New titles that hit Thai cinemas for your viewing pleasure.
Kaibutsu (Monster)
Directed by Hirokazu Koreeda.
Who’s in it?
Sakura Ando, Eita Nagayama and Soya Kurokawa.
What’s it about?
A suburban town with a large lake. A single mother who loves her son, a school teacher who cares about her students, and innocent children lead a peaceful life. One day, a fight breaks out at school. It looked like a common fight between children, but their claims differ and it gradually developed into a big deal involving society and the media. Then one stormy morning, the children suddenly disappear.
Why watch it?
Premiered at the 76th Cannes Film Festival where it competed for the Palme d'Or and was honoured with the Queer Palm, as well as the Best Screenplay award.
Ransomed
Directed by Seong Hun Kim.
Who’s in it?
Burn Gorman, Ha Jung-woo and Ju Ji-hoon.
What’s it about?
A young diplomat is assigned the task of carrying the ransom money to rescue an abducted diplomat in Lebanon, and a local taxi driver accidentally gets involved in the mission.
Why watch it?
Loosely based on a true kidnapped story of a Korean diplomat on 1987.
A Haunting In Venice
Directed by Kenneth Branagh.
Who’s in it?
Kenneth Branagh, Michelle Yeoh, Tina Fey and Jamie Dornan.
What’s it about?
In post-World War II Venice, Po irot, now retired and living in his own exile, reluctantly attends a seance. But when one of the guests is murdered, it is up to the former detective to once again uncover the killer.
Why watch it?
The screenplay is inspired by Dame Agatha Christie's 1969 novel "Hallowe'en Party", with the setting changed from the UK to Venice, Italy. It is the first time this story has been adapted into a feature film.
Batman (1989)
Directed by Tim Burton.
Who’s in it?
Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson and Kim Basinger.
What’s it about?
The Dark Knight of Gotham City begins his war on crime with his first major enemy being Jack Napier, a criminal who becomes the clownishly homicidal Joker.
Why watch it?
Robin Williams was offered the role of Joker when Jack Nicholson hesitated. He had even accepted the role, when producers approached Nicholson again and told him Williams would take the part if he did not. Nicholson took the role, and Williams was released. Williams resented being used as bait, and not only refused to play Riddler in Batman Forever (1995) but also refused to be involved in any Warner Bros. productions until the studio apologised.
Gridman Universe
Directed by Akira Amemiya.
Who’s in it?
Chika Anzai and Junya Enoki.
What’s it about?
Follows Yuta who repeatedly drew and then erased Gridman in his notebook, which he vaguely remembers. Then he decided to confess his feelings to Rikka, and their life in such a peaceful world begins to crumble with a roar.
Why watch it?
The anime features characters from SSSS.Gridman and SSSS.Dynazenon.
Sleep
Directed by Jason Yu
Who’s in it?
Lee Sun-kyun and Jung Yu-mi.
What’s it about?
A pregnant wife who becomes worried about her husband's sleeping habits. What starts out as some light sleep-talking soon escalates to unexpectedly grotesque behaviour. They consult a sleep clinic without success and as his nightmarish behaviour escalates, they desperately seek help from a shaman.
Why watch it?
Blends horror and comedy.
A Time To Fly
Directed by Saksiri Kotchapatcharin.
Who’s in it?
Suphat Thaosakul and Maneerat Khamuan
What’s it about?
The true story of Mongthongdee who won the paper airplane competition in Japan.
Why watch it?
We all love a feel good story, especially if true.