BEHIND THE CAMERA: WHY MR. E WENT TO HOLLYWOOD (Korea, 2013)
Directed by: E J-Yong
Starring: Yun Yeo-Jeong, E J-Yong, Lee Joon-Ik, Kim Ok-Bin, Choi Hwa-jeong, Jeong Eun-chae

At a time when Korean film directors are desperately banging on Hollywood’s door (Kim Jee-Won with The Last Stand, Park Chan-Wook with Stoker), when so many Korean celebrities are getting plastic surgery (the country has one of the highest rates of cosmetic surgery in the world), and when the Korean film industry is making lots of money, well, that’s when it’s time to pop the whole pretentious balloon of hot air with a pin. Consider Behind the Camera that pin. A dizzying hall of meta-mirrors in the vein of his Actresses, in this send-up of the Korean film industry, director E J-Yong plays director E J-Yong trying to direct a cell phone commercial remotely over Skype since he’s busy in LA brown nosing Hollywood bigshots.

Actress Yoon Yeo-Jeong plays grande dame actress Yoon Yeo-Jeong, taking a break from shooting Im Sang-Soo’s The Taste of Money to work on this commercial (she actually took a break from The Taste of Money to shoot this film), lounging around and gossiping about her latest movie, her director, and her co-stars. Newcomver Jeong Eun-Chae wants to quit when she sees that E J-Yong isn’t even in the country. Kim C, the TV host and musician, tries to take over directing duties from E J-Yong, director Kim Jee-Won stops by, and retired director Lee Joon-Ik (King and Clown) tries to take over the shoot. Then, on the second day of shooting, glamorpuss actor Oh Jung-Se reveals that E J-Yong isn’t in LA but in Seoul. The cast and crew have already been plagued by technical problems, but now the shoot lurches into full-scale revolt.

Korea’s biggest actors and most famous crew members (such as cinematogrpher Jeong Jeong-Hun of Oldboy and Stoker fame) play themselves, while some of Korea’s famous actors like Kim Ok-Bin (Thirst) and Park Hui-Sun play crew members. The script is made up of gossip, rumor, scandal and innuendo, some of it true, some of it fabricated. The result is a complicated satire that makes The Player look straightforward. You don’t need to know a lot about the Korean film biz to get a kick out of this heady farce, you only need to know that nobody sends up a celebrity like the celebrity themselves. Freed by E J-Yong to act out the best/worst version of their public personas, the stars make fabulous messes, gobble up the scenery, gulp it down, and ask for more.

THE JURY (Korea, 2013)
Directed by: Kim Dong-Ho
Starring: Ahn Sung-Ki, Kang Soo-Yeon, Jung In-Gi, Park Hee-Bon

Directed by the founder of the massive Busan International Film Festival and starring Korean cinema icon Ahn Sung-Ki, actress Kang Soo-Yeon (Their Last Love Affair), and Jung In-Gi (Breathless), this  short film features a real-life film festival jury playing a film festival jury that devolves into chaos and violence in this send-up of the international film festival scene.