Harry Potter will probably saturate the cinemas this week, at least the
first few days. In fact, there may not be anything else playing! Only time will
tell. What follows is written BH (Before Harry) and as such any film other than
Harry is on shaky ground. But if Fair Game makes it, catch it.
Now playing in Pattaya
Harry
Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I: UK/ US, Adventure/ Fantasy/ Mystery
– The first of the two-part conclusion to the series; Part II due in July of
2011 – both directed by David Yates, who has directed the last two Harry Potter
films. You know you’re going to have to see it, so why fight it. And you know
what you’re in for: a superbly told tale, with some of the finest British
character actors.
Originally to be released in 3D, this decision was scrapped just weeks before
release, “due to the difficulty of converting the film into the format.” And
therein lies a story. There’s been a growing controversy about last-minute or
even some not-so-last-minute conversions from regular 2D to 3D, generally seen
as a means of charging more at the box-office and cashing in on the 3D “wave.”
Some of these conversions have been dreadful, such as last summer’s Clash of
the Titans and Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland – but even the best
fall far short of a film designed from the start for 3D using 3D cameras at
every step. So at the very, very last minute, Warner Bros. pulled the plug on
the conversion job, fearing it might result in an ignoble end to a noble series.
By doing so they as much as admitted that the conversion process available for
transforming 2D to 3D is simply inadequate at the present time. However, they
are still saying they plan on using the conversion process for the second part
next summer, hoping maybe that the process will improve enough in the meantime
to be acceptable. Stay tuned for the future of 3D in the movies!
But as to the movie itself, I’m puzzled by the reviews by those critics who have
seen it. They are quite mixed reviews, some saying it’s everything you could
wish for, others saying it’s curiously dark with the look and feel of a film
noir thriller from the Forties or a tense wartime spy yarn. Harry is a fugitive,
like an innocent man trapped in the sticky web of a Hitchcock suspense story –
“a development slightly more disconcerting than it is welcome.” Well, we shall
soon see for ourselves.
Fair Game: US, Biography/ Drama/ Thriller – Director Doug Liman’s
fact-based drama of former U.S. ambassador Joseph Wilson; his wife, Valerie
Plame Wilson; and the events of 2003, when her identity as a CIA operative was
leaked after her husband wrote an op-ed piece criticizing the U.S. invasion of
Iraq. Dirty games in the government, surprise, surprise! Generally favorable
reviews.
Skyline:
US, Sci-Fi/ Thriller – A group of friends are awakened in the dead of night by
an eerie light beaming through the window. Like moths to a flame, the light
source is drawing people outside where they suddenly vanish into the air. It’s
soon discovered that an otherworldly force is swallowing the entire human
population. With a cast of relative unknowns and shot independently of any major
studio, this film is very much the vision of its two creators, the Brothers
Strause (Colin and Greg) who have provided visual effects for Avatar, Iron
Man 2, and seemingly every other big-budget production released over the
past decade or so. It looks like an exceedingly well-crafted movie with a new
level of special-effects work. Thai-dubbed at Big C, English elsewhere.
Last Exorcism: US/ France, Horror/ Thriller – When he arrives on the
rural Louisiana farm of Louis Sweetzer, the Reverend Cotton Marcus expects to
perform just another routine “exorcism” on a disturbed religious fanatic. An
earnest fundamentalist, Sweetzer has contacted the charismatic preacher as a
last resort, certain his teenage daughter Nell is possessed by a demon who must
be exorcized. It doesn’t fully deliver on the chilly promise of its Blair
Witch-style premise, but it offers a surprising number of clever thrills.
Generally favorable reviews. At Pattaya Beach only.
Brown Sugar 2 / Nam Tan Daeng 2: Thai, Drama/ Erotic – An omnibus film of
three erotic stories of love, completing the six-story Brown Sugar film
whose first half ran here in August. Here, in addition to sex, we deal with
“greed, wrath, and obsession – presented in the style of Surrealism.” Showcases
the work of three new young filmmakers. Rated 18+ in Thailand. At Big C
only.
Water / Nam: Thai, Comedy/ Horror – The usual Thai slapstick.
Due Date: US, Comedy – A high-strung father-to-be, played by Robert
Downey Jr., is forced to hitch a ride with a college slacker (and aspiring
actor) on a road trip in order to make it to his child’s birth on time. Rated R
in the US for language, drug use, and sexual content. Mixed or average
reviews. Not at Big C.
RED: US, Action/ Comedy – A delight! I had more fun at this one than any
movie in some time. It even made you muse over a few things as you sped along,
but not too much and not too deeply. Mostly it’s just glorious nonsense, with
actors that you have come to love to watch, doing their stuff. Starring Bruce
Willis, Helen Mirren, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich, Karl Urban, and
Mary-Louise Parker – a great cast! They used to be the CIA’s top agents - but
the secrets they knew now make them the Agency’s top targets for assassination.
Rated 18+ in Thailand. Mixed or average reviews, but I loved it! Not at Big C.
Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps: US, Drama – Oliver Stone directs this
follow-up to the acclaimed 1987 film – 23 years later. There are some really
good turns by a number of people: Michael Douglas, Eli Wallach, Frank Langella,
Josh Brolin. Some of their scenes are well done with a lot of intensity in the
execution. But without much point or purpose, for me, and it should have been
angrier. Mixed or average reviews. Major only, if indeed it survives the Harry
onslaught.
Fan Mai: Thai, Action/ Thriller – Really lots of rain and blood. A girl
calls it off with her boyfriend when she finds he’s been seeing someone else –
who’s dead. Spooky.
