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terbanglah's posts with tag: movie
 | Earth | May 16, '08 2:16 AM
for everyone |
 | Category: | Movies | | Genre: | Documentary |
Promoted as feature-length version of the doc TV series, it following the migration paths of several "protagonist" heroes. It boasted superb cinematography and colorful journey throughout the live of, probably, ones of the most endangered species in the world. See the world totally anew, the way you'd never see it thru your very own eyes in a lifetime. Of course unless you joined the west front quietly as one of the courageous soldier, which wont be happened to the most of us.
Patrick Stewart (the captain of Startrek's USS Enterprise, the professor in the X-Men trilogy) delivered the narration extremely well, can hardly imagine what the movie would be like without the guidance of his steady and (sometimes) passionate voice. Be noted that its Japanese dubbed version was narrated by the great Ken Watanabe (performed on Geisha, the Last Samurai, etc).
Yet, I think better to watch its TV version. Moreover, Gore's inconvenient truth got better (presentation) materials than this movie. Consider "Earth" instead if you planned to spend the quality time with the whole family. Soon, you're gonna discovering a thousand ways to say "ooohhhh", and "aaahhhh", with such amazement and/or, disbelief. That's why, overall, the message it intended to be spoken has been delivered quite well. Beside, who's not gonna be intrigued to see a movie so extensive, it got a 5 years to be made.
Still, watching this movie is a MUST. Especially to find out whether you really care ... OR not. I dare you! *grin
Blitz Megaplex, Grand Indonesia
Sunday, May 11, 2008 – 16.31 wib
Photo courtesy of TLT.
See picture attached for some useful steps suggested to be done at your own home
 | Category: | Movies | | Genre: | Action & Adventure |
Last weekend, on our way to the bowling lanes with my elder sister, my dad suddenly took the contingent plan, i.e. watched the movie instead. Thankfully the mall’s owner seems had predicted such behavior fluctuates well; they managed to build both premises very close to each other. Thus off we went, just to the other gate next door, to see the newest Jackie Chan and Jet Lee’s much-talked-about US blockbuster. As a matter of fact, that’s what my Dad perceived by crunching the news feed about it. Eagerly urged us he was, and so we did our best to obey, despite my reluctance.
The Forbidden Kingdom is a 2008 Hollywood martial arts-adventure film from Lionsgate and The Weinstein Company directed by Rob Minkoff. It is the first film to star together two of the most well-known names in the martial arts film genre, Jackie Chan and Jet Li (taken from wikipedia as of Apr 25, 2008, 14.32 wib).
And boy! How bad the movie was, I even wanted to jump off of my chair right from the very first half an hour! Kindly be informed, we’re not go to the movie that often, yet twice in a row we’re doomed having had experiencing that bad. The previous one was, of course, the-3-millions-times-watched “Ayat-ayat Cinta”. Both movies were that bad, I previously didn’t even want to give them credit here.
Why? Because I believe that you could only do better by polishing your best, and better do nothing for the rest. Besides, somewhat I still respected the hard work dedicated by the producers; and positively think that this is maybe just another flaw of taste. So in the end, it’d be just wasting my time to write, your time to read, not to mention the bandwidth as well. And, uhm, multiply only supports scoring between 1 (as the lowest) and 5 (as the highest). They seems couldn’t support the score I wanna give to both movies. *wink2!
From those both star performers of modern kung-fu, the fighting scenes were not even next to mediocre. Too many choreographed acts, one who learns martial arts could instantly spot it, made the dancing was not “flowing” through but rather a bit “segmented”, and, sadly, pretty much predictable. Wonder if they really use the techniques in real life street combat.
One lines from Mr. Chan somewhere in the movie could actually concluded it, “..how could you survived in the streets?..” Note: “you” here referred to the young Bostonian he saved.
Quoting this review, one exchange was notably good i.e. when Mr. Lee said to Mr. Chan in Mandarin, "..He's not even Chinese..” (whilst mocking the Bostonian boy). As far as I can remember, that was the only decent scene that could gave me a proportional good laugh. But a star was obviously too far from it, though. So I keep my scores low, heuhe.
Despite all that, I noticed that all the while, many people have been giving good comments about it. But the way I talked to my folk’s right after we walked out the theater would be shared here; those who did that (and some bigger portion of them are my good friends) were in love with Jackie Chan. Means, no matter what, they will still rate it (or, in this case, “him”) as beyond that good. It doesn’t matter. That’s what we called as 'taste'.
Thus go for it for the paycheck weekend, dudes, but you won’t get my good wishes. *grin
Friday, Apr 25, 2008
Jakarta, @ 13.51 wib
 | Category: | Movies | | Genre: | Drama |
Marion Cotillard (Oscar Winner 2008, Best Actress), dan La Vie en Rose, menjadikan kehidupan penyanyi terkenal Édith Piaf (1915—1963) terdengar lagi gaungnya.
Sejujurnya itu bukan nama yang familiar, walau (ternyata) lain hal nya dengan beberapa lagunya. Pengalaman serupa pun bahkan dirasakan oleh beberapa rekan lain yang lebih senior, yang seharusnya, mengingat usia mereka, telah mengenal Piaf lebih dahulu pada saat yang bersangkutan masih hidup.
Piaf adalah sebuah ikon, dan dianggap sebagai penyanyi pop terbaik Perancis hingga sekarang. “La Vie en Rose" (French for "Life in Pink") was the signature song of her. Few friends even christenized the song as their medicine every time they went down. An appreciation I find hard to follow, even though I admit that the song is very nicely sang and played.
Lagu-lagu nya kebanyakan menggambarkan kehidupannya yang tragis, yang digambarkan secara luar biasa baik di dalam film tersebut. Film itu sendiri sangat un-tonton-able (heuhe), dengan karakter Piaf yang kejam, satir, pongah; bersanding secara kilas balik dengan keluguan dan autisme nya semaca kecil, keliaran dan kekurangajaran masa remaja yang bebas tak kenal aturan.
Salah satu adegan paling mengesankan adalah ketakutannya saat mengenal dan tampil di panggung profesional untuk pertama kalinya. Ini adalah suatu hal yang sangat kontras dengan ketidakpeduliannya saat tampil sebagai penyanyi jalanan. Sikap yakin diri nya bahwa ia dianugerahi suara Tuhan yang indah dan abadi tersebut kemudian malahan diadaptasi menjadi gaya nya sehari-hari saat sudah (semakin) terkenal. Hal yang kemudian seolah semakin menjauhkannya dari kehidupan nyata maupun orang-orang yang tulus mencintai dan peduli padanya. Hal yang kemudian boleh dibilang menjadi sumber kejatuhannya; terutama karena ketidakpeduliannya yang akut pada kehidupan sehat, maupun saran-saran yang berguna.
Édith Piaf, menanjak dengan cepat, untuk kemudian jatuh termakan ketenarannya sendiri. Tipikal klasik keberhasilan luar biasa yang berdiri tanpa fundamental yang memadai.
Film yang tidak menarik, perjuangan hidup yang mengiriskan hati, biografi yang membosankan dari kesombongan seseorang, tertolong oleh akting yang sangat mengesankan dari Ms Cotillard; termasuk lypsinc yang sukses dibawakannya hingga seolah benar dia yang menyanyi sepanjang film.
Tak heran bila untuk perannya sebagai Piaf, Ms Cotillard memborong semua gelar aktris terbaik tahun ini (2008); mulai dari Golden Globe (US journalists), BAFTA (British), the Lion Award (Czech), hingga Academy Award alias Oscar.
Penampilan hebat lainnya Ms Cotillard dapat dilihat saat dia bersanding dengan Rusell Crowe, dalam "a Good Year" (2006) dengan sutradara Riddley Scott. A very recommended movie, instead.
Wed, Dec 12, 2007 – 21.15 wib
Djakarta theater at JiFFest 2007
 | Category: | Movies | | Genre: | Independent |
Persepolis (in Greeks) literally means “The City of Persians”. The film is the opening act of the Jakarta International Film Festival, or better known as JiFFest 9th (7-16 Dec, 2007). You can bet that this film must have something special to enable it to be crowned such an honor. Not to mention that it got aired in 2 (two) consecutive schedule; the 1st was being a closed performance exclusively dedicated for invited guests and journalists, whilst the 2nd was opened for public just a couple hours ago. Glad that I managed to have the ticket, since last time I heard, it was sold out a few days before the schedule. Phew!
Thanks to that, few friends that originally got interested to join in were shoo-ed away, hehe. Sorry, guys! However, that is just the way it goes with festivals like these; you have to make sure that you already booked the ticket(s), long before the schedule would be played. And partly, that is why I missed all the JiFFest before; because I can hardly afford to secure the tickets, especially since the selling venues were quite out of reach.
When I uploaded this review to the blog, I found it was kinda difficult to distinguish this one based on the classification offered. Because it could be an Animation, a (Dark) Comedy, a Docu-Drama, an Independent, a Kids & Family category, and above all, a satiric Auto-Biography of the original writer, Ms Marjane Satrapi. Or may we say, this film is all about it.
Persepolis is a 2007 animated film based on the graphic novel of the same name. It tells the story of a young girl (Marjane) in Iran before, during, and after the Iranian Revolution (ca 1978-1992). A 9-year-old Marjane dreamed of become the last Prophet of God and happily declared herself as a Communiss (an sich). It was not clear whether the whole family of her were also Communist activists. She often had dreams of she consulted God on things or even sometimes yelled at Him (and later on, a conference with Uncle Marx). She grew through the affectionate caring of her loved ones (dad, mom, and grandma), the romance shared by various young men she loved, the joy and the height of the school days and friends, the dictatorship of the faculty and the society, and the unexpected bitter life in Vienna along with her closest friends made there, the anarchist-wanna-be rich kids from school.
This is quite a phenomenon, people who talks more about those radical thinking are usually amongst the very first to jump out from the boat when everything goes wrong. People like those love to show to the world that they really care, whilst in fact they don’t goddamn know anything at all; even the most basic routines of it. They love to wear Guevara T-Shirt whilst they do not know any shit out of his inspiring traveling done throughout South America on his youth. They like to disregard the authority and tend to violate the rules only to show that they are courageous and got rebellion spirits. Remember Prince Harry of England who caught up wearing Nazi’s Swastika on a costume party? That should be the finest-real-life-high-profile example. This film told similar cases well with such admirable bluntness, especially in regards that this was an autobiography.
Young Marjane’s life was also further be colored by the frightened monarch that was about to fall, along with its Secret Services aimed to get to its own people, the agitated revolutionary movement powered by young idealists, again with its own Secret Services on the same purpose, and of course there was the Iran-Iraq war (Gulf War I, 1980-1988). A war that some says was aimed to level Iran down since it moved further toward Islamic fundamentalism and against the US whose believed and suggested by its government to be stand behind the overthrown Shah (the Iranian Empire before the revolution).
Be noted for not taking the film as a political one, albeit its propagandist nature (against the Islamic Republic of Iran, the power behind that 1979 revolution) tends to make me sick from time to time for being too harsh and one-sided. No wonder the Iranian government protested the film, at both Cannes and Jakarta. It was reported that the film got its clearance from Lembaga Sensor Film (Indonesia’s Sensor and Rating Agency) to be aired at JiFFest 2007 just hours before the 1st schedule.
Better to take it as a vigorous photo album of a young girl; confused and had lots of grudges about her very existence in the world. It honestly portrayed, to some level, the surrounding life of her. Thus, we could, arguably of course, study and learn what it was like to be in her shoes around that period of Iran, and what it felt to become a legal alien in Vienna. And how life was supposed to be, especially for people like her and her family; the educated politically aware and connected middle class. After all, she just wanted to live a normal life like another teenage female.
It should be red-marked though, that the film forgot, or failed to explain, what was “normal like another” supposed to be meant. It left us, at the end, wondered and strongly felt that the writer abused this film only to satisfy (and somehow to justify) her complaints of present day Iran, of her not-that-good Europe actual life compared to imagination, of her bitter yet interesting life, and above all, implicitly – on God Himself.
Seeing that Marjane is not just Christian, but also a Communist, her critics to the Islamic rules run on her Iran lost its appropriateness and legitimacy for sure.
Updated on Dec 10, 2007 – 12.03 wib
Another thing to be pointed out, one of the commentator on this review of mine (thanks, buddy) accused that Marjene exploit the sorrow and depression borne by the said 'Iranian Women' simply for entertainment cause.
I gotta admit that it was a very intriguing conclusion. And frankly speaking, it had crossed my mind, too. But then I tried to step back a few times, and see the whole thing from her point of views.
Or precisely, from the point of view of a smart and independent little girl, who’s raised inside educated, honored, and aristocratic surroundings. In short, she got the whole world laid over in front of her, waiting to be explored. And suddenly, yes in that instance, all those chances were robbed from her in such a way, that could be clearly seen still doesn’t have a sense for her, even until now.
And what left to be shared was the physically 20-something Marjene whose rose to the stardom thanks to her exploiting autobiography film (and graphical novel), who were trapped inside an ever rebellious soul of a mentally 9 years old Marjene. The one whose still keep looking around helplessly to find to ease her soul and to find out her answer.
Sorrowful indeed, or maybe pathetic, but of course from a different point of view..
Djakarta Theater, Thamrin Avenue, Jakarta
Sunday, Dec 09, 2007 – 23.30 wib
© terbanglah lebih tinggi
Related articles:
(1) HE-the-astonishingly-uneducated
(2) JiFFest 9th (7-16 Dec, 2007)
 | Category: | Movies | | Genre: | Romantic Comedy |
The moview deals with the growing relationships between the two, framed by Claire effort to help Drew navigate the rough waters ahead and proves that, amazing things happen when you least expect them.
I could only give a 3-star (out of scale 5) to this moving movie, too bad. Berbeda dengan biasanya, kali ini gue rinci apa saja yang menurut gue cukup menonjol dari film ini dan layak mendapat perhatian lebih.
Dari sekian banyak positif (2 poin) berbanding negatif (4 poin), sepertinya nilai 3, atau bahkan mungkin 2, agak terlalu kejam, hehe.. Pinggirkan dulu soal selera, mari kita coba lihat satu-persatu.
(-) lambrettaaa... bikin bosen! Hhaha. Lo harus nonton film ini dalam kondisi yang teramat sangat santai dan, tentunya, lagi nggak dikejar deadline..
(-) ketertarikan Claire, tokoh tokoh protagonis wanita yang diperankan dengan sangat bergairah oleh Kirsten Dunst, terhadap Drew emang aneh dan terlalu dipaksakan. Sekedar memangkas jam tayang film, pastinya. Bayangkan kalo ketertarikan itu diceritakan tumbuh alamiah; jangan2 selesai nonton kita dah pada jadi mumi lakban! :p (istilah mumi lakban terinspirasi dari "The Time Traveller's Wife" yang super duper keren!)
(-) soal alasan pemecatan tokoh Drew yang dimainkan dengan ragu2 oleh Orlando Bloom sepertinya sama dengan alasan di atas; untuk memangkas alur
(-) ending yg klise. Apa endingnya? Ah, bukan kebiasaan gue untuk membocorkan, lo nonton aja ya!:p Yang jelas, ending ini seharusnya justru dipercepat tahapannya. Dan NGGAK perlu sampe tahap seperti yang diceritakan pada film. Atau mereka ndak usah ketemu. Atau dibikin ngegantung sekalian, misalnya si Drew lagi termenung2 naburin abu di jembatan atau lagi senyam-senyum mbaca travelling book hadiah dari Clare. Nah, pada titik ini semua penonton akan terpesona dan mengharapkan agar, entah bagaimana, mereka akan bisa bertemu dan bersatu lagi. A (lame) Serendipity. Aint that so cliché, eh?
(+) adegan telepon nya, huhu.. Always love that overlonged phone call that lasted for hours and all the nights; dengan segala posisi, suasana, dan topik obrolan pula. It totally reminds me of those fond memories.. this is one of the scene of the movie that could moved my heart and make it reminiscingly smile.. hmm..
(+) peta perjalanan itu, dengan segala perniknya, was really inspiring. Wonder if I could make one and give it to someone really-really special. May she follow it, as on the movie? I wonder…
Above all, Kirsten Dunst (Spiderman I, II, III) sekali lagi menunjukkan kelasnya sebagai seorang (calon) bintang besar yang serba bisa; mengikuti jejak Julia Roberts (Monalisa Smile) dan Nicole Kidman (Cold Mountain). Adapun Orlando Bloom sayangnya lagi-lagi terjebak dalam stereotipe yang menyedihkan tentang keunggulan fisik (baca: wajah), dan, sayangnya, padanya belum terlihat kemampuan (dan tekad?) seorang Tom Cruise (Jerry Maguire) untuk melawan kutukan itu.
Bagaimanapun, film ini, dengan nilai 3 dari skala 5, cukup gue rekomendasikan. Have you seen it, and if yes, how do you like it?
© terbanglah lebih tinggi
Thursday, Nov 15, 2007,
17:40:57 wib
| Start: | Dec 7, '07 | | End: | Dec 16, '07 |
Hayooo...
Siapa mau nonton JiFFest 9th (7-16 Dec, 2007)? Booklet program/sinopsis dan jadwal harian bisa diintip langsung ke website nya, www.jiffest.org
Anyway, akhirnya jadi juga rencana nonton JiFFest yang sudah tertunda selama bertahun2, hmmm..!! Kalau gue nge-browse file2 lama gue, ternyata gue udah nyimpen jadwal JiFFest tuh sejak 5 tahun yang lalu kali.. dan acara memabukkan diri ku dengan segudang film berkelas itu selalu gagal karena gue kesulitan menyesuaikan diri dengan metode pembelian tiket nya yang super duper aneh:
- harus membeli keanggotaan/ membership
- harus beli jauh-jauh hari, dan TERUTAMA yang paling menyebalkan
- harus beli di tempat2 tertentu yang cukup jauh dari lokasi gue berada
Bahkan sebenarnya pun tahun ini kesempatan itu nyaris terlewat lagi, kalau saja gue nggak pas kebetulan lagi ke citos. Pas lagi luntang-lantung nggak keruan di sana, ndilalah, kok gue nemu loket penjualan tiket JiFFest di depan lobby Citos 21 Cineplex. Lengkap dengan hardcopy booklet dan jadwal nya. Jadilah gue menghabiskan waktu sekitar 30 menit di depan mas2 dan mbak2 itu buat berburu film apa saja yang akan gue tonton pada JiFFest kali ini.
And my recommended movies (I already bought its tickets) are :
1. No Country for Old Man .................... 09 dec 2007
2. Persepolis ...................................... 09 dec 2007
3. A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints .....10 dec 2007
4. the Namesake ................................ 10 dec 2007
5. Atonement .................................... 11 dec 2007
6. A Mighty Heart ............................... 11 dec 2007
7. La Vie en Rose …............................. 12 dec 2007
8. 4 Months 3 Weeks 2 Days ................ 12 dec 2007
9. Yella ............................................ 13 dec 2007
10. Shake Hands with the Devils ........... 14 dec 2007
11. Possible Lives ............................... 14 dec 2007
Does any of them the same choice as yours? If yes, who knows, maybe we could meet and greet with each other there, friends! *smirk..
PS:
I made a friend of mine cried when she learned my schedule arranged as above. Since by tomorrow morning she has to depart for a field work assignment to an oil rig off shore. Ha! Speaking about jealousy, dear…hihi..
 | Category: | Movies | | Genre: | Romantic Comedy |
...
I've been thinking about finding out one thing you really care, about one special thing means more than anything else in the world, and when you find her, you put on her on everything. You risk it all; your future, your life, all of it... everything you got. Everything you want. And maybe something to help her was not so clean, it doesn't matter. Because deep in your heart you know;
because the juice is worth to squeeze....
May 05 2004,
15:37 wib
** inspiring lines from “the Girl Next Door”
- : Gue udah lama nggak nonton bioskop.. Paling banter DVD.. Jadi lumayan tertarik nonton nih, abis baca review lo tentang the Brave One (2007 movie) .. Hehehe. Lo emang cocoknya kerja di koran atau majalah kali ya, Yo… + : Gue juga jarang nonton ke bioskop kok, boss, Selain soal waktu, duitnya lumayan mahal juga kan? Tapi memang ada film2 tertentu yang biasanya gue bela2in nonton - dan harus ke Blitz! Hehhehe.. - : Ohya? Kenapa tuh? - : All and all, gimanapun suasana yang tertangkap di bioskop emang beda banget dibandingkan kita nonton sendiri di rumah, atau di TV (satelit). Bioskop, bagaimanapun, sanggup menawarkan pengalaman orgasme yang lebih intens.*grin Karenanya layak diperjuangkan; entah dengan waktu maupun dengan uang…hehe Jakarta 12870 Pancoran Monday, Sep 24, 2007 12:19 PM
 | Category: | Movies | | Genre: | Drama |
Simply awesome and thought provoking; a 5-stars and must be seen, indeed. A movie that first looks like, no offense folks!, an ordinary chick flick, but all of a sudden pumps your adrenalin wayyy to the top, then playing around with your most primitive instinct (thank God I previously insisted to my date for not watched that Catherine Zeta Jones’ newest slapstick romantic-comedy *grin).
The movie gives you the feeling that did not go off easily when you walked down the aisle to find some fresh air outside. To the glittering night of Jakarta, and probably, quoting the movie lines, another safest big city in the world. Yeah? With a movie like this, even long after it is over, the circumstances and the situations portrayed keep playing repeatedly in your head. In addition, it makes you wonder about every dark image passing over; be it on your imagination only or, worse, by the next dark turn. Watch your step, because now you know that every second is precious to life.
It is actually quite simple and perhaps has been repeated a thousand times to somewhat boredom and what we called as metropolitan courtesy, i.e. not to care with what others do as long as they don’t disturb you. Crime committed, blood spilled, and the crooks slipped away. Unresponsive police with standard handling procedures that left us felt abandoned and double victimized; first by the bad guys, and then by the society aka the police force. Seems so familiar, eh? Could be happened anywhere, on anytime, and to anyone – including you.
Yet some people do not want to believe in that. Some, including you, perhaps? They thought that they are immune from that possibilities. Knock-knock, hellooo..? Reality bites, dude. Wake up! Sure you have to experience some near-death experiences first hand, to enable yourself to praise your simple life even more.
You drive your own car and work lavishly in downtown skyscrapers. You graduated cum laude from the best university in the country and landed on a dream job with a paycheck that you do not need to look at because the bank draft seems to be always full. You are the well-known and adorable queen of the Radio Program about City’s crime, and whoosh..!!, in that instance, you are whacked and everything’s gone. Including your groom to be in the near future.
What else could be done when all left were only traumatized endless nights without sleep, trembling hand, and inability to work and to live on, but to tonnages of cigarettes and blank thoughts about your past? Quoting its tag line, how many wrongs to make it right?
Sure it makes me wonder, do you really have the ability to kill people when the moment arrived? When there is nothing you could do but to defend yourself, in the most primitive way, in the immediate time? Or, after the time gone by and the memories diminished forever, but the grudges live as ever? The hatred and the nightmares? The time when enough is enough? The will and the power to rise against anyone who looks as simple as, and could be every body passing you at your crossways?
“..cos when you love something, and you lose it,
then you lose a part of you..”
.........
The strongest point of the movie lies on its details and its editing. Praise to the shining stars and the impressive crews! The movie successfully attached us to share our sympathy to Erica Bain, the victim (Jodie Foster), and to feel our dilemma to Detective Mercer (Terrence Howard). We can hardly stand to see how MS Bain felt as she was on her lover’s hug whilst in fact she was being medically treated on ER. We wish we wouldn’t have to be in Detective Mercer’s shoes someday when we have to choose between honor, duty, and our sympathy to an acquaintance. Above all, sure we’d like to miss those split seconds when your world falls apart for something you could not have been responsible for or simply cannot understand.
Of all those remarkable points, the movie only has one negative note; its cliché ending a la Hollywood style. It dares to deal with the darkest human impulses in serious ways and would rather leave us disturbed than relieved. Sure it’d be much better if it ended as the other way around. Because in the real world, you cannot always have everything you wanted. That alternative ending as suggested then would add some emphasize and make it closer to the way we live in. It would not only become as strong, but disturbing also. Yet there is nothing we could do but to wish.
All and all, I believe that Jodie Foster deserves another Oscar. Well done!
Special notice should go to Terrence Howard either.
© terbanglah lebih tinggi
Senayan City, Studio 3, Jakarta
Friday, Sep 21, 2007 – 22.00 wib
the Shining Casts:
Jodie Foster – Erica Bain
Terrence Howard – Detective Mercer
The Impressive Crews:
Directed by Neil Jordan
Music by Dario Marianelli
Cinematography by Philippe Rousselot
Editing by Tony Lawson
 | Category: | Movies | | Genre: | Science Fiction & Fantasy |
Liked it or not, to be human means to be bitchy; with all its risks and consequences. Say it again. Homo Homini Lupus; humans act as the wolf against each other. We are born different, and utopianly, that should be a God’s blessing. That we should and expected to know each other well, and to live freely side by side. To respect others. To live in other people’s skin and walk around in it, to enable us to experience his/her way of life. His/her point of view.
Nevertheless, that may never be happened, because we love to dominate others. Survival of the Fittest, with all due respect to Dr. Darwin.
Have you ever wondered it yourself, when people living in harmony and nobody wants more than s/he could take? That there would be no more Yin and Yang; the immortally opposing each other elements of nature, that actually complete each other into harmony? That if God himself really wants to make the better world, He could just easily throw all the bad people to the Red Sea, and go on living happily ever after with the rest of us? Have you?
This movie actually tries to portray that “what if” questions. However, another question then shall arise, of why do Hollywood really loves the movie, and decided to make it again and again over decades. Different approach, sure different casts also, and different details offered. But yet, worse scenario used.
Means no developed storyboard after the shocking and intriguing initial scenes, but merely just a hot pursuit of snatched armies against a smart woman, successful psychiatrist, and loving Mom. No wonder we could hope nothing but to have the bad and the ugly of the acting performed. Be it Ms Kidman with her USD 17 mio fee for this movie, or Mr. Craig (the newest James Bond, read further here: Casino Royale – HisStory of Love); a total disaster, better if not showing up at all.
Many unnecessary shots shown on the screen, or perhaps the maker cannot have enough power or effort to integrate it with the whole story. For instance, the fact that Kidman character’s ex husband is an executive at the CDC; a federal agency responsible to prevent the spread of any epidemic diseases.
Another quite disturbing plot is the failure to add more intense of the pursuit, nor to make it glossier through the atmosphere of reality; the safety of the nearest Military Fort from town, which has sophisticated equipment to hold the war against the biological intruders. Being so intellectually advanced, if the snatchers really want to have every one with gifted anti body vaporized, then what the heck they think they’re doing not to burn it to the ground?
The lights of the movie came from unexpected source: the boy who played as Kidman character’s kiddo; he acted quite well. Although, again, the incompetent scenario played merely positioned him as a frightened child of a highly agitated mother. And the things scared the shit out of him, really. Yet, given how tough Kidman portrayed there, then it doesn’t make sense that she got such child.
The movie was quite slow, but congratulations, it could develop the intense well; little by little, to the intensifying last scenes. And the road pursuit could satisfy the viewers’ hunger eyes for action, phew, finally.
Love that argumentation scene between Kidman and His Excellency the Ambassador of the Russian Federation. Though sure, it also felt a little bit too much. Nevertheless, don’t forget to deeply examining those dialogue between two; very intriguing and with good answers, too!
IF you read and/or watch the news enough, then you must be able to notice that the Director would just love to add quite a lot symbolization meanings into the scenes. It is about the satire of the modern world we are living in now; as he meant it to be the supporting reasons for his case. That life is bitchy, and that’s it.
And that’s just the way it is.
PS:
But sure we're living every precious moments of it. And we thank God.
Cast
* Nicole Kidman as Carol Bennell, MD, a professional psychiatrist in Washington, D.C.
* Daniel Craig as Ben Driscoll, MD, Carol's boyfriend, works in a hospital.
 | Category: | Movies | | Genre: | Action & Adventure |
Plan to see the movie for the weekend? Don’t forget to pick the best theaters on your surrounding area, to fully experience its dramatic and very intense saga. If you are living in Jakarta, then you have no other choice but Blitz Megaplex in the very heart of the city.
The movie will not disappointing even the most action lovers amongst you. It is really worth to be watched to be sure, to please your eyes, well sadly, only. Wait a minute. Have I mentioned about the possibilities to entertain your brain as well? No. I supposed not, heuhe.
Yet there is one regrets though; if only Multiply would let me give negative marks on this Hollywood cliché about an-utopian-never-be-beaten-americ*n-hero..sigh.. Thanks to that, I have to be satisfied by marking it as 1 star out of 5.
There were also lots on impossible things and lucky encounters happened, as predicted. One of the most disturbing things was when the hacker Farrel, that sidekick, who has earlier in the movie claimed that he never exercised but virtually inside his internet gaming scenario, eventually could match the more athletic detective, almost without big effort. Yeah, another Americ*n Hero cliché.
Another annoying thing emerged was the subplot to merge the glory of the past aka Detective McClane (means: the world of the grown-ups, mature, half-aged people, portrayed by Mr. Willis) with the gadget freaks, technology-minded, cool guys of the Web 2.0 world (such as the hero’s young sidekick and his nerdy friend codenamed Warlock) in such an unsmooth way. They are just trying too much, and it ain’t looking good.
More noted downside, also could be understood as an undercover marketing effort to enhance the muscle of the US military and technology, was the F-35 Lightning II. It was shown the outstandingly maneuvering the city elevated highway, tried to kill McClane. The plane was the best the US got, and its air superiority was without doubt, yes. But with all due respect, there was no fighter jet, including the F-35, could achieved the air aerobatic and the anti-stall mechanism as shown, except for the Russian’s Mig 29 – arguably the best multi-purpose fighter currently available and already combat-ready.
On the positive part, the bad guy is neither Ar*bs wearing kaffey*h shouting lines stupidly and mostly mistakenly from the holy Qur’an, nor have bold beard like the way it used to be, especially after it happened in 2001. The devastating plot was also quite different, although reminds me a lot of another successful action-packed movies such as “Firewall (Harrison Ford, Paul Bettany, 2006)” or the more logically possible, more pleasure to be seen, “Enemy of the State (Will Smith, Jerry Buckheimer, 1998)”.
Basically, all of them tell the story of a mortal leakage in the US defense system, thanks to the increasing role of information technology around our day-to-day life. They are only differentiating themselves by using different perspective and approach.
Yet, it was the very same thing which has been brilliantly portrayed by “1984 (Orwell, originally published in 1949)”; crowned as one of the 100 best novel in history according to TIME magz. The novel advances its time so great, by telling that some day in 1984, England would be over ruled by dictatorial regime by exploiting the benefit of the savvy technology that can control the whole things happened or thought by the people.
Special notice would go to the early shots taken at Rutgers University. It is definitely one of the best college in the US, but not that often be shown on movies. Yet be informed, the campus shown at the screen was not Rutgers, but the University of Southern California. Made me wonder though, why they did not put the real name of the campus where the shots were made instead.
Another noted appearance was the hot Maggie Q as the bad guy’s girl friend, whose also in fact very capable of doing hi-tech disruption to the US data system whilst artistically know how to perform some beautiful martial arts move. To refresh your mind, she previously has some notable appearance either in Hong Kong style action “the Naked Weapon” or for the international market one was “Mission Impossible III” with the multi talented Tom Cruise. Downside: she seems hard to be killed on this story. On the other hand, perhaps she also has 9 lives as mine? You bet! *grin
Jakarta, Blitz Megaplex,
Friday, Jul 6, 2007 – 23.00 wib
© terbanglah lebih tinggi
Photo Caption:
The time when McClane shoot down enemy’s helicopter not by using an RPG as hardly achieved on “Black Hawk Down”, but by a cop car. Tehnically almost impossible to be done and exaggerately shown clearly just to win the audience sympathy for the hero. Sickening scene.
 | Category: | Movies | | Genre: | Drama |
Akhirnya, setelah sebulan berlalu sejak heboh peluncurannya, bisa juga nonton film ini. Itupun pake acara nyuri waktu segala; pas lagi cuti kantor, dan setelah janjan ketemu sahabat2 terbaik gue; Cecille di BEJ tower (batal mendadak gara-gara dia sakit – poor her) dan Vonny di Starbucks BNI city.
Selepas makan siang bareng Vonny di BNI city, ternyata masih banyak waktu sebelum pulang ke rumah. Jadi, pilihan paling logis adalah, ngabur ke Blitz Megaplex di Grand Indonesia. Kapan lagi bisa nomat siang bolong begini, sementara semua teman dan kolega lagi berjuang melawan kantuk yang mematikan setelah jam makan siang? Hhehe..
Kebetulan film ini memang hanya tinggal diputar di Blitz, dan pada jam siang hari. Jadilah gue nonton sebelah-menyebelah dengan gadis2 ABG, tante2 yang bingung mau ngapain habis belanja-belanji, dan beberapa oom yang bertampang puas habis ”bobo2”, hehe.. Nggak tahu juga deh, tapi berasa begitu aja begitu ngeliat sorot mata mereka :p
Anyway, pada dasarnya film ini bercerita tentang krisis yang selalu dialami kaum dewasa muda, atau dalam dunia psikologis yang lebih dikenal sebagai ”Quarter-Life-Crisis”; sesuatu proses kebingungan saat pencapaian persimpangan dalam upaya menentukan jati diri dewasa penuh. Terjadi banyak perdebatan mengenai kapankah saat krisis ini terjadi. Tetapi berdasarkan pengalaman berdiskusi dengan banyak teman, (mantan) kekasih, dan keluarga, diperoleh angka perkiraan usia 25 tahun. Krisis ini terjadi, seringnya, tanpa sepenuhnya disadari. Baik oleh pihak penderita, maupun lingkungan sekitarnya. Penjelasan lebih lanjut tentang gejala ini bisa melihat pada link yang disertakan di bagian bawah tulisan ini.
Dalam film ini digambarkan, kalau tidak bisa disebutkan sebagai suatu bentuk penyederhanaan yang agak dipaksakan, upaya pencarian jati diri tersebut dilakukan ke-2 tokoh utama nya dalam bentuk perjalanan darat selama 3 hari. Melintasi jalur lintas Jawa bagian selatan, menyelusuri Jakarta hingga ke Jogja. Yang agak aneh adalah, walaupun digambarkan bahwa mereka sempat bermalam di Bandung, tapi kemudian perjalanan malahan bergerak ke arah Pantura (kawasan pantai utara pulau Jawa).
Kedua tokoh, Yusuf (Nicholas Saputra; A2DC, Gie) dan Ambar (Adinia Wirasti; A2DC, Tentang Dia -- thx for your correction!) adalah remaja modern yang dibesarkan dalam budaya Jawa (keraton Jogja?) yang ketat. Digambarkan berhubungan dekat sebagai sepupu, walau jauh di dalam hati masing-masing ternyata memiliki kecurigaan dalam memandang satu sama lain. Kecurigaan yang sebenarnya berasal dari ketidakmengertian, atau ketidakmauan untuk saling mengerti; yang pada akhirnya membentuk persepsi. Tentunya dalam hal ini yang bertanggungjawab adalah lingkungan mereka. Dan kesibukan kota besar yang mencekik. Ambar yang terbiasa dimanja dengan segala kemudahan hidup berhadapan dengan Yusuf yang terbiasa hidup semaunya tanpa pernah kesulitan uang.
Cerita yang ditawarkan menarik, dan boleh dibilang merupakan terobosan segar. Sayang ada beberapa hal yang terpaksa harus menjadi catatan. Terutama mengenai kemiripannya dengan film fenomenal ”Y Tu Mama Tambien (2001)” yang berhasil mencuatkan aktor utamanya, Gael García Bernal, ke jajaran bintang muda internasional yang menjanjikan. Selain itu, juga ada sedikit hal yang mengingatkan pada film hebat lainnya ”the Motorcycle Diaries (2004)”, berupa visualisasi biografi Ernesto ”che” Guavara; juga oleh aktor yang sama.
Hal lain yang cukup menganggu adalah kurang berkembangnya akting kedua pemain utama. Mungkin ini adalah imbas dari santainya perjalanan rekam film ini, dengan maksud (mungkin) agar kesan natural maupun potret kesehariannya dapat tertangkap jelas. Tapi yang terasa adalah, penonton dipaksa menjadi orang ke-3, atau bahkan penumpang gelap, di dalam mobil mereka. Yang tidak punya hak bicara melainkan menjadi saksi atas apa yang terjadi. Dan itu, sejujurnya, sangat membosankan. Film ini terasa sangat berat karenanya.
Ada beberapa hal lain yang terkesan dilebih-lebihkan, mungkin juga karena keinginan naturalisasi yang kebablasan. Misalnya adegan saat mereka bermalam di Bandung. Maupun adegan nggak penting saat mereka memaksakan diri mampir ke situs ziarah Katolik Sendang Sana di Jogjakarta. Dialog Ambar yang Muslim saat menyapa patung Bunda Maria, maupun yang menyatakan alasan dia ingin mampir ke Sendang Sana (hanya) karena pernah bersekolah di Tarakanita, jelas terlihat berlebihan. Untuk tokoh Yusuf, sepertinya adegan melinting ganja agak terlalu banyak. Sepanjang film gue jadi agak bingung apakah ini film tentang pencarian jati diri, ataukah tentang gimana cara melinting ganja yang baik dan benar? Heuhehe..
Bagian positif yang dapat ditawarkan adalah, lagi-lagi karena upaya naturalisasi itu, kejujuran potret sosial atas hipokrasi masyarakat Indonesia. Bahwa kesuksesan seseorang ditentukan oleh IPK 3,4 seorang mahasiswa Arsitektur UI yang dibanggakan ayah Yusuf, maupun Accepatance Letter dari Cambridge University yang diterima Ambar. Tapi kedua adegan ini bak pisau bermata dua; di sisi lain, merupakan sebuah snapshot apa adanya, tetapi sebaliknya pun sungguh terasa berlebihan (curhat colongan orang yang IPK S1 nya di bawah 3,0, hehuehe.. Eh, tapi kan Juni kemarin gue dapet beasiswa S2 ke ITB lhoo.. --> membela diri, hihi)
Secara keseluruhan, ini film yang menarik (I didn’t say that it was good) dan, terlepas dari semua kelemahannya, patut dihargai. Gue berikan 2 bintang dari skala 5. Yah, paling tidak, gue butuh cuti hanya sekedar untuk bela-bela’in nonton film ini, ya kan? *grin
Jakarta, Blitz Megaplex,
Monday, Jul 10, 2007 – 15.00 wib
© terbanglah lebih tinggi
PS:
Artikel terkait tentang Quarter-Life Crisis dapat dibaca di sini:
a Quarter Life Crisis, or could it be a Scanner?
the Quarter-Life Crisis
the Scanner
Adapun buku terkait yang disarankan adalah:
Refuse to Choose!: Program for Doing Everything That You Love
 | Category: | Movies | | Genre: | Science Fiction & Fantasy |
This is a very dark and yet a very good movie, just like those dark chocolates – deeply mysterious, dark colors, strong flavor, its unsweetness taste that adds for its thrill, and thus a must be seen.
It is definitely much better than the previous 4 (four) movies of the series, thanks for the creator successfulness effort to develop a more serious and complicated story. It is excluding the idolized figurines and cheesiness of its previous ones, not to mention that it has successfully raised the good standard gradually (and hardly!!) achieved by its in between.
This is the first movie in the Harry Potter series that doesn’t seem like another cheap production made just to catch the hard-earned money from kids (and their parents respectively) all over the world, trying to exploit the potential profit from Harry Potter brand name whilst it’s still has its charisma rocketing. It feels just like a “real” movie; with all those plots, intrigues, loyalty and betrayals, love and hate relationships, friendship versus romantic ones, the never ending pursuant to be the best yet to prepare for the worst, etc.
We have to admit though, that after some time, this series do make us tired. For its loyal followers who either has already eaten all about it from A to Z, or even for merely commoners who happened to find themselves unwillingly trapped and be seated inside the theaters and watched the movie to accompany their nephews or their acquaintances. For those tortured poor souls, there will go my sympathy.
With its very usual and easily predictable story line, Ms Rowlings still feel the need to follow some good example from Indonesia’s Sinetron producers; to extend the plot unnecessarily and to add some unimportant casts or several unneeded details. To which I can hardly be convinced that without them all, the story would be a caput.
Radcliff gave an outstanding performance, much-much better than his previous ones. Perhaps thanks to the chance he recently received to add some muscles by professionally acted on stage in a theater show in London. Carter also did add some other interesting aspect and colors for the movie.
However, special mention of them all would go to the young prodigy Evanna Lynch acted as Luna “Looney” Lovegood, for she does remarkable things throughout the movie. She is the real star there, even managed to make another young main casts looked like that they still need to learn how to properly act; especially since they seem hardly developed their characters. Admiring Ms Lynch much and I believe that we are watching a history being born. Trust me!
I should have given a 5 stars out of five for this movie, but thanks to an unimaginable scene on the beginning of the movie, I’m happily detached a star out of it. It was when Harry and “his bodyguards” carelessly cruised through the London sky, going around boats and ships along the Thames River. The scene was yet fantastical and entertaining, but it violates the fundamentals aspect strongly stressed throughout the series and the movie: to strictly safeguard the true identity of the wizardry world. Even it doesn’t go along with another earlier scene of the movie, whereas Harry got expelled from the school he was forced to show his power in front of a common human (or according to the series, a muggle) – and there was no excuse for it not even he did it in order to defend himself
Another disturbing scene i.e. Hollywood cliché style was when Neville accidentally discovered the Room of Requirement – the room Harry and friends a.k.a. the Dumbledore’s Army used to practice and to enhance their magical fighting skills. I mean, how could he find the room, just like that? Especially as far as I know, it was told in the book that the original founder of the room was Dobby. Giving its role as the house elf, Dobby would be more suitable and would have more chances to find the room. Not Neville.
Jakarta,
Setiabudi One’s 21 cineplex
Wed, 070718 – 21.30 wib
Related Article:
What I Think about the Harry Potter series
Photo Caption:
Evanna Lynch, as Luna “Looney” Lovegood
Years ago, I borrowed all the first 4 books of the Harry Potter series out of a courtesy from a good friend, and read it without ever feel the urgency to watch its movie version. Not just in the theatres, but also on its DVD formats or as aired by the TV networks. I must say that I am not really into it. Dunno why. Perhaps because I strongly think that JK Rowling, the author of the HP series, being raised as a native English, must have been, umm... “very inspired” by another well-known fantasy epics made on her era, i.e. “the Lord of the Ring”, by Prof JRR Tolkien and another one made by Tolkien’s best friend for life, “the Chronicles of Narnia”, by the great Prof CS Lewis; both were long time best friends and taught at the well respected University of Oxford.
Be noted that both stories developed the wide use of witchcraft and wizardry, strange beasts and monsters, and another world not very far away from ours, but yet as different as it can be. The fact that Ms Rowling initiated the series when she broke and wrote it on a tissue paper was also did not help much. Not to mention if we critize the so many similarity found between the series and the legendary epics; either on the names, the character, the places, the magic spells, and the costumes. Being released long after those first 2 (two) epics, we could easily grow our suspicions toward her.*grin Another thing is, because I always wonder what the heck we are doing here by obeying what Hollywood dictate us to do. To praise the “un-positive” characters all over the world of injustice and inconsistence. We already saw the hip of the legendary imaginative robber Robin Hood, the coolness of the heartless pirates (yet another robber!), the power of the dark side (witches, vampires, etc), and so on. Whilst on another side, we were choked by the immortal fights between good and evil, the black-white difference between the Heroes versus the Villains, and the ultimate power and winnings of that “World Cop” (or should we say, “cowboys”?). The happy endings that become the rights of the protagonist casts. I stopped reading the series since the 4th book (HP & the Goblet of Fire), it was my last. And I treated this as my rights to spell my objection. As a (potential) customer, I believe I have my rights to do so. It doesnt matter. It was too dark, has some strong violence scenes, and thus I do not think that this 4th book was suitable enough for kids and children all over the world. Perhaps they should raise its legal age limitations to “teens”. I also realized that some religious organizations banned the series from being read by their students or followers. I know some of my good friends who are in facts also good Christians have their strong objection against the series. They even managed to make a distance between the books and their kids, with some religious reasoning. Few of them mentioned that their own previous schools (either Catholic or Christian foundations) have banned the series from their library shelves. Quite information, I must say. Nevertheless, I (tried to) understand their motive, and can hardly opposed it. For I share almost the same concern myself. Maybe it’s just too much in the sake of the freedom of information, but maybe it would be useful for ages to come. Well, who knows? Whose gonna bear the upcoming price but the children themselves? And their parents and relatives? And the society in a whole? Who’s gonna find out? Not me, of course. It is our choice then whether we would like to take an active action, or just take it for granted, and be a passive absorber of the uniformized global culture and civilizations. Of consumerism. That they made us in need of things that we actually would not need to do or to have it. That we afraid for being left behind by this gigantic commercial mess called as modern and cosmopolitan living. We cannot stand to be called as out of date, ndeso, "katro", anti-social, or any other else labeled to those who’s said no to the main stream. Or as they put it on “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (movie)”, to freely classify those whose not fall into your category, as Looney. Well, after all, I watched “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (movie)” on the theater on last Wednesday. Why? Simply because a friend asked me out to accompany her. In addition, because another one told me to do so because she wants to read my review about it (narcistist.com!:p) Because I had some spare time after attended a meeting with Pertamina at the Oil Center tower, just oppositely situated in front of EX, on the MH Thamrin boulevard. And I planned to see it again with my Dad and my brother because they asked for it.
Therefore, I maybe ended up watching the movie more often than everyone else watches. At least more than what I intended to do. Ha-ha.. Jakarta, Friday, 070720 – 03.09 am © terbanglah lebih tinggi PS: Have you read my review about its newest movie? Read here: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (movie)
| Start: | Jul 15, '07 1:30p | | Location: | Blitz Megaplex, Grand Indonesia, Jakarta |
Blitz Megaplex, 4 tickets for free with the compliments of Kompas daily. Gracias!
 | Category: | Movies | | Genre: | Romantic Comedy |
oleh: terbanglah lebih tinggi
At last; a different film from the main stream, yet boasting some of the most prominent names in the industry, released to the Indonesian theaters. Or may I say, could exclusively be watched on the Blitz network, only. The girl has already refused to watch 300, an Utopian Fantastical Heroism film widely praised and talked about. Too much blood, she said. And too much kids inside the theaters watching that damn film, I thought. This, thank Lord, was what’ve come to my mind as its smart alternative.
Be reminded, that this is an anthology film. Thus, expecting what it would be, and how we could understand some 20 different films directed by another 20 different directors, and played by some bunch of international stars of course – not to mention, to expect that most or at least some of the dialog would be spoken in French is already a headache. For how long it’d gonna be, or on the contrary, for how fast we should absorb the story before it’s going too late? (hints: the film tagline promised that each film is independent and wont be take more than 5 mins).
I remember Love Actually that told about several different life of the London-ers, that at first seems to be independently walked and separately lived by each characters involved. That we got quite confused by trying to figure out which is which, and about what it is all about; especially considering the number of the parties portrayed there. But then the plot goes along smoothly and built-up to the same point, that they’re connected in one way or another to each other. And that they’re pursuing, or at least questioning at, the same thing.
Sure we doubted that it would be pretty much the same. But at least we got the big picture. And what would it be, anyway? The answer, my friends and fellow film lovers, is this lovely film. Intriguing though, is how well they could flow altogether. Although we gotta admit that each film is short enough (circa 5 mins, remember?) to enable them to tell each story, thus even when we got annoyed or bored, we don’t have to wait that long. A must be seen, indeed; 4 stars for it. If only it wouldn’t be lasted that long.. (a 75% portion of it would be more than enough, I suppose).
It must be seen because it offers various love point of view; a truly cosmopolitan approach of Paris. Because of it, it’s hardly classified as an usual love story.
Most of us for quite some time has eagerly and carelessly correlating the City of Lights with the western civilized part of the world. For as a matter of fact, it got its unique and sometimes, serious problems, too. Call it tribal and/or religious racism against Moslem and their hijjab, or the immigrants and urbanization matters that fuelled the ultra-right fascist sentiments, the gap between the so called 1968 revolutionary liberation fighters generation who already turned themselves into fatso beaurecatric folks on one side, against the MTV+iPod younger generation who harshly demonstrated to ask the government to give them better working guarantee (such an ironic, no?), and so on..
They are facing the same global problems, actually. The very same as, may we say, Jakarta. Or any other big crawling city on the planet. Yet, it is the capital of a great developed country. The characteristic that somewhat made the city quite different with her sisters.
And with all that in mind, most of the directors offered some breathtakingly fresh view of love; happened on the very the streets of Paris. With all that contributions, this film is brilliantly sequenced, beautifully directed and shot, and definitely wonderfully acted.
From the city most narrow alleys to the majesty of the Wilde’s tomb, along the darkest side of the nights and through the cruelest meaning of the intention; each films offered a short segmentation on love and the way it touch the hearts, taking place in a specific neighborhood around the city. Each film titled with the same name as where it is located (or shoot), explained by girl sat next to me. This is a film that successfully reveal the real live multi-faceted of the city rarely seen on screen. And for that, I praised it much.
Highly recommended for those of you whose in love, for those who want to take a grand journey towards the deepest feelings of human being, or maybe just for those whose longing for Paris - as she was. Yes, this is a film about love.. in its most simplest daily forms; sweet, cute, honest, loyal, exploring, or perhaps a bit heart-breaking… yet also moving and inspiring, of course.
One City.
10 Million Hearts.
One Love Story. One Film.
Paris, Je T’aime!**
Jakarta,
Blitz Megaplex & Al-Azhar Mosque
Saturday MidNite - Apr 28, 2007
PS:
** the French Speaking Girl (FSG) corrected my pronunciations (and my sms writing) for several times, to no avail, hehe..
 | Category: | Movies | | Genre: | Action & Adventure |
oleh: terbanglah lebih tinggi
This widely anticipated action saga packed with all the digital slam-dunks that the record breaking so far USD 265 mio (correct me if I’m wrong) budget can buy, yet it sadly does not outperform the 1st two films.
It's not my fault that the spidey bad guy's look and behavior with long hair and that weird, umm..funny piano and dancing performance suddenly reminds me of Jamie Cullum's intriguing live performance on the 2007 Java Jazz - they're so much alike. Or is just a sign of mass-marketing; targeting the much very same identical audiences? The Sinatra on Sneakers is work well. How about another Sinatra on Web? Could be.
Spidey loved by all because he’s just like the most of us – ordinary fellow citizens of the world, who holds almost nothing to face the everyday music of this gigantic mess called as life. And when s/he got one, one might have to fight first to securely hold onto it. Fight hard and long. Couldn’t know anything but that s/he just trying to do one’s best, and nothing less. That’s what made me fell for Spidey 1. And the rest of the world went crazy for it. When ordinary people expected the best and turned out performing extraordinary. A mega success.
Something similar has been done for Spidey 2, but with somewhat wider problems and bitter scum: this time Spidey when out to the big town. And witnessed the cruelness of the city: a perfect example of the homo homini lupus society. A physiciatrist playing ground. The madness perfect world. And what the audiences experienced? To be taught that even on the most individualistic and racist place ever existed on this planet, solidarity on its most common form could be easily and socially performed. To help others and against the will to play it safe; against fear. This time we fell in love. We weep and we cry, in joy. A huge success.
But that’s it. The warmth and wit that made those two previous films so memorable, is already expired. Here we got blast and zap and bang; so loudly we barely could hear what’s going on the screen. If they intended to do it in order to make us forget about the 2.5 hours boredom resulted, gotta admit that they made it really well. After halfway gone through it, I checked my watch in, say, about every 10 minutes. And wished that it will be over quick (the wish had never been granted of course).
Expect nothing from Spidey 3 but a cliché summer fun in Hollywood style:
- Of how an unidentified flying object could just dropped from the sky, and no one knows. Or seems to care
- Of how can mortally hate each other enemies could suddenly turned out mortally helped each other.
- Of how a powerful sand monster could just gave up, just like that. And went away.
- Of why those “thing” could badly reacted to the high tone of voices.
- And don’t forget the bonus of seeing Spidey leaping up in front of a giant United St*tes flag; wondered myself whose might came up with this very ugly and oh-so-patriotic idea.
Wrap it up, done with it!
..everyone needs help... even Spiderman..
** Mary Jane Watson
No, I wont give one star (out of five) for it, though how much I want to. Why? Because this film nevertheless still has it good side. Among them are:
- the every day touch of human life were added here and there
- the basic instinct of the very human revealed and being exercised; e.g. pride aka narcistic, revenge, lust, greed, envy,..
- the powerful quotes. The most one I liked was said by spidey’s concerned auntie:
“…It is the choice that makes us what we really are
And you can always choose to be good.
To be the best of you..”
Yes, my friend; life is a matter of choice. Choose or choose not to watch this movie. After all, it’s kinda fun anyway. Totally entertaining for the whole member of the family. Of course if your local theater managers allow your under age kids to sneak in.
Be noted; as a matter of fact, it happens everywhere. So long "Badan Sensor Film"! Dont you realizes that there are kids unappropriately watching every kind of movie, and careless parents who bring their kids there?
Jakarta Blitz Megaplex,
Saturday, May 5, 2007 – 18.00 wib
PS:
Are there any other theater but Blitz?
Heuhuhehehe..
 | Category: | Movies | | Genre: | Science Fiction & Fantasy |
Nggak salah lagi, inilah film yang paling banyak dibicarakan, diberitakan, dan tentunya ramai-ramai ditonton belakangan ini. Sebagai sebuah film bioskop yang diangkat dari sebuah novel grafis, film ini hanya menghabiskan anggaran yang tidak bisa dibilang besar (menurut standar Hollywood), dan kabarnya, telah memecahkan rekor perolehan penghasilan terbesar pada minggu pertama pemutarannya. Hebat! Atau sekedar timing yang tepat belaka?
Film ini sebenarnya merupakan adaptasi dari sebuah novel grafis berjudul sama, yang pada gilirannnya diilhami oleh sebuah film lama berjudul ”the 300 Spartans”. Untuk diingat; novel grafis adalah bahasa keren dunia marketing untuk ”komik”, dengan fokus perbedaan adalah pada isinya yang cenderung menembak segmentasi pembaca dewasa, dan isi maupun cara bercerita yang relatif lebih berat.
Penggarapan film ini sangat baik; dengan alur ketegangan yang lumayan terjaga hingga klimaks (kecuali pada 1-2 titik lemah yang seharusnya tidak perlu ada). Perwujudannya menjadi bentuk komik pun sangat menawan secara visual, sedemikian sehingga demikian banyaknya ceceran darah maupun gelindingan kepala yang terpenggal tidaklah menjadikannya sebagai suatu kesadisan, melainkan sebuah torehan cat di atas kanvas yang berani, dramatis, dan menantang.
Satu-satunya kelemahan fatal nya adalah plot. Dan, oh – bila boleh menambahkan, akurasi sejarah maupun alur logika yang digunakan. Mmm, tambahan lagi; cara pandangnya yang sangat ekstrim, antara kebaikan versus kejahatan. Lengkap dengan standar ganda yang digunakan (”..Bila musuh yang berbuat, mereka kejam. Bila jagoan yang melakukan, itu tindakan yang perlu..”).
Agak mengejutkan, banyak teman yang setelah menonton film ini ternyata seolah bagai terbius dengannya. Membenarkan semua yang disodorkan dalam nampan film yang gegap gempita. Bagai terlena bujuk rayu dalam pusaran komersialiasasi Hollywood. Nggak salah juga sih, karena banyak sekali rekan yang bernasib serupa. Tapi mengapa?
Asal jangan pernah lupa; ini BUKAN film sejarah (dipelintir abis2an tuh, gedek banget liatnya!), dan ceritanya terlalu menyederhanakan masalah (hitam-putih bangets; jagoan ganteng, istri cantik, anak buah setia, ada pengkhianat.. Sementara si jahat bertampang Androgyni (baca: hombreng bangets!), sepertinya agak nggak beres otaknya, megalomaniak sejati, hobi pelihara cewek seksi DAN aneka binatang aneh.. Ach, too damn cliché!, belum lagi banyak hal-hal lain yang tidak masuk akal.
Have you seen any of the 300 Spartans bring adequate food with them? Or even water? Yes? No? Have you seen whether there were any refrigerators they bring along, an oh, some kind of electricity? Then how could King Loenidas still could eat a FRESH apple after days of harsh & fierce battle on such a no man's land like that? (with no reachable tress on sight) Have you seen how big spartan's swords & shields were, and not wondering how could they still be able to fight all day long without showing exhaustment and losing any men since day one and worse; could virtually kill all their enemies with just one move, one slice, one thrust? Weird.. Oh no, not weird - it was typicaly Hollywood! Hhehehe..
Filmnya sadis, alright. Jujur; adrenalin sangat gue terpacu sepanjang film (sampe lupa sama yang duduk di sebelah, maaf yaa..:p), dan cukup jarang film yang bisa menghasilkan efek demikian untuk gue.
Dan ya, sungguh gila para orang tua ndablek itu yang dengan teganya mengajak anak-anak balitanya ke dalam gedung bioskop untuk menonton film ini bersama mereka. Masih lumayan bila yang diajak adalah anak usia SD (6-12 tahun) yang sudah relatif bisa diajak diskusi. Tapi saat itu banyak sekali anak-anak yang berusia di bawah itu. Sungguh sebuah catatan buruk bagi jaringan bioskop 21 Cineplex yang ternyata tidak memiliki tanggung jawab sosial maupun disiplin dalam menegakkan pembatasan umur oleh BSF (= Badan Sensor Film Indonesia).
Yang sangat menarik dari film ini, seluruh adegan direka ulang dengan gaya komik (clearly computerizely generated); hingga gambaran ceceran atau tumpahan darah bisa terlihat sangat-sangat artistik, indah, dan mempesona. Alhasil kesan seram dan sadis pun sebenarnya sedikit terkikis. Tapi jangan lupa; kategori ”17 tahun ke atas” bukan hanya masalah darah, tapi juga masalah pembunuhan, pengkhiatan, senggama antara suami-istri, pelecehan seksual, penyuapan, kebohongan, kekerasan, kesadisan, dan sebagainya. Intinya segala hal nyata yang ada di dunia orang dewasa, yang dikuatirkan belum dapat dicerna dengan semestinya oleh anak-anak di bawah umur.
And that was the most memorable line, uhh..spot of the movie. Tapi ada juga keanehannya. Karena computerizely-generated, kadang ceceran darah itu justru jadi terlihat menggelikan! Maksudnya, jelas beda dong perbedaan antara hasil sabetan pedang/ tusukan tombak yang bisa memuncratkan darah, dan mana yang tidak, kan? Lha ini kok, semua darah yang tertumpah itu mesti keluar dalam bentuk semburan. Atau jangan2 para artisnya memang tidak pernah melihat bagaimana cara nya darah menyembur? Kaya nya siyy..hehehe
Formasi perang ”Phalanx” yang digunakan Leonidas sangat indah, but totally useless!!! Formasi legendaris dan dalam sejarah memang sangat dikuasai bangsa Sparta itu hanya efektif untuk menghadapi pasukan infanteri (serdadu jalan kaki) tapi akan menjadi gagal total untuk menghadapi kavaleri (pasukan berkuda), apalagi pasukan Xerxes lainnya misal pasukan gajah etc. Yang membuat konsep film ini jelas-jelas tidak mengerti teknik/metode pertempuran (padahal mereka sudah menggunakan penasihat dan ahli sejarah militer – aneh sekali). Dan setahu gue, mereka memang tidak membuat survey maupun analisis sejarah terlebih dahulu, etc.
Lihat bagaimana cara para penduduk Sparta berpakaian; jauh lebih mirip sebagai komunitas nudis malah, daripada masyarakat prasejarah yang digembar-gemborkan sebagai perintis dan kampiun demokrasi. D'ohhh. Belum macam persenjataannya yg benar-benar nggak matching dg fakta sejarah, atau minimal teknologi penempaan baja yang telah ada saat itu.
Atau bagaimana dengan badak putih yang aneh banget itu? Masa iya hanya dengan sekali lempar tombak ”panser” di dunia binatang tersebut langsung mati? Dan si pelempar tombak malah berdiri tenang, nggak mau minggir hingga detik terakhir. Hueekkkssss...!!:p Hollywood banget seehhhhhhhhhhh......
Ohya, memorable lines yang banyak dikutip teman-teman itu memang menarik sih. Mari kita kutip ulang di sini:
”..Tonite, we dine in hell..!!”
(yeahhh, don’t you wanna be in heaven?)
Kenapa wanita bisa bicara bebas di depan pria?
"..Because only Spartan women gave birth to the real men..”
Tapi banyak yang tidak tahu bahwa kalimat sang ratu tentang kebebasan bicara wanita saat itu ternyata cuma sok-sok’an feminis dari produser film nya! Jangan lupa, zaman itu, jangankan bicara di depan delegasi musuh; bahkan kaum wanita Sparta dilarang mengikuti olimpiade (which was originated in Greece, the land of the Spartan themselves). Nggak mungkin banget lah yauw, mereka lantas boleh ngecap di depan laki-laki. Duta besar negara lain, pula!
Ohya, my fave line was (sarcasm warning): saat King Leonidas mengajarkan kepada anaknya tentang arti pride & honour. Tapi tidak sampai 10 menit kemudian, bahkan di depan putra nya itu, dengan bengisnya dia membunuh duta besar Persia serta para pengawalnya. Itupun dengan cara melempar mereka hidup-hidup ke dalam lubang maha dalam.
Damn Hollywood.. Apa nya yang "pride" and "honour"? Coba ganti wajah King Leonidas dengan wajah .........; dan nama Persia dengan Irak (atau Iran, atau Afghanistan). Dan gunakan terminologi yang persis sama, maupun standar ganda yang sama; could you find any differences between? I stongly guess not. Bwhahaah...
Anyway, this movie is highly recommended to spare your leisure time, but be reminded - DO NOT bring your poor gray cells along with you.. heheheh... Just leave it at home, it won’t be needed anyway *big grin.
Jakarta, Pondok Indah Mall II
Senin, 19 Mar 2007 – 21.00 wib
 | Category: | Movies | | Genre: | Romantic Comedy |
...A clean break is easier.
You can reset it, and it heals, and you move on,
but if you leave things messy,
and things don't get put right,
then it just hurts, forever..
I watched this 2004 movie on HBO (Astro TV) last nite, from 12.00 to 01.15 AM. Didn’t mean to watch it, and at first I just curios to see what kind of movie Ron Livingston (Capt. Nixon, Band of Brothers, 2003) played in. Didn’t mean to thoroughly see it, since I have to get up early to go to work tomorrow, for my office’s business hours begun from 07 am. But here I was, watching it. Sleepy and feel a little bit dizzy.
..Life happens when you're busy making other plans..
The movie was set in Boston, MA, US. Tells the story of a twenty something girl (Brittany Murphy) or early 30’s which apparently got struck by her quarter life crisis; trying to find a job, and then to fit in hectic days of work and a whole new world. Struggling in a relationship which she believed was walked through with her soulmate (Livingstone); though he has an apparent phobia of commitment, never want to invite any girls at home, and refuses to talk about his past relationships. Kinda weirdo, no?
Perhaps he just don’t like to talk about it, probably he afraid that any blast from the past could simply compromise the girl’s fragile feelings of insecurity, or would there might be something not being shared between each others?
..If we were to share our lives together, why didn't we share our lives together?
I know you don't have to tell me everything, but why wouldn't you want too?
Unless there is someone else you are waiting for..
Almost the whole reels were dedicated to Brittany's painful, hardworking, yet pathetic effort to dig in deeper into her significant other's past love and life. Tried to find out whether he hide something from her, she totally transform herself into someone horrible enough to go undercover and personally investigate 3 (three) girls who previously had a romantic relationship with her boyfriend. Whether there's something big and ugly secretly covered in that cartoon box labeled as "personal", or inside his little black book (PDA).
Thus it made the movie plot quite plain and sometimes boring and seems like wouldn’t be ended at all. But they got a cute dog performed as the couple’s pet (ohhh, I long to have my own dog myself again..). And most notably was its final scene: when every sins were confessed and every poisonous arrows were fired. Everyone knows its own place between anothers, maintaining and disciplining its own space, and learned the hard way the naked truth of the popular things called as reality shows.
What shocking me the most was, unlike most romantic comedies, the film ends without the heroine succeeding in her love life. C’est la vie. Love her self contemplation at the end of the movie; many of them as applicable to our simple life as well. As a matter of fact (and quite surprised me) I used them my self, to the disbelief of another. And my most favourite were these following lines:
…Perhaps luck exists somewhere between the world of planning, the world of chance,
and the peace that comes from knowing that you just cant know it all…
You know, life's funny that way. Once you let go of the wheel,
you might end up right where you belong.
Jakarta 14130 Cilincing
Thursday, Mar 29, 2007
PS:
* quotes were taken from the movie
Updated on Apr 08, 2007:
finally I got its DVD! Yeahh.. *grin
Updated on Jul 04, 2008:
Nggak nyangka, ternyata review ini udah gue buat lebih dari 1 tahun yang lalu, Wheww! Time does fly! Anyway, ini review menarik bikinan my princess about the same movie, hope you like it the way I do.. *smiling* Read: Little Black Book
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