By Zedeck Siew Recently we called on Thailand to ask about the coup. From a condo on the Gulf, by the beach, Rey Buono told us that he himself had phoned Bangkok the night General Boonyaratglin seized power. “My friend said: ‘What coup?’” Rey says. “I’m calling it the Jim Thompson coup — smooth as […]
By Benjamin McKay Coming of age stories, especially those that take us on a physical journey, can be problematic films to craft well – the narratives are often loaded with detail, and when resolutions are sought there is a tendency to mire them under the weight of sentimentality. Goodbye Boys (Malaysia, 2006; English with Malay […]
By Benjamin McKay The head of jury for the 50th Asia Pacific Film Festival, Datuk Johan Jaaffar of Malaysia, in his remarks at the Closing Awards Night, likened the mammoth task of sifting through the 27 films submitted for competition as having “too many apples to compare with oranges.” Indeed the films submitted at this […]
By Benjamin McKay The Fifth Asian Film Symposium and Inaugural Forum on Asian Cinema took place at Singapore’s Substation from 9-18 Sep 2005 and a number of Malaysian filmmakers crossed the Causeway to join their Southeast Asian colleagues in a rigorous and engaging attempt to answer some key questions about the state of filmmaking in […]
By Chuah Siew Eng Gol & Gincu is like an extended 3R episode. The girl-power slant is to be expected, as the screenplay came from Rafidah Abdullah, co-host and occasional writer for the hip TV-zine with a focus on empowering young women. Featuring kick-ass young girls who also kick balls (ahem!), Gol & Gincu is […]
