ACF 1563: The Korea Society to host THE HOST on August 9, 2012

The Host / Gwoemul

Directed by BONG Joon-ho

South Korea, 2006, 119 minutes

When Thursday, August 9, 2012 at 6:30 PM

Where: The Korea Society

950 Third Avenue, 8th Floor, NYC

Map 

Members: Free; Click here to register

Nonmembers: $5; Purchase tickets

“The Host is a loopy, feverishly imaginative genre hybrid about the demons that haunt us from without and within.” - Manohla Dargis of The New York Times

Yuni Cho, The Korea Society’s director of film, has chosen The Host (2006) to screen at the summer Members’ Free Film Night. This family comedy/monster flick from acclaimed director Bong Joon-Ho is Korea’s highest grossing movie of all time and has won numerous awards, including Best Film at the Asian Film Awards. The Host has been described as a “mutant hybrid spawned from the improbable union of Little Miss Sunshine and Godzilla, for the film is a family comedy and political satire in which an unnaturally evolved tadpole just happens to loom (very) large.”

Quentin Tarantino included The Host in his list of top 20 films released since 1992 (the year he became a director).

This is a great opportunity to see (or to see again) one of the finest South Korean films of recent years. And you can't go wrong seeing it for free if you're a member or for $5 if you're not.

ACF 1084: Free screening of Bong Joon-Ho's suspense thriller MOTHER this Tuesday

Korean Movie Night
Series 4: The Summer of Thrillers
presents

MOTHER
Directed by Bong Joon-Ho
Korea 2009, 128 minutes
Where: Tribeca Cinemas
54 Varick Street, on the corner of Canal Street
One block from the A, C, E and 1 train Canal Street stops
When: Tuesday, July 5th @ 7PM
Doors open at 6:30 PM
Price: Free!!!
All seating is first-come, first served.

Korean Cultural Service will be offering Mother as the first film in its newest series this coming Tuesday evening. The film is a fantastic suspense thriller that I found immensely engrossing and worthwhile. As always, KCS's Korean Movie Night screenings are FREE!!! If you don't already have conflicting plans to attend a New York Asian Film Festival movie Tuesday, I strongly urge you to see Mother. Even if you've seen it before; it's just that good.

Here's what Korean Cultural Service has to say about Mother:

Bong Joon-Ho’s MOTHER is the culmination of a lifetime of making some of the best genre movies ever seen, from his giant monster movie, THE HOST, to his true crime policier, MEMORIES OF MURDER. But MOTHER transcends genre, due in large part to the titular performance by Kim Hye-Ja playing a woman raising her mentally handicapped son (played by glamourpuss, Won Bin, going downscale). When her son is arrested and confesses to a murder that she knows he didn’t commit, nothing will stand in the way of a mother out for justice. An official selection of the Cannes Film Festival, there is no grander, bleaker monument to a mother’s love than this film.

ACF 478: Discussion with Korean Director Bong Joon-Ho at The Korea Society, NY

Korean Film in Focus:

A Conversation with Director Bong Joon-Ho

Director Bong Joon-ho has rapidly become one of the most powerful creative and commercial forces in the Korean film industry. After releasing the critically acclaimed Barking Dogs Never Bite and Memories of Murder, Bong stepped into the international spotlight with his 2006 monster film, The Host. Throughout his films, Bong has forged an unmistakable style that fuses the inner realities of contemporary Korea—especially the shame, guilt, and trauma left over from the democratic movement of the 1980s—with all the power and fun of genre movies. His new film Mother, set for U.S. release in March, utilizes this powerful style in the service of a murder mystery.

On Thursday, February 25, The Korea Society will host a conversation with Bong Joon-ho about his filmmaking method and his career within the Korean film industry. The evening will include a special preview of clips from the upcoming Mother.

Discussion Moderated By:
Michael Atkinson
Professor of Film
Long Island University

Thursday, February 25, 2010
6:00–6:30 PM * Registration and Reception
6:30–8:30 PM * Discussion and Q&A

The Korea Society
950 Third Avenue @ 57th Street, 8th Floor
(Building entrance on SW corner of Third Avenue and 57th Street).

Tickets are available for $10 (members) or $15 (non-members). For more information contact Yuni Cho at yuni.ny@koreasociety.org or 212-759-7525 ext. 323.

About the Moderator:
Michael Atkinson is a writer, critic and professor of film at Long Island University. His writing on film and culture has appeared in The Village Voice, LA Weekly, The Guardian, Maxim, Film Comment, In These Times, and Moving Image Source. He is the recipient of a New York Foundation for the Arts fellowship and co-author/producer of Babylon Fields, a 20th Century Fox TV pilot.

This program is supported by Magnolia Pictures (www.magpictures.com)