Kim Jeong Hoon

Arang
$19.99
When I read the blurb for the movie "Arang", I admit my interest was piqued as this didn't seem a run-of-the-mill horror story. I'm glad I watched it as though the entity in the movie is nothing new [the woman with long dark hair, bloody eyes, darting around and popping up in dark corners], the storyline is actually quite refreshing.

The story centers around female detective So Young [Song Yoon Ah] who seems to be a sort of tortured soul, always experiencing nightmares and apparently haunted by a tragedy in her past. She is teamed up with a rookie Hyun Gi [Lee Dong Wook] on a murder case where the victim is found burned to death though the cause of death is found to be asphyxiation. Later a series of similar murders has the detectives struggling to put the clues together in search of a serial killer. The clues point to a connection with a murder case that occurred many years ago.

What ultimately lifts this movie for me is not really the supernatural aspect [which is quite typical in comparison to other Asian horror flicks], but the well-crafted storyline with its twists and turns. You don't really see the connections until the ending and that really made me appreciate the movie even more. Though there are a few plotholes, all in all the story did seem to flow seamlessly and the lead actors do a pretty credible job of keeping the suspense alive throughout the film.

If you have been watching way too many Asian horror flicks, then you will not find anything new or exciting with thr supernatural part of this movie, but if you like to see something new with the detective story within a horror story, then this is worth checking out.

Kim Jeong Hoon : 1st Mini Album [KT Music Korea]
$16.99
6 Tracks CD / Mini Album / Distributed by KT Music. Printed in Korea 2009.08.

Advances in Computational Science and Engineering: Second International Conference, FGCN 2008, Workshops and Symposia, Sanya, Hainan Island, China, December ... in Computer and Information Science)
$84.00
This volume constitutes the selected and extended papers of workshops and symposia of the International Conference, on Advances in Computational Science and Engineering, FGCN2008, held in Sanya, Hainan Island, China in December 2008. The volume contains the workshops on peer-to-peer computing for information search (P2PSearch 2008), on wireless ad hoc, mesh and sensor networks (WAMSNet-08), on sensor networks and applications (SNA 2008), on wireless communications for intelligent transportation systems (WITS-08), on network assurance (NA 2008) , on communication & network technology management 2008 (CNM 2008), on forensics for future generation communication environments (F2GC-08), as well as on silver technology for aging society (STAS2008), together with the symposia on the 3rd international symposium on smart home (SH'08), on database theory and application (DTA-08), on u- and e- service, science and technology (UNESST-08), on control and automation (CA-08) , on grid and distributed computing (GDC-08), as well as on signal processing, image processing and pattern recognition (SIP 2008).

Palace
$89.99
Journey into the imaginative world of Palace where kings and queens still rule modern day Korea. Grand and beautiful, the palace becomes the home to a group of royals pulled into the political rivalries and romantic entanglements of palace life. Shin (Joo Ji-Hoon) may be the picture-perfect Crown Prince, but he is aloof and wary of his royal status. Commoner Chae-Kyung (Yoon Eun-Hye) is headstrong and outspoken, but fiercely loyal to her loved ones. Their worlds unexpectedly collide when an arranged marriage makes them husband and wife! It s not exactly happily ever after for this royal odd couple as they try to make sense of their relationship. Life gets even more complicated when Prince Yool (Kim Jeong-Hoon) returns to the palace to compete for both Chae-Kyung's affection and the throne. With vivid cinematography, elaborate costumes and set designs, and a fresh young cast, Palace is a spectacular visual experience. Sparks will fly when romance clashes with palace politics in this colorful romantic comedy.