Thursday, December 26, 2019

(Special Screening) Ashfall - Entertaining and Surprisingly Fun Disaster Movie with Some Amazing Special Effects

It was a surprise for both of us when my wife got the invitation to the special screening of this movie few nights ago as I thought it would only be done in January 2020 prior to the scheduled release. However, we were obviously happy that we got the chance to see it before we went for our holiday. Anyway I will go straight to the movie now. 

Brief Story Line

When a volcano erupted and threatened to damage the whole Korea, a bomb squad team led by Jo In-chang (Ha Jung-woo - Take Point, The Tunnel etc) was assigned by the South Korean president to prevent further eruption that could flatten both Korean countries. The method was based on theory created by professor Kang Bong-rae (Ma Dong-seok - The Bad Guys: Reign of ChaosUnstoppable etc) who was convinced by government official Yoo-Kyung (Jeon Hye-jin - The Throne TV series etc) to help with the extraordinary situation.

Saturday, December 21, 2019

(TV SERIES) Carnival Row Season 1 - Slow Burner Fantasy Series with some Stunning Visual Effects

I saw the trailer to this series in one of the cable TV few weeks ago and finally gave it a go. It immediately intrigued me with the unusual looking creatures and the British classical period costumes plus the two well known names as the main leads. So let us get on with the series.

Brief Story Line

Set in the Victorian age fantasy world, a police detective in Republic of Burgue named Rycroft Philostrate aka Philo (Orlando Bloom - The Hobbits trilogy, Unlocked etc) had to solve a difficult case about the killing of a fae creature. As creatures were considered the lower end of society, most police did not care about the case. During his investigations, Philo met with a street performer named Millworthy (Simon McBurney - The Conjuring 2 etc) who would later provide some insights to him.

Friday, December 20, 2019

Imperfect - A Review by Yennymakanmulu

After seeing the trailer to this movie few times, my wife and I were definitely interested in seeing this. Not that we need any introduction anyway as it was written & directed by one of our favorite movie maker, Ernest Prakasa. So when yesterday the cinema website was updated and the studio near our home was showing the movie, we did not hesitate to buy the tickets for 7 PM. And how was the movie? I will let you know from the wonderful & amazing post my wife did below.

[MOVIE] Imperfect: Karir, Cinta & Timbangan

Awalnya ragu, hubby mau diajak apa nggak nonton pelem ini, tapi pas liat trailer Imperfect, keliatan kalo hubby tertarik. Gw lupa kalo karya Ernest Prakasa biasanya dia mau ikut nonton hahaha. Jadilah gw tenteng si doi ke bioskop sebelah donk. Pas banget emang tgl 19 Desember kemarin belon ada film yang mau ditonton, so gw beli deh itu tiketnya. Kalo udah ngikutin gw dari lama, jelas tau pasti alasan2 di balik semangatnya gw nonton ini pelem. Selain karena sutradaranya Ernest, gw juga selalu tertarik dengan pemain2nya. Ntar yak gw pajang abis ini. Oya, Imperfect ini disadur dari novel karya Meira Anastasia, istri dari Ernest. Wow, duo dynamic yes.

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

Imperfect: Karier, Cinta dan Timbangan review by yennymakanmulu

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

Thursday, December 19, 2019

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker - A Fun-filled Space Adventure & the Final Part of the Third Trilogy in Star Wars Saga

Despite having advance ticket sales available since last week for this movie, my wife and I had a bit of challenge to schedule it at our convenient time in the studio I prefer. And yesterday, when my favorite cinema finally released its schedule for the show, it was not available via online. So I decided to see this in the theater near our home at 6.50 PM, even though it was in a small studio with regular sound system. Well how was my experience then? Will provide more below.

Brief Story Line

Set after the events of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Rey (Daisy Ridley - Peter Rabbit, Ophelia etc) was still learning to become better Jedi as Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) believed she could be. Meanwhile Poe (Oscar Isaac - The Addams Family 2019 version, A Most Violent Year etc), Finn (John Boyega - Pacific Rim: Uprising, Detroit etc), Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo) and C3PO (Anthony Daniels) were still fighting for the Resistance.

Tuesday, December 17, 2019

(TV SERIES) DC Doom Patrol Season 1 - A DC Superhero Team Adventure that Might be a bit too Weird for My Taste

I have been meaning to watch this series ever since I saw them introduced in one of the episodes of Titans first season. But as I was catching up other older series I forgotten about it and only remembered 2 weeks ago. Ok we will get on with the series now.

Brief Story Line

Niles Caulder aka the Chief (Timothy Dalton - License to Kill, Hot Fuzz etc) was a scientist who have a habit of helping people with certain unique attribute/abilities. He lived in a big house called Doom Manor together with Jane (Diane Guerrero - Orange is the New Black TV series etc) the woman who had 64 personalities, Rita Farr (April Bowlby - Drop Dead Diva TV series etc) a former famous 50s movie star, Larry Trainor (Matt Bomer - White Collar TV series, The Nice Guys etc) who worked as US Air Force test pilot and was exposed to some energy out of space and Cliff Steele (Brendan Fraser - George of the Jungle, The Mummy trilogy etc) a former Nascar driver who had an accident and was saved by the Chief.

Sunday, December 15, 2019

(2019) Black Christmas - A Disappointing Failed Attempt in Reviving the Slasher Genre

This movie's trailer was already shown many times before and I was getting familiar after watching it several times. As it was released while I was away on business trip, I only saw this with my wife last night though it was a bit more challenging than I expected as not a lot of theaters were showing it. The film itself was shown the same day as in the US so it's pretty brand new. OK let us get started with the movie.

Brief Story Line

In Hawthorne university, a group of college students including Riley (Imogen Poots - 28 Weeks Later, Need for Speed etc) and some of her MKE sorority sisters Kris (Aleyse Shannon), Marty (Lily Donoghue) and Jesse (Brittany O'Grady - Star TV series etc) stayed over during the Christmas holiday at their sorority house.

Wednesday, December 11, 2019

Knives Out - Intriguing, Interesting, Entertaining and Greatly Done Murder Mystery Movie

After two weeks of only showing at midnight during the weekend, finally this movie was released yesterday (a bit weird as it was done on Tuesday as opposed to its customary Wednesday release). As it happened, it was shown at the theater near our home at 6.20 PM, so without any hesitation my wife bought the tickets for us. Well we shall go on with this movie then.

Brief Story Line

When a rich novelist Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer - All the Money in the World etc) was found dead in his room, an investigation was done by local police detective Elliot (Lakeith Stanfield - The Girl in the Spider's Web etc) and supported by Trooper Wagner (Noah Segan - Brick etc) together with a well known private investigator Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig - James Bond movies etc) as consultant. 

Sunday, December 8, 2019

Last Christmas - A Bit Lacking in Chemistry & Predictable Rom-com Aided by Some Lovely Songs that Fans of George Michael Would Love

My wife and I had been eyeing to see this rom-com Christmas movie with the title that was based on one of the most popular Christmas song and a personal favorite of my wife and mine. It was a bit late for Indonesian audience as it was released only on Friday (around a month after its US and UK release). And sadly it did not play at the reasonable time in the theater near our home, so we only got to see it today. Well let's get on with it now.


Brief Story Line

Story focused on a young woman named Katarina who referred to herself as Kate (Emilia Clarke - Solo: A Star Wars Story, Terminator Genisys etc), a rather self-pitying person who was working at a Christmas ornaments shop owned by a lady named Santa (Michelle Yeoh - Master Z: Ip Man LegacyStar Trek Discovery TV series etc). When one day Kate met with a mysterious man named called Tom (Henry Golding - A Simple Favor etc), she felt attracted despite not knowing anything about him.

Jumanji: The Next Level - Still as Fun-Filled and Enjoyable Sequel and Mostly Entertaining Movie

After playing in theaters for few days, I finally got the chance to see this movie with my wife last night. This was due to the fact I was a bit particular and insistent in watching this kind of movie in the theater with Dolby Atmos system, which made it quite challenging to match the timing with our own schedule. Anyway I'll just go straight to the movie now.

Brief Story Line

Set some time after Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, the four friends Spencer (Alex Wolff), Martha (Morgan Turner), Bethany (Madison Iseman) and Fridge (Ser'Darius Blain) planned to get together during the holiday. Meanwhile Spencer had his grandfather Eddie (Danny DeVito - Dumbo live version etc) staying in his house.

Monday, December 2, 2019

Guilt By Design - A Movie with Smart Idea and Twists that could Still Surprise Audience

When I saw in the social media of one of the cinemas in Indonesia, I noticed there was this movie released only in several studios in Jakarta. I was intrigued by the premise and besides it has been a while since I saw a good quality Chinese movie in theater. So when we got the chance to see it on Saturday, my wife and I bought the ticket for the 12.45 PM show in between her events schedule. OK now we'll start with the movie.

Brief Story Line

A former hypnotic expert who currently work in a university named professor Xu (Nick Cheung - Beast Stalker, The Stool Pigeon etc) was given jury duty in a murder case. He had a young daughter who was also very close with Xu's brother in law Yang Kai (Hans Zhang - Wolf Warrior 2, The Rise of a Tomboy etc).

But when his daughter was kidnapped and he was forced to use his expertise to influence the case verdict, Xu had no choice but to comply with the demand while trying whatever he could to save his daughter.