Suay .... Samurai (Vanquisher)

Vanquisher, also known as Suay ... Samurai (สวยซามูไร, literally "beautiful samurai"), is a long-in-the-works action thriller by veteran director Manop Udomdej.

At one time it was to feature "Amy" Chotiros Suriwong, but the young actress was kicked off the project by executive producer "Sia Jiang" Somsak Techaratanprasert after Amy wore a revealing dress as a presenter of the Subhanahongsa Awards in 2007. Sia Jiang ordered all footage of Amy cut from the film.

The star is Sophita Sribanchean, who plays Genja, a CIA agent who completes covert mission in southern Thailand but then has to fight off rival operatives from within the agency who've been ordered to "take her out at all costs." She survives and bides her time until two years later in Bangkok, she faces her old foes and a plot to detonate a bomb in the city.

Jacqueline Apithananont (The Bodyguard 2, Queens of Langkasuka), Kessarin Ektawatkul (Born to Fight, Chai Lai), Saranyoo Wongkrachang and Pete Thongchua also star.

Also opening

Brothers Bloom -- Adrien Brody and Mark Ruffalo portray sibling conmen who specialize in swindling millionaires with elaborate plots. They plan one last job involving a beautiful and eccentric heiress (Rachel Weisz). Rinko Kikuchi also stars. It's the second feature by Rian Johnson, who gathered much critical acclaim for his indie debut, 2005's high-school film noir Brick. At Apex and SF World CentralWorld.

The Box -- Richard Kelly (Donnie Darko) returns with a decently reviewed thriller based on a Richard Matheson short story about couple (Cameron Diaz and James Marsden) who find a mysterious box that promises to make them rich if they press its buttons, but doing so will also mean someone they do not know will die. Frank Langella also stars.

Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani -- Ranbir Kapoor stars in this romantic comedy as a guy whoselife philosophy is to spread joy through his The Happy Club. Somehow, this involves him kidnapping a young woman (Katrina Kaif) and helping her run away from her own wedding. It's showing at 8 on Friday and Saturday and 4 and 7.30 on Sunday at SF World Cinema, CentralWorld, by BollywoodThai.com.

World Film Festival of Bangkok

The fest opens on Friday night at Paragon Cineplex with Mundane History, an experimental family drama by Anocha Suwichakornpong that is already being tipped as one of this year's best films.

Malaysian-born Taiwanese director Tsai Ming-liang will be here to receive the festival's Lotus Award for cinematic achievement. His latest, Face, shot in the Paris Louvre, is another must-see.

There is a Retrospective on Swiss director Alain Tanner, with six of his acclaimed works being shown: Charles, Dead or Alive (1969), The Salamander (1971), Jonah Who Will be 25 in The Year 2000 (1976), Messidor (1979), Light Years Away (1981)  and In The White City (1983).

A new programme this year is Guts Nouveau, which puts the emphasis on experimental films, video and museum arts. Among the highlights of that section is CalArts Shorts: Portrait Documentaries from Women's Perspective.

Another new section is Music & Dance a la Carte, which spotlights documentaries about music and dance. Among those is the closing film, Rocksteady: The Roots of Reggae, which closes the festival on November 15 with an outdoor screening in Discovery Plaza.

Other programmes are Cine Latino, offering a rare opportunity to see movies from Central and South America; Asian Contemporary, which includes indie features from Southeast Asia and India; Cinema Beat covering Europe and elsewhere and there are the Short Wave and Doc Feast line-ups.

The fest is already hit with controversy with the Culture Ministry's banning of one film, This Area Is Under Quarantine by Thunska Pansittivorakul, which mixed discussion of 2004's killing of Muslim detainees at Tak Bai with gay issues and explicit sex.

Despite that, there are still plenty of independent Thai shorts and features, including the latest from Apichatpong Weerasethakul, A Letter to Uncle Boonmee.

Take note

That's at least two good movies opening this week, plus a really great film festival. Lots to see.

Still showing is Michael Jackson's This Is It, which has not performed as dazzingly in Thailand as it has worldwide. I'm not sure why. Maybe people stayed away, fearing it was sold out. But it's playing many times a day at most cinemas.

It was supposed to run until November 10 -- Tuesday--  but has been extended in other parts of the world and will probably be continued here in Thailand too to give people a chance to see it. The buzz is, even if you are not a fan, it's still worth seeing, so I hope to find time to do so myself.