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Want to know more about the Korean film industry, its history, and the latest Korean box office figures all in English? Then check out the rarely mentioned but extremely resourceful Korean Film Council's website.

Dragon Wars is a personal movie for me. Some of you may already know that I'm Korean and that Dragon Wars too shares the same origin, so this may not come as a surprise. And let's be honest here: there's no way for me not to favor something Korean over something that isn't. Of course, oftentimes this may be so insignificant that it doesn't affect anything fundamental, but being minuscule shouldn't negate it.

Many consider the movie Shiri to be the movie that started the trend of blockbuster films in South Korea. When Shiri was being produced, many professionals in the film industry were negative about its outcome. To spend so much on a genre film that Koreans were unfamiliar with was a huge risk for all involved. Instead, however, the film became the highest grossing film and was able to, for the first time, compete with Hollywood blockbusters. The impact Shiri had on South Korea was not just in its commercial success. It allowed the South Korean film industry to have first hand experience of what a blockbuster film can do for them and its audience.

The latest film from award-winning Korean director Bong Joon-ho (THE HOST), MOTHER is a unique murder mystery and tale of primal love that Vogue calls “…riveting and darkly funny…” The film served as South Korea’s official entry for the 82nd Academy Awards® in the Best Foreign Language film category. Mother (Kim Hye-ja - THE RUSTIC DIARY) is a devoted single parent to her simple-minded son, Do-joon (Won Bin). His foolish behavior is a constant source of anxiety for Mother and one night, while walking home drunk, Do-joon follows a school girl a ways before she disappears into a dark alley. The next morning, she is found dead in an abandoned building and authorities accuse and soon convict Do-joon for the murder. Mother refuses to believe her son is guilty and immediately undertakes her own investigation to find the killer; in her obsessive quest to clear her son’s name, she steps into a world of unimaginable, shocking chaos.

A priest becomes a vampire…another man’s wife is coveted…a deadly seduction triggers murder. Thirst is the new film from director Park Chan-wook (Old Boy, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Sympathy for Lady Vengeance). Already a boxoffice smash in Korea, Thirst was honored with the Prix du Jury [Jury Prize] at the 2009 Cannes International Film Festival.

Known for his disturbing, sometimes experimental and consistently prolific filmography, Kim Ki-duk at times is unable to communicate to his audience like his last film, The Bow. But regardless of the fact that The Bow had close to no ticket sales in Korea, which was foreseeable considering its limited and private distribution method, it is saddening to know that his 13th and new film, Time, will not be released in Korea.

Ryu Seung-wan is famous amongst Korean film lovers for his unique action films ranging from raw independent feature debut Die Bad (죽거나 혹은 나쁘거나) to commercial action-fantasy Arahan (아라한). With his last film, Crying Fist (주먹이 운다), showing his maturity as a director capable of handling human drama and packing quite an emotional punch at that, Ryu had clearly moved on from his 'action kid' days. But despite this change that even Ryu himself admits in several interviews, fans and critics alike kept asking for something similar to that of Die Bad, as if Ryu has to stick with that same genre forever. Ryu grew tired of this.

Vampire themed projects were some kind of a trend in Choongmuro (충무로) at one point. Even Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance director Park, Chan-wook (박찬욱) revealed he had something blood-thirsty in mind. But it seems Kim, Su-ro's first ever lead-role feature will start off the race, with silly humor.

Here's a movie I'm really looking forward to see. Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (친절한 금자씨) is the last of the revenge themed trilogy from the acclaimed South Korean director Park, Chan-wook. Lee, Young-ae plays Ms. Guem-ja, the heroine of the hugely popular Korean TV series, Dae-Jang-Guem (aka: Jewel in Palace). Lee also starred in Park's blockbuster hit, 'JSA: Joint Security Area, which gave him enough power in Chung-mu-ro (South Korea's Hollywood) to create his first of the revenge films: 'Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance.

I wasn't really sure what This Charming Girl (여자, 정혜) would be about except that it's about the female lead's life... having just seen this, this film is now one of my favorite films this year.