Ugh... The Tension

After a disappointment of this year's summer's number threes (yes, Pirates, Spider, i'm talking to you), i simply can't wait any longer to see this film since i loved number one (great) and number two (even better) so much. And my heart leaps and beats faster whenever i saw the trailer. Every single time. Honestly, i can't remember when was the last time i had greatly anticipated a film... i just hope that i won't be disappointed. Now, this film had scheduled to hit the theater at 7th. That's Tuesday, which means that there's a fair chance that the film would be screened this Saturday mid-night. I just can't wait.

I'm Too Lazy to do Individual Posts

All right, this is a recap post.

Die Hard 4.0 (2007) *** / ****

In my opinion, this film works even better if the viewer hadn't any previous experience with Det. John McClane. Nevertheless, the over-the-top actions quite often make-up the McClane-less experiences to somewhat make this film quite engaging in and of itself.

In truth, i've been expecting the revival of our old-school hero - now balding, and a father to georgeous lady (in the film) - with lukewarm anticipation, at most. However, the film turns out to be a okay. In fact, i'm enjoying it so much to an extent that i'd give it a nod for actually the first summer sequel that i enjoyed the most.

When the plot revealed that it's going to involve Mary Elizabeth Winsted (aptly nicknamed MEW by her fans) as his daughter, i was afraid that the film would plot your usual damsel-in-distress scenario in which Det. McClane runs around to save his daughter. Well, i was wrong. And i couldn't be happier for being wrong. MEW is still had her portions of course, but Det. McClane is still Det. McClane. He does his job not because he has no other options. He does it because it's his job. And that's what nailed this film in my current appreciation. Should he runs around tried his best to save his daughters right from the first minute, i would laid curse to the screenwriters, and i wouldn't give a three-star to this film.

Timothy Olyphant (i haven't used to spell his name right yet) is magnificent as the main villain. I liked him since i saw him in the Deadwood series, and hugely anticipated his next flick, as Agent 47 in Hitman due this fall. MEW is great, superbly great as McClane's daughter, in a sense that she was in the film not merely as a necessity but as something more of a color to the film. And of course, the sidekick, Justin Long whose forever would be known to us as 'that Mac guy in the Mac TV ads'. Truthfully, even Samuel L. Jackson can't quite do well as McClane's sidekick. McClane is a lone-wolf and always will a lone-wolf, adding a sidekick would actually loses the sense of his lone-wolf-ness. However, i would love to see a possibility in which McClane team-up with his daughter. Number five, perhaps?

Ow yeah, Kevin Smith practically steals every scenes he's in. You know, he's the 30-something dude whose command-center is in his mum's basement?

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) ***1/2 / ****

I gave a surprise to many of my virtual-friends when i said that i actually liked the film. Even more to say that this is the best of the series yet. With a darker, gloomier atmospheres as the young wizards' nemesis dawning its evil existence. Many fans of the book i know complained about the film being trimmed here and there, bla-bla-bla, yada-yada-yada. My take, the film is an actual improvement to the book. Where the unnecessities, overlonged tidbits are gracefully left-out. I'm not saying that the film was better than the book. Or to complained about how the books were overated. Well, for the books to actually spanning for seven series and cashing-in millions (probably billions) of dollars, my opinion is unimportant to the matter.

However, if i had been asked how to divide the series, i would say that fifth is the less lovable book of the series. Some argued that sixth is worse. Well, before the seventh hit the shelf, it's quite true that sixth is the worse (and i was growing anxiously afraid that the series would go downhill from there). But when i read the book number seven, i could say that book six and seven was in a unison. Book six being the first part, and book seven being the second part. Now, that left book fifth alone and ugly. That's my answer however, if i had been asked about the books.

As with the book, the film's spotlight unceremonously fell to Dolores Umbridge. The evil manifestation of cat-lover, purple-adorer newest DADA (you, bookworms should know what DADA is) is downright evil. I mean, she could kill a man. And that smile of her won't falter. Downright evil. The rest of the (main) cast shown quite an improvement in department acting. With an exception to Miss Emma Watson (Hermione Granger) who of course due to that she hasn't had a chance to star in a non Harry Potter-ish.

That been said, i won't be waiting that much for the sixth film (scheduled to release next-year). As i've been stated before, book six is better enjoyed when coupled with book seven. I don't visibly see the (would be) movies to be any different.

The Simpsons Movie (2007) **1/2 / ****

The Simpsons has been around for 18 years (correct me if i'm wrong). When the show has been around for that much of time, the only question of when the series hit the bigger screen was of course, "When?". But of course, 18 years cannot be qualified as short. However, even though that the film produces many laughters from start to finish, i won't be bothered to go seeing it for the second time anytime soon. It's just that, well, if you know them, you know how Bart is, you know how Lisa is, you know how Homer is, you know who's who in Springfield, it proposes a none to slight difference experience with enjoying (as Mr. Homer pointed out at the beginning of the film) the TV series.

Nevertheless, the guys behind The Simpsons are clearly having fun. And why can't we have some fun too? The film tackling religions (easy), environmental-issues (also easy), and of course, (US) government inability (easiest). Well, i won't be bothered to tell you about the plot, just enjoy the ride, and you surely going to had your laughs. Right from the very first minute when Green Day played the intro theme-song with a nod to Titanic. Owh, i speak too much already. Just go see it.

Now, my rating might be influenced by the fact that everyone seemed to enjoyed the film so much. It has been almost a week since the film hit the theater and yet there were still so many friend of mine who put the lyrics of Spider-Pig into their Messenger status. You who have seen the film must know what i'm talking about. And yes, it's hillarious especially if you know the lyrics (not merely reading the subtitles, that would ruin the fun-ness factor of it).

My favourite Simpsons moment however was when the film rolls it's end-credit. So, make sure you don't leave your seat even if the theater's light starts to light, it is, in my opinion, really worth the wait.

The Joys of the Craft

Taken from 1975's The Mythical Man-Month - Essays on Software Engineering.

First is the sheer joy of making things. As the child delights in his mud pie, so the adult enjoys building things, especially things of his own design. I think this delight must be an image of God's delight in making things, a delight shown in the distinctness and newness of each leaf and each snowflake.

Second is the pleasure of making things that are useful to other people. Deep within, we want others to use our work and to find it helpful. In this respect the programming system is not essentially different from the child's first clay pencil holder "for Daddy's office."

Third is the fascination of fashioning complex puzzle-like objects of interlocking moving parts and watching them work in subtle cycles, playing out the consequences of principles built in from the beginning. The programmed computer has all the fascination of the pinball machine or the jukebox mechanism, carried
to the ultimate.

Fourth is the joy of always learning, which springs from the nonrepeating nature of the task. In one way or another the problem is ever new, and its solver learns something: sometimes practical, sometimes theoretical, and sometimes both.

Finally, there is the delight of working in such a tractable medium. The programmer, like the poet, works only slightly removed from pure thought-stuff. He builds his castles in the air, from air, creating by exertion of the imagination. Few media of
creation are so flexible, so easy to polish and rework, so readily capable of realizing grand conceptual structures.

Especially for the fourth and fifth reasons, that's why i loved programming. No matter what they said about how being a mere programmer won't get you rich, or.. this is can't be truer in Indonesia.. being a programmer is a mere stepping-stone to a higher positions (such as System-Analysts? Bah). I had many experiences where a long-time no see companions of mine asked about how am i doing only to saw his/her eyes looked to me in pity when i said that i'm still a programmer. I'm still a programmer today, and will be a programmer tomorrow, and forever.

The fact is, i held two jobs right-now. Double income? Not necessarily, but enough to get me by. My day-job is an ultimate boredom. The only plusses i had was of course, the fixed monthly salary, the privilige to go home when the sun still shines, the internet connections, and of course, the free meal. But when the sun sets, that's when my day was actually begin.

Rotten Tomatoes's Best 25 Film Mid-Year 2007

If you considered yourself a film-geek AND an internet-avid, but oblivious to the existence of RottenTomatoes.com, you seriously need to give up one or both your status consideration. That being said, taken from one of them pages, Rotten Tomatoes' best 25 film in 2007 so far. With my nifty (probably useless, but heck, i feel the urge to write right now, and nothing you say, or thought, could possibly hindered my enthusiastment right now) comments added next to it.

25. Paris Je T'aime (2007)
Well, thanks to the latest theater addition in Jakarta, i'm able to watch the film on a big-screen. The film consists of several tens short-films (i believe it's around 29 or something) told about some segment of love ranging from absurdities, true loves, betrayals, and well, almost any emotional feelings you could probably able squeeze out of that butteflies in your belly. However, given the nature of short-films, some shorts will make you smile, some shorts will make you wince, some shorts stellar, and some others fell flat. Thankfully, the shorts that fell on my good side dominates. My favourite segments were naturally, one segment that came from Coen Brothers, and one with singing Spanish lady (it hurts so much, i cried - on the inside).

24. Live Free or Die Hard (2007)
A shocker indeed. Haven't seen it, will go see it with my girl-friend this weekend.

23. Into Great Silence (2007)
22. Starter for 10 (2007)
21. God Grew Tired of Us (2007)
20. An Unreasonable Man (2007)
I haven't seen any of the above films. From here on, the ones i hadn't commented on will be ones that i haven't seen.

19. Grindhouse (2007)
This film has been in my shortlist for like.. forever. The chance to see the film in local theater was almost as likely as snow storm in Jakarta. And i haven't seen the DVD editions of this film, which of course, deluded me to any actual experience i should have with this film.

18. After the Wedding (2007)
When this film played at last year's Jakarta Film Festival, i gave up the chance to seeing it. Now, i'm regretting it.

17. The Namesake (2007)
16. Bridge to Terabithia (2007)
On one evening, i had mulling, prospecting the idea to see the film instead of Shrek. That day, i figured out that i may have another chance to see the film some other time. I don't.

15. Breach (2007)
14. Red Road (2007)
13. The Hoax (2007)
Currently playing at local Cineplex.

12. The Italian (2007)
11. The Wind that Shakes the Barley (2007)
Another gratifying performance from Cillian Murphy.

10. The Lookout (2007)
9. The Waitress (2007)
8. Zodiac (2007)
This film has taking his sweet-ass time to be released on local theaters.

7. The Host (2007)
One of my best experience at last year's Jakarta Film Festival, and still one of the very best (along with that awfully-creepy A Tale of Two Sisters) Korean film that i've ever seen. Period.

6. Sicko (2007)
For some reasons, i responsed the news regarding Michael Moore negatively. However, he has been very succesful in tackling some sensitive prominent issues in his documentaries, that people actually wondering and even suggesting the issue Michael Moore should tackle on his next documentary flick.

5. Hot Fuzz (2007)
Hollywood! This is how you made a parody. Hot Fuzz (as of their previous flick, Shaun of the Dead) tackling action genres (especially buddy-cop genres) with style. However, unlike the genre's counterpart made by the infamous Production House across Atlantic Ocean, this parody made with a substance and taking its time as well to build it. The final twenty minutes, however, will make up for it, and certainly worth your money.

4. Knocked Up (2007)
My general disagreement about the rom-com genre bites back when i found myself actually liked this film. I tried to measure it up by attributing the factor to my illogical admiration to Katherine Heigl (she was in Under Siege 2, THE ONLY Steven Seagal film i liked to watch for second time, or more, and of course, Roswell) and let it pass. To see this film at the #4 spot merely confirmed my suspicion that this film probably one of the best rom-com films for the last few years. You, young couples, go see it.

3. Once (2007)
2. Away from Her (2007)
1. Ratatouille (2007)
The moment this Pixar's newest baby hit the local theater, i would be there.

Damn. Only 5 out of 25.. i've got to get out more of this cubicle.

Work Space

I've got three computers. Yes, three. One, my very own Apple MacBook, two, the company's laptop (all employees were given one, even at day one on the job), Toshiba Satellite something-something, running Windows Vista, and a desktop computer running Fedora. Yeah, three computers, three brands, and three OSs. But, something wrong with my finger print identification. Yesterday, when i signed home, the finger print reader reads my finger-print correctly (i had my finger-print IDed just yesterday). But today, when i arrived, the machine refused to recognize my IDs (all three of them, which is left thumb, right thumb, and right point finger), i went to Human Resource to inform about this. He then resets the machine, so i had to re-register my finger print. And guess what? After i re-register my finger ID, and had to re-do my identification, the machine refused to recognize it again, and yes, all three of them. The Human Resource decided to gave me a password instead to override the logged identification. Now, i dont know what had happened, but i guess it's the cold.

Harry Potter 5

I dont know about you, but Daniel Radcliffe's neck freak the creep out of me. Spooky, brrr... Harry Potter fifth book wasn't my favorite. In fact it was in my opinion, the worst of the series so far, there's these several hundred pages of Teen Crush which made me rolls my eye upward. But, the reviews so far has been so positive, that even James Berardinelli (the only reviewer out there whose reviews has been my first meal every Monday morning) gave it an awesome three and a half star. One other reviews at Cinematical also pointed out the flaws in which the book suffered, has been trimmed out that the movie was actually an improvement to the book. Now, that made me a wee bit curious about the film, maybe i'm going to the theater later this evening to see what's all the hype about.

Ouh, anyway, i'm already at the new office right now, and the internet here is a fucking awesome. And by fucking awesome is that if you could download a 10 MB file in less than a minute at 9 am working days, now, that's a fucking awesome.

Transformers (2007)

What i think about Michael Bay? It's as close as a love / hate relationships that i could ever have. I mean, he has directed many great enjoyable action flicks over the year, The Rock which is actually a stellar film in its genre, Bad Boys, Bad Boys II, and even The Island, which i sincerely, admittingly enjoyed. With the exception of Armageddon and Pearl Harbor (i personally think it's largely due to his presence, say what you will, but the only times i liked him was when he get directed by Kevin Smith), Michael Bay has an - again - admittedly, though grudgingly incredible portfolio.

I just don't approve with one of his signature shot (a slow-motion capture of a character upward while the said character was looking upward), and his inevitable grip to the pop culture.

With that in mind, i went into Transformers with my five o'clock shadow (plus overtime), hoping that i would at least had one enjoyable evening.

When i was a child, Hasbro's Transformers line-up was fast gaining popularity. I never had a hand on one of those toys except via a print page. But the idea of transforming robots were an amazing fantasy i could afford back then with gawking stare and salivating mouth, and now, when the fantasy came into reality (sort-of), i honestly couldn't think of anyone beside Michael Bay (and his teams of producers, which includes Steven Spielberg) to deliver the fantasy.

However, despite some oohs and aahs when i see those Robots Transformed, and neat special effects, and breathtaking battle scenes, this is yet another Michael Bay film that feels like... well, a Michael Bay film. In simpler terms, it is nowhere near The Rock that was still his best work to date. The film simply went on and on, awkward shifting tone, and loaded with Michael Bay's slow-motion capture. I wasn't entirely impressed with overall of the film, and when i head out toward the green light of EXIT signs, i had forgotten about the film.

The film opens with a little background that quickly put our logic in map about what, why, and how does these auto machines came to our beloved planet. From there on, the film was actually quick paced and waste no time to introduce its first Decepticon, Blackout and Scorponok (an introduction was made with bangs and booms). And then cuts to ever glorious US of A, where a nerdy Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) gets his usual treatment from the popular groups (football-players, cheerleaders, you know, those typical High School 'popular') which includes Melanie (Megan Fox) whose of course has become Sam's unreachable star. There are (at least) three story-arcs in this film during the second act, Sam and Melanie's, Secretary of Defense's, and US Marine's. The only arc i'm comfortable to watch for was US Marine's, the other two could go to oblivion for all i care (a hacker who solved the supposedly unintelligible electronic distortions in less than two minutes with screens like a puzzle game? duh, we're a little bit too old for that). Finally, after enduring this second phase processes (featuring John Turturro who practically steals every scene he's in. Damn, he's one great actor), we came to what we had been paying for.

Those who came to see Robots in Actions, Explosions and crafty digital imageries, won't be disappointed. No, you won't. This film is the winner in term of actions during the relatively boring first half of Summer seasons. But still, in sequel packed first half of Summer seasons, if i was asked which film i enjoyed the most, it was Ocean's Thirteen, with this film came second.

My Rating: **1/2 / ****
Action-Wise Rating: ***1/2 / ****

Transformers: The Movie: The Ticket

Heh... can't believe i actually did it. But yeah, i just did. Bought the ticket for tonight's Transformers. The picture was mirrored by the way, since i took the shot with built-in camera from my Apple MacBook.

Chunk Chunk Chunk

Optimus Prime and co. hit the theater start from today. With Spielberg's golden kid, Shia LaBeouf and luscious Megan Fox, you can count on me for being there, first in line, well, not exactly first tho, since i planned to see the film at its 11 p.m screening.

Another chunk come from another project made by David Cronenberg and Viggo Mortensen whose last project was that 2005's gem, A History of Violence (***1/2). Thrown in Naomi Watts - an actress whose largely forgotten, even by me (my sincerest apologize, m'am), but consistently giving a relatively unknown stellar performances. Mulholland Dr. (****), and 21 Grams (**1/2), to name a few -, i would looking forward to this film. Eastern Promises.

iPhone

You really had to give credit to Steve Jobs for giving all of the hypes and anticipation surrounding his latest gadget that was iPhone. I could say that most of us already knew about the arrival of iPhone even though that the official first sale was still a couple of days away.

I for one, want to have one. That was obvious. But, since it requires an AT&T Network subscription which was of course, unavailable here, AND it also requires an activation via iTunes (probably iTunes store) which was another feature that only available in Japan, it won't be until next year that i would have my hands on them. After all, my girlfriend would hang me if she knew i had spend US$ 500 to buy a new gadget of which i already had four (two handphones, one iPod Video, and one Nintendo Dual-Screen). And who says life as a geek isn't hard?

2007 AFC Asian Cup

Granted, football (or soccer) is the most widely celebrated sport in the world. So imagine my surprise when nobody at my office which consists demographically of males at their mid 20's doesn't have any idea that this year's Asian Cup will be held (among others) in Indonesia. Even the championship's final will be held at Gelora Bung Karno stadium.

Beginning July 7th, 2007 until July 29th, 2007, as an Indonesian and a soccer fan in general, i had planned to see Indonesia vs South Korea, and since the final will be held at Gelora Bung Karno, i may see it as well, provided that the match is interesting enough. Say, Japan vs South Korea, perhaps? or South Korea vs Australia? Indonesia's chance of surviving group phase matches? sad to say, but it's rather unlikely. With South Korea, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia? Not a chance.

Blackout

If you tune in to the news yesterday and today, you're most likely to read or see that there's an underground electric wire that exploded yesterday around 12:40 pm in Setiabudi area, Jakarta. This accident left 4 seriously wounded victims, one of which had died. This accident also left most of Setiabudi in a blackout since yesterday. I was one of the resident who suffered from this blackout, which predicted won't be fixed until two or three days, even some rumors had it for up to a week.

I was out for most of the day yesterday and doesn't get back home until 7 pm. That's when i guessed that the blackout would last at least for a night. Thank god there's a 24-hour coffee shop. So i went there, ordered my favourite Cafe Misto with Cinnamon sparkled on it, put my Apple on the desk, and working while re-charging the battery. I stayed until almost midnight, after i was exhausted enough that the only thing i would do as soon as i lay down was to sleep.

I didn't appreciate the problem of this blackout until this morning when i wake up and still had this blackout all over. Well, now that the blackout would be at least for another day or two, i need to find a place to crash for a while.