Thursday, April 5, 2012

Talking dogs and Spicy Beauty Queens in sequels

Just in time for next week's big Songkran Thai New Year holiday comes a couple of movies that the studios are aiming to make franchises.

The most promising and ambitious of the pair is Ma Mha 2 (มะหมา 2), a follow-up to the NGR studio's 2007 talking-dog movie that had the English title Mid-Road Gang.

A rare talking-animal movie in the Thai industry, it proved pretty popular and was even praised critically. It also led to more opportunities for the Chaipak Dog Training Center, which has since supplied many trained dogs to the entertainment industry.

Pantham Thongsang again directs. He co-directed the first one with Somkiet Vituranich.

Some of the old dogs have returned, but there's also new dogs doing all kinds of new tricks, like running through alleys and jumping through hoops as if they were Tony Jaa in Ong-Bak.

The canine cast this time around led by a pure-breed Thai Bangkaew named Jer. He's voiced by young actor Jirayu La-ongmanee. Jer runs into trouble when he's unjustly accused of attacking his master’s child but in fact, the infant has been kidnapped and it’s up to Jer to rescue the tyke. Pitisak Yaowananon, who starred in Pantham's 2004 drama Ai Fak, also stars.

More about the movie is in a Bangkok Post story. The trailer is embedded below.



The other sequel in Thai cinemas today is Poj Arnon's Plon Naya 2 Ai Yah! (ปล้นนะยะ 2 อั๊ยยยย่ะ), which follows his 2004 bank-robbery farce Spicy Beauty Queens in Bangkok, about colorful transgender cabaret dancers robbing a bank to pay for sex-change operations.

Now they are back in their sequined costumes and outlandish wigs. Jaturong Pollaboon returns as the ringleader, after having fled abroad. He comes home to finally have that operation. But then the hospital is stormed by a radical student group, led by Somchai Kemklad, doing his usual Somchai Kemklad hotheaded act.

Original cast member Charoenporn "Kohtee" Onlamai is among the returnees. They're joined by Kirk Schiller, among others.

Actress "Tak" Bongkote Kongmalai is also in cast. Apparently she and Poj have forgiven each other after they feuded during the making of the martial-arts flick Chalee's Angels a.k.a. Dangerous Flowers.

The trailer is embedded below.

1 comment:

  1. The movie with the talking dogs looks like it might be cute. I am feeling nostalgic for the time when the Thai film industry consisted of a new ghost story seemingly every other week.

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