Ong-bak: Don't call yourself a martial-arts flick fan if you haven't seen "Ong-bak". Its plot was nonexistent, the acting was terrible, and the production was below average but I swear I've never seen Muay Thai being portrayed as exhilarating and as elegance on the big screen.
Tony Jaa (Ting, the hero of the film) has collaborated some of the kung fu style into his martial art (after all, he grew up idolizing Bruce Lee) but if you ever wonder what Muay Thai is all about then "Ong-bak" is the movie to put on your must see list.
Some of the stunts in the film should be simply described as insane. This Tony Jaa dude has given a new definition of the word "Badass Buddhist". I'm not worthy! 3 ½ stars
P.S.: I'll admit that the only reason I rented "P.S." was because of Laura Linney. I've been a big fan since I saw her in "Primal Fear", opposite Richard Gere and Edward Norton. My expectation of this film was based on the plot I heard a little bit about and I thought - hey, how bad could it be with my favorite actress and the interesting storyline of a rebirth of a main character.
What "P.S." turns out to be, however, is anything but what I described above. "P.S." isn't a plot-driven but a dialogue-driven film from the beginning to the end. There are only a few films out of hundreds I've seen in the past years that its dialogue is this engaging, "Before Sunset" is another one that comes to mind.
I was pleasantly surprised by how smart, complex, and truthful the dialogues are. It's smart because you feel how the conversations grab you and you have no choice but be involved. It's complex because it's coming out of the complex characters that experience the internal struggle and try to express their feelings. And it's truthful because the characters are believable and you can relate with their problems and THAT makes you chuckle and sob along with them.
I already know that Linney is an excellent actress but Topher Grace (Eric from "That '70s Show") more than held his own - acting with the veterans like Linney, Gabriel Byrne, and Marcia Gay Harden.
Dylan Kidd, who also directed another dialogue-driven film "Roger Dodger", did a wonderful job in making a 97 minutes film fly by like a lazy Saturday afternoon with a good book. 3½ stars
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