Showing 1 - 10 of 21
Hope lives on as cave rescue crisis unfolds
News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 30/06/2018
» Time is not on their side, and not on ours. To beat nature and to outrun time -- and what cruel nature and pitiless time -- we give it everything we have.
Thai TV not yet destined for global love
News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 24/03/2018
» The soap series Bupphaesannivas (Love Destiny) is all the rage these days in Thailand. I enjoy some parts of it, especially one memorable episode a few weeks back when the female lead, a beautiful vixen in 17th century Ayutthaya, displays her vituperative talent by shouting at her servant, "Shut up or I'll smack your mouth with my piss pot." Neither did we see the piss nor the pot, but we get the picture. There's even a YouTube clip of that.
Thai film at Cannes a sign of our times
News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 01/01/2016
» Writing from Cannes Film Festival, I’m intoxicated by the perfume from bare-shouldered fashion and by the transient bliss of art. What is cinema? At Cannes, the world’s most prestigious cine-circus, the definition is what you imagine it to be: here on the red carpet and in the screening rooms, cinema is art, commerce, money, glamour, fashion, politics, passion, activism, frivolity, national pride. Maybe something more. Take your pick.
Film fete case shows glacial pace of reform
News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 08/08/2015
» It’s about time. The case has been cold but not closed, and justice delayed is more consoling than justice abandoned. After eight years, the Office of the Attorney General finally charged Juthamas Siriwan, ex-governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), for allegedly taking 60 million baht in kickbacks from an American firm in exchange for a contract to run the ill-fated Bangkok International Film Festival between 2003 and 2007. She has 15 days to show her face at the Office of the National Anti-Corruption Commission, or face an arrest warrant.
Turning pop culture into propaganda
News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 20/06/2015
» So the prime minister has watched Game of Thrones. The PM, speaking about the series in his interview with Al Jazeera, didn’t actually adopt Tyrion Lannister’s eloquence, though his enthusiasm for the kind of primeval justice practised in Westeros is clear. Also, he recently said that he liked Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln, a respectable film about a respectable politician who moved his nation forward through strategy, wit and poise. He also knew that his weekly address on TV upset the masses who were addicted to the spectacle of foul-mouthed E-Yam in the soap Sud Kaen San Rak. I’m very happy to know that we have a leader who’s well-versed in the language of popular culture, apart from his initiative of "12 Values" short films (that no one saw).
Cannes Report: The Coens and Dutch gallows humour
Kong Rithdee, Published on 04/01/2015
» The hottest ticket in Cannes over the weekend is, surprisingly, a pre-Bob Dylan tale of a struggling folk singer steeped in his own hilarious myth: "Inside Llewyn Davis" is the new film by Joel and Ethan Coen starring Oscar Isaac as the title character, with the supporting act by Carey Mulligan (redeeming herself quite nicely from the nonsense of "The Great Gatsby", which opened Cannes last Wednesday) and Justin Timberlake, among others.
Cannes report: The joyful jury
Kong Rithdee, Published on 04/01/2015
» <b>CANNES, France -</b> One of the great mysteries is how you judge movies.
Cannes report: Festival favourites
Kong Rithdee, Published on 04/01/2015
» After 11 days of hits and misses, of expectations fulfilled and dashed, the 66th Cannes Film Festival will announce the Palme d'Or winner on Sunday.
A lesson from Oscars democracy
News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 04/01/2015
» The United States is a model of modern democracy. Just look at the Oscars. After the tearful speeches and crumpled handkerchiefs, the pizzas, the history-making selfie, the crisp tuxes and plunging necklines, the self-congratulatory parties, the Slave who defies gravity, the umpteenth heartbreak of Leonardo DiCaprio and the star-making moment of Lupita Nyong’o — after the drum roll, it’s worth looking back to see how the model of modern democracy decides its "best" movies. Of course, by voting.
Cannes report: 'A Touch of Sin' an early favourite
Kong Rithdee, Published on 04/01/2015
» Good year? Bad year? Average year? The question is common, extraneous, and yet on everyone’s lips after three days into the 66th Cannes Film Festival.