Syndromes and a Century Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Pop quiz: what was one of the most critically lauded films of the year, yet barely got seen in the US? Syndromes and a Century received many admiring reviews off its play at various film festivals and finished #4 in the indieWIRE Critics' Poll; DVD might be a natural home for director Apichatpong Weerasethakul's latest meditative drama. The Strand Releasing DVD is bare-bones, with only a few trailers included, but kudos to them for making this more easily available.

The Ten features an all-star cast in a comic dissection of the Biblical Ten Commandments. In his review, Scott Weinberg acknowledged the "fairly sketchy" framework but said he "discovered a solid handful of worthwhile chuckles in the flick." James Rocchi summarized: "The Ten's a wacky, hit-and-miss, shotgun blast of a comedy that stands apart from the corporate commodity comedy's become in major-studio Hollywood." The DVD from ThinkFilm includes an audio commentary, more than 55 minutes of alternate takes and deleted scenes, an interview, a "making of" feature, ringtones (!) and wallpaper.

PBS is broadcasting Robert Stone's JFK doc Oswald's Ghost starting this week, but it's also available on DVD with extra features, including an interview with Stone, "The Zapruder film and beyond," and a visit fo Dealey Plaza. In my review, I called it "the rare film whose power increases with distance," though I wish that more of Stone's opinions had been expressed. Maybe the DVD's extra features will add the "degree of balance of perspective that is otherwise missing from a very well-made documentary."

Kim Voynar felt Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience, a documentary about a project that brought together distinguished writers, soldiers and their families, at times seems "uncertain of just what kind of film it wants to be," lacking any new insights into the Iraq War. She thought it would lend itself more to the intimacy of television "much more than the big screen." The DVD includes a discussion guide.

As much as I enjoy reading Top 10 lists -- and wondering if anyone actually saw all 600+ films released in the US during the past year -- I'm always looking for more, especially those from other countries. WiseKwai's Thai Film Journal has selected the "Top 5 Thai films of 2007." WiseKwai's top selection from Thailand has also found its way onto a number of US "best of the year" lists: Apichatpong Weerasethakul's Syndromes and a Century.

Here's the local twist: WiseKwai says that the film screened once for the press and then was pulled from release because censors objected to four scenes, which he details in his post. He feels that "far more lurid and violent films got a pass. Thai authorities had no good reason to pick on this gentle ode to the director's parents." The action galvanized the Free Thai Cinema Movement, which campaigned for a change in how the government treats films. Unfortunately, recent legislation to create a new film ratings system "still contains provisions for authorities to censor and ban films, which filmmakers had fought against." Syndromes and a Century will be released on DVD in the US on January 15, 2008.

In happier news, WiseKwai lists his other selections: Pen-Ek Ratanaruang's "good kind of weird" Ploy, Pimpaka Towira's political doc The Truth Be Told: The Cases Against Supinya Klangnarong, Kongkiat Khomsiri's period Thai boxing crime drama Muay Thai Chaiya, and Chukiat Sakweerakul's gay teen romance The Love of Siam. Thailand's Academy Award submission for Best Foreign Language Film, The Legend of Naresuan: Declaration in Independence, got an Honorable Mention along with sci-fi comedy The Sperm. That's a poster I'd love to see!

2007 is now one-third over, and four movies have broken $100 million: 300, Wild Hogs, Ghost Rider and Blades of Glory. Eddie Murphy's Norbit is creeping up on a $100 million score as well. Only Blades of Glory is interesting in the slightest. It's a poorly-directed, uneven comedy, but with plenty of laughs, all thanks to Will Ferrell. I guess I could waste time wondering why people are paying good money to see these so-called movies, but the fact remains that they all opened on more than 3000 screens, and were available for just about everyone in the country to see.

Despite these duds, the year in movies hasn't been so bad so far. I'd rather focus on some of the year's really good entries, the ones that will probably be forgotten eight months from now when the list and awards season starts all over again. I haven't been able to see it yet, but Syndromes and a Century (1 screen) from Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul should be enlightening. His Mysterious Object at Noon (2000), a beautiful combination of documentary and storytelling, is on my personal list of the best films of the past ten years. His amazing Blissfully Yours (2002), among other things, rolled the credits right in the middle of the movie, and his Tropical Malady (2005) had a gay romance far more tender and engrossing than the more widely celebrated Brokeback Mountain.