Kerenblog

�Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri� is the kind of award film that I think people would actually enjoy and like. This film has just won a Golden Globe for Best Drama, which I kind of disagree�not because of its win (it totally deserves to win!), but because it�s actually very comedic and funny instead of being much of a �drama� film. But it�s not just all fun and laugh, �though; it has a very specific premise that interestingly develops into a much broader dilemma of moral and self-value. read more �

Have you ever seen a film that you felt like most of the things in the film was a totally been-there-done-that experience of your life? �Lady Bird� is that kind of film. Another coming-of-age indie film that achieves to be a shoo-in for this year�s award season, �Lady Bird� brings a very familiar sensation of growing up as a teenager, specifically as a high-school student applying for college, experiencing first love, and (especially) having a hard time with your mother. read more �

No deer was harmed in the making of this film. In fact, �The Killing of a Sacred Deer� does not involve deers at all. The title is metaphoric: the �sacred deer� resembles the tragedy Iphigenia from the Greek mythology�Iphigenia was sacrificed for the sins of her father. Hey, don�t worry! That is not a spoiler. Just from the film posters you can all tell that �The Killing of a Sacred Deer� is nothing about deer or animals or anything like director Yorgos Lanthimos � previous film, �The Lobster� . It is more about how someone has to sacrifice his beloved ones because of his sins. A rather familiar theme, isn�t it?�except if you already knew Yorgos Lanthimos� works, you know things are not going any familiar. read more �

Never blame whoever who thinks that NASA's recent publication about water on Mars is part of promotional gimmicks for The Martian, newest sci-fi flick from Ridley Scott. In fact, this publication was based on scientific evidence and, the most important thing, The Martian has been released worldwide many days before. But, with the hype of Blood Moon phenomenon on the Web recently, The Martian defines the perfect time for us, sci-fi lovers or not, to head our face up to the sky for a moment and think if someday in the future it's possible for us to live our life out there. read more �

My deepest condolence is for those who lost their loved ones in the tragic crash of Indonesia�s AirAsia flight QZ8501. When the missing of Indonesia�s AirAsia flight QZ8501, flying from Indonesia�s Surabaya to Singapore Sunday (12/28/2014), became news, I was at the airport waiting for my flight (I was about to go back to my work town after a short holiday of Christmas). I wasn�t watching TV at the time (there are TVs on the airport obviously but they were out of my sight), but Twitter got me informed about the news. However, tweets with hashtag #matikanTVlokal (#turnofflocalTV) flooded my timeline, complaining about how some news channels so insensitively interviewed the relatives of the flight passengers. It was obvious that the relatives were mourning and worried about the missing airplane but these news reporters kept asking them about how they felt about the incident over and over again. Perhaps the reporters thought that this kind of �drama� could skyrocket their rating, but it�...

I am a 22-year-old male, single. You know what is in most of my chats with friends? Marriage. Wedding. Proposal, at least. Engagement. All those things. Here comes the ages all my friends are so concerned about those things more than anything else. But how lovely is it really to get married? �Gone Girl� gives you a new perspective on marriage, about how it actually is a crossing of not only the good but also the bad of two people, and how it may turn into a nightmare when you can�t end it even though you know it doesn�t work anymore. �Gone Girl� scars the viewers with a pill about marriage, so bitter it haunts. read more �

Twelve years in the making, Richard Linklater wrapped a life of a kid named Mason from age 5 to 18, all in just 165 minutes. The result is BOYHOOD, a coming-of-age so real it moves with time, becoming an experience viewers have never felt before. And as the movie goes, the characters grow up (literally). Things happen, conflicts lit, emotions involved, loves arisen. Sure, lessons are learnt, and wisdom, courage, and perspectives are created. BOYHOOD is, in two words, life itself. read more �

LOCKE is the (last) name of the only character appears on this film, Ivan Locke, which is portrayed so genuinely by the only actor appears on screen, Tom Hardy. The other actors' performances are voice-only, because the entire story of LOCKE takes place on a car: Ivan is driving while making/receiving tens of phone calls to and from them. Many filmmakers are dealing with some big-budgeted film projects that involve some bunches of actors in some spectacular shooting locations, but here Steven Knight is writing and directing a small film with BIG performance that dictates genuineness in its truest definition. read more �

First question: why �Dawn�? I think they choose �dawn� not because it is a more poetic noun than �start� or �beginning� or any other nouns with similar meaning. �Dawn� implies timing rather than activity; something that is perfect to match �rise�. The planet of the intelligent apes has already risen (remember how the intelligent apes claimed their freedom in a spectacular and climactic RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES ), and DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES implies they begin to do a big thing�either in this movie or the next one. read more �

Even IMDb doesn�t quite understand what ILO ILO means. The winner of Camera d�Or of Cannes Film Festival 2013 , ILO ILO is a Singaporean drama by debut director Anthony Chen that centers on a family living under the '90s economic crisis that hit most Asian countries. But, more than that, ILO ILO also talks about immigrant worker and how she�s involved in the dilemma of child-parent relationship. Its honesty in reenacting the situation is the key power that successfully brings ILO ILO to major critics acclaim all over the world. read more �

You can say that last night was my second visit to THE RAID 2: BERANDAL (my first visit was on March 28 when it first released in Indonesia�until a sudden chat message broke my mood into pieces and got me walked out of the cinema before the film ended ). Note: this is the first film I see in Bandar Lampung! (please say, "YEAAH!!", just to make me feel better). read more �

This post is written as a part of the series of "the films of... Joel Coen and Ethan Coen" Perhaps �Barton Fink� is one of the rarest film to win all three most prestigious categories in Cannes: Best Actor (for John Turturro), Best Director (for Joel Coen), and Palme d�Or, because recently Cannes prohibits film to win more than one award at one time. But it does not matter; you can just say that �Barton Fink� delivers criticism about the struggling life of Hollywood viewed from the religious metaphor of heaven and hell or good and evil. From here you can just say that �Barton Fink� describes how free ideas meet the urge of business matter, and how Hollywood hides the pain and bitter pills that finally build up its glamour under the name of creativity. read more �

It�s still October, dammit! But with the record-breaking 76 countries submitting their films to compete for the 86th Annual Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Films , who on earth does not feel excited about it? Because I feel really excited! Best Foreign Language Films always becomes a getaway if you feel bored with all these similarly-themed Hollywood films playing on cinemas. And with the new regulation made by AMPAS that allowed countries to submit films not in their mother-tongue language, we can feel the heat even before the real competition is begun. Why? Because many of them have become champion in numerous international film awards, not to mention the two I�m gonna discuss in this post. read more �

Note: this review might reveal some clues about the movie�s plot (which you might find a bit spoiler-y) but I assure you it won�t ruin your excitement in watching the movie. I don�t know much about Lars von Trier previously, but some internet browsing got me informed about the Danish director�s style of filmmaking. And �Melancholia� , the second film in his �Trilogy of Depression� after �Antichrist� , describes a pretty blatant controversy about despair and melancholy in the time when earth is about to collide with an alien planet. read more �

Once I lost my faith in horror films. Nothing they could do to reinvent horror films, I once thought, so this genre might be just full with remakes and old formulas. "Berberian Sound Studio" breaks that assumption. I'm not saying that this film is really that great, but I'm just so surprised by how different this film delivers horror to the viewers. Call me exaggerating, but my call is "Berberian Sound Studio" never tries to scare the viewers; instead it puzzles them and leaves them in mild confusion�which is worth the same to being scared that any mainstream horrors even fail to do. read more �

This film is a real fun. What can you expect from a crime or gangster movie, beside its American-styled jokes and characters? �Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels� has all of them, except that it comes from United Kingdom. Director Guy Ritchie wrote a story that connects four friends, weed sellers, gangsters, debt collectors, and loan sharks with lots of British punchlines, bleak jokes, and�the most interesting�accents in a very interesting approach. read more �

To watch �The Hours� is to understand the beauty of a novel-into-film adaptation. Adapted from a Pulitzer-winning novel of the same title by Michael Cunningham , �The Hours� received positive reviews and acclaims from critics and awards, especially for its exceptional script and poignant performances by the leading actresses. This is no ordinary drama; this is a multi-layered film wrapped in a different way�it�s even different from other multi-plot films like �Magnolia� or �21 Grams� , I noticed. I also have to admit that for me, �The Hours� is quite heavy and hard to digest, but lucky that after reading the ending credit, the whole plot (and greatness) of this film unravel. read more �

Never heard of Derek Cianfrance before this, even with his popular "Blue Valentine" . Some people consider "The Place Beyond the Pines" as (arguably) one of the earliest Oscar contenders, although for me it's a pure exaggeration. This is a good film, so good that I was about to give it my precious 4.5 stars before I finally rethink about it. But, of course, this is a rich-valued gem everyone should see this year. read more �

I have never predicted that �Trance� can do more than I expected. It�s been so long for me not seeing such a twisting, un-predictable, multi-layered crime-thriller like this one. I didn�t keep good track on Danny Boyle �s filmography but I�m sure that he is also the one who turns the great story into such a tidy, chic presentation. I just think that this is the movie every crime-thriller lover should see. Read more to understand why. read more �

Currently we have �World War Z� and �Monsters University� newly coming to our local cinema but I haven�t watched them. Poor me. LOL. Anyway, in my spare time I often browsed for some one-shoot entertainments in the internet. I mean, yeah, short films! I always love short films because there are times when I don�t have enough time to watch full-length films, or I�m just too lazy to do it. So all I had to do is opening either Youtube or Vimeo , and searching for short films. read more �