Village of Hope, By the River, 13 Sins in Thai cinemas

There are two interesting limited releases of indie films in Bangkok cinemas today, plus a pair of wider releases, including a Hollywood remake of a Thai film.

The indie efforts are the black-and-white rural drama Village of Hope and the documentary By the River. The remake is 13 Sins – Hollywood's long-in-the-works treatment of 2006's 13 Game Sayong. And there's a special-effects-laden fantasy, Spirits War.

At the Lido in Siam Square, Boonsong "Sueb" Nakphoo has another hardscrabble story of contemporary rural life in his native rural Sukhothai Province – Village of Hope (วังพิกุล, Wangphikul) – a sequel to his 2010 effort Poor People the Great.

In between those two films, Boonsong did the ambitious Four Stations, a 2012 compilation of four short stories by noted Thai authors. It won a jury prize at last year's Deauville Asian Film Festival.

With Village of Hope, which premiered at last year's Mumbai Film Festival, Boonsong further hones his craft, presenting the succinct tale in black and white. The story follows Sorn, a somber young soldier on leave who returns home to Wangphikul. He feels ill-at-ease as he reaquaints himself to the village’s slow pace and the struggles of his impoverished relatives, who all live in a tight-knit collection of rustic wooden houses. Boyhood has slipped away and the reality of adulthood is looming for young Sorn.

Village of Hope screens at 6.30 nightly until May 14 at the Lido in Siam Square, with post-screening talks by the director and his crew.

Check out the trailer, embedded below.

By the River (สายน้ำติดเชื้อ, Sai Nam Tid Shoer) is screening at the SF World Cinema at CentralWorld and at the SFX Maya Chiang Mai, with shows at around 4 and 8 daily.

Directed by Nontawat Numbenchapol, who follows up his Thai-Cambodian border doc Boundary, By the River looks at the hardships in a Karen village in Kanchanaburi where lead mining has contaminated the creek that used to be the community's lifeblood.

Concentrating mainly on the villagers, the film only briefly refers to the legal wrangling over the Klity Creek case, which stretched on for more than a decade. Though a verdict last year ordered a clean-up, it's going to be a massive effort, covering some 19 kilometers of waterway. It doesn't seem like the damage will ever be truly undone.

Nontawat recently returned to the village to stage a special outdoor screening for the residents.

Worth mentioning at this point is an effort to bring clean water to the village being undertaken by the Enlawthai Foundation.

By the River won a special mention at last year’s Locarno Film Festival and also screened at the 11th World Film Festival of Bangkok. It's been picked up by the new Thai indie outfit Mosquito Films Distribution and was part of the recent ChopShots festival in Jakarta.

Shows are at 4 and 8 daily at SFW CentralWorld and SFX Maya Chiang Mai. Check out the trailer, embedded below.

13 Sins comes eight years after there was first word of a Hollywood remake of 2006's 13 Beloved. The slick, tension-filled drama had Terrence Sukosol Clapp as a down-on-his luck band-instrument salesman receiving a series of mysterious phone calls promising him increasing rewards for completing 13 increasingly sinister and dangerous tasks. Also called 13 Game Sayong and 13: Game of Death, the original film was directed by Chookiat Sakveerakul and was based on a comic by Eakasit Thairatana.

Daniel Stamm (The Last Exorcism) directs this new version, which at one time bore the title Angry Little God. Mark Webber stars as the salesman, with Devon Graye, Tom Bower, Rutina Wesley, Pruit Taylor Vince and Ron Perlman. Critical reception is surprisingly even, with some critics actually liking it. I wonder if they ever saw the original? Meanwhile, I wonder if Chookiat's stuck-in-development-hell sequel 14 Beyond will ever materialize?

Finally, there's a new mainstream-industry Thai film this week, Spirits War (ไพรดิบ, Prai Dib). It's a special-effects-laden fantasy starring Akara Amarttayakul as a spirit hunter contending with demons and evil priests. Pisut Praesangeam, who earlier this year did She Devil (รักเราเขย่าขวัญ, Rak Rao Khayao Khwan) and the 2008 comedy Super Hap, directs.

Oh what the heck. Here's the trailer.

GTH deals Teacher's Diary, Laddaland in Hong Kong

Film studio GTH is at the Hong Kong International Film Festival's FilMart, and it has made distribution deals for its latest movie The Teacher’s Diary (คิดถึงวิทยา, Khid Thueng Wittaya) and sold remake rights to the hit horror Laddland to India.

According to Film Business Asia, The Teacher's Diary has been sold to distributors in Indonesia and Singapore.

Directed by Nithiwat Tharatorn (Season's Change, Dear Galileo), The Teacher's Diary stars popular talent-show winner (and Broadway hopeful) Sukrit “Bie The Star" Wisetkaew. In what's being billed as his debut film role, he plays a young man who takes a job as a teacher at a rural school on a houseboat. Feeling lonely after he's cut off from such modern conveniences as 24-hour electricity, smartphones and the Internet, his only solace is the diary of his predecessor ("Ploy" Chermarn Boonyasak).

Released last week, The Teacher's Diary has been No. 1 in Thai cinemas, with earnings of more than 30 million baht, according to Film Biz Asia.

You can read more about the movie in an article in The Nation.

There's also an English-subtitled trailer (embedded below).

Apart from The Teacher's Diary, Film Business Asia also reports that GTH has sold Hindi-language remake rights the 2011 horror hit Laddaland (ลัดดาแลนด์). It goes to "an as-yet-unnamed Indian company" and marks the second time GTH has sold remake rights to India, the other being for 2007's Siamese twin thriller Alone.

Industry has plenty to celebrate at Cannes Thai Night 2013

Along with the return of the Thai Pitch event at the Cannes Film Festival, this Saturday, May 18, is also the date for the Thai film industry's glitzy annual Thai Night celebration.

And, despite there being no entries from Thai directors in this year's festival, the bigwigs feel they have much to celebrate, as detailed in this press release:

Presided by Her Royal Highness Princess Ubolratana Rajakanya Sirivadhana Barnavadi, Thai Night Cannes 2013 will be the occasion to celebrate another banner year for the Thai film industry.

Entirely shot in Thailand, Nicolas Winding Refn's new thriller Only God Forgives, one of the most anticipated films of the year, will premiere at the festival in official competition. The film features veteran Thai actor Vithaya Pansringarm and pop star Yaya Ying alongside Ryan Gosling and Kristin Scott-Thomas.

Another highlight of the past year is the Chinese film Lost in Thailand, written and directed by Xu Zheng. Shot in Thailand with the financial support of the Thai Ministry of Tourism, the comedy went on to become the highest grossing Chinese film of all time, netting over $200 million in China alone, where it beat the previous records held by Avatar and Titanic in numbers of tickets sold. Abe Kwong, producer of Lost in Thailand, will be at Thai Night to share this extraordinary success story.

These examples are just the tip of the iceberg. In 2012, Thailand hosted 53 international film productions, a 45 percent increase over 2011 and an absolute record for the country.

This remarkable growth is not only due to the country's breathtaking sceneries, the world class quality of its hospitality services and its competitive production costs. In recent years, the local film industry has gone through a rapid period of modernization and internationalization, and now offers among the most skilled film crews and technical services available in Asia.

The local industry's coming of age is also apparent in the rising strength of Thai cinema itself, which boasts critically-acclaimed auteurs such as Palme d'Or winner Apichatpong Weerasethakul along with a new wave of genre directors such as Chookiat Sakveerakul, whose high concept thriller 13: Game of Death is being given Hollywood remake treatment by Daniel Stamm under the title Angry Little God, and Banjong Pisanthanakun, director of the brand new horror-comedy Pee Mak Phra Khanong, which is smashing all records at the Thai box office.

All these accomplishments will be at the centre of Thai Night 2013 - Where Films Come Alive, an exclusive event organized by the Department of International Trade Promotion (DITP), an agency of the Royal Thai Ministry Of Commerce, during the Cannes Film Festival.

Thai Night Cannes 2013 will be held in Cannes on Saturday May 18th, 2012 at 6pm.

Mom Noi's Rashomon remake lands on DVD as At the Gate of the Ghost

Director ML Bhandevanov Devakula's Northern Thailand take on Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon has been picked up by Magnet Releasing, given the new title At the Gate of the Ghost and put out on English-friendly Region 1 DVD and Blu-ray.

Peter Nellhaus has a review at Coffee Coffee and More Coffee.

Headlined by a cast that includes Ananda Everingham as the warlord, Cherman Boonyasak as his wife and Mario Maurer as the monk, the film was released in 2011 as U Mong Pa Mueang (อุโมงค์ผาเมือง) with the provisional international English title of The Outrage, which was the same as the 1960s Hollywood western Rashomon remake that starred Paul Newman and was directed by Martin Ritt (check out Hombre instead).

The release of U Mong Pa Mueang in Thailand was heavily promoted, thanks to the star power of Ananda and Ploy Chermarn, who had previously starred in "Mom Noi" Bhandevanov's hit erotic drama Chua Fah Din Salai (Eternity). It was also a tie-in with the centennial birth anniversary of Thai statesman, author and artist MR Kukrit Pramoj, who had translated a stage version of Rashomon, which Mom Noi had a one time directed. He then used the stage version as the basis for his film adaptation.

The DVD package, featuring Ananda and the bandit (Dom Hetrakul) swordfighting against a backdrop of a Thai-style structure, touts the awards and nominations of U Mong Pa Mueang – Asian Film Awards noms for Mario and costumes, Bangkok Critics Assembly Awards for art director and supporting actress for Radklao Amaradit as the medium, and Subhanahongsa Awards for costumes and visual effects.

Mom Noi's 'story' of Jan Dara is now a mere 'chapter'

Director ML Bhandevanop "Mom Noi" Devakula's much anticipated and hyped remake of Jan Dara is now a two-parter with the title stated as Chapter of Jan Dara (จันดารา ปฐมบท, Jan Dara Pathommabot) and not the more-encompassing Story of Jan Dara, The Nation reports.

Part 1 opens in Thai cinemas this week, while Part 2 is still in the works, though a lot of footage for it has already been shot.

It's the third film version of the 1966 novel by Utsana Phleungtham – a tale about a 1930s Siamese hi-so family in which sexual abuse and incest were the rule of the household.

It was previously adapted in 1977, with Aranya Namwong among the cast, but is mostly known today for its 2001 version by Nonzee Nimibutr.

With his sense for the breathtakingly theatrical and sweeping melodrama, complete with elaborate art direction and stage-worthy performances, Mom Noi greatly expands on previously filmed versions of the story. What we'll see now covers Jan's tumultuous life from birth to age 17.

Mom Noi is on a remake roll since his return to filmmaking after a 13-year hiatus with 2008's Chua Fah Din Salai – another erotic-novel adaptation that had been filmed before – and Umong Pha Muang (The Outrage), last year's Lanna-flavored "adaptation" of Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon.

But, he's testy when people criticize him for doing a remake, and he insists this will be a different Jan Dara.

He also dismisses critics who say he's only trying to titillate, as he tells The Nation:

"People would do a lot better to examine what is essentially a socially uplifting story than come down on it because they feel it's obscene. All the entertainment media seem capable of doing is to dwell on how naked the actors will be and what the iconic ice-cube seduction scenes will look like!

"I am almost 60! Do you really think someone of my age wants to do an erotic movie for pleasure?

"We are all born from the consequences of sex but Thai people are too hypocritical to talk about it or see it naturally. They feel awkward seeing erotic scenes at the cinema, but they are okay to watch them privately at home. That's why the writer states at the beginning of the book that this novel is not for hypocrites."

Love of Siam heartthrob Mario Maurer stars, playing young Jan, whose abusive father is a sex-addicted womanizer. Much of the story will deal with Jan's first brushes with romance and his struggles to have a normal relationship with a girl his own age, in spite of the negative influences of his home life.

The women of Jan Dara include "Tak" Bongkot Kongmalai as Aunt Waad, who is the nurturing maternal figure in Jan's life since his own mother died under mysterious circumstances, putting Jan's social-climbing father in control of the family finances. Ratha "Yaya Ying" Po-ngam takes on the role of Khun Bunluang – played in Nonzee's version by Hong Kong actress Christy Chung – the worldly seductress who moves into the household as Jan's father's minor wife. And, controversially, Japanese adult-video star Shou Nishino is cast as Khun Kaew, Jan's half-sister and major thorn in his side.

There's an English-subtitled trailer and it's embedded below.

Cannes buyers lust after Jan Dara remake

Bidding wars erupted at the Cannes Film Market, where Sahamongkolfilm International is pushing director ML Bhandevanop "Mom Noi" Devakula's remake of the erotic drama Jan Dara (จัน ดารา).

Touted as "Thailand’s first erotic drama intended for theatrical release" it's been sold to South Korea's Daisy and Cinergy, Hong Kong's Edko, Clover Films in Singapore, Taiwan's Applause and Pioneer in the Philippines.

“We also have a lot of interest from Japanese and European distributors,” Sahamongkol executive vice president Gilbert Lim is quoted as saying by Screen Daily.

According to the industry journal, Jan Dara is in production and aiming for a September release in Thailand.

It stars Mario Maurer as the bastard son of a nobleman who is caught up in the dysfunctional family relations and a sexual rivalry with his father. Mario will portray the character Jan from his teenage years through adulthood. Images on the Kapook website show what Mario might look like.

Screen says that others in the cast are Thai actress Rhatha "Yayaying" Pho-ngam, who is also featured in Nicolas Winding Refn’s Bangkok crime drama Only God Forgives and Japanese adult video actress Sho Nishino.

Based on a novel by Utsana Phleungtham, Jan Dara was previously adapted in 2001 by Nonzee Nimibutr, who's said he supports Mom Noi's new version.

Mom Noi plans remake of Jan Dara

It's been just 10 years or so since director Nonzee Nimibutr steamed up screens with Jan Dara (จัน ดารา), a period erotic drama about family dysfunction, lust and incest.

With an ice-cube seduction and a bloody do-it-yourself abortion scene, Nonzee's Jan Dara (a co-production with Hong Kong's Peter Chan) was controversial in its day, but was fairly well-received and even played at some overseas film festivals.

ML Bhandevanop "Mom Noi" Devakula thinks the time is right for a remake of Jan Dara. Based on a novel by Utsana Phleungtham, the tale is set in 1930s Siam and is about a boy growing up in an aristocratic family under the lash of his abusive, sex-addicted, womanizing father. If Mom Noi pulls off his version, expect to see art direction, costuming and hair styles that are even more outlandish and lavish than the sepia-toned 2002 version. Mom Noi will likely also add his personal stamp of  high-brow references to literature, theater and Buddhist philosophy.

It'll be the third remake in a row for Mom Noi, a veteran dramatist who made his comeback as a movie director with 2008's Chua Fah Din Salai, a.k.a. Eternity, an erotic tale that shares many of the same themes as Jan Dara. Chua Fah Din Salai had previously been filmed as Forever Yours back in the 1950s by Kru Marut and Ratana Pestonji. Last year, Mom Noi adapted Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon, calling it U Mong Pha Mueang, a.k.a. The Outrage and setting it in 1500s northern Thailand.

According to The Nation's Soopsip column, Mom Noi has already cast his Outrage star Mario Maurer. Presumably, Mario will be getting his kit off as the title character in Jan Dara, which will be a big draw for all the fans of the Love of Siam leading man.

Mae Nak 3D starlet "Tak" Bongkote Khongmalai is also in the cast, Soopsip says.

But Mom Noi is having trouble finding the right actress to play the part of Jan's father's worldly mistress, memorably portrayed in Nonzee's version by Hong Kong actress Christy Chung. It was her character that used ice cubes to heat things up with young Jan. Later, she strikes up a relationship with Jan's half-sister/wife (played by "May" Pathawarin Timkul) and participates in the bloody bedroom abortion.

Veteran singer-actress Marsha Wattanapanich, who's on screens this week playing a flight attendant in the 3D haunted-airplane flick Dark Flight 407, said she'd been contacted about the role. She starred in Mom Noi's movies back in the 1980s.

But Mom Noi remains mum about Marsha, Soopsip says, adding that the director may want to pick a non-Thai Asian actress like Nonzee did, perhaps heading up to South Korea or Japan to find the right woman.

Review: U Mong Pa Mueang (The Outrage)

• Directed by ML Bhandevanop Devakula
• Starring Mario Maurer, Ananda Everingham, Chermarn Boonyasak, Dom Hetrakul, Pongpat Wachirabunjong, Petthai Wongkamlao
• Released in Thai cinemas on September 8, 2011; rated 15+
• Wise Kwai's rating: 4/5

Forget everything you remember or think you know about Akira Kurosawa's revered 1950 classic Rashomon and be swept away by the ostentatious spectacle of ML Bhandevanop "Mom Noi" Devakula's adaptation of the story in U Mong Pa Mueang (อุโมงค์ผาเมือง,), a.k.a. The Outrage.

Yes, the same plot points are there, and the opening credits to U Mong Pa Mueang acknowledge the film's debt to Kurosawa and the story by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, which was adapted into a Broadway stage play that was seen by Thai writer and statesman MR Kukrit Pramoj, who then translated it. Veteran dramatist Mom Noi, who put on a version of Kukrit's play years ago, has been intending to make a movie of it for more than a decade. After his romantic epic Chua Fah Din Salai (Eternity) became a commercial and critical hit last year, his Rashomon project became possible.

Mom Noi doesn't disappoint, unfolding the story in his typical breathtakingly dramatic style that recalls old-time moviemaking, with plenty of eye candy that includes lavish historical costuming and hairdressing, killer tattoos and a stunning mountain setting.

Even better is the robust ensemble cast – perhaps the strongest that Thai cinema has seen in recent years.

Much of the focus is put on the monk, with young heartthrob actor Mario Maurer's head shaved, but his bushy eyebrows are left intact. The wide-eyed young man is having a crisis of faith as he wrestles with personal and family problems. A lengthy prologue sets him up for a soul-searching pilgrimage, during which he has an encounter with a murder victim in the forest and then attends the trial, the testimony of which further shakes his beliefs.

Consequently, Mom Noi's U Mong Pa Mueang aims to convey a message about the Buddhist faith along with the original film's themes about redemption and a restoration in belief about the human spirit.


These are dark days in 1567 Lanna, where an earthquake has devastated the city of Pa Mueang. As a storm approaches, the wayward monk is joined by a woodcutter – the well-cast taciturn comedian Petthai "Mum Jok Mok" Wongkamlao – who convinces the clergyman to take shelter with him in the ruined city's spooky old tunnel.

There they encounter a crazy old disfigured undertaker – Pongpat Wachirabunjong in a fun, over-the-top, Shakespearian performance, skulls and all – who skeptically listens as the pair recount the murder trial they attended.

From there, the movie settles into the familiar rhythms of the original, with flashbacks to the crime scene and the wildly conflicting testimonies.

Much of the cast from last year's Chua Fah Din Salai have returned, among them that movie's two main leads, Ananda Everingham and "Ploy" Chermarn Boonyasak. Other returning Eternity cast members include Sakkaraj Rerkthamrong, here playing the governor presiding over the trial, and Daraneenuch Pothipithi giving a dryly comic performance as the mother of the warlord's wife.

Ananda portrays the murdered nobleman warlord, the equivalent of the samurai in Rashomon. Spending much of the movie tied to tree, emasculated as he's bound and gagged, his eyes painfully and tearfully convey the rage and sadness he sees in each version of the story.


Ploy as his wife is electrifying as she portrays the woman – a commoner kitchen girl, elevated to the warlord's lady – in the various scenarios, subtly changing from fragile and flighty to indignant with rage and snakelike in her betrayal.

Dom Hetrakul, an actor usually seen in supporting roles in B-movie action films, is in the showy Toshiro Mifune role of the bandit, and gives perhaps the performance of his career. It could be his Travolta Pulp Fiction moment if Thailand's movie industry worked like Hollywood.

A highlight is the bandit's tale of his swordfight with the warlord. Choreographed by Panna Rittikrai, it's wonderfully framed and convincingly depicts the flashy formally trained fencing skills of the nobleman – yes, Ananda does action – versus the rough-and-tumble, muscular abilities of the bandit.

Another fun segment is the nobleman's testimony, as told through a medium. Portrayed by singer and stage actress Radklao Amartisha, with white makeup and blackened teeth, the performance becomes something of a contemporary dance interlude.


Related posts:

• Panna Rittikrai choreographs the action in The Outrage
• U Mong Pa Meung, a.k.a. The Outrage, 'not Rashomon'

Last Exorcism director tapped for Hollywood remake of 13: Game of Death

A Hollywood remake of Chookiat Sakveerakul's 2006 thriller 13 Game Sayong (13 เกมสยอง, a.k.a. 13 Beloved and 13: Game of Death), has been in the works for years.

If I recall, it was The Weinstein Company that picked up remake rights and released the original version of the gripping psychological thriller starring Noi Sukosol on its Dimension Extreme DVD imprint in the U.S.

The story follows a troubled salesman who is manipulated into taking part in a deadly underground hidden-camera game in which he must perform 13 increasingly grim tasks to win millions in cash.

News of the remake eventually died out, until resurfacing last night that a deal had been struck for The Last Exorcism director Daniel Stamm to direct the remake.

IM Global CEO Stuart Ford made the announcement on Monday at the Toronto International Film Festival and said he hopes to go into production early next year.

According to the news reports, Stamm is adapting the screenplay with David Birke for a production by IM Global and Alliance Films' joint venture Atomatik Another producer is Kiki Miyake of Little Magic, which brought the project to IM Global. Jason Blum and Sahamongkolfilm International's Somsak Techaratanaprasert are named as executive producers.

Meanwhile, what everyone really wants to know is when Chookiat's sequel 14 Beyond will come out, and I guess that's still in the works, probably for next year.

(Via Screen Daily, Deadline Hollywood, The Hollywood Reporter, Variety)

Khru Baan Nok remake planned

Surasee Pantham, director of 1978's Khru Baan Nok (ครูบ้านนอก, The Country Teacher) is planning a remake of the well-regarded social drama.

According to a recent Soopsip item in Daily Xpress, Sahamongkol Film International will produce and shooting is expected to commence in two months.

But first, Surasee needs a fresh-faced young actor to take on the title role of an idealistic young schoolteacher who fights corruption in an Isaan village. The original starred Piya Trakoolrath, who made his debut. Surasee is hoping to recreate the magic.

Actors should be between 19 and 22 years old and be able to convincingly pass for a native Northeasterner. Send your head shots and show reel to Dokjharn [at] hotmail or 49 Moo 4, Muang district, Kalasin.

(Via Daily Xpress)

Fireball in France; sequel and remake in the works?

Fireball was in the Action Asia competition at the Deauville Asian Film Festival, which wrapped up over the weekend in France.

South Korea's The Chaser by Na Hong-jin won the grand prize in the Action Asia category. Wildgrounds has the winners.

Critical reception of the Muay Thai-basketball combat drama was pretty cold. Les in Rocks compared it to a direct-to-video effort by Jean-Claude Van Damme and the Trey Stone-Matt Parker comedy Baseketball, and criticized the shaky cam, as did EcranLarge.com.

Film de Culte stated that Fireball is of interest "strictly to worshippers of knee dislocations."

But Commeau Cinema was more diplomatic, noting the camera work will give you headache, but saying it compares favorably to Ong-Bak and should give action-genre fans what they're looking for -- which makes those cracks about Van Damme and knee dislocations selling points.

And Fireball does have its fans.

EcranLarge.com also interviewed director Thanakorn Pongsuwan, whose previous feature, the karmic action fantasy Opapatika competed in Deauville's Action Asia section last year.

He talked about the blending of East and West, of superheroes and Thai mythology, and of Thai action cinema's strength and uniqueness stemming from the influence of Muay Thai.

Regarding future projects, Thanakorn said that a sequel to Fireball is under consideration, but that Bangkok Film Studio has plenty of other projects as well. "More personally," Thanakorn added, he'd like to try "something other than action, maybe horror or fantasy."

However, a sequel may be a selling point as Fireball makes its next move -- at the Hong Kong Filmart. A report on "buzz titles" by Patrick Frater for Variety, says the "pic is now on course for sequel and remake treatment and will be released in North America by Grindstone through Lionsgate."

Baan Phee Pob 2008 munches her way to No. 1

Baan Phee Pob 2008, the new installment of a long-running 1980s and '90s horror-comedy series, was the No. 1 movie over the weekend at Major Cineplex, Thailand's biggest multiplex chain.

Released by Golden A Entertainment, Baan Phee Pob 2008 is about a woman named Pob Yib who is possessed by the spirit of a gut-munching ghost. It's one of Thailand's most enduring ghost stories. Pob Yib is portrayed Nattanee Sitthisaman, who is reprising her role from the original series.

Also premiering was Cyborg She, a Japanese romantic comedy by Kwak Jae Young, the director of the hit Korean rom-com My Sassy Girl. It was No. 3 at Major Cineplex. A Thai-dubbed version of Cyborg She is playing in wide release in Thailand, but the original soundtrack with English and Thai subtitles is playing at the tiny Bangkok arthouse, House.

Adam Sandler's You Don't Mess With the Zohan, the previous week's top film, was at No. 2 in its second week.

The Top 5 was rounded out by Nicolas Cage's Bangkok Dangerous, holding steady at No. 4. The Pang brothers' remake of their own 1999 debut, it's been been in cinemas for three weeks.

Dropping from No. 3 to fifth place was the wildly popular teen comedy Boonchu 9, which has been in cinemas for four weeks.

Major Cineplex lists its top five box-office films on its website but does not provide revenue figures or the number of screens for each film.

Audiences not feeling the Burn

The newly released Thai thriller Burn, featuring a smouldering turn from starlet Bongkot "Tak" Kongmalai, failed to ignite with audiences at Major Cineplex, Thailand's biggest multiplex chain.

Blowing away Burn was the Adam Sandler spy spoof, You Don't Mess With the Zohan, which made its Thailand debut as the theater chain's top film. At No. 2 was the comedy Tevada Tokmun, which was in its second week.

Burn, a slick conspiracy thriller about spontaneous human combustion, came in fifth on Major Cineplex's weekly chart. The film is directed by Peter Manus, produced by veteran filmmaker Manop Udomdej and released by Sahamongkol Film International. Chalat na Songkla, Achiraya Pirapatkulchaya also star.

The three-week-old Boonchu 9 was at No. 3. Bangkok of the Mind recently reported that Boonchu 9 earned 50 million baht in its first 12 days of release and looks likely to be headed towards Boonchu 10.

The Nicolas Cage remake of Bangkok Dangerous was at No. 4 in its second week of release. Directed by the Pang Brothers and based on their own 1999 debut action drama, Bangkok Dangerous was No. 1 the previous week, topping the box office on the weakest opening weekend in seven years.

Major Cineplex lists its box-office standings on its website, but does not state revenues or the number of screens in its weekly tabulations.

Bangkok Dangerous tops box office on weakest weekend in seven years

Bangkok Dangerous was the No. 1 movie in the U.S. and Canada over the weekend, but it takes the top slot during what was the slowest weekend in seven years. It needed just US$7.9 million to best Tropic Thunder, which was in its fourth week of release. Coming in third was The House Bunny, which hs been in cinemas for three weeks.

"We're going to make a profit on it," Steve Rothenberg, studio Lionsgate's vice president of distribution was quoted as saying by the Associated Press. "We lucked out. No one was going against it."

In Thailand, the country's biggest multiplex chain Major Cineplex has Bangkok Dangerous as their No. 1. Premiering at the No. 2 slot in Thailand is Tevada Tokmun, a "dharma comedy" from RS Film starring veteran comedian Thep Po-ngam. At No. 3 is the teen comedy Boonchu 9, which premiered the previous weekend at No. 1. Rounding out the top five are the Jason Statham vehicle Death Race and Ekachai Eukrongtham's horror film, The Coffin, which have both been playing for three weeks. Major Cineplex does not list its revenue figures.

Directed by Danny and Oxide Pang, Bangkok Dangerous is a remake of their 1999 debut. Remake rights were snapped up by Nicolas Cage's production company, and Cage stars as a hitman on assignment in the Big Mango. Shahkrit Yamnarm and Charlie Yeung co-star. It was filmed 2006 in Bangkok while there was a coup going on. Now it's playing in cinemas while there are massive anti-government demonstrations in Bangkok.

Bangkok isn't so dangerous, though. Happi Like a Hippo has more on that. But it's not necessarily safe to see the movie, which has fared poorly with critics, who were lining up their shots at the film before it even opened. Lakorn Central has a great roundup of the critical blurbs from Rotten Tomatoes.

And I haven't seen it yet myself. I've instead been opting to attend the Thai Short Film & Video Festival. Before I sink to seeing the Bangkok Dangerous 2.0, I want a refresher on the original.

(Via The Nation)

Deal tied up for Art of the Devil remake

I have never understood the allure of the Art of the Devil film series -- the main premise being revenge dished out by means of horrendous, disfiguring torture at the hands of an enraged black-magic sorceress.

I haven't seen any of the films. And though the current one in the series, Art of the Devil III (Long Khong 2) is still lurking about in local cinemas, I don't think I'm about to start -- unless star Napakpapha "Mamee" Nakprasit comes to me right now, forcibly binds me and drags me away from the keyboard, takes me to a screening room, straps me to a chair, forces my eyelids open and sits next to me with eyedrops to keep my peepers moist as I watch the film.

But a whole lot of other people are going to get a taste of the series when the remakes start. Yes, as if the originals weren't torture enough, there will be remakes. Following in the ghostly footsteps of Shutter and The Eye, Five Star Production is getting in on the remake game, selling the Art of the Devil franchise to Cerenzie-Peters Productions.

Bloody Disgusting was the first with the news:

CP will begin by focusing on the second installment [Art of the Devil II, aka Long Khong], which featured a group of high school kids who fall victim to supernatural tattoos.

The latest movie, released April 3 in Thailand, earned more than $2.5 million during its first weekend to lead the domestic box office. That beat out the $2.1 million raked in by Jumper and the $1.8 million grossed by 10,000 BC.

Devil, which cost less than $1 million to make, has already been sold to more than 40 countries.

CP will produce the project via its genre division, which just signed a $100 million production financing partnership with Ghostrider Entertainment. Thompson, who recently joined CP to head the new genre arm, was responsible for acquiring the franchise from Bangkok-based Five Star Production, one of Thailand's oldest production and distribution houses.

Colin Geddes will co-produce. Geddes is also the film programmer of the Midnight Madness selection at the Toronto International Film Festival where he has introduced genre directors such as Eli Roth (Cabin Fever), Alexandre Aja (The Hills Have Eyes), Prachya Pinkaew (Ong Bak), and Takeshi Miike (Ichi the Killer). Last year's selection included the world premieres of George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead and Dario Argento's Mother of Tears.

"There is a wealth of material that we feel culturally translates extremely well from the pan-Asian regions, and we feel we have an amazing franchise on our hands," Peters said.

Yuthlert Sippapak's ghost comedy-drama Buppha Rahtree was another of Geddes' choices for Midnight Madness.

The Art of the Devil series began in 2004 with Khon Len Khong, directed by Thanit Jitnukul and starring Supaksorn Chaimongkol.

Art of the Devil II came out in 2005, directed by a crew of seven directors that dubbed themselves the Ronin Team. They included screenwriter Kongkiat Khomsiri, who has since gone on to pen The Unseeable for Wisit Sasanatieng and direct Muay Thai Chaiya. Called Long Khong in Thai, Art of the Devil II was a different storyline than the first film, but had similar themes of a female using torturous black magic to exact revenge. This was the film that introduced the fiery actress Mamee to the series, and she garnered much critical acclaim for her performance. It's this film, about a teacher taking black-magic revenge on some students who pulled a prank on her, that will be focused on for the remake.

Art of the Devil III (Long Khong 2) is actually a prequel to the second film, showing how the teacher Phanor came to acquire her sorcery skills.

The first two original Art of the Devil films are available as a box set with English subtitles and optional English-dubbed soundtrack.

More information:

• Art of the Devil 3 attacks the box office
  
• Extended gore-filled trailer, uncensored scenes for Art of the Devil 3
  
• Three new posters for Art of the Devil 3
  
• English-subtitled trailer for Art of the Devil 3
  
• This is torture: Art of the Devil 3 trailer
• Upcoming Thai film: Art of the Devil 3
• Official website

(Via Twitch and Kaiju Shakedown)

Bangkok Dangerous in their sights

The Pang Bros.' remake of their own Bangkok Dangerous is the film that the movie pundits love to hate this season. And they haven't even seen it.

They are uneasy with Nicolas Cage, whose most recent outings in National Treasure, Ghost Rider, The Wicker Man and Next haven't won him admirers. They aren't convinced the Pangs can deliver a winner, having been disappointed with their first Hollywood outing, The Messengers. They even blame the Pangs for The Eye remake (finally opening in Bangkok tomorrow), which they didn't have anything to do with.

The Onion AV Club weighs in on how Bangkok Dangerous stacks up among the summer blockbuster line-up, saying:

There's no greater sign of creative desperation than having a foreign film Americanized by its original creators, especially when those creators are as reliably mediocre as the Pang brothers, who have already failed twice in Hollywood with The Messengers and the Jessica Alba redo of their passable film The Eye.

And this is from the same crew that like Face/Off and Con Air. Hey! It's wacky Nic Cage in Bangkok! What's not to like?

Rope of Silicon, opening up a gallery of 45 new stills from Bangkok Dangerous, is nicer. They could use the new photos as ammunition, but Brad Brevet remains somewhat hopeful:

Don't you hate it when a new movie is coming out and you want to say, "Yeah, can't wait to see that one," but there is that one issue that gives you pause? The upcoming Lionsgate release Bangkok Dangerous is an example of a film that does that for me.

I am whole heartedly interested in seeing what Danny and Oxide Pang are going to bring to the table even if I wasn't interested in seeing The Messengers. These brothers have vision and a little crime drama involving a "cold-blooded hitman" sounds like something up my alley. However, there's a catch ... that hitman is being played by one of the most notable over-actors of all-time: Mr. Nic Cage. Yikes, doesn't anyone even try directing this guy?

Siam Sentinel, meanwhile, has posted an interesting review of the trailer. Here's an excerpt of the posting, "Nicolas Cage loves the King":

I see that Cage plays a hitman who comes to Bangkok, befriends a young Thai on the streets, falls in love with a Thai woman, and refuses to assassinate a powerful figure who is loved by all the people and is above politics.

From the trailer, there are clips of this final target as he is riding through the city with soldiers all around him and Thais waving flags and cheering him. Cage's new Thai friend also tells him that all the people love this person who helps poor people and we see doubt in Cage's face as he sets up the kill.

Will anyone ever make a film about Thailand that does not fit into stereotypes and old plots? This is just the story of the farang who comes to Thailand, falls in love with a Thai woman, appreciates the culture, and changes his ways. Add to that some Thai nationalism and pro-monarchy scenes and you have a hit for the Thai theaters. But maybe the censors will not allow the film to be shown if it does not portray the monarchy in a positive enough light.

Still tentatively, Bangkok Dangerous is scheduled to open on August 22.

See also:

• Still, posters for Bangkok Dangerous
• Bangkok Dangerous remake release delayed until summer
• Remakes: Posters for Bangkok Dangerous, Shutter

Still, posters for Bangkok Dangerous remake

Stills from the Pang Bros.' remake of their own debut Bangkok Dangerous are starting to appear. This one has star Nicolas Cage at the floating market with his "errand boy", played by Shahkrit Yamnarm, who was most recently seen in Valentine as a transvestite who switches bodies with a lesbian. Shahkrit was also in last year's Opapatika.

There's also a new poster for Bangkok Dangerous. I liked the teaser poster better.

After Spanish-language trailers have been around for a few months, there's also an English-language trailer. Worst Previews is one of the places that has it.

Monsters & Critics has what I take to be the official synopsis:

The life of an anonymous assassin takes an unexpected turn when he travels to Thailand to complete a series of contract killings. Joe (Nicolas Cage), a remorseless hitman, is in Bangkok to execute four enemies of a ruthless crime boss named Surat. He hires Kong (Shahkrit Yamnarm), a street punk and pickpocket, to run errands for him with the intention of covering his tracks by killing him at the end of the assignment. Strangely, Joe, the ultimate lone wolf, instead finds himself mentoring the young man while simultaneously being drawn into a tentative romance with a local shop girl. As he falls further under the sway of Bangkok’s intoxicating beauty, Joe begins to question his isolated existence and let down his guard …just as Surat decides it’s time to clean house. Directors Oxide Pang and Danny Pang (The Eye) paint an explosive picture of the Bangkok underworld, illuminated with neon and saturated in violence. Based on the Pang Brothers’ wildly popular Hong Kong action film of the same name Bangkok Dangerous is written by Jason Richman. The adrenaline-powered thriller stars Nicolas Cage (Leaving Las Vegas, National Treasure), Charlie Young (Seven Swords), Shahkrit Yamnarm (Belly of the Beast) and Dom Hetrakul (Sniper 3). The film is produced by Jason Shuman, William Sherak, Nicolas Cage and Norm Golightly.

The release date keeps getting pushed back. Bangkok Dangerous is now slated for release in the U.S. on August 22.

More information:

• Bangkok Dangerous remake release delayed until summer
• Remakes: Posters for Bangkok Dangerous, Shutter

Review: Shutter (2008)

• Directed by Masayuki Ochiai
• Written by Luke Dawson
• Starring Joshua Jackson, Rachael Taylor, Megumi Okina, David Denman, John Hensley
• Released in Thailand cinemas on March 20, 2008
• Rating: 2/5

If you've seen the original Thai Shutter, then take of snapshot of it in your brain and cherish the memory. Better yet, get the DVD of the original Thai film and watch it again. A repeat view of the 2004 film will be far more rewarding than watching the laughably dull, half-reheated Hollywood version, which doesn't achieve anything near the suspense and scares of Banjong Pisanthanakul's and Parkpoom Wongpoom's smash hit.

Through all the Rings and Grudges, by now it should be painfully obvious that Hollywood execs aren't looking to improve on the originals -- just cash in. They think they can cast a pretty blond actress and have some models strut about in lingerie, show some leg and call it good. But it doesn't work. This Shutter has no snap.

The only curiosity is seeing this Hollywood remake of a Thai film through the filter of a J-horror lens, with the director Masayuki Ochiai and the setting transplanted from Bangkok to Tokyo.

A bland Joshua Jackson stars as Ben, a hotshot fashion photographer who has just married an angularly thin blonde, Jane. For their honeymoon, he whisks his new bride away to his old stomping grounds in Japan. They take a few days in the countryside and enjoy a stunning view of Mount Fuji before heading to Tokyo, where Joshua has been booked for a shoot. From almost the outset, you can see that Jackson's character is no good, from the way he is greeted by other women and how he struts about like a rooster with his old Westerner running buddies.

Jane is portrayed by Rachael Taylor, who was last seen as a genius computer hacker in Transformers. Anthony Anderson should have been brought in to play the lead role in Shutter, because he and Taylor had better chemistry in Transformers than she has with Jackson. Nonetheless, she displays plenty of plucky grit and determination as she doggedly pursues the mystery behind the white blurs and streaks that start showing up in all the couple's photos. Even when she's stripped down to some black lace undies for a PG-13 sex scene, she holds her own.

The Thai version, which starred Ananda Everingham as the haunted photographer, was far more chaste. And it was also a lot more subtle.

More information:

• Original Shutter directors 'satisfied' with remake
• Are they even trying? (Kaiju Shakedown)
  
• Shutter (2008) trailer at You Tube
• Shutter (2004) trailer at You Tube
• Remakes: Posters for Bangkok Dangerous, Shutter
• Review: Shutter (2004)

(Cross-published at The Nation Weblog)

Original Shutter directors 'satisfied' with remake

The Hollywood remake of the 2004 hit horror Shutter opens in local cinemas on Thursday, and ahead of the release, the directors of the original, Banjong Pisanthanakul and Parkpoom Wongpoom, offered their verdict: It's okay, they say.

The top-grossing Thai film of 2004, the original starred Ananda Everingham as photographer who starts seeing ghostly images in the pictures he's taking. The mystery behind these spectral shadows, blurs and lights has deadly consequences for anyone he comes into contact with, and his wife.

In the remake, Joshua Jackson and Rachael Taylor are a young American couple. He's a photographer, assigned to a fashion shoot in Tokyo, and after a car wreck kills a young woman (same as the original), they start seeing ghostly images in their photos. The trailers hint at a few tips of the hat to the Thai original, though the "Asianess" of the proceedings will also be due in large part to the remake's director, Masayuki Ochiai. And when it comes time for Jackson's character to meet the ghostly Japanese girl Megumi, things are a lot more overt than the chaste Thai version, with the trailers hinting at some ghostly getting-it-on.

Banjong says he doesn't think Jackson is as good in the role as Ananda was. The Daily Xpress has more:

Joshua's character just isn't the kind of guy you can forgive when he does something wrong. With Ananda, you could," says Banjong, who would loved to have seen Orlando Bloom and Scarlett Johansson in the Hollywood remake.

"My favorite part is the Megumi character [Nate in Thai version]. She's a pitiful, nerdish girl, with a similar background to Nate," says Banjong, adding that he's also impressed with the art direction.

Parkpoom says that while he's satisfied with the remake, he had hoped to see the project handed to an American director.

"Masayuki is Japanese, so he shares similar beliefs. I think an American would have had a different interpretation."

The Shutter boys also chatted with The Star in Malaysia, which offered a broader survey of the current state of Asian horror. Here's an excerpt from that article:

Asian horror films are more simple in terms of special effects – we are concerned more with the atmosphere in the movie, the feeling of fear which comes mainly from believing in something that we feel close to, rather than from scaring the audience through excitement and special effects,” said Parkpoom and Banjong in an e-mail interview.

As for the current status of horror films, the duo said that the genre was experiencing a downward trend and that it would take yet another pioneering horror film to revive it.

“We think it is a cycle. Once there is a big hit, there will be lots of horror films and audiences will get to watch them until they get bored.

“And then there will have to be a ‘hero’ among horror films, like The Ring or The Sixth Sense, that will make audiences want to see horror movies again.

“At the moment, it is down time for horror films, we think. We have to wait and see which film will initiate a comeback for the genre.”

When asked whether there was a formula for making good horror films, both gave their own perspective.

Banjong said: “For me, in a horror film you have to anticipate the audience’s feelings. You have to make them feel scared and shocked.

“It’s different from other genres of films where you can pretty much do what you want, even if you are trying to extract a certain emotional reaction from the audience.”

Parkpoom, on the other hand, had this to offer: “It’s really not that different from other kinds of filmmaking. It is just a different kind of entertainment the audience is after. They want to be scared.

“There is no fixed formula, though, because audiences are getting smarter every day.”

Finally, we asked what advice they could offer to up-and-coming film directors.

“You need to have new ideas and a strong and interesting plot. There will always be a need for that in the market,” said Banjong, while Parkpoom advised: “Don’t just follow trends. Work on what you believe in.”

Shutter is the first all-Thai remake to be completed. Pen-ek Ratanaruang's second film, 6ixtynin9 had been up for a remake, but I don't think anything ever came of it. The 2002 transvestite-gay-transgender comedy adventure Saving Private Tootsie was also optioned for a remake, but it has fallen off the map.

Future remake projects include Banjong and Parkpoom's second film, last year's twin horror, Alone. The Weinstein Company bought the remake rights to 13 Beloved, but recently released the original in the U.S. as 13: Game of Death on their Dimension Extreme DVD label.

After getting their start in Thailand, the Pang Brothers are well entrenched back in their native Hong Kong (they will be back in Thailand this year, filming Storm Riders 2), and have two remakes: their 2002 hit The Eye, and their 1999 debut, Bangkok Dangerous. Starring Jessica Alba, The Eye remake was released in the US last month to tepid reviews. Originally a Hong Kong-Singaporean co-production filmed in Hong Kong and Thailand, the remake was directed by David Moreau and Xavier Palud. For Bangkok Dangerous, the Pangs directed their own remake, but cast Nicolas Cage in the lead role that had previously been held by a deaf mute character. Shooting was wrapped up in 2006 in Bangkok, and it had been scheduled for release earlier this year, but has since been moved to summer.

More information:

• Shutter (2008) trailer at You Tube
• Shutter (2004) trailer at You Tube
• Remakes: Posters for Bangkok Dangerous, Shutter
• Review: Shutter (2004)

(Photo info: Joshua Jackson in Shutter (2008); Banjong Pisanthanakul, left, and Parkpoom Wongpoom in a photo courtesy of GMM Tai Hub)

Remakes: Posters for Bangkok Dangerous, Shutter

Posters for two Thai remakes have just been released, for the Pang Brothers' Bangkok Dangerous starring Nicolas Cage, and Shutter, which was originally made in 2004 by the director team of Banjong Pisunthanagoon and Parkpoom Wongpoom.

I have to say, I'm not enamoured by either of them. Bangkok Dangerous gets the point across - hey, it's a Nic Cage movie! But what city is depicted in the skyline silhouette? This is not the Bangkok I know. Maybe it's an amalgamation of various Bangkok landmarks, but I recognize none.

Bangkok Dangerous is a remake of the 1999 debut by Oxide and Danny Pang, the Hong Kong-born identical twins who got their start making movies in Thailand. Principal photography (for some reason I want to avoid saying "shooting") on the remake took place in September and October 2006, while there was a military coup going on. Seven-foot-tall stuntman Conan Stevens wrote about the wrap party on his blog, back in 2006.

In the remake, also directed by the Pangs, Cage plays a hitman on assignment in Bangkok, taking the protagonist role that was previously held by a deaf-mute character. Well, you can't have wacky Nic Cage in a movie and not have him speak, now can you? So the deaf-mute role was reassigned to the hitman's Thai girlfriend, played here by Hong Kong actress Charlie Yeung. There's also an "errand boy" character, played by Thai actor Chakrit Yamnam, recently seen in Opapatika.

In addition to the poster, there's a trailer for Bangkok Dangerous. It's in Spanish, but I get the point. Where the original Bangkok Dangerous was a meditative, dramatic study of the life of a hitman, the remake is an adrenaline-fueled thrill ride, with go-go dancers (well, the original had them, too), long-tail boat chases and big explosions.

The original, by the way, is available on English subtitled DVD, with the Region 2 Tartan release or the Region 4 from Mad Man in Australia being touted as the better presentations over the Hong Kong or Thai releases.

While I can tolerate Bangkok Dangerous, because it makes no pretensions about what it is, I am less tolerant of the remake of Shutter, for no good reason. I mean, what the heck is that poster?

Though generally well liked, Shutter has always been at somewhat of a disadvantage. Originally made in 2004, Shutter came late to the party during the Asian horror craze in the early 2000s, which caused it to be unfairly lumped in with all the J-horror. "Shutter is quite derivative," Twitch's Todd Brown, a long-time champion of the original film, noted back in March 2007. "But it also succeeds in taking what is now a rather tired formula and re-injecting it with life, creating a film that is significantly more than the sum of its parts."

Now, after The Ring, The Grudge, One Missed Call and some others that aren't coming to mind right now, Shutter is late to the party again. People haven't even seen the remake yet, and they are already bitching about how bad it is going to be.

What can I say? See the original! It's available on English-subtitled DVD.

But hey, maybe it will do okay. As the New York Times has pointed out recently, there's a reason for these remakes - they make money.

Directed by Masayuki Ochiai and produced by remake king Roy Lee, Shutter 2008 stars Joshua Jackson in the role originated by Ananda Everingham, as a young photographer, who with his new wife (Rachael Taylor), has an accident and starts discovering mysterious shadows in his photographs. The trailer for Shutter has been online now for awhile, and alludes to some ghostly gettin-it-on with the male star.

Meanwhile, there's the elephant in this room of Hollywood remakes of Thai films that I haven't yet mentioned: The Eye, which opens in the U.S. today. It was originally made by the Pang Bros. in 2002, and remake rights were picked up by Cruise-Wagner Productions. After being kicked around in the Hollywood studio system for a few years, it is directed by the French team of David Moreau and Xavier Palud, and stars Jessica Alba in the Angelica Lee role as a blind violinist who starts seeing ghosts and terrifying visions after she receives a corneal transplant. Like the Shutter remake, people haven't even seen it yet (because there apparently were no previews for critics), and are already heaping scorn on it.

(Via Rope of Silicone, The Movie Blog)