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.