About a Film: The Second Sight/ Chit Sam Phat (2013)

Karma only works for the people who deserved it

(Jet)

Director: Pornchai Hongrattanaporn

Screenwriter: Sukkosin Akkarapath, Pornchai Hongrattanaporn

Casts: Nawat Kulrattanarak, Yayaying Rhatha Pongan, Virapond Jirawetsuntorakul

Origin: Thailand

Running time: 90 minutes

Synopsis: A man who can see karma, but not his own

Oh my God, the visual effects....

Film ini mengingatkanku dengan film The Eye buatan Pang Brothers beberapa tahun yang lalu dimana seseorang punya kemampuan untuk melihat spirit. Tapi, film ini memulai ide cerita dengan menghubungkannya dengan karma, yaitu semua orang akan mendapatkan sesuatu sesuai dengan apa yang mereka lakukan or you reap what you sow. The idea of the movie is pretty much good but again, it all depends on how the movie is executed. Dan melihat bahwa film ini harusnya film yang horor yang basically dibuat untuk membuat orang takut, aku bilang film ini pretty tame. Well, aku sama sekali ngga kerasa takut waktu nonton film ini. Kemunculan hantu di film ini sama sekali tidak menimbulkan efek yang mengagetkan dan visual efek dari film ini juga tidak terlalu captivating, atau bisa dibilang lumayan jelek. Lol. Mungkin karena film ini seharusnya film 3D, jadinya kalau menonton film ini tanpa kacamata 3D, efeknya bakal jelek banget buat penglihatan.

Jet's having a vision

One of the incredible scenes

Well, film ini dimulai dari cerita seorang anak bernama Jet yang memiliki kemampuan melihat masa depan dan melihat hantu. Awalnya dia memprediksi tentang kematian Ibunya sendiri dan akhirnya pada waktu dia dewasa, kemampuannya tidak kunjung hilang dan akhirnya hal tersebut yang kadang kala membantunya untuk mengerjakan pekerjaannya. Tapi, apa betul hal terseut membantunya? atau malahan menyeretnya ke sesuatu yang lebih berbahaya? Well, apart from that, film ini kurang memenuhi ekspetasiku karena aku punya harapan tinggi untuk film-film horor Thailand. Bagaimana tidak, film horor Thailand sebelumnya berhasil membuatku punya standar yang tinggi seperti Shutter, Nang Nak, 4Bia, dan banyak lagi. Jadi, film ini sepertinya kurang captivating. Yang mana menurutku, sayang sekali, karena disini ada si cantik Yayaying Rhatha Phongan yang udah punya nama besar dan kemampuan aktingnya tidak bisa dipungkiri. Tapi, ya sekali lagi, aku mau bilang kalau ide film ini bagus. Maybe if you have a spare time dan pengen nonton film Thai secara random, kamu bisa nonton film ini. Memang sih tidak sebagus film horor Thailand seperti biasanya, tapi ada twist menarik yang lumayan menunggu di akhir cerita. Saking menariknya, aku yakin kalau film ini bisa dieksekusi dengan bagus, film ini pasti akan sama menyenangkannya seperti Alone

(well, at least it wasn't like Knock Knock)

Credits:

BLOGHORROR @ youtube for the trailer

About a word: YOLO

Credits:

http://rahjy.tumblr.com/ for the awesome gif

Baiklah, siapa yang ngga tau soal kata yang satu ini? well, aku ngga tau soal ini beberapa taun yang lalu dan mikir kalau maybe it has something to do with POLO, dan beberapa saat setelahnya, aku akhirnya gugel dan baru tau kalo frase ini sebenarnya singkatan dari You Only Live Once or Carpe Diem or Kamu Hanya Hidup Sekali or Ente Cuman Hidup Sekali Doang, Bray. Ternyata oh ternyata, awalnya aku beneran mikir kalau itu jenis kaos baru, sepupunya POLO dan untungnya aku ngga beneran nanya sama orang dimana aku bisa beli YOLO. Bisa berabe ntar!

About YOLO, aku ngga yakin kapan pertama kali slang ini muncul, tapi katanya kata-kata ini mulai dikenal, thanks to bapak jatilan kita, Drake yang katanya bikin slang ini makin dikenal di kalangan orang banyak. Ide Drake untuk menginput kata YOLO di lagunya ini, bikin slang ini makin banyak digunakan. Yah, ngga cuman dipake orang di Amerika sana, banyak orang yang latah pake kata ini, termasuk di Indonesia. Tentunya dengan keberadaan internet, semua orang jadi banyak tau soal kata yang nggemesin ini. Aku sendiri bukan orang yang sering pake kata-kata ini, tapi aku ngerti kenapa banyak orang pake kata ini, it explains every awkward situation easily, YOLO! Ah ya, speaking about the origin of this word, sebenarnya ada sih yang usaha untuk trace back darimana kata ini berasal dan kamu bisa baca sendiri disini karena they have explained everything, why should I make another one?

Dan YOLO, karena kepopulerannya, triggers beberapa meme yang mana beberapa di antaranya:
1.

Yeah, YOLO, mam

Credits: doulla @ memecenter.com

2.

autocorrect rules

Credits: sigh101 @ memecenter.com

3. and this

basically because I start this post because of him and his YOLO moments

Credits:
Morgan Deckert @pinterest

Dan seperti yang aku sebutkan sebelumnya, ada beberapa lagu with YOLO moments:

1. Ini

2. Ini

3. Bahkan ini? (I'm not really sure about this, but well YOLO)

Well, the fact is YOLO is getting bigger and bigger everywhere as well as the people who hate about it. Aku liat ada banyak orang yang sepertinya fed up sama kata ini, saking gampangnya beberapa orang berpikir tentang hidup. But, well, in fact, the word teach you something. It warns you that You Only Live Once, so you should make your life precious. Yet, some people just take it to a different way and carelessly doing things. YOLO, people.

About a Film: #Horror (2015)

It wasn't real, it's not real

(Sam)

Director: Tara Subkoff

Screenwriter: Tara Subkoff

Casts: Sadie Seelert, Haley Murphy, Bridget McGarry

Origin: USA

Running time: 101 minutes

Synopsis: Cyberbullying among teens leads to a serious problem

Good dat combo

Two reviews in one day won't hurt, so I'm typing another one. #Horror, as mentioned in the title, belongs to horror genre. Not only that, it was a psychological one. With teen problems. Which in this movie, it's about cyberbullying. Well, cyberbullying movie is often being a theme of a movie lately. I've seen some cyberbullying movies these days and it was not only an American one, but also Korean and Japanese movie industry did some. And that makes me realize that many producers think cyberbullying is pretty much a threat that it should be taken out as the theme of the movie. Yet, compared with another movie, this movie had a different way in describing the cyberbullying. For some scenes, the movie is like a Candy Crush Soda Saga's part and I don't really understand why the director put that part. Does she want to emphasize about how addicted people to the game or there is another message about it. Well, I've seen some movies which emphasize twi****(please, don't make me type it) as one of the problem which caused cyberbullying, but Candy Crush Soda Saga? and the thing is that game can possible cause a brain damage or psychological problem for teens? Well, I can't relate it. Maybe it's just my brain which can't decipher the message behind it, but yeah, it's a major turnoff for me that I can't really understand about what really happened in the movie.

it's weirder and weirder

Another thing, the movie is trying to be as depressing as it can be but, some scenes are making it confusing, rather than depressing. Well, I get the depressing part when I saw how the teens  acted now. They are only 12 but they did some things which I think it was inappropriate for 12 year-old-girls and on the top of that, they suffered some mental problems, despite of their young age and the mental problem was not that easy to be solved. And also, what's wrong with the parents in this movie. All of them was....weird. Or it's just me who didn't know the fact that there were some parents with those kinds of attitude. Well, maybe the latter, because irl, I know people gone crazy and difficult these days. 

no, wasn't Ex Machina

Another thing, the movie is taken a place in a house in the middle of nowhere which reminded me of a house in Goodnight, Mommy which make me think that the director might want to create such isolated situation. Well, apart from that, the movie is full of artistic things which, personally, bring a weird vibe in the movie because some of the arts are weird and I can't put a finger on it. Sometimes, the arts look like it was alive but, I don't know if the director made it so in purpose, to emphasize that the arts can be alive, regarding to the people whom see it. And one thing, I just realize that watching the movie is like listening psychedelic music but, less enjoyable because the movie makes me dizzy.

Last words for this movie, it was not everyone. Trust me, I know it because this movie is not for me, it's too difficult for me to understand about it and I'm writing a post about this movie is just because I've watched the movie and I think it'll be such a waste if I didn't post anything about this. Although the people who read this post, maybe won't find anything worth in the post unless my constant confusing expression about the movie. Well, the movie has a potential to be a good one. In the ending, I feel like I know the message about the movie and it's a good one. But, I just don't understand why the director make it so difficult to decipher, precisely for me. I just.....why? Nice cinematography, though.

(no, it wasn't The Purge)

Credits:

FilmIsNow Movie Trailer @ youtube for the trailer

About a Film: Stung (2015)

Hey! Get the fuck off him!

(Julia)

Director: Benni Diez

Screenwriter: Adam Aresty

Casts: Matt O'Leary, Jessica Cook, Lance Henriksen, Clifton Collins Jr.

Origin: USA and suprisingly, Germany

Running time: 87 minutes

Synopsis: When another party stung a party

When everybody is going home and I'm just stuck in my room, typing some words for my...duty and suddenly it's stung and......okay, whatever, the thing is it's time for another post and I'm going to write about a horror movie with plenty romance in this and that, called Stung. The truth is I have watched it last year but, I didn't have any urge to write about it until now. I will stop blabbering and get down to the business!

Okay, it's going to be nasty

Stung is a horror movie and based on the title, I guess you'll have an idea about the 'monster' in the movie and have an imagination about how the movie will be about. Personally, this movie kinda reminded me of Braindead and The Fly, but less gore and classic (well, of course!). And yet, yet, this movie has its gem. It's that romance story beneath it. This movie has its moment when the two lead characters, the male and the female attracted to each other, despite of the shitty situation they're in. Personally (again), I did have imagination about it. When the male character and female character was trying to survive, yet they can't help but to fall in love each other. Just like what I imagined to Daryl and Beth but, then Beth died and my imagination is ruined and for some moments, I've been one of that delusional audience who think that Beth will be alive again. Enough for this depressing situation, now I'm gonna talk about the casts.

Like I said, they attracted to each other

I'm not an expert when it comes with acting skills. But, I think all characters was pretty good. It's not great but, they managed to make it so entertaining. Matt O'Leary and Jessica Cook who played as Paul and Julia, the lead characters, was not that bad. Matt O'Leary managed to play as Paul, a desperate guy whom tried to get an attention from Julia; meanwhile, Jessica Cook was good in portraying a person who tried so hard in making money for living. Both of them attracted to each other but, they just kept it to themselves. The tension between them was not really convincing for me, but it was okay. Lance Henriksen and Clifton Collins Jr. in the movie who portrayed the bad ass and the bad guy just make the movie a bit refreshing. Overall, the casts are pretty much interesting and entertaining for me.

You lost him! Deal with it! or no?

Last paragraph, the debut movie of Benni Diez who previously acted as visual effects guy in several movies such as Melancholia and Du hast es versprochen was worthy to be watched, for me. And oh yeah, regarding the director is an expert in visual effects, the visual effects in the movie is nicely done and can be one of the reasons why people have to watch the movie. And if you need another reason, then the movie have won a Best International Film in Fantaspoa International Fantastic Film Festival and nominated in Fright Meter Award. There, you have it.

(Oh my God)

Credits:

flickeringmyth.com for the poster film

FilmIsNow Movie Trailer @ youtube for the trailer

About a Film: Amsal/ Assasination (2015)

Long live Korea!

Director: Choi Dong-Hoon

Screenwriter: Choi Dong-Hoon and Lee Gi-Cheol

Stars: Gianna Jun, Lee Jung-Jae, and Ha Jung-Woo

Origin: Korea

Running time: 140 minutes

Synopsis: An assasination plot to glorify Korean resistance

Sure, she's a badass sniper in here

Kill or be killed

Menarik sekali, film Korea akhir-akhir ini tidak hanya tears and love and romance, tapi banyak film yang mulai mengeskplorasi jaman-jaman periodikal, seperti halnya film yang satu ini. Assasination merupakan film Korea yang digadang-gadang sebagai salah satu film paling laris di tahun 2015 yang memenangkan beberapa penghargaan di Korea dan melakukan premiere di beberapa film festival. Disutradarai oleh Choi Dong-Hoon yang sudah memiliki track record dengan menghasilkan The Thieves, Woochi, dan Tazza, film ini biasa dibilang film yang tidak main-main. Personally, film ini mengingatkanku dengan film-film konspirasi politik yang dekat dengan film produksi Cina. Well, apart with keterkaitan hubungan politik Korea dan Jepang yang ada di film ini, film ini malahan mengingatkanku dengan kota Shanghai jaman dulu. 

Having the time of their lives

Melihat beberapa nama besar yang ada di film seperti Gianna Jun, Lee Jung Jae, Ha-Jung Woo, Lee Kyoung-Young, film ini sayang sekali untuk dilewatkan. Oiya, ini juga kedua kalinya aku melihat duet antara Gianna Jun dan Ha-Jung Woo di satu film, mereka sepertinya menjadi sudah menjadi 'muse' dari beberapa sutradara dan pastinya powerful chemistry yang mereka tunjukkan di film ini juga sama kuatnya dengan di The Berlin File, film yang sebelumnya aku tonton. Satu hal yang menarik di film ini, Gianna Jun tidak hanya berperan sebagai satu karakter, tetapi dua karakter dan aku ngga tau apa ini sedikit biased atau tidak, tapi performa akting Gianna Jun semakin bagus dibanding pertama kalinya aku melihat dia di Windstruck. Tiga nama lainnya, Lee Jung Jae, Ha-Jung Woo, Lee Kyoung-Young juga bukan nama yang asing di dunia film thriller dan masing-masingnya punya torehan sejarah yang cukup baik. Dan nama-nama lainnya seperti Oh Dal-su, Cho Jin-Woong, Cho Seung-Woo juga tidak seharusnya terlewatkan untuk disebutkan. Sebenarnya sih, hampir semua nama di film ini punya track record yang bagus dan rasanya hampir tidak adil untuk tidak menyebutkan mereka semua berhubung pemain di film ini hampir seperti dream team, every cast is perfect.

Let's meet again

Untuk plot film ini, secara sederhana, aku bisa bilang kalau film ini tentang pembunuhan berencana. Tapi, tidak sedangkal itu, banyaknya pihak yang tergabung dalam pembunuhan berencana ini membuat film ini penuh dengan konspirasi yang rumit. Agaknya film ini seperti Valkyrie dan Inglourious Basterds yang dicampur dengan Infernal Affairs, bukan film dengan tema yang baru. Tapi, dengan Korea sebagai pemain utama dari film ini, tentunya ada perspektif yang terbaru yang bisa dilihat dari film ini. Sisi lain yang bisa dilihat dari dunia politik di Korea yang dipengaruhi oleh kependudukan Jepang. I don't want to spill the bean about the story, but I think plot yang barusan yang kusebut sudah menunjukkan cerita seperti apa dalam Assasination ini. Lebih jauh lagi, film yang berdurasi selama 2 jam ini lebih, benar-benar berhasil membuatku untuk tetap menonton tanpa adanya rasa bosan. Film ini entertaining walaupun perlu waktu yang lama untuk menontonnya. Well done, certainly recommended to watch.

(take a sip of the trailer!)

Credits:

Movieclips Film Festival & Indie Films @ youtube for the trailer