Showing 71 - 80 of 142
Cinematic glory days
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 24/08/2016
» The five cameras are displayed in a glass box in the glitziest multiplex in town. Spot the irony?
Sandcastles in sky and 'our' Leicester win
News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 21/05/2016
» So unsure of ourselves, we grab a straw and think it is a rope. So unconfident of our place in the world, we find an excuse to vaunt it as national pride. Sandcastles? Maybe, and while everyone enjoys building sandcastles, only children think they're real and want to live out their lives in one.
Something wicked
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 06/05/2016
» It's New England in 1630, before the Salem Witch Trials, but the presence of Satan, real or deluded, is ripe in the woods of the new colony. Robert Eggers' The Witch vibrates with that sense of dread, of something subterranean (though visible to us), something that exerts its evil influence on the mind of the isolated, feverishly pious settlers.
Regional favourites, new and old
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 15/04/2016
» The 2nd Bangkok Asean Film Festival begins on Thursday at SF World Cinema, and will travel to Khon Kaen, Surat Thani and Chiang Mai later.
Doc lovers rejoice!
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 18/03/2016
» It is high time for audiences who appreciate the rough-edged reality of documentary films. Of the five nominees of the Oscar for best documentary feature, three had a regular release in Bangkok cinemas (Amy, Cartel Land, The Look of Silence), something unthinkable a few years ago when no distributor wanted to risk showing non-fiction films in cinemas. Now there is almost always at least one documentary film at SF CentralWorld, with the initiation of the independent outfit Documentary Club (in the programme now is The Hunting Ground, about rape crimes in American universities).
Cinema under the stars
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 23/02/2016
» When was the last time you attended an outdoor cinema? To be more precise, do you remember seeing a movie under the sky at Lumpini Park?
Bowie, in film
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 15/01/2016
» A shape-shifter on stage, David Bowie naturally found a new home in acting. Over the past 40 years, the late performer starred in many films -- though acting seemed more like another one of his experimental projects -- working with top directors such as Martin Scorsese, Christopher Nolan and the late Tony Scott, and playing roles from vampire and wizard, to alien and Andy Warhol (in Basquiat, a biopic of the artist by Julian Schnabel). It would be impossible to list them all, so here are my five picks on Bowie's screen performances.
8 of the best
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 01/01/2016
» The 40th Toronto International Film Festival wrapped last Sunday. Although a non-competitive event -- meaning there were no juries -- the festival did have a People's Choice Award voted for by viewers, which this year went to Lenny Abrahamson's abduction drama Room (last year it was The Imitation Game, which went on to earn several Oscar nominations).
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.
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.