Thursday, October 09, 2008

THINGS EXPERIENCED IN JUNE 2008

THINGS EXPERIENCED IN JUNE 2008

A.FILMS

(in roughly preferential order)

1.ACTRESSES (2007, Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi, France, A+)

2.MY BROTHER’S SUMMER (2005, Pietro Reggiani, Italy, A+)

3.UNDER THE BLANKET (2008, Tossapol Boonsinsukh, Thailand, A+)
http://celinejulie.blogspot.com/2008/06/were-all-alone-under-blanket.html

4.YELLA (2007, Christian Petzold, Germany, A+)

5.GOOD MORNING, LUANG PRABANG (2008, Sakchai Deenan + Anousone Sirisackda, Laos, A+)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1192617/
http://filmsick.exteen.com/20080619/entry
This is the film which makes me feel the most romantic this year. The story about the lost love of the hero’s father makes me cry.

6.THE FEELINGS FACTORY (2008, Jean-Marc Moutout, France, A+)

7.LET’S DANCE! (2007, Noemie Lvovsky, France, A+)

8.WATER LILIES (2007, Celine Sciamma, France, A+)

9.THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY (2007, Julian Schnabel, France, A+)
http://dechito.blogspot.com/2008/10/diving-bell-and-butterfly.html

10.TESTOSTERONE PARADISE (2008, Tintin Cooper, video installation, A+)

11.APRES LUI (YOU AND ME) (2007, Gael Morel, France, A+)

12.OFFSIDE (2006, Jafar Panahi, Iran, A+)

13.THE FEVER (LA FEBBRE) (2005, Alessandro D’Alatri, Italy, A+)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0452778/

14.JIMMY DELLA COLLINA (JIMMY FROM THE HILL) (2006, Enrico Pau, Italy, A+)

15.THE APPOINTMENT (2000, Veronica Bilbao La Vieja, Italy, A+)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0289850/
This may not be a good film. It seems like a melodrama TV series of which the target audience are bored housewives, but that’s why I love this film. I love that it is unashamedly melodramatic. I love that it focuses on the life of a middle-aged woman.

16.DOLLS (1987, Stuart Gordon, A+)
Thanks to Filmsick for giving me this copyrighted vcd.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092906/

17.SEX AND THE CITY (2008, Michael Patrick King, A+)
http://dechito.blogspot.com/2008/06/sex-and-city.html

18.GALILEO CHINI (2006, Pietro Bartolini, short documentary, A+)
I like the story about Chini when he disagreed with many Italian people around him who worshipped Mussolini and fascism.

19.THE HAPPENING (2008, M. Night Shyamalan, A+/A)
http://filmsick.exteen.com/20080617/the-happening-m-night-shyamalan-2008

20.RIVALS (2008, Jacques Maillot, France, A+/A)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0942379/

21.KUNG FU PANDA (2008, Mark Osborne + John Stevenson, A+/A)
http://riverdale-dreams.blogspot.com/2008/07/kung-fu-panda.html

22.THE MAIDEN AND THE WOLVES (2008, Gilles Legrand, France, A)

23.FEMALE AGENTS (2008, Jean-Paul Salome, France, A)
What I love in Salome’s films is the cruelty of female characters.

24.MURDER BY DEATH (1976, Robert Moore, A)
Thanks to Vespertine for lending me this dvd.

25.SOMTUM (2008, Nontakorn Taweesuke, A)
http://thaifilmjournal.blogspot.com/2008/06/review-somtum.html
I like it very much that this film focuses on the harsh life of the boxing girl.

26.I AM EMMA (2002, Francesco Falaschi, Italy, A)

27.COULD THIS BE LOVE? (2007, Pierre Jolivet, France, A)

28.PATHOLOGY (2008, Marc Schoelermann, A/A-)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0964539/

29.KUROSAGI (2008, Yasuharu Ishii, A-)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1159502/

30.WHAT I’M DOING HERE (2006, Francesco Amato, Italy, A-)

31.SMALL TOWN, ITALY (PROVINCIA MECCANICA) (2005, Stefano Mordini, Italy, A-)
I hate the ending of this film.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0430494/

32.THREE DAYS OF ANARCHY (2004, Vito Zagarrio, Italy, A-)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0410806/

33.THE WHITE PLANET (2006, Thierry Ragobert + Thierry Piantanida, A-)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0474297/
http://www.bloggang.com/viewdiary.php?id=renton&month=07-2008&date=01&group=6&gblog=67

34.TOURIST TRAP (1979, David Schmoeller, A-)
Thanks to Filmsick for giving me this copyrighted vcd.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080040/

35.HOW DOES IT FEEL? (2008, James Johnson-Perkins, A-)
http://www.johnson-perkins.co.uk/films/dance.html

36.THE INCREDIBLE HULK (2008, Louis Leterrier, A-/B+)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0800080/

37.WANTED (2008, Timur Bekmambetov, B+)
The film is exciting, but I don’t like some ideas in the film.

38.MONGOL (2007, Sergei Bodrov, B+)
http://louisproyect.wordpress.com/2008/06/08/mongol/
Thanks to Renegade Eye for telling me about Louis Proyect’s blog.

39.THE HOTTIE & THE NOTTIE (2008, Tom Putnam, B)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0804492/

40.SWAY (2006, Miwa Nishikawa, B)
Thanks to Gao Eey Mee Panak for giving me this dvd. I hate the ending (or near ending) of this film very much.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0809535/

41.ESCAPE FROM HUANG SHI (2008, Roger Spottiswoode, Australia, B-)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0889588/
I like the documentary part at the last minutes of the film.

42.DEATH SENTENCE (2007, James Wan, B-)



B.VILLAGERS’ DOCUMENTARY PROJECT (2006, Wu Wenguang, China, A)
At Conference of Birds Gallery
http://celinejulie.blogspot.com/2008/08/i-film-my-village-2006-shao-yuzhen.html



C.RINPA ESHIDAN’S SHORT FILMS AT ART GORILLAS
http://celinejulie.blogspot.com/2008/06/rinpa-eshidans-films-at-art-gorillas.html



D.STAGE PLAYS

1.SHATTER ROOM NO. 0 (Teerawat Mulvilai + Jarunan Phantachat, A+)

2.MAN OF LA MANCHA (Euthana Mukdasanit, A+)

3.LOVE INVISIBLE (รัก...บัง...ตา) (Gawintorn Sangsakorn, A)

4.THE MIND GAME (Pannatat Po-dhivejakul, A)



E.EXHIBITIONS

1.FROM (DIFFERENT) HORIZONS OF ROCKSHELTER (A+)
At National Gallery
http://celinejulie.blogspot.com/2008/09/from-differen-horizons-of-rockshelter.html

2.ALL OUR EVERYDAYS (curated by Pier Luigi Tazzi, A+)
http://celinejulie.blogspot.com/2008/10/all-our-everydays-pier-luigi-tazzi.html

3.EARTH FROM ABOVE (Yann Arthus-Bertrand, photos, A+)
It was held at Central World Plaza.
http://www.yannarthusbertrand.org/

4.BEYOND…(Kamin Lertchaiprasert, paintings, A+)
It was held at 100 Tonson Gallery.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3246/2680008794_72a574bb1b_o.jpg

5.PRESS PHOTO IN FOCUS (A+)
At Central World Plaza

6.NANOTHAILAND (Montri Teomsombat, photos, A+)
At 100 Tonson Gallery

7.THE BASE OF SIAM (Somsak Pattanapitoon, photos, A+)
It was held at Central World Plaza.

8.Photos by Kamthorn Paowattanasuk (A+)
At Tang Contemporary

9.SHADOW PLAY (Chusak Sirikwan, shadow puppets, A+)
At Whitespace Gallery

10.THE ART EXHIBITION FOR DOGS BY MY FRIENDS (The fifth-year students majoring in fine arts, Silpakorn University, A+)
At Central World Plaza

11.THE GALILEO CHINI EXHIBITION (A+/A)
At Central Chidlom

12.BARE (paintings by Thai artists, A+/A)
At Number 1 Gallery
http://www.number1gallery.com/exhibtion/nude/index.html

13.SENSATIONAL SELVES (curated by Brian Curtin, A)
It was held at Art Center Chula. Artists participating in this exhibition include:
--Michael Croft
--Thomas Donaldson
--Cheksant Gangakate
--Warawut Intorn
--Wuttikorn Khongka
--Maitree Siriboon
--Nattarika Thanpridanant
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3143/2628442800_a8fddc456b_o.jpg

14.PERFECT SKIN? (Narissara Pianwimungsa, paintings, A)
At Galerie N
http://www.galerienbangkok.com/drupal/?q=gallery&g2_itemId=410

15.Photos by Masaru Goto (A)
At Tang Contemporary

16.ART OF MANY COLORS (A)
--Sumet Leelavivattana (A+)
--Kamolchai Silrapavonviwat (A+)
--Apichai Karikarn
--Saroj Ananta-aouyporn
--Sompol Yarangsee
--Wattana Poolcharoen
--Wichien Wongsupaluk
At Asian Fine Arts Gallery
http://www.aggieasianarts.com/exhibition/Art_of_Many_Colors/Art_of_Many_Colors.htm

17.FOUR BIZARRE (Songsin Tiewsomboon + Songwit Seakittikul + Suttichart Sarapaiwanich + Vachira Petmaneenilsai, A-)
At Art Gorillas

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Why do you hate the ending of SWAY so much la krub?

celinejulie said...

Hahaha. Actually I don’t particularly hate the last scene, the last shot, or the last moment of SWAY, but I do hate the last part or the last act of the film. That part is not bad or wrong, but it is just not my taste.

It’s hard to describe the reasons why I hate the last part of SWAY, because my hatred feelings or my feelings in general are not related to reasons. But I will try to guess the reasons why I hate it. These reasons may be:

1.If I understand it correctly or remember it correctly, the film seems to imply that the hero should feel guilty for lying to the court about his older brother, because his brother used to be nice to him in the past. But this kind of reason is what I don’t like. I believe that we should feel guilty whenever we do bad things to any good people, even if they are strangers. You should feel guilty not because you are damagingly lying about your nice brother, but because you are damagingly lying. I believe that the hero should feel guilty because he lied to the court against an innocent person, not because that person is his own brother or because that person used to help him. “The reason” that makes the hero suddenly feels guilty in SWAY is what I disapprove.

I hate film which seems to imply that we should give unfair privilege to our own family members. I hate films which imply that we should do good things to this or that person, just because this or that person is one of our own family members. I love films which imply that we should do good things to this or that person, though this or that person is not our own family members.

This kind of reason is also what makes me give WE OWN THE NIGHT only A, not A+. You can read more about it here:
http://celinejulie.blogspot.com/2008/07/weerasak-suyalas-filmography.html


2.I hate the use of “twist” (or revelation of the truth) in SWAY. It seems to manipulate my emotions in the way I hate.


3.The twist in SWAY does not come from what the hero doesn’t know, but it comes from what the hero knows all along (that his brother is innocent), but the filmmaker just hides this fact from the audience to make the audience feels sentimental near the end of the film. So the filmmaker seems to manipulate or deceive me in the way I don’t like.


4.The twist destroys my sympathy and my feelings for the two main characters. I don’t understand characters like these. I know this kind of characters may exist in real life, but I have no interest in this kind of people if they are presented this way. For “this kind of people”, I mean people who are innocent, but lie to the court that they are criminals, like the hero’s brother. Why does he want to be jailed? For what? Is he a masochist? Does he have a severe psychological problem? Or does he lie to the court about himself just because the audience can cry near the end of the film? I also don’t like the hero. He shouldn’t lie to the court. If he lies to the court because he is evil or because he hates his own brother, he shouldn’t feel guilty afterwards. If he feels guilty afterwards, it should not come from the sudden remembering that his brother used to be nice to him. The hero does not suffer from amnesia, so he shouldn’t forget things like this or shouldn’t need something else to help him remember things like this suddenly. The sudden remembering of the childhood trip near the end of the film makes me feel very very bad.


5.In conclusion, I hate any films which imply that we should love our own family members. It is not wrong or bad to make films like this, but films like this are made for other people in the world, not for me. I cannot identify my life, my experience, or my feelings with this kind of film. I love films which imply that we should love strangers.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for such a detailed answer krub!

Even though I didn't remember feeling what you said, I found it interesting.

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