Thai Gay Movie: Sweet Boy (2016)

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thaiworthy

Re: Thai Gay Movie: Sweet Boy (2016)

Post by thaiworthy »

Eight minutes of eye candy. This is quite hot. Don't forget to drool.



Here is a photo from the media/promotional event at SFW earlier this week.

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Trongpai
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Re: Thai Gay Movie: Sweet Boy (2016)

Post by Trongpai »

The BF and I went to see 'Sweet Boy' on Tuesday night 2120 hrs at http://www.bangkok.com/shopping-mall/central-rama9.htm#

The movie was subtitled in English. There were 6 other viewers, all male, gay, I guess? I don't know what to say about it: The story line dragged. I guess it was making a statement about coming to terms with being gay in the context of Thai culture but it could have been clearer. It was not a sexplotation flick. There was a touch of melodrama but not over the top as is common with Thai movies. It will not win any awards.

It got out at 23:45, too late if you want to catch the MRT/BTS. There's a taxi line just out side the Mall exit.

The guy sitting at the table in the photo above is the director/writer, I think. He does a non-speaking cameo in the movie.

Gay Thai movies I though were better than 'Sweet Boy'
Insects in the Back Yard http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1819550/
Phi Chai http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3522738/
Khuen Nan, Red Wine in the Dark Night http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4556730/
thaiworthy

Re: Thai Gay Movie: Sweet Boy (2016)

Post by thaiworthy »

Thanks for the update, Trongpai. So that's the director? Must have been a very lively casting couch.

This is amazing. 6 other viewers. Only 6?! This will disappear from the screen very quickly. It has to be expensive for theatre owners to exhibit something with so few paying patrons. Why do Thai people make movies they should know will not make money, especially with this kind of plot? And no showing in Pattaya? Where does the money come from to finance projects like this? I don't get it.
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Re: Thai Gay Movie: Sweet Boy (2016)

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thaiworthy wrote:I don't get it.
You want me to add it to my list?
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Re: Thai Gay Movie: Sweet Boy (2016)

Post by Trongpai »

Making a movie in Thailand is nowhere near Western costs. It's all on video hard drive storage now, no expensive 35mm film. You can rent video systems for a lot less than in the West. Edit later on a lap top. Actors get paid very little and almost never get a percentage. I used to live in a building on Rama 4 near Ch. 3 and GMM studios and several "actors" lived in my building. They were not living the Beverly Hill's life style. One I noticed drove a Jazz. It's common to see Thai "movie stars" in the BTS/MRT.

I guess the hopes of a gay film maker is to get on the international gay film festival circuit. Hundreds of cities have them. Last year there were 4 Thai contenders and this year I guess only one, so perhaps this movie will garnish international royalties.

'Sweet Boy' had few actors and minimal limited location sets. No special effects and mostly what appeared to be single camera tight shots from a single point. No boom camera or track movement. I bet Siam Water Park let him film on location free for promotional reasons.

Thai movies and TV do a good technical job with lighting, sound and camera. The short fall is generally in the content and story line. The acting used be horrible but now it seems tolerable to me or perhaps I've just went too native to notice.
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Re: Thai Gay Movie: Sweet Boy (2016)

Post by Gaybutton »

Trongpai wrote:Making a movie in Thailand is nowhere near Western costs.
Some of those Thai soap operas seem to be filmed in fairly elaborate homes. I don't know if those are studio sets or actual homes they either rent or buy.

As an aside, speaking of homes, one of my favorite true stories occurred in 1929 during the filming of a silent Laurel and Hardy comedy called Big Business.

The main action of the film involved literally destroying a house. Studio owner Hal Roach bought a house in a local neighborhood for just that purpose. And making the film, they really did destroy and demolish the house. Only one little problem - it was the wrong house! Somehow the film crew got the address wrong and the house they destroyed was the one next door to the one Mr. Roach had purchased.

The homeowners were away on a holiday during most of the filming, which was why nobody was home to stop them. Imagine their surprise when they returned home right in the middle of the filming. The wife nearly had a heart attack. I don't know how much Mr. Roach ended up paying in compensation, but I love the story.

I can't help but wonder if any Thai film crews have ever made little mistakes like that.
thaiworthy

Re: Thai Gay Movie: Sweet Boy (2016)

Post by thaiworthy »

No matter what it costs to make or awards the aspiring film-maker hopes to garnish, that still doesn't explain how the exhibitor can survive with only 8 people in attendance. This is not box office boffo!

It's no wonder then that this is showing in so few theatres. The exhibitor stands to make more money with multiple screenings of Star Trek than he can showing gay Thai boy movies. Just how much is that theatre worth on a nightly basis? Distribution has always been a tough nut to crack. Not many want to take this risk. If it were this easy, we'd all be producing such films.
Gaybutton wrote:
thaiworthy wrote:I don't get it.
You want me to add it to my list?
Yes, GB, as far as I'm concerned, you can add this to the top of the list.
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Re: Thai Gay Movie: Sweet Boy (2016)

Post by Smiles »

Most feature-length Thai movies with gay-ish themes end up on YouTube anyway, and almost always one can find an English subtitled version. Then all one needs is a big-ass flat screen, a laptop, and an HTML cable.
Normally I'd go for the theatre version simply for the sound quality and large screen, but if not in Bangkok or Shitsville (e.g. Hua Hin or Surin)
the outlying towns and provinces in Thailand rarely screen movies which are not already reasonably Big Deals.
Cheers ... ( and just one more reason why I love living in Thailand )

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Re: Thai Gay Movie: Sweet Boy (2016)

Post by thewayhelooks »

If the movies only manage limited cinema screenings, surely it would be to their makers advantage to get a subtitled DVD out as soon as possible after the cinema run ends. Before someone else does. It's been almost 12 months since Red Wine in the Dark Night was screened in cinemas with subtitles and in Pattaya and yet the only legitimate DVD available is through the Facebook page. YesAsia has the Thai version. I haven't really looked for a pirated version, though I'm sure they are out there. I know it is on the internet with subtitles. But I'm still unsure why an English subtitled DVD wasn't released with the Thai one. After all the subtitles were already on the movie.
thaiworthy

Re: Thai Gay Movie: Sweet Boy (2016)

Post by thaiworthy »

As of last night, "Sweet Boy" is no longer showing in Bangkok. So how long is that, 7 nights?

This film was doomed. Even the popcorn machine wasn't working right.

Fini. The End.
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