What's in theater this week!
Opening
Jan 8. The Happiness of Kati. (Thailand). This heartwarming family drama is an adaptation of Ngarmpun Vejjajiva’s 2006 SEA Write Award-winning novel. It centers on a 10-year-old girl, Kati, who, with the support of her loving family, learns to cope with her mother’s illness.
Bal Ganesh. (India). An Indian 3D animation about Bal Ganesh, the elephant-headed god.
Mutant Chronicles. (USA). Set in 2707, this disposable sci-fi film centers on a team of soldiers battling against an army of mutants. Jan 8.
Quarantine. (USA). In John Eric Dowdler’s remake of Spanish thriller REC, Los Angeles citizens struggle to stay alive after the outbreak of a rabies-like virus.
Soi Cowboy. (Thailand/UK). Divided into two parts with the first segment shot in black-and-white, this stereotypical drama captures the partnership between a Viagra-popping expat and a Thai bargirl he meets in Soi Cowboy. At Paragon Cineplex.
Now Showing
Australia. (Australia/USA). See review.
Bedtime Stories. (USA). In his first Disney outing, Adam Sandler plays a hotel handyman who gets a surprise when the bedtime stories he tells his niece and nephew start to come true. Directed by Hairspray’s Adam Shankman.
The Day the Earth Stood Still. (USA). In this dreary remake of a 1951 sci-fi classic, Keanu Reeves plays Klaatu, an alien who comes to Earth to warn its people that unless they learn to live in peace, they will all be destroyed as a threat to the universe.
Deep in the Jungle. (Thailand). A “romantic horror” featuring an unlikely cross-species love affair between a former secret agent (Jesdaporn Pholdee) and a mysterious creature.
Diary of the Dead. (USA). While shooting a horror movie, a group of young filmmakers run into real life zombies. Directed by legendary Zombie guru George A. Romero.
The Duchess. (UK). In this period drama, corset-clad Keira Knightley dominates the screen as Georgiana Spencer, the Duchess of Devonshire. Adored by the public, the charming duchess has to endure a miserable marriage to a cold, boorish duke (Ralph Fiennes).
Fan-Waan-Eye-Joob. (Thailand). Literally translated as “Dream-Sweet-Shy-Kiss,” this is a collection of four romantic stories by four leading Thai directors—Chukiat Sakweerakul (Love of Siam), Prachya Pinkaew (Ong-Bak), Bandit Thongdee (Mercury Man) and Rachen Limtrakul (Lok Thang Bai Hai Nai Khon Diew).
PICK> Happy Birthday. (Thailand). Ananda Everingham reunites with Me…Myself’s director Pongpat Wachirabunjong in this heartwarming tearjerker. The “it” actor plays a photographer whose life starts to fall apart on his birthday after his girlfriend is involved in a serious accident.
PICK> Happy-Go-Lucky. (UK). In Mike Leigh’s (Vera Drake, Secrets & Lies) feel-good film, Sally Hawkins delivers a sunny performance as Poppy, a perpetually cheerful schoolteacher who goes through life with boundless optimism. At House.
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa. (USA). In this sequel to the 2005 animated hit, Alex the lion, Marty the zebra, Melman the giraffe and Gloria the hippo make a crash landing in the African savannah.
Make It Happen. (USA). HTicking every cliched box of the dance-film formula, this predictable flick follows a young country girl who moves to Chicago to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming a dancer… and well, you can guess the rest. Dec 31.
PICK> Ong-Bak 2. (Thailand). Tony Jaa is back and in fine form with yet another action-packed martial arts flick. The plot? What, you really need one? Just sit back and enjoy this ass kicking spectacle.
PICK> The Orphanage. (Spain). Produced by Guillermo Del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth), this Goya Award-winning horror centers on Laura, who wants to restore an abandoned orphanage where she once lived as a child, into a refuge for disabled kids. But things don’t go quite as planned when Laura’s unsettling past starts to catch up with her. At Apex.
Pride and Glory. (USA). In this generic good-cop, bad-cop drama, Edward Norton plays Ray, a detective assigned to investigate the deaths of four police officers, only to discover his brother-in-law (Colin Farrell) may have been an accomplice.
Super Haab Saab Sabud. (Thailand). K-pop look, stage presence and amazing vocals: Tong Lee Hay (Film Rattapoom) seems to have all the qualities of a superstar. But it turns out that the real voice behind the lip-syncing pop sensation is actually a not-so-handsome secret singer (Sena Hoy).
PICK> Tokyo Sonata. (Japan). Japanese chiller director Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Kairo) strays from the J-horror genre and ventures into family drama. A low-key and poignant reflection on modern-day Japanese society, the film follows a family slowly imploding after the bread-winning father loses his job. At House and Lido.
Toi et Moi. (France). Lovelorn Ariane (Female Agents’ Julie Depardieu) is writing a romantic novella, but her real love life proves to have a far from happy ending. At House.
Transporter 3. (USA). Jason Statham is back once again to reprise his role as Frank Martin, a no-nonsense black market courier. This time around, the package he is paid to deliver is the kidnapped daughter of a high-ranking Ukrainian officer.
Twilight. (USA). In the adaptation of Stephanie Meyer’s best-selling novel, the heartthrob bloodsucker (Robert Pattinson) has to protect his mortal darling from his vampire kin.
Free Screenings
FREE> Open Air Cinema. Find a snug spot at the parking lot of the Goethe Institut and enjoy complimentary snacks and drinks as it screens contemporary German and Swiss films with English subtitles, 7:30pm. Jan 7. Grave Decisions: Eleven-year-old Sebastian learns that his mother died while giving birth to him. Jan 14. Holidays: When conflicts begin to flare up, a seemingly perfect family holiday starts to falls apart. l 18/1 Soi Goethe, Sathorn Soi 1, 02-287-0942/-4. www.goethe.de/bangkok.
FREE> Pridi Banomyong Inst. Jan 3. Man of la Mancha: Peter O’Toole and Sophia Loren star in this musical that weaves together the life of Miguel de Cervantes and his fictional hero Don Quixote, noon; The Birds: Alfred Hitchcock’s classic about a small Northern Californian town overrun by vicious birds, 2:10pm: Carolina Moon: A young woman returns to her hometown determined to face up to her unsettling past, 4:20pm. Jan 4. Rear Window: Alfred Hitchcock’s Oscar-winning thriller follows a wheelchair-bound photographer as he studies the mysterious behavior of his neighbors through his apartment’s rear window, noon; Montana Sky: According to their father’s will, three sisters must live together on his ranch for a year in order to get their share of his inheritance, 2:10pm; The Diving Bell and the Butterfly: Based on a true story, Mathier Amalric plays Jean-Dominique Bauby, a paralyzed editor who writes a book by blinking, 4pm. Jan 10. The Trouble with Harry: More Hitchcock, when a mysterious dead body appears in the town, villagers pitch in with different ideas about what to do with the corpse, noon; Blue Smoke: A female detective has to face her stalker, 2:10pm; The Bourne Identity: Matt Damon struggles to uncover his true identity, 4pm. Jan 11. Raging Bull: In Martin Scorsese’s classic biopic, Robert De Niro plays Jake LaMotta, a talented but flawed boxing champion, noon; Angels Fall: A chef who survives a massacre, attempts to escape a tragic past by moving to a small town, 2:10pm; The Sun Also Rises: Jiang Wen’s beautifully shot drama tells four interconnected stories, 4pm. l 65/3 Soi Thonglor, 02-381-3860/1, www.pridiinstitute.com.
