Bangkok Cinema Scene: Movies opening February 17-23, 2011

Norwegian Wood


French-Vietnamese director Tran Anh Hung (The Scent of Green Papaya, Cyclo) brings Haruki Murakami's best-selling 1987 novel to the big screen.

The story is set in the 1960s and involves Watanabe (Ken'ichi Matsuyama) whose best buddy from high school commits suicide. Watanabe then enters the university where he meets his dead pal's sweetheart Naoko (Rinko Kikuchi). They bond over their mutual loss, but Naoko continues to be an emotional basketcase.

Meanwhile, Watanabe is attracted to the outgoing Midori (Kiko Mizuhara).

Notably, the movie is scored by Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood, who previously composed the chilling atmospheric soundtrack to There Will Be Blood. And as a bonus, the filmmakers were able to license the original Beatles' track that sparks Watanabe's nostalgic reminiscing.

Critical reception has been mixed. Rinko Kikuchi has been praised for her performance as the withdrawn Naoko, and Greenwood's score also gets thumbs up. Norwegian Wood premiered in competition at last year's Venice International Film Festival and also played at the Toronto International Film Festival. It won an award for Best Composer at the seventh Dubai International Film Festival and is nominated for three Asian Film Awards, including Best Actress for Kikuchi and Cinematograpy by Mark Lee Ping-bin.

It's playing at House on RCA and the Scala in Siam Square. Rated 18+.

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Also opening


Sanctum – Avatar director James Cameron's fascination with scuba diving and filming underwater worlds continues to manifest itself in his movie projects. He produces Sanctum, which is said to use the same 3D filming technology he pioneered on Avatar. The adventure drama involves a bunch of divers who head to remote Papua New Guinea to be the first to explore an uncharted series of caves. They become trapped when a cyclone floods the caves, forcing them all deeper and into more danger. Critical reception is leaning to negative, with the consensus being it's "beautifully photographed, and it makes better use of 3D technology than most, but that doesn't make up for its ham-handed script and lifeless cast." In 3D. Rated 15+.


I Am Number Four – Nine teenagers from another planet have been sent to live on Earth in order to escape an enemy alien species. They will have superpowers. Three have been killed. Under the watchful eye of his guardian (Timothy Olyphant), the fourth kid (Alex Pettyfer) is growing up in small-town Ohio and trying to blend in as an ordinary high-school kid. And like most teenage boys, he falls in love with a girl, giving him a reason to take a stand when his assailants come calling. The movie is adapted from the young adult sci-fi novel of the same name. DJ Caruso (The Salton Sea, Eagle Eye) directs, with Michael Bay and Steven Spielberg producing. The movie is opening worldwide this weekend, so critics haven't yet weighed in. Also in IMAX. Rated 15+.


Love and Other Drugs – Jake Gyllenhaal is a hard-driving, womanizing salesman for Pfizer, hawking the anti-depressant Zoloft. He meets an early-onset Parkinsons' patient (Anne Hathaway) and the two almost immediately start having sexual relations. He then switches to selling Viagra, and the couple's sex life vastly improves. But what began as a relationship based on only sex turns into something more meaningful. Oliver Platt and Hank Azaria also star. Edward Zwick directs. The fact-based romantic comedy is adapted from Hard Sell: The Evolution of a Viagra Salesman, a memoir by Jamie Reidy. Critical reception is evenly mixed with the consensus being it's a refreshingly adult rom-com but "struggles to find a balance between its disparate plot elements". Gyllenhaal and Hathaway were Golden Globe nominees for their performances. At Apex and SF cinemas. Rated 18+.


Panya Reanu (ปัญญา เรณู ) – Bin Banluerit is perhaps most well known for his role in the action film Bang Rajan but as a director he's making a sweet and sentimental childhood romantic comedy that looks to be channeling the same kind of nostalgia as the 2003 hit Fan Chan. Here, instead of being set in a Thai-Chinese town in central Thailand, the story is set in Isaan and involves a village boy Panya. He has his eyes on a local cute girl but is hounded by the chubby girl Reanu. Music plays a part in this movie as well, with the kids getting involved in a song and dance contest. A few of the familiar comedians make appearances in supporting and cameo roles. Check the trailer at YouTube. Rated G.

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Also showing


Patiala House – Akshay Kumar and Anushka Sharma star in this drama about a second-generation Sikh in London who's given up on his dream to save his father's reputation. But then he meets a woman who gives him the strength to stand up for what he believes. It's in Hindi with English subtitles at Major Cineplex Sukhumvit (Ekamai) on Friday and Saturday at 8 and Sunday at 7.30 and at Major Cineplex Rama III on Sunday at 4. Visit www.BollywoodThai.com or call (089) 488 2620.


A Year Ago in Winter (Im Winter ein Jahr) – This year's open-air film series at the Goethe-Institut Bangkok ends on Tuesday with this 2008 drama directed by Caroline Link about an artist who is commissioned by a mother to paint a posthumous portrait of her son, who committed suicide, and put him in a painting with his still-living, fiercely resistant dancer sister. The show time is at 7.30. Call (02) 287 0942-4 or check the Goethe-Institut website.

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Sneak preview


The Eagle – Channing Tatum is a Roman centurion in Britain in 140 AD, looking for the truth behind the disappearance of the Ninth Legion, which his father belonged to. Determined to recover the eagle standard of the Ninth, he sets out on an adventure with his slave (Jaime Bell), and the two form a bond of friendship while also fighting the fierce Pictish warrior tribes. Mark Strong and Donald Sutherland also star. Kevin Macdonald (The Last King of Scotland, State of Play) directs. Critical reception is edging to negative, with the consensus being "The Eagle has a pleasantly traditional action-adventure appeal, but it's drowned out by Kevin Macdonald's stolid direction and Channing Tatum's uninspired work in the central role." It's in sneak previews starting at around 8 nightly at Major Cineplex and SF cinemas. Rated 15+.

Bangkok Cinema Scene: Movies opening February 10-16, 2011

Blue Valentine


Michelle Williams is an Academy Award nominee for best actress for her performance in Blue Valentine, which charts the relationship of a man and woman by toggling back and forth between their whirlwind courtship and the break up of their marriage years later.

Ryan Gosling, a Golden Globe nominee along with Williams, plays the guy in this doomed marriage. He's a troubled blue-collar dude, and probably not the kind of man Williams' character was looking for in an ideal husband. But circumstances cause them to rush into matrimony.

Derek Cianfrance directs this indie romantic drama. Some of the dialogue is improvised. Differing kinds of film stock were used, with Super 16mm for the pre-marriage scenes and Red One for the post-marriage action. The score is by the indie rock band Grizzly Bear.

Controversially, Blue Valentine at first was given the NC-17 rating, the most restrictive classification under the U.S. motion-picture ratings system. This was because of a scene depicting cunnilingus. Typically, the MPAA ratings board frowns on any scenes that depict characters, especially women, having any enjoyment during sex. However, producer Harvey Weinstein appealed the decision and was able to secure a less-restrictive Rated R certificate.

Critical reception is mostly positive, with the consensus being that the "emotionally gripping examination of a marriage on the rocks isn't always easy to watch, but Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling give performances of unusual depth and power."

It's at Apex Siam Square, House on RCA and CentralWorld. Rated 15+ (no cuts).

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Also opening


No Strings Attached – Somehow, while filming the Oscar-nominated ballet thriller Black Swan and getting pregnant with her ballet-dancer boyfriend Benjamin Millepied, Natalie Portman managed to make this romantic comedy with Ashton Kutcher and veteran comedy director Ivan Reitman. She and Ashton portray lifelong best friends who suddenly one morning have sex. It's so great that they then agree to embark on a "no-strings-attached" physical relationship with the promise that they won't fall in love or succumb to the usual trappings of coupledom. Critical reception is mixed, with the consensus being that "it benefits from the presence of Natalie Portman and director Ivan Reitman's steady hand, but ... doesn't have the courage or conviction to follow through on its ribald premise." Rated 15+.


The Rite – Anthony Hopkins portrays a Catholic priest in this story of a skeptical young seminary student (Colin O'Donoghue) who's sent to Italy to study under Father Superior, a master exorcist. Now, you just know that with Hannibal Lecter involved, things can't end well. Mikael Håfström (1408, Shanghai) directs. Alice Braga also stars. Released in the U.S. last week, critical reception is generally negative, with the consensus being that "Anthony Hopkins is as excellent as ever, but he's no match for The Rite's dawdling pace and lack of chills – or Colin O'Donoghue's tentative performance in the leading role." Rated 15+.


Patiala House – Akshay Kumar and Anushka Sharma star in this drama about a second-generation Sikh in London who's given up on his dream to save his father's reputation. But then he meets a woman who gives him the strength to stand up for what he believes. It's in Hindi with English subtitles at Major Cineplex Rama III on Friday and Saturday at 8 and Sunday at 4, at SFX the Emporium on Sunday at 8 and at Major Cineplex Sukhumvit (Ekamai) on Monday at 8. Visit www.BollywoodThai.com or call (089) 488 2620.

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Also showing


This Prison Where I Live – There's a reason the Burmese junta wants the comedian Zarganar in prison – the people like him too much. And in a country that desperately needs someone the people can look up to, Zarganar poses a grave threat. A sharp-witted satirist who can effectively communicate across all media, be it stand-up and sketch comedy, film, television, theater or poetry, Zarganar always made fun of the military government, which got him jailed repeatedly. British director Rex Bloomstein visited Zarganar in Rangoon in 2007. At the time the comic was banned from performing, giving interviews to foreign media or even having his name uttered. Bloomstein kept the footage under wraps until months later, Zarganar was sentenced to 35 years in prison for criticizing the junta's handling of the 2008 Cyclone Nargis disaster. So Bloomstein, after a chance call from German stand-up comic Michael Mittermeier, decided to join the German comedian and travel back to Burma and get as close as they could to visiting Zarganar. The paranoia is palpable. Burmese society is described as a Matrix-like place, where everyone is a potential spy. This Prison Where I Live screens at 5.30 today in the fifth-floor auditorium at the Bangkok Art and Culture Center. The screening follows a panel discussion at 2pm. There will also be a performance by Burmese comedians.


Chulalongkorn University International Film Festival 2011 – The annual DVD-screening series of highly acclaimed award-winning foreign films concludes tomorrow with I Am Love, starring Tilda Swinton in the story of a wealthy Italian family undergoing sweeping changes. 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.


Cinema Picnic by Moonlight – Monday is Valentine's Day, and to celebrate the day of amour, La Fete, the annual French cultural festival, will show two romance films in an outdoor screening at the Museum Siam. Up first is Amélie, Jean-Pierre Jeunet's fanciful comedy about a young woman (Audrey Tautou) who concocts bizarre and elaborate schemes to fix other people's troubles and get her father to notice her. She also chases after a mysterious young man. That's followed by Monrak Transistor, Pen-ek Ratanaruang's sprawling 2001 musical comedy-drama about a young man who marries his sweetheart but then hits a run of bad luck when he's drafted into the army, runs away to pursue a singing career and becomes a fugitive. As darkly comic as it all is, it's also pretty tragic. But then so is love, no? It's a warm-up to the annual French Film Festival, from March 18 to 24 at CentralWorld. Both films are screening with their original soundtracks with English subtitles. The show time is at 7.30 at the Museum Siam, near Wat Pho on Sanam Chai Road in Phra Nakhon district.


The Registrar (Die Standesbeamtin, a.k.a. Will You Marry Us?) – Part of the annual open-air film series at the Goethe-Institut Bangkok until February 22, next Tuesday's show is a Swiss romantic comedy by Micha Lewinsky about a civil servant who registers marriages but ironically her own is falling apart. The show time is at 7.30. Call (02) 287 0942-4 or check the Goethe-Institut website.

Bangkok Cinema Scene: Movies opening February 3-9, 2011

The King's Speech


The King's Speech has the rare distinction of being a crowd-pleaser as well as the seriously artistic kind of weighty costume melodrama that earns high critical praise and wins awards.

It's really more of a comedy than a drama, and I was surprised how much the audience laughed.

There are excellent performances all around by a strong cast, headed by Colin Firth with support from Helena Bonham Carter and Geoffrey Rush.

Firth portrays Prince Albert, Duke of York, the younger son of King George V. The film opens with him trying to make a speech at Wembley Stadium, but he can't get the words out of his mouth. The crowd grows noticeably restless. The solutions offered by royal experts aren't helping.

So the duke's supportive and forward-thinking wife Elizabeth – wonderfully portrayed by Bonham Carter – finds a speech therapist working out of a basement office.

This is the unconventional Lionel Logue, an Australian Shakesperian actor and war veteran who's set up a practice to treat speech disorders. Perfectly cast, Rush is priceless as Logue, who insists he be treated as an equal to the duke and that they be on first-name basis, much to the duke's chagrin, because only close family members call him "Bertie". Logue's radical techniques and disdain for royal protocols are off-putting to Albert and the duke irritably walks away from the sessions.

The fine supporting cast runs deep, with Guy Pearce as the rakish older brother and heir-apparent Prince Edward, stately Michael Gambon as King George V, Derek Jacobi as the unctuous Archbishop of Canterbury and Timothy Spall in a hilarious caricature of Winston Churchill.

After George V dies, the drama is heightened by constitutional issues stemming from Edward's intention to marry the American socialite divorcee Wallis Simpson (Eve Best), which puts pressure on Albert. Meanwhile, Hitler is growing stronger, and war will certainly come to Britain. The country needs an indomitable king with a strong voice.

Albert is a man full of conflict. On one hand, he is a loving and patient father to his daughters Elizabeth and Margaret, but he has a temper that he struggles to control. Anger and frustration lead to explosive outbursts. The well-meaning troublemaker Logue sometimes only seems to bring out the worst in him.

Directed by Tom Hooper with a screenplay by David Seidler, the magic of this moving and entertaining comedy-drama is how those conflicts are overcome and a lifelong friendship begins.

The movie is widely acclaimed. Firth won a Golden Globe Award for his role, and The King's Speech is the leading nominee for the Academy Awards and Britain's BAFTAs. Critical reception is almost universally favorable, with the consensus being that Firth "gives a masterful performance in ... a predictable but stylishly produced and rousing period drama."

It's not without controversy, which is a result of the unconventional treatment employed by Logue, who is depicted as having the king spout off a stream of obscenities ("Ffff ... fornication?") in order to keep his verbal flow going. The repeated F-bombs have gotten The King's Speech slapped with the highly restrictive R rating in the U.S., leading producer Harvey Weinstein to voice the desire to edit the film so it can be seen by younger audiences and he can make more money. Director Hooper is against the move. It's only rated 12A in the U.K.

It's playing at the Scala in Siam Square and at SF World Cinema, CentralWorld. Rated 15+.

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The Green Hornet


A radio series in the 1930s and comic book in the 1940s, The Green Hornet follows the exploits of newspaper publisher Britt Reid and his faithful Chinese valet Kato who don masks and fight crime with the help of their technologically advanced car, the "Black Beauty".

A TV series in the 1960s starred the rather bland Van Williams, who was easily outshone by Bruce Lee as Kato. The show featured Chrysler's top-of-the-line Imperial Crown sedan as the Black Beauty. The show's opening theme, Rimsky-Korsakov's "Flight of the Bumblebee", played on trumpet by Al Hirt, is a cultural icon.

The movie adaptation has languished in development hell for years.

In a revived push the make the film, comic actor Seth Rogen was signed as the star and executive producer. Hong Kong actor-director Stephen Chow – a massive Bruce Lee fan – was to play Kato and direct, but that deal fell through when the producers weren't willing to give Chow the control he wanted.

So Michel Gondry was brought in to direct. Chow initially was to remain as Kato but scheduling difficulties prevented that. Ultimately, Taiwanese singer-actor Jay Chou was cast.

Austrian actor Christoph Waltz from Inglourious Basterds also stars, playing the lead villain Chudnofsky, a Russian mob boss. And Cameron Diaz is researcher and love interest Lenore Case.

Critical reception is leaning to negative, with the consensus being "it's sporadically entertaining, but ... never approaches the surreal heights suggested by a Michel Gondry/Seth Rogen collaboration." It's in 3D (converted from 2D) in some cinemas, including IMAX. Rated 15+.

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Also opening


From Prada to Nada – Adapted from Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, this riches-to-rags comedy stars Camilla Belle and Alexa Vega as spoiled socialite sisters who upon their father's death discover they are dirt poor. This gives way to a fish-out-of-water scenario as they two are forced to move from their luxurious Beverly Hills mansion to their aunt’s modest home in the Latino neighborhood of East L.A. Critical reception is thin on the ground with the consensus being that while it's pleasant enough, From Prada to Nada is a predictable, dumbed-down retread of the Austen novel. Rated G.


Teng Nong Jiwon Bin (เท่งโหน่ง จีวรบิน) – TV-comedy cohorts Pongsak "Teng Terdterng" Pongsuwan and Choosak "Nong" Iamsuk are back together for their third Teng Nong/Nong Teng movie for the big screen, directing themselves in this high-flying action comedy for Sahamongkol Film. Similar to his Holy Man character in the Monk Teng movies he left behind years ago (Phranakorn has made two Luangpee Teng sequels without him), Teng dons the robes of a Buddhist monk on a pilgrimage to Tibet. Aiming to return to Thailand, he is offered a ride on a cargo plane owned by a wealthy jeweler (Nong). But the flight turns bumpy thanks to the efforts of a gang of thieves, led by a hot-headed "Tao" Somchai Kemklad. Comic relief is offered by familiar faces, among them actress "Tukky" Sudarat Butrprom as a flight attendant, along with comic actors Somlek Sakdikul and Kom Chuanchuen. New-face actress "Mo" Amina Phinit gives the boys something to look at. There's trailer at YouTube. I guess it's okay for monks to fly airplanes? Rated 15+.

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Also showing


Isan Film Festival – An excerpt version of the Jim Thompson Art Center's festival is set for tonight. It's a selection of films that were shown up in Nakhon Ratchasima during the Jim Thompson Farm open house and the Art on Farm project. The program includes Haunted Houses, a 60-minute work made by Apichatpong Weerasethakul for the Istanbul Biennale in 2001. Here's more:

The film’s narrative was directly scripted from two episodes of a popular Thai television show, Tong Prakaisad. The series mainly deals with love and the problems of the wealthy.

The filmmaker then traveled to the villages near his home and asked villagers to participate by acting according to the script. All 66 villagers from six villages participated. The story was continuous, but the actors who played the characters were constantly changed as the filming location moved from one village to another.

Haunted Houses deals with various forms of media addiction (soaps, lifestyles, transformation of/between cultures, etc.). Little is explored in Thailand of the tremendous impact of dramas in shaping the rural landscapes and the minds. A house is like a “medium”, hosting a television set that transmits these hypnotizing images.

Each night after 8pm, several millions of the houses in the country are “haunted”.

The second film in the Isan Film Festival program is the groundbreaking 1977 docu-drama Tongpan, directed by Paichong Laisakul and written by Kamsing Srinok. The 60-minute 16mm black-and-white film follows a poor farmer as he participates in a seminar to discuss the building of a dam on the Mekong. The farmer lost his land to another dam some years before, and has struggled ever since. Tongpan was at one time banned for its socialist leanings.

The show time is 6.30 tonight at Jim Thompson House on Kasemsan Soi 2, opposite National Stadium.


Chulalongkorn University International Film Festival 2011 – The annual DVD-screening series of highly acclaimed award-winning foreign films continues tomorrow with The Milk of Sorrow, a Peruvian drama about a girl suffering from a rare disease that was transmitted through her mother's breast milk. On Monday it's French director Clair Denis' White Material, about a white Frenchwoman (Isabelle Huppert) trying to save her coffee plantation in Africa. And next Wednesday has the Russian drama Room and a Half, a partly animated fictionalized biographical account about exiled poet Josef Brodsky. 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.


Germany 09 – Part of the annual open-air film series at the Goethe-Institut Bangkok until February 22, next Tuesday's show is a 2009 compilation of short documentaries on modern Germany, all made between August and November 2009. With the efforts led by Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run, The International), the directors are Hans Weingartner, Fatih Akin, Wolfgang Becker, Sylke Enders, Dominik Graf, Christoph Hochhäusler, Romuald Karmakar, Nicolette Krebitz, Dani Levy, Angela Schanelec, Hans Steinbichler, Isabelle Stever and Martin Gressmann. The show time is at 7.30. Call (02) 287 0942-4 or check the Goethe-Institut website.


This Prison Where I Live – British director Rex Bloomstein's documentary is about the contrasting lives of two comedians – the jailed Burmese comic Maung Thura, better known as Zarganar and German stand-up funnyman Michael Mittermeier, who is free to walk around and crack wise. The genesis of the documentary goes back to 2007, when Zarganar granted Bloomstein an interview, despite being banned by the junta from all forms of artistic activity and talking to foreign media. Two years later, hearing that Zarganar had been sentenced to 35 years in jail, Bloomstein teamed up with Mittermeier to travel secretly to Burma and make a movie about the man who describes himself as the "loudspeaker" for the Burmese people, and to investigate humour under dictatorship. This Prison Where I Live screens at 8pm on Wednesday, February 9 at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand. Bloomstein will be on hand to talk about the extremely difficult circumstances of making this movie. Admission for non-members is 150 baht.