Bangkok Cinema Scene: Movies opening January 28-February 3, 2010

Tai Hong (Die a Violent Death)


Producer-director Poj Arnon gets in on the horror omnibus trend with Die a Violent Death (Tai Hong, ตายโหง), which weaves together four stories that are ripped from today's headlines of the Thai mass-circulation dailies -- the newspapers that generally have bleeding corpses on the front page.

Joining Poj are indie directors Tanwarin Sukkhapisit, Chartchai Ketknust and Manus Worrasingha.

Produced by Phranakorn Film, Die a Violent Death follows GTH's successful Phobia anthology franchise and Sahamongkol offered Maha'lai Sayong Kwan (Haunted Universities) last year.

I'm told that Die a Violent Death will be a bit different, in that the stories will be linked somehow to form a continuous narrative, rather than taking things segment-by-segment as the others have done.

The stories involve a dead body in an apartment building's water tank, directed by Tanwarin, a ghost in prison, directed by Manus, a New Year's Eve pub fire (mirroring last year's deadly blaze at Bangkok's Santika pub), directed by Chartchai, and a ghost in a motel by Poj.

Stars include Mai Charoenpura, Akara Amarttayakul, Supaksorn Chaimongkol and Wasana Chalakorn (the crazy woman from last year's The 8th Day). Rated 18+.

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Also opening


Solomon Kane -- The character originated out of a series of 1920s and '30s pulp novels by Robert E. Howard, who was also the creator of Conan the Barbarian. A former soldier in 16th century Britain, Kane fought wars in Africa and then renounced his violent ways upon returning home to England and took vows as a Puritan. However, the doings of an evil sorcerer upset his plans and he is compelled to again take up his sword and brace of pistols. James Purefoy stars as Kane with Max von Sydow, Pete Postlethwaite and Rachel Hurd-Wood also staring. British screenwriter-director Michael Bassett directs. Critical reception so far is mixed. Rated 18+.


Dorian Gray -- Oscar Wilde's classic novel about a vain young man who stays young while his magical portrait ages has been adapted into film dozens of times. This latest incarnation, covering the young Dorian's arrival in London, stars Ben Barnes from The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. Colin Firth, Ben Chaplin and Rachel Hurd-Wood also star in the British production, which is directed by Oliver Parker. Critical reception is mixed. At Apex and SF Cinemas. Rated 18+.


My Girlfriend is an Agent -- They are ex-sweethearts. She (Ha-neul Kim) was a spy when they first dated, but never told him (Ji-hwan Kang) and they broke up because he was sick of her constant lies. Now he's an agent and he's surprised to learn his old girlfriend is working as a hotel maid. Of course they are both spies, but neither knows it. They are chasing Russian mobsters who are weapons traffickers. At Major Cineplex and EGV. Rated 18+.

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Also showing


3 Idiots -- Last chance, as Bollywood Thai says, to see Bollywood's biggest box-office hit yet. It's a sprawling, emotion-filled story of three young men who become best friends in engineering school, where they are put under tremendous pressure by a beastly professor. Aamir Khan stars. There's a couple of great song-and-dance numbers. It's showing at EGV Metropolis (Big C opposite CentralWorld) on Saturday at 8 and Sunday at 4. Visit www.BollywoodThai.com or call (02) 225 7500 or (089) 488 2620.


Chulalongkorn University International Film Festival -- The foreign films start back up on Monday with Tulpan from Kazakhstan. Directed by Sergei Dvortsevoy, it's the story of a young man in traditional nomadic family who must find a wife. Problem is, the only eligible girl for miles around doesn't like him because his ears are too big. It was Kazakhstan's submission to the 2009 Academy Awards and winner of the 2008 Cannes Film Festival Prix Un Certain Regard, the grand prize at the Tokyo festival and the best cinematography award for Jolanta Dylewska at last year's Asian Film Awards. Remaining films in the series are Revanche from Austria on February 5 and Mid-August Lunch from Italy on Febuary 8. The show time is 5pm in the Boromrajakumari Building, Room 503 (seating capacity: 320). Free parking next to Chulalongkorn University Auditorium, off Henri Dunant Road. All films are with English subtitles, and there's a panel discussion by Thai film critics afterward. Admission is free. Check out the full lineup at the festival website.

Bangkok Cinema Scene: Movies opening January 21-27, 2010

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs


The fact that Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is actually a cautionary tale about the culture of over-consumption must have been lost on Burger King. The fast-food chain lined up contestants to see who could eat the most Whoppers in one 12-minute sitting as a promotion for this Sony Pictures Animation feature at the Krungsri Imax. Burger King is selling collectible toys and figurines from the movie.

The overall champ downed five, and won a gilt-framed plaque for his efforts. It was quite a sight to see, with the crowd palpably excited as an older gentlemen fearlessly and sloppily wolfed down his Whoppers. Second place went to a petite woman who ate six -- four in her initial round and two more in a finals eat-off. There's a video of the contest at The Nation.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is based on a children's book by Judi and Ron Barrett.

It's the story of an oddball inventor in a small town who creates a machine that makes food rain from the sky. The invention is seized upon by the town's mayor, who thinks the raining food will attract tourists and save the dying fishing town.

The mayor gets fatter and fatter as the food gets bigger and bigger until a perfect storm forms and threatens to bury the whole world in a hail of spaghetti and meatballs.

While the gimmicky 3D effects -- fantastic in Imax -- and slapsticky cartoonishness of it all will delight children, adults will probably get the film's environmental message, which echoes that of Pixar's Wall-E, that the culture of consumerism has dire consquences.

A great voice cast and wry disaster-movie references make Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs a candy-coated treat.

Bill Hader from Saturday Night Live voices the nerdy inventor Flint Lockwood while Anna Faris is the plucky Sam Sparks, a meteorologist and intern reporter for a weather channel who feels she has to hide how smart she is.

Bruce Campbell voices the mayor. Plucked right out of Jaws, he doesn't see the impending doom. Nothing can derail his plans to bring tourists to his tiny island in the Atlantic.

Mr. T is the town's lawman. Instead of a Mohawk, have pity on this fool for the bald spot that runs down the center of his skull.

James Caan is Flint's technophobic father, who only talks to his son by using fishing metaphors. Surprise voices include Neil Patrick Harris and Benjamin Bratt.

It was written and directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who previously did an animated TV series, Clone High.

Critical reception is generally positive. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is in 3D in some cinemas, including Krungsri Imax at Siam Paragon. It's rated G.

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Also opening


After School -- Imitating the successful High School Musical franchise and the award-winning TV series Glee, Chalat Sriwanna directs this musical about high schoolers who achieve fame with their rock band. They break into song and fall in and out of love. It stars Apinya Sakuljaroensuk, Atiwit “Kirin” Iamyodsib, Nattapong Chartpong, Arisara Tongborisut, Pornrawi Anantakun and Louis Hess D'Alzon. Rated G.



The Spy Next Door -- Ever the busy man, Jackie Chan is slumming it in this Hollywood comedy, playing a secret agent who decides to give up his career and settle down in a nice suburban neighborhood. His new mission is to win over three precocious kids. It's one of several movies Jackie has lined up. He's starring in the Will Smith-produced remake The Karate Kid and has his own production coming up, the Chinese historical yarn Little Big Soldier. Critical reception is overwhelmingly negative, but keep in mind that Jackie cranks out light fare like The Spy Next Door to fund his own (hopefully better) Chinese and Hong Kong movie projects and keep his many charitable efforts going. Rated 13+.


Pope Joan -- Legend has it that in the ninth century, a young woman disguised herself as her dead brother and rose to the top of the hierarchy in the Roman Catholic Church. By German director Sönke Wortmann, this movie is based on a 1996 novel by American writer Donna Woolfolk. Johanna Wokalek stars with David Wenham and John Goodman. Rated 15+.

Love, First -- Four love stories take place on the day of a total eclipse. Se-jin is is worried his otherworldly dreamgirl Joo-won may disappear one day. So-hyun asks Ji-woo, who's nursing heartbreak over another girl, to teach her how to drink as an excuse to spend more time with him. Jung-suk and Soo-jung are a workaholic couple struggling to start their relationship as Jung-suk is still not over his dead wife. And Jin-man who has been on a free-hug campaign around the world for six years. He hopes to reconnect with his old girlfriend, but first has to find her phone number. With English and Thai subtitles at the Lido.

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Also showing


Breaking the Silence -- A new documentary about Burma by Canadian filmmakers Pierre Mignault and Helene Magny takes a rare journey into Karen State and shows the humanitarian crisis in eastern Burma where the Karen are in a desperate struggle against one of the world's worst dictatorships. On orders from the country's ruling generals, the Burmese army ransacks and burns villages, relocates populations to army-controlled work camps and the engages in the systematic rape of women from ethnic minorities. Director Pierre Mignault will be present for the screening. The show time is 1.30pm on Friday, January 22 at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Bangkok. Admission is 150 baht for non-members.



German Short Film and Animation Showcase -- Begun yesterday, this film series runs daily until next Wednesday (except Monday) at the Bangkok Art and Culture Center. Admission to all shows is free. Here's the schedule:

• Today's screenings are Best of Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film 2009: BW-Reel -- Best of Animation Baden-Württemberg at 5 followed by Best of Interfilm 25 at 6.30.
• Tomorrow at 5 is Short in Berlin, which compiles works from before and after the Berlin Wall fell. That's followed by Between State Art and Underground – Animated Film in the GDR at 6.30.
• Saturday's program starts at 11 with the animation compilation Tricks for Kids, then Short in Berlin at 1 follwed by a talk. The documentaries Cycling the Frame and The Invisible Frame by Cynthia Beatt with Tilda Swinton will be shown at 4. Best of Interfilm shows again at 6.
• Sunday's shows are Best of Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film -- International Selection at 11 and 5, Tricks for Kids at 1, BW Reel at 3.
• Between State Art and Underground is shown again on Tuesday at 6, with a talk.
• The closing program at 6 on Wednesday is Contemporaries -- German Animated Film from 1989 Until Now. There will be a talk afterward.

3 Idiots -- Bollywood's biggest box-office hit yet is back for one more showing. It's a sprawling, emotion-filled story of three young men who become best friends in engineering school, where they are put under tremendous pressure by a beastly professor. Aamir Khan stars. There's a couple of great song-and-dance numbers. Go! See it! It's showing at EGV Metropolis (Big C opposite CentralWorld) on Sunday at 4. Visit www.BollywoodThai.com or call (02) 225 7500 or (089) 488 2620.

Bangkok Cinema Scene special: German Short Film and Animation Showcase

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Animation and short films from Germany and elsewhere will be showcased from Wednesday, January 20 through Wednesday, January 27 (except Monday) at the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre. There are eight programs as well as workshops and discussions. It's organized by the Goethe Institute Bangkok. Screenings are in the auditorium on the fifth floor. Admission is free.

Contemporaries – German Animated Film from 1989 Until Now

This program includes the most exciting German short films produced over the last 20 years. Beginning with the cheerless parable Balance from 1989-90 by Christoph and Wolfgang Lauenstein, which won the Oscar for the Best Short Animated Film, through the painterly-poetic films of Jochen Kuhn or Kirsten Winter, computer animations by Hanna Nordholt and Fritz Steingrobe and the trio Tom Weber, Jan Bitzer and Ilja Brunck, the program illustrates the diversity of German animated film. Other names include Gil Alkabetz, Andreas Hykade and Raimund Krumme, who impress with a minimalist approach and a universal narrative style. Screens at 6 on Wednesday, January 20. It's also closing the showcase on Wednesday, January 27, when there will be a talk by Ulrich Wegenast of the Stuttgart Festival of Animated Film.

Best of Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film 2009: BW-Reel –- Best of Animation Baden-Württemberg

This compiles the best animation from Baden-Württemberg from the past year and shows the diversity of the state's scene. It includes student productions from the Baden-Württembergg Film Academy in Ludwigsburg and from the Media University in Stuttgart. Among the works is The Sisters and Audrey, the winner of the Robert Bosch sponsorship award. Other important names are Gild Alkabetz, whose The DaVinci TimeCode won the award for best music at the Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film 2009, and Jürgen Haas, a well-known stop-motion animation filmmaker. The Iron Tower by Christoph Horch is another top-class artistic animated film included in the program. Screens at 5 on Thursday, January 21 and at 3 on Sunday, January 24.

Best of Interfilm 25

A selection of the 6,000 films submitted to last year’s Interfilm Berlin. The program includes such titles as Le Petit Dragon by Bruno Collet, Careful with that Power Tool by Jason Stutter from New Zealand, Bad Mistake by Xavier Hibon of Belgium,
My New Toy by Anton Beebe from Australia, One Minute Fly by Michael Reichert of Germany, Space Travel According to John by Anders Jedenfors and Jamie Stone of Scotland and Dog With Electric Collar by Steve Baker from Australia. Screening at 6.30 on Thursday, January 21 and at 6 on Saturday, January 23.


Kurz in Berlin/Short in Berlin

Artists critically explore their urban surroundings. Works span the years from before the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and after. Screens at 5 on Friday, January 22 and 1 on Saturday, January 23 with a talk by Heinz Hermanns, director of the Interfilm Berlin short film festival.

Between State Art and Underground – Animated Film in the GDR

Approximately 2,000 films were produced in East Germany's state-run DEFA studio for animated film, founded in 1955 in Dresden. Even though the majority of those films were for children, animated film from the GDR is much more than that. Ranging from puppet animation of the 1950s to efforts in the 1980s, the program shows short film treasures and the artistic friction that prevailed during the communist era. The program includes a collection of animated short films from the DEFA studio and examples from the filmic underground movement associated with the artist AR Penck. The program includes the silhouette films by Bruno J. Böttge as well as films that deal with historical issues. The program was compiled with the kind support of the German Institute of Animated Film in Dresden. Screens on Friday, January 22 at 6.30 and Tuesday, January 26 at 6, with a talk by Ulrich Wegenast.

Tricks for Kids

Animated adventure tales without dialogue, geared to please kids but will be just as entertaining to adults. A chicken family loses their baby, an egg helps his friends, a paper dog has problems with his tail, a frog falls in love, a little flower fights with a monster, a stork is having a duel with a little bird and much more. Works include The Tooth by Nathan Stone from Australia and Fetch by Sita Sings the Blues animator Nina Paley. Screens at 11am on Saturday, January 23 and 1pm on Sunday, January 24.


Cycling the Frame & The Invisible Frame

In 1988, one year before the fall of the Berlin Wall, British filmmaker Cynthia Beatt with Tilda Swinton and maverick actress Tilda Swinton started an unconventional cycling tour, riding around the wall. The images, Swinton’s inner monologues and the soundtrack by Simon Fisher create a unique portrait that offers feelings of being confined and being excluded. Twenty-one years later, the two gear up for another cycling tour. What's changed about Germany, and the two women? Screens at 4pm on Saturday, January 23.

Best of Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film --
International Selection

This best-of selection from the 2009 festival includes Hot Dog by acclaimed American animator Bill Plympton, Der Da Vinci Time Code, based on the Last Supper painting, Rabbit Punch by Britain's Kristian Andrews and the grand prize winner, Muto by Italian artist Blu. A dizzying blend of stop-motion animation and graffiti art, you can watch it on YouTube, and it's embedded below. Or see it on the large screen with the bevy of other shorts at 5pm on Sunday, January 24.