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

My Best Bodyguard


A veteran journalist investigating the spread of a new virus discovers that it’s the result of a pharmaceutical company’s experiments on human subjects. And now her life is in danger.

Princess Ubolratana stars, making her sophomore big-screen appearance following 2008's social drama Where the Miracle Happens.

Shahkrit Yamnarm plays a gunman, with Hong Kong actor Shawn Yue as a villainous pharmaceutical company executive.

A 10-minute preview of this action drama was shown at a Thai night gala during the Pusan International Film Festival, with favorable response. Rated 15+.

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The Housemaid


Director Im Sang-soo remakes Kim Ki-young's revered 1960 classic South Korean drama, sexing things up for contemporary sensibilities.

The story is basically the same – a destructive, melodramatic love triangle forms between a maid, the master of the house and his wife.

This new Housemaid premiered in the Palme d'Or competition at this year's Cannes Film Festival, with generally mixed reviews.

With Thai and English subtitles at the Scala and at Paragon Cineplex as part of the Bangkok Korean Film Festival (see below) until Wednesday. Rated 18+.

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Also opening


Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore – Cats and dogs from rival spy organizations have to join forces when rogue feline agent Kitty Galore (voiced by Bette Midler) plans to destroy the world. An all-star voice cast is behind the CGI-animated critters with the weirdly dead eyes. They include James Marsden, Nick Nolte, Christina Applegate, Neil Patrick Harris, Sean Hayes, Wallace Shawn, Roger Moore, Joe Pantoliano and Michael Clarke Duncan. Critical reception is mostly negative, but it's probably a safe bet for family viewing compared to the other new releases this week. In 3D in some cinemas. Rated G.


The Last Exorcism – An evangelical minister has what he plans to be his last exorcism filmed in order to confess that all his jobs have been faked. But there's a hitch in that plan – the evil spirit inhabiting the body of a Louisania farmgirl is very real. Filmed in a documentary style by German director Daniel Stamm, this is co-produced by Eli Roth, the maker of the slasher-horror thriller Hostel (he also starred in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds). Critical reception is mostly positive, with the consensus being that while it "doesn't fully deliver on the chilly promise of its Blair Witch-style premise, but The Last Exorcism offers a surprising number of clever thrills." At SF cinemas and the Lido. Rated 18+.

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Also showing


Bangkok Korean Film Festival – Seventeen South Korean films will screen in the first Bangkok Korean Film Festival at Paragon Cineplex from October 21 to 27. The Housemaid, opening this week in Bangkok for a limited run, is part of the festival, alongside such other recent hits South Korean films as the romance Beastie Boy, the comedy Our School ET (Our English Teacher) starring Lee Min Ho, the erotic movie Secret Love, horror in Death Bell and the documentary Tears in the Arctic. Another highlight is the romantic-comedy Acoustic, which premiered at the Pusan International Film Festival and stars Im Seul Ong from the boy band 2AM and Lee Jong Hyun and Kang Min Hyuk from the rock band CN Blue in their big screen debuts. It's about twentysomethings looking to music for their hopes, dreams and loves. Check the festival website for the schedule.


Phuket/Boy Genius/The Sigh – A collection of three shorts by Wonderful Town director Aditya Assarat closes the current leg of the Extra Virgin's Director's Screen Project. Commissioned as a tourism promotion, Phuket is actually a bittersweet tale of a South Korean actress (played by Lim Su-jeong) who is trying to take a vacation in Phuket, but is harried by phone calls and fans. She is rescued by the hotel's limo driver (veteran actor Sorapong Chatree, whose portrayal of the driver is a bit lonely and sad). Boy Genius and The Sigh are from 2005 and 2006 and humorously deal with filmmaking. The screenings are at the recently re-opened SF World Cinema at CentralWorld, with showtimes at around 7.30 daily and additional 2.30 matinees on Saturdays and Sundays.


European Union Film Festival – Nineteen movies from 16 European Union countries will be shown in the EU Film Festival at the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre until October 31. Tonight's opening reception and the screening of Loft, Belgium's 2008 box-office record setter, is by invitation only. Other highlights include such award-winners as Little Girl Blue from the Czech Republic, Letter to Father Jacob from Finland and Thesis from Spain. All are subtitled in English. Screenings are free, in the multi-purpose room on the ground floor of the BACC. Check the EU delegation website for more details. The festival will also be held in Chiang Mai, and you can check the Thomat Chiang Mai Film Blog for synopses.


On connaît la chanson (Same Old Song) – Alain Resnais directs this 1997 musical that's set in Paris, where six characters get caught up in a web of romantic and social confusion combined with mounting misunderstandings. It's showing on Wednesday, October 27, at 7:30pm at the Alliance Française, with English subtitles. Admission is free.

Bangkok Cinema Scene: Movies opening October 14-20, 2010

Red


Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich and Helen Mirren star in this action-comedy as retired CIA black-ops specialists who become targeted by assassins. Red is based on a DC Comics graphic novel by Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner. Mary-Louise Parker, Ernest Borgnine and Richard Dreyfuss also star. Critical reception is mostly positive. Rated 18+.

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Reign of Assassins


Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon star Michelle Yeoh returns to the genre that made her famous (see Police Story 3) in Reign of Assassins, which is produced and co-directed by John Woo. She's a former assassin who has disguised herself and is living a peaceful existence until members of her old gang show up and want the magical remains of a mystical Buddhist monk. Premiering last month at the Venice Film Festival, critical reception has been generally positive. The Chinese soundtrack with English and Thai subtitles is at SFW CentralWorld. Elsewhere it's Thai dubbed. Rated 15+.

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Also opening


E Hed Sod Pa Ded Suek – Chalerm Wongpim directs this comedy about a navy captain (Amarin Nitipon) who unknowingly married a transgender woman (Uttama Chaiwanichpan). He is then assigned to lead a commando team on an undercover assignment when his wife turns out to be the leader of a transgender gang of terrorists who've hijacked an ocean liner. Rated 18+.


Yaay Sang Ma Yai – Jaturong Mokjok and Mic Thongraya are estranged brothers who reunite when their grandmother falls into a coma. To raise cash to pay for her treatment, they head to the casino and run into conflict with the gambling-house boss. Rated 15+.


Charlie St. Cloud – Zac Efron stars in this romantic drama as a young man who forgoes a bright future so that he can work as a cemetery caretaker and practice baseball with the ghost of his younger brother. The return of a former sweetheart (Amanda Crew) with plans of sailing around the world makes him reconsider his plans. It's adapted from Ben Sherwood's best-selling 2004 novel, The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud. Burr Steers (Igby Goes Down and 17 Again directs. Critical reception is mostly negative. Rated 13+.


Doraemon the Movie: Nobita's Mermaid Legend – Troublemaker Nobita and his magical robotic cat Doraemon plunge Tokyo under water. Thai-dubbed only. Rated G.


One Piece Film: Strong World – This 10th anime feature based on the pirate manga of Eiichiro Oda has pirate captain Shiki the Golden Lion returning with a scheme to bring down the World Government. At Apex.

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Also showing


Phuket/Boy Genius/The Sigh – A collection of three shorts by Wonderful Town director Aditya Assarat closes the current leg of the Extra Virgin's Director's Screen Project. Commissioned as a tourism promotion, Phuket is actually a bittersweet tale of a South Korean actress (played by Lim Su-jeong) who is trying to take a vacation in Phuket, but is harried by phone calls and fans. She is rescued by the hotel's limo driver (veteran actor Sorapong Chatree, whose portrayal of the driver is a bit lonely and sad). Boy Genius and The Sigh are from 2005 and 2006 and humorously deal with filmmaking. The screenings are at the recently re-opened SF World Cinema at CentralWorld, with showtimes at around 7.30 daily and additional 2.30 matinees on Saturdays and Sundays.


Anjaana Anjaani – Priyanka Chopra and Ranbir Kapoor star in this romantic comedy about two suicidal strangers who meet while trying to jump off the George Washington bridge in New York City. Critical reception is mixed. It's showing at Major Cineplex Sukhumvit (Ekkamai) on Saturday at 8 and at Major Cineplex Rama III on Sunday at 4. Call 089 488 2620.


Todo el poder – Fed up with the violence on the streets of Mexico City, a filmmaker goes out on the streets with his video camera to capture as many muggings as possible, live on his camera. But the more images he captures, the deeper he goes into the murky underworld. Directed by Fernando Sariñana, this black comedy is inspired by real-life events in which the filmmaker was robbed at gunpoint, four times. The screening at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand is supported by the Ambassador of Mexico Arturo Puente and his wife Patricia, who will serve tequila with a light Mexican dinner from Señor Pico's at the Rembrandt Hotel. The showtime is 8pm on Monday, October 18. Admission is 150 baht for non-members and 100 baht for anyone wanting food and drink.


Le plaisir de chanter – Muriel and Philippe, both secret agents, form an improbable couple. Their mission is obtain a USB key hidden by Constance, the widow of a uranium trafficker who has recently been killed. She leads the duo to an opera-singing class that is a veritable spy nest. Ilan Duran Cohen directs with Jeanne Balibar, Lorant Deutsch and Marina Foïs starring. It's showing on Wednesday, October 20, at 7:30pm at the Alliance Française, with English subtitles. Admission is free.

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Take note


World Film Festival of Bangkok – Two indie arthouse dramas, Eternity (ที่รัก, Tee Rak) and Insects in the Backyard, will make their Thai premieres at the 8th World Film Festival of Bangkok next month Eternity, by Sivaroj Kongsakul, will be the WFFBKK's opening film on November 5. The drama, which is a highly personal, haunting reflection of Sivaroj's thoughts about his father's death, is in the New Currents competition this week at the Pusan International Film Festival. It's the debut feature by Sivaroj, a well-known fixture on the Thai indie scene, whose short film Silencio won many awards. Eternity is produced by Aditya Assarat's Pop Pictures. Insects in the Backyard makes its Thai premiere as part of the World Film Festival's Asian Contemporary line-up. Directed by indie darling Tanwarin Sukkhapisit, the katoey filmmaker also stars as the lewd-and-crude cross-dressing "big sister" to a pair of troubled teenagers. The three form an unconventional family unit and deal with all sorts of relationship problems. Insects premiered in the Dragons and Tigers competition at the Vancouver International Film Festival. Other highlights of this year's festival include a Retrospective on French director Jacques Doillon and the Lotus Award for Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan and a package on New Turkish Cinema. More about the fest is in The Nation today. The World Film Festival of Bangkok runs from November 5 to 14 at Paragon Cineplex and at Major Cineplex Sukhumvit (Ekamai).

Bangkok Cinema Scene: Movies opening October 7-13, 2010

The Red Eagle


Wisit Sasanatieng, the maker of such acclaimed movies as Tears of the Black Tiger (Fah Talai Jone) and Citizen Dog (Mah Nakhon), directs this superhero crime thriller.

The Red Eagle (Insee Dang, อินทรีเเดง) is a new version of a 1960s action-movie series that starred legendary leading man Mitr Chaibancha. He's a vigilante crimefighter named Rome Rittikrai who wears a red mask and goes by the name Red Eagle (Insee Dang).

Tragically, Mitr died on October 8, 1970, while making what became the last in his Red Eagle series, Golden Eagle (Insee Tong). Mitr fell from a rope ladder while being carried aloft by a helicopter in an accident that's been blamed on a lack of safety standards on Thai movie sets of the era.

The character was created by writer Sake Dusit for a 1956 crime novel that spawned a total of nine books, 10 movies and a TV series. Mitr starred in six of the films, and it's his Red Eagle that's most iconic.

The new movie's release comes one day before the 40th anniversary of Mitr's death and amid a flurry of hype, as The Red Eagle is probably the most heavily promoted Thai movie so far this year.

Thailand's current No. 1 leading man, Ananda Everingham, steps into Mitr's role.

It's a much darker, brooding character than Mitr played.

Instead of the fun-loving drunken playboy lawyer that Mitr portrayed, Ananda's Rome Rittikrai is a former special-forces operative. He's a secretive, brooding loner who is addicted to morphine and lives in a spartan basement underneath an icehouse.

His one love is a socialite anti-nuclear activist played by Yarinda Bunnag. She was once engaged to the prime minister (Pornwut Sarasin), but because of her protests against a nuclear power plant, she is targeted by a shadowy organization called the Matulee and comes under the Red Eagle's protection.

Meanwhile, there's a masked villain named the Black Devil (Jonathan Hallman) who is gunning (and slicing) for the Red Eagle.

Police are also after Red Eagle, with a brash young detective lieutenant (Wannasing Prasertkul) heading the investigation.

The often violent and bloody action eventually becomes fast, furious and relentless as the Red Eagle and the Black Devil clash with their swords on Bangkok's rooftops. Red Eagle races through the streets on his souped-up motorcycle.

It's a Hollywood-style, CGI-powered superhero thriller in the style of The Dark Knight or Spider-Man.

In production for around three years, this new version of The Red Eagle has had its share of drama. Filming finally got under way last year after having been delayed when Ananda suffered serious injuries in a motorcycle accident in 2008. Budgetary difficulties and creative differences have led to Wisit's saying this will be his last movie for a major studio. He has since revealed his hard feelings for the studio system in newspaper stories at The Nation and the Bangkok Post.

Interestingly, it's quite possibly the first movie to use the Wilhelm scream, an old-time Hollywood sound effect.

Adding to The Red Eagle mystique, there's lots of promotional tie-ins with the movie. You'll see adds for a fast-food restaurant, a bank, an energy drink and even the motorcycle Ananda rides. Bangkok's new Madame Tussaud's wax museum, opening in December at the former EGV Gold multiplex at Siam Discovery, gets in on the action with a wax figure of the original Red Eagle, Mitr Chaibancha. And the theater chains, SF cinemas and Major Cineplex, have each produced collectible Red Eagle popcorn sets.

A Nutshell Review has what's likely the first review of The Red Eagle and also an interview with Insee Dang himself, actor Ananda Everingham (both cross-published at Twitch).

Viewers will be in for a major surprise at the end, which will only further stoke the legend of The Red Eagle.

Watch the English-subtitled trailer at YouTube. Rated 18+.

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Also opening


Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole – Zack Snyder, the director of 300 and Watchmen (and now the next Superman movie) turns to animation with this feature that's based on the Guardians of Ga'Hoole epic fantasy novels by Kathryn Lasky. It's produced in part by Animal Logic, the Australian studio that's best known for the singing penguin movie Happy Feet. Legend of the Guardians is actually a dark story, about young owls who become embroiled in a struggle for control of the owl kingdom. The voice cast includes Jim Sturgess, Geoffrey Rush, Emily Barclay, Abbie Cornish, Anthony LaPaglia, David Wenham, Helen Mirren, Sam Neill and Hugo Weaving. Critical reception is mixed, with reviews praising the beautiful animation but finding fault in the weak story. It's in 3D in some cinemas. Rated G.


Grown Ups – Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade and Rob Schneider star in this buddy comedy about high-school pals who reunite after 30 years for a 4th of July weekend at the lake resort where they spent their summer vacations as boys. Fart jokes and sight gags involving the rotund Kevin James and Rob Schneider's character's marriage to a much-older woman then ensue. Salma Hayek, Mario Bello and Maya Rudolph also star. Critical reception is overwhelmingly negative, with reviewers expecting better of the cast of former "Saturday Night Live" veterans. Rated 13+.


Anjaana Anjaani – Priyanka Chopra and Ranbir Kapoor star in this romantic comedy about two suicidal strangers who meet while trying to jump off the George Washington bridge in New York City. Critical reception is mixed. It's showing at Major Cineplex Sukhumvit (Ekkamai) on Friday at 8 and Sunday at 7.30 and at Major Cineplex Rama III on Saturday at 8 and Sunday at 4. Call 089 488 2620.

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Also showing


Phuket/Boy Genius/The Sigh – A collection of three shorts by Wonderful Town director Aditya Assarat closes the current leg of the Extra Virgin's Director's Screen Project. Commissioned as a tourism promotion, Phuket is actually a bittersweet tale of a South Korean actress (played by Lim Su-jeong) who is trying to take a vacation in Phuket, but is harried by phone calls and fans. She is rescued by the hotel's limo driver (veteran actor Sorapong Chatree, whose portrayal of the driver is a bit lonely and sad). The driver Pong shows the actress the non-touristy aspects of life on the island. Boy Genius and The Sigh are from 2005 and 2006 and humorously deal with filmmaking. The first stars young director Sivaroj Kongsakul as a filmmaker struggling to make an art film in his back yard. The Sigh is about a soundman who discovers a woman's sigh on a recording, and with the help of a friend (Sivaroj again), sets about trying to find her. The two instead make a startling discovery. The screenings are at the recently re-opened SF World Cinema at CentralWorld, with showtimes at around 7.30 daily and additional 2.30 matinees on Saturdays and Sundays.


The Debt (Dlug) – The Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand's Contemporary World Cinema series resumes this week with this highly acclaimed 1999 crime thriller by Polish director Krzysztof Krauze. It's about a pair of guys who try to obtain a loan from an old acquaintance without knowing he's tied to the Russian mafia and they subsequently end up owing him a debt even though they never received any cash. The bigger their debt becomes, the greater the stakes. For the screening, the Embassy of Poland will serve Wyborowa Vodka and Polish dumplings. The showtime is at 8pm. Admission is 150 baht for non-members and 100 baht for anyone wanting vodka shots and dumplings.


Cabaret Balkan: Rarely Seen Films from the Balkans – Postponed from two weeks ago, the screening series closes with a pair of classic 1960s and '70s Bulgarian films. First up is The Peach Thief from 1964. Directed by Vulo Radev, the drama has the wife of a Bulgarian Army officer falling in love with a Serbian prisoner at the end of World war II. Next is The Goat Horn from 1972. Directed by Metodi Andonov, it's violent revenge tale about a goat herder whose wife is raped and killed. He then takes his daughter into the hills and raises her to avenge her mother's death. The movies, with English subtitles, are at Thammasat University Tha Prachan, in the Pridi Banomyong Library's Rewat Buddhinun Room, U2 Floor. The shows start at 12.30. The movies are on DVD. Admission is free. You'll have to inform the library staff you're watching the movies and let them copy your ID. Call (02) 613 3529 or (02) 613 3530 or visit the DK Filmhouse blog for the complete lineup.


Jeanne et le garçon formidable (Jeanne and the Perfect Guy) – Virginie Ledoyen stars in this 1988 musical-romance as a free-spirited young receptionist for a travel agency who meets a guy (Mathieu Demy) on the Paris subway and impulsively makes love to the man once all the other passengers have emptied out. The romance would be blissful if not for one tragic complication – he's HIV positive. It's showing on Wednesday, October 13, at 7:30pm at the Alliance Française, with English subtitles. Admission is free.