Showing 51 - 60 of 69
Nature versus nurture
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 06/12/2013
» Always gentle, always composed, the films of Hirokazu Kore-eda also register quiet devastation, often within the family. The stirring _ the earthquake, even _ usually happens beneath the surface of calm. Two years ago he gave us I Wish, a story about children of divorced parents, and before that, the sublime Still Walking, about a family wound that members prefer not to discuss. And, of course, Kore-eda's biggest hit in Bangkok was in 2003 with Nobody Knows, a painfully moving story of children left to fend for themselves after their mother walked out on them. That film packed Scala for more than a month.
Think global, act local
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 17/10/2013
» Walt Disney created Mickey Mouse in 1928. After years of toiling in Hollywood, the animator joined the vanguard of the talking-picture revolution when he produced Steamboat Willie, a cartoon that synchronised sound and animation featuring the good-humoured rodent that would become iconic (and maybe immortal). Two years later, Walt and his brother Roy licensed Mickey-related merchandise. And from the humble birth of Mickey Mouse 85 years ago, the Walt Disney Company has grown into a massive global business empire with a catalogue of nearly a thousand characters, complete with movies, animation, television, music, games and consumer product divisions. The acquisitions of Pixar, Marvel and LucasFilm have expanded the Disney universe and pop-cultural influence, especially among young audiences.
Jobs for the fanboys
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 13/09/2013
» The opening scene of Jobs, the feeble biopic of the iconic Apple founder, is the one that keeps recurring throughout the film, with varying degrees of hagiographical worship, which is never less than lofty.
Asian elephant in Hollywood's cruel parlour
News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 07/09/2013
» Even a tiny speck of Hollywood dust must have weighed like a tonne of gold to movie stars on this side of the Pacific. It must have felt like a validation - no, it is a validation, a passport to a new planet, the one phone call that vindicates all the hard work and years of toiling.
A look at the drawing board
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 15/08/2013
» At the D23 Expo last weekend in Anaheim, Rapunzel rubbed shoulders with Darth Vader as Minnie made friends with Captain America. Angelina Jolie swooped down as the horned, husky-voiced witch and John Goodman, last heard as Sully in Pixar's Monsters University, was declared a new legend. Attended by thousands of Disney fans, families and stars, D23 _ so named after the year that Walt Disney set up his studio in Hollywood _ was a biennial fan gathering and corporate expo where the creative vision of Walt and the entrepreneurial acumen of his organisation were celebrated, affirmed and expanded.
From Laos with love
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 28/06/2013
» The first all-Lao film to be released in Thailand in decades, Hak Um Lum occupies that territory between naivete and honesty. Made on a paltry budget of around 1 million baht, the romantic comedy will mainly draw Thai viewers who're curious about a homemade flick from our land-locked neighbour, while those who ride the high horse of cultural snobbery will dismiss this freshman effort as totally unnecessary.
4 wheels good, protection from the law better!
News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 22/06/2013
» Italian super luxury car maker Rambikini proudly announces the launch of an exclusive limited edition of three models especially for Thai politicians, first-born sons of obscenely wealthy businessmen and luxury-loving monks. This last group has emerged as the company's untapped demographic (we bang our foreheads for not having thought of them sooner) whose sacred aura and talismanic power will surely lend our supercars with an unprecedented mixture of spirituality and materialism.
Give it up for the ghost
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 26/04/2013
» The lovelorn banshee has finally vanquished the antediluvian queen, with a little help from inflation. Though the number isn't official (it never is), it's safe to announce that Pee Mak Phra Khanong has become the highest-grossing movie ever released in Thailand, dethroning the once-invincible historical epic Suriyothai.
Illuminating The Night
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 25/01/2013
» Sa wakes up in a daze to find that the man she's shared the bed with has bolted with all her money. Alone she hitches a ride back from the seaside to Bangkok, gets changed, puts on her make-up, and heads straight to work at a florid, neon-swamped karaoke bar, where she sits outside the door below the twinkling signs waiting for male customers who're looking for drinking _ and singing and talking _ company.
Peter chan_ balancing on the cutting edge
B Magazine, Kong Rithdee, Published on 06/01/2013
» Facing a forest of reporters' microphones, Peter Ho Sun Chan speaks Thai with the slight accent of someone who remembers the tongue, but not the spontaneity.