Star-studded stories unfold to the toe-tapping beat of Thai country songs in Luk Thung Signature (ลูกทุ่ง ซิกเนเจอร์, a.k.a. Love Beat), a sprawling musical drama by producer-director Prachya Pinkaew. Best known for directing the Tony Jaa martial-arts dramas Ong-Bak and Tom-Yum-Goong, Prachya has long wanted to make a luk thung musical.

Featuring 13 songs, the stories include a brooding business executive (Krissada Sukosol Clapp) who is searching for the cleaning lady he heard singing while he was in the toilet. She's played by Rungrat Mengphanit, a singer who is best known as "Khai Mook The Voice", thanks to her winning appearance on a Thai TV talent show.

Another story centers on a washed-up overweight pop singer (singer-actor Chalitit "Ben" Tantiwut) who finds new popularity when he puts on a glittering rhinestone suit and switches to luk thung.

Other stars include The Voice Thailand Season 1 winner Tanon Jamroen as well as Siraphan Wattanajinda, Chaiyathat Lampoon, Sombat Metanee and Pitsamai Wilaisak, Sumet Ong-art, Su Boonliang and luk thung songwriter Sala Khunawut.

Read more about it in a story in The Nation.






Also in cinemas is a revival run for the 2012 documentary The Act of Killing, which has the perpetrators of genocide in Indonesia in the 1960s re-enacting their gruesome deeds in often self-aggrandizing fashion, in scenes from their favorite types of movies – westerns, film-noir mysteries and lavishly staged musical numbers.

The Act of Killing rubbed me the wrong way when I saw it in a one-off special screening in Bangkok a few years ago. I felt it let those colorful politicians and military figures mostly off the hook for their wave of politically motivated killings in 1965-66. But it was part of a one-two punch by director Joshua Oppenheimer and his "anonymous" team of filmmakers, who followed up the The Act of Killing with the powerful and essential counter-punch, The Look of Silence, which focused on one gentle survivor's personal search for truth and justice.

Brought back by the Documentary Club, this is the 159-minute "director's cut" of The Act of Killing. It won many awards, including the European Film Award for Best Documentary and the Asia Pacific Screen Award. It was also a nominee for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

The Act of Killing opens this week, and the must-see followup The Look of Silence is released next Thursday. There's a special screening of both films from 6pm on Saturday in an event put together by the Documentary Club and Film Kawan, an academic group that specializes in Southeast Asian films. It's at SF World Cinema at CentralWorld.

Apart from that special screening, regular venues for The Act of Killing are SF World, SFX Central Rama 9, SFX Central Lad Phrao and SFX Maya Chiang Mai. For further details, check the Documentary Club Facebook page or SF Cinemas booking site




Departing first-run cinemas after of two-week run is Khon Muay Kab Rak Thee Taektaang (ฅนมวยกับรักที่แตกต่าง, a.k.a. Boxing in Love), in which former childhood sweethearts – traditional dancer Roong and boxer Yord – are reacquainted years later in Bangkok, where Yord gets mixed up with mobsters and is tasked with going undercover in a police sting. Roengsak Misiri and Kriangsak Phinthutrasi direct.

Other new movies this week include Deadpool and Carol. There's more details on the other blog.

Arbat (อาบัติ), the Buddhist-themed horror film that was banned for its scenes of a monk kissing a girl, has been unbanned, and was released in Thai cinemas last night.

Running around three minutes shorter than the banned version, the movie is now known as Arpatti (อาปัติ).

"A little toned down" is how the movie is described in an article in The Nation by producer Prachya Pinkaew, whose Baa-Ram-Ewe production marque supported the film.

It is directed by Kanitta Kwunyoo, a young filmmaker making her debut feature. "I felt relieved that I could save the main theme of the movie," she is quoted as saying in The Nation.

According to the newspaper, the removed scenes included the novice monk kissing a woman and novices disrespectfully lifting a Buddha image by its head.

Censors, which had included Buddhist clergy on their committee, had also objected to scenes of monks drinking alcohol and getting into physical altercations.

The novice, a young man packed off to the monkhood by his father, is played by Charlie Potjes, a.k.a. Charlie Trairat, the former child actor from such movies as Fan Chan and Dorm. The story has the young man falling for a local girl. Meanwhile, dark secrets of the temple's past begin to manifest themselves.

The title change, from Arbat (อาบัติ) to Arpatti (อาบัติ), softens the film's image. The original title is a Pali word that refers to offenses committed by monks. The new title, Arpatti, has no apparent meaning. The difference as written in Thai is so subtle it is difficult to spot, with ปั instead of บั. New posters with the changed title were issued.

While Buddhist groups feared the film would cause Thais to lose faith in their majority religion, the film's supporters said it would strengthen the institution by calling attention to the issue of monks who break the Buddhist precepts – monks who drink, fornicate, fight, gamble, etc. – instances that are reported widely in the daily Thai press.

And though the filmmakers will deny it, there was also criticism that the movie's provocative original trailer and the ban itself were simply moves to generate publicity.

News of the ban received worldwide coverage, including articles in the Hollywood industry press.

Thailand's film-censorship law was changed in 2008, shifting the focus to a ratings system rather than 1930s-era one-size-fits-all blanket censorship. There are six ratings, ranging from P (for "promote") and G (general), to the age-related advisory categories, 13+, 15+ and 18+, and the restrictive 20-, which requires IDs to be shown. There is also a hidden seventh category, for films that are banned. Arpatti is rated 18+

Previously banned films include Tanwarin Sukkhapisit's erotic drama Insects in the Backyard and Ing K.'s political satire Shakespeare Must Die. Both filmmakers have appealed against the bans, and those cases are pending.

Other controversial films have included Nontawat Numbenchapol's 2013 Thai-Cambodian border documentary Boundary (ฟ้าต่ำแผ่นดินสูง, Fahtum Pandinsoong), which was banned and unbanned. There was also the political documentary Paradoxocracy (ประชาธิป'ไทย, Prachatipthai), which had the sound muted and subtitles blacked out when certain things were said.

Sahamongkol Film International, the studio releasing Arpatti, had previously released the Buddhist-themed crime thriller Nak Prok (นาคปรก, a.k.a. Shadow of the Naga), which had criminals posing as monks brandishing guns. It was eventually released in Thai cinemas with pop-up text warnings during certain scenes, to remind viewers that monks should not do those things.

Further coverage of the unbanning can be found in the Bangkok Post and there's discussion at the Dhamma Wheel forum.

The Siamese Military in the First World War

Another 25 titles have been added to the growing list of “Films as National Heritage” by the Culture Ministry and the Thai Film Archive, ranging from 1918 footage of soldiers going off to battle in World War I to puppy-love romance between teenage boys in the 2007 drama The Love of Siam.

Updated each year on October 4, which is Thai National Film Preservation Day, the historic-film registry now numbers 125 titles.

Many of the entries this year are from the U.S. Information Service, the propaganda arm of America's diplomatic corps. These include Thai Army Goes to Korean War, which shows Thai troops joining the fight against communism, and Heritage from King Mongkut, which recounts the contributions of American missionary and physician Dan Beach Bradley.

USIS also made The Ordination of the King, documenting the ceremony by which His Majesty King Bhumibol entered the monkhood.

The growth of commercial Thai cinema is represented by entries from the 1970s through the 1990s, ranging from director Piak Poster’s erotic island romance Choo, to Baan Phi Pob 2, the second film in the popular horror-comedy franchise, which had villagers endlessly running around and screaming and they tried to escape the gut-stabbing ghost-granny Pob Yip.

Ta-mone Prai

Aside from Piak, other notable filmmakers on this year’s list are Manop Udomdej, with 1981's On the Fringe of Society, Cherd Songsri with his 1983 sibling-rivalry romance Puen-Pang, Bhandit Rittakol and his 1987 farming drama Duay Klao, Pen-ek Ratanaruang with his 1999 black comedy Ruang Talok 69 and Jira Maligool with his 2002 Nong Khai festival yarn Mekhong Full Moon Party.

Historical battle epics now become history themselves, with the inclusion this year of Thanit Jitnukul’s Bang Rajan from 2000 and MC Chatrichalerm Yukol’s Suriyothai from 2001.

And recent global hits are represented by 2003’s martial-arts drama Ong Bak, which introduced Tony Jaa to the world, and GTH’s 2004 thriller Shutter, which introduced Thai horror to the world.

Here's the list, which is translated by Thai Film Archive deputy director Sanchai Chotirosseranee, who also offered commentary on some of the more-obscure entries.

Ngoa Ba

Films as National Heritage 2015

1. The Siamese Military in the First World War (unofficial title) / ภารกิจทหารอาสาสยามในสงครามโลกครั้งที่ ๑, 1918/63.26 min. – King Rama VI sent 1,233 Siamese volunteer soldiers to join World War I in 1917. According to newspaper ads from the era, the film was shown in Siam in 1919. It was thought to be lost, but resurfaced last year as France observed the centenary of the war. The French Embassy and the Alliance Francaise exhibited rare photographs and this film footage, which was well-preserved at the archives of the French Ministry of Defense.
2. The Playful Kids in the Reign of King Rama VII (unofficial title)/เด็กซนสมัย ร.๗, 1927-32)/7 min. – This "found footage" was shot on 16mm. There is no information on who made the film. It shows youngsters putting on a performance for the camera, playing traditional games, dancing, play-fighting and comic acting in the style of Western films, showing the already pervasive influence of film on Siamese society.
3. Pan-Tai Norasingh/พันท้ายนรสิงห์, 1950/98 min. – Directed by Prince Bhanubandhu Yugala (grand-uncle of MC Chatrichalerm Yukol) with cinematography by then-budding auteur R.D. Pestonji, this is the first theatrical feature of a historical tale that has been adapted many times for theater, film and television. The story, which takes place during the reign of Ayutthaya's King Sanphet VIII, is about an oarsman on a royal barge who loses control of the vessel in strong currents, causing it to hit a tree and become damaged. The king, understanding the difficult conditions, did not wish to punish Norasingh, but the ever-dutiful and devoted sailor insisted that no exceptions should be made, and he was beheaded according to law.
4. Thai Army goes to Korean War (unofficial title)/ทหารไทยไปเกาหลี, 1951–52)/7.42 min. – The United States Information Service in Bangkok made this clip of Royal Thai Army troops joining the United Nations' "police action" against the communist North Korean invaders.
5. Heritage from King Mongkut/มรดกพระจอมเกล้า, 1954/60 min. – This USIS dramatization depicted the influential contributions to Thai society of Dr. Dan Beach Bradley, an American Christian missionary and physician, whose close relations with the King Rama IV court helped Western medicine gain acceptance in Thailand. Bradley also published the first Thai newspaper, the Bangkok Recorder.
6. The Ordination of the King/พระบาทสมเด็จพระเจ้าอยู่หัวเสด็จออกผนวช, 1956/13.42 min. – When His Majesty King Bhumibol entered the monkhood for 15 days in 1956, the USIS was there with its film cameras to record the royal ceremony.
7. The Commercial of the Monk Coin for 25th Buddhist Century Anniversary/โฆษณาพระเครื่องฉลอง ๒๕ พุทธศตวรรษ, 1957/4.52 min. – Commemorative coins were minted in observance of the 25th Buddhist century anniversary, which the government aimed to use to raise funds to build the massive "Buddhist Vatican" called Phutthamonthon, near Salaya, Nakhon Pathom.
8. Ta-mone Prai/ทะโมนไพร, 1959/42 min. – King Kong has a starring role this an artifact from a lost era of regional cinema. It was made by a filmmaker in Narathiwat and screened only there and in nearby southern provinces. “Only a few of these films survive,” Sanchai says, adding that the complete movie was 50 minutes but one reel was damaged, leaving just 42 minutes of the tale of triangular romance and a giant ape.
9. Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat Performing the Duty for His Nation as Head of Government and Military Commander Until He Fell Ill and Died/การปฏิบัติหน้าที่เพื่อประเทศชาติในตำแหน่งหัวหน้ารัฐบาลและผู้นำทางทหารจนถึงล้มป่วยและอสัญกรรมของ ฯพณฯ จอมพลสฤษดิ์ ธนะรัชต์, 1963/25.16 min. – Their Majesties the King and Queen make an appearance, visiting the bedridden military ruler, who in an act of devotion, takes His Majesty's hand and places it over his head.
10. Yuthana und Siripon Monch auf Zeit/ยุทธนา –ศิริพร, 1963/44.54 min – Another monkhood ordination is depicted in this travelogue documentary by German documentarian Hans Berthel in collaboration with noted lensman Tae Prakardwuttisan, following a middle-class Bangkok couple as they visit tourist attractions. Tae was made a National Artist in film in 1999.
11. The Spread of Kinship/สายเลือดเดียวกัน, 1966–68/103 min. – Another Cold War relic, made with support of the USIS, this feature-length drama aimed to attack and defame communism.
12. Choo/ชู้, a.k.a. Adulterer, 1972/145 min. – While he's probably best known for his string of teen-oriented comedies, movie-poster-artist-turned-filmmaker Somboonsuk Niyomsiri, a.k.a. Piak Poster, also made many solidly dramatic films, including this erotic island romance. "Although the film was not successful in term of box-office earnings, it was much-acclaimed and became the Thai representative at the 19th Asia-Pacific Film Festival in Singapore, where it was awarded the special award because of its outstandingly unconventional story," Sanchai notes.
13. Wai Tok Kra/วัยตกกระ, 1978/122 min. – Here's a Thai cinema “first” – the first commercial feature to have elderly people as central characters, with “actual senior actors, not young, famous actors in makeup,” Sanchai explains.
14. Ngoa Ba/เงาะป่า, 1980/86.21 min. – Two generations of master filmmakers, Prince Bhanubandhu Yugala and Piak Poster, came together to collaborate on this adaptation of a popular play from the King Rama V era. It's a "Romeo and Juliet" romance taking place in land of the Sakai, an indigenous tribe in the South of Thailand.
15. On the Fringe of Society/ประชาชนนอก, 1981/90 min. – Manop Udomdej directs this flipside view of all that anti-communist propaganda, with the story of community activists who were wrongly persecuted and killed for their socialist leanings. It was funded by the Roman Catholic charity Caritas Thailand.
16. Puen-Paeng/เพื่อนแพง, 1983/131 min. – Auteur director Cherd Songsri's best-regarded film is the tragic romance Plae Kao (The Scar). But I saw Peun-Pang several years ago and liked it better. Sorapong Chatree stars as a poor farmboy in 1930s Siam, who is in love with one sister, but the girl's plucky younger sister likes him more. It was another entry in Cherd's campaign to introduce the concept of "Thainess" to this world, which I think he accomplishes with subtlety and sensitivity.
17. Duay Klao/ด้วยเกล้า a.k.a. The Seed, 1987/107 min. – Like Piak Poster in the 1970s, director Bhandit Rittakol in the 1980s was primarily known for his teen-oriented Boonchu movies. Duay Klao was his attempt at "serious" cinema, and he succeeded. Made in celebration of His Majesty the King's 60th birthday, the drama stars folksinger Jarun Manupetch as a farmer who nurtures a rice crop from a single seed he obtained from the Royal Ploughing Ceremony. A story of drought-hit farmers and opium-growing indigenous people, the movie depicts many of the His Majesty's Royal Projects, including cloud-seeding and crop replacement. The movie had a brief revival run in 2006 to celebrate the King's 60th anniversary of accession.
18. Baan Phi Pob 2/บ้านผีปอบ 2, 1990/91 min. – This is the second entry in a crazily popular ghost comedy franchise, which for many Thais are the films that defined the '90s. The films all involve hayseed villagers endlessly running around and screaming and they tried to escape the gut-stabbing ghost-granny Pob Yip, portrayed by Natthinee Sittisaman.
19. 6ixtynin9/เรื่องตลก 69 (Ruang Talok 69), 1999/115 min. – With an iconic poster that features actress Lalida Panyopas pointing a gun into her mouth, I'm not sure Ruang Talok 69 would fly in today's squeamishly conservative and politically correct Thai culture. Directed by Pen-ek Ratanaruang, the biting black comedy is about a desperate jobless woman who comes across an instant-noodle box full of cash outside her apartment. She then haplessly racks up a body count as various thugs try to retrieve the loot.
20. Bang Rajan/บางระจัน, 2000/118 min. – Produced by Film Bangkok, this was one of the first Thai titles to make global impact during the "new wave" period of the late '90s and early 2000s. Thanit Jitnukul directs the blood-soaked tale of farmers mounting a last-ditch defense against the invading Burmese hoards in 1767.
21. Suriyothai/สุริโยไท, 2001/142 min. – Directed by MC Chatrichalerm Yukol and supported by Her Majesty the Queen, this epic historical drama recounts the life of an Ayutthaya-era queen who famously took up arms and rode an elephant into battle, and perished in defense of her king. A box office hit that was only recently unseated from the top spot by Pee Mak Phra Khanong, Suriyothai served as the prequel and template for Chatrichalerm's six-film Naresuan saga.
22. Mekhong Full Moon Party/15 ค่ำเดือน 11 (15 Kham Duean 11), 2002/120 min. – Jira Maligool's charming comedy offers an explanation of the mysterious fireballs that arise from the Mekong River during the annual Full Moon Festival in Nong Khai. While scientists and various experts offer their theories on the phenomenon, there's a local boy and a monk who know the truth.
23. Ong-Bak/องค์บาก , 2003/104 min. – Directed by Prachya Pinkaew, this is the definitive showcase of the abilities of martial-arts star Tony Jaa and the innovative choreography of Jaa's former mentor Panna Rittikrai, who passed away last year.
24. Shutter/ชัตเตอร์ กดติดวิญญาณ, 2004/92 min. – Banjong Pisanthanakun and Parkpoom Wongpoom wrote and directed this thriller, which is based on the notion of ghostly images turning up in photos, and has Ananda Everingham as a lensman who is haunted and slowly goes insane. It was one of the first Thai films to get the Hollywood remake treatment.
25. The Love of Siam/รักแห่งสยาม, 2007/171 min. – Widely acclaimed and winner of dozens of awards, this was the hit that brought gay romance to the Thai mainstream. It was a breakthrough for director Chookiat Sakveerakul, as well as the film’s stars, leading man Mario Maurer, actor-musician Witwisit Hiranyawongkul and the August band.

(Adapted from an article in The Nation)

The Love of Siam

Related posts:

• 2011 Registry of Films as National Heritage
• 2012 Registry of Films as National Heritage
• 2013 Registry of Films as National Heritage
• 2014 Registry of Films as National Heritage

Arbat (อาบัติ), a horror thriller centered on a teenage novice Buddhist monk, has been banned by censors, a day before the movie's press premiere.

According to various social-media and news sources, the Culture Ministry's film and media committee banned Arbat for four reasons: it shows the novice drinking alcohol, has scenes of novices fighting, depicts the novice having inappropriate contact with a female, and for a scene of the novice showing disrespect to the Buddha image.

The movie's trailer, released last month, caused a stir with a scene of the young monk touching the face of a girl, prompting Buddhist groups to demand that the film be banned. Thai Buddhist culture strictly prohibits physical contact between monks and females.

The debut feature by young director Kanittha Kwunyoo, Arbat was to be released in cinemas on Thursday, with a press and VIP premiere set Tuesday night.

According to the reports, the movie's studio, Sahamongkol Film International and producer Prachya Pinkaew's Baa-Ram-Ewe company, plan to appeal the decision.

The title Arbat actually means "offense" or "misdemeanor" and refers to acts committed against the Buddhist precepts.

“Viewers will understand the cause and the consequence of everything in the film," director Kanittha had told The Nation in an article last week. "Nothing is there just to stir up controversy. My father told me that if my intention was clear and I could make the film reach the goal I intended, then I should go for it. I haven’t touched on anything I don’t fully understand and I have made the film as a commitฌted Buddhist who still has faith in my religion.”

Starring Charlie Potjes as the central character, Arbat is about a young man who is forced into the monkhood by his father. He takes his vows and dons the monastic robes at a rural temple. Lonely and isolated, he grows close to a local girl in a relationship that would be innocent if the young man weren't a monk. Meanwhile, hidden secrets of the temple and of the young man's own life become revealed.

Also known as Charlie Trairat, the Arbat star is transitioning to more-mature roles after years of working as a child actor in such films as Fan Chan and Dorm.

The controversy over Arbat recalls another Sahamongkol film, Nak Prok (นาคปรก, a.k.a. Shadow of the Naga), which stirred opposition from Buddhist groups over its depiction of criminals dressed as monks brandishing guns and behaving violently. Nak Prok screened at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2008 and was shelved for a couple of years by Sahamongkol.

Nak Prok was eventually released after the adoption of a film-ratings law overseen by the Culture Ministry, which in some ways has more leeway than the old system of blanket censorship administered by the Royal Thai Police, but still has provisions in place for the outright banning of films.

Update: Prachatai has more coverage.

Thailand's Ministry of Culture is bringing seven recent films to London in the Thai Film Festival U.K., which runs from June 25 to 27 at the Princess Anne Theatre at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts in Piccadilly, London, home of the Bafta Awards.

A mix of mainstream commercial features, including action and horror, as well as animation plus an independent drama and a documentary, the Thai Film Festival will open with the GTH studio's award-winning drama The Teacher's Diary (คิดถึงวิทยา, Kid Tueng Wittaya), directed by Nitiwat Taratorn starring actress "Ploy" Chermarn Boonyasak, who will both be present for the screening.

Another award-winning entry is indie director Lee Chatametikool's drama Concrete Clouds (ภวังค์รัก, Phawang Rak), which is also part of the Thai Indie Fest being put on by U.K. distributor Day for Night.

Londoners will also get the latest adaptation of Plae Kao (แผลเก่า, a.k.a. The Scar), a Thai literary classic by Mai Muengderm. A star-crossed romance set in suburban Bangkok in the 1930s, it has been adapted many times for film and TV, with Cherd Songsri's 1977 feature being the best regarded. But last year, dramatist and frequent movie-remaker ML Bhandevanov "Mom Noi" Devakula offered his own interpretation, with fresh-faced stars Chaiyapol Julian Pupart from Mom Noi's Jan Dara remake and Davika Hoorne from Pee Mak Phra Khanong as the leads. According to The Nation, Mom Noi has created an "international version" for the London screening, which adds 45 more minutes to the cut that was released in Thai cinemas last August.

Genre-film fans will be paid service with martial-arts star Tony Jaa's swan song with the Sahamongkol studio, Tom-Yum-Goong 2, and from Five Star Production, there's director Tiwa Methaisong's supernatural horror thriller Ghost Coins (เกมปลุกผี, Game Plook Phi).

The painstaking efforts by Thailand's animation industry are featured in The Story of Mahajanaka (พระมหา ชนก ), an adaptation of a devotional tale written by His Majesty the King.

Finally, there's a more-grounded look at contemporary Thai life in Krisda Tipchaimeta's critically hailed documentary Somboon (ปู่สมบรูณ์, Poo Somboon), which follow the extraordinary efforts of an ordinary elderly gentleman as he provides round-the-clock care for his chronically ailing wife of 45 years.

The film fest is part of the Totally Thai celebrations, put together by MiniCult in honor of the 60th birthday of Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn. Other activities include a classical dance show at Royal Albert Hall tomorrow night – 130 years after a historic khon performance there for Queen Victoria – and Thailand Eye, a contemporary art exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery in November and December.

The film festival is free, but reservations are required. Check Facebook for more details.

Panna Rittikrai (พันนา ฤทธิไกร), the martial-arts choreographer who put Thai action movies on the world cinema map, has died.

According to The Nation, Panna died from liver disease on Sunday afternoon in a Bangkok hospital. He was 53, and had been battling illness since last November. Other reports can be found at Bangkok Post, Film Business Asia, Twitch and Film Combat Syndicate.

Tributes poured in on Twitter, most notably from Panna's former protégé Tony Jaa, who worked with Panna on B-movie action flicks for a decade before they made Ong-Bak in 2003, and kicked the Thai movie industry into high gear:

No matter the difficulties in relationships, people should be happy at the end of the day. Rest In Peace old friend. pic.twitter.com/maSiStKeX9
— Tony Jaa (@tonyjaaofficial) July 20, 2014

Another fitting tribute came from director Gareth Evans, who made the Indonesian martial-arts franchise The Raid:

What Panna and Jaa did w/ Ong Bak revitalised martial arts cinema. The importance of that film on the genre is huge.
— Gareth Evans (@ghuwevans) July 20, 2014

Evans also posted a link to the Dragon Dynasty trailer for 2004's Born to Fight. One of Panna's best movies, it's a sizzle reel of everything that is amazing about his innovations, which often took actors and stunt performers to the edge of danger – the truck wheel misses his head by just that much.

Converging movements, such as groups of fighters lunging toward each other from each side of the frame, explosions, flaming objects and crazy car and bike stunts are other Panna Rittikrai trademarks. It's stuff Michael Bay dreams of, but only does digitally. With Panna, the stunts were real and human, and the stakes were high.

Born in 1961 in Khon Kaen, Panna headed to Bangkok in 1979 to work in the movie business, starting out training actors how to do action. After a few years of that, he put together his own stunt team and headed back to his hometown. Taking inspiration from the films of Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and the Bond movies, he ground out a series of gritty B-grade action flicks that played second run houses in Bangkok but were vastly more popular in Panna's native Northeast. It was during this period that he met Tony Jaa and started working with him. Titles from this era include Spirited Killer and Hard Gun, and after Ong-Bak was a hit, such DVD labels as BCI Eclipse started mining Panna's back-catalog.

When the boom years of the "Thai New Wave" hit in the late 1990s and early aughts, Panna and Jaa figured they had enough footage to impress a big Thai studio. Producer-director Prachya Pinkaew got ahold of some, took it to Sahamongkol Film International, and Ong-Bak was born, becoming a worldwide phenomenon and jump-starting the Thai action-film industry.

Jaa's lost-elephant adventure Tom-Yum-Goong (a.k.a. The Protector or Warrior King) followed.

Panna and his team were also kept busy on all sorts of other Sahamongkol projects, such as stringing comedian Mum Jokmok up on wires for the rollicking action-comedy The Bodyguard or teaching Ananda Everingham to swordfight in the Rashomon remake The Outrage.

Among the best of this period was the aforementioned Born to Fight (Gerd Ma Lui, เกิดมาลุย), a remake in name only of one of his 1980s films. The 2004 version introduced another of Panna's protégés, "Diew" Chupong Changprang, playing a Muay Thai champ who goes to a village with a bunch of Thai national athletes, including a female taekwondo champion ("Nui" Kessarin Ektawatkul), a sepak tawkraw kicker, a rugby tough and a gymnast (take that Gymkata!). There's even a little girl Muay Thai fighter – "Katt" Sasisa Jindamanee. She would later turn up in a couple more of Panna's projects, Somtum with wrestler and Tom-Yum-Goong fighter Nathan Jones, and Power Kids.

Other notable efforts by Panna and his team included Chocolate, which introduced martial-arts pixie Jeeja Yanin to the world.

One of my favorites is Dynamite Warrior, which marked Panna's return to acting after a couple of decades. He played an evil sorcerer who needs the menstrual blood of a virgin in order to cast a spell.. Diew Chupong tangles with him, along with water buffalo rustlers, a giant cannibalistic criminal and a hi-so steam-tractor dealer with a lisp.

Meanwhile, Jaa was endeavoring to strike out on his own as star, director and action choreographer on Ong-Bak 2, a historical-epic origin tale of the first Ong-Bak. Delays and budget overruns put pressure on Jaa, and he had his infamous meltdown. Panna was called in by Sahamongkol Film honcho Somsak "Sia Jiang" Techarattanaprasert to play peacemaker and get the project back on track as a co-director.

From that point, Jaa's relationship with Sia Jiang become strained, though he did a few more films for the studio with Panna's steady hand. Ong-Bak 3 followed, and then a hiatus while Jaa got married and started a family.

There was Tom-Yum-Goong 2, and the "eastern western" A Man Will Rise with Jaa and Dolph Lundgren. Panna handled the action, and it was produced by Sahamongkol.

But now that Jaa has split from Sahamongkol in order to work in Hollywood and Hong Kong, it seems unlikely A Man Will Rise will get a release anytime soon.

And, there's another Panna Rittikrai action film already in the can, completed last year before he became ill – Rew Talu Rew (เร็วทะลุเร็ว , a.k.a. Vengeance of an Assassin). According to Film Business Asia, it stars Panna's Born to Fight leads, Diew Chupong and Nui Kessarin; he's a hitman who goes on the run after he is ordered to kill a woman under his protection.

There's plenty of other tributes around the Web. Hit the various links at the top of the article. And though I won't link to them, there's hospital photos of Panna. They are sad, but Tony Jaa did go visit him.

I'll leave you with a behind-the-scenes featurette from Bangkok Knockout, showing the master at work.

In case you missed it, this is a new occasional feature of the blog, in which I catch up on news of Tony Jaa.

Tom-Yum-Goong 2, Jaa's martial-arts swansong with his former studio Sahamongkol Film International, is [link to Amazon removed per DMCA takedown notice – I don't have time to deal with this bullshit Magnolia, so thanks for nothing].

Even though folks are pleased to see Jaa in action, reception is generally along the lines of "Tony Jaa loses fight with CGI".

Fans are more excited about Jaa's upcoming projects, such as Skin Trade, his action drama with Dolph Lundgren, Ron Perlman, Michael Jai White and Selina Jade.

The guys at Twitch, having seen Jaa's sneak peek at Skin Trade, were raving, noting that the director – Ekachai Uekrongtham of Beautiful Boxer fame – makes a big difference. They go on to lambast TYG and Ong-Bak helmer Prachya Pinkaew, and they make fair points, especially about the godawful Elephant White. I think Prachya has a better track record and more promising future as a producer – taking a supporting, mentoring role behind more distinctive directorial voices, such as Panna Rittikrai, Chookiat Sakveerakul and Tanwarin Sukkhapisit.

Back to news of Tony Jaa – you can follow his official updates on Facebook – work is continuing on Skin Trade and he'll also soon resume production on Fast and Furious 7. Much of that and more is covered in an interview with Asian Movie Pulse.

Also coming up is Jaa's Hong Kong debut SPL II, the sequel-in-name-only to the 2005 knock-down-drag-out that had Donnie Yen and Sammo Hung whacking each other with golf clubs. Neither of those two have been mentioned for the sequel, which stars Wu Jing. But Senh Duong's Movies With Butter notes that original SPL star Simon Yam will join the cast along with Max Zhang, the baddie from Wong Kar-wai's The Grandmaster. Soi Cheang (Accident, Motorway, The Monkey King) directs, taking over for Wilson Yip, who is still aboard as producer. Senh's still holding out hope for a Donnie cameo.

• Written and directed by Tanwarin Sukkhapisit
• Starring Arpa Pawilai, Chaiyapol Julien Poupart, Steven Fuhrer
• Released in Thai cinemas on March 13, 2014; rated 15+
• Wise Kwai's rating: 4/5

DC Comics might consider hiring Tanwarin Sukkhapisit if it ever wants to reboot the Catwoman franchise. Granted, Tanwarin's Catwoman in the ghostly romantic comedy Threesome (เธอ เขา เรา ผี, Ther Khao Rao Phee) is just a slutty actress in skin-tight feline gear, meowing and rubbing up  against her male co-star, but the short scenes are infinitely more entertaining than that supervillain bomb that starred Halle Berry.

I only mention that to illustrate how films with average-sounding plots can actually turn out great in the hands of a talented director. And that's the case with Threesome, which is about a young woman who breaks up with her boyfriend and takes up with another guy who turns out to be a ghost.

In any other hands, such a premise might turn out dull or belaboured. But writer-director Tanwarin, following up the critically acclaimed drama It Gets Better, takes Threesome to a conclusion that's refreshingly logical and straightforward but also entertainingly funny. Support from a strong cast and easy-on-the-eye camera work puts the film in the top tier of Thai productions so far this year.

Arpa Pawilai is appealingly cast as Som, an ordinary young woman who works as a movie make-up artist. Her longtime live-in boyfriend Rang (Chaiyapol Julien Poupart) is also in the business. But the handsome musclebound prop guy – always wearing tight, biceps-baring vest T-shirts – captures many adoring eyes, like that slutty actress, but also his straight-acting gay boss (Akarin Akaranithimethara) and just about anyone else with a pulse. Som has about had it with Rang being distracted by all the flirting. She's finally pushed to the brink when she arrives home to find him drunk and passed out in bed after being taken advantage of by the predatory Catwoman. She kicks Rang out and then goes to her apartment rooftop, which is of course the first place any heartbroken young woman should go. She stands at the precipice only to be held back at the last instant by a neighbor guy named Ple who's been hanging creepily around (Steven Fuhrer).

Something's not right about Ple, but Som doesn't notice anything amiss. "He always brings me food. I think his parents are rich," she tells a friend. Not even the fact that the food is an oddball conglomeration of items that might be offered to monks or at a spirit house raises Som's suspicions. Nor does it seem to matter that Ple's room next door hasn't been occupied in years.

However, Rang, heartbroken is wise to Ple and looks for ways to expose him while also trying to win back Som. Secretly, he enlists the assistance of the local Buddhist temple's abbot as well as Som's colorful friends and co-workers from the hair salon she's gone to work for. They mention the legend of the ghost wife Mae Nak of Phra Khanong, saying Som is just like the Nak's husband Mak, who has no clue is wife is dead.

Along with the trio of two leading men and one woman, the cast is livened up by a few familiar faces. Among them is Dear Dakanda director Komgrit Triwimol as the director on the film set. He hilariously seems all too eager to demonstrate how Catwoman should lick her man's face.

Love of Siam star Witwisit Hiranyawongkul turns up as one of Som's friends, part of a trio of neighbors who aid Rang in recapturing Som's heart.

In fact, nearly every stripe of the queer rainbow is represented, among them a transgender make-up artist who has been through the wringer, teen-idol actors who are actually gay and a hair-dresser male couple who fluidly switch roles as husband and wife.

Threesome is campy without going over the top. The queer characters are actually the most-grounded and real of the bunch. There's a a warmth to the portrayals of gay folk that's absent from most other Thai films, which tend to be mean and exaggerated when it comes to gay and transgender people.

(Cross-published in The Nation)

The record-breaking box-office smash Pee Mak Phra Khanong continues its domination into awards season, leading the Thai film industry's biggest trophy parade, the Thailand National Film Association Awards, a.k.a. the Subhanahongsa Awards (รางวัลภาพยนตร์แห่งชาติ สุพรรณหงส์) or Golden Swans, with nominations in 13 out of 15 categories, including best picture, director, screenplay and lead actress.

Critically acclaimed indie films, the teen dramas Tang Wong and Mary Is Happy, Mary Is Happy scored 10 nods each, including best picture, director and screenplay. And the epic studio teen comedy-drama, Grean Fictions, also has 10 nods, including best picture, director and screenplay.

Nominated writer-directors are Banjong Pisunthanakun for Pee Mak, Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit for Mary Is Happy, Mary Is Happy, Kongdej Jaturanrasmee for Tang Wong and Chookiat Sakveerakul for Grean Fictions.

Celebrated director Pen-ek Ratanaruang is nominated along with Pasakorn Pramoolwong for their political documentary Paradoxocracy, which has three nods, including best picture.

But it's teen movies that rule, including the schoolgirl ghost tale Last Summer with six nods.

The wartime romance Koo Kam had five nominations, including best actor for soap hunk Nadech Kugimiya, one of a large crop of teen and twentysomething stars and starlets this year. Young leading man Pattadon "Fiat" Jan-ngern is nominated for his debut role in Grean Fictions and former child star Jirayu La-ongmanee is a nominee for Last Summer.

Actress nominees include Pee Mak's Davika Hoorne, troubled teenager Suthata Udomsilp and the Mary Is Happy pair of Patcha Poonpiriya and Chonnikan Netjui.

A notable snub was Mario Maurer, who went unrecognized for his turn as the title characters in both Pee Mak and in Jan Dara: The Finale.

Pee Mak has 15 nominations in all, including supporting-actor nods for three of the four bumbling friends of Mak.

Other nominees include the romantic comedy Love Syndrome, the teen slasher Thongsuk 13, the Japanese haunted-island yarn Hashima Project, the cabaret-dancer drama Nang Fah and Tony Jaa's martial-arts actioner Tom-Yum-Goong 2, all with two nods apiece.

The nominations are the result of a new voting process instituted by Federation of National Film Associations of Thailand president Visute Poolvoralaks. Dubbed "R+O", the "referee plus open" system aimed to involve some 1,500 members of the film industry, who would vote on the various categories they had expertise in. About half that number voted, with many excusing themselves from the process because they hadn't seen all the films. The "referee" element had the usual industry jury vetting the "open" portion of the voting and carrying most of the weight as the finalist nominees were named.

A story in The Nation today explains more.

The 23rd Subhanahongsa Awards (informally the "Thai Oscars") will be handed out on February 23 at the Royal Cliff Beach Resort in Pattaya.


BEST PICTURE

• Pee Mak Phra Khanong
• Mary Is Happy, Mary Is Happy
• Grean Fictions
• Tang Wong
• Prachatipathai (Paradoxocracy)

DIRECTOR

• Banjong Pisunthanakun, Pee Mak Phra Khanong
• Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit, Mary Is Happy, Mary Is Happy
• Chookiat Sakveerakul, Grean Fictions
• Kongdej Jaturanrasmee, Tang Wong
• Pen-ek Ratanaruang and Pasakorn Pramoolwong, Paradoxocracy

SCREENPLAY

• Nontra Kumwong, Chantawit Thanasewee and Banjong Pisunthanakun, Pee Mak Phra Khanong
• Chookiat Sakveerakul and Niwaruj Teekaphowan, Grean Fictions
• Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit, Mary Is Happy, Mary Is Happy
• Kongdej Jaturanrasmee, Tang Wong
• Manachaya Panitsarn, Worakorn Virakun, Virasinee Raungprchaubkun, Kimhan Kanchanasomjai and Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke, Love Syndrome

ACTOR

• Nadech Kugimiya, Koo Kam
• Pattadon Jan-ngern, Grean Fictions
• Chinawut Indracusin, Thongsuk 13
• Jirayu La-ongmanee, Last Summer
• Phakhin Khamwilaisak, Love Syndrome

ACTRESS

• Davika Hoorne, Pee Mak Phra Khanong
• Lalita Panyopas, Prayoke Sanya Rak
• Patcha Poonpiriya, Mary is Happy, Mary is Happy
• Apinya Sakuljaroensuk, Hashima Project
• Suthata Udomsilp, Last Summer

SUPPORTING ACTOR

• Pongsathorn Jongwilas, Pee Mak Phra Khanong
• Nattapong Chartpong, Pee Mak Phra Khanong
• Auttarut Kongrasri, Pee Mak Phra Khanong
• Chaiyapol Julien Poupart, Jan Dara: The Finale
• Nutthasit Kotimanuswanich, Tang Wong

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

• Bongkot Kongmalai, Nang Fah (Angels)
• Ratha Pho-ngam, Nang Fah (Angels)
• Chonnikan Netjui, Mary Is Happy, Mary Is Happy
• Laknara Piatha, Grean Fictions
• Jenjira Jamniansri, Grean Fictions

CINEMATOGRAPHY

• Narupon Chokkanapitak, Pee Mak Phra Khanong
• Sayompoo Mukdeeprom, Last Summer
• Pairach Khumwan, Mary Is Happy, Mary Is Happy
• Panom Promchat, Jan Dara: The Finale
• MR Umpornpol Yugala and Saran Srisingchai, Tang Wong

FILM EDITING

• Thammarat Sumethsupachok, Pee Mak Phra Khanong
• Chonlasit Upanigkit, Mary Is Happy, Mary Is Happy
• Max Tersch, Paradoxocracy
• Manussa Warasingha and Kamonthorn Ekwattanakit, Tang Wong
• Chookiat Sakveerakul and Jirasak Jakrawan, Grean Fictions

RECORDING AND SOUND MIXING

• Kantana Sound Studio, Pee Mak Phra Khanong
• Ram Indra Sound Mixing Studio, Tom-Yum-Goong 2
• Akritchalerm Kalayanamitr, Paisit Panpruegsachart and Teekhadet Vucharadhanin, Tang Wong
• Jettapol Khan, Body Slam Nang Len
• Kantana Sound Studio, Grean Fictions

ORIGINAL SONG

• Sao Karaoke, Namfon Pakdee, Karaoke Girl
• Hideko, Yusuke Namikawa, Koo Kam
• Yuewya, Cin Thosaporn Achawanantakul, Last Summer
• Young Bao, Carabao
• Dad Lom Fon, Sua Krong Band, Grean Fictions

ORIGINAL SCORE

• Chatchai Pongprapapan and Hualampong Riddim, Pee Mak Phra Khanong
• Chatchai Pongprapapan, Jan Dara: The Finale
• Somsiri Sangkaew, Mary Is Happy, Mary Is Happy
• Chaibandit Peuchponsub, Apichai Tragoolpadetgrai and Yellow Fang, Tang Wong
• Hualampong Riddim and Wichaya Wattanasab, Last Summer

ART DIRECTION

• Akradej Kaewkote, Pee Mak Phra Khanong
• Patrick Meesaiyati, Jan Dara: The Finale
• Rasiguet Sookkarn, Mary Is Happy, Mary Is Happy
• Rasiguet Sookkarn, Tang Wong
• Sarid Noomahan, Grean Fictions

COSTUME DESIGN

• Suthee Muanwaja, Pee Mak Phra Khanong
• Vorathon Krisanakalin, Koo Kam
• Athit Thriakittiwat, Jan Dara: The Finale
• Cattleya Paosrijaroen, Tang Wong
• Peem Umaree, Mary Is Happy, Mary Is Happy

MAKEUP

• Pichet Wongjansom, Pee Mak Phra Khanong
• Amarit Chokprecha and Metapan Pitithanyapat, Last Summer
• Montri Watlaiad, Jan Dara: The Finale
• Montri Watlaiad, Koo Kam

VISUAL EFFECTS

• Oriental Post, Pee Mak Phra Khanong
• Sasee Company, Thongsuk 13
• Color Boy Film, Post Service, The Common Is, Aiyara Animation and Studio, Weative Studio and Kittipong Umplord, Koo Kam
• Surreal and Thossaporn Poonnart, Tom-Yum-Goong 2
• Kantana Post Production, Hashima Project

Tom-Yum-Goong 2, which at last count had total domestic earnings of 49.4 million Thai baht (about US$1.57 million), is at the American Film Market, which opened yesterday.

Film Business Asia has a look at the movie's chances there.

Meanwhile, Tom-Yum-Goong 2 (ต้มยำกุ้ง 2, a.k.a. The Protector 2) has fallen to No. 3 at the Thai box office.

It was in first place during its October 24-27 opening weekend, but didn't have much competition as it was really the only live-action wide release at the time.

It's now behind the No. 1 Hashima Project (ฮาชิมะ โปรเจกต์), a ghost thriller from Thai studio M-Thirtynine, and the Hollywood sci-fi Ender's Game.

At the same time it opened in Thailand, Tom-Yum-Goong 2 also made its bow in Malaysia, where it was No. 3 with $438,786.

In Thailand, promotional efforts hit a snag because of star Tony Jaa's ongoing feud with his studio, Sahamongkol Film International and its boss Somsak "Sia Jiang" Techaratanaprasert. Just as the movie was released, Jaa jetted off to the U.S. to take part in production for Fast and Furious 7. He's also been busy teaching Vin Diesel Muay Thai, over Sia Jiang's objections.

So while the Thai press wasn't too keen on reporting about a movie without the main star on hand, the Malaysian press was happy to make do with the movie's director, Prachya Pinkaew. He talked to The Star about the movie's stand-out action scene. You know which one.

“The fighting scene is between Tony Jaa and the motorcycle gang, which lasts for 14.50 minutes. It took us eight months to film this scene.

“Unlike the previous movie, we didn’t shoot any scenes abroad. We used Bangkok as the backdrop as we wanted to present a side of Bangkok that a lot of people have never seen before.

“Sometimes it’s very difficult, like shooting from a helicopter. Helicopter shoots may be normal for other countries, but it’s very difficult in Thailand. Not only that, we filmed the action scene with 300 moving motorbikes.”

But, hey, look! The New Straits Times scored an e-mail interview with Jaa himself. He talks about being injured during that big motorcycle chase:

"There were some injuries from action scenes because we worked with metals and objects coming at you at a high speed, which we could neither predict nor control. There was a scene where I had to push away a speeding bike and I injured my legs in the process. The villain who rode the bike was slashed on the neck by a sheet of metal. It was a terrifying experience.

Critical consensus is mixed, with reviews ranging from "probably Tony Jaa's worst movie thus far" in Malaysia to "just enough punches to satisfy action fans" from the Bangkok Post's Kong Rithdee.

Channel News Asia chips in with an unenthusiastic review as the movie opens in Singapore this week.

For more on how Tom-Yum-Goong 2 has been doing, check out my old Rotten Tomatoes pal Senh Duong at Movies With Butter.

• Directed by Pracha Pinkaew
• Starring Tony Jaa, RZA, Marrese Crump, Rhatha Pho-ngam, Jeeja Yanin, Teerada Kittisiriprasert, David Isamalone, Kazu Patrick Tang, Petchtai Wongkumlao
• Released in Thai cinemas on October 23, 2013; rated 15+
• Wise Kwai's rating: 3/5

With an overly complicated plot, Tom-Yum-Goong 2, the much-anticipated new action flick from martial-arts star Thatchakorn “Tony Jaa” Yeerum, has turned out to be a rather bland concoction.

This is despite it being in 3D and pretty much non-stop action that crams in other martial-arts stars, including Yanin “Jeeja” Vismistananda and America’s Marrese Crump, plus hip-hop musician and kung-fu aficionado RZA and Thai singer-actress Rhatha “Yaya Ying” Pho-ngam.

It's better than Jaa’s previous feature, Ong-Bak 3, but is not as strong as his major studio breakout, 2003’s Ong-Bak and 2005’s Tom-Yum-Goong, a.k.a. The Protector.

Even more disappointing, it might possibly be the last Thai film Jaa makes. Tom-Yum-Goong 2 comes out amidst a feud between Jaa and his studio, Sahamongkol Film international, and its powerful boss, Somsak “Sia Jiang” Techaratanaprasert. He is upset that Jaa is now working in Hollywood, making a Fast and Furious sequel and teaching Vin Diesel Muay Thai.

The first Tom-Yum-Goong took Jaa to Australia as he chased gangsters who’d stolen his baby elephant. The relatively simple plot was an aim to broaden Jaa’s international appeal, setting up fights for him around Sydney landmarks.

Tom-Yum-Goong 2 stays in Thailand and again has Jaa’s character Kham losing his elephant Khon. But it keeps the international flavor, with such foreign fighters as Crump and RZA, plus David Ismalone (“Mad Dog” from Ong-Bak) and Kazu Patrick Tang (Raging Phoenix).

The set-up for the plot scripted by Ekkasith Thairath is labored, showing a snooze-worthy montage of news headlines about a war in fictional far-away lands. For some reason, Thailand is chosen as the location for the signing of a peace treaty.

And somehow, this will involve Kham’s elephant being stolen by the foreigner criminal mastermind portrayed by RZA. He leads a small army of martial-arts warriors, each with a number tattoo to indicate how good they are. Among them are the lethally brutal Number 2 (Crump) and the fierce Twenty (Rhatha), whose tattoo is spelled out across her cleavage.

Thankfully, it only takes 15 minutes or so for Kham to start running around, searching for his elephant, which was initially taken by the crooked owner of an elephant camp. But then that guy turns up dead, and Kham is standing over his body when the man’s nieces show up – Jeeja and another actress, Teerada kittisiriprasert. They are supposed to be twins, but apart from their pixie-bob hairstyles and clothing, they look nothing alike. Still, it’s pretty confusing trying to follow the Chocolate star Jeeja as she throws down against Jaa for the first time.


Arriving with the twins is a motorcycle gang. They chase Kham up a flight of stairs and onto a building’s roof. This is the best fight sequence of the movie, with the noisy bikes whizzing all around as Kham ducks and dodges them all with acrobatic ease. One smashes through a skylight and the camera angle quickly shifts above it to catch the bike and glass shards spiraling out of the screen in 3D.

More nifty camera work comes from a point-of-view shot of Kham jumping from the roof to a balcony on another building.

Kham eventually commandeers one of the bikes and leads the hundreds motorcycling miscreants on a chase through alleys and down an elevated motorway. He also takes a crazy ride on top of a drift-racing car.

And too soon, with an oil tanker explosion, it’s all over.

The action spills into a shipyard where Kham and the Pixie Sisters get the hurt put on them by the imposing Number 2.

While Kham is pursued by RZA’s gang of toughs, and is eventually captured and branded as No 1, he’s also a fugitive from a squad of Interpol officers who include Kham’s old friend from Sydney, Sergeant Mark (Petchthai “Mum Jokmok” Wongkamlao). I'm not sure why he's in this movie, but he at least gets to voice what everyone is thinking.

"Are you sure it's an elephant and not a kitten? Why do you keep losing him?"

From the first encounter with Crump, the fights all tend to blur together, taking place in such locations as dark warehouses and subway tunnels. For the most part, they are framed too tightly and move too fast to make any sense of.

One fun bit has Jaa and Crump fighting on an electrified railway line. In a move that defies the laws of physics, they both dip their feet in water and stand on the rails shocking each other. As their fists swing they make the same sounds as lightsabers from Star Wars.

Director Prachya Pinkaew and Jaa’s mentoring martial-arts guru Panna Rittikrai clearly had a ball coming up with all kinds of ways to have fists, feet, heads, elbows, weapons and elephant trunks zoom out of the screen in 3D. Some effects work, some don't. Jeeja and her "sister" have some kind of weird electric weapon they throw, but it's always hard to make out what it is.

Despite everyone's best efforts, the fights in Tom-Yum-Goong 2 lack the sizzle and originality of their earlier efforts in Ong-Bak and Tom-Yum-Goong.

On the plus side is Jaa, whose dour onscreen demeanor seems to have softened with marriage, fatherhood and maturity. Compared to his earlier films, he appears more at ease and natural. Perhaps Hollywood is where he’ll create his happiest memories.


Related posts:

• Tony Jaa is fast and furious as Tom-Yum-Goong 2 premieres
• Tony Jaa no slave to Sahamongkol, manager says
• Not so fast Jaa, says a furious Sia Jiang
• More Marrese Crump, bit more Jeeja in second Tom-Yum-Goong 2 teaser
• Tony Jaa moving too fast and furious for Tom-Yum-Goong 2
• Tom-Yum-Goong 2 English-subtitled teaser
• Tom-Yum-Goong 2 is still coming, plus more from Panna
• Tony Jaa is getting married
• Tony Jaa and Jeeja take time out for flood relief
• Marrese Crump joins Tom-Yum-Goong 2 cast
• Tony Jaa and Jeeja in 3D for Tom-Yum-Goong 2

Actors have excused themselves from doing the promotional campaigns for their films before, but perhaps none have done so in quite the dramatic fashion as Tom-Yum-Goong 2 (ต้มยำกุ้ง 2) star Tony Jaa has.

The latest martial-arts epic from Jaa hits Thai big screens in the midst of a feud between the star and his studio, Sahamongkol Film International. In the runup to the release of Tom-Yum-Goong 2, a contract dispute arose when it was announced that Tony Jaa had been cast in a sequel to the Hollywood car-racing franchise, Fast and Furious 7.

Sahamongkol honcho Somsak "Sia Jiang" Techaratanaprasert asserted that Jaa was under another 10-year contract with his studio and had to get his permission to take part in an outside project. He's threatened a lawsuit.

But Jaa, newly emboldened by the backing of a new Westerner manager, retorted that the contract was null and void and he was no longer a slave to Sahamongkol.

So Tom-Yum-Goong 2 opens today, the Chulalongkorn Day public holiday, which is ironic because Chulalongkorn, King Rama V, is celebrated for his role in ending slavery in Siam. And the film's star isn't present to appear at premieres or make the rounds of press interviews. Instead, Jaa is in the U.S., filming Fast and Furious 7 and posting Facebook pictures of himself teaching Muay Thai to Fast and Furious leading man Vin Diesel.

Years in the making, Tom-Yum-Goong 2 is a sequel to a 2005 movie that was Tony Jaa's second major studio effort following his breakout hit Ong-Bak. Tom-Yum-Goong, a.k.a. The Protector, took Jaa to Australia, on the hunt for his baby elephant that had been abducted by gangsters. It was an aim to broaden Jaa's international appeal, setting up fights for him around Sydney landmarks with Vietnamese-American stunt performer Johnny Tri Nguyen and towering Australian wrestler Nathan Jones.

Tom-Yum-Goong 2 stays in Thailand, but still keeps the international flavor, bringing in hip-hop musician and kung-fu aficionado RZA as the main villain as well as American martial artist Marrese Crump. Jaa also meets on screen for the first time with Sahamongkol's other major martial-arts star, Chocolate actress Jeeja Yanin. She's paired up as a twin sister to another female fighter, Teerada Kittisiriprasert. Another featured fighter is Only God Forgives siren Rhatha "Yaya Ying" Pho-ngam, in her first action role. And Jaa's usual comic-relief sidekick Petchthai "Mum Jokmok" Wongkumlao reprises his role from the first Tom-Yum-Goong as a Thai-Australian police officer, now seconded to a major Interpol investigation.

The story again involves a stolen elephant, with Jaa's character on the run after being blamed for the killing of an elephant-camp owner.

Also, it's in 3D, the first by Sahamongkol and director Prachya Pinkaew.

The contract dispute between Jaa and the studio is just the latest bump in the film's rocky road to completion. The production has been beset by delays, including flooding in 2011 and Jaa's marriage to his pregnant bride last year. Also, Jeeja hooked up with an assistant director during filming, and is now married and a mother herself.

Other behind-the-scenes drama comes from Jaa's tumultuous family life becoming fodder for the Thai press, which has reported news of Jaa's fiesty wife getting into fights with her in-laws.

Fortunately, the action-packed trailer, embedded below, helps you put all this nonsense out of your mind.

Rivers run through the finalist entries in this weekend's 9FilmFest, the third annual Thailand-based contest in which filmmakers from all over the world submit original short films of no more than nine minutes.

The shorts will be screened at 7pm on Sunday at Bangkok's Paragon Cineplex, with the top-prize winner driving away in a new Toyota Vios.

For each year's contest, the 9FilmFest has a unique "9 signature item", and this year it's "waterway", with all the films including rivers, canals or some type of flowing liquid.

Here's a look at this year's nine finalists:

• The Guardians, directed by Disspong Sampattavanich – A canal village's resident "crazy man" is determined to teach himself to swim in hopes of connecting with the soul of his late son. 
• Distortion, directed by Thana Chairatanasil – Despite his father's warnings about hanging out down by the river, a boy falls in with the wrong crowd, opening a doorway to a doomed life.
• Teppanyaki Kamikazi, directed by Raymond Lewin – The Great Penguino, an out-of-work street magician, finds a job working in a Japanese restaurant, where distractions lead to disaster.
• Bangkruai Pradesh, directed by Rattha and Pathara Buranadilok – Footage from the Flood of 2011, recovered from the memory card of a flood-damaged camera, is used in this documentary in which a young man recounts his experience in the disaster.
• The Great River, directed by Steve Rouse – A father gives his young son a toy boat, but the family lives in a canal community and is surrounded by dangerous polluted water. So the boy has to dig his own canal to play with the boat.
• Clueless?, directed by Byron Bishop – A farmer and his wife discover a man, apparently dead, in a rice paddy. They go to the police station, where an overzealous detective treats them as suspects. Watch for an appearance by actor Bishop's supermodel wife Cindy Bishop.
• Lie, directed by Narongchai Parthumsuwan – A pudgy, balding middle-aged man poses as a young pop star, attracting a high-school girl. And she wants to meet.
• The Cream, directed by Naruphon Punphairoj and Satit Ngerntong – A man hopes a tube of face cream will make him handsome. 
• Clock Blocked, directed by Robert Peters – A time-obsessed man has found the perfect woman – she's punctual – except for today.

In addition to the movies, the 9FilmFest has many other activities. Events get underway at 3.30pm on Saturday in the Paragon Cineplex Infinicity Hall with an international dance workshop hosted by choreographer Eddie Baytos. That's followed at 5.30 by a Dj music set and then a magic show at 6.30 with Tommy Tucker and Teppanaki Kamikaze star Dr Penguino.

Sunday opens at 5 with a world music concert by Eddie Baytos and his all-star band, the Nines.
Thanks to support by Technicolor, valuable post-production services were provided to make the films presentable on the big screen, with the finalists unspooling at 7pm.

Picking the prize-winners will be a jury that includes actor Ananda Everingham, film critics Kong Rithdee and John Anderson, directors Tanwarin Sukkhapisit, Prachya Pinkaew, Areeya Chumsai and Adam Yukol and concert promoter Yuthana "Ted" Boonorm.

Tony Jaa has a manager, and in the fight over the Tom-Yum-Goong 2 star's signing on to Fast and Furious 7, he's blasted back at Sahamongkol Film International executive Somsak "Sia Jiang" Techaratanaprasert, saying that the studio's "exclusive" contract with Jaa does not in fact exist.

Here's the complete statement, via Twitch:

As Tony Jaa's manager I am posting this in his behalf. Tony has always had the greatest respect for Sahamongkol and the people behind Sahamongkol. He is therefore saddened and disappointed to see their recent press statements. The article that Twitch has quoted appeared in the Bangkok Post and was based solely on Sahamongkol's public comments. Sahamongkol's public assertions regarding Tony and his purported contract with them are not factual. Tony Jaa does not have a new contract with Sahamongkol nor did he extend his prior relationship with them. The matter was studied quite carefully and Tony Jaa is free to pursue any acting jobs which he wishes to undertake. Sahamongkol may make a complaint in a competent legal forum with proper jurisdiction if they feel they have such a claim. Assuming that such a claim would be heard; We would be more than pleased to follow the ruling of any competent legal authority. It should be noted that Thailand abolished slavery many years ago, and Thai courts consider provable damages in labor contract disputes, and nothing more than that. Tony is looking forward to his role in Fast and Furious 7 as well as a number of other films. He does not require permission from anyone to act in these films, except possibly his wife and daughter.
Michael Selby

Head over to Twitch to read the comments.

Meanwhile, there's a Change.org petition in support of Jaa.

And keep up with Jaa himself, who is extremely English-fluent, at what appears to an "official" Facebook page.

Prachya Pinkaew, Somsak Techaratanaprasert and Panna Ritthikrai.

It appears promotional efforts for the October 23 Thai release of Tom-Yung-Goong 2 have hit a snag, with the beef between star Tony Jaa and Sahamongkol studio chief Somsak “Sia Jiang” Techaratanaprasert intensifying.

With more to say about Jaa's rumored signing on to Fast and Furious 7, Sia Jiang rounded up Tom-Yum-Goong 2 director Prachya Pinkaew and stunt maestro Panna Rittikrai and held another press conference on Tuesday.

Changing his tune, now Sia Jiang is saying that Jaa's contract with the studio does in fact cover international productions and that if others want to use Jaa, they need to clear it with Sahamongkol first.

The Nation's Soopsip column has the quotes:

Actually, the studio boss said, the contract with Jaa does cover overseas movie projects. “If he wants to be in Fast and Furious 7, they have to contact Sahamongkol Film for approval first,” Sia Jiang growled. Now there were two furious things in the picture.

It turned out that the day after the previous press gab, Sia Jiang heard from Jaa – albeit not in person. Jaa sent him formal notice that he doesn’t belong to Sahamongkol anymore and reserves the right to work on any movie project he chooses. Jaa also demanded that Sahamongkol seek his permission to use him (or presumably his likeness, at least) to promote Tom-Yum-Goong 2 when it comes out on October 23.

“He said his move to Hollywood had nothing to do with me,” Sia Jiang said. “But I called you guys here to make it clear why I’ve changed my stance.”

The Bangkok Post quotes Sia Jiang saying Jaa will face a lawsuit if he goes ahead in Fast and Furious 7.

Soopsip adds that while the feud between the star and studio boss continues, production has stalled on the nearly completed A Man Will Rise, Jaa's directorial effort in which he co-stars with Dolph Lundgren.