aRobert Pattinson tangles with Guy Pearce in The Rover, a gritty Outback western by Australian director David Michôd, working from a script he collaborated on with writer-actor Joel Edgerton.
The story takes place in a dystopian near future in which a worldwide economic collapse has forced many folks to relocate to Australia. Roving packs of outlaws have taken hold.
Pattinson is a member of a criminal gang who is hurt and left behind by his cohorts in a dusty desert town. They take off in a car belonging to a mysterious loner (Pearce), who forces the wounded man to help him retrieve his ride.
Scoot McNairy, Gillian Jones, David Field, Tawanda Manyimo, Anthony Hayes and Nash Edgerton also star.
A follow-up to Michôd's critically hailed 2010 Australian mafia drama Animal Kingdom, anticipation for The Rover has been high among fans. Critical reception is mixed, leaning to positive, with high marks for the performances by both Pattinson and Pearce. Rated 18+
Also opening
Hercules – Dwayne Johnson muscles his way into the role of the Greek demigod in the second film this year about Hercules. The other was director Renny Harlin's The Legend of Hercules with Kellan Lutz. Based on the graphic novel Hercules: The Tracian wars, Herc is a sword-for-hire who takes a job from the King of Thrace and his daughter, who want his help defeating a warlord. Other stars include English stage-and-screen talents John Hurt, Rufus Sewell, Ian McShane and Joseph Fiennes. Just out in the U.S. this week, critical reception is thus far unknown, but given that the critics' favorite whipping boy Brett Ratner (Tower Heist, Rush Hour) is the director, I can't imagine anticipation is very high. Rated 13+
The Fault in Our Stars – A teenage cancer sufferer is sent to a support group where she falls in love. Shailene Woodley (Divergent) stars. Critical reception is generally positive. This opened in sneak previews last week and now moves to a wide release. Rated 13+
Kwam Rak Nang Marn Rai (ความลับ นาง มารร้าย) – Busaba (Pechaya Wattanamontri) and her friends vow not to become committed to guys but all that changes when she meets the reliable and honest Nuasamut (Teeradej Mathavaravuj). At first she tries to stick to the rules but when she tries to win him back, she discovers she has to fight off rivals for his affections. Ong-art Cheamcharoenporn directs. Rated 15+
No Tears for the Dead – A Korean-American hitman botches an assignment, killing an innoncent girl. Full of remorse, he finds himself in South Korea on the trail of his intended target, but ends up falling in love. Jang Dong-gun anmd Kim Min-hee star, and Lee Jeong-beom (The Man from Nowhere) directs. At Major Cineplex; Thai-dubbed only. Rated 18+
From Vegas to Macau – Chow Yun-fat takes on his God of Gamblers persona from the 1990s Hong Kong franchise for this action-comedy in which he's a former gambler and casino security consultant who works with a pair of young conmen (Nicolas Tse and Chapman To). Critical reception is generally positive. Thai-dubbed only. Rated 15+
Kick – Bollywood action star Salman Khan is Devil, an adrenaline junkie who turns to a life of crime as he looks for the next "kick" to keep life interesting. Jacqueline Fernandez and Nawazuddin Siddiqui also star. It's in Hindi with English and Thai subtitles at Major Cineplex Sukhumvit, Rama III and Pattaya, as well as Paragon, EGV Maesot and Hatyai Cineplex. Opens Friday.
Also showing
House 10-Year Anniversary – The final week of the boutique cinema's series of special screenings has many highlights. Tonight, it's a sneak preview of the critical darling Boyhood, which celebrated indie director Richard Linklater filmed over the course of more than a decade, capturing the growth of a boy to his teen years. It opens in cinemas on September 4. Tomorrow is a "surprise" selection of a "House Phenomenon". Saturday is "Ter's Day", giving buzzworthy young director Nawapol "Ter" Thamrongrattanarit space to show his two recent features, the experimental romance 36 and the Twitter-driven teen comedy-drama Mary Is Happy, Mary Is Happy. Sunday offers a pair of classics from the Alliance Française – To Our Loves by Maurice Pialat and La Cérémonie by Claude Chabrol. Monday is another "surprise" film and Tuesday is the hit musical romance Once, the follow-up to which, Begin Again, is currently in cinemas. The series closes out next Wednesday with the award-winning teen drama The Love of Siam, chronicling the puppy-love relationship of boyhood friends. Check the Facebook schedule for the full line-up and check the Facebook page for showtimes.
The Friese-Greene Club – Tonight, a car crash and a wounded dog connect three tragic tales of life and love in Mexico in Alejandro González Iñárritu's Amores Perros – the strongest of his "Death Trilogy" that's rounded out by his English-language efforts 21 Grams and Babel. First rule about the movie tomorrow, is you don't talk about the movie tomorrow. Second rule is ... well, you know. Saturday offers another quirky Australian tale, the cult classic The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, with Hugo Weaving, Guy Pearce and Terence Stamp as transgender performers taking their act on the road in the Outback. Sunday is the final entry in this month's Fred Astaire films, Royal Wedding, in which he dances on the ceiling. Next Wednesday, a Roman Catholic cardinal is accused of witchcraft by a sexually repressed nun in Ken Russell's debauched tale from 1971, The Devils. Shows are at 8pm. The FGC is down an alley next to the Queen's Park Imperial Hotel on Sukhumvit Soi 22. There's just nine seats, so book them. Also, check the Facebook page for updates and program changes.
The Lives of Others – The film-expert collective Film Virus takes an eclectic look at biographical dramas in this new series of Sunday double features at Thammasat University. It opens this Sunday with Hannah Arendt, a 2012 biopic of the German-Jewish philosopher and political theorist, centering on her response to the 1961 trial of ex-Nazi Adolf Eichmann, which she covered for The New Yorker. Margarethe von Trotta directs. Next is an early effort by Werner Herzog, The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser, based on the true-life account of an orphan foundling. It won the Grand Prix at the 1975 Cannes Film Festival. Other films in the series are Sergei M. Eisenstein's Ivan the Terrible (parts one and two), Goya in Bordeaux, Utamaro and His Five Women, Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters, Hamsun, The Doors, When You're Strange, Mahler, Bill Douglas Trilogy, The Best Intentions, Savage Nights, Caro Diario, My Life and Times with Antonin Artaud and Room and a Half. Shows start at 12.30. The venue is at Thammasat University Thai Prachan in the Pridi Banomyong Library's Rewat Buddhinan Room, floor U2, the basement. Dress appropriately and inform the desk worker you are there to see a movie. For details, call (02) 613-3529 or (02) 613-3530.
Alliance Française – July's program of "On a Journey" closes out with the 2012 road-trip comedy Mobile Home, about a pair of childhood friends who reunite for a drive in a recreational vehicle. François Pirot directs; Arthur Dupont, Guillaume Gouix and Claudine Pelletier star. It's in French with English subtitles at 7pm on Wednesday, July 30.
Take note
Why is it one week, cinemas and distributors release maybe one or two films, and then the next week they go absolutely nuts and spring like seven or eight on us? Drives me nuts. In addition to all that, there are several notable film events coming up, which are actually a big relief.
First up is the Elle Fashion Film Festival from August 1 to 9 at SFX the Emporium. Highlights include Wes Anderson's style-oozing Grand Budapest Hotel – a big surprise for Bangkok film-goers who thought this wasn't getting a big-screen slot. There's a mix of biopics, documentaries and comedies, among them the Look of Love starring Steve Coogan and directed by Michael Winterbottom. Or, how about a doc in which Wim Wenders talks with Japanese designer Yohji Yamamoto? It's 1989's Notebook on Cities and Clothes. Happily, you can actually buy tickets and book seats in advance. They are 200 baht. I'll detail more about the fest in the coming days.
A highly anticipated event is the First Silent Film Festival in Thailand, from August 7 to 13 at the Lido and Scala cinemas. Organized by the British Council and the Thai Film Archive, it will feature restored prints of early Alfred Hitchcock works, his debut The Pleasure Garden, The Ring and The Lodger, all with live musical accompaniment. Keep an eye on the Facebook page for further details.
Finally, there's the 18th Thai Short Film and Video Festival from August 28 to September 7 at the Bangkok Art and Culture Center. In in the run-up to that, there's the Short Film Marathon going on until August 6 in the BACC's mini-theater, the second-floor FA Cinematheque, screening all 500 entries to the fest. Shows are from 4.30 to 8.30 Wednesday to Friday and 11am to 8.30pm on weekends.
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