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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Sunday, June 1, 2008

KLIFE offers Korean film fix

By Jeff Chung

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Rain.

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Summer is here, and for those who love movies, Hollywood is off to an action-packed start with "Iron Man" and "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull." "Speed Racer," which features Korean megastar Rain as Taejo Togokahn, has not been in overdrive with ticket sales.

Rain is filming his next movie, "Ninja Assassin," in which he plays a main role.

K-Fest, the Hawaii International Film Festival's summer Korean film fest, will not be returning this year. Still, K-movie fans can tune in to Oceanic digital cable for a fix of Korean cinema on KLIFE. Three Korean movies — "Untold Scandal," "Jail Breakers" and "Arahan" — are among those available on KLIFE channel 81, on demand. Several other titles will be added during the summer.

"Arahan" pairs martial arts and humor, offering a Korean version of a martial arts secret society that holds a possible key to world domination. It was a 2004 box office hit, and was well received at HIFF. "Arahan" features Sang Hwan (Ryu Seung Bum) as a rookie policeman who gets injured while pursuing a purse-snatching thief. Wi Jin (Yoon So Yi), a martial-arts expert, nabs the thief and meets Sang Hwan. The elder masters holding the secret to Arahan soon realize that Sang Hwan has powers beyond his knowledge.

In "Jail Breakers," Cha Seung Won (KBS drama "BodyGuard") along with Suhl Kyung Gu and Son Yun Ah (SBS drama "On Air," KBS drama "Paper Crane") star as convicts, Mu Suk and Jae Pil. They are model prisoners who have been secretly digging an escape tunnel for years. They are successful in escaping only to find out that they are to be given special pardon on Korea's Independence Day, the following morning. They then try to break into jail before morning to get their freedom.

For Bae Yong Joon and historical fans, "Untold Scandal" is adapted from "Les Liaisons Dangereuses" in 18th century Joseon Dynasty Korea.

Bae Yong Joon bares some skin in this movie for the first time in his career. The cinematography, star cast — including megastar Jeon Do Yeon, among others — and colorful costumes were highly praised. The movie is directed by EJ Yong.

THIS WEEK'S K-DRAMA SYNOPSES

'HAPPINESS'

Episodes 15 and 16

Tonight, 6:30: Seo-yun is upset that Jun-su gets a promotion, and she doesn't. Sang-wook and Seo-yun barge into the chairman's office to demand an explanation.

'SCARY GIRL'

Episodes 87 and 88

Tonight, 7:45: Chairman Baek asks Kyung-pyo to transfer as president of a cosmetics company. Kyung-pyo threatens to quit when Chairman Baek doesn't meet his demands. But Chairman Baek doesn't give in, and tells Kyung-pyo that he is fired.

Episodes 89, 90 and 91, 92

Friday, 7:45 p.m.: Eun-hae and Kyung-pyo come back home. Chairman Baek tells Kyung-pyo that he'll process Kyung-pyo's resignation and tells Kyung-pyo to divorce Eun-hae.

Saturday, 7:45 p.m.: Keun-suk and Joon-chul comes back from a trip with news that Young-rim's late mother owned a huge piece of land.

'LOVE'

Episodes 1 and 2 (new series)

Tomorrow, 7:45 p.m.: On a crowded subway, Nah Young-hee mistakenly accuses cartoonist Seok Chul-soo of sexually harassing her. Chul-soo tracks down Young-hee in order to clear his name, and it turns out that she is a big fan of his work.

Tuesday, 7:45 p.m.: Chul-soo and Young-hee approach the aftermath of their night together in different ways.

'ON AIR'

Episodes 15 and 16

Wednesday, 7:45 p.m.: Kyung-min and Young-eun are frantic to write and shoot extra scenes for "Ticket to the Moon" when they're notified the first four episodes will be extra long.

Thursday, 7:45 p.m.: The first episode of "Ticket to the Moon" airs. Everyone's mood is lifted when the show gets off to a good start, but Sang-woo and Cherry cause trouble for Young-eun when they find out Cherry's scenes are too few.