(2025) Snow White - Despite Its Surrounding Controversies, Still a Pretty Enjoyable Live Version Adaptation of Disney's Classic

After having vacation out of the country for 2 weeks with my wife, I was eager to play catch up with the movies released during those time. Yesterday evening, we opted to see this film in the cinema just walking distance from our home. All right, let's just get on with it.

Brief Story Line

Snow White (Rachel Zegler - Shazam! Fury of the Gods, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes etc) was a princess who lost her parents since she was young. Meanwhile her step mother, the Evil Queen (Gal Gadot - Heart of Stone, Wonder Woman etc) was obsessed of being the fairest of all by constantly checking on the Magic Mirror (voiced by Patrick Page - Spirited, The Gilded Age TV series etc). Fearing that Snow White would trouble her in the future, the Queen confined her in the palace and turned her into the maid. One day, Snow White met and sympathized with a thief/rebel named Jonathan (Andrew Burnap - The Front Room, Under the Banner of Heaven mini series etc) who was eager to defy the Queen. After the Evil Queen was told by the Mirror that she was no longer the fairest, she decided to kill Snow White and instructed the Huntsman (Ansu Kabia - Miss Scarlet and The Duke TV series etc) to do so. 

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. 

(2023) The Little Mermaid - Despite Surrounding Controversy, Still a Beautiful Enough Live Version Remake of Another Disney Classic

As I am not a major fan of musical films, I have my doubts on seeing this one. But I know my wife loved the animated version a lot and even though she was a bit skeptical, she still wanted to give this a try. Obviously I would accompany her doing so and we did it yesterday at the cinema nearest to our home. Well all right, I will dive into it now.

Brief Story Line

As the daughter of King Triton (Javier Bardem - Dune etc) who ruled the seas, the mermaid Ariel (Halle Bailey - Grown-ish TV series etc) had been really fascinated with the human's world. Her infatuation was enhanced after she saw prince Eric (Jonah Hauer-King - A Dog's Way Home etc). But the king was adamant that Ariel should avoid humans at all cost and he assigned his trusted advisor Sebastian the crab (Daveed Diggs - Snowpiercer TV series etc) to monitor her. However, Ariel disregarded her father's wish and still went on with her best friend Flounder the fish (Jacob Tremblay - Good Boys etc) and the seabird Scuttle (Awkwafina - Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings etc) to collect anything related to humans.

Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway - Funnier Sequel to the Adorable Mischievous Rabbits from the Popular Children's Books

After seeing the trailer to this movie, I was kind of looking forward to see it as it promised some good laughs and we did enjoy ourselves with the first movie. Yesterday it was released in limited theaters, so it was a bit of a challenge to see it. But we managed to finally do so. So here's more of the movie.

Brief Story Line

After the events of First movie, Bea (Rose Byrne - Instant Family, I Am Mother etc) and Thomas (Domhnall Gleeson - Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Anna Karenina etc) were getting married. Peter (James Corden - Smallfoot, Trolls World Tour etc) with his cousin Benjamin (Colin Moody) and his sisters Mopsy (Elizabeth Debicki - The Great Gatsby etc), Flopsy (Margot Robbie - The Suicide Squad, Focus etc) and Cotton Tail (Aimee Horne) were feeling happy for them.

Clifford the Big Red Dog - The First Live Action Adaptation of the Popular Children's Books Series

This movie's trailer was shown many times before the start of films that my wife and I saw in theaters. It actually looked funny which was why both of us were interested in seeing it. The movie itself was finally released on Christmas day but perhaps due to so many new movies playing in theaters, it was only shown in very limited theaters with few shows. Anyway my wife and I managed to see this one yesterday. So let's get going then.

Brief Story Line

A young girl named Emily Elizabeth (Darby Camp - The Christmas Chronicles 2 etc) was feeling down as she was being bullied by her school friends. Luckily she still got a good friend named Owen Yu (Izaac Wang - Raya and the Last Dragon etc) to cheer her up. As Emily's mother Maggie (Sienna Guillory - The Warriors Gate etc) had to go on a business trip, she had no choice but to ask her younger brother Casey (Jack Whitehall - Bad Education TV series etc) to babysit Emily.

The Boss Baby: Family Business - Still as Fun and Cute as its 2017 Predecessor

There were few new movies released in Indonesian cinemas during this week. My wife and I were interested with some of them but ultimately we decided to see this comedy movie first because I personally was looking for something light and fun after days of serious works. Now I will dive into it.

Brief Story Line

30 years after the events in The Boss Baby, Tim (James Marsden - Sonic the Hedgehog, The Notebook etc) was now a grown up and married to Carol (Eva Longoria - Dora and the Lost City of Gold etc) with 2 daughters Tabitha (Ariana Greenbalt) and the baby Tina. As an adult, Tim grew apart with his younger brother Ted (Alec Baldwin - Motherless Brooklyn, Drunk Parents etc) and have not spoken for quite some time.

A Boy Called Christmas - A Quite Heartwarming Chrismas Movie with Pretty Interesting Story

Few days ago, this new Christmas themed movie was released on Neflix which quite intrigued me. My wife who is a fan of such movies were definitely interested. But due to some reasons and company function, we only managed to see this one last night. Well now I'll head right to it.

Brief Story Line

The movie focused on a young boy named Nikolas (Henry Lawfull) who lived alone with his father Joel (Michiel Huisman - Kate, 2: 22 etc) in the snowy area of Finland. When the King (Jim Broadbent - Paddington 2 etc) ordered his people to search for something magical that would raise the hope of the kingdom, Joel decided to do so in order to get the reward. 

Nightbooks - Dark Fantasy Horror Based on Children's Book

I thought about watching this movie since I saw its trailer a couple of weeks ago. But I completely forgotten on the day of its premiere and only watched it last night. Anyway, here's more to this movie.

Brief Story Line

A young boy named Alex (Winslow Fegley - Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made etc) who loved to write scary stories, was feeling extremely down and decided to stop writing them. As he was running away from home, Alex was somehow captured by a witch later on revealed to be Natacha (Krysten Ritter - Jessica Jones TV series, She's Out of My League etc) who threatened to kill him unless he told a scary story every night.

(2020) The Witches - The Second Adaptation of the Popular Children's Dark Fantasy Novel

This weekend, there were a number of new movies and series released in various platforms. I thought there was going to be one movie that I had been waiting for a while, but it did not come true. Anyway, this film is playing on HBO at 8PM Saturday, but since I have access to HBO Go, I could see it earlier. It looked interesting enough, plus if I am not mistaken, it did play in Indonesian theaters few months ago. So here's more on the film.

Brief Story Line

Set in late 1960s, a young orphan boy (Jahzir Bruno) had moved to live with his grandmother (Octavia Spencer - Thunder Force, Onward etc) in Alabama. One day the boy was approached by a terrifying woman with a snake offering him sweets, but he managed to get away. Later the grandmother revealed that it was no ordinary woman and it was actually a witch who had been living amongst normal people and she also had prior bad experience with witches.

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).

Flora & Ulysses - Fun Family Movie of Super Powered Squirrel with Delightful Performance of the Young Lead Cast

Weekend has always been a favorite time of the week for me, especially now when there are so many new movies/series released in various streaming platforms. Yesterday I checked on Disney+ and saw this family movie which I thought would brighten up my day. The premise looked to be a lot of fun, so I decided to give this a try. OK, I'll just go straight to it now.

Brief Story Line

A 10 year old girl named Flora (Matilda Lawler) loved to read superhero comic books especially the ones created by her father George (Ben Schwartz - voice of Sonic the Hedgehog, Space Force TV series etc) who sadly was unsuccessful in publishing them. Meanwhile Flora's mother Phyllis (Alyson Hannigan - How I Met Your Mother, Buffy The Vampire Slayer TV series etc) was a successful romance novelist who was in a bit of a slump recently and struggling to write a new good novel.

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark - A Pretty Fun & Enjoyable Horror Movie though Probably not Scary Enough for Hard Core Fans of the Genre

I was getting anxious when until Tuesday night, there seemed to be only 1 new movie released on Wednesday (a South Korean movie featuring highly popular group with large fan base). But turned out there was indeed another movie released yesterday, albeit a horror one. My wife who was not a fan of horror movie decided to accompany me to see this one. So how was the movie? Will tell you more below.

Brief Story Line

Set in the year 1968, a group of teenagers that consisted of Stella (Zoe Colletti - Skin etc), Chuck (Austin Zajur), Auggie (Gabriel Rush) and their new found friend Ramon (Michael Garza) went to a supposedly haunted house during the Halloween night while being chased by the school bully Tommy (Austin Abrams). Inside the house, they somehow found a book that seemed to be written by Sarah Bellows, the one that was said to be haunting the house.

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World - A Beautiful Conclusion to a Lovely Trilogy About Friendship

This is the 3rd movie of the How to Train Your Dragon series and it was kind of surprising when I checked the second movie was back in year 2014. As I tried to recall the second movie, I realized that I never saw it (which was very odd). So the night before this movie premiered, I took the chance to see that movie first through online streaming. And it was a good thing as I could easily understand this movie better. OK, let's get on with the film now, shall we?

Brief Story Line

Set a year after the events of the second movie, Hiccup (Jay Baruchel - The Sorcerer's Apprentice, She's Out of My League etc) and his Night Fury dragon Toothless have been coordinating attacks on the dragon trappers to free dragons. Together with his girlfriend Astrid (America Ferrera - Ugly Betty TV series etc), his mother Valka (Cate Blanchett - The House with a Clock in Its Wall etc) and his band of misfits friends, Snotlout (Jonah Hill - True Story etc), the twins Tuffnutt (Justin Ripple) & Ruffnutt (Kristen Wiig - Ghostbusters remake etc) and former dragon trapper Eret (Kit Harrington - Game of Thrones TV series), they had brought back a lot of dragons to their home at Berk.

(2018) The Grinch - A Wonderfully Animated Christmas Movie

Yesterday there was a new family movie that premiered in all Indonesian cinemas. My wife and I wanted to see this in the theater nearest to our home but unfortunately it did not play there. So we saw this in another one which was quite near as well. It was the one with Dolby Atmos sound system, though the movie playing there did not have such effects. Anyway, let's get on with the movie now.

Brief Story Line

Grinch (Benedict Cumberbatch - Doctor Strange, Sherlock TV series etc) was very grumpy and really hated Christmas day. Few days before Christmas, he grew even grumpier especially when the city nearby called Whoville went all around to make sure this year's celebration was 3 times bigger than previous year. With the help from his friend Max the dog, Grinch decided to steal Christmas from the residents of Whoville.

The Nutcracker and the Four Realms - Not One of the Best Disney Movie but Still Quite Entertaining

When my wife and I saw the trailer to this movie, we actually were not really interested in it. Somehow the trailer did not create a lot of interest for us, but still since it was a Disney movie which usually translate to a good family movie, we decided to give this a try. And it so happened that the movie did play in the theater near our home and was very convenient. Well let's see what the movie was all about. 

Brief Story Line

A young girl named Clara (Mackenzie Foy - The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Interstellar etc) who just lost her mother was looking for ways to fit in. During the Christmas eve, in the house of his godfather Drosselmeyer (Morgan Freeman - Driving Miss Daisy, Million Dollar Baby etc), Clara somehow was transported to another "world" where he met with a Nutcracker soldier named Phillip (Jayden Fowora-Knight) guarding the realms and also a bunch of mice where 1 of them stole the key Clara got from her mother.

Peter Rabbit - The Nice Adaptation of Classic Children's Stories

Last Friday, this movie premiered in Indonesian theaters. As my wife and I were having our weekend staycation from that day, we had to schedule the watching of the movie to Sunday after check out. We went to see this in our favorite theater near our home at Setiabudi One. So let us get on with this movie.

Brief Story Line

Peter Rabbit (voiced by James Corden - The Emoji Movie, Trolls etc) was a very naughty rabbit who loved to go to vegetable garden owned by Mr. McGregor (Sam Neill - The Piano, Jurassic Park etc) to "collect" carrot, tomato and so on. He always went there together with his cousin Benjamin (Colin Moody) and his triplet younger sisters Mopsy (Elizabeth Debicki - Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Everest etc), Flopsy (Margot Robbie - Focus, Suicide Squad etc) and Cottontail (Daisy Ridley - Murder on the Orient Express, Star Wars: The Force Awakens etc). Mr. McGregor was bothered by these naughty rabbits and tried to capture them. But they were always saved & protected by another nice neighbor named Bea (Rose Byrne - Damages TV series, Neighbors etc).