Thursday, January 27, 2011

Bangkok Cinema Scene: Movies opening January 27-February 2, 2011

The Fighter


Directed by David O. Russell, The Fighter is one of the top nominees for the 83rd Academy Awards, pulling down seven nods, including best picture, director, supporting actor for Christian Bale and supporting actress for Amy Adams and Melissa Leo. The movie already won two Golden Globes for Bale and Leo.

It's a fact-based biographical drama, with Mark Wahlberg in the lead as "Irish" Micky Ward, a boxer who rose out of working-class Lowell, Massachusetts, to become a world champion welterweight. But his success in the ring comes at the price of overshadowing his half-brother and sparring partner, played by Bale. He's a great boxer in his own right, but struggles with drugs and crime.

The Boston-born Wahlberg trained for years in preparation for his role, getting help from the likes of Manny Pacquiao. Adams portrays his character's love interest, while Leo is the domineering mother of the Ward brothers.

Critical reception is mostly positive, with the consensus being that it's a "solidly entertaining, albeit predictable, entry in the boxing drama genre". Rated 15+.



Also opening


Solitary Man – Recently declaring himself cancer-free, Michael Douglas was among the Oscar hopefuls who went overlooked this year. He's a flawed protagonist here, a car dealer whose personal and professional life has hit the skids because of bad business deals and romantic indiscretions. Susan Sarandon, Danny DeVito, Mary Louise Parker, Jenna Fischer, Jesse Eisenberg and Olivia Thirlby also star. Critical reception is mostly positive, with the consensus being that Douglas delivers "a flawless central performance". At Paragon and CentralWorld. Rated 18+.


Shaolin – One of the big Chinese New Year releases, Shaolin revisits the ancient Buddhist temple that's been the setting for dozens of martial-arts dramas over the years. But this is only the second one to be officially authorized by the 1,500-year-old temple. It's an update of 1982's The Shaolin Temple, which was the debut for Jet Li. For this new movie, set during the early 20th-century warlord period, Andy Lau shaved his head to play the starring role, an arrogant general who takes refuge at the temple and learns peace of mind from a wise kung-fu-fighting monk (Jackie Chan). Nicholas Tse, Jackie Wu and Fan Bingbing also star. Benny Chan directs with martial-arts choreography by Corey Yuen. Thai-dubbed soundtrack only. Rated 15+.


Little Fockers – Along with Oscar nominees, there's also a nominee for the Golden Raspberry Awards, which recognizes the worst movies from Hollywood. This third installment in the high-grossing comedy franchise is nominated for three Razzies – worst screenplay and worst supporting actress for Jessica Alba and Barbra Streisand. Robert DeNiro returns as the stern and overbearing father-in-law of Ben Stiller. The ex-CIA-agent family patriarch believes his health is failing and is seeking to name a successor, but he doesn't feel Ben's Greg Focker is up to the task because he thinks that Focker is having an affair. Which is where Jessica Alba fits in. Teri Polo, Blythe Danner and Owen Wilson also star. Critical reception is overwhelmingly negative, with the consensus being it's "heartbreakingly lazy" and takes the Meet the Parents franchise to "embarrassing new lows." Rated 13+.


Permanent Residence – This Hong Kong gay romantic drama is directed by a man named Scud, the stage moniker of filmmaker Danny Cheng Wan-Cheung, who gained acclaim for 2008's City Without Baseball. Permanent Residence is said to be based on Scud's life story. Sean Li stars as a handsome IT worker who befriends a straight guy (Osman Hung) and attempts to romance him. There's a review at Love HK Film. In Mandarin with English and Thai subtitles at House.

Bang Khon Care ... Care Bang Khon (บางคนแคร์ แคร์บางคน) – "Woonsen" Wirithipha Phakdeeprasong is a young woman is searching for a guy (Kelly Thanaphat) she fell in love with at first sight. She's got a younger colleague (Howard Wong) helping her. He's in love with her. When she finally catches up to her lost love, she wonders if he's really Mr. Right. The usual comedians add comic relief in this Thai romance. Rated 15+.



Also showing


Mo & Me - This 2006 BBC documentary will screen at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand tonight a 8. It's the story of renowned photojournalist Mohamed "Mo" Amin, born to an immigrant family in a poor neighborhood in Nairobi, he founded the Camerapix agency and covered political and tribal conflicts across Africa, including the first shocking pictures of the Ethiopian famine of the mid-1980s that spurred rock stars into action with the Live Aid concerts. Admission for non-members is 150 baht.


Chulalongkorn University International Film Festival 2011 – The annual DVD-screening series of highly acclaimed award-winning foreign films continues on Friday with Women Without Men, a drama set during Iran's 1953 CIA-backed coup d'état. "The destinies of four women converge in a beautiful orchard garden, where they find independence, solace and companionship." On Monday it's the Argentine thriller The Secret in the Their Eyes, in which a retired legal counselor is hoping for closure of one of his unresolved homicide cases. And next Wednesday has the Chilean drama The Maid, in which a woman who's worked for a family for years tries to hold on to her position. The show times are at 5 in the Mahachakrisirindhorn Building, ninth Floor. Admission is free. All movies are screened on DVD with English subtitles. Call (02) 218 4802 or visit ChulaFilmFest.multiply.com.


No One Killed Jessica – Raj Kumar Gupta directs this fact-based crime drama about a reporter (Rani Mukerji) teaming up with the sister (Vidya Balan) of a murdered model in order to bring the case to justice. Screens at 8pm on Saturday at Major Cineplex Sukhumvit (Ekamai) and at 4pm on Sunday at Major Cineplex Rama III. Bollywood Thai also brings back the Punjabi comedy Yamla Pagla Deewana at 8 on Saturday and at 4 Sunday at Major Rama III (yes, two Bollywood movies at Major Rama III!) and at 7.30 on Sunday at Major Ekamai. Call (089) 488 2620.


The Woman with the 5 Elephants – Part of the annual open-air film series at the Goethe-Institut Bangkok until February 22, next Tuesday's show is a 2009 documentary, the epic tale of Svetlana Geier, a Ukrainian woman who survived the Stalinist purges and the German invasion during World War II. A renowned translator, the "5 elephants" of the title refers to the works of Dostoevsky she's translated. The film chronicles her return to Kiev together with her granddaughter. The show time is at 7.30. Call (02) 287 0942-4 or check the Goethe-Institut website.


Bamako – The troubled relationship of a bar singer and her out-of-work husband is set against the backdrop of a trial set up in the courtyard of an African village, where representatives of African society have brought a civil suit against the World Bank and the IMF, which they hold responsible for all of Africa's woes. Danny Glover and Palestinian director Elia Suleiman have interesting cameos as "cowboys". With English subtitles at 7.30 on Wednesday, February 2 at the Alliance Française.



Sneak preview


In addition to The Fighter opening this week, Biutiful, which opened last week, and The Social Network, which is still playing, many Academy Award-nominated movies will be opening in Bangkok in the coming weeks. They include The King's Speech, which opens this weekend in nightly sneak previews at around 8pm at the Lido in Siam Square. It's the lead nominee, with 12 nods including best picture, director, actor for Colin Firth and supporting actor and actress for Geoffrey Rush and Helena Bonham-Carter. The British royal biopic opens in a wider release on February 3.

Others tentatively scheduled include:

  • True Grit, the Coen Brothers' western with 10 nominations, including best actor for Jeff Bridges and supporting actress for star Hailee Stanfield. It was initially slated to open on February 17 but now the posters have a sticker on them saying February 24.
  • Blue Valentine, a romantic drama that went through a controversial battle with the ratings board in the U.S., is nominated for best actress for Michelle Williams. Mongkol Major is distributing and they showed a trailer for the film at the recent press preview for Lud 4 Lud. It might open on February 10.
  • Rabbit Hole, a romance thriller with a best-actress nomination for Nicole Kidman, might open on February 24.
  • Black Swan, with five nominations including best actress for Natalie Portman and best director for Darren Aronofsky, the ballet psycho-thriller might also open on February 24.
  • 127 Hours, the mountain-climbing drama starring James Franco, nominated for six awards including best picture, best actor and best adapted screenplay by Danny Boyle and Simon Beaufoy, might open on March 10.

An Oscar nominee that has surprisingly passed Bangkok by is Ben Affleck's heist thriller The Town, which scored a supporting-actor nomination for Jeremy Renner. It opened in the States in September and played in Singapore and the Philippines in October and in Hong Kong last month. Why didn't it get picked up for Thai cinemas? Perhaps it will go straight to DVD? Or, perhaps it will open. Apex Siam Square has listed as "coming soon" on their website.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Bangkok Cinema Scene: Movies opening January 20-26, 2011

Baby Arabia


A joyfully spiritual documentary that should get your toes tapping, Baby Arabia chronicles the Thai-Muslim musical ensemble that's been entertaining audiences around Bangkok for 35 years.

Directed by Panu Aree, Kong Rithdee and Kaweenipon Ketprasit, the documentary follows the familiar pattern of other rockumentaries, starting off with a performance, showing the band traveling to their gigs – including a wedding that's up a small canal – and then profiles the key members of the bands in their daily lives.

Key members include accordionist Supachai "Geh Baby" Luanwong, who founded the band back in the 1980s when the the Arab music boom was sparked in the Thai-Muslim community by folks bringing back LPs from Mecca. There's also lead guitarist Umar Noraheem, who sings the Arab lyrics and yodels.

There's also two female lead singers, the husky voiced Jameelah Baby and Suriyah Madtorhead, who coaches the band's young back-up singer/dancers.

The band members are careful to point out that their faith comes first, and they hope that's the message their music brings.

Baby Arabia premiered at last year's Thai Short Film and Video Festival, was screened at the Vancouver film fest and has had a few other appearances around Thailand. It starts a limited run this week at House on RCA. Rated G.



Biutiful


Amores Perros and Babel director Alejandro González Iñárritu continues to explore dark themes in Biutiful, a drama that's set in Spain and stars Javier Bardem.

He plays Uxbal, a figure in Barcelona's underworld who's also a devoted dad. Suffering from cancer, he's seeking to put things right before he dies.

Biutiful premiered in competition at last year's Cannes Film Festival and is Mexico's submission to the Academy Awards. It's also nominated in the U.K.'s Bafta Awards and Bardem is a best-actor nominee. Critical reception is leaning to positive. At the Scala.



Also opening


Lud See Lud (หลุดสี่หลุด or หลุด 4 หลุด) – Chookiat Sakveerakul, Kongkiat Khomsiri and Phawit Panangkasiri bring their own styles to stories scripted or co-scripted by thriller writer Ekkasith Thairath, who rounds out the foursome with a directorial debut of his own in Sahamongkol Film International's horror omnibus. Eakasith, writer of such films as 13 Beloved, Body #19 and Who R U, offers Grian Laang Lok (เกรียน ล้าง โลก, a.k.a. Clean-Up Day), a short-but-sweet teaser to start things off. Alexander Rendel, the young actor who starred in Chookiat's 2004 debut feature Evil (Pisaj), stars, playing one of a group of guys hanging and talking about a virus to end the world. Kongkiat, who previously helmed Five Star's Slice, Muay Thai Chaiya and had a hand in the Art of the Devil series, directs the darkly comic Ran Kong Kwan Peua Kon Tee Kun Gliat (ร้าน ของขวัญ เพื่อ คน ที่ คุณ เกลียด , The Gift Shop for the Ones You Hate) stars "Boy" Pakorn Chatborirak as an office worker who's just been promoted to manager, and he receives some congratulatory gifts that aren't all that nice. Phawit, directing Keun Jit Lut (คืน จิต หลุด, Eerie Nights) brings the same film-noir touch as in last year's Buddhist crime thriller Nak Prok (Shadow of the Naga) in a similar tale of three criminals – led by Ananda Everingham, still in his angry bad-ass Red Eagle mode – on the run from the cops. Bad karma eventually catches up. And 13 Beloved and Love of Siam director Chukiat directs the colorful all-out comedy segment Hoo Aa Gong (ฮู อา กง), about a wacky Thai-Chinese family dealing with the spirit of their grandfather, who on his deathbed asked that his corpse be preserved "until ..." There's an English-subtitled trailer at the Sahamongkol Media channel. Rated 18+.


The Child's Eye – The Pang brothers try their hand at 3D – Hong Kong's first – with this new installment to their Eye series of ghost thrillers. Here, a group of young Hong Kong travelers are stranded in Bangkok by the political protests. A taxi driver takes them to a creepy old hotel where they experience all kinds of supernatural phenomena. Rainie Yang and Shawn Yue star. Critical reception is mixed. In 3D. Rated 15+.


Alpha and Omega – This 3D-animated talking animals movie is about wolves at opposite ends of the social order – an "alpha" shewolf who takes her duties to the pack seriously (voiced by Hayden Panettiere) and a slacker male wolf (Justin Long). They find themselves stranded in the wilderness far from their home territory and have an adventure with all sorts of wacky new friends. Dennis Hopper, Danny Glover and Christina Ricci are some of the other celebrity voices. Critical reception is mostly negative, but your kids won't care. In 3D. Rated G.


No One Killed Jessica – Raj Kumar Gupta directs this fact-based crime drama about a reporter (Rani Mukerji) teaming up with the sister (Vidya Balan) of a murdered model in order to bring the case to justice. Screens at 8pm on Saturday at Major Cineplex Sukhumvit (Ekamai) and at 4pm on Sunday at Major Cineplex Rama III. Bollywood Thai also brings back the Punjabi comedy Yamla Pagla Deewana at 8 on Saturday and at 4 Sunday at Major Rama III (yes, two Bollywood movies at Major Rama III!) and at 7.30 on Sunday at Major Ekamai. Call (089) 488 2620.



Also showing


Salaya International Documentary Film Festival – The Film Archive (Public Organization) in cooperation with the Thai Film Foundation organizes the first Salaya International Documentary Film Festival offering more than 20 Asian documentaries until Sunday at the Thai Film Archive in Salaya, Nakhon Pathom. Among the highlights is a tribute to Japanese director Ogawa Shinsuke with the screening of his most acclaimed work, 1968's Summer in Narita, the 1971 follow-up Narita: Peasants of the Second Fortress as well as his 210-minute epic from 1982, A Japanese Village. There's also short films from acclaimed Thai director Uruphong Raksasad. Check the full schedule here or see the Facebook events page.


French Open Air Cinema Festival – The Embassy of France and the Alliance Française bring French films to Phra Arthit Road's Santi Chai Prakan Park this weekend with the groundbreaking French New Wave classic A Bout de Souffle (Breathless) on Friday, the 2007 comedy whodunit L’Heure Zéro (Towards Zero) and the family comedy Les Enfants de Timpelbach (Trouble at Timpetill) starring Gerard Depardieu and Carole Bouquet on Sunday. Show times are at 7, all in French with English subtitles. Call (02) 670 4231 or check the Alliance Française website for more details.


Chulalongkorn University International Film Festival – The annual DVD-screening series of acclaimed foreign films starts back up on Monday with Eyes Wide Open, an Israeli drama about a taboo romance between ultra-orthodox Jewish men – a married father of four and a 20-year-old student. Next Wednesday's show is from Palestine, The Time That Remains, director Elia Suleiman’s semi-autobiographical account of his family, inspired by his father’s diaries, starting from when he was a resistance fighter in 1948, and by his mother’s letters to family members who were forced to leave the country. The show times are at 5 in the Mahachakrisirindhorn Building, ninth Floor. Admission is free. All movies are screened on DVD with English subtitles. Call (02) 218 4802 or visit ChulaFilmFest.multiply.com.


Krabat – Part of the annual open-air film series at the Goethe-Institut Bangkok until February 22, this coming Tuesday's show is a 2008 fantasy. David Kross and Daniel Brühl star in this Harry Potter-like supernatural thriller about boys learning sorcery. It's based on a 1971 book by Otfried Preußler, which was first published in English as The Satanic Mill and and republished in 2000 as The Curse of the Darkling Mill. The show time is at 7.30. Call (02) 287 0942-4 or check the Goethe-Institut website.


La grande séduction (Seducing Doctor Lewis) – Jean-François Pouliot directs this 2003 Canadian romantic comedy about a tiny fishing village that's seeking revitalization by luring a new factory. to do so, they need a new town doctor. With English subtitles at 7.30 on Wednesday, January 26 at the Alliance Française.



Take note



The Social Network was the top winner at the Golden Globe Awards, taking the prizes for best drama, screenplay for Aaron Sorkin, director David Fincher and the score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. In observance of the win, Bangkok cinemas have brought back the movie for a revival run.

Other movies winning Globes included The King's Speech (best actor for Colin Firth), Black Swan (best actress for Natalie Portman) and The Fighter (best supporting actor and actress for Christian Bale and Melissa Leo).

The Fighter opens next week, and it's in sneak previews this weekend at some Major Cineplex branches and at Apex Siam Square.

Also coming to Bangkok is The King's Speech, at Apex Siam Square on February 3. And a Bangkok run is rumored for the ballet psychological thriller Black Swan.

Also getting an extended run thanks to an awards win is Eternity: Director's Cut, which is continuing at House on RCA. The period romantic drama made a breathtaking sweep at the Kom Chad Luek Awards, winning in five out of the seven categories: best movie, director and screenplay for ML Bhandevop Devakul and best actor and actress for Ananda Everingham and Ploy Chermarn.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Bangkok Cinema Scene special: Chulalongkorn University International Film Festival 2011


The Department of Dramatic Arts, Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University, will screen nine award-winning films, none of which have been commercially released in Thailand.

Screenings are on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 5pm from January 24 to February 11 in the Mahachakrisirindhorn Building, ninth Floor.

Here's the schedule:


Admission is free. All movies are screened in DVD format and have English subtitles.
Stay on after the film and share your opinions with film critics Kittisak Suvannapokhin, Nopamat Veohong and Kong Rithdee.

Free parking is next to Chulalongkorn University Auditorium or next to the Mahachakrisirindhorn Building (10 baht per hour).

Call (02) 218 4802 or visit ChulaFilmFest.multiply.com.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Bangkok Cinema Scene: Movies opening January 13-19, 2011

The Warrior's Way


East meets West in The Warrior's Way, a hybrid of Spaghetti westerns and martial-arts fantasies.

Korean actor Jang Dong-gun stars in this story, set in the 19th century, as a fugitive assassin from Asia who doesn't want to kill any longer. He flees to the American Wild West and holes up in a town where he becomes allies with the local figures, among them the town drunk (Geoffrey Rush) and a tough heroine (Kate Bosworth). Danny Huston and Tony Cox also star.

Sngmoo Lee directs and the South Korean-New Zealand production was filmed around Auckland and counts Lord of the Rings exec Barrie Osborne among its producers.

Critical reception is a bit thin on the ground but is so far leaning to negative, the consensus being "perfectly, thoroughly divisive, The Warrior's Way will either be delightful or unbearable, depending on your tolerance for surreal, shamelessly over the top collisions of Eastern and Western clichés." Rated 15+.



Also opening


Burlesque – Christina Aguilera and Cher star in this musical-dance drama. It's the typical story of a small-town girl (Aguilera) who comes to the big city hoping to make it big. She happens upon a burlesque club, lands a job as a waitress and under the mentorship of the club's owner (Cher) she becomes a featured performer. Stanley Tucci also stars. Critical reception is leaning to negative, but it's nominated for three Golden Globe awards, including Best Picture and Best Song. Rated 13+.


Gulliver's Travels – This loose adaptation of Jonathan Swift's literary classic stars Jack Black as a slacker nerd who finds his slovenly bulk is an asset to the tiny citizens in the hidden land of Lilliput. Jason Segel, Chris O'Dowd, Emily Blunt and Billy Connolly also star. Rob Letterman (Monsters vs. Aliens) directs with the script by Joe Stillman (Shrek, Percy Jackson) and Nicholas Stoller (Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Get Him to the Greek). Critical reception is mostly negative, getting plus marks for "Jack Black is doing what he does best" but assailed for "juvenile humor and special effects". Rated G.


Operation: Endgame – This ensemble action comedy is set in a top-secret black-ops agency called the Factory and has opposing sides shooting it out over the course of a day at the office. Joe Anderson, Maggie Q, Rob Corddry, Michael Hitchcock, Tim Bagley, Beth Grant, Ving Rhames, Bob Odenkirk, Odette Yustman, Ellen Barkin, Adam Scott, Brandon T. Jackson, Emilie de Ravin, Jeffrey Tambor and Zach Galifianakis star. The movie had a limited release in the U.S. last summer before going straight to DVD, and it looks to be doing the same here. Critical reception so far is leaning to negative. It's only at House on RCA.


Yamla Pagla Deewana – Dharmendra and Bobby Deol star in this Punjabi comedy as a father-son pair of globetrotting conmen. They are joined by a naive muscle man (Sunny Deol) and than chase after a woman (Kulraj Randhawa) who's been snatched away by her brothers. Premiering this week, Bollywood Thai brings it to town, screening in Hindi with English subtitles at Major Cineplex Sukhumvit on Friday at 8, Sunday at 7.30 and Monday at 8 and at Major Cineplex Rama III on Saturday at 8 and Sunday at 4. Call (089) 488 2620 or visit www.BollywoodThai.com.



Also showing


Japanese Film Festival 2011 – Akira Kurosawa Centennial Retrospective – The great Japanese director is paid tribute in this festival that runs until January 19 at SF World Cinema at CentralWorld. This week's highlights include Seven Samurai at 7 tonight, Throne of Blood and The Hidden Fortress on Saturday, Yojimbo and Sanjuro on Sunday, High and Low on Monday and Red Beard on Tuesday. The full schedule was posted here earlier, or check it at the Japan Foundation website. Tickets are free, and are handed out one per person 30 minutes before showtime.


Salaya International Documentary Film Festival – The Film Archive (Public Organization) in cooperation with the Thai Film Foundation organizes the first Salaya International Documentary Film Festival offering more than 20 Asian documentaries from January 13 to 23 at the Thai Film Archive in Salaya, Nakhon Pathom. The fest features docs that were supported by the Asian Network of Documentary of the Pusan International Film Festival. Among the highlights is a tribute to Japanese director Ogawa Shinsuke with the screening of his most acclaimed work, 1968's Summer in Narita as well as his 210-minute epic from 1982, A Japanese Village. There's also Uruphong Raksasad's highly acclaimed Agrarian Utopia and Baby Arabia, the musical by Muslim filmmakers Panu Aree, Kong Rithdee and Kaweenipon Ketprasit, about a band that's well-known in Bangkok's Islamic community. As a bonus, Baby Arabia will give a concert after the 5pm screening on Friday. Scroll down further on this blog for the full schedule or check the Facebook events page.


Eternity: Director's Cut (Chua Fah Din Salai, ชั่วฟ้าดินสลาย) – Running for 3 hours and 10 minutes – an hour longer than September's original theatrical release – the characters in director ML Bhandevanob Devakula's lush period potboiler are literally and figuratively more fleshed out with lots more skin and sex. The story is adapted from a 1943 novella by Malai Choopinit, and deals with a love triangle between a Burmese timber baron, his attractive younger wife and the man's handsome young nephew. Ananda Everingham and "Ploy" Chermarn Boonyasak star. Originally set to end yesterday, Chua Fah Din Salai: Director's Cut has proven to be popular and has been extended until January 19 at House on RCA, showing on Blu-ray with English subtitles. Rated 18+.


French Open Air Cinema Festival – The Embassy of France and the Alliance Française bring French films to Lumpini Park this weekend with the 1964 musical Les Parapluies de Cherbourg (The Umbrellas of Cherbourg) on Friday night, Le Hussard sur le Toit (The Horseman on the Roof) with Olivier Martinez and Juliette Binoche on Saturday and Anne Fontaine's La Fille de Monaco (The Girl from Monaco) on Sunday night. Show times are at 7, all in French with English subtitles. Call (02) 670 4231 or check the Alliance Française website for more details.


Moving to Mars – This 2009 British documentary charts the journey of Karen families from a refugee camp on the Thai-Burmese border to their resettlement in the U.K. Organized by Film Kawan and the Southeast Asian Studies Program, Faculty of Liberal Arts, Thammasat University, the screening on January 18, which will be followed by a talk, is part of the Understanding Our ASEAN Neighbors series. The show time is at 3 in the Rewat Buddhinan Room, U2 Floor in the Pridi Banomyong Library at Thammasat University Tha Prachan. Call (085) 970 0478.


Gerdas Schweigen (Gerda's Silence) – Part of the annual open-air film series at the Goethe-Institut Bangkok until February 22, this coming Tuesday's show is a 2008 documentary about the German Democratic Republic and an aunt's missing child that no one in the family ever dares mention. Admission is free. The show time is at 7.30. Call (02) 287 0942-4 or check the Goethe-Institut website.


Bye-Bye – Karim Dridi writes and directs this 1995 tale about Tunisian brothers who head to Marseille after a family tragedy strikes in Paris. They are to go on back to Tunisia, but the young brother wants to stay in France, and runs away with his cousin and fall in with a drug dealer. Meanwhile, the older brother is searching. With English subtitles at 7.30 on Wednesday, January 19 at the Alliance Française.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Bangkok Cinema Scene special: French Open Air Cinema Festival 2011


The Embassy of France and the Alliance Française host the third French Open Air Cinema Festival at Lumpini Park from January 14 to 16 and at Santi Chai Prakan Park from January 21 to 23.

Among the highlights is Jean-Luc Godard’s A Bout de Souffle (Breathless), hailed among the world's best movies.

Here's the schedule:

Lumpini Park

  • January 14: Les Parapluies de Cherbourg (The Umbrellas of Cherbourg) – Francophiles can sing along to Jacques Demi's 1964 musical, which stars Catherine Deneuve and Nino Castelnuovo.
  • January 15: Le Hussard sur le Toit (The Horseman on the Roof) – 1995's historical romance and adventure by Jean-Paul Rappeneau is set during in restive 19th-century Europe. Olivier Martinez is the horseman of the title, a cavalry officer who encounters the wife of a marquis, played by Juliette Binoche.
  • January 16: La Fille de Monaco (The Girl from Monaco) – Anne Fontaine’s 2008 comedy-drama stars bubbly Louise Bourgoin and Fabrice Luchini. It's the tale of a lawyer, in Monte Carlo to defend a murder suspect with ties to the mob, who's drawn into a risky romance with a twentysomething TV weather girl.

Santi Chai Prakan Park

  • January 21: A Bout de Souffle (Breathless) – Jean-Paul Belmondo is a fugitive petty criminal who goes in to hiding with the help of his girlfriend, an American woman (Jean Seberg). Jean-Luc Godard directs this ground-breaking 1960 romance and crime drama, which was one of the first films of the French New Wave.
  • January 22: L’Heure Zéro (Towards Zero) – Everyone's a suspect in Pascal Thomas’ 2007 whodunit comedy, which is based on a novel by Agatha Christie.
  • January 23: Les Enfants de Timpelbach (Trouble at Timpetill) – Gerard Depardieu and Carole Bouquet star in this comedy by Nicolas Bary, which is about children in a small European mountain village who end up being its only residents after the adults cannot take their behavior any longer.

Show times are at 7, all in French with English subtitles. Call (02) 670 4231 or check the Alliance Française website for more details.

Monday, January 10, 2011

Bangkok Cinema Scene special: 1st Salaya International Documentary Film Festival, January 13-23, 2011


The Film Archive (Public Organization) in cooperation with the Thai Film Foundation organizes the first Salaya International Documentary Film Festival offering more than 20 Asian documentaries from January 13 to 23 at the Thai Film Archive in Salaya, Nakhon Pathom.

Part of the festival will feature documentaries that were supported by the Asian Network of Documentary of the Pusan International Film Festival.

For the opening, the festival will pay homage to Ogawa Shinsuke, one of the most influential independent documentary filmmakers in post-war Japan, with the screening his most acclaimed work, 1968's Summer in Narita, which records the protest by farmers against the building of Tokyo's Narita International Airport. The fest will also screen Ogawa's 210-minute epic from 1982, A Japanese Village.

Other festival highlights include Uruphong Raksasad's highly acclaimed film on rural Thailand, Agrarian Utopia and Baby Arabia, the musical by Muslim filmmakers Panu Aree, Kong Rithdee and Kaweenipon Ketprasit, about a band that's well-known in Bangkok's Islamic community. As a bonus, Baby Arabia will give a concert after the 5pm screening on January 14.

Here's the festival lineup:

January 13
  • 13.00 – Playing Documentary / Japan / 2000 / 64 min/ Talk with producer and cinematographer Naito Masayuki
  • 17.00 – Opening ceremony
  • 18.00 – Summer in Narita / Ogawa Shinsuke /Japan / 1968 / 108 min

January 14
  • 14.00 – Hanako / Sato Makoto /Japan /2001/58 min / Talk: Power of Documentary with Panu Aree
  • 17.00 – Baby Arabia / Panu Aree, Kong Rithdee, Kaweenipon Ketprasit / Thailand / 2010 / 74 min
  • 18.30 – Concert: Baby Arabia Live in Salaya

January 15
  • 10.30 – A Japanese Village (Furuyashikimura / Ogawa Shinsuke /Japan / 1982 / 210 min
  • 17.00 – Agarian Utopia/ Uruphong Raksasad / Thailand / 2009 /122min

January 16
  • 10.30 – Mental / Soda Kazuhiro / Japan, USA / 2008/ 135 min
  • 13.00 – The Missing Piece/ Patana Chirawong / Thailand / 2011 / 84 min
  • 15.00 – Path of Anna / Naoi Riyo / Japan, Thailand / 2009 / 70 min
  • 17.00 – Narita: Peasants of the Second Fortress / Ogawa Sinsuke /Japan / 1971 / 143 min

January 17
  • 13.00 – Amin / Shahin PARHAMI / Iran, South Korea, Canada / 2010 / 120 min
  • 15.00 – Yesterday Today Tomorrow /Naoi Riyo / Japan, Thailand / 2005 / 90 min
  • 17.00 – Hope Dies Last in War Supriyo Sen / India / / 2007 / 80 min

January 18
  • 13.00 – The Missing Piece / Patana Chirawong /Thailand /2011/ 84min
  • 15.00 – Stories from the North / Uruphong Raksasad /Thailand / 2006 / 88 min
  • 17.00 – Sona, the Other Myself Yan Yonghi/ Japan, South Korea / 2009 / 82 min

January 19
  • 13.00 – New Castle / Guo Hengqi / China / 2010 / 112min
  • 15.00 – Playing Documentary / Japan / 2000 / 64 min / Hanako / Sato Makoto / Japan / 2001 / 58min
  • 17.00 – Mental / Soda Kazuhiro / Japan, USA / 2008 / 135 min

January 20
  • 13.00 – Father & Son Yuanb He / China / 2009 / 169 min
  • 16.00 – Disorder Huang Weikai / China / 2009 / 58 min
  • 17.00 – Amin /Shahin Parhami / Iran, South Korea, Canada / 2010 / 120 min

January 21
  • 13.00 – A Japanese Village (Furuyashikimura / Ogawa Shinsuke / Japan / 1982 / 210 min
  • 17.00 – Passion / Byamba Sakhya / Mongolia / 2010 / 80 min

January 22
  • 10.30 – Uruphong Raksasad’s short films: The Funeral, The Rocket, Winai's Sea, Stirring Rice Porridge and Pounding Shredded Rice and Dad's Picture
  • 13.00 – Summer in Narita / Ogawa Shinsuke /Japan / 1968 / 108 min
  • 15.00 – Sona, the Other Myself Yan Yonghi/ Japan, South Korea / 2009 / 82 min
  • 17.00 – Narita: Peasants of the Second Fortress / Ogawa Sinsuke/ 1971 / 143 min

January 23
  • 10.30 – New Castle / Guo Hengqi / China / 2010 / 112min
  • 13.00 – Hope Dies Last in War Supriyo Sen / India / / 2007 / 80 min
  • 15.00 – Disorder Huang Weikai / China / 2009 / 58 min
  • 16.00 – Passion / Byamba Sakhya / Mongolia / 2010 / 80 min
  • 18.00 – Closing Film: Lumpinee / Chira Wichaisuthikul/ Thailand /2010/ 97min

Screenings, all free of charge, will be in the Sri Salaya Theatre at the Thai Film Archive, on Phuttamonthon Soi 5 in Salaya, Nakhon Pathom. Directions are available on this website.

For more details, check the websites www.FAPOT.org or www.ThaiFilm.com or check the Facebook events page.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Bangkok Cinema Scene: Movies opening January 6-12, 2011

Megamind


DreamWorks Animation has assembled yet another all-star cast for its latest animated feature Megamind, a superhero comedy that focuses on the villain.

Will Ferrell voices the title character, a big-brained alien. His story parallels that of Superman. At just eight days old, as his home planet was being destroyed, he was put into a capsule by his parents and sent to Earth. It turns out that a rescue pod containing another infant alien – Metro Man – was also being sent to Earth. The two collided, and Megamind landed in a prison, where he was raised by the inmates while Metro Man was raised by a wealthy family. While Metro Man (Brad Pitt) became the heroic popular defender of Metro City, Megamind discovered his only talent was for causing trouble. He finally gets rid of Metro Man, but then finds his life has no meaning.

Tiny Fey also stars, providing the voice for a female TV reporter. The cast also features Jonah Hill, Justin Long, Bill Hader, Amy Poehler, JK Simmons, Ben Stiller and David Cross as Minion, Megamind's talking-fish sidekick

Critical reception is mostly positive. It's in 3D in some cinemas, including IMAX. Rated G.



Also opening


Hereafter – Clint Eastwood directs this drama that deals with the parallel stories of three people who are affected by death in different ways. Matt Damon is an American blue-collar laborer who is somehow able to communicate with the dead. Cécile de France is a French television journalist who survives a tsunami. And Frankie and George McLaren play Marcus and Jason, an English boy and his elder twin brother, the latter of whom is killed in a car accident. Critical reception is mixed, with the consensus being that "despite a thought-provoking premise and Clint Eastwood's typical flair, Hereafter fails to generate much compelling drama, straddling the line between poignant sentimentality and hokey tedium." Rated 15+.


Hor Taew Taek Waek Chi-Mi (หอแต๋วแตก แหกชิมิ) – Poj Arnon mixes the gay-icon vampires and shirtless werewolves of the Twilight franchise with Gothic horror in this third episode of his ghost-comedy franchise. Here, the three cross-dressing owners of a college dormitory visit a fraternity house. Poj's production faced controversy last year when the movie poster was censored by the Culture Ministry, which had determined that the shirtless vampire was showing too much skin wearing just a pair of white bikini briefs. The solution was to put some trousers on the bare-chested young man, while the hefty comedians in revealing women's bathing suits went unchanged. Meanwhile, there's a trailer at YouTube, and it shows plenty of skin, though it's mainly the protruding belly of rotund little funnyman Kohtee Aramboy. The film's original title, Hor Taew Taek Haek Chi-Mi was also deemed inappropriate by culture minders, so the vulgar and violent "haek" (to rip apart) became the more polite "waek" (to pull apart). Whatever. Even fluent Thai speakers have trouble translating the film's title. Further, the cultural watchdogs were wringing their hands over the use of the colloquial Thai expression "chi-mi", but they apprarently relented on that. Jaturong Ornnorm, Ekachai Srivichai and Yingsak Jonglertjessadawong also star. Rated 15+.


Space Battleship Yamato – Takashi Yamazaki (Always: Sunset on Third Street) directs this live-action adaptation of the 1970s sci-fi anime series. Takuya Kimura stars. He plays Kodai, leader of the ship's Tactical Unit. Veteran actor Tsutomu Yamazaki is the ship's captain. The story is set in the year 2199, when Earth has been under radioactive siege from aliens. Survivors have moved underground, but the contamination is slowly penetrating. Their only hope is the Yamato, the last space battleship. It sets out on a journey to a distant planet to acquire a device that can heal the ravaged Earth before it's too late. In Japanese with English and Thai subtitles in a few cinemas, Thai-dubbed in most places. Rated G.



Also showing


Japanese Film Festival 2011 – Akira Kurosawa Centennial Retrospective – The great Japanese director is paid tribute in this festival that runs until January 19 at SF World Cinema at CentralWorld. The fest opens at 8 tonight with Rashomon. Other highlights this week include 1949's The Quiet Duel, starring Toshiro Mifune as a syphilitic physician on Friday, parts one and two of the Judo Saga on Saturday, 1948's crime drama Drunken Angel starring Mifune and Takashi Shimura on Sunday, 1949's police procedural Stray Dog on Monday and 1952's Ikiru, starring Shimura in a drama that's celebrated as one of Kurosawa's most humanistic films on Wednesday. The full schedule was posted here earlier, or check it at the Japan Foundation website. Tickets are free, and are handed out one per person 30 minutes before showtime.


Eternity: Director's Cut (Chua Fah Din Salai, ชั่วฟ้าดินสลาย) – Running for 3 hours and 10 minutes – an hour longer than September's original theatrical release – the characters in director ML Bhandevanob Devakula's lush period potboiler are literally and figuratively more fleshed out with lots more skin and sex. The story is adapted from a 1943 novella by Malai Choopinit, and deals with a love triangle between a Burmese timber baron, his attractive younger wife and the man's handsome young nephew. Ananda Everingham and "Ploy" Chermarn Boonyasak star. Originally set to end yesterday, Chua Fah Din Salai: Director's Cut has proven to be popular and has been extended until January 19 at House on RCA, showing on Blu-ray with English subtitles. Rated 18+.


Tandoori Love – Since last month, the Goethe-Institut Bangkok has been holding its annual season of open-air screenings. This year's events run until February 22 at the institute on Sathorn Soi 1, every Tuesday at 7.30pm. Next Tuesday's show is Tandoori Love, a 2008 comedy by director Oliver Paulus about the misadventures of an Indian cook named Rajah in Switzerland. Vijay Raaz and Lavinia Wilson star. It's in German with English subtitles. Admission is free. Call (02) 287 0942-4 or check the Goethe-Institut website.


Bangkok Noir – Making a documentary for the German TV series Durch die Nacht mit... (Into the Night with ...), Bangkok-based filmmaker Marco Wilms got together with a wild pair, Nang Nak director Nonzee Nimibutr and In the Mood for Love cinematographer Christopher Doyle, who also worked with Thai helmer Pen-ek Ratanaruang on Last Life in the Universe (which Nonzee produced) and Invisible Waves. During their one night in Bangkok, Nonzee and Doyle visited the scenes and sources of inspirations for their films, including Wong Kar-wai's In the Mood for Love, which is set in 1960s Hong Kong but was actually shot in Bangkok. Broadcast on German television last year, the episode will be screened at 6pm on Wednesday, January 12 at Bangkok's National Gallery as part of the"Bangkok Noir" photo exhibition mounted by the Goethe-Institut, running from January 6 to 30.


Les gens de la rizière (The Rice People) – French-schooled Cambodian refugee filmmaker Rithy Panh directs this 1994 drama that depicts the hardships of a family living in rural Cambodia in the years following the end of the brutal Khmer Rouge regime. It's a time when rice is not grown, but handed out off the back of aid trucks. Peng Phan stars as Om, the matriarch of a struggling farming family. After tragedy strikes, she descends into madness, adding to the burden her children already face. Also known as Neak sre in the Khmer language, the movie premiered in the main competition at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival and was submitted to the 67th Academy Awards, the first time a Cambodian film had been submitted as a possible nominee for Best Foreign Language Film. With English subtitles at 7.30 on Wednesday, January 12 at the Alliance Française.



Take note

Update, May 2016: Some of the information below is incorrect. The screen at the Ratchayothin IMAX is not, in fact, a "real", full-size IMAX screen. While the auditorium is certainly more comfortable and less cramped than the one at Paragon, the fact remains that the only full-size, authentic IMAX screen in Thailand is the one at Paragon. The fact that the IMAX company does not differentiate between its various screen sizes waters down the brand, creates confusion and engenders distrust. Accept no substitutes.


IMAX is on an expansion blitz across Asia, and one of the newer IMAX theatres in the region is the IMAX Digital Theatre at Major Cineplex Ratchayothin. It opened a couple of months ago.

I took the time to check it out over the long holiday last weekend, catching Tron: Legacy and was impressed. It was a fantastic experience. I doubt I would have gotten as much enjoyment out of the movie if I'd seen the 2D version in a conventional theater.

Ratchayothin has a full-size IMAX screen, and the pitch and angle of the seating is not as steep and confined as it is at Siam Paragon's IMAX. At Ratchayothin, there's plenty of room and I didn't have to worry about the back of the seat in front of me banging into my knees. The seats are leather and quite comfortable. Also, I believe the admission price at Ratchayothin is generally less expensive than at Paragon. I paid 330 baht for a back-row seat.

I was initially skeptical of the rollout of the IMAX Digital Theatre brand in Thailand after I'd heard about the controversy over the inferior IMAX experience, which involved lower resolution and a smaller-than-usual "fake IMAX" screen.

So I was happy to see the gigantic screen at Ratchayothin, and I didn't notice any problems with the resolution.

Major Cineplex Ratchayothin was actually the site of Thailand's first IMAX theatre, but it was closed after Paragon Cineplex opened in 2006. So now Ratchayothin once again has an IMAX.

Located in suburban Bangkok, Major Ratchayothin is well away from the central city areas frequented by most foreigner residents and tourists, so it's a haul to get to. But it's worth the effort if you take your movie-viewing seriously. The easiest route is to take the subway to Phaholyothin station, exit to Central Lat Phrao and catch a taxi for the five-minute ride down the street.

Another IMAX digital theater is in the works for Thailand, at Major Cineplex Pinklao. There's also ones planned for Esplanade Kaerai-Ngamwongwan and at least another one or two locations.