Tmovie - Ong Bak 2 (2008)

Photos - Google
Synopsis - Amazon

From the moment the crocodile leaps out of the muddy water, you know you’re in for some dynamic entertainment. What will surprise you is just how sweeping, inventive, and even beautiful this Thai martial arts movie can be. The plot of Ong Bak 2 is basic: A young prince sees his parents murdered by a usurping tyrant. Under the tutelage of a bandit chief, the boy grows up to be an astonishing fighter who sets out to take revenge. (There’s no need to see Ong Bak before seeing this film; the only thing they have in common is their star.) What lifts it above the ordinary are aggressive camera-work, acrobatic action sequences, and moments of dazzling, hypnotic loveliness (such as the Thai dance scene, shot with a stunning visual symmetry that falls somewhere between Busby Berkeley and Stanley Kubrick). And above all, there is Tony Jaa, who stars as the adult prince and co-directed. Jaa is one of those virtuosic physical performers--like Bruce Lee but also like Fred Astaire--who seem to channel some divine energy through human flesh. Not only is he is a peak athlete; he has a vulnerable, soulful charisma, which has nothing to do with acting ability but makes someone supremely watchable on film. Ong Bak 2 is not kitsch or camp; it has the over-the-top romanticism that Western audiences sometimes resist--but if you surrender to it, Ong Bak 2 is a rich, rewarding movie experience. --Bret Fetzer



Best Tony Jaa film. Seriously. The storyline is amazing. He isn't trying to get back a statue or elephant. Can *not* wait for part 3!

I kinda wish the title would be something different than Ong Bak because it definitely is NOT a sequel.

Tmovie - Body #19 (2007)

Synopsis - IMDB
Photos - Google

Chon is suffering from nightmares. He tries not to sleep because he's scared of a girl that he sees each night in his dreams. In the dreams, the girl screams for help before she is cruelly killed. Ae, Chon's sister is worried about the illusion that Chon sees in his dreams, so she introduces him to a psychiatrist. Chon tries to prove that what he sees is not just the illusion. Finally, Chon is right when some clues in his nightmares lead him to a morgue number 19. And now, the story of the dead body inside the morgue is gradually revealed.



After my complaint of the Thai movie, Scared, I decided to take my chance on another Thai movie. This time, it is Body #19. I don't watch many Thai movies, but for the ones that I do watch - Horror is the genre.

After watching the first ten minutes of the movie, I have to admit, I thought I was watching a Korean horror movie. The way the movie executes the storytelling is brilliant. It leads you wondering what is going on and about to happen.

Not only does the script seem "Korean-like," I felt the guy who played Chon, Arak Amornsupasiri, has that Korean look. You can call me sterotyping or whatever. But this is my blog, and that's just my opinion :) What I also learned about Arak is he's the lead singer of the Thai rock bank, Slur. Arak did a wonderful job portraying the confused, naive Chon.



When a movie makes me re-think about what happens and re-evaluate the circumstances and sequences, then I really enjoyed it. Enjoyed the script and narration of how the movie is unfolded. The dream sequences were done well and gave me chills down my spine.

Right when I thought the movie will end, I was proven wrong again. Wow. Great performances from all the cast members.

Besides the unique, brilliant script, the movie is very gory and graphic. Definitely worth a watch for horror fans.

Tmovie - Scared (2005)

Synopsis - IMDB
Photos - Google & BehindHollywood

A big group of freshman students go out of town. On the journey, their bus has to cross a creaky old river bridge which is the only way to get to the center of a dark forest. When the bus is halfway across, the bridge collapses and the bus falls deep into the river more than 50 meters from the surface. Nearly all the students are killed. The remaining students walk into the forest until they discover a mysterious, abandoned town. The students are cruelly murdered one by one. Only the survivor will be able to explain it all



I love horror/thriller movies; therefore, I really wanted to watch Scared. Asian horror movies have been re-made in Hollywood occassionally. Mostly from Japanese horror movies. But really recently, from a Thai movie, Shutter.

Scared is nothing but a glorified-gory, slashed, blood-filled movie.

Instead the movie showed a bunch of helpless students who ended up brainless escaping from this mass murderer. Why was he killing them? What was the reason?

The English subtitles on the dvd I got were hilarious. Whoever sub for the movie must have been drunk! The English translations for the characters name kept me laughing. One of them I could remember is Big Red. There were funnier ones, which I will have to come back and re-edit.

The movie dragged too much for me. What I disliked the most is the amount of potholes. The storyline was too weak. Instead of me being "scared," I was too busy lauging at the characters. Overall, I was very disappointed. I'm a fan of horror movies and wanted a good plot.

Tmovie - Tiger Blade (2005)

Synopsis - MovieExclusive
Photos - CoffeeCoffeeAndMoreCoffee

When a highly volatile case confronts the police, a young maverick cop with mystical powers is put on the case. YOSTHANA teams up with the seductive DUANGDAO, and together they must hunt down and capture the brutal and deadly 'FIVE BULLETS BANDIT'. The gang is led by the fearsome, MAHESAK, who like Yosthana is skilled in the art of sorcery and magic. Mahesak can only be defeated with The Tiger Blade, a magical and ancient sword, replete with the powers of nature, and the forces of good. Yosthana must find the Tiger Blade, and bring Mahesak to justice, before the bandits bring total chaos to the city. The stage is set for a gruesome battle between the two nemesis, but only one can survive.

After seeing trailers and reading about the synopsis, I decided to try to watch Tiger Blade. The beginning of the movie started off well with lots of non-stop action and old-school fight moves, which I love! I miss the Shaw Brother-fighting style. The movie fell completely through the middle part. There were too many subplots, and the movie just became too confusing and dull. Without the fight scenes, I would have turned the movie off instantly.

Or it could be I expected a better movie. It's just that watching the beginning; I expected the movie to turn out better than it was suppose to be. Having a female badass kick fight was awesome. I love to see that, rather than have the heroes take up most of the credit. Plus the leading hero was "easy on the eyes" as well!

I'm not very familiar with Thai stars. Therefore, I had to look them up. The leading man, Atsadawut Luengsuntorn is definitely good-looking, and I enjoyed looking at him. Having martial arts skills, or very good choreography, helped me watch the movie at ease.

The female leading lady, Phimonrat Phisarayabud, had the diva-effect that I enjoyed.

Maybe with not too many loop-holes from the movie, I could've enjoyed it more. Or I should have had less expectations. Since the movie title definitely had to do with "some blade," you knew it revolve around a powerful sword. Sword in the Stone, anyone??

Tmovie - Shutter (2004)

Synopsis - IMDB
Photos - surfing the net for pics

In Bangkok, after celebrating a drinking party with his closest friends, the photographer Tun (Ananda Everingham) and his girlfriend Jane (Natthaweeranuch Thongmee) have a car accident on the road, with Jane hitting a girl. Tun does not allow her to help the girl and they ran away leaving the girl lying on the road. When Tun reveals his latest pictures, he finds some mysterious shadows, while the couple is systematically haunted by the ghost of the girl. Tun investigates and finds that the victim was his former shy and weird girlfriend Natre (Achita Sikamana), who studied with him in the college. Later Jane discloses deep and hidden secrets about the relationship of Natre, Tun and his friends.

When I first heard about this movie, I had to watch it. So many Hmong people were telling me how freaking this movie was. Many has said it is the scariest movie ever. Therefore, I finally saw it.

My thoughts - it is indeed haunting. While watching the film, I didn't see anything too spooky. It's those type of films that you will be freaked out later just thinking about the movie. On top of that, I didn't grow up hearing ghost stories from my parents like a lot of my Hmong friends and relatives have. No wonder I wasn't as freaked out about the movie as them! When they finally explained to me some of the significant meaning behind some of them, I can see why now.

This movie must have made a huge impact since Hollywood remade the film under the same title. My only problem (although I haven't seen the Hollywood version) is a lot of critics have written Shutter as a Japanese film where the Hollywood film has taken inspiration from. Plus the film is set in Japan. Okay, one more problem - why does the ex have to be a scary, psychotic ASIAN girl? I'm sure a white American chick could've done that too. We've seen that in American Hollywood films.

As I always say, watch the original first!