[Talk of the town] Happy days are here again for reluctant superhero

John Hancock (Will Smith), the miserable superhero in Peter Berg’s “Hancock,” should be happy now.
Released last Thursday, the film is number one at the box office in Korea.
According to the Korean Film Council, Hancock attracted 948,397 viewers during the weekend (July 4 to 6), outnumbering Timur Bekmambetov’s action film “Wanted,” which ranked second.
Third on list was the Korean action thriller “Public Enemy Returns,” directed by Kang Woo-seok.

Writers and directors rally against beef imports
The film industry has expressed support for protests concerning the resumption of U.S. beef imports.
The 22 Korean film screenwriters include Kim Hae-gon who wrote “Failan” (2001), Han Ji-hun who wrote “The Brothers of War” (2004) and Lee Won-jae who wrote “Blood Rain” (2005).
The scribes who participated in the candlelight rallies issued a statement on Monday that said, “The government isn’t willing to communicate with its people and it’s trying to suppress the rallies through violent means. It is a step back for democracy.”
Meanwhile, Na Hong-jin who directed “The Chaser” (2008), Chung Yoon-chul who directed “Marathon” (2005) and 10 other film directors held a candlelight rally last Thursday at Megabox Complex in Samseong-dong, southern Seoul.
That day, they watched director Richard Linklater’s “Fast Food Nation” (2006), a film that examines the health risks of U.S. beef.
“I am not sure if a film can change the world but I’m certain it can depict the truth,” said Chung.

No smoke without fire as MC Mong gets busted on the bus
Entertainer Shin Dong-hyun, better known as MC Mong, is in trouble — or perhaps it’s the crew of KBS 2TV’s variety roadshow, “One Night and Two Days.”
In last Sunday’s episode, a camera captured Shin puffing inside the bus for several smoke-filled seconds.
Shin, entertainer Kang Ho-dong and singer Lee Seung-ki and others were on a 20-hour bus ride to Mount Baekdu, the highest point of the Korean Peninsula, which is located in North Korea.
Lee Hyun-woo, one of the show’s fans, was not happy.
“Shin can smoke, but the producers should have edited out those frame,” she said.
The program makers apologized: “It was an editing mistake. We should have double-checked.”

By Lee Eun-joo