Showing 81 - 90 of 150
Leaving a Thai impression
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 01/01/2016
» Once again, a small Thai film blew over Cannes Film Festival like a graceful lover. On Monday, Apichatpong Weerasethakul's Cemetery Of Splendour (or Rak Ti Khon Kaen) was screened to a thundering 10-minute standing ovation in the Un Certain Regard section, where the film's elegant formalism and aching beauty, deeply rooted in the northeastern spirit and post-coup reflection, shook up the festival slumber.
Ones to watch
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 01/01/2016
» Clear your schedule for Bangkok's main film event: The World Film Festival of Bangkok, which returns next week for its 13th edition, with a buffet of over 50 movies showing at SF CentralWorld from Nov 13-22.
Foreign film contenders
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 18/12/2015
» Star Wars is colonising your waking life, so let me warp you to the neighbouring galaxy. The Oscar season is brewing, and one of the categories we're always interested in -- at least because it's the only category that is about the world and not just about Hollywood -- is the foreign language film. This year 81 countries submitted their films to the Academy. The long list will be announced in January, and the five finalists later in the month.
Wild tales
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 13/11/2015
» 'Morning now dawned and Shahrazad broke off from what she had allowed to say…" -- so begins the story on each night of Tales Of 1,001 Nights, the fantastic yarns of peasants, kings, slaves, lovers, viziers, angels, sex, human anatomy (Night 449), devils in the bottle (Night 567), glory, injustice, pleasure, and all the mundane and the magical in the world. It is the collection of some of the greatest tales ever told. But then, what, exactly, is Arabian Nights all about?
Image, faith and the age of intolerance
News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 17/10/2015
» At some point, religion breeds a culture of intolerance. It then becomes a form of absolutism, all the more toxic in the climate of nationalist fervour and dictatorial bombast. See the Holy Roman Empire in the Middle Ages, the Wahabism of present-day Saudi Arabia, or in some parts of Buddhist Myanmar. Now bravo, Thailand is flirting with that fundamentalist trap — we’re not quite there yet, thank heaven, though the door has swung open and the chanting has already begun.
Bolder line-up at Luang Prabang Film Festival
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 09/10/2015
» Entering its sixth year, the Luang Prabang Film Festival marches on. This year LPFF, the only film event in the historic town on the bank of the Mekong, will take place from Dec 5-9, with around 40 feature films from across Southeast Asia.
The horror of our inhumanity
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 25/09/2015
» Historical films, when they stare into the abyss, are always horror films, and none attests to that with a greater conviction than German Concentration Camps Factual Survey. This is probably the most frightening documentary ever filmed, the sheer scope of inhumanity shown in it almost beyond belief if we didn't know that everything was indeed true. A very difficult film to watch, and certainly not for the faint-hearted and Holocaust deniers (not an endangered species here), this is one of the most important accounts of the event whose ramifications remain relevant 70 years after World War II ended.
Boundaries blurred
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 16/09/2015
» The Toronto International Film Festival, which runs until Sunday, is known as a showcase for big hitters -- movies with stars, budget and particularly Oscar ambition. The 40th edition of the festival screens over 350 titles, and those that dominate the headlines -- The Danish Girl, The Martian, Black Mass, Beasts Of No Nation, Spotlight, Every Brand Is Crisis, etc -- are those that you'll likely to read and hear a lot about as the award season kicks into high gear.
A poem in motion
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 11/09/2015
» From the first shot to the last, when the assassin leads a group of peasants into the majestic wilderness of Tang Dynasty China, this is likely to be the most ravishing film you'll see in a long while. The swift tumult of fabric, the heart-bleeding colours, the luxuriant verdant of the forest -- The Assassin, shot on 35mm at a time when almost every film in the world is shot on digital, is also a martial arts drama that compels us to rethink the essence of the genre. Historically regarded as a cheap, sweaty form of entertainment, the wuxia film has reached the pinnacle of high-art in this Taiwanese production -- and some audiences will certainly feel baffled, if not exasperated.
Inside the Pixar mind
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 03/07/2015
» The new Pixar animation Inside Out has opened in the US to a hearty reception (Bangkok has to wait until next month). The box office has been stellar — it racked up the highest opening gross in history for an original feature, i.e. not a sequel or remake — while critics have sung praises to the joyful braininess of the story. Inside Out takes place inside a girl's head, with the main characters the five emotions (Joy, Fear, Sadness, Anger, Disgust). Their adventures, through the colourful cerebrum, becomes a story about the happiness and anxiety of adolescent life. It's just July, but an early buzz for an Oscar's Best Picture nomination has already been heard.