Gone Girl - Review (2014)

it's been a quite week for me. with not much movies and I didn't have a chance to go online.  So finally I watched Gone Girl. I am a fan of David Fincher, so yeah I wished it would be good. 2014 has been kind of a shitty year (exceptions being Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, X-Men Days of Future Past, Guardians of the Galaxy). So this was my most anticipated film of the year, and I was really hoping it would be good

When I heard Ben Affleck would be Nick I didn't think it would be good. But now I can see it that he can actually be good without stealing the attention lol. Pike all the way. She is perfect. I have to be honest tho, for me this is the first time i have seen Rosamund Pike shining from the beginning to the end, she portrays her character beautifully , every scene she is in, it's just mindblowing, she absorbs you with her great acting. Mark my words on this one, if rosamund pike doesn't get an Oscar nom for this role, then something is wrong

Love the disenchantment of Fatale Femme(Amy, everyone!). Only does she live as true self and be happy(junk food jamming, jubilant jumping, low maintenance, vulgar behavior, etc.) when she gets away from: either the man who loves her (but never knows her, esp. true her) or the man she loves (yes, the husband she's framing, and believe it or not, they are well-suited for each other!!!) the most revealing scene would be the one in which Amy keeps eating ice cream?  while watching her husband's tricky performance on the TV interview, her rich suitor sitting besides runs his look between the girl and the husband, just like an outsider. She's so attentive and enchanted to her rival - the husband, who has unexpectedly grown up from a passive victim/loser to a devious, manipulative guy. She confesses afterwords that she loves him more when watching him on the screen putting her, by lying, into disadvantage within the game.

AFI Fest 2014 Lineup

Adding to its previously announced Gala presentations of "A Most Violent Year," "The Gambler," "Inherent Vice" and "Foxcatcher," AFI Fest will present writer/director Tommy Lee Jones' feminist Western "The Homesman" starring Hilary Swank.

AFI Fest's special screenings are "Clouds of Sils Maria," "Merchants of Doubt," Mike Leigh's Cannes favorite "Mr. Turner," Julianne Moore Oscar vehicle "Still Alice," "Tales of the Grim Sleeper" and Foreign Language Oscar contenders "Mommy," "Saint Laurent" and "Two Days, One Night."

AFI Fest runs November 6 through 13 in Hollywood, CA. Here's more information on the added lineups:

GALAS

Opening Night:

A MOST VIOLENT YEAR – Set in 1981, during one of the most crime-ridden winters in New York City’s history, A MOST VIOLENT YEAR follows the lives of Abel and Anna Morales (Isaac and Chastain) as they attempt to capitalize on the American Dream, while the rampant violence, decay, and corruption of the day drag them in and threaten to destroy all they have built. World Premiere. Thursday, November 6, 2014.

Centerpiece Galas

INHERENT VICE – INHERENT VICE is the seventh feature from Academy Award® nominee Paul Thomas Anderson and the first ever film adaptation of a Thomas Pynchon novel. When private eye Doc Sportello's ex-old lady suddenly out of nowhere shows up with a story about her current billionaire land developer boyfriend whom she just happens to be in love with, and a plot by his wife and her boyfriend to kidnap that billionaire and throw him a loony bin...well, easy for her to say. It's the tail end of the psychedelic '60s and paranoia is running the day and Doc knows that "love" is another of those going around at the moment, like "trip" or "groovy," that's being way too overused—except that this one usually leads to trouble. With a cast of characters that includes surfers, hustlers, dopers and rockers, a murderous loan shark, LAPD Detectives, a tenor sax player working undercover, and a mysterious entity knows as the Golden Fang, which may only be a tax dodge set up by some dentist...Part surf noir, part psychedelic romp – all Thomas Pynchon.
Saturday, November 8, 2014

Fury - Review (2014)

I watched this movie on midnight show last Saturday. I'm very curious about this movie. Brad Pitt in colaboration with David Ayer and those young Hollywood stars. Even though there have been tons of films that told the story of world war 2 in different ways. However this was the first one in my opinion that captured the brutality of war bad showing how it effects not used to dealing with the first hand experience that comes with the violence of war.

The acting here is great from everyone. I think that the standout of the entire cat is Brad Pitt. He gives a very strong performance and his character is very commanding and is one of those characters who never gives up. Logan Lerman also does a great job playing Norman and his character is one that doesn't want to kill people, but he does it, because it is necessary. Jon Bernthal, Michael Pena, Jason Issacs, and Scott Eastwood all deliver great performances as well. Even Shia Labouf is great in this film. The cast also share some great chemistry between each other.

Best Films and Performances from NYFF 2014

New York Film festival this year had pretty good line up. And I haven.t post anything about it yet. It's from indiewire. the best of NYFF 2014. Let's see

Best Narrative Feature
1. Inherent Vice
2. Timbuktu
3. Clouds of Sils Maria
4. Two Days, One Night
5. Birdman
SEE ALL >>

Best Documentary Feature
1. CITIZENFOUR
2. The Look of Silence
3. Tales of the Grim Sleeper
4. Red Army
5. Stray Dog
SEE ALL >>

Best Director
1. Paul Thomas Anderson, Inherent Vice
2. Alejandro González Iñárritu, Birdman
3. David Fincher, Gone Girl
4. Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne, Two Days, One Night
5. Bennett Miller, Foxcatcher
SEE ALL >>

Best Films and Performances from TIFF 2014

I know it's a little too late. this is the critics reviews about the best of TIFF. here we go

Best Narrative Feature
1. Phoenix
2. Nightcrawler
3. The Duke of Burgundy
4. Force Majeure
5. A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence
SEE ALL >>

Best Documentary Feature
1. The Look of Silence
2. Seymour: An Introduction
3. Tales of the Grim Sleeper
4. National Diploma
5. Merchants of Doubt
SEE ALL >>

Soekarno : Indonesia Merdeka

This movie is going the official selection from Indonesia for Oscar Best Foreign Language next year. I think I'm kinda disappointed that they chose this movie. No, it's not a bad movie. It's an OK movie. But there's a lot of better movies. Maybe they chose it based on the history. which is good. this movie is about Indonesia's first president, Soekarno. I adore him.

This movie not quite satiate my expectation, not only showing the history of independence fight in overall, but also bring the good and the bad of Soekarno characters, pretty much balancing love story, and (even though I am historian by my grandfather's storytelling) I dare say it's pretty much accurate on the historical side and characters. But none of the characters are explored enough, or has any scene as a focal point, thus makes this movie lack of emotions. Though I gotta admit Ario Bayu and Lukman Sardi are nailed the characters. On another plus side, no doubt, Indonesian movies are about enchanting motion pictures. So, overall it's OK but it's pretty much a tedious movie.

This movie  presents general Indonesian history, and for me Hanung, was more concern in Soekarno's personal life than the conflict about independence. Technically, this movie is good, visual and sound effects are good, and some scenes are so artsy. The actors are good enough to represent their own characters. overall this movie is enough to fulfill public knowledge about Indonesia and the popular issues about Soekarno.

I like the movie, the actings are briliant. And it's not overrated like Habibie and Ainun. It;s great. But is it good enough to be Oscar contender? i don;t think so. But maybe I'm wrong

Two Nights Stand - Review (2014)

This movie wasn't good or bad, it was just okay. For starters, it was awkward watching a movie about 20-somethings having sex, when they looked 16 or younger.It takes guts to make a movie based on dialogues and only dialogues. Before Midnight ,Before Sunset and Before Sunrise is a brave attempt in following the trend. Two Night Stand was almost there but loses the battle thanks to over-the-top performance and weak screenplay.

The major bad thing about this is that the movie feels overly romantic that the comedies don't feel funny. The screenplay just doesn't seem to develop or build up any thing that can really crack a laugh. There's virtually no practical joke or slapstick anywhere in this movie. This makes the romance, already quite a well developed part, stand out even more. Actually the romance parts feel more dominant that it kind of make the comedy part feels like it's just some kind of color variation to the story.