Showing 51 - 60 of 99
Moving images
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 25/05/2017
» Cinema is the runaway child of photography. At the Cannes Film Festival this week however, two films show the deep and inspiring connection between the two forms. In Villages Visages (Faces/Places), the grandmother of the French New Wave Agnes Varda teams up with photographer JR to create the most charming work in the festival. Meanwhile in 24 Frames, the late Abbas Kiarostami, the Iranian director who passed away last July, posthumously gave viewers the most mesmerising series of images on the big screen of Grande Theatre Lumiere.
Lao cinema hits the jackpot
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 19/05/2017
» In this Lao film, a nearly-blind woman is visited by ghosts that come to tell her winning lottery numbers. Her young caretaker, a girl from the countryside, takes advantage of her mistress' impairment and cashes in on the phantoms' fortunetelling, scoring win after win. On paper, it all sounds preposterous. Ghosts that give out lotto jackpots? How superstitious! How Southeast Asia! But don't be mistaken: you should go and watch Nong Hak (Dearest Sister), a well-made Lao production that spins the supernatural premise into class critique and psychological horror, ripe with atmospheric suspense. In fact, this is simply a better film in terms of script and technical standards than many Thai flicks released each year.
A fitting aperitif
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 19/05/2017
» At 70 years of age, the Cannes Film Festival opened on Wednesday with a touch of its glorious past and a heavy dose of present uncertainty. Inside the Palais des Festivals, the bustling headquarters, a decoration motif lays out the key moments of the festival's history, and special events marking the occasion are planned for the days to come. Meanwhile, for the first time, metal detectors have been installed at the entrance of the Palais and some of the cinemas, stacking up long queues. Flowers pots have reportedly been deployed as part of the strategy to prevent any unexpected intrusions.
EU film fest brings many shades of modern Europe
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 18/05/2017
» The stories of Europe are told in the 13 films at the European Union Film Festival 2017, which begins tonight at SF CentralWorld.
Play censor ball well, Mr Zuckerberg
News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 06/05/2017
» Dear Mr Zuckerberg,
Ghost in the machine
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 05/05/2017
» French director Olivier Assayas sees great similarities between the world of digital and the world of the spirit. All of us, he said, communicate with the invisible -- through our phones or through a spiritual medium.
A new vision on Siam's enduring symbol
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 26/04/2017
» The elephant and the man, walking down the road to redemption and encountering the wounded and the marginalised, the madmen and the prostitutes. In the film Pop Aye, which will kick off Bangkok Asean Film Festival 2017 this evening (see sidebar), the fine-tusked beast accompanies the lost soul as the duo find their way home from Bangkok to the Northeast.
Coldplay thrill Bangkok with sound and spectacle
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 11/04/2017
» Thailand, according to Coldplay, is amazing. Coldplay, according to the 60,000 fans packing Rajamangala Stadium, is also pretty amazing -- no, maybe not "the best band in the world" as some gush on Twitter, but a top-quality package of dazzle, flares and fireworks, fan service, visual evocation and robust pop-rock-ballad sounds. If last Friday's gig were a movie, it was a blockbuster. It keyed you in excited and sent you out feeling entertained and satisfied.
A trip to Diamond Island
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 07/04/2017
» It's a story of Cambodia but also of Southeast Asia: the new rich built on the back of rural labour, young men who leave their homes in the countryside to carry bricks and build real-estate edifices in the capital. The promise of the future is built on the uncertainty of the present.
That precious gold statuette
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 24/02/2017
» The Oscars takes place Monday morning Thailand time. We pontificate and prognosticate the results