Violent content: lots of fights (mild visualization)
Sexual
content: none
Star Wars is another old
franchise with a long-awaited new movie released this year. In short, I
think The Force Awakens (TFA) wouldn't disappoint the fandom,
but it's not impressive either.
Before I proceed, I must
tell you that I'm not a big fan of Star Wars (I like it, but I don't even
remember much about the previous movies) and I'm not a Trekkie (I'm a
Potterhead). If Rey didn't seem to be the next Jedi, I wouldn't have seen TFA
this early.
You can call this post my comments of TFA instead of my review. It's just that
random.
MODERATE SPOILERS
AHEAD
So here's pretty much
the conflict of TFA: Everyone needed to find Luke Skywalker--the legendary
Jedi. The First Order wanted to rule the universe and used Starkiller (a much
bigger Death Star) to destroy resisting planets. The Resistance fought their
way to sabotage Starkiller. This is Star Wars, so family drama is strong in
this movie.
Violent content: dinosaurs fight each other, humans eaten by dinosaurs (mild visualization)
Sexual content: two short kisses
Jurassic World is the movie that I looked forward to this summer (even more than Terminator: Genisys). I saw Jurassic Park as a child and really enjoyed it (not too happy with JP 2 and JP 3, though). I even read the comic adaptation and played the video game (on SEGA console) for at least four times. Like for many of you, Jurassic Park is a part of my childhood.
I thought the Jurassic franchise was dead. I'm happy I was wrong. And I'm pleased that the development team decided not to rush the development of Jurassic World (or Jurassic Park IV, as the project was earlier called). And it's cool that it is a sequel, not a reboot of the franchise, since I don't think anyone can do a better Jurassic Park.
If you want to take your children to see Jurassic World, I can tell you that it is less violent than Jurassic Park in terms of fighting, eating, and blood (there is a talk about war, which is inappropriate for children, but I don't think little kids will understand or even care). However, if your kids are easily scared, you should consider showing this movie later when they're older.
Jurassic World is a living theme park in Isla Nubar. It's been opened for years to the point that people get used to seeing dinosaurs. The park's income slows down and the board of directors decided they need something bigger, louder, cooler, and has more teeth. Thus they invent a hybrid dinosaur: Indominus Rex. The movie follows two brothers venturing the park when Indominus Rex runs amock in the island and some people, including their aunt who happens to be the park manager, trying to save the day.
[if you know nothing about Hunger Games series, you'll find this review unhelpful]
I went to see Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part I today. I'd waited for the press screening, but somehow there was none.
The second movie of Hunger Games series was one of my favorite movies on 2013. So this is very unfortunate that Mockingjay Part 1 doesn't win my heart. It doesn't mean the movie is bad. The filmmakers have captured the essence of first half of the book well, but perhaps I expected too much. You can't blame me; they made great campaigns!
This is the third live-action movie for Rurouni Kenshin, and it is supposed to be the last. I'd heard some complains about how cheesy this movie is. That was half the reason why I didn't look forward to it as much as Kyoto Inferno. I can hardly remember a thing from the manga or anime. Even I can't recall the ultimate fight between Kenshin and Shishio very well, but Shishio's fire and his girlfriend's act of love. So I just hoped the movie would entertain me and Kenshin would win in a satisfying way.
I went to see Roaring Currents last night. It's a great movie about a legendary naval battle (South Korea vs Japan, 1597, find out more) with the Korean fleet led by Admiral Yi Sun Sin (Choi Min Sik). Somewhere in the middle of the movie I fell asleep (too much drama about whining soldiers), but the naval battle was so captivating. Admiral Yi is a beast, yet the movie pictures him very humanly. My favorite part is how the movie theme, "loyalty", gets wrapped up nicely in the end.
Admiral Yi was a leader prone to disobey order. Although he always did it to protect Joseon Kingdom, the chancellor was angered and sent him for torture. Soon the raging war required everyone to stand up for Joseon and Yi was once again an admiral. And once again, instead of following the chancellor's order, Yi led his fleet to do what he thought as imminent: to protect Myeongnyang Strait. He calculated, and later his spy confirmed, that a large Japan fleet was coming. "To give up on sea is to give up on land," said Yi (more or less). Being outnumbered by far, Yi's soldiers were full of doubt. Fear spread like virus while the enemy was approaching fast.
I went to see Kyoto Inferno last night, after half a year waiting in excitement. I wish Indonesia got earlier release, because August was so boring.
The plot is full-packed, as if they cram stories from at least 8-volumes manga into it. I don't mind. I love the humor. I enjoy the fights. I leave my cynical mind at home, wanting to see my childhood "friends" on screen without unnecessary disappointment. Unfortunately, those who know very little of Samurai X may find it difficult to follow so many characters and actions.
Keywords: action, killing mission, secret team, age gap
Audience: PG-13
Violent content: lots of shots and explosions and some blood (mild visualization)
Sexual content: almost none
I suddenly went to the cinema today. I wished to see Guardians of the Galaxy but it was Sunday, so tickets for the trending movies had gone. Expecting some fun, I watched The Expendables 3 instead.
In short, it's actually expendable--something you can skip easily. Sometimes it's funny. Sometimes it's boring. Nothing is extraordinary. I love the cast, and they did act well, so this is a pity that I can't say the movie is great.
Keywords: fantasy, viking, dragon, rider Audience: everyone Violent content: humans and dragons fighting each others (very mild visualization)
Sexual content: two kisses, if I didn't lose my count
I love the fact that this is a family movie. Although Hiccup and his friends have grown up and--as expected--crushes and kisses are obvious, they are just side dish served as humor material.
The plot is first about Hiccup's finding his true calling, second about how dragons and humans should co-exist. You may think that's also the case with the first installment, but trust me the sequel will touch you in a different way.
Make sure you watch it in 3D for a satisfying ride. (I watched it in 2D and now am longing to see it again... in 3D.)
Keywords: action, sci-fi, super power, time travel
Audience: 13+ (under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian)
Violent content: some blood and severed limbs (mild visualization)
Sexual content: almost nudity (not only Mystique)
Warning: you may think this review contains mild spoilers (although I don't think it does)
I'm not a big fan of X-Men, but I like it enough that I'd been looking forward to Days of Future Past (DOFP). And I heard that it would be Jackman's last time playing Logan/Wolverine.
I rarely watch movie trailers (I hate them, in fact), so my expectation was build up upon my own assumption from random stuff I found on internet about DOFP. I thought that somehow the older team and the younger (past) team would meet and work together against a massive danger. It turned out that only one character does the time travel (doesn't need an expert to guess who, this poster is obvious).
Keywords: family, baby, mistake, construction, driving
Audience: 13+ (for some language and a subtle recollection about sex)
Warning: this review contains mild spoilers.
Yesterday I saw Locke on Blitz--it had to be Blitz because 21 didn't screen it. It's a movie I'd been looking forward to since watching its trailer before Wind Rises. I'd known it would be a 90-minute with Tom Hardy and he would be the only person seen on screen. I'd known he would have phone calls that would drive the story.
Well, I just hadn't imagined that those would be all I'd get in the movie. I'd expected a few dangerous maneuvers, even one simple danger, when he was driving. But there was none.
However, it's a good movie with a story-telling different from others. You might want to see it while it is still available on Blitz.
flicksandbits.com
So, Tom Hardy was Ivan Locke, a construction director at the peak of his career. When he started driving, he was nine hours away from a giant project: more than 200 trucks would come to the building site to pump concrete material for the building's foundation. His coworkers relied on him because his works had never been anything but perfect. Yet something called him to go, something more important than the biggest project of his career life.
"It's a family matter," said Locke to one of his coworker by phone.
It's not death. In fact, it's about life. He's going to have a baby and he had to see it. He decided to make sure that the baby know him and he was adamant to be responsible of the baby. The mother of the baby was not his wife.
Why did the woman go through with her unplanned pregnancy? She was a lonely woman, too old to hope for a baby. She thought it was her last chance for happiness.
Why was Locke risk everything to be there for his baby? He could come after his project was completed.
While the woman was a believable character, Locke was very deep. The foundation of his character was very solid. His decision rooted from his past experience in life. And the way he run things, both everyday and all the way in the journey to set things right, was the only way expected from such a person.
His family, his job, his soon-coming baby. Ivan was trying to make everything right, because something had been not right in his past.
His lovable sons, his bad-mouth but trusty coworkers, his way of talking (and cursing). Those are what will keep you engaged to this movie.
The pressure, the suspense, the tears...
All and all, Locke tells you a story about family and responsibility. It's about putting your best effort to redeem your mistake, however dire the consequence is.
Kata kunci: distopia, aksi,
pemberontakan, kereta api Penonton: 10+ (10-16 tahun
sebaiknya menonton dengan pengawasan orangtua) Konten kekerasan: banyak darah dan
perkelahian bersenjata walaupun tidak sadis Konten seksual: hampir tidak ada
Jangan tonton trailer Snowpiercer apabila Anda hendak menonton filmnya. Adegan-adegan kejutan akan menjadi tidak mengejutkan gara-gara menonton trailer ini. (Yes, I hate trailers.)
Snowpiercer
(diangkat dari novel grafis berjudul Le
Transperceneige) berkisah tentang dunia kita beberapa puluh tahun ke
depan. Konon pada tahun 2014 para pemimpin dunia memutuskan untuk melepaskan
sebuah zat untuk memperbaiki atmosfer demi meredakan pemanasan global. Apa yang
malah terjadi? Seluruh dunia menjadi lebih dingin daripada kutub selatan! “Kebetulan”
seorang juragan kereta api (Mr. Wilford) sudah membuat kereta api swadaya sehingga
bisa mengangkut seribuan manusia. Selama belasan tahun mereka hidup di kereta
api buatan Wilford Corp yang melaju tanpa pernah berhenti agar manusia-manusia tidak mati beku akibat cuaca ekstrem di luar.
Keywords: action, fantasy, Japan, Samurai, revenge
Audience: 13+ (under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian)
Violent content: much blood and severed limbs (mild visualization)
Sexual content: kissing scene, rape attempt scene (mild visualization)
This movie review is basically written upon a paradox: I'm writing a review about why I didn't want to write a review of this movie.
I saw the movie wall promotion on Blitz before watching The Hobbit last week. The promotional poster was captivating, especially the female villain. And then I was lucky enough to watch 47 Ronin last night (thanks to Duniaku.net).
sumber foto: screencrush.com
The 119 minutes watching the movie didn't leave me with the feeling of wanting to write a review about it. Unlike Snowpiercer, an impressive movie that I still want to tell people about, 47 Ronin was something that I don't know what to discuss about.
Oh, it's not a bad movie. It served us with great visual exploitation and neat storyline (not without plot holes). The problem is everything was black and white. The protagonists were good people: a noble group of Samurai and the only mistake they had made was looking down at the main character (Kai the half-breed, played by Keanu Reeves). The antagonists were bad people who lusted after power and hegemony. No one was in-between. No one.
(If you do want to watch the movie, don't check the trailer. It contains spoilers. I checked the trailer the day after I watched the movie and I was so relieved that I hadn't seen it.)
And the visualization of most things in the movie supported the black and white tendency. Behold, this is where the good people lived: bright buildings, square, forest, and hills! Now take a look at where the bad people lived: a dark castle looming over a tight square surrounded by mighty walls!
I can rant more about the cheesy love story and the odd ways the Japanese people interact in the movie. But Keanu Reeves is a good guy; I can't do that to him (or I'm just too lazy to write more). However, I couldn't say 47 Ronin is not entertaining. It's fun, especially for those haven't much exposed to Samurai spirit. For those looking for something deep, you'd rather watch The Last Samurai again.
Kata kunci: dongeng, putri raja,
salju, keluarga
Penonton: semua umur (anak di bawah 13 tahun perlu pengawasan orangtua)
Konten kekerasan: perkelahian dengan senjata tapi tanpa darah
Konten seksual: satu adegan ciuman sebentar
Frozen adalah film animasi Walt Disney Pictures terbaru yang diadaptasi secara bebas dari novel Snow Queen karya Hans Christian Andersen. Alkisah Kerajaan Arendelle terjerat salju pada musim panas akibat terwujudnya sebuah ramalan. Demi rakyatnya yang kedinginan, Putri Anne pergi ke gunung untuk menemui Ratu Salju yang diharapkannya bisa menghilangkan salju yang tidak pada masanya ini. Dalam perjalanan, Anne bertemu dan dibantu oleh Kristoff, seorang penjual balok es yang terancam kehilangan sumber nafkahnya apabila salju tidak mencair. Bencana ini menyingkap rahasia yang sudah lama disimpan oleh keluarga kerajaan dan hanya diketahui oleh Sang Ratu Salju.
My sister is going crazy about Matt Damon. I exploit her admiring this actor to force her to study English, promising that I'd buy one movie for every 5 chapters of TOEFL preparation book she finishes. She has finished 37 chapters so far. The last two I watched with her were The Bourne Supremacy and The Rainmaker.
I like the fighting and tracking scenes in The Bourne series, especially in this one. But of course, I still love Jackie Chan's.
As a law school fresh-graduate, Matt Damon looked so young here. The movie is old-stylish, and has an adequate climax with an expected ending.
I watched it last Tuesday with two future pharmacists, Wulan and Irma. We liked it, especially because Logan Lerman (Percy Jackson) was very cute, but sadly too young for me (LOL). The first scene wasn't smooth, but the others were sufficient.
Despite my friend's criticisms toward this movie, I think it was fine. Everything was logic and it wasn't meant to aggrandize the American culture/society. The pearls were scattered in the states, but it didn't mean all pearls were in the states. The gate to Olympus could be available in some places, not only the one in the Empire State. The casts dominated by white men, yes, because there was no colored man in the ancient Greek mythology.
However, the movie was entertaining and gave me an adequate insight on Percy Jackson that I'm not interested to read the novel.
I watched this one with my room-neighbor, Ranchan, and her roommate, Anis. I enjoyed the movie, especially because there was no ghost or evil-spirit at all! Hahahaha, I hate watching horror movies in my lodging house, it's already scary staying there at night, you know.
This cute little boy is Jimmy Bennet, staring as Conor in Poseidon. He looks like young Macaulay Culkin a bit, doesn't he?
And then we tried to watch V for Vendetta, but we found out that we didn't like it. The movie was too comical, and the masked man (Vendetta?) was too talkative and boring. I really prefer The Mask by Jim Carey.
I watched it a couple of nights ago with my sister at home. I told her it was Leonardo, but she hardly believed. Unfortunately, I only watched the last half an hour. I supposed it's a great movie about violence related to diamond's trade in Sierra Leone.
The Quick and The Dead followed Blood Diamond that night. This time, I only watched the first half an hour. Nice. Leonardo di Caprio was damn cute, acting as a young yet fast gunman called Kid. How old was he? 21? Aaaaaw. Hahhahahahaa.
Yesterday my sister forced me to take her watching Greenzone. She's been crazy about Matt Damon lately. It was weekend, how expensive -___- but finally I brought her to Pejaten Village, much cheaper than Cilandak Town Square on weekend.
The movie was good, though not great. Matt Damon was cute and cool as always. I like the storyline, however, especially the idea that D.C. might hidden the truth that an Iraqi officer has told them that there was no WMD (weapon of mass destruction). Some people said that this movie is anti-American, and I think it's just one of self-critics for the states. Why did they invade Iraq if there was no such WMD? Why did they impose democracy to another country, seeming a paradox to the essence of the democracy itself?
My friend recommended Hurt Locker, another movie about the US invasion in Iraq. I'm not eager to it since I think Greenzone is enough for a while.
I watched this movie a few days ago. I wasn't really eager to see it, but it turned out to be a nice movie. Taylor Lautner and Taylor Swift were the only ones I was looking forward to, but their part wasn't interesting at all. Lautner looked hot, but Swift looked really stupid there.
I really like the idea that finally Reed (Ashton Kutcher, he's cute as ever!) fell for his bestfriend Julia. That's sweet :)
Okay, speaking about celebrity crushes, I can't skip them. I loved them so much during my teenage. Even my baby brother's name Nicko refers to Nick Carter, hahahaha. But their careers are not doing great lately. It's okay. There are other cute guys out there ;D
Dave Moffatt
I should have wondered why he never dated any girl! Last year I found out that he's a gay.
Bertrand Antolin
When I was in the sixth grade, I always watched Clear Top 10, mostly because he was the host (with Dewi Sandra). Well, I've just heard the rumour about his marriage with Indra L. Bruggman. Okay, he's another gay.
Tom Welling
I love him in Smallville! The cutest Clark Kent ever. And I'm glad he's married.
