Taking the feel of the 50’s and 60’s action movie where the leading actor and actresses that become the sole selling value for the show, The Tourist quite resemble the antique ideas by coping Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp. Jolie plays Elise Clifton-Ward, the squeeze of a master criminal who has lifted two billion pounds from a no-nonsense English gangster (Steven Berkoff). In order to keep the identity of her mysterious lover secret, she employs the aid of an unwitting proxy, American tourist and self described “math teacher,” Frank Tupelo (Depp).―or as it proclaimed.

By setting up some leading actor and actress as caliber as Jolie and Depp, this action movie packs a punch like the past Thomas Crown affair, in other word, filled with luxurious props, ravishing stars, and plot that everybody can take a gulp in a shot. Taking on a Depp side, this is maybe the first everyday person role since his Willy Wonka role in Charlie and the Chocolate factory, and his ability to transform his personality is always a plus point in every movie he has starred.  While the chameleon ability gathers the fans for Depp, Jolie shake the screen with her original formula. Jolie seductive factor play a major role for the time, not the everyday beauty, but one of the kind that feel almost magical and unreal. At the end, unlike any espionage movie this year displayed to us (Red, Knight and Day, Killers) the Tourist uphold some kind of a charm that leaves the audiences laugh and able to go with the flow in ease instead frowning about the complex story. Briefly, this is one of the movies which fall under the good times category, moreover if you’re one of these two leading actors fans, this one goes into the must watch list for the weekend agenda.[image courtesy of The Tourist]

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He is arrogant, big-talk, and undeniably reckless, that is Lemuel Gulliver (Jack Black) a mail room clerk who has a crush on travel editor Darcy Silverman (Amanda Peet) pretends to be an aspiring travel writer. As the chain effect from his arrogancy, he is given  a trial assignment by Darcy, that turns his fate upside down in the land of the Liliput. In this island, he starts the adventure in the kingdom where at first enslaved by the diminutive and industrious Liliputians that led by King Theodore (Billy Connolly) and Horatio (Jason Segel) complete with appearance Princess Mary (Emily Blunt) as the daughter of the King. Beside his gigantic body that makes him the center stage of Lilliputians Kingdom, his bravery in confronting the villain that threaten the land also adds another positive review for the little people. However, when Gulliver loses it all and puts the Lilliputians in peril, he must find a way to undo the hurt.

As a director who experienced in the fantasy themed movie like the famous Shark Tale and mind-blowing Monster’s Vs. Aliens, Rob Letterman focuses more on the insightful, sardonic satire, humanity aspect that wrapped in concrete humor. Within one and a half-hour of hard laugh and giggles, Black did his job well in creating his own personal Gulliver, which of course tend to be funny rather than humble and well-mannered. Granted, he’s not everyone’s cup of comedy, but here, in PG-oriented territory, he is more Kung Fu Panda than Tropic Thunder. The rest of the cast is also very good, including nice turns by Peet, Segel, and a wickedly aware Blunt. On the other side of the lens, despite the 3D point which play a major role in the “wow” factor, the past release of Brothers Strause’s Skyline a month ago quite pin the CGI level to the ground for a 3D sequences. Nevertheless, the story was quite enjoyable and de-stressing for the audiences. The mixture of light ambiance, quirky storyline, and plenty of humor thrown in the mix, result not only an entertaining movie on its own, but also one movie that once again taught us how an easy to swallow movie was all about. After all, we are dealing with an entire population less than half a foot tall. As kid vid efforts go, Gulliver is no classic tale, but one bolt-packed entertainment for the whole family for the holiday, enjoy. [images courtesy of 20th Century FOX]

Text by : Monivia P.

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How if your lover is a devil? Taken from a novel Let the Right One In by John Adjvide and highly acclaimed film of the same name in 2008, Let Me In is fairly good vampire movie which bring more of a thriller theme accentuates with horror aspects that illustrated in its own spin.  Being one of the classical vampire’s tales that follows the like of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Let Me In showcased a lot of dark and gloomy structure as its foundation, and left the excessive romantic drama out from the frame.

Let Me In tells a story about an awkward kid romance between a bullied kid and the girl next door, the twist being she turns out to be a blood thirst vampire. Matt Reeves the director, tries to bring the most obvious thing that will differentiate Let Me In from the slew of recent vampire movies that either show the vampire as a romantic icon, or as a demon in human form, is the portrayal of the condition by Abby. She is neither evil nor romantic, and her condition is anything but enviable, there is no noble or tragic explanation, which makes her situation far worse, but much more poignant to the audience which helps to create a sense of mystery.

The story is set in Los Alamos, New Mexico, in a small town circa 1983. Owen (Kodi Smit-McPhee), a 12-year old boy, is living a sad and lonely life, constantly suffering the attacks of bullies, and trying to cope with the divorce of his parents. He has no friends, and his mother is distant with a possible alcoholic streak. His life becoming darker, when he meets Abby (Chloe Grace Moretz) a little girl who moves into the apartment next door with her “father” (Richard Jenkins), Owen and Abby quickly form a bond. But the closer the two get, the more Owen realizes that his new crush may have secrets that more dangerous than anything he’s ever known.

Without a doubt, Reeves illustrated how vicious the vampire is, relentless and inhuman, even to the point of preserving their love life. The mixture of huge amount of blood, killing, and body disposal depicted in the film, remain as the solid point of interest that underline that this one is far from delightful romantic saga. Also there another notable aspect of this film, the exceptional performances by young actors, especially Chloe Moretz when she becomes a wild vampire was in apt to the horrendous vibe this movie is all about.  The slow burning plot also acts as a sharp hook that pin the audiences and make them wait patiently as they go deeper into the storyline. But it seems the oblivious atmosphere doesn’t stop at certain point, making the vital elements losing its charm bit by bit until the credits rolls.Still, it is clear that Let Me In is an old take on the vampire tale that feels fresh. [Images Courtesy of Let Me In]

Text By Monivia P

TRON: Legacy, is undoubtedly the most anticipated fantasy feature of 2010. Oscar winner Jeff Bridges reprises his role as Kevin Flynn and Clu. Playing both sides of the personality definitely was an easy challenge for this iconic actor, and yet he slides through the plot line as easy as osmosis. Although this feature presentation is essentially shot in the 2D, the 3D rendering does give graphic designers everywhere something to be desired to be included in their repertoire of skills. Director Joseph Kosinski definitely serves up a feast on most of all The Grid’s crowning glory. “My goal was to really make it feel real. I wanted it to feel like we took motion picture cameras into the world of TRON and shot it. So I wanted to build as many sets as possible. I wanted the materials to be real materials; glass, concrete, steel, so it had this kind of visceral quality to it.” Said Kosinski. And served up he did. As for essential details to the movie, fashion observers should note how Michael Wilkinson took notes from Gaultier’s creations from the movie Fifth Element and Hussein Chalayan’s ever present futuristic vibe. Every set design piece on every scenes, seems to be ethereally out of this world and touches back down to earth as we see Kevin Flynn’s isolation house. Everything mirrors the fact that every ambiance was created only for the character whose story we’re seeing on the screen. Last but not least was the original score provided by French music masterminds; Daft Punk. As one of the main draw to the movie, the robotic DJ definitely made a bespoke creation fitted only for this platter of science fiction-fantasy film. The combination of all these factors definitely proves that this movie is the scenic route of cinema of this century – it’s a matter of deciding if you would like to be visually enthralled or not. [Images courtesy of Walt Disney Pictures]

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The thriller-suspense genre is always a fan favorite. Watching those actors run and eviscerated, was quite an enjoyable moments, moreover if blood and serial killer involved. But this escapist movie directed by director Rodrigo Cortés, leaves the gallons of fake blood and ripped gut dummy in the storage room for the round. The theme that was quite simple, an escape operation —geared with only a communication device and temporary light source. The story begins as American truck driver, Paul Conroy (Ryan Reynolds) found himself buried alive in the middle of Iraq during his job in the country. During this state of unfaltering fear and despair, there’s nothing he can rely on but a half-dead Smartphone and a mere hope to be saved.

It was 90 minutes parade of fear, not the supernatural-caused kind of fear, but the one that we displeasingly feel in our life, for example; fear of closed space. The atmosphere given was quite frustrating, dark and dampened, moreover supported by the facts that the shoot solely taken inside the wooden coffin for the whole time leaves a no-breather for the audience. Though from this point, one may consider its going to be monotone and boring, Rodrigo Cortés skilled cinematography and Ryan Reynolds all-out acting proven to be far entertaining from what we expect for. The dynamic play of simple light sources to the well-executed montage, and then wrapped with divergence scenario was a rare combination to be found in the industry nowadays. In facts, it is quite enthralling to the extent that we temporarily forget that the box where Ryan Reynolds struggle in fear, is not moved, even by an-inch since the beginning. So, if you’re brave enough to take the thrill, go for it, as this rare movie experience is  going to pin a certain psychological toll on you, but of course who could resist not to see Ryan Reynolds scream his lunge out for quite a while? [Images Courtesy of Buried]

Render to those passage before, here comes the life of John Brennan (Russell Crowe) which seems living the placid life with her wife, Lara (Elizabeth Banks) and their only son Luke ( Ty Simpkins of War of the World‘s Fame) but after his wife was charged by murder that he believed she didn’t do it, what option does he have left? Thus, the tales of what we called sacrifice, and attempt to get their life back begin-in a very realistic way. Under the Lionsgate flag, the mind behind Casino Royale and Flags of Our Father, Paul Haggis came with his latest suspense thriller genre; The Next Three Days. As a remake of French cinema by Fred Cavaye titled as Pour Elle, Haggis put a lot effort to make the movies remain in logical value rather than to boost up the drama and going over the top like his previous movie, Quantum of Solace or Million Dollar Baby to name a few. This even can be seen by how he put the Brennan’s family to be easily lived-in by anyone, the relatable feeling everybody can cling into, and even far realistic by how every plan does not always ended up successful-like the scene where he failed to pull key, to the facts the escape plan leaves a big hole for everybody to wreck them up. Aside from the logical aspect, Russell Crowe seamless ability and Elizabeth Banks’ natural acting became a kind of supporting pad to help the slow burn movie into a heart racing thriller genre. Moreover, how Haggis put 115 minute long runaway attempt as the main plot and adding up a little drama and sharp details along the way somehow magically capture the emotional condition the cast felt. It’s emblematic of a thriller that injects a bracing dose of realism into the genre, and hearing “This is one of those stories where a simple set of circumstances puts a family’s life together in complete peril, it’s very intense, and you wouldn’t want it to happen to you. But it makes it really exciting for the people watching.” From Mr. Crowe was quite enough to tag this movie as a worth-to-watch movie that we should write on our to-do list.[Images courtesy of Lionsgate Films]

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Don’t expect when you hear the words of Rapunzel, you’ll get a tale of a beautiful princess who has a graceful attitude with a calm behavior living in a beautiful palace and complete with a perfect life. Yes, its actually still the same princess with the long hair but this time Rapunzel is presented as an adventure seeking female in an action-packed, swashbuckling, animated musical comedy about a girl whose whole live is veiled behind 70-feet of magical, golden hair. Tittled as “Rapunzel: A Tangled Tale”, Walt Disney Pictures provides the first Disney princess movie to be produced entirely in 3D, not like typical 2D movie which is then transformed into a 3D picture, so no doubt about it’s the best of qualities we obtain.

Inspired by the classic Brothers Grimm fairy tale of Rapunzel, ‘Tangled’ unfolds in a magical realm where an evil witch named Gothel, which the voice filled by Donna Murphy, always use a special healing plant to frequently rejuvenate herself in order to avoid death. But after the kingdom’s Queen almost dies during childbirth, the King sends out his men to retrieve the plant and uses it save the lives of both his wife and his newborn daughter, Rapunzel. Then, to revenge what the King did, the witch kidnaps Rapunzel (voiced by Mandy Moore) to retake the youth-restoring power for herself and locked her in a hidden tower. The adventure started when a great thief named Flynn Rider (voice of Zachary Levi) choose the wrong place to hide when escaping palace guards chased in the tower where the lost princess lived. The princess accidently discover the stolen crown jewels and as a return to take back his jewels, Flynn got to help Rapunzel escapes the tower after locked up from a baby to see fly lanterns what her dreamed of all time. Then, the story begins. Opened with beaming morning sunlight, the story runs smoothly with touch of humor almost in the entire scenes. Appearance of a smart, strong, resilient horse that behave like a dog named Maximus churns the stomach with a lot of belly laughs, to Rapunzel’s best friend a chameleon named Pascal which have silly face and support with stupid attitude just can’t make us stop laughing.

The legend is back, Rapunzel as the popular princess character now present differently with the direction of Nathan Greno and “Bolt” co-director Byron Howard . Based from its original story, this movie can be underline as the filmmakers effortless try to blend the old-fashioned sensibilities of classic Disney with the brisk pace and emphasis on comedy that modern audiences have come to associate with the animation genre. Greno and Howard provided a lot of complicated little details on body parts and facial expressions with strong characters in each scene throughout the whole movie. Creating a clear and beautiful graphics of sceneries and 3D effects support with wonderful voices of the Hollywood talents plays to the strength of the story. As the last princess tale animation from Disney, Rapunzel: A Tangled Tale still hold its quintessential fairy tale aspect, but also emphasizing on Rapunzel’s ability to fend for herself. Showcasing a mixture of girl power and innocence, this princess will easily be a fan favorite to those who live easily in fantasy land. And to keep it into the signature plot of the Disney fairy tale stories, it also includes that ever so popular line: a happy ever after. [Images courtesy of Walt Disney Pictures]

Text by: Monivia P

How many of you believe the superstitious meaning behind every numerical value hold, like the luck bringer triple seven or bad omen thirteen -as its counterpart, works? We are not sure, but its looks like Tony Scott play a lot with it this time. Following the successful Taking of Pelham 123, under the 20th Century Fox’s roof, Mr. Scott once again make another amusement by theoretically using the same element in prior of the train-hijacking movies; the appearance of his original muse Denzel Washington, suspenseful action drama genre and still include the mass transportation issue.

Unstoppable is loosely based on true events -or we could say inspired – of the same “Crazy Eights” event that took place in Ohio back in 2001. The story focused on the two railroad workers; Will Colson (Chris Pine) a rookie conductor who just gets in the field for the first day, and Frank Barnes (Denzel Washington) a veteran railroad engineer whose forced to take premature retirement after 28 years of dedication for the AVR company. The trouble set in when one of the worker called as Dewey (Ethan Suplee) carelessly operate the train and leave the air brake disengaged. As series of misfortunes gathers, the train was carrying a million ton steel, hazardous molten phenol, diesel, and few grains in half a mile-sized locomotive-in short, an unmanned 80 mph missile in size of Chrysler building.

The 90 million dollar project main concept was crystal clear as any suspense movie with good ending would be. But Tony Scott does his magic in keeping the steam up to bring the audiences stay in place. Every montage of the film was perfectly executed, while Denzel Washington and the hunky Chris Pine’s performance was more than enough to fill the bubble blowing. Another notable area we should take extra attention is the cinematography and the inclusive look of the film that resembles those action drama from the late years of 70′s. The gritty, sharp, and also not to mention Tony Scott’s refusal on using over-the-top CGI make this movie one a handful job that describe his skill in entertaining the viewers with realistic view, than an over polished film by other director. The combination of Tony Scott with his classic vibe of action and suspense, drenched with serious dose of Denzel Washington (as familiar in his many dramatic role of American Gangster, Training Day or Remember the Titans) and Chris Pine without his charming Hollywood heartthrob attitude, made this movie an effective, gripping action-drama that will leave you satisfied until the credit role.

Humans are social creatures, a trait so common for living things, yet so dubious for its complexity and enigmatic behaviors. An eon may have passed; human technological advancement may change the course of life. The few examples would be living spaces that changed from caves to sky scraping condos, snail mail replaced by emails, and communication that are conducted without seeing the actual person in front of you. Like the face of fashion, everything comes and goes, but human needs to communicate and socialize remain rock solid – even with alterations. To name a few, if you can reach to our site, at least you have a Facebook or at least tweet once a day, right? And this movie is all about that peculiar person – and all the http’s and PHP’s that come along with him: the creator of the gigantic online social networking, the one and only Mark Zuckerberg – the man behind Facebook. Or is he?

Directed by David Fincher, whose body of work includes Panic Room and Fight Club, took to author Ben Mezrich’s book titled The Accidental Billionaire and adapted it to portray Mark Zuckerberg’s life. Essentially, The Social Network explains a batch of Zuckerberg life that underlines the struggle and conflict behind the great Facebook fame. Kicking off the show by the internal feud between Zuckerberg (played by Jesse Eisenberg) and his best buddy Eduardo Severin (Andrew Garfield) who is also the current Chief Financial Officer of Facebook itself, collides in court about the financial share that turns out to be not just a shallow matter revolving job and money. The timeline was short of flash forward and backward, slowly completing the puzzle piece by piece. “You can’t make five billion friends without make a few enemies” -the tagline surely puts a certain pressure into the mix, which clearly seen by the root of all problems in this movie: jealousy. Portrayed in allegation made by the Winklevoss twins, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss (both played by Armie Hammer), that they think they deserve the right of Facebook since they self proclaimed it as their brilliant idea. As the story progress, there is also a notable celebrity that show up adding some spice to the bowl, like Justin Timberlake who acted as Sean Parker- the quirky individual who invented Napster, he meet Zuckerberg later and play a major role in the birth of Facebook.

A biographical movie about the youngest multi billionaire on earth inclusively remain not as rigid as what one may expect too, but at least it is not smoothly paved and boring. Along that line, even with the back and forth story line, the way Fincher expose every implied meaning behind every action was quite distinctive. In addition, subtle occurrences of dramatized scene helps – a lot- to keep the audience think that this is an autobiography, simple structured and based from true event. There is without a doubt a series of intense feeling, but not as overwhelming and heart thumping as 21-which also adapted from Ben Mezrich’s work; Bringing Down the House, that inspired by an actual event. If one ever watch the documentary illustrating the late Philippine’s first lady Imelda Marcos lavish lifestyle, The Social Network holds something more interesting in term of subject, atmosphere and montage technique. We found it quite amusing for something that fall under this kind of genre – but really worth to watch in a lazy afternoon during the weekend.[images courtesy of Columbia Picture]

The Indonesian movie industry has long suffered from a massive rate of horrifying C-class movies that exterminate the actual essence of movie making – inspiring the audience. This phenomenon simply recognized by the amount negative perception from the local society itself towards the Indonesian modern films. Frustrated by this poignant fact, director Lucky Kuswandi set a new spark upon the parched soil. This time round, Kalyana Shira Films, known by their remarkably unique and one-of-a-kind movies, jolt the Indonesian film industry with a bunch of loaded machine “hairdryer” gun and a pint of explosive blush-on. Holding the same vibe as another notable foreign movie such as Kick-Ass, this new action movie entitled as Madame X, certainly will beguile the mass of Indonesian market by its litigious appearance.

The tale embarks from the mundane life of Adam (Amink), a young feminine hairdresser that lives in the slums of the capital city. Together with his best friend Aline (Joko Anwar), they work in a small beauty parlor run by Cun Cun (Fitri Tropica) and her mother. On Adam’s birthday, a dark veiled woman with aristocratic manner struts her way into the parlor, demanding a cream bath session – the only catch: the one that does her hair must be the one that was born on that day. During the treatment, she introduces herself as Bunda Lilis (Sarah Sechan) and forewarns Adam not to dance in the near future. As when he dances, unspeakable terror and misfortune will befall him. Scared, Adam took the premonition seriously. That night Adam celebrates the night with fellow transgender including the glamorous Aline in Gedong Endang Bar. Little did he know, that day a public organization called Bogem, organized by a homophobic Kanjeng Badai (Marcell Siahaan) ransacked the entire quarter, leaving Adam and his fellow transgender captured and forced to make amends for what they are. Aline stood up for himself and the others but ended up being thrown out of the moving truck by Kanjeng Badai himself. Enraged, Adam confronts Kanjeng Badai for his malice act, only to follow Aline’s fate. The not so fortunate Aline died that night, leaving Adam to fend for himself. Adam was eventually rescued by Tante Yance and Oom Rudi (played by Ria Irawan and Robby Tumewu respectively), a lifetime-partnership choreographers who took Adam to their sanctuary in Tanjung Awan. In this serene coastal place, Adam learns the Lenggok Dance and reluctantly befriends a new sidekick, a muted whiz-kid Din (Vincent Trompies) who eventually helps him with gadgetries and gizmos.

Augmented with cheesy and kitschy CGI, this film brought the comical sense to fit the frame. With a linear storyline, the show hints a light tone for the audiences to enjoy. The action scenes were compelling enough, with a dash of traditional Indonesian dance slash Chinese acupuncture slash Amink’s personality thrown in the mix. One can’t help but be satisfied with laughter. In addition, the selection of the cast that included recording artists such as Shanty and Titi DJ, as well as Vincent Trompies, is casted to preserve the fluffy atmosphere. Even so, the various satire facts stroke a bold gist that represents the major problems Indonesian people has to endure. One might consider the dark patches that intensify the humor to be acceptable anecdotes, while some others may not. As a country with thousands of different cultures and backgrounds, one should be tolerable and flexible, weaving benign harmony in the process, not terror and tragedy. And that is why Madame X is one of the innovative creations that will shake the humanity inside us. [image courtesy by Kalyana Shira Films]