Random Movie Notes - Vol 2, No. 1

• A strange little news story over at Yonhap that did not generate much heat, but which seemed rather ominous to me -- South Korean president Roh Moo-hyun told his cabinet on Tuesday to investigate the nation's news media to see if they are colluding to bad-mouth his policies.
  
  Yeah, like the media needs to collude to find problems with Roh. It is the media's fault that Roh has alienated his base on the left, annoyed the right, and been so incredibly useless across the board (albeit with some minor improvements in decreasing corruption). Roh clearly has no idea how the press works, despite four years as president and however many as a public figure. Someone should tell him about catching flies with honey verus vinegar.
  
  Anyhow, lord knows the Korean press has its problems, but being bullied by the government is the last thing the press needs. Korean media needs more independence from government, not more control. But judging by Roh's plan to merge TV and telecommunications regulatory agencies, he obviously likes to control everything he can.
  
  
• Funny article in the Korea Times about how Korea's top advertising queens are flopping on the big screen. As usual, the quality (or lack thereof) of the various films did not get much consideration. Considering how all those actresses (save Kim Tae-hee) have starred in successful movies in the past, it seems strange to me to blame their more recent failures and the actresses' poor acting abilities. Try taking a lesson from Go Hyun-jung and act in a few small-budget arthouse movies.
  
  (Which is why I have a bit of a soft spot for Jeon Ji-hyun... who, at the peak of her popularity, starred in THE UNINVITED. Not a good film, but at least she made the attempt).
  
  
• Midnight Eye has its annual Best/Worst-of poll for 2006 movies. Yang Yonghi's DEAR PYONGYANG made several lists. Bae Doo-na's LINDA, LINDA, LINDA made a couple. THE HOST even made Tom Mes's list of best foreign films.
  
  
• Thanks to Jon Pais over at Twitch Film for his kind words when he linked to this week's box office report.