Free ONG BAK screening in Austin this Thursday on Big Screen! Click to get tickets!

Hey folks, Harry here -- Just got a morphine injection for the foot - so I won't be finishing that damn DVD column for you tonight - I can feel consciousness slipping... However, before I begin singing "Daaaiiiisssy, Daaaaiiiiissssy" I wanted to let you central Texas Geeks and Geekettes figure out how to see ONG BAK for free. The screening is this THURSDAY - February 3rd at 7:30pm at the Alamo Drafthouse Village. How to get tickets?

Goto 2009 South First Street in Austin to my sister's store, PEDAZO CHUNK at 2pm today, Tuesday, February 1st. I might be dosed and out of it, but dammit, I love this new cut of Ong Bak so much - I have to do something more to get the word out about this stunning new presentation of this great entertaining martial arts flick.

Dannie and Jose (aka Sister Satan & Lobo) will be on hand to give out passes on a first come first serve basis. Will I be at the screening? Perhaps - depends - I get out of here Wednesday - So it all depends... I'm hoping to be there. If not - perhaps Roro or the man who fixed Talkback might introduce the screening. But hopefully... it'll be me. If you've never seen this film with an audience, then you've never seen this movie. It is truly an enormous audience experience. Hope to see you there!

Harry here again - Art Snob posted a note in Talkback where he wrongfully accuses this version as being toned down. Sure it got a PG-13 - but that isn't because violence has been toned down one iota. This is the Luc Besson edit - and it is vastly superior to the original in every way. The sound effects are superior, the editting is far more crisp - but keeps that crazy Thai charm of fully automatic replays of hits. The saw still does what the saw does - and the film is actually darker now. I scheduled this edit at BNAT6 because I was extremely curious to see how it played out. Well... Some of the melodramatics have been toned down - and the feature is far more focused in comparison to the original. -- NOW -- Typically I hate "Americanized Versions" of Asian releases. But contrary to the scissorhands and dubbing nightmare of most of these things. This one is simply better from top to bottom and the missing scenes are those deleted scenes that you see on DVDs where you feel... yeah - that didn't really advance the story. Now - I've seen both versions multiple times - the Besson edit is the finely cut diamond from the original Thai rough. And the soundtrack keeps the Thai feel, but at the same time it's just far better music that actually gets ya far more involved in the action. Of course - that's me judging both versions instead of just one.