Kerenblog

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 �

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 �

Jake Gyllenhaal is both Adam Bell, a history professor trapped in his boring life; and Anthony, a third-class actor with passion. ENEMY starts by focusing on Adam teaching his students, going home, and having sex with his spouse Mary ( Melanie Laurent ). Everyday is exactly the same, until he saw himself playing in a movie. Well, if you know that there is a person that looks exactly ( exactly ) like you, what will you do? Will you call him and ask him to meet? Will you be excited? The feeling doubles if you�re a history teacher that teaches totalitarianism and dictatorship and Karl Marx and Hegel. Parts of your lecture come to life; it�s like history repeating itself. 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 �

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 �

This is Park Chan-wook �s debut film in Hollywood. The most popular film from this South Korean director, �Oldboy� , is one of my favorites. However, I can say that compared to �Oldboy� or any other Park�s films, �Stoker� is much tamer. No blood, not even thrills. Supported by great performances from actors like Mia Wasikowska , Matthew Goode , and Nicole Kidman , is it fair to conclude that �Stoker� is not as interesting as �Oldboy�? 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 �

I was intrigued to watch "The Vanishing" , a 1988 movie from Netherlands , after reading an article on the internet. I don't put the link here because I'm afraid the article is a bit spoiler-y (and I actually only read the first paragraph of it to avoid getting spoiled). The author of the article addressed one of the character in this movie as the most terrifying psychopath in movies he has ever seen. For me, it gave me a different look on sociopath which has never been done in any other movies. A very different presentation of a thriller with twist that terrifies me mostly because of its appropriateness and normal-ness. 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 �

Asghar Farhadi surprises the world with his 2011 award-winning drama, �A Separation� . It wins many accolades, not to mention the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film from Iran . Many are now curious about his past works before �A Separation�, and thanks to Vampibots , I got the chance of knowing this movie: �About Elly� . Still talks about drama about family, �About Elly� is as emotionally gripping as �A Separation�, although there�s still some minor difference between them. The thing is, if you love �A Separation�, you will love �About Elly�. read more �

�Cloud Atlas� is a work of ambition. Written and directed by three directors� Tom Tykwer , Andy Wachowski , and Lana Wachowski , �Cloud Atlas� is better enjoyed if you see it more from its substance rather than its form. And it is quite complicated too, so it is not a good choice for you who look for an easy entertainment. Perhaps half of its viewers will feel that �Cloud Atlas� is just a boring movie that goes too talky and too long, but another half�that understand it more to the deeper layer�may be astonished by it. I have a chance to watch it just now because it has just released in local cinemas some days ago, and surely feel lucky to choose such a smart, deeply valued movie like this. read more �

What really makes human scared? The answers of this question may be so much different among people. Some may find crime as a terrifying thing, some others may be scared only by ghosts or inexistential beings, while the rests may be frightened by blood and gore. There might be a reason of cultural background that affects people to have different answers. Filmmakers also have different ways to show up their own creativity of �scaring viewers� in order to make a good horror movie. While many other movies struggling with how to choose good horrors, �The Blair Witch Project� struggled with how to deliver horror well. And it turns into a great success. read more �