(2023) Haunted Mansion - A Reboot of the 2003 Film Based on Popular Theme Park Attraction in Disneyland

As I said in my previous post, yesterday I had a movie marathon with my wife and this was the second film that we saw in the same location. It was a horror comedy movie which we believed would be giving us some fun. OK, I will dive into it now.

Brief Story Line

Ben (LaKeith Stanfield - Knives Out, Judas and the Black Messiah etc) was a former astrophysicist who now worked as a ghost tour guide though he did not believe in ghost at all. However, his life was turned upside down when he was approached by the priest Father Kent (Owen Wilson - Loki TV series, Cars 3 etc) who requested his help to take pictures of possible ghost sighting in a mansion. The new owners of the mansion, Gabbie (Rosario Dawson - Unforgettable, Luke Cage TV series etc) and her 9 year old son Travis (Chase W. Dillon) were the ones who were being haunted.

Smugglers - An Entertaining Action Thriller Drama Movie of Female Sea Divers Caught in the Smuggling Business

I was not aware about this movie at all until few days ago when it appeared in the social media of one of the cinema chain in Indonesia. As I am not familiar with the main cast, I was a bit doubtful whether to see it or not, especially when there were so many other movies that my wife and I had not seen yet. But due to the circumstances, we finally decided to see this one first, and another film afterwards as part of our movie marathon day. OK, let us get to it then. 

Brief Story Line

Story was set in the 1970s in a small island in South Korea where the main source of income was sea diving by female divers known as haenyeo. Jin-sook (Yum Jung-ah - Cleaning Up TV series, Alienoid etc) whose family had been in the busines for long time worked together with few other divers, including her best friend Choon-ja (Kim Hye-soo - Under the Queen's Umbrella TV series, The Face Reader etc) and the young man who worked on the boat, named Jang Do-ri (Sh**ting Stars TV series, Miracle: Letters to the President etc). He was always trying to get the attention of Boon (Go Min-si - Sweet Home TV series, Youth of May TV series etc), the young woman working in a cafe.

Detective Conan: Black Iron Submarine - A Fantastic Detective Conan Movie with Some Strong Emotions Involved

So another Detective Conan movie was released in Indonesian theaters few days ago. Like any other previous films, we definitely want to see this in the cinema even though we knew it would not take long before it is available via online streaming. That is how much we love this series. It's a good thing too that the movie was shown on all cinema chains, so we have more options to choose.  All right, we'll get right to it then.

Brief Story Line

Conan (Minami Takayama), Ai (Megumi Hayashibara) and the Detective Boys went for a trip to see the whales with Sonoko (Naoko Matsui) who owned a hotel on the island. They were also accompanied by Professor Agasa (Kenichi Ogata), Ran (Wakana Yamazaki) and her father Kogoro (Rikiya Koyama).

Barbie - An Understandably Highly Praised Movie but Definitely not for Everybody

When this movie was released few days ago, my wife and I were on holiday where the country banned it from playing there. So we only got the chance to see it after we return from our trip. All right then, let's get right to it.

Brief Story Line

Stereotypical Barbie (Margot Robbie - Babylon, Birds of Prey etc) and all the other version of Barbies were living in the Barbieland where they hold the important jobs like president, lawyer, doctor and other professions. They always thought they were the ones who inspired girls in the Real World to be successful. Meanwhile the males represented by Kens seemed to only have fun, such as Beach Ken (Ryan Gosling - The Gray Man, La La Land etc) who was always competitive with another version of Ken (Simu Liu - Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Simulant etc).

(TV SERIES) SILO Season 1 - Highly Praised by Critics and Interesting Enough Sci-fi Mystery Series

I have finished this series sometime ago but did not have the time to write my views about it till now. It was something that I was really intrigued after reading the premise as it involved mystery and sci-fi element. Well let's get to it now.

Brief Story Line

Story was set in dystopian future where 10,000+ people were living in a giant silo that stretched to the underground with hundreds of levels. The community have been living in peace for > 100 years, although they were not aware of why they were living inside this silo. There were all sorts of law and regulations that must be followed as they were said to protect the people from the outside world which was uninhabitable.

Hidden Strike - Likely Would not Win the Hearts of Critics but Definitely Fun for Fans of Jackie Chan and John Cena

As major fans of Jackie Chan, my wife and I would not want to miss the chance to see him in action again, even though the following day we had to go on holiday trip. We decided to see it on Friday night as when the film was released the day before, we were not able to go due to some things to be done related to the trip. Anyway, let's get to the film.

Brief Story Line

When a group of workers in the oil refinery in Baghdad were under threat by terrorist attacks, Luo Feng aka Dragon Luo (Jackie Chan - Ride On, Bleeding Steel etc) and his team were sent to escort them to the safe location (Green Zone). The workers were led by Professor Cheng (Jiang Wen Li - Lan, And the Spring Comes etc) that also included her assistant Mey (Ma Chunrui -  A Chinese Oddysey 2022, The Fate of Swordsman etc). Luo decided to go through dangerous path called Highway of Death as it was the shortest way. However, their mission was made complicated when a group of military contractors led by Henry (Amadeus Serafini - Scream: The TV Series etc) and his boss Owen (Pilou Asbæk - Samaritan, Overlord etc) were also attacking Luo and his team with a specific purpose. 

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One - Another Sure Major Hit for Tom Cruise

This was another summer blockbuster movie that my wife and I have been highly anticipating. Those of us in Indonesia were fortunate enough that the movie was released earlier than in the US, so we had the chance to see it yesterday on its first day of release. All right then, lets get to it. 

Brief Story Line

Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise - Top Gun: Maverick, The Mummy etc) was assigned by Kittridge (Henry Czerny - Scream VI, Ready or Not etc) to retrieve an important item which would involve his old ally Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson - The Greatest Showman, Reminiscence etc). Ethan later enlisted the help from Benji (Simon Pegg - Truth Seekers TV series, Ice Age: Collision Course etc) and Luther (Ving Rhames - Pulp Fiction, Piranha 3D etc) in his mission. While doing the mission, they encountered a very formidable adversary in the form of Gabriel (Esai Morales - From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series, La Bamba etc) and a mysterious woman who would later revealed to be Grace (Hayley Atwell - Christopher Robin, Agent Carter TV series etc).

The Out-laws - Unfortunately Not Funny Action Comedy Film

Yesterday this new movie was released on Netflix and like any other action comedy which promised comedic moments combined with some action, it obviously attracted me as fans of such genre. And with some big names as the main cast, it increased my interest in the movie. OK then, I will get right to it.

Brief Story Line

Owen Browning (Adam DeVine - Ice Age: Collision Course, Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates etc) was preparing to get married to his girlfriend Parker (Nina Dobrev - Love Hard, Vampire Diaries TV series etc) although he never got to see her parents. But few days before their wedding, Parker's father Billy (Pierce Brosnan - Black Adam, Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga etc) and mother Lilly (Ellen Barkin - The Man from Toronto, Johnny Handsome etc) did come to visit. Meanwhile Owen's parents Neil (Richard Kind - Cars, Mad About You TV series etc) and Margie (Julie Hagerty - Airplane!, Lost in America etc) were not too approving of their future daughter in-law. 

(2023) Kembang Api - A Drama Movie with Heavy Topic Combined with Interesting Time-Loop Element

When this movie was released in Indonesian theaters few months ago, I was quite intrigued but did not really put my mind to see it. And it did not help when there were only few studios showing the movie and was taken down after just few days. Anyway it's a good thing that Netflix pick it up and I am able to watch it easily from the comfort of my home. OK, let's get to it then.

Brief Story Line

Four people who met online gathered in one place to do group suicide by using a large bomb made out of fireworks. They consisted of the man who created the bomb and used pseudonym of Langit Mendung/Cloudy Sky (Donny Damara - The Big 4, Rentang Kisah etc), another man who called himself Anggrek Hitam/Black Orchid (Ringgo Agus Rachman - Jomblo, Keluarga Cemara etc), a woman who used pseudonym Tengkorak Putih/White Skull (Marsha Timothy - Marlina Si Pembunuh dalam 4 Babak, Noktah Merah Perkawinan etc) and a high school student named Anggun (Hanggini - Geez & Ann, Para Betina Pengikut Iblis etc).

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny - The Fifth and Final Installment of the Beloved and Popular Archeolog Adventure

When I found out there was going to be a fifth Indiana Jones movie, I was excited to find out what other adventures he was going to experience. But I had to wait till the weekend to see this movie in my favorite cinema with Dolby Atmos sound system. So here's more on the film.

Brief Story Line

In the year 1969, Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford - Blade Runner, The Star Wars original trilogy etc) got an unexpected visit from his God-daughter Helena Shaw (Phoebe Waller-Bridge - Solo: A Star Wars Story, Goodbye Christoper Robin etc) who was eyeing for an old artifact speculated to have some powers. However, a group of people led by Indy's old enemy Dr. Schmidt (Mads Mikkelsen - Chaos Walking, Doctor Strange etc) that also included his right hand man Klaber (Boyd Holbrook - The Sandmand TV series, Logan etc), the big guy Hauke (Olivier Richters) and the American woman Mason (Shaunette Renée Wilson - The Resident TV series etc) were also looking for Helena and the artifact.

Nimona - Wonderful Animation Movie with Amazing Story

Like any other Friday, I always look out for new movies released on Netflix and this time it was an animated film which has familiar premise but looked light enough to be enjoyed after tiring day at work. OK without further ado, here's more on the movie.

Brief Story Line

In the kingdom where knights were trained in an institute to protect people from monsters, Ballister Boldheart (Riz Ahmed - Venom, Sound of Metal etc) managed to be the first commoner in history to be knighted by the queen (Lorraine Toussaint - Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, The Equalizer TV series etc). Despite his background that made him become an outcast among the knights, one of them named Ambrosius (internet celebrity Eugene Lee Yang) was in love with Ballister and always supported him. Unfortunately due to some incident, Bal had to run away, leave everything and became fugitive.