The start of shopping malls in Korea is hard to pinpoint. Up until the late 1990s, the concept of a “mall” was not established. People who were looking to buy new items would head to big traditional market areas like Dongdaemun or Namdaemun, or to the clusters of underground shops located at subway stations with large waves of foot traffic. The most famous underground shopping centers were located at Seoul’s Express Bus Terminal and Gangnam Station, both in southern Seoul. Although these undergr

Zac Brown Band eclectic on ‘Jekyll + Hyde’Zac Brown Band“Jekyll + Hyde” (Southern Ground-John Varvatos-Big Machine-Republic Nashville)Zac Brown rightly names his new release after a famous, fictional schizophrenic, for few artists in this genre-focused era so openly embrace an eclectic muse. 　 Brown sets the tone immediately on “Jekyll + Hyde,” which opens with an aggressively rhythmic “Beautiful Drug,” the most electronic-driven track Brown has recorded. The variety doesn‘t stop there, as he br

The Chronicles of Evil (Korea)Opening May 14Thriller. Directed by Baek Woon-hakA police officer named Chang-sik (Son Hyun-ju) is kidnapped by a taxi driver late at night. They get into a fight, and Chang-sik kills the driver. He cleans up the scene and returns home, but the next day the body is found hanging from a crane in front of the police station where Chang-sik works. Chang-sik is put in charge of the investigation, and he nervously watches his own team close in on him as he tries to find

The mild weather in May makes it a great month to get out and enjoy Seoul’s vibrant cultural scene. This year, that culture comes with a dash of awareness about the world around us at three film festivals themed around social issues such as the environment, animals and gender equality. First up is the Green Film Festival in Seoul, which kicked off its 12th year on May 7. The festival was established by environmental activist Choi Yul and is now hosted by the Korea Green Foundation. This year, th

“Poet on a Business Trip” by Chinese director Ju Anqi won the grand prize in the International Competition of the 16th Jeonju International Film Festival, while the top honor in the Korean competition section went to “Alice in Earnestland” from Ahn Gooc-jin, it was announced Wednesday. “Blossom” by Han In-mi took the trophy in Korean Competition for Shorts category. “Poet on a Business Trip,” which made its Asian premiere in Jeonju, follows a poet named Xiou as he travels through the mountains,

The Korean Film Council’s decision to cut funding for the Busan International Film Festival by nearly half in 2015 has led to speculation that the quasi-governmental agency is trying to punish the festival for screening a politically controversial documentary last year.On April 30, the agency announced its 2015 funding decisions for six festivals as part of its international film festival development program. The BIFF was awarded a total of 800 million won ($740,000), down nearly half from 1.46

G-Dragon, T.O.P, Taeyang, Seungri, and Daesung raised eyebrows online with the release of their “Bae Bae” music video. It was unusual in many ways, and -- as American music magazine Billboard put it, represented Big Bang’s “sexual peak.” In a conversation with reporters at the Conrad Hotel in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul on Monday, Big Bang talked about the creation of the buzz-creating video. (YG Entertainment)“We wanted to make something unusual, something that people would find fun, something that

The 16th year of the nation’s second-largest film festival kicked off Thursday at Jeonju Sports Stadium.The outdoor stadium was packed with fans as stars lined the red carpet and opening ceremony cohosts Kim Dong-wan and Im Sung-min took the stage to officially begin the Jeonju International Film Festival. Kim Dong-wan is a member of boy band Shinhwa, while Lim Sung-min is an anchorwoman-turned-actress.  Lim Sung-min and Kim Dong-wan host the opening ceremony of the JIFF at Jeonju Sports Stadium

GONGJU, South Chungcheong Province ― Nestled in the hills of Mount Taehwasan sits Magoksa Temple, a serene haven with cozy tiled-roof shrines dotting sprawling courtyards and a five-story stone pagoda as its centerpiece. The spring mountain scenery surrounding the temple is lush and pristine, as if this were the first spring it had ever known. But the temple, founded in 640, bears the signs of history in its time-worn walls. It is this history that the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism hopes to cel

Mnet and JYP Entertainment have teamed up to launch the new survival-style debut program “Sixteen.”The program’s name refers to the number of contestants who will vie for a spot in the new seven-member group to come from JYP. The new group would be named “Twice,” JYP Entertainment’s CEO Park Jin-young revealed at a press conference at the 63 Convention Center in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, Wednesday.“We chose that name because the members will be wowing their fans once through their ears, and twice

Darkness and isolation are the two constants in “Coin Locker Girl,” the feature-length debut from director Han Jun-hee. It is a crime drama ― violent, unpredictable and thrilling, but even amid its unexpected twists and turns the film never strays from its central message: life is a hard, solitary endeavor.That theme is counterintuitive to the fact that the central characters in the film call each other a “family” despite having no biological connection. In fact, it isn’t clear at first what the

“B, to the I, to the?” “Bang! Bang!”YG Entertainment’s iconic boy group Big Bang lit up the Olympic Gymnastics Arena at Seoul Olympic Park on Sunday, the second day of the Seoul concert that kicks off their long-awaited group comeback. The 13,000 seats were packed strong with VIPs (as Big Bang’s fans are called) as the five members dominated the stage, freely moving around onstage and relocating ramps to interact with the audience. “I’m not as nervous as I was yesterday,” rapper T.O.P said, refe

In her third EP, Lim Kim has grown up, and learned to approach life with a “Simple Mind.” “It’s an album about looking at things as simply as possible,” Kim said at a press showcase at Lezhin Comics V-Hall in Mapo-gu, Seoul on Monday.Newly blonde and dressed in a studded black leather jacket, Kim sang three songs from the seven-track album ― the playful and daring “Awoo,” which was prereleased on April 22, the addictive title track “Love Game,” and the poetic “Barama,” originally performed with

“Avengers: Age of Ultron” is setting box office records worldwide, and Korea is no exception to seeing the Disney Marvel superhero action movie hitting it big.The second Avengers film hit local theaters last Thursday, showing at over 44 percent of multiplex screens nationwide.It sold over 3 million tickets, or 21.2 billion won ($19.7 million), as of Sunday morning, according to the Korean Film Council.The movie, about a band of Earth’s mightiest heroes including Iron Man and Thor from Marvel’s c

Brian Wilson is back with evocative albumBrian Wilson“No Pier Pressure”(Capitol)Brian Wilson‘s “No Pier Pressure” offers ample reason to celebrate the extended solo career that has followed his Beach Boys’ journey. 　 His 11th solo studio offering opens with “This Beautiful Day,” a short track that captures all of Wilson‘s yearning and desire in the simplest, most direct way, offset by lovely harmonies and some fine trumpet work. 　 Of course, the entire CD does not reach that level, and some of t

Coin Locker Girl (Korea)Opening April 29Drama. Directed by Han Jun-heeThe dark underworld of loan sharks, drugs, and commissioned kills are all Il-young (Kim Go-eun) knows as she grows up under the wing of Mother (Kim Hye-soo), the crime boss who bought Il-young when she was a little girl. Il-young is blindly loyal to Mother until she catches a glimpse of a normal life through her unlikely friendship with Suk-hyun (Park Bo-gum), the son of a debtor. Chaos ensues as Il-young slowly turns her back

“The Shameless,” a new film from director Oh Seung-uk starring Jeon Do-yeon and Kim Nam-gil, is described by its filmmakers as a “hardboiled melodrama-romance.” As one of the official selections invited to the sidebar “Un Certain Regard” competition of the 68th Cannes Film Festival, the film has been stoking curiosity about how Oh would bring together the seemingly antithetical genres of hardboiled and romance.“In terms of genre, the movie is closer to romance,” Oh said at a press conference at

Singer Park Bo-ram dropped her first EP “Celepretty” on Thursday.After making a splash on the star discovery program “Superstar K2,” 21-year-old Park made her official debut last August with the single “Beautiful” featuring Zico of Block B.The song made waves for its autobiographical story of a girl who became beautiful through a hard diet ― Park herself lost 32 kilograms while preparing her first release. Her new medium-tempo title track “Celepretty” continues the true-story theme. The lyrics a

Director Joss Whedon dispenses with all introductions and jumps straight into the action in the hotly anticipated “Avengers: Age of Ultron.” The opening sequence kicks off with the Avengers raiding a HYDRA stronghold in the snowy mountains of Sokovia, kicking, punching and blasting their way to capture Loki’s powerful scepter. From there, the action never slows down throughout the 140-minute film screened for the media at CGV Wangsimni on Tuesday. But between the heavy gunfire and scorched metal

Two films about families struggling with disabilities will hit theaters side by side on April 23, three days after the designated national day to raise awareness about physical disabilities. Despite their common subject matter, the films present a striking contrast in their portrayals of life with disabilities.The first film is “Glittering Hands,” the first full-length feature film from 25-year-old Lee-Kil Bora that received accolades at the Seoul Independent Film Festival and the Persons with D