February Movies

1:30:00 AM

Hi, world...

February had been both amazing and devastating (in general, there were just too many catastrophe happening especially in my beloved country. Personally i have no bad moments, except the slight lull in our business-which is tourist related so it naturally got affected by the disasters happening around us, and maybe the annual huge argument with my mum), but it's-like always-passed by super fast. I always feel a certain feeling of being at loss because February only has 28 (29 tops) days, i mean... 30 and 31 days are short enough as it is, February always makes me feel like time's slipping away way too fast...

But still, i had a wonderful February-the highlight was of course the 6-days family trip to Hong Kong, which i already start missing... badly (except for the super cold, non-heated hotel rooms) and i sure hope March would be equally as amazing, and better-no more flood and eruptions please! I hope today (writing this on March 1st-that almost passed since it's almost midnight already) won't be an indication on how this month will be for me though! There's nothing BAD happened today, but i was just so... off today!

Started with spilling half of my coffee all over hunny's night stand (and his wifi charger, oops) made me feel anxious (that's the OCD talking, just spilling coffee and using a huge wad of tissue to dry them up already sets me off) and horrible. How much clumsier can i be? And to think that i scolded my Baby Boy just a few weeks earlier for spilling my coffee all over our sofa. Look who's talking now. Then followed with a bad experience with a new nail polish *sigh*. Sometimes i fear for my mental health, such trivial things makes me feel on edge THE WHOLE frigging day. What's wrong with me???

Anyway, i gotta stop thinking about stupid things, i just needed to spill (ha, geddit?) it out somewhere, and of course-my dear readers... YOU'RE all the victims. HAHAHA. Moving on, yes... On to the reviews now... February's short, and we also couldn't go to the cinema for a whole week since we went to Hong Kong, so we only ended up with 7 movies-but 6 out of 7 were GOOD! It's the quality and not the quantity that matters, right?

1. Lone Survivor

I kept on confusing the title with A Lone Ranger WTF *slaps self*. This was hunny's choice (most of the movies we watched this month were his choices actually, not much girly-or horror-movies out this month), i never even heard about it before, but not only it was really good (but super gory OMG, i kept on shielding my eyes throughout the movie, i can stare at ghosts on screen for hours without blinking but i can't see blood and wounds and... arghhh!!!) but one of the stars' actually one of my current fave actor (i didn't even know he was in it, i only heard hunny said "Mark Wahlberg" and thought there wouldn't be any other stars in it), Taylor Kitsch.

Taylor Kitsch

Have a very soft spot for Taylor Kitsch ever since John Carter, too bad he had to die *albeit very heroically* in the movie. I'm not spoiling anything, read the title, it's LONE survivor. Of course only Mark Wahlberg's character survived. Oh, what's so scary about this movie? It's based on a true story. It made the whole thing even more horrifying thinking of what all the soldiers had to go through :(...

A team of four Navy Seal got a mission to capture and kill an Al Qaeda leader, the mission was supposed to be a simple one but thing started to go wrong when communication with the base got cut off (bad signal is everywhere...) followed by unexpected interference with some herders that went to their way, in the end they had no choice but follow their rules of engagement or being captured. They then had to face a very brutal, and deadly battle, severely outnumbered and with very unsupportive environment.

The movie was gripping, raw and real. It was not the Hollywood superhero kind of movie where the hero always wins, obviously since this is real life and the whole thing really happened and only recently (on 2005). It was pretty hard to watch, but it was really really good. Brings tears to my eyes too, not only because i rooted for the navy seals (in vain, since i know from the beginning most of them were going to die) but also towards the end of the movie, where my faith in humanity kinda got restored. I'm not gonna spoil it for you who want to watch it (on DVD, of course), but let's just say that people (including myself) should stop confusing all Arabian looking people as taliban/al qaeda! A must watch! The faint-hearted beware though, lotsa gory scenes... You've been warned!

2. The Lego Movie

Been bombarded by the trailer for a while and we couldn't wait to watch it with Baby Boy! And we LOVED it! Super funny, entertaining and with deeper message than i originally expected-this is not just your regular silly animation movie with no value, alright! A must watch for the whole family, especially if you happen to love Lego! It's a dream comes true for Lego manias like my hunny and Baby Boy to see their favorite toy came to live on Screen!

Emmet, a totally ordinary Lego mini-figure was identified as the most "extraordinary person" and was the only one (according to the prophecy) who can save the Lego universe from the evil tyrant who wants to glue their universe together.

This movie was cute, hilarious and not super kiddie that adults would fall asleep watching it. Their lines and jokes were so smart and hilarious, i bet most kids don't really get them! Baby Boy laughed along with the adults, but i think he's laughing because everybody's laughing and also because the Lego characters were doing silly things on the screen, not on the jokes! Admittedly there were parts somewhere in the middle where i got a bit bored, but it was not long and soon Batman came and made everything funny again (yes, i do love the Lego Batman, although not as much as i love the silly Vitruvius. I didn't expect Morgan Freeman to be so hilarious! Especially loved when he became "Ghost Vitruvius!" Woooo....!!!).

Not only the movie was smart and funny, the graphic was also... amazing! The Legos were not cartoonized, instead they appear exactly like how Lego figurines are-but alive! I also love how everything in the movie was "made" from Legos, including the water *which were made of Lego water pieces!* it's just amazing!!!! Another must watch!

3. Comic 8

We're always on the lookout for a good Indonesian movie (being patriotic and all *LOL*) and the trailer seemed interesting so we decided to check it out (despite my apprehension because i really cannot stand Nikita Mirzani, eww), it didn't disappoint! It was funny (in a clever way, with smart lines and not full force slapsticks like most Indonesian comedies now), unpredictable and thoroughly entertaining!

8 bank robbers (all played by hilarious Indonesian comics/stand up comedians) from three seemingly different teams (one professional looking, one totally amateurish and the other one's simply weird) with different reasons and background (all silly of course, that's the point) "accidentaly" decided to rob this one bank at the same time. Things got dragged on and they were surrounded by police and had to negotiate with the pretty (or so they aimed to be, personally i think Nirina Zubir's super cute but can never be described as pretty) AKP and work together to solve the problem out.

Of course, it's not perfect-but it's sure was entertaining! I didn't expect to laugh so much throughout the movie! You can never predict what would come out next from those crazy comics' mouth! There were absurd and totally stupid scenes of course (especially how they exchanged like, thousands of bullets but never hit even ONE mark. Even when two of the robbers stood in front of the bank and being bombarded by a platoon of police! Total insult to Indonesian cops there *LOL*), the story of course stretches out your imagination (then again, this is a COMEDY. They never claimed to be realistic, alright!) but it's all worth it. The story also wasn't predictable at all and i loved the twists they maintain so i was never (too) bored. You know how Indonesian movies always seems to try to drag the movie's duration for some reasons!

Totally gave me fresh hope for comedy scenes in Indonesia, i was quite saddened by the fact that Indonesian's comedy standard's now set by the likes of Sule and Olga, who use rude, inappropriate and degrading jokes as their arsenal accompanied by very rough physical comedy which includes throwing powder or flour on people to invoke laughs! A must watch for Indonesian (or at least those who understand Indonesian) who enjoy some good jokes!

4. The Monkey King

It's a Donny Yen movie so of course hunny wanted to watch this! I was not too enthusiastic on watching this (Sun Wu Kong? Really?), especially after reading some of the comments people has on this movie (not too good) but you know how marriage life is, it's all about compromise-which included watching movies you don't really want to (because in turn your spouse would also do the same-with the movie of YOUR choice). Another reason why we ended up watching it was because before we did, we actually went to Hong Kong's Madam Tussaud's and saw AMAZING wax statues of characters out of this movie. We were pretty shocked because this is a new movie, how come they finished making 5 characters' statues already? The statues totally prompted us to watch it, just because.

Most people (like me) would know Sun Wu Kong from Journey to the West, this movie actually told the story of Sun Wu Kong BEFORE his imprisonment for creating havoc in Heaven, from the very beginning (how he was created), how he became the king of the monkeys in his forrest, and what prompted him to rebel against Jade Emperor who's ruling the heaven.

This movie's trying to take on a more serious note than the usual Monkey King movies/series (which were alway silly and funny) but it ended up being very flat and frankly, boring. Donnie Yen annoys me as a monkey (hunny said he was supposed to act like that though :p), the story without the humor made me sleepy, and the graphic was beyond horrible. It's almost like watching those silly TV series with silly graphics of people riding on eagles -___-.

The only entertaining part for me was whenever a familiar face's popping out on screen "Peter Ho! That's Peter Ho! I didn't know he's still doing movies!", "Kelly Chen! What's Kelly Chen doing there?" "Gigi Leung! She's still active?". I was a huge fan of Mando-pop and Chinese movies (still am, but not as much) growing up and i knew every artists back then, so great to see so much of my old favorites!

Oh, and of course, the one that stole the movie for me : Aaron Kwok as the Bull Demon King (which was always depicted as fugly, silly and kinda stupid but was handsome, manly and demonic in this version-breaking traditions was how they described it!). I was so surprised, Aaron Kwok was not exactly super manly before (at least when i was younger. He was so handsome in a girly way, almost pretty!) but he became super manly and macho in this movie! His acting was super good too, the best in this movie! He totally saved the movie for me whenever he appeared on the screen. Having said that, i wouldn't exactly recommend this movie, it's totally skippable :p. Unless you want to see Aaron Kwok being a sexy demon, of course.

5. Robocop

Okay, so i was not very enthu about watching this movie. I mean, i didn't like the old TV series, the robocop looked... creepy. But KC and hunny kept on pestering to watch this movie, i'm glad we did because i ended up liking it quite a lot!

It started with the basic, a hardworking cop (also a loving husband and father) got severely injured in the line of duty-then the multinational conglomerate (which had been pressing to get their robot police/army to be used in USA, there was a law forbidding it even though their robots are being used all over the world already) offered the grieving wife a chance to "save" him, by turning him into a robocop so that the law would be shaken since it won't be a full robot but with real human being driving it.

It was so much better than i expected, it was exciting, gripping, also touching as well (didn't expect that from a Robocop movie). I guess it was because there was a lot more humanity in the story, not just a half human half robot running around catching bad guys. There was a story behind it, and it was well written. CL and i couldn't stop making (bad) jokes about how the robocop's made in China :p and that's why he kept on crumbling down. Oh, i don't know if it's a good or a bad thing, but Joel Kinnaman made a good robocop, he really was kinda robotic even before he was robocop (okay, that makes him sounds bad, eh?). Recommended!

6. I, Frankenstein

Another one that i wasn't too enthu about *LOL*, but when i read that it was made by the people who made Underworld, i went with an open mind. Apparently lots of people hated it (rated only 5.5 in IMDb), i don't know why because i quite liked it! It resembles Underworld in many ways (the fighting scene, the style, the graphic)-in a good way (in my opinion, of course).

Frankenstein monster apparently lived on, after he buried his creator he was attacked by demons but he managed to kill one of them and gargoyles (yes, this movie's all about demon VS gargoyles rather than vampires VS lycans like the Underworld) save him, they brought him to the cathedral where their Order gather, tried to get him to their side but Frankenstein refused, he's used to be alone. The Queen of the gargoyles gave him a name, Adam, and kept Victor Frankenstein's detailed journal about how he was created to keep it from going to the wrong hand. The monster lived a secluded life away from humanity for 200 years, fast forward to present day-the monster return to modern society, now a demon hunter (in return of being hunted relentlessly by them) soon realized the "Prince of Darkness" (no, not Ozzy Osbourne) who always tried to find him have a grand plan to make thousands like him to be possessed by his demons (because demons can only possess a soulless body) so he can create his army of the undead and rule the world.

It's a fantasy movie people, so please stop expecting it to be reasonable or realistic. It's also an action fantasy, so the story wouldn't be too deep either, just like most popcorn movies! I myself liked it very much, it was exciting, fast and not boring at all. My only criticism would be that Aaron Eckhart's way too handsome. Isn't Frankenstein's monster supposed to be repulsing and disgusting instead of handsome and statuesque? (no, those "scars" didn't make him repulsive at all) Anyway, if you like Underworld, you MIGHT like this one too, watch by your own choice since there are lots of people disliking it too.

7. Pompeii

This one's my fave movie of the month! Totally unexpected, but i totally loved it. It may or may not's got to do with this guy :

Kit Harrington

He is everything that usually doesn't do it for me in a guy, curly haired, baby-faced and pale. But those elements totally worked to his advantage somehow, in fact i couldn't stop gushing to #Undecided about how cute he is, to a point where she was like "A candidate for imaginary boyfriend, BB?" *LOL*.

This movie tells the story about a slave (the last descendant of the Horsemen which whole tribe were slaughtered by the Romans when he was a tiny kid) turned gladiator-Milo, found himself in Pompeii, fell in love with the beautiful daughter (Cassia, played beautifully by Emily Browning, she has such an unusual, striking face. Not pretty in the most obvious way for me, but very stunning) of a wealthy merchant who was unwillingly betrothed to the corrupt, mean Roman Senator (i really really hated Kiefer Sutherland in it, so i guess he was doing a good job of being a total ass). The vicious Mount Vesuvius errupted in a grand scale (after giving out plenty of signs, that they did not recognize at that time), Milo had to fight his way out of the arena and raced against time to save his beloved Cassia.

The movie was engaging, exciting, and i feel myself rooting for the characters, a total opposite of what lots of reviewers are saying at the IMDb page *LOL*. I wonder if i really have a very unusual (or just, bad) taste? LOL. I don't care, i just loved it! Maybe Kit Harrington totally clouded my judgement, that wouldn't be the first time.

But i also found myself researching and learning a lot more about Pompeii (the movie's based on true events, Pompeii really is buried and destroyed because of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, although according to the studies, 20% of the population perished in the 79 A.D erruption instead of the whole population, which the movie suggested), which i found to be totally fascinating (especially the human shaped "statues" which were really humans at one point-who perished on THAT devastation. It showed you the victims' final moments, the most striking one was squatting and in a praying position) and hope to be able to visit the ruins one day. If you like historical-romance-gladiator-slight fantastical movie (i kept on reading it wasn't realistic *sigh* seriously people. Like Avatar and The Avengers are really realistic), i'd strongly suggest you to watch it.

That's all of the movies i've watched in the cinema on February, but there's one more movie, that we watched on HDD media player but touched me so much i have to include it here.

Miracle in Cell no 7

If you know me at all (or read this blog long enough) you'd know i'm not a Koreaboo. I HATE K-Pop (but i love lots of Korean songs, i actually have a folder of Korean songs on repeat in our car right now, mostly Kim Jong Kook/Davichi/Eight's songs, but i truly cannot stand K-Pop, sorry!), i get the heebee-jeebee whenever i see those Korean guys (and girls) gyrating around in their crazy outfit (i almost poked my own eyes out when i was stranded in Changi airport's MTV lounge that played K-Pop nonstop while waiting for hunny who was playing Counter Strike at the nearby game centre WTF) and i don't watch Korean series/movies except the horror ones (but i religiously watch Running Man and The Return of the Supermen-which are variety/reality shows) so i was actually quite annoyed when hunny put this movie on and forced me to watch it (especially when the first person i saw was Park Shin Hye, i cannot stand Park Shin Hye -___-). It won me over within a few minutes.

It tells a story about the never-ending love between a mentally ill father (the acting was super good, i was both annoyed but also blown away by Ryu Seung-Ryong's acting!) and his daughter. One day the father was falsely accused of murdering another young girl, he was thrown into jail and his crazy cell-mates concocted a plan to smuggle the girl into their cell, making her the miracle in cell no 7!

This movie made me cried a bucket! I haven't cried so hard since... i dunno, My Name Is Khan? I am a cry baby, i often shed a tear (or 10) watching any movie (and every episode of The Return of the Supermen *LOL*), but this one got me sobbing like nobody's business! The story's simple, it also got some ridiculous (and totally impossible) scenes like most Asian movies seems to have, but i couldn't care less-i'm guessing the strongest point of this movie was the acting. Ryu Seung-Ryong deserves all of those trophies he got from this movie, but there's another one that stole my heart : the little girl playing little Ye Sung (sadly i still cannot stand Park Shin Hye as the older version of the girl), Kal So Won.

Kal So Won

This girl is so adorable and her acting skill is off the roof! Now if only there are young Indonesian actors with a quarter of her skill, i might not feel like throwing shoes to the TV whenever i see a little kid in some sinetron...

Anyway, it's a must watch movie! Even for you, #Undecided,the non-Korean-lover! It's a wonderful movie, one that will leave you with an aching heart (and love for your daddy) and swollen eyes!

Hope you enjoyed February reviews, see ya again on March movies review!