Showing 1 - 6 of 6
Deep in the paradox
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 25/05/2022
» In Cairo, a religious student at the prestigious Al-Azhar Islamic University is recruited by secret police to infiltrate a Muslim Brotherhood cell. In Mashad, a holy city in Iran, a serial killer prowls a seedy suburb and strangles head-scarfed prostitutes. In the first film, bloodlust officials torture dissidents with abandon. In the second film, religion is evoked and the name of God is cited as a justification for murder. This begs the obvious question: Will Boy From Heaven be banned in Egypt, and Holy Spider Iran?
The outspoken monk
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 24/05/2017
» At the start The Venerable W., we see the firebrand Myanmar monk Ashin Wirathu speaking to the camera, calmly and casually. He talks about the African catfish, a creature that "grows fast, breeds a lot and is violent". The punchline is not totally unpredictable: "Muslims are like that."
Radiohead redux
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 26/07/2013
» Every day Amnarj Sonimsart wakes up at 3am. "That's normal for an 80-year-old," he chuckles. The first thing he does is flick on the TV to catch BBC and CNN; then he checks the stock and oil prices, noting down important fluctuations for later use. At 4.20am _ he states the time with the casual precision of someone who's been following the same schedule without fail for a long time _ his driver takes him from his house in Pattanakarn to the radio station in Lumpini Park ("my daughter forbids me from driving"). At 5.10, Amnarj begins sipping a cup of Ovaltine while scouring the Thai-language newspapers laid out for him, lighting on items of interest and quickly digesting their contents. On the dot of 5.50am, he prepares for a task he's performed for 46 years straight: leaning slightly forward, he gets ready to switch on his mic and go on air.
Stone brings out the Savages
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 21/09/2012
» Oliver Stone's Savages is cheerfully cynical, ingloriously basked in the Malibu sunshine and fired up by threesome sex, super-bred cannabis and bong-water bravado. It's lurid, sexy, funny, chaotic, cluttered, and if the grisly violence turns you off then Blake Lively _ playing a very dumb blonde _ and her two beaus (plus John Travolta, pudgy and hilariously nervous) will also chip in laugh-out-loud moments, all the while with the director winking off-scene.
Finding Freedom
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 22/06/2012
» Eighty years ago, on June 24, 1932, the People's Party seized power and transformed Siam from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional democracy. A film crew recorded the historic revolution of that day on 35mm film, and the "movie" went on tour around Bangkok cinemas.
Southeast Asian Round-UP
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 06/06/2012
» From a new film festival in Kuala Lumpur to Myanmar movies on General Aung San