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On unhappy women and clumsy hitmen
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 19/01/2018
» Pen-ek Ratanaruang's movies -- eight of them in the past 20 years and the ninth slated for a Feb 1 release -- are often inhabited by unhappy women and clumsy hitmen. Unhappy, yet those women are neither resigned nor passive. Clumsy, yet those hitmen have aspirations, dreams and worries like people in other respectable professions. A genre geek, Pen-ek likes crime thrillers, but one of Thailand's best-known directors is also a diligent investigator of human relationships and man-woman dynamics, their eccentric and mysterious rapport and misunderstandings that determine the course of the world, and of cinema.
A battle worth fighting
Life, Kanin Srimaneekulroj, Published on 19/01/2018
» Towards the end of 12 Strong -- the new Jerry Bruckheimer-produced war movie that hit Thai theatres this week -- there is a scene featuring protagonist Captain Mitch Nelson (Chris Hemsworth), in full US army war-gear, leading a charging column of Afghan freedom-fighters on horseback into a Taliban gunline, complete with tanks and missile-launchers. In true Hollywood super-soldier fashion, the captain picks off jihadists left and right while holding his assault rifle one-handed, sprinting his horse headfirst into a flurry of scything machine-gun rounds. He comes out the other side unscathed of course, thanks to his prodigious plot armour, and proceeds to save the day as scores of freedom fighters are cut down all around him.