Bangkok Cinema Scene: Movies opening April 28-May 4, 2011

Certified Copy


Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami directs Certified Copy , a much-acclaimed romantic comedy-drama starring French actress Juliette Binoche in a role that won her Best Actress at last year's Cannes Film Festival.

She's a gallery owner living in Tuscany who attends a lecture by a British author (English opera singer William Shimell) on authenticity and fakery in art. Afterward, she invites him on a tour of the countryside, during which he is mistaken for her husband. They keep up the pretense and continue on their afternoon out, discussing love, life and art, and increasingly behaving like a long-married couple.

Critical reception is highly favorable. "The main stars are absolutely perfect in this absorbing, existential drama that dissects human relationships," is the consensus.

It's at House on RCA. Rated 15+.

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Thor


The hammer-wielding Norse god of thunder is the latest Marvel Comics superhero to hit the big screen. In Thor, Chris Hemsworth portrays the powerful but arrogant warrior. The Australian actor became widely known after his high-profile appearance in 2009's Star Trek, playing James Kirk's heroic but doomed father.

After a power struggle in his realm, Thor is banished to modern-day earth, where he lands in New Mexico, is tasered by Kat Dennings and taken in by her and other scientists, among them Natalie Portman and Stellan Skarsgaard. After blustering at the puny humans, Thor goes out for coffee with them, breaks mugs and poses for Facebook photos.

Eventually, the battle in Thor's kingdom comes to Earth, and he has to fight Loki (Tom Hiddleston). Anthony Hopkins is Odin and Rene Russo is Thor's mother. Idris Elba and Clark Gregg also star.

Elevating the pedigree of this movie above the usual comic-book flicks is director Kenneth Branaugh, who likely tapped into all that's mythical and Shakespearean about this tale.

But because Thor is closely allied in the Marvel universe with the Iron Man franchise, expect to sit through the ending credits for a teaser to the Captain America movie coming out in July or to next year's The Avengers. It'll probably have something to do with Samuel L. Jackson and his eye-patch clad character Nick Fury.

Critical reception so far is wildly positive. Also in 3D, including IMAX. Rated 15+.

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Also opening


Drive Angry – The always entertaining Nicolas Cage stars in this crazy-looking movie, which seems to be a mix of Con Air, Gone in 60 Seconds and Ghost Rider. He's a criminal who breaks out of Hell to go on a road-raging drive of vengeance against an evil cult leader (Billy Burke) who is threatening to sacrifice Nic's infant granddaughter in a Satanist ritual. Nic hooks up with Amber Heard and her sweet muscle car and the pair go tear-assing around, shooting anyone who obstructs their path. Meanwhile, Satan has sent his accountant (a scene-stealing William Fichtner), who is tasked with dragging Nic back to hell. Patrick Lussier (My Bloody Valentine 3D) directs. This movie was actually filmed in 3D for maximum exploitive effect. Critical reception is mixed. "It may deliver the over-the-top action pieces, but Drive Angry prefers to work safely within [the] grindhouse formula than do something truly unique," is the consensus. In 3D at some cinemas. Rated 18+.


Ladda Land (ลัดดาแลนด์, a.k.a. The Lost Home) – This is the latest effort from writer-director Sophon Sakdaphisit, who scripted the hit thrillers Shutter and Alone and made his directorial debut a couple years back with Coming Soon. He's now set his sights on the posh housing developments that are popping up around the edges of Thailand's cities. Starring Saharat Sungkhapreecha and Piyathida Worramusik, Ladda Land has a family who are happy in their home until ghostly things start cropping up. The fact-based tale springs from a housing development in Chiang Mai that was eventually abandoned after a series of unexplained deaths. Rated 18+.


Jakkalan (จั๊กกะแหล๋น) – Martial-arts star Jeeja Yanin (Chocolate, Raging Phoenix and the upcoming Tom-Yum-Goong 2) tries her hand at comedy in this crime farce that's directed by Mum Jokmok. She's a mischievous young woman who gets mixed up with gangsters, delivering smuggled goods on her trendy fixed-gear bicycle. There's also a bit of romance for Jeeja as well as gags from Mum and his usual crew of comedians. It's a different kind of movie for Jeeja, who's traditionally played characters who do their talking with their fists. Here, she's got quite the smart mouth, but eventually her Muay Thai fury is unleashed. Rated 15+.


Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son – From the high point when Flip Wilson first donned a dress to portray the sassy woman Geraldine, the schtick of the cross-dressing comedian has grown increasingly hackneyed, thanks to the likes of Tyler Perry and his Madea character and Martin Lawrence in his fat-suit playing Big Momma. Now Lawrence's franchise gets a reboot of sorts, with younger comedian Brandon T. Jackson (Tropic Thunder) joining him for more crude sight gags that take broad swipes at womanhood and people of size. Lawrence and Jackson are father and son who both disguise themselves as large women while on an undercover FBI mission to investigate a murder at an all-girls school. Critical reception is overwhelmingly negative, but the movie proved popular enough at the U.S. box office back in February that they'll probably keep making these. It's only at SF cinemas. Rated 13+.


Tomorrow’s Joe (Ashita no Joe) – The 1960s manga that spawned a 1970s anime series gets a live-action adaptation. Set in 1960s Japan, it stars singer Tomoshita "Yamapi" Yamashita as a teenage hoodlum in a detention center who has talent that's spotted by an alcoholic ex-boxer (Teruyuki Kagawa). In Japanese with English and Thai subtitles at Apex Siam Square. Rated 13+.

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Also showing


Journey Through ASEAN – Two more movies dealing with children and family issues in Southeast Asia are featured in the Film Kawan film series at TK Park at Central World. At 2pm on Saturday it's Laskar Pelangi (The Rainbow Troops) by Indonesian director Riri Riza. The box-office-hit childhood drama deals with 10 schoolboys growing up in the 1970s as they struggle with poverty in their village on a tin-mining island. At 2pm on Sunday there will be a screening of Moving to Mars, a documentary about two families of refugees from Burma, tracking their journeys from a camp on the Thai-Burmese border to their new homes in the U.K. The screenings are in Mini Theater 1 in TK Park on the eighth floor of CentralWorld.


Flandres – Bruno Dumont’s romance and war drama won the Grand Prix du Jury in 2006. It’s about young guy enjoys countryside walks and sex in the hedgerows with his girlfriend. He loves her, but can't quite bring himself to say they are a couple. That leads to problems later. And then the guy is shipped out to fight in some unnamed near-future European war. Critical reception is generally positive, with praise for the beautiful cinematography and convincing portrayals. Screens on Wednesday, May 4 as part of the "Special Festival de Cannes" at the Alliance Francais Bangkok, every Wednesday until May 25.

Bangkok Cinema Scene special: Journey through ASEAN, April 27-May 8, 2011

TK Park, the government-sponsored educational media center on the eighth floor of CentralWorld, is back to running regular programs after a closure caused by the fires at the shopping center last year.

This week, TK Park teams up with Film Kawan for the Journey Through ASEAN film series, with a line-up of five youth-oriented movies from across Southeast Asia, starting on Wednesday (April 27).

The screenings are in Mini Theater 1. For details, call (02) 270 1350-4 visit www.TKPark.or.th.

Here's the program:

Mukhsin – This 2006 drama is the third entry in Malaysian director Yasmin Ahmad's Orked trilogy about cross-cultural romances and family dynamics. It has the 10-year-old girl Orked falling in love for the first time when Mukhsin, a 12-year-old boy from a traditional Muslim family, moves to town. Screens at 4.30 on Wednesday, April 27.

Laskar Pelangi (The Rainbow Troops) – Indonesian director Riri Riza's childhood drama deals with 10 schoolboys growing up in the 1970s as they struggle with poverty in their village on a tin-mining island. The movie was a major sensation at the Indonesian box office and won many awards. Screens at 2pm on Saturday, April 30.

Moving to Mars – This British documentary deals with two families of refugees from Burma, tracking their journeys from a camp on the Thai-Burmese border to their new homes in the U.K. Screens at 2pm on Sunday, May 1.

Buddha's Lost Children – This 2006 Dutch documentary is about a Thai Buddhist monk who uses his patience and faith (as well as his Muay Thai skills) to help orphaned children, fight drug abuse and preserve a vanishing way of life. Screens at 2pm on Saturday, May 7.

Homerun – This heartfelt 2003 family drama is directed by popular Singaporean comedian and filmmaker Jack Neo. It's a remake of an Iranian film, Children of Heaven, and is about a poor brother and sister and their adventures over a lost pair of shoes. It's set in 1965, against the backdrop of Singapore's independence from Malaysia and also contains satire about relations between the two countries. Screens at 2pm on Sunday, May 8.

Bangkok Cinema Scene: Movies opening April 21-27, 2011

Winter's Bone


Jennifer Lawrence gives an Oscar-nominated performance in Winter's Bone as a plucky 17-year-old Ozark Mountain girl who's in charge of caring for her family – a 6-year-old sister, 12-year-old brother and a mentally ill mother.

Her no-good, meth-cooking daddy has run off and is due in court. The family's rural homestead has been put up as collateral for bail, and the sheriff (Garret Dillahunt) comes by, saying if the father doesn't turn up for his trial, the family will be evicted.

With no other place to go, and desperate to keep her family together, the girl takes it upon herself to track down her dad. It's a harrowing, life-threatening adventure that takes her into the dark, grisly methamphetamines underworld of the rugged and impoverished Ozarks region of middle America.

Directed by Debra Granik, Winter's Bone is a small-budget independent production. It had a limited release in the U.S. last year. It's won many awards, including the Grand Jury Prize for Dramatic Film at the Sundance Film Festival. In addition to the best-actress nomination at this year's Academy Awards, it was also up for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor for John Hawkes as the girl's Uncle Teardrop.

Critical reception is overwhelmingly positive. "Bleak, haunting, and yet still somehow hopeful, Winter's Bone is writer-director Debra Granik's best work yet – and it boasts an incredible, star-making performance from Jennifer Lawrence," says the consensus. It's only at the Lido in Siam Square.

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Also opening


Limitless – The Hangover star Bradley Cooper heads up this thriller that is marketed on the premise "what if a pill could make you rich and powerful?" He's an author who overcomes writer's block with the help of a secret new drug that boosts his brain power. He's soon addicted and uses his new superhuman abilities to play the stock market and get rich. He catches the eye of a mega-mogul (Robert De Niro) but also attracts the unwanted attention of criminals who'll do anything to get their hands on his drug stash. Neil Burger directs, and Abbie Cornish also stars. Critical reception is mixed, leaning to positive, with critics saying the script is uneven but it has "plenty of visual panache, and Bradley Cooper makes for a charismatic star". It's only at SF World Cinema at CentralWorld and at SFX The Emporium. Rated 15+.


Ironclad – Paul Giamatti has played hot-tempered characters before, like in Sideways and Shoot 'Em Up, and he blusters as he chews up the scenery in this historical action drama, playing the tyrannical King John. Having been forced to sign the Magna Carta granting men their basic freedoms, he's going back on his deal and has hired Danish mercenaries to help him take back his power. The key is Rochester Castle, where a member of the Knights Templar (James Purefoy) leads a small ragtag band of rebels, among them Brian Cox and Jason Flemyng. They have to hold the castle at all costs against an overwhelming force. Kate Mara also stars in this British production, filmed in Wales, and directed by Jonathan English. Because Ironclad hasn't yet had a major release in the U.S., critical reception is too early to gauge. But the movie was screened at the recent ActionFest in the U.S., where it won praise for its wildly bloody and violent castle-siege scenes. Rated 18+.


Ramayana: The Epic – Made in India, this computer-animated feature cartoon depicts the epic tale of Lord Rama from his birth until his battle with Ravan at Sri Lanka and the liberation of Sita. It's a well-known tale, with the Ramayana adapted into Thai folklore as the Ramakien. Five years went into the production of this animated feature, with more than 400 crewmembers involved. Critical reception is mixed. Confusingly, this film's promotional materials advertise it as 3D, and indeed the type of animation is 3D computer animation, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's a 3D film that you need special glasses for. Rated G.


Scream 4 – Ten years have passed and Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), now a self-help book author, returns home to Woodsboro on the last stop of her book tour. She reconnects with her friends Sheriff Dewey and his wife Gale (David Arquette and Courtney Cox). It's also the 15th anniversary of the first Woodsboro Murders and unfortunately Sidney's appearance also brings about the return of the masked serial killer Ghostface. Wes Craven is back as director with series creator Kevin Williamson writing the script. In addition to original trilogy stars Campbell, Arquette and Cox, new faces Emma Roberts and Hayden Panettiere also star. Critical reception is mixed, the consensus being that it's "undeniably an improvement over its predecessor, with just enough meta humor and clever kills." After a sneak-preview run last week, Scream 4 is now on general release. Rated 18+.

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Also showing


Cyrano de Bergerac – Gérard Depardieu stars in this 1990 adaptation of an 1897 stage production that was in turn loosely based on an actual historical figure. Depardieu won the best actor award at Cannes in 1990 (as well as an Academy Award and tons of other prizes) for his portrayal as the storied swashbuckling romantic poet with a big nose. Jean-Paul Rappeneau directs. Anne Brochet and Vincent Perez also star. Critical reception is overwhelmingly positive. It screens on Wednesday, April 27, as part of the "Special Festival de Cannes" at the Alliance Francais Bangkok every Wednesday until May 25.