Kerenblog

Hello again! Nothing to talk about my disappearance for about two months; life is getting me away from not only writing reviews but also watching movies (but I keep tweeting, ask why!). Half of the reasons has something to do with my effort to put myself together for the fact that finally GONE GIRL wasn�t coming into my country because of Ben Affleck�s dick the censorship; I think I should have predicted it so but the social-media folks were raising my expectation of its screening. Yeah, whatever. read more �

So Vin Diesel was paid a lot just to do some hum and repeat �I am Groot� in different tones? Just kidding. Again, the hype attracted me into seeing GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY because if it didn�t, I guess the Marvel movie timeline had been too complicated to follow (read: you know I�m not so fond of this genre!), but it turned out that the movie was a good one. I could say that I did laugh (out loud!) while watching it and it�s a good thing, isn�t it? 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 �

Seriously, I had no idea about what EDGE OF TOMORROW is all about and if it�s worth watching or not. Then I did some googling and found that, well, it�s perhaps one of the good summer movies to watch (like, Variety writes �...Edge of Tomorrow [...] is not an action movie first and foremost, but rather a cheeky little puzzle picture in expensive-looking blockbuster drag.� to which I replied, �Okay.�). 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 �

Imagine an earth fully covered by snow and ice. Imagine an earth so cold that no living creatures can live outside so they look for shelters to live. That would be the earth the story of SNOWPIERCER takes place. Perhaps it would be hard for me to mention two or three other movies about dystopia and surviving, but I am sure I already knew the big line of SNOWPIERCER before actually watching it because, beside of its outstanding production design, costume design, and cinematography (and some acting!), there is nothing fresher that Bong Joon-ho offers in his debut in Hollywood. NOTE: some parts of this review may contain clues about the story of the film. Although I don�t consider them a spoiler, you who prefer knowing very little about the film before watching it are suggested to read this review only after watching it. read more �

No more �This is Sparta!!!�, no more kicking into that deep pit. 300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE changes the focus of the before-century heroic legend into a more common war story that simply happens to take place in Greece. We�re no longer talking about the Spartans. We�re no longer talking much about the history itself. And even no longer Zack Snyder directing (director Noam Murro helmed the project since Snyder was busy with MAN OF STEEL ). Instead, everything turns into continuous battles that suddenly feature a female villain so convincingly and so sharply performed by Eva Green . read more �

Inside us lives a killer . I believe there is a point in everyone�s life where one feels betrayed, done, and giving up on life that never runs along. Maybe you feel it, too. But I bet you didn�t (and don�t want to) realize that in the very deep corner of your soul, there hides this bleak, gloomy, dangerous, and scarying �another you� waiting for the whole time, painstakingly, to show up and replace the �current you� you made just to be accepted by the society. And when it does show up, you feel very confident to do bad things, even the sickest things you could ever imagine, because no matter it is right or wrong, you just need to win over and gain the satisfaction of victory after life beats you with problems and misfortune the whole time. This is what Killers is factually all about. read more �

The first question: where have you been, Bar? The answer: nowhere. I have been nowhere, but I am busy with my mind and I lost my mood to write, so... I spent a week with not even a single writing posted. The second question: what movies have you watched in cinema recently, Bar? The answer: I haven�t gone to cinema for the past two weeks (the last time I went to cinema is to watch �Man of Steel� ) so perhaps I skip �World War Z� , �Monsters University� , �White House Down� , and more. Sigh. Anyway, I have been watching some past-year movies and in case I can not write one review for each of them, I wrapped them into one post. Here they are: read more �

Woohoo! I watched �Man of Steel� this afternoon and the excitement I had is kept afresh in my mind so I�m trying to write this review as soon as possible (at least I don�t wanna have the same fridge logic I had when I watched �Now You See Me� ). �Man of Steel� has become one of the movies listed in my 2013 watchlist . The more it released its trailer, the more excited I became. I�m a big fan of Christopher Nolan �s �The Dark Knight� trilogy and here he becomes the producer. Now you get the idea why this film becomes my most anticipated film in 2013. read more �

There's a little bit intention in my mind, before I watched M. Night Shyamalan 's "After Earth" , that all I was about to do in the theater is sitting down and proving if this movie is as terrible as what the critiques said. Actually, most sci-fi movies never excite me (except in some cases), and just by the trailer, I knew that "After Earth" is not gonna be my choice. But then, as I eventually had a chance to watch it in the cinema (together with my students :D), I tried to clear my mind up from any negative reviews it received before entering the theater. read more �

Honestly, I'm not a sci-fi movie lovers. I have less experience about this genre. Some reviews said that the less you see any other sci-fi movies previously, the better "Oblivion" will be. It means that I, who don't watch sci-fi movies a lot, should have been thrilled and amused by "Oblivion". Technically, I appreciate this movie, but by story and characters, I'd rather say that this is just an okay film. But, before I continue writing, I wanna ask this thing straight: have you seen Duncan Jones' "Moon" ? In fact, I have. read more �

"The Berlin File" is, again, my random choice. It's currently the number one box office in South Korea . "Akbar, wait, it's a Korean movie?" Yes, it absolutely is. I am not a fan of Korean movie, but I think, it's kind of rare seeing such an espionage thriller from that country. "The Berlin File" may sound a little bit ambitious for Korean movie industry, because this is the genre where Hollywood has a great expertise. It takes place mostly in Latvia and Germany, has dialogues written in three languages (Korean, English, and Germany), includes foreign actors as well as Korean actors, and scopes multinational conflicts as a main plot�not to mention, a conflict to the neighboring country, North Korea. read more �

I don't know if there are any more innovation could be added to this kind of movies. More brainy plots, more visually stunning effects, more massacres, new villains, new heroes... what else? Filmmakers need to be creative enough to renew action-thriller movies like "Olympus Has Fallen" , because if they don't, movies like this will be just other forms of reinventing the wheel. That's why I don't really like this genre because, well, beside that it is not my cup of tea, there's nothing particularly fresh from it. "Olympus Has Fallen" is still on the nearly similar track, except that Antoine Fuqua , the director, put a brand new villain in the story: Korean terrorists. read more �

The sky was blue, the sun shone brightly, and I didn�t expect that that day is a good day to hardly die. Haha, what am I saying. The truth is, I barely picked anything to watch just after I stepped into a cinema. But, there it goes: I guessed it was a good day to watch �A Good Day to Die Hard� . Really, action movie was never gonna be my first choice, and mixed reviews for this 5th sequel of �Die Hard� franchise, which was nearly decreasing by quality recently, gave me a feeling that I was just gonna spend my money watching crap movies. But, still, I expect that at least, I got a so-called guilty pleasure watching �A Good Day to Die Hard�. Was it that bad? read more �

Run, Lola! Run! She ran for like 3/4 parts of the duration and she should have burnt much calories. Haha. �Run Lola Run� is a Germany movie by Tom Tykwer , yet it�s more than just a movie of a girl named Lola who ran to reach something. I�d like to call it an out-of-ordinary movie, because it contains three parallel plots going in their own ways, and is served in a very dynamic presentation with a bunch of transition (even with an animation). It may seems untidy, but it is undoubtedly different from any other movies. Clocking for only 81 minutes, �Run Lola Run� will make you as exhausted and sweaty as the non-stop running Lola. read more �

Hansel and Gretel were two little children. They were left by their father in the woods because of their stepmother�s evil plan. In the wood, Hansel and Gretel found a house made out of candies. An old woman opened the door for them and asked them to come in. Later they found out that the old woman was a wicked witch, who then put Hansel into jail and forced Gretel to be a slave. But the witch didn�t know how smart the siblings were: they tricked the witch, burnt her, brought all her treasures to home, and then lived happily ever after. Oops, although both share the same leading roles, unfortunately �Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters� is far less exhilarating than the aforementioned fanciful fairy tale and, of course, not addressed to under-aged viewers. read more �

Kathryn Bigelow has broken the record by being the first woman to win an Oscar for Best Director in Academy Awards 2009 , with her film, �The Hurt Locker� , who also brought an Oscar for Best Picture. While �The Hurt Locker� talks about the activity of US elite soldiers in Iraq, �Zero Dark Thirty� �her newest film�still talks slightly the same topic. Although she lost her chance to win her second Best Director accolade after the Academy surprisingly snubbed her from the nominations, but �Zero Dark Thirty� still gets its chance to win Best Picture. What makes �Zero Dark Thirty� so promising? read more �

If you ask me to mention a name of a Hollywood director who always boldly shows off an eccentric style in every work he or she makes but still receives acclaim and sympathy from the moviegoers and award-voters in all around the world, the answer musts be Quentin Tarantino . Last month he came back with his newest film, �Django Unchained� , which recently becomes one of the contenders of this year�s Academy Award�s Best Picture , although I doubt that it can get its chance to win. �Django Unchained� is a real proof that this guy will still (and always) exist with all his styles and trademarks in his every work. read more �