Bangkok Cinema Scene: Movies opening October 28-November 3, 2010

Jackass 3D


Johnny Knoxville and gang add another dimension to their comical and dangerous stunts in Jackass 3D.

Capers include playing tether ball with a beehive, pulling a tooth with a Lamborghini, using super glue to remove chest hair and launching a portable toilet into the air.

Reportedly, so many bits were filmed, that there's enough leftover footage to make a Jackass 3.5 that might be released as a full-fledged Jackass 4 to capitalize on the box-office success of the third movie in the MTV franchise.

Critical reception is mixed. In 3D only at Major Cineplex and SF cinemas. Rated 18+.

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Also opening


The Dog (Ching Mah Therd, ชิงหมาเถิด) – Veteran actor Pongpat Wachirabanjong shifts to comedy after directing two romantic dramas, Me ... Myself and Happy Birthday. His latest has the hijinks of a mismatched trio of hoodlums, teaming the young heartthrob actors Mario Maurer and "Boy" Pakorn Chatborirak with veteran comedian Kohtee Aramboy. They've somehow become roped into a scheme to kidnap a prize show dog ("I think it's a Pomeranian"). For their troubles, they have a mystery gunman after them. Kowit Wattanakul also stars, along with young actress "Yok" Nattapaphas Thanathanamaharat making her big-screen debut. There's a trailer at YouTube. Rated 18+.


Fan Mai (แฟนใหม่ ) – Piyapan Choopetch, the director of last year's ghostly girlfriend revenge thriller My Ex (Fan Kao, แฟนเก่า), is back with another tale of a girlfriend who won't let go, even when she's gone to the gave. October Sonata sweetheart "Koy" Ratchawin Wongviriya stars in Fan Mai (แฟนใหม่ ). She's an actress who breaks up with her boyfriend (Thongpoom Siripipat) after she sees him with another girl (Marion Affolter). Then this other woman turns up dead and strange spooky stuff starts happening to Koy's character. Released by Film R Us and produced by "Uncle" Adirek Watleela, there's a trailer at YouTube. Rated 15+.


La-Fa-Fun: Confession of the Winners (ล่า ฝ่า ฝัน คอนเฟสชั่น ออฟ เดอะ วินเนอร์ส) – The first Thai 3D movie comes not from any of Thailand's thrifty film studios but is rather a concert documentary from Thailand's major cable broadcaster TrueVision, featuring the past six winners of the seven-year-old Academy Fantasia reality-TV talent-search series. La-Fa-Fun: Confession of the Winners (ล่า ฝ่า ฝัน คอนเฟสชั่น ออฟ เดอะ วินเนอร์ส) has footage from the Victory of the Winners concert that was filmed back in August at Bangkok's Huamark Indoor Stadium, using 3D technology and expertise from Ocean Mango of South Korea, and actually involved the audience having to wear 3D glasses to experience the effects. The 90 minutes of stereoscopic concert footage is padded out with 30 minutes worth of background interviews with each of the AF winners, which was filmed in 2D and converted to 3D. The stars are Pacharapon "Vit AF1" Jantieng, Supanat "Aof AF2" Chalermchaichareonkij, Kiatkamol "Tui AF3" Latha, Nat "Nat AF4" Sakdatorn, Nat "Nat AF5" Thewphaingam and the first female winner, Nipaporn "Zani AF6" Thititanakarn. The trailer (in 2D) is at YouTube.


Eat Pray Love – Julia Roberts stars as a divorcee on a journey of spiritual discovery in this adaptation of the best-selling book by Elizabeth Gilbert. She travels from New York to Italy, where she eats, India, where she prays, and finally to Bali, where she falls in lo ve. Javier Bardem also stars. Critical reception is mixed. Rated 15+.


The Joneses – David Duchnovy and Demi Moore head a family that seems just too perfect. They move into a wealthy neighborhood and immediately their friendly and outgoing manner and luxurious lifestyle and possessions are the envy of all their neighbors. Amber Heard and Ben Hollingsworth also star, portraying the couple's attractive and popular teen son and daughter. Gary Cole plays one of the neighbors who wants to keep up with the Joneses. Lauren Hutton turns up, playing the family's "grandmother". I actually saw this on an airline flight last month and thought it was a pretty decent and entertaining thriller, though was disappointed by the end. Critical reception is mixed, with high marks given for the cracking satire of consumer culture as well as a pair of strong performances by Duchovny and Moore. At SFW CentralWorld and Paragon. Rated 15+.


Dinner for Schmucks – Paul Rudd and Steve Carell star in this farcical loose remake of the 1998 French comedy Le dîner de cons (The Dinner Game or literally "the dinner of dolts"), about wealthy friends who compete to bring the dumbest person as a guest to their weekly dinner parties. Jay Roach (Austin Powers, Meet the Parents) directs, with Zach Galifianakis, Bruce Greenwood, Lucy Punch, Ron Livingston and David Walliams also starring. Critical reception is mixed. Only at SF cinemas. Rated 13+.


The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest – The third and final entry of the Swedish films adapted from writer Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy picks right up from the ending of the second film, The Girl Who Played with Fire. Tough girl Lisbeth Salander (played by the Mohawk-headed actress Noomi Rapace) is hospitalized after her fateful meeting with her father, and is to be tried for attempted murder. Her friend, the investigative journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist) takes on the task of proving she is innocent and probes for reasons why she is being treated so harshly by the authorities. Critical reception is leaning to negative for this, with the consensus being this is the weakest and least satisfying of the three-movie series. At House, where all three films in the series are now playing. Rated 15+.

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Also showing


European Union Film Festival – The festival at the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre continues through Sunday. Today's screenings are Loft from Belgium at 2, Under the Stars from Spain at 5 and Letters to Father Jacob from Finland at 7. Tomorrow has Portuguese director Manoel de Oliveira’s Eccentricities of a Blonde-Haired Girl at 2, Luxembourg’s World War II story Draft Dodgers at 5 and the Hungarian Catholic-school drama The Prank at 7.30. On Saturday, it's Little Girl Blue from the Czech Republic at 11, The Heretic from Italy at 12.50, Heaven's Heart from Sweden at 2.50, the British documentary Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff at 4.45 and Spanish director Alejandro Amenábar's 1996 debut thriller Thesis at 6.30. The closing day on Sunday has Storm Bound from the Netherlands at 11, Luxembourg’s World War II story Draft Dodgers at 1.30, German director Wim Wenders' 1996 documentary Lisbon Story at 3.30 and the Belgian thriller Loft at 6. All are subtitled in English and screenings are free. Show up a bit early to collect your sticker for entry and to take your seat in the multi-purpose room on the ground floor of the BACC. Check the EU delegation website for more details. The festival will also be held in Chiang Mai, and you can check the Thomat Chiang Mai Film Blog for synopses.


Juliette Binoche dans les yeux (Juliette Binoche: Sketches for a Portrait) – Filmmaker Marion Stalens followed her sister around for a year in the making of this documentary. It probably wouldn't be all that interesting, except Stalens' sister is the dynamic French leading lady Juliette Binoche, and it captures her preparations for a performance with dancer-choregrapher Akram Khan, as well as an exhibition of her paintings. The actress gives a personal and emotional insight into her creative process and the people who have made a mark on her film career. It's showing on Wednesday, November 3 at 7:30pm and on Saturday, November 6 at 2 at the Alliance Française, with English subtitles. Admission is free.

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Sneak preview


Paranormal Activity 2 – More ghostly goings-on are caught on a home surveillance system in this follow-up to last year's viral low-budget hit thriller. And there will probably be more, seeing how this one is a huge box-office hit. Here, a ghost mom is intent on taking her baby. critical reception is leaning toward positive. It's playing in sneak previews this weekend for Halloween, ahead of a wider release next Thursday.

Bangkok Cinema Scene: Movies opening October 21-27, 2010

My Best Bodyguard


A veteran journalist investigating the spread of a new virus discovers that it’s the result of a pharmaceutical company’s experiments on human subjects. And now her life is in danger.

Princess Ubolratana stars, making her sophomore big-screen appearance following 2008's social drama Where the Miracle Happens.

Shahkrit Yamnarm plays a gunman, with Hong Kong actor Shawn Yue as a villainous pharmaceutical company executive.

A 10-minute preview of this action drama was shown at a Thai night gala during the Pusan International Film Festival, with favorable response. Rated 15+.

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The Housemaid


Director Im Sang-soo remakes Kim Ki-young's revered 1960 classic South Korean drama, sexing things up for contemporary sensibilities.

The story is basically the same – a destructive, melodramatic love triangle forms between a maid, the master of the house and his wife.

This new Housemaid premiered in the Palme d'Or competition at this year's Cannes Film Festival, with generally mixed reviews.

With Thai and English subtitles at the Scala and at Paragon Cineplex as part of the Bangkok Korean Film Festival (see below) until Wednesday. Rated 18+.

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Also opening


Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore – Cats and dogs from rival spy organizations have to join forces when rogue feline agent Kitty Galore (voiced by Bette Midler) plans to destroy the world. An all-star voice cast is behind the CGI-animated critters with the weirdly dead eyes. They include James Marsden, Nick Nolte, Christina Applegate, Neil Patrick Harris, Sean Hayes, Wallace Shawn, Roger Moore, Joe Pantoliano and Michael Clarke Duncan. Critical reception is mostly negative, but it's probably a safe bet for family viewing compared to the other new releases this week. In 3D in some cinemas. Rated G.


The Last Exorcism – An evangelical minister has what he plans to be his last exorcism filmed in order to confess that all his jobs have been faked. But there's a hitch in that plan – the evil spirit inhabiting the body of a Louisania farmgirl is very real. Filmed in a documentary style by German director Daniel Stamm, this is co-produced by Eli Roth, the maker of the slasher-horror thriller Hostel (he also starred in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds). Critical reception is mostly positive, with the consensus being that while it "doesn't fully deliver on the chilly promise of its Blair Witch-style premise, but The Last Exorcism offers a surprising number of clever thrills." At SF cinemas and the Lido. Rated 18+.

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Also showing


Bangkok Korean Film Festival – Seventeen South Korean films will screen in the first Bangkok Korean Film Festival at Paragon Cineplex from October 21 to 27. The Housemaid, opening this week in Bangkok for a limited run, is part of the festival, alongside such other recent hits South Korean films as the romance Beastie Boy, the comedy Our School ET (Our English Teacher) starring Lee Min Ho, the erotic movie Secret Love, horror in Death Bell and the documentary Tears in the Arctic. Another highlight is the romantic-comedy Acoustic, which premiered at the Pusan International Film Festival and stars Im Seul Ong from the boy band 2AM and Lee Jong Hyun and Kang Min Hyuk from the rock band CN Blue in their big screen debuts. It's about twentysomethings looking to music for their hopes, dreams and loves. Check the festival website for the schedule.


Phuket/Boy Genius/The Sigh – A collection of three shorts by Wonderful Town director Aditya Assarat closes the current leg of the Extra Virgin's Director's Screen Project. Commissioned as a tourism promotion, Phuket is actually a bittersweet tale of a South Korean actress (played by Lim Su-jeong) who is trying to take a vacation in Phuket, but is harried by phone calls and fans. She is rescued by the hotel's limo driver (veteran actor Sorapong Chatree, whose portrayal of the driver is a bit lonely and sad). Boy Genius and The Sigh are from 2005 and 2006 and humorously deal with filmmaking. The screenings are at the recently re-opened SF World Cinema at CentralWorld, with showtimes at around 7.30 daily and additional 2.30 matinees on Saturdays and Sundays.


European Union Film Festival – Nineteen movies from 16 European Union countries will be shown in the EU Film Festival at the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre until October 31. Tonight's opening reception and the screening of Loft, Belgium's 2008 box-office record setter, is by invitation only. Other highlights include such award-winners as Little Girl Blue from the Czech Republic, Letter to Father Jacob from Finland and Thesis from Spain. All are subtitled in English. Screenings are free, in the multi-purpose room on the ground floor of the BACC. Check the EU delegation website for more details. The festival will also be held in Chiang Mai, and you can check the Thomat Chiang Mai Film Blog for synopses.


On connaît la chanson (Same Old Song) – Alain Resnais directs this 1997 musical that's set in Paris, where six characters get caught up in a web of romantic and social confusion combined with mounting misunderstandings. It's showing on Wednesday, October 27, at 7:30pm at the Alliance Française, with English subtitles. Admission is free.

Bangkok Cinema Scene: Movies opening October 14-20, 2010

Red


Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich and Helen Mirren star in this action-comedy as retired CIA black-ops specialists who become targeted by assassins. Red is based on a DC Comics graphic novel by Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner. Mary-Louise Parker, Ernest Borgnine and Richard Dreyfuss also star. Critical reception is mostly positive. Rated 18+.

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Reign of Assassins


Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon star Michelle Yeoh returns to the genre that made her famous (see Police Story 3) in Reign of Assassins, which is produced and co-directed by John Woo. She's a former assassin who has disguised herself and is living a peaceful existence until members of her old gang show up and want the magical remains of a mystical Buddhist monk. Premiering last month at the Venice Film Festival, critical reception has been generally positive. The Chinese soundtrack with English and Thai subtitles is at SFW CentralWorld. Elsewhere it's Thai dubbed. Rated 15+.

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Also opening


E Hed Sod Pa Ded Suek – Chalerm Wongpim directs this comedy about a navy captain (Amarin Nitipon) who unknowingly married a transgender woman (Uttama Chaiwanichpan). He is then assigned to lead a commando team on an undercover assignment when his wife turns out to be the leader of a transgender gang of terrorists who've hijacked an ocean liner. Rated 18+.


Yaay Sang Ma Yai – Jaturong Mokjok and Mic Thongraya are estranged brothers who reunite when their grandmother falls into a coma. To raise cash to pay for her treatment, they head to the casino and run into conflict with the gambling-house boss. Rated 15+.


Charlie St. Cloud – Zac Efron stars in this romantic drama as a young man who forgoes a bright future so that he can work as a cemetery caretaker and practice baseball with the ghost of his younger brother. The return of a former sweetheart (Amanda Crew) with plans of sailing around the world makes him reconsider his plans. It's adapted from Ben Sherwood's best-selling 2004 novel, The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud. Burr Steers (Igby Goes Down and 17 Again directs. Critical reception is mostly negative. Rated 13+.


Doraemon the Movie: Nobita's Mermaid Legend – Troublemaker Nobita and his magical robotic cat Doraemon plunge Tokyo under water. Thai-dubbed only. Rated G.


One Piece Film: Strong World – This 10th anime feature based on the pirate manga of Eiichiro Oda has pirate captain Shiki the Golden Lion returning with a scheme to bring down the World Government. At Apex.

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Also showing


Phuket/Boy Genius/The Sigh – A collection of three shorts by Wonderful Town director Aditya Assarat closes the current leg of the Extra Virgin's Director's Screen Project. Commissioned as a tourism promotion, Phuket is actually a bittersweet tale of a South Korean actress (played by Lim Su-jeong) who is trying to take a vacation in Phuket, but is harried by phone calls and fans. She is rescued by the hotel's limo driver (veteran actor Sorapong Chatree, whose portrayal of the driver is a bit lonely and sad). Boy Genius and The Sigh are from 2005 and 2006 and humorously deal with filmmaking. The screenings are at the recently re-opened SF World Cinema at CentralWorld, with showtimes at around 7.30 daily and additional 2.30 matinees on Saturdays and Sundays.


Anjaana Anjaani – Priyanka Chopra and Ranbir Kapoor star in this romantic comedy about two suicidal strangers who meet while trying to jump off the George Washington bridge in New York City. Critical reception is mixed. It's showing at Major Cineplex Sukhumvit (Ekkamai) on Saturday at 8 and at Major Cineplex Rama III on Sunday at 4. Call 089 488 2620.


Todo el poder – Fed up with the violence on the streets of Mexico City, a filmmaker goes out on the streets with his video camera to capture as many muggings as possible, live on his camera. But the more images he captures, the deeper he goes into the murky underworld. Directed by Fernando Sariñana, this black comedy is inspired by real-life events in which the filmmaker was robbed at gunpoint, four times. The screening at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand is supported by the Ambassador of Mexico Arturo Puente and his wife Patricia, who will serve tequila with a light Mexican dinner from Señor Pico's at the Rembrandt Hotel. The showtime is 8pm on Monday, October 18. Admission is 150 baht for non-members and 100 baht for anyone wanting food and drink.


Le plaisir de chanter – Muriel and Philippe, both secret agents, form an improbable couple. Their mission is obtain a USB key hidden by Constance, the widow of a uranium trafficker who has recently been killed. She leads the duo to an opera-singing class that is a veritable spy nest. Ilan Duran Cohen directs with Jeanne Balibar, Lorant Deutsch and Marina Foïs starring. It's showing on Wednesday, October 20, at 7:30pm at the Alliance Française, with English subtitles. Admission is free.

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Take note


World Film Festival of Bangkok – Two indie arthouse dramas, Eternity (ที่รัก, Tee Rak) and Insects in the Backyard, will make their Thai premieres at the 8th World Film Festival of Bangkok next month Eternity, by Sivaroj Kongsakul, will be the WFFBKK's opening film on November 5. The drama, which is a highly personal, haunting reflection of Sivaroj's thoughts about his father's death, is in the New Currents competition this week at the Pusan International Film Festival. It's the debut feature by Sivaroj, a well-known fixture on the Thai indie scene, whose short film Silencio won many awards. Eternity is produced by Aditya Assarat's Pop Pictures. Insects in the Backyard makes its Thai premiere as part of the World Film Festival's Asian Contemporary line-up. Directed by indie darling Tanwarin Sukkhapisit, the katoey filmmaker also stars as the lewd-and-crude cross-dressing "big sister" to a pair of troubled teenagers. The three form an unconventional family unit and deal with all sorts of relationship problems. Insects premiered in the Dragons and Tigers competition at the Vancouver International Film Festival. Other highlights of this year's festival include a Retrospective on French director Jacques Doillon and the Lotus Award for Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan and a package on New Turkish Cinema. More about the fest is in The Nation today. The World Film Festival of Bangkok runs from November 5 to 14 at Paragon Cineplex and at Major Cineplex Sukhumvit (Ekamai).

Bangkok Cinema Scene: Movies opening October 7-13, 2010

The Red Eagle


Wisit Sasanatieng, the maker of such acclaimed movies as Tears of the Black Tiger (Fah Talai Jone) and Citizen Dog (Mah Nakhon), directs this superhero crime thriller.

The Red Eagle (Insee Dang, อินทรีเเดง) is a new version of a 1960s action-movie series that starred legendary leading man Mitr Chaibancha. He's a vigilante crimefighter named Rome Rittikrai who wears a red mask and goes by the name Red Eagle (Insee Dang).

Tragically, Mitr died on October 8, 1970, while making what became the last in his Red Eagle series, Golden Eagle (Insee Tong). Mitr fell from a rope ladder while being carried aloft by a helicopter in an accident that's been blamed on a lack of safety standards on Thai movie sets of the era.

The character was created by writer Sake Dusit for a 1956 crime novel that spawned a total of nine books, 10 movies and a TV series. Mitr starred in six of the films, and it's his Red Eagle that's most iconic.

The new movie's release comes one day before the 40th anniversary of Mitr's death and amid a flurry of hype, as The Red Eagle is probably the most heavily promoted Thai movie so far this year.

Thailand's current No. 1 leading man, Ananda Everingham, steps into Mitr's role.

It's a much darker, brooding character than Mitr played.

Instead of the fun-loving drunken playboy lawyer that Mitr portrayed, Ananda's Rome Rittikrai is a former special-forces operative. He's a secretive, brooding loner who is addicted to morphine and lives in a spartan basement underneath an icehouse.

His one love is a socialite anti-nuclear activist played by Yarinda Bunnag. She was once engaged to the prime minister (Pornwut Sarasin), but because of her protests against a nuclear power plant, she is targeted by a shadowy organization called the Matulee and comes under the Red Eagle's protection.

Meanwhile, there's a masked villain named the Black Devil (Jonathan Hallman) who is gunning (and slicing) for the Red Eagle.

Police are also after Red Eagle, with a brash young detective lieutenant (Wannasing Prasertkul) heading the investigation.

The often violent and bloody action eventually becomes fast, furious and relentless as the Red Eagle and the Black Devil clash with their swords on Bangkok's rooftops. Red Eagle races through the streets on his souped-up motorcycle.

It's a Hollywood-style, CGI-powered superhero thriller in the style of The Dark Knight or Spider-Man.

In production for around three years, this new version of The Red Eagle has had its share of drama. Filming finally got under way last year after having been delayed when Ananda suffered serious injuries in a motorcycle accident in 2008. Budgetary difficulties and creative differences have led to Wisit's saying this will be his last movie for a major studio. He has since revealed his hard feelings for the studio system in newspaper stories at The Nation and the Bangkok Post.

Interestingly, it's quite possibly the first movie to use the Wilhelm scream, an old-time Hollywood sound effect.

Adding to The Red Eagle mystique, there's lots of promotional tie-ins with the movie. You'll see adds for a fast-food restaurant, a bank, an energy drink and even the motorcycle Ananda rides. Bangkok's new Madame Tussaud's wax museum, opening in December at the former EGV Gold multiplex at Siam Discovery, gets in on the action with a wax figure of the original Red Eagle, Mitr Chaibancha. And the theater chains, SF cinemas and Major Cineplex, have each produced collectible Red Eagle popcorn sets.

A Nutshell Review has what's likely the first review of The Red Eagle and also an interview with Insee Dang himself, actor Ananda Everingham (both cross-published at Twitch).

Viewers will be in for a major surprise at the end, which will only further stoke the legend of The Red Eagle.

Watch the English-subtitled trailer at YouTube. Rated 18+.

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Also opening


Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole – Zack Snyder, the director of 300 and Watchmen (and now the next Superman movie) turns to animation with this feature that's based on the Guardians of Ga'Hoole epic fantasy novels by Kathryn Lasky. It's produced in part by Animal Logic, the Australian studio that's best known for the singing penguin movie Happy Feet. Legend of the Guardians is actually a dark story, about young owls who become embroiled in a struggle for control of the owl kingdom. The voice cast includes Jim Sturgess, Geoffrey Rush, Emily Barclay, Abbie Cornish, Anthony LaPaglia, David Wenham, Helen Mirren, Sam Neill and Hugo Weaving. Critical reception is mixed, with reviews praising the beautiful animation but finding fault in the weak story. It's in 3D in some cinemas. Rated G.


Grown Ups – Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade and Rob Schneider star in this buddy comedy about high-school pals who reunite after 30 years for a 4th of July weekend at the lake resort where they spent their summer vacations as boys. Fart jokes and sight gags involving the rotund Kevin James and Rob Schneider's character's marriage to a much-older woman then ensue. Salma Hayek, Mario Bello and Maya Rudolph also star. Critical reception is overwhelmingly negative, with reviewers expecting better of the cast of former "Saturday Night Live" veterans. Rated 13+.


Anjaana Anjaani – Priyanka Chopra and Ranbir Kapoor star in this romantic comedy about two suicidal strangers who meet while trying to jump off the George Washington bridge in New York City. Critical reception is mixed. It's showing at Major Cineplex Sukhumvit (Ekkamai) on Friday at 8 and Sunday at 7.30 and at Major Cineplex Rama III on Saturday at 8 and Sunday at 4. Call 089 488 2620.

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Also showing


Phuket/Boy Genius/The Sigh – A collection of three shorts by Wonderful Town director Aditya Assarat closes the current leg of the Extra Virgin's Director's Screen Project. Commissioned as a tourism promotion, Phuket is actually a bittersweet tale of a South Korean actress (played by Lim Su-jeong) who is trying to take a vacation in Phuket, but is harried by phone calls and fans. She is rescued by the hotel's limo driver (veteran actor Sorapong Chatree, whose portrayal of the driver is a bit lonely and sad). The driver Pong shows the actress the non-touristy aspects of life on the island. Boy Genius and The Sigh are from 2005 and 2006 and humorously deal with filmmaking. The first stars young director Sivaroj Kongsakul as a filmmaker struggling to make an art film in his back yard. The Sigh is about a soundman who discovers a woman's sigh on a recording, and with the help of a friend (Sivaroj again), sets about trying to find her. The two instead make a startling discovery. The screenings are at the recently re-opened SF World Cinema at CentralWorld, with showtimes at around 7.30 daily and additional 2.30 matinees on Saturdays and Sundays.


The Debt (Dlug) – The Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand's Contemporary World Cinema series resumes this week with this highly acclaimed 1999 crime thriller by Polish director Krzysztof Krauze. It's about a pair of guys who try to obtain a loan from an old acquaintance without knowing he's tied to the Russian mafia and they subsequently end up owing him a debt even though they never received any cash. The bigger their debt becomes, the greater the stakes. For the screening, the Embassy of Poland will serve Wyborowa Vodka and Polish dumplings. The showtime is at 8pm. Admission is 150 baht for non-members and 100 baht for anyone wanting vodka shots and dumplings.


Cabaret Balkan: Rarely Seen Films from the Balkans – Postponed from two weeks ago, the screening series closes with a pair of classic 1960s and '70s Bulgarian films. First up is The Peach Thief from 1964. Directed by Vulo Radev, the drama has the wife of a Bulgarian Army officer falling in love with a Serbian prisoner at the end of World war II. Next is The Goat Horn from 1972. Directed by Metodi Andonov, it's violent revenge tale about a goat herder whose wife is raped and killed. He then takes his daughter into the hills and raises her to avenge her mother's death. The movies, with English subtitles, are at Thammasat University Tha Prachan, in the Pridi Banomyong Library's Rewat Buddhinun Room, U2 Floor. The shows start at 12.30. The movies are on DVD. Admission is free. You'll have to inform the library staff you're watching the movies and let them copy your ID. Call (02) 613 3529 or (02) 613 3530 or visit the DK Filmhouse blog for the complete lineup.


Jeanne et le garçon formidable (Jeanne and the Perfect Guy) – Virginie Ledoyen stars in this 1988 musical-romance as a free-spirited young receptionist for a travel agency who meets a guy (Mathieu Demy) on the Paris subway and impulsively makes love to the man once all the other passengers have emptied out. The romance would be blissful if not for one tragic complication – he's HIV positive. It's showing on Wednesday, October 13, at 7:30pm at the Alliance Française, with English subtitles. Admission is free.