October Movies

11:11:00 PM

Hellowww!

Yes yes, i am waiting until the last days of the month again before blogging about last month's movies -___-. I seriously have no time to write it before this, and even now i should be working on an event report but i cannot miss a month of my movie review so i am (guiltily) putting the event report to the side for a little bit and force myself to write this :p.

And in October we actually watched NINE movies, FML.

1. Storks

Honestly most animation movies kinda fail me lately (oh oh oh, but Moana is so awesome!!! Gonna talk more about it next month tho hehe) and when i saw Storks trailer... Well, it looks okay, but nothing too interesting. I thought it's gonna be worse than Secret Life of Pets-turns out we kinda love it! It's so funny!

We all "know" that storks deliver babies (from babies factory! I wish real life is that easy *LOL*, i wouldn't have all these reservations for having a second child that i have now :p coz i really dun want to be pregnant again, but i wouldn't mind a baby!), or they used to because now they choose to deliver packages for cornerstore.com *LOLOLOL*. Junior (the company's top delivery stork) is about to be promoted to be the next boss when he is assigned to fire the human (a baby that a stork *who made a mistake of looking at her and fell in love* tried to kidnap and in the process, the GPS to the baby's house is broken so she ended up being an orphan and work in the company... Not doing a very good job at all), Tulip-they ended up accidentally activating the Baby Making Machine and producing a super adorable baby. They then go on a mission to deliver the baby before the boss finds out what happens.

It's seriously hilarious, totally exceeding my expectations. We couldn't stop laughing from start to finish! It doesn't leave a very lasting impression (like Moana. LOL. I love Moana and the songs) but it sure it one fun movie to watch. Totally recommended for the whole family!

2. Deepwater Horizon

This is a movie that i didn't really have any initial interest in-this is more of hunny's cup of tea. But obviously, we went to watch it (like i always say, it's called compromise, people!) and i ended up with loads of tears in my eyes-like how i normally end up in inspired by true story disaster movies. I find it a bit slow at first though, it picks up after a while and gets really gripping.

In April 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil rig is the most massive one in the Gulf of Mexico. Since the beginning though, they are already met with technical difficulties-the general operational supervisor Jimmy Harrell and his Chief Electrical Engineer Mike Williams are very concerned, they try to take all precaution measures before deciding whether or not it's safe to continue but the BP executives is pushing them to continue on (in hurry) since every single day of delay means thousands of dollars down the drain-no matter how Jimmy and Mike resisted, ultimately it is the executive's decision since it is their project and money. On April 20 the rig's various structural and system flaws caused numerous failures that causes a huge explosion and put all of their lives in danger.

Like i mentioned earlier, the first quarter hour or so of the movie is a bit slow, with all the technical talks and stuffs-it kinda bores me. But once it started picking up momentum, you will be gripped at the edge of your seat and root for the heroes while cursing and wishing the evil executives to die (they didn't, ofc). I can't believe i don't even know about this huge disaster that happened 6 years ago!

3. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

I read the (first) book a while ago, when a blogger recommended it. I am a Potterhead, a dreamer and i love anything fantastical and magical so Miss Peregrine is super interesting for me. I didn't get obsessed with it or anything, but i remember it as being a very interesting book so i was more than just a little excited when i heard they are making the movie. And it didn't disappoint. I LOVE the movie, it is super magical and pretty much exactly what i had in my imagination when i read the book. You know how wonderful it is when you fantasy all turned into reality (sort of)? That's why i am totally enchanted by this movie, it leaves me feeling like i haven't felt in a very long time (well. Until Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them. God, November movies are beyond awesome).

Jacob has always feels that he is different. He is extremely close to his grandfather (who used to tell him all about Ms Peregrine and the peculiar children when he was little *much to the dismay of his dad*, the place where he grew up as an orphan)-and one day he found his grandfather dead, with his eyeballs missing. He also saw a creature-a monster, and he knew that it killed his grandfather. This caused his parents to believe the is deeply traumatized and mentally shook. On his birthday, his aunt hands him a present from his grandfather, and in it he found a letter from Ms Peregrine and his shrink thinks it's be good for this progress to go find Ms Peregrine and start to separate dream and reality. Ofc, when he arrived and finally found Ms Peregrine and the children, it is so full of magic and peculiarity instead! Eventually Jacob discovers his own peculiarity and he finds himself to be the only one that can lead the other children from the bad people (looking to eat their eyeballs!) and restore balance.

It's amazing, of course! If you love fantasy stories with weird and magical notes, if the likes of Harry Potter excites you, there's a great chance that you're gonna love this one too (if you're a total skeptics and finds fantasy movies ridiculous, i would tell you to avoid this at all costs *LOL*) Highly recommended!

4. Ben Hur

Eh, i dunno about you but even though the name Ben Hur is very familiar to me, i actually have no idea what the story is all about. I was very reluctant to go watch this movie and i was pretty concerned about falling asleep *LOL*, but i ended up enjoying this movie quite a lot.

Set at the time and place when Jesus Christ lived (and died), Judah Ben-Hur is a prince in a wealthy and happy household. He is very close to his family, especially to his adopted brother, Messala. He almost died one day while racing horse with Messala and Messala saved his life-only to be blamed by their mother. Messala (who's in love with his adopted sister) feels like he can never be fully accepted there, decides to be an army for Rome to find his own wealth so that he can measure up. He eventually made it big and upon returning to the house, he asks Judah to help him make sure the Roman army march (with Pontius Pilate) will go safely. Judah has saved a Zealot (basically anti Roman underground movement) who then tried to attack Pontius Pilate. This ended up with Judah and his family being accused of treason, and he spends years as a slave rower-all the while thinking that his mother and sister is dead, and he will never sees his wife again-ofc he holds Messala accountable for everything. In some miraculous twist, he managed to return to Jerusalem to seek revenge.

Oh, i didn't get bored at all *LOL*. I don't think it's a perfect movie or anything, but it sure is quite good. It's intense, gripping and boy did Judah turns hot when he finally shaved *LOL*. I think this movie is totally worth a watch, it doesn't score too good in IMDb tho, i totally disagree with the rate-i would give it a 7.5 at least.

5. Inferno

I am a huge fan of The Da Vinci Code (both the book and the movie), i think Angel & Demon was okay too-i don't remember Inferno though, i guess i didn't read the book? Nonetheless, i was quite excited when it's playing in the cinema and we hurriedly went to watch it. It's okay, but i really don't find it anywhere as good as the previous two (or maybe it's just me, seeing how the IMDb scores are so similar). I dunno... I just find the whole storyline to be a little lack lustre.

This movie ofc is still following Robert Langdon (i don't remember feeling this way in the previous movies, but for once i find Tom Hanks-or rather his character, is less than totally charming), the famous symbologist. He finds himself in a hospital, with a woman trying to murder him and a female doctor saving him. He has some short term memory loss and it makes his work twice as hard. They follow a trail tied to the great Dante and have to try to stop a madman (who believes that the world is dying and the only way saving it and humanity is to star afresh, a.k.a eliminating most human from earth) from unleashing a global virus that would wipe out half of the world's population.

Like all of Robert Langdon series, the movie is full of guesses and riddles, there's a twist at every corner and nothing is what it seems. I dunno about you, but both hunny and i didn't expect the outcome when the villain's revealed *LOL*, totally took us by surprise. I give it that. But as a whole, i just don't find this movie to be as tight-knit, solid and exciting as the previous two. It's not bad, but i wouldn't tear my hair out of if i miss it.

6. A Monster Calls

So i had no idea what this movie is all about, Little O mentioned this movie which he saw the trailer of on Youtube and he seems interested so we decided to go and watch it. I (and him, i believe) thought this gonna be the usual fantasy, popcorn movie. Boy oh boy, how wrong were we *LOL*. It's a deep, slow, and full of symbolism kind of movie. The type that none of us (in my little family) can understand, i was getting so sleepy and hunny started playing with his phone halfay though the movie WTH. It is a beautiful movie and has such a deep meaning and message, we're just not the right people to be able to appreciate it-so... Don't judge us, okay? We are pretty shallow :p.

Connor is a rather troubled boy, he has to take care of his dying mother (whom he can never accept as being dying, and she doesn't have the heart to prepare him otherwise) and struggles at school with bullies. One day the monster came to him, tells him that he is going to tell Connor three stories and by the end of the third story, Connor will tell him a story-and speaks the truth.

Well, it's obvious that the monster (who looks like Groot from Guardian of the Galaxy) is a way for Connor to channel out his inner demons. And everything is in his mind. The truth is he is just a very confused and scared boy, trying to cope with his mother's illness.

Like i already mentioned, we're just not good with symbolism. The movie's very slow paced and it's a bit (okay, a LOT) boring for us. It's the kind of movie which you either love it (if you're deep, and you ponder a lot, then you will love it) or hate it (if you're more into entertaining movies like us). It's a bit embarrassing (because who wants to admit that they're shallow) but i admit that we didn't like it. If we knew it's going to be this kind of movie, we would not watch it >.<

6. Jack Reacher : Never Go Back

Jack Reacher. I know his name, i remember it-but i can't, for the life of me, remember what the movie is all about. I think for me, it's just one of Tom Cruise's movies *LOL*. I like Tom Cruise, a lot, and i will always thinks he is very handsome-but i gotta be honest and say that most of his movies are pretty similar and it's hard for me to differentiate one from another. Much like Jason Statham. Hunny has an entirely different opinion tho, he loves Jack Reacher and was very excited for the sequel. So excited that he prepped himself by watching the first movie before we go and watch this.

Jack Reacher, the ex military investigator turns vigilante, is planning to meet up with Major Susan Turner who had been working with him-only to be told that Turner has been arrested and accused of espionage. Ofc Reacher senses that something is off and he goes to rescue Turner (who doesn't exactly wants him to) which resulted in them being most wanted fugitives. They now must work together to uncover the truth behind a major government conspiracy to clear both of their names-and this time he has a girl who might or might not be his daughter thrown in the mix to protect.

Yada yada yada, i've said this hundreds of times-with this kind of movies, storyline is not that important. There is rarely any interesting storyline anyway, it's one or the other and it's the way they spin it that matters. Honestly speaking, i can't remember much from the movie WTF, so... It's clearly not something leaves a lasting impression (or at all) for me. It's a decent action movie, not boring, but nothing special either. I didn't feel like i was wasting my time but i also wouldn't feel at loss if we skipped it.

7. Operation Mekong

This one we watched in Singapore coz it never showed in Indonesia (at least not in Surabaya). I was very surprised when i saw this movie playing because i errr, had been following Eddie Peng's Instagram (he is still my #1 celebrity crush at the moment) and knew he was shooting this movie but i had no idea when the screen time would start. Honestly, i didn't know what this movie is all about-and i didn't care. I only watched it because he's in it and he is one of the leads (this is important because last time hunny tricked me into watching a movie where he was a cameo in zzzz). I also didn't know that this movie is inspired by a true story of Mekong River Massacre.

Two Chinese merchant ships were attacked in Mekong river in 5th October 2011 (yet another world news that i had no clue about), all 13 crews were killed and dumped in the river. Thai policemen found 900.000 crystal meth on the ships. This news shocked China and they sent Gang Gao (leader of Narcotics Corps) to investigate. Together with an informer, Fanxin Wu, Gang Gao and his crew goes undercover, pretty much moves heaven on earth to discover that 13 crew members were brutally murdered and being framed (they're just fishermen) by a drug king pin.

This movie is pretty loosely based on the actual story, it is heavily dramatized and sprinkled with a crazy amount of drama-but the massacre did happen and the victims were innocent (and they also got the names right). It was so heavily spiced up that i had hard times believing that it's actually based on true story (until i Googled it) because Asian action movies, well... they have a thing for dramatization (while Hollywood, although also heavily spiced, usually goes on the more realistic angle) and extra stories for the character. But this is not a bad movie at all (and i'm not just saying that because i blush like a virgin whenever Eddie appears on screen, even with his hideous fake mustache), it's pretty entertaining and gripping. If you dislike overtly dramatized action movie you should avoid this movie tho (and all other Asian action movies that involves guns).

8. Doctor Strange

Hunny is a total nerd (and i say this affectionately. I am also a nerd, btw) and he loves super heroes. He can talk for hours about super heroes and their sidekicks to me (who usually stare at him blankly coz i have no clue what he's talking about) so imagine his excitement whenever a new, big superhero movie is playing in cinemas. He's been anticipating Doctor Strange for the longest time and i think he's 10x more excited than his little boy when we entered the cinema -___-.

Doctor Stephen Strange is a super talented and successful neurosurgeon who after a tragic car accident, finds himself losing his precious hands and therefore-his entire life. He is willing to do anything to fix them and he finds himself in Kamar Taj, learning the secrets of a hidden world of mysticism and alternate dimension. He also quickly learns that Kamar Taj is the front line against dark forces-and he has to choose between going back to his glamorous life or stay and defend the world as the most powerful sorcerer in existence.

I personally find Doctor Strange to be very different than previous Marvel movies, it's less action more magic. I've warm up to superheroes by now and i love magic, but the two mixed together is a little too comic-bookish for me. I did enjoy the movie (which i think more than half the world watched already), and i have a thing for Benedict Cumberbatch (WTF i literally almost typed Cumberbitch -___-), i think the whole thing is quite interesting but it's not really my cup of tea, you get what i mean? Hunny said he still prefers Iron Man (big boys' ultimate fantasy is being Tony Stark, no?) but he likes Doctor Strange a lot-as for me.. I don't mind watching this and its future films, but i am not obsessed. I'm more excited for Wonder Woman, she seems to be a real kick-ass!

I totally surprised myself by writing this post in one go! Usually i would have to take numerous stops, sometimes i would even need more than one day to finish! But today, despite having one of the most number of movies to review ever, i managed to write them all in relatively short time and not get bored! Wow me! I guess it's a change from nonstop beauty related posts i had to write lately >.<.

Anyway, my fave movie in October has got to be Miss Peregrine Home of Peculiar Children (followed by Storks) and least fave is ehm, A Monster's Call. What about you? Did you watch any of the movies i've listed here?

And can you believe it's a day before the last month of the year again @___@ where had 2016 gone to????

Until next time..