Bangkok Cinema Scene: Movies opening September 29-October 5 2011

Friday Killer (Ma Kae Untarai)


The second release in director Yuthlert Sippapak's trilogy of hitman comedies, Friday Killer (Ma Kae Untarai, หมาแก่อันตราย, literally "dangerous dog") stars veteran comedian Thep Po-ngam in a rather downbeat role as an aging assassin.

Released from prison, Pae Uzi is afflicted with failing eyesight. Nonetheless, he takes on a job, which puts him in conflict with the daughter (Ploy Jindachote) he never knew he had. Turns out she's a tough policewoman, and she's now gunning for him, without knowing he's her father.

Along with all that drama, Yuthlert mixes in stylish action and cheeky bits of comedy and satire that poke fun of Thailand's political situation.

With the original Thai title of Meu Puen Dao Prasook, มือปืน ดาวพระศุกร์), Friday Killer screened at last year's Phuket Film Festival, won awards at this year's Shanghai film fest, and also screened at the Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival.

It's part of Yuthlert's Meu Puen 3 Pak, which pair up veteran comedians with young starlets. Interestingly, what was intended to be the first film in the series, Saturday Killer (Meu Puen Dao Pra Sao, มือปืน /ดาว /พระ /เสาร์) was released first, coming out last September. It starred "Nong" Choosak Iamsuk and Cris Horwang. A third film in the series, Sunday Killer is yet to be released. It stars Kohtee Aramboy and "May" Pitchanart Sakakorn. Rated 18+.

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Also opening


Contagion – Don't touch your face! Stephen Soderbergh directs this thriller about the rapid progress of a lethal airborne virus that kills within days. As the fast-moving epidemic grows, the worldwide medical community races to find a cure and control the panic that spreads faster than the virus itself. At the same time, ordinary people struggle to survive in a society coming apart. The ensemble cast includes Gwyneth Paltrow, Matt Damon, Jude Law, Laurence Fishburne, Marion Cotillard, Kate Winslet, Elliot Gould and John Hawkes. Critical reception is very positive. "Tense, tightly plotted, and bolstered by a stellar cast, Contagion is an exceptionally smart – and scary – disaster movie," is the consensus. Rated 15+.


Cars 2 – Pixar's animated automobile franchise continues with star racing car Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) heading overseas to compete in the World Grand Prix. Along for the ride is his redneck tow-truck buddy Mater (Larry the Cable Guy) who is mistakenly recruited as a secret agent by British intelligence. Michael Caine is the Bond-like Aston Martin named Finn McMissile with Emily Mortimer as the sexy spy Holly Shiftwell. They face a gang of evil lemon cars. Other voices include John Turturro, Eddie Izzard, Joe Montagna, Bruce Campbell and racing drivers Lewis Hamilton and Jeff Gordon. Alongside the first Cars movie, this is one of the most unacclaimed movies in the Pixar universe, with the consensus being that "Cars 2 is as visually appealing as any other Pixar production, but all that dazzle can't disguise the rusty storytelling under the hood." Children and racing fans will probably enjoy it. It's in 3D in some cinemas, including IMAX. Rated G.


The Three Musketeers – Resident Evil franchise director Paul W.S. Anderson takes on Alexandre Dumas' often-adapted swashbuckling tale, adding lots of action and eye candy in this special-effects laden production that was filmed in 3D. The story has the trio of swordsman – Athos (Matthew MacFadyen), Aramis (Luke Evans) and Porthos (Ray Stevenson) – eeking out a menial existence. They are coaxed back into action by young D'Artagnan (Logan Lerman), and together they battle their old nemesis Milady (Milla Jovovich), the English lord Buckingham (Orlando Bloom) and his fleet of airborne zeppelin warships as well as the conniving Cardinal Richelieu (Christoph Waltz), who's looking to seize the French throne. Juno Temple and Freddie Fox also star. This is opening in Asia before the rest of the world, so there's not yet any critical consensus, though some mixed reviews are trickling in. It's in 3D in some cinemas. Rated 15+.


Mausam – Actor Pankaj Kapoor makes his directorial debut with this romantic epic about a Kashmiri refugee and a Punjabi Air Force officer. Sonam Kapoor and Shahid Kapoor (the director's son) star. In Hindi with English subtitles at Major Cineplex Sukhumvit (Ekamai) on Thursday and Friday at 8pm, at Major Rama III on Saturday at 8 and Sunday at 4 and back at Major Ekamai on Sunday at 7.30. Visit BollywoodThai.com or call (02) 225-7500 or (089) 488-2620.

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Also showing


Persepolis – This 2007 animated feature by Marjane Satrapi, adapted from her illustrated books about her life growing up during the Islamic Revolution in Iran, is back for a weeklong run at House cinema on RCA, running as a companion piece to another film at House, Women Without Man, which looks at 1953's CIA-orchestrated coup in Iran. For showtimes, you'll have to look at House's Facebook page; they are slow in updating their website.

Bangkok Cinema Scene special: The Cove at the FCCT, September 28-29

Dolphin activist Ric O'Barry will be in Bangkok this week for two screenings of the Oscar-winning 2009 documentary The Cove at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand.

Produced by the Ocean Preservation Society, directed by Louis Psihoyhos and put together by a team of eco-activists, filmmakers and adventurers using hidden cameras, The Cove exposes the brutality of the dolphin roundup and massacre in a secluded cove in Taiji, Japan.

Taking center stage in the documentary, O'Barry is a former dolphin trainer who handled the dolphins that performed on the TV series Flipper. After one of the dolphins committed suicide in his arms, O'Barry switched to a life of dolphin activism, fighting against their captivity.

The showtimes are at 7.30 pm on Wednesday and Thursday, September 28 & 29, with a Q&A session by O'Barry. Admission is free but you should RSVP at info@lovewildlife.org or call (084) 977-2747

Bangkok Cinema Scene: Movies opening September 22-28, 2011

Abduction


Twilight teen wolf Taylor Lautner stars in this thriller as the missing kid whose picture was on the side of a milk carton.

All his young life, he's had the uneasy feeling that he's living someone else's life, then one day he discovers that he was in fact abducted, and his parents are not really his parents.

Actually, he's a sleeper agent for the CIA.

Soon, he's been chased by government assassins, and he goes on the run with the only person he can trust, the girl next door (Lily Collins).

Alfred Molina, Jason Isaacs, Maria Bello and Sigourney Weaver also star.

John Singleton (Boyz n the Hood, the Shaft remake, 2 Fast, 2 Furious) directs.

This is just being released worldwide this week, so the critical consensus is yet to form. Rated 15+.

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Also opening


The Missing Piece – Patana Chirawong directs this documentary about youngsters of varying disabilities who get together to learn about filmmaking and their efforts to make a movie. There's a trailer at YouTube. The Missing Piece was shown last month in a special screening at the 15th Thai Short Film & Video Festival, and now it's in limited release at House on RCA.


Friends With Benefits – Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis are long-time friends who decide that they can simply add sex and still just be friends, without emotional or romantic attachment. Of course, this being a Hollywood romantic-comedy, it's not as easy as that. Woody Harrelson also stars, stealing scenes as the couple's gay friend. Will Gluck (Easy A) directs. Critical reception is mostly favorable, with the consensus being it "adds nothing new to its well-worn rom-com formula, but the chemistry between Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis is almost enough to carry the movie by itself." Rated 18+.


Blitz – Jason Statham stars in this British crime thriller as a tough London police detective hunting a serial killer (Aidan Gillen from The Wire and Game of Thrones) who preys on police officers. Luke Evans, David Morrissey and Paddy Considine also star. Critical reception is mixed. It's at the Scala.


Apollo 18 – Officially, Apollo 17 was the last manned mission to the moon. But there was one more after that, which was kept secret, and man hasn't set foot on the lunar surface since. This mockumentary/horror-thriller, directed by Gonzalo López-Gallego and produced by Wanted director Timur Bekmambetov, aims to show the terrifying reasons why. Critical reception is overwhelmingly negative, the consensus being it's "a boring, suspense-free Paranormal Activity rip-off." Rated 13+.


Baan Phee Pob: Reformation (บ้านผีปอบ รีฟอร์เมชั่น) – There have been something like two-dozen installments in this long-running ghost-comedy series, which goes back to the 1980s. The story, involving much running around, screaming and slapstick antics by villagers who hide in water jars, is about a gut-munching female ghost who disembowels her victims with a sharp thrust of her claw-like hands. There have been many iterations of Baan Phee Pob over the years – 2001's Pop Weed Sayong, a.k.a. Body Jumper, comes to mind – but the original series was revived in 2008 by Golden A Entertainment. They brought back veteran actress Natthanee Sitthisaman as Pob Yib. Now comes the second installment in the rebooted series starring Natthanee, Baan Phee Pob Reformation, which aims to bring Pob into the modern era. You can read more about the long-running a series in a Bangkok Post story by Kong Rithdee. Rated G.

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Take note


Camellia, the pan-Asian trio of romance shorts set in Busan, South Korea, is not subtitled, even in cinemas where it is listed as being subtitled.
Additionally, it's only available as Thai-dubbed, which works out fine for the first segment, Wisit Sasanatieng's Iron Pussy: A Kimchi Affair, which is done in a retro style and is actually intentionally dubbed. And even without subtitles, it's still a lot of fun.

Starring Michael Shaowanasai, it's the story of a Thai transvestite secret agent. As a man, Iron Pussy is working in a seafood restaurant, preparing live octopi for dinner. Secret messages are passed to him through phones embedded in the seafood, and a ringing, squirming octopus puts him on his next mission.

Transformed into the fashionable lady secret agent (with a dubbed woman's voice to match), she makes the scene at a swinging nightclub, where she catches the eye of a masked man (Kim Min-jun) and romance blossoms. Masked tommy-gun-wielding thugs are quickly dispatched with a few swift kicks by the lady spy. She then takes her Korean man on a picnic.

Set initially in 1979, Wisit's stylish Iron Pussy actually feels more like 1969 when Mitr Chaibancha and Petchara Chaowarat were the leading man and lady of Thai cinema. It's that era of Thai cinema that Iron Pussy's character pays tribute to, and Wisit, the director of Tears of the Black Tiger and The Red Eagle, is especially adept at capturing.

Bangkok Cinema Scene special: Eternally Yours – Sivaroj Kongsakul retrospective

Sivaroj Kongsakul's award-winning debut feature Eternity (ที่รัก, Tee Rak) has entered the second week of a monthlong limited run in Bangkok as part of the Extra Virgin Director's Screen Project.

It's been screening at SF World Cinema at CentralWorld on weeknights at 7.30 and 2.30 and 7.10pm on Saturdays and Sundays.

After this Saturday's matinee, there's a whole bunch of love of Sivaroj lined up, starting with a Q&A with the director after the movie.

hen, at 5pm, the film-activist group Third Class Citizen will show Sivaroj's short films. That'll be in the Eat@DoubleU restaurant, right outside theater 10 at SFW CentralWorld. They set up some little stools you can perch on while you watch the films for free.

The shorts include his award-winners Always and Silencio.

Most will have English subtitles.

The Nation has more about Sivaroj, as well as filmmaker Pramote Sangsorn and their residencency earlier this year in Paris as part of the Cannes Cinefondation program.

Bangkok Cinema Scene: Movies opening September 15-21, 2011

Camellia


Three Asian directors take part in Camellia, a.k.a. The Busan Project, a trilogy of romance shorts filmed in the city of Busan, South Korea. It premiered at last year's Pusan International Film Festival.

The segments are divided into the "past", "present" and "future".

Thai director Wisit Sasanatieng (Tears of the Black Tiger, Citizen Dog, The Red Eagle) directs the "past" with Iron Pussy, a.k.a. A Kimchi Affair. Performance artist Michael Shaowanasai stars as the transvestite secret agent Iron Pussy, who he's portrayed in a series of shorts and a 2005 feature that he co-directed with Apichatpong Weerasethakul. Capturing the colorful spirit of the 1960s Thai romance movies, it has Iron Pussy travelling to Korea on a mission and falling in love with a local man (Kim Min-Jun).

Kamome by Isao Yukisada is set in the present and is about a director (Sol Kyung-Gu) making a movie in Busan and falling in love. Yuriko Yoshitaka also stars.

And Love for Sale, directed by Joon-hwan Jang, is set in a future when the buying and selling memories is common. Gang Dong-Won plays a guy wanting to retrieve his memories of a lost love (Song Hye-Kyo).

It's Thai-dubbed, unfortunately, though that's okay for the Iron Pussy segment, because all her lines are dubbed anyway.

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Also opening


Women Without Men – The destinies of four women come together against the tumultuous backdrop of the CIA-backed coup d’etat in Iraq in 1953. It's directed by artist-turned-filmmaker Shirin Neshat, who won the Silver Lion for best director at the 2009 Venice Film Festival. Critical reception is generally positive. At House.


Johnny English Reborn – Rowan Atkinson is back in action as the bumbling British spy. He's spent the past few years in reclusion, honing his unique skills in remotest Asia. However, when his superiors at MI-7 learn there will be an attempt on the life of the Chinese premier, they believe that Johnny English is the man for the job. This movie doesn't open in the rest of the world until next month, so Thailand is among the first to see it. Consequently, there isn't yet any critical consensus. Rated 13+.


I Don’t Know How She Does It – Sarah Jessica Parker is a mother struggling to balance her demanding career with the stress of raising two children, maintaining a healthy marriage and dealing with a flirtatious business associate (Pierce Brosnan). Greg Kinnear, Olivia Munn, Christina Hendricks and Kelsey Grammer also star. Critical consensus is mixed, leaning to positive. Rated G.


Shark Night 3D – A summer weekend on an island in a Louisiana lake becomes a nightmare for a group of bikini-clad vacationers when the place becomes surrounded by blood-thirsty sharks. It's the latest effort by David R. Ellis, director of such films as Final Destination 2, Cellular and Snakes on a Plane. This has the potential for mindless fun, but critical reception is mostly negative, with the consensus that it's "a joyless excursion ... that doesn't even produce good gore or nudity thanks to the neutered PG-13 rating." Rated 15+.


Luer Lae (เหลือแหล่ ) – It's a clash of musical cultures when a ska band led by Luer Lae (Nattawat "Ton AF7" Deeduangkaew) and Cello (Chalermphol Thikampornteerawong) stray into a village that's home to two masters of traditional Thai folk music. Comedians Yong and Note Chernyim direct and also star in this comedy from Phranakorn Film. Rated G.

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Also showing


All That I Love – This acclaimed Polish drama follows the lives and loves of four young guys as they struggle to form a punk band against the backdrop of 1980s Poland and its political turmoils stemming from communism and the Solidarity movement. Directed by Jacek Borcuch, it was in competition at the Sundance Film Festival last year, and has won praise from other festivals, including Busan, Rotterdam, Brussels, New York and Los Angeles. It was also Poland's official entry to the Oscars. The screening is at 8 tonight (Thursday, September 15) at the Foreign Correspondents Club. Entry for non-members is 150 baht and 100 baht for anyone wanting to sample the vodka and zhurek from the Polish Embassy.


Mere Brother Ki Dulhan – A young man sets out to arrange a marriage for his brother but finds himself falling for his future sister-in-law. Imran Khan, Katrina Kaif and Ali Zafar star in this love-triangle romantic comedy. In Hindi with English subtitles at Major Cineplex Sukhumvit (Ekamai) on Saturday night at 8 and at Major Rama III on Sunday at 4. Call (089) 488 2620 or visit www.BollywoodThai.com.

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Sneak preview


Friends With Benefits – Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis are long-time friends who decide that they can simply add sex and still just be friends, without emotional or romantic attachment. Of course, this being a Hollywood romantic-comedy, it's not as easy as that. Woody Harrelson also stars, stealing scenes as the couple's gay friend. Will Gluck (Easy A) directs. Critical reception is mostly favorable, with the consensus being it "adds nothing new to its well-worn rom-com formula, but the chemistry between Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis is almost enough to carry the movie by itself." Friends With Benefits opens wide next week but is in nightly sneak previews this week, with showtimes starting around 8 at most multiplexes. Rated 18+.

Bangkok Cinema Scene: Movies opening September 8-14, 2011

Eternity (Tee Rak)


Sivaroj Kongsakul's debut feature Eternity (ที่รัก, Tee Rak) premiered at last year's Pusan International Film Festival, where it won the New Currents competition and made Sivaroj another Thai name for world cinema followers to get acquainted with. It opened the World Film Festival of Bangkok last year, before heading back out on the road on a award-winning run of festivals in Rotterdam, Deauville and Hong Kong and earning critical praise at the LA Film Fest. It's also been announced for the upcoming London Film Festival. In the meantime, Sivaroj went to France, where he took part in the Cannes Cinefondation Residency program.

Now, finally, Sivaroj's highly emotional, personal and spiritual ode to his late father comes home to Bangkok once again, giving the multiplex crowds a contemplative alternative to the cacophonous Hollywood and Thai-studio blockbusters as part of the Extra Virgin Director's Screen Project at SF World Cinema at CentralWorld.

A quiet, tearful and homespun tale, Eternity (Tee Rak) is a look at man's existence in three segments, tracing back from his lonely sadness in the afterlife, to his all-too-fleeting romance and marriage and finally to the wife and son he's left behind.

It is not to be confused with a much-bigger, much-gaudier film with the same English title released by the Thai film industry last year, the director of which just happens to be releasing an outrageously big movie this week.

Running until October 5, showtimes for Eternity are at around 7 nightly with matinees around 2.30 on Saturdays and Sundays at SFW CentralWorld. Rated G.

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U Mong Pa Meung (The Outrage)


Thai melodrama guru ML Bhandevanop “Mom Noi” Devakula directs U Mong Pa Meung (อุโมงค์ผาเมือง), an adaptation of Rashomon, a murder mystery that was most famously depicted in the classic 1950 movie by Akira Kurosawa.

Mom Noi insists this isn't a remake (even though the international English title The Outrage is the same as the 1964 Paul Newman western that was a remake of Rashomon). Rather, this "Thai Rashomon" is an adaptation of a stage play that was translated by statesman and writer MR Kukrit Pramoj from a Broadway version of the story. The movie has the dual purposes of celebrating the centennial of Kukrit's birth and the 40th anniversary of studio Sahamongkolfilm International.

It's set 500 years ago in the Lanna kingdom of northern Thailand. The lush Chiang Mai mountain setting is the same as Mom Noi's romantic epic last year, Eternity (Chua Fah Din Salai). It also has the stagebound, breathless melodrama and lavish costuming that audiences of Mom Noi's films have come to expect. And it has action choreography by Ong-Bak stunt guru Panna Rittikrai.

The Thai title, U Mong Pa Meung, refers to a tunnel under a city wall (instead of a city gate, as in the Kurosawa movie), where a woodcutter (Petthai Wongkumlao), a monk (Mario Maurer) and an old man (Pongpat Wachirabunjong) have taken shelter for the evening and they discuss and argue over the news of a murder in the woods and the conflicting accounts of it in the trial that followed.

Ananda Everingham takes the "samurai" role as a nobleman warrior, murdered while travelling with his wife ("Ploy" Chermarn Boonyasak). Dom Hetrakul is in the Toshiro Mifune role as the bandit. Rated 15+.

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Also opening


Don't Be Afraid of the Dark – Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy, Pan's Labyrinth) "presents" this horror thriller, an amped-up remake of a 1973 made-for-TV movie, about a little girl (Bailee Madison) who moves into a creepy old Gothic mansion with her family and starts seeing nasty little creatures. Guy Pearce and Katie Holmes also star. Del Toro co-scripted the film with veteran screenwriter Matthew Robbins and they handed directorial duties over to comic-book artist Troy Nixey. Critical reception is mixed. "While it's pleasantly atmospheric and initially quite scary, Don't Be Afraid of the Dark ultimately fails to deliver the skin-crawling chills of the original." Rated 15+.


Zookeeper – Kevin James is an unlucky-in-romance zookeeper who receives advice in the ways of mating from his animals. The talking critters include Adam Sandler, Jon Favreau, Sylvester Stallone, Nick Nolte, Cher, Maya Rudolph and Don Rickles. The live-action cast includes Rosario Dawson, Leslie Bibb, Donnie Wahlberg, Joe Rogen and The Hangover's Ken Jeong. Critical reception is overwhelmingly negative. I think this going to seem like a major comedown after the critically acclaimed hit Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Rated 15+.


Mere Brother Ki Dulhan – A young man sets out to arrange a marriage for his brother but finds himself falling for his future sister-in-law. Imran Khan, Katrina Kaif and Ali Zafar star in this love-triangle romantic comedy. In Hindi with English subtitles at Major Cineplex Sukhumvit (Ekamai) tonight at 8, Sunday at 7.30 and Monday at 8 and at Major Rama III tomorrow at 8 and Sunday at 4. Call (089) 488 2620 or visit www.BollywoodThai.com

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Also showing


Chulalongkorn University International Film Festival – The annual twice-yearly screening series of acclaimed foreign films closes out on Friday, September 9, with The Illusionist, the latest feature by Triplets of Belleville animator Sylvain Chomet. Based on a screenplay Jacques Tati, it's the story of a French illusionist who finds himself out of work and has an adventure in Scotland with a young woman. The movie is on DVD with English subtitles. The show time is at 5pm in the Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Building, 9th floor, off Henri Dunant Road.


All That I Love – This acclaimed Polish drama follows the lives and loves of four young guys as they struggle to form a punk band against the backdrop of 1980s Poland and its political turmoils stemming from communism and the Solidarity movement. Directed by Jacek Borcuch, it was in competition at the Sundance Film Festival last year, and has won praise from other festivals, including Busan, Rotterdam, Brussels, New York and Los Angeles. It was also Poland's official entry to the Oscars. The screening is at 8pm next Thursday, September 15 at the Foreign Correspondents Club. Entry for non-members is 150 baht and 100 baht for anyone wanting to sample the vodka and zhurek from the Polish Embassy.

Bangkok Cinema Scene: Movies opening September 1-7, 2011

Fright Night


Anton Yelchin squares off against Colin Farrell in Fright Night, a remake of the cult 1985 horror comedy.

Yelchin, who played wunderkind ensign Chekov in the Star Trek movie, goes on the offensive after he learns his new neighbor Jerry (Farrell) is a vampire.

Christopher Mintz-Plasse, David Tennant, Imogen Poots and Toni Collette also star.

Australian-born filmmaker Craig Gillespie (Lars and the Real Girl) directs.

"It may not have been necessary to remake the 1985 cult classic, but the new Fright Night benefits from terrific performances by Colin Farrell and David Tennant – and it's smart, funny and stylishly gory to boot," is the mostly positive consensus.

It's in 3D in some cinemas.

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Also opening


Colombiana – Avatar and The Losers star Zoe Saldana is still in action mode in this revenge flick. After witnessing her parents’ murder as a child in Bogota, she grows up to be an assassin, taking assignments while also searching for the man responsible for her parents' deaths. Luc Besson is a producer, and it's very much in the same vein as his classic female assassin drama Le Femme Nikita. And, Colombiana was originally conceived as a sequel to Besson's Léon: The Professional. Olivier Megaton (Transporter 3) directs. Critical reception is mixed, with the consensus seeming to be that action fans won't be disappointed, as long as they don't take it too seriously.


Love, Not Yet (รักจัดหนัก, Rak Jad Nak) – Bioscope film magazine editor Suphab Rimthepathip produces this romance omnibus that takes a look at teenage pregnancies. Rated 15+.


Bangkok Kung Fu – Yuthlert Sippapak directs this action-comedy about young martial artists who all grew up under the same master. They seek revenge against the gangsters who stole their lives. The cast includes "Pe" Arak Amornsupasiri, "Film" Ratthaphoom Tokhongsab, Mario Maurer and Yes or No actress Sucharat Manaying along with various teen-idol performers from the RS Public record label. Rated 13+.


Ceremony – A young man heads to an elegant beachside estate in a bumbling attempt to derail the wedding of the older woman he's infatuated with. Michael Angarano and Uma Thurman star. Critical reception is mixed. It's at House, Major Cineplex Ratchayothin and SFW CentralWorld. Rated 18+.


Trust – David Schwimmer directs this psychological thriller about a teenager's life that's ruined after she meets a guy she met online who doesn't turn out to be the dreamboat he was posing to be. Liana Liberato portrays the girl, with Clive Owen and Catherine Keener as her mother and father. Critical consensus is mostly positive, saying Schwimmer "gets some gut-wrenching performances out of his actors but he still lacks the chops to fully ratchet up story tension". It's at the Scala.


Mr. Popper’s Penguins – Jim Carrey is a divorced businessman who turns his life around when he becomes the father figure to six penguins. It's based on a 1938 children's book by Richard and Florence Atwater. Although the South Pole birds are sometimes rendered in CGI, actual penguins were used in the making of this picture. Mark Waters (The Spiderwick Chronicles, Mean Girls) directs. Critical reception is mixed. At SF cinemas.


Born To Be Wild – Morgan Freeman narrates this documentary. It looks at baby wild animals in two places – elephants at a sanctuary in Kenya and orangutans at a sanctuary in Borneo. Only at IMAX in 3D.

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Also showing


Chulalongkorn University International Film Festival – Four more films remain in this segment of the twice-yearly screening series of recent acclaimed movies. On Friday, it's the woman-and-her-dog-road-trip drama Wendy and Lucy starring Michelle Williams. The Greek arthouse psychological thriller Dogtooth shows on Monday. The Spanish animation Chico and Rita, set in 1940s Cuba, screens next Wednesday. And the fest closes on September 9 with French animator Sylvain Chomet's The Illusionist, based on a screenplay by Jacques Tati. After each screening there's a chance to share opinions with film critics Kittisak Suvannapokhin, Nopamat Veohong and Kong Rithdee. All movies are on DVD with English subtitles. Show times are at 5pm in the Mahachakri Sirindhorn Building, 9th Floor.


Morbid Symptom – The DK Filmhouse (Film Virus) screening series alongside the Dialogic exhibition at the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre continues on Saturday with the program "Cannot be Born", featuring David Cronenberg's 1979 mutant-children thriller The Brood at 3pm and Night of Counting the Years, a.ka. The Mummy, a 1969 fact-based drama by Egyptian director Shadi Abdel Salam at 5. The screening venue is a corner of the BACC's ninth-floor gallery, on a bare white wall where there are a handful of beanbag chairs strewn around. If you want a seat, get there early.


Lady of No Fear – As the Luc Besson-directed Aung San Suu Kyi biopic The Lady, filmed in Thailand starring Michelle Yeoh, is ready to hit big screens, the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand and the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre will show the documentary Lady of No Fear. Danish director Anne Gyrithe Bonne researched for more than three years, meeting friends and family members of the Burmese pro-democracy leader, going through archives, libraries, and photographs to put together Suu Kyi's life story. Bonne will be here to talk about the film. The first screening is at 8pm on Tuesday, September 6 at the FCCT in the penthouse of the Maneeya Center Building at Chitlom BTS station. Admission is B150 non-members. It will then screen at 7.30pm on Wednesday, September 7, at the Bangkok Art & Culture Centre in the 5th-floor auditorium.


Bernie – Albert Dupontel directs and stars in this quirky 1996 comedy as an orphan, who at age 30, finally decides to leave the orphanage and find out why his parents abandoned him. Along the way, he has an adventure. It screens at 7.30pm on Wednesday, September 7 at the Alliance Francaise.