Tommy C in Japan Y'all

So one of my favorite actors, Tom Cruise (I don't need to mention his films right?), came to Japan about one month ago. As a part of his promotion stunt to visit three cities in one day just like he did in the world premiere (NY, Paris, Rome--if I'm not mistaken), he repeated the same thing in Japan by visiting--in chronological order, Osaka--Fukuoka--and finally Tokyo. I was quite blessed to have the opportunity to go to Fukuoka to see him!

It's a crazy day, and the fan meeting event was held in one of the busiest spots in Fukuoka: Hakata Station, one of the central stations in that city. People were already waiting since 9.00 am in the morning for the event on 13.30. I myself arrived at around 11, when people were already lining up like it was a Disneyland ride. It was the most unstrategic place to hold a fan meeting of any scale, let alone Tom Cruise's fan meeting. Take a look at this crazy pic from above.

By 13.30, people were commuting around like crazy as they are trying to join the crowd although they didn't line up since 9 am. Tom Cruise showed up with director Doug Liman and one of the producer whose name I can't recall. Tom Cruise greeted the people above he also looked unsatisfied with the venue. Even though he's on a stage, most people couldn't see him. Then he climbed onto a railing and stood up there and waved to people. The crowd went nuts. Then he gave a short speech about he love coming to Japan and how the Japanese original inspired the Hollywood adaptation. I loved how he's so humble and kind to the fans--or as the Japanese call it 'meccha ii fan sabisu'. One sentence moved me a lot when he said, "it is my honor to entertain you"

not from my iPhone-duh

He was up there for around 20 minutes in total. Doug Liman was asked questions and the producer too. Then the three of them were given a traditional Fukuoka yukata. And that was it. I think there was a special screening of a bit of the film, I have no idea whether Tom Cruise was there or not. I hope not, because if he did, I'd be so pissed that I didn't 'hunt' him.

Here's to more movie premieres in the future.

                        

Late Bloomers

I am sorry. I have not written here for so long that I have forgotten this habit. I owe whoever frequently reads this shitty blog of mine. So, about three weeks ago I had a marathon of the films I would call Frozen dethroners. So, in Japan Frozen (or titled in Japan as a more sensible but generic fare Anna and the Snow Queen) had reigned the box office for 14 weeks straight. But then Maleficent and Edge of Tomorrow (or titled cooler in Japan All You Need Is Kill) was released and succeeded in breaking the 14-week-reign. And just yesterday, Japan finally welcomed their own creation Godzilla.

Edge of Tomorrow
I felt blessed to have met/seen Tom Cruise live in Japan before watching this film. This film looked super solid from the first trailer and it actually is. The main plot is a recycled Groundhog Day but with more rules and twists. Tom Cruise plays Lt. Cage, a coward PR agent who was forced to join the army and battle alien race called Mimics. He's helped by the Full Metal Bitch, Rita Vrataski (a hyper badass Emily Blunt). Edge of Tomorrow is surprisingly intense and funny at the same time while still retaining the quality it possesses, a really rare feat for a summer blockbuster these days (last time a summer film was funny and action-packed was White House Down and we know how it turned out). The ending is another great point for me. It doesn't make sense, but do everything has to make sense? You should be able to figure it out by yourself using your own brain. Edge of Tomorrow: rated 4/4

Maleficent
I have never seen Sleeping Beauty (cue the jaw drop), so I came to this film only knowing that sleeping beauty is Aurora and the villain is Maleficent. I thought the film would still retain the animated film version but with a perspective from the villain, make Maleficent like an anti-hero thing. But no, they actually did a new take on the film. It is also a part of the new wave Disney that tries to wash clean the whole true-love-is-from-a-prince thing, like Frozen. The visuals look cool and stuff, Angelina Jolie is great as the titular role but the fact that it has so little story bugged me. It felt great at sometimes but at some time it also felt disjointed and out of place. I find it sad to see Sharlto Copley reduced as a grunting King whose death was cut just to make the PG rating. Also Brenton Thwaites reduced to just being a pretty face, when he could do great like in the stellar horror film Oculus. Lana del Rey's take on Once Upon A Dream though, that's quality. Maleficent: rated 2.5/4

Godzilla
The King of Monsters is back. Gareth Edwards of Monsters fame is on the helm with a group of spectacular actors that include Bryan Cranston, Elizabeth Olsen and Sally Hawkins. After the ill-received Roland Emmerich version of Godzilla in 1998, this version is the one Hollywood and Japan needed. It is a fresh take on Godzilla, and it combined the geek momentum from the underrated Pacific Rim and also the popularity of the creature itself. The story is more in this film, so for those people who asked for more story in your films you can suck on this. In this version, Godzilla is mother nature's natural weapon to eliminate MUTOs or you can just say Kaiju. He battled (spoiler) two creatures that were to endanger humanity. The approach to this film is an exceptional one. Instead of giving us the creature from the get go, it builds up to the climax. It is very effective to create this dark brooding atmosphere so that we can feel like in the situation. However, I think the story might be too much that it kinds of sidelined the human characters. It's such a pity to see Elizabeth Olsen just screaming around whenever Godzilla was battling the other monsters. Also Ken Watanabe who's just there to stare at things and got awed at creatures. There's not enough Godzilla action too, but everytime he's on screen it's that awesome y'all. I also don't like the fact that Godzilla was praised after he destroyed two cities that are separated by an ocean. What about Man of Steel? Bottomline, Godzilla may not be a summer film, but it is an amazing film. Godzilla: rated 4/4

Golden Men

Sorry, I have reviews of Edge of Tomorrow and Maleficent on draft and post about Tom Cruise's quick stroll to Fukuoka. But today was Emmy noms announcement. And let's just breathe in at that KILLER category: OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES.

You ready? Cause I kinda not.

Jeff Daniels as Will McAvoy (The Newsroom) 
Last year's winner. This year's in Dumb and Dumber To. Last season of The Newsroom was stellar although not for the critics. Last year's win was an upset for Cranston and this year sees Daniels in a very slim chance of winning his second.


Jon Hamm as Don Draper (Mad Men)
Seven seasons, zero Emmys. It's about time Jon Hamm win the statue but looking at this year's rivals, not today Don. Thank goodness the final season of Mad Men is given the TV version of Deathly Hallows--split into two parts. His last chance is next year.


Woody Harrelson as Martin Hart (True Detective)
In this year's amazing debut, True Detective is making the critics and audience crazy. First season and they have the duo from Surfer Dude? I mean, the most underrated actor in Hollywood Woody Harrelson is on TV? It should be a win, if not because of his having-the-time-of-his-life costar.


Kevin Spacey as Frank Underwood (House of Cards)
If this were a House of Cards world, then Frank Underwood--I mean, Kevin Spacey would've won. Netflix got one of their two gems multiple-nominated for Emmys and Kevin Spacey has always been the driving force behind Netflix's rising dominance. I wished he would win but the competition, man.


Bryan Cranston as Walter White (Breaking Bad)
Last year was BB's last season and BEST season. Not only it's great to see the legendary show honored with Cranston's win, but Cranston truly deserved it as well. It's time to remember his name properly by giving him an award.


Matthew McConaughey as Rust Cohle (True Detective)
And this is the big boy. Other networks were protesting HBO's decision to submit True Detective as Drama series, which means less chance for those equally great shows to win--because admit it, True Detective was crazy amazing. And this ACADEMY-AWARD WINNING ACTOR is the lead, and it's not just a cash-in performance, it was an ACADEMY-AWARD WORTHY performance. Even in my opinion, it's better than his turn in Dallas Buyers Club. This is your winner people, and if he's not, then lemme replay that Charlton Heston cameo scene from Tim Burton's remake just to say: damn them, damn them all to hell!

Well in my opinion it's just down to three: SPACEY VS. CRANSTON VS. MCCONAUGHEY
There are one name that's missing in the amazing entry of men above though: the Master in Masters of Sex, Martin Sheen as William Masters. Also there are many noteworthy Emmy rivalry this year, but not as crazy as the men above. Take a look at some of these below

PAUL VS. DINKLAGE
I wished Aaron Paul would win, but it's just impossible to beat Peter Dinklage.

GUNN VS. HEADEY
Anna Gunn all the way even though Lena Headey is so good as the Lannister bitch.

OITNB THREESOME CLASH
It's Nicky vs. Crazy Eyes vs. Sophia. I'll bet my normal eyes for Crazy Eyes.

CUMBERBATCH VS. FREEMAN
I don't know who's gonna win because I haven't seen Fargo yet. But it's fun seeing this.

THE NORMAL HEART DUDE-FOURSOME VS. FREEMAN
Although it has Matt Bomer and Jim Parsons among them, they said The Normal Heart is an obvious awards-bait. But Martin Freeman in Sherlock is just pure quality.


It's so crazy that even the Emmys could be this crazy. Five years ago no one would've paid attention to all the fuss on TV because movies were way better. But now, whoa.

Noah Begins

This one is a long story. So, back in March I was in Indonesia and this Aronofsky latest is definitely on my watchlist while in Indonesia. But weeks prior to its planned release, I kept hearing news that Noah is banned in many Muslim countries, even Malaysia. I became suspicious, Indonesia a self-proclaimedly proud country with Muslim majority must be making up its mind about the film. Then about three days before the release, Noah was pulled from every coming soon list in cinemas. The censorship board was: Noah might bring restlessness that can affect people's beliefs and also the country's condition leading up to the national election three months later. What. A. Lot. Of. Bull. Fucking. Shit. Anyway, here I am three months later in Japan finally watching the film in its glory in cinemas. After last time, I missed Black Swan in cinemas because of Indonesian government stupidity (see the Hollywood film boycott in 2011), I would not miss any more Darren Aronofsky film.

The film is a different take on that story from the Bible. Noah is tasked with saving the animals by God who wants to wipe out humanity because their bad deeds were beyond saving. After Cain/Abel incident, the world was divided into two: the Cain family who brought darkness and the Seth family who brought blessings. Don't forget additional Bible mythology that includes The Watchers, fallen angels trapped in the constraints of the Earth. Bottom line, this is not your religion class' version of the tale of Noah.

Even as a (supposedly) devout Catholic, this film surprised me a lot. I don't mind that God was not mentioned, The Creator was one of God's nickname anyway. If we complained about that, then all those dinosaur fossils can complain because apparently Brontosauruses was called Long Necks in The Land Before Time. It has strange customs that involves snakeskin from the Garden of Eden snake, old guy craving for berries, and exotically fictional animals. What bugged me the most was Noah's struggle that was very dark. Noah let an innocent girl die, and almost (spoiler) killed two other innocent lives. He was very grim and unlike what you imagined in the Bible. And no, God did not call out on Noah and his family that it was time to be in the lands. There's no God's voice. It is also different from the Bible firstly from the fact the in this film Noah is not some hundred years old and all of his boys already have wives. There are many creative takes on the story and I need to watch it again in order to fully understand Aronofsky's intention. It's also a shame that the film chose not to spend more time on how Noah and the Watchers build the ark. But what was amazing was all the majestic scenes: the creation scene and the holy water scene. Clint Mansell's score is also amazing. It's a wonder those speakers at the cinema could handle that much of awesomeness. Despite the creative freedom taken by Aronofsky, the theme raised in the film was very resonant and religious. The take on how water was used instead of fire to annihilate mankind was amazing too. Water was cleansing and purifying whereas fire was pure destruction. It was beautiful. The cast is also great, Russell Crowe is fitting as the rugged and gritty Noah. I think this version of Noah that we now see is a product of Christopher Nolan and Batman Begins' influence. The year 2005 saw everything changed into grittiness and realism, but thankfully Darren Aronofsky still awes us with fantasy in this film. Noah: rated 3/4 (basically because I need to watch it again)


Next up: my report on seeing Tom Cruise in Fukuoka.
Next next up: review on Jay Depp's Transcendence or double feature of Edge of Tomorrow/Maleficent

Back to the Future

Fox's X-Men franchise has been around for 14 years now and during that timeframe, they already have six films. Mostly with great reviews but surely they had misfires as well, please refer to X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men Origins: Wolverine. What's past is past, and it would be written in history unless they had the power to change the upcoming history. Enter X-Men: Days of Future Past. Based on a super popular comic series, it unites franchise veterans and newbies (not n00b newbies, but incredible newbies). It is a smart move, to expand the 14-year-old franchise, to disown the bad films, and to match The Avengers team power.

The story is a convoluted one. The original trilogy X-Men are in the bleak future where mutants are hunted by advanced Sentinels. Sentinels were created by Bolivar Trask, Mystique/Raven's first murder victim back in the 1960s. Mutants are forced to hide, even in China. Professor X (who's miraculously resurrected) and Magneto (who's miraculously regained his power) agreed to send Wolverine back in time to prevent Mystique from killing Trask. In the process, Wolverine witnessed young Magneto and young Professor's struggle and power as well as experiencing first hand Quicksilver's powers.

It's super great, I tell you, as a film. However, as an addition to a franchise this might be handicapped. There are so many plot holes inside the franchise that it's beyond saving. Firstly, so with the existence of DoFP, what happens to the other films? Does the original trilogy exist? Do the Wolverine spinoffs exist? It's such a shame especially with the case of The Wolverine where Wolvie meets his uber-hot Japanese girlfriend. However, let's praise the film. The cast is amazing. It's been a while since I experienced Fassbender and damn it's good to be back. James McAvoy is also great as the rugged and lost Professor X. Wolverine's a bit put aside but as always Hugh Jackman is the definitive embodiment of Wolverine. Best scenes: Quicksilver and Magneto's escape, young and old Professor X meets, and all the action scenes. One of the problem with the film is John Ottman's music that is too Zimmer-influenced. All that Inception horns are so bad to go with the incredible action. And that anti-climactic, anti-curiosity Apocalypse end-credits. Ah, and there's not enough room for Peter Dinklage to shine! At least we could still look forward to fifth season of Game of Thrones.

While X-Men: Days of Future Past remained great, the biggest problem in it is the whole 'fixing the franchise' thing. Continuity is ruined and there seemed to be too many plotholes to mention. And let's not forget that in my logic, even though Mystique saved Nixon, Magneto still attacked Nixon before, isn't that also make the mutants dangerous? If I were Trask, I would still pursue the Sentinel project. Also the future Sentinel design is so strange and out of place. And there's not enough time to introduce all those new future mutants. The only one shining bright is Blink with her teleportation device/mutation/ability/whatevs. X-Men: Days of Future Past: rated 3.5/4


This post has been lying around for three weeks now. Sorry for the delay. I'm going to roll out Noah review and my post about my experience joining Tom Cruise's Edge of Tomorrow fan meeting within days before July. Bear with me!