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★★★★★ "Friends 2": A young gangster unknowingly befriends his father's killer but starts to suspect the connection. (11/14)

★★★★ "Dead End": A shamed producer heads out to film ginseng diggers but gets more than he bargained for. (11/14)

★★★ "Ingtoogi": After getting humiliated online, Tae-goo learns to fight in order to get revenge in the real world. (11/14)

★★ "Black Gospel": Korea's only gospel choir heads to Harlem to see if they have what it takes. (11/14)

★★★★ "Red Vacance Black Wedding 2": An obsessed creep refuses to take a hint when his love interest turns him down. (11/14)

★★★★ "The Five": A woman goes to extreme measures to enact revenge against her family's killer. (11/14)

★★★ "Beautiful Child": A story about a Korean missionary who charges through the rupture of natives and white people. (11/14)

★★★ "Kid Cast Away 2013": A young girl gets stranded on a South Pacific Island with her dog, but the two are not alone for long. (11/14)

Title: "Friends 2"

Genre: Action

Length: 124 min

Release Date: 2013/11/14

Director: _Kwak_Gyeong-taek ("Friend", "Typhoon")

Stars: Yu Oh-seong, Joo Jin-mo, Kim Woo-bin, Ji Seung-hyun

The Short and Sweet:  A young gangster unknowingly befriends his father's killer but starts to suspect the connection.

In 2001 _Kwak_Gyeong-taek's "Friend" took in 8.1 million admissions at the Korean box office, the highest haul at the time and Kwak's classic currently stands as Korea's 13th highest grossing film. Since then, however, Kwak has not been able to emulate his debut's massive success. In "Friends 2" Kwak continues from the original tale as Joon-seok (Yu Oh-seong) now finds himself in prison after willing taking the fall for the death of his friend (Dong-soo). However Dong-soo's son (now a young adult) has followed in his father's footsteps and ends up not only also in prison, but unknowingly befriends his father's friend/killer. The two become close and once released they work together to reclaim the ganglands, but the past won't stay hidden forever.  

★★★★★

Title: "Dead End"

Genre: Mystery, Thriller

Length: 96 min

Release Date: 2013/11/14

Director: Yoon Yeo-chang ("Would we love? - End of Love Episode")

Stars: Kim Min-jun, Woo Sang-jeon, Choi Joon-yong, Choi Sung-min-I 

The Short and Sweet: A shamed producer heads out to film ginseng diggers but gets more than he bargained for.

After being exposed for faking a nature documentary, producer Jeong Seung-ho (Kim Min-jun) ends up filming the life of ginseng diggers and in the process gets caught up in thrilling mystery. This is director Yoon Yeo-chang's second film after his 2010 debut "Would we love? - End of Love Episode" which he also wrote the screenplay for. I wasn't able to find a trailer for this one, but from what I can guess this looks like a small-town mystery thriller with perhaps a hint or two of "Moss" come "Bedevilled" thrown in for good measure. The poster and stills looks enticing but we will just have to wait for more information on this one.

★★★★

Title: "Ingtoogi" (aka "Ingtoogi: The Battle of Surpluses")

Genre: Drama, Action, Comedy

Length: 99 min

Release Date: 2013/11/14

Director: Um Tae-goo*

Stars: Um Tae-goo, Kwon Se-in, Ryu Hye-young 

The Short and Sweet: After getting humiliated online, Tae-goo learns to fight in order to get revenge in the real world.

Actor/director Um Tae-goo makes his feature-length debut with "Ingtoogi", an action comedy/drama that sees Eom take the lead alongside Kwon Se-in and Ryu Hye-young. Eom has acted in a number of films since 2007 and has also directed a few of short films including a segment in the 2011 omnibus film "Nice Shorts! 2011".

I will be honest it was hard to figure out exactly what was happening in the trailer (something about carp-humanism?), but this art house film looks like it could just be a little gem. In "Ingtoogi", Tae-sik gets humiliated when a video of him getting beat up goes viral online. But instead of taking it lying down, he decides to take revenge and starts to learn to fight with the help of his friend Hee-joon and a new girl he meets along the way.

★★★

Title: "Black Gospel"

Genre: Documentary, Drama

Length: 93 min

Release Date: 2013/11/14

Director: hisMT Ministry*

Screenplay: Hong Yoon-jeong-I

Stars: Kim Yoo-mi, Yang Dong-geun, Jung Joon, Heritage

The Short and Sweet:  Korea's only gospel choir heads to Harlem to see if they have what it takes.

★★

Title: "Red Vacance Black Wedding 2"

Genre: Thriller

Release Date: 2013/11/14

Director: Choi Wee-an ("Love in 42.9", "Today and the Other Days")

Stars: Moon Ji-yeong-I, Kim Jae-rok

The Short and Sweet: An obsessed creep refuses to take a hint when his love interest turns him down.

Choi didn't have too much going for him last with his family fantasy film "Love in 42.9" but will be hoping his third film will give him the win he needs. "Red Vacance Black Wedding 2" is the sequel to the 2011 film by Kim Tae-sik and Park Chul-soo and follows Hong-chae (Moon Ji-yeong-I) as she tries to escape the creepy obsessions of her long-time stalker (Kim Jae-rok).

★★★★

Title: "The Five"

Genre: Drama, Thriller

Length: 123 min

Release Date: 2013/11/14

Director: Jeong Yeon-sik*

Screenplay: Jeong Yeon-sik

Stars: Kim Sun-a, Ma Dong-seok, Shin Jung-keun, Jung In-gi

The Short and Sweet: A woman goes to extreme measures to enact revenge against her family's killer.

"The Five" is based off of a popular Korea web-toon and marks director Jeong Yeon-sik's debut feature. The film handles familiar Korean movie themes such as revenge, the illegal organ trade, and  a murder in the family. Actress Kim Sun-a ("I Do, I Do", "Fighting Spirit") takes centre stage in this one with Ma Dong-seok (who has actually made quite a few movie appearances/cameos in recent years). Kim plays Eun-ah, a determined woman who puts her own organs on the line as she quests to find and personally punish her family's killer.

★★★★

Title: "Beautiful Child"

Genre: Documentary

Length: 93 min

Release Date: 2013/11/14

Director: Lee Sung-soo*

Stars: Lee Sung-soo 

The Short and Sweet: A story about a Korean missionary who charges through the rupture of natives and white people.

★★★

Title: "Kid Cast Away 2013"

Genre: Adventure, Drama, Family

Length: 75 min

Release Date: 2013/11/14

Director: Woo Seong-jin*

Screenplay: Lim Woong-soon*

Stars: Lee Na-ri, Jeon Moo-song, Lee Young-ha, Sun-woo Eun-sook

The Short and Sweet: A young girl gets stranded on a South Pacific Island with her dog, but they are not alone for long.

This relatively short feature (just 75 minutes) is both director Woo Seong-jin and screenwriter Lom Woong-soo's debut film. It follows So-yeon (Lee Na-ri), a young girl who, after a fishing accident in the South Pacific, finds herself on an isolated island with her dog, hoping that her father (Lee Young-ha) will come and save her and her canine companion. However the island is not void of inhabitants, and So-yeon soon gets involved in island politics but can't seem to shake the feeling that someone has been keeping an eye on her.

★★★

Also Coming Soon:

"Sushi Girl" (2012), "Taking Zhu Village By Strategy" (2011), "Hand in Hand" (2012), "The Guillotines" (2012), "Terminator 2: Judgement Day" (1991), "The Counsellor" (2013), "魔法のプリンセス ミンキーモモ 夢の中の輪舞" (1985),  "HK: Forbidden Super Hero" (2013), "Cheburashka" (2010), "The Lines of Wellington" (2013), "The Perfect Host" (2010), "Love Free or Die" (2011), "Finding Mr. Right" (2013), "Yellow Elephant" (2012), "Loving Ibiza" (2013), "The 13 Women of Nanjing" (2011), "Metallica Through the Never" (2013), "Scorned" (2013)

 

- C.J. Wheeler (chriscjw@gmail.com@KoreaOnTheCouch)

 

Sources:

AsianWiki: http://asianwiki.com/Friend_2;

Daum: http://movie.daum.net/movieinfo/coming/movieInfoScheduled.do?modeType=day&order=recently

HanCinema: http://www.hancinema.net/korean_movie_The_Five.php; http://www.hancinema.net/korean_movie_Beautiful_Child.php; http://www.hancinema.net/korean_movie_Dead_End.php; http://www.hancinema.net/korean_movie_Red_Vacance_Black_Wedding_2.php; http://www.hancinema.net/korean_movie_Black_Gospel.php; Ingtoogi.php">http://www.hancinema.net/korean_movie_Ingtoogi.php; http://www.hancinema.net/korean_movie_Friends_2.php; http://www.hancinema.net/korean_movie_Kid_Cast_Away_2013.php

KOBIZ: http://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/jsp/films/index/peopleView.jsp?photoRownum=7&cdKind=014003&peopleCd=10047368&strMenuId=010401&newsRownum=3&mode=IND: ;

http://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/jsp/films/index/filmsMore.jsp?strMenuId=010401&movieCd=20137044; http://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/jsp/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=20135602; http://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/jsp/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=20134801

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