June Movies

7:49:00 PM

Hellowww!!!

So my monthly movies review is a litttle (okay, a lot) late this month, due to my trip and then i got real busy once i got back in Surabaya, but it's here now!

Some of the movies i've seen on June

Btw, any of you noticed that i (for the 4th or 5th time) again accidentally published my raw blog post two days ago? I noticed there were 2 views already before i managed to take it down zzz. Then what's worse, i realize even after i deleted the post the feed's still up in the blogger dashboard WTF zzzzz so annoying. The post's far from ready, i always make the mistake of publishing posts with only photos/a few lines whenever the internet's being a B (which is very very often lately, eff you First Media!!!). I got so mad trying to save the post, i always accidentally hit the publish button instead of save gahhh. Anyway, i hope that post's something you will look forward too since i need a lot of support for that (yes, it's for a competition).

Anywayyy... back to the movies. We didn't watch a lot of movies on June because not only the movies were not super good, Baby Boy was having his final tests and his nanny (i don't want to sound rude or demeaning to the profession, but really... Indonesian nannies nowadays... *(@^&%$&*%@&*T. 'Nuff said. I'm longing to replace her really, my mum is super annoying and loves all of her maids very very much though, she's driving me crazy with all the "poor them" she keeps on repeating every few hours) went back to her hometown (and guess what, she just informed us that she wants to leave early for her Idul Fitri leave. Great. Don't come back, why don't you? Sorry, i'm really pissed right now, i guess only other mommies with annoying nannies/maids can relate)... But wait, i just counted. We watched 8 movies on June, so it's actually not that little *LOL*.

1. X-men : Days of Future Past

Let me begin by stating that while i do not detest X-men movies, i am definitely not a fan. This is the kind of movies that i would never watch before i met my hunny *LOL*. I *sort of* enjoyed all of X-men movies, they're in general quite entertaining but never left a lasting impression on me. All that i can remember is... i actually liked X-Men : First Class better than any of the original ones. Maybe because i quite like James McAvoy? I dunno. But then, i ended up liking THIS one best (so far)! I love the colliding of the present and past, the original casts with the casts who plays their younger selves...

The world is pretty much coming to an end for mutants and humans who are on their side, as the last desperate attempt to change history and prevent an event that would result in doom for them the X-Men sent Wolverine (who's the only one who's physically strong enough to travel that far back) to the past.

Why i like this movie quite a lot is maybe because even though the movie's still has the comic bookish quality in them (like they supposed to be) with all the fascinating mutants, the story is (somewhat) more believable. I find myself perching at the edge of my seat in excitement throughout the movie, something that i could not say about the other ones.

And! There's this beautiful Chinese actress Fan Bing Bing whom i've been a huge fan of for the longest time. Seriously, other than Ayumi Hamasaki, Fan Bing Bing is probably the only other ultimate girl crush that i have. If others are going crazy over K-Pop girls/Korean actresses (YAWN!!!! So sorry, but they all look the same to me and you can actually find girls who look like them at local malls. SORRY! Just my opinion), i find Fan Bing Bing to be far more attractive. For me, she embodies the physical perfection for a female.

Fan Bing Bing

My only complain is that she didn't get enough screen time. LOL. Sorry, i'm definitely fangirling here (i wouldn't trade face with anyone in this world, but if i have to choose then it'd definitely her. I am also very pissed at my hunny who cannot differentiate between Fan Bing Bing and Li Bing Bing. I told her to memorize, Fan = HOT HOT HOT, Li = fugly WTF). Anyway. Back to the movie. It's very entertaining, not boring at all, and exciting. I'd recommend this movie highly and i agree with the 8.4 rate it got in IMDb.

2. Oculus

I got real excited when i saw the trailer (you know i'm a horror buff and all) and waited impatiently for it to finally show (it's an old movie actually, 2103 one. You know, Indonesian cinemas...) and i'm quite satisfied that even though it's not scary (for me), it's actually pretty good (for a horror movie. I have a pretty high standard!).

A young man named Tim was released from a mental institution at the age of 21 (he was convicted of murder when he was just a little boy) and welcomed by his sister Kaylie. She then told him that they need to destroy an antique mirror which she believes to have a supernatural power that destroyed their family, something that Tim as an adult could not remember (mostly due to the therapy he got when he was in the mental institution), when he accompanied her in their childhood house fragments of the past started to come back to him.

Like i said, it's not scary (nothing in "Conjuring" league) but it's very fascinating, thrilling and keeps you on the edge. The ghosts are not particularly scary either and they don't show up all that much (then again i really hate stupid horror movies where the ghosts would just appear every 5 seconds *___*, where's the element of surprise then???), but the story's quite interesting. It's more of a psychological horror where the demon (or whatever) inside the mirror's making you do things that you shouldn't do and that's creepy!

It's probably pretty mediocre but for horror movie junkies dying for a fix, this movie can ease the "hunger pang" a bit. Recommended for horror movies lovers who are in need for a little horror treat!

3. Maleficent

This is obviously a movie that needs no introduction, everybody's going crazy over this movie and the "Maleficent inspired makeup" has been popping out like mushrooms in a wet jungle (WTF am i saying?), there's definitely a Maleficent fever going on and i was infected.

Maleficent tells a story behind Sleeping Beauty's villain (with a twist, of course), how she started off as a pure-hearted fairy who got to know a young human boy named Stefan one day-and fell in love with him (i dunno if she simply has a horrible taste or she never meets any other male male/human to have a better judgement *LOL*). When they grow up, the (not so young anymore) Stefan was consumed with his obsession to be a king, and they drifted apart.

One day, when the human King tried to invade Maleficent's forrest kingdom and failed miserably (mostly thanks to Maleficent who risen to be the strongest protector of the forrest) and he gave his words that whoever slain Maleficent will get to marry his daughter and becomes the King. Stefan saw his chance and tricked both Maleficent and the King by cutting off her wings (then married the Princess and became King) as a proof that he had killed her. Maleficent was blinded by anger, crashed the celebratory party and put a curse on the new King's daughter, Aurora. As Maleficent watches her grow, she began to fall in love with her and saw the potential to unite the human and forrest kingdom in a peaceful way.

One word to say, this movie is AWESOMEEEE. I don't like Angelina Jolie much (oh yes, i definitely take Hollywood dramas personally and i'm forever team Jennifer Aniston, you see!) but she's totally brilliant as Maleficent. The movie was beautiful, funny, touching (i cried a bucket) and super entertaining. This was the first full non animated movie Baby Boy ever watched in the cinema (we usually avoid non animation movies for him coz he got bored of long dialogs with no silly animations doing crazy things on the screen) and he enjoyed it to the max too. Highly recommending this for everybody (well, except for very macho guys who cannot watch movies without blood and gory...)!!! A must must must watch, okay!

4. 22 Jump Street

I really enjoyed the previous movie and that's like the only movie which i found Channing Tatum to be attractive coz he was so funny in it (it's not that i don't think he's handsome, he is. But for me personally, he's just too generically handsome. Right up #Undecided's alley!) so i was pretty eager to watch the sequel. Sadly, it was not up to my expectation...

Schmidt and Jenko come back for another assignment, now they went undercover as college students and the roles (from the previous movie) were switched. Jenko found soul-mate/bromance in the football team while Schmidt felt left out and it put a strain in their partnership (which is more like lovey dovey relationship actually haha). They had to both crack the case, and find a balance (in their partnership) for a more mature relationship.

I laughed nonstop at the first movie, but while the first one was HILARIOUS, the second one's very forced, slapstick (in a bad way) and it just feels very repetitive. For example, the joke about them looking very old (they do. Channing Tatum looks really tired, is it sleepless nights because of his new baby affecting his look? LOL)... well, it gets old after the 5th time being repeated.

While it's still has its moments and i don't entirely detest the movie, i think it's nowhere (not even half) as good as the first movie. I wouldn't really recommend this except if you're a die hard Channing Tatum fan, or if you have a lot of free time and wants to spend it on a silly, mindless movie. I would prefer to rewatch the first movie myself.

5. How to Train Your Dragon 2

This movie is quite widely expected, but i was not very enthusiastic for some reason. While lots of people stated the first movie to be one of their favorite movies, i didn't actually remember much about it! I'm sure i enjoyed it and all, it's just nothing special to me (or else i'd definitely remember more!). The reason is probably because it's more of a boy's movie, i guess? I'm very girly and it reflects to my taste in animation movies (but i'm not into Princesses and i am crazy about horror movies, and that's not very girly-right?) and i definitely have no desire to have a dragon as a pet *LOL*.

Berk's citizens are now dragon lovers and has dragon races as their favorite sport but Hiccup and Toothless who are now inseparable BFF prefer to have adventures of their own, charting unmapped territories and exploring new worlds. One day they stumbled into a secret ice cave which is home for hundreds of wild dragons and the mysterious dragon riders (okay, we all know that she turned out to be his mother), while also had an encounter by dragon catchers who work for a scary man who wants to collect all dragons to be his possessions. Now Hiccup and Toothless must work hand in hand to stand up for what they believe what's right and defend the future of both men (particularly of Berk) and dragons alike.

I thought it was just me who found the movie to be a bit draggish and boring but apparently Arman (who loves the first movie), feels that way too! Well, it's not horrible (and Baby Boy enjoyed it a lot) or whatever but yeah... i find the story to fall flat and not that special. It failed to fascinate me (like most good animation movies can) and i actually got bored a few times during the movie. I'd only recommend this for those who has young kids, especially little boys.

6. Lay the Favorite

We didn't know that this is such an old movie (2012 WTF), it was just one random night before our Bandung trip-Baby Boy and my 'rents were already in Jakarta (can you believe they actually drive there? My mum, the road trip junkie. She HATES flying, nothing shocking from someone as paranoid as her) and we just wanted to go out and feel like a young couple again *LOL* (coz we're actually still quite young, okayyy) so after a dinner date at Holycow (which i will review!) we decided to watch whatever seems interesting that's showing in the cinema and since this movie's totally star studded, we just went "Okay! Let's watch it!". LOL.

Unbeknown to us, this movie was actually based on a true story about a woman named Beth who lap dances for a living before deciding to move to Vegas to be... surprise surprise, a cocktail waitress *LOL*. She then met Dink, a professional gambler who turned his gambling into a professional thing (with subordinates and an office) who hires her (coz she's like a number's idiot savant), she fell for him and comes to him strong (i wanted to punch her in the face by this stage) even though he's married. He then threw her out (by his wife's demand) and went on a losing streak. Things got crazier and crazier from then on that i think you should watch it yourself to know what happens next because i don't want to type 10 pages long *LOL*.

I don't know why but movies based on true stories/events are usually a lot crazier (manic would be the word) than completely fictional ones! This movie's no exception, i kept on thinking "This could NOT be happening in real life!" throughout the movie *LOL*. This movie is fast, crazy, OTT but very entertaining and quite funny too. I think Bruce Willis is always, always charming and Joshua Jackson was so cute. This is not like a crazy good movie or whatever, but it's worth watching in my opinion (which totally opposed to most people's since it only got 4.7 in IMDb). If you like crazy, laugh inducing, silly movie that's based on real stories, rent the DVD or something, give it a chance. It's pretty entertaining.

7. Transformers : Age of Extinction

Hmmm yeah, read the first line i wrote for X-Men, i feel the same way about Transformers. Never a fan, don't hate them, watch it for my hunny (and now, my Baby Boy-who we didn't plan on taking but a few days before he said to his dad with his puppy eyes "Papa, aren't we going to watch Transformers in the cinema?" which of course, we couldn't say no to and ended up watching in Imax for the very first time. Love the experience! Please be available in Surabaya too, Imax!) and again i'd say this is my most fave Transformer out of all the franchise, probably because i kinda love Mark Wahlberg while i cannot stand Shia Lebouff.

After the huge war between aliens in Chicago, humans started seeing all robot aliens as threats and now there's a special unit whose job is to hunt all robots down-but turned out they are aided by another robot race who's hunting for Optimus Prime (WTH). Cade Yaeger (his name kept on reminded me of Pacific Rim...) is a "inventor", he found an old truck in his usual hunt for "treasures" which turned out to be (you guessed it) Optimus Prime on a guise. The special unit showed up and blew his home to bits, Optimus (who's always as loyal as a puppy) helped him and his teenage daughter escape (really, it's unreal to see Mark Wahlberg has a teenage daughter, i kept on thinking she looks more like his gf) but kept on being pursued by the men. Yaeger, his daughter and her bf then joined forces with the autobots to uncover what's really going on and as usual, try to save the world.

Yeah, nothing new on the story department, i have no expectations when it comes to robot movies though (even though i surprisingly loved Pacific Rim, but that's like the only exception). As all of other Transformers movies, i find this movie to be quite exciting, fast, entertaining, and it's also funnier than the previous movie-in short, a good popcorn movie. Nothing more, but of course, my boys would be quick to disagree. A must watch for (young and old) boys, it's tolerable and actually quite enjoyable for the girlfriends/wives. Nothing extraordinary though.

8. Legends of Oz : Dorothy's Return

Sooo... This movie we watched just for our Baby Boy, of course. I mean, we've seen the trailer a million times and it didn't look appealing except for the *kinda* diabolical Jester who couldn't take off his costume, ever. But that's like, the funniest scene on the movie and like i said, i've seen it a million times in the trailer already so... Yawn. But i didn't have any expectation going in (and i shouldn't).

Dorothy woke up to a post-tornado torn Kansas city but immediately whisked back to Oz to save her friends : the tin man, scare crow, lion and Glinda because there's a new villain, yes-the Jester. Her adventure was joined by Wiser the owl, Marshal Mellow (i kinda like this one, i do love punny names you know. The name's MELLOW, not SHALLOW! Ha! Hands down my fave line in the whole movie), China Princess (who's a bit of a B) and Tugg the tugboat.

Actually to be completely honest, i can't see the point of making this movie. Sure, it's not one of the worst movies i've ever seen (and it's not that exciting but at least it's not crazily boring. I love the China Country and Candy Land, at least those "places" are very nice to see and give me feasts for my eyes), but you know-it's really pointless. We all know the original Legends of Oz is really classic-even though i cannot remember the movie coz i watched it once on TV when i was little and i'm not into old movies, and i even liked Oz the Great and Powerful, but this movie. Is. So. Bleh. And the animation is not even that good mostly (Dorothy was really ugly and stiff *LOL*), the scenery and weird creatures are okay, the Chinas were even cute, but the humans looked... well.. weird.

The only thing i liked out of this movie would be Lea Michelle's singing (yes, it's a musical), even if the story and scenes after scenes couldn't move me one bit, her beautiful voice did. It did entertain Baby Boy though, so maybe this is a movie you can watch with your younger kids (no one over 9 or 10 though) when you have really free time. Otherwise just skip it.

And that's all we have today, folks! Have you seen any movies that i've listed above and did you like them?