Showing 1 - 10 of 13
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.
The late, late show
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 13/06/2016
» Normally prime time for television is 8-11pm or thereabouts, the period when the family gathers to watch news and series while having dinner. So it will come as a surprise to many that for Muslim audiences during this month of Ramadan, prime time for television is closer to a graveyard shift -- 3-4.30am, deep in the night while most people are asleep -- as families wake up for the pre-dawn meal before a full day of fasting.
A glossary of 2014 Newspeak
News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 15/11/2014
» Constitution (noun/slang): A piece of paper torn to shreds every few years by gun-toting soldiers who perform such deeds on national TV. Usually, a new piece of paper is written shortly afterwards, invariably by a clique of handpicked Samaritans, legislative superheroes, heartbroken mavericks and all-purpose sycophants.
Nang Nak at 20
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 26/07/2019
» Thai cinema saw a new horizon open 20 years ago up this month. On July 23, 1999, a little film called Nang Nak opened in cinemas. An adaptation of the country's most popular ghost tale about a wife who died in childbirth but stuck around as a spirit waiting for her husband to return from war, the film arrived carrying high hopes -- and exceeded all of them. Nang Nak, directed by Nonzee Nimibutr and written by Wisit Sasanatieng, unleashed an unprecedented momentum of enthusiasm and became the first Thai movie to blaze past the 100-million-baht mark at the box office.
Scala doc to open film festival
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 25/03/2016
» Our cinematic monument of majesty, the last palatial cinema house in town, the Scala on Siam Square stands alone in defiance and melancholy as a remnant of a different era. As its fate -- the spectre of eventual demolition -- keeps popping up in the news every few years, the movie house is now the subject of a documentary film. The Scala, directed by Aditya Assarat, is part of a pan-Asia ensemble called The Power Of Asian Cinema that will screen as the opener of the 6th Salaya International tomorrow.
Fear of social change a step back
News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 09/08/2014
» Those who live permanently in the past can't see the inevitability of the present. Those who worship the stegosaurus would do something so comical, so anachronistic as banning a computer game that most people have never heard of, prompting nearly everyone to hear about it and wanting to play it — just for kicks, just for a slap to the face, just to prove that techno-terrorism will leave the dinosaurs behind. In the world of bandwidth, in a time when information always slips through the iron fist like water or like pus, in short, in the downloadable, Wiki-leakable 21st century — banning data is the practice of ants trapped in prehistoric amber.
The big cheat
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 05/05/2017
» Finally -- the first in 2017 -- we have a Thai film worth recommending. Chalard Games Goeng (Bad Genius) is a flashy, nail-biting multiple-choice thriller -- the film's best sequences take place in an exam arena, with 2B pencils scratching and the clock ticking as the student "genius" of the title transmits the answers of the test to her "clients", first through hand signals and later through an elaborate, time-zone-sensitive digital shenanigan.
Big Brother’s watching me watching him
News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 14/03/2015
» Skip out for beer during the commercials, because the revolution will not be televised — or so goes the Gil Scott-Heron song. If only it were that simple! Because while the revolution may not be televised, coups will. Coups have. Actually, a coup only qualifies as a coup when the perpetrators appear on television, epaulets sparkling as they line up before an extremely boring backdrop to announce their masterstroke. A coup needs tanks less than it needs a TV signal. We’ve borne witness to it too many times over the past 40 years, with first analogue broadcasting, then Earth-orbiting satellites and now digital TV.
Word-wise web
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 04/04/2014
» Last week a video clip went viral. It features a mock interview with a Westerner who recounts his first experience of being cursed at by Thai people. Deftly using comical expletives and po-faced humour, the clip clocked up one million hits within 24 hours. At the end of the five-minute video, called BKK 1st Time, the clip reveals itself to be an advertisement for a new book, a lighthearted piece of non-fiction written by a Thai student. The gist of the matter is that this publication, entitled New York 1st Time, is to be launched at the 42nd National Book Fair, the country’s largest annual gathering of booksellers and readers, which is currently under way at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center.
B-movie goes big
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 12/07/2013
» Brace yourself, otaku boys across the globe, Guillermo Del Toro's Pacific Rim is the most expensive B-movie ever! And that's a big, big compliment in the season of sterile blockbusters, for this is an immensely imaginative, wildly exhilarating ride through kaiju geekery, Godzilla roars, apocalyptic frenzy and robot fetishism. In short, an East Asian monster flick begotten from the unlikely womb of a Mexican director by way of Hollywood surrogates. Move over Marvel heroes and Superbore, Pacific Rim is the most shamelessly entertaining summer movie we've seen so far this year.