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 �

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�...

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 �

That Saturday afternoon was a torture. I mean, in a good way: the kind of torture you enjoy only for the first time because you know it will be too painful to have it the second time. But who in the world enjoy being tortured? That afternoon I was watching Lars von Trier�s DANCER IN THE DARK , an irritating but frank story of how we areactually living in hell; we are just pretending that we�re not. 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 �

This post is written as part of the series "the films of... Joel Coen and Ethan Coen" . Like you might have wondered, the word Arizona in the title refers to two things: the baby�s name and one of the US states. And, yes, in �Raising Arizona� , the duo auteurs are playing with babies. This is a comedy that�I can say�guarantees that you�re gonna laughing, even if there are (always) subtle philosophical messages in it. It is light, if not foolish, comedy that you can enjoy without having too much of a thinking. read more �

This post is written as part of the series "the films of... Joel Coen amd Ethan Coen" . What is interesting from �Blood Simple.� , the Coens� debut film, is its originality. It was a classic, low-budgeted crime-thriller from which Joel and Ethan Coen started to get attention from Hollywood. You can even tell what an indie project �Blood Simple.� is just by counting down the film goofs (which are apparent to see), but no one will doubt the originality of both the film�s story and style. read more �

This post is written as part of the series "the films of... Joel Coen and Ethan Coen" Then Joel Coen and Ethan Coen put something particularly new into his filmography: a black-and-white film. Some may consider it risky, while some other see it as a breakthrough that worths our attention. I think, despite of the black-and-white coloring, "The Man Who Wasn't There" is not really far from the genre that "the two-headed directors" are acknowledged for: a saddening, philosophical story wrapped with crime. Give it an old-fashioned cinematographical touch, put some strange characters, but do it the Coens' way; and you'll get a seemingly noir film that almost lost its charm. read more �

This review is written as part of the series "the films of... Joel Coen and Ethan Coen" When receiving his Oscar for winning Best Adapted Screenplay for "No Country for Old Men", Joel Coen jokingly said, " "I think whatever success we've had in this area has been entirely attributable to how selective we are--we've only adapted Homer and Cormac McCarthy." Cormac McCarthy is, of course, the author of the novel from which the Coens adapted into "No Country", but Homer? "The Odyssey" by the greatest Greek poet is indeed listed as the work adapted by the Coens for "O Brother, Where Art Thou?", but the fact is, they have never really read it. It has just inspired them. 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 �

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 �

Now you see me. Now you don't. Okay. When a few friends of mine knew that "Now You See Me" is about magicians and stuffs, they asked me, "So what makes it different from, say, Christopher Nolan 's 'The Prestige' ?". All I could tell them is that "Now You See Me" is a more than just a sort of mysterious, grand magic performances. There's a taste of heist crime in this movie, there's a lot of it. I mean, imagine what will happen if four talented magicians team up to rob a bank. It surely will bother the cops, right? read more �

As a beginner movie-buff, I don�t know Steven Soderbergh that much. To be honest, the only film of him that I have watched is �Contagion� , and I wasn�t very impressed by it. That�s why, the news of him de-listing himself from the world of cinema after directing �Side Effects� may be not that fantastic for me (at least, compared to how fantastic the news of Sir Alex Ferguson retiring is, LOL). But, I did list �Side Effects� in my watch-list this year because of some reasons. Is it really a nice closing for the director�s career? read more �

This is my second watch. In my first chance of watching "The Silence of The Lambs" , I know there is something need to be fixed from it. Now, I understand that that opinion is reasonable. "The Silence of The Lambs" maybe is just a similarly-styled horror-thriller, except that it has Clarice Starling and�especially�the legendary Hannibal Lecter in it. How it tries to relate to human psychopathic illness and abnormal sexual behavior is also another difference. It barely needs gory and bloody scenes, it doesn't even have a mind-blowing twist. That's why I come up with an opinion that without these characters and premises, "The Silence of The Lambs" is gonna be a thriller that is almost similar to other thrillers. read more �

AUTHOR�S NOTE: Wow, it�s been like years I haven�t posted anything in this blog. If you are one of my so-called loyal readers (if there is any), I�m so sorry. Well, my life�s a bit hard for these past few days and there�re many things I have to be involved with (and for some reason my internet connection was unimaginably lame), so... yeah, that�s why. I�m not sure if the things I mentioned previously were the actual reasons or just excuses (LOL), but the thing is, I still watch some movies these days. It�s just I didn�t have good time to write about �em. read more �

AUTHOR�S NOTE: I�m celebrating my 100th movie review in Me On The Movie! Wow, it�s just fascinating knowing that at least I have seen 100 movies (including 5 short movies) and made a review for each of them. You can check them all in the �Review Index� page. Thank you for your supports, readers! And that�s why I chose �The Godfather� to be reviewed for my 100th review. Although I�m not a big fan of it, it�s surely a cinematic masterpiece worth to be celebrated in this special occasion. Now it�s listed as the second position in the Top 250 IMDb , followed by �The Godfather: Part II� �its sequel. And to be honest, this is my first-time see of any of the works of Francis Ford Coppola , one of the most legendary directors in Hollywood. I�m no expert of seeing the philosophical, cultural layer, whatsoever from �The Godfather�, but what I see from it is that it has a great power of storytelling and characterization. Read more to know what I have in mind about it. 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 �

I�ve never known that this movie was previously rated NC-17, before finally re-rated R in exchange to some cuts on inappropriate scenes. Maybe, if I�d known it before, I wouldn�t have watched in cinemas (lol). Also, I have never known that �Killer Joe� was directed by William Friedkin , an Oscar-winning director for the legendary horror �The Exorcist� . The thing is, this black-comedy would have been more entertaining if these inappropriate scenes were clearly shown on its screening in cinemas. Well, I think I�m gonna write another post about that. read more �

�Compliance� made its premiere on last year�s Sundance Film Festival and received generally positive review from critics. HollywoodReporter made a report of the situation of the premiere, which was full of shouting and tension due to the controversy and the overall topic that �Compliance� raised. Maybe the fact that the topic was a true event is what makes �Compliance� a controversy. This independent film talks about a prank call that ends in sexual assault to women. Trust me, after having a chance to watch it, I feel the film itself is kind of annoying and unbelievably stressful. Read more to understand why. read more �

I have been planning to watch �Headhunters� since, I think, I read its review on Vampibots blog, but I�ve just eagerly wanted to watch it after that blog listed it as one of the best films of 2012 and BAFTA granted it a nomination in �Best Film Not in the English Language� recently. �Headhunters� is a Norwegian film, adapted from a thriller local novel titled �Hodejegerne� �translated as �Headhunters� in English�written by Jo Nesb� , which has been discussed by many people as the next generation of �Millennium� , a popular thriller novel trilogy written by Steig Larsson , for it has a big chance to be adapted by Hollywood filmmakers. What kind of thriller will �Headhunters� bring to us? read more �