The folks from the Luang Prabang Film Festival have put together a trailer of highlights for this year's edition. It's embedded above.

The fest runs from December 3 to 7 in Laos' former royal capital and Unesco World Heritage site, and features movies from across Southeast Asia. The schedule is posted at Facebook.

If the trailer seems a bit heavy on Thai action and Dan Chupong, keep in mind the Thai stunt star is in two movies at the fest – Tabunfire, a.k.a. Kon Fai Bin or Dynamite Warrior, and the high-seas fantasy Queens of Langkasuka. I expect all the Thai movies – the boxing documentary Lumpinee and the Isaan childhood friendship story Panya Reanu, as well as the Lao-Thai co-production Lao Wedding, are also in the fest – will crowd-pleasers.

Belay that order! Thai film fans in the U.S., if you're still thinking about getting that Taiwanese disc of Queens of Langkasuka (Puen Yai Jome Salad), you might want to pause for a bit -- Nonzee Nimibutr's historical pirate epic will be released in the U.S. on DVD and Blu-ray in May.

Two years since it played in Thai cinemas and made the rounds on the festival circuit, Queens of Langkasuka has been picked up by Magnolia and given a new title -- Legend of the Tsunami Warrior.

I'm not too keen on it -- southern Thailand was hit by a deadly tsunami in 2004 and the pain from that lingers. But I can see why Magnolia wants to spice things up. Germany went with the straightforward and somewhat literal Pirates of Langkasuka for its release. But words like "legend", "tsunami" and "warrior" are manly buzzwords should help attract action-film and fantasy buffs who might otherwise believe a Thai movie called Queens of Langkasuka must inevitably involve transvestites.

It doesn't.

Ananda Everingham stars as a magical sea gypsy who joins in league with the queen's military chief (Dan Chupong) in fighting pirates to retrieve a pair of extremely large cannon from the ocean floor. Sorapong Chatree, Winai Kraibutr and Jarunee Suksawat also star in this action-packed, swashbuckling fantasy.

Warrior will be released on May 11. Amazon has the DVD and the Blu-ray listed. Box art and details on specifications are yet to come.

(Via Blu-ray.com, thanks Logboy!)

It's taken two years since Queens of Langkasuka (Puen Yai Jome Salad) hit cinemas in Thailand for a licensed and legal English-friendly version to come to home video.

Envisioned as a two-part big-budget epic but cut down to two hours by the studio, Nonzee Nimibutr's historical pirate fantasy still turned out to be good fun, with a great cast that includes Ananda Everingham, Dan Chupong, Sorapong Chatree and Jarunee Suksawat.

It's out on Blu-ray in Taiwan. YesAsia has it. It's a Region A disc, so U.K. folks are still out of luck. And there are no extra features listed. There's a DVD too.

Up to now, the only licensed home video release outside Thailand that I'm aware of was the Blu-ray and DVD in Germany, which had only German subtitles. There, it was released as Pirates of Langkasuka.

Of course, in the two years since it was in cinemas in Thailand, there's been plenty of time for folks to rip the Thai DVD, put it on the torrents and watch it with fansubs. There was even a DVD issued by a bootleg label.

(Thanks Logboy!)

• Directed by Pleo Sirisuwan
• Starring Narathit Namkang, Pimpawee Kreuangsai
• Released in Thai cinemas on October 29, 2009; rated G
• Wise Kwai's rating: 2/5

An labored exercise in anti-climax, The Scout (Bit Pi-pop Ta-lu Lohk, บิดพิภพทะลุโลก) is a kid-friendly adventure yarn about children who enter an ancient temple and have to run from a giant snake and flying fanged toads.

The kids are pretty stereotypical. There's a new kid in school, Odd, who's arrived with a chip on his shoulder. He's befriended by another outcast, the skinny bespectacled nerd, Ball. Minnie, precocious girl class president hits Odd up for votes in the next election. Making life miserable for them all is the overweight bully Berm, who is bigger than all the other kids in his class because he's stupid and has had to repeat a grade.

The four bond on a Scouts' camping trip (in Thailand, girls are also in the Scouts), and on a dare from the fat kid they decide to check out a nearby temple to see if the legends they've read about there being a big snake are true.

Well, yes, they are true, just like in the guidebook they have, which was written by Dr. William (Yano Kazuki), who has been missing for years. And after the kids step through a secret doorway, it becomes sealed until an eclipse. And right away the giant snake is introduced so that there is really nowhere to go except to have to come back to that giant snake.

That is if they can outrun the slobbering fanged toads with bat wings that swarm around and are generally fun to watch.

Through the passages of the temple, the kids learn valuable lessons about one another -- girls and skinny nerds are a lot tougher than they appear and fat bullies are actually sensitive about their weight. And the new kid in town is still the new kid in town. To get out of the temple and past that giant snake, they'll all have to work together.

More fanciful CGI critters might have improved an otherwise dull story. But director Pleo Sirisuwan and his special effects supervisor and co-writer Parkpoom Suwatipanich probably gave us all they could with whatever budget they were working with for the Logo production house.

Pleo previously directed the insane genre-hopping jungle-fantasy-crime-drama-horror cult hit Vengeance. That one had no end of weird and wonderful CGI creations, and probably a bigger budget. Fans hoping for more of the same with The Scout will be disappointed. So be prepared.


Related posts:

• Gays, a transgender ghost and a giant snake
• Another giant snake in The Scout

Muay Thai Chaiya's Akara Amarttayakul and busy young actress Apinya Sakuljaroensuk have a snake problem in The Intruder -- เขี้ยว อาฆาต, Kieow Akaat, literally "fang feud".

It's a Phranakorn Film that's being produced by the ever-prolific Poj Arnon and features a bunch of young actors from his talent-agency stable, including guys from the gay teen soccer comedy Taew Teen Raberd

Bangkok of the Mind had something about this last week, when a cast member named BellBell was hospitalized with a snake bite. The stories weren't specific about what kind of snake bit BellBell, but perhaps they really were venomous cobras as depicted in the posters. I hope BellBell and the snake are okay.

Deknang has a page with more posters and info.

(Via Deknang)

The Sitges Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantástic de Catalunya -- the world's premiere genre festival -- has released a few early titles for its 42nd edition from October 1 to 12, among them Nymph, the brooding and atmospheric psychological drama and ghost story by Pen-ek Ratanaruang.

It's playing in the Oficial Noves Visions Ficció competition with another Un Certain Regard neighbor from Cannes -- Raya Martin's Independencia. There's also The Forbidden Door by Indonesia's Joko Anwar.

The opening film is another from Cannes -- Tsai Ming-liang's French film Visage, "an open, heartfelt tribute to Francois Truffaut".

Head over to the festival website for more.

(Via Cinema is Dope and Quiet Earth)

At a press conference last Saturday at the Thailand Cultural Center in Bangkok, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said the government would provide funding to make Naresuan 3 and 4, continuing a series of historical epics on the Ayutthaya king who declared independence from Burma 400 years ago.

The third and fourth installments would continue the series by director MC Chatrichalerm Yukol, who's made two Naresuan (ตำนานสมเด็จพระนเรศวรมหาราช) movies so far, both released in early 2007.

Naresuan 1 covered the childhood of the king, who as a boy prince was held hostage in Burma, raised there in the palace and famously taught tactics of war by the Hongsa king. Naresuan 2 depicted the hero's young adulthood and his early campaigns. It was Thailand's submission to the Oscars for 2007.

Chatrichalerm previously made Suriyothai in 2001. The lavishly costumed epic detailed palace intrigue and a queen's sacrifice in a battle leading up to the era of Naresuan.

News articles detailing the government's plans for the Naresuan series are at Sanook and at Deknang's Popcornmag forum.

Prachatai has a translation. Here is an excerpt:

Abhisit said that the legend of King Naresuan was meaningful in Thai history and to the Thai people. The movie is in honor of Her Majesty the Queen on the occasion of her birthday on August 12, and to promote and worship the great king for his bravery, endurance, sacrifice, patriotism and military genius which have contributed to Thai sovereignty up to today, as well as to raise the awareness among Thais to unite and love the country.

The Ministry of Culture is to give support to the production of this movie. The PM hopes that the movie will make Thais worship the monarchy which has contributed so much to the benefit of the Thai people.

Minister of Culture Teera Slukpetch said that the Ministry would use the budget of the Strong Thai Project to support the movie. He would consult Mom Chao Chatrichalerm Yukol on the amount, and ask the Cabinet for approval.

I have heard that around 480 million baht (US$14 million) has been pledged for the sequels, but officials were not confirming that figure on Saturday.

Naresuan 3 has long been in production. There were plans to release it on His Majesty the King's birthday on December 5 last year as well as this year. At one time martial-arts star Tony Jaa was in the cast, but he was reportedly replaced by Dan Chupong.

Earlier this year, the 66-year-old Chatrichalerm, whose popular nickname is Than Mui, fell at his home and fractured his cheekbone and nose. That delayed his work on Naresuan 3.

In photos from Saturday's event, Than Mui was looking hale and hearty. But an item in Soopsip in today's Daily Xpress says the director will need longer to complete his films.

I’m almost 70 now and I just can’t cope with sleep deprivation like I used to,” he says. “I have to take a nap every two or three hours during the shooting.”

Nevertheless, Than Mui is already looking ahead to making a film version of Petch Phra Uma, his favourite novel by Panom Tien.

“The script is almost done,” he says of the collaborative writing effort on the Pantip.com Web board.

If the movie gets made, it would be the first one scripted by a Thai online community. Most of it was written while Than Mui was napping.

Meanwhile, Naresuan fans might want to storm the gates of Than Mui's Prommitr Film Studio in Kanchanaburi province. It's also a historical theme park. Foreigners beware though -- you'll have to pay double (200 baht) to invade.

(Nation photo by Wanchai Kraisornkhajit)

The Fantasia Film Festival wrapped up on July 29, and the jury and audience prizes have been listed, with Thanakorn Pongsuwan's Fireball winning a bronze for the Guru Prize for the Most Energetic Film of the Festival.

The Muay Thai-basketball action drama was tied for the honor with Vampire Girl vs Frankenstein Girl. The top "energetic" prize went to Takeshi Miike's Yatterman with Wilson Yip's and Donnie Yen's hard-hitting biographical drama Ip Man take the silver.

The festival website has the full list of awards.

Fireball was playing alongside two other Thai films, Nonzee Nimibutr's historical fantasy Queens of Langkasuka and the kiddie actioner Power Kids.

Fireball next heads to Austin's Fantastic Festival from September 24 to October 1.

(Via Cinestrata)

A distribution tie-up between Thailand's Five Star Production and Singapore's new horror-genre imprint Gorylah has apparently resulted in a co-production effort between the two companies, with Singaporean filmmaker Eric Khoo producing a new project by Wisit Sasanatieng.

It's a science-fiction film called Hans and Twitch has more details. Here is the synopsis:

Hans is a tribute film to Hans Christian Andersen. Borrowing characters from his books such as the Steadfast Tin Solider, the Ugly Duckling and the Little Match Girl, the film is set in the not too distant future. It traces the adventures of android Hans (meaning brave in Thai). Built with a defective leg, Hans is sold off to a Bangkok mafia boss to be his bodyguard. In the dark and crime-ridden streets of Patpong, he befriends a little girl droid who sells matches and it is also there in one of his boss’ a-go-go bars that he chances on and falls in love with a beautiful but mute dancer android who once was a mermaid. Hans sets out to discover out more about the girl of his dreams and her sad past. Along the way, he has to fight off other androids that his boss sends to kill him.

Wow.

Twitch's Todd Brown says Hans is in pre-production already and will follow closely after Wisit's current project Red Eagle with Ananda Everingham wraps. Add to that Kongkiat Khomsiri's Slice, which Wisit co-wrote, and it's turning out to be a busy time for the director of Tears of the Black Tiger, Citizen Dog and The Unseeable.

During the Cannes Film Festival, it was announced that Five Star had picked up the distribution rights to Gorylah's Macabre by the Mo Brothers. Macabre recently won a best-actress prize in Puchon. Wonder when Macabre will be shown in Thailand?

Awards were handed out at the Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival (PiFAN), with Prachya Pinkaew's Chocolate picking up the European Fantastic Film Festival Asian Award.

KoreanFilm.org's Darcy Paquet had a few things to say about Chocolate star Jija in one of the festival's daily press releases, with "Yanin Vismitananda (Remember her name)":

Many martial arts films have to establish their hulking, muscled heroes as underdogs in order to make their exploits look more dramatic and impressive. The star of Chocolate, however, needs no such handicap. Thin and pretty, she looks more like a ballerina than a bone-crunching enforcer. As it turns out, shes a little bit of both.

Vast hordes of snarling men wielding sharp objects are silenced by Yanins lightning-quick feet, knees and elbows in Chocolate, and as viewers there's little else you can do but cheer her on and marvel at the spectacle. One hopes that her career will progress a bit more smoothly than Thailand's best known martial arts hero Tony Jaa, who has faltered after his magical debut in Ong-Bak. We'll find out soon, because the trailer for her highly anticipated new film Raging Phoenix is already online. And if you find her real name difficult, shes now being re-branded as [Jija] Yanin.

Another Thai film was in the PiFAN program -- Meat Grinder. Wonder what anyone thought of it?

It was the Indonesians who really cleaned up. Joko Anwar's The Forbidden Door took the top Best of Puchon prize, while actress Shareefa Daanish won best actress for her work in the Mo Brothers' Macabre. Screen Daily writer Stephen Cremin has more about Indonesian cinema in a festival press release.

The PiFAN website has the complete list of awards, and Variety has a wrap-up.

(Via Variety)

There will be plenty of Thai action at the Fantasia International Film Festival, which starts on Thursday in Montreal and runs until July 29.

Browsing through the full festival program, there are three Thai films, all making their North American premieres: Nonzee Nimibutr's historical pirate fantasy Queens of Langkasuka as well as two brutal actioners, Thanakorn Pongsuwan's brutal Muay Thai-basketball actioner Fireball and the kiddie beatdown Power Kids.

Glad to see Queens of Langkasuka making its way around the fantasy-festival circuit, which raises my hopes that there will someday be an officially licensed DVD release, though it will be tough to compete at this point with the flood of torrents and bootleg DVDs. Piracy is killing this pirate movie.

Aside from the award-winning costumes, Queens is really about the action, featuring Dynamite Warrior's and Born to Fight's Dan Chupong as the head-busting military chief for a trio of queens who are struggling to maintain their realm. They are in a race to retrieve a giant cannon that's fallen to the bottom of the sea. Ananda Everingham turns in a credible action performance as well, playing a magical, stingray-riding sea gypsy.

Queens' kid-sister action flick in the Sahamongkol Film family, Power Kids is really making what I believe to be an international premiere. I don't recall it being shown yet at any other film festival, unless the Cannes Film Market counts. I expect that Vietnamese action star Johnny Nguyen, playing the lead villain, will be a draw for Power Kids, even though he's shown up by the child fighters. Don't worry Johnny Nguyen fans. He and his Rebel co-star Veronica Ngo are returning in The Clash, set for release in December.

Then there's Fireball, which is to Muay Thai-basketball as what Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is to the Hasbro toy line. Both have the blurry, incomprehensible shaky-cam action that seems to be the accepted way of filming action. But it just gave me a headache. I wonder if Thanakorn will back the camera up and hold it still for the sequel, Fireball Begins? I won't get my hopes up, but I'll still be watching.

• Written and directed by Taweewat Wantha
• Starring Nopparit Suriwong, Keerati Mahaprukpong
• Released in Thai cinemas on June 11, 2009
• Rating: 3/5

A childlike playfulness has imbued Taweewat Wantha's feature films so far. There's been a sense of wonder as the director has crafted fantastic films seemingly out of whatever toys and bits and pieces of household junk he had handy.

Nonetheless, after the zombie-kidnapping comedy SARS Wars and the exceedingly strange sci-fi The Sperm, which is about, uh, sperm, I didn't expect that the director would make a children's movie.

But that's what he's done with Dek-Khong (อนุบาลเด็กโข่ง, Anuban Dek-Khong or literally The Kindergarten).

It's a kid's comedy that's about as twisted and weird as can be expected from Taweewat, about a man-sized child named Ohm (Nopparit Suriwong) who's seemingly stuck in kindergarten, and because of his bulk, he's the leader of a fearsome children's gang.

And what a gang it is, the King Kong Gang, who rule over the playgrounds and clubhouses of an entire district, mowing down and usurping all the other children's gangs. One by one, the flags fall, with the primate visage of King Kong rising to take their places.

The opening scene of the King Kongs storming another gang's fort is rivaled only by perhaps Saving Private Ryan for carnage. There's no blood-letting or loss of limbs, but the violence is the same, enhanced by the sound effects of real gunfire and explosions as water balloons are lobbed and a hail of peas are fired from plastic straws.

As they head off to war, the boys sing a rousing martial song, penned by none other than folk rocker Ad Carabao, a specialist when it comes to writing march-like, patriotism-stirring themes.

For armor, the kids wear whatever can be scrounged. Pieces of cardboard become arm guards, a plastic basket is a bullet-proof vest. Various toys and action figures are transformed into helmets and weapons.


Ohm tenaciously holds onto power by always acting the tough guy, and is reluctant to show any signs of weakness, such as the need to use the toilet.

But he's caught in the act by a mysterious teddy-bear-toting eye-patch-wearing girl named Jamnien (Katnataní Yasirohtwatana ). Like Firefly's River Tam, she uses math to defeat larger opponents. Aside from that eyepatch, there's something creepy about the pig-tailed Jamnien, who's always lurking around, seeing all with that one good eye of hers. She's snapped a photo of Ohm in the can, which she uses as blackmail to join the King Kong Gang, making Ohm break his rule that forbids girl gang members and girlfriends.

One woman in a boy's life -- his mother -- is more than enough, says Ohm.

And why wouldn't the boy have issues with his mom, who denies that the photo of the tough-looking pug of a man on their wall is his father, despite the uncanny resemblance. As for Ohm's unnatural size, mom blames that on a batch of radioactive mushrooms fed to him as a baby.

She's a handful, Ohm's mom -- the leader of a gambling ring in the quiet riverside community. The cops know full well what goes on in her house, but with a cellphone-equipped Ohm stationed as a lookout, the police can never catch her in the act.



It's while Ohm is on the lookout that he sees a red-haired high-school girl just at the moment a gust of wind catches her red school-uniform skirt. Ohm doesn't know why, but he's overcome with a feeling for this girl, Om (played by gravel-voiced university student Keerati Mahaprukpong). She's dancing in slow motion in his dreams. But so is his mother. And so is the bicycle shop mechanic who's Ohm's mentor. Weird, huh?

A chance meeting during a science-museum field trip and a stolen high-school uniform makes Om believe the oversized kindergartner Ohm is her age, and the two embark on an innocent romance of bicycle rides and Frisbee throwing in the park.

Ohm is clearly overmatched. Following the fashion of Seth Rogan's comedies, here we have yet another male protagonist hooking up with a woman who is way too hot for him. In contrast to the fit young men in Om's life, it's clear that even for his bulk, Ohm is still just a boy. And perhaps Om is still just a girl, even though she's blossoming into womanhood.

Meanwhile, Ohm is losing control of his gang. His pint-sized lieutenant Jorn is rebelling against Ohm's letting the eye-patch girl Jamnien in the gang. Jorn eventually crosses over to the much-feared rival gang, the Pandas, who are so evil you can't even speak their name. And this is despite all their members dressing up like cute panda bears, with blackened eyes and noses. Who knew pandas could be so ominous? Jorn secures his admission to the Panda gang because he knows his multiplication tables -- so kids, learn your math.

A soul-searching journey by Ohm and a furious face-off with the Pandas -- evoking Kurtz's hellish encampment in the final stages of Apocalypse Now -- are highlights toward the end. Some of these kids might be being groomed by the producers at Baa Ram Ewe to be the next generation of Power Kids, with a few flying double-knee kicks and elbows thrown in battle.

But the energetic innovation of the early parts of the film give way to sweetness and sentimentality. So many characters have been introduced, some are simply forgotten, so there's no real resolution in the story arc. It's a bit unsatisfying, as Dek-Khong coasts by on cuteness alone -- of which it has plenty. But it was cleverness that made the movie so charming to begin with.



Related posts:

• Trailer for Taweewat Wantha's Dek-Khong

Switzerland's Neuchatel International Fantastic Film Festival has announced its lineup, and among the New Cinema from Asia program is Nonzee Nimibutr's Queens of Langkasuka and Yuthert Sippapak's Buppha Rahtree 3.1: Rahtree Reborn.

Queens heads to Neuchatel after being featured at the Brussels Fantastic fest in April, as well as a commercial run in Malaysia.

A couple of fairly recent reviews of Queens can be found at Something to Sing About and at Nekoneko's Movie Litterbox.

Rahtree Reborn, meanwhile, was featured at Udine back in April.

The Neuchatel fest runs from June 30 to July 5.

An ancient curse is deforming a family and the only way to stop it is to find a secret tomb hidden somewhere in Bangkok.

It's Bangkok Fable, the next project by Fireball director Thanakorn Pongsuwan.

Here's the synopsis:

Anek is the last remaining descendent of the Brahmin priesthood. However, he rejected the heritage of the ancient bloodline to become a normal husband and father in present day Bangkok. Out of the blue, a rich woman called Krittiya asks for his help to break a curse that has returned from the distant past. All the women in her family, including the children, are becoming physically deformed. To protect his own family, Anek returns to his childhood home and learns that two hundred years ago a young woman swore revenge on Krittiya's ancestors. His great-great-grandfather sealed the woman's angry spirit in a secret tomb. Anake must solve the puzzles that lead to her resting place in the maze of modern Bangkok, encountering evil spirits and other secrets that had best stay buried.

Hopefully it will be another showcase of Bangkok's gritty underbelly, which Thanakorn has portrayed pretty well in his Muay Thai-basketball combat drama Fireball and his first film, the romantic drama Fake. That's blended with the supernatural, like his thriller Opapatika (Demon Warrior).

Co-writen by Thanakorn, Suthiporn Tabtim and Siwaporn Pongsuwan, it's being produced by Bangkok Film Studio's Sa-ngar Chatchairungruang, and is listed as being "in production" by the Film Catalogue.

Speaking of giant snakes, Phranakorn's fantasy-action-romance Deep in the Jungle (Patiharn Rak Tang Phan, ปาฏิหาริย์รักต่างพันธุ์) has opened in Malaysia, where it's playing as Naak.

It's opened alongside GTH's multiplex horror thriller Coming Soon.

Deep in the Jungle stars Jesdaporn Pholdee as a special-forces sniper who goes rogue to protect a young woman (Ploy Jindachote) who is sought by a rival black-ops soldier (Pasin Ruengwut). Sakda Kaewbuadee stars as the woman's protective brother. The siblings are from an ancient tribe of snake gods who can live in human form. Coherent storytelling and decent special effects made Deep in the Jungle an okay effort from Phranakorn and director Teerawat Rujeenatham.

In Malaysia, reviews are starting to come in, including At the Movies with Lim Chang Moh and Cinema Online.

Coming Soon (โปรแกรมหน้า วิญญาณอาฆาต, Programme Na Winyarn Arkhad), meanwhile, hits Malaysia after theatrical runs in Hong Kong and Singapore.

The directorial debut by Shutter and Alone screenwriter Sophon Sakdapisit, it's the story of a multiplex projectionist (Chantavit Dhanasevi) who is roped into pirating a newly released horror film, and then people connected to the film and to the piracy scheme end up dead.

Lim Chang Moh has a review of Coming Soon as does Cinema Online.

I was pretty was pretty creeped out by watching the movie about a horror movie playing in the cinema, and the hanging-woman standees used to promote the fictional horror movie in the film were the same ones used in actual cinema lobbies to promote Coming Soon. After watching the movie, walking through the lobby of the darkened, getting-ready-to-close multiplex was pretty scary.

So without those hanging hair ghosts to face after the movie, I don't know how effective Coming Soon is going to be on home video or at film festivals. But we'll see. Something to Sing About has a DVD review, and Coming Soon is set for Horror Day at the Udine Far Film Festival.

The giant snake from Pleo Sirisuwan's crazy jungle fantasy-horror Vengeance returns in the writer-director's upcoming Boy Scout adventure, The Scout, and 24 Frames Per Second has dug up a teaser clip (embedded below).

Now in post-production, the project has been kicking around for awhile. It was shopped around earlier this year at the European Film Market, according to Variety, and the Film Catalogue has it listed.

Golden Network Asia is handling sales and the producer is Monnasich Tadaamnuaychai.

The cast includes Thailand-based Japanese actor Yano Kazuki, recently seen in Taew Te Teen Raberd and Palatip Namkhang.

Here's the synopsis:

Scouts visit an ancient temple to witness a lunar eclipse. Hearing campfire stories of the legendary god who protects the temple, they decide to go on a treasure hunt. Finding themselves lost in a parallel universe, they must find the way back before the end of the eclipse traps them.

Where does that giant cobra fit in? We'll just have to watch it and see.

Meanwhile, what's happened with another project mentioned for Pleo last year, The Follower?




(Via 24 Frames per Second)

• Directed by Taweelap Srivuthivong
• Starring Uttaporn Teemakorn, Ann Thongprasom, Nonzee Nimibutr, Montree Jenaksorn, Warut Worratham
• Released in Thai cinemas on March 26, 2009
• Rating: 4/5

Elephants! Blue elephants! Pink elephants! Green elephants! Brown elephants! Fat elephants! Skinny elephants! Young elephants! Old elephants! Tall elephants! Short elephants! Good elephants! Bad elephants! Break-dancing elephants! Farting elephants! Zombie elephants! Elephants in love! Elephants in friendship! Elephants in heaven!

That pretty much sums up Khan Kluay II (also Khan Kluay 2 or ก้านกล้วย 2), the sequel to the 2006 animated feature that put Thailand on the computer-generated, 3-D animation map.

There are elephants -- lots of them -- and what's more, Khan Kluay II is a much more fully realized effort than the first film. While not quite yet the level of Pixar (but maybe Dreamworks), Kantana Animation's effort feels a lot closer than the first time. Without being distracting, there's a fun, cartoony look, but also touches of real-world nature -- blowing leaves and reflections on the water -- that make Khan Kluay II beautifully vivid. Hair, clothing and bird feathers are also startlingly effective.

Taweelap Srivuthivong, the art director on the first film, takes over as director, but character originator Kompin Khemkumnerd still has hand in as animation supervisor. Voice direction is by Montree Jenaksorn, and similar to Dreamworks or Pixar, there's the Thai equivalent of big-name celebrity voices -- film and TV actor Uttaporn Teemakorn is the hero elephant Khan Kluay, while soap-opera queen Ann Thongprasom is his mate, the pink elephant Chaba Kaew. Filmmaker Nonzee Nimibutr voices the Hongsa king with a menacing tone, and comedian Suthep Po-ngam reprises his role from the first film in a small part as the old Mahout. Montree gives voice to the Hongsa king's lackey, the evil sorcerer Lord Ongsa, who has a pet snake -- a Burmese python of course. Part Saruman from Lord of the Rings, part Gargamel from the Smurfs, Ongsa's about as cartoonishly evil as you can get.

There's a level of detail in Khan Kluay II that makes it satisfying -- even things that folks wouldn't think really contributes to the narrative, such as a richly illustrated end-credits sequence, is something worth remaining in your seat and appreciating. The opening sequence, which follows the adventurous flight path of homing pigeon Chitlit (voiced by Warut Worratham) is a worthy introduction to the elaborately detailed Ayutthaya kingdom and all its inhabitants.

The story finds the plucky battle elephant Khan Kluay in his royally appointed role as the Lord Defender Against Hongsawadee -- the ranking elephant in the army of Ayutthaya and the personal battle mount of King Naresuan. With the kingdom constantly under attack from Hongsa, Khan Kluay keeps the war machine running, training his troops in the art of Muay Thai. Yes! It's not just Tony Jaa who uses Thai martial arts -- the elephants are just as well practiced in their kicks and punches.

And when they do find time to relax, they get down a bust a few moves, break-dancing, which was apparently originated by elephants in 16th century Siam.

But Chaba-Kaew feels left out. She keeps trying to feed Khan Kluay bananas but he's too tired. Suddenly, he's faced with something more fearsome than the Hongsa army -- an angry mate, and a pregnant one at that. She leaves the palace for her jungle village, where she'll eventually give birth to tiny twin tuskers. But lucky for Khan Kluay, his mother Sang Da (Nattha Loyd) will accompany Chaba Kaew, and the homing pigeon Chitlit, will rely messages back and forth.


When the elephant village is raided by the Hongsa marauders, Khan Kluay must choose between love for his wife and the two calves he has yet to see, and duty to his king. He decides to leave the palace on his own rescue mission, but he makes a solemn vow to return and face the consequences for his desertion.

What follows is an epic sequence of events that wouldn't be out of place in the Lord of the Rings movies, Disney's Mulan, Pixar's The Incredibles or Dreamworks' Shrek.

The explosions and fighting, and evil plotting by sorcerer Ongsa, are pretty intense.

But for younger viewers the intensity is leavened somewhat by a foursome of juvenile pachyderms who are kidnapped from the village along with Chaba Kaew. As they help mount a rescue to save the twins from being sacrificed in some bizarre black-magic ritual, the kid elephants handle the comic relief, telling fat jokes and having fun with flatuence.

Historical figures making an apperance in Khan Kluay II include Princess Suphankanlaya (voiced by Apiradee Phawapootanon), the ransomed older sister of King Naresuan. She shares her brother's gift for empathy with elephants and gives aid and comfort to the capture Chaba Kaew.

There's also a trio of brave human commandos, the "Three Rangers", who infiltrate the Hongsa stronghold and play a key role in the rescue of the captives from Ayutthaya. I sense a big-screen spin-off for these characters, who must have been something of an A-Team in old Siam.

It's interesting how the Khan Kluay story, apparently based on an actual elephant, dovetails with MC Chatrichalerm Yukol's Naresuan trilogy, and now Tony Jaa's Ong-Bak 2, which is set during the same period -- a generation of Thai moviegoers from across the demographic spectrum are going to be steeped in Naresuan lore.

Ultimately, Khan Kluay II comes down a battle between the attacking zombie soldiers, zombie elephants and a zombie snake raised by sorcerer Ongsa, in which Khan Kluay gives his all, fighting the vengeful son of his old nemesis, a much bigger Hongsa elephant, who you can tell is a bad-ass not only for his size but because he has tattoos and pierced ears.

Yes, this story of sacrifice and duty to one's family and country is very nationalistic. The Hongsa are mostly painted as one dimensionally evil. But again, leave it to the foursome of juvenile elephants to lighten things up make friends with a young Hongsa elephant, so there's at least a token message that, hey, Ayutthayans and Hongsans can be pals.

And there's an emotional heft to the story, that, manipulative or not, got the tear ducts running in a couple of spots toward the end.

So look out, Pixar, and watch your back, Shrek. Kantana Animation and its plucky Thai elephant are coming for you.

The Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival's lineup has been posted, and among the 60-plus action, horror and fantasy films is 4Bia and Queens of Langkasuka.

GTH's 4Bia is already a fixture on the festival circuit, and it's a great addition to the BIFFF schedule, but I'm even more pleased to see Nonzee Nimibutr's Queens of Langkasuka added to a festival where I think it will find an appreciative audience.

Here's the BIFFF synopsis for Queens of Langkasuka:

It is not easy to be a queen. You have to face attempts of takeovers instigated by nasty rebels and ugly pirates, masters of martial art and black magicians. Black Raven, the pirate in question, is fixated on salvaging two big cannon from the bottom of the sea. But Queen Hijau doesn’t seem to agree and sends her two daughters to a remote fishing village to find the cannon’s inventor, with the pirates hot on their heels. Fortunately, one of the villagers is Pari, a young hero schooled in the arts of Dulum, the magic to control the creatures of the ocean. He has a grudge to settle with the pirates and is ready to do those beautiful princesses a favour.

Queens of Langkasuka is the most expensive Thai film ever made and it oozes from every image [comment: no it isn't -- much more was spent on Chatrichalerm's Suriyothai and Naresuan epics]. The sumptuous production design, the magnificent costumes and the dazzling action fill up the screen from start to finish. The film has the same nostalgic charm of classics such as Sinbad the Sailor and director Nonzee Nimibutr (Nang Nak) manages to keep everything nicely under control. Sorcery and sword fights, fairytale romance, beautiful underwater photography and epic battles are the essential ingredients for two entertaining hours of magic and fantasy.

The stated budget figure for Queens of Langkasuka has been around 200 million baht, while around 300 million baht was spent on Ong-Bak 2. And it's anybody's guess how many hundreds of millions MC Chatrichalerm Yukol has actually spent on his Suriyothai and Naresuan epics.

However, it's safe to say that Queens is Nonzee's most ambitious, biggest-budget film yet. And it is indeed a spectacle, if not for the action and award-winning costumes, but also for the star-studded cast that includes Jarunee Suksawat, Ananda Everingham, Dan Chupong, Winai Kraibutr, Sorapong Chatree and Jesdaporn Pholdee.

Reception for Queens at Cannes and Venice last year was mixed, but I thoroughly enjoyed it and am hopeful it will play well at more genre fests. I also hope it gets picked up for international distribution so that there's an English-friendly DVD release.

The Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival runs from April 9 to 21.

(Via @Wildgrounds/Wildgrounds.com)

• Directed by Teerawat Rujeenatham
• Starring Jesadaporn Pholdee, Ploy Jindachote, Jin Sakda Kaewbuadee, Pasin Ruengwut
• Released in Thai cinemas on December 31, 2008
• Rating: 3/5

Blending ancient and urban myths about the naga, Phranakorn Film has finally succeeded in producing a coherent film with Deep in the Jungle (Patiharn Rak Tang Phan, ปาฏิหาริย์รักต่างพันธุ์).

An action fantasy and romance, it's the story of a Thai special forces sniper who is forced to go rogue in order to protect a mysterious hilltribe woman being sought by a black-ops officer. The woman, named Jin, is actually a member of the ancient race of naga -- snake gods who live in human form but can transform into giant serpents. So no, despite a snake-haired teaser poster, this is not the same story as The Snake King's Child.

Posters and trailers seemed to promise a sexy romance in addition to fantastic action, but viewers expecting to see some hot naked snake sex will be disappointed. There's only a glimpse of skin, shot so close up you can't tell whose skin it is or what part of the body it's on.

The special effects involving the giant snake aren't too bad. They don't really get going until the end though, keeping up an illusion of suspense, and likely preventing the CGI budget from breaking the bank. When the naga is finally glimpsed, the picture is still a bit murky, hazy and greenish, but it's convincing enough.

The real strength of Deep in the Jungle is the rich storytelling, which is a surprise. Usually, the films from Phranakorn make no sense at all and are painful to watch. I actually cried as the credits rolled, not because I was hurting, but out of sheer joy and exhilaration. I'd actually made it through the movie without pulling out what little remains of my hair. I wanted to give congratulatory hugs to everyone involved.

Leading the cast is "Tik" Jesadaporn Pholdee as the enigmatic special forces sniper Nawin. Despite his head of scraggly Nic Cage long hair, Tik comes off very much the hero as he chainsmokes bidi cigarettes and tramps around in the jungle. He's a die-hard soldier who is officially dead and comes near being killed several times.

Ploy Jindachote isn't given much more to say than just her character's name, Jin. But she does a great job at conveying the conflict she feels in her body, which has a giant snake inside, just itching to shed its human skin and get out.

Pasin Ruengwut is Manus, the determined leader of a team of black-suited operatives who are out to capture Jin.


The helpful Sergeant Dang (a long-haired, spectacles-wearing Kowit Wattanakul) explains that the British first found a cave-tomb of the nagas, somewhere deep in the jungles of the Golden Triangle. Then, using the apocryphal photo of U.S. soldiers holding a "naga" as a springboard for the narrative, the cave was rediscovered by the CIA during the Laos Secret War in the 1970s, and American scientists have been trying since then to capture a live naga in an operation codenamed "S21".

The story begins with Nawin on a mission along the Thai-Burmese border, where he is to shoot a druglord leader of a rebel army. But the presence of Manus in the village causes the mission to be scrubbed. Manus is there to take possession of Jin, who had been captured along with other hilltribe people.

But Nawin opens fire anyway, but not before he glimpses the mysterious Jin through his rifle's scope.

Back in Bangkok, the injured Nawin fights his way out of a military hospital and goes looking for Jin. Meanwhile, Jin's brother Jaiy -- played by none other than a beefed-up Sakda Kaewbuadee, a regular from the films of Apichatpong Weerasethakul -- has also followed Jin to Bangkok. He's a naga also, and he's leaving bloody trails as he slithers around the underpasses, riverbanks and storm drains looking for Jin.

Eventually the action returns to the jungle, where Nawin is shot by Manus. The force of the shot knocks Nawin off the edge of a high waterfall. Jin leaps after him. The two wash up downstream and are discovered by hilltribe villagers. The pair then enjoy a brief idyllic existence, living among the hunter-gatherers and engaging in interspecies romance.

But Manus and his GPS tracker are never very far away, and in the grand Thai tradition of raberd poa, khaow pao kratom ("bomb the mountain, burn the huts") movies, the black-ops team and allied druglord armies storm the village, killing women and children. It is violent as hell. Finally, there's the big reveal of the big mean monster snakes, which can twist a man's body in half.

Will romance ever work out for Nawin and Jin? Not if her brother has anything to say about it. But Nawin has a way of never dying, even after he's repeatedly shot and stabbed. Possibly he's protected by the large garuda tattoo on his back, or maybe he is a garuda. But we'll never know, unless there's a sequel.


See also:

• Deep in the Jungle at Pranakorn Film
• Fan-subbed trailer for Deep in the Jungle at YouTube

Related posts:

• Naked in the jungle (posters)
• Fantasy horror from Phranakorn: Deep in the Jungle

I wrote about the Phranakorn fantasy Deep in the Jungle back in April and kind of forgot about it until I saw some posts about it on Lyn's Lakorn Blog and at Twitch. Earlier tipped for release in July, Deep in the Jungle (Patiharn Rak Tang Pun) is now being readied for release on December 31.

In what appears to be a contemporary retelling of the Snake King's Child story, "Tik" Jesdaporn Pholdee stars as a former special forces soldier who falls in love with a woman (Ploy Jindachot) who is actually a snake.

And, remarkably, they go completely naked, according to BKKdreamer, who sent me news from Hunsa. Also, Spicy Forum has some discussion.

The movie marks a return to a leading movie role by Tik Jesdaporn, the Daeng Bireley's Young Gangsters star who got to swash some buckle as a pistol-packing prince in Queens of Langkasuka.

It is written and directed by Teerawat Rujeenatham, whose credits include cinematography on In the Shadow of the Naga.

The posters look great. But this being a Phranakorn production, I am keeping my expectations low. By all means, go into the jungle, but be very careful.