Firecracker issue 11 a poppin

There's a bunch of Thai film coverage in the new issue of Firecracker.

• An interview with Beautiful Boxer director Ekachai Eukrongtham.
• A review of Beautiful Boxer (film due for release in UK on October 21).
• A DVD review of The Bodyguard, Petchtai Wongkamlao's action-packed directoral debut.
• A DVD review of Ong-Bak.
• And a feature by Robert Williamson on the Brit-directed Thai film, The Ghost of Mae Nak.

Incidentally, I just watched The Bodyguard. I didn't get the fully loaded, subtitled Region 2 version. Not yet anyway. No, for about $1, I picked up a legal Thai copy of the DVD. No subtitles, so I miss out on the jokes, but the action is awesome.

(Cross-published at Rotten Tomatoes)

Tom Yum Goong Redux

Already geared for the Western market, Tom Yum Goong will be dumbed down even further in re-edits by Prachya Pinkaew. So say some sources who have it from reliable sources.

The new cut of Tom Yum Goong will be for the Western market and will likely snip some of the Thai "in jokes".

But there's worry that some of the percussive bone-crunching sound effects might be deleted as well.

For me, the film was adequate the way it was and needs no further editing to appeal to Western audiences. It should be left alone. Or chucked out entirely. I could go further, but I won't. Not right now.

(Cross-published at Rotten Tomatoes)

Shutter guys want to be Alone

Parkpoom Wongpoom and Banjong Pisanthanakun, the duo who directed the hit ghost flick, Shutter, will remain together and work on Alone as their project.

The story is about a couple who travel from Korea to set up home in Thailand.

It could be set up as a Korean-Thai joint production or be fully financed by Thai studio GMM Tai Hub, Variety says.

The pair had previously announced they would split up and concentrate on their own dramas, with Parkpoom working on Life With a Mission, about political kidnappings, while Banjong was readying Aids Diary, Variety says.

Producer Mingmongkol Sonakul told Variety they would shoot Alone in March and then return to their individual efforts.

(Thanks Sebu! Cross-published at Rotten Tomatoes)

Looking for a holy date

Workpoint Entertainment (no link - it's annoying flash animation), a production firm that mainly does shows for Thailand's TV channel 7 is looking to break into moviemaking next year with a comedy that will star Nong Cha Cha Cha (from Pattaya Maniac) and Theng Therdtherng, the funnyman who starred in Holy Man, one of this year's biggest grossing comedies, making around 141 million baht.

According to The Nation's print-only Soopsip column the movie will be called Nong Theng Nakleng Phookhao Thong.

Of course, the company is lining up some deep pockets to help out - Somsak Techarattanaprasert and Sahamongkol Films.

It'll probably make money, and everyone will be happy.

Phanit Sodsri, who has worked with the two comics for many years on the hit TV show Ching Roy Ching Laan will direct.

Filming has just started and the release date has been set for March - the same time of year that Holy Man came out.

What's that joke about the most important thing in comedy?

(Cross-published at Rotten Tomatoes)

Thai films by foreigners

The Bangkok Post's Kong Rithdee gets back to the days of King Kong filmmaker (and MC Chatrichalerm Yukol's mentor) Merian C Cooper, when Thailand was a sought-after location for filmmakers looking for elephants.

In his article yesterday, Kong surveys a more recent crop of foreign-made Thai films, name-checking Paul Spurrier's P and the recent Ghost of Mae Nak by British cinematographer-director Mark Duffield.

There's also mention of The Cool Season, feature Thai and farang talent and made in Chiang Mai by New York filmmaker Seth Grossman. He's now editing the film in New York, the Post says.

But the big one is the 250-million-baht (about US$6 million) historical fantasy, The Kingmaker, produced by David Winters. Based on a turbulent chapter in the Ayutthaya kingdom's history, it involves everything from Portuguese mercenaries and Arab slave-traders to gravity-defying Ninjas. Starring Gary Stretch, it opens in Thailand on October 20.

(Cross-published at Rotten Tomatoes)

Naresuan too great for just one film

MC Chatrichalerm Yukol's next film, Naresuan, about a Siamese king known as Naresuan the Great, is so big, it has to be split into two parts. So says The Nation's print-only Soopsip column.

Naresuan Part I will come out on May 5 - Coronation Day in Thailand.

Naresuan Part II will be released on auspicious Royal holiday as well, coming out on December 5, 2006 - the birthday of His Majesty the King.

Chatrichalerm had hoped to have his epic completed on August 12, in time for Her Majesty the Queen's 72nd birthday.

Her Majesty was a big supporter of Chatrichalerm and his previous film, the historical epic, Suriyothai, and she was present for the first day of photography on Naresuan.

It's been a work in progress since December and only about half the movie has been shot, Soopsip says.

The veteran director is still wading through hundreds of pages of research on King Naresuan.

"The story is complicated and if we are to tell it clearly, we need more than two or three hours. It will have to be filmed in two, or perhaps even three parts," he was quoted as saying.

I wonder how long each part is going to be? When Suriyothai was initially cut, it was around eight hours. There's a five-hour release on DVD or VCD out there. A Thai theatrical run logged in at around three hours, and then Prince Chatri's UCLA film school classmate Francis Ford Coppola edited it down to around 2.5 hours for a US release by Sony Pictures Classics.

Maybe Quentin Tarantino could come help edit Naresuan into "volumes"?

With a 500 million baht budget and its own ancient city movie set, Naresuan is set to be the most expensive Thai film made yet.

(Cross-published at Rotten Tomatoes)

Prachya Pinkaew's next project: Better relations with Laos

Prachya Pinkaew, director of Ong-Bak and Tom Yum Goong, is working on a romance that he hopes will bring better relations between Thailand and its northeastern neighbor, Laos.

This is according to the Bangkok Post, which was reporting on a seminar on the "Media Role in Thai-Lao Relations."

"As an Isaan boy, I have seen the smallest of issues cause serious misunderstandings between the two sides," Prachya was quoted as saying. "There are several Lao phrases and wordings that are lovely or have decent meanings and I'd like to present them in a positive way through this film.''

Prachya's movie, E-Nang, is a love story between a Thai man and a Laotian woman.

He said he was seeking approval from the Laotian government to shoot the whole film there was ready to cooperate with the Laotian authorities in terms of script editing and other production matters.

For now, a sticking point in Thai-Laotian relations is the invasion of Thai culture via the airwaves and pirated video, mainly in the form of Thai television soap operas.

Siam Sunvaribudh, managing director of Dara Video Co Ltd, which produces programs of Thai TV's channel 7, told the seminar that his TV soap operas were mostly based on Thai novels and everything was being done not to let any irritating and culturally sensitive scenes slip through self-censorship in satellite broadcasts to neighboring countries.

"We want our neighboring countries to tell us what else should we do as we realize that our programs have strong signals and can be easily received and greatly influence their people," Siam was quoted as saying. "We've already tried our best not to undermine bilateral relations."

(Cross-published at Rotten Tomatoes)

Necromancer and Beautiful, Wonderful, Perfect at Asia-Pacific Fest

The 50th Asia-Pacific Film Festival was held in Kuala Lumpur over the weekend.

Three Thai films were on offer -- the heartwarming childhood friendship story involving a Downs syndrome boy, Beautiful, Wonderful, Perfect; the occult thriller, Necromancer; and the slick ghost story, Shutter.

From what I gather, the festival is mainly an industry gathering where some films are nominated for awards.

Necromancer won for best special effects. Beautiful, Wonderful, Perfect won a special jury award for highlighting the plight of special children.

The winners list is compiled from the Malay Mail:

• BEST FILM - Tae Guk Gi (Brotherhood of War), South Korea
• BEST DIRECTOR - Kang Je-Gyu, Tae Guk Gi, South Korea
• BEST ACTOR - Joo Hyun, A Family, South Korea
• BEST ACTRESS - Tiara Jacquelina, Puteri Gunung Ledang (The Princess of Mount Ledang), Malaysia
• BEST SCREENPLAY - Lim Chen Sheng, The Moon Also Rises, Taiwan
• BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY - Yves Cape, Buffalo Boy, Vietnam
• BEST EDITING - Yoga K Koesprato, Janji Joni, Indonesia
• BEST SPECIAL EFFECTS - Necromancer, Thailand
• BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR - Anthony Wong, Initial D, Hong Kong
• BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS - Rima Melati, Ungu Violet, Indonesia
• BEST ART DIRECTION - Tsuyoshi Shimizu, Samurai Commando Mission 1549, Japan
• BEST MUSIC SCORE - Ayob Ibrahim, Qaisy dan Laila, Malaysia
• BEST SHORT/DOCUMENTARY - Pua, Malaysia
• BEST ANIMATION - Fireball, Taiwan

SPECIAL JURY AWARDS

• Most Promising Young Talent - Actress Dian Sastrowardoyo, Ungu Violet and Banyu Biru, Indonesia
• Contribution to the International Success of Asian Films - Jackie Chan (not present for award), New Police Story, Hong Kong
• Awareness of the Impact of War on Humanity - The Path of Justice, Vietnam
• Consistently Excellent Performances - Yang Kuei Mei, The Wayward Cloud, Taiwan
• Highlighting the Plight of Special Children - Beautiful, Wonderful, Perfect, Thailand

(Cross-published at Rotten Tomatoes)

Fan Chan at San Diego

More film festival goodness from Kaiju Shakedown, which reports on the lineup of the 6th San Diego Asian Film Festival, Sept 29 to Oct 6.

No Anchorman quotes here. Just the facts. Among the films is Fan Chan, a feel-good hit Thai film from 2003 about a boy and a girl growing up as friends in a small town in the 1980s.

This comes as Fan Chan's six young directors are all starting to spread their wings and fly on their own. Among them, Withaya Tongyooyong and Komkrit Treewimol are either working on or have finished their first solo efforts.

Also, Fan Chan has finally been added to the RT database, so rate away and make it fresh.

(Cross-published at Rotten Tomatoes)

Renee eyes The Eye

Renee "You Had Me at Hello" Zellweger is looking to take the lead role in the remake of the hit Pang Bros thriller, The Eye.

The big entertainment press is all excited because it means a "reunion of sorts" with Renee's Jerry Maguire co-star, Tom Cruise, who is producing the Hollywood version of The Eye with his producing partner, Paula Wagner.

It's the latest Asian horror remake, and Renee wants to head down the same lucrative path as Naomi Watts (The Ring), Sarah Michelle Gellar (The Grudge) and Jennifer Connelly (Dark Water) (Skeleton Key with Kate Hudson doesn't count, even though it's copied from the A-suspense playbook).

The remake will even get the J-horror imprint from Ringu's Hideo Nakata, who will direct.

What's really hilarious, all these years later, is that 2002's The Eye isn't a Japanese horror film, as E! called it. Reuters says it's a Hong Kong movie, which is part right I guess.

The Eye is a Thai film! Sort of. Let's see. Danny and Oxide (as opposed to Rusty) Pang are Hong Kong born, but they have mainly worked in Thailand. The star, Angelica Lee, is Taiwanese. The film was made in Thailand, had a cast of mainly Thai actors and the soundtrack was mostly in Thai (I think). Production money came from Singapore. Okay, The Eye is a mutt.

Whatever, I think the squinty-eyed Nurse Betty star is a great choice. Let's see it.

Meanwhile, the Pang Bros are involved in their own Hollywood feature.

(Cross-published at Rotten Tomatoes)