Captain America: Civil War (2016)

Intisari.

Mereka yang sudah mengenal saya mungkin akan ingat betapa saya cenderung membela film-film besutan DC. Memang sedari dulu, apabila topik DC vs Marvel muncul, saya selalu (mungkin sampai nanti) mengambil posisi di kubu DC. Sayangnya, untuk urusan film, DC tidak punya Kevin Feige dan pula saya yakin meski Marvel sudah membayar mahal untuk jasa Feige, saya pikir masih terlalu murah. Ini bukti betapa hebatnya Feige membawa segerombolan superhero menyatu di dalam satu cerita. Lebih dari itu, Feige juga cukup piawai untuk memastikan aktor-aktornya tidak kabur setelah satu atau dua film. Itu Robert Downey Jr. bisa saja minta gaji berlipat-lipat dari yang ia terima sekarang untuk main di film-film Avenger berikutnya.

Ini satu hal yang coba ditiru oleh DC. Sayang, sampai sekarang usaha itu sepertinya tidak (belum?) membuahkan hasil.

Meskipun agak berat untuk saya akui, "Civil War," pada saat tulisan ini dibuat, bukan hanya film paling terkini di dunia film Marvel, tapi juga yang terbaik. Mungkin hanya trilogi Batman-nya Nolan yang jelas superior secara kualitas dari film ini. Benar-benar top.

Pembandingan yang tak terelakkan.

"Civil War" dibangun di atas ide bahwa superhero, meskipun dengan niat yang mulia untuk menyelamatkan umat manusia, dalam proses-nya menuju ke sana akan mengakibatkan kehancuran yang mungkin menyebabkan orang-orang yang tak bersalah ikut menanggung akibatnya. Mereka yang kehilangan orang-orang tercintanya akibat ulah superhero ini, lagi, meskipun mereka punya tujuan yang mulia, sudah pasti akan menyalahkan para superhero ini. Bahkan seorang yang paling logis sekalipun akan kehilangan akal sehatnya ketika orang yang dicintainya terenggut dengan paksa dari sisinya. Begitu ceritanya.

Ide ini, mungkin kebetulan, mungkin juga tidak, sudah dijelajahi oleh "Dawn of Justice" yang dirilis tidak lama sebelum ini. Dua bulan? Di "Dawn of Justice," ide ini disampaikan melalui kacamata seorang Bruce Wayne ketika dia berlarian di antara reruntuhan kota Metropolis, mencoba untuk menyelamatkan pegawainya ketika dua orang Dewa bertempur dan menimbulkan kerusakan yang luar biasa di langit kota Metropolis. Di akhir adegan ini, Bruce Wayne, merengkuh seorang anak kecil yang kemungkinan kehilangan orang tuanya di antara puing puing gedung yang hancur, menatap ke angkasa dengan penuh angkara ke arah dua Dewa yang menurutnya, bertempur tanpa mengindahkan kehidupan manusia di sekelilingnya. Ini sebetulnya adegan yang bagus. Efektif. Saya suka bagian ini.

Di "Civil War," ide yang sama ini dirpresentasikan oleh Daniel Brühl yang di film ini memerankan lakon penjahat utama. Karakternya kehilangan keluarganya di even cerita "The Avengers: Age of Ultron." Di sini, alih-alih murka, dia berbincang pelan, namun penuh dengan emosi dan kesedihan yang memdalam dengan Chadwick Boseman tentang keputusan yang dia ambil. Keputusannya ini makin diperkuat dengan adegan singkat yang sejenak menyorot layar handphone-nya.

Kalau adegan Metropolis di "Dawn of Justice" saya sebut sebagai adegan yang efektif, adegan "Civil War" ini langsung menonjok muka, mencabik-cabiknya dan kemudian menyebar serpihannya ke empat arah mata angin. Karakter Daniel Brühl mungkin tidak memiliki kekuatan super, tapi itu justru membuat karakternya makin menarik dan membuat saya tanpa ragu menempatkan karakternya sebagai lakon penjahat utama terbaik dari film-film Marvel. Mungkin kedua setelah Joker-nya Heath Ledger.

Perbedaan yang cukup mencolok lainnya dari kedua film ini, berkaitan dengan ide dasar yang melandasinya, bahwa jika di "Dawn of Justice," Bruce Wayne yakin bisa mengalahkan Dewa, di "Civil War," karakter Daniel Brühl tahu bahwa dia tidak akan sanggup mengalahkan para Dewa. Dari sini, lahir kepahaman, dan dari situ, kebijaksanaan. Ini memberikan "Civil War" sisi yang sangat manusiawi ketimbang "Dawn of Justice" yang lantas menjadikannya film yang jauh lebih baik darinya.

Padat. Tapi mengalir.

Tak bisa dipungkiri, ketika sekumpulan superhero dikumpulkan dalam satu film, akan ada banyak hal yang harus dirangkai. Selain kebutuhan untuk memajukan alur dengan wajar, film ini juga harus meluangkan waktu untuk mengenalkan Black Panther dan mengenalkan kembali Spider-Man. Pun demikian, saya cukup senang dengan bagaimana akhirnya film ini mengeksekusi transisi antar plot dan adegan aksi yang menyertainya. Sepanjang pengetahuan saya, tidak ada adegan aksi yang tiba-tiba muncul tanpa konteks seperti adegan Batman di masa depan pada film "Dawn of Justice." Semuanya pas. Adegan keroyokan di bandara yang digadang-gadang di trailer film ini pun rupanya bukan adegan terakhir meskipun secara kuantitas paling banyak pesertanya.

Adegan bandara ini benar-benar dibangun dengan sangat baik. Meskipun tokoh yang terlibat di situ lebih banyak dari jari di kedua tangan saya, setiap orang dapat spotlight yang cukup dan tidak bertele-tele. Dan yang paling penting, gampang diikuti. Semua kru yang membidani adegan ini, mulai dari penulis, perancang set, aktor, stunman, sampai sutradara layak diacungi jempol karena memang layak dihadiahi jempol.

Lagi, meskipun agak tidak terima, saya pikir setelah film ini, DC mendingan tidak usah terlalu ngoyo untuk mengumpulkan superhero-superhero mereka di satu film. Kecuali mereka bisa mencari orang seperti Kevin Feige. Damn, untuk urusan membangun Movie Universe, Marvel benar-benar sukses meng-KO DC.

Kok bisa Captain America jadi keren gini?

Ketika "The First Avenger" diumumkan, rasa ingin tahu saya tergelitik. Saya benar-benar penasaran waktu itu tentang bagaimana Captain America dibawa ke film. Menurut saya, Captain America ini superhero yang membosankan. Hampir seperti Superman. Saya cenderung mengasosiasikan Captain America sesuai dengan nama yang disandangnya. Patriotik, heroik, selalu menjadi contoh yang baik karena yah, dia merupakan representasi dari nilai-nilai yang menjadikan Amerika sebagai Amerika yang ideal. Tidak ada abu-abu di visinya. Hanya Hitam, dan Putih. Benar, dan Salah. Tidak ada ambigu dalam pilihan yang diambilnya. Selalu yang "benar."

"The First Avenger," sejauh yang bisa saya amati, tidak pernah mengubah karakter Captain America yang saya pahami selama ini. Dan di luar dugaan saya, menjadi film yang sangat menghibur.

Lalu kemudian "The Winter Soldier" muncul. Sebelum "Civil War," "The Winter Soldier" mungkin salah satu film terbaik dari Marvel Cinematic Universe. Saya suka ide-nya yang simpel, mengenai privasi yang di dunia nyata, paska Snowden, merupakan isu yang semakin relevan. Saya juga lebih menyukai pendekatan berantem tangan kosong yang mungkin akan menjadi trademark dari Captai America.

"Civil War" masih ajeg mengikuti aturan-aturan ini dan dieksekusi dengan lebih baik. Berantem tangan kosong? Cek. Ide yang sederhana? Yah, mungkin tidak sesederhana itu, tapi Cek.

Banyak yang bilang bahwa Robert Downey Jr. tidak tergantikan sebagai Iron Man. Yap, dia memainkan karakter Iron Man dengan SANGAT BAIK. Begitu baik bahkan sampai-sampai bisa dianggap bahwa sesungguhnya Tony Stark terinspirasi oleh Robert Downey Jr. Namun ini justru menjadi bumerang buat saya karena begitu Iron Man pertama lewat, kita sudah tidak bisa lagi membedakan RDJ dengan Tony Stark sehingga di film-film berikutnya, karakternya cenderung jalan di tempat.

Beda dengan Chris Evans. Secara kualitas akting Chris Evans mungkin tidak sebaik RDJ tapi ini justru menjadi kekuatan dia. Saya bisa melihat bagaimana Chris Evans, juga Steve Rogers, karakter yang ia perankan, menjadi lebih baik dari film ke film. Sampai-sampai kita bisa merasakan bagaiman Steve Rogers (dan Chris Evans) menjadi makin dewasa dan makin bijak dari film ke film. Saya sungguh menikmati perkembangan karakternya.

Dalam hal ini, saya pikir tidak berlebihan kalau saya bilang bahwa lebih dari RDJ, buat saya justru Chris Evans yang perannya sebagai Captain America sulit tergantikan.

Berikutnya?

Kita sudah berada cukup jauh di dalam Marvel Cinematic Universe. Jadi, meskipun saya pikir kecuali Marvel memelankan tempo dan membuat skope film berikutnya lebih kecil akan sulit menyamai kualitas "Civil War," apapun yang terjadi, kecuali Marvel benar-benar membuat blunder yang super besar, kita akan tetap berbondong-bondong ke bioskop untuk mengetahui kelanjutan cerita dari Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)

Jeblog.

Oookay... mari kita bicarakan yang pahit-pahit dulu tentang film ini. Dianggap "gagal" oleh kritikus, dan meskipun sukses di box-office pada minggu pertamanya, mencetak rekor tekor pada minggu kedua (drop 69%) yang bisa dilihat sebagai indikasi bahwa meskipun film ini mampu menarik minat penonton pada tayangan perdananya, sepertinya banyak juga yang jiper dan lebih memilih untuk nunggu donlotan atau DVD bajakannya setelah mendengar respons dari penonton yang melihatnya di minggu pertama.

Basically, saya bisa mahfum dengan kenapa film ini dianggap jeblog secara kualitas. Pun demikian, saya tidak akan membahas tentang itu lagi karena toh para kritikus profesional sudah banyak yang mewakili suara saya. Alih-alih demikian, saya akan mencoba menulis tentang kenapa saya malah terhibur dengan film ini dan pada akhirnya tidak berkeberatan dengan prospek Zack Snyder menyutradarai superhero DC berikutnya.

Batman v Superman. Risky.

Ketika mereka pertama kali mengumumkan niatan untuk membuat film "Batman vs Superman," pikiran pertama yang terlintas di kepala saya adalah, "Okay, gw tertarik, tapi gw gak akan berharap banyak." Because really, if you are going to collide two of the biggest superheroes in DC universe, you are going to have a lot of small things that could go wrong and would fuck up the entire movie. Ditambah, DC punya niatan untuk catching up dengan Marvel dan berniat untuk membuat film ini sebagai pengenalan untuk film keroyokan superhero DC a la "The Avengers." Because, D-U-I-T.

So, jadilah, film yang menceritakan dua bintang besar, ditambah ada kebutuhan untuk menyisipkan cerita-cerita "mini" di dalamnya supaya nanti kalau film keroyokannya jadi muncul bisa dibilang "make sense," dalam sebuah kerangka cerita yang kalau bisa gak lebih dari tiga jam. Wajarlah kalau akhirnya saya, pada awalnya, tidak terlalu berharap banyak dari film ini.

Messy, yes, but also, Fun.

Ada hikmahnya karena ternyata saya cukup senang dan menikmati film ini. Yes, it is still a mess, beberapa kunci plot disederhanakan sedemikian rupa sehingga terlihat bodoh di film (kepentingan durasi tentunya), tapi "fun" factor yang diberikan oleh film ini ternyata cukup tinggi. Paling tidak itu yang saya rasakan.

Film ini dimulai (lagi-lagi) dari masa kecil Batman. Agak susah untuk menikmati bagian ini karena sudah terlalu sering diulang dan sepertinya setiap film Batman (dengan bintang baru) jadi seperti punya kewajiban untuk mereka ulang adegan matinya kedua orang tua Bruce Wayne. Saya begitu tidak nyaman dengan adegan ini sampai saya harus mengatakan ke diri sendiri kalau-kalau siapa tahu Snyder mengubah adegan ini dengan slow-motion ciri khas dia dan bisa paling tidak menyamai setengah dari kualitas adegan pembuka Watchmen. I was right about the slow-motion part, but I was wrong about it being half as good as Watchmen's opening sequence.

Tapi kemudian, adegan berikutnya, ketika Bruce Wayne berlarian di antara kota reruntuhan kota Metropolis sementara Superman dan Jendral Zod berantem di angkasa, mampu membayar ketidaknyamanan saya terhadap adegan pembuka barusan. Adegan ini, menempatkan seorang manusia biasa (meskipun Bruce Wayne, super kaya, super atletis, tak bisa dibilang sebagai manusian "biasa") di tengah kerusakan yang ditimbulkan oleh dua makhluk luar angkasa yang memiliki kekuatan seperti Dewa. Dan satu dari makhluk luar angkasa tinggal di Bumi. Dari adegan ini, saya bisa memahami kenapa Batman, pada awalnya menentang kehadiran Superman di tengah-tengah umat manusia.

Sayangnya, setelah adegan ini, kekacauan dari film ini dimulai. Adegan demi adegan muncul silih berganti seperti tanpa ada koheren. Beberapa adegan mengenalkan tokoh, menyiapkan karakter untuk kelanjutan cinematic universe di masa depan, atau sebagai alat untuk memajukan plot, atau (dalam kasus Batman masa depan) terlihat seperti hanya alasan untuk menyisipkan adegan keren.

Well, the scenes went on, and on. Meskipun saya tidak merasa bosan, saya bisa memaklumi pendapat negatif tentang film ini. They were, well, just too damn obvious to be ignored.

Princess of Awesome-ness.

Tapi akhirnya, kita sampai pada apa yang mungkin menjadi adegan terbaik di sepanjang film. Wonder Woman.

Dengan soundtrack yang super keren, adegan munculnya Wonder Woman sepertinya merupakan adegan yang paling berkesan dari film ini. Snyder, I think, at least gets her right. Gelang, tameng, pedang, dan lasonya meninggalkan kesan yang mendalam. Pula, bagaimana cara Wonder Woman bergerak, mengincar titik lemah lawannya, bagaimana bahkan dia bisa menyeriangi ketika dijatuhkan oleh Doomsday, menunjukkan bahwa Wonder Woman tidak main-main dengan titel Warrior of Amazon yang disandangnya. Sedari "Fast and Furious," saya sudah naksir berat sama Gal Gadot sampai-sampai saya merasa geram ketika di film tersebut, ada cowok Asia yang menciumnya. Dan peran dia di Wonder Woman semakin menguatkan hasrat saya padanya. Itu jelas. Saya pikir akan sangat sulit kedepannya ketika dia harus pensiun dan para sineas harus menggantinya. Well, paling tidak untuk empat lima film ke depan, posisi dia relatif "aman." Kecuali jika Wonder Woman dibatalkan karena film ini yang tidak sesuai harapan. Well, can't do anything about it.

Kesimpulan. Give Snyder a Chance.

Banyak yang bilang bahwa Snyder tidak paham akan karakter Superman sehingga film tentang Superman yang dia sutradarai tidak bisa meng-capture esensi dari Superman itu sendiri.  Terus terang, saya tidak perduli dengan Superman. Di komik, pribadinya terlalu tulus, kekuatannya tidak tertandingi (sumber kekuatan, matahari), dan sepertinya tanpa cela. Boring. Tapi saya pikir Cavill cukup sukses memerankan Superman di sini bahkan bisa saya bilang kalau Cavill adalah Superman terbaik yang pernah muncul di layar. Yes, bahkan lebih baik dari (alm) Reeve.

Mengenai Batman, ada adegan di mana Batman menyalahi kode etiknya sendiri. Kode etik yang sepertinya sampai film ini dipegang teguh oleh komik dan film-film Batman sebelumnya. Saya tidak terlalu mempermasalahkan hal ini. Ketika fans Batman yang lain ribut, "Loh, kok Batman begini?" saya hanya mengernyitkan dahi dan mumble, "Oh, wow, menarik." Ribut-ribut fans Batman ini bahkan sampai membuat Snyder merasa perlu untuk membuat video klarifikasi. Bagi saya bagaimana Snyder memperlakukan Batman adalah hak perogratif dia sebagai penulis dan sutradara. Toh, pada akhirnya kalau dilihat, personaliti Batman yang ditampilkan di film ini cocok dengan atmosfir dan dunia tempat film ini diceritakan. Shouldn't be a problem. It was an interesting take, and I personally find it refreshing.

Kesimpulannya, yes, Batman v Superman plotnya berantakan. Meskipun demikian, saya pribadi sangat menikmatinya, Batman dan Wonder Woman were phenomenal here, dan pada akhirnya jika Snyder harus menyutradarai film berikutnya dari cinematic universe DC, tidak ada sedikitpun masalah dari itu.

"Perdido Street Station" Review

Pertama membaca "Perdido Street Station," saya serasa langsung terbawa ke dunia yang meskipun pada awalnya terlihat akrab dan biasa, dengan cepat berubah menjadi dunia yang fantastis, bahkan terkadang mengerikan. Pada awalnya saya seperti menyusuri jalan pasar Agrabah di cerita Aladin, dan kemudian ke dunia mekanikal yang penuh dengan kontruksi robot yang penuh dengan roda gigi, piston, uap dipasang carut marut tidak seimbang sehingga ketika bergerak terlihat kikuk, dan ribut. Clank... clank... clank. Berjalan lebih jauh ke dalam dunia ini, saya lantas disajikan dunia yang benar-benar berbeda. Cenderung mengerikan. Dunia yang seperti dibuat oleh serpihan-serpihan mimpi buruk pengarangnya. "Perdido Street Station" nyata cerita ber-genre fantasi yang berbeda dari kebanyakan cerita fantasi lainnya.

Ini pertama kalinya saya membaca China Miéville. Awalnya saya pikir "Station" adalah novel fiksi ilmiah karena memang pada awalnya saya mengambil buku ini karena saya pikir buku ini adalah novel fiksi ilmiah.

Wajar saja kalau kemudian saya sedikit terkejut ketika ternyata dari beberapa halaman awal pun sudah langsung bisa disimpulkan bahwa "Station" ber-genre fantasi. Dan bukan High fantasy macam "The Lord of the Rings" yang biasa saya baca.

Untungnya, rasa terkejut saya dengan cepat menghilang ketika saya berkenalan dengan dunia "Perdido Street Station" dan karakter-karakter yang menghuninya. Meskipun, karakter-karakter ini tidak selamanya enak dibaca (atau dibayangkan). Ada manusia kaktus, ada manusia berkepala kumbang, makhluk air yang bila dibaca sekilas merupakan manifestasi dari Jabba the Hut dari seri Star Wars, dan lain-lain. Ini yang "normal." Ada beberapa makhluk yang menurut saya lebih baik dibaca dan dibayangkan sendiri.

Sedikit butuh waktu untuk ceritanya berkembang menuju klimaks. Sebagina besar chapter awal fokus pada pengembangan karakter, dan penjalinan plot yang memang cenderung ruwet. Akan tetapi, klimaks dari cerita ini relatif layak ditunggu. Cukup epik, cukup baik untuk dijadikan film aksi, misalnya.

Akan tetapi, mengadaptasi buku ini menjadi film rasanya susah karena pada akhirnya cerita yang diangkat di buku ini tidak bisa dibilang cerita yang "menyenangkan." Akhir ceritanya, yah, let's say ada banyak cara bagi si penulis untuk mengakhiri cerita ini di nada yang lebih "ceria" ketimbang yang akhirnya dipilih oleh Miéville. It's good, though. Buat saya, cukup menyegarkan ketimbang akhir cerita yang biasa-biasa saja.

Kesimpulannya, perkenalan yang baik untuk akhirnya membaca Miéville untuk pertama kali. Meskipun demikian, saya akan coba buku lain yang lebih ringan, lebih ceria daripada melanjutkan perjalanan saya lebih dalam ke Bas-Lag, semesta rekaan Miéville. Tapi, suatu saat, saya pasti akan kembali. Itu jelas.

Rating: ★★★ - Good read. Sedikit susah untuk dicerna, dan endingnya mungkin terlalu depressing bagi kebanyakan pembaca.

"The Forever War" Review

Ada sebuah asumsi yang bisa diambil ketika kita berbicara mengenai bacaan fiksi ilmiah. Asumsi tersebut adalah, cepat atau lambat, kita akan mendengar seseorang menyebut buku ini. "The Forever War" karya Joe Haldeman.

Pun demikian, karena satu dan lain hal, buku ini tidak sempat saya baca meskipun saya sudah memilikinya. Hampir terlupakan. Sampai beberapa hari yang lalu ketika saya mendapati "Starship Troopers" di putar ulang di televisi.

"Starship Troopers" meskipun sebetulnya filmnya biasa saja, tapi cukup fun dan mungkin satu-satunya film di mana saya bisa mentolerir Denise Richards tanpa perlu membayangkan dia telanjang. Dan entah bagaimana, ketika saya melihat film ini saya teringat "The Forever War" dan mungkin sampai berpikir bahwa film ini merupakan adaptasi dari novel tersebut (it's not). Ini cukup membuat saya akhirnya mulai membaca buku ini.

Dan saya menikmatinya.

Hal yang menggelitik saya adalah kebebasan Haldeman di buku ini untuk menggambarkan seks, orgy, hubungan sesama jenis, dan semua hal tabu yang terselip di antaranya. Tapi, lebih dari itu, saya bisa bilang saya sungguh menikmati "War" terutama ketika karakter-karakter utamanya masing-masing menghadapi "perang" mereka sendiri di antara komunitas manusia di masa depan daripada ketika mereka berada beberapa tahun cahaya dari bumi, di garis depan, berperang untuk membunuh makhluk luar angkasa.

Saya juga sangat menikmati aspek dilasi waktu dari cerita ini, sekali lagi memaksa imajinasi saya untuk mencoba memahami luasnya alam semesta ini di mana kita hanyalah sebuah blip yang tak berarti.

Meskipun bagaimana "War" menyudahi ceritanya sedikti banyak terasa terlalu buru-buru dan sederhana, cerita ini, buat saya, mencapai tujuan Haldeman untuk mengutarakan kritiknya tehadap perang. Haldeman, seorang veteran perang Vietnam tentunya sudah mengalami hal-hal yang tidak mengenakkan selama pengalamannya di medan perang. Dan dari situ, dia akhirnya memiliki pandangan negatif terhadap perang, dan coba diungkapkannya melalui "The Forever War."

Untuk hal ini, saya pikir "The Forever War" berhasil. Dan apakah "The Forever War" akhirnya menjadi bacaan penting untuk penggemar cerita fiksi ilmiah? Saya akan jawab "Ya."

Probably the best scene from the movie. (Inherent Vice, 2014)

Probably the best scene from the movie. (Inherent Vice, 2014)

via Tumblr

“The Three-Body Problem” review

Lanskap Fiksi Ilmiah

Karena saya bisa berbahasa Indonesia dan Inggris, pilihan buku fiksi ilmiah yang saya baca pun, naturally, either berbahasa Inggris atau berbahasa Indonesia. Walaupun jujur, saya hampir tidak pernah lagi membaca buku berbahasa Indonesia. I mean, let's be honest here, they are all basically sucks. Anyway, karena itu, secara kultural, suka tidak suka, ide atau setting yang terserap dari buku fiksi ilmiah (paling tidak busat saya), biasanya lebih cocok bila saya telaah dari kacamata barat. 

"Three Body Problem" adalah buku fiksi ilmiah pertama yang saya baca yang berasal dari penulis China. Walaupun ide dan eksekusinya tidak sekuat fiksi ilmiah karya penulis barat, pun demikian bukan berarti lemah, ada kesan tersendiri ketika membaca cerita yang backdrop-nya bukan di Amerika atau Eropa. Dan ini, yang bagi saya, membuat buku ini lebih menarik.

Buku ini kurang lebih menjawab paradoks Fermi. Paradoks ini, yang dinamakan atas pencetusnya, ilmuwan Enrico Fermi menyatakan bahwa alam semesta begini luasnya, masa cuman kita yang mengisi? Mana orang-orang? Saya pribadi percaya akan kehidupan lain selain Bumi. Mungkin, bisa jadi, saya tidak akan pernah mengalami hebohnya penemuan alien di masa hidup saya, tapi bukan berarti saya ndak percaya. They are there. Mungkin mereka sama seperti kita, tak tahu menahu akan adanya kehidupan di luar sana, tapi bisa jadi, mereka sempat mampir, terus melihat kita, umat manusia, tak ubahnya seperti semut yang not worth the effort to be examined dan lantas dilupakan.

Namun, sebelum sampai ke situ, buku ini terlebih dahulu membawa kita, pembacanya ke China di bawah pemerintahan Mao, dan Revolusi Kebudayaan di tahun 60-an. Di sini, kekuatan sekaligus keunikan buku ini. Karena penulis besar di China, ada perasaan autentik yang menyertai penggambaran situasi selama Revolusi tersebut. I ended up reading the whole Wikipedia article related to this revolution. 

Three Body Problem

Selesai dari situ, pembaca kembali di bawa menelusuri problema yang menjadi teori buku ini. Pendek kata, "Three Body Problem" merupakan masalah matematik yang melibatkan tiga obyek besar yang saling berinteraksi. Dinyatakan bahwa ketika tiga obyek besar, katakanlah sebesar Matahari yang daya tarik gravitasinya sendiri mampu mempengaruhi gerak obyek besar lainnya (Bumi, misalnya). Gravitasi Matahari terhadap Bumi relatif sederhana karena hanya melibatkan satu obyek besar sehingga pergerakan orbit Bumi bisa dengan mudah diprediksi. Akan tetapi, apabila dalam tata surya kita terdapat bukan hanya satu, tapi tiga Matahari, "Three Body Problem" menyatakan bahwa ketiga Matahari ini, pergerakannya mustahil untuk diprediksi sehingga alih-alih siklus siang dan malam yang jelas yang selama ini kita alami dari satu Matahari, siklus siang dan malam untuk kasus tiga Matahari tidak akan bisa diprediksi dengan tepat.

Jelas buku ini ditujukan untuk pembaca fiksi yang sedikit banyak memiliki ketertarikan terhadap luar angkasa dan pergerakan anggotanya. Permasalahan matematik yang diajukan penulis juga bisa dibilang sahih dan bahkan si penulis menganjurkan pembaca untuk mengunduh paper yang membahas masalah ini. Saya sendiri menganggap diri saya memiliki ketertarikan yang cukup terhadap aspek ilmiah tersebut dan tentunya, cukup mudah bagi saya untuk menikmati buku ini.

Narasi

Tentu saja, fiksi ilmiah dan kekuatan narasi jarang bisa berjalan beriringan. Narasi merupakan titik lemah buku ini, bahkan mungkin cenderung malas karena praktis, beberapa bagian terasa sama persis. Ini pula yang membuat saya cukup cepat membaca buku ini karena di sepertiga terakhir, seperti membaca ulang bagian sebelumnya yang hanya berbeda di beberapa aktor kunci saja.

Namun, pada akhirnya, berkat buku ini saya menjadi sedikit lebih berpengetahuan di dua hal baru. Revolusi Kebudayaan Cina dan Three Body Problem itu sendiri. Dan bagi saya, hal ini lebih dari cukup. This is why I read.

"The Martian" review

Pembukaan

Buku ini, baik pembukaan maupun sinopsis-nya oke. Asik, bahkan. Mark Watney, astronot NASA, botanis, sekaligus insinyur mesin, "tertinggal" di Mars ketika tim eksplorasi Mars yang mana ia menjadi salah satu anggota harus take-off karena badai pasir yang mengancam kelangsungan hidup seluruh tim. Mark terhantam serpihan logam yang merusak baju astronot-nya dan mengirim sinyal sistem mati ke anggota tim lainnya. Kapten ekspedisi dengan segera mengambil keputusan untuk tidak mencari Mark dan segera meninggalkan planet. Tak dinyana, ternyata Mark masih hidup.

Ingredients yang bagus untuk film sci-fi. In fact, Andy Weir, si penulis sudah menjual hak cipta untuk pembuatan film berbasis novel ini dan saat ini syuting sedang berlangsung. Matt Damon yang ditampuk menjadi Mark Watney, si astronot malang yang terdampar di planet Mars.

Spekulasi

Menariknya buku ini adalah, lebih daripada usaha Mark untuk survive (estimasi misi penyelamatan, beberapa ratus hari) di Mars, bagaimana fakta ilmiah yang menjadi dasar buku ini membuat kita pembaca berpikir bahwasanya tidak mustahil untuk kita umat manusia, dengan teknologi yang kita punyai sekarang untuk benar-benar serius berusaha migrasi ke Mars. Andy Weir benar-benar melakukan penelitian yang mendalam terhadap nyaris semua aspek yang menjadi prasyarat kelangsungan hidup Mark sehingga setiap aspek tersebut memberikan sensasi "Wow, okay, that could work." Bahkan, ada satu dua titik plot di mana Mark harus mencari probe yang diluncurkan oleh NASA (in actual life) untuk dibongkar dan diambil bagian yang esensial untuk Mark. Yes, the more technical readers would surely spot the little details or faults within Mark's efforts tapi untuk pembaca kebanyakan, membaca novel ini cukup membuka mata.

Childish Hero

Pada dasarnya buat saya, cerita fiksi ilmiah punya kebebasan untuk menanggalkan kewajiban "fiksi" selama dia memiliki ide "ilmiah" yang menarik untuk diceritakan. Intinya, ketika saya memilih buku untuk dibaca dan bila kebetulan buku tersebut bergenre fiksi ilmiah, ada semacam setting di ekspektasi saya yang bisa mentolerir narasi, atau penggambaran karakter yang tidak menarik.

Untuk "The Martian," awalnya saya juga bisa mentolerir karakter Mark yang lebih memiliki ciri khas seorang remaja yang selera humor-nya tidak jauh-jauh dari selangkangan, ketimbang seorang astronot NASA, ahli botanis, DAN insinyur mesin. Awal mulanya sih menarik, amusing, tapi tentu saja, hal seperti ini tidak bakal berumur lama dan segera, alih-alih menarik, malah jadi tendesius dan membosankan. Indeed, tak butuh waktu lama buat saya untuk merasa terganggu dengan karakter kekanakan Mark. Lebih parahnya, ternyata tidak hanya Mark yang memiliki kecenderungan seperti ini. Sepertinya semua karakter yang ada di buku ini memiliki template yang sama dengan Mark. Terus terang, sangat mengganggu dan buat saya, sudah masuk ke kategori annoying dan tidak lagi bisa ditolerir.

Dan itu mungkin poin minus dari saya buat buku ini. Cukup minus, tapi apabila anda tertarik untuk melihat bagaimana seorang botanis/insinyur mesin bisa survive di Mars dengan trik-trik a la MacGyver, by all means, don't let this review stop you.

Spoiler Alert

Ini peringatan terakhir. Tulisan berikut ini mungkin masuk kategori spoiler ringan. Apabila anda tipe pembaca/penonton yang tidak mau terkena spoiler silahkan acuhkan bagian ini.

Tak ada keraguan tentang apakah Mark akan survive atau tidak. Saya pikir pembaca yang jeli akan segera menyimpulkan bahwa it's not about if Mark is going to survive or not, but it's more about how. Sepanjang novel ini, masalah demi masalah datang bertubi-tubi kepada Mark namun, one way or another, he's always surviving. So before long, there's this feeling that whatever danger Mark was in, he'll survive, because he's invincible. Not necessarily a bad thing, tapi karena simpati saya terhadap Mark sudah lama hilang (karena kecenderungannya untuk ngasih bad childish joke), membaca novel ini menjadi kurang lebih sama dengan membaca jurnal teknis. In fact, I almost wished that the next challenge Mark has to face would kill him, to make it more interesting, if not bleaker. Cukup menarik, demi fakta-fakta ilmiah yang terkait dengan misalnya bagaimana memisahkan oksigen dari bahan bakar roket, akan tetapi begitu sudah sampai di titik aksi penyelamatan Mark sendiri, it was flat. And I remember flying through the rest of the pages without even bothering to read between the lines (Because well, there were none).

"Tau Zero" Review

Pertama-tama, lihat cover dari buku ini. Cover buku “Tau Zero” yang saya beli cover-nya persis seperti ini. Ada rumusnya! Dan ini bukan hanya rumus abal-abal karangan si penulis. Well, maybe, mengingat Poul Anderson juga adalah seorang ilmuwan dan bisa jadi dia termasuk penemu rumus ini. Can’t tell. But anyway, rumus ini adalah rumus yang sepertinya berkaitan dengan teori relativitas Enstein yang berkaitan dengan dilasi waktu akibat dari kecepatan yang sangat tinggi sampai mendekati kecepatan cahaya.


Apabila v dalam rumus ini mendekati kecepatan cahaya (c) maka rumus ini nilainya mendekati nol. Thus, the title for the book. “Tau Zero.”Premisnya sederhana, 25 ilmuwan pria, 25 ilmuwan wanita, dipilih oleh umat manusia untuk menjadi pionir dengan mencoba mengkolonisasi sebuah planet di gugus bintang sebelah. “Sebelah” di sini tentu saja relatif. 

Secara teori dalam buku ini, butuh sedikitnya 5 tahun untuk terbang ke planet tersebut dengan kecepatan yang memadai yang mana 5 tahun ini akan sama dengan paling tidak 30 tahun terlewat di bumi.Poul Anderson menjelaskan mekanik dari perjalanan luar angkasa ini, pemakaian mesin propulsi teoritis Bussard ramjet yang baru dikonsep beberapa tahun sebelum buku ini terbit, efek dilasi waktu yang menyertainya, beserta segala aspek ilmiah yang ada di dalamnya dengan bahasa yang relatif mudah dimengerti. 

Ada beberapa hal yang saya tidak paham sehingga harus saya skip, seperti misalnya penjelasan mengenai spektrum cahaya pada kecepatan mendekati kecepatan cahaya. Beberapa hal lainnya harus saya baca berulang-ulang sehingga saya sedikit banyak paham mengenai landasan teori yang menyertainya. 

Pendek kata, untuk penggemar eksplorasi semesta, buku ini rewarding sekali. Ada banyak hal yang bisa dipelajari darinya. I’m not going to pretend that I undestood everything Poul Anderson described in the novel, but let’s just say that I can quite grasp the concept of harvesting hydrogen in lieu of fuel during interstellar travel better than I was before I’m reading the book.

Lalu, bagaimana dengan aspek plot fiksinya? Bagaimana kenyataan bahwa pesawat yang mereka tumpangi terus berakselerasi tanpa bisa berhenti memengaruhi para ilmuwan pilihan yang ada di dalamnya? Kelihatannya Poul Anderson tidak begitu perduli. Bisa dimengerti. Saya pun tidak perduli karena memang sedari awal saya membeli buku ini (karena baris review, “A textbook with a plot”), saya menginginkan aspek ilmiah dari buku ini lebih daripada aspek fiksinya. Jadi, saya bisa dengan mudah mengacuhkan bagian interaksi manusia yang digambarkan oleh Poul Anderson dan lebih menelaah bagian narasi ketika Poul Anderson mendeskripsikan pesawat antariksa yang melaju sedemikian cepatnya sehingga menggangu keseimbangan semesta.

The ending was literally mind blowing. Lepas dari benar tidaknya teori yang mendasari keputusan ending-nya, it was simply mind blowing.

The Deer Hunter (1978)

United States, 1978
Cast: Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, John Savage, Meryl Streep
Director: Michael Cimino
My Rating: **** / ****

If you knew me at all, you know that i'm going to love this film. A three-hour more film about characters development, about war, and its tragedy. Yeah, it's tragic drama, sometimes breathtaking but rewarding in the end which came with a full package of three-hour running time. Yeah, you know i love this kind of film.

Mike (DeNiro), Nick (Walken), and Steve (Savage) were three friends in which this film focused at. They and bunch of other friends lived in a small town where they worked on a steel-mill, spend their night on a local bar, and once in a while go out for Deer hunting. They were unique personality, and during the first half of the film, we're given much of their personality, even on some characters, enough to love him earnestly. My personal favorite was of course Mike, you (who have seen the films) probably scoffs of how i say that Mike was quite a resemblance of my character. The greater part of the hour of this film was spent on Steve's marriage prior of his (with Mike and Nick) departure to serve their country in the war of Vietnam. Now, this marriage scene was a very enjoyable scene to watch, all those costumes, all those tunes, and all those dancings, i loved the grand reception, and i found myself even dancing to the tunes. But it makes me also wonder, seeing how Steve who was unabashedly happy would leave all that behind and went to Vietnam where chances are that he won't be back to his family. All in all, the mood was perfect. The characters were developed nicely as we see how Nick and Mike were the best of friend promising each other not to leave another behind. However, the mood was gradually but surely turns into gray. And at least, i feel the heavy cloud hanging as the mood finally changes. To Vietnam.

Friends of mine who had seen this film all said in one agreement that the Russian roulette scene was fuckingly superb. They were right. The Russian roulette scene was a breath-taking scene and i found myself almost barely able to breath. That scene on the river and of course the final scene in Hanoi. They were violent, brutal, and most important of all, engaging.

The film was clock in at 183 minutes, but not even once i stiffled a yawn (even LOTR: Return of the King has made me yawn), not even once i detered my attention from screen even though that i was hungry at the time, or even though i had several real-life problems to deal with at the time. The length of film was proved necessary and almost enough to develop the characters to where the film was aiming at. It was a study on how war changes one's personality. How one treats love, and how one reacts to the unrequited love he has. And my god, i've seen Christopher Walken like in thousand different movies. But in "The Deer Hunter" he was so freakingly young. Still dancing, still singing, but so young. Eerie. Truth be told, nonetheless, i feel like this was his (Mr.Walken) best. And this film in overall, would be one of the film i liked best. Visually stunning, the film has a very much visible depressing feels which at the end, leaves me troubled. But of course, if you knew me at all, i loved depressing movies.

Superman Returns

No, the movie hasn't released yet. It scheduled to release worldwide on 28th of June. That would be, oh, next week folks. But, on the other hand, i was really fed-up about all this marketing-hype of the Man. Well, okay, it's two weeks away for the promotional team to really pull the hype, but with all these posters, teaser trailers and all, if i wasn't a comic-geek-fan and had a decent access to all i mentioned above, i would really questioned about the quality of the film itself when it's REALLY out.

Anyway, this is my favourite poster, so far.

Random Thoughts

I saw Ed Wood for the nth time last night. I've never did a proper review of the film, mind you for i've never seen the footage oustide the television box which of course, you knew, how much i hated watching films on TV (those commercial breaks, unnecessary cuts). Well, anyway, Ed Wood was a Tim Burton's film which depicted the live of one Edward D. Wood Jr. who many believed (i was excluded, for i've never seen his films) as The Worst Director of All Time. Now that was a grand title to be given to a person. And it didn't just merely said "A Bad Director", but "THE Worst Director" with capital "THE". Just waw.

It was one of the scene on the Ed Wood that actually prompt me to wrote about this random thoughts (what's so random about it anyway?). On one scene, Ed Wood was in bed with his lover, after a disastrous review he had received from his effort on theaterical play he directs. He says to his lover, "I was bad", and she says, in comforting voice all lover always seem to had, "You know, it's just one review". "Well, you know, Orson Wells wrote, stars, and direct 'Citizen Kane' when he was twenty-five and i'm already thirty", was his answers.

I was dumbfounded. Yeah, Citizen Kane a film that has been granted as the Greatest Film ever made by AFI (American Film Institute) was made by a guy whose age was 4 monhts away from my current-age. Immediately, my mind turned to Haute Tension. A 2003 horror film which i thought was one of the best and most original that the genre has seen for about.. oh, a decade? It was made by Alexandre Aja. And he was just twenty-three back then. And oh, its success has brought him to Hollywood where he was given a helmet to re-made The Hills Have Eyes, again, a decent re-make horror flicks if i ever see one.

All this success achieved in such a young age, always able to caught my attention and made me think. Damn! where was i? Where am i fit into this? i was practically going nowhere these last two years. I had so much wasted time. I was too concentrated on what other's think of me, and never thought of myself.. I was giving too much and never recieve any. Makes me really wanted to scream. Focus! Damn it! Focus!

Date Movie (2006)

United States, 2006
Cast: I dont care
Director: I really dont care either
My Rating: 0 / **** (only because i can't give negative scores on my sheet)

First of all, my man, James Berardinelli didn't reviewed this film so i dont put the movie's poster on this review as well. But instead, i grab a picture from New York Times which i think really say what i think about this film, "disgusting".

Once in a while, especially when my life was harsh, and my mind was heavy, i needed a stupid film so i could, you know, contemplating about what had happened to me, but mean-while, at the same time some foreign sounds would snapped my twigs and brought me back from whatever i had in mind before it's blogging my mind into further state of depression. And also, usually, i ended up cursing about the film in question and for a moment could really forgotten what i had in mind. And that was a very acceptable diversion.

Anyway, "Date Movie" was supposed to be a spoof from a several comedy/romance genre films that we've witnessed over the years. But, however, i used to say that a spoof film was worked well when the audience knew what film it spoofed of. On "Date Movie", despite several popular films to be spoofed, Darth Vader for instance, Meet the Parents and Meet the Fockers, Kill Bill stuffs, there are few (far too many) references that left the common audience dumbfounded. I was watching this film with a friend of mine, he was a year older than me. He said that the movie was full with useless scenes. While i was fully agreed with him, mine was entirely on different reasons with him. Take this fake orgasms scene. I was surprised when he said, "what's the point of this scene?". That scene was stupid, not funny, and overlong, but i was immediately known that it was taken from "When Harry Met Sally" only the role was reversed. For on "When Harry Met Sally", Meg Ryan (female) doing a fake orgasm, on this film, it was the male (i dont care who he is) that doing a fake orgasm without any apparent reasons, and even without any apparent correlation with the scenes before or after. Hence, stupid, not funny, and overlong. But, alas, i was managed to give a chuckle. Only because i remembered Meg Ryan, not because the scene was actually funny.

All in all, let me back to where i started. This film was fake, stupid, and disgusting. I must warn you, only, just only if you were on my state (with weary mind, and harsh day) you should really consider of watching this movie. Hell, even Scary Movie's 2nd installment was better executed. And if you knew me, though Scary Movie series were my guilty preasure, to think about Scary Movie 2 always succeed in giving me shivers, and spat. Damn these stupid teenagers movies... i dont know, if this film was meant for teenagers, how come that there were several scenes that spoofed from the films that was made when they were still in their diapers, or worse yet, when they were still in their mom's womb, or still hinted on their pop's sperm... *what the hell am i talking about?*, *nudging head on the walls*.

The Da Vinci Code (2006)

United States, 2006
Cast: Tom Hanks, Audrey Tatou, Ian McKellen, Paul Bettany
Director: Ron Howard
My Rating: ** / ****

I was one of those guys who happened to think that Da Vinci Code (the book) was highly over-praised. Not over-rated mind you, just over-praised. Everytime people say that "Whoa.. the book was superb!" i was immediately going into disgusted state and tried to shown how much i disliked the book. But again, not entirely disliked but simply because i dont think that the book was priviliged to recieve such praise. Truth be told, i wish to be distinguished from the common-folk by spotting the tiny holes in the book and turned it into a bigger hole yet.

Well, now let's talk about the movie. As a purist, i was usually read the book before i went to the movie which adapt the book in question. And so was the case with DVC (the film). I went to the cinema with full knowledge of how the story would evolve and the secret hidden under its sleeve. You may think that it would made my judgement to the film would be biased. But, again, i'm not the one who paid any mind for being spoiled.

The Da Vinci Code (the film) was meant to be a mystery / thriller. Easily judged by the way they executed the credit title, the way they bought the atmosphere, and the way they put those creepy sounds (which actually at some point really-really annoys me) all around. But as it turned out, too much expositions was spent between the thrills. Well, i know, it was inevitable for such things to happen. Mr. Howard was however, wanted to put as much essence from the book's story into 2:29 hours of movie time. And with many jargons and technical stuffs, it was actually pretty understandable to built the plot in such manner. However, i found that the plot was a little bit overlong. I dont know why. Maybe it was because none of the characters and their chemistry raised my interest beyond those 'controversy' that has been talked about since the book hit the world-wide shelves several years ago.

Even though led by superb actors / actress whose some of which are happen to be one of my favourite, they weren't given enough time to develop their characters from beyond the thin-paper the book gives. I sometimes winced when Sophie (Tatou) and Langdon (Hanks) doing their conversations. Mr Mc.Kellen however, gave a rather enjoyable performance. If i was about to mention my favourite scenes of the movie, i would certainly mentioned the scene where Teabing (McKellen) explains to Sophie about "The Last Supper" as one of those scenes.

But well, my take was, if you haven't read the book, you may enjoy this film (even though i could easily point out several people who hasn't read the book, but found the film was equally boring). If you have, by the way, you may also found the film (as i was) rather boring.

All in all, i would remember this film. Not because the film itself, but the situation that enabled me to watch this film (at theater, by the way, which something i haven't done in quite some-time).

News Flash

I'm in Love. i'm in Love. i'm in Love.

Quick Report

March 2006:

A History of Violence (2005) ***1/2 / ****
A pleasant departure from what many believed as a director who specialized in horror and disturbing pictures, David Cronenberg. A little bit dragging in the middle, the ending scene was moved. Best performance, in so far, from Viggo Mortensen. Clearly, one of the most under-appreciated film in 2005.

All About Eve (1950) ***1/2 / ****
It's a dog eat dog world... er.. i mean, girl eat girl world. In showbiz, one's innocence couldn't be held for what it is. As was Eve Harrington's innocence. From what looks like an innocence village girl who wanted to be a star to a wicked witch with many dirty schemes under her sleeve, Eve has it's all, and it's All About Eve. Also check Marlyn Monroe's quick performance. I never thought that she was THAT beautiful before.

The Seventh Seal (1957) *** / ****
A Knight came home to his castle from the Crusade. Only to come to a land where black plagues haunted every village and every living being. What make it worse, a grim reaper, a Death itself came confronted him in a game of chess, the very last game he was about to play. Packed full with subtlety and symbolism, this film was clearly not for everyone. Only recommended if you wanted to know what does Ingmar Bergman's take on religion, death, and god.

Mulholland Drive (2001) **** / ****
My first Lynch. I love it from start to finish. The haunted music, the surreality in Naomi Watts' expressions (and not to mention when she cried in the end of the film), the shocking twist, until the "what? why? and how?" questions that surely would surfaced after you finish the film and you see the end-credit rolls itself, you'd found yourself wanting more of this film, and thinking about it for days. Believe me, i do thinking about it, even after days.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) **1/2 / ****
Well..

Brokeback Mountain (2005) ** / ****
I dont understand about all the fusses about this film. It's about cowboys. It's about gay-thing. Sure, the cinematography and the soundtrack was beautiful. But, it doesn't give me what i want. The film was given too much attention on the unrequited and forbidden love between Heath Ledger's character and Jake Gyllenhaal's character. I found myself wanted to know more about Michelle William's character's take on the whole affair that befell on her husband. And when the film didn't give me what i want, i felt disappointed.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (2005) * / ****
Bla... bla.. bla... zzzzzz... what? what? huh? the film has ended? oh, well... i've read the book, i dont like it. I didn't expect anything from the film, and i didn't get anything except a good nap with earphones tucked on my ears.

City Lights (1931) ***1/2 / ****
My first Charlie Chaplin's. The story was well known, because i've seen it rehearsed or represented in various ways in recent modern cinemas. A poor guy fell in love with a blind flower girl, by some mischief and luck, this poor guy found enough money to cure the flower girl's blindness with somethin more to start a store. But when he comeback (with no intention to reveal his true identity to the girl) as a homeless, even poorer guy, the girl doesn't recognized him (of course). That is until, she hold his hand. Ow.. what the heck... i cried at the end of the film.

April 2006:

12 Angry Men (1957) **** / ****
I've always loved a film that situated in a single time-frame or a single set. This film has both. Twelve jury are about to decide a fate of the convicted murder. In order to do so, the jury must have anonymous vote regarding the fate (guilty or not guilty). I got hooked right from the first when the vote was 11 guilty and 1 not guilty. Superb dialogues. Superb chemistry between these 12 guys (who mostly only known as jury #1, jury #2, jury #3, and so forth).

Just Like Heaven (2005) *1/2 / ****
Too... many... in... consistent... logic... help. Hey, but Ms. Whiterspoon is quite a looker.

Saw 2 (2005) **1/2 / ****
I'm enjoying it, a tad better than the first one in fact. I liked the executions idea and methods, and i liked how this Jigsaw character held all the cards even before he was asked to play the game of cards.

Paths of Glory (1957) **** / ****
Of all the Kubrick's filmography that i've seen, i enjoyed this film the most. It's about human's greatest lust of power that even cheapen the life of other human being. When an ambush going awry, a general in charge decides to pull random men from his command to get executed as an example. What intriguing was, we the audiences clearly knew that the attack, the ambush was impossible even if the attacking forces were doubled. So, what happened to the wicked general? what happened to the men who deemed 'guilty of cowardice' and about to be executed? It's for you to find out. It's quite provoking, and emotional film in itself.

Hostel (2006) * / ****
First half of the film filled with bunch of eastern European ladies naked. Second half of the film filled with tortures, executions, bloods, fleshes, and gores. Since i watch this film only interested with the second film, i was greatly disappointed. Moreover, i didn't get much from the gore. Disclaimer: Even though i said that the gore wasn't much, a friend of mine had refused to watch the rest of the film after several minutes into the torture scene.

Announcement

I have received several emails complaining about the frequency in which this blog was updated. It was quite a shocker really, since i DONT gave my private email address freely (in order to keep those spams and junks away). So, i bid my thanks and my deepest apology to all of you who (i was still surprised really) had paid attention to this blog and to a puny, so-so, and uninformative reviews that i had written in the last couple of years.

Well, actually, i was about to shut this blog. By next month (May 20th is my word, but alas, never trust datelines given by a software developer. Especially when such deadlines weren't quite that important and advantageous :)), i hope i had an URL address ready, new layouts (that's for sure), new contents, and most important of all, i hope that i had several contributors to write as well, so you wouldn't have to bear to read my pretentious one-sided reviews anymore.

See you soon. Thank you and my apologies.

March 2006 Experience (part 1)

This March, i had a precious chance to broaden my horizon by watching movies that either has become a classic, or came from once legendary directors. Pardon my language, but i had the very first intercourse with Alfred Hitchcock's, Ingmar Bergman's, and David Lynch's. All, in this early two weeks part of the month. This, gonna be a long post. Well, here's what you going to expect from this (series-of) post. By the way it was ordered by the time i've seen the film: North Country (2005), Rear Window (1954), Psycho (1960), A History of Violence (2005), All About Eve (1950), The Seventh Seal (1957), and Mulholland Drive (2001).

1. North Country (2005)
Cast: Charlize Theron, Frances McDormand, Sissy Spacek, Sean Bean
Directed by: Niki Caro
My Rating: *** / ****

Another one of those 'inspired' by the true-event film (not to be confused with based on real-event), North Country portrayed the life of Josey Aimes, a female mine-worker who (again, in this film) the first female worker to ever sue the company where she worked regarding of the harsh-treatment she and her female co-worker received from her male co-workers.

When i read about the premise prior to the film, i had briefly placed myself on a neutral position. And i was very much believe that those won't change even after i've seen the film. Because, naturally the mine was a place where you do dirty stuffs, required more muscle, and within harsh environment where most would be attributed it to the male world. So, i think it's sufficient to say that the idea of a female mine-worker recieving harsh-treatment from her male co-worker was - in my opinion - appropriate on such environment. Further, if i was told to point a finger, I would blame the girl for her job-choice. As if there wasn't any job (with less harsh environment, that is) left out there.

Alas, Niki Caro, being a woman herself, spends a big portion of the movie to deal intimately with Josey's life. More than enough for us to fall in love to her, to sympathize with her conditions, and ultimately to stands in line behind her when she stood for her right. And that's why this film works. However, at the cost of jumbled narrative at the end. For it seems that the movie-makers had just realised that the running-time for this film had exceeded two hours mark and they hurriedly put the conclusions to fit in. But, i'd say again, that the film works. Much thanks to superb performance by Charlize Theron, she was so beautiful, by the way, and Frances McDormand whose previous performance in Fargo made her effort to put an accent at her speech in this film like a walk in the park.

2. Rear Window (1954)
Cast: James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Wendell Corey, Thelma Ritter
Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock
My Rating: **** / ****

My first Hitchcock's flick. Long story short, if a film made in all its humbleness, simple in execution, but, could provide thrilling entertainment, then that film was either really good, or has been made by superb film director, mastering in thriller. Well, "Rear Window" is both. The entire film was shot in and from one location only. Which is in our main cast's apartement looking through the apartement's Rear Window to the neighboring apartments where the event which was the main interest of this film took place. And, if that wasn't enough, all of the sound in this film is diegetic, which means that all the music, speech, and other sounds all come from within the world of the film.

L.B Jeffries was a photographer. He had been forced to stay at the apartment with one footin in a cast that temporarily put him out of any outdoor activities. So what does he do then? he eye-ing his neighbors through the window of his apartment. Sounds simple? it is. But believe me, it drags you. It sucked you in to Jeff's POV, up to a point where you share his curiousity, believes to his illusion, well, want to believe would be more appropriate, and subsequently turns his experience into ours. As the film progresses, several other characters interact with Jeff. They were either agreed with Jeff, or contradict him, or reminded him (and us) that eavesdropping (or the sort) was naturally moral-wise bad. And therefore, he (Jeff, as with us as well) was a bad person.

But who needs morality when you've got your curiosity? As they say, curiousity kills the cat. And this kitten here should be ashamed that he (guided with Jeff's binocular) chose to ignore the lady whose about to killed herself with a lethal dose of some sleeping-pills over the truth. Over his curious-ness. Alas, this kitten knew the fact, knew that he should be ashamed by doing that, way after the movie hits the gutter.

3. Psycho (1960)
Cast: Anthony Perkins, Janeth Leigh, Vera Miles, John Gavin, Martin Balsam
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
My Rating: *** / ****

I've got a little-problem with the title that even though i've wrote it several times already, i still can't manage to get to write it correctly in the first try. I've always wrote it Phsyco, Physco, or some other before i opened an internet window to see how does "Psycho" spelled correctly. Ah well.

Many considered this flick as Hitchcock's magnum opus. While i cant say whether i agree or not, considering that i've only seen two of many Hitchcock's filmography, i could savely say that i agree that this film was more than enough to give you thrills throughout its film-length. And if someone say that this film was the best thriller film ever made, i wouldn't dare to argue him about it.

When the film was released for the first time, Alfred Hitchcock warn the audiences that they should not share the mystery, the twist on its end to another who hadn't seen the film. Understandable. I mean, most of the people i've met would agree that if you knew Bruce Willis' character was dead for the entire film of "The Sixth Sense" before watching the movie itself, you wouldn't had that much fun comparing to those who hadn't known the truth behind the film. In fact, you wouldn't had fun at all.

On the other hand, i was one of those rare-type-movie-guy who doesn't care shit about spoilers. And so, yeah, before i had the chance to see this film, i've read the script, and know very well the truth behind the mystery. But that doesn't keep the surprise-factor alien from my universe. Not just once, i've shocked twice. I was pretty much sure, that you who have seen the films would agree that this film was shocking indeed, at least (especially) on the two points i fore-mentioned.

Other than that, the films was surrounded by not-too-shabby cast. But the ultimate cast was the one who played Norman Bates. That guy's grin on the end of the film, creeps me out. And while he looks like an O.K man, a kind-hearted man, you would agree that his seclusion and detachment from the outside world were very visible that if you really met him in the real world, you would distanced yourself as well.

Jarhead (2005)

United States, 2005
Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Peter Sarsgaard, Brian Geraghty, Jamie Foxx, Chris Cooper
Director: Sam Mendes
My Rating: *** / ****

I was one of those kids who in his youth was mesmerized with John Rambo. I mean, who wouldn't anyway? I think that it is safe to say that every kids of '80s would at least catch a glimpse on who is Rambo regardless if he has already seen the film or not. I was one of those who hasn't seen the film but had enough feed on Rambo. Enough that sometimes, i'm re-enacting his actions. A muscular guy with a huge machine gun, taking down a whole army of Vietnamese all by himself, fight for a righteous act, wicked looking combat knife, and of course, that red bandanna. But then again, when i really had the chance to see the film in question (part II, not part I) years later, i decided to dislike it, entirely.

Now, aside from that, since that moment i had a solid concept inside my head about a war movie. That every war movie is different, yet every war movie is the same. Ow, wait, that sounds exactly like the voiceover at the end of this film, Jarhead, which i was about to write.

Over the years, as i grow older, and digested more movies than it's allowed, i learnt of an anti-war movie which is a film that instead of putting the weight on its deliverance upon patriotism-issues (which was a turn-off for me, since i was often at odds against the protagonist's patriotism. Take "Pearl Harbor", or "Black Hawk Down" for an instance), it often, if not always put the word war before a question mark. Such as, "why war?". Take "Full Metal Jacket", or "Appocalypse Now" as an example. Okay, you may disagree with my analogy. But that's how i viewed the anti-war film.

"Jarhead" was undoubtedly was those among the anti-war films. It told about the Gulf war, the first Gulf war, by the way, when Iraqi soldiers tried to "re-capture" Kuwait. But, of course, it didn't justified the war, or taking side. It viewed and told the war from a perspective of a "Jarhead" (which is a jargon that branded to the Marine Corps). A young soldier, Anthony Swofford (Gyllenhaal) who had undergone a harsh basic training only to be sent to the desert with almost nothing to do. Swofford and his fellow-mates must wait for a war that it turns out, never come to the tip of their rifles. And during those wait, their 'personal-war' begun.

Well, unlike most other anti-war film that i've seen, this film doesn't questioned the need of war, nor deal with the soldier's humane perspective in killing others. This film is simply dealt with the soldier who had been trained to kill, trained to love their rifle, trained to make their rifle into the part of their body, trained to believe that they were there to serve their country only to find that their training had been taking its toll more than they could give. "At least, let him kill the man", someone said. And that's how one could summarized Jarhead in short words. Their in-ability to kill, not their guilty-conciussness after the kill that led them questioned the war.

On the other side of coin, this film was like any other war film that i've seen because there were almost no variety to the characters. We see the same kind drill-instructor, we see the same kind mind-insane team-mate, we see the same kind of lead actor, and we see the very same kind leader (who also gave personal speech that was delivered by any other war films only with different style). But, if anything, though it's a little bit too long for me.. (at some point, i wondered if i should turn off the film and sleep instead), i enjoyed Jarhead with its absence of patriotism-issue that could make me slap myself on the temple. I enjoyed the handy camerawork and cinematography (though, what do you expect from desert environment? green mountains?). And, had to admit, even though i never liked Jake Gyllenhaal, i dig him in this film. And this film was among the top 10 of my best-of-2005 films list.

Well, not much of a review, but hope it helps.

Intermezzo

It's been a month, i know. But, check out this blog.

http://www.cinematical.com

This blog had a LOT of gimmicks and tidbits about movies and current gossips.

New Job, Old Faces

Title.