(TV SERIES) Timeless Season 1 - A Fun & Quite Enjoyable (But Perhaps) not the Best Time Travel Series

More than a week ago, I just completed a superhero series Black Lightning and was considering what series to watch. Should I start a new one or continue with other series that I had started before? Then I decided that I want to see something new and this series came to my attention as it was a Sci Fi genre which I have been lacking for the past months. Its plot was about time travel which was 1 of my most favorite story. Well let us see if this series was a good one.

Brief Story Line

Lucy Preston (Abigail Spencer - Chasing Mavericks, Oz the Great and Powerful etc) was a history professor who knew back and forth about the history of the world. Meanwhile Wyatt Logan (Matt Lanter - Pitch Perfect 3, 90210 TV series etc) was a very capable Delta Force soldier. One night both of them were mysteriously called by a Homeland Security agent Christopher (Sakina Jaffrey) to the facility owned by billionaire Connor Mason (Paterson Joseph). 

Sicario: Day of the Soldado - A Less Effective Sequel to a Critically Acclaimed Movie

Last night I went to see this movie that already premiered on the day before. As I mentioned in my previous posts that there were 4 new movies hitting the Indonesian cinemas and this was the 3rd movie that I saw. There was actually another horror movie that was said to be very good, but I need to build up my courage to see it alone. Lol. But anyway, this movie felt interesting enough as it was a sequel to a critically acclaimed movie back in 2015 titled Sicario. Let us move on to the film itself now.

Brief Story Line

When the US was being attacked by some terrorists who seemed to infiltrate through the border from Mexico with the help from Mexican cartel under the lead of a drug lord named Carlos Reyes, The Secretary of Defense (Matthew Modine - 47 Meters Down, Stranger Things TV series etc) instructed Cynthia Foards (Catherine Keener - Get Out, Incredibles 2 etc) to handle the situation. 

Koki-Koki Cilik - A Review by Yennymakanmulu

Yesterday I got info from my wife that she was invited to the Gala Premiere of an Indonesian movie at Kota Kasablanka. It was really a good thing that she did not join me to see another film that I had planned last night, otherwise she would not have been able to go to the event. She was kind enough to let me tag along if I wanted to, but unfortunately, the time was not perfect. It was shown in the late afternoon, so even if I had not bought the ticket for the night show, I could not have joined her anyway, as it was still my working hour. 

To cut the story short, I would just let her review below give you the picture of what the movie was all about. Btw, it would be playing in Indonesian cinemas starting next week. 

Review of the movie as written by Yennymakanmulu in Bahasa Indonesia

[MOVIE] Koki-Koki Cilik – Kisah Chef-Chef Kecil Beraksi *spoiler alert*

Jam 16:30 film dimulai. Diawali dengan memperkenalkan seorang anak perempuan yang jago masak bernama Audrey Subrata (Chloe Xaveria), anak dari Dian Subrata (Aura Kasih). Diperlihatkan keahlian dan kecermatan Audrey dalam membuat masakan. Dan dia sepertinya selalu menang dalam setiap kompetisi. Lalu adegan pindah ke suasana di perkampungan. Ada Bima (Farras Fatik) yang punya cita-cita ingin menjadi seperti bapaknya, seorang Chef. Ibunya Bima, Aini (Fanny Fabriana) seorang tukang jahit dengan penuh semangat mengumpulkan uang untuk mendaftarkan Bima ke Cooking Camp. Dengan segala cara, akhirnya Bima berhasil jadi anggota Cooking Camp.

To read her fun and complete review, you can go direct to her blog:

Koki Koki Cilik Review by Yennymakanmulu

PS: You can also read her other reviews about food and travel in her blog.

Hold Your Breath - A Wonderful Emotional Disaster Drama French Movie

Yesterday night, my wife and I decided at the last minute to see a second film of the day at 6PM. We were not really sure whether we want to do it at first, but then we thought why not? We were already at the same place where it showed 3 new movies anyway, and we still got time too. So off we see this one, which was categorized as disaster French movie. We shall dive into the movie now.

Brief Story Line

Mathieu (Romain Duris - All The Money In The World) and Anna (Olga Kurylenko - Hitman, Quantum of Solace etc) were parents of a young girl named Sarah (Fantine Harduin) who suffered from an illness that required her to live in some kind of machine that would protect her from any outside air/germ which would be fatal for her. One day, an earth quake hit Paris which resulted to poisonous gas covering the whole city. 

Bad Samaritan - A Better than Expected Horror-Thriller Movie

After around 2 weeks with only 1 Hollywood movie premiering in Indonesia, today there was not 1 or 2 or even 3 new movies, but 4 altogether. Quite amazing actually, as it gave us a variety of options to choose from. Since my wife was not really keen in watching the newest movie playing in US cinemas we finally opted to see this one in CGV. And with today being a public holiday, we were able to see it in the afternoon. Well here goes more on the movie.

Brief Story Line

Sean Falco (Robert Sheehan - The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones) and Derek (Carlito Olivero) were a couple of best friends who worked as valet drivers for an Italian restaurant. Unbeknownst to the owner, they would sometime burglarize the car owners' house using the GPS system from the cars. Other than his usual work at night, Sean was actually a struggling photographer and had a college student girlfriend named Riley (Jacqueline Byers).

(TV SERIES) Black Lightning Season 1 - An Entertaining Superhero Series

I could not remember from where I found out about this new TV series from DC comics, but last week when I binge watch the 13th season of Supernatural series, I saw a brief promotion of it and I immediately remind myself to watch this one asap. So 3-4 days ago I started to watch it and just completed it last night. Well what was the series all about? Let us find out, shall we?

Brief Story Line

Jefferson Pierce (Cress Williams - Hart of Dixie TV series) was the Garfield high school principal in Freeland city. He had two daughters of Anissa (Nafessa Williams - True to the Game etc) the eldest who worked as part time teacher at Garfield and also a medical student, and Jennifer (China Anne McClain - Grown Ups, A.N.T. Farm TV series etc) a high school student. Jefferson was divorced from Lynn (Christine Adams - Submerged, Terra Nova TV series etc) due to his dangerous side activities as the superhero Black Lightning who protected Freeland from criminals.

Escape Plan 2: Hades - A Very Bad Sequel to A Decent 2013 Movie

After more than a week without any new Hollywood movies in Indonesian theaters, suddenly yesterday one movie came out and premiered in Cinema 21 chain. It was a sequel to the 2013 hit movie which I quite enjoyed last time. So I was definitely intrigued to see this one. It played in quite a number of cinemas and coincidentally also played in the nearest theater from my home. Well let us get on with the movie now.

Brief Story Line

Ray Breslin (Sylvester Stallone - Rambo series, Rocky series etc) and his team that consisted of among others Hush the hacker (Rapper 50 Cent), Abigail (Jaime King - Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, Barely Lethal etc) and Luke (Jesse Metcalfe - John Tucker Must Die, Desperate Housewives TV series etc) were famous for breaking out of seemingly high secured prisons. They often received various "assignments" or job to test the prison's security or to break people out of jail. 

Incredibles 2 - The Awesome Sequel to that Fun Superheroes Family

After 14 years, finally this fantastic family of superheroes movie got its deserved sequel. I honestly cannot remember where exactly I saw this one as it has been so long ago, but I did remember that it was quite awesome, rather heavy and touching. So when I found out about the planned sequel which was going to be released in summer 2018, I have already set my mind to make sure I did not miss out on this movie. Today, as my office was given an off day, my wife and I went out to new coffee shops and continue to Gandaria City mall which was nearby those places. Thanks to 1 of her friends, we could use cinema vouchers from him in the IMAX studio. Without further ado, here is more on the movie.

Brief Story Line

The Parr family consisted of Bob/Mr. Incredible (Craig T. Nelson - Poltergeist, Coach TV series etc) with his wife Helen/Elastigirl (Holly Hunter - The Piano, The Big Sick etc) and their children Violet (Sarah Vowell), Dash (Huck Milner) and baby Jack Jack were a family of superheroes and wanted to fight & help people in need. However, the world could no longer accept the existence of superheroes and they were forced to stop what they were doing, especially when their last battle with a supervillain resulted to a huge damage to the city. 

(TV SERIES) Marvel's Jessica Jones Season 2 - An Unfortunately Disappointing Second Season of An Unusual Superhero

Many months ago, I have been meaning to write about season 1 of this series, as it shared the same universe as the other series of Daredevil, Luke Cage, Iron Fist which culminated to The Defenders. But somehow I forgotten to write it and when the second season premiered in March 2018, I focused my attention to it. Due to some reasons, I only managed to finish watching the whole season around last week. Now let us move on to the series. 

Brief Story Line (Spoiler warning for those who have not seen Season 1)

Story was set after the first season concluded, where Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter - Confessions of a Shopaholic, Veronica Mars TV series etc) got the unnecessary attention after she killed the villain Kilgrave (David Tennant) who was able to control people's minds. Jessica preferred to be inconspicuous due to her work as Private Investigator. Her neighbor Malcolm (Eka Darville - Mr. Pip etc) considered himself as Jessica's assistant and also helped her in doing some ground work. Jessica's best friend Trish Walker (Rachael Taylor - Transformers, The Darkest Hour etc) was trying to get Jessica to find out the truth behind IGH, the organization that experimented on Jessica and made her become powerful. 

Manhunt - John Woo Returns to His Earlier Movie Style

Yesterday night, when I returned back home from accompanying my wife trying out new restaurant & coffee shop, I was looking for movies that I could watch on TV. Then I noticed in Celestial Movie channel, there was a new movie premiering at 9 PM which was directed by John Woo. The brief synopsis promised to be having lots of actions and I was also a fan of John Woo's movies as well. So I decided to give this a try. OK let us move on with the movie.

Brief Story Line

A Chinese lawyer named Du Qiu (Zhang Hanyu - The Taking of Tiger Mountain, Operation Mekong etc) was working for a Japanese pharmaceutical company named Tenjin, led by Sakai (Jun Kunimura - Lady Joker, live version of Fullmetal Alchemist etc) and was very successful in winning various legal cases for them. One night during a major party held by Tenjin, Du Qiu met with a mysterious Chinese/Japense woman named Mayumi (singer Stephy Qi) and after the party, he woke up with an unknown female deceased body on his bed. Feeling innocent & framed, Du Qiu decided to flee the police chase and tried to clear his name. 

Ocean's 8: A Cool Enough Heist Movie

I read somewhere some time ago about a spin-off of the famous Ocean's trilogy movie with all female cast. But then I completely forgotten about it, until few weeks ago, the movie started to get the promotion via the social media of Indonesian cinema chains. Funnily enough, from the past few movies I saw in theaters, there was never any time that the trailer to this movie was shown. So I did not have any idea what the story or plot would be. Which probably could be a good thing for a heist movie such as this. Well we should get on with the movie now.

Brief Story Line

Debbie Ocean (Sandra Bullock - Speed, Miss Congeniality etc) was just released from prison after a con that involved her old boyfriend Claude Becker (Richard Armitage - The Hobbit trilogy, Hannibal TV series etc) gone wrong. During her time in jail, she thought of a heist plan which she believed would have made her infamous brother Danny Ocean proud. In order to do her plan, she recruited her old partner Lou (Cate Blanchett - Elizabeth, The Aviator etc) who she thought would be able to assist in finding the right persons to do the heist.

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom - Not A Better Sequel But Still Entertaining As Hell

Finally the wait is over. One of my most anticipated summer blockbuster movie has premiered in Indonesia since yesterday. It was very very exciting to be able to see this on its first day together with few other selected countries. The movie got so much hype that it even had the advance ticket sale promotion, so my wife and I managed to buy our tickets for the 6PM show since last Saturday. Well let us not dilly dally anymore and get on with the movie now.

Brief Story Line

Set about 3 years after the events in Jurassic World, the volcano in island of Isla Nublar was going to erupt endangering all the dinosaurs who were still located on the island. Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard - Pete's Dragon, The Help etc) who felt attached with the dinosaurs tried to keep them from extinction, with the help from some people who shared the same views, such as Franklin the IT expert (Justice Smith - Paper Towns, The Get Down TV series etc) and a doctor Zia Rodriguez (Daniella Pineda - The Detour TV series).

211 - A Disappointing Bank Heist Movie

Last Thursday, there was a new movie premiered in Indonesia which was not the blockbuster category. It was rather odd, seeing since the month of May would usually be the time for Hollywood to release their mega blockbuster movies. As the movie did not have major publication, I think there was not a lot of people were aware of it. Even my wife and I were a little bit doubtful of whether or not to see this. But yesterday, I finally decided to see the film while waiting for a very highly anticipated movie of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom which would be premiering this week. My wife was kind enough to accompany me seeing this, though she was not really sure about the quality. Anyway, let us move on to the movie now.

Brief Story Line

A group of dangerous military soldiers led by Tre (Ori Pfeffer - Bullet Head etc) was planning to do a heist from a small town bank in the US. These people were being hunted by an Interpol agent named Sophie (Alexandra Dinu) who had prior experience in dealing with their crimes. On the day of the heist, Tre and his team members with heavy military equipments, rushed into the bank taking hostages of the employees and customers inside. 

Meanwhile a retiring police officer Mike Chandler (Nicolas Cage - Face/Off, 8MM etc) and his partner Steve (Dwayne Cameron) were given extra duty to have a high school student named Kenny (Michael Rainey Jr. - Barbershop: The Next Cut, Power TV series etc) to ride along in their patrol car. Steve was also married to Mike's daughter Lisa (Sophie Skelton).

When Mike & Steve were doing their usual patrolling, Mike noticed a vehicle parking outside the bank and this would be the start of a suspenseful bank heist that would rock the small town. 

End of Brief Story Line

This movie actually started off quite brightly with heavy shoot out that was quite intense and the bad guys were shown as really ruthless experienced team of soldiers. But then the movie pace dropped very slow when it was introducing the characters who would be affected by the bank heist. It certainly did not help when these characters were portrayed by people who seemed to be unable to act naturally (read: the acting was very bad). So after a rather painful 20 minutes or so to look at these bad acting, the pace picked up very fast when the heist was starting.

This was when the movie suddenly became interesting. The action sequence was pretty well made and the explosion effects, the gun shooting scenes were surprisingly very good. I think the movie's highlight point was the heist itself. But then came the finale which was rather disappointing. After a heavy build up (which also included some dramatic & touching moment that affected my wife), it felt really anticlimactic. I was hoping for a much better finale scene than that, but probably the director wanted to show something different. Even my wife and I were debating of the logic behind such ending of the heist. I totally blame the director & writer York Alec Shackleton for making this.

Before I saw this movie, I was actually looking for more information of it. However, there was not a lot of info available. The synopsis in the Indonesian cinema 21 website only mentioned that the movie was inspired from actual event (though there was no such thing mentioned in the beginning of the film). I also waited through the whole end credit scene hoping to see hints/scenes of the possible actual events information, but to not such luck. Perhaps it was really inspired by a true event, coz someday, somewhere, there might really be a bank heist of this nature. By the way, the title of the movie 211 (two eleven) was actually referring to the police code of Bank Robbery.

Overall, this movie was something that could have been a lot of better if the supporting actors & actresses were able to do a more decent acting, plus giving a better deserved ending of the heist. If you ask me though, the movie was more disappointing to me personally because of those points. I expected something better for a B class movie, but unfortunately I was not having the best moments when watching this film. It is certainly not something that I would recommend to see in the theater. I actually felt pretty bad for asking my wife to accompany me see this one. Definitely best to see this on TV or via online streaming when it is available in the near future if you still want to see it.

Mike's movie moments rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars