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The Yi Sun-sin trilogy is an incredibly popular and epic South Korean historical war film series. Finally, all three (3) films are available to watch on the same streaming platform, Roku. . The trilogy is about the three (3) major naval battles led by Admiral Yi Sun-sin during the Imjin Wars (1592–1598). “The Admiral: Roaring Currents” (2014) “Hansan: Rising Dragon” (2022) “Noryang: Deadly Sea (2023) ♦ (1) The Admiral: Roaring Currents (2014) Depicts the Battle of Myeongnyang (1597). “Do not look back when the only course is in front of you.” Watch Free: The Roku Channel Main Character: Admiral Yi Sun-Shin Links Of Interest: ‘The Admiral: Roaring Currents’: Film Review | The Hollywood Reporter Review: ‘The Admiral: Roaring Currents’ a thrilling look at sea battle | Los Angeles Times Inside a 16th-Century Naval Battle: ‘The Admiral,’ a South Korean Film With Choi Min-sik – The New York Times Trailer: Rotten Tomatoes Trailers. “The Admiral: Roaring Currents Official US Release Trailer (2014) – Choi Min-Sik War Drama HD.

Below are the remaining three (3) Korean drama movies gems that were released between 2012 and 2017. (4) Miss Granny (2014) (5) Blood and Ties (2013) (6) Helpless (2012) The first three (3) films listed in Part 1 are: (1) Heart Blackened (2017); (2) Remember You (2016); and (3) The Chronicles of Evil (2015). ♦ (4) Miss Granny (2014) A woman who is 70+ years old has her picture was taken at a mysterious photo studio, and she regains her youthful appearance at age 20. So she changes her name to relive her life. It’s the age-old questions that everybody is asked: What would you do if you had the opportunity to go back to the days of your youth, but with the wisdom you now have as a senior citizen? Would you live your life any differently? If so, what would you do differently? Main Characters: Oh Mal-Soon (played by Na Moon-Hee) Oh Doo-Ri (played by Shim Eun-Kyung) Viewership and Rating: IMDb: 7.2 out

The post Six (6) Korean Drama Movie...

The Korean drama movie gems listed in this two-part article were released between 2012 and 2017. Part 1 and Part 2 list three (3) movies each. Watch them free on Tubi TV or Pluto TV, except for one that is streaming on Netflix. If you want to have a weekend or all-night watch party, consider these films. (1) Heart Blackened (2017) (2) Remember You (2016) (3) The Chronicles of Evil (2015) ♦ (1) Heart Blackened (2017) This Korean drama film is a remake of a Chinese movie titled “Silent Witness”. “Heart Blackened” is a crime thriller about a high-profile murder case, the fiancée of a wealthy businessman is murdered, and the prime suspect is his daughter. She is accused of poisoning the fiancée; however, his daughter does not remember what happened. Her father hires a renowned attorney to defend her and clear her name. However, as the investigation progresses, dark truths are exposed: deceit, betrayal, and hidden agendas.

The post Six (6) Korean Drama Movie...

Vesoul Unveils Asian Lineup

The Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema has unveiled its 85-title lineup for the edition that starts later this month. Elements include a 10-film competition section, a 10-film documentary film section, a tribute to the Turkish director Semih Kaplanoglu; a thematic section “Asian Diaspora Cinema” offering a panorama of works by directors from Asian countries living in exile; and a Philippines cinema sidebar.

Fiction films in competition include: Azerbaijan’s “Cold as Marble,” by Asif Rustamov; China’s “In Our Prime,” by Liu Yulin; Korea’s “A Letter from Kyoto,” by Kim Min-ju; India’s: “Behind Veils,” by Praveen Morshhale; Iran’s “No End,” by Nader Saievar; Mongolia’s “The Sales Girl,” by Sengedorj Janchivdorj; The Philippines’s “Feast,” by Brillante Mendoza; Singapore’s “#LookAtMe,” by Ken Kwek; and Vietnam’s “Memento Mori: Earth,” by Marcus Vu Manh Cuong. The president of the jury is Lee Yong-kwan,...

The Korean film industry has done rather well with the zombie genre. They put them on a Train headed to Busan, placed them in the Joseon period in “Rampant” and the Netflix drama “Kingdom” and domesticated one in “The Odd Family: Zombie on Sale”. Now, it seems the zombies have trapped people in buildings in Jo Il-Hyeong’s debut film “#Alive”.

Synopsis

A city is infected by a mysterious virus, which causes the city to spiral out of control. Joon-Woo and Yoo-Bin struggle to survive in an isolated apartment complex from those infected with the virus. Everything including internet, phone, and electricity has been disconnected around the apartment.

The film pairs a blonde Yoon Ah-in (“Burning”) with Park Shin-hye (“Heart Blackened”) for the first time. It is scheduled to release in June, 2020.

Please Note: This trailer is best viewed on a handheld device, like a mobile phone or a tablet.

Back in 2005, Park Chan-wook’s trailblazing, genre-defining “Vengeance Trilogy” ended with “Lady Vengeance“, a female-led revenge thriller which featured a completely different Lee Young-ae, who previously was known for her tender roles in romantic films and melodramas. Who knew back then that it would be 14 long years, in debutant director Kim Seung-woo’s “Bring Me Home”, before we would see her again on the silver screen?

Synopsis

Jeong-yeon receives a call saying someone saw a child that looks just like her son who went missing 6 years ago and even has the same scars. She goes out to a strange fishing village on an island to look for her child.

The film, based on Kim Seung-woo’s own script, also stars Yoo Jae-myung, Park Hae-joon (“Heart Blackened“), Lee Won-geun (“Feng Shui”) and Kim Lee-kyung (“Metamorphosis”). It will be releasing in South Korean cinemas on November 27th, 2019.

Kim Jee-woon is known to be one of the most successful directors coming from South Korea. Best known for genre masterpieces like “A Bittersweet Life” and “I Saw the Devil”, among others, his last output, the anime adaptation “Illang: The Wolf Brigade” was met with a lukewarm response both commercial and critically. Never one to stay stuck to a genre or formula, he looks to bounce back to winning ways with his next project “Klaus 47”, a French-Korean co-production tv series.

Actress Lee Ha-nee, best known internationally for starring roles in the smash hit “Extreme Job” and the Choi Min-sik starring thriller “Heart Blacked“, is presently said to be considering an offer for a leading role in the series, according to her agency.

Lee Ha-nee on the set of “Heart Blackened”

“Klaus 47” is based on real events surrounding a lobbyist in the arms industry who shook up the world of French politics.

Jung Ji-woo is known for directing melodramas that are different than your average melodrama. His last two films, however, have been the excellent mystery/courtroom drama “Heart Blackened” and the swimming drama “4th Place”. He returns back to the romance and melodrama this year with his latest “Tune In for Love” (previously called “Yoo-Yeol’s Music Album).

Synopsis

In 1994, on the first day when Singer Yoo-Yeol becomes the DJ for radio program “Music Album,” Mi-soo meets Hyun-woo. Mi-soo works part-time at a bakery store and Hyun-woo happens to enter the store. Mi-soo falls in love with Hyun-woo at first sight and a romantic relationship eventually develops. An unexpected case takes place and the couple breaks up, but their relationship never ends.

For the film, Jung Ji-woo brings his “A Muse” actress Kim Go-eun on-board, along with actor Jung Hae-in, who is riding high after back-to-back success of his K-Dramas “Something in the Rain...

Ryu Jun-yeol has had quite the upward career graph. Beginning his career as an important part of an ensemble of young actors in 2015’s “Socialphobia”, he begun making his mark on South Korean cinema in 2017 with important supporting roles in “A Taxi Driver”, “The King” and “Heart Blackened”, some of the year’s biggest films in which he shared screen space with South Korean bigwigs such as Song Kang-ho, Jung Woo-sung and Choi Min-sik respectively. He followed that up with more prominent roles in films such as “Little Forest” and “Believer” the following year. Now, 2019 brings with it his first leading roles in the financial thriller “Money” by director Park Noo-ri.

“Money” is screening at New York Asian Film Festival

Jo Il-hyun, the son of raspberry farmers, comes from humble upbringings but dreams of becoming a stock broker and getting rich. He joins one of the top firms on the Yeouido,...

Korean actor Ryu Jun-yeol and Japanese actress Nana Komatsu will both be awarded the Rising Star Asia Award at this year’s New York Asian Film Festival, which will run from June 28th to July 14th, 2019.

Ryu Jun-yeol in Lee Hae-young’s “Believer

Ryu, who got his break in the Korean Academy of Film Arts feature graduation project “Socialphobia”, exploded as a film star in 2017, with star-making turns in “The King”, “Heart Blackened” and the year’s biggest hit “A Taxi Driver“. He followed it up in 2018 with equally impressive roles in “Little Forest” and “Believer” and has already featured in “Hit-and-Run Squad” and the financial drama “Money” already this year.

Tokyo-born Nana Komatsu, meanwhile, started her cinematic journey in 2015 with “Close Range Love” and suspense thriller “The World of Kanako“. Her impressive filmography includes “Destruction Babies“, Martin Scorsese’s “Silence”, hit romantic drama “My Tomorrow, Your Yesterday” as well...

The last time Lee Sun-kyun played a cop was in 2014’s hit “A Hard Day”, where he played a corrupt cop trying to cover up a road accident death. In 2019, we will see him play a corrupt police office once again in “Bad Police” by director Lee Jeong-beom.

Synopsis

Most of the plot is still under wraps, but “Bad Police” follows a bad cop as he stands up to an even worse society.

The latest film from Lee Jeong-beom, whose films include “The Man from Nowhere” and “No Tears for the Dead”, “Bad Police” also co-stars Jeon So-nee (“After My Death”) and Park Hae-joon. It is set to release in South Korea on March 21st, 2019.

The rise of Ryu Jun-yeol as an actor has been an interesting one to watch. Starting his film career in the excellent 2015 social thriller “Socialphobia”, he really exploded on the scene in 2017 with three important and appreciated supporting roles in hit films “The King”, “A Taxi Driver” and “Heart Blackened”. These were followed by equally lauded roles in “Little Forest” and “Believer” in 2018. Only two months into the new year, we have the trailer for his second film of 2019, and his first leading role, in director Park Noo-ri’s “Money” (literal title).

Synopsis

Il-Hyun begins to work as a stock broker. His dream is to become rich. Il-Hyun meets a stock market scammer known as “Ticket Man”. He asks Il-Hyun to help in a stock market scam. Meanwhile, Han Ji-Cheol works for Financial Supervisory Service and has chased “Ticket Man” for a long time. He senses something suspicious with Il-Hyun.

More Zombies attacking Korean cinemas, only this time we get to see their funny side as director Lee Min-jae brings us an undead comedy with his debut feature “The Odd Family: Zombie on Sale”.

Synopsis

Man-deok runs a gas station in a peaceful country village. He has three adult children: Joon-geol, Min-geol and Hae-geol. Man-deok only thinks about spending the rest of his life in Hawaii.

Oldest child, Joon-geol, is married to Nam-joo. He loves his family, but he doesn’t express his feelings to his family. Min-geol is the middle child in the family. He is the only one from his family to have graduated from a university. He gets fired from his company and comes back to his hometown. Hae-geol is the youngest child in the family.

One day, a strange man appears in the country village. Due to him, Man-deok’s family and the entire village is shaken.

Eighteen years after his debut feature film “Happy End”, director Jung Ji-woo reunites with actor par excellence Choi Min-sik for murder mystery/courtroom drama “Heart Blackened”, the remake of Chinese film “Silent Witness” starring superstar Aaron Kwok. “Heart Blackened” earned Best Supporting Actress nominations for both Lee Hanee and Lee Soo-kyung at the 54th Baeksang Art Awards, with the latter eventually emerging victorious.

Heart Blackened is screening at London Korean Film Festival

Yim Tae-san is the CEO of a vast empire who believes that money is the solution to all of life problems, except for his fledgling relationship with his daughter Yim Mi-ra. His relationship with her is further dented with his engagement to beautiful and much-loved singer Park Yoo-na, who just cannot seem to get Mi-ra to warm up to her, despite her best efforts. When Yoo-na is found killed in a parking lot shortly after a meeting with Mi-ra,...

“Heart Blackened” is a South Korean legal thriller starring Choi Min-shik and Park Shin-hye. This film is a remake of the Chinese film “Silent Witness” (2013) directed by Fei Xing. Honey Lee, who plays Park Yuna and Lee Soo-kyung as Im Mi-ra, were both nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the 54th Baeksang Arts Awards.

“Heart Blackened” is screening at the 19th Jeonju International Film Festival

Yim Tae-san (Choi Min-shik), a chaebol, is deeply in love with his new girlfriend, Yuna. Mi-ra, his daughter, is a spoiled club kid, and the two of them do not see eye to eye, having trouble getting along. While out drinking at a club, Mira’s friends find an online sex tape featuring Yim’s new girlfriend. The two women meet to discuss the video and Yim’s new love turns up dead and his daughter is the prime suspect. The film settles into a...