Showing 21 - 30 of 42
A look at prison muay Thai
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 24/05/2017
» Thailand is splashed across the main screen of the Cannes Film Festival this year. A Prayer Before Dawn is not a Thai film, but this UK-France production takes place entirely in Thailand -- precisely in the rancid, violence-prone prison where inmates are crammed into small dormitories and fight to stay alive. Based on a book by ex-convict William Moore, who spent years at Klong Prem Prison for selling ya ba, the film, directed by Jean-Stephane Sauvaire, is an intense look at hard life in the hellhole, before Moore (played by British actor Joe Cole) finds redemption in the prison's muay Thai boxing programme.
Nothing is true. Everything is permitted
Life, Kanin Srimaneekulroj, Published on 23/12/2016
» Full disclosure: I adore the Assassin's Creed video game franchise. As such, it probably isn't much of a leap to say I thoroughly enjoyed Assassin's Creed the film, what with its stylishly gratifying action scenes, superhuman feats of parkour and nerdy, sci-fi pseudoscience, lifted right out of the games thanks to the participation of Ubisoft, the company responsible for both the development and publishing of the video games.
The robber barons
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 09/12/2016
» When the USSR imploded with the failure of its 75-year experiment with communism, it was every man for himself. As capitalism was working in the US, why not try it? With no equivalent of America's Wall Street, Russians eschewed stocks and bonds and went for the money.
Reinventing oneself
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 20/06/2016
» It isn't uncommon for people to reinvent themselves when they move to another country. Doing so in their homeland is difficult, as they may well be recognised, even of they undergo cosmetic surgery. Yours truly had an interview column for a while, and more than a few subjects (farangs) made up lies about themselves as they went along.
Crime thriller back
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 13/06/2016
» Some books have peculiar histories. Peter Robinson migrated from England. In Canada he wrote No Cure For Love, published in 1995. It didn't come out in the UK and US until 2016.
Live your dreams
Life, Anchalee Kongrut, Published on 16/05/2016
» Cuba, a socialist country with breathtaking Spanish colonial architecture, exceptionally fine music and superior cigars, is finally getting the world's attention it so deserves. Restored diplomacy with the US is putting the country among the top tourist destinations. Cuba was given a further boost when US President Barack Obama made a state visit in March and Karl Lagerfeld staged a fashion show in Havana earlier this month by turning the leafy Paseo del Prado boulevard into an extravagant catwalk. Not to be left behind, Thai hoteliers recently went to Havana to ink a deal to open a high-end complex.
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.
A second chance
Life, Melalin Mahavongtrakul, Published on 16/06/2015
» In a white room with high bars acting as a transparent wall, a warden stood watching as a group of men started picking up their brush. The men tentatively dabbed it in watercolour paint. Soon, everyone was making a mess on both the paper and the floor.
History, operatically
Life, Michael Proudfoot, Published on 24/02/2015
» Somtow Sucharitkul realised what his next opera production should be when he was speaking with one of his students.
Art behind bars
News, King-oua Laohong, Published on 11/10/2014
» His hands shape a crescent moon above a swimming naga on a plywood board made mainly of sawdust and glue. He doesn't pay attention to the boisterous group around him as he concentrates on adjusting the waning moon. His eyes are fixed on nothing but the plywood before him.