Published on January 13, 2005

ACTION!

It is rumoured that some difficulties occurred on location of “Tom Yum Goong”, with leading actor Tony Jaa being injured. It would appear filming has been delayed until he is fit to continue.

I wish him well in his recovery and look forward to the release, probably in early April, in time for Cannes.

From all accounts, the trailer is looking extremely good, with absolutely awesome shots of rural Thailand, with elephants and buffalo used as a backdrop. I’m holding my breath in anticipation.

w In the matter of the censorship of foreign films, the fact that Thai films require no approval by the Film Office contributes to what can only be perceived as government-by-insanity.

And now there is the question of cronyism in the Federation of the National Film Association of Thailand’s bid to become the ruling voice in censorship on behalf of both the government and the Film Office.

The bureaucracy is out of control, with the blind leading the blind, everyone jockeying for control and no one having the decency to speak up for filmmakers’ ideals.

Wake up and do something. I will continue to snipe at the lack of common sense until something is done about it.

w Asia Books author Jason Schoonover will meet his would-be producers – Lars Bjorck from California and Bangkok’s Kevin Chisnall – at the Bangkok International Film Festival, being held at the Shangri-La Hotel from January 17 to 20.

They want to develop Schoonover’s “Thai Gold” into a motion picture.

Asia Books Publishing managing director David Johnson says “Thai Gold” has sold 130,000 copies internationally and has all the ingredients of a great action epic.

“It’s a riveting, fast-paced novel that combines all the thrills and spills of high-action drama with fantastic locations,” he says.

The novel is based on the adventures of expat antiquities collector Lee Rivers and his search for Asia’s most sacred relic.

Rivers hooks up with the daughter of a notorious Golden Triangle warlord and together they take on drug traffickers, ex-Nazis and Muslim extremists as the action sweeps from Mount Everest through the bars and backstreets of Bangkok to the climax in Manhattan.

Schoonover, a 25-year part-time resident of Thailand, is continually amazed by the changes in Bangkok.

“It’s rapidly becoming a modern, high-tech city, a far cry from when I first arrived and crashed at the legendary Thai Song Greet. However, the producers are confident they can still find enough locations to handle the 1986 period portrayed in the book.”

w Vincent Palumbo, an eighth-degree black belt in martial arts, wrote to ask what became of the movie “Final Combat”, shot here a couple of years back.

“It was produced by the great Menahem Golan, and it was actor Tony White’s debut movie.

“I was also featured in this movie, and I am wondering if I can purchase a copy of the DVD.”

Well, Vincent, the great producer and the local production are embroiled in a litigation battle, and therefore the movie cannot be released as yet.

Go talk it over with AD Production.

w Among the films selected to represent Thailand at this month’s Bangkok International Film Festival (BIFF) are Thanit Jitnukul’s “Art of the Devil”, Mona Nahm’s “Be Quiet”, “I-Fak” and “Iron Pussy”.

Thanit did a far better job on “Bang Rajan”, and “Be Quiet” could have been better if one of the Oxide brothers had worked on it.

Apichatpong Weerasethakul won the Jury Prize at Cannes 2004 with “Iron Pussy”.

“I-Fak” (“The Judgement”) by Pantham Thongshang is based on the 1982 SeaWrite novel of the same name. It was one of the best Thai films last year and selected for the Athens Film Festival.

The movie has also been selected for the Asean competition during BIFF.

w OFFSHORE FACTION: A little girl is sitting on her grandpa’s lap and studying the wrinkles on his face. She touches them, then touches her own face.

“Grandpa, did God make you?” she asks.

“He sure did, honey – a long time ago,” replies her grandpa.

“Well, did God make me?” she asks.

“Yes, and that wasn’t too long ago.”

“Boy,” says the little girl, “He’s sure doing a lot better job these days!”

CUT!

Post your comment to this story here