Showing 1 - 9 of 9
Paradise lost
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 04/04/2025
» In Grand Tour, Miguel Gomes' beguiling travelogue set in 1917, a British diplomat in Burma journeys across Southeast Asia, hopping from country to country, to avoid an encounter with his fiancée. Edward (Gonçalo Waddington) is a colonial officer who, struck by an inexplicable premonition or a case of cold feet, decides to flee Mandalay just before his sweetheart Molly (Crista Alfaiate) is due to arrive. He boards a ship to Singapore, then a train to Bangkok -- it derails on the way, but still makes it -- and onwards to Saigon, Manila, Osaka and Chongqing. Molly, pursuing him, would repeat a more or less similar route.
Taking a note from Taylor Swift
Life, Jon Caramanica, Published on 13/07/2023
» On Drivers License, one of the great singles of the 2020s, Olivia Rodrigo has been played for a fool by an ex, but the song — pulsing, parched, destitute — remains centred in her pathos. She may have been abandoned, but the person who did the damage is still an object of if not exactly affection, then obsession: “I still hear your voice in the traffic/ We’re laughing/ Over all the noise.” At the song’s conclusion, she is alone, and lonely. That was the Rodrigo from 2 1/2 years ago when she was reintroducing herself to the world as a human after a stretch as a Disney actress automaton. The Rodrigo who appears on Vampire, the first single from her forthcoming second album, has now lived through some things. Her sweetness has curdled.
Taking the easy way in
Life, Patcharawalai Sanyanusin, Published on 03/04/2023
» Cheating on an examination is a severe offence at every school and, when caught, offending students face a range of penalties and will lose credibility in the eyes of many.
Crypto creeps strike again
Life, Patcharawalai Sanyanusin, Published on 12/09/2022
» 'All investments carry some degree of risk." This is a classic statement that investors should bear in mind before engaging in any financial investment.
Deep in the paradox
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 25/05/2022
» In Cairo, a religious student at the prestigious Al-Azhar Islamic University is recruited by secret police to infiltrate a Muslim Brotherhood cell. In Mashad, a holy city in Iran, a serial killer prowls a seedy suburb and strangles head-scarfed prostitutes. In the first film, bloodlust officials torture dissidents with abandon. In the second film, religion is evoked and the name of God is cited as a justification for murder. This begs the obvious question: Will Boy From Heaven be banned in Egypt, and Holy Spider Iran?
A (drag) star is (re)born
Life, Pornchai Sereemongkonpol, Published on 27/07/2020
» The art of drag has been gaining momentum in the Thai mainstream in recent years, thanks to two seasons of Drag Race Thailand, the Thai version of the Emmy-winning RuPaul's Drag Race, and various gay-friendly parties popping over the town in pre-Covid-19 Bangkok.
Jim Jarmusch's zombies open Cannes
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 16/05/2019
» 'Infernal hipsters and their irony." So says a very unhip character in The Dead Don't Die, and of course, what else could it be? Jim Jarmusch's zombie comedy opened the 72nd Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday night with a sort-of infernal hipness that both literalises and subverts the zombie formula -- with mixed results.
Who's the hero here?
Life, Amitha Amranand, Published on 28/03/2019
» Scene Zero's Shogo Tanikawa emerges with another play about outsiders. While last year's 4 Seasons draws sensitive and convincing portraits of Thai immigrants in Japan, this year's Hero gives us characters that are either blurry or just plain ludicrous.
Risqué stand-up to play Bangkok
Life, Published on 22/02/2018
» Prepare to be tickled with laughter next month as the Magners International Comedy festival -- Asia's largest comedy festival -- will be back for its fifth rendition, welcoming comedians from all over the world to bring laughter to the Land of Smiles. With Thailand's international comedy scene growing bigger and faster than ever, acclaimed US comedian Doug Stanhope will be heading the event as part of his Asian tour.