The Thieves 도둑들

[GeneChing]

Not sure if this has any martial arts in it, but it has a hottie in a catsuit, so 'nuf said.

[Trailer] Korean Movie 2012 - The Thieves (도둑들)

Thieves steals a march on competition
By Patrick Frater and Stephen Cremin
Fri, 27 July 2012, 20:46 PM (HKT)


The Thieves 도둑들, an all-star South Korean casino heist movie, has run away with the box office jewels on its theatrical opening this week. The film crossed ￦6 billion (US$5.27 million) after two days on release including limited previews.

The film achieved sales of 436,628 tickets on its opening day, Wednesday (25 July), giving it one of the country's biggest openings of all time with takings of ￦3.01 billion (US$2.65 million) in a single day.

Distributor Showbox/Mediaplex Inc 쇼박스 미디어플렉스 claimed it was the biggest ever opening day beating monster movie The Host 괴물 (2006). Other sources put The Thieves second, behind The Host's 449,500 figure.

Thieves marks the first significant South Korean role for superstar Gianna JUN 전지현 | 全智賢 (pictured) since the box office flops Blood: The Last Vampire (2009) and Snow Flower and the Secret Fan 雪花秘扇.

The film's starry cast also includes KIM Yun-seok 김윤석 | 金倫奭, KIM Hye-soo 김혜수 | 金憓秀, LEE Jeong-jae 이정재 | 李政宰, SHIN Ha-gyun 신하균 | 申河均, Hong Kong's Simon YAM 任達華 and Malaysia's Angelica LEE 李心潔.

The 135-minute film features a gang of South Korean thieves who team up with a Hong Kong crew to steal a diamond necklace from a heavily-guarded casino safe in Macau. As the cops close in, old betrayals — and misunderstandings — resurface.

The film is directed by CHOI Dong-hun 최동훈 | 崔東勳, a former assistant director of IM Sang-soo 임상수 | 林常樹, who previously directed the similarly themed The Big Swindle 범죄의 재구성 (2003) and Tazza: The High Rollers 타짜 (2006).

The strong opening puts Thieves ahead of The Dark Knight Rises, released on 19 July, and local film Deranged 연가시. Released on 5 July, Deranged is forecast by its distributor CJ Entertainment Inc ＣＪ엔터테인먼트 to pass 5 million admissions.

Showbox forecast that Thieves would pass 1 million admissions today, its third day of release and the 59th anniversary of the armistice between the two Koreas. By Thursday evening, it had secured 862,641 admissions nationwide.

[Hebrew Hammer]

The Korean Ocean's Eleven, looks like fun. I've said this before, a big fan of Korean cinema...complex story lines and characters, not the predictable Hollywood stuff we get here and the Korean sense of humor is outstanding.

[JamesC]

The Korean Ocean's Eleven, looks like fun. I've said this before, a big fan of Korean cinema...complex story lines and characters, not the predictable Hollywood stuff we get here and the Korean sense of humor is outstanding.

I've only ever seen one Korean movie that I know of. It was "I Saw the Devil", I believe.

The movie was fantastic.

[Hebrew Hammer]

If you're interested James, I can give you some Korean film recommendations...I've seen quite a few, some are on youtube and others can be viewed on Netflix or the net for free.

[JamesC]

If you're interested James, I can give you some Korean film recommendations...I've seen quite a few, some are on youtube and others can be viewed on Netflix or the net for free.

That would be great, actually. For the spare moment I get to watch one, lol.

[GeneChing]

Check out War of Arrows.

[Lucas]

Check out War of Arrows.

i double that rec. TOTALLY awesome movie. i watched it on netflix.

[JamesC]

Thanks guys. That will be my next order.

[Hebrew Hammer]

Old Boy A revenge film must see classic, was actually the first film I saw that got me into Korean cinema.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=YLn1y9v6yno

Also in this trilogy, Sympathy for Mr Vengeance, Sympathy for Lady Vengeance. Some people like these more than Old Boy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJFm3cczM_Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzXbV9a5GA4

The Chaser A man loses his daughter to hit and run and things spiral out of control.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWn_XveAwNM

The Man from Nowhere Secret agent befriends neighbor girl ala The Professional, I liked this one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Z_CwCRp_sA

Military Flicks of Note
Taeguki , Frontline, both Korean War flicks and Joint Security Area,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anfA7h4umLY

Monster Flick:
The Host A pleasant surprise, kind of a Korean Godzilla story...great humor and special effects.

Martial Arts Flicks:
Musa the Warrior One of my favorite Kung Fu/MA flicks of all time and it has Zhang Ziyi!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7Vg1HcgL8U
Full Movie:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuypJ...eature=related

Sword in the Moon Epic sword fighting...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVTNp...eature=related

Legend of the Shadowless Sword Korean Ninjas, Archery, and a badass evil monk with a large mace (and no it's not autobiographical).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nrg4X...eature=related

Woochi the Taoist Wizard aka Jeonwoochi. Great special effects!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XXtOvsuyuw

Many of these you can watch on youtube for free...

For a list of Korean Chick flicks you're going to have to ask Lucas.

[GeneChing]

Good recs, HH. I'll add a few KFM links:
OldBoy
THE MYTH: Jackie Chan's Stir-fries HERO, MUSA and Lara Croft Chop Suey Style by August West
Shadowless Sword

Thieves laps King, trails Host
By Stephen Cremin
Fri, 31 August 2012, 09:45 AM (HKT)


South Korean heist movie The Thieves 도둑들 has become the country's second most successful local film by admissions. It is already the number one local film by box office takings by a large margin.

Since opening on 25 Jul, the film has sold 12,326,147 tickets. King and the Clown 왕의 남자 (2005), which until yesterday held the number two slot, secured 12,302,831 admissions for distributor Cinema Service Co Ltd 시네마 서비스.

The record holder among local films remains The Host 괴물 (2006) with 13,019,740 admissions. It made approximately ￦79.6 billion (US$70.3 million) on release in 2006 through distributor Showbox/Mediaplex Inc 쇼박스 미디어플렉스.

The current box office takings of The Thieves stands at ￦88.9 billion (US$78.5 million) after 37 days on release. Yesterday, it was the third most popular film at the local box office. Distribution is also handled by Showbox.

The most successful film at the South Korean box office remains James CAMERON's Avatar (2009) with 13,624,328 admissions and ￦128 billion (US$113 million) in box office takings through Twentieth Century Fox (Korea) Inc 20세기폭스 코리아.

Thieves has its international festival premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on 13 Sep.

[GeneChing]

Well Go is bringing me back to the movie theaters.

Oct 12, 2012
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Canada
Oct 12, 2012
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Canada

Well Go steals off with Thieves
By Patrick Frater
Fri, 28 September 2012, 10:08 AM (HKT)
Sales News

Well Go USA has acquired all North American rights to South Korean blockbuster The Thieves (도둑들). The company has set a speedy 12 Oct for its theatrical release.

The film, financed, distributed and sold by Showbox, ran off with over 12.9 million admissions, worth $83 million, following its July theatrical release. It had its North American premiere at Toronto earlier this month.

"After we saw The Thieves at the festival we knew it would be a perfect addition to our fall slate," said Well Go president Doris Pfardrescher. "Choi Dong-hoon is a rare talent and his filmmaking style is a perfect fit for North American audiences."

The action follows a team of top thieves vying to steal a fabulous diamond from a Macau casino. It stars Kim Yun-seok, Kim Hye-soo, Lee Jung-jae, Gianna Jun, Simon Yam, Kim Hae-sook, Oh Dal-soo and Angelica Lee.

[GeneChing]

Cupertino is within reach, but I doubt I'll be able to make it out for this one. Can't make them all. Wellgo has expanded the release to be a little wider.

The Thieves
6:00 AM PDT 10/9/2012 by Deborah Young

The top-grossing Korean film of all time comes to the U.S. amid comparisons to "Ocean's Eleven."

A sparkling heist film tricked up with imaginative action scenes and 10 fully developed characters who keep the ball rolling, The Thieves is a stylish and entertaining caper. Dubbed South Korea's answer to Ocean's Eleven, the story does indeed revolve around a daring casino theft and a playful band of robbers, in this case all ace criminals.

Directed by heist-meister Choi Dong-hoon (The Big Swindle) and featuring a swinging A-list cast, it has topped 13 million domestic admissions to become the most-watched Korean film of all time.

Apart from generating a great deal of romantic chemistry, the glamorous cast of characters are as fast with barbed wit as they are nimble on their feet or, as the case might be, flying through the air, climbing up the side of a building or dangling by wires. The fact that each of them is memorably individualized marks a tribute to Choi and Lee Gi-cheol's carefully penned screenplay as well as the acting talent. Adding a modern note, the actresses get equal time and respect as pros in their field.

Although the plot unfolds at the speed of light and the viewer needs to be very quick-witted to follow it, this isn't Shakespeare, and missing out on a few story points won't diminish the fun.

It all begins with a Korean gang's plans for a big heist in Macau with a band of thieves from Hong Kong. Director Choi has a magician's touch in keeping multiple balls in the air while making the impossible seem vaguely plausible. A big part of the sleight of hand is the joking tone of the dialogue and goofy action that always seems on the verge of cueing an entrance by Inspector Clouseau and the Pink Panther, as the action scenes get wilder and wilder and romances and betrayals get even more entangled. The technical work always hits the mark, with the musical score adding tension or ironic comment as needed.

Venue: Busan Film Festival
Opens in U.S.: Friday, Oct. 12 (Well Go USA)
Cast: Kim Yun-seok, Kim Hye-soo, Lee Jung-jae, Gianna Jun, Simon Yam, Kim Hae-sook
Director: Choi Dong-hoon No rating, 135 minutes

[GeneChing]

I always enjoy Simon Yam.
THE THIEVES - First Impressions

[GeneChing]

I'm a huge fan of Simon Yam. I almost had the chance to meet him when he was a 'Shaolin Ambassador' in 2005, but the Abbot called me back for a private meeting and so I missed him entirely. I should have snubbed the Abbot and tried to meet Yam. He's one of my HK film idols. I've heard him dubbed as China's Michael Caine, but I think that's totally unfair to both actors. Like Caine, Yam has taken on a wide variety of roles from A-list to C-grade and delivered so many richly-defined characters, all with that cool suave style that is uniquely his own. But Yam and Caine are both unique. So I was figuring this film would be all about Yam for me, especially as there were a ton of characters, mostly Korean actors, whom I wasn't very familiar. But the other characters quickly rose up to Yam's performance and I became engaged in the whole cast. It's all about double-crossing and back histories, and in the end, despite some nasty betrayals, there is some honor among thieves. It was Yam's role that stuck with me the longest given the course of his character's story arc, but the rest of the film kept up with him. It is another great role for Yam which is high praise for the film overall, coming from me as I'm such a fan of his.

Thieves is a good starter flick for Korean cinema. It's not extreme or overly graphic (just one bloody splatter), but it still has that Korean style of fascinating architecture, fresh cinematography and engaging pacing. It's funny, tragic, sexy, charming, even romantic, and at 2+ hours, thoroughly entertaining. There aren't that many hand-to-hand fight scenes, but there's some great rappelling fights, decent stunts and fire fights. Good stuff. Highly recommended. Ocean's Eleven ain't got nothing on this film.