Showing 51 - 60 of 78
Braving the mainstream
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 04/09/2015
» What's so romantic about a public hospital examination room? "It's a small, closed space. The two people in there can't escape each other," says filmmaker Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit.
The Darkest Hours
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 07/08/2015
» A psychosexual Thai gay film is a rare treat -- actually it's almost unprecedented. Anucha Boonyawatana's Onthakarn (The Blue Hour) arrives at SF cinemas this week with a strong tail wind after its premiere in Berlin in February. Nightmarish, oblique and deliberately disjointed, the film is in part ambient horror and in part a brooding drama about family violence centred around a gay teenager. We savour its chilly mood, its haunting wasteland of disaffected youth, though we sometimes wince at the stilted dialogue. What we see is also a confident switch between what's real and what's not, which is to say The Blue Hour is not something for the impatient and the literal-minded.
Snowden under siege
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 27/03/2015
» The Oscar-winning Citizenfour has opened in Bangkok. An opportune cinema experience here in our land of 99.9% democracy where the contentious Cyber Security Bills are being revised, the so-called Edward Snowden documentary seethes with unsettling power. Its civic outrage is strong, but the cool-headed storytelling gives it gravity. The immediacy of the issue at its heart is also the debate of the early 21st century. And if the film lets us know from the start that it's taking the side of the whistle-blower, all the better.
Remembering cinema's comic heritage
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 27/02/2015
» A great way to unwind from the Oscar hullabaloo has arrived this week. "Memory! International Film Heritage Festival — Reprise In Thailand" opened last night and will continue until March 6, featuring 11 classic films, from Chaplin to Ozu, Buster Keaton to Jacques Tati, plus a rare Mongolian epic and a Thai comedy classic. For filmgoers who regularly feast on Hollywood's new releases — intensified by the award-season blitz — watching old films on the big screen is an opportunity to find perspectives on cinema history and contemplate the ongoing evolution of the art form.
Hat-trick for Thai cinema
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 06/02/2015
» In the snowy German capital, the year's first major cinema festival has kicked off. The 65th Berlin International Film Festival (or Berlinale, as it's better known) opened last night with Nobody Wants The Night, a drama by Spanish director Isabel Coixet, starring Juliette Binoche and Rinko Kikuchi. Some of the hot world premieres include Terrence Malick's Knight Of Cups, Kenneth Branagh's Cinderella, Werner Herzog's Queen Of The Desert, and other art-house darlings. The Berlinale runs until Feb 15, with the Golden Bear being announced next weekend.
Vanishing Point takes Tiger Award at Dutch film fest
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 03/02/2015
» The first big prize for a Thai film this year belongs to Jakrawal Nilthamrong. On the weekend, Jakrawal's Vanishing Point won a Tiger Award at International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR), a Dutch cine-event known for championing young filmmakers with edgy visions.
With Grace, Cannes Film Festival opens tonight
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 04/01/2015
» From the woes of Princess Grace to weird limo sex, from a Saint Laurent biopic to a 3D envelope-pusher, the 67th Cannes Film Festival rolls out its enviably red carpet tonight in an annual cinema bash that sees the world’s brand-name directors unveiling their latest offerings. The Nicole Kidman-starring Grace Of Monaco, by director Olivier Dahan (La Vie En Rose), will open the 10-day festival to the usual surfeit of glitz, before the gladiatorial ring of European-heavy filmmakers take turns to gauge the pulse of cinema art through their fine (and not so fine) movies.
Moonrise at Cannes
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 04/01/2015
» Pre-teen love and rainbow eccentricity opened the 65th Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday. Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom served up an unusually amusing, toybox-like fantasy as a curtain raiser to the 12-day festival known for its roll-call of prestigious titles and pensive arthouse fares. But actually, Anderson's film about two 12-year-olds who fall in love and elope captures the dual modality that Cannes has always juggled with masterful trickery: an auteur movie by a brand-name filmmaker, and a dash of Hollywood magnetics and red carpet-worthy cast. This year we'll especially see that a lot more in the next 10 days.
Toons and tunes
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 27/11/2014
» John Lasseter wears a Hawaiian shirt with Big Hero 6 prints. The characters — a Japanese boy and a white, pneumatic robot called Baymax — were fashioned in the style of Japanese anime.
Thawan Duchanee: Losing a legend
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 04/09/2014
» National Artist Thawan Duchanee passed away yesterday, but his work and most important philosophy and contribution to popular Thai thought and art will live on