ENTER AND YOU WILL DIE Found footage horror has enjoyed its fair share of success in the English-speaking world, with the origins of the subgenre dating back to at least 1980. Low-budget hits like The Blair Witch Project, which tricked viewers into believing the content was real, and the unexpectedly profitable Paranormal Activity franchise have since popularized it to an almost ridiculous extent. Surprisingly, however, found footage has not been as widespread in Asian horror, much less so in Korean cinema. In fact, Jung Bum Shik's foray into the genre with Gonjiam: Haunted Asylu ..read more

A MOTHER'S SACRIFICE Late 1990s and the early 2000s was a good time for Japanese horror. It paved the way for the genre's later widespread success and gave us such iconic titles like The Ring (1998), Pulse (2001) and Ju-on: The Grudge (2002). Somewhat less known from that era is Hideo Nakata's sorrowful horror tale Dark Water (2002), which like many of the Japanese horror films of that time later earned a Hollywood remake. Differently from the previously mentioned titles, however, I was actually lucky enough to see the Japanese 2002 original before the remake. In fact, it was probably one o ..read more

Drama Check-In is a recurring post that helps to keep track of dramas I'm currently watching and allows me to share immediate thoughts on them as I go through the episodes. The intention is to write down my prevalent impressions and encourage readers to do the same in the comments. Discussion is welcome. The Smile Has Left Your Eyes (8/16) After finishing up My ID is Gangnam Beauty and Thirty But Seventeen (final verdicts up on the Ratings page), I've only managed to keep up with one new series—The Smile Has Left Your Eyes. It is a fairly interesting mix of crime, mystery and roma ..read more

Drama Check-In is a recurring post that helps to keep track of dramas I'm currently watching and allows me to share immediate thoughts on them as I go through the episodes. The intention is to write down my prevalent impressions and encourage readers to do the same in the comments. Discussion is welcome. Time (12/32) What. A. Roller coaster.  In the last post, I criticized this drama pretty heavily and said I was probably going to drop it. Then I watched a bit more, felt I was too harsh on it and decided to continue watching. But then it was announced that Kim Jung Hyun ..read more

ONE TALE, TWO PERSPECTIVES It's not ideal to start a movie when you already know what the final twist is. Unfortunately,  for me that was exactly the case with Kim Jee Woon's critically-acclaimed horror drama A Tale of Two Sisters (2003).  Thanks to the Hollywood remake machine I sadly never got to see the film in it's full authentic glory. That is, before I even knew the Korean film existed I watched The Uninvited (2009), an okay-ish but rather simplified remake of the Asian horror classic that also included the major twist from the original story. Despite essentially ..read more

Drama Check-In is a recurring post that helps to keep track of dramas I'm currently watching and allows me to share immediate thoughts on them as I go through the episodes. The intention is to write down my prevalent impressions and encourage readers to do the same in the comments. Discussion is welcome. Life on Mars (4/16) While this show still continues the formula of new case each episode, I can't say that we haven't made any progress with the main mystery. I just wish it was the primary focus of the drama because things are getting more interesting with Tae Joo mee ..read more

I have to admit it's been a long while since I've checked in on Rainie Yang and what she has been up to as of late. Fun fact, she actually played the lead role in the very first Asian drama I ever watched which was Devil Beside You. Currently, the actress can be seen in the Taiwanese drama series My Ex-Man, which airs its final episode on Friday. But I have to say I'm far more interested in this new photo spread Rainie has done with Elle Taiwan for the magazine's August edition. With her heavy blush and perfectly defined eyebrow, Rainie looks stunning even though she wears some rather sha ..read more

Actor Byun Yo Han recently posed for a photo shoot with ARENA HOMME+, looking slick and stylish much like his character in the currently airing drama series Mr. Sunshine. Byun also wore a variety of luxury watches by Breitling that added the perfect final touch to each look. Source: ARENA HOMME+ Korea, Twitter ..read more

The latest issue of 1st Look magazine features a very adorable photo spread with the stars of upcoming romance movie On Your Wedding Day. Park Bo Young and Kim Young Kwang smile as they cuddle up together in the photos, giving us a glimpse of their onscreen chemistry and ridiculously cute height/size difference. Source: iMBC, Twitter ..read more

Red Velvet has returned with a new summer mini-album titled Summer Magic, having released the music video for catchy main track "Power Up" just a few hours ago. The promotions for the new album and single have so far been very image-heavy, with the girls posing in various outfits and hairstyles in the teaser photos. The overall concept seems similar to their last summer hit "Red Flavour", though with slightly less emphasis on fruits. I can't quite decide which of the outfits I like the most, but it's clear that the girls look pretty in everything and anything ..read more