Stars, cult favorites and AI on the bill at BIFAN's 30th edition

There are types of films enjoyed everywhere but deemed too quirky for the prestige circuit: the late-night creature feature, the gleefully gory horror picture, the action flick built for pulpy thrills. For three decades, the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFAN) has been where those films come to be taken seriously. It is the home of the genre movie in Korea, and that focus sets it apart from the country's other major festivals. Where Busan draws the mainstream crowds and Jeonju

2026-06-30 13:38:04:00

For Dwayne Johnson, 'Moana' runs in the blood

Some parts end when the cameras stop. Maui — the role Dwayne Johnson plays in Disney's "Moana" — is, the actor will tell you, something closer to an inheritance. "I don't even consider him a character," Johnson said of the seafaring epic's shape-shifting demigod, a part he first voiced a decade ago and now plays in the flesh. "I consider him just part of the culture and lore of Polynesian culture, so it just becomes very natural." Johnson, the former WWE star known as The Rock, joined co-star Ca

2026-06-29 13:47:49:00

'Teach You a Lesson' star Kim Moo-yul could barely scrape together bus fare

There's a particular man Korean directors keep asking Kim Moo-yul to play: rough on the surface, colder underneath, the kind of tough guy who solves problems with his fists and rarely needs to raise his voice. He's been some version of that figure for the better part of 15 years, often the live wire of the work and almost always the face you remember on the way out. So it makes perfect sense that a pulpy revenge fantasy about a government unit that beats the country's worst students back into li

2026-06-27 16:00:00:00

Movies in theaters this week

"Supergirl" (US) Opened June 24 Action/Sci-Fi Directed by Craig Gillespie A Kryptonian raised on the ruins of her home planet (Milly Alcock) reluctantly takes up a grieving girl's quest to hunt down the man who murdered her father. "The Eyes" (South Korea) Opened June 24 Horror/Thriller Directed by Yeom Ji-ho A photographer (Shin Min-a) who is slowly losing her sight suspects her twin sister's death was no accident, in this Korean remake of the Spanish film Julia's Eyes (2011). "Toy Story 5" (US

2026-06-26 09:00:00:00

Notes from the last row, and the man who sits up front

Ask Choi Min-sik to describe his latest lead role and he reaches, bluntly, for the language of self-loathing. The grumpy literature professor he plays in Netflix's "Notes from the Last Row" is "a man who grinds himself down with a complex that borders on self-abuse," he says, "tormenting himself over it." Then came the confession: "I've got plenty of pathetic in me too. The inferiority, the shame you can't show anybody — everyone's felt that at least once." It's a curious thing to hear from an a

2026-06-26 09:00:00:00

Academy invites 'KPop Demon Hunters' team to be members

The team behind "KPop Demon Hunters" will soon have a vote at the Oscars. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the body behind the Academy Awards, announced Wednesday it has invited 529 people to join for 2026, a class that includes much of the team behind last year's breakout animated hit. Directors Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans were invited, along with Ejae, the singer-songwriter who voices lead character Rumi and co-wrote the chart-topping "Golden." In all, seven of the film's c

2026-06-25 16:17:07:00

Jin Seon-kyu knows you might not be laughing at this one

"Honestly, I'm my daughter's servant these days," Jin Seon-kyu says. "Whatever she asks for, she gets." It's a disarming thing to hear from the actor who once put a chill into 2017's "The Outlaws" as a Chinese-Korean mob enforcer, the breakout turn that earned him a Blue Dragon. Sitting across from him at a cafe in central Seoul on a recent Monday afternoon and that gangster is nowhere to be found. Jin is soft-spoken to the point of self-effacement, and by his own account, a passive sort, more i

2026-06-22 18:43:33:00

'Toy Story 5' leads Korean box office for fourth day

Disney and Pixar's "Toy Story 5" held the No. 1 spot at the Korean box office for four straight days. The animated sequel sold 335,740 tickets on Saturday, according to the box-office tally compiled by the state-run Korean Film Council. That brought its cumulative total to 585,524 since it opened Wednesday, two days ahead of its North American release. Directed by Andrew Stanton, "Toy Story 5" finds Woody, Buzz, Jessie and the rest of Bonnie's toys facing a new kind of rival in Lilypad, a smart

2026-06-21 15:08:57:00

How an indie shorts festival keeps drawing the biggest stars

When the Mise-en-scene Short Film Festival opened its 22nd edition on Thursday, the jury on hand for the ceremony read like a who's who of Korean entertainment. Actors Jung Hae-in ("I, the Executioner"), Lee Min-ho ("Omniscient Reader"), Jo Jung-suk ("Exit"), Shim Eun-kyung ("Miss Granny") and Choi Sooyoung of Girls' Generation all signed on as honorary judges this year, each assigned to one of the festival's five sections. Past editions have drawn the likes of Song Kang-ho ("Parasite"), Lee Jun

2026-06-21 14:37:11:00

Tour bus overturns near DMZ border lookout, injuring 10

A tour bus overturned near a DMZ observation post in Paju, northwest of Seoul, on Saturday, injuring 10 people. The 45-seat bus was carrying 21 tourists when it tipped over around 11:27 a.m. on a road in Paju's Jangdan area, police said. It was headed to the Dora Observatory, a popular lookout where visitors can peer across the heavily fortified border into North Korea. The bus toppled onto the left side of the road just before reaching a parking lot partway up to the lookout, according to polic

2026-06-20 15:01:52:00