When The Impossible was released, there was a lot of liberal tooth-gnashing about the Eurocentricity of a movie about a cataclysmic event that affected Asian people in far, far greater numbers than the wealthy white folks on which it focuses. The argument, such as it is, is that the glossy Anglo family – stoutly played…
Read moreUncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives is the slow and mesmerizingly hypnotic Thai tale of villager Boonmee, who, together with various kindly ghosts and spirits, recalls his previous incarnations to try to understand why he is dying. It’s thus quite bizarre, other-worldly (the scene with the catfish is pretty disturbing) and even musical…
Read moreBangkok Dangerous
I don’t know why I do it to myself. I only watched the Hollywood remake of Bangkok Dangerous because we’re planning a trip to Thailand later this year and I was curious. It meant of course trying to set aside my qualms about Nicholas Cage, and sitting back to enjoy a panoply of exotic locations,…
Read moreWe’re going to have a Military Coup…..
A great story from Peter Biskind in March’s Vanity Fair; during the filming of The Deer Hunter in Thailand, producer Barry Spikings’ chief Thai liaison was General Kriangsak Chomanan, at the time the supreme commander of the Thai military. The producer simply called him “K.” Spikings recalls; “We needed lots of weapons, helicopters, armored personnel…
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