‘Broker’ Review: Three Criminals Attempting to Sell a Baby Become an Unlikely Family in Kore-eda’s Latest

Goodbye for now. BTS announced that while they aren’t going through a breakup, they are going to take a hiatus to focus on their solo careers.

K-pop group BTS announced Tuesday they would be taking a hiatus period to focus on their solo careers after nearly 10 years together.  The announcement was made during the group's annual Festa dinner.The 7 members -- Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, V, Jimin and Jung Kook -- celebrated the band's 9-year-anniversary at this year's Festa. "I think we should spend some time apart to learn how to be one again," said J-Hope during the video announcement.  The group stressed the difficulty in making the decision and emphasized the need for their members to grow and mature as individuals.  Suga, Jin, Jungkook, RM, Jimin and J-Hope of BTS attend the 64th Annual GRAMMY Awards at MGM Grand Garden Arena on April 03, 2022, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Mark Schilling Japan CorrespondentBack in Japan after his Korean-language drama “Broker” won two prizes at this year’s Cannes festival, Kore-eda Hirokazu appeared as a press event in Tokyo on Tuesday to announce the launch of a group of industry professionals who aim for structural reform of the Japanese film industry.The group calls itself the “Association for the Establishment of a Japanese Version of CNC.” The reference is to France’s government-backed oversight body, the Centre National du Cinema et de l’Image Animee. Kore-eda noted the low incomes and long working hours of freelance filmmakers and emphasized the need for reform.

aespa have sold more than 1million copies of their upcoming album ‘Girls’ through pre-orders alone.The K-pop quartet’s label, SM Entertainment, told South Korean news outlet Yonhap News Agency earlier today (June 9) that aespa had managed to sell a million copies of their forthcoming second mini-album titled ‘Girls’ so far. Notably, it’s only been a week since pre-orders started on June 2.This achievement makes aespa the second K-pop girl group in history to sell a million copies of an album in pre-sales, following BLACKPINK with their 2020 record ‘The Album’.

Something to be gleeful about! Jenna Ushkowitz gave birth to her and husband David Stanley’s first child, a baby girl, the Glee alum announced on Friday, June 3.

Park Shin-hye and Choi Tae-joon are parents!

Following the sparsely attended media conference for Close at Cannes this morning, journalists packed their way into the press room to hear Broker director Hirokazu Kore-Eda and cast, giving them a standing ovation.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefKore-eda Hirokazu, director of the well-received Cannes competition film “Broker” says his diverse and lonely characters constitute a family of choice.“This film tells the story of a family which came together by choice. Each character had been rejected. They set off on a car journey, as if by accident.

Broker, starring singer-actress IU, was given a 12-minute standing ovation at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival.Broker, the first-ever Korean-language film by Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda, recently premiered at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival on May 27. Once the screening had concluded, the fil received a 12-minute-long standing ovation from those in-attendance, according to a report from Korean news outlet Edaily.The publication also claimed that the standing ovation began with Cannes Film Festival’s executive director, Thierry Frémaux.

In Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Palme d’Or winner “Shoplifters,” a group of small-time thieves forms their own makeshift family, living every day not only through pure survival instinct but a genuine love for each other. For his first film set in Korea, the Japanese filmmaker reflects on similar themes in “Broker,” a road trip odyssey reflecting on the family we choose and the family we tearfully let go of.

The Palme d’Or can be a blessing and curse, a gold-plated sword of Damocles hanging over the heads of filmmakers lucky enough to claim it. After the first waves of shock and joy recede, and their subsequent year-long victory lap reaches the finish line, those same filmmakers are left alone with one troubling thought: What’s next? Director Hirokazu Kore-eda offers a fine case study in how that question might trip someone up.

Esteemed Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda walks a fine line between keen social observation and overt sentimental emotionalism in Cannes competition title Broker.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at LargeThose “specific people” showed up at the Variety offices in costume as the mysterious guards (aka “pink soldiers”) from “Squid Game,” complete with iconic circle/triangle/square masks. They came bearing an invitation to Netflix’s FYSee Emmy events space at Raleigh Studios, along with a box of donuts.The brutal South Korean drama about class, power, wealth and kiddie games clearly remains an awards priority for the streamer — particularly after this year’s SAG Awards garnered wins including male actor (Lee Jung-Jae) and female actor (Jung Ho-yeon).

Lovelyz member Mijoo is reportedly set to release solo music later this year.According to reports from several South Korean media outlets, Mijoo is reportedly in the process of selecting songs for her solo debut. Industry insiders consulted by JTBC added that the songs considered for the singer’s solo debut are reportedly summer-themed and composed by different producers.Antenna, Mijoo’s management agency, has since confirmed the news.

Hirokazu Kore-eda‘s next directorial effort is the baby-napping (kidnapping for babies) drama “Broker” which stars Song Kang-ho, who previously played the patriarch in the Best Picture winner “Parasite” and is a fixture of South Korean cinema. Kore-eda, a Japanese filmmaker, made waves in the film awards circuit with his fantastic 2018 drama “Shoplifters” which won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival and even etched out a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar nomination.

GOT7 member Mark Tuan has teased his debut solo album, saying that he’s done working on the upcoming record.In a recent interview with Singles Magazine, the Taiwanese-American K-pop idol revealed that he had recently completed an “album-like project”, just prior to his arrival in South Korea to join GOT7 for the boyband’s comeback.“I’ve worked on a lot more songs than the singles that have been released,” said Tuan, as translated by Soompi. “Before I came to Korea, I hastily finished working on an album-like project then threw a listening party for my friends and staff members and the response was good.”The Taiwanese-American singer added that he had prepared “quite a lot” of songs, and that everybody at his listening party had different favourites.

South Korea may have made big inroads on American TV recently with “Squid Game” and “Pachinko,” and the country’s intriguing film and television industry also has a stronger-than-usual presence at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. “Squid Game” star Lee Jung-jae’s political thriller “Hunt” premiered as a midnight screening early in the festival; Davy Chou’s “Return to Seoul” landed a pre-Cannes deal with Sony Pictures Classics and is one of the hits of the Un Certain Regard sidebar; and Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda is in the main competition with “Broker,” his first film shot in South Korea in the Korean language.

An adoptee explores her Korean roots in Return To Seoul, Davy Chou’s engaging drama premiering at Cannes in Un Certain Regard. Newcomer Park Ji-Min plays the magnificently complex Freddie, who was raised in France and has impetuously decided to spend a couple of weeks in the country of her birth.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefUn Certain Regard title “Return to Seoul” from French-Cambodian director Davy Chou caused an early stir by being one of the first Official Selection titles from this year’s Cannes to secure a U.S. release — through Sony Pictures Classics. That may be a reflection of Chou’s quest for authenticity in a bi-cultural tale about a European-raised woman and her biological family in Korea.