Favourite Thai movies

[joe552]

So while you're waiting for the time when you can board your favourite airline, which Thai movies do you watch to "keep in touch"? And I don't mean porn - regular full length movies available to watch online.

[bucknaway]

I don't think I have ever watched a Thai movie. But after seeing some pictures of Tony Jaa, I am thinking of renting one of his movies this weekend.

https://www.google.com/search?q=thai+ac ... 01&bih=623 (https://www.google.com/search?q=thai+actor+tony+jaa&rlz=1C1SKPH_enUS392US393&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=EkQqUrntC5Kt4APLhoCADQ&ved=0CEIQsAQ&biw=1201&bih=623)

[colmx]

gotta be "the Letter" for me
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0439650/
Only ever watched it once... and will probably never watch it again
Made me realise the difference between those that say "i love you" on the first date.... and those that will rarely utter those those words...

Or course Love of Siam is always my favourite when it comes to a movie with cute boys :-)

[stkyricesf]

I know its an old movie, but I still like Love of Siam. :ura1:

[joe552]

Indeed, I've enjoyed watching it a couple of times

[Manforallseasons]

[quote="stkyricesf"]I know its an old movie, but I still like Love of Siam.


Me too, a real tear jerker.

If you can download it "Bangkok Love Story".....the version with English subtitles.

[PeterUK]

I've never seen a Thai movie in which I thought the director was in full and mature control of his material. Sometimes I laugh along with the zany humour of a movie like 'Iron Ladies'; more often I laugh in sheer disbelief at the utter crappiness of what is appearing on screen. I have to say that the supreme example in that category was 'Bangkok Love Story'; just when I thought it couldn't possibly get any worse - it got worse. The Thai movie I enjoyed the most was called 'The Overture' in English and appeared about ten years ago. It was loosely based on the life of a real royal-court player of the ranad-ek (the wooden Thai xylophone) in the early-20th century and, despite having the usual dollops of sentimentality and melodrama, painted an engaging picture of his life and rivalries, with lots of historical footnotes. The movie enjoyed much unexpected popularity in Thailand at the time and I believe led to a surge in interest in learning to play the ranad-ek.

[SimpleSoul]

I am sorry PeterUK but how can you make such a sweeping statement about Thai film directors? Just because you can not appreciate Thai culture you dismiss it. Nothing wrong with saying you can not understand why this works or that doesn't work BUT why use such a phase as "I've never seen a Thai movie in which I thought the director was in full and mature control of his material."? I am sure there are many people around the world who may be equally bemused by David Lean's work or Spielberg's stuff but would they be right to assert that these directors are not in full and mature control of the material ONLY because they can not grasp the culture?

Simply, we are all different and we should embrace the possibilities; we don't have to like everything that might be too overwhelming.

For me, I like many Thai movies. The zany comedies to the scary ghost and horror movies are often watchable. I can not name a favourite, but anything with Tony Jaa is watchable.

[PeterUK]

I am sorry PeterUK but how can you make such a sweeping statement about Thai film directors?

I made the statement because in my experience it is true. There may well be a great Thai movie out there but, if so, I have not seen it. I was speaking only from my personal experience (and made that clear) and will continue to do so whether my views are to your liking or not.


Just because you can not appreciate Thai culture you dismiss it.

Now that's what I call an example of a sweeping statement! Because I haven't seen a Thai movie that I rate really highly you feel entitled to claim that I have no appreciation of Thai culture. Do you know my opinions on Thai music, Thai art, Thai architecture, Thai literature etc? No, you don't and you're in no position to judge my general opinion of Thai culture.

[joe552]

I have to agree with Peter about Bangkok Love Story - I could only watch half of it - too boring for my taste.

[bkkguy]

I've never seen a Thai movie in which I thought the director was in full and mature control of his material.

three Thai directors for you to try:

- Pen-Ek Ratanaruang (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0711579/)
Last Life in the Universe is definitely worth a watch, Ploy was a bit slow and lost the plot occasionally but was generally OK, but Headshot was definitely an interesting concept that was well executed

- Wisit Sasanatieng (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0765685/)
Tears of the Black Tiger (Fah talai jone) - deliberately lurid violence, deliberately lurid colours, deliberately wooden acting, deliberately wooden storyline - this is a reverential tribute to the classic westerns Thai directors used to make years ago before they got into tawdry ghost stories and hi-so dramas and shows real directorial skill

- Banjong Pisanthanakun (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1802294/)
I was never a fan of his earlier movies but he recently had Bangkok audiences ROTFL with Pee mak phrakanong - and throughout Thailand as it very quickly surpassed The Legend of Suriyothai in boxoffice earnings to become Thailand's highest grossing movie. OK it is easy to dismiss this as just another remake of a typical Thai ghost story cum comedy but it works at a couple of levels and is I think a classic example of a Thai director "in full and mature control of his material" and his audience!

perhaps I am just becoming too Thai in my tastes and/or standards? but I agree with you on Bangkok Love Story and The Overture so I hope there is still some hope for me!

bkkguy

[PeterUK]

Thanks for your suggestions, bkkguy, which I've made a note of. The only one I'd heard of was 'Tears of the Black Tiger' and I have a vague recollection of being put off by what I read about it. I've not been to a lot of Thai movies over the years but have had much better experiences with other Asian movies, particularly Japanese. I loved Tokyo Story which I saw a long time ago and almost anything by Kurosawa is wonderful.

[gregvc]

Tears of the Tiger was a wonderful movie and well received in festivals the world over. I saw it in Melb and again on TV. Thai movies are quirky and not for the mainstream. Some exceptions to this are the ClubQueer movies that resemble student films. I saw one earlier this year being played at Rachyothin cinema. I was surprised it got there, given the sex scenes but I forgive them in the hope that things will improve.

[Blumfeld]

Tropical Maladay. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropical_Malady
In fact the only gay movie I watched. But I liked it.

[RonanTheBarbarian]

I really enjoyed Beautiful Boxer. Saw in one cold February day in Dublin - really evocative of Thailand, and a good story too

[Nirish guy]

Some good suggestions above it seems, so to avoid us all having to search the net for some of these probably quite obscure movies in the West just checking if anyone might have either the torrents of them or perhaps a link to an URL where they can be found perhaps ??

[joe552]

I agree, Ronan, Beautiful Boxer was really good.

[joe552]

just watched a Pinoy movie called Burlesk King - if you like muscle guys and a happy ending

[adman5000]

One of my favorite Thai movies was Khan Kluay.

From Wikipedia{
Khan Kluay (Thai: р╕Бр╣Йр╕▓р╕Щр╕Бр╕ер╣Й р╕зр╕в; RTGS: Kan Kluai; pronounced [k├в╦Рn kl├╗ai]) is a 2006 Thai computer-animated feature film set during Ayutthaya-era Siam about an elephant who wanders away from his mother and eventually becomes the war elephant for King Naresuan. It is based on "Chao Praya Prab Hongsawadee" by Ariya Jintapanichkarn.

It was officially released as Jumbo in India and The Blue Elephant in the United States.

There is a sequel to this movie, known as "Khan Kluay 2"[1] This movie is about Khan Kluay's two elephant children, another attack by the Hongsawadi (Burmese), and struggling whether to live with his wife or fight the Burmese. :tweety:

[timmberty]

adman unlike a few others here im sure you dont mean to do it ... but i hope when i learn a bit of thai over the next 2 or 3 years i will add a few thai translations to the odd word here and there .. cause that will make me look more cleverererer than the simpletons who dont understand it ...
i will add to dear old gaybuttons list of i dont get it, the need to translate the odd word out of a 30 or 40 word post just to make myself look like a total twat.

[Nirish guy]

Whilst I don't disagree with your general thought process there Tim as I often wonder why people bother doing that myself I think in the case above the Thai insertion was already included in the wikipedia entry about the film and the post here was simply a straight copy and paste of that wiki entry rather than Adman inserting a few words of Thai here and there himself perhaps.

[adman5000]

Timmberty- Don't worry, you don't even need to try, to look like a total twat. If you read my message, it says "from Wikipedia". I did not translate anything. :tweety:

Now back to the topic,
To ALL, Give Khan Kluay a try. I am not a lover of animated movies, but I took a Thai friend to watch this one (with subtitles) and it was an excellent movie from a Western point of view.

[timmberty]

yes adman hence the fact i said im sure you didnt mean to do it ... i remember awhile ago we had a thread about yaba, a couple of our esteemed members felt the need to spell the 'yaba' thai style, tho the rest of the post was all in english ..
i really dont understand it.
how many will post about a park they have been to, spell the name in english and also in thai .. same with items on a menu?
whats the point of it ?

[christianpfc]

yes ad spell the name in english and also in thai
whats the point of it ?

To help those who can read and write Thai. If a place is spelled in Thai, I know how to pronounce it, with romanization not so much. Some people put Thai words in romanized form in their posts, and sometimes I don't know what they are talking about.

[gregvc]

an irritating problem is the lack of English sub-titles. I saw The Letter on a plane and it had good sub-titles but I even emailed the distributors to no avail. Thai movies would do well to improve this as a way of opening to the world public maybe they can't be bothered.

[bing]

A few years ago I got a copy of Beautiful Boxer but it would not play on my USA player,, Then i got another copy from Amazon and it worked fine.... I also save this one for a nice long afternoon ,,,,,, It is one of my favorites.

[joe552]

I agree with you about the subtitles, greg - I'd watch a lot more if they were available.

[bucknaway]

Netflix has a few Tony Jaa movies that I can stream instantly. I plan to do that this weekend while I finish packing my bags.

[Rush, Yet Again]

Tony has been cast in the 7th edition of the Fast & Furious franchise, but heтАЩs facing a lawsuit for breach of contract for accepting the role without permission so that may depend on how much Universal is willing to pay to get him.

The Protector 2 (also known as Tom Yum Goong 2) a 3D sequel is scheduled for release in Thailand this month, so you might luck out and catch it during your upcoming trip (or on pirated dvd at your favorite street market).

Whatever you do, skip Ong Bak 3 - unless you really want to see a fat Tony wearing horrendous hair extensions emoting his way through ghosts, demons, damsels in distress, and an incoherent plot.

[fedssocr]

I watch The Love of Siam every year on Christmas. And I still cry in the same places every time.

On the plane ride home last year (Thai Airways to PEK) I watched SuckSeed. I ended up liking it a whole lot more than I expected to. It's more of a buddy pic/teen romance type of thing, but the central relationship in the film is the two boys who are in a band together. All I knew about it was that I had seen the soundtrack album at B2S. It can't quite seem to figure out if it wants to be a comedy or a drama though. But it really moved me.

[latintopxxx]

privateboymovie !! The only thai movies I would vote for.