About This Week's New Releases

I had planned to go see Max Payne last night as one of the two "new" releases this week. The other one is P2. I know, P2 is originally released sometime last year, and I've seen it months ago albeit that no review had come from yours truly here. This, again, raises the questionable methods of our local theater network to pick their new releases. The same questionable methods to pit Lindsay Lohan's I Know Who Killed Me, almost a year after its original release.

Alas, considering that Max Payne is one of those game-based movie adaptation, and the last time I saw a game-based movie adaptation is Hitman (which from what I understand, had the same breadth with Max Payne) and it wasn't really that pleasant experience to endure, I had opted to stay at home instead of battling the midnight air.

What about P2? As I've told before, I've already seen P2. But, if you think that I should relive the memory and writing a review about it, well, sorry to disappoint, but that's just not the way it (or this) work. I usually had a one-two hour window of opportunity to write a proper review right after I've seen the film or at the very least, listing key points of strengths and weaknesses. Had I missed the window, well, the opportunity is lost. All I could remember about P2 was a nasty death scene and a generous cleavage of its leading actress. But that's just about it.

So, two options, none appealing, thus, I had stayed home and watched The Strangers instead. One thriller film that had positive buzzes all over the festival film worldwide.

Post Hellboy

Well, even if I had seen the film four nights ago and the rest of the world had probably seen it like three months prior, I couldn't help but to make a post-Hellboy-experience post. Just like my previous writing stated, Guillermo Del Toro has created himself a niche ever since that 2006's Pan's Labyrinth. Arguably, public are made aware of Del Toro's niche through this film even if he has already made films in the same breadth as Pan's. Pan's Labyrinth still remains as my favorite film in the year 2006 and up until now, I could still whistle the last lullaby of Olivia as she steps into her kingdom and welcomed warmly by her people and her royal family with passion that never failed to gives me goosebumps all over.

In his latest film, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, Del Toro's niche is further accentuated as he redefines the Elf-race, the Tooth Fairy, the Troll market, Goblin and their machineries, and on some length, the Beanstalk from whatever-tale-that-beanstalk-coming-from. In 2001, Peter Jackson introduces the Elf-race to the greater masses (those who watch films but not read books and there are still far too many of such people) with his adaptation of J.R.R Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. Up to that point, most likely that when you're talked about Elf, you're going to remember Arwen, or in my case, Galadriel. Peter Jackson's Elfs are slender, full-of-grace, and not to mention, terribly beautiful. Now, when I say that Del Toro redefines the Elf-race, one need only to look at Princess Nuala. She was beautiful, but unique, a definition of beautiful that puts her not-of-this-world and then we had Prince Nuada. Fierce, sharp, and precise is how am I going to define his presence. Both of these Elfs still retains the majestic quality, the slenderness and the grace-ness of the Elf-race but they're certainly different, up the ante so to speak. Now, why am I making this comparison? As most of you probably know, Guillermo Del Toro's next project is two-episodes of "The Hobbit", a prequel to "The Lord of the Rings" saga. "The Hobbit" told a story of how Bilbo Baggins found that troublesome One Ring which his nephew Frodo Baggins has to carry ever east to the Mountains of Doom for the duration of three films, and of how Smeagol is a, um, well, Smeagol. Even if Peter Jackson still involved with the project by being a producer, it is to be expected that Guillermo Del Toro will pours his own vision to create the Middle-Earth. I was utterly excited to see how he's going to re-shapes Rivendell and its citizens, how he's going to told the Battle with Smaug and really, judging by what he has done to New York through Hellboy, I had a pretty good reasons that he could do more with a fantasy world such as Middle Earth.

Meanwhile, an assumption could be safely made that we're going to see the third Hellboy film in the future and the word is, we could have a TV series in between. Well, if I was a producer with millions of dollars to invest, I would want to see a Hellboy-related TV series. Not about Hellboy himself, but perhaps more about Manning and his B.P.R.D for as you can see briefly in the film, there are a lot of "interesting" activity in the Bureau which actually reminds me a lot to "Men in Black" Well, whatever Guillermo Del Toro has in store (the seventh Harry Potter film, perhaps?), my only hope is that he's going to finish "The Hobbit" first before anything else.

"Dark Side of the Rainbow"

This is a well-known trivia related to The Wizard of Oz (1939) but I bet there's still a score of many out there who has never heard of it. Let alone tried it for themselves. Dark Side of the Rainbow is the name used to refer to the act of listening Pink Floyd's masterpiece, "The Dark Side of the Moon" while watching the film. Supposedly, the visual of the film has a subtle synchronization with the music of the album providing some sort of a live soundtrack.

A couple of nights ago, for the first time, I tried it for myself. As noted in various sites in the Internet, I should begin playing the CD right after the Lion in the opening scene closes his mouth after his third roar. Well, as far as I'm concerned, though, I don't see what's all the fuss about with the synchronization. It probably because I've never seen the film before yesterday, or simply my timing isn't right.

As far as the film goes, for a film that released in 1939, The Wizard of Oz was rich and manages to look expensive. I've always been a sucker for a musical film anyway and I should say that The Wizard of Oz is notoriously famous for its "Over the Rainbow" song. So, yeah, despite the flawed overall visual quality, I could enjoy The Wizard of Oz and it would be one of the first film my daughter (or son, whichever came first :D) would see along with Sound of Music. No TV for my kids!

Anyway, here's a video of one of the scene from the film that supposedly synchronized with my favorite track from the album.

Red Cliff... Not!

Anyone else excited to see John Woo's rendition of the most decisive battle in the Chinese History? I do and therefore i was pretty excited to learn that this film will hit the local theater tonight at midnight. However, as my wife, a Chinese history buff, won't let me see the film without her, i had to hold the reins and wait for her instead in two weeks time. Hey, just trying to be a good husband, here. Hopefully the film was still around at the time.

Another sad news, we won't see Hellboy II: The Golden Army anytime soon in Indonesia even if it is already hit the theater everywhere else. It irked me a lot on how ignorant those fools at 21 network really are. I mean, sure, Hellboy is an almost unknown superhero here, but, as far as i'm concerned, the first film is the best superhero film after Batman and that is only because i'm a fan of Batman. Further, Selma Blair is hands down, the best superhero's female sidekick ever. I don't even know who to direct my rage towards to for the lack of appreciation from the so-called movie-goers in Indonesia that ultimately led to the decision to push back the release of Hellboy II, yeah, movie-goers indeed, tasteless movie-goers, in fact, i wouldn't call them movie-goers, just a bunch of kids with too much of time and money and too little of everything else (including taste). Go see that Eddie Murphy's newest dud, Meet Dave, instead which perhaps not surprisingly, arrived on a spot-on schedule. I hope that they don't screw up again when The Dark Knight scheduled to arrive. Given the Batman's reputation, i wouldn't think that they would screw it up but hey, there's no limit to stupidity and taste-less-ness.

2008: Year in Review. The First Five Months

The first five months of the year 2008 has come and gone rather quickly. This is my take on films released at each of the passed months. As usual, the release dates are for North America release.

January (8/18):

- One Missed Call. 1/2. My review.
- The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: A VeggieTales Movie. N/A.
- First Sunday. N/A.
- 27 Dresses. **1/2. My review.
- Beaufort. N/A.
- Still Life. N/A.
- Teeth. **. My review.
- Cassandra's Dream. **1/2. Review coming.
- Taxi to the Dark Side. N/A.
- Mad Money. N/A.
- Cloverfield. ***1/2. My review.
- 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days. ***1/2. My review.
- Meet the Spartans. Zero (minus four stars if it's possible). Do i need to review it? NO! An ugly excuse of a film. Save yourself. DON'T EVER SEE THIS FILM.
- Alice's House. N/A.
- Untraceable. N/A.
- Rambo. **1/2. My review.
- How She Move. N/A.
- U2 3D. N/A.

February (6/29):

- Caramel. N/A.
- Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour. N/A. Not interested at all.
- Strange Wilderness. 1/2. Another painful excuse for a comedy.
- Over Her Dead Body. *1/2. My review.
- Praying With Lior. N/A.
- The Witnesses. N/A.
- The Eye. *1/2. Another slew of Asian horror remade. The best part from the original Asian release that made me jumped my seat was noticeably absent. But Jessica Alba is still hot, blind or not.
- How to Rob a Bank. N/A.
- Fool's Gold. N/A.
- Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins. N/A.
- In Bruges. N/A.
- The Band's Visit. N/A.
- Vince Vaughn's Wild West Comedy Show. N/A.
- Bab'Aziz - The Prince Who Contemplated His Soul. N/A.
- Vexille. **. My review.
- The Year My Parents Went on Vacation. N/A.
- Definitely, Maybe. N/A.
- Step Up 2 the Streets. N/A.
- The Spiderwick Chronicles. N/A.
- Jodhaa Akbar. N/A.
- George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead. N/A.
- Me & You, Us, Forever. N/A.
- Jumper. *. My review.
- La Traviata. N/A.
- Vantage Point. **1/2. Despite the political inaccuracy, and tendency to rely on luck, this film is probably a very much an underrated thriller.
- Charlie Bartlett. N/A.
- The Counterfeiters. N/A.
- Be Kind Rewind. N/A.
- Witless Protection. N/A.

March (7/28):

- Semi-Pro. *. If you want to see a film where you laughing at other people for their genuine stupidity, this film would at times, satisfactory. Even so, given the nature of the film, it is largely uninspiring.
- La Vie En Rose. ***1/2. My review.
- Bonneville. N/A.
- City of Men. N/A.
- Penelope. N/A.
- Other Boleyn Girl. **1/2. Review coming.
- 10,000 B.C. *1/2. My review.
- College Road Trip. N/A.
- Bank Job. **1/2. My review.
- Married Life. N/A.
- Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day. N/A.
- Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who. ***. My review.
- Funny Games. N/A.
- Doomsday. N/A.
- Never Back Down. N/A.
- Hammer. N/A.
- Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns. N/A.
- Shutter. N/A.
- Drillbit Taylor. N/A.
- Under the Same Moon. N/A.
- Race. N/A.
- 21. N/A.
- Flawless. N/A.
- Run, Fat Boy, Run. **. My review.
- Priceless. N/A.
- Stop-Loss. N/A.
- Superhero Movie!. N/A.
- One Two Three. N/A.

April (3/20):

- Shine a Light. N/A.
- Nim's Island. N/A.
- Leatherheads. N/A.
- My Blueberry Nights. N/A.
- Ruins. N/A.
- Prom Night. N/A.
- Visitor. N/A.
- Krazzy 4. N/A.
- U Me Aur Hum. N/A.
- Smart People. N/A.
- Street Kings. **1/2. Pretty cool stuff actually, procedural cop film where good cops pitted against dirty copes. Remind me of Training Day. Shouldn't be surprising though, since these films were written by the very same people.
- Forbidden Kingdom. *1/2. Every fanboy's dream? Pitting the legends Jet Li against Jackie Chan? Probably true. Unfortunately, the best part of this film was the fight between Jet Li vs Jackie Chan while the rest of the film was largely ignorable. You could probably just YouTube it.
- Forgetting Sarah Marshall. N/A.
- 88 Minutes. *. I don't feel like writing a capsule on this one.
- Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed. N/A.
- Baby Mama. N/A.
- Tashan. N/A.
- Deception. N/A.
- Then She Found Me. N/A.
- Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay. N/A.

May (4/15):

- Iron Man. ***. My review. This film has received a staggering 93% approval nods from RottenTomatoes.com easily the best for the year. I may have to see it once again.
- Redbelt. N/A.
- Fugitive Pieces. N/A.
- Son of Ranbow. N/A.
- Made of Honor. N/A.
- Speed Racer. **1/2. My review.
- What Happens in Vegas. N/A.
- Before the Rains. N/A.
- Fall. N/A.
- Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. **. My review.
- How the Garcia Girls Spent Their Summers. N/A.
- Reprise. N/A.
- Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. **1/2. My review.
- War, Inc. N/A.
- Children of Huang Shi. N/A.

From what i could see, we've seen AT LEAST 110 titles released in the first five months of this year. From the 110, i've seen only 28 of them. Roughly 25%. From these 28, i love Cloverfield, 4 Months 3 Weeks and 2 Days, and La Vie en Rose the most, with Iron Man and Horton Hears a Who in close pursuit and simply loathed Meet the Spartans.

Indonesian Film: Anda Puas Saya Loyo

There's a reason why i've been avoiding Indonesian films like a plague. Despite the popular beliefs, i personally think that Indonesian Films, albeit increasing considerably in terms of quantity, decreased alarmingly rapid in terms of quality. Not a long time ago, when horror films become the staple of popular culture, not a month went by without at least two more-or-less the same horror films. We've seen three "Pocong" films, three (or is it four?) "Kuntilanak" films in a matter of months, and you could pretty much ask for any kind of demon spawned from the local myth and folklore (or simply ripped-off from other Asian horror films) for a film. Believe it or not despite the similar formula, almost predictable writing, and bad bad bad production quality, it works and most importantly to them producers, it making money. Henceforth, as long as these film keeps making money, we keep see them coming. One after another, plaguing local theaters.

Now, the trend had shifted. But it shows the significant decline to an already declining stale state of the previous trend (teenage horror films). I believe it begins with "Quickie Express". A film which humors was intended to adult viewers (therefore, mainly involving the crotch area related jokes). We've seen this kind of films back then in 70s when Dono Kasino Indro ruled the cinema. If you remembered them, certainly you'd remembered its repetitive 'plot'. Three men, and two voluptuous women shared a house, while the third woman arrive in the scene, and at one point in the film, all six went to the beach where "adult-jokes" littered the space. Rinse and repeat for the next film. And believe it or not, they were rated PG-13. Now if i had a ten-year old boy, i won't let him watch any of their film.

Sadly, after the "phenomenal" success of "Quickie Express" (i'm just making things up, i have no idea on how phenomenal nor was the film even qualifiable to had the term "success" attached to it), we've seen another trend. That's right, as you can see in this promotional poster of a yet another proof of the declining state of Indonesian film, the horror films trend has been replaced with "17+ comedy films". We're scarcely seen any teenage-horror films nowadays. Instead we have titles such as, "XL - eXtra Large" which made it's easy to guess which part of the human body has an "eXtra Large" attribute, "Namaku Dick" (My name is Dick) which doesn't need further explaining, "ML (Mau Lagi)" which has a bit of trouble with the censorship and currently postponed its screening. For a damn good reasons, if i may add. And as you may already know, ML is also an abbreviated form of "Make Love" a widely accepted popular term to denote a coitus activities. You can't get more explicit than that. I believe that there's more examples of "17+ comedy films" released in the past couple of months alone but i had no knowledge whatsoever about them, forgotten about them and simply don't care.

And finally this, which a quick glance to the promotional poster says all. Save Indonesian films industry. Don't see any of these cash-cow films. Heck, never thought i'd say this, watch "Ayat-Ayat Cinta" again (for the record, i've never seen the film, ever, and not interested to see it in the near future). Save Indonesian films.

Fan Rant: DC vs Marvel

The unequivocally huge success of Iron Man (US$ 200 mills. worldwide on its first opening week, with the budget of US$ 180 mills.) quickly sparks Marvel Studios to further bring its superheroes to the big screen. We've seen Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk just peeking around the corner this year. Iron Man 2 (with most of its casts and crews intact), was already scheduled for a 2010 release, along with Captain America and Thor. And with Ant Man scheduled somewhere in between, these superheroes will be back collectively, together for The Avengers movie in 2011. You who had sit through Iron Man until the end-credit rolls surely have seen Samuel L. Jackson vignetting as Nick Fury, and talked about "The Avengers". Now, three years ago, these huge projects seems almost impossible or a very hard one to pull. But, damn, i've got to admit that all these schedules seems appropriate and we'd seen "The Avengers" in three or four years. Remember, "The Avengers" is a group that consists of many first-line superheroes. Therefore, to appropriately push "The Avengers", each of its member should have their own story-arc that led into it. In a movie-term, we're talking about four or five individual films before put them in one huge, block-buster, geek-salivating film such as "The Avengers". Oh, and don't forget that we've also got "Magneto" and "Wolverine" spin-off films coming.

If Marvel has "The Avengers", DC has their own "Justice League of America" or "JLA".

I've always been a DC fan rather than a Marvel. I had gone into a lengthy discussion with a friend of mine who was a Marvel fan about the flaws and the negativity of a Marvel flag-ship hero at the time, Spider-Man. It should be noted that the discussion was a discussion between a fanboy and another fanboy. Hence, they went passionately and obviously, biased. But i've got to admit now that in-term of films, Marvel beats the crap out of DC by a mile. Sure, DC still has Batman (there's a YouTube clip that put Iron Man and Batman. Iron Man says, "I'm Iron Man", Batman says, "I'm Batman". But when Iron Man says, "I'm a Marvel", Batman still says, "I'm Batman". Oh, the irony. DC flagship is so screwed that even Batman refuses to acknowledge his ties with it), but when Marvel had started to paved its way into "The Avengers" film, the only foreseeable future films from DC is perhaps more Batman. And as a DC fan, i was hugely disappointed.

As with Marvel's "The Avengers", DC's "JLA" consists of many superheroes. Its triumvirate was Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. And you can't talk about JLA without - at the very least - Martian Manhunter and Green Lantern. And then we had The Flash, Aquaman, Green Arrow and many more second-line superheroes. That is at least five films easy before even thinking of a JLA film. Sure, Batman is still a lucrative cash-cow for a film and might seen another or two films coming after this year's "The Dark Knight". But, the recent box-office stink bomb, Superman Returns had kept the studios to re-think their decisions to keep throwing away millions of dollars for a yet another "boy scout film". And as far as the other superheroes goes, all we've ever heard about was Joss Whedon and his casting rumors for Wonder Woman. The other? Not even a whimsical whisper.

Making movies, in this time of age was not a cheap feat. As an example, the recent disaster in Myanmar that had claimed more than 10,000+ lives requires US$ 158 mills. to revitalized the damages. But the budget for Iron Man was at least US$ 180 mills. Doing the math, it is easy to see the reluctance of the studios to throw an expensive film without some reassurance that they would see a black ink on its finance report at the end of the day. That, and sufficient passions to make one. I mean, when we're talking about superheroes film, we're talking about pleasing the fans. And, as a fan, you would really hoped that the film was also made by fans or at least by those who know what the fans wanted. This is where passion came into play.

And this is where Marvel and DC differs, where Marvel could really pulls "The Avengers" and DC puts "JLA" in a bin labeled with "crap" painted with a huge red letters.

Iron Man is the first film that came from Marvel Studios' sleeve. A film studio created and owned by Marvel flagship. An article at BusinessWeek says that prior Marvel Studios, all of the Marvel related films were licensed to Columbia studios (Spider-Man, X-Men, Daredevil, Elektra, etc.) and Marvel only receives 5% of whatever the studio made from the film. And now, with its own studio, imagine how much money Marvel would made from its film. Surely more than just a measly 5% profit. It could also be easily imagined the investors' smiling face and immediately green lighted any Marvel Studios future plans. Also, complement with whatever Iron Man made in the weeks to come at the box-office (i've known many guys who had seen the film three times at the theater, and yet had planned to see it again last weekend!) plus further sales from DVDs, related games, and merchandises, it is conceivable that Marvel Studios would had all the funding they needed to pull four-five films more that eventually led to the mega-blockbuster, geek-salivating "The Avengers". DC? Not so lucky. All of its films copyright were still held by Warner Bros. In other word, to see any films related to DC (including Batman), it has to be green lighted by Warner Bros. beforehand. And perhaps i stretched a bit too far, but i'd say that all Warner Bros. interested in pulling any DC films was the money and if Superman Returns can't put them eagerly back on a sequel, what assurance do they have that a flying Amazon woman, or a green skinned Martians would fare better?. Passions? Check the fine-print somewhere in the footnote. If there's even any. Thus, for the time being, i wouldn't expect much from DC flagship and albeit grudgingly, i'd eagerly anticipated whatever Marvel Studios prepping in the future.

Update: Recent box-office results shown that Iron Man was again the #1 spot undertaking US$ 50 mills. with Speed Racer (yet another Warner Bros. brainchild) crashed with a mere US$ 20 mills. (my review on the film just before this post) with the studio expecting for US$ 30 - 40 mills.

The Hunt for Red October (1990)

The Hunt for Red October. Not quite a Film review. This film had come to my attention (although i had seen it numerous times previously) after reading through an article at Cinematical about the authenticity of a particular accent used in film. The film had came up in the article due to Mr.Sean Connery, he with that thick Scottish accent who was a Russian sub-marine officer in this film.

This film was my favorite John Patrick Ryan film by far. I'm also on a strong opinion that compared to Harrison Ford, and Ben Affleck, Alec Baldwin was a far superior Jack Ryan. Added to that, the novel itself, which was among the earlier Tom Clancy's work was one of my favorite as well.

In the forementioned article earlier in this paragraph, it mentioned about how John McTiernan shifted the Russian dialogues to English. The last time i saw this film, which was years ago i couldn't really remember, i hadn't paid any attention to it. Therefore, when i saw the film for the n-th time yet again yesterday with all the intention to paid an extra attention to how the dialog changed, i paid an extra attention to the Russian dialogue. I'm no Russian, of course, which made me pretty much clueless about wether the Russian used in this film, especially ones which were spoken by Mr.Connery was as good as you could get or simply a pathetic imitation. However, i've always loved to hear Mr.Connery's accent, therefore, whatever came out of his mouth would be decorated in flowers and tasted like honey which made me completely sold on him beign a genuine Russian. Mr.Connery spoke few Russian words in the earlier part of the film, but with one subtle camera work from John McTiernan - which you had to see it for yourself, unfortunately - the dialog was shifted to English.

This was in a day when even if the film-makers understand that most of its viewers were too distracted - or too lazy - to read subtitles, they still put an extra-effort to provides some kind of a somewhat acceptable explanation to the great question of "why does everybody talked in English even if he is a Russian officer in an Russian flagship submarine?" to provides - again, a somewhat resemblance of an authenticity to a film. In The Hunt of the Red October, John McTiernan's approach to 'made' the Russian crew and officers talked in English was rather hilarious IF you knew that you're looking for its not-too-subtle of said change in the first place. Otherwise, given the nature of the film, it probably left mostly un-noticed.

In my office, it has become an undisputed fact that i was the 'go-to-guy' when it comes to film. I would had this question almost every Fridays of wether this particular film worth her money or not. Just recently, when 10,000 B.C hits the theater, i was un-equivocally expressed my contempt with the film. When asked, "Why? You haven't seen the film, why would you say that the film was bad?", i would firmly elaborate my experience when i first saw the trailer of the film. The first part of trailer wasn't that bad, actually, but when a character spoke, that was what ruined the experience. When she hears my explanation, she had this look on her face which says, "weirdo". But then again, this was coming from someone who hadn't seen Transformers for she thought that it was too manly, and hadn't seen Apocalypto, the first film that came to mind when i was asked about the most recent film with its lingua authenticity. Point being, i'd like to think she was one of those casual viewers. Later on, of course, you know that 10,000 B.C was a painful experience. Our protagonist tribe spoke in perfect English, their ally spoke in an accented English, and the designated antagonist tribe spoke in utter gibberish. Boo hoo. So much for authenticity. Might as well made the character in the film pointed out that they actually know that they were living in the year 10,000 B.C.

Antitrust (2001) - Not a Film Review

Antitrust. NOT a film review. I saw this film for the first time years ago when i was still a student in Computer Science. The only thing i remembered from that film was Rachael Leigh Cook. For a short time being, i was obsessed with her. But that's the only thing i remebered from the film.

When i saw the film again last night, it grows more relevant in accordance to my current knowledge shaped with my studies and experiences. As far as a computer-science related film that i've ever seen, this is as close as you could get on the geek level of our professional profile. Alas, after waking up until 3 am last night, i remembered why i hadn't remember anything from the film save for Rachael Leigh Cook. As a film, Antitrust was terrible. But, this post is meant as contemplating upon the pop culture that made a reference to our lines of work and not a film review.

The film was clearly built upon the facts and myths surrouding dot-com boom somewhere in the late 90's. We've heard - at least us, those who spent most of our time in a computer-related stuffs - too many stories about how people with a knack in Computer Science starting something in their own garage. Some made millions, but most were collapsed (thus, the term dot-com boom). I guess that even know, everyone on this field still had that dreams alive and tucked somewhere. Even now, some of my colleagues, friends i went to school with, were living the dreams, or started theirs. And i'm still waiting for my chance.

Gary Winston (Tim Robbins) had too many resemblance with Bill Gates to get ignored. He owns an enterprise, a software firm with an ambitious project. He recruited the brightest and most talented students to made sure his project didn't missed a deadline. Milo Hoffman (a terribly horrible Ryan Phillipe) was one of such talent. He and his partner-in-crime, Teddy Chan was offered by Gary to work in his project. With a persuasion from his girl-friend, he accepted the offer although he was shunned by his friend for being a sell-out. This is an interesting part of the film. Gary Winston (or i should say, Bill Gates, for the resemblance was uncanny) represents the all-powerful software megalomaniac. Smart, ambitious, successful, and socially inept which led to being too often, ruthless and reckless. On the other side of the river, we've got... um, us. At least, the distinctive us, whose determined by their achievement, their hacking skills, or their geek scale factor, or all of them. Anyway, these young bright individuals are portrayed as those myths around a BS in Computer Science during a dot-com boom. They set up a small networking gizmo in their garage, and start writing code, and eventually get noticed by the large enterprise software firm. These young 'uns in this film were further described as a supporter of an Open Source community thus making the resemblance between Gary Winston and Bill Gates more palpable that i was totally agreed with Roger Ebert when he said that he was surprised that Gary was spared from not wearing a name tag saying, 'Hi! I'm not Bill!' during the film.

Aside from that, however, despite that the film was so bad it's reeked, the film tried as close as it could gets to touch the world i've been living for the past nine years. I still couldn't bought the idea of a programmer glancing on a several lines of declaration variables code and said, "The compression is good", or that a programmer such as Milo could had an uber-hot girlfriend or that there's actually a female geek that looks like Rachael Leigh Cook. But, at the very least, it is more belieavable and lot more exciting than what Hugh Jackman did in Swordfish with all that nine (or six?) monitors and somekind of cube-thingies like visual programming which of course i haven't seen applied in the world as i knew it.

Oh, how i missed my school days.

TOTAL Film Magazine's Top 100 Directors (1/2)

Ooooh, Lists, I love lists. Even though i haven't had a list of my own - making lists is hard, there's always one or two things peeking in the corner, maliciously grinning, 'You haven't included me, bozo!' and forcing me to rewrite the list -, it should be noticed that i had a certain penchant to comment on other's lists. Now, here's another lists which i deemed worthy to at least take a peek. It should be noted that even though the original list consists of 100 names, i only mentioned the top-11, since of course, it is rather futile to lists them all here in one post.

11. Akira Kurosawa
The samurai master
Rashômon alerted the world to the riches of Japanese cinema – and to the tigerish energy of Toshiro Mifune. But it was Seven Samurai, with its bravura action sequences and melancholy, that sealed Akira Kurosawa’s reputation. Yojimbo added a gleeful dose of black comedy, while Ikiru, set in modern-day Tokyo, revealed Kurosawa’s gentler, elegiac side. His love of Shakespeare inspired Throne Of Blood as well as the majestic late Lear adaptation, Ran.
Picture perfect Seven Samurai. Poetry in motion.

When i first decide to dive nose-first to a world of cinemas as more than just a pleasurable killing time experiences, Akira Kurosawa was my first choice to do some exploration. Thus, I had seen many of his works, probably more than any other old classic directors. I've seen all the films listed in the above paragraph, for instance. My favorite Kurosawa however, not Seven Samurai, even though the film's rain scene was simply breathtaking even with rather old-fashioned sword-battling coreography (but, old-fashioned as it is, it still felt more real than most modern sword-battling coreography). My favorite samurai tale from Mr.Kurosawa was the no-name bodyguard tales, Yojimbo and Sanjuro. Both features Toshiro Mifune, and both was simple, quick, and explosive in the end. A fun flick to watch. Alas, my most favorite Kurosawa was not even a Samurai flick. Ikiru (pictured) ever stands as one of my favorite films of all-time, probably because i took root on drama as my genre preference in film, but i still remembered Takashi Shimura gaunt and longing faces as he realized that he's got no longer than three months to live. Classic.

10. David Fincher
The perfectionist
“Some people make movies so they can have a big house,” says Fincher. “Some people do it so they can date Swedish models... If I wasn’t making movies I would be drunk and homeless.” The MTV auteur who segued from Rolling Stones’ and George Michael vids to the fascinating failure of Alien3, Fincher’s do-or-die vision eventually delivered the seminal Se7en, mirrored this year by Zodiac’s more muted but no less intelligent take on fractured masculinity, obsession and loneliness (and, oh yeah, a serial killer). Hardly prolific, but Fincher’s smarts, wit and eye are unsurpassed in his generation; even his popcorn pictures (The Game, Panic Room) are a different league. Always pushing the technical envelope, he matches his meticulousness with mordant humour and a growing sense of humanity. Expect third Pitt hook-up, The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button, to stun you. Kubrick has an heir.
Picture perfect Fight Club. A beautiful and unique snowflake.

He's probably the reason i was a fan of Brad Pitt. Yep, Brad Pitt. When it comes to celebrity, i often distinguished myself from the crowd by NOT becoming a fan of a popular known actors (or artists). Well, it's just... habit. But Mr.Pitt was there. His taste in clothing in the Ocean's trilogy series has been one that i would like to copy from. The film Se7en that sealed the fact. I had seen Se7en for the first time in 1995 - 1996 when i was about to graduate from Junior High School. It quickly become my favorite film of many years to come. Ahh, the good old days. I remember, i had stunned with the film, from opening to finish, and from the way Kevin Spacey cocked his head sideways, and muttered a slow, true but frightening words, "Oh, he doesn't know". Scary. I was shaking to boots when i saw how the words shaken Brad Pitt's calmness. But, to be at #10-spot, surpassing Mr.Kurosawa? i don't think so. Come to think of it, his decent movies are Zodiac, Se7en, and Fight Club, in that order, where Fight Club being and still my favorite Brad Pitt's film. Further, there's an intriguing point in that article that he was going to be Kubrick's heir. Now, that was strectching a bit more. But, check this out. According to imdb, in 2009, he's going to made Rendezvous with Rama, which based on Arthur C. Clarke's sci-fi story that sets on space. And Kubrick, 41 years earlier had made 2001: A Space Odyssey, also a sci-fi story sets in space, also based on Arthur C. Clarke's story. Interesting.

9. Peter Jackson
The ring master
A bashful, only child growing up in Pukerua Bay, New Zealand, Peter Jackson latched onto the 8mm camera he was given at the age of eight, forging a small talent that became big.

Jackson’s early work – camp splatter movies Bad Taste and Braindead, influenced by George A Romero – segued into the rapturous, teen-lesbian murder tale Heavenly Creatures and the mature, visionary storytelling of The Lord Of The Rings. “It was a giant undertaking,” says Jackson of his three-film, five-year odyssey, “but I consider it a personal film – my film of a lifetime.”

Maybe so, but now that he’s finally laid to rest his obsession with King Kong, a liberated Jackson can funnel his extraordinary filmmaking talents into more intriguing artistic-multiplex synergies – including, he says, a return to his gorehound roots.

First up, Alice Sebold’s ghost-child drama Lovely Bones, the perfect vehicle for his rhapsodic blend of visceral emotion and transporting fantasy.
Picture perfect The Lord Of The Rings trilogy. Eleven hours of pure cinematic majesty.

Ah, who doesn't know The Lord of the Rings? Stop reading if you don't, go back to your mother's womb, or whatever cave you're in for this past five-six years. No comment from me on the subject, but, as the article point out, i believe that Peter Jackson had some unique traits in making horror film, i truly enjoyed The Frighteners. Especially during the scene where the Grim Reaper swinging his deadly scythe between passing cars. I really wanted to see he's back on his horror root. And again, number 9 spot? He's good, but NOT that good. My comment by the way.

8. Stanley Kubrick
The recluse
Even in death – it’s still hard to believe he’s gone – Kubrick remains a semi-mythic figure, hidden behind a thicket beard, monolithic intellect and the front gates of his Xanadu-like mansion. Bizarrely, he’s greater than any one of his 13 truly unique films. After WWI trench-tragedy Paths Of Glory, Kubrick became less interested in humans than humanity itself, driving actors to hundreds of identical takes in his obsessive search for perfection. Even Dr Strangelove (an original, brilliant, terrifying nuclear comedy that equates military might with big, swinging dicks) and Lolita (sex and power again) reach us through a God-like POV that belongs to him and none of his characters. He fish-eyed Big Questions through some of the most unforgettable spectacles in cinema: 2001’s celestial enigma; The Shining and A Clockwork Orange’s mesmerising horrorshows; Full Metal Jacket’s clinical destruction; Eyes Wide Shut’s end-of-century sign-off. Daring, demanding and unique.
Picture perfect 2001: A Space Odyssey. To infinity and beyond.

Along with Mr.Kurosawa, he was one of the director i picked during my transformation days (from entertainment to edutainment) and so, i was pretty knowledgable regarding his works. And 2001: A Space Odyssey remains one of my most painful experience in watching films, i watched the film thrice, and thrice i fell asleep during the Ray of Lights scene. But, other than that, despite of what Stephen King had said, The Shining remains one of the most frightening films i've ever seen. The tricycle scene, the tennis-ball scene, they had no weird, made-to-surprise sound effects, but nonetheless, it's just plain scary. But, my favourite of Kubrick, was Barry Lyndon. A three hour more of a tale contemplating the life of a noble. Now that i tried to remember the film, it short of remind me to Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette. But with huge distinction that i liked Barry Lyndon, and i despised Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette.

7. Ingmar Bergman
The confessor
“At times, the demons can be helpful. But you have to beware. Sometimes they will help you along to hell.”

Ingmar Bergman knew what he was talking about. Survivor of a cracked faith and four broken marriages (a fifth ended when his wife died of stomach cancer), the Swedish auteur made a career out of “the ability to attach my demons to my chariot” (The Seventh Seal, Shame, Scenes From A Marriage, Autumn Sonata, Fanny And Alexander).

And if his chariot’s wheels occasionally threatened to come off, that only helped Bergman work through his crises of creative confidence in movies like Persona and Hour Of The Wolf, positing the artist as charlatan.

Honing his uncluttered style over 60 years and 50-odd films, he shoots his tortured protagonists in looming, luminous close-up, his camera performing keyhole surgery to extract tumorous lies. It is, as critic David Thomson puts it, a “cinema of the inner life”, revelatory in every sense.
Picture perfect Persona. Bergman’s silent scream.

Sadly, i need more of him. His only flick that i've seen so far is The Seventh Seal. His depiction of Death is, for lack of better words, personal. And the final scene where Death led the characters jolly-walking on a hill, shots from a far, really really subtly frightening. There's no doubt about it that he, who just recently passed away, is one of the greatest director.

Fiuw, that's a post too many for today actually, so i'm going to conclude this posts with the rest of the list next Monday, enjoy your weekends, i think i'm going to see The Brave One, i've always had a soft-spot for Jodie Foster that even her worst i deemed enjoyable, and the revenge flick has been garnered positive reviews around, and Disturbia which finally, after a few agonizing months (it has been released far earlier in the US) of waiting, i could finally laid eyes on what they said among the better thriller released. Again, have a nice weekend.

When Movies are Still Three Hours Long

Ah.. the good old days, when they actually dared (though not always succeeded) to make a film that runs for more than three hours which is twice (or even more) the length of recent films nowadays. I felt contempt and disgust whenever my new friends asked about what kind of films i had in my collection, or what kind of films that i recently watched and liked. One of my friend had made a dire mistake when she said that Transformers is one of the best film ever made. Now, wait, one of the best film e-v-e-r made? I ignored her completely the next day when she proposed that we all go see a movie which was about the 16213rd films that told a similar story about duo police (Rush Hour 3). Yep, been there, seen that, and i won't waste my good money to see another 'Mi'-'Yu' gags again, we've seen too many of that already (considering that there was virtually no border to cultures, and countries worldwide nowadays, an oblivious knowledge to foreign names i would considered as rude, barbaric, pompous, and ignorant character), and sitting in the dark with a know-it-all girl (among others) who hadn't even interested a bit to see Gone with the Wind. I rest my case, there.

Now, let me back to the good old days, when movies are still three hours long. I recently watched Lawrence of Arabia, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (for a second time, and still a thrillingly pleasant experience), and Once Upon a Time in the West. All of which runs a slight minutes off the three hours mark (Lawrence of Arabia, however, runs a slight minutes off the four hours mark. Four). And strange but true, when sometimes i dozed off during a film that runs for shy 90 minutes, i rarely did for the longer experiences, ever savoring the experience in its earnest and loving them for what it's worth. Beautiful.

Back to reality, i had an experience once, quite recently, when someone asked about my collections, he said that 'You haven't had any good stuffs there, are you?'. Sigh, most of my new friends here considered that good films is where you see many slapstick jokes (you know, where actors tend to humiliate themselves?), and many explosions. They hadn't even know about Heat. That's blasphemy! How come an action film lover (as these snob people claimed themselves to be) doesn't even know about Heat?. Sigh. Times sure are changing. Fast.

Those Sweet Words

The song, Those Sweet Words, by Norah Jones, has never failed to make me smile everytime i heard it play. The song was the one that introduced me to Norah Jones and of course, largely responsible to made me falls head over heels to her. And of course, since her first film made its debut at 2007 Cannes Film Festival, i was eagerly awaited for it. The film, titled My Blueberry Nights.

The film came fromWong Kar Wai whose films, in my point of view, deals with absurd and personal definition of love. In short, a kind of drama i loved to watch. With Jude Law, David Strathairn, Rachel Weisz, and Natalie Portman, i had a good reason to wait for it.

Limbo

This site has gone in a limbo recently. Uh, i hate myself. For not keeping up with a commitment to update this site once in a week, at the very least. I'm still watching films, that was certain. And i just finished two books recently, The Children of Hurin from Christopher Tolkien, and Next from Michael Crichton. Both of which, unfortunately, doesn't live up to my expectations. Alas, i couldn't find anything to write about, or enough materials compiled from my tiny specks of gray matters that could well fit into an article that publish-able.

Well, it's a pressure on jobs, and a high-pursuit of dreams i'm in right now, which made me had to prioritized things. Anyway, i'm going to write something light in this post. It's about my favorite things. Yeah, if you'd think that it would be corny and waste of time, click away, because it is going to be corny. Anyway, you've been warned.

Favorite actresses:
Rachel McAdams - I first laid eyes on her on that stupid waste-of-time comedy (as was ANY comedy that billed Rob Schneider as its lead role. Sorry, The Animal fans, it's true), The Hot Chick. Her sheer resemblance with an Alias star, Jennifer Garner, immediately captured my attention at the time. And though she appears briefly at the film, she quickly become a sight for sore eyes and longing for more. A couple of years later, she appears in a film, one of very few film features Lindsay Lohan that at least NOT below average, Mean Girls. And again, she was a sight for sore eyes. But of course, an actress with an outward beauty was often offered only roles that show off her outward qualities. Take Jessica Alba for an instance, who wouldn't fall for her? Well, at least i fell head over heel with that coppery skin, slim and tight waist, and downcast eyes of her that could melt any guy's knees. Mine, at least. Rachel McAdams however, was on a right track to prove that she was a versatile actress. After Mean Girls, she appears in a drama, The Notebook, and another comedy, Wedding Crashes, and finally, a thriller, Red Eye, which contrary to popular beliefs, i held as one of better thriller that i could watch for the second time without wincing (with Cillian Murphy, my another favorite actor). She's still has a lot to prove, but i'm more than willing to wait to find out.

Another names that become my favorites over the years, Cate Blanchett, and Kate Winslet, whose films i'm always eager to watch despite the buzzes, or the absence of it, that circles around the film. Nicole Kidman was another, but it's been four years since Dogville the last time i saw her stellar performance. She was too prolific.

My guiltiest pleasure lays on Anna Faris an actress really closely associated with Scary Movie franchise, and a perfect, a really perfect living proof of a stereotyped 'stupid-blonde'. I couldn't see her in a serious role, nor i would like to. Another guilty pleasure of mine was Julia Stiles. But unlike Anna, whose my pleasure lay on her stupid looks, Julia had more capability in acting department and her portfolio shows exactly just that. She was 18 in Wicked when she fall in love with her own father, and grows that love into obsession, a maniacal suicidal obsession. It's a fun B-movie to watch, and it was actually enjoyable. She was again, appears in Bourne trilogy which final instalment due this August.

I was planned to wrote another about male actors. But, if it took me a good portion of my day to write about girls, it's therefore in my very best interest to not to write about men, well, at least for the time being.

Summer 2007 Preview: Summer of Sequels

Even though that i've only known (and experienced) either sunny weather, or rain, i celebrated summer holidays with my own way. Movieplex. Generally begins on May, the summer season is a season where big-budgeted films (not necessarily smart, but features nifty eye-candy, big paid actors, and those that could qualified as a guilty-pleasure in my part) best experienced on a big screen.

Generally begun on May, this coming 2007 is a yet another year full of sequels.
Spider-Man 3 hit early on May 4, 28 Weeks Later on May 11, Shrek the Third on May 18, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End a week later on May 25. Further out, Ocean's Thirteen on June 8, neck-in-neck with gruesome guaranteed horror flick, Hostel: Part II, June 15, another super-hero flick, but this one features one of my favorite Marvel character, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, the trailer was awesome, Evan Almighty coming a week later, June 22, though i dont generally concord with the idea, and as much as i liked Steve Carrell, i doubt he would accomplish what Jim Carrey had in Bruce Almighty. John McClane coming back, with luscious Mary Elizabeth Winstead as his daughter, Live Free or Die Hard coming June 26.

Please note that i only mentioned sequels.

Michael Bay's Transformer hit on July 6. And if one talks about Michael Bay, who needs plot? Blow things apart, that's what he does best, and he better keep at it on this film. Super annoying teenager witch, Harry Potter hit the theater with his fifth installment, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix the week after, oh, did i mentioned that he's super annoying? for those of you who haven't read the book, the book (and the film) would be a legit proof that he's a super annoying teenager witch.

Further out, the last closure of Bourne trilogy, The Bourne Ultimatum hit on August 3. And i tell you this, Jason Bourne (JB) could kick James Bond (JB)'s whimpy ass any time, any where. The duo, Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker back again in Rush Hour 3. But really, who cares? They're back on August 10. And that's conclude the summer of sequels (excluding Transformer) release date. There were still many high-profiled line-ups that i haven't mentioned, such as Hot Fuzz, Simpsons the Movie, Stardust, Hairspray (remake), Ratatouille (Pixar's), 1408 (Stephen King's adaptation), Black Sheep (awesome New Zealand's horror), Nancy Drew (you who grew in 80's must know this girl, if you don't, then you don't read books much), Mr.Brooks, and more.

Except for Pirates, Bourne, and Transformers, nothing excite me much. Well, you see Pirates and Bourne both had their FINAL installment (Pirates could give a fourth sequels though) which wraps up things, like how the heck was Captain Sparrow escapes that Kraken at the end of its second installment, and how does Jason Bourne settle things with Thread Seventy-One? Transformers? well, this Hasbro's toys was my unfulfilled dream to have when i was a child.

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

Is it just me? or the above promotional poster would look very good on my bedroom's wall?

300: In Preparation to Dine in Hell

If you listed "Watching Movies" as one of your hobby, and yet, you had never heard about "300" lately, you need to reconsider by naming "Movies" as your hobby. Because certainly, "Movies", "Films", "Moving Pictures", was not your hobby at all. It was either that, or you live in someplace where internet was an unknown force of evil.

Anyway, i had mentioned about 300's director Zack Snyder on one of my post in this blog sometime in October. My expectation was high since. Because i had liked Zack Snyder's work since that yummy Dawn of the Dead remake up to now, and eagerly anticipating for more.

Now, 300 opens to a massive US$ 70 million weekend opening, thus becoming the highest grossing-film opening in March of all-time, and become the third highest grossing R-rated film (behind The Matrix Reloaded and The Passion of the Christ) to claim the North American top box-office. Surely, i think, i had securely made my point when i said that you should reconsider to give-up the title "Movie lover" or the likes if you haven't heard about "300".

The film was based on a Frank Miller's book. Call me if you need to read the comic, i had one. Not merely based, but from what i've seen in the trailer, the scenes in the film were literally picked-up from the comic. The scene with the wolf, the scene with the Persian ambassador, or even the already infamous scene with Gerard Butler screamed in anger. All of the scenes that i've already seen from the trailer, were literal translations from comic book panel to moving images. The resemblance was made even more uncanny with extensive uses of stop-motion and slow-motions.

I had secured a plan to watch 300 this weekend. From the news i gathered from 'ever trusted' (notice the sarcasm hint on the single quote) 21Cineplex, the film should be open this Saturday.

The further great news about the success of 300 was the possibility of Zack Snyder to secure a funding for his next project, Alan Moore's magnum-opus, Watchmen. The only comic book to received Hugo Award, the only comic book to appear on Time Magazine's 2005 list of the 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to the present, the comic that arguably coined the term "graphic novels", and surely the most weighed, dark-themed, most personal superhero comic book that i've ever read. Alan Moore was that British guy who also wrote V for Vendetta by the way, and he was a hard man to please. Zack was rumored to work on Watchmen for couple of years. And as a one-time comic fan, i was more eager to see how Watchmen translated into moving pictures rather than seeing a six-packed guy full of testosterone slay each-other. Hopefully that after the financially successful 300, Watchmen would had a green-light. And he has confirmed that Watchmen will be his next project. However, he should be cautious, because, not every comic-geek loved him (and his works) the way i do, and one little misstep with Watchmen, would be a blasphemous act to many.

Oscar: Winner or Long-Overdue

The Oscar has been spawned with controversies for as long as it has been held. There would always be spark of arguments between film buffs even weeks after the award show. Subconsciously, it helped to buffed the Oscar's popularity that it now being claimed (and called) as the most prestigious award for film in the planet, though that many film buffs claimed that he/she doesn't care about Oscar, you could safely bet that they would goggling over the results and made a sarcastic or an approval comment to the list.

Ever since 1999 Academy Award (when Shakespeare in Love won Best Picture), this year's Academy was probably the year when i had less, even closer to no refusal tantrum over the winners. Yeah, some occasional inevitable ripple sure to be happen. After all, it was SOMEONE ELSE's taste not mine. There would be some disagreement here and there. Alas, there also has been known that Oscar often gave award to those who had accomplishments in the past years (or long overdue Oscar) rather than gave award to the Real Winner of the year. I, personally think that this was the case with the recent winner for Best Director and Best Picture, Martin Scorcese and his The Departed.

And the question remains, was Mr.Martin deserved his Oscar?

Ask film-mania everywhere. Ask those who had seen at least six films from Martin Scorcese. Ask them, whether The Departed was his best film or not? If you asked me, i would firmly and quickly, at that, said no. Not even close. From the top of my head, here's the list of my favorite films from Mr.Scorcese.
1. Goodfellas (1990)
2. Raging Bull (1980)
3. Gangs of New York (2002)
4. Mean Streets (1973)
5. Taxi Driver (1976)
6. The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)
7. The Departed
8. The Aviator (2004)
9. Kundun (1997)
10. The King of Comedy (1983)
11. Cape Fear (1991)

All i'm saying is, it was on a rather rare occasion if you ever heard that someone said, The Departed was Mr.Scorcese's best work that it finally earned him an Oscar. It was said that the Academy just given him an Oscar long overdue. Goodfellas should have been won. And so did Mean Street. And what the hell? Gangs of New York loses to Chicago!. For over 40-years of his career, Mr.Scorcese has been nominated six-times in directing category. Thus earned him a title which he could finally undone, "One Great Director who has never won an Oscar".

Well, that's Oscar, you don't give an award to the very best of that year. Many tids and bits which often not that significant in the art of film-making comes into play. After all, the members of the Academy that gave their votes and ultimately decided who won, and who lose, were also human. All in all, i'm just glad that finally, after all these years, and these magnificent films, Mr.Scorcese finally had his golden statue.