Top 10 Korean Films of 2014

2014 was an interesting year for Korean cinema. From a financial standpoint, the industry remained strong and produced its most successful film of all time (Roaring Currents), even if sales weren't quite able to reach the peaks of the preceding two years. However, from a qualitative angle, the picture was far less rosy. Early in the year, studio slates looked promising but many of the finished products, while undeniably polished, felt overworked and lacked originality. This speaks to growing concerns over corporate influence in the industry's current creative streak. Some feel that talented and especially younger filmmakers aren't being afforded the freedom they used to.

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Top 10 Korean Films of 2013

The time has come once again for me to sit down and think about all the new Korean films I had the opportunity to see in 2013 and come up with my favorites. This year, I had a lot to choose from for this ritual as I've seen about 120 local films, so the task proved more difficult than usual.

With 127 million tickets sold and a remarkable nine Korean films featuring in the yearly top ten at the box office, 2013 was a huge year for Korean cinema. Prosperity does not always mean quality and the last few years have been disappointing as far as commercial Korean films have been concerned. Thankfully, in 2013 the industry succeeded in both attracting viewers to multiplexes and putting out high quality fare. That said, I still find myself more partial to the more fertile grounds of independent cinema, as seven low budget films made the list this year. While two films truly blew me away over the last 12 months today's industry still isn't putting out quite the same amount of gems as it was around ten years ago.

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Top 10 Korean Films of 2012

2013 has just gotten underway and what better way for MKC to ring in the new year than to reflect on what has simply been a gargantuan year for Korean cinema. The vaunted 10 million admissions club welcomed two new members as The Thieves and Masquerade rode their way into the top three of the all time Korean box office chart. Indeed commercial cinema across the board enjoyed spectacular success as well over 100 million tickets were sold to domestic films at the Korean box office, a first for the industry. As of this writing seven films have crossed 4 million admissions (with an eighth on the way in the form of The Tower). What's more Kim Ki-duk became the first Korean filmmaker to prevail at one of the big three European film festivals as he took home the Golden Lion from Venice for his 18th feature Pieta. Elsewhere on the festival circuit a flurry of Korean films took home big awards, including Juvenile Offender, Barbie, The Weight, Circle Line, and many more.

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WKR: Jiseul, Masquerade and Melo Lead the Pack (12/15-12/21, 2012)

With Christmas upon us things are slowly winding down on the review front but still plenty to check out this week.

UPCOMING FILMS

Melo

(Film Business Asia, December 15, 2012)

Jiseul

(Film Business Asia, December 17, 2012)

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WKR: Confession of Murder, Pieta and More (12/08-12/14, 2012)

A trove of past Korean films reviewed in this week's roundup, along with a pair of writeups on Kim Ki-duk's Pieta and more.

CURRENT FILMS

Confession of Murder

(Modern Korean Cinema, December 13, 2012)

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WKR: Current Release and Much More (12/01-12/07, 2012)

Even spread of write-ups this week covering old and new releases.

UPCOMING FILMS

Tumbleweed

(Modern Korean Cinema, December 6, 2012)

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WKR: Masquerade and Coverage from MoMA's Yeonghwa Screenings (09/22-09/28, 2012)

Sorry for the delay for this week's Korean review round-up. I'm transitioning from on job to another, moving out of my apartment, and getting ready for Busan. On that note, there will be no weekly updates during the festival, they will be retroactively added later in October.

Thanks for your understanding!

CURRENT FILMS

Masquerade

(allkpop.com, September 22, 2012)

(Film Journal, September 25, 2012)

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WKR: Pieta and The Thieves on the Intl. Circuit (09/08-09/14, 2012)

Packed WKR this week with lots on Pieta, post-Golden Lion win, and a number of writeups on The Thieves following its HK release and TIFF screening.

CURRENT FILMS

Pieta

(Joong Ang Daily, September 14, 2012)

(My Dear Korea, September 14, 2012)

(Screen Daily, September 4, 2012)

(Seongyong's Private Place, September 7, 2012)

The Thieves

(HK Knows Hong Kong, September 6, 2012)

(InSing.com, September 12, 2012)

(keukey's world, September 11, 2012)

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WKR: Pieta Bows at Venice, New Releases and KOFFIA (08/31-09/06, 2012)

A slew of reviews from all manner of sources this week including many for Kim Ki-duk's latest Pieta.

CURRENT RELEASES

577 Project

(Joong Ang Daily, September 5, 2012)

Neighbors

(Modern Korean Cinema, September 5, 2012)

Pieta

(Cine-Vue, September 6, 2012)

(Indiewire, September 4, 2012)

(The Hollywood Reporter, September 3, 2012)

(The Korea Times, September 6, 2012)

R2B: Return to Base

(KKonnect, September 2, 2012)

Young Gun in the Time

(Modern Korean Cinema, August 30, 2012)

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8th Jecheon International Music & Film Festival Wrap-up

Part of MKC's coverage of the Jecheon Intl. Music & Film Festival.

It took me a while to gather my thoughts on the eight films I saw during my brief weekend at the 8th Jecheon International Music & Film Festival but now that I've really had the time to think about it, I can say that it was well worth my time. I saw some very good films and a few bad ones but most of all the event reminded me that I'm actually a huge music enthusiast. These days as I try to keep up with everything going on in the film world, it's very easy to forget that. I often go weeks at time without ever opening iTunes. So for that, as well as the great films I did see, I am grateful for the Jecheon film festival and I will gladly be returning for its 9th edition next year.

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WKR: The Thieves, R2B and KOFFIA 2012 (08/18-08/24, 2012)

A number of reviews for new Korean films The Thieves and R2B: Return to Base and lots of coverage for the 3rd Korean Film Festival in Australia, which is currently taking place.

CURRENT FILMS

R2B: Return to Base

(Film Journal, August 23, 2012)

(Hanguk Yeonghwa August 19, 2012)

(Modern Korean Cinema, August 22, 2012)

(Twitch, August 21, 2012)

The Thieves

(Modern Korean Cinema, August 20, 2012)

(Variety, August 21, 2012)

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Weekly Review Round-up (07/28-08/03, 2012)

It's been a few weeks since the Weekly Review Roundups have been up but I've gone back and added them all now. Lots of PiFan reviews of course and plenty more!

I also wanted to take a moment to say that I will be a little more selective about what appears on WRR from now on. Up until now I've been happy to feature anything on Korean film as long as it was legible but over time I've come across some major outlets that don't always present honest opinions. I'm not here to name and shame but I have removed a few sources from my list that I believe do not respect their audience by giving false opinions for ulterior purposes. Anyway, shouldn't change much going forward!

Thanks for reading and WRR should be back to its weekly status for the foreseeable future.

CURRENT FILMS

Deranged

(allkpop, July 31, 2012)

(The Los Angeles Times, August 3, 2012)

The Thieves

(Seongyong's Private Place, July 28, 2012)

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Weekly Review Round-up (07/14-07/20, 2012)

A number of new releases reviewed this week and much more.

CURRENT FILMS

Bloody Fight in Iron-Rock Valley

(Modern Korean Cinema, July 19, 2012)

(Twitch, July 18, 2012)

Dangerously Excited

(Seongyong's Private Place, July 14, 2012)

Deranged

(Seongyong's Private Place, July 15, 2012)

(The Hollywood Reporter, July 17, 2012)

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Weekly Review Round-up (06/30-07/08, 2012)

Sorry for the delay, it's been a busy week. Not too many writeups this week but a few from NYAFF and TKFF which are both underway.

CURRENT FILMS

Dangerously Excited

(The Korean Times, July 2, 2012)

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Weekly Review Round-up (05/26-06/01, 2012)

The Taste of Money, which was presented late last week at the Cannes Film Festival, gets a big serving of reviews this week but Im Sang-soo may be eating some humble pie for a while.  A Screen Daily poll ranked his film as the least popular among the competition's 22 offerings.

CURRENT FILMS

In Another Country

(Seongyong's Private Place, May 31, 2012)

The Taste of Money

(Indiewire, May 26, 2012)

(moviefone, May 29, 2012)

(Movies With Butter, May 30, 2012)

(Scene in Korea, May 26, 2012)

(Screen Daily, May 26, 2012)

(The Hollywood Reporter, May 26, 2012)

(Time Out London, May 30, 2012)

(Variety, May 26, 2012)

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Weekly Review Round-up (05/12-05/18, 2012)

A lot of reviews this week and many of them for a trio of action/war film which are currently making the rounds in North America, either in theatres or on the home video market.  I'm thrilled to see such interest in these titles but the fact that they all stem from the same genre doesn't really give me high hopes for expanding English-language consumers interest in the broader Korean film industry.  THese titles just confirm that Korean cinema, at present, is still viewed as a niche genre industry abroad, which couldn't be further from the truth.  Sigh...

Also from now on you may notice a few more Twitch reviews as I have been taken on as their Korean correspondent.

Enjoy!

FUTURE FILMS

Dangerously Excited

(Twitch, May 12, 2012)

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Weekly Review Round-up (04/07-04/13, 2012)

More great reviews this week and I imagine we'll see a lot more next friday once the writeups start flowing in from the current Terracotta Far East Film Festival.

CURRENT KOREAN RELEASES

Nameless Gangster

(Time Magazine, April 10, 2012)

RECENT RELEASES

A Reason to Live

(London Korean Links, April 13, 2012)

Arirang

(Hangul Celluloid, April 7, 2012)

Blind

(hancinema.net, April 7, 2012)

(koreanfilm.org, 2012)

Fantastic Theater

(Init_Scenes, April 12, 2012)

Hindsight

(The One One Four, April 13, 2012)

My Way

(Oriental Nightmares, April 11, 2012)

Never Ending Story

(Drama Beans, April 11, 2012)

Oki's Movie

(Modern Korean Cinema, April 13, 2012)

Pain

(London Korean Links, April 13, 2012)

Petty Romance

(Flixist, April 10, 2012)

Punch

(Tweeten Goes Korea, April 10, 2012)

Scars

(Beyond Hollywood, April 9, 2012)

Silenced

(Beyond Hollywood, April 11, 2012)

(CheriiPop, April 12, 2012)

The Day He Arrives

(Modern Korean Cinema, April 12, 2012)

The Journals of Musan

(japancinema.net, April 12, 2012)

The Showdown

(koreanfilm.org, 2012)

PAST FILMS

Ditto, 2000

(Init_Scenes, April 7, 2012)

Flower Island, 2001

(Otherwhere, April 11, 2012)

Heartbreak Library, 2008

(Init_Scenes, April 10, 2012)

Once in a Summer, 2006

(jediprincess, April 12, 2012)

Paju

(An Online Universe, April 11, 2012)

Postman to Heaven, 2009

(Korean Grindhouse, April 10, 2012)

Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance, 2002

(Cinemalacrum, April 10, 2012)

The Weekly Review Round-up is a weekly feature which brings together all available reviews of Korean films in the English language (and sometimes French) that have recently appeared on the internet. It is by no means a comprehensive feature and additions are welcome (email pierceconran [at] gmail [dot] com). It appears every Friday morning (GMT+1) on Modern Korean Cinema. For other weekly features, take a look at Korean Cinema News, and the Korean Box Office Update. Reviews and features on Korean film also appear regularly on the site. 

To keep up with the best in Korean film you can sign up to our RSS Feed, like us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter.

Weekly Review Round-up (03/31-04/06, 2012)

Great cross-section of reviews this week including for a number of new releases.

Enjoy!

CURRENT KOREAN RELEASES

Nameless Gangster

(Film Business Asia, April 6, 2012)

Over My Dead Body

(Hanguk Yeonghwa, April 5, 2012)

Romance Joe

(Variety, March 29, 2012 - Paid Subscription)

Stateless Things

(alivenotdead.com, April 5, 2012)

(The Hollywood Reporter, April 3, 2012)

RECENT RELEASES

Countdown

(Film in Asian, April 2, 2012)

Haunters

(Digital Retribution, April 4, 2012)

In Love and the War

(The One One Four, April 1, 2012)

Jesus Hospital

(Hanguk Yeonghwa, April 1, 2012)

Late Autumn

(China.org.cn, March 30, 2012)

Love On-Air

(Variety, March 30, 2012 - Paid Subscrition)

My Way

(K-Popped!, April 5, 2012)

(Korean Class Massive, April 4, 2012)

Perfect Partner

(hancinema.net, March 31, 2012)

The Yellow Sea

(All Online Universe, March 28, 2012)

(cineoutsider, March 27, 2012)

(DVD Verdict, April 2, 2012)

(MotorBar, March 31, 2012)

PAST FILMS

Dasepo Naughty Girls, 2006

(Init_Scene, March 31, 2012)

Meet Mr. Daddy, 2007

(Korean Class Massive, April 2, 2012)

My Boss, My Hero, 2001

(Init_Scenes, March 30, 2012)

My Love, 2007

(Init_Scenes, April 1, 2012)

Running Turtle, 2009

(Init_Scenes, April 5, 2012)

The Case of Itaewon Homicide, 2009

(Korean Grindhouse, March 31, 2012)

The Heavenly Homecoming of the Stars, 1974

(Seen in Jeonju, April 1, 2012)

The Weekly Review Round-up is a weekly feature which brings together all available reviews of Korean films in the English language (and sometimes French) that have recently appeared on the internet. It is by no means a comprehensive feature and additions are welcome (email pierceconran [at] gmail [dot] com). It appears every Friday morning (GMT+1) on Modern Korean Cinema. For other weekly features, take a look at Korean Cinema News, and the Korean Box Office Update. Reviews and features on Korean film also appear regularly on the site. 

To keep up with the best in Korean film you can sign up to our RSS Feed, like us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter.

Weekly Review Round-up (03/24-03/30, 2012)

Lots of review for Na Hong-jin's The Yellow Sea which was released this past monday on DVD and Blu-ray in the UK by Eureka Entertainment.  Also special shout out to refresh_daemon who has been particularly productive this week over on his Init_Scenes site!

CURRENT KOREAN RELEASES

Architecture 101

(Seongyong's Private Place, March 24, 2012)

RECENT RELEASES

Always

(Beyond Hollywood, March 27, 2012)

Couples

(Film Business Asia, March 24, 2012)

Invasion of Alien Bikini

(hancinema.net, March 24, 2012)

I Saw the Devil

(Korean Candy, March 27, 2012)

Oki's Movie

(AsianCineFest, March 23, 2012)

Re-encounter

(Beyond Hollywood, March 26, 2012)

The Journals of Musan

(Hangul Celluloid, March 28, 2012)

The Yellow Sea

(Andie Buckle's Film Emporium, March 25, 2012)

(Cine Vue, March 27, 2012)

(Eastern Kicks, March 29, 2012)

(Modern Korean Cinema, March 24, 2012)

(movieramblings.com, March 24, 2012)

(Twitch, March 25, 2012)

PAST FILMS

A Man Who Was Superman, 2007

(Init_Scenes, March 26, 2012)

Crying Fist, 2005

(Korean Grindhouse, March 25, 2012)

First Kiss, 1998

(Init_Scenes, March 29, 2012)

Going By the Book, 2007

(Dramas Whoo!, March 26, 2012)

Lady Vengeance, 2005

(Init_Scenes, March 27, 2012)

My Home Village, 1949

(North Korean Films, March 28, 2012)

Oldboy, 2003

(Init_Scenes, March 25, 2012)

Once Upon a Time, 1978

(Init_Scenes, March 24, 2012)

Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance, 2002

(Init_Scenes, March 23, 2012)

The Weekly Review Round-up is a weekly feature which brings together all available reviews of Korean films in the English language (and sometimes French) that have recently appeared on the internet. It is by no means a comprehensive feature and additions are welcome (email pierceconran [at] gmail [dot] com). It appears every Friday morning (GMT+1) on Modern Korean Cinema. For other weekly features, take a look at Korean Cinema News, and the Korean Box Office Update. Reviews and features on Korean film also appear regularly on the site. 

To keep up with the best in Korean film you can sign up to our RSS Feed, like us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter.

Weekly Review Round-up (03/17-03/23, 2012)

Lots of great writeups in this week's review round-up including for a number of new Korean releases.

CURRENT KOREAN RELEASES

Architecture 101

(Scene in Korea, March 22, 2012)

Dancing Queen

(The Hollywood Reporter, March 20, 2012)

Gabi

(Scene in Korea, March 17, 2012)

Romance Joe

(Slant Magazine, March 17, 2012)

RECENT FILMS

Always

(Twitch, March 20, 2012)

(Xu Mobile, March 16, 2012)

Hindsight

(Twitch, March 20, 2012)

Invasion of Alien Bikini

(Hangul Celluloid, March 19, 2012)

I Saw the Devil

(Init_Scenes, March 19, 2012)

Moss

(ROK Drop, March 20, 2012)

Penny Pinchers

(Beyond Hollywood, March 21, 2012)

Quick

(Twitch, March 20, 2012)

S.I.U.

(Beyond Hollywood, March 22, 2012)

Sunny

(Drama Rants, March 22, 2012)

(While You on Earth, March 22, 2012)

The Apprehenders

(Init_Scenes, March 17, 2012)

The Beast

(Beyond Hollywood, March 20, 2012)

The Housemaid

(Movies With Butter, March 18, 2012)

The Man From Nowhere

(Korean Candy, March 19, 2012)

The Perfect Game

(Groove Korea, March 18, 2012)

PAST FILMS

Actresses, 2009

(Otherwhere, March 16, 2012)

Breathless, 2008

(Asian Movie Pulse, March 18, 2012)

Drifting Islands, 1960

(Seen in Jeonju, March 19, 2012)

Lost in the Mountains, 2009

(Rainy Day Movies, March 18, 2012)

Oasis, 2002

(Next Projection, March 19, 2012)

The Day a Pig Fell Into the Well, 1996

(Korean Grindhouse, March 17, 2012)

Vengeance Trilogy, 2002-2005

(Init_Scenes, March 22, 2012)

The Weekly Review Round-up is a weekly feature which brings together all available reviews of Korean films in the English language (and sometimes French) that have recently appeared on the internet. It is by no means a comprehensive feature and additions are welcome (email pierceconran [at] gmail [dot] com). It appears every Friday morning (GMT+1) on Modern Korean Cinema. For other weekly features, take a look at Korean Cinema News, and the Korean Box Office Update. Reviews and features on Korean film also appear regularly on the site. 

To keep up with the best in Korean film you can sign up to our RSS Feed, like us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter.