Cinema Scene

Into the heart of dark humour with “ExpatZ”
A short film made in Thailand that has been winning awards at fests worldwide makes its Bangkok premiere next week at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand.
Directed by Jimmie Wing, “ExpatZ” is a psychedelic horror-comedy mash-up set in the totally fictional country of Wighland. There, a foreign TV journalist encounters all sorts of colourful characters as he tracks down a rogue retired American military officer.
It recently picked up the grand prize for best short film at the Urban Nomad Film Festival in Taiwan, which praised “ExpatZ” for its “humorous and visually alluring style”.
The screening is set for Wednesday at the FCCT, starting at 6pm with hamburgers, followed by the film at 7. Wing will talk and answer questions, along with some of his cast members.
For more details, see www.fccthai.com.

Opening
Action director and choreographer Panna Rittikrai had already completed his last film, “Rew Talu Rew” (“Vengeance of the Assassin”), when he died this past July at age 53. As with all of Panna’s films, it’s heavy on the stunts – there are guys who fall from a moving train, and we’re not so sure it’s all computer-generated imagery. Ouch. That’s gotta hurt.
If you’re not into action, then maybe “The Hundred-Foot Journey” is more your speed. The family-friendly romantic comedy is set in a French village where a Michelin-starred eatery run by Helen Mirren gets a new competitor – an Indian curry palace that opens right across the road.
Other openings this week are “Before I Go to Sleep”, in which Nicole Kidman is losing her mind, the spooky board-game adaptation “Ouija”, also spooky “The Pact 2” and Bollywood’s “Kill Dil”.

Also showing
The Friese-Greene Club – Halloween continues on Fridays this month with the 1976’s Satanic-possession tale “The Omen”. Tomorrow, head to bat country with Johnny Depp giving his all as gonzo journalist Hunter S Thompson in Terry Gilliam’s wonderfully demented “Fear and Loathing and Las Vegas”. And on Sunday it’s more black-and-white horror classics with 1931’s Frankenstein. Next Wednesday, it’s “animation for adults” with “Waltz With Bashir”, which covers the 1982 Lebanon War in epic style and is perhaps the only animated feature documentary ever made. Shows are at 8pm. For details, check FGC.in.th.

Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand – This year’s edition of the Contemporary World Film Series comes to a close with one of last year’s most-acclaimed Thai films, “Tang Wong”, a teen coming-of-age drama and social satire. Directed by Kongdej Jaturanrasmee (whose “So Be It” is still screening at House), the story centres on four boys living in a Bangkok housing block who each make a vow to a spirit-house shrine in hopes of achieving success in their various endeavors. To honor the vow, they must learn a traditional Thai dance, which none of them knows much about. So they hire a neighbour, a transgender dancer at the Erawan shrine, to teach them. Much acclaimed at festival appearances worldwide, “Tang Wong” swept up most of Thailand’s major film awards this year. The screening is at 7pm on Monday. Producer Soros Sukhum will be present to talk and answer questions. Admission for non-members is Bt150 plus Bt100 more for anyone wanting to drink Thai wine.

Alliance Francaise – France during World War I is the theme of this month’s screenings. Next week’s movie is the 1962 classic “Jules et Jim”, Francais Truffaut’s tragic romance about the love triangle between Bohemian friends – Frenchman Jim (Henri Serre), shy Austrian Jules (Oskar Werner) and Jules’ girlfriend and later wife Catherine (Jeanne Moreau). It’s in French with English subtitles at 7pm on Wednesday. For details, see afthailande.org.