Bangkok Cinema Scene: Movies opening February 21-27, 2013

Flight

Denzel Washington is an airline pilot who is hailed as a hero after making a amazing aerobatic crash landing that saves most of his passengers and avoids killing people on the ground. But then he's in trouble when it's revealed he'd been drinking before he took the controls.

Flight is nominated for two Oscars – best actor for Denzel and original screenplay – and marks the triumphant return to live action by Back to the Future, Castaway and Forrest Gump director Robert Zemeckis, following his foray into a series of lackluster motion-capture-animated features. His sleight of hand in using visual effects still dazzles with the thrilling depiction of the plane crash and subsequent recreation of the disaster scene.

But this is more than a special-effects movie, as it gets into Denzel's troubled, alcoholic character.

Supporting Denzel is a stellar cast that includes Don Cheadle as his defense attorney, John Goodman as his drug-dealing buddy, Bruce Greenwood as an airline colleague and Melissa Leo as the lead crash investigator.

Critical reception is mostly positive.

Because of strong depictions of drugs and alcohol abuse as well as sex and nudity, Flight is rated 20- in Thai cinemas, requiring an ID check at the door.

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Also opening

Silver Linings Playbook – After opening last week in a sneak-preview run, writer-director David O. Russell's Oscar-nominated romantic comedy moves to a wider release this week. The story involves a young man (Bradley Cooper) who is released from a psychiatric facility. He's back living with his put-upon parents (Robert De Niro and Jacki Weaver). He wants to win back his wife, but she's put a restraining order on him. He then meets a young woman (Jennifer Lawrence) who's had a breakdown following the death of her husband. She offers to help him win back his wife if he’ll enter a dance competition with her. Along with Cooper, De Niro, Weaver and Lawrence – all nominated for Academy Awards (the first time since 1981's Reds that all four acting categories are covered by one film), the cast includes Chris Tucker, Julia Stiles and Shea Wigham. It's nominated for eight Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director. It's also won lots of other awards, including a Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild award for Lawrence and a BAFTA for Russell's screenplay. Critical reception is wildly positive. Rated 15+.

Snitch – Here's one of those rare occurrences of a movie starring action hero Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson that isn't a sequel or part of a franchise. In Snitch, the former pro wrestler is a father whose teenage son is jailed on drug charges. To clear his son's name, dear old dad agrees to go undercover for the Drug Enforcement Agency and take down the criminals who set his son up. Susan Sarandon, Barry Pepper, Benjamin Bratt and Michael Kenneth Williams also star. Snitch is just opening this week in U.S. theaters, so critical reception is only just now registering. Rated 15+.

Beautiful Creatures – This soapy supernatural Southern Gothic story of star-crossed lovers involves a young man (Alden Ehrenreich) who yearns to escape his small town. He falls for a mysterious new girl (Alice Englert) and together they uncover dark secrets about their immaculately costumed families, their history and their town. Jeremy Irons, Viola Davis, Emmy Rossum and Emma Thompson also star. Like the Twilight movies – and designed to appeal to the same swooning audience – it's adapted from a series of young adult novels, in this case the Caster Chronicles by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. Critical reception is mixed. Rated 15+.

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Also showing

German Film Week – German films screen at 7 nightly through Sunday at Paragon Cineplex. Tonight's feature is Storm, about an International Criminal Court prosecutor tracking down evidence against a Serbian war criminal. Tomorrow is Berlin is in Germany, about an East German convict who is released from prison to a newly reunified country. On Saturday, it's the comedy Whisky with Vodka, about a hard-drinking actor. The fest closes on Sunday with a live-action retelling of the story of Rapunzel. Tickets are free – follow the instructions on the Goethe Institut website to get them.

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Take note

The Clap! French Film Festival, which wrapped up yesterday, seemed to be a big success, judging from the near-capacity crowds at the two films I saw, The Rabbi's Cat and Polisse.

The French fest was different from the way other "national" film festivals are handled – selling tickets instead of giving them away. The advantage of the paid-ticket scheme is you can book your seat in advance at the box office instead of having to queue up in lengthy lines, which often start forming up to two hours before showtime. The paid system also tends to discourage the "balloon chasers" – cheapskates who only turn up when something is free.

Also last weekend was the Japanese Film Festival, which had a selection of food-themed titles and followed the free-ticket model. By all accounts, the queues to get those precious free tickets at the always-popular festival were quite long and many film lovers were turned away.

Free things are nice and the service-minded intent of the organizing embassies and cultural institutions is commendable, but you still pay a price in sore feet and legs from standing in a queue. I think I prefer to pay a modest fee at the ticket counter and find a comfortable place to sit while waiting for the show to start.

If you missed the French Film Festival, don't worry – at least three of the eight titles will get a general release in Bangkok cinemas. Michael Haneke's bleak Oscar-nominated elder-care drama Amour, which closed the festival, is set to bow next week. The romantic comedy Happiness Never Comes Alone (Un bonheur n'arrive jamais seu) starring Sophie Marceau is due on April 11, and the gritty crime drama Polisse, covering a Paris police Child Protection Unit, is set for April 25 at Apex Siam Square.

With many of the Oscar-nominated movies playing or having played in Bangkok, it might be fun to see which ones actually win. On TrueVisions channel 53, the E! network, the Academy Awards broadcast starts at 6am Bangkok time Monday with rebroadcasts later in the day.

Bangkok Cinema Scene: Movies opening February 14-20, 2013

A Good Day to Die Hard

Ah, Valentine's Day. The perfect day to grab a date and watch a movie with Bruce Willis blowing stuff up.

Willis is back as tough wise-cracking police officer John McClane for A Good Day to Die Hard, the fifth entry in the action-movie franchise that began in 1988.

For the first time, the events take place away from U.S. soil, with McClane visiting Moscow on vacation and to track down his estranged son Jack. The kid is played by up-and-coming Australian star Jai Courtney from Spartacus: Blood and Sand and most recently Jack Reacher.

It turns out Jack is a secret agent working to protect a government whistleblower. Together, father and son uncover a plot by terrorists to use uranium from the old Chernobyl nuclear plant to build weapons of mass destruction.

The director this time around is John Moore, who previously did the videogame adaptation Max Payne, the 2006 remake of The Omen, 2001's Behind Enemy Lines and the 2004 remake of Flight of the Phoenix. The script is by Skip Woods, writer  of The A-Team, Swordfish and other action films.

This is just now opening in the U.S., so critical reception is not yet registering. It opened in Singapore last week. MovieExclusive and Nutshell gave it mixed marks but mainly complained about the local authorities' censorship of the "yippie ki yays", which isn't the case for the Thai release. It's also at IMAX and IMAX Digital. Rated 15+.

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Also opening

Warm Bodies – "Zom rom com" is a term I think was first coined for British director Edgar Wright's genre-bending cult hit Shaun of the Dead, but it also applies to this new zombie romantic comedy in which a teenage zombie named R (Nicholas Hoult) starts to experience feelings after he comes to the aid of a cute girl (Teresa Palmer). Other zombies notice the star-crossed lovers and start to experience feelings as well. They also gain the ability to communicate through grunts and gestures. However, the leader of the human resistance against zombies (John Malkovich) is the girl's father and he has other ideas. And there are fierce even-more-dead skeletal creatures that pose a greater threat to both humans and zombies. Rob Corddry, Dave Franco and Analeigh Tipton also star. It's directed by Jonathan Levine, who previously did 50/50, The Wackness and All the Boys Love Mandy Lane. Critical reception is mostly positive. Rated 15+.

Bachelorette – Aiming to capture the success of Bridesmaids, this comedy about the drunken antics of women at a bride's bachelorette party stars Kirsten Dunst, Isla Fisher and Lizzy Caplan as three friends who are invited to the wedding of a chubby classmate who they used to make fun of in high school. She's played by Rebel Wilson, who came to fame for her quirky supporting role in Bridesmaids. James Marston and Adam Scott also star. This was in sneak previews last week and moves to a wider release this week at Major Cineplex outlets, including Paragon, Esplanade, Mega, etc. Critical reception is mixed. Rated 18+.

Safe Haven – Don't let director Lasse Hallström hear you call this a "chick flick". The king of melodrama, he actually hates that term. Nonetheless, this has all the makings of a "chick flick", being yet another adaptation of a gooey over-sentimental novel by Nicholas Sparks. Julianne Hough is a young woman on the run from a violent past. She arrives in a small North Carolina town with no intention of getting into another relationship, but the setting is so gosh-darn romantic, she can't help it. She falls for Josh Duhamel, a kind-hearted widower store-owner father of two kids. This doesn't come out in the U.S. until this week, and critical reception, so far, is mixed. Rated 13+.

Choice Khoo See Dee Tae Fun (Choice คู่ซี้ดีแต่ฝัน) – Musicians “Way” Prinya Intachai from the hip-hop group Thaitanium and Preeti "Bankk" Barameeanant from the Thai rock group Clash (not to be confused with the Clash) make their directorial debut and also star in this comedy about a pair of convenience-store clerks who dream of doing more with their lives. They face some tough choices after their store is robbed. Among the other stars turning up are "Sai" Inthira Jaroenpura, "Tao" Somchai Khemklad and Sirin "Cris" Horwang. Both the musicians have acted in films before, with Way playing a menacing tattooed monk in 2011's Mindfulness and Murder, among other films. And Bank starred in 2009's basketball-martial-arts thriller Fireball. Rated 15+.

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Also showing

Clap! French Film Festival – Bangkok movie-goers are spoiled for choice this week with three festivals going on. The Clap! French Film Festival started yesterday at SFX the Emporium and runs through next Wednesday, and overlaps with both the annual Japanese Film Festival at SFC Terminal 21 and German Film Week at Paragon Cineplex. Highlights of the French fest include tonight's free outdoor double-bill at Museum Siam of The Artist and Intouchables, starting at 7pm. Among this weekend's offerings are the 2011 Cannes Jury Prize winner Polisse, about the Child Protection Unit of the Paris police and the animated feature The Rabbi's Cat. Tickets are 120 baht (100 baht for students) at the box office – book them now – no need to queue for hours on end in hopes of getting a good seat. Please see the full line-up in a previous post.

Japanese Film Festival – Here's one of those "free" film festivals in which you pay the price in the time it takes to stand in line for the tickets. They are handed out 30 minutes before showtime but the lines often start forming well before then, so plan accordingly if you want to ensure a good seat. The Japanese fest offers one of the few times a year that Japanese films are screened in Bangkok with English subtitles – the rest of the year the regular Friday screenings at the Japan Foundation are generally Thai-subbed only. This year's festival, starting tomorrow and running through Sunday at SF Cinema City Terminal 21, offers seven food-themed movies. Please see the full line-up in a previous post
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German Film Week – Instead of having you queue up for an hour or two, the Goethe Institut offers an e-mail reservation system for its free festival – just follow the instructions on their website. This year's fest starts on Monday and runs through next Sunday, with seven films, one screening each night at 7 at Paragon Cineplex. Please see the full line-up in a previous post
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ABCD: Any Body Can Dance – Song and dance are a vital part of all Bollywood movies, so it seems strange that there aren't more movies that are actually about dance. Prabhu Deva stars as a guy who just wants to dance. That's it. Plus some great music. Billed as "India's first 3D dance film", it is indeed screening in 3D at Major Cineplex Sukhumvit, Major Rama III and Paragon. Rated G.

Special 26 – Akshay Kumar stars in this fact-based comedy-drama heist flick. It's inspired by a case from 1987 when men posing as Central Bureau of Investigation officers staged a daring robbery of a jewelry store in Mumbai. It's in Hindi with English and Thai subtitles at Major Cineplex Sukhumvit and Rama III.

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Take note

House cinema on RCA is closed from today until Sunday for a private event – auditions for "The Voice Kids".

Thanks to Art of the Bangkok Coffee and Movie Meetup Group for pointing out that the Major Cineplex group has "a Golden Ticket" promotion for its Oscar-nominated movies, offering tickets for 100 baht. I am not sure about what restrictions, if any, apply to this deal, but under the promotion, Major is bringing back Oscar-nominated movies that screened last year or earlier this year, such as The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Argo, Skyfall, Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom and Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master (which was also screening at House on RCA).

The deal also covers such Oscar-nominated coming attractions as Silver Linings Playbook and Flight. Michael Haneke's bleak elder-care drama Amour, which is the closer of the Clap! French Film Festival on February 20, moves to a regular theatrical release on February 28, according to Major's promotion.

There's also Lincoln, which has no definite date yet other than "coming soon".

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Sneak preview

Silver Linings Playbook – David O. Russell screenwrites and directs this romantic comedy starring Bradley Cooper as a bipolar man living with his parents after a stint in a psychiatric institution and a disastrous marriage. Trying to get back on his feet, he strikes up an odd friendship with a young widowed woman (Jennifer Lawrence) who also has issues. Robert DeNiro and Jacki Weaver are the guy's working-class parents and the supporting cast includes Chris Tucker. Silver Linings Playbook is nominated for eight Oscars, including best picture and best director as well as all four acting categories, a feat not matched since 1981's Reds (and DeNiro's first Oscar nom since 1991's Cape Fear). Wins this awards season include Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild awards for Lawrence and a BAFTA for best adapted screenplay, though Russell thought Lawrence should have won a BAFTA too. This is in sneak previews, with screenings from around 8pm at most multiplexes (including Apex Siam Square), before moving to a wider release next week. Rated 15+.

Bangkok Cinema Scene: Movies opening February 7-13, 2013

Jan Dara: The Finale

Director ML Bhandevanov Devakula wraps up his two-part adaptation of the epic story of lust, incest and sexual abuse in a noble family in the 1930s and '40s.

In Jan Dara: The Finale (จันดารา ปัจฉิมบท), Mario Maurer glues on a moustache, signifying that he's all grown up. But just who, and what, has he become?

After spending time in the provinces, exiled from his family's Bangkok mansion, he has learned the terrible truth behind his birth. He is urged by his family's matriarch (Radklao Amaradit) to return to Bangkok to claim his birthright and get revenge on his hateful stepfather (Sakkaraj Rerkthamrong).

But in taking revenge, Jan also lashes out against his friends and loved ones. It appears the circle of sex and violence from which he was spawned is never ending.

Ratha Po-ngam, Bongkot Kongmalai, Chaiyapol J. Poupart and Sho Nishino also star.

Adapted from a 1966 novel by Utsana Phleungtham, Jan Dara has been made into films before, most notably in 2001 by Nonzee Nimibutr. With censorship smears now replaced by ratings, Mom Noi thought the time was right to really exploit the story. However, despite the bodacious bare curves of actress Bongkot “Tak” Kongmalai, last year’s Jan Dara: The Beginning was greeted with yawns.

Despite rumors that director Mom Noi was going to make this installment even more explicit than last year's Rated 18+ part one, Jan Dara: The Finale is also rated 18+.

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Also opening

Bullet to the Head – The stream of flicks featuring ageing action stars continues unabated, and it's largely thanks to Sylvester Stallone who got things rolling again with The Expendables. Arnold Schwarzenegger is still stomping around on the big screens in the slick modern-day western The Last Stand, and Bruce Willis is coming up next week in the fifth Die Hard movie, A Good Day to Die Hard. A pulpy B-movie actioner that's adapted from a French graphic novel, Sly's Bullet to the Head is also a return for another action-movie veteran, director Walter Hill, the man behind such classics as The Warriors, The Long Riders and 48 Hrs. Having been producing and directing for mainly TV in recent years, notably the HBO series Deadwood, it's his first theatrical feature in more than a decade. Sly plays a hitman who teams up with a cop (Sung Kang) to bring down the killers of their respective partners. Critical reception is mixed, but it should appeal to fans of Stallone and the action genre. Rated 15+.

Lost in Thailand – The highest-grossing Chinese movie ever comes to Thai screens for this weekend's Chinese New Year. The low-budget road comedy was shot on the fly in various locations around Thailand. It's a loose sequel to 2010's Lost on Journey. Xu Zheng, who also directs, stars as a businessman and inventor of a new techonology. He comes to Thailand to find a company executive who is on a retreat. He's tailed by a unscrupulous rival (Huang Bo). Along the way, Xu Zheng falls in with a bumbling countryman (Wang Baoqiang). They experience the various things that other tourists in Thailand might encounter, like Buddhist temples, elephant rides, resort hotels, ladyboys and general culture shock. Critical reception is mixed. Update: It's Thai-dubbed everywhere except Paragon, which has the original soundtrack with English subtitles just once a day for now. Rated G.

Mama – Orphaned children who survived an ordeal are rescued by their uncle (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) and his girlfriend (Jessica Chastain). But the girls, who have grown half wild in their time alone, aren't quite right, and soon their new stepmother is convinced that there is an evil presence among them. Guillermo del Toro executive produces this horror thriller directed by Andres Muschietti, which was No. 1 at the U.S. box office upon its release there last month. Reception is generally favorable, with critics hailing the "old-school" scares that recall such other child-centered horror films as The Exorcist and del Toro's own Pan's Labyrinth. Rated 15+.

I Am a King – This South Korean comedy adapts Mark Twain's The Prince and the Pauper and sets it during the Joseon Dynasty in the 1400s. The heir to the throne wants to experience life outside the palace, so he has a slave who looks like him take his place. Joo Ji-hoon stars, playing a dual role as the crown prince and the slave. It's at Major Cineplex only, with Korean with English and Thai subtitles at some outlets, including Paragon and Esplanade. Rated 13+.

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Also showing

Le bruit des gens autour (Sunny Spells) – Diastème directs this 2008 romantic comedy-drama starring Emma De Caunes, Léa Drucker and Bruno Todeschini with interconnected stories taking place during the Avignon Festival. It's at the Alliance Française at 7.30pm on Wednesday, February 13.

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Take note

The Scala cinema in Siam Square is hosting the British Council's Live at the Scala, a multimedia performing arts festival, from tonight through Saturday, starting at 7pm. So it won't be movies as usual. Instead, it'll be all kinds of live, cutting edge performance art acts. Admission is 100 baht.

Where's Lincoln? It had been listed on the Pantip schedule as a possibility for release in Thailand this week, but it sadly never materialized, despite the movie's star, Daniel Day-Lewis, being pretty much a shoo-in for the Academy Award for Best Actor. Lincoln, covering the 16th U.S. president's move to free the slaves, is nominated for 12 Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director for Steven Spielberg. DDL has already won the Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award for his role, and Tommy Lee Jones scored at the SAG Awards for his portrayal of a flinty abolitionist lawmaker. Despite all the accolades, Lincoln is now nowhere to be found on the Thailand release calendar. Perhaps if it wins an Oscar or two, the distributor Fox and cinemas will be more keen to screen it here.

Meanwhile, another Oscar-nominated slavery-themed American movie, Django Unchained, will be appearing sooner than I expected. I spotted posters for it at Major Sukhumvit, and it's set for release on March 14. Director Quentin Tarantino's "n-word"-laced homage to spaghetti westerns and blaxploitation stars Jamie Foxx as a former slave out for revenge against his master (Leonardo DiCaprio in an atypical offbeat villain role). He's helped along the way by an amiable bounty hunter, portrayed by Christoph Waltz, the Oscar-winning Austrian actor who found worldwide fame as a charming Nazi in Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds. Django Unchained is nominated for five Oscars, including original screenplay for Tarantino and supporting actor for Waltz, who's already won the Golden Globe this year for the role.

Still to come on February 21 is Silver Linings Playbook, a romantic comedy directed by David O. Russell. It stars Jennifer Lawrence in a Golden Globe- and SAG-winning role. Bradley Cooper also stars as a depressed young man who is still living at home with his working-class parents. It's also won accolades for Robert DeNiro as Cooper's father, in one of his most solid performances in awhile. Silver Linings Playbook is up for five Oscars and marks the first time since Reds that a film has been nominated in all four acting categories, with nominations for Lawrence, Cooper, DeNiro and Jacki Weaver.

Also on February 21 is the airline drama Flight, starring Denzel Washington in an Oscar-nominated role. It's directed by Back to the Future helmer Robert Zemeckis, marking his welcome return to live-action drama after a string of motion-capture animation experiments.

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Sneak preview

Bachelorette – Aiming to capture the success of Bridesmaids, this comedy about the drunken antics of women at a bride's bachelorette party stars Kirsten Dunst, Isla Fisher and Lizzy Caplan as three friends who are invited to the wedding of a chubby classmate who they used to make fun of in high school. She's played by Rebel Wilson, who came to fame for her quirky supporting role in Bridesmaids. James Marston and Adam Scott also star. It's screening at the multiplexes from 8 nightly this week until moving to a wider release next weekend. Critical reception is mixed. Rated 18+.

Bangkok Cinema Scene: Movies opening February 25-March 3, 2010

Who Are You?


The psychological condition of hikikomori is the major plot point in the thriller Who Are You? (ใคร ... ในห้อง, Krai … Nai Hong, also ฮู อาร์ ยู, Who R U?). For a Thai film, it has the rare distinction of being advertised for its screenwriter: Eakasit Thairatana, a comic-book author who previously penned the screenplays to 13 Game Sayong and Body #19. The director is Pakphum Wonjinda (VDO Clip, Scared) and it's based on a story that Prachya Pinkaew came up with.

Veteran actress Sinjai Plengpanich stars as a woman who runs a pornographic DVD stall. She's a mother whose son has withdrawn from social life and locked himself away in his room for the past five years. Is he still in the room? Who's in there, really?

Pongpit Preechaborisutkhun, Starbucks from last year's Saranair Haao Peng, also stars, along with Kanya Rattapetch.

Watch trailer at YouTube. I'm digging Sinjai's look, the color palette and the suspenseful feel. Rated 18+.

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The Hurt Locker


This has been the toast of the awards season, winning some 80 honors from film festivals and various awards bodies, recently picking up six prizes at the British Academy Film Awards. It's tied with Avatar for most Oscar nominations.

An action drama about a US Army bomb squad in Iraq, Jeremy Renner stars as an adrenaline-junkie. He's the new leader of a bomb squad, and the risks he takes put all their lives in jeopardy. He's up for best actor.

The Hurt Locker is also nominated for original screenplay, original score, editing, cinematography, sound mixing, sound editing and director for Kathryn Bigelow, who, coincidentally, was once married to Avatar director James Cameron.

Just watch the trailer and see if it doesn't make you want to see it. I know I do. Critical response is nearly universal in approval. At House, Paragon and SFW CentralWorld. Rated 18+.

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Also opening



Up in the Air -- The Oscars' best-actor hopeful George Clooney is an executive who is obsessed with racking up frequent-flier miles. And he's got a great job for that -- he's a corporate hatchet man, flying around telling workers they are fired. He's satisfied with his empty life of living out of a suitcase, but is soon confronted by an existential crisis. It has two supporting actress nominees, Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick, and is up for adapted screenplay and director for Jason Reitman. Critical response is overwhelmingly positive. Rated 13+.


The Book of Eli -- Denzel Washington stars in this post-apocalyptic thriller. He's a lone drifter who carries a Bible in one hand and smacks down his enemies with the other. He arrives in a small settlement looking for water and comes into conflict with the town’s owner (Gary Oldman). Jennifer Beals and Mila Kunis also star. It's directed by the Hughes Brothers (Menace II Society, Dead Presidents). Critical response is mixed. Rated 18+.


Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel -- The shrill-voiced singing rodents are back for a second big-screen adventure. Alvin, Theodore and Simon are packed off to live with a cousin (Zachary Levi from Chuck). They join a battle of the bands in hopes of saving a high school's music program. Critical response is generally unfavorable. Perhaps let the kids go see this while you check out The Hurt Locker. Rated G.


Kongphan Kruekkruen Tor Tahan Kuekkuk (The Jolly Rangers) -- Four very different young men draw the red slip in the draft and are packed off to army training camp. Note Chern-yim directs this slapstick farce and teen-oriented romance. Rated 15+.

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Also showing


My Name Is Khan -- This is revenge for all the ham-fisted portrayals of foreign cultures by Hollywood. Director Karan Johar invades America with this sweeping, over-generalized tale of a Muslim Indian man suffering from Asperger Syndrome who is wrongfully accused of being a terrorist. Shah Rukh Khan emulates Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man and Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump as the socially awkward protagonist. He somehow captivates the heart of a beautiful San Francisco hairdresser (Kajol). They soon move to a small town, where after 9/11, hate crimes lead to tragedy. Khan is compelled to wander the U.S. in hopes of convincing the president that "my name is Khan and I am not a terrorist". At one point, the miracle-working handicapped man finds spiritual salvation in a community of church-going African-American minstrels who live in the squalor of wooden shacks like it's still the 1850s in the southern US. Their tiny village outside Atlanta looks suspiciously like it's set in the Himalayan foothills, complete with scrawy cows. BollywoodThai brings My Name Is Khan back for another screening at EGV Metropolis in the Big C Rajdarmi on Sunday at 4. Visit www.BollywoodThai.com or call (02) 225 7500 or (089) 488 2620.

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Sneak preview


A Serious Man –- The Coen Brothers latest effort is set in the 1960s and based on the their experience in growing in a Jewish suburb of Minneapolis. The comedy is about a physics professor (Michael Stuhlbarg) who is in the midst of a mid-life spiritual crisis. The Coens sure do know how the throw a curve ball. This is nothing like their previous Oscar winner No Country for Old Men. It's more akin to the existential screwball comedies like Barton Fink or maybe The Hudsucker Proxy. It's also nominated for original screenplay. Critical response is overwhelmingly positive. It's in sneak previews this week, with showtimes at around 8 nightly and then opens for more showtimes next Thursday at Apex in Siam Square and SF World Cinema. Rated 18+.

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Take note

Invictus was scheduled to open this week. There were posters for it. It was on the various schedules on the various websites and was in the final draft of this week's post here, but today's opening day, and ... where is it? Why does Thailand's major cinema chain frequently do that -- advertise a movie and then never show it?

Be careful out there in the coming days as the Thaksin verdict is read. Security will be tightened. Travel light. And watch your back.

Bangkok Cinema Scene special: The 82nd Academy Awards Best Picture nominees

During movie-awards season, the Bangkok multiplexes are usually jockeying right about now to bring in the major nominees.

In past years, many of the best-picture nominees have not yet hit Thai cinemas, so local movie pundits could make no intelligent guesses on the Oscar prospects. But this year, the field for Best Picture is widened to 10 titles, and quite a few of them have played here.

Out of the 10, four are here or have played here already:

• Avatar -- It's here. Now. Go see it already. Check it out at the IMAX at Siam Paragon. It's an immersive experience. James Cameron has created an amazing world. And if anything, it shows Sigourney Weaver at her best. In addition to Best Picture and Best Director, it's nominated for original score, editing, cinematography, art direction, sound mixing, sound editing and visual effects. I would expect it to win Best Picture, since it is a producers' prize, and raising the dough to make this $500 million movie must have been a heck of a job. It'll probably also take the visual effects prize.
• District 9 – This surprising long-shot for the Best Picture was in Thai cinemas in September and is now out on DVD in the local shops. The story of alien refugees herded into a lawless shantytown ghetto in South Africa put a sci-fi twist on the issue of apartheid. Like Avatar, it showed that a movie is better when it has a man in a mecha suit running around blowings things up and being shot at. But for all the flash, big guns and cannibalistic Nigerian gangsters, there's a sweet humanistic element to it. I liked it. In addition to Best Picture, it's up for Best Adapted Screenplay for director Neill Blomkamp as well as editing and visual effects, which were stunning considering this movie cost a fraction of what the likes of Avatar or Transformers cost to make. Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings) produced, which was probably a big surprise to him. He likely expected a director nom for The Lovely Bones.
• Inglourious Basterds – Best-director nominee Quentin Tarantino's World War II romp played here in August. I saw it at the Scala and was probably the best cinematic experience of the year for me. It's out on DVD in local shops, but I probably won't bother. The cinema is the only way to experience this movie. When you see the laughing lady on the burning big screen, you'll know what I mean. Okay, I might get the DVD when prices come down, just to watch and savor the performance by Austrian actor Christoph Waltz, who plays a menacing but urbane Nazi. He's a supporting-actor nominee, and should win. It's also nominated for original screenplay, editing, cinematography, sound mixing and sound editing.
• Up -- Pixar's latest animated feature played in Thai cinemas in June. I saw it in Disney's Real D 3D at SF World. It was a good experience. After a somber opening montage, in which an elderly widower's entire marriage is recapped, the grumpy old man (voiced note-perfect by Ed Asner) flies his house away to South America for an adventure with a Boy Scout stowaway in tow. It's out on DVD now, I think. It's also nominated for best animated film, of course, as well as best original screenplay, original script, original score and sound editing. It's the second animated feature to get a best picture nod. Beauty and the Beast was first. Up is also the first animated movie to be nominated in the category since the creation of the Best Animated Feature award.

Three more of the best-picture nominees are coming to Bangkok cinemas soon. They are:

• The Hurt Locker -– Opens February 25. This has been the toast of the awards season, winning some 80 honors from film festivals and various awards bodies. It's tied with Avatar for most Oscar nominations. A drama about an elite Army bomb squad in Iraq, Jeremy Renner stars as an adrenaline-risk junkie who's the squad's new leader. He's up for best actor. The Hurt Locker is also nominated for original screenplay, original score, editing, cinematography, sound mixing, sound editing and director for Kathryn Bigelow, who, coincidentally, was once married to James Cameron. Just watch the trailer and see if it doesn't make you want to see it.
• Up in the Air -- Also opening on February 25. Best-actor hopeful George Clooney is an executive who is obessed with racking up frequent flier miles. And he's got a great job for that -- he's a corporate hatchet man, travels around telling workers they are fired. It has two supporting actresses, Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick, and is up for adapted screenplay and director for Jason Reitman.
• A Serious Man –- The Coen Brothers latest effort will open on March 4 in a limited run at Apex in Siam Square and SF World Cinema. Set in the 1960s and based on the Coens' experience in growing in a Jewish suburb of Minneapolis, the comedy is about a physics professor (Michael Stuhlbarg) who is in the midst of a mid-life spiritual crisis. The Coens sure do know how the throw a curve ball. This is nothing like their previous Oscar winner No Country for Old Men. It's more akin to the existential screwball comedies like Barton Fink or maybe The Hudsucker Proxy. It's also nominated for original screenplays.

That leaves three of the best-picture nominees that aren't yet schedule for release in Thai cinemas:

• The Blind Side –- This drama is about a Memphis socialite, played best-actress nominess Sandra Bullock, who adopts a homeless young black man an nurtures him. He eventually becomes a gridiron football star. It's a fact-based tale, about Michael Oher, who's an offensive lineman for the Baltimore Ravens.
• An Education –- This British coming-of-age tale stars best-actress nominee Carey Mulligan who plays a teenager who is courted by an older man (Peter Sarsgaard). It's also nominated for adapted screenplay.
• Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire – Here's another toast of the awards season that, sorry to say, will likely be ignored by Thai movie distributors who don't feel an American urban drama will resonate with audiences here. Though, to be fair, it's only had a limited release Stateside as well. Best actress nominee Gabourey Sidibe stars as an obese, illiterate, mentally troubled black 16-year-old Harlem girl who's been impregnated twice by her father. She suffers further abuse from her mother, played by comedian Mo'Nique, who's nominated for best supporting actress and has already won a Golden Globe for that. It's also up for adapted screenplay, editing and director for Lee Daniels. Mariah Carey also stars.

Other 82nd Academy Awards nominees that have graced Bangkok include Julie and Julia, featuring Meryl Streep playing Julia Child. It might still be hanging around in cinemas. Clint Eastwood's South African rugby drama Invictus, featuring nominated turns by Morgan Freeman (as Nelson Mandela) and Matt Damon, opens on February 25.

Two of the foreign-language nominees, The White Ribbon by Michael Haneke from Austria and Un Prophète by Jacques Audiard from France played at last year's Bangkok International Film Festival, as did Burma VJ, the best documentary feature nominee, which was partially shot in Chiang Mai.