Bangkok Cinema Scene: Movies opening December 8-14, 2011

Life Without Principle


Hong Kong director Johnnie To trades his usual bullets for banknotes in Life Without Principle, a drama about three people plunged into dire financial straits when their lives are somehow intertwined with that of a loan shark.

The characters are an investment banker (Denise Ho) who's forced to push a high-risk investment on a greedy but ignorant customer; a dimwitted triad member (Sean Lau Ching Wan) who turns to the futures market to bail out a fellow gangster; and a police inspector (Richie Jen) whose fiancee (Myolie Wu) puts a down payment on a condominium without consulting him first. The loan shark is Lo Hoi Pang.

Life Withouth Principle premiered in the Golden Lion competition at this year's Venice Film Festival. Critical reception is mostly positive. It's already played in Singapore, where there are reviews by A Nutshell Review and FilmsBlitz.

In Cantonese with English and Thai subtitles at House on RCA.

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Also opening


Immortals – Tarsem Singh, the director of such visually stunning movies as The Cell and The Fall, returns with this 3D swords-and-sandals fantasy set in ancient Greece. It's from the same producers as 300. Henry Cavill stars as a stonemason named Theseus, who vows to avenge the death of his mother and takes up a sword to fight the brutal and bloodthirsty King Hyperion (Mickey Rourke), whose murderous Heraklion army is rampaging across Greece in search of the long lost Bow of Epirus. Theseus gets help from the Sybelline Oracle, Phaedra (Freida Pinto from Slumdog Millionaire), whose disturbing visions of the future convince her that Theseus is the key to stopping the destruction. Critical reception is mixed, leaning to negative. "The melding of real sets, CG work, and Tarsem's signature style produces fireworks, though the same can't be said for Immortals slack, boring storytelling," is the consensus. In 3D. Rated 15+.


Happy Feet Two – George Miller, the producer-director of such films as Mad Max and Babe, offers more family-friendly fare with this sequel to his 2006 animated feature about dancing penguins. Tapdancing penguin Mumble (voiced by Elijah Wood) now has a son who is reluctant to dance like the other penguins and finds himself an outcast. He takes up with another penguin clan and develops an interest in flight. Robin Williams, Pink, Sofia Vergara, Hank Azaria, Hugo Weaving, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon are among the voice cast. Critical reception is mixed. "The animation is as eye-popping as ever, but Happy Feet Two's narrative is too noisily incoherent to recapture the Oscar-winning charm of its predecessor," is the consensus. It's in 3D, including IMAX. Rated G.

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Also showing


German Open Air Cinema – The Goethe-Institut Thailand's annual outdoor screening series continues next Tuesday with How About Love, a drama by Stefan Haupt that's set here in Thailand. Adrian Furrer stars as a Swiss surgeon vacationing in Thailand whose life takes a major turn when he visits refugee camp on the Burmese border and decides to stay and try to help. You can find out more about How About Love at the movie's website. The German Open Air Cinema series runs every Tuesday night until February 28 at the institute on Sathorn Soi 1. Show times are at 7.30.

Bangkok Cinema Scene: Movies opening December 1-7, 2011

Breaking Dawn – Part 1


It's almost over. The penultimate entry in The Twilight Saga, Breaking Dawn – Part 1, has the young mortal woman Bella (Kristen Stewart) getting married to Edward (Robert Pattinson), her pale-skinned lug of a vampire beau. And, to make matters worse, she gets pregnant! But can Bella bear the child to term? The vampire clan is worried that the baby's physiology isn't compatible.

Meanwhile, the "wolf pack" clan of werewolves, including Bella's lovelorn bare-chested friend Jacob (Taylor Lautner), are circling and growling. They see the vampire-human hybrid as a potential threat and want to kill it.

Oh, how will it end? If you've read the romance novels by Stephenie Meyer you already know. But if you're only watching the movies, you'll have to wait a full year for Breaking Dawn – Part 2 to see how this melodrama plays out.

These final two entries in the Twilight franchise are directed by Bill Condon (Kinsey, Gods and Monsters), who reportedly was in contention for the job alongside such names as Gus Van Sant and Sophia Coppolla.

Critical reception is mostly negative. "Slow, joyless, and loaded with unintentionally humorous moments, Breaking Dawn – Part 1 may satisfy the Twilight faithful, but it's strictly for fans of the franchise," is the consensus. And be forewarned, it might cause epileptic seizures. Rated 15+.

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Also opening


Sector 7 – In the middle of the ocean, the crew of an oil rig fight a new mutated lifeform. Ha Ji-won, Ahn Sung-ki and Oh Ji-ho star. Reception has been mixed. This 3D monster flick from South Korea was released there in IMAX cinemas, but it's in ordinary 3D theaters in Thailand. The original Korean soundtrack with English subtitles is at SF World Cinema; elsewhere it's Thai-dubbed only. Rated 13+.

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Also showing


Primitive – Filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul's multi-platform art exhibition finally makes its way to Bangkok after touring the world for the past couple of years. It'll be at the Jim Thompson Art Center from today until February 29. Part of the same project as the acclaimed feature film Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, the video installation Primitive is an intimate look at the village of Nabua, Nakhon Phanom, along the Mekong in northeastern Thailand. It was there in 1965 that the Royal Thai Army staged a massacre during an anti-communist offensive. Primitive deals with ghosts of that violent past. The seven-channel video installation also offers a slice-of-life look at the young men of Nabua as well as a music video by Moderndog and a behind-the-scenes film of the building of a spaceship – just one of the art projects Apichatpong came up with as a way of engaging the villagers in his project. Commissioned by Haus Der Kunst, Munich, Primitive has previously shown in Munich, Liverpool, Paris, New York and the Yokohama Triennale. I checked it out at New York's New Museum earlier this year and am glad I'll be able to see how it fits into Bangkok. The Jim Thompson Art Center is on Kasemsan Soi 2, near the National Stadium skytrain station. It's open daily from 9 to 5.

German Open Air Cinema – The Goethe-Institut Thailand's annual outdoor movie season starts next week and runs every Tuesday until February 28 at the insitute on Bangkok's Soi Sathorn 1. The opening film is the Swiss short Scribbling & Tingling from 2010 by Amaury Berger. And then it's Longing (Sehnsucht) from 2006 by Valeska Grisebach. It's a small-town drama about love, loss and infidelity involving a thirtysomething volunteer fireman who's been with his wife since they were teenagers. It was a nominee for the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival. The show starts at 7.30. All are shown in German with English subtitles. Admission is free. Call (02) 287 0942-4 extension 82 or visit www.Goethe.de.

Bangkok Cinema Scene: Movies opening November 24-30, 2011

Headshot (Fon Tok Kuen Fah)


Pen-ek Ratanaruang aims to turn the hitman genre on its head with Fon Tok Kuen Fah (ฝนตกขึ้นฟ้า), a.k.a. Headshot.

Based on a short novel by acclaimed Thai writer Win Lyovarin, it's a film-noir flavored thriller about a cop who is blackmailed by a powerful politician and framed for a crime he did not commit. Sent to prison, he is eventually recruited to become a hitman for a shadowy vigilante group. While posing as a monk on one job, he's shot in the head and wakes up after a three-month coma to find that he sees everything upside down, literally. He aims to start a new life, but finds himself being hunted by revenge killers.

"Peter" Nopachai Jayanama stars. He's the actor who portrayed the prince's leading general in the Naresuan movies and also starred in Pen-ek's forest thriller Nymph. Cris Horwang, from Saturday Killer and Bangkok Traffic Love Story, also stars.

This is the first feature that Pen-ek's done without the Thai studio Five Star Production. He's gone the indie route and is now with the upstart production marque Local Color, started by producer Pawas Sawatchaiyamet (formerly Saksiri Chantarangsri).

Headshot had its world premiere back in September at the Toronto International Film Festival. It also screened in competition at the Tokyo fest, where Pen-ek did an official interview. You can read it at the festival website. The film also screened at the Vancouver fest, where IndieWire gave it a favorable review. There's even a review in The Nation today. And you can watch the Thai trailer.

It's at SF cinemas. Rated 18+.

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Also opening


Take Shelter – The intense actor Michael Shannon stars in this psychological drama, portraying a small-town family man who is disturbed by apocalyptic visions. He sets about building a storm shelter in his backyard without explaining the need for it, and his strange behavior strains his relationship with his family. Jessica Chastain also stars, portraying the man's wife. It's directed by Jeff Nichols, an independent writer-director from Little Rock, Arkansas, who made the critically acclaimed Shotgun Stories, which also featured Shannon. Take Shelter is also gathering critical acclaim as well as awards at film festivals. It's at Apex Siam Square and at House on RCA. Rated 15+.


Puss in Boots – The scene-stealing supporting character from Dreamworks Animation's Shrek movies gets his own feature in this swashbuckling adventure that fractures more fairytales. Here, the swordfighting feline, voiced by the debonair Antonio Banderas, teams up with the street-smart cat burglar Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek) and his old friend, the criminal mastermind Humpty Dumpty (Zach Galifianakis) to battle the outlaw couple Jack and Jill (Billy Bob Thornton and Amy Sedaris). Critical reception is mostly positive. It's being released this week in just 3D, including IMAX and at Paragon's 4DX cinema, but will have a wider 2D release next week. Rated G.


Trespass – Another week brings another Nicolas Cage movie. With Seeking Justice released last week, Bangkok movie-goers can now get a double-dose of Nic with Trespass, which reunites him with 8MM director Joel Schumacher. He's a fast-talking diamond merchant who has a pretty blonde wife – played by Nicole Kidman. They live in a lavish mansion and have a troublemaking teenage daughter (Liana Liberato). Suddenly, their home is besieged by masked men, who hold them hostage. Ben Mendelsohn, Jordana Spiro, Cam Gigandet and Dash Mihok also star. Critical reception is mostly negative, the consensus being it's "another claustrophobic thriller that Joel Schumacher can churn out in his sleep ... nasty and aggressive, more unpleasant than entertaining." Rated 15+.

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Take note



Although areas of suburban Bangkok continue to be plagued by floodwater, life is returning to normal across much of the metropolis as water recedes and efforts turn to recovery.

The Thai Film Archive in Salaya, Nakhom Pathom, weathered the flood, putting up sandbag barriers and sealing its vault. It served as a haven for flood refugees and survivalists, showing daily matinees. The Nation had a story about it. A video clip, embedded above, captures the mood.