the nation’s largest talent agencies, Saram Entertainment.

When she opened what was then called Jaewon Promotion Co almost exactly two decades ago – mainly specializing in marketing major brands such as McDonald’s – Soyoung could never have foreseen that by 2022 she would be representing some of the biggest and most in-demand stars not just in Korea but the world.

“We started completely by chance,...

Exclusive: North America is getting its latest free streaming service later this month. Mometu, which is marketing itself as a “hand curated” on-demand live streaming platform, will launch on August 19 and has secured free streaming rights to South Korean feature The Policeman’s Lineage.

The service will launch with a slate of legacy films and TV series as Dragnet, Bonanza, Batman, Jackie Chan-starrer The 36 Crazy Fists, Apache Ross, documentary Blues on Beale, Sandra Bullock’s Hangmen, Herman Yau action-thriller Shock Wave 2, Nollywood director Okey Ifeanyi’s Long Walk to Truth and The Gods, which Mykel Shannon Jenkins (Paper Tigers) directed, starred in and wrote.

In September, it will add the exclusive AVoD premiere of Kyu-maan Lee’s crime thriller feature The Policeman’s Lineage, starring Woo-sik Choi (Parasite), Jin-woong Cho (The Handmaiden), Myeong-hoon Park (Parasite) and Hee-soon Park (Apple TV+’s Dr. Brain). The film centers on Choi Min-Jae (Choi...

Netflix has given a green light to “Believer 2,” a sequel to the 2018 hit crime action film “Believer.”

While the first film clocked up 5.06 million spectators and amassed a gross box office of 33.6 million in its theatrical career, the sequel will play only online.

The company said that the film will be directed by Baek Jong-yeol, who previously directed “The Beauty Inside,” a 2015 hit fantasy romance in which a person takes on a different physical appearance every day. The choice of Baek is expected to give the new film a different esthetic compared with the original “Believer.”

The confirmed cast includes the return of lead performers Cho Jin-woong and Cha Seung-won, as well as actress Han Hyo-joo, Oh Seung-hoon, Kim Dong-young and Lee Joo-young.

The first film, written and directed by Lee Hae Young (“The Silenced”) saw a determined cop team up with a gang member in order to catch Mr.

An odd mishmash of competing genres, Lee Kyu-man’s South Korean drama “The Policeman’s Lineage” is a somewhat intriguing but ultimately bland detective story. What begins as a murder mystery quickly gives way to an undercover corruption narrative, i.e. “Infernal Affairs,” before finally settling into a tedious actioner. While anchored by strong performances by Cho Jin-woong (“The Handmaiden”) and Choi Woo-sik (“Parasite”), as the possibly corrupt cop Park and the rookie Ia officer Choi sent to investigate him, the film oscillates so wildly between tones that it’s hard to get a grasp on if it’s meant to be a serious indictment of policing, a buddy-cop film, or a tongue-in-cheek shoot-em-up.

Beginning with a flashback to Choi’s father, a policeman who was ultimately killed in the line of duty, “The Policeman’s Lineage” quickly establishes Choi as both the moral center of the narrative and a...

Parasite’s Choi Woo-sik stars in director Kyu-mann Lee’s riveting crime drama The Policeman’s Lineage, premiering on Cable and Digital Rental/Purchase this June.

Synopsis: Parasite’s Woo-sik Choi stars as Choi Min-Jae, a rookie police officer and man ofprinciple, who is asked to join Park Gang-Yoon, the chief of a special investigations team with an unrivaled arrest record. The young rookie soon discovers the superior record includes corrupt methods. Together, these two very different policemen are plunged into a massive case that threatens to tear the force apart.

Cast: Woo-sik Choi (Parasite), Cho Jin-woong (The Handmaiden), Park Myeong-hoon (Parasite), and Hee-soon Park (Apple TV+’s Dr. Brain)

Credit: The Policeman’s Lineage is directed by Kyu-mann Lee (Wide Awake), produced by Han-seung Lee (The Tower), and executive produced by Hyun-joo Jung. The production team includes production designer Chae Kyoung-sun (Squid Game), editor Nam Na-young (Squid Game) costume designer...

Police departments, and particularly the narcotics department, have often made good fodder for the thriller genre. Director Lee Kyoo-man showed that he was more than adept in the thriller genre in his second feature, the based-on-a-true-story “Children…”. For his third production “The Policeman’s Lineage”, he looks at the police bureau and the narcotics department in a film that is based off Japanese novel “Keikan no Chi” by mystery fiction writer Joh Sasaki, already the subject of a Japanese tv adaptation.

“The Policeman’s Lineage” is screening at Florence Korea Film Festival

The son of a late police officer, Choi Min-jae is an upright police detective who aims to live and die by the police code of conduct. After the death of a colleague, he is recruited by Internal Affairs commissioner Hwang In-ho, who suspects narcotics chief Park Kang-yoon to be involved in the officer’s death. Park is the exact opposite of Choi,...

‘Parasite’ star Choi Woo-shik will return to the silver screen as an elite police officer in the upcoming crime action film ‘The Policeman’s Lineage’, more than two years after the release of the Oscar-winning masterpiece. The new movie, a Korean adaptation of the namesake Japanese novel, follows two different policemen, Kang-yoon (Cho Jin-woong) and Min-jae […]...

Festival’s 26 th edition runs October 6-15.

South Korea’s Busan International Film Festival (Biff) is launching its On Screen section which will carry premieres of high-profile drama series that will later be streamed on Ott video platforms.

Biff, whose 26th edition will be held October 6-15, said the section “aims to precisely reflect the current state of the market, which is expanding multi-directionally, while embracing the extended flow and value of cinema” and should be “able to present more diverse and higher-quality works to the audience, whose range of fandom is expanding”.

The inaugural On Screen Section will launch...

There’s no way anybody beats Jeon Hae-woong (Cho Jin-woong) in a hometown election—everyone loves him. Walking down the street means shaking hands and bowing to applause when the people know he’ll fight for them. He is one of them, after all. Thinking as much only proves naïve if the world in which he exists is corrupt and, per the President—also up for re-election—this will be the most transparently legal ballot box since Korea became democratized. He’s therefore a shoo-in upon earning the Democratic party’s nomination. And that’s in the bag, considering his political mentor Kwon Soon-tae (Lee Sung-min) operates as puppet-master for all of Busan’s interests within the capital. Jeon’s victory awaits.

Except, of course, it doesn’t. If you believe it when any politician (especially one at-risk of losing power if the regional elections don’t also swing left...

Lee Won-tae’s thriller “The Devil’s Deal” reveals how revenge can twist anyone into something else when political hopeful Jeon Hae-woong (Cho Jin-woong) breaks bad after a stolen election. Betrayal and murder punctuate the film, set in the economic skin game of early ’90s Busan.

Debuting at Fantasia, “The Devil’s Deal” is produced by Seo Kang-ho and Billy Acumen. Lee’s previous feature “The Gangster, The Cop, the Devil” was a Cannes’ 2019 midnight screening.

Variety spoke with director Lee ahead of “The Devil’s Deal” debuting at Fantasia.

How did you approach the idea of revenge in “The Devil’s Deal”? Did you find it important to show different aspects of the theme?

I believe that there is no such thing as perfect revenge in the world. The process of revenge not only results in the opponent’s destruction but also in the destruction of the self. In this line of thought,...

The New York Asian Film Foundation and Film at Lincoln Center have announced two final titles, completing the lineup for the upcoming 20th edition of the New York Asian Film Festival (Nyaff). The festival will be screening over 70 films, both virtually and in person, to audiences in New York and across the country from August 6 – 22, 2021. Tickets are already on sale.

Nyaff is thrilled to present as its festival Centerpiece the international premiere of Nyaff favorite director Benny Chan’s final work, Raging Fire. Completed shortly before his untimely death in August 2020, the Hong Kong-Chinese action film stars the inimitable Donnie Yen as Shan, a by-the-book cop whose past returns to haunt him. After a sting operation goes disastrously awry, Shan finds himself pitted against Ngo (Nicholas Tse), a former protégé who has turned criminal mastermind and is out for revenge. Nothing, it seems, can stop him, including his former mentor.

The Fantasia International Film Festival announces a massive new assortment of feature films for its 25th edition, along with details on scheduled panels, talks, tributes, special events, and our esteemed juries. On top of our impressive virtual slate of films, all geo-locked to Canada, and in addition to our globally accessible streamed events, the upcoming festival will also feature a limited number of in-person screenings in Montreal.

Fantasia begins August 5th with the World Premiere of Quebec zombie feature Brain Freeze— following the August 4th special event screening of James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad in celebration of the festival— and ends on August 25th with newly announced closing film, Takashi Miike’s hotly-anticipated The Great Yokai War – Guardians.

Takashi Miike Closes Out Fantasia 2021 With The Great Yokai War – Guardians

The honour of Closing Film belongs to the great Takashi Miike, a constant yet always surprising presence in the festival’s long history.

The Fantasia International Film Festival begins in less than two weeks and we have a look at it's incredible offering of features, panels, and special events:

The Fantasia International Film Festival announces a massive new assortment of feature films for its 25th edition, along with details on scheduled panels, talks, tributes, special events, and our esteemed juries. On top of our impressive virtual slate of films, all geo-locked to Canada, and in addition to our globally accessible streamed events, the upcoming festival will also feature a limited number of in-person screenings in Montreal.

Fantasia begins August 5th with the World Premiere of Quebec zombie feature Brain Freeze— following the August 4th special event screening of James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad in celebration of the festival— and ends on August 25th with newly announced closing film, Takashi Miike’s hotly-anticipated The Great Yokai War - Guardians.

Takashi Miike Closes Out...

Takashi Miike’s The Great Yokai War – Guardians has been tapped to close the Fantasia International Film Festival on Aug. 25.

The sequel to The Great Yokai War, which opened Fantasia in 2006, immerses viewers in the fairy-tale world of friendly Japanese demons from the Audition and 13 Assassins director.

Montreal’s Fantasia genre fest released its third wave of titles on Wednesday, and there’s world premieres for Vincent Grashaw’s southern gothic nightmare What Josiah Saw; Lee Won-tae’s thriller The Devil’s Deal, starring Cho Jin-woong; Bull, the British revenge thriller from Paul Andrew Williams; and the dystopian feature debut Glasshouse from South African ...

Takashi Miike’s The Great Yokai War – Guardians has been tapped to close the Fantasia International Film Festival on Aug. 25.

The sequel to The Great Yokai War, which opened Fantasia in 2006, immerses viewers in the fairy-tale world of friendly Japanese demons from the Audition and 13 Assassins director.

Montreal’s Fantasia genre fest released its third wave of titles on Wednesday, and there’s world premieres for Vincent Grashaw’s southern gothic nightmare What Josiah Saw; Lee Won-tae’s thriller The Devil’s Deal, starring Cho Jin-woong; Bull, the British revenge thriller from Paul Andrew Williams; and the dystopian feature debut Glasshouse from South African ...

After the abysmal year for cinema that 2020 was, one can only hope that 2021 proves to be a lot better for films the world over. While the coronavirus situation ebbs and flows in various places, film releases are getting more and more frequent. Even if studios are still slightly hesitant to release some tentpole films, audiences are slowly finding their way back into the theatres.

Due to the delay in production and release on several projects last year, films that would otherwise have released back them are only now beginning to find their way into theatres or on Ott platforms, while some studios have even decided to indefinitely postpone production on some major titles. As a result, our list of Most Anticipated Korean Films of 2020 (which has been updated with the status of each project to the best of our knowledge) still remains valid and can be checked out to see...

Park Chan-wook’s return to S. Korea from Hollywood, where he directed “Stoker”, also signaled his return to masterpieces, with “The Handmaiden” reaching the standards of his best films, like “Oldboy”. His passage from Hollywood did not have the same success his previous works had; however, Park seems to have implemented the aesthetics usually associated with American films in “The Handmaiden.” In the process, he has created a completely new amalgam, which seems to have taken the best from his unique style and Hollywood aesthetics, particularly regarding maximalism in terms of image and dialogue. The outcome is magnificent, a truly impressive film in all aspects. The awards it has already received from festivals and competitions all around the world is a testament to the fact.

Please take caution, before reading, because the list contains many spoilers.

The script is based on the novel “Fingersmith” by Sarah Waters...

Despite the fact that it screened during February, a low season for movies in S. Korea, rated R, using Busan dialect overtly and screened less frequently due to its running of 133 minutes, “Nameless Gangster” was one of the most successful movies of 2012, grossing a total of ₩36 billion after nine weeks of screening, particularly due to the pairing of Choi Min-sik and Ha Jung-woo, but also due to the supporting cast, that includes Hwang Jun-min, Cho Jin-woong and Ma Dong-seok

The film is set in the Korean port city of Busan during the reign of organized crime in the 80s and the subsequent declaration of war toward it in the 90s by President Roh Tae-woo. Choi Ik-hyun is a corrupted Busan customs officer, who is not averse to taking bribes or pilfering goods. Eventually he discovers a shipment of crystal meth, which leads him to kingpin Choi Hyung-bae,...

A corrupt cop makes one wrong decision after another in Peace Breaker, the slick but entirely unnecessary China-friendly remake of Korean director Kim Seung-hun’s nihilistic 2014 thriller A Hard Day. Swapping out Kim’s bleak worldview and unapologetically unlikeable — and engrossing — characters, led by Lee Sun-kyun and Cho Jin-woong, for the starrier Aaron Kwok and Wang Qianyuan, Taiwanese director Lien Yi-chi moves the action to Kuala Lumpur for more polished, moneyed-looking results, but without the original film’s satiric edge. After a decent run in Mainland China, Peace Breaker may have enough life in it due to Kwok’s presence to...

Much like her debut The Uninvited, Lee Soo-yeon's latest film Bluebeard teases a dark genre storyline before turning off into more psychological territory through several layered images and a protagonist who isn't quite what he seems, played by Cho Jin-woong of A Hard Day. Unlike her impressive 2003 horror film, her second work feels less fresh and a lot more contrived. Seung-hoon is a doctor whose failed Seoul practice has forced him to move to a small town on the outskirts of the city, where he now lives in a cramped apartment above a butcher shop. Recently divorced, Seung-hoon only gets to see his son once every two weeks. He begins to work at a clinic in town and one day, while performing a colonoscopy,...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Bluebeard, the sophomore effort from Writer/Director Lee Soo-youn (The Uninvited), debuts on digital and Blu-ray Combo Pack August 15 from Well Go USA Entertainment. A psychological thriller in the vein of Alfred Hitchcock, the film stars Cho Jin-woong (The Handmaiden), Kim Dae-myung (Inside Men) and Shin Gu (No Blood No Tears).  In Bluebeard, Dr. Seung-hoon (Cho) sedates his landlord before a medical check-up and the old man begins telling him a convincing murder confession.

When a doctor learns a murderous secret from a sedated patient, he finds himself in the middle of an unsolved serial murder case. As dismembered bodies start showing up close to home, the doctor realizes he must solve the riddle before the killer realizes what he may know.

Bluebeard has a runtime of approximately 117 minutes and is not rated.

The post Bluebeard Debuts on Digital & Blu-ray Combo Pack August 15th appeared first on We Are Movie Geeks.

Stars: Tae-ri Kim, Min-hee Kim, Ha Jung-woo, Cho Jin-woong | Written by Chung Seo-kyung, Park Chan-wook | Directed by Park Chan-wook

Based on Sarah Waters’ 2002 novel, Fingersmith, Park Chan-wook’s first feature since 2013’s Stoker is a ravishing feminist fable, full of fantastically cruel twists. It’s sensual, funny, nasty, brilliantly acted, beautifully shot and exquisitely edited.

The setting is 1930s colonial Korea, slap bang in the middle of Japanese rule. Nam Sook-hee (Tae-ri Kim), a young pickpocket, is approached by smooth conman “Count Fujiwara” (Ha Jung-woo), who intends to swindle money from a wealthy Korean aristocrat known as Uncle Kouzuki (Cho Jin-woong). The plan is for Fujiwara to seduce Kouzuki’s niece, Izumi Hideko (Min-hee Kim), and steal away with her uncle’s cash. Sook-hee will act as Hideko’s handmaiden, and help manipulate Hideko into Fujiwara’s arms.

But then an intimate relationship blooms between Hideko and Sook-hee. It seems...

Well Go USA Entertainment has announced that they will be releasing the Korean psychological thriller Bluebeard on August 15 in both digital and Blu-ray combo formats. The film comes from writer/director Lee Soo-youn (The Uninvited) and stars Cho Jin-woong (The… Continue Reading →

The post Well Go USA Announces Home Video Release For Korean Psychological Thriller Bluebeard appeared first on Dread Central.

Crime thrillers are the genre Korean cinema has built its reputation upon, with a plethora of true masterpieces. Lee Soo-yeon attempts this, overvisited category, through an elaborate case and a mixture of genres.

Seung-hoon is a gastroenterologist, whose private clinic has recently closed leaving him on debt, in a series of events that has led him to a divorce from his wife and a job doing colonoscopies in another private clinic. His financial situation is even worst though, since he has to pay alimony for his son, which has led him to sell his car and having to commute each day to his work, and to live in a tiny and cramped with books apartment over a butcher shop, owned by Sung-geun. His only escape from his miserable life is crime fiction novels, which have become something of an obsession, to the point that he considers every detail in his...

The London Korean Film Festival (Lkff) continues the countdown to its 12th edition, scheduled for autumn 2017, with the UK premiere of Lee Soo-youn’s psychological thriller Bluebeard on the 10th of July.

Cho Jin-woong in Bluebeard (Source: London Korean Film Festival)

Bluebeard upholds the rich tradition of gripping thrillers from Korean cinema, while offering a new perspective on narratives featuring psychopaths, with a progressively unreliable narrator.

Trailer

The film features Cho Jin-woong as the neurotic doctor Seung-hoon, who suspects that his patient (Shin Goo) and the patient’s son (Kim Dae-myung), living downstairs in a butcher shop, are involved in a string of unsolved murders in the city. A trail of gruesome hints keeps the truth just out of reach as the director uses the claustrophobic environs of the city and the increasing paranoia of the doctor to crank up the tension, reaching a shocking finale.

Cho Jin-woong and Kim...

MaryAnn’s quick take… The intrigue, shifting alliances, and twisted revenge? Delicious, pulpy fun. The male-gazey soft-core porn that undermines the female protagonists? Not so much. I’m “biast” (pro): I’m desperate for stories about women

I’m “biast” (con): nothing

I have not read the source material

(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)

In Japanese-occupied 1930s Korea, a Korean con man (Jung-woo Ha) and a Korean pickpocket (Tae-ri Kim) conspire to steal the fortune of sheltered Japanese heiress Lady Hideko (Min-hee Kim). He will pose as “Count Fujiwara” and woo Hideko, while thief Sook-Hee will become Hideko’s shy new maid “Tamako” and convince the lady to run off with the handsome and romantic count instead of marrying her hideous widowed uncle-by-marriage Kouzuki (Jin-woong Jo), who of course is (also) only after his niece’s money. The plan is, after “Fujiwara” and Hideko are wed,...

From Park Chan-wook, the celebrated director of Oldboy, Lady Vengeance, Thirst and Stoker, comes a ravishing new crime drama inspired by the novel ‘Fingersmith’ by British author Sarah Waters.

Having transposed the story to 1930s-era colonial Korea and Japan, Park presents a gripping and sensual tale of a young Japanese Lady living on a secluded estate, and a Korean woman who is hired to serve as her new handmaiden, but who is secretly involved in a conman’s plot to defraud her of her large inheritance.

Powered by remarkable performances from Kim Min-hee (Right Now, Wrong Then) as Lady Hideko, Ha Jung-woo (The Chaser) as the conman who calls himself the Count and sensational debut actress Kim Tae-ri as the maid Sookee, The Handmaiden borrows the most dynamic elements of its source material and combines it with Park Chan-wook’s singular vision and energy to create an unforgettable viewing experience.

Director Park Chan-wook's (Oldboy, 2003) The Handmaiden is releasing on Amazon Prime, today. The film is a bit of a genre bender, with elements of mystery, erotica and crime drama appearing. Shot in Korean and the Japanese language, the film is being offered, exclusively on Amazon Prime, with English subtitles. Kim Min-hee, Ha Jung-woo, Kim Tae-ri and Cho Jin-woong star in this feature. Based on Sarah Waters' novel Fingersmith, the film involves a conspiracy to rob a woman of her large inheritance, through any means necessary. A trailer and release details, for The Handmaiden, are hosted here. For more on the story, a Japanese lady lives in a secluded estate. A Korean woman is hired as a handmaiden, on this estate. Sookee (Tae-ri Kim) is working with a local conman, Count Fujiwara (Ha Jung-woo), to strip Lady Hideko of her wealth. But, Lady Hideko has plans of her own.