“Matt Damon talks to the dead in Hereafter, though after awhile, it’s hard to tell who’s who.” Gary Thompson, Philadelphia Daily News

“Hereafter occupies some muzzy twilight zone, too woo-woo sentimental to be real, too limp to make for even a halfway decent ghost story.” David Edelstein, New York Magazine

“Morbid medium hates the dead. Hereafter, Clint must write a new soundtrack or just retire to a Tuscany farmhouse to enjoy old age.” Victoria Alexander, FilmsInReview.com

“The only thing more disconcerting than seeing an action-disaster sequence open a Clint Eastwood drama is watching the 80-year-old auteur channel M. Night Shyamalan.” Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News

“Like a wasted appointment at a bad psychic’s reading room. All the set dressing is there, but it leaves you with an empty, unsatisfied feeling inside.” Kevin Carr, 7M Pictures

Taksura

334/1 Soi Dharmasaroja, Phayathai Rd., 02-215-8870. Open daily 6pm-1am
Second of the popular pub franchise, the 15-year-old Taksura Hua Chang stays true to its original design (or lack thereof) with its signature wooden house and vintage furniture. We heart its breezy garden area with a faux-colonial style fountain as a centerpiece. To guarantee your seat, head there early as the place gets packed nightly with hoards of uni students getting their fix of cheap drinks and glab gleam. The music sees the usual radio hits, but head here on Wed, Fri and Sat for some live acoustic.

The Tree House

334 Soi Dharmasaroja, Phayathai Rd., 086-326-8275. Open daily 6pm-1am
Situated at the entrance of a charming vintage home turned hostel, The Tree House greets its customers with a large, dimly lit garden and cast-iron gate. Despite the stately guest house, the indoor-patio, complete with mix-and-match furniture, a pool table and an in-house DJ that plays both indie pop and international tunes, blends in easily with the rest of the relaxed crowd on this street. Here, you can grab house wine (B120 per glass) or a fish dish (B250) for a decent price. Otherwise, they offer your typical pub-grub food and local draught beer, available in pitchers and towers.

Hua Chang

Soi Dharmasaroja, Phayathai Rd., 087-539-1012. Open daily 6pm-1am
Don’t bother looking for the sign, this place doesn’t have one. Like The Tree House, Hua Chang sits in a vintage house belonging to some old-time aristocrat. The outdoor area is the most spacious of all the bars so if you’re with a group of friends, it’s a perfect spot. The crowd here are a bit more mature, albeit the laid-back t-shirt and jeans type. Foodwise, try their bestsellers like larb salmon (B100) and grilled pork neck with salt (B80). Like Taksura, Hua Chang has also branched out to the nearby neighborhood with La Moon in Din Daeng and HEAP in Phayathai (both with the suffix “by Hua Chang”).

@Rajdhevee

342/3-4 Soi Dharmasaroja, Phaya Thai Rd. 02-611-1414. Open daily 6pm-midnight
Although we can’t recommend the food, which is primarily Thai and a few clichéd Indian plates—and its owner can be slightly over enthusiastic—the atmosphere itself is an appealing sort of Mughal Empire meets 21st century mass-tourism. The have live folk music on Fri-Sat at 8:30pm, but we suggest making use of their comfy, upstairs pillow-lounge and their quality selection of Belgian beers, perhaps for an after-dinner social. By Carissa Devine, photography Gregoire Glachant

“If Stephen King wrote a romantic comedy, this would be it.” Gary Thompson, Philadelphia Daily News

“The title becomes a depressingly self-fulfilling prophecy: this is movie life as we have all come to know it.” Sean Means, Film.com

“It’s not that baby comedies aren’t a legitimate popcorn genre. But by comparison, this sleepwalk through pre-fab family-life makes Look Who’s Talking and Three Men and a Baby look like art.” Jim Slotek, Jam! Movies

“You can’t open a diaper and expect a diamond.” Matt Pais, Metromix.com

“It bravely explores untapped comedy wells such as how kids are expensive, how men hate changing nappies, and how single women fancy single men with babies.” Robbie Collin, News of the World
“Only the baby actors are spontaneous.” James Verniere, Boston Herald

BK: How long have you been selling coconut water?
Guy: Only for five months.

BK: What made you decide to start?
Guy: Well because it tastes good, and Thais believe that coconut water helps keep you young. Plus it’s healthy and easy to sell because I sell a raw product. You cut it open and it’s ready to go. I tried selling rambutan and pineapple, but coconut keeps for longer. I’ve also sold products made from coconut, like sweets and stuff, but coconut water is just so much more simple. This way I have time to work on my art. I also started to sell coconut water so I could make some more money on top of what I get from sale of my artwork.

BK: So art is the work you enjoy most?
Guy: Yes, it’s easy for me. I started when I was 13-years-old. I would draw Japanese cartoons all night long. That’s actually why I came to Bangkok, to study art.

BK: Where are you originally from?
Guy: I come from Srakeaw, near the Cambodian border, and I came to Bangkok when I was 13 with my master so that I could study art.

BK: Do you still work on your art?
Guy: Yes, in addition to selling coconut water I sell my artwork by Khao San Road. Selling coconut water is easy and quick, and it allows me to paint and draw during the day since the product I sell is ready as-is.

BK: Who is your target market for each product?
Guy: Well, for coconut water it depends on the time of day and location. I sell coconuts in the afternoon to catch people on their lunch breaks and in the early evening because the traffic has died down, allowing me to find a better place on the street side. I sell paintings to tourists at night.

BK: So you end up working day and night?
Guy: Actually my friend watches over my paintings for me now. I had a disagreement with someone in that area, so I try to avoid it. Now my friend sells my paintings, but it was much easier when I did it. Tourists like to hear the artist talk about his work, and my friend cannot do that, so now I sell fewer paintings.

BK: What is your favorite thing to paint or draw?
Guy: I like to paint elephants. Their skin has an interesting and fun texture to paint. Plus the tourists like to buy paintings with elephants, or so they tell me. Carissa Devine

“When did Robert De Niro stop trying? When did he start coasting on his well-de- served reputation, either mocking it in crass comedies or sleepwalking through dramas where fans fill in the missing emotions for him?” Lawrence Toppman, Charlotte Observer

“If only one character in Stone reacted as someone in his position would to the pre- posterous situation at hand, the movie would be 15 minutes long.” Steve Persall, St. Petersburg Times

“A murky bible belt noir steeped in mystical evangelical voodoo more suited to sci-fi in which De Niro seems to turn back into Travis Bickle minus his taxi, while Norton finds Je- sus, loses his dreadlocks and becomes a self-described tuning fork for God.” Prairie Miller, Newsblaze