hanzy_boy Reviews

Kamulah Satu-Satunya (2007)

"You're the only one" is actually good!!

[8/10 · 6 April 2009]

I'm not sure if "orang bule" (white folks) will actually read this review given that only five people rated this movie and this movie has no English subtitle (yet). But i wish they would give this movie a chance for subtitle translations because i think this movie is actually universally enjoyable. This isn't a festival-type of movie, but this is a good peek into the dilemmas of modern indonesia, also it is a good example of mainstream indo film and the story and the execution (acting, direction, setting, etc) are super well done.

It's a simple story about a girl from a traditional small town (kampung as we call it) who is obsessed with the popular rock band, DEWA19 (think u2, or coldplay). She lives with her protective old-school grandpa (played to comic perfection by the master, Didi Petet) who owns a fish grill restaurant (hmmm...yummy). She enters a drawing in which the winner will attend the concert in Jakarta (the big city...). By some stroke of luck and dedication, she got the ticket, defied her grandpa and snuck out to leave to jakarta. Let the misadventure begin.

What i enjoyed the most from the movie is one: the naturally effortless acting and chemistry of the characters, two: the beautiful country side setting and the authentic grittiness of jakarta, and three: the comedic episodes that show the many ironies of contemporary post-soeharto indonesia. The many comedic scenes that are set in jakarta are earnestly portrayed and most importantly, they remind me of the jakarta i know (but funny).

The weaknesses are obvious, like the obligatory romance, melodrama and 'life-lessons.' In indo movies, they're sorta required. But i got over them, because they're not overwhelming.

I guess if you're curious to see this, get with an indo friend and have them translate as the movie plays. The movie is visual enough so you will definitely pick up the story. The way the language sounds is also quite musical. You most definitely enjoy the scenery, as it reveals a lot about indonesia. Highly recommended.

WALL·E (2008)

it's a rare thing nowadays...

[10/10 · 28 June 2008]

Pure emotions put on screen!!! That's a rare thing nowadays. It blows my mind that it comes from robots. I haven't even begin to philosophise on that idea...And that's the beauty of this film, it has many dimensions, it is a love story first and foremost, biting satire, a social commentary, a call to action, and many other things you want it to be.

Too much good has been said about this movie...modern masterpiece, chaplinesque, pure poetry. So I'm not going to indulge in that exercise...The film has so many amazing moments: poignant, funny, joyful, that I'm going back for the second time (and third), to pick my favorite wall-e moments.

Having said all the praises, the movie is not pitch perfect (gasp!!), the second half of the movie gives us one of those clichéd let's-save-the-world plot. At times, the chase/adventure scenes pander too much to mainstream, the ending was a little rushed. But the second half also gave us the dancing in space scene (it's divine!!)

All in all, the movie was redeemed by the hearts and beauty of the two robots in love. Any technical glitch with the story or the pacing (though not with the animation, it was perfection) is easily forgiven. I'm looking extra-extra forward for edgy and envelope pushing new releases by pixar more than ever...just don't give us Toy Story 3 or Cars 2 (which they are working on!! wtf pixar??)

Eliana, Eliana (2002)

Jakarta Je t'aime!!!

[7/10 · 17 April 2008]

Let's get straight to the bad stuff first: Camera work, bad. acting, over done. crying scene, well they tried. sound, let's not go there. Editing, none! But if you watch this film right next to a homesick Jakarta-ite like myself, they'll tell you about the nuances in this movie that the bad translation could never get across. For example, you'll know that there are multiple languages, dialects and slangs spoken in the film, they don't only represent the diversity in the city but also social status, respect, even mood (Eliana mostly talks in a polite dialect to her mom but then when she's angry she turns to impolite Jakarta dialect). And besides anything Garin Nugroho did, I've never seen Jakarta presented as raw as it is in any film. But boy, was I pooping in my pants. From the vendors of delicious food, to the traffic, to the beta fishes in jars. I could almost smell it (that's good and bad). That's the grimy Jakarta I experienced, and I love.

I love this film for evoking that feeling. It's ashamed that it plays a little like a soap opera with the crying and the angry scenes. But for all the absurd quality of the production, the concept, the story and the effort (or lack thereof) are still way more genuine and authentic to the Indonesian experience than almost any corny Indonesian teeny boppy romantic comedy and horror films that are out there.

4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2007)

Rich in details

[8/10 · 4 March 2008]

I'm in awe with 'realist' films, especially the one that actually works such as this one. In the climax track shot of walking through the city at night, how do they stage all the noise, the dog, the cars, the everything? It's crazy that i'm super impressed by how organic and realistic it is. Which is odd, because usually i go to movies to see how clever a filmmaker can be with twisting reality. But this was clearly magic to have been able to present a simple act (walking) in a simple composition (face dead center), with all of the familiar elements of nighttime in the city, and brought it all together to heighten the experience of this girl carrying what it seems like, all the worry in the world. It brought me back an almost childish/immediate feeling of being afraid walking alone at night, but of course compared to film, i've never walked alone at night with that much at stake.

But this is where the movie is most successful, the film presents you with people living in a type of harsh system that i can't imagine here living in the states. But the feelings and emotions that are portrayed are universal, the feeling of being young and afraid, feeling of sneaking behind the law, risking something for your friend , feeling of regret. And in this film the moral compass is clear, they know the system is unjust and they do things out of love and care for one another.

But for us here in the states, where government and law has seeped itself into everything, where we don't sometimes realized our own systematic oppression, how much of our sense of right/wrong is driven by government and the law? how much of it is actually driven by love and passion for real people?

Battle in Heaven (2005)

you be the judge...

[10/10 · 21 January 2008]

I don't disagree that this movie has great flaws. I mean the dialog could be more fluid, the editing could be more crisp, so on so forth.

But while the movie is choppy as a whole, some of the scenes are breathtakingly raw. Like the part where Marcos is driving Ana from the airport, you can see, even almost smell, the city's absurd contrast between its economic classes. When Marcos is just staring into oblivion, you know you're looking at a real person, whose sweat is his own sweat and the grease on his face is his own grease.

There is something mysterious and incomprehensible about the faces of every single person living and struggling in the city. It is not just a face of frustration, anguish, or despair, that a typical actor might give off.

It's a face that is unique to that person, one that you will never get to know probably, but when you take a glance of in the subway or the bus or the sidewalk, you know somehow you relate to them, somehow you know there's a story behind them.

This movie is just a mere glance of one person. It's not quite a study of Marcos, because we never got to be let in that deeply into his past, his motives, his whatever. It's simply presenting his situations and actions as they are, not pushing any particular perspectives the way most films do, not giving us any 'insights,' 'revealing monologues' or any of that.

letting us simply be the judge of him if we are judgmental, the observer if we are observant, the aloof bystander if we are one, and most likely we're a little bit of every one of those types when watching this film.

And that's very commendable for a film to let the viewers ultimately be the camera and the editor of the film. Instead of telling us how to view things.

Filmando: Batalla en el cielo (2004)

Brave film-making with something to say

[8/10 · 21 January 2008]

I don't disagree that this movie has great flaws. I mean the dialog could be more fluid, the editing could be more crisp, so on so forth.

But while the movie is choppy as a whole, some of the scenes are breathtakingly raw. Like the part where Marcos is driving Ana from the airport, you can see, even almost smell, the city's absurd contrast between its economic classes. When Marcos is just staring into oblivion, you know you're looking at a real person, whose sweat is his own sweat and the grease on his face is his own grease.

There is something mysterious and incomprehensible about the faces of every single person living and struggling in the city. It is not just a face of frustration, anguish, or despair, that a typical actor might give off.

It's a face that is unique to that person, one that you will never get to know probably, but when you take a glance of in the subway or the bus or the sidewalk, you know somehow you relate to them, somehow you know there's a story behind them.

This movie is just a mere glance of one person. It's not quite a study of Marcos, because we never got to be let in that deeply into his past, his motives, his whatever. It's simply presenting his situations and actions as they are, not pushing any particular perspectives the way most films do, not giving us any 'insights,' 'revealing monologues' or any of that.

letting us simply be the judge of him if we are judgmental, the observer if we are observant, the aloof bystander if we are one, and most likely we're a little bit of every one of those types when watching this film.

And that's very commendable for a film to let the viewers ultimately be the camera and the editor of the film. Instead of telling us how to view things.

No Country for Old Men (2007)

Don't have to be art-house movie lovers to love this!

[9/10 · 8 January 2008]

You know what, this movie is for everyone! Yes you may think it's too violent. But every twelve year olds who saw "the saw" movies (or just TV in general), wouldn't be seeing something nearly as violent.

And i would recommend this film over the new narnia movie, just because i truly believe this movie works as a fairy tale too, but one that is so close to reality, but without ever letting the fantasy bubble burst so that it can preach to us.

This film places Texas to be as foreign as any far-away land, with people whose accents/dialect might as well be a foreign language to us, with people whose occupations couldn't be anymore exotic (drug-dealing, shooting a rifle, very exotic), in this film there are king, prince, princess, villain, monster. What's different is that there's not really a happy ending, but rather a dignified ending, i would say it's a hopeful ending, because i felt like it's a new beginning now. Where evil is still amongst us and it will always be, but rather than to avoid or to attempt to defeat an evil entity, we face the devil inside of us and recognize what we truly fear and figure out if it's worth fearing at all.

I really wish more young people my age would see this movie, because it is truly about the post-9/11 generation. I had to see the movie twice to even realize what the title intended to mean. It's provided me images, dialogs, symbolisms, that forced me to think on cross-generational relations, the wisdom and stupidity in both the old and the young, but mostly the fear we share. And whether that fear will make us impotent, or brave to take action.

This is a great film, because within this very entertaining action-slasher-thriller, the film has true humanity and ambiguity, that actually stirred something in me, the same way i can say about 'ratatouille'. but never about pretentious crap like 'there will be blood'.

There Will Be Blood (2007)

there will be ehh!

[5/10 · 8 January 2008]

I'd be so tempted to give this movie a one, just because i want to even out the ridiculously overrated ratings in IMDb. However i wanna be fair to say that there are a few redeeming moments in the movie. having said that, i truly believed this movie could have been somewhere if it were handled by a capable director with a true vision. Too bad it is misdirected and the acting choices are baffling (what's up with the accent yo?), the writing were lifeless and it sucked the humanity out of all the characters (even the extras don't look that convincing), the photography and lighting is alright, although outdated and cliché (ooh the brooding character is in the dark and the good ones is in the light), last but not least is the score, helmed by radiohead's johnny greenwood, that could single handedly ruin the movie if everything else in the movie was well done. It was distracting, instead of creating a layer of nuance and emotion, it created just plain annoyance. A score should elevate and compliment a movie, not jump away from it. And because i read that the radiohead guy was gonna do the score before i saw it, i immediately was worried it's gonna stand out too much. And it did.

And then there's the length. At mere three hours you would think you would get a kick-ass character developments, but what you get is just crazy characters getting crazier without delving much into their emotional complexity, it fell very cartoonish much like the tom cruise character in magnolia. and i wish the ending is raining frogs but instead we're treated to a cheap flash forward and a puddle of of blood. Because the title is there will be blood, oy vay.

Across the Universe (2007)

this is one of the worst movies that came out in 07.

[5/10 · 9 October 2007]

this is one of the worst movies that came out in 07.

yes the visuals are amazing, but they belong in music videos. but the point is THERE WAS NO STORY, there was no connective thread between all the elements of the numbers, it was all random bursts of beatles songs pooped right out of the butts of high school musical kids(except the mr. kite's number and maybe 'let it be'). the writing is laughable, the acting is amateurish at best, there was no chemistry or real development for the characters (and 'jude's bouts of depression that turned him into an artist' doesn't quite cut it) and the most desgraceful thing is how they cutesify the 60's experience and turned it into some one dimensional Disney channel crap. The movie is a kiddie pool and I expected at least a waist deep pond. It was too sterile and broadwayie and if you're a beatles fan it'll leave a disgusting taste in your mouth. Thank goodness I saw 'into the wild' and washed it all down.

March of the Penguins (2005)

A story of a reality. A story where happy ending isn't found. Just lots and lots of amazing feats in between.

[9/10 · 10 July 2005]

This movie can be read as too achingly cute, too pushily touching and too mundanely poignant, but hey, those birds damn well deserve them. They walk (more like waddle) for hundreds of miles in total, starve themselves for months, and oh yeah, have to endure extreme subzero temperature and a few more with 100-mile-speed wind, all that with unbelievable grace, not too mention poise (that's why they wear tuxes) and all that for the sake of procreation.

The movie starts with stunning helicopter shots of antarctic glaciers (some the shots are worthy of an exhibition at a Chelsea gallery) and in the sun-lurked distance 'tis seen dark figures strutting across the white ice, and lo they are emperor penguins shooting from an ice-hole, from that on we are taken for a journey of endurance and survival, with moments of humor and joy here and there, but one thing this movie doesn't lack is elegance.

Just like a tradition of complex animal behavior, this one is bound to be inspiring for us humans and so much so, I was kind of embarrassed for our species because of their superior adaptation and continued existence. I was moved when the penguin march leader decided that he was no longer apt to be a leader, he just stopped and another penguin replace his position. It was unnervingly stirring when the group huddle during a freak snow storm, that and more.

The movie is restrained right before it starts to develop tyrptophan (unlike the turkeys in "winged migration") and for some scenes, to protect the G rating. But this sublime retreat from logical narrative of men offer even more enlightened and transcendent view that life, no matter how harsh the situation might be, is never just about humdrum struggle for survival or just to fulfill purpose, but for these penguins, a passionate, selfless caring, reliant, and an understanding struggle. Even knowing that they're going to face the same cruel fate over and over and over again. The kingdom of these emperors will be standing for some time, I bet.

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)

An Overrated Epic

[5/10 · 3 January 2005]

The Oscar big pay off was, I thought, nothing but a pity courtesy hand clap, while they left the way-better deserving Mystic River in the dust. It's hard to deny the great panorama the movie generated, the 1000 minute-long battle scene, the over sized elephants. but the cliché, flat dialogs that should be the spine of the movie, turned out to be an arthritis, that made me, as an audience, gasped and itched like I just saw one of those lifetime-channel original movie. There was no real great dramatic acting, all actors seem weary and only put on one emotion, and unlike the excellent first part of LOTR, where they have frodo, an average-joe hobbit turned into the ultimate ring bearer, puzzled and over bared by this new-found strenuous job he now has, the drama is alive by other characters struggle to convince frodo and themselves to defeat their own fear to fight for humanity. I like to see more of that than the battle scenes, and this I thought was a huge loss. And lest us not forget the gazillion endings return of the king has.