Bond is back for another spin in "Spectre"

He’s on the trail of the shadowy organisation Spectre. Meanwhile, Bond’s boss M (Ralph Fiennes) is in a power struggle for control of his spy agency and the future of the lethal “00” programme.
Directed by Sam Mendes, “Spectre” marks the return of the Spectre name to the Bond franchise. Originally an acronym standing for Special Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion, the use of “Spectre” as a plot point in Bond films had been caught in a rights dispute that stretches back to “Thunderball”. With those legal issues sorted, Bond can now officially battle Spectre as well as his perennial nemesis Ernst Stavro Blofeld.
The criminal mastermind Blofeld is portrayed in the new film by Christoph Waltz, the smooth-talking Austrian character actor who owes his career to Quentin Tarantino and “Inglourious Basterds”.
Joining the proceedings are actresses Lea Seydoux from “Blue is the Warmest Colour” and Monica Bellucci (“Shoot ’Em Up”) as the newest “Bond girls”, and wrestler Dave Bautista (“Guardians of the Galaxy) as the hulking assassin Mr Hinx. Returnees from previous Bond outings include Naomi Harris as Ms Moneypenny and Ben Whishaw as gadget guru “Q”.

Opening
If Bond movies aren’t your thing, perhaps you’ll like “Hand in the Glove”, a quirky indie romance that combines Thai and Japanese talents both in front of and behind the lens. Thai actor-musician Chanon Rikulsurakan stars as a glove-clad prince from a fictional country, who is visiting Kumamoto, Japan. Desperate to escape the pressures and protocols of being the heir to the throne, he sneaks out of his hotel and meets a local woman, who accompanies him on sightseeing trips. Directed by Japanese actor-director Yusuke Inaba, it was shot in Kumamoto by Thai cinematographer Pairach Khumwan, who is noted for his work on Thai director Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit’s “36” and “Mary Is Happy, Mary Is Happy”. It’s in Japanese with English and Thai subtitles at House on RCA.
Also from Japan is “Tag”, which has prolific Japanese helmer Sion Sono coming up with new ways to kill off skirted Japanese schoolgirls. It’s at Lido in Siam as well as House some select Major Cineplex branches.

Also showing

Spanish Film Week – There are three entries left in the mini-fest running until Sunday at SF World Cinema at CentralWorld. At 7 tonight, it’s “Magical Girl”, a cult-film-in-the-making about the father of a terminally ill girl pushed to the brink to buy an expensive dress for his terminally ill daughter. Tomorrow, go to “10,000 Km”, a romantic comedy about long-distance lovers. And the fest closes on Sunday with “Loreak”, a Basque-language romance about the intertwining lives of an unfulfilled married woman and whoever it is that is sending her flowers. Tickets are Bt120. For details, check www.SFCinemaCity.com
Friese-Greene Club – Tonight, the club’s sound system will be cranked up to “11” for “This Is Spinal Tap”, the opening entry in Friday screenings devoted to the documentary-style comedies of Christopher Guest. Shows are at 8pm. For more, check FGC.in.th

German Film Series – This month’s offering is “Measuring the World”, about German mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss and geographer Alexander von Humboldt and their adventures in the 1800s. It screens at 1pm on Sunday at the Thai Film Archive in Salaya, Nakhon Pathom, and at 6 on Tuesday in the FA Cinematheque on the second floor of the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre. For more details, visit www.Goethe.de/bangkok.

Alliance Francaise – Climate change is this month’s theme, and next week’s free movie is “Tara, voyage au coeur de la machine climatique”, a made-for-TV documentary on an Arctic adventure aboard the schooner Tara. It screens at 7pm on Wednesday. For details, check AFThailande.org.

Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand – The Contemporary World Film Series closes out another year with a Thai film, the award-winning romantic drama “The Teacher’s Diary” (“Kid Tueng Wittaya”), about schoolteachers who fall in love through a diary they share during separate postings in a rural floating schoolhouse. Directed by Nithiwat Tharatorn and starring “Ploy” Chermarn Boonyasak and “Bie” Sukrit Wisetkaew, it won many awards was also Thailand’s submission to this year’s Oscars. Nithiwat will attend the screening, which is at 7pm on Monday. Admission is Bt150 for non-members. For details, check www.FCCThai.com.