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.
Pada akhir tahun 2013 terbit dua game indie yang menarik. Dalam hal apa? Bukan gameplay, bukan art, melainkan ceritanya. Di sini Anda sudah bisa menebak judul kedua game itu: The Novelistdan Gone Home. Saya membeli dua-duanya ketika sale, berbulan-bulan sesudah tanggal rilisnya. Bahkan, demi The Novelist saya membuat akun STEAM (dan terjerumus membeli game-game lain).
The Novelist adalah sebuah game yang sekilas mirip dengan Gone Home: kita menjelajahi sebuah rumah untuk mengetahui masalah yang dialami sebuah keluarga. Tapi sesungguhnya kedua game ini mempunyai perbedaan signifikan. Dalam Gone Home, kita berperan sebagai anggota keluarga yang sedang mengeksplorasi rumah. Dalam The Novelist, kita berperan sebagai hantu yang mengawasi keluarga yang tinggal di rumah yang ditungguinya.
[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.
Recently I spent a day to just play table-top games with my friends. Most of the games were new for us, only one of them had always been our favorite. We played Steam Park twice, Heroclix once, Assassin's Creed: Arena twice, and COMBO once. I owe some friends to review Steam Park and Assassin's Creed: Arena. So, I'll just make short reviews here.
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.
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 received this book yesterday, free from my office (just a dummy of it, but it's FREE, hahaha). We're running a review competition for this book (see it here). I have read this fantasy novel last night, only two and a half chapters. It's quite interesting, but not fascinating enough for me. I really prefer City of Bones, hahaha, not only because the latter is my project, but also because I love fast-flow stories. Hush, Hush is not slow, but I need something faster.
This is a cool book about marketing with meaning. It's definitely not my field of interest, but I enjoyed translating it. Yesterday during a meeting in my office, I applied what I've learned from this book to promote City of Bones (read my previous post). I'm glad that my boss appreciated my ideas, and we are actually running them.
That's why I love my job. It obliged me (forced me, sometimes) to read various stuffs that I wouldn't have glanced. However, I strongly believe that I have to learn something from anything I do, and that's what I did with this book. That's why, despite of many difficulties I'm facing due to my current project, I'm still trying to learn something from it.
I've finished translating this book a few months ago, and it will be published next month. I'm so proud of this project, since I tackled the whole 485 pages down in only 5 weeks.
Yesterday, we've discussed the pre-promotion and post-promotion strategies. I gave them many new tactics, having learned it from The Next Evolution of Marketing (read my subsequent post). Hopefully, this book will be the next big hit.
Yesterday, I’ve finally finished reading The Host by Stephenie Meyer. Well, if you don’t know her, don’t tell me that you don’t know the Twilight Saga. It’s an incredibly popular saga that fascinates readers from around the globe, especially the teenage girls (especially in USA).
I haven’t read the saga since it’s a saga. There are four volumes, and each of them are THICK. No doubt they are expensives and take much time. And it’s a saga so that you can’t just read one of them—you have to read ALL of them. So even though I really love Buffy the Vampire Slayer (it was a very popular TV show in the USA—makes me wonder if they really adore vampires that much), I’m not eager to read the saga. There are too many factors to be considered.
Then I saw this new title—The Host. The synopsys in the back cover tickled me.
Melanie Stryder refused to fade away.
Our world has been invaded by an unseen enemy that takes over the minds of human hosts. Most of humanity has succumbed. When Melanie—one of the last remaining humans—is captured, she is certain it is her end.
An alien invasion? That is cool. Takes over the minds of human hosts? That is awesome. It reminded me of my favourite serial when I was young—Animorphs by K.A. Applegate. It’s about five teenagers fighting against a similar alien invasion. It’s full of action and the characters are so lively. I was hoping to taste it again in The Host. That’s why I decided to dig in my purse and bought it.
As I told you, I haven’t read the Twilight Saga at all. I didn’t know that Meyer is very melancholic. She explores her characters’ emotions deeply. It’s good. Really. But in the end, that’s what it’s all about. No hunting. No shooting. No fighting. NO ACTION. The aliens are souls and they are mild. They’re even afraid of any kind of violence. They are honest and kindhearted.
In the middle of reading, I felt like Man, it’s boring. No hearbeating. No adrenaline rushing. The story flowed so slowly. The characters moved only in very small scope. When will you guys save this world? When will you send those aliens back to their home? There was no clue. I was heartbroken. I stopped reading it for a few days, but then I continued reading it. I’ve bought it after all.
As I read it, I realized that Meyer’s strenght is not action. It’s the way she told us about universal values of life. The story is not black and white. Meyer guided us to see from the eyes of both humans and aliens. She also showed us that among them there are friendship, trust, approval, even love.
Yes, love. That’s why the Twilight Saga drives people crazy, isn’t it? The Host will not disappoint you if this is what you’re looking for. There were complicated loves—beyond your expectations. This love grew unexpectedly, craved upon your heart, and there is no way you can explain it. But if you’re looking for some actions, forget it.
My conclusion is, it’s not that bad. I’m looking forward to reading the sequel—if there will be any. But I hope there will be more action in it. Cheers =)
Sejak beberapa bulan yang lalu, saya membaca manga Pluto karya Naoki Urasawa. Manga ini merupakan remake dari Tetsuwan Atom: The Greatest Robot on Earth karya Tezuka Osamu. Tentu saja hal pertama yang menarik perhatian saya adalah kedua nama besar tersebut. Tapi ada hal menarik lainnya yang saya temukan di dalam manga ini—ironi berbalut imajinasi.
Sinopsis
Pluto adalah manga psikologis fiksi-ilmiah. Ceritanya cukup berat dan keras dengan sasaran pembaca dewasa (remaja akhir juga bisa). Latarnya adalah masa depan ketika teknologi robot sangat canggih sehingga ada robot yang menyerupai manusia. Tokoh utamanya adalah seorang detektif robot buatan Jerman bernama Gesicht yang bekerja untuk Europol. Cerita dimulai dengan terjadinya serangkaian pembunuhan misterius. Orang-orang yang terbunuh ternyata berkaitan dengan Tim Investigasi Bora yang dikirim ke Persia beberapa tahun sebelumnya.
