What's in theater this week!
Young Dek. A screening of 12 short films by GTH directors from My Girl, Season Change, Coming Soon, Peun Sanit, Shutter and more. The ticket sale will go to charity helping injured film workers in ocasion of Children's Day. B500. Jan 10, 7pm. At SF Cinema, CentralWorld.
Australia. (Australia/USA). Directed by Baz Luhrmann (Moulin Rouge!), the lavish but over long outback epic centers on a romance between an English aristocrat (Nicole Kidman) and an Aussie drover (Huge Jackman), set against the backdrop of the World War II’s bombing of Darwin.
Bedtime Stories. (USA). Adam Sandler plays a hotel handyman who gets a surprise when the bedtime stories he tells his niece and nephew start to come true.
Bal Ganesh. (India). An Indian 3D animation about Bal Ganesh, the elephant-headed god.
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 film, a group of young filmmakers run into real life zombies. Directed by legendary Zombie guru George A. Romero.
Fan-Waan-Eye-Joob. (Thailand). See review.
Happy Birthday. (Thailand). Ananda Everingham reunites with Me…Myself’s director Pongpat Wachirabunjong, playing a photographer whose life starts to fall apart on his birthday after his girlfriend is involved in a serious accident.
PICK> 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.
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 into the African savannah.
Make It Happen. (USA). This predictable dance flick follows a country girl who moves to Chicago to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming a dancer…and well, you can guess the rest.
Mutant Chronicles. (USA). Set in 2707, this disposable sci-fi film centers on a team of soldiers battling against an army of mutants.
PICK> The Orphanage. (Spain). 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.
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 met in Soi Cowboy. At Paragon Cineplex.
Snakes and Earrings. (Japan).The adaptation of Hitomi Kanehara’s award-winning explicit novel centers on Lui, an alienated 19-year-old girl, whose life spirals out of control as she becomes involved with two dangerous men.
Super Haab Saab Sabud. (Thailand).With his 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) delivers a low-key and poignant reflection on modern-day Japanese society. A family slowly imploding after the bread-winning father loses his job. At House and Lido.
Toi et Moi. (France). Lovelorn Ariane 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 reprises 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.
Yes Man. (USA). Jim Carrey plays Carl Allen, a man who signs up for a seemingly simple task: to say yes to everything and anything for one year.
Free Screenings
FREE> Chulalongkorn International Film Festival. International films with English subtitles are screened every Fri at 5pm, followed by a discussion led by leading film critics. Jan 23. California Dreamin’: During the 1999 Kosovo war, a NATO train containing military equipment is delayed in a small Romanian town in the middle of nowhere by the overzealous chief of its train station. Jan 30. XXY: Lucia Puenzo’s drama tells the story of a 15-year-old hermaphrodite. l Room 503, 5/F, the Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University, Phayathai Rd., 02-218-4802, 02-218-4804. www.chulafilmfest.multiply.com.
FREE> Open Air Cinema. Find a snug spot at the parking lot of the Goethe Institut as it screens contemporary German and Swiss films with English subtitles, 7:30pm. Jan 14. Holidays: When conflicts begin to flare up, a seemingly perfect family holiday starts to falls apart. Jan 21. Pool of Princesses: A coming-of-age story about three girls who are searching for love and something to hold on to. Jan 28. Yella: Yella struggles to leave behind her failed marriage and start a new life. l 18/1 Soi Goethe, Sathorn Soi 1, 02-287-0942/-4. www.goethe.de/bangkok.
FREE> Pridi Banomyong Inst. Jan 10. The Trouble with Harry: In this Hitchock classic, villagers pitch in with different ideas about what to do with a mysterious dead body that appears in the town, 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 his 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.
