Wise Kwai's Bangkok Cinema Scene

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For

Back in 2005, director Robert Rodriguez had the cool idea of taking Dark Knight writer-artist Frank Miller's neo-noir Sin City graphic novel and recreating the gritty frames and hard-boiled dialogue in a movie. Famously, the thrifty filmmaker made it on the cheap in front of green screens, with cars and other objects represented by cardboard boxes. Special effects and scenery were added later, but the film also boasted a stellar cast that included Bruce Willis and Mickey Rourke. It made Frank Miller a movie franchise, with another of his graphic novels, 300, also given the panel-by-panel treatment and becoming a huge hit with a sequel, and Miller himself directing The Spirit.

Now Rodriguez and Miller reteam for Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, which offers four more gritty tales ripped from a glowing black-and-white film-noir fantasy world. Even lousy bums who were killed off in the first film are back, with Roarke as soft-hearted brute Marv and Bruce Willis as the doomed honest cop John Hartigan.

Rosario Dawson is back as the domineering leader of the city's dames, with Jessica Alba as the dancer Nancy and Powers Boothe as a corrupt senator. Newcomers include Eva Green, Ray Liotta and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Josh Brolin takes over the role of femme-fatale chew-toy Dwight, who was previously played by Clive Owen, and Dennis Haysbert steps into a role played in the first film by Michael Clark Duncan.

Critical reception is mixed. Rated 18+

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

When Michael Bay announced plans to take over the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise, he said he would be making drastic changes to the characters' origins, and that the film would likely just be called Ninja Turtles. Fans were furious, and after much hate was spewed, Bay relented. Now the film is here, with the full TMNT name and the origin story intact.

The "Heroes in a Half Shell" are Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael and Donatello, pizza-chomping warriors who arose from the ooze of New York's sewers and learned martial arts from a rat sensei named Splinter. Their arch-enemies are the Foot Clan led by the fearsome Shredder.

The movie adds Megan Fox as a plucky reporter who's trailing the turtles. Will Arnett, William Fichtner and Whoopi Goldberg are among the other stars, with Johnny Knoxville lending his voice to lead turtle Leonardo and Tony Shalhoub as the voice of Splinter.

The director is Jonathan Liebsman, the South African helmer of Wrath of the Titans and Battle: Los Angeles.

Critics say the movie stinks but it doesn't matter – it's been the No. 1 movie in the U.S. for the past couple of weeks, and two more sequels are already in the works, with the next film due out in 2016. This opened for a sneak-preview run last week and now moves to a wide release. It's in 3D (converted) in some cinemas. Rated 13+

Also opening

Kristy– A college student makes the fateful decision to remain on campus alone during a holiday break and finds herself pursued by masked killers. This movie is also known as Random, but for reasons I can't figure out, it's called Kristy here. Scott Derrickson, the director of Sinister and the upcoming Deliver Us From Evil is executive producer and Oliver Blackburn directs. Rated 15+

James Cameron's Deepsea Challenge 3D– The ocean-obsessed Titanic director puts himself in the picture as he plunges more than 10 kilometers to the bottom of the Mariana Trench in this documentary about his record-setting dive for National Geographic. Critical reception is mixed. It's in real 3D in some cinemas. Rated G.

Third Person – Writer-director Paul Haggis forces together three stories of troubled relationships in this thriller. In Paris, Liam Neeson is a writer who has left his wife (Kim Basinger) to be with his mistress (Olivia Wilde) who cannot commit to him because of a terrible secret. In New York, a young mother (Mila Kunis) is in a custody battle with her husband (James Franco) after she is accused of attempting to murder her son. And in Rome, an American businessman (Adrian Brody) falls for a Romanian lady (Moran Atias) and is drawn into a kidnap plot involving the woman's daughter and a Russian gangster. The shine has worn off Haggis since his upset Oscar win for the heavy-handed and preachy Crash, and critical reception is generally negative. Rated 15+.

Mardaani– Rani Mukerji stars in this rare female-led action thriller from Bollywood. She's a senior police inspector in Mumbai, investigating the disappearance of a teenage girl. The clues point to a mafia kingpin's human-trafficking ring. Tahir Raj Bhasin and Sanjay Taneja also star. It's in Hindi with English and Thai subtitles at Major Cineplex Sukhumvit, Rama III and Pattaya. Opens Friday.

Also showing

Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand– The FCCT's Contemporary World Film Series explores cross-cultural struggles with The Namesake, a 2006 drama by Oscar-nominated director Mira Nair. Irrfan Khan and Tabu star as a Bengali couple who immigrate from Kolkata to New York and have children. Through a series of mishaps, their son is named Gogol, after the father's favorite Russian author. He (Kal Penn of Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle) grows up lazy and resentful, but through various struggles, travels and romantic entanglements, he learns to embrace his Indian heritage. Critical reception is generally positive. The show, courtesy of Mirabai Films and the Embassy of India, is at 7 tonight at the FCCT. Indian Ambassador Harsh Vardhan Shringla will be on hand with Indian wines and treats from Mrs Balbir's. Admission for non-members is 150 baht plus 100 baht for the wine and food.

The Friese-Greene Club– Released from prison after serving time for a crime she didn't commit, a woman seeks revenge in Park Chan-wook's Sympathy for Lady Vengeance, tonight's Asian horror entry. Tomorrow, it's another Alan Parker film, with the 1980 classic Fame. Saturday is the very trippy The 5,000 Fingers of Doctor T, a fantasy about schoolboys imprisoned at a music school for forced to play a giant piano. It's written by none other than Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss. By coincidence, this Sunday's film-noir offering will serve as a tribute to Lauren Bacall, the smoky-voiced leading lady who died on August 12 at age 89. It's The Big Sleep, one of the best with Bogart and Bacall. Shows are at 8pm. The FGC is down an alley next to the Queen's Park Imperial Hotel on Sukhumvit Soi 22. There's just nine seats, so book them. Also, check the Facebook page for updates and program changes.

The Lives of Others– The great American rock band The Doors are featured in this Sunday's Filmvirus double bill of biopics at Thammasat University Tha Prachan. First up is The Doors, Oliver Stone's fast-and-loose recounting of the band's formation in the 1960s, with Val Kilmer as mercurial frontman Jim Morrison. Kyle MacLachlan portrays organist Ray Manzarek, Frank Whaley is guitarist Robby Krieger and Kevin Dillon is drummer John Densmore. Stone's movie has been criticized by Manzarek and the others as being wildly inaccurate. But they all like the documentary When You're Strange, which was made for the American Masters series on American public television. It features the music of The Doors and archival footage, as well as excerpts of HWY: An American Pastoral, an experimental film made by Morrison. Johnny Depp narrates. The show starts at 12.30 on Sunday in the Pridi Banomyong Library at Thammasat University Tha Prachan, in the Rewat Buddhinan Room, floor U2, the basement. Dress appropriately and inform the desk worker you are there to see a movie. For details, call (02) 613-3529 or (02) 613-3530.

Alliance Française – Selections from last year's My French Film Festival in Bangkok are featured this month, which closes out with the 2011 thriller De Bon Matin, in which a banker arrives at work, promptly shoots two of his colleagues and then sits down to await the arrival of the police. It's in French with English subtitles at 7pm on Wednesday, August 27.

Take note

Details are still coming together for the 18th Thai Short Film and Video Festival, which runs from next Thursday to September 7 at the Bangkok Art and Culture Center.

This week the Coconuts website issued a report that was meant to clarify rumors about the future of the Lido and Scala cinemas.

The report was in response to online rumors that the contracts for the two endangered theaters had been extended three years. Property owner Chulalongkorn University answered that the rumors were untrue, and that in the case of the Lido, the contract has already expired. However, talks are taking place to get a new contract in place, and it seems likely that the wrecking ball might not swing at the Lido or Scala until 2016.

Or maybe not. Enjoy these places while you can. There are other rumors floating about Siam Square's redevelopment plans, but I'll leave those for another day.

Meanwhile, the Southeast Asia Movie Theater Project has a look at the Scala on the closing night of the Silent Film Festival.

The schedule is out for the 18th Thai Short Film and Video Festival, which has many highlights, among them the screening of Filipino auteur Lav Diaz' four-hour opus Norte, the End of History.

Think of it as the experimental "video" portion of the Thai Short Film and Video Festival, which has long given space to medium- and feature-length works in its Digital Forum section.

A nominee for the Golden Palm at last year's Cannes Film Festival and winner of the best director award at the Cinemanila festival, Norte centers on three characters – a struggling family man who is framed for murder and sent to prison, the man's wife, left behind alone to pick up the pieces, and the real killer, whose disillusionment with society is pushing him to the edge of sanity. Norte producer Moira Lang will be among the festival guests. Norte screens from 6 to 10.30pm on Monday, August 1 at the Lido, while the rest of the festival takes place in its usual venue, the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre.

Shorter offerings are among the highlights of a new French Connection program.

"Too many good French films were submitted this year, so we decided to select some of them for a special programme," says Sanchai Chotirosseranee, a festival programmer and deputy director of the Thai Film Archive, which organizes the fest.

Among the offerings will be the festival's opener on Thursday, Cambodia 2099, by young French-Cambodian director Davy Chou, who previously surveyed Cambodia's lost cinematic golden age in Golden Slumbers. He'll also be a festival guest and will judge the international short-film competition. Selected for the Directors' Fortnight at Cannes this year, the 20-minute film has three friends gathering on Phnom Penh's Koh Pich, aka Diamond Island, talking about their dreams and what Cambodia will be like at the end of this century.

Still more French connections come from the Clermont Ferrand International Short Film Festival, the world's largest short-film showcase. As the Thai Short Film and Video Festival has done for the past several years, there will be special package of the Best of Clermont Ferrand. This year's line-up will have five films, among them La Lampe au beurre de yak, which won the grand prix. Directed by China's Wei Hu, it has a young itinerant photographer and his assistant trying to photograph Tibetan nomads in front of various backdrops.

Six of Southeast Asia's top filmmakers join for one film, Letters from the South, each taking a segment to look at the Chinese diaspora in the region. The directors are Thailand's Aditya Assarat, Singapore's Royston Tan and Sun Koh, Myanmar's Midi Zhao and Malaysia's Tan Chui Mui and Tsai Ming-liang.

And more views from across the region can be seen in the S-Express program curated by film experts from Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines.

And, in celebration of the Film Archive's 30th anniversary, there will be a special programme from the Archive's collection as well as the annual Queer shorts collection of Thai and foreign films.

As always, the centerpiece of the Thai Short Film and Video Festival is the competition among Thai indie filmmakers for the top-prize RD Pestonji Award, named in honor of the country's pioneering auteur, along with documentaries, animated shorts and student films vying for other awards.

Again, the schedule can be found at this link, and more details and images from the fest can be seen at the festival's Facebook page.

Tukkae Rak Pang Mak (Chiang Khan Story)

Bits and pieces of veteran director Yuthlert Sippapak's own life are mixed into Tukkae Rak Pang Mak (ตุ๊กแกรักแป้งมาก, Chiang Khan Story).

A romantic comedy, representing yet another genre shift for the prolific director who's tackled action, comedy, horror and melodrama – often all in the same film – the story is set 25 years ago in Loei's historic Mekong River port city. Jirayu La-ongmanee is a kid with the rather odd name of Tukkae – named after the chirping house lizard. As a kid, his best friend was the district chief's daughter Pang. She (Chonthida “Pleng” Asavahame) moves away and returns much changed, and does not remember Tukkae at all. He's always had a thing for her, but doesn't tell her who he is.

Interestingly, much of the story takes place in a small-town movie theater, the likes of which have mostly disappeared from the landscape. In addition to views from the projection booth, there are also depictions of the old hand-painted movie billboards that used to be common in Thailand but have been mostly replaced by photos printed on giant plastic sheets.

Chiang Khan Story marks a comeback of sorts for Yuthlert. The Loei native who drifted off to New York and came back to Thailand in the early Aughts to make movies like the action-comedy Tattoo Killer, the New York-set melodrama February, Pattaya Maniac and Buppha Rahtree, which he made a franchise. Since then, he's done more than a dozen films over around half as many years, but lately he's taken a break after his potentially controversial Deep South drama Fatherland (ปิตุภูมิ พรมแดนแห่งรัก, Pitupoom) was yanked from release by the film's producer.

His new film is the first release from a new studio Transformation Films, a joint venture of M Pictures, Bangkok Film Studio (formerly Film Bangkok), True I-Content and Matching Studio. Rated 15+

Also opening

Lucy– Scarlett Johansson is a drug mule who becomes a one-woman army after the drug she's transporting leaks into her blood stream, giving her superhuman talent and the ability to use more than just 10 percent of her brain. The latest by writer-director Luc Besson, it looks to be a return to the female-led action films he used to do, such as Nikita, The Fifth Element, Joan of Arc and Leon: The Professional. Morgan Freeman and Choi Min-sik. Critical reception is mixed leaning to positive, with lots of praise for another solid performance by Johansson, who's been on a roll with Under the Skin, Her, Captain America: The Winter Soldier and now Lucy. Though strictly in 2D, it's also in IMAX cinemas. Rated 15+

What If (a.k.a. The F Word) – Harry Potter's Daniel Radcliffe is a medical school drop-out who's been burned by a string of bad relationships. But he forms an instant bond with Chantry (Zoe Kazan), a young woman who lives with her longtime boyfriend (Rafe Spall). Adam Driver, Mackenzie Davis, Megan Park and Oona Chaplin also star in this British-American indie romantic comedy. Michael Dowse (Goon, Take Me Home Tonight) directs. Critical reception is generally positive. Rated 15+

Standing Up – A pair of geeky bespectacled kids are bullied at summer camp and left stranded on an island. Together, the boy and girl decide to run away together. Annalise Basso, Chandler Canterbury, Radha Mitchell and Val Kilmer star. D.J. Caruso (I Am Number Four, Eagle Eye) directs. Critical reception is mixed. It's at Apex cinemas in Siam Square and House on RCA.

Ju-on: The Beginning of the End– Japan's Grudge series of ghost thrillers continues with a seventh entry. Here, a schoolteacher visits the home of a boy who's been absent from school. Unaware of the spirits that live there, she finds herself reliving the tragic events of years before. Sho Aoyagi, Yoshihiko Hakamada and Nozomi Sasaki star. Masayuki Ochiai, who helmed the Hollywood remake of Shutter, directs. Critical reception is mixed. Thai-dubbed only. Rated 15+

Kiki’s Delivery Service – A young witch comes of age while starting her own business making deliveries with her flying broomstick, with assistance from her talking cat. It's a live-action adaptation of a novel by Eiko Kadono, a story best known for the 1989 Studio Ghibli animated feature. Fūka Koshiba stars as Kiki along with Ryōhei Hirota, Machiko Ono and Tadanobu Asano. Takashi Shimizu, best known for his Ju-on ghost thrillers, directs. Critical reception is mixed. It's in Japanese with English and Thai subtitles at Apex cinemas in Siam Square.

Raja Natwarlal – After his partner-in-crime is killed, a small-time conman seeks help from a mentor in plotting revenge. In Hindi with English and Thai subtitles at Major Cineplex Sukhumvit, Central Rama III and Pattaya. Opens Friday.

Also showing

18th Thai Short Film and Video Festival – Opening tonight at the Bangkok Art and Culture Center, highlights include Cambodia 2099, a short film by French-Cambodian director Davy Chou that is part of a new program of French shorts called "French Connection". There's also Stone Cloud, a new work by noted Thai video artist Jakrawal Nilthamrong that is part of a special program later in the week. And, from the Queer shorts line-up, there's the hilarious MeTube: August Sings Carmen 'Habanera'. Also tonight, Archive EX 1, which is a selection of historic Thai experimental films in honor of the Thai Film Archive's 30th anniversary. Friday's highlights include The Best of Clermont-Ferrand, which is a showcase from the world's largest short-film festival, and a competition program of Thai filmmakers vying for the top-prize R.D. Pestonji Award. Saturday and Sunday are full days starting at 11am, with many things to see, including the International Competition and the S-Express package from the Philippines. On Monday, the festival shifts over to the Lido for a one-off screening of Filipino auteur Lav Diaz' four-hour social drama Norte, the End of History. The show starts at 6 – don't miss it. The fest returns to the BACC on Tuesday the the S-Express Singapore show, and on Wednesday, catch Letters from the South, featuring observations on the Chinese diaspora from Southeast Asian directors. For more details, please see the schedule on the festival's Facebook page.

The Friese-Greene Club– A family is haunted by tragedies in A Tale of Two Sisters, the finale entry in this month's Asian horror series on Thursday nights. Tomorrow, it's just another brick in the wall of Alan Parker's films with Pink Floyd's The Wall. Saturday, it's the extremely weird Tokyo Gore Police, and on Sunday, Tyrone Power is on the fringes of society in Nightmare Alley. Next Wednesday is the beginning of a monthlong tribute to Robin Williams, showcasing his best performances, opening with the unsettling thriller One Hour Photo. Other special focuses next month are "The Genius of Ang Lee" on Thursdays, "funny things that happen in England" on Fridays, "so bad they're good" movies on Saturdays and a tribute to Lauren Bacall on Sundays. Shows are at 8pm. The FGC is down an alley next to the Queen's Park Imperial Hotel on Sukhumvit Soi 22. There's just nine seats, so book them. Also, check the Facebook page for updates and program changes.

The Lives of Others – Flamboyant British director Ken Russell offers his sumptuously surreal view of German composer Gustav Mahler's life in 1974's Mahler. Winner of the Technical Grand Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, it screens at 12.30pm on Sunday at Thammasat University Tha Prachan as part of the Filmvirus double bill of biographical films. That's followed by parts one and two of The Bill Douglas Trilogy, My Childhood and My Ain Folk. These are 1970s autobiographical films about the Scottish filmmaker's early childhood – part three, My Way Home, will screen the following Sunday. The venue is the Pridi Banomyong Library at Thammasat University Tha Prachan, in the Rewat Buddhinan Room, floor U2, the basement. Dress appropriately and inform the desk worker you are there to see a movie. For details, call (02) 613-3529 or (02) 613-3530.

Alliance Française – "Novels on the big screen" is September's theme for the free French films, starting with Michael Kohlhaas, starring Mads Mikkelsen as a 16th-century horse trader who runs into conflict with a greedy nobleman and becomes a lawless swashbuckler. Based on an 1810 German novel by Heinrich Von Kleist, it's in French with English subtitles at 7pm on Wednesday, September 3.

Sneak preview

Boyhood – One of the most hotly anticipated films of the year, Boyhood is a triumph for director Richard Linklater, who filmed the coming-of-age drama over 12 years, capturing various stages of life for a kid named Mason (Ellar Coltrane), from ages 5 to 18. Patricia Arquette is his divorcée mother and Ethan Hawke is the dad. It premiered at this year's Sundance fest and also won the Silver Bear for Best Director at the Berlin International Film Festival. Critical reception is crazily positive. It's in nightly sneak previews at Apex Siam Square, House on RCA, Paragon and CentralWorld before a wider release next week. Rated 13+

Deliver Us from Evil– A New York police officer joins forces with an unconventional priest (Edgar Ramirez) to investigate a strange series of paranormal crimes. It's supposedly a true story. Olivia Munn also stars. Scott Derrickson (Sinister, The Exorcism of Emily Rose) directs. It's in sneak previews from around 8 nightly at most multiplexes before opening wide next week. Rated 18+.

Boyhood

One of the most hotly anticipated and highly acclaimed films of the year, Boyhood is a triumph for director Richard Linklater, who made the coming-of-age drama over 12 years, bringing his cast together for a few weeks at a time to capture various stages of life for a Texas kid named Mason (Ellar Coltrane), from ages 6 to 18.

Patricia Arquette is his divorcée mother and Ethan Hawke is the dad. The director's daughter Lorelei Linklater portrays the older sister.

The director has joked that a sequel could follow Mason through college and then to Europe, where he gets on a train and meets a girl. But then he's already made that movie. It's called Before Sunrise.

Boyhood premiered at this year's Sundance fest and also won the Silver Bear for Best Director at the Berlin International Film Festival. Critical reception is universally positive. It opened in sneak previews last week and now moves to more frequent screenings at Apex Siam Square, House on RCA, Paragon and CentralWorld. Rated 13+

Also opening

The November Man– Former Bond Pierce Brosnan suits back up as a spy, producing this thriller in which he's an ex-CIA agent who gets entangled in a political conspiracy. Tasked with protecting a woman (ex-Bond woman Olga Kurylenko from Quantum of Solace) whose secrets threaten the future of old alliances, he's pitted against his former protege (Luke Bracey). It's based on a novel by Bill Granger, a former Chicago newspaperman. Roger Donaldson, who steered Brosnan through the volcano thriller Dante's Peak, directs. Critical reception is mixed. Rated 18+

Wer– The werewolf myth is tackled "found footage" style in this story of a defense lawyer (AJ Cook) who learns her new client (Brian Scott O'Connor) is a werewolf. He escapes from jail and goes on the loose in Paris. William Brent Bell (The Devil Inside) directs and Steven Schneider (Paranormal Activity, Insidious) executive produces. Critical reception is mixed. Rated 15+

Fah Gam Toh (ฟ้าแก้มโต) – Comedian Ping Lumpraplerng takes a serious turn in this drama by indie director Parm Rangsri (Pawn Shop, Daddy's Menu). Ping is a veteran singer who has fallen on hard times. He struggles to recapture his stardom, with support from the only person who believes in him, his young daughter. This is among the crop of Thai films making premieres at the upcoming Busan International Film Festival. Rated 15+

Mary Kom– The life story of India's female boxing champion and Olympic bronze medalist is recounted, chronicling her struggles in the male-dominated sport. She's portrayed by former Miss World Priyanka Chopra, a controversial choice given that she is Punjabi. "I don't look like Mary. I don't have the features like her, but I have given blood and soul for this film to make sure I represent Mary's spirit and her personality to the best of my ability," she has said. It's in Hindi with English and Thai subtitles at Paragon, Major Cinplex Sukhumvit, Rama III and Pattaya. Opens Friday.

Also showing

Life on Mars screens tonight and on Saturday at the Thai Short Film and Video Festival.

18th Thai Short Film and Video Festival – The fest continues at 5 today at the Bangkok Art and Culture Center with S-Express Malaysia, a collection of brand-new Malaysian shorts curated by writer-director Amir Muhammad. That's followed at 6.30 by the Queer Programme, which includes the Thai short Life on Mars plus others from Austria, Senegal and Belgium. On Friday, it's S-Express Indonesia, medium-length Thai works in the Digital Forum and International Competition 3. Saturday starts at 11am, with White Elephant student films in competition, Duke Award documentaries and a special program, Archive Ex 2, featuring groundbreaking experimental Thai films, including a 55-minute look at a day in Bangkok's Chinatown, made in 1982. The S-Express programs from Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia are repeated, as is the Queer Programme. The fest wraps on Sunday with a block of animated shorts in competition – no dialogue, so no subtitle worries. Another highlight is the encore screening of Letters from the South, a look at Chinese people in Southeast Asia by the region's top indie directors. For more details, please see the schedule on the festival's Facebook page.

The Friese-Greene Club– Tonight, a young woman is drawn into the spy game in Hong Kong and Shanghai during World War II in Ang Lee's erotic thriller Lust Caution, part of a monthlong look at "the diversity of Ang Lee". Fridays, about "funny things [that] happen in England", start with the booze-soaked comedy Withnail and I. Saturday kicks off a series of "so bad they're good" films with Paul Verhoeven's Showgirls. Sundays are devoted to the late Lauren Bacall with 1947's Dark Passage, co-starring Humphrey Bogart. And Wednesdays are in memory of the dramatic performances of Robin Williams, with Christopher Nolan's Alaskan murder yarn Insomnia. Shows are at 8pm. The FGC is down an alley next to the Queen's Park Imperial Hotel on Sukhumvit Soi 22. There's just nine seats, so book them. Also, check the Facebook page for updates and program changes.

The Lives of Others – The Filmvirus series of biographical double bills continues on Sunday with My Way Home, part three of The Bill Douglas Trilogy, recounting the early life of the Scottish filmmaker. That's followed by The Best Intentions. Bille August directs the partly autobiographical screenplay by Ingmar Bergman, who looks at the complex courtship of his parents. It's a condensed version of a four-hour mini-series made for Swedish television. The show starts at 12.30 on Sunday in the Pridi Banomyong Library at Thammasat University Tha Prachan, in the Rewat Buddhinan Room, floor U2, the basement. Dress appropriately and inform the desk worker you are there to see a movie. For details, call (02) 613-3529 or (02) 613-3530.

Take note

There is no free French film next Wednesday at the Alliance Française, due to another event being held. Screenings will resume there on September 17.

Along with the Thai Short Film and Video Festival at the Bangkok Art and Culture Center, there several other exhibitions that are worth a look while you are there. On the eighth floor is Thai Charisma, which juxtaposes ancient Thai artifacts and Buddhist imagery with contemporary works. It includes some work by the late National Artist Thawan Duchanee, who died on Wednesday at age 74. And the seventh floor is filled with Thai and European video installations.

Meanwhile, the third- fourth- and fifth-floor walkways are cluttered with giant, awkwardly placed lightboxes paying tribute to Thai architects. It's simply hard to make your way through. You would think an exhibition about men who design buildings would be more thoughtfully planned.

Mother

Director Vorakorn Ruetaivanichkul blends documentary and drama in this unflinchingly personal look at his family in Mother.

The story is set during the 1997 economic crisis, with a young man's mother attempting suicide. Left severely disabled, the mentally troubled woman is left in care of her family, a job that takes its toll on all involved.

Since premiering at the Vancouver International Film Festival in 2012, Mother has made its way around the festival circuit, screeing in London and Jakarta's Chopshots, and in competition in Torino. It screened at last year's World Film Festival of Bangkok, where I reviewed it.

It's now in limited release at House on RCA.

Also opening

Sex Tape – Jason Segel and Cameron Diaz star in this raunchy comedy about a couple who film their epic lovemaking session in hopes of spicing up their 10-year-old marriage. Trouble arises when the recording automatically uploads itself to "the cloud" and is shared with all the couple's family and friends. Jake Kasdan (Bad Teacher, Walk Hard) directs. Rob Corddry, Ellie Kemper, Rob Lowe and Nat Faxon also star. Critics aren't turned on. Rated 18+

+1 (Plus One) – A mysterious phenomenon disrupts a big college party and makes twins of all in attendance. Rhys Wakefield, Logan Miller, Ashley Hinshaw and Natalie Hall star. Dennis Iliadis (The Last House on the Left) directs this indie horror for IFC Films. Critical reception, though somewhat thin, is mixed leaning to favorable. Rated 18+

Kite– A cult-hit 1998 direct-to-video Japanese animated feature gets the live-action remake treament from Hollywood in this story of an orphan girl trained as an assassin. She's assigned to infiltrate and dismantle a prostitution ring. India Eisley stars, along with Samuel L. Jackson and Callan McAuliffe. It's adapted from a 1998 anime by Yasuomi Umetsu (Akira, Grave of the Fireflies). Ralph Ziman (Gangster's Paradise: Jerusalema) directs. Critical reception is mostly negative. Rated 18+

Namman Phrai (น้ำมันพราย, Spell) – Veteran director Dulyasit Niyomkul returns with this supernatural horror about a young woman (Vanida "Gybzy" Termtanaporn), who becomes possessed by the spirit of a pregnant women after her childhood friend Lek (Pramote Tianchaikerdsilp) uses a love potion made from burning a dead pregnant woman's chin. It's in 3D in some cinemas. Rated 18+

Sming – The hunter's killing of a tiger cub is the beginning of a quest for vengeance by the cub's mother, a supernaturally endowed tiger, and the hunter, who seeks revenge for his wife's death. Narin Visitsak directs. Rated 15+

Kru Lae Nakrian (ครูและนักเรียน, Teacher and Student) – After five years together, Ton and his boyfriend Al are on the verge of splitting up. Al tries to get the romance back on track but Ton has fallen in love his student Joe. Sarawut Intaraprom directs. At Esplanade Cineplex Ratchada and Major Cineplex Ratchayothin. No English subtitles. Rated 18+

The White Haired Witch of Lunar Kingdom– Fan Bingbing stars in this sweeping saga of star-crossed romance and palace intrigue from the martial-arts-fantasy novel of Liang Yusheng. She is an outlaw who falls for a righteous Taoist leader (Huang Xiaoming). Jacob Cheung directs. At SF cinemas, with original soundtrack and Thai and probably English subtitles at CentralWorld, Terminal 21 and Emporium. Rated 13+

Finding Fanny– An elderly postman in Goa finds a letter he wrote 46 years ago, asking for a woman's hand in marriage, but was never delivered. So he sets off on a road trip to find his lost love, and is joined along the way by four colourful characters from the village. Naseeruddin Shah, Deepika Padukone, Arjun Kapoor and Dimple Kapadia star. English with Thai subtitles at Paragon and Esplanade Ratchada and in English-Hindi with Thai subtitles at Major Cineplex Sukhumvit, Rama III and Pattaya. Opens Friday.

Also showing

The Friese-Greene Club– Taboo romance develops tonight between a pair of guys working on a Wyoming sheep ranch in Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain. Tomorrow, Alec Guinness is a fussy bank clerk who decides he wants more of life in the classic Ealing comedy The Lavender Hill Mob. Saturday's "so bad it's good" entry is the cult favorite bomb The Room. Sunday is Key Largo, the fourth and final film pairing of Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart. Next Wednesday, it's Robin Williams in his Oscar-winning performance in Good Will Hunting. Shows are at 8pm. The FGC is down an alley next to the Queen's Park Imperial Hotel on Sukhumvit Soi 22. There's just nine seats, so book them. Also, check the Facebook page for updates and program changes.

The Lives of Others– The Filmvirus series of biographical double-bills continues on Sunday with a pair of autobiographies starring filmmmakers. First up is Savage Nights (Les nuits fauves), French actor-director Cyril Collard's adaptation of his autobiography. It's the story of a bisexual director who continues his promiscuous ways even after he discovers he has Aids. The film won the Cesar prize as France's best film of 1994, just four days after Collard died. That's followed by Caro Diario, featuring three chapters of an open diary by Italian director Nanni Moretti. The show starts at 12.30 on Sunday in the Pridi Banomyong Library at Thammasat University Tha Prachan, in the Rewat Buddhinan Room, floor U2, the basement. Dress appropriately and inform the desk worker you are there to see a movie. For details, call (02) 613-3529 or (02) 613-3530.

Alliance Française – "Novels on the big screen" is September's theme for the free French films. Next week it's Foxfire, based on the Joyce Carol Oates novel of teen rebels in a 1950s small town. It's in French with English subtitles at 7pm on Wednesday, September 17.

Pawang Rak (Concrete Clouds)

Finally, Concrete Clouds (ภวังค์รัก, Pawang Rak, literally "subconscious love"), the directorial-debut feature of award-winning film editor Lee Chatametikool, is making its theatrical bow in Thailand. Following a tour of the festival circuit for the past year or so, the 1990s-set drama opens this week in select cinemas.

Here's the synopsis:

In 1997, Mutt (Ananda Everingham), who works as a currency trader in New York, must suddenly return home to Bangkok when his father commits suicide. After the funeral, he decides to track down Sai (Janesuda Parnto), his old girlfriend from high school. Meanwhile his younger brother Nic (Prawith Hansten) is in love with Poupee (Apinya Sakuljaroensuk), who lives in a low-income flat behind their townhouse. While the economic crisis looms over the city, both relationships face uncertainty. As they drift between the past and the present, between dreams and reality, their only escape is in a collage of love songs, music videos and recorded memories. But can these alone hold their relationships together in the face of harsh realities?

It's a stuttering, shattered reflection on the 1997 financial crisis by Lee, who returned to Bangkok that year after being schooled overseas. Over the years since, he's gone on to be a major figure in the Thai film industry, helping to shape such films as Apichatpong Weerasethakul's Cannes prize-winner Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives and Anocha Suwichakornpong's Mundane History, as well as various mainstream Thai films.

Apichatpong and Anocha are now repaying him, serving as producers on his feature directorial debut, which has been in the works for the past four years or so. Other producers are veteran Thai independent film hand Soros Sukhum and Taiwanese actress-director Sylvia Chang. It's been supported along the way by various film funds and project markets, including Visions Sud East from Switzerland, the Busan film fest's Asian Cinema Fund and the Hubert Bals Fund of the International Film Festival Rotterdam. Festival appearances have included Rotterdam, Busan and Hong Kong.

To get yourself in the mood, check out the official trailer or, even better, get your pulse racing with the teaser, featuring a song by the 1990s band Pause.

Concrete Clouds is at SF cinemas and House on RCA. Rated 18+

Also opening

The Maze Runner– Yet another young-adult novel series comes to the big screen in this post-apocalyptic adventure yarn about teens trapped in a massive maze, with huge fortress-like walls that move. It's inhabited by vicious creatures called Grievers. Runners go in and never come back. Seemingly, there is no way out. James Dashner wrote the the trilogy, and the young cast includes Dylan O'Brien, Kaya Scodelario, Thomas Brodie-Sangster and Will Poulter. Wes Ball, making his debut, directs. This is just coming out in the U.S. this week, so keep your eye on the reviews. Rated G

Are You Here – Matthew Weiner, creator of the acclaimed TV drama Mad Men, teams up with leading comedy lights Owen Wilson, Zach Galifianakis and Amy Poehler for this road comedy about longtime friends taking a trip back to their rural hometown after one of them (Galifianakis) learns of his inheritance. Unfortunately, in spite the efforts of all these fantastic talents, critical reception is negative. Rated 18+

As Above, So Below – A camera crew goes exploring the legendary catacombs below the streets of Paris and discovers a maze-like city of the dead that harbors terrifying secrets. Oh no. Yes. It's another "found footage" horror movie. John Erick Dowdle (Quarantine, Devil) directs. Critical reception is mixed. Rated 13+

Rak Phasa Arai (รักภาษาอะไร, Myanmar in Love in Bangkok) – Cross-cultural differences and connections are explored in this romance about a young Burmese man (Aung Nay Zoe) who gets into a relationship with a hipster Thai woman who works as a tattoo artist. At Major Cineplex. Rated 15+

Once Upon a Time in Shanghai– The 1972 Shaw Brothers martial-arts action drama The Boxer from Shantung gets the remake treatment. It's the same, old story – a young hick (Phillip Ng) travels to the big city to seek a livelihood and is taken under the wing of a young rising crime lord (Andy On). They run into conflict with the rival Axe Gang. Action-film great Sammo Hung also stars. Wong Ching-po directs. It's Thai-dubbed only. Rated 15+

Daawat-e-Ishq– Parineeti Chopra and Aditya Roy Kapur star in this food-infused Bollywood romance. She's a Hyderabadi shoe-sales girl disillusioned with love because of her encounters with dowry-seeking men, while he's a Lucknawi cook who can charm anybody with the aroma and flavors of his biryani and kebabs. In Hindi with English and Thai subtitles at the Embassy Diplomat Screens, Major Cineplex Ekkamai, Rama III and Pattaya. Opens Friday.

Khoobsurat– Bollywood and Disney combine for a star-crossed storybook romance. Sonam Kappoor is a hopelessly romantic physiotherapist who is bowled over by a handsome young Rajput prince (Fawad Afzal Khan), despite cultural differences and the fact that he's engaged to someone else. It's in Hindi with English and Thai subtitles at Major Cineplex Sukhumvit and Rama III. Opens Friday (and on September 26 in Pattaya).

Also showing

The Friese-Greene Club– Stunning martial-arts action is on display tonight in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, yet another display of diversity by director Ang Lee. Tomorrow, funny things happen to Yanks in England in John Landis' hilariously scary American Werewolf in London– with still one of the best werewolf transformation scenes ever. This Saturday's "so bad it's good entry" is The Blue Lagoon, a film that seemed "erotic" back in 1980 but now not so much. Sunday, Lauren Bacall teams up with John Wayne to battle commies in China in 1955's Blood Alley. And next Wednesday closes out a month-long tribute to Robin Williams with the dream-like drama Awakenings, one of Penny Marshall's best-regarded directorial efforts. Shows are at 8pm. The FGC is down an alley next to the Queen's Park Imperial Hotel on Sukhumvit Soi 22. There's just nine seats, so book them. Also, check the Facebook page for updates and program changes.

Cinema Diverse: Director's Choice – In the closing entry of the Bangkok Art and Cultural Center's film series this year, Thai director Tanawarin Sukkhapisit will present the Japanese teen drama Himizu, directed by Sion Sono. "For me, Himizu does not just tell an anguished story of a post-tsunami Japan. Instead, when I watched it, I felt like I was literally hit by a tsunami, a force of nature that was so powerful that it dragged me to the bottom of the ocean where I could not breath and felt like I was about to die," says Tanwarin, director of a diverse range of short films and features, including Threesome, It Gets Better and Insects in the Backyard. Screening on Saturday in the BACC's fifth-floor auditorium, registration opens at 4.30 and the show is at 5.30, with a talk afterward. Subtitles are in Thai only – no English.

The Lives of Others – The Filmvirus series of biographical double-bills comes to a close this Sunday at Thammasat University Tha Prachan. Up first at 12.30 is My Life and Times with Antonin Artaud, a 1993 French film based on the novel by Jacques Prevel, who recounts his friendship with the mentally disturbed playwright. That's followed at 2.10 by Room and a Half, about Russian poet Josef Brodsky. The show starts at 12.30 on Sunday in the Pridi Banomyong Library at Thammasat University Tha Prachan, in the Rewat Buddhinan Room, floor U2, the basement. Dress appropriately and inform the desk worker you are there to see a movie. For details, call (02) 613-3529 or (02) 613-3530.

Alliance Française – "Novels on the big screen" is September's theme for the free French films. Next week's show is Du vent dans mes mollets (The Dandelions), based on Raphaële Moussafir's novel about a shy 9-year-old girl whose life changes when she gets an adventurous new friend. It's in French with English subtitles at 7pm on Wednesday, September 24.

Sneak preview

The Purge: Anarchy– Here we go again. In a dystopian near future, when, for one night a year, all law enforcement and emergency services in the U.S. are suspended and virtually all crimes are made legal, a small group of law-abiding citizens prepare for the worst. Frank Grillo, Michael K. Williams and Carmen Ejogo star. James DeMonaco directs. It's in sneak previews from around 8 nightly at most cinemas until next Thursday's wide release. Rated 18+

Take note

The World Film Festival of Bangkok is coming up, running from October 17 to 26. But before that, on September 27, is another Filmvirus event at the Reading Room. It's a comprehensive look at the short films of Chulayarnnon Siriphol, who won a runner-up prize at the recent Thai Short Film and Video Festival for Myth of Modernity.

Fin Sugoi

Showing her arty side on Bangkok big screens in the indie drama Concrete Clouds released last week, actress "Saipan" Apinya Sakuljaroensuk goes commercial in Fin Sugoi (ฟินสุโค่ย), heading the cast of young Thai heartthrobs in this release by Sahamongkol Film International.

In the romantic comedy, directed the popular indie helmer "Golf" Tanwarin Sukkhapisit, Saipan is a groupie of a Japanese idol rocker (Makota Koshinaka), and over the objections of her jealous judo-practicing boyfriend (Tao Settapong), she keeps trying to get close to the singer, with help from her friends Moo Ham (Tina Suppanart) and Kai Tong (Guy Nawapol). Rated 15+

Also opening

God Help the Girl– Born out of an album by Stuart Murdoch of the Scottish indie-pop group Belle and Sebastian, this musical follows a girl who escapes from a mental facility and heads to Glasgow in hopes of making it big in the city's music scene. Emily Browning, Olly Alexander, Hannah Murray and Pierre Boulanger star. A hit at Sundance this year, critical reception is generally positive. Rated G

Premature – The time-loop absurdities of Groundhog Day meets the teen-sex raunch of American Pie in this coming-of-age comedy about a high-school kid who has to relive the loss of his virginity over and over again until he gets it right. John Karna, Craig Roberts, Katie Findlay and Alan Tudyk star. Directed by Dan Beers, the indie comedy premiered at the South by Southwest Festival. Critical reception is mixed. Rated 15+

A Walk Among the Tombstones– Liam Neeson brings his particular set of skills to an adaptation of a 1992 crime novel by Lawrence Block. The Taken and Non-Stop star is a private investigator, recovering alcoholic and former New York City cop who reluctantly takes a case from a heroin trafficker to find the man's wife's killer. Critical reception is mixed. Rated 18+

The Purge: Anarchy– A new batch of hapless ordinary citizens struggle to survive the annual night of mayhem and lawlessness. Frank Grillo heads the cast as a vigilante former lawman who comes to the rescue of a kidnapped waitress and her daughter. Meanwhile, a couple who survives a carjacking try to hitch a ride. Critical reception is mixed, leaning to favorable. This opened in sneak previews last week and now moves to a wide release. Rated 18+

Viy – Jason Flemying (Snatch, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels) stars in this Russian-made supernatural thriller, which is loosely based on a story by Nikolai Gogol. Flemyng is a cartographer mapping out the wilderness of Eastern Europe who gets lost and turns up in a Transylvanian town that is beset by demons. It's at SF cinemas. Rated 13+

Mystic Blade– Bangkok's merry band of hard-working foreigner stuntmen teamed up to make this martial-arts thriller. Don Ferguson stars as a former member of the Shadow Syndicate, a group of hitmen. Having turned his back on his old ways, fallen in love and started a family, he finds he can't escape his past. He forges a supernaturally endowed blade and sets off on a path of vengeance. Conan Stevens, Jawed El Berni, Tim Man and Julaluck Ismalone also star along with David "Mad Dog" Ismalone, who also directs. For more, check out the trailer. It's at Major Cineplex, and unfortunately, it is apparently Thai-dubbed only. Rated 15+

Also showing

The Friese-Greene Club– Tonight, family dysfunction freezes over in Ang Lee's The Ice Storm. Tomorrow, British writer-director Chris Morris skewers jihadists in Four Lions, a comedy about bumbling suicide bombers. Saturday's "so bad it's good" entry is 1959's A Bucket of Blood, which set the template for infamous low-budget producer-director Roger Corman. And Sunday's tribute is Lauren Bacall is How to Marry a Millionaire, also starring Marilyn Monroe and Clark Gable. Shows are at 8pm. The FGC is down an alley next to the Queen's Park Imperial Hotel on Sukhumvit Soi 22. There's just nine seats, so book them. Also, check the Facebook page for updates and program changes.

Wildtype Masterclass 001: Fuck Alligator– Chulayarnnon Siriphol is a perennial award winner at the Thai Short Film and Video Festival, where his films, usually satiric views on Thai society, are a highlight. They include documentaries, spoof documentaries and experimental films. This Saturday, Filmvirus and the Reading Room offer a chance to see a bunch of them all at once. The selection goes back as far as 2005 with Golden Sand House, and includes his 2008 winning student filmDanger (Director's Cut), 2011's award winnersMrs. Nuan Who Can Recall Her Past Lives and A Brief History of Memory and this year's award-winnerMyth of Modernity. There are two programs, at 1 and 3.30pm, followed at 6 by a masterclass and talk by Chulayarnnon. The venue is the Reading Room, a fourth-floor walk-up gallery on Silom Soi 19, opposite Silom Center.

Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand– The Contemporary World Film Series heads to Denmark for The Hunt. The critically acclaimed drama stars Mads Mikkelsen, winner of the Cannes Best Actor Award for his portrayal of a former schoolteacher who has been forced to start over after a tough divorce and the loss of his job. Just as things start to go his way, an untruthful rumor throws his life into disarray. Thomas Vinterberg directs. Screening, at 7pm on Monday, is presented by the Embassy of Denmark, which will serve Carlsberg beer and Danish snacks. Admission for non-members is 150 baht and 100 baht for the food and drink.

Alliance Française – Classic French films are on offer in October with the theme of "eternal thrillers". The series kicks off with 1963's Les tontons flingueurs, in which a dying mobster makes a deathbed plea to former cohort (Lino Ventura) to look after his soon-to-be-married daughter. It's in French with English subtitles at 7pm on Wednesday, October 1.

The Homesman

Tommy Lee Jones saddles up again for an American old west tale, The Homesman, starring and directing this story of a gruff drifter who is recruited by a pioneer woman (Hilary Swank) to help her escort three mentally unstable women from Nebraska back east to Iowa.

Grace Gummer, Miranda Otto and Sonja Richter also star along with Meryl Streep.

A follow-up to Jones' previous theatrical directorial effort, 2005's The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, The Homesman premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. Critical reception is generally positive. Rated 15+

Also opening

Planes: Fire and Rescue– With his gearbox damaged from revving too hard, Dusty the world-famous racing airplane decides to learn a new skill, and joins the fire-and-rescue team. The second sequel in this Cars spin-off series from DisneyToon Animation, Fire and Rescue introduces a host of new characters, including tough helicopter Blade Ranger voiced by Ed Harris. Dane Cook returns as Dusty. Other voices include Julie Bowen, Curtis Armstrong, Stacy Keach, Hal Holbrook, Wes Studi and Regina King. In 3D in some cinemas. Rated G

Annabelle – A dad-to-be thinks a creepy vintage doll would be the perfect gift for his unborn daughter. Soon after, their home is invaded by members of a satanic cult and the doll is possessed by an evil demon. A spin-off and prequel of The Conjuring, it's directed by longtime cinematographer John R. Leonetti and is produced by James Wan, director of The Conjuring and Insidious. Critical reception is unknown. Rated 15+

Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno – The second live-action adaptation of the manga has wandering former assassin Kenshin Himura (Takeru Sato) going up against former counterpart Makoto Shishio (Tatsuya Fujiwara), who is attempting to overthrow the Meiji government. Thai-dubbed only. Rated 15+

Naked Ambition 3D – A literature graduate who writes erotic stories for a newspaper’s soft-porn section loses his job and transitions into producing of pornographic films. He is then forced into acting in one and becomes famous in Japan. This is a loose sequel/reboot of a 2003 Hong Kong sex comedy. Chapman To and Josie Ho star. Thai-dubbed only. Rated 18+

Bang Bang! – Hrithik Roshan and Katrina Kaif star in this official remake of the Tom Cruise-Cameron Diaz action romp Knight and Day. He's a globetrotting superspy who happens upon a gorgeous woman and brings her along on his various adventures. It's in Hindi with English and Thai subtitles at Paragon, Embassy Diplomat Screens and Major Cineplex Sukhumvit, Rama III and Pattaya.

Also showing

The Friese-Greene Club– The films of Wong Kar-wai are in focus every Thursday this month, starting with 1996's Chungking Express. Cult films are on Fridays, opening with an animated, psychedelic blast of the Beatles and Yellow Submarine. Saturdays are all about William Friedkin, starting with his tense truck-driving epic Sorcerer, a remake of Le salaire de la peur, which showing next week at the Alliance Française"Hitchcock highlights" are featured on Sunday, beginning with Vertigo. And Wednesdays are devoted to the late Richard Attenborough. Next Wednesday's entry is the war drama The Sand Pebbles, starring Steve McQueen. Shows are at 8pm. The FGC is down an alley next to the Queen's Park Imperial Hotel on Sukhumvit Soi 22. There's just nine seats, so book them. Also, check the Facebook page for updates and program changes.

Alliance Française – Classic French films are on offer in October with the theme of "eternal thrillers". Next week's offering is 1953's Le salaire de la peur (The Wages of Fear), in which desperate men are given the job of driving an unstable load of dynamite though the South American jungle. Henri-Georges Clouzot directs and Yves Montand and Charles Vanel star. It was remade as Sorcerer by William Friedkin, which is showing at the Friese-Greene Club on Friday. It's in French with English subtitles at 7pm on Wednesday, October 8.

The Babadook

A widowed mother struggles to raise her six-year-old who has constant nightmares about The Babadook, a creature coming to kill them both. When a disturbing storybook mysteriously turns up, the boy is convinced that the book's main character is the killer creature. Eventually, the mother begins to see glimpses of a sinister presence all around her. Essie Davis, Daniel Henshall and Tiffany Lyndall-Knight star.

Actress Jennifer Kent (Babe: Pig in the City) makes her directorial debut with this indie Australian horror.

Winner of prizes at several genre film fests, critical reception is crazily positive, with the consensus being it's "real horror rather than cheap jump scares – and boasts a heartfelt, genuinely moving story to boot." Rated 15+

Also opening

Autómata – It's I, Robot with a Spanish accent in this sci-fi thriller produced by and starring Antonio Banderas as an insurance investigator for a robotics company. It's a time when Earth's ecosystem has collapsed and humans are totally dependent on robots. Similar to Asimov's I, Robot, the 'bots are governed by two rules – they shalt not harm a human nor shall they modify themselves or other robots. Evidence emerges that they are breaking those protocols. So Banderas' Jacq Vaucan is on the case, and what he discovers has profound consequences for the future of humanity. Brigitte Sorensen, Dylan McDermott, Robert Foster and Tim McInnerny also star along with Banderas' ex-wife Melanie Griffith as a tinkerer who makes sex robots that look and sound like her. Spanish visual-effects specialist Gabe Ibáñez directs and is a co-writer of the script. Autómata screened in competition at the San Sebastian Film Festival. Critical reception is mixed. Rated 13+

Wai Peng Nakleng Kha San (วัยเป้งง นักเลงขาสั้น, Dangerous Boys) – Director Poj Arnon, always looking for a buzzworthy topic to hang a movie on, uses Bangkok's often bloody street wars between gangs of trade-school students as a backdrop for this coming-of-age drama about "frenemies" Peng and Ting, who fight whenever they meet. Rated 15+

The Prince – A retired assassin (Jason Patric) is drawn back into his old life when his daughter is kidnapped by a gangster named The Pharmacy (Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson). To rescue her, he must confront an old rival (Bruce Willis). John Cusack, looking particularly weary, also stars. Brian A. Miller (The Outsider) directs. Critical reception is very poor. Rated 18+

Roaring Currents – Choi Min-sik (Oldboy) portrays wily Korean Admiral Yi Sun-shin, who with only 12 ships in his fleet, defeated more then 300 Japanese vessels in 1597’s Battle of Myeongryang. I can only assume the Japanese admiral's name was Ackbar. It's Thai-dubbed in most places except for SF cinemas at CentralWorld and Terminal 21. Rated 15+

Haider– Shakespeare's Hamlet is adapted for this drama about a poet returning home to Kashmir following the death of his father. As he confronts his uncle, he finds himself dragged into the politics of the restive region. Shahid Kapoor stars along with Tabu, Shraddha Kapoor, Kay Kay Menon and Irrfan Khan. This is the third Shakespeare adaptation by director Vishal Bhardwaj, who did Macbeth with 2003's Maqbool and Othello with 2006's Omkara. Controversial because of the contentious Kashmir setting, critical reception has been generally positive. It's in Hindi with English and Thai subtitles at Major Cineplex Sukhumvit and Rama III. Opens Friday.

Also showing

The Friese-Greene Club– Tonight, Maggie Cheung has a snug-fitting silk dress to match every scene. It's In the Mood for Love, Wong Kar-wai's exquisitely haunting tale of unrequited romance in 1960s Hong Kong. Tony Leung also stars. Tomorrow's cult classic is the dark comedy about a nasty group of high-school girls, Heathers, starring Winona Ryder. On Saturday, walk the beat with tenacious New York cop Popeye Doyle and his partner Cloudy as they try to bust a train-hopping drug smuggler in The French Connection. One of the best movies ever made, it's part of a monthlong look at the tense world of director William Friedkin. Sunday is another classic Hitchcock, with James Stewart peeping at Raymond Burr in Rear Window. And next Wednesday's tribute to Sir Richard Attenborough is his Oscar-winning biopic Gandhi, starring Sir Ben Kingsley. Shows are at 8pm. The FGC is down an alley next to the Queen's Park Imperial Hotel on Sukhumvit Soi 22. There's just nine seats, so book them. Also, check the Facebook page for updates and program changes.

Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand – Filipino cinema comes into focus on Monday in the FCCT's Contemporary World Film Series with Ekstra (The Bit Player). Vilma Santos, the reigning marquee queen of Pinoy cinema in the 1960s, stars as a background actress who has spent her career toiling away on soap operas, dreaming of her big break. It won several awards at last year's Cinemalaya Film Festival, including the Audience Choice and best acress for Santos. The screening is courtesy of the Embassy of the Philippines, with Ambassador Jocelyn Batoon-Garcia on hand to offer snacks and drinks from her country. The show is at 7pm on Monday, October 13 at the FCCT. Admission for non-members is 150 baht plus 100 baht for the eats and San Miguel suds.

Alliance Française – Classic French films are on offer in October with the theme of "eternal thrillers". Next week's offering is 1965's Pierrot le fou by French New Wave stalwart Jean-Luc Godard. Jean-Paul Belmondo stars as a bored Paris man whose life turns exciting when he travels to the Mediterranean with a young woman (Anna Karina) and the pair end up being chased by Algerian hitmen. It's in French with English subtitles at 7pm on Wednesday, October 15. And if you miss it next week, it'll be shown as part of the big French line-up at the World Film Festival of Bangkok, running October 17 to 26 at SF World at CentralWorld.

The 12th World Film Festival of Bangkok opens this Friday at SF World Cinema at CentralWorld with Somboon, a documentary by young Thai director Krisda Tipchaimeta that follows the lives of Grandpa Somboon and Granny Miad, a couple married for 45 years. With Miad suffering from acute kidney disease, Somboon stays by her side, providing constant care.

Among the highlights of the festival are entries from this year's Cannes Film Festival, including Jean Luc-Godard's latest, Goodbye to Language, an experimental 3D drama, and Mommy, by French-Canadian badboy Xavier Dolan. Both films were jury prize winners at Cannes. Also from Cannes is The Blue Room, a fresh adaptation of the Georges Simenon crime novel by Mathieu Almaric, about childhood friends reunited as adulterous lovers.

Two French classics will unspool, Godard's 1965 comedy, Pierrot le Fou and from 1980, Francois Truffaut's World War II drama The Last Metro. The fest will also screen the newly restored version of Metropolis, with footage rediscovered a few years ago.

There's a block of French animation in a festival sidebar, the French-Thai Animation Rendezvous, which offers five recent French animated features in various styles – A Cat in Paris, The Congress, the 3D Minuscule, Valley of the Lost Ants, Ernest and Celestine and Tales of the Night.

Another festival sidebar groups together Israel films, going back as far as 1988's Aviya's Summer up to 2013's Cupcakes. Others are The Band's Visit, A Matter of Size, Noodle and Footnote.

There's the Cine Latino and Cinema Beat programs, which feature entries from across Latin America, the US, Canada and beyond. The selection includes the Sundance winner Whiplash, which will also get a general release in Thai cinemas.

Other festival sections include Doc Feast, Asian Contemporary and Short Wave.

The fest closes on October 26 with The Tale of Princess Kaguya, a new anime feature from Japan's Studio Ghibli.

Tickets cost Bt120. There are 500 special packages offering five movies for Bt500.

This year, for the first time, the World Film Festival of Bangkok will have many films with both Thai and English subtitles, which will travel to the provinces, taking a selection of movies on Blu-ray to SF cinemas in Khon Kaen from November 7 to 9, Pattaya from November 14 to 16 and Chiang Mai from November 20 to 23.

Find out more at www.WorldFilmBkk.com.

Dracula Untold

Luke Evans stars in Dracula Untold, a historical-epic retelling of the origins of literature's most famous vampire.

Evans is Prince Vlad, a former Turkish slave whose peaceful life is disrupted when the local sultan (Dominic Cooper) wants Transylvanian boys to fill out the ranks of his army. Not wanting to lose his son, Vlad makes a deal with the Master Vampire (Charles Dance of Game of Thrones) to gain vampire-like powers for three days. However, if he gives in to the taste of blood, he'll be a vamp forever.

Sarah Gadon also stars. Gary Shore, a first-time feature helmer, directs this latest entry in Universal studio's push to reboot all its classic monster-movie franchises.

Critical reception is mostly negative. There's probably better things to see, such as anything at the World Film Festival of Bangkok. Rated 15+

Also opening

Sbek Gong – The biggest-budget movie yet made in Cambodia, Sbek Gong is an insane blend of comedy, romance and the supernatural, as well as contemporary Cambodian society and the old traditional ways. The story involves the conflict between rival disciples of a black-magic master. Sisowath Sereiwudd, Un Sethea, Nhem Sokun and Duch Lida star. Pol Vibo directs. It's Thai-dubbed only; subtitles uncertain. Rated 18+

The Best of Me– Yet another tear-jerking Nicholas Sparks romance novel is adapted for the big screen, telling the mushy story of former high-school sweethearts who are reunited after 20 years when they return to their small town for the funeral of a friend. Although romance is reignited, they find that the forces that drove them apart 20 years ago still exist. James Marsden and Michelle Monaghan star as the lovers with their younger counterparts portrayed by Luke Bracey and Liana Liberato. Michael Hoffman (Gambit, The Last Station) directs. Critical reception is mixed. Rated 15+

3 Antarai (3 อันตราย, a.k.a. TV Game Net) – Thai society's cultural ills are fingered in this compilation of three stories. They involve a schoolboy who tries to rape his girlfriend after watching a TV show, a gunman coping with his autistic son’s addiction to video games and a college student who becomes involved in the online sex trade. At 6.30 nightly until Wednesday at the Lido.

Saint Seiya: Legend of Sanctuary – In this computer-animated adaptation of the popular manga, five young armored sword-toting warriors are given the mission of protecting the reincarnation of the goddess Athena. It's SF Cinemas, Thai-dubbed, except for Terminal 21. Rated G.

Also showing

The Friese-Greene Club– Wong Kar-wai makes his English-language debut wth tonight's screening, My Blueberry Nights, starring musician Norah Jones as a young drifter woman. "I'm not even supposed to be here today." That's the plaintive uttering of the hero of Clerks, the low-budget cult film that launched the career of Kevin Smith. I assure you, it's showing at 8 tomorrow. Saturday's Friedkin film is The Birthday Party, adapted from a play by Harold Pinter. And on Sunday don't blink for the Hitchcock highlight, Rope, which is essentially just one long take. Next Wednesday's Richard Attenborough tribute is his biopic Chaplin, with a bravura performance by Robert Downey Jr. Shows are at 8pm. The FGC is down an alley next to the Queen's Park Imperial Hotel on Sukhumvit Soi 22. There's just nine seats, so book them. Also, check the Facebook page for updates and program changes.

12th World Film Festival of Bangkok– Opening tomorrow night with the Thai documentary Somboon, there are many highlights. Saturday's entries include Ice Poison, the latest drama by Myanmar director Midi Z. There's also The Blue Room from France, as well as Truffaut's classic The Last Metro, which also runs on Sunday. And there's a whole bunch of French animation, including the French-Israeli production The Congress, a sci-fi fantasy about an actress (Robin Wright) who sells off the rights to her digital image. The festival is at SF World at CentralWorld. Tickets are 120 baht. For the full schedule, check the festival website.

Alliance Française – Classic French films are on offer in October with the theme of "eternal thrillers". Next week it's L’assassin habite au 21 (The Assassin Lives at No 21), a 1942 thriller by Henri-Georges Clouzot. Pierre Fresnay stars as a police inspector who goes undercover in a boarding house in a bid to catch a serial killer. It's in French with English subtitles at 7pm on Wednesday, October 22.

Sneak previews

Gone Girl – The onslaught of autumn Oscar hopefuls continues with this thriller from David Fincher, starring Ben Affleck as a husband who comes under intense media scrutiny and suspicion when his wife disappears. Rosamund Pike, Neil Patrick Harris, Tyler Perry and Kim Dickens also star. Critical reception is great. It's screening from around 8 nightly at most multiplexes before opening wide next week. Rated 18+

Whiplash – The big winner at Sundance this year and a hit at Cannes and Toronto, this indie drama stars Miles Teller as a drummer who joins his music conservatory's jazz band, and comes under the cruel tutelage of the tyrannical band director (J.K. Simmons). Yet another film already attracting Oscar buzz, critical reception is fantastic. It's screening at 8.20pm on Saturday as part of the World Film Festival of Bangkok then begins a sneak preview run on Monday, before opening wide on November 30.

Take note

No movies at House RCA this week. They are closed until October 24 for auditions for The Voice Kids Thailand.

Gone Girl

One of the those buzzworthy films you wish everyone would just quit talking about already, Gone Girl is the latest acclaimed thriller from director David Fincher, and is winning raves for its performances by Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike.

Affleck is Nick Dunne, a husband who reports his wife's disappearance on their fifth wedding anniversary. Under pressure from the police and the frenzied media, his portrait of a blissful union begins to crumble.

Neil Patrick Harris, Tyler Perry and Kim Dickens also star. The story is based on an acclaimed best-selling 2012 crime novel by Gillian Flynn, who also wrote the screenplay.

Since its premiere at the New York Film Festival, critical reception is positively glowing, and it's likely nobody is going to shut up about Gone Girl until it has won a few Oscars. This opened for a sneak preview run last week and now moves to a wide release. Rated 18+

Also opening

John Wick– Keanu Reeves is earning some of the best reviews of his career for this gritty hitman thriller. He's a gunman who comes out of retirement to settle the score with the gangsters who took everything from him. Michael Nyqvist, Alfie Allen, Willem Dafoe, Adrianne Palicki, Bridget Moynahan, Dean Winters and Ian McShane also star. It's based on a first-person-shooter video game, and is the directorial by a pair of stunt specialists, David Leitch and Chad Stahelski (Reeves' stunt double on The Matrix). Since its U.S. premiere a couple weeks ago, critical reception has been crazily positive. Rated 18+

Fury– Yet another highly acclaimed, star-studded vehicle in the hunt for awards, Fury is a World War II yarn starring Brad Pitt as the aptly named Sergeant Wardaddy. It's 1945, and the Allies are making their final push into Berlin. Wardaddy commands a Sherman tank and a four-man crew on a deadly mission behind enemy lines. Shia LaBeouf, Logan Lerman, Michael Peña and Jon Bernthal also star. David Ayer (End of Watch, Training Day) directs. Critical reception is generally positive. Rated 15+

Phee Overtime (โอ.ที. ผี Overtime, a.k.a. O.T.) – A segment from Five Star Production's 2012 horror omnibus 3 A.M. is expanded upon for this thriller the follows the exploits of horrible bosses Karan (Shahkrit Yamnarm) and Ti (Ray MacDonald), whose pranks on their late-night office staff turn fatal. That forces their business partner Bordin (Ananda Everingham) to give up his peaceful life and return to work. Rated 18+

Happy New Year– Six losers plan a massive diamond heist, using a dance competition as their cover. Shahrukh Khan stars and famed choreographer Farah Khan directs, marking the third collaboration for the pair after Main Hoon Na (2004) and Om Shanti Om (2007). Deepika Padukone, Abhishek Bachchan, Sonu Sood, Boman Irani, Vivaan Shah and Jackie Shroff also star. It's at Paragon, Embassy Diplomat Screens and Major Cineplex Sukhumvit, Rama III and Pattaya. Opens Friday.

Also showing

12th World Film Festival of Bangkok– There's still plenty to see as the fest heads into its final weekend. Among the highlights is the complete version of Metropolis, the 1927 sci-fi silent epic. It screens at 7.30 tonight and 9pm on Saturday. Tomorrow, catch the festival's opener, the Thai documentary Somboon, a gentle portrait of a man's devotion to his chronically ailing wife. Also worth a look are the Shortwave Programmes, with program two at 3.20 on Friday, and program one at 3.30 on Saturday. Program one includes Behind the Screen, a moving portrait of a Burmese director's parents' broken marriage. His folks were famous actors in Myanmar back in the 1960s. The fest wraps up on Sunday with the invitation-only closing film The Tale of Princess Kaguya, a new animation from Japan's Studio Ghibli. The festival is at SF World at CentralWorld. Tickets are 120 baht. For the full schedule, check the festival website.

The Friese-Greene Club– Tonight, Wong Kar-wai loosely follows up his In the Mood for Love with another moody romance, 2046. Jeff Bridges ties everything together in tomorrow's cult classic, The Big Lebowski, the stoner bowling-and-crime comedy by the Coen brothers. Saturday's Friedkin flick is his 2006 indie comeback, the thriller Bug. And Sunday's Hitchcock highlight is one of Hitch's best, North by Northwest. Next Wednesday captures the late Richard Attenborough in one of his most rascally roles, bringing dinosaurs back to life in 1993's blockbuster Jurassic Park. Shows are at 8pm. The FGC is down an alley next to the Queen's Park Imperial Hotel on Sukhumvit Soi 22. There's just nine seats, so book them. Also, check the Facebook page for updates and program changes.

Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand – There are two films next week, Young Goethe in Love on Monday and the documentary The Power of Good: The Nicholas Winton Story, about a man who saved 669 Czech children from the Nazi death camps in World War II, at 7pm next Thursday. The screening, courtesy of the Czech Republic embassy, is free. Goethe!, screening at 7 on Monday, is part of the FCCT's Contemporary World Film Series. Directed by Philip Stolzl, the 2010 romantic drama follows the young writer after he flunks out of law school and is sent to a small town to work as a clerk. There, he falls in love with Lotte, a spirited young woman who is promised to marry someone else. The screening is courtesy of the Goethe Institut, the German embassy and Ambassador Rolf Schulze. Entry for non-members is 150 baht plus 100 baht for anybody wanting to sample the German beer, wine and pretzels.

Alliance Française – Classic French films are on offer in October with the theme of "eternal thrillers", and the month closes out with 1974's Stavisky, starring Jean-Paul Belmondo as politically connnected financier and embezzler Serge Alexandre Stavisky. Alain Resnais directs and François Périer, Charles Boyer and Anny Duperey also star. It's in French with English subtitles at 7pm on Wednesday, October 29.

Sneak previews

Love, Rosie– Lily Collins and Sam Claflin are childhood best friends who are secretly in love with each other. The young Brits take a big chance and go the the U.S. together to attend university. Critical reception is mixed. It's in sneak previews from around 8 nightly before opening wide on November 6. Also, the Sundance winning drama Whiplash continues its sneak-preview run this week. The story of a young jazz drummer terrorized by his band director, it opens in a wide release next Thursday.

So Be It

Two very different boys – a poor hilltribe youngster and a half-Thai reality-TV star – ordain as novice Buddhist monks in So Be It (A-Wang, เอวัง), a documentary by acclaimed Thai writer-director Kongdej Jaturanrasmee.

The half-Thai, half-farang kid William was featured on the TrueVisions’ reality series Plook Panya Dharma Novice, which followed the daily lives of novice monks. After his stint on the series, he returns to the temple on his own to continue his studies into the Buddhist faith.

Meanwhile, there's Bundit, a Karen boy whose family is too poor to afford schooling. So he's sent to the Buddhist boarding school, but is uncomfortable and tries to leave.

The third indie-film effort by Kongdej, So Be Itpremiered at the recent Busan International Film Festival, which had supported the project through the Asian Cinema Fund. Variety gave it a good review. The Nation has more about it today.

It's at House on RCA. Rated G

Also opening

The Eyes Diary (คนเห็นผี, Kon Hen Pee) – Director Chukiat Sakveerakul is best known for his sprawling family and friendship dramas like The Love of Siam and last year's Krian Fictions, but he got his start with thrillers, such as his 2004 horror Pisaj and the twisting 2006 thriller 13 Game Sayong, which was recently remade by Hollywood as 13 Sins. With The Eyes Diary (not to be confused with the Pang brothers'Eye franchise), Chookiat gathers young talent for this story of a young man (Parama Im-anothai) whose girlfriend (Focus Jeerakul) died in a motorbike wreck after they had a fight. He’s desperate to communicate with her “on the other side” and seeks help from a young woman (Chonnikarn Natejui) who's had a similar experience. Rated 15+

The Couple (รัก ลวง หลอน, Rak Luang Lon) – A newlywed bride is possessed by the evil spirit of her sister-in-law in this thriller from the new film company Talent 1. Sucha Manaying, Pitchaya Nithipisarnkul and Mali Coates star. This is the second feature from Talent 1, which made its bow last year with the well-received thriller Last Summer. It's run by producer Ladawan Ratanadilokchai, who takes a different approach to her films. She had a hand in the script with help from Thai indie filmmaking talents Kongdej Jaturanrasmee (who also has So Be It opening at House this week), Pimpaka Towira and Sivaroj Kongsakul. Rated 15+

Whiplash– The top award winner at Sundance, this acclaimed indie drama follows a young drummer (Miles Teller) as he joins an elite music conservatory's jazz orchestra and comes under the cruel tutelage of the tyrannical conductor (J.K. Simmons), who pushes the young man to the brink in his obsessive drive for perfection. Damien Chazelle, a young filmmaker making his sophomore feature effort, directs. Also a hit at the Toronto International Film Festival, critical reception is wildly positive. In sneak previews for the past couple weeks, Whiplash finally moves to a wide release. Rated G

The Equalizer– Denzel Washington is a former black-ops agent who atones for his dark past by volunteering his services as a private eye to those in need. His latest case involves a teenage prostitute (Chloë Grace Moretz) and leads him into a conflict with Russian mobsters. This is big-screen reboot of a 1980s American TV drama that starred British actor Edward Woodward and had an iconic theme by Police drummer Stewart Copeland. Antoine Fuqua (Olympus Has Fallen) directs this new version, reuniting with his Training Day leading man. Critical reception is mixed, with eyebrows raised over the extreme level of violence. Rated 18+

Also showing

Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand – Tonight, the Czech Republic presents the documentary The Power of Good: The Nicholas Winton Story, about a British businessman who saved 669 Czech children from the Nazi death camps in World War II. The show is at 7pm. Entry is free.

The Friese-Greene Club– A disillusioned killer takes one last job in Wong Kar-wai's stylish drama Fallen Angels, screening tonight. Tomorrow's cult classic is The Rocky Horror Picture Show, but it's fully booked. So find someplace else to toss your toast. Keep an eye on the club's Facebook page for further offerings in November. Shows are at 8pm. The FGC is down an alley next to the Queen's Park Imperial Hotel on Sukhumvit Soi 22. There's just nine seats, so book them.

Alliance Française – November's line-up starts with La France, a 2007 drama that's set during World War I. Young Camille receives a break-up letter from her soldier husband. So she goes in search, disguising herself as a man and signing up for the fight. She falls in with a group of soldiers who do not suspect her real identity. Sylvie Testud, Guillaume Depardieu, Guillaume Verdier star and Serge Bozon directs. It's in French with English subtitles at 7pm on Wednesday, November 5.

Sneak preview

The romantic comedy Love, Rosie continues its sneak preview run, screening from around 8 nightly at most cinemas. It opens wider next Thursday.

Interstellar

Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan heads into space with Interstellar, an epic sci-fi thriller that's already being compared to 2001: A Space Odyssey.

It's a time not far into the future, and Earth is dying. So NASA mounts a last-ditch mission, sending four astronauts through a wormhore to the far reaches of the galaxy in the hope they'll find a planet that'll sustain life.

Matthew McConaughy stars as the cowboy-philosopher pilot of the spacecraft. Still in the midst of his "McConaissance", he's still hot from his Oscar win for last year's Dallas Buyers Club as well as his work on HBO's True Detective.

Jessica Chastain and Anne Hathaway also star along with Nolan regular Michael Caine.

Critical reception is mixed. "Close encounters of the lame kind," was one such naysaying review.

But it's still a spectacle. Much of the film – yes, film– was shot in the IMAX format, and the only cinema in Bangkok that is capable of showing that version in the proper aspect ratio is the IMAX at Paragon, with Interstellar: The IMAX Experience. Rated G

Also opening

Love, Rosie– Sam Claflin and Lily Collins star in this romantic comedy about lifelong best friends who are secretly in love with each other. Critical reception is mixed. This moves to a regular release after two weeks of sneak previews. Rated 15+

Namo OK (นะโม OK) – Life in a small town turns interesting with a new arrival – a westerner monk (Adam Zima) with amnesia. As he takes up work at the temple and tries to regain his memories, residents speculate about who he really is. Thitipong Chaisati directs this comedy for Phranakorn Film. Rated 15+

Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends – This is a finale to an epic blockbuster live-action trilogy adaptation of a popular manga about a wandering former samurai who has taken a vow to never kill again. The movies have been dominating the box office in Japan. In part three, Kenshin (Takeru Sato) trains with his old master to learn his final technique so that he will be ready to confront his arch-nemesis and former counterpart Shishiro (Tatsuya Fujiwara). Japanese soundtrack with English and Thai subtitles is at SF cinemas at CentralWorld and Terminal 21; it's Thai-dubbed elsewhere. Rated 15+

Also showing

The Friese-Greene Club– The films of director Lawrence Kasdan are featured on Thursdays this month, starting tonight with the classic Baby Boomer drama The Big Chill. Still in the Halloween spirit, Fridays feature scary movies, beginning with Roman Polanski's 1968 freak-out, Rosemary's Baby. Great performances by Johnny Depp are screening on Saturdays. This week's offering is Dead Man, the wonderfully deadpan neo-western by Jim Jarmusch. Sundays have more horror, in black and white. This week has plenty of creepy kids in 1960's Village of the Damned. Wednesdays offer "animation for adults", with Disney's animated epic Fantasia screening next week. Shows are at 8pm. The FGC is down an alley next to the Queen's Park Imperial Hotel on Sukhumvit Soi 22. There's just nine seats, so book them. Also, check the Facebook page for updates and program changes.

Y/Our Music– The unusual documentary Y/Our Music attracted positive buzz when it screened at the Busan International Film Festival this year, and it's set for a Bangkok screening this Saturday. The venue, also a bit unsual, is The Space Bangkok, above the 7-Eleven at Klong San Plaza, next to Hilton Millenium Bangkok. Should be ferries and hotel boats that cross the river to take you there. It runs from 7 to 11.45pm. A "laid back" evening is promised, with Isaan music to follow by Mahidolwatit khaen band. Directed by David Reeve and Waraluck Hiransrettawat, the documentary covers a diverse array of musicians all around Thailand, from "leftfield to rice field". With post-production funds from the Busan fest's Asian Network of Documentary and the Asian Cinema Fund, the film was made on a shoestring budget, with begged and borrowed equipment. Check out the trailer.

Alliance Française – Next week's movie is Les Combattants Africains, a 1983 documentary about the Africans from French territories who were drafted to fight in World War I. It's in French with English subtitles at 7pm on Wednesday, November 12.

Sneak preview

The Hundred-Foot Journey– It's star-crossed romance in a tiny French village where two restaurants, right across the road from each other, are in fierce competition. Helen Mirren is a snooty lady who runs one place, serving Michelin-starred French cuisine. An older Indian fellow (Om Puri) is a new arrival in the village, and he shakes things up with his Indian food. Meanwhile, the Indian restaurant's star chef (Manish Dayal) is attracted to the young Frenchwoman who is cooking over at the other place. Lasse Hallstrom, the master of syrupy arthouse romances like this, directs. Steven Spielberg and Oprah Winfrey are among the producers. It's in sneak previews from around 8 nightly in most cinemas before opening wider next Thursday. Rated G

Take note

Originally set to run just one week, the documentary So Be It has been extended at House on RCA. It's worth a look, so see it.

It appears the Scala is being used for some kind of concert or stage production again this weekend, so no movies there through Sunday.

Vengeance of the Assassin

Acclaimed action director and choreographer Panna Rittikrai passed away on July 20, 2014 at age 53 and was best known for his work as a stunt coordinator on Ong-Bak and other movies starring his protege Tony Jaa.

But Panna was also a fine director in his own right, and his last film was Vengeance of the Assassin (Rew Talu Rew, เร็วทะลุเร็ว), which was actually completed a year or two ago and for some reason kept hidden away in the vaults at Sahamongkol Film International. Until now.

The story reunites Panna with two of his other discoveries besides Tony Jaa – actor "Diew" Chupong Changprung and actress "Nui" Kessarin Ektawatkul – action stars who made their debut in 2004 with Panna's big-studio directorial comeback Born to Fight, an insanely fun flick involving a bunch of national athletes battling a Burmese drug lord in a remote border village.

In Rew Talu Rew, Diew Chupong is a vengeance-seeking young man who gets involved with a group of professional assassins. He saves the life of a young woman he may have been hired to kill, and is then framed for kidnapping. He's then forced to work with his estranged brother (Nantawut Boonrabsab) to find who is out to get him.

An English-subtitled trailer offers a glimpse at Panna's flashy martial-arts moves and trademark dangerous stunts – guys are falling from a train and getting painfully banged around. If you're into action movies and martial arts, it's one not to be missed. Rated 18+

Also opening

The Hundred-Foot Journey– After a week of sneak previews, this cloying bit of harmless fluff from director Lasse Hallstrom and producers Steven Spielberg and Oprah Winfrey moves to a wider release. Helen Mirren stars as a snooty Frenchwoman who runs a Michelin-starred traditional French restaurant in a French village. The refined air is shaken up by the arrival of an Indian family, whose patriarch (Om Puri) opens an Indian curry palace right across the road from Madame Mallory's place. While those two lock horns, the Indian restaurant's talented young chef (Manish Dayal) finds himself attracted to the lady sous chef (Charlotte Le Bon ) at the rival eatery. Critical reception is mixed. Rated G

Before I Go to Sleep– Nicole Kidman is going crazy! She wakes up every day with no memory as the result of a traumatic accident. But terrifying truths begin to emerge that make her question everything she thinks she knows about her life. Colin Firth and Mark Strong also star. Rowan Joffe (Brighton Rock) directs. Critical reception is mixed. Rated 15+

Ouija – Yet another board game makes the leap to the big screen. In Ouija, which like Battleship, G.I. Joe and Transformers, is based on a Hasbro product, friends use the spirit board to search for clues into the death of one of their own, who died while playing the game alone. Don't do that. Critical reception is overwhelmingly poor. Rated 15+

The Pact II – A young woman (Camilla Luddington) plagued by nightmares is given some unsettling news by a FBI special agent (Patrick Fischler) – there's a copycat of these deceased Judas Killer and she's his next target. Critical reception is generally poor. Rated 15+

Kill Dil– A loose rip-off in the name and style of Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill, this Bollywood action-comedy-romance has two roaming killers (Ranveer Singh and Ali Zafar) coming into conflict over a free-spirited young woman (Parineeti Chopa). It's in Hindi with English and Thai subtitles at Major Cineplex Sukhumvit, Rama III and Pattaya.

Also showing

25 Years of Freedom: The Fall of the Berlin Wall and the Transformation of Central Europe– The embassy of Germany, with cooperation from Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland, is mounting an exhibition and film series at the Bangkok Art and Culture Center, marking a quarter century since the fall of the Berlin Wall. Opening yesterday – 25 years to the day that the first openings in the wall appeared – the exhibition runs until November 23. The film schedule got underway yesterday with the comedy Good Bye, Lenin! Apologies. I didn't hear about this event until now. Tonight, it's the Oscar-winning thriller The Lives of Others, about a East German secret police officer who is conflicted about his work at a covert listening post. Tomorrow is the 1964 East German classic, Divided Heaven, about a couple struggling to stay together as the wall comes up. The shows are at 6pm and are in German with English subtitles. Entry is free.

The Friese-Greene Club– Tonight, a fall down some stairs sends a travel writer n a different direction. It's The Accidental Tourist, starring William Hurt, Kathleen Turner and Geena Davis, part of a monthlong look at the films of Lawrence Kasdan. Halloween continues on Fridays this month with the king of the creepy-kid movies, 1976's Satanic-possession tale The Omen. Saturday, it's one of Johnny Depp's finest performances. He's gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson in Terry Gilliam's wonderfully demented Fear and Loathing and Las Vegas. And on Sunday it's more black-and-white horror classics with 1931's Frankenstein. Next Wednesday, it's "animation for adults" with Waltz With Bashir, which covers the 1982 Lebanon War in epic style and is perhaps the only animated feature documentary ever made. Shows are at 8pm. The FGC is down an alley next to the Queen's Park Imperial Hotel on Sukhumvit Soi 22. There's just nine seats, so book them. Also, check the Facebook page for updates and program changes.

Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand – The 2014 edition of the FCCT's Contemporary World Film Series comes to a close with one of last year's most-acclaimed Thai films, Tang Wong (ตั้งวง), a teen coming-of-age drama and social satire. Directed by Kongdej Jaturanrasmee (whose So Be It was recently in cinemas), the story centers on four boys living in a Bangkok housing block who each make a vow to a spirit-house shrine in hopes of achieving success in their various endeavors. To honor the vow, they must learn a traditional Thai dance, which none of them knows much about. So they hire a neighbor, a transgender dancer at the Erawan shrine, to teach them. Much acclaimed at festival appearances worldwide, Tang Wong swept up most of Thailand's major film awards this year. The screening is at 7pm on Monday, November 17 at the FCCT. Producer Soros Sukhum will be present to talk about the film and answer questions. Admission for non-members is 150 baht plus 100 baht more for anyone wanting to drink Thai wine.

ExpatZ– A short film made in Thailand that has been winning awards at fests worldwide makes its Bangkok premiere next week at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand. Directed by Jimmie Wing, ExpatZ is a psychedelic horror-comedy mash-up set in the totally fictional country of Wighland. There, a foreign TV journalist encounters all sorts of colorful characters as he tracks down a rogue retired American military officer. It recently picked up the grand prize for best short film at the Urban Nomad Film Festival in Taiwan, which praised the film for its "humorous and visually alluring style." The screening is set for Wednesday, November 19, at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand. The event starts at 6pm with hamburgers, followed by the film at 7pm. Wing will talk and answer questions later, along with co-leads Soontorn Meesri and Lex Luther. Kamonrat Ladseeta, who plays Madame Quoits, the wife of Commander Quoits (Darren Potter), will also field questions.

Alliance Française – France during World War I has been the theme of this month's screenings. Next week's movie is the 1962 classic Jules et Jim, François Truffaut's tragic romance about the love triangle between Bohemian friends – Frenchman Jim (Henri Serre), shy Austrian Jules (Oskar Werner) and Jules' girlfriend and later wife Catherine (Jeanne Moreau). It's in French with English subtitles at 7pm on Wednesday, November 19.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1

Picking up from last year's entry in the franchise, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 follows heroine Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) as she escapes from the Quarter Quell death-game only to return home to District 12 and find it utterly destroyed.

She then moves on to District 13, where she agrees to be the figurehead of a rebellion against the Capitol. However, difficulties arise when she discovers her longtime guy pal Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) has been taken prisoner and is being used as a tool against the rebellion.

Julianne Moore joins the cast this time around, portraying President Alma Coin, the leader of insurgent District 13.

Returnees include Donald Sutherland as Panem's President Snow and Woody Harrelson as Katniss' mentor Haymitch. And Philip Seymour Hoffman puts in one of his last filmed appearances before he died in February, reprising his role from last year's Hunger Games: Catching Fire.

Critical reception is crazily positive. But keep in mind, this is only a placeholder for the big finale, Mockingjay Part 2, which doesn't come out until a year from now.

And something else to watch out for – in Thailand, the Hunger Games films are controversial because the three-fingered salute used by the rebels has been adopted by anti-coup protesters. On Wednesday, students used the salute to protest a visit by coup leader and prime minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha. And, having had business disrupted in the past by political protests, Apex cinemas has decided to not show the film, so no Hunger Games at Lido or Scala. Rated 15+

Also opening

Magic in the Moonlight – Woody Allen directs this comedy, set in the 1920s' French Riviera, about a curmudgeonly English magician (Colin Firth) who performs as a Chinese conjurer. He’s asked by a friend to expose a young woman (Emma Stone) who claims to be a spirit medium but her wealthy clients are convinced she’s a hoax. Simon McBurney, Jacki Weaver, Hamish Linklater and Marcia Gay Harden also star. Critical reception is mixed, with the consensus being this is minor Woody. Rated G

Bittersweet Chocolate– The description I was given for this doesn't match the gross poster. But maybe that'll make folks curious. Oompon Kitikamara directs this indie thriller about a mother who surprises her son with a birthday treat – an ultra-dark and bittersweet chocolate cake. Its mysterious taste makes strange things happen. It's at House on RCA.

Also showing

The Friese-Greene Club– Lawrence Kasdan gives the '90s generation their own "big chill" with Grand Canyon, tonight. Tomorrow, there's Jack Nicholson in one of his most unhinged performances in Stanley Kubrick's The Shining. Saturday is another classic Johnny Depp performance, portraying the legendary maker of some of the worst movies ever in Tim Burton's Ed Wood– probably the best movie Burton has ever made. Bring your mother on Sunday for the black-and-white horror classic Psycho. And next Wednesday is a special event – join the club if you want to find out what. Shows are at 8pm. The FGC is down an alley next to the Queen's Park Imperial Hotel on Sukhumvit Soi 22. There's just nine seats, so book them. Also, check the Facebook page for updates and program changes.

Alliance Française – France during World War I has been the theme of this month's screenings. Next week's offering is the 2005 made-for-TV documentary Premier Noel Dans Les Tranchées (First Christmas in the Trenches), which covers the Christmas truce of 1914, when troops on all sides of the bloody trench war laid down their arms for the holiday and celebrated together. It's in French with English subtitles at 7pm on Wednesday, November 26.

Take note

Apologies for neglecting to mention the Spanish Film Festival that was held last weekend at SF World Cinema. For some reason, word of it did not reach me. I aim to keep track of such events, but this one slipped through the cracks. Again, sorry.

It's a light week for new openings this week as multiplexes clear the decks for The Hunger Games. But the next two weeks will be busy, with bunches of movies opening – big tentpoles like Ridley Scott's Exodus and Disney's Big Hero 6 among them – plus His Majesty the King's birthday coming up on December 5. There is talk of several special screenings in honor of the King, so I hope to hear more about those beforehand.

The Master

Ask about Thai filmmaker or movie critic of a certain age how they managed to see classic world cinema works in the age before Pirate Bay, they will likely admit they got their fix from Mr. Van, Bangkok’s legendary bootleg movie vendor.

He’s the subject of The Master, a new documentary by Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit, which was supported this year by the Asian Project Market of the Busan International Film Festival.

Named after the Thai word for his trademark eyeglasses, it was Mr. Van who opened the eyes of countless Thais to subtitled cinema in the 1990s and early 2000s, before bittorrent trackers and streaming video became the main way to see pirated movies.

Much as he did with his acclaimed experimental romance 36, which evoked memories of 36-exposure rolls of camera film, Nawapol is again looking back on a form of outmoded media. In the case of The Master, Nawapol hits the rewind button to a time before Blu-ray, DVDs or even VCDs, to when we watched movies on videotape.

In a promotional image for the film, the Mary Is Happy, Mary Is Happy director holds up his prized VHS copy of Run Lola Run.

Other directors also pose with their Mr. Van artifacts. Pen-ek Ratanaruang prizes his copy of Akira Kurosawa’s 1951 adaptation of The Idiot while Bangjong Pisanthanakun holds tight to Happiness, a 1998 drama by Todd Solondz.

Banjong credits Van’s videos as a big influence, and without them, his hit 2004 thriller Shutter might not have turned out the same. “He is my coming of age,” Banjong says.

Others include directors Songyos Sugmakanan and Kongdej Jaturanrasmee, and film critics Kittisak Suwannapokin, Prawit Taengaksorn, Manotham Theamtheabrat, Graiwoot Chulphongsathorn and Wiwat “Filmsick” Lertwiwatwongsa. Concert promoter Yuthana “Pa Ted” Boonorm and radio hosts Pongnarin Ulice and Pornchai Wiriyapraphanon also share of their time in the cult of Mr. Van.

“He helped establish independent cinema,” film critic Kong Rithdee says of Mr. Van, who brought in movies that generally weren’t distributed in Thailand. Since then, the indie cinema movement has gained a foothold, and the types of edgy movies he stocked are now more commonplace in Bangkok cinemas.

“He didn’t get rich from his shop. He created his shop because of his love of cinema,” Nawapol points out in promotional materials for The Master. “A coin has two sides. Movie piracy is illegal. It devastates filmmakers and movie industry. Still, it is difficult to judge whether Mr Van was morally right or wrong. The movie aims to show piracy cycle and its effects, both bad and good.”

It's at House on RCA. Please note, that due to technical issues, there are no English subtitles.

Also opening

Saint Laurent– Bertrand Bonello directs this style-oozing biopic that chronicles the excesses and desires of the French fashion designer during the peak of his creativity from 1967 to 1976. Gaspard Ulliel stars as YSL with Jérémie Renier as his lover and business partner Pierre Bergé. Louis Garrel, Léa Seydoux and Amira Casar also star. This is the second film this year to explore the life of Saint Laurent, but unlike the earlier one, called Yves Saint Laurent, this was made without the cooperation of the fashion house. Nonetheless, it's France's official submission to next year's Academy Awards. Critical reception is mixed. It's in French with English and Thai subtitles. Rated 18+

Horns – Hung over from a night of hard drinking, a young man (Daniel Radcliffe) wakes up to find devilish horns growing from his head. They give him the power to make people confess their sins, which comes in handy as he tries to solve the mystery of his girlfriend's rape and murder, a crime for which he's the chief suspect. Juno Temple and Max Minghela also star. Alexandre Aja (The Hills Have Eyes, Haute Tension) directs. Critical reception is mixed. Rated 18+

Jessabelle– Returning to her childhood home to Louisiana to recuperate from a horrific car wreck, a young woman (Sarah Snook) faces a long-tormented spirit that has been waiting for her return and has no intention of letting her leave. Critical reception is mostly negative. Rated 13+

Phee Thuang Khuen (ผีทวงคืน a.k.a. The Return) – Director Sakchai Deenan, who's built his career on cross-border productions like the Thai-Lao romance Sabaidee Luang Prabang moves further afield with this multi-strand horror tale that takes place in four countries. Touted as the first Asean Economic Community film, it has stories from Thailand, Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia. In Bangkok, a Lao housemaid is murdered. But when her sister returns with her body to Vientiane, she discovers their mother is possessed. In Siem Reap, a Thai police officer accidentally kills a Myanmar worker while in Myanmar a woman is unable to reach her husband who is working in Thailand. In true AEC spirit, the cast comes from all four countries – Thai actor Sirachuch "Michael" Chienthaworn, Sakchai's regular actress, former Lao beauty queen Khamly Philavong, Cambodian TV host Thon Lakana and Nutchnat Srithong, from Shan State, Myanmar. With perhaps a few exceptions, the soundtrack appears to be in Thai only with no English subtitles. Rated 18+

1448 Rak Rao Khong Khrai (1448 รักเราของใคร , a.k.a. Love Among Us) – Popular indie film actress Apinya Sakuljaroensuk (Concrete Clouds, Fin Sugoi) is a young woman who is mistreated by her boyfriend and catches the eye of a lady photographer (Issabella Lete). She slowly starts to accept romantic moves from the woman, but the two face obstacles from their families, who refuse to accept the relationship. Rated 15+

Sanya Hang Khimhun (สัญญาแห่งคิมหันต์, a.k.a. Summer to Winter) – Two lonely young men meet on a beach and quickly become friends, but their relationship is put to the test as friendship turns to romance. It's at Major Cineplex. No English subtitles. Rated 15+

Sur-Real (เกมส์พลิก / โชคชะตาเล่นตลก / รักตาลปัตร, Game Plik/Chokchata Len Talok/ Rak Talapad) – Three bawdy tales are intertwined in this indie sex comedy. They involve a conflict between a police officer, a garage owner and a taxi driver that ends in murder, a heartbroken man who happens to witness the murder, and another man who has mixed feelings when his transgender college friend marries a Westerner. It's at Apex Siam Square, Esplanade Ratchada and Major Cineplex Ratchayothin and Chiang Mai Central Airport Plaza. Rated 20-

Happy Ending– Saif Ali Khan and Ileana D'Cruz star in this Bollywood comedy about writer who's lived the high life in Los Angeles for years after his hit novel. Out of money and fighting writer's block, he's tasked with writing a hit movie for a fading star (Govinda), so he looks to a popular new writer on the scene for inspiration and romance. It's in Hindi with English and Thai subtitles at Major Cineplex Sukhumvit, Rama III and Pattaya.

Also showing

The Friese-Greene Club– November winds down with just two regular screenings left. Tonight, writer-director Lawrence Kasdan launches the career of Kathleen Turner with the hot, hot, hot Body Heat. Tomorrow and Saturday, there's a special event, the sneak preview of a new documentary, We Shot the Rock and Lived by the Roll, about classic rock photographers of the 1960s and '70s. On Sunday, it's the classic horror The Wolf Man starring Lon Chaney Jr. And it's Christmas all month in December, with a schedule filled with the type of Christmas movies you might not necessarily think of as Christmas movies, such as, for starters, Brazil, Gremlins, American Psycho, Lady in the Lake, In Bruges and The Hudsucker Proxy. Shows are at 8pm. The FGC is down an alley next to the Queen's Park Imperial Hotel on Sukhumvit Soi 22. There's just nine seats, so book them. Also, check the Facebook page for updates and program changes.

Alliance Française – Animation is featured this month, beginning with 2012's Le jour des corneilles (The Day of the Crows), a fantasy about a boy raised by an ogre of a father who prohibits the wild child from leaving their forest home. But after his father is injured in a fall, the boy ventures into the outside world. He encounters a village where he seeks help from a doctor and is drawn to the doc's young daughter. Jean Reno, Claude Chabrol and Isabelle Carré are among the voice cast. It's in French with English subtitles at 7pm on Wednesday, December 3. Take note, there will be no free film program on December 10; after that, the next show will be A Cat in Paris on December 17.

Films for His Majesty the King– With His Majesty the King's 87th birthday on December 5, there are many special film programs planned. Chief among them are free screenings of The Story of Mahajanaka, a Buddhist-inspired adventure tale written by His Majesty and released as an illustrated storybook and comic series. Virtually all of the Thai industry's animation studios have been at work to make the epic story into a cartoon feature. It'll screen for free at various Major Cineplex branches from this Saturday until December 6 and will also be shown on TV. For further details, please see the article in The Nation. Another project is by the Thai Phueng Thai Foundation of former politician Sudarat Keyuraphan, which supported the making of 10 short films about the King's virtues and duties. They include Baan Khong Boonmen directed by Attapporn Theemakron and starring Hong Kong movie actor Simon Yam. There is also the Thai Niyom project, initiated by junta leader Prayut Chan-o-cha. With support by the Thai Film Director Association, it has 12 shorts by young helmers who aim to promote the military government's campaign to teach 12 core moral values to Thai youngsters. Both short-film packages will screen for free at various Major Cineplex branches on December 6 and will also be on TV. However, I have no information about how to obtain tickets.

Sneak previews

Big Hero 6 – Riding high on the success of Frozen, Walt Disney Animation Studios offers this likely strong contender for the best animated feature Oscar. Adapted from a Marvel comic – a first for Disney since taking over Marvel – the story focuses on teen robotics prodigy Hiro Hamada, who forms a bond with Baymax, an inflatable personal care robot. Hiro transforms the awkward and bulky robot into a superhero who forms the core of a new team of crimefighters in futuristic San Fransokyo. Critical reception is overwhelmingly positive. It's in sneak previews with a couple rounds of shows from around 2pm daily at most places. It opens wide on December 4.

Finding Vivian Maier – For decades, a Chicago woman who worked as a nanny led a secret life as a street photographer, capturing more than 100,000 images in the 1950s, '60s and '70s. Her treasure trove of work was uncovered by chance when three collectors bought some boxes of photos at an auction. Their effort to find out more about the incredible person who took them led them to folks who were cared for by Maier in their youth. Directed by John Maloof and Charlie Siskel, the documentary covers how Maloof discovered her work and, after her death, uncovered her life. Part of a new series at SF Cinemas called Doc Holiday, it's in sneak previews on Saturday ahead of more shows from December 5 to 7 and December 12 to 14.

Take note

I'm taking a break, so no new updates here until December 18.

Somboon

The opening film of this year's World Film Festival of Bangkok, the documentary Somboon (ปู่สมบรูณ์, Poo Somboon), returns to the screens this week in a limited release at SF cinemas.

It follows the efforts of the title character, a remarkable elderly gentleman who devotes his life to the care of his chronically ailing wife of 45 years. The documentary is the debut feature of Krissada Tipchaimeta, a 28-year-old film school graduate.

In Bangkok, it's at SF World Cinema at CentralWorld and SF Cinema City at The Mall Bang Kapi. It's also at SF cinemas in Khon Kaen and Chiang Mai as well as the Dej Udom Theatre in Ubon Ratchathani. Rated G

Also opening

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies– Director Peter Jackson wraps up his bloated adaptation of JRR Tolkien's slim prequel novel to the Lord of the Rings. At first there are three armies – the dwarves, having reclaimed their mountain kingdom from the dragon Smaug, are beseiged by the woodland elves of Mirkwood and the men of Lake-Town. But then comes an attack by the forces of evil – orcs and wargs – forcing dwarves, elves and men into an alliance, held together by the supernatural forces commanded by Gandalf the wizard. Critical reception is mixed. It's in real 3D in some cinemas, including IMAX, and as with the previous two entries, there might be versions screening in 3D with the high-definition high frame rate, so look for the HFR logo at the box office if you're into that sort of thing. Rated G

Stonehearst Asylum– A young doctor (Jim Sturgess) is thrown into an unpredictable situation when he arrives for his internship at Stonehearst Asylum, where nothing is as it seems. He's at first mesmerized by a woman there (Kate Beckinsale) and drawn to the experiments of the asylum's superintendent (Ben Kingsley) until the truth about the place is revealed. Michael Caine and Brendan Gleeson also star. Brad Anderson (The Call, Transsiberian) directs. Also called Eliza Graves, and adapted from an Edgar Allen Poe short story, critical reception is mixed. Rated 15+

The Possession of Michael King– "Found footage" recounts the ordeal of an atheist filmmaker who sets out to debunk the existence of God and the Devil after his wife dies after receiving poor advice from a psychic. Released straight-to-video in the U.S., critical reception is mixed. Rated 18+

P.K.— The arrival of a stranger with a child-like outlook on life causes those around him to rethink the way they see the world. Aamir Khan stars as as the innocent title character with Sanjay Dutt and Anushka Sharma among the other leads. It's in Hindi with English and Thai subtitles Paragon, Embassy Diplomat Screens and Major Cineplex Sukhumvit, Rama III and Pattaya. Opens Friday.

Also showing

The Friese-Greene Club– It's Christmas all month at the club, with a selection of movies that might not necessarily be about Christmas. Though some are. This week's titles are Billy Wilder's The Apartment tonight, Whit Stillman's Metropolitan tomorrow, the slasher Christmas Evil on Saturday and Meet Me in St. Louis on Sunday. Next Tuesday, don't shoot your eye out – it's the holiday classic A Christmas Story, followed on Wednesday's Christmas Eve with the now-traditional FGC screening of It's a Wonderful Life. The club's bar be closed on Christmas Day, but members and holiday refugees are invited to "BYOB" to celebrate. See the Facebook page for details. Shows are at 8pm. The FGC is down an alley next to the Queen's Park Imperial Hotel on Sukhumvit Soi 22. There's just nine seats, so book them.

Björk: Biophilia Live – Blurring the lines between film, music and art, the latest concert movie by the Icelandic avant-garde singer will be projected onto the front of the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre on Saturday night in an open-air screening. Supported by the Goethe-Institut, it's the closing entry of the Goethe's annual Science Film Festival. To get another of your senses working in this multimedia experience, Thai artist Pinaree Sanpitak will create an edible landscape art installation. The show starts at 8pm, but for those who want to find out more, there's something going on at 5.30pm on Saturday in the BACC's fifth-floor auditorium, with the screening of the behind-the-scenes documentary When Björk Met David Attenborough.

Alliance Française – An animated feature closes out the year's free French screenings. It's the French-Belgian-Irish produced Brendan et le Secret de Kells (The Secret of Kells), which was released in 2009 with an English soundtrack and was nominated for an Academy Award. The adventure tale is a ficitionalized account of the discovery of the Book of Kells, an illuminated manuscript of the Bible that is considered a national treasure in Ireland. It's in French with English subtitles at 7pm on Wednesday, December 24. Take note, there will be no free film program on New Year's Eve; programs resume at the Alliance on January 7.

Take note

I'm back after a two-week break. In my absence, a couple of noteworthy Thai films were released.

First, there's the slick commercial romantic comedy with the gibberish title I Fine ... Thank You ... Love You, about a boorish mechanic striking up a relationship with his English-language tutor. It reportedly crossed the benchmark 100-million-baht threshold at the box office in its first three days and holds second place for the best opening of a Thai film. The other is the indie drama W, about the struggles of a college freshman thrown into the deep end at a faculty that wasn't her first choice. The debut feature by Chonlasit Upagnit, it's at House on RCA.

And the Goethe-Institut's annual Open-Air Cinema Series has started, with screenings at 7.30pm on Tuesdays at the institute off Sathorn Soi 1. They're taking a break for Christmas and New Year's, so the series resumes on January 6 with Forget Me Not, and runs until February 17.

The Tale of the Princess Kaguya

Studio Ghibli co-founder Isao Takahata (Grave of the Fireflies, My Neighbors the Yamadas) returns with The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, his first feature animation in 14 years.

An elderly bamboo cutter discovers a tiny baby in the woods, and the man and his wife believe the rapidly growing girl is of divine origin. They prepare her for a life of nobility and move into a palace where she attracts many suitors. But happiness and true love do not come easy.

The closing entry of this year's World Film Festival of Bangkok, The Tale of the Princess Kaguya could very well be the second-to-last Studio Ghibli offering, following the retirement of studio co-founder Hayao Miyazaki and the release of his The Wind Rises. One more is in the works, When Marnie Was There by Arriety director Hiromasa Yonebayashi, and will likely be making the rounds next year.

Winning several awards at festivals worldwide, Princess Kaguya has been tipped as a possible nominee for the Academy Award for best animated feature. Critical reception is 100% positive, with much praise for the film's painterly, watercolor-like look.

It's in Japanese with English and Thai subtitles at Apex in Siam Square and House on RCA. Rated G.

Also opening

Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb – The action-comedy franchise bows out on a bittersweet note with the last appearance by Robin Williams as President Theodore Roosevelt. In this third entry in the series, museum security guard Larry Daley (Ben Stiller) discovers that the ancient magic that makes the Natural History Museum’s exhibitions come to life at night is dying out. To save his friends, Larry heads to the museum’s London branch in a search for answers. Rebel Wilson, Ricky Gervais, Steve Coogan, Owen Wilson and Dan Stevens also star. Critical reception is mixed. Rated G.

The Good Lie– A brash-but-well-meaning American woman (Reese Witherspoon) has much to learn when she is assigned to help with the resettlement of three Sudanese men – survivors of their country’s generation of “lost boys” war orphans of the 1980s. Critical reception is generally positive. Rated 15+

Rak Mod Kaew (รักหมดแก้ว, a.k.a. Love on the Rock) – Veteran singer-actress Marsha Wattanapanich heads the ensemble cast in this tale of fun-loving friends and romance. She's Ou, among a close-knit group of partiers who hang out at a pub. Among their pals are Baggio (Naprat Ratananit) and Fai-Liaw (Pilaiporn Supinchomphoo), a couple who are dating but have agreed not to commit. Ou, Man (Pongsak Rattanapong) and Bo (Pongkool Suebsueng) support the decision, but feelings start to change and all five find themselves at a crossroads. Released by studio M-Thirtynine. Saranyoo Jiralak (Last Summer, Secret Sunday) directs. Rated 18_

Game Plook Phi (เกมปลุกผี, a.k.a. Ghost Coins) – Ghostly revenge comes back a hundredfold after teen pranksters trap their friend in a graveyard and then steal a coin from the mouth of a corpse. Released by Five Star Production, the director is Tiwa Methaisong, a talented lensman who has previously directed a few other decent thrillers, particularly the controversial 2009 effort Meat Grinder. Rated 15+

Also showing

The Friese-Greene Club– A few more Christmas-themed movies will close out the year at the club. The bartender has the night off tonight, though refugees needing a place to celebrate may "BYOB". For Boxing Day tomorrow, it's the holiday romance-and-friendship classic Love Actually followed on Saturday with the cult-favorite neo-noir comedy Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang starring Robert Downey Jr. and Val Kilmer. Sunday has An Affair to Remember, and the year's final entry on Tuesday is the epic sci-fi Children of Men. Check the club's Facebook page for updates into the New Year. Shows are at 8pm. The FGC is down an alley next to the Queen's Park Imperial Hotel on Sukhumvit Soi 22. There's just nine seats, so book them.

Sneak preview

Stand by Me Doraemon – One of Japan's longest-running and and most-popular franchises, Doraemon enters the computer-animation age with this first CG-animated entry. Based on the first seven volumes of the manga series, this is an origin tale, depicting how a robotic cat was sent from the future to teach and protect a bratty boy named Nobita. Thai-dubbed, it's in sneak previews from around 2pm at most multiplexes before opening in wide release next week. Rated G

Take note

Owing to the New Year's Eve holiday, movies will open next week on Wednesday, a day earlier than usual.

Satree Lek Tob Loke Taek

Poj Anon, Thailand's leading maker of films featuring cross-dressing actors in bad wigs, offers his own take on the true story of the “iron ladies” – the transgender-queer volleyball team from Lampang that won a men's national championship in the 1990s, with Satree Lek Tob Loke Taek (สตรีเหล็กตบโลกแตก).

It is another version of story that is already a fine film, released in 2000, Satree Lek (The Iron Ladies). It was among the first in a new wave of Thai titles to make a splash internationally and was directed by Yongyoot Thongkongtoon, making his debut. He even made a sequel, and has since gone on to be one of the major players behind the hit-making Thai studio GTH.

Always the opportunist, Poj makes films that seem ripped from the headlines, and his volleyball movie has synergy with current affairs thanks to the women's national volleyball team winning a world championship this year. He drafted them for a cameo appearance in his film.

The remake has enlisted a few prominent male stars to don wigs and loud makeup, among them sought-after talent "Film" Rattapoom Toekongsap and bespectacled character actor Padung “Jazz Chuanchuen” Songsang. Ubiquitous little comedienne, actress and TV presenter "Tukky" Sudarat Butrprom is also featured, portraying the coach. Rated 15+

Also opening

Seventh Son– Jeff "the Dude" Bridges mumbles and chews his way through the scenery in this fantasy epic. He's Master Gregory, a knight of ancient times who tangles with a witch (an also-scenery-munching Julianne Moore) who he imprisoned ages ago but is now out for vengeance. The only way to defeat her is to train a new apprentice (Ben Barnes), the seventh son of a seventh son. Critics, so far, aren't falling for any of the tricks. Rated 13+

Tua Phor, Riak Phor (a.k.a. The One Ticket) – Local studio Sahamongkolfilm offers what it thinks New Year's viewers want to see – a crass comedy starring former boyband singer "Dan" Worawech Danuwong. He's a young slacker father who'd rather party with his friends than spend time with this daughter, and when he squanders the girl's savings, he's deprived her of a chance to see her favorite Japanese band. To put things right, dad has to do everything he can to get her that concert ticket. Rated 15+

Stand by Me Doraemon – One of Japan's longest-running and and most-popular franchises, Doraemon enters the computer-animation age with this first CG-animated entry. Based on the first seven volumes of the manga series, this is an origin tale, depicting how a robotic cat was sent from the future to teach and protect a bratty boy named Nobita. It's Thai-dubbed in most place, though SFW CentralWorld might have the original Japanese soundtrack. Rated G.

Also showing

German Open Air Cinema– After a break for the holidays, the weekly series resumes on Tuesday with Forget Me Not, a 2012 documentary by David Sieveking, in which he uncovers the past of his mother, who is suffering from Alzheimer's disease. The show is at 7.30pm at the Goethe Institut off Sathorn Soi 1.
Alliance Française – The year opens with 8 Fois Debout, a comedy about a young mother struggling to find work and support her son. The show is at 7pm on Wednesday, January 7.

Take note

Happy new year! Because of the holiday, movies are released a day earlier than usual.

I had yet to see a January schedule from the Friese-Greene Club, so watch their Facebook page for updates.

As the year gets underway, there are a number of film events in the works. Among the highlights will be the Polish Film Festival from January 18 to 22 at SFW CentralWorld.

Bangkok Cinema Scene: Movies opening August 21-27, 2014

Bangkok Cinema Scene special: 18th Thai Short Film and Video Festival, August 28-September 7, 2014

Bangkok Cinema Scene: Movies opening August 28-September 3, 2014

Bangkok Cinema Scene: Movies opening September 4-10, 2014

Bangkok Cinema Scene: Movies opening September 11-17, 2014

Bangkok Cinema Scene: Movies opening September 18-24, 2014

Bangkok Cinema Scene: Movies opening September 25-October 1, 2014

Bangkok Cinema Scene: Movies opening October 2-8, 2014

Bangkok Cinema Scene: Movies opening October 9-14, 2014

Bangkok Cinema Scene special: World Film Festival of Bangkok, October 17-26

Bangkok Cinema Scene: Movies opening October 16-22, 2014

Bangkok Cinema Scene: Movies opening October 23-29, 2014

Bangkok Cinema Scene: Movies opening October 30-November 5, 2014

Bangkok Cinema Scene: Movies opening November 6-12, 2014

Bangkok Cinema Scene: Movies opening November 13-19, 2014

Bangkok Cinema Scene: Movies opening November 20-26, 2014

Bangkok Cinema Scene: Movies opening November 26-December 3, 2014

Bangkok Cinema Scene: Movies opening December 18-24, 2014

Bangkok Cinema Scene: Movies opening December 25-30, 2014

Bangkok Cinema Scene: Movies opening December 31, 2013-January 7, 2015