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New Cinema Wallpaper of the Day
Saturday, September 27, 2008

Chocolate won 2nd place in the Audience Award category at Fantastic Fest 2008. There is a free screening of it on Sunday (more details). It was certainly an honor getting to introduce the film at what I believe was the US premiere of it. Magnet just bought up the US rights and I think it will certainly be a film that delivers for them… if they don’t sit on it too long.

Chocolate also recently rocked the house at the recent Bangkok International Film Festival!

Cinema is Dope Coverage:
::: Movie Wallpaper #2
::: Movie Wallpaper #1
::: Poster Artwork
::: Capsule Review from European Film Market

One Stop Shop for all Chocolate Online Coverage:
::: Wise Kwai’s Thai Film Journal

TIFF ‘08 Midnight Madness
::: Colin Geddes Review
::: Intro & Q&A

Image Source:
Official stills that were used in the original international release of the film.

Related Links:
::: Official Site
::: IMDb Profile

 

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So the first image here should give you a great sense of the bone-crunching and gravity defying action going on in Chocolate. It’s very much highly recommended and am absolute must see at Fantastic Fest 2008 this year! You can see this film before Fantastic Fest during the closing night film for the Toronto International Film Festival’s Midnight Madness.

Cinema is Dope Coverage:
::: Movie Wallpaper #1
::: Poster Artwork
::: Capsule Review from European Film Market

One Stop Shop for all Chocolate Online Coverage:
::: Wise Kwai’s Thai Film Journal

Image Source:
Official stills that were used in the original international release of the film.

Related Links:
::: Official Site
::: IMDb Profile

 

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New Cinema Wallpaper of the Day
Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Chocolate is set to explode Toronto International Film Festival audiences at the Midnight Madness section into action nirvana. After that it’s off to Austin and Fantastic Fest 2008! I could talk about or focus on all sorts of things with this film, but let me just say the last action sequence is the best action you will see in 2008 cinema.

As for Yanin its star, I have absolutely no idea what her full and correct name is. I’ve seen her name in about 4-9 different combination’s now, lol! I remember running at full speed in Berlin earlier this year at the European Film Market section of the Berlinale International Film Festival to catch Chocolate for the first time. I was to say the least despite some kick ass trailers, highly skeptical that at a feature length would work. It exceeded all my expectations and then some. I certainly wasn’t going into the film expecting story and characters expounding about existentialist themes and bone crunching Mamet dialogue that reflected inner demons and solidly planted motifs that later could climax into transcendence and Casablance-esque moments, “Play it again, Zen.” As a pure adrenaline classic action story as revenge fable it more than holds together and if by the end you aren’t on the edge of your seat fist pumping, then… perhaps your taking everything way too seriously. That original first screening at EFM blew the roof off the theater, with people going crazy, which let me tell you the industry screenings at markets are typically more silent and dead than any ol’ press screening with critics only. That it could get otherwise cold and unresponsive industry people to forget everything and just get into a film by cheering and applauding certainly was one of the highlights of 2008. Spilling out with Midnight Madness programmer Colin Geddes and Hawaii International Film Festival programmer Anderson Le while basking in Chocolate only made it sweeter. Each of us drooling with the thought of playing the film at our festivals with our audiences in mind!

Cinema is Dope Coverage:
::: Poster Artwork
::: Capsule Review from European Film Market

One Stop Shop for all Chocolate Online Coverage:
::: Wise Kwai’s Thai Film Journal

Image Source:
Official stills that were used in the original international release of the film.

Related Links:
::: Official Site
::: IMDb Profile

Sweet yet deadly is Yanin Vismitananda as Zen in the latest from Prachya Pinkaew, Chocolate. Read my previous take on the film (read here).

Image Source:
Official promotional artwork for the international release of the film.

Related Links:
::: Official Site
::: IMDb Profile

I can confirm with 100% certainty that Chocolate kicks unbelievable ass. At this point if this is the only film that comes out this year I’ll be happy. I haven’t gotten to see a movie that got me on such an euphoric wave in a good while. As far as females kicking ass movies, it’s the best one I’ve ever seen. I think my previous favorite female kicking ass movie was Yes, Madam with Michelle Yeoh and Cynthia Rothrock.

The lead female actress forms some kind of hybrid between Tony Jaa and Bruce Lee (in spots). Mostly they play to her own strengths (which you have to see to believe) and really never tries to rival either Tony or Bruce. The story is slight, but the broad spectrum of characters and scenarios more than complete the film into an absolute marvel and one of the absolute treats of 2008 cinema.

The last action sequence of the film, which is only oh so slightly shown in the trailer is staggering and had me on the edge of my seat. I lost track I was only watching a movie as bad guys fall with next to no safety several stories to a hard pavement. It really reminds me of some ways of the earlier 80’s Jackie Chan films where pulling off cool fights and fight sequences trumped any form of safety. Even more so than anything in Ong Bak, this film puts action firmly in its sights and seeks to raise the bar and leave every damn action film in recent memory in the dust.

Luckily the trailer doesn’t give too much away, be prepared for Chocolate. I will rejoice and bask in this film again and again and again. Which is a welcome change with so many action films of late I forget the moment I walk out the door or instantly buy on DVD, to never watch again.

As a side note I was absolutely stunned at the amount of full on contact fighting that takes place in the film and the amount of real weapons and objects (like real locker doors) that are used throughout the film. I’m so used to films play fighting and having fake props, that it takes a film like this to wake me up to what an action film can be when all bets are off and everything is set within real fighting, places and objects.