Shadow of the Naga actually has a release date

Shadow of the Naga, the "monks with guns" movie that premiered at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival, finally has a release date. It's penciled in on Pantip's 2010 calendar to open on February 4.

Selected for TIFF's Contemporary World Cinema program by programmer Raymond Phathanavirangoon, Shadow of the Naga got a decent reception in Toronto, with critic Grady Hendrix noting "[This] low-key Thai flick about criminals becoming Buddhist monks [h]as all the strengths and weaknesses of Thailand's mainstream commercial cinema, which means we'll all probably never hear from it again."

His words seemed prophetical as Shadow of the Naga (นาคปรก, Nak Prok) was shelved by Sahamongkol Film International over concerns that its subject matter might be deemed inappropriate by the deemers of such things.

This is despite the assurances of director Pawat Panangkasiri who has said his movie was a way of commenting on the real-life scandals that have brought controversy to Thai Buddhism. "Why [do] we feel we have to cover up bad things that happen in the monkhood. If we don’t fix them, surely we are leaving our religion open to exploitation,” he said last year.

The crime drama involves three robbers -- Somchai Khemklad, Ray MacDonald and Pitisak Yaowananon -- who bury their loot in a spot that they later find has had a monastery built on top of it. So they ordain and go about monastic life while they try to figure out a way to get their buried treasure. Surely, there will be a spiritual awakening for the three hoodlums?

Hopefully I'll find out on February 4.

(Via 24framespersecond)

Yam Yasothon 2 premieres with a temple fair

Yam Yasothon 2 had its premiere on Monday night at Bangkok's CentralWorld shopping center, and it was a gala -- Isaan style.

Instead of having the pre-screening functions held indoors, they were moved outside, where an old-timey temple fair was set up, complete with carnival-style games. With beer gardens nearby in the outdoor plaza, it made for a festive atmosphere.

Entertainment was provided by Mum Jokmok, and the cast of Yam Yasothon 2, including Anuwat Tarapan, Janet Khiaw, Mum's daughter Busakarem Wongkumlao and son Phathay Wongkumlao.

Others hanging around were the usual Sahamongkol crowd -- among them producer Prachya Pinkaew.

Games included a dunk tank, with a young woman looking none too pleased to be put in the repeatedly in the drink by fastball-throwing pitchers. There was also a target range, where aunties were lining up to take aim and try and win prizes.

The biggest attraction was, of course, the food booth, which featured such Isaan delicacies as somtum and savory grilled chicken. After all, most of the invitees for the premiere were hard-working journalists, movie critics, public-relations people and film professionals -- folks who'll fast for a day if they know there's a free meal to be had later.

The movie's a blast and I'll have a review up in the next day or so, after it hits the page in The Nation's new "xp" section.

In the meantime, here's a music video from the movie by rockers the Richman Toy, featuring Mum on vocals.

IFFI '09: How about a little help from India?

Veteran filmmakers Nonzee Nimibutr and Yongyoot Thongkongtoon are heading the Thai delegation at the International Film Festival of India, where they were full of praise for the Indian film industry and support its audiences give it, but were down on the prospects for their own country's cinema.

Talking to the press, Yongyoot Thongkongtoon says:

"It is just that we don't make films which the audiences will like. The Hollywood movie 2012 is one of the top grossers in Thailand in just five days of its release," he said adding that Thai filmmakers have a long way to go before it achieves the box office numbers like that of Hollywood movies.

Yongyoot is at IFFI in support of his latest feature, the romantic comedy-drama Best of Times, which is Thailand's submission to the Academy Awards..

Also at IFFI is Nonzee Nimibutr, subject of a piece in The Hindu by Lekha Shankar. He has five films in a retrospective, ranging from 1997's Dang Bireley's and Young Gangsters to last year's Queens of Langkasuka. He laments the lack of support for filmmakers from the Thai government.

"Almost all films produced in Thailand have financial support from Korea, Japan and other countries. Recession has hurt the local industry. Conflicts in the government also cast a shadow on the return of investments. Besides, severe competition from Hollywood and lack of audiences for local cinema are also some of the causes of the downslide."

Yongyoot voiced optimism:

"The government doesn’t do as much as we expect them too, but with a change in film production we will see change in Thailand. We have learnt a lot being a part of this festival, hopefully we will carry it over to Thailand.

According the Navhind Times, Nonzee said he was open to "collaborating with an Indian film team to expand his audience", while Yongyoot asserted that India films are popular in Thailand, even though they aren't shown as regularly in cinemas as they used to be. Putting on his hat as artistic director of the Bangkok International Film Festival, he promised to include more Indian films in next year's BKKIFF line-up.

Here's more from Nonzee, Yongyoot and actress May Pathawarin Timkul in The Times of India.

Nymph in running for Best Asian Film of 2009

Asian Movie Pulse has a poll running that lists Pen-ek Ratanaruang's Nymph among eight contenders for Best Asian Film of 2009.

It has the spooky forest romantic thriller alongside Taiwan's No Puedo Vivir Sin Ti by Leon Dai, Japan's Love Exposure by Sono Shion and Ponyo on a Cliff by the Sea by Hayao Miyazaki, South Korea's Thirst by Park Chan-wook and Like You Know It All by Hong Sang-soo, Hong Kong's Accident by Soi Cheang and City of Life and Death by Lu Chuan.

Results will be announced on December 28.

Syndromes and a Century makes TONY's top 50 for the 2000s

The end of 2009 not only means there will be an onslaught of year-end lists to pore over, but also lists of the best films of the first decade of the 21st century.

We've already had the best of the decade list from the TIFF Cinematheque, that was topped by Syndromes and a Century by Apichatpong Weerasethakul and had his Tropical Malady and Blissfully Yours ranked as well.

Now comes the Time Out New York top 50 movies of the decade, which has Syndromes and a Century at No. 44. Says TONY's Kevin B. Lee

Thai filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul turns the memories of his doctor parents into a narrative seed, planting it in both a jungle and a city hospital to see what will grow from each. Few recent films seem as driven by pure, organic intuition—and are as consistently sublime.

Thai censors disagreed with such praise. They said Apichatpong's parents should be ashamed for what he'd done to them in his film, said the film was without artistic merit and ordered six scenes censored before it could be shown in Thailand. Who are you going to agree with? Thailand's esteemed cultural minders or dozens upon dozens of film critics the world over?

Spirited discussion about the TIFF Cinematheque list and who should be the best directors of the decade is taking place at Wildgrounds.

(Via Wildgrounds)

Fireball to hit DVD and Blu-ray in the UK

Fireball, Thanakorn Pongsuwan's bloody and violent blend of Muay Thai and no-holds-barred basketball, hits Region 2 DVD and Blu-ray on January 18. Check it at Amazon or Play.com.

Details about specs or extras are thin on the ground, but I imagine folks hungry for hard-hitting Muay Thai basketball action will be happy to have this in any form. After all, where else can you find Muay Thai basketball? I'm not sure it's been released on English-friendly DVD anywhere else, has it?

If you want to watch a bit, there's a trailer on the Fireball website.

(Via Wildgrounds and 24framespersecond)

Agrarian Utopia wins Unesco Award at APSAs

Uruphong Raksasad's experimental documentary Agrarian Utopia (Sawan Baan Na) continues its award-winning run, picking up the Unesco Award at the third edition of the Asia-Pacific Screen Awards, which were given out on Thursday in Gold Coast, Australia.

The Unesco Award recognizes "outstanding contribution to the promotion and preservation of cultural diversity through film". Uruphong, racking up the flight miles, was in Queensland to accept the prize.

It's the first year Thailand has had nominees in the APSAs, which were first awarded in 2007.

Agrarian Utopia, shot in a gorgeous hi-def digital format, was a nominee for Achievement in Cinematography.

A second Thai documentary, the epic look at politics and violence in southern Thailand, Citizen Juling, was a nominee for Best Documentary.

The full list of winners is at the APSAs' website.

Uruphong recently picked up an award at the Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival, and Agrarian Utopia continues its festival run, hitting the ongoing Taipei Golden Horse and France's 3 Continents festivals, and now the International Film Festival Bratislava.

(Via Extra Virgin, Screen Daily)

2009 ends with frightened monks, country comedy and romance

Six more Thai films remain to be released this year, with a heavy dose of country comedy and romance -- in some cases a blend of the two.

Opening tomorrow is Yom-Pee-Poa (โยมผีพ่อ), a comedy produced by Pacific Island Film, about a cheeky novice Buddhist monk who is haunted by his ghost dad (Charnnarong Khantheetao), who wants the boy to find his mother. Ghost dad grows to terrifying heights, to hilarious effect as can be seen in the trailer, embedded above. So there is lots of running around and screaming from a cast of the usual comedians, including Apaporn Nakhon Sawan and Naowarat Yuktanun.

On December 3, taking over the slot for the auspicious December 5 holiday weekend for His Majesty the King's birthday and Father's Day is Yam Yasothon 2 (แหยม ยโสธร 2), comedian Mum Jokmok's sequel to his colorful 2005 country comedy.

The story, still set in rural Thailand sometime in the 1960s or '70s, takes place many years after the first installment. Mum's character Yam is now a civil servant and the graying, shotgun-toting father of teenagers, with his daughter -- played by his actual daughter Em Busarakam Wongkamlao -- being courted by a young man who's portrayed by "Dim" Harin Suthamjaras from the rock group Tattoo Color.

Janet Khiew is back as Yam's wife. Mum's son Mick Paytai and comedienne "Tukkie" Sudarat Butrprom also figure into the cast.

The costume design for this sequel is even more colorful, so blazing in fact, I fear many burned-out retinas. Check out the trailer embedded below.



Closing out the year will be four romance films.

First up on December 10 is the ensemble romantic comedy Pai In Love (ปายอินเลิฟ), which takes place in northern Thailand's hippie retreat, Pai. The cast includes Ray MacDonald.

More beautiful settings come in the drama October Sonata (รักที่รอคอย), with Rak/Sam/Sao's Koy Ratchawin playing the romantic interest for a young leader of the student activists in the October 1973 democracy demonstrations ("Pope" Thanavat Vatthanaputi). Apart from having potentially contentious political matters as a backdrop, the lovers meet at the October 8, 1970 funeral of Mitr Chaibancha and vow to meet again in subsequent Octobers. It's directed by veteran screenwriter Somkiat Vithuranich, who wrote the screenplay for Ai Fak and co-directed the doggie comedy Mid-Road Gang. Produced by NGR, October Sonata is set to open on December 23.

December 30 sees the release of another romantic drama, As It Happens (บังเอิญ...รักไม่สิ้นสุด), which appears to be a globe-trotting love story that on the surfaces seems similar to GTH's Dear Galileo, released earlier this year.

And on December 31 there will be the romantic comedy 32 December (32 ธันวา). This is the first production from M39 Pictures, the new joint venture by former crew of RS Film's Avant studio and distributor M Pictures. Directed by Rerkchai Paungpetch (Noodle Boxer), it stars Dan Worrawech as a guy with amnesia who falls in love with three women. The supporting cast includes "Nong" Choosak Iamsuk and "Saipan" Apinya Sakuljaroensuk, with yet another radical hairstyle.

Blu-ray and DVD releases set in US and UK for Ong-Bak 2

Tony Jaa's Ong-Bak 2: The Beginning is coming to Blu-ray and DVD in the US. The release is set for February 2. Amazon has a listing.

Extras are said to include HDNet: A Look at Ong Bak 2, behind-the-scenes, making-of, interviews with cast and crew including Tony Jaa and "never-before-seen footage" from the upcoming Ong-Bak 3.

The UK release is set for January 2 February 15. Check it at Amazon.co.uk and Play.com.

This would be a fabulous movie for Blu-ray viewing. Too bad it's not coming out before Christmas.

(Via Kung Fu Cinema and thanks to Logboy!)

Syndromes and a Century tops TIFF's decade list

Apichatpong Weerasethakul's Syndromes and a Century has been named the best film of the decade in a critics poll by the Toronto International Film Festival Cinematheque.

The movie that was censored in Thailand continues to be hailed by critics worldwide.

In fact, three of Apichatpong's films are on the list. His 2004 Cannes Jury Prize-winning drama Tropical Malady is at No. 6, and 2003's Cannes Un Certain Regard winner Blissfully Yours is at No. 13.

The rankings are based on a poll of more than 60 film experts -- curators, historians, archivists and programmers. Films that got the same number of votes are tied in the same ranking.

Apichatpong shares space with such names as Jia Zhang-ke, Wong Kar Wai, Jean Luc-Godard, David Cronenberg and Gus Van Sant on a list the Globe and Mail calls "either the best examples of film art of the decade or a cinema snob's top cocktail-party namedroppers." Here it is:

1. Syndromes and a Century (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Thailand) - 53 votes
2. Platform (Jia Zhang-ke, Hong Kong, China/China/Japan/France) - 49 votes
3. Still Life (Jia Zhang-ke, China) - 48 votes
4. Beau travail (Claire Denis, France) - 46 votes
5. In the Mood for Love (Wong Kar-wai, Hong Kong, China) - 43 votes
6. Tropical Malady (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, France/Thailand/Germany/Italy) - 38 votes
7. The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (Cristi Puiu, Romania) and Werckmeister Harmonies (Béla Tarr, Hungary) - 35 votes
8. Éloge de l'amour (Jean-Luc Godard, Switzerland/ France) - 34 votes
9. 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days (Cristian Mungiu, Romania) - 33 votes
10. Silent Light (Carlos Reygadas, Mexico/France/Netherlands) - 32 votes
11. Russian Ark (Alexander Sokurov, Russia/Germany) - 31 votes
12. The New World (Terrence Malick, USA) - 30 votes
13. Blissfully Yours (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, France/Thailand) - 29 votes
14. Le Fils (Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne, Belgium/France) - 27 votes
15. Colossal Youth (Pedro Costa, Portugal/France/Switzerland) - 25 votes
16. Les Glaneurs et la glaneuse (Agnès Varda, France), In Vanda's Room (Pedro Costa, Portugal/Germany/Italy/Switzerland) and Songs from the Second Floor (Roy Andersson, Sweden/Denmark/Norway) - 24 votes
17. Caché (Michael Haneke, France/Austria/Germany/Italy), A History of Violence (David Cronenberg, USA), Mulholland Drive (David Lynch, France/USA) and Three Times (Hou Hsiao-hsien, Taiwan) - 23 votes
18. Rois et reine (Arnaud Desplechin, France) - 21 votes
19. Elephant (Gus Van Sant, USA) - 20 votes
20. Talk to Her (Pedro Almodóvar, Spain) - 19 votes
21. The Wind Will Carry Us (Abbas Kiarostami, Iran/France) and YI YI (A One and a Two) (Edward Yang, Taiwan/Japan) - 18 votes
22. Pan's Labyrinth (Guillermo del Toro, Spain) - 17 votes
23. L'Enfant (Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne, Belgium/France), The Heart of the WorldI Don't Want to Sleep Alone (Tsai Ming-liang, Taiwan/France/Austria) and Star Spangled to Death (Ken Jacobs, USA) - 16 votes
24. The World (Jia Zhang-ke, China/Japan/France) - 14 votes
25. Café Lumière (Hou Hsiao-hsien, Japan), The Headless Woman (Lucrecia Martel, Argentina/Spain/France/Italy), L'Intrus (Claire Denis, France), Millennium Mambo (Hou Hsiao-hsien, Taiwan/France), My Winnipeg (Guy Maddin, Canada), Saraband (Ingmar Bergman, Sweden), Spirited Away (Hiyao Miyazaki, Japan) and I'm Not There (Todd Haynes, USA) - 13 votes
26. Gerry (Gus Van Sant, USA) - 12 votes
27. Distant (Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Turkey), Dogville (Lars von Trier, Denmark/Sweden/UK/France/Germany) and The Royal Tenenbaums (Wes Anderson, USA) - 11 votes
28. Alexandra (Alexander Sokurov, Russia/France) and demonlover (Olivier Assayas, France) - 9 votes
29. Atanarjuat, The Fast Runner (Zacharias Kunuk, Canada) and Goodbye, Dragon Inn (Tsai Ming-liang, Taiwan) - 8 votes
30. Longing (Valeska Grisebach, Germany), Secret Sunshine (Lee Chang-dong, South Korea), Vai e Vem (João César Monteiro, Portugal) and Far From Heaven (Todd Haynes, USA/France) - 7 votes

(Via CBC, IndieWire)