Category — Korea

Winner of over 13 much lauded awards at international film festivals, Breathless is about to hit selected UK cinema’s beginning with the ICA in London on the 29th January. If a hard-assed Korean gangster film sounds good to you, check it out! Here’s the trailer.

About the movie:

Sang-hoon (Yang Ik-june) is a lowlife gangster, a debt collector exercising thuggish ways to collect his money. The recipient of nothing but anger since his childhood, he expresses himself through violence.

When he finally encounters someone who can stand up to him, feisty school-girl Yoon-hee (Kim Kkobbi, recipient of multiple Best Actress awards for this role) they become unlikely friends. Together, they try to change their lives, to escape the confines of society’s periphery; change and escape never comes that easily though.

Click for Breathless Listings & Press reviews…

Technorati Tags: Breathless, film, gangster movie, ICA, Korea, Korean

This video clip is from awhile back, but still fun to watch. Don’t discount the amazing technical kicking of Taekwondo amidst all the fanfare Wushu and Muay Thai has been getting in recent years..

Technorati Tags: Taekwondo

Korean artist Paper Blue (that’s all I could find out) has an amazing fantasy landscape style. Check out the work below.

Via Magazine13

Technorati Tags: art, fantasy art, Korea, Korean artist

These art pieces by Korean artist Jin Young Yu seem part designer toy, part figure sculpture (what’s the difference?). But they’re all-amazing, giving a new perspective on potential designer toy releases. Reminds me of the Korean film Hansel and Gretel.

See more on the Union website

Via Josh Spear

Technorati Tags: art, Jin Young Yu, Korea, Korean artist

The winning stadium design for the 2014 Asian Games is designed by Populous with the South Korean Incheon Stadium playing host as the primary stadium for the 17th Asian games.

Designed by Populous (formerly HOK Sport Venue Event) and Heerim Architects and Planners, Incheon’s new stadium is designed to hold 70,000 people for the Asian games in 2014, after which it will downsize and transform into a 30,000 seat stadium and public park.

Read more on Inhabitat

Via Gizmodo

Technorati Tags: 2014 Asian Games, Asian games, Heerim Architects and Planners, Incheon, Korea, Populous, Incheon Stadium, sport

The eagerly anticipated, Cannes Jury Prize winner, THIRST (by Park Chan-wook – Old Boy) is released in cinemas on October 16th.

Thirst follows the life of Sang-hyun, a priest who cherishes life so much that he selflessly volunteers for a secret vaccine development project meant to eradicate a deadly virus. But the virus takes hold of the priest and a blood transfusion is urgently ordered for him. The blood he receives is infected, so Sang-hyun lives – but now exists as a vampire.

Struggling with his newfound carnal desire for blood, Sang-hyun’s faith is further strained when a childhood friend’s wife comes to him asking for his help in escaping her life. Sang-hyun soon plunges into a world of sensual pleasures, finding himself on intimate terms with the Seven Deadly Sins.

For more info, or to watch the trailer, click here

The Big Picture posted a series of photos depicting a side of North Korea that’s probably the most well-known outside of Korea. Barren, desolate and decidedly military.

Peering into North Korea

Technorati Tags: Korea, North Korea, photography

Korean designers Maezm created the Table-Dish-Cover, a silicon table cloth with integrated dishes. Looks like the sizes are perfect for kimchi with your main meal!

The flexible, injection-moulded silicon product is spread over a table at meal times and then removed and washed afterwards as a complete unit.

Read more on Dezeen

Technorati Tags: cuisine, design, injection-moulded silicon, Korean, Maezm, silicon table cloth, Table-Dish-Cover

Interested in martial arts? Watch as experts in 20 of South Korea’s traditional martial arts give a public demonstration…

Technorati Tags: demonstration, martial arts, South Korea, video

For our readers in the US, we wrote about Asian video content providers DramaFever.com back in January and now they’re about to go live publicly with over 50 Korean Dramas! If you’re in New York City on the 6th August, check out their free launch party – details below.

DramaFever.com has been in testing and design all year long and it’s finally going live in August. DramaFever will be launching with over 50 Korean Dramas, adding Chinese and Japanese dramas later in 2009. All videos are legally licensed, subtitled and streaming in high def. Viewers can watch for free with a handful of overlay ads per episode. In the near future, DramaFever plans to offer an ad-free subscription model.

To celebrate, DramaFever will host a launch party in NYC on Thurs, Aug 6 from 7-9pm at Circle Nightclub. Guests will receive gift bags from sponsors Ito En, Theme Magazine, TimeOutNY magazine, mark. cosmetics, MiN New York, and La Vie Zen Spa. The event is free admission and 21+

There will also be special performances by Asian American artists Magnetic North (hip hop), Kelly Zen-Yie Tsai (spoken word artist from HBO Def Poetry) and Taiyo Na (hip hop).

Location: Circle Nightclub, 135 West 41st St, New York, NY
Age 21+

Full details are here:
www.dramafever.com/blog/?p=382

For more artist info:
www.magnetichiphop.com
www.yellowgurl.com
www.taiyona.com

Technorati Tags: Drama Fever, East Asian video content, Korea, Korean dramas