Immersed

Indonesia just had its first ever IMAX theatre this year where The Avengers had the honor of being the first film to be shown there. I was waiting for The Dark Knight Rises to watch it there, but my father asked me whether I wanted to try IMAX or not. Who's crazy enough to say no?

There I was, at Gandaria City Jakarta, with tickets in hand for the second round of Prometheus. in IMAX. IMAX 3D. Yeah, I bolded IMAX, you got a problem with that?

Actually IMAX and I go way back. There is an IMAX theatre in Jakarta too, but it just plays IMAX films, old IMAX films--the nature stuff. If it plays a feature film, it gotta be like 3-year-old film. You see, they played Spider-Man 2 when it was 2006-ish. And it's not in 3D. But up until now, I already watched twice (or thrice, my mind is playing hide and seek with the memories). Fast forward to 2011, in Manila, Philippines. It was June 28, Transformers: Dark of the Moon 3D opens the next day (or for people crazy enough like me, my family, and apparently hundreds of Mall of Asia cinema customers, it opens that night at 11.59 pm). I was thirsty for films (the boycott thingy, please refer to my 2011 posts on X-Men First Class, Green Lantern, Sucker Punch, and TF3 - sorry too lazy to make links) and I really wanted to watch it in IMAX 3D. But the auditorium/studio was already full, so no IMAX 3D.

And now fast forward to June 2012, I was holding tickets to Prometheus in IMAX 3D. Good things come to those who wait, huh? DAMN RIGHT BRO [gangsta pose recommended]

This is the IMAX theatre, the only difference now is that the words are now in blue.

[photo from XXI 21 Cineplex website--I do have a photo of me there, but misplaced em]

From this point forward, be warned. Yes, you're already warned.

My reactions to the gigantic IMAX theatre, in chronological order, were:

1. OMG THE SCREEN IS SO HUGE!
2. LOOK AT THE SIZE OF THE STUDIO. (for the record, it was two normal studios merged into one)
3. OMG THE SCREEN!
4. [when TDKR trailer plays] WOAH OMG THE SOUND SYSTEM IS BLARING LIKE CRAZY. WOAH BATMAN LOOKS SO COOL IN SUPER LARGE SCREEN! [figuratively jizzed]
5. OMG THE SCREEN IS ENORMOUS!
6. [when The Amazing Spidey trailer plays] WOW EMMA STONE IN IMAX 3D!
7. [when Prometheus plays] THE MUSIC, THE PICTURE, FASSBENDER, SPACE JOCKEYS, ENGINEERS WERE SO MUCH BETTER IN SECOND VIEWING AND ALSO IN IMAX 3D
8. [after the credits] LET'S TRY THE MIDDLE SEAT! I THINK THEY'RE BETTER THAN WHERE WE SAT BEFORE! LET'S HAVE THESE SEATS NEXT TIME!

sorry for the yokelish response. I'm just a countryside boy. BUT THOSE STILL STANDS.
THOSE ARE MONEY WELL-SPENT!
(tix price info: 50k rupiahs on weekdays, 75k on Fridays, and 100k on weekends. *9k is about 1 USD)

a legit evidence

I can do a post of my response to Transformers: The Ultimate Battle The 3D Ride in Universal Studios Singapore, but I think the response are pretty much the same. [FUCKING AWESOME! COOLEST RIDE EVERRRR!] Don't you dare miss that ride whenever you're in Singapore or Hollywood! You see, Transformers The Ride > IMAX experience. Okay is this a post about IMAX or what? Post about Transformers The Ride, later.

another legit evidence

Pixar's Princess

I skipped last year's Pixar's outing, Cars 2, for two reasons: 1. there was a film boycott going on in my country so no Cars 2 and 2. it doesn't look so good, after all Cars was the only Pixar film where I yawned. So, I have my hopes up for this year's Pixar film simply titled Brave. It's set in medieval Scotland and my only thought was: how will they insert a Pizza Planet car in there?

The story is simpler than Pixar films like Toy Story or Up. This one's about a princess who loves adventuring named Merida. She was going to be married to one of the three princes from three different clans. That's according to the tradition. But Merida doesn't want to follow the tradition and get married so soon. She blamed her mother after her mother trained her to be a real princess. She stormed out of the castle and met a witch. And then the plot begins.

Like I have said, this one's simpler than other Pixar films. The film is beautiful and touching. I almost cried during this film! Princess Merida is a kick-ass, I adore her for being so awesome, shooting arrows and stuff. The film is also funny. I love hearing the Scottish accent throughout the film. Also it has beautiful Scottish bagpipes score and amazing songs from Julie Fowlis. Like all Pixar films, it has something to say but this doesn't get too preachy like Cars. It preaches, but by being not too preachy. The complaint about this film is that it's too simple. Comparing it to other Pixar films, the others are rich with stories. Brave is a bit more slapstick in its jokes. Also some things are not explained well enough but it's not so important anyway. And I just checked on the internet that the Pizza Planet car IS on the film! Be sure to see it when you see the film in cinemas. Also don't get in late cos there's a Academy Award-nominated Pixar short titled La Luna, which I didn't get to see because I was late. Brave: rated 3 out of 4 stars

Check out the best scene from the movie below!

(insert Presidential quotes mashed with vampire-jokes)

The post title is quite literal isn't it? It's one of the two films coming out this week. It's Tim Burton-produced and Timur Bekmambetov-directed film, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Cool premise makes it a must-watch. It stars newcomer Benjamin Walker, Dominic Cooper of Mamma Mia!, Anthony Mackie of The Hurt Locker and also Scott Pilgrim's Ramona, Mary Elizabeth Winstead.

Benjamin Walker as the young Abraham Lincoln

If you already learnt or read history about the real Abraham Lincoln, the story of the film is quite familiar. Although they inserted a 'deleted chapter' to Lincoln's life in Springfield, Ohio. Lincoln (played nicely by Walker, he reminds you of a young Liam Neeson) was driven by revenge after the mysterious death of his mother by a vampire.    He met with a hunter and got trained by him. He then revealed that many of the people living among him are vampires and also the vampires' plan to take on America.

My first reaction after watching this film is 'THAT WAS THE COOLEST THING EVERR!' I'm not lying. The film is jam-packed with intense action scenes, cool slow-motion that reminds you of Zack Snyder films. I'm also a sucker for those 'weapon-spinning' thing so yeah, figuratively just jizzed while I was watching this. I'm also a fan of history so it's kinda cool to see these kinds of films. Think of this as a hardcore version of The DaVinci Code. Also a refreshment from those soft, PG-13 vampire films (Twilight reference). You couldn't expect less from Bekmambetov, cos this film is bigger than Wanted. The film is also smart and did so much justice to the real, charismatic American president. My greatest fear was that this film would dumb down Abraham Lincoln, but hell no. This film just made him cooler. However, my complaint was that the 3D effect of this film is too cheesy, when you watched it in 2D it became silly (the first whipping scene, the worst of em all). Also some of the characters don't get developed much like Will Johnson-Lincoln's friend and assistant and Joshua Speed-Lincoln's fictional employer who also became his assistant. Put in mind that this film is rated R, but it just feels like a PG-13 film because there was no 'real' blood splattering everywhere. I'm brave enough to say that this film is one of the films that I enjoyed most this summer. This film just stimulates you to make a vampire hunter film featuring your country's president, doesn't it? Or is it just me? Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter rated 3 out of 4 stars

Double Feature!

Been away a while, yes. After Dark Shadows, I got to watch three films. Firstly, Statham's Safe which features the usual ass-kicking Jason Statham. And then I skipped MIB3 straight on to SWATH and Prometheus.  So, let's kick it with this Charlize Theron double feature, first as Queen Ravenna in SWATH and Meredith Vickers in Prometheus.

Snow White & the Huntsman
After the superb first trailer, this film becomes a must-see. It is a re-telling of the classic story of Snow White and her apple. The film offers amazing spectacle with all the creature design and imaginative scenes. The highlight of the film is of course Charlize Theron as the evil Queen who needs to be the fairest of them all. Chris Hemsworth again proves he can throw weapons and fight plus a Scottish accent. However, the film sometimes becomes slow-paced and without the help of any score, a few scenes become quite boring. I need more dwarves too! I mean who would miss Ian McShane, Nick Frost, and Ray Winstone to name a few as dwarves! The dwarves only had little screen time, which is a bummer. Also, Kristen Stewart must hold the title of giving the worst pre-battle speech ever, no matter how good she looks in her battle armor. But Theron and the spectacle are already worth the price of an admission, so check it out, it doesn't disappoint. So kudos to debutante Rupert Sanders. And it's safe to say that SWATH wins this year's Snow White battle against Mirror Mirror. Snow White and the Huntsman: rated 2.5 out of 4 stars

Prometheus
Prometheus must have the best viral videos ever, you know, The Weyland TED speech and David ad are genius. The core story of the film is that a group of people funded by the Weyland Industries are on a mission to find the beginning of mankind to distant galaxy, but everything goes wrong. They went to the moon where Nostromo made its transit some years later. The film is superbly epic and it gotta be the most satisfying experience you had in cinemas so far this summer (sorry Avengers). I salute whoever designed the Prometheus and the spacesuits and all the techs on board because it is incredible. It has it flaws, unexplainable flaws yes, like [spoiler alert!] why did Fifield become a monster instead of being consumed by that black goo? Or maybe the captain didn't have to tell the remaining crew that there was a killing spree? And one of the crew didn't tell the captain that there is someone else on board? Or these questions are just from me? The star of the film is of course Noomi Rapace and Michael Fassbender, both of them are ah-may-zinggg. Especially Fassbender as a freakin android, damn creepy and realistic. Dude, the David viral ad is enough to win him a Golden Globe at least. But don't you just hate it when they make a prequel out of classic sci-fi films, like Star Wars? Because when you watch em in chronological order, they don't make sense, in terms of technology advancements. One bit you saw a cutting-edge tech and supposedly some years later, you're back to Flintstones. And to be honest, this doesn't feel like a prequel to Alien. So, as a prequel it fails, but as a stand-alone sci-fi film, it succeeds. Prometheus: rated 4 out of 4 stars