Just a Light Early January Chit Chat

Happy that I attended Church on the first day in January 2010. That will not automatically 'save' me, but as a believer, it recharges my faith, somehow.
I haven't had many things worth noticing at this very young 2010, most stuffs are still just the leftovers from 2009.

Talking about the leftover things, I forgot to write it down on my blog my favourite films throughout 2009. So here they are, the top three, starts from the most liked by me:

1. The Ugly Truth
I had started laughing at the beginning of this film. Very funny, and Gerard Butler is the sexiest man alive!I'm probably a bit biased, but the dance scene really possessed me and I even dreamed about it, but not with GB :-P This is a very light movie, you don't need to think at all cause there will be no time to think, you will not be able to restrain yourself to laugh.

2. This Is It
it changed my perception of the late Michael Jackson. He was indeed very passionate about the things that he loved, but I didn't know that he was that shy, and he was very humble too. I somehow believe that he was misunderstood by some people, but people who dislike him I'm sure also admit it that MJ was and is a great dancer and a genius in music and entertainment world. Glad that the producer of his last concert filmed the rehearsal sessions.

3. Avatar
A must see in 3D. Very cute story with great and cutting edge visual effects.

I must stop now, sleepy already, and oh, my best friend Leet will undergo a surgery tomorrow, please wish her a best luck and pray for her too.

Happy 2010 friends, may God gives us more power, more success and best luck. xoxo.

At Lost, Knowing 2012 Deep Impact

Now I feel embarrassed, but I still think it's funny.

Two weeks ago at Saturday lunch with Kat and Yan, Kat was telling us her thought about the movie 2012. She asked if Yan and I have watched it. I was very sure that I had watched it around 2 months ago!! and in fact I had twittered it too to express my questioning of why MUI -the ulama organisation in Indonesia- wanted to ban the movies 2012. So I said "yes, I watched it two months ago".

Though look confused, Kat continued her opinion regarding 2012 "it's actually a depiction of Noah's ark story you know". That when I went lost, but because I only watched partly that-what-I-believed-2012 when it's just about to end, I told her, I don't remember that part, but I recalled that my brother cited it too. Kat carried on mentioning things like "but the dog is safe", "the ship is made in China", "but it's even in Euro", "tsunami" et cetera, things that I didn't see in 2012 that I watched. I was at lost again, I said "is there a dog? Well, maybe I missed that part", "and I didn't see the ship either" et cetera.
Everything were so awkward, that's when Kat and Yan asked me "are you sure it was 2012??". Confidently I said "yes, it's the one with John Cussack, right? There are two kids, one is a boy and the other is a girl, and John Cussack is separated. They ran away in cars" et cetera. Kat approved that, until she heard me mentioning meteor, that's when she cut my story and drew a conclusion "I think you're talking about Deep Impact", agreed by Yan "yes, I think so, and it's already an ancient one heheh". I disagreed by saying "how come it's also starred by John Cussack?", but Kat said that John Cussack played that kind of movie a lot and "he played in Deep Impact too"!!

Last Saturday I finally went to fulfill my curiosity and watched 2012. Surprising enough, though it's been on since at least two weeks ago, the enthusiasm upon this movie is still big, we could only get the seats on the 2nd row from the screen -my poor neck!
The whole almost 3 hours, my friend and I couldn't stop giggling and mocking the movie. I think it's the first absurd movie that successfully made me sit for almost 3 hours because of its top-notched visual effect.

Finished from the theater, I texted Kat and Yan telling my disappointment. Yan said she read on her Facebook that an elementary student said "how would it be possible to escape from doomsday with a plane, that film director will be scolded by *ustadz" (*uztadz is an Islamic cleric). Funny enough, cause to me this 2012 is not about religious doomsday at all, that probably what MUI missed :-)) In fact there's no need to get offended, because it's just a plain Hollywood fabricated story, nothing religious at all.
Thanks to MUI though, the ban is really a successful promotion for the movie 2012 in Indonesia :-))

So what was the movie that I thought was 2012?
IMDB showed me that Kat and Yan were also wrong, John Cussack doesn't star in Deep Impact. They really had mislead me :-) and the whole thing started when I mistook John Cussack for Nicolas Cage -no clue how that happened -they're amongst my fav stars though-, and I still don't understand how could I assumed it as 2012.

I am so glad that I finally discovered that the movie was Knowing, which in my opinion is much much better than 2012.

Important note to self, next time I should always bother to check out the title of the movie that I'm watching, especially when I don't watch it from the beginning.

Dog is a god?

dog house with carport?
Unquestionably according to Hollywood, All dogs go to Heaven, but for sure as much as I love this benevolent creature, dog is not a God with a capital letter.

Dog is a god is only a name of dog's houses design made by an Italian designer, Marco Morosini. I learned about him after my friend Chaterina forwarded me an email containing some cute pictures of dog houses with "travel dog's house" written on each picture.

As a dog lover, it's impossible for me not to google the words "travel dog's house" after seeing some of these following photos...

pheww...I'm ready to nap now

dog caravan

where's the porter?

my house uses fake fur of course

temple dog's house

where's my neighbour?

Marco Morosini and..no, I'm not a trophy
Photos source marcomorosini

Kite Runner: There's a way to be good again

I am not sure how I ended up clicking the link of this movie when I was checking a site that gives access to watch free movie online. I didn't regret it, Kite Runner has a very touching story, I even wept. I attach the clip from the movie at the end of this post so that everyone who don't have access to the movie can have a glimpse of it, and also can listen to its lovely song.

Normally when I watch a horror movie and feel very scared, I will insert the images of film director, camera and so on into my head to neutralise my feeling or even kill the spine-chilling effect. This didn't work for Kite Runner, this movie still moved me to tears.

Kite runner is a story about two boys who befriend each other, but ruined by the cowardices of one of the boys. Hassan is a son of the servant in the house of Amir's father. They have their good times together when Afghanistan is still a decent place to live. Hassan is always like a bodyguard to Amir, he protects Amir from Assef who is also a son of another rich man. One day Hassan almost fires his slingshot at Assef's eye when Assef and his two friends threaten them on a quiet alley. The incident makes Assef even hates Hassan more.

Baba, Amir's father, loves Hasan and cares about him enough. On the day of Hasan's birthday, Baba lets Hassan to choose his own presents, and one of them is a kite.
Hassan is a prominent kite fighter, and he also is a kite runner. He knows where the kite will falls even without having to follow the kite.

The tragedy begins on the kite tournament day in Kabul. Hassan prepares everything to make sure Amir can win the tournament, and he uses the kite which is his birthday present. He directs Amir to beat all the other kites. The last cut kite is the great trophy of the tournament and everyone are trying to get it. Hassan runs to get the kite for Amir. "For you a thousand time over" says Hassan to Amir before he runs for the kite.

Unfortunately, Hassan falls into bad luck. He gets the trophy kite, but he runs across Assef and his abettors on a desolate back street. In the meantime, Amir who is worried because Hassan is still not back manages to find Hassan. He witnesses how Hassan refuses to hand out the kite to Assef because Hassan wants Amir to have it. Amir is too cowardly to act -I was very sad and mad seeing this scene, really a disturbing scene. Hassan, a ten years old or eleven years at most boy, must experiencing a painful disgrace in humanity. It's a real heartbreaking scene, the worst tragic to the boy's life.

Amir who feels very guilty of what happens to Hassan acts as if he doesn't know anything about it. Instead of comforting Hassan, Amir makes Hassan and Ali -Hassan's father to leave his house, and that's the last time Amir sees Hassan.

After Taliban takes over Afghanistan, Amir -who is now living in America- is forced to go back there by Rahim Khan -the best friend of Baba. Rahim Khan tells Amir "There is a way to be good again" as if he knew what happened to Hassan that day. The way is by saving Sohrab who is a son of Hassan. Rahim Khan shows Amir the unsent letter from Hassan, this is very touching. Hassan's heart is still pure, he still loves Amir and he hopes to see Amir again. At first Amir is still reluctant, until Rahim reveals him Baba's dark secret concerning Hassan's background.

The mission takes Amir to once again encounter his old enemy Assaf. It turns out Assaf takes Sohrab with him to be his dancing boy. He does to Sohrab what he did to Hassan :(((

For the first time Amir can get his dignity back and finds solace in his heart -although I think it's still too late- and just like the old times when Hassan stood for him, this time Sohrab also protects Amir by shooting an iron ball with his slingshot to Assaf eyes. They both manage to escape from Assaf and Afghanistan. Amir brings Sohrab to the USA with him. Amir and his wife then become Sohrab's parents. The film is closed by the scene of Amir runs the kite for Sohrab and recites Hassan words "for you a thousand times over".

I read the synopsis of the book, though the film is very good, I think the book is even better. I also sense the controversy before I read that this film raises protests especially in Afghanistan. It is about the scene of what Assaf did to Hassan on that deserted alley. A thorough reading about the film and its controversy is available in The Kite Runner wiki.

They Say I'm a Monkey

Not me of course. Who dares to call me that way eheheh.
That's the title of the newest Indonesian movie that's not yet released for public screening. I got an invitation from a friend to watch the premiere screening of "Mereka Bilang Saya Monyet" -the title in Indonesian, and it was yesterday on 27th December.

As I already expected, I didn't enjoy it. Still too many clichés like Indonesian movies in general, and their actings are mimicking. I didn't see the supposed characters appear on the movie, I felt just like watching those actresses and actors playing roles. Too many unnecessary shouts. Why in Indonesian movies, angers are always represented with actress or actor shouting? I don't want to write more here, it would be a spoiler to the movie. All that I can say, yes I recommend the people in Indonesia to watch this movie, but I thank God I didn't have to spend a rupiah to see this movie. Oh..one thing to be taken into notice, who are 'they' in that title? I think there's only a 'she' who calls her monyet.
So far 'Berbagi Suami' is still the better Indonesian movie.

Blood Diamond

It seems in this movie, people in Sierra Leone either got killed or enslaved by the rebels. This armed rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF) finance their movement by operating diamond mine and selling those diamonds to some dirty big western company who doesn't give a damn about the terror story behind those diamonds.

Because this film is inspired by what actually happened there in Sierra Leone, I felt stressful watching it. How a naturally beautiful and rich country becomes one of the poorest countries in the world because of the civil war, how killing is nothing without torturing, and so many other horrid things.

Other than the horrific things that happen to Solomon Vandy (Djimon Hounsou), his family and the people of Sierra Leone, there's this scene when Danny Archer (Leonardo DiCaprio) phones Maddy (Jennifer Connelly), where they can only talk without being able to stop the already felt fate, I also found this scene very touching.

Just do not miss Blood Diamond.

Movie Month

So this month I will watch at least 5 movies at JiFFest this year.
We bought the tickets last Saturday.
Got peeved by the counter girl who's in charge for JiFFest stand at Aksara, PI.
Very uninformative.

We planned to buy 7 tickets for each of us, unfortunately the ticket for Bable was already sold out.
So we asked for 6 tickets, but that pudding head girl said it's impossible and period, no further explanation of why.

We told her that we understood we have to purchase the additional tickets with regular price since the festival applies membership system, i.e. Gold Card, Silver Card, and White Card, each successively provides passes for 10, 5, 2 different movie screenings.
Of course with Gold card membership the price per item goes cheaper, the cheapest one. But we wanted 6 movies only, not 10. The girl just kept repeating the same answer, i.e. impossible.

Then after we're making some "do you mean this" "do you mean that" "what if" questions to that air-head girl who only responded us with "yes" and "no," we finally came to the conclusion that anyone who wants to buy single entry pass can only obtain it on the screening day of the desirable film.

And it's actually already written clearly on the guide programme book! Pff..
She could have just shown us the page, if she had a problem to explain it directly :-P

Sometimes even a simple answer is hard to get.

Found it!

In her shoes

i carry your heart with me (i carry it in
my heart) i am never without it (anywhere
i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing, my darling)
i fear
not fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) i want
no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

Another husband to share

Last Sunday I woke up after 7 am, so obviously it's impossible to attend the earliest Church service. I was thinking to drop the chance of watching Berbagi Suami, but at the end my carnally minded won after I found an excuse that I could go to the afternoon service later. The decision was made simply because of that dress code thing :-D
I love orange! To attend an event where all attendants must wear orange, that's something that I wanted to experience.

Around 8 am I sms-ed my friends and confirmed that I would come.
We couldn't get nice seats cos I arrived a bit late though the lights were still on and the film had not yet begun. My expectation of orange sensation was not granted! Not even half of the people wore it. But we all got Salma Candle plus the poster to take home.

The synopsis of the film is available online, so I will leave it untouched.
I only want to write what I think about the movie, besides its 100% positive reviews are already available blog-widely to read.

The Positives
It's above of what considered as the popular current Indonesian movies.
So far I watched "Ada Apa Dengan Cinta", small part of "Brownies", "Jaelangkung", a snip of "Mengejar Matahari" and -I think- there are some other more films. Glad I didn't waste Rupiahs to watch them at the cinema, cause they only pushed me away even further from Indonesian movies. Can't stand those common over-dose acting of Indonesian actors/ actresses!
"Berbagi Suami" brings a bit hope for me to like Indonesian movies again.
Some notable players from this film are:
- Winky as Nadim. He looks relax and he has the right dose of expression.
- Dominique as Ming. Fresh, unstrained, and very beautiful girl.
- Shanty as Siti. I could forget her real attribute as a pop-star singer and saw her as just Siti instead in that movie, but a little flaw does exist.


The Negatives
So many cliché scenes. The way the guys lust for their woman are so anywhere in any back hollywood movies. Nia Dinata was just like raw taking those scenes from those already out movies. No originality and not artistic at all.

Improper accent. It shadows Shanty's acting quality and wastes her already (beautiful) Javanese look –though she's originally Sunda. Had she been able to master the Javanese accent, I would find her acting more appealing.
Koh Abun and Ci Linda don't deliver the way the Chinese (Kota) talk.

Cliché Acting. Though it's above the average Sinetron Indonesia, I didn't find it captivating. I could still find the Indonesian actors/ actresses standardized expressions such as disturbed feeling is represented by jerky eyes, anger is represented by voluntary widening eyes. Ira Maya Sopha's unnecessary slapstick acting is also annoying.
I think Indonesia actors/ actresses should learn from those Korean actresses/ actors, they can just stay still, don't even make a slight flick to their eyes, yet they can deliver the right emotion to their viewers.

Improper attribute. Big tattoo on one of the motherly gynecologist's hands. For me it's a bit weird.

OST. Soundtrack songs don't match the film mood, but many give positive reviews. Maybe it's just not my preference.

There are some other drawbacks but that'll be too much for a good film like "Berbagi Suami" if I wrote them all.

After all, like I wrote it already, this film gives me a ray of hope to like Indonesian movie again ;-)

And I finally didn't go to Church either in the afternoon. Pff...

Berbagi Suami = Sharing a hubby

For some reasons I am not a fan of Indonesian movies. But I'm not going to write about it now.
If this time I feature Berbagi Suami here, it's because Elz , one of the producers of that film, is the wife of my good friend, Oc. Elz, who was still pregnant of their first baby at that time, also appeared in one scene there as a pregnant woman.

Oc rang me yesterday afternoon, and he told me about that movie.

The film depicts stories about polygamy in 3 families of different class.

Oc told me that the story is coloured by real story and characters.
The Pak Lik character is inspired by a driver, pet-named Tomingse, who once worked with Kalyana Shira Film. That Tomingse, even with his front teeth jutting out, manages to have 3 wives. The crews used to tease him to share his bed-room story; he said sometimes the 4 of them are in one bed together at once aka foursome

Oc tried to convince me that it is a good and rare movie that I and other friends must see.
Since I don't like Indonesian movie, I asked for some free tickets. Last time he offered me some free tickets to see "Biola Tak Berdawai" but I didn't take them. Unfortunately this time Elz only got 4 free tickets, and all were already gone to their close relatives.

Anyway I told other friends to see Oc's wife's film.
Leet , my best friend, sms'ed then phoned me, telling me that she has 4 free tickets from Femina magazine. It's a 'watching movie together' event. It even has a dress code, a touch of orange- which is one of my favourite colours!
But another unfortunately strikes! It'll be held on Sunday 10 am!
It can be my Church time!
Maybe this sounds too religious for some people, but I feel bad to have abandoned Church for many times on Sunday.
Maybe if I can manage to join the earlier service at 7am and to arrive at the venue before 10am, I will be able to experience Berbagi Suami . The film of course!

Since the film has collaboration with a partner from France, that sounds possible if this film will reach there one day.

Memoirs of a Geisha

When I read that Arthur Golden's novel about 4 years ago, I dreamt to see it filmed cos the book is very well written.
The plots were interweaving in my head when I was reading it and I really felt like I could see Sayuri with her blue-grey eyes, the Chairman and the other characters.
Recently, its film version is out, but.....
To my disappointment the lead roles are not played by Japanese actresses at all.
I don't mean that those Chinese actresses are less pretty or don't play well.
The matter is exotism, Chinese and Japanese each have their own differently.

I think I'm not going to see it, I'm afraid the movie will ruin my ideal picturing of the book. Maybe I will read the book again instead of watching the flick.

Yesterday afternoon while still in Shanghai, Leet sms-ed me. Rumour says Memoirs of a Geisha is banned in China, probably because the current political dissonance between the two countries.

Wiki says Memoirs of a Geisha is "a movie about Japanese played by Chinese, written by whites".
Click the image to see some old postcards with genuine images of Geisha.