News

Korean Drama or K-Drama has been growing in popularity over the last few years. As usual, regional television shows generally hit their peak within the country that it’s produced in. For instance, back in the 1960s and 1970s, K-Drama was consumed almost exclusively in Korea.

Eventually, Korean-based projects made their way across the world following the end of the military rule in South Korea. Obviously, there would have been much more to watch during that time than just Death Row Prisoner (1956).

A still from Squid Game (2021) | Credits: Netflix

Over the last three decades, shows like Jewel in the Palace, Winter Sonata, and Squid Game brought great recognition to the country’s entertainment industry.

So, in honor of the progress Korean entertainment has made, here are the top 5 K-Drama shows you should watch!

1. Queen of Tears (2024)

To begin with, Queen of Tears is the most-watched Korean Drama show on Netflix,...

Chicago – The 2022 Sundance Film Festival is on Day Nine, and will be announcing their top film honorees on January 28th. The festival is wrapping up as virtual/online, meaning anyone/anywhere with a ticket or a pass (link) can indulge in the film offerings and events throughout the festival, which runs until January 30th.

One of the highlight offerings is free to anyone, with no need for extra tickets or credentials. Beyond Film programming offers something for everyone … with filmmaker chats, meet-ups and a daily talk show with Festival Director Tabitha Jackson. Festivals stars and directors participating include Emma Thompson, Dakota Johnson, Amy Poehler and Eva Longoria Bastón. Click on Beyond Film for the archive.

Am I Okay?

Photo credit: Sundance Film Festival

The Sundance Film Festival is an annual event organized by the Sundance Institute – an organization founded by actor Robert Redford in 1980 – and dedicated to the growth of independent artists.

“The Two Popes” actor Jonathan Pryce, “The Great British Bake Off” judge Prue Leith and “Strictly Come Dancing” judge Arlene Phillips are among those in the arts named to Britain’s Queen’s Birthday honors list.

Pryce, an Oscar and BAFTA nominee for “The Two Popes” (2019) and Cannes best actor winner for “Carrington” (1995), has been knighted for services to drama and charity. He was previously a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (Cbe). Pryce played the “High Sparrow” in HBO’s “Game of Thrones” and will next portray Prince Philip in the upcoming two seasons of Netflix’s “The Crown.”

Leith, who is also a restaurateur, was named a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to food, broadcasting and charity.

Phillips has choreographed West End and Broadway productions including “Flashdance,” “Grease” and “We Will Rock You,” and was also a judge...

Sidney Poitier — who turns 94 on Feb. 20 — has received virtually every showbiz award possible: An Oscar, Grammy, Golden Globe, plus Life Achievement Awards from AFI, BAFTA, NAACP Image Awards, SAG and Kennedy Center Honors, to name a few. Though the kudos have been plentiful, they aren’t enough to convey the depth of his lasting impact on the entertainment industry, starting with being the first Black winner of best actor Oscar for the 1963 film “Lilies of the Field.”

The film industry’s lack of diversity is still an issue in the 21st century. But diversity was nearly non-existent when Poitier made his film debut in the 1950 “No Way Out.” There had been other Black actors in lead film roles, including James Edwards and Harry Belafonte, but they were extremely rare. And Poitier captured the public imagination like no one before him, with his soft but powerful voice and, crucially, his integrity.

Prince, Sign O’ the Times: Deluxe Edition (Warner)

On this 1987 masterpiece, Prince’s second double LP in less than five years, the R&b futurist responded to the serial crises in his personal life — the end of an affair; the firing of his band, the Revolution; escalating wartime with his label — in a kinetic tour de force of tightly wired pop, exploding bedroom funk, and soaring, redemptive climax. The big-box version of this reissue reveals the depth of Prince’s urgency in three CDs of unreleased studio treasures: diamonds...

Glenn Danzig is best known as the singer and bandleader for the seminal horror punks The Misfits, his eponymously monikered hard rock band, Danzig, and his hit song "Mother." But a deeper look into his discography reveals a connection to Hollywood, one that pre-dates the '90s rumor that he was offered the role of Wolverine in X-Men; his music's inclusion in an episode of The X-Files and The Hangover movies; and his eventual debut as a writer/director with last year's gory anthology, Verotika. Released in 1987, the song "You and Me (Less Than Zero)" on the Less Than Zero soundtrack is credited to "Glenn Danzig and the Power and Fury Orchestra." And alongside tracks by LL Cool J, The Bangles, and Slayer, lurked another Danzig contribution, as well: "Life Fades Away," co-written with late '50s icon Roy Orbison, who performed vocals and guitar.

In this recently unearthed interview,...

From British nobility to posh schoolboy to glam rocker to addict to actor and everything in between, Michael Des Barres has lived more than his share of lifetimes — an existence perhaps best exemplified by his hit 1983 song, “Obsession.”

Rolling Stone has an exclusive acoustic performance of the song Friday, an outtake from Des Barres’ recent documentary, Michael Des Barres: Who Do You Want Me To Be?, directed by J. Elvis Weinstein.

“That clip was supposed to be the climax — which is my favorite word — of the film,” Des Barres tells Rolling Stone.

Plus, Jason's seeing dead people -- again! Watch this intense new clip and share your season finale theories. Never underestimate the power of Truebies! After fans racked up more than 100,000 #SaveYourself tweets, HBO released this brand-new sneak peek of True Blood's fifth season finale — and it's a doozy. Not only does Eric (Alexander Skarsgard) show up at Sookie's (Anna Paquin) house — Ok, it's not legally her house, as she points out in the video — but he brings along Tara (Rutina Wesley) and Nora (Lucy Griffiths) for the ride. As you can imagine, Sookie and Tara's reunion is awkward... to say the least. Eric's (desperate) plan involves bringing Sookie to the Authority headquarters to talk some sense into mad-man Bill (Stephen Moyer) before it's too late. Watch the brand-new preview clip below, then drop a comment with your season finale theories — including who you don't think will live to see season six: http://www.

The Beast has been released! Out in Korea as of yesterday is the directorial debut of Hwang Yoo-sik, assistant director on Bloody Reunion, and we've got the teaser trailer for you here. The film stars Jeong Seaok-won (Il Mare, The Big Swindle), Jeon Se-hong (Kim Ki-Duk's Time), Nalie Lee (City Of Violence) and Kim Yeong-hoon (Detective K, The Showdown) and it looks pretty bad ass.

Time to call your cable or satellite provider and add the Sundance Channel to your lineup as the network is launching a new season of its late-night destination Asia Extreme™ on August 7, showcasing the sharpest of cutting-edge Asian genre fare every Saturday night at midnight.

You'll note that a few of the offerings aren't strictly horror fare, but we're including everything since just about all of them offer gore and violence, even if the supernatural/horror elements aren't quite there.

From the Press Release:

The 2010 season of Asia Extreme includes the U.S. television premieres of five films from South Korea: The Restless, Shadows in the Palace, Tazza: The High Rollers, Voice, and The Wig. The new season of Asia Extreme premieres on August 7 at 12:00 midnight Et/Pt.

In addition to their on-air presentations, the five premieres will be among the thirteen Asia Extreme titles available free from August...

Among the spate of new international sales agencies, FilmNation Entertainment has been formed by ex-Weinstein Company executive Glen Basner. The company is the exclusive international sales agent for Media Rights Capital (MRC) and Samuels Media Group and has a non-exclusive sales pact with Endgame Entertainment. On its maiden voyage at AFM it is selling three projects from the Night Chronicles label, a partnership between MRC and M. Night Shyamalan. Prior to serving as president of international for TWC, Basner was EVP of international sales and distribution for Focus Features.

Another new sales agent is Exclusive Film Distribution headed by Guy East. HS Media's newly formed sales and distribution company whose debut line-up for the American Film Market includes presales for Peter Weirs' 'The Way Back' from Spitfire and three Hammer titles, Exclusive Film Distribution is based in London and handles worldwide sales and distribution for both Spitfire Pictures and Hammer Films 'The Quiet Ones', 'The Resident' and 'The Wake Wood' directed by David Keating and starring Aiden Gillen, Eva Birthistle and Timothy Spall and currently shooting in Ireland.

Philippe Martinez, formerly of Bauer Martinez has created production and international sales agency Cinepro Pictures with offices in Florida and Georgia. It is backed by private equity investors, aims to make two films a year and launched at AFM with $20m budgeted supernatural thriller 'Tribes Of October', to be directed and coproduced by Martinez himself. Cinepro head of sales Ben Rizzo also is offering at AFM the $7m comedy 'Ex-Wife For Sale' to be directed as well by Martinez. Also slated is $7m Val Kilmer thriller 'The Steam Experiment' directed by Martinez, now in post-production. Genius Products holds North American rights. Karinne Behr is consulting on sales during AFM through her company Finance In Motion.

Katapult's David Jourdan has left to head up T&C Pictures International, a new sales outfit owned by T&C Pictures run by Arata Matsushima and 'High School Musical' franchise producers Bill Borden and Barry Rosenbush.

George Lascu’s Rex Media is offering a Matrix-style trilogy by cult Russian sci-fi writer Vasily Golovachev, led by the first film, $10m budgeted 'The Interceptor' which is currently in post-production. Lascu is also beginning pre-sales on the next two installments.

New Korean sales outfit M-Line, founded by Michelle Son, former head of international business at Showeast has kicked off with the presale of romantic drama 'Kitchen' to Showgate for Japan. M-Line also handles Showeast titles, whose horror film 'To Sir With Love' was just licensed to I-ON Media for Germany.