Bangkok Cinema Scene: Movies opening March 17-23, 2016

Jane Got a Gun

Natalie Portman is a young frontierswoman in Jane Got a Gun. Although she's got plenty of sand, she has to get help from her gunslinger ex-boyfriend when her farm and her husband (Noah Emmerich) come under attack from a land-grabbing villain.

Amazing that this movie got made. The gritty, female-focused western was initiated as a project for British director Lynne Ramsay (We Need to Talk about Kevin). But things apparently weren't to Ramsay's liking, and she departed the production on the first day of shooting. A game of musical chairs then took place as cast members departed and were replaced and others changed roles.

Australian actor Joel Edgerton was originally to play the villain, with Michael Fassbender as Jane's gunslinger ex. But Fassbender left and Edgerton moved into the hero role.

Edgerton brought in Gavin O'Connor, who he'd worked with on the fight picture Warrior, to direct.

Meanwhile, Jude Law, who was to be the new villain, left because he only wanted to work with Ramsay. Bradley Cooper was then cast, but didn't stick around. So Ewan McGregor ended up in the villain role.

Critical reception has been mixed, but it should do the trick if you are a fan of westerns like Unforgiven, True Grit or The Homesman. Rated 15+

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Also opening

Triple 9 – Corrupt cops who are under the thumb of the Russian mob are forced into pulling off the perfect heist. To do so, they come up with a plan that involves setting up a rookie cop to be killed. A very violent police thriller, Triple 9 is directed by John Hillcoat, an Australian whose previous uncompromising, unrelenting and bleak efforts have included The Proposition, The Road and Lawless. The ensemble cast is toplined by Casey Affleck, with support from Chiwetel Ejiofor, Woody Harrelson, Anthony Mackie, Aaron Paul, Norman Reedus, Michael K. Williams and Clifton Collins Jr. Kate Winslet is the Russian mob boss. Critical reception is mixed, but if you're a fan of Hillcoat's previous efforts and aren't squeamish about violence, this is one to see. Rated 20-

Bangkok 13 (บางกอก 13 เมือง-ฅน-ตาย) – Veteran producer-director Dulyasit Niyomkul helms this horror thriller about a young woman (Tarntara Rungruang) who has a supernatural sixth sense. Haunted by a childhood secret, she hopes to find answers when she joins the cast of a reality TV series that sends contestants into 13 spooky places in Bangkok. Rated 13+

Ride Along 2 – Diminutive motor-mouth Kevin Hart reteams with hip-hop tough-guy Ice Cube in the second entry in director Tim Story's buddy-cop franchise. The original set up had Hart's wannabe cop trying too hard to impress his brother-in-law, a streetwise veteran lawman. So it's just more that sort of thing. Critical reception is mostly negative. Rated 13+

Friend Request – Social-media dangers are depicted in this German-produced thriller, in which was popular college student "unfriends" an acquaintance, which causes her to be cursed by a demonic presence that is killing her closest pals. Alycia Debnam-Carey, William Moseley and Connor Paolo star. Simon Verhoeven (no relation to Dutch director Paul Verhoeven) directs. Rated 15+

Jeruzalem – American tourists visiting religious sites in Jerusalem have to fight for their survival when the Holy City becomes the epicenter of the apocalypse. An Israeli-produced thriller, it's directed by the Paz brothers. Rated 15+

Retribution – And here's a Spanish-made thriller, in which a bank executive receives an anonymous phone call informing him he has just a few hours to obtain a large sum of money or a bomb under his seat will explode. Rated 13+

Hana's Miso Soup – Just as she is ready to start her life, a young woman is hit with a cancer diagnosis, but, miraculously, she becomes pregnant. And when the baby is born, the young cancer-stricken mother becomes determined to teach her daughter everything she knows, including how to make tasty, healthful miso soup. In Japanese with English and Thai subtitles at Apex Siam Square, House on RCA and SFW CentralWorld. Rated 13+

Kapoor and Sons – Summoned by their 90-year-old grandfather (Rishi Kapoor), estranged bickering brothers Rahul Kapoor (Fawad Khan) and Arjun Kapoor (Sidharth Malhotra) return to their childhood home. There, they fall in love with the same woman (Alia Bhatt). It's in Hindi with English and Thai subtitles at Major Cineplex Sukhumvit, Rama III and Pattaya. Opens Friday.

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Also showing

Thailand-China Film Culture Week – Forty years of diplomatic ties and increasingly cozier relations are celebrated in Thailand-China Film Culture week, organized by the Guangxi Film Group Company Limited, SF cinemas and the Thai-Chinese Culture Union. Running from tomorrow until Sunday at SF World Cinema at CentralWorld, the event will have five contemporary Chinese films playing alongside two critically acclaimed indie Thai films. Here is the line-up:

• The Nightingale – An eight-year-old girl and her grandfather walk from Beijing to his rural hometown in Guilin in order to fulfill promise to his dead wife, to deliver a caged nightingale bird. From 2013, The Nightingale made the rounds of film festivals in 2014 and last year, and won a few awards.
• Liu San Jie – From 1978, here's a classic from the Guangxi library. Touted as China’s first musical movie, it's the story of a travelling folksinger, Third Sister Liu, who inspires villagers wherever she goes.
• The Dancing Young – High-school students who are crazy about dancing look for their big break as they try to balance the activity with their studies and social lives.
• Monkey King: Hero Is Back – The hero of Chinese literature and legend gets another outing in animated form in a story of a special child who unknowingly releases the Monkey King from a 500-year curse. He pays back the kid by fighting the evil monster who have taken over his village.
• Saving Mr. Wu – Andy Lau toplines this taut, fact-based thriller about a Hong Kong actor who is kidnapped in China by four criminals posing as police. The real cops have 24 hours to come up with a ransom to save the guy. Sheng Deng (Police Story: Lockdown and Little Big Soldier) directs. It was nominated for two awards at last year's Golden Horse Film Festival and has scored positive reviews.
• Eternity (ที่รัก, Tee Rak) – Award-winning Thai indie writer-director Sivaroj Kongsakul recounts a rural Thai-Chinese upbringing in this haunting, heartfelt drama that was inspired by the death of his father and the romance of his parents. It won the Tiger Award at the 2010 International Film Festival Rotterdam and also took prizes in Deauville and Hong Kong.
• W. – Chonlasit Upanigkit, a young filmmaker who sought out for talent in the film-editing suite, made his directorial debut with the enigmatic W., which was his student film. Originally three hours long, it was trimmed down to its two-hour bare essence and won critical acclaim in 2014. It's the story of a disoriented young woman who is thrown into the deep end of college life.

There's actually a screening of the musical tonight, but it is invitation only. Public screenings begin tomorrow night at SF World. Tickets are free and will be handed out 30 minutes before the shows – get your place in line well before that ensure you have a decent seat. For the schedule, please see the SF Cinemas website.

The Friese-Greene Club – Heineken? Don't even think about it ordering one if you see Blue Velvet at the Club tonight. It's part of monthlong tribute to cult director David Lynch. Tomorrow's "controversial" film is 2005's Hard Candy, about a teenage girl seeking revenge against a pedophile. And Saturday has the second of three screenings this month of Trump: What's the Deal?, a revealing 1999 documentary that is reportedly "the movie Trump doesn't want you to see." It costs 150 baht. Sunday has another of the films shot by the late British cinematographer Douglas Slocombe, the ahead-of-its-time dystopian sci-fi sports drama Rollerball, from 1975. And next Wednesday is another entry from Denmark's Dogme 95 school, Lars von Trier's Dancer in the Dark, starring Bjork. Shows are at 8pm. The FGC is down an alley next to the under-renovation Queen's Park Imperial Hotel on Sukhumvit Soi 22. For more details, check the club's Facebook page.

Alliance Française – There are two movies to list this week – a "kids' movie" on Saturday and the usual Wednesday night screening. First up at 2pm on Saturday is The Painting (Le tableau), which has characters in an unfinished painting coming into conflict. Three of them team up for an adventure in which they leave the painting in search of the artist. And then the next usual Wednesday night screening will be Party Girl, a 2014 comedy-drama about an ageing nightclub hostess who decides to settle down and get married.

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Take note

Way too many movies to deal with this week, as distributors and cinema chains work to get a few titles off their books and clear the decks ahead of next week, when the main focus will be on Warner Bros' big superhero tentpole, Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice.

Meanwhile, the Salaya International Documentary Film Festival is continuing to offer updates on on its sixth edition, which runs from March 26 to April 3 at the Bangkok Art and Culture Center and the Film Archive in Salaya, Nakhon Pathom. Watch the Facebook page as details emerge.

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

The Help


One of this summer's most critically acclaimed movies in the U.S., The Help is about a young white woman in Jackson, Mississippi, who starts a secret writing project with a pair of black maids – a risky proposition because of societal rules in the American South of the 1960s.

Emma Stone is Skeeter, the college-graduate writer, with Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer as her partners in the project, which explores the daily lives of homemakers and their hired help. Bryce Dallas Howard is the town's snooty racist ringleader. Jessica Chastain, Allison Janney, Sissy Spacek and Cicely Tyson also star.

The movie is adapted from the best-selling 2009 novel by Kathryn Stockett and is directed by Tate Taylor.

Critical reception is mostly positive. "Though arguably guilty of glossing over its racial themes, The Help rises on the strength of its cast – particularly Viola Davis, whose performance is powerful enough to carry the film on its own," is the consensus. The Help was also a surprise hit at the U.S. box office.

It's at Paragon Cineplex.

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Also opening


Tower Heist – The employees of a high-rise luxury condo want to take revenge by stealing from the Wall Street swindler who stole their retirement funds. They know nothing about crime, so they hire a streetwise ex-con to help them with the caper. Directed by recently resigned Oscar producer Brett Ratner, Tower Heist has long been in the works, first hatched six years ago as an idea by Eddie Murphy, who wanted to make an "all-black Ocean's Eleven". Now, many rewrites later, with Ben Stiller, Casey Affleck and Matthew Broderick among the bumbling gang of thieves and Alan Alda as the penthouse tenant, it ain't that. But Murphy is still in the movie, playing the smart-alec ex-convict, and Gabourey Sidibe from last year's much-acclaimed Precious is a saucy maid. Critical reception is surprisingly positive. Rated 13+.


Dirty Girl – A troubled and promiscuous high-school student (Juno Temple) in 1980s Norman, Oklahoma, is assigned to the special-education class, where she strikes up an unlikely frienship with a shy gay guy (Jeremy Dozier). They embark on a road trip to Fresno, California, in search of the girl's birth father. Milla Jovovich, William H. Macy, Mary Steenburgen and Dwight Yoakam also star. Written and directed by Abe Sylvia, the coming-of-age comedy premiered at last year's Toronto International Film Festival. Critical reception is mixed. At Major Cineplex (including Paragon, Paradise, Esplanade, EGV).


Racing Love a.k.a. Mid-Mile(มิดไมล์) – Comedian Kohtee Aramboy stars in this motorsports comedy as a tuk-tuk driver who joins a car-racing team. Kom Chuanchuen also stars along with Alexander Mackie and Atsadaphon "Green AF5" Siriwatthonkun. Rated 15+.


Siang Thao Fah Naa Thao Klong – Musician Lek Carabao along with actress "Kratae" Supaksorn Chaimongkol and others explore the tradition music of Thailand's four regions. Pham Rangsri directs. Screenings at 7 nightly until November 16 at House on RCA.

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Also showing


Lemon Tree – A Palestinian widow puts up a fight when the new Israeli defence minister moves in next door and orders her citrus orchard cut down because it poses a security threat. Lemon Tree screens at 8 tonight (Thursday, November 10) at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand. Directed by Eran Riklis, the 2008 drama won many prizes, including best actress for Hiam Abbass and best screenplay at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. Admission is Bt150 for non-members. Call (02) 652 05801 or visit www.FCCThai.com.

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Take note


In the past week, the flood has closed Major Cineplex Ratchayothin and Central Lad Phrao, home to an SFX cinema. According to The Nation, Major Cineplex has closed 12 branches because of the flooding.

The waters, keep bottled up on Bangkok's northern edge by permanent floodwalls and a line of sandbags of unusual size (or SOUSs for short), have seeped in and are moving ever-so-slowly closer to central Bangkok. They threaten to hit the Victory Monument area in a week or so. The water is also creeping through the sewers, rising back up in the eastern suburbs, causing what is now minor flooding along Srinakarin Road.

Due to the amount of water still looming behind barriers in northern Bangkok, the flood disaster is expected to continue for several more weeks. It will likely take a month or two to drain it all.

Avoid flooded areas if at all possible. If you feel you have to go to a movie, consult multiple sources of information to ensure the area you're heading to won't be underwater by the time the movie lets out.

I've been keeping tabs on the flood on Twitter, by following the #ThaiFloodEng hashtag. Like Twitter in general, you have to sift through a lot of nonsense for nuggets of useful information, but at the moment I don't know where else to look. And a good source of practical information about the flood can be found in the videos by Roo Su Flood, the latest of which addresses panic buying in the supermarkets.

Bangkok Cinema Scene: Movies opening October 5-12, 2011

Melancholia


Apocalypse looms as newlyweds are celebrating in Melancholia, a much-acclaimed psychological disaster drama by the controversial director Lars von Trier.

Kirsten Dunst stars as the depressed bride at the sumptuous party with her new husband (Alexander Skarsgård). It's taking place at the home of her sister (Charlotte Gainsbourg) and brother-in-law (Kiefer Sutherland).

Meanwhile, the rogue planet Melancholia is on a collision course with Earth

Melancholia premiered in the main competition this year's Cannes Film Festival, where Dunst received the Best Actress Award. However, the film was overshadowed by comments from Von Trier during a press conference in which he said he sympathasized with Hitler, causing Dunst to gape at him in disbelief. The festival then declared him persona non grata. And he may face criminal charges back in France over those comments.

The movie is generally critically acclaimed.

At Apex Siam Square and from Saturday at SFX the Emporium. Rated 13+.

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Also opening


50/50 – Joseph Gordon-Levitt portrays a young man diagnosed with a rare form of cancer who's given a 50/50 chance of living. Determined to beat the illness, he approaches life with a sense of humor and renewed vigor, even has he's going through arduous chemo treatments. Seth Rogen stars as his best friend with Angelica Huston as his mother and Bryce Dallas Howard as his faithless girlfriend. Anna Kendrick, Philip Baker Hall and Matt Frewer also star. Directed by Jonathan Levine (All the Boys Love Mandy Lane, The Wackness), the fact-based story is by screenwriter Will Reiser and is partly based on Reiser's bout with cancer. The comedy-drama is generally well received, with the critical consensus being that it's "a good-hearted film about a difficult topic ... maneuver[ing] between jokes and drama with surprising finesse." It's at House, Paragon Cineplex and SFW CentralWorld. Rated 18+.


The Sorcerer and the White Snake – Jet Li stars in this Chinese epic martial-arts fantasy. He's a kung-fu sorcerer who makes it his mission in life to root out evil demons and monsters. He encounters one in a plague-stricken town – the White Snake, who's taken the form of a woman (Eva Huang). She's sacrificed everything in order to help the man she loves, the local herbalist (Raymond Lam). Charlene Choi also stars as the Green Snake. Tony Ching directs. The Sorcerer and the White Snake premiered out-of-competition at last month's Venice Film Festival. It's just now opening outside of China, so reviews are hard to come by, though one at Singapore's MovieXclusive is generally favorable. Chinese soundtrack only at SFW CentralWorld; elsewhere Thai-dubbed. Rated 15+.


Rascals – Ajay Devgn and Sanjay Dutt are competing conmen trying to outdo each other in a series of outlandish schemes. Arjun Rampal and Kangana Ranaut also star. Directed by David Dhawan, this Bollywood comedy was entirely filmed in Thailand. The plot bears remarkable similarity to the Steve Martin-Michael Caine comedy Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. It was recently the subject of a lawsuit in India, though not over the similarity, but due to some dispute about the financing. It's in Hindi with English subtitles at Major Cineplex Sukhumvit (Ekamai) on Friday at 8, Sunday at 7.30 and Monday at 8 and at Major Cineplex Central Rama III on Saturday at 8 and Sunday at 4. Visit BollywoodThai.com or call (02) 225-7500 or (089) 488-2620.


Love Summer: Rak Talon on the Beach (Love Summer รักตะลอน ออน เดอะ บีช) – A group of Thai youngsters have an adventurous roadtrip to a beach destination and along the way they befriend a bikini-clad Japanese actress (Yui Tatsumi) and a bearded foreigner named Bob (Jonathan Samson). "Bai Fern" Pimchanok Leuwisetpaibul, Tana Eamniyom and Tanwa Suriyachak star. Trilak Makmeongpad directs. Rated 15+.


Doraemon the Movie 2011: Nobita and the New Steel Troops – The little boy Nobita and his earless robotic cat friend Doreamon build a giant robot that turns into a weapon in the fight against an invading robot army. There have been more than 30 of these annual Doreamon movies, based on the long-running Japanese manga and anime series by Fujiko F. Fujio. This is a remake of a 1986 entry in the franchise and is the first one in 3D, though it appears the Thai release is not in 3D. Thai-dubbed. Rated G.

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Also showing


In Memory of Mitr Chaibancha – Forty-one years ago this Saturday, October 8, superstar actor Mitr Chaibancha fell to his death from a helicopter while making Insee Thong (Golden Eagle). As they do each year in memory of Mitr, the Thai Film Archive will have a special program including some of Mitr's movies. They'll screen the 1966 comedy Sam Kler Jer Long Hon (สามเกลอเจอล่องหน, "three friends meet the invisible man"). Following lunch, at 2pm, actress Butsakon Sakonrat, who co-starred with Mitr in some other movies, will have her hand-and-foot impressions made in the Star Terrace outside the Sri Salaya Theatre. And at 3.30, there will be a biographical documentary on Mitr's life.


Eyes Wide Open (Tu n’aimeras point) – A married Orthodox Jewish father of four falls in love with a 22-year-old male student in this 2009 Israeli-French-German drama by Haim Tabakman. It screened in the Un Certain Regard category at the Cannes Film Festival and is generally well-received. by critics. It's in French with English subtitles at the Alliance Francais Bangkok at 7.30pm on Wednesday, October 12.

Bangkok Cinema Scene: Movies opening January 20-26, 2011

Baby Arabia


A joyfully spiritual documentary that should get your toes tapping, Baby Arabia chronicles the Thai-Muslim musical ensemble that's been entertaining audiences around Bangkok for 35 years.

Directed by Panu Aree, Kong Rithdee and Kaweenipon Ketprasit, the documentary follows the familiar pattern of other rockumentaries, starting off with a performance, showing the band traveling to their gigs – including a wedding that's up a small canal – and then profiles the key members of the bands in their daily lives.

Key members include accordionist Supachai "Geh Baby" Luanwong, who founded the band back in the 1980s when the the Arab music boom was sparked in the Thai-Muslim community by folks bringing back LPs from Mecca. There's also lead guitarist Umar Noraheem, who sings the Arab lyrics and yodels.

There's also two female lead singers, the husky voiced Jameelah Baby and Suriyah Madtorhead, who coaches the band's young back-up singer/dancers.

The band members are careful to point out that their faith comes first, and they hope that's the message their music brings.

Baby Arabia premiered at last year's Thai Short Film and Video Festival, was screened at the Vancouver film fest and has had a few other appearances around Thailand. It starts a limited run this week at House on RCA. Rated G.

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Biutiful


Amores Perros and Babel director Alejandro González Iñárritu continues to explore dark themes in Biutiful, a drama that's set in Spain and stars Javier Bardem.

He plays Uxbal, a figure in Barcelona's underworld who's also a devoted dad. Suffering from cancer, he's seeking to put things right before he dies.

Biutiful premiered in competition at last year's Cannes Film Festival and is Mexico's submission to the Academy Awards. It's also nominated in the U.K.'s Bafta Awards and Bardem is a best-actor nominee. Critical reception is leaning to positive. At the Scala.

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Also opening


Lud See Lud (หลุดสี่หลุด or หลุด 4 หลุด) – Chookiat Sakveerakul, Kongkiat Khomsiri and Phawit Panangkasiri bring their own styles to stories scripted or co-scripted by thriller writer Ekkasith Thairath, who rounds out the foursome with a directorial debut of his own in Sahamongkol Film International's horror omnibus. Eakasith, writer of such films as 13 Beloved, Body #19 and Who R U, offers Grian Laang Lok (เกรียน ล้าง โลก, a.k.a. Clean-Up Day), a short-but-sweet teaser to start things off. Alexander Rendel, the young actor who starred in Chookiat's 2004 debut feature Evil (Pisaj), stars, playing one of a group of guys hanging and talking about a virus to end the world. Kongkiat, who previously helmed Five Star's Slice, Muay Thai Chaiya and had a hand in the Art of the Devil series, directs the darkly comic Ran Kong Kwan Peua Kon Tee Kun Gliat (ร้าน ของขวัญ เพื่อ คน ที่ คุณ เกลียด , The Gift Shop for the Ones You Hate) stars "Boy" Pakorn Chatborirak as an office worker who's just been promoted to manager, and he receives some congratulatory gifts that aren't all that nice. Phawit, directing Keun Jit Lut (คืน จิต หลุด, Eerie Nights) brings the same film-noir touch as in last year's Buddhist crime thriller Nak Prok (Shadow of the Naga) in a similar tale of three criminals – led by Ananda Everingham, still in his angry bad-ass Red Eagle mode – on the run from the cops. Bad karma eventually catches up. And 13 Beloved and Love of Siam director Chukiat directs the colorful all-out comedy segment Hoo Aa Gong (ฮู อา กง), about a wacky Thai-Chinese family dealing with the spirit of their grandfather, who on his deathbed asked that his corpse be preserved "until ..." There's an English-subtitled trailer at the Sahamongkol Media channel. Rated 18+.


The Child's Eye – The Pang brothers try their hand at 3D – Hong Kong's first – with this new installment to their Eye series of ghost thrillers. Here, a group of young Hong Kong travelers are stranded in Bangkok by the political protests. A taxi driver takes them to a creepy old hotel where they experience all kinds of supernatural phenomena. Rainie Yang and Shawn Yue star. Critical reception is mixed. In 3D. Rated 15+.


Alpha and Omega – This 3D-animated talking animals movie is about wolves at opposite ends of the social order – an "alpha" shewolf who takes her duties to the pack seriously (voiced by Hayden Panettiere) and a slacker male wolf (Justin Long). They find themselves stranded in the wilderness far from their home territory and have an adventure with all sorts of wacky new friends. Dennis Hopper, Danny Glover and Christina Ricci are some of the other celebrity voices. Critical reception is mostly negative, but your kids won't care. In 3D. Rated G.


No One Killed Jessica – Raj Kumar Gupta directs this fact-based crime drama about a reporter (Rani Mukerji) teaming up with the sister (Vidya Balan) of a murdered model in order to bring the case to justice. Screens at 8pm on Saturday at Major Cineplex Sukhumvit (Ekamai) and at 4pm on Sunday at Major Cineplex Rama III. Bollywood Thai also brings back the Punjabi comedy Yamla Pagla Deewana at 8 on Saturday and at 4 Sunday at Major Rama III (yes, two Bollywood movies at Major Rama III!) and at 7.30 on Sunday at Major Ekamai. Call (089) 488 2620.

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Also showing


Salaya International Documentary Film Festival – The Film Archive (Public Organization) in cooperation with the Thai Film Foundation organizes the first Salaya International Documentary Film Festival offering more than 20 Asian documentaries until Sunday at the Thai Film Archive in Salaya, Nakhon Pathom. Among the highlights is a tribute to Japanese director Ogawa Shinsuke with the screening of his most acclaimed work, 1968's Summer in Narita, the 1971 follow-up Narita: Peasants of the Second Fortress as well as his 210-minute epic from 1982, A Japanese Village. There's also short films from acclaimed Thai director Uruphong Raksasad. Check the full schedule here or see the Facebook events page.


French Open Air Cinema Festival – The Embassy of France and the Alliance Française bring French films to Phra Arthit Road's Santi Chai Prakan Park this weekend with the groundbreaking French New Wave classic A Bout de Souffle (Breathless) on Friday, the 2007 comedy whodunit L’Heure Zéro (Towards Zero) and the family comedy Les Enfants de Timpelbach (Trouble at Timpetill) starring Gerard Depardieu and Carole Bouquet on Sunday. Show times are at 7, all in French with English subtitles. Call (02) 670 4231 or check the Alliance Française website for more details.


Chulalongkorn University International Film Festival – The annual DVD-screening series of acclaimed foreign films starts back up on Monday with Eyes Wide Open, an Israeli drama about a taboo romance between ultra-orthodox Jewish men – a married father of four and a 20-year-old student. Next Wednesday's show is from Palestine, The Time That Remains, director Elia Suleiman’s semi-autobiographical account of his family, inspired by his father’s diaries, starting from when he was a resistance fighter in 1948, and by his mother’s letters to family members who were forced to leave the country. 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.


Krabat – Part of the annual open-air film series at the Goethe-Institut Bangkok until February 22, this coming Tuesday's show is a 2008 fantasy. David Kross and Daniel Brühl star in this Harry Potter-like supernatural thriller about boys learning sorcery. It's based on a 1971 book by Otfried Preußler, which was first published in English as The Satanic Mill and and republished in 2000 as The Curse of the Darkling Mill. The show time is at 7.30. Call (02) 287 0942-4 or check the Goethe-Institut website.


La grande séduction (Seducing Doctor Lewis) – Jean-François Pouliot directs this 2003 Canadian romantic comedy about a tiny fishing village that's seeking revitalization by luring a new factory. to do so, they need a new town doctor. With English subtitles at 7.30 on Wednesday, January 26 at the Alliance Française.

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Take note



The Social Network was the top winner at the Golden Globe Awards, taking the prizes for best drama, screenplay for Aaron Sorkin, director David Fincher and the score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. In observance of the win, Bangkok cinemas have brought back the movie for a revival run.

Other movies winning Globes included The King's Speech (best actor for Colin Firth), Black Swan (best actress for Natalie Portman) and The Fighter (best supporting actor and actress for Christian Bale and Melissa Leo).

The Fighter opens next week, and it's in sneak previews this weekend at some Major Cineplex branches and at Apex Siam Square.

Also coming to Bangkok is The King's Speech, at Apex Siam Square on February 3. And a Bangkok run is rumored for the ballet psychological thriller Black Swan.

Also getting an extended run thanks to an awards win is Eternity: Director's Cut, which is continuing at House on RCA. The period romantic drama made a breathtaking sweep at the Kom Chad Luek Awards, winning in five out of the seven categories: best movie, director and screenplay for ML Bhandevop Devakul and best actor and actress for Ananda Everingham and Ploy Chermarn.

Bangkok Cinema Scene special: Chulalongkorn University International Film Festival 2011

The Department of Dramatic Arts, Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University, will screen nine award-winning films, none of which have been commercially released in Thailand.

Screenings are on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 5pm from January 24 to February 11 in the Mahachakrisirindhorn Building, ninth Floor.

Here's the schedule:

• Monday, January 24: Eyes Wide Open (Israel)
• Wednesday, January 26: The Time That Remains (Palestine)
• Friday, January 28: Women Without Men (Iran)
• Monday, January 31: The Secret in their Eyes (Argentina)
• Wednesday, February 2: The Maid (La Nana) (Chile)
• Friday, February 4: The Milk of Sorrow (Peru)
• Monday, February 7: White Material (France)
• Wednesday, February 9: Room and a Half (Russia)
• Friday, February 11: I Am Love (Italy)

Admission is free. All movies are screened in DVD format and have English subtitles.
Stay on after the film and share your opinions with film critics Kittisak Suvannapokhin, Nopamat Veohong and Kong Rithdee.

Free parking is next to Chulalongkorn University Auditorium or next to the Mahachakrisirindhorn Building (10 baht per hour).

Call (02) 218 4802 or visit ChulaFilmFest.multiply.com.