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Monday, August 5, 2013

Movies in July (Part 1)

Hi, everybody!

As i am writing this i've been annoyed since the moment i opened my eyes in the morning. Some people's stupidities are beyond belief, and it kills me when their stupidities affects me, when THEIR faults caused me to have to do things just to straight them up. Seriously, why should i, anyway? It's got nothing to do with me. Sometimes i wish i don't have any conscience at all, i'd just runaway and let those people deal with the consequences of their own actions. I'd be a few millions richer and they can scramble around to fill in where they messed up *LOL*, i imagine a lot of other people would do that. Screw me and my stupid morals. 

Anyway, since i need distractions so i would feel less annoyed, i am now going to write about the movies i've watched in the cinema throughout the month of July. I just counted, there were 12 movies we caught on July, wow... Yes, quite a lot of movies, but really... In July all good movies (or at least, hyped up movies) came out one after another, once we watched three of them three days in a row. It doesn't help that in fasting period, cinemas in Surabaya would close down from 4 to 8 PM, so we had to watch the 3 PM or 9 PM shows, nothing in between (i'd normally watch the 5 PM shows on weekdays) zzz.

First movie was a movie that we watched with Baby Boy in MOI's Blitz Megaplex, Jakarta.

I just LOVEEEE the minions so much i am absolutely biased about this movie! I read other people's review of this movie and they said it's nowhere near as good as the first one, and i do agree to some degree (that it's not as good as the first one), but personally i totally enjoyed the movie (a lot more than Monster University 2, at least this movie didn't bore me at all), especially whenever a minion would appear on screen!

Admittedly, i don't think the "human" scenes were too hilarious, but the minions kept on popping out, so i didn't have too much "bored" time between scenes. I love Agnes almost as much as i love the minions, so a lot of the scenes were quite epic for me. I LOVE the GELATO scenes the most (maybe second to the Underwear performance haha), also the part where the minion said "Bottom!" and started laughing hysterically. Or how when one of his friends were transformed into the purple being, the other one began laughing instead of being concerned *LOLOLOL*. My brother KC said "Minions are the happiest, most honest creatures. They never seems to be sad, ever!" and i couldn't agree more. 

Another scene that stole my heart was when Agnes said "Sometimes i starred at it and picture a chick popping out, pip pip pipppp!". OMG, why is she so cuteeee??? I agree with Gru, never grow older, Agnes!!! Okay, that's enough spoiler for those lost souls who haven't actually watched it (where have you been?) or plan to watch it on DVD (WHYYYY).

I guess i don't have to yap a lot about the plot, don't i? It's very simple, about Gru-the ex villain-who's adjusting to the family life (suddenly having three daughters and all), also trying out new job as a jam entrepreneur, when suddenly he was recruited by the AVL who was investigating the stolen secret Arctic lab and partnered up with his future love interest, Lucy (who according to lots of people, looks exactly like how a cartoon #Undecided would be! I kept on thinking about who Lucy reminded me of throughout the movie, and i just realized when #Undecided told me about what her hubby's friends said! I 1000% agree!!!! #Undecided wasn't happy about this though hahahaha).

In conclusion, i think maybe for the first Despicable Me fan, this movie wasn't as good as the original, but for die hard Minions and Agnes lover, it's pretty awesome! Haha. If i have to be less biased, i'd still say this movie's totally worth watching and would at least entertain you enough.

When i first heard about this movie's storyline, i was like "Isn't it too similar to Olympus Has Fallen???". And in summary, it really was similar (a lone macho guy had to rescue the kidnapped president from some terrorist while they already had full control of the White House), but in term of development and style, it was actually quite different. I guess this has becoming a trend, getting out two movies with similar story lines at the same time (like Mirror Mirror and Snow White and the Huntsman or those two movies about Osama Bin Laden's hunting and killing)?

A policeman was on a tour of White House with his teenage daughter when a group of terrorist took down the place and kidnap the president (and also held his daughter as a hostage) and he had to single-handedly save the president, the government (which was falling apart in correlation) and therefore-the world *LOL*). 

Some people (like L and if i remember correctly, my hunny) pefers Olympus Has Fallen, probably because it was more serious and err... macho? For me, i like White House Down better because it was funny, exciting, bigger *the explosions and all*, and more entertaining (for me). This is probably more popcorn than OHS, but i like it! I was never too attracted to Channing Tatum (the way #Undecided is), but i do find him to be endearing in this movie, i guess i have a soft spot of a guy who cries when he's worries about his daughter? Haha. In the same time, Channing really looked way too young to have a 13 years old daughter! 

I also like their selection for playing the president, Jamie Foxx was funny, eccentric, and a whole lotta nerdy. I dunno if he played the president convincingly, but i did find he very entertaining! 

Would i recommend this movie? Hell yes! It's two hours worth of excitement! Strictly for popcorn movies lovers though, no deep sh*ts here!

Hunny wanted to watch this movie, he said "Jet Li's movie", and i was like "Okay". I thought this was, first of all, a Hollywood movie, and second of all-being a movie starring Jet Li, usually that means it'd be a pretty decent movie filled with jam-packed action scenes and kung fu moves. I couldn't be more wrong.

It was a Chinese movie (but this is not a bad thing on itself, i do love Chinese movies and have lots of favorites), and it was a slapstick comedy. WTF indeed. The storyline was stupid and ridiculous, i read a review in Imbd and the reviews said it was probably trying to be a Stephen Chow movie (gone horribly wrong) and he's super right! Nobody can make slapsticks, stupid movies like Stephen Chow can (and make it super hilarious and entertaining) and one should never even try.

From the beginning to the end i was full of "HUH???" "WTF" and "WTH". It was about two cops (one veteran kung fu master-of course that's Jet Li, and the other one super stupid one) investigating a serial killer case called Smiling Murders (WTF) because each of the victim died with a huge smile plastered across their faces. Yes, the plot was ridiculous and stupid, but so was all of Stephen Chow's movies, but really... like i said, Stephen Chow is in a league of his own, slapstick comedies are not for everybody zzzz.

I really don't understand why Jet Li would agree to do this film, this is like a black stain over his perfect resume. SKIP!

First time i heard about this film, i wasn't interested in the slightest. They described it as "the biggest Western ever made", and i am definitely not a fan of Western movies (cowboy thingies... erghhh...). The only thing that sparked the tiniest interest was the fact that Johnny Depp was in this movie, and i kinda fancy Johnny Depp *LOL*. Then we saw the trailer and it was so funny! I especially LOVE how Tonto (Johnny Depp) said "There's something really wrong with that horse." The way he said it, his facial expression every single thing about that scene sold me!

A stiff lawyer joined his brother and the others Texas Rangers in pursuit of the notorious Butch Cavendish, they were ambushed and massacred by the bandits (except the lawyer wasn't really dead). He then was rescued by the eccentric Indian, Tonto, and together they attempt to bring Burt to justice. 

I was afraid it was going to be those serious, act macho cowboy movie, but it was anything but that! The movie was hilarious, exciting, entertaining (what else can you ask for in a movie?) and the casts were brilliant! I always love Johnny Depp the most whenever he's playing some lunatic character, and Tonto was reminiscence of a less drunk more crazy Captain Jack Sparrow. Armie Hammer also stole the show by being his awkward, hilarious self. 

I never fancied Armie Hammer (just like i never did Channing Tatum), he's more of #Undecided's cup of tea (in fact, she said those two looked alike, i agree in terms of they both are plainly handsome for me. Emphasize on the PLAIN), but i do love him as an actor, especially in comedies. He's one of those rare gigantic (he's super tall, you know), good looking guy who's not afraid to make fun of himself. In fact i think he single-handedly made Mirror Mirror slightly more watchable (hated it) with his antics. I believe this one's got a bright career ahead of him.

The movie was big, with warm hearted message in it, and good for almost all ages (because somehow i think some of the killing scenes were more PG-13, so no, probably not age appropriate for kids Baby Boy's age), it'll definitely entertain you. If you're put off by the fact that they described it as a Western movie, don't be. I hardly even thought it was Western when i watched it, it was more of an adventure comedy movie for me. A must watch!

The Heat 
Female comedy is not as big as male comedy, obviously. But ever since  Bridesmaids, more and more female comedy movies started popping out, and hallelujah for that! We don't need any more convictions that some girls can be a lot more hilarious than guys! I remembered a line from E! Entertainment when they were describing this movie, "What's more hilarious than Sandra Bullock in a cop movie? Adding Melissa McCarthy as her partner in crime!", i'll high five that!

A very stiff and strict FBI agent, Sarah Ashburn is very ambitious and as resident know-it-all, she was greatly disliked by her co-workers. She was sent to Boston to track down a sadistic drug lord, whose proxy was arrested by Mullins (Melissa McCarthy), who's a rough, super territorial, bull-headed police officer. They butt-headed ever since their first encounter with each other, but were forced to work together to solve the crime.

This movie was HILARIOUS. Not much on the story department, but this is one movie that worked really well because of the brilliant casting. Sandra Bullock was super funny (although i was surprised to see her face. Why did she looked so much like Michael Jackson now??? Did she had too many work done on her face? She was never classically beautiful but i always thought she was gorgeous on her own way, but not in this movie! Her face kinda scares me!) and believable as a stiff know-it-all while Melissa McCarthy... well... She's Melissa McCarthy! She's always hilarious in her rude, crazy way. I just love her. And i think she has the prettiest face ever.

The chemistry between the two leads were explosive, to say the least. Yeah, i couldn't stop laughing throughout the movie, but it also managed to made me shed a tear at the end of the movie. That's just the perfect kind of movie for me, one that made me laugh and cry all at the same time. Four thumbs up!

Man of Tai Chi
Yup, you guessed it. Another movie hunny picked haha. I just tagged along without expecting anything, which is good (sometimes too high of an expectations will turn into the biggest disappointment, yes?) because i ended up liking it a lot more than i thought i would.

This is Keanu Reeves' directorial debut movie, but if you're expecting a lot of his handsome face in the screen, you'd be disappointed. He was the cold-hearted super villain (he was okay, a bit too stiff and robotic-even more than usual though) and he showed up every once in a while, more of him towards the end of the movie. What really surprised me was that the movie was mostly carried on in Chinese (both Mandarin and Cantonese were used), definitely not something i'd guess when i first saw it considering they displayed Keanu's face on the poster (not the same one that i used for illustration here) along with the lead.

Speaking of the lead, his hair really really bothered me. I mean... he's already not good looking as it is *LOL*, he can really do without the fugly hair cut. The hair really bothers me that i kept on complaining about it though out the movie :p. 

A young martial artist (he was mainly a Tai Chi practitioner, but developed more of a free style martial art later) enters a martial art championship without his master's knowing (or blessing)-and it was super rare because Tai Chi was always viewed more as an exercise rather than used for fighting. His flawless performance attracted a super rich underground fight club owner (who disguised himself as a security company mogul) who lured him with money (that he severely needed to save his temple) but soon all the brutal fighting made him developed a taste for blood, and he couldn't really control himself anymore and started to stray out of the philosophy of Tai Chi, which is always about peace, harmony and balance.

As you can already guess from the title, it is more of a martial art action movie, so not much on the storyline, but don't worry! Where the story lacks, there were action packed scenes that made the time fly when you're watching in awe at the edge of the seat, rooting for the lead (that somehow grew from looking super skinny at first, became quite huge and muscly by the end of the movie *LOL). It is very entertainining, and if you're a martial art movie lover, i'd dare say you wouldn't be disappointed by this movie.

One trivia about this movie, there's an Indonesian action movie star in it. It's also the guy from The Raid, Iko Uwais. But his role was more of a cameo really *LOL*, it was really stupid. He was in one scene, chasing the lead around the stage and tried to fight him, but the lead just ran here and there, refusing to fight him. It certainly was nowhere near Joe Taslim's (awesome) performance in Fast and Furious 6, in fact i was more embarrassed than anything seeing him in this movie. He didn't even get to fight or show his fighting skill at all! (FYI, Iko's an Indonesian martial art athlete, he practices Pencak Silat) I did hear about him filming (but somehow i thought he was filming with Jet Li, WTF) in Hong Kong via twitter, i just didn't know that he was only in one scene and i also didn't know that it was for this movie. It was really embarassing when the "host" announced Gilang something from Indonesia, thankfully i was watching in Indonesia, not in some other country. LOL.

In short, if you enjoy martial art movies, and not too concern about the storyline (or the lack of, that it. This movie's storyline was really really simple), this is a pretty good choice to watch. 
  

Hmmm... I still have 6 more movies to write about, but this entry's getting so long already! I think i have to split it in two then! See you at part 2!
My newly re-touched and cut hair :D
#Pink

PS : We're in Taipei right now and been having so much fun! Going to Hualien later today and since the wifi in our current hotel's awesomely speedy i decided to post this!


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