Korean Box Office things

Thanks to a news item from twitchfilm I saw the South Korean box office returns this week, and it contains a lot of good Korean movies.

Number one on the list is Kim Ji-woon's action noir A Bittersweet Life, a hotly anticipated film since Kim's last work, A Tale of Two Sisters, is a classic in its own right. After seeing some of the footage I have to say that this film reeks of stylistic cinematography and a gritty sort of feel you hardly see anywhere else. Also, I hope Lee Byung-hun does justice to the role (and I think he will - I believe he's a very talented actor.)

Number two is Crying Fist, beaten by the previous film only by a horse's hair. Incidentally, if read the tallys right, this film had more national admissions, but was beaten in the Seoul Admissions. What can I say about this film. Choi Min-sik, one of the greatest contemporary actors of our time, and Ryu Seung-bum, talented in his own right.

Number three was last week's reigning champion Mapado. I'm glad that a small-scale film has done so well; reports indicate over 2 million tickets over the past two weeks.

Number four is the comedy She's on Duty, whose popularity was probably bolstered by its usage of a phrase in the movie referencing the current issue on the ownership of the Dokdo islands. It seems to mix genres, spanning from action to school action to (quite possibly) some aspects of the jopok comedy, incidentally one of my favorite genres.

Fifth on the list is the only Hollywood movie, Miss Congeniality 2. Critics have so far been unkind to the movie, but who knows? I'll probably check it out within the week or so.

That's about it. Makes you think how Korea manages to outperform Hollywood in ticket sales.

Update: it seems that in other box office tallys Crying Fist has the top box office spot. Personally I'm just glad that both these excellent movies are getting the domestic attention they deserve.