Total Carnage

The Raid 2: Berandal finally hit theaters last Friday and I got the chance to see it. Let me tell you in advance, it's glorious. We all know how good the first film was. It changed everything in Indonesian film industry and the year 2012 was one of the best years for Indonesian cinema. It made supporting actor Joe Taslim got cast in Fast and Furious 6 and leading actor Iko Uwais went on to appear in Keanu Reeves' directorial debut Man of Tai Chi. The second film holds no barrels (literally, as well) and expand the story by adding a crapload of new characters. The trailers looked amazing and the reaction from SXSW and Sundance has been tremendously positive.

The story starts by eliminating loose ends from the first film and quickly picked up the new storyline. So, super-cop Rama was recruited to do an undercover job investigating Jakarta's underground crime world. He went into prison with a new identity and immediately got into that circle as he befriends the son of one Jakarta's crime lord. His name is Uco and he has his own ambitions that makes everything change. Also, there's another side that wants Jakarta for his own named Bejo.

One of the criticisms for the first installment was the story. The Raid was straightforward action with so little story. That was easily improved by the sequel as the story was incredibly intricate. However, at one point in the middle of the film, I felt that there's not enough action to equalize all this narrative (the karaoke scene, to be exact). But at the end of the film, after all the amazing action kicked in, it felt great and equal as a whole. The first Raid didn't; the drug lab scene and that final fight with Mad Dog were already past the equilibrium; it didn't have an equal amount of story to balance all that action. But not in The Raid: Berandal. The characters in it are also interesting as hell; there's a super cool character only named Hammer Girl played by Julie Estelle. Another one is Baseball Bat Man, not Hammer Girl-cool but still. One of the main villains is played nicely by Arifin Putra. He could be nice and menacing and that's scary. Also there's the entertaining Alex Abbad as the crazy villain Bejo who, despite the unbearable Indonesian heat, wears full winter attire. Also immensely enjoyable is Oka Antara who recently starred in Killers. The action scenes are superb. The prison fight is crazy. The car chase is immensely unbelievable. The fight with Hammer Girl and Baseball Bat Man was thoroughly satisfying. The kitchen fight was intense. The Jakarta snow scene was a little weird but still cool as fuck. I understand Gareth Evans need to spill red blood over white snow. I totally got it. For all that amazing fight scenes with Iko Uwais, I felt that the story kind of sidelined his character Rama a bit. But that's understandable with this scope and scale of a story. I do have some complaints though. First, in technical aspect, the dialogue seemed muffled that sometimes it wasn't clear what the actors are saying. Second, the story was too packed with characters that actually one that kinda matters (Reza) wasn't featured enough. Third, there seem to be a missing scene with Kazuki Kitamura shooting people on the escalator. It was a cool moment from the trailer but I'm bummed it's not on the final cut. Nevertheless, I'm gonna let it all slide because, overall, the film is too awesome for flaws. So proud as an Indonesian to have this film. Also, happy national film day! The Raid 2: Berandal: rated 4/4.

PS
One other complaint is for the Indonesian censorship board or LSF. This film is shown without cuts, and it's super violent. Whereas 300: Rise of an Empire which is more tame than this is shown with cuts! Where's my Artemisia kissing a beheaded head? Or where's my Artemisia sex scene? I watched that sex scene on YouTube and about 3/4 of it has no nudity, just pure passion and lust. LSF, you gotta make your rules clear. Don't get me started on Noah (which, FYI, is banned in Indonesia).

Bonus! Might do a post on kick-ass girls and this one may be one!

Last 2014 Indonesia-based review would be Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Coming next week!

Dissimilar/Similar

Divergent had a series of bad trailers and topped with a superbly hideous fake-looking poster. I have loved Shailene Woodley since The Descendants. I was also one of the few people who embraced the idea of her being the new Mary Jane Watson. I fell in love with her all over again in The Spectacular Now too. But even she couldn't make me anticipate this film. The premise was over-convoluted, and too YA. The supporting cast of the film was quite nice, it has Miles Teller, Jai Courtney and Kate Winslet. Still, no interest in seeing this film. But until yesterday, I decided to give the film a go.

The story is set in a dystopian (duh bored writing this word already) future where the people are divided into five factions. Our heroine is Tris Prior (Shailene--yep first name basis here), who's so badass and cool that she cannot be classified into only one faction. They call people like her Divergent and it's dangerous to the existing system. She picked Dauntless, the rebel-like-but-not-rebels guard of the city. As she tries to survive each day in the dauntless Dauntless, she also discovered a secret plan to overthrow the existing governmental system.

The film worked so well. I loved the whole film despite its flaws. I loved seeing Shailene Woodley walking around carrying a big gun. So cool. So sexy. Anyway, she's the star of the film. Even the likes of Kate Winslet looks dumb besides her. The story is only roughly explained that average, non-book-fan wouldn't understand what actually is happening. Theo James as Four is super stiff that it's actually funny. Miles Teller and Ansel Englort should've had more scenes but maybe they're trying to save it for the next movie (or not). It's a pity that Ashley Judd and Tony Goldwyn only got very few scenes in this film. Also the film chose to end it safely, in case this film flops there's no urgency to make the sequel. The film is definitely in the leagues of The Hunger Games and Ender's Game because it's well made. The action scenes are great and most of all I can actually relate to some parts of the story. Still, some parts of the film is like a rehash of other YA novels: the dystopian future, the love story, the evil government. What I don't like is Junkie XL's incredibly similar to 300: Rise of an Empire score. I guess Junkie XL attended Hans Zimmer's school of mediocrity. All in all, I would love to see the stuff explained more and of course more Shailene Woodley. It's also funny to note that the three main young boys are, were and will be Shailene's love interest in other films (Teller in Spectacular Now, James in Divergent, Englort in The Fault in Our Stars). Divergent: rated 3.5/4

BONUS

Downton tenants! Your favorite Turkish has gone a long way since dying in Lady Mary's bed after one session of lustful sex. Behold, Kemal Pamuk is actually Four in Divergent. How bout changing your name to One, as in one fear of dying after coitus?

Top Speed

I'm gonna keep it short. Need For Speed is a video game adaptation but it's a heavily Top Gun-influenced film. It has bromances, a character who's a pilot who's also in the army who's nickname is Maverick and their need for speed. Aaron Paul is intense in his role, but I didn't find his character entirely likable. The turning point for this film was when one of the characters named Pete was killed. But was he worth all this mess? I don't think so. He was a smug all along and I didn't quite feel the need to be sorry for his death. I guess I'm missing out on something. But you know who's super fun? Imogen Poots. Being a Brit definitely has its virtues. Her posh accent made her super likable and super fun, she made the film five times better than it should be. I felt sorry for Dominic Cooper for playing a grade A bastard who's a very soap opera villain. But I guess when Scott Waugh deliberately wanted to make this film a nostalgia for car cinema ala Steve McQueen's Bullitt, the film kinda has that oldies spirit. The car scenes are quite intense and enjoyable. The film's ideal to minimize CGI is highly commendable. I also want to applaud the story for not opting the Step Up way and make the whole movie about one big race. And some of the jokes actually worked. It could be more fun though, but I guess it's a quite good time-killer and entertainment. I'd pay to see Aaron Paul in anything anyway. I actually have a lot of jokes for Michael Keaton's character but, I'm gonna save it. Need For Speed: rated 2.5/4

I can't save the joke. How could Michael Keaton's character commented on the exciting action on the race when he's just watching that radar kind of display? Does he even know what the police are doing to the cars? And do people actually enjoy watching just that?

Planes, Boats and Plains

I will review three films. Two of them are better than 300: Rise of an Empire. But a character from 300: Rise of an Empire is as entertaining as Meryl Streep in August: Osage County

300: Rise of an Empire
The main reason to watch 300 Rise of an Empire is to see all the stylized battle gore and possibly a bonus sex scene. But in Indonesia, being a fucking hypocrite country as it already is, they cut down all of those things you'd like to see in the movie. Fuck em. I want to see all that beheadings and that "all-timer" sex scene. Anyways, Eva Green is super awesome. I'd watch a whole film about Artemisia rather than another one frame of Themistocles. Gerard Butler seemed to be a great presence in 300, that Sullivan Stapleton and his band of Sparta-wannabes looked so unimportant in this film. Particularly that son and father sub-plot, why don't you delete it in exchange of more gore and sex because it's just so unimportant. However, despite having more in-your-face-blood effect, Rise of an Empire is a bore (if there's no Artemisia on screen). The action are not that fun, the story is not that compelling, the lead actors are wooden that you want Artemisia to cut off all their heads by 40 minutes in. Or get queen-turned-warrior queen Gorgo to get over with her narration and just swinging swords at random people before the hyper-slow motion kicks in and call the curtain. The action are fun for the first 10 minutes then it's all repetitive. The film is otherwise bland (or blame the censorship!) 300: Rise of an Empire: rated 2.5/4

Non-Stop
I actually wanted to write a separate review of this film last week but was too lazy to write a whole post consisting this film only. Anyway, I enjoyed Non-Stop more than I enjoyed Neeson's post-Taken films like Unknown, The Grey, or the preposterously hideous Taken 2. Non-Stop is tense and smartly made, it's a pleasant and thrilling surprise to experience it. Liam Neeson is supported by an amazing cast that includes Downton Abbey's Lady Mary Michelle Dockery, House of Cards' Peter Russo Corey Stoll, Monsters' lead actor Scoot Macnairy, Oscar nominee Julianne Moore and recent Oscar winner Lupita Nyong'o (in a very miniscule role). My only complaint is that the film spent too much lingering on the tension that it overlooked some of the things that could make Liam Neeson's Bill Marks look smarter in that position. How about confessing that he's trying to save the plane from earlier on? Now, who's going to buy them free tickets for one year? Despite all that, I like the film quite immensely and the twist is quite thoughtful. Non-Stop: rated 3.5/4

August: Osage County
First of all, let me tell you that this film is an acting masterclass material. Meryl Streep is superbly amazing. Julia Roberts exhibits a strange, previously unseen energy for her role. The other cast are a delight too. I particularly dig Dermot Mulroney, Chris Cooper and Benedict Cumberbatch in their own small roles. However with all that stellar acting I find Abigail Breslin and Ewan McGregor to be underused. The film itself peaked at the amazing dinner table scene. I mean, that one scene, justifies all the Oscar nom that Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts got this year. However, the ending dragged too long, it made it strange. I read that it should've ended with Meryl Streep's last scene and I concur. That would be a good, satisfying ending. August: Osage County: rated 3.5/4


Next week: Jesse Pinkman turns street racer in Need For Speed #oldjoke

Oscars Predictions and WINNERS!

I'm falling behind on my Best Picture films. I still have three to go, which are 12 Years A Slave (just released on cinemas), black-and-white Nebraska, and Philomania, sorry, Philomena. Anyway, I guess I can already predict some of the winners for Sunday night/Monday morning ceremony. Like last year, I'm just going to predict some areas that I'm familiar with, instead of shooting in the dark on categories like sound mixing and stuff. Shall we begin? Now updated with winners (March 3)

Best Picture
Based on the films I already saw, I really want The Wolf of Wall Street to win. But let's be realistic. Gravity is great on the technical fields. So, it's going to be 12 Years A Slave for the top prize.
Winner: 12 Years A Slave (1/1)

Best Actor in a Leading Role
Based on the awards like SAGs, Golden Globes, this category boils down to two people. Matthew McConaughey and Leonardo DiCaprio, with Chiwetel Ejiofor as a possible upset. The odds are all in McConaughey's favor, but I'd go out on a limb and make Leonardo DiCaprio win his past due golden statue.
Winner: Matthew McConaughey (1/2)

Best Actress in a Leading Role
Now, this category boils down to one, Cate Blanchett for Blue Jasmine. No competition, really. Even from Meryl Streep. If someone's going to pull an upset, it'd be Amy Adams. But still, Cate Blanchett for the win.
Winner: Cate Blanchett (2/3)

Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Couple of months ago when the trailer for Dallas Buyers Club was first released, I tweeted 'and the Oscars go to.. Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto' I still stand by Jared Leto to win.
Winner: Jared Leto (3/4)

Best Actress in a Supporting Role
I would really really love Jennifer Lawrence to win her second Oscar, but would it be fair for Lupita Nyong'o who has gained praise for her work in 12 Years? I'm going to update this as soon as I watch 12 Years A Slave this weekend, for the moment I'm voting for Lupita Nyong'o. [updated: watched 12 Years and Lupita Nyong'o is superb. Why was Jennifer Lawrence even considered a contender?]
Winner: Lupita Nyong'o (4/5)

Best Director
Expect some heavy accented speech delivery because Alfonso Cuaron's gonna be doing it.
Winner: Alfonso Cuaron (5/6)

Best Adapted Screenplay
I think this one's for 12 Years A Slave.
Winner: 12 Years A Slave, John Ridley (6/7)

Best Original Screenplay
This one's definitely for Her. Not her, the film Her.
Winner: Her, Spike Jonze (7/8)

Best Animated Film
Let it go, let it go to Frozen.
Winner: Frozen (8/9)

Best Cinematography
Okay, we're already in Gravity territory.
Winner: Gravity (9/10)

Best Production Design
Does the word 'great' in The Great Gatsby mean anything to you?
Winner: The Great Gatsby (10/11)

Best Costume Design
Once again, 'great' in The Great Gatsby must mean something. If someone's going to pull an upset, it's American Hustle.
Winner: The Great Gatsby (11/12)

Best Make-up
The only film with actual Oscar-cred, Dallas Buyers Club. It's going to be terribly shocking if Bad Grandpa wins, it's a enormously great honor already to be nominated.
Winner: Dallas Buyers Club (12/13)

Best Editing
Why isn't The Wolf of Wall Street here? Anyway, Gravity territory
Winner: Gravity (13/14)

Best Original Score
Steven Price, Gravity
Winner: Gravity (14/15)

Best Original Song
Let it go, once again, to Frozen
Winner: Frozen (15/16)

Best Visual Effects
In the spirit of ignoring big-budget films with far cooler and obvious effects, Gravity will win.
Winner: Gravity (16/17)


Are my predictions bullseyes? I got 16 out of 17 right.
Well only one prediction was off which was for Best Actor (which is a no surprise because I was making a risky bet). This year's race was pretty fixed with no real surprises.
Some highlights of the night:
- Great speeches from the four acting categories' winners
- Kevin Spacey channelled Frank Underwood for a moment. Well, Academy, he should be your host next year
- Lupita Nyong'o, Amy Adams, and Meryl Streep danced with Pharrell.
- Best presenter pairing of the night: JGL and Emma Watson.
- Best stunts of the night: the pizza delivery and world's best selfie (lucky Peter Nyong'o!)
- John Travolta's Adele Gazeem was one of the best things of the night
- Overall, the night was just safe. No surprises either from Ellen.
- The hero montages were a bit all over the place but nice effort
- A step up from last year, but not as good as Hugh Jackman's night a couple of years ago

next time, Leo, next time