(TV SERIES) Westworld Season 1 - A Great Science Fiction Original Series from HBO

I have known about this series since it was promoted and premiered in HBO almost 2 years ago. As usual, I would like to binge-watch a series when it was already completed for the whole season. But somehow this one eluded me and I completely forgotten about its existence until 2 or 3 weeks ago when I saw the promotion by HBO for the second season. So when I got the chance, I immediately set my time for a marathon of the first season. Well let us move on to the series itself now.

Brief Story Line

Westworld was a Wild-West themed park where people can enter it by paying large sum of money to enjoy experiencing the life as cowboy during the Wild West period. The theme park was filled with human-like android robots called Hosts who were able to interact with guests. The hosts were uploaded with predefined narrative that would allow them to always play out their characterization till their narrative was completed, with tolerable deviation depending on their interaction.

Avengers: Infinity War - The Best Avengers Movie Yet

Finally, the 10 years wait was over and we could finally see the war to get those infinity stones in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We in Indonesia were quite fortunate to be 1 of the few countries given early premiere of this major blockbuster movie. When it was announced that the movie tickets were pre-sold last week, so many people were anxious to get the tickets for the first day show. So it was rather frustrating when the online ticket sale for the biggest cinema chain was not updated until 10 AM that morning while the others had already been sold 3 hours earlier. Nevertheless, my wife and I were able to buy 2 tickets at a big cinema near our home. Unlike my usual brief story line/synopsis, this time, I do not want to reveal too much of it, so I am just going to copy paste the summary from this film's IMDB post.

Brief Synopsis

As the Avengers and their allies have continued to protect the world from threats too large for any one hero to handle, a new danger has emerged from the cosmic shadows: Thanos. A despot of intergalactic infamy, his goal is to collect all six Infinity Stones, artifacts of unimaginable power, and use them to inflict his twisted will on all of reality. Everything the Avengers have fought for has led up to this moment - the fate of Earth and existence itself has never been more uncertain. Written by Marvel Studios

End of Brief Synopsis 

ReuniZ - A Pretty Decent Indonesian Zombie Comedy Movie

Last night, my wife and I decided to see this comedy movie because we were intrigued by the trailer which promised a different kind of comedy with zombies. So when we checked the schedule and found out it was playing at Setiabudi One which was a walking distance from our home, we immediately bought the tickets for 7.15 PM show. Without further ado, here are more details of the movie.

Brief Story Line

Juhana aka Joe Hanna (Soleh Solihun - Hang Out, Mau Jadi Apa? etc) was invited to his 20th high school reunion and decided he wanted to meet up with his old friends. Before he became a rather well known actor, he was in a band during his high school years. Juhana finaly met with his former band members during the reunion that included Jeffri (Tora Sudiro - Warkop DKI Reborn: Jangkrik Boss part 1 & its sequel etc) with his wife and high school girlfriend Lulu (Ayushita - Berangkat!, Kartini etc), even though their relationship was a bit sour due to some incident happening 20 years before. 

RAMPAGE - An Entertaining Movie of Giant Animals Rampaging Throughout City of Chicago

Now this is a movie that I had been eyeing for quite some time. The trailer to it was shown repeatedly prior to the start of various films I saw earlier and it promised a great looking action with giant gorilla, wolf and another scary looking creature. So obviously I had to see this on its premiere date. When it was finally released yesterday in Indonesia, my wife had purchased the ticket for us since morning. We decided to see this in one of our favorite places at Lotte Avenue. Well here goes my views of the movie.

Brief Story Line

Davis Okoye (Dwayne Johnson - Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, Central Intelligence etc) was a primatologist, an expert in primate studies and worked at a zoo. He had been taking care of a very smart albino gorilla named George who was very friendly with people. However, when a genetic experiment went awry and the content somehow reached George's location, he was infected and become bigger overnight with a very aggressive behavior. A genetic engineer named Dr. Kate Caldwell (Naomie Harris - Our Kind of Traitor, Moonlight etc) who found out about the affected George, immediately informed Davis about the possibility of infection and offered help to Davis.

The Adventurers - A Rather Light Hong Kong Heist Movie

This was the last movie that I saw during my flight back home last Saturday. Well actually not the real final movie as there was another one that I watched but unfortunately unable to complete due to insufficient time after seeing 3 movies earlier. Anyway, I chose this one since it seemed like an interesting heist movie and also starring 1 of my favorite actors, Andy Lau. So what was the movie about? Let us get on with it now.

Brief Story Line

Dan Cheung (Andy Lau - Shock Wave, Saving Mr. Wu and so many more) was a thief who was just released from prison after 5 years sentence for stealing a valuable jewelry. A French police detective Pierre (Jean Reno -  Léon: The Professional, The Pink Panther etc) who was Cheung's "nemesis" did not believe that he was truly rehabilitated and was very confident he would be returning to his old ways of stealing.

All the Money in the World - The Story Behind Kidnapping of J. Paul Getty's Grandson

While I was on the flight home using Garuda last Saturday, I had the chance to watch few movies as the duration of the flight was a little over 7 hours. I was a bit undecided to see which movie first and after few minutes of scrolling back and forth, I finally chose this one as it had few nominations in Golden Globe and in Academy Awards. And I happen to know that the movie already played in Indonesian cinemas sometime ago where I did not get the chance to see it. So here goes my views of the film.

Brief Story Line

The movie was set in the year 1973 where John Paul Getty III (Charlie Plummer - Granite Flats TV series etc) was kidnapped in the streets of Rome. One of the kidnappers named Cinquanta (Romain Durais) later on called John's mother Gail (Michelle Williams - The Greatest Showman, Manchester by the Sea etc) and asked for a huge ransom which Gail immediately told them not possible as she had no money. But the kidnapper insist that she should get it from John's grandfather, the richest man in the world: J. Paul Getty (Christopher Plummer - The Sound of Music, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo etc).

Midnight Runners - A Very Funny Entertaining Story of 2 Police Students Trying to Solve A Kidnap Case

This was one of the movies that I watched during my 7 hours flight home from holiday. It was available through the Garuda inflight entertainment (which had sooo many options by the way) and classified under New Release & Comedy. Something that I was looking for after watching a very heavy drama earlier (I would post my views on that movie later). So let us get on with it.

Brief Story Line

Park Ki-joon (Park Seo-joon - Chronicles of Evil, Fight For My Way TV series etc) was the son of a single mother who wanted to apply to the Korean Police University in order to be getting free education. Ki-joon was an easy going, kind-hearted and passionate person who was always act first and think later. During the first few weeks of orientation before proceeding to the education, Ki-joon met and became best friends with Kang Hee-yeol (Kang Ha-neul - Twenty, Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo etc) who was the total opposite of Ki-joon. He was a thinker and overly concerned of hygiene. 

(TV SERIES) Marvel's The Punisher Season 1 - A Could Have Been Better Series on the Brutal & Violent Marvel's Character

This was a series that intrigued me for quite some time but I only managed to watch it in the past 3 weeks. Yes it took me longer than the usual time for completing a season of TV series, but I was on holiday for more than 10 days and only managed to see 1 or half an episode late night. So when I finally got home last Saturday, I managed to finish the last few episodes on the following day. Well here goes.

Brief Story Line

Story was set after the events from season 2 of Daredevil where Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal - The Accountant, The Walking Dead TV series etc) already settled the score with the people who murdered his family and was living like a hermit. However his "peaceful" life would soon be disrupted when he was noticed by a mysterious character who called himself Micro (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) and was very good in hacking. He seemed to know a lot of Castle, including his previous engagement as member of special forces in Kandahar, Afghanistan under the instructions by CIA operative known as Agent Orange (Paul Schulze - Rambo (2008 version), 24 TV series etc).

A Quiet Place - A Smart Thrilling Suspenseful Horror Movie

I was very very intrigued when I saw the trailer to this movie few weeks ago which I thought was going to be amazing. Unfortunately it premiered in Indonesia much earlier than I anticipated on 2 April while I was still away on holiday. So when I got the chance to see it with my wife yesterday after our movie experience of Ready Player One, we did not hesitate and immediately buy the tickets at CGV Grand Indonesia which was just opposite Plaza Indonesia. Now, let us move on with the movie.

Brief Story Line

Story was set in the year 2020 where the earth seemed to be having the after effects of attack by some vicious creatures that were attracted to sound. The movie focused on a family of survivors consisted of the father Lee (John Krasinski - 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi, The Office TV series etc), his wife Evelyn (Emily Blunt - Sherlock Gnomes, The Young Victoria etc), their deaf daughter Regan (Millicent Simmonds - Wonderstruck), and her brothers Marcus (Noah Jupe - Suburbicon, Wonder etc) & Beau the youngest (Cade Woodward). This family went through various places to look for food, medicine and so on for their survival.

Ready Player One - A Fantastic Movie of Virtual Reality World by Stephen Spielberg

This was a movie that had been playing since 28 March in Indonesia. However, as I went for long holiday starting from that day, I did not get the chance to see it since it premiered. I did however manage to see this yesterday with my wife. We were a bit undecided at first where to watch it, since it did not play in my favorite theater with Dolby Atmos system, but then I remembered it was a Sunday and I had a bank card that give me promotion every Sunday. So off we went to Plaza Indonesia and saw this one at the studio with exactly the sound system I wanted. OK, enough of those now and let us get started with the movie.

Brief Story Line

Story was set in the year 2045, where the condition of the cities were very densely populated and people felt that the virtual reality world (referred to as OASIS) was more enjoyable than the real world. Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan - X-Men: Apocalypse, The Stanford Prison Experiment etc) was a teenager who just like any other people, also went to OASIS most of the time. He used the avatar name of Parzival and considered himself as a Gunter (Egg Hunter due to his mission to find Easter Egg in the game). In OASIS, Parzival was best friend with Aech (Lena Waithe - Master of None TV series etc). During one of the race, Parzival met with another famous mysterious Gunter named Art3mis (Olivia Cooke - Ouija, Bates Motel TV series etc) who later on would be like his partner in acquiring the Easter Eggs.

Never Say Die - A Hilarious Body Switching Chinese Hit Comedy

As mentioned in my earlier post of Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, while I was on my way for holiday with my wife, I had the chance to see few movies during the 7 hours flight. After watching such a heavy drama, I wanted to give my brain a break by watching a comedy movie. My wife was actually the one who chose this first and she told me it was very funny. So I went ahead and see this one. What was the movie all about? Let us find out, shall we?

Brief Story Line

A Ultimate Fight Championship (UFC) boxer named Edison (Allen Ai Lun) was at the lowest of his career. He was trying to make his come back and fight against the current champion, Wu Liang who beat him 3 years before in the final. During the weigh-in, he was interviewed by various reporters, including a very well known sports reporter named Ma Xiao (Ma Li - Goodbye Mr. Loser) who was very harsh on him. Ma Xiao also happened to be the girlfriend of Wu Liang.

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri - Powerful Performance of Frances McDormand Which Won Her an Oscar

During the flight to my holiday destination with my wife, I was very fortunate that the inflight entertainment provided us with various options of new movies, including several Academy Awards nominees and winners such as The Shape of Water that I posted earlier. I opted to see the movie I am about to write as the premise seemed very interesting, plus the fact that the movie had not played in Indonesian theaters (and I have no idea whether it was going to play or not). Anyway, let us move on with the movie now.

Brief Story Line

In the small town of Ebbing, Missouri, a woman named Mildred Hayes (Frances McDormand - Fargo, Mississippi Burning etc) wanted to put messages on 3 billboards outside the city. After negotiating the price, they were finally put up on the billboards. However the messages would soon create a lot of commotion in the town, especially since it hinted that the town's sheriff named Willoughby (Woody Harrelson - War for Planet of the Apes, Zombieland etc) was not doing anything to solve the rape &murder case of Mildred's daughter Angela (Kathryn Newton - Paranormal Activity 4 etc) few months earlier. Willoughby was not too happy with the billboards and tried to convince Mildred that it was not an easy case to solve, but there would always be possibility of solving it in future.

The Hurricane Heist - A Very Light Combination of Disaster and Heist Movie

This movie had played in Indonesian cinemas since 27 March and it was quite a surprise for me that it premiered on a Tuesday. But then I realized it must have been due to a major new movie i.e. Ready Player One playing on Wednesday. My wife and I just wanted to give this one a try since we were not having any plans that night. I saw the trailer few weeks earlier and I thought the premise seemed interesting. So here goes more on the movie.

Brief Story Line

When a category 5 hurricane was going to hit a small city in the US, the town's sheriff Dixon (Ben Cross - Chariots of Fire etc) decided to evacuate the people to safety as he wanted to avoid having a big catastrophe like they suffered years earlier. Will (Toby Kebbell - Ben-Hur, A Monster Calls etc) a meteorologist who was in the area investigating the hurricane believed that it was going to be very huge and may even be larger than the forecast. He was worried that his older brother Breeze (Ryan Kwanten - True Blood TV series etc) would not make it out of the city and decided to return there to encourage him to leave.