Disclosure Day - The Return of Steven Spielberg to the Alien Genre Albeit in a Less Action Approach

This was another movie that was released mid of the week in Indonesia. I never saw its trailer before and had no idea of what the film was about, but the name Steven Spielberg and the genre alien was enough to make me wanted to see it. So yesterday my wife and I went to the studio not far from our home. It was a sudden change of plan cause my favorite cinema stopped playing the film after just 2 days. Anyway let us dive into it now.

Brief Story Line (warning possible spoiler)

Daniel Kellner (Josh O'Connor - Wake Up Dead Man: A Knive's Out Mystery, The Mastermind etc) was a cybersecurity expert working for an organization within the US government. He somehow found out information about aliens which he wanted to share the world. However Daniel's plan was disrupted when his boss Noah Scanlon (Colin Firth - Young Sherlock TV series, Mary Poppins Returns etc) was aware and tried to capture him and his girlfriend Jane (Eve Hewson - The Perfect Couple mini series, Flora and Son etc) to avoid having chaos around the world. 

(2026) War Machine - A Highly Entertaining Full Action Sci-Fi Movie

I was aware about this movie since few weeks ago which totally interest me with its premise and lead star. Being major fan of action combined with some kind of science fiction element, made me very excited to watch it. That's why when it was released by Netflix on last Friday, I immediately gave it a try despite feeling a bit tired after seeing 2 films in a row in the cinema. Without further ado, here's more on the movie.

Brief Story Line

During the latest Ranger Assessment and Selection Program (RASP) a lot of candidates were trying their best to become part of the elite team,  including the experienced Staff Sergeant & war survivor who was referred to as 81 (Alan Ritchson - Playdate, Titans TV series etc). After a very intense 8 weeks program, many of the candidates were not selected, leaving only few who succeeded. For their final simulated exercise, 81 was appointed as team leader along with another Staff Sergeant referred to as 7 (Stephan James - 21 Bridges, Homecoming TV series etc), the loud mouth 15 (Blake Richardson - He Ain't Heavy etc), 44 (Alex King - The Longest Weekend etc), 57 (Daniel Webber - The Punisher TV series etc) and some others in a remote location.

(TV SERIES) Alien: Earth Season 1 - A Nice Addition to the Alien Universe with Some High Intensity Moments & Awesome Special Effects

When I read about this series few months ago, I was immediately intrigued. As usual, I would only watch a new series after it was completed. But since it finished during my holiday, I just got the chance to watch 2 days ago and finished it last night. All right then, let's get on with it.

Brief Story Line

Two years before the events of the movie Alien, earth was led by the Five wealthiest organization including Prodigy Corporation led by its CEO Boy Kavalier (Samuel Blenkin - Mary & George TV series etc) which developed new kind of synthetics and Weyland-Yutani that focused on space exploration. When one of the science vessel owned by Weyland with its Chief security Morrow (Babou Ceesay - Guerilla TV series etc) crash landed on earth, Kavalier decided to send his new team of hybrid synths led by Wendy (Sydney Chandler - Pistol mini series etc) along with her friends that included Slightly (Adarsh Gourav - The White Tiger etc), Nibs (Lily Newmark - Cursed TV series etc) and few others to the crash site. They were accompanied by chief scientist Kirsch (Timothy Olyphant - Havoc, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood etc) who was also the mentor of Wendy & her friends.

Nope - A Disappointing and Completely Different from Expectation Movie about Alien

When I saw the trailer to this movie few times earlier, I was intrigued and pretty excited with it. That's why I decided to give the movie a try with my wife, especially after finding out it has Dolby Atmos sound effect, which usually translate to something cool with lots of scenes that required such system. Anyway we saw this movie yesterday at the theater near our home which sadly did not have the sound system as most of them were already replaced with different films. OK let's get down to it now.

Brief Story Line

Otis Junior/OJ (Daniel Kaluuya - Get Out, Judas and the Black Messiah etc) and his younger sister Emerald (Keke Palmer - Lightyear, Scream Queens TV series etc) inherited a big ranch owned by their father Otis Senior (Keith David - Pitch Black, The Thing etc). However, it required a lot of money to manage the ranch. Hence OJ started to sell the horses to owner of a theme park and former child actor Ricky "Jupe" Park (Steven Yeun - The Walking Dead TV series, Minari etc).

(2022) Prey - The Prequel to Predator Movies with a Simpler Story but Enough Excitement

I was aware of this movie when I saw it in the Coming Soon section of Disney+ and found out later that it was a prequel to Predator franchise. Since I like this sort of movies, I was definitely interested and gave it a try on Monday (not sure though when it was actually released on Disney+). Anyway, we'll get right to the movie then.

Brief Story Line

Set in the year 1719, a young Comanche woman named Naru (Amber Midthunder - The Ice Road, Roswell, New Mexico TV series etc) wanted to become a warrior even though she was actually trained to be a healer by her mother Aruka (Michelle Thrush - Blackstone TV series etc). When a lion attacked her village, Naru joined her brother Taabe (Dakota Beavers) and other hunters to hunt despite their objection.

A Quiet Place Part II - Still Highly Entertaining but not as Emotional as the Original

This was one of my most anticipated movies to see last year before the pandemic started. It was scheduled to be released on theaters in March 2020, but it was postponed till May 2021 where it played in Indonesian cinemas for a while before they were abruptly closed due to high increase of new cases. Anyway last month there was already a promotion that this movie would be available on Catchplay+ on 28 July. So yesterday it was ready for streaming with extra fee. OK, why don't I just go straight to the movie.

Brief Story Line

Film started with the scene of Day 1 of the aliens attack in the small town where Lee (John Krasinski - Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan TV series, 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi etc), his wife Evelyn (Emily Blunt - Mary Poppins Returns, Sherlock Gnomes etc) and their children were watching children's baseball game. Flash forward to the Day 474, after the events of the first movie, Evelyn, Regan (Millicent Simmonds) and Marcus (Noah Jupe - No Sudden Move, Ford v Ferrari etc) were trying to move to another location from their previous place.

The Tomorrow War - An Entertaining Movie of War Against Aliens with Awesome Action and Visual Effects

Another movie that was released during last weekend was this one that definitely has the attribute of blockbuster film which I always loved. Add that with a bit of time travel, made this one a must watch for me. OK let's get on with it then.

Brief Story Line

Dan Forester (Chris Pratt - Onward, Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2, etc) was a biology teacher and living at a nice home together with his wife Emmy (Betty Gilpin - Stuber, Coffee & Karim etc) and their young daughter Muri (Ryan Kiera Armstrong). He was having a strained relationship with his father James (J. K. Simmons - 21 Bridges, Patriots Day etc). Their normal lives changed when suddenly some soldiers from the future appeared in the present and requested the help to fight aliens that were destroying the earth in 2051.

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.

(TV SERIES) Lost in Space Season 1 - An Amazing Sci-fi Adventure Series from Netflix

I remember reading somewhere about this series with a familiar title. It was actually a remake of the then quite famous series back in the 60s and was made into a movie in 1998 starring Matt LeBlanc. As I am a fan of science fiction series, I was not going to miss out on this, especially since it was a Netflix original series which usually translated to good show. OK, well let us get on with more details now.

Brief Story Line

The Robinson family that consisted of a former US Navy Seal John (Toby Stephens - Hunter Killer, Die Another Day etc), his wife the aerospace engineer Maureen (Molly Parker - Deadwood TV series, House of Card TV series etc) and their 3 children: Judy the prodigal 18 years old doctor (Taylor Russel - Escape Room etc), the teenager Penny (Mina Sundwal) and the youngest & intelligent Will (Maxwell Jenkins) were part of a large team on a mission for outer space colonization, due to earth's condition which would make it uninhabitable in the near future.

Men In Black: International - A Very Light but Still Pretty Entertaining Reboot of the Popular Franchise

Due to our long holiday in Indonesia 2 weeks ago, this movie was a bit late released here. It was already shown in various countries since last week and we had seen the trailers many many times before and finally got to see it yesterday when it premiered. As usual we chose to see it in Dolby Atmos theater for the pleasure of enjoying great sound effects. Well let us get on to the movie now.

Brief Story Line

Molly Wright (Tessa Thompson - Creed 2, Westworld TV series etc) was a bright & intelligent woman who was "recruited" as an agent of Men In Black in New York, led by Agent O (Emma Thompson - Howards End, Johnny English Strikes Again etc). As part of her probation period, Molly who was now called Agent M was assigned to London office under the leadership of High T (Liam Neeson - Cold Pursuit, A Monster Calls etc). When she finally arrived there, Agent M was somehow partnered with a highly regarded and experienced Agent H (Chris Hemsworth - 12 Strong, Bad Times at El Royale etc), despite the disapproval from a senior officer Agent C (Rafe Spall - Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Hot Fuzz etc). 

(Press Screening) Captive State - An Unusual Alien Invasion Thriller Movie

2 days ago, my wife got the invitation to the press screening of this movie. As usual, we were always excited to go for a special screening (or press screening) of a new movie released in Indonesia since we would get the opportunity to see them earlier. However, this time it was a bit strange as the screening was held on the same day of its premiere date on 10 April 2019. But anyway, we were still enthusiastic to see this one at CGV FX Sudirman. And after a seemingly long time of preparation and tons of advertisements and few trailers, finally the movie started at 7.30 pm (quite far behind schedule of 7 PM according to the invitation). OK, let us go on with the movie now.

Brief Story Line

9 years after alien invasion in 2019, the world had been in the control of Legislators (aliens representative on earth). Some people who were part of a resistance group called Phoenix tried to fight against the aliens in their "lair" underground called Closed Zone, though they mostly were unsuccessful. A young man named Gabriel (Ashton Sanders - The Equalizer 2 etc) who lived in the city of Pilsen had been wanting to get away from being harassed by Chicago police chief Mulligan (John Goodman - Kong: Skull Island, Atomic Blonde etc) who suspected Gabriel to be involved with Phoenix where his deceased older brother Rafe (Jonathan Majors - White Boy Rick) was a part of. 

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.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi - The Eighth Episode That Really Lived Up to the Hype

I was very fortunate that I could see this movie on its premiere date in Indonesia. I have already purchased the ticket since last Saturday and aimed for the 5.45 PM show at Epicentrum XXI which had a Dolby Atmos sound system and a very large screen. This time my wife did not accompany me as she had other events that she had to attend to (plus she was not a major fan of Star Wars anyway as she had not seen the complete movies). Well, let us get on to the movie.

Brief Story Line

The story started not too distant from the ending of Star Wars episode VII. The main plot of the movie would revolve around the Resistance led by General Leia (Carrie Fisher) who had to carry on with the war against the First Order led by Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis - Gollum in The Lord of the Rings trilogy and Caesar in new Planet of the Apes trilogy etc) with his right hand man general Hux (Domhnall Gleeson - American Made, The Revenant etc) and trusted "student" Kylo Ren (Adam Driver - Girls TV series, Lincoln etc). 

Beyond Skyline - Just Another Alien Invasion Movie

It had been exactly one week since my wife and I had fun watching Thor: Ragnarok. As there was no major movie playing in Indonesia theaters in the past few days, I was looking forward to another one of those Wednesday movie premiere day. Today this movie was the one I chose to see (the other one was an anime movie which I may or may not see later, depending on my mood). I was intrigued in seeing this movie since it had 2 Indonesian stars in it and some of the scenes were shot in Indonesia as well.  Anyway, let us get on with the movie.

Brief Story Line

In the city of Los Angeles, a detective named Mark (Frank Grillo - The Purge: Anarchy, Wolf Warriors 2 etc) was heading home in a subway with his son Trent (Jonny Weston - David in Project Almanac, Chasing Mavericks etc) when suddenly their train seemed to be having power failure. The train machinist Audrey (Bojana Novakovic - Edge of Darkness, Generation Um... etc) was trying to restart the train but to no success. With the sounds of explosion outside, Mark decided to lead the passengers out to the surface, only to find out that the city had been attacked by aliens and people were taken into their space ship.

(TV SERIES) Colony Season 1 - A Unique Smart Alien-ish Series

After I finished watching the series Grimm (marathon of the last 3.5 seasons) for the past few weeks, I was thinking of completing other series that have ended, but then I thought why not I see something else that was not too long before I do that. So this series fit into that category which only had 10 episodes in the first season. I was able to finish this in few days only and just completed it last night. Now I can share my views of this series.

Brief Story Line

Series started with the introduction of Will (Josh Holloway - Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol and Lost TV series) and his wife Katie (Sarah Wayne Callies - Prison Break and The Walking Dead TV series) with their children, a high school student named Bram (Alex Neustaedter) and his younger sister Gracie (Isabella Cramp). They were all living in Los Angeles at the time where earth had been invaded by some aliens (this event was referred to as "the arrival"). The city was now circled by a huge wall where nobody can go out of the city without proper identification from the authority which was called Colony Transitional Authority.

Alien: Covenant - Another Sci Fi Horror Thriller Movie in Alien Franchise

It was a rather odd week of movie premieres in Indonesia this time, when 2 major movies premiered back to back on Tuesday and Wednesday. I was not able to see the movie King Arthur on Tuesday due to some work matters and would only do it today on public holiday. So yesterday we watched this movie which would only play in US cinemas sometime next week. As usual, we saw it in Lotte Avenue at 7.15 PM which was quite near my office. Now how was this 6th movie in Alien franchise fare? Let us move on to the juicy stuff.

Brief Story Line

The story was set around 10 years after the events of Prometheus, with the focus of the colonization space ship named Covenant which was travelling to the new habitable planet called Origae 6. Inside the space ship, there were 15 crews and some 2000 colonists who were put on cryogenics to sleep, due to the many years of travel to the intended location. Including in the crew was the very humanlike android named Walter (Michael Fassbender - X-Men first class trilogy, Assassin's Creed etc) who was also looking after the overall condition of the ship.

Attraction - A Cool Russian Alien Movie

I saw the poster of this movie in the "coming soon" section of Indonesian cinema chains websites around 2 weeks ago. I was intrigued to see this one during the weekend as its premise seemed to be interesting, regarding Alien space ship that crashed on earth. So on Saturday, since my wife unfortunately could not accompany me to see the movie as she already had other engagement with her sister, I went to see it by myself at the 11.30 AM show. I was lucky enough I could still manage to get a nice seat despite being fashionably late reaching the theater (I arrived exactly at 11.30 AM). Well let us get on to the movie itself now, shall we?

Brief Story Line

During a rare meteor shower on the skies of Russia, an alien space ship somehow reached the atmosphere of earth very closely. The Russian air force was worried about the danger it might pose and tried to shoot it down. However, the shooting did not blow the space ship but only made it losing its balance and control and fell on the city of Russia, damaging buildings and killing hundreds of people in the process.

LIFE- A Good Old Fashion Alien Kind of Movie

The trailer to this movie had been shown in the cinemas for a couple of weeks now. When the movie finally premiered on Wednesday, it coincided with another movie that we had been wanting to see for quite sometime, i.e Power Rangers and we decided to see that one first. As we would be busy with our staycation this weekend, we only have the time to see this yesterday and my wife bought the ticket for 7.15 PM show at Setiabudi. After finishing my work which took longer time than I anticipated, I was able to reach the location 20 minutes from time. So let us start with the movie now.

Brief Story Line

In the most expensive international space station in history which was orbiting outside the earth, its six crew members were given the task of handling and analyzing the life form found in planet Mars. This life form was the first proof of an extraterrestrial life and therefore it garnered the attention from the whole world. 

Arrival - An Unusual Story of the Arrival of Aliens On Earth

It was a bit late for Indonesians to see this movie as it had already played in the US for quite some time. I was not sure for such delay as normally movies would start to premier in Indonesia same day or sometimes even earlier than in US. But anyway, it was a good thing that it still premiered in January 2017 (rather than say mid of the year), since we had the chance to see it before the Golden Globe award was announced. Yes, this movie was nominated in Golden Globe. So should be good, right? Anyway, let's get on with the movie.

Brief Story Line

Louise Banks (Amy Adams - Enchanted, Man of Steel etc) was a very good linguist who taught at a university. One day while she was giving a lecture to her class, news were spreading around about some Unidentified Flying Object (UFO) which landed in the Montana, US. Apparently there were altogether 12 similar UFO in other countries like China, Russia, Pakistan, Sudan and so on. Class was then dismissed for security reasons.

Passengers - Lovely Adventure of The Only Passengers on A Space Ship

This movie was already playing in Indonesian theaters since last Friday, but again due to various movies that premiered last week and were prioritized by my wife and I, and also due to other activities which we did during the weekend, we only managed to see this one on Monday noon. I took a 1 day leave from work as part of the Christmas holiday, so we could see this movie at the 2.50 PM show and we saw it at our nearest location in Setiabudi. 

Brief Story Line

The movie was set in a very distant future, where space travels had become a normal thing to do. A transportation space ship named Avalon, was on its way to a new planet called Homestead II with 5000 people/colonists on board the ship and they were supposed to build the planet and make it a good place to live. The distance of the planet was very far and it would take 120 years to reach the location. To enable the colonist survive the long journey, all of them were put to sleep in a sleeping pod and were supposed to be awake 4 months prior to reaching Homestead II. This also included the > 200 ship crews so the space ship was put on autopilot to reach the location.