News

Found footage is a horror movie subgenre that has always teetered on the line between fact and fiction, using techniques like handheld cameras and unscripted dialogue to add an extra level of authenticity to the film. Horror films like The Blair Witch Projectand Cannibal Holocaust proved how convincing the concept of found footage can be, leading their audiences to believe the events seen on screen happened. A found footage offspring, known as mockumentaries, is made in the style of a documentary. These features analyze a fictitious person or event using "personal recorded footage" and "interviews" as a means to tell their stories.

The mockumentary format has been used in a variety of film genres. However, horror has been able to effectively use this setup to a point where it would not be a stretch to stream one of these movies and believe that everything unfolding on screen has happened. Whether...

Comedies from countries like Vietnam and Thailand tend to be quite localized, with the unique, somewhat slapstick, somewhat pedantic sense of humor they exhibit not being exactly for everyone. Pichaya Jarusboonpracha attempts to move beyond the issue by coming up with a movie that also includes horror, romance, drama, and a bit of social critique in “404 Run Run”. Let us see how he fares.

404 Run Run screened at Jogja-Netpac Asian Film Festival

Nakrop is a young real estate swindler, who picks up rundown apartments cheaply, masquerades them as something much better than they really are, and tries to sell them to his ‘victims’ for high prices. He is not particularly successful though, while his lack of seriousness and his inability to secure a steady income has brought his relationship with his long time girlfriend, Jie-Pen to a boiling point. Right around that point, he comes to know of...

Doctor Climax on Netflix is a bold show, really informative, and packed with drama. It’s all about this guy, Doctor Nat, or Doctor Climax, as everyone calls him. He’s not afraid to talk about bedroom stuff, which was a big deal in conservative Thailand back in the late 1970s. But of course, stirring things up like this gets him in trouble. There’s this MP guy, Pornchai, and a cop named Captain Poe who are out to expose him. Then there’s his love life, which is a mess. He’s married to Tukta, but then there’s Linda at work, whom he starts falling for. And if that’s not enough drama, there’s also some friendship betrayal happening with Thong Tien and Prompal in his office. So many characters, and so much going on! Doctor Climax’s actions affect everyone around him, directly or indirectly. Let...

Despite the government’s active measures to control the repercussions of such an image, Thailand is often considered by many as the land of liberal sex and the hotspot for tourism. But the country was not always so open to such matters, and its society also needed a sexual revolution in the 1970s in order for the taboos to be removed. The new Netflix comedy drama series Doctor Climax focuses on this very phenomenon, presenting the fictional story of a dermatologist with a specialization in venereal diseases, Nat Muangnon, who takes on the role of a adult columnist. His willingness to help people accept and discuss matters of intimacy as normally as they should is what drives this narrative forward, although Nat ultimately dreams of becoming a novelist. But a number of challenges come his way, both social and personal, which Nat struggles with throughout this eight-episode-long series, and overall,...

Thai production and sales company Gdh 559 has lined up a Cannes slate that includes a trio of directorial feature debuts ready for release this year, following the smash hit box office success of How To Make Millions Before Grandma Dies.

Boss Kuno’s The Paradise of Thorns is set in Thailand’s mountainous north and revolves around a gay couple who have built a life together on a durian orchard. When one of them dies suddenly, the other must fight to reclaim the fruits of his love and labour as they are not legally married.

The cast is headed...