Asian Cinema

As other, non-4DK related matters have been making demands on my time of late, I've reached out to some friends in the blogosfear to contribute guest posts. The first comes from my esteemed friend, colleague and boss over at Teleport City, Keith Allison.Of the three science fiction films produced by East German studio DEFA that found their way to the United States, Eolomea is often considered the least of the three. It lacks the 1950s pulp appeal of The Silent Star and the eye-popping disco style of In the Dust of the Stars. Compared to those two brightly colored space adventures, Eolomea is a more somber affair set in a lived-in solar system where the wonder and daring of space travel has been replaced by workaday drudgery and blue-collar boredom. The space stations are less wonders of futurist architecture and more akin to a grubby bachelor pad. The cosmonauts of Eolomea are not bold venturers into the great beyond; they are mostly irritated guys who just want to do their time and get home, like a crew stationed at some remote Antarctic outpost.Eolomea begins with one of those multi-cultural “general assembly meeting” that are usually convened to discuss what to do about the Mysterians. Scientists and associated bureaucrats on Earth are panicked when they start losing contact with their far-flung network of space stations. Unable to figure out what might be causing this (some sort of plague is suspected), they take the emergency measure of freezing all space flights. This order sits poorly with cosmonaut Dan Lagny (Ivan Andonov), stationed on a remote outpost with only one other ennui-wracked crewmember for company. Lagny is sick of space stations and endless voids, and his return to Earth is delayed by this new order. Luckily, space -- like the Soviet Union -- is pretty big, and most of the people on the outskirts of the colonized cosmos simply ignore orders from Earth.Thus is Dan able to escape the confines of their little station and return home, where he can don space-age (1970s) leisure-wear and yell at the sky. His retirement is derailed when he meets scientist Maria Scholl (Cox Habbema), in charge of investigating the communications blackouts and uncovering the mystery behind the single cryptic message anyone has received from the space stations: the single world “Eolomea,” which seems to have no meaning. Despite his grouchiness, Dan is pressed into service once more. The investigation eventually uncovers something sinister to do with another prominent scientist and leads Dan, Maria, and their small crew to the littered and wrecked halls of one of the seemingly abandoned space stations -- seemingly.The dramatic change in tone that sets Eolomea apart from other DEFA sci-fi films is thanks largely to it being one of the first Eastern Bloc science fiction films released in the wake of 2001: A Space Odyssey. That film effectively ushered in a new era, one less concerned with rocket models and monsters and more concerned with human drama played against the vastness of space. The first Communist response to 2001 was 1970’s Signale – Ein Weltraumabenteuer, a German production that places one foot in the pre-2001 world of space pulp and the other in awkward attempts at post-2001 intellectualism. That film is largely forgotten, falling as it does in the twin shadows of both 2001 and the Soviet response, Solaris, a stark and complex film that is as well-regarded and almost as well-known as 2001. Also existing in that shadow is Eolomea, based on a book by Bulgarian writer Angel Vagenshtain, released the same year as Solaris and promptly forgotten until recently.Although its disjointed timeline and contemplations on the emptiness of space make Eolomea a more complexly structured film than Silent Star and In the Dust of the Stars, it’s still relatively accessible compared to Solaris and 2001: A Space Odyssey. The central mystery proves more solvable than the mind-bending freak-outs that comprise the ends of either of those movies

It’s like I am a drug addict and the series ‘Khun Chai Puttipat’ is my crack–I can’t get enough of it and most likely I will suffer from withdraw symptoms when the lakorn ends this Friday May 24, 2013. It has been a long time since I have been MAJORLY obsess with a show, since the Korean series ‘Coffee Prince’–that was difficult since I had to reply on subtitles. With this, I can get all the spoilers I want, watch it live, it’s pretty satisfying getting a quick fix as much as I want. This lakorn transcends beyond James Jirayu, people seem to think the star of the series carries the show–to a certain extent it does but there has to be a good story executed well to make people cling emotionally to it. I think Khun Chai Puttipat is one of those rare gems for lakorns, it does have its flaws but I can overlook them because of the story and the chemistry of the cast. There is no weak characters–they embody what they are playing from the villains you hate to the good guy characters you love. It’s well-acted. I applaud the producers who chose their actors and actresses well. It’s Sunday May 19, 2013 and I have watched all the episodes of Khun Chai Puttipat that aired this weekend from episode 7-9, I think episode 7 was the weakness and it only went uphill from there. It got better and better. I just didn’t want it to end. Because each prime time lakorn is almost 2hrs long, when you are doing summaries, you want it to end. It’s NOT done but I am releasing it. I just didn’t realize how much important dialogue is in this episode. As they are dancing, Bai Bua’s people are plotting to kidnap Krong Kaew to give to Khun Pinit.  After the dance, they parted ways. Khun Chai Puttipat is disturb when he doesn’t see her in the ballroom, someone had asked Krong Kaew to see the host of the event but she is nowhere to be seen and the host is seen talking to other guests. Krong Kaew is lured outside and drugged with a chloroform cloth and placed in a car by Khun Pinit’s people. Ing On and her son Glai-Lerk intercepts Krong Kaew by attacking Khun Pinit’s people. Glai-Lerk attempts to assault Krong Kaew with his mom standing outside the car–what is wrong with this guy. Mom, he was like let me try it first that old guy won’t know about it. And you’re like ew. Luckily, Krong Kaew wakes up and pushed him back. Soon after Khun Chai Puttipat and his two younger brothers Ronnapee and Rachanon came to save her and beat up Glai-Lerk. Khun Chai Puttipat found one of her shoes when they were searching for her. Fighting for her well-being, Krong Kaew attacks Khun Chai Pat without knowing it. He carries her to his car. ‘It’s me, look at me, Kaew! Those people were trying to kidnap for Khun Pinit.’ She looks up and sees him and his two younger brothers. ‘You came to help me.’ Khun Chai Pat:’Right now, you are safe.’ The brothers advised Khun Chai Pat to take Krong Kaew into hiding, Khun Pinit is becoming more ruthless, he won’t stop until he has Krong Kaew, they must flee. Khun Chai Pat:’Will you go with me?’ He puts one of her shoes on for her:’I found this and I knew you were in danger.’ The brothers watched their hermit older brother with a smile, like fangirls. Aw. Khun Chai Pat:’We must quickly leave here.’ She lets out one tear drop and the brothers are like awwing in the background with smiles. Off they went off in his car. Krong Kaew:’I have cause you trouble again.’ Khun Chai Pat with a smile:’Who says that, you are helping me instead. Since I become a doctor I have never taken off not even a day. No one could ever remove me from the operation room until you Kaew.’ Kaew changes the subject:’The road is really dark.’ Khun Chai Pat:’Are you afraid?’ Kaew:’I am scared.’ Khun Chai

On Monday it was announced that Shusuke Kaneko’s upcoming teen survival thriller Ikenie no Dilemma will actually be a trilogy, following the format of Shinjiro Dobashi’s original novel series. The first film, which was announced last month, will get a limited release at United Cinemas Toyosu on July 13, 2013. Then on August 2, the first film will be released on DVD along with two DVD-exclusive sequels. Like the original book trilogy, the three movies will be referenced by their sub-titles:...

It’s a bittersweet win for Nadech as people are debating whether he should have won or not at Pantip and even at Sanook, it should have gone to ‘Porche’ Saran Siriluksana for his highly popular lakorn ‘Yok Luerd Mungkorn’ on Ch7 or even to Aum Atichart for his leading role in the historical Thai lakorn ‘Khun Seuk’ on Ch3 by TV Scene productions. Personally, I did not watch either of those lakorns I can’t make a comparison. I did however watch ‘Torranee Nee Krai Krong’ with Nadech and Yaya, I thought Nadech did well. Besides the whole Pinky and Tanya issue, this seems to be a hot topic. Some argued the Nataraja awards is not voted by popular vote it’s voted like the Oscars by people who work in the industry. Maybe they saw something in Nadech that a normal viewer might not have seen. The 4th annual Nataraja Awards 2012 took place today at the Royal Thai Navy Convention Hall in Bangkok, it aired live a few hours ago on Modern 9 TV. Channel 3 like always dominated the award show, winning nearly every category. Winners for lakorns: Best Lakorn:’Khun Seuk’ by TV Scene productions on Ch3 Best Director: Chanintorn Prasertprasat for ‘Rang Ngao’ on Ch3 Best Actor: Nadech “Barry” Kugimiya for ‘Torranee Nee Krai Krong’ on Ch3 Best Actress: Noon Sirapan Wattanajinda for ‘Buang’ on Ch3 Best Supporting Actor: ‘Pip’ Ravit Terdwong for ‘Rang Ngao’ on Ch3 Best Supporting Actress: ‘Tanya’ Tanyares Ramnarong for ‘Rang Ngao’ on Ch3 Best Cast: ‘Rang Ngao’ from Broadcast Thai Television on Ch3 Best Set: ‘Sin Chronicle’ on Ch3 Best Song: ‘Ngao Tee Mee Hua Jai’ by Min for ‘Rang Ngao’ on Ch3 Best Script:Wisuthichai Bunyakanjon for ‘Rang Ngao’ on Ch3 Best Cinematography:’Khun Seuk’ on Ch3 Best Editing: ‘Raak Boon’ on Ch3. Best Art Direction: ‘Khun Seuk’ on Ch3 Best Costume: ‘Khun Seuk’ on Ch3 ‘Mew’ Nittha Jirayungyurn from the Gentlemen series looking like AFf Taksaorn Pinky Savika with her friend Paul Michio  Nok Sinjai and husband Nok Chatchai Pip showing off his award The winners. Actress and singer ‘Mint’ Mintita Wattanakul with her award Mr. Porche Saran looking mighty handsome in a simple black suit. The ladies of the Sixth Sense Taew went goth for the  award show and it is got to be the weirdest dress of the night.  Is that fake hair? Nadech happily showing off his trophy on the way home? Source: Sanook

The feud  between Pinky Savika the mia noi (mistress) and the mia luang (head wife) ‘Tanya’ Tanyares Ramnarong will never end as Tanya takes a jab at her husband  ‘Peck’ Sanchai Engtrakul at the 4th annual Nataraja Awards today May 19, 2013 after winning the best supporting actress trophy for her portrayal of Nopnapa, a woman crazed by her cheating husband in ‘Rang Ngao’. After thanking the script writer, the producer, CH3 for her award, she thanked her husband and it got a lot of cheers, embarrassing Pinky Savika in the process who was also in the audience with her new boyfriend Paul. ”The last person, I REALLY have to thank my husband ka. My husband P’Peck who made me reach the emotions of Nopnapa consequently making me feel like a real mia luang (head wife) ka,’ said Tanya up on stage. It’s saying you cheated on me with Pinky Savika and it helped my acting with a crazed character in Nopnapa who is also being cheated on repeatedly in the lakorn ‘Rang Ngao’. Ouch. There have been some post on Pantip on how it was inappropriate and Tanya doesn’t know when to stop. You can watch her thank you speech clip at youtube, her thank you message to her husband starts around the 3:50 time mark.

Authors: Loren Portillo, Sean Kotz Photos courtesy of Loren Portillo Ray Harryhausen, doing what he did best. Ray Harryhausen, the pioneering filmmaker and special effects master of such classic films as THE SEVENTH VOYAGE OF SINBAD, VALLEY OF GWANGI, and JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS, passed away peacefully Tuesday May 7th in London England from an undisclosed illness. He was 92 years old. With Ray Harryhausen’s passing came an instantaneous ritual litany of recognizable names testifying to his influence -- Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Peter Jackson, James Cameron, to name a few. But by the same token, there was practically no real discussion of why he had that impact. That’s predictable, really. For most people, this is just a news sidebar, including the legions of web-bound entertainment beat writers frantically culling fragmentary and unchecked sources to adopt a posture of authority for his impromptu obituary. Harryhausen is simply not familiar to most of the new breed of writers cluttering online news services and blogosphere. He outlived his career by 30 years, and for the bulk of the obit writers, his death detoured them from their real concerns, like whether Mylie Cyrus is hotter than Lindsey Lohan. But, the simple fact that Harryhausen’s death resides largely on entertainment pages betrays how poorly his contributions are understood. Continued...

Keenan Wynn, Shelley Winters, Gary Merrill and Michael Rennie in Phone Call from a Stranger (Jean Negulesco - 1952)

Hideo Nakata’s latest foray into the horror, The Complex, opened in Japan yesterday so we thought we’d round off our coverage (until some bright spark of a buyer finally gets off their butt, and buys it for distro in an English speaking territory) with a peak at the latest TV spot for the film. It’s short, but definitely packs a punch. Cant wait to see it! The Complex TV spot The Complex official site

Some people enjoy a slow, experimental, rub-your-nose-in-it indy flick, while others would rather be entertained by something more down-to-earth that moves fast and doesn't require you to figure out what the hell's going on with every cryptic movement or utterance. TOMORROW YOU'RE GONE (2012) might as well have a dividing line between these two groups of viewers painted right down the middle of it.Stephen Dorff (IMMORTALS, BLADE) is compelling as Charlie Rankin, a soon-to-be-released convict whose mentor, The Buddha (Willem Dafoe), promises to take care of Charlie if he'll just do him the favor of rubbing out one of his enemies. But the hit goes dreadfully wrong, and Charlie dreads the prospect of returning to the crime scene the next night to fix it. Especially after meeting Florence Jane (Michelle Monaghan, (MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE III, MR. & MRS. SMITH), a sweetly eccentric porn actress who falls inexplicably in love with Charlie and tries to bring out the good qualities buried deep within him before he destroys himself.Charlie is troubled with a capital "T"--director David Jacobson (DAHMER) has a field day depicting how constant mistrust, paranoia, and nightmares from his past skew his perception of reality until viewers themselves can't really tell what's real and what isn't. This calls for a variety of camera effects that some will find irritating, along with some creative editing that plays around with reality (he sees people who aren't there, including himself) to the point where you start wondering if you're watching an extended "Twilight Zone" episode.After their "meet-cute" on a bus (actually, it's more of a "meet-weird"), we also wonder what the deal is with Florence and why Charlie is so instantly, irresistibly appealing to her. Is she an angel? Is she a figment of his imagination? Or is she just totally nutso? After the botched hit, the film becomes a mini-road movie when they buy a car and drive around the city all day waiting for nightfall when Charlie will deal with his unfinished business once and for all. In one scene, they end up in a church as Florence urges him to open up a line with God and see if it isn't too late for a little redemption of his tortured soul. The rest of the time she's cajoling him to have sex with her as though she'd just gotten out of prison instead of him. I like her character, and Monaghan is very appealing in the role, but Florence is just too good, or too wild, or too weird to be true. Eventually, the inevitable hour arrives when Charlie must either make good or lose his soul forever, with Florence and The Buddha (Willem Dafoe with his usual menacing performance) representing God and the Devil. After all the existential angst and art-house tomfoolery, it's nice that this meandering, disorienting character study manages to give us a semi-satisfying resolution that I found emotionally resonant. The DVD from RLJ Entertainment is in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen with Dolby 5.1 sound and subtitles in English and Spanish. No extras.I liked TOMORROW YOU'RE GONE enough to watch it again and found the second viewing much more rewarding than the first, mainly because I could stop trying to figure out the plot (such as it is) and concentrate on all the hidden meanings (such as they may be). But a lot of you won't like this movie at all, and to you my description of it alone should serve as adequate warning.Buy it at Amazon.comDVDBlu-Ray

Usually I don’t notice  a lot of things, this I noticed–a ‘Domo’ themed backpack near the end of episode 8 of Khun Chai Puttipat. They are at the market to buy food and they are arguing, she is thinking about starting up a shop selling appetizers and sweets in Ayutthaya and he is annoyed she is planning to leave him. Khun Chai Pat:’Why are you always thinking about leaving me?’ He walks away and she follows him. Kaew:’I must be able to raise myself up. I can’t disturb other people from now on.’ Khun Chai Pat:’Who are these other people?’ Kaew utters his name and in the backdrop there are backpacks hanging in a nearby shop, most notably a ‘Domo’ themed backpack. This is annoyed some Thai viewers who complained on Pantip that the Director was careless and this is a period lakorn set in 1961 (2504), why is there a Domo themed backpack when the Domo short-motion animation character was created in 1998 by Japan’s NHK television station. Some found it funny like  this Thai viewer:’5555 (meaning Ha ha ha), my mom found it really funny like huh back then they had Domo too?’ Or this, ‘I didn’t see it because I was too focus on Khun Chai Puttipat.’ Other people started to complain about other details in the lakorn such as the purse (I don’t know which one they are talking about) they didn’t have it back then, Khun Chai Pat’s surgery instruments, his surgery technique,  no blood, guy villain Glai-Lerk (played by DJ Man)’s fixed perfect teeth. ‘Whenever he talks I would notice DJ Man’s arranged teeth,’ wrote a observant Thai viewer on Pantip. And I thought wow, these people watch lakorn in such detail and I was proud I noticed one flaw in the series. One point for me–Oh yea! Some found it distracting, I think most still like the lakorn and are still ‘in’ to the Khun Chai Puttipat and Krong Kaew pair. Back to the scene. Khun Chai Pat:’What are we? Answer me what are we?’ Kaew struggles to answer him. ‘It’s just…’ Khun Chai Pat:’Just a marriage license that makes us husband and wife.’ Kaew:’I will quickly sign the divorce papers as soon as possible. I won’t postpone or delay the process at all.’ Khun Chai Pat:’So you really want to leave me as soon as possible.’–awww she doesn’t. Kaew:’It’s not like that.’ Khun Chai Pat:”Then what do you want?’ Kaew:’You have done a lot for me. You have sacrifice yourself to protect me from danger. You are also caring for my father. I have always been the one who is receiving. I am taking an advantage of you. The thing I want to tell you is that I want to build myself up to have a foundation, to have dignity, to have everything better than what I have now. When that time comes, I want to repay you back.’ Khun Chai Pat playfully:’You are the most conceited and arrogant woman ever.’ Kaew:’A person must stand on their own two feet, they must be beneficial to other people, they can’t just depend on other people forever.’ Khun Chai Pat:’Every word you say is ‘other’ people. Have you  never heard a husband and wife is one person according to the law.’ Kaew:’You keep saying that again.’ Khun Chai Pat:’Because it is the truth.’ He holds up his jade necklace from her neck. ‘Look at this, you are wearing my mother’s jade necklace which was intended to give to her daughter-in-law. Like this, how can we be other people to each other. Most importantly everything I have done is the responsibility of a husband.’ He holds her shoulders and stared into her eyes. ‘Your responsibility is to speak sweetly, act gentle, play the part well.  Don’t forget, the hoodlums are after you, they looking for an opportunity to har