Archive for the ‘Bangkok Dangerous’ Category
‘Burn’ Blazes To Top Of North American Box Office
LOS ANGELES: “Burn After Reading,” the newest dark comedy by sibling directors Ethan and Joel Coen, was the top weekend movie draw in the United States and Canada, preliminary industry figures showed Sunday.
The film, starring George Clooney and Brad Pitt, debuted with US$19.4 million in North American ticket sales, according to industry tracking company Exhibitor Relations.
In second place was the melodrama “The Family that Preys” by playwright-turned-filmmaker Tyler Perry with US$18 million, followed by police drama “Righteous Kill” starring Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino, with US$16.5 million.
The modern update of the classic film “The Women,” starring Hollywood sweetheart Meg Ryan, was in fourth place with US$10 million.
In fifth was “The House Bunny,” about an ousted Playboy bunny who becomes a college sorority house mother, with US$4.3 million.
The spoof “Tropic Thunder” - Ben Stiller’s movie-within-a-movie about filming a war flick in the middle of a real-life conflict zone - came in sixth place with US$4.1 million in receipts.
“Batman” sequel “The Dark Knight” was seventh with US$4 million. The blockbuster film also claimed the title of second all-time box office champion with US$512 million in ticket sales since its release.
Last week’s box office winner “Bangkok Dangerous,” starring Nicolas Cage as a ruthless hitman on assignment in Thailand, fell to eighth this week with just US$2.4 million in sales.
“Traitor,” a war-on-terror epic featuring Don Cheadle as a former US Special Ops officer and potential international conspirator, was ninth, pocketing US$2.4 million.
In 10th place was “Death Race,” an action-adventure flick about an ex-convict competing against prison inmates in a freedom-or-death car race, with US$2 million in ticket sales.
- AFP/yb
Channel News Asia
Bangkok Boring
SINGAPORE : As far as pointless Hollywood remakes of good Asian films go, “Bangkok Dangerous” isn’t bad - it’s downright awful.
Director twins Danny and Oxide Pang (The Eye, 2002) remake their own 1999 Thai hit of the same name with Nicolas Cageas a one-note lone hit man who is in Bangkok for the obligatory “one last job”.
Of course, he lets his guard down, gets emotionally attached to both his local punk assistant Kong (Thai actor Shahkrit Yamnarm) and cute deaf-mute pharmacist (Hong Kong’s Charlie Yeung), and risks getting eliminated himself.
Sporting a Gene Simmons hairstyle and showcasing his preferred acting style of “lazy pained expression”, Cage is neither tough nor cool enough to be a tourist in Bangkok, much less a hitman.
He seems to take himself a little too seriously, which inadvertently results inlaughably bad acting and unintentionally amusing action set-ups and romantic scenes.
Getting the Hollywood treatment seems to have stripped the good things that made the original interesting, as the Pangs dial down their usual razzle-dazzle visuals and leave out the innovative traditions of Hong Kong cinema that distinguishes them from the rest of the pack.
Although they managed to capture an atmosphere of Thai exotica and have an obvious flair for action sequences, it’s not enough to fill the gaping hole of where a charismatic leading man should be.
Does anyone remember when Nicolas Cage last mattered? His lacklustre energy slows the entire film down, making “Bangkok Dangerous” toxic and tedious and barely watchable. Do yourself a favour and rent the original instead. -
Channel News Asia
Cinema Pad Thai
SINGAPORE : These days, Bangkok is indeed “dangerous”. Tens of thousands of protesters have occupied government ministries. The Prime Minister has imposed a State of Emergency.
His opponents and supporters have clashed in bloody riots. And on Thursday, Nicolas Cage can be seen trawling the streets to gun down Thailand’s baddest, armed with incredibly alarming hair.
Oh, the horror.
The “Con Air actor” stars in “Bangkok Dangerous”, Danny and Oxide Pang’s remake of their own 1999 hit Thai gangster movie of the same name. It’s a far cry from the original - which won the International Federation of Film Critics award at the 2000 Toronto International Film Festival - but at least, it got enough attention from Hollywood to have an Oscar-winner star in it.
It’ll be in cinemas alongside Fantasia Film Festival Best Asian Film (Bronze) winner “4bia”, which has been enjoying a 3-week run on our local screens. The film has grossed a very respectable S$602,000 in Singapore so far.
This is after the success of “Shutter”, the 2004 Thai horror flick that scared Hollywood execs into releasing their own (lame) remake this year.
Thailand’s movie industryhas reached a new and important juncture.
Channel News Asia