Prior to watching Chan Wook Park’s “Old Boy” (2003), the idea of indulging in live octopus (san nak ji) as a delicacy was unheard of to me. Was this a new trend in sushi? Seafood so raw, it’s still living? Was it a product of laziness? In a harsh bout of hunger, did someone stop by their local seafood market in Korea only to decide that they were too hungry to set aside time to properly cook an octopus?

Sure, I watched the Travel Channel’s Anthony Bourdain and Andrew Zimmern experience live octopus for answers. It wasn’t enough for me to live vicariously through them. I wanted to embark on a gastronomic journey that only a few westerners have lived through. I wanted a live octopus eating experience to be my latest conversation ice breaker. (Because no one cares that I was once in the same room Paul Rudd was in.) I was also seduced by the fact that it is potentially dangerous. You can choke and die if you don’t chew properly!

That said, trying live octopus was one of many inspirations behind a recent trip to Korea. The experience wasn’t as dramatic as I’d expected it to be. For starters, I’m still alive. Live octopus is chewy and it does move in your mouth. Think moving gummy worms that don’t taste like anything until you dip it in sauce. Best of all, it was DELICIOUS. Since then I’ve had it a second time. I’ve also broken a lot of social ice. But, if you want to hear about the time I was within Paul Rudd’s vicinity, feel free to ask.
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Tags: Andrew Zimmern, Anthony Bourdain, chan wook park, live octopus, old boy, Paul Rudd, san nak ji, south korea, Travel Channel, 박찬욱, 산낙지, 올드 보이

Most likely you need to refresh your browser cache by pressing F5 or use a forceful refresh by pressing CTRL+F5.

You’ll find the new layout of the forums to be dramatically different from what you’re accustomed to seeing on typical forum websites. Just about every major forum software uses the typical “table row” format found on 95% of websites (a number I pulled out of my guessing hat but probably correct). Why fix what’s not broken you ask? Well it’s more like trying to be better by not staying satisfied. The main advantage of this new layout is that you can view all the latest activities — newest topics and newest replies — all at once. Of course we didn’t completely get rid of the “table row” format as we still use forum categories to organize topics which you can easily click to see topics in their individual categories. So really, you have the best of both worlds.
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Tags: firefox, forums, ningin, old boy, open search, peppero day, redesign, remake, search, upgrades

Chan Wook-Park’s “Old Boy” is now making its way overseas to the US for a remake by Steven Spielberg and Will Smith. While I’m not a big fan of remakes, I’m actually looking forward to the movie.

In the 2003 Korean original, a man gets kidnapped and held in a shabby cell for 15 years without explanation. Suddenly, he’s released and given money, a cell phone and clothes and is set on a path to discover who destroyed his life so he can take revenge.

Currently, the duo is still in talks but hope to move forward with Smith as the lead. There is still no writer but hopefully they’ll stay true to the original story. Otherwise it wouldn’t be as good.
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Tags: chan wook park, hallyuwood, old boy, remake, steven spielberg, us, will smith

The New York Korean Film Festival hosted actor/director Yoo Ji-Tae the 4th week of August for several events. First being the opening reception, where the humble Mr. Yoo answered questions about his part in the cinematic celebration, that has become a staple of the New York art & culture scene.

There is a successful aura about everything that Yoo Ji-Tae works on like his role as the villain in top rated film Oldboy. He was a vital ingredient, in the reason the film was awarded the top prize at 2004 Cannes Film Festival. His many other works are well known throughout Korea and by foreign film aficionados. More the 2003 movie, which he also starred in, “Into the Mirror”, has just inspired a western remake called Mirrors.

The historical film “Hwang Jin Yi” was showing at the reception of the NYKFF. The Korean release of “Hwang Jin Yi” took place last year. The film stars himself along side actress Song Hye Kyo, and is based on a North Korean novel. The hype following this movie is do to its cinematic grandeur and has had many recent dramatic adaptations. Besides supporting this films North American release, he promoted his own directorial work with a short film called “Out of my Intention”. Due to the many press vying for time with the talented thespian the limit of five minutes was downgraded to three minutes as we waited for everyone to be seated. We were very lucky that the first two questions received time saving replies of smiles, blushes, and chuckling nods.
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Tags: actor, director, hwang jin yi, interview, korea, movies, new york korean film festival, old boy, yoo ji tae