This Week On... We Have No Avengers This Month

I don't know if this is some kind of American torture on Japanese people as a part of their long game on the retaliation of Pearl Harbor. Or this is Japanese self-torture on their war losses after the two atomic bombs, you know, that Bushido code and stuff. But the fact that the Japanese release of definitely the biggest movie of the summer, Avengers: Age of Ultron is delayed until July 4 is killing me. Not the reality that I have to wait for two months, because I've done worse with Star Trek Into Darkness and Thor: The Dark World (4 MONTHS WAIT). It is the necessary manoeuvre that I'm about to take to avoid imminent spoilers from the disgusting attention-seeking geeks of the internet who posts spoilers on YouTube comments and also to avoid over-sharing from the click-hungry, zero-quality movie blogs who decides that every single scene in Avengers is worth analyzing. OH LOOK AT THE HULK HOLDING HANDS WITH SCARLETT JOHANSSON! Yes, I'm going to stay away from the Internet for two months. But I will still post something here though, don't worry. It's just those posts won't have anything to do with them Earth's mightiest heroes.

But for now, let's rank the ever-growing Marvel Cinematic Universe, now includes Phase Two!
Deja vu? If you're an avid reader of this blog (which you aren't), I ranked pre-The Avengers Marvel movies three years ago exactly in this timeframe. Yeah, there's some reshuffling in the order, because you know, my own character development and stuff.

10. Captain America: The First Avenger
It is the type of property that wasted goodwill (I don't know what that meant). I've only watched this twice and I almost fell asleep at the exact same point. It is not the action-packed superhero movie that we were promised. It sucked that the movie sucked because the cast is pretty awesome. It is also sad that this lackluster movie spawned a potentially awesome TV series that unfortunately turned out to be pretty lackluster as well. Man, I really like Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter so why can't Marvel make something good with her in it. And also, boo hoo, you just wasted Natalie Dormer big time in this film.

9. Iron Man 2
The movie's a mess. I don't know how to put it. If this were TV, this would be the equivalent of Gotham. Yes, it has that many easter eggs for future installments, many cameos. OK it's not as bad as Gotham. It has a pretty solid action though but still the story's all over the place. Yes, Scarlett's first outing as Black Widow might be one of the few things that saved this from being a total mess.

8. Iron Man 3

It's sad to see how Iron Man fell this much. The action scenes are amazing. But this film is the death of the ideology of being a hero. Tony Stark spent most of his Iron Man outings cowering in the safety of his Iron Man simulation making the suit do all the work but put himself out of harm's way. Don't make me start on those unfunny supposed-to-be-funny scenes. And of course that weak twist. And that fire-breathing Guy Pearce. Oh, so many to hate.

7. Thor: The Dark World

It's a very hollow movie, with very little consequences aside from having Agent Coulson cleaning up the mess in London. Let's make Thor movies about Thor vs. Loki because that's what people want to see. And what was that white alien doing? Nobody knows. All we know was that Tom Hiddleston owned this movie.

6. The Incredible Hulk

This is such a good movie if you think about it. Before being a cinematic universe was cool. Marvel infused just the right amount of easter eggs: not too much. Edward Norton was solid. Tim Roth was amazing. It's also refreshing to see a really mean-looking Hulk, rather than the current, a bit sappy one. I guess that's what you get when you use Mark Ruffalo's face. Hey, no hate for Ruffalo, he did a very good job. It just makes you wonder what Norton would bring if he's still Banner.

5. The Avengers

The movie could be better. It's those kiddie jokes that ruined the movies, that puny god scene or when the Hulk punched Thor out of nowhere. WHY. Despite all the stupid going on, the movie changes the landscape for being the first superhero team-up film. And executed so well than expected. The alien thing might turn off some people but yeah, it's just awesome to see those heroes team-up.

4. Thor

This one is also a very well-done film. This movie has that a different vibe with the other Marvel movies. I'd go out on a limb and say that this film is among the top three best directed Marvel movies along with Guardians of the Galaxy and Iron Man. Different with The Dark World, this one doesn't feel generic, it's original, it's grand. It's what you get when you have Kenneth Branagh on board, a superhero film on a Shakespearian scale.

3. Guardians of the Galaxy

I could love this movie more, if it's not for the over-praising that filled the Internet (guys, this movie doesn't deserve Best Picture at the Oscars, okay?). It's a fresh and a weird take on the superhero genre as well. And surprisingly, it works. The cast is instantly lovable. The juxtaposition with classic tunes only made it even better. And that dance-off scene--simply one of the best scenes of 2014.

2. Captain America: The Winter Soldier

2014 was a pretty big year for Marvel. Two movies, two game-changers. Unlike Iron Man movies which declined though time, the Cap is taking a big step by changing the course of MCU as a whole. It also doesn't feel like a generic punch-em beat-em superhero film, there's more story into it. It made Agents of SHIELD bad and good too. So, it's a big game-changer. The only sad thing is that the sub-titular character is shoved way behind for this huge story development.

1. Iron Man

Still the best film of them all is the one that started it all. We could have game-changers, but this film is the game-maker. Without it, MCU would be lost. Casting RDJ is of course a big win. He practically set the whole mood for the rest of the films. Hiring Jon Favreau is also a gamble but it worked. The whole film is a gamble and it is great. While Chris Nolan's The Dark Knight trilogy might be the best superhero films, Iron Man might be the only Marvel movie that could come close to the same level of greatness.

So, see you in two months for something Avengers related

Although, next I might talk about Daredevil.

Furiouser and Furiouser

It's still remarkable to see that Fast & Furious franchise is hitting installment number seven and it's still growing. However, the growth was brought to a halt when one of the main stars of the film Paul Walker, who's in six of the seven films portraying Brian O'Conner died in an accident. The world was taken aback by this incident which only shows how Fast & Furious went from being a B-grade racing film to an A-grade world phenom blockbuster, especially since Fast Five took a turn in the franchise's direction. Like the franchise itself, the cast is also growing by adding Hollywood vets Kurt Russell and Djimon Hounsou to Game of Thrones breakout star Nathalie Emmanuel who played Khaleesi's right hand woman, Missandei.

The story takes off right after the sixth one. Owen Shaw's brother, Deckard (Jason Statham) seeks revenge after what happened in the events of the sixth movie (apparently Owen survived the plane crash but Gisele didn't!). Deckard started hunting Dom's crew one by one, starting from Han which was killed in Tokyo. It was already Dom vs Deckard but Dom got an offer to more effectively locate Deckard wherever he may be, using a software called God's Eye. Dom and his crew need to get to God's Eye creator in order to use it to find Deckard.

Talk about a super convoluted plot! It would make sense IF Deckard isn't actually looking for the crew. What is the use of God's Eye when Deckard is actually the one who's going near Dom and his crew? That's like the biggest gaping plot hole in this movie. Then there's also a group of mercenaries whose allegiance and objectives are super vague. They're just there to bring a little hollow substance to the plot which obviously didn't work. But I can forgive that plot hole a little because it gave us Nathalie Emmanuel to shine in this film. Apparently Khaleesi broke the wheel and let Missandei out to hack some computers. The stunts were awesome and I got to see the film in IMAX 3D which is just amazing. But however, the never-ending action sequence is definitely too much for a 2.5 hour runtime. Your mind became numb for the repetitive action especially that silly Diesel vs Statham fight which was good for the first five minutes but that fight ending is so bad. The film under-used Jason Statham badly. And "When you're in a street fight, the street always wins" is one of your worst lines of the year.

Tyrese brings some humor and charm, while Vin Diesel is still that big, muscly good guy. It is a shame that Dwayne Johnson isn't joining much of the action here because everytime he's on screen the movie got way more interesting. Michelle Rodriguez is an all-round badass, she's like the poster girl for Hollywood badass and for the last two movies she has fought two MMA champions, how badass. And then there's Paul Walker whose death looms large over the film. Weta's Paul Walker CGI is amazingly seamless, it won't show until you started looking for it. It's so good. The ending for this movie is just perfect. It's a perfect sendoff to Paul Walker, obviously one of the many Hollywood stars who went away too soon. The movie did an honorable way for Paul Walker and it is very hard not to shed a tear during the ending. Despite being the lesser of Fast Five and Fast & Furious 6, Fast & Furious 7 is just a great start to what might be the most explosive summer in years. Fast & Furious 7: rated 3/4

Tenggelam Dalam Cinta

Selamat datang di post pertama saya dalam bahasa Indonesia (yang baik dan benar pula, semoga)! Mungkin akan sedikit janggal, tapi berilah saya kesempatan untuk mengutarakan topik yang harus disampaikan dalam bahasa Indonesia ini. Kemarin tanggal 30 Maret 2015, Indonesia merayakan Hari Film Nasional. Di bioskop-bioskop tanah air dirayakan dengan cara memutar film Indonesia dengan iming-iming beli satu gratis satu. Saya langsung meluncur ke mall terdekat di daerah Serpong yang ikut berpartisipasi dalam program tersebut. Pilihan saya jatuh kepada film terlaris tahun 2013, Tenggelamnya Kapal Van Der Wijck yang dibintangi oleh Herjunot Ali, Pevita Pearce dan Reza Rahadian. Saya sudah jatuh cinta pada film ini semenjak trailer-nya dirilis untuk pertama kali. Namun karena saya sedang menetap di Jepang, maka saya tidak pernah menonton film ini hingga tahun 2015. Dipersulit dengan kebijakan rumah produksi Soraya Intercine yang enggan merilis DVD dengan alasan 'takut dibajak'. Alasan yang sangat kekanak-kanakan menurut saya.

Filmnya sendiri dibuat dengan detil. Beda sekali dengan kebanyakan film-film Indonesia. Tenggelamnya Kapal Van Der Wijck sangat memperhatikan detil dan nilai produksi. Tidak seperti film-film lain yang mungkin secara alur dan penampilan akting dipujikan, namun detil kurang diperhatikan, contohlah film terlaris 2012, Habibie & Ainun yang terlalu 'diperbudak' sponsor sehingga muncullah Wardah, gerbang tol otomatis dan Gery Chocolatos atau Merry Riana dengan bintang Chelsea Islan yang walau bertempat di tahun 1997 sudah menampilkan struktur megah Marina Bay Sands. Mungkin kurang adil bagi saya untuk terlalu memuji Van Der Wijck karena saya pun jarang sekali menonton film Indonesia. Namun saya ingin berterimakasih kepada film ini karena sudah menimbulkan minat saya pada film Indonesia. Saya sering tergila-gila pada film Hollywood bahkan juga Bollywood. Bayangkan, dari sekian film Bollywood yang diputar di MNCTV setiap Minggu siang, setidaknya seperempat dari katalog unggulannya sudah saya tonton. Tapi alangkah malunya saya bila saya harus mengakui bahwa paling banyak saya menonton film Indonesia setahun sekali.

Semangat produksi yang diperlihatkan Van Der Wijck mirip sekali dengan salah satu film Indonesia favorit saya, Ayat-ayat Cinta. Saya suka sekali dua film ini karena alasan yang sama: kedua film ini meyakinkan saya bahwa keajaiban film bisa juga dilakukan di Indonesia. Ayat-ayat Cinta bisa mengubah sebuah gereja di Jakarta menjadi pengadilan di Mesir dan Van Der Wijck bisa menyajikan kisah roman klasik luar biasa yang kental dengan kebudayaan Indonesia. Saya sekarang sedang terobsesi betul dengan film Tenggelamnya Kapal Van Der Wijck. Hal yang saya amat sayangkan dari film ini adalah,  walau budaya tradisionalnya kuat, tapi inspirasi produksi film ini jelas datang dari The Great Gatsby yang dibintangi Leonardo DiCaprio, sehingga terasa kurang orisinil walau kekuatan cerita menjadi tembok pemisah kedua film ini. Dan juga dari banyaknya nominasi untuk FFI dan Piala Maya hanya sedikit yang dapat dimenangi. Itu artinya hanya satu: saya harus menonton film-film Indonesia yang jauh lebih bagus untuk menginspirasi saya lagi. Daftarnya sangat panjang, ada Sokola Rimba, Kapan Kawin?, Belenggu, Sang Penari, dan bahkan saya belum pernah nonton Arisan!

Saya belum membuat resolusi untuk tahun 2015 ini dan saya ingin membuatnya sekarang, disahkan lewat tulisan: saya akan menonton film Indonesia, setidaknya satu film untuk satu bulan. Mari kita lihat hasilnya tahun depan di Hari Film Nasional 2016!


PS.
If you want to understand this in English, please just googletranslate it, it's in perfect Indonesian. *arrogantlaugh

The Whole March Slate

As promised, I gobbled through three major films in the last four days. And as I watched all of them, I realized I have watched the whole March slate. Save for that animated film Home, which looks okay at best and I probably won't see because I'd rather go to the surefire funny SpongeBob Squarepants Movie. Hate me all you want for not wanting to see Home, your rare minority-fronted animated film. Let's stop with all the race issues. I think that when you talk more about race, the more people gets hurt. I don't know, let's just all be courageous and be kind.

Run All Night
Another year, another Liam Neeson kicking-butts film. You see, maybe a Liam Neeson action film is equivalent to what the Saw movies were to Halloween. It is an annual event, except that Liam Neeson can kick butts twice or three times each year. This film, directed by Jaume Collet-Serra who made at least two Liam Neeson butt-kicking films, Unknown and Non-Stop is more low-concept compared to those two but it is still stylish and satisfying in almost every level. Liam Neeson plays a henchman to Ed Harris' mob boss. Neeson, the Gravedigger kills his boss' son and his boss vowed for revenge to kill Neeson's son. Honestly, Run All Night is surprisingly good. I was expecting something super low-key given that it is not as thrilling as a mid-air whodunit like Non-Stop or a European spy thriller as Unknown. Liam Neeson is as you would expect these days but the better performance here is delivered by Joel Kinnaman, last year's Robocop and next year in Suicide Squad. Ed Harris is also pretty much what you would expect. Common looks like Denzel Washington in a glimpse but his cold killer character is something like what Peele of Key & Peele did in their skits. Still menacing though but you couldn't help but giggle a bit. The story is pretty good, and it delivered in telling the father-and-son story in the midst of the action scenes. Run All Night: rated 3/4.

Cinderella
In my childhood, Cinderella is one of the films that I watched religiously. Just a couple of years ago, I was exposed to how retarded the film was in its actuality: Cinderella who might have a severe mental problem, the one-dimensional prince, and more. I hated myself to think that of my favorite childhood film. But then come Kenneth Branagh's update on the classic Disney-fied tale. Starring my faves from my favorite TV shows, Lily James/Lady Rose of Downton Abbey and Richard Madden/Robb Stark of Game of Thrones, also boasting incredible supporting cast with the likes of Academy Award winner Cate Blanchett and Helena Bonham Carter. Unlike Maleficent which butchered the original classic older-than-your-parents Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella is the story of Cinderella, without any major changes but merely improvements. It adds the Prince's side, clarifies what happens when the Prince took Cinderella out of the ball, makes Cinderella stronger and even makes the Stepmother more than just a villain (in Cate Blanchett's hands, you wouldn't expect her being a normal villain anyway). I like that the fact the script has room for self-deprecation too, like "these slippers are made of glass""why not?" Branagh's direction is spot-on, magical and majestic. Something that you would expect from someone so accustomed to the Shakespeare world. Branagh's Thor even remained to be one of the best directed films in Marvel Cinematic Universe. I found Lily James really fitting as Cinderella, and the character's relationship with her parents is very touching. Richard Madden is no stranger to royalty. Cate Blanchett is menacingly great. All in all, I find myself liking this film more than the children whom the film are geared towards to. Thank you for not opting for worthless grittiness or revisionist agenda, it's a fairy tale and it is what it should be. I just wished there were more Downton cameos, I mean, when the Fairy Godmother said footman don't you all just think of Mr. Moseley? Cinderella: rated 3.5/4

Insurgent
If you follow my posts, then you should know that I planned a post that revised my ratings on movies. Divergent is among them for revision, I had that film with a 3.5/4 rating which was barely objective since it was all Shailene. Watching Insurgent today, I don't remember little details on the story. I just remembered that Divergent was a pleasant surprise because my expectations were incredibly low. In Insurgent there's this box that only divergents can open. So Jeanine (Kate Winslet) begin searching for divergents, but it wasn't that easy because apparently divergents also has diverging skills. While Tris, Four (HAHAHA), and others who escaped from the first movie keeps on finding shelters that includes the ones led by Octavia Spencer, another by Daniel Dae Kim and the faction-less by Naomi Watts (amazing supporting cast huh?). Much like Divergent, the best scenes are the actions and the simulators scenes which is just amazingly done. New director Robert Schwentke is clearly more used to action as his execution is pretty much spot-on. And much like Divergent, the movie has nothing to offer for at least 3/4 of the movie. Save for Shailene Woodley and Miles Teller who made this movie infinitely more enjoyable, the others are just cashing their paychecks. Also, considering the talent behind the script rewrites, it is quite disappointing to be honest. And that very YA ending (which unfortunately is so similar to The Maze Runner), which answers the burning question of what kind of human only has one trait in their personality? Hi, my mom is really honest so she's Candor, and I live like a peasant and appreciate random rainbows so I'm Amity? What kind of society is that and what kind of sick society creates society like that? [spoiler to follow] if divergents are the answer, then why do they let Erudites hunt divergents? At least this film leaves the audience a cliffhanger than nothing at all like in the first movie. Insurgent: rated 2/4.

 Some bonuses!

A gun-toting Shailene Woodley, which I guess an annual thing for this blog to feature.

And this show-stopping pic of Lily James circa 2012! 

So, next post might be

Fast & Furious 7!

Hoping to see this one in IMAX!

Yes, that silly movie about racing is now an IMAX event

Caught in the Binge

I have been busy, and lazy for the last couple of weeks. I have the first two sentences to my Focus review but it got buried with other stuff. It was supposed to be a stand alone review post but instead I have to merge it with another film and a TV show (web show?). Sorry. I know I haven't done a stand-alone review post but who's counting? So now I'm binge-ing the reviews because I just binge-watched House of Cards.

Focus
Crazy, Stupid, Love is my absolute favorite of modern-day rom-com. Now directors John Requa and Glenn Ficarra made Focus. It stars Will Smith and the always smoking hot and immensely watchable Margot Robbie as conning con men. The premise is sexy and slick. We have Will Smith as Nicky the pro con man and Jess who wanted to be Nicky's protege. Margot Robbie herself is already worth your admission, add that with Will Smith's return to form after his snooze-inducing After Earth (I actually almost fell asleep there), and top them both with an exotic location. For the first forty minutes or so, the two leads are the only elements that keeps the movie watchable, then comes the set piece in the ball game. That gambling scene with the Asian guy must rank as one of the most intense scenes in 2015 for sure. The movie gained some pretty serious steam after that making it intensely watchable as we watch the con surrounding the lovely two leads with their incredible chemistry. But then my only sigh was the resolution. If you think of it as Crazy, Stupid, Love, this film ends during that jaw-dropping-early Shyamalan twist-worthy midpoint. So it is kind of a bummer to have a half-assed ending in an otherwise amazing twisty comedy drama. But come for Margot Robbie, you won't be disappointed. Focus: rated 3/4.

Chappie
I am actually kind of exhausted of Neill Blomkamp's style. In the beginning of Chappie, we see the similar interview-style footage like in his stellar District 9, then we see the setting of the movie "Johannesburg, South Africa". YAWN. Seen that in your last two movies and two short movies. If he makes the next Alien movie in South Africa then someone should sue him. To begin with, Chappie is a strange film to market. I think even Hugo is easier to market. This film is weird. It's about a child robot who's stuck in the wrong neighborhood in the middle of an internal conflict in a weapons company. The trailers wiped the two leads, Ninja and Yolandi of Die Antwoord rap group, who are actually playing themselves in the movie. Weird, but their characters are quite interesting as the story progresses. Hugh Jackman's villainy is pushed aside, as well as Dev Patel's protagonist side is. This film lacks focus. I don't say it often. In the action scenes or the pivotal scenes it's so good: the direction, cameraworks and score are in perfect sync. But in the filler scenes, it's a bit wobbly and that makes the whole film wobbly. Not to mention that Jackman's character is also a bit short-sighted in his plan. The poster sells this film as an explosive robot saga but you're in fact in for some shrouded child abuse film. But huge kudos to Sharlto Copley who's mo-capping as the titular robot. In conclusion, Mr. Blomkamp, I know you're South African and proud but please, it's getting old. It's like why do every alien invasion invades the States, you know. Why? Invade Europe for a change or I don't know, Thailand. Chappie: rated 2/4


Some House of Cards opinion...
I just finished House of Cards season 3, and most of it revolves in this [SPOILER ALERT, sorry I forgot to write it before] ridiculous plan dubbed America Works. I'm pretty dumb (and wholly ignorant) at politics but I think America Works is even dumber than I am at politics. Taking entitlements for 100% employment? I'm pretty sure it doesn't work like that. Frank Underwood is smart and his plan to push this plan is making him vulnerable and stupid. Please tell me I'm wrong. I mean those people at his 2016 campaign are asking the wrong questions. Jordan Valley is pretty far from you, and what you should be concerned is that your Medicare and Social Security will be no more to give people you don't know jobs. Jobs that they are not even entitled to, because look at Freddy the ribs guy, he could be kicked out anytime when the program isn't working. People would be coming to the States with AmWorks and that would drain the funds totally if the goal is 100% employment. If Underwood's keeping up with this shit bill, then Dunbar for 2016! I have so many complaints on this third season. Usually my complaint was that the fact it's about American politics that I know jackshit about, so those complaints were for my ignorant brain. But this third season they have a subplot with the writer which is like whaaat the fvck is happening. And don't get me started on Doug's storyline. But hey, House of Cards is still binge-worthy as ever. Frank and Claire is still my favorite power couple as are Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright are amazing in their roles. And Magnussen from Sherlock is basically Putin in a very incredible role as Underwood's Russian equal.

Next up another binge-reviews of
Cinderella
Run All Night
SpongeBob
Insurgent

I'm not promising all of them though.
Unless you send me some dollah or eurahs, jk, I accept rupiah too.