(2026) The Invisible Guest - The Indonesian Remake of Well Received Full of Twist Psychological Drama Movie from Spain

When I got notification email from HBO Max several days ago, I was surprised as it promoted a new Indonesian movie that I never heard or known before. Anyway once I saw its premise and the lead star I was obviously intrigued. So when it was finally released yesterday at 2 PM like advertised, I immediately watched it. Without further ado, here's more on the film.

Brief Story Line

Movie started with the appearance of Reza (Reza Rahadian - Keadilan, Berbalas Kejam etc), a very experienced lawyer in the apartment where Mawar (Mawar de Jongh - Virgo and the Sparklings, The Shadow Strays etc) was staying. She was under house arrest as main suspect in the murder of Yoshi (Arifin Putra - Foxtrot 6, Sang Pengadil etc). As someone who never lost a case, Reza demanded Mawar to tell her every little detail including things related to the missing person case sometime back.

(TV SERIES) Song of the Samurai Season 1 - An Entertaining Series With Plenty of Well Crafted Sword Fights Albeit A Bit Too Much Details on the Historical Part

I knew about this series since it was promoted on HBO Max a couple of months back. It was something that really interest me but as it was released one episode per week, I decided to wait till it's complete last Sunday to start watching. It took me longer than expected but last night I finally finished the whole season. Without further ado, here's more on the series.

Brief Story Line

Story was set during the late Edo period where Hijikata Toshizo (Yamada Yuki - Godzilla Minus One, School Police TV series etc) the poor son of a farmer was searching for someone that could make him stronger till he finally met Kondo Isami (Suzuki Nobuyuki - Prince of Legend TV series, Revenge Girl etc), the master of Shieikan Dojo. Toshizo became the latest disciple of Shieikan together with several others including the sword prodigy Okita Soji (Hosoda Kanata - A Kiss Lasts Forever TV series, Bullet Train Explosion etc), the academically intelligent Yamanami Keisuke (Nakamura Aoi - Tokyo Refugees, Tokyo Salad Bowl TV series etc), Nagakura Shinpachi (Uesugi Shuhei - Land of Tanabata TV series, Windbreaker etc) who was excellent in using his hands and others with their own specialties.

(MINI SERIES) Prisoner Season 1 - Fast Paced & Action Packed 6 Part Action Thriller Series

I watched the trailer to this series on HBO Max few weeks ago and thought it looked really good. But I did not realize it was released on 30th April and only got the chance to watch it 2 days later. Anyway, why don't I just get right to the series now.

Brief Story Line

After taking maternity leave, Amber Todd (Izuka Hoyle - The Outpost TV series, Persuasion etc) left her baby daughter with her husband Olly (Finn Bennet - A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms TV series, Warfare etc) to return work as prison transport guard. On her first day, she was tasked with additional job of transporting high level prisoner named Tibor Stone (Tahar Rahim - Madame Web, The Looming Tower mini series etc) who was key witness in the trial of Harrison Dempsey (Brian F. O'Byrne - Conclave, Nightflyers TV series etc), leader of Organized Crime Pegasus. Unfortunately Harrison's son Declan (Laurie Davidson - Cats, The Road Trip TV series etc) assigned Pegasus trusted assassin Nina (Leonie Benesch - The Teachers' Lounge, Around the World in 80 Days TV series etc) to kill Tibor using any means necessary. 

(2025) Red Sonja - A Very Mediocre Sword And Sorcery Movie Remake

I remember seeing poster to this movie long time ago in the biggest cinema chain in Indonesia, but it seemed the film was never released (or even if it was, it probably was so fast gone that I missed it). Anyway when I opened HBO Max two nights ago, I noticed this film was available there. But as it was rather late night, I decided to watch it following day. All right then, let us dive into the movie.

Brief Story Line

The red haired Sonja (Matilda Lutz - Reptile, Magpie etc) was a Hyrkanian who was separated from her tribe since childhood when the Barbarians invaded her homeland. All the years, Sonja had been trying to find the people from Hyrkania in the forest. One day she encountered some soldiers capturing wild animals and decided to free them but ended up getting into confrontation with Emperor Dragan (Robert Sheehan - The Umbrella Academy TV series, Bad Samaritan etc) who was accompanied by his protectors Annisia (Wallis Day - Krypton TV series, Sheroes etc) and General Karlak (Martyn Ford - House of David TV series, Final Score etc).

(TV SERIES) A Knight of The Seven Kingdoms Season 1 - Highly Praised Fantasy Series Set in the Same Universe of Game of Thrones

I have seen so many articles about this series on the internet which made me very intrigued to give it a try. But as it was released an episode per week, I wanted to wait till its completion before starting to watch. The final episode was released on Monday and I immediately gave it a try on that night & finished it yesterday. All right then, I'll go straight with the series now.

Brief Story Line

Set some 90 years before the events in Game of Thrones, a young squire named Dunk (Peter Claffey - Small Things Like This, Wreck TV series etc) had inherited three horses, sword, armor and shield from his master Ser Arlan (Danny Webb - Churchill, Liar TV series etc) who just past away and knighted him. After considering his options, Dunk (short for Duncan) decided to go to a tournament in Ashford to make a name for himself. During his journey there, Dunk met a young boy at an inn called Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell - The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes etc) who proposed himself to become his squire. Despite his initial disagreement, Dunk decided to accept Egg due to his persistence and ability to reach Ashford without his help.

(TV SERIES) The Judge Returns - A Well Done Legal Drama With Interesting Plot, A Little Bit of Fantasy Element and Entertaining Battle of Strategies

This series was made available on HBO Max in Indonesia since few weeks ago. I was not too sure if it would be interesting, but my wife who loved the acting of its lead cast was immediately intrigued. After watching several episodes, she highly recommended me to give it a try which I did from last weekend & managed to finish it last night. So how was the series then? Let us get into it now, shall we?

Brief Story Line

Lee Han-young (Ji Sung - Confession, Connection TV series etc) was a corrupt judge in Seoul who agreed to sway decision in favor of the ones willing to bribe him. However after an incident, he had a change of heart and turned his life around to clean corrupt Korean justice system powered by senior judge Kang Sin-jin (Park Hee-soon - My Name TV series, The Policeman's Lineage etc). Realizing he could not do everything alone, Han-young reconnected with his high school best friend Seok Jeong-ho (Tae Won-seok - Good Boy TV series, My Puppy etc) who was now a successful loan shark. He also enlisted the help of prosecutors Park Cheol-woo (Hwang Hee - Love Song for Illussion TV series etc) and Kim Jin-ah (Won Jin-ah - Secret: Untold Melody, Hellbound TV series etc), plus the support from reporter Song Na-yeon (Baek Jin-hee - The Real Has Come TV series etc).

(TV SERIES) The 'Burbs Season 1 - Reimagining Adaptation of the Cult Classic of 1989 Movie with the Same Title

As I was looking for something new to watch last night, I came across this brand new series from Peacock that was released on HBO Max. It looked like fun so I did not hesitate to give it a try immediately and just finished the whole season today. All right then, why don't I get right on it.

Brief Story Line

The newlyweds Rob Fisher (Jack Whitehall - Clifford the Red Dog, Fresh Meat TV series etc) and his wife Samira (Keke Palmer - The Pickup, Lightyear etc) had just moved to Rob's childhood home in the suburb where they decided to raise their infant child. Samira became good friends with their neighbors that included kind hearted, recently widowed Lynn (Julia Duffy - Christmas with the Campbells, Newhart TV series etc), ex marine Dana (Paula Pell - Girls5eva TV series, Summer of 69 etc) and the calm & collected Tom (Mark Proksch - What We Do in the Shadows TV series, Decker comedy series etc), while Rob reconnect with his best friend from school Naveen (Kapil Talwalkar - Night Court sitcom, Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist TV series etc).

(TV SERIES) Ponies Season 1 - A Fun Enough Series of Normal Women Becoming Secret Agents During Cold War

 

This brand new series was made available on HBO Max I think on 15 January, though I only started watching two days ago and finished it last night. It had a very interesting premise that made me wanted to give it a try immediately. Without further ado, here's more on the series.

Brief Story Line

Story was set in the year 1977 in Moscow, Russia during the peak of cold war where CIA and KGB were fighting against each other through various espionage means. Beatrice Grant (Emilia Clarke - Secret Invasion mini series, Me Before You etc) and Twila Hasbeck (Haley Lu Richardson - Five Feet Apart, The White Lotus season 2 etc) were wives of CIA agents who posed themselves as secretaries in the US Embassy. However their lives completely changed when both their husbands were killed in suspicious circumstances and Bea & Twila insisted to find out what actually happened.

(TV SERIES) The Copenhagen Test Season 1 - A Unique & Interesting Blend of Spy Story with Sci-fi Element

Few days ago, I found out that the first 4 episodes of this series were made available on HBO Max. I was delighted as I read some articles praising the series but I thought I had to wait for some time till all episodes were released. On New Year's eve though, I rechecked HBO Max and realized that the full season was already out. So I immediately began to watch on that day and finished it last night. Without further ado, here's more on the series.

Brief Story Line

Alexander Hale (Simu Liu - Jackpot!, Barbie etc) was working as an analyst for a spy organization called Orphanage that oversaw all intelligence agencies in the US. He had aspired to become a field agent but never got the chance till one day he was appointed to lead a special project by Director Peter Moira (Brian d'Arcy James - West Side Story, 13 Reasons Why TV series etc). Alexander's life seemed to be going for the better as he also befriended bartender Michelle (Melissa Barrera - Abigail, In the Heights etc), although his colleague Henry Cobb (Mark O'brien - Ready or Not, Anon etc) suspected Alexander as a mole.

(TV SERIES) IT: Welcome to Derry Season 1 - A Brilliantly Done Prequel to Stephen King's Hit Novel

When I found out about this series some time ago, I was really excited and eagerly wait till the full season was completed. The season finale was made available on 14 December but I only realized it the day after and immediately started watching. I managed to finish all episodes last night and could not help to write about it. All right then, let's just get started.

Brief Story Line

Set in the year 1962 in the small town of Derry, Maine, Major Leroy Hanlon (Jovan Adepo - Babylon, 3 Body Problem TV series etc) was assigned to the US airbase there to work on special assignment under General Shaw (James Remar - Black Lightning TV series, Megalopolis etc) and also cooperate with Airman Dick Hallorann (Chris Chalk - Perry Mason TV series, All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt etc). Leroy arranged for his wife Charlotte (Taylour Paige - The Toxic Aventer 2023 version, Hit the Floor TV series etc) & their young son Will (Blake Cameron James) to move to the town as well.

(MINI SERIES) All Her Fault - A Drama Thriller Series With Brilliant Performance by Some of Its Cast Based on Best Selling Novel

After completing another series earlier, I browsed various new shows in different streaming platforms and came across this Mini Series that looked interesting on HBO Max. If you have read my previous posts, you would know why I was interested in limited series as it definitely had a closure. OK then, let's get started shall we?

Brief Story Line

A pretty successful wealth manager Marissa Irvine (Sarah Snook - Succession TV series, Predestination etc) went to pick up her 5 year old child Milo (Duke McCloud) after his play date with the son of Jenny Kraminsky (Dakota Fanning - The Perfect Couple mini series, The Equalizer 3 etc), another mom from same school. To her surprise, there was no such play date and the address was also fake. Marissa's husband Peter (Jake Lacy - The White Lotus TV series, Rampage etc) and his younger siblings Lia (Abby Elliott - The Bear TV series, Sex Ed etc) and Brian (Daniel Monks - Ricky Stanicky, Pulse etc) were not aware of Milo's location either. 

(TV SERIES) Creature Commandos Season 1 - A Wonderfully Written Animated Series Focusing on the Weird Metahuman Team from DC Comics

I have been meaning to give this series a try from the time it was released end of last year. But as I was waiting for it to be completed and busy with finishing other series, this became a bit of my least priority. However when it was mentioned that the last Superman movie had a bit of connection with the series, I wanted to revisit it. Last night, I finally set aside my time to watch the whole season on HBO Max. OK, let's just get to it then.

Brief Story Line

After her failed Task Force X (Suicide Squad) program, ARGUS director Amanda Waller (Viola Davis - G20, Kung Fu Panda 4 etc) decided to form another group which later she referred to as Task Force M to be led by Rick Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo - Copshop, Reprisal etc) and consisted of monsters previously captured and jailed in Belle Reve prison. They were the Bride (Indira Varma - Disclaimer mini series, Bride and Prejudice etc), radioactive metahuman Doctor Phosphorus (Alan Tudyk - Peter Pan & Wendy, Doom Patrol TV series etc), the aquatic mutant Nina Mazursky (Zoë Chao - Senior Year, The Afterparty anthology series etc), G. I. Robot who was created with sole purpose of killing Nazis and the mysterious John Doe/Weasel (both voiced by Sean Gunn - Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Gilmore Girls TV series etc).