Kerenblog

When I first saw the trailer of �The Shape of Water� , I was blown away. It was sweet, heartwarming, and weird at the same time. It is a fantasy love story with a premise that might have so often appeared in one film or another: an unlikely romance between human and non-human. This is actually a typical premise background for director Guillermo del Toro , who is so dedicated and obsessed to monsters and fantasy creatures on films. But �The Shape of Water� seemed different: there�s a nuance of classic in the trailer, something to do with old songs and bleak color pallete. And Sally Hawkins (!), as a mute lady in love with the creature, is a perfect round-up that leads me into an overanticipation towards this film. read more �

�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 �

Several hours before the new year�s eve of 2018, I want to share with you a film that really struck me right in the heart when I first saw it several weeks ago. This one�s easily becomes one of my favorite films of the year, and most of the time, when I talk about my favorite films, I refer to those that feel personal or relate to me in reality. This one is not necessarily like that; although may I say I wish I could feel what the characters in this film feel, in one way or another, in real life. This film, called �Call Me by Your Name� , is a queer coming-of-age film that remarkably captured the beautiful complexity of identity-searching of the youth and then transferred the emotional nuance in the process with such an empathetical, intimate style. 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 �

I�ll open my writing about �The Imitation Game� with the exact question that opened my writing about �The Theory of Everything� : what do we know about Alan Turing? Only, the answers are not similarly various. Alan Turing is... a mathematician. It is what he only is. Or is it? 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�...

What do we know about Stephen Hawking? He�s a physicist (or theoretical physicist, or astrophysicist, or cosmologist). He�s that scientist with a disease that made him sit on his sophisticated wheel chair and talk using a computer. For most people (I mean, non-�science� people) he is world famous not because of his brilliant theories about the universe, but because of his statement about us no longer needing the existence of God, now that science can explain all the �magic� used to be explained by faith and religious tenets. �The Theory of Everything� covers the life of Stephen Hawking and his wife, Jane Hawking, with the most beautiful form of acting performance I have seen this year. read more �

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 �

Have I written about CHEF here? Not yet? Well, I should have because it feels that for me BEGIN AGAIN is as joyous as CHEF. I love how filmmakers use music to enliven their films, and John Carney (the guy that brought you the romantic-musical ONCE) did it wonderfully in this latest feature. From the story only, BEGIN AGAIN is not perfect, but the use of surprisingly easy-listening songs make it more enjoyable to watch. 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 �

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 �

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 �

Why is there this kind of movie that takes a rewatch to be fully understood? Why can�t it be understood in its first viewing? In the case of Terry Gilliam �s latest feature THE ZERO THEOREM , the answer would be because it is too confusing to grasp in its first, or perhaps second, watch. Too bad I don�t have too much time in my hand to �join the excitement�; I don�t usually watch a movie two or three times just to understand it. But there�s a catch: are you sure THE ZERO THEOREM worths your next viewing? 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 �

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 �

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 �

In this review I'm pointing out the reasons of why I consider HER the best film of 2013 . Some people shortly address HER, written and directed by Spike Jonze , as �an unlikely love story of a lonely man and a female-voiced computer� which, in a way, I find underestimating. It's your right to call it whatever you want, but hell, I personally disagree with it. My call is, it's �a love story that proposes an interesting idea about the future� . I tell you why. read more �