Visual-effects specialists the Brothers Strause direct Skyline, a sci-fi horror thiller set in Los Angeles, where giant spaceships appear in the sky and beam down light that attracts people like moths to flame. It's like a cross of District 9 and Cloverfield from the filmmaking pair who previously directed Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem and did visual effects for such movies as Avatar and 2012. Just being released this week, critical buzz is only just now starting to build. Rated 15+.
Dog God and Full Water
Amorn Harinnitisuk directs Dog God and Full Water (Mah Apiniharn Lae Khuad Mahasamut, หมาอภินิหารและขวดใส่มหาสมุทร), an indie drama that tells various stories about the stratas of Thai society. Among the characters are an impoverished mother and child living in the Sanam Luang area of Bangkok. Their lives take a dramatic turn when they find a diamond ring. Another is a heartbroken man who’s lost faith in humanity and wants to be a dog. It's screening at the Lido in Siam Square, once daily until December 10 with a different concept everyday. Part of the box-office proceeds will be donated to charities. Watch the trailer at YouTube.
Also showing
World Film Festival of Bangkok – Still many highlights yet to be seen as the eighth annual festival rolls into its closing weekend. Highlights today include the Singaporean childhood adventure drama Red Dragonflies at 5.20 at Paragon, Jacques Doillon’s The Little Gangster at 7.50 at Major Cineplex Sukhumvit and the Thai indie arthouse drama by Phuttiphong Aroonpheng, A Suspended Moment at 7.50, followed by a Q&A, at Paragon. Friday has the collection of Southeast Asian indie shorts in SEA Shorts at 11 at Paragon and the world premiere of the Filipino indie crime thriller The Night Infinite, directed by Ato Bautista. That's at 6.50pm at Paragon. Saturday has another world premiere, Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, a trilogy of short films by Asian female directors. The Thai portion, involving a couple of Bangkok schoolkids on their lunchhour, is directed by Anocha Suwichakornpong, the much-lauded director of Mundane History. Others are by China's Wang Jing, who does breakfast in Nanjing, and Kaz Cai who has dinner in Singapore. It's screening at 5.40 on Saturday and 11am on Sunday. Although the festival runs through Sunday, the closing ceremonies actually take place on Saturday night starting at 8 at Paragon, with the screening of the 2001 French horror comedy Love Bites. Beforehand, there will be the Celebrity Lookalike contest, in which participants are asked to come as their favorite movie monster or ghost. Check the schedule at www.WorldFilmBKK.com.
Experimental German Music Videos From 2004-2008 – Dr. Lars Henrik Gass of the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen is in Bangkok to find Thai short films for his festival and while he's here, he's brought a collection of experiment German music videos. The showtime is at 5pm on Thursday, November 11, in the fifth floor auditorium at the Bangkok Art and Culture Center. Call (080) 557 9709.
The Dreaming Vendors (Ebong Shaupno Jatree) – Ahmed Abid directs this documentary on cross-coastal trafficking, economic migration and lack of human security and issues surrounding the Rohingya ethnic vulnerable group. The Dreaming Vendors depict an extraordinary horrific journey of Kamal and Fazlu, the sufferings and struggle for survival of two people who were seeking a better life against a background of lack of human security. Bangladesh Ambassador Kazi Imtiaz Hossain will be present to inaugurate this premiere screening at 7 tonight at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand.
Action Replayy – Akshay Kumar and mega-starlet Aishwarya Rai star in this sort-of Back to the Future comedy. It's about a young guy believing all his troubles will be fixed if he goes back in time to the 1970s and makes it so that his parents (Akshay and Aish) fell in love, instead of getting hitched in an arranged marriage. BollywoodThai screens this colorful comedy again this weekend, at SFX the Emporium on Saturday at 8 and at Major Cineplex Rama III on Sunday at 4. Check www.BollywoodThai.com or call (089) 488 2620.
Science Film Festival – Thailand's sixth Science Film Festival runs from November 16 to 30 in venues throughout Thailand, with branches of the festival being initiated for the first time in Indonesia, the Philippines and Cambodia, as the event aims to facilitate regional exchange and connect countries in the ASEAN region. This year the festival received around 170 entries from 24 countries, of which 47 films from 17 countries are screened. Participating countries include Australia, Austria, Brazil, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Japan, Malaysia, Spain, Thailand, the Netherlands, the Philippines, the U.K. and the U.S. The Science Film Festival focuses on “family edutainment”, with an aim to explain the world in a fun way to young audiences. There's also films for audiences of all ages in the categories of “Ecology and Environment”, “Natural Science, Life Science and Technology” and “Culture and History”. The festival is organized by the Goethe-Institut Thailand, the French Embassy and the Institute for the Promotion of Teaching Science and Technology and is supported by the National Science and Technology Development Agency and Bayer Thai. In Bangkok, the screenings are at the Esplanade Cineplex Rattanathibhet, National Science Centre for Education at Ekamai, National Science and Technology Development Agency, Thai Film Archive in Salaya, Nakhon Pathom, National Science Museum, the NSM Science Square at Chamchuri Square and TK Park at CentralWorld. Screenings will also be held in 26 provinces throughout Thailand.
Une aventure musicale, l’Ensemble intercontemporain – Documentary Film Month continues at the Alliance Française Bangkok with this portrait of the Ensemble intercontemporain, in residence at the Cité de la musique in Paris, and its 30-year adventure in contemporary music. Directed by Michel Follin, the film's structure is in the form of polyphonic architecture. Among the figures interviewed are founder and conductor Pierre Boulez, and Suzanna Mälkki, its current director, as well as other composers and conductors who guide the audience through the tours and studio recordings. It's showing on Wednesday, November 17 at 7:30pm and on Saturday, November 20 at the Alliance Française, with English subtitles. Take note that the documentary on prisoners' wives, À côté, will have an encore screening on Saturday, November 13, at 2 in the Media Library. Admission is free.
