Cinema scene

Through a string of such films as “Juno” “Superbad” and “Scott Pilgrim vs World”, young actor Michael Cera has cultivated a persona that’s sweet and innocent.

But he’s ditched that, playing a rude, crude parody of himself in the apocalyptic party comedy “This Is the End”. Now, with this  week’s release of “Magic Magic”, he commits to his bad self wholeheartedly.

Cera is pure evil, messing with the mind of an insomniac fellow traveller in the backwoods of Chile. Juno Temple and Emily Browning also star. It’s at Paragon, CentralWorld and House on RCA.

 

Also opening

l “Transformers: Age of Extinction” – “I’ve never done a sequel,” Mark Wahlberg declares in an interview about the new “Transformers” flick. And, technically, he’s correct, since this fourth entry in the franchise is actually more a reboot. See right.

l “Punjab 1984” – Probably the biggest Punjabi film ever, this drama is set during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in Punjab State, and deals with a mother searching frantically for her son who has been accused of being a terrorist. It’s at Major Cineplex Sukhumvit, Central Rama III and Pattaya.

 

Also showing

l The Friese-Greene Club – Since opening a year ago, the private cinema club on Sukhumvit Soi 22 has never shown the same movie more than once. But tomorrow, for a members-only first-anniversary party, there will be an encore screening of Ridley Scott’s sci-fi epic “Blade Runner” – the first movie to be shown at the FGC. The month closes out with Sunday’s screening of John Huston’s “The Misfits”, the last film by both Marilyn Monroe and Clark Gable. Shows are at 8pm. For more details, check FGC.in.th.

l Filmvirus K-PopPop – Terrorism and torture are common threads running through Sunday’s double bill of South Korean films in the library at Thammasat University, Tha Prachan. First up at 12.30 is “National Security”, a fact-based 2012 drama about the kidnapping and torture of a democracy activist in 1985. That’s followed by “The Terror Live”, a 2013 thriller in which a down-on-his-luck news anchor exploits a terrorist attack for his own gain. Bring an ID. Call (02) 613-3529 or (02) 613-3530.

l Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand – For his 2011 drama “Trishna”, director Michael Winterbottom adapted “Tess of the d’Urbervilles”, and ported the setting of the star-crossed romance to Rajasthan, India. Riz Ahmed and Freida Pinto (“Slumdog Millionaire”) star. Postponed from May 26, the show is at 7pm on Monday. For more details, visit www.FCCThai.com. 

l Short Film Marathon – More than 500 entries in the 18th Thai Short Film and Video Festival will be screened from Wednesday in the FA Cinematheque at the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre. Shows are from 4.30pm Wednesday to Friday and 11am to 8.30pm on Saturday and Sunday, until August 6. For details, see ThaiFilm.com.

l Alliance Française – After taking a month off due to other French cultural events happening during La Fête, the Alliance’s free films start back up next week. July’s theme is “On a Journey”, and the series kicks off with “La vierge, les coptes et moi”, a 2012 comedy in which a filmmaker heads to Egypt to make a movie about the supernatural appearances of the blessed Virgin in the Christian Coptic community. It’s in French with English subtitles at 7pm on Wednesday. For details, check www.AFThailande.org.