World No Tobacco Day 2007

 

World No Tobacco Day is celebrated all over the world by member states of World Health Organization (WHO) every year on 31 May. The year 2007 marks the 20th anniversary of World No Tobacco Day since it was first initiated officially when the assembly passes a resolution in 1987 calling for 7 April 1988 to be a “world no-smoking day.” Later that year, the resolution was passed, calling for the celebration of World No Tobacco Day, every year on 31 May.

Keira Knightley to Portray Princess Diana

 

This news came after the eve of Cannes Film Festival in France last Sunday where the rights to adapt the controversial new book called Diana and the Paparazzi by Glenn Harvey and Mark Saunders (to be published this September) to the film had been under a bidding war. In the end, film producer Quentin Reynolds won the bidding and stated that he wanted Keira Knightley (whom we saw recently as a lady-become-pirate in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End) to take the leading role of the late People’s Princess. After last year success of The Queen which portrayed the British Royal family centered by Queen Elizabeth II in the tragedy after the accident that caused Princess Diana‘s death, the producer has high hope for this new film that it would be ten times more successful than The Queen. That’s what we’ll see if the movie is made without protests from British Royal family and people who loves Princess Diana.

The Last King of Scotland

 

The Last King of Scotland is a movie based on the novel with the same name, originally written in 1998 by an English journalist Giles Foden. The story mixes fictional character with real events in Uganda during the realm of the dictatorship of the president General Idi Amin Dada from 1971 to 1979. With extensive research and interesting story-telling, the book won several novel awards. For those who wonder what the meaning of the title of the novel and the film is all about, how Scotland relates to Uganda, here is the answer. In fact, the title of the book is taken from part of Idi Amin‘s self-proclaimed grandiose title as “His Excellency President for Life Field Marshal Al Hadji Dr. Idi Amin, VC, DSO, MC, King of Scotland Lord of All the Beasts of the Earth and Fishes of the Sea and Conqueror of the British Empire in Africa in General and Uganda in Particular.”

MichaelClub.com 1st Anniversary

 

MichaelClub.com is an official website of Sirachuch “Michael” Chienthaworn, a young actor who is well-known from his debut role in the 2006 award-winning critically acclaimed Thai movie “Dek Hor” (as known internationally as “Dorm“) directed by Songyos “Yong” Sugmakanan. Dek Hor was released in the cinemas at the time of political uncertainty in Thailand but still managed to do well in box-office. After a year of its release, the film traveled virtually around the world to various film festivals and won several prestigious trophies, signifying its quality, including the Crystal Bear from Berlin international film festival. Along with the success of the movie, Michael, who portrays one of the main characters in the film, got his very own fan clubs and MichaelClub.com was launched exactly a year ago today (28 May) as a birthday present to Michael and his fans from his parents, the lovely Mama and Papa of Chienthaworn family, with me being the head of the web-administrators team. It’s an exhausting and time-consuming work running even a small website but the task proves to be so much enjoyable and rewarding. With more than 120,000 clicks to the website in a year (an average of 10,000 clicks per month) and some 1,770 members of MFC (Michael Family Club) from the web board, it’s quite a milestone. I would like to express my gratitude to Papa, Mama, Michael and everyone in Chienthaworn family for their sincerity and hospitality. We’ve gone through a roller coaster ride of either good and bad times together. I also have to thank P’Yong for exclusive information and pictures of Michael and for always being generous to me. Thanks to the team of MichaelClub.com administrator, you always rock! Last but not least, thanks everybody who supports Michael and MichaelClub.com. Without each and everyone of you, there would be neither MFC nor MichaelClub.com.

Aside marking today as the first anniversary of MichaelClub.com, I would like to say Happy 15th Birthday to Michael as well. As a gift to Michael and everyone, I would like to introduce the newly designed MichaelClub.com :: Issue 2. With minimalism concept in mind, I wish the new MichaelClub.com would be a home sweet home for all MFC members, old and new. Enjoy browsing MichaelClub.com and don’t forget to check back often for news and updates of Michael.

 

Related Links

• MichaelClub.com
• MichaelClub.com Launching

An Inconvenient Truth

 

An Inconvenient Truth is a documentary movie about global warming following the hard effort of former United States Vice President Al Gore to get people’s awareness of this environmental issue. In the film, we could see Mr. Gore’s lecture on this serious climate change problem in various places across the globe. In fact, there is also a book with the same name written by Mr. Gore himself to emphasis on the problem. The film won two Academy Awards including Best Documentary Feature and Best Original Song for the song “I Need to Wake Up” performed by Melissa Etheridge.

Thai Dogs Won Award at Cannes Film Festival

 

This is funny but true. I have just read the headlines from the Nation newspaper website that dogs from Thai film “Ma-Mha Si Ka Krub” (with an English title of “Mid Road Gang“) received the “Palm Dog” award at the 60th Cannes Film Festival in France on May 25th, 2007. At first, I was skeptical about the nature of the award but after some Google searches, I have to admit that the award really exists. In fact, there is an official website of the “Palm Dog“ explaining the reason behind the award giving to man’s best four-legged friends in the film and showing past winners since the award was first introduced back in 2001. Members of the international press, including journalists from The Times, The Guardian, Heat Magazine and the Evening Standard, are the judges who choose the best canines featured in the year’s films from around the world.

Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan

 

This strangely long name film is a mockumentary comedy featuring a fictitious journalist from Kazakhstan named Borat who travels around the United States recording documentary regarding American people and culture. All persons appeared in the film don’t know the true intention of the movie, in fact, they all had been tricked to believe that the British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, who portrays the role of Borat, is actually a Kazakh journalist. Thus, the reaction of people in the films is sarcastically real.

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End

 

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End is the third action adventure film bearing the name Pirates of the Caribbean. The whole Pirates series are first inspired by an attraction with the same name at Disneyland. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End is an immediate sequel to Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest and in fact was shot back-to-back. After an abrupt ending of Dead Man’s Chest, we have to wait for 10 months in order to see the fate of our beloved Captain Jack Sparrow and his friends (as well as his enemies.) Yes, Captain Jack Sparrow is back in this movie, after all he is the leading character in the film.

Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride

 

Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride is a stop-motion animation film produced and directed by Tim Burton in 2005. The film was nominated in the 78th Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature but it lost to Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, another clay stop-motion animation film, even though some supporters thought Corpse Bride should win. Corpse Bride featured an all-star cast of voices including Johnny Depp (his first film as a voice actor), a veteran voice actress Helena Bonham Carter and Emily Watson. This animated film is full of Tim Burton‘s trademark and references to his previous works like The Nightmare Before Christmas and Beetlejuice.

The story is set in small English town in Victorian era. A shy young man named Victor Van Dort, son of a rich merchant family, is set in an arranged marriage with Victoria Everglot, daughter of a penniless aristocrat. On wedding rehearsal day, Victor couldn’t perform his vow perfectly and is forced to practice it in the woods. After he could remember all the word, he practice his perfectly correct vow to a branch of tree without knowing that it’s actually a corpse of a dead bride named Emily, who was killed on her wedding day while waiting for her groom. Victor has been taken to the land of the dead. He has to find his way back to the world of the living.

The Golden Compass – Movie Preview

 

The Golden Compass is an exciting fantasy adventure movie scheduled to be open in the U.S. cinemas in December 2007. It’s adapted from the best selling novel with the same name (released in North America) as known as Northern Lights in other countries, written in 1995 by an English writer Philip Pullman as the first part of “His Dark Materials” trilogy – another two titles in the trilogy are The Subtle Knife (published in 1997) and The Amber Spyglass (published in 2000). Starring a fantastic ensemble of cast including Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, Eva Green (who reunions once again with Craig after their first on-screen appearance together in Casino Royale) and newcomer Dakota Blue Richards who has been selected from some thousands contestants from all over England, this is one of the most anticipated movies of the year. The film sets in a parallel world where people’s souls manifest themselves as small talking animals, called a Dæmon. At the center of the story, we are introduced to a 12-year-old girl, Lyra, who sets out to find and rescue her best friend, Roger, and ends up on an extraordinary quest to save not only her own world, but ours as well.

After watching the first trailer, even though most of computer generated graphic shots haven’t completed yet, the film looks promising. Story-wise, the movie is multi-layered philosophical and psychological film with all emotions – excitement, humor and drama. The production of the movie is terrific. The official website offers more information on the film, some behind the scene footage and enjoyable activities, especially a personality quiz which, upon completing, would match your identity with the associated Dæmon. As the Dæmon could change its form in the early stage, the website lets you post your Dæmon on the web and ask your friends to evaluate your personality before the form is fixed. You have 12 days to see how your Dæmon would change. Please click on the link below to see my Dæmon “Trina” online. It’s fun to see what the final form it would take.

http://www.goldencompassmovie.com/?106872

 

Related Links

• Official Website
• Internet Movie Database