Showing 51 - 55 of 55
Big Brother’s watching me watching him
News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 14/03/2015
» Skip out for beer during the commercials, because the revolution will not be televised — or so goes the Gil Scott-Heron song. If only it were that simple! Because while the revolution may not be televised, coups will. Coups have. Actually, a coup only qualifies as a coup when the perpetrators appear on television, epaulets sparkling as they line up before an extremely boring backdrop to announce their masterstroke. A coup needs tanks less than it needs a TV signal. We’ve borne witness to it too many times over the past 40 years, with first analogue broadcasting, then Earth-orbiting satellites and now digital TV.
Claws of cyber bill have your name on them
News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 24/01/2015
» The men are itching to pry, to take a peek into your Line chats, your Facebook inboxes, your email history, the bread crumbs of your digital life. Naturally, you cover your screen and say no. Naturally, in the age of Snowden-Manning-Assange, we're conscious of the fact that the sphere of online privacy is not fair game, or at worst it shouldn't be.
Apex drops 'Mockingjay'
Kong Rithdee, Published on 19/11/2014
» The management of the Lido and Scala theatres has decided not to show the movie The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1 for fear of a political backlash.
Count to 12 and you'll be brainwashed
News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 18/10/2014
» Friends often ask me, what movies are you looking forward to seeing? The vagaries of taste and fluctuations of mood always make this simple question difficult to answer. Gone Girl? Sure, for the perfect blend of satire and marital horror. Interstellar? Yes, for what looks like a nebula-warped cosmic philosophising. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay? Definitely, for what looks like an inadvertent allegory of our Golden Axe misadventure as the Capitol crumbles under the weight of the three-fingered salute. King Naresuan Part 6 and maybe 7 or why not 8 then please-bring-it-on 9? Yep, bless my soul with the whole shebang, for what looks like the umpteenth elephant circus and post-Koh Tao Myanmar bashing.
Memories are the first victim of 'happiness'
News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 04/10/2014
» October is here. Along with the monsoon and beclouded mood, the month has always been marked by the political remembrance whose toxic vapour still leaves a nasty taste in the mouth even of those who didn't live through it.