Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Christopher Mintz-Plasse square off in fisticuffs and a climactic stare-down through their masks when the subversive superhero sequel “Kick-Ass 2” hits theaters on Friday.But during a recent promo appearance at the annual Comic-Con pop-culture fest, Taylor-Johnson, 23, and Mintz-Plasse, 24, are more into comparing weird marks on their forearms caused by spirited fans and playfully squabbling over a glass of ice provided by a publicist.“She got that for me,” Mintz-Plasse

Super Graphic: A Visual Guide to the Comic Book UniverseBy Tim Leong (Chronicle)“Super Graphic: A Visual Guide to the Comic Book Universe” demands a soft toilet seat and, I estimate, 17.4 hours of your time. That’s a compliment. In fact, if you don’t own a bathroom, build one immediately so you may luxuriate for obnoxiously long, undisturbed stretches with artist Tim Leong’s self-described “love letter to the medium,” an absorbing, wonderfully unnecessary pairing of inventive, beautiful designs

“Prague doesn‘t let go,” Franz Kafka once wrote of his hometown. “This little mother has claws.”That line neatly summarizes the tension in Caleb Crain’s elegant and intellectually robust debut novel, “Necessary Errors.” Its hero, Jacob, is a 20-something American navigating familiar 20-something crises: love versus lust, accomplishment versus slackerdom. Tales of such post-collegiate expats are usually thin studies in privileged narcissism. But Crain complicates the story, using the Prague setti

Rob Sheffield is the kind of true-blue music nerd who’ll pause his latest memoir ― one with a subtitle promising a book about “the rituals of love & karaoke” ― to address the topic of Rod Stewart.Not how much he loves Rod Stewart, exactly, nor which of Stewart’s songs is the most fun to sing at karaoke. (Duh: “Love Touch.”) Rather, Sheffield’s chapter on the singer, called “Hot Legs,” examines in great detail Stewart’s merry progression from “a rambling rock & roll rogue” to “an L.A. roue trappe

Actress Soo Ae says she is drawn to roles that are “oeyunaegang,” a four-character idiom that translates to an iron fist in a velvet glove.“The quality is what I consider to be ideal,” the actress said in an interview with The Korea Herald in Seoul last week. “I’ve always admired those who appear gentle but are determined and strong underneath. They are my role models. So naturally, I chose to play a lot of characters that have that quality.”The 34-year-old’s past roles are evidence of the profe

Bucheon University students majoring in cartoon and 2-D visual graphics showcased their works at Bucheon International Comics Festival in Gyeonggi Province, from Aug. 14 to 18.The annual event is Korea’s only comics festival that features cartoonists from home and abroad.Bucheon University’s cartoon and 2-D visual graphics program is known for its 2010 animation “Robot Zzibba,” based on local cartoonist Shin Moon-su’s manhwa of the same title, which was broadcast on KBS2 as a 26-episode series.

Pop music“Hyundai Card Super Concert 19 City Break”: Joining the club of blowout summer music festivals, this year the Hyundai Card Super Concert 19 City Break two-day music festival is bringing some of the hottest bands in the rock music industry. The lineup includes headlining acts Metallica, Muse, Iggy and the Stooges, Limp Bizkit, Rise Against as well as popular local bands Jang Ki-ha and the Faces, Kwon Soon-kwan and much more. The two-day music Hyundai Card Super Concert will be held on Au

Though actress Karen Black never stopped working, news of her passing last week at age 74 sent me back to the 1970s. That era ― a transformative cultural moment for women in general ― had the films I remember the actress in most.It actually starts on the eve of the decade with 1969’s “Easy Rider,” the movie that put Black on Hollywood’s radar. (She had already made an imprint on stage.) It’s hard to forget her portrayal of a leggy prostitute with a long tangle of brown curls taking an LSD-fueled

Celebrated Cambodian filmmaker Rithy Panh has been selected as the winner of Busan International Film Festival’s Asian Filmmaker of the Year Award.The annual prize from BIFF is given to an Asian filmmaker “who has significantly contributed to the development of Asian cinema and culture.” Past winners include Iran’s Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Taiwan’s Hou Hsiao-hsien and Hong Kong’s Andy Lau. The 49-year-old filmmaker’s works have been largely focused on the aftermath of the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime

BUCHEON, Gyeonggi Province ― What is it like to see one’s graphic novel being turned into a movie nearly 30 years after it was published?According to French comic book creators Jean-Marc Rochette and Benjamin Legrand, whose 1984 work “Le Transperceneige” (Snowpiercer) was recently released as a film, it is “very much like a miracle.”  Following the enormous box office success of the star-studded “Snowpiercer,” the story’s original authors visited Korea to watch the movie for the first time at th

Before “Babayaga,” I thought Disney had captured all the world’s folk tales and remade them as child-friendly blockbusters. But author Toby Barlow got to Baba Yaga ― fearsome witches plucked from old Russian legend ― first, and he brings them to life in 1950s Paris.At the center of the novel is Will, a young American ad man who is not a witch. He’s enjoying the pleasures of the city, although he’ll probably soon be heading home to Detroit. He’s a likable, drifting twentysomething, the kind of gu

There have been numerous books written about the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.Some have detailed his work as one of the world’s best-known civil rights leaders.Others have examined his writings, philosophy and sermons.But one of his sons wants people to know another side of him ― dad.Martin Luther King III has written a children’s book, “My Daddy, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,” about his life growing up the son of a famous leader, who while on the go a lot, managed to still be Daddy to his four chil

Following on the heels of “World War Z,” “After Earth” and “Snowpiercer,” local theaters are seeing the arrival of another dystopian blockbuster, this time starring Matt Damon. Damon, who is best known in Korea for his 1997 drama film “Good Will Hunting” which he co-wrote with his friend and fellow actor Ben Affleck, visited Seoul for the first time to promote his latest movie “Elysium.”The film, directed by “District 9” filmmaker Neill Blomkamp, is set in 2154 where the powerful live in a space

Filmmaker Wong Kar-wai’s “Grandmaster,” contrary to what the title suggests, is not exactly a biopic of the legendary Chinese martial artist Ip Man (1893-1972), the grandmaster of Wing Chun who famously taught Bruce Lee.Rather, it is Wong’s poignant, visually stunning tribute to what is now gone ― China before the Japanese invasion and the glory years of Chinese martial arts in the 1930s. Though it features the life of Ip, the film focuses on martial arts itself rather than the individual. What

Actor Cho Jae-hyun won the best actor prize at this year’s Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal, Canada, for his performance as a hunchback in director Jeon Kyu-hwan’s film “The Weight.”In the 2012 film, Cho plays a mortician who accepts the corpses of those who died without any family or friends to pay for the funeral. Cho is said to have agreed to star in the low-budget movie for free.Director Jeon won the Queer Lion prize at last year’s Venice International Film Festival for the m

HAVANA (AP) ― Cuba’s first English-language bookstore offers a selection that would just about stock the lobby of an average Vermont bed and breakfast. Next to what’s available in English elsewhere in Havana, it might as well be the Library of Congress.The brainchild of a longtime U.S. expat, Cuba Libro launched Friday as a bookshop, cafe and literary salon that offers islanders and tourists alike a unique space to buy or borrow tomes in the language of Shakespeare. Cuba Libro also gives custome

As summer is in full swing, many Seoulites are finding it hard to sleep at night without the air conditioner on.But the city offers a number of ways to escape the heat outside the house at night, from outdoor concerts to film screenings by the Hangang River. Here are some events and spots to check out to help you cool down, have fun, and relax. Outdoor concerts Seoul Arts Center is throwing free night concerts this month every Saturday at its spacious outdoor property. The four concerts feature

English teacher and author Bella Chung remembers a memorable encounter with one of her young students. The middle school student walked into Chung’s English class at Korea Herald English Institutes in central Seoul, looking rather miserable and uninterested. The girl attended an English immersion kindergarten in Korea as a kid, and apparently lost her interest in the language as she enrolled in elementary school. “She was very pretty but her face was stiff,” Chung said during an interview with T

A day after major record labels YG Entertainment, S.M. Entertainment, JYP Entertainment and Star Empire Entertainment filed a complaint with Seoul Supreme Prosecutors’ Office claiming local digital music charts were being illegally manipulated, the Culture Ministry announced related countermeasures on Thursday.According to the complainants, the number of cases where firms were paid to illegally manipulate music chart rankings has been on the rise. The manipulators boost song rankings by playing

Popular actress, filmmaker, singer and artist Ku Hye-sun is to hold a solo art exhibition in Shanghai, according to her local agency YG Entertainment.The upcoming exhibition, scheduled to be held at the Korean Cultural Service Shanghai from Aug. 17 to 31, will feature some 20 artworks by Ku. The 28-year-old’s works are said to explore the themes of nostalgia and memories.On the opening day of the exhibition, Aug. 17, Ku will attend a special event where she will meet underprivileged children in