(2026) The Odyssey - Another Brilliant Work from Christopher Nolan

I have read so many news headlines, social media posts and a lot of things about this movie which made me intrigued to give it a try. Last week the tickets were already sold online but they were not available in my favorite cinema with large screen and great sound system. Since my wife and I will be going for two weeks holiday trip starting tomorrow and I did not want to miss out while waiting for it to be available in that cinema, I decided to just buy tickets for today's show in the studio nearest from my home. Without further ado, here's more on the movie.

Brief Story Line

After their vitory in the Trojan War that took many years, brilliant Greek strategist Odysseus (Matt Damon - The Last Duel, Jason Bourne etc) was trying to return to his home in Itacha. However the journey was far from easy as Odysseus and his crew had to go through various ordeals and faced a lot of dangerous mythical creatures and other enemies.

(2026) Masters of the Universe - Fun Fantasy Adventure Movie Adapted from Popular Media Franchise, Though Might not be to Everyone's Taste

This week there were several new releases in the Indonesian cinemas which should have easily given me a movie marathon day. But as my wife and I were away for short holiday during the weekend, we only got the chance to see one on Wednesday and this film yesterday. Without further ado, here's more on the movie.

Brief Story Line

Adam (Nicholas Galitzine - The Craft: Legacy, Purple Hearts etc) was the Prince of Eternia who was separated from his family since childhood and stranded on earth for years after their planet was attacked by the army of evil warlock Skeletor (Jared Leto - Tron: Ares, Suicide Squad etc) along with his sorceress Evil-Lyn (Alison Brie - Freelance, Community TV series etc). When Adam was finally able to go back to Eternia with the help from his childhood friend Teela (Camila Mendes - Do Revenge, Upgraded etc), he found that the planet was no longer like what he remembered.

(TV SERIES) Agent From Above Season 1 - An Interesting Blend of Supernatural Fantasy in the Modern World

I was away on some urgent trip for the past few days and during the nights, I decided to watch this series that was released on 2 April. But since I did not really focus, I could only finished it last night after I returned back home. Without further ado, here's more on the series.

Brief Story Line

Han-Chieh (Kai Ko - Till We Meet Again, Let's Talk About Chu TV series etc) had been working to kill demons and supernatural beings for many years after becoming vessel for the Third Crown Prince God aka Nezha (Wang Po-chieh - 96 Minutes, Us Without Sex TV series etc) in the human world. When a young woman named Yeh Tzu (Buffy Chen - Million-Follower Detective TV series, Little Big Women etc) requested Han's help to investigate haunting in her home, he agreed to help her. She would later be helping Han in dealing with other issues as well. 

(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) Twelve - A Rather Disappointing Developed Series for Such an Interesting Premise

When I heard about this series from my wife who saw it mentioned in various social media, I was quite interested to give it a try due to its interesting premise, plus the lead cast of Don Lee aka Ma Dong-seok. However, as usual I wanted to wait till the whole season/series is completed before I started to watch. It just so happen that the final episode was released while both of us were on long holiday. So after watching other series and films, I finally decided to watch three nights ago and finished it last night. All right then, I'll get right with it.

Brief Story Line (warning possible spoiler)

Story was set in the world where twelve Angels were created by God to protect humans. They were given exceptional powers as they had to fight against evil. After the last war centuries ago, the evil was defeated and were sealed in the hellmouth along with the Angels' power making them just like ordinary people. The angels led by their Chief Taesan (Ma Dong-seok - Holy Night: Demon Hunters, Ashfall etc) now worked as money lenders to criminals, along with his siblings that consisted of the rather hot-headed Won-seung (Seo In-guk - Death's Game TV series, Pipeline etc), the one who loved to eat Doni (Ko Kyu-pil - Tarot, The Fiery Priest 2 TV series etc) who worked together with Bangwool (Regina Lei - The Sadness, Port of Lies TV series etc) in oriental medicine shop, tech expert Jwidol (Sung Yoo-bin - Count, No Way Out: The Roulette TV series etc), the athletic Malsook (Ahn Ji-hye - Badland Hunters, Mine TV series etc) and the one who symphatize human Kangji (Kang Mi-na - Love Untangled, Welcome to Samdal-ri TV series etc).

Omniscient Reader: The Prophecy - Not the Kind of Adaptation that Fans of the Web Novel Expected but Still Entertaining Enough for Casual Audience

This movie had been promoted in various Indonesian cinema social media for the past few weeks. While I was intrigued with the premise, my wife was more interested with the famous cast in the film. Although it was released since mid of the week, we only got the chance to see it yesterday. All right then, let's get on with the film.

Brief Story Line

Kim Dok-ja (Ahn Hyo-seop - Business Proposal, Dr. Romantic 2 TV series etc) was a normal working man and major fan of apocalyptic fantasy novel titled "Three Ways to Survive in a Ruined World". While going home with his co-worker Sang-ah (Chae Soo-bin - Hijack 1971, When the Phone Rings etc), somehow they were transported to the world just like in the novel. Using his complete knowledge of the story, Dok-ja was able to survive the imminent danger by fighting against the monsters and coordinate with other people like the soldier Hyun-sung (Shin Seung-ho - Pilot, Weak Hero Class 1 TV series etc) & the young boy named Eun-son (Lee Gil-young - Citizen of a Kind etc). However his effort to convince the original hero of the novel Joong-hyuk (Lee Min-ho - The Bounty Hunter, Pachinko TV series etc) to cooperate was not that easy.

(TV SERIES) The Bondsman Season 1 - Interesting Horror Action Series About Undead Bounty Hunter

When I watched another movie on Prime Video the other day, I also noticed a new series with very interesting premise. Originally I thought it would be similar to their other original series and released one or two episodes per week, but apparently all were made available on the same day. So obviously I decided to watch immediately. OK, I'll just get started then.

Brief Story LIne

Hub Halloran (Kevin Bacon - Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special etc) was a bounty hunter who got into an altercation with one of his targets and got killed. However, he was later resurrected by the devil and "recruited" to work for him to catch demons that escaped from hell. Hub's mother Kitty (Beth Grant - The Mindy Project TV series, Speed etc) was shocked when she found out but decided to assist him in his missions. 

Ne Zha 2 - An Absolutely Entertaining, Action-packed Chinese Animated Movie that Broke Various Box Office Records

After reading the news about this movie for a couple of months, I was excited to hear that it would be released in Indonesia. However it was done while I was on vacation with my wife and hence we had to wait till we return to Jakarta. Yesterday we finally got the chance to see it in one of the cinemas not far from our home. Without further ado, here's more on the film.

Brief Story Line

Story was set immediately after the events in the first movie where the bodies of Ne Zha (Lu Yanting) and his best friend Ao Bing (Han Mo) were destroyed. Ne Zha's teacher Master Taiyi (Zhang Jiaming) tried his best to recreate their bodies but due to some complications, they had to find other ways to complete the work. To do so, Ne Zha had to leave his parents General Li Jing (Chen Hao) and Lady Yin (Lu Qi) to go to Yu Xu castle managed by Master Wuliang (Wang Deshun - Wu Kong, Heavenly Sword and Dragon Slaying Sabre 2019 series etc) to complete three trials and collect a special treasure.

(TV SERIES) AARO - All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office Season 1 - Interesting Series Focusing on Investigation of Mysterious and Supernatural Cases

I noticed in the past few months there were several new interesting Japanese shows released on Netflix. This was one of them that I was eagerly anticipating till the finale. Finally after waiting for a while, the last episode was made available last week. So I started watching on Friday and finished it on Sunday night. OK, why don't I just get to it then?

Brief Story Line

In Japan, there was an old secret organization called Zenketsu (translated to English as All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office/AARO) where it focused on investigating mysterious cases. Its Deputy Chief Miyabi Okitama (Tatsuya Fujiwara - School Police TV series, Memoirs of a Murderer etc) was their lead investigator with amazing deduction ability and vast knowledge on historic supernatural stuff. To assist them, Koyume Ameno (Alice Hirose - Bubble, 366 Days TV series etc) from PR Dept of Metropolitan PD was assigned to AARO even though she had no prior experience in investigations.

(TV SERIES) Land of Tanabata - A Live Version Adaptation of Popular Manga Which Unfortunately Lacking the Excitement and Suspense

I read the brief synopsis on Disney+ about this Japanese series which sounded interesting. So naturally I was intrigued to give it a try. When I saw that the finale was about to be released two days ago, I started watching it a day before and finished it last night. All right, I will get started now.

Brief Story Line

Yoji Minamimaru (Kanata Hosoda - One Summer Story etc) also known as Nanmaru was a college student who had unique ability to create small hole in anything. He was also the president of a small club with several members including Aki (Yui Narumi - Unfeigned Happy Ending etc). Yoji was approached by Assistant Professor Sayuri Emi (Mai Kiryuu -  Grown Ups etc) due to his possible same lineage with Professor Marukami (Hiroshi Mikami - Premonition etc) who was studying Japanese foklore and focusing on the village of Marukawa.

IF - A bit Heavier than Expected Fantasy Family Movie with Some Lovely Heart Warming and Emotional Moments

After seeing its trailer few weeks ago, I was interested in seeing this movie as it looked really fun. So when it was available, my wife and I went to see it during the weekend in the theater not far from our home. It was not that easy as surprisingly not that many cinemas showing the movie in Indonesia. OK, why don't I just get to it then.

Brief Story Line

Bea (Cailey Fleming - The Walking Dead TV series etc) was a young girl whose father (John Krasinski - Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan TV series, 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi etc) was hospitalized and preparing for surgery. While waiting for the operation, Bea was staying in the house of her grandmother (Fiona Shaw -  Enola Holmes etc). During her stay there, Bea met with a neighbor named Cal (Ryan Reynolds - Free Guy, LIFE etc). It should be a normal encounter except that Cal apparently was friends with Imaginary Friend (shortened IF) and Bea could somehow see these IFs.

(TV SERIES) My Undead Yokai Girlfriend Season 1 - A Fun & Interesting Fantasy Action Comedy Series

I have actually watched this series on Prime Video more than a week ago but just did not have the chance to write about it. Since yesterday I have not completed a new series that was just released, I decided to write my views about this one instead. And what was the series about? Let us find out more, shall we?

Brief Story Line

Tadashi (Hayato Sano - Usogui, Trillion Game TV series etc) was an unpopular college student who loved to play online game with a group of friends including his best friend Tanuki (Comedian Anthony). While other people his age were already having relationships, Tadashi who was nicknamed Hachi never had any. Through some sort of magical spell, somehow Hachi got his wish of a girlfriend, except she was in the form of a 500 year old Yokai (Japanese spirit) nicknamed Izzy (Ai Yoshikawa - Honey Lemon Soda, Influence TV series etc).

(TV SERIES) Death's Game - An Entertaining Fantasy Series with Interesting Premise

Although this series had been available on Prime Video for few months, I only started watching it three weeks ago after my wife heavily recommended it as she believed I would have liked it. Since I was concentrating on writing my views of newer movies and series earlier, I just got the chance on doing a post on this now. Without further ado, here's more on the series.

Brief Story Line

Choi Yi-jae (Seo In-guk - Project Wolf Hunting, Doom at Your Service TV series etc) was a young man who had been really frustrated after failing to get proper jobs for the past 7 years. The situation was worsened as his girlfriend Lee Ji-su (Go Youn-jung - Moving  TV series, Law School TV series etc) was more successful. Although Yi-jae's mother (Kim Mi-kyung - Switch, Welcome to Samdal-ri TV series etc) was always supportive, he still felt depressed and decided to end his life.

(TV SERIES) Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 1 - A Nice Adaptation of the Percy Jackson Book Series

As a fan of fantasy & adventure stories, I was quite interested in finding out this series that was released on Disney+ since few weeks ago. I started watching it on Monday as I knew the finale would be available on Wednesday. So I managed to finish the first season two nights ago. OK, I'll get right to it now.

Brief Story Line

Percy Jackson (Walker Scobell - The Adam Project etc) was a twelve year old boy who was suffering from dyslexia and seemed to have vivid imagination. As such he had difficulties in fitting in school and only had one best friend Grover (Aryan Simhadri - Cheaper by the Dozen 2022 version etc). It was found out later that he was actually a half blood, the child of a Greek God and a human. When he was being chased by some monsters, Percy's mother Sally (Virginia Kull - NOS4A2 TV series etc) decided to bring him to the Camp so he would be safe and could train together with other Half-bloods including Annabeth Chase (Leah Sava Jeffries - Beast etc).

Alienoid: Return to the Future - Second Part of the Hit 2022 Fantasy Sci-fi Action Movie that Provided Satisfying Conclusion

When I found out about this latest South Korean movie to hit the Indonesian theater, I was quite surprised as I did not know there would be a sequel to the 2022 film. This made me quite intrigued, but since I never saw the first movie before, I had to search for it via online streaming. Luckily it was available and I watched it on Saturday with my wife, before we went to see the new one in theater yesterday. OK, why don't I just get to it.

Brief Story Line (1st and 2nd paragraph were from the first movie)

Guard (Kim Woo-bin - Our Blues TV series, The Con Artists etc) and Thunder (voiced by Kim Dae-myung (The Drug King, Hospital Playlist TV series etc) were aliens who have been using people on earth as prison for their criminals for many years. They could come back and forth in time to catch those who somehow managed to escape. During one of their mission in 1380, they found a baby and brought her to the year 2012, named her Yi-an (Choi Yu-ri) & raised her for 10 years. But Guard's behavior was very weird and attracted the attention of Min Gae-in (Lee Hanee - Phantom, The Fiery Priest TV series etc), the aunt of a student who was best friend with Yi-an. When the latest batch of criminals were sent to earth, it created complication as they included the rebel Controller who was put inside Detective Do-seok (So Ji-sub - Confession, My Secret Terrius TV series etc) and wanted to turn earth into a place they could live freely but uninhabitable for humans. This could only be stopped by the Divine Blade hold by Guard.

The Boy and the Heron - The Latest Studio Ghibli's Production and Highly Praised Work by Hayao Miyazaki

When my wife and I found out there was going to be a new movie from Studio Ghibli, we were eager to see it. But we only got the chance to do so yesterday after it was released few days ago. We decided to see the film in the cinema where the picture and sound quality was better than others. OK, I'll get right at it then.

Brief Story Line

Set in the year 1943, the 12 year old Mahito (Soma Santoki) had moved with his father Soichi (Takuya Kimura - Long Vacation TV series, Hero etc) to a big house in the country side belonged to his wife's younger sister Natsuko (Yoshino Kimura - Masquarade Night etc). 

Once Upon a Crime - Definitely not Your Typical Fairy Tale Movie and with Proper Execution, Might Even be More Entertaining

As mentioned in my earlier post, I felt fortunate that Netflix can still be accessed in other countries which made it possible for me to watch movies and series while I am on holiday abroad. I already had my eyes on this movie due to its interesting premise since I was in Jakarta few weeks ago. So I was pleased to have the chance to see it yesterday, albeit few days late. All right then, let's get on with it.

Brief Story Line

When Little Red Riding Hood (Kanna Hashimoto - Gintama, One Page Love TV series etc) grew up, she decided to go on an adventure to have experience in life. One day she met with the poor Cinderella (Yuko Araki - Million Yen Women TV series, See Hear Love etc) who had been abused by her step sisters and their mother. Red Riding Hood decided to accompany Cinderella to the ball that was held by the King (Jiro Sato - The Fable: The Killer Who doesn't Kill etc) to find a wife for Prince Gilbert (Takanori Iwata - High & Low movies, Sherlock: Untold Stories TV serie etc).

Knights of the Zodiac - Disappointing for Hard Core Fans but Personally not as Bad as I Thought would be

While I was on the flight for my holiday trip with my wife few days ago, there were so many options of the inflight entertainment on Emirates Airline. And since both connecting flights took several hours, I managed to watch few movies that never got the chance to be shown in Indonesia till now. This was one of those. All right, let's get to the movie then.

Brief Story Line

Seiya (Mackenyu - Rurouni Kenshin: The Final Chapter, Pacific Rim Uprising etc) had been trying to make ends meet by becoming a street fighter while trying to search for his older sister Patricia. After showing some sort of energy burst (cosmo) when he fought with Cassios (Nick Stahl - Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Carnivale TV series etc), Seiya was approached by a mysterious wealthy man named Alman Kido (Sean Bean - Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV, Golden Eye etc) who was locating people with such cosmo. Despite his reluctance, Seiya had no choice but to cooperate with Alman and his trusted assistant Mylock (Mark Dacascos - John Wick Chapter 3: Parabellum, Double Dragon etc) as a group of cyborg soldiers tried to capture him.

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).