Undenying

Hello, I'm not dead yet. I just opted not to post anything because I haven't had any materials to write. Although I did watch Rodrigo Cortes' latest film, Red Lights, which I'm going to talk about later. Yes, this is my first Japan-based post. I'm already settled in a simple dorm room in Beppu, Oita. It's in the island of Kyushu. Far away from Tokyo and the cinemas is a train-ride away from ma crib. Anyway, this is my thought about Red Lights.

Red Lights is the newest film from the director of the claustrophobic, mini-budgeted, one-man-show, Ryan Reynolds-starring Buried. Rodrigo Cortes indeed has some uniqueness in his films, his themes are different. This time he digs about fraud in showbusiness, particularly those involving supernatural things or magic. The film stars Cillian Murphy, Sigourney Weaver and Robert De Niro. This is my first Elizabeth Olsen film, by the way. Someday I'll get around to watch Martha Marcy May Marlene or Silent House. The story is about Tom Buckley (Murphy), an associate of Professor Matheson (Weaver) who makes a side job by revealing fraud in the 'magic' business. And there's Simon Silver (De Niro), a veteran magician  who's making a comeback after almost 20 years missing from stage. Buckley is somewhat compelled to investigate Silver, although everyone knows that Silver is dangerous.

The premise is definitely intriguing and by looking at the trailers, you can get crazy to watch it. However, Cortes didn't tell and communicate the story well. Sometimes you feel there's a vital part missing in order to tell the story right. The big twist in the end is also a bit underwhelming to my taste. Some important things are just left unexplained, leaving me with so much questions. However, this film does benefit from incredible acting by Cillian Murphy and Robert De Niro. Sigourney Weaver's just the same nowadays so, nothing to comment. I'd love to see Rodrigo Cortes make more movies. I think he has this promise of delivering good cinema to the world. And also I would love to see Cillian Murphy get bigger roles because he totally deserves it. I'd recommend 28 Days Later and Sunshine to see Murphy in full action. Red Lights: rated 2 out of 4.

BONUS:
There's this incredible article I just found by Sujan Patel about Batman quotes from Nolan's trilogy.
He picked 10 quotes that led him to successful career life. I'll attach the link to it but I'd be kind enough to include my own favorite that is mutual with Patel's choices.

"Harvey Dent: “You make your own luck.”

In The Dark Knight, Harvey uses this line in reference to a double-sided coin, but I see this principle paralleled in the way we talk about entrepreneurs.  Too often, we refer to successful business people as being lucky, or having “been in the right place at the right time.”

I believe it wasn’t an accident that put those people in the path of “luck” – it was the hours of hard work and dedication that were occurring behind the scenes.

Bill Gates is often held up as an extreme example of luck in the business world.  Not only was he born into a privileged family that allowed him to spend his formative years at private primary schools and Harvard (institutions that would have had access to computing technology not available in other programs), he was born at a “lucky” time in the development of microcomputing and had the good fortune of teaming up with fellow visionary Paul Allen at the right moment.

But despite these factors, to say that the entire success of Microsoft can be pinned on one man’s lucky break is extremely shortsighted.  Certainly, Gates wasn’t the only one born into these specific situations.  Any number of his classmates could have replicated his early successes – but they didn’t.

Really, for most successful entrepreneurs, a moment of good fortune is one of millions of other moments dedicated to hard work and drive.  Without the hundreds or thousands of other things done at different periods in their companies’ life cycles, they never would have been able to capitalize on the instances of luck that did happen to appear. "

Here's the link to the whole stuff, make sure you read it 
10 Batman Quotes Leading to Success!

Lastly, I kinda owe any of my readers this video 

*for the Thor bit, I know it's off topic to the rest of the vid but I just gotta do it when I saw the lightning.

Beginning of the End

The post's title quotes Albert Wesker from the latest Resident Evil film (and from a thousand other films). This could possibly be my last post while I'm still at Indonesia. Sad, huh? Kinda. Leaving the place I know more than I know the back of my hand. But, life should go on. Right at this point, you start to wonder whether you're in the right blog about films or not. Fear not, I will talk about films. In fact, right now.


In this what seems to be my last Indonesian-based post of the year 2012, I'm reviewing Resident Evil: Retribution. Talk about anti-climax, I thought I would be reviewing Looper or Dredd 3D. That aint gonna happen. I'm starting to doubt myself that I would see those films in a damn cinema. Back to business, RE: Retribution is the fifth entry in the franchise. I'm not a gamer, but I'm a moviegoer. I won't be raving about that Leon guy (who looks a lot like Jaime Lannister) because he's a badass from the game series. I'm simply watching Resident Evil films for the thrill and for the badass girls (y'know Milla Jovovich, Ali Larter, Sienna Guillory and Michelle Rodriguez). Once again directed by Paul W.S. Anderson, the film sells the tagline Evil Goes Global. Sounds very cooooool. But is it? Like the last film, RE: Afterlife, this one is like a stretched out action scene that actually could last maximum 30 minutes. Even Afterlife has more story than this one, really. The main story from this one is Alice being rescued by Albert Wesker from evil computer Red Queen. I know right, WTF? Red Queen is still alive and suddenly Wesker is playing the good guy? It seems that Anderson has ran out of ideas. Also, he resurrected a couple of dead characters, like Carlos (Oded Fehr/Medjai from The Mummy), Michelle Rodriguez and also that tough guy from the first RE that still holds the title 'Best Death in RE films' by being cut to dices by a laser. Also, he brings back a 'lost' character, my personal favorite, Jill Valentine. Unfortunately, these characters are quite expendable (excluding Jill). And there seems to be no sign of Claire & Chris Redfield (Ali Larter & Wentworth Miller) which is a bummer and also K-Mart is left out! BOO! Although we get new characters, Becky (played by a girl with a super cool name Aryana Engineer), clone Alice's daughter and the quite useless but impeccably costumed Ada Wong, still Claire & Chris are great characters and it would be great to see em in action too. Dammit.

As for the tagline, Evil Goes Global, it is deceiving in every way. Evil Goes Global...... in a f*cking facility! Tokyo, Moscow, New York are merely sets used by Umbrella to sell T-Virus. How is it that the virus that wiped out United States are still at large at the market? Because screw logic.  I think the Goes Global thingy is a wasted opportunity. I was thinking epic battles in various corners of the Earth, not an underwater facility. And the repetition of creatures and plot (giving back Alice's powers? Really?) are signs of no more originality. What's with the title Retribution anyway? There's no sign of Retribution. It will be better suited if titled Resident Evil: Escape. RE: Retribution is pointless and to be honest, a bit time-wasting. I was kinda hoping that there is a bigger story than just escaping from the Umbrella facility, but sadly there isn't.  However, the action scenes are super cool because they are expertly choreographed and shot. Especially the last fight between Alice and Jill is amazingly brutal and intense. Also the music provided by Tomandandy definitely helps the coolness of the scenes. Paul WS Anderson is definitely an expert in action scenes but not story tellling. He has vision, a great one, but he needed assistance to maximize that vision with an amazing story as well. Because with this rate of RE: Retribution, he may as well turn the franchise into an expensive TV series. The next film is reportedly the last entry, I hope it will be satisfactory in every level. As of this film, the best Resident Evil film is still the original 2002. Resident Evil: Retribution: rated 1.5 stars out of 4. Sorry Milla, but you're still the most badass girl right now.


What's the significance of the title's post? It's my fear of going into new environment. I'm afraid I'm taking the wrong decision of moving to a place I barely knew. I guess it's time to quote Star Trek: My voyage, my mission: to boldly go where no man has gone before.

In a related topic, the new Star Trek film is titled Star Trek Into Darkness! Although we can still expect lens flares in the dark too.

Backstabbers & Schemers

What's the common denominator for Hollywood blockbusters like The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises? They are both beaten by a Korean film (in Korea) titled The Thieves (도둑들). This heist film is currently the 2nd most successful Korean film to date behind the 2006 The Host. Since I have no knowledge whatsoever about Korean films, I was going to give this film a three-sentence review. But unexpectedly this film does go beyond some Hollywood productions and I was awed. This film is also star-studded and features stars from Korea and also China/HK/Taiwan (I can't differentiate them). Many people are already comparing this with Soderbergh's Ocean's Eleven. This film is also making its American debut in Toronto International Film Festival. Secret: unlike my other post, this post is heavily sponsored by wikipedia and imdb.com, just to get those K-names right.

The story is a bit complicated but I'll try my best. So, there's Macao Park (Kim Seon-Yok), who's assembling a team from Korea and HongKong, to steal a diamond named Tear of the Sun. The diamond itself has been gone for a long time and the person who owns it, Wei Hong (Ki Gook-Seo), is a notorious gangster who's face isn't known by the public. In the Korean crew, Popie (Lee Jung-Jae) was once Macao Park's friend along with Pepsee (Kim Hye-soo) and they have a past that was quite unforgettable. In each team, the members have their own plans which actually jeopardizes the outcome of the heist itself.

It's a great year for Asian films, I guess. Earlier this year we have The Raid from Indonesia (fyi, as I'm writing this, the heavily-censored version of The Raid is playing in my local channel), a Hollywood-caliber action film. And now we have The Thieves. To be honest, my experience in the early parts of the film was a bit boring. However, later I realized that those talky parts are essential to the plot, which kinda pay off the yawn parts of the film. The actors are playing their roles superbly. I like the characters and conflict between Macao Park, Popie and Pepsee. I think that was the best subplot. And the second best was the characters Chewing Gum (Kim Hae Sok) and Chen (Simon Yam). Their characters spoke in Japanese and has a bittersweet yet satisfying end to their characters (I guess that's a spoiler). But for me the scene stealer is Gianna Jun as Yenicall. Gianna Jun--is--awesomely and insanely--sexy. She played the role nicely and cool. Gotta love her badly. The plot twist was superb and I think that was one of the great times I had in the movies where I got to hold my breath (quite literally) in order to see things unfold or happening. There's also a great action scene involving ropes and balconies (I try not to give much here). The film is greatly shot and staged, you could get lost and think that this is a Hollywood film. The film's greatest influence is definitely Ocean's trilogy with all those heists and plot twists and in some scenes, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, but I think this film has its own magnetic feeling and clever storytelling that makes this film an original film, not a rip-off. The film also maintains its light tone and doesn't get too serious because it has some great humor too. This is money well-spent. If I have to compare this to a recent Hollywood film (yes, The Bourne Legacy), I'd pick this one over that. The Thieves: rated 3.5 out of 4.

Just to make you sure, here's the trailer

Unworthy

First of all, wow it's been a while since I last full-reviewed a film. Proceed.

There are certain franchises that should be left alone, like for example, Pirates of the Caribbean, Transformers, and Indiana Jones. Those franchises are best recorded in history as outstanding trilogies. Bourne franchise goes into that category too. Yet, we are forced to see this new film, The Bourne Legacy, which features the name of the most engaging man in modern action films but does not feature him in the actual film. We can still buy Pirates with no Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann or (with an eyebrow-cringe) a clone Ripley in Alien 4, but Bourne without Bourne himself? It's like Jaws with guppies.

The trailers are, to be honest, misleading. Aaron Cross/Kenneth Kitsom (Jeremy Renner) isn't Treadstone. He's a part of a whole other program called Outcome. If you think that Dr. Hirsch (Albert Finney) is the mastermind of this all, you're wrong. There's this other puppeteer named Ric Byer (Ed Norton) who is responsible in making super soldiers for America, one of them Aaron Cross. Because of the events that occured in the Bourne trilogy, the dark ops in CIA are forced to clean up their messy things. People disappeared, killed, or looks to be killed. Operation Outcome is also being cleaned up, but they missed Aaron Cross.

This film entry feels like Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, where the story shouldn't be filmed. It is unworthy of filming. The character Aaron Cross isn't introduced clearly. What is Outcome? What's its purpose? Why did Aaron Cross and others doesn't look like soldiers albeit their addiction to special drugs that said can maximize intelligence and strength? Why did they have to addicted to those drugs? Is this a set up for the bloody sequel? Jeremy Renner did a great job here, but his character Aaron Cross isn't as magnetic as Matt Damon's Jason Bourne. Bourne is silent, mysterious, super clever, and cool whereas Cross is able-bodied yes, yet talky and quite frankly, annoying but most importantly, he isn't Bourne. Also, Ric Byer's position in this whole messy things isn't established well. Who is he? What did he really do apart from 'being in bed' with Dr. Hirsch (whom he eventually killed too, spoilers)? I'd like to rephrase my previous statement: The trailers are deceptive. We are promised incredible action and super-tight connection to (at least) The Bourne Ultimatum, but what do we get? Joan Allen and David Straithairn for 30 seconds, Albert Finney in a too-HD-to-be-true YouTube video, and Paddy Considine from Ultimatum archive footage. The actors are doing their job well, especially Renner and Rachel Weisz who looks great together on screen (I have to say honestly that Rachel Weisz looks great on screen with whoever she shared the screen with, even with only herself--I'm talking in every film). The worst job to be in is in Tony Gilroy's chair as director. What made the previous Bourne films interesting is the signature Greengrass-shaky cam and that is absent here and that made the film less interesting and indistinguishable from other spy/secret agent films. I have a feeling that Tony Gilroy is just interested in making money out of an already well-established franchise. Thank god, the script is still a bit smarter than your average secret agent films. The chase scene in Manila is great and the house action scene is also cool. Actually those are the only scenes that have some action for more than 15 seconds. I was hoping that Matt Damon would pop up in the ending somewhere to make this movie viewing worthwhile, but sadly no. The Bourne Legacy is too talky. This is the worst excuse to make an action film. I would rather see that Bourne's legacy was a CIA-courtroom-drama-while-chasing-Jason-Bourne film because that would be the real legacy. The Bourne Legacy: rated 2 out of 4.