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

How A Bunch of A-Holes Turned The Table

I should review Akiva Goldman's Winter's Tale or Paul WS Anderson's Pompeii, but there's a (supposedly) big thing that needs to be the topic of this post. The trailer for Marvel's brave (or stupid, time will tell) Guardians of the Galaxy just dropped some days ago during Jimmy Kimmel. It's an unexpectedly super fun trailer I just can't fathom it. To tell you the truth, I was already sold into watching the film with the 15-second teaser. But the full trailer made me want to watch it in the cinemas. The Marvel jokes work in the trailer. The trailer also embraced the silliness of the premise. But in the meantime, also teasing the incredible space sci-fi action adventure scenes that are in store in August. And even for this kind of film (third-tier superhero team), the casting are top-notch. I liked Chris Pratt in the role, he's super likable along with super hot green Zoe Saldana, Batista, John C. Reilly and Djimon Hounsou. Even Cruella De Vil Glenn Close is in this film, like wtf? However, it could end up as weird and strange like that mid-credits scene with Benicio Del Toro's The Collector. Nevertheless, it could be because of the different tone with the more majestic Thor. But with that trailer, GotG is actually on my top 10 list of films to watch this year now. The poster for the film is also great to look at. So, among some of the biggies this year, how does A-Holes of the Galaxy fare?

Guardians vs. Transformers
I gotta say, Guardians. The new Transformers trailer might be cool to the fans of the animated series but I am not a fan. The robots looks strange (that gun faced thing), Nicola Peltz ain't Megan Fox or even Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, and what if I don't want to stay behind Mark Wahlberg's back during a robot attack? The only thing appealing for Transformers: Age of Extinction is the amount of Bayhem and the name Transformers itself. Guardians looks like fun and intense at the same time.

Guardians vs. Spidey
This one's a no contest. Never liked the new Spidey even I liked the idea of Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield in one film. The new film is a gamble and a possible mess. Not to mention the spoilerific trailers that I actually settled for that one trailer they released the first time. Guardians of the Galaxy is a slam dunk to The (supposedly) Amazing Spider-Man 2.


And Blue Swede's Hooked On A Feeling has been on repeat since.

Winter's Tale
Anyway, Colin Farrell/Lady Sybil, sorry Jessica Brown-Findlay starring Winter's Tale is a rare Hollywood fairy tale. Among the more realistic, gritty offerings, Winter's Tale actually gave something different. I loved the whole premise and idea. But things got weird--I mean real weird, and it's even weird for me. I was actually expecting a love story with a little fantasy element, but it's actually a fantasy with love story. The weirdness ranges from the villains who stupidly drive cars on a frozen lake, a horse that's actually a dog, face-shifting Russell Crowe, and Will Smith. The castings might seem a little off although in actuality they are good. It's not common to see Colin Farrell in this role but he played it nicely. However, it's sad that Jessica Brown-Findlay of Downton Abbey fame got a little typecasted as an aristocrat Brit and Russell Crowe basically played a supernatural, song-less Javert. The worst part of the film is Will Smith as Lucifer (which I thought was a joke in Russell Crowe's tweet), who doesn't change outfits for 100 years. Some story elements are not explained well, which makes the film a little stupid. Essentially, it's a weird-ass Hollywood fairy-tale with some boring lovey-dovey-you've-seen-it-all parts, some nice parts and a charming resolution in the end. Winter's Tale: rated 2.5/4

Pompeii

I'll keep this brief. Pompeii is Paul WS Anderson's best film since his Death Race remake, and that's already saying too much praise. Everything else is basically what you expect from his films but not with too much annoying elements. It's also amazing that he could muster an ensemble that includes Kiefer Sutherland, Jared Harris and Carrie Anne-Moss. The story is hyper-cliched, but the final act with the volcano makes it different. Bastille's Pompeii is still the best pop-culture medium to have been titled the name of the doomed city. Pompeii: rated 2/4



It has been a slow month at the theaters since The Lego Movie. I can't wait til Liam Neeson brings something fun this weekend with Non-Stop.
Back to Downton Abbey this week! And maybe some predictions on next week's Oscars!

The Truth, Falling and Eyes

I have considered myself all this time a guy with a skill to hide lies exceptionally well. Most of the people I lied to never know the truth. But once in my life, I would like to right some wrongs by telling the truth because truth is the right of all sentient beings. Yes, I just deliberately misquoted Optimus Prime to remind you that this is a movie blog with occasional meltdown posts. Think of this as my #iamsorry art exhibition or this is that desire to leave moviemaking and restart a career as a painter (those are Shia LaBeouf and Steven Soderbergh, respectively. if you are lost in translation).

Let's start with the background. Set the scene. I've gone back after roughly one year abroad. On the surface, I loved the idea of going home; meeting old friends; doing nothing at home; going to familiar happy places. On the inside, this is, the truth, I questioned the idea of going home. I have a perfectly comfortable part-time job with a considerably high income. I have friends. I have something to do instead of doing nothing at home. But, now, I'm home studying for the upcoming TOEFL test and meeting old friends in between. And what is the definition of old friends? Friends? I know which ones are my friends. However, I have a blurred understanding of who and what an acquaintance is. Am I meeting the now-acquaintances that used to be incredibly important or used to be friends? Should I meet that acquaintance, hoping that they would fall back into the category of friends?

To tell you my position, I'm standing on the edge of a slippery cliff. One push and I'm gone. One push and I'm back to square one. One push and I'm going back to the person I tried so hard to change years ago. One push and I want that acquaintance to play more roles in my life. Scratch that, one push and I want that acquaintance to be the leading role in my life. One push and I want everything to go back to the good ol' days. One push. It only takes one push and I actually have been pushed. I'm on the process of falling. Falling. Falling is not to move downward without any control, without any safeguard. Falling is writing things that are in your mind that you don't usually talk about in your blog at 12 am. Falling is instead of sleeping you think about the things that you think could matter but it is actually not a big deal. Falling is feeling lost in your last months as a teenager. Falling is wanting to stare that someone important in their eyes. Eyes. Get your rap beats and look into my eyes so you know what it's like. Falling is wanting someone to look me in the eyes. Eyes. Two balls connected to some mumbo-jumbo-high-school-stuff nerves. Falling is wanting someone to read this because I'm maybe too scared to say things in actuality, in reality. Falling is having the faith that you think would undo that one push. Paradoxical. I heard too much of that word today it actually became carved in my bones.

Enough with that shit, now onto the more tangible issue. I'm in a university in Japan. Naturally when you return to your home country people start asking these questions. I understand. Curiosity is the root of every human life. I understand and I always try my best to answer those questions and fulfill your quenching thirst of curiosity. But when people start asking the questions that lead to the most irritating feeling in my soul, I have to say fuck it. I always hated the idea of going to Japan. It had to do with some personal issues in my late years of highschool but most of all, I never wanted to go there. And then, last weekend some extended family relatives started to ask me senseless questions like why Japan? Why not USA? Why not Australia? Fuck it and don't ask me. I always have the illusion of free will. Couple of years back, I would be told to choose any path that I like. The truth? Money chose the path I go. I guess currency is the currency of the realm. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the life I have there. If it were not for the people I met there, I would absolutely lament my existence.

In the spirit of telling (random) truths, I hated the idea of informing what you do on various social medias. You know, the 'Having a sunny-side egg on a sunny morning. Good morning!'-kind of posts. And then, add that with aesthetically pleasing photos that are actually a pain in the ass to get right. The ones you had to get the hipster lighting or the ones that you got to look stupid for people around you. As for me, I'm very selective in sharing information and I don't want to tell the truth to people I don't know shit about. If you want to know more, look more, search more.



Re-reading this, I know why sometimes I doubt myself to say things that sounded clever. This is a lot of shit. The essence is still true though. hashtaglolz

Update March 9: this post, although useless and vaguely confessional, helped a lot for my TOEFL test's writing section. I didn't practice much on the writing but a night prior to the test I wrote this fucker and it really helped. 29/30 bitchessss. 


Anyway, reviews, that are of movies of course, are still to come. Either Pompeii or Winter's Tale.

Part Man, Part Boring

A friendly disclaimer: I haven't seen the Paul Verhoeven version of RoboCop. I did actually, bits of it when it's on TV some years ago, and it wasn't my liking. I'm not sure if I want to see it in my holidays too. Anyway, the remake looked sleek and quite cool so I decided to give it a go. Making his Hollywood debut, director Jose Padilha and lead actor Joel Kinnaman of The Killing headlined this affair. Supported by stellar cast that includes Gary Oldman, Michael Keaton and Jackie Earle Haley, this film promised a thoughtful story and also plenty of action. Or so they said.

The story is your usual RoboCop origins with a great cop, paralyzed because of accident and saved by turning him into a law-enforcer machine. It is a part of OmniCorp, a leading company in robotics machinery to make machines as law enforcers in the US, just like in any other country (this is the future). That's why they decided to put a man inside the machine. But the flaw is, does that man inside the machine become a machine completely or still a man?

I didn't have high hopes, but I had my expectations. The RoboCop suit is somehow a step up. As Michael Keaton's Sellars said, it's way more tactical and cool than the 1987 version. Anything futuristic is better now than the 80s of course. I liked the actors, particularly Joel Kinnaman. It's a shame that they didn't give more to him. After he became part machine, he became boring as well. I know he's supposed to be a robot, but that's a waste of talent. The story is too heavy on the first half, it doesn't leave much fun and action to see. It was not until the climactic part that it started to get fun. The shame is, the fun didn't last long. The story isn't bad, I tell you, the execution wasn't good enough. Sam L Jackson is the worst part in the film for me. I hated everything about him in this film. I watched Spike Lee's Oldboy earlier, and I disliked his role too. Sam L Jackson, it might seem interesting at first to see you shout your lines, but not anymore, not after you do that in every fucking film you star in (but please do more to people who mistook you for Laurence Fishburne). I couldn't blame director Jose Padilha for all the bad things in the film, it was the studio's fault, wasn't it? A great reminder of how this remake shouldn't have been brought up in the first place. I even enjoyed the Colin Farrell version of Total Recall than this. At least for all Total Recall's flaws, it still delivered action and Kate Beckinsale's badassery. While this remake/reboot/update/whatever you call it doesn't offer much. RoboCop: rated 2/4.


This film could also be uninteresting because of my other venture which I just completed, the immensely addictive second season of House of Cards. I just couldn't stop until I finished it (double taps with ring).

Next post: either Pompeii or The Winter's Tale. Or both. And yes, I'm in Indonesia already.

All You Need is Kill

So after some self-doubt about my own endurance about watching a sadistic violent film in cinemas, I braved myself to watch the new Indonesian film Killers, no, it's not that Kutcher/Heigl-Knight and Day wannabe film. This one is the first ever joint production between Japan and Indonesia starring Japanese and Indonesian actors and also filmed in both Tokyo and Jakarta. Directed by The Mo Brothers of Rumah Dara/Macabre fame and produced by the team behind The Raid. The film is one of the two Indonesian films to premiere at Sundance this year, and the other one being The Raid 2. It also debuted to positive reviews too. Good stuff for Indonesian film yes?

The story is divided into two settings, Tokyo and Japan. In Tokyo, we're told about the life and story of Nomura, a disturbed man with serial killing routine who uploads his killings to the Internet. Then, in Indonesia, a twisted desperate reporter Bayu got inspired to do the same while going on a revenge mission against a corrupt man who had destroyed his career and life.

What makes Killers good is its decision to hold nothing back to show its violence and sadism. The killings are really creative (I don't have any killing intention), and skillfully shot. I still haven't seen Rumah Dara, but it's next on my watchlist. Oka Antara and Kazuki Kitamura are great in their respective roles as Bayu and Nomura. Oka Antara's acting is more physical and Kitamura's is more psychological. That's really fun to observe. I really liked Nomura's dark background with his sister and intention and the vigilante story with Bayu is also interesting. The supporting cast are good too. My favorites are Ellie, Bayu's daughter played incredibly by the child actor and the Japanese Rin Takanashi as Hisae. There are also some great action scenes that are already worth your ticket. However the film kinda jumped the shark when [spoiler alert] Nomura visited Indonesia. Then the third act recalls the climactic 'lie like I lied' scene in The Dark Knight. Also the bad green screen in the third act made it hard not to laugh. The long running time might also be a turn off, but otherwise I couldn't see how they could cut it down and still display the complicated story. However, the film is rightfully bloody and violent and the quiet build in the story is more the virtue. The story keeps you in the theater because you'd already know what to expect. For an Indonesian film, this film is definitely another addition in the above average category. Next stop: The Raid 2, also co-starring Killers lead actors, Oka Antara and Kazuki Kitamura. Killers: rated 3.5/4

fun fact: I understand roughly the Japanese dialogues without seeing the subtitles. YEAH. and god, please, Japanese people please learn proper English pronunciation.

Toy Story

First of all, let's be honest, who doesn't cringe at the idea of making a feature film out of Lego bricks? Then the all-star voice works came on, but I wasn't impressed a bit. Then the trailers was released and I was sold. This film might be the only film with Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman and Green Lantern that could work. The trailers were super energetic and I have never been this pumped to see an animated film since a very long time and the last animated films were not that impressive either (except for Frozen, duh).

The story could be summed up by the obvious tagline, "it's a story of a nobody who saved everybody". Emmet (Chris Pratt) is just a normal human being who accidentally discovered the Piece of Resistance that could thwart Lord Business' (Will Ferrell) plan to make things stiff and unimaginative using Kragle. Emmet then meets the group of Master Builders that includes Superman, Gandalf, Dumbledore and Abraham Lincoln. It was said that only Master Builders that could stop Lord Business' plan and that person was called The Special. But is Emmet Special?

Directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller who directed the mega hilarious 21 Jump Street, I was expecting more than bags of laughs. And damn, you wouldn't be disappointed. It is also expertly made to look like stop-motion animation using Legos but it was all CGI animation. The Lego world-building was highly creative and it was a pleasant to watch the details. The voiceworks are hilarious and great too! My favorites here are Good Cop/Bad Cop by Liam Neeson and Vitruvius by Morgan Freeman. Not only the characters are funny, the voices by them great actors are funny too. I keep imagining Freeman and Neeson's faces. Also great as a character and voice is Batman voiced by Will Arnett. Batman is hilariously crafted as a narcissistic superhero and made the superhero's coolness into comedy.  Also cool at the center of the film are Emmet by Chris Pratt and Wyldstyle by Elizabeth Banks. The moral of the story is also different from other animated films, which made this film a stand out. This film could just be a really good animated film had it not made the unexpected turn of events at the third act which made the film amazingly great. I wouldn't wanna spoil the surprise by now, but that turn made this film not only enjoyable by kids but also by adults. This film is this generation's Toy Story and this film is also the best animated film since Toy Story 3, (yes, better than Frozen). For your consideration, best animated film 2015. The Lego Movie: rated 4/4.

My Second Church

I'm going to confess a little here. However, if you're some kind of authority, please feel free to look away and forget about this blog, like normal people do. Having living here in Japan for about 17 months, with the stupid rules about films shown on cinemas, I usually download films. To catch up on the films that are not shown or shown late in Japanese cinemas. And considering that a ticket in Japan cost about 4 times than Indonesian movie ticket, I would go to the cinemas as an act of absolution. Going to the cinemas and spending 1000 yen for 2-hour-worth of time, is my sacrament. I need that to make someone forgive me about the crimes that I have done, which is downloading films. But, on second thought, is it really my fault? Is it only me who downloads a lot of films while the Japanese box office revenue decreased in 2013? For Japan, it is time to change this ridiculous rules so that people would still go to the cinemas. In short, you simply can't make barriers on the Internet and prevent people from downloading films. It's a brand new world.

Anyway, this weekend I managed to catch up on Thor: The Dark World and The Wolf of Wall Street. Thor is my second ridiculous movie-waiting after last summer's four-month-wait for Star Trek Into Darkness. My initial plan was actually to have a hardcore marathon of three films, adding American Hustle to the mix too. But I had no money, and I'm going back to Indonesia in a couple of days as well. I could catch up with David O. Russell's film easily.

Thor: The Dark World
Thor is one of my favorite MCU film entry, and this film was a lot of fun. However, the story was incredibly bland. The supposedly main baddie, Malekith was horribly shoved to the sidelines, effectively wasting Christopher Eccleston's skills by making him only project Judge Dredd face and reading mindless alien dialogue. The film was in tone with the first one which is funny and not that serious. Chris Hemsworth is forever Thor and he's swell in his role. Natalie Portman is super gorgeous it makes me want to quit uni and move to a science faculty. But the real treat here is Tom Hiddleston as Loki, he's just superb. He practically saved this film from being a total mediocrity. Loki is MCU's best villain and asset, period. Apart from Chris Eccleston, Jaimie Alexander and Rene Russo, respectively as Lady Sif and Frigga, are grossly underused. Bottomline, the film was just pleasant. Not brilliant, but as a whole, a little bit better than Iron Man 3. Thor: The Dark World: rated 3/4.

The Wolf of Wall Street
I thought for sure Matthew McConaughey deserves that Oscar on the upcoming March 2 ceremony. I thought Jordan Belfort was just a simple character for DiCaprio to tackle. I was wrong. Give the gold to Leonardo DiCaprio. Martin Scorsese's latest 3-hour film of sex, drugs and money was unexpectedly funny and brilliant. The film follows the life of the wolf of wall street, Jordan Belfort as he cheats, makes, inspires people to make money. With Scorsese's surefire direction, the film couldn't go wrong. Add that with the actors' brilliant performances and you just got yourself an Oscar worthy film. This film is an acting masterclass material. Belfort's speeches scene or the drug paralysis scene are amazing. The dialogues are superb because for this kind of talky film, it sure didn't feel like three hour. It's one of my favorite film of the year. The Wolf of Wall Street: rated 4/4.

See you on my two-month, Indonesia-based post!