“About Family,” the upcoming feature film by Yang Woo-seok, who directed the 2017 action thriller “Steel Rain,” is a heartwarming story of a family and a community -- a tale that its star Kim Yoon-seok on Tuesday compared to “dumpling soup.” The veteran actor Kim, who played a traumatized vacation rental owner in the recent Netflix series “The Frog,” stars as Ham Moo-ok, the owner of a popular dumpling restaurant. Moo-ok, who has made a fortune as

When it comes to spy flicks, one might think of cat-and-mouse pursuits, action scenes and shootouts. But director Yoon Jong-bin, using very little action, sidesteps the spy formula in his 2018 “The Spy Gone North,” a movie that revolves around a loyal South Korean spy who is caught in a political vortex. “I made it (without a lot of action) because the film is based on a true story,” director Yoon Jong-bin told reporters when the movie came out in 2018. “As a filmma

Watching “Hear Me: Our Summer,” Hong Kyung and Roh Yoon-seo’s latest romance that opened in theaters Wednesday, one may have noticed how the movie lacks three elements typical of romance movies: a villain who sabotages the main characters, a protagonist’s dramatic, near-death experience and, most surprisingly, the pouring out of emotion in heartfelt spoken lines. In director Jo Sun-ho’s coming-of-age romance flick, “Hear Me: Our Summer,” most of the thre

As the leaves start to turn red and yellow and a chill hits the air, it is about time to curl up with a cozy blanket, a warm beverage and a classic novel, or better yet, a classic autumn film. While early fall may have been more focused on spooky movies, November is the perfect time to enjoy iconic films featuring first loves, farewells and fateful desires. The Korea Herald has picked three must-watch, classic fall films for you to try this month. “Il Mare” (2000) Directed by Le

“Venom: The Last Dance” (US) Opened Oct. 23 Action/Sci-fi Directed by Kelly Marcel Former journalist Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) and his gooey, alien symbiote Venom, conclude their journey as Venom tries to stop the creator of the symbiotes Knull (Andy Serkis) from escaping his celestial prison. “Amazon Bullseye” (South Korea) Opened Oct. 30 Drama/Adventure Directed by Kim Chang-joo Former archer Jin-bong (Ryoo Seung-ryong) crash-lands in Boledor where he meets members of

The 14th Seoul International Pride Film Festival kicks off Thursday for a seven-day run, opening with Hong Kong filmmaker Ray Yeung’s movie “All Shall Be Well.” “All Shall Be Well,” which won this year’s best feature queer film award at Berlin International Film Festival revolves around two women Angie (Patra Au) and Pat (Lin-Lin Li) who have been together for over four decades. Following Pat's unexpected death, Angie finds herself at the mercy of Pat

The Seoul Independent Film Festival, South Korea’s only competitive independent film festival -- now in its 50th year -- is taking place Nov. 28 to Dec. 6. According to the organizers, the festival this year saw the highest number of films submitted since its establishment in 1975 -- a total of 1,704 feature and short indie films. “We think creators who want to focus on works that contain their voices have returned to the indie scene,” said Festival Director Kim Dong-hyun durin

In director Jo Sun-ho’s coming-of-age romance flick “Hear Me: Our Summer,” a majority of the three protagonists’ scenes rely less on speech and more on sign language, body language and written text. For Roh Yoon-seo, being part of the project was an experience that has improved not only her sign language skills but also expanded her acting spectrum. “At first, there was the pressure to learn a new language, but I started out by learning lines from the scenario in

The Motion Pictures Association of Korea, the organizer of Korea’s oldest film awards, the Grand Bell Film Awards, has gone bankrupt with debts exceeding 800 million won ($580,000), raising doubts as to whether this year’s events will take place in December as planned. The festival was once regarded as the country’s top film awards, but it had been struggling to meet financial and reputational challenges. “After the court announced bankruptcy in December last year, the

The most successful comedy flick in the history of Korean cinema is the 2019 movie “Extreme Job,” which sold 16.2 million tickets and grossed 140 billion won ($101 million). Expectations had been high for “Amazon Bullseye,” which billed itself as the reunion of “Extreme Job” stars Ryoo Seung-ryong and Jin Seon-kyu, as well as screenwriter Bae Se-young. Such expectations were dashed, however, when it opened in theaters on Oct. 30. As the movie unfolds, with f

“Amazon Bullseye” (South Korea) Opened Oct. 30 Drama/Adventure Directed by Kim Chang-joo Former archer Jin-bong (Ryoo Seung-ryong) crash-lands in Boledor where he meets Amazon tribe members and ends up bringing them to Korea to make them the national archery team of Boledor, with the help of a Korean interpreter Bbang-sik (Jin Seon-kyu). “Venom: The Last Dance” (US) Opened Oct. 23 Action/Sci-fi Directed by Kelly Marcel Former journalist Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) and his

A scruffy man with windblown hair is dragged down to kneel on the ground. Despite his untidy looks, his glaring eyes are fixed on the enemy as he swings his sword, a movement akin to dancing. The man is Gang Dong-won, portraying a seemingly unlikely character for the actor: Cheon-young, a main character in Netflix’s “Uprising.” Ranking third in some 190 countries on Netflix’s non-English Global Top 10 movie chart soon after its Oct. 11 release, the period action flick fol

In the upcoming sports movie “One Win” Song Kang-ho depicts a down-and-out coach who, despite a life miserable with continued failures, is betting on a single win. “One Win” was written and directed by Shin Yeon-sik, who Song worked with in the recent Disney+ drama “Uncle Samsik.” The movie revolves around Woo-jin, a volleyball coach who has never won before and players who have no idea how to win a game. As a team, however, they head toward their mutual goal

Shim Eun-kyung was seen as a promising child actor in Korea for her portrayals of younger versions of characters in hit dramas, such as Lee Ji-ah's character in the MBC series "The Legend" and Ha Ji-won character in "Hwang Jini." Since then, she has established herself as a versatile actor, starring in films across genres from the coming-of-age film "Sunny" to the comedy hit "Miss Granny" and the crime thriller "Fabricated City." Shim also f

Actor Kim Young-ok, more commonly known by her stage name, Kim Soo-mi, a prominent presence in Korean film and television, passed away on Friday morning. She was 75. According to the Seoul Seocho Police Station, Kim suffered a cardiac arrest and was transported to The Catholic University of Korea Seoul St. Mary's Hospital in Seocho-gu, Seoul, around 8 a.m., where she was later pronounced dead. Kim's son is reported to have told the local media that the cause of her death is due to hype

“A Normal Family” (South Korea) Opened Oct. 16 Drama Directed by Hur Jin-ho Successful lawyer Jae-wan (Sol Kyung-gu) and his brother meet for dinner with pediatrician Jae-kyu (Jang Dong-gun) to discuss how to handle a violent crime committed by their children, which tests the brothers' consciences. “Love in the Big City” (South Korea) Opened Oct. 1 Drama Directed by Lee Eon-hee Jae-hee (Kim Go-eun) and Heung-soo (Noh Sang-hyun), young Seoulites who have known each

Veteran actor Youn Yuj-jung (“Minari,” “Pachinko”) will star in season two of the Netflix series “Beef.” The new installment of this US anthology drama will feature Youn as the Korean billionaire owner of a country club. While the show’s creator, executive producer and showrunner Lee Sung-jin continues to helm season two of “Beef,” the new season will feature a whole new cast that includes Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, Charles Melton and Cai

The Irish director of horror suspense film “Oddity,” Damian McCarthy has informed his work with an appreciation for Korean cinema. “I think of Choi Min-sik when he just has explosive temper at the end of ‘Oldboy’ or anything Song Kang-ho has done, it just ... this guy's just incredible,” he said at the start of an interview with The Korea Herald, hours before attending the awards ceremony where his film was in the international feature competition at the

Korean cinema has recently seen a number of works that examine in-depth the real-life agony of young people in Korea, such as “Because I Hate Korea” and “Love in the Big City,” which closely depict young Koreans’ hardships in getting a job and embracing one’s identity. Director Kim Jin-tae of “Can We Get Married?” portrays an average 30-something couple in Korea facing a bumpy ride ahead as they get ready to get married. Lee Dong-hwi (“Reply

Korean trot star Lim Young-woong's concert film is making waves, surpassing BTS's record to become the highest-grossing concert film of all time. According to CGV, the film “I'm Hero: The Stadium,” which captures his concert at Seoul World Cup Stadium held in May, has attracted over 343,000 cumulative viewers as of Saturday, setting a new record for live performance films in Korea. This surpasses Lim's own previous record set by "I’m Hero: The Final,&qu