GBW Rock Stars!

VOD from ahaTV.co.kr via news.empas.com

[SSTV] The GBW stage greeting in Pusan and Daegu – July 25 & 26

Our Cowboys Rock Stars indeed! LOL!

[Arirang] 4.13 Million GBW and more

News in English VOD from arirang.co.kr with thanks to qwas at EverythingLBH, soompi.com for the highlight & latest update from Variety Asia

“Weird” again a winner in second week

Written by Han Sunhee

SEOUL — Local hit “The Good, The Bad, The Weird” succeeded in holding on to the No. 1 ranking at the Korean box office last weekend. According to its distributor CJ Entertainment, pic accrued more than 1 million admissions on 720 screens during its second weekend, for an 11 day total of 4.13 million admissions and a gross cume of $ 26 million.

The ‘Korean Western’ was the quickest movie this year to the 4 million admissions mark.

One of the other big Korean summer releases “Sunny” opened Thursday on 598 screens and grossed $5.4 million from 870,000 admissions for distributor Showbox. That put it in second place. Helmed by “The King and the Clown” director Lee Joon-ik, pic tells a story of an innocent Korean woman who becomes a ‘comfort singer’ in order to follow her husband during the Vietnam war.

Bloom of Sweet Badness

HOT CHILI PAPER Vol.48 (September 2008 )

Bloom of sweet badness

8月31日発売予定！（一部を除く）
定価1500円（本体1429円＋税）
ISBN 978-4-907854-48-5

甘美な悪の華

HOT CHILI PAPER Vol.48 August 31st sale schedule! (Part is excluded)
price 1500 Yen (substance 1429 Yen + tax)
ISBN 978-4-907854-48-5
Source: hcpmag.com

GBW 2nd week and counting

July 28, 2008 updates from YonhapNews, KOFIC & KBS Global

Latest Korean blockbuster attracts 4 million viewers in 11 days

SEOUL, July 28 (Yonhap) — The latest South Korean blockbuster, reported to be the nation’s highest budget film, has attracted four million viewers in the first 11 days of its release, the film’s distributor said Monday.

According to CJ Entertainment, “The Good The Bad The Weird,” starring well-known Korean actors Lee Byung-hun, Song Kang-ho and Jung Woo-sung, drew 4.13 million viewers on 954 screens across the country as of Sunday.

The movie became the fourth Korean movie this year to cross the 4 million mark, following “Forever the Moment,” “The Chaser,” and “Public Enemy Returns.”
“The Good The Bad The Weird,” directed by Kim Ji-woon, one of the few South Korean directors to have clinched both commercial success and critical acclaim, was anticipated to be the hottest pick of the South Korean box office this summer.

Set in Manchuria with conventions of a Western, the movie depicts three men hunting for hidden treasure.

Source: english.yonhapnews.co.kr

Weekend Box Office 2008.07.25 ~ 2008.07.27

1. The Good, The Bad, The Weird 5,699,812,000 (won)

2. Sunny 3,219,175,000

3. Red Cliff 664,392,000

4. Nim’s Island 566,608,000

5. Doraemon 366,164,000

Cannes feat. GBW

Perhaps due to his gentle voice and wet, glistering eye, Lee’s filmography consists largely of love stories. However, since the film noir, A Bittersweet Life, Lee has shown his wider range. Even in portraying villains he stands out due to his exquisite expressions and acting abilities.

Chang-yi, a stubborn, atrocious, and cruel character who sometimes shows a hint of madness, comes alive through Lee as not just a simple villain but a strong, appealing and charismatic character.
Cannes 2008

GBW-CANNES 2008 movie pamphlet courtesy gomata-san
Simply click on thumbnails for bigger captures to view

Related

Great stills & cool GBW photos at CINE21

[koreanfilm.org] GBW review

July 25, 2008 – Highlight by Darcy Paquet at koreanfilm.org, GBW reviewed by Kyu Hyun Kim

The full GBW review from Q’s second-viewing, the first thoughts posted here
♠ Kyu Hyun reviews Kim Jee-woon’s The Good, the Bad, the Weird (2008), which has sold 3 million tickets in its first full week.

The Good, the Bad, the Weird

Chang-yi (Lee Byung-heon), a dandy hit-man with a perpetually bemused, go-ahead-call-me-a-psycho grin on his face, is hired to retrieve a certain map currently in the hands of a Japanese banker. Unbeknownst to him, meanwhile, bounty hunter Do-won (Jeong Woo-sung) is sent by the Korean independence army for the same mission. To their irritation, however, the map is snatched by train robber Tae-gu (Song Kang-ho), who is convinced that it leads to the fabled treasures of the fallen Qing dynasty.

Kim Jee-woon, who has an impressive track record of having successfully tackled a wide range of genres, from sports comedy (The Foul King) to horror (Tale of Two Sisters) and European-style film noir (Bittersweet Life), now turns his sight on the western. As one can surmise from the title, the movie is intended as a conscious homage to Sergio Leone’s Eastwood triptych. Like Bittersweet Life, which invoked the cool, nonchalant exterior and existentialist attitude of a Pierre Melville rather than the original American film noir, The Weird passes over the concerns and themes of classic westerns (individual freedom vs. commitment to community, and so on) and focuses on the stylistic vocabularies of the genre. Viewing The Weird is, in other words, a lot like watching a witty pastiche of great westerns, a la My Name is Nobody, rather than a great western itself.

Perhaps I am overly harsh with Kim, who might have never intended his film to be anything more than an affectionate send-up to the mythic grandeur and marvelous vistas writ in a Leone film. He certainly knows how to entice his viewers with visual language, staging complicated shoot-outs and tense mano-a-mano duels with the aplomb of a master stylist. From the opening credit sequence with gliding birds of prey trailing the names of the cast like I.D. Tags; to busy shootouts in a rain-drenched marketplace, in which a Robot Monster-like diving helmet finds an unconventional usage; to the final confrontation that exactly copies the Leone original’s set-up but goes for a typically bloody, excessive resolution, Kim and his technical staff (cinematographer Lee Mo-gae, production designer Jo Hwa-seong, and composer Dalparan) are fully in control of the film’s aesthetic and technical elements.

The Good, The Bad, The Weird of GBW

Our appreciation & gratitude to .X. at twitchfilm.net for this awesome translation from Dir. Kim Ji Woon’s interview at various Korean movie & media portals

Kim Ji-Woon Talks 좋은 놈, 나쁜 놈, 이상한 놈 (The Good, The Bad, and The Weird)

 

Posted by . X . at 2:17am, 25 July 2008

ARTICLE

It would be hard to call it a blessing in disguise, but beggars can’t be choosers. And, possibly, the first thing you can do in a period of crisis is pick up the broken pieces after the earthquake, salvage whatever was left intact and start anew. Among the many negatives this 2008 season brought to Chungmuro, the number 37 could become the lucky spark which restarts that process, that wave of creative energy which once produced some of the very best films in the world, and is now struggling to say anything of note. 37% is the domestic share Korean films recorded during the first half of 2008, as KOFIC recently reported. 26 million people saw the 50 Korean films released so far, making up for 35% of the total income. Only a few of those fifty films will end up breaking even, with perhaps only 추격자 (The Chaser) and 우리 생애 최고의 순간 (Forever the Moment) making any real money.

Yet, there’s another 37% which will make some people smile. It’s the growth International sales recorded compared to last year. Total income went up from 7.4 million US$ to over ten million, particularly with a 1,740% increase in North America and 18% in Asia, despite a sharp drop in European contracts. There’s obviously a reason for such impressive performance in the US and Canada, since it factors in the remake rights of The Chaser and 세븐 데이즈 (Seven Days), but it’s nonetheless a positive sign. Also positive, although expectedly so, was the first week on release for Kim Ji-Woon’s kimchi western 좋은 놈, 나쁜 놈, 이상한 놈 (The Good, The Bad, and The Weird), which just hit the three million admissions mark after seven days, as is expected to reach four million by this weekend.

Gratitude of GBW

Translated by Hyc at EverythingLBH, soompi.com from article at chosunonline.com.

Captures from blog.naver.com courtesy ylin at bhjwove.com and VOD for July 25-Stage Greeting from east-01.com, higlighted by Janice at GBW-soompi.com

3 million viewers’ breakthrough, “Good, Bad, Weird” stage greeting on 25th and 26th

Director Kim Ji-woon and actors of GBW Lee Byung-hun, Song Kang-ho & Jung Woo-sung would be appearing at the movie’s stage greetings at Daejeon, Taegu, Pusan and other regional theaters on 25th & 26th to convey their gratitude to viewers.

Good Ol’ Gold Rush

Updates from english.yonhapnews.co.kr & KOFIC

Latest Korean blockbuster attracts 3 million viewers in one week

SEOUL, July 25 (Yonhap) — The latest South Korean movie, reported to be the nation’s highest budget film, has attracted three million viewers in the first seven days of its release, the film’s distributor said Friday.

According to CJ Entertainment, “The Good The Bad The Weird,” starring well-known Korean actors Lee Byung-hun, Song Kang-ho and Jung Woo-sung, drew 3.03 million viewers on 954 screens across the country as of Thursday.

The movie “Public Enemy Returns,” which was distributed last month by the same company, crossed the 3 million mark after 14 days, while “The Chaser,” distributed by rival company Showbox, reached the mark 20 days after its release in February.

“The Good The Bad The Weird,” directed by Kim Ji-woon, one of the few South Korean directors to have clinched both commercial success and critical acclaim, was anticipated to be the hottest pick of the South Korean box office this summer.

Set in Manchuria with conventions of a Western, the movie depicts three men hunting for hidden treasure.

Source: ygkim@yna.co.kr, image from CINE21

Related July 23 Article The Good, the Bad, and the Weird strikes gold

The fight and race over what is believed to be a valuable map – titled The Good, the Bad, and the Weird (Joheun Nom, Nappeun Nom, Isanghan Nom) – entered cinemas with its guns drawn and left its competition behind in clouds of gunfire. The kimchi western dug up treasure when it surpassed the 2 million landmark in its opening weekend. Its distributor CJ Entertainment announced on Monday morning a total of 2,186 million viewers since its release on Thursday July 17.

Director KIM Jee-woon’s US$ 17 star vehicle (LEE Byung-hun, SONG Kang-ho, and JUNG Woo-sung) grossed US$ 14 million over the weekend alone. The Good, the Bad, and the Weird recorded the third highest opening day with 400,000 tickets. Top opener in Korea is SHIM Hyung-rae’s D-War (470,000) and BONG Joon-ho’s The Host (Gwemool) comes second (450,000). The Good, the Bad, and the Weird is with The Host the fastest film to reach 2 million spectators, namely four days.

Recent Photos

Thanks to Angel70-lovelbh.com for sharing the highlight of these BH pics from yule.sohu.com & various media portals

More photos