Director Choi Dong-hun’s star-studded film “The Thieves” has been a sensation since its opening in local theaters last month. Now, Choi’s biggest commercial hit ― the sixth domestic film to top 10 million viewers in Korean movie history at 10,095,387 viewers in 22 days ― is going overseas, slated to open in theaters in Hong Kong, Thailand and Indonesia next month. It will also be released in Singapore and Malaysia later this year.The film, featuring top stars including Kim Hye-soo, Jun Ji-hyun,

The government purchased a historical building in Washington D.C., which was used as the legation building of Korea’s Joseon Dynasty (1392-1897) and the Korean Empire (1897-1910) in the U.S. from 1891 to 1905, the Cultural Heritage Administration announced on Tuesday. Korea retrieved ownership of the property 102 years after the country was annexed by Japan, the state-run organization said. The three-story building, which is located about 10 minutes away from the White House by car, was first bu

Total Recall (U.S.)Opened Aug. 15Action. Adventure. Directed by Len Wiseman. Douglas Quaid (Colin Farrell), an ordinary factory worker suffers from violent nightmares every night. One day, he visits “ReKall,” a company that can implant an artificial memories and make fantasies into reality. A Rekall employee, McClane (John Cho), convinces Douglas to implant the memories of a secret agent. During a compatibility test in the process of “memory-implanting,” an accident occurs and McClane accuses hi

Jennifer Garner is a mom three times over as of last February, when her son Samuel was born, joining sisters Violet (6) and Seraphina (3). But she’s still most at home playing women who don’t have a clue about motherhood.“NOBODY is prepared for this,” she says with a laugh. “And sometimes, the harder you try, the more you mess up. There’s nothing that will humble you more. I am constantly feeling that I’ve screwed something up, or will screw something up. You learn as you go along.”Learning to b

Just as William Faulkner tilled a fictional patch called Yoknapatawpha County for his many tales, Tayari Jones works the more urban setting of Atlanta for her novels.Her debut, “Leaving Atlanta” (2002), was a story of three children coming of age during the Atlanta child murders of 1979-’81, when Jones herself was a child. “The Untelling” (2005), with its family sorrows, secrets and a mythological touch, is a novel Faulkner himself might have enjoyed reading.“The Silver Sparrow” (Algonquin 2011,

Sandi Tan’s past is teeming with ghosts. The Pasadena, California-based filmmaker-turned-novelist isn’t a seer herself ― she’s a self-described scaredy-cat and doesn’t particularly enjoy supernatural books and movies ― but her childhood in Singapore in the 1980s was populated with ghost stories and family members who saw spirits. Even her elementary school, a dank World War II-era military hospital, was said to be haunted.“It’s such a big part of people’s lives in that part of the world,” says T

Actor Oh Man-seok once again stars as transgender singer seven years after the musical’s first runIt took shaving armpits and legs, wearing a heavy wig, and going on a strict diet for actor Oh Man-seok to play the role he became famous for seven years ago.The actor recently made a comeback as “Hedwig,” the East German transgender singer, in the Korean adaptation of John Cameron Mitchell’s famous rock musical “Hedwig and the Angry Inch.” “I could not work out (because I’m not allowed to have mus

Child Fund Korea will be holding a charity bazaar in support of children in need in South Sudan on Thursday, the organization said. Actor Jeon Gwang-ryul, who serves as the organization’s promotional ambassador, will attend the event which is scheduled to take place at a venue in southern Seoul. The actor’s 16-year-old son, Jeon Dong-hyuk, has designed a mug and a T-shirt for the bazaar, according to the organization. TV personality Im Baek-chun will host the event, while singers Jang Hye-jin an

Three actresses direct and star in their own documentary film“Almost always it is the fear of being ourselves that brings us to the mirror,” late Argentinean poet Antonio Porchia once said.Making a personal video of oneself is, in many ways, constantly having a mirror before your eyes. It’s hard not to be conscious of the self-reflection shown in the viewfinder, as well as its seeming flaws and weaknesses. Three actresses, active in the local indie movie scene, brought themselves toward a specia

A local movie starring hallyu star Rain has been sold to 30 different countries before its release, the movie’s producer CJ Entertainment announced on Tuesday.The film is the last movie Rain shot before joining the military for mandatory service in October 2011. In the movie, Rain stars as an elite Air Force pilot assigned to stop attacks from an unknown fighter jet along with his unit members. The singer and actor is currently in the Army. His co-stars include actress Shin Se-kyung, actor Yoo J

‘Yun Dong-ju Shoots the Moon’ offers solid music, strong vocal performanceWhen the creators of the hit musical “Hero” announced they would be working together for another piece, and that it was going to be about the late poet Yun Dong-ju (1917-1945), many predicted the emergence of another grim, patriotic piece.What was unveiled on Friday at Seoul Arts Center’s Opera Theater was exactly that, with a number of notable fortes in music, stage design, and vocal performances. The piece’s lack of adeq

Singer Psy entertained over 30,000 audience members at his solo concert at the Jamsil Sports Complex Stadium in Seoul on Saturday.The show was Psy’s first concert following the release of his latest album, titled “Gangnam Style,” last month. The album’s title track, as well as its unique “horse riding” dance, has been receiving sensational reviews worldwide. The music video of the song, which has received more than 24 million views on YouTube, was featured on CNN, in the Los Angeles Times, and o

‘The Grand Heist’ actor reveals his ambitions, street-smart natureKnown for his looks and nice-guy charm, actor Oh Ji-ho is known by many for his roles in TV romantic comedies. Some of the most memorable roles of his acting career, including that of a smart-but-awkward office worker in KBS’ 2006 drama “My Wife is a Superwoman,” and as a young handyman who takes care of his orphaned nephews in 2006’s romantic comedy “Couple or Trouble,” had that “nice guy” appeal and personality.But behind his be

Different types of swimming pools offer entertainment, reliefAlthough the record-breaking temperatures that gripped the nation have abated somewhat and the heat wave warning was removed early Friday, the weather is still expected to remain warm. A number of pools in the city offer both cool relief as well as dining and entertainment opportunities for the Seoulites seeking a break from the dog days of summer close to home. There is an “infinity edge” pool, where swimmers cannot see the edges of

You’ve never seen Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones quite like this.As old marrieds facing “intensive” couples counseling over their comatose sexual relationship, two of America’s finest screen actors are by turns silly, befuddled, awkward and confused.And “Hope Springs,” the new comedy from the director of “The Devil Wears Prada” and scripted by a “Game of Thrones” writer, is all the more amusing for it. Seeing the best in the business act out the no-eye contact body language, the embarrassment

The Coldest WarBy Ian Tregillis (Tor)With “The Coldest War,” Ian Tregillis continues an impressive fantasy/alternative-history trilogy he began with “Bitter Seeds.” The first novel, set in Britain’s darkest hours of World War II, pitted British warlocks, calling on dark otherworldly forces, against young Nazi Ubermenschen, whose X-men-like superpowers (invisibility, flamethrowing) are fueled by battery power fed directly into their brains.Now it’s 1963. The Russians rule everything east of Paris

For 45 years pop star Elton John has left the writing to such lyricists as Bernie Taupin, Gary Osborne and Tim Rice. A cursory examination of the few songs with his own lyrics, such as 1978’s simplistic B-side “Flintstone Boy,” strongly suggests he made the right decision.Similarly, John, 65, might have been better served had he employed a ghostwriter to draft his good-intentioned memoir. “Love Is the Cure” isn’t a tell-all or about his music career. He only mentions 1974’s Caribou because durin

In the decades since her death on Aug. 5, 1962, Marilyn Monroe has been the subject of so many books that the actress practically deserves her own Dewey Decimal classification.And although it seems unlikely that there’s any aspect of her 36 years that hasn’t been adequately dissected, analyzed and scrutinized half a century on, the books keep coming, like the following ― two weighty tomes and two glossy coffee table books ― that have been published in the last few months.“Marilyn: The Passion an

Wim Wenders’ documentary opens  in Korea a year after its original releaseNot every movie needs 3-D treatment, but Wim Wenders’ cinematic tribute to his friend, the late groundbreaking dancer Pina Bausch, is certainly one of the exceptions. The 3-D documentary, titled “Pina,” is not a biographical film about Bausch. It is about her works, and what the members of her troupe ― the famous Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch ― have to say about her and what they learned from her extraordinary life. 

Movie screenings to feature lives of ethnic Koreans in JapanLast year, Japanese-Korean director Yang Yong-hi’s personal documentary “Goodbye Pyongyang,” a portrait of her own family, drew attention in Seoul for its complex and painful expose of ethnic Koreans living in Japan. Seoulites will be given a chance to view more films about ethnic Koreans living in Japan this summer and learn about their history. In commemoration of the upcoming Liberation Day on Aug. 15, the Northeast Asian History Fou