Moana 2 - An Enjoyable Sequel to the Lovely 2016 Animated Adventure Movie

After playing in the cinemas for few days, my wife and I finally went and see this movie in the theater very near to our home today. It's a good thing we were still able to get seats that we preferred as the studio was quite full till the next two shows. OK without further ado, here's more on the film.

Brief Story Line

After the events in the first movie, Moana (Auliʻi Cravalho - Mean Girls 2024 version, The Power TV series etc) had been searching for people from other islands, but without success.  So when she got a vision about the lost island of Motufetu which would help connect the ocean, Moana decided to search for it. As advised by her family, Moana went to the ocean together with a crew that consisted of the "inventor" Loto (Rose Matafeo - Starstruck comedy series etc), the old farmer Kele (David Fane - Next Goal Wins etc) and Moni (Hualālai Chung) who was a major fan of Demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson - Red One, Rampage etc).

(MINI SERIES) Disclaimer - An Interesting Psychological Drama Thriller Based on Critically Acclaimed 2015 Novel

While browsing through AppleTV+ early this week, I noticed this series which has already finished more than two weeks before. Since other series on this streaming service were either just started or still two or three episodes away from its finale, I thought of giving this a try as the premise sound intriguing. All right then, I'll just head right to it.

Brief Story Line

Catherine Ravenscroft (Cate Blanchett - Borderlands, Don't Look Up etc) was a well respected and successful documentarian who was living happily with her loving husband Robert (Sacha Baron Cohen - Luca, The Trial of the Chicago 7 etc), though not too close with their only son Nicholas (Kodi Smit-McPhee - X-Men: Dark Phoenix, The Power of the Dog etc). When one night Catherine received a novel from someone, she was shocked to read that it resembled a lot of her past life that she tried to keep secret from her family. 

(TV SERIES) A Man on the Inside Season 1 - A Delightful and Wonderful Comedy Series that Would Warm Your Heart

I found out about this in the Coming Soon section of Netflix some time ago and thought it seemed interesting. But when it was released mid of last week, I only realized it was a series instead of movie. Since I was in the middle of another series, I began watching two nights ago and finished it last night. And how was the series then? I'll just get right to it.

Brief Story Line

Charles Nieuwendyk (Ted Danson - Three Man and a Baby, Cheers TV series etc) was a widower whose wife passed away a year before and did not really have anything to do as he had retired from his position as engineering professor. His daughter Emily (Mary Elizabeth Ellis - Red One, Licorice Pizza etc) encouraged Charles to do some kind of activities. After seeing an Ad placed by Kovalenko Investigations led by Private Investigator Julie (Lilah Richcreek Estrada - Chicago Med TV series etc) for a simple job, Charles decided to apply for it.

(MINI SERIES) Interior Chinatown - A Heavier than Expected Series Focusing on the Stereotype of Chinese-American in Entertainment Industry

When I read the brief premise and saw the trailer of this series on Disney+, I was quite intrigued and wanted to give it a try. At first I thought it would be released a single episode per week like its usual set up, but I just realized last Friday that all episodes were already shown few days before. So I started watching on Saturday and finished it last night. OK, why don't I get into the series then?

Brief Story Line

Willis Wu (Jimmy O. Yang - The Monkey King, Fantasy Island etc) was a young Chinese-American who had been working for years as waiter in a restaurant in Manhattan, Chinatown together with his best friend Fatty Choi (Ronny Chieng - Kungfu Panda 4, M3GAN etc). Willis had been aspiring to be more than just a waiter and wanted to be in the spotlight, but he did not realize that he was actually just a background character in a police procedural show where the lead were a couple of detectives Miles Turner (Sullivan Jones - The Gilded Age TV series etc) and his partner Sarah Green (Lisa Gilroy - Glamorous TV series etc). 

Gladiator II - Despite its Anticlimactic Ending, Still an Entertaining Epic Action Movie

This movie was released more than a week ago in Indonesia but as my wife and I were on short vacation out of town during the weekend, we only got the chance to see it yesterday evening. A bit of a challenge to look for cinema that we preferred, due to not as many studios showing the film. Lucky for us it did play in one of the large studio with Dolby Atmos effect not far from our home. All right then, let's get to the film.

Brief Story Line

Sixteen years after the events of the first movie, Rome was now ruled by the twins Emperor Geta (Joseph Quinn - A Quiet Place: Day One, Stranger Things Season 4 etc) and Caracalla (Fred Hechinger - The Woman in the Window, Fear Street Part Three: 1666 and its predecessors etc) who desired to conquer the world through their Roman army led by General Acacius (Pedro Pascal - The Wild Robot, The Mandalorian TV series etc). After their latest conquest in Numidia, Acacius returned home to meet his wife, Lucilla (Connie Nielsen - Role Play, One Hour Photo etc). To celebrate his victory, the Emperors decided to celebrate with various fights in the Colosseum.

(MINI SERIES) The Penguin - A Heavy and Dark Series Depicting the Rise and Fall of One of Batman's Adversaries

I knew from the internet that there was going to be this mini series focusing on the character of Penguin, one of Batman's villain. It was released on 19 September in the US and was immediately available on HBO GO the following day. Since it was shown one episode per week, I only started watching two nights ago so I could watch the finale last night. All right then, let's get into the series.

Brief Story Line

Set after the events of The Batman, Oswald "Oz" Cobb (Colin Farrell - Artemis Fowl, In Bruges etc) tried to capitalize on the death of his ex boss, Carmine Falcone. However, he was looked down by people from Falcone family, including Carmine's son Alberto (Michael Zegen - The Stand In, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel TV series etc) and his sister Sofia (Cristin Milioti - Made for Love TV series, The Wolf of Wolf Street etc). Oz decided to build his own criminal empire by tricking, manipulating and pitting the Falcones against their biggest enemy the Maroni family led by Salvatore (Clancy Brown - John Wick: Chapter 4, Dexter: New Blood TV series etc).

Red One - An Enjoyable Christmas Themed Action Comedy Adventure Movie

I noticed this film in the coming soon section of all major Indonesian cinema chains and thought it would be interesting with the lead cast and Christmas theme. So despite never seen its trailer, my wife and I decided to see this yesterday in a studio with Dolby Atmos sound system. OK, so how was the movie then? Let's find out more, shall we?

Brief Story Line

Callum Drift (Dwayne Johnson - Red Notice, DC League of Super-Pets etc) was the head of security in North Pole responsible for protecting St. Nicholas/Santa Claus (J. K. Simmons - The Union, 21 Bridges etc) aka Red One for many years. However two nights before Christmas, he was kidnapped by some unknown people.

You Will Die in 6 Hours - Lacking the Suspense and Intensity to Support Its Interesting Premise

This week there was only 1 new Hollywood movie that my wife and I thought to just wait till it's available on streaming and this South Korean film which intrigued us. As we were having other activities on Saturday, we only got to see it yesterday after it was released few days before. All right then, why don't I just get to it?

Brief Story Line

Jeong-yoon (Park Ju-hyun - Drive, Zombie Detective TV series etc) was a young woman who had been living by herself and working hard to make ends meet. She did not have a lot of friends but one of them was a police Detective Park Ki-hoon (Kwak Si-yang - The Desperate Chase. Cafe Minamdang TV series etc).

When Jeong-yoon was crossing the street, she passed by a mysterious man later on revealed to be Jun-woo (Jeong Jae-hyun - Dear M TV series etc) who warned her that she would die in 6 hours. Despite her skepticisim, Jeong-yoon decided to find out if there was any truth to it.

Time Cut - A Poorly Done Combination of Slasher and Time Travel

I saw this movie promoted in the coming soon section in Netflix few weeks ago and thought it sounded fun albeit familiar. But since I was finishing another series when the film was released on Wednesday, I only got the chance to watch it last night. OK here's more on the movie.

Brief Story Line

Lucy (Madison Bailey - Outer Banks TV series etc) had been living in the shadow of her older sister Summer (Antonia Gentry - Ginny & Georgia TV series etc) who was killed by a serial killer 21 years before. While visiting the memorial site of the killing, Lucy was somehow transported back to the year 2003, two days before the killing started.

(MINI SERIES) Agatha All Along - Might be Interesting for Certain Viewers but not so Much to My Personal Taste

After playing for few weeks, the finale of this series from Marvel Cinematic Universe was released two days ago. I started watching on Wednesday and finished it last night. Without further ado, here's more on the series.

Brief Story Line

Three years after the events in WandaVision, Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn - Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, A Bad Moms Christmas etc) who was trapped under a spell in Westview, was able to free herself after meeting with a witch called Rio Vidal (Aubrey Plaza - Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre, The White Lotus season 2 etc). Agatha who lost her magic later agreed to cooperate with a teenager referred to as Teen (Joe Locke - Heartstopper TV series etc) to go to the Witches' road where they could get their wish after completing certain trials.