“BANGKOK TRAFFIC LOVE STORY” THAI MOVIE Review. You SAVOUR hot FLUSHES of LOVE, SWEETNESS and then SOME.

“BANGKOK TRAFFIC LOVE STORY” PRESS PREVIEW

In LIFE, whatever YOURS will remain YOURS.

There’s no two ways about it.

Even with this tangy element called love.

Love can be evasive and tricky – but it’s one-hell of a destiny.

Fate empowers all the adornments of love.

You are either fated to be in love or stay out of it.

If you are destined to meet the one you'd eventually marry, you surely will, even when the odds are not in your favor.

You may be zillion of miles apart from her, on either end of the globe

but fate will worm its way to bridge this distance.

Love transcends borders.

It’s proven.

On the other hand, two persons may dwell in the same neighborhood, yet neither the twain shall meet.

Fate charts the course of true love.

And the path of true love never does run smooth.

Right?

“BTS” aka BANGKOK TRAFFIC LOVE STORY is a sweet, delicious THAI romantic comedy, with a distinct THAI flavor throughout.

It was screened in THAILAND in October 2009 and was a smashing hit.

The Thai girls went oh-ga-ga over it and “BTS” achieved the highest grossing box-office returns for that year.

It’s all about a slit-eyed and terribly lonely Mei Li (SIRIN HORWANG) who just turns 30 and still very much available.

Everybody who’s close to her is either married or engaged but she’s still loveless.

Her predicament causes her to panic as she does not want to be an unwanted item displayed on the shelf. Won’t you?

Enter doe-eyed Lung (KEN THEERADEJ) a strapping sexy hunk who is also a BTS engineer. He works in the perpetual night shift and sleeps by day. Yet their paths cross and she has the hots for him and deems him as a prize catch.

She initiates her first move and intends to fiercely snare him as he is still availably single.

But to her chagrin, not everything is moving according to plans.

So Mei Li’s love quest becomes a challenge.

Will she land up with Lung?

KEN THEERADEJ is Thailand’s much loved actor and he lifts this movie up from an otherwise tedious, mundane, lovelorn script.

I have always revered him as “the best” since he played a young besotted student who carried a torch for a much older woman in the 2001 version of the THAI classic – “BEHIND THE PAINTING”

His stronghold is in the THAI family dramas where he’s paid a handsome sum per episode comparable to the CHINA actors, which is at least 6 to 8 times of whatever the artistes are receiving in Malaysia and Singapore. Surprise?

Take note that the THAI population to-date has reached 62 million people.

All these years, KEN has lost none of the latent charm and has actually gone from strength-to-strength.

In fact fatherhood (he has recently married) has added a quiet steely maturity to his overall personality but he still has all the trappings of a martinee idol.

Kudos, KEN.

China-bred, Singapore based Qi YU WU bears a remarkable semblance to KEN THEERADEJ’s persona, or so I think, having met KEN a couple of times.

Filming of this feature film was sponsored by the BTS as part of their 10th anniversary in 2009, and is therefore necessary that many didactic scenes depicting maintenance work on the system and its infrastructure are shown.

Directed by ADISORN TRESIRIKASEM, this is no angel of a movie.

There are stark depictions of crapping in the toilet, the spewing of vomits and suggestive fornications. Thai style of humor in generous doses, maybe.

Yet you do get hot flushes of love, sweetness, yearning and then some.

That said, “BTS” has earned numerous Thai awards, and these achievements speak volumes.

WHATEVER THE CASE, GO JUDGE FOR YOURSELF.

BYRON PANG 彭罡原. Best New Actor NOMINEE for the 30th HONG KONG FILM AWARDS 2011. “In LIFE, every ACTOR will have his own SONG to SING.”

It has been an aesthetic pleasure working with Hong Kong ace fashion photographer PATRICK LAM to produce these stunning shots. I urged Patrick that BYRON PANG should be styled with a touch of elegance, at the same time enhancing his gritty boy-next-door looks. Patrick has not only done what I envisioned, but has created an amazing balance. Thanks, Patrick.

BYRON has worked on a gamut of roles, ranging from an invincible SWORDSMAN to a SHAOLIN MONK.

He has received focus training in the art of WUSHU for more than 10 years.

He speaks impeccable MANDARIN (with a clear TAIWANESE accent), ENGLISH, and naturally, CANTONESE.

“I relish a true sense of adventure and danger. I love competitive sports such as Martial Arts (Wushu), parachuting, bungee jumping, mountain climbing, mountain biking, car racing and deep sea diving. I have tried them all.”

BYRON PANG 彭罡原

Fashion Photography by PATRICK LAM (Hong Kong)

Whatever happened to cherubic BYRON PANG since his lead role in AMPHETAMINE 安非他命?

Lots, really.

Right now he’s a Best New Actor NOMINEE for the 30th Hong Kong Film Awards 2011.

Of course, he’s deliriously happy.

Hard work has paid off, and he’s being recognized now as a serious actor and not just a pretty face.

For the last many months, he has been attending the renowned festival circuits promoting AMPHETAMINE his debut feature film with him in the leading role.

So he’s been travelling, spending time mostly out of Hong Kong.

He’s trying his hand at writing a script, but please, no further comments as he’s keeping mum at this moment.

He’s also considering a European art house feature which would take him out of Hong Kong for a period of time.

His diary is full.

His manager is sieving through several scripts on hand, from around the region and he knows he’s going to be pretty busy the entire 2011 with the ongoing line-ups.

He is quoting MARIA ROBINSON’s verse when he says, “Nobody can go back and start a new beginning. But anyone can start TODAY and make a new ENDING”.

Right.

“I am like this bird that’s setting its hopes high because there’s a song to be sung if we all work hard,” he beams brightly.

“Every man sings his own song, and in life, you don’t just wait.” he adds.

BYRON reads Chinese philosophy.

“A mind is like a parachute. It doesn’t work if it’s not open” is his rationale at sensible experimenting before deciding on the straight path.

“Be your own soul, learn to live” is his motto for the thrills and spins in dangerous sports.

“And if malicious people thwart you, take no heed. If they hate you, have no care.” He had his fair share of foul mouthing and bad press and he learns now to cope better.

Sing your song, dream your dream,

hope your hope

and pray your prayer.

Because every actor has his own song to sing, he sums up.

“JUST GO WITH IT” Movie Review. Courting LOVE in One Silly Merry-go-Round.

“JUST GO WITH IT” PRESS PREVIEW

Someone is damn right.

I can’t say I like ADAM SANDLER very much.

Nor his brand of comedies.

He was a total put-off in “GROWN UPS”.

Now he’s back again with JENNIFER ANISTON, the sweetest gal-next-door who’s not exactly that young.

ANISTON is working her butt out, doling out film after film and her coffer must be immensely full.

Indeed.

That’s HOLLYWOOD for you.

When you’re one step up the rung, producers will knock incessantly on your door to read their scripts.

And you just have to make one box office flop and these offers will start to dwindle.

Everything about the entertainment world is fake and brutal, with plastic smiles floating around aplenty.

You need not stay around long enough to know.

Let’s not tarry with the synopsis of this romantic comedy.

“JUST GO WITH IT” is all about one goofy plastic surgeon Danny (ADAM SANDLER) who’s besotted with a much younger schoolteacher after he gets tired of meaningless fornications with sex-starved women.

He now desires a soul-mate albeit sex toy.

It is anybody’s guess whether he is in love or in lust.

The heat is on.

Danny the loser always wear a wedding ring as some kind of decoy, and conjures the absurd story about being abused by a non-existent wife which causes all manners of gorgeous women to pity him and hop into bed with him.

That easy, scriptwriter?

That is, until he meets Palmer (BROOKLYN DECKER)

Our sweet and beguiling Miss Palmer is one self-conceited egghead who acts and dresses like the 60s Hollywood bimbo BO DEREK.

But this pretentious sexpot is smart at reverse psychology.

She does not want to be seen as a home-wrecker. No way.

Danny may explain that he is on the throes of an impending divorce, but Palmer nevertheless insists she wants to meet the wife.

Hence Danny decides to enlist his loyal assistant Katherine (JENNIFER ANISTON) who happens to be a single working mom to portray his wife who’s suing him for divorce.

That plea comes with a tempting offer of an elite shopping spree plus a make-over in Beverly Hills.

Nothing’s for free, right?

Naturally Katherine accepts the barter and plays the ex-wife role.

However, when one lie conveniently leads to another, the entire farce suddenly backfires.

This is when Katherine’s kids become inadvertently involved, thereby throwing more fuel to the burning embers.

Now, to cut a meandering story short, everyone ends up in Hawaii including Danny’s cousin Eddie (NICK SWARDSON) who poses as Katherine’s lover.

By sheer chance, Katherine encounters an old rival, the superficial Devlin (NICOLE KIDMAN).

It’s here where all’s well than ends well and everybody lives happily ever after. Simply put.

Here’s a surprise.

NICOLE KIDMAN does a cameo here.

Her screen time is minimalistic, but she peremptorily steals the show each time she appears, creating the spontaneous guffaws in an otherwise mundane script.

The screen characters are likable, making this a better-than-average Adam Sandler feature.

Directed by DENNIS DUGAN, he intends it to be a feel-good, funny movie with a heart.

Disregard the vulgar connotations and sex talk.

In this age and time, these are hardly frowned upon.

Sincerity aside, this one may not have mass appeal as one man’s meat is another’s poison.

NICOLE KIDMAN and JENNIFER ANISTON wouldn’t have agreed to be in it if it ain’t any good.

JUST GO WITH IT and give it a fair chance.

Who knows, you might perceive things a little differently.