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Pierce Conran

@pierceconran

K-drama & film critic, producer & consultant, collector of media & bottles, lover & fighter (of & with cats). South China Morning Post/Screen Anarchy/Fantastic Fest/Fribourg Intl. Film Festival

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13.09.2023
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Latest posts by Pierce Conran @pierceconran

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First love 1993 | 108 MIN | Drama, RomanceDIRECTORLEE Myung-seCASTKIM Hye-soo, SONG Young-chang, CHO Min-kiRELEASE DATEJanuary 22, 1993CONTACTKorean Film ArchiveTel+82 2 3153 2001Fax+82 2 3153 2080Emailkofa@kore...

Stepping back into the K-Cinema Library column over on KoBiz with a dive into cinematic iconoclast Lee Myung-se's sumptuous reverie FIRST LOVE, a criminally underseen landmark of 90s Korean cinema starring Kim Hye-soo. #첫사랑 www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/news/inF...

01.03.2026 01:12 👍 5 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0

These are all bangers. Now now, get your head out of the gutter, I'm being serious. This is a fascinating subgenre filled with genuinely great films, and, lucky for you, many are available to watch, subtitled and for free, on the Korean Film Archive's YouTube channel, the gift that keeps on giving.

26.08.2025 13:01 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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Intrigued by Netflix’s Aema? The 13 best 1980s Korean erotic films ranked From Mulberry to Between the Knees to Woman of Fire ’82, we rank 13 of the best erotic films to come out in Korea during the 1980s.

Inspired by the recent release of AEMA, I felt it was high time that someone compiled the definitive ranking of the best Korean Erotic films of the 80s.

www.scmp.com/lifestyle/k-...

26.08.2025 13:01 👍 2 🔁 1 💬 1 📌 1

AEMA dives into Korea’s ‘80s ero film industry and digs up more than a few surprises. #애마

22.08.2025 07:47 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Don't Talk / Beach Boys (unreleased chorus snippet)
Don't Talk / Beach Boys (unreleased chorus snippet) YouTube video by fagenfagen

In lieu of a minute of silence, my favourite Brian Wilson deep cut.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=scIn...

11.06.2025 23:19 👍 1 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
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“If you should ever leave me
Well life would still go on believe me”

There are times when Brian Wilson’s music was the only thing that got me through the day. Today, as we say goodbye to my favourite 20th century composer, looks to be another one of those days.

11.06.2025 23:04 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
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Jeonju 2025 Review: THE DREAM, Gender Politics Take Center Stage in Dark Period Fable After tearing through the 1980s with a range of celebrated films such as People in the Slum, Whale Hunting and Deep Blue Night, all starring Ahn Sung-ki, director Bae Chang-ho kicked off the 1990s wit...

Well this was a lovely surprise. #JIFF2025

02.05.2025 08:30 👍 1 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
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Review | When Life Gives You Tangerines: one of the best K-dramas ever made An emotionally rich script and a sensational cast make this series a gripping and rewarding watch from start to finish. Have tissues on hand.

WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU TANGERINES explores Koreanness in a way that is rich, raw and profoundly moving. The series sets a lofty benchmark for homegrown K-drama that could guide the industry for years to come. #폭싹속았수다

03.04.2025 04:24 👍 4 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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Review: REAL Makes Korean Noir Gloriously Camp, Weird and Amazing The top resource for Korean film news, reviews and features.

"Love it or hate it, there's no denying that this future camp cult classic is the 'real' deal."

Well, it finally happened, but not at all how I expected it would.

02.04.2025 07:25 👍 1 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
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When Life Gives You Tangerines midseason recap: moving period K-drama This touching story of Jeju islanders plays out over decades as urbanisation and modernisation change their worlds.

The phenomenal K-drama WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU TANGERINES continues. #폭싹속았수다

19.03.2025 07:09 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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When Life Gives You Tangerines: IU, Park Bo-gum in period K-drama Richer and more ambitious than most K-dramas, Netflix tale of two characters struggling to find their place in the world is vividly realised.

Lim Sang-choon's WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU TANGERINES, with IU and Park Bo-gum, bridges the K-drama gap between bright romcoms and pricey genre tentpoles. This is a true prestige drama, rich, evocative, heartfelt and intrinsically Korean.
www.scmp.com/lifestyle/k-...

07.03.2025 08:09 👍 0 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
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Kim Sae-ron the latest in a long line of Korean stars bullied to death Korean celebrities may be loved by their fans, but make one slip-up and the online abuse starts, often fuelled by mass media.

Kim Sae-ron's tragic death has been a difficult one to process. Another bright light snuffed out by craven netizens and a cruel media hungry for scandal.

Lots of soul-searching in Korea this week, but is this society that repeatedly and senselessly pushes people to the brink ready to change?

20.02.2025 09:03 👍 4 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0

Thank you for taking to read it, Peter!!

18.02.2025 21:57 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
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Berlinale 2025 Review: MICKEY 17, Bong Joon Ho Takes Us to the Stars in Angry and Amusing Sci-fi Comedy With his latest film, Bong Joon Ho reaches for the stars but what his characters discover in the far reaches of space is just another version of the messed-up world they left behind, a world Bong has ...

Got to see Bong Joon Ho’s MICKEY 17 yesterday and had many thoughts, only some of which made it into this unusually long review.

18.02.2025 05:08 👍 5 🔁 3 💬 1 📌 0
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Sweet Home 2: hit Netflix monster show with Song Kang loses its way Netflix’s Sweet Home season 2 doesn’t hold a candle to the successful first season of the horror hit. It has lost the indoor setting that gave the monster action focus, and is swamped with new cha...

SWEET HOME 2 recipe

1. Place ingredients of SWEET HOME on work surface
2. Discard the ones that viewers liked
3. Double remaining ingredients
4. Frantically raid spice cabinet
5. Serve scalding hot over naked eyeball

My despairing review for SCMP www.scmp.com/lifestyle/k-...

04.12.2023 12:21 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Hey yourself! Boy it's been a minute.

04.12.2023 12:19 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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Film list: BIFF 2023 Ranked (28th Busan International Film Festival) All the Korean films I saw at the 28th Busan International Film Festival (not including retro titles). A slimmer but solid lineup this year that unearthed a number of impressive new indie voices.…

Back from a very enjoyable and productive 28th edition of the Busan International Film Festival.

Saw lots of great Korean films and dramas, my definitive ranking of which you can find below.

letterboxd.com/pierceconran...

15.10.2023 02:12 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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Vigilante: Nam Joo-hyuk in Disney+’s engrossing revenge K-drama This Disney+ Korean drama stars Nam Joo-hyuk as a police recruit who goes after his mother’s killer, then starts a spree of revenge killings, which sees him dubbed the ‘Vigilante’.

Had great fun with the pulpy action-revenge drama VIGILANTE. Think Korean Batman with Nam Joo-hyuk as a very handsome and very angry police academy recruit going after the city's scum in the dead of night. #BIFF2023 #비질란테
www.scmp.com/lifestyle/k-...

08.10.2023 23:59 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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Song of the Bandits: Kim Nam-gil, Seohyun in Western K-drama on Netflix Song of the Bandits, a Netflix series starring Kim Nam-gil and Seohyun, mixes the violence of a Western with the melodrama of a Korean TV series. While promising, it ultimately sings a hollow tune.

The 'kimchi western' returns with SONG OF THE BANDITS starring Kim Nam-gil and Seohyun, a pale imitator of THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE WEIRD which looks the part but sings a hollow tune. #도적칼의소리 www.scmp.com/lifestyle/k-...

27.09.2023 03:42 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Was swept off my feet by the epic conclusion of MOVING. A sterling conclusion to a sweeping saga. #무빙 www.scmp.com/lifestyle/k-...

21.09.2023 13:43 👍 1 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0