December Movies

Hey guysss :D.

Wonder if you notice that new badge on the top right side of this blog? Yep, #Undecided became the runner up of Bio Oil's Blogging Competition (she even got offered the first winners' prize of a spa trip but she sadly had to decline because the invitation came too close to the actual date!), she actually received the badge quite a while ago (along with a hamper which she hopefully will show you later) but #Undecided being #Undecided, never put it up here zzz. I was away and couldn't put it up for her, but as soon as i was back of course i immediately did just that! So damn proud of her, she almost didn't post the piece because she thought it was no good! 

Anyway, i won't yap too much about it since #Undecided had promised me to write a piece about it (i don't want to give her the excuse not to, "But you already wrote everything that i was about to write, BB!") so let's get on with the real point of this post : review on movies that we watched in the last month of 2014.

We didn't watch a lot of movies in December, mainly because we were in Korea for 11 days so our movie days were cut off for that chunk of time haha, we watched :

And onto the reviews!

1. Penguins of Madagascar

I'm a huge fan of Madagascar movie, specifically the first one which i found to be incredibly hilarious. Sadly the sequels didn't match up to the original's quality, in my opinion, so even though i like those crazy penguins of Madagascar a lot-i didn't have a lot of hope for it to be fantastic (so i wasn't too excited when i heard that they're making the spin off). And well... While it's quite entertaining and totally watchable, it didn't manage to made me laugh until i almost wet my pants or leave a lasting impression.

Skipper, Kowalski, Rico and Private join forces with an elite undercover organization, The North Wind, to stop the evil Dr. Octavius Brine (brilliantly voiced by the one and only John Malkovich. I recognized his voice immediately but i couldn't recall his face/name throughout the movie *that happens, right!* and it drove me nutz! LOL) from destroying the world (for a very silly reason with a very silly plan. *LOL*).

Yeah well.. It's not the worst movie of the year or whatever, but it's far from being awesome. Actually the beginning where the penguins were little was good, but sadly the rest of the movie... Not so much. The only saving grace for me is the hilarious, aging villain who has difficulties handling modern gadgets, reminding me so much of my mom hahahaha (i might be laughing right now but her stubborness of not wanting to learn new technologies but constantly badgering me about it makes me want to bawl in frustration, especially when we're not in the same city like right now zzz). It's okay i guess, but it's definitely not a must watch. Just watch it if you're really bored or something :p.

2. Rise of The Legend

So, i was actually quite reluctant to watch this movie (a movie about Wong Fei Hung? Well...) and i was questioning hunny (who really wanted to watch it) if i might get super sleepy and bored, but a few secs into the movie when i caught a glimpse of the lead actor *grin widely* i know boredom wouldn't be an issue!

This movie supposedly tells the story about the beginning of the legendary Wong Fei Hung before he became who he is known to the world today (pretty much like Luke Evan's Dracula Untold). We followed the footsteps of a young man who was orphaned as a child (and swore revenge, therefore) going underground to strike the bad guys from the heart while his sworn brothers and sisters backs him up from the outside.

Well, when you mentioned Wong Fei Hung, even for someone who knows nothing about kungfu movies like me, we'd immediately think of Jet Li. While i think it's impossible for someone like Eddie Peng (who's way to handsome to be believable and had no prior training in martial arts before this movie) to fill in Jet Li's shoes, i still think he's done a remarkable job (especially combining both the awesome fighting scenes with award-worthy acting. Actually this is why he was cast instead of someone who has more background in martial arts, because the director wanted someone who CAN ACT. And while Jet Li is a legend and one of the best fighter on screen (who can really kick your ass off screen too), he's certainly not a great actor). Well, i might be biased because i have  a MAJOR crush on him, but other reviews thinks he's done a great job anyway.

No, seriously. He's way too pretty to be taken seriously by kungfu manias *___*

If i'm being honest with you, i don't know if i'd enjoy the movie as much (i really enjoyed this movie *__*) if the role's filled by someone who's... not as easy on the eyes. I mean... Hunny enjoyed the movie and there are a lot of decent reviews for this movie, i... don't think i can give you an unbiased review though *sigh*. I think the storyline's okay, the fighting scenes are great (one reviewer described Eddie as someone who fights like Jets and Jackies while acts like Tonys and look like Aarons-which means he has the charm of an actor, fights remarkably, and damn good looking too!), it was nowhere near boring and i really liked it. I loved it because Eddie's the lead, but if he isn't i think it'd still LIKE it but not loved it, geddit???

And please, don't expect the usual Wong Fei Hong stuffs, this movie's made to be more... super hero slash comic bookish, and this has been done in purpose-to attract younger audiences. While it might or might not attract young men who weren't previously into kungfu stuffs, their decision to cast the super fine specimen named Eddie Peng as the lead obviously won many ladies' hearts. Me included (first and foremost).

Eddie Peng

I think in the end hunny regrets his decision to watch this movie because i became obsessed with Eddie Peng that i couldn't stop browsing about him, watching his other movies (i highly recommend Unbeatable and A Wedding Invitation!) and talk about him nonstop hahahaha. Yes, current imaginary boyfriend, obviously. 

So i would highly recommend this movie for everybody (except die hard, old school kungfu manias who cannot stand pretty boys filling in important roles haha), it's fast paced, exciting, entertaining and even the drama parts were engaging and not boring. For girls, don't refuse when your man ask you to watch this movie because you'd get to ogle at the super handsome Eddie. While i think he's a bit too bulky in this movie, he's really damn hot! Don't believe me?

Need more convincing?

Oh guys, don't worry, there's Angelababy for your eyes too :p.

3. Exodus : Gods and Kings

Okay, so i kept on forgetting that this movie's supposedly about Moses. Yes, THAT Moses from the Bible. And when we watched it, the beginning couldn't be further from what a movie about Moses should be and so was the rest of the movie. I couldn't really decide if that's good (as in the creator's being creative and probably aiming for a very different, almost another universe's version of Moses haha) or bad, but i personally find it really not working.

This movie describes Moses as someone who i (although not the most devoted, but am highly familiar with Biblical characters and their stories) couldn't recognize, in fact it took me the longest time to be able to recall the bits and pieces about Moses background that they decided to keep (it's not much haha) in this movie. This version of Moses is Prince Ramses' best friend who's already like a brother to him and he is loved by Pharaoh Seti (Ramses' father) deeply (Seti is supposed to be Moses' uncle in this movie), that it incites Ramses' jealousy. He is also Egypt's fierce warrior who fought fearlessly (and killed many) for Egypt. 

One day while visiting Phitom, he met with Nun who told him who he really was, a Hebrew. He was stunned and didn't believe a word Nun said, but two Hebrews overheard and reported the incident, which led to Moses being exiled. In his exile, he later on met with his future wife, settled down and become a shepherd. 9 years later, while injured during rockslide, he had a vision of a young boy (who serves as a representation of God) and he was asked to go back to release God's chosen people, the Hebrews. Everything from this point on became a little more recognizable as Moses returned to Egypt and the whole 10 plagues thingies i am very familiar of (probably the only exciting part of the movie haha) continued with the exodus itself.

No wonder the movie only got 6.3 in IMDb, and i personally find that rate to be quite high already *LOL*. I find this movie to be very slow, boring, dragging and dull. I am used to film makers distorting well-known characters into something else (sometimes, they even managed to make the most overtold stories fresh again), but as a Christian i did find all the distortion in this movie to be a bit... disturbing. I also didn't appreciate how they made the rep of God to be super creepy, he seemed more evil than good for goodness sake! I love Christian Bale, but i agree with those who said they totally miscast him as Moses. Joel Edgerton (who's normally very attractive) was also totally wrong, weird and unrecognizable as Ramses. This is a very good example on how makeup and costume can make someone good looking turn fugly in an instant *LOL*.

Visually this movie's pretty great, but that's probably the only good thing about this movie. I just didn't like it *LOL*, it's too weird and boring! I would highly recommend you to avoid this movie haha, even more so if you're a devoted Christian and easily offended by altercations of the bible!

4. The Hobbit : The Battle of the Five Armies

I liked the first two The Hobbit movies so i was quite looking forward to this final installment, while i still found it to be highly watchable and quite entertaining, i must admit that i did not like it as much as the other two. I can't really explain why, but it's just not as exciting and i even found it to be a bit flat. I might be the rare kinds because it accepted 7.8 rating in IMDb, which means a lot of people enjoyed it more than i did.

Picking up from the second movie (which i found to be most exciting), the Dragon leaves the Lonely Mountain and set grief at Lake-town. The ones that survived, led by Bard, went to seek refuge to the mountain but was refused by Thorin-who've gone mad from the dragon's disease. Since Thorin won't part with any of the gold (and jewelries) that he madly believes to belong to only them, orcs, elves and people set to start a war with the dwarves while Bilbo's trying his hardest to help.

Seriously, i've never gotten bored watching The Hobbit movies before, but i did-a little bit-on this one. I don't know what's different, and i actually expected more-since it's the last movie and all, but i was a little disappointed. I feel like this movie didn't touch me like the other ones, and i didn't find myself rooting for the characters like usual-they just didn't seem as relateable and loveable. Even the battles didn't seem to be that engaging and didn't send me to the edge of my seat, it's just.... Not as cool as before.

I thought i was the only one, but the reviewers in IMDb actually spoke my mind, they're right.. There were so many characters fighting for their stories to be told, none of them ended up being fully told (well, just Bilbo's) and so many unanswered questions, you just don't know that happens with those characters next and that's confusing *sigh*-they're also right that the movies' should stop at two instead of stretching it into three which ended up with barely nothing left  for the last one.

I'd still recommend you to watch this, especially if you've watched the previous two (coz we all need closure, right?), the visual's still breath taking and it's still quite good, just don't expect it to be as good as the previous movies...

5. Night at the Museum : Secret of the Tomb

Yep, i watched sequels/spin offs mostly this month and sadly all of them kinda disappointed me :(... Night at the Museum, the first movie, is actually one of my favorite movies, of all time! It's super hilarious and being the person that i am (museum lover, fascinated by wax figures/statues/dolls and always imagine them to come to live at night), the story and the background really hit the right spot. The second movie was alright, it was quite a good fun and the third... I was really looking forward to watch this, especially since it'd be the final performance by my all time fave comedian, Robbie Williams (do you know that my mum get my name from his old TV show, Mork & Mindy?), i thought it'd be a proper goodbye to my funny hero. Sadly, it didn't meet my expectation, not by a mile.

Larry is now no longer just the night guard, he is also the head of the night programme where he unleashed his magical museum exhibits that comes to life every night (of course, he's claiming them to be special effects to the audience). Unfortunately something seems to be going wrong with the Ahkmenrah tablet, the source of the magic, and things went out of control. Larry travel to England to find a way to save the tablet, and magic with it.

It is still quite funny, it is still quite entertaining (my fave part is the Pompeii part where the statue head kept on shouting "Pompeiiiiii" from inside his glass case and my fave character is the uber cute Garuda) but it lacks the "magic" that the first movie has. Again, i can't quite pin point what the problem was, maybe it's the same joke used too much that it's no longer that funny anymore. Still, i find it pretty nice and not boring so it's quite worth a watch, if you have the time.

For some reasons, i feel Robbie Williams seems to be a little disconnected in this movie (i also didn't enjoy his other film that is one of his final 4, The Angriest Man on Brooklyn, which i watched on our flight to Korea), i'm wondering if his depression already went so deep when he was making this movie? Makes me super sad thinking about it. His last scene when he's saying goodbye to Larry was touching though, it's the only scene where i felt that he was truly present, like he's really saying goodbye to the audience. I love Robbie Williams a ton, and even though this movie didn't leave a deep impression that i had hoped, i will remember him with his more spectacular works in the past. R.I.P Robbie Williams, i hope you're finally able to be happy now, wherever you are.

Anyway, Night at the Museum was actually the last movie i watched in the cinema in December (and 2014), but i liked the next movie so much i have to include it even though we only watched it on our flight back to Jakarta from Korea (i don't always review movies that i watched outside the cinema).

 
6. Stand By Me Doraemon

Who doesn't know Doraemon, right? Especially if you're Asian. I grew up watching Doraemon religiously every Sunday morning on TV and he's definitely one of my fondest childhood hero. I can still sing the Indonesian version sound track word for word today (which i just did, when we went to 100 Doraemon Gadget Exhibition in Jakarta last December :p) haha. Hunny's definitely a huge fan of Doraemon too and he downloaded the video (don't judge us, it was there. And we also didn't know if XXI would ever play it, i doubt it since it's now playing in Blitz already with no sign of XXI planning to) for us to watch during our 7 hour flight.

We're reintroduced to Nobita, the (around) 10 year old elementary student who's well... pretty much a loser. He's lazy, bad at sport, bad at school and seemingly doesn't have any redeeming qualities. One day his great great gandchild came to visit from the past with a cat-shaped futuristic robot telling him if he's not getting his act together, he'll lead a miserable life with bleak future which causes his descents to suffer  as well. Doraemon, the cat robot is tasked to help Nobita find his happiness, and he can only come back to the future when his task is completed.

For someone who's wildly familiar with Doraemon and his awesome gadgets, this movie is totally awesome even though they only show those gadgets very fleetingly (like, a few seconds each)-which is fine because we pretty much knows all about those famous gadgets (which each got an episode dedicated to them in the TV series), but for younger generation who probably doesn't get to watch Doraemon or read the comic books due to newer, cooler cartoons readily available might not get the chance to get to know Doraemon (and the other characters as well) much to grow to love him, like we, the oldies, do.

I heard that this movie would induce a lot of tears, and it's proven right! Yes, i bawled like a baby in an international flight filled with strangers *LOL*. It's super touching, heart-warming and beautiful. I would definitely recommend this movie, like they said, to anyone who's ever been a child. I would encourage today's generation to watch (and maybe spark an interest in them to watch the TV series and read the comic books) the movie and get to know a real childhood hero that has 100x more heart and dimension than their current faves.

So yep, it's clear to say that Stand By My Doraemon and Rise of the Legend (for a very sexy obvious reason) are my favorite movies this month, while the rest are desperately mediocre i wouldn't miss anything if i didn't watch them haha.

And that's all for this month! Which movies have you watched? Did you like them?

Selfie in the plane hehe

#Pink