Showing 1 - 7 of 7
Love, beauty, violence
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 24/05/2024
» Last year, the world embraced Barbie and Poor Things, two outstanding films that tapped into the state of female consciousness in the 21st century. At the 77th Cannes Film Festival, which ends tomorrow, women-driven stories of all stripes are pushed further up (or down) the emotional spectrum. A noticeable number of titles premiering at the influential festival feature female protagonists in varying states of joy and distress -- and to varying results. Powerful acting by female talent also injects life and spirit into those stories, hailing from all corners of the Earth.
Cannes 2024 highlights
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 14/05/2024
» From Francis Ford Coppola's new epic to a Taiwanese drama starring a Thai actor and a Pol Pot drama, we pick hot titles from the French film festival that kicks off today.
Expanding the friend zone
Life, Melalin Mahavongtrakul, Published on 15/02/2019
» Friend zone is a place nobody wants to be in. Stuck in a limbo between friendship and wanting more, friend zone is sometimes a prison people want out of but just can't walk away from. In GDH's latest flick, Friend Zone (now showing in cinemas), this complex and bittersweet relationship is hilariously explored by filmmaker Chayanop Boonprakob.
Sometimes transcendental, always relevant
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 25/05/2018
» The American films were on short supply this year at Cannes -- which in turn deprived the assembly line of red carpet material -- but nobody seemed to mind that except, well, some American media and fashion bloggers. That superfluous caveat aside, the recently wrapped 71st Cannes Film Festival was nearly unanimously praised as one of the best editions in recent memory, with a string of good, sometimes very good, titles playing night after night -- and even the bad films weren't so offensively bad, as was often the case. In the midst of soul-searching following the question of relevance (the world wants Avengers), the rise of streaming (the world watches films on phones), the decline of arthouse popularity, Cannes insists on the sacredness of cinema, on the future of the art, and this year it paid off solidly.
Hoping to take the top prize East
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 16/05/2018
» Asian filmmakers have so far fielded a strong force at the 71st Cannes Film Festival, and when the Palme d'Or is decided on Saturday by the Cate Blanchett-led jury there's a real chance that the top prize might go to one of the Asian titles -- after a Turkish film in 2014 (Winter Sleep) and a Thai film back in 2010 (Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives).
Cannes you see it?
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 01/01/2016
» With Ingrid Bergman gazing from the poster, the 68th Cannes Film Festival opens tonight, carrying the usual weight of the world's premier battleground of cinema as art, commerce and glamour.
Chinese hegemony
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 01/01/2016
» A gloomy assassin prowls the breathtaking fields of the Tang-era kingdom, while China's awkward march to become a 21st century world power stirs the emotional core of its people. The two Chinese-language films — Mountains May Depart from the mainland, The Assassin from Taiwan — let us savour two distinct sensibilities in the main competition as the world's largest movie showcase rounds its last bend. The awards will be announced on Sunday night, and the two films seem to have a decent chance of winning prizes, either big or small, in a year when the majority of the top-tier line-up leaves much to be desired.