Review: Chalui Tae Khob Fah (Lost in Seoul)

• Directed by Adirek Watleela and Suchart Makhawimarn
• Starring Mek Mekwattana, Nachat Juntapun, Zuvapit Traipornworakit, Nichkhun Horvejkul
• Released in Thai cinemas on June 4, 2015; rated 13+
• Wise Kwai's rating: 3/5

Rags-to-riches stories of struggling musicians looking for their big break are a dime a dozen, so journeyman producer Adirek "Uncle" Watleela got a real bargain with Chalui Tae Khob Fah (ฉลุย แตะขอบฟ้า, a.k.a. Lost in Seoul), which is a remake of a movie he first did in 1988.

The original, about two country lads looking to take Bangkok by storm, is repurposed for the K-pop era, and sends the bumbling heroes from Bangkok to Seoul, where they dream of bringing Thai rock to the uptight corporate ranks of South Korea's entertainment machine. Their big inspiration is a fellow Thai, Nichkhun Horvejkul, who is famous as the Thai guy in the boyband 2PM.

The story starts off in a dream sequence with Nichkhun as a pizza-delivery guy. Uncle and co-director Suchart Makhawimarn seem to be taking their cues from Christopher Nolan as they aim to keep things as off-kilter as possible, with a rapid succession of dreams, flashbacks and sight gags to propel the action as they introduce the two lead characters – long-haired guitarist Pong (Mek "Jessie" Mekwattana) and his singer pal Tong (Nachat "Nicky" Juntapun).

Amid this rapidly moving shell-game of a comedy, one thing becomes quickly apparent – Pong and Tong are no-talent hacks. But they're nice enough fellows, and their enthusiasm makes up somewhat for their lack of finessed dance moves. But behind their earthworm-like shimmying, it's all empty – they are lipsynching to a recording, and their instruments, which are just hollow shells, are unplugged.

But it doesn't matter. Uncle, well-versed in the art of showbiz hocus-pocus, manages to keep up a breakneck level of energy. The Thai Blues Brothers continue to practice their music on their rooftop and dream of their big break, with support from their endlessly cheerful comic neighbor (Phongthep Anurat), who becomes their manager. The suspense comes from the wonder of how long can the energy be sustained, and, will these sad clowns somehow have what it takes?

Uncle, as always, can't resist inserting references to his other movies. So the boys, in their apartment decorated by a Black Sabbath vinyl clock (points added), a Good Charlotte poster (points deducted) and toilet stool for a desk chair (points added), pop a DVD into a portable player. It's Tears of the Black Tiger, the melodramatic western by Wisit Sasanatieng that Uncle co-produced. It's a scene where two male characters pray together and seal a blood bond.

And, I'm pretty sure that's the two actors from the original Chalui Tae Kob Fah (literally Touch the Sky) popping up in another scene to give the younger lads encouragement. Later on, Pong and Tong find a DVD for Yuthlert Sippapak's Chiang Khan Love Story, which Uncle produced only last year. And watch for Uncle in a cameo as a cop.

Like the movie's characters, Chalui Tae Khob Fah gets by on sheer amiability. The boys are guys you wouldn't mind hanging out with for a night, and the movie is like that too. It spends roughly half its time goofing around in Bangkok before jetting off to Seoul, and I hardly noticed an hour had gone by.

Once in Seoul, where the production values are eyepopping, the boys rapidly go through the usual succession of adventures – getting mixed up with mobsters, street hoods and bent cops. Only the Illinois Nazis are missing. They lose their money and passports and then fumble their way into another situation that leads to them making friends with colorful locals.

There's the usual succession of nods to Korean culture, which have become stock-in-trade for Thai-South Korean productions. The gold standard of these remains GTH's blockbuster romance Guan Muen Ho (Hello Stranger). Others have included Poj Arnon's Kao Rak Thee Korea (Sorry Saranghaeyo), Wisit and Michael Shaowanasai's short Iron Pussy: A Kimchi Affair for the Busan-backed Camellia and Prachya Pinkaew's Bangkok-set South Korean martial-arts comedy The Kick.

Thanks to Oldboy, we must have a wriggling octopus, and I'd be disappointed if there weren't any octopuses. But there's also Korean theater and music, thanks to a young woman named Meehwa, her mother and their friends. Of course, she turns out to be half-Thai, and can serve as the boys' translator, helping them get jobs and fast-talk their way out of sticky situations. If it seems like she's everywhere, it's because she is. It's singer-actress "Baitoei" Zuvapit Traipornworakit in a dual role as Meewha and as Bangkok neighborhood doll Tukdta. So there's enough of Baitoei to go around for both of the guys.

One convenient situation after another befalls Pong and Tong as they try to land an audition with an executive at a Korean record label who they first met on a drunken night out in Bangkok. Boyband member "Buck" Nichkhun turns up again, and agrees to help the guys, because they are fellow Thais. Because that's overseas Thai code. Or something.

Soon, we're all singing along to a street-performer backed rendition of the anthem "Arirang", complete with classical Korean instruments, a bicycle drum set and crunchy Thai rock-guitar power chords.

Chalui Tae Khob Fah is the third release for Transformation Films, the new company formed by the former Film Bangkok producer pair of Uncle and Sa-nga Chatchairungruang. Other features so far have been last year's award-winning Chiang Khan Love Story by Yuthlert and this past February's romantic comedy Single Lady Phror Khoei Me Fan, directed by Thanakorn Pongsuwan (Fireball).

Like the others, Chalui Tae Khob Fah has performed very modestly at the local box office, with earnings of 1.5 million baht in its first week, trailing far, far behind the Hollywood behemoths Spy, San Andreas, Tomorrowland and Mad Max: Fury Road. At last count, Chalui had only doubled its first week's earnings, but it remains in theaters thanks to Transformation's partnership with Major Cineplex, Thailand's biggest multiplex operator. If it were anyone else's film, it would have been booted out after a few days.

Despite iffy box-office prospects – hardly anyone in Thailand is watching Thai films these days unless they come from GTH – we'll likely be seeing more of this type of thing. Also backing Chalui Tae Khob Fah was the Korean entertainment mega-firm CJ E&M Film Division, which is separately joining up with Major Cineplex in a three-year 10-film deal for more Thai-South Korean co-productions, likely from Transformation, or the half-dozen or so other Major Cineplex-backed production companies.

See also:

• CJ enters joint venture with Major Cineplex [Film Business Asia]

I Fine ... Thank You ... Love You takes two prizes at Osaka

Last year's No. 1 movie at the Thai box office, the GTH studio's romantic comedy I Fine ... Thank You ... Love You (ไอฟาย..แต๊งกิ้ว..เลิฟยู้) took two prizes at the 10th Osaka Asian Film Festival.

Director Mez Tharatorn was named most-promising talent while I Fine's lead actress Preechaya "Ice" Pongthananikorn, won the Yakushi Pearl Award for her performance as a well-to-do celebrity English-language tutor who is reluctantly roped into teaching a boorish blue-collar factory worker to speak English so he can get back with his Japanese ex-girlfriend.

GTH stock-company leading man Sunny Suwanmethanon works his eyebrows into overdrive as the sneering greaser-styled biker guy in a factory jumpsuit, who needs schooling so he can join his Japanese girlfriend in the States. She's played by another GTH regular, spunky Japanese former AV idol Sora Aoi.

For Mez, the Osaka honor follows his previous box-office successes with the critically acclaimed Little Comedian and the 2012 box-office smash ATM Er Rak Err.

Formulated for GTH's proven demographic of well-heeled socially networked urban Thais, the fractured-English film came close to breaking Ong-Bak's record for first-day earnings, with 29 million baht. It then proceeded past the Thai industry's benchmark 100-million-baht threshold in its first three days, with the reported opening weekend earnings boosted by a Wednesday opening that coincided with the still-observed December 10 government holiday, Constitution Day. As the year ended, I Fine had hit the 200-million-baht mark and was still going. Like other GTH pictures, it's also proving popular in other Asian territories.

I Fine was also among nominees for the recent Subhanahongsa Awards, with 11 nods, including best film, director, screenplay and acting prizes.

In Osaka, other awards went to Taiwanese director Yee Chee-yen's youth drama Meeting Dr. Sun, which took the Grand Prize and the Audience Award. Film Business Asia has the full rundown.

Review: Tukkae Rak Pang Mak (Chiang Khan Story)

• Directed by Yuthlert Sippapak
• Starring Jirayu La-ongmanee, Chonthida Asavahame
• Released in Thai cinemas on August 28, 2014; rated 15+
• Wise Kwai's rating: 3/5

Yuthlert Sippapak pays homage to his roots with the partly autobiographical romantic comedy Tukkae Rak Pang Mak (ตุ๊กแกรักแป้งมาก, a.k.a. Chiang Khan Story.

Spanning 20 years from the 1970s to the '90s in the Mekong River town of Chiang Khan in Yuthlert's home province of Loei, it's the story of childhood friends, the poor little orphan boy with the odd name of Tukkae (after the large chirping house lizard that's believed be a bad omen) and the wealthy girl Pang. They later grow apart, but are forced back together by circumstances that only happen in romantic comedies.

The first half of the movie, featuring a cast of child actors, is energetic, sweet and nostalgic, weaving in memories of 4-baht wooden cap guns with the rubber-band action, the then-newfangled foreign treat of jellybeans and GAF Viewmasters.

Tukkae and Pang take to hanging around the town's wooden shophouse cinema. It's during a magical time when such Thai cinema classics as Sombat Metanee's gritty actioner Chumpae is playing alongside Payut Ngaokrachang's animated triumph The Adventures of Sudsakorn and Sompote Sands' insane Hanuman vs. 7 Ultraman.

The kids are mentored by the theater's poster painter, played by Yuthlert's longtime collaborator "Uncle" Adirek Watleela. His character Pong Poster is a heartfelt tribute to still-living 1970s' director Piak Poster, who started out as a poster artist, as well as Uncle's late Buppa Rahtree co-star, character actor and production designer Bunthin Thuaykaew.

Tukkae, always on the defensive because of his funny nickname and his status as a poor orphan kid, seeks to play with the gang of chubby boys who always bully him. In lively action scenes, they blast away with their cap guns while wearing Red Eagle masks, like Mitr Chaibancha. And Tukkae accepts a dare that drives Pang out of his life, seemingly forever.

Flash forward a few years to Bangkok, Tukkae is a comic-book artist with aspirations of getting in the movie business. He's partnered up with a level-headed and experienced film hand, amiably played by Slice director Kongkiat Khomsiri, one of several film industry hands in the cast. In another scene, Thanit Jitnukul (Bang Rajan) turns up as a producer. He can't believe Tukkae doesn't know what a "treatment" is.

The guys are tasked with making a Mae Nak "liverscape" movie by a hilariously marble-mouthed B-movie producer who sees nothing wrong with moving the famous ghost story from Phra Khanong to Chiang Khan. Tukkae has other ideas, and he writes an "untitled" screenplay that is basically his life story, with a focus on his relationship with Pang.

The implausibilities stack up as Tukkae encounters Pang by chance in a Bangkok disco, and she doesn't remember him at all. In fact, nobody from Tukkae's old school remembers what anybody looks like. But this is, refreshingly, before Facebook and selfies, so I suppose the disbelief can be suspended somewhat. Mistaken identities and misunderstandings add to Tukkae's woes as Pang wakes up in Tukkae's bedroom and doesn't recognize Tukkae or any of his stuff (not even the Viewmaster she gave him).

But the two are thrown together anyway when Pang, now a famous actress, is cast for the role in Tukkae's movie. Awkwardness ensues on the set as Pang is confronted with the guy she only recognizes from that bad night out. She doesn't realize it's her old childhood friend, nor does she seem aware that he actually wrote the screenplay for the movie she's in.

The energy and sweetness of the movie's first half gives way to a wallowing slackness that's struggling to find an ending. It's not helped by the rather wooden performances by Kao Jirayu and Pleng Chontida. Kao, a former child actor with many credits, has better chemistry in later scenes with his character's dementia-addled grandmother who raised him. Pleng, the celebrity offspring of singer Nantida Kaewbuasai and scandal-plagued politician Chonsawat Asavahame, is making her screen debut, but seems to let a curly hairstyle and aviator sunglasses do all the work for her.

The supporting cast, especially the Tukky-type actress who plays Pang's best friend and manager, help to liven things up. She is friends with soldiers at the local army base, and they turn up on command to dish out beatings to anyone getting on her wrong side. Boriboon Chanruang portrays a director who spent so long in New York he's forgotten to speak Thai. He becomes Tukkae's chief rival in romancing Pang.

Yuthlert seems to have suppressed his infamous genre-jumping tendencies in an effort to make what he's called his first romantic comedy, though melodrama, horror and slapstick all creep their way in, just not as much or as often as his past films.

Tukkae Rak Pang Mak also marks a comeback of sorts for Yuthlert, who has done more than a dozen films over around half as many years up until a year or so ago. However, his last effort, the potentially controversial Deep South drama Fatherland (ปิตุภูมิ พรมแดนแห่งรัก, Pitupoom) was yanked from release by the film's producer. So Yuthlert retreated to Loei to regroup.

His new film is the first release from a new studio, Transformation Films, which is a joint venture of M Pictures, Bangkok Film Studio (formerly Film Bangkok), True I-Content and Matching Studio.

Box-office performance for Tukkae has been middling, with 12.7 million baht in earnings at last count, but hopefully the company will soldier on and perhaps give one of Thai cinema's most distinctive voices yet another chance to tell his stories.

See also:

• True Group in filmmaking JV to cash in on local, foreign demand [The Nation]
• Transformation Films YouTube channel

High hopes as Tom-Yum-Goong 2 heads to AFM

Tom-Yum-Goong 2, which at last count had total domestic earnings of 49.4 million Thai baht (about US$1.57 million), is at the American Film Market, which opened yesterday.

Film Business Asia has a look at the movie's chances there.

Meanwhile, Tom-Yum-Goong 2 (ต้มยำกุ้ง 2, a.k.a. The Protector 2) has fallen to No. 3 at the Thai box office.

It was in first place during its October 24-27 opening weekend, but didn't have much competition as it was really the only live-action wide release at the time.

It's now behind the No. 1 Hashima Project (ฮาชิมะ โปรเจกต์), a ghost thriller from Thai studio M-Thirtynine, and the Hollywood sci-fi Ender's Game.

At the same time it opened in Thailand, Tom-Yum-Goong 2 also made its bow in Malaysia, where it was No. 3 with $438,786.

In Thailand, promotional efforts hit a snag because of star Tony Jaa's ongoing feud with his studio, Sahamongkol Film International and its boss Somsak "Sia Jiang" Techaratanaprasert. Just as the movie was released, Jaa jetted off to the U.S. to take part in production for Fast and Furious 7. He's also been busy teaching Vin Diesel Muay Thai, over Sia Jiang's objections.

So while the Thai press wasn't too keen on reporting about a movie without the main star on hand, the Malaysian press was happy to make do with the movie's director, Prachya Pinkaew. He talked to The Star about the movie's stand-out action scene. You know which one.

“The fighting scene is between Tony Jaa and the motorcycle gang, which lasts for 14.50 minutes. It took us eight months to film this scene.

“Unlike the previous movie, we didn’t shoot any scenes abroad. We used Bangkok as the backdrop as we wanted to present a side of Bangkok that a lot of people have never seen before.

“Sometimes it’s very difficult, like shooting from a helicopter. Helicopter shoots may be normal for other countries, but it’s very difficult in Thailand. Not only that, we filmed the action scene with 300 moving motorbikes.”

But, hey, look! The New Straits Times scored an e-mail interview with Jaa himself. He talks about being injured during that big motorcycle chase:

"There were some injuries from action scenes because we worked with metals and objects coming at you at a high speed, which we could neither predict nor control. There was a scene where I had to push away a speeding bike and I injured my legs in the process. The villain who rode the bike was slashed on the neck by a sheet of metal. It was a terrifying experience.

Critical consensus is mixed, with reviews ranging from "probably Tony Jaa's worst movie thus far" in Malaysia to "just enough punches to satisfy action fans" from the Bangkok Post's Kong Rithdee.

Channel News Asia chips in with an unenthusiastic review as the movie opens in Singapore this week.

For more on how Tom-Yum-Goong 2 has been doing, check out my old Rotten Tomatoes pal Senh Duong at Movies With Butter.

Pee Mak is back, in 4DX

Pee Mak Phra Khanong (พี่มาก...พระโขนง), GTH's record-setting hit horror comedy, has become the first Thai film to be converted to the 4DX format. It's back in Bangkok cinemas, playing in a limited run until July 24 in the 4Dx theaters at Paragon Cineplex and Major Cineplex Ratchayothin.

The 4D conversion was done for Pee Mak's release last month in Taiwan. According to MovieXclusive, it's the second 4DX film to be released in Taiwan with Man of Steel being the first.

While still in 2D, the viewing experience is augmented by such things as shaking seats and gusts of air.

Around the region, Pee Mak has racked up impressive numbers. In Singapore it's the No. 1 Thai film, earning SGD$768,000 to surpass the previous record holder Phobia 2.

And in Vietnam, it earned 8 billion dong (US$380,300) in its first 10 days of release.

Pee Mak earns 1 billion, gets decent reviews in Hong Kong

Pee Mak Phra Khanong, the ghost comedy that has thundered its way into the box-office record books in Thailand, has earned 1 billion baht, according to social-media promotions from studio GTH.

And the cash is still rolling in as the movie generates waves of laughter across the region. Pee Mak opens this week in Malaysia and next week in Singapore.

It opened in Hong Kong a couple of weeks ago, and a couple of reviews have surfaced.

Twitch's Hong Kong-based Asian editor, James Marsh, who's never gone easy on Thai films, surprisingly liked Pee Mak:

"Re-inventing a classic Thai ghost story into a goofball comedy romance, seasoned director Banjong Pisanthanakun has scored a huge box office hit in his native Thailand. While unlikely to do the same kind of business outside South East Asia, Pee Mak Phra Khanong is nevertheless an enjoyable and frequently laugh-out-loud crowd pleaser.

While praising lead actress Davika Hoorne, who plays the stretchy-armed ghost, Marshy reserved his negative views for Mario Maurer's performance and for the film's 115-minute length, in which all the running around and screaming begins to get old. Read the whole thing at Twitch.

Another review comes from Hong Kong's South China Morning Post, and it's generally positive.

Pee Mak reaches No. 1

According to a story in The Nation today, the horror-comedy Pee Mak Phra Khanong has earned 556 million baht, surpassing the previous Thai box-office record holder, MC Chatrichalerm Yukol's 2001 royal epic Suriyothai.

The new record can be attributed to increases in ticket prices over the years – nearly double since 2001 – as well as the opening of more and more mall multiplexes across the Kingdom. What's surprising is that a mega-hit to beat Suriyothai didn't happen sooner.

Opening on March 28, GTH's monster is still in cinemas. As a "thank you" to fans, the studio has a promotion going until tomorrow, offering discounted tickets for 80 baht – see it again, and give them even more money!

It was No. 1 at the Thai box office for five consecutive weeks before dropping to No. 2 over the weekend of May 2-5, being bumped from the week-on-week top spot by Iron Man 3, which is holding on even after this past weekend's release of Star Trek Into Darkness.

Pee Mak should easily be the No. 1 movie of the year in Thailand, having clobbered other Thai releases, such as studio M-Thirtynine's weepy World War II romance Khoo Kam and Chookiat Sakveerakul's teenage coming-of-age comedy Grean Fictions, as well as the Hollywood blockbuster G.I. Joe: Retaliation.

Meanwhile, The Nation's story today deals with the idiotic rumor that Pee Mak is "banned in China". The nonsense is thanks to lamentations circulated on a Thai website by Pee Mak leading man Mario Maurer, who expressed his dire wishes that the movie would get released on the Mainland.

However, according to director Banjong Pisanthanakun, Pee Mak isn't banned in China, officially anyway, because no deals have been made with distributors there, though interest has been shown. Nonetheless, it's doubtful Pee Mak will ever screen in China, thanks to prohibitions against the "ghost movies" and the "third sex" that are staples of the Thai film industry.

Plus, there's the strict quota that only allows a handful of foreign films each year. Thai officials are lobbying for China to bend the rules to allow more films from other Asian countries. But as long as Iron Man is powered by a Chinese milk drink, it's going to be tough for other countries to compete with Hollywood for a toehold in China.

Oh well, at least there's Hong Kong, where Pee Mak opens this week, followed by Cambodia next week, Malaysia on June 6, Singapore on June 13 and Taiwan on August 9.

With Pee Mak topping the box office and being so phenomenonally successful, the pressure is on. Other Thai studios are surely taking stock of the productions on their books, and looking for ways to compete with GTH's slick marketing machine.

And even other GTH directors are feeling the pressure, among them Sophon "Jim" Sakdaphisit, who is tasked with coming up with the studio's next big hit this year. Now, he's no slouch, having written and directed the 2011 No. 1 movie Laddaland as well as having a hand in writing the international hit horrors Shutter and Alone. But rather than deal with the scrutiny, Sophon has dropped off the grid, according to a recent Soopsip column in The Nation. He will likely re-emerge once the stretchy-armed shadow of Pee Mak has retreated a bit.

Pee Mak is coming for you

Davika Hoorne, third from right, poses with fans in Jakarta. Director Banjong and other cast members are also present. Photo via GTH.

It's the hottest time of year in Thailand, and Pee Mak Phra Khanong fever has gripped the Kingdom. The hit ghost movie has reportedly reached 300 million baht in box-office takings and will rake in much more over the Songkran New Year's holiday weekend.

According to figures tracked down by blogger Richard Barrow, Pee Mak is now the all-time No. 2 Thai film, behind 2001's Suriyothai by MC Chatrichalerm Yukol, which earned 550 million baht. It's ahead of three of Chatrichalerm's Naresuan epics.

Visute Poolvoralucks, executive producer at GTH studio, told The Nation he thinks Pee Mak will surpass Suriyothai, especially if receipts from the new multiplexes upcountry are factored in. For now, only Bangkok and Chiang Mai cinemas are reported for the industry's box-office figures. As head of the Federation of National Film Associations of Thailand, Visute might be able to fix that.

And soon there will be revenue from overseas to count.

Pee Mak premiered last Friday in Jakarta, with 1,000 screaming fans – mainly female from the looks of photos – turning up to be greeted by director Banjong Pisanthanakun and his stars, including Mario Maurer and "Mai" Davika Hoorne.

According to an Instagram from Banjong, the Hong Kong release will be on May 16 and Cambodia on May 23. Malaysia gets it on June 6 followed by Singapore on June 13. The Taiwan release is set for August 9. A Philippines release is also likely, given Mario's huge popularity there.

Fans with iPhones might want the Pee Mak phone cover. There are four cartoony designs of Mak, the stretchy armed Nak and Mak's four bumbling pals.

There's also a Nation editorial, praising the "artistic courage" it took to make the horror comedy. But be warned, if you haven't seen the movie, then don't read that editorial, because it contains spoilers.

Review: Pee Mak Phra Khanong

• Directed by Banjong Pisunthanakun
• Starring Mario Maurer, Davika Hoorne, Nattapong Chartpong, Kantapat Permpoonpatcharasuk, Pongsatorn Jongwilak, Wiwat Kongrasri
• Released in Thai cinemas on March 28, 2013; rated 15+
• Wise Kwai's rating: 4/5

The Thai film industry has its first bonafide monster hit in awhile with “Pee Mak Phra Khanong” luring viewers into cinemas like moths to the flame.

The horror-comedy earned around 21 million baht on its opening day, setting a record for the GTH studio (only Sahamongkol's Ong-Bak has had a bigger opening, at around 30 million baht). It reached the benchmark 100-million-baht in its first four days in cinemas, and was still packing them in at a midnight screening at midweek.

But the real news is that Pee Mak is actually pretty good. Distinguishing itself from most other Thai horror comedies that are loosely structured, this one follows an actual script, which is smartly co-written by director Banjong Pisunthanakun. The production values are slick as is usual for the GTH studio. And there are strong performances, including a sweet and surprisingly funny Mario Maurer as Mak and the well-cast Davika “Mai” Hoorne, whose expressive eyes put across the fierceness of her character.

It’s yet another version of the famous Mae Nak Phra Khanong ghost story that’s been told on the big screen dozens of times. Other versions have included the 1999 hit Nang Nak by Nonzee Nimibutr and screenwriter Wisit Sasanatieng, as well as the lackluster 3D version of the tale last year, starring Bongkot Kongmalai as the long-armed ghost.

Everyone knows the story by heart. Set 100 or so years ago, long before the rustic river village of Phra Khanong became part of Bangkok and was paved over with condos, the young man Mak goes off to war, leaving behind his pregnant wife Nak. While Mak battles for his life in the trenches against whomever it was the Siamese were fighting back then, Nak struggles to give birth but both she and her baby die. However, the love between Mak and Nak is so strong, her spirit survives. When Mak returns home, he doesn’t see that anything is wrong even though the villagers are all in hiding, cowering in fear of the powerful ghost.

I laughed at a gorgeous scene of a thumping spider, a shot lifted from Nonzee and Wisit's version. But Banjong adds other critters, like centipedes, to give you the sense that even the insects are running for the hills in fear of Nak.

Pee Mak has just enough twists to make it interesting and it keeps you guessing by hinting at the various what if’s that might race through your mind, such as, for example, “what if Nak isn’t the one who’s dead?” It also plays on the assumptions that perhaps Mak (and by extension Mario) is a bit dimwitted if he can’t see that his wife is a ghost.

Pee Mak Phra Khanong adds four characters to the usual tale, army buddies of Mak who accompany him back home. They almost immediately figure out that something isn’t right, but have trouble finding the right moment to clue Mak in without making Nak angry.

The four guys are the bespectacled Ter (Nattapong Chartpong), moustachioed Aye (Kantapat Permpoonpatcharasuk), trendy-haired, goateed Puak (Pongsatorn Jongwilak) and the top-knot-haired Shin (Wiwat Kongrasri). The actors are the same four goofballs who went camping in director Banjong’s comedic segment of GTH’s Phobia. They also featured in the comedy segment of Phobia 2.

As in the Phobia films, the lads offer up a plethora of pop-culture references, even if such things as movies like The Last Samurai (or maybe they said Bangrajan) or magician David Blaine didn't exist back in Mak and Nak’s time. At one point, the boys holler at Mak, accusing him of bad acting and asking if he’d been coached by “Mom Noi”, Mario’s director ML Bhandevanov Devakula on the critically assailed, box-office-bombing Jan Dara epics (the English dubtitles say “Ang Lee”, which makes no sense – stop with the dubtitles, please).

The humor works better when the cultural references are potentially appropriate to the era or there’s no translation needed, like when one of the boys doesn't realize he needs to look backwards through his own legs to see that Nak is a ghost.

But there is a clever moment when Mak explains his name is really “Mark”, and as his four chums try to wrap their tongues around that, Mak tells how his father was a missionary from the US, making Mak a luk khrueng, or "half-Thai". Of course the joke is that Mario himself is half-Western, as is his co-star, the big-eyed Davika. I'm not sure how that joke will play in other countries, if Pee Mak does indeed find overseas buyers.

The fun really gets going when Mak takes his wife to a temple fair. Never mind that they probably didn’t have Ferris wheels or electric lights back then. On the run from the vengeful Nak, the four buddies hide out in the carnival’s haunted house, and disguise themselves as other spooks from Thai folklore – Nang Tani, the banana-tree ghost; Phi Krahang, the flying ghost; Krasue, the flying head-and-entrails ghost, and Kuman Thong, the little-boy ghost.

After a terror-filled boat ride, the guys end up taking refuge in the Buddhist temple with the monk, and the truth finally comes out.

But while other Mae Nak stories have ended tragically, this is a GTH movie, and even GTH’s sad movies make the audiences leave with smiles on their faces. Plus, given the windfall of cash Pee Mak has brought the studio, perhaps they’ll find a way to make a sequel and create more smiles.

Related posts:

• Terror for teenyboppers in Pee Mak Phra Khanong

Review: Thongsuk 13 (Long Weekend)

• Directed by Taweewat Wantha
• Starring Chinnawut Intarakusin, Cheeranat Yusanon, Acharanat Ariyaritwikol, Busarin Yokpraipan, Gitlapat Garasutraiwan, Sean Jindachot
• Released in Thai cinemas on January 31, 2013; rated 15+
• Wise Kwai's rating: 4/5

They're back. And by they, I mean that wild bunch that used to run the now-shuttered Film Bangkok studio, which produced such claw-your-eyes-out they're-so-good spectacles as the candy-coloured western Tears of the Black Tiger and the zombie comedy SARS Wars.

Resurrected as Wave Pictures by BEC-Tero's Maleenont family, one of the brains behind the new studio is former Film Bangkok honcho Adirek "Uncle" Watleelak, who co-produces the first release, Thongsuk 13 (ทองสุก 13, a.k.a. Long Weekend). In addition to sharing producing and editing credit, Uncle co-wrote the movie with SARS Wars director Taweewat Wantha and screenwriters Sommai Lertulan and Eakasit Thairatana.

Taweewat's trademark outrageousness is toned down only a bit for this teen slasher-thriller, and it has nearly that same unstoppable energy as his SARS Wars or the sci-fi farce The Sperm. Just when you think things can't get any crazier, they do. Only instead of humor, Taweewat taps into that energy for breathless, non-stop scares. During the last half of the movie, there is no let up, save for a humorous moment in which one of the characters is dispatched with a long-tail boat propeller. He's dead already and doesn't want to die again. "I'm dead enough," he laments as the blades hack into his head.

The story involves six teenagers who head to mysterious isolated island for a weekend of partying. Trouble is, the island has a dark and ancient history, of a sacrificial rite held during the so-called "blood moon" that is meant to keep the "devouring ghost" at bay. And of course, these kids are visiting the island during that very time.

But let's back up a bit, to the boyhood of the title character Thongsuk. He was always not quite right and a bit sickly. It's in the school infirmary where he's resting and his best friend Nam comes with a headache. Thongsuk, wanting to impress the girl, has her take off his amulet necklace, which is supposed to ward off ghosts. She does so and Thongsuk immediately lapses into a ghost-caused seizure and bangs his head on the bedframe. From then on, because of his head injury, Thongsuk is even more off and is consequently bullied by the other kids. Only Nam defends him.

So when Nam (Cheeranat Yusanon), the guys Jack (Acharanat Ariyaritwikol) and Boi (Sean Jindachot) and the lipstick lesbian girlfriends Beam (Busarin Yokpraipan) and Pui (Gitlapat Garasutraiwan) make plans to go to the island without Thongsuk (Chinnawut Intarakusin), Thongsuk schemes to somehow surprise them.

Instead, everyone is surprised, thanks to the evil spirits on the island and Thongsuk being a conduit for them.

What follows is the usual setup of these types of teen-slasher movies in which the hedonistic characters get what's coming to them as they are possessed, picked off or devoured one by one by a mysterious force. Blood and gore fly as grey, smoky CGI baddies haunt the kids. It's like Cabin in the Woods, though less tongue-in-cheek. Backwards-bending characters bring to mind the current Hollywood hit horror Mama.

Nam emerges as the heroine, who must at all costs keep a candle burning to ward off the bad spirits and survive the night.

Of course there's a red herring or two to put you and Nam off the scent. Let's just say if you're in a horror movie and Wonderful Town's Anchalee Saisoontorn turns up as your mother, you might not want to trust her.

This first release from Wave Pictures could possibly mark a return to the crazy old energy Thai films had in the late 1990s and early 2000s, back when I got interested in Thai films. Thongsuk 13 opened at No 1 at the Thai box office but with only middling takings of 12.7 million baht. Hopefully that won't deter Wave Pictures from pressing on.

See also:

• Full trailer for Thongsuk 13

Review: Khun Nai Ho

• Directed by Rerkchai Paungpetch
• Starring Araya A. Hargate, Akom Preedakul, Jaroenporn Ornlamai, Teeradate Methavorrayuth, Ray MacDonald
• Released in Thai cinemas on December 27, 2012; rated 15+
• Wise Kwai's rating: 2/5

For no other reason than it's funny looking, soap star "Chompoo" Araya A. Hargate wears a wig in Khun Nai Ho (คุณนายโฮ), the latest year-end comedy bonanza from M-Thirtynine Pictures and director Rerkchai Paungpetch. The comical bowl-shaped bob gives the usually long-haired actress the appearance of a mushroom, a fact that is later commented on with much venom by one of the characters.

Khun Nai Ho, a.k.a. Madame Ho, also has the international English title Crazy Crying Lady, which is literally what the movie is about. Sort of.

It's the latest in a long line of romantic comedies from Rerkchai and M-Thirtynine, released every New Year's holiday. They all follow the same formula – casting attractive young, popular stars with veteran male comedians who are usually in drag. All are incomprehensible tales, full of non-sequitur humor and take forever to get to the point. And they are, for some reason, wildly popular with Thai audiences. According to the latest box-office figures, Khun Nai Ho has earned nearly 80 million baht after three weeks, zeroing in on the industry's benchmark 100 million baht figure and ensuring that we'll get another one of these types of comedies around this time next year.

Like just about every Thai comedy, Khun Nai Ho starts out fun and full of energy, but quickly degenerates into a succession of headache-inducing nonsensical jokes, gay slurs and slapstick gags. The production design and costuming is candy colored and gives the movie a generally hermetic feel, more like a TV series. Much of it seems to have been filmed in a city park, where tiny roadways add to the fantasyland feel. The electronic keyboard soundtrack also seems to have been borrowed from Thai TV. And the storytelling is episodic, just like a TV series.

Also from TV is the star, Thailand's leading soap-opera actress, "Chompoo" Araya. She portrays Ho, a woman-child who wears her emotions on her sleeve.

The story follows her from childhood. As a schoolgirl she is bright but emotionally crippled. Simple requests from anyone cause her to cry. At school one day, the teacher asks the children what they want to be when they grow up. Ho's neighbor-boy classmate Doc says he wants to be a doctor, of course. Her long-haired guy pal Boyd wants to be a rock star. The little girl Ho says she wants to be pregnant, which earns her a severe reprimand from the teacher, who instructs Ho to wait until she has indeed grown up. The incident scars Ho for life.

Another life-altering occurence is when little-girl Ho is awarded for earning the highest marks in her class. She runs home, crying all the way, to tell her parents, only to be met on the front porch by her father and younger brother. Dad then breaks the news that her mother and sister have been killed in a car crash. And cue more tears.

Cut to years later, the adult but still childish Miss Ho is a teacher at her old school. She's still single and still a virgin, thanks to that traumatizing reprimand from her teacher years ago. Ho is also still handicapped by her overemotional state, which causes her cry all the time. Tell her some good news, she cries. Tell her some bad news and she cries even more.

Chompoo Araya is really the perfect choice for this role, because in order to work on Thai TV she has be able to turn on her tear faucet as easy as most folks turn the tap on their kitchen sink.

But one of the many problems with this movie is that Chompoo, despite being the star and central figure, is sidelined by various nonsensical subplots involving the supporting characters, namely her father, played by Akom Preedakul, a.k.a.  Kom Chaunchuen, and her gay cross-dressing brother, portrayed by Jaroenporn "Kotee" Ornlamai.

Kom's character is a retired military man who can't let go of his former career. He's haunted by an incident on the battlefield, and apparently suffers from terminal post-traumatic stress syndrome. Despite his unkempt facial hair, unruly mane and not-so-trim physique, he holds on to his military bearing and wears a uniform everywhere.

Among the shenanigans involving Kom's character is an outing to a paintball range with his old army buddies. It's run by Ho's wannabe rock star childhood friend Boyd (Ray MacDonald). The fun turns disastrous when dear old dad opens up with real bullets rather than paintballs.

Kom's character Nawa is also ashamed that his son is gay, and scolds the boy for dressing up in women's clothes, engaging in less-than-manly activities and having a boy-toy boyfriend. Kotee, as always, commits fully to the character, squeezing his rotund figure into tight outfits. A humorous aside is the "Yes! You Can Do" self-help videos Nawa records, offering tips on everything from makeup to robot dancing. At one point, Kotee strips to the waist, letting fly his large man boobs and corpulent tummy. The stunt earns him gales of laughter from the audience but does nothing to advance the plot.

Plot? Oh yeah. Plot. Eventually, somewhere toward the end of the movie they get around to that. Ho still desperately wants to have children but doesn't want to give up her virginity. However, her best friend, the dear old childhood chum Dr. Doc (Teeradate Methavorrayuth), is as it turns out, an obstetrician. He informs her that her eggs are dying, and if she doesn't get pregnant soon, she won't be able to have kids.

At the urging of her gal pals, she tries a weekend hookup with her supposed boyfriend, the paintball-range operator Boyd. But Boyd is simply too aggressive, and scares the tearful Chompoo off. Ray brings his usual dramatic intensity, but shows off his comedic range as he rattles off a string of insults when he breaks up with Ho.

The next likely candidate is her BFF, Doc. But will it be too late by the time they finally get around to being more than friends?

Unfortunately by then, time has run out and the end credits are running alongside outtakes involving Kotee's character and his self-help videos.

See also:

• Official trailer (embedded below)

An ATM spitting out cash

A malfunctioning ATM that's disbursing too much money is in the backdrop of the GTH studio's latest romantic comedy ATM Er Rak Error (ATM เออรัก เออเร่อ)

"Ter" Chantawit Thanasevee from Coming Soon and Hello Stranger stars as an employee of the wonky automated teller's bank. His girlfriend ("Ice" Preechaya Pongthananikorn) works for the bank too, and they have to keep that a secret because it's against company policy. They agree to get married, but only if one of them resigns, so they race to be the first to fix the broken ATM. Whoever gets to it first can keep their job.

Mez Tharatorn directs. He previously co-directed the The Little Comedian and had a hand in co-writing a segment of Phobia 2.

Released today, ATM Er Rak Error had been slated for last year, but was postponed because of the flooding. There's an international English-subtitled trailer, embedded below.

The movie's cash-spewing ATM is an apt visual cue for the current state of the Thai film industry, which since the end of 2011 looks to be recovering nicely from whatever losses, if any, the floods might have caused. And romantic comedies from the big studios are what's putting bums in the seats.

The last Thai film of 2011 was released December 29. Just as they did in the previous two years, director Rerkchai Paungpetch and studio M-Thirtynine offered a year-end romantic comedy. Bangkok Sweety (Sor Khor Sor Sweety, ส.ค.ส. สวีทตี้) was the biggest effort yet, with a large ensemble cast that includes "Dan" Worrawech Danuwong, "Pae" Arak Amornsupasiri, Charoenporn "Kotee" Ornlamai, "Saipan" Apinya Sakuljaroensuk and sisters "Gypsy" Keeratee and "Yipso" Ramita Mahaphrukpong. It portrays different kinds of love, all culminating during Bangkok's New Year's Eve celebration. So basically, it's an M-Thirtynine version of Garry Marshall's star-studded Hollywood love offering New Year's Eve. It led the box office for two weeks in a row and is still raking it in, earning around US$2.5 million so far.

Last week, Sahamongkol and Lucks Film released another rom-com, Rak Wei Hei (รักเว้ยเฮ้ย!). From the same team that did the Saranair comedy films, Rak Wei Hei is about a nerd (Phongphit "Starbucks" Preechaborisuthkul) who falls in love with a young female DJ ("Ink" Chayanuj Boontanapibul from Channel [V] Thailand) and learns how to win her heart from a weird romance guru (Nakorn “Ple” Silachai). Directed by Kunchat Chitkhachorawanit (he previously directed the prison comedy 8E88 แฟนลั้ลลา), it debuted at No. 1 at the box office.

Another holdover from the floods last year is Friends Never Die (มึงกู เพื่อนกันจนวันตา, Mueng Gu Phuean Kan Jon Wan Tai), a teenage gangster movie. Moving from Bangkok to study in Chiang Mai, the new kid in town, Song ("Mouse" Nattacha Chantaphan), faces problems with senior students and copes by joining a gang led by a guy named Gun (Mario Maurer). Together, the schoolboys slick back their hair and don leather jackets. Written and directed by Atsachan Satkowit (previously directed Soul's Code) and released by Phranakorn, it debuted at sixth place at the box office.

Thailand unmasks Kon Khon as Oscar pick

Kon Khon (คนโขน), Sarunyu Wongkrachang's melodrama about duelling masked-dance troupes in the 1960s, is Thailand's selection for the Academy Awards, according to the National News Bureau.

The committee from the Federation of National Film Associations of Thailand (FNFAT), selected Kon Khon because it's unique to Thailand and promotes the Kingdom's arts and culture. Furthermore, the film, produced by Sahamongkolfilm International, had received support from the Culture Ministry, the Office of Contemporary Art and Culture and the ministry's "Strong Thailand" fund.

Starring Sorapong Chatree and Nirut Sirichanya, the drama is about khon troupes that stage competing performances of the Ramakien, Thailand's version of India's epic poem, the Ramayana. Love triangles and betrayals are thrown in to add to the story and set up a religious message about karma.

Kon Khon was a flop at the box office, opening in a wide release over the weekend of August 25-28 and earning $137,115, around 4 million baht, according to Box Office Mojo. At last count, the weekend of September 15-18, the film had earned $255,058, around 7.9 million baht.

It also fared poorly with critics. In his review, Bangkok Post film critic Kong Rithdee, while noting the movie's high-minded goals of cultural preservation, said Kon Khon was dragged down by cardboard-cliche characters and a predictable plot.

A member of FNFAT's Oscar committee, film critic Sananjit Bangsapan, wrote in a post on the Siam Dara website that the Oscar selection came down to two choices – Kon Khon or another film with a strong depiction of Thai culture – U Mong Pha Mueang, a.k.a. The Outrage by director ML Bhandevanop Devakula, which had fared better at the box office and with critics.

However, because U Mong is adapted from the tale of Rashomon, previously filmed by Akira Kurosawa, the committee worried about submitting a remake, so Kon Khon was the choice by default, Sanajit said in his article, according to the Soopsip column in tomorrow's Nation newspaper.

Furthermore, Sananjit says, it doesn’t matter what Thai film is submitted to the Oscars because no Thai studios are willing to mount the kind of promotion needed for the film to be nominated and win.

So far, none of Thailand's selections for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film have made the shortlist of nominees, not even last year's selection of the Cannes-winning Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives.

(Via Veen_NT on Twitter)

Review: Sudkate Salateped

• Directed by Rergchai Paungpetch
• Starring Arak Amornsupasiri, Ramida Mahapruekpon, Sudarat Butrprom, Charoenporn Onlamai, Kom Chuanchuen
• Released in Thai cinemas on December 31, 2010; rated 15+
• Wise Kwai's rating: 3/5

One of the last Thai movies released in 2010 is one the biggest hits of 2011.

Still in cinemas after nearly two months, the M-Thirtynine romantic comedy Sudkate Salateped (สุดเขต สเลดเป็ด) is a phenomenon with Thai audiences, raking in more than 125 million baht.

It's directed by Rergchai Paungpetch, the hitmaking helmer who made his mark with 2006's Sab Sanit (Noodle Boxer) at RS Films. Now with M-Thirtynine, the breakaway startup by former RS Film producers, Rergchai follows on the success of 2009's year-end comedy cash bonanza 32 Thunwa (32 ธันวา).

Sudkate Salateped (Loser Love) is created from the same formula as his previous hits, which includes a mix of appealing young pop star/actors, veteran comedians and romance.

Here, indie rock musician and actor "Pe" Arak Amornsupasiri is appealingly well-cast as an earnest young indie singer-songwriter. Ped is trying to land a recording contract with the hilariously named C.O.P.Y. Records.

When he walks into the audition, he's inexplicably awestruck, love at first sight, by Mayom ("Yipso" Ramida Mahapruekpon), the rather plain member of a group of backup dancers who are also auditioning.

He then spends the rest of the movie chasing after this weird girl, despite the fact she does all she can – even going on a date with another guy – to give him the message that she's not interested.

But this is a Rergchai Paungpetch movie, so it doesn't have to make sense.

Like a lot of Thai movies, it starts out fun and full of energy but quickly goes downhill.


One of the best bits early on is Ped exchanging rapid-fire banter as he trades his ID with a security guard at the record label. It's one of the those routine moments that you go through daily in Thailand, but the incorrigible Ped puts his own odd spin on it, which makes it enjoyable.

The rest of the film is an eye-glazing 90 minutes or so of folks sitting around, talking about relationships and snapping pictures of each other with their iPhones. It's not bad, but as a grumpy fortysomething white dude, I found it pretty boring. Obviously, it's not a movie made for people like me – it's made for the young Thai audiences who made the movie a hit.

I'll give credit to the supporting cast, which includes "Tukky" Sudarat Butrprom, Charoenporn “Kotee Aramboy” Onlamai and Kom Chuanchuen for helping to keep my interest. These are comedians you see in just about every Thai comedy, but they are all well suited to their roles here and give great performances.

Wearing bowl-cut hair and the clothes of a young woman perhaps half her age, brassy comedienne Tukky – a pint-sized Carol Burnett – is among Mayom's group of back-up dancers. She punctuates things with an odd sniff, like she's allergic to something and has a runny nose.

Gibzy is Tukky's character's name and this little berry of a girl wins a date with a handsome member of a boyband duo, and has the guy fulfill her three wishes, which includes taking her out in public and pretending they are a couple, and going to sing karaoke.

They are interrupted in their karaoke session when a teenybopper fan presses her face up against the glass of their booth, and writes messages to the singer in the fog of her breath. It's "Saipan" Apinya Sakuljaroensuk, making a cute cameo appearance.

Sudket, meanwhile, is wondering how he'll ever land his dream girl. He gets support from his friend and bandmate who is named Under (Kotee, wearing a chimpanzee-like fake beard and hipster clothes). Dear old dad (a restrained Kom, with the long hair and fake grey mustache of an ageing hippie), the owner/deejay of a community radio station, gives fatherly advice.

Kohtee gets a chance to show his talents as a singer, playing the drum-box and singing back-up to Sudket in their musical act.

There's also this strange character, a skinny guy wearing nerd glasses and skinny jeans who's a biker. This gives the movie a chance to comment on Thai trends, specifically the "dek wan" hipster motorbike gangs that race around at night and their "skoi" (biker groupie) girlfriends who wear exhaust-burn marks on their inside right calves with pride.

I don't get what the appeal is about the actress Yipso Ramida, who was featured in 32 Thunwa and portrayed the sight-impaired glasses girl in the travel romance That Sounds Good. Maybe she's nice in person but on the big screen I find her mannerisms annoying and fake, like all the "ab beaw" cute poses teenagers do for their Facebook pages.

There's a music video at the end to liven things up. It's the best part of the movie.

Here's where there's better chemistry between Tukky and Kohtee, finally meeting after speculating about each other the whole movie. It's hate at first sight, and Tukky can't keep her composure as she and Kohtee have a little slapfest.



See also:

• Laughing all the way to the bank [Kong Rithdee, Bangkok Post]

Related posts:

• Laughing all the way to the bank on New Year's Eve 2010

Thai audiences charmed by romances in 2010

Once again, GTH made the No. 1 Thai movie at the box office. Media giant GMM Grammy's movie studio followed up the success of 2009's Bangkok Traffic (Love) Story with the South Korean travel romance Guan Muen Ho (Hello Stranger), earning 131 million baht.

That was followed by another youth-oriented romance, Sahamongkol's Sing Lek Lek Thee Riak Wa … Ruk (First Love), the sweet story of an awkward high-school girl who goes from ugly duckling to beauty queen. It was a surprisingly sweet summer sleeper hit that gave Guan Muen Ho a run for its money.

Here's the top 11 Thai films at the box office in 2010:

1. Guan Meun Ho (กวน มึน โฮ, Hello Stranger) – 131 million baht
2. Sing Lek Lek Thee Riak Wa … Ruk (สิ่งเล็กๆ ที่เรียกว่า...รัก, First Love) – 80 million baht
3. Saranae Sip Lor (สาระแนสิบล้อ, literally "Saranae 10 wheeler") – 70 million baht
4. Tukky Jao Ying Kai Kob (ตุ๊กกี้เจ้าหญิงขายกบ, literally "Tukky, the princess who sold frogs") – 67 million baht
5. Baan Chan ... Talok Wai Gon (Por Son Wai) (บ้านฉัน...ตลกไว้ก่อน (พ่อสอนไว้), The Little Comedian) – 50 million baht
5. Po Taek (โป๊ะแตก) – 50 million baht
7. Ong Bak 3 (องค์บาก 3) – 46 million baht.
8. Luangphee Teng 3 (หลวงพี่เท่ง 3 รุ่นฮา เขย่าโลก, The Holy Man 3) – 37 million baht
9. Nak Prok (นาคปรก, Shadow of the Naga) – 36 million baht
10. Chua Fah Din Salai (ชั่วฟ้าดินสลาย, Eternity) – 35 million baht
11. Tai Hong (ตายโหง, Still, a.k.a. Die a Violent Death) – 31.43 million baht

Popularity-wise, according to the ABAC Poll Research Center, the favorite movie of last year was Sing Lek Lek with a 19.2% share, followed by Guan Muen Ho with 18.3%. Ubiquitous comedienne Tukky and her fairytale frog-princess movie were in third place with 11.2%. Phranakorn's monastic comedy Luangphee Teng 3 was fourth at 9% and rounding out the top five was the lush period romantic melodrama Chua Fah Din Salai with 7.5%

Of 2010's 11 top-grossing films, seven were released by market leader Sahamongkol Film International, two were by GTH (Guan Muen Ho and The Little Comedian) and two by Phranakorn (Luangphee Teng 3 and Tai Hong).

Most were romance or comedies, the exceptions being the controversial "monks with guns" crime thriller Nak Prok, Tony Jaa's martial-arts drama Ong-Bak 3 – released in the midst of Bangkok's red-shirt protests – and the horror shorts compilation Tai Hong.

So the action and horror genres aren't completely dead. Yet.

But with Thai audiences eating up the romance films for the past couple of years, the studios will be increasingly formula-driven and offer more and more of those in 2011.


(Via Lyn's Lakorn Blog)

Inseedang-a-rama: Reviews and political views on The Red Eagle

Still lots of strands in this old duder's head about The Red Eagle (Insee Dang, อินทรีเเดง).

Heck, I've seen it twice and still haven't counted the three Wilhelm screams director Wisit Sasanatieng says he's embedded his in his film.

The much-anticipated action thriller stars Ananda Everingham in a role made famous by screen legend Mitr Chaibancha in a series of Thai action films in the 1960s, and ending in 1970 when Mitr died in a fall from a helicopter while making The Golden Eagle.

The hyped superhero movie has been met with mostly negative or mixed criticism, mainly because the ultra-violent Dark Knight-style action flick is seen as a major departure from the colorful stylizations Wisit displayed in his earlier films, Tears of the Black Tiger and Citizen Dog. It's also being assailed for its 130-minute length. And there's the ending, which only briefly shows the much-hyped shot of Ananda dangling from a helicopter ladder to complete the stunt Mitr died for. It's a teaser for a part two, The Red Eagle: War of the Deadly Psychobots, which in all likelihood will never happen because Wisit says making The Red Eagle was such a struggle, creatively and budget-wise, that he's leaving the film industry.

A Nutshell Review and TwitchFilm.net critic Stefan Shih, who came to Bangkok for the October 4 premiere, has already issued his review.

Oh, and Asian Cinema – While on the Road was stirred from dormancy to review The Red Eagle. A momentous occasion.

And since the movie had its international premiere at the Pusan International Film Festival, the industry press has weighed in.

Maggie Lee of The Hollywood Reporter saw it. Here's a bit from her review:

Visual wizard and fantastical yarn-spinner Wisit Sasanatieng seems to be flying with clipped wings in directing The Red Eagle?, the anticipated remake-cum-homage to the 1960s Thai superhero action series Insee Daeng. There is not a trace of the gloriously colorful retro camp of his debut Tears of the Red Tiger nor the flights of CGI fancy in his sophomore Citizen Dog. Had Sasanatieng's name not been attached, the project may qualify as technically high-end Asian genre fare but marketing to his cinephile fans would turn converts into skeptics. Locally, Insee Daeng's cult status would prompt Thais to see Red Eagle for old time's sake.

On to Richard Kuiper's review for Variety:

A Thai superhero is reborn with middling results in The Red Eagle. Reboot of a popular 1960s pulp franchise arrives with special effects galore and a Batman-like protag burdened with the now de rigueur psychological hang-ups, but aside from a few eye-catching setpieces, there's little excitement or cinematic flair on display. Souped up for young auds by usually super-inventive stylist Wisit Sasanatieng (Tears of the Black Tiger), pic underperformed on October 7 local release, casting doubt over whether its "to be continued" tag will come to fruition. Overlong actioner has modest regional claims and much stronger ancillary prospects.

Uh, yeah. About that box-office performance. It opened at No. 2, way behind Zack Snyder's 3D Australian talking-owl cartoon, earning 5.5 million baht, with the latest Box Office Mojo figures showing earnings of around 10.8 million baht. Before The Red Eagle opened, the No. 1 had been a Thai action-comedy, Yuthlert Sippapak's Saturday Killer, which at latest count had raked in around 17.6 million baht.

Meanwhile, The Red Eagle's place in history has been the subject of political pundits, with Asian Correspondent's Siam Voices posing the view that the movie is an allegory to the current Thai political situation.

The Nation got some guy on video and had him blather on a bit about the movie. I don't think he knows what he's talking about.

Whatever. The beauty of The Red Eagle is that could represent anytime, anyplace and any particular situation in its depiction of corrupt government and business forces running roughshod over the little guys. When you can't go to the cops, who ya gonna call? Insee Dang!

A couple other strands:

• Wisit has always been known from his interesting and unique casting choices, which started with the Columbian-Italian model Stella Malucchi as his leading lady in Tears of the Black Tiger. In addition to TV-commercial actor Jonathan Hallman, who makes his big-screen debut as the Black Devil, there's TV host, musician and writer Wannasingh Prasertkul playing the brash young police detective Chart. The Nation had a profile of him. Even Lieutenant Chart's boss in the movie is played by a newcomer – it's veteran Nation Auto Talk columnist Pattanadesh Asasappakidj.
• Singer Burin Boonsvisut claims he was the first choice for the role of Insee Dang that was taken by Ananda Everingham. He turned it down. Instead, the former Groove Riders frontman recorded a ballad that's used as the theme for The Red Eagle.

Update: Film Business Asia's Derek Elley has his review, summing it up as a "messy Thai superhero movie [that] sledge-hammers the viewer into submission."

Apichatpong-a-rama: Uncle Boonmee to Oscars, 'flop' in France, gala in London

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (ลุงบุญมีระลึก ชาติ, ) will be Thailand's submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2011.

That's the news according to the Thai government's Public Relations Department.

I think it's the best shot Thailand has had in a long time to finally have its first Oscar-nominated film, though it'll probably still be a long-shot to win.

Apichatpong, in France to promote the theatrical release of Boonmee, "is reportedly joyous about the selection", says the National News Bureau of Thailand.

The submission of Thai films to the Oscars is made by a committee from the Federation of National Film Associations of Thailand (FNFAT). This year the nine-member panel was chaired by Nakorn Weeraprawat and included prominent industry figure Prachya Pinkaew and actor Yodchai Meksuwan.

In past years, the films submitted have come from Thailand's major movie studios, with indie films not really considered.

Under the rules, the films must have played in a commercial theater run for at least seven days, a requirement that indie films, which until recent years were mainly limited to film festivals, would have struggled to meet.

Hot after its Cannes win, Uncle Boonmee packed in audiences throughout June and July at Bangkok's plush SFX the Emporium cinema, and has had limited engagements at the SF chain's other cinemas, including those upcountry.

It was a surprise move by Apichatpong, Bioscope magazine and SF cinemas to organize the Uncle Boonmee screenings so quickly after Cannes. In past years, it would take several months or even years for Apichatpong's films to finally show in Thailand after their run of the festival circuit. His 2003 Un Certain Regard winner Blissfully Yours attracted relatively little buzz when it screened at the now-burned-down Siam Theatre. And his 2006 feature Syndromes and a Century didn't screen in Bangkok until two years after it was made, and only after it had been chopped to bits by overly sensitive censors.

It's also a remarkable move by FNFAT to submit Uncle Boonmee, and I think it's the right choice. Had the Palme d'Or winner not been submitted, Thailand would have looked pretty stupid. This is a no-brainer chance for Thailand to look smart.

Boonmee's submission represents the growing acceptance by Thai film industry heavyweights and cultural authorities of the indie filmmakers.

In 2009, the FNFAT gave five of its Subhanahongsa Awards – the Thai equivalent of the Oscar – to indie director Aditya Assarat's Wonderful Town, after that quiet romantic drama had played in a one-month run that was similar to Uncle Boonmee's.

Wonderful Town was screened as part of the Director's Screen Project initiated in 2008 by indie distribution and production company Extra Virgin, with SF cinemas.

This year, the Director's Screen Project has shown Anocha Suwichakornpong's Mundane History, which recently wrapped up a one-month run to make way for a four-week screening of Uruphong Raksasad's Agrarian Utopia. Both have done well on the festival circuit and along with Boonmee could well be due for more accolades next year when FNFAT hands out its Subhanahongsa Awards.

However, the success of Uncle Boonmee at home makes it easy to forget how polarizing Apichatpong's films can be.

The toast of the Cannes Film Festival opened in French cinemas a week ago, and the largely parochial Parisian critics roundly panned Oncle Boonmee, celui qui se souvient de ses vies antérieure.

Today, Agence France-Presse issued a report that Boonmee had "flopped" at the box office, saying it "failed to make it into the top 10 most-seen films, making it the worst showing for a Cannes winner in the past decade", and citing Le Film Francais as the source.

It's a grossly misleading report, which lumps little Uncle Boonmee in with Hollywood heavyweights like Salt, Piranha 3D and Inception and fails to take into account the number of screens the movies are playing on.

Taking a look at Allocine's September 1 box-office chart, Uncle Boonmee is at No. 15. It had 45,115 admissions and was showing on 84 screens.

Crunching those numbers, Boonmee had 537 viewers per screen, compared to 477 pairs of eyeballs per screen for the No. 3 Inception, which was showing in 545 places and had 202,719 admissions.

I'm not going to wear out my number pad going through all the entries, but according to my rough calculations, Uncle Boonmee was in third place behind Angelina Jolie's Salt and the wonderfully bloody Piranha 3D in terms of per-capita attendance.

As much flack as Boonmee is getting from the French press, the film is still being celebrated elsewhere.

It's at the Toronto International Film Festival this week, playing in the Masters program with Apichatpong among the festival's Mavericks, giving master classes.

And, in revealing its line-up, the London Film Festival has Boonmee among its gala premieres and special screenings, and among a rich line-up of Asian films.

The Guardian, which had earlier compiled the negative French press reviews, lists Uncle Boonmee among its picks for the London fest, which runs from October 13 to 28.

(Big thanks to Jason Gray, Wildgrounds, Lorna Tee and MaewNam for contributing to this report.)