Whatever your image of what lies beyond there’s a version of it immortalized on celluloid somewhere in Hollywood’s rich canon of life-after-death movies.

From “Heaven Can Wait” and “It’s a Wonderful Life” to “The Sixth Sense” — still the most successful horror movie of all time — Tinseltown has been offering a window into the heavenly realm for decades.

The latest take on the hereafter is “Flatliners,” a reboot of the 1990 cult classic about student physicians shocking themselves to the other side and back — with a young new cast and a masters degree in medical authenticity.

“Death is the last great unknown, in some ways. It’s like the depths of the sea and the depths of space,” Danish director Niels Arden Oplev told AFP.

“We know more about the Big Bang than we do about the final countdown.”

Movie-goers over the age of 40 will remember the premise of “Flatliners”: a group of devil-may-care medical students, obsessed by the mystery of what lies beyond, embark on an audacious, dangerous experiment.

Stopping their hearts for short periods, each triggers their own near-death experience as their colleagues monitor their brain activity, to see if they can find any proof of the afterlife.

A cast of established talent and rising stars replace the original ensemble led by Kiefer Sutherland, who gets a sizeable cameo this time around, Kevin Bacon and Julia Roberts.

‘Shortcut to greatness’

Led by Oscar nominee Ellen Page (“Juno,” “Inception”) “Flatliners” 2017 co-stars Diego Luna (“Milk,” “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”) alongside Nina Dobrev, James Norton and Kiersey Clemons.

Co-produced by Hollywood veteran Michael Douglas, a producer on Joel Schumacher’s original, the reboot turns up the dial on the psychological scares.

But Oplev, who made 2009’s “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” the most successful Scandinavian film of all time, says the new “Flatliners” is also a metaphor for American culture’s obsession with getting ahead.

Oplev’s characters discover that having flatlined and faced death, they not only experience what the afterlife might be like but also come back with enhanced abilities.

“The competition to carve out a career and job for yourself for young people today is so much harder and so much more crazy than 27 years ago. And young kids today, they take all kinds of crap to study 12 hours, to stay awake,” Oplev says.

“They all have this desire to take a pill to shortcut to greatness. And then suddenly you realize that was a lot of fun, that was great, and now there’s a bill to pay that I did not foresee coming.”

The bill in “Flatliners” is steep: as the characters experience death and resurrection, they are forced by horrific supernatural visitations to confront past actions they deeply regret.

Science has advanced dramatically over the last quarter century, and the director worked with medical experts to ground the scary thrills and spills in modern technology.

‘Small liberties’

He brought on medical consultant Lindsay Somers and her network of nurses, radiologists and neurosurgeons to ensure the action was as accurate as possible.

Every diagnosis and prescription had to be authentic, while the actors were shown how to carry equipment correctly and give injections the way a real physician would.

Despite what Hollywood leads us to believe, you can’t actually shock someone who is flatlining back to life without first getting a heartbeat, says Somers.

Even those ubiquitous paddles aren’t used any more, but were kept in the movie because, well, they look more dramatic than glued-on pads.

“Obviously, because we’re making a Hollywood film and not a documentary, we took small liberties with some things. But overall we tried to keep it as accurate as possible,” says Somers.

Another difference between Oplev’s film and Schumacher’s is the intensity of the psychological horror, which has been jacked up for a less easily shockable generation.

“The film language — especially within scary films — has changed a lot in 27 years. The audience expects more than the audience of 1990,” Oplev told AFP.

The 56-year-old filmmaker, who was approached by Sony in 2013 to helm the remake, says he only watched the original twice during his production.

“The old film is a great inspiration, although we are definitely not remaking it as much as we are reinterpreting it,” he told AFP.

“Flatliners” opens in US theaters on Friday.

If that wasn’t enough, there was an extra special surprise for Star Trek fans: all fifteen episodes of “Star Trek: Discovery” will be available to watch on Netflix with Klingon subtitles.

The series follows the voyages of Starfleet on their missions to discover new worlds and new lifeforms, and one Starfleet officer who must learn that to truly understand all things alien, you must first understand yourself.

Set roughly a decade before the events of the original Star Trek series and separate from the timeline of the concurrent feature films, “Discovery” explores the Federation–Klingon cold war while following the crew of the USS Discovery.

Sonequa Martin-Green stars as Michael Burnham, the first officer of the USS Shenzhou and later the USS Discovery. Also starring are Doug Jones, Shazad Latif, Anthony Rapp, Mary Wiseman, and Jason Isaacs. Michelle Yeoh appears as a guest star as Philippa Georgiou, Captain of the Shenzhou.

Star Trek, one of the most iconic and influential global television franchises, returns to television 50 years after it first premiered with “Discovery”. The series will feature a new ship, new characters and new missions, while embracing the same ideology and hope for the future that inspired a generation of dreamers and doers.

Episodes show on Netflix at 2pm Bangkok time every Monday, following the US episode broadcast on CBS.

It ousted horror hit “It”, which had held the crown for two weeks.

With a star-studded cast featuring Colin Firth, Channing Tatum, Halle Berry and even Elton John, “Kingsman” raked in $39 million for the weekend, according to box office monitor Exhibitor Relations.

The sequel to “Kingsman: The Secret Service,” “The Golden Circle” sees British spy organization Kingsman join forces with American counterpart Statesman to take on a new global threat.

“It,” based on a Stephen King novel and starring Bill Skarsgard as a creepy clown who menaces a sleepy Maine town, earned $29.8 million — half its take from last weekend.

But having stormed the box office in its opening weekend with revenue of $123 million, “It” still boasts impressive earnings of $266.1 million in only three weeks.

In at third was new animation “The Lego Ninjago Movie”, the third installment of Warner Bros.’ “The Lego Movie” franchise, which made $20.4 million.

Trailing far behind in fourth was “American Assassin,” starring Dylan O’Brien as a CIA “black ops” recruit who teams up with crusty veteran agent Michael Keaton to fight terrorists. The film took in just $6.3 million, bringing its total earnings to $26.2 million in two weeks.

Paramount’s “mother!” added just $3.3 million to last weekend’s $7.5 million, itself the lowest opening gross for a Jennifer Lawrence film in wide release.

Darren Aronofsky’s movie follows Lawrence and her husband, played by Javier Bardem, as their tranquil lives are upended when strangers (Ed Harris and Michelle Pfeiffer) show up at their country home.

The movie drew a rare “F” from the ComScore website, despite a relatively strong 67 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Rounding out the top 10 were:

“Home Again” ($3.2 million)

“Friend Request” ($2 million)

“Stronger” ($1.611 million)

“The Hitman’s Bodyguard” ($1.608 million)

“Wind River” ($1.3 million)

The 3D computer-animated martial-arts comedy from Warner Bros is based on the Lego Ninjago line of toys.

The American-Danish co-production is the first theatrical film based on an original Lego property and the second spinoff of “The Lego Movie”.

The film features the voices of Dave Franco, Justin Theroux, Michael Pena, Kumail Nanjiani, Abbi Jacobson, Zach Woods, Fred Armisen, Olivia Munn and Jackie Chan.

They bring to life the main characters of the Ninjago franchise, led by Lloyd Garmadon, who’s struggling to accept the truth about his father even as a new threat emerges to endanger his homeland.

The integrated resort has officially named SGIFF as one of its designated charities and is planning to host a series of year-round activities that aim to grow the film and art audience in Asia and beyond.

For a start, Marina Bay Sands’ ArtScience Museum will be hosting the 10th anniversary screening of Wee Li Lin’s whimsical tale about the malls of Singapore, “Gone Shopping”, from October 1 to 8. Released to critical acclaim in 2007, “Gone Shopping” is the first-full length feature by female director Wee Li Lin.

The screening is part of the “ArtScience on Screen” project, which showcases the work of groundbreaking filmmakers and artists. ArtScience on Screen forms the backbone of the museum’s dedicated film programming, which aims to inspire audiences to discover art and science through film and moving images. From October 1 to 8, the film will be screened twice daily to the public, at 3pm and 5pm respectively. Admission is free.

Beyond the screening, the integrated resort will also be hosting an “In Conversations With” dialogue session with the director, Sonya Nair of “Gone Shopping” and Professor Chua Beng Huat from the National University of Singapore on October 7 at the museum. This dialogue session is part of an on-going series of talks with celebrities and prominent individuals from creative fields, who give insights into the world of film, television and art to young students interested in pursuing a career in a related discipline.

Marina Bay Sands has been a presenting sponsor of SGIFF since 2014 and continues to look for new ways to inspire aspiring filmmakers and grow the art audience in Singapore. As a strong champion of youth and arts education, the integrated resort has also launched the MBS x SGIFF: Youth Film Project.

Open to current tertiary students, this new initiative will give young filmmakers a chance to experience and participate in a filmmaking project taking place across the integrated resort during its annual Sands for Singapore Festival.

The youth mentorship programme aims to encourage innovative and personal ways of storytelling that broadens the scope of corporate-driven film projects, and to offer budding filmmakers a chance to be exposed and mentored by industry practitioners as they gain hands-on work experience within a corporate environment.

Under the guidance of Marina Bay Sands’ in-house visual media team and SGIFF, participants will co-produce and co-direct a five- to 10-minute documentary film shot at the integrated resort. The completed film will then be showcased on Marina Bay Sands’ website and across its social media platforms.

Co-shortlisted by the teams at SGIFF and Marina Bay Sands, the two participants this year are Nanyang Technological University students Lee Yi Jia and Martin Loh. Their documentary will capture the relationship between two people from seemingly different worlds and aims to challenge stereotypes against the Deaf Community and illustrate the strength and vibrancy of Deaf Culture.

“As part of our commitment to growing film literacy, we are happy to have the opportunity to give independent films the exposure beyond our festival period. Having a like-minded partner in Marina Bay Sands helps us to continue our mission in championing and nurturing the voices and diversity in Asian cinema to new audiences. This includes the hosting of the 10th anniversary screening of “Gone Shopping”, the debut feature film of one of Singapore’s pioneering female filmmakers in the 2000s, and a past winner of SGIFF’s Singapore Short Film Competition. We look forward to deepening our engagement with both cinematic talents and audiences, and journeying with them to explore the vast possibilities in our region’s independent cinema,” said Yuni Hadi, executive director of SGIFF.

To register for the “In Conversations With” dialogue session, log on to http://mbsxsgiff-goneshopping.peatix.com/ .

Four new television dramas will show next week on Thai Public Broadcasting Service (Thai PBS), each paying tribute to His Majesty the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej through their story lines.

Part of the “Saeng Jaak Phor” (“Drama Guiding Light”) series, two of the dramas are based on reallife tales, one featuring a female prisoner and the other an elephant mahout. The other two take their cue from the late King’s guidance.

“The ‘Saeng Jaak Phor’ series started at the end of last year and took shape at the beginning of August. The series presents four characters who applied the King’s guidance in their daily lives and used his wisdom to solve their problems. Our mes¬sage is that even though our father is no longer with us, his light shines on and supports us in everything we do,” Wilasinee Phitphikul, director general of Thai PBS, told the press during the recent launch at Siam Paragon.

“Each of four dramas has the word ‘saeng’, meaning ‘light’, in its title representing His Majesty the late King’s guidance. The characters in each of those dra¬mas have seemingly intractable problems but eventually over¬come their adversities and accomplish their dreams.”

The first drama, “Saeng Lang Fon”, showing on Monday at 8.30pm, is directed by Boonyawat Thongtong and stars Siriphan “Noon” Watanachinda, Patiparn “Mos” Pataweekarn, Panadda Gomaratat, and Poompandin “Nong Pandin” Rucha.

It is the inspiring real life story of a female prisoner who has trouble fitting back into soci¬ety after receiving a royal pardon from King Rama IX for no other reason than she is still branded a jail bird. Unable to find work, she contemplates suicide until a chance meeting with a widower, who plays music by night, shows her a way to turn her life round.

“I play Mai, a musician and father whose young son is going blind. I have to find ways for him to live without his sight so that he will be one day able to achieve his independence and live alone without his dad,” says Mos.

“I portray Fon, a female pris¬oner who is granted a royal par¬don by HM the late King after being sentenced to three years only to go home and discover that she has been cast out by those around her. The most important message in this drama is learning how to forgive our¬selves,” says Noon.

“Saeng Nai Marn Mok” airs on Tuesday at the same time. Directed by Sarasawadee “Nai” Wongsompetch and Phanpan “Note” Songkham, it stars Rong Khaomoonkhadee, Lalana “Jeab” Kongtoranin, and Anusorn “Yong Armchair” Maneetes.

It is based on the reallife story of Uncle Kaew Butrachart, who served as an elephant mahout for King Rama IX at Khao Kheow open zoo.

“Acting with an elephant, even a baby one, was very hard,” says Rong. “Every time I sat on its front leg, it would put its trunk round my neck!”

“I play a veterinarian called Pete,” adds Jeab. “Dr Pete is a new graduate who holds herself in high esteem and thinks she knows how to treat an elephant. In the end, though, she needs Uncle Kaew’s intervention to get near the animal.

“I’ve worked with animals before, in fact I was bitten by a horse last time I filmed with Nai. This time I get punched by an elephant!”

On Wednesday night, viewers can watch “Jud Sud Saeng”, which is directed by Prawit Treemek and stars Worradech “Dan” Danuwong, Phatchatorn “Ploy” Tanawat, and Chanon “Non” Rikulsurakan.

“I play a filmmaker whose first movie flops and leaves him feeling hopeless. Then he finds the late king’s camera and when he looks through the viewfinder, he suddenly sees where he went wrong in the past.

It’s a very moving story and one that illustrates the monarch’s message of persever¬ance,” says Dan.

The series closes out on Thursday with “Thien Mai Sin Saeng”, which shines the spot¬light on the work of Thailand’s bomb disposal experts. It’s directed by Kan “Pink” Hongrattanapon and features Chinawut Indracusin in the lead role.

“I play Pokpong, an explosive ordnance disposal specialist sol¬dier who has a brother, Pokpak. Both of us are following in the late father’s footsteps,” says the actor and singer.

“This drama also teaches all Thais about the EOD unit and what their work entails.”

DIFFERENT WAY TO WATCH

– The “Saeng Jaak Phor” series runs on Thai PBS from Monday to Thursday at 8.30pm.

– It is being live streamed on http://www.ThaiPBS.or.th/DramaGuidingLight also at 8.30pm, on Line TV at 9.10pm, and on http://www.YouTube.com/ThaiPBS at 9.40pm.

To do this, the streaming service analysed the viewing data of 104 million members across 190 countries who have watched the following Star Trek series on Netflix: “Star Trek: The Next Generation”, “Star Trek: Enterprise”, “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine”, “Star Trek: The Original Series” and “Star Trek: Voyager”. In an attempt to look for data beyond default behaviour, the first two episodes from any season were omitted from the data. “Rewatch” is defined when a member returns to watch at least 6 minutes of an episode they had previously completed.

The results are fascinating. Below are the questions posed by the computer.

How many members have watched all 695 episodes of Star Trek on Netflix?

Better set phasers to stun, because nearly 12,000 fans have spent over 536 hours (or 22 days) watching “Star Trek”.

Netflix data also reveals that “Voyager” boasts the most revisited episode in the universe: “Endgame: Parts 1 & 2” (Season 7, Episode 24)

Episodes that introduce iconic races, characters, or captains tend to be revisited most. And of course, time travel, alien abductions or crossover episodes are big winners with Star Trek fans.

What collection is the most popular on Netflix?

It’s not so simple. While “The Next Generation” and “The Original Series” have bigger audiences, “Voyager” and “Deep Space Nine” fans are better repeat customers, more likely to return for their favourite episodes. Despite fans’ mixed emotions on “Voyager”, plenty keep returning to the series. In the end, each collection has its merits: “Original Series” debuted Klingons, “TNG” set the stage for DS9 and “Voyager, DS9” took Star Trek into serialised territory, and “Voyager” had the first female captain. And with all episodes on Netflix, fans can decide how and when they watch each voyage. The journey into the unknown doesn’t stop there.

This Monday (September 25), Netflix will exclusively premiere “Star Trek: Discovery” in 188 countries (excluding the US and Canada). “Discovery” features a new ship and new crew, while embracing the same hope for the future that inspired a generation. Engage!

The news was announced by Casey Bloys, president of HBO Programming and series creators George Pelecanos and David Simon, who previously collaborated on the HBO series “The Wire” and “Treme”, are said to be delighted.

“We are thrilled to continue our creative collaboration with master storytellers David Simon and George Pelecanos,” says Bloys.

“Their unique gift for immersing the audience in their dark and edgy worlds brings a brilliant verisimilitude unlike any other. With the remarkably talented Maggie Gyllenhaal and James Franco leading an exceptional cast, we look forward to delving deeper as this captivating story evolves.”

“Everyone involved with this project is genuinely grateful to HBO for the chance to take the narrative where it needs to go,” Simon says. “We knew the theme and purpose of the story, but there are many people in the entertainment industry who might not have it told, or worse, would have told it for the wrong reasons. HBO is a serious outfit. And they don’t scare.”

“Many thanks to HBO, our longtime partners, who’ve now given us the opportunity to continue to tell this compelling story,” adds Pelecanos. “We’re ready to get back to work with our amazing cast and crew.”

Named after the local slang for New York’s fabled 42nd Street, “The Deuce” began its eight-episode season on Monday, September 11. The series is available for streaming exclusively on HBO Go, with new episodes premiering same time as the US every Monday at 8am.

The show chronicles the rise of the porn culture in New York from the early 1970s through the mid-1980s, exploring the rough-and-tumble world of the sex trade from the moment when both a liberalising cultural revolution in American sexuality and new legal definitions of obscenity created a billion-dollar industry that is now an elemental component of the American cultural landscape.

It follows a cast of barkeepers, prostitutes, pimps, police and nightlife denizens as they swirl through a world of sex, crime, high times and violence, and the porn business begins its climb from Mafia-backed massage parlours and film labs to legitimacy and cultural permanence.

For more information, visit http://www.HBOAsia.com.

Scandinavian cinema is taking a bow this month at Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden bring their favourite films to the inaugural Nordic Film Festival, which runs from Thursday to October 1 at Quartier CineArt of the fourth floor of EmQuartier.

Aiming to highlight the success of Nordic films, celebrate Nordic culture and raise awareness of sustainability and gender equality, the Nordic Film Festival 2017 is being organised by the embassies of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden with the aim of generating interest in this creative and innovative region.

The films, two from each participating country, include dramas, comedies, nature documentaries, adventures and family films.

“The organising of the Nordic Film Festival will strengthen the already strong bonds between the Nordic foreign missions in Bangkok and increase the visibility of the work done by the Nordic countries present in Thailand,” Danish ambassador Uffe Wolffhechel told a recent press conference.

“The films we have selected to show are ‘A Second Chance’ and ‘Key House Mirror’, which offer very different examples of Danish film art. Both are dramatic and moving, and at the same time reflect our everdeveloping movie industry.

Finland offers “Tale of a Lake” and “Tale of a Forest”, the most-watched Finnish nature documentaries of all time.

“To celebrate Finland’s 100th anniversary, we are pleased to present two award-winning films about our unique nature. “Tale of a Forest” provides a sneak peek into the Finnish wonderland and its inhabitants while “Tale of a Lake” takes a breathtaking plunge into the life of Finland’s almost 200,000 lakes,” said Finnish ambassador Satu SuikkariKleven.

Norway brings “Operation Arctic”, which took home a People’s Choice Award for Best Feature Film from TIFF Kids International Film Festival,  and Best Children’s or Youth Film from Amanda Awards, and “Victoria”, which received the Amanda Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.

Sweden’s “A Holy Mess” and “Eternal Summer” represent the top films from Swedish production companies, and present views with a different emotional direction and cultural identity.

The festival opens on Thursday at 6 with “Tale of a Forest” whose main characters are bears, elk, snakes, owls, ants, frogs, flying squirrels as well as the Siberian Jay and the Lapland Owl.

“Key House Mirror” follows at 7.30pm. A heartwarming drama, it centres on Lily and Max, who  have been married for more than 50 years and now live together in a nursing home, where Max has been reliant on professional care since his stroke. When a man known as “the Pilot” moves in next door, Lily is immediately charmed by him and his passion for life. But neither her family nor the other residents at the nursing home are fond of her new acquaintance. Misunderstood by her family and trapped in her life with Max, Lily decides to fight to escape the bars of her invisible prison and claim her freedom.

Friday’s screenings start at 6 with “Operation Arctic”, a family story set in the wild Arctic ocean near Svalbard where the winter storms are building and the sun is about to disappear. Thirteen-year-old Julia and her twin siblings, eight-year-old Ida and Sindre, have ended up on the deserted Half Moon island by mistake and have to conquer their fear as they learn how to cope with wild animals, raging weather and lack of food.

Another adventure follows at 8 in “Eternal Summer”, which tells the story of Isak and Em who leave everything behind to embark on a road trip through the breathtaking landscape of Northern Sweden. But what starts off as a carefree adventure soon turns into a panic fuelled chase.

Saturday’s cinematic menu features “A Second Chance” and “Tale of a Lake”. Showing at 3 and 6pm respectively, the first sees detectives and best friends Andreas and Simon called out to a domestic dispute between a junkie couple caught in a vicious cycle of violence and drugs. Marko Rohr’s “Tale of a Lake” lives up to its name in a beautifully filmed documentary about Finnish lakes, the nature around them, the circulation of water and ancient Finnish mythology.

The festival wraps on October 1 with “A Holy Mess” at 3 and “Victoria” at 6.

“A Holy Mess” is a comedy about the modern family and their continual struggle to “do things right” while “Victoria”, based on Nobel Prize winner Knut Hamsun’s 1898 novel of the same name, is a film young love, class difference and success against all odds.

The films have English subtitles. Admission is free and tickets will be handed out on a first-come, first-served basis. Reservations can be made at Quartier CineArt half an hour before each screening.

– Find out more at Facebook.com/events/738937242966698/

Aiming to highlight the success of Nordic films, celebrate Nordic culture and raise awareness of sustainability, the festival 2017 is being organised by the embassies of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden, with two films from each country selected for Thai audiences.

“The organising of the Nordic Film Festival 2017 will strengthen the already strong bonds between the Nordic foreign missions in Bangkok and increase visibility of the work done by the Nordic countries present in Thailand,” says Uffe Wolffhechel, Danish ambassador. “We have selected two dramas – ‘A Second Chance’ and ‘Key House Mirror’, which offer very different examples of Danish film art.

“Tale of a Lake” and “Tale of a Forest” are the most-watched Finnish nature documentaries of all time. These films won Best Original Score for a Documentary Feature award from International Film Music Critics Association Award (IFMCA). “Operation Arctic” comes with a People’s Choice Award for Best Feature Film from TIFF Kids International Film Festival and Best Children’s or Youth Film from Amanda Awards.

Norway is screening “Victoria”, which received the Amanda Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role and “Operation Arctic” while Sweden has selected “A Holy Mess” and “Eternal Summer”.

The films have both English and Thai subtitles. Admission is free and tickets will be handed out on a first-come, first-served basis. Reservations can be made at Quartier CineArt half an hour before each screening.

Find out more at Facebook.com/events/738937242966698/