The Devil Wears Prada 2 - Still Enjoyable Sequel but the Original Left Better Impression

I found out about this movie few weeks ago which surprised me as it was a sequel to the film released many years ago (twenty to be exact). Anyway it was something that I was interested and after two days playing in Indonesian cinemas, my wife and I decided to see it noon today. OK then, here's more on the film.

Brief Story Line

Twenty years after the events of the first movie, Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway - The Witches 2020 version, The Hustle etc) was already a successful journalist while the now online Runway magazine was still managed by Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep - Hoppers, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again etc) with her right hand man Nigel Kipling (Stanley Tucci - Beauty & The Beast live action movie, Citadel TV series etc). 

After an unexpected turn of events, Andy was hired to work as editor of Runway and reunited with Miranda while having to deal with her demands. She later met with Emily (Emily Blunt - The Fall Guy, The Girl on the Train etc) who no longer work for Miranda. Things were very challenging for Andy as she found that handling online fashion magazine was different from conventional news media. Things became more complicated with the sudden change in leadership that would jeopardize Runway's livelihood.

The First Ride - Adventure Comedy Film with Plenty of Comedic Moments and Lots of Heart

When this movie was released last week, my wife and I were still on vacation. Luckily for us, it was still available this week as my wife would really love to see it due to its cast. As there were still other films that we were playing catch up, we had to have another movie marathon and this was the first one. OK let's get on it then.

Brief Story Line

Four young men that consisted of the intelligent Tae-yung (Kang Ha-neul - Wall to Wall, Love Reset etc), the one supposed to be a monk Geum-bok (Kang Young-seok - Waiting for the Rain, Newtopia TV series etc), Do-jin (Kim Young-kwang -  Mini series Trigger, Mission: Possible etc) who wanted to be a basketball player and Yeon-min (Cha Eun-woo - Decibel, Wonderful World TV series etc) who aspire to be a DJ, had been wanting to go for a trip together to Thailand.

Family Switch - An Enjoyable Christmas Comedy Movie Based on Children's Book by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

I was aware about this movie when I saw its brief trailer in the Coming This Week section in Netflix. So I have set my time aside to watch it when it was released yesterday, as I thought the premise looked fun. OK, why don't I just get to it?

Brief Story Line

Bill Walker (Ed Helms - Ron's Gone Wrong, Tag etc) and his wife Jess (Jennifer Garner - The Adam Project, Peppermint etc) used to be very close with their children CC (Emma Myers - Wednesday TV series etc) & Wyatt (Brady Noon - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem etc). But they seemed to grew apart as the children reached their teenage years. Three days before Christmas, Jess decided to go to the Planetarium for once in a lifetime occurrence with the whole family, including baby Miles and the dog Pickles. 

Barbie - An Understandably Highly Praised Movie but Definitely not for Everybody

When this movie was released few days ago, my wife and I were on holiday where the country banned it from playing there. So we only got the chance to see it after we return from our trip. All right then, let's get right to it.

Brief Story Line

Stereotypical Barbie (Margot Robbie - Babylon, Birds of Prey etc) and all the other version of Barbies were living in the Barbieland where they hold the important jobs like president, lawyer, doctor and other professions. They always thought they were the ones who inspired girls in the Real World to be successful. Meanwhile the males represented by Kens seemed to only have fun, such as Beach Ken (Ryan Gosling - The Gray Man, La La Land etc) who was always competitive with another version of Ken (Simu Liu - Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Simulant etc).

Elemental - A Lovely and Pretty Engaging Romantic Love Story from Disney & Pixar Studio

The trailer to this movie had been shown so many times in the cinemas that I practically already have a picture on my mind of what the story would be. Nevertheless, I am still interested in watching as it is from Disney Pixar studio. Yesterday there was a special early screening of the movie in certain studios but only for 1 show. Luckily my wife and I still got our favorite seats in the theater not far from our home. OK let's get right to it now.

Brief Story Line

Ember Lumen (Leah Lewis - Nancy Drew TV series etc) was the daughter of Bernie (Ronnie del Carmen) and Cinder (Shila Ommi) of fire element who had been living in Elemental city where there were other elements of water, wind and earth. Bernie opened up a convenience store and wanted to pass the store to Ember once she was ready. As time passed, Ember was looking forward to take over but there was always something that made Bernie decided not to.

My Puppy - The Interesting Journey to Find the Perfect Home for a Pet Dog

My wife and I were in the mood for something light during the weekend and it looked like this movie fit just nicely, especially since one of the stars was known for his comedic roles in the past. So yesterday noon, we went to the cinema that we had not been to for some time and decided to see the movie. All right, will get on with it now.

Brief Story Line

Min-su (Yoo Yeon-seok - Hospital Playlist TV series, The Interest of Love TV series etc) had been in a relationship with his girlfriend Seong Gyeong (Jung In-sun - My Secret Terrius TV series, Psychopath Diary TV series etc) for few years and wanted to get married with her. Unfortunately though, Min-su just found out that her fiancee was allergic to dogs, while he had a dog named Runni who had accompanied him through the years even during his most difficult times.

Babylon - A Quite Interesting but Slightly Dark Take on the Transition of Silent to Sound Films in Hollywood

I said in my previous post that a new movie was released on last Friday but I decided to postpone seeing till weekend since it was > 3 hours long. And after finishing plenty of activities in the whole morning to afternoon, I finally saw this in the evening by myself. I did not encourage my wife to see it with me as I was not sure she would have liked it. So let's get to the movie now.

Brief Story Line

Set in the mid 1920s when silent movies were in their prime in the film industry, Manny (Diego Calva - I Promised You Anarchy, Narcos: Mexico TV series etc) was working as the runaround man for Kinescope studio, Hollywood. During one of the party in the executive's house, Manny met for the first time and was attracted to a woman named Nellie LaRoy (Margot Robbie - Amsterdam, Focus etc) who was thriving to become a major star. After this party, Manny drove home the famous actor Jack Conrad (Brad Pitt - Bullet Train, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood etc) who was drunk and became his trusted aid ever since.

(2023) Switch - A Pretty Heartwarming Drama Comedy for the Holiday Season

My wife and I were interested with this new South Korean movie released in certain Indonesian cinemas mid of last week because of its premise. Plus my wife is also a fan of the main cast. So after finishing our activities since morning till noon, we finally saw this film yesterday evening. All right then, lets get into it.

Brief Story Line

Park Kang (Kwon Sang-woo - The Pirates: The Last Royal Treasure, Curtain Call TV series etc) was a famous movie star who seemed to be having it all, from successful career to vast wealth. He had a manager Jo Yeon (Oh Jung-se - Fabricated City, It's Okay to not be Okay TV series etc) who was also his best friend and always supportive of Park despite being treated poorly. However Park was not really that happy and always longing for his simpler life in the past as theater player and having relationship with Soo-hyun (Lee Min-jung - Come Back Mister TV series, Love On-Air etc).

Cek Toko Sebelah 2 - A Drama Heavy Sequel on One of the Most Entertaining Drama Comedy Movie from Ernest Prakasa

When my wife and I were aware there would be a sequel to one of our favorite drama comedy movie Cek Toko Sebelah, we decided that we would see this movie in the cinemas. As we were busy on its release day and the following day, we only got the chance to see it yesterday afternoon. OK, here's more on the movie.

Brief Story Line

Erwin (Ernest Prakasa - Susah Sinyal, Teka Teki Tika etc) and Natalie (Laura Basuki - The Returning, Susi Susanti: Love All etc) who had been in relationship for 2 years, decided to bring it to the next level. Unfortunately, Natalie's mom Agnes (Maya Hasan - Dear Nathan: Thank You Salma etc) who was very protective of her and very authoritative, was against Erwin's plan to work in Singapore. The vast wealth and social gap between Natalie and his own family certainly did not help Erwin with his confidence.

Gara-Gara Warisan - A Review by Yennymakanmulu

Last Saturday, my wife and I went to see this new Indonesian movie which was written and directed by one of her favorite comedian Muhadkly Acho. Despite not knowing anything about the premise, once we saw the name Ernest Prakasa as one of the producers (and also played a part in the movie), we were immediately intrigued to see it. As usual, my wife has written a wonderful post on the film. Below is a bit of her views in Bahasa Indonesia.

(MOVIE) GARA-GARA WARISAN

Minggu lalu deh gw ngeh kalo Gara-Gara Warisan tayang 30 April 2022 di bioskop. Seperti biasa gw langsung info hubby. "Beb, nonton GGW!! Harus Kudu Musti! Ini yg bikin si Yuyun!!" Hubby udah apal paporit gw hahaha. Tiap ada reels baru dari Acho pasti gw lgs pasang, dan kasi dia nonton sambil gw ngakak2. Nah, kali ini Acho jadi sutradara sekaligus writernya. Perdana nih dia. Tapi gw gak ragu sih. "Pasti bagus!" dengan pede gw komen ke hubby. Akhirnya setelah paginya ke Pamulang dan Bintaro, pulang dari sana dalam kondisi hujan lebat, mampirlah kami ke Kuningan City ambil jam tayang 16:15. Oiya, produsernya Ernest Prakasa dan Chand Parwez Servia.

(TV Series) Russian Doll Season 1 - An Intelligent Drama Comedy of Time Loop with Few Surprising Twists

It's funny how I never watched this critically acclaimed series in the past. Probably because I did not read the premise and ended up not realizing it was a topic that I really loved, i.e. time loop. Anyway since it was promoted that 2nd season was coming soon, I decided to give it a try more than a week ago. So here goes.

Brief Story Line

Nadia (Natasha Lyonne - Orange is the New Black TV series, Show Dogs etc) was celebrating her 36th birthday at the house of her best friend Maxine (Greta Lee - Gemini etc). In the party, there were a lot of Nadia and Maxine's friends, including Nadia's old boyfriend John Reyes (Yul Vasquez - Midnight, Texas TV series, Captain Phillips etc), her godmother Ruth (Elizabeth Ashely - Evening Shade TV series etc), and later on a young man named Alan Zaveri (Charlie Barnett - The Stand In, Chicago Fire TV series etc).

(2022) Dog - An Entertaining Enough Comedy Drama Movie about Road Trip of a Former Army and Military Dog

This movie was released in Indonesian cinemas yesterday, and my wife and I were fortunate enough that we could see it despite the heavy rain that poured Jakarta in the evening. It was something that made us interested as we caught a glimpse of the trailer which seemed like fun. OK, I'll dive right to it then.

Brief Story Line

Army ranger Jackson Briggs (Channing Tatum - The Lost City, Smallfoot etc) was trying to get another rotation but was deemed unfit. While asking for favors from his former superiors to give recommendation, he was informed of the death of his former army friend Riley. Briggs was asked to escort Riley's military dog named Lulu to attend to his funeral. 

(2022) Cheaper by the Dozen - Not a Greater Remake but Still Provided Some Fun Even if it's not Particularly Memorable

This movie was released on Disney+ on Friday, but I did not receive any notification till yesterday. As I was watching other movies in different platform and in the cinema, I only watched this last night with my wife. Well why don't I start then?

Brief Story Line

The Bakers were a large family that consisted of the father Paul (Zach Braff - Scrubs TV series, Garden State etc), his wife Zoey (Gabrielle Union - Sleepless, L.A's Finest TV series etc) and their children Deja (Journee Brown), DJ (Andre Robinson), Ella (Kylie Rogers - The Whispers TV series etc), Harley (Caylee Blosenski), Haresh (Aryan Simhadri) and the smaller children referred to as the littles. They were twins Luna (Mykal-Michelle Harris) & Luca (Leo A. Perry) and younger twins Bailey & Bronx (Christian Cote & Sebastian Cote). Paul and Zoey owned a restaurant called Baker's breakfast operated by their whole family. 

Teka Teki Tika - A Review by Yennymakanmulu

This movie had been in our radar since it was advertised some time ago. It was directed by one of the very few Indonesian directors who was the favorite of my wife and mine so we certainly wanted to give it a try. Alas as it did not play in the theater near our home on the day of its release, we had to wait till the weekend to see it in one of the limited cinemas showing the film. My wife had written another excellent post of her views of this movie which I am going to share below in Bahasa Indonesia.

[MOVIE] Teka Teki Tika - Film dengan genre baru dari Ernest Prakasa

Sejak denger mo tayang film baru Ernest Prakasa berjudul Teka-Teki Tika, gw langsung semangat. Pokoknya harus nonton tgl 23 Desember 2021 begitu dia turun di bioskop2 kesayangan. Gak sabar mo liat Ernest bikin genre baru. Jujur gw gak suka film Ernest yang pertama yang berjudul Ngenest. Menurut gw, gak lucu. Selera lah ya. Mungkin sebagian orang ngeliatnya lucu, tapi gw ngeliatnya lucunya maksa. Cumaaaaa, setelah film itu, semua film Ernest gak ada yg jelek, menurut gw ya. Nah gw jadi kepo kan apakah genre baru ini bakal sebagus film2 Ernest sebelumnya? Btw, berhubung filmnya gak nongol di bioskop yang paling deket sama gw, akhirnya gw baru nonton Sabtu 25 Desember 2021. Fyi, film ini disutradarai dan ditulis oleh Ernest Prakasa.

(2021) The Watcher - Sadly an Unsuccessful Attempt in Creating a Good Quality Comedy Thriller Movie

I saw this Indonesian movie's trailer on Disney+ the other day and felt it looked a bit like Hollywood movie that I quite enjoyed years ago. So I was quite intrigued and thought I should give it a try. OK let's get more to it.

Brief Story Line

Krishna (Angga Yunanda - Dua Garis Biru, Mariposa etc) was a regular high school student who was living with his mother (Izabel Jahya - Dignitate etc). He had a huge crush on the girl next door Tiara (Caitlin Halderman - Surat Cinta untuk Starla, Dreadout etc). Krishna's best friends Soni (Teuku Ryzki - Generasi Micin etc) and Tunggul (Yudha Keling - Bucin etc) were always supportive and encourage him to express his feeling towards Tiara.

Afterlife of the Party - A Nice Enough Movie with Familiar but Still Interesting Concept

Yesterday this new movie and several others were released on Netflix. I was intrigued to watch since it seemed to have interesting premise and looked comedic in nature from the trailer shown. OK let us dive into it now.

Brief Story Line

Cassie (Victoria Justice - Victorious TV series etc) was a very dynamic social personality who love to party with friends with similar interest. During her birthday week, Cassie asked her best friend and roommate Lisa (Midori Francis - Good Boys etc) to join in her party. Unexpectedly though, Cassie had a freak accident which resulted to her demise.   

Before she could pass on to the "Above", Cassie was given the chance to right her wrongs on earth which involved her father Howard (Adam Garcia - Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen etc), her estranged mother Sofia (Gloria Garcia) and Lisa. In doing so, she was aided by a guardian angel named Val (Robyn Scott).

(TV SERIES) The White Lotus Season 1 - An HBO Original Anthology Drama Comedy Series with Unconventional Humor and Satirical Approach

I was aware of this HBO original series few weeks ago where it was said to be praised by movie critics and was categorized as drama comedy. Since it was available on HBO Go, it was easily accessible for me and I managed to finish it very fast cause it only have 6 episodes overall. Now why don't I get to the series.

Brief Story Line

Set in Hawaii, a group of VIP travellers went for a vacation at the White Lotus resort for a week. The group included a newlywed couple on their honeymoon Shane (Jake Lacy - Johnny English Strikes Again, High Fidelity TV series etc) and Rachel (Alexandra Daddario - Baywatch movie, Why Women Kill TV series etc), a wealthy single woman named Tanya McQuoid (Jennifer Coolidge - The Emoji Movie, A Cinderella Story etc) and the Mossbacher family consisted of a successful career woman Nicole (Connie Britton - Friday Night Lights TV series etc) with her husband Mark (Steve Zahn - War for Planet of the Apes, Stuart Little films etc) and their children, college student Olivia (Sydney Sweeney - Euphoria TV series etc) & her younger brother Quinn (Fred Hechinger - The Woman in the Window, Fear Street trilogy etc) plus Olivia's best friend Paula (Brittany O'Grady - Black Christmas etc).

Wish Dragon - A Heart Warming Computer Animated Comedy inspired by Genie in the Bottle Story

Ever since I watched the trailer of this movie, I decided to watch it on its premier date since it looked really funny even if it has a familiar premise. Plus watching a new funny animated movie never hurt us, right? OK, let us start with the film now.

Brief Story Line

Din (Jimmy Wong - Mulan live version etc) was a college student living with his mother Mrs. Song (Constance Wu - Crazy Rich Asians, Hustlers etc) in a crowded but friendly neighborhood. His long time dream was to reconnect with his childhood best friend Li Na (Natasha Liu Bordizzo - Guns Akimbo, The Society TV series etc) who had move out from the neighborhood and became a wealthy & famous celebrity. 

Coming 2 America - An Inferior Sequel of the Fun and Hilarious 1988 Movie where Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall Excelled

Wanting to have some fun on my weekend, I moved my attention to this movie which I had read earlier and knew was the sequel of a 1988 funny film. I honestly could not remember whether I had seen that one before although I remember the premise. But just to make sure, I watched that one first which luckily was still available on another streaming platform. Anyway I'll just go ahead with this movie now.

Brief Story Line

Set around 30 years after the event of Coming to America, Prince Akeem (Eddie Murphy - Shrek movies, Beverly Hills Cop movies etc) celebrated his anniversary with Lisa (Shari Headley - The Preacher's Wife, Johnson Family Vacation etc) together with their 3 daughters Princess Meeka (Kiki Layne - The Old Guard etc), Omma (Bella Murphy) and Tinashey (Akiley Love). Akeem's aide Semmi (Arsenio Hall - Martial Law TV series etc) was still accompanying him.

Yes Day - Light Indeed but not Heartfelt Enough as Family Movie

After rather tiring day at work, I was looking for some light movies and there was this one which was just released yesterday on Netflix and fit perfectly into that category. So without further hesitation, I immediately watch this film.

Brief Story Line

Allison (Jennifer Garner - Peppermint, 13 Going on 30 etc) and her husband Carlos Torres (Édgar Ramírez - The Undoing mini series, Point Break 2015 version etc) were previously fun people who were adventurous. However, when they started to have kids, they always said No to protect their 3 children, the 14 yr old Katie (Jenny Ortega - The Babysitter: Killer Queen, You TV series season 2 etc), Nando (Julian Lenner) and the youngest Ellie (Everly Carganilla).