The Strangers: Chapter 3 - The Final Part of The New Strangers Trilogy With Some Story of their Origins

I noticed this movie in the Coming Soon section a couple of weeks ago. Since my wife and I had seen the two films before this one, we definitely did not want to miss the final installment of the trilogy. So when it was released yesterday, we decided to watch it in our favorite cinema. OK, I'll just get right to it now.

Brief Story Line

After killing one of the strangers in the second chapter, Maya (Madelaine Petsch -  Maintenance Required etc) was trying to run away from them when he met with Gregory (Gabriel Basso - The Night Agent TV series, A House of Dynamite etc), the only man left in the house she stayed for short while before. However, Maya encountered the strangers again while trying to escape out of Venus town.

Venom: The Last Dance - A Pretty Conclusive Movie to Wrap the Venom Trilogy

My wife and I were looking forward to see this movie during the weekend, but it was quite challenging as we had to attend a wedding ceremony on that day. So after the event, we went to a cinema not far from our home where luckily our favorite seats were still available. All right then, I'll dive into the movie.

Brief Story Line

Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy - The Bikeriders, Capone etc) who had become fugitive was trying to avoid capture and decided to escape to New York city. While on the run, Eddie met with a family of Alien enthusiasts Martin (Rhys Ifans - House of the Dragon TV series, Official Secrets etc), his wife Nova (Alanna Ubach - Coco, Legally Blonde etc) and their two children and hitch a hike to Las Vegas.

The Equalizer 3 - The Supposedly Final Installment of the Kind Hearted Vigilante Story

As one of the movies that my wife and I had not seen while we were on holiday last month, we were not sure if we would be able to see while it was still in the cinema. But amazingly there was one studio still playing this movie in Jakarta. Yesterday after we had our lunch, both of us decided to see the film. OK, let us get to it then.

Brief Story Line

After one of his "operation" in Sicily, Italy, former DIA agent Robert McCall (Denzel Washington - Flight, The Taking of Pelham 123 etc) was brought to a small town of Altamonte by local police Gio Bonucci (Eugenio Mastrandrea - From Scratch TV series etc) where he was treated by Doctor Enzo (Remo Girone - Live by Night etc) for his wounds. While taking the time to heal himself, McCall grew fond of the town and became quite close with the people. Unfortunately his peaceful time was interrupted with the mafia led by brothers Vincent (Andrea Scarduzio) and Marco (Andrea Dodero) who had plans for Altamonte and started terrorizing them. 

Fast X - Another Spectacular Installment in the Fast and Furious Series

When this movie was released mid of last week, my wife and I were still on holiday and unfortunately the film was not playing there yet. So we had to wait till this weekend to go and see it in Jakarta. We chose our favorite cinema with the Dolby Atmos sound effect. OK, I'll get on with it now. 

Brief Story Line

After their last adventure, Dom (Vin Diesel - Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 etc) and Letty (Michelle Rodriguez - Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, etc) were enjoying their lives as newlyweds taking care of B (Leo Abelo Perry). Meanwhile Roman (Tyrese Gibson - Morbius etc), Tej (Ludacris - End of the Road etc), Han (Sung Kang - Raya and the Last Dragon etc) and Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel - Army of Thieves etc) went on a mission in Rome as instructed by Little Nobody (Scott Eastwood - Wrath of Man etc).

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 - A Lovely and Emotional Conclusion to the Hilarious Team of Superhero

Once again we were given a new movie from Marvel and this time it was the third of this ragtag team who have been quite a favorite for me and my wife. So we did not hesitate to see this movie as soon as we could. Since I was busy with work in the past few days, we only got the chance to do it during the weekend. All right then, let's get on with it.

Brief Story Line

Peter Quill (Chris Pratt - The Terminal List TV series, The Super Mario Bros. Movie etc) and his fellow guardians Rocket (Bradley Cooper - Nightmare Alley, The Hangover trilogy etc), Drax (Dave Bautista - Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, Final Score etc), Mantis (Pom Klementieff - Sleepless Night, Uncut Gems etc), Nebula (Karen Gillan - The Bubble, Stuber etc) and Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel - Bloodshot, The Fate of the Furious etc) were living in the Knowhere together with lot of other people. Peter was still feeling down from the demise of Gamora (Zoe Saldana - Avatar: The Way of Water,  The Adam Project etc) and despite the appearance of younger version of Gamora, she did not have any recollection and closeness with him. 

Ant-man and the Wasp: Quantumania - Still Fun and Light but Seemed to Focus on Highlighting the Future Major Villain, Kang the Conqueror

Like other previous movies from Marvel Studios, my wife and I were highly anticipating this one and decided to buy the tickets when they were already sold in advance last weekend. As our favorite theater did not have any evening show on its first day, we bought the tickets for its third day last night. So let's head down to the movie now.

Brief Story Line

After the events in Avengers: End Game, Scott Lang (Paul Rudd - Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Clueless etc) was enjoying his peaceful life with his girlfriend Hope (Evangeline Lilly - The Hobbit films, The Hurt Locker etc), though he was having a bit difficulty with his now teenaged daughter Cassie (Kathryn Newton - Freaky, Blockers etc). And it was not really helped by the fact that Cassie's grandparents Hank Pym (Michael Douglas - Basic Instinct, Wall Street etc) and Janet (Michelle Pfeiffer - Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, Murder on the Orient Express etc) who were quite supportive of her actions.

Halloween Ends - A Satisfying Enough Conclusion of the Latest Halloween Trilogy

When this movie was released in Indonesia few days ago, my wife and I were considering to see it in theater on that day. But at the last minute we decided to see it in the weekend instead and have a movie marathon day. Something that we have not done in a while. Anyway, I will just get right to it.

Brief Story Line

Four years after the events in Halloween Kills, Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis - Everything Everywhere All at Once, Trading Places etc) was now living with her grand daughter Allyson (Andi Matichak). As recommended by Deputy Hawkins (Will Patton - The Forever Purge etc), Laurie decided to write a memoir of her experience with Michael Myers (James Jude Courtney) who had not appeared during that period. 

Jurassic World Dominion - Still a Fun and Entertaining Dinosaurs Movie with Absolutely Amazing Special Effects

As one of the franchise that my wife and I loved, obviously we were excited to see this movie and see more dinosaurs terrorizing the world. Usually I would love to experience movies like this one on its premier date, but lately we prefer to do it on the weekend/holiday. So we only did see it yesterday after 3 days of release in Indonesia. OK, I'll get right to it then.

Brief Story Line

Four years after the events in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom where dinosaurs were now roaming the world, Owen Grady (Chris Pratt - The Tomorrow War, Passengers etc) and Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard - Rocketman, Gold etc) were living with Maisie Lockwood (Isabella Sermon) in a secluded area. 

Fear Street Part Three: 1666 - A Satisfying Conclusion to the Unique Horror Trilogy

I have been waiting for this third movie in the trilogy, so for sure when it was released, I immediately watched it as soon as I had the opportunity. Having seen the first two movies and love them, it would be weird if I was not excited for it. Without further ado, here's more on the movie.

Brief Story Line

Set in 1666 where it all began, Sarah Fier (Kiana Madeira) and her younger brother Henry (Benjamin Flores Jr.) were living in the Union together with the original settlers. Sarah and her friends were quite close, and together with Hannah (Olivia Scott Welch), Abigail (Emily Rudd) and Isaac (Fred Hechinger), they liked to hang out in the woods after dark.

Fear Street Part 2: 1978 - Second Part of the Trilogy which Amazingly did not Feel Like a Filler

I already posted the first part of this horror trilogy last week and as I was really looking forward to the second part, I watched this one as soon as I could yesterday. So let's get on to it immediately.

Brief Story Line

This second part focused on the events that occurred in 1978, during the summer camp of teens from Shadyside and Sunnyvale in Nightwing camp. Just like in the first part, these two groups were always at each other's throat. Ziggy (Sadie Sink - Stranger Things TV series season 2 onwards etc) who was from Shadyside was being bullied by Sheila (Chiara Aurelia). However, camp counselor Nick Goode (Ted Sutherland) from Sunnyvale was always defending Ziggy.

Fear Street Part One: 1994 - Promising Start to a Trilogy of Horror Films based on the Highly Popular Fear Street Novels by R. L. Stine

There were quite a lot of new movies and series released this week in various platforms that made me excited and very much looking forward. Last night, I decided to watch this new one as I have been interested since I saw the trailer which reminded me of the good old 1990s slasher movie. Well let's get into it then.

Brief Story Line

Story was set in 1994 in the small town of Shadyside where there have been various violent killing sprees happening for a long time. When one of their friends became the victim of latest murders by a person wearing skull mask, high school students Deena (Kiana Madeira - Trinkets TV series etc) and her best friends Kate (Julia Rehwald) & Josh (Benjamin Flores Jr. - Game Shakers TV series etc) did not really pay attention to it. They were more focused on their personal issues, including their fierce rivalry with their richer neighbor town, Sunnyvale.

Akhir Kisah Cinta si Doel - A Review by Yennymakanmulu

Few weeks ago, I saw the various advertisements and trailer to this third movie in Si Doel's trilogy which I had seen the first and second movie with my wife. It was said to be released on 23rd January 2020 but we only got the chance to see it on Sunday. Unlike in the previous two movies, this time I would leave the writing to my wife who had done a fabulous job in giving her review of this final movie (in Bahasa) which I would share below.

[MOVIE] Akhir Kisah Cinta Si Doel

Sejak Kamis 23 Januari 2020, Akhir Kisah Cinta Si Doel udah nongol di bioskop2 kesayangan. Tapi berhubung gw ada special screening film lain di hari yang sama, jadi baru hari Minggu 26 Januari 2020 gw tonton itu film. Sebetulnya hubby udah suruh gw nonton Kamis itu siang2. Tapi kan dari pelem nomor 1 ke pelem nomor 2, nontonnya selalu bareng hubby. Jadi gw tunggu bisa barengan deh. Yuk buruan ditonton finale dari trilogi ini yang disutradarai dan ditulis sendiri oleh Rano Karno, biar kejawab gituuuuu semua tanda tanyanya.

Kalo Si Doel The Movie kisahnya seputar pertemuan kembali Doel (Rano Karno) dengan Sarah (Cornelia Agatha) dan anak mereka Dul (Rey Bong), SDTM2 seputar kegelisahan Zaenab (Maudy Koesnaedi), naaaah di AKCSD ini udah harus banget deh mengakhiri kegalauan semua pemainnya. LOL. Dari awal, perasaan kita ikut diajak naik turun bak rollercoaster, sekarang selayaknya lah kita dikasi akhir dari kisah cinta mereka. Bang Doel HARUS memilih.

To read her complete review, you can go direct to her blog:

Akhir Kisah Cinta si Doel review by yennymakanmulu

PS: You can also read her other reviews about food and travel in her blog.

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.

Glass - Another Proof of How Visionary M. Night Shyamalan in Completing an Unusual & Intelligent Trilogy

I read somewhere months ago about this movie being made, which was a sequel to Split that my wife and I saw two years ago. To be honest, I was not that enthusiastic at first because it was not really my favorite film and the ending was something which I thought a bit too weird. Only until I finally saw the movie Unbreakable which was said to be its predecessor that I could understand the ending better and more intrigued to see this third film, just to see how it would all be connected and resolved. Without further ado, below is more on the movie.

Brief Story Line

Set 19 years after the events in Unbreakable, David Dunn (Bruce Willis - 12 Monkeys, Death Wish remake etc) still continued his vigilante act accompanied and supported by his now adult son Joseph (Spencer Treat Clark - The Last House on the Left, Mystic River etc). On the other hand, Dennis with his multiple personalities (James McAvoy - Sherlock Gnomes, Atomic Blonde etc) was still terrorizing the city by kidnapping young girls. David and Dennis life would soon intertwine and became a lot more complicated when they also met with Elijah Price aka Mr. Glass (Samuel L. Jackson - The Hitman's Bodyguard, various Marvel movies etc) in the psychiatric hospital under the care of Dr. Staple (Sarah Paulson - Ocean's 8, The Post etc).

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.

Maze Runner: The Death Cure - The Thrilling Conclusion of the Maze Runner Trilogy

Finally the third Maze Runner movie played in theater after the last one back in 2015. So yes it was a long time to wait for a final movie especially since the first and second movie only had 1 year span. We in Indonesia were quite lucky as it did not play far behind the US premiere. Since the movie had Dolby Atmos sound effect, my wife was kind enough to accompany me see this one at a studio that had the sound system in Epiwalk, despite it was not her most favorite places to hang out. Ok let us move on to the movie now.

Brief Story Line

The movie started months after the event of Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, where the Gladers led by Thomas (Dylan O'Brien - American Assassin, Teen Wolf TV series etc) with his best friends from their previous time in the maze Newt (Thomas Brodie-Sangster - Love, Actually, Death of a Superhero etc) and Frypan (Dexter Darden) were trying to help Minho (Ki Hong Lee - Wish Upon etc) escape from the organization who were doing experiments on them earlier named WCKD (referred as Wicked). The three of them were accompanied by Brenda (Rosa Salazar - CHiPs movie, Night Owls etc) and Jorge (Giancarlo Esposito - The Usual Suspects, Breaking Bad TV series etc) to find where Minho was placed and experimented on by Wicked to find the cure for the virus. 

Meanwhile Teresa (Kaya Scodelario - Pirates of the Carribbean: Salazar's Revenge, Wuthering Heights etc) was now fully assisting Ava Paige (Patricia Clarkson - The Green Mile, Pieces of April etc) who was Wicked's head of research for the cure. She believed that her work was really important that could save all humans. Wicked's head of security Janson (Aidan Gillen - Game of Thrones TV series, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword etc) who was supportive of the research, was always looking for ways to capture all the immune people especially Thomas.

So could Thomas and his friends save Minho and the rest of the immune children from Wicked and also destroy the organization? Find them all in this entertaining action science fiction movie.

End of Brief Story Line

This movie had a duration of more than 2 hours which I think was to capture the essence of the conclusion of the whole story. I personally felt that it was a good choice since I understand that previously there was a plan of making the finale into 2 parts like Hunger Games and Divergent series which would make the movie most likely boring and a bad way of trying to make big bucks. Hunger Games finale part 1 was having too much conversation while Divergent's last movie (at the time I write this) never make it to the conclusion because of its low commercial success. We have to thank the director Wes Ball who was the one insisting of the movie not to be split in 2 parts.

As a fan of action movies and I believed majority of the audience who saw this one in theater with us last night (which btw was fully packed) were very satisfied with the movie that was almost full of action and intense moments. The movie started off very brightly with an intense action sequence, then there was also brief suspenseful scene involving Cranks (the zombie-like humans infected by virus) but in the middle the movie pace slowed a lot. Until the final third of the movie which gave us a full blown high octane entertaining action sequences.

I loved the conclusion of the movie as I think it really suit the main story which was supposed to be the cure. I also loved the make up effects and of course the amazing sound effects especially during the fights, shooting, explosions and suspenseful scenes. The movie did not only provide us action sequences, but there were some emotional moments as well towards the ending which I know affected my wife a bit.

Since the time my wife and I saw the first movie, we were pretty hooked with the series. The first movie was mysterious and very suspenseful especially during the times when the Gladers were trying to escape from the Maze. The second movie was also very interesting especially in the beginning but then the story became a bit more complicated. Now I thought that the final movie would be very complicated, but surprisingly it was not the case. I was able to capture the essence of the movie quite easily. However, it would only be understood if you had watched the first and second movie. If I got to choose though, I honestly felt that my experience seeing the first movie was the best, because of the intriguing and intensity plus the mystery surrounding the Maze.

One thing that was a little bit disappointing was the appearance of Walter Goggins (The Shield and Justified TV series) as a forgettable character which makes me felt he was underutilized for such a good actor. Plus the slower pace in the middle that took a bit too long to my opinion. But overall it was still a very much enjoyable fun ride and definitely a worthy conclusion of this trilogy. Oh in case you are wondering, there was no end credit scene to this movie so you could immediately go to the restroom if you had been holding off for more than 2 hours.

So if you have watched the first and second movie, this one definitely is a must see movie. But if you have never seen them before, then you have to see The Maze Runner and The Scorch Trials first in order for you to understand the storyline of this movie.

Happy watching!

Mike's movie moments rating: 4 out of 5 stars

PS: The Movie was adapted from the novel of same title written by James Dashner. The reason why it was playing only 3 years after the second movie was due to the fact Dylan O'brien had a severe accident during the making of this movie and the production had to stop for almost a year.

Pitch Perfect 3 - The Final Performance of The Bellas

This movie was already playing in Indonesian cinemas since yesterday but I was unable to see it on its premiere date. So instead my wife and I saw this one today. To be honest I have never seen the first and second Pitch Perfect movie when I saw the trailer to the movie few weeks ago, but when I noticed it looked like a funny movie, I immediately looked for them online. So I managed to see Pitch Perfect and its sequel last week before I see this one. Well let us get on with the movie now.

Brief Story Line

The girls from a cappella group The Bellas consisted of Beca (Anna Kendrick - Trolls, The Accountant etc), Fat Amy (Rebel Wilson - Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, Grimsby etc), Chloe (Brittany Snow - John Tucker Must Die, Hairspray etc), Aubrey (Anna Camp - True Blood TV series etc), Lily (Hana Mae Lee), Cynthia (Ester Dean), Flo (Chrissie Fit), Jessica (Kelley Jakle), Ashley (Shelley Regner) and Stacie (Alexis Knapp) have graduated from university and felt they were going nowhere in their lives after Bellas. So when they had an opportunity to perform in the tour of USO (United Service Organization), the Bellas decided to form the group together and sing once again. With the addition of Emily (Hailee Steinfeld - The Edge of Seventeen, 3 Days to Kill etc) who was the next generation Bellas and still in University, they went ahead with the tour.

LOGAN - The End of One of Most Interesting Portrayal of Marvel's Superhero

This movie had been creating a lot of buzz since last year. My wife and I were looking forward to see this one since the past month when the trailer to the movie was started to be shown in the cinemas. When the movie premiered yesterday, I happened to be having a banking event at Kota Kasablanka. Therefore we decided to see the movie there and luckily enough, the movie was playing in the theater with Dolby Atmos sound system. Since the movie was having more than 2 hours duration, it started at 6PM instead of the usual 7-ish time that we would normally see a movie. So let's get on to the story now.

Brief Story Line

The movie was told in the year 2029 when the total of mutants seemed to be decreasing over the years and not even a single new mutant was heard for many years. Logan aka Wolverine (Hugh Jackman - no need for introduction here) had aged significantly through out the years. He seemed to be sick and not able to heal himself as fast as he used to be. Working as a limousine driver, he tried to save enough money to buy a boat so he could go out and retire peacefully. 

Inferno - The Third Installment of Robert Langdon Adventure

It was just 2 weeks ago that this movie started playing in Indonesian theaters, but due to some very hectic schedule at work and in private lives, plus the fact that I could not watch a sequel without seeing the predecessor films first, I only got time to see this today. It was difficult to look for cinemas that were still playing it in Jakarta, and I could only find 4 cinemas from Cinema XXI chain and 3 cinemas from CGV Blitz. As I just had my car washed in Kuningan area and Lotte Avenue was one of the cinema playing this movie, I decided to go there and watch the 2.25 PM show. When I reached there at 11.30AM, the queue was very long, no doubt for people wanting to watch Doctor Strange. So when it reached my turn, I could not get to my favorite spot and had to take the 3rd seat from the top left. But I guess better than have to wait for 7.25PM since the shows in between was for The Accountant. Anyway, let's get on with the movie now.