I have been watching movies for the past month and during intermission trailers for Wong Kar Wai’s movie “2046″ has been playing. Wow. After his “In the Mood for Love,” I’ve been always looking forward to see his movies. And this time, it has the star studded cast of Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Gong Li and, my favorite, Zhang Ziyi. Its also an official entry to Cannes 2004 but did not win.
But its still a WKW 
It seems, I’ve been watching too many movies this time
And many still will come especially that I’m already here in Makati. What with the many film festivals that are being offered from time to time, sometimes, playing back-to-back and the good crop of films that have been screened lately. And oh, my movie schedule for this week:
The Incredibles
Wicker Park (well, I’ll be watching this to see how it fares with the original L’Apartment)
I was watching the “Manchurian Candidate” at Glorietta yesterday and before the movie started, a trailer for “Wicker Park” was shown (to be screened in local theatres 10 November). Hmm. Another American remake, this time based on the French movie “L’Apartment” by Gilles Mimouni’s 1996 film starring the real life husband and wife tandem (well, circa 1996) of Vincent Cassel and the beautiful Monica Belluci that I was able to view last month. It remains to be seen if this is better than the original. Checking on several reviews, one reviewer summed it up as “…a waste of time”, while another, “…expertly directed but sadly mis-cast…”
The Americans really have a penchant for remakes. To list a few:
- “The Manchurian Candidate” by Jonathan Demme, based on the 1962 movie with the same title by John Frankenheimer, both screenplay by George Axelrod
- “The Ring” by Gore Verbinski, based on “Ringu” by Hideo Nakata
- “Vanilla Sky” by Cameron Crowe based on “Abre Los Ojos” by Alejandro Amenabar
and a host of other films.
While I was not able to see the original “Manchu”, I do find the “Ringu” and “Abre Los Ojos” films better than the remakes.
Was checking out the movies shown in SM Megamall via SMS and one of the films is Nang Nak by Nonzee Nimibutr. I saw this one during its first run in Bangkok way back in 1999. It is based on an old Thai legend, the gothic tale of Mae Naak Phra Khanong. It is said that mothers used to scare their children with Mae Naak to quell crying infants and young children. Her story is quite popular in Thailand and various films have been devoted to her. She even has a shrine located at her supposed burial place in Wat Mahabute compound, Sukhumwit, Bangkok.
This is my first time to see a Thai film and its good to see another Asian movie that provides a good alternative to the usual Chinese art films.
I rushed to SM Davao yesterday to watch this film by Michael Moore. Awarded the Palm d’Or at the recent Cannes film festival, it has generated much controversy in the United States and the world. Not so much that this is an anti Bush film but it presents what might be underlying reasons for the senseless war in Iraq to questioning the competency of George Bush to lead the United States. And to think about the business as well as personal interests of the people cheering this war. A must see. A new addition to my favorite films.
SUBSCRIBE