Kraven the Hunter - Probably the Final Movie in the Sony's Spider-man Universe which could Diminish All Hopes of Possible Major Cross-over

As fans of superhero movies, my wife and I certainly do not want to miss out on this, even if we are not familiar with the character. Originally we wanted to see this in the cinema with Dolby Atmos system near our home but it did not play the film. So we ended up seeing it in another studio with standard sound system not far from there yesterday. OK, I'll get straight to it now.

Brief Story Line

Sergei (Aaron Taylor-Johnson - The Fall Guy Bullet Train etc) and his half brother Dmitri (Fred Hechinger - Gladiator II, The White Lotus season 1 TV series etc) were the sons of Nikolai Kravinoff (Russell Crowe - Thor: Love and Thunder, Noah etc), a Russian crime lord who had been grooming them, especially Sergei to become his heir. However, Sergei decided to become vigilante hunting criminals and got the nickname of Kraven the Hunter. Kraven was able to become a hunter with amazing powers after an incident he experienced during a hunting trip years before.

Carry-On - An Entertaining Action Thriller that Should Excite Fans of Such Genre

After few weeks of no exciting new movie released in Netflix on Friday, yesterday there was this film with interesting premise. Obviously I decided to watch it once I was ready after finishing work. All right, let's just get on with the movie then.

Brief Story Line

Ethan Kopek (Taron Egerton - Sing 2, Robin Hood etc) was a Transportation Security Administration-TSA officer working in the Los Angeles airport together with his girlfriend Nora (Sofia Carson - Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists TV series, Purple Hearts etc). On the day before Christmas during the very busy period, Ethan was stationed at the luggage scanning post. However, he soon got a message from mysterious person referred to as Traveler (Jason Bateman - Thunder Force, The Outsider mini series etc) who threatened him to let a luggage past during inspection. As he tried hard to reject the threat, Ethan could not avoid as Traveler was assisted by Watcher (Theo Rossi - The Penguin mini series, Emily and the Criminal etc) who had vast knowledge about him.

(TV SERIES) Cross Season 1 - An Enjoyable Adaptation of James Patterson's Best Selling Novel Series

I have been meaning to watch this series that was released on Prime Video on 14 November, but since I was in the middle of other series plus my holiday vacation last week, I only started it three days ago and finished last night. Without further ado, let's get right to it.

Brief Story Line

Dr. Alex Cross (Aldis Hodge - Black Adam, Leverage TV series etc), a Forensic Psychologist was working as homicide detective in DC with his partner John Sampson (Isaiah Mustafa - It Chapter Two, Boy Kills World etc). Cross was struggling with his personal life and had to have help from his grandmother Regina (Juanita Jennings - Meet the Browns TV series etc) to take care of his children Damon (Caleb Elijah) and Jannie (Melody Hurd). 

Alex was beginning to have a relationship with Elle (Samantha Walkes), a director of Non profit organization who introduced him to some high powered people including the very wealthy Ed Ramsey (Ryan Eggold - The Blacklist TV series, New Amsterdam TV series etc). Ed himself was taking an interest on a young woman named Shannon Witmer (Eloise Mumford - Fifty Shades trilogy etc) whom he met through dating app.

I Did It My Way - A Suspenseful Enough Action Thriller Movie With Nice Performance from Andy Lau and Gordon Lam

As mentioned in the post before this, I was on holiday with my wife for the whole last week. During the flight to our destination by Cathay Pacific, I enjoyed the variety of Hong Kong and Chinese movies which either did not play in Indonesia or only played at limited cinemas in short time that I did not have the chance to see them. Anyway there were several films that I watched during the flights to and return, but I prefer to write about this movie. Well here's more on it.

Brief Story Line

The Hong Kong Cybercrime unit led by Eddie Fong (Eddie Peng - Duckweed, Wu Kong etc) had been eyeing to capture leader of major drug syndicate referred to as the Boss. During a bust, the police managed to apprehend Uncle Chiu (Philip Keung - Warriors of Future, Trivisa etc) who was suspected as the Boss. Chiu later asked to speak to his lawyer George Lam (Andy Lau - Shock Wave 2, The Great Wall etc).

(TV SERIES) Black Doves Season 1 - An Interesting British Spy Thriller Series with Some Nicely Done Action and Good Enough Story Telling

As I was on holiday during whole last week with my wife, I did not have any chance to see new movies in the cinemas and only watched series on Netflix. This one though, I started watching yesterday and managed to finish in one day. It was a series that intrigued me and made me opt to watch it first ahead of other series available. All right then, why don't I just head to it.

Brief Story Line

Helen Webb (Keira Knightley - Official Secrets, Pride and Prejudice etc) was the wife of Secretary of State for Defence Wallace Webb (Andrew Buchan - All the Money in the World, Broadchurch TV series etc) who was actually a spy working for an organization selling secrets to highest bidder called Black Dove. When some people were mysteriously killed in one night, Helen's handler Reed (Sarah Lancashire - Coronation Street TV series, Everybody's Talking About Jamie etc) got worried that it might implicate the Black Dove. To help Helen deal with this problem, Reed called her former Triggerman Sam (Ben Whishaw - No Time to Die, Paddington etc) to come out of retirement and protect Helen.

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.

Venom: The Last Dance - A Pretty Conclusive Movie to Wrap the Venom Trilogy

My wife and I were looking forward to see this movie during the weekend, but it was quite challenging as we had to attend a wedding ceremony on that day. So after the event, we went to a cinema not far from our home where luckily our favorite seats were still available. All right then, I'll dive into the movie.

Brief Story Line

Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy - The Bikeriders, Capone etc) who had become fugitive was trying to avoid capture and decided to escape to New York city. While on the run, Eddie met with a family of Alien enthusiasts Martin (Rhys Ifans - House of the Dragon TV series, Official Secrets etc), his wife Nova (Alanna Ubach - Coco, Legally Blonde etc) and their two children and hitch a hike to Las Vegas.

(2024) Don't Move - A Pretty Decent Cat and Mouse Thriller

Last night I decided to watch this latest movie available on Netflix as my usual activity on Friday night when new films are released in some streaming platform. It was something that intrigued me with its premise. OK without further ado, here's more on the movie.

Brief Story Line

Iris (Kelsey Asbille - Yellowstone TV series etc) was having a moment by herself on the mountain top when she met a man named Richard (Finn Wittrock - Luckiest Girl Alive, Ratched TV series etc) who unexpectedly kidnapped and injected her with something that would paralyze her after a while.

The Shadow Strays - An Ultra Violent Martial Arts Movie from Indonesia's Experienced Action Filmmaker

When I saw this movie in the coming soon section on Netflix, I was immediately intrigued especially since it was directed by one of the Indonesian prominent film maker. So I have put a reminder to watch it as soon as it's available, which was yesterday. All right, let's get on to the movie now, shall we?

Brief Story Line

A group of assassins known as Shadows of Death existed in the crime world and could be hired for the right price. One of the newest recruit with code name 13 (Aurora Ribero - Susah Sinyal, Like & Share etc) who had been personally trained by senior instructor Umbra (Hana Malasan - Ben & Jody, Kereta Berdarah etc), was told to lay low and wait for next assignment in Jakarta by their Handler (Chew Kin Wah - Cek Toko Sebelah 2, My Stupid Boss 2 etc).

The Wild Robot - A Lovely and Heartwarming Animated Movie Based on Best Selling Novel

This movie already had its early screening last weekend, but due to limited number of seats available in the studios, my wife and I decided to wait it up. Finally the film was released on Friday and we saw it yesterday in one of our favorite cinemas not far from our home. OK, let's get to it now.

Brief Story Line

A robot specifically designed for assisting people was somehow crashed in an island without any humans. The robot who was identified as Rozzum-7134 (voiced by Lupita Nyong'o - A Quite Place: Day One, Us etc) tried her best to look for anyone who need her assistance. After days of unsuccessful effort to convince all animals, the robot nicknamed "Roz" by the sly fox Fink (Pedro Pascal - The Bubble, Wonder Woman 1984 etc), decided to take care of a baby goose. As advised by an opossum named Pinktail (Catherine O'hara - Argylle, Home Alone etc), Roz agreed she would ensure the goose was able to swim and fly. 

Uprising - A Pretty Entertaining Martial Arts Movie with A Familiar Plot

Yesterday there was this new South Korean movie released on Netflix which made me interested as it looked promising with some martial arts involved. So even though I was in the middle of another series, I opted to watch this first before finishing that one. OK, let's dive into it then.

Brief Story Line

Story was set in the Joseon period where slavery was still in place and focused on Cheon-yeong (Gang Dong-won - The Plot, Train to Busan: Peninsula etc) who had been serving his master Jong-ryeo (Park Jeong-min - The 8 Show TV series, Dr. Cheon and The Lost Talisman etc) since childhood and became very good friends. When war erupted due to invasion by Japanese army led by one of its General Genshin (Jung Sung-il - Project Wolf Hunting, The Glory TV series etc), the country was in turmoil and King Seon-jo (Cha Seung-won - Believer, The Tyrant TV series etc) had to flee, leaving the people to fend for themselves. 

(TV SERIES) Bad Monkey Season 1 - A Crime Drama Series with Some Nice Comedic Performance of Vince Vaughn

I was aware about this series on AppleTV+ few weeks ago and was interested since it starred Vince Vaughn who was known for his comedic nature. Since it was released an episode per week, I only began to watch three days ago as the finale was going to be available yesterday. And I managed to finish it last night. All right, let's get on with the series then.

Brief Story Line

Former Miami detective Andrew Yancy (Vince Vaughn - Freaky, The Internship etc) who was working as a Detective in Keys Florida had been suspended for some disciplinary problem and was later assigned as Food Inspector. When a severed arm was found by tourist, Yancy agreed to deliver it to the Miami's Medical Examiner Rosa (Natalie Martinez - Message From the King, The Crossing TV series etc) for checking against missing person case, as part of his ongoing mission to get reinstated. It was later found out that the arm belonged to the missing husband of Eve (Meredith Hagner - Vacation Friends, As The World Turns soap opera etc). Feeling suspicious of Eve who did not take long to have a new boyfriend Christopher (Rob Delaney - Deadpool & Wolverine, Tom & Jerry etc), Yancy dig further into the matter with the help from Rosa. 

Panda Plan - A Disappointing Jackie Chan Action Comedy Movie

I found out about this latest Jackie Chan movie more than a week ago when I saw it in the Coming Soon section of the various cinema chains' websites. If you have read my previous posts, you would know that my wife and I are big fans of him, so we wanted to see it as early as possible. Yesterday, we wanted to also see another movie but due to limited screening, we only managed to see this one. All right, let's head down to the film then.

Brief Story Line

Jackie (Jackie Chan - The Knights of Shadow: Between Yin and Yang, The Lego Ninjago Movie etc) was a famous Kungfu movie star who was given the opportunity to adopt a newly born baby Panda. Together with his agent David (Wei Xiang - Too Cool to Kill, Champion etc), they both went to Noah Zoo located in a small island where the Panda would be given to Jackie by its Director (Andy Friend - The Wandering Earth II etc). Jackie would later meet with the Panda's nanny Xiao Chu (Shi Ce - Look At Me, A Soldier's Story TV series etc) who had been taking care of the baby for a while.

It's What's Inside - A Very Fresh & Fun Pscyhological Thriller with Multiple Surprising Twists

As usual on Friday night, there were several new release that I could opt to see. After few considerations, I chose to watch this one that was released on Netflix which had pretty intriguing premise. Without further ado, here's more on the film.

Brief Story Line

A group of former college best friends were having a reunion the night before one of them Reuben (Devon Terrel - Cursed TV series, Barry etc) got married. They consisted of Shelby (Brittany O'Grady - The White Lotus TV series, Sometimes I Think About Dying etc) and her boyfriend Cyrus (James Morosini - I Love My Dad etc), the well known influencer Nikki (Alycia Debnam-Carey - Fear the Walking Dead TV series etc), Dennis (Gavin Leatherwood - Chilling Adventures of Sabrina TV series etc), Maya (Nina Bloomgarden - Good Girl Jane etc) and Brooke (Reina Hardesty - Greenhouse Academy TV series etc).

(2024) I, The Executioner - An Entertaining Sequel to a Hugely Successful 2015 Action Comedy Movie

This week there were not a lot of new releases in the cinemas compared to last few months and among those films, my wife and I were only really interested in this South Korean movie. So after few considerations, we finally decided to see this in the theater a bit further in Senayan area since it was not playing in the studios near our home. All right, I'll get to it now.

Brief Story Line

Senior Detective Seo Do-cheol (Hwang Jung-min - The Battleship Island, Mission: Cross etc) from the violent crime division had been working for years along with his team members Detective Bong (Jang Yoon-ju - Money Heist: Korea - Joint Economic Area TV series, Ballerina etc), Detective Wang (Oh Dae-hwan - Mission: Possible, Shadow Detective TV series etc) and Detective Yoon (Kim Si-hoo - Eclipse, Apple of My Eye etc) under the supervision of Captain Oh (Oh Dal-su - The Wild, Big Bad TV series etc). Subsequently they were joined by a police officer named Park Sun-woo (Jung Hae-in - Connect TV series, Tune In For Love etc) who caught the eye of Seo after showing his capabilities.

Wolfs - A Pretty Fun Crime Drama Thriller with Some Strong Dark Humor and Performance by its Two Lead Stars

I noticed this movie in the Coming Soon section of AppleTV+ that was scheduled to be released yesterday. From the glimpse of trailer that I saw plus the lead cast, I was quite intrigued and thought of giving it a try. So I watched this last night after got home from work. OK, let's get on with the movie then.

Brief Story Line

Margaret (Amy Ryan - Only Murders in the Building TV series, Central Intelligence etc) who was a candidate for District Attorney was shocked when the young man she was hooking up, referred to as the Kid (Austin Abrams - Do Revenge, Euphoria TV series etc) accidentally fell on his head in a hotel room she booked. Amy decided to call an unknown number who was apparently a Fixer to help on this, which the man (George Clooney - Ticket to Paradise, Burn After Reading etc) agreed to assist.

(TV SERIES) Anti-Hero - An Interesting Legal Drama with Some Smartly Done Courtroom Scenes & Surprising Twists

I have seen this series few months back on Netflix which intrigued me as it had interesting premise. However, since each episode was released on weekly basis, I decided to wait till finished. Sadly I completely forgotten about it until I browse through the streaming service for Japanese series last week and remembered it again. Anyway, I began watching on Sunday and finished it last night. OK, here's more on the series.

Brief Story Line

Masaki Akizumi (Hiroki Hasegawa - Shin Godzilla, Awaiting Kirin TV series etc) was a defense attorney who was well known for his antics and unusual & sometimes unethical method to win cases. He was supported by the passionate lawyer Asuka Shinomiya (Mayu Hotta - Kaguya-sama Final: Love Is War, The 13 Lords of the Shogun TV series etc), Rin Shiraki (Yuko Oshima - Three Sisters of Tenmasou etc) and Kenji Aoyama (Yasufumi Hayashi - Man Walking On Snow etc) who was very good in technical matters. They were joined by a new idealistic lawyer named Shuto Akamine (Takumi Kitamura - Yu Yu Hakusho Live Version series, I Am What I Am etc) who was uncomfortable with the way things done.

(TV SERIES) The Old Man Season 1 - An Interesting Enough Original Drama Thriller Series with Strong Performance by Two of its Lead Cast

As I browse through series that I could watch over last few days, I came across this one that I did not realize was available on Disney+. It was already having its second season released more than a week before, so probably the first season was only shown around that time. Anyway I was intrigued by the plot, so I gave it a try since Thursday night and finished it on Saturday. All right, I'll get right on it then.

Brief Story Line

Dan Chase (Jeff Bridges - Bad Times at the El Royale, The Contender etc), a former CIA agent had been living alone peacefully in the past few years after his wife passed away due to sickness. But when someone tried to kill him at his home, Dan decided to leave everything behind and tried to escape to unknown location. During his run, Dan met with a woman named Zoe (Amy Brenneman - Sweet Girl, The Leftovers TV series etc) who he convinced to let him stay at her rented house.

Hellboy: The Crooked Man - A Second Reboot that Sadly Felt Unnecessary and Unentertaining

This week, there were only few new movies released in Indonesian cinemas with only this one that caught my attention. As my wife and I got some things to do during the weekend and although it was a familiar title, I was not that persistent in seeing the film. However since we managed to clear our schedule, we still get to see it in the theater very near our home yesterday. OK, let's just get to it then.

Brief Story Line

Set in the 1950s, Hellboy (Jack Kesy - The Outpost, The Strain TV series etc) along with his partner Bobbie Jo (Adeline Rudolph - Resident Evil TV series etc) from Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defence (BPRD) had just finished an assignment, when they somehow ended in the Appalachia mountains where strange things were occurring and seemed to be related to witches. They later met with Tom Ferrel (Jefferson White - Yellowstone TV series etc) who had some knowledge on the witches. 

(TV SERIES) Dark Matter - A Mind Bending and Thought Provoking Sci-fi Series

This series which was released on AppleTV+ few months back was something that intrigued me. But I only got the chance to watch it during last weekend. All right then, I will just get into the series now.

Brief Story Line

Jason Dessen (Joel Edgerton - Red Sparrow, Thirteen Lives etc) was a physics professor who was living a modest but happy life with his wife Daniela (Jennifer Connelly - Top Gun: Maverick, A Beautiful Mind etc) and their teenage son Charlie (Oakes Fegley - Pete's Dragon, The War with Grandpa etc). One night after celebrating with his best friend Ryan Holder (Jimmi Simpson - Westworld TV series, Unhinged etc) for winning the Pavia awards, Jason was kidnapped by a mysterious person.

(2024) Speak No Evil - A Slow Burn Psychological Thrller Drama Movie with Pretty Satisfying Conclusion

After watching an animated movie earlier, our second film of the day was this new psychological thriller that intrigued me, especially when I saw the name James McAvoy. I only read the brief premise once and never saw its trailer, so I did not really know what to expect. Well without further ado, here's more on the movie.

Brief Story Line

Ben Dalton (Scoot McNairy -  Luckiest Girl Alive, Aftermath etc) together with his wife Louise (MacKenzie Davis - Terminator: Dark Fate, Station Eleven mini series etc) and their young daughter Agnes (Alix West Lefler) were having a vacation in Italy where they met with a British family of Paddy (James McAvoy - My Son, Atomic Blonde etc), Ciara (Aisling Franciosi - The Last Voyage of the Demeter, Legends TV series etc) and their son Ant (Dan Hough) and became quite close.

Transformers One - A Highly Entertaining Prequel of the Transformers Series

I was already quite excited when I saw the trailer to this movie, despite it's an animated as opposed to the live version of these beloved robots that could transform. I was already planning to see this together with my wife on Friday night in the cinema near our home but we cancelled it due to various reasons. So we finally saw it yesterday in another one of our movie marathon. All right, I'll just get to it then.

Brief Story Line

In the planet Cybertron after huge war with their enemy Quintessons, the robots who were unable to transform were tasked as miners to harvest energy source. Among them were two best friends Orion Pax (Chris Hemsworth - Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, 12 Strong etc) and D-16 (Brian Tyree Henry - Class of '09 TV series, The Woman in the Window etc) who had been working in the mines for a long time and were also friends with high ranked officer Elita-1 (Scarlett Johansson - Avengers: End Game, Ghost in the Shell etc). 

Uglies - Another Supposed Start of New Franchise which Most Probably would not Have Proper Conclusion

After few Fridays of no exciting new movies on Netflix, finally something that intrigued me was released last night. It had an interesting premise which made me eager to watch, so I immediately gave it a try once I had the chance. OK, will get straight with the movie then. 

Brief Story Line

Story was set in the future where to avoid conflicts resulting from the fossil fuel war and distinct appearance of people, the government impose regulation to perform procedures on teenagers who reached the age of 16 to become perfect called "Pretties". Tally Youngblood aka Squint (Joey King - Despicable Me 4, The Act TV series etc) was one of the Uglies, term used for people who had not been operated yet. She was best friend with Peris aka Nose (Chase Stokes - Outer Banks TV series etc) who was few months older than her.

(MINI SERIES) The Perfect Couple - A Quite Fun Series that Might Satisfy Those Looking for Casual Murder Mystery Solving

I was intrigued about this new Netflix series that was released while I was on holiday last week. As it was a murder mystery drama, a genre that I like, I was interested to give it a try. And so how was it then? Let's find out more, shall we?

Brief Story Line

The Winbury family was well known in Nantucket as a traditionally wealthy family, with Tag Winbury (Liev Schreiber - Spider-man: Into the Spider-verse, The Manchurian Candidate etc) and his wife Greer (Nicole Kidman - A Family Affair, Aquaman etc) dubbed as the perfect couple due to their great marriage life for 29 years. When their middle son Benji (Billy Howle - Infinite Storm, Under The Banner of Heaven mini series etc) was getting married with Amelia Sacks (Eve Hewson - Robin Hood 2018 version, Tesla etc), it was set to be a huge celebration with some people invited to join the wedding ceremony. They included the maid of honor Merritt Monaco (Meghann Fahy - The Bold Type TV series etc), best man Shooter Dival (Ishaan Khatter - Dhadak etc), Benji's older brother Thomas (Jack Reynor - The Peripheral TV series etc), his pregnant wife Abby (Dakota Fanning - The Watchers, Charlotte's Web etc), the youngest Winbury son Will (Sam Nivola - White Noise etc) and several other guests.

(2024) The Killer - An Inferior Remake of One of John Woo's Classic Action Movie

After few days of vacation with my wife and did not really have the time to watch anything, I returned home and started to browse all the new release I might have missed out. To my surprise this film that I was curious about was already available on HBO Go. So I immediately chose to watch it last night. OK, let's get to it then.

Brief Story Line

Zee (Nathalie Emmanuel - Fast X, Arthur the King etc) was one of the assassins working for Finn (Sam Worthington - Avatar: The Way of Water, The Titan etc) who was usually hired by various clients, including French crime boss Jules Gobert (Eric Cantona - AKA etc). During Zee's latest assignment, an amateur singer named Jenn (Diana Silvers - Space Force TV series etc) was caught in the cross fire which resulted to her losing sight. Unexpectedly, Zee decided to let Jenn alive which made Finn furious.

(2024) Revolver - A Very Slow Paced Movie for Such a Simple Premise

Last weekend was a bit unexpected for me and my wife as we had limited options of films to see in the cinemas. I mentioned in my post before this that the films released in previous week were either gone or left with only few cinemas playing. Hence we decided to see this new movie that was available since mid of the week and played in several cinemas not far from our home. OK then, I will get on it.

Brief Story Line

Former police Ha Soo-young (Jeon Do-yeon - Kill Boksoon, The Good Wife TV series etc) was just released from prison after serving two years for taking the fall for high ranked officials. In return for prison time, she would be compensated with a certain amount of money promised by Andy (Ji Chang-Wook - Fabricated City, Welcome to Samdal-ri TV series etc) who worked for a large wealthy group called Easter Promise.

However, instead of meeting the people supposedly paying her, Soo-young was met by Madam Jung (Lim Ji-yeon - Spiritwalker. The Killing Vote TV series etc) whom she never saw before and was having trouble to acquire the money. Soo-young had no choice but to find ways to get the fund promised to her, despite all the danger she had to face.

(TV SERIES) Chastity High - A Teen Drama with Interesting Premise Albeit Sensitive Subjects

This Saturday I was thinking of seeing movies that I was unable to do last week as I was on holiday with my wife. To my surprise though, they were only playing in very few cinemas that we decided to just skip them. Since there was no new film on streaming service that interest me, I opted to watch this newest series on Netflix which has an intriguing premise. OK, let's get on with it then. 

Brief Story Line

In Asura private high school for students from wealthy family, a new strict rule was implemented by principal Ms. Ikushima (Shinobu Terajima - The Demon Over There etc) where boys and girls were prohibited from romance, and having sexual intercourse would get them expelled. To enforce the rules, student council led by Sawa (Shiori Akita - 17.3 About a Sex etc) was assigned to patrol around and outside school to catch students in the act. Ichika (Ai Mikami - Yu Yu Hakusho live version series etc) who came from poor family and struggling financially was one of the council members, together with Kanda (Rintaro Mizusawa - The Way Back Home etc) and several others.

(MINI SERIES) The Frog - An Intricate Thriller Drama Series

Last week there were not that many new releases on various streaming platforms that caught my attention, while the latest movies in the cinemas did not play in the cinema nearest to my home. Hence I decided to watch this Netflix series that quite intrigued me. Since I went for holiday with my family during the weekend, I only finished the series last night despite starting on Friday. All right, let's get started then.

Brief Story Line

In a small town outside of Seoul, a retired man named Jeon Yeong-ha (Kim Yoon-seok - Escape from Mogadishu, Loveholic TV series etc) was operating a rental vacation house which was doing OK. During one summer day, a guest named Yoo Seong-a (Go Min-si - Smugglers, Jirisan TV series etc) rented the house together with her young child. Her arrival would later disrupt Yeong-ha's peaceful life and also caught the attention of the new police Captain Yoon Bo-min (Lee Jung-eun - Hommage, Miss Night and Day TV series etc).

(TV SERIES) The Tyrant - A Dark Spy Action Thriller Series Combined with Sci-Fi Element

I was not aware about this series that was released on Disney+ last Wednesday and only found out while I was searching for another one that my wife recommended. As it only had 4 episodes, I thought why not give it a try first and see if it's any good, cause the premise was very mysterious but seemed promising enough. OK, I'll get right to it then.

Brief Story Line

When a secret project called the Tyrant created by a team in South Korean intelligence agency was somehow found out by the US, they were forced to stop and surrender the sample. Director Choe (Kim Seon-ho - The Childe, Start Up TV series etc) who was the leader of the said project tasked his team to coordinate the delivery together with an assassin Chae Ja-gyeong (Jo Yoon-su - The Killer's Shopping List TV series etc).

(2024) Drive - A Suspenseful Thriller with Plenty of Surprising Twists

The second movie that my wife and I saw last Saturday during our movie marathon was this South Korean thriller that had been promoted in the coming soon section for a while now. I just need to read the very brief synopsis to be fully intrigued, so naturally I would not want to miss seeing it in the cinema. OK, let's get to it now.

Brief Story Line

Yu na (Park Ju-hyun - Project Silence, Mouse TV series etc) was a famous influencer who had a lot of followers/subscribers to her online streaming contents. Her manager Choi PD (Kim Do-yoon -Concrete Utopia, Song of the Bandits TV series etc) had been coordinating her works including attending to the release of brand new cosmetics.

Alien: Romulus - A Great and Refreshing Addition to the Long Running Alien Franchise

When I saw the trailer of this movie, I told my wife that I wished to see it in a studio with a definite Dolby Atmos sound system as I want to have the optimum experience. Luckily it did play in our favorite cinema (Epicentrum) and my wife was kind enough to accompany me there as I have been a bit disappointed with other places that did not provide the effect despite stating it in the website. Anyway, I'll get right to it now.

Brief Story Line

Set in the year 2122, Rain Carradine (Cailee Spaeny - Civil War, Devs mini series etc) and her adoptive brother a synthetic human referred to as Andy (played by David Jonsson - Rye Lane, Industry TV series etc) were working on the colony Jackson's star. When she met with her ex boyfriend Tyler (Archie Renaux - Shadow and Bone TV series, Upgraded etc), his younger sister Kay (Isabela Merced - Madame Web, Sweet Girl etc), their cousin Bjorn (Spike Fearn - Tell Me Everything TV series etc) and his girlfriend Navarro (Aileen Wu), Rain was convinced to join them in going to a decomissioned spacecraft so they could go to planet Yvaga.

The Union - An Enjoyable Spy Action Comedy Thriller Movie

Like many Fridays before yesterday, there was a new movie released on Netflix which has an interesting premise. This one had plent of well known stars in it which obviously made me intrigued. So last night I immediately watch it as soon as I had the chance. All right, let's just get to it then.

Brief Story Line

Mike McKenna (Mark Wahlberg - The Family Man, Uncharted etc) was a construction worker who had been living in his home town all his life. When his high school girlfriend Roxanne Hall (Halle Berry - John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum, Die Another Day etc) suddenly appeared, he was very delighted. However apparently Roxanne was working for a unit in the CIA called the Union under his boss Tom Brennan (J. K. Simmons - The Tomorrow War, Renegades etc) and she wanted to recruit Mike to join her.

Jackpot! - An OK Enough Action Comedy Film with a Unique Premise

I found out about this action comedy movie a while ago and was interested due to its premise. So when it was finally released on Prime Video yesterday, I immediately watch it once I got the chance. And how was the movie then? Let's find out more, shall we?

Brief Story Line

Story was set in the year 2030 where in California, there was a new kind of lottery with huge reward. The regulation of the lottery stated that any one who had the losing ticket could kill the winner and ultimately claim the winning money as long as it was done before sundown. Katie Kim (Awkwafina - Kung Fu Panda 4, Raya and the Last Dragon etc) who just came to Los Angeles unexpectedly won the lottery and became the target of so many people. 

Pilot - A Pretty Entertaining Comedy Film With Some Nice Performance of Jo Jung-suk

When this movie was promoted through various cinema social media, my wife was very excited since it starred her favorite South Korean star Jo Jung-suk. As there were so many new interesting films released last week, we had to juggle our schedule to ensure we were able to see most of them. And finally we got the chance to do so on Sunday in a double movie marathon weekend. OK, let's just get to it then.

Brief Story Line (spoiler warning)

Han Jung-woo (Jo Jung-suk - Exit, Hospital Playlist TV series etc) was a famous commercial airline pilot and was enjoying his popularity. Unfortunately due to some incident, he lost his job and had to start looking for a new one. Since he was blacklisted from major airlines and unable to be accepted anywhere, Jung-woo finally decided to do the unthinkable, that was to apply as a female pilot. 

Detective Conan: The Million-Dollar Pentagram - The Latest Movie in the Long Running and Hugely Popular Manga Series

If you have seen my previous posts, you would know that my wife and I are major fans of Detective Conan. So once again we got the chance to see this latest movie in the cinema. It was another movie marathon day for us as we were planning to see another film after this in what had been a very busy weekend for us. Without further ado, here's a little bit more on the movie.

Brief Story Line

Conan (Minami Takayama), Hattori Heiji (Ryo Horikawa) and Detective Kogoro (Rikiya Koyama) together with the police were guarding a couple of swords owned by Takuzo Onoe (Hiroshi Naka) which were targeted by Kaito Kid (Kappei Yamaguchi). The place was located in Hakodate, Hokkaido where Heiji was supposed to join Kendo tournament. Kazuha (Yuko Miyamura) who was Heiji's love interest also went to Hakodate to give him support, together with Ran (Wakana Yamazaki).

Trap - Another M. Night Shyamalan Movie that Should Please His Fans

When I find out about this latest M. Night Shyamalan movie, I was very curious and was interested to give it a try. As it was released mid of last week together with various other new films, I decided to see this together with another film in our latest movie marathon on Saturday. All right, I'll get down to it now.

Brief Synopsis

Cooper (Josh Hartnett - Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre, Black Hawk Down etc) and his teen daughter Riley (Ariel Donoghue - Wolf Like Me TV series etc) went to a live concert of famous singer Lady Raven (Saleka Night Shyamalan) to celebrate Riley's good grades. During the concert, Cooper started noticing a lot of police were guarding the building where the concert was held and began questioning the reasons.