Bangkok Cinema Scene: Movies opening February 11-17, 2010

Air Doll


In Air Doll (Kûki ningyô), a loner man’s life-size inflatable sex toy comes to life and secretly leaves the apartment to explore the outside world with childlike wonder. As she encounters various Tokyo residents, she discovers they are as empty inside as she is.

She eventually finds a boyfriend and works with him in a video store, and she learns more about life by watching movies.

Directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda, the story is adapted from a manga. Itsuji Itao and South Korean actress Bae Du-na star with a special appearance by Jo Odagiri. It premiered at last year's Cannes Film Festival, and outside of Japan it's mostly been showing on the festival circuit. Critical reception so far has been mixed. In Japanese with English and Thai subtitles at House and Apex.

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Also opening


The Wolfman -- Universal Pictures remakes one of its old classic monster movies, this one originally made in 1941. Still set in the 1880s, Benicio Del Toro steps into Lon Chaney's role as a nobleman who returns to his ancestral homeland in England, where he's bitten and cursed by a werewolf. Hugo Weaving is a Scotland Yard detective on the hunt. Emily Blunt and Anthony Hopkins also star. After a string of various directors being attached, Joe Johnston (Jurassic Park III, Jumanji, The Rocketeer) takes the helm. Critical reception so far appears to be generally negative. Rated 18+.


Percy Jackson & the Lightning Thief -- A teenage boy (Logan Lerman) discovers he's the demigod son of the Greek god Poseidon and embarks on a journey across modern-day America with his friends -- also demigods -- to save his mother, return Zeus' stolen lightning bolt, and prevent a war between the gods. It's based on the first book in the Percy Jackson & the Olympians fantasy-novel series by Rick Riordan. It stars Catherine Keener as the mother, Kevin McKidd as Poseidon, Sean Bean as Zeus, Rosario Dawson as Persephone, Steve Coogan as Hades and Uma Thurman as Medusa. Ex-James Bond Pierce Brosnan plays a Centaur. Chris Columbus, who did the first two Harry Potter movies, directs. Early buzz is positive on this one, but like The Wolfman it is being released in the States this weekend so more reviews will be forthcoming. Rated G.


Confucius -- Chow Yun-fat portrays the influential Chinese philosopher in this historical epic. Released in China last month, the film has been controversial for a number of reasons. I mean, after all, who expects Confucius to pull out a pair of 9mm pistols and star wasting Triad thugs? But mainly the hassles over this film have to do with news reports that the nationalistic Confucius was forced into theaters that were still doing good business with the Hollywood blockbuster Avatar. James Cameron's sci-fi action movie captured Chinese imaginations with its message of a plucky natives standing up to mechanized military to protect their homeland from rampant development and land grabs while the message of Confucius is one of respect for your elders. But after Confucius did lackluster business at the box office, officials allowed Avatar back in theaters. The producer of Confucius denied Avatar had been forced out to to begin with. It's at the Siam, Paragon and CentralWorld in Mandarin with English and Thai subtitles; elsewhere it's Thai dubbed. Rated 18+.


Valentine’s Day -- Garry Marshall directs this romantic comedy about couples in Los Angeles breaking up and making up. The star-studded cast includes Julia Roberts, Bradley Cooper, Jessica Alba, Jessie Biel, Topher Grace, Anne Hathaway, Patrick Dempsey, Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner and Ashton Kutcher. Critical reception is overwhelmingly negative. Rated 15+.


My Name Is Khan -- Superstar actor Shah Rukh Khan and the actress Kajol headline this sweeping drama by director Karan Johar. It's about a Muslim Indian-American couple who separate after tragic events. Khan portrays a man suffering from Asperger Syndrome -- a mild form of autism in that causes those afflicted to appear socially awkward. He's mistaken for a terrorist in post-9/11 America and undertakes a long journey across the US to prove his innocence to the love of his life. The movie has been hit with protests in India, not for anything about the movie, but because Khan voiced support for Pakistan being included in the Indian Premier League cricket championship. So Bangkok may be the safest place to see My Name Is Khan. It's showing at Major Cineplex Rama III on Friday and Saturday at 8 and Sunday at 4 and 7.15 and at Major Cineplex Sukhumvit (Ekamai) on Monday at 8. Visit www.BollywoodThai.com or call (02) 225 7500 or (089) 488 2620.

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Also showing


Pinoy Classics -- A jeepney driver who dreams of becoming an astronaut but ends up in Paris filling gumball machines is the story of Mababangong bangungot ( The Perfumed Nightmare), a 1977 film by Filipino director Kidlat Tahimik. Shot with the lo-fi aesthetics of an old home movie, it is Tahimik’s partially autobiographical story that juxtaposes Pinoy pride and critique of neocolonialism with a fascination for Western culture.

Screening on Sunday at 12.30, The Perfumed Nightmare is part of the Pinoy Classics series that has been going on this month at Thammasat University Phra Chan in the Pridi Banomyong Library’s Rewat Buddinan Room.

Kidlat portrays the driver of the jeepney – the ubiquitous and symbolic Filipino mode of transport that were initially created from surplus American Jeeps after World War II. He’s a space-travel buff, hailing himself as president of the Werner Von Braun club in his village. He’s also an avid listener of the Voice of America radio broadcasts, so when an American businessman offers him a chance to go to Paris, he leaps at the chance. There, he works on gumball vending machines business and quickly becomes disenchanted with the excesses of the Western world. Eventually, he turns down a chance to fly on the Concorde and he finds his own way back to the Philippines.

Perfumed Nightmare is followed by Turumba, Kidlat’s second feature from 1984. It’s about a rural family that starts a manufacturing operation to make toy dachshunds for the Munich Olympics.

Organized by Film Virus, the Pinoy Classics series wraps up on February 21 with two movies by another Filipino indie stalwart, Lav Diaz: The Criminal of Barrio Concepcion from 1998 and Hesus the Revolutionary from 2002.

This series is dedicated to Alexis Tioseco and Nika Bohinc, film experts who were killed last year September in a robbery at their home in the Philippines.

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.

Bangkok Cinema Scene: Movies opening February 4-9, 2010

My Valentine


Just in time to get people thinking about Valentine's Day, My Valentine (แล้วรัก ...ก็หมุนรอบตัวเรา, Laew Rak Kor Mun Rob Tua Rao) opens this week in Thai cinemas.

Produced by Five Star, it's by the same trio of directors who collaborated on last year's Before Valentine -- Songsak Mongkolthong (The Screen at Kamchanod), Pornchai "Mr. Pink" Hongrattanaporn (Bangkok Loco) and Seree Phongnithi (Ghost-in-Law, Art of the Devil).

It stars Mintita "Mint AF3" Wattanakul who's in a quandary about deciding which of three guys is perfect for her -- a fortysomething rich guy Mic (Wasu Sangsingkaew), a fun-loving bad boy (Krit Sriphoomset) or a childhood friend (Suwikrom Amaranan).

Though the story is not at all related to Before Valentine, My Valentine looks to have much of the same style and production design, with Mr. Pink's inventively funny visual tricks very much in evidence. Rated 15+.

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Also opening


From Paris With Love -- John Travolta shaved his head and added a goatee for the role of a wisecracking, fast-shooting, unhinged CIA agent. Despite being a good guy this time, he appears to be playing much the same role as he did in last year's The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3. He partners with John Rhys Meyers, who's playing a low-level rookie intelligence operative in the US Embassy in Paris. The two are trying to stop a terrorist attack. Pierre Morel directs. He's the guy who did Taken, the taut action-thriller that starred Liam Neeson. From Paris With Love has more comedy and quips, which is to be expected from a Travolta vehicle. Luc Besson, the French producer of the Transporter series (among many, many other movies), co-scripted this. Watch a preview at YouTube. Or just groan at the tagline: "Two agents. One city. No merci." Critical reception so far is overwhelmingly negative, but the movie doesn't come out in the States until Friday, so the poor opinions might eventually be lessened somewhat. But I doubt it. Rated 18+.


How to Be -- Robert Pattinson tries to stretch a bit and break out of his Twilight heartthrob mode in this indie British comedy. He plays a failing young singer-songwriter in the midst of a "quarterlife crisis". He's been dumped by his girlfriend and has lost his job. Neither his friends nor his parents really care about his problems. So, having inherited a bit of money from an uncle, he writes a check for 5,000 pounds and invites a dowdy old self-help author to accompany him in his day-to-day routine and help him figure out how to get his life back on track. Check the trailer at YouTube. It's at House on RCA and SF World CentralWorld. Rated 15+.

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Also showing


Chulalongkorn University International Film Festival -- The final two films in Chula's DVD screening series will be shown this week. On Friday, it's Revanche from Austria, a gritty crime thriller in which an assistant at a brothel and the prostitute he loves are violently brought into contact with a rural policeman. Mid-August Lunch from Italy finished up the series on Monday. It's a comedy about a man who's caring for his mother and three other elderly ladies. 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. For more info, see the festival website.